Settling Dust

I'm in a new city now and have all the stuff done that needs to be accomplished.  Found a job and am getting ready to write another article for WF.  Already found a fellow who is involved with the type of subject I'm researching so I will be off to see about doing an interview with him. :)
And, WitchVox published my article!  It's entitled "Symbolism of Altar Decorations".  It went up only five days after I submitted it which was a pleasant surprise. 

New Article

I've just submitted an article to Witchvox; their submissions info says it'd be 2-3 months before my work will appear on the front page, if it's accepted.  At least I got that done.  Yay me lol
Got more work done on the book last night.  I'm finally feeling like I'm making real progress.  I'm still debating with myself about adding illustrations; right now I like the idea.

Progress

Yay!  My column submission was accepted!  I was thrilled to learn I don't need to do any revision on it, which is a first for me.  I feel like I reached a milestone.  
In other news, I have been adding bits of new research to my ms.  Progress continues. :D 

Column Done! I think

I finished my very first column for Wildstar Forest and got it submitted a few minutes ago.  Yay!  I'm hoping it's what the editor was looking for, otherwise I have more revision to do.  Which is fine, actually; I like revising.
In other news, I called an editor I worked with years ago when I was first getting published, and left him a message that I was interested in being a contributing author again and was he hiring?  It'd be nice, 'cause he pays monthly on articles sent in and published 2x/mo.  If I can get that gig it'd keep me in gas/phone minutes money and get more publishing cred.  :D 

Step Forward

Got my column written and permission from Vinnie to use some info I found on *his* blog, so it's moving right along.  It needs revision but for me that's the fun part.  I figure I'll have it submitted by next Tuesday or so.  I cannot wait to see it in print!
Did more work on the ms besides.  I went wild on note-taking so I am having to sort through it to see what is really important for inclusion.  My cat gets jealous and tends to lay down on the keyboard.  I tell him if he's going to do that he has to help type but he just does not seem to get the message.  And he refuses to learn how to make coffee.  He wasn't cut out to be a writer lol.

Cold Days

It's seriously freezing out there, with record low temps for the day's highs, and even lower at night.  I moved from the high mountains to get away from this stuff and what happens?  Lol I think the snow gods followed me here out of some perverse sense of humor on Their part.  Oh well, it's a good time to write.  I've done a rough draft column; now I'm in the process of getting permission from other writers to use their work in my references.  In the meantime it's rewrite, rewrite.
In other good news, Pagan Writers Press has come up for air and has expressed continued interest in my book!  This is a very good thing and I am busy getting final researched bits into the ms.  I have a feeling I don't know when to quit *rolls eyes*.  I'm eager to get it submitted to see if it will fly!

Redux (again)

Well, I am back, after a long hiatus.  I was fortunate this Spring in that an article I had submitted to Circle magazine for their Imbolc issue was accepted and published albeit under my rl name.  I have two other articles out, and have been accepted as columnist for a new Pagan magazine called Wildstar Forest.  Huzzah!  I am truly thrilled over that one!  It's an actual paying gig.  I will be writing about tips and advice on working with spirits, entities, ghosts, etc.  I've just wrapped up research for my first column.  Now it's off to get the writing done. :D

Catching up (again)

I have not been on here for a while so I figured I'd better show up.

After coping with writer's block for over a month I have been hard at it getting caught up with my book research.  At this point I have well over 100 pages (you read that right) of notes, plus oodles of pubdom images to use.  Lots of raw material, but at least I'm working again.  Plus, two or three articles to write!

In the meantime I am job hunting and having a tough time of it, like a lot of people.  Things are looking up a bit, so I have my toes crossed while I write.  I should know more either later today or by Monday.

Update

I did manage to get the photos for my ebook reformatted so they are ready to put into the ms once that is reformated as well.  I expect to have it done and uploaded Sunday afternoon.  I also have begun a rough draft on my Tarot card article for PWC.  I feel productive again.  Yay!

News

I got an email back from Weiser; they declined my query, stating it did not meet their publishing needs at this time.  The good news is, it leaves the door open for other work.

Turtle Days

Wow, not a good week for writing. I did get a short article turned in to PWC, and posted a couple of excerpts on my website, but that's all, at least for now. My new job wears me out more than I expected. Looks like I have to bite the bullet and get a few pages done after dinner on a regular basis in order to get going again. Writing when I'm half-asleep seems pointless but at least I have something on the page and can always revise. (I love revision. really.)

