Life is made up of little moments, and if we’re not careful, the world will overrun us until we’re stressed out, upset, blind to everything but the next few words, the next diaper, the next meeting…

So steal a moment back here and there. Inhale the rich fragrance of your favorite hazelnut coffee or morning tea before slowly sipping it. After a burning workout lie down and just feel the thrum of your body. Inhale the tasty scents of chocolate chip cookies from a local bakery. Indulge in dipping your feet in a puddle or letting a sprinkler actually hit you once or twice while you’re out walking.

There are many places I’ve never been and will likely never be able to see…so when you sit down and decide to write a novel set in an exotic locale, look around you…to me, it’s exotic. It’s new. It’s refreshing. So why not invite me over and show me around? Make me feel like I belong in your world. Because, in the end, isn’t that what fiction is all about?

Dawn Montgomery, Angel

http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog
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As I write this post I’m over 7,000 miles away from them on a job that will end long after next summer. Thanks to the wonders of internet I can see and chat with my kids, read them books, tell them good morning or goodnight, and watch my husband cook up the delicious meals he’s so good at. Before I left, my husband made me make a promise. While I was here I’d write my heart out. Aim for the stars. Dare the Universe. And I mean to do it.

I call it my Personal Writing Challenge. If you’d like to join me, feel free to follow The PWC on twitter HERE. It doesn’t have to be fiction-related. Poetry, journal writing, even flash fiction goals. It’s your personal challenge. This isn’t a speedwriter challenge or nanowrimo. It’s about pacing yourself and finding your writing groove.

Dawn Montgomery
http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog
http://twitter.com/Dawn_Montgomery
http://twitter.com/ThePWC

That means wonderful moments of adventure and fascination. But it also means other things. Isolation, missing my family with everything in me, new writing habits, and fear of a new way of doing things.

It’s that fear I want to focus on.

As writers we are typically solitary creatures. Even in a crowd most of us feel alone. Unsure. In writing, we sometimes rely on particular habits to get us through that next book.

And that brings me to today’s post…what happens when the way you’ve always done things can’t be done that way anymore?

Ever know a guy who wouldn’t wash his socks because his team was on a winning streak? Someone with a lucky jacket or hat? A certain habit they have before (or after) a big event?

Hygiene issues aside (LOL), most traditions/habits are harmless in nature. But what happens when, instead of increasing your creativity, these habits stifle it?

If you write well in chaos and are suddenly thrust in the midst of silence, can you still write? If you want to make deadline, you’d better.

What if you work full time and suddenly find yourself without a job? You were used to having some time during the day in which you weren’t writing, weren’t in the chaos (or silence) of homelife, had to carve out time for writing and had a somewhat steady income. Now you’re at home. You should be able to write all day long now, right? Only if you’re interested in burnout. Or the opposite. You suddenly had to get a job outside your writing career so you have to learn to balance the new drains on your time and energy while still maintaining the break-neck pace you were accustomed to. Only if you’re interested in a nervous breakdown. Do you stop writing because your conditions change?

I have to say no (or else I’m in trouble LOL!).

When it hits you at once, you’ll have to give yourself time to get your bearings again. Does that mean you stop writing? No. Write every day, even if it’s just a sentence. Or a word. Or a thought. Get something down on paper to prevent your mind from shying away from writing. You may not be able to produce the same amount of word output as before, but you’re outputting something. And in the chaos of change, that’s the important thing. Writing should be that calm in the storm, the security blanket you wrap around you to keep your sanity.

I’ve got a netbook and a used alphasmart that says I can write anywhere. There are headphones with a music list specific to my needs so I can focus on the words I’m typing and the mood I need to create to write it. What have you armed yourself with to prevent chaos from destroying your writing?

I have a challenge for you. If you are used to writing in a specific place at a specific time, change it up one day a week. Write in a different room, by hand if necessary, or a different time. A new location. With music if you’re used to silence or without if you’re used to it.

Why do this? Why mess with a routine or a comfort zone? Your brain is affected by training. If you train the creative side of your mind to continue working no matter what happens, you may find that in the midst of chaos…you might just win after all.

Dawn Montgomery
http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog
http://twitter.com/Dawn_Montgomery

Warning: Rambling story ahead…

I’ve been writing for almost 14 years (24 years if you count that one time in first grade when I decided I could write a better Care Bear book…but I digress). I wrote (bad) paranormal fiction in high school and a little into my early twenties, but it wasn’t until I met some amazing women at the LUNA forum in eharlequin that I considered picking up the pen and writing again.That was four years ago and I haven’t looked back since.

