Writer's Block

More books I've read...

2008-07-20T11:29:00.000-04:00

I read the Tilling Passions Series by Nina Pierce. The Tilling sisters each have their own story and face their own problems. The hot sex(Lots of very hot sex!) pales in comparison to the relationships built through steadfast support of each other. The family loves each other and it's apparent from page one. It's no wonder each of the girls bring that foundation to their lovers. A definite must read for any romance fan!

Blind Love is Julie's story. Unsatisfied by the ruling of a dear friend's death a suicide, Julie begins her own investigation. What she finds is internet porn, lust, greed, and pure sexual satisfaction in Demon's arms. Demon has his own concerns not the smallest of which is the fear of baring his soul, his real self to Julie.

Together they work their way ever closer to each other, ever closer to hapiness or to losing each other forever.

Love's Bounty is Deirdre's story. Sour on matters of the heart after being burned by relationships with both sexes, she wants to be left alone to dig in the dirt with the work she loves, landscaping. Invited to a party by an old friend, Deirdre soon finds herself with a new job and a sexual attraction to a man she barely knows. Allowing herself a night of pure pleasure, she can't get Ayden out of her mind.

Ayden can't get her off his mind either, especially since she works for the alleged drug dealer he's investigating. Is he ready to use Deirdre to get to his target? If it all goes south, can he keep her safe?

Arranging Love is Meghan's story. She is a florist and engaged to Peter. Lately though, he seems distant and running out of town a lot for work. She is beginning to suspect there is much more to the trips than business.

Peter is searching for something, longing really and he thinks he found it in the Dominatrix from Boston. Does he dare to share his desires with Meghan?

Books I'm reading...

2008-07-13T11:10:00.001-04:00

I have heard for years that Janet Evanovich is laugh out loud funny. I picked up one of her books, the first Stephanie Plum book. My friends were right! There are parts that are laugh out loud funny. I liked the bumbling nature of Stephanie, she walks in to ask her cousin Vinnie, a bail bondsman, for a filing job and walks out with bail jumper to find.

Throw in a wide variety of characters and the genuine feel of a neighborhood and you have a series of books for people to enjoy. I'm reading the ninth in the series. The language is realistic. The sex is talked about, but left off the pages of the story. I recommend the series for those looking for a fun romp.

Writing Programs

2008-07-07T14:33:00.003-04:00

Hi all. I guess the first thing I should define a few things before I start.

There are two kinds of writers. Outliners and Pantsers and yes, their names tell you exactly how they write. Many writers have debated for years about which approach is better. No one has ever found a satisfactory answer.

Outliners make an organized list of what happens in their books. They make sure all the important clues are properly in place and the story flows in an arc that increases pressure and removes choices from the hero and heroine. All of it builds to a fantastic climax in the story and hurries quickly to the end. If they happen upon another idea, they think it out to it's conclusion to see if it works into their outline and if so, how much of a pain is it to adjust their outline to incorporate the changes. If not, they don't use it. If so, they know where to look for changes that need to be made.

Pantsers write their stories by the seat of their pants, on the fly, as they go along. They have characters in mind and a few scenes they want to write and make up the rest as they go along. They don't feel the encumbrance of an outline to stick too. If something pops into their head they go off on tangents. Sometimes these tangents work out, sometimes they don't. If they do, then the pantser runs back over the entire story and edits to make it ring true through out the story.

Now maybe you can see the debate over which way is better. I don't believe there is a real solution, I don't think one is needed really either. I think everyone's brain works differently and as long as a method works for you, it's all good.

Now I will say I'm a pantser. The one story I outlined, sits at 30,000 words has been there for more years than I care to admit. I'll get back to it eventually. Some of my best story lines come from the spur of the moment. What I don't like however is all the editing that comes later. My first book took six months to write. Eighteen months to edit enough to send it to the publisher and another round of edits with an editor to whip it into shape above and beyond the eighteen months.

It's a lot of work. Writing is work no matter which way you do it. Whether it's make it up as you go along or using index cards to keep things in order, writing is hard work.

I have found a couple of programs that I liked enough to buy. I downloaded the free trial version of each to play with them before I bought them. I've used trial versions of others, but they were difficult to use and I felt like it stripped my creative license for my own story. The programs I liked my husband bought for me for my birthday. I have started using them. To be honest, I hate all the editing I make for myself. I've deleted as many as 40 pages of writing to make the story flow nicely. I need structure. The two programs I have used, gives me the structure without sucking my creativity from the story.

Character Pro 5 is a character building program. There are canned answers that you can use, or edit a little or not use at all. It incorporates the major character archetypes. There are a huge series of questions to allow you to get to know your characters. A few years ago, I used it to try with a couple of characters I'm writing their story slowly. They are powerful characters for me and the end of a series I've had in my head for years. Anyway, here is the link to the character sketches I posted here a long time ago.

Archives

Quick Story 5 is a story generator. You can set you book up anyway you want. Three acts, 4 acts, sequences, or no structure at all. You can design your own structure. There are canned plot points that you can use, edit, or discard and use your own. I did find that if you use your own, the program puts it into the unstructured mode, so select the generate plot point button once, then add your own and then chose your structure. Then choose a basic or full plot. I found that it's a ladder with which to build my story. Once the ladder is full, I highlight the whole thing and put it into word. Each step on the ladder is a scene and all my chapters and scenes are laid out. Changing things around isn't difficult either. Now you can write in the program too, but I haven't done it yet since I really like Word.

Here is the link to these programs. The character software is on the right and both together aren't over the top expensive either. Both programs together costs $89.99. I've seen some programs for as much as $400. Yikes.

Quick Story 5 and Character Pro 5

I'm done with the story... with some rewriting...

2008-07-06T19:03:00.002-04:00

Hi all! It's been a few days since I've posted, but I've finished... really finished the book I was working on. I rearranged some of it to make it cleaner and I like it better. Now I let it rest. I need to give it another going through for grammar and overused sentence structure and word usage. Then off to the publisher... scary as it is to do so.

I fully expect a rejection. Why send it in? Because sometimes the editor tells you it needs work here and here and here. These are good rejections since you can resubmit the story when you're done, but more importantly, I can learn where my weaknesses are and how to but them behind me.

I will keep plugging away. I love writing too much even when I get frustrated.

Hubby bought me a couple of writing programs for my birthday. I've only started to use them. They are kind of neat, but company just came in so, I'll talk about it tomorrow!

Editing...

2008-06-24T18:07:00.002-04:00

Hi all! I'm busy editing a story. I've spent two solid days reworking word usage and sentence structure to get rid of my over used words. I'm on page 30. That's right, 15 pages a day. Uggggg! I write first drafts MUCH faster, could be why I have to edit so much??

