Ava M Taylor – Eileen Troemel

What happens when I write two books at once?

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

During my thirty minute lunch, I wrote in my journal. I was writing about writing – no surprise there. An idea came to me for the first book in the alien alliance series I’m working on. I wrote it in my journal.

My plan for the night – finish reading Alien Alliance book 1 and go back to Surrender to the Sea Demon. That did not happen.

I finished book 1. I was happy with it. I enjoyed the plot line and the pacing. But apparently my brain wasn’t happy with it. I wrote a new scene last night and tonight I finished reading it through (one of many read through steps) and planned to mark where I wanted to add in more. I found which chapter I wanted to add to, realized it was one of the shorter chapters in the book, and planned to just put in some symbol to find it again tomorrow.

If you’ve read my blog at all, you know this didn’t happen. The two brothers argued and I realized I wanted to get down just a bit of the scene to give me the feel for it. So I wrote. About two thirds of the way through the scene my eyes said – done.

I’ve been on the computer a lot today and they are burning. It’s a reminder to put eyedrops in tonight. So I thought – okay I’ll mark the spot and come back to it tomorrow. Yes I know you can laugh at me. I didn’t stop. I thought well maybe I can just quickly finish it off. Nope.

Now the scene is finished but it took me a bit. I’m even more tired now – go figure. I know I’ll have some smoothing to do when I edit but I added 1300 words to the story and I’m happy with the scene.

I think I’ll add one more scene (probably another 1000 words) with Janine and P’lar starting it. I feel like there should be one more scene in there. Maybe something about the mineral the humans want which will hopefully lead to some plot points in the third book. Not sure yet and I’ve named it in the last scene but I have to come up with a good idea why they wouldn’t use the human supply of it. I may have to rethink the material. That isn’t hard to do though.

And I made no progress on Surrender to the Sea Demon… tomorrow night maybe…

Sacrificed to the Sea Monster

December 3, 2022November 25, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Book Tour

Ava M Taylor (i.e. me)

The ocean is deep and dangerous.

No one knows this better than Vanessa. Her father died while working at sea. Her mother faded away. Now Vanessa’s alone and old enough to be sacrificed.

Five sea monster block the entrance to her village’s fishing bay. This means five women will be sacrificed to the sea monsters in the hope the village will be able to go fishing this year. Vanessa knows she’ll be one of them.

She chooses the ocean over the village. She takes a leap of faith. But the ocean is deep and dangerous. Will Vanessa save her village at the cost of her life? Or is this just the beginning of her fated journey?

Excerpt

She turned from the ocean and made her way back down the rocks. Uncertain of her mood, he stood his ground. She picked her way across the rocks and sand. He wanted her. He wanted to lay her on the white sand and take her in every way he had already and then start taking her in new ways.

Her head snapped up and her eyes speared him. Still angry

“Jerk,” she strode up to him. “You. You give me a choice and I think… I think you’re different. You make love to me. You tell me you want to protect me. Then because I see something which makes me think, you’ve suddenly got me off in some damn city. Why?”

“I wondered if you had dreams before you were sacrificed,” Beric said. “I wondered if you wanted a chance at something different.”

“Dreams. The only dreams I remember ever… no.” Vanessa paced away from him. Shaking her head, she turned back. “I told you about my parents. I told you what my mother called me. You think somehow I’d be happy living in a concrete barren city?”

“The ocean is a harsh environment,” Beric said.

“I know,” Vanessa said. “I’ve lived on the edge of it my entire life.”

“That’s my point. I wondered if you wanted to pursue something other than being by the ocean.”

“You’re an idiot,” she put her hands on her hips. For a moment, she wondered how ridiculous she looked standing completely naked on a miniscule beach having a fight with her sea monster boyfriend. The ridiculousness of it made her lips twitch.

“Probably,” Beric admitted. “Look at you. You aren’t a water baby. You’re a goddess. I love you and because I love you, I wondered if being here with me was the best thing for you.”

“Still an idiot but how could you think I was sad,” Vanessa said. “When we’re underwater, I know exactly what you’re feeling. Doesn’t it work both ways?”

“I might have been focused too much on my own thoughts,” Beric confessed. “This life…”

“Is with you, right?”

“Absolutely,” Beric said.

“You’re the first person to give me a choice,” Vanessa said. “The boys growing up always called us a sacrifice, meaning we were useless. Some tried to use it to their advantage, let me fuck you and we can be attached, so you don’t get sacrificed.”

