writing

Settling In, and Other Stories

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There is no surer sign of settling into a new place, for a stationary aficionado, than figuring out where all the pens and papers go. For a writer? Same thing. Luckily for me, I am both, and this is our way of putting down roots. Today, I have the house to myself, the office is more or less in place, and spedning a few minutes to plot out the day goes a long way to eliminating the “too many things to do” feeling.

Since it’s November, this is the time of year when plans for the next year, for planning and for writing both, not to mention reading, c ome naturally to mind. As of right now, I am not sure what my planner situation will be for 2021. I do love my disc bound systems, and especially the metal discs (soooo smooth) but the further I get into storage, the more options I find. Besides the dis bound options, in four different sizes, no less, I have:

  • Traveler’s notebooks
  • Ring bound systems
  • bullet journal/bound book
  • preprinted bound planner

Not to mention the good old fashioned three ring letter and half letter size binder. Which one is my favorite? All of them. Since our whole family is dedicated, especially now, to making good financial decisions, I want to challenge myself to, whenever possible, use what I already have. The reasons for this are several:

  1. Everything I have has already been purchased or gifted.
  2. I already like it.
  3. Putting existing things in new combinations is fun.
  4. I don’t have to mask up and go out to use stuff that’s right here.
  5. I finally have a chance to dig in and use what calls to me, and equally fun, to pass the stuff I don’t love as much on to somebody else who will love it – which makes room for more stuff for me.

Okay, that last one doesn’t fit with a lower-spend philosophy, but pen and paper tuff is at the top of my gift list when such occasions arrive, because although I have a lot, I use it, which feels utterly amazing. Like how my once upon a time writing group facilitator, J, told us that we had to keep the pen moving once it hit the paper, during our timed sprints, and the process would beget the product. That’s turning out to be true as I set up the corner of the master bedroom that is my space.

the coffin of black pens

I have my cardboard coffin that holds black pens, both ballpoint and gel. These get a lot of use. Washi tape (actually just washi, as apparently “Washi” means “tape” so it’s like a “ramen noodles” thing where it’s literally saying “noodle noodles,” so “tape tape?”) comes in many flavors, but right now, I am focusing on blush and black. It’s an aesthetic, and I’m feeling it.

Also skinny metallic tape, because Christmas is coming

That fits pretty darned well, because it applies to writing. I write romance, yes, so it is all about the love, but I need the darker edge as well. What if a pirate, marooned on an uncharted island, somehow made it back to land and hunted down the mentor who left him to die? What if that opened the door to three generations of pirates?

What if medieval romance and post-apocalyptic romance had a story baby that was both of them at the same time? (News on that coming in the not too distant future) What if I stretched outside my comfort zone and told more stories in that world.? What if I unpacked stories, as well as physical items, that I had put aside for some nebulous time in the future? What if the future was now?

Those among us who are writers will know (or I hope you know) the feeling of finding an old notebook and reading the story skeleton you’d scribbled down once upon a time, and hey, this thing is pretty good. What f I brought it over to a fresh page/file and picked it back up again? That’s not a bad feeling by any stretch of the imagination.

As we keep looking through our stuff in storage, I am eagerly looking for my Alpha Smart, but I have more than enough notebooks, index cards, sticky notes, etc, to tide me over until I can incorporate that into the mix. Stay tuned for a closer look at the tools of the trade, as it were, because I can talk about stationery for fluffing ever.

Bit by bit, it’s all coming together, and there is probably going to be a moment (or definitely going to be a moment) when I slip over the line, and, like a kid kicking off the training wheels, hey, I’m doing it. Maybe I’m there. How about you?

Anna

NaNo or NaNot, 2020 Edition

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That time of year again, when the eternal question for many of us writer types is “do I participate in National Novel Writing Month?” I’ve thought about it a lot this year, probably more than most. I came down on the side of…kind of, maybe.

While some may say NaNo or NaNot, there is no “kind of,” that’s where i landed, and rather organically at that. I love the idea of going all in and, as a favorite aunt would say, going hell bent for leather toward a distinct goal. What to write, though, well, that’s where things get murkier. I love the idea of those who can dive in with no other idea than “I’m going to write something” and make it all the way to the end. That’s not me, and comparing the way I do things to the way anybody else does things is not ever going to work. Part of my day is set aside for putting on a podcast and getting on the bed with a bunch of sticky notes and/or index cards and setting out all the things I want to write in the next while.

