So, This is February

February 5, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

The world is pretty much on fire, CA literally so, and here I am, blabbering about romance novels, pretty paper things, and cats. Also mental health, because :gestures to world in general: Yeah. Anyway, hi.

Right now, I am knee deep research for my Ravenwood medieval series of historical romances. I will soon have a release date for A Heart Most Errant, so cover reveal will be soon. It’s gorgeous and I love it. I am now working on the framework for the second story, A Heart Most Ardent, and concurrently the third story, A Heart Most Wicked, because they happen mostly at the same time. The characters are talking to me, and boy are they chatty. Also, Edward III had eleven kids, and was succeeded by his grandson. That doesn’t directly affect my people, but I do need to know how that happened, because I am curious.

On the contemporary front, Melva and I are plotting our way to getting Drama King ready for a 2025 release. This week, I am looking at one scene where that book’s couple begin the dance, so to speak (metaphorical dance; nobody is actually dancing.) Melva is giving the ms as a whole one more pass as a reader, which is an interesting venture, and then we can get that underway.

My Ravenwood plans had originally been three novellas and then an omnibus with bonus short story, but what if that fourth story was another novella (or full length novel) to showcase the daughter of the heroine from A Heart Most Ardent. Both leads in that book are widowed already before marrying each other, and the heroine comes complete with a mini-her. What would her life be like when she is an adult? Where would the first three couples be by that time? (Still happily together, of course, but beyond that?)

Besides researching history, plotting romance novels and hands on publishing experience, I am back to regular reading, thanks in part to finally hitting a reading journal that works for me. I am hoping to set up a similar notebook for TV and movies. Right now, I’m excited for the second season of School Spirits, and am torn between bingeing the final three episodes of In the Flesh and making them last. Both series deal with young adults and the afterlife, so hmmm.

Also, there are Sims. I love Sims. Sims as a whole is having a big 25th anniversary celebration. I am currently playing Sims 3, though I also want to get back to both Sims 2 and Sims 4, so that may be impetus to start looking for a better gaming setup. I do find it interesting that what I do for fun is basically the same thing as writing in a lot of ways, but I am okay with that.

What are you doing for fun these days?

January Blabber Post

January 7, 2025annabowling Leave a comment

We’re going to need a headboard. Not the most exciting way to start the new year (well maybe, but this isn’t that kind of blog) but that’s what’s most on my mind. Not exactly news, but an unavoidable fact. We do have one in storage, though it may take some Storage Tetris to access it, so we are also browsing. It’s actually fun to think of starting out the year with doing something as adult as picking out furniture.

So far today, I have had Housemate help me figure out why Real Life Romance Hero and I couldn’t get the bed properly aligned with the wall and what do you know, that’s space for the headboard. Well, okay then. I’m actually excited about this because a good headboard does a lot to tie a room together (well, a bedroom; it probably wouldn’t do much in the kitchen, et al.) That does bode well for the coming year.

This is the current desk setup. Wooden crate with planners is on the other side of the laptop. The posterboard may eventually be replaced by a corkboard (we have one in storage.) The fairy lights are staying as permanent fixtures because mental health. Storm has been not so subtly suggesting that I reverse the positions of tent and crate, because if she is on the side of the desk where my crate currently is, she can get an excellent view out the window. We are in negotiations.

According to my own plans, I am now officially in prewriting for A Heart Most Ardent, the second story in my medieval series. This is also the time to finally pull the trigger on the whole uploading and actually publishing thing, to which I am equal parts excited and terrified. The way publishing looks now is not the way publishing looked when I first started this journey. I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’ll figure it out, because that’s how these things work.

Reading, which was almost nil last year, is going gangbusters now, as I am diving deep into the big vintage historical romance novels I have always loved the very most. I have a reading journal I look forward to getting into every evening. I will be intuiting the living daylights out of a writing journal. Jump in with both feet and splash around until I end up swimming.

Social media…who knows what’s going on with that anymore? I certainly don’t. This is my blog, so I am planning to make sure I stay on track with this. Thinking and talking (and blabbering on paper and/or keyboard counts) happen at the same time for me, which works super well with being an extrovert. This means time to talk to my friends, both old and new. My anxiety is not as on board with that as the rest of me, but we have ways around that.

