Monday Writing Update

I'm dog tired, but it's worth it. I stayed up  late and into the wee hours of the morning with a writing buddy, and ended up writing 4k on my current wip. I have five chapters left to sketch in and I will have an extremely rough draft. Rough, but complete. Then I can start layering in and rewriting. 

Before we got started working on our projects, my writing buddy and I wrote out full synopsis for our stories. It was a major headache to do, but I'm glad I did it. I've been able to set up my book just using the synopsis. And when I transferred all the information from the synopsis to index cards, I was able to see what scenes I had and what scenes were still needed.

There were a lot if plot holes, but I'm gradually filling them in. And I've found all these little pockets of story for foreshadowing and tying up threads I didn't know realize we're loose threads. 

So far I'm happy with the progress I'm making. The real challenge will begin once I start rewriting and shaping the scenes. 

That's all for now. It's relatively quiet here these days, so there really isn't much to report. I'm sure that will change when Mini starts school in three weeks. 

Take care, and I hope you have a happy Monday. <3

Wednesday's Waffle : Note Cards, Writing Projects, and Outing Ideas

It's been a cozy, rainy day. A few hours ago I finished editing the third story going into the Trick of Light collection. Only two stories left to go, and I've already begun making a pass over the fourth story. It's coming along nicely. I'll post more as the book progresses.

I've also been working on the book I recently got the full request for. Last night I put my outline on note cards to look for plot holes. I'm so glad I did that. There's a really big plot hole around chapter three that still needs filling in, which is what I've been working on today.

Tomorrow I'm taking Mini out for dip cones, then we're going to visit my mom and dad while hubby is off work. I've been spending a lot of time writing, and school starts in three weeks. I want to do something fun for Mini before he's caught up in the whole school routine again, but at the same time, we're trying to conserve money.

If I had my way, I'd like to take a trip to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, which would be part vacation, part research trip, but I doubt we'll be able to arrange it until later in the year. Until then, I keep doing little things like trips to the park, trips to get ice cream, and trips to the library because it's free to do those things. Still, I imagine he gets tired of the same old thing. I know I do.

The next full weekend hubby gets off work, maybe we can take a drive over to the zoo. I asked Mini if he wanted to go, and he was like, "Yeah! I've never been to the zoo." We've taken him several times, but apparently he was too young to remember it. So that's an option. It will be a fun family outing, and it will seem new to Mini - at least I hope so. Some of my favorite pictures are of the boat ride we took the last time we were there. He might get there and say, oh, now I remember, I've done that already. We'll see.

I'd also like to take a trip over to the bookstore. The last time I was there they were moving in a used book section. It looked like a lot of junk on several of the shelves. I'm hoping they take a cue from Hastings and allow quality used books, and not just a bunch of paperback tossers.

That's all for now. Hubby will be home any minute, and I still need to let the doggies out. Until next time, happy wishes. ♥

Change Is In The Air

There is so much going on, and so little summer vacation left.

When I went to Wally World this morning for laundry detergent and Pop Tarts, the first thing I noticed was the school supply list carousel set up near the door. I walked around the partition to grab a cart, and the clothing department was a splash of red, white, and blue. Nope, not flags. School uniforms. They're out in all the clothing departments. Sigh. It's like the turning of fall leaves. You see the signs of the seasons changing and know time is short.

Speaking of time, I'm about to head into the writing cave for an extended stay. On the 18th, I went to the pitch sessions over at Harlequin and received a full request. What a fabulous pitch experience, and I'm absolutely jazzed about the request. I've got my fingers crossed. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Cat Tails And Summer Writing Project Updates

July 14 - Charlie Cat using
me for a tail rest.

Can you believe it's already the middle of July?  The summer is going by way too fast. I have been busy, busy, busy, which makes the time seem to go by that much quicker. It doesn't look like my schedule is going to be easing up anytime soon, so I've got to start incorporating more play time into the family routine. Mini will be back to school before we know it.

Hubby's work schedule changes from week to week, so we never know what days he's going to have off until right before they happen. It's hard to plan anything that way, and he won't accrue enough time to take a paid vacation until next summer. Boo. Hiss.

We recently took Mini out for dip cones, and yesterday he went with his grandparents to a church party. The church staff rented a bouncy water slide and they set up games and stuff for the kids. Mini likes that kind of event, but it's not the same as going places and having fun with Mom and Dad. I get that. Maybe a trip to the water park is in order. That's about all we can afford right now. That, and dip cones.

Writing is going well at the moment. There are days the words come a snail's pace, but I'm making progress. I currently have about 40k on a deliciously erotic vampire story, and I recently turned in galleys for a super sexy mechanic tale. The mechanic story is a short anthology piece. I'll post more about that one when I have a cover to share. I also have a supernatural short story collection called A Trick of Light almost ready to go up on Smashwords. I'll be posting the cover and blurb very soon for the collection, and the book itself will be available online within the next two weeks. The ebook version will arrive at Smashwords first, but there will also be a paperback edition through Amazon.

