NaNoWriMo Opinion

With the impending doom that is NaNoWriMo, and with 2 years under my belt, I'd like to know your opinion. Which pronunciation is it?

NaNoWriMo Ideas and Planning

NaNoWriMo is a less than 20 some days away! 30 days of writing. 50,000 words. I've made it 2 years running and have every intention of making it this year as well.

I'm pretty sure I have my major plot line figured out. I'm changing genres on this one and look forward to the challenge that will bring. My plot line involves normal people finding themselves in a 'magical' place. But it's not a 'magic' book, nor a 'magic' story. Well..... kind of.

Anyway, I'm using my 10yo daughter as something of a sounding board on plot development. (I'm going for more of a YA theme here) She's been a great help because her imagination is still young and bright, where mine tends to atrophy a bit over time.

I've signed into the NaNoWriMo site and got things started there. I need to get it all setup and prepped for Nov. 1. I have some folder and file organization to do on my computer. I need my husband to do all the latest and greatest updates on my laptop so that I don't have to stop in the middle of the month to get those done.

I have my backup plans in place. You know - emailing yourself the file, saving multiple/progressive copies, printing copies at points throughout the month. Oh - and that reminds me, I need to have my husband ensure the printer is ready to go. Paper, ink, drivers!

So much to do and just about 20 days left to get it all ready. I'm excited! I'm excited for the new genre. Excited for the new challenge! Excited to participate again in NaNoWriMo!

Are you participating? Do you have your plans and plots in place?

Full Manuscript Mess-Up - Can I recover?

I invite you to not tear me apart for what I'm about to tell you. I'm embarrassed to admit that I did it. I've been hiding it for a while now. But I've just gotta ask. Just gotta.

Is it possible to recover from sending an incorrectly formatted full manuscript to a publisher?

Let me explain.

Sweetwater Springs is my first completed novel. It's my baby. And I love it. About 2 years ago, I started the process of sending out query letters. Then I sent out more, and more, and more - and received plenty of rejection letters. I was ignored by many as well. That's OK. That's the way it works. I understand that. It's never fun - but I did it.

During my query research, I came across Avalon Publishing. I was very interested in them because they published clean books. I write Clean Historical Fiction/Romance so was anxious to submit to them and hear back.

I submitted my query letter and first 3 chapters to Avalon and waited for what felt like forever. I might have been a bit anxious. Maybe it was closer to a couple of weeks.

When I heard back from them, I was ecstatic that they had requested a full manuscript.

Without going into a lot of details, in an effort to finalize what I planned to send to Avalon, I was working on making some changes to my manuscript and inadvertently inserted some grammar problems, missing words, bad spelling and other minor things.

I am blessed to have a husband that reads my manuscripts thoroughly and finds all of those problems. But this time, in an epic failure of communication between my husband/editor and myself, we didn't catch these things before mailing off my story.

One year and 2 weeks after submitting my baby to Avalon, I received a rejection letter.

I was devastated.

At this same time, we were in the process of buying a house and moving. So the book sat dormant for a few months. Then we decided to self-publish. We took the same file that we had printed and sent to Avalon and published it to Kindle and Nook.

I was happy.

As probably most authors do who self-publish, I downloaded a copy of my book to my e-reader. As I began to read, though, I started to notice little issues. I started to notice the missing word here or there, the spelling problems, the grammar issues.

With haste, I talked with my husband about what had happened and why all these problems are in the book! We realized our mistake, pulled down the wrong version, re-edited the book, and republished it back up online with all those problems ironed out.

Whew - all is well there now.

But this gets us to thinking. And brings me to my question.

I wonder if my manuscript was rejected by Avalon due to the spelling and grammar issues rather than content and plot problems. If they had read the original 3 chapters (that we had meticulously edited), and liked the story enough to request a full manuscript, but then received what turned out to be a very poorly formatted and edited manuscript, I can't imagine what they must have been thinking. Surely they expected better from me.

So, finally, after all that, here is my question:

Is it possible to recover from this? Is it possible to recontact Avalon and ask for a 'second chance'?

I am happy that we chose to self-publish Sweetwater Springs, but I'd love a chance to have a traditionally published book as well.

I'm interested in your opinions. Please comment and tell me what you think. Should I recontact Avalon? Is it worth my while? Do I stand a chance to recover from this terrible flub-up?