Anyway, there are some serious weak spots in my story. The hero, a highly trained professional, makes a mistake that a rookie wouldn't make. It hasn't set well with me since I wrote it and it really doesn't fit. I have to be more creative and come up with another scenario.

Another problem is the plot is a bit thin. My list of suspects is thin, only one or two and they become suspects rather out of the blue. I'm going to add a few more suspects including the heroine. I'm also going to have them more of a build up to being suspects. It's a great change that will make the story a bit longer and since it's on the shorter side, so longer is good as long as it improves the story.

I figured out what was wrong with it while I was at my MERWA meeting on Saturday. The guest speaker was fabulous. She has done many things in her life not the least of which is write nine books for Harlequin Intrigue. She was wonderful to listen to and made some really good points about writing suspense.

Thanks Joyce!

Here is her website.
Joyce Sullivan

So tomorrow...

2008-06-20T21:05:00.003-04:00

I am going to my MERWA meeting. What's MERWA? The Maine chapter of the Romance Writers of America. I don't attend regularly, but it isn't because I don't want to. Always and I mean all the times I don't make it has been because of scheduling problems at the last minute on the home front. One of my other goals is to make it to every meeting. No excuses. I always learn a lot and it's nice to hang out with other writers who don't think you're nuts when you talk about the voices in your head. They inspire me to reach for my goals not matter what.

I need the inspiration.

I have not been writing much because real life gets in the way. I haven't felt like writing. If I try to make myself write when I don't feel like it, well let's just say, it's worse than crap. So, instead, I don't write. I get out of the habit and end up playing computer games instead. I have two MS that are done, well one has to be redone in a major way, just have to give it a final run through for grammar and word usage... I hate my habit words and do not particularly care for eradicating them, but editing is part of the process, so I will.

I have two that need rewrites but are also essentially done. This would be enough to keep any normal person busy, yet not me. You see my ADD brain skips from one to the other and then I make afghans (four friends are having babies and I have to get these done)and do plastic canvas (I have two wedding presents to make still) and I will get it done before summer is over.

Oh, did I mention that I'm going to be teaching Language Arts as well as math next year? Looks that way, so I'm reading some of the books there are classroom sets of to see what I can do with them. Ya, I really ought to start a blog about teaching, but maybe some other time. I have enough to do already! lol

Anyway, so I'm off to my meeting tomorrow and I'm really really looking forward to it. They are doing major construction on my main route, so it'll take me a lot longer to get there. I have a friend who lives four or five hours north of here. I'll have to ask her how she got to the meeting since I'm sure she uses the same way I normally do.

When I get up in the morning, I'm going to do at least one chapter of the finished MS (Titled Shaken for now.) I have to get rid of all the that's and walks and narrow the he's and she's down to only the absolute necessities. I'll have to vary my sentences, which is hard for me on rewrites since I see it the way the first draft falls. I have to think more about the words and less about the picture I'm trying to show. It's exhausting work, but it pays off in the end when the book is sold.

Okay, I'm off to bed. I have to get up early to start the rewrite.

Ugggg...

2008-06-15T13:26:00.002-04:00

I told you I finished the story... I lied.

I use a website to see what words I use too freguently. Now it's handy even though it drives me nuts since I know I use some words too much, but there are words that sneak in anyway. Ugggg... The website won't do a whole novel at a time, but I can do a chapter at a time. It will list the 50 or 100 most frequently used words, again you tell the program how many. You copy and paste the chapter into the box and wait for the results. Copy and paste the results into a file, then do the next chapter until you have done the whole MS. You can set it to ignore small words like I, he, the, her, and so on. You can set it to report those words as well.

I alsways run my MS through, well the first few chapters anyway and I accumulate a list of words that need to be edited out of the MS before I send it off. I did the latest MS. That, walk, there, killer, then, should, could, would, well they always creep into my stories. I look for them, I eliminate all I see, yet there are still more! Uggg... lots and lots of editing to do yet again.

The first draft is the love affair. The second, third, and forth drafts are the real work. I wish I could remember who said that, but I can't at the moment.

Oh, here is the website.
Word Counter

I'm Done!!!!!

2008-06-08T19:39:00.002-04:00

I've finished a new story! I've been working on it for a long time, here and there. It's a romantic suspense. I don't want to get into details here though since it's headed for a new publisher I've never worked with before and I don't want to jinx anything. I hope it's accepted, but if not, I hope they can give me a direction to go at it again with edits. Time will tell.

I am finishing up the last of the shifter books. I am working on the final edits and will have them ready to go to Wings by the end of the summer.

I have a goal. I want to be a full time writer within five years. Why am I putting it here? Well, those who write their goals down for people to see are far more likely to achieve their goals.

It feels good to be writing again, even though I don't like cover letters, summaries, or log lines!

I guess that's all for now!

Chat at Coffee Time...

2008-06-04T20:59:00.002-04:00

I attended an online chat with some of my other MERWA members last night at Coffee Time Romance. The chat was wonderful! I had a ton of fun and met some really nice people. There were book giveaways and lots of laughter and my to be read pile increases by the day.

Congratulations to Lisa who chose Now and Forever as her prize!

Links:
Coffee Time Romance
Nina Pierce
Michelle Libby
Teagan Oliver
Susan Vaughan
Pam Champagne
Lina Gardiner
Jennifer Linforth
Lori Libby

Maine Romance Writers of America

What fun!

2008-06-03T20:43:00.004-04:00

Hello all! I know I haven't blogged in a very long time, but I really want to get back to it more often.

I did my first book signing this past weekend. Five of the writers from the Maine chapter of the RWA, MERWA, drove up to Presque Isle this past weekend. One lives in the area and she joined us for the book signing.

The public library was celebrating their 100th anniversary. They invited us up to speak and sign books. There were about 30 people there on a rainy Saturday afternoon. They asked great questions too. Thank you, Sonja Plummer-Morgan, for the invite and I would love to do it again next year!

Mark & Emily Turner
Memorial Library

More later I promise!

Updates...

2006-11-10T05:51:00.000-05:00

Hi again! It's been a few days. I'm up to 17 thousand words or so. It's going pretty well. It's nice to be writing again after a year. Life kind of sucked my creativity for the longest time. If I were to be honest, I'd have to say I was in a depression. Not the deep need medication and a doctor to get out of bed kind, but the life sucking joy kind. Another casuality, was my creativity and even the will to write. I didn't fight it. I figured I'd get the urge to write again. I am, slowly, but it's comming. Don't know about how well the words run together, don't know how well the story is going. That's for the editing part. NaNo is to get the story down and out without worrying about those details. LOL

I'm big into Internet safety when it comes to my students, who like all kids, think they are invincible. "It won't happen to them." Reigns supreme. I'm thinking I have another Young adult in me. Again using my shapeshifters, but instead of Ethan being the focus, Sage will be. She is Keagan and Andra's daughter. She isn't a shapeshifter, but has Ethan and Calla who are. I've had an idea niggling at the back of my head. One where she finds a "friend" online and then vanishes/is taken. I don't want to preach. It's just so easy to trust those we think we know.

