I'll admit it. I am accustomed to the comforts of the modern age and as much as I love history and dystopian fiction I have no interest in doing without said modern comforts. I was reminded of this fact after losing power during the windstorm (I know, it was a windstorm for Pete's sake! Not even a hurricane!) we had here in Maine Sunday night. Supposedly more people lost power during this windstorm than during the ice storm of '97 and I'm curious as to why. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was very windy! But I recall other windstorms with less severe results. And trying to get power back on a fall day is a lot easier than in the dead of winter when a sheet of ice coats everything. I feel very fortunate that I got my power back Tuesday night. Lots of people are still without, including some of my family members, and there are still lots of trees and wires down.

 But honestly? My two days without power was a breeze compared to what some people have had to go through and what some people are still going through. I was never too far away from a store or restaurant, we never ran out of water, our propane stove still worked, and I had my cell phone, kindle, and laptop, not to mention gas in my car. One could hardly call that suffering. Nevertheless, I'm glad it's over so I can get back to my usual routine.

Meanwhile, I did finish another book, The Kept Woman, by Karen Slaughter, and my current WIP, TROUBLE, stands at 26K, which is piss poor progress considering I started it in August. To steal a quote from Inception (one of my all time favorite movies), "Disappointed."

How would you fare if the power went out for good? What do you do when you lose it? What's the longest you went without?

In addition to enjoying my new house, I've also been having a lot of fun playing Fallout 4.


Fallout out 4 is a first-person 'shooter' type game, though it isn't all about shooting. Set in the same universe as Fallout 3, the game begins in a vault like its predecessor, but unlike Fallout 3, your character has been cryogenically (is that a word?) frozen only to wake up and witness the murder of their spouse and kidnapping of their son, which of course propels them out of the vault and into the world.

I'm playing the vanilla version, which means I don't 'have' to sleep or eat, and the world isn't as vivid as it could be. I prefer to play modded, because it makes gameplay a bit more real, but I know zip about installing mods (I know, I could probably watch it done on Youtube but...waaay too lazy) so vanilla it is. It's still fun. I've made a good start helping the settlers in Sanctuary, kicked a bunch of raiders out of places, and rescued a Sith (Synthetic Human) detective who will hopefully help me find my son.

Meanwhile, I've also been revising my Paranormal Mystery BELL, BLACK & BRIAR, set in an unnamed city in the late alternative 1950's. I had some fun researching that era, especially the cars





decor


architecture


and the clothes


I would totally wear these. Aren't they adorable?

Finally, I started something new and different, an MG story, which I've never written before. Luckily my CP is well-versed in all things MG :)

So, what's new with you? Writing anything new? Playing any cool games? Glad summer is here?

Well. That took longer than expected. I figured once I moved I'd be up and running in a matter of days. Not. Moving is one thing. Settling in enough is another. But first the house...



I know. Pretty effing cool. I'm sure I mentioned it before but this house even has an attic, with FIVE rooms. If only the stairway to get up there was wider I'd consider making that my space. But my room is pretty awesome. Big bay windows with this amazing tree outside, and now that the tub is gone...Oh, did I not mention the tub? Yup. there was a big heavy old fashioned tub in my room the old owners had moved in from the bathroom. Why? God only knows. But it ended up in my room. Getting it out proved to be relatively easy (three of us tipped it and pulled it out on a quilt), but took weeks to arrange (don't ask). But it's finally gone and my room feels waaaay better now.

Meanwhile, I bought a nice used reliable car (another Rav4), and a new computer, or more specifically, a laptop. An Alienware laptop. And Fallout4. I forgot how much fun it was to kill to raiders. I'll be adding Skyrim soon, which I may actually be able to play all the way through now.
I also read a very interesting book, Thunderstruck by Erik Larson, and watched an awesome movie, GET OUT.

 

 Now that Chris (Daniel Kaluuya) and his girlfriend, Rose (Allison Williams), have reached the meet-the-parents milestone of dating, she invites him for a weekend getaway upstate with Missy and Dean. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.

I highly recommend it. 

So. Tell me what you've been doing. Read any good books? Seen any awesome movies? Played any cool games?

