Pillar-Further

Collective Soul-Shine

Kylie Minogue-Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Third Day-Come On Back To Me

Muse-Time Is Running Out

Lady Antebellum-Need You Now

Adam Lambert-Mad World

Nickelback-Savin' Me

P.O.D-Alive

Three Days Grace-Just Like You

Shinedown-If You Only Knew

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Muse-Uprising

Newsboys-Shine (not to be confused with Collective Soul)

Motley Crue-Home Sweet Home

Guns And Roses-November Rain

Black Sabbath-Iron Man

Ozzy Osbourne-No More Tears

Crazytown-Butterfly

Jason Derulo-In My Head

Have a good weekend!

My problem is that I don't know whether to write each battle out, which would be tedious and long and dry for the reader, or to just skip ahead and finish the stupid book already. I had this problem the first time around and I finally decided that I was going to skip ahead a little bit (this whole thing takes about a year in Legacy's time) and only point out the important stuff. But what's the important stuff?

I think the battle where the werewolves join the war is important. I think the battle with the remaining ambassadors and their soldiers is important. I also think the last battle when Seven is born is important. But that's not that much to be honest with you.

Sure, there are events interspersed between the battles that are vital to the storyline, but how do I move past the war part and put those other moments into the story?

*shakes head* I'm just having trouble and I think I'm overthinking the whole thing. I just need to write it and get it over with.

Fantasy In Death by J.D. Robb (released 2/23/10)

Dead In The Family by Charlaine Harris (released 5/4/10)

Burned: A House Of Night Novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (released 4/27/10)

The Vampire Diaries: The Return Shadow Souls by L.J. Smith (released 3/16/10)

The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong (released 4/6/10)

Black Bird Volume 4 by Kanoko Sakurakoji (released 5/4/10)

No Mercy by Sherrilyn Kenyon (released 8/3/10)

Infinity: The Chronicles Of Nick by Sherrilyn Kenyon (released 6/8/10)

Indulgence In Death by J.D. Robb (released 11/2/10)

and of course Legacy: The Chronicles of Seven Book 0 by K. Rhiannon Ward (released June, 2010) as well as Awakening: The Chronicles of Seven Book 3 by K. Rhiannon Ward (released November, 2010)

There's more, but it's just too much to name right now. Happy reading!

As a vampire writer, I don't have a real genre. With Stephenie Meyer's Twilight and The House Of Night novels by P.C. and Kristin Cast, the young adult genre is absolutely saturated with vampires. Most of the good vampire novels that don't have pornographic sex in them are found in the young adult section. I recommend all of the above as well as the L.J. Smith novels (Nightworld, Dark Visions, Vampire Diaries, and beyond) and Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments trilogy. While I write vampire novels that don't have explicit sex in them, I don't think I fall under the young adult catagory.

If you haven't been under a rock lately, you'll also probably know about a series on HBO called True Blood. Those are based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. She created her own genre of vampire mystery. They are also wonderful and worth the read. Especially for Eric Northman. One word: Yum. Since I don't have mystery as part of the plot of my stories, I don't fall under this genre either.

This leaves me with few options. I market my own novels as epic fantasy. Since vampires don't exist (as far as we all know anyway), they are pieces of fantasy. Since I throw in aspects of fantasy novels (magic swords, prophecies), my work fits in the category.

The most important part of the whole process for me is that I write what I write. It doesn't fit into a category, it can't be put in some little box and marketed that way. It makes things harder for me in the finding an agent part of my journey, but it doesn't change that this is what I write.

Don't let a genre define you as a writer either. Thanks NP for the kick in the pants to think about my work as something to be enjoyed instead of boxed in a nice little package.

At least it was. Until I got the wedding scene and completely spaced on it. Talk about frustrating.

I know that once I get past this scene, the action picks up. There's a lot of action until the end from here. Writing it will be like running downhill. Easy. But this scene, one that was so easy to write the first time around, is making my life difficult.

So why don't I just use the original scene in the other draft? Because I read it. Trust me, you don't want that one. There's not enough detail, not enough explanation...it's just not good. Trust me, I'm the writer. It stunk.

This happened with Prophecy as well. I got the end and wanted to add so much to it that didn't need to be there. It was hard writing that wedding scene too. But then I took it out. Can't do that with this one.

I'll get through it. I just need to focus and simply write. Just put it down on the page and if I need to fix it later, then I can fix it later.

