Almost NaNoWriMo Time!

Lots going on so of course I'm fighting back a cold.  At the moment, I'm barely holding my own, but I have the bad feeling the cold may win.  In any event, lots to do, places to go, people to see.

I really wish days were 36 hours instead of 24, though, because there are must not enough hours to get everything done.

Found a great quote for authors out there.  I'm constantly getting asked about the rules, like plotting, characterization, do's-and-don'ts, formatting manuscripts, writing query letters, writing a synopsis, and the like.  To my delight, I now have a great answer.

There are three rules for writing a novel.  Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.  W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)

Onward and upward.

The nice delivery guy left me a present today on my porch:  a box of print copies of my book I Bid One American.  It really gave me a boost.  Then, with all those lovely books in my hands, I got a wild hair (or is that "hare"--ouch!) up the you-know-where and entered the book in the RITA contest. 

For those of you who have never heard of the RITA (you're in good company, by the way) it is a contest sponsored by the Romance Writers of America. They pick the best book of the year in each of the different romance-related genres. I'm not sure I'd exactly classify I Bid One American as a romance, per se, so this was probably a dumb-blonde move, but what the heck.  All they can do is laugh at me and give me really low scores.

So what else is new?

Anyway, it's entered and may the best book (obviously, my book) win in the Regency historical genre!

Next on the agenda--well, I've just completed a rash of submissions (a rash to go with my cold--hahaha).  And like scattering wildflower seeds, I hope a few sprout.  Got one rejection back already, which is record time because they had the query less than 15 minutes (they wanted an e-mail query so they could beat the world's speed record for rejections). 

That's what I was busily doing last week, hence my deafening silence re: blogging, etc.

And...drum roll...I'm preparing for NaNoWriMo!  Yes, that's right, National Novel Writing Month.  Last year, I managed to win by writing about 60,000 words (you only need to write 50,000 to win) on a Regency romance manuscript called, Love, The Critic.  It is, unfortunately, not going anywhere but in a drawer, but it was fun. 

If I get another wild hair (or hare) I may chop it up and offer it as a serial from my web site.  Or something.  I sort of it like Love, The Critic--it's a cute little story about a poetess who unknowingly falls in love the man who wrote a scathing critique of her poems and pretty well demolished her career.

Poor things.  I'm tough on my characters.  But as I always remind my husband:  Life's a bitch and then you marry one.

Anyway, this year for NaNoWriMo, I'm intending to work on a historical mystery called:  Twilight.  Yep, you guessed it--it is indeed set in the Regency period.  For those of you who read I Bid One American, you may recall the hero, Nathaniel.  Well, his younger sister, Helen Archer, is the heroine in Twilight.  It's part of a "triple play" of stories about the Archer siblings who all have the misfortune--or luck, depending upon your perspective--of having the irrepressible conniver, John Archer, as their uncle.

In Twilight, Helen managed to lose the Peckham necklace the first time she wears it at a ball.  When she goes to retrieve it, she finds herself smack-dab in the middle of a murder investigation.  There is a lot of subterfuge going on, and Helen is going to find it a bit trickier to get that necklace and escape unscathed than she thinks.

Psst, keep this quiet because I don't want to jinx it, but I also just submitted a "prequel" to I Bid One American to my publisher.  The manuscript is called The Necklace and it features Nathaniel's older sister, Oriana Archer.  Oriana is the lady who manages to find The Peckham necklace after it is lost for years and years.  Unfortunately, she's almost murdered as a reward for her efforts.

The Peckham necklace has a very, very bad reputation.  =):o)

I'm hoping I can finish Twilight this fall, because with the new year, I want to start on a new historical mystery--although I'm not sure which one.  I've plotted out several, and my fingers are itching to start on all of them.  I'll just have to see how Twilight goes.

So wish me luck.  It seems like I blogged about a lot of nothing, but what the heck.  I can't be brilliant and insightful all the time.

Have a terrific evening and stay well!