The end of April

So it looks like April is going to go by without an acceptance, although I do have some maybes on pieces I sent out this month - I wont know about them until their deadline is up and that's not till sometime later this year. Still I got a lot of writing done in April so I'm happy with that.

Yesterday's writing however didn't go so well, I got a bit done on the Melting Point 2, but then had to go away from the computer which meant I couldn't continue it. So instead I wrote a few words on a new short piece for a website that I'm hoping to submit a number of pieces to. I have the first piece I did for them waiting to be typed up but I don't think I'll do that know until I have the one that's currently being written finished.

May will see me hopefully producing a lot more work, and submitting even more. I've not submitted a huge amount in April so I'm going to rectify that next month. Then of course Coming Together: With Pride will be out in June so I'm going to start the promo of that.

In the next few months I've got a busy schedule ahead of me. June/July sees the release of Coming Together: With Pride in which Freedom to Serve a short m/f BDSM piece is featured. The end of July will see the release of Cold Fire and then sometime after August Rekindling the Spark will be out.

Both Cold Fire and Rekindling the Spark are with the editor now so here's to edits!

Another Update

Well I was going to sign in yesterday and let everyone know what was going on, but I sort of didn't what with writing and everything.

So I'll recap now.

On Sunday I hit just over 11k on 'Tools of the Trade' (working title). Looking at the section I was working on I began to despair that I'm becoming wordy, and I realised that I wanted to write a short hot piece just to show that I still could. When I started writing a year ago hitting 5k seemed like a mammoth task, now it isn't so daunting if the story is right, but I have begun to have a tendency to put too many words in - see I'm doing it here now.

So I began thinking if I had anything I could expand or a storyline that I wanted to explore that still had a BDSM theme to it - I don't want to stop on that theme or I fear I might loose the flow of 'Tools of the Trade'. Finally I remembered Melting Point (my short 3k piece on waxplay in Coming Together: Under Fire), in that story there is a couple mentioned that when I was writing it I really wanted to explore their story. So that's what I'm writing now.

This piece currently begins with a short wax play scene but then backtracks to the moment of them meeting when Ruby as she is now was still called Rebecca, and Dalton hadn't 'discovered' her. I wrote the first 1000 words on Sunday but yesterday I really began to write it in earnest, and hit 5k just before taking a break and then plotting other pieces. I'm just about to start the first play scene between them, although it's not really between them Dalton is just there as a guiding hand since I've decided that Rebecca is a switch. I began trying to write her as a submissive but she wasn't having any of it so now she's a switch - which works as a compromise I think and adds to the possibility of other stories with the two of them.

I've also got a side character that I'm beginning to really like so I think I might be writing about her at some point. It occurs to me as I'm writing this that there's a number of people interlinking the two stories that I want to explore further so maybe I've got the beginning of a series. They will all be stand alones if I do because I don't want anyone to say 'oh I can't read this one because I haven't read 1-x yet and therefore aren't going to bother picking it up' Plus I like reading series out of sync for some reason.

So that's what I'm up to now. The words are flowing and the writing is getting done - and yes Melting Point 2 has become longer than I wanted it to be but it is a good story I think and I guess at the end of the day it needs to be as long as it needs to be.

In other news I was looking through the two books that I track my submissions in (two very old textbooks - one for fiction less than 1000 words, the other for fiction/non-fiction greater then that word count) and I've realised that I've not sent anything out for totally ages. I've had a number of rejections but unlike my normal self I've not just turned them around and sent them straight back out again. I think a submission day is in order - but only once I've got this story out of the way (and perhaps Tools of the Trade too)

~*~

Telly: None at the moment
Music: None at present, just the noise of outside
Choc/Yummy: None at the moment
Mood: Productive
Main Writing: Nothing so far (but I wrote 4,000 words yesterday!)
Flash Writing: Nothing
Reading: A sci-fi novel that I've totally forgotten the name of and is to far away for me to see what it's called - I will remember it at one point I promise.

Checking In

I thought I better check in and let you all know what's been happening in the world of Nicole. As I mentioned in my last post I have recently become inspired to pick up an old wip that had become stuck. I'm currently still working on that and am just under the 9k mark on it.

It's working title is 'Tools of the trade' and so far it's working out pretty well. It's a FemDom piece so is very BDSM heavy although I've not got to those scenes yet. My male in the story is a very gorgeous man who is totally used to being in control so when he is given some submissive training courses he begins to struggle with the idea of submitting to someone. It's very fun to write because I'm presently exploring all the various emotions that they are both feeling including and the various shifts of power. Hopefully I'm going to be able to do it justice.

