Er, yeah. So I missed posting on Day 24.

Thanksgiving was good. Do hope to get the other half of the Thanksgiving list up this weekend :).

Today, I went to Panera. The 10yo went with me and wrote about 1300 words today. In about 3 hours. By then I had a bit over 1500 words.

I finished at Panera with 10008 words! Over 38K!!!

Have done a bit more since I got home. Was hoping to get to 40K before going to bed, but it may not happen. Have written another almost 600 since then.

Characters took an unexpected turn. But a good one. Think it makes things work even better. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I have to write on spec – synopses before writing the book. I never, ever would have anticipated this turn ahead of time.

Okay – back to it :).

I meant to post last night but cleaning took way longer than expected [doesn’t it always? especially since, with my back, I can only work so long and do so much before I have to break] and while I did get a bit over 650 words in, it wasn’t near as much as I’d hoped for and even though I was up till 1:30 to put the turkeys in the crock pots, I didn’t get this written.

So this is yesterday’s post. Those 650 words took me past 27K. I’m thankful for that ;). But I’m going to do the whole month – so 30 things I’m thankful for. This is the first half. Theoretically, I’ll post the 2nd half later today :D.

So… The First Day of Thanksgiving…

1. My Lord and Savior – this should go without saying, but I must say it. New mercies every morning. Thank you God for that!
2. My husband – he’s amazing! Works hard, loves me and the kids, is great at what he does, a great friend, a wonderful father, and a fabulous husband. Plus he helps clean.
3. Maggie – she’s 10 which is a bit scary, but she is an amazing girl-turning-woman. She loves to write and she’s a good helper.
4. Abbie – my tender-hearted one. At 8, she’s so sweet and loving. And helps take good care of her little brother and sister.
5. Emily – age 6. Wonderful, tenacious, precocious. Scared of nothing. The miracle baby they told us we’d lost. Stubborn to a fault but so sweet.
6. Christopher – age 4. Another miracle. Four years ago today, we were in the hospital as he recovered from surgery to fix his esophageal sphincter. [That’s the valve between your stomach and esophagus.] Sixty years ago, the surgery didn’t exist and he would have slowly starved to death no matter what we tried because he couldn’t keep food down. Plus 15 months ago, he stopped breathing but started again. He’s so sweet and loves to hug and cuddle – right before he goes all MMA on you.
7. The rest of my family – family of origin, extended family, in-laws, extended in-laws – without them, I wouldn’t be me.
8. My job – I teach part-time at a community college. It affords me the best of both worlds. I can stay home with my kids most of the time but still talk to grown ups.
9. My church – I have a wonderful church family who are like family.
10. My friends – amazing friends who drop everything to spend several late night hours at the hospital with us when a kiddo stops breathing or spend a week staying at our house so I can go on a trip with Matt for virtually free or are there when I need a shoulder to cry on or someone to celebrate with.
11. My writer friends – Yes – they deserve their own category, separate from non-writer friends. My writer friends will understand that. Because they understand the voices in my head don’t mean I’m schizophrenic. They know how hard it can be to make characters do what you want them to do. And how much it means sometimes when you write a hundred words. Or when you have a 10K day. They cheer with you for every agent signed or contract awarded. Even if at the same time they’re crying just a bit because they just got a rejection. And they’ll share the weight of that rejection with you.
12. Authors – separate from my writer friends, though many of them are published authors as well. But without the authors, there would be no books. And I love books.
13. Parachute blankets – I think they’re actually called poncho liners, but we’ve always called them camo blankets. Military issue that are cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And comfy.
14. Internet – without the Internet, I wouldn’t have met many of the amazing people in my life, even those nearby who I’ve met in person a number of times. Keeping in touch with friends and family or making new friends, researching or just goofing off, I’m thankful for Internet access.
15. Facebook – because of Facebook, I’ve reconnected with so, so many friends and family I wouldn’t have otherwise. I can’t begin to count how many cousins [beyond my 3 first cousins] I’ve gotten to know through Facebook. [Okay – I can count… there’s over 20 family members on Facebook]. We had a big all school reunion about 18mos ago where I got to see friends I hadn’t seen since I moved almost 17 years ago at that point. I’ve gotten to know favorite authors, new friends and old friends. So, yes, I’m thankful for Facebook.

There you go. Half my thankful list. Hope to get the rest done tonight, but now, I’ve got to finish a few things to get the house ready, hop in the shower and then peel a million potatoes.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Yay! I’m off for a week! I do have about 20 minutes worth of school work to do between now and next Tuesday, but otherwise I’m home with family, friends and fictional characters.

Thanks to the brainstorming with Joanna last night [and a bit more tonight], I made some real progress. 1220 words takes me to a total of 26413. The 20Ks are always hard for me, I’ve realized, but once I get through that it seems to flow again. We’ll see what I can get done tomorrow.

With Thanksgiving on Thursday, tomorrow is a big cleaning day. The kids helped me clean some today and will help more tomorrow. I’ll be up late because the turkey needs to go in about 130 am [as best I can tell – about 9-10 hours for a turkey breast in the crock pot], so rather than going to bed at midnight and wake up at 130 to put them on, it seems likely I’ll just stay up and write.

