Sunday, April 29, 2007

Goals

I'm finally sitting down to work on edits.

Tick is not helping. He knows I'm going to be majorly reworking HOTM this summer based on a conversation I had with My Wonderful and Fabulous Editor, and he's hanging around, popping scenes into my head, just making a pest of himself, which is what he does best.

Fish is upset. He's trapped on p. 23, in the middle of ch. 2, in a liplock with Angie. As Carol said, they're going to need Chapstick.

Del? Waiting patiently although his edits will come before Tick's. I have to finish Jason's first, though.

So here are my goals for May/June/July:

1) Get TAC edits to Anne by Monday or Tuesday of this week
2) Begin first-round edits on HOL, get them out by middle of May
3) Continue making progress on Stay With Me, my WIP. I'd like to finish it this summer and begin another book.
4) Rewrite HOTM. It's not revising. It's flippin' rewriting. But it will make the book stronger and I'm looking forward to it, actually. I'm weird that way.

What do you have on your plate for the summer?

Saturday, April 28, 2007

The Good Things and Other Musings

I have good news -- my editor emailed me yesterday to let me know she wants to buy the submissions I had with her. This means I've officially sold six manuscripts and will be scheduled for releases probably into 2009/2010.

I'm hoping that having regular print releases combined with my electronic releases will lead to a solid base of readership. I've been pleased with the sales of What Mattered Most and I hope Truth and Consequences does as well or better when it releases in June. The print release of WMM is set for November, solidly between the electronic releases of His Ordinary Life and Hold On To Me. My print release of TAC should then fall in early 2008, when Anything But Mine should be releasing electronically.

On another note, I'm loving my new editor (not that I didn't love the old one!). She loves my work but pushes me to make it even better and I'm learning so much from her. I can already see the reflection of that in my new WIP. It feels stronger line-by-line, if that makes sense. And she believes in working ahead, which so works for me!

Another good thing in my life? My friend and CP, Carol. Like me, she loves to brainstorm, and she has a way of clarifying things for me. We talked last night for over an hour, mostly about revisions I need to make to HOTM. The changes are pretty hefty and I was afraid of them, but talking with her helped me see how to make the revisions and keep what I like most about the story. Anyway, I emailed my proposed changes off to said beloved editor last night, so we'll see if she likes them.

My plans for the weekend:

1) write two news articles for National Charter School Week (ack!)
2) finish up edits on TAC and send to editor
3) clean my pit of a house
4) hopefully spend time with best friend Pam.

I'll let you know what I get done!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Today's Post . . .

Is at Romance Worth Killing For. I'm rambling about poetic syntax, sentence beginnings and a miniworkshop!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Scarce

But not gone to RT, sigh.

Grades are due tomorrow. Double sigh. (On the bright side, all research papers are graded, baby!)

Edits need to be on the turnaround to my editor, um, soon.

In the meantime, here's a couple of fun things from Blogthings:

You Are A Realist

When it comes to romance, you tend to take a realistic approach.
You believe that love takes time, and it's something you have to work hard for.
A bit cynical, over the top romance tends to get under your skin.
Your heart is difficult to win ... but it's totally worth it.


Pretty ironic, don't you think?

You Are 64% Grown Up, 36% Kid

Congratulations, you are definitely quite emotionally mature.
Although you have your moments of moodiness, you're usually stable and level headed.


After this week? My students would probably disagree. As LP would say, it's Ms. Winfree's "grumpy season."

Okay, one more . . .

You Are 20% Impulsive

You're mature, thoughtful, and very disciplined.
Sometimes you do forget to have fun. And people tend to think you're too serious.
So lighten up a little! A spontaneous weekend won't ruin your life plans.


Definitely sounds like me . . .

Y'all have a good week if I don't pop back in before the weekend!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

Escapism

I should be editing. Or grading research papers (I'm almost finished with those! Whoo-hoo!).

I could clean the bathroom. Or work on the WIP.

I'm not.

I'm looking up recipes for the spring luncheon I'm throwing with a friend next month. I'm perusing the menu at the Spot of Tea, just in case I do manage a getaway over the summer. (I'm really hoping we can make that happen -- I so want to see the Pompeii exhibit.) I'm over at Blogthings, taking quiz after quiz after quiz. (It's as addictive as Bebo, I'm finding).

Oh, wait! I can go play webboggle!

What do you do when you're really looking for a little escape?

