I've been extremely busy this month. I'm participating in the JANO competition, which is sponsored by Sleuths' Ink Mystery Writers. JANO is a competition where authors attempt to write 50,000 words during the month of January. I won't say what number I've achieved thus far because this is a competition, and the final numbers are confidential, but I'm doing well.
My goal this month was to finish the rough drafts of two books that I already had in progress. Known as Works in Progress or WIP, these are books that I started, wrote for several months, and then found myself disenchanted, stuck, or inspired to write something else. JANO gave me the motivation to dust them off and finish them.
When I say rough drafts, I mean they are both a far cry from being the quality I am willing to allow another human being to read. No one will be reading these books as they stand at the moment. The important part is that the base story is on paper. Er, the computer.
The first book I completed this month is a Christmas cozy mystery novel about a teacher who enters a baking contest during her hometown's Christmas festival, which ends in murder. She actually becomes the main suspect and has to prove her innocence before the real killer can be found. I hope to have that book finished, edited, and published by next Christmas.
The second rough draft I finished was the sequel to Sally's Secret Legacy. I'm calling it Christy's Cursed Legacy. If you read Sally's story, you will remember Christy. She started out as a minor character but quickly grew in importance. By the time I finished writing Sally's book, I knew Christy needed her own story.
Christy's story is quite convoluted right now. I don't know if I will keep all of the conflict, but the poor woman is going to have her share of obstacles before she gets her happy ending. This book has required a great deal more research than Sally's story, and I still need to have some experts look at certain passages to make certain I've written them correctly. The last thing I want is someone being thrown out of my story due to an incorrect detail. My goal is to have Christy's Cursed Legacy finished, edited, and published sometime this year.
Since January is all about writing, not editing, I will be spending this last week of the month working on some short stories. There are several contests on the horizon that I would like to enter. I'm working on a romantic short story for the Joplin Writers' Guild Valentine contest right now. When I finish that, I will begin my work on my contest entries for the Between the Pages Writers Conference. There is so much writing to be done and so little time.
What will I do in February?
I'm glad you asked. I'm beginning the month by making a presentation to Ozarks Romance Authors about finding inspiration in surprising places. I have a fifteen slide PowerPoint and everything. I've been working on the handout, and it's coming along nicely, as well.
The week after my presentation, I will celebrate with the other Sleuths' Ink Mystery Writers JANO competitors. Whether we all achieved our goals or not, we should be proud of our efforts. Then, I'm all about revising, rewriting, and reimagining. When that's all finished, I need to find a new editor. No pressure, right?
Thank you for reading Ozarks Maven! If you’ve enjoyed my little seeds of wisdom and joy, please join me again next week for more Ozarks Maven.
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