Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Yikes Moment!

I hate having "yikes!" moments.  I had one yesterday.  I was working on the first draft I had let sit for ages.  I had put each scene on a post it note, had made post it notes for the scenes I knew I still needed to write and then laid them all out.  After about thirty minutes, I had rearranged everything in the order I hope it needed to be in. 

Then I made a list(I like the feeling of checking something of that list).  I was going to start with writing the missing scenes.  I already had a shadow of an idea of what would happen in each scene so I wasn't intimidated. I even wrote the first scene I needed.  And then...

It happened!  My "yikes!" moment.  I had thought I was over 2/3's of the way through this novel.  Which means, with a goal of approximately 55,000 words, I should have had more than 37,000.  I didn't.  I had around 34,000.  Then came the realization that I was most definitely not going to reach 55,000 with the few measly scenes I had thought I had left.

Uggggg!  While I don't regret approaching this novel in a pantser way, I do regret not plotting it!  I know, I know, they are the opposite.  I loved the creative freedom I allowed myself.  I dislike having to come in now to clean up my pantser self's mess. :)   Oh the life of a writer.  When you work by yourself, there is only one person to blame, lol.

Keep on. Don't give up.  Be diverse.  Use what works and don't forget the other stuff, cause it may work next time.

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Flash Fiction Time!


I opened my eyes but the water made everything blurry.  Sort of like my life.  Chest burning I knew I would have to come up for air soon.  It could never be that easy, to just relax and take a breath, make it all go away.

The banging was muffled by the water.  I heard it anyway.  My mom was checking on me.  The water melted away as I sat up in the bath tub.  IF I didn’t answer soon enough, she would bare in.  I couldn’t bring myself to blame her.  She just wanted to see me still alive, to see my wounds were healing.  She wanted to know on the outside I was getting better so she could pretend inside I was getting better too.

“I’m fine mom.”  My voice was still hoarse, but firm enough she didn’t insist on coming in.  I don’t think I have any modesty left, aft the time I spend in the hospital.  I think I’m just cruel enough not to let her pretend I’m “all better.”

I probably should have let her in.

Monday, June 6, 2016

Six Month Check Up

In January I wrote a blog reflecting back on 2015 and setting goals for 2016.  Since it's halfway through the year, I wanted to take a look back at my goals and see where I'm at.  I wanted to see if those goals were still relevant. Here's what I've found:


January                                                                   June


My goals for 2016 are to:
1. Finish my incomplete first draft     Eeek!  While this is something I still want to do, I keep             putting it off for something else. I still want/need to finish it, but something else has caught hold of my creativity.

 2. Finish the 2nd draft of my fastest first draft    I finished the 2nd draft, sent it to my beta reader, got it back, started on the 3rd draft and fizzled off.  A) I despise editing  B) Something else has got a hold of my creativity! C)I just don't know if there's much else I can do to this story. D) I'm using my something else as an excuse not to prepare a query and synopsis.

 3. Query a total of  100 agents for the novel I finished in 2015  So I'm like at 50-60 and I have had, literally, no bites what so ever.  I can't change the query anymore.  I'm considering self publishing the story.  I'm holding off because if I got an agent, it's important to have some other "stuff" in my back pocket.

 4. Tease out some sort of plot for my fantasy novel.  Yeah, so here is where my creativity lies, except it's not quite what I planned.  I'm kind of doing this as I go along, and the way I'm putting this story together has allowed me to have that freedom...

 5. I would love to write at least half of a first draft for my fantasy.  Yup, so I dived into the world of self publishing (I really need to write a blog about my experience so far.)  I have self published 2 short stories.  They are actually the back story to this fantasy, but it feels right.  I needed to get these stories out to get to the story I started with.   I chose to write short's cause they are relatively easy to churn out.  It is way easier to edit ten thousand words verses fifty to sixty thousand words.  This is where my creativity is driven towards.  And just when I finish one and think I need to walk away and work on something else, the next story begs to be written.  I've got draft 2 of my third almost finished(it's resting for a few days before I go through one more time and then send to my beta reader) and the outline of my fourth story is already weaving it's way through my mind.  These can be "stand alone" but my hope is if readers find one in the middle, they will go back to the beginning and get sucked in!

