Thursday, May 28, 2009

Hurry Up and Wait

Ugh. At working putting together 10 binders to send to a client, but all of the docs have not arrived! Hurry up and wait.

Been playing around with my Query Letter again. Kinda like it. Might update the blog with it. Still chewing on it.

Well, here comes my boss. Gotta go.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Get on Track!

Unbelievable. I have done absolutely nothing with my novels. Maybe I'm burnt out. LOL In any case, that is all I think of. I dream of different scenes and characters. A funny line will pop into my head. I guess that they are calling me back. Hey, they miss me too!

I think that I'm probably procrastinating. I do not feel like writing a synopsis for La Fleur.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Coming Back

Returning from the edge today. Last night was pretty rough. I hit my head, but it got me thinking about my life. There are many things about my life that I cannot change, but I can change me, my attitude. I guess that I allow things get to me, especially when I write, for the characters have what is most precious.

But that is their life. I must enjoy, love and cherish the life which God has bless me with, both the good and the bad. I will cherish my Love, Christ.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Goin' Up In Smoke

Not feeling very well these days. I'm tired and the walls seem to be closing in on me. I don't think that I am well.

It is a beautiful day outside. My father has decided to barbecue today, so I must go over. I just want to stay home and convalesce today. I need to cut the grass.

I am lonely, I suppose. Maybe interactions with others would help. I've been indoors all weekend watching TV and drinking. I have not worked on Resurrection. The story is improving as bit. I am rewriting much of it. It is beginning to look like Julian will be the dominate character in this one. He is really coming into his own as an asshole and he has no qualms about being himself.

I like Julian. True freedom to put oneself first, telling people what is really on your mind without concern for their feelings or the repercussions of one's words. i wish that I could be more like Julian.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Sunshine Distraction

I wanna go outside and play! But I'm stuck in the office. It is a beautiful day here in Chicago. Everyone is outside enjoying the river cruises, sitting and chatting, laying out at the beach. Hey, doesn't everyone have to work 9-6 like me?

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Whew!

It has been crazy busy at work. I am ready to go home now. Only 15 minutes stand between me and the elevator doors.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Back in the Saddle

I'm writing again. I had nothing to do and I was so lonely. I have no where to go. Now that I have alienated myself from my friends while writing La Fleur, nobody calls anymore. I appreciated the silence while writing, but once I stopped, I found myself to be lonely.

So after sitting around a couple of Saturdays in a row doing nothing, listening to my sister and her boyfriend bicker while he continously paces the floor in his biker boots (I need to get his a** some fuzzy slippers) I could not take it anymore. This past Saturday I opened up Resurrection.

I sat there puzzled for awhile, unsure of what to do. Edited a little. Unsure of which way to go. Then I heard, just start writing. And I did. Julian's evil a** stepped up. Wow, he is crazy. But I understand why.

So I'm back on track again. How long did my hiatus last? I think that I finished La Fleur on May 1st? So about 3 weeks?

My poor liver...

Welcome!

I would like to welcome Jill Guidry! She is currently reading the first few chapters of La Fleur. She seems to like it too!

Be sure to visit her blog http://bayouchild.wordpress.com/. She is a very nice lady. We are Twitter Buddies!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Delta Dawn

"... All the folks around [Chicago] say she's crazy.
Cause she walks downtown with a suitcase in her hand,
Looking for that mysterious dark haired man..."

I have always loved this song by Tanya Tucker. It has been my anthem for many years. Now it has manifested into reality. I realized that the other day on the train ride home. I literally walk around Chicago with a suitcase, looking for that special one. I am a little on the wacky side too.

My co-workers and friends love to rib me about my suitcase. I get comments like 'going somewhere?' or 'what do you have in there?' and other jabs which I have purged from my memory banks.

So, what's in my suitcase? My life... my laptop and my novel. Also my lunch, and other miscellaneous items that I will not disclose. Some makeup, on the off chance I meet the dark haired man who will sweep me away to his mansion in the sky.

I guess that I'm kinda like Beatrice (Le Baton) only she did not have a suitcase in her hand.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Cain't Take It No Mo'!!!


OK folks, gotta start writing again. Did I even last two weeks? I feel like my brain is turning to mush. I'm beginning to dream of the characters, well at least for awhile, but now they have abandoned me. I have not life without them! Dramatic but true. Lela and the gang are my last chance for romance.

So, I figured that I would do some work on Resurrection. OK, it is a hot mess, and not in a good way. The story is all over the place, discussioning too much at once. So now I'm considering making Res* the third book and insert Chevalier as the second, which will span two milleniums.

I really want to skip to the end, Le Baton. Maybe I should just go ahead and write the end and then come back and finish Resurrection. As Octavius would say in Le Baton, "I should except the hand extended to me."

I always do things out of order, backwards even. Oh well, it is what it is. I'll do it their way.

This is why I cannot write. I cannot decide what to do.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

From My Heart to Yours

I love this song! The artist's name is Laura Izibor. Here's the YouTube Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqqQzgZw2HA.


I'm kinda lost since I have not been writing very much. I need to finish my synopsis. Guess I just have the blahs.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Query Me This...

QueryTracker.net is conducting another one line pitch contest for YA novels. I believe that it ended last night. In any case, it prompted me to work on mine which spurred me to re-write my query letter.

The Pitch...

Heaven and Hell battle for dominion over Lela Chevalier and her family, for whoever wins will rule the End Time King, Le Baton, in this supernatural historical romance spanning over 100 years.

What do you guys think? Would you desire to read more based on this sentence? Is it too bare bones? I welcome your comments!

