About halfway through the month, I lost my steam. Last month was great! I submitted five stories and immediately received contracts on three of them. I did all that in preparation for this year’s NaNo — I had great plans for my story. GREAT PLANS I tell you!

Then…I got a contract for a book submitted on proposal. That’s great! I shuffled my NaNo story to the backburner so that I could work on this new story.

Then…I got a new day job. That’s also great! I’m back to being salaried which means I get a paycheck come hell or high water. But this also means that I went from having three or four full days a week to write to two full days plus evenings when I’m not too tired.

Hmmm…

So, I wrote my proposed story in two weeks. A full week earlier than I had anticipated. That’s great!

But then reality hit me. I spent October writing like a fiend to get ready for November. I typed with the speed of the wind the first two weeks of November to get my proposal story completed. When I stopped long enough to look around, I realized something. Not only was I dog tired, I had another two completed stories that just needed a little tweaking before they were submit-ready. Did it really make sense to start another story that I wouldn’t be done with until at least the end of December while those just sat there?

It didn’t to me either.

So, to end a long story…despite all of my preparation and excitement, I did not win at NaNoWriMo this year. I didn’t write 50,000 new words. What I did do, however, was write a 21K story, polish and sub two other stories (got a contract for one of them already! woot!!) and tighten up the plot for the story I originally intended for NaNo. Oh, believe me, that sucker’s getting written. Just not in November. And I’m ok with that.

Hey y’all. A couple of things on today’s blog agenda:

My November newsletter is available. There are now over 100 subscribers! WOOT!! Thanks for your support!! I love hearing from all of you. Don’t forget, these people are automatically entered into a drawing to win a copy of my latest book as it releases. Sign up if you haven’t yet.

And although this month started with a bang, I got a new day job. As a result, I have much less time to write than I did for the past six months. If things have slowed down on my end, now you know why. As of right now, I’m woefully behind on my NaNo projects. FAR TO GO is coming along nicely, but I’m no where near where I thought I would be by today. Y’all cheer me on, k?

Lastly, I need some good advice. I’m looking for a certain set of books (print or ebook; it doesn’t matter). Can anyone recommend some good erotic romances about dragons, submissive males or any urban fantasy that just rocked your world? Leave me a comment with the name of the author, the book(s) and publisher if you know it. I anticipate wanting some down time in December and need to fortify my stock! (BTW, if the book sucks, I’m coming back to find you. lol)

I was supposed to start writing at exactly midnight this morning. Only problem was I worked a thirteen hour shift on my feet and then stopped for groceries on the way home. By the time I stopped moving, it was ten thirty and all I wanted to do was see my bed. I planned for a nap and told my fellow NaNo word warriors that I would get up in the middle of the night to start writing with them. By the time that happened, it was 3 am and the only person online was the master whip-cracker herself, L. Shannon . I made it through one round of word wars, but begged off when the lure of the bed called again. Although she made me feel horribly guilty about it (in a nice way of course), I followed the call.

Now, something I should note about my project this year. I’ve been pumped, pumped, pumped up to start Sin of the Father. I mean, just rearing to go. Then, I got the final contract for a book I submitted on proposal yesterday. That means, instead of the 60K for SOTF, I’ll be writing 20K for Far To Go and then starting SOTF. If I happen to get stuck while writing, I’ll throw in The Fallen 3 for something to work on in between.

Anyway, keep an eye on my progress bars. It’ll keep you updated.

So, I finished THE CRAFT OF THE WISE 3 last night. Whew! Thanks to my fellow Cobblestone Press authors for hosting a ‘book in a week challenge’ where I got the vast majority of this story done. When I typed those lovely words (you know, "THE END"), I swore out loud to myself that today would be a non-writing day. I was going to pick up the three novels I’ve started (I know, I know) and put them all to bed tonight. Then there’s also the matter of two more ebooks I’ve acquired over the last couple of days that I want to get my paws on too. Yesterday morning though, I received a contract for a yet-to-be-written paranormal erotic romance that I’ve entitled FAR TO GO. (We’re still negotiating the terms of the contract, so it’s not *official* yet, but I don’t anticipate any hang ups.) So what does that mean? It means get my BIC (butt in chair for any non-writers out there) and start the next project. But wait!!! I was supposed to spend this week revising THE PRICE OF PLEASURE so that I could send it out and finish outlining SIN OF THE FATHER to work on for NaNo at midnight on Nov 1st. But wait!!! I said I would enter a flash fiction contest and need to jot something down for that since the deadline is in two days.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

So there. Now you see how priorities can change at the drop of a hat. I won’t even mention that I have four manuscripts out for decisions right now. If I get a contract for any of those…. Oy. I suppose all of this is a good problem to have. No complaints from me.

(well. not really.)

Fall is in the air. Can you feel it where you are? Being down here in the hot, hawt South, Fall is very important. Today is the first day since January that my house’s air conditioner has received a reprieve. It’s gorgeous outside. Just lovely… But, you know what else Fall brings?

NaNoWriMo .

Y’all, I can’t express in words HOW EFFIN’ EXCITED I AM that NaNo is right around the corner. You would think that since I’ve been writing all year long, a month dedicated to writing wouldn’t mean that much. And you’d be dead wrong. NaNo is the reason I wrote SOLDIER and I will forever be grateful to its organizers.

So far, this is what I know. My goal for this year is to write 60K words. It’ll be an urban fantasy having to deal with a nurse (I know, I know), a hospital and Hell (*snort*). I even have the publisher I plan on subbing it to already picked out.

Now I just have to come up with a pesky plot. lol.

I’ll keep you updated on my NaNo musings as the days get closer. And for anyone who happens to do NaNo this year, find me! My NaNo ID is blkdawn .