Alessa LeDonne

Found an Apartment

2007-06-04T10:14:00.000-04:00

Well, my search for an apartment was successful. However, today I am having a bit of a panic attack about it. I'm set to go back to the apartment complex in about an hour, and then perhaps my unease will be put to rest. Just in case, I am bringing along reinforcements...my mom is driving down to go look at the apartment with me. It always helps to have a second opinion.

Now, once I get the apartment thing settled, I will start packing. However, I still believe that writing a short 10-15k romance will not be a problem. I think I have an really good idea for a contemporary that just might be the ticket. I'll bounce that idea off my critique partner later. I want to flesh it out a bit more. I have the heroine all thought out, but I need to get the hero in my mind...

hmmm....might be a good time to look at some male models' pictures to get some inspiration!

Starting Again

2007-06-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

I have been away from writing for quite some time now. But all that is about to change. I am once again frequenting the writer's forums that I used to visit, and I have been talking to my critique partner again about writing.

Exciting things have happened in my life in the past year. I've divorced, visited London, and started school, so my life has been pretty busy. However, the emotional roller coaster is over now, and my energies do not have to be directed so much to just surviving. I have taken control.

My first order of business is to take a look at Cobblestone. It seems they accept smaller novels, so I'm going to write a 10-15k manuscript and see if I can finally get my name in print. I have an idea or two for a couple of contemporaries that I think might fit the bill. I'll probably start writing one of those tonight, or at the very least get one plotted out.

But, today...I am going to find an apartment. Wish me luck in everything! It's good to be back!

It's Been a Long Time!

2006-08-06T18:40:00.000-04:00

Today I edited 30 pages of my manuscript "A Model Lover." I'm thrilled as motivation has not been my friend lately, but it has returned!! So, today it is 30 pages of editing and I'm trying to do five pages of writing.

Rodolfo, my hero, is eager to get back with Kaylee, my heroine. Last I wrote, she had returned to the States and he was in Italy angry and sulking because she'd left. Kaylee misses him too. Everything she does reminds her of him...even eating ice cream.

Well, I would write more, but writing here isn't getting my five pages completed!!! Ciao!

Working at it again!

2006-03-22T20:08:00.000-05:00

I have started jumping around in my story. I figure writing something was better than writing nothing. So now my heroine is back in New York, missing the hero who lives in Italy. She's gotten her promotion. She found out the something interesting about her co-worker. Let's just say, other than getting the promotion, everything seems pretty bleak to her.

I've had a hard time staying focused on writing. I have a friend who is going through some personal crises, and so I have been trying to be available for him. I've also had a few crises of my own, but I prefer not to focus on them.

I've tried to update the little bars that indicate how far I am on my writing, but I can't figure out how to do it!! If anyone has a clue, please let me know, because I'm further along than it looks!

I'm getting near the end...

2006-02-25T15:34:00.000-05:00

and I keep getting stuck!!! I've been working on A Model Lover, and I just don't know where to go with it. Well, that's not true. Rather, I don't know how to get there. I know I have to reach the black moment very soon... but how do I rip Kaylee and Rodolfo apart.

It can't be a simple misunderstanding. There has to be something that feels unsurpassable. Kaylee has to have a good reason to return to the United States rather than stay in Italy with Rodolfo.

I think what I need to do is to do some serious plotting from where I am now to the end. That might make me focus. Yes, I need to focus. I hate getting close to the end of a book when I'm reading it, and it seems I hate getting close to the end of a book when I writing it!!

I gave up...

2006-02-19T06:09:00.000-05:00

On the High Noon Challenge that is. I just could not focus on my writing this weekend. But next time there is a Challenge, I plan to do much better and really apply myself.

Okay. This is just a short message. It's far too early for anything more.

High Noon Challenge

2006-02-18T06:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm already off to a poor start with Romance Diva's High Noon Challenge; however, I am not going to let that get me down. My goal today is to write at least 15 pages since I am so far behind in writing my 5 pages a day. In my defence, I have been ill and I started a new work assignment. But still, I did agree to 5 pages per day or have to make them up, so today is make up day.

I'm at a good point in A Model Lover. I'm getting close to the Black Moment when they are torn apart seemingly for good. But of course, this is a romance, so they're never torn apart for good!

Yesterday, I made the keyboard of my laptop international. I purchases these overlay stickers that show the layout of an Italian keyboard. This is making it much easier to type in Italian, which I do quite a bit in AML. I also have a friend in Italy that I correspond with, and he doesn't speak English. Yes, I'm learning Italian the hard way!! But it is so worth it!

Time to get writing again!

I've been tagged!

