Beautiful Death

I received e-mails today from the coordinator that my entry made it and the erotic category is a go. (They were low on entries.) Now the last time a call for entries came out (The Fab 5 contest), they ended up with truckloads of mss! So we'll see how it goes.

I re-read the entire ms yesterday to get back into the flow. I need to go to bed at a decent hour tonight since I'm back to work tomorrow, so I don't know that I'll get much written on it tonight. Soon, though. I'm anxious to get those next few scenes down!

I hope the entry makes it on time. Because it's going to a PO Box, they wouldn't guarantee overnight delivery. Still, though, as long as it's there on the 17th I should be fine. I spent the weekend tweaking the synopsis and finally settled on a third version.

The first version didn't show enough of the plot elements nor the character arc. The second version was all about the political plot Isabella unravels. While interesting, it really wasn't what I wanted. The third draft combined the best of the first two versions and really explained the darker side that Isabella teeters toward. She's becoming the the thing she fears the most. That was important to include.

So no new words to show for this project, but some progress of a different sort. I'm trying to figure out a way to work steadily on my many various projects so all of them move forward. Balance is not my forte. Sigh.

Last year's Molly contest was the last novel-length contest I entered, with good results obviously (although I still haven't heard anything on the full). I got the Specromonline newsletter yesterday and saw that the FF&P On the Far Side contest is still open (extended to Aug 17), and they have an erotic FF&P category. Hmmm.

Yes, I'm seriously thinking about entering. The finalist judge is Kate Duffy at Kensington. I really don't think Kensington buys much FF&P erotic romance (historical and contemporary, yes). The last I heard about the new non-Brava erotic line was "humorous." But some generic feedback would be nice. A final--even though contests are a total crapshoot--would give me a little confidence. I could use a shot of confidence right now. It's been a dismal few months.

So I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. last night to edit the paper copy of chapter one and write the synopsis. It's amazing how easy a synopsis is to crank out when I have the story blocked.... EXACTLY what I was hoping for when I first began plotting! A few more tweaks and such, and then I'll get my entry overnighted, hopefully tomorrow.

I'm off today thru next Wednesday, but I doubt I'll get any real serious writing done. The kids are home during the day until Jim switches back to days, so a page crammed in between catastrophes will be great.

Tonight, Isabella and Hades met for the first time in fifteen years. She remembers him as the monster who almost killed her. He remembers her as the only human he has fed upon. Charon nearly violates his oath and bond to his Master through no fault of his own. This next scene is going to be interesting. *wink*

Up a thousand new words tonight.

I've always liked that line from Dante's The Divine Comedy. "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here." That's the impression I'm going for Isabella's first trip to Hades' ship. Yeah, Erebus--the inner sanctum of Hell--is actually an alien spaceship. I know, bizarre.

I didn't make huge inroads tonight because I worked a little more on the other new story idea, but I made a goal of adding 500 words tonight. Nothing to write home about, but slow and steady win the race. Sometimes.

After a whole weekend, I think I added a whopping 1,000 words to Beautiful Death. Sigh. Perhaps that's why you shouldn't edit the first draft, hmmmm? I don't know that the editing I did late last week sidetracked me at all, really. It was a busy weekend and I just got too tired. I read a book and watched a couple of movies. Some refueling, I guess.

I got back on track tonight and continued the next scene. I'm not exactly sure how this scene goes, so I'm taking it slow. All of the other scenes (mostly), I've had a clear DVD scene play in my head so I knew exactly what needed to happen. I'm getting into lightly chartered waters, now. I still know where I'm going, but the elements need to be developed more as I go.

I had this really cool thought about Erebus last night after I went to bed. I might've even dreamed it. I'm not sure. Thankfully, I remembered it! This scene is important because it provides the first glimpse of the Underworld in my world. So yeah, it needs to be done well, although I can certainly go back later and add depth.