 I have to be realistic though. This year I will probably go back to work. I'm currently job hunting. These are lofty goals for a stay at home mom, let alone a working mom. I'm not going to sacrifice my family. And I'm not going to sacrifice this creative flexibility I've found.  This still holds true.  At this time I have a job that starts in August.  Writing is hard enough to do right now and it will get harder.  I'm going to have to be a little more focused and organized to accomplish all my goals.  Because right now, I've only accomplished 1 1/2.


June 2016 Revised Goals:
1. Self publish two more short stories, essentially completing Jael's stories.
2. Decide whether or not to self publish the story I have currently unsuccessfully queried so far this year.  If so, have a marketing plan and book cover sketched out.
3. Finish my incomplete first draft. (This is going to require some backing up.  I allowed myself to approach this in a pantser style and it served me well until I got to where I stopped.  Now I'm lost.  I'm going to have to outline this draft to figure out the end.
4. Fastest first draft: A. Finish the 3rd draft, B.  have a query and synopsis and C. begin querying.





 Keep on keeping on! Reflect, set goals and be flexible! This writing thing is a marathon, not a sprint.



Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Teaser: Whisper of Power

In case you wanted a little teaser from Whisper of Power to entice you to read the whole story, here it is!

               I gasped. At first it was because I remembered something but then I kept sucking in air before the scream ripped out of me. I was on Summit’s back and then I wasn’t. I flew through the air, a heavy weight on my body and something piercing my shoulder. The ground reached out to hit me, knocking the air and my scream away. I felt hot breath on my neck and my own hot blood trailing down my skin.
               Summit reared over me and behind him I saw the night sky. It was clear and dark and then it shook like an earthquake, but really it was just whatever was attacking me shaking my body. It was huge and powerful. There were voices in my head screaming. My stomach turned over and I choked back vomit. Help me! Who are you! Why are you here? Are you Hunting me? You cannot take me back! Release her!
               Summit’s voice I recognized. The other voice could only be whatever was attacking me. He screamed louder than any animal I had ever heard. He was asking me questions, but he wasn’t waiting for answers. I could feel his panic and fear and anger and a wildness like I had never felt from an animal before.
              There was a thud and a yelp as the weight of my attacker fell off of me. His mouth closed down at the last second, ripping my arm open even more before his teeth snapped together and he was well and truly off of me. Summit reared again and his front hooves crashed down, a sickening crack of bone ringing in my ears. The screaming voice stopped and he stood, looming above me on two legs, before he twisted around and ran away. You hurt him. Yes.

Hope you liked it!  If you would like to read the whole story, it is currently available through Amazon.  I will be adding it to several other online versions in the next week (such as on the Nook).  Thanks for your support!

Keep reading.  Keep writing.  Keep dreaming.

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Whisper of Power(Chronicles of Chora)

I've published my second short story! Whisper of Power continues Jael's story but you don't have to read the first to enjoy the second! But it is a series for those readers like me who have trouble letting go :) Here's the back cover blurb!



 In the land of Chora magical beasts, whether human or not, are to be hunted, captured and killed if necessary. Jael has never considered herself a magical beast, but after revealing she is a whisperer with the ability to speak to animals, she finds herself escaping from one of the King’s Hunters. With the help of the unicorn she endangered, Jael flees deep into the woods. When a savage beast attacks, she learns the dangers of the woods weren’t just tales used to frighten children. To protect the lives of the animals in the forest, and her own, Jael will face decisions of death and catch a whisper of why her power should be feared.

Monday, May 9, 2016

Ten words or less...

I used this as an exercise today. I picked four importations and tried to write three stories in ten words or less for each inspiration. Inspiration: death Her grave was covered in ashes. Love died. I mourned. Nothing changed. I cried alone atop her grave.

