Will Blog For Votes...And Check Out The Group Blog Contest Below

I found out my blog is over on the P&E Poll and how cool is that. I'd love to have your votes and yes this is shameless promotion, but I've never been on the poll before and...well, it's freaking cool to see my blog name there.

If you click here it'll take you right to it.

Or you paste http://www.critters.org/predpoll/writerinfo.shtml into your browser if you'd rather.

The blog is listed as Writing With Vicki.

Thank you if you vote and thank you for being wonderful blog readers and friends even if you vote for someone else.

I guess the big thing is Vote. Okay, that sort of sounds like our elections. But really, vote for me or someone, or me. :)

AND CHECK THIS OUT - From the group blog I'm on. Each month there is a theme for the month and a give away.

Feel Free to post this on your blogs and /or forward it to your loops.

**Permission to Forward**

Hey, everybody. All week on www.EverybodyNeedsA LittleRomance. com we’re talking about beauty mistakes we’ve made. What better place to learn about mistakes to put your heroine through without even having to try them yourselves?

Up today is self-tanning by Melissa. There’s going to be some great topics coming up this week. Mine is tomorrow and I'll be talking about what else, coloring my hair.

Be sure to stop in this week. And you might win a $15.00 Amazon gift card just for leaving a comment!

Comments must be left on the Everybody Needs A Little Romance blog to be entered.


So go vote and then go leave your comments on the group blog. :)

WW's and PD's,

Vicki

Friday Friday Friday...WhooHoo

Boy did I ever need for Friday to get here. This has been a crazy week. Nothing bad, just crazy.

Tomorrow's my TARA meeting and I can't wait. I need this once a month time to be surrounded by other writers and talk about all things writing. :)

The winner from Tuesday's comments on Everybody Needs A Little Romance, blog I'll be blogging on Tuesday's, is Phyllis Towzey. Yay!!! Email me your info at vickilanewrites@yahoo.com and you'll receive a surprise. Don't ya love surprises???

Hope everyone has a great weekend and remember to check out the blog above. Next week is beauty week. Anything can happen over there next week, so don't miss it.

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki

Erica Ridley and THE CALL - Her Call

I'm a few days late reporting this, but it's still a Squeeee for my Tara sister, Erica Ridley. She received 'The Call'. WhooHoo!!! I'm so excited for her. She is an amazing writer and a cool person as well.

Check out her call story and the rest of her blog.

E, I can't wait to read your book(s)and major congrats too you!

One of the best things about being a writer is your other writer friends. Some are the ones you know in person and some are the ones you meet along the way through loops, blogs, and emails. But the one thing that you have in common with any of them is the excitement when something good/great happens. This isn't a career that breeds jealousy, but one that inspires us as we see or hear about others awesome news.

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

I Need A Vacation - Xposted

Did the holidays really just end? Are you sure? Because right now I’m really thinking I need a vacation.

My day job, the one that pays the bills, is a 24/7 live TV show and during the month of December things slow down. So much so, by Christmas week and the week after the place has very few people working. Everyone saves vacation time to take since there isn’t anything to do.

I love this time and take a couple of long weekends, but work the rest of it. I can organize everything for the coming year and it’s quiet.

Then everyone comes back...Read the rest of the post over at Everybody Needs A Little Romance

I'll be posting over there each Tuesday and today's the first time for me there, so go over and leave me a comment and then let me know here that you did as well. There'll be a surprise on Friday. :)

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

Taking it Down, Putting it Away, and...Wait, It's All Still There

The holidays are officially over and my tree is still up. Yep, you read correctly. The tree, the smaller silver tree, (which is a really cool fiber optic), and the village are still glowing each night as if they’re waiting for the season to begin.

I’d planned to take it all down this weekend as I usually do, but I also needed to finish the final edits on ATB (which means I’ve cut 20,000 words out of the story). I’m happy to report it’s done. Finished. WhooHoo!!

Thought about taking it all down this evening, but after reading Hawk’s blog, I was trembling at the thought of killer dust bunnies. What’s one more night? Or two? Right?

Tonight I’ll clean my office because by the end of the book, there’s paper everywhere from edits, pics of my H/H, research notes, and just general stuff. And look at my cp’s work, which I need to critique/read through.

I’d rather be working on AToD though. I’d thought I’d give myself a few days off, but Annie is talking away. She’s ready and I don’t know about you, but when my characters are ready, my fingers get itchy to be on the keyboard.

Tomorrow I’m blogging over at Everybody Needs A Little Romance. You can find me there each Tuesday. I’m blogging along with four other writers from my GIAM group and it’s a great blog. Next week is beauty…hmmmm…can you say beauty issues. It promises to be funny, omg you didn’t do that, and a wow kind of week as each day we’ll talk about beauty and well, you’ll have to check it out next week.

So, what about you? Have you put away all your holiday decorations? Did you find a little bit of wrapping paper or bows once you thought you had it all stored away? Or are you like me and it’s still up shinning bright?

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki

Happy New Years Eve

Just a quick Happy New Years Eve to all my blog world friends. I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun, and safe night.

See you all next year!!!

WW's and PD's,
Vicki

Goals, Time to Step It Up A Notch

2009 is almost here and with the New Year brings new goals as well as reflections of last years goals. Time to think about what’s accomplished or what fork split the road when you least expected it to.

Last year I talked about what a goal is, you can click here if you’d like to read it. This year I’m thinking differently about goals. What do they do and how can making them affect the year ahead.

For me, goals are my roadmap, the direction I want to take with my writing career. Yes, I want an agent and to receive ‘The Call’ this year and I’m doing everything in my power to achieve that. But those aren’t really goals, since I can’t make them actually happen.

This year my goal is to finish two books. Plain and simple, right? Okay, not so much. In order to do that I need a plan. Write everyday, yes, every single day. Four months to write the first book and edit it, take a couple weeks break and then write the second book (same timeframe). Yep, stepping it up to two books, completed and edited. See, I'm figuring it's better to work like I'm already published with deadlines. Look out cp's, we're going to be busy. I have the best cp's in the world and they work just as hard.

We did this really cool thing at my TARA meeting this past year. We wrote on a post card three things we’d like to do and gave them to the wonderful June. Three months later those who participated, received the postcard in the mail. I was in a meeting and didn’t get to do it, but those that did raved or how cool it was to see what they’d done and how close they were to completing all three things.

So, if you’d like, email me three things you’d like to accomplish in the next three months, along with your address and I’ll send out the postcard to you.

Changing venues here:

More than likely you’ve listened to Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. If not, then trust me its well worth the hour.

Here’s a small recap from his lecture.

When you’re doing poorly and no one is telling you, that’s a bad place to be. – Wow, if no one ever told us when something didn’t work in our writing, where would we be?

Experience is what you get, when you didn’t get what you wanted. – Think about this one. Maybe you didn’t final in ‘that’ contest, but you did gain experience whether it was thicker skin or learning how to make your work better.

Don’t bail: the best gold is at the bottom of the barrel of crap. – So how does, this relate? Never give up.

And two of my favorites:

Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want something. They’re not there to keep people who want it out, but to stop those don’t.

Be prepared: “Luck” is where preparation meets opportunity.

So what about you? Are you making goals for 09? Did your goals last year help you or did you forget to look back at them from time to time?

Writing Wishes and Plotting Dreams,
Vicki