sixteen

I went through all of the ideas I have for novels, and found out that there are sixteen of them. Granted, two are co-written and one is a glorified picture book, but still. :) I have plenty of material, I just need to be dedicating enough time every day to get them done.

My goal this year is to have three novels under my belt. I have one written, one being written, and one in the planning stages. So I've gotta revise, finish writing, and start writing them. I'm sure that #3 will be a NaNo, so I just need to focus on revisions for #1 and writing #2 for now. Should be good, should be good.

I was recently told that Carol knows an agent who is looking for the kind of stuff that I write, so this is good motivation. Ee!

I'm 12,000+ words into HP, which is roughly 1/4th the way through, and there's about 9 months until November. Should be easy. If I can get motivated!

Hailey's Pearl - Progress

I started writing the novel this week on Brandon Sanderson's suggestion. The Tailor will be worked on later, which is hard, but for the best. I just started Hailey's Pearl on Thursday and I'm already up to 2,830 words. I don't know what will happen, but it's exciting and fun to write. My goal is to get all the way through without revising anything, and then I'll go back once the first draft is completely done. So far, so good.

I have a bunch of sketches from writing conference that I'll post along with some tidbits about the characters, maybe tonight or tomorrow.

Funny thing is, I know what the Pearl in the title refers to on a metaphorical level, but I haven't figured out what role it will play in the story, if any. I guess we'll see.

Stories that I want to write

I am on a break from work (lunch? Something) and wanted to write a blog post because I can't stop thinking about writing. This is a good sign! I think, anyway. Only a month and a half or so before I have to have a bunch of The Tailor ready for that writing conference. I'm scared to death. But I have been working on it and with the help of my writing group, I should be okay.

For fun, though, here is a list of stories/novels that I want to write and their tentative titles. Why? Because... well... fun! And for my reference.

• Mermaids (Hailey's Pearl)
• Unicorns (Turn of the Century)
• Frogs (Sister of the Frog -- definitely needs a new title)
• Imaginary Friends (My Imaginary)
• Dragons (The Winged Opagin)
• Shapeshifters (The Tailor)

Deceptive, huh? I thought so, too. I briefly wanted to write a story about vampires, too, but I don't want to bandwagon on Twilight (even though I love it). I just thought it was interesting that my own blood's taste has changed so dramatically after all of the cancer stuff. You're probably thinking "wow that is pretty gross, Gabapple, what is with the blood tasting?" but you know what I mean... get a cut on your tongue, or a papercut, and you don't have things available and immediately put your finger in your mouth after saying "ow!" ... it's habit! Leave me alone.

Anyway, my blood tastes pretty gross now. Kind of dingy. Dirty blood? I read somewhere that the medication will do it. I don't have a thyroid anymore, so perhaps the synthetic chemicals have altered that. It also looks different whenever I get it drawn, too. I don't think a vampire would like me. :) This is both a good (yay less death) and bad (aw no Edward) thing.

Woo! I should finish my work for the day and then get on writing. I just hope that I can concentrate on The Tailor while all of these other story ideas are swimming through my head.

Hailey's Pearl

Look! A post! Finally! This is from another novel that I want to write in the next couple of years (probably the beginning of 2009 unless I can really get my act together.) It was created in ArtRage and took all evening, but I am well-pleased. I included a small excerpt of the half-chapter that exists of this story. I am hoping that by involving art with my novels, I will get much more motivated to complete them. So far so good!