Hits and Misses

11/25/201107/22/2012 | Casey Wyatt

Happy Black Friday everyone! Please be sure to stop by the Scribes and check out – You’ve Got a Friend in Me.

I mentioned a few weeks back that I’m participating in NaNo. I hit the 50,000 word goal on Day 20. I plan on finishing the novel by 11/30. That will make two completed novels in 2011 – The Undead Space Initiative and Redemption (book 2 of my Aethera series).

Sadly, I did not get to finish plotting The Devil’s Advocate or Mystic Storm (sequel to Mystic Ink). But, hey, there are so many hours in a day. And I’ve learned a lot about my writer self this year.

I’m not Nora Roberts or Dean Wesley Smith, capable of pumping out high volume, superior quality manuscripts nearly out of the gate. Plotting and characterization takes time (for me anyway). I have to be totally on-board with the characters and plot, otherwise, I can’t finish the book.

I can write a novel in a month. I did it twice. See above – I have to know what is going to happen in my books. I don’t need to know the how or even the why. Those details can come out when I write. I don’t have my million words in yet. But I’m working on it.

If there is a zombie apocalypse, I won’t survive long-term. I like modern conveniences way too much.

I love Twitter. A lot. See my post here – Twitterpated.

Oh, and the big one, I can sell a book!
A new day is dawning

I won’t be kicking back anytime soon. I have a busy 2012 coming up, including promo at other blogs, working on edits for Redemption, writing other books, and I’ll be CT RWA’s new Media Director. Busy, busy.

How’s your 2011 going? What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Happy Halloweenie!

10/28/201107/22/2012 | Casey Wyatt

Happy Friday everyone. Please be sure to visit the Scribes today. Julia Rachel Barrett (one of my favorite people) is my guest today! She’s sharing how she became a writer and the cover of her new ghost story In the Flesh.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. Being a native New Englander, I love the change in seasons and watching the leaves turn to lovely shades of yellow, orange, and red. Granted, Fall has been more muted this year due to all the wild weather, but I’ve still been enjoying it.

This past weekend, my family attended a pumpkin carving party at a friend’s house. We had a blast! The kids, my hubby and friends carved awesome designs. We ate pizza, cupcakes, and cozied up on the couch watching The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We had the inevitable debate – is it a Halloween movie or a Christmas movie?

Halloween is that one last holiday before the crazy “holiday” season begins. Before the madness…

And then November arrives. For writers – November is NaNo WriMo. I participated in 2010. The book I wrote was Mystic Ink.

Little did I know last year that I was writing the first book I would sell. Ironically, because I sold the book and I have edits due, I don’t know if I can participate in NaNo this year. I’m still preparing, but I’m hesitant to commit.