IS THAT NORMAL?

Welcome Misha! Thank you for following my blog. You made my crazy day exciting.

I am hiding from my first novel. Why? Well, I realized that I have 6 drafts (only 3 are printed out) of my first novel. Is that normal? I don't think so. I keep rewriting and then editing it. And after page 200 I stopped reading. Because once again I started changing it. I refuse to have a 7Th draft. At what point will I stop? The scary thing is that I don't know!

I was considering having my brother read my book. I never let him read it before because he is super critical. As part of his job he has to review scientific articles and let me tell you...After he is done the pages look as if it has been colored in by a two year old. He can find a error amongst thousands of words. Why use him you ask? Because if I can get him to like my work then I know I have some talent. And trust me, he won't spare my feelings. He used to edit my assignments for college and he always made me redo them at least twice. Only problem is that he might see me differently. Let's just say some of the content is a bit too graphic for his liking.

Just out of curiosity, how many drafts do you have of your novel? Do you perhaps have more than 6?

OVER THE RAINBOW

Welcome Shelly and thank you for joining my blog. It does my confidence a world of good. Much appreciated.

I am really happy writing wise. I am getting a few good ideas for my current writing project and I am surprised with how far I allowed myself to think out of the box. I forced myself to think past my conservative nature and just let loose. I am also making a lot more friends, which I am very happy about.

I also posted my page 99 on http://page99test.com/. I got back one review and the lady said she would turn the page, meaning she would like to read more. Basically how it works: your page 99 is posted anonymously and people can comment. Only after they have left you a comment can they see details like the name of your novel or whether you are published or not. I feel really bad because they give you the option to read someone else's page 99 and I didn't like one and voted ''will not turn the page'', only to find out that the author was already published. So I stopped reading other page 99's. I wouldn't like it if people kept telling me they wouldn't turn the page.

Everyday I am inspired by the posts of other bloggers and I just can't help but feel hopeful. I can't help but wake up in the morning with the crazy passion to write.

SO NOT READY FOR ROUND TWO

I am extremely nervous at the moment. Why you ask? Well, I am starting another new job (yes it too is temporary) tomorrow. But...it is the same job I did last year, at exactly the same company. Anyway, I will be helping out in the wine cellar during the harvest time.

That's not so bad you say? Well it gets really crazy and hectic and I will be working with a lot of the same people, but that could be a challenge. Only difference this time is that there is a new winemaker as well as assistant winemaker. What makes that bad is that winemakers have diva mentalities and last years winemaker really got to me. She made my 5 months at the cellar absolute hell.

So now I guess you could say I am going in for round two. Which I don't feel ready for. I already got a heads up from someone telling me that it is absolutely chaotic there. Last year I was still working on the editing of my first novel and I had been so tired from running around the whole day that for the 5 months I worked there, I didn't do much writing or editing. And you know what the funny part is? I am still working on making my first novel the best that it can be. I just hope I don't neglect it the way I did last year.

I guess I am afraid of my extreme emotional state affecting my writing. It is the one thing I do that allows me to feel as if the harsh reality of the world can't touch me. When I am in my fantasy world I make people come alive. I can have my characters do what I myself can't or let them live the lives most of us can only dream of.

HOME SWEET HOME

Yes, you guessed it. I am back from my holiday and to be quite honest, I feel even more tired now then when I first left. I will need a holiday from my holiday. Just joking.

Welcome and thank you to Arlee Bird, Lisa Potts and Jeffrey Beesler for following my blog. It is nice to make new friends and it makes me smile uncontrollably. Thank you.

Holiday was ok, but I missed everything about my hometown. Living by the beach is just not for me ( I am crazy, I know!), but after day two I was ready to come home. I didn't do anything besides eat, sleep and go for an occasional walk. I couldn't write there at all. I did write something...an erotica styled scene, which is useless seeing that I don't write erotica.

But as I walked into my house inspiration struck and here I am at the computer. I have a few ideas I want to get down.

I hope all was well with everybody.

OFF ON HOLIDAY!

I am all packed and ready for my holiday. I will be back Friday evening, so I won't be writing any blog posts till then.

Happy Writing!

A to Z BLOGGING CHALLENGE IN APRIL 2011

I am so excited. This is the first time that I will be participating in a blogfest! It is a big challenge but I will try my best to pull it off. Thank you Heather for inviting me. I really appreciate it.
Please, feel free to come join me and fellow bloggers during the month of April to participate in this fun (hopefully) and exciting challenge! Just be sure to sign up before April. Good Luck to everyone and hope to see you there!



http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/

How does the Challenge work?

The premise of the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge is to post something on your blog every day in April except for Sundays. In doing this you will have 26 blog posts--one for each letter of the alphabet. Each day you will theme your post according to a letter of the alphabet.

You will only be limited by your own imagination in this challenge. There is an unlimited universe of possibilities. You can post essays, short pieces of fiction, poetry, recipes, travel sketches, or anything else you would like to write about. You don't have to be a writer to do this. You can post photos, including samples of your own art or craftwork. Everyone who blogs can post from A to Z.

I AM FREE!

I have finally finished my job at the college and I guess it's no secret that I am very happy about it. I am just not the kind of person to work as a receptionist. I don't have the personality for it. Stick me in a office with lots of paperwork and tons of data capturing and I am happy. I suppose that's why I love writing. In the end it's just me and the computer and at times even blank pages. Writing can be a very solitary thing and that's what I love about it, but I also blog, therefore I get to interact with other writers and that makes me feel hopeful. It let's me know that I am not the only one out there.

Next week I am going on a week long holiday by the beach. I am looking forward to it. I can hardly wait. I am not taking a computer with me so I will be writing most of my stories freehand.

I finally got my novel bellow the 100 000 word mark! I am very chuffed about that. I was surprised how many times I used certain words over and over. I am reading through it again to make sure it still makes sense and that I didn't change too much of the original storyline which I love. I am also on the look out for more things I can cut from the manuscript. I am yet to rewrite my query letters. I am trying to find a better hook. I am also redoing the synopsis. This time I will be doing a long and short version. I didn't do a long version of my synopsis before because I couldn't make it sound good. So I am working on it.

I was thinking of entering a blog hop the other day but in the end I chickened out. I was so afraid to let more people read my blog posts and writing. I lack confidence in the writing department. Having people read my blogs as it is now doesn't bother me because I know almost nobody reads it. But when I would be part of a blog hop and people do read my stuff and hate it, well, there would be no hiding then.