In an earlier post I mentioned URWA- United Romance Writers Association- We've had a recent change though and thought I would update links to the yahoo groups and forum-
We're now WRR- aka Write. Read. Romance- It's still the same great group, with a new name-
A forum for authors to critique, workshop, and share info about the Romance industry. This forum is a private member group FREE to all Romance authors published and unpublished. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WriteReadRomance_Writers/
Love romance novels? Here is the place to discuss, discover, and dig deep into today's romance novels and authors. This is the official romance reader group for the Write. Read. Romance. WRR authors may announce their new releases, post blurbs, chat up their books, and host author/writer events here. Writers who are unpublished may also tease and please us with their "pre-pubbed" work and test out their stuff with readers. Authors/Writers please check for brief guidelines in the files section. Readers, enjoy!
To host an event: WRR authors/writers may use the calendar to reserve a time/day for your book event. Please feel free to add yourself to the calendar. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WriteReadRomance_Readers/
The website and forum can be found at the link below.
http://writereadromance.com/
Hi there and welcome to the blog home of ME! - Author Taryn Raye. I'm just a lil' ol' scribbling butterfly, who's ready to burst from my cocoon & spread my wings. So glad you've stopped by to join in my journey in this writerly world.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Less Than 2 Weeks Till Christmas...(Cross Post)
We've only got about 9 days till Christmas. The kids enjoyed their birthdays and as usual, made out like bandits.
We got Chris a cool new lamp for his bedroom because his bedside one died a while back thanks to the bulb being too close to the shade and it melted it. We got him one that has 3 lamp heads and he loves it. We got Koty a Disney Princess dress-up trunk with interchangeable outfits and she went nuts over it.
My parents got Chris some Ben 10 stuff and gloves. Koty got the My Little Pony Teapot thing.
From Dave's mom and her husband Chris got a new twin size bedset with Cars on it, along with a 2 disk Looney Toons collection of old cartoons, the Cars soundtrack and a towel and washcloth Cars set. Koty got a small jewelry box with Lipsmackers, gloves, a Disney Princess toddler bed set of sheets and comforter and Princess panties.
Both kids got small boomboxes from Dave's dad and his wife, which the kids are tickled with. Koty has spent more time in her room in the past few days than I've ever seen her do. In fact, yesterday afternoon, she stayed in there listening to a cd and cleaning her room up! LOL
Saturday morning we went up town to pay the property taxes and then stopped by Dollar General Market and Pamida so I could look for a new set of lights to wrap around my wreath on the front door. The other died in a big way. At DGM I didn't find the type of lights I'd like, though I did find my old-fashioned Christmas cookies for a buck. But, at Pamida, I did find the LAST box of the LED blue & white snowflake lights I had seen up there and thought were really cool.
I will tell you now- LED lights, even "covered" with snowflake twist on caps will MESS WITH YOUR EYES! It's like watching a strobe light. And if you're moving the string of lights around...it can almost make you nauseated! LOL I was looking away while I wrapped it around my wreath! It looks beautiful though and I told Dave I think I might just leave them up till after winter and the "chance" of snow passes away into spring, since snow isn't just about Christmas. And even if we don't get any real snow in our area, at least I've have my snow on my wreath! Haha!
I finished my refreshing/editing and got back to where I was in my novel. I wrote the 22nd chapter and started the next one. Of course the weekend has gotten in the way, but I feel confident that tomorrow I can pick back up on it.
Yesterday I made homemade vegetable beef soup. It's my version of my mom and grandmother's. Something I'd been wanting to fix for a while now. My husband ate a little, but my recipe isn't MINE (or my mom's or grandma's) without cooked cabbage. He HATES cooked cabbage. It wasn't until it was too late that I realized I could've divided the recipe and made two batches...one with cabbage, one without. He said he'd eat it all, so long as I left out the cabbage. I told him next time, that's what I'd do. Koty though LOVED the soup with the cabbage...That's my girl though...when I fix regular cooked cabbage with butter, salt and pepper, she will eat it up. Especially if I fix cornbread to go with it.
