Happy Halloween

     I've been working hard on Book 2 in Tales of the Dark Lady. The tentative title is The Dark Lady's Troubadour and it follows Sir Loriano of Vayne's journey after he leaves the Karaskan court. He and a mysterious herbalist accused of witchcraft because of prophetic "fits" undertake a quest to the far-distant drakken mountain in search of a vital treasure. So far they've been fighting bandits and evading the witch-hunters across the Empty Lands. Who is this mysterious woman? The two have just entered a rich merchant city where drug dealers will try use them for sinister purposes.
     NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow and I plan to use it to rough draft my plot on to the next stage of the journey. (One thing I love about epic fantasy--there's no limit to the number of words.)

Tidbits ...

Life After RWA
     I get a lot fewer e-mails. I was on two RWA listserves and some days I'd spend over half the morning just reading it. At times I wonder what everyone is up to.

New Book Cover
    I'm getting a new cover for Dark Lady's Stone. It's got a quite different feel from the first cover, but it's beautiful, and I can't wait for the Create Space/Print version to arrive. I'm making little changes in the front and back matter to accommodate it.

Blood Moon
     Don't ask how many astronomical phenomena I've slept through, but I was determined not to miss this. I set my alarm for 2:45 a.m. and donned my winter coat and fleece lap robe. We turned out all the house lights--kind of spooky to navigate through the darkness--and gathered on the driveway. The moon hung over the field, a shining silver sliver. (Love the alliteration.) Stars were glorious--Orion, Sirius, Taurus, Pleiades. We waited, but nothing seemed to happen. Then zing! The red shadow advanced, creeping over the bright silver and soon the whole moon was covered. We watched for about 20 minutes, then the cold got to us and we retreated into the warm house.

End of an Era

     Well, it’s official. Today I received a black-bordered e-mail from RWA National that begins: “We regret to note that the final date for renewing your membership with Romance Writers of America (RWA) has passed. In accordance with RWA’s bylaws, your membership in the organization has been terminated.” 

      So ends an era that began in 1991. I wanted to write novels and, after every publisher in the country rejected my first, I was advised to join a writers' group and get critiques. I saw an ad in the paper for the local RWA Chapter and went to my first meeting where I learned why every publisher in the country had rejected my novel. I realized that I, a former editorial secretary with a B.A. in Creative Writing, had to go back to writers' kindergarten and learn the whole process from the ground up. (A business journal is not a genre novel.) 

      Lots of learning, lots of growth through good times and bad. Thanks to RWA I learned to write fiction (plots, character development, dialogue, pacing, POV) and tons of "how to be a writer" stuff, like critique groups, how to query and submit, identify publishers, how to find an agent, how to get rid of an agent. I felt really good about serving on the Board of my local Chapter, first as Secretary, then Treasurer, and for the past years as Newsletter Editor--again, lots of work but tremendous learning (I got to read all the articles posted to the Editors' loop). And I'm one of those nuts who enjoys obsessing over formatting and type-fitting. 

     Je ne regrette rien. But sometimes one’s just gotta move on, so I chose not to renew my membership in RWA.