So. It doesn’t feel like I’m saying all that much right now. I have spent the greater part of the day, after sorting out the bed to wall ratio, changing sheets, and then probably the most fun part of the day –organizing my pens. I have a lot of pens. Like seriously, a lot of pens. There may be some de-stashing going on in the near future, but putting like with like felt seriously soothing. Maybe a pen case tour could be in the future.

Anyway, hi. I’m Anna. I write stuff. I plan. I journal. Sometimes I make art. I share my desk with a calico cat. Let’s do this year.

’twas the Week Before Christmas

December 19, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Storm’s Christmas tree is now the family tree, in the kitchen, so it is bottle brush tree for the desk. It rests on a decorative box that holds m y photo printing paper. I am feeling a lot better these days, though not one hundred percent. It’s the week before Christmas. I am not sure how that happened. No, actually, I do. I was sick for the two weeks I thought I would have, and I am salty about that. Nevertheless, I put my fairy lights up around my desk (more difficult when I don’t have a hutch, but it works.) I have another set that may go up around my reading nook.

Last night, I finished my re-read of We Are Okay, by Nina LaCour, which means I have met my Goodreads goal for 2024. It was hard going for a while there. I do wish it had been a higher number, but when I think how hard I fought to get to twenty-five books, that’s a good reframe and I am proud of myself. Fun fact, Marin, the protagonist of WAO, also found it difficult to read fiction after dealing with loss and depression. I felt seen there.

Now the thing is to pick out a next paper book to read. That task still feels big. I don’t know what my 2025 goal will be, but 25 does feel like an appropriate number. A link to my year in books (so far) if anyone is interested in that, is here. I have a notebook packed with large sticky notes, to guide my future reading. More of a wine cellar inventory than a TBR though it is that as well.

Writing-wise, I am looking forward to the new year. The first quarter will see my first independent historical romance release. Do I wish this were a traditional publishing venture? Eh. It would be nice. I am also genre-savvy enough to know that this isn’t the best time for medievals in the trad pub world, though the readership for such is strong. I am also a new author yet again, as in new to indie publishing, new to medievals, and it’s been a while since my last release. As an indie author, I need to do all of the jobs normally left to the pros. It’s also exciting to try something new, and I do like having the final say in my decisions. We will see how that sorts out.

In the meantime, this is the week before Christmas. Housemate and I made the final round of online orders. I have some letters to write. Tomorrow is final day of in=person shopping. Real Life Romance Hero will be cooking for Christmas. We are doing stockings for the first time in years, which means buying a cat-scaled stocking for Storm’s use. No snow at the moment, but we have some days yet. I love the holiday notebook I set up to hold not only practical plans but diary entries on various holiday things; memories, preferences, observations, etc. I may want to do that for other holidays. We will see. In one week, we will be in the tucked-between week, my favorite week of the year, and then the new year comes, bringing all of the new planners and journals, always a huge event for the planner and journal community.

That’s about enough for today. I have laundry to put away, and family will be home in a matter of minutes. It feels good to have a blog entry written on the day I planned, rather than drawing an arrow to the day after. Hopefully there will be more of that this year.

How’s your week going?

Typing With Wet Paws: Post-Thanksgiving Edition

December 2, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers. I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Normally, I like to post on Caturdays, but this was a holiday week, with first Thanksgiving and then Black, White, and Orange Friday (where prices are lower so people can afford more and better treats for their Calico cats. I guess other colors, too.) Anyway, I’m here now, and Mama Anna will blog later in the week, then I will be back on Caturday.

OK. Thanksgiving first. We had a good day over here. Papa cooked. He used to do that for monies, so it’s good when he cooks. I assume. I am not allowed to eat people food. I did get gushy food, though, so win. The people liked the food, though, which was kind of the point. Papa crashed the next day. Mama crashed the day after that. I like when the humans crash, because the big bed is nice. There are a lot of pillows, and a weighted blanket with a fuzzy cover. The best best time is when Mama Anna and Papa are both in bed and then I can get between them and it is cozy.

Before I go any further, this just in from my compatriots, Murphy and Oliver, who live with Aunt Melva:

We helped Mom decorate, then tried to eat the plastic pumpkins. We are hoping you and your family, especially Storm, had a great Thanksgiving.

–Murphy and Oliver

Thanks, boys. We totally did. We also had snow that day and the day after, which made Mama Anna super happy. She loves snow.

Okay, back to me. Mama Anna is leaning hard into the holiday season, which is another phase of her superpowers. She is currently looking for a soft (I think she means stuffed) star in gold or maybe yellow, to put on the top of my tent, which is where I work when we are at her desk. She also wants to put up some fairy lights in different places, the family Christmas tree, and then there is a new development for this year.