I still have some cabbage leftover, so I told her we'd have some of that later in the week. She started jumping up and down in excitment. Then later yesterday evening before she went to bed, she asked me if we could eat more of the soup. That's what we're having for lunch today- leftovers. That made her happy too.
Oh, on the height front- Chris grew just about 2 inches exactly and Koty grew about 2 1/2 inches in the past year since their last birthdays. We have a growth tree stickered to the wall in Koty's room, that Dave had put up in there when it was Chris's room. Chris was a bit disappointed the Koty grew more than him, but we had to explain that boys and girls hit growth spurts differently.
Hiding the "surprise" Santa present just got a little harder yesterday. Of course, I did slip off into the spare room and hide one night to wrap the Singing Machine (which BTW was on sale in the Pamida salebill for $20 less than what I paid online and comes with 2 mics instead of one- BUT I wouldn't have been able to sneak it into the house like I did...I couldn't have even gotten it without involving someone outside the house)...but yesterday the CDs arrive and just as I came back in the house, hoping Dave and Koty were in the other room, he came into the living room just as I slipped into the spare room to hide the box until I can wrap it. UGH! He's starting to get suspicious about what I'm up to. I'm biting my tongue in excitement though...so long as he doesn't figure it.
I've been trying to figure out how to put them under the tree on Christmas Eve without him seeing the boxes, and I think I've got a plan. I realized yesterday that Dave will HAVE to go to his mom's to get Chris's television from over there that night, so as soon as he leaves, I'll slip the surprise under the tree and then start stuffing the other presents in front it as I get them wrapped so he CAN'T see them until the following morning. hehehehe!
We got Chris a cool new lamp for his bedroom because his bedside one died a while back thanks to the bulb being too close to the shade and it melted it. We got him one that has 3 lamp heads and he loves it. We got Koty a Disney Princess dress-up trunk with interchangeable outfits and she went nuts over it.
My parents got Chris some Ben 10 stuff and gloves. Koty got the My Little Pony Teapot thing.
From Dave's mom and her husband Chris got a new twin size bedset with Cars on it, along with a 2 disk Looney Toons collection of old cartoons, the Cars soundtrack and a towel and washcloth Cars set. Koty got a small jewelry box with Lipsmackers, gloves, a Disney Princess toddler bed set of sheets and comforter and Princess panties.
Both kids got small boomboxes from Dave's dad and his wife, which the kids are tickled with. Koty has spent more time in her room in the past few days than I've ever seen her do. In fact, yesterday afternoon, she stayed in there listening to a cd and cleaning her room up! LOL
Saturday morning we went up town to pay the property taxes and then stopped by Dollar General Market and Pamida so I could look for a new set of lights to wrap around my wreath on the front door. The other died in a big way. At DGM I didn't find the type of lights I'd like, though I did find my old-fashioned Christmas cookies for a buck. But, at Pamida, I did find the LAST box of the LED blue & white snowflake lights I had seen up there and thought were really cool.
I will tell you now- LED lights, even "covered" with snowflake twist on caps will MESS WITH YOUR EYES! It's like watching a strobe light. And if you're moving the string of lights around...it can almost make you nauseated! LOL I was looking away while I wrapped it around my wreath! It looks beautiful though and I told Dave I think I might just leave them up till after winter and the "chance" of snow passes away into spring, since snow isn't just about Christmas. And even if we don't get any real snow in our area, at least I've have my snow on my wreath! Haha!
I finished my refreshing/editing and got back to where I was in my novel. I wrote the 22nd chapter and started the next one. Of course the weekend has gotten in the way, but I feel confident that tomorrow I can pick back up on it.
