Good Intentions

That fell by the wayside.

Hey, everyone. Just so you know...I'm not dead (I don't think). I just haven't really read a lot lately. I've been focusing on finishing the first draft of book 1 and that's been taking up a lot of my time. I'm also trying to get a life. I know...so sad.

But, I'm thrilled that I've come up with titles for books 1-4 and can now actually call them something other than The WIP from hell. Would you like to know what they are? Wouldja? Come on! I know you do. LOL!

Here it is!

The Altered Series:

State of Being (book 1)
State of Magic (book 2)
State of Grace (book 3)
State of Mind (book 4)

I'm this close to finishing my first...I won't say draft because that means I'm almost done. I'm almost done with all the scenes for book 1 and then I'll write out the rough draft. With 90% of the scenes done, that means it shouldn't take me very long to write & finish the first real draft. That'll go off to my Beta-Reader (hi, Tracy!) and then once she gets back to me I can start on clean-up and all that good stuff.

My ultimate goal is to have book 1 off to agents by the end of 2009 and hopefully sold by next year. *crossing fingers* I've also got the plots for books 2 & 3 basically figured out and the basic concept of book 4 all ready. So, I can start on those while waiting for feedback.

As for the reading front. Eh. I've read a couple of good books this month, but so far it's been pretty slim pickings. Kind of makes me sad. *sniffle* I'm looking forward to read the Smart Bitches new book. I love the SBs. One of the bestest sites out there!

And that's about it in my neck of the woods. I'll try to keep this blog better updated. As soon as I read a decent book I will review it. *sigh*

Have a great weekend & a Happy Easter!

I've Been Thinking

*sigh* Well, to be honest, I've been a horrible, bad, awful blogger...at least on this blog. It's not that I've been busy, but I've had a lot of awful things happen lately in my personal life. So, to say I'm tired is a bit of an understatement. I haven't been reading a lot of new books lately, though I have a ton of new ones coming out soon that I'm excited about.

I just decided very recently to focus on my writing. I'm desperate to find a brainstorming buddy; even sent an email to Sarah from the Smart Bitches w/ a plea for one. I'm not an idiot, but I've been hitting some major brick walls lately & just trying to figure things out.

Thankfully, I've got vacation coming up this weekend, which I'm greatly looking forward to. I'm leaving for the coast on Sunday & coming back on Wednesday. Yay me! :)

I've come across some wonderful new blogs lately & really enjoying the blogger community, especially readers & writers like myself. It's so nice to find out I'm not alone. :)

For the reviewers out there...have you ever come across a book that's really, really difficult to review? In fact, you decide against doing so because you just don't know what to say? That happened to me recently. There are a couple of books that get rave reviews EVERYWHERE, but for the life of me I just cannot get into them. The books are weighted down by just too much of everything. I decided it was better to keep my mouth shut instead of seeming like the bad guy. Copping out? Probably. *sigh*

So I'm hoping to review soon. There are about a dozen books I'm looking forward to over the next few months. Yay! *happy dance*

What about you? Anything you're waiting for with bated breath?