One of the reasons that I love writing romance is the amazing community of writers. I have been lucky to virtually meet some of the most helpful and encouraging folks on the planet. And my work is the better for them.
A few years ago, I stumbled onto the So You Think You Can Write contest (more on that in another post). The support of that community is overwhelming and might be my favorite group on the Internet. There is so much trolling and anonymous negativity on the Internet that being a part of something positive is awesome.
I’d had a story in mind to enter into this year’s contest and didn’t have much to add until it was ready. Except that I didn’t love it. I have to love a story and its characters if I’m going to put it out there for readers.
So this week, on Wednesday I scrapped it and started fresh. I’ll be honest: doing that has me both exhilarated and terrified. This new story has so much potential and promise! But I’m terrified because the category it is destined for has a minimum word count of 70,000 words.
Right now, I’m barreling ahead. I’m writing as fast and as furiously as I can to finish this first draft and get it edited as much as possible by the September deadline. I’m on a break right now after writing 5,000 words this morning. But I’m sitting in the sunshine with a notebook as thoughts come to me.
I know I can do this because I refuse to give up. If you want to see my progress, check out my Twitter.
Also, a reminder that Tiny Island Summer is up on Kindle Scout! Thank you to everyone who has checked it out and nominated it! If you haven’t yet, here’s the link: KindleScout