ONE MILLION WORDS ... the magic number?

I recently read that a writer must first write ONE MILLION words of crap before their writing becomes any good.

Wow. One Million words is A LOT.

Sure, the more you write, the better you get ... but one million words? Really? That seems like a lot. Let's tally up my total to see if I'm anywhere near this mark.

I've completed 6 books during my 3 years of writing (and this is with actually taking a year off). And I've started a slew of other ones. Here they are:

Completed Books:
Lost & Found (MG)          32,773
Recaptured Dreams          68,540
PG                                    83,352
Broken Ties That Bind     90,541
All American Girl            90,449
Crucible                           75,216

WIP's (things I've started or am currently working on):
Vaughns                            5,630
Seduction of MJ               2,159
Lorcan Warlocks              9,687
Saving Ezra                      16,360
Urban Cowgirl                 6,901
Life Goes On                   855
Touch of Heart                 18,783

For each completed book, I'm going to add an additional 7,000 words. Because let's face it, in those first stages, lots of stuff is deleted and added. I like to call that stuff word vomit. :-) Typos fall under that catagory, too ... but, er, that's another topic.

So, the rough number of words I have written is (drum roll please ...)

543,246

Hmm ... so I've written SIX books and still only reached the halfway mark? *shakes head*

Now ... did I write crap to begin with?

YES.

Am I still writing crap after a half a million words?

NO.

And every time I tap away at the keyboard, I'm getting better, and better, and better, and better. And I'm better than the first book. WAY better. *pats self on back*

So, I don't think a million words is the magic number. I do believe everyone has a magic number, but depending on you, that number may be small or large.

What do you think, peeps? What's your magic number? Have any of you hit the one million mark? Tell me. (Although I'm pretty sure there is one of you out there that has ... ahem, Dr. B.)

~JD

PS If you missed the Author Interview with Christi Goddard yesterday, go check it out here.

Author Interview: Christi Goddard

HAPPY MONDAY ALL!!!

Today I'd like to welcome fellow Bransformer, Christi Goddard. Christi has made the jump from writer to author this past year (CONGRATS!). Her first book, Four in the Morning, will be published by Immortal Ink Publishing in May 2012!

She's taken the time to answer some fun questions for us. ;-)

Q1. Why your genre? Why not romance? Children's books? Literary fiction?

A. My genre picked me, I suppose. I have always written stories with teenaged characters and I tend to stick with stories that have some manner of fantasy aspect to them. I wrote for years before I ever gave much thought to ‘genre.’ Those years we spent as teenagers were some of the most important we experience, even if they were horrible and traumatic. Even if we don’t want to think about them as adults. I do read adult fiction, but I want to tell the stories of teenagers who face difficult situations and try to succeed with little or no experience to guide them. And I have to make it funny.

As far as romance, I have written a couple of romances, but they are also YA and paranormal. One is the Lesser Evil series, the first book of which will be out in December 2012. The other is a stand-alone book, and there’s been no firm decision on when that will be released. This one borders quite boldly near the ‘literary fiction’ realm and is unlike anything else I’ve tried to do. Regarding children’s books, I have started a book I want to finish one day, and it is MG. So I guess I might be a bit of a genre hopper with that one, but most of my work will be firmly entrenched in the YA paranormal genre.


Q2. Tell us the secret of your muse.

A. She is a fickle beast. I might go weeks without writing anything at all. But sometimes, when she feels like being kind, I can write an entire book in a matter of days. My fourth book I wrote in eleven days, for example. Four in the Morning took a total of six weeks, but there were starts and stops. I’ve discovered my stress level has a great deal to do with my muse’s cooperation.

Q3. Self-pubbing vs traditional pubbing vs small pubbing: What made you choose?

A. Well, like most everyone, I tried to do the traditional route first. I wrote a book, queried, failed. Wrote another book, queried, failed. Wrote another book, queried, failed. When I was querying my fourth book, I sent my third manuscript to a professional editor since I had sincere hope for it and had gotten positive feedback from agents with it. My editor loved it so much, she suggested I let Immortal Ink Publishing consider it. I’d never heard of them and that’s because they were brand new and getting into the e-book business. They decided to take my book on, and I couldn’t be happier. I’ve had a say in everything from the book design to how I want things to proceed, and I’m sure a larger publisher would be more constraining. I never expected riches or fame, I just want my stories to be available for people to read.

