Typing With Stuffed Paws: Pre-Galley Slave Edition

March 1, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Greetings, Foolish Mortals. Sebastian Thunderpaws Hart-Bowling, coming at you with all the stuff for the week that was. Writer Chick can’t believe it’s the first of March already, but with all the planners she has, this should not be a big surprise, but here we are. This also means that Writer Chick’s next post is about the state of at least one of those planners. I would say the whole planner obsession keeps her out of trouble, but we both know that isn’t true.

Writer Chick insists that I put the big news up front. Writer Chick and Other Writer Chick have sent in all of the manuscript information and cover art information, so now they get to take a break and wait for the galleys to land on their desks. When that happens, it is their last chance (I think; I only skimmed the emails) to catch anything egregious before things go from manuscript to BOOK. Writer Chick insists I clarify that those weeks before they become galley slaves are not vacation time. They have to keep working on Drama King, and each of them have their own solo projects, so it’s really more of one less chain saw to juggle,

Since there will be one less chain saw to juggle, let me put it out there that Writer Chick could use some of that free time to focus on reading, because she is now two books behind schedule on her Goodreads Challenge. Good thing she has the weekend to get current on that one. Since she already has a loaded Kindle, and an audiobook on Overdrive, so she can technically read two books at the same time (she has not tried that, but she might, if she gets desperate enough. It could happen.)

As usual, Writer Chick was at Buried Under Romance, this past Saturday (she will be there again tomorrow) and this time, she talked about having nothing to read, because there is too much to read. If you’re looking for something to read, hit the link in the caption, and you can read that.

Earlier in the week, Writer Chick went to the local storage unit, with one task in mind: liberate three to five paperbacks from the first box of books she could reach, and bring them home. She is happy to report that her quest was successful, and will probably go a long way to bringing her Goodreads numbers back up to acceptable levels. Her criteria for choosing those books were few. A) she needed to be able to reach the box with the books in it. B) she had to be able to get the books out of the box, and C) they had to each have one thing (at least one thing) that she could point to and say that was why she was interested in that book.

Some of the criteria that could make the list would be things like: geographic setting, historical era, vague memories of reviews that said the book was highly emotional, a favorite character type, or stuff like that. Writer Chick will explain more about that later, either here or on Buried Under Romance. Suffice it to say, there are a lot of reasons Writer Chick might think she could like a particular book, and want to read it. Focusing there is a lot more fun than focusing on what isn’t lighting her fire.

Speaking of lighting fires, and today being the first of March (smooth transition, eh?) today is also the start of one of Writer Chick’s favorite workshops, 31 Days and 31 Ways to Jumpstart Your Abundance, courtesy of abundance coach Eryka Peskin. This workshop is free, and it is fun. Apparently, Writer Chick may get a bonus chance at a drawing or something if you join because of her, but it’s a great place to go to have people tell you you’re awesome, on Facebook. There is also the chance to catch more Writer Chick babble, if you’re into that sort of thing. Punch your paws on this link, below, to get more information, and/or join:

http://www.eryka.com/index.html

In other news Writer Chick took this family photo of most of her turquoise pens (yes, there are more of them that are not in this picture) to compare it against a turquoise pen sampler she saw at an online retailer. She does not accidentally have all of the pens in the sampler, but she does have enough of them that her better bet is probably to buy the pens she doesn’t have, individually. She also has some that are not in the sampler, so there’s that. May I point out her good taste in choosing pens that perfectly complement any handsome stuffed orange boys that might be lying around her work area? She’s very considerate about that. There may be hope for her yet.

In review, Writer Chick needs to read more, has a lot of pens, and will soon become a galley slave. I’m off to stare at squirrels.

Peace out,

Liar McLyingplants, Books, and Other Growing Things

February 25, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

First, we have an update on the Wars of the Roses. Not the historical one, to make things clear from the outset. I mean the one in my living room window. I’d been touched that the boys seemed to be reaching for each other, to make a natural arch for the Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling Memorial Garden, but, yesterday, I found out it was all lies. Tudor (the big, big boy, with both of the rosebuds) had not been twining with his brother, Lancaster, but reaching all the way across him, to steal all of his sunlight, and climb the window. Well, then. I have since changed their seating arrangements, and, since Tudor’s higher stems (branches? New rose mom here, so I don’t know all the terms yet.) get floppy if I move him away from the actual glass, probably some sort of support. Is this where a trellis comes in? I’ve always wanted a trellis. There’s even a scene with a trellis in Her Last First Kiss. Two of the, actually, as what goes up must come down, so this is somewhat romance novel related.

