M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 72
January 13, 2011
My Ego Is Showing
It all started with getting my awesome cover…something good has happened every day since. Today, I woke up to my Very First Review from Romantic Times! It's web only, so I don't have to run out to get the magazine, but it's 4 stars!!!
January 12, 2011
The New NEW Contract
I take back everything bad I said about 2011.
Yesterday I got a Google Alert that Shannon Stacey had reviewed Sunrise Over Texas. Okay, if you don't know Shannon, let's just say she's someone I admire a lot. I don't think she knows me from Adam, except that we write for 2 of the same houses, but I started following her on Twitter because she's hilarious. And she's written 2 of my favorite books. So knowing she was reading my book was a bit nervewracking. She reads a lot and, well, I was nervous. But she gave it a great review.
THEN I get home after tutoring and I have an email from my Carina Press editor.
Y'all. I couldn't open it right away. I've not had good news from her since August, so…I wuz skeered (and I may be a little buzzed while writing this. I'm NOT writing it this morning, BTW). But then I sucked it up and opened it to see, "Congratulations!" My editor had read it in one sitting, and wanted to tell me over the holidays but she hadn't wanted to raise my hopes since it had to go to another editor first. No details, but the working title was 3 Days, 2 Nights, and is a novella. So, y'all. After 12 years of NADA, I've got my 15th contract.
:::happy sigh:::
January 11, 2011
My Favorite Things: Winter 2011
Fuzzy blanket and slippers–one of my students gave me this for Christmas and it is SO SOFT and warm!
Twilight Woods–another student gave me this. I'd never smelled it before but I love it!
Kevin Kowalski–OMG, the scene at Joe's wedding sent me tumbling head over heels!
Knight and Day–very actiony!
Damn You, AutoCorrect–this website cracks me up, but beware of language.
My new watch–way cool.
My new necklace–I can't get an image but here's her website. It's made of tin.
My new washer–it's quiet and quick.
My new shower head–get your mind out of the gutter. It's one of the rain style ones and so relaxing!
What do you love lately?
January 10, 2011
What's in a Name?
Brrr….windchills are about 10 degrees below the air temp–cold for us Texans. Many of my students don't have coats, just hoodies. We ordinarily don't need them.
So, my gift book came with everything but names, and I can't find my list of favorite names, and I don't want to go back through my baby name book right now. I'm trying to remember names I've used already and wonder when an author can start recycling!
Hero names I've used: Seth, Taylor, Del, Mal, Ethan, Noah, Sam, Brady, Alex, Gabe, Adrian, Leo, Quinn, Maddox, Cullen, Zac, Trace, Cam, Nat, Marcus.
Heroine names I've used: Haven, Lauren, Lavender, Liv, Maddy, McKenna, Ellie, Lorelei, Bella, Peyton, Mallory, Trinity, Lily, Beth, Kyra, Paige, Kit, Willow, Brylie.
My hero in the gift book is early 30s, a part-time bartender and a teacher, kind of bookish, wire-rimmed glasses but modeled after Alex O.
My heroine is the owner of the bar, early 30s, a bit rebellious in a conservative family. Not sure who I'm modeling her after yet. Not even sure what color hair she has. I thought blonde, but I've written a lot of blondes lately.
Anyone have any favorite names?
January 9, 2011
Goals for the Second Week of the Year
The bad thing about getting a new washer? The baskets of laundry now waiting to be folded.
Last week was an AMAZING writing week. Wednesday, my cover. Thursday, finished edits. Friday, a contract. Saturday, after my celebratory dinner, we went to Borders and saw Breaking Daylight on the shelf! I've never seen it in the wild, and I didn't ask them to carry it, so MAJOR awesome.
In my classroom's newsletter, I wrote that this will be our first normal school week in MONTHS. After school, not so much.
This week:
1) A friend's mom died, so I want to go to the Rosary Monday.
2) Faculty meeting Wednesday
3) Tutoring two days.
4) SPN Sisters blog
5) Judge one GH entry
6) Promo
7) Get to halfway point of post-apoc
8) Get 2/3 through revisions on Bluestone (I'm halfway)
9) Work on centers for my classroom (my favorite way to teach, thrown off-course this year by my student teacher)
10) House
11) Walk three times, though it's supposed to be absolutely frigid. I got on the boy's scale and—wow. NOT good. I was MUCH better about not snacking, though. MUCH better.
I need to finish these edits because I cannot find any good pictures of Henry 
You'd think as handsome as he is, it would be easy.