Okay. I'm off to write. Ethan is sure he's going crazy. He's also beginning to feel the NEED to change, the need to run through the woods, the desire to give into the primal thoughts in his head. He's not too sure about the urge to hunt prey down and kill it. The urge is really strong when he's mad or upset. LOL It's been fun to ride through this with him, especially where he doesn't really know what's going on.

Word count for today...

2006-11-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

Hello again! I made some god changes in my story. Made the beginning a little more solid and formed. I am up to 8200ish words. I had to go run errands and such this afternoon so I didn't get as much writing as I should have, but I am still ahead of where I need to be.

Writing is a grand adventure. It's the editing I can do without! LOL Necessary for the beast though!

I'm off to bed. 3 am comes very early!

I'm here again...

2006-11-04T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I haven't been here in so long I couldn't remember my user name or pasword! I went through the find username and found my old blog I haven't used in forever. It was my first attempt at blogging. Then I switched to this one. LOL

Anyway, I'm here and again I'm here touting National Write a Novel in a Month. NaNoWriMo is a challenge to write 50,000 words in a month. That's only about 1600 words a day. Not so bad when you're in the mood!

I have 6700ish words.

I did manage to get a contract for "The Story That Never Ends" Otherwise known as Fiery Strength. I have almost finished last years NaNo, Brave Season. I have two other stories 99% ready to send off to a publisher.

LOL Seems kind of funny to be talking to myself! LOL

Anyway, here is the link for NaNo. It's not too late to check it out and give it a try! http://www.nanowrimo.org/

I'll be posting a daily update too. LOL

It's been a long time!

2006-01-16T04:17:00.000-05:00

Good morning all. I haven't written in here in a long time. Sorry about that. Through the holidays life was very hectic. I am back to update this and will be better about it in the future.

I have a long list of stories in different stages of being written.

Here is the list.
Firey Strength: Needs a final run through then it's off to the publisher.
Castle's Hero: 2/3 finished in the third draft, but I've started to edit it too.
Brave Season: 2/3 finished in the first draft.
Careful: Needs rewriting before sending to a publisher. I haven't given up on this one yet. One rejection does not a loser make.
Shaken: Needs rewriting too. I like the story and the villian's identity is a wonderful twist.

Identity: The idea is fully formed in my head, just have to finish some of the above stories before I begin this Young Adult. This one is really for my kids and my students. My own children haven't been able to read the other stories because they aren't for kids. My daughter gets to be first reader on this one and she can't wait. I plan to get to this one in June, when school gets out. Guess I have a lot of work to do to get the other stories done.

Promises: A brand new story about a soldier who gets a call for help from a dead friends wife. Her daughter has been kidnapped. This is as far as I've gotten with this one other than the names. Naran Cote is the heroine. Nick Reid is the hero. Funny how I start with an nigglet of an idea and keep working at it until it's a full length story.

I want to go back and finish A New Beginning too. It languishes at around 30,000 words. I made the mistake of outlining this one. It's the first and last time I will ever do that. I kind of felt that the story had already been told, so I lost interest. I have other books to follow this one. They would share characters but be able to stand on their own without having to read any of the others, like the shifter series above.

Okay I've probably bored you all to tears, so I'll shut up now. Funny writing this all down is helping me to get back ito the swing of writing which also suffered through the holidays.

Thanks for listening.
Lori

Good morning!

2005-11-28T05:14:00.000-05:00

Good morning All! I finished my NaNoWriMo project, if not the book. I still have a third (guesstimating) to go before I get to the end, but it's almost done. More importantly, I know where it's going. LOL

I'm working on my last run through of Hunter's Arrow. I have 5 days to go and this is my last chance to fix any typo's and such. No pressure there! LOL

Then I'm going to debug of grammar mistakes Firey Strength and send that to the publishers for a contract, hopefully.

Then I'll finish up Castle's Hero and Brave Season and send them in too.

I have a couple of stories I'm working on in another genre that I need to go back and edit until I dare send them to a publisher. LOL Plus I get to teach school and be a wife and mother to my own family. None of you can identify with that can you? LOL

I have been rereading Hunter's Arrow. I really dislike rereading a story and this is at least the eighth time I've been through the story (I'm still finding mistakes. ARGGG) It's hard to consentrate on the words sometimes because my brain fills in the picture for me. I'll get it done. I have too. I don't want a flawed book out there with my name on it you know? Anal? Perfectionist? Yep that's me!

It's strange to see one of my stories as a real book, even if it is on the computer. It's wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. I don't know how else to describe it.

My husband bought me DSL and wireless for my house as a Chritstmas present. I must say that it's WAAAYYY faster than dialup and it's nice to be able to work in the livingroom insteac of the office. My husband claims he's the widower in the family, but I feel just as cut off as he does when I write. It'll be nice to have the option to hide when I need the quiet or be around my family out of the cave when noise and hustle is welcomed.

Well I've got to go get ready for work now so I'll shut up. Thanks for stopping by!

Lori

It's been a while...

2005-11-21T04:21:00.000-05:00

Hello all! It's been awhile since I've had the time to write anything here. What's new? Lots. It's November so I'm doing NaNoWriMo. I'm up to 34,778 words of the 50,000 needed to win. I like the story better than I did in the beginning although there will need to be tons of rewriting to do.

The Heroine of the story has rolling blackouts do to a sever concussion. Every time the story moves forward, she comes back in and the hero has to update her. Sometimes she takes the news in stride, other times she flipps out and things get dicey. Anyway, she needs to recover soon so she can go back to being the strong woman she is.

Rolling blackouts are a rare complication of sever concussions. Another reason I haven't been posting here is that my daughter was suffering rolling blackouts from a sever concussion she got at school. She has made a full recovery I'm pleased to say.

I judged a writing contest, which I sent back all my entries. So that is done. I've been doing grades since for my day job, grades are closing. We have trimesters, so there is one less set of grades for me to do, but 12 weeks is tought to keep the kids focused on their grades. It never suprises me that a week or two before grades come out, or progress reports, the kids scramble to save themselves. Some manage to do it, but most don't. The kids got lucky this year. report cards won't be going out until after Thanksgiving!

There is a bunch of other stuff going on right now both at home and at school. But I won't bore you with my angst as I try to get it all done.