For some things, it’s pretty clear cut. Come hell or high water, Melva Michaelian and I are going to get Drama King, our second jointly written contemporary, done and dusted, ASAP. Part of it is that we are eager to get to the third Love By the Book story, Queen of Hearts, but how flat out fun it is to combine snarky grumpmaster Jack and ray of sunshine Kelly (cue “Tomorrow” from Annie, which might be a reasonable choice for Kelly’s incidental music) and goodness knows we could all use any fun we can get this year.

There’s also kicking myself back into historical romance gear. I am taking my first step into indie publication, and exploring a new format -novella- and time period -medieval- and taking a wide angle view of the place where what I love to do best and what the market fancies converge. That kind of excites me, to be honest, and it also gives me a reason to play with stationery, which is my second instrument after writing. There’s also the desire to not write less about writing, but to write actual fiction and see the pages accumulate (hence the attempt to set up the new printer at long last after I write this blog entry) along with writing about writing. Maybe talking about it, too, because YouTube very definitely is partly responsible for me still being here (gestures in the general sense) after very definitively the worst year of my life.

Phew. Let’s take a break. First home decor photo I can share is below. Bit by bit, we are putting down roots and making this look like home. One of these throw pillows is not like the others.

purr-fect contentment, yes?

The new normal is still taking form, and I don’t want to rush it. I actually tend to get a lot more done, and the ideas flowing much more freely, when I set aside some time to play with pens or noodle around with Sims, some You Tube or podcast or TV show in the background, consciously working toward drinking x glasses of water a day, focusing more on getting story from brain to page, one day at a time, right now. I will probably give one of both Camp NaNos a go. That’s a tale for another time.

For now, this is Monday’s blog post, t he first one for November. I do have plans for less rambly, more focused sorts of posts, if you’re into that sort of thing. Types of stories I’m looking at writing, my renewed and boundless love for black paper notebooks and pens that write on them, planner lineups for the new year, and my reading plans for same.

The fun thing about NaNo, besides getting to cheer on all those who are officially participating this year or any other, is that the principles can be put into place at any time, and modified to fit the individual’s needs. Camp NaNo is one example, and writing, in general, is another. Writer friends are available at all times of year, and I am always thankful for mine.

Happy reading, and happy writing,

Anna

Beautiful Mess

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No picture of the new Stately Bowling Manor as of yet, as it’s all boxes and cat hair and furniture in the middles of rooms. Definitely not fit for public consumption, but I love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Monday, the three of us spent hauling furniture and boxes our of our storage unit, and up two flights of stairs. We did agree that for some of the heavier pieces, like my beloved secretary desk, we should wait until we can find some strapping young people who can be paid in pizza, so we now have folding desks for both Real Life Romance Hero and myself, which double as nightstands, and our bedside lamps are Wal-Mart’s finest. We have the skeleton pillows a dear friend gave us a year ago, on the bed, along with burgundy plaid flannel sheets and a berry and white afghan Housemate knitted back in our first Albany apartment.

this blog post is Storm-approved

This is wildly different from where we were only a few short weeks ago, and there is a learning curve. I thought that the transition to apartment living would be pretty much plug and play, but it’s something else, and I am fine with that. I actually like the idea of a fresh start, and going through the stuff we put away for our next home is interesting when it’s the people we were who packed it but the people we are who are unpacking.

Right now, I am composing this blog entry because getting back on the metaphorical horse is paramount. RLRH came home early, and my first instinct was to ask him to make lunch, because I’m writing. That felt good. Having a desk I can sit at in the morning also feels good, and the fact that “writing plan” is in bold black ink on today’s space in my big planner doesn’t feel daunting, but exciting. I can go anywhere.

By my estimation, Melva and I are only a few scenes away from the first full draft of our second contemporary, Drama King, and something is afoot for an upcoming historical release. Still need to reconnect with Her Last First Kiss, which, for me, is going to mean talking it out with a writer friend who knows historical romance, the Georgian era, and my writing well enough to help me still the pinwheel in my brain. (Applications for the position are officially open.) I am not entirely convinced that a manuscript doesn’t have to be perfect in order to make a good book, but I am on the road there, one step at a time.

