Typing With Stuffed Paws: Hungry For More Edition

February 8, 2019February 8, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Greetings, Foolish Mortals. Sebastian Thunderpaws Hart-Bowling, coming at you, with all the stuff on the week that was. Valentine’s Day is less than one week away now. Writer Chick loves Valentine’s Day, and Dude is well aware of that. My only wish for that holiday, is that they either turn me around, or put me in another room. I don’t care which one. The utility closet would be fine. The living room would probably be best, because Writer Chick’s desk chair is Sebastian-sized, and it’s also the room where the TV is. Granted there is no Stuffed ANimal Channel (yet) but technology is making strides every day. Also, best case scenario, Other Chick will want to scoot out somewhere, and I can bring in my entire posse for a stuffed animal party. I’d tell you what kinds of stuff we get up to at such gatherings, but trade secrets and all that.

As always, Writer Chick was at Buried Under Romance this past Saturday. This time, she talked about how a blank bingo card led her to a new plan for her romance reading. Yeah, she’s weird like that, sometimes, but if you’re into that kind of thing, link is in the caption.

Next up is the update on Writer Chick’s Goodreads challenge, which is holding steady at twelve books read, out of ninety-five. That puts her thirteen percent of the way to her goal, and two books ahead of schedule. This was not a very big week for reading, which Writer Chick does not particularly like, but these kinds of things happen. She’s not too worried about it, because, even though we are coming up on her marathon weekend (second weekend of the month is always a big one around here) these weeks of not much reading find their complement in weeks of lots of reading. Since her friend, H, said the last few volumes of Fruits Basket should be on their way sometime this next coming week, and that Writer Chick may want to reread the whole thing, after she has seen how it all turns out, to catch all of the foreshadowing, my prediction is that there will be a sharp uptick in her pages read. This may also mean that she might finally get around to making her reading trackers for this coming year, because she has not done that yet, apart from a page count for January only. Granted, she did meet her pages read goal, and she has been hopping around through a few different planners, but really, Writer Chick, settle.

Speaking of which, the second round of edits have landed on Writer Chick and Other Chick’s desks, and they are getting through them pretty darned quickly. This may be due to a really good editor, but the big show is getting ever closer for Chasing Prince Charming. Writer Chick is also getting through her second drafting of Her Last First Kiss Probably would be in her best interests to form some sort of tracker for that kind of stuff, too, but that will come in time. These kinds of things generally tend to show up in Writer Chick’s head when she needs them. She will probably show you all pictures of them, when they arrive.

All of Writer Chick’s appointments this week got moved around, so there were days when she wasn’t sure what day it actually was, which is not at all that uncommon with a lot of writers, I would imagine. It’s never the same day, exactly, in their heads as it is on the calendar. They are often removed by time and distance from so-called “real life,” which accounts for the slight delay as the writer’s forehead wrinkles, and they do some quick (or not so quick) mental gymnastics or mental arithmetic (I am not sure which one, and I am not particularly bothered by it, so pick whichever one fits your purposes best) to readjust and align their brains with the dairy aisle of the grocery store, or the instructions for the new blender, vacuum cleaner, or whatever, when only seconds before, they were on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, or whatever it is their story people are doing, and are going to continue doing, but without the writer person, so make it snappy, because they don’t want to be too far behind when they do get back to it.

Writer Chick, in particular, is still salty over that one time, when she was a teenager, and her father took her to Yankee Stadium, and she left her book in the car. Writer Chick is not into baseball, and she most certainly was into that book. To this day, she can tell you which book, and at what point, and how that was the one thing on her mind the entire elebenty billion hours the baseball people ran around the grassy patch in the middle of all the bleachers. All these years later, that is her one takeaway from that visit. All right, there was a blue and gray Yankees baseball shirt, and she liked that (it was comfy) but it made a break for the great beyond at some point. We both wish it well. It made a brief appearance in Writer Chick’s time travel manuscript (which is still taking a break) as the heroine’s favorite nightshirt. So far, it has not occurred to her to purchase another shirt of that variety, but maybe it has not occurred to her that blue is the complementary color to orange, as in handsome stuffed orange boy, so there could be aesthetically pleasing cuddling going on while she gets current on her reading goals. No pressure, but I’ll leave that thought right there. Couldn’t hurt.

Peace out,

February Planner Post, Part Two

February 7, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Wednesday’s post is here on Thursday, because it’s that kind of week. Nothing as exciting as a new planner to explain the change of posting days this time, but minor domestic tornados, mine and others’, and the second round of edits for Chasing Prince Charming landing on my and Melva’s desks. Our goal is to get those changes -there are not many- back to our wonderful editor, and move on to the next phase. That would be third round of edits, then galleys, then The Thing (aka real, live book.) Squeeze in filling out some information on cover art and such (It is a strange delight to be doing this again, after all this time) and looking at things like a joint website (Melva has a website. I have a website. Melva-and-I need a website.) Also, with setting up a new website, there are questions like what information we want it to have, what it should look like, what’s our brand, and other concerns that don’t cross one’s mind until they do, and then, well, a writer’s got to plan.

