Digging Myself Out of a Rut with FastDraft & Monday Fortune Cookie 4/22/13

BRING OUT THE BEST IN YOURSELF, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO FAKE IT.

SNARKY RESPONSE: Yeah, no one'll see through that! It's all about aspirations with an emphasis on the first syllable, eh? 

Bring out the best in yourself, even if you have to fake it.

Actually, it's not bad advice. And aspiring to be more than you fear you truly are is the first step toward becoming exactly what you desire.

I'm going to be pushing myself to bring out my best effort over the next two weeks. A friend of mine, Alexa Day (you met her a few weeks ago, remember? Taking The Scientific Approach? ILLICIT IMPULSE - Blog Post dated 4/5/13) is doing another Fast Draft, and I'm going to tag along. I believe the target is 5,000 words per day for 2 weeks. I'm not off to a good start, having had to spend the day in the yard with hubby. However, I will pound out some words tonight and do serious make-up writing tomorrow.

I hear Alexa's off to a fantastic start and I look forward to tracking her progress via her facebook Author Page - Alexa Day Author Page

I've been in a bit of a rut lately, and I'm hopeful that Fast Draft will help to pull me out. Putting a goal out there is the first step to holding myself accountable for my writing. It's a steep daily word count, but a challenge isn't a challenge if it's not tough, right? I'll be reporting on my progress via facebook as well - Denise Golinowski/Author

Booyah!

MONDAY FORTUNE COOKIE, 1/14/13

IT'S A GOOD THING LIFE IS NOT AS SERIOUS AS IT SEEMS TO THE WAITER.

SNARKY RESPONSE: Now you're just trying to be cute, Fortune Cookie Guru. And as they tell most writers, if you think you're funny, you probably aren't. Don't quit your day job. No! Wait! This is your day job, isn't it? Doh!

It's a good thing that life is not as serious as it seems to the waiter.

Well, I don't know about that waiter, but things here at Golinowski's Gambol are about to get REAL SERIOUS. How serious, you might ask? We're talkin' real BITCHOK* here.

My local chapter of the Romance Writers of America, Virginia Romance Writers, has challenged us all to a FastDraft challenge. Author Candace Havens came to our chapter a few months ago and shared her technique to pound out a full manuscript in two weeks. The way to do it is to write 20 pages a day. You'll end up with a 70,000 word manuscript which is publishable length. Now, it'll be a rough draft, but this is about production, not quality.

About 25 of us have pledged ourselves to the effort. I'm on a "crew" with many of the other authors over at Words, Women, Wisdom. We'll be keeping each other honest and accountable, checking in every day when we reach our allotted pages.

I'll share updates along the way - written AFTER I've completed my day's pages, so stay tuned!

NEWS FLASH!

I'm thrilled to announce that Collector's Item, my paranormal romance, will be released by The Wild Rose Press on May 17, 2013.

Here's the "back cover blurb" for your personal edification:

Alpha were-jaguar, Katarina "KT" Marant is trained to protect the pride so when her aunt disappears, KT naturally takes up the hunt. Her suspicion settles on the Collectors, humans who view shapeshifters as the ultimate big game.

Peyton Massey can't believe he's got to blow his cover to rescue a shapeshifter "princess." Even harder to believe is that she wants to stage her own kidnapping in order to catch the leader of the Collectors and find her aunt.

Everything goes sideways when KT is kidnapped for real and by someone she never suspected. Will Peyton find her before time runs out? Or will she become a true Collector's Item?

On May 17th, you'll be able to find out!

* Butt In Chair, Hands On Keys