Plan as We Go January

January 6, 2020January 6, 2020annabowling Leave a comment

Hey. Hi. Hello there. Here we are in the second week of January, first full week, and for those of us who are into the whole planning thing, this is the big show. This is where the rubber meets the road, or rubber cement meets the paper. At the very least, where the pen meets the paper. While some aspects of planning tick all the tried and true boxes, this year, there is also some uncharted territory.

Last year, I waffled between ring binders and traveler’s notebooks (rings vs strings, the eternal struggle) and was admittedly snobby about discbound systems, including but not limited to Happy Planner. This year? I am actively designing my own discbound planner. Probably printables at first, because manufacturing these things is far outside my pay grade at the moment, but the fact that I am researching tools and costs and components, that’s a very new thing.

That kind of makes sense, because this year is full of a lot of new things, so doing new things the old way is probably not the wisest approach. I have one notebook for current projects that are active: my contemporary romances with Melva Michaelian, my historical romances on my own, and the uncharted (for me) wilds of starting a Patreon. How much time do I have, how can I best spend it, and what has the chance of being a decent return? Since my chosen field is that of commercial fiction, there is a real chance that the right answer is “ahaha, none of it,” but it could also be “never try, never know,” and that’s the view I naturally take.

2019 was, in many ways, a dumpster fire. That’s in the past. 2020 is only six days in, and the better I plan, and carry out those plans, the better I feel. It’s not so much finding a system that works for me so much as creating it as I go. That means paying attention wo what comes naturally versus giving myself headaches trying to shove myself into some sort of box that I think I’m supposed to do. Beginner’s mind is essential in endeavors like this.

What seems to be working best for me when I start a new notebook or planner, is to carry the thing around, empty, for a few days, and then take note of what I wish it had inside it. Using a system that I have never used before, aka discbound, fits well with that mindset, at least for me. I love that the pages aren’t stuck in place, and if I want to move something to a different section, or a different book, I can do that, no problem.

Yesterday, Housemate came to the conclusion that she is a mini size Happy Planner person, and gave me her classic size planner from last year, mostly unused, and the classic size Happy Notes (same system, notebook paper instead of planner paper.) I sat there, looking at them for a minute, with a little bit of a Christmas Morning feeling (what planner geek doesn’t want this sort of thing dropped in their lap?) before I started to think about possibilities.

What was I going to do with a notebook that has twelve sections? Well, take the old planner pages out, obviously (and set them aside because there is this cool tutorial by Sarra Canon) and then stare at the empty tabs and think about what I want to have in there. At the moment, I’m thinking it could be a catchall for future projects that are still in the idea stage, where I can put notes, pictures, etc, as they come to me, and then they’ll be there when it’s time to actually start the writing.

That’s the thing that’s newest about how I want to approach writing this year. It’s time to Get Stuff Done, push past the Hypercritical Gremlins as best I can and remember what it felt like to throw the movies in my head onto the page, without paying attention to what could go wrong. That’s still kind of scary, but it’s scarier to think of never getting the stories and characters who are as real to me as people I can see and hear and touch, and introducing them to readers.

Since I do well with this kind of structure, my plan (hah) is to focus on one slot per month to give a closer look into what I’m doing, planning/notebook-wise. Some of that may end up on Patreon, and we’ll figure out what works, together. One area I’m keeping in focus for this early stage is to record the ideas that I’ve been carrying around for a while, that I would like to see all the way through. Something tells me I may surprise myself along the way.

How about you? What systems do you use for reading or writing? Pull up a chair in the comments, and share.

Two Hundred and Fifty

December 30, 2019annabowling 2 Comments

Welp. Last post of 2019. I will not be sorry to see this year in my rearview mirror. While 2019 did have some standout moments – the publication of Chasing Prince Charming, adding Storm kitty to our family, the support and love of amazing friends when real life plot twists took some crazy turns – the bar for 2020 is not on the dauntingly high side.

IRL challenges aside, there is the whole RWA debacle, about which I have a lot of feelings, and feelings about those feelings. Romance Writers of America has never been a perfect organization, but the new developments that have come fast and furious, over the holiday week, those raise a whole lot of questions. As it stands now, I am waiting for my next CR-RWA meeting so that I can learn more and be around other people who are going through the same thing, before I say much more. The fact that this is all happening at the same time we learned of the passing of one of the OG historical romance superstars, Johanna Lindsey, makes it all that much more surreal.