“Bastards,” Beric muttered. “I stole you from the village.”

“You rescued me and gave me a choice,” Vanessa said. “This is the one and only time we’re having this discussion. Do you want me as your mate?”

“Yes,” Beric said.

“Then don’t try sending me away,” Vanessa poked him in the chest. “I came to you voluntarily and I intend to stay. If you don’t like it, then you go to the damn city. I’ll take the ocean any day.”

He grabbed her finger and licked the length of it. He watched her nipples harden. “You think you get the ocean over me?”

“Yes,” she let him pull her closer.

“I guess I better keep you,” he pulled her tight against his hard cock. “The ocean appears to be in our souls.”

“Don’t doubt me,” she put her hand firmly on his chest.

“Never again,” he assured her.

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Half a Chapter Left

September 30, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

Wednesday and Thursday I was too tired and sore to write. I worked on other things like promoting and such. But no writing. This of course always makes me a bit grumpy.

Today was a work from home day. So I took a short nap after work. I was worn out. I still am but I managed to write 2500 words tonight. I’m up to a bit over 55K. I’m pleased with my progress but my brain is too tired to finish the current scene.

I’ve got to introduce more of the human women and some of the T’mbarian males. There’s twenty in the scene technically but they won’t all be named. It will be a crowded scene and some gossip will be shared but nothing verifiable. I think a short sex scene after. Then P’lar will be called away.

Not sure how my climax will go yet. I think it will come to me once I’m through the rest of these scenes. I KNOW the final scene. I’ve seen it in my head for quite some time. I know how it will end.

I’m off to bed. I’ve got a half dozen things on my to do list for tomorrow so it will be a busy weekend. Hopefully I can finish this story off this weekend. I think I know how the second book will start but… after this one, I need to do some editing of other stories before I dive into book two. I’ve got the ending for book two and parts of the rest of it… But for now, I need to finish book one.

Chapter Done

September 27, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

Chapter 10 is finally done! Tonight I was writing and things were going better than I expected but research distracted me. Then I scheduled some promo events and one thing led to another.

Fortunately, I still wrote nearly 1700 words. I finished off the chapter with some sexy time teasers. I’ve got the ideas for the first three sections of the next chapter and I’ve written the ideas in the manuscript. From there we’ll see what the characters decide.

The good thing is I’m at 52,600 for total word count. My chapters are running around 5-6K so this should be about 58K by the time I’m done. I know she will be hurt… maybe bad enough to die. I’m not sure yet. Bad guy will be revealed. All the details aren’t clear yet – but this is normal for me.

I know what the second book will involve, I’m just not sure how it will start yet. While this first book has to end on a happy for now, I also want it clear she’s not all in. He is and in book two, he’ll prove it.

Tomorrow is an in office day for work so I have to get to bed shortly. I doubt I’ll do much writing over the next two days, I’m usually in too much pain. However, I’ll see how the days go.

A MONDAY!

September 26, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

Well today was a MONDAY! I had to go to work for a meeting. It was a good meeting but exhausting. I got home and attempted to find a policy. State government policies are a pain in the ass to find. I didn’t find what I needed but asked for assistance. We’ll see what they come up with.

Tonight I wanted to write but got sidetracked by other things. When I finally got to writing my brain is just mush. I know what needs to happen and how I want it to happen. When I’m writing it’s going well but I’m so tired I am not progressing.

I managed to get about 1500 words written. I need to finish the scene I’m on and then move to what I hope will be the last chapter. I’m at just under 51K. If things go right, I should be right around 55-58K by the time I’m done with the next chapter and be done. But we’ll see. Characters like to throw a monkey wrench in my plans.

Weekend Writing

September 25, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

Today I intended to write for the majority of the day. It didn’t happen. I wanted to finish my first book in this trilogy. I’ve got it here in my head. But I spent a good chunk of my day going through emails which I am at the same number as I was before I went through a ton of emails – how is that possible?

Ava M Taylor’s website got updated today. That was fun. I also worked on tasks like signing up for promotions on book funnel, adding books to book bub and good reads. I added books to lists on goodreads and … well the list goes on and on. Needless to say, none of this got my ending written.

Tonight I worked for two hours on writing. I got partway through one chapter. I’ve got one or two more scenes and then I’ll be done with this chapter. I thought I’d be done in two chapters but I’m wondering if I can fit the rest into one chapter now. I guess I’ll see.

