Three penguins

Another Chapter

Monday at the day job was involved. Answering questions, getting tasks done, and just getting back into the swing of work.

The day went quick enough. All day I kept having flashes of things I wanted to write about in the novel I’m working on. I have so many good ideas. I cannot wait to get them all down.

Now I write off the cuff. I don’t plan out my plots. I let the characters reveal their stories to me. But occasionally, I’ll know what the next few steps are and I’ll jot them down. I did that tonight because as of right now, I see four more chapters. One of the chapters, I’m not sure whether it goes next or if it’s part of the ending… I think it might be the ending.

Tonight I was distracted by so many things. I finally put my phone on do not disturb because of so many notifications. Once I did that, I got down to work and wrote almost 3700 words! It puts me at about 42,300 words.

With four more chapters and if I keep to right around 3500, I’ll have a book about 56K when I’m done. This would be perfect for novel length.

Now I have editing to do but I also have an extra day off this week. I hope to finish the story this week.

If I can, I’ll switch to editing the short story due by Sept 2 and my client work. I need to go back to doing a couple hours of client work. If I were at the beginning of the novel, I’d probably do that but as is I’m writing a chapter a night. I want the flow to keep going so I’ll finish this story and then focus on the editing.

Really if I had a full day to write, I’d probably finish it in a day. I know what each scene will involve in a big picture way. I know who the bad guy is…. I also know how it will play out. I need to figure out details but I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Andros Island and the Tongue of the Ocean (NASA, International Space Station,11/10/10)

Three Chapters

There’s nothing better than when the words are flowing and I have little to no interruptions. Today I got that blessing.

It was a bad night for me and I woke up with more pain than normal for me. This usually means a rough day.

Vicki started me with two kinds of smoothie which I thoroughly enjoyed. Ken went off to the farmer’s market and Vicki went to visit one of her cousins. I was alone in the house!

I almost always look at the work I need to get done but today, I started writing. I didn’t stop to think of word count or anything other than the story.

Now I’m at the end of three chapters. I’ve added 10,274 words to my story and I’m at about 35K in this story.

Yesterday – I guess since it’s after midnight – one of my books released! I had a release party to attend and other tasks on my list for the day. However, once I started writing, that was it for me. I couldn’t stop. I’m thrilled with the progress and I hope tomorrow I’ll have a good writing day as well.

I’ve got a few chapters to talk about the new role the characters will have but mostly it’s a building of a good life. There may be a twist or two. I’m not sure yet. the only thing I do know – it’s an Ava book so there will be sex.

Newly harvested vegetables

Back to Work

Yesterday I was so tired by the end of the day, I didn’t write one word. We canned pickles – sliced and whole, beets, pickled zuccini and pickled onions. We froze carrots and corn. We also attempted to dry tomatoes which I don’t think worked but we dried onions and that worked. It was a long day on Saturday of food prep and preservation.

At the end of the day, my brain was blank. I don’t think I could have written a sensible word. Instead I picked up one last manuscript and started a read through. I found little things. I had to change a date in there because I realized with the back story I set up, I couldn’t use the date I had.

This morning I woke up and realized the tasks I put on for yesterday couldn’t be done so I rescheduled them. Then I looked at the tasks for today. Neither were urgent so I rescheduled them. Instead, I finished the read through and then after dinner I went back to writing.

I’m super pleased with my progress tonight. I wrote 6100 words. Two chapters worth of writing! I’m also almost to the halfway point of the story. While I’m writing this one, I’m getting ideas on possibly making this into a series. I’ve got two ways I could go with it. So we’ll see.

Tomorrow I’m back to working my day job. It will probably take me all day to catch up on my email. Hopefully I have time and energy to write tomorrow night.

Jars of pickles in India shop

Last Vacation Day

My day got discombobulated from the beginning. I slept late which was good. But then the things I planned to do first, didn’t get done until later. It all worked out eventually but not according to my plan. This shouldn’t be a surprise to me but it threw me for a bit today.

I am loving Asana for managing my tasks. I opened it today and started on my list. I got most of them done. I rescheduled a couple. One nice thing by using this, I look at my tasks and think ahead about them.

One of my tasks was to schedule weekly posts for my preorders. I was trying to decide how far in advance I was willing to trust FB to keep posts if I scheduled. Then I remembered – I have Buffer. I can schedule posts on there and it will hand on to them as we move forward.

Tomorrow will be pickling, canning, and freezing. My daughter and husband will go to the farmers’ market and bring back the bounty. Then we will work on processing. I usually do a good chunk of the cutting up of stuff. But we have to see what she’s able to get locally right now.

Tonight, I watched a premade sale by my favorite cover designer. After that, I worked on Sacrificed to the Sea Monster again. I made it to almost 20K writing almost 5K tonight. I got two plus chapters written and a big chunk of my plot started. The more I write, the more I think this will be a series. I’ve gotten suggestions for other creatures which would work in this theme so… high probability this will occur.

I’ve got the weekend ahead and I’m hoping to fit in some editing (for a client) and I need to do practical things like pay bills and work on budget. So I’ll be busy but I also hope I can add more to the Sea Monster story. I’m drawing near the halfway mark for me… or the halfway mark for the length I aim for. There’s a difference based on what the characters tell me they want.

Ocean waves breaking on rocks on Vancouver Island in British Columbia Canada

Check Off My To do List

I slept late. My daughter woke me up at 7 asking if I wanted my smoothie and chatting with me. I said no and listened. I did get back to sleep. Somewhere around 9 or 9:30 I got up. This is so odd to me because even when I don’t get a lot of sleep I don’t generally sleep late.

For this time off, I actually did have plans for each day. I had book tasks I wanted to get done. I’ve worked each day on these. Today was setting up my books on Bookbub, Goodreads, Bookfunnel and other places. These are all smaller tasks which don’t take a lot of time but they do take time.

