Edit Me

No writing progress so far this week, but I did get some editing done. Yay me.

I was naughty - I spent my time reading Ilona Andrew's new book, Magic Bleeds. It was completely worth the guilt. Loved it!

What have you guys been reading and what are you looking forward to?

Roller Coaster O' Writing

Inconsistent is an understatement when it comes to my writing habits lately. Last week I was a good little writer-monkey. No, that doesn't mean that I threw poo at my characters. I worked on my writing in one form or another every day last week. Whether it was new stuff, editing, plotting or research, I felt like I was moving forward.

This week?

Not at all. I need to go back and input my 2nd critique partner's suggestions for my SF novel, modify some scenes in the SF novel based on some other recent feedback, fix up a short story for a contest entry, and countless other things. I just can't seem to make myself DO it. Sigh.

Instead of whining about this, I think I'll go and actually work on some of those things... if I can make myself do it. I think I need a snack first. And maybe a drink. And I should go over that new recipe I'm going to try for dinner tonight to make sure I have everything. And I need to find some removable stickers to assign yard sale prices. Gotta get a birthday gift for a party this weekend too. Did I ever start that load of laundry this morning? Better go check that. And - Gah! This is how's been lately. I'm pathetic.

Send strong writing thoughts my way. I need them.

Magic Bleeds Contests

Yep - Gordon and Ilona Andrews are running a contest to win 1 of 10 signed copies of Magic Bleeds before you can buy it. Go hit the Magic Bleeds contest. You have until 10 am PST tomorrow I think.

What are you still doing here? Go.

If you're still here, you must want another chance. Lurv a la Mode is giving away another copy of Magic Bleeds and has a review here. This one's good until Sat. May 15 midnight.

Cherry-Picking Much? And Contests Links

I feel like I've been snatching bits and pieces of particulars for my novels from lots of different sources lately - things I liked from other books, friends, our recent vacation, family, random encounters with strangers, etc. In essence, I've been cherry-picking little things from here and there and hoping I can smash them into a usable whole.

In the past, I might have been inspired by something, but it would usually be something big. Recently it's just been tons of little things and I've been diligently writing them down in the hopes that they'll be useful later. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

BTW, don't forget to stop over at the Knight Agency blog if you're interested in walking away with their Gena Showalter Take-Home Tuesday book.

And, go check out excerpts and contest deets for Rob Thurman's upcoming release, Chimera.

TBR app for your iPhone/iTouch

For those of you who enjoy the romance reviews given by Smart Bitches and Dear Author, it's like Christmas in May! They've joined up to create an app for your iPhone/iTouch called TBR (To Be Read) because so many of us have a TBR stack or want to know what to add to it. What are the latest books out and what kinds of reviews are they getting? This app is designed for that. Oh, and it even includes free reads. Need I say more? I think not.

Go check out the TBR app here. Now, if only they could get it on the Android platform...

God of Fluffy Clouds?

I need opinions. I've been working on my religious system for the dark fantasy WIP (work in progress) and am in a quandary: DO I NEED A SKY DEITY?!?!?!?

I've got the following:

• Sun God
• Earth/Nature Deity
• Goddess of Seas

Now, the Sun God also covers Weather in his domain (or portfolio for you RPGers), so after that, what's left in the sky? Clouds, Air, and uh, yeah. Everything else (lightning, wind, rain, etc) could all be covered under Weather.

So my question for you guys is this:

Do I keep my Weather god, or ditch that and have a Sky deity instead? What are your thoughts on this?

(Keep in mind that we're not talking Zeus here where my deities are going to be tagging people with lightning bolts. They're not that demonstrative.)

Now weigh in!

Getting Back Into The Swing of Writing

Okay, so I took an unplanned hiatus from writing. My critique group has been reading through my SciFi novel, and in the meantime, I did nothing but write a small short story. Bleh. I was plotting some stuff in my head and somehow convinced myself that that was enough - I was still progressing.

Then I woke up and realized that it's definitely not enough. I wasn't progressing, because not a single new word had been written. Having it in my head wasn't good enough. So now I've gotten back to trying to write some everyday in between my other commitments, even if I'm not writing much or just writing down plot points or notes.

Anyways, my focus is a dark fantasy I've been considering for a while, but I think I might take the time to get the first chapter or two done on a second SciFi book to follow up the one I just finished. I have plans for a second book, and if I can get the first sold, they might be interested in a second, so it would be good to get a jumping off point written while I've still got their voices strong in my head.

Have you guys had to jerk yourselves back on track recently?