Can Less Pressure Equal More Art?

August 23, 2021annabowling 1 Comment

Today is off and on rainy, but still muggy. Must be the end of August. Next week, I will be setting up my planners for September, putting summery decor away and sliding into fall, my most productive season. That’s a good thing, because I have plans.

Melva and I will be going through Drama King again, to address oncerns that were raised in our good rejection from our current publisher, and make sure the very best versions of Jack and Kelly are the ones that readers meet. Tha’s going to take more time than we had expected, but such is life.

If I had my druthers today, I would spend it reclining in front of a fn, bingeing my current Netflix seriess, while I write longhand, throwing messy ideas down on paper and making them pretty later when I can stand to be at the keyboard, preferably at a time when the air is not so humid we have air fish. Apparentlyk I do have a druther or two laying about, because that is exactly what I am going to do. I do also have the task of reading through the first two chapters of Drama King, as we are not letting any grass grow under our feet on this one, Even that works well with paper and pen, and thank God for laptop and their mobility. True, I could read files on my tablet, but eh, laptop is better for the eyeballs.

I can actually do quite a lot of work with paper and pen in front of the TV, even if TV right now means a smaller screen. We have left our TV in storage, and honestly don’t miss it. Streaming can take the place of traditional TV, and it gives me a lot more options, as in shows from all around the world. The current show I am bingeing, is originally in Arabic, dubbed in UK English, and the voice actors are a pretty good match tot he actual actors, so I don’t feel like I am missing anything. Not the survival in the wild type of thing I have been devouring lately, but mean girls in a private school in possibly the UAE? Honestly, does it get any wilder than teenage girls left to their own devices?

I’m still caling this current fixation on survival dramas as research for the second medieval book. Granted, I need ot get the first book’s edits done before I embark on book number two. I know the hero for that one already, but still have s=zero clue as to the hoerine and that’s not usually something that comes this hard for me. Still exploring, and I will find her in time Unless I am wrong about the hero. That would count as overthinking, though, and I am very much not here for that.

Welp, that’s about it for right now, as I have actual fiction writing and editing things to handle, but it feels good to check in on the right day. I like the idea of more art coming from less pressure. How about you?

Mid-August Recalibration

August 16, 2021annabowling 1 Comment

Welp, we are now officially past the halfway mark for August. Shelves are stocked with back to school supplies, which is pure heaven for us stationery aficionados. The fact that loving stationery and being a writer are not mutually exclusive makes this an especially delightful time of year. Well, ecept for the heat. It’s been brutal here in NY for the last while, and temperatures that are in the range of “do not kill the heat-sensitive” are extremely welcome.

August has not been the best month for productivity. Insomnia has been raging, with seven sleepless nights out of the first fourteen. My local RWA chapter voted this week to dissolve. That hit me hard. Harder, even than I would expect. It’s not entirely gone-gone, as there will be some sort of non-affiliated group, though not under the auspices of Romance Writers of America. I’m not sure what the future of the national organization will be, and that’s another big sad. I’m not even over the loss of Romantic Times magazine (the OG RT, not the RT Book Reviews it was at the end.) The thought that the organization that was The Thing back when I was but a wee princess could be floundering into nothingness sticks. A lot.

Melva and I also recieved news about our current submission that was less than we had expected. That doesn’t at all mean that nothing will happen with Drama King. On the contrary, we are meeting tonight to discuss our options. Whatever we choose, I am sure it will make Jack and Kelly’s book an even beteter one. I won’t say more until we have had a chance to talk between ourselves, but we are writers, and writers write.

The same applies to historical romance. The best way to feel connected to it is to, well, connect with it. Read lots, and of the sort I want to produce, and then proceed to write horrible first drafts. Then turn those into slightly better second drafts.

There is still the part of me who set up a TV tray in my dad’s living room, propped an electronic typewirter (yes, that long ago) popping the soundtrack from Camelot on his hi-fi, and confidently pounding my way through a set number of pages, because that’s what one of my favorite writers of historical romance did. Easy peasy.

Only not. Part of me wants to stamp my foot and grumble about being here again, not exactly at the start of the road, but boy does it feel like it at times. There is only one way around that, and that’s to wite. Keep writing. Then write some more. Then more than that. Write pages that are steaming piles of poo, because piles of poo can be shaped, but blank pages can’t. For the extroverted writers like moiself, (yes, I know that’s not a word) staring, hands on hips, at the place where my RWA chapter used to be (well, on Zoom now) and tapping foot, this means going back out there into the wilds of other writerdom. Critique group/partner applications are now open. Must love historical romance, grit over fluff, and have a taste for the epic. I’m serious. Talking and thinking happen at the same time with this gal, and talking with other writers of historical romance is now a priority. We will see how that goes.

