Sunday Update: Back in the Groove

Yay! I'm finally hitting my stride on Chaos Calling again. I reworked my outline Friday night, and I've written 1,700 words so far this weekend. That's pretty cool since I've had zero dedicated writing time. Just the iPad waiting for me on the dining room table, at the center of the domestic storm. I wrote 900 words last night in about 45 minutes from 8:30 to 9:15, so that's where the bulk happened.

Over the years I've changed as a writer. I've changed as a person, so that's not a huge surprise. I used to write most of my words first thing in the morning. I still like to write over the morning hours when I'm hanging out at home -- that iPad on the kitchen table thing -- but lots of my productivity has moved to the evening after my kids are in bed.

Reclaiming an hour in the morning would go a LONG way toward increasing my productivity, assuming I still wrote in the evenings as well. My kids are much better about sleeping until around 6:30, even if we're up and about, so maybe it's a possibility now. Wow, I could get so much done if I wrote both in the morning and in the evening. One note about morning word count: It makes me feel great to have accomplished my minimum word count first thing. Then I can go about my day knowing I have those words chalked up, and I can only go up from there. It's another of those happy writer mental tricks. :)

Have a great, productive week, ROWers! We get to cap this one with Memorial Day weekend, so go forth and do good before the holiday!

Mid-Week Update: Flight Revisions Done!

*Happy dance!!!*

I will send Flight to my critique partner tonight! I can't wait to see what she says about it…she's going to give me tons of great notes, I just know it. Until then, don't think I'm going to pause or anything. :)

I dug back into Chaos Calling over Mother's Day weekend, after a six-week hiatus. I read and did a light edit on what I've already written, which is almost half of the book. TONS of stuff set up, loads of action already written. The question is how I can fit satisfying conclusions to all this set up into the next 35,000 words. My outline is still a bit fuzzy from here, but I have that strange feeling where the solution is right there, and I just can't quite access it yet. In order to get moving again, I cut about 4,000 of the last 10,000 words I'd written back in March.

Notice I didn't say delete.

Never. Delete.

But I digress. The trouble was that I wasn't able to see past a couple of scenes the way I'd written them. I decided they had to go, so I created a scrap document, and copied them in there, then deleted them from my working manuscript. No big deal now to pull them back in if needed.

Which is good, because that's exactly what happened. I wrote about 500 words from the point where my trouble began, fixed stuff up, got rolling….and realized I'd written to a place where the first 2,000 word block I'd cut could just slide right in, get patched up with transition work at the start and ending of the section. Presto! After writing 1,000 words over the weekend, my manuscript is 3,000 words longer than where I started. Combined with the edits -- awesome!! (Hubby, I know you'll read this: Thank you for being super last weekend. You're the best!)

I'm all set up to rocket through the last 60% of this book. 35,000 words. I plan to finish the first draft by the end of June. That means my daily goal is 1,000 words. I'm going to have to stretch for that, but what can I say? I think I'm ready to stretch a little, and this book is sooo worth it! Sweeeeet!!

Best of luck to my writer and blogger friends this week!

And Now, a Rediscovered Song: Gnarls Barkley - Crazy

I just heard this song again for the first time in ages. Remember this? I LOVE this song. I've listened to it four times now. :)



Does that make me crazy?
….
Possibly.

Crossing by Stacey Wallace Benefiel

A new New Adult romance...

Crossing is a GREAT new book from author Stacey Wallace Benefiel. I mean super new -- it's been out for like a day. :) I've known Stacey for a while, and got the chance to beta read this book, so I've been dying to let everyone know about it since then!

Many new adult contemporary romance books cover relationship ground we've seen before. I can guarantee you Crossing is a new story. It's funny, it's sexy…and parts of it are hard. This couple struggles with more than the usual relationship issues. This book made me laugh, made me cry, and mostly made me turn those pages as quick as can be. :)

Quick, run out and grab a copy of this book. It will surprise you and leave you thinking.

What Is Your Passion? A Central Question of Our Time

Have you ever considered these questions: What is my passion? Should I follow my passion in a career choice? What if I don't have a passion?

Check out this article from NPR about tackling this question from an economic perspective. The comments are especially awesome. Credit goes to hubby for sending it to me. Thanks, honey! :)

I'm following my passion now (right here, folks!), but first I took the practical route. I have a career I enjoy, that pays decently and means I don't have to worry a lot about money…leaving me free brain space for plot twists and world building, word count and polishing. You know, being an author. That's the passion. Writing has always been the passion. Now I pursue it because I can. I don't get to spend as much time at it as I'd like, but I get to fill those odd moments, and a few planned ones, with what I love. That. Is. Awesome. Expecting it to pay the bills would be another level entirely, a concept that I'm not entirely prepared to face. I'm risk-averse. I like a steady paycheck. :)

Now tell me, what's your take?

