Emily Goodwin's Blog, page 9
April 14, 2012
Almost done with DC
When it comes to writing, I come up with an idea, play around with it for a few days and usually dive right into whatever scene is fresh in my mind. Once I get that our of my system, I sit back and make a rough outline. Then I make a list of things or scenes I want to include, rework the outline, think of more stuff, rework the outline again and finally start writing.
Why? I like being organized. I like having a clear plot to follow and I like being able to make little connections throughout a series. If I know how book number ten will end, then book number one can contain a crap load of hints and foreshadowing you won't pick up on until the end and then (hopefully) you'll be like 'ohhh, so that's why that happened' or something of the sort.
I wrote three very detailed outlines for the Contagium Trilogy. I wrote the last paragraph in Contagious before I started the novel and I have the last chapter of the final book finished. I try to stick to the outlines because it helps me write quickly. If I know exactly what is suppose to happen, I can type like a ninja. However, I tend to go off from the outline or add more detail than I thought. I tend to find places to add more character development which can literally add chapters that I hadn't planned on writing.
That is my current state with DC. It is a lot longer than I expected. I planned on having Contagious and Deathly Contagious be roughly the same length. DC is already 2,000 words over and not finished. If I stick to my outline, then I have about 2-3 more chapters to go. But, I added another zombie close call scene that takes an emotional toll on some of the MC's, which is gonna add another chapter. So now I have 3-4 chapters to go.
I'm really hoping and trying to get this done by the end of the month or sooner. I do want to take more time with the edits this time and I do have someone else looking through it. I'm very eager to get the book out there but I know you guys like a polished product. So, editing might hold back the release date. I don't really know yet. I've been dreaming about zombies attacking a lot lately :) I think I'm starting to channel Orissa!
Why? I like being organized. I like having a clear plot to follow and I like being able to make little connections throughout a series. If I know how book number ten will end, then book number one can contain a crap load of hints and foreshadowing you won't pick up on until the end and then (hopefully) you'll be like 'ohhh, so that's why that happened' or something of the sort.
I wrote three very detailed outlines for the Contagium Trilogy. I wrote the last paragraph in Contagious before I started the novel and I have the last chapter of the final book finished. I try to stick to the outlines because it helps me write quickly. If I know exactly what is suppose to happen, I can type like a ninja. However, I tend to go off from the outline or add more detail than I thought. I tend to find places to add more character development which can literally add chapters that I hadn't planned on writing.
That is my current state with DC. It is a lot longer than I expected. I planned on having Contagious and Deathly Contagious be roughly the same length. DC is already 2,000 words over and not finished. If I stick to my outline, then I have about 2-3 more chapters to go. But, I added another zombie close call scene that takes an emotional toll on some of the MC's, which is gonna add another chapter. So now I have 3-4 chapters to go.
I'm really hoping and trying to get this done by the end of the month or sooner. I do want to take more time with the edits this time and I do have someone else looking through it. I'm very eager to get the book out there but I know you guys like a polished product. So, editing might hold back the release date. I don't really know yet. I've been dreaming about zombies attacking a lot lately :) I think I'm starting to channel Orissa!
April 12, 2012
Meet Mystery
Mystery is my 21 year old Arabian gelding. If you've read Unbound, you know that Anora also has a white Arabian named Mystery. Now you know why ;) I bought Mystery when I was 16. My current horse, Sundance, was getting old and had pretty bad arthritis and wasn't able to be ridden as much as I liked to ride. I had been on the hunt for a horse for a while when I heard about Mystery.
He went by a different name then (based off of his registered name). He was currently living with his second owner,a woman who showed him in dressage and did pretty well (I got to see a few dressage test scores). His owner got in a non-horse related accident and was no longer able to handle Mystery's springy and bouncy strides. She got a new gaited horse that was smoother to ride. Mystery lost his stall in the barn and was forced to live outside in the middle of a hot summer.