2006-02-13T07:14:00.000-05:00

current clothing: Crop top and pajama bottoms.
current hair: Dark brown, shoulder length, uncombed.
current mood: Just waking up. vaguely disappointed there were no presents in my inbox.
refreshment: Water. I haven't gotten out of bed to get coffee yet.
current annoyance: Too early to have an annoyance yet.
current avoidance: Getting out of bed.
current smell: Gardenia.
current thing or things on your wall: I'm sitting in the dark, so I can't see what's on the wall.
current IM/person you're talking to: Jodie
current jewelry: Baby ring on my right pinkie finger.
current book: "What would Jackie Do?"
current worry: Finding a full-time job.
current favorite celebrity: Tom Selleck (I always think he's hot!).
current obsession: Italy
current love: My pets.
current disappointment: My marriage.
current lyric in your head: I didn't have one until I read Jodie's now it's the same as hers.
current music: Italian Radio station. (I don't speak Italian, so I can't tell you the song.)
current favorite book: "Under the Tuscan Sun"
current favorite movie: "Under the Tuscan Sun"
current happy thing: Chatting with my best friend.
current undergarments: What undergarments?
current desktop picture: What desktop?
current plans for tonight/weekend: More writing.

Well Now I Know!

2006-02-12T19:07:00.000-05:00

All this time I was wondering why no comments were showing up on my blog. Turns out that the option to moderate comments was selected! haha! Blogger was waiting for me to approve all of them!!! Well, I turned that options off!

So please, feel free to comment! Your comments will show up now!

And thank you to all the people who have left comments! They are all appreciated!!

I'm Learning...

2006-02-04T14:23:00.000-05:00

My contest entries for the Best First Meeing Contest at Romance Divas are doing much better than I expected. I'm getting some really good comments, and I'm pleased. I'm learning that my scenes are not as bad as I thought they were, and my scores are much higher than they were in the Best Opening Scene Contest.

I have, however, gotten a little frustrated that some of the judges have not seen the conflict that will keep the hero and heroine apart and at odds until the end. It seems to obvious to me, but then I wrote it, so it should!!

The other comment I've gotten is they don't get why the heroine would be interested in my hero except for the fact that he is drop-dead gorgeous. My response to this comment is, they just met and they only met for ten minutes, how deep do you really think the attraction is going to get in that amount of time? Attraction is usually based on the physical until you get to know someone. And, you cannot get to know someone in ten minutes. haha!

Oh, well, it's all subjective anyway.

So, what else am I learning. I'm learning that judges judge based on their own personal feelings. They are not trying to hurt anyone. They are trying to help. They do not know what comes before or after the scene they are judging, so that limits them greatly. So, I am digesting the comments, filtering them through what I know to be true about my story and being grateful that they took time to judge my entries.

Now I have to get back to editing that gym scene I've been working on for the past week. That baby needs to be put to bed so I can get back to writing!!!!

Missing My Goals

2006-01-29T11:26:00.000-05:00

You would think that writing two pages a day would be an easy goal to meet. But for the last week, I have found the prospect of writing to be similar to pulling teeth. I've opened my manuscript every day, and yet, not an additional page makes it to the screen.

So, I am back to editing. Better than nothing. I'm deleting a character that I thought would be more pivotal to the plot, but he's not doing anything that one of my other characters couldn't do. It really isn't easy to rewrite a scene that once did not have the hero in it and now does. It changes the entire focus. But, in the end, I think it will be a much stronger scene.

There are two scenes that I think will need to be eliminated completely, but I'm still considering them. One a scene where the hero interacts with some young boys who are impressed with his car, and the other is a scene where he deals with a disgrunted supplier. Neither really add anything to the plot, but do give a little insight into my hero. I don't know. I'm still thinking about it.

Time to get writing or editing. Then I'm off to my parents' house for dinner.

Entering Contests

2006-01-20T18:53:00.000-05:00

Over at Romance Divas they are having a contest for the Best First Meeting. So, I am entering both Faded Pink Roses and A Model Lover into the contest. Today I am reviewing both scenes and making any changes that I think will make them stronger. I learned a lot in the last contest held on RD, so I'm sure I'll learn even more in this one.

I have also taken on Mentor responsibilities. Until the end of April, I will be mentoring another writer who requested help to improve her writing skills. Since I have never mentored, I'm not exactly sure what I am supposed to do, so I am doing what I wish someone had done for me when I was just starting out. I'm sure in the end, I will learn as much as I am teaching.