Yesterday I made homemade vegetable beef soup. It's my version of my mom and grandmother's. Something I'd been wanting to fix for a while now. My husband ate a little, but my recipe isn't MINE (or my mom's or grandma's) without cooked cabbage. He HATES cooked cabbage. It wasn't until it was too late that I realized I could've divided the recipe and made two batches...one with cabbage, one without. He said he'd eat it all, so long as I left out the cabbage. I told him next time, that's what I'd do. Koty though LOVED the soup with the cabbage...That's my girl though...when I fix regular cooked cabbage with butter, salt and pepper, she will eat it up. Especially if I fix cornbread to go with it.
I still have some cabbage leftover, so I told her we'd have some of that later in the week. She started jumping up and down in excitment. Then later yesterday evening before she went to bed, she asked me if we could eat more of the soup. That's what we're having for lunch today- leftovers. That made her happy too.
Oh, on the height front- Chris grew just about 2 inches exactly and Koty grew about 2 1/2 inches in the past year since their last birthdays. We have a growth tree stickered to the wall in Koty's room, that Dave had put up in there when it was Chris's room. Chris was a bit disappointed the Koty grew more than him, but we had to explain that boys and girls hit growth spurts differently.
Hiding the "surprise" Santa present just got a little harder yesterday. Of course, I did slip off into the spare room and hide one night to wrap the Singing Machine (which BTW was on sale in the Pamida salebill for $20 less than what I paid online and comes with 2 mics instead of one- BUT I wouldn't have been able to sneak it into the house like I did...I couldn't have even gotten it without involving someone outside the house)...but yesterday the CDs arrive and just as I came back in the house, hoping Dave and Koty were in the other room, he came into the living room just as I slipped into the spare room to hide the box until I can wrap it. UGH! He's starting to get suspicious about what I'm up to. I'm biting my tongue in excitement though...so long as he doesn't figure it.
I've been trying to figure out how to put them under the tree on Christmas Eve without him seeing the boxes, and I think I've got a plan. I realized yesterday that Dave will HAVE to go to his mom's to get Chris's television from over there that night, so as soon as he leaves, I'll slip the surprise under the tree and then start stuffing the other presents in front it as I get them wrapped so he CAN'T see them until the following morning. hehehehe!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A Plethora of Things (cross-post from myspace)
Today, 5 years ago, I had my daughter. Of course, five years ago it was a Friday the 13th, but there she was. The light of my life- a piece of me that will live on. Tonight we'll be doing her birthday "party" like we did for Chris a couple of days ago. Grandparents, presents and ice cream cake.
In other news~ I'm officially a member of RWA and KYRW. We also now have a myspace profile for KYRW. See link below.
Kentucky Romance Writers Myspace
I'm still taking in being a member, feeling a bit overwhelmed, but still tickled to be a part of it and have had quite the warm welcome from other members.
Yesterday was the first time in a while that I was able to concentrate my current WIP, 4 that I started during NaNo. I went through about 140 pages..possibly more. I lost track. Right now I'm mostly correcting misplaced words or adding or deleting where I saw editorial mistakes and just trying to get my head back in the story so that I can move forward with finishing it.
I would like to at least get this draft done before the year is over. Not sure whether I can manage that with the holidays coming up, but I'm sure going to work my hardest to complete it. Then it's back to editing and such on all 4 novels after the beginning of the year to polish till they shine and I feel ready to try submitting.
I'll admit, it makes me nervous as can be to imagine doing so. I just hope that I'm also well prepared for a lot of rejections. LOL I like my writing-most the time, but I'm not foolhardy enough to believe I'll be picked up directly.
So...I am off to cross-post this to my other two blogs so I can cut my time online today and get back to doing more editing on my novel. Hope everyone has a lovely Thursday!
In other news~ I'm officially a member of RWA and KYRW. We also now have a myspace profile for KYRW. See link below.
Kentucky Romance Writers Myspace
I'm still taking in being a member, feeling a bit overwhelmed, but still tickled to be a part of it and have had quite the warm welcome from other members.
