Decisions...decisions...decisions

Yes, I am at that stage again when I want to start writing something new, and I have no idea where to start. This dilemma doesn't stem from a lack of ideas , but rather from an abundance of ideas. I have so many plotlines running around in my head that I find myself confused when I sit down to write. Characters are arguing with each other, characters that are from completely different book ideas, and I don't know who is shouting the loudest.

Is it Prince Garrett and his finacee Janessa Rogers from Royal Target? So many people have asked me to write a sequel to that novel that I've had ideas warring inside my head for years...literally.

Could it be Quinn Lambert from the Saint Squad who is insisting that his story isn't quite finished? (His story, Smokescreen, will come out next spring, but he isn't sure that there isn't more to tell.)

Maybe it's Charlie Whitmore, younger brother to Matt Whitmore from my Undercurrents series.

Then there's Jay Wellman, a minor character from my upcoming book, Backlash. He definitely has a story brewing on the horizon.

See my problem? And yes, I'm writing this blog because I am avoiding the four open Word files on my computer, each of them only three pages or less, while I wait for one of those characters to yell WRITE MY STORY NOW!!!

I'm listening... Still listening....

Summer goals

Once again, I've joined Tristi Pinkston's BIAM, this time for the month of July. She does a great job of inspiring me to push myself to write even when circumstances aren't conducive to the creative process. My goals for this book-in-a-month challenge are threefold:

First, I wanted to finish the submission materials needed to submit my latest creation to my publisher.

Second, I need to complete the initial edit on my recently accepted manuscript, Smokescreen.

Third, I want to write at least 20,000 words by the end of the month.

Of these goals, the last will be the hardest. I've been in my writing mode for several weeks now and I know it's time to shift gears back into editing for a while, but sometimes shifting back and forth between these two aspects of creating isn't easy. I was excited to complete my first goal earlier today. Obsession is officially in the hands of my editor and will hopefully go out to evaluators within the next few days.

I'm really nervous about this one because it's the first one I've written in a while that wasn't part of my Saint Squad series. I knew I needed a break from that series for fear that I would become too formulamatic, and this newest novel did write itself relatively quickly even though I felt like it was fighting me the whole time.

Now my challenge is to try to forget that I sent that submission e-mail and focus on my next task at hand, editing Smokescreen. I am looking forward to reading through that story again. I've missed my Navy SEALs for the past couple of months. :)

New cover and good news

This has been a good week. First I got the news yesterday that the novel I just submitted was accepted by my publisher. Yeah! Smokescreen, the fifth in my Saint Squad series, is now scheduled to come out sometime next spring. Smokescreen is Quinn Lambert's story which takes place after Taylor Palmetta returns from a year living and painting in Europe. For those of you who have read Lockdown, you've already met Taylor when she first met and started dating Quinn.

Today I also got my first look at the cover for Backlash which comes out this September. What do you think?

Going West!

After months of looking, and test driving, and looking some more, my husband and I finally found a used car for my oldest daughter. We have been hoping to find her a car to take with her out to college, especially since we aren't sure if she'll be living at home within the next year or so. Now that we found her a car (it's actually a small SUV), we are making plans to drive from Virginia to Utah.



So the good news is that I get to come do a few book signings in Utah and visit some family. The news that may not be good is that I'm going to be spending three days straight fighting over what kind of music we're going to listen to on our 32 hour drive. Is it a universal law that kids can't like the same music as their parents?



Anyway, I'm not sure what my schedule is yet, but I'll be doing some signings around Utah Valley on April 10th and April 12th. I'm also really excited about going to the ballroom dance concert at BYU on the 10th to see two of my cousins perform. (Technically, one of them is my husband's cousin, but close enough, right?)



Now I just have to hope and pray that the SUV we bought my oldest daughter passes the reliability test...and that we won't have to use AAA's services on our journey next month.

Snowed In!

We planned, we packed, we drove. A family event, a missionary farewell, tempted us to travel into southern Virginia despite the expected winter storm. After all, what's a few inches of snow anyway? So far, it's a little more than a few inches. Like ten or eleven.

The drive to Bedford wasn't that bad. My husband had left earlier in the day since we knew we would have to take two cars anyway (we don't fit in one) and all of my kids either didn't want to leave earlier or had conflicts until later in the day. Personally, I had a deadline to meet before departing which is why I had originally planned to leave today (Saturday). When I managed to finish my work early, my family and I decided we would head down late Friday night so that we could beat the storm.

We beat the storm all right. It arrived at the same time we did...and proceeded to dump 7 inches before nine o'clock the next morning.

Realizing that I probably wouldn't be able to make it the rest of the way to my friends' house because of the difficult roads in their neighborhood, I headed out to Wal-Mart for emergency supplies. Three bags of groceries, two new games, and a pair of snow boots later, my five-year-old and I headed back to our temporary home to begin our latest adventure.

Thankfully the employees at the hotel (Super 8 in Bedford, VA) have been fabulous. One woman helped me clear off my car when I headed out this morning and no one seems to mind that the eating area in the lobby has been turned into a mini-playground for my son and another little girl staying here. Even more impressive is that three of my kids are staying with me in one hotel room and they are all getting along. They're even playing together. Maybe being snowed isn't so bad after all.

Internet troubles

Last Friday I received an e-mail from my editor asking for one minor change in the manuscript we're currently editing. I had a busy weekend planned, so I read over the suggestion, let it simmer in the back of my mind for a few days even though I knew that I could have completed the edit in about fifteen minutes. Then yesterday, I dutifully went to my computer and input the necessary changes.

Simple, right? I did the work somewhat efficiently. Sending the electronic file back and forth via e-mail is quick and convenient. At least it's supposed to be. When I was ready to send the manuscript back to my editor so she could move it along into the next stage of editing, I had a familiar problem. My file wouldn't attach to the e-mail.

This problem has occurred before, ironically at least three times when I was trying to submit a manuscript to my publisher for consideration, and a couple more times when I had edits that were due.

Even though I should have known the outcome of my efforts, I waited...and waited...and waited. For literally an hour. So I downloaded the file onto my flash drive and tried sending it from my husband's computer. This time I only waited ten minutes before giving up.

With my flash drive in hand, I grabbed my keys, got in the car, and drove the six blocks to the library. Three minutes later, I sat down at a library computer, logged onto my e-mail, attached the file (which took less than a minute), and drove back home. I sat down at my desk to see that the e-mail I had originally tried to send was still trying to load the attachment.

This experience has driven home three simple facts. One, my internet only works when I'm NOT trying to send in a manuscript. Two, I can WALK to the library to send a file faster than sending it from home when my internet is on strike. And finally, I am reminded that Murphy's law is alive and well.

First Crossfire Review

I just received an e-mail from a friend to tell me that the first review of Crossfire is on the internet. Yeah! Of course, I still haven't received my copy of my book yet, but that's an irony I have learned to laugh about even as I anxiously watch for the UPS truck, or mail truck, or whatever truck is going to make my day sometime soon. But I digress. The review my friend forwarded to me is over at the Reading for Sanity blog. If you want to check it out, click here.