All the best,
Lori

NaNoWriMo- Brave Season- Wynter's Character sketch

2005-10-23T16:58:00.000-04:00

Why do I need to do this? I know the League wants detailed biographies of every shifter, but I’m not dying. I know accidents happen that’s what made you check the Archives for my file in the first place. Whatever. Ask your questions.

I was born Wynter Jillian Rogers on May 22, 1976. I’m 29 years old. I live in Southern California, Santa Barbara to be exact. I’m the Alpha of the Western Pack, and a member of the League of Packs.

I have light blonde hair that most people think comes from a box. It doesn’t. My blue eyes are mine although; I do wear contacts to make them darker. Pale blue washes out under my light hair. It’s my one vanity, the contacts. I’m slim as all shifters seem to be. I don’t follow the genetic stuff like some of the breeds do, but I do know I can eat a 16 inch loaded pizza without having to worry about gaining weight. I’m tall too and I love it. Wouldn’t give up an inch of height.

I don’t have to work, but I do. I own a charter company called Any Season. I can fly anything that goes into the air. I even dated a Navy pilot and got him to teach me to fly F14’s. I’m a one-woman operation and I work when I want. I love flying. I secretly wished to be an Eagle shifter. Sad that the shifting breed died, some say they never existed.

I come from a long line of wealthy people. I get a monthly allowance that more than meets my needs. I’m not frivolous with my money but not a tight wad either. I did spend a huge amount for my mansion in the hills. I wanted a place big enough for my pack sisters and their daughters to live together as a pack should.

My mother? You want to know about my mother? She was efficient. She groomed me to be strong and meticulous, smart and self-sufficient. She was the same with my sisters. I have six older sisters and three younger ones. None of us know our fathers. There were several different men, but none of them stayed long. Mom made sure of that. She didn’t have much use for men. If she didn’t need them to father her daughters, she wouldn’t speak to them at all. We think that Spring and Summer have the same father, but we can’t be sure since we all favor our mother’s side of the family.

I never knew my father. Mom always said he was an adequate lover she chose because of his hair color. He never knew she was pregnant. None of the fathers were told of the children born. Like I said, Mom didn’t have much use for men.

I have brothers too I guess. Nathan claims to be one. He showed up last year. I don’t know if I actually believe him, but Spring says she remembers Mom being pregnant and going to the hospital in labor, but being told the baby died. Summer says she had a lot of “miscarriages” after Roe V. Wade passed the Supreme Court. I remember a few. I don’t know. Mom never had much use for males, so I guess it’s possible.

My first flight on an airplane is my favorite memory of my childhood. Mom chartered a jet to fly us all the Disney World for Christmas. We’d been to Disneyland too many times to count, but this was flying. I ran away from home a lot when I was little. Mom never worried about it much. She knew she could give me an hour and I would be at the fence of LAX watching the planes. I don’t remember when flying didn’t fascinate me. I dated the pilot, even with his controlling attitude to learn how to fly the military stuff. He asked me to marry him. That’s when I sent him packing. I’m not marrying anyone. Ever.

My first sexual experience? What does that matter? Isn’t that a private thing? Why do you need to know that? I don’t think it matters other than it was my most significant adolescent experience as well. Why so hostile? You’re asking about private stuff. I’m allowed to keep things private. This is America after all.

I never went to college, didn’t need too. All I needed was flight school. Worked up from private planes to a pilot for California Airlines. I was certified for all commercial airplanes up to the 757’s. I quit to open Any Season. I’m doing fine. I get to fly and write it all off on my taxes.

I think I’m honest, loyal and unafraid to call things like I see them. Sometimes that comes back to bite me because sometimes I’m wrong, but most of the time, I call things dead on. I’m laid back and easy going, but tend to be a neat freak. I have large numbers of people living in my house. Everything has to go in its place or we’d be wallowing in crap sooner rather than later.

I don’t believe in God, Buddha, Mohammad, Allah, UFO’s, the God & Goddess or any other form of religion you can think of. No such leader in their right mind would allow the crap that goes on in their names to continue.

Political thoughts? I try not too. The League of Packs is enough political crap for me. The League is a microcosm of the feds or any state. All the wheeling and dealing, ‘I’ll do this for you if you do this for me.’ Yuck. Whatever happened to doing something because it was the right thing to do?

I guess that’s why I told Trace about the baby. I didn’t have to. Probably would have been wiser not to. The wolves have some insane ideas about mates and permanency. I see how the wolves stay with their mates forever and have a few dozen kids. They seem happy enough, but man. I mean why wake up next to the same person everyday?

Trace did well. He didn’t go on and on about how children needed both their parents to be normal healthy children like wolves tend to do. He didn’t balk at my suggestion that he raise it if it’s a boy while I raise it if it’s a girl. I kind of thought he would. I do know, that for whatever reason, Trace is linked to me. I’m his only means of continuing his bloodlines. I’ve seen the research. I know that wolves, and even the non-shifting siblings are sterile until they meet their mates. Never crossed my mind that I’d be one of them.

I have no intentions of becoming any man’s wife or housekeeper or nursemaid. Not me, not ever. I will, of course, help Trace have his sons. Their upbringing will be up to him.

Haven’t we been through this already? I won’t talk about my sexual experiences. They are none of your business. Am I opposed to sexual relations? Hummm, no, I am pregnant. I’m kind of looking forward to it. Having a little one to take care of warms my heart. I hope it’s a she.

Work? I own Any Season, you know the charter company that let’s me fly and still write it off on my taxes? I understand that you guys do a through job with these interviews so there is a record of every shifter, but damn I didn’t think you would be this nosey or repetitive. You’re driving me up the wall.

Hobbies? No, well flying, but we’ve covered and recovered that.

Inhibited? Me? No I’m not inhibited. If I want to do something, I do it. I figure out the consequences later. Yes, before you ask that has gotten me into trouble many times. I’ve always managed to get out without a scratch. Well, most of the time. I’ve learned from everything that’s happened to me. I’ve made sure I don’t repeat mistakes. I make lots of new ones, but never repeat.

I don’t have any phobias really. I guess I’m uneasy of men. A natural twist to my upbringing, no man has ever been anything in my life other than a sex toy. I don’t understand how they think. I don’t understand why they do what they do. They’re supposed to be so logic minded; yet their actions don’t make sense. Why go after a gawky teenager when you can have a wonderful vibrant woman who obviously loves you enough to marry? Autumn didn’t see the drudge of tying yourself down to one man. She loved him. She married him anyway even after… Well anyway, I guess the closest thing to a phobia I have is not understanding males.

My greatest disappointment? I don’t know. I suppose losing my sister to that asshole. He married her and immediately moved her to Michigan, away from us, away from everything she ever knew. I haven’t heard from her, wouldn’t know how to get in touch with her if I wanted to, and I do. I miss her horribly.

