Typing The End to a Novel

It felt like a long time coming because I put my holiday story on hold for so long. Now, with time running out for holiday submissions, I had to get it out. But, I finished it in rough draft, and have done a run through of editing. The major revising isn’t started yet, but I took advice a friend gave me on some things her editor looks for. And, I want to submit to her publishing company. 

When I’m near the end I get so excited. My fingers can’t seem to type fast enough, and the thoughts start pouring out to make the last little bit special for my characters and readers. I figure if I get emotional, or my characters get emotional, my readers will get emotional. So, even though I finished, I’m excited to go back and make sure loose ends are tied up. 

I had to create a time line so I could get my dates correct. Something big happens on Christmas Eve so I wanted to be sure to get all the days prior to that in the right order. It’s fun to do and see it all come together. I call editing the pleasure/pain part of writing. Many more ideas come along during the revision process and knowing what to cut and when is sometimes a challenge. We create these words and we don’t always want to cut them. On the other hand, sometimes there are words you can’t wait to cut; they never felt right from the beginning.

Oh, the photo of Coit Tower and the full moon? It's a scene from this book. Beautiful and awesome because I actually saw this scene on a trip to San Francisco. I was there in the beginning of December that year. A sight I will always remember.

Now it’s time to get back to editing.  

Technorati Tags: the ending,jade rose madison,novel,Christmas,San Francisco,Finished,edit,revise,complete

Heated Love Scenes in the Summer

Jade Rose Madison The blog has nothing on it at this point to make it adult rated, so even though the title says Erotic Love Stories, it is safe to read anything on this blog right now. When that changes, this blog will be labeled adult only, but for now it is safe to read for anyone.

Summer heat is nearly upon us.  Living in the city in the summer can be scorching!  There are not that many tress for shade either.  Finding a cool spot can be impossible, and when I'm writing my heated love scenes, I definitely want to be cool.   A nice glass of cold, ice cube filled lemonade hits the spot, and it helps to sip between scenes.  You know, just to cool me down a bit.  I enjoy sitting in a park and writing with my laptop.  This summer I am going to sit at the beach and write.  Maybe I'll have some new inspirations!  

I love writing hot love scenes.  Someone asked me yesterday where I get my ideas, and then asked if it's from things I have done, or want to do.  Neither is true.  The ideas just come from within.  I have tried to explain many times that writers have all these ideas tucked away and they come out when we need them, hopefully.  Speaking for myself, I have no idea where this stuff comes from.  I've heard other writers say the same thing.  Lots of ideas come from just living life, that part is true, but because I write about a character's fantasies it doesn't mean it's my fantasy, all the time.  *blushing*  Okay, maybe sometimes it is. 

I'm working on my holiday story now, and it's near completion in the first draft. Once at the end, I can go back and revise.  I like to write what is on my mind and then I can delete or expand later.  I love this story, mainly because it takes place in San Francisco and that's my favorite city anyway.  It's easy to describe the places I've seen and the emotions or thoughts that go along with it.  When finished, I will submit to an ePublisher.  Time is running out for meeting holiday deadlines.  So, I have to get busy and finish, which I plan on doing today, if I can find a nice cool place to finish the most important love scene in the whole book! 

Decisions, Decisions...

NOTE:  This blog has nothing on it at this point to make it adult rated, so even though the title says Erotic Love Stories, it is safe to read anything on this blog right now. When that changes, this blog will be labeled adult only, but for now it is safe to read for anyone.

In December I put a Christmas story on hold because I knew it missed all the deadlines for submissions.  I thought I would go ahead and finish it and set it aside until it was time for this Christmas.  Well, that time is now upon me.  One publisher that I checked with has June 1st as a deadline for Christmas Romances.  Needless to say, I didn't finish it in December when I wanted to.  I got busy on my other current work in progress and kind of forgot about the other one.

I opened it up the other day and started reading it so I could catch up with the story and finish it.  It's almost to the end in first draft.  So, my dilemma now is to either get to it and try to get it written, edited, and revised, or not worry about it right now, and continue with my current one.  The Christmas story would have to be sent to an editor because this publisher wants near perfection, and if I'm finishing it in a hurry, I want to make sure it's near perfect when I submit.  So, therein lies my dilemma.   I have two editor friends, but I don't even know if they have time to fit a new book in.

I have searched other publisher websites and didn't find anything about submitting for the Christmas season.  Maybe they will put out a call for submissions, and I will still have time.   I'm the only one who can make this decision.  It wouldn't be bad to make this decision, but it only piles on top of all the other decisions I have to make at this point in my life.  In the meantime, I'm definitely working on making these decisions and then following through.  I'm not a quitter, so one way or another, one of these stories will be completed shortly.  

Visit my website to see what is going on.  

A Beautiful Day for Anything

(Anything on this blog is safe to read at this point in time.  When that changes, this blog will be labeled Adult and you will have to be over 18, but for now, everything is safe to read.) 

It's a pretty day today.  Looking out over the city makes me yearn to get out and walk.  I just might do that.  It gives me time to clear my mind of all my worries, and to think of good things.  It's good for my soul and my body. 

