Snow Day!

"Laziness will cause you pain." ~ Slogan on T-shirt worn at the Vee Arnis Jitsu School of Self-Defense

We’re having a snow day on a Sunday, which really isn’t convenient at all. It meant my RWA Chapter meeting was cancelled and any plans I have for writing are nebulous at best with a nine year old running about. Even when he tries to be quiet it means he only sounds like half a herd of elephants as opposed to the whole herd.

I’m still reworking my outline for A Heart Betrayed. Today is my last day to outline because starting tomorrow I need to dive into the actual writing and then produce 30 pages a week until the first week of April in order to get the first draft down. I’m not sure how doable that is, but given I’m running out of time and still need to incorporate time in there for revisions, it’s going to have to be. 

Hubby suggested we take 5 day in April or May to go to Universal Studios with the boy. I looked at him like he had two heads and said something to the effect of, “Are you crazy?! I can’t go anywhere until I turn this book in May 31^st!” I then suggested sightings of me may be scarce between now and then and he might want to take a picture. We’re not looking at early June for the trip to the Universal. By then, I may need a few days away from anything resembling a manuscript.

But, because I like to heap a bunch of crap on myself at the same time, I have also embarked on a new job with an old boss and re-started my weight training and running program which sort of fell by the wayside over the summer. I figure if nothing else, the muscle building will give me the energy/stamina to manage the writing and the new job.

And that is about all that is new on this front. I’m going to sign off now and go finish that outline. Now that I’ve totally revamped it (yet again), it had better fall into place!

A Brand New Year

Cedar checking out the holiday action.

Okay - it's not quite a brand new year, but since I have decided to resurrect this blog and try to post more regularly, I figure the weekend is the best time to do that. And given we are supposed to get hit with a winter storm warning in effect for tomorrow, I thought tonight would be a good night to start. With gusty winds there's always the possibility the power could take off to parts unknown (probably Cuba if its smart) come tomorrow.

So here's a bit of an update since I've been out of the loop for a bit. I'm thrilled to report I have signed a two book contract with Harlequin Historicals. The first book is SALVATION FALLS (although I suspect the title will change, stay tuned) and will be released in early 2014. The second one I am working on now and is tentatively titled, A HEART BETRAYED. If some of you diehards from a few years back may recall, Salvation Falls was the book I did for my first NaNoWrimo. Both are western historical romances.

My deadline for A Heart Betrayed is May 31, 2013. I've completed the research and outline and now I'm writing madly to get the first draft done by March 9th. This is the first time I'm writing on someone else's schedule other than my own. Gulp.

In other news, I will be ending my tenure at my current job on January 17th and starting a new/old job on January 21st. I say new/old because my former employer made me an offer I'd have been a fool to turn down. It will allow me more writing time, and hopefully work out when it comes time to transition to working part time and writing full time. I'll miss my current boss, she's been great to work with, and the friends I've made there, but in the end I had to make the decision based on what was best for my writing.

And in exciting news - I'm currently planning a trip to Rome, Italy in 2013. I'm slowly working my way through my list of places to go. Checked off my list - Paris, New York City, San Francisco and Prague. Next up Rome. Then...maybe Croatia. Or England. Maybe Bulgaria. Who knows...

Meanwhile - let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a healthy, happy and prosperous 2013! Hope you all had the best of holidays and that the new year treats you right!

Just a reminder, if you're looking for me on the interwebs, here's where you can find me:

Website: www.kellyboyce.com (in process of being updated!)
Facebook Page: Kelly Boyce, Author
Twitter: @KellyLBoyce
Pinterest:  Kelly Boyce

And, of course, here. :)

~ Kelly

Counting the Days

A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking. ~ Earl Wilson

By this time next week, I will be on vacation. I cannot tell you how much I have been waiting for this. Not because we're doing anything super-exciting. We're spending the week at a cottage in PEI, which sounds nice, but after about 3-4 days I'm generally looking for something to do and starting to crawl the walls. And that's if the weather's good. It would be better if the cottage we rented had comfortable furniture I could hunker down in and read to my heart's content. But after 30 minutes in any of them and I'm in need of chiropractic care.

Why not pick another cottage? Well, this one was 'inherited' I guess you could say. My fiance and his ex-wife would come here every summer with their son for two weeks. Now the two weeks is split, we get it one week, she the other and the boy stays down for the entire two.

