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NaNoWriMo

I Have a Confession to Make…

November 26, 2013 Leave a Comment

I'm a 2013 NaNoWriMo Winner!
I’m a 2013 NaNoWriMo Winner!

I wrote another book.

November is my favorite month. I love the changing of temperatures, colors, and of course, Thanksgiving. It’s only the beginning of a stressful time, which is one reason I wasn’t going to participate in NaNoWriMo (where you write a book in 30 days). With editing and getting ready to publish my debut book, The Right Design, in January, there was no time.

Wrong!

Outlining2
Outlining

So, on November 1st, I began to outline a book that I was going to try to write. I’m a huge planner, but as a writer I’m a panster. However, when I tried to outline, something about it was different this time. It came easy to me and before I knew it, I was writing away. 1,667 words a day for 30 days, isn’t so bad. When the hubby came home from work I told him what I’d be up to, he was a little weary of the way I was going to challenge myself. (I was one stressed woman when I wrote “The Right Design” during NaNoWriMo in 2011). This time was different, so when he challenged me to write 3,000 words a day, I thought he was crazy.

…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED…

I hadn’t planned on doing something, but I did it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought, thanks to my trusty outline.

Screen shot 2013-11-26 at 11.29.24 AM
NaNoWriMo 2013 stats

Just by looking at the stats, it’s really shocking to know that I did this, and in the short amount of time. 19 days! (Yes, you read that right!) The best part was that I had only one breakdown, which happened the day before I wrote the words, The End.

Here are a few tips that kept me focused:

  • Don’t stress! Now, I know it’s easier said than done, but not stressing about writing is a huge part of writing 50,000 words!
  • Use a timer! With all the distractions that our phones and computer gives us, I bought a kitchen timer at my grocery store and set it on 35 minutes. This means that I solely focus on my WIP, even when I sat there staring at the blinking cursor. Using increments of a little over half an hour, helped me stay focused, but also allowed me to take breaks. When I came back, I felt refreshed and ready to set the timer again. As long as I got my 3,000 words a day in, I was good. 🙂
  • Just write! When writer friends of mine gave me this advice, I really wanted to roll my eyes and say, “Whatever!” However, the reality of it is, their advice is so right on! No matter if it’s good or bad, just get it down. Know that you can always go back and change it later.
  • Have fun with it! While I outlined this time around, don’t feel pressured to follow any kind of outline. There were several times when I had my characters talking to me, and telling me what direction their character wanted to go. I didn’t hesitate or question them, I just kept writing. Have fun with your characters or story-lines.

FlaggedBookHere’s a look of the book after I printed it all out and flagged the characters with colored stickers (which I loved working with). Doesn’t it look pretty?

Right now, I have two working titles. They are either “Cards From Khloe’s Flower Shop” or “Khloe’s Flower Shop.”

Here is a little blurb:

Khloe Harper owns a flower shop and sends deliveries to other characters in the book. There’s a woman who’s 60, who is learning to love again, a dirty old man who sends flowers to his wife and mistress, a thirty-something woman who sends flowers to herself, just to receive attention at work, and then there’s a man who proposes to his girlfriend (only because she finds the ring), but he’s having second thoughts because he has his eyes on the flower shop owner.

**Thank you to all my family and friends who helped me survive those 19 days!

What am I working on now? Edits for the above WIP will be held off until after my book is published. in the meantime, I’m working on my last round of edits for “The Right Design” and working on promotion, along with formatting.

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Editing, NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo winner, Writing tips

NaNoWriMo Books

December 17, 2012 4 Comments

This time last year I was still reeling with joy because I finished writing my second book, The Right Design.  You see, I participated in my first NaNoWriMo and I won, (this means that I wrote a book in 30 days!).  I was on a high, not believing I had done it.