I thought about NaNo this year. It would make a lot of sense, and if I can comfortably produce one unit of writing (I count by “units” now, which for me is about 1 to 1.5 k words in a session) a day, then 16+k isn’t that much more, so not totally out of reach. Maybe when the first Camp NaNo rolls around in the spring. Right now, I am focused on taking the next steps and getting back to finding out what Current Anna can do.

What I know for sure is that she/I can tell stories. I love to tell stories. I don’t have to reach every reader, only my readers, and what my readers want is what I have to give, so trying to follow trends or be like anybody else, no matter how much I may admire their work, doesn’t make any sense. Making sure I connect with those readers, well, that is another thing, but not something I need to concern myself with at present, because books are the way to connect writer and reader, so making sure the books get written and out there is job one. That, I can do.

I’ll leave that here for today. I’ve missed blogging regularly, and now that I have one place to be, and a fairly regular schedule, my goal is to get back to the thrice a week posting, and am strongly looking at resuming the video blogs of yore, with perhaps a wider focus. We’ll see how that goes.. For now, time to help RLRH set up the clothing rack.I get adult points for that, right?

Anna

Now, Where Were We?

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Hi. I’m Anna. I write stuff. Theoretically historical and contemporary romance novels, and I blabber about them a lot. I also love stationery, and there is a rumor going around that I do a thing called “blogging.”

I’ve been remiss on that last one for the past year and change, because there were bedbugs and then homelessness, motel rooms, car camping (do not recommend) hospital stays (not mine, ) panic attacks (mine) and a whole lot of uncertainty from day to day.

Now, it’s a different story. We are in our new apartment, and coming up on our first monthiversary of same. No pictures as of yet, because they would all be of boxes and cat hair, and we aren’t moving real furniture in until around the weekend, which also contains two deadlines and my birthday. I am, obviously, a glutton for punishment. Common affliction for writers, I believe, and especially for those who, like me, are getting back to normal (for me) after a year that was anything but.

the scent of home

I don’t know how much I’m going to talk about that stuff here, because I want to focus on what’s ahead of me, and what’s right now, and right now is a lot of making sense of what was. Which, again, common among writers, especially those who write historical romance. Even my contemporary ventures have some tie to historical romance, so who can tell? These things have a way of sorting themselves out, and I plan to let them.

Right now, we are well, we are housed, we are fed, everybody is working, and there will be book related news in the very near future. Having our own internet connection at home helps a lot, though I am writing this while sitting on the floor, the desktop I hauled around in the back seat of a car for a year, on a coffee table, which is not the most comfortable arrangement, but real furniture is coming in only a matter of days, so very, very doable.

Think I’m going to leave this entry at that, with a big THANK YOU to all who are reading this, whether new or still sticking around after the year of what the fluff. Thank you for those who contributed to our GoFundMe, who reached out privately, who prayed for us, thought of us, held us in the light, or did whatever it is you do. Thank you for text messages and DMs and Skype and Discord chats, for emails and pizzas and motel rooms, for meeting us in shady parking lots with gas cards and crudites, for buying books and leaving reviews, and all the rest that goes along with that.

Next evolution.

Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Let’s Get Moving Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. This past week was better for Aunt Anna, anxiety-wise, but there has been a lot of adulting, a very warm hotel room that would be quite cozy in winter, but it’s not winter (don’t worry, the owner/manager is on the case, and it will be back to normal soon; he is only making sure the place will be warm in winter.) and the newest thing: we may be able to get into New Apartment *sooner* than we had expected. Not official yet, but a strong possibility.

Coming back from bad anxiety can take a while, and it’s more a bunch of baby steps in the right direction until, oh hey there, she’s writing again. A lot of it was playing Sims while listening to You Tube videos. For this past week, a lot of it was from the channel Heart Breathings, which is where author Sarra Cannon shares how she does what she does. One of the things Ms. Sarra said was that having beautiful stationery makes her want to look at the pages more, which is exactly how Aunt Anna feels.

so we’re doing this now…

I should mention that the pages you see here are not from Heart Breathings, but from Aunt Anna’s Writing Helps Pinterest board. She did print out a bunch of stuff from M. Sarra’s board, though, and will talk about that more later. Big life changes affect writing a lot more than a human might like, so trying new things may be a good way to get back into a routine that works best for the writer a person is, now.

