Author Christine d’Abo

The winner of the Purple Explosion Contest was Jennifer McKenzie!! Way to go Jennifer. I’ll be mailing you your Six Degrees of Sexy t-shirt this week.

This Sunday also ends my kick in the pants challenge.  I did really well on the writing front, managing 7,432 words this week. I didn’t get much done on my urban paranorma, but Amy and I made great strides on our story. I’m really loving it and I can’t wait to see the next chapter (no pressure Amy! ).

I actually re-read what I’ve done in my paranormal, and think I’ve found a few problems with the plot. I’m going to try and fix them and then hopefully get back into it. I’m also going to sign up for Sven today. That should help motivate me.

With any luck, my day job will be a bit lighter this week and I’ll have a bit more energy to write. I do love what I do, but it can be very demanding.

So what is your week looking like? How did your writing go?

A harsh breeze blows a tumbleweed rolling down a snow-packed street. The soft clicking of metal on metal steps to the beat as heavy footfall walk toward the awaiting couch. The author, tired, bleeding, approaches with cautious respect. Pulling the brim of her hat down, she leans slightly forward, glaring at the laptop before her.

“You haven’t beaten me yet…”

Okay that was just silly…but that’s how I feel. I didn’t reach my 5000 word goal this week, but I did come in with a respectable 3,367 on my paranormal, putting the total at 35,387 words. On top of that, I got all caught up on my secretary duties, and have almost finished critiquing a 300 page manuscript (almost done Lilli!).

This week, I’m going to really focus on my writing. The key for me is consistency, so I’m setting my word count goal at 5000, but having a secondary goal of making sure I write everyday.

And this is officially the last week of my kick in the pants challenge, so I’m going to try extra hard to make it.

This week also sees the release of Wizard’s Thief!!! So mark Wednesday on your calendars everyone! This is a slightly darker story than I normally write (but not by much), with a hero and heroine who have a lot of scars they must overcome to be able to make their relationship work.

Today I’ll be chatting over at the Ellora’s Cave group from about 12-4 EST (NOTE: Woopse put the wrong time down!) with the Deliciously Naughty Writers! Please stop by for some hot, sexy excerpts and a lot of laughs.

How is everyone else making out with their writing??

Well it’s that time again! Hard to believe how fast the weeks seem to go these days. I haven’t been writing at my normal pace, but I’m okay with that. I’ve come to realize that my natural writing pace for winter is a bit slower than the rest of the year. As long as I’m doing something, then I’m happy with that.

This week I managed to get about 2000 words done on my urban paranormal. That means since this challenge started I’ve managed just over 25k words on the story. I’m not finished, but I’m thrilled. And with two weeks left to go in the kick in the pants initiative, I’m confident that I’ll get even closer to my goal.

That said, I do have a small confession. Today I started working on another story. Well, went back to it. I needed a break from the paranormal, and hope that shifting gears today will have me ready to go for the rest of the week. I also want to try and get this one done and submitted to EC. I’d love to sneak it in for the jewel series later in the year. So cross your fingers I’ll get it done.

How is everyone else making out??

Oh how I love a long weekend!! I’m really excited to have an extra day off (Monday) and plan to do nothing overly exciting. In fact, Amy loaned me Mork and Mindy season one. I think I’m going to watch it with my girls . That should prove interesting.

I’m also going to get my butt in gear and do some writing. I’m up to 32k on my urban paranormal, but nowhere near where I wanted to be. So it’s time to kick things up a notch.

Oh and I have another episode of Torchwood to watch and apparently something big happens…going to watch tonight when I get home.

So do you have any exciting plans for the weekend??

Well people, I didn’t make my goal this week. And honestly, for no good reason. I have been sick off and on, but the reason I didn’t write was because of watching Torchwood. I’m all caught up now though and there isn’t a new episode until Wednesday, so I don’t have any excuses.

I did manage to write over 2000 words, so it wasn’t a total bust. So today, I’m giving my head a hard shake and I plan to jump back into my story with both feet! So I’m kicking my own ass and plan to write 5000 words this week.

How did everyone else make out this week??

Happy Sunday everyone! I hope you all had a productive week. I seemed to hit my stride with my story and am super excited with how everything is turning out. I’m starting chapter 8 today and am really getting a feel for my characters. I also had some fantastic news on the writing front that I’ll share with everyone tomorrow.

My goal for this week was to write 5000 words. I actually reached that goal on Tuesday, so I challenged myself to write another 5000. I didn’t quite make it, but ended up with a total of 7,465 words!

How are you all making out??

I can’t believe the week is over half gone. I frigging blinked again LOL! Sooooo….how is everyone making out with the Kick In The Pants Challenge so far this week? I’ve actually met my 5000 word goal somehow, so I’m adding another 5k. I’m hoping I can make it!

How are you making out??

Believe it or not, it’s Sunday everyone! That means it’s check in time for all my kick in the pants friends to stand and be accounted for.

This week was a hard one for me. I managed to reach my goal though, so I’m super bouncy about that. I squeeked in at 5262 words of my 5000 word goal. My biggest challenges had to do with my time management, and actually having the energy to write when I did find the time.

But I have a plan…

Now every day on my lunch hour I walk to my local Tim Horton’s (Canadian coffee shop for those of you not in the know), order a medium steeped tea, and sit and write. Then I walk back to work. I find the fresh air clears my head so I can actually get some energy, the writing means I make progress on my story, the tea keeps me awake, AND I actually get a break during the day. I only started doing this on Thursday so we’ll see how I make out this week.

My goal for next week - 5000 more words.

How are the rest of you doing? If you haven’t made your goal this week, remember its okay. Take a minute to see what it was about the past week that prevented you from accomplishing your goal. Is it something you can adjust for this week? Was your goal reasonable? Too hard? Too easy? Let us know!

If you need advice on anything, plost your questions and I know you’ll get tons of responses from everyone.

So, who’s next?? How did you do and what is your goal for next week?

I know I was supposed to prompt you all on Wednesday to give me an update on how you’re making out with your writing…but I forgot. Okay, so I’m not so good at leading the writing challenge LOL!

That said, Sunday is fast approaching, which means your goals should be almost done.

Mine are not there yet…

But I have a new system so that I actually get some writing done in the daytime. It’s called “taking a lunch break”. This is a new concept for me, but it worked really well yesterday. I’m about 2000 words done of my 5000 word goal. I plan to get more written today and lunch and the bulk of it finished tonight.

How are you making out??

I’m super excited that everyone is going to be joining me for this mid winter boost. I know it’s certainly a motiviation for me to know there will be a bunch of you working hard beside me.

I’m about to sit down now and get my word count done for the day. I’m starting a bit later than normal, but I’m still going to aim for my 1000 words.  I just fixed the final line of chapter 4 (it was really bothering me and I couldn’t move on!) and I’m ready to rock on chapter 5.

But before I get going, I need to pimp a good friend of mine who finalled in the Brava contest!! Eve Powers story Unexepectedly Expecting, is a fantastic read (yes, I’ve been lucky enough to read the whole story and I LOVED it!!). She could really use your votes! You can check out all of the Brava finalists here, and you can vote for your favorite here.  You simply need to be registered on the boards to vote. Simple!!