Q4. Every writer has a "system". What's yours? How often do you write? Panster or plotter? How long does it take you to write that first draft? Complete product?

A. This kind of goes along with the muse question. I am a punster, totally. I get an idea and jot it down. Eventually, bits of dialogue pop into my head and I jot that down. Then a whole chapter, usually somewhere in the middle, comes to mind. Then, when I ‘feel’ the time is right, I open a new document and pound away. All I need to get started is that opening line and some vague idea of where everything is going. The time it takes me varies between projects. As I mentioned, I wrote one book in eleven days. Most take me about two months, but Lesser Evils took about six months to write, edit, edit, edit, and edit. It was HUGE when I finished it so took a lot of streamlining.

Q5. Tell us a secret.

A. That would make it NOT a secret then, wouldn’t it? This would actually be hard since I tend not to have them. I’m pretty open about everything. Okay, I have a small one (this literally took a long time to think of). I like to make fan videos and put them on youtube. I will not divulge my secret account, so don’t bother asking.

Q6. The most important question of all! Vanilla or Chocolate cake?

A. Chocolate is the answer, but that’s because chocolate is the answer to everything.



The synopsis for her new book can be found on HERE, and a cool sneak peak of the first pages are HERE.

And you can see the wicked trailer on  youtube.

If you don't follow Christi yet, jump on over and say "HI!" on her blog.

Have a great week everyone!

~JD

The official author pic ...

Here it is peeps, my cheesy face ;-)

Thanks again to the teenage offspring for taking such a good pic (and not making me look a hundred years old!)

~JD 

Origins Blogfest

Today's the day some 180+ of us bloggers tell the world how/why/when we got into writing. Whew. That's A LOT of people!

Thanks to DL Hammons for thinking this bad boy up! Oh, and Matthew MacNish, Katie Mills (aka Creepy Query Girl) and Alex Cavanaugh.

I've actually talked about this once on my blog before (like waaaay long ago when I first started this blog). You can find the original post here. 

That post is long if you want to get a deeper look into my mush. I mean, my brain. Here's a shorter version:

HOW I, JD, GOT INTO WRITING

Three years ago I watched a movie

I thought it was sort of groovy

After learning it had started as a book I said, "Hey! I can do that!"

So I put on my thinking cap and went up to bat 

Me and "reading" books weren't friends you see

So I had a crazy uphill battle to beat

So my first book was awful and full of crap

But I knew I'd get better the more I went to bat

I found that writing was akin to breathing

If I had to stop, I'd rather face a lifetime of teething

To keep me sane I wrote, wrote, wrote, and wrote

Knowing that somehow, someday, I'd catch that "from writer to author" boat.

After three years, 

Lots of tears,

A crit partner who kept me going with her cheers,
And several kegs of beer ...
Er, wait ... I don't drink.
And I just ran out of rhyming words.
Argh.

Darn poems.

So there you have it! Kind of. Mostly. Not really. *snicker* 

A movie changed my life forever. The book changed it even more. And then I started on a path that I couldn't stop even if I'd wanted to. And I love every second of it. Writing for me is like breathing. And I never intend to stop. 

Cheers

~JD 

I'm Hearing Voices Blogfest

So, I missed Monday's post (sorry!), but I fully plan on completing the rest of the week. In light of light, here is my addition to Character Blogfest. The rules for today are as follows:

February 8th - Wednesday - Dialogue Introduction: Have two characters introduce each other using only dialogue—no backstory, no internalization, just dialogue between the two. Max 250 words.

I've cheated a wee bit today. I've actually got four characters making introductions. This is a excerpt right out of my latest book. It's longer than what you are seeing here (had to cut back for word count requirements!). And I've switched this excerpt from third to first person.  I hope it makes sense!