Monday, May 11, 2009

Happy Mother's Day and Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mom's and grandma's out there! I hope that yesterday proved to be a wonderful celebration for all of you.

And Happy Birthday to my Daddy Al! He is a Mother's Day Baby, for surely he proved to be a blessing to my grandmother the day that he was born!

Well, it is time for me to get to work. Have a great day everyone!

Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Morning After

I actually had fun last night. I'm trying to live again after spending 3 years writing this novel. I stopped at some local spots... The Snuggery in Union Station... Then on the way home, I disembarked the Metra in Chicago Ridge and stopped by Nikobee's to hook up with my sister and her boyfriend. Last stop, Paddy B's in Orland. It was fun.

So now, I am ready to go out and do some Mom's Day shopping and to get my Father a gift for his birthday! It's a beautiful day here in Chicago. Well sort of. The sun is bright, but the rans are just over the horizon. Very picturesque. I should take a picture so that I do an oil painting of it later.

I guess that I'm taking a little hiatus from writing, huh? LOL

Have a great Saturday!

Friday, May 8, 2009

Friday


Another day in paradise, working on expenses and miscellaneous task. It's kind of cloudy out. It may rain.

Working on my synopsis. It is not as bad as I feared. Not really motivated to do it though. I've been reading some agent blogs. Maybe I became a little discouraged by the whole process.

Oh well, back to work!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Lela Morning


If in Chicago, did you catch the sunrise this morning? Well neither did I, but I enjoyed its aftermath. 7AM... A Lela Morning. What's a Lela Morning?

Lela could still smell the dew. The smell of the earth comforted her. It smelled of life, of promise. It had a way of getting into her nostrils, traveling through her nasal passages and then welling in her chest, causing her to feel alive and rejuvenated. With the dew of the morning, she reconnected with nature, unifying with God. --- La Fleur

The morning sun has a way of illuminating the dew ladden atmosphere, giving it the appearance of Eden. The plantlife appears extra green and vibrant. When in Mississippi visiting my grandparents, I would enjoy mornings such as these...

But now the morning has surrendered to the day, and we must release our dreams, if only for just awhile.

Have a great day everyone!
Claudia

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

On Time

Wow, I made it to work early today. Fabulous! I just knew that I would miss my train, but I actually made it.

During my chauffeured ride into the city (Metra), I manage to work on my synopsis, completing yet another chapter. It is my goal to contain each chapter to a one page summary. Ugh... There are 90 chapters in this book, well more like 96 if you count the Level One headings... So that means that the synopsis will top out at about 100 pages. LOL Agents may receive it and say WT*? LOLLOL

I must admit that it is long, but it is a page turner, according to my biggest fan, Dionne. She would come into the office and curse me for different turns that the story would take. So although long, it is interesting.

How long is it? Well, it is a little under 325,000 words. So you say, 'Well, how long is that?'

Just did a little research on Wikipedia. La Fleur is not that long. It does not even make the list. If you would like to check it out, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_longest_novels.

But still need a better ideal? Well, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is 479,198 words, War and Peace by Tolstoy is 560,000 words. The Bible is about 792,000. Ulysses tops out at about 269,000 words and Uncle Tom's Cabin is 187,810 (info from message board).

La Fleur is far shorter than The Stand by Steven King, Lord of the Rings by Tolkien and Clarissa by Richardson. Gone with the Wind is about 417,000 words as well.

LOL, knowing that, maybe I will add one or two chapters back into the story! Well, maybe not. Apparently only new novelist tend to write huge books with a large word count, according to Colleen Lindsey's blog. But it is food for thought. Ugh, no wonder writers drink.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Lost and Turned Out

I do not know what to do. Every since I completed the 5th (more like the 8th) edit of La Fleur, my life has become empty. It has been my primary focus for so long... I am just confused.

Sure, there are three to four other novels that I can work on, but I don't know what direction that I wish to take with them. It is funny, the first and last novels (Le Baton) are the easiest. The middle ones are killers. While working on La Fleur, I could not wait to finish so that I could work on the others. But now that the time has come, I don't have the desire to do anything.

This weekend, I did a little work on Resurrection. Then I worked on the synopsis for La Fleur. Finally, I did not do anything, but sit there and watch TV.

Yesterday was a bad day.

Anyhow, on my way in to work, I tried to catch some winks on Metra. I think that instead of making Resurrection the 2nd book, I will do Chevalier, which starts once Mary and Jeremey leaves Jerusalem.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Updated Pages

Hi Everyone,

I just updated the first few chapters of La Fleur on this blog! Check it out...

Dionne

On the day that I completed my edit of the novel, Ms. Dionne completed her read. She is the first person to read the novel cover to cover.

Dionne, thank you. Thank you so much! I am glad that you enjoyed it.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Shout Hallelujah!







Guess what? I finally finished! La Fleur is finished!

Well, for the most part. I will probably take a month off and re-read it again. I browsed the chapters today and found some little things... typos like 'he' instead of 'her', 'the' instead of 'they.' It is so frustrating! Why didn't I catch them during one of the first 10 edits? Its like trying to get lint off of a black suit.

Well, now I can do some other stuff. Tomorrow I will clean my bathroom. OMG... I will also update the chapters here on this blog.

Wanna Read La Fleur?
Go to
http://www.authonomy.com/ViewBook.aspx?bookid=6708

If you like it, "Back the Book." How? Go to the home page, register and then you can vote for up to 5 novels.

Well, let me daydream some more. I'm not sure if can just sit around idle and not work on a novel. LOL I think that I will resume work on the second novel in the series, Resurrection, this weekend. ;-)