Yesterday was the first time in a while that I was able to concentrate my current WIP, 4 that I started during NaNo. I went through about 140 pages..possibly more. I lost track. Right now I'm mostly correcting misplaced words or adding or deleting where I saw editorial mistakes and just trying to get my head back in the story so that I can move forward with finishing it.
I would like to at least get this draft done before the year is over. Not sure whether I can manage that with the holidays coming up, but I'm sure going to work my hardest to complete it. Then it's back to editing and such on all 4 novels after the beginning of the year to polish till they shine and I feel ready to try submitting.
I'll admit, it makes me nervous as can be to imagine doing so. I just hope that I'm also well prepared for a lot of rejections. LOL I like my writing-most the time, but I'm not foolhardy enough to believe I'll be picked up directly.
So...I am off to cross-post this to my other two blogs so I can cut my time online today and get back to doing more editing on my novel. Hope everyone has a lovely Thursday!
Friday, December 7, 2007
Change in Direction....
I've been wondering why I've been remiss to work on my novel since I hit 50K in November during NaNo. Today it was like lightning struck me...
While on Petticoats and Pistols reading Stacey Kayne's blog, wherein the discussion centered around what kind of hero we all like, I realized I love the rugged emotionally wounded hero. The general idea of what I said was that to me an emotionally wounded hero's transformation to breaking down the wall around his heart makes him "stronger" in my eyes than the sensitive man who loves wholeheartedly all along because it takes more strength and courage to open up and love after being hurt than to have always loved without misgivings.
Ok, so it's not EXACTLY what I said, but the idea is still there. And that's when it dawned on me....my hero in Haunted Melody- Wes- he's been loving and waiting for Melody to come back all along...always loving her....He's the "sensitive man" who has had it easy in loving her...I need to come up with some turmoil, differences in his character so that this works or it's going fall short of what I want to see and would never make it as a published novel...ever.
As I sit here, I realize I didn't make him strong at all. He's been "weakly" awaiting her return, in hopes that she still loves him just as much. There needs to be more conflict...more of each of them tearing down the walls around their hearts that have kept them apart for years. I don't want him to be a jerk, but he needs to be "less open" to her return, less open to giving his heart to her after she ran off and left him without rhyme or reason.
It didn't occur to me that Wes was such a weak character. I will definitely have to take action about that and well, that gives me something to go on now. I was in a rut in regard to this story, knew that there was a good reason I wasn't getting anywhere and now I know what it is.
Wes Stanford needs a character overhaul.
He'd better look out...cause I'm coming after him! LOL
Have a great weekend!
While on Petticoats and Pistols reading Stacey Kayne's blog, wherein the discussion centered around what kind of hero we all like, I realized I love the rugged emotionally wounded hero. The general idea of what I said was that to me an emotionally wounded hero's transformation to breaking down the wall around his heart makes him "stronger" in my eyes than the sensitive man who loves wholeheartedly all along because it takes more strength and courage to open up and love after being hurt than to have always loved without misgivings.
Ok, so it's not EXACTLY what I said, but the idea is still there. And that's when it dawned on me....my hero in Haunted Melody- Wes- he's been loving and waiting for Melody to come back all along...always loving her....He's the "sensitive man" who has had it easy in loving her...I need to come up with some turmoil, differences in his character so that this works or it's going fall short of what I want to see and would never make it as a published novel...ever.
As I sit here, I realize I didn't make him strong at all. He's been "weakly" awaiting her return, in hopes that she still loves him just as much. There needs to be more conflict...more of each of them tearing down the walls around their hearts that have kept them apart for years. I don't want him to be a jerk, but he needs to be "less open" to her return, less open to giving his heart to her after she ran off and left him without rhyme or reason.
It didn't occur to me that Wes was such a weak character. I will definitely have to take action about that and well, that gives me something to go on now. I was in a rut in regard to this story, knew that there was a good reason I wasn't getting anywhere and now I know what it is.
Wes Stanford needs a character overhaul.
He'd better look out...cause I'm coming after him! LOL
Have a great weekend!
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