Off to Norfok (again). The BIL leaves for deployment on Thursday, so the in-laws are picking us up this afternoon and then it’s a few days of family fun in Norfolk.

Unfortunatly, I think we’ll be getting remnants of Katrina so it’ll be inside fun. I’ve got a couple of books packed just in case. Plus I’m taking the new laptop (and my new ipod) so with a little bit of luck I’ll get some writing done (but I wouldn’t count on it).

I’ve been trying to spend some time thinking about where I want to go with my career. What I want to write next, and for whom (not that I don’t have several projects which need to be finished before I start anything new).

I don’t want to be a one hit wonder with Venus press, but at the same time, I don’t have anything to send them, so I have to write something new, but my WIP lineup is already pretty full, so I’ve got to do some shifting around. I need to look into getting one of those WIP status bars. Maybe seeing it every day will help me get my tush in gear.

I still have a WIP and a half of my Paranormal erotica series, but that’s kind of on hold right now while the first one is at SPICE. If they don’t want it, then I’ll be able to up the romance quotient in the other two to sub other places, which is why they’re on hold.

I have a half finsihed WIP which is the sequel to the Nov WCP Torrid Release that needs to be finished. This should probably be my number one priority, but well, it isn’t.

And I now have 3 series(s) in the back of my head (consisting of about 17 books - a 3 book series, a 9 book series and an at least 5 book series) that are anxious to get out. And I’m not sure where I should target any of them so I’m making them stay in the back of my brain. But they’re organizing and they want their stories told!

There’s four months left in the year. What do you have planned?

I think I have good news, but I’m not ready to share it quite yet.

I heard from my cover artist for Little Red. I’ve heard great things about her (and her covers are beautiful), so I’m really excited. Naturally I’ll share as soon as I have something.

I’m up to 15 pages for my BIAW which is a far cry from the 80 I’m supposed to have by Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who shared my author day with me! I had fun and can’t wait to do it again.

And last, I’ve picked names from a hat and the following people are winners!
For the Blog contest (read the excerpt & answer the question) - Karen
For the “Post Something at my Author Day” contest - Jenny
And for my super secret contest (where I put all the remaining names in a hat and drew again) - Megan
.
I’ve got yummy smelling girly stuff for all of you, so please send me your address (emma@emmasinclair.com).

I’m doing my very first Author Day at the WCP Torrid Author group tomorrow (Tuesday the 23).

I’ll be giving away prizes, posting excerpts, asking and answering questions and whatever fun stuff comes to mind. Please join me!

You can sign up at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WCPtorridreaders/join (must be 18 or older).

In other news, I need to spend the day at my new ‘puter as I’ve pledged 80 pages to a BIAW this week. Have a great week everybody!!!

YAY!!! The crap is out of here!! I’ve got nothing else hanging over my head AT ALL now. The next thing I’ll have to do is edits on my short story for Torrid and I’m guessing that’ll be awhile (plus, it’s a short story so how long can it take).

I’m awaiting reviews for A Walk On The Wild Side (which maybe that other stuff was good because it kept me from worrying about that). I’m waiting for a cover for Little Red and soon that’ll have to go out for reviews (is it okay to have several things being reviewed at once). But other than that - zip, zilch, nada.

Well, I guess I have to actually finish writing the books that I just sent off syns for.

Anyway, I promised a rant today and I certainly don’t want to disappoint.

This might have been my last dealings with a print pub for awhile. I think I’m going to stick to the world of epubbing for one important reason - it’s CHEAP.

I’m a struggling writer. I can’t afford to spend $50 everytime I mail something out! It cost $30 to print my entire 360 pg manuscript out at Kinko’s. I could’ve done at home, but $30 is cheaper than replacing an ink cartridge (or an entire printer as I think it would have killed mine). Somehow the partial only cost $4, so explain that one?

I had to stuff the envelope - it took two of us to get all the stuff in there. ( HUSBAND: It says don’t bend it! ME: I’m not bending it, I’m sitting on it!) And then, to mail stuff to Canada (and be able to track it) it cost $20.

Yep, It cost me $50 to send a full, a partial and three synopses. I better at least get a personal R for this!

I can understand publishers not wanting to get overwhelmed with esubmissions, but isn’t there some better way? Not to mention that getting the sub together took almost a whole day after waiting around at Kinkos (even if you submit it to them online, they don’t print it until you show up there) and then spending a half hour with the post office woman (at least I got a nice one, although she did have me filling out several wrong forms).