Smooth segue, huh? The image in today’s picture comes from my daily carry traveler’s notebook, which is not at all what I had expected it to be, but it’s working. I still have plans to make or purchase the inserts I originally wanted, for later in the year, but having a motley bunch of outcasts (aka most of them are from clearance sales) in my daily carry gives me the freedom to try different things, make mistakes, and step outside of my comfort zone. Which is not all that far removed from things like trying a new subgenre, writing with a partner (which I have tried before, with a different outcome) and stepping into the world of a more mainstream publisher, when my prior experience has been more boutique.

I can’t say I have a favorite amongst all that yet (maybe wait for the first royalty checks, and I may have a different story, pun intended) and I can’t say for sure for sure for sure (repetition most definitely intended) that I have a favorite planning system as of yet. My daily carry is still an A5 traveler’s notebook, though my personal size ring bound planners, for keeping on track of my daily tasks for both writing and domestic warrior queen duties, are exactly right for what I need. I still have pocket sized traveler’s notebooks waiting for their destinies, and if you notice a woman in a bookstore, placing a gorgeous premade planner back on the shelves, amd marching resolutely away from it, announcing firmly that she does not need a planner, she has planners, then that is probably me. (If in doubt, look for long, dark hair, a brown leather hobo bag, and black rimmed glasses. Red lips extremely likely.)

The page setup in the picture above is copied from the Dylusions Dyary insert that I love, but isn’t right for a daily carry, and it’s also very similar to the layout of both of my ring planners, which is one of the reasons I chose them in the first place (the next biggest reason being that they were both on tremendous discount, as well as being gorgeous.) Having the same calendar format across different planners makes it a lot easier to coordinate everything, when I need all of my information in one place. No matter where I go, in other words, I’m still me, and that applies, as well, to writing in different genres.

former writing planner, now domestic planner

Before my current writing planner and I found each other (she’s going to need a name, but she hasn’t divulged what it is, yet) I used my white Webster’s Pages personal size planner, and the setup was easy and natural, because I knew what worked for me. If, okay, who are we kidding, when, I acquire any other planner, (hopefully only for next year) odds are I am going to set up the weekly calendar pages the same way. That way, i have enough room to put in all my needed information, make my checklists, probzably on stickers or pretty paper that I glue into it, and a space to put something pretty/silly/my brand of inspirational/etc. This is what works for me, and it’s feet on the ground, when I am entering new territory.

Like a new genre, to loop things back around. Before Melva and I put our heads together to create Chasing Prince Charming, my only contemporary outings were in fanfiction, writing group exercises, and an ill-advised attempt at YA, when I actually was a YA, myself. No evidence of that last one remains, which is the best for all of us, trust me, but I consider it a badge of honor. The modern age, though, was an inherent part of the story we wanted to tell, and it’s Melva’s story home. Since mine is historical romance, that made it easy to know that historical romance would need to be part of the world in which our characters’ love story took place.

Part of the reason for this post was to share planner pron, I will admit that much up front. There’s also the fact that I am super duper tired, and promised myself some downtime after the post goes live, so that’s also incentive. It’s also to share a bit more about the writing process, and perform a virtual happy dance that Chasing Prince Charming is that much closer to being available for readers. Knowing that, soon, Melva and I will need to deal with things like cover reveals ans swag and reviews and such, not only how we handle this with a new publisher, and in a new genre. Not only how does she do it and how do I do it, but how do she-and-I do it, as two bodies with but a single mind? We are still figuring that one out. Maybe I do need another planner, after all. What are your favorite calenders, planners, agendas, and such?

February Planner Post: Part One

February 5, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Normally, I would say that Monday’s post on Tuesday was the result of some domestic tornado, but, this time, it was a planner. (Note: this is not a sponsored post. I babble because I love, that’s all.) Sunday night’s weekly Michaels stroll led to the discovery of possibly the most Anna-est personal size planner I have seen to date, on serious clearance. Meet Magnolia Jane, from Heidi Swapp (I think the planner is discontinued, but look at those gorgeous other things in the line) I tried to reason myself out of it, as I already have my Webster’s Pages planner, which was also on serious serious clearance, but I have come to recognize this as The Sign. Planners find me. I don’t fight it anymore.