***
Your Quirk Factor: 43%

You're a pretty quirky person, but you're just normal enough to hide it.
Congratulations - you've fooled other people into thinking you're just like them!


You Will Be a Cool Parent

You seem to naturally know a lot about parenting, and you know what kids need.
You can tell when it's time to let kids off the hook, and when it's time to lay down the law.
While your parenting is modern and hip, it's not over the top.
You know that there's nothing cool about a parent who acts like a teenager... or a drill sergeant!

Friday, April 20, 2007

Sigh . . .

I'm avoiding my edits. I don't know why, except I'm tired, and just not ready to start tonight.

Just call me Scarlet . . . "Tomorrow is another day . . ."

Today's Post . . .

. . . is on "character snapshots" and is over at Romance Worth Killing For.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Thursday Thirteen


Thirteen Things You'll Never See Me Write


1. Sappy poetry
2. The word "nubbin" in a love scene
3. The word "nubbin" in any scene
4. Short stories (Tried it. I stink at them almost as bad as I do at poetry.)
5. Romantic comedy (it's a talent I don't have)
6. My kids' names as major characters
7. Fantasy
8. Time Travel
9. The next Great American Novel
10. A Mary Sue story
11. Dangling modifiers
12. Manroot
13. Throbbing member

Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. Joan Swan


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Stuff and Nonsense

Received my second set of edits on Truth and Consequences today. Not too bad. I'm always nervous to open the file. I think my poor editor thinks I'm psychotic the way I ask if it's okay to open them.

I'm supposed to be grading tonight, but darn! I left the key for my papers at school, and I didn't bring home any research papers. What shall I do?

Fish would probably love for me to get him out of the incredibly uncomfortable situation I left him at the beginning of ch. 2 of the WIP. Hey, he let his mouth get him into it, so I figure it won't hurt him to suffer a bit. Besides, I have edits. Bwa-ha-ha-ha!

Tons going on at school -- gearing up for student government's spring project, my poetry anthologies going on in my junior classes, state testing this week. Testing is exhausting. I can't really do anything but watch the kids, and I get bored easily. I do a lot of mental plotting. Makes the writing easier when I do get back to it.

Saw this over at Steph's. (Did you know she's afraid of butterflies?) Decided to steal it.

You Should Get An Asian Inspired Tattoo

Mysterious and expressive
You like to show off, but you also like to keep some allure


Found this while I was at blogthings. This is crazy-accurate:

The Part of You That No One Sees

You are balanced, peaceful, and sincere.
You're the type of person who goes along to get along.
And you're definitely afraid of rocking the boat.

Underneath it all, you fear your world falling apart.
You'll put up with a situation that you don't like in fear of changing it.
Disruptive and forceful people intimidate you - and sometimes exploit you.


Not very flattering, is it?

By the way, I'm setting up an author page at bebo. You can find me here.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

It's Official

I have lost my mind! I'm entering the fray once more, after a year or so of absence.

I'm blaming it on the mind-numbing experience of administering the CRCT . . . to seventh graders! There is a reason I teach high school. It's the one year I taught six and seventh grade language arts.

More to come on my bout with temporary insanity . . .

Monday, April 16, 2007

Pondering . . .

I must be crazy (although I couldn't do this until after I finished grading research papers), but I'm thinking offering a kind of mini-workshop on syntax, diction and studying other authors' work for craft.

What do you think?

Anyone interested?

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Rain and Watches and Warnings, Oh My!

A summary of my Saturday night fun:

Throughout the day, monitor weather.com and local television website to watch as the storm front approaches.

6:30 PM: Call mom. Ask if the Monsters can spend the night at her house (those midnight "escape the tornado" runs tend to freak little Monster out).

7:00 PM: Feed Monsters hot dogs, begin watching local television statement. Try not to let Monster #2 see the weather forecast.

7:30 PM: Make sure Monsters are bathed and ready to go to grandma's house.

8:00 PM: Drop Monsters off at grandparents' home. Come home to continue monitoring weather.com and local television weather.

8:30 PM: Still monitoring.

9:00 PM: Weather radio is now squawking on a regular basis. Begin haranguing DH about whether or not we should spend the night at grandparents' home as well. Gather flashlights, candles, etc.

9:30 PM: First tornado warning of the night, for two nearby counties. Get out atlas, try to figure out where the storm will go. Get nervous.