Cynnara Tregarth talked me into attending a class called Writing the Novella. The instructor was the amazing (and strict task-mistress) Morgan Hawke. I was thrust deep in the world of creative writing and marketing. I had a secret, though. Of all of the writers in the class, I seemed to be the only one without anything published. When I mentioned it to Ms. Hawke via email, she replied with something I’ll never forget…”If you weren’t ready to write, you wouldn’t be here.”

Hmm. Something to think about. In that brief but brilliant three months I was filled to the brink with amazing knowledge. Morgan promised hard lessons and difficult homework assignments. She pulled no punches and egos had no place in her classroom. I liked that. A lot. The environment taught me to write under pressure and keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Every one of us struggled with our own writing demons and in the end, we were amazed we’d survived.

Most of my classmates went on to start or continue very successful careers. I cheered from the sidelines but didn’t finish anything. I honed and honed. I’d write a bit of a story and submit it for critique in contests or reader’s forums. I was a member of a writing group where we’d challenge each other to write really fun stories based on a theme or picture.

The League of Amazing Writers asked me to become a member and I was thrilled!

A year rolled around and I finally finished a story. It was a wicked vampire story based on a nightmare I’d had as a teenager. The story was vivid and wonderful. Perfect in my mind…(I’m sure you can see where this is going…)

So I subbed it to Changeling Press, one of my favorite E-Publishers to buy from. At the time Samhain or Aspen Mountain Press hadn’t come on the market. Loose was another favorite.

It was rejected.

And I was devastated. All that hard work? For nothing? So I turned to other things in my life and reopened those lessons from Morgan. I learned and worked. Kept playing with stories in my head and celebrating with each of my friends’ successes. It was a rocky time in my personal life so I used the time to figure things out.

It took me six months to work up the nerve to read the polite rejection letter with any objectivity. And another six to straighten out my life enough (I was having a baby!) to try again.

In 2006, Nikita Gordyn asked me to write something for fun. Just a quick read to get me over the fear of writing again. I did, and Own Me came to be. With her encouragement I submitted it to Aspen Mountain Press and on Christmas Eve 2006, I received my first acceptance.

Since then I resubmitted to Changeling (almost two years to the DAY of the first submission) and was accepted. Oh the cheering session on that one! The support from my former classmates, my husband, and my critique partners have been the major reason for my return to writing. With new releases came the readers and let me tell you, there’s nothing in the world like receiving an email from someone who enjoyed your book.

I’m a slow mover in my writing career. I’ll get to know an editor/company/product before submitting and I’m enjoying every step of the way.

The original story still sucks and may never see the light of day. Be thankful…it’s REALLY bad.  I’ve been rejected a few times but accepted far more and I’ve learned a lot about my limits as a writer. This writing life isn’t easy, at least not for me, but I have to tell you…I’ve got the best readers in the world.

I’m looking forward to the next chapter in my career…whatever it may be.

So what about you? Name one thing in your life that started out bad but became a blessing in disguise.

Dawn Montgomery

Have you set new goals for the year? Are you going to? Tomorrow I’ll post about setting good, achievable goals.

My goals for the new year: 1200-1400 words a day. I’ve also set up quarterly goals instead of just the annual goal so I will pay more attention this year. What about you? What are your goals?

I hope 2008 was a wonderful year for you and wish for 2009 to be one of the best! Thank you for being the best fans a bunch of gals could hope for.

Happy New Year!

Dawn Montgomery

http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog

For others they have the beginning of the greatest novel ever written…if only it would get done, or several works in progress that need to be ended, polished and submitted…

Some thought NaNo was a failure, others a challenge that tore them apart or lifted them up. I walked with a few people across that finish line, cheering them on (or driving them with a timekeeper’s whip!), and celebrated with others who may not have won, but did something amazing…finally finished a chapter, tore down a writing block, dodged a potential plotting hazard, wrote more words than ever before…You catch my drift.

So here’s the big question…what now?

That’s easy. Keep writing, editing, polishing and submitting manuscripts. No, it’s okay. I hear you scoffing at me, asking me if I’ve lost my mind. How in the world could I ever expect you to keep up NaNo intensity year round?

I don’t.

