Writing Updates

Today I'm going to start reworking Claimed, book one. After playing with the characters in book two, I realized my vampire guy in book one isn't as dark or edgy as I like my vamps to be. I also realized that although there's some conflict between the characters in book one, it's passive – situational. I like a more active conflict between the characters, something for them to overcome, not just something they wait for to pass so they can be together.

I'm changing one scene, which in essence deletes it, and completely changes my heroine's personality. She was too compliant, too laid back and…nice. Nice might be good in real life, but it's not usually what I want to read. I want to read about flawed characters overcoming flawed situations, that's what sucks me in. A misunderstanding or two doesn't hurt either.

Changing the scene, which changes her personality, then changes the storyline a bit, because, of course, her actions are going to be different than they were before. This should be fun, but I have to be honest, it's a little daunting…Wish me luck!

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Review of Butterfly Tattoo by Deidre Knight

*Review originally posted on goodreads.com

This isn't my usual reading material, but I won it and wanted to read it, especially after the excitement of it winning an Eppie award.

I gave the book five stars for a few reasons, one being that it held my attention, even though there were no vampires, shifters, monsters, or beasties, other than an at times grumpy main character.

Another reason for five stars: The story sucked me in, and even though it wasn't the fast pace I'm used to, it was hard to put it down. I wanted that happily ever after for all of the characters. I cheered for every triumph, every step towards healing they made. I cried at their set backs, I cried at their memories, I cried when their sense of self was still so lost because of their pasts. I was really touched by these characters and their struggles. It made me wonder what my life would be like if my spouse was suddenly gone, how hard it would be to move on, and how brave these characters were for moving on, for being brave enough to love again, to take a chance, to trust.

I was a little torn about reading the book. Yes, I entered the contest, but did I think I'd win? No. A few friends gave me a heads up that there could be some guy on guy action in the book. I thought I might have to do some skimming, but I have to say, there was barely any guy on girl action in the book, part of a page and that was it, for everyone. Yes, Michael's memories are triggered, and he remembers his time with Alex; their first kiss, their time on the beach, their time getting to know one another, etc., but this book is by no means erotic fiction, if you're worried about that, don't be, you'll be cheating yourself out of a very well thought out, very well written book.

It was a great detour from my paranomal book shelf, but now I'm going back to it, starting with Deidre Knight's Red Fire.

Thanks for entertaining me Ms. Knight.

DONE

The stick a fork in me kinda done. Finished. Wrapped Up, and a whole lotta other words that convey the same message. The words for Chased are on paper, the story's there. Now, it needs to rest. I'll get some things done around the house, Easter cards need doing, books need reading, edits and rewrites on Claimed need to be tackled. I'll do those then come back to Chased for edits so it's fresh, easier to see mistakes. I have another story idea to explore, most likely a 4 book series, and I' m excited about it. That will come after Claimed and Chased are sitting in a better place. Anway, thanks to those of you who cheered me on, it feels good to call another one done, at least at this stage. Hopefully there's more excitment to celebrate in the future! Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful weekend!

Almost Done!

I can so see the end! Actually, I have the end, there's just a few spots I need to fill, like some descriptions, and add to a scene or two, then I can do the happy dance of finished work :) I have to get ready for the day, then I can hide in my room with my laptop and add those in, then...it's official! Yay!

Writing Update

It's a good sign that it's bed time when my eyes cross while I'm writing, so I'm putting it away for the night although it's 1am, so I'm putting it away for the morning. Anyway, I added 3357 words today - yay! Hopefully a scene and a half left, although that could change if I find out more cool information and my brain goes in dozens of different directions with it. Anyway, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by! Gotta get to bed, there's a HeRA meeting tomorrow I don't want to miss!