Just want to share with you all that I'm the featured writer at Writing and Wellness. A big thanks to Colleen for this :)

So. I have this list of all the things I need to do before I can put my house on the market. Things like paint the bathroom (completed), have the septic pumped (done), and paint the exterior trim (I bought the paint but haven't started the job). There's lots more on the list - I think I have a total of 14 items - but there's also a few check marks against things I've done. Not to mention all the stuff that isn't on the list, like raking the yard, keeping the house cleaner than normal (for practice), and getting my mower fixed so I can mow the lawn. My mantra - I can only do what I can do - is coming in quite handy.

In a way, it's a lot like revisions, or at least, the way I often do revisions. I have a list of all the things that need fixing and I go through them one by one. If I have trouble with one, I move on to another and come back. Just like the house. If it rains, I'll paint something inside (there's plenty of that to be done), and if it doesn't then I can started on the exterior.

Meanwhile, because my creative energy is at an all-time low, I'm allowing myself to do whatever, which turns out to be fanfic based on the John Carpenter movie, They Live. In my story the premise is this: Two Girls. One Big Problem. Aliens.

In the movie, it was two guys, played by Keith David and Roddy Piper. It was a pretty silly movie, especially the longest ever fight scene, so I figure I can have fun with it.



Now. Tell me what you've been doing? Something fun I hope! Ever see They Live?

I don't know about you, but I don't like change. If I was a kid in school, my teachers would probably say I don't transition well. This means I like to plan ahead. For example, if my brother were to call me right now (it's 7:16p Saturday night) and ask me to come over and play Skyrim, I would probably say no because I already have a plan for the night, lame as it might be (in this order: jammies, a drink, and some Supernatural). It also means I don't much like like surprises unless they're like, you just won a million dollars or this is Donald Maass calling. I had a boyfriend once who threw me a surprise party and I hated it. So when I tell you I am selling my house (that I've lived in for the past 18 years) you might have an idea how I feel.

The good news is once I sell my house, I'm moving into this wicked cool Victorian with my sister...


It's about twenty minutes from where I am now, and I'll miss my location which is pretty killer, but the house I'm moving into is also pretty killer, with pocket doors, and four floors counting the basement and attic. It's HUGE. The attic actually has five rooms!!! I'm thinking library/office...? Anyway. It's a good thing, and I know that, but it means I have to move and pack and get my house ready to sell asap. This has left me very little writing time, which sucks, and it's also why I didn't get around to anywhere near as many A-Z posters as I wanted to during the month of April. The whole moving thing happened quite quickly (AGH!!!) and I've had to come up with a new mantra: "You can only do what you can do."

Anyway. That's the way the cookie is crumbling is around here. At some point (soon I hope) I'll actually post some pics of my freshly painted house. Who knows, maybe someone out there will find it perfect and we can all live happily ever after :)

So, how's your Monday?

I'm going to take a wild guess and say I'm not alone in this.

Part of me loves revisions because there are all these places where I've left notes for myself in my manuscript to 'fix this' or 'bw' (better word) or 'bt' (better transition) or whatever, not to mention all the notes my CP's have left me. These are all opportunities for me to make my manuscript a thousand times better than it was, which is why I love revisions. Because they're going to turn my manuscript from good to great. I know this. I've seen it happen.

But.

Then I get to one of those places* where revising is suddenly a chore. For me it's usually when I've failed to adequately convey the necessary information. Like the scene I'm working on now where my mc has finally found something she's been looking for and is about to get a bunch of answers. In my first version, the dialogue didn't follow. It felt forced.

I know what information needs to be conveyed. The trouble I'm having is revising this so that the conversation she has with the other person seems completely natural. So that each question seems to naturally follow the answer that came before AND convey all that necessary information.

I am making progress (check my progress bar for NO REST and you'll see it's up to 63% complete) but damn sometimes it's slow and hard.

So. That's how it is with me, today.

How's it going with you?



* For me, this is usually somewhere after the first act. I tend to write a fairly decent part one of three (my strength). Part two tends to get loose or fall apart entirely (my weakness) but if I can get through that then part three tries to pull it all together and make an ending, preferably a satisfying one. It isn't pretty, but it is a first draft.

The rules:

1. Thank and post the link of the person who nominated you.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself to your readers.
3. Nominate 10-20 blogs and notify them.
4. Pass on the rules.


