Author Christine d’Abo

I spent a very intense day going through The Bond That Ties Us yesterday. I was amazed at the amount of typos that I found considering I went through this thing with a (not so) fine tooth comb before I submitted it to EC. I even had two other people read through it! I guess that proves that when you have time away from a manuscript you really do see it with clear eyes.

My goal for today is to go back over the love scenes and fix them up a bit. I found that there was a fair amount of repetition in them, which is never a good thing. So today is officially love scene overhaul day!

Unfortunately, this means that my current WIP, Perfect Match, is getting put on the back burner again. I was able to make some headway with it this week though, so I don’t feel too badly about it. I added 2000 new words and have a plan for the next few chapters.

I also need to spend some time putting my Quickie into the EC template so I can send it off to my editor as well. Cross your fingers that she wants to buy that one too.

My goals for this week? Well I have a few and I’m not sure how I’m going to fit them all in.

• Finish cleaning up Bonds and submit to editor
• Put Quickie into template and submit to editor
• Add 3000 words to Perfect Match

What do you guys have planned for the week?

If you haven’t seen this site yet, you might want to check it out.  Interviews with some of today’s top Romance authors. Enjoy!

Romance TV

Obviously I wasn’t at the top of my game yesterday. You may have noticed I get frazzled very easily when I have more than ten things on my plate at any one time. I was so tired when CSI came on last night I barely made it through. (Really glad Grissom opened the box. I think Hodgson is the miniture killer!)

Last night I pulled out The Bonds That Tie Us for the first time in eight months. I spend an hour going through the EC style guide and cleaning up my manuscript. I’m still in shock they bought it LOL. I figure it’s going to take me the rest of the weekend to clean it up enough that I’m comfortable sending it in to my editor. I don’t mind as it gives me a chance to get reaquainted with my characters and maybe make a few small changes to the story. Nothing major though. :) 

Today at lunch I’m also hoping to get some work done on my current WIP. I didn’t get a chance to even open the file yesterday so poor Ben and Jenna were neglected. I’ll have to make sure that changes today. I’m also a long way off my goal of adding 5000 words to the story. I think I’ve managed about 2000, so I’m going to have to do some serious writing this weekend which probably won’t happen as I’ll be working on Bonds.

I need longer days…or to quit my job.

Okay I almost forgot that today was Thursday. EEK!! Here are thriteen random things…

Thirteen Random Things. 1. I am trying very hard to concentrate on work right now. Today my mind is back on my writing. 2. I’m trying to think about what I’d like to see on my cover for my book. I have to fill out the art cover sheet form when I get home. Woot! 3. I had a great Valentine’s Day yesterday. I bought my husband chocolates and we dug into them last night. YUMMY!!! 4. The weather is really bad here today. They cancelled all the schools in the province but I had to go to work. When my oldest daught asked why I really didn’t have a good answer for her. 5. I missed Criminal Minds last night because I was…busy…with my husband… 6. Today at lunch I’m going to plot out the rest of my current WIP. I need to figure out how to end this book. 7. I’m in the middle of reading The Rest Falls Away and LOVE IT!! I can’t wait to go home tonight to get back to it. 8. My next book on my TBR list is Hunting Demon Island by Jaci Burton. I’m really looking forward to that one. 9. I’m looking forward to watching CSI tonight. Grissom is back and I hope he finally opens that package! 10. I keep coughing and can’t seem to shake this cold. I’m driving my coworkers nuts. 11. Tonight on top of everything else I’m doing, I’m going to take a nice long bath. 12. I hope the roads aren’t too back when I do go home. It’s starting to get really cold and it’s still raining out. EEK! 13. I’ve completely run out of things to say and I have to head to class to teach. Have a great day!

So not only was yesterday happy hugs and kisses day, but I heard back from my wonderful editor. I now have all sorts of things to look at. Templates, cover art info sheets, upcoming calls for submissions.

*giggles*

I know this may seem a bit juvenile, but I was positively giddy last night reading these sheets over. It makes me feel like a real author. So tonight I have a lot of work ahead of me putting my manuscript into the proper style and cleaning everything up. I’m also going to be looking at the manuscript for the first time in a year, which should be interesting.

I’m also going to try and get some writing on my current WIP today at lunch. Which may prove to be challenging considering what I have to do today at work. But I’m going to try.

Ah Valentine’s Day is a wonderful day. I know there are mixed feelings out there about it, but I love it. Yes, I show my husband and children that I love them every day. No, I don’t go out and buy a small fortune worth of chocolates, flowers, or other “stuff” for them. Nor do I expect them to give me any of that either.