I expect you to find a groove and stick with it. Let’s say you write 250-300 words a day (2-3 paragraphs). That’s FOUR novellas (25K) a year. Four potential releases! Or TWO category length (55K) novels a year…wow! Or ONE full-length (single title) novel (90K +) a year! That’s amazing, isn’t it? All those little words add up. Whether you’re writing two paragraphs a day or 1,667 a day, remember this…you can’t edit a blank page. Get out there and keep going!

Do you need help/motivation polishing up your manuscript from NaNo? Harlequin Romance has a forum dedicated to post NaNo editing. Romance Divas have areas and workshops in their forum to help. NaNoWriMo has a post NaNo care area for those who are struggling with the “what now?” question.

Either way, I’m proud to continue sweating with you guys if you’re feeling the groove…after a week off, of course. I’m TIRED!

XoXo,

Dawn Montgomery

http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/blog

12 Gingersnaps, 12 chances to win free ebooks for a year…

* Does not include those who wrote in their own unofficial NaNo programs or spinoffs, family members who lost their novel writing relatives for a month, or the poor pets who missed their humans.

I’m in the middle (*snort* I wish, more like the beginning) of a hand to hand combat course (workshop) that is *literally* kicking my butt, but in a good way…My bruises make my husband cringe and he mutters under his breath a lot about me being crazy or something. He’s so sweet about it, though. Gets me ice packs for my knee and shoulder, forces ibuprofen down my throat so I can walk throughout the day, and makes sure I’m well fed and rested by convincing me that watching this *one* show will be great (and RIGHT after dinner)…knowing full well I’ll pass right out within five minutes. I shoulda seen that one coming.

I’m on day three of a three week course. It starts at 4am and lasts two hours Monday through Friday. See? Crazy. I get home, shower and get dressed, heading to work less than an hour after I get home. Then it’s a 9 hour work day…see? Crazy.

Two weeks ago it was training on a 9mm Baretta (standard issue, I’m told, for a large number of law enforcement agencies. 56 out of 60 shots in my practical…not bad for a first time huh!).

In three weeks I perform a practical and written exam for the combat workshop…Three weeks? Wow.

The only writing I’m getting done right now involves writing down how I feel afterward so I can remember for later usage. ROFL.

So I’ll be out of here for a bit. I love you guys and wish me LUCK!

Dawn

http://www.dawnmontgomery.com/

You see, I didn’t take into account my toddler suddenly decided every moment was B and Mommy time.  It’s an amazing thing to watch him become his own little man.  I also didn’t count on an increased workload at the day job OR my normally amazingly supportive husband missing me so much he’s asking me for a non-writing vacation.

It pulled me up short (which doesn’t take much, as I’m a little over 5 feet…it’s okay, I won’t continue until your done groaning at the bad joke…*drinks a bit of tea* Good?  Okay).  My husband misses me and my toddler is wanting Mommy and B time.  Even my dog is showing the strain of not enough pats on the head.

I’m currently in deadline (what else is new LOL) and working to get books to my editors by the middle of the month (one this weekend, the other next weekend).  After that I’m taking my 70 days of sweat goal and shifting it.

Write something every day.  My goal is to just write, when I can, but do it either later at night, at my lunch break, or with snatches of time during my hours home from work. If this works out and I’m more productive, it will be my ritual.  If it’s not more productive, come middle of May, I’ll ramp up my routine again.

Sometimes it’s good to take time off and relax.

What about you?  Do you ever take a vacation?  And what do you do to relax after the strain of a deadline?

Have a great week!

Dawn Montgomery, Angel of LAW

ISBN (13): 978-1-59596-936-1

Genre(s): Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi , Erotic Romance

Theme(s): Interracial, BBW, Men and Women in Uniform, Spaceport

Series: Spaceport

Length: Novella

No one knows better than Alexis Donovan how the universe turns around IAS patrols. You play or you’re spaced. When she’s given an offer she can’t refuse, she has no choice but to bring in the bounty, alive. A mark’s a mark, right? But what’s a girl to do when the man she has to bring in is the man who haunts her sleep at night?

A courier exchange gone wrong has sent Mack Hernandez into a whirlwind of chaos. Torn from the family he tried to save and thrust into Spaceport Adana, he does what he can to survive. An incredible encounter… or two… with a bounty hunter has him walking a fine line between life and death. What starts out as a struggle for freedom between the two sends them careening headfirst into a cover-up big enough to blow the Haze patrol sector apart.

When the heat turns on and the adrenaline rides high, can they keep their hearts strong and steady?

Here’s a free read about their first encounter.   Enjoy!