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Authentic Characters

I've been thinking about this a lot for the last couple weeks. Because I believe in general there are two reasons a person keeps reading, the character(s) and the story. Even when the writing, prose, grammar, etc isn't great, if the story is good and the characters are compelling, a person will keep reading. Or at least that's how it is for me. One example for me is Delerium. After about four chapters I couldn't bring myself to care about the character or her story. And I loved Panic, which was by the same author. Another example is The Selection. Now I admit there are times I think America is a bit too self absorbed and I need Maxon to be more magnetic, I still like them both enough to keep reading, but only just ;) Third example, Katniss Everdeen. Yes she can be "unlike able", stubborn, says not nice things and her vote at the end of Mockingjay was in poor taste; it does not matter because she said "I volunteer!" Katniss is not always the most likable person but she loves deeply and fiercely and she will literally give her life for those she loves. Characters need to be complex, like humans because, duh, they are humans. At least in most stories. Although my Chronicles of Chora also has animals as characters :) Complexity is in the details. Take me for example. I love cherry coke from Sonic. However I think regular coke is gross and I usually don't drink canned/bottled cherry coke. Example two, also about me ;) is... I have always preferred pasture to forests. Forests are pretty but I'm a country girl and pasture is useful for both feeding the livestock I love and providing a big open space to ride in. We are having 4-5 acres of woods logged off our land to convert into pasture. When I saw the trees falling and when I walked through the piles, I was sad. I even told my husband I would have decided not to log it if I had known what I was feeling in that moment. When I write, I can't always give you every detail and explanation for why a character is the way they are or acts the way they do, but I need to know it. Because if I know my character inside and out, you will feel like you know them too even if you don't know they hate coke but love cherry coke from Sonic. Keep on writing! Ps I'm getting close to publishing my second short story about Jael from The Chronicles of Chora!

Saturday, April 23, 2016

Update(said as one would say hump day on Wednesday!)

So much busy going on! I finished the first draft of my third short story about Jael. I immediately knew I got the ending wrong. I just picked one of the options I had been tossing about and within 12 hours I knew in my gut it was the wrong choice. The good news is this is just a first draft and I can fix it! But not now because now I'm getting down to business and preparing to publish my second short story! There is so much that goes into it , in fact so much that I'm going to do a post all about it! But for now, suffice it to say I have a good start! Besides all the nitty gritty I also need to start my third and hopefully final draft :)
Behind my short stories, I still have that pesky third draft for my WIP R, as well as a synopsis and query to do second drafts on!
In the wings I have another novel still in the middle of first draft which I need to and still want to finish. The wanting is how I know the story isn't a dead end.
Also I have a novel I've queried to about 50 agents(goal of 100 within 2016) and I am seriously contemplating self publishing it. Realisticly I need to keep self pubbing my shorts and building my readership to have a diving board to jump off of with that novel.
Also of note I've made the decision to go Select for 90 days with my second ss to see if it makes a difference with sales. There's a program just for short stories through Amazon and I'm hoping it will help. I will keep Secret Whisperer available everywhere it already is though and I eventually plan to publish more broadly with Jael 2(temporary title).
Over and out but not done keeping on!

Monday, April 18, 2016

Staggering

I prefer the word staggering to stuck mostly because it fits better to where I'm at and also because stuck is such a discouraging word.
I quit in the middle of a third draft of my WIP because my third short story was itching to be told. But I hit a snag midway through the short. I fought(like a warrior!) and now I'm stuck again. But where as before I had two options, now I have endless ideas. I'm honestly just not sure which is best. The biggest dilemma is I had always thought I knew where this short would end, but it is a cliffhanger of sorts and I'm having trouble pulling the trigger on that.
I need to shoot and write it because you can't fix a blank page.
Keep on!

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Moments from Chronicles of Chora

  Before Jael's journey began in Secret Whisperer, a King was betrayed...