Here goes:

 A red head boy eyed me. “You look like someone dumped you out of a trash compactor.”

“Whadoyou care?” I deposited myself in the nearest seat.

An impish girl who looked like she was getting ready to jump out of her own skin touched my hair. “What’s wrong with your hair?”

I smacked her hand away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Hey.” A buff-kid bumped my shoulder. “No need to be rude.”

I lurched up and shoved him. “You don’t touch me, either.”

“Whoa!” Red head boy stepped in between us. “We don’t even know what’s going on. No need to be at each other throats already.”

Buff-kid nodded. “Ralph’s got a point. But you, smurf girl—” He pointed a sharp finger at me. “Need to be nicer.”

“No name callin’,” Imp blondie called out from under her curtain of hair.

I held up my hand. “Here’s an idea— stop talking to me.” I slid back down in my seat.

“The names Deuce.” Buff-kid held out his hand. I didn’t take it and he dropped it to his side. “This is Ralph.” He pointed to the red-head kid half his size. “And I think her name is Rose or Violet or something.”

“It’s Paisley,” the blond girl stated.

“Whatever. I knew it was some kind of flower.”

I barked a laugh. “It’s not a flower, idiot. It’s a tear drop pattern shaped like a kidney originating from India.”

Deuce scrunched his face. “Whatever. And you are?”

“Mitzi.”

"Well, Mitzi ... what are you in for?"

* * *

And there you have it! If you would like to check out the other entries for the blogfest today, go check out the Live to Right blog.

~JD

Author Photo Outtakes

So, I had my author photos taken this past weekend. And personally, I hate having my photo taken. The offspring took the photos (she's a photography grand champion, like, for realz). And then I sent them off to have them edited (cuz let's face it, wrinkles are not a girls best friend).

While that is happening, I thought I'd show you some of the nice outtakes. You know, the photos that no one should ever see, but I'm going to show them to you anyway. Lucky you. ;-)

Here goes: LAUGH AWAY!

Believe it or not, I did get some half-way decent shots in between all this messing around. As soon as I figure out which will be the official author pic, you'll be the first (okay, maybe the second or third) peeps to know!

~JD 

Whoot! Whoot! EPIC Friday Update (DON'T MISS IT) Seriously ...

I love it when pets get excited. ;-)

TODAY I AM ONLY GOING TO MENTION THREE THINGS. THREE VERY IMPORTANT THINGS.

Sorry, caps lock got stuck. Heeeeeeeeeere we go!

1. Did you see the showdown between the alpha and the beta male heroes? If you didn't, catch up with their individual scenes here and here.

Now, those were kind of extreme examples. And there are so many other things I could discuss when it comes to the men in books/movies/etc. No two men are alike. There are no cookie-cutters out there. Basic characteristic remain the same, but situations and personal experiences mold and shape people. No two alphas are the same. Same with the betas. And there are even men who are the perfect mixture of both (I like to call them "gammas"). At any rate, my showdown was meant to give a SMALL glimpse into each men. But as any other human, they are far more complicated that a 500 word blog post can even begin to describe.

NOW onto the SUPER news.

2. Have all of you met my BFF? Long distance BFF anyway. She's also my crit partner. And my saving grace. And my little piece of sanity in a world of madness. And--
Okay, I'll stop.
Point is, she's the best. I like to call her The Great and Powerful Beta of Oz. Yeah, she's that great.
Her name is Sarah Fine.
Or S.E. Fine as you will SOON be seeing on the cover of her books.
That's right, last year she wowed us with her staggering story of snagging an agent (five offers!) and now I am HAPPY to announce that one of her debut books will be coming out in 2013. Here is the verbage straight from Publishers Weekly:

Stacey Barney of Putnam Books for Young Readers acquired world English rights to Scanand a sequel, Burn, by Walter Jury and S.E. Fine. Jury is a manager/producer for film and television, and Fine is a child psychologist; this is their first collaboration, and it’s a high-action YA thriller about a 16-year-old boy who has been prepared his whole life for "something important," only to discover it means he's one of the last humans left on earth. The first title is due out in 2013. Joanna Volpe of Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation did the six-figure deal. 