Thank-you Squid! And if you don't know the Armchair Squid, he has a great blog and runs the Cephalopod Coffeehouse at the end of every month in which we share the books we've read.

Five Facts:

1. I love looking at the real estate section - always have, ever since I was kid. I get my fix through the NYT Real Estate section and Julia at Hooked on Houses.
2. I also love my dog, Jonah, even though he does naughty things sometimes.

3. I find shelling extremely relaxing - especially on Sanibel Island, one of my most favorite vacation spots.
4. I think History is pretty neat.
5. Oh, yeah, I wrote a book! West of Paradise :)



My nominations - and for those listed, please feel free to accept or decline as time and/or interest permits!

1. Krystalyn Drown @See the Stars
2. Ivy @The Happy Whisk
3. Liz @ Laws of Gravity
4. Liza @ Middle Passages
5. Huntress @ Spirit Called



And whoever else would like a pretty award to hang on their wall!

Lastly, News from the Trenches:

If you've been following my progress with GRIMOIRE you'll see I'm around 94% complete - only two chapters left...

Have a wicked good weekend, and for my fellow US residents, Happy Fourth and have fun!

So. You may have noticed I haven't been around much. There's a reason for that. I'm just not sure what it is. Maybe I just don't have anything I consider interesting enough to say any more. Maybe it's because I still haven't adjusted to my new schedule of working six days a week. Or maybe it's because right now I need to pour all my creative energy into what I'm working on now. Honestly, I'm not sure. I used to be able to blog AND write. I thought I'd never run out of things to say. But right now the only thing I'm finding compelling is my as yet untitled wip (I'm calling it by it's first chapter's name for now).

This doesn't mean I won't be posting. In fact, I actually read another book for the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, and Dianne and I have two First Impressions for April with room for one more. I also plan to celebrate a special anniversary at some point, maybe after A-Z is over, and I will certainly continue to visit all of you. So I'm not leaving. I just won't be here as much, at least for now.

In the meantime, I've added the first chapter of my WIP to my pages so you can see what I've been working on, and I'll leave you with a happy pic of some place I'll be visiting soon - for TWO WEEKS!!!


That might be another reason my creative energy is at an all time low; I need a vacation!

Some of you may remember when I was unemployed last year. Well...I got hit again this year which led to me to picking up a bunch of part time jobs and working a lot more hours than I'd really like to and only one day off. This makes for a tired little camper. So tired in fact that I've hardly had energy for writing never mind blogging. And instead of reading something new from the library I got out my old tattered copies of The Hobbit and LOTR, which I've read about a zillion times. But. One one of my jobs is working at a pawn shop/antique store, which means I get to see a lot of old and interesting stuff. We have swords, duck decoys, art, china, and a whole room devoted to nautical items like portholes, propellers, ship wheels, and anchors. One of the things we got in recently was a gorgeous carpenters tool chest with thick brass corners and hinges in mint condition - seriously, it was a show piece - with slide out drawers and a compartment for saws. I should've taken a picture. But we had it less than 24 hours before someone bought it. Then there was this cool loon carving I told my son he had to see.


He bought it. Last weekend we had a yard sale, and my son came by and bought a few more things, like this bottle:

this lovely box of ornaments (I encouraged him to buy these; they were just so pretty!):


and this odd item:

We don't know what it is and neither did my boss. If you know, please speak up!

Anyway. As you can see, I kind of like my new job; it's fun and interesting. And I can see why people get addicted to 'finding the next treasure.' I'll let you know if one comes in our door :)

Meanwhile, due to the fact that my work hours aren't likely to change any time soon, I may not be around as much as I'd like. I do, however, have a few fun things planned, like First Impressions starting tomorrow, a guest post from author Julie Musil on Saturday, an update on what I'm working on, and of course, the Cephalopod Coffeehouse at the end of the month. In other news, West of Paradise currently has 43 reviews with an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 stars! 

 

My apologies for not offering much in the way of anything new, but I've been completely wrapped up in revisions. I do however have two fun posts planned: one being the latest installation of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse on July 25 in which we talk about a book we've read, and two being an interview with MJ Fifeld from My Pet Blog on July 28.

