Monday, October 31, 2011

Decisions, Decisions

Believe in yourself.  After that, everything is easier. ~ Larry P ~

Last January when I wrote out my goals for the year I listed taking part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and attempting to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. It's the last day of October and I'm still somewhat on the fence about whether to participate.

Or am I?

On Friday night I officially registered at the NaNoWriMo website.  I started plotting a book (the fifth, and last, I think, of the cowboy books).  I've caught up on cleaning projects.  I pre-planned several blog posts.  I cooked and froze some meals so that I won't have to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.  My schedule is cleared.

So, why the reluctance to commit?  Isn't that a guy thing? 

Maybe it's a fear of failing or the fear of success--another rough draft on my list of not-quite-finished manuscripts that I want, really want, to complete. 

I'm eager to start a new project.  That's one of the most fun things about writing. 

So why not just do it, you big chicken? 

Okay, okay, I'm in.  Come Tuesday, right after I take my daily walk, I'll be at the computer, making the magic happen again.

Just to prove I'm serious, I'll share the back cover blub I wrote for this story, Take Me Home, last March:

He's the perfect man 

Witty, urbane, handsome and rich as Croesus, big-time sports agent Shadow Markham is a man's man and a woman's dream. 

She's a hardworking woman  

She's shaken the dust of ranch life off her shoes.  Lindsay Palmer is ready for the bright lights and big city diversions of Denver but she never dreamed her boss would be the main attraction.  Or that he'd drag her screaming and kicking her Jimmy Choos all the way back to the country.

Or that she'd want to stay there, forever, as long as he was there.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy writing! 

Friday, October 28, 2011

Why I Love Fall

In addition to being able to write outside, there are a couple more reasons I love fall.

Here's one:

After a couple days of rain my roses decided to bud.

There's still one to go and I'm looking forward to seeing it.  We've got some rain scheduled for this weekend and I wonder if there will be a repeat show.

Flowers always inspire me.

So do mild temperatures, gentle sunshine and the friend I had lunch with today.

Of course, most everything inspires me, except mosquitoes, and dang, if we don't have a bunch of those this year.  Maybe if they'd leave me alone I'd have time to clean the moss off the flower beds!  That does not inspire me!!! 

Happy writing.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Begin at the Beginning

Gosford, Texas, five miles, the sign read.

Tucker Richmond eyed the barren landscape and laughed. “More like godforsaken, if you ask me.”

A hazy recollection hit like the ground rising up after a bad toss from a rank bull.

Godforsaken. His bruised and battered memory replayed the moment; sweet, feminine laughter accompanied by the music of birdsong and a kiss as brief as the rippling of a swiftly moving stream.

Then, fast as it came, it disappeared.

All but the phantom ache of a broken heart.

He laid his hand atop his chest, reassured by the measured beating he felt there. “Still alive, old buddy,” he told himself. “Head as empty as a rain barrel in a drought, but still alive.”

The exit came up fast, but not as a surprise. He’d been heading for it for days—-even before he’d left home, it seemed. Toward a girl named Shea Osborne. A ranch named the Busted Heart. Memories of a life no longer his.

He bore to the right.

This is the opening page of Married in :08 (that’s eight seconds, for all you city slickers). It’s the first of the cowboy books, or cowgirl books, I guess I should say, as the series is titled The Cowgirls of Gosford.

Tucker is a rodeo man, a bull rider who’s sidelined for the time being as he recovers from the accident that took away his memory. He travels from Oklahoma to Gosford, Texas to find Shea Osborne, the girl his parents say was the love of his life. He doesn’t expect to find a beautiful woman who has moved on from her childish fancies of love to raise twin five year-olds who look suspiciously like him.

This is the writer’s lot: we find stories and characters we fall in love with. Sometimes the writing goes well and editors fall in love with those stories and characters, sometimes something is missing.

My goal is to finding the missing parts, one word at a time. I know I can do it because I love writing, I love Shea and Tucker, and I believe in happy endings. I hope you'll stick with me because you do, too.
Happy writing!





Monday, October 3, 2011

Finally Fall!

I finally got the cool(er) weather I was hoping and I've moved my study to the porch.


There's my little computer, my calendar and the printed manuscript of "Married in :08" which is my new (or should I say, ongoing)  project, along with my neighbor's lovely fence.

 "Married" is the first in the series of cowboy books.  It's the story I love the most and has always been a thorn in my side because I just can't seem to get it to be the book I know it can be. 

The characters, Shea Osborne and Tucker Richmond, are wonderful, but their story is a train wreck (there, I said it).  But, there cannot be a series without a lead story, and "Married" is it.  Sooo, from now on, until my fingers fall off--now there's an image to go to sleep on--I will work on it every day until it's finished. 

And I mean, finished for the last time, because goodness knows I've thought it was finished a dozen times before. 

Tucker and Shea deserve their happy ending and I'm determined to give them one.  Not to mention their children, Brandon and Brianna, who have been stuck at age five for lo these many years, unable to grow up. Now that's a noble goal if there ever was one.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.  Happy writing!