Websites, worries and wonders...

So I was blessed this last weekend.  Actually, I am blessed on an everyday basis but this was an extra blessing.  We had some friends come over Saturday night with their family and the husband designs websites.  He graciously agreed to design websites for both me (my alter-ego) and for Frank's business.

For six hours (yes, six hours!) they were here and he worked on my site from getting my domain name and then actually designing the site.  Let me tell you, I thought I did okay with my little blogs, but clearly, I am but a wee-novice!  I have always used Blogger and am very comfortable with it, but as a tech-guy, he set up my new site in WordPress.  So far, I am NOT a fan.  Once all of the design aspect is done, he will hand the reigns over to me and I will maintain the site but for right now, I am just playing around in it because it doesn't feel natural to me.

I've heard the debates before - Blogger vs. WordPress - and I guess it's all a matter of what you are comfortable with.  I have relatively few complaints with Blogger.  Over the years there have been issues but they were minimal.  In the few hours I was on WordPress yesterday, at times I wanted to kill myself.  Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic but it felt like that.

In the end, I have a sparkly new website for the book and it's wonderful and just a little bit "spicy" (thank you, Danette, for introducing me to that word - I love it!).  The goal continues to be to sell books and I'm hoping having a professional looking website will help in that matter.

If you are interested, you can see all of the magic for yourself over at www.samanthachaseauthor.com.  Let me know what you think!

This is Exhausting!

The life of a poor, unagented author is rather exhausting.  Besides working my three other jobs, I can now add author to the mix and marketing the book takes up a decent amount of time and it would probably take up a lot more if I actually HAD the time to give to doing it.

I was fortunate that I had the opportunity to work with New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Mallery this year on marketing and promoting her books so I was mentally prepared for the kind of stuff that I would need to do but the only difference here is that everyone knew her and wanted to promote her; the places and websites that I am hitting have no idea who I am and a lot of them don't want to deal with self-published authors.  Kind of discriminatory but whatever.

I have posted the book on close to a dozen different sites and now it's a matter of getting those sites to have members read it and review it.  I believe it is KEY to get reviews and ratings up to generate interest.  

I sold 24 books my first week and I think that's pretty good.  My goal was to sell 50 by this Friday because that's my birthday but I'm not so sure that's going to happen.  I'm keeping logs of my sales and where it's selling the best (Kindle) and I've had a lot of positive feedback from people who have read it.  That's a good thing, too.  I think I am most interested in getting feedback from people that I don't know. I'm scared of it, don't get me wrong, but I think I can learn a lot from those people on where I need to work on my work.

I need another 4 hours in the day; I need work for my husband so that I don't have to work 6 days a week.  I need a personal assistant to do all of this promotional stuff for me and just present me with great results at the end of each week.

That's not too much to ask, is it?

Okay, BIG favor to ask...

Okay, it is now officially, official.  That makes sense, right?  Anyway, my book (which I worked YEARS on) is now out in paperback!!  YEAH!!!  That's right, "Jordan's Return" is now available in paperback on Amazon.com.

So what is the favor that I need to ask??  Well, for starters, you can buy it!  That's a biggie, I know, but believe me, it's a good book for those of you who enjoy a good contemporary romance and since it is the holidays, think of those on your list who also enjoy a good contemporary romance. 

But really, what I want right now almost as much as the sales is to generate action on the Amazon page.  So if you go to the book's page HERE, and click on like or even write a generic review (you do need to have an Amazon account), that would be awesome!!!  My goal is to sell 43 books by December 2nd.  Why?  Because that is my 43rd birthday.  I've already sold 20 eBooks in less than a week is awesome so I'm hopping that selling two dozen paperbacks will be a bit easier and, I think, more excting.

So help a first-time author out!  Please!!!  I have great friends and followers here.  Let me know if you order!  Thanks!!!

How Walmart Ruined Black Friday

I have to admit, I am one of those crazy people who go out shopping on Black Friday.  As the kids have gotten older, there has been less on their list that were hard to find or big on the "must have" list, but I enjoy going out and hunting down a bargain.

Part of the fun was going out in the wee hours of the morning, meeting up with friends and hitting Walmart first, at 5 a.m., then Target at around 7 a.m. and then the mall.  Well this year, Walmart decided that they were going to be open all day and night on Thanksgiving so that there would be no waiting outside in a line (or mob) and sales would start at 10 pm on Thanksgiving night.  Okay, fine, I'm on board.  I have to work today so going out shopping at night seemed like a good idea.