As the great Beverly Jenkins has said, and Nora Roberts has pointed out that the middle word in “Romance Writers of America” is “Writers,” this is a time to keep going forward. Keep writing. Keep writing romance. That seems like a good note on which to start a new year. While yes, there is still adulting to do, and we are doing that, writing has taken a back seat while dealing with IRL matters, and it’s time now, to pick it back up once again.

I have said on many occasions that I am not a word counter, and I am not. Right now, however, when I went to figure out how to get myself back in Serious Writing Mode, what came to mind was that a page a day is a book in a year. That’s something I can do whether I am at a computer keyboard or working with pen and paper only, and it’s pretty easy to measure. Get to end of page, that’s the minimum required for the day. If anything more is too much, I can kick off for the rest of the day, read, adult, stare off into the distance, whatever is needed. One page is roughly two hundred and fifty words, which is not that daunting. Even counting words, two hundred and fifty of them in one place are not really that much.

Morning pages do not count for this requirement. It has to be fiction. Morning pages are their own thing, though I can use parts of them to prime the pump for the day’s fiction. Naturally, I plan to write more than one book this year, as this is a reality for a career in commercial fiction. Baby steps, though, are always a good place to start, or re-start. Neither does any writing that is not actual fiction writing count. Pump priming, list making, that sort of thing can get me to where I can write actual fiction, but it’s only the fiction that is going to count.

This year, I want to tap back into the writer who didn’t know any better, the one who knew how to shut out everything else and throw that story onto the page with all she’s worth. Maybe even more than that. Strike the “maybe.”

There are a lot of stories ahead in 2020, to be read, to be watched, to be written, risks to take in all of those things. Writing, reading, and watching romance has been a driving force in my life since I was eleven years old and stole my first historical romance from my mother’s nightstand. I have had the wonderful experience of writing about all of that for blogs both personal and commercial, and I look forward to bringing some of that over to my Patreon-to-be, which is in itself a daunting yet exciting prospect. On the one hand, who am I to ask people to pay me to, well, be me, but on the other, this fits right into the idea that I don’t have to put the pressure on myself to appeal to everybody. Maybe doing what I do and focusing on people who like that sort of stuff is s more liberating way to go.

We’ll find out, one page at a time.

Let’s Call It Market Research

November 27, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Only me today, but Storm insisted on being in the picture. Such is life with a beautiful calico girl. She has a thing for the Happy Planner paper. If it’s open, she must sit on it. Must. Even, and perhaps especially when I am opening the planner or notebooks to do Important Writer Things.

Very important Writer Things in this case, mean taking a look into the future, and making a road map to get me from where I am, to where I want to be. Real Life Romance Hero is on the new apartment case. As much as I love the perks of motel life (and there are some, housekeeping most of all) we are all more than ready to put down roots and settle into a real home once more. That will bring regular writing with it (yes, yes, I know, that can happen any time, any place, but it’s a heck of a lot easier when some of the basic things are more reliably covered) and I would like to have an idea of how that will look.

Which is what brought me to the open notebook that Storm claimed for her own. Okay, any paper is hers, but this paper is a clear favorite, above all. The notebooks I had open today were two dedicated solely to writing life stuff. One, not pictured, is for mapping out the current historical and contemporary projects, and a place to record potential future stuff, because the day will come, probably sooner than I think, when I’m going to have to start a new document and begin writing a new book.

In today’s market, that is more likely new books, plural. Series sell. They’re not how I naturally think for my solo work, but I’ve hit a vein of “yeah, but what if I tried it anyway?” and riff on some stuff that might be interesting to try at some unspecified time in the future. There’s a freedom in that kind of thing. No commitments as of yet, current work is still on track, and these particular pages are a place to ask myself what might be fun, how I might like to stretch, or if, maybe, it’s time to let ideas that have been in my head for years or even decades (yikes!) out for a meander.