I should also mention that, at this time last year, besides not knowing me yet (we call that the Dark Ages) Aunt Anna thought the Happy Planner line was silly and ew, plastic discs. Then she got two for her birthday, and now she loves it, especially the notebooks,. and has found a use for every size they offer, from big to micro. She likes metal discs better than plastic, which is fine by me, because I think the plastic ones will be perfect for playing with in the new apartment. We all know that’s going to happen.

Anyway, there is a questionnaire she printed about how to reconnect with a story after time away, and boy does she ever need that one. Some of those questions are hard, but also look like they can pinpoint what went wrong and how to fix it. For Aunt Anna, a lot of the time, the big stumbling block is “I don’t know.” We are working on that and while it’s kind of scary, nothing can be as scary as the year just past, so she’s up for the challenge. NaNoWriMo is not a go but it’s not off the table, especially in an unofficial capacity. Right now, she’s counting progress in “units” which she will explain later, and seems to work pretty well so far, and, most importantly, does not need to be perfect. She is also kind of salty that she thinks she might like to try a writing group again, but NY is still taking precautions, so maybe online groups might be a good idea.

As you can imagine, this is one of those drive-by posts but Aunt Anna wanted to show signs of life, and it is Feline Friday, after all. More details to come as she has them, including a review of how these new tools work for her and the way she writes now.

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Second Week of September Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. Usually, Aunt Anna helps m out with the snappy tittles, but she had a rough anxiety week, so I will cut her a little slack. Do not worry; Nurse Storm is on the case, with my patented paws-on brand of purr-apy. That kind of makes up for the anxiety I caused her by chewing through her CPU’s power cord last week. I did not get zapped, which is good, but I am no longer allowed behind the computer, which is bad (according to me.)

Moving along…and speaking of moving, that is what is taking up a lot of Aunt Anna’s brain at the moment. Things went well with the apartment th Aunts saw, and the property manager likes them, so things went to the next level. That level is applications and deposit, and the property manager said to call him for something called a walk through. I like the sound of that.

Aunt Anna’s Goodreads reading challenge has been holding steady at six books ahead of schedule, That big lead from earlier comes in very handy in times like these. She does have a list of books she wants to read, and TV/Movies she would like to watch, when things are a bit calmer. Since both reading and watching are sedentary activities, I am all for them. I will try and sneak in a purr-apy session or two. I’m clever like that.

Anyway, the stats look like this: Aunt Anna has read sixty-eight out of ninety books, which puts her at seventy-six percent of the way to her goal. Not too shabby, especially in the midst of all the chaos going on.

For those wondering about Buried Under Romance, Saturday discussion is back, baby, and keep an eye out for new reviews, bound to make many TBRs get all that longer.

Aunts Anna and Melva’s favorite one-year-old

Hard to believe it’s been a year since these two crazy kids were unleashed on the world. For those thirsty for the next Love by the Book story, Aunts Anna and Melva have been chugging ever closer to Jack and Kelly’s HEA. After that, time for Heather and Rob in book number three.

Aunt Anna’s figure-out-historical-romance-stuff notebook
(and extra paper because she will need extra paper)

As for historical progress, Aunt Anna found one interesting thing about her manuscripts that are complete and/or near enough to completion to count as such. Most of her stories fall into the following three time periods:

  • Medieval
  • Georgian (up to 1799)
  • English Civil War & Restoration

This doesn’t mean she isn’t interested in writing other eras, because she is (she will be all over the Tudor era someday) but for now, that’s a concentration that’s too strong to ignore. Apart from the medievals, and the pirate trilogy, the others aren’t directly connected, but — could they be? Is similar time period a strong enough connection for you as a reader?

zzzzzzzzzzzz…..

I already covered the most important me part with the stuff about the computer cord. I am not too pleased that I am no longer allowed to sit behind Aunt Anna’s computer, but they are getting me some new toys to make up for it, so I guess I still win. You can see how fitfully I sleep over this. Guess that’s about it for now, and there is a sunbeam calling my name, so say it with me…

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Hello, September Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. A lot has happened in the last year, s Uncle Rheuben and the Aunts are coming up on what they call their homelessversary, marking one year since they left their last apartment. they are planning on marking the occasion by putting in applications on a new apartment, and we are all pretty excited about that. Only a little more than a month after that, they celebrate an even more auspcious ocasion, the anniversary of the day they got ME. I am pushing for a photo retrospective for that one, because, well, look at me. I’m gorgeous.