It so was NOT.

I arrived at the Walmart at around 9:20 pm.  I was parked at the very back of the lot.  Not a good sign.  When I got to the door, there were no carts.  I searched around inside near customer service and finally found one.  My main goal was a bike.  So, back I go to the bike department.  It took me 20 minutes to get from the front of the store to the back.  Once there, I looked for the bike that was on sale, and it was not there.  Okay, fine, I was mentally prepared for that.  It was 9:50 and so I decided to go and position myself for some of the other minor items I wanted and let me tell you, I have never in my life seen a mob scene like I witnessed at that time.  For whatever reason, people started tearing down the black plastic that was wrapped around the "sale" items - it wasn't supposed to happen until 10.  Employees just stood back and watched because the mentality of the crowd was insane.

It took my 45 minutes to reach the front of the store!  

I did eventually find the bike - in the PRODUCE department!  I was fortunate to find two gentleman (shoppers, not employees!) who helped me get the large box in to my cart.  I went directly to check out because there was no way I would be able to continue shopping like that.  I paid and walked out, walking passed about a dozen Walmart MALE employees who saw me walking out alone with this giant box, and not one of them offered to help me!  At my car I was struggling to get the darn thing in when a fellow lone female shopper came and helped me.  Thank GOD!  

Then stupidly I went BACK inside to attempt to get a few other items.  I spent another hour there, got four things, and then headed over to Target.  And let me just say that other stores (ie - Walmart) should learn from Target.  They did not open their doors until midnight.  There was a line that wrapped around the building.  They only opened doors on one side of the store and the entire story front was barricaded.  You had to be on the line to get in, and they let people in in 30 people increments to keep it from being a mob scene.  There were security and police on hand to keep everyone in control.  The store was set up NORMALLY with a few random "special item" displays set up in other departments.  I bought a LOT there.

I was home by 1:30 a.m. and in bed by two.  

I think that opening the stores at midnight (or before) is a horrible idea.  It was insanity.  It's not fair to the employees.  And mostly, it just makes people mean.  This will be my last Black Friday endeavor.  It's just too much of a hassle.  I think that had Walmart not said that they were opening early, most of the other stores would have kept to their 5 a.m. schedule.  

Greed is not a good thing, Walmart, and for all of my own stupidity, the experience was totally not worth it.

And yet more places to find it...

Okay, so I promise to calm down in a few more days but really, I'm new to all of this and each and every thing that happens is exciting!

So I am in full-blown promo mode, getting my "brand" out.  Brace yourselves. You can now find author Samantha Chase and "Jordan's Return" in the following places:

Twitter (and I'd love some followers!) - HERE
Kindle (go and click "like") - HERE
Nook (would love some ratings!) - HERE
Smashwords (this one's new to me) - HERE
Goodreads (thank you, Dot!)  - HERE
Facebook (follow or like me!) - HERE
Amazon Authors - HERE
And finally, the Blog (Samantha Chase author) - HERE

So as  you can see, I've been busy.  How I'm going to keep up with all of this, is beyond me.  If I make enough sales, I can hire someone to keep up with it all for me!

CRAZY and LOVING IT!!

And now we are LIVE on NOOK!!

Okay, I have to admit, I am having WAY too much fun with this!  I want to stay home from work and just search the internet all day long and get the word out that I have published a book!  

So for those of you who are Nook people and not Kindle people, "Jordan's Return" is now available through Barnes & Noble's Nook.  You can click HERE to go to the page and purchase it.  Please do.  Please, please, do.  It's only $1.99 and you would be helping me fulfill my dream!  

Plus, while you are there, please click "Like" to help me generate some action on the page.  THANK YOU!!

And we are LIVE on KINDLE!!!

Oh, my goodness!  This is so exciting that I can barely stand it!  My book went LIVE on KINDLE this morning!  I mean, there it is, clear as day, on Amazon's site!  I feel a little bit sick, but in a good way!  I am hoping that the paperback will be out there on Amazon by Friday.

But for those of you who are interested, here is the link to Jordan's Return on Kindle.  It's only $1.99!  I'll have it up on Barnes and Noble by tomorrow for those of you with a Nook!

