What are your days filled with?

I've had some technical difficulties with my blog, but hopefully I've figured them out. And I've been spending more time working on my novels than blogging. I do hope to improve my blogging schedule.

To do that, I'm starting with the goal to do mostly book reviews, some author interviews, and doing some links to things I find interesting when it comes to writing.

First off, I'm going for my 3rd time to LDStorymakers writers conference in May. I've already signed up. I even signed up to do a pitch to a real agent. Just thinking about it makes me nervous, but it's still exciting.
 If you want to know more about LDStorymakers conference go HERE  I've loved it the other times I've gone. It's during mother's day weekend, but it's gonna be my gift to myself and from my husband (who will be staying home with 5 kids to experience "Mommyhood" himself. He'll do great.)


Also, I won NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. So basically, I wrote 50,000 new words on a new project in the month of November. I also got a certificate, and a cool little button.

 

I've got 2 projects in the work right now. 2 completed MS. One is ready to send out to agents and publishers by query. The second will be reviewed again to see what needs to happen to get it ready to send out into the world.

 

So, my days are filled with writing things: Facebook to socialize with people outside my imagination, imaginary friends, magic, betrayal, love, kissing, research, laptop, reading, daydreaming...

 as well as my motherly things: diapers, dinner, lunch, dishes, breakfast, dishes, laundry, diapers, homework, kisses, love, joy, diapers, tantrums, reading board books, and so on...

but I love it all .

 

What are your days filled with?

So much going on.

Do you ever experience so much going on in your life, you just can't fit it all in? Of course you do. We only have so much time in each day and we have to use that time wisely.

I of course haven't been using my time all that wisely some days, but others, I'm right on top of it. I would like to promise to get my little tail in gear and make consistent post to this blog, but I will probably not. I'll do more than I've done in the last month, (see, I'm already doing more.)

I have been working on my writing. Switched from 1st person narration to 3rd person. I think it's helping the manuscript. I've also decided to go back to a previous story and spruse it up a little so it can be out in the world getting looked at, probably rejected, and possibly requested while I continue writing.

And when I'm not actually typing at the computer, I'm networking... (hey, facebook is networking) I've also had ideas and plots, and story lines running through my mind. Reading other books is very important as well.  Currently, I'm reading the Fablehaven series to my kids. Brandon Mull was a genious. I'm reading Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker to myself. I've read free books I've gotten on the kindle app, and doing some editing and beta reading for my writing buddies.

It's a fun journey and I do stop the writing to take advantage of the precious time I have with my young children. I realize that I might not get published as quickly as another writer, but I'm okay with that. I still think my kids and husband are more important than my writing. Don't get me wrong. I still am very selfish about my writing, but only to the point where I don't let it consume my life. Just part of it.

How do you do it all?

What have you been reading lately?

I've been trying to read and write during my free time. Though I've found I'm spending more time reading than writing. And that's ok, but today I started on my writing again after a few days off and realized I'm influenced by what I just read.

Let's see if I can explain this better. On my first story, I had been reading the Twilight series most recently before I began writing my book. After finishing it and sending it to some readers, many of them said, "you know, even though this isn't a story about Vampires or anything, it reminded me a lot of Twilight."

Then in my next story, I tried to be more careful about what I was reading and how I was writing so it didn't sound like I was trying to write in the same style as the author I was reading. I've heard many authors say they have discovered the same thing in their experience.

Lately I've been re-reading a couple of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan to get ready to read the final book being finished by Brandon Sanderson. Now my story is nothing like the WOT, (It's more of a dystopian at the moment) but I find myself thinking of the way the story is done in his world. I have to conciously stop myself from using some of Jordan's terminology.

It's a fine line to walk. You want to read other books, see how authors did it right, but you also have to make sure you keep your own voice. I guess it helps to take a break from writing for a little to do some reading. You just have to make sure when you get back into your writing you can keep the little voices in your head separate.

So what have you been reading lately?