July 11 - Mini playing Angry Birds
on my iPod. Thunderstorms cut
the power, so we decided to hang out
with the door open. I love the
lighting in this picture.

At the end of July, Harlequin is having a pitch session across several of their category lines, so I signed up to pitch. I think the deadline to sign up is the 15th. I'm not sure, but the rules are on the community forum if you're interested in signing up. Just go to the eHarlequin website for details. I'm very excited about the opportunity. I read a lot of Harlequins, and I'm crossing my fingers that all goes well with this pitch. I'd love to write for them!

Hubby will be home shortly. I thought I'd take time out to blog before the guys get here and the house gets loud. Once they're here, and they get settled, I have to run to the store. Then I'll be back home and ready to dive into the editing/crit projects that are waiting on me. Whew! There's a lot to do, and daylight is burning. I'm off for now. I hope you're having a fantastic weekend. Peace, and happy wishes! ♥ 

Name That Book!

Do you know the author or title of this old YA/juvenile mystery book?

I'm currently looking for a Troll--Weekly Reader--Scholastic book club mystery book from the late 70s to the mid 80s. It's about a girl who begins having dreams that something bad had happened to her when she was younger - like five or six. She becomes depressed and repeatedly plays Three Blind Mice on the piano, and when her cousin or sister (I can't remember which) goes with her to a small town nearby, the girl realizes she has been there before.

There may or may not have been a hiding place under the stairs where the kids would sometimes play hide and seek in the tea shop, which is her way of verifying to her cousin or sister that she had definitely been in the shop before.

A resident of the town, a man named Teddy (Ted now that he's older) has missing fingers, and the girl remembers that it had happened in an accident when he was young. Also, his aunt ran that tea shop at one time. She also remembers Teddy was mean as child, and that he had once placed a spider under a tea cup right before a group of ladies were about to have afternoon tea.

The girl also remembers that Teddy had chased her through a cemetery where the kids were playing. Someone had been dragging a stick along a slatted fence in that same cemetery right before she fell into an open grave, or off a cliff (or something), and died.

Basically, by the end of the book, the girl remembers everything that had happened to her and debates whether or not to confront Ted about it. I don't remember if she did or not. At the very end of the book, her sister or her cousin, starts making up a scenario in her head that suggests she may also have been reincarnated.

Do you know the title or author of this book?  If you do, please leave a comment, email me, or contact me through twitter or Facebook. I'd like to find this book so I can read it with Mini.

Neighborhood Nostalgia

Charlie likes lounging on the back of my
desk chair.

I hope you all had a cozy Fourth of July. We didn't celebrate much since hubby had to work. Instead, I stayed home with Mini and we lounged around the house and ate nachos.

Speaking of "house", I recently learned that a house in my old neighborhood is for sale. The house is a saltbox Victorian on a corner lot, and it looks exactly the same as it did back in 1983/84 when I lived on the lower rent end of the street. I do mean "exactly". It doesn't look like it's been painted or updated in any way. There are no pictures of the inside of the house, either, which tells me the inside probably mirrors the outside - functional. Not shabby, but definitely in need of cosmetic fixes.

Since then, the city has put in a big public library and a major hotel about a block away from that Victorian house. The last time that house came up for sale, it was maybe $400,000?  I nearly fainted when I saw it had gone back up for sale and that they now want $1.4 million for the place.

I went to the ERA website, and noticed that there is a generous amount of land the house is parked on (one full acre in the center of town). That's also when I noticed the primary cause  for the ridiculous price jump. Because of the library/hotel/location, the  house has been rezoned as commercial/industrial property. It might be rezoned that way, but other than a bed and breakfast across the street, that has always been a residential neighborhood. What a huge downer. I imagine now some company will come along and snap up the property for the prime real estate, then tear the house down and build an office or a franchise there. So sad. Why would they ever rezone the historic district? Oh, wait. Money. Isn't that always the reason?

Sometimes I think if Mini was grown, I'd want to move back to my old neighborhood. It really wouldn't be the same though. I still have family in the area, but I have no real ties to the area anymore since my grandparents died. Still, we all have friends there and we're familiar with the city, which has everything you might need for an area that size. Also, the college is right there. Moving back is something hubby and I have talked about over and over. Every couple of years, we talk about it. We just paid off our house here, though, so it boils down to nostalgic thoughts, I'm afraid. At least for the time being. Who knows what the future might bring?

Summer Blues :: Zen Kitty

Kitty Zen

I need a vacation. Or at least some time off, and time away from the computer. If we could afford it, I'd take off a few days and go to Biloxi and fry my pale hide on the beach. Since I have a dollar and ten cents to my name right now, I'm going to make a cuppa tea and hide in the bedroom and read. Charlie cat has the right idea, I think.