I still can’t believe she married him. She said I lied, that I wanted him for myself. She accused me of sleeping with him to lure him away. How could she think that? I’m her sister for crying out loud. I was fourteen and the last thing I wanted was that man touching me, that man stealing from me what was mine to give. That isn’t to go in the public record. It’s no ones business but mine. Happy? You got some dirt on me now.

You have my deepest fear. I’m a control freak because I will never be put in a situation I’m not prepared for ever again. I will be the master of my world. I will control all that goes on around me. If fate wants to throw me another curve, I’ll be ready.

Glimpse in Present Time:
I smelled Trace before I heard him. His strong earthy scent filled the ER before the low controlled voice demanded to know where I was. Relief flooded through me, allowed me to close my eyes against the stark florescent lights that were supposed to be softer than regular lights.

My head throbbed where it slammed against the side window as the SUV smashed into me using its size to move my rented Accord off the edge of the highway toward the guardrail and the ocean.

“Hey.” Came a soft low male voice. The smooth timbre of Trace’s voice washed over me easing the pain. “The doctor says you’re okay.”

“Told me that too.” I don’t open my eyes. “Sorry to call you. If I’d thought, I could have called one of my sisters. I was scared about the baby, you know? I haven’t told them yet.”

“No I’m glad you called me.” He sat in a chair beside the bed. It squeaked in protest. “Everything’s fine.”

I opened my eyes then. The firmness in his voice, the tightness, called to me. I saw the rich brown of his eyes. Worry, anger, and something else I couldn’t place floated around in them. “Sorry to scare you.”

“Me?” He chuckled. “You don’t worry about me. The doctor says I can take you home but that you need to be woken up every half hour or so to make sure your okay. You have a walloping concussion.”

“That explains the headache I guess.”

“I suppose it does.”

The awkwardness of the moment engrossed the both of us. My body ached from the crash, but not as much as I ached for the man by my bed. Memories of fast hard sex surged through the pain temporarily acting as a balm. You’re horrible to be thinking of sex right now. Blame it on the extra hormones.

He grabbed my hand in his the warmth a welcomed relief to the chilly hospital air. “What happened?”

“I was driving to the airport after I left you. I never saw it coming. A black SUV slammed into me. The next thing I remember is being upside down strapped to the car. I was sinking. I broke the window with that metal thing. I keep one in the center console for such emergencies. After the car filled with water, I undid the seatbelt and swam free. Three other people were already in the water trying to get to me. Here I am.”

Trace frowned. His eyes washed over me as if surveying for damage again himself. “Are you always so prepared?”

“I make it my mission in life to be prepared for anything.”

“You didn’t have any condoms.” He teased gently raising his eyebrows up and down comically to make sure I knew he was kidding.

“You’re wolf. You didn’t need them, remember?” I smiled. Pain shot through my head to skewer my eyes. I grimaced.

“That’s it no more laughing for you.” He kissed my hand. “I’m glad you’re okay. Hunter’s gone down to the police station to find out about the accident. Did you see anything else?”

“No.”

“You said that someone tried to kill you.”

“According to the other drivers around, it was deliberate.” Anger surged up like a snake ready to strike.

He nodded. “We never caught Mia’s accomplice.”

I tamped down the anger. Trace wasn’t calling me a liar. “She wasn’t smart enough to pull everything off herself.”

Trace kissed my hand again.

“Why didn’t you tell your sisters?”

“You’re the father. You had the right to know before them.”

“We’ll figure this out. I’m not going anywhere.”

Trace meant to reassure her. She knew the quirky smile on his face, the gentleness of his hands around hers. Figured that when I told you about the baby. The thought belied the disquiet in her heart. I don't need a nursemaid.

“I have a plan for that too.” I closed my eyes to the pain.

NaNoWriMo- Brave Season- Trace's Character sketch

2005-10-23T16:42:00.001-04:00

I was born Kevin Austin Trace. I was born at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington Maine on November third 1972. I am the seventh son of a wolf shifter and as such inherit the genetic mutation that allows me to change from human to wolf whenever I want to. I guess that makes me a werewolf even though the full moon has nothing to do with the change. Wolves gave up eating humans in the Middle Ages, but that’s another story all together.

I have 12 older brothers and sisters. I also have four younger siblings. Packs become extremely important when you have broods that big. I loved growing up with the pack. I love my family. We weren’t the Cleavers by any stretch of the imagination. A family tradition is to get the younger brother to pee on an electric fence. The older ones laugh the victim cries, but not enough to keep from getting the next younger brother. I hear that some of my nephews are carrying on the family tradition.

My father is a doctor, a heart specialist, good thing because with all those kids Mom worked inside the house. Man did she ever run a tight ship. I’ve accused her of being a military man in a former life. We all had chores and she made sure we all could take care of ourselves before we left her house. She was there with a firm hand and a loving heart.

I wouldn’t change a thing about my upbringing. I am who I am because of them and the way I was raised. Dad and I have always been close. He and I share the ability to shift. The change itself is painful, but running in the woods, well it’s more than worth the pain. There’s nothing like a run. You can run for miles without getting winded. You can smell the other animals as the scamper out of your way scared that they might be on the menu. I love it.

I was shocked to find out that not everyone could hear other people’s thoughts. I have always been able to. Saved me from peeing on the electric fence when I was eight. Nice family tradition isn’t it? The older boys trick the younger ones. I heard them laughing as they tried to convince me it would be okay. I heard their anxious thoughts as the anticipation of the zap made them giddy as girls.

I refused, duh. I heard them thinking about the pain. Not me no way. Momma didn’t raise no fool. Still didn’t stop me from getting Patrick, Eli, or Shane when the “came of age.” Everett, my oldest brother, asked me about what kept me from doing it, I told him. He didn’t believe me at first until I said out loud what he was thinking. He marched me right into Dad. From then on I was the truth barometer when anyone in the family was caught in a lie or needed a story checked. Imagine, being ostracized because you’re telepathic, not because you can change into a wolf.

If there is anything you can say about me, I don’t lack for self-confidence. I tend to be cocky and being a shifter doesn’t help. I mean it’s hard to not feel good about yourself when you get a full scholarship to college because you score more touchdowns than anyone else in the state. No one knows about the shifting, but a side effect is that I have quicker healing and am a little bit athletic than the non-shifters. Only Hunter was faster than me, but he played quarterback so he got a scholarship too.

I was smart enough to earn scholarships to cover medical school and became a doctor too. Dad was proud of me even when I took up a different specialty. Pathology. I’m currently the Coroner for the State of Maine. The position allows me flexibility and I really love my job. I help the dead speak. I give them the final say when foul play is involved. Fortunately, in Maine, most of the deaths are accidents, disease, and such. There are only about 70 or so murders here each year. Drug overdoses are far more common.

