I'm Sorry, What Now?

Alright, remember the last post I wrote? You know when I mentioned not being a fan of talking about my book because I'm afraid someone will steal my idea?

It happened.

Since my last post, an established YA author wrote, edited and published  MY BOOK *sobs uncontrollably*

Alright. I'm exaggerating. She totally didn't do all that over night. And she didn't actually steal my book, but well here....

I was over on my book blog, Me My Shelf and I, setting up some Waiting on Wednesday posts - you know looking for new books to feature for it, as you do. When I see this cover that's kinda cool and I click on it and start to read the synopsis...and well the next few moments of reading said synopsis went something like this...

Line One - Hmm okay this seems familiar
Line Two - Well, mine's a little different
Line Three - GET OUT OF MY HEAD WOMAN!
Line Four - I hate you and I'll never read any of your books ever again!
Line Five - *sitting under my desk with a bottle of vodka making this face:

Seriously...it's pratically the SAME book!

After a pep talk from author Catherine Ryan Hyde (Pay It Forward) I am reminded, again that no one idea is ever the same when written by 2 different people. And that there really is no unique ideas left under the sun.

And, okay so now I use this to get more creative and make it NOT like her's. Make it a challenge for myself, that's what a real writer would do after all. {logic hurts brain} Still no matter what, the basis will remain the same, and should this book get published I will just be compared to her. AND OKAY I suppose another good thing is that she's quite the great author so I guess there's nothing wrong with being compared to her book - even if she used some ancient witchcraft to crawl into my brain and steal my idea, probably a year before I even had it...tricky witchy woman!

It's just SO SO similar. The new house, the haunting, the dreamy blue eyes of the love interest, the MC in danger as she figures out who the killer might be.....*headdesk headdesk*

My GWPFL (Gay Writing Partner For Life) Charlie is reminding me that my book focuses more around dreams being my MC's trigger, so I have that going for me. And he's telling me I can drink, but I can't give up. Stupid logical writing partners....I mean...I LOVE YOUR FACE CHARLIE! *wink*

For those of you sitting here going. 'So what's the damn book already' - I will tell you, but I wasn't going to. And I swear, from the top of the hills I will scream it (if you carry me up there, I'm really lazy these days) I didn't steal HER idea! I've had this for ages and started it for NaNo...crap now I look like the thief....

Here' you go, from the fantastic mind of Kim Harrington (AND ME! *sobs*) is THE DEAD AND BURIED

A haunted house, a buried mystery, and a very angry ghost make this one unforgettable thriller.

Jade loves the house she's just moved into with her family. She doesn't even mind being the new girl at the high school: It's a fresh start, and there's that one guy with the dreamy blue eyes. . . . But then things begin happening. Strange, otherworldly things. Jade's little brother claims to see a glimmering girl in his room. Jade's jewelry gets moved around, as if by an invisible hand. Kids at school whisper behind her back like they know something she doesn't.

Soon, Jade must face an impossible fact: that her perfect house is haunted. Haunted by a ghost who's seeking not just vengeance, but the truth. The ghost of a girl who ruled Jade's school — until her untimely death last year. It's up to Jade to put the pieces together before her own life is at stake. As Jade investigates the mystery, she discovers that her new friends in town have more than a few deep, dark secrets. But is one of them a murderer?

Tonights NaNo writing face will look something like this:

- xoxo Amber

WHAT'S THE WORD? {NaNoWriMo Day 2 Recap}

3 hours and 600 words in last night, I was staring, eyes glazed over like a zombie at my computer screen. Trying my hardest to think of a word.

A simple word. 
A word I knew.
A word I used.
A word that for no reason should be evading me.

It was right there on the end of my tongue. 
What the hell is it?
Read what I just wrote, trying to see what fits.

Pace the bedroom because I can't move forward until I figure out this word. Google what I'm trying to say hoping that the internet will sort the rest out for me....no such luck.
Go upstairs to get a drink, talk to Alex a min...

LANDSCAPING!

That's it that's the word! runs to computer to type it in, husband looks up phone number to nearest mental institution. 

These are things that I swear only happen to writers. Can you imagine if it happened on a daily basis? I'd be at McDonald's  placing my order... I'd get stuck on a word, give up and walk away. Then minutes later, run screaming at the cashier: "CHEESEBURGER!!!" 

Okay, let's get back to the recap from last night. I rounded out with 2,745 - but this is a bit off as I have some of my character sketches included in my "compile".  Basically, in "non writer" the program I am using to write is counting words in my research toward my goal of 50,000 words. This isn't cool, so I'm sorting out how to remove them from being counted. I've called in the big guns, e-mailing Scrivener master and all around kick-ass Author, Corrine Jackson to help. 

Here's a crappy screen shot of my stats from NaNoWriMo.org last night. I know, day two nothing really to see here. Well, I laughed and laughed when I saw what the "expected date to finish this book if I keep at this pace" was....Nov 11th.

Excuse me a moment. Bwhahahahahahahahahahaha! *gasp* Hahahahahaha! Ha. No.

I am in no way expecting to actually keep up at "over achieving" at word counts this month. In fact, I'm so happy I'm currently ahead in my total, simply because this will keep me from dropping into a ball on the floor sobbing in defeat the first time I don't make my goal for a day. Not to mention, if I could write a 50K book in 11 days, the level of suckage it would posses would be off the charts. I wouldn't even be able to edit it, I would simply print it out so I could give it a proper burial in the fire pit out back.