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E.F.B.

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Woohoo, I've been Laverned!:hooray: I love how it makes everything all sparkly.:D
 

Deb Kinnard

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Whoa, C-writers, where IS everybody??!! (and yes, I realize I owe $0.25 per exclamation point -- put it on my tab).

What are you working on? What should you be working on and aren't? Recent successes, recent insights, recent boo-hoos?

I miss you people!
 

Calla Lily

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*waves at Deb, sets out scones and cider for Hallowe'en*

I'm writing like mad to finish book 2 in my new contract while doing pre-release promo stuff for Nun Too Soon, which releases on Jan. 13.

Also trying to sleep on occasion.

You?
 

Norman D Gutter

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I'm working on nothing, as I'm having to help my wife an awful lot right now with her home-based business. How long the Time Crunch is going to last I don't know, but it will be measured in months.

That said, this morning I wrote a haiku while driving to work, and remembered it when I got there and wrote it on paper. And, I'm making a little progress on cover creation for my completed poetry book. I found the cover photo, and now need an artist for the additions. Hoping to talk with one this weekend.
 

Carrie in PA

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:hi:I'm getting ready for NaNo, wondering how I'm going to fit it all in. (Can we postpone Thanksgiving??? Just for a week or so???) I'm itching to start writing this book, which is Book 3 in the series I'm working on, and since I can't write anything until tomorrow, I'm messing around with edits on Book 1. My goal is to finish the first draft of Book 3 during NaNo, then get serious about edits in December so I can hopefully start shopping Book 1 by Feb/Marchish.

I was REALLY excited when a new plot twist appeared on the doorstep of my mind... in this book, Betsy has always felt like she has to EARN love... from her mom (who abandoned her as a teenager), from her friends, from God. So she takes care of her elderly dad, a WWII veteran, suffering from PTSD that worsens as he ages. He takes a bad turn and she has to come to grips with not being equipped to care for him... so I was stuck there until *BOOM* there it is -- Betsy's 13 year old niece is dropped on her doorstep because her mom abandoned her for a shiny new life. Charlotte's story so closely parallels Betsy's that she ends up learning to heal her own issues while she helps Charlotte work through hers.

I'm super excited to start writing tomorrow, AND I have my monthly writing workshop, so it's a perfect day to kick off NaNo.
 

Deb Kinnard

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Whew, I thought everybody had "left the building"!

I'm starting my second (school) year as an empty nester, as Thing One is out of college and working, and Thing Two is out of state at college. So more time to write. I'm working on the below-mentioned A QUIET KIND OF LOVE, in which story I basically wrote myself into a corner I could not get out of. Eureka happened, though, and I have a solution to my insoluble problem. Looking forward to releasing it as an indie before the first of next year.

Working also, when time allows, on a reissue of SEASONS IN THE MIST, my Grace Award winner, and its sequel, SEASONS OF RECKONING, both as indies. Probably not now till spring, worse luck.

Blessed autumn to all.
 

E.F.B.

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Whoa, C-writers, where IS everybody??!! (and yes, I realize I owe $0.25 per exclamation point -- put it on my tab).
:hi: I'm just sitting here trying to get over this annoying cold that's making me sniffle, sneeze and want to sleep all day.

What are you working on?
Untitled Fantasy #1

What should you be working on and aren't?
The last of this week's college algebra assignments. They're not due till Monday night, but I should be working on them anyway.
Recent successes, recent insights, recent boo-hoos?

I miss you people!
Successes: I got an idea for a new story earlier this month. (the "Vague Untitled Concept #1 in my sig) I consider that a success because I was starting to think I'd have nothing but the Untitled Fantasy to work on forever!

Recent insights: I was having a crisis of writing confidence last week and the SF/F Cantina people gave me some good advice about experimenting with the way I write to see if I can find a way that works better than what I was doing before. I think I'm going to start writing everyday and try writing in order instead of skipping around. Even if it's only a few sentences at a time, it's more that what I had when I wasn't writing everyday.

Recent boo-hoos: Note that aforementioned crisis of confidence. I'm mostly over it, but I'm still fighting my perfectionist tendencies which keep me from getting the ideas out of my head without nit-picking until all progress comes to a stand-still.
 

heyjude

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Hi Deb!

I've got two kids in two different schools (I drive them, and the commute is about 4 hours a day total), my boss quit earlier this year and I got some of his job, the church is adding a second service, and the youth pastor and I added a ministry for tweens.

No time for breathing, much less writing. Some day!
 

Carrie in PA

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Can't I just call off work today???? I wrote 300 words already (yay!) but now I have to put it away and go to work (boo!).

My MC's father has dementia and PTSD, and right now he's convinced himself that his granddaughter (13yo that was just dropped off on their doorstep by his selfish other daughter so she could run off with a new man) is actually his estranged wife... the granddaughter is the spitting image, so it's really messing with his mind. And believe me, this guy does not need anything else messing with his mind!!!!
 

Carrie in PA

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Whoa, that sounds both interesting and edgy, Carrie. What's your plan to get it to reader once it's done?

Thanks! I'm really excited about it. This is Book 3 in a series, so my plan is to write the snot out of this one for NaNo, and come Dec 1, get back to serious edits on Book 1. I want to start shopping for agents/traditional pubs by Feb/March. I'm open to self-pubbing, but honestly only as a last resort, because I don't want to have to handle the business end of it if I don't have to. We'll see how far I get and/or how frustrated. LOL
 

Deb Kinnard

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Oh, my. Well, it's a new day, and a writer always has to handle at least some of the business end of the game. Even with a trade contract, you'll be expected to do virtually all the promo. Many, if not most, houses will have no marketing budget. You'll be expected to get the word out there about your book totally on your own or hire your own publicist. In many cases, an agent may or may not push your book out as assertively as you would like, and once you have a deal, may or may not be there for you whilst taking 15% for the life of the deal.

I wish you the very best, but it's best to be practical and informed on what the industry once looked like vis-à-vis what it is right now.
 

DanaeMcB

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Hello, I'm taking the liberty of pulling this thread off the second page. I'm fairly new to AW forums and just started wondering if there was a spot where Christian authors were gathering for encouragement and Christian-related discussions. I write mainly young adult fiction, trying to honor God but not usually aiming for the "Inspirational" shelf.

I'm finishing the third draft of what I hope will be my debut novel, if I can interest a good agent and he/she can find a publisher who believes in it.

Glad to have found this forum! :)
 

Deb Kinnard

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Congrats, John! May you have many, many sales.

In related news, my ex-Sheaf House book, SEASONS IN THE MIST, and its two unpublished sequels, SEASONS OF RECKONING and SEASONS OF HOPE, will be coming out in the next 18 months, through Desert Breeze Publishing.

Welcome, Danae. Many of us don't aim our work at the CBA (or not anymore). We do encourage each other but sometimes we get so busy writing, we forget the forum for a while!
 

Calla Lily

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Congrats, John and Deb!

Welcome, Danae!

I have 2 pieces of good news to share: My dystopian horror, The Redeemers, released last week under the pen name of Kate Morgan. 9 years and 4 complete rewrites in the making!

And Booklist gave Second to Nun a very nice review. I had to read it, since my editor sent it to me. But I survived! *whew*
 

heyjude

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Welcome, Danae!

Good to see the thread resurrected and all the good writerly news!