Needless to say, a bunch of Monday was spent putting this beauty together, moving into her (yes, my planners have genders) and us getting to know each other. Mostly. I still have no idea what I want to do with this page, that starts off every month:

The black washi tape is my addition, but, from top, left, we have a blank section, a dot grid section, and bottom left, gridded section, then the stripey section. Right now, I got nothing, but Housemate, who was actually the one to find this beauty, said it looked like my historical romances, and I have to say she is not wrong. So, home it came, and it is now my writing planner. The white Webster’s Pages is now for household use.

The washi tape is my addition (also another serous bargain; it’s from the three rolls for a dollar bin at Michaels) and I do want to find some prettier way of marking off the days than bare X marks. Possibly a good place to track progress on various projects, once I figure out a decent legend for that. I’ve found these things work best when I let them happen organically. Carry it around naked (the page, not me; it is winter in NY. I will be wearing many, many clothes) for a while and then, bloop, I’ll know what belongs where.

This section, I have mostly figured out. I clicked with this sort of weekly layout in my Dylusions agenda (repurposing as an art journal, now) but wanted some better use for the extra space, as I tend to write vertically. These are better suited to how I work, with half blank, and half gridded sections on each day.

This planner is only for writing tasks/habits, so the weekend, which is not a workweek (not to say that I won’t write on a weekend, and my CRRWA meetings are always on Saturdays) gets blocked off. I’m still figuring out what I want to use to record the daily tasks for the rest of the week. Right now, scrap paper “stickers” are fitting the bill, and the circular sticky notes are for writing related dates/appointments. Both the white circles and pink flags came with the planner kit.

For this planner, I will be using the Uni Ball Signo pens in blackened colors. Very, very dark versions of red, brown, violet, blue, and green, make my heart happy. The outside pocket of the pen pouch has white, gold, and rose-gold pens, for writing on dark backgrounds, so I am set to go on that part. I have not yet figured out the highlighter situation, but probably will use Zebra Mildliners. in curated colors.

This does not by any means imply that I have the whole thing figured out, or that having certain planners or pens or ephemera will magically make me a better writer (cool if that would happen, but that’s not how it works.) For some, a plain ballpoint pen and blank white paper would work much better, and, for them, I say an enthusiastic “go for it!”

What does make me a better writer (yes, of course, writing; I’m getting to that) is that, since I’ve become involved in the planning community as a whole, I want to write more. Playing with the pretty paper and pen toys combines beautifully with wanting to play with my imaginary friends, and, if I am going to be spending hours a day staring at a page or screen, they may as well be pretty pages and screens. This may have something to do with why I like writing heroes and heroines who are creative in some way; write what you know and all that. After all, I’ve already had one hero spring to life (Bern, from Her Last First Kiss) thanks to my fountain pen obsession, and his heroine, Ruby, would be all over the whole bullet journal thing. Maybe she was actually there first, because, hey, she’s in the eighteenth century. Who knows who else may be lurking in my stationery stash?

Watch this space for part two, and a closer look on how I actually use these pretties.

Wednesday Live (Writing)

January 23, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

This morning, N and I sat across our usual Panera table from each other, no conversation, apart from notifications that one of us is getting up to refill beverage, or make room for more beverage. The rest of the time, we had fingers on the keyboards of our AlphaSmart Neos, making with the tippity tap. N counted the words she added to her document during this session, and came up with a pretty good number. Do not ask me what it was, but it was good. I did not count, only kept moving forward, with occasional breaks to stretch, and would have happily kept going, had not Mr. N arrived to whisk N away and drop me home.

At some point, I will connect Neo and desktop, and make some sense out of what I typed into the new file, ove multiple cups of tea. I hadn’t gone into this session with a game plan, which is unlike me, but, when N discovered that she’d brought the wrong file with her, and announced she would start a new one, I told her I would do the same, in solidarity.

For both of us, this was the telling ourselves the story phase, where we are shoveling sand into the metaphorical sandboxes and we will craft it into dragons, castles, or whatever, later on, when it’s time to add water and shells and all that good stuff. At first, I thought I’d draft this blog entry during our live writing session, but that’s not what ended up happening. As writing sessions often start, I began this one by brain dumping into the file, (aka blorching) and trusting that, in time, I would make something resembling actual fiction at some point. Which is what happened. For this particular session, it ended up being me reaching into my long-term memory, because the actual notes I wanted to go with were stored in a chat log I did not have access to at the time (partly because I was not on the internet. This is one of the benefits of the AlphaSmart, and why I will be using it more often, in the future.)

I think I did okay on this one, and N reports that she is also satisfied with her own results. We’ll be doing this again in the future. N also asked me to blog about procrastination, and, ironically, I will be doing that later because this morning’s acting as if I knew what I was doing turned into –surprise, surprise- me actually knowing what I was doing, I am now in the groove, and want to hold onto that. Call it priming the pump, warmups, authorial appetizers, whatever, all I know is that , today, it worked.