I am still working on editing AML. It seems to be an ongoing process. Since I changed one of the characters, I am constantly finding areas in the manuscript that do not quite work. I have also decided to eliminate a character, which means more rewriting. Poor Adamo. Oh, well, he's not adding anything, so out he goes. But that doesn't mean I won't keep him in the back of my mind as a possible hero in another book. I never throw away characters, just as I never throw away ideas. I just save them for later.

Yet Another Background!

2006-01-18T02:38:00.000-05:00

Finally I think I have the background that I am going to keep for a while. Someone near and dear to me designed the graphic just for me, and I'm thrilled to be able to have it on my blog!

Back to the Ocean Background

2006-01-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

I checked out the red template on my desktop computer, and the layout was really screwed up on the smaller screen. It looked great on my laptop, but I know not everyone has a 1024 x 768 screen, and any smaller than that and the blog looked bad.

So, temporarily I'm back to the ocean background until I can figure out how to do the red background. I might have to create my own using a couple of different backgrounds.

Oh, well, I love this one anyway!

Another New Background

2006-01-16T03:37:00.000-05:00

I found this background on the web thought the colors coordinated so well with my website, I just had to change it. The ocean background is now on another artistic blog that I have, so I'm still using it.

I was pretty pleased with myself for figuring out how to get the title graphic from my website onto my blog. For someone who is not HTML inclined, that was quite an accomplishment.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be writing the two blurbs about my current two projects, and just a sentence about each of the ideas I have but haven't started yet. I need to get that information to my webmistress so that I can get the construction signs down in my website. I never realized there was so much work to putting together a websit.

Oh, my CP/Webmistress finally posted her own site: Jodici Belle's World of Romance. It's a beautiful site and it gives you a link to her blog. Go check it out! She recently got a publishing contract for her book His Unexpected Bride. I've read it, and I can tell you it's a book you will not want to miss. She has a lyrical style that will pull you into the story like you've never experienced before.

Oh, my! Is it really almost four o'clock in the morning? I've been messing around with this blog way too long. It's time to go to bed!!

Last day to goof off

2006-01-15T22:29:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I am renewing my commitment to complete both my novels. I have been wasting too much time. If I'm not going to be serious about this, then what is the point. I want a publishing contract, so that means the books have to get finished. No more excuses.

If I write four pages per day on Faded Pink Roses, I can have it done in less than four weeks. So, tomorrow, I am sitting down and reading everything that I have already written on FPR. I'm going to print it out, because if it is on the computer, I'll be tempted to edit, and I don't want to do that. Finish it, then edit it.

If I write three pages per day on A Model Lover, I can have it finished by the end of March. But I'm going to work on finishing FPR first. That way I can say I've finished one.

So, starting tomorrow, no internet time until I've worked on my manuscript for at least two hours. Then I can get on for a little while. Then back to writing until I've finished at least four pages.

A New Background

2006-01-13T10:24:00.000-05:00

My WONDERFUL CP sent me a new background this morning for my blog. (One she found, not one she created.) It was a beautiful background and I instantly loved it--that is until I had to look at it for a little while. The red background made my eyes hurt. Plus, it didn't come with all the graphics, so I couldn't host all the graphics myself. Which means, my blog graphics could have disappeared at any time.

So even though I didn't use the one she sent, because she uploaded a new background for her blog, I found this one. It is so me! I love the ocean. I love the cool, crisp look of it. I love the romance of it. I just LOVE it!

Plus, this one came with all the graphics, so I could host them myself. No need to worry about someone deleting graphics and ruining the look of my blog!

Anyway, now I am all set for business. Well, almost. I still need to get some information to my Webmistress (also known as my CP) to finish up my web. I want to get those Under Construction signs down!! But, I have a website, I have a blog, everything is going as planned!

Now, all I need to do is finish my manuscripts and sell them!

I have a website

2006-01-12T19:17:00.000-05:00

My wonderful CP created a beautiful website for me!

www.AlessaLeDonne.bravehost.com

Most of it is still under construction because I haven't given her all of the information yet. But, it will get you to my blog!

First Post

2006-01-09T18:41:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Blog! I'm excited to share with you all the things that are going on in my life and with my writing.

Currently, I'm working on two romance novels.

Faded Pink Roses is a Time Travel that sends Kristin back in time to meet Wyn. It has some interesting characters that help them out along the way, particularly Abigail who is responsible for bringing Kristin to Wyn.

A Model Lover is a Contemporary. I doesn't involve Time Travel, but it does involve International Travel. In AML, Kaylee is a photographer who is sent to Italy to cover a grand opening, where she literally runs into Rodolfo.

If all goes as planned, AML will be finished by the middle of March and FPR by the end of June. But if I'm going to meet that deadline, I'd better get writing!

Talk to you soon!