This year, however, I didn’t take part in NaNoWriMo because there was too much going on, but I’m proud to be sharing NaNo experiences of the below awesome ladies:

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LAURA CHAPMAN, Change the Word

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  This was my third consecutive year participating in NaNoWriMo, and as much as I planned and prepared for it in advance, my schedule naturally went away. While my first two years I worked entirely on one project, this year I found myself in a slightly different position. I needed to add a few new chapters to the book I wrote for NaNoWriMo 2010 to prepare for (hopefully) publishing in 2013. I knew I needed to get them done before I could completely focus on my new book. That means, I participated as a NaNoWriMo rebel, and I’ll tell you it was not the same. Even though all of my friends told me to add that word count to my new novel, because it was new word count, I felt pretty guilty about it the whole time. It was definitely much more rewarding my first year, when I hit that 50K after spending Nov. 1-2 plotting the book and the rest of the month writing on airplanes, airports and if I was lucky enough my home.

What is the title of your book?  “Hard Hats and Doormats” and “Should Old Acquaintance” (Again, I was a rebel. Bad, Laura.)

What is your book about?  The first book is about a Midwestern girl transplanted in Texas to work in the big oil business. While trying to charm her way up the corporate ladder, she ends up missing a big promotion, because the bosses think she is too nice. Determined to change her ways, she stops playing by the rules professionally and personally. Both combine when she falls for one of her co-workers, which is against company policy. The MC ultimately learns that nice girls don’t always finish last.

The second is about a guy and girl who hook up at a New Year’s Eve party and decide to leave a little mystery in their night of fun by never exchanging last names, phone numbers or any way to contact each other. Five years later, they find themselves the best man and maid of honor in a holiday wedding. Stuck between wanting to support their loved ones and a rekindling of those feelings that drew them to each other in the first place, their reunion makes for an interesting December.

How many words did you write?  50,258… and counting!

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?  Book one needs a few more edits, and I hope to publish in the first part of 2013. It will be my debut novel, which is super exciting. I’m plugging away at book two, which has added several thousand more words to my final NaNoWriMo tally. My goal is to finish draft one before the new year — it is a holiday book — then take some time to revise. It’d be great to publish next holiday season, but we will see.

SharonMoore

SHARON MOORE, Romance Righter

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  I was pleased and amazed at how many words I could write in a day’s time with a deadline of 30 days. It was great fun, and I was never seriously worried I wouldn’t make it. (Even though I logged 0 word count for seven days because of three out-of-state trips during the month.) What I was disappointed in was not meeting my personal goal of 65K words.

I learned a ton about which planning tools work best for me, and I’m going to apply them to my future books. I have tried bunches of tools over the years, but this combo kept me on track and writing even when I knew it wasn’t the best writing.

Never again will I let the saggy middle, or plot holes, or character inconsistencies stop my writing. Just keep writing, and it will all sort out when you revise. Some of those aspects that would have stopped me in the past, showed me another direction to go with the book because I kept writing!

Toward the end, I was seriously behind–and traveling again–but friends understood and we worked around carving writing time out for me. I found myself “downloading” (e.g., “writing”) scenes playing in my head no matter the order. Just get them down, I told myself. So now, though I have a complete novel, it is not completed. I am going into the last few thousand words and re-ordering the scenes and writing better transitions and linkers for them. THEN I can start revisions and edits.

All the warnings for NaNoWriMo say to just write and do no edits or revisions, but I found myself largely ignoring that advice. I went back into the book each session, fixing something or elaborating a scene that I had envisioned more for. I don’t think it is a problem at all to do those things as long as you continue to add to the story.

I have both “pantsed” and “plotted” past novels. For fast writing like NaNo, however, I was successful largely because of the massive planning I did in October. It was my most planful novel, and I know that’s the major reason for the writing coming so easily. I was “in the flow” more than with any other of my novels, save one. Flow writing is sooo much fun!

What is the title of your book?  The Quick and the Dedd.  It’s the first book in a series.

What is your book about?  I wrote a parnormal romantic suspense.