I managed to get almost 3700 words. The story tops over 50K so it’s officially a novel. Now I just need a good ending with a teaser to the next book.

Need Sleep

September 24, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

Today has been a rough day. Our weather has gone from hot and humid of summer to gray and gloomy with thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms but my joints don’t. Now I don’t know if it’s because I got cold while I worked in the kitchen or if I was going to have a flare no matter what but mid-morning, I realized I was done.

I couldn’t get warm. My pain level skyrocketed which meant I had a headache and was nauseous on top of the pain. It was a rough day.

Ken took over peeling and slicing apples. Vicki basically tucked me into my recliner with three blankets and I took naps. Short and often interrupted with pain. It took several hours before I felt warm. My pain level is still pretty high but not as high.

I managed to writing for a couple hours. I got 3K written and the story is up to 47K. I’ve got 1 or 2 chapters left to write and then I’ll be done.

Tomorrow, I need to go through emails (I’m weeks behind) and do a bunch of book related tasks. Once those are done, I’ll be writing. My hope is to finish the last two chapters but I’ll see how my pain level is and how the day goes.

Lots of Work

September 20, 2022September 23, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

I feel like I got stuff done today at my day job. That’s always a good thing. Now tomorrow will be a day full of meetings and training. It will be a lot of busyness but not a lot of accomplishing things. These are the hardest days. I like to tick off the boxes on my to do list.

Tonight, I finished introducing one of my alien races. Janine got propositioned by the leader of a new world. I got quite a bit done tonight – a little over 3K written taking me to about 45K (just under) for the overall story. I want to ramp up the danger…. but the characters aren’t telling it that way.

So I’ll stay true to my characters. I know there is big danger coming. I’ve got a couple of things cooking but I think this lull needs to happen because I think the ending will be fast paced. I also want some extended writing time. The story is right there in reach.

One thing I want to do is go back through and read it all again. I have a spreadsheet so I can keep track of characters and words and so on. But I know I’ve missed some secondary characters. I think they’re going to be important. So I want to make sure I capture them on my spreadsheet for later.

A New Week

September 19, 2022September 19, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

The weekend was super busy with canning, freezing, and so on. We got a lot done in two short days but it left me exhausted. I didn’t write a lot. I got a bit done here and there but not a lot.

Tonight, we ended up having a late dinner. So people hung out with me longer than normal but I still managed to get a couple hours of writing in.

I’m at almost 42K in the book and tonight I wrote a little over 2700 words. I finished two scenes and started a new chapter. I think this chapter will be them being chased from one planet to the next. But I’m not sure because it just depends on what the characters tell me.

I feel like it might be a bunch of short scenes with them being in danger of capture until they get back to T’mbar. I’ll see where the characters take me. But it’s shaping up nicely. I like the two characters.

Hopefully this week is a bit less crazy and I’ll get some good writing time in. I’m not holding my breath but I am hopeful.

Long Day

September 17, 2022 by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

I don’t like mornings on a good day. Today – Saturday! – I was up at 6 am to shower and dress. I do not like 6 am. It is too light to be last night and too early to be today. But we went west to visit the apple orchard my parents went to near Gays Mills.

I drove. Vicki shopped. Alicia and her friend followed in Alicia’s car. We went to the orchard where Vicki got a bushel and half of apples. We went to Rural Route 1, our favorite popcorn place. Then we went to Peck’s – a road side stand for fresh produce. Now that sounds like a little truck or wagon with produce on it. That’s not what this is.

It’s an open market with a ton of produce, games and activities for kids, and more. Vicki picked up tomatoes and sweet corn. My car was full but not packed in.

Today when we got home, we cut up most of the apples and made applesauce which is all in the fridge. Tomorrow we’ll work on canning it. We’ll also be dicing the tomatoes to can. Ken will take the corn off the cob so we can freeze it.

After Ken and Vicki went to bed, I wanted to write. So I pulled up my computer and wrote a scene. Now I’ve got all these dynamic ideas for my story but I’m so tired my head hurts. I did manage to write a couple of scenes (about 1800 words) but I’m too tired to think of all the details of aliens and so on that I need to create. I think it will be an early night for me.

I hope tomorrow I can make some good progress with this story. I have a bunch of things to get done though so we’ll see.