Mystery became an inconvenience and was no longer wanted. On August 28th, a truck was scheduled to come and pick him up and take him to an auction...an auction that sold horses to the slaughter house. (This was back before it was made illegal.)
I saw Mystery once and fell in love with him. I offered the owner my hard earned summer wages and bought Mystery on August 27th.
Mystery is registered and has impressive bloodlines (The Real McCoy is his great grandfather). He has the sweetest personality of any horse I have ever met, and I've been around horses for over 20 years now. We say that if he could crawl in your lap and cuddle with you, he would. He stands perfectly still for grooming, shots, doesn't mind getting his ears clipped, loads into the trailer like a dream, gets along great with other horses, and I do not have to put a halter on him to give him wormer or when he gets his shots. It still baffles me that he was going to be thrown into the kill pen.
Mystery got his name because I couldn't think of anything to call him. I didn't like his current name and felt that he needed a fresh start, including a new name. For the first few hours I owned him, I called him my 'mystery horse' because he was nameless. Then I though, hey...Mystery is a cool name. And so it became his.
Now, that isn't to say Mystery and I haven't had our struggles. I'm convinced that along with dressage, Mystery was used for gaming, particularly barrel racing. I used to only be able to get him to stop if we ran into a fence. He was hyper and LOVED to run. When he saw barrels, he got worked up and knew the pattern, hence me thinking he used to run them.
Mystery hated going slow. He didn't like hunter pleasure classes, I really think it bored him. He was only 15hh but was an amazing jumper. We got one good jumping show season in my senior year of high school. If you're not a horse person, I don't think there is a way to get you to understand how strong of a bond you have with your horse. You trust your horse with your life. You put so much time and effort into caring for them and even more when you're training and showing. My life was literally spent at the barn.
Poor Mystery has had just about everything go wrong. I wasn't told he was prone to colic when I rescued him. He's coliced more than I can remember, one time resulted in a twisted gut and he had to go to Purdue in the middle of the night for emergency surgery. (Thank you Dad for paying that vet bill!) He's chocked twice, both times needing the tube to clear the obstruction. He cribs like a fiend. He's had gravels in his hoof, parts of his tail hair ripped out, allergic reactions to just about anything, swollen legs from fly bites (he's now the 'nerd horse' b/c he wears a fly mask, a fly sheet and fly boots in the summer), cuts, pulled muscles, and ulcers from nerves.
Flash forward seven years. Mystery is older, has hock and stifle issues and can't be ridden. I will occasionally get on and walk/trot bareback. He is every bit as sweet and lovable as ever. He is great with kids and is the calmest horse for 'pony rides'. I think my niece 'rode' him before she was a year old.
I've gone through a lot with that horse. He's taught me even more. He's been there for me when no one else was, he knows all my secrets and will never ever tell. He's tested my patience, my pride, and my willingness to work for what I want. He's taught me responsibility and dedication. He will never judge me for what I look like; he only cares how I treat him and reflects that respect.
It still upsets me when I think that he could have been hung upside down and had his throat sliced open to slowly bleed to death. (If you don't know the disgusting, brutal ways in which horses are slaughtered...you know a bit now. I'll warn you, it's tough to watch, but I think education is a key to getting people to take action.) Though he is far from a perfect, push-button horse, Mystery is perfect to me. I will always love you, Mystery.
April 7, 2012
Love this song
I've been listening to Part of Me on repeat for days. Anyone who has read my books knows that I love strong women. I love the lyrics to this song and the actual video itself. :)
Kelly Clarkson's Stronger is another good one. Maybe I'm super sappy but I really like anything (books/songs/movies...) that can inspire anyone to not give up!
Kelly Clarkson's Stronger is another good one. Maybe I'm super sappy but I really like anything (books/songs/movies...) that can inspire anyone to not give up!
April 6, 2012
I've come to suck your blood
I have this totally irrational fear of needles. Not of all needles, just needles that are going to stick me. I can give a shot, take blood, watch surgery, clean necrotic tissue from a wound (I pretty much love gross stuff) but I FREAK out when someone has to take my blood.
