Write, Write, Write Some More...and then Keep Writing

This past Wednesday was the 11-year anniversary of this blog/site, which is kind of crazy to think about. I definitely had no idea what I was doing back then (not that I have much of a better idea now), and while there have been times when I was only posting here sporadically, I do love having this record of my writing journey. I've met so many great people along the way, which I'm thankful for, but these anniversaries also remind me how some of my fellow writers who I respected and admired decided this wasn't for them and decided to leave writing with the goal of publication behind. It's tough. It really is.

Despite me doing this for over a decade now (which, like I said: CRAZY), I wouldn't say I started gaining much traction until about late 2019 or so. That was when I started reaching my pre-childrearing levels of momentum and had a slightly better idea of how to market my books to readers who were looking for the specific genres I was writing in. In a weird way, I think the lockdown of 2020 helped a bit, as people were reading more and I also had the time to dedicate to building more of an online presence. (Okay, Twitter. I'm talking about Twitter.)

After all this time, I'm finally coming to terms with something I've known deep down for many years: to be more successful, I have to produce more. Now, we can have the "quality vs. quantity" argument until we're blue in the face, but while my backlog is pretty big at this point, I know I need to write and release faster to keep building my audience. Part of finally accepting this is how, at this stage in my life, I WANT to do it. Some of my hobbies have fallen by the wayside (I haven't watched much TV or even touched my knitting in well over a year now), but writing is becoming my priority in my down time and I'm okay with it.

I don't have a firm release schedule for the rest of the year yet, but I have a lot—a LOT—planned. It's almost to the point where I'm so excited, I'm getting impatient and I have to resist the urge to publish a lot of books and stories all at once, but I've been doing this long enough that I can make myself be methodical about it. As always, make sure you're subscribed to my newsletter and following me on social media for the latest details!

Summer Reading Roundup

We're back at the Cape, and for once, I'm still reading up a storm. I organized my "read" list on Goodreads by "date read," and man, there are a lot of sparse areas over the past few years. (I blame my children.) Oh well, I guess we can call this making up for lost time! Here's what I've read so far this summer:

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, by Agatha Christie

I'm a big Agatha Christie fan. When pressed to choose just one favorite book, I always go with And Then There Were None. Somehow, though, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd had escaped me over the years, so I set out to right this wrong. It was everything I hoped it would be, even though I prefer Miss Marple to Hercule Poirot, and I couldn't put it down.

Without spoiling anything, there is a huge! plot twist! at the end. I honestly can't remember if I'd heard about it before reading the book, or just knew there was a twist without knowing exactly what it was, or none of the above. Either way, I actually figured out who the murderer was before the end for what was probably the first time in my life*, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book at all. If you love mysteries, there's a reason this one is considered one of the classics, and I highly recommend it.

*I'm TERRIBLE when it comes to foreshadowing. Like, you really have to smack me across the face with heavy-handed hints to get me to pick up on it at all. That said, my one claim to fame in my family is that I figured out the twist in The Sixth Sense well before the end. But that's it. Never has that glorious moment repeated itself until now. Oh well, at least I'm happily surprised and entertained a lot.

Do Not Become Alarmed, by Maile Meloy

I actually took this one out of the library twice last year, wound up reading a different book instead, and didn't like what I'd chosen to read. My mother read this book last year and liked it a lot, so I was sort of kicking myself for those decisions. The e-book was still available through my library when I was looking for reading material, so I finally committed to reading it.

It was very good, but not really what I expected from the blurb. (Which is probably more of a failing on my part than any problems with said blurb.) I was expecting more of a mystery/thriller, and it was kind of more of a character study. Either way, I found it hard to put down, but the ending did peter out a bit. I'm still glad I (finally!) read it.