Tudor is the big one, Lancaster is the shrimp.

Most things are, these days, which is a good thing, as that’s what I do, so I will count that as a good thing. In the next week, Melva and I should have the first batch of information for Chasing Prince Charming’s blurbs and such, off to The Wild Rose Press, and then we get to fill out a cover art questionnaire (super excited for this part!) and then it will be galley time. I don’t think this part of the process is ever going to grow old. Won’t be long now before the idea that started as a way to kill time before breakfast turns into a real, live book. I love when that happens.

This time is also bittersweet. Chances of getting an ad and/or review in Romantic Times magazine (aka RT Book Reviews) are nil, because the magazine that had been a mainstay of my romance reading and writing life, closed last year. No editorials on the current plagiarism scandal that has hit Romancelandia (Nora Roberts has a better bead on it than I ever could, so go here for a closer look) from Kathryn Falk, RT’s mastermind, now in well-earned retirement, or from her close friend and one of the OG historical romance writers, the late, great Bertrice Small, a wise woman as well as an unmatched and always original writer. I’m sure ther are other romance writers, who have been around the block a time or two, with opinions and experiences to share on this front, but sometimes, one misses a specific flavor, and that’s applicable to current events at the moment.

My forays into the world of Book Tube continue, as I search out Book Tubers who specialize in the romance genre, and, specifically, in historical romance. It’s a minority, from what I’ve found, and I do love the enthusiasm I see in these predominantly young, so far exclusively women, sharing their love of the historical romances they read. Watching someone geek out about something they love is one of my big pleasures (no guilt!) and poses the question of what it might have been like if Book Tube was around in the 80s and 90s, when many of the books that made me the reader and writer I am were first available. I find the fact that it’s been an entire generation since some of the names that populate my keeper shelves have been the new kids on the block.

There are avid romance readers today, who have never seen a Traditional Regency, and/or would possibly need a minute to pinpoint the difference between a trad Regency and a Regency set historical romance. There are romance readers who have not heard of the midlist cull of long ago (to some) that sliced some wonderful authors with innovative voices and widely varied timeframes, out of the mainstream publishing world. Romance readers exist, and romance writers, as well, who don’t remember when series books were not the norm, and one writer might write -under the same name, no less- in any historical period that struck their fancy. Sure, there are some delightful historical romances that are the bookish equivalent of a romantic comedy movie, with lovely wallpaper, but that’s not the only flavor out there. Darker and grittier (but still with the all-important HEA!) angstbunny me wants to blabber, too.

Where am I going with all this? Not sure I know at this exact moment. Melva and I have our first co-written contemporary romance to see all the way home, as it were (or put on the school bus; that might be a better metaphor) while we move our second co-written book to the end of its first draft, and I am definitely feeling the historical romance love, which means Her Last First Kiss moves ever closer to the end of draft two. A Heart Most Errant, as well, is itching to go back out on the submission rounds, once its edit is done, and a couple of other opportunities are waving at me, so I am still sorting stuff out. I think it’s appropriate for the season of new growth.

How about you? Where are you stretching or itching this season?

Typing With Stuffed Paws: Recalibration Edition

February 22, 2019February 22, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

Greetings, foolish mortals. Sebastian Thunderpaws Hart-Bowling, coming at you with all the stuff from the week that was. Last week, Writer Chick was down with a super disgusting cold. I don’t even want to talk about it. Suffice it to say that we are going to need more Febreze, and double dose me, while you’re at it, mkay? For those wondering where I was last week, when the Writer Chick is away, the handsome orange stuffed boy will play.

Astute readers will notice that Writer Chick did not post on Wednesday this week, and I can tell you why. She was asleep. Yep. This has been a stinky week for insomnia, so the other humans were under strict instructions that, if she slept, leave her be. Which means no Wednesday blog, this week. Writer Chick will probably toss in a bonus addition somewhere, because, as of next week, she and Other Writer Chick will be one step closer to Chasing Prince Charming getting real life book status. In this case, it means their very first review blurb is on its way, this one from M.P. Barker, a longtime friend, critique partner, and writer of awesome YA historical fiction. Other real life authors are lined up to say more (hopefully) nice things about this book in public, which has Writer Chick and Other Writer Chick pretty excited.

Because last week was sick week, and this week was insomnia week, this is going to be somewhat of a different entry. One constant is that Writer Chick was at Buried Under Romance on Saturday, talking about the romance of audiobooks. Hit the caption if you want to see what she thought about that.