After this experience, I think I’m going to stick to esubmissions for awhile. That took a lot out of me!

But that’s okay, I have time to rest because I’VE GOT NOTHING TO DO!!

This time I’m off to the lovely metropolis that is Pittsburgh for a second cousins wedding.

I’m staying at my mom’s house and today I’ll get to see a friend who recently moved back who I haven’t seen since my wedding over a year ago.

Had a really good chapter meeting last night. Kristina Cook was there talking about “How to Breathe Life into your Historical.” I have no interest in ever writing a historical, but it was still an interesting meeting.

I got a little certificate and flowers (fake) for my first sale. My chapter actually gives out flowers for a lot of things. And chocolate. It’s fun to get rewards every meeting.

And it’s looking pretty definiate that I’m going to be the Co-Programming Chair for next year. So, if anybody wants to come to speak at the Maryland Romance Writers please let me know (ah, wouldn’t it be nice if writers flocked to me?)

And stay tuned for some really super MRW news!!! We’re thrilled aobut our Spring Workshop which I’m not sure if I’m able to tell people about yet, but trust me when I say - YOU WANT TO COME!!!!

I sold a short story to Whisky Creek Press - Torrid for their Winter Wishes Anthology!

So, not only will Kendra and I get to be book buddies, but this means that I’ll have releases in November, January and March!

And I’m completely unorganized. It could have something to do with the stuff I’m working desperately to get out the door, and the fact that every single weekend this month is already booked, but honestly, I’ve never been the organized type.

I’m trying to balance getting a zillion things out the door, reviews (why don’t you just pull my hair out with tweezers, that might be less painful then sending stuff out for review), and you know, writiing (what? writing?).

Plus, now that I (seemingly) suddenly have a lot of mss under my belt, I can’t tell one from the other. I’m getting my characters confused, I think I’m writing the same scenes over and over again, and every time I have to look up something it takes me at least a half hour because I’m so darn unorganized.

So, what secrets do you have to be organized?

OK, one final note about Reno.

The workshops were probably the most least fun/helpful thing of the whole conference. I went to 2 really good workshops where I learned a lot. Suzanne’s Emotion workshop was great, as was Writing Hot with Jennifer Dunne.

The Emotion workshop was about different layers of emotion and “giving” your characters layers of emotion. I’m not as eloquent as Suzanne but her example was the last page of the first chapter of The Beast Within and there’s a zillion things going on there in just a few paragraphs.

Although this was the one workshop I left feeling like I’ll never be able to write that well!!!

As for Writing Hot, Jennifer went through the top 10 female fantasies and gave examples of how to use them in different heat levels of romance, from sweeter to erotica. It was very interesting!

Other than that, the workshops I went to were mostly fun. When Bad Covers Happen To Good People with Jenny Crusie, Susan Wiggs, Sandra Hill and others was fun. And I could have spend several more hours listening to Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jayne Ann Krentz talk during the Secrets of the Bestselling Sisterhood.

Honestly, I thought it was much better to spend some time chatting with other writers. I already had the handouts and it’s easy to get workshop tapes, it’s not always so easy to spend down time with other writers.

As for the next few weeks, I’m bogged down in the sucky part of writing. Deadlines, edits, reviews, stress. Blech.

I like the part where I can just write.

I’m home!

But my brain isn’t, and neither is my luggage.

I’ve got elephant feet - some major weird swelling that’s finally going down, as long as I lay flat on my back with my feet in the air. I think it was some kind of weird reaction to the altitude and desert and smoky casino air and all that stuff.

Anyway, I had a really great time but I am really glad to be home.

I went to some great workshops, but I don’t know that I learned anything that I haven’t already heard before. It’s just an amazing feeling to be surrounded by so many people who think the same way you do, who share the same dream that you do, who understand when you don’t answer them because suddenly you’re having a conversation in your head.

And it was really fun to meet people in person that I’ve met online. I think after meeting people in real live I’ll now look at posts in different ways - not good or bad, just different.

I’m already bummed that I can’t go to Atlanta next year.

Greetings from Reno!

My roomies are off at the HQ shindig so I’ve got the room to myself. Everyone here’s got “conference brain” so I’m hiding myself in the room tonight (perhaps to venture out to get ice cream later).

This conference is absolutely amazing! Would you like to hear what I’ve done so far? If not, you better click away now because I’m going to tell you anyway (and I apologize in advance if you’re jealous).

