Really Late Check In and a few Pics of the B-day Party

Missy and Aaron have went home. The goodbyes at the airport were filled with hugs and tears. When I came back home the house felt empty and it was hard to get back into the swing of things.

But I'm back now. Ready to post last weeks word count and begin working on the book again. I a little less than a month to finish the first draft of this wip so busy I will be. :)

Word count for last week is: 3593 and that's without writing once the family came in town. Needless to say I wrote hard and long for several days prior. Most of it is probably POS but I can fix it later.

Since I said I'd post a few pics of the party here you go. The party was a murder mystery so everyone came in their characters. I'd never done one of these and it turned out to be really fun.













Since it's so late in the week I'm not doing a contest this week. Next week I'll have the next book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series.

So, how was your week? Did you do anything crazy and fun? How was your writing week? Did you meet your goals?

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki

Family, Parties, and Contest Winners - Pics to Follow

I’m having a wonderful time with my daughter and snl. It’s going to be very hard on Tuesday morning when I take them back to the airport. :(

Since they live in Arizona, we see each other once or twice a year and that’s just not enough when you’re as close as we are.

My actual b-day is Monday but they threw a party for me last night. It was so much fun. We did a murder mystery and everyone had a blast. Most came in costume according to their characters. I have to say that Holly and Les (character names) blew me away when they walked in the door. They came in as their characters and stayed that way until the very end. It was great. We laughed, ate, laughed more and just had a wonderful time.

I’ve got pictures to prove it and will post them later today or tomorrow.

The contest winner for this past week is none other than the fab Anne-Marie. I can’t wait for you to read this book. Since you’ve told me that you haven’t really read vampire books you are in for a major treat. JR Ward is definitely one of the best to begin with. I can’t wait to hear what you thought about the book. :)

Today Science Guy and I are taking the kids (they’re not actually kids but to me they probably always will be), to the beach for breakfast. Yummy place and it’s right on the beach. It’s a bit cool though but that’s okay. Jackets, food, beach sand, water hitting the edge, and of course a walk on said beach is in order.

Tomorrow is check in with your word count and a new contest.

So, what’s your weekend been like? Anything exciting or have you relaxed, getting yourself ready for the new workweek?

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki

Major Congrats for CL Wilson

The kids are here and we're playing but I couldn't wait till next week for this. CL Wilson, Cheryl, has made the NYT best-sellers list. Whoo-hoo!!! In fact she is #26. Huge party going on right now! Lots of cyber snoopy dancing, chocolate, and wine going around. Of course the real thing is happening as well.

If you haven't read her books then what are you waiting for. They are amazing.

Anyway, I'm off to do things with the family but had too put thisup first.

Hope everyone's weekend is great. I'll announce this weeks winner on Sunday so be sure and check back.

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

Family's Here So Today We Play

Hey everyone, just a quick note to let you know I won't be putting up a T13 this week. Since Melissa and Aaron just came in last night we'll be out playing today.

I'll post tomorrow but in the mean time I thought you might like to post in the comments three of your favorite things to do or places to go. All comments will be added to win the contest this week.

Hope everyone has a great day and yeah, it's weird to not be around my blog family and friends. :)

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

What Do Your Characters Eat?

A friend sent this to me and I loved it. I thought I'd share it with you.



The Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all..

One is Evil.

It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good.
It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.


The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"


The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."


Not only does this apply to us it applies to our characters. What are you feeding them? Does your H/H struggle to be good or perhaps your Villain, does he/she feast on evil or struggles to maintain the evil inside?

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

Monday Check In and Contest

I totally forgot to announce last week’s contest winner! One of the girls at work drew the name and everything. So before I go forward, let’s go back in time pretending it’s Friday for a moment. :)

The winner is Anne!! Major congrats!! Email me your snail mail addy at vickilanewrites @ yahoo.com and I’ll mail out your book.

Also, I haven’t heard from Susanhalter, the winner of the weeks before. Please email me your information as well.

Time for check in: Word count for last week is 2552. Not a bad word count but not the amount that I need to finish on time. Which basically means my daily word count goal now becomes a bit higher.

I didn’t write at all yesterday. I read the 4th book in the JR Ward, Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I couldn’t put it down. Her world…hmmmm…really the brotherhoods world is amazing.

In fact, for the next several weeks I’m going to give away her books. Since I’ve already given away Dark Lover, this week we’ll begin with book two.



Lover Eternal is the second in the series. You can read an excerpt at the link above. This is Rhage’s book.