But I have no problem at all taking one day out of the year to give them a little extra hug, kiss, or grope (husband not kids!!)  and say I love you.

There is lots of great information out there on Valentine’s Day, but here is a site with a nice mix of history and fun. I hope you enjoy it.

Happy Valentine’s Day. I hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful time.

I had a sickening realization yesterday. When I got to the end of the chapter that I had been reviewing I realized it was missing the ending. I freaked! This was the last chapter I’d worked on back in October before I’d set this story aside to work on my genie idea. I remembered spending ages trying to get it just right. My hero and heroine have a big fight, proving that he had major trust issues. I’d managed to get through the chapter and that’s when I got stuck on the plot.

So after I stopped freaking out in my head, I took a deep breath and set to work reconstructing the chapter. What I realized was the ending I’d completed the first time round didn’t really work. I was able to grab on to a thread that I’d mentioned in the previous chapter and took the ending in a whole new direction. I’m happy (for the most part) with where this is going to lead them. And it will make leading them to where I want to go much easier for the next chapter.

I knew I had a problem with the direction of the story, but I had no idea it had to do with the end of that chapter. Next time I’ll listen to my internal critic a bit closer.

One habit that I’ve gotten into over the past little while has been to carry a note book with me wherever I go. This has proven very handy when I’m sitting around waiting for something and a story idea pops into my head. Before I’d simply write the bare minimum of the idea on a post-it or scrape of paper for a later date when I’d be able to write the novel. Needless to say that system hasn’t worked very well for me.

Recently, I’m started writing more than that. I’ve tried to flush out the external conflicts and some of the character flaws for both the hero and heroine. I want to make sure when I come back to this idea a month or two (or ten) later, I won’t be left scratching my head thinking, “What did I mean by that anyway.”

My writing time is limited, and even though I write quickly I don’t have time to waist trying to catch the lost threads of a story idea. I know some people keep idea folders, some cue cards with their ideas written down. What do you use to keep your story ideas?

Okay so I was double tagged for this one by Amy and Melani. Since I love a good meme and hate to dissapoint, here we go. The rule is to list 10 odd facts or habits about yourself. I’ll try and keep this clean.

1. I used to bite my nails until well into my late teens. It was a bad habit and I tried for years to stop. It wasn’t until I wanted to try and impress my boyfriend (now husband) that I managed to quit.

2. If my hair gets too long the ends will split. If I see a split end out of the corner of my eye, it drives me nuts. I must break the end off. I know bad for my hair, but I can’t help it. When I’m really board, I go looking for them.

3. If I see a movie I like, I must know every fact about that movie. Same with an actor or actress. I’ll read IMDB for hours learning all I can about them/it. No, I’m not a stalker, but I love movie trivia.

4. I can sleep anywhere and any time. I’ve been known to curl up on the floor of someone’s house and sleep. I blame my children.

5. I have a little OCD going on in my life. If I want something I tend to obsess over it until I get it. Check my email a thousand times a day if I’m waiting for someone to answer me. And if I want something bad enough I will get it. I promise I’m not a stalker.

6. There are certain things I have to do in the right order or else it throws me off. The order in while I get ready for bed (wash my face, brush my teeth, then get changed). The order in which I get ready for work (get changed, wash my face, put on makeup, then eat). I like my routine. It keeps me from stalking people.

7. I hate it when people are rude. I get very upset, but I won’t say a thing. I have a bad temper that I have to keep in check and would get in trouble if I let it come out.

8. I don’t like green peppers. They litterally make me sick.

9. I’m terrified of heights. I can’t go up a step ladder without getting majorly sick. If they show heights in movies, I have to look away or else I get ill.

10. I pass out at the sight of blood. I’m perfectly calm, but if I see it, down I go. It makes for good times in an emergency.

I’m supposed to tag 10 people, but most of the people I know have been tagged. Lets try Alyssa, Maureen, Kelly, Michelle, and anyone else who’d like to play. :) 

I’m a member of my chapters goals loop. Every week we need to put out there what we hope to acomplish. I’ve decided that I’m going to share my goals for the week here. That way I’m doublly accountable for them.

So here we go!

Goals for the week of February 12th, 2007.

• Finish reviewing what I’d previously written on Perfect Match 
• Write 3000 new words for Perfect Match
• I’m judging for Passionate Ink’s Passionate Plume contest. I need to read my entries for the week and complete the contest forms

I think that is going to keep me more than busy. What do you guys have planned for the week?