Today’s picture is the bottom shelf of my bookshelf-turned desk. I did take a regular deskscape, but don’t think I’ve shared the bottom shelf, at least since it found its current iteration. Tallest to shortest, we have my Her Last First Kiss binder, (in need of complete overhaul, but that’s another story, pun intended) desk planner, Dylusions traveler’s notebook (for daily agenda,) big pen case, small pen case, silverware organizer that is now a pen organizer, because it is too big for our kitchen drawers. The binder found its place this morning, on my way out the door, to meet N, because the way it was floating around my corner of our common room was driving me crazy, and it needed a home already.

Having the items I need, at arm’s reach, in order, and easily accessible, makes the business of writing a lot smoother, and a lot more fun. When I came home, I put the AlphaSmart (it lives in its bag) in its appointed place, so what I wrote there can have some time to mellow, and I can concentrate on what’s next on my list. Today, it’s this entry, and then I have a scene to edit for Drama King. After that, I have Melva’s notes on the latest chapter of Her Last First Kiss. Having someone to be accountable to for this project helps keep me focused, and I like being able to give a positive answer for how things are going for Bern and Ruby (hint: not smooth sailing for them at this point, but I am having a blast.)

Okay, that’s the magic seven hundred (self imposed minimum blog word count) so time to pop this entry on the blog, grab some lunch, and then off to play with my imaginary friends. What are you up to, this fine midweek?

Digging Out

January 21, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Here we are, once again at Monday. The cold is mostly gone (mostly,) and there is a whole lot of snow outside. The temperature is in the butt cold range, and Real Life Romance Hero is home today, as his place of employment would rather their people not freeze, so this is not as solitary as I would have expected for the day when job one is to figure out how I am going to dig out from basically a week spent away from “real” writing work.

This, of course, begs the question, what is real writing work? Snow is my favorite weather, which is a plus for someone living in NY, during winter. Everything crisp and clean and sparkly, is one of my favorite sights. Because I live in a city, this also means that clean and white and sparkly does not last very long. There are piles of greyish brown ice, puddles of yellow from local canines, odd bits of twigs and shed evergreen needles, trash, and probably a few things that we would all prefer not to itemize. It is kind of like that with writing.

Having a cold like the one that moved in with our family means that butt in chair and fingers on keyboard is not always going to happen, but there is no law against bringing pen and paper to bed. Which is, no surprise, something I do anyway, and, sometimes, all that pen and paper do is sit there while I sleep. They also sit there while I don’t-sleep, because I have hit a thread of insomnia.

Insomnia and colds have a few things in common, namely that the person is in bed, but not having a lot of fun, but they are both well served by a pair of earbuds and audiobooks. Even though the books available at the click of a button (Overdrive) are a sliver of what’s available in the wider world, having a selection of books available in an instant, where I can crawl into my blanket fort and have somebody read me a story, is good for both body and soul.

In the best of all possible worlds, there would be a sort of air lock between sick days, or snow days, or sick days followed by snow days, and regular writing days/return to everyday life after several days of being out of the norm. All of that stuff I’d wanted to do over the sick week, was still there when I got up this morning, and, at first glance, it did look like big chunks of gray and brown ice, with all the traditional accoutrements.

There’s the part of the process that is standing in the middle of the mess, hands on hips, aghast at how much accumulated in my functional absence. Then there’s the “how do I do this stuff again?” portion of our day. Obviously, I can do this, because I was in the middle of doing it when the cold dragged me under, and the snow snowed me under. That snow, though, is still sparkly and pretty and fun to play in, even though there are big icebergs in the middle of the parking lot, so it’s enough to get my boots and mittens on, and tread outside.

Since there is a parking area outside our building, instead of going straight to the sidewalk, none of the actual tenants (aka me) actually have to shovel. This means my back is safe (from that.) I know, I know, I am rambling, and need to get back to the writing things. That, as things would turn out, is exactly what I am doing, rambling down these bunny trails. This is the time to slap everything on the page and/or screen and then see what sticks, afterwards.

A lot of that is messy, but, if I keep at it long enough, the order begins to appear. Today, I swept the crusty tissues and books to be put away “later,” from the coffee table near my desk, and arranged the desk organizer thingies, acquired before the storm, and let my brain free float. Part of that was expressly so that I could follow up on YouTube videos I’d watched, on sick days, about better use of Instagram, aka, the social media platform that appeals to me most, at present. Does using a white board to reflect light, and taking the picture in front of natural light, get rid of the yellow tint that has plagued my pictures for a while now? Could be.