I’m stubborn, smart, athletic, good looking if you listen to the girls I’ve dated. I’m not too sure myself. I’ve broken my nose twice, once in football, once by Hunter. I deserved that one and a whole lot more. I don’t want to think about that. Anyway, my nose is a bit big and a bit flat. The girls don’t seem to mind it, so neither do I. The girls fawn over the red highlights in my brown hair too. I don’t get what’s so great about it, my quick temper used to get me into a lot of trouble. Fortunately, I’m older and wiser now.

I have a revved up metabolism so getting fat is never a problem for me either. Hopefully it lasts well into old age. I don’t know what else to say about my looks. I don’t spend hours in front of a mirror. I have brown eyes that match my hair. Does that help?

I’m not a loner. Never have been. You can’t grow up in a large family and ever be alone. I’ve never gotten used to it, not really. I love to go off by myself and get some piece and quiet, but I’m never truly alone. I can pick up the phone and call whomever I want. I can jump in my car and go visit a bunch of different people.

I bought an old yacht, fixed it up, and added a motor for tooling around when the wind isn’t great. I love it. I’m free to go where I want when I want. I live on the boat in the summer and mooch off the guys in the winter. Someday when I retire, I’m going to sail around the world.

I’ve been quite the ladies man all my life. Another side effect of being a wolf shifter is that I don’t get sick. My immune system kills everything that I could catch. I’m sterile too, well until I meet the right woman for me. All wolf shifters are although we didn’t know that until last year. When I think of all the sex I could have had without the damn condoms… Sorry, guy thing.

I’m not seeing anyone seriously. Haven’t in a long time. I like the freedom. Going to the clubs is a smorgasbord of tasty delights. I don’t have to wake up to the same face everyday just yet. I know that will need to change someday. Someday I’ll settle down to have the kids and continue my bloodline. I’ll have to have seven boys. I hope there will be girls sprinkled in around them too. Although with guys like me out there…

Someday, I’ll find the right woman, the one I can spend the rest of my life loving. Not Wynter. Definitely not her. She is the most infuriating, stubborn, bigoted woman I have ever met. There are so many things about her that piss me off. Yet she is loyal, beautiful, a shifter too, she makes me crazy. I’ll admit sex with her left me wanting more, but a lifetime? Nope.

I’m as normal as the next guy. I don’t cry, but I do have feelings and emotions. When my mother died, I made it through the funeral and everything else. I hurt like hell, still do, but you have to continue living. Mom would hate it if we didn’t pick up and carry on. I did.

I’m not superstitious again kind of funny since I’m a werewolf, but I know there is a scientific explanation for everything. Be it a trick of the eye, or being able to access more of your brain than other people. That’s what the doctors say about my telepathic ability anyway.

I’m afraid of deep water. Funny since I live on a boat, but I believe in facing your fears and I did. I conquered it too. I suppose, if I’m really going to be honest, I’m afraid of being alone. I mean truly alone. Life has a way of checking attitudes all on it’s own. I made a huge mistake once and almost lost everything because of it. I went after Hunter’s girl. Katie was all over me like bees to honey. She flirted, I flirted. I knew better, Hunter was a chosen brother, a pack mate. I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, I do know but then, no I wasn’t thinking at all. Katie made me feel superhuman, as if being a shifter wasn’t enough to evoke that in my personality.

I caught on as she went from flirting to touching me, to hinting that I should challenge Hunter for the Alpha position. Alarm bells rang in my head, finally and I turned to Keagan. The two of us arranged a little incident to show Katie for her true colors. I had no idea Hunter was thinking of marrying her. It was a perverse blessing that we all found out what kind of manipulator she was. Wolves mate until death do us part. I almost lost my self-respect, my pack, my best friends I the world. I walked away with a busted nose and a deeper respect for my weaknesses. I’ve strived to never repeat that mistake.

Glimpse in Present Time:
I stood on the deck of my sailboat. The gentle rocking of the boat usually relaxes me but not today. Today has changed my life forever. I’m going to be a father. The though both terrified him and excited him. I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans. The worn jeans had holes in the knees and probably ought to go into the garbage, but they were just so darn comfortable, I hang on to them.

I think I handled Wynter’s announcement well. I didn’t flip out, didn’t say I didn’t believe her or ask who the father is. She’s no virgin, but I know that she wouldn’t come to me, to tell me something like that if she wasn’t sure. Wynter knows as well as I do what that means for me, for her, for us. Truth be told, I’m glad. I knew the night of Corbin’s and Haylie’s renewal of vows that I loved her. She’s strong, loyal, determined, bigoted, stubborn, and a myriad of other traits that both please and piss me off. She drives me crazy, but I love her just the same. It’s getting easier to think. Someday, I may even be able to tell her. She doesn’t believe in love.

What I didn’t like was her proposal. Girls don’t matter to you anymore than boys matter to me. So I propose that if it’s a girl, I’ll raise her. If it’s a boy, you get him. No way I’m going to go along with that but the desperation in her voice, the scared timbre, I let it rest. There would be plenty of fighting later. I smile in spite of the knot in my stomach. I want to be a part of my daughters’ lives as much as my boys.

Family is everything to wolf shifters. I grew up in a huge family of both birth siblings and pack mates. My kids, male or female will do the same. Wynter’s a hyena one of the few creatures to be matriarchal instead of patriarchal. Wynter’s mother gave up all her male children. Wynter met one of her brothers last year. She doesn’t call him much, but he hasn’t gone away either. She’s warming to him.

I sucked in a quick breath and blew it out with much frustration. How am I supposed to show her that family is good? How am I supposed to prove to her that she is needed to help parent the boys? That I’m needed to help with the girls?

The phone on my belt rang. I pull it from my belt and check the number. Not work. Good. The last thing I want to do today is an autopsy. I know I’m the voice of the dead, but it’s living where I want to concentrate my energy today.

“What?” I say into the small phone.
“Trace,” Wynter’s voice shook. “I’m okay, but I need you. I’m at the hospital. Someone tried to run me off the road. Someone tried to kill me!”

NaNoWriMo

2005-10-07T03:49:00.001-04:00

Good morning all! I'm writing this today to tell those of you who have never heard of this crazy thing all about it. I've done it for the past three years and will be doing it again. My 2003 attempt will be released in February.

NaNoWriMo is National Write A Novel in a Month. The goal is to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November. I like doing it because it gives me an excuse to kill my internal editor who is constantly telling me that I'm no good that I should quit the writing thing. There are forums for every genre and every area of the world so you can commiserate with all the others crazy enough to try this thing.

I highly recommend this for anyone who thinks they'd like to try to write a book. In Maine, we have get togethers and meet face to face a few times. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who hears voices in my head, have scenes playing in my brain 24/7, and that I am indeed a writer and not crazy! LOL I have included a link that works, I hope. You should check it out.