Now on to where the updates on Writer Chick’s Goodreads challenge would normally go. From that disclaimer, you can probably guess why it is different. Writer Chick did not read anything this week. Well, that isn’t exactly true. She started a whole bunch of stuff, got a few pages into it and then wandered off. She also is technically listening to an audiobook, but, as things would turn out, she keeps falling asleep while listening to it, though very much interested in the story, so she will probably get the ebook and make sure she gets the whole deal that way.

This may give you some insight on why this is recalibration week. Writer Chick and Other Writer Chick have been doing a lot of work on getting information for the upcoming release of Chasing Prince Charming. There is a bunch of stuff to do, some of which includes smushing a four hundred page book, written by two people, into a tweet, a back cover blurb, and other scarily small bunches of words. Writer Chick likes the challenge, though, and Other Writer Chick is handling the techy stuff (Other Writer Chick Spawn is apparently techy by trade, so Other Writer Chick has an ace in the hole on that front.)

While Other Writer Chick and her Spawn (OWC Spawn, for future reference) are in charge of the tech stuff, that doesn’t mean Writer Chick gets to sit back and eat bon bons. First of all, she is not sure exactly what bon bons are, and requests clarification before she puts them in her mouth. As they get closer to release, that means that talking to people and asking them to say nice things about the book comes into play, also finding places to wave the cover around (when they get it; that is coming soon) and ask people to let them blab about why people should buy this book. That stuff is much more up Writer Chick’s alley, and she is very much looking forward to that.

There has been other stuff going on around here, too. Though Writer Chick has not been having a lot of reading success, she has been watching some art tutorials, which leads to some very disturbing doodles.

Yeah, I don’t know about the lightbulb skull, either…

Writer Chick has also asked me to bring back updates on the Wars of the Roses, because they are back on, as of this week. While Writer Chick was down with her sinus infection, and up all night, both Tudor and Lancaster have put forth a single bud apiece. Lancaster is winning. His bulb is bigger, and it started to open first. There are now bits of red visible between the leaves of each bud, and the leaves are intermingling. Writer Chick will probably be repotting these guys fairly soon, but so far, so good.

Sunbeam is shifting from them to my favorite nap spot, so going to call it for this week. Peace out.

Chinese Food in a Darkened Room (With Chasing Prince Charming update)

February 18, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

On Valentine’s Day morning, I wanted to smash my head through a wall. Well, hello there, sinus headache. Great timing. Which also explains Sebastian’s absence on Friday. Lying around is in his job description, after all. When the Writer Chick is away, the handsome orange sutffed boy will…probably take a nap in a sunbeam. Which is why his post did not appear on Friday. He will make up for that later.

How doea a romance writer spend Valentine’s Day? If Christmas is my favorite holiday, and my birthday my second, Valentine’s Day is probaby next. This means that sinus pressure that can only be relieved by smashing the left side of my face into a firm pillow, is not at all the way I want to spend any part of the day, but that is, this year, what I got. Thankfully, smashing only the left side of my face into the pillow meant that my right eyeball was free to view my phone screen. Unthankfully, my attention span was miniscule, so I mostly watched makeup tutorials. On the plus side, my eye contour is markedly improved. This has nothing to do with writing, but I thought it worth a mention.

Real Life Romance Hero earned his name, by bringing home Chinese food, which we consumed with the shades down. He gave me the lion’s share of the wonton soup. There may or may not have been some program with Gordon Ramsey in it (no idea which one, due to aforementioned face in pillow) but, all in all, I am going to call this Valentine’s Day a good one.

This past week also gets a plus for a more writerly reason. Chasing Prince Charming is now headed to the galley phase. This is both exciting and scary. This week, Melva and I need to do the final bits of paperwork, so that The Wild Rose Press has all the pertinent details, and the cover art questions are coming up soon. This means that we should have a release date in the not too distant future, which, in turn, means that Meg and Dominince are soon to make the acquaintance to readers who do not know Melva or I in person. Hopefully, a few whom we do, as well, but we are talking about the general public here. Off Meg and Dominic go, into the world at large, I can promise they’ll behave, but I make no promises as to how.

Drama King moves ever closer to the fifty percent mark of draft number one, while Her Last First Kiss continues toward draft number two. Weekdays have fallen into a natural rhythm. Writing time is writing time, and I know where I”m going, because taking time to pinpoint what, exactly, I am working on for a particular session, takes out a lot of the guesswork. Soon enough, Melva and I will have new tasks to perform, once the publication date is set. I am looking forward to that phase of the journey.