One important thing was left out of this little post here, though. Sarah is repped by Kathleen Ortiz at Nancy Coffey Literary. 

So.....

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

3. AND, let's not forget my own news. I've made some changes to my blog over the past few weeks to see if anyone noticed.

FIRST, I changed the top banner from "writer" to "author".
And then I put in my debut novel information in the sidebar ... right over there ------------>

But now I shall say in a blog post.

JD (that's me!) will have her debut book published by Omnific Publishing in late 2012!

*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*

Wow. It's a good day to announce good news. :-) And for me, it's even better for Sarah and I to announce our upcoming books at the same time. It's weird how this stuff works out.

Have a great weekend all!

~JD

THROWDOWN SHOWDOWN: Alpha vs Beta--Final Battle Part Deux

Today is beta day. Our senstive hero is going to take his shot at the same scene. For those who missed Monday's alpha scene, you can find it here.

Here is the setup again:Setup: The heroine has just learned that her old boyfriend—whom she thought was dead—is in fact, alive and well several years later. Said boyfriend has stopped by her house.  And let’s be honest, she still cares for the man. They didn’t break up, she thought he was dead! Alas, the supposed dead man is also the supposed dead best friend of the hero. That’s when the alpha/beta boyfriend shows up.

Let's go!

Mac took careful steps up the walkway to Sarah’s house, unease tightening his chest. The news he’d gotten about his old best friend had rocked him to his core. It couldn’t be true. Because if John truly was alive … he’d want Sarah back. Mac shook his head in defeat.


The shock of this news was going to hurt Sarah. She’d already been broken into pieces when she’d learned of John’s death in the first place. Mac had been the one to comfort and console her, making her see that life was still worth living. Then they had grown close. Three years was a long time to mourn a lost love and create a new life. A life with Mac. He clenched his eyes as he reached the front porch.

Would Sarah run into her dead lover’s arms? Would she question the motives behind his death? Surely she would want answers, just as Mac did. But in finding answers, Mac would be that much closer to loosing Sarah, the woman he had grown to love. He wasn’t sure he would be able to live without her laugh. Her smile. The way she made him feel so at ease. And Mac was certain he wouldn’t be able to take the pain that would engulf Sarah once she learned to truth about her old love. It would kill her. And that would kill him. He had to find some way to protect her from this. He needed to protect her heart. And his.

Mac pulled open the screen door and raised his hand to knock. His eyes slid to scene beyond the glass window and all the blood rushed from his head. John. He was already here. And Sarah was already crying. Before Mac could take that first shocked breath, John had wrapped Sarah in a hug, tugging her a little too close, whispering in her ear.

Mac stood stock still, his fear for Sarah making his breath hitch. He kept his eyes riveted on the scene unfolding before him. Sarah drew away, tears cascading down her cheeks. But she was smiling. She was actually smiling. And her tight grip around John’s arms was evident to her happiness to see him. She pulled John in for another tight hug, cradled her beautiful face into the crook of John’s neck, and breathed deeply. Even though the closed door, Mac heard her contented sigh. His heart shattered.

Stepping back, he closed the screen door as quietly as he could. With light steps, he shuffled away from the house, back to the darkness that was his life. But he wasn’t going to let this be the end of it. With his broken heart hammering in his chest, he realized he had choices. First, he had to figure out why John had come back after all this time. Why his old best friend would run from his old life—and Sarah—only to come back and haunt them. Considering John’s past, Mac figured the details would be grisly, putting even more stress on Sarah. And second, he had to make sure Sarah knew that Mac was the better man. He only needed to figure out how to do both.

* * * *
 
Wow. That's quiet a difference. Notice how the beta is not confrontational? Notice how he is thinking more about what the heroine is going through? He's not quick to judge (like our alpha), but he wants answers nonetheless. And even though it's killing him, he's letting the heroine enjoy what he sees as a happy moment. You gotta love a sensitive man. *swoon*
 
Come back on Friday were we will digest all the alpha/beta goodness and announce a winner to this here war!
 
~JD