No NaNoWriMo For Me

Yes, it is November, but no, I am not doing NaNoWriMo this year. I considered it briefly, but decided not to. I already know that I can pound out a 50,000 word novel. Can I write a 90,000 word novel? I have started working on a trilogy that requires a lot of research. I want to make sure all my facts are straight and details are worked out before I take the plunge. I am terrible at revision. I can type up 50,000 words that make no coherent sense with the promise of editing later, but I won't.

So, no NaNoWriMo for me this year.

Spring in Colorado means lots and lots of snow, apparently

It has been a rough four months.

My original goal of having my novel out by the end of January was pushed back due to illness, then more illness, then a tragic family event, and now here I am at the end of April. At least I have a book open namely, the 2012 Guide to Literary Agents. My novel is finished. As an aside, I just opened up the novel's Word file and the last time I opened it was exactly one month ago. It is time to start the next chapter of this life.

I have identified an agent to whom I will submit my novel. She wants a 1-2 page synopsis along with the first 10 pages of my book. So does that mean a query letter, too? From what I am reading, no. A query letter contains three paragraphs: the hook, a short synopsis, and a writer's bio. So no, I guess that I don't need a traditional query letter.

I am terrible at this sort of thing.

I am also going to identify other agents to submit to if the original one passes. My family has asked me  why I don't self publish but I think I will do that when I have been thoroughly rejected by everyone. I haven't even been told I am awful by the proper Writing Officials™ so what did I know? 

I'll keep you posted, as always.

Oh, and I added a Goodreads widget to the blog that highlights what I am reading right now. 

Wow

A whole year has went by and I haven't posted once! Terrible. To be fair, 2012 was a terrible year. Let's not talk about it.

I have been busy. I have been editing my novel religiously, although I did miss my deadline of 1/31/13 to have it finished. I was stuck on Chapter 13, an unlucky number, true. I just could not get over the direction one of the male characters took. But, after talking to my husband about male behavior, I left it in. So, I am now on Chapter 15 out of 23 chapters. I am going to market it as a transformative tale wherein a young woman learns to trust herself.

I have also made several resolutions for the new year:

-Sell Tomorrow's June, the novel mentioned above.
-Write and sell two short stories. I already have one that needs tweaking but I have a great idea for another one.
-Make writing and editing a habit.
-Get my other romance novel ready for sale. This is more of a traditional romance set in modern times. It needs tweaking.
-Develop new projects. My husband and I have several ideas for books and screenplays we want to develop.
-Finish Buy Here, Pay Here, my screenplay about the car lot.

Last year was not a total loss. I started reading novels voraciously, particularly romance novels because I have to know what the market is like. I found a few great ones: the Fever Series by Karen Marie Moning rocked; I loved Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark; and last, but not least, The Fallen Angels from J.R. Ward, which brings me to my next topic. I was so taken by the male lead in the Fallen Angels series, Jim Heron, that I devoted NaNoWriMo 12 to writing a fanfic novel about how the series ends. Ward is positioning Heron to have a happily ever after (HEA) with a 19-year-old virgin named Sissy. This won't do. I didn't want my poor mom to continue to listen to my outrage over this blasphemy, so I wrote an alternate series-ending novel where he ends up with someone more suited to him. Like me. The exercise accomplished three things: first to show that I can pound out a novel in a month, like old times, and have it be good with just a bit of mild tweaking needed; second, to get me back into a writing habit; and third, to show that I could write fanfiction. I won't offer it for sale because the characters are Ward's and it would be nearly impossible to change the particulars, but at least I know I can do it.

I also transferred my domain name to a new web host and I bought www.carolinefuller.com. Caroline Fuller is the name I am going use to write. Caroline Fritz is too tied up with work. Although I am working on a romance novel writing name like Anastasia Caldwell. I don't know. The new website is not up and running yet. I am going to work on it in between everything else. I will keep you posted as to when it is up and running, again.

I  envision 2013 being a productive, successful year. I also was just promoted to editor of my own magazine, so I will be busy, but it is a good busy.