Right now, though, it’s one foot in front of the other. The characters know what they have to do, I, or Melva and I, know them well enough to know which directions to nudge them in, when we come to a fork in the roads of a first draft. Her Last First Kiss is a second draft, which I sometime like better than the first draft, because, the second draft, I already know how what has to happen, has to happen. That gives a framework, which I can scramble aroun, hither and yon, hang from, upside=down, like a monkey (or Monkee; those guys are pretty fun) and, in the very best of all possible worlds, build new framework to expand it all, and construct something new, while I’m at it, focused on what is, to give what will be, room to grow on its own.

How was your Valentine’s Day? What are you reading? What are you writing? What’d I miss?

Feeling Myself

February 11, 2019annabowling Leave a comment

The Monday after a marathon weekend is always a strange animal. Marathon weekends mean that both Saturday and Sunday are full. In this case, volunteering three times, once on Saturday and twice on Sunday. Saturday included my local RWA chapter meeting, always a highlight of my month, while Sunday meant playing host not once, but twice, konce for church worship experience, and the second time, for a community group, with a slight time overlap, which would be no problem if I were able to be in two places at once. (Spoiler: I am not.) After the second volunteer stint, Housemate and I had a few errands to run. Said errands involved me getting a higher end lip color at a very low price (and yep, it’s genuine) so, all in all, the weekend was good, but it also means coming into the work/writing week more tired than I went into it.

This is probably the point where I should mention there is also a new coffeemaker in the house, and, this morning, after a much-needed shower (I estimate that my hair is about twenty-five percent dry shampoo at the time of this writing) made my first voluntarily consumed travel mug full of coffee, because it was my one shot at being vertical. So far, so good. I am still a tea person, but if the beans will get me through at least this blog post (writing Monday’s post on Tuesday brings forth what Real Life Romance Hero calls the mini rage) and some planning, and I will consider the day productive enough.

Also in the plus column for the weekend past, is that I finished reading By Love Unveiled, by Sabrina Jeffries, first published in the early 90s, under her Deborah Martin name. I have the companion novel (there were only two in her Restoration Duo) marked to hunt down, because I may be a little in love with the hero’s friend, who is the hero of the next book, whose heroine is an actress. Helpful hint: I will always look at a Restoration period historical romance, on the period alone. Always. Add in either lead in the theatre, and that sale is a done deal. I am not even kidding. This is why I wrote my own English Civil War/Restoration historical romance, Orphans in the Storm. Neither Simon nor Jonnet is a thespian, but Simon’s BFF, Eben, a dancing master, last anyone asked, would fit very well into the theatre. Hmmm.

That, however, is for another day. Today is a Monday, which means it is blog day, and planning day, the day to look at everything I have under my weekly tasks and assign them to days. Melva and I have a target date to get the second round of edits done on Chasing Prince Charming, as well as writing new scenes for Drama King, which edges ever closer to the 50% mark. IT’s also time to get chapter eight of Her Last First Kiss ready for Melva’s perusal. There is something about having a critique partnership that is old enough to marry, own property, or join the military without parental consent, that gives a certain sense of security and trepidation when handing over a chapter. Long-term critique partners know things. That’s the best way I can put it, and are an extremely useful tool, especially in this business of getting back on the horse.

There are degrees of getting back on the horse, or maybe even different horses. At no time is this ever clearer than on a Monday. What do I need to do, and when is the most effective time to do it? Putting actual words on screen or paper are essential, of course, but, equally essential are things that fill the creative well, so that I can put the movies in my head into actual English words. Books that remind me what sorts of stories I love the very, very best, are important, as are movies or TV shows with favorite actors, following up on recommendations from friends, who know me well, and can pick out things I might like, or even love, but would never have found on my own. I have come to know the importance of what I call white space, aka doing nothing, seasonally comfortable (cozy blanket and hot beverage in winter, open window and cool beverage in spring) so that all the jumbled pieces in my head can sort themselves out.

That’s good for a Monday, too. Delegating. Pausing. Taking a step back, to survey the big picture and come up with a plan of attack, so I can charge in, guns blazing, sabres flashing, a mighty army of imaginary friends at my back, as we conquer the blank page I kind of like that image, so I am going to close with that, get this posted, and move on to the next task, before the coffee wears off. When it does, it’s reading time.

What does your Monday look like?

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?

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

personal