Naturally, my most productive, most creative time of day is about 9 or 10 at night until 1 or 2 in the morning. The problem with that? When the alarm goes off no later than 645 and you’re one of those people who needs 8-9 hours of sleep.

And on that note… it’s bedtime ;).

Guest post by Delia Latham

The Amish are known for their quiet, unassuming manner. Their love of all things peaceful…and shunning of competitive pastimes.

Well. I’m afraid that all flew out the window in the COTT Clash featuring Amish fiction. It was a fight to the finish…. a nose-to-nose race…a no-holds-barred dash to the finish line!

Contestants were:

Both authors hit the ground running with sizzling teasers that presented a definite challenge to our readers. Both were super-fantastic! Both offered a tantalizing glimpse into an amazing read.

But only one of these fabulous excerpts could take the win.

When at last the dust died down…the crowd silenced in expectation…and the winner stood revealed…

The choice was not an easy one, as our readers made perfectly clear in their comments:

“Both of these excerpts are immediately engaging—I think I’d like to read both books!”

“Both excerpts are winners. Can’t wait to read them.”

“I enjoy the Clash of the Titles!! Each author is fantastic!! And such a great place to hear of new authors that perhaps you haven’t read before. Good luck!”

“I love to read stories of the Amish. Thank you for your hard work.”

“The authors who write Amish fiction are doing a great job keeping true to the Amish ways while holding the reader’s interest with wonderful story lines over and over again.”

Heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to both Suzanne and Laura. I wish we could call it a tie and put both in the winner’s slot, because both authors truly are winners.

Not much writing today but have been brainstorming with friend Joanna Davidson. She’s helping me get back on track with the rom com part of romantic dramedy. The drama part I was already having success with ;).

So about 183 words [for 25193 total] but feeling much, much better about the overall plot than I have in days :D. No races tonight either, but I finished reading the last of my Poli Sci book. Have a tiny bit of work to do tomorrow for school stuff but should be able to write the whole time I’m there but not actually in class. Looking forward to that. Here’s looking for a great day! And races tomorrow with Jess [because Kristy is already done… :p].

But before then, two things:

Thanks, Joanna!!!!

And, good night!

Barely, but I did pass it!!!!

I am feeling a bit discouraged though I think it’s normal for both me and many writers at this point. I’m looking at my plot and thinking “How, on God’s green earth, am I going to get another 50 THOUSAND words out of this plot and these characters?! What was I THINKING?!”

Some other stuff discouraging me too – the headache probably isn’t helping 😉 – but mostly it’s looking at this and wondering where the other 50K is going to come from. Especially since the 25K isn’t all that great and a bunch of it is going to need to be revamped completely. And in the revamping, I’ll probably lose more words than I gain.

Ah well. I’ll keep plugging on and slogging through and pray that God will give me the words. Whether now, or later. This book or another. Because I know this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I can feel it in my soul.

But right now, I think my body is saying it’s bedtime ;).

Today’s stats… 1992 words for the day, 25010 total

YAY! Good day today! Had our monthly MozArks meeting! Tracey Bateman was our very special guest. Had a wonderful time chatting and learning from one of the very early members of ACFW.

Plus there were books.

Stayed at Panera until closing. Didn’t get as much done as I wanted but did get about 2300 written there. Another 700ish after getting home and I’m at 3015 for the day and 23018 for the month. Getting closer ;). If NaNo was still Saturday, I’d be 8655 words behind. But it’s already flipped over to Sunday… Here’s hoping to another good writing day tomorrow!

And word wars with Jessica. Because we both had great success when we did that last night.

But now… tis bedtime. Except 50 First Dates is on and I want to watch the end of it. Never mind that we have it on DVD and could watch it sans commericial interruptions if I’d just get the DVD out…

I’ve been meaning to post a snippet of CANDID Romance Book 1 so here it is. Keep in mind this is the very first, very rough draft. So…

Here’s a snippet of Jeremiah – who may or may not be half of a couple sometime soon ;).

Her eyes were the color of the clearest Caribbean sea. They reminded him of the time he’d taken his son and daughter to the Caymans for Christmas. The one year their mother had let him do such a thing. Mostly because she’d been taken with some new boyfriend. It was the last vacation he’d taken with his kids. One of the last times he’d seen them before…

But now, the bottomless depths of her eyes were beckoning to him. A man could drown in those eyes.

If only she weren’t pointing a gun at his head.

I banged the back of my head against the couch. This wasn’t working. The heroine’s eyes weren’t blue, for starters. They were a dull gray. Where had the whole “clearest Caribbean sea” come from?

My eyes closed as I tried to figure it out.

And it hit me.

The girl from the CANDID meeting. What was her name? I couldn’t remember. All I knew for sure about her was that she was gorgeous and had… I groaned as the thought ran through my head. Eyes the color of the clearest Caribbean sea. Eyes a man could drown in.

With a deep sigh, I highlighted the last few paragraphs and hit delete with a vicious tap. This was going nowhere fast. Maybe a run would help clear my head and get Cayman out of my mind.

