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Saturday, December 30, 2006

Tuesday is D-Day

I only have four more days before I have to go back to work. Ugh. I am not looking forward to getting back to the daily grind. It's not that I dislike my job. It's actually a great job. It's just that life is going to be so rushed--from dashing out on my lunch to pick up my dd at school and take her to daycare, to rushing out after work to pick up the kids, to making a quick dinner because kids are starving, and finally to giving quick baths and enjoying a bit of playtime before bed. It all moves by in such a blur.

My only hope is that if I keep on writing maybe, just maybe someday I'll get published and will be able to quit my day job in favour of staying home to write. Now that would be a dream come true. So I'll keep plugging away at it. I have to keep remembering...I can do it!

Which leads me to my New Years resolution. In 2007 I vow that I will, without a doubt...
  • Finish the first draft of my wip (Jan/Feb)
  • Write a new synopsis and polish the first three chapters and send them off to Richmond (March)
  • Immediately start a new ms so I don't lose momentum
  • Soak up as much knowledge as possible from other authors (which shouldn't be a problem with all of the books I'm getting every month from Harlequin!)

This is not the first time that I've vowed to finish my ms, but this time I mean it! I'm going to do this or go crazy trying. 2007 is my turning point, and hopefully it leads to something wonderful.

What about you? Have you made any resolutions for 2007?

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Published!

The day has finally arrived. Harlequin published the winning entries from the Ultimate Reunion contest on their website--including my entry! It was such a rush to see my name on their website. I can only hope that one day it will be followed by " is one of our best selling authors."

I can dream, can't I?

Here is the link to view the contest entries if you're interested. The other winning entries were great! I thoroughly enjoyed them both. Be warned...the last one is a real tear jerker!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Merry Christmas to Me!

I just sent the paper work in to Harlequin to receive my prize from the Ultimate Reunion contest: a year's worth of books from the line of my choice! I can't wait to start receiving them. It will be such a treat to always have a wonderful new story at my fingertips rather than trailing the kids down to the library to get my fix. How wonderful! I couldn't have asked for a nicer Christmas present.

On a separate note, it's officially 3 weeks before I have to return to work from my mat leave. :-( I can't belive how quickly the time has gone. Part of me will be glad to have the adult interaction again, but the larger part of me is sick to death to have to leave my kids. I know they'll adjust and probably thrive in the process, but I can't stop the oh so motherly guilt from gripping my heart at the mere thought. I know...I won't think about it anymore. That will fix it. Done!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

I Won! I Won! I Won!

Excuse me while I scream...Ahhh! I got an email this morning saying that I won Harlequin's Ultimate Reunion contest! I'd all but given up hope of winning since it had been a week since the winners were chosen and I hadn't heard anything. I was sure that was because three other lucky and talented writers had won, been notified, and were too humble to come gloat on the website. Imagine my surprise when I received an email from an unknown name today with the subject line of Ultimate Reunion contest. It is such a thrill to be chosen knowing that there were many, many talented writers who entered.

So I'm on a bit of a high today. I know that it's nothing like selling a manuscript, but to me it's the justification that I haven't been wasting my time with all of the writing I've been doing. Maybe I really do know what I'm doing. Now that's a pleasant thought. This is just the kick in the a** that I need to get my wip finished.

You better believe I'll be writing tonight!



Friday, December 01, 2006

The Wedding Singer

Since I've been writing romance, I find myself analysing movies instead of just watching them. I was watching The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler on TV a few nights ago, and as I watched it I started to realize what a perfect romantic comedy it is. Despite being kind of stupid at times (like all Adam Sandler movies), you can feel the romantic tension building as the hero gets left at the alter only to realize that his fiance isn't the kind of woman he wants, but the heroine is. At the same time the heroine thinks she is in love with her fiance, but it isn't until the end of the movie that she realizes that she is with him for the wrong reasons: security, money--everything the hero can't offer her. It has some great indicators that her fiance is wrong for her--if she were to marry him her name would be Julia Gulia. That's reason enough to give him the heave ho (LOL). Where as the hero's last name flows perfectly with her name (even though his name escapes me right now). Mental note to pay close attention to my character's names from now on. And then when she is on the plane with her fiance and he won't let her have the window seat because he doesn't want to get smashed by the beverage cart even though she's never seen the window view before. I love things like that! Subtle yet very telling. Those are the kind of things that really help to show vs tell in a ms. My favourite part is at the end when he writes the song about her and sings it to her over the intercom on the plane. That made my heart melt, and I don't even really like Adam Sandler! Great writing. If you like the movie or not, I don't think you can deny that it has all the elements of a perfect romantic comedy.

Is there a movie that you think is the perfect romantic comedy, and why?