It’s November 1st and that means it’s time for NaNoWriMo — National Novel Writing Month. The goal of NaNoWriMo is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. It sounds daunting, except that it’s only 1,677 words a day. That’s not difficult to achieve if you know what you want to say. To help me stay on pace, I created a daily word count chart using a graphic from NaNoWrimo. You are welcome to share or pin the graphic, but please let your followers know where you got it!
There is an interview with George R. R. Martin in this month’s Writers Digest. If you don’t know George, he’s the author of the A Song of Ice and Fire
My husband has become a fan and after reading the article he said, “He only writes four or five pages a day.” For the tomes that George writes, four or five pages a day means it will take five years to finish. At the same time, I told my husband that four or five pages was pretty good. I’ve read many author interviews who have goals of four or five pages a day. Or sometimes it’s a word count like 1000 words a day. That doesn’t seem like a lot, until you try and write that much.
November is National Novel Writing Month — NANOWRIMO. The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That comes to an average of 1,667 words a day. I know that I can write that number of words in just over an hour IF I know what I want to say. I’ve participated in NANOWRIMO every year for the last five years, and only once did I hit the 50K mark (with Old Flames Never Die, which I hope to publish soon). It’s harder than you think to write several pages a day, especially if you have a job or other work to do, a family, daily duties etc.
I am curious about Nora Roberts’ daily work or page count. She’s reputed to write eight hours a day everyday, even on vacation. I figure that has to be at least 10,000 words a day (which I guess is about 40 pages — 250 words a page). This may be why she’s so prolific.
So how much do I write a day? When I can write, I average about 1,800 words. The problem is that I may only write one day a week. I’m working to change that. Now that Deadly Valentine and Endangered are published, I’m eager to get more work out there. Especially since two Valentine books are completed drafts that only need edits. Who knows, maybe this time next year, I’ll be writing four or five pages a day which would mean a new book release every three months or so.
Deadly Valentine will be free through Amazon Kindle from October 18 to 20th. This offer is for the complete, full-length novel, not an excerpt.
Don’t have a Kindle? That’s okay. You can download the Kindle app to read on your computer, smartphone, iPad or tablet.
If you like mystery, romance, chocolate and couture lingerie, Deadly Valentine is the book for you.
Tess Madison walked away from her two-timing fiancé, a multi-million dollar trust fund and a cushy corporate law job to pursue the single life indulging in chocolate and fancy French underwear. But her newly reordered life comes unraveled when she reluctantly accepts an invitation to a dinner party and stumbles upon the host’s dead body. Now Tess is in the middle of a murder investigation pitting her wannabe-boyfriend police detective against Jack Valentine, a man from her past with blue-green eyes and sinful smile that causes her to rethink her self-imposed celibacy Tess has many reasons to avoid Jack including the fact that he’s the prime suspect in murder. But Tess doesn’t believe Jack’s the murderer and with an honest attempt to keep her hormones in check, she agrees to represent him. With Jack’s help, she uncovers a 30-year-old secret someone is killing to keep hidden and discovers sensual delights that don’t include chocolate or French underwear. But when her professional and personal relationship with Jack threatens to ruin her career and end her life, Tess has to decide if Jack, is worth the risk.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get Deadly Valentine. Grab your copy before this free offer ends!
I first saw a blurb about Beatriz Williams’ book Overseas
I’m a fairly picky reader and if I can’t get into the story ASAP, sometimes it never gets finished. Overseas
The story involves Kate who works on Wall Street and Julian, a British billionaire hedge fund owner. He can have anyone he wants and with one look he wants Kate. But someone is lurking in the shadows, trying to hinder the romance. As it turns out, Kate and Julian’s story may not have started in 2008, but in 1916, when Kate sought Julian out to warn him of his impending death (or did it? It’s a bit like the chicken and egg). I don’t want to give too much away because part of the fun of the book is discovering the twists and turns and wondering if it will turn out in the end.
There was the mushy love stuff romance readers enjoy, but the intimate parts were very tame. There was very little detail, so readers who like play-by-play sex scenes won’t find that. At the same time, Williams captures the emotions and feelings that go along with intimacy, so readers can still get a thrill.
In some parts, it felt a little like Twilight — the social/moral clash between an old fashioned man and a modern woman — and yet Julian’s prudishness and desire to make an “honest woman” of Kate isn’t just about old-fashion values, which added another twist to the story (you have to read it to find out what that is!).
As a writer, I liked that Williams made up her own rules about how time travel could occur and didn’t dwell too much on the paradox or loop. Overall, I really enjoyed Overseas
and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a good romantic story.
I’m very excited about the initial interest in Deadly Valentine and Endangered. Feedback has been positive, especially for Endangered, which is a different kind of romantic mystery. Instead of coming together during the story or rediscovering their love, the Delecoeurs are 100% in love and committed. I was wondering if readers would find a story in which the conflict rests completely on the circumstances — someone is out to kill Madeleine — and not on what will happen to the relationship interesting. So far, people have found it “refreshing” and are asking for the next story.
This brings a new, yet welcome problem…what to focus on publishing next. I’m eager for Microsoft or Apple or some other tech company to invent a gadget that will allow me to plug my brain directly into my computer. This gadget would make it fast to get my ideas downs and first drafts written. I have no shortage of stories for Max and Madeleine, Tess and Jack, and even new characters that aren’t published. But there is only so much time in the day and currently, my fiction writing is second to my ‘making a living writing’. Then there is the question of what do I work on first? Do I write the new Delecoeur mystery or do I edit the next Valentine books, which are on their fourth edits? Can I do both? These are questions I’m grappling with as move from a writing hobbiest to professional writer. Perhaps I need to ask you the reader…which story do you want to see next? Delecoeur or Old Flames Never Die – Valentine Book 2?