Have a great day!  I know I am going to!!

Here's What it's Gonna Look Like...

Okay, here is your "Sneak Peak" at my book!  EEK!!!  This is such a bizarre feeling!!!  I have submitted everything to CreateSpace and as soon as everything is approved, we will be live on Amazon, Kindle, Nook and hopefully, eventually on iTunes bookstore!

This is Why I Look Ten Years Older...

In case I haven't mentioned it, my young son has slight OCD.  It comes out in weird ways and we've managed to work through the worst of it but sometimes his thought process is a little bit out there.

This is the first year that we've had him take the bus TO school.  We felt that he was older and could handle the whole thing and to be honest, I was just tired of the whole carpool thing each morning.  So, we got in to the routine of taking the bus.  It was touch and go for a little while mainly because the bus was not consistent in its pick up times.  For a little boy with OCD, this was HUGE.  We managed to convince him to STOP going out 20 minutes early and I studied its arrival time for a month straight and narrowed it down to a two-minute time span.  

Not too shabby.

So the other morning, he leaves for the bus.  It was still 9 minutes early but I call that progress.  He leaves, he shuts the door.  I then walk over to the door and open it up so that I can see when the bus goes by.  Now this is a huge step for me because for that first month of school, I would almost stalk him in the bushes while making sure that he made it to the bus stop okay (it's two blocks away and cannot be seen from the house) and got on the bus.  

Three minutes after he left, I see him running like an axe murderer is chasing him - in the OPPOSITE direction of the bus stop.  Now keep in mind, I'm in my nightgown and robe - no shoes or socks - and now I am on the front porch yelling "Where are you going???"  to which he replies "I can't talk now, mom!  The bus!"  I know for a FACT that the bus has NOT come and I'm screaming now for him to come back.  He doesn't.  In fact, he crosses the main road next to our house and is running down the other side of the block.

I am freaking out at this point.  

I run in the house, get Frank, who then gets dressed, gets in the car and goes in search of the boy.  I text a friend whose kids ride the bus with Michael and ask if Michael is at her bus stop.  Then I call the transportation department and ask them to please get the driver on the phone and see if Michael is on the bus.  

The driver won't answer.

Frank comes home like all is well.  He's sitting in the car, finishing his cigarette, rolling up the window, turning down the radio and I am on the porch ready to peel my own skin off because I want to know where my son is.  Turns out, Frank never found him.  So I'm like "GET BACK IN THE CAR AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU KNOW WHERE HE IS!!"  

He leaves.

My friend texts and then calls because she didn't go to the bus stop with her kids.  Now I hang up and call the school.  I am in tears right now because I have no idea if someone picked him up, is he on a school bus or did some freak take him.  My mind was running wild.  I tell the lady at the school to have him call home as soon as he gets to homeroom.  Now I have no choice but to sit and wait.  

I was sick to my stomach. 

Finally, the transportation department called and Michael was, indeed, on the bus.  PRAISE GOD!  I was able to relax and breathe a little easier but I felt like I had gone ten rounds in a boxing ring!  I went to take a shower and Frank was home and the phone rings.  It's Michael.  Frank lost it.  He held it together for me all that time (the whole thing lasted 20 minutes but it felt like an eternity) and when he heard Michael's voice he was like "What were you thinking!  You don't run after the bus, the bus comes to you!"

Honestly, we were both torn between wringing his neck and hugging him.  It's not a feeling I ever want to feel again!

When does it get nervy?

Facebook is an amazing thing.  I love catching up or keeping up with friends and family, I enjoy playing games and I really like keeping up with favorite authors or musicians in a more personal environment.  

What I don't like is people that seemingly have an "agenda" that they use Facebook for.  I had one friend who was EXTREMELY political and most of his posts were just nonsense rants.  I'm still his friend, I just block his posts.  when I'm curious about what's going on in his life, I can drop by his page and find out.  

Tonight, however, I noticed something that really kind of enraged me.  An acquaintance is posting how many friends she has and currently she is trying to adopt internationally.  Her original post was her asking for $20 from each of her friends so that she can book her flight and bring her babies home.  Then she lowered it (quite a bit to $2 per FB friend).

