All You Need to Know About 1k-a-day '10

Hey everyone! Hope you're as excited for this year's 1k-a-day as we are! Tracy announced YAedge's July writing challenge on Monday, now here are the rules! Those of you who participated in November '08 and July '09 know what it's all about, but here's the info for the newbies. Just a heads up for all of the returning YAedgers, we've changed it up a little bit this year!

1,000 words a day from July 1-31. You may work on a book you've already started, work on something new or switch it up. If you want to be really ambitious, you can even work on multiple stories like Tracy and I will be doing all month! The goal is to get your butt in the chair and your fingers on the keyboard each day working on something creative. We'll be posting our word counts each day by 11:59pm PDT and we’d like you to do the same. Just post your word count in the comments section of each day’s post. For those of you who are unable to start July 1st, no problem! That is the beauty of 1k-a-day. We don't care about hitting an end of the month word count. It's all about your daily goal of 1,000 words!

Now, down to the super cool part…free books. That’s right…FREE BOOKS! We'll be giving away YA books from our own collections at the end of each week.

"What do I have to do to win FREE books?" you ask. Just post your starting word count in July 1st blog post. It can be 0…it can be 40,000. We don't care, just as long as we know you're up for the month long challenge. From there, you can either post your word count daily, or by each Friday evening. As long as you post your word count throughout the week, or each Friday, you will be entered into that week's drawing! Unfortunately, due to shipping costs the weekly drawing will only be open to US and Canadian residence.

The great news is, for all of our participates at the end of the month we will be giving away a prize pack (books, swag, etc). Everyone who has participated throughout the month will be entered to win, so don't worry all of our International YAedgers, you will have a chance to win great prizes as well. How easy is that? Write a book…win a book!

Make sure to check the blog each day starting July 1st for inspiration and read our ups and downs of the challenge. Plus, you never know when we will decide to give a book out on a whim!

So, get your thinking caps on, your writing notes out and dust off your keyboards. Oh yeah, don't forget the coffee and chocolate! It’s time to get down to business and write 1K-a-day! The excitement is brewing. Make sure you don't miss out!

Make sure to tell all your writer friends and family. The more the merrier. Want to get the word out there about this great challenge? Just include one of the above banners to your blog, website or Facebook linking it to this blog and post the link here. You will be given an extra entry into the final prize pack!

Be sure to check back on Friday for a sneak peek of books that will be up for grabs throughout the month!

July 1st can't come soon enough! See you all then!

Got questions? We've got answers! Just post your question into the comments section of this post and we'll be sure to answer anything you ask.

July 1k-a-day Challenge

Tami and I - crazy kids that we are - have decided we need a kick in the ass to get some WIPs outta our hair. And so....our second annual 1k-a-day contest will be on for the whole month of July! Tami will post the official rules later this week, but I wanted to get you pumped for the writing adventure.

Got a WIP, new idea, series of short stories or flash fiction you've been meaning to finish? Well, this is your chance to work on one or multiple projects. A month-long push to clear some unfinished business off your laptop and get it into agent/publisher hands.

Unlike NANO, our contest doesn't limit you to one "new" work - you can haul out old stuff, stuff you've been struggling to complete, or that one WIP you're burning to finish. The point is to write 1k a day - and that 1k can be spread out over different projects.

Tami and I will post our word counts each day and encourage participants to do the same. On Fridays in July, everyone who checked in that week will be put in a draw to win free (gently used) YA titles from our personal collections.

So....like the promo image says: Don't just read a book this summer, WRITE one!

Scheduling Time to Write

As I mentioned in my post last week, I will be writing from home (or Panera/library) full time starting this Monday. It's hard to believe I will have the (on average) nine hours a day I spent at work Monday through Friday to write. It seems like a ton of time to work on the craft that I love, but we all know how quickly time can be zapped away.

In preparation for my new found life, I started to go through my files trying to figure out where to even begin. I realized that I have a small problem. I am currently working on two stories (which for me is a problem in itself) and have multiple copies of both. I'm the first to tell you, make sure to back up your work. I had to write three+ chapters over again when a file of my last story, Lost and Found was corrupt and I didn't have a current backup. That being said, I now have three versions of one of the books and two of the other. Before I start to even think about sitting down to write I need to figure out what I'm going to be working on and what files are most current.