Isabella Quick, current owner of I.Q Security (“We take your intelligence seriously.”) misses the company of one of her best agents. Riley Dedd is, well, dead, murdered while on assignment for her. When his spirit turns up in her office, she thinks it might be other spirits–her single malt scotch perhaps–at work. Having convinced her he is real, a real ghost that is, they figure out how to work together to find his murderer, save her company from a takeover, and unmask a plot of national security proportions. And can they figure out the mechanics of making ethereal love corporeal? Throw in her petty crook ex-husband, a BFF ex-sister-in-law who’s her office receptionist along with assorted other co-workers, and you have a paranormal romantic suspense that is not as transparent as it seems.

How many words did you write?  50,115 validated. My counter showed a few more, but it was close.

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?  I am sending the novel to Avon Impulse (deadline Dec. 10th). They solicited completed NaNoWriMo novels for their digital imprint (new title each week). I’m sure they know these are first drafts, so we’ll see if anything comes of it. (3-month response time.)

If that’s a no-go, there are lots of publishers to query re paranormal romantic suspense once it is revised and edited.

In the waiting time, I am going to revise/edit the novel and plot out three more Q&Ds to follow (Dedd on Arrival, Dedd to the World, and Dedd as a Doornail). In case Q&D gets published, I want to be ready to write the next ones.

Additionally, I am going to pitch a NaNoWriMo article to various in-flight magazines. The idea to do so came in this month’s issue of The Writer. So many people say they want to write a book, that this should appeal to a large number of flyers. I am researching flight magazines’ guidelines and timelines. I see this as an October article to give people time to sign up for NaNo next year.

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MARTHA REYNOLDS, MarthaReynoldsWrites

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  Last year I had hoped to participate in National Novel Writing Month; however, I’d already begun writing what would be “Chocolate for Breakfast,” my debut novel. I only wanted to join in with something new, so I decided to wait until this year. With my debut novel released in August, and my current work-in-progress at about 50,000 words, I was ready to devote the month of November to writing a sequel to “Chocolate for Breakfast.”

I signed up and added a few writing buddies. And although I didn’t participate in any of my local events, I did want to commit myself to this project, so during the last weekend in October, I drove to the Barnes & Noble bookstore, ordered a tall skinny latte and sat down with a notebook (the kind with actual paper in it) and a pen and began outlining the story that would become “Chocolate Fondue.” Mapping and outlining was essential, I knew. Although I’m more of a “pantser” kind of writer (writing by the seat of my pants, going where my muse takes me), I didn’t think that method would work within a thirty-day time frame.

I reached 50,011 words by Day 14, but I kept going. I “finished” the messy first draft on November 29 at 62,883 words. Now the editing begins. Whoever first said “Write fast, edit slow,” was right. Getting it all out there is important. Making every word count is more important.

What is the title of your book?  My book is called “Chocolate Fondue.” That’s the working title, but I’m happy with it as of now, and I envision the cover already, so I’m sticking with it. And because it’s a sequel to “Chocolate for Breakfast,” I think it works. Keeps the wonderful chocolate theme alive!

What is your book about?  Well, it’s a sequel to “Chocolate for Breakfast.” It’s certainly beneficial to the reader if he or she has read CFB, but I’m writing the book with enough informaiton in it so that if the reader hasn’t read CFB first, they won’t be lost. It picks up on the exact same day where CFB left off, as Bernadette and her aunt Joan are standing at the reception desk in the Hotel de la Rose (Switzerland), and Bernadette is string into the face of the young man she believes is the baby boy she gave up for adoption twenty-three years earlier.

How many words did you write?  I wrote over 61,000 words by November 27th! Now that’s not enough for a book, so I’d like to have at least another 20,000 words. But I don’t think that will be a problem. Then, of course, there’s all that editing.

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?  I’m still working on it! More to write and lots to edit; after all, the idea behind NaNoWriMo is to get that messy first draft written. Ultimately, I’d like to have both “Chocolate for Breakfast” and “Chocolate Fondue” picked up together, but querying agents will come much later.