Thanks Kathryn! Here is the link I left out! Sorry all!

NaNoWriMo

My two cents worth,
Lori

Hello again, again!

2005-10-01T19:02:00.000-04:00

LOL It's been an eventful month. I sent fiery Strength into the publishers. It was refused, not on the grounds of weak story or characters, but on my grammar mistakes. I'll have to edit it through again. Not a big deal. I also gave it to one of the English teachers at my school and told her to use the mighty red pen.

My husband thinks it's funny that I take a rejection as a good thing. The story isn't as weak as I thought and grammar can be easily fixed. I will also say that it restores my faith in the publishing world when I find mistakes in all kinds of books that I never noticed before. My publisher has standards! Yeah! I knew I liked them! The English language is indeed still important to people.

I'll do the rewrites again and resubmit it. Hopefully they'll like it and contract it. It's the second in a series of four. I'm planning to start the fourth during NaNoWriMo this year. I'm a little over halfway through the first draft of the third book in the series.

I've started another story and finished the rough draft. At 53,000 words it's the shortest book I've ever written. It's only a rough draft and I still have to add meat to the bones of the story, but after struggling to complete FS it was nice to have one fly from my fingers.

Speaking of which, I should go and do that right now, work in adding attraction and wanton need into my current work in progress, Shaken. It's about a cop tracking down a serial killer hunting the night clubs in Portland, Maine. Yes there is actually a nightlife in Maine. Although it's a bit too far for me. I'm such a homebody.

If you ever do come to Maine, you need to check out the Old Port. I've never been there too much until the past few years with NaNoWriMo get togethers. Oh, NaNoWriMo stands for National Write a Novel in a Month. The goal is to get 50,000 words in the 30 days of November. I've done it for the last three years and finished every year except the first one. My daughter had an accident and it killed the mood to write anything. She's fine and so is my will to write.

Phishing

2005-08-24T06:13:00.000-04:00

Good morning all! Today I'm going to talk a bit about phishing. If you don't know what it is, that's spammers sending emails with links for you to go to to "verify" personal information. I've been getting a lot lately about my PayPal account. Each one says someone has added a new email address to my account. Each one says I need to verify my account info by clicking the link below. Each one looks so official... well it's scary.

I never clicked the link, fortunately. I simply went to my account to see for myself this new address. There wasn't one. I emailed PayPal and they got right back to me. It's a fraud they said. I tend to be very leary of catching a virus. I never open mail I don't know, but like I said the email looked official. I'm so glad I decided to cut the middle man from this and check on my own account myself. I'm not savy about the computer. I thought it was real. I just figured rather than waiting for PayPal to erase the email, I was going to do it myself. I'm so thankful I didn't answer that email!

DON'T GIVE personal info out over emails!

Lori

Revision, Revision, Revision!

2005-08-23T06:08:00.000-04:00

Morning All! I haven't been posting lately. I'm hip deep in a revision of Firey Strength. Taking 14 months to write, some things are different from the beginning of the book than the end. Small things, but still necessary to change for a seamless story. Size is another issue. Most publishers like around 100,000 words. Fortunately, Wings ePress, allows up to 150,000. The finished story was 153,000. I have to edit out a bunch, which should raise the suspense and tensions because I'll cut the boring parts first!

I'm hoping to get the first round of edits before school starts next week, but we'll see. I'm going to have to do another edit anyway for words and sentence structure. Not that I'm not going to do that this time through too. I really have to laugh though, some of what I'm editing, I LIKED when I wrote it. I thought it sounded wonderful. Now I wonder what I was thinking! LOL A friend of mine says it's a sign of growth. I hope so. I certainly have a lot to learn about writing.

I love writing even when it's hard.

I'm working on five projects at once. Editing Firey Strength, finishing the rough draft of Castle's Hero, started an new project called (for now) Shaken, finishing the first draft of A New Beginning, (A story I stopped writing a few years ago),and toying with Brave Season (fourth book in the paranormal series).

I have never failed to finish a story I've started. A New Beginning has always been there waiting, for me to get off my butt and finish. I will. I still like the story, which is more than I can say about Fiery Strength some times. LOL

Guess that's all for now.
Lori

Finished it...finally!

2005-08-08T03:20:00.001-04:00

I've been struggling to finish "The Story that Never Ends" otherwise known as "Fiery Strength" I have spent over 14 months writing this story. It's up to 150,000 words. That's about 600 pages in case you're wondering. I wrote with much determination to finish it yesterday and 12 hours later, I did it!

I've never had such a hard time writing a story before. I have stories I've lost interest in, wanted to burn after I got them started and such. I've never taken so long on one story, even working other stories. Now of course I have to edit it, but that can wait a day or two. I have to cut it down, trim the fat. I'm not sure my publisher would accept it because of the size alone.

Anyway, it's done! Yeah! Kind of left the reader hanging waiting for the next book I hope. "Fiery Strength" is the second of four books dealing with the same characters, but I want each of them to stand on their own not relying on the others. I think I've achieved this and leaving the reader to wonder about the third character as a lead in to the third book. "Castle's Hero"

I'm 50,000 or so words into the rough draft of that story. I'll start that one today by editing what I have then take it through to the conclusion. Hopefully letting the reader find out what happened to Corbin from the Land of Maine. This will lead me into the last one, the grand finally so to speak where everything is revealed and a bad guy who's attempts to ruin the main characters lives is finally uncovered and stopped... or not. LOL

Okay, I've bored myself. LOL Talk to you all tomorrow!
Lori

Hello again!

2005-07-28T04:09:00.000-04:00

Good morning all. I am almost done with "The Story That Never Ends!" I hope to finish it today! Yeah! Then I can start to edit it down. I have been busy over the last couple of days. I also started another story, a new one that came to me the other day. What if a cop who is tracking a serial killer, sets the killer off making the killer target the women in the cops life, his ex, his mother, his two sisters, anyone the cop has ever cared at all about?

I've rewritten the beggining four times now. I get up to about eight pages, then scrape it for another take , another set up. I think I've got it now although I'm only up to page six, so that could change easily enough. LOL

Overall, I'm very happy with Firey Strength aka "The Story that Never Ends." I don't know as there's much to cut out really. The story spans several months and includes the recuperation of a battered woman. There are a lot of little side tracks but those will be tied up in the end easily enough. The only thing left to write is the outcome of the trial. The decision from the Alpha Jury about whether Andra will be allowed to live or be killed.

Well I'm off to write. Hopefully I'll get it done this morning!

Lori

I'm done with the class!

