Pamela C Labud, click
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Blogs by Pamela C Labud
Crunch time 4/20/2008 2:39:05 PM
same old story, too much to do, too little time...
Hello Gentle Readers!
Yes, I finally made it back to blog. I don't know about you all, but it's been crazy around here.
Kids out of school a week for spring break.
Work flopping back and forth between insanely busy and absolutely dead--nothing to do--mode.
House that needs more attention than usual, plus even more contest entries to judge, stories of my own that need attention, and to top it off, a day earning my mandatory advanced cardiac life support certification this week.
Stress is at an all time high in the Labud household.
Thankfully, tomorrow the kids go back to school. I have a talk to give at the Kiwana's club on Tuesday, ACLS Wednesday, and then, you guessed it, back to work on Thursday.
So, where do I find the time to write?
Last week I finished my third Ride A Cowboy story, and it's currently with the publisher. I've not heard back from them yet. I have a fourth and fifth story planned. I've also considered doing some shorter stuff for a couple of my characters. We'll see.
I'm in the process of finishing/revising two other books, both of which I hope to have in shape this week.
I have to say, before the Ride A Cowboy story took shape, I was a dedicated novelist. Everything in my writing world went into crafting 80,000 word stories, carefully plotted out, massive character outlines, and so on. It's an epic journey writing novels. I've heard some authors refer to it like marathon running.
With no less than 5 manuscripts in the works, I was (and still am to some degree) totally overwhelmed. How could I possibly get them all done? A couple of them I've been literally working on for years. Years!
Then one day I discovered short. Now, I'd read a few novellas. Okay, lots of fun, but I doubted I could do anything in less than, say 350 pages. In fact, I had started my western story, thinking it would be this huge adventure/sexy/romance. I loved the premise. I loved the characters. The hard part?
Finding the time to write it. Bummer.
So, I got the idea of breaking it up into a series. You know, lose the plot heavy adventure stuff, and just make it a character driven serial.
It was like the heavens opened up an manna fell from the sky. Ideas popped into my head for the hero and heroine, and suddenly, it was their journey. Their personal adventure. More than that it was fun. And, surprisingly enough, addictive.
I still am working on my longer novels, three of which are very close to being finished.
But writing short has not only given me enjoyment from the stories themselves, but also a sense of accomplishment for actually finishing and contracting something. They've set my imagination on fire once again.
And I've found that it's a perfect venue to keep my name out there and in the public/internet domain.
Definitely a win-win situation!
Until next time, everybody have a good week, and Happy Reading! Pam.