After the walk, my afternoon will be spent writing.  As I said in the previous post, my story is at a turning point, and I have to decide what to do.  I have half way decided, and I'm going to start writing with my first decision and see where it goes.  I see no reason why I can't have it both ways.  I think it's what my characters want.  After all, my blog is called erotic love stories powered by hot heroes and sexy heroines, so I guess they can guide me in writing this part.  I read a blog by another author who pretended to be the character and wanting her author to find her and get back to the story.  That was so cute.  I wish I could remember where it was and I'd add it here.  Maybe it was a facebook profile.  Yes, that's what it was. 

Anyway, the sunshine is calling me and it's time to put on my sneakers and hit the path.  I'll be thinking of more details for my hot story.  Yes, it's very hot.  Maybe hotter than you can handle?  Want to find out?  All I need is to finish this and then find a publisher.  Ugh, the hard part.  But, it will happen.  It happened twice before, and I know it will happen again. I'm so happy to be writing in this new genre.  More later! 

Till we meet again...  Keep smiling.

Scotland, Chapter 19, Short Story, Oh My!

I'm so excited to be nearing the end of Chapter 19 in my Work in Progress. It's flowing like I want it to, and I'm thrilled about that. I'm at a turning point in the story, and I'm waiting for my characters to tell me what they want to do. Okay, this might sound foolish to someone seeing or hearing that if they aren't writers. But, yes, often times our characters write their stories. Many times there will be a part that I write, but my characters tell me, through the words and the way the story moves, that they want to do it this way or that way. It sounds weird, I know.

I've done a little research for this book, like Scotland! And, I've researched different wines to go with certain desserts. I love researching, but it's easy to get distracted, which happens a lot. You know with the internet, one thing leads to another. It's been fun, and I learned some interesting things about Scotland, and then that went off on other things like tartans, cities, environment, and the people. My hero is from Scotland, so I have to learn enough to make my story real. More research is needed for the government and I'm getting to the point where I have to stop and do it.

Research is important for writers. We are always told to write what we know. My thought is if I don't know it I have to research it until I can write it like I know it. You Tube and Google Earth make it so easy. I can watch video's, and I can use Google Earth to see a lot of the terrain. If you're a writer, I know you use these tools. People who aren't writers use these as research, but probably don't even realize that's what they're doing. When I started writing, I didn't have the internet at my fingertips, and I used the library all the time, and it was so time consuming, but I did it.

I'll keep you posted on how this story is moving along. I can't wait to get it finished!

I wrote a short, short story to post on my website, but the thing is, I'm not sure I want that story to end where it ended. There might be more to add to that story. So, right now, that is my dilemma. I so want to add it so you can get a sample of what I write. Keep in mind that I write erotic romance, so it is adult rated due to sexual content. I'll make sure you are the first to know when I post it, or continue it.

Till the next time, I'll be thinking about you all!

OMG! The other night I thought I lost some of the pages in my manuscript in Word. Shortly after freaking out and then screaming I realized it was all backed up on a flash drive and everything was good. It was my own fault because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I think I accidently dragged the mouse over part of what I couldn't see above the screen view, and when I hit delete on the one word I wanted deleted, the whole section went with it! I was so scared. Be more careful, I told myself.

It’s not the first time I’ve lost some of my writing. Oh, no… Once I lost a whole first chapter. That wasn’t backed up, in fact, it was before flash drives, thumb drives, or online storage was invented! When I rewrote it, it actually turned out better than the first attempt. Whew, that was lucky. Before that I lost a total completed manuscript. It was printed out in hard copy, but I had to retype it all back in my computer. Can you imagine how long that took? The only good thing about that was it was easy to edit and revise as I went along. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! It was a horrible thing to go through.

A writer losing words is like losing a limb. Editing and revising is so difficult for us because we have to get rid of words. Our words put together to create more words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. I never want to lose words again, but I probably will. The only thing to do is make sure to back up everything I write, and I would issue that warning to you also. Back up, back up, save, save….

Beginnings

Writing erotic novels isn't new to me. So, even though I'm not a familiar name to you yet, I plan on making a statement in the erotica genre. Not having anything published yet, doesn't mean I haven't been writing, for I have published romance novels under a different name, but I keep her separate from me. I've many stories to write, and I plan on posting some free reads on my website to keep you occupied until my current work in progress gets published. Come on back often and see what I have in store for my friends and readers.

In fact, I have a short, short finished, but it turned out so good, I might just turn it into something longer. My heart is already bursting at the seams over this one, expecially when I talk about my heroine sitting in a quaint little restaurant ready to have an orgasm just over the touch of the handsome waiter's hand. But you don't know this waiter. My God, he's hot! And guess what? He asked her for a date. She accepted!

Stop back and see what happened on my characters first date. I can hardly wait for you to read it! I must stop writing in my blog right now because the thought of that hot hunk serving her hot chocolate just drives me nuts! *wink*

Please check out my website and look under the link to Works in Progress to see more works including my full length novel in progress.