Monday, May 04, 2015

Mission Completed: Camp NaNoWriMo

Last month, I decided to take part in Camp NaNoWriMo for the first time.  It was an exhausting endeavour but it was made easier by my "cabin" of fellow writers who, despite being complete strangers, encouraged each other to meet their targets.

With a mighty last minute push, I managed to meet my personal target of 30,000 words.  Quite the accomplishment with the usual work and family life juggling that usually makes my monthly word count a third or less than that.

For me, Camp NaNoWriMo was completely worth it and would have been useful even if I hadn't made my goal at the very last moment (too late, it turned out, to even remember to validate my winner status).  While I didn't meet my secondary goal of finishing one or more of my current romance works-in-progress, I made some major strides in several of them and I edited what I have completed so far of another project so I can (almost) jump back into that when I'm ready.

I would recommend Camp NaNoWriMo to every writer because you can set your own goals and, more importantly, focus on your writing.  Too many distractions in too many months (and days) can lead to you forgetting what you love about writing (or simply just how much you love it) and the camp brings that back to the forefront.

See you at the next Camp in July!

Monday, April 13, 2015

Doing the Camp NaNoWriMo Writing Challenge



This month, I embark on my second NaNoWriMo enterprise.  NaNoWriMo is short for National Novel Writing Month, which is actually in November every year.  The original event is held with the goal of reaching fifty thousand words, or completing the equivalent of an entire novel.

I successfully completed the 2012 NaNoWriMo challenge but did not actually complete the book I was writing.  It was about zombies.

In April and July, the NaNo group offers a "camp" where you can join to write a self-determined amount of words.  This year, for the first time, I signed up for Camp NaNoWriMo with the goal of finishing (or at least getting substantially on the way towards finishing) several of my works in progress, which are all romances.  My goal is thirty thousand words towards this worthy, if somewhat amorphous, accomplishment.  I kid myself that my publishers are eagerly awaiting these works but really, in the world of writing, you are your first (and often only) motivator.  So I am writing these romances for myself.  And sometimes I go a little too easy on myself, which is why I need the kick in the pants that NaNo offers.

Unique to the Camp NaNo experience is the opportunity to join a "cabin" with other writers.  You can talk to them and encourage them on their way.

I'm excited to be into my second week of Camp and so far I am on target.  Fingers crossed for a successful finish.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Sale: Wild Western Weekend

All this week, my publisher Totally Bound is celebrating erotic Western romance.  Their cowboy/ western titles are on sale this weekend for 0.99.

Check out the Western Weekend romance sale, including my MMF story, Hard Luck Ranch.

Friday, February 06, 2015

ARe Cafe article: Writing the Cowboy/ Ranch Hero

ARe Café posted a blog I wrote about Writing the Cowboy/ Rancher Hero.  It discusses the difference between the archetypal cowboy and the modern romance hero, who is often actually a rancher.  I also talk about my recent erotic romance historical, Hard Luck Ranch, which is currently a bestseller on my publisher Totally Bound's website.

Check out Writing the Cowboy/ Rancher Hero!