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Brain Feeling A Little Mushy?

by Stefani

Somehow I always seem to forget that his blog exists, then I need it for something and suddenly remember.  I had a fantastic Samhain, aka Halloween, and I hope all of you did too.

It is yet another November and we all know what that means, it’s Nano time!  This year I am writing the sequel to Schooling of a Monster, which should be amazing.  In this sequel Micah is on his own and hunting without aid.  But when the police suspect that a monster is kidnapping baby girls in the area, he begins to question his competance.  I am calling it, Rock-A-Bye Baby.  Check out my Nano page for the cover I made today, just search for me with my screenname steffiebaby140.

Speaking of Schooling of a Monster, I still have no finished the rewrite.  But that is my goal for December so that I can send it off to a new potantial publisher early next year.  Humanity is going alright, though I will have to put it aside for awhile.

Update on personal life:  I recently got to actually spend time with my fiance.  It was fantastic and I was devastated to have to send him home.  Wedding date is tentatively planned for next August, that is all I have planned for now.  This wouldn’t be such a pain in the butt if he lived in the US or wasn’t opposed to thwarting the US’s immigration laws.  Why is it that the people who want to do it the right way are punished for doing so? 

That is all for now, off to write my 1,667 words for today.

Stef

Ever feel like your beating a dead horse….

by Stefani

Welcome to my world!  I accepted long ago that there are patterns to the Universe, that good things come in groups and bad things come in groups.  But I tell you, sometimes I sit here and wonder how I get myself into these situations.  I’m not going to bore you with all the details, but in both my personal and private life all I can do is seemingly the same crap over and over.  At some point I will have to stick a wrench into things and do something different, or else I’m just living up to the definition of insanity.

Not much is going on with my writing, I’m too stressed and overwhelmed with personal stuff to really get anything useful from it.  I am making significant progress both on the rewrite of Schooling of a Monster, and the new piece I’m working on, Humanity.  I have 2 weeks off of work coming up that I will be having a lot of unexpected free time so I can work a lot then.  Let’s just say that I was planning some major life changes for those two weeks until it all went screaming to hell faster than I could blink, and now I intend to vegetate and recuperate in that time.  I will keep you updated on everything of course.

On a happier note I have almost finished the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol.  I must admit that I was mildly annoyed with Mr. Brown at one point but that faded quickly since the twist that I normally don’t like turned out to be very important and integral to the plot.  I am back on board and the second major plot twist left me with my mouth hanging open in shock.  Definitely a great book for those that are a fan of Brown’s work, but if you’re expecting The Da Vinci Code 2.0 then you might be a bit disappointed. 

Also, if any of you have never seen the HBO series Big Love, I highly recommend it.  I was interested initially because I was raised Mormon, so polygamy is not an unfamiliar thing to me and I wanted to see how close to the mark they got.  The series is spectacular, and so close to reality it was a big eerie for me.  I have nearly finished season one in a little over a week and plan on getting season 2 and 3 as soon as I have the funds.  Have a great Thursday, the Supernatural dry spell of reruns is nearly finish, yay!!

What’s in the Works

by Stefani

Somehow every time I decide to pay more attention to this blog, I seem to forget that it exists for a few months.  But what a few months it has been, both work related and personally.  I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas/Yule/Hanukkah/etc and that the gift fairies were very good to you.  Before I wander completely off track into a deep discussion of my recent months and all that stuff that I am sure no one needs to hear, on to what I am posting for.  I just wanted to keep everyone up to date on what I am doing in the writing world.  Of course I mean besides Helium and my freelance work.

Schooling of a Monster – Yes, old news I know.  But I am currently working on a complete rewrite and edit of it that I think will make it a lot better.  The old version is still on Authonomy  and I urge you to check it out there and put it on your bookshelf if you have an account there.  I highly recommend it, the books are a lot of fun and I need to focus on that site a lot more.  I will be updating that version as soon as I get the individual chapters rewritten so keep an eye on it even if you have already read it.

Crimson Scream – I still haven’t finished this one, even though it was my Nano novel 2 years ago.  I got stuck on a bunch of plot points at the end and pushed it aside.  But I am still working on it and will be finishing it soon.  Then it can be edited and probably posted on Authonomy as well.

Last Days of a Saint – I finished the Nano part of it in time, but it was a close call.  Halfway through November I decided that I didn’t like who these characters were becoming so I started over and am much happier with it.  It’s nowhere near done and for now has been placed on hold while I work on other projects.

Humanity – I may have mentioned this as a short story that I did, but that is not what I’m referring to now.  This is a brand new novel that I started based on that short story.  I am very excited about it and will share more details with you along the road.  This is in the very early stages right now but it is getting a lot of my attention.  Let’s just say…it’s vampires like you’ve never read them before.