How are you digging out of the weekend?

Köld Front

January 16, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Whenever Monday’s blog shows up on Wednesday, we know there is a story behind it. Saturday, I felt fine. Had a great time at Capitol Region Romance Writers. Fabulous presentation by Jeanette Grey, a pen swap, some planner chatter (no, this is not a post about planners) with like-minded souls, fun ride there and back, with N and Mr. N, lovely tea at home with Housemate, and quality time with Real Life Romance Hero.

Then I woke, around 1AM on Sunday, both nostrils doing their best Niagara Falls impressions. Not what I would have chosen, especially since I had two volunteer commitments, back to back, for Sunday. For anybody who had to deal with the spacey chick, my deepest apologies. Monday, I spent mostly sleeping, or staring at the ceiling, making a sound vaguely like a foghorn, subsisting on a diet of cherry cough drops and ginger ale. I made myself three cups of tea on Monday, and, each time, I fell asleep before I could drink said tea, waking up when it was disgustingly, un-drinkably cold.

Part of my brain urged me to seize the day. Sick in bed? Yes! The time has come! Netflix all day! Read all the books! Make art! I did none of those things. I lay there in a nest of blankets and tissues, alternating between fever and chills. Thankfully, Nurse Real Life Romance Hero was on the job, and he was a rock star. Even Sebastian pulled extra pillow duty. I made an attempt, yesterday, to rally, which can best be exemplified by mentioning that there is a small notebook of black paper, with gilded edges, around here somewhere, and I have no idea where. We live in a one bedroom apartment. There are not that many places it could be. but misplacing specialty paper is a pretty good sign it’s time to go back to bed. I slept next to a new pack of markers for two days, then did not sleep at all for two nights in a row.

Which brings us to today. I’m still not one hundred percent (that will come) but my brain circles back to Saturday’s CR-RWA meeting. The topic was goal setting for the disappointed writer, which is extremely relative to my interests. Also, I hated having to put off this week’s session with N (we had live writing scheduled!) so I was for sure not wanting to miss my Skype talk with Melva, which means I need to get my behind in gear, and cram a week’s worth of work into one day. Okay, maybe a few days’ worth and move a couple of other things into next week.

What I’ve got right now is this blog, because darned if I am going to miss a second blog this week, then I need to send the latest version of chapter four of Her Last First Kiss to Melva, then look over her latest Drama King scene, and make comments. I also have a scene for Drama King, that I had a ton of fun first-drafting, that needs some smoothing out/second drafting, and I cannot wait to get to any of the above. There is, however, the not so small matter of a cold that has taken on a life of its own. Well, his own.

We call him Köld. The umlat is important. He sounds Swedish, and looks like he plays in a death metal band. He’s a gregarious sort, making the rounds from Patient Zero (aka Real Life Romance Hero) to Housemate, and, then, when I thought I would escape this Köld front, but, alas, no. Köld will, in time, wander off to meet new friends, instead of plopping himself in my computer chair to play MMOs for entire weekends at a time. I would assume he’s playing something like Skyrim. He seems the type. When he does wander off, I will reclaim my throne, and get back to the business of romance writing.

I may even miss him when he’s gone. Not going to lie, having a handsome private nurse/personal chef, at my beck and call, is pretty awesome. He says he has to work tomorrow, so I will be in charge of my own meals. I would grumble (his roast beef melt is amazing) but I’m looking forward to Skyping with Melva, getting up to date on all things with The Wild Rose Press, and Chasing Prince Charming. There will be laundry to do, as Köld uses a lot of towels (also t-shirts and pajamas) but that means reading time, which means I get to make up for some of what I lost by sleeping next to a box of markers.

Who else has experienced a Köld front this winter? What’s your favorite sick day indulgence? Let me know in the comments: I am taking suggestions.

Typing With Stuffed Paws: Marathon Weekend Edition

January 11, 2019January 11, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Greetings, Foolish Mortals. Sebastian Thunderpaws Hart-Bowling coming at you with all the stuff on the week that was. 2019 is in full swing, and Writer Chick is meeting it head-on, because all of her mucking about with various notebooks seems to be paying off, but more on that later. For now, it’s time to dive into the compulsories and getting those out of the way.

May the reading odds be ever in your favor…

First, as always, Writer Chick was at Buried Under Romance, on this past Saturday. This time, she’s all about the reading games many people play at this time of year. The link in the caption above will take you there, or, if you’re lazy like me, this works, too.

The library wanted their copy of Heartless, by Mary Balogh, back, so Writer Chick is now re-reading that book on her Kindle (which, by the way, she needs to charge, so, Writer Chick, do the right thing.) She is now on Fruits Basket collectors’ edition number five, and needs to send volumes three through five, back to H, so H can send her the next batch. Writer Chick is also planning to put an extra book in her package to H, that being a book that she thinks H will like. Right now, she is thinking maybe Wideacre, by Phillipa Gregory.