The Body in Question, by Jill Ciment

There are certain books where I think your age/life experiences at the first time you read them have a big impact on how you feel about them. (The Catcher in the Rye is probably the most famous example of that theory.) This book might fall into that category—overall, I did like it, but considering all the main characters are at least ten years older than I am, I'm wondering if I would have liked it more if I were closer to their ages. The book is split into two distinct parts, and while I think the structure worked, Part 2 kind of veered off in an unexpected direction. There are also some plot points that don't get wrapped up in a pretty little bow by the end, which I'm sure is intentional, but part of me still wanted to KNOW WHAT HAPPENED THERE, DAMMIT. Still, though, I liked it and breezed through it fairly quickly.

Educated, by Tara Westover

This is not light summer reading. As I said to my husband, I'm glad I read it, but I'm also kind of glad it was a library book that I didn't pay money for. Unlike the previous two entries on this list, this one actually picks up steam as it chugs along, but a lot of it is still pretty dense and heavy. I don't know if it's worthy of its incredibly high Goodreads rating (some reviewers do claim it's overhyped and unrealistic), but I liked it well enough. I just don't recommend bringing it to the beach.

Summer!

I'm too lazy to look, but I'm pretty sure I make a post every year about how I usually don't get a lot of writing done during the summer. I am still plotting my next project, I'm getting The Edge of the Sphere ready for re-release by the end of August, and I'm also working on some website/marketing/behind-the-scenes stuff that is either boring or not ready to be unveiled yet. So, while I guess that all counts as being productive, I haven't written any new words since the short fanfic I finished at the beginning of the month.

We did make it up to Cape Cod last week, which turned out to be great. I was worried about how the trip would go, both due to the virus and my mom not being there, but overall, everything went well. One of my biggest concerns was stopping at the rest areas on the travel days, since it's too long of a trip to make without stopping at least once. I intentionally picked the smaller ones, though even the big ones looked less crowded than normal, and everything was fine. I wouldn't want to travel anywhere outside the northeast right now, but as our neighbor who lives up there full-time told us, everyone's pretty much been behaving themselves in our town. We usually ate the vast majority of our meals at the house anyway, and we're lucky enough to have a small private beach at the end of the street.

To be fair, our house isn't in one of the super-touristy areas, and we've decided not to do activities like mini golf and go karts. We did, however, drag the kids out hiking with us, and while there was some whining, they did well for the most part. We'll investigate some new trails next time we're up, especially since the ones we went on were not crowded AT ALL in the morning.

Yeah, I'm not stepping on those wooden planks again.

We could definitely tell there's fewer people around than is typical for this time of year, but hey, I'm not complaining. I know of at least three families who canceled their rentals up there because they're "restaurant people", which is fair. (Or, as one of them told me, she wasn't going to pay a lot of money to listen to her family whine about not being able to do anything they wanted for a week. You can get that at home for free!) I wouldn't say it's completely empty up there, but there's definitely a decrease in traffic.

The reviews for this trail said it looked like something out of The Hobbit. I wouldn't know firsthand, but sure!

I kept saying that we'd see how the first week went and then make our decisions for the rest of the summer. When I was stressed out up there last year, one of my coworkers/friends summed it up perfectly: when the kids are young, it's not a "vacation", it's a "family trip". This was probably the first time in a long time I was really sad to leave. The current plan is to go up again on Sunday, stay for two weeks, come home for a week, and then go up for one more. I'll be bringing my work equipment to work remotely if necessary, and if school is going to be mostly virtual, we might even stay a little longer.

No one else was here when we visited. NO ONE.

I might as well mention that I finally read two books last week I'd been meaning to get to for a while and liked them both, so that was another plus. There are quite a few ebooks on my to-read list that have no waiting list at my library at the moment, so I'm hoping I'll be equally lucky this trip. I also picked up my knitting project I'd abandoned around February in favor of the baby blanket, made a big mistake, but then managed to fix it without having to rip it out. Everything seems to be going so relatively well, maybe I should attempt to write a few words!

As always, I hope everyone's staying safe and healthy. Enjoy your summer as best you can, and be sure to take care of yourselves, too.

