Bogged down.

I think I might have taken on a bit more than I can chew this year. I start Uni this year, and I have just moved to a whole new place -- it is the first time living on my own.

I has also taken on 2yn once again, I still have to finish Rose Garden which has turned into an 8 book series and I want to finish Pirates so that I can try and get it published. Add to that the fact I have started writing a story with a friend, and that I still have to finish writing Blood Donor along with the course How to think Sideways and I have to write The Dead Isles which is the second book of Pirates. I have a whole lot on!

I also have this strange ability to continue to think up story ideas at the moment. I'm going to be completely snowed under for a very long time!

Online Story

At the moment I'm in the middle of planning two stories, doing HTTS, and getting ready to edit Poison, and Pirates of Hcallaec. But that leaves me with nothing to write... So I was thinking of writing a very short novel, about 50,000 words, and posting it on FictionPress.com.

Once I get things started I will post chapters on a weekly basis, they will probably only be small. I will also post on this blog when new chapters come out and other bits and pieces about the story and where it is headed. When the story actually gets up, I will put a link to it on this blog.

I just have to figure out something to write. I think I have a story idea set up already, though, so it should be fine. ^^ I'm thinking something along the lines of Shapeshifters. So anyone interested in this? ^.^

Pen Name?

When I began writing Pirates of Hcallaec and started getting serious about being published I decided that I would use a pseudonym instead of my real name. I decided I would use Lyra Callaghan, rather than Michelle Roger.

Since finishing my book, and spreading the good cheer, the one question friends and family have been asking is; Are you going to write using your name?

To tell the truth I have no idea. I really wanted to use Lyra as my writing name, but now I'm just not sure. Seeing Michelle Roger on the cover of Pirates of Hcallaec (I'm determined to get it published no matter how long it takes or how many times I have to rewrite it) I think will be a real satisfaction.

I'm so stuck? Anyone got an opinion on the idea?

1.5 Chapters left

I wrote another 7,000 words today, which was pretty cool. I got Chapter 35 complete and part of Chapter 36. That just leaves me to finish chapter 36 tomorrow and Chapter 37 Sunday and I will be finished!

Gosh it's been a long time in the coming but it is so close. My word count is way larger than I thought it would be. Though I'm sure it won't reach 200,000 words. Maybe 190,000 there isn't all that much left to write.

Then I can do some short stories and take a breather until I begin doing another novel. ^^ Hopefully by then I will have another job as well.

7 Chapters to go...

The countdown is on now. I spent most of today writing, and I have to say it was a pretty productive day. I wrote 11,500 words and got two whole chapters finished. Now I only have seven more to go. The end is getting ever closer, which is making me really excited ^^

The Middle comes to an End

Finally I have finished the middle of Pirates of Hcallaec, and am on to the End. Now I just have to let things escalate in the final battle, resolve everything, and tie up all the lose ends. This is the fun bit, where all the tension is coming in!

Once this novel is complete, I can finish my NaNo novel, which will hopefully by finished in time for NaNoEdMo. Though it's no big deal if it isn't, I've still got Beneath Ice that I could work on if I have nothing else this march. (Shudders at the thought of going through the pile of slush that is Beneath Ice)

Tomorrow I plan on getting hooked into the next two chapters, Chapter 29 and 30. I will leave Thursday and Sunday open to do more than just a few scenes, and that means that hopefully, if every thing goes according to plan, I will be finished this novel by the end of next week. Which will be good because that gives me time for everything else! ^^

The Middle is almost finished!

Today was a good day for writing. I got everything I needed to get done around the house, plus I still had time to get down a few scenes. I ended up getting 8,945 words which got me to the end of Chapter 27 in the book. Which means that I have one more chapter before the middle is completely finished and I can move onto the end of the book. Which will be good.

I only have ten more chapters left, and over the next few weeks I plan on really beginning to pump out the words. Tomorrow I want to get Chapter 28 finished. And on Sunday I plan on getting 29 and 30 finished. So it shouldn't be much longer before I finish the first draft of Pirates of Hcallaec. I'm aiming for the end of February, which means I'll be a whole month in front of the original deadline I gave myself, and then I can finish NaNo before I begin to write the novel I'm planning to write during Holly Lisle's How to think Sideways course. ^^

So far so good...

So I had a bit of a block. I thought I got rid of it before, but the writing progress has only just come back to me. I adjusted my goals so that I now aim for 2 scenes a day instead of 5000 words, which even I can see was a little steep.

I'm not even going to bother about focusing on Poison until I have finished writing Pirates of Hcallaec, it drains my mind jumping from one to the other, but I am determined to finish it as soon as I have written the last word for Pirates.

I've also done a bit more on the planning of Irvine's story. Since I finally bought Holly Lisle's How to think Sideways course, which may I say is awesome, I have been working on that story. It will give me something to write whilst editing Poison and Pirates.

Anyways, for today I aim to get to 135,000 words on Pirates of Hcallaec. Which means I have to write 2,550. So... off to write, and then to read, and then to bed. ^^

Edit
Reached my goal, ended up writing 2663 words tonight, which also means that Chapter 25 is now complete. Now tomorrow I get to write in Elicia's POV again. ^^

Selected by the Gods -- Story of Adela and Luken

I finished this story some time ago now, and I have tried twice now to edit it with no huge success. Tonight, I begin again. This time will be different. This time I will sit down, and attack this story.

I've never been real good with edits. Never actually been able to sit down and seriously begin on changes. I can see where they are now. Since doing 2yn my whole view on writing has changed. I am going to have to edit 'Pirates of Hcallaec' in fact I already now can see bits and pieces that I really need to change and rework in the next section.

