The Countdown to D-day

Remember NOT SO PLAIN JANE, the proposal I sent in a couple Fridays ago? Well, I was offered a two-book contract with the new Harlequin Romance line. My agent is negotiating the contract, but unless something has happened in the last eighteen hours, I'll have a November 1 deadline (aka D-day) for the first book. That means:

1) I'll have a book out in October 2006
2) I can celebrate finishing the book by watching Revenge of the Sith on DVD (release date is 11/1)
3) I have six weeks to write the rest of the book
4) I am totally insane

The excitement of #1 and #2 quickly dimmed when the reality of #3 and #4 dawned. Okay, I've done it before. I've actually written a book in less time and it even won an RT Book Club award for best Silhouette Romance, but that was before. Before I had my third child, before I took time off to care for that child when she got sick, before I wondered whether I would ever be able to write and sell again.

As doubts set in, my faithful friends quickly came to my rescue with words of encouragement this afternoon. They know me so well that one friend actually broke down what I needed to do and emailed me the following:

6 weeks to 50,000 words, with 3 chapters already

Assume 40-45 pages for the 3 chapters, 250-word pages - say 10,000 words done, 40,000 to go.

40,000 divided by 5 weeks = 8,000 words/32 pages per week
Divided by 5 days per week = 1600 net words/6.4 pages per day with 2 daysoff
Leaving one week for tightening, cleanup, spellcheck, etc.

Not as scary when you break it down.

LauraP, the breakdown queen
(hmm, that doesn't sound so good)

Actually it sounded great considering I had 61 pages for the first three chapters and when I pulled out my organizer to double check the dates I discovered I actually had 7 weeks instead of 6. A doable game plan. Right?

There's one problem. I don't write. I revise. And revise and revise. But I'm still going to take LauraP's plan and go for it. A systematic approach might keep me from the exhaustion and deadline dementia that normally happens to me. Or it might not.

If you want to see what happens when a writer (okay, this writer) is on deadline, stay tuned. The posts won't be long because I have a book to write, but I'll keep you updated on my progress, my setbacks and any nervous breakdowns I suffer in between. Words of encouragement, chocolate and news/pics of my muse Hayden Christensen will be greatly appreciated.

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it:)