BETRAYING A KING

      The wind gusted beneath my wings, slowing my descent.  I closed my eyes, enjoying the sharp sting of ice against my skin.  It didn’t hurt my dragon hide.  No, it made me feel alive. Arching my neck at the last second, I bent my knees as the earth reached out to catch me.  Digging my claws into the frozen ground, I rumbled deep inside, the fire heating me.  
      In two steps I had shifted into another skin.  I ran on two legs instead of four, the ground cold under my bare feet.  I had been inside the castle walls too much and even Vadik’s presence could not stop my body from yearning for the freedom of my dragon skin.  But I loved Vadik like I had never loved before, and he could never accept me as anything other than human.  So I held on to these moments, knowing my elven legs would all to soon sneak me back inside the castle, back inside the cage I had created.
                The fire roared in front of me. I had stoked it myself because my maid was asleep for the night.  If I woke her, she would wonder where I had been.  I would not have hesitated to wake my previous maid, but she was gone.  Vadik had replaced her with this young girl who was an eery replica of me, from her thick raven hair to her cobalt colored eyes. 
                “Adalene.”  His voice was too quiet.
                Taking a deep breath, I turned.  Just the sight of him made me smile.  He towered over me, his broad shoulders blocking out the sun even in the dead of night.  His eyes were a soft brown, always gentle when he looked at me.  Tonight was different.  He was looking at me as if I were any other person in the castle.  It was the first time he had looked at me like this in a long time.  Not since we had first met had he looked at me with such coldness in his eyes.  But that first time, he immediately softened and I had felt a part of me soften in return. 
It should have never happened.  I should not have fallen in love because I was meant for other things.  I was not meant to rule his kingdom beside him.  I had my own I should be worried about. But there was one thing I would ever be grateful for and that was the fact that dragons would never force a leader to rule.  To rule the dragons, you had to want to. 
I reached out to touch his face, needing to feel his skin under mine.  He grabbed my wrist and lowered my arm to my side.
“I was here just a few minutes ago, looking for you.  I woke your maid. Even now, she is checking the kitchens for you,” he said.
I blinked slow and careful.  It was a dragon habit, one I had yet to break. “I did not pass her in the halls.”  It was a good thing I had come through the kitchen, making sure the boy who tended its fire, woke just enough to see me.
“It is a large castle,” he said.
“It is.”  He knew.  I knew he knew, but he could not prove it.  Yet.  I thought I had made my choice, living here with Vadik.  I thought I was okay with losing my dragon self and becoming fully elf, so that I could spend my years loving him.  I was wrong.  He would never forgive me, not when he found out what I was.



Sunday, April 10, 2016

A story in 10 words or less.

I sat by her bed, watching her breath.

This idea of a story in one sentence fascinates me. I think it is a fantastic writing exercise. I haven't mastered it by any means, but I still enjoy it.

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Sneak Peak: Secret Whisperer


Here's a sneak peak of a my now published short story, Chronicles of Cora: Secret Whisperer.

“No.  I am sorry I have done nothing until now.  I don’t even know what to do, or how this could work.  To bring a unicorn into the city is to guarantee its death.” 

Fane slammed his hand against the door behind him.

“To do nothing is to guarantee our mother’s long suffering death.”

“Fine.  I will see what I can do.  But, it’s a magical beast.  I cannot control him.”

Fane frowned.  “But you are a whisperer.  Can you not control any animal you wish?”

“That’s not how it works Fane.  I know the King has said otherwise, but it is not so.”  I clenched my teeth together to keep from saying something else.  I was tired of all the lies.  I was tired of being told I would destroy our land by simply existing.  Fane frowned, but said nothing before he left, closing the door quietly behind him.

................And...................

“Where is it?” he asked.  He threw his hand out, waving at the forest.  “Where is the beast?”
            My teeth ground together.  He said it like a curse word.  No one had seen a beast in years, but still they were used to scare women and children into obeying.  I had no desire to be locked in a cage, and I knew Fane planned to exactly that. And he would say it was for my own good. 
            Shrugging, I answered him.  “I doubt he will come now.  He knows what would happen if he were captured.” 
            He stepped forward and grabbed my arm, yanking me to him.  “And yet here we are.  How exactly did you plan to bring him to my mother if you cannot control him?”
            My eyes watered as Fane tightened his grip.  The tender skin would be bruised tomorrow.
            “I was going to ask him to come.”  It sounded pitiful when I said it out loud, even to me.
            “Perhaps, I will make sure he will come,” he said.
            I heard the hiss and felt the cold blade against my cheek. 



Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Chronicles of Chora: Secret Whisperer

Ok folks!  It's official...ummm as of last week that is... I self published my a short story.   It's called Chronicles of Chora: Secret Whisperer. I've priced it at just $0.99.
And I've got more coming for the Chronicles of Chora!  I'm currently working on the next story and I've already got a tentative outline for the third story in the series.  I'm going to include the cover and a brief description below for you.  Also I've got a little flash fiction from another character who will appear later in Jael's story. I'll have it up soon!


Jael lives in a land where all magical beasts are deemed dangerous.  By the King’s orders, magical beasts, human or naught, are to be hunted down.  They should be caught and if they resist, killed. 

Jael is one of those with magic.  She is a whisperer, with the ability to talk to animals.

To save her best friend’s mother, Jael will risk it all, her secret, her life and even a unicorn.