After the crippling effects of the furniture and my inability to get through more than one book in the week, I suggested maybe we consider going elsewhere next year. Somewhere closer to home even where we could take the dog. He gets stuck in the kennel now because we take one car and between the boy with his booster seat, food, toys, suitcases, etc, there's no room for a big, goofy golden retriever. And to be honest, I want my pooch with me, but taking two cars all the way to PEI just doesn't make financial sense. But if it were only an hour's drive away on the Nova Scotian coast, that I could do.

Anyway, this year I'm taking my lawn chair with me which will help a little. Better than the plastic jobbies they have on the deck. It has a footrest and cup holder and if I use a pillow at my back I might get a couple hours reading time in before I need to jump on the yoga mat and start doing some back bends.

So if anyone has some great summer reads to recommend, let me know! I have a week to decide what I'm taking with me.

A Mid-Summer Check-In

I can't believe it's mid-summer already! Ack!!

Vacation is soooo close I can feel it. Just 4 working days left and then one week away to (hopefully) sunny Prince Edward Island. We rent a cottage there for one week in the summer and I am taking with me a stack of book as well as WIPs. One is just an idea and needs fleshing out, the other (Fractured Sight) needs work before I can continue. So while the Boy and J build sand castles on the beach, I plan on putting a dent in my TBR pile and working out the kinks in FS and/or outlining the new idea.

I'm continuing to work away at ITS, and the more I write it, the more excited I get about book two which bumps two of my secondary characters, Spence and Caelie into the starring roles. Spence has a disturbing phobia towards marriage, so much so he has just declared he would rather be sacrificed to the lava gods (he's recently back from a brief sojourn on the islands). Of course that comment now has my brain in overdrive while his backstory begins to form in my mind. I already know Caelie's backstory, which is rather heartbreaking at best. It will be fun piecing together how these two will get together and figure things out.

But first I need to finish ITS and get that fired off to agents. My goal for completing it has been pushed back. I'm giving myself until the end of September. I'm making good headway and things are falling into place, so hopefully that will be a doable deadline.

In the meantime, tonight I am meeting my critique partner, Pam Callow, for coffee so we can do a little catch up. She's been flitting about to one conference after another promoting her latest release DAMAGED and January's upcoming release INDEFENSIBLE which picks up a few months after Damaged ended.

What are everyone else's plans for the summer?

Best Laid Plans

I should have made a list. I know better. When I have lots of things I want to accomplish, Step 1 is always make a list. But I didn’t. And now my four day weekend has breezed on by and I haven’t a thing to show for it.

The Writing Room in desperate need of a strategic reorganization now that Cedar's Dog Condo (aka a crate big enough to fit two Saint Bernards) has taken up residence in there? Overhaul still required. I didn’t even get the Goo Be Gone on the walls to clean them and put up the bulletin board.

The upstairs bathroom tub I’ve been complaining all week needs cleaning? Still needs cleaning.

The new Etsy photos I needed to take? In my mind they look absolutely fabulous. Sadly I can’t download those pixs.

The garden prep? Despite summer-like temperatures every day I didn’t do much more than yell at the dog to stop trying to pee in it.

So what did I do? Well, I did get some writing and revising done for Fractured Sight. I walked the dog a fair bit thanks to the beautiful weather. I ate copious amounts of chocolate (two big Lindt bunnies and some Easter eggs to be exact). And that was about it. Four days and that is all I accomplished.

I shoulda made a list…

Swing by again this coming Friday when I have guest blogger Robin Cain coming by.

In the Infamous Words of the Go-Gos...

Vacation all I ever wanted! Ah yes, I am going on vacation. Finally. I have been counting down the days for about two months now. I so need a break from the every day. So early tomorrow morning I will be off to the great Island of Prince Edward. I haven’t been there since I was about 9 years old.

I am taking with me about six different books to read, one full manuscript (Salvation Falls) to read through and edit and write the synopsis for, my netbook so I don’t have to write everything longhand, and my notebook jammed full of ideas, some on loose pieces of paper shoved between the pages. I’m hoping to decide, or at least narrow down, which idea will get fleshed out and outlined for this year’s NaNoWriMo.

I’m also taking my yoga mat so I can get in a daily workout (or just simply find some zen moments on the beach).

By the way, I finally got to watch the movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Persuasion the other night and loved it! I’ll have to reread that book again.