January 8, 2011
The New Contract
Yep, the year is definitely looking up. In a few hours I'll be able to do laundry again with my spanking new washer, my edits are done and…..
I got a new contract yesterday! Lyrical Press contracted my bodyguard book, which I finished revising last month. This is my 14th contract and 9th full-length book.
Today…I want to get through 4 more pages of edits on Bluestone, then work the rest of the weekend on the post-apoc. I haven't worked on it in about a week
January 7, 2011
The Gift
This is only too true at my house. Usually I have one cat and my husband has two curled up on us. Little YaYa knows if I have my laptop, I'm probably not going anywhere, so the blanket and I become her best friends.
2011 is looking up. I have a new washer being delivered tomorrow, Cindi's buying me lunch today for fixing her school website, I have a beautiful cover, some good news pending, my edits on STTA are done (round 1, anyway), and I finished reading a book last night.
AND the night before last I was given a gift. A complete contemporary romance. Characters, motivation, plot. I think I could write this baby in 2 weeks, maybe 3, if I didn't have other things ahead of it. But while the kids tested yesterday, I outlined it. But dang, I'm dying to write it. But I have the post-apoc to write by March 1, my NaNo book to edit and send in, and requested editorial revisions (pre-contract), I have to prepare some promotion, AND my GH entries came yesterday.
So I'm going to have to be really disciplined. I do not have to read every Tweet in my Twitter stream, going back hours. My Tivo can hold some of my shows. I'm already not as active on email and Facebook (though to me that's promo, too, right?)
Wish me luck!
January 5, 2011
The Ones I Would Love To Go Back To
In my many years writing, there've been a few misses that were actually some pretty good ideas. I think with some work and revisions, they could be fixed, and I enjoy the characters enough that I wouldn't mind.
The one with the heroine who's a spy and the bad guy who's maybe not. This was my first NaNoWriMo novel and I slogged along with it for a couple of days before I turned the bad guy into the hero of the novel. It's a mess, but I loved every minute of writing it. I like the hero-in-doubt idea and the heroine doubting her own judgment. It needs a, well, a plot, but I would enjoy fixing it.
The one with the single mom who falls for the brother of her child's father. I love the tough little heroine, who has it rough, buried under responsibility, and who has no faith in men after being dumped by her child's father and her own. The hero is a returning vet who needs tutoring to pass the test to become a police officer. Needs more focus on the romance, I think.
The one with the heroine who moves to a small town to renovate her grandmother's home and falls for the carpenter. I love the setting (small town Texas) and the secondaries more than I like the hero (a George Bailey type) and the heroine, but I can work with that. Also, it's over 600 pages, because it had 2 other romances in it. I could split it into two, maybe three books. And my stepdad recently discovered the whole shebang on his hard drive, so I have the foundation.
The one where the heroine is an Elizabeth Smart-type survivor. I just need a real plot.
The one where the hero and heroine are estranged after the loss of a child. I really like the heroine of this book. I have a plot but don't know if I can bear to write it.
The one where the heroine is being held hostage and the hero is the negotiator. Clearly I have rescue fantasies. I wrote half of this one before I realized it had no plot.
The one where the hero is a large animal vet (not the same as the zoo story) caring for his drunk brother and disabled sister. The story opens when his father returns from prison where he served time for killing the hero's mother. No idea who the heroine is there.
Can I have a clone, please?
January 4, 2011
The Ones That Won't See the Light of Day
I have written a lot of books, and I know some people who are self-publishing their old manuscripts, but for me, there are some no one will ever ever see.
The one set in Northern Ireland, during the worst of the IRA troubles. I don't think I actually ever finished it. It was a secret baby book, btw.
The one with the rhino vet. 2 do-gooders meet and fall in love at the SA Zoo while trying to breed rhinos. Sex-ay. But I know a LOT about rhinos now.
The one with the vampire hunter. He's a hunter, she's a human raised by vampires. Sounds good, right? But no matter how I revise, it's missing something.
The one with the skateboarder single dad and his nanny. Yeah, that about sums it up. I think he had 4 kids or something.
The one with the bad boy and the bed –and-breakfast owner (though it was my first editor request). Also kinda says it all.
The one with the boss's daughter and the single dad (though it was my first contest final) There was a lot of extraneous stuff in there. A. Lot. Like I was tumbling conflicts around in one of those Bingo number things and just grabbed stuff out.
The one with the hero's dad marrying the heroine's dad. That one had significantly less conflict.
What do you have under your bed?