Thursday, March 24, 2016

A glimpse of me beyond the ink

There is more to me than writing. There is my family , my friends, and my animals.
I have a sick chicken. I took her to the vet. To some, this is no big deal, but many people including my husband, think I'm crazy. The prognosis was not good. I declined antibiotics and took her home to put her down. I changed my mind... As in I was about to break down sobbing over a chicken! Thanks to a friend, he dosed her with a first round of penicillin. I had to try. If she isn't better by Friday, I'll do the right thing.
As humans we have the burden of other animals lives and deaths and quality of life. Sometimes our love makes us hold on too long and sometimes we get lucky enough death happens without us. But sometimes we make the most painful decisions out of love. And then we live with it. So it's imperative we make the right decision.

Saturday, March 19, 2016

Ten Words or Less

She looked me in the eyes. I dropped the needle.

I saw a pin on Pinterest about six word stories. I decided to change things up here by posting "my writing" and by changing the rules to ten words or less. Enjoy.
Don't stop growing!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

To Do List

Complete final draft of first short story...waiting on review by Beta

Complete first draft of the next short in the series... 5,269 words done with a tentative goal of 8,000

Tagline for first short... Sent to Beta for her opinion

Blurb for first short... Same as above

Cover for first short...Done! (You're surprised, aren't you?)

Title for first short... Done! (I'll tell you after I publish it, wink, wink!)

Facebook page... I admit, I've been putting this off until I actually publish. So it will probably happen right before I publish my first short.

Advertising... Again, I'm waiting until the story is actually published, but then I've got a plan. At the end of the book I'll mention my FB page and this blog so future readers can interact with me, and I've got a sort of list going for places that will list the story for free :)

Keep writing...don't stop...haven't stopped...won't stop!

Friday, March 11, 2016

Cover

The truth is, designing a book cover is hard... sort of. The hard part is money. Because if you spend the money for photos I don't think it's that hard to make a book cover. If you like to read and you look at a lot of covers, you can figure out what works and what doesn't.
What I ran into is the question, how much money am I willing to spend on this? I know the cover is important. I have skipped over a book because the cover just didn't do it for me. My first cover is for a short story. I intend to sell it for 99 cents. I am a cheap skate, to an extent. If I feel something is profitable, I will spend the money to do it right. However, I usually don't overspend. And I've researched self publishing and how slow it works and how hard it is to do "successfully." The truth is I'm doing this to share my stories. I'm not doing this to make big bucks. And I know the likelihood of me getting a return on the money I could spend on my first self published work is probably not going to be much. So I can't justify spending a lot of money on a book cover.
Plus I enjoyed designing my own cover. Don't get me wrong, there was some stress. It is hard to find free(as in money and royalties) photos that are a good fit for your cover. But I don't think I did too bad for my first try. I designed 3 possibilities, asked some trusted peeps for opinions and I made my decision. Now I'm waiting on feedback from my Beta, followed by a last round of edits before I self pub for the first time!
In the mean time, I'm going to work on the next short story in that particular series, plus I've got another short story brewing for a different series, not to mention a novel I need to finish the first draft of and a novel my Beta is reading. I have a lot of irons in the fire :) Speaking of fire, I sent out 10 queries last week and I've gotten two form rejections back :( On the positive side, I will self pub that novel if it doesn't get me an agent. On top of that I've got the sequel on standby. I actually wrote the sequel first, not realizing it was the sequel, so I will have to do some revising before I publish it.
Keep on going!

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Handing it over

Earlier this week I handed a second draft over to my beta :) This is unusual because I wait until the third or even fourth draft. But it felt right and I felt like I couldn't go further. I need to be sure the story is right before I pick apart the grammar, etc. Today I pulled a repeat and sent her the 2D of a short story I just finished(the one I plan on self publishing.) Now I'm  left to sit on my hands waiting...
I don't think so! There is no sitting on these hands because I've got work to do. So as much as I would like to anxiously await her feedback while doing nothing else, I'm gonna write!
Speaking if which, last night I gave myself the freedom to skip ahead to a scene that was begging to be wrote. I simply don't do this. But I've done it twice now in the past week. Oh the contradictions! It worked for my short story but I know I'll pay for it with the book I'm working on. Oh well! I'm trying to maximize the enjoyment part of writing ;)
Never quit! Stop, think, reevaluate, make changes, but don't quit.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

The. Plunge.