10:00 PM: Still listening to local channel, which has gone all-weather, all-the-time. Call sister, as she is in direct path of major storm cell. Pack bags with 2-3 days of clothing for Monsters, place in DH's truck, just in case.

10:15 PM: Still trying to decide if DH and I are staying or going. Storm seems to be moving northeast, so it looks like we'll miss the worst of it.

10:30 PM: More tornado warnings for counties around us.

11:00 PM: Lost satellite, miss most of The Riches. Continue watching local weather reports with bunny ears. The meteoroligist, new to area, can't pronounce names of local counties. He's a little gleeful about our deadly "imbedded" tornadoes. Nice.

11:30 PM: Doze off on couch, with weather radio near.

12:00 AM: Weather radio goes off.

12:15 AM: Fall asleep again. It's now raining, with lots of wind and lightning.

12:30 AM: See 12:00 AM.

1:00 AM: See 12:00 AM

Try to sleep as weather radio continues to go off every 15-30 minutes.

Storm system finally moves through and all watches expire at 6:00 AM.

11:00 AM: Need a nap.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Sorry, Minnie Driver, I Love You . . .

But after catching up (sort of) on the new series (thanks, Amie!), The Riches, I can't stand Driver's character Dahlia (Dahling) aka Cherine. I suspect it's because I can't relate to her and therefore find her less-than-sympathetic.

However, I love George Izzard's Wayne/Doug. Okay, he's lying, thieving slime, but he's lying, thieving slime who loves his wife, his kids, reads, and is seeking something better.

Dahlia? Oh, good Lord. Let's see:

Drug addict.

Whiner.

Selfish.

I can't see her as a good parent, although there's obvious affection between Dahlia and the cross-dressing ten-year-old. I feel like it's me, me, me with her -- she wants to go back to the family of Irish travellers although it's obvious the pond-scum cousin running the show would marry her teenage daughter off to the guy who has to be the worst stereotype of inbreeding Southerners ever. In the pilot episode, when Wayne and the daughter are going to stay in the dead couple's house and Dahlia is walking out . . . part of me was seriously hoping she'd stay gone.

Yes, Wayne's scum, but he's redeemable scum. I haven't seen much capable of redemption in Dahlia yet. I'm going to hang around and watch, see if I can figure out what Wayne sees in Dahling.

So are you watching The Riches? What's your take on the characters?

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Tired, Tired, Tired

It's been a busy week, and it's only Wednesday.

I have blog post thoughts for Thursday and maybe Friday -- the leadership seminar I took some students to Tuesday (the speaker was fabulous) and how I wish you could pour knowledge into kids sometimes.

But since I'm tired . . . I stole this from Amie:


Linda Winfree --

[noun]:

A person who makes a living suing celebrities



'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Cherie J.!

Please email me again and let me know which type of download you prefer. :-) The great Yahoo monster must have eaten your email (I even checked my spam folder -- no luck). The addy is linda_winfree at yahoo dot com (and if it's not too much trouble, copy to lwinfree at bellsouth dot net).

I'm sorry for the delay!

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Spring Break Contest Winners . . .

Are Kim W. and Cherie!

Drop me an email at linda_winfree at yahoo dot com, let me know what type of download you prefer, and I'll get your copy of What Mattered Most right out to you!

The End of Spring Break . . . Sigh

I have to actually get up and go to work tomorrow. Actually, work starts today. Here's my TTD list:

1) finish laundry
2) read/mark up last six research papers
3) complete TAC edits, send to Anne
4) put together my poetry anthology packet to copy for the 11th graders tomorrow a.m.
5) make a weekly plan for both of my 9th grade classes
6) DH's FAFSA stuff
7) If I have time, get through the Angie/Cait conversation in Stay With Me.

What are you up to today?

***
Don't forget I'm wrapping up my Spring Break contest tonight at 8:00 EST -- I'll be drawing two names from this week's commenters for a download of What Mattered Most.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

The Last Word

In case you haven't noticed, I'm prone to flights of whimsy. For the past few weeks, I've been involved in Karin Tabke's First Line Contest. I'm out, but my friend Elisabeth is still in (her lines are fabulous, too).

Anyway, I got to thinking about the last lines of books. So I dug through my files and here are the last lines on my manuscripts:

What Mattered Most: “I love you, O’Reilly.”

Truth and Consequences: “I’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted, right here.”

His Ordinary Life: Smiling up at him, Barbara nodded.