Indie Life: Don't Let the Business Stall Your Creativity

…Or so I tell myself!

Welcome to Indie Life! This is a chance for indie authors to post about being an independent author, find each other, offer support, encouragement, news, helpful hints. We're posting the second Wednesday of every month. To join us, go here.

Sometimes that indie author to-do list gets long enough you could paper your walls with it. Obsession is just another few clicks away. I try really hard not to measure my progress against any sales figures or promotion goals I see out there from other authors. I have my life, and my values, and at the end of the day I need to be a whole person, not just an author entrepreneur.

Have you heard that term? The author entrepreneur. That's what the indie author gig is. You have to embrace the business side, and get excited about having your books out there. Don't ask me how. I struggle with that part. If you have advice, I'll take it. :)

Indie authors handle all the questions. And sometimes, you can stall over a simple decision if you let it have too much weight. The truth is, you can always make changes later. With that complete responsibility comes complete control. Largely awesome. Often scary.

Some days I feel stalled by the many, many decisions I have to make. (Like what to request for cover art, how my blog looks, what to post, what to link to in the back of my book, how to format my print book, where to list my books, how to price my books, whether to change prices or stand pat, my presence on every social media platform possible, when to do promotions and what exactly to do…This is a very partial list of the business stuff, guys.) I make a list, either in a program like Toodledo or on paper -- the point is to get that stuff out of your head so it isn't rattling around making fruitless noise. Then, check off an item or five every day. You'll add stuff, too. And you have to determine a limit. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Don't get worn out in the first months or years. Pace yourself.

Of course creativity is also a huge part of this venture. Did you notice it was missing from this post so far? The stories you're here to tell, the part that can't be done without you. I don't know how you feel, but I need a fair amount of mental space to be creative. When that to-do list builds up too much, it can push out the fun part, the thing that drove me here…making up stories for other people to enjoy. So the goal, every day, is to make sure I'm balancing both sides, so I can be the productive writer I love to be.

Please get out there and visit these other indie authors. And have a great month!

Mid-Week Update: Fresh from Vacation

My little family had such a nice couple of days on the Oregon coast last weekend. The weather was amazing. Camping at the coast in May would usually mean at least one rain storm and in general cold and unpredictable weather, which is why we stayed in a yurt (a semi-permanent structure that keeps out all weather and comes complete with electricity and heat). Not this time. It was gorgeous, the entire trip. Mid-to-upper seventies. And the campground was almost empty, so we had whole stretches of beach and dune to ourselves. We camped in an area pretty far south, near Florence, Oregon. It happens that both my husband and I spent significant time around there as kids, so the reminiscing was really fun. I'll quit going on about it, because I know I'm making you jealous. :)

I've made significant progress with revisions to Flight, the third Children of the Sidhe novella and the next book I'll release. I'll finish my revisions this weekend come hell or high water. (Please, no hell or high water!) I'm loving the book more now than when I first wrote it. Yay!

In the coming week I plan to get back to writing the first draft of Chaos Calling, the second book in my Foulweather Twins series. I want to finish the last 35k of that draft during this round. That means that starting Sunday, my word count goal is 1,000 words a day. I might be able to get away with shorter word counts on my long commute days Mondays and Wednesdays, but I can't skip writing all together those days like I often do. I just have too many projects waiting, and Chaos Calling is too great a book to just let it collect dust as I have been known to do in the past. Darn time passing. Don't know what's up with that. Always surprises me. :)

Speaking of...I also need to find time to make the changes I need to the print version of Queen Witch, and get that in progress again.

In authorly news, my novella Vessel is free on Amazon Wednesday.  Tribute, the first book in the series, is just $0.99. Shameless plug, I know.

Have a great week ROWers and other friends!

Vessel FREE on Amazon!

If you're on the hunt for a sexy paranormal romance read, check out my Children of the Sidhe series. All the better for the next three days -- Tribute, the first book in the series, is just $0.99, and book two, Vessel, is FREE through Wednesday!

I'm going to give a little more info about book two here, but you can always check out my books page for the scoop, too. :)

Vessel (Children of the Sidhe, Novella Two)

Vessel is paranormal romance with kick; a bad-ass witch meets her match in a fae enforcer. Vessel is the second novella in the Children of the Sidhe series.

Eddie Drake, notorious agent of the Sidhe Authority, has always been a womanizer. So he’s as surprised as anyone when he can’t get a certain black-haired witch out of his mind.