Well, then. This is the pat of the post where I sum things up in some sort of order and/or sense, but I have to be honest; I am thinking about how many episodes of The Walking Dead I can get in before conference time. I am about three episodes from the end of Season Ten. After that, I can go back to where I left off with Fear The Walking Dead, which isn’t the same, but close enough to scratch the itch. Maybe I can call it research for the post-plague medieval world of A Heart Most Errant. Yeah, we’lll go with that.

Funny Things Happen When I Don’t Sleep for Two Days

August 2, 2021annabowling 1 Comment

Hopefully, this blog will be one of them. Insomnia is an interesting thing. Body says “soooo tired,” and then brain says “haha, nope.” When one needs ones brain to create things, that’s when things get weird. Hi, my name is Anna, and I have been awake for over 48 hours.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

That was not intentional. It just happens sometimes. This time, it happened on a day when I had meant to do a bunch of the “heavy lifting” writing. Obviously, that is going to change. I am not going to have the house to myself until at least Thursday. Thankfully, I have anifty ofiice setup (mostly) in an unused corner of the bedroom, kitty-corner to Real Life Romance Hero’s setup, so if we are both having office time, neither one of us can see the other, and if we have our headphones on, we don’t hear each other, either. If I want to print something, I need to turn around to make sure he isn’t taking a nap.

One of my tasks for today is to finish setting up my planners. Catchall planner is all ready to go, but the planner I actuallycarry needs some love. I am excited to be in August.

1 year and 2 weeks post Storm’s wild adventure

Speaking of which, I have had a Talk with Soem abou taking a summer break from her blogging duties two days in a row. She says she was observing the anniversary of last year’s unchaperoned field trip. We have agreed she owes me a blog entry at a date to be determined later, as well as being on time this week.

The thing that I hate the most about adulting with insomnia (and creating with insomnia) is when all the brain things are all jumbled. What helps me most is making lists and taking notes. Okay, that is two things. They are related, though, so I think I’m okay here. This is one place where being a stationery enthusiast comes in handy. I can Do All The Stuff, but maybe at a slower pace today and one bullet point at a time.

When I jumped back into vlogging, one of the things I wanted to do was VEDA, or Video Every Day in August. I Love the idea, and it should be a great way to get consistent with posting, and getting used to vlogging but it also requires a whole lot more planning than I am able to give it right now. Maybe I’ll try for VEDO (is that a thing?) in October.

For now, the focus has to be on writing, and for today, that means roughing out a scene in Queen of Hearts and then taking a fluffing nap (Storm will no doubt join me, making this a cat nap with an actual cat) so I can have somewhat of a clearer mind when I meet with Melva this evening and we fly into the mist of the next chapter.

How’s your Monday?

maybe VSDA?
aka Videos Some Days in August?

Insert Title Here (yeah, she’s loopy today)

July 29, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Surprise Thursday blog. I know, I’m as perplexed as you are, but I am writing this from my new office chair (pink leather; Housemate and I put it together last night, and are still friends.) with the laptop stand holding the keyboard and screen at an angle and eight that are much easier on my eyeballs, hands, and back. I made my cursor and mouse pointer HUGE and bright pink, which means I can spot them without a search party. I have been cruising through the to do list today, gettnig the office as is set up for optimal use, and it feels…good.

This is perhaps my favorite part of writing. Spoiler alert, I am going to say that about many different aspects of the craft. You have been warned. I have Big Pink, my beloved traveler’s notebook, back in use, her first insert almost filled. It’s got notes on where Melva and I need to be on the same page for me to write my next Queen of Hearts scene, wher to pick up with the A Heart Most Errant edits, and how to haul myself over the stile of the eternal buffering of Her Last Firt Kiss. A lot of those notes lead to “talk it out on paper or to a person” which may actually be my favorite part. I have an assignment of fat least coming up with some bullet points to talk through with Melva about HLFK, as she knows me, she knows the book, and I can send links to any historical stuff she might want to know better.

As of right now I do not have a critique group, and I am feeling the lack. Finding the right critique arrangement (or brainstorming) is a tricky endeavor, much like dating, only this time, a point by poit critique of intimate moves is actually a good thing. Go figure. Fictionally, that is.