Aunt Anna is looking forward to putting down some roots in a new apartment, and her work hours are pretty easy to figure out – the days when both Uncle Rheuben and Aunt Linda are off at their day jobs. This lines up pretty nicely with some fun new opportunities Aunt Anna found out about from Dragonblade Publishing, aka

The Write Stuff

Aunt Anna is pretty excited about Dragonblade looking for new writers, because A) she is a writer of historical romance, B ) Dragonblade is her dream boutique publisher, and C) Dragonblade looks like the place for innovative historical romance with an old school flair, suited for the modern reader, and Aunt Anna is all about all of that. She’s going to be up against a lot of talent, but she’s actually inspired by that. This may or may not also be giving her some of the same adrenaline rush she usually gets by proxy from watching So You Think You Can Dance. She hopes that show will be back next summer.

Drama King

Funny how this writing thing works with writers. Aunt Anna is firmly back in the saddle with this one, and quite happily back at work in earnest. It’s not too long to HEA for Kelly and Jack, and then it’s time for Aunt Anna and Aunt Melva to send it to their editor to see if she likes it. After that, they start on their next book, which they are calling Queen of Hearts.

Buried Under Romance

It’s been a rough year over there, because real life has been a trip, but Aunt Anna is still super excited to get back to making the blog the best it can be. What sort of content would you like to see on a blog focused on historical romance? Blog tours are great, but what else? Author visits? Excertps? Lists of staff emembers’ favorites?

Goodreads

Aunt Anna is back on track for reading as well, which surprises even her, but that’s how it works. One day, the desire is just back and there it is. As of now, she is still an impressive six books ahead of schedule, andmay even overtake herself in not too much time at all. Among her current reads are:

49392936
Bookish and the Beast -Ashley Poston
Once Upon a Con, #3

and

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Angel’s Fall -Kimberly Cates
Culloden’s Fire #2

Aunt Anna has the next book in that series all queued up after she finishes this one, and then the next one after that, which is actually the first one (don’t ask me, I just work here) are all ready to go. She’s not back at watching TV/Movies yet, but she is making a list of stuff to watch when she does have the brain for it. I, of course, will be there to assist her by sitting on her and motor purring louder than the speakers. It’s what I do.

Discord

A quick reminder that Aunt Anna’s Lion and Thistle Discord server is up and running, for discussion of all things historical romance related, writing, reading, or anything else. If you’re interested, you can find her on Discord at Snowbound Mermaid #5234.

Now we come to the important part, the part about me. We are entering into uncharted territory, because I have never been with this family during a September before, so I do not have a baseline for the whole September experience. We will see how that goes. The notes Big Sister Skye left say that Aunt Anna gets her super powers back sometimes during September, and I can definitelys see traces of that. She’s got an extra spring in her step these days, though some of that could be from the possible apartment-age or looking down the barrel of a really funcompetition (Dragonblade) and actually having her writing mojo back. All in all, I guess that’s okay. As long as she is still there for cuddles and belly rubs. I absolutely require my belly rubs.

Headbonks!

Swimming Up From the Bottom of the Gelatin Sea

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ETA: Um, whoops, this was originally titled “Almost One Year Later.”
The new title, I like better, but makes no sense with the opening paragraph. I am still a little punchy.

No, this is not a reference to how long it has been between blog entries. Only slightly over a year ago, after a prolonged battle with the bedbugs that ate all of our soft furniture, linens, and a good chunk of Housemate’s epidermis (she still has scars) we left what we called the for-now apartment, fully expecting to walk into a new, better one in the span of a week, tops. That, as regular readers of the blog will remember, is not what happened. In fact, it was the opposite.

Right now, in my planners, I have the fifth of September listed as our “homelessversary,” marking a full year between permanent addresses. In between, we have had multiple ER visits, involuntary camping trips, amazing family and friends, one feline jailbreak (and reunion) the total loss of ability and/or desire to read my favorite genres (or anything else) and paying any sort of attention to video entertainment that has two digits before the colon in its duration. My favorite show has been YouTube, and even that has seen me groaning at videos with the interminable duration of four minutes and fifteen seconds. Both attention span and short term memory have taken nosedives, which is both perfectly normal and not something I like.