Don't get me wrong, I do not begrudge someone that is looking to adopt children; if that's what they want to do, more power to them.  But while we were nearing eviction and were putting out prayer requests, not ONCE did we blatantly ASK for money.  That just seems a little crude.  I mean, maybe I'm the one who's looking at this the wrong way but what would it sound like if my status read "I have 684 friends on Facebook, if each of you hired Frank to paint a room in your house, I wouldn't have to work three jobs...or then Frank and I could get out of the hole that 6 months of him not working has created".

That would sound heinous and nervy, wouldn't it???

 

Remember when Customer Service actually MEANT something??

I have not made it a secret how much I despise Time Warner and their services.  Unfortunately, the price is right for our bundle but here is a time where the ol' adage is true - you get what you pay for.  

I have their "bundle" of service - home phone, cable and internet for one low price.  The internet is the slowest speed they have and still be called "digital or high speed", the cable package is essentially the same 100 channels that I had before except now they are repeated three times and one of them is in hi-def and the rest of the channels just mock me with their "Upgrade now to see this" screen.

My biggest problem that I am having with them is their email.  This is quite possibly the WORST email system ever created and believe me, I've dealt with bad email service before.  I switched to TWC because they had a good reputation, big name, blah, blah, blah.  So the email issue, just keeps getting worse.  First, there is the issue that at 8:00 EVERY night, I cannot get in to my email account.  By 9 pm I'm usually okay, but what in the world is that?  I am paying for service 24 hours a day and essentially, I am not getting it.


Then there's the "sending an email" issue.  I type up and email, I hit send, all seems well and then, some time later, that email shows up in my draft file.  I don't know about you but I don't sit in front of my computer with it open to email 24 hours a day.  Most of the time I send something out - sometimes a very important something out with the expectation that it will get there.  Last week, I ended up missing something important (like a teacher conference) because I could not get to my email and because my response didn't send.  What am I supposed to do about that?


I have done the "Live Chat" thing about a dozen times with a TWC rep in the last three months and each time, my issue has not been resolved, I have not gotten a copy of our transcript and this last time I was so out and out aggravated with the guy that I cut the session short.  I had explained all of my issues and he asked what browser I used, I said Firefox, he said "Go in to IE and do it."  Now, I don't know about most of you but I do not have multiple browsers set up and I use Firefox for a reason.  Seeing this email in IE wasn't going to help me because I was not going to use it.  Tell me why it isn't working with Firefox!  Is there a known issue?  Have other customers had similar complaints?

Then he asks what security I have on the computer.  I tell him and he says "Shut it down so I can test".  Um, I'm sorry, but no.  Again, this is the security system that I use.  Does TWC have a known issue with it?  I am not going to change my security system so why do I need to shut it off for you to do a test?  


I'm telling you, I was livid.  I cannot get a customer service person to actually GIVE any customer service and I am to the point that I want to cancel my home phone (even though I love it, believe it or not), cancel the cable (TV nowadays is like the black hole of time) and just find some sort of bargain basement internet provider because basically, I'm getting crap service now, how much worse can they be?


All I want, is an answer as to why this is happening?  If you cannot answer that, then don't work in customer service.  That's all I'm sayin...

And then my hands stayed like that...

Okay, here's a writing update...

Last weekend on my writing retreat, I wrote non-stop.  I went in to the weekend at 11,000 words and by the time I got home Sunday afternoon, I was at 38,000 words.  By Monday night, I hit my 50,000 word goal.  Actually NaNoWriMo is thirty days to 50,000 words but I was in such a groove that I wanted to hit that goal early on in the month.

Then I had the last three chapters of my book to finish editing thanks to my critique partner and then had to re-format the file and submit it again to Create Space and order my proof copy.

I had to then edit three chapters for my critique partner's book and get that back to her and correct 8 assignments from the online dialogue class that I am teaching PLUS critique/correct a research paper that one of my former students sent to me and asked for help on.  My fingers feel like they are both super-glued to a keyboard and permanently bent to the "home row" position.  

This week I need to come up with four Disney-related blog posts to submit to a site that I've been working with, while writing and editing and teaching, and cleaning and working my job.

Can we all say hand cramp?

 

Riddle Me This...

So Michael brought home his progress reports last week.  One from each class.  Now I know that I am not very good with math (I admit it, Cathleen!) but this makes NO sense to me whatsoever!