Back Again

After a solid week of prepping materials for my very first Reiki student, I am back on track with writing. I will be turning in an article this weekend and getting even more done on the book. And, I think I will collect my published articles plus other essays I've written to see if I can get the collection published. That would be a nice prelude to this other work. Busy, busy! I like it.

Smashwords

I have explored the Smashwords site and like it a lot, so I fished out my how-to-make-your-own-Tarot-cards eBook that's been languishing for 2 years and will reformat it for upload. Then it will be available at a reasonable rate for download onto electronic devices! Woo, I am stoked for it!

Marathon

Saturday I got 22 pages written. Sunday I felt like my brain had turned into a rock so I didn't get that much done. I wrote over 6 pages but I did work on my book proposal--the marketing part. I had to revamp a section so I dug out a tape on self-promotion, listened and took notes, and got that part done in the proposal. At least it was a productive evening, just not the day I had planned. So: my writing goal this week is to finish writing Chapters 1 and 7, flesh out the others even more as the library books come in, and start revising my proposal.

I have finally created a new website for myself! I figured it was time to get something going and now it's done. Nothing of import on it as yet so no link. Sorry.

Revving Up

I just fired off a query letter to an Acquisitions Editor at a well-established publishing house to see if she would like to see my book proposal. Now I have a distinct goal/deadline to work with which gets me galvanized. :)

I am finding more and more good info for the book, which brought a sigh of relief from me. The drawback? It's like having found a buried, full-sized pyramid. First the tip--no bit deal, easy enough--but as I go along it keeps getting bigger and bigger. I have to keep my focus on smaller goals so I don't get overwhelmed. lol

Book Stuff

I moved two chapters around so the ms makes more sense. While I was doing that I realized the book is beginning to look like a *book*. I finally have a sense of progress. It's a pretty good feeling and gives me the energy to keep going on this thing. I'm going to add another chapter as well to prevent information from being muddled. A writer's work is rarely done lol.

I might make a mockup of a book cover for this project, to see if that gives a deeper sense of reality to it.

Crossing my fingers!

So I emailed Circle Magazine yesterday re the lack of any new issues since Fall (I had submitted an article for their Spring issue) and today I received their answer. It seems they suspended publication, i.e., skipped the Winter issue. The Urban Pagan themed issue is pushed out for a couple months and they wanted to know if my article was for that one. I have answered saying yes, it was, giving the title and my pen name, so I am hoping it gets accepted!

I did get the rough draft for the book proposal done. At least that's out of the way and I can spend more time on the ms. :)

Another Day

Another five pages of notes done. Still need to type them in but I have a Pagan Student Alliance meeting to attend so the ms work will get done after that. Everything else is stalled for the time being, which is irritating to say the least but sometimes life does that to a person. I am looking forward to Ostara and have an idea for an article. Keeping busy in a productive manner is always good!

Well, it's evident that I did not complete my NaNoWriMo project. >.< I am, however, making good progress on my non-fiction work, though it's taking a good deal more research than I anticipated. Last night I got eight pages of notes written and six pages of ms pages types. A good night for me.
I am also a freelance writer for Pagan Writers Community! I was so excited when I got the email confirming it. It's a paid gig, and that is hard to come by these days. I'm on their 2013 Writers Conference Steering Committee as well. :)

NaNoWriMo!

Day 1--Well, today is the kick-off for the writing frenzy. I have begun my work and am at about 500 words. I still have a few hours in which to get the count up to par. Off I go to get that done! :D

Day 2--Wrote two and a half pages today. Too tired from work to do more.

Day 3--Ditto per Day Two.

Day 3--Wrote some more, then got onto the Web and put everything into a Word doc, saved and put the word count in my NaNoWriMo account. Progress!

Day 4--Wrote about a page and a half.

Day 5--Way too tired to do any writing at all. :(

Day 6--A better day of it all around. Write some more plus got some quotes for my nonfiction book, then went to the Library to spend some time in the writing group there. I was impressed to see it was made up of very yopung writers, the youngest novelist appears to be about nine or ten. I learned that the adult group meets in the evening on Sundays and also on Tuesday and Thursday at a couple of local coffee shops, so I got online, updated the Word doc and updated my word count. I'm at nearly 3,000 words right now, but with the writing group I think I will make better headway.

Day 7--Got some writing done; I'm nearing the end of the first chapter. I'll have some time tonight to get the next scene done and after that one or two more scenes and I'm on to Chapter 2! Also got more research done for the non-fiction piece. :)