Got My Mojo Back!

'Calvin & Hobbs'

Finally I have written and I am happy with what I have done.  I gave my two short pieces for the Keepsakes anthology to a friend and got really good reports back on both of them.  I have written a short piece for a Christmas Anthology and signed my daughter and her two friends up to a children's anthology..... Welcome back Mojo, it's been a while!

I've got 2 weeks off work now, so I am hoping to do more planning and writing.  NaNoWriMo is fast approaching and I have a bit of planning for the second novel, and then I have to edit the first one! argh! Oh well, I'll get there....

Draft Finished!

I've done it!  I have completed drafts of both of the two pieces I wanted to write for the keepsakes project...and have written another 2 chapters of other novels in the process.  This is the most I have written, in fact the most I have wanted to write, this year!  It looks like I'm finally getting my groove back...and it's taken it's time!  Yay!  Now I just need to keep this up and continue writing....

The Mirror of the Soul...

An ANZAC Slouch Hat Charm

For the Keepsakes Project I have chosen two charms to write pieces around.  The first was a ANZAC Slouch Hat and the second was a Malachite bead.  I knew straight away that I wanted to write pieces that could be used as chapters in 2 of the novels I am writing, but also be stand alone pieces....easier said than done!

The first piece I planned was based around the Slouch Hat and was (original, I know) called "The Boy with the Slouch Hat".  It's been pretty easy to write and I am happy with how it is progressing.  I only have a little bit to add and then it will be ready for editing...

Malachite Beads

The second piece needed a little more research.  I needed to find out what made Malachite special.  It was really interesting research too!  I've never really put much faith in gem stones and their healing power, but finding out about Malachite and other stones was very interesting.  Also, writing the piece proved to be a challenge.  I wanted the piece to come from "A History of Blood Shed" the second of my "Blood Lust" series of books.  I am wanting to write this novel for NaNoWriMo this year, so thought that writing a short piece of the story might get me motivated again.  It did, but also proved very hard.  I want to encourage people to seek out my books through the Keepsakes Anthology, and a lot of what I was writing for the Malachite story was going give away key points from the first book.  I had to be clever.  And I think I have!  I have almost written the first chapter of "A History of Blood Shed" and there is not one mention of the events that take place in the first book!  I am very happy with myself and have taken a brief break from the story (entitled "The Mirror of the Soul") to post this here.

I just hope the Slouch Hat story is as forthcoming!   Maybe I'll even post excerpts of the two stories here when I am finished.  XXXX

And the verdict is...?

Well, it was a good night.  I have almost finished the first of the pieces I am writing for the Keepsakes project and got almost 1800 words of the second one written.  All in all a good night!  I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and am getting my writing mojo back.  It took long enough!!!

Settling in for the night....

Well, I have the night to myself and have decided to make the most of it!  I have settled down with Indian food, chips and Coke and am going to get some writing done!

My Goals tonight are as follows:

1. Finish one of the small pieces I have started for the Keepsake Project (about 800 words to go) and possibly start on the second (not started yet).
2. Eat lots of junk food, stay up a lot later than I should and sit on my bum a lot! ;)
3. Stare off into the night thoughtfully waiting for inspiration.
4. Edit another chapter or two of "Blood Lust" as I need to have that pretty much finished so I can start planning the sequel "A History of Bloodshed" for NaNoWriMo this year.

I have loaded my iPad with lots of music from my favourite movies to provide inspiration and have fully charged the laptop.  I will let you all know how much I have progressed in the morning, but for now I am turning off the WiFi so I'm not tempted to surf the Net and am going to get stuck into things.

Let the writing begin!

Always Procrastinating!!!

I've decided I like designing covers of books too much!  I need to write more often!

I am a naughty girl! I should have taken the opportunity presented to me last night to do some writing, but instead I stayed up till all hours designing book covers for books that have not even been written yet! Talk about jumping the gun!  The only thing I can say in my defence is that it helps with the visualisation of my goal.  I can see the final product.  All I have to do is get there!

Here we go!

One of my friends posted this on my Facebook
and got me thinking about finally finishing off
one of the many books I've either planned or started!

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the first post on my blog!

I was told that the best way to make yourself accountable for your writing is to make it public knowledge!  What better way than to blog about my novels??? I need to keep myself on track so that I can finally finish something!

During NaNoWriMo I wrote the first draft of "Blood Lust" - 60,000+ words in a month! So I know that I can do it, I just have to keep myself on task....

One of my friends is a published author of three children's books and has had stories published in a few anthologies.  She's given me many words of advice and I know that I am the only one that can make my dreams of finishing and publishing one of these books a reality.  So, I've made myself accountable and am going to start ripping these characters and stories out of my mind.  I have another 1-2 dreams a week that would make wonderful novels, but have so many half-completed ideas that there is no room for them.

So, here is my "To Do" List:

1. Edit "Blood Lust" so that I can start work on the sequel "A History of Blood Shed" for this years NaNoWriMo Challenge.
2. Finish off the two short pieces that I am writing for the Keepsakes Project.  These two stories are going to form a part of both the Blood Lust series and The Legacy Books.  It makes sense to adapt sections of these stories to be standalone pieces, but also chapters in the books I have to write.
3. Continue work on what I think will be my Opus; The  Legacy Books.  I'm well on my way to completing the first book "The Tin Soldier", but have been AWOL from writing for over 6 months and need to get back into the groove.  I would really like to have this book finished ASAP as I believe it could be a great book to be released in time for the 100 year anniversary of ANZAC Day.  "The Tin Soldier" is about a Anzac soldier that fell in Bullecourt, France and a young, idealistic teachers struggle to find his final resting place.

Please check out the links on the right hand side of the blog - they will link you to a page about each of my projects.  I will post excerpts and notes about what is going on with each of the projects.  As this is a brand new Blog, there may not be anything there, but rest assured - I am working on it!

Lastly, thank you for reading this and for keeping me accountable.  I need to finish these books!

Kylie. xxx