I talked to my arc readers and told them I had six books done and how did they want them. I talked with a friend about books and publishing. I edited a section of my daughter’s paper.

In addition to that I wrote 5400 words in Sacrificed to the Sea Monster. This is an Ava book so lots of sex scenes. I thought initially it would be more sex than plot but the characters have other ideas. Oh there’s sex – in and out of the ocean. However, the characters have hijacked my plans again (thank goodness) and we’ll see what kind of ride they take me on.

I’m hoping I can finish this one soonish and maybe put it out in between my other publications because I don’t have a lot of Ava’s stuff finished. I wouldn’t mind finishing two or three. To be honest, this one and two others pull at me so those are probably my next projects… but you never know. I’ve got two stories in the Reluctant Royals series which are working away in my brain….

Tomorrow is a work day. I have an all day meeting to go to. But when I come home, I’m diving back into my to do list and my writing.

Next?

Last night I didn’t sleep well at all. It made for a rough morning and me feeling tired all day. But I still got all my tasks done I had on my list on Asana. I have a long list for tomorrow but it’s all good.

Since I finished the short story for the anthology, I went looking for something new to work on. I don’t have any Ava books on my schedule for the next year so I went looking for one which might be close enough for me to finish soonish. Sacrificed to the Sea Monster is one I enjoyed writing before I got distracted. So I started reading it and I’ve managed to get 2600 done on it today. It gives me about 11,000 words in the story so far.

I enjoyed rereading what I’d written and still love the concept. I jumped in and started writing. It’s flowing well and I’m enjoying the story. Sex and the ocean – both underwater and above. How can you resist? They have gotten to know each other and are learning to accept each other.

Next is to develop the little safe harbor they have and develop their characters. The plot is necessary – yes even with it being a sex book plot is important. I have a little mythology and a bit of danger I plan to put in. At least as much as I plan.

Tomorrow I’ll be setting up books in Book Bub and Goodreads. I have some books2read links to create as well as a whole list of things to get done. I’m also hoping to have more time to write.

Tonight – I’m calling it good and attempting to get some sleep. My eyes are tired – really my whole body is tired. At least I managed to get some writing in before my brain crashed.

Short Story – Done!

All day I worked on setting up pre-orders, promotions, and a lot more. I think my brain exploded at some point. I kept telling myself – just get through all this stuff and tonight I’ll write.

So tonight I wrote. I wrote a lot. I finished the annihilate the ghost scene and the wrap it all up scene… In all I wrote over 4700 words! It’s done and sent to my beta readers. Hopefully they don’t tell me it’s horrible.

I’ve set it aside for right now. I will do a read through – probably tomorrow night – and then I’ll get down to the nitty gritty of editing. I’d love to leave it for a bit though so we’ll see.

In the end it’s a little over 17,500 words which is right in the middle of the range for the anthology. I can call this one done – at least for a couple days – before I hit the editing phase of it.

Overall, it’s been a very productive day but I’m hitting the bed and crashing for a few hours.

Wayfarer Aegis Audio

Wayfarer Aegis is a short story prequel to Adara and Decker’s love story. It tells the reader what happened to her on her assignment on the deep space explorer vessel which ended with over 300 dead. It’s been out for quite some time but I recently had it made into an audio book!

Lilly Canon is the artist who read my story. She nailed the characters and Adara especially. She was easy to work with and helpful. Her producer, Kyle, helped me so much it made the whole process super easy. They are a dream team!!

Blurb

Adara Stone – pilot for the Interstellar Planets Union services.

She’s half Wayfarer and half human and Captain James’ last choice as a pilot.  Excited for her first long contract and explorer class ship, Adara knows she’ll spend seven years flying a ship in unknown space. She can’t wait to see what’s out there. 

By the book, Captain Alden James does not want anyone varying from his flight plan.  He quickly loses patience with Adara breaking protocol. 

Adara craves a family but finds only recrimination and punishment.  She taps into the skills dismissed by her captain and the services in order to be the best pilot she can be.  When Fate intervenes, will her Wayfarer skills be enough? 

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon FR

Amazon DE

Wayfarer Series

Celtan Dilemma

This book started based solely on the question of what can a soldier do if ordered to do something they know is wrong. What would you do if you were faced with two bad options?

I wanted my main female character to make a choice knowing it would end her life or have dire consequences and see how it played out from there.

Traitor or criminal?

Lieutenant Lillian Buckner receives orders to take her squad of women pilots out to specific coordinates and destroy an unarmed transport.  Lilly must decide whether to be a war criminal by firing on an unarmed vessel or to be a traitor and disobey her orders.  Her life and those of her six pilots depends on her decision. No matter her decision, the punishment may kill her if she returns to the human forces.

Trust or Punish?

Lord Hugh Korol fights against the humans.  They invaded the Celtan’s territory and took sectors of space from them.  The humans attacked their home world.  When human women aid one of their unarmed transports, he must decide what to do to them.  Can he trust the one he desires or will she break more than the fragile trust growing between them?

https://books2read.com/CeltanDilemma

A Stone’s Throw

On May 21, I’ll release my new poetry book. This book has been in my work in process pile for quite some time. When I organized recently, I asked myself why I hadn’t published it. Initially I organized it for a contest. But it didn’t win or place.

This meant it’s just been sitting in my files waiting for attention. I asked my middle daughter to create a cover and handed the manuscript over to her. She did a beautiful job formatting it.

Here’s the blurb and cover of my new poetry book. I hope you’ll give it a try.

Ever thrown a stone into a lake and watched the ripples?  These poems explore the ripples of emotions caused by moments in life. This is a journey of battling societies expectations and beliefs while finding strength and power within. 

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