When Alise Rodgers wakes up in Otherworld, a mysterious connection to the place haunts her. And then there’s a more immediate concern – she would never have expected to find Drake sitting vigil for her. While she’s grateful, she’s not at all interested in his bedroom eyes. They’ve always clashed. But they must work together after Alise discovers a rebellious plot brewing among the Sidhe, and puts her life on the line in the bargain.

Children of the Sidhe

The Sidhe dwindle. Slow to breed and quick to war, the ages have worn away their numbers. An old enemy threatens Otherworld, fearsome in numbers and in newfound magic. The Sidhe’s unloved part-human children strewn about the mortal world are suddenly their greatest source of hope. 

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter:

The dark room flickered with the light of a single candle. A veil lay soft against her skin. She knew the room for her tomb, and the knowledge was a comfort.

Then flashes, scenes passing rapidly. This must be what they meant when they said your life flashes before your eyes.

A fair man with dark eyes and golden hair, his jawline too strong to be attractive. Instead he was cartoonish, and seething with barely suppressed rage. He held a knife by its hilt as though ready to throw it.

Rage burned through her as well. Vengeance swelled in her blood. She would smite him to the ground. He would die writhing in agony; such was the punishment for disobeying her will.

A swarm of ravens, the man’s eyes wide with fear, his lips stretching in a scream.

The voice, not her own, “As I willed it, so is it done.”

Struggling from under an ocean of dreams, Alise Rodgers surfaced briefly, or she thought she surfaced. But she saw a face that couldn’t be hovering over her own. Quickly she succumbed again to the immense weight that clouded her mind and confused her senses.

When next she surfaced, Alise focused with all her might on her surroundings. She could feel the song, or maybe hear it, just as she remembered, reverberating through the land that was Tir Nan Og. So she was in Otherworld, as she barely remembered. Forcing herself, she locked that music, that magic, into a small compartment of her mind, where it could tease her, but it would not overwhelm her senses. It took some time, and energy she didn’t have. Finally, she’d erected enough mental barriers, locked that part of her so easily seduced by Tir Nan Og so far inside, that she felt she might be able to function.

She opened her eyes, blinking slowly to grow accustomed to the light.

Drake held her hand, sitting concerned at her bedside. She shook off his fingers and frowned at him.

“Yes! Now I know you’re coming out of it. That’s the antagonistic Alise I know.” His teasing words did nothing to improve her state of confusion. What the hell was her best friend’s ex doing sitting vigil for her? She’d been out of it for gods only knew how long – from the sawdust taste in her mouth it had likely been weeks – and this was the company she’d been left with?

“What?” she croaked.

Drake handed her a glass of water, the condensation cool between their brushing fingertips. She drank thankfully. While she did she thought about the fact that he was just as handsome as usual in that devilish way he had, and she was pretty sure she looked like something the cat would drag back out. At least it was Drake, and there was a less than zero chance they’d ever hook up, so what was she worried about?

“You’ve been out of it.” Drake stated matter-of-factly. He stretched and flexed his muscular shoulders as though he’d been in one position too long.

“You don’t say.” Her glare returned. “How long?”

“About two weeks.”

“You’re kidding.” She sat up in a rush, and fell back when her head swam dangerously. She needed to get herself under control. But last she could recall there had been so much on the line. She had to know how the battle had ended. Was that why Drake was here? “Hazel? The Fomorii tribute crap? You better start talking.”

###

Happy reading! And have a great week!

Sunday Update: LOTS Going On!

Hello again. I can't believe it's another Sunday. No idea how long I have to type before the kids bust in on me, so I'll get right to it. I feel like I'm split between a bunch of fronts right now. It doesn't help that work is absorbing a lot of my energy, too. We're also going to the coast next weekend, so I need to get ready for that. We reserved a dog friendly yurt at a state park I used to spend time at as a kid. I can't wait! We haven't spent enough time at the beach the last couple of years.

Now, diving into all things writing:

I'm reviewing the proof of Queen Witch in print. It's very strange to see my book in paperback. I'm doing a regular and a large print edition, so I have two copies to review. I already know I'll have to resubmit because I made some rookie mistakes. I chose white paper instead of cream, for one, and now that I have it in hand it looks totally unnatural. I also need to increase my margins at the top, which might mess with my page count, meaning requesting more work from my cover artist…argh. I struggle with whether it's worth it to put the paperback together. Maybe I'll think about contracting out for the formatting, etc. next time. But it's still a lot of work, especially doing two editions.

I'm working through plot bunnies in Chaos Calling, the sequel to Queen Witch. Today I want to print out my outline for the last half of the book, compare it with notes I've been making over the last couple of weeks, and start fixing it. I want to have a good idea where I'm headed by May 10 so that I can blast through the rest of the first draft in the last five weeks of the round.

