Melissa Maygrove

After a long hiatus, I'm finally writing again. (Yea!!!) My time is still limited, so - of two planned WHR projects - I chose the WIP that required less research than the one I had originally planned to write next. (Seriously. I was so sure the other WIP would be first, I had already had a cover mock-up made.) The one I ended up choosing is the less inspiring one, but the one I knew would be quicker to finish.

I'm back amongst the cyber-living with GPM and an announcement.  I missed a lot while I was gone, even though I lurked a bit. That's the downside to a hiatus.  : ( Wanna know what the upside is? I finished the draft of my current WIP, Come Back . Woot! :D Of course, we all know that's not really THE END. I still have a long way to go. But I'm stoked. Why? I don't want to jinx it, but... *squinches eyes shut*  I've set a tentative release date. God willing and the creek don't rise (and a million other things that could — and probably will — go wrong), I'll publish my debut HR sometime this spring. *sqweeee* ...*faints* Over the last few weeks, I've discovered what all is truly involved with self-publishing. I'm serious when I say, to any of you who've done it, I stand in awe of you — wide-eyed, mouth-gaping, hero-worshiping awe. I'll tell you more as things go along, but for now, please , wish me luck.  I'm gonna...

I've been tagged in a meme by J. E. Oneil over at Still Writing . The Questions What are you working on right now? A historical romance set in 1850's America, titled Come Back . How does it differ from other works in its genre? Hm. Well, both of the leads are virgins, not just the heroine.  Also, they don't meet in chapter one. The delay was necessary for the story. How does your writing process work?

I know you guys are probably cursing me for flooding your inbox with posts this week, but I'm gonna throw in one more. I joined the dojo for NiNoWriMo (not to be confused with NaNo) for the month of February. I set a goal for myself of 1500 words a week, and —not only have I made my goal two weeks in a row—I've made the leaderboard both times, too.   That gives me the right to display this badge. *does happy dance* I'm glad I joined the dojo . The accountability combined with the fact I'm in the home stretch of the first draft of my WIP has given me the motivation I need to (finally!) make good, consistent progress.  Need a kick in the drafting, revision or querying pants? Check them out. :) 

Happy New Year!  My writing resolution is to finish my current WIP and get it polished (maybe even published?) in 2013. So, for my January Insecure Writer's Support Group post, I decided to list some ways we can motivate ourselves to write.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, and I don’t have room to tell you every detail. My goal is to give you a taste of what’s out there and enough information about each item so you can decide which ones are worth the click-through for you .  If you're already familiar with any of these, please feel free to skip it and move on. (I promise my IWSG posts won't all be this long.) Let’s start with the biggie.

Now that school's out, I'm reorganizing myself. I'm going to stomp, scream & threaten to move out if I don’t get plan some writing time for my WIP. I’m half way there, and if I could get a few days of uninterrupted time, I could finish the first draft of Come Back . I’ll probably barricade myself inside a hotel room for a couple of nights soon and do some marathon writing while hubby holds down the fort. (I soooo need a vacation! ...Can you tell? :P) Another goal I have is to make the blog rounds soon, and then visit more regularly in the future. I've failed miserably at that goal lately. *blushes and hangs head in shame* I've also been dealing with some negative thinking about my writing. I go from feeling like I really have a handle on it — that it's good — to thinking I'm deluding myself and no one will like it. From believing my crit partners' compliments, to thinking they're just being 'nice' and not telling me how bad it really is....

  Recently, I said I wouldn't post parts of my WIPs online, but after thinking about it, I've reconsidered. So go on. Have your fun. Laugh. Scoff. Call me names and say, "I told you so." = P I was tagged by Ashley Barron . You should check out her blog. She's got some great tips and some interesting author interviews. For authors tagged by the Lucky 7 Meme , here's how it works: 1. Go to page 77 of your current WIP (work in progress) 2. Go to line seven 3. Copy down the next seven lines or sentences as written and post them on your blog or website 4. Tag seven other authors 5. Let them know they've been tagged My current WIP doesn't yet have 77 pages, and the one before that would reveal a spoiler, so I chose to use my first WIP titled An Honorable Man. As luck would have it, the random spot came at a major turning point in the plot and made for a perfect teaser. Here goes...  Miles looked at the lovely young lady sitting next to him. The sunlight com...