Working on 'Selected by the Gods' should give me a little experience with the labors of second draft and editing. I am going to really work at it this time. Not go half arsed at it as I usually do!

Uni

Last month I got a letter telling me I had been accepted into UNE, through early entry.

Today I got a letter telling me I have been given an offer through UAC for UNE, and a form to send back for my acceptance.

Now I am eagerly awaiting my enrollment forms which will come in soon. I'm so excited. I got into the exact course that I wanted through early entry, and my HSC results aren't even out yet. It is such a relief to know that I will be going to Uni, and the one that I really wanted to go to as well!

I'm absolutely esstatic!

WriYe

Just found this, WriYe it looks interesting. It is a year long NaNo, only you chose your word count and it isn't just for one novel, it's for as many as you like during the year. Sounds like a whole lot of fun, will really keep one motivated.

Though it is a lot like the one on forward motion, so I'm not sure if I will actually join this year, think I'll sus it out first ^^

Edit :: What the heck, I signed up anyways, ^.^ I aim for 500,000 words over 2009. This is the same length for the one on FM, so I guess it would still count. Anyways, with all the novels I have planned to do next year, I'll definitely get enough. After all I only have to write 1370 per day, 9590 per week and 41667 per month. Easy! (Well at least it's looking easy at the moment.) At least it will keep me going!

Australia

Last time I went to the movies was to see The dark knight. I didn't think I would ever see another movie that rivaled it, nor 10,000 BC. Tonight I went to see Australia, and my breath was taken away!

Hugh Jackman was the perfect pick for the real Auzzie man! *drools* and Nicole Kidman was a very good choice as well! But my favorite character was the little boy who played Nullah, the very soul of the movie.

Seeing that movie just made my night. It was so good, and is definitely up there in my top fave movies!

Count down is on

Okay, I only have 5000 more words to write, but still 4 chapters to complete. This story is going way over what I originally planned. But I have a plan. Today I will not go by word count, but rather I will work with Chapter count. Which could be bad because I still haven't finished my outline. (oopie)

Anyway, Today I will Finish up to at least Chapter 10, and then tomorrow I will finish the book and then I will post my word count and then I will be happy, because it will be finished!

Which then means I can concentrate more on my 2yn novel and get it up and running again. Gotta love NaNo, and the way the last few days just seem to make you push it all out. Though I have a bit motivation now as well. I got accepted into Uni through early entry, and I was accepted for the three courses that I wanted, which means I get to chose any one of them. Which is really good because I kinda changed my mind. I wanna do a bachelor of communication studies now instead of a bachelor of arts. Lol.

Okay, 6 hours of work, and then on to writing, I'm ready!

Writing Journal

I use Liquid story binder XE to write, and I must say it's a fabulous program, one which I would be completely lost without.

One of the updates to Liquid Story binder, made journals available for the books that you are writing. Since then I have been contemplating if I want to use one or not. It was actually Soleil who triggered the thought in my mind that it wouldn't be such a bad idea. Seeing her posts everyday for NaNo, which say her goal, and her current word count as well as giving a small snippet, gave me the idea that keeping such things in a journal for each book, plus writing down what I liked, didn't like, time it took, what frustrated me, if the words came easy etc, would be a really good idea for each book, it could keep the motivation happening and make me more eager to write. I think I may just have to try it :P

It's official!

I have now officially finished my Higher school certificate (HSC), which means I have finished school! (Well at least until I go to Uni.) And to think I wasn't going to go on to year 12 three years ago...

helping Zette

I was reading on Holly Lisle's site that Lazett Gifford, the owner of forward motion is having a bit of trouble, so I thought I would post the button Holly had, to promote a little bit of help for Zette, seeing the wonderful job she does with forward motion.
By clicking the button it will link you to Holly's page that she has set up for it. ^_^

Sunday Write In

Today I sat down for 5 hours, just like I promised myself I would, and I'm proud to say that I reached just a bit over 10,000 words on my current 2YN project. Which means that I'm catching up to the word count that I should be at.

I've decided that I really like the whole 10,000 words in a day, so I'm going to set aside time every sunday to write 10,000 words for my WIPs, as this is a day where I usually don't have much to do anyway. That will help me to balance out my 2Yn and the novel that I'll be writing for NaNo during November.

Reading list from Soleil

5 MUST Read Books:

1. Beautiful Death by Joely Sue Burkhart
   
2. Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
3. Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes
4. Evermore by Lynn Viehl
5. Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer
   

5 Books on the Nightstand:

1. Crazy in Love by Lani Diane Rich
2. Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey
3. The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray
   
4. Omega Games by S.L. Viehl
5. Harshini by Jennifer Fallon
   

5 Look For These Soon:

1. Evernight by Claudia Gray
   
2. The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward
3. Midnight: A Gangster Love Story by Sister Souljah
4. Desire Unchained by Larissa Ione
5. The Immortal Prince by Jennifer Fallon

* Just as Soleil did on her blog, I have bolded the books that I added in :)

National literary day

Happy National literary day to all my fellow writers! I was so stoked when I realised that it was today, especially since it's my 18th today, yes, I feel old, lol, but now I can legally drink alcohol and I have to vote this weekend! The joys of getting older! :D

My 2Yn is going lovely! I finally got the outline done and so everything else is moving smoothly!

Rejection

I just got another rejection for one of my short stories that I sent away. But this time I got feedback, so that was helpful... Looks as though I have to try again, though I think I will wait a while, I already have a whole heap on my plate with my 2YN project, which is taking me forever to finish!