New year - brand new awesome writing organization!

Yeah, I know. I like to set my titles a little over the top so I can point and laugh in a few months when I'm back to piles of paper decorated with festive coffee rings. A few of you have been asking about the blackboard and how that bad boy is working out for me so I took a quick snap of it this morning.

I'm all for child labor, so Daughter #3 helped with organizing the beast that is becoming the Zombie Dating Guide by writing on the board. Since I usually write point A --> point B, all these sections were overwhelming on the computer and I needed to get them out there in chalkdust flavored goodness.

So what's on the agenda for your new year writing organization? Shiny new planners? A fabulous journal? A rainbow of sticky-notes?

Got a minute?

The One-Minute Writer challenged me to a danceoff. Daily prompts on Twitter drag me away from Bejeweled Blitz for one minute and I write like a mad then pat myself on the back when I don't sound like a complete lunatic. It's a little jumpstart to get the juices flowing when I may not feel like it that day - and I'm leeeettle competitive even it's just against myself. ;)

Who's with me?

Danceoff in one...two...thr---- GO

Happy holidays from the unlucky in love zombie horde!

I've been buried under zombies and 27" of snow for so long I almost forgot to wish y'all a merry whatever-you-celebrate-as-long-as-you-do-it-with-gusto!

Zombie-wise: 31 sections are being edited, sent out to betas and compiled into one huge-ass file for me to obsess over. I never thought I'd be worried about where to put "Speed Dating for the Undead - an oxymoron or cruel joke?" - between the "Zombie Zodiac" or "Zombie lovin' - Is it Rigor Mortis or something more festive?" My eyes are bleary and my knees are weak, thank god for spiked eggnog or you wouldn't see this bad boy until 2020.

Snow: We're also under some freakish storm nicknamed Snowapalooza or Snowmageddon or some other stupid name. We're trapped and after the first few times of pulling my daughter out of her snow cave when it fell on her head, it gets old. St. Augustine, Florida, answer my desperate calls and get me outta here!

Here's hoping y'all have an excellent holiday season and shiny new calendars for 2010!

Writing with kids

I demand the Cone of Silence!

While writing during NaNo last month, I had to escape the love of my five daughters whose demands for hair straighteners and lost spelling homework broke my groove. To signal "Mommy writing time" I brought out the Cone of Silence - the Get Smart reference totally going over their heads - to get some peace. Mine isn't as fancy as Smart's but in faking them out for a few minutes, it was
gold. I'd like to thank Virgin America - your check is in the mail.

The girls caught on faster than I hoped but it wasn't unexpected. These kids can sniff out a handful of Goldfish crackers buried under couch cushions but the 30 minutes of me pointing to my head and mouthing "Cone of Silence" to signal I couldn't hear them bought me extra time with my NaNo muse. By the end of the month, they knew when the blue headphones were on - they were on their own to change the DVD or enlist an older sister.

What do you do to carve out writing time when the kids are around?

After you get *the* call - what next?

I'm beginning to love Twitter and not just because I can catch up with shitmydadsays (which is a little piece of heaven if you like old farts without an "edit" button). I also get to peek into what brilliant writers and editors are up to as they chat over coffee. Intellectual voyeurism at its finest.

Today's tidbit was from inkyelbows who linked the world to a great article from Mandy Hubbard at Let the Words Flow regarding what comes next for your book after it has been bought - like when do the editing elves show up and how much do you tip 'em? I'm a fan of having steps written out in small words since I'm a bear of little brain these days. Thanks Mandy!

Erma Bombeck Writing Competition 2010

I just finished watching Julie & Julia this weekend and I can relate. Not to the obsessive foodie schtick Julie was doing but to the tiny bit of hero worship Julie had toward Julia Child. Heck, who couldn't love a gregarious 6ft woman who made the process of cooking funny and relatable? While Erma wasn't quite 6ft, she did bring the plight of the housewife under a glaring and hilarious spotlight for years. My favorite columns included toasting herself with a cocktail for having another "no baby" month and picking a baby pacifier out of the garbage, covered in coffee grounds, only to rinse it off and give it back to Junior. Seriously. This woman taught me a healthy portion of how to handle raising five daughters (and not a therapy bill in sight for them or me).

So it is with great affection that I faithfully enter the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition for the last few years. Do I win, no. Come close. Not even. But every time I enter (it was my very first competition as a professional writer) it reminds me that I'm writing for an audience of folks very much like myself - real, struggling, imperfect people that laugh during the hard times and embrace the good times with gusto.

So, who's with me?

Competition starts: January 4, 2010
Cost: free
Length: 450 words or less
Theme: Humor or Human Interest

For more information on how to enter, click on the link above and good luck!

And the next ghost story is...

The Haunted Hotel. Based partly on the Goldfield Hotel I've written about at my ghost blog: Wee Ghosties: A Beginner's Guide to Ghost Hunting - but for kids. A no babies down a well. yeeesh.

Vyolette has chosen Adam to be featured in the story. To quote, "ADAM! I said Adam, Mommy, he's my boyfriend." Adam, we'll expect you for Christmas dinner, bring the wine for your new mother-in-law.

New goals post-Nano - who wants to be famous?

While I'm waiting for the NaNo buzz to die down and give myself space from the zombies (I started editing yesterday and discovered I'm bloody brilliant - a sure sign I need to step away), I'm headed back to short stories. My back up plan was to roll out short ghost stories to fill in the rest of the 50k if/when zombies fell short. Well, the little buggers over-performed and I'm left with some awesome ideas itching to claw their way out of my brain.

Hmmm, what should I start on first? The one with the most comments gets chosen and Vyolette will choose one of those people to be in the story. Who's in?

• Haunted barn
  
• Plane crash
• Hotel - kid's story
• Sleepwalking
• Lighthouse
• Haunted objects
• Seance
• Tarot
• Mad Anthony Wayne (colonial ghost)
• Shipwreck off S. Carolina coast

*Deadline - December 8th*