As of the start of this week, I have learned another thing. Apparently, my body’s response to the potential of strong relief is to go wet noodle for 24 hours, which basically is a sleep so deep I feel like I’m trying to kick my way to the surface in a pool full of well-set gelatin. The relief is due to a phone call that came early Monday, the latest round of phone tag with a prospective landlord we have been wanting to connect with for most of this time. We went to view an apartment, and we love it. The property manager loves us. Now we are filling out paperwork, getting ready to put down a deposit, and The possibility of spending at least part of our homelessversary getting ready to move into our new home is very real.

Sleeping at the bottom of the gelatin pool was yesterday. This morning was up early, and at the keyboard, with a sense of purpose. I’m not saing that normalcy is strictly needed to do any writing (what writers would call themselves normal, after all?) but I can say that this was a very encouraging development, and one where I will be sure to keep you all posted.

So, what does this mean for the writing? For one thing, I hve learned that living the vagabond life with a desktop computer is not easy, but it can be done. We are still looking at obtaining a new laptop, or repairing an older one, so that I can take my show on the road once we are settled, aka writing in coffee shops, or the park, and yes, that does sound a lot like what I have been striving to do while living the vagabond life, but it’s different when it’s by choice, not necessity.

As part of that, I did a quick brain dump in my general writing :salute: notebook, to list the historical romance projects that can most easily be revived. There are rather a lot of them. Ouch. Get to the end, Anna. One thing that hasn’t changed is that I still think in standalones, but I also like living indoors and eating food, and right now, linked books are what readers want, so can I find a way to fit what I do with what they want?

As it turns out, I think so. My historicals that I have brought to at least a first draft fall into a few distinct categories, namely medieval, Restoration, and Georgian. Please note that Restoration does have some English Civil War in it, because, well, they need something from which to be restored, am I right? Georgian for me refers only to the eighteenth century part of that period, since I have determined that I have been born without the Regency writing gene, and will leave that era to those who write it oh so well. My brain does not care on which side of the Atlantic my story people reside, so both Georgian England and the American colonies are fair game.

Not mentioned is the Tudor era, because although it was the first era I truly loved, (and love) I have not yet found my footing in that setting as of yet, but I have every faith that it will happen in time. Pun intended. also, if I add the Tudor era in there, I can conceivably wrangle a family saga, by linking my medieval people and calling those who come after their descendants. That way, I can go straight from the medieval age to the end of the American Revolution and things will all hold together…maybe? I don’t know, and I don’t have to know it today. For today it’s enough that I put my butt in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard and know that, in this, I am already home.

Back at It

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For the first time in over an entire year, the other two adults in my family are both at work at the same time, so that means that I am, too. It’s great and it’s strange. Right now, as I write this, I am also in an informal meeting with Lisa from Buried Under Romance, because I was around and she was around, and “yeah, let’s do this right now” hit, and that’s pretty much how I feel about writing in general at the moment.

When I lay out my weekly plan in my household planner, the truth of our now finally hit – with that swatch of pastel orange highlighter, and the new swatch of blue highlighter, both Housemate and Real Life Romance Hero will be at work at the same time, for a several hour stretch. I stared at the colors for a while and then it hit. When I see both those colors at once, that is my prime writing time. How to make sure I’m inspired when that time hits? I am inspired. I like money. I like living indoors. I like eating food, and maybe most importantly, I have a pen and paper habit that cannot be tamed, so I better darned well have a stream of income open.

our one-year-old

For me, that means writing books. Since Melva and I have already passed the first anniversary of Chasing Prince Charming, it is high time that we get up to date on Drama King. Since the general suckiness :salute: of real life has been a factor in knocking me off track with my share of the work, it stands to reason that things straightening out will provide me with new opportunities to make up for lost time. At least that’s the plan. There will probably be some setbacks and side quests, but, for today, I am here at the keyboard, I have a concrete goal to meet, and I know Melva will provide the feedback I run on, so things are looking good.