Hold On To Me: “All the time in the world, precious, but right now, I want to hold on to you, just for a while longer.”

A Formal Feeling: And so was he.

Anything But Mine: Together.

Memories of Us: “That’s what I love about you most.”

Hmmm. Somehow, final lines don't seem to have the impact first lines do. Maybe last paragraphs would be better. What do you think?

Do you have any favorite last lines from books you love?

Friday, April 06, 2007

Cover for TRUTH AND CONSEQUENCES!

I'll get it up on the sidebar tomorrow, but my cover art (by the talented Anne Cain) is up on the Coming Soon page at Samhain. Check it out here:

http://samhainpublishing.com/coming/truth-and-consequences

Chortling With Glee

I'm plotting.

No, not that kind of plotting.

Evil, getting-even-with-someone kind of plotting.

See, my DH is about to start working on a degree. An all-online degree. This means he'll be on his computer quite often.

Now I can be the one who says, "Are you on that computer again?"

Or even better, come in and distract him while he's trying to work.

Who say's payback is a witch with a capital B? Nah. Payback is sweet, baby!

Today's Post . ..

. . . is at Romance Worth Killing For.

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Thursday Thirteen


Thirteen Things about Reseach Paper Topics I've Read This Week


1…. NASCAR
2. Alzheimers
3. Autism
4. Sounds Engineers
5. Heavy Metal Music
6. Colors
7. Paranormal Ability
8. Evolution vs. Creationism
9. STDs & AIDS
10. The history of Tennis
11. Dreams
12. Farm Chemicals and the Environment
13. Breast Cancer
Links to other Thursday Thirteens!
1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Memo to Sgt. Adam (Fish) Williams

Fine. Whatever. I have edits to finish. Research papers to grade.

Here's a key to the Basement. Go hang out with the rest of them.

***

Note to self: Ask Steph about the best way to handle insistent military heroes.

Memorandum

To: Linda Winfree, author

From: Sgt. Adam "Fish" Williams

Subject: Going Away

***

No.

Excuse me. Make that: "No, ma'am!"

Attention, Angie and Fish!

Go away.

Get out of my head.

Yes, I know he's being sent to Fallujah. I know all about your hidden feelings. I know he's ready to force the subject.

But I have edits to finish.

I have another book lined up to write, and I can't see y'all being a whole book. Do you, really?

So . . . be quiet and go away for a little while, 'kay?

'kay.

Monday, April 02, 2007

Spring Break, Day 1

Ah, seven days of freedom. Well, sort of. Here's my TTD list for this week:

1) Complete edits on Truth and Consequences.
2) Update the two blogs daily.
3) Take Monster #2 for quarterly checkup.
4) Help DH with his college admissions paperwork (including the yucky federal aid stuff)
5) Actually write past page two on the WIP.
6) Make conference/revision notes on 35 rough draft research papers.
7) Grade eleven final draft research papers.
8) Force, er, supervise the Monsters as they clean their rooms.
9) Get my poetry unit plans for both 9th and 11th lit written and ready to copy for students by Monday.
10) Relax.

I have a book (inspirational romantic suspense set in Russia) a friend gave me that I wanted to read this week, but it may end up waiting for summer. I also have Jane Eyre lying around. I wanted to read it so I could compare it to Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea.

Currently (meaing right this second), I'm working on my edits to TAC. I've already been out in the garden this morning, setting out canna lilies to go with my daylilies. I'm going to add some ferns, too, when I make it over to my mom's to pick up the one she told me I could have to set out.

***

Remember, I'm giving away two copies of What Mattered Most this week -- all you have to do to be entered in the drawing is leave a comment here or at the Hearts of the South blog.

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Spring Break Contest

With two ways to win!

Since I'm not getting away for spring break this week, I thought a neat way to have a little fun would be to give away two copies of What Mattered Most. So here's the plan:

1) All this week, I'll be posting here and at the Hearts of the South blog daily.
2) Visit either blog and leave a comment.
3) At the end of the week, I'll drop the names of all commenters in the basket and draw for two free downloads of What Mattered Most Friday night.
4) I'll post the winners Saturday morning here.

So drop by often. Here, I'll be talking about my June 2007 release Truth and Consequences, as I'll be working on edits for that book, and my WIP, Afterburn. Over at the Hearts of the South blog, the characters will be in control, and who knows what that could mean . . .

See you soon!