Busy, Busy, Busy....

Wow....sooooo much going on right now! In a good way though. :)  I'll put on my Editor hat first:
Crescent Moon Press released not one but two titles today!! Woot, woot!! Traci Bell's Entangled and Lara Nance's Memories of Murder!! Congratulations and Happy Release Day Ladies. You can click on either of the links and they will take you straight to Amazon!

Secondly, Editor's hat still in place, I will be interviewed by Crescent Moon Press Author, Kinley Baker at Blog Castles and Guns on Wednesday March 9th. She's grilling me on what I'm looking to acquire and how to submit!! Way cool. Stop by and leave a comment!

AND, still wearing my Editor's hat though (I rather like it *grin*), I have teamed up with Micole Black of Micole Writes Romance to offer a contest!!! I like to twist things so this isn't just a first line or a first paragraph contest, it's a First AND Last line contest. Yes, the first line of the manuscript and your last line. There will be a prize for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The winner gets to submit a full to me and 2nd and 3rd get to submit a synopsis and their first three chapters!!  Winners will be announced on March 24th --- so exciting!!!

Finally, I have started the edits on my first acquisition for Crescent Moon Press, I can't give away everything yet, but I'll just say it's going to be a great book!!!

Okay, now my writer's hat, finished doing the sprints and added about 20K words to my own MS  last week. Not too bad, given all the new changes and arranging going on!!

Until next time, keep writing and may the muse bless you with tons of muchness!!

Slainte`

Donna O'Brien, Acquisitions Editor
www.crescentmoonpress.com

Donna O'Brien, Author
www.donna-obrien.com

Big News

I'm now working with Crescent Moon Press...as an Acquisitions Manager/Editor. Which means...yes, I get paid to read and buy books (as in acquire manuscripts and have them published so you all can buy them too)!!! How cool is that?!!

I am beyond thrilled. Everyone at CMP is very awesome and welcoming. I just know this is going to be the beginning of great things.  I'll put up a special post later as to what I'm looking for specifically and guidelines and so forth. But for now, just head on over to the Crescent Moon Press site and see their submissions page:  Submissions. Or you can send a query of any full length (70,000 to 120,000 words) paranormal, fantasy, time travel, with strong romantic elements to me here.

Now this doesn't mean I have given up on my writing. I've done more than 11K words in three days and I'm still going strong! Woot woot. :) I switched back to working on that MS because I was doing sprints basically and I had a plot problem with OMDB. You know those characters who all the sudden decide that they don't like your plot line and they want to do it THEIR way.  Yea, those characters. They are the most frustrating, but usually tend to be the most richly developed and rewarding. However, not the best time to sit down and do sprints.

So, since it'd been a while since I'd sat down with the Shevan and the poetic but extremely psycho stalker and, of course, the hot alpha FBI hero, I read back over some preceding chapters before I started. It was tough not to get in there and edit. But I did it anyway. And you know, I'd forgotten how much I liked that book with all the twisty turns, drama, and fast pace. Definitely the right choice for my sprinting exercise.

Life's a lot like that with it's twisty turns...you just follow them and never know where they are going to lead you sometimes. Oh, we plan, but just like when we plot our storylines and characters, life doesn't always listen to us. And just like with writing, that's usually when it's the most richly developed and rewarding.

With that in mind, I will get back to those characters and see what they come up with for today.

Slainte`

Donna O'Brien
www.donna-obrien.com


Donna O'Brien, Acquisitions Manager Editor
www.crescentmoonpress.com

Just Write....

Just Write. Two words -- such a simple concept. AND so utterly obvious. This has been an underlying theme in several of my blogs, very often the crux of many of the workshops I've taken, and advice given by published authors.  But if it's so easy and obvious, why doesn't everyone write? Why do those who do write ever get stuck or doubt themselves? Why isn't everyone published?

Because writing is flippin' hard, that's why. Even when you "just write". What do you write about? What is your theme? Is it different enough from everything else that's out there? Is it well written? Do you have a good grasp of Goal, Motivation and Character or Scene and Sequel? Who do you listen to when you get three or twelve conflicting opinions on your current WIP and which direction or structure it should follow?

These were some of the things we were discussing when my friend Kadee Sinclair and I visited Black Diamonds RWA for their weekend retreat in Castro Valley. We were in a beautiful villa and an intimate setting of several like-minded authors. As in we all wanted to better our craft, even though we were at various stages of our careers.

Virna  DePaul gave a very motivational presentation on the highs and lows of pursuing a career as a writer which included some insights into the different variables and whimsy of the publishing world. Her journey was impressive. Not in the sense that she caught a lucky break and was published right away or that she struggled for many, many years, but that she suffered some extreme highs and lows and stuck with it despite the disappointment.  But her basic message was...always write. No matter what else is going on, keep writing.

Hilary Sares was also on hand to walk us through the vagaries of the publishing process and gave us a few helpful hints on what not to do. It's always good to have a realistic idea of what you can and cannot expect, whether we like it or not.  But her pearl for the day --- believe in yourself and your writing and send out only your best work. Be professional at all times and don't give up if this is what you really want to do. (Are you sensing the theme yet?)

We heard from Lori Wilde, via Skype because she was "talk-blocked" by mother nature, and she talked about Scene and Sequel a little bit and a few other questions we tossed her way. One of the questions she answered dealt with knowing what advice to take and what advice to leave. She said as you develop your voice you will just instinctively know what is best for your writing.