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JEN TUCKER, Jen Tucker

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  I really liked the discipline that has to come along with writing a book in one month.  The idea that there were a community of writers participating globally was encouraging to me.  I think for anyone who needs a kick in the pants to complete a novel that has been running through your head for an eon, this contest is for you!  *Jen included*

What is the title of your book?  Ashes to Ashes

What is your book about?  A woman dies and she has gathered three people from her youth to spread her ashes: the first boyfriend, the high school bestie, and the nemesis.  There are some secrets that they wish would remain buried, yet nothing shines a light on the truth like spending time with people from your past you’d rather forget.

It has humor and tender moments in the story, as well as people you’d love to punch and some you might just wanna hug.

How many words did you write?  50,877

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?  I’m going to let it sit and rest for the month, then begin edits at the top of the year.  I’m not sure yet if I will shop it around for a publisher or go indie.  I’m really happy with the way the characters developed throughout the book and without me realizing it until the end, I think they gave me their blessing to make it a two or three book series.

JosephineAndDadPic

JOSEPHINE THOMAS, eBook Addict

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  NaNoWirMo was an experience that I had never experienced before. For starters, I didn’t even think it was possible to write 50,000 words in 30 days. When the challenge first began, I was super excited, but as the excitement wore off, the pressure grew and as well as the fear; my word count began lagging immensely! When I first signed on to do NaNoWriMo, I never factored in things such as:  blog tours that I had signed up for, novels that I had promised authors I’d read (which I will get to eventually), final exams for college, and last but certainly not least, the unexpected things. Taking care of my grandmother while working on my novel for NaNoWriMo was a lot harder than I expected, but I was able to manage. All in all, this was an experience of a lifetime; NaNoWriMo definitely gave me the push that I needed to kick-start my wanting to be an author.

What is the Title of your book?  Sliding into Love

What is your book about?  As I was working on my novel for NaNoWriMo, a lot changed with the synopsis and everything, but a few things stayed the same. For example, when I went into this experience, I knew I wanted to have both of my main characters on dialysis. So basically the story is about a girl, Emma, who has been on dialysis for ten years and is tired of living the same old boring life; she is definitely ready for excitement. Then she meets a guy, Bradley, who is the star pitcher for their hometown baseball team. Bradley also ends up getting sick and has to be on dialysis. The story was inspired by my father’s diagnosis with renal failure, which he has been dealing with for almost two years now. Renal failure is an illness that runs in my family, so I thought it would be a great idea to bring awareness to the disease while exploring the aspects of a relationship between two ill people as well.

How many words did you write?  Shockingly enough, I was able to write 50,156 words! I just made the word count goal by the skin of my teeth!!

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with your book?  First and foremost, I plan on doing some heavy duty editing; it was pure torture not being able to edit my book during the month of November! Once I’ve completed my editing and things of that nature, I plan on publishing my book through KDP and if my book does well, I’d love to have a portion of my royalties go to the American Kidney Foundation.

SaraHitchcockAuthorPic

SARAH HITCHCOCK, Wattpad

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience
:  This was not my first time, and as I enjoyed writing my book last year, I was more prepared this time around. I did try and do two books, but for me, it did not pan out. I mainly wrote one, and added a little over 10,000 words on the other.

What is the title of your book?
  Torn between two brothers

What is your book about?  
From the title you may guess, but my MC, Megan, is set up on a blind date, and although he is not her type, she finds herself liking this short bald headed man. Until one day, she is invited to the families home for Christmas, and she meets Callum’s brother, who she had thought had been hired help. She had caught him looking at her, and found she was attracted to him. While at the families home for Christmas, she pops out to the stables for some fresh air, their Liam catches her of guard and kisses her. After that she cannot help but think about the brother, but as she is with Callum, she would not cheat on him, even though she has no idea where there relationship is going. She is confused about her feelings, how will this story unfold?

How many words did you write?  
I manged just under 51K on this novel, and just over 10,000 on the YA one I started.

