Goals for May!

It’s May! Time to set new goals and gear up for the summer.

For me, I want to reach page 200 on this new manuscript. I also want to revise a synopsis and 3 chapters for Blaze. I’m debating whether to enter the next American Title contest. I have two full manuscripts, both historical, but I don’t know if they’re “grabby” enough.

Sometimes there are favorite books on the shelf that don’t start with a grabber line. They start quietly, building up until they have me by the throat. But on the subject of catchy first lines, I did like Teresa Medeiros’ novel where the first line involved the Regency heroine in her coming out. She was coming out of her dress, dangling out of the window. Cute book.

Historical trivia: Early gas masks during WWI were nothing more than handkerchiefs soaked in pee. The ammonia in the urine would counteract chlorine gas and neutralize it. Later, when they made them into a mask, they still had to pee on them to create the ammonia. The soldiers nicknamed them “Stinky Ducks” because of the smell and the duck-shaped mask.