This dovetails rather nicely with my determination to come from behind on my Goodreads challenge, targeting historical romance novellas (bonus if they are Christmas related) via Kindle Unlimited (because economical measures are win) means that I get to see stories I might not have found if I didn’t have this particular goal. Time travels for instance. Not a lot on the brick and mortar shelves (at least where romance fiction is concerned, but checking on the e-book front? Alive and well, from what I can see. Not saying if this means there is life in my own personal time travel (firmly on the back burner, until I figure out how many ten pound cats I was trying to fit into that particular two pound bag.) but definitely food for thought.

I found myself wanting to make note of this book and that, scribble down names of authors who look like they might have something I’d like. I’m seeing a lot of variety there, medieval, Vikings, pirates, Highlanders, ancient world, etc, along with nineteenth century stories, looser interpretations of the series concept, including shared worlds, and…I like it. This bears some study, and some recording of the study, so expect to see some of that here in the coming weeks and months.

This exploration excites me. It’s what I’ve always loved, and it’s something new. There’s an energy there. What if, instead of thinking about perfectly polished prose and getting everything “right,” I looked at what would be fun? What would I like to do a whole lot of, and train myself to write (to completion) faster? I look forward to finding out.

Writing Notebook: Discovery Draft

November 20, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

In college, I studied early childhood education. The most important thing I learned in four years was that early childhood education and I were a horrible, horrible match. Hence several years in retail and family caregiving. All the while, I knew what I wanted to do with my life: write.

I had known that I wanted to write historical romance since I was eleven years old. More accurately, that was when I found out what it was called. I am pretty sure I was hardwired for this right out of the gate. I would not at all be surprised were I to find out my biological mother loved historical romance. Maybe we’d even have some of the same favorite books. I wrote my first historical romance, very much a pastiche of the author who first captured my attention in this genre, but that’s how we learn, right? By copying the masters when we first start?

When I was twenty=three, I submitted that first book, and got my first rejection. I was also dealing with some raging, undiagnosed depression and anxiety, so I didn’t notice the important bit about that rejection- the editor asked me if I had anything else. At the time, I did not, so that was the end of that, right? Wrong. Depression got much, much worse, real life sucked, and there were time that I thought I would never be able to write the stories I loved with all of my writerly heart. That’s when I discovered Star Trek: The Next Generation.

With absolutely no idea of what I was doing, I started writing first humor, then fan fiction, for a newsletter and fanzine. I wrote. A lot. I made friends, talented writers all, with whom I am still friends, and still a fan of, today. Even then, I described my fanfics as “historical romance with blinkies,” blinkies being a term for any futuristic equipment that had blinking lights.

I wrote and sold four historical romances after that, and even my first co-written contemporary, Chasing Prince Charming, is set in the world of historical romance, so do we see a trend here? What’s stayed the same all that time? Yeah.

When Melva and I meet, via Skype or Messenger, each week, we set out plans for what the next week should hold. Who’s writing what, if there’s anything we need to set up for the other, etc. We know we are heading to the end of draft one for Drama King, and getting the idea soup stock started for Queen of Hearts. We want to write a summer novella, and a trio of Christmas stories, and that’s probably a good 2020 for the two of us.

I want to get a similar plan in place for my historicals. I have been admiring prolific authors of late, many of whom are self-published/indie, and putting out the kinds of books they love the very, very best. That’s where I want to be. I don’t know, yet, if I want to self publish. Part of me thinks it would be an interesting experience, and part of me does not want to crunch any numbers in the outlay department, but there’s plenty of time to deal with that. What’s most important is that I get historical romance novels written and finished, before I can sell or publish them anywhere.

The how of that? Well, that’s where the whole discovery draft of a writing notebook comes into play. What do I need to get from where I am, to where I want to be? Flying into the mist with that one, and I look forward to sharing that process here. The first step? This is it, putting it out there. Next step? Setting up the actual notebook. Throw ink on paper and see what happens when I do.

Planners and Plans for 2020

November 18, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

If anybody had asked me, even a few months ago, if I would ever want to use a disc bound system for planning and organization, I would have said a flat out no. They had disks. Which were plastic. A leading brand even had “Happy” right there in the name, and that is a lot of pressure for someone who uses planning to help deal with depression and anxiety as well as writing and the duties of a domestic warrior queen in transit. Fast forward to now, and we have the heavy lifters for the coming year:

That’s classic Happy Planner in the back, with a mini Happy Planner in front of it. Yellow paper is Happy Planner filler paper in an off-brand notebook, and gorgeous galaxy notebook is Happy Notes. The pages are pink, I’ll give it the happy for that. What happened? I got the planners as birthday presents and figured I would give them a shot.