Writer Chick is charging into 2019 with her Goodreads challenge, going into the second week with four books read, out of ninety-five, which puts her two books ahead of schedule. The Fruits Basket collections are big, but they read quickly, so this is plumping her reading tracker in the page count department, as well. This brings her to four percent of the annual goal. Going into the new year, already two books ahead, is probably a smart move, because the marathon weekend is upon us, and reading for marathon weekends gets iffy.

Tomorrow is Writer Chick’s Capitol Region Romance Writers meeting. On Sunday, she is volunteering twice, Since Writer Chick is an extrovert, this triple infusion of PEOPLEis a very, very good thing, and she will be full of energy to tackle the writing week ahead. She will also have some free space in her stationery storage, because she is doing a small cull of pens, notebooks, etc, that would be happier in new homes. I can’t promise she won’t come home with new stuff, if anybody else has the same idea.

Another part of the reason Writer Chick is focusing well these days is that she has started a writing-only planner, with no other sutff allowed. More on that in the first Monday in February. There is also a bigger writing notebook, that is broken into sections, so Writer Chick can do a brain dump of what she’s going to write, before she writes it. After that, it’s a matter of following the map, plus she got to play with paper and pen, so that’s a plus. She also now keeps a written record of what she has blogged about, and when, which includes posts by yours truly.

No word count trackers as of yet, but, so far, setting task goals is turning out to work super well. The first round of edits on Chasing Prince Charming are on their way back to Editor Chick, and reading Other Writer Chick’s comments on the second chapter of Her Last First Kiss, is Writer Chick’s reward for helping me with this post. Though, let’s be real, quality time wiht me is reward enough, amirite?

Suffice it to say that the historical romance vibe is back, due to a few factors:

Chasing Princ Charing. Even though this is contemporary romance, it’s set in the world of historical romance, with a hero who is madly in love with the genre. Writer Chick also gets to write with Other Writer Chick, so this is double fun.
Her Last First Kiss. This book is once again in motion. Talking about it builds momentum, which means Writer Chick wants to spend more time with it, so getting through draft two is actually fun.
Proper reading and viewing diet. See the currently reading section above. Even though Fruits Basket is not historical, H assures Writer Chick that it is, at its heart, romance, and there are plenty of romances in it, so Writer Chick is well fed, there. Ditto on the romantic elements in Time and Agin, H assures her, and the old New York setting does not hurt one bit, either. Then there’s Heartless, which is most assuredly historical romance, in the Georgian era, and by Mary Balogh, who always delivers the emotional goods.
Art. Since Writer Chick received some super fun art gifts for Christmas, she is making it a point to do more art herself, and show that art to other people. This will mostly be taking place on Instagram, so follow her there, if you want to see that kind of thing. Also tell her you want to see more pictures of a handsome orange badbutt fella.

That’s about it for this week. Writer Chick wants to get to those HLFK comments, so time for me to find a sunbeam. See you next week.

Peacce out.

Storytime: Growing Pains (not the tv show)

January 7, 2019January 7, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Storytime. We have some growing pains going on around here, and I do not mean the TV show. On Friday night, Housemate and I went to Chain Craft Store for our weekly jaunt. I had a list in tow, because I am me, and the big item on that list was a personal size six-ring binder. Housemate, at the clearance section, asked me if the binder in her hand was something I could use. I took a look. It was this one:

Webster’s Pages, personal size ring binder

Not only the binder, but the entire kit, minus a few items, which probably explained why there was a Webster’s Pages binder, hanging out in clearance. No price on it, so I was leaning toward leaving it where it was, but Housemate wanted to take it up to the register and find out. Information never hurts, right? Okay, fine. We get to the register, and the cashier summons a manager. Manager gives binder a cursory look, and says she’ll let it go for one dollar. One. Dollar. That is obviously a sign. I do not have a name for this binder yet, but I did carry it around the house for a couple of days, to get to know it, and am now setting it up as my writing tracker, no household tasks allowed.

The as-yet unnamed binder joins Big and Li’l Pink, both traveler’s notebooks, from Webster’s Pages, and their jobs break down pretty much like this:

Big Pink: thinking on paper
Li’l Pink: lists and information
White Planner: writing/reading related only

:deep breath: Okay. All of that said, planner talk will now be confined to the first Monday of the month. It’s going in the schedule. Additional planner/bujo blog is in the planning stages. Until then, I will put my pen and paper pictures and ramblings thereabout, on my Instagram. I want to keep this blog focused on writing. I’m still deciding whether I want to have specific topics for Mondays and Wednesdays, but , as with the writing planner, I’m going to carry that question around for a while, and the answer will come when I need it.