The new development is that I get my own tree this year. I have had a different experience from most kitties when it comes to Christmas trees. I was super young when I lived with my first human, Mama D, and don’t remember what we did for winter holidays. My first Christmas with Mama Anna, we visited family, and there was a tree, but there were also a lot of moving boxes so I could not get to the tree and wasn’t allowed unsupervised in that room anyway. (sheesh, hide inside one recliner one time, and suddenly you’re a flight risk) We have trees here, but they are small ones and on a table that is set up so I can’t get to it. The humans call that “cat-proofed.”

This tree will probably be on Mama Anna’s desk, and I am allowed to investigate, even knock it over if that’s what I want to do. Maybe I will, and maybe I will completely ignore it. Because cat.

Anyway, Mama Anna is eager to get the final things together to publish A Heart Most Errant. After that, she gets to start on A Heart Most Ardent. Probably the same time, Mama Anna and Aunt Melva (with help from the boys and me) will be working on one final pass on Drama King and then start the publishing process for that.

How did your holiday go?

Balancing Holiday Chaos: Tips for Planning and Productivity

November 25, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

This is technically last week’s post. This week, besides dealing with Thanksgiving, and Black Friday, I am focusing on the final details on getting ready to pull the trigger on putting A Heart Most Errant out there. Real Life Romance Hero is making ham for the holiday, and I am chomping at the bit to put up not only the family Christmas tree but Storm’s as well. Since Housemate and I shopped an early Black Friday sale online, that initiated the launch sequence, and we are now in Holiday Prep Mode. This does, of course, include my desk.

The three-drawer unit in the wooden crate has dot markers (dual tipped) in the top, Tombow brush markers (also dual tipped) in the middle, and then the bottom has my favorite size lined sticky notes and glue runner refills. My small black pouch in front of the laptop is currently a lot more Christmassy-looking, because the blues and purples were making me cold. I live in New York. I’m already cold.

The end of this week is the start of December. How did we get here this quickly? Do I want to know? Since I am on the last month of the year in my planners and journals, that means time to think about next year’s lineup, as I want to be prepared for the coming sales and temptations, because I love all the formats. Bound books, disc bound, rings, traveler’s notebooks, spiral bound and wire-o, twin loop, reporter style, all of it. It’s easy to get dazzled, lost and overwhelmed. How do I sort it out? I go back to preschool.

Let me explain. I went to a Montessori school for preschool, and I loved it. I studied early childhood development and education in college (where the most important thing I learned was that I am not suited for that career) and once in a while, it does come in handy. What do I find myself naturally gravitating toward? What do I reach for first? What do I actually use? When I get in a groove, what is going on that helps me stay there? It’s been a while since college, and even longer since preschool, (and Early Childhood Education students also worked in the college’s preschool) but I am still going to call the method to my madness Montessori-influenced. Providing I remember it right, that is, but Maria Montessori started out with cats, and I have a cat, so I fgure I am on the right track.

Anyhoo, there is probably a video in this, because that feels more natural than blabbering here, but refer to the opening paragraph about this being last week’s entry. Domestic tornadoes do happen this time of year, but everyone is fine and bonus points, we have a mystery pumpkin that showed up on our stoop around the same time our downstairs neighbors left.

Some of my discoveries:

Even though I love my A5 rings, I am mostly in disc bound planners this year. Folding the pages over is a must, and I need to be able to move things quickly when Storm decides it is time to supervise.
I love my everyday carry traveler’s notebook, but don’t need a weekly calendar in it; all it’s doing is copying what I have in my desk planner. A monthly insert will be fine.
The bells and whistles, aka accessories, aka dashboards and charms and tabs and pen loops and pouches, et al, are part of the planning process.

Some of those bells and whistles actually serve a practical purpose. Since I am visually impaired, I need high contrast. If the lines are light, they may as well not be there, and my eyes generally view dot grid (unless the dots are dark) as “blank.” The solution? Line stencils. Pencil or fineliner, stencil, and we are in business. The decorative tapes at top and bottom aren’t just for pretties, either. They help anchor my sight on the page.

green inside border was already on the paper

Okay, I do also use the borders as a visual signal what section I am in, for multi section notebooks. I also like the process of preparing the page. I like the whole stationery process. Case in point, the current state of the EDC or at least the pouch and TN cover:

Pouch could probably be more Christmassy, but we’ll see.