First Impressions will be back per usual at the beginning of August and Dianne and I have one opening left. If you want your first page critiqued by two published authors, check out the sidebar for the FAQs.

Meanwhile, I will continue to visit as best I can while I address the remaining issues in my latest endeavor* (I'm down from 57 to 7 fixes, woohoo!!!). Then I can get down to the nit-picky stuff like over-used words and passive sentences and missing/wrong punctuation. After that, it might just be ready for readers...

How are you doing? What are you working on?


* PEACE & FORGIVENESS

Okay. I really struggled with this. First off I had a theme all picked out after last year and even had each word written down...But then it turns out my very first book is scheduled to be released at the end of March, just days a way from A - Z.

How could I possibly post about Death (my original theme) when I know my publisher is expecting me to promote my book? Not to mention the fact that I am so not one of those rub my book in your face type of person. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be able to call myself an author but if I'm going to talk about my book I want to do it in a way that might possibly be interesting to the people reading about it.

So. Here's the plan. I've signed up for A - Z but my theme is the year my book takes place, 1881. The only deviants will be a few of my characters who I'll mention on the appropriate letter, and those other letters who I haven't found anything for (X, Y, Z being the main culprits). I will also be giving away my free copies to people who express interest, by way of saying thank you for stopping by to hear about 1881 and my book.

Hopefully this will interesting and maybe you'll learn something you didn't know - like what happened here on October 26, 1881...

You may have heard of that one before, or a Parliament of Owls is another one. But there are lots more. Some are amusing, like a Troop of Turkeys, some sweet, like a Charm of Goldfinches, and some perfectly appropriate, like a Worm of Robins.

Do you know any more?

Meanwhile, I'm making progress on  two fronts, both with PEACE & FORGIVENESS (current wip) and my revision of NO REST (my scifi that I wrote last year), and I have a new CP reading the latter. I love finding new critique partners :)

How about you? Making progress? Know any other terms for groups of birds? I'll come back later with some more...after I ask my son!

ps did I mention I have a book coming out this month?! I put a piccie up on my sidebar in case you want to have a gander...

Did you ever get to a place in your manuscript when you're just stuck for no good reason? I don't mean blocked when you don't even know what happens next or can't find your way forward. I mean stuck like you've got the remaining third nicely mapped out but your muse (who was so kind and attentive two months ago...) has gone on a long vacation and your characters are boring you to death and you don't give a crap whether they find way to overturn their sentence and live happily ever after...

Yeah. That was me a couple of days ago. The magic was gone.

Then I thought...I could start back at the beginning and maybe see where the magic went away. Then maybe I can find a way to get it back. The trouble is I don't like going back to the beginning before I've completed a first draft because that's how stuff languishes and never gets finished. However, I reluctantly broke my rule and read chapters one and three again (these are Peace's chapters and I wanted to make sure one followed the other even though there was another pov chapter between them). Then I read chapters two and four (Mal's chapters) to see how they stood up to the magic test.

The good news? There's magic there and that makes me happy. Further, sometimes it's okay to break those arbitrary rules we make for ourselves.

Better news? Winter is finally going to end on the 20th whether it wants to or not!


So, how's your writing going?

I'm afraid the flu paid a visit to my house last week, kicked my butt to the curb. I'm just starting to feel like myself again so I'll keep it brief. Fist off, I finished reading The Boy Who Loved Fire, by Julie Musil, and I just have to mention how impressed I was by the way Julie brought Manny's character to life, made him feel like a real boy rather than some cardboard cutout. I think one of the hardest things to do is draw a character who doesn't necessarily elicit sympathy from the reader right off and boy did Julie nail it. Second, I got Terry Lynn Johnson's Ice Dogs in the mail, and I'm equally impressed by how interesting Terry makes dog sledding sound - and this from someone who you couldn't pay to go! I love how she describes the dogs...as a dog lover and I can appreciate all the personalities. Third, I'm also reading Allegiant and so far loving it. I have no idea how it's going to pan out. Yikes! Have you read it?

Finally, I hope you'll all come back next week for First Impressions, brought to you by yours truly and Dianne Salerni, who, don't forget, has The Eighth Day coming out in April...
Even better? It's book one of a series and I've had the privilege of reading book two and three, which are absolutely fabulous. I haven't loved MG this much since HP or Artemis Fowl!