Until then, my major focus is revising Flight, a paranormal romance novella. I'm over one major hurdle, and staring a second one in the face. After that it should be smooth sailing until I need to tackle the ending, which needs a bunch of work. And….by May 10.

Another novella in the Children of the Sidhe series, Vessel, is free on Amazon today. The promotion started yesterday and this morning it's at #13 free in paranormal fantasy and #46 free in paranormal romance. That's pretty cool! The first novella, Tribute, is only $0.99 right now, and I've seen a spike in sales with the free promotion.

That's it from me. Best of luck to all of you in the coming week!

Vessel FREE on Amazon!

Vessel, the second novella in my Children of the Sidhe series, is FREE on Amazon this weekend! Run out and grab your copy! Actually, you don't have to run anywhere, just click on through and hit "buy"! For FREE! And you can get the first novella, Tribute, for $0.99 if you want to know how the series started. The third book, Flight, will be out this summer. Squee!!

Here's an excerpt from the first chapter of Vessel:

The Middleworld forest whipped by as Eddie Drake hit his stride. He could feel tension from the past days flowing out of his burning muscles. Plants blurred along the trail at his feet as he concentrated on making the miles fly by.

Most Sidhe didn’t exercise for exercise sake – so maybe it was that small human part of him that enjoyed it. He felt his best after a long run, his mind as clear as his body was fatigued.

His head down, he hit a cloud of pixie dust and heard the offended pixie shout, “Hey! Watch yourself!”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m sure there’s more where that came from,” he shouted back without even looking. Pixies were a dime a dozen. You could hardly shake a leg without, well, running straight into a cloud of pixie dust. He sneezed.

Too soon, he saw home ahead. A little escape, that’s what he’d needed. For a few minutes, the burning of his muscles had distracted him from the oddities his life had taken on of late.

Eddie Drake was no nursemaid. He’d never been the patient, caring type.

He was a playboy, and it used to be pure and simple. He liked the ladies, and they liked him. Maybe he overindulged, that he could cop to. Maybe he’d been with too many ladies, too many times. That sort of behavior certainly couldn’t be seen as a precursor to this. No, his current predicament was more likely a punishment for prior bad behavior. Of course, it was a punishment he was choosing, which made it all the more odd.

To satisfy whatever part of him was so worried, he ducked through the back door and sauntered into the third bedroom, the one that had recently been Alise’s room.

Her condition unchanged, Alise rested, still as stone, under a white and cream quilt that had been his mother’s.

Drake frowned. He’d stopped counting the days; there had been many. Maybe two weeks had passed as Alise lay unmoving. Okay, she wasn’t still all the time. A few nights she’d thrashed and moaned.

He’d been so concerned the first time that happened that he’d stayed with her, holding her on the narrow bed until she calmed and seemed to rest. Relieved, he’d drifted off holding her, and been embarrassed to be found in that compromising position when Aunt Nectar came in to check on Alise.

Cuddling.

Cuddling with the unconscious.

Not a good sign.

If only he hadn’t gotten her into this mess. That’s what had him all tied up in doubt and fear. She wouldn’t be in that bed, unaware of her surroundings but drowning in the music and magic of Tir Nan Og, if it weren’t for him. He’d made the choice to ask for her help when her best friend had been in trouble. She’d gladly given her help, not realizing it would cost her.

So he owed her. At the very least, he owed her a trip back beyond the veil to where she came from, where her family and her world waited. He’d tried to give her that, but she thrashed as they approached the portal and wouldn’t calm until he retreated. He couldn’t figure that out. In her condition, how did she know when he threatened to take her home? Regardless, his attempts hadn’t worked, and neither had anything the local healer tried. Alise didn’t get worse, but she hadn’t come back to herself either. That’s what kept his stomach tied in knots, he told himself as he stood in the doorway, watching the raven-haired beauty sleep.

Footsteps on the path outside brought Drake out of his thoughts. Maybe Aunt Nectar was home early. That would be good, because he had to go to the human world for at least a while tonight. His job waited for him, and some things he couldn’t let go for an undetermined period while Alise lay in that bed.

It wasn’t Aunt Nectar darkening the path.

Bertran stood, apparently evaluating his next step, outside the cottage, surrounded by the bright sights and sounds of a Middleworld day. The weather was perfect, but that didn’t help the storm clouds covering the countenance of this particular thorn in Drake’s side.

“May I come in?” his old enemy asked.

“Not in this lifetime.”

###

Happy reading! And have a great weekend!