Romance Writing Critique Group
Hi, all!
I’m very excited to announce that Harlequin author Melissa McClone is on my personal blog today talking about how she got started writing for Harlequin Romance.
Melissa is on a blog tour promoting her sweet romance new release Expecting Royal Twins. She will be giving away a $20 Amazon.com GC to one randomly drawn commenter from her tour.
So stop by and leave a comment on my BLOG and be entered in her contest.
Good luck!
HI, all! Jennifer here!
Well, I'm happy to report that I'm doing great on my Book in 3 Month Challenge! Granted I had a wee bit of a head start, but so far I have a good chunk of my manuscript written–35% to be exact. 
You might not know it, but I'm remaining calm and collected about this. Thus, the "logical and calm" word count meter below.
Checking in with my critique partners and posting our daily word total has really kept me from slacking. (Somewhat, anyway) I find when I'm writing, it helps to take small breaks every 30 or 40 minutes, where I quickly check Twitter or email, throw a load of laundry on, or make myself a cup of tea.
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As far as P90x goes, I can't believe this is week FIVE already. I am definitely noticing a difference in what I can do now from when I first started (which wasn't much) LOL
The Yoga X was my most dreaded routine. Not because it took up an HOUR AND A HALF of my time but because I found it the most impossible, ridiculous exercise routine on the workout plan. And now I can say that after all this time…
I finally did a session on Saturday and actually enjoyed it. I know. Weirdo-rama. But I bought a yoga block on Amazon and that really helped a lot with some of the moves.
Just like in my writing, where I'm checking in and comparing goals, I'm checking in with my hubby on the P90x plan as well. It really helps to have someone doing it with you because whenever I'm tempted to just skip a day, I have him giving me a look and guilting me into doing it. (The hubby is much more goal oriented than I am) So I'm grateful to have someone else suffering with me. LOL
Accountability. That's the key word that's really really me reach my goals this year. And so far, so good.
Do you need that extra "push" like I do? How do you reach your goals?
…what?
So often, we set ourselves up with impossible goals, especially at the beginning of each new year.
With that in mind, here are my 2011 goals:
Blog every day.
Um…and that's it. That's enough. Just trying to think of 365 things to write about is enough to drive me nuts. (Not that it's a far ride or anything.)
I'd love to say that my goal is to finish a few books, get a few contracts and have more releases. Yes, it would be nice, and yes, I have ambitions to do those things. But, I think–for this year, anyway–I'd rather not be mean to me.
In fact, that's my unwritten goal (until now) for 2011. Be nicer to myself. Cut myself some slack. Realize I'm not super-human. And be kind. Not just to everyone else, but–to me. Because, damn it, I deserve it.
After all…I have to blog everyday.
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Thank you to everyone who participated with our 12 Days of Ebooks celebration!
We had a lot of fun!
And now we wanted to point out a very special Holiday Bash going on at The Romance Author Hotspot! With all this talk of eBooks and eReaders, what a perfect way to end by having a chance to actually win some eBooks and even a Kindle!
The RAH is hosting a 2010 Holiday Bash with your favorite authors.
Party with your favorite authors (some of them you've met right here!)–enter to win a Kindle and many other great prizes!
Meet:
Jill Marie Landis, Donna Alward, Liz Fielding, Lynn Raye Harris, Tessa Radley, Olivia Gates, Cindy Spencer Pape, Jennifer Shirk, Debora Dennis, Katherine Brandon, Clarissa Yip, Nina Croft, Silke Juppenlatz, R.M. Gilbert. And Special Appearances from Decadent Publishing.
If you're an author or reader, do come and play! These great writers and publisher are willing to answer any questions you have. From publishing to their crazy ideas and habits. But most importantly, they are here for YOU!
Special thanks to Catherine Mann and Marilyn's Romance Reviews in their contribution of gifts!
Starting December 24th, all your fabulous authors will have their own posts! Click the LET'S PARTY button up top of the page and go through each of their rooms (posts). Yes! Comment or even ask your authors your favorite questions! You’ll see their fun side, their bad side, maybe find out something you’ve never known, but don’t be shy! They’re here ALL for YOU!