That’s enough rambling for one week, especially since I need to stay on track with the whole publishing thing. I have forms to fill out and a release date to pick. I am waffling :;mmmm, waffles:: on whether I need a pre-order, but probably not, as this is a re-entry which means I am basically new again. Can we spot the overthinker? Yes. Me. Got it in one.

My reward for posting this blog is a cup of tea and some shortbread, so time to wrap this and move on along with the day. How’s your week looking?

Typing With Wet Paws: Introducing the Boys Edition

November 14, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Now that Mama Anna is finally letting me watch videos I want to see, we have play dates where I can watch those videos (and play with them) and Mama Anna watches. We were doing exactly this the other day when Papa called Mama Anna on the talky box (she calls it a phone) and I heard his voice. I love him a lot, so I ran to the talky box so I could talk to him, too. I have done this before. What was different this time, though, was that first I popped my paw on the keyboard and it paused the video. Mama Anna was surprised and happy. I don’t know why she is surprised. I have seen her do it about a million times. It’s not that hard.

Anyway, whatever it is a cat has to do to get some help around here, it looks like I’ve done it, because now I get to train the new guys, Murphy and Oliver. They work remotely because they live with Aunt Melva in her house which is different from our apartment, but they both love the office over there, so I think collaborating will go well. I will let Aunt Melva introduce them.

This is Oliver and Murphy. They arrived on the scene at my house during the summer. I had only been fur-free for a few months when I inherited these two boys. I did not seek them out. Rather, they found me and settled in. They made themselves at home by trotting across my keyboard and snagging my picture window curtains. They claimed the latter job was done to make my living room look more lived in. While I appreciated their efforts, I had been previously fine un -holey drapes.
Since they made quick work of adding their own stamp on the house, they were looking for employment. Storm graciously offered to let them act as assistants to her blogging work should it ever become necessary. While I was hesitant to allow them entry into the business world, they insisted on joining Storm’s mentorship program. We’ll see how it goes.

–Melva Michaelian

Cat distribution system strikes again. Since they are Aunt Melva’s boys, I guess that makes them my play cousins. I can deal with that. I am awesome at playing. Also, I like everybody.

So, anyway, this week stuff. Mama Anna is all excited about paying her first invoice for the indie publishing thing. Papa has to help her with a thing or two, and then there will be news about fun things like pre orders and release dates and even a cover reveal. Did I mention she really likes the cover? She is already looking forward to working with the Killion Group again.

She also has some plans for future blog posts, both here and at MelvaAndAnna.com, plus how she is going to handle filling the storage on this account at its present level. She will probably have to ask some people about that, which is okay. She is great at talking to people, and most of those pictures are probably of me. If not, then they should be. She might be willing to open a gallery of only kitty pictures over at MelvaAndAnna if you guys want to see one. That would include me, Murphy, and Oliver, though not all three of us in the same place. (I do love car rides, though, so who can tell?)

Anyway, that was my week, and those are my play cousins. How about you?

Celebrating Birthdays and Indie Publishing Updates

November 5, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

New week, new blog post. I voted early this year, by mail, and that was wonderful for my anxiety. Wonderful Therapist suggested I may want to avoid news and social media today, or keep it to a minimum, so that is what I am intending to do. (By literally posting on social media, ahem?) My reading nook is up and functional, though not yet ready for a photoshoot, but it’s there and it’s mine, and it’s a comfy place that is only for relaxation.

Updates on A Heart Most Errant:

I have final cover art, though I want to wait a little while to share it, Suffice it to say it is gorgeous, and captures exactly the scene I wanted for the cover. I have submitted the manuscript and formatting form, and the formatter has assured me it is in her work queue. All I need to do is decide on a publication date (looking at 2025, either January or February) fill out the uploading form and then that will be that. For anyone looking for indie publishing services, I highly recommend the Killion Group. I look forward to working with them again, which I will be doing because next up is Drama King, the second Love By The Book title, contemporary romance co-written with Melva Michaelian.

Birthday was really fun this year. Housemate took me out to lunch, and Real-Life Romance Hero had my all-time favorite local food, pizza from Paesan’s, and pressies that made me feel exquisitely loved. Nothing like when your family gets you. Subbed coconut cream pie for cake, and settled in for a comfy evening at home.