Now that NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?
  For now I plan to leave it, I still have a few books which I have been writing for a while now, to finish and edit, and last years Nano book to edit. So many to do, and not enough time.

PaulaPhillipsPic

PAULA PHILLIPS, The Phantom Paragrapher

Tell us about your NaNoWriMo experience:  This is my first year that I have done NanoWriMo and I started out great and then November ended up being a Crazy month so it took a little bit of a backburner, but will pick it up again when things start to show signs of settling.

What is the title of your book ?  A Teenage Girl’s Literary Guide to Life

What is your book about?  It is a set of 52 diary entries , each one taking on the theme of a book at the moment it has a Pride and Prejudice Theme to the novel.

How Many words did you write ?  10,567

NaNoWriMo is over, what do you plan to do with you book?  I plan to continue writing it and eventually who knows, I might get it published. I also had a cover made by Boo Savage Creations.

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Jen Tucker, Josephine Thomas, Laura Chapman, Martha Reynolds, NaNoWriMo, Sara Hitchcock, Sharon Moore, Writing

Why I’m Not Participating In NaNoWriMo!

November 1, 2012 8 Comments

Happy November!

The past few months have had their ups and downs, but beginning today, things will be back to normal…thank goodness!

This is my favorite month – the cool weather (not cold because I live in Texas), snuggling with my hubby and cat, Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), and usually a good football game, though the Cowboys aren’t doing so well…but that’s for another blog post – I love it all!

For writers all across the world, November 1st is the beginning of National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoNoWriMo).  This is where one writes a complete book in 30 days.  To find out more about my first experience with NaNoWriMo, click HERE.

Anyway, while I want desperately to take part in NaNo, I know I can write a book – in fact, I’ve written two of them – it’s time for me to focus on my next step, becoming a published author.  This means that I need to focus on the editing process, which at times can be very tedious, but there’s good news!  As of next week, I will have an office – one I’ll have to drive to – and will be able to center my complete attention on work.  My goal is to have edits finished with at least one book by the end of the year!  Wish me luck!

**Now, for a little announcement:  I’ve decided to self-publish!

**Why?  Come back for a new blog post tomorrow morning!

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Editing, Images, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Self-publishing, Writing

Some Days I Just Want To Write

August 16, 2012 6 Comments

Now that I’ve written two books and am in the editing process of both of them, I just want to write!  Don’t get me wrong, I love editing and always have.  There are days where I just want to wake up, fix a cup of tea and spend time creating all the ideas I have in my mind!  I’ve spent so much time with the characters in the first two books that I’m wanting to make new friends.  I know that some writers are talented enough to do both, edit and write, but when I tried last week to start another book, that darn blinking cursor stared back at me.  (I guess you could say that my inner goddess was not happy with what I had written), so I deleted all two and a half pages.  Looking back on it, I can say it was the right thing and that what I wrote was in fact not good!

But, there’s some good news — November is just around the corner.  That means once again, I’ll be participating in National Novel Writing Month!  Last year was my first year to participate and I loved it!  I loved the way that I was so invested in it, not with only my characters, but the story, too.  While it was difficult timing wise (Thanksgiving and getting ready for Christmas and my wedding anniversary), somehow I made it work (thanks to my amazing husband who supported me along the way — I couldn’t have done it without him).  As for what I’m going to write this year, I have part of it already outlined and I’m really excited about it.  Also, if you’ve not done NaNoWriMo before, I highly recommend it.  It’s changed my life in the way I think of writing a book.  Apparently, I can write a book in 30 days! 🙂

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Editing, Isabella, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Writing

What We Give Up, To Get A Great Reward

April 12, 2012 2 Comments

I had a hard time coming up with what to write for today’s blog, but then I saw THIS blog post, I knew I had found my topic!  Perfect!