Please comment and let me know.

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop Coming!

I've decided to participate in the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted here: http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/giveaway-hop_17.html

I've set up a page special for this, my first-ever, blog hop. You can click on 'Spooktacular Giveaway Hop' at the top of my blog! You'll find more information on that page as the hop comes closer!

I'm excited to try this! I hope I meet a bunch of new people!

Exactly How Do We Do It?

Well that is a good question. There comes a day in every Author's life that we are sitting in front of the computer and wondering just how the heck do we do this thing called writing? I love it when my mom talks about me and my writing, she always does her best not to call me strange, which I really am. Instead, she calls us writers unique, like that is any better. :) But, I have to agree, we are different from the general masses, we are creative, eccentric, forward thinkers and hot beverage drinkers.

Often times I try to think over exactly how I put these voices in my head down on paper. I know some authors who outline the whole stinken' thing, right down to the last page, then they fill in the good stuff and have an amazing book. I tried this once for a NaNoWriMo book I wrote: whole crap!!! Really! It was CRAP!!! My sweet husband read it for me after I refused to look at it again on December 1st. Finally after a couple of days I asked him what he thought. He hummed and hawed then said something like, "well it isn't the best thing you have ever done." Code for, "It was CRAP!!!" I really have to give him props for chewing through that thing, it really was a bad one.

I for one have to know my character. I find pictures of people who represent what I am going for, or pictures of places and other things to help me set the mood. I need to know a little bit about my character by doing a brief character outline, then I pretty much turn my body and soul over to the story.

I remember once I was writing on one of those few days when all my kids were gone, and by the time I was done I felt like I had been wrung dry. I didn't have it in me to even eat something. My poor family knows when I am in the zone because it looks like the house has been eaten by the clutter monster and we are having cold cereal for dinner.

Needless to say, on the day that I asked myself how, and why, I do this crazy thing, I knew the answer almost immediately. I do it because I love it. I love telling a story and knowing people are enjoying themselves, letting the clutter monster eat their house for a while as they sit on the couch with a hot drink and enjoy the story that I have written. I guess it's Love.

So tell me, what is your answer to the query: How the heck do YOU do this thing called writing?

First Book Review!!

I decided to get my name out there and I sent Sweetwater Springs to a book reviewer. It was scary to say the least but the review just came out and I couldn't be more thrilled. Thank you Liz for the wonderful review. You can find what she has to say here: http://fictionalcandy.blogspot.com/2011/09/sweetwater-springs-by-alex-taylor-wolfe.html

You can get Sweetwater Springs on Nook, Kindle and Smashwords, only $0.99.

Problem Fixed!

Well we had some issues with the file that I uploaded to Kindle and Nook. Apparently I put the wrong file up! As soon as I realized we pulled it down and both my Amazing Editor and myself found the right file and read though the whole thing to make sure it was right. Now the problem is fixed. You can find Sweetwater Springs for $0.99 here: http://www.amazon.com/Sweetwater-Springs-ebook/dp/B005KYIZ76/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316537062&sr=1-1 and here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sweetwater-springs-alex-taylor-wolfe/1105610273?ean=2940013334076&itm=1&usri=sweetwater%2bsprings. Please read it and then rate the book. If you like it tell a friend.

Just a little longer.

It is taking longer than I thought for the Nook to publish Sweetwater Springs, but do not be dismayed, it will happen soon. But for now you can still get it at Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Sweetwater-Springs-ebook/dp/B005KYIZ76/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315602615&sr=1-1

I promise you will not be disappointed!!!

More News!!!

I have listed Sweetwater Springs for the Nook now. It will take about 72 hours to upload but then you can buy it for the great low price of $0.99. I will update when it is actually available!

Breaking News!!!

Sweetwater Springs in now available online!!!

You heard me right, after much thought and consideration I have decided to sell Sweetwater Springs though Amazon Kindle. I have tried to go though conventional publishing but for a while now I have felt that Kindle is the way to go. Things have been progressing well with my writing and I wanted a way to get my stories out to the world at my own pace, not that of a publishers.

So because I could not keep Sweetwater to myself any longer you can purchase the book for $0.99 though the Kindle store, or follow the link. Read it, enjoy it, and for Heaven sake, tell your friends about it. :)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005KYIZ76