Anyway, so I met some very nice people from Syracuse on my flight from Atlanta to Reno. Just about half of the plane were romance writers. Unfortunately I didn’t get to talk to any of them. Nope, I sat next to a guy who tried for hours to convince me how “romantic” his life was.

First thing Wednesday morning I worked registration, so I got to meet a lot of people there, including some people from RWAOL, Passionate Ink and some bloggers (had I posted earlier I probably would’ve remembered who but since I don’t want to leave anyone out right now, I’ll just leave it at “I met great people!”)

I had lunch with Heather from Connecticut. That was my first NORA encounter (though I just checked out Jill’s blog and her Nora story is cooler).

That afternoon I met some Passionate Inkers! More people that were just super-duper nice (although I can’t beleive I just used the words “super-duper”). Sasha White and I talked blogs for a few minutes.

Then I went to the literacy signing. It was AMAZING. Sarah (my chapter buddy) and I just kind of walked up and down the aisles with our mouths open. But I got some signed books and met some other people!

I’m uncomfortably close to stalker status when it comes to Gena Showalter. And I met Jill (and saw the rest of her family). I walked up to her spot and waited patiently while she talked to her hubby and daughters until her hubby said, “we don’t really need to talk to her, we live with her.”

I also got signed books from Sherrilyn Kenyon (and yes, I dropped Kim’s name - Sherrilyn held my hand), PC Cast (who told me to email her and let her know how I liked the book) and Jenny Cruisie (Bet Me which I love). Also my chapter mate Kathy Love’s latest and Kathleen Long’s SIM (and Kathleen also continues to hook me up with her pens, which I love!)

After the signing I had a RWAOL party with yummy food and cake and presents and a baby! My watermelon stickers came in handy there.

Thursday morning started with some workshops. I went to an Erotic Romance one with Mardi Ballou, Cricket Starr and Jaci Burton (I’m telling you, getting close to stalker).

Then I met Suzanne McMinn at her AMAZING workshop on emotion. I think Suzanne’s workshop was the best one so far, and honestly, when I left her workshop I kind of felt like I sucked and I’d never be as good as her. But I did see her cool purple and silver nails!

I ate lunch with my chapter mates, went to the AGM which was super boring (though short with no quorum) then had drinks with my roomies before going to dinner with my chapter mates. We sold ALL of our tiaras and a good number of Inner Vixen shirts.

I made a brief appearance at the eHQ pajama party but with my jammies on I just wanted to go to sleep. But I was there long enough to meet some of the eHQers and snag some cracker jacks and peanut butter cups (which I think may take the place of the ice cream since I’m already in my jammies).

I had my pitch with Susan Pezzack this morning. She was incredibly nice and she requested a full, a partial and a detailed synopsis (yes, for 3 different stories - basically, she requested everything I have written for this trilogy). Excuse me while I say, “I kicked ass in my pitch!!!” And I never did actually bother writing anything down.

Went to more workshops today. Bad covers with Jenny Crusie, Susan Wiggs, Anne Stuart and Sandra Hill (the self proclaimed queen of bad covers) among others. I hit the Chat with Nora workshop, then lunch, then a Paranormal workshop with Tor authors. I was going to go to the Writing Novella length fiction workshop but got side tracked by free books (though not as sidetracked as others) and got another signed Sherrilyn Kenyon book.

I skipped some afternoon sessions, had dinner with a roomie and went to a writing hot workshop and now, here I am, maxing and relaxing in my room with my expensive internet and peanut butter cups.

Everybody here is SO nice, unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take pictures!

I’m sure I forgot a ton of stuff but like I said - conference brain.

Please comment because I’m picking up a ton of stuff that I’d like to share. I’ll “see” you again when I get home on Monday!

I’ve been writing up a storm the past few days, averaging a bit over 20 pages/day.
But I don’t have a pitch, yet.

I’ve read several blogs where people are completely packed for Reno.
I informed The Hubster this morning that I might need 1 more outfit (including shoes).

I have books on my TBR pile by authors that I know I’m going to meet.
But probably won’t have time to read them.

I’m heading off to Kinko’s this afternoon and will hopefully come back with supercool bookmarks.
But since this is me trying to do stuff last minute, there’s a very good chance that things won’t work out.

I still have a lot of business cards to print out.
The buisness card template is sketchy.

I’ve got labels to put on things that go in giftbaskets.
But not the gifts.

I’m going to be busy over the next 4 days (OMG 4 DAYS?!?!?! PANIC TIME!!!)