Now comes the topic of this post, schedules. I have a very loose time line in my mind of when I want to have one of my current WIPs edited and ready to start querying, but is an end date enough? I'd love to hear how some of you manage your writing time throughout the week when not working full time. I know that everyone is different, but just a general schedule would be helpful.

I think it's important to have an idea of what I want to accomplish in a day/week's time so I can feel as if I've completed something. This is one of the problems that I see arising with working for myself. I'm the kind of person that likes to hear praise from co-workers/peers/my boss. It keeps me going and makes my day. Once those are gone (or at least, a lot of it. I'll still have the great ups and downs with the crit group), I fear I will become complacent. I like the satisfaction of ticking someone off a list when it's finished.

I will be starting my new writing journey by figuring out what story to focus on, which is the most current files (and archiving the old) and tackling a schedule. Any advice is welcome!

Inspiration Strikes

Yesterday, sometime after the Season 3 opener of True Blood and well beyond my I-have-to-work-tomorrow bedtime, the infamous 9:07pm (someday I'll be able to follow Tami's awesome example and write full time - for now I live vicariously through her), I sat at my desk chair for a few minutes. Not writing. Not editing. Not hanging out on Twitter. I simply observed the stuff I had around my office – propped up on shelves or tacked up on my bulletin board.

Torn pieces of patterned paper, notes scrawled on envelopes or napkins, swag postcards with funky artwork, Halloween candy wrappers, wolf images, gem-coloured glass bottles, fake tombstones, plastic (black) roses, ribbon cuttings, etc…

How does a random piece of fancy paper contribute to my writing?

Well, when I’m stuck for words, or am halfway through a scene and inspiration goes on strike – I look around the room. There’s a tale etched in each piece on display. Each element of my menagerie invokes a mood or seems to wear a story – or multiple stories – that I’m compelled to try and tell.

Don’t get what I mean?

Try this….look at the following images, photos I took of moments/settings/objects that seemed to have a story. (Besides collecting physical objects, photography is a fantastic way to capture ideas/moods). What are the first three words you think of as you glance at each one in turn? Now imagine the person who lives in this world. What’s their story?

From one item, or picture, I can imagine numerous plot lines, character traits, visualize settings, time periods, etc. A whole world can be created around just the right piece. Thankfully, I don’t hoard. I purge my collection every few months – leaving room for new stories.

I love this room, my writer's cave, with yet to be discovered worlds all around me.

My New Journey

Sometimes life throws curve balls. You have to just get out of the way and go with the flow. I usually don't get very personal on this blog because it's not about my life away from writing and great YA books. Today is the exception because I have big news that has to do with my personal life and writing.

If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you know that I write YA fiction and have been doing so for about 5 years. Not a long time by some people's standards, but I've taken it seriously in hopes to making a career out of writing. Last year, I queried many agents in hope of finding someone who loved my story as much as I did (after around 12 edits). I came close, but not close enough. In the time of writing the first draft and the following 12 edits of that story, I was off of work (as the company I worked for closed) for about six months time. I loved being a full-time writer, spending my days in the library, on my deck outside or at Panera working 4-6 hours a day. It was the best time of my life, despite feeling as if my head would explode from the story swimming in my head 24/7. In a way, that was the most complete I had felt ever. I was proud of how hard I worked and how I kept myself motivated when I had nothing hanging over my head.

Unfortunately, that time came to a close when my unemployment ran out and I received a job offer. That was two years ago. Since then, I have slowly lost motivation, not because I thought my writing wasn't good enough or I didn't have ideas. In fact, I have two novels in different stages of work. One is a few chapters shy of being a first (rather rough) first draft, while the other is in it's infancy. The problem was I was slowly being sucked of all creativity from my job. I took the position thinking I would be there for only a few months before I found something more suited for me...again, that was two years ago.

To be honest, I didn't realize how bad my situation had become. My husband and I have been talking about my dream, to try to write full time again without the worry of having to find a job constantly in the back of my mind. Our talks changed from "one day" to "maybe you should try it". Even as of a week ago, I thought we were still milling it over as "one day" I would quit and focus on my writing. I was unhappy at my job, but isn't everyone? I thought it would never happen, because how many people get to pursue their dream? Not many.