One in seven people admitted to the hospital needs blood, someone needs blood every couple seconds, and one pint of blood can save three lives.
I decided to get over my fear and donate blood.
My heart was beating so fast (96 BPM haha) when they did the initial assessment and I was so scared I was almost shaking. Luckily my wonderful friend K was with me to laugh at me and calm me down. I couldn't look when the phlebotomist stuck the needle in. The needle, BTW, is bigger than 'normal' so the platelets don't break apart when leaving the vein.
I could barely feel the needle once it was in my arm. I was told I have 'good blood' and my bag filled really fast (like only 10 minutes) due to being well hydrated. So, it wasn't bad at all. I feel good about donating blood and I hope it can go to someone who needs it! I will definitely be donating again in the future and I encourage others to donate as well! :)
One in seven people admitted to the hospital needs blood, someone needs blood every couple seconds, and one pint of blood can save three lives.
I decided to get over my fear and donate blood.
My heart was beating so fast (96 BPM haha) when they did the initial assessment and I was so scared I was almost shaking. Luckily my wonderful friend K was with me to laugh at me and calm me down. I couldn't look when the phlebotomist stuck the needle in. The needle, BTW, is bigger than 'normal' so the platelets don't break apart when leaving the vein.
I could barely feel the needle once it was in my arm. I was told I have 'good blood' and my bag filled really fast (like only 10 minutes) due to being well hydrated. So, it wasn't bad at all. I feel good about donating blood and I hope it can go to someone who needs it! I will definitely be donating again in the future and I encourage others to donate as well! :)
April 4, 2012
Win a copy of Beyond the Sea!
If you're interested in Beyond the Sea, enter here for a chance to win an ecopy! :)
April 2, 2012
Haters gonna hate
You know who you are...and I would like to thank you. Your ranting only brought my sales up and increased traffic on my blog by 70%. I will never understand people who try to bring others down. I will never understand your bitterness or your desire to see me fail. Your attempts to cease my sales and slander my name have utterly failed.
I write because I love to, not because I have something to prove. I absolutely love my characters, story lines and plots. I publish my work because I think others may enjoy it too. I am not doing this for money (if I was then why am I working on getting my second degree??) Writing is a hobby and it is my dream to someday be able to call it my career. I will not let people like you even faze me.
So why write this post? To hopefully share some insight to others just starting out or others thinking about publishing their own work. Every book will get bad reviews. Deal with it and move on. If you put something out into the public, someone will feel it is their right or duty to harp about how horrible it was to them. And you might even get people who have to go on and on and on...just remember they have nothing better to do than try to bring you down or prove how they think they are better than others and that their opinion is morally superior.
My psychology of counseling professor used to tell us not to judge our clients because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how right or wrong that opinion is. I accept that and believe it to its fullest. Some people feel their opinion is so right/strong/better whatever that they will do whatever they can to try and prove their point.
And please, remember that if someone does try to get you down, then you must be up pretty high. People are jealous in nature. Not all people-thankfully-but plenty of them. (Cue Midnight Star, my fairy tale style novel about jealousy being the root of all evil.) People LOVE finding flaws. Why? I think it is because it makes them feel better about themselves.
Come on...who doesn't smile at the 'celebs without makeup' pics? I think people compare themselves on every level and it's freaking ridiculous! I think these 'bringer downers' are so unhappy with themselves that they try to pick apart others in order to feel better.
Well, it doesn't work. In the end you will still be the same person you were before. Except a little more petty.
I fully believe there are more important things in life than trying to prove you are right. Esp over the internet to strangers. My time is too valuable to me to sit in front of a computer all day and write negative comments. I really do not understand people who deliberately try to hurt people. Those people try to do everything to get a reaction out of you-don't let them! They are not worth it.
Never give up on your dreams. Negative people are just bumps along the road to success, bumps that are not worth your time or energy. Also, I have never given away a book on goodreads. Your lies are so weak. Hah. If you are gonna make up lies about me, at least make them good!