A Statement, and a "Coming Soon!" Announcement

It seems strange to write about my writing life without mentioning current events, so I'm going to fumble my way through that first. Saying "oh, I don't discuss politics on my writing website!" is taking the easy way out, and I need to do better than that. I'll keep it brief, because 1) there are others who are far more eloquent and inspirational than I am, and 2) as an upper middle class white woman, I need to listen more than I talk right now. But I will say Black Lives Matter, I support the demilitarization of the police and want to see their funding appropriated in a better way, and I am using my time and money (so, privilege) to support those causes as best I can. If any of that makes you want to unfollow me or burn my e-books, you can see yourself out. I won't miss you. I won't chastise you either, but I will toss out the reminder that history skews liberal for a reason, because people never, ever stop fighting for their rights, and I would like to one day say I was on the right side of history.

It also feels strange to segue from that right into some self-promotion, but it's Pride month, and I've got a kickass lesbian romance to announce. I just signed the contracts for Hunting Astrid, so I'm super-excited, because this one is just FUN. You know the drill by now: blurb, excerpt, stay tuned for further announcements, etc.

And if I haven't lost you yet: wear your damn masks, we're still in the middle of a pandemic.

Blurby McBlurbface:

Astrid Carlisle enjoys her job at Satera Industries, the massive interplanetary organization whose enigmatic leader is concerned with profits first and legalities second. Stationed at company headquarters, she can stay out of harm’s way while making good use of her programming skills and keen eye for talent acquisition. Unfortunately, both the busy nature of her work and her office’s remote location leave her feeling dissatisfied with her personal life.

Fresh out of the Central United Space Marines, Tabitha Knox is ready for change, hoping the next stage in her career can take place in the private sector. Employment with Satera Industries would offer her the exciting, fast-paced work she craves, with generous financial compensation to match. All she has to do is get through the rigorous screening process and prove her worth.

The two women meet during the early stages of Tabitha’s application, and their mutual attraction is instant. However, Astrid has been hurt in the past and is cautious about moving too quickly, leading her to devise a plan. She suggests the pair enter the simulations used to test applicants and fight their way through the various environments. If Tabitha can successfully track her down in each phase, she’ll win the ultimate prize: a lucrative job, plus Astrid’s trust and submission. Everything she wants is within reach, but will she be able to achieve her dreams while hunting Astrid?

Excerpt McExc—oh, never mind:

A new idea began to take shape in Astrid’s mind. “If you’re so confident—which I do like about you, don’t get me wrong—do you want to make it interesting?”

Tabitha leaned forward, bracing her hands on the inside of her legs. “I live for interesting.”

“Then I think you’ll like my suggestion of what we should do the next time we get together.”

“Do share.”

Swiveling on the grass, Astrid turned to face her. “I’ll check our master calendar, and on a quiet day, how about you and I go back to headquarters and run through a couple of missions in the simulator? A little friendly competition, if you will.”

“Huh.” Tabitha tapped her fingers together in front of her. “I thought you just helped design the simulations. I didn’t know you actually went in and played around in them.”

“Somebody’s got to test everything out.”

“Right. But I didn’t think you were—” She shook her head. “Never mind. You’re right, your plan does sound interesting. But if you’ve worked with the simulations so many times before, won’t it give you an unfair advantage?”

“I won’t have any of my monitoring tools inside, and I’ll make sure we have all the same equipment. No cheating, I promise.” Lifting her chin, Astrid pretended to look her up and down, her lashes fluttering. “But if you don’t think you can beat me….”

Tabitha let out a loud laugh, a genuine smile lighting up her face. “Very cute attempt at baiting me, though I would have agreed to it, anyway.” Her hair tumbled over her shoulders as she leaned forward again. “So, what’s the prize if I win?”

Astrid straightened and held her arms out. “Me.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Please elaborate.”

The familiar heat rose in her cheeks, and she hoped the effects of her throbbing heartbeat weren’t noticeable. “I’ll make a better effort to not overthink things and go with what feels right. Whatever you want to do afterwards, I’ll be your willing participant.”

