WOYWW 213 - Stop! Drop! Play with the Grandbabies!

It's WEDNESDAY... you know what that means!  

I really love What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Hostess, Julia Dunnit atStampin' Ground has created this awesome web of participants that allows us to peek inside each other's studios every week. Just click -> WOYWW to see what it's all about.

Okay, so it isn't pretty and there doesn't look as if there has been much creating. My studio is downstairs and I spent 5 weeks upstairs with my granddaughters - Adrian 5.5 yrs and Abigail 19 months. Not a lot of crafting either. Either Adrian and I couldn't do much because her little sister wanted to be into everything she shouldn't or Adrian herself just could not focus. This child has never NOT been able to focus when it comes to making things. I do say she is much better in the kitchen though and quite proud of herself for learning to crack an egg. After that she wanted eggs in everything so she could crack them. LOL

I will have a couple of items to show you in the coming weeks we were able to do. She copied a SpongeBob card from Pinterest for a Father's Day card. She got to use the Sizzix and chalks so she thought those were cool.  Hopefully by next Wed, my desk will have some of MY creative stuff going on. I've spent lots of grabbed minutes here and there on Pinterest and have some lovely ideas for art journal techniques.

The other thing that has been derailing my focus from crafting is my novella, Somewhere Down the Line. Thanks to all of my friends and family who voted, my novella has made it to Stage 2 of the competition. Now the voting begins again. This time you get to read the first page of the story. Help me make it to Stage 3 and you'll get the first 1,000 words of this Contemporary Romance based on the lyrics of a song. If you missed my original post about the competition, you can read it HERE. And if you'd like to see me make it one step closer to a digital publishing contract, then please go VOTE. You can vote Once Per Day - EVERY DAY between now and July 7th. I also ask that you share this paragraph with all your friends and family. I feel like an American Idol contestant. I need votes to move forward in the competition. :-)

Bob is on his way home from Chicago so I'm off to make the house presentable. Presently the rooms have the after-affects of 2 Tornadic little girls. LOL

Creative Blessings!
Kelly

THE VOTING BEGINS!

A big part of my creative endeavors is my writing. Every November I take part in a writing challenge called NanoWrimo -aka National Novel Writing Month. The challenge: to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days! Trust me, it can be done. The challenge is not about perfection but to just get the story on paper. In the immortal words of Nora Roberts - 'You can't fix what isn't written.'  I wrote the rough draft of Somewhere Down the Line in 18 days... 55,000 words. The novel was based on a song title originally done by T.G. Shepherd in the early 80's but my inspiration came from a version done by another 80's country group, James & Michael Younger. I covered many of their shows back in the day and last year reconnected with James. As I sat in my truck in his driveway, the 'what if' questions that plaque every writer began to swirl in my head. By the time I'd made the six hour drive home from his home in Hendersonville, TN I had the beginnings of a novel.

Last month I found out that an editor I've always admired and hoped to work with someday is part of a new digital publishing company called Boroughs Publishing Group. They had a competition open for a novella based on a song title. Whoo Hooo! Mine fits perfectly. I spent six grueling weeks tightening the prose, defining my characters and cutting 15,000 words to fit the guidelines. Whew! I'm glad I did. The story is so much better than anything I could have hoped.

And now... SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE is one of only 14 entries vying for a publishing contract. That's where you come in!

I feel like a contestant on TheVoice of American Idol.

SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE is now in the hands of you - the voters. Without your love and support, my novella will not land in the top 25% and move on to the next round.

There are only fourteen entries and I have to say, I am up against some very good competition. Round Two (which begins on June 24th) will tighten the race when the first 300 words of each manuscript is revealed.

For now, you get what is essentially the blurb found on the back cover. For you to read the first page of SOMEWHERE DOWN THE LINE, I need your help. Please go to:
http://boroughspublishinggroup.com/content/whats-name-voting and vote for my novella. You can vote 1 time per day - every day through June 23rd!

Don't let the name T.G. Shepherd throw you. Remember, these entries had to share the name of a song title. Authors names are kept confidential in the early stages so they have listed the recording artist with the book title.

Next, please share the link with all your friends. Tweet it! Share it on FB and even on Pinterest and anything else you can think of. I PROMISE... when you need me to reciprocate in some form, I'll be there for you. Supporting each other is what we do!

And in the words of Bartles and James....

Thank you for your support!