These are his scores in one of his classes:
100
93
98
0
88


He has a 95.5 on his project 
but a 47 on his classwork


His average in class?  A 62.9%.  Which, using the STUPID 7 point scale, means that he is failing this class!  


So to answer the question plaguing us all, no, I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader (or in this case, a sixth grader).

I hear bicycles are making a comeback...

So Nick's car died; it's in the shop being worked on but he has been without it for two weeks.  With my work schedule, my car basically just sits in the parking lot not doing a whole lot of anything and so it really made sense to let the boy borrow the car while I was at work so that he could get things done.

What kind of things, you ask?  Well, let me give you a little backstory.  He has had a job at a local supermarket for about three years.  They suck.  They jerk him around, they don't give him a steady schedule and basically, he cannot support himself on that job.  So a friend of mine heard of a temp position at her company (a nursing home) that was a three-month thing.  It was a 40 hour work week at $10 an hour.  Score!  He went, he applied, he got the job and took a leave of absense from the supermarket thing.

Well, after a couple of weeks at the nursing home, they were telling him how much they loved him, how great of a job he was doing and that when the three month gig was over, he had a job if he wanted it.  He was totally psyched.  He was making more money than he ever had, he bought himself a laptop, he was living large.


(insert doom-inspired music here)


So two weeks ago, they offer him a legit job.  They let the person go who he was covering for and offered him the job.  He was thrilled.  No more supermarket, no more struggling, he was going to make some serious money and not have to rely on anyone for anything.  Well, two days later they call him in to the office and were like "Um...we need someone with more experience.  We're going to hire someone else BUT if you want to work in the dining room, you can talk to that department.  It's half the hours and $2 an hour less but hey...you'll still be working for us."


There is a certain corner of hell reserved for people like this.


So his car dies, he's looking at almost $2000 in car repairs (yes, it's mostly the whole engine) and he goes in to work on that Monday and at 3:30 they tell him they hired someone and his services are no longer needed.  Bye-bye.  Freaking out, he goes to the dining people and they're like "Oh, we didn't know you were going to be available so quick; we offered the job to someone else."


So to recap, he's got no car and now he has no job.


Then there's me and my car.  Now remember, I taught the boy how to drive.  I'm a fairly good driver.  He is a very cautious driver (now) but there is still something to be said about giving the child who drove through red lights and stop signs because, hey, nothing happened when he did, that makes me want to cringe just a little bit.


If his car isn't fixed soon, I'm buying him a bike and a warm coat and wishing him well...

Male Pride = Female Rant

So I have a new part-time job.  Lucky, lucky me.  I am now cleaning my office once a week.  Seriously, I'm not complaining because the extra money has most definitely been a blessing and I know that I am lucky to have any job right now.

Part of the reason I took the job was because Frank had been out of work for so long.  When the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it.  I told Frank, however, that he needed to help.  

Sigh...

He was really not as, shall we say, appreciative of the opportunity and has come along and helped me...kicking and screaming and grumbling and griping the whole way.  

For the most part I can deal with his nonsense and just let it go.  But Friday night when I was trying to get the cleaning done (we normally do it on a Saturday) because I was going on my retreat and did not want to have to come in on the weekend, and so he met me there at five with a MAJOR attitude going on.  Let's just call it "Bitch Factor".  He brought Michael with him and if everyone just did what they were supposed to, it would have been done in 90 minutes. 

Well, Friday's are a completely different beast because there were still people in the office and this equaled (in his brain) a MAJOR problem.  I guess pride-wise, he did not want anyone to witness his doing the office cleaning and although every single person there was super friendly and polite to him, he was just in a mood.

After about an hour I was like "What is your deal?" and yes, I was snippy.  He went in to the whole schpeel about how he doesn't want to do this, he hates the whole cleaning gig, blah, blah, blah, and tops it with "And I worked all day".  So I reminded him that so had I.

BBIIIIIGGGGGG Mistake.

He looked around the office and was like "Yeh, that chair looks like it's real uncomfortable to sit in while in this nice air conditioned office".  Suddenly he's acting like he climbs mountains in the arctic or in the jungle somewhere.  That was it.  The gloves came off and I "reminded" him that I would not have had to TAKE the damn job if HE had gotten off his butt ONCE during the last six months and put in a REAL effort in to finding a job.  I "mentioned" that this cleaning gig will help us to have Christmas this year.  

And yes, those quotation marks do signify sarcasm.

