Limitations

5. What piece of tack was misspelled in Julianna Stephen's manuscript and was caught by a reviewer at The Long and Short of it? Answer at www.juliannastephens.com

I write out of sequence and with no outline. I have two series going at once. Somehow I've thought that I couldn't write on these series at the same time, too. But I'm rushed for time. The Luna deadline is very, very tough. I'm out of contract on the Heart books, and the time for the "acceptance" of Heart Fate is running. Contractually, my Berkley editor can't buy more books until she "accepts" Heart Fate. In this case a smart author gets a proposal in near the date the book must be accepted, which is later this month when I'll be on a road trip, so...

Also, I'd like to get some other proposals in the mail, and my agent wants them to be fully developed. The writing isn't as hard as the synopses, so I'd better darn well get the writing done first...also writing about the new world is one of the best ways I know to learn about it, which I must know before I work on synopses.

So.

Yesterday was an exceptional day:
1308 words on Singer For A World/Echoes in the Dark/Echoes of the Dark
338 words on 01bTS my Urban Fantasy (and an hour constructing heroic names for a Dryad/Sidhe hero...need to look at the final vote by my crit group).
668 on Heart Journey (that's the Heart book that's running with me now), the first hero scene.

Maybe it worked because I was concentrating on Heroes. Luthan is suffering from guilt, and determined. Raz is being lighthearted and grateful and smug. Unnamed contacted my heroine, he, too, is very determined -- to persuade my heroine to do something very dangerous and heart-wrenching for her.

As you can see, the tones were slightly different.

No, I don't want to do this every day, and won't once the proposal writing is set, though working out synopses is pretty different than writing for me, left brain.

The rest of the day I literally spent doing research. I mentioned divination cards in HeartMate, and the scene with Raz and his friends at the Thespian Club has them taking a turn, so I've been researching all my Celtic cards and books and may do more. I have a GreatSuite, which is Major Arcana for the tarot folks of you, which is, of course, the Trees/Ogham Alphabet so it's larger. Anyway, I've got a lot of notes about that now.

So it was a long and productive day. Also got my first cranial/sacral massage from my friend/therapist who just took a class in it. I think my body is feeling better. On a very mundane level, both the grocery stores who carried the frozen omelettes I like ('cause they're fast, 2 mins, but I make a pretty mean omelette myself) has discontinued them so I will actually have to drive farther and go to a different chain.

That's it for me, and I slept in because it's cold and snowy again. I have some running around to do, but I must work on the Luna book now. The cats have, of course, been taken care of.

FINALLY, TIP: DON'T LET WHAT YOU THINK YOU CAN DO LIMIT YOU. DO IT ANYWAY. IF IT DOESN'T WORK OUT, TOO BAD, BUT IF IT DOES, YOU HAVE ANOTHER TOOL, AND EITHER WAY YOU'VE EXPANDED YOURSELF, TAKEN A STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE, CONGRATULATIONS.

May you find warmth and peace today.
Robin