Well, friends we are almost ready to bring all this March Madness to an end. It's been a great time sharing the hosting duties. I loved reading what you all have been up to as the month progressed and must say I am going to miss it! But--now's not the time for goodbyes. We have today and tomorrow left to bring it all home, cheer each other to the finish line. Some of us will be sitting back, sighs of relieve, goals reached and ready to start thinking into April. Others of us (like me) will be writing like mad (ness) to achieve the goal before month's end or at least take another good chunk out of it before April hits. So. Where are all of you at? Sitting back, relaxing some, thinking about April? Going in for a last dig of revisions, reading, blogging before the end of March?
AND! We've got another winner for the draws.
GIRL PARKER, step on up and let
Denise Jaden (d @ denisejaden . com) know which prize you would like. Congrats to you! Here are your choices:
UNRAVELING ISOBEL by Eileen Cook (Courtesy of Shari Green)
OUTLINING YOUR NOVEL by K.M. Weiland (2 e-copies up for grabs!) (Courtesy of Deb Marshall)
And our awesome Kim Baccellia has donated another ARC: THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT by Jennifer Smith(US mailing only)
Wishing you all the best with the rest of your March Madness and the upcoming month as we carry on reading, writing, blogging! It's been an absolute pleasure. Tomorrow's check-in is over on Jaye Robin Brown's Hanging on to Wonder.
Congrats to Girl Parker.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to take a closer look at March Madness. I saw posts about it, but I was participating in ROW80.
Happy writing.
Hey Medeia,
DeleteThey are doing this again in April--not with prizes n such, but just to keep the flow a going. I do believe Ghost Girl is hosting it on Haunting a Broken Tree, in case you want to check it out.
Happy writing to you too!
Loved hearing your progress this month. Congrats to Denise!
ReplyDeleteThanks Natalie!
DeleteCongrats, Girl Parker!!
ReplyDeleteI can hardly believe this month is almost over. Maybe because I lost a few days because of our move to the new house? Hmm.
Anyway, I'm just now getting back into my manuscript, so I'm definitely going to be using these last two days to prepare for my big revision in April. Lining up those ducks and all. Wheeeeee!
Hope all the rest of you accomplish great things in these last two days!
Hope you are flying to the end, Kip. AND getting those ducks in a row...right now my ducks are acting like kittens, lol.
DeleteGuess what? I started a new novel today! As some things come to an end, others begin :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Girl Parker!
WooHOO Beth! I love that start a new novel moment...hope you have a good writing weekend.
DeleteCan't believe the month is almost over! I wrote a first draft of a query today, gonna let it stew for a few days before I go back to it.
ReplyDeleteCongrats, Girl Parker!
Man, Jennifer, I know what you mean on the month. It flew by and in no small part to being able to hang out and write with all of you--it's been fabulous.
DeleteNice going on the first draft of that query!! Letting it stew before next rewrite is a good plan....happy writing this weekend.
Yay Beth! Yay Jennifer! Yay Kip! I've done nothing today. Losing steam in a big way. Ah well. I did get tomorrow's check-in post written.
ReplyDeleteCongrats Girl Parker!
Yay Jaye on getting your post written! Just took a quick peek, will be checking in within the hour....man, we made it to end of the March. Crazy how fast it went by.
DeleteCongrats, Girl Parker!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to miss this, too. But I'm also looking forward to putting my head down and retreating into myself a bit while I focus on my work.
Last night I got distracted with other things again. I wasn't feeling well enough, so I didn't make it to sword class, and my brain just felt fried. That's not going to happen tonight. I'm glad it's the weekend, because I'm really going to need to catch up on that rest.
Here's to a productive day (and night) and rest of March Madness for everyone, what's left of it!
Oh boy yes...take the weekend and April to retreat and enjoy! I think we have to do that every once in a while. It's nice to get out the writer cave---but it sure be nice to snuggle back into it, especially when life is racing around and in front of us. It's been a pleasure getting to know you-now, GO--retreat, we'll see you soon!