The hunger in Tabitha’s stare did little to slow her pulse, and she struggled not to squirm. “All right. I accept all your terms and conditions.” Pursing her lips, she gave Astrid a sly wink. “Game on.”

Drinks Are On Me

Unfortunately, I need to start with the sad news: my mother passed away last week. We knew from the beginning that her diagnosis/prognosis was among the worst you can get, but even her doctors were surprised this happened so quickly. Obviously, the global pandemic didn't help matters any, but we're trying to find some solace in knowing we all did the best we could with what we had, and I don't think anyone could have done anything differently at any point. We were lucky she was able to be moved to hospice for her last two weeks, and hospice care is everything people say it is. Despite all the difficulties of the situation, the staff there took care of all of us as best we can.

We're all devastated, of course, especially since there's not much else to do right now other than what we've been doing for the past weeks/months while stuck at home. It's hard, but I'm trying to find some positive, happy things wherever I can. (Even when it seems like an impossible task.) The next part of this post may seem like an advertisement, but 1) I promise it's not, and I am getting no compensation from it, and 2) literally everyone I've told about this has responded with, "Why didn't I know about this? I want one!" So here's my attempt to put some joy and fun back into the world right now.

When we were first at the beginning of the end with my mother, my Facebook ads were actually relevant for once, and I learned that Keurig, the company behind the single-serve coffee makers, has come out with an appliance that makes...wait for it...chilled cocktails. As a bonus, they were running a Mother's Day promo for $100 off. My mother and I loved online shopping, our Keurigs, and fun cocktails, and she would have loved the hell out of this. In different circumstances, I totally would have ordered two of them and given her one.

"Chilling." Like we've been doing anything else at home recently.

The alcohol is already in the pods. (And if you think FedEx actually cared about having someone 21+ sign for them when my pods were delivered, like they're supposed to...LULZ.) I was a little wary at the beginning, but I am here to tell you they are not skimping on the alcohol content here. At all. For what they are, I would say the pods are reasonably priced; more expensive than if you had all the ingredients at home already, but quite a bit cheaper than getting the same thing out at a bar.

The selection is pretty good! In addition to this peach sangria, I've also had a vodka lemonade, "lemon bubbly," and a Mai Tai. The other adult in this house had a strawberry margarita last night while half-assedly paying attention to a webinar for work that was even more of an advertisement than this post.

I actually had some issues setting everything up, which I won't bore you with here, but I will tell you that their customer service is excellent and I'm very happy with everything. Will this be as long-lasting as the coffee makers have been? Who knows. But with everything going on now, I just needed something that was fun and silly, and now that we're past the initial hurdles, I'm very happy with it. Regardless of what you're drinking "in these uncertain times" (take a shot!), have one for my mother and me. And as she was saying for the past couple weeks, make it a double for her.

The Beat Goes On

When last we left off, I posted something about how I was moving right along on Hunting Astrid and should finish it up relatively quickly unless a meteor struck. (Paraphrasing here.) Well, the meteor did, in fact, strike, and I'm not just referring to whatever plague-ridden dystopia we're living in right now.

Usually it's me with all the issues, but unfortunately, a few days after my last post, my mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. It pretty much came out of nowhere—one week she was fine, and the next, she really wasn't. Obviously, we're all devastated. I've been railing against the universe about how unfair this all is, and I'll spare you all my rantings, though rest assured, there have been many. While the head oncologist doesn't like putting specific time frames on these things, the prognosis isn't good. Or, as he put it, this doesn't get cured, this just gets treated.

But. While there were tons of tears, then came anger and determination. The aforementioned meeting with the head oncologist came about four days into her chemo and radiation, and what do you know, she started really responding to treatment the very next day. We've always said that sadness doesn't accomplish much, but anger gets shit done. She said she needs to have goals, including going on all our planned vacations, and I said even if she needs an aide to come along, let's fucking do it. It's probably going to be a terrible year, but we're going to try our hardest to make sure there are some good moments in there, too.

