I just validated novel and I have officially hit 50k. I'm estatic and tired. Unlike some previous years, I feel even more pride about hitting this goal. It took a lot more work and focus then it used to. Balancing writing responsiblities, a more demanding evil day job, and family time.

And I really love these characters. Which is a good thing, since I'll be spending some more time with them. I'll be countinuing to write Madison and Hunter's story for the next month or so.

Don't forget to stop by the Cyber Monday sale at Allromanceebooks.com. Naughty List is eligible for discount. Pick up my first release just in time for Christmas, and find out how the naughty lists started.

Word Count 45,379

I’ve been in hiding, writing like a mad woman for the last week. In the last five days, I’ve written almost 13,000 words.  I’ve finally caught up on my word count, and intent to keep up the same pace until I reach 50,000.

The more I write this story, the more I realize I have so much more to write. I have at least two scenes that are barely written that need to be fleshed out, some falling in love to write and the whole sub story of Brianna is basically unwritten. I know a few moments in it, but need a lot more time between Hunter and Brianna (most of it where he’s awkward, which is what is holding me up. He keeps acting natural with her, but he has to be awkward in begin).

When I first started writing this story, I knew with all the threads I had running through this work, that it was going to be a novel, and more than 50,000, now I’m thinking it will come in between 80,000 and 90,000 before I’m through. Definitely more than NaNoWriMo, so this work will keep going past November.

What I never anticipated was wanting to write any more of these characters.

From the very beginning I had the sense that I needed side characters to make the story work. Many of them are exactly the opposite of Hunter and Madison, or the important people in their lives. There’s Tom and Sharron, who are the inverse of Madison’s parents. They’re forgiving, loving and want their daughter and granddaughter to live with them forever. Oppose to Madison’s parents that kicked her out once they learned of her pregnancy. They show her human’s are just as good as any wolf, maybe better. Julie (their daughter) is really the inverse of Madison, she’s dependent on her parents, and desperate to find her daughter another father, oppose to Madison that’s as independent as they come. Even Hunter’s brother Sam and his mate Lindsay are the exact opposite of Madison and Hunter. They’re lovey dovey, romantic and moving very fast in their relationship.

But the more I write, the more life these characters take on, and the more I feel the urge to write them a happy ending. Another one that surprised me is Gary, the guy that Madison uses to make Hunter jealous. Somehow he’s turned into an all around good guy that I really want to find a nice girl for him, who may or may not be a wolf.

I’ve never understood writers that don’t write series. For me it’s never really been a choice. This always happens to me. I always end up falling in love with some of the characters and want to find them a happy ending. Maybe I never will, maybe I’ll never get around to writing a story for Julie, or coming up with a story for Gary, but I always want to.

I guess in my very heart I’m a series writer. Now and forever.

Word count 35,152

Today is thanksgiving, and I’m thankful for my low word count. Not exactly my low word count, because I would love to have twice as many words by now (not really possible, but hey if it was an option, I’d take it). But I’m thankful for the reasons why my word count is low.

I’m thankful for being with my family for this holiday, and spending yesterday making pies with my mom and playing cards with my father and brother until we were all silly with laughter. I’m thankful for the three works I’ve had released this year and the one scheduled for next year, which I’ve been promoting and setting blog dates for over the past few weeks. I’m thankful for muse, which is never in short supply of ideas. Though I may bemoan it sometimes, when I really want to finish something instead of being tempted by something new, but I am thankful for my muse every day. I’m even thankful for my EDJ, though crazy this time of year, it’s allows me to take care of myself, pay my bills and still have time to write and follow my dreams until my writing alone can support me.

Happy thanksgiving everyone! Hope you have many things to be thankful for, and a great family to spend the holiday with.

Total – 12098

It’s been a long time since I wrote a whole 50k words on one work. For the past year I’ve been much more focused on smaller works. From the very beginning of the series I knew I wanted all the Naughty Holiday List stories to be shorter works (though each one is a little bigger than the one before it).

It’s been so long I’ve forgotten all the prework that goes into a novel.  A novella I can keep in my head, but a novel, with all the side characters and multiple story lines, emotional growth and falling love, it’s too much for my little noggen. So I’ve spent a majority of my writing time for the last few days putting together an outline and blurb to focus my writing.

Here’s the preliminary blurb for my nano project (still untitled)--

After being kicked out of the pack and from the home she’d known her entire life, for becoming pregnant with a half breed, Madison has learned to support herself. The only priorities in her life are taking care of her daughter, Brianna, and the wonderful human, or two-leg, family that helped her when she had no one else.  She doesn’t need a mate, and she doesn’t want one.

Hunter never thought he’d find a mate. Banished from Wolf Lake for crimes against the hierocracy, Hunter believed he’d be destined to wander forever without a pack or mate of his own. But fate turns in his favor, when his bike is crashed, and ends up in the repair shop complete with not only the sexiest she-wolf he’s ever seen, but one who’s scent tells him she is undeniably his mate.

Madison may not want a mate, or believes she needs one, but Hunter doesn’t plan on giving her a choice. And come hell, high water, ex-boyfriends or meddling two-legger foster parents, Hunter is determined to prove that Madison she not only wants him, but she needs him, forever. Because Hunter always keeps what he catches.

What do you think?

Stop on by Nocturnal Nights and read an interview of my good friend and great writer Liz Crowe. Find out how she manages to write so many amazing releases, and balances her personal life, writing and her craft brewery.

http://tabithablake.blogspot.com/2011/11/interview-of-liz-crowe.html

I’ve been kind of quiet this first week of Nano. It’s been crazy in my neck of the woods. Lots of people without power, electrical lines down all over the place. Halloween was even canceled in some areas. The horror!!!

I lost power for a few hours, which disrupted my Nanowrimo prep, but other than that I was fine. However I was without internet or good cell service for most of the week that made it harder to communicate and check in than I’m used to. But now everything’s back on line, most of the area has power again, and I’m moving forward on the nano front.

I didn’t get all my prep done that I wanted, but I got a good percentage of it. I got the cats to the vet (they received a clean bill of healthy, and the doctor said their weight was perfect, not typical for cats, especially my spoiled ones). I did a lot of cleaning and finished revising wandering. I plan to send it off after another quick look over, which I’ll do in the next day or so.

Nano has been going well so far. I narrowed the projects I wanted to do down to my untitled shifter story, about Madison and Hunter, and my fantasy novel. But so far my attentions have been completely focused on Madison and Hunter. I don’t know if it’s all the pent up non-writing time, the fact that I ignored them for a month (Hunter hates to be ignored, the second I turn my back on him he starts screaming at me, but Mady and Hunter aren’t letting me even think about anyone else. They want all my time. And for nano, I’m happy to give it to them. I may end up finishing this work during Nano, which I hadn’t anticipated. We’ll have to see how long they keep my focus, and how long there story ends up being.

As of this morning, I have 9,304 words towards Madison and Hunter’s story. 8,056 of those nano words. A little under count, but I have a few days off the EDJ coming up and I plan to push through and skyrocket that word count.

I’ll see if I can find a snippet for you guys in the next few days. It’s hard with nano works, since they tend to be fast and rough, but I’ll see if I can find a paragraph or two.