As I thought about it, I realized I had already started honing this skill. Yay me! Hopefully, I'm doing it right and making wise choices so that my work is as tight as it can be. However, if I don't write anything in the first place, there is nothing to hone and refine. Nor is there any way to develop my voice. So again, the basic message is Just Write!

It's not an easy business, but if you love what you do, then do it, and with some perseverance, hard work, love and luck, at some point, it will all come together. So here's hoping that the muse finds you...just writing.

Slainte`

Donna
www.donna-obrien.com

P.S. Check out Virna's website www.virnadepaul.com for her debut release Chosen By Blood

Life, Loss and Love

Wow, so a lot has happened since I last blogged. That tends to happen in say...six months or so. We had my husband's 50th birthday/Retirement Celebration which was hugely successful but an enormous amount of work. I had a ton of help and it was still overwhelming. But so worth it. He is incredibly deserving; injuries he sustained forced him to retire from a job he loved and did so well, and he made it to 50 in spite of those very same injuries. He is truly a real life hero and he's ALL mine!!

After that, school started and the holidays were upon us and gone before I knew it. Time just goes way too fast. Then as I thought I might be settling into a routine that included writing again (yay me!), we were hit with a loss last week. My father-in-law, a very stern and imposing figure for most of his life, who turned to loving tenderness, a veritable marshmallow when surrounded by his grandchildren, succumbed at the age of 84. It was a blessing in that he is no longer suffering and neither is my mother-in-law because she no longer has to walk into his room and wonder if he will speak to her that evening, eat, or even know who she is. But most importantly, she doesn't have to watch him suffer ever again.

We didn't have a chance to talk about my writing, but I like to think he would've supported me. He wasn't necessarily the type that told me what he thought of what I did, but it did get back to me, that he was proud of me. And I did know that he loved me, if for nothing else than for standing by his son, for taking on and loving his precious granddaughter, and for giving him three more loving grandchildren. I certainly loved him.

We will all miss hearing him argue about the latest political issue, or his favorite sports team. But most of all we miss seeing his raised eyebrow, his cheek stuck out for a kiss, and hearing "Love you" when he said goodbye.

So again, I am reminded of how precious a gift life is and how much we need to make of it. We must live each day doing what we love or at least loving what we do at some point during the day and telling those we love what they mean to us. Writing is a way I can accomplish all of these things. It is something I love to do, I can express my feelings in a multitude of ways, directly to those I love or in the fiction I write.

Dad, I love you and will miss you more than you will ever know. Thanks for the multitude of times you picked up and ferried my kids to and fro, and for just being there, someone I could always count on whenever help was needed. May the sound of happy music, And the lilt of Irish laughter, fill your heart with gladness, that stays forever after.

In Memory of Robert M. O'Brien, August 1926-January 2011

Slainte` Dad

Donna O'Brien
www.donna-obrien.com

June - Craziness, End of a Journey and Love

June generally signifies the ending of the school year. For our family June is like hell month. Literally. We have 3 birthdays just in our immediate family, 5 more in our close surrounding family, our wedding anniversary is in June (but I was very young and didn't understand the repercussions of this decision at the time so don't hold it against me) and then we have Father's day.  Not to mention the sometimes two or three graduations that happen to fall within the already over-crowded month. So that pretty much covers the craziness. But since it all involves family, it's usually tolerable and filled with big rewards at the end...empty pockets, but big rewards. :) And love.


This year will signify the end of a journey...not an educational one, but a very long and arduous journey undertaken by my 14 year-old son. (The rest of the family obviously went along for the ride, because that's what we do.) I haven't talked too much about it but you can guess from some of my posts that it has to do with a very serious medical issue. I won't go into details but his treatment should be ending soon and all indications look very good. It's so much better when the doctor comes out and talks to you in the big waiting room with everyone else instead of calling you back and talking to you in private. Not fun...don't ever want to do that again! But my brave boy handled this better than I think many adults would have, including myself. Very little self pity if any...lots of humor...(tons and tons for he is much funnier than his mother.) And love


Though I don't know how we did it and if it would have happened at any other time, I don't think we would've made it, I was able to quit my job and stay at home and take care of my son. You would think that would leave lots of time for writing...not so much. Now that his care is under control I think I can prioritize. (Like I know my closet really, really needs to be cleaned out and organized, but I will make a date for that to be done and not worry about and write until then...sounds like a plan, right?)


Writing is what I love to do and it's saved me many times when I thought I really needed to run away but couldn't physically manage it. Reading is a great escape but you are lead along a predestined path, chosen by the author who wrote that book. Many of them do that phenomenally well and I have a fabulous time. But writing is absolutely magical - writing is a go anywhere do anything type of escape.  Limitless possibilities. Imagination is key and it's like a muscle, the more you stretch it, the more it bends. 


Have you ever listened to a kid's story and thought, How the hell did they come up with that? Because they've not yet been told they couldn't or that it doesn't make sense. Their imagination knows no boundaries yet because they haven't been created. Or when you wake up and try to remember a dream can't quite even grasp all the twists and turns of the dream, most of them turn to mist when you try to visualize them upon waking. It's like the conscious mind can't quite make itself believe it actually dreamed such a fantastical thing. But dreams...they no know limits. Your imagination shouldn't either. Feel free to write whatever. Just get it down. You never know what you might create. You can always fix it later or chuck it if it's that bad. But you just might surprise yourself and have a wonderful journey in the process.


And if you write with love...and I don't mean you have to write about love, but do it because it's something you love to do...BONUS! Everything is better when there's love. Even the awful sad and scary times; the wonderful, happy times. They are all made muchier with love. 


All things -- Always with love. 




Slainte`


Donna