I started to talk my situation over with family and friends. To my surprise, everyone was supportive and thought that it was time to move on, leaving my job behind me. How many moms, no matter how old you are, would support quitting a stable job to write (and not get paid)? That's when I realized how much this job changed me. Everyone around could see how much I was suffering and how I pulled away from things that made me who I am, except me.

I'm writing this post to share my big news with all of you. As of June 18th, I will be a full time writer, living my dream and hopefully one step closer to getting my work published. It's a big step, I'm nervous as hell but I can't pass up the opportunity. Who could?

I'm sure I will be sharing my scary new journey into writing full time on the blog. I hope some of you will find it interesting, but I know all of you won't. Please let me know, so I can mix it up a bit, throwing in a few book recs, etc. There will be good days and bad, but the bad can't compare to a bad day working a soul-sucking 9-5.

Next step, packing my belongings at work, cleaning off my desk at home and deciding which WIP to dive into. Someone pinch me!

True Blood: June 13th Can't Get Here Fast Enough

Tami has her Dr. Who fixation - I have mine.

No surprise - it's True Blood - a vamp/shifter/paranorm bevy of goodies. If you're not a fan of the show, back away from this blog post. My hubbie gave me Season 2 as a welcome home gift, along with a nifty "Merlotte's" keychain, and his amazing smile. He's probably regretting the gift about now, especially after my binge viewing this weekend.

Alas, Season 2 seemed like so long ago, it was all a blur. I just had to plow through the disks before Season 3 starts up on June 13th (not a Friday - but still, a cool date to start a paranormal show). I finished the last episode yesterday. All I recalled was the closure of the Maryann arc - how could I have blocked out that killer ending?

To get through the next few days, I'll be re-watching the Season 3 preview minisodes available on the HBO site. Here's the full list. However, being a wolfy chick at heart, I love this peek at Alcide, a werewolf character yet to be introduced (you'll get my enthusiasm if you've read the books by Charlaine Harris).

Ah, June 13....bring it!

BEA and Class of 2k10 NYC Tour

Wow. Can't believe I'm back at home, walking the dogs, freezing in the sleet and rain. NYC already feels like a schweaty dream (oh the humidity!). Besides my adjustment to the weather, BEA and the Class of 2k10 NYC Tour was fantastically cool.

As a member of the Mystery/Fantasy panel at Teen Author Carnival, I got to meet a bevy of amazing YA authors. Highlights were Tonya Hurley, Linda Gerber, Jeri Smith-Ready (also with the Class of 2k10). The boys on the panel were also a blast, Eliot Schrefer and Michael Northrop. Unfortunately, I didn't get to play fangirl as much as I would have liked and didn't have much time to mingle with authors from the two other panels. Meeting with bloggers, readers, librarians, etc, however, was a fantastic experience. Here's me and Kitty Keswick with Tonya Hurley:

Our signings at both Books of Wonder and the Voracious Reader went smooth like butta and we well attended. Most nights I stayed up wayyyy past my bedtime (9:07pm), living on the energy we'd built during our events. My sister, Brenda, was kind enough to join me for the trip and document everything with her handy-dandy still/video camera. Here are the links to the vlogs Kitty Keswick and I created for our Wolfy Chicks blog: Teen Author Carnival and BEA, Books of Wonder and Central Park

Brenda was thrilled to see a teen crush, Rick Springfield, at BEA. To be honest, I didn't think we'd get her away from the booth...lol... Kitty and I agreed that he has a real paranorm appeal going on and we've designated him an honorary vamp/were hottie.

We missed Babs and the Duchess as we had other events happening during the keynotes, but it was cool to know we were at the same venue. Bloggers were everywhere and it was great to put faces to their coolio names. We met a ton of authors, passing them by in their publisher's booths, or meeting on the morning shuttle to the Javits Center.

Yes, NYC was a dream I'd happily repeat (and hopefully will next year). But OMG it was wonderful to see my husband's smile, my pups and their full-body wags....and to sleep in my own bed.

Thanks to all the Class of 2k10 authors - so amazing to finally meet you! Thanks to the bloggers and bookstores! Thanks NYC!