Old and new and a hello to you!

Hello all of my lovely ladies! How is everyone? I have been too long gone from my blog and I feel like I am missing all my friends! :) I have nothing important to talk about, just wanted to catch up!

I have taken a break from Chasing Forever. I'm not feeling it anymore. I feel like it's not where I want it to be and I'm not sure how to get it there. So, I have done nothing. Nada. Zero. I have been reading up a storm though! Wowzers! I have finished 3 books recently and am halfway through the 4th. They were all good so let me know if you are in need of reading material!! I haven't updated my reading list on here, I will soon!

Good news though, last night in the middle of reading, I was hit with a story idea. It was totally random, and I just started writing away...and away...and away, but I literally mean "writing" the hubby was hogging my laptop and I had to actually use a pen and paper! EEK! My hand was cramping so bad! Anyhow, I'm really excited about it and it just flowed, it was so great. I have no plan, no outline, but once it got going it was just coming out! LOVE those moments and I can hardly wait to see where this one goes, now having learned so much more than I knew when I started Chasing, maybe there is hope! Can't wait to share some of it with you!!

See you all real soon ;) (In cyperspace) MUAH!

12 steps to writing your first novel

As most of you have read by now, I am oh-so-very close to finishing my third rewrite. It's there, I can see the end, but I don't like the original ending so I am now hanging in limbo, unsure how I want to proceed...

But I have to admit that in re-reading my first draft (and second) that it is absolute crap!!! I mean, not just haha, this is SO bad, but truly, horribly CRAP!!! (and I am so not exaggerating) Along with the bit of disappointment that comes with realizing this, I have to say I am also feeling a twinge of pride!

Pride?!?! Yes, pride because darn I have come a LONG way since writing those horrific words! I still love the idea of the book and I still adore my characters and I will make it happen! But really, I can't believe how far I have come in just a short year. At least I can now recognize that it wasn't any good, but I know I still need to work on the how to get it to be better. It's like a twelve steps program!

Step 1: Wow, I just had this really great idea for a book. This is going to be SO easy!

Step 2: Man, this is going great! I have 5 chapters down and my fingers are just flying off the keyboard, double checking word count every two seconds.

Step 3: HALFWAY!!!

Step 4: I am SO going to be a published author! LOOK OUT STEPHENIE MEYER!

Step 5: FINISHED!!!

Step 6: Send it to every agent you can find!

Step 7: Receive rejection letters from every single one of those agents.

Step 8: Find a writing website such as Agent Query Connect and meet lots of other aspiring writers who very nicely (Most of the time) tell you your work is not so great.

Step 9: Want to crumple up all 400 printed and reprinted pages of the first draft, maybe even stomp on them, definetly light them on fire!

Step 10: Start rewriting...and rewriting....and more rewriting.

Step 11: Get out the red pen and do lots of crossing out!!!

Step 12: Realize that this is the hardest, funnest, best thing you have done in your life!!!