Good afternoon, readers!
It's October 29th, I just finished my first read through of Dance for You, and I've already had six Reese's peanut butter cups, so you know what that means! Nanowrimo is just around the corner! Nanowrimo: National Novel Writing Month, or November. I've participated two previous years, with varying success. I've never managed to write 50,000 words in a month, as is the goal, but one year I did finish writing at 35,000 word novella, which is around the length of most of my books. This year, I have a plan and focus, though, so fingers crossed I'll be getting my first real win. The plan: Write Waiting for You in its entirety. It should come in around 32-35k so that leaves 15-18k leftover. As I would like to write an actual 50k this year, I'll be starting Only You towards the end of the month. That way, I can win Nano (woohoo) and get a jump on writing Only You since December will be insanely busy. (Christmas and my daughter is turning three four days before Christmas). I am lucky to have a supportive writing group that also participates in Nano so we can follow each other on the site ( nanowrimo.org ) and motivate each other to stay on top of our word counts. There are two types of Nano writers: planners and pantser. I tend to be somewhere in the middle. I have a plan. I know my characters, what makes them tick, and I have some of the conflict figured out. But, I do like to leave some writing to be figured out by the seat of my pants. It makes writing a little more interesting. That way, even I can be surprised! I'll try to stay on top of a blog post a week during Nano, but if I fall by the wayside, you'll know why. Wish me lucky crafting a sexy, love story for Lincoln! He deserves his happy ending ;) Love always, Lucy
0 Comments
I have four kids under five years old. It’s a lot. I’m really tired most of the days I exist, and I rarely sleep through the night. I wake up with coughing babies, or a screaming toddler, or a panicked kindergartener. I would think that I would want to spend all my free time staring at some really stupid tv and turning off my brain.
But, I write. And, I write for so many reasons. It makes me happy. It makes me crazy. It makes me feel justified in my intellectual self. I’ve written forever. In eighth grade, I wrote a book (probably a short story) in a composition notebook that had a giant pink hippie daisy sticker on the cover and the girls in my grade passed it around. Every single girl in my grade read it. Now, I went to a really small school and there were only eleven other girls, but still! I was a best-seller in my mind. (I have no idea where that notebook is, but I would give ANYTHING to read it. From what I remember, it was horrible, in the best possible way. I think the main character got married at seventeen and the story took place in the 1990’s.) So, why am I writing contemporary romance? That is a really good question, especially for me. I’ve never been a contemporary romance writer, well, at least not since eighth grade. I’ve written fantasy, science-fiction, historical fiction, anything to get me out of the world that I live in and somewhere else. But, then I had kids, and what I was reading changed. I no longer wanted to throw myself into 1,000 page epics. I wanted to read something light, happy, and a little naughty. I started reading tons of historical romances and fell deeply in love with a few kilted-Scotsmen and several English Dukes with surprisingly ripped abs. I also switched from watching Law and Order: SVU and Spartacus to Hallmark movies. I never stopped watching Outlander. But, as what I read and watched changed, so did what I wrote. I was in the midst of writing the third book of a fantasy series I wrote (years ago) when I opened a new document and wrote the first chapter to And Then It Was You. I had no idea why I was writing it, or who these characters would turn out to be, or if I would ever even use it. To be honest, I walked away from it for a long time. I finished the fantasy series, got pregnant with twins, delivered twins, and when the twins were seven months old, opened up that document again and poured myself into it. I wrote the initial draft in about three weeks, the fastest I had ever written anything. So, I challenged myself. I knew I wanted that book to be the first of a four-book series. I was going to write a book a month. And I was going to become a contemporary romance writer. So here I am, about 65% done with book two, Dance for You. I’m a little ahead of schedule for finishing, and that’s better than behind. I never know when we’re going to get hit with strep, or hand, foot, and mouth, or the flu. And the best part is, I’m so happy doing this. I hope reading this series makes you as happy as writing it makes me. Love always, Lucy |
Lucy HudsonMy thoughts on the writing and indie publishing process, as well as life occasionally Archives
April 2020
Categories |