As much as I love pens and paper, and I do really, really love them, this is my place to talk about writing, and, using the analogy of interests/passions being children, the baby really does need their own room, instead of bunking with the elder sibling. Siblings, really, as I am also working on the website for the books Melva and I write together. This is both a lot of work and a lot of fun. The more writing I do, these days, the more writing I want to do, and it’s the same with engaging on social media. I partly blame my YouTube binging for getting my bloggy idea hamsters all excited and running on their wheels, sometimes faster than I can write down things I want to do with them.

2018 was, in a lot of ways, a dumpster fire. 2019 looks to be better. Early days yet, but I”ll take it. This is the year of “yes, and,” after all. It’s easy to say “stop stressing.” even to myself, but anxiety and depression, and well, stress, often have other ideas about that. Sometimes, those can get in the way of the love of writing, or the ability to do it. That’s why I am making self care more of a priority in 2019, including making sure that I spend time doing the things I love. At the top of that list is romance. I have been wildly in love with the romance genre since I was eleven years old and stole my first historical romance from my mother’s nightstand. Coughty-cough years after that incident, the girl who loved reading books grew up into the woman who writes them. Reads them still, because story in, story out, is easy math.

This is all to say that there will be a few changes to this blog, and site, in the near future, all, I hope, for the best. I am talking with the fabulous Kathleen Underwood, who created the cover for my Orphans in the Storm, to help with graphics, and I could not be more excited. Kathleen perfectly captured the exact image I’d had in my mind, and brings me back, every time I see it, to that exact moment in Jonnet’s story. It reminds me of the power of fiction, and how much I love creating it. Planning is part of that, but the raw beauty of creating the story deserves a focus of its own.

What growing pains are you working through, this year?

Typing With Stuffed Paws: Planner Chaos, Writing Peace Edition

January 4, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Greetings, foolish mortals. Sebastian Thunderpaws Hart-Bowling, coming at you with all the stuff for the start of 2019. Well, where Writer Chick is concerned, that is. I can tell you, right off the bat, that part of that is going to involve a trip to the office supply store, because Writer Chick started off today’s session with placing the document holder thing that she uses to hold papers to transcribe, next to the desktop, instead of on top of it. Occupational hazard, around here, but, as a cat, I am proud of her. Knocking things off a flat surface…. ::dabs eyes: I’m getting a little misty here.

But enough about that. Writer Chick has been pretty hyped about starting the new year off on the right foot. Part of that was all about getting the right planning system in place. That is a story for her to tell, because it did not turn out the way she expected that it ight, but it did, in the end, get her to the right place. More on that after we take care of this week’s compulsories.

As usual, Writer Chick was at Buried Under Romance, this past Saturday, and surprises nobody when she talked about making a reading plan for the coming year. Well, that’s not actually true. She did surprise herself. If you’d like to read more about that, hop on over here and find out what went down. The caption under the above picture works, too.

Writer Chick is stepping up her reading game for 2019, and her new Goodreads challenge goal is set at ninety-five, which is five more than last year. She’s already one book down, which, seeing as how we are only four days into the new year, is not a bad start. Her friend, H, is already mailing her the third volume of Fruits Basket -only to borrow; H made that very clear- so Writer Chick will be pouncing on that the second it arrives at Stately Bowling Manor. Time and Again, which fits into the historical fiction with romantic elements (and also paranormal/fantasy, as there is time travel) is also on loan from H, who has a pretty good bead on the kinds of stories Writer Chick might not find for herself, but would love. This has inspired Writer Chick to look for books she can press upon H, in return. I will keep you abreast on how that goes.

Okay, now we get to the planner chaos and writing peace part of our post, today. There is a traditional Dutch proverb Writer Chick has long liked, that says “Man plans, God laughs.” That is kind of what happened here. Yesterday, Writer Chick took her newly moved-into Dylusions traveler’s notebook into the wide world, and…she did not like it. Well, she di, but as an art journal, not an everyday carry, so back to Big Pink, albeit with new inserts, it is. Li’l Pink as well, for easy toting. Then there is the writing tracker she threw together out of stuff she had hanging around.

Writer Chick loves that thing. Loves it. The only problem there, is that the binder, which she also loves, is literally falling apart. She tried holding it together with washi tape, which worked about as well as you can imagine, so that is another reason to go to the office supply store. It is also part of her assignment from Graphics Chick, and the whole making sure everything looks like it comes from the same person deal.

