The winner of my New Year’s Party Contest is…Dee Dailey! Congratulations, Dee! You’ve won a New Year’s Party Pack with supplies for 50 people and an autographed copy of  A RED HOT NEW YEAR.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered my contest. And, please stay tuned…I’ll be launching another contest shortly after January 1st.

I’ve got an interview up at Joyfully Reviewed. If you get a chance, take a look and let me know what you think!

And I’m also blogging today over at The Bradford Bunch.

Twelve Days of Writing

Day 12:  The End

So this is the last entry in my “Twelve Days of Writing” segment. Today, I want to talk about “The End” of a story. For a writer,  typing “The End” can create a wonderful, heady feeling. Completing a manuscript, seeing the tangible proof of your work–it’s amazing. And exhausting. And about a million other things.

Every time I think of “The End,” I think of Romancing the Stone. Do you remember the scene at the beginning of the movie–the one that shows Joan Wilder typing, crying, loving her novel, and, finally, saying, “God, that’s good!” as she stares at her story? Before I finished my first manuscript, I thought that was the way I’d feel when I finished my novel.

But I was so very wrong.

I type fast, the images flow like a movie for me–yeah, I’m with old Joan on that. But I don’t think I have ever cried while I was writing a story (some authors do, I know this for a fact). And, while I do love my stories, I don’t think I’ve ever, ever said, “God, that’s good!”  Because…I doubt. Right after I finish a story, I wonder if it’s good enough. I wonder if anyone else will like it. I wonder if I took too many risks. If I didn’t take enough. Oh, yes, I doubt.

I think all writers doubt. I view doubt as pretty healthy, actually. I think it keeps me on my toes. I believe doubt makes me want to learn more, and to always try and write better.

So, for me, “The End” isn’t a huge, emotional scene. It’s quiet. It’s more of a soft sigh of relief, a brief breath of worry, and, then, finally, a smile because…I finished the story!

Okay, writers…what does “The End” feel like for you?

Twelve Days of Writing

Day Eleven:  Goals

It is the absolute perfect time of the year to talk about writing goals. Why? Well, because a brand, spanking new year is just around the corner. A clean slate just waiting. If you want to set some writing goals for yourself, then this is the time to do it! Set those goals (start ’em now, or determine to start ’em with the dawn of the New Year).

I set a 10 pages/day goal for myself when I’m doing a project, but different people require different goals. If you’ve got a full-time job, three kids, a house to clean–heck, you might only be able to manage 15-20 minutes a day. But you can still manage that 15-20 minutes. If you get 15 minutes a day, seven days a week, 4 weeks a month…(okay, I think you’re getting the idea)…you will be able to write a book.

So, set a goal that will work for you.  Three pages a day. Five. Twenty. (Yeah, I just threw that last one out there, but some writers I know do churn out that many pages. My mind would be mush if I wrote that many pages each day.)  Set a goal. Stick to the goal.

Good luck!

Twelve Days of Writing

Day Ten:  Inspiration

First, please let me apologize for getting this post up so late–it was one one crazy, but good day.

In this blog entry, I wanna talk about inspiration. Ah, inspiration.

One of the most common questions that I get asked by folks is…”Where do you get your ideas?”

My answer? “Everywhere.”

Half-remembered dreams inspire me. Billboards inspire me. Movies that I don’t like–b/c I wanna rewrite them–inspire me. I don’t need a Muse–I just need life.

Life is so wild and random.   Life is filled with so many great moments–and so many dark ones. I read somewhere (no, I have no idea where!) that writers see stories in everything–and that is certainly true for me.

When I was younger, I used to play I game when I was bored, waiting some place. I would watch other people. Watch their faces, their expressions, their body language. Then, I would create lives for the people that I watched. Sometimes, I’d try to match the stories to what I thought was reality for my poor, observed souls. And, sometimes, I would try to create an existence that was far from ordinary.

If you are a writer reading this post, tell me…what inspires you?