DeleteI'm still doing a really silly-looking happy dance, because...in case you missed it yesterday...I finished my project! Completed my goal! I'm so happy I made it, and still have an extra 2 days to kick back and think about what I need to do in April.
ReplyDeleteYay for Girl Parker, and for everyone else who is working right down until the wire. Go, go, go!
WOWOWOWWOW, lol. Way to go, Denise!! Enjoy your weekend and laying out your April plan!
DeleteI've enjoyed reading the March Madness updates and wasn't even involved! In fact, it was so inspiring that I began a new WIP (even though I didn't plan to) about 12 days ago and it already has 16,000 words.
ReplyDeleteNICE on the new project, Barbara and glad March Madness inspired it. Whoa on the 16k, now that is what I call crazy good!
DeleteI've spent the past day reading and reflecting on what I'm going to do in April. I can either start revising a contemporary YA that I finished drafting in January, or I can start working on my shiny new idea. In the meantime, I think I'm going to track down GirlParker. Haven't seen her around this week. ^_^
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting this month, Deb!
Go, Wipsters!
Welcome on the hosting and thanks for inspiring me to get more involved! Happy deciding what you are going to work on...reading and reflecting for April. April?!? Whoa, lol.
DeleteME?!!! Whoo-Hoo!!! Many thanks to all the hosts this month of March Madness. I've enjoyed it very much, and I think my WIP may actually have a story going on now. Who knew, right?! =) Here's to April and more progress all around.
ReplyDeleteYAY! And yes on the story going on for your WIP-! Looking forward to hearing how you are proceeding in April! I'll be in touch re your prize, today.
DeleteYAY Girl! And hurray for the whole #wipmadness crew! You guys rock! All the encouragement has helped me push past some of the "stuff" and make my goals. Now I have just a few more chapters to revise and then...off to the agent...who will send me many more revisions (I hope, anyway!).
ReplyDeleteI'll be hosting April Mondays...
Yay for you hosting us in April...much appreciated and looking forward to haunting your blog (har har). Way to go on getting the draft almost ready to send to agent! All best with that and the feedback.
DeleteCongrats Girl Parker!
ReplyDeleteI will miss the productivity of March - it has allowed me to get many goals accomplished, and make some a new habit. April will be interesting. I'll be starting classes at the community college, so a bit of a juggling act will be needed until I figure out a good balance of writing, housework, school, and homework.
So glad to have taken part in the March Madness. It has been fun!
Glad you were able to take part! All best with your April Juggling!
DeletePlanned writer's retreat this weekend--if my cold will just BACK OFF, I'll be happy.
ReplyDeleteWithin two chapters of the end for 2nd draft, but may have fallen a bit behindo n the 3rd draft.
good luck to everyone in finishing their goals!
Throwing in a BACK OFF COLD vibe or two so you can really enjoy your retreat.
DeleteGirl Parker!
ReplyDelete2330 words today. Lot's going on.
Good job everyone!
Well last night had to take mother-in-law to ER. She had a bad asthma attack. So was there till 1am. Then had an Easter party for son. I did do some reading today plus put together more things for my part of a virtual book tour in May to celebrate the re-release of EARRINGS OF IXTUMEA. I think I will try to get an hour of writing in after son goes to bed tonight.
ReplyDeleteHey! Hope you mom in law feeling better, breathing easier today. CONGRATS on the re-release of your book!! Hope your day is going well.
