Monday, September 17, 2012

Monday Mishmash 9/17/12

Happy Monday! Here's my mishmash of thoughts:
  1. Thank you!  Thank you to everyone for celebrating my new 3-book deal with Month9Books. I'm really excited about Into the Fire.
  2. The Monster Within edits  First round edits are finished and back in the hands of my amazing editor at Spencer Hill Press. :)
  3. Fast Drafting  I broke my own record and drafted 80K in 8 days. Yeah, I'm tired now.
  4. Catching up on my reading  I've been so busy the past two weeks that my reading suffered. I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal schedule again.
  5. Book Fair  I helped out with the Scholastic Book Fair at my daughter's school last week and spent way too much money. LOL
That's it for me. What's on your mind today?

*And congratulations to Ruth S. for winning Beth Fred's giveaway last week!

68 comments:

  1. OMG 80k in 8 days? UM you are a BEAST!

    Lol and I used to LOVE those book fairs. My brother and I would totally break the bank for my mother :)

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    1. Yeah, now I'm trying to rearrange those 80K to make them into something amazing. I like to get my ideas down though so then I can work with them a lot through revision.

      I loved the book fairs too. Apparently I still do. LOL

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    2. 80k! I can't even get over that. WOW. No wonder you're selling so many books. If that doesn't motivate me to do at least 1000 a day, I don't know what will!

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    3. I do have all day to write since my daughter is in school, so it's not as impressive as it sounds.

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  2. I went to my school's book fair Friday. I spent way too much money and outdid my students.

    You're an amazing fast drafter. :)

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    1. Aw, thanks!

      Yeah, I went in my wallet this weekend and said, "Where did all my money go?" Oops. Oh well. Money spent on books is money well spent in my mind. :)

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  3. I remember loving Scholastic book fairs. What a treat!
    And thanks again for hosting Beth's contest. I'm so excited about winning two great books =D

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    1. You're welcome. I forwarded your address to Beth. :)

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  4. So. Do we call you Ms. Superwoman or what! xxx

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    1. Not quite. LOL If I was Superwoman, I wouldn't have to revise. I'd get it right the first time. ;)

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    2. Well, the other benefit is flying your daughter to school, provided she's not afraid of heights. She'd be the envy of all her classmates.

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  5. 80 K in 8 days?! WOW! Poting the Next Big Thing today, and looking forward to your post on it!

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  6. Holy Cow! 80K in 8 days. You deserve a medal.

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  7. wow, that is a PR - 80 in 8 days! How did you do it?

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    1. Basically, I got no sleep. I don't really recommend it.

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  8. 80K in 8 days? Crazy! Wow! That's all I can say. Wow!

    On a side note, I used to run the Book Fair at my kids' grammar school for a few years. Fun, isn't it?

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  9. Goodluck catching up on your reading. I need to do that myself but it's so hard when you have 5 million other things on the list to do! But it sure is rewarding once we find the time.

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    1. Yeah, I already got more work to do this week, so catching up on my reading might not happen. :(

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  10. You're absolutely amazing. 80K. No wonder you turn out so many charming books. Now I feel like a lazy cat. Must get busy. :)

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    1. I have a lot to do in revision though, so I'm nowhere near finished.

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  11. Yeah for book fairs! With all your recent book deals I imagine we'll be seeing a lot more fast drafting from you in the near future!

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    1. I love fast drafting. It's such an amazing feeling to just let go and follow your characters on a crazy ride.

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  12. 80k in 8 days?? Wow. That's just plain amazing. :)

    Congrats on your book deal!!! I've been under a rock revising (which I finally finished, yay!) so I missed this. Glad I came up for air to this fabulous news!

    I'm testing for my green belt in karate on wednesday, and I've been working on my essay for it. I need to read it over again this morning, and then it's done. Next I need to study all my material and make sure I know everything.

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    1. Yay! Congrats on finishing those revisions. That's what I'm doing now.

      Ooh, good luck getting your green belt. I know you'll do great.

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  13. I would be happy to write 8K in 8 days!!! lol

    Way to go, Kelly!

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  14. I figured your book were short since you drafted them so quickly. I think you channel them right through, but they must take loads of editing. Or maybe not? That is awesome.

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    1. It depends on the book. Sometimes the fast drafting helps the flow and I have less editing. Other times, I write out of order and at the end of my fast drafting, I have to do a lot in edits to get things where they should be.

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  15. I've only got about 10K left in my first draft and it is taking forever. I keep sitting down and saying, "This is it! I'm plowing through to the end." and then at the end of the day I've gotten a measly 1500 down. Slowest draft I've ever had. I bow to the master!