2005-07-23T06:28:00.000-04:00

Well not exactly. I do have to finish my until planning and then teach it to my seventh graders. They'll love it when I tell them I'm changing the way I teach to try something a little different. I have to go to a presentation class in October to present my unit and any student work that proves how well the unit went or didn't.

I'm happy to have the rest of the summer, 3 weeks, to finish "The Story that Never Ends" and get it into Wings ePress. Hopefully they'll want it, if not, then I'll rework it until they do. Determination is the first ingredient to success, right?

Did you know werewolves were real? Well not in our world, but in my stories, they are. They aren't man eaters (not since the Middle Ages anyway. LOL) They are born with an altered genetic code that is passed on from father to the seventh son. Obviously they have to have big families! There are also bears, jaguars, lions, leopards, jackals, wolves, coyotes, hyenas, cougars and tigers. Time and death have taken a toll on all shifters. There are only about 500 or so left in the world.

The League of Packs governs the secret and keeps the order between the packs. They stay alive as long as the "Normals" think they are legends from old. The League settles disputes between shifters. Obviously the League is out to protect the lives of the shape shifters. If a "Normal" kills a shifter, there isn't even a trial. The "Normal" is killed and the police chalk it up to a random act of violence, a freak animal attack or such.

Fiery Strength is Kegan and Andra's story. Andra kills her abusive husband in self defense. The Northern Pack, Andra's father's pack, comes to her aid. Kegan is one of the pack members, who has against everything he knows is right, has fallen in love with her. Can he save her? Can they live happily ever after? That's the basic premise to the book anyway. There are many smaller subplots that carry through all four of the books, but you will be able to read one without the others.

I guess that's all for now. Mom Nancy asked for the name of the book, so here it is with a little about the book too. I can go on forever about my books. For me, the characters are very real. Writers are now nodding their heads in agreement while non writers will think I'm crazy. LOL Oh well. I write because I have to. I'm always thinking of story ideas. I have a long list of stories I want to start and or finish. I won't bore you with those.

Lori

It's Friday!

2005-07-22T04:24:00.000-04:00

Good morning! I've been up for an hour or so, but I was reading my email which has been bursting at the seams. I had a 120 messages and I checked it three times yesterday as I sat in class. I only have a half day left for my class, then I'll go back and present my teaching unit to the class in October.

You know, I try to match kids up according to strengths and weaknesses for group work. The stronger students help the weaker and both benefit. I'm famous around the school for saying, "I don't care if you're not with your friends because at your job, you will have to work with people you may find it hard to work with." I'm working with a lady on the unit for the class. I have the DEEPEST respect for the woman. She works hard, is brilliant, and she actually understands this new system for designing teaching units. I'm very sincere in what I said above. The fact is that we have VERY different learning styles (She needs quiet and I need to ask a lot of questions especially when I don't understand.) Well, you can see the conflict. She has been ultra patient with me.

I've tried very hard not to bother her but then I can't meet my own needs for learning. I end up sitting there frustrated. Anyway, maybe I need to rethink my own grouping of students. Maybe both students are too frustrated by to learn what they need. I'll have to think about that.

I haven't taken a class since college and I've forgotten what it feels like to be totally, to not understand what I need to do. I've forgotten what it's like to have to wait for my turn with the professor. I've forgotten how hard it is working with a small group when learning styles vary so much that it interfers with learning. I'm frustrated and I'm a grown up. Now imagine you're 12 and you have to be at school when you would rather be four wheeling, playing on the Internet, or watching TV. Guess if nothing else, I'll try to keep that in mind when school starts again.

As far as the unit design, I'll learn it eventually. There are a lot of parts and once I have made all the connections to the different parts, I'm sure the steps will make sense and become easier with practice. Hmmm... kind of sounds like the way math is taught. Guess I'm learning more than a new way to design units. Imagine that! I hope this can help me remember what those 12 year olds are feeling when they step into MY classroom.

Morning!

2005-07-21T04:44:00.000-04:00

I have two days left in the course I'm taking. It's a class to better equip me to teach gifted and talented kids. This is a new program for our school district. I'm excited about it too, if not overwhelmed. The system I'm learning is Universal Design. The planning will allow me to meet the needs of everyone in my classroom. From the academically challenged to the gifted. I like the plan and LOVE the way it connects learning to other subjects. The more connections the more pertainant the information and the better the child learns it.

Anyway, Universal Design takes TONS of planning time especially when you are learning about it. The finished unit, in the long run saves you time though and you get depth in the education instead of surface information which allows more learning to occur. I'm going to start with the unit I'm working on then expand the units until I have eveything I need to cover done. It may take a year to get it done, but I think it will make me a much more effective teacher. The kids will learn more and feel more successful and that is why I teach. I want to be a part of the kids preperation for life. I want to help them achieve thair goals.

No, I'm not a first year teacher. I've been teaching for nine and while sometimes I feel like banging my head against the wall, over all I still have hope for the future. The upcomming generation is bright and totally digital. There's no telling what this generation will be inventing or discovering when they grow up.

Have a great day,
Lori

2005-07-20T04:54:00.000-04:00

Good morning! I slept in a little this morning. I ususally get up at 3 am so I can get a couple of hours of writing in before school, but now that it's summer, I've been sleeping in a bit. I'm finished one graduate course last week and started another this week. So much for the misnomer of teachers not working in the summer! LOL

I've been writing my lastest book for a little over a year. Around my house we've been calling it "The Story That Never Ends." I'm attempting to write a set of four stories that have a lot of the same characters, but are stand alones instead of a series. That means you can read one without having to read the others and not lose anything. "The Story That Never Ends" is the second of the four. The third is about halfway through the rough draft. The fourth is still in my head. The first one will be published at Wings ePress this coming February.

Anyway, "The Story That Never Ends" is 139,000 words and I've still got the climax and the ending to go. I'm going to have to trim some out again. I've done an edit already to trim some of the story and got rid of about 5,000 words, but still need to do some more. Might make the story too exhausting for the reader though since there is a lot happening in the story. I'll have to ask some of my writing friends to read it through and let me know what they think since I'm too close to the story.

I write romances. I know a lot of people frown on them, but I like them for their escapism. The good guys always win and love conquers all. I want to read to forget my life, my stress, for awhile. I don't need to read about poverty. As a teacher in a small town in Maine, I see poverty. Watch the news, you see it. I read for pure fun and delight.

I may do little reviews of the books I read here too. I don't know yet. This is a little weird. Writing for myself but knowing that anyone could stop by and read it. I guess I'll shut up now. I'm avoiding "The Story That Never Ends" and I have class all day today too. Thanks for listening.

Hello

2005-07-19T20:19:00.000-04:00

Hello all! I'm new to this blogging thing and I'm afraid I won't have too much to say. LOL Oh well, let's see what happens.

Lori