In some ways, I have been here before. In some ways, I havve been here forever. Not going to lie, there are many times when I want to kick myself and utter something along the lines of “stop buffering!” Which is not that easy.

Though I have no interest in the Olympics, I am mad about Simone Biles, wondering if Simon Biles would have faced the same load of bullpucky. I love the idea of a female athlete, especially one so young, earning GOAT status (Greatest Of All Time) and I really do hope there are a bunch of little Simones in kindergarten classes five years from now. I am cheering for her choosing the difficult path of putting her mental and physical health first. Big cost? Oh yes. Heroine inspiration? For sure.

I’m sitting here looking at the time, and it’s after five PM already? Weird. Not that I mind, because that means reading time. Family will begin trickling in anytime now. The last two days were family days, which means not writing days, because my office right now is a corner of the bedroom if Real Life Romance Hero is not sleeping, and noves to the kitchen table if he is. People walking behind me while I am trying to write is a big NO. So, the time is for other things. Also for giving the family enough Anna that they won’t mind alittle space when I need to be playing with my imaginary friends and doing the clickekty keys thing.

That’s probably enough for today. Definitely babbling, so time to rein things in and segue into the evening. Still not watching any streaming shows, but very happy to dive into my library hoard.

How is your week going?

Investments and Options in the Writing Life

July 26, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Last week, Housemate confirmed that my desktop, or at least its monitor, had gone to the great AV room in the sky. Laptop is working perfectly, and we are keeping our eyes peeled for Black Friday deals. Not going to lie; gaming will indeed be a consideration, but the old desktop served me well, and having a new machine to take on the next phase of my writing career is not only welcome, but smart.

Photo by Startup Stock Photos on Pexels.com

Sometime today, I should be able to trade in the state of the art laptop stand I have been using for the past while (empty Amazon box) for an actual laptop stand that will hold the screen at the angle that is best for me. Tomorrow should see the delivery of my own office chair, pink and comfy and full of back support. No more hunching and squinting, which I am fairly certain is going to ramp my productibity by quite a bit. I am also shopping for a document holder, as I compose longhand and then transcribe, and we have already addressed how I feel about hunching and squinting.

I have not tried speech to text software yet, but it is on the list of things to investigate. More tools in the toolbox, more tools I can use. I would probably still start out composing on paper, but reading that into a computer so it could do the typing? I don’t hate that idea, not at all.

There’s also the old school option of getting another human to do the typing for me. I actually like this option a lot. Is that from being an extrovert? Maybe so. I can barter with a friend, or I can hire someone, likely a college student, as we have several universities in the immediate area. Before my hypercritical gremlins start whispering about a typist stealing my work, uh, no. This is why contracts exist, and any typist I don’t already know personally, would be thouroughly vetted first. Again, college town, and references are a thing.

Since we are here at the end of July, August is right around the corner, and before we know it, we will be in pre-fall. Not fall as in the opposite of rise, but fall as in autumn. That’s when my super powers activate, and productivity rises.

For today, this blog is the low-hanging fruit, and then I turn my attentions to Queen of Hearts. After that, it’s make a plan to tackle the remaining A Heart Most Errant edits and make them happen. That’s where I will leave this entry for today, because I can’t wait to get down to business.

What’s on tap for your week?

Typing With Wet Paws: Proper Elevation Edition

July 9, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. The big news this week is that Aunt Anna borrowed Aunt Linda’s office chair ,which Aunt Linda uses as a regular chair (no desk) and guess what – no back pain No need for an Amazon box on top of the kitchen table, either, if she wheels the chair out there when Aunt Linda isn’t home. This is a very good portent for the writing that is on her schedule, because there is a lot. All it will take is either getting Aunt Anna’s regular office chair out of the storage unit, or buying a new one. Either way is good, because A) I get to sit in it when she isn’t, B) if Aunt Anna doesn’t need the Amazon box she uses for a laptop riser, then I get it. Also if she goes with a new chair, then it will come in a box, and I can have that one. If she gets the existing one out of storage, then I get to smell Big Sister Skye on it, and learn some secrets from/about her. Anyway, it’s all good, however it turns out.

Fourth of July was pretty quiet around here. Figuratively, not literally. We can hear all the fireworks here, but can’t see them. I was a little confused, but the humans were all chill about it, so I was, too. I wasn’t aound fireworks last years, and I don’t remember the year before that, because I was too young. I guess it makes me fireworks-neutral, which is a good thing for a pet to be. We’ll find out again nest year.