I am walking toward the edge of a diving board. Off it's edge is a pool so deep I cannot see the bottom. I still have time to turn around.
This is where I'm at. Not literally though ;) but with regards to self publishing. Even though it hasn't been that long since the idea tickled my brain in a way which I actually considered it a possibility, I can't remember what tempted me. Regardless I have found myself exploring the path to self publishing my own eBooks. There is so much to it! There is the actual product(don't rush it but you must provide more than one before you're likely to gain traction), the cover, the blurb, the cover, the advertising, the actual "publishing" and who to use for it(Amazon, Draft2Digital, Smashword, etc), and social media.
I have read so much advice, it is hard to absorb it all. One thing I've discovered is perhaps why I've been tempted. Impatience. It's true. But based on some other advice, I'm ok with that motivator. I'm okay with not wanting to wait on traditional publishing. Except I haven't given up on traditional, I'm still planning to pursue it for some of my works. But the advice that made me ok with trying to self pub was to ask yourself why. And I did. Why do I write and why do I want to self publish?
Because I love to write and I want to share my stories. I want others to enjoy, to hopefully even love, my stories. Of course I would love to make money, or a living or even a million bucks, but that isn't my goal. That isn't why I've been trying to get published. It would just be a fantastic bonus ;)
So from here, where shall I go? My tentative plan is as follows:
1.Continue to query the novel I've ummm kind of slacked off querying
2. Start an author FB page
3. Start self publishing a series of short stories(the bonus is this was a book I couldn't seem to wrap my head around when I thought of it as a book, but now that I've considered it a series of shirt stories, it is coming to life!)
I'm not stopping, neither should you!

Thursday, February 18, 2016

Second Draft and Short Stories

So I'm on a second draft and I don't know how to stop. I read through the draft, made notes and then from the beginning, I started editing. Unlike previous works, I did a very detailed outline before draft one and it served me well in D2. I didn't have a lot of plot to fix. So I started shaping paragraphs and now I'm doing more nitty gritty. By gritty, I mean I'm doing lots of find it searches for words I know I use over much and for other "lazy writing" such as I saw, I felt, I heard... And so on. But I'm wearing thin. In the past second drafts I just did a go through and stopped when I got to the end. There was no nitty gritty until  at least draft 3, probably more like 4. I have Googled the snot out of second drafts but to be honest there just isn't a lot out there about it and knowing when to let it sit. So I'm going on instinct. I think I'm going to let it go, give it to my beta reader and breathe. It sure doesn't help I'm feeling the itch to get back to some unfinished stuff :)

As for short stories, last night I decided I needed to enter a contest and/or submit to publish a short story. I'm hoping to get some feedback on my writing or get something short published. This morning I was more realistic and acknowledged this is not an easier path to publication than the one I'm on. It is just a different path. But may be, just maybe I'll take a gander, meander a little ways, at least until where the path curves and I can see what's around the corner.
Never give up.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Beyond the Writing

Just like every other writer, I have a life beyond my writing. So here's a flash:
Bullet journaling?!?? More question marks for a reason. I've just heard about this and I'm going to try it, emphasis on try. Here's the thing, I'm not good at journaling, but bullet journaling is different. From what I've read, it's basically making you're own very personalized planner that is also a journal... Of sorts ;) I'm going to try it because I've sort of been doing this, but all spread out. I have the calendar on my phone that I use for appointments and things of that nature. I usually write a list of things I'd like to accomplish daily. I have a white board I fill out every week with my weekly schedule + goals for the week/tracking generi. Tasks( did I give the dog her pill today? Did I wash hockey gear yet?) I have a list on my phone of books I'd like to read. I've got pics on my phone of books I saw in the store that I'd like to read. So you see, I'm all spread out. Calendar-wise I like this because I feel like the more I write stuff down the less likely I am to forget. But I really like the idea of looking back and seeing that I have been productive or maybe that I haven't and it will kick start me. I'm afraid I'm just adding one more step, but may be not. May be it will work.

I've been busy with life! And it's stopped me from writing. I've been visiting/socializing and my girls naps have been happening when/where I'm not able to write.

Friday I spent the day looking out for the dogs that attacked one of my heifers, getting meds for said heifer(who's name is Luna!) and then trying to treat her unsuccessfully. Today was a success so I'm feeling better about her.
I'm on at least my third week of obsessively trying to watch all the reruns I can of The Big Bang Theory.
My wee girl has been sleeping like crap! So I'm not sure why I'm here and not asleep. I need to go to sleep.
That is all!


