Readin' Writin', And 'Rithmetic

I'm currently in Park City, Utah, for my RWA chapter's annual retreat. It's supposed to be all about having time to write, write, write. So far I've attended a URWA board meeting, a workshop, a critique group, sat in the hot tub, wrote out checks to reimburse people for expenses, missed seeing a moose, and watched while a couple of the ladies used Tarot cards to do a character profile. In an hour we will have our Paul Sheldon ceremony, which is something that is hard to explain and really, 1) it's a writer thing, and 2) you have to be there. Plus it's a little weird, but so are we.

Anyway…

I've done a little bit of writing. I bought a program called "Snowflake", which is supposed to assist with character development, plot outline, and once filled in will essentially give you an almost submission ready synopsis.

Let me tell you, if the only thing I get out of it is a synopsis, it was well worth the $40 bucks.

I've worked on the first chapter for book 3 (book 2 is temporarily on hold, half finished because it's a sequel to book 1, which is currently with an agent. I figured that if the agent doesn't like book 1 why work on book 2?) This is the same agent who asked me for a synopsis for an idea I pitched, off of the top of my head, mind you, which will end up being a Romantic Suspense, and, best of all, she will be staying in our room this fall at our conference. So, since she will be my our captive guest, I will be able to force my manuscript on her while I've got her tied up inquire if she is interested in seeing the full MS while she is here, and pitch it to her yet once again, just in case she's forgotten it.

So, that's where I am. Doing some reading, a little writing, and of course, arithmetic.