There was one memorable effect from the holiday, though. It scrambled Aunt Anna and Aunt Melva’s brains, so they spaced on their meeting on Monday, even though Aunt Anna had already written her whole scene -in longhand. SHe’ll have to transcfribe that over the weekend and then send it Aunt Melva’s way, so Aunt Melva can write the next scene. They might move their meeting day, not move it, or keep the original meeting and add a second one. Aunt Anna is also having another video chat with Aunt Mary, because that was super fun and motivating, She may start doing that more with other friends, as well, because extroverts and social distancing are not the best mix.

Good thing there is Aunt Linda. On Monday, Aunt Linda had the day off, and she and Aunt Anna made a huge library haul. She made a big historical romance haul, and will make an Anna Log video all about that. She will talk about here experience with the Historical Romance Readathon over on Buried Under Romance this weekend, so keep eyes peeled for that. Right now, her Goodreads Reading Challenge looks like this.

This puts Aunt Anna firmly at the 2/3rds mark, with 60 books read out of her goal of 90 which means she is at 33% of the way there. The retShe will talk more about that later. The return of the physical library has been a very good thing on Aunt Anna’s reading front. The most imporatan thing is not only that Aunt Anna super loves reading paper bools again, but that it means she can now read in bed with just the bedside lamp and no tablet screen, and she is totally free to cuddle me while she reads. That’s always a big plus.

Okay, that looks about it for my list of the week things, except for some planner stuff, but that is for Anna Log, too. Since Aunt Anna looks to be unpillbugging, that will be soon. k

Headbonks!

Nobody Stop Me, or In The Groove

July 7, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Have I ever mentioned that I have since single digit ages had a very soft spot for alternate titles. Completely unrelated to the Monkees song, “Alternate Title,” though does have some surprisingly boppy social commentary, and The Monkees are on the top of the list of music to play when I write Heather’s scenes in Queen of Hearts. I have my second scene from that written out in the notebook I have specifically for that, and all it needs is transcription and then it’s off to Melva.

Right now, I am borrowing Housemate’s office chair, with laptop on a folding desk, in front of a fan, and I am almost done with my third bottle of water for the day. The morning passed in a delicious virtual chat with my friend, Mary, whom I can’t believe I have known for almost twenty years. Doesn’t seem that long, and hasn’t she always been there/ Must be right, though, because the adorable little boy she had with her at our first meetup is now a firefighter, and, come October, will become a husband. Time does move.

Yesterday, Housemate and I made a library run, to a different branch than our usual haunt, and hit the motherlode of well stocked romance section. Well, well-ish stocked. I’ll take it. I am writing a script for a library haul video after I post this blog, and will flim either tonight or tomorrow. I’m also figuring out how I want to present my current planner/notebooks situation, as I am making some changes, and they are working much better than I had expected. There’s also the reading order to suss for abovementioned library haul, and how I want to figure in ebooks as well as physical books. I have missed paper books far more than I knew, and I know my eyeballs will be thankful for the respite. from all screens all the time. This will also require major surgery on my TBR notebook, but I knew that was coming. I am not a plain paper sort of girl. Never have been.

One thing I definitely need to make time for is writer (and reader) blabber, because after three hours of happily babbling over multiple topics, including historical romance (okay, a lot of talk about historical romance) I didn’t even want to break for lunch (but I did) and instead wanted to make plans for more socializing. Not going to lie, lockdown has not been easy on us extroverts. I love my family but I need to see faces taht do not use my bathroon on a regular basis. I’m thinking about making a regular time to open the discord server or a MSM room, for a regular supply of book blather, of both writing and reading varieties. I am positively starved for historical romacne writing talk. If I had decided to officialy do Camp NaNo this month (unofficially camping this time. Maybe November.) I had decided that I wanted to find a cabin that was historical romance only. Maybe I’m early for November?

No matter. This feels like that’s what was in msy brainpan for right now, so off I go to roll around nekkid in my library haul. Kidding, kidding. I will be wearing clothing, and there may be nappage. There will definitely be many cat headbonks, and calico cuddles.

What are you reading lately?

The Sims, Romance Writing, and Stream of Consciousness

July 5, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Very quick stream of consciousness post today, since I am most assuredly in the zone for working on Queen of Hearts today. If all goes right, I can have a rough version of the next scene for my weekly conference with Melva. We agreed that this book is going to go a lot quicker than Drama King did, and I want to make sure it does.