I forget exactly what we were talking about when I was visiting her last weekend (before her rehab facility went on lockdown due to Covid-19), but she did tell me that life has to go on. And she's right, it does. It's still a horrible situation all around and I can find nothing good to say about it, but we have to keep on going.

Not long after that, I finally reopened MS Word, after it had been sitting neglected for a couple weeks. It took some time, but I eventually built up some momentum again. I think I can probably get this book done by the end of the month and be happy with the results. If nothing else, I know my mom has always been tickled by the fact that I write trashy romance as a hobby (she's read a couple of my books, but I've held firm that WE WILL NOT BE DISCUSSING THEM, EVER, NO REALLY, THAT CONVERSATION IS NOT HAPPENING), so that should be another reason to keep forging ahead. I don't think lesbian sci-fi is quite her cup of tea, but in case it wasn't blatantly clear with my all caps, if she reads it anyway, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW.

So that's what's been going on here. I keep saying it's not the tip of the iceberg, it's more like the base of the iceberg, as it's the biggest, most inescapable problem, and there's been plenty more piling on top of it. Stress levels are high, the world is a shitshow, but life does go on. And this book will hopefully be finished soon, dammit. Because persistence and determination run in the family.

New Project, and a New Year, Part the Next

Happy New Year! Writing-wise, 2020 is off to a great start. Before we get to January, I'll follow up a bit from my last post to provide some general advice to anyone who may want/need it: Remember how I'd considered bringing a notebook with me to Disney World juuuuust in case there might be a few spare minutes to write? Ha. Hahahahaha. HA. Yeah, no. Disney is crazy on its own, and as the Official Organizer of this trip, who had to keep track of everything including two 4-year-olds and two 70-year-olds...I didn't even open the book I brought to read, either. But although we got zero down time and my darling children refused to sleep in any buses or airplanes, we had a fantastic time. Which we can probably do all over again in another two to three years....

For the Disney uninitiated, if you want to get the most popular meal reservations, you need to get up at 6:00 a.m. EST 180 days before the first day of your trip to book them all. Since the Be Our Guest restaurant is the only place to meet the Beast, that's a popular one. Yeah, I didn't care what the rest of my family did, I was the one who got up before 6:00 that day, I was getting a picture with the Beast, dammit.

Now onto writing. The new project, which has been titled (and officially tagged here as) Hunting Astrid, is still going well. Honestly, this is probably some of the fastest writing I've done in years. Maybe not necessarily the best, but it's something. If nothing else, at least it's a great baseline/first draft I can always clean up later, right?

I just finished up Chapter Three, and as of right now, I'm predicting around eight...ish? That's the other thing about this project—I'm definitely pants-ing more than plotting this time out, and THAT'S OKAY. My two main characters still have placeholders instead of last names. SO WHAT? I still haven't worked out 100% of the issues I worried about at the time of my last blog post. I'LL FIGURE IT OUT SOON ENOUGH. I've been working to getting back to these writing habits for a long time, and while I'll always have bouts of overthinking things, at least it feels more effortless. I'm hoping to keep it up.

One more not totally writing-related point before I sign off: After dealing with recurring issues for the past six months, it's been decided that my tonsils are coming out sometime in February. Yes, we're all aware that, in my mid-30s, I'm practically ancient in the tonsillectomy world, but it's got to get done. (I'm about ready to reach in and rip them out myself.) I've been told that the older you are, the worse the recovery is, and the ENT told me to prepare for at least two weeks of that. In a perfect world, I'd be able to use some of that time off to write, but we'll see. I'm just hoping I won't be zonked out on the couch for two straight weeks and can at least catch up with some knitting and Netflix.

On Fire!

Mark your calendars, Fire Beyond the Frost has a tentative release date of October 4th. I hope to have a sparkling new cover to present to you in the next couple days, but in the meantime, have this picture of me jumping over some burning logs.