Drawings for prizes and Kindle will take place December 27th! Don’t miss out! http://romanceauthorhotspot.com/
Alright, that started maybe Dec. 1st and most of you are probably starting to panic as you realize the malls are opening longer hours, it's getting colder out, and kids are already handing you their Christmas list or Dear Santa letters.
Here at Passionate Critters…writing never stops even though we do get busy with our every day life and wonder what greatness is going to happen next. But no worries. We all have big plans, whether it's to plan that big holiday party, gather together our friends and family, or just tackle down our muse and force it to product the next big best seller. Yup, that's us. We're all busy bees around here.
As you know, the first A Passionate Christmas Anthology has been released by Decadent Publishing and many of our critters have also added new releases to our growing group of brilliant authors here! So of course, us passionate critters have been cherry, merry, and bright for Santa to bring us many gifts as we share with you all our great happenings.
So don't go too far. We have so much more news to share. If you're curious as to what each of us critters have been up to, feel free to stop by any of our websites. Our links are just right there. ———-> (On the side bar along with some awesome book covers.) Don't be shy! Drop us a note. I promise we don't bite and many of us are really friendly, I swear.
What do you have going on this holiday season? What big plans are you hoping to accomplish before Santa arrives?
It's that time of year again…
New Year's coming and changes are inevitable. My husband is leaving for a long time. [
Oh crap. I just got a little teary-eyed.] I want to get ready for something NEW–new experiences, new emotions to deal with, new schedules… more time to myself, more time for my work. But I need to clear my desk of any current projects.
So I've come up with Pre-Goal Goals… New Year's Resolution Resolutions. 
With two novellas, both rejected by two different publishers, I'm going to finish some revisions and edits first, then attend that Swingers party with them and send them both off to the other publisher… ha!
GOAL: January 31st, complete revisions and edits and submit
If I can get those submissions out the window, my new year looks good for the next big project. I've been putting off starting another single title. Gun shy, if you will. The last one I did went through agent submissions and failed, not miserably, just in the normal, this-is-life kind of way. 
But I do need to get off my hesitation and have another go of it.
No matter how many novellas I sell, I'll never find myself on display at B&N if I don't write a full-length, Single Title novel and submit it.
Would love to hear how you're getting ready for the New Year. Or do you sit back and wait for the new year, using the new year as a chance to clean house? Tell me everything!
We've been having an interesting few weeks.
Between the anthology and holidays and whatnot, we've discovered (well, I already knew) how beneficial chatting can be.
You see, while we were working on our books, we needed quick answers. So most of us were on Skype, nagging each other. We brainstormed. We ran sections of our respective MSS past each other. We fixed what needed to be fixed, and collaborated on things where our books cross paths.
And then we were done — but we were still signed into Skype every day. And night. And whenever.
More people joined, we had at least seven or eight in one chat at one point, and we just never signed out.
Every time someone gets on and says hi, we just pick up where we left off, in the same chat. We talk about our books, characters, editing, working on NaNo, what we're having for lunch and whether we should wash the dog or not.
Someone is always signed on, and it's nice to get a reply even at O'Dawn Thirty.
Ex-member, new member or old timer – we're bonding here. Far more than we have before.
If you've never tried it, it's about time. Get your writing friends together and try it out. There's nothing like being able to run a sentence you're not sure about past someone and get a response. "Is the comma right?" "Should I use this word?" "Does anyone have a better suggestion?" "My conflict is this, will it work?" "Help, I'm stuck!" — you name it. It really is beneficial.
Heck, I catch up on video with some every now and then, which is a blast. We commiserate and cheer each other on.
How did I ever get this far, without having that Skype chat open?
So if you and your writing buddies have never brainstormed together, try this out. You can have up to ten people in one chat (I think, maybe more now.) and it's a blast.
Not to mention you get a lot closer with everyone.
Go for it!
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