Fourth of July was pretty quiet around here. As in I did a lot of napping, and I regret nothing. We cannot see the fireworks from this apartment, but we certainly heard them. This year, hearing them was enough, as I had my eyeballs pinned to my current Sims 4 save. I’m giving the Legacy Challenge a shot. Not doing any scoring whatsoever, as I am not in this for the math, but the basic idea is to start with a single Sim, on a big, empty lot, with very little money, and then use them to build a dynasty that lasts ten generations. I am on the fourth generation now, and having a lot of fun with it.

There are lots of variations on this legacy. I decided from the start that I wanted this to be a matriarchy, as in everything goes through the maternal line, aka firstborn girl inherits. If there are no girls in a generation, then the firstborn male may hold the spot for his firstborn daughter. Pictured above are my current generation, the lovely Fiona and her (townie) husband, Osvaldo. They currently have one daughter, Alexa who is child age, and fingers crossed she makes it through, because Osvaldo has the “hates children” trait, but he was frequently the one to autonomsously tend Alexa when she was a baby, so maybe he’s a masochist? Anyway, Fiona is going to university for her art degree, so Osvaldo can stay home to tend Alexa and their vast garden.

What does all of this have to do with writing? On the surface, not much. A little deeper, quite a bit. Generational sagas have always been my favorite sort of linked stories/series, especially in historical romance, where we can see the legacy of love build from the first two progenitors, and see how the family progresses thrugh years, decades, even centuries. Follow one family from medieval times to the turn of the 20th century? Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. With a gauranteed happily ever after for each individual couple in every story, the sort of HEA that only gets HEA-ier as the young lovers become parents, then in-laws, then grandparents.

This does bring in the issue of character death, since our medieval progenitors are not going to be alive in the Belle Epoque. I’m actually okay with that, as my taste in historical romance hews more to the dramatic than rom-com. In a more lighthearted series, death of a main character (after many years) would seem out of place to a lot of readers, and many lighthearted series tend to focus on one generation at a time, so maybe it doesn’t come up all that much? I have seen the demise of older heroes and heroines done well, and done poorly, but it’s part of life, and those generationgs outside of the current characters’ living memory can take on a legendary tone, so that is actually a plus in my book.

Ah. Aha. Wait. I found a connection. Heather, the heroine of Queen of Hearts, lives in the shadow of her mother’s reputation. Jessica Stewart was a legendary author of epic historical romance, and Heather now has the responsibility of running the publishing house her mother started. Heather is not a writer, but she’s passionate about the historical romance genre, its books, its writers, its readers, its, well, history. She’s trying to figure out where she fits into all of that, while raising a precocious six-year-old on her own, and very gingerly sticking her toe in the dating waters after a painful divorce. For those who love a genuinely good hero, have no fear, her best friend, Rob very much fits the bill. He’s very different from Dominic from Chasing Prince Charming, or Jack from Drama King, which is exactly how I want it to be. The historical heroes, as well, are a whole other story, pun intended.

Okay back to writing I go. Cover me, I’m going in.

Typing With Wet Paws: Heatwoven Edition

July 2, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. It’s a cool and sometimes rainy day over here in New York State, which means the heat wave has broken, and Aunt Anna will be re-entering functional adult life. She’s been taking it super-easy for most of the week, staying cool and hydrated. Thankfully, I have been on the juob the entire time. Often on her, because what’s better for heat wave sluggishness than a beautiful calico girl sitting on one’s torso?

Okay, most of the time I was near her rather than actually on her, but being on our humans is one of the ways we kitties show our love, and I love Aunt Anna a LOT. Like really a lot. She’s my favorite. Uncle Rheuben and Aunt Linda are pretty good, too, but yeah. Anyway, this was not the most productive of weeks. and that is okay. Even with all the hotness and the sweating and the hydrating and stuff, she did actually get some stuff done. Here are a few of them:

Reading

Heat waves are pretty good for reading, especially when Aunt Anna can stick in some earbuds, flop in front of a fan, and have a professional voiceover person read her a story. If pressed, she is even okay on the robo-voice that comes with her Kindle’s text to speech function. Even that goes a long way. A friend, Miss Lisa, from Buried Under Romance, told Aunt Anna there is a way she can change the robo-voice if she wants to, to maybe get a male voice when she wants it, or even a British voice, male or female, but she hasn’t looked into that lately. Standard robo-voice will work quite well.

She’s even gone to the library (away from me for an Entire Hour, ahem) to get some paper books for the Historical Romance Readathon. She did pretty well on that front, and will talk more about that on Buried Under Romance. Aunt Anna likes reading challenges like this because not only is it community related, but it’s also a way to try some bokos she might not have noticed on her own.