This doesn’t mean that I am abandoning my travelers’ notebooks or ring bound planners or the hordes of hardcover, softcover, and spiral bound notebooks. It’s another tool in my kit, and I very, very much like being able to move the pages around at will, without snapping and unsnapping rings, or leaving paper debris all over whatever surface serves as my desk at the time. Our family is still vagabonding, so having something that I can tote around, dump everything in one place, and then farm out to the proper specific places/notebooks later makes a lot of sense.

Some of the plastic disks are actually pretty, and not all disks are plastic. I can get metal disks if I want (and I probably will, because I know me) and some of the plastic colors are actually pretty. There are a wide variety of covers available commercially, and some creative stuff on Etsy, plus the option to buy a DIY sleeve to fill with my own choice of images. (Yeah, every much going for that one, ASAP.) After a couple of weeks, and a lot of YouTube tutorials, I got the hang of the system, and picked up my first Happy Notes, the notebook version, no planner, just paper, and rescued an off-brand cousin from a clearance rack, which has become a catchall sort of book, with pages I can readily swap out if they belong somewhere else.

Organization helps me to thrive, and pretty organization is even better. I found a few designs of planners/notebooks/papers/accessories that are more on the sophisticated side than in-your-face bright and want-to-punch-their-face cheerful. I like to have a good idea of what I am going to be doing before I am actually doing it, which very much does affect my writing, especially going into a whole new year.

2019 saw the publication of Chasing Prince Charming, another thing that surprised me. I haven’t stopped writing historical romance just because I have a contemporary out there. One of my goals is to have a historical sale and/or release in 2020. At least one, as well as my contemporary collaborations. I also want to leave room in case something else that sounds fun presents itself, because one never knows.

In the past, my writing notebooks followed a very specific pattern:

pick out color scheme
choose binder, always letter size
create four sections: hero, heroine, villain/antagonist, and history/research
never touch it again
feel guilty forever

in the one sense, it kind of worked, because a) I kept doing it, and b) usually worked out a few things while doing so, but on the other, it didn’t, because, say it with me now, I never touched them again, and felt guilty forever. This doesn’t mean that keeping notebooks doesn’t work for me (um, have you met me?) but that I was doing what I thought I was supposed to do, and what probably worked very well for somebody else, but not for me. For 2020, I plan to take a more organic approach, which is to say ease the heck up on myself and let things happen as they happen in regards to setting up my writing notebooks, and shut off the annoying troll in my head that says everything has to be perfect right out of the pen. Because it doesn’t.

What I have right now is a bunch of different colored filler paper, and a plan to swoop in on any clearance 2019 disc bound planners at the end of the year. Each project will get its own…thing. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to make the divisions. Maybe as broad as historical and contemporary at first, or for 2020 and after that. That’s one of the things I want to figure out as I go along; the right way will make itself known if I keep showing up and doing the work.

Lately, I’ve been admiring the heck out of authors like Kathryn LeVeque and Sandra Sookoo, both extremely prolific authors. I haven’t read much of either author, so far, but I can still fangirl over their business savvy, and owning their voices and diving in one hundred percent. Yes. That. The question is, how do I get from where I am, to where that sort of writer is? One day at a time, it would seem, and laying out a map so that I know, generally, where I am going, and approximately how I plan to get there.

Planners are a big hep in that. I am not big on word counts, which is how many successful and prolific authors measure output. I can see why. It’s handy. For me, pages are a better bet, so I am going to try setting a page goal first. Whether or not I translate that to words remains to be seen, but a page goal, and an aesthetically pleasing way to record it seems like a good place to start. The most important part is to get the stuff in my head down on the page, all the way to the end. After that, the possibilities are endless.

I really do need a new signoff image, but this is **fun**.