This past weekend, out of state friends visited to keep the party going, starting with a visit to the New York State Museum. I will probably go back later in the month, as I want to take advantage of the special exhibits and talks for Indigenous People’s Month. A talk on contemporary Indigenous art was starting as we arrived, and I’d like to catch that another time. I did get to peep some of the art, and it is gorgeous. The big attraction for friend, Housemate, and I was an exhibit of early 20th century wedding attire (was that made for a historical romance writer or what?)

Currently, I am endeavoring to forget that one of the bikes in the antique bicycle exhibit was made in 1978. #genxproblems. Also, the gift shop was closed, which was a bummer and another reason to go back ASAP. Double also the fact that I got pictures of my friends in the vintage train car which is probably my favorite permanent exhibit, (okay, apart from the forensic reconstructions of skulls from centuries past) the vintage train car. The trains my mom and I rode into the city were a little after the time of this exhibit, but I never get tired of visiting it.

Storm does owe a blog, which she will get up this week. She has lots to say about all that’s gone on here, including some exciting holiday news. For now, here’s her review of the new weighted blanket cover :

That’s about it for this week. How are things going for you?

Indie Publishing Journey and Current State of the Desk

October 29, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Right now, there is a possible cover for A Heart Most Errant sitting in my in-box. Am I writing this blog to postpone actually looking at it because it is exciting but scary? Yes. Absolutely. Wil it be okay? Also yes. It is an intermittently blustery day here in NY’s capitol region. There is a cat (Storm) on my desk, formatting and uploading forms sitting in my hard drive, and have hauled our grocery delivery upstairs and put it away. The only thing left on my schedule today is publishing prep and this blog.

My birthday was last week, and it went really well. Many expressions of love both in person and online. I had lunch out with Housemate, received some lovely stationery gifts, and Real Life Romance Hero got me both a glass dip pen (yes, with ink) and a gorgeous hourglass with black sand, perfect for timing breaks when using a Pomodoro inspired schedule.

Keeping nothing but the necessities on my desk is working well. Cup is for tea. Today it’s vanilla chai. The new addition is an unfinished wooden crate turned desktop bookshelf for my most used planners and notebooks. Though I love the A5 rings format, I am mostly in disc bound right now, because folding them in half makes it a lot easier to prop open the particular page and refer to it as needed. Right now, this is the lineup for planners and notebooks:

daily planner
household planner (month/week)
writing planner (month/week)
Poison box contains 20 count Crayola Supertips, pastel edition
Current historical projects notebook
??? Love the cover but still need to decide on fillings and purpose.

I am planning some Anna Log videos to go through the above and my favorite pen pouches and the like. I find what works best for me is when I can pick up everything I need for whatever project, so if I need to pick up and take my show on the road, it’s one thing, and I don’t have to reach or search for anything.

Now that I am effectively my own (and my and Melva’s) publisher, there is a learning curve and a lot more work, which means it’s an excellent thing I am good at organization. It’s fun. Taking something from chaos to order, it’s not that different from taking a bunch of wild squirrels of ideas and snippets of scenes and turning it into a kickline of chorus dancers. Maybe that’s not the best analogy, but I am sticking with it.

One of the things on the forms is the name of the series. While Melva and I plotted out the ongoing Love by the Book contemporary series together, this is the first time I have intentionally set out to write connected historical romances. I had decided that all stories in this series will follow the pattern of A Heart Most _______. Picking “errant” for the first blank-filler was easy, as the hero is a knight errant. After that, though? :blink blink blink: Ummm….

Now, I have settled on “Ardent” and “Wicked” for the next two , which do capture the spirit of the respective stories. The plan is to put all three together in an omnibus, with a bonus short story, probably holiday themed, when they are all out, which will be another project altogether. All together, they are the Ravenwood series. Trust me, it’s better than “Heart Most” series or “Medieval Hearts” because I am new at this series naming thing. Right now, I am looking at what is on my plate at this moment, which is The Forms. Organization is essential for me to keep track of this sort of thing. I know what I need to do and when I need to do it. One thing at a time, not DO ALL OF THE THINGS RIGHT THE HECK NOW.

Yeah. Long story short (hah, pun unintended) I am entering new territory here. Do I know what I am doing? Ehh, sometimes. That’s okay. Everything anybody is good at, they did for the first time once. This, for publishing, is mine.

Indie pubbed writers, share your wisdom. Readers of indie pubbed romance, what are your favorite aspects/pet peeves? Drop them in the comments for possible discussion in future posts.

