Thursday, February 7, 2008

Checking In and Trying to Get Back in the Swing of Things

The Pay It Forward contest is still going on. Leave a comment to be entered and on Feb. 8th I’ll pick two winners.

If you haven't been reading the Maven's blog, then you are missing the new CYOA. The line of authors writing each day's mini chapters is amazing and this is a fun story. Each day you read the new installment and then vote on what happens next. Fun, Fun!!! :D

I know it seems I have been MIA for the past week and in truth, I have. I've read/lurked, but my schedule has been way too crazy to post or even leave comments for the most part.

The retreat was great! Michael Hauge gave us much to work on in our current and future wip. His Identity to Essence is amazing. Funny thing is, I vacillated between my characters and myself.

If you have not heard him teach this, then his DVD is something I highly recommend. I was there, took tons of notes, and still bought them.

We had a full agenda starting with a TARA mixer on Friday night, which was so much fun. Having the time to talk with other members that you don't always have the chance to at the monthly meetings was fun. We learned things about each other and heard of new sells, (Yay Ellisa!!!). There was also some down time for those who did not want to participate in the Saturday afternoon functions. Time to walk on the beach or go shopping. A girls gotta love that. :)

Saturday night we had the pj party and watched the movie Sideways. Michael was speaking on it on Sunday morning. Most of us had not seen the movie, and truth be known, we couldn't really see this as a romantic comedy. Yes, there was laugh out loud moments, but the romance as we romance writers think of romance wasn't really there for most people.

Still, for me the movie was great. The dialogue was funny, yet there was depth to the words. More often than not with a much deeper and different meaning than what was actually said. Favorite part??? Okay, I'm with everyone else, when she hit the guy with the helmet, over and over again. He so deserved it.

Anyway, we had prizes, fun, food, drinks, and a great time. Hopefully this is something we will do again next year.

Now to check in. Not so much writing this past week. I did do edits on the hard copy. I'm in chapter 11 right now. The synopsis has 3 more paragraphs in it, all or most of which will probably be tossed, but I'm writing it. :)

The rest of last week was final prep for the retreat.

This week, finish edits on the hard copy and finish the first draft of the synopsis.

So, how was your week? Did you meet your writing goals, or come close? Oh, the new pic is from the retreat.

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

5 comments:

Carolyn Crane said...

Hey Vicki!

I don't know how I missed your Pay it Forward contest (I mean reading about it, not entering it) But it looks great! I love the goody bag idea. That's also a nice picture. It sounds like you had fun at the conference.

On sideways, yeah, it was a good character movie, but not a romance. It's funny to see what other people consider a romance. They think if there's a couple in it at all, it's a romance. I

Okay, I'm putting something on my blog about your contest. I must've overlooked it on my last visit or two over here!!!

Karen Lingefelt said...

Vicki, I love your new photo! And many thanks again for all the hard work you put into making the TARA retreat such a smashing success! I am so proud to know you.

jenna said...

Your Pay it Forward contest is a wonderful motivation. I am graduating in May with a Master of Social Work so this is what I believe in and work for.

Vicki said...

Hey Carolyn, thanks for posting on your blog about the contest! I love this idea and am so glad I got to be a part of it.

Karen - the photo is the one that $Jean took at the retreat. :D And just so you know, I'm the one who is proud to know you. You are amazing!!!

jenna - Hi, I'm so glad you stopped by and I hope you come back again. :)

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Hi Vicki,

I'm glad the retreat was good. I heard Michael Hague a few years ago at the Creative Screenwriting magazine conference in LA. They still send me information and I got one the other day and thought of you. They have a DVD of Michael's workshops at the conference for sale. Thought you'd be interested. Here's the link:
http://csorders.com/store/product14.html