I did complete that obstacle course race I mentioned in my previous post. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and the thought of quitting absolutely crossed my mind at least once, but I hauled my butt over that finish line (and then made a beeline for my free beer). I also climbed that big cargo net you see in the background, which was another triumph considering I'm afraid of heights. Well, not necessarily afraid of heights, but afraid of falling. Same difference here.

I crashed hard when I got home and went to bed earlier than my kids that night. As everyone had promised me, I went from "Okay, that's over with and out of my system, don't need to do that again anytime soon" to "Weeeeeelllllll, the Long Island course in November is probably flatter..." within, like, two days. So yeah, of course I eventually signed up. But I vow to get some new writing in between now and then!

Making Up For Lost Time

Hello, my lovelies! I'm just briefly checking in here because guess how much writing I've done since the last time I posted - NONE. ZERO. ZIP. NOT A SINGLE WORD TO BE SEEN. The first round of edits for Fire Beyond the Frost should be coming in soon, but other than that, I've barely even thought about writing.

To be fair, I did spend almost the first half of the year stuck on the couch, not doing much of anything. It sucked. I know everyone says they could use sometime camped out at home doing nothing (and trust me, I could use a few days like that right now), but six-ish months is too much. There's only so much reading, knitting, and TV watching one can do.

So what have I been doing? In no particular order:

Work! Work work work work work. Some interesting stuff, some not so interesting stuff, and one annoying trip an hour away into the middle of New Jersey, where there was a lot of traffic in both directions. Also, a lot of stuff involving cell towers. Go figure.

Exercise! I got back to the gym, and while the first few classes were frustrating, it actually didn't take me as long as I'd expected to at least get close to the level I was at when I had to stop. I guess your body does remember what to do. Before I got sick, it had been a goal of mine to do an obstacle race/mud run in 2019, and then I figured I'd have to put it off until 2020, maybe. But nope! I was feeling good enough that I took the leap and signed up for one. It's in two days. My goal is to just get across the finish line in one piece. (Okay, and hopefully in less than two hours, since it's only four miles and twenty obstacles. "Only." Ha. Hahahaha. Ha.)

Vacation! This entry on the list is a bit of a misnomer, and one of my coworkers summed it up perfectly: When you have young kids, it's not a "vacation," it's a "family trip." Yuuuup. We had our ups and downs, and I wouldn't necessarily say I relaxed, but overall, we did have fun. Plus, my mom and I bought a pair of inflatable stand-up paddleboards for ourselves and considered them a worthwhile purchase. (No one drowned, and Harbor Patrol only showed up once, but that's another story.)

Reading! I never get any good writing done while on vacation anyway, so I figured I might as well read some books. I stuck with the thrillers I got for free with my Amazon Prime account (I'll Never Tell and What You Did by authors I can't remember) and enjoyed both of them, which isn't always the case with free books. Mr. Landen read the same ones, so it was fun to compare notes and opinions.

So summer is winding down. The girls go back to school in less than two weeks, and I'm hoping to get a lot done with that added free time, writing included. I hope you all are having a great summer!

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

After what felt like forever, I finally got the thumbs-up from my surgeon last week to resume normal activity. The PICC line is finally out, and I'm no longer on antibiotics, so I'm feeling pretty good. All this happened just in time for me to be a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding this past weekend, so I jumped right back into things. I figured if I could last on the dance floor (barely) until midnight, everything else would come back easily. I went back to the gym yesterday, I go back to work next week, and I can take care of my own kids again. I'm sure my mom is glad she packed up all her stuff and my husband likes having that room available again.

And, of course, we all know what else is on this list - writing! I did manage to knock out a few paragraphs for Sonata for Springtime last week before getting back to living my life, and I'm hoping more will soon follow now that my head's not all fuzzy from the antibiotics. I probably haven't gotten very far since the last time I blogged about this project, so I might be repeating myself, but this is sort of a transitional chapter, and then the next three will be FUN. I don't want to call it filler, but, well, it's not the most exciting part of the book. Now I just have to get to the end of it and I'm hoping the middle third of this book will just fly out of my typing fingers. I'll consider anything a win at this point!

