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I'll begin at the beginning.

I have been writing, in one way or another for most of my life.  From little poems and stories when I was small, to longer fan fictions for my kid sister in my teen years.  For the last ten years I have been working on an original series.  I made it about 17 chapters in only to have it be destroyed (this was before online backups and external hard drives).  Then, discovering that the plot line needed a lot of work anyway, I dove into intense research, plotting and outlining.  By January I had outlined a trilogy. Earlier this year I sat down and put pin to paper (well, fingers to keyboard) with the goal of finishing book one before the years end.

As fall approached I had nearly 20K words, but it was nowhere near what I needed.  Hoping for helpful push, I signed up for my very first NaNoWriMo.  In 30 days I wrote 29k words.  Again, it wasn't what I'd hoped for but it was amazing.

In the end, I didn't finish by New Years Eve, but on January 24th I finished my first novel.  It was an experience I can't accurately describe.  I cried.  I felt like throwing up.  I called everyone I could think of.  It was relief, joy, fear, excitement, and so many other emotions all wrapped into one.

On January 29th I submitted that novel to Cupid's Literary Connection's Blind Speed Dating contest.

I will find out on February 12th if I have made it through round one.

To end this post, I have some "thank you"s:
To my sister Leslie - for being my biggest cheerleader.
To my best friend Sandy - for grounding me and making me work.
To Brad, Meg, Leigh Ann and sooooo many other friends - for helping me with things when I was stuck.
To Taryn Albright - for helping me with my query and always saying encouraging things.

That is all for now.  I will update on the 12th when I find out whether or not I've moved to the next round.  If so, I'll explain the next step in the contest.  If not, I'll lay out my plans beyond that.  :)
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  1. UnknownFebruary 2, 2014 at 8:19 PM

    I love this! This novel has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, things about you since I met you 9 years ago. I knew you could do it and I'm PROUD of you for finishing it! Whoever picks you up to publish is lucky to have you. The book and concept are fantastic! I'm excited to get to say "I knew her back when......" :) Love you!

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