Has it really been a month?!

TIME HAS FLOWN!

It's been a whole month since my last post and so much has happened. Too much to list, really. Needless to say, I'm glad I made it through the end of 2007 unscathed and have limped into 2008. Limped literally. But I'm resting up and recharging my batteries (taking my vitamins and getting plenty of daytime sleep.)

Now it's time to set a few goals for 2008. Let's see....

• Renew my memberships to RWA and VRW.
• Wrap up CHBLY and tackle two new manuscripts.
• Get out of the house more. It's become my cave of sorts.
• Build an author's website for myself, hopefully to coincide with a sale.
• Post to this blog at least twice a week. I've been a real slacker!
• Log in more critique time especially on RAH and RWC critique groups where I am a moderator.
• And take a real vacation, someplace away from Richmond.

Kudos to all my writing friends who have set their 2008 goals!

AJ

2007 Goals Revisited

I'll take this moment to revisit my 2007 goals and evaluate how I did for the year.



Completing one or two full manuscripts

I'm almost done with Can't Help But Love You, the one I've been working on for months and months and did start another one, Can't Get Enough, at the beginning of the year. They both should definitely be completed in 2008.


Find an agent

I don't feel comfortable making queries until I've completed something. I have to prove to myself that I can finish.



Participate in writing contests

I entered Can't Help But Love You in to VRW's Fool for Love First Chapter Contest and came in second place. First time entrant, first time finalist! Hot damn!!


Educate myself on marketing and promotional tactics

With the help of my critique partner, Denise, and the ladies in Mavens, I been receiving little nuggets of wisdom but having fully researched the tactics.


Renew my membership to RWA and Virginia Writing Group

Done. I'm a member of both.


Submit my finished manuscript to publishers

I've gotta finish the darn things!



Buy a laptop or Alphasmart (Dana)

My youngest brother, Michael, who is deployed in Iraq but will be home for Christmas, purchased a Dell laptop for me and my daughter (she insists that it's her birthday and Christmas present) and had it delivered this week. We are truly excited and grateful! Now I can type away from home and take a break from my office desk and the Internet. She wants me to get a wireless router for the house but I think that'll defeat my purposes.



I'll set 2008 by the end of the month.

The Results are in....

Can't Help But Love You placed second in the Virginia Romance Writers Fool for Love First Chapter Contest. To see my name in lights, click here.

Needless to say, I am thrilled! I was so excited to be a finalist but to know that I placed second on my first contest submission on my first manuscript....Let's just say that I am over the moon. Over the next few weeks I plan to FINISH the manuscript and start on my edits. Then it's on to working on a synopsis and query letter to agents and publishers.

Wow! What a way to hit one of my goals!

A Tiny Bit of Success

Guess what?

I received a good news phone call last week announcing that my first chapter of "Can't Help But Love You" had placed as one of three finalists in the long contemporary category of Virginia Romance Writers' "Fool for Love" First Chapter Contest. Talk about excited! I was on cloud nine. This was my first ever submission to a contest and to have a tiny bit of success felt awesome.

To see my name in "lights" check out the link below.

http://www.virginiaromancewriters.com/Contests/fflwinners.html

Now I'm so motivated that I've already come up with a tentative name for my next project, "Do You Dream About Me?"

What do you think about a question as a title?

One of my crit partners, Denise "Chicki Brown" Jones uses a question as the title for one of her WIPs, "Have You Seen Her?"

AJ

Well I Did it!

Yippee! I submitted my first chapter of Can't Help But Love You to a contest and just got confirmation that it was received. Now I can check that goal off my 2007 Goals list. Wish me luck!

This week, I'm back to writing and critiquing. What are you working on this week?

Oops! My Bad....

Some of my friends assumed from reading my last post that I'd finished Can't Help But Love You. But alas, I haven't! I'm still plugging away and trying to keep my end of the month deadline.

Please keep your fingers crossed and I'll keep my fingers flying.

30 Days and Counting

Enough is enough!

It's been two years and I am quite sick of Kelis and Paxton. That's why I am setting a goal to finish their story, Can't Help But Love You, by the end of this month. I am so ready to move on to its sequel, Can't Get Enough, Briallen and Nathan's story.

I mean, how long should a long contemporary take to write? Certainly not two darn years. Throughout this two-year odyssey, I've gotten so much advice to not worry about the rules and just write. Advice I've had a difficult time following because I am such a perfectionist and worry-wart.

Well enough of the pity-party! Perfecting the story will occur during the editing process. Now my nose if to the grindstone.

A New Year is Coming

• 2007 is around the corner! I can't believe how fast 2006 went by. I thought I'd have my first WIP completed, but unfortunately I got stuck in the middle of the story and haven't made much progress in weeks. My critique pal, Denise "Chicki" Jones, has inspired me to really sit down and set goals for the coming year. With goals written down and in my face to inspire me on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, I hope to make some inroads with my writing and submissions this year.
  
  Some of Denise's ideas that I think I'll adopt for myself are:
  
  Completing one or two full manuscripts,
• Find an agent,
  Participate in writing contests,
• Educate myself on marketing and promotional tactics,
• Renew my membership to RWA and Virginia Writing Group,
• Submit my finished manuscript to publishers, and
• Buy a laptop or Alphasmart (Dana).

Facing these goals in a list is daunting. But challenge is good! Thanks Denise!