This is a Planning Post About Planning Posts

October 30, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Can you believe it’s almost November? Not only are we coming up on a new month, but the end of the current year and start of the next, which means the start of a new writing year, which means time to take stock of my planners, see what I have, how I want to use what, and what needs to find a different home. I am mostly talking about planners/planning, but it does apply to writing projects as well. Only so much time in the day, and finished is better than perfect.

i sm not keeping track of word count in Drama King (that’s Melva’s job) but I do know what scenes need writing in order to get to that point, and it’s pretty much the same with Her Last First Kiss. My best educated guess on how I am going to track writing on these projects is by scene, which works perfectly fine for me.

My original first draft of this post, handwritten in a mini composition book, because most of my first drafts are handwritten, was largely about how the midst of a months-long move is both not an advisable time to curate one’s planner repetoire, and turning out surprisingly well. Basicslly, where I hsbe landed on that one is that starting out minimally and then noting whst i wish I had, then filling that need, works decently in both writing and planning.

The planners in today’s deskscape are sll in current use. The Hsppy Plsnners are birthday gifts from Housemate, who has pulled me over to the Happy Plannerverse. She says thst mesns nothing, becsuse I am her planner dam, and thus anything she does in the planner world traces directly back to me. Fair enough. I had been snobbish about HP in the past, largely due to the disk binding, but I like the layouts and the artwork, and whst better way to find out if I do like the system or not than to use it.

I could say the same thing about trying contemporary romance, or submitting to e-pubs, both of which have turned out oksy, so i hsve high hopes for the new plsnners. Things will sort themselves out in time, usually when I’m not looking, rather going along, telling stories, playing with pens and paper , etc. There definitely can be more reading, especially as I craft what I am cslling my mission statement for Buried Under Romance, which may end up with a planner of its own.

All of thst is part of planning future blog posts. I do want to talk more about how I use planners as a writer, and still keep the focus on writing. We will see how this goes. Fiction writing comes first, and planning should, in theory, make that go more smoothly. In practice, well, we will see about that.

Book Launch Hangover

October 29, 2019annabowling 4 Comments

Book launch hangovers are most assuredly a thing, and I know, because I have one. This past Saturday,. Melva Michaelian and I had our very first event as co-authors, at the East Longmeadow Public Library. Arranged by dear friends, M.P. Barker and Carol Munro, this was top notch all the way.

Seeing not one copy of a book with my and Melva’s names on it, but a whole pile, for which people I have not met before (nd some who have) hand over actual cash money and ask for authorial signatures, when I am one of the authors in question, well, that’s a Moment. There were sctual journalists present, and more pictures will be forthcoming. I didn’t get to take a lot of photos myself, sa I was doing other things, but no camera can capture all the love in that room.

Me, book, and friend, Mary, trying to hide behind book.

To say we had the best-best time would be an understatement. Room was packed, which was a delightful surprise. There were romance readers there for sure, and those new to the genre, making for an interesting mix. There were a few questions about the genre itself, about writing partnerships in particular, and, more specifically, Melva’s and mine. We’ll put a truncated version of our partnership’s origin story on melvaandanna.com soon. It’s a fun story, if s little convoluted.

Another great question came from friend and reader, Mary W, who asked Melva and I what our favorite tropes were in the romance genre. For Melva, it’s friends to lovers (which we are doing in our planned third book, Queen of Hearts) and for me, stasr-crossed lovers who make it work. Second chance at love (with sme lover) might be another aspect of it, and we have plans to address that, too.

Speaking of plans, the question about future books came up, and as of right now, Melva snd I plan to have the first draft of Drama King done by the end of November. Not NaNo in the strictest sense, but we are determined to write the End by the end of the month, so NaNoIsh? We will see. After that, there is talk of a couple of shorter pieces before we get back to Queen of Hearts, and we both need to keep space for our solo works.

I’d like to say it’s all cake from here, which is not entirely an excuse to show this gorgeous dessert (yes, the picture was edible) but we get back to the whole real business of writing thing, because the awesome days full of cake and the signing pen running out of ink, and posters of book covers and “I loved your book” and all the other great stuff? That doesn’t come without butt in chair, fingers on keyboard, or pen in hand. Day by day, word by word, flying into the mist or meticulously plotting (your mileage may vary) backspaces and deletes and all that other aggravating stuff.

