Exciting News!!

Not so much about me, well, it is about me but not directly. Here goes...are you ready?

I'm registered to attend the 2014 Writers' Police Academy!!!

Only the first 200 get to attend and some of the special sessions are limited to 20 people. I got in at 12:05 pm (registration opened at noon) and got everything I wanted! I'm so excited!! The timing is perfect, being held in North Carolina in early September - it coincides with our annual trip from Ecuador to the US.

I've already started my packing list.....[giggle]

Putting myself on a deadline....

I have to, it's the only way. Honest! I mean it, really and truly. A deadline to start writing again. I have too much to write and have been to busy (and lacking motivation) for several months. On my TO WRITE list are the following:

1. Six more short stories in my 7 Days of Seven series: I've only written the first one, Monday Midnight Madness. They are for middle school kids and I had a blast writing the first one. Time to whip the others out and get them published!
    
2. Three romance stories in a trilogy: Chance, Hope and Celebration. I started the first a long time ago, have several chapters written and the other two lightly outlined. These should be a much quicker write now that I have three other novels behind me.
    
3. Books three and four in my Klondike Mystery Series: Almost a Touch and Clearly a Miss. Both are roughly outlined and I have readers constantly asking me WHEN?

I know, the suspense is killing you - what is my deadline? Well, I know I have several more weeks of things to do locally so I decided to pick Valentine's Day. Easy to remember and far enough out for me to stick to it as a firm deadline. Now that's not to say I might not start sooner. My first inclination was February first but I'm afraid I might not make that.

Okay, the deadline is set but what am I actually committing to? Besides writing. I am committing to writing for at least twenty hours a week. That works out to 4 hours x 5 days a week. There might be days I'll write for 5 or 6 or more hours and I know there will be days I will be lucky to plug away for 2 or 3 hours. But 20 hours a week is the goal.

Be sure to stop in to see how I'm doing!

First post of the New Year and first post from Ecuador!

I am writing this on my iPad Mini so it will be short. December was truly monumentally hectic but wonderful. We packed up and left our Tennessee property and headed south to Florida a few days before Thanksgiving. We saw family and friends and had a great seven day cruise to the Western Caribbean before landing at Miami airport on Dec 12th.

For anyone interested in all the gory details plus some photos you can start with my last blog entry at Back End of Nowhere then move to my last post at Retired in Cuenca

I started a short story for an anthology but had to back out. So not much writing has been done. Soon! Readers are clamoring for book three in my Klondike mystery series. (Hang in there folks....)

I have managed to get in some reading, having read the Hunger Games trilogy. It left me in a down frame of mind, wondering what others thought of it? Not sure I care to see the third movie, maybe I will change my mind after seeing the first two.

Not sure how well the formatting will work from the iPad, we will see. Here are a couple of photos from Ecuador for you.

Front door mat (sorry it's sideways)

Wall Hanging from Otalvo Market

Costumes at Otalvo market

Fresh fruits & veggies from mercado (market) for $6

One of our views from the river across the street

Yanuncay River across the street from our apartment

Okay, the draft mode in Blogger from the iPad worked, cleaned it up on the laptop, added links (not sure why we can't do that in the iPad app) and added a couple more photos.

Hmmm, maybe tomorrow I'll write? Or maybe read....Ender's Game is next! What are you reading now?