Hope everyone’s summer is going great and I’ll check back in with everyone upon my return next weekend!

Oh, and one last thing – you may have noticed I took a break from blogging over on Pop Culture Divas (formerly Miss Make A Movie). But starting in September I’ll be back to my usual monthly post over there. In the meantime, check it out – we have a new post every weekday and traffic has been increasing steadily.

Body Sculpt Boot Camp – Part Two

Since the first workout boot camp I did went so well, I figured I would do another one for July and August to keep me motivated. Also, with J and I spending a week in PEI near the beach (is there anywhere in PEI not near a beach?) with his son, I thought I might like to be in bathing suit shape.

I have to admit, after the first boot camp ended I grew a little slack with the workouts. I didn’t stop, but 6 days a week looked more like 4 and the strength training took the biggest hit. So when my trainer told me she was doing another Body Sculpt Boot Camp, I signed up. It was either that or get Tommy Europe from The Last 10 lbs Boot Camp to whip my butt into shape and I'm guessing I can't afford him.

My workout calendar for the next 5 weeks looks a bit brutal. I have something going on each day, although the Saturday Yoga is optional. To me, yoga is like ‘rest’ day. I don’t feel depleted after doing yoga. Usually I feel like I’m ready to do more.

So here’s a basic overview of what it’s going to take to whip my butt (and thighs and arms and abs) into shape between now and the end of July:

Sun – two softball games
Mon – Cardio / Lower Body strength training / Abs
Tues – Yoga
Wed – Body Sculpt Boot Camp Class
Thurs – Yoga
Fri – Cardio / Upper Body strength training / Abs
Sat – Yoga (optional)

I think that should do the trick. Now I just have to revamp the diet to work in tandem. That’s always the biggest challenge for me. I do like my food…

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: The writing is going great. I worked out a plan for the rest of the year and my revisions to Salvation Falls are bopping right along – I’m already halfway through. This month I’ve also been busy, rearranging furniture and coordinating what goes, what stays, etc. to make room for J’s stuff when he moves in this weekend. That’s pretty much all done.

Now I’m just counting the days until vacation. I have a little mini vacation the first few days in July to make for a 5 day weekend, but it isn’t until the first of August I get any real time off. I’m REALLY looking forward to it. I’m taking a stack of books to continue my plan of working through as much of my TBR pile as humanly possible this year.

And that is what’s been going on. What’s new with you?

The Real Life Version of a Disney Cartoon

I swear if you were to visit my camp you would know what I'm talking about. The yard is fairly littered with bird and chipmunk feeders, so it's no surprise when you walk outside the yard is covered with scampering squirrels, chipmunks with their cheeks puffed full of seeds, and birds of every color you can imagine. And just to add to the effect, as your standing there in awe of all the wildlife, blue jays swoop in and out of your vision and you're just waiting for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to come traipsing down the lane.

I kid you not. I told my mom if I started singing 'Some Day My Prince Will Come' she had my permission to go dunk me in the brook.

But just so you don't think Chip & Dale are the only critters mucking about Maple Glen (yes, the camp has a name), I was stopped on my way by a deer. That's right. Bambi, halted my car in its tracks blocking the lane. I honked the horn. Twice. But no, Bambi just stood there looking at me. I had to roll down my window and yell at him to get out of the way before he budged. Then about five minutes later I get stopped again. This time by a plodding pheasant that seemed to think my full bladder had all the time in the world for him to take his sweet time getting to the other side. And don't even get me started on the muskrat...

And in case you're wondering, yes, I saw Thumper too. Thankfully however, Flower did not put in an appearance. I've posted some pixs below to give you an idea of the paradise known as Maple Glen.

Meanwhile, amidst communing with the locals, I managed to read a few books and I got Book 2 to my series completely outlined. So it was a very productive vacation. I didn't want to go back to work, but alas, the mortgage still needs to be paid.

And on the pooch front - I am reconsidering my choice for future pups and expanding somewhat to also consider beagles and mixed breeds. Although in truth, I still wish Coop would suddenly reappear, but since things like that only happen in Stephen King novels and rarely end well, I'm just going to have to accept the hand fate has dealt and hope I get at least half as lucky the next time. In truth, looking forward to getting a new pup later in the year makes me feel a bit better, but I'm also glad I have the waiting time to get over Coop as well, so I'm not expecting the new little pup to fill the large pawprints Coop left behind.