July, Week One

July 2, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Oof. It’s been a while. Everybody was sick in June, with a couple of heat waves thrown in for the challenge of things. The days kind of blended, and mental health, well, ahahahha. Anyway, it’s July now, one day after Canada Day, two days before Independence Day, and the only way out of a blogging slump is to blog, so here I am. Warning, I am going to babble.

At times, the dishes, trash, and laundry took on epic proportions, which we are conquering. Present tense. My beloved rose gold laptop developed a crack in the casing around the touchpad, resulting in her filling line after line with an endless stream of commas any time I tried to use her. While I am sure there is a way to rescue her, my research says that would mean welding or epoxy, which right now is a no. So, I now have a new lipstick red laptop, named Miss Scarlett. She can’t run Sims 4, but can run Sims 3, which I don’t mind because A) color wheel and B) open world.

One would think that a month of sick would be great for reading. It was not. It was great for watching YouTube. We will try again on reading this week. I definitely have enough books, both paper and electronic. Right now, I am sitting in front of a gorgeous turquoise retro-style fan, near an open window, in my comfy office chair. The desk is kind of chaotic, because this TV tray thing has reached the end of its usefulness, so I am small desk shopping.

But the writing, Anna. Are you doing any of that? In a word, yes. Last week, Melva and I roughed out the very loose outline for a romantic suspense we plan to pitch. I did indeed hit my Camp NaNo goal in April and outline a historical romance, which is still simmering. Next up is to whip A Heart Most Errant, my first post-apocalyptic medieval romance, into publishable shape. It’s surreal that I wrote the first form of that story ten years ago, but it’s been a wild ten years. Her Last First Kiss is slightly younger than that, but that’s up next. It feels like I’ve been on a loop of that for, well, forever, which is part of the reason I have been hesitant to blog.

So, what changed? My first indicator is to say I don’t know. The second is therapy. My therapist is awesome, and she’s a big reader. One of the first things we did was swap book recommendations. She is also very helpful when I want to bounce a story’s emotional dynamic off her. She’s also great at reminding me how far I’ve come from where I was when I figured therapy might be worth a try. In short, it’s a lot, and yes, it is worth writing about.

Journaling and planning have been an absolute rock for me in this time. I did not think to prepare pictures for this entry, so will share pictures later, but photography and photo editing are also newish interests. I am very much looking forward to pretty leaf season. We are 33% of the way through summer, so that is encouraging.

Anyway, that’s the interesting stuff for the first week of July. What are you all up to?

Typing With Wet Paws: Camp NaNo Progress Edition

April 22, 2024annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We are three weeks into this version of Camp NaNo, and Mama Anna is happy to report she is doing pretty well on it this round. Not quite at goal, but close enough to call it good, and, most importantly she is having mostly a good time doing it. Here are a few reasons why:

She is writing by hand
She is writing in only one book (so far; more on that later)
She prepares each page beforehand, with washi borders on the top and bottom of each page.
She planned in non-writing days, for when she is being domestic warrior queen
This draft doesn’t have to be perfect, or readable to anybody else. It’s only her shoveling sand into her sandbox. She wanted me to say that it is her sandbox, not mine, because we have very different sandboxes. Nobody wants to play in my sandbox.

Mama Anna wanted me to say more about the mostly writing in one notebook thing. If you have ever met Mama Anna, or read even one of her blogs, you know she has a thing for stationery, including notebooks. Normally, she likes to set up a designated notebook before she starts, but this time, she grabbed a random notebook that was full of stops and starts, with paper that was just okay (she got this before she knew about GSM) because she wanted to get the ideas down, and, well, she kept going. Now, there are only five two-page spreads left. As her purr-sonal assistant, I am fairly certain she is going to fill those before the end of Camp, and that means she will start another one, where she can do the post-camp work. After she lets it sit for a while, to sort itself out.

Part of the reason she wanted to do Camp for this session was to prove to herself that she can still do it, and what do you know, she can. There’s some confidence that comes with that. She doesn’t know if she is going to do the other Camp this summer (though maybe yes, because this approach is actually fun, and fun is important) but she does know that going back to the WIPs that have been on pause (not paws, though my paws are on pretty much everything she owns) isn’t quite as scary anymore. Maybe she will even take some aspects of this experiment into those works.

Whatever she does, be assured I will be heavily involved in it, and probably sitting heavily on it because I am that determined to be an integral part of the process.

How’s your April going?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

my books