As for historical romance, watch this space, as there will be an update soon. Trying a couple of new things, and pretty excited about them. Also kind of daunted because this will mean putting some pressure on myself, but I think it’s going to be the good kind of pressure, and never try, never know. All I’m going to say for right now. but historical romance fans, I will have something for you in the not too distant future.

Vagueposting, I know, but it’s fun to slip one of those in there after more than a year of the world being on fire. Today means that I am up to and able to interweave writing and planning and I like that combination. Right now, I’m looking at my temporary command center, at the blush aesthetic I have going on here, and the dark red Pilot Precise V5 (clicky!) I picked up not too long ago means that my autumn aesthetic is going to start organically finding its way into my day to day. I’m looking forward to that.

For right now, the new header will be the ‘face” of this blog for the rest of summer (to be measured by however long it feels right) and I will autumn-ify it as needed. I like that comfortable evolution of things slipping into place, rather than me trying to shove a ten pound cat into a two pound bag, which I am wont to do more times than I would care to admit. There will be a few new graphics, and I may move around the way things look in general, but it’s not o much becoming different as it is becoming right. I don’t know of a better way to put that, and I don’t think any better way is needed. What I do know is that this feels right, doesn’t need pushing, and is headed in the right direction.

Anna

Typing With Wet Paws: Jailbreak II: Hallway Boogaloo Edition

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Tails up, Storm Troopers! I’m Storm, you’re awesome, and this is Typing With Wet Paws. We’ll start with the mot important stuff. Aunt Anna says that means that she had a good writing week, but I have to disagree. Ther important stuff is about me, obviously.

First and arguably the most important thing is that the humans are reasonably sure that I am not pregnant because I am now in heat. That mostly means me slinking around the room, doing my very seductive (to boy cats, at least I hope) trilling calls, and being super lovey. It also involves me wanting to go find boy cats.

Yesterday, as we moved into a new room after a night of camping (during which there were zero opportunities to make a break for it) I did not throw away my shot (Hamilton reference for the win. Hm. Lin-Manuel Miranda, here’s a suggestion. Hear me out: Catmilton. Like Hamilton, but with cats. Eliza should totally be a calico girl. Think about it.) and while the aunts were concerned with getting their things inside, I went zoom through the barely open door.

That was when Aunt Anna told me to get back there, and I did not listen, but the other humans very much did. Uncle Rheuben shut the hallway door (never do that unless it is an emergency, and a kitty on the loose is an emergency) and Aunt Linda hurried after Aunt Anna in case Aunt Anna needed backup. As for me, I trotted down the hallway, with my happy tail high, making my super seductive boy cat call, but there were no boy cats.

There were no other cats, period. Actually, there was nobody except the aunts following me, a lot of closed doors, and carpet, carpet everywhere. I did see a set of stairs, but I don’t really know how stairs work, because I’ve never used them before, so I ignored them and kept going. Aunt Anna kept up with me and told me I wasn’t going anywhere. I kept going.

That’s when she pointed Very Sternly in the opposite direction, toward our new room, and she told me I had to go that way. I knew Aunt Anna meant business, so I turned right around and went that way. Aunt Linda laughed, and Uncle Rheuben made sure I got back in the room, and then I got food. Now the humans put a suitcase in front of the door, so I am less likely to slip through. It’s tough to be a kitty.

Plague Doctor freebie sticker from Jen.erating

For those who like to see where Aunt Anna does her writing and blogging stuff, this is what it looks like for this current stay. As Aunt Anna said while lugging the CPU and monitor up the stairs, it is time to either get one of the old laptops brought up to scratch, or get a new one. She’ll put that on the list of stuff to do while we are settled. She is happy to do the lugging, though, because that helps her move forward with the whole writing thing, which, this week, has included:

  • looking into hiring an editor/formatter/cover artist for one of her unreleased titles
  • made a short list of places to query her two out of print titles
  • started setting the framework for the follow-up to the book at the top of this list
  • given some long overdue attention to an Aunt Melva scene from Drama King and started making notes on her own scene to follow
  • attended a cyber-meeting of her local RWA chapter, which had a great workshop on how to get unstuck, and putting some of those methods into practice

All in all, pretty good. It appears my mews services have been effective. I will continue in that vein. Aunt Anna is also back reading, and is very happy to be participating in the Historical Romance Readathon, Weekend Edition. Same idea as the regular flavor, but downsized for today’s fast paced lifestyle. Aