DDD
13,600 / 20,000 (68%)


Samba story
7,926 / 8,000 (99.1%)


S.M. (Book 1)
580 / 10,000 (5.8%)


S.M. (Book 2)
1,010 / 10,000 (10%)


Runes
4,032 / 10,000 (40.5%)


ASPCA Day is April 10

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Saturday, December 31, 2005

Finally! I met one goal

Writing a 600-word scene with carries some sort of plot line isn't as easy as it sounds, believe me. I didn't think I could. For the past 4 days I tried to work on it, and I was plagued with my typical array of insecurities. *sighs* Let alone a long battle with the plotter inside me. Too many good ideas, so little number of words to expand on it.

I think I must have started writing the scene about 10 times, and every single time I'd sit and stare at the blank page, battling my inner "writing" demons. But after posting in Romance Divas that I'd do this contest and receiving so much encouragement from my fellow divas, I felt the pressure to do this. Maybe 'coz of the fellow writers there. They all have such great faith in me, and I hated to disappoint them. (Peer pressure. Gotta love it.)

The deadline was tonight, so I sat down with my PC Pocket (to avoid distractions) and started writing. I only had the first line and the last line. I tried to write in a straight line. My brain refused. I gave up. I divided the page in two parts: his POV and her POV. Then I wrote whatever popped into my mind. Random characters inner thoughts or dialogues. Once I ran out of ideas, I began playing with the lines by moving them around to where I thought it made more sense.

And amanzingly enough I met my goal. I can proudly say that I just emailed my submission to the Wicked Escapes contest. *g*

Friday, December 30, 2005

What the cards have to say...

omFor the past two days I've been mulling over (if not frantically thinking) C.C.'s idea of joining her and Clara for the DDD anthology. So many questions had popped into my head. Should I do this? Is it something I can commit to? Am I qualified as a writer to write a 25K story of quality? Let's face it, can I do this? Or should I bow out? I'm barely a beginner in this whole erotic romance writing, would I set them back? Can I measure up to them? Yep, you guessed it. Insecurity has reared its ugly head once again. *sighs*

Finally tonight I decided to consult my trusty pal - my subconcious. I took out my tarot cards and did a simple three-throw card (past, present, future). This is what I got:

Two of Cups
in the Past position.

A card in the left position indicates what has happened to affect your question in the past.

You are faced with the opportunity to partner with someone, whether it is a romantic union or a business venture. Whichever it is, the potential for creating something very special is there. Honor the gift of the moment and enjoy the moment.










Two of Swords
in the Present position.

A card in the middle position indicates what is affecting your question at this time.

You are faced with a decision and you aren’t sure what to do. You have to decide. Remove your blindfold and look squarely at the situation. Most likely you know what to do but are afraid.












Ace of Wands
in the Future position.

A card in the right position indicates your questions future.

You are at a propitious point. You are given a gift, an idea, a project, or career opportunity. Take advantage of it with confidence and be grateful.












Sounds like I did the right thing by accepting C.C.'s joint venue. And haven't I been complaining about the lack of challenges in my life, about how bored I am because life has become a humdrum? Well, here is a challenge indeed. *g*

Monday, December 26, 2005

What am I getting into?

Sometimes I have a nack for getting into situations that are sure to test the boundaries of my being. Let me tell you what happened. About three days ago C.C. posted about this delicious chocolates she received for Christmas. The title of her post was Dark Decadent Delights. I read the title, and it brought images of a very sexy man with dark hair, piercing emerald-green eyes, and sun-kissed skin; soft melting chocolate; and... er... well... let say I had to take a cold shower to clear my mind. (BTW, the cold shower didn't work.) Anyway, I answered her post telling her to use the title in our her stories, and I also mentioned in no certain terms about the images that the title evoked in me. Another fellow diva writer, Clara, happened to answer my post saying how I was right about the evocative title. C.C. is suggesting a threesome. No, no no! Not that kind of threesome, you sickie! The writing kind. You know, for each of us to write a story with Dark Decadent Delights as a theme. Kind of an anthology. Next thing I know, I accepted to do it. Yikes...

Friday, December 16, 2005

It's funny, isn't it?

In my last post I talked about what is considered a romantic comedy. Now, after re-reading some of the comments left in my BOS entry and reading some of the posts left to my previous entry, I'm pondering anew about what's comedy. I've come to the conclusion that comedy is funny. However, what's considered funny varies from person to person. While some expect to find the hero and heroine in ridiculous situations, others find humor in just the simple facts.

But the concept of comedy is not just a personal thing. I've realized that humor is a cultural thing, varying from one culture to another. What Americans find funny, Latins don't, and viceversa. British humor is different from American. Even within the same culture the concept of humor and comedy changes. An African-American might find something funny, but a Mexican-American might not. Also there's a difference in perception within social classes. Rich people might think something is funny, but poor people don't. There's no such thing as an universal concept of humor.

Come to think of it, writing a romantic comedy is harder than I thought. I might write something that I might consider funny but others might considered absurd or simply not funny. How can you write a humorous situation when not one person might perceived it the same way? How does a romance comedy writer know when the story will appeal and therefore sell? Where to draw the line?

Thursday, December 15, 2005

A Christmasy Quiz

christmas mistletoe
You are the Christmas Mistletoe.


What Christmas Ornament are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Romantic comedy or contemporary with a smile?

Things have been so crazy in my life that I forgot to mention that I entered the Romance Divas' Best First Scene contest after all. I wasn't sure at first. I wanted to submit something new, but the NaNo challenge kept too busy to come up with something. So after finishing the NaNo challenge, I opened the files and chose the second version of the first scene of the story I'd planned to submit to the Amber Quill Press Contest at the beginning of this year. It is a light romantic comedy.

Since the contest started, it has been judged 9 times. On a scale from 1 to 60, it has received from 40 to 57. The scores have been either high or too low. Again, this shows how subjective contests are. Some of the judges clearly stated that they weren't fans of my heroine having her choice career, which I know can affect the score. *chuckles*

Now, what I found interesting was the comments to the question "Are the humorous elements a strong component? Do you see hints for a humorous plot and characters?" Those who scored my piece low were quick to point out that it lacked in that department. In other words, it wasn't funny. So I've been thinking about what a romantic comedy is. For me, a romantic comedy has basically a feel good story. Nothing too dramatic or dark. It can present hilarious situations. Some of them border into slapstick comedy, which can make me laugh. Others use sarcasm. Many have a "smart-ass" heroine who can make me laugh when she zinges someone. However, a romantic comedy doesn't necessarily have to make me laugh at every turn. Sometimes the situations presented just make me smile, or maybe chuckle. For example, the movie "You've Got Mail" is a romantic comedy. It didn't make me laugh at all, but it sure brought me a smile and a few chuckles watching these two people, who obviously can't stand each other since they're competitors, fall in love through the Internet. Yet, for what I've read in the comments left for my scene, since it didn't make anyone have a bellyache from laughing, it should be labeled a contemporary with a smile.

So here is the second thing I've been pondering. What do readers look for in a romantic comedy? When you see a book label romantic comedy, do you expect it to be hilariously funny, full of "fall-off-your-chair-laughing" situations, lots of comedy errors? Is it necessary for a romantic comedy to be funny all the time, to make you laugh in every single page? Or is it enough that it makes you smile, bringing a "feel good" feeling?

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Totally bummed out

I went by Whiskey Creek's website to see the email addy where to send my submission for their Spring Fling Anthology, and now I found out that submissions for it had been closed early. Oh man... I just worked my butt off this morning to finish putting the final touches to the story entitled - what else? -, Spring Fling, a fantasy story involving a naughty elf heroine whose kisses awaken the Lord of Spring, which I'd hoped they'd take into consideration. *sighs* According to the website, there a few slots open for the Summer Sizzlers and Fall Fires Anthologies, so I wonder if I can twist things around and make him the Lord of Fall. Uh... Nah... There's no naughtiness in that season.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Moving on...

Life goes on, and one must move on.

That seems to be ruling my life right now. The latest thing I decided to do was to change webhosting service. Now I'm with Webhostingbuzz. Although my previous one was pretty and cheap, the new one allows me the freedom of unlimited add-on domains. Meaning that I can host as many domains as I want in my account, something my previous webhosting service didn't offer. Now I have all my 5 domains hosted together in the same account instead of separate ones. Besides, the new one offers 3GB of disk space versus the 50 MB I had in the previous one. And I'm just paying $15 more per year, which in my book that's a bargain. So I spent the weekend uploading all the files into the new account and changing the servers.

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Sunday Quiz...

mage
You are a Mage!
Magical, wise and powerful, you make the perfect
ally in whatever side you are on. You are a
natural strategist, another important quality,
and it is your plans that pull your army
through. As a mage, you seek for knowledge
everywhere you go, hoping to incorperate them
into your spells. You are also quite crafty and
might do anything to win or to survive. Unless
you are extremely loyal to one side, you have
the tendency to switch from one foot to
another!

Weapon: Staff and magic
Value: Knowledge
Feelings: Intellegent and Crafty


What Type of Warrior are You. (For Girls AND Boys) Long quiz. Be prepared.
brought to you by Quizilla

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Sad news...

After spending nine long hours in agony, the light in Pixie's soulful brown eyes faded to never more shine for me again two hours ago.



Now he is resting in peace, to no longer suffer. And now I can no longer suffer too. *sighs*