I was so annoyed with him that I almost beat him to death with my Swifter!! 

What a difference a second pair of eyes makes...

So I have had a GREAT time with my critique partner.  Her looking over my book has been such a blessing.  She had some great ideas on how to tighten up some things and found some errors that I had missed. 

One of the greatest things that she gave me was confidence.  You know, I had two friends read my book in various stages of completion and because they were my friends, they gave me the “good friend” response when I asked what they thought of it “It was really good!”  But having a stranger read  your work and tell you that they love it??  PRICELESS!!!

She has boosted my confidence like you cannot believe.  The best thing that she said to me was that the book wasn’t long enough because she didn’t want it to end.  She loved my characters and wanted to keep on being a part of their lives.  LOVED that!  

So as of now, with all of the edits complete, I have to re-submit the file to Create Space and read the proof and then we are a GO for publication!!!  YIPPEEE!!!  It should be out on Kindle by Thanksgiving.  How exciting is that???  When that happens, I will put a link to it up here on the blog so that you can go right to it and buy tons of copies so that we can make up for Frank being out of work for months!!!

Remember, it's almost time for Christmas!!!

Running Screaming from the Building!

Sometimes it just seems like by the end of the day, no matter where I am, I feel battered and worn the heck out!  Work has been crazy lately; there just seems to be crisis on top of crisis on top of crisis to the point that when 5:00 hits, I am running from the building!

Then there is the literal need to run from the building because there are a hundred things to get done once I leave the office.  With Nick having no car, he is using mine while I’m at work – and THAT is SOOOO going to be a blog topic in the future, believe me.  But he’s here, pacing, talking, yammering and I feel the need to get him out of the building as quickly as possible.  Then there’s the speech therapist that comes to the house once a week that I have to rush home to, and small group/bible study, and picking up Michael from ping pong club…I mean, I am in a perpetual state of rushing around and it is exhausting.

But I think the most precise moment of running screaming from the building came Friday night when I was trying to get going to my writing retreat.  I had worked 12-5 and then cleaned the office from 5-7 and by that point I was like “Stick a fork in me, I’m done”.  Time seemed to crawl.  As I mopped my way out the door, I was practically coming out of my own skin in my rush to get going.

I long for the days when 5:00 didn’t mean escape.  I long for the days that whenever I get home, I get home.  Slower days, that’s the dream.

The Friday Countdown Is On!!!

It's Friday!  It's Friday!!  It's Friday!!!

Yes, I know, most people feel the same way mainly because it means that the work week is over and the weekend is here but for me, not only is that part true but it also means that I am heading off for my writing retreat this weekend!  I am leaving after dinner tonight and heading back to the little cottage that belongs to some friends and spending the weekend mostly in my jammies and writing until my hands cramp and my eyes explode!

Sounds fun, right?

The timing is great because this has been a particularly harsh week - Nick's car died (blown head) and he lost his job.  I don't know which one of us was on the more severe suicide watch - me or him.  Actually, he is handling the whole situation better than I am and I am so proud of him but it's just added a lot more stress to my life.

I hate that we can't help him out more.  I hate that he is going to have to struggle to get out of this situation but I also know that this will make him stronger.  Me?  It's making me want to go to the cottage and eat chocolate chip muffins and wash them down with Yoo-Hoo's all weekend long!

I'll try and not do that, but I make no promises...

Channelling Peter Brady...

So I have an eleven year old.  He's adorable.  He's growing like a weed and makes me giggle a lot.  He has the greatest laugh.

His voice is changing.

I am SO...NOT...READY...FOR...THIS.

I didn't notice it so much at first.  There was a squeak here, a gruffness there.  But lately, I'm noticing it more and more and I have to admit that it's freaking me out.  I don't remember how old Nick was when his voice started to change but this whole voice thing added to the ginormous growth spurt he's had and his interest in girls, well...I don't like it.

I want my baby back!!!

TODAY'S THE DAY!!!

So today is finally here!  It's November 1st!!  I actually sat down this morning after NOT doing an outline and started the great American NaNoWriMo 2011 Challenge and I already am at almost 1,900 words!!!  Yeah, me!!!  The goal is to write something like 1600 words per day in order to get it all done by November 30th and I plan on writing more tonight so I am totally getting in to the groove.

Come on, fellow writers!  JOIN ME!!!