Those are all my official projects right now, but I have so many more ideas that I could just burst.  If you want an update on anything specific feel free to leave a comment and I’ll address it as soon as I can.  Blessed Be my good people!   ~Stef

Wow!

by Stefani

It has been a long time!  I have been so busy.  I am still writing freelance and that has kept me very busy.  I am also Nano’ing again this year. 

My novel this year is about a Mormon woman who becomes disenchanted with her faith.  When she asks questions and receives nothing but criticism and punishment, she decides to seek answers on her own.  Only she doesn’t realize that could mean her demise.

Anyway, I also have a new blog that is totally unrelated to this one, but completely related to my novel this year.  I encourage you to look at it

http://steffiebaby140.wordpress.com/

 

Stef

“What we do is our character.”

by Stefani

I seem to have forgotten about this place it seems.  Little bit of an update,  Nano was successful again for me this year.  I am struggling to finish this novel with everything else I have going on.  I have started a part-time job shadow writing for a few websites.  It’s fun but not what I really am focused on doing.  I have a ton of new articles on Helium, so I will post those links too.  Be sure to read and get me those clicks! 

I am also going to make a renewed effort at getting my first Nano novel published.  But I seem to have hit a huge Catch-22.  Publishers won’t publish you without an agent.  And agents won’t take you without being published.  How in the world is anyone supposed to get anywhere?  So I have decided to look into ebook publishing and try that.  I’ll keep you all up to date on that and provide links to my book if it works out. 

New Helium Links

Reflections: People We Miss

Can Christians ever reclaim Christmas as Holy Day?

How different are Witches and Satanists?

How to survive a long distance relationship

How to successfully use a matchmaker

How low self-esteem affects a relationship

Moving on from a bad breakup

Writing an online dating profile

Whale Parasites

Humpback Whale Songs

Laws Protecting Whales

Is the Megalodon extinct?

What is cryptozoology?

The world’s most dangerous sharks

Personal life:  I am getting ready to go to England and spend two weeks with my amazing boyfriend.  I am so excited.  And I’ll be coming back with a new piece of jewelry (hint hint, wink wink)

Stef

 

And so it begins

by Stefani

Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
All Souls’ Day

Thus we see the official first day of Nano come to an end.  I managed to stay up until midnight and wrote 650 stunningly awful words before I fell asleep at my laptop.  I also sent off my first nanomail to my nano-ites.  I think it went extraordinarily well actually, and I hope to be as good as mentor to them as the one I had last year.

I had a fairly good day for writing, except for losing power for half of it.  It rained horrendously all day.  Imagine buckets of water pouring from the sky and that’s about what my house looked like today.  We always lose power in weather like that as I live in a very old building.  I managed to bust out a total of 2,185 words for the day which is not as good as I hoped, but not nearly as bad as I feared.

My plot seems to be starting out nicely, although I was surprised at what came out in my writing first.  I never imagined the beginning of the story being this way, but I think I like it.  It introduces my main character, Gisele Porter, and gives us enough of her circumstances and background to intrigue, without giving anything away.  We also briefly meet the character that will turn everything around for Gisele.  I won’t say anything more right now, I don’t want to give too much of my plot away, but I was surprised by how well this first chapter turned out.  I just hope I can maintain this pace once I get back to work on Monday.  I remember last year being very frustrated that I could write like crazy all weekend then was struggling for words during the week because I was so tired.

Anyway, I had better run along to bed or I’ll be too tired to do anything tomorrow.  ~Stef

Happy Samhain!

by Stefani

Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Samhain/Halloween

Happy Samhain/Halloween to all!  This is a big day of the year for me, and I could not be more excited.  October 31st has to be my favorite day of the year.  As a pagan, its also the biggest holiday of the year.  I will be busy, busy, busy too.  I work today then I will go to ritual tonight, come home and watch a scary movie or two.  Then I will write my first message to my Nano-ites (that’s what I’m calling the new people I’m mentoring this year), and promptly at midnight start writing.

My novel prep did not go as well as I had hoped it would.  I had hoped that by today I would have character profiles and main plot points all planned out.  I have a total of…..drum roll please……one character profile.  Not the most impressive prep, but I’m sure I’ll manage.  I will try and finish up at least a few character profiles tonight and then get the plot down as I go along.  It will all work out in the end and I am very excited about this plot.