Here’s the back cover blurb:

Within the brotherhood, Rhage is the vampire with the strongest appetites. He’s the best fighter, the quickest to act on his impulses, and the most voracious lover—for inside him burns a ferocious curse cast by the Scribe Virgin. Possessed by this dark side, Rhage fears the times when his inner dragon is unleashed, making him a danger to everyone around him.

Mary Luce, a survivor of many hardships, is unwittingly thrown into the vampire world and reliant on Rhage’s protection. With a life-threatening curse of her own, Mary is not looking for love. Her faith in miracles was lost years ago. But when Rhage’s intense animal attraction turns into something more emotional, he knows that he must make Mary his alone. And while their enemies close in, Mary fights desperately to gain life eternal with the one she loves…

If you want to know which of the brothers I like better, I can’t give you that answer. It’s a bonding thing and when you become bonded to the brotherhood you love them all and their Shellans. No, there's not a spicy aroma emitting, that's between a male and his mate. Still you can be sure there is a bonding. That is unless you like the smell of baby powder discharging from your soul. Then the bond thing, not so much.

They each have different strengths and weakness. Ummm…don’t tell Zsadist I said anything about weaknesses. Okay, maybe you shouldn’t tell any of them I said that. They’re not so much down on the weakness thing.

I cannot actually visit the compound and let Wrath, the King, know I’m sharing their world with you, I can only hope he will read this blog. You see as a human once you’ve been there you can’t go back. Just ask Butch. But then, why would you want too? :)

Oh, and one more thing. Actually this is a very important thing. Should you meet the Scribe Virgin remember to keep your head lowered and DO NOT ask her any questions. No matter how badly you'd like to know the answers. None, not a one.

So, it’s your turn. Did any of the above wet your appetite? How did you do this week? Did you meet your goals? Have you read any of the Black Dagger books? Let us know.

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki

T13 - Halloween

Before I start the T13 I wanted to remind you one last time to check out the Maven’s blog. The story is over and oh yeah, I want more. The end was incredible. No one saw that twist. :) If you haven’t read them go now and read each one from the beginning. Then vote on the title. They’re listed on today’s blog and let me tell you it will be a hard decision. This has been so much fun. Thank you Mavens for doing it and I can’t wait until the next one happens. Big hint there.

Another Halloween has come and gone. These are just a few of things I enjoy on this day.

1. Decorating the house and the yard. I didn’t decorate this year which is odd for me. There are several homes around me that did though and they went all out. So much so that traffic slows down to look at them. Not that I mind since I’m part of the slow down traffic. It seems each time I see something new.

2. Dressing up. Oh yeah, I still like to dress up. At the ‘day job’ we can come in costume to work. This is always fun since it’s such a large company you see everything from an orange t-shirt w/ jeans to a full all out costume.

3. Candy or chocolate to be exact. All those bags of chocolate to give out to the kids. I love seeing their costumes and their faces as you put candy in their bags. I like to give out the good stuff. The kind that when they get home and their parents look through the bag I know they’ll want to keep it.

4. Apples – candy or caramel. Either one works for me. I don’t give those out but eating them are yummy.

5. Movies – Okay so I can’t really watch the scary movies. It something about my mind that wants to turn them in to reality. I mean I watched the first Jason movie way back in the day and still I can see the mask.

6. The day after Halloween sale – this is for candy, costumes for next year, and new decorations. Gotta love a sale.

7. Seeing the pictures of Leslie Kelly’s house on the Plotmonkeys blog. She really knows how to do a haunted house.

8. HGTV – What can I say? I love this channel and this time of year they show all sorts of homes that decorate for Halloween. It can takes months and months for some of these houses.

9. Fall is finally arriving down in the south. Not to say that it’s much cooler but at least you know it’s here.

10. This one goes along with 9 but for me it signals the time to begin in earnest with the rest of the year’s decorations and buying presents for Christmas. OMG, it’s really less than two months away!!!

11. Parties – friends and family getting together to laugh, eat, drink and relax.

12. Changing the decorations from spooky to turkeys. :) Yep, I have stuff that can be left out for the entire two months (October and November) but I also have some that needs to go back into their Rubbermaid homes and others that come out. (I know, I didn’t decorate for Halloween this year, but I’ll pull out the Thanksgiving stuff this weekend)

13. Friends, and blogs, and emails, Oh MY! I’m sure you’re like me and have friends who you’ve never actually met and this is one of those times of the year were you see pictures, hear about their family’s fun and send pictures back and forth.

So, how was your Halloween? Did you dress up? Do you have lots of candy left over or did you give it all out and have to look for something else to hand out as the last group came to your house?



WW’s and PD’s,
Vicki