Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Holy Time Shortage, Batman!

Yikes! I just realized I have exactly one month to finish the first draft of my novel!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! (sorry..had to get that out. Typing, "Finish novel" and "in one month," together in the same sentence strikes my funny bone.)

Back in August I was notified that I am a finalist in the "Get Your Stiletto in the Door" contest. This contest is through chicklitwriters.com, a Chapter of Romance Writers of America. To final in the top four in my category is a huge accomplishment for me and I can't even begin to describe what it felt like to get "the call" (I place it on the same level as getting a million dollar call from Ed McMahon, himself. Seriously.)

Anyway, so the first 25 pages of my novel made it through to the final round of judging and are now in the hands of a professional editor for Steeple Hill, and a professional literary agent with The Seymour Agency.

No sweat.

Um...right.

Okay. I am not delusional - I don't expect either one of those judges to come pounding down my door demanding to see the complete manuscript. I'm not even holding out hope for a nice email requesting the rest of the story. Finishing the book by the time the winners are announced on November 5 is a personal goal I set for myself.

Just in case.

The problem is, I have a long way to go. Like 30,000 words long. That's about 130 more pages. That's a lot. Not impossible. But definitely challenging. Especially to the Procrastination Princess and Distraction Diva.

I'm trying to tell myself that if I don't finish my novel by November 5, it's okay. Really. It's not a matter of life and death. On the other hand, if I DO finish it, I'm sure the sense of accomplishment will be priceless.

So what am I doing here blogging instead of hammering away on my novel?

Good question.

Okay. I'm off to re-enter the world of Madi McCall and finish her story.

One month and counting...I AM WOMAN - HEAR ME ROAR! I CAN DO IT! I CAN WRITE 30,000 WORDS IN THE NEXT MONTH! I CAN! I CAN!

Hey. I even typed that with a straight face.

There is hope after all.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Just think of it as your on personal Nanowrimo. Right? Ok, maybe not. How about a prayer or three?