Still Alive, Still Not Writing, But Getting Closer!

Looks like it's time for my monthly check in! I still haven't been completely cleared by my team of doctors to resume normal activity, but I'm feeling hopeful about my appointments next week. Mostly, I just want the damn PICC line out of my arm and to stop the IV antibiotics, because that's all annoying and the meds make me tired. As the title of this post indicates, I haven't *quite* resumed writing yet. But! Though I didn't know if my brain was up to writing, I figured I might as well give editing a try, thinking that would be a little less mentally taxing. I've been going back through the old files to see if anything is worth rescuing and resubmitting. I don't know if anything will pan out from this, but at least I'm doing something.

Other things I have been doing:

I finally finished the scarf/shawl/wrap thingy I mentioned in my last post. It needs a light blocking, but I took pictures anyway. The pattern is supposed to resemble dragon scales, and we all know how much I love dragons.

I also played a new video game; while nothing I've read recently comes with a strong recommendation, I can wholeheartedly recommend Life is Strange. Even if you're just a casual gamer, the story and characters are fantastic. I don't think I've been as emotionally affected by a game since Mass Effect 3. Plus, due to the structure of the game, there's plenty of replay value. The main game has a prequel with the same characters, which I played and liked well enough, though it didn't have quite the same charm as the original, and then a sequel with a whole new cast and setting, which I haven't started yet. If you're looking to participate in an interactive story, definitely check it out!

Still Alive, Still Not Writing

When last we left off, I'd been sick for a month and hadn't been doing much of anything. Long story short, I wound up having major surgery for my chronic illness in mid-January. Major as in, "we'll try to do it laparoscopically, but we might have to cut you open," and sure enough, I woke up with a large incision and a temporary drain. At least I'll look like a badass on the beach this summer with my new scars. Recovery mostly went well, though I had a few false alarms in the past week or two, but I seem to be headed in the right direction now. I haven't written anything yet, but I've at least started thinking about it again!

While I was following doctors' orders and sitting at home, resting, I did finally do some reading, which I rarely have time for. As I read some books that have been on my list for a long time, I realized my reading preferences have aligned with the way I write. I discovered that for me, it doesn't matter how beautiful and deeply descriptive the prose is, I prefer a plot that moves along at a quick pace. My reading list does contain a lot of mystery and suspense, and I was trying to branch out, but I guess there's a reason I lean toward those genres.

Other than that, I've just been loafing around on the internet, going to doctors appointments, and working on the neverending scarf/shawl/wrap thingy that Ravelry tells me I started back in August. (Oof.) I've been gradually getting out more, though I miss doing fun things with the kids, going to the gym, and drinking wine. Writing will come soon, I promise!

Happy Holidays, But Let's Get On To 2019 Already!

Two holiday posts back to back, a month apart, with zero writing updates. Uh-oh. I do have an excuse this time - unfortunately, I've been sick for pretty much the past month, and the doctors I've seen have yet to pinpoint exactly why yet. But I'm being taken seriously, which pleases me, and undergoing lots of tests, and I'm hoping to get some answers at my appointment on Monday so we can really move forward in 2019. In the meantime, here is a list of what I DON'T have:

• Lyme Disease
• Cytomegalovirus
• Hepatitis
• Herpes
• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea
• HIV
• Malaria

And probably a couple more I'm missing. I was really concerned about those last two, let me tell you. (Okay, not really.) The mono report was iffy - one doctor said I had it, another said I didn't, but when I saw an infectious disease doctor and he got the lab work, he was the tiebreaker and said nope, not mono. Right now, the theory is I've got an abscess or something similar lurking somewhere in my abdomen, and we just have to track it down.