DeleteHey all! I haven't been checking in much, but I've been thinking of you. I found myself wasting too much time online when I would go to check in - and that lost me a lot of writing time. Oh well. I did love reading about everyone meeting and surpassing goals - great encouragment! I'm still plugging along. I won't meet my wip goal of 20K, but I have 11,550 so far and I have tonight and tomorrow still. We'll see how far I can get! I did manage to finish my two blog posts, so that goal was met, and I've read six books. Yay! Now off to write some more and try to take as much of that 8.5K out as I can before tomorrow ends...I'll be very happy if I can make another 1-2K. We'll see. However, I am surprisingly loving getting up at 5:30 to write...I never thought that would work for me, but it's been amazing to have an hour before the kids are up! I've been writing 700+ words consistently over the last several days when I've tried it. So yeah, now that I have a good writing time, perhaps this wip will actually get finished in the next month or two...or three... You'd think with 83K I'd be close to the end...but it doesn't seem like I'm making much forward progress even with all the new words...I fear I'm going to have to cut at least 20-40K when I'm done. That doesn't sound fun, but I don't think anyone will take a 130K YA book! Ah well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it! I've gotta finish it first! :)
ReplyDeleteI agree on crossing the bridge when you get there...you never know. Sounds to me like you are always moving forward--and I love that you've found your writing time!
DeleteThanks! I figure if I worry too much about cutting I'll never finish! So my rule is that I'm not allowed to go back and edit anything until I'm done. That is really hard, but that's what rewrites are for, right? Get it finished, then fix it. Anyway, I'm glad I found that time too. I don't know if I would have tried it if it hadn't been for wipmadness! So this month has been a success even if I didn't reach 20K!
DeleteExactly! And--there may be chunks you are writing that are important to the story, whether they stay or not. Yay for taking part in wipmadess!! And you probably know we carry on in April as well...just not as intense, only check in on Mondays, but it works the same. Nice to get outta that writer cave once a week, lol!
DeleteI have enjoyed following this blog and the comments while I worked with a graphic designer trying to get another small book "Nana,I miss you." ready for printing!It took ages and I was not pleased with some illustrations so I'm grateful to someone who could try to make it look a little better.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm working on a historical novel for YA audience or even adults! It's around the 1780-1814 period and involves Tecumseh's sister, Star Watcher, a strong woman.
Thanks for following along and reading, Jane!
DeleteSo much awesome stuff being accomplished! Congrats to all of you for sticking with it this month!! I'll be working late tonight, seeing how much closer I can get to reaching my goal. Diving in now... *goes offline*
ReplyDeleteWishing you all best this weekend, hope you get even close to your goal...and the best part is we have April to carry on with, no fooling (okay, I know--bad joke, lol).
DeleteMostly reading and Script Frenzy Prep. I'm also going to dial back this weekend, i.e. the last day of March, to watch the lovely nephew and niece. He's 27 months and channeling Tarzan on steroids. She's 5 months and likes to laugh at everything. I've got my hands full so I don't think I'll be doing much other than reading while they nap.
ReplyDeleteI could have taken the weekend off but Sunday is Day One of Script Frenzy. It's also the premiere of Game of Thrones Season Two. In honor of that, my sister is cooking up a feast (with recipes from the book--or at least the near equivalent by Earth and modern day standards). So, it will be a thematic kick-off to my new month of Madness.
I have a holiday coming up right in the middle of it, so I hope that I can keep up with the 100 page quota for the month. It might be difficult with the kids and being in Hawaii. Woe is me, right? ;-)
Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for a wonderful 30 days so far. I'm sure I'll be hearing more from you awesome people throughout the year.
Cheers,
Tonette
Enjoy hanging with the kiddos today. All best with your Script Frenzy tomorrow!
DeleteOh, and...yes poor you, holiday with kids--Hawaii, LOL!! Have a wonderful time!
DeleteSo many of you checking in with good news about your success and progress!! That's awesome!! Isn't it amazing what a little extra support can do to boost motivation and productivity? Congratulations to everyone for all you've accomplished this month. I guess some may be in a position to enjoy a little R&R tomorrow, but I'll be working on my ms until the bitter end. Still have lots of writing to do, but I'm happy with what I've managed to get done so far.
ReplyDeleteSee you tomorrow evening for the final check-in. Yes, it really will be over tomorrow. How can that be??? :)
Um...and all best with your writing today!
DeleteYou know Carol...it really is amazing what a community can do! Happy working on that MS of yours...me to until the bitter end, lol. I know on the time going by...tomorrow is the first of April and to that I say...crrrrazy!
ReplyDelete