Those moments aren’t alwys the most fun, but they are needed, because they build the foundation of everything else. After the event, the readers go home and dive into the books, while the authors go home, and, well, in our cases, sleep (for a month would be nice, but not at all practical) and eat and maybe read something or zone out in front of the TV for a while, then, in time, we get up and do it all over again.

This Year, I’m Going as a Writer

October 23, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

So, this is happening:

Two days after tomorrow, two days after my birthday, five days before Halloween, I will be hitting the road to western MA, home of many friends,. and many memories, to join Melva Michaelian for a book launch for our first co-written contemporary romance, Chasing Prince Charming. Eep.

Melva and I have certainly talked writing before, and we have certainly talked writing, together, in front of people, before. We’ve even presented a workshop on how to keep writing through the tough patches of life. When we’re talking about writing this particular story, we literally wrote the book. :rimshot: I know for a fact that people I love, and who love us, readers interested n our book, or have already read it, and/or are interested in writing. I get to go to a library. I get to see the glorious fall foliage between NY and MA and back again.

There is still one more article about our writing partnership planned to hit the interwebs prior to our presentation. I’m not counting on any afterwards (unless something goes phenomenally wrong or phenomenally right) but I will be sure to give a full recounting here, and on melvaandanna.com, which I definitely need to update, but that is for another day.

Since we are only a couple of days before The Event, that means my attention needs to go into getting ready for that. I kind of know what I’m wearing (in the black dress family) and will probably need to check local retailers for red shoes, because the ones I had always planned to wear to any Chasing Prince Charming related appearances, are too deep in the storage unit to retrieve easily. We will see how this goes.

Earlier in the week, Melva and I went over how we’d like to address the we-talk-to-a-bunch-of-people portion of the day. It’s probably going to go fine. There will probably be funny stories, definitely a picture of me and Melva together (we do not have one, despite being friends and critique partners for double digit years) and possibly pictures of foliage, because, well, fall.

The process of being a Real Writer ™ isn’t in being in the newspaper (paper or digital kind) or having bookmarks or fancy signs or even glossy paperbacks. I am happy to have all of that, but the real work of writing is done with pen and paper and fingers on keyboard. It looks rather like this:

Not a bad setup, I have to admit. The day, and days, after the two hour library even, I will be removing cat from keyboard (repeatedly) and attempting to read my own handwriting (also repeatedly) and lather, rinse, repeating, until I hit The End again. Repeatedly.

Typing With Wet Paws: Mid-October Edition

October 18, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Hi! How is everybody? I’m Storm, and I’m good. I am learning my job as Aunt Anna’s new mews. So far, a lot of that has been sitting behind her and complaining that I don’t have a good enough view. Aunt Anna says I am her Velcro kitty, because I always want to be near her. She says she is probably going to have to make a space for me to sit next to her computer when we are settled in our new home. Right now, I have a folded towel and/or t-shirt. Sometimes I sit there.

The big development here is that the apartment the humans thought would be a good match, really was not, so they are on the search once more. Aunt Anna says that they are only looking at cat-positive places, which is good because I am a very positive cat. Actually, I will probably get two seats, on two desks, because Aunt Anna likes to have her computer desk and her handwriting desk be two different desks. While we are in the motel, she has her computer set up on the only desk, and then she writes longhand on the bed, with me. Her pens make great toys.

Okay, on to the usual information. There is the usual Buried Under Romance update, and a bonus one as well.

Purr-sonally, I think the answer is pretty obvious, but you can read Aunt Anna’s take on the issue on her latest Saturday Discussion post.

Since I did mention a bonus, here is what that is. This week, Buried Under Romance has had excerpts from more than ten (that’s as high as I can count right now, but I am learning) Regency Christmas novellas in the Winter Wishes anthology. The authors have some interesting things to say, and they will be giving away books to two lucky commenters, so get your comments in on the first link above, to get your chance.

On the reading front, Aunt Anna is not very happy about being six books behind in her Goodreads challenge, but she is determined to get current and maybe even exceed her goal. There are still more than two months left in the year, and she has me to supervise her reading, so I think odds are good. Her current reads include Blue Heaven, Black Night, by Heather Graham, originally published under her Shannon Drake name. It is a big, medieval historical romance, that Aunt Anna started reading many many years ago, but wandered off. She figures it is now high time to move that to the “read” list.