No lie.

So, how have you been? Gotten sick this winter (if so, I hope you didn't get what I had - ugh!)? Read any good books lately? Looking forward to a release?

That's right, a little more than 30 days until my very first book releases - and here is what it will look like:

Katherine Kennedy has it all; she’s beautiful, she’s wealthy, and she’s engaged to the perfect man: Antonio D'Salvatore. There’s just one problem. She can’t marry him. Worse yet, she has no idea why. All she knows is there is suddenly nothing she wants, not Antonio, or any of the other hundred thousand things money can buy. Jack McCabe comes home from the war with a pretty medal and a lot of ugly pictures in his head. He has little in the way of possessions, less in the way of wealth, nowhere to go and no one to go anywhere with. All he has is a vague sense of discontent, a restlessness that will not abate. Separately, they are drawn to Paradise Tours on the privately owned Cristobel Island. There they meet Louis Cade, a man who offers them the unimaginable, something neither can quite believe until they actually find themselves over 125 years in the past, 1881 to be exact. For Jack McCabe it’s the adventure he always dreamed of – until he meets a beautiful but deadly train robber. Katherine can't believe an ignorant bounty hunter has mistaken her for a criminal – until she sees the picture, which looks exactly like her. Set in the old west, this is a tale of mistaken identity, romance, and murder.

I was hoping for a more historical cover, but I do like the colors, especially the sky. Isn't it gorgeous? Anyway. It's up on Goodreads and Amazon, and available for pre-order. I'll be visiting a few people and if you'd like me to stop by your place let me know. I'll also do some sort of giveaway on the release day but as it's so close to A - Z (which by the way I really want to do but I'm not sure if I should...) anything bigger will have to wait until May, I think.

I've been tagged and tasked with answering any four questions from the following:

1. What are you working on right now?
2. How does it differ from other works in its genre?
3. What experiences have influenced you?
4. Why do you write what you do?
5. How does your writing process work?
6. What is the hardest part about writing?
7. What would you like to try as a writer that you haven't yet?
8. Who are the authors you most admire?
9. What scares you?

Before answering I'd like to thank Charity for tagging me and maybe you'd care to answer a question in the comments...?

My answers are 5. I'm mostly a pantster. I did outline one novel but ultimately I think I do better with a less rigid process. 6. There is never enough time. 7. I have an idea for a literary novel but I'm waiting until I'm a better writer to begin it. 8. A few of my favorite authors are Ursula Le Guin, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Terry Pratchett, Phillip Pullman, Laini Taylor, Andrew Smith, Dan Simmons, Stephen King, George RR Martin, Charles deLint, Patrick Rothfuss, Paolo Bacigalupi, and China Meiville - and that's a short list! 9. Spiders.

Your turn :)

As some of you may have heard, I've signed with WiDo publishing for my first book, PARADISE. I have a feeling the title will change since it's not mentioned in the release but I'm not attached to the current title much more than I was the first one I came up with: ALMOST PARADISE. I looked that one up and there are a million books with that title, but none with just Paradise. Anyway. It remains to be seen what my debut will be called but check out the press release. It's almost like I'm somebody. Pretty cool, huh?

just click on the pic which has absolutely nothing to do with any of this. It's just pretty.

Well, this isn't the first time I've done things out of order and it probably won't be the last but I can finally call myself an author now that I've sold my first book. Yep, you heard it right, PARADISE, my time-travel historical romance (I like to think of it as Romancing the Stone meets Tombstone) has been picked up by WiDo publishing for their 2014 line-up.

Now, that doesn't mean I don't want an agent, cuz I do, but Jack and Katherine have been languishing for some time, wondering if anyone would ever get to hear their story and when WiDo offered...well, we decided to go for it :)




ps the pic is Tombstone, circa 1882.

I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! For a while there it felt like I was wading through quicksand trying to get to the fabled ending of my tale. I was having trouble bridging where I was to where I wanted to be. So I wrote the very end, the last scene, and voila! Everything pretty much fell into place and I wrote a couple thousand words between yesterday and today. Go me!






How's your Monday going?