Because the binder Writer Chick is using for the writing tracker is falling apart in her hands, we can safely say that basically none of her plans about planning panned out as she intended. The writing, however? Well, that’s a different story. Pun intended. Writer Chick met all of her writing goals for the first week of 2019. She is back at work on Her Last First Kiss. Other Writer Chick said Writer Chick needs to stop making her cry (chapter one is heavy stuff.) This delighted Writer Chick, who said she cannot make that promise. Other Writer Chick hasn’t even met the hero yet.

The first third of edits on Chasing Prince Charming‘s first edit round have gone smoothly, and Writer Chick and Other Writer Chick expect to have everything turned in on time, if not before. Then the wait comes for round two. While they’re doing that, Drama King sails into its second quarter of draft one. Keeping track of who’s doing what, and when it needs to be done, so far, is working smoothly, and being accountable for specific tasks on solo works also seems to be in the plus column. Not a bad start, all things considered. Now, if Writer Chick can only get the printer to talk to the desktop, that would be incredibly useful.

Tomorrow, Writer Chick will meet with Graphics Chick, to toss around some ideas. She may also give connecting the printer another whack, or she may just whack the printer. There is a reason Writer Chick gravitates toward pen and paper, and, really, that’s best for all involved. Trust me on that one.

Peace out,

Becoming Persephone

January 2, 2019January 2, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Happy New Year, everybody. 2018 is finally in the dust, and 2019 is ready to show us what it’s got. Hopefully good things. Though we are past the first of January, and the ornament harvest (family term for putting the Christmas décor to bed for the year) is slated for Twelfth Night (okay, the morning after Twelfth Night, so Thirteenth Morning? Is that a thing? I think it should be a thing, and have something like pancakes to soften the blow) my count of Christmas romances read, and Christmas movies watched remains the same as it was before December 25th. Zero. Oh well. I’ll get them next year.

My friend, H, gave me the first two volumes of Fruits Basket, collector’s editions. This was my first time reading manga, but a lot of the dynamics of my favorite historical romances lie within those pages, so I am well and truly into this story for the long haul. The rest of my Christmas/tucked away week reading went to The Summer Wives, by Beatriz Williams, and my feelings on this book, as with most by this author, can best be summed up with guh. Emotionally evisceration via fiction is a real thing, and, here, it is very, very, much welcome. So, that’s been my holiday 2018 reading.

As for 2018 holiday viewing, it was YouTube. All day, every day, or so it seemed. Most of my viewing fell into one of two camps; Book Tube, or stattionery/bullet journaling. In short, branding was huge on my mind, this season, especially as 2019 brings new adventures ahead. Melva and I are in the process of building our brand for our collaborative work, which of course makes me give what I’ve been doing with my own brand, a second look.

Both of these interests brought me to the same question: what sort of thing do I keep coming back to, again and again? I don’t recall where I read it first, probably on Facebook, but the text of the graphic was “Why choose between a girly and a dark aesthetic? If Persephone can be the goddess of springtime and queen of the underworld at the same time, so can you.” Yes. That. What that person said.

There were two things I noticed as I watched seemingly endless videos on the two subjects, looking for places I could twine them together. The first was that there are, to my knowledge, zero Book Tube channels about epic historical romance. Searching for historical romance on You Tube brings up a lot of fun vlogs about the current world of historiccal romance, which warms my historical romance loving heart. Deep inside that fire, though, there’ is a cranky flame (we might call it spotting a niche to be filled) that crackles with a desire to talk about some of the greats that came before, some of whom are still delivering the goods. So, there’s that.

The second thing I noticed was that I kept searching for stationery/bujo vloggers who had a certain aesthetic. No surprise, colors in the dusty rose/rose gold/ballet pink/blush family, combined with neutrals figure highly in this aesthetic. Once again, There Were Questions. What kinds of stories do I love the very, very most? Not merely what I like, but what leaves me wrung out like a wet washcloth, and happy about it? What sweeps me into its world and has me chomping at the bit to make some of that, myself?

In both cases, my next thought wasn’t “ugh, that looks hard” or “I don’t know if I can do that,” but “eh, give me a couple of pens and some paper, and I will figure it out.” That, I think, is part of taking myself seriously as a writer, and a creative being. That’s a journey that takes place one step at a time. Do I have an exact map to how this will mean gauranteed success every single time? Pffft, no. What I do know, though, is that, since i started my YouTube binge, I have been more focused on planning the actual work of writing, and have been consistentlyhitting my goals.

It’s an ongoing process. Yesterday, I opened the file for Her Last First Kiss, gave the first chapter a light spiff, and sent it in Melva’s general direction. Doing that had a similar feeling as setting up my new bujo system. Little different, but good different, still with the same feeling, even “me-er,” and …yeah. Let’s see where this takes us.

What new paths are you following in 2019?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

personal