Thank you again to everyone who supported and defended me. Let's stop contributing though, ok? I do not need to be defended from lies. That person's story is so crazy, long, mean spirited and (again) crazy that I am not worried anyone will believe a word of it.
This whole post isn't aimed at that person, either. It's something I have been thinking about for a while (again, that is the basis for Midnight Star, which I started in 2010) and just sorta popped into my head, making me want to go all philosophic lol. Anyway, I leave you all with this, b/c Jenna is freaking awesome!
ETA: I do no support cyberbullying in ANY form. It is something I take seriously and know that it can really hurt people. Hiding behind a computer screen makes people feel untouchable and removes some humanity from the hurtful comments. But remember that a REAL person is reading the comments and has real feelings. I am not talking about anyone specific, this is in general. So please, take it seriously too. Don't partake in it. Report those that do. I don't expect this world to ever be perfect (we all remember what happened when Mulder wished for world peace...) but if we all do a little more than expected-which isn't much-then maybe we can encourage others to do so too.
I write because I love to, not because I have something to prove. I absolutely love my characters, story lines and plots. I publish my work because I think others may enjoy it too. I am not doing this for money (if I was then why am I working on getting my second degree??) Writing is a hobby and it is my dream to someday be able to call it my career. I will not let people like you even faze me.
So why write this post? To hopefully share some insight to others just starting out or others thinking about publishing their own work. Every book will get bad reviews. Deal with it and move on. If you put something out into the public, someone will feel it is their right or duty to harp about how horrible it was to them. And you might even get people who have to go on and on and on...just remember they have nothing better to do than try to bring you down or prove how they think they are better than others and that their opinion is morally superior.
My psychology of counseling professor used to tell us not to judge our clients because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no matter how right or wrong that opinion is. I accept that and believe it to its fullest. Some people feel their opinion is so right/strong/better whatever that they will do whatever they can to try and prove their point.
And please, remember that if someone does try to get you down, then you must be up pretty high. People are jealous in nature. Not all people-thankfully-but plenty of them. (Cue Midnight Star, my fairy tale style novel about jealousy being the root of all evil.) People LOVE finding flaws. Why? I think it is because it makes them feel better about themselves.
Come on...who doesn't smile at the 'celebs without makeup' pics? I think people compare themselves on every level and it's freaking ridiculous! I think these 'bringer downers' are so unhappy with themselves that they try to pick apart others in order to feel better.
Well, it doesn't work. In the end you will still be the same person you were before. Except a little more petty.
I fully believe there are more important things in life than trying to prove you are right. Esp over the internet to strangers. My time is too valuable to me to sit in front of a computer all day and write negative comments. I really do not understand people who deliberately try to hurt people. Those people try to do everything to get a reaction out of you-don't let them! They are not worth it.
Never give up on your dreams. Negative people are just bumps along the road to success, bumps that are not worth your time or energy. Also, I have never given away a book on goodreads. Your lies are so weak. Hah. If you are gonna make up lies about me, at least make them good!
Thank you again to everyone who supported and defended me. Let's stop contributing though, ok? I do not need to be defended from lies. That person's story is so crazy, long, mean spirited and (again) crazy that I am not worried anyone will believe a word of it.
This whole post isn't aimed at that person, either. It's something I have been thinking about for a while (again, that is the basis for Midnight Star, which I started in 2010) and just sorta popped into my head, making me want to go all philosophic lol. Anyway, I leave you all with this, b/c Jenna is freaking awesome!
ETA: I do no support cyberbullying in ANY form. It is something I take seriously and know that it can really hurt people. Hiding behind a computer screen makes people feel untouchable and removes some humanity from the hurtful comments. But remember that a REAL person is reading the comments and has real feelings. I am not talking about anyone specific, this is in general. So please, take it seriously too. Don't partake in it. Report those that do. I don't expect this world to ever be perfect (we all remember what happened when Mulder wished for world peace...) but if we all do a little more than expected-which isn't much-then maybe we can encourage others to do so too.