The fact that it comes during a heat wave is a very convenient coincidence. It also does wonders for her Goodreads Reading Challenge. As of this writing, she has read 58 out of 90 books, which puts her at 64% of the way to her goal. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Keep going, Aunt Anna.

Writing

Even though Aunt Anna is only unoficcially camping this year, July is still for getting back on the historical romance hrse while discovery drafting her third book with Aunt Melva, Queen of Hearts. If that sounds like a lot of stuff to writie, that is exactly what Aunt Anna likes best. Keep her on the page, and she is a happy camper, even if she did not sign up for CampNaNo this year. She has a notebook all set up for un-bungling the second half of Her Last First Kiss, and, now that the heat has broken, she has the brainpower to complete her edits on A Heart Most Errant and move forward in that project. Soon, there willl be formatting and cover art and all that good stuff. She’ll figure out what metric she wants to use to track progress. I am betting there will be a paper notebook where she keeps track of all that. I plan to sit on it.

Planning

This is a big week for planner enthusiasts like Aunt Anna, becasue July is the time of year when eighteen month cladendars start. When I say planners, this also includes new notebooks for special reasons, like working on her focus projects for the next few months. Writing about historical romance, Aunt Anna has found, is an essential part of writing historical romance, so she has a notebook set up for that, tracking what she likes and doesn’t like, the history of the genre, and what its future might be. Those are things she will share on Anna Log and Buried Under Romance. There is a lot going on on that front. Trust me on that. I have laid on a lot of these books, so I can vouce for them.

I think that’s about it for this week. Overall, life is pretty good, if uncomfortable for the last several days. Thankfully, we have cooler weather for the next few days, so Aunt Anna is feeling a lot more Aunt Anna-y. How is your week?

Headbonks!

Storm

Pillbugging

June 28, 2021annabowling Leave a comment

This post has nothing to do with actual buts, and probably very little to do with actual pills. In case you’re not familiar with what a pillbug (also called roly-poly) is, it’s this. Armadillidium Vulgare. Basically an armadillo bug that assumes pill shape when it hits a situation where the only acceptable answer is “nope.”

In our family, it’s also a code word for “I need to disengage for a bit. Please leave food at the door and back away slowly.I will emerge when I am rested.” Which is in part how I feel at the moment. Everything is fine, though we are in for a good old fashioned July heat wave, which I plan on observing by slopping in front of a box fan, continuously hydrating, and reading historical romance until I fall asleep. Though, seriously, I have found a YouTube channeo that explains the history of multilevel marketing schemes that actually seems to be perfect for knocking me right out.

This is also the time of yearr where planner aficionados like myself are giddy with joy, because the eighteen month planners are starting, so all of my planner stuff is shiny and new. New formats, new things to track. Household planner and writing planner are acgtually two separate books this time around, with NO household things in the writing planner at all, I think this is going to be a big help in focusing, especially since this is also the month for Camp NaNo.

I haven’t signed up yet, and I may not, because I am not yet sure exactly what I want to track. Maybe time spent on the project? I know I zigged where I should have zagged, and the surgery on the second half of the book is what’s needed, but does it really have to be in the middle of a heat wave? It does? Okay. I’ll deal.

It’s also the time when Melva and I are discovery drafting Queen of Hearts. We have each read each other’s first scene, and it’s meshing. I am looking forward to the rest of the journey. Same with AHME edits. Breaking it down into manageable bites, not geting ahead of myself, and, maybe most of all, knowing that it may be tougher to do in my least favorite season, but making adjustments is totally okay. Good, even.

I am excited about my writing projects, and about reading as well, as I’ve been pinpointing exactly what it is that hits my historical romance loving heart straight in the feels –female-led adventure seems to define it pretty darned well at pressent, and yes, the HEA is a must, so still romance.

It may be a little slower and less social media-y than I would normally prefer, but different seasons have different speeds, and that’s probably for a very good reason. I once talked about this sort of thing with an acquaintance, and referenced crop rotation, not sure if they would get the connection, but they had grown up as a farm kid, so it hit home. Basically, let’s say Farmer has four fields and three crops, red, yellow and blue.

Year one, they plant Red in field one, Blue in field two, and Yellow in field three. Field four? Nada. Chill, bro. Year two, Red goes in field two, Blue in field three, Yellow gets to call “first” on field four, and field one can take the season off, rest up, because next time, it’s getting Yellow, while Red goes in field two, and so on. Ebb and flow, in a way, and what’s come before norishes what comes next. I like that idea.

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance

writing