For those of you who write out of order

And you know who you are, because you often feel self-imposed guilt about it, even though it's a perfectly workable method!

Here's an article that will (1) reassure you that you're in good company, and (2) give you tips for enhancing this natural writing style: Survival Kit for Writers Who Don't Write 'Right' by Janet Hunter.

On Procrastination

Are the holidays driving you crazy yet? Yeah, me too. =)

The end of a year is a chance to look over the year gone by and the new one ahead, and that's the part of December I love. I usually find myself digging into books on organization, procrastination, and productivity during this month. In that spirit, here's a great article I've just run across on procrastination.

Overcoming Procrastination by Steve Pavlina

It gives terrific explanations and tips in a short space, which means it won't take long for you to get some good "Oh!" moments from it.

A bright and shiny year is on its way, dear readers. What do you want to accomplish this year? And how will you make those things happen?

Start with your writing goals. Figure out what they are, decide what you'll need to do to achieve them, and begin.

Want help? :)

Visit me at Women-Ink.com.

What a week! :-D

HUGE congratulations to two of my clients, Jan and Leigh, who both received terrific (and well-deserved) news this week. After working hard to write and hone their nonfic book proposals, each received a request from the very first agent she contacted. Yahoo!

I'm SO very proud. Both agents are highly respected, and while there are never any guarantees, this kind of hole-in-one from the first contact is a lovely validation. Leigh told me how delighted she was that the care and effort we invested in her query letter and proposal have more than paid off. (Thanks for the compliments, Leigh—I was grinning for hours afterwards.) Jan got her request based on some very savvy networking on her part, and was then able to use her wonderfully reworded (and still virginal) query to rev up the intro of her proposal. Ladies, the revisions you've made in the last few months rock—and so do the two of you. I'm so jazzed to be able to help bring your wonderful books to life.

In short: You GO, Girls! There's a long road ahead—the publishing world can be a bitch that way—but may this happy news be a sign of a marvelous future for you and your manuscripts. Hugs all around!

LA Story

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged. I didn't intend my hiatus to be this long! So, this will be a bit of a "catch up" post, and one that leans toward the personal. Apologies for any rambling--it's getting late and it's been a long (though excellent) day.

November was a highly interesting and often stressful month as I drove toward my writing deadlines. I'm happy to report that I accomplished those goals (yay)! Big thanks to the Sprinting Club for the support and mutual butt-whipping as we all raced toward our finish lines--here's a happy shout-out to Frieda, Maire and Mary! And FedEx made some good profits from me last week (sigh).

With my goals met, I was due some R&R time, and my dear husband, who sweetly put up with my tunnel vision for the past couple of months, was due some pampering. Since it was his birthday this week, we've come to LA to celebrate completed projects and birthday fun among friends and family. We're now lying in our hotel room in Los Angeles, watching the local news. (Why we're watching the local news, I don't know. I can't stand local news even when it's MY local news...Oh good, DH has finally fallen asleep, and I've confiscated the remote and switched to CNN.)

Since we arrived in LA, we've found ourselves dropping into bookstores to roam through the aisles. We've averaged 1.5 stores per day so far, without even planning it. Yes, there are bookstores at home, but this is our vacation, and we'll spend our time the way we like, heh heh.

Oh, and today turned out to be Celebrity Sighting Day. I never get the memo on these things, so it only became evident after the fact. Some background: before moving to the Tahoe area, I lived in LA for a total of 4 years, and only saw one celeb the whole time I was here--John Lithgow, who was walking his dog on the UCLA campus. Which wasn't too surprising a sighting, considering his wife and I both taught there. Oh, wait, two celebs--I also saw Edward James Olmos on campus once, backstage at an event during the LA Times Festival of Books.

Anyway, today we walked into a shipping store so my father-in-law could mail a bunch of packages, and there was Allison Janney (C.J. Cregg from The West Wing). I believe in telling people when they've done a great job--heck, I complimented a woman yesterday just for wearing some really cool boots--and I loved the C.J. character and would have liked to thank the actress who made her so delightful. But Ms. Janney was mailing her own set of packages and was wearing a "private face," clearly trying not to attract attention. So, I'll just leave my thanks here and let the universe take care of the delivery.

Tonight, DH and I went with his parents to a delicious birthday dinner at Koi in West Hollywood, which is a favorite restaurant of the in-laws. Michael Bolton showed up, and about five minutes later, so did Nicolette Sheridan of Desperate Housewives fame. (I think they're engaged or something, so the proximity makes sense.) I didn't get a good look at M.B.--my stepmother-in-law was much faster on the draw on that--but N.S. looks just as gorgeous in person as on the screen. And she is a TALL woman, folks. (So, come to think of it, is Allison Janney, but that's not much of a surprise, if you ever saw her onscreen standing next to Martin Sheen.)

Okay, it's way past midnight now and time to go hit the sheets. Tomorrow it's Korean BBQ (yum!), a Korean spa (ooooh, cheap scrubs and hot saunas), and then Benihana (DH's favorite) and--if we are still moving by then--some salsa dancing. I'm trying to get DH hooked on salsa, but the Reno/Tahoe area offers only slim pickings. We head home on Sunday, through what looks to be some snow. (Snow is a lot of fun to ski on, but not as much to drive through.) Next week I dig into edits on a WIP, help a client perfect a newly requested book proposal (big congrats, Jan!), and dive into some new possibilities and fun changes for Women-Ink.com.

Best of luck with your writing this coming week, folks! I'll be back to my own BIC (butt-in-chair) time on Monday, so just know you won't be alone.