So there's my dramatic life for right now. I haven't felt up to writing, but I am finally getting the chance to do some reading for pleasure, which I might post about soon. Anyway, I hope you all had a great holiday season, and let's look forward to an even better 2019!

Imperfection

The first round of edits for Closing Montage is done. The nice part about it being such a short novella is there wasn't a whole lot to be done there. Or, more importantly, there weren't many moments that made me go "oh god, I'm such an idiot," which might be a first. We might be able to do a release date at the end of this month, so stay tuned for news on that front.

Despite the edits not being too extensive, I still had to, you know, sit down and actually do them. Which turned out to be a little more challenging than usual. My family (the four Landens, plus my parents) is on vacation and...well, it hasn't been our smoothest trip. My parents own the house, so at least we're not out any money, and we're still managing to have fun. But some of the highlights of things not going well include both the washing machine and the central air dying, the worst thunderstorms this area has seen in years, and me getting an order for a crapload of work for the day job that seriously made me want to cry when I first saw it. (Yes, I brought my work stuff with me. Yes, that sometimes sucks.) I'm probably missing some things, but I think those are the worst. It'll all be fine eventually, though. And at least the torrential downpour meant there wasn't a whole lot to do, and I knocked out most of my work the other day.

Somewhere in all of this, I'm also still trying to work on my current project. I at least wanted to finish the significant chapter I'd been working on before we left, but though I came close, it didn't happen for various reasons. One of the reasons it's an important chapter is because a lot of the second half deals with how the hero, the POV character, views the heroine/eventual love interest/whatever you want to call her. (I have decided to call her Natalie. :P )

In some ways, Natalie has been proving more tricky to write than I first anticipated. Most of the time, writers want readers to fall in love with our main characters, or at least like them. And likeability is subjective, of course. Characters can't be perfect people, or else they'll be unrealistic, but too many flaws can make them off-putting. It's a hard balance to achieve.

So, Natalie: she's outgoing, bubbly, and has some hidden and not-so-hidden talents. It's also pretty obvious right from the first chapter that she's not making great life decisions and is setting herself up for disappointment. I wanted that particular conflict to be set up right away, but at the same time, I don't want her to come across as overly childish or naive, especially considering her other traits. In other words, while she's perky and optimistic (maybe even "cute"), I don't want her to come across as a blithering idiot. There's a fine line there. And all this is complicated by the fact that we're seeing her through the main character's eyes, and I don't want readers wondering why he's attracted to her in the first place.

I'll get there. She'll get there. We'll all get there. Ironically, in the beginning of this current chapter, I wrote about the characters doing laundry, so they're already ahead of me on that front.

These Things Happen

I don't remember if I've ever mentioned it here before, but I suffer from chronic illness. Well, "suffer" probably isn't the best word - I was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago (eep!), and there's definitely been a ton of ups and downs. Lately I've been in one of those valleys, which resulted in a five-day hospital stay. It had been about six years since that happened last, so I really can't complain too much.

This post isn't meant to be a whiny rant, or a pity party. These things happen, and while the situation may suck right now, it's bound to get better sooner or later. It should go without saying that a lot of things fell by the wayside when I wasn't feeling well, and writing was one of them. At this point, I'm probably not going to meet my self-imposed deadline for this book. Meh.

But. BUT! As anyone who's ever been in one will tell you, hospitals are boring. I wasn't on my deathbed or anything, just in need of some IV drugs (and maybe a little more rest than I get at home with two toddlers running amok). I actually read some books, and then I had the bright idea to tell Mr. Landen to bring me a brand new shiny notebook and some pens. Brilliant, I say.

I managed to successfully extricate myself from marathons of Say Yes to the Dress and Law & Order: SVU and get some writing done. And, of course, I was right at the scene where the romance really kicks off, but awkward or not, I forged ahead. So yeah, there I was, curled up in a hospital bed with an IV in my hand, writing all sorts of dirty words in my notebook.

As I said, these things happen. That's got to earn me some street cred in the smut-writing world, right?