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    1. It's really not a race though. It's a matter of what's best for getting the manuscript down on paper. I've written books over months and I written over days. I say you have to do what's working for that particular WIP.

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  16. I'm still thinking about eighty thousand words in eight days. Are you sure there's only one of you working...?

    As usual, Kelly, you start your week (and ours) with an energetic kick!

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    1. LOL. Well, it's me trying to keep up with my characters so there's more than just one of us working. ;)

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  17. Congratulations on the three book deal. Wow, that's wonderful Kelly!

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  18. Yay, the book fair! I loved them. Used to so look forward to them when I was a kid.

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  19. 80k in 8 days? Okay, I'm offline...going to write. Sheesh, woman, you are amazing.

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    1. LOL. You should see what I'm going through in revision right now though. ;) I'm moving everything around and it's causing the need to rewrite a lot.

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  20. Congrats on the book deal. I missed that one.

    AND 80K and 8 - did you sleep?

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  21. Wow, congrats on breaking your drafting record! That was really fast!

    I'm translating a chick lit book for the first time, and even though I'm not a fan of chick lit, I actually like this one.

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    1. That's great. I'm sure it's much easier to translate when you enjoy the story.

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  22. Holy Moly, You're busy! Big KUDOS on the book deal!!! I've got a book review to write for the Inquirer, a writing workshop to advertise, fiction to work on, a house to clean, people to attend to..oh, and, um, also take care of me (WTF?)

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    1. Isn't funny how taking care of ourselves always gets pushed to the end of our long list?

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  23. Hey Kelly,
    Congrats on the mammoth drafting of the novel--very cool! That is like NaNoWriMo standards! Only thing on my mind today is thinking about why I signed up for two short fiction courses. One meets on Mon evenings and the other on Tu evenings...may be a bit more than I can handle since both will require writing assignments. Oh well, should be fun and intense!

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    1. You can do it, Michele. You'll get into a groove and be writing up a storm. :) Good luck!

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  24. Hey, congrats! Man, you have a great method. I've started using that term "fast-drafting" when I disconnect from everything for a weekend and just write as much as I can in a sitting. It's a pretty effective tactic if you already have the story planned out. So glad you taught me that!

    I'm willing to bet you'll be the most prolific writer of our generation.

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    1. Let's not get too carried away, Kiersi. I don't deserve that title. But thank you. :)

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  25. On my mind is sticking to my writing plan that I wrote at the start of August. It's amazing how hard it was to become structured and organized as a writer given what I do for a living (build custom Social Media solutions for big companies always in a limited amount of time) yet when it came to documenting a writing plan with dates, etc., for me., I procrastinated. Now that it's done, it's surprising how easy it was for me to keep. I should have hired myself a year ago.

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    1. LOL. It is good to have a schedule to hold yourself to. I tend to be really hard on myself though. I drive myself too hard and then my health suffers. I need to learn to tone it back a little.

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    2. It is, but we have to have harmony (balance is difficult, so I opt for harmony in my life), and yes, please slow it down between 80k words in six days. I know there are exceptions, but the mind needs to recharge between sprints.

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    3. Yeah, I actually made myself take a 20-minute lunch break today. That's uncommon. I usually grab something quick at my computer. I know it's not a major break, but I have deadlines, so I can't take a real one right now.

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  26. Wow! 80k in 8 days! You go girl! Glad you are getting so much writing done and I hope the reading is relaxing. :)

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  27. Kelly, if you do a blog post or even just send me an email and tell me how you write so fast, I'll be your new bff and send you chocolates.

    ~Beth~

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    1. LOL. I think I have done one on fast drafting and how I do it. I'll check.

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    2. Here it is: http://kellyhashway.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-think-just-type.html

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  28. Wow, you are on a roll, lady! Nicely done!!!

    :)

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  29. Enjoy the reading break -- it sounds like you've earned it! I just finished 'The False Prince' today, which was a fantastic read, if you're looking for any recommendations.

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  30. Congrats on your 3 book deal Kelly. OMG-80K in 8 days-did I read that right?! Amazing.

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    1. LOL. Yes, you read it right. I'm doing a lot in revision though. :)

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  31. You've been busy!

    In my case, I'm trying to catch up on blog reading. Six days behind, and so far to go...

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  32. I haven't had any time lately to read either and I truly miss it. Surprisingly, I seem to have more time to read in summer than any other time of the year.
    Congrats for sure on your book deal.

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