On the writing front, it has been pretty real-life-y this week, but Aunt Anna did send a chapter to Aunt Melva, and they were both interviewed by a journalist in advance of their author event on the 26th. So far, Aunt Anna is feeling pretty good about that, but still thinking she may need to go buy red shoes (if you have read Chasing Prince Charming, you will probably know why) because the ones she wanted to wear are still packed. I am glad I only have to deal with paws.

I think that’s probably the important stuff for this week. Aunt Anna says she will have a good sized planner post to make up for the last couple of months, especially since the holidays and new year are around the corner. I, of course, will be on hand (or paw) to assist as I deem necessary. She has some idea of creating a writing planner. That should be interesting, or at the very least, a good cat bed.

Headbonks!

Writing With a Velcro Cat (and book launch information)

October 16, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Cats and writers are a natural combination. In the year and change since Skye went to Rainbow Bridge, I have sorely missed having feline supervision while I write. Now that Storm has joined the family, that need is most assuredly filled, though I am taking some time to learn her particular management style. For one thing, please refer to the photo below:

Yes, Storm does have a top to her head. I took this picture last night, after she herded me to bed, which is a thing she does now. Herds me to bed, and then sits on me. Sits. On. Me. I have to be on my back, she has to be in full cat loaf position, feets tucked under, and we blink at each other for a while, until she moves between me and Real Life Romance Hero, signaling that it is truly sleepy times now. If I do not comply in a timely manner, then there will be chirps and walks across my person until I do, at which point Storm settles on my other side, with loud rumble purrs.

That’s bedtime sorted. Writing time, well, we are still working on that. One of the reasons our family made a good match with Storm is that she has some separation anxiety, and I work at home. Even before we have an actual home, this means that Storm is going to have a hooman with her most of the time. Ideally, I will be within her sight. This means that bathroom doors need to be open at least a crack. For writing, we have a few issues.

Right now, we’re trying a mini-bed on the desk, next to my monitor, toys at the ready when she really really really needs some attention. There may be treats available, possibly for both of us (not the same treats; human treats and kitty treats do not intersect. Except for organic peanut butter.) So far, this seems to be working, as Storm can see my face and my screen, she’s comfy, and I can give her pets and we can both take care of important business. Photos to follow if this works out.

Also to follow are…books. Melva and I are on track to a rough draft of Drama King before the holiday season takes over, and I am planning on getting Her Last First Kiss to the end of the second draft as soon as possible, because this whole having a book out thing is kind of cool, and the only way I can get there is to write more books. I have three historicals to shop around, and Melva and I are working on more contemporaries. Anything beyond that? Sure, when the right ideas presents themselves. Always romance, though, or at least a strong romantic element.

Melva and I are now two weeks out from our first in-person book launch, for Chasing Prince Charming. If you are in the Western MA area, or can get there, you can meet Melva and me, live and in person. Storm will be staying home with Real Life Romance Hero, but Sebastian might tag along, if he doesn’t have more pressing matters on his agenda. The press release is as follows:

We’re celebrating the publication of Chasing Prince Charming
by Melva Michaelian and Anna Bowling, a romance novel on the sophisticated side of sexy!

We’re excited about another success in Anna’s and Melva’s writing careers and the release of this first of three books in the Love by the Book series, published by Wild Rose Press.

Please join us for a reading, book signing, and discussion about their collaborative writing, which was a long-distance effort (Melva is a local writer, and Anna, originally from Enfield, CT, now lives in New York). A small quantity of books will be available for purchase at the event, but we recommend you purchase a copy in advance on Amazon.

Wearing red shoes, sneakers, boots, or other footwear is suggested (but not required).

This event is free and open to the public. No reservations are needed.

Learn more about Anna’s and Melva’s collaborative efforts at www.melvaandanna.com

Sound like fun? I’ll be there. Also, I am technically originally from Hampton, Virginia, then NYC, then Westchester, then CT, then VT, then CA, CT again and back to NY. Yeah, I got around. Roots are down now, or will be as soon as we are moved into the next location of Stately Bowling Manor.

Update: there is a new peril to writing with a Velcro cat. That is when said Velcro cat claims the keyboard as hers by rubbing against it, and inadvertently cranking the speaker volume way up high. I think I can get used to that.

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

my books