Serendipitous, I Love it When Things Work Out

I was working on a scene earlier and it wasn't working, so I stopped. I did a little more digging and found that I was in the wrong spot, geographically speaking (I love google earth). My scene was heading into a lake, and I quickly realized I needed to head east and use the cemeteries for my scene location instead. There's two. I picked the one with a vault - hey, I'm writing vampire fiction, vaults are good, they work. After I made the decision, it was time to leave, we took the kids to dinner. In the car I was telling Paul that sometimes it feels like the stories are just waiting to be told, and if you're doing it wrong, they stop. That's how it felt today, I knew I was on the right track when I chose the cemetery over the lake, it just felt better. When I was able to make my way back to the computer I looked up the cemetery, and was shocked to see information I'd been looking for way back when I was developing my MC. I twisted history to create backgrounds for my characters in this book. I needed ages, I looked for what was going on during those times, looked for holes in the history of different peoples, places, cultures, and times, and when I found them, I plugged my characters into them, and this time around, the answer to every unanswered question had to do with vampires. Here's my MC's scoop: He was turned in Quebec/New France in the 1600's, he left the area for a while (it's a vampire thing) and came back when he heard St. Denis was taking soldiers down the Mississippi to a fort in Louisiana, to help safe guard their land. Remember, the area now known as Texas was Spanish territory, and the Spaniards and the French weren't keen on sharing. Events were set into motion there that changed his life, he became who he is today because of them. This cemetery I found tonight, was built by St. Denis (the real guy my character sailed with) and his troops, on the grounds of a french fort, all this while my character was there! I now have a first name for St. Denis and more history, not to mention memories for my character, and this is after reading only a few lines on the history of the cemetery. Now I have to wonder, did my character help build this vault they're gaining entrance to, are there any secret nooks or crannies he knows about that will be helpful, is anyone he loved buried there. Can I some how twist history some more to work it into my story? Even more, I feel like the conversation with my husband was accurate, tonight was like filling in gaps of my character's family tree, his history, and all because using the lake didn't feel right. Maybe this story is already there, and it's just waiting for the right person to hear it, to feel it, to write it down and give it life. I hope I'm that right person.

Story Research is Fun

I'm looking up ghosts in a small Louisiana town I'm using in Chased. Here's a haunting I found. A decapitated gentleman is rumored to have been seen on many instances sitting at a coffee table in a Natchitoches residence sipping apple juice. But what I want to know, is how is he sipping apple juice, he's got no head. Is he pouring it down the hole in his neck? Is his head sitting next to him on the table and sipping the juice? I'm just curious. That's all.

Writing Updates

Well, I hit over 3k last night, yay! Need another few days like that and I may be able to wrap this one up. I need to get ready for the day and then I can start laundry and get back into writing. I woke up last night from a few dreams and they were good useful ones! I hate remembering my dream and then realizing I can't use it, if feels like a waste of time. Well, thanks to the dog, I got a 2-fer last night! One idea involves vampires (duh) and the other is a contemporary setting. About the dog: he woke me up a few times which gave me different dreams, so I guess that's okay. What wasn't okay was his scratching on the floor, i thought he was trying to get something from under the bed, when I finally woke up enough to look and see what he was doing, I realized he'd gotten his big body stuck under my bed! His head and part of his shoulder were out, and he was using that one paw to try and claw his way out. I don't know how he got into that predicament, but Paul and I had to get out of bed and he had to lift it up so Sirius could get himself out. He was one happy dog when he got out! I don't think he was hurt, just frustrated. Silly dog. Thanks for stopping by!

Writing Update for Chased

This week has been a terrible writing week, today, I've more than tripled the words added for the rest of the week, and it wasn't hard. Anyway, I'm upto 64,544 words so far, and I have 2-3 scenes left I think. My goal is to keep my first draft around 90,000 words, maybe a little less, I know there are some descriptions I still need to put in and a few other things that I realize I forgot, and I want to keep the word count reasonable. It's fun to see the light at the end of the tunnel, to know that I'm almost finished with a second first draft. I look back in mild amazement that I made it this far, it's kind of exciting, and I bet it will be even more so when I can write the words "DONE" here and on twitter, and when I can share the news with Paul. Next on the list is A LOT of edits for book one, Claimed. Then either edits for Chased, or research for a whole different book idea, a quartet, but I can't tell you about what, it's a secret. Thanks for checking in!

Fernando Frame Layout

My friend Nancy asked me to do this as a birthday gift for her husband, whose brother passed away in 2001. It was an honor to work on something so special for her, and I hope I did his memory justice. I always worry about that when I work on things like this. She emailed me and told me she liked it, and had two more for me to do, which was the best compliment she could have given me I think. I used paper from DCWV Old World Stack for the blue. I used brown and grey cs I had on hand. I stamped the edge of the blue paper with a swirl stamp from 7 Gypsies Nottinghill set, and used quite a few stamps from Autumn Leaves Gypsy Style. I used Burgundy stickles to pop those stamps and add color. I used rhinestones in the corners and between the smaller pictures, added red eyelets to the black ribbon as well as a stick pin. I cut the letters in grey cs, added multiple shades of blue and more, then matted them on brown cs. Added the frame and 10 hours later, I was done :) Close up of the letters, I was pretty happy with how they turned out. I'm not a good judge when it comes to the color blue, so it took me a little work to make it likable for me, but in the end, I was pretty happy with the results. Thanks for stopping by!