Now since I've not done any writing today I'm off to get back into it.

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Telly: None at the moment
Music: None at present, just the fan of the laptop working overtime
Choc/Yummy: None at the moment
Mood: Productive but sleepy
Main Writing: Nothing so far
Flash Writing: Nothing
Reading: A sci-fi novel that I've totally forgotten the name of and is to far away for me to see what it's called

Words count

Often when I'm working on a piece that I like the idea of but that I feel the plot isn't really gelling I put it to one side and try and distance myself from it. Then in a couple of months maybe more I'll go back to it and be able to see my way through it all - of course this only works on pieces that aren't on deadline.

Yesterday I was idly looking through a page on the Internet when I got the answer to a plot issue from a story I was working on way back in December. It wouldn't stop digging at me so I pulled the pages out dusted them off (I tend to write stories out at least to begin with since I don't tend to be near a computer for the start of them) and began work on it once more. So between that and another project (which I've now placed to one side for a few days to allow me to get this one sorted) I ended up writing just over 5000 words. To put that in perspective normally I work on 1000 words or less. Now I don't want to put this piece down until it's finished so I'm sat here working on it pushing up that word count.

So far so good.

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Telly: None at the moment
Music: None at present other then the noise of my partner sleeping
Choc/Yummy: None at the moment
Mood: Active, happy, productive and tired
Main Writing: 1573 and counting
Flash Writing: Nothing
Reading: Nothing just yet

Whilst I have the time

I am writing as much as I can. I know there are some edits that will be winging their way toward me anytime soon so I'm attempting to get as much work out of the way before they turn up.

This does mean finally getting myself into some sort of rhythm and writing many different pieces at once. I've been pleasantly surprised actually that things have been going well, each piece is different and the voice although is mine has edge depending on which story it is. I'm currently actively working on 3 pieces, with 3 other pieces ready to go through final edits before being sent out and 2 more waiting read through and edits. I've also got many more pieces to get through. Luckily I am able to dedicate a lot of my time to writing and it's something brings me great pleasure so hopefully I will be able to continue to write for a lot longer. I've also got promotional things that I need to work on and art work that is requiring some attention (oh and we're also rearranging the house - did I say that yet?!)

Back to it I think!

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Telly: None at the moment
Music: Lord of the Rings Radio Play tapes
Choc/Yummy: None at the moment
Mood: Active, happy, productive and tired
Main Writing: 1250 so far today
Flash Writing: Nothing so far
Reading: Currently my pieces to check for dreaded plotholes

Rekindling the Spark Cover

Following on from the Cold Fire Cover here is the cover for Rekindling the Spark. It has been picked up by the Phaze Obsession Heatsheet line, although the cover doesn't 'really' fit with the story (there's no gambling in it) I still really like it. Rekindling the Spark will be out later this year - details to follow.

Cold Fire Cover

I am pleased and very happy to unveil the cover for Cold Fire. It was made for me by the wonderful Celia Kaye. I was a bit nervous about this cover because it's the first one I have had any input on, however I am very happy with the result. In fact it's an even more exciting moment for me because the background of the cover is actually a piece of my encaustic artwork.

Anyway I hope you all like it. Cold Fire is penned to be released on 21st July, and there will be more information coming to you all soon.

Enjoy!




Celia Kyle: http://www.celiakyle.com/
LS Designs: http://www.lsdesigns.net/
Write. Read. Romance.: http://writereadromance.com/

20th rejection!

This morning (well a couple of hours ago now since it's presently 3 in the morning) I received my 20th rejection on submissions this year. I feel like a should celebrate this number for some reason so I'm writing this post.

One of the biggest things as a writer you have to face is rejection. Rejection from your peers/reading group that your story doesn't fit together correctly, rejection from yourself when you think a story isn't going well and then of course rejection from the publishers. Then on top of all of those once you have written, double checked plot, submitted and had accepted a piece there is the rejection of the readers and reviewers. It can be a very stressful time for all.

I have always looked upon rejection in a positive way. For a start getting a rejection from a publisher means I am submitting things. Each rejection gives me the chance to dust of the piece work on it some more and send it back out again. Yes of course I love being accepted and having a published look at your work and put their trust in your ability to tell a story is the most amazing feeling, but perhaps without the fear of rejection it wouldn't feel so good.

My 20th rejection was one I was 'looking' forward to getting in a strange way and now it's come I will be looking forward to the next one. Not all rejections are nice and some sting much more then others however as it happens this one was very constructive and I want to thank the people out there who took the time to go through it all.

So please join me in a celebration of rejection!
Here's to many more