Monday, February 1, 2016

Breaks

Breaks happen, sometimes by choice and sometimes not. I often fall behind on writing when my husband is home after traveling for work. There always seems to be so much to do and that is on top of enjoying my time with him. In this case it didnt hurt me like it sometimes does. Sometimes guilt overwhelms me. And then I feel guilty for feeling guilty! And sometimes it hurts because I wasn't writing. It's not about the lack of productivity, it's because I need to write. But this time it was ok to take a break. And today I sat back down and worked on a d2 and it felt good. I know it's not perfect and I know it's not "done" but it still felt good. For the first time I'm considering handing over a 2D to a reader. I have never done that. It's always been D4. Brave new world! Stepping out on a limb! Living on the edge! :) sorry, gotta little crazy there.
Keep on!

Monday, January 25, 2016

Second draft

There's just not a whole lot different going on. I'm nearing the end of my second draft of R and I've slowed down. It's a combination of life and lack of motivation. There's nothing wrong with the story. I'm not afraid there's something missing or something big to be fixed. This is something to do with me.
Good news, cause I can't leave on a negative note... I still have feelings for a story I left unfinished in 2015. I do believe I'll come back to it as soon as I'm done with this second draft.
Trudging through like a deep dark winter night becaus to stop is to die.

Friday, January 15, 2016

A sigh of relief....

Okay, I didn't really breathe a sigh of relief but I definetly felt relief! I can force a story and I can sludge through the mud of drudgery but I also need those moments(I don't dare ask for more) of feeling the inspiration and knowing that I'm on the right track. I set aside a story that I had been working on because I was afraid I was beating a dead horse. I still longed for the story to go on but there were no moments.
I just had a moment!
I'm still going to let the story rest because I'm editing a different story that I am also having feelings for ;) but it is a relief to have two stories still "there" for me.
Don't give up!

Thursday, January 14, 2016

Slow Going

Some things perpetually move slow, like editing.
In the far reaches of the back of my mind I am slogging out the background of the fantasy story I've got brewing.  I just know it has to be there, even if it's sketchy, for me to move forward with the story.
So the fantasy feels like slogging through mud.
Other troubles include a teething, snotty, whiny toddler and a high strung six year old.
So this horse didn't break out of the starting gate running.  That's ok because as long as I'm moving I'm headed in the right direction.
On a positive note I sent out ten more query letters!
Keep on keeping on!

Monday, January 4, 2016

Recap/What's up Now/Coming Soon

2015 is done and over, but not forgotten. I've accomplished a lot more than I ever thought I could. I've certainly not reached my ultimate goal of having an agent and getting published, so I'm constantly reminding myself of what I have done. Which is...
I have consistently wrote on my blog all year! Quite frankly this is more of a journal than a way to entertain anyone. I write as though someone might read it(ha!) because this is the internet after all, but mostly I'm doing it for myself. It's a good way to reflect and plan and vomit emotions about how I'm feeling about my writing journey.
I have "finished" a novel.
I have begun querying agents for above novel.
I have completed in the shortest time ever, for myself,a first draft.
I have written half of another first draft.
I have started editing my fastest first draft.
I have done some brainstorming and world building for another novel.
I wrote the first chapter or so of the above mentioned novel.
I have allowed myself the creative freedom to: stop in the middle of a 1st draft and let it sit,
stop editing to tease out the beginnings of another story, or in other words be more flexible.

     What's up now? The fantasy story of which I've written just a bit of is like smoke in the wind. I know the grand overall three word description but the rest solidifies randomly.  This story will take more world building than I've ever done before. Because of that fact, I am super grateful that A) I've become more flexible with starting and stopping a project even if it's not at an official stopping point(aka the end of a draft) and B that I have other stories to work on in the mean time.
I have the very beginnings of a second draft for my fastest written 1st draft.
I have an incomplete first draft that needs finished.

      My goals for 2016 are to:
1. Finish my incomplete first draft
2. Finish the 2nd draft of my fastest first draft
3. Query a total of  100 agents for the novel I finished in 2015
4. Tease out some sort of plot for my fantasy novel.
5. I would love to write at least half of a first draft for my fantasy.
I have to be realistic though. This year I will probably go back to work. I'm currently job hunting. These are lofty goals for a stay at home mom, let alone a working mom. I'm not going to sacrifice my family. And I'm not going to sacrifice this creative flexibility I've found.
Keep on keeping on! Reflect, set goals and be flexible!