The Calling-Wherever You Will Go

Hoobastank-Running Away

30 Seconds To Mars-The Kill

Trapt-Headstrong

Staind-So Far Away

Vertical Horizon-Best I Ever Had

Aucifer-C No Binetsu (This one is in Japanese and very VERY good. But you might not be able to find it)

Staind-Right Here Waiting

Matchbox 20-Bent

Muse-Undisclosed Desires

Aaliyah-Try Again

Kylie Minogue-Can't Get You Out Of My Head

Three Days Grace-Just Like You

Lenny Kravitz-Again

Linkin Park-Not Alone

Lady Gaga-Bad Romance

Jordin Sparks-Battlefield

Eminem-Lose Yourself

Crazy Town-Butterfly

Adam Lambert-Whatdya Want From Me and For Your Entertainment

When I was reading about the whole reading deprivation week and how it was supposed to allow the inner artist child to play, I was skeptical. What author wouldn't say that you couldn't read anything but their book for a week? Seriously?

So I tried to stop reading. (I didn't count my manga as reading because it's a Japanese comic book. That's not reading, that's enjoying art) I would force myself to put the book down when I started to get pulled away from my craft. I read at the plasma center (there's literally nothing else to do. I'm not kidding) and I read at the chiropractor's office. Then something funny happened.

I didn't want to read. I wanted to write. I wanted to write constantly. I'd tap out my creativity (you can do that right?) and I'd still feel this itch in my fingers to keep going. Just keep writing, anything at all.

I'd write at the chiropractor's office in my notebook with a pen. If I was out with someone and they went to the bathroom, that notebook came out and I'd scribble down notes for the next scene in my novel. I'd talk about my characters like they are living and breathing human beings walking around somewhere in the world. I'd forgo breakfast (and I'm on a cleanse right now, so that's not a good idea) just to get more writing done after the morning pages. My morning pages started turning into pages for my novel or character bios for Resurrection (which isn't coming out until next year). Insanity abounded.

I have to say that my skepticism about the reading deprivation week was unfounded. I didn't realize that I did this, but I would hide my creativity in the book I was reading, not the book I was writing. I'd let the characters I was reading about block me out. Now I let them speak to me in a different way.

Even if you're not doing the Artist's Way like I am, try not reading for a week. Seriously. You can only read when it's absolutely necessary (like the plasma center). You might be surprised at what comes out of your head.

What's with my sudden fixation on deadlines? I'm staring at one and I don't like it.

Since I'm in week four of the Artist's Way and had to suffer through my reading deprivation week (Have I stopped reading altogether? Absolutely not. I still read when I want to. But do I sit with my book and let myself get swept away? Sadly no.), I've noticed that I really have a lot of work left on Legacy and need to get my tush in gear to get it done on time. I've already pushed the deadline back once. I can't do that again.

Here's my plan for Legacy: finish the rewritten first draft by the end of March (Yes, I have that much of it left to write). Then in April, I'm not allowed to look at it. At the beginning of May, I'll start real time editing with Nathan. While I'm doing that, I'll comb through it on my own and add or take out things that need to be added or removed as well as rewording things that need help. By the end of May, it should be done. Then it's on to formatting and cover art, but that's on him. After the formatting is done, I'll go through it again and rework things that need to be reworked. The whole thing should be done by the end of June.

The plan after Legacy? Awakening is due in November. At least I have most of that written and just need to finish it. November shouldn't be a problem. It's releasing a book in the middle of Nano that I'm not excited about.

At least my deadlines are self imposed. I can't even imagine having someone else telling me how quickly things needed to be accomplished with my writing.

Let me explain. Three times a week, I go to the Chiropractor's office. I have to wait. Sometimes for a long time. I don't have an MP3 player, so I can't take my music with me. Sure, I can take a notebook or my computer and get some writing done, but it's not that easy to do in that little chair in the office. The only thing left to me is to read. I can't knit at this point in my treatment (it's either knit or write. I choose to write), so what else can I do?

Then there's the two days a week that I'm at the plasma donation center. One arm is stuck with a rather large needle, so typing is out of the question. Again, I can't listen to music. If I have to choose between watching TV (the workers at the plasma place have no sense of good television and therefore I am stuck watching stupid talk shows that rot my brain) and reading, I choose reading.

To make me stop reading for a week is impossible. It's simply not going to happen. I know I should have more respect for my creative recovery process than that, but I can still read and manage to write as well. Will I maybe cut down on my reading time? Sure. I can do that. But to stop reading altogether? *shakes head* I just can't do it. I might actually go crazy and hurt myself or someone else if I have to stop reading. That would mean I have to go to an insane asylum and that's not good.

So go ahead. Berate me and tell me how horrible of a person I am for not giving up my books for one week. I'm prepared for the verbal abuse.