Scripts and the Beach and Flat-Bed Trucks…Oh My!

I have let time slip by AGAIN! And I hate excuses, but I seem to be surprisingly full of them. Let’s leave that all in the past and move forward, shall we?

• April 1st starts Script Fenzy! From April 1-30, you write a complete 100 page script. Brought to us by my NaNoWriMo friends…www.scriptfrenzy.org.

• My sister and family arrive in 2 days for spring break on the beach. I am WAY excited! I haven’t seen her since our Phoenix trip last July and we always have LOADS of fun. Ya know…the kind of fun that makes you want to pee your pants?

• Kurt’s band plays a festival this Saturday, which should be a lot of fun. They play in a parking lot of a restaurant on a flat-bed truck. See, what wouldn’t be fun about that?

Beyond all of that exciting upcoming stuff…I have been diligently passing the time these last few months.
• Finished the first edit on my manuscript and also my agent query letter. Bought the Publishers Marketplace 2009, done research, picked my first agents to submit to….and am now officially scared to death. For some reason, I can’t quite take that next plunge and submit. I know it is because I am petrified. I know there will be a lot of rejections and that this is my one shot at this manuscript with each agent. I just need to get up the courage and DO IT!
• Have been learning the basics of Dreamweaver and working on some family business projects.
• Did a Burlesque/Vaudeville show with the Risque Business troupe. Mad fun! I played the stupid sexy nurse and a blonde actress in a film noir scene. We are scheduled again for another performance the end of April.
• I was appointed to the board of the Showcase Arts Foundation, Inc. – www.showcaseartsfoundation.org. Very cool.
• And many, many other assorted what-nots.

So, that’s it for now!

Faith, Hope, Love-
LA ☺

I Won!!!! I Won!!! I Won!!!!!

I did it! For the past 28 days, I have weathered the storm and completed my very first novel. Un-freaking-believable! I am so excited and am so proud of myself that I actually did it. I have wanted to do this for so long and it has been a dream of mine to be a writer.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) has been the most wonderful thing. Starting on November 1st, I had to start a brand new novel, starting with word number one. I had until midnight November 30th to submit 50,000 words. That meant a pace of 1,667 words a day. And, I even finished it 2 days early!

I am a winner, but that simply means the satisfaction of knowing I did it. I had the dedication and perseverance and completed it. Even a huge procrastinator like me!

I feel absolutely wonderful and can't wait to take a few moments to actually sit back and read my story, something I have not done yet. But I started with an idea and I wrote it from beginning to end.

And I can't start wait to do some edits!!! :)

My next goal is to shop for an agent. I CAN do this!

Faith Hope Love-
LA

Happy Holidays!!! Disco!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Day 14 in NaNoWriMo...New office at work...PLAY THIS WEEKEND!

I am still in the game! Phew! This was the crucial week to determine if I was going to make it or not. The excitement of that first week is over (the honeymoon phase) and the fatigue has set in. Finding the time to squeeze in those precious 1,667 words every day gets tricky (especially after writing almost zero after a crazy weekend). But, I have made it so far. I took extra time on Monday and Tuesday and made up for my lackluster weekend.

I am currently at 21,860 words. This weekend I will be halfway there. And my story actually has a plot and is moving along nicely. I still have a lot of suspenseful twists and turns to add to it. Man this is exciting!

We moved a bunch of offices at work this week. I now share an office (a rather large one) with our in-house copywriter, Nancy. Quite honestly, our new pad is the COOLEST! Woohoo! We are thinking of adding beanbags and a bubble machine. :)

Tonight starts the last weekend of my current play, Italian American Reconciliation. It is a really, really fun play. My part of Janice is so evil (but really she is just misunderstood..heehee) and the whole first act sets up how horrible and mean I am. And then I get to stand on a 4 foot balcony and yell at people. Heehee...what a fun part! I hope we have a huge audience and everyone enjoys it immensely!

Alrighty...TGIF...gotta get some work done.

Peace-
LA

Day 7 in NaNoWriMo

Wow! It is Day 7 already in my newest writing adventure. What a crazy week! Before I elaborate, here are the stats:

NaNoWriMo goal for Day 6 (to finish 50,000 in 3 days): 10,002
My current word count: 10,945

I am 20% of the way there!!! Woohoo!

Thank goodness I had stockpiled some words on the weekend, because I needed that extra padding!! I have at least been able to complete a minimum of 1,000+ a day...but not always the required 1,667.

My play, Italian American Reconciliation, opens tonight. So, every night this week I have been at play practice. And then, after that is when I start my writing. it has been crazy and I am a little bit tired..but MAN...IT IS REWARDING! Over 10,000 words in 6 days???? I am so happy. And it isn't just a rambling of 10,000 words, it actually has a story line! :)

My thought process has the story divided in thirds...so in about another 5,000 words I will make the move to my first story turn...and oooooooo...the last third is going to be REALLY good!!! This first 10,000 has been really easy. It has flowed right out, but I have a feeling that it is going to start getting a little harder.

But, I can do it! :) And in the process, I will dazzle everyone with my theatrical talents (HA!)

Later-
LA :)

Day 2...Still Going Strong!

After my first 48 hours as an official NaNoWriMo novelist...I completed 5,137 words. Yeah! I was hoping to get in another 1200 words so that I could complete 4 days worth of goals (to stockpile for the week), but I felt like going to bed instead. I know, I know...sleep will eventually need to take a back burner as the rest of the month entails.

So far...so good. Even though K has band practice so I am on my own to pick up the girls from school, get dinner and homework completed and then be at play practice from 7-9pm...I still feel confident that I will gt my required 1,667 words in for the day.

:)

50,000 Words in 30 Days!

I am soooo excited because NaNoWriMo started today. Well, actually I started writing at midnight so it seems like it is the 2nd day. Here is the scoop:

National Novel Writing Month - write a 50,000 word (approx. 175 page) novel in 30 days from November 1-30th. Woohoo!

You may be thinking, ARE YOU CRAZY? While the answer is still negotiable, it can be done...even with a full-time job, a busy family and other responsibilities (like, um, the play I am in that opens in 6 days). But the point of this amazing experience is actually setting a goal and a deadline and completing it. As long as I record 50,000 before midnight on November 305y, I win. A prize? Money? A publishing deal? Nope, none of those. But the satisfaction of knowing that I did it. Knowing that if I set my mind to it, I can accomplish it. Even with all of the other crazy and stressful things in my life.

So, my goal for the next 30 days (well...29 now) is Quantity not Quality (editing starts in December). I came up with an idea and started with that. We will just have to see where it goes. It was kind of funny, because I wasn't quite sure which direction I should go in...should I stick with my chick lit genre that I have been writing in? Or do something totally different? Well, I decided to go with the latter. Let's see what happens!

I need to write 1,667 words a day to complete the goal. So far for day one I have 3,116. I realize I better stockpile as many words as I can on the weekends. :)

Oh, Jess and Laine are also writing this month in the Young Writers division. Jess is doing 4,000 words (134 words a gay goal) and Laine is doing 15,000 words (500 words a day).

I am very, very, very excited at this point and cannot wait to see what the result is at the end of the month. This might finally be what makes me finish something. Woohoo!

Off to bed.

Faith Hope Love-
LA