As writers, we are fortunate to be able to be on the go-wherever, whenever, and with anyone!  This is a perk, but it’s also a challenge.  We give up so much of ourselves to be with our characters, that it’s hard to juggle fiction vs. real life.  Here are five biggest distractions that we seem to give up when our book consumes our life:

FAMILY: Spending time with my family is very important to me.  It’s something I’ve treasured for a long time, and as I age, I want to spend more time with them.  So, when NaNoWriMo hit, the same month as Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday), and family came to town, I knew it was time to push it into high gear.  It was my first time to partake in NaNoWriMo, but I won.  Yes, I missed out in bonfires on the ranch and bonding with family, and watching football (go Cowboys), but when it was November 30th, at 11:59 p.m., it was over.  I had won NaNoWriMo, and I was happy!  (I must also say that I went to Orlando for a “Girl’s Only” weekend with my sister!  I wrote and she supported me!  I still have to tell her how much spending time with her helped my story).

My advice: Spend time with family as much as you can, but make each moment count!

FRIENDS:  I am thankful for my friends.  My true friends have been there from the moment I wanted to be a writer, and have supported me throughout this journey.  I love spending time with them, whether it’s going to Vino 100 for a night out on the town or staying home to play Settlers of Catan, I feel at “home” with my friends-my true friends!  Though, there comes a time when saying, “No, I can’t go out tonight,” can change your life.  Deciding to stay home on a few occasions in November helped add to the MS, word by word, and chapter by chapter.

My advice:  Surround yourself with friends that support you!  You’ll be glad you did!

EXERCISE:  Taking care of your self by exercising is very important.  It doesn’t matter if you’re under or overweight, exercise is (and should be) a factor in your life.  Often when I’m writing my MS and I get struck with writer’s block, going for a walk (thirty minutes at the most) can help jumpstart my writing.  It gets me back on track, and helps me reevaluate where I am and why my characters are doing and/or saying something.

My advice:  Doing something physical for thirty minutes a day can help you not only improve your health, but it might give you inspiration for you MS.

HOLIDAYS:  I’ve already mentioned how writing can be stressful during the holidays, but from January to December, doesn’t it always seem like there’s a holiday coming up.  Can this add more stress to you “career” as a writer?  Yes!

My advice:  Celebrate the holidays, but don’t stress about your writing.  Think of the holiday as a vacation, just for that day specifically, and know that you’ll get back to it the next day!  Most of all, don’t worry about anything, and have a wonderful day off-you deserve it!

LIFE:  Before you were a writer, you were a person.  Go out, and have fun.  (By doing this, it give you a chance to come up with more story ideas).  Find new hobbies, meet new friends, go to a sporting event or concert!  Live life breath by breath, because if you don’t you’re going to miss it!

My advice:  Do NOT let your book(s) consume your life!  There is more to life than writing.  Enjoy it!

My biggest message to you is that as writers we give up so much, but it’s okay to not make it your entire lie.  You can have both!  Just use your time wisely!

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Exercise, Family, Friends, Holiday's, Isabella, Life, Link, NaNoWriMo, Random, Writing, Writing advice

Why Letting Your Friends Read Your Work Is A Good Thing!

March 1, 2012 8 Comments

When I started taking classes at Gotham Writers’ Workshop I was a little worried about sharing my work with my fellow classmates, but I quickly overcame those nerves and insecurities and learned to listen to what they had to say.  Whether their critique were comments about my storyline, helping me keep a better timeline of events, or anything else, I welcomed their opinions.

I recently gave my second book, The Right Design, to a close friend to read.  I was a little worried about doing so, not because of what I thought he might think, but because it was my baby, my NaNoWriMo baby.  I still haven’t let go of the storyline, nor have I gone a day without thinking about my beloved characters.  Come to find out, my friend really enjoyed the story.  He helped me see where I needed some help and what parts he liked.  This helped me so much, and I’m beginning to take notes for the 2nd draft – yea!

Many writers are like me, afraid to share their work, but trust me, you’ll want to show you work to friends because it might help you in the long run.  It’s also okay to learn to take criticism.  Writers need it because it’s the only way that our writing gets better.