I also got sidetracked with a new story idea as well.  That is why I didn’t get a lot of nano work done, I’ve been busy writing that.  It’s a good one with the main character based heavily on my boyfriend, the infamous Steve.  Its going to be an amazing story and I am almost disappointed that I will have to put it on hold for a month.  Technically I shouldn’t have even started it until after Nano, but oh well.

Oh yes, before I forget.  I did get my Nano novel from last year up on the Authonomy website.  That is the site form Harper Collins I was talking about last time.  I am excited about it, and hopefully this site can help me on the road to getting published.  At the very least I will get a lot of alternate opinions on my work and maybe be able to improve on it.  Anyway, here is the link:  http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=3086

So, stay safe tonight everyone, stay spooky and have a good time!  ~Stef

“Your universe is full, but in my world there is only you” by Bo Bice

by Stefani

Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde

Once again it’s been much too long since I’ve posted here.  But, no more!  Its almost November…meaning its almost Nano time and I will try to post something everyday through the month.  I am mentoring some new participants this year, and that will be very fun.  I have 3 mentorees so far, I can probably take 1-2 more if they come along.  I have been working hard on getting all my tips and advice in order for them.  That is almost out of the way and on to novel prep we go.  I am planning to do character profiles tonight, and basic plot points tomorrow.  I thought of writing the sequel to last year’s Nano novel, but decided against it when I got an idea that I just couldn’t pass up.

I won’t reveal too much of the plot.  But basically it is about a despondent woman who finds herself in the sights of a completely maniacal stalker.  It should be very fun, I am excited to get started.  And in true Nano fashion, from the second I settled on an idea I’ve been coming up with 10-15 new ones daily.  I am writing them all down to examine later.

I am busy on the front of trying to get published as well, so my work on Helium has suffered greatly.  I am working on a query letter for a publisher that I plan on sending next week.  I also am putting my novel up on a site run by Harper Collins.  You can post your work, and other members read it and rank it.  The top 5 ranked submissions every month get sent to the Harper Collins editing desk for an opinion.  Its a pretty huge opportunity if anyone ever gets picked from that pool for publication.  I am working on getting “Schooling of a Monster” on the site, and I will post the link when I do.  Until then, I should get back to the desk job.  ~Stef

If I closed my eyes, would I see you?

by Stefani

Waxing Moon
Neptune Retrograde
Mercury Retrograde

And in typical Mercury retrograde fashion, I haven’t been here in awhile.  Communication, and thus writing, has been strained lately.  But I did an article that I’ll post the link to a bit later.  For now, I want to discuss Nano.  Yes, its that time of year again.  Its October, and that means that the preparations for the Nano journey need to start being made.  I have decided to do it again as I don’t think the constant coffee intake last year has dissolved enough of my liver.

First I must decided what to write though.  I thought I had it figured out.  I was going to write a fantasy novel about 2 medieval knights who are in love with the same woman, with my own twisted take on it of course.  Then I was going to write a sequel to last year’s Schooling of a Monster.  Then I was going to write a fictionalized true-life story about self-injury, based largely on my own experience.  Then I was going to do a crime novel.  These are all ideas of things I want to write in the future…I just have no idea which one to write this time.  I’ll ponder it and decide by Monday though.  Have character sketches and plot time lines I need to work on before November 1st.

How to choose a pet rat: http://www.helium.com/items/1192585-how-to-choose-a-pet-rat

Until next time, keep reading…and get me some traffic on those articles!!  ~Stef

If I rewrote this, it just might sound the same…

by Stefani

Waning Moon
Neptune Retrograde

Has it really been 16 days since I’ve been here last?  It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but I suppose it has.  It’s been a very long couple of weeks.  It was a few weeks where real life intruded on writing life.  Things still are not that great, but are good enough that I can get a bit done.  I have been thinking of stepping down as writer for the e-fed I write for lately.  Its a lot of work, and I’m fast running out of inspiration.  Not to mention with all the drama I have going on I’m just too exhausted to keep writing it for long.  And it seems like no one much cares anymore anyway, the fed has basically been abandoned.  The only reason I am still writing is because the fed is run by my boyfriend, Steve.  But I just can’t keep doing it, its too tiring and I’ve lost my enthusiasm for it. 

On another note, I haven’t had a lot of time to write for Helium lately.  Which has been disappointing, but I’m working on it now.  I wrote two articles that are very important to me this week, and are written from personal experience.  I was hesitant to write them at first, its not an experience I share with many, but ultimately I think it will be a good thing.  And with that said, I should get back to the day job.  Until next time, keep reading and take care.  ~Stef

Why people cut themselves: http://www.helium.com/items/1184504-why-people-cut-themselves

How to stop cutting yourself: http://www.helium.com/items/1183241-how-to-stop-cutting-yourself