Cayman? I shook my head at myself. “Giving a random girl a nickname. Nice,” I muttered. “What’s next? Doodling her name on your notebook? Except you don’t remember her name and looking it up would be a bit too stalkerish. Especially after…” I stopped myself from mentioning the incident that had sent me looking for a new place to live. Remembering it was something better left undone.

Mere minutes ago, I passed through the 20K mark for this manuscript and NaNoWriMo.

What did I do to celebrate?

Stop.

I’m exhausted after being up with the sick 10yo at 130 [even if it was only for a few minutes], then she joined us in our room about 6. The 4/6yos were up at 610 and though they were playing nicely together, they were LOUD!

But we got a new filter from Lowe’s so the ice/water in the freezer will taste good again. And picked up a few things at Walmart. After that and except for a trip to Chick-fil-A for dinner, I’ve been writing almost all day.

I hit 4412 for the day which takes me to just over 20K for the month. Tomorrow should be another big day.

First, house cleaning.

Second, MozArks ACFW meeting with special guest, Tracey Bateman.

Third, my very own write-in, write-a-thon.

Tonight, Jessica and I did word wars and they were very effective. Maybe again tomorrow night.

If I can keep my eyes open that long…

I think I managed about 50 words today – something in that range anyway. And it’s all I’m gonna get. I’m ready for bed ;).

But I did link up the new beginning/road trip to the original train trip. At least some. So some shuffling going on but mostly, it’s just been a mind-numbing day with no writing. I need sleep for that and didn’t get nearly enough last night. Such is the way it goes. Plus I had a sick 10yo who caused me to need to leave school early – and pick up the 4yo long before naptime at preschool. And he didn’t take a nap at home. And was cranky. Very. Very. Cranky.

Oh that he would have slept so I could too.

Ah well! They’re all sleeping now. 10yo is staying home tomorrow but she’s fun to have around – and easy to work around when she’s here unless she absolutely needs me.

And now… bedtime, dear friends! Thank you for your support – I can’t tell you what it means to me.

And tomorrow – I hope to revive Flash Fiction Friday and if so will post a bit of the as-yet-without-a-working-title Book 1 of CANDID Romance :).

Well, as I said earlier, NaBloPoMo isn’t happening now :(. Missed yesterday and you HAVE to post everyday for it to count… Ah well. I’m still planning to finish out the month…

Today was the final dentist appointment for the 6yo. She hung out at home all day because the anesthesia stuff takes a while to wear off. After we picked up little brother from school, we hit the local movie place that has free kids’ movies and grabbed 3 – including one she’d been asking to rent for a while. After lunch, they went to watch it while I wrote.

Good day today! Was hoping for 3-3500 but I’ll settle for my 2355. That takes me to 15524 for the month and moves my ‘anticipated finish’ date on the NaNoWriMo website to before Christmas ;). Also lowered the number of words I need per day to finish on time. By about six words. If I pull those extra six then I’ll be a bit over 50K by the time it’s all said and done :D.

The new beginning is working out well. Right now, there’s a bunch of stuff that would end up being cut I think. It helps me to know the characters better and helps them to know each other better but would likely be a time where ‘telling’ would be better than ‘showing’ because… let’s face it… who wants to read about driving through South Center and SE Missouri and through big chunks of Tennessee – at least if you’re not stopping to see interesting things.

Speaking of interesting… I have a cousin I’ve never met. I think we’re second cousins but don’t hold me to that – our grandmas were sisters. She lives in TN. And my book is partially set in Nashville. So we’re thinking we need a girls weekend in Music City.

For research.

Of course.

And in or near Nashville resides writer friend Kaye Dacus as well as a friend I went to high school with and another friend from church in high school who spent a number of years in the mission field in China with her family. They’ve since returned to the States and live in the area. Gosh. That would be fun. Dunno when or how it could happen though. Not at the moment…

And other things that probably won’t happen soon… LOST Retreat with fellow authors [HA! Would you believe I typed ‘others’ there?!] Jess Keller and Kristy Cambron. But oh. Wouldn’t that be fun?!  A couple of days devoted to watching eps. Word wars in between. And laughs galore, I’m sure! Those ladies are fun! I had a chance to chat with Jess [though not nearly long enough] at conference [I hadn’t met Debbie Archer – my amazing crit partner yet and she walked up as I was talking to Jessica and we saw each other a few more times but never had a chance to really sit and chat :(]. And I’m fairly certain I *met* Kristy at conference, but goodness. Most of the people I didn’t already have some connection with have disappeared into the fog. I’m so looking forward to next year when I can say “KRISTY!” and give her a big hug.

If I don’t scare her off before then ;).

Or we don’t manage that LOST retreat. But let’s face it… the likelihood is slim. That’s okay. We’ll have to have a LOST-a-thon one night in Dallas next year. We’ll make it through about 2 eps before we all fall over from exhaustion ;).

Like I’m about to do. After writing, I finished grading one set of tests, graded two sets of unit assignments and another whole set of tests. And I’m about to crash.

So adios! Thank you again, to all of you, for your support! It means more than you know!

Edit: Jessica and Kristy both list “running” on the list of things they like to do. I may have to rethink this whole thing… 😉