Have you ever showed a friend your MS?  If so, what was your experience in doing so?  Were you happy you did it?  I’d love to hear all about it.  (You can even vent if you want to!)

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Editing, Isabella, Link, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Publishing, Random, Romance Books, The Right Design, Writing

The Right Design

February 13, 2012 4 Comments

I’m sorry I’m just now getting to post this, but ti’s been a busy few days!  Anyway, like I promised last week, here are the details of my second book, The Right Design!  When I was writing this book, I didn’t tell anyone what it was about because it was my baby and until it was finished, I wanted the ideas to come from me and only me – I didn’t want to be persuaded by anyone.  Now that I’ve finally named my book, I’m excited to share what it’s about, so here goes:

The Right Design

It’s interior designer Carrie Newman’s six year anniversary with her boyfriend, Roger.  Before leaving for work that morning, he gives her a little blue box, but when Carrie opens it up, it’s not what she thinks (and hopes) that it would be.  Later thad day when she comes home early to prepare a surprise for him, she’s shocked to find him in a very erotic position with another woman on their kitchen counter.  Devistated and heartbroken, Carrie ends their relationship and moves in with her sister and brother in-law, Sara and Sean.  It’s not too soon after that does Sara announce that she’s pregnant, and Carrie thinks it’s time to get her life back on track, so she makes an announcement of her own – she’s moving to Florida!

Carrie finds herself living a whole new life, working at another highly established interior decorating firm.  Her first job since moving to Florida is to update Brad Larson’s mansion.  There is instant attraction between them, but Carrie is a firm believer of not mixing business with pleasure, but Brad does everything he can to change her mind.  After fighting her feelings, Carrie finally surrenders and allows herself to feel something for him, but the morning after they sleep together the first time, Brad walks in on Carrie at her office and catches Roger and her in a kiss.

…and cut!

That’s all you get to know until the book’s published!

Do you like the storyline?  Who do you think Carrie will end up with, or will she forget them both and move on to someone new?

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Isabella, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Random, Romance Books, The Right Design, Writing

My Title of My National Novel Writing Month Book Is…

February 7, 2012 6 Comments

Like many of you know, I participated in National Novel Writing Month in November and I won!  I was my first I woke up around seven this morning and all of a sudden it hit me, and I had a title for my book!  I don’t know what it was that struck me, or how I came to this conclusion, but after three and a half months, I did it!  I must say that it is quite a relief!  (Even my husband was happy about it, and he can now print out my winning certificate!)

The title is:

The Right Design

For tomorrow’s post I will finally reveal what my book is about!

Stay tuned!

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Books, Chick-Lit, Editing, Images, Isabella, Link, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Publishing, Random, Romance Books, Self-publishing, Writing

Naming Your Book

January 12, 2012 6 Comments

When I wrote my first book, I came up with the title on the same day I finished it.  I love the title.  (It’s Redefined Dreams, by the way).  After talking it over with my mom for about thirty minutes, I did it.  When I changed the file name on my computer, just typing the title melted my heart.  I had written a book.

Well, as many of you know, I won my first NaNoWriMo!  (Yay!)  I have sat back and only this past weekend did I open the file again to start fine-tuning it.  I’m very proud of this book.  It was my heart and soul for a whole month.  I even think that I love this book more than my first one.  When I submitted my NaNo book into their word counter and it told me that I won, I was awarded a certificate.  I’ve filled in my name several times, but can’t bring myself to fill in a title.  I have no idea what to name this book.  I’ve discussed it with my husband and several other family members, but still I have nothing.  I want nothing more than to print it out, and to hang up in my office!  I want people to ask about NaNo and about my book.  Now, if I could only come up with a title…

I ask you now:

  • How do you come up with the title of your book?
  • What do you do when you’re racking your brain to come up with a title?
  • Help!

Filed Under: Isabella Tagged With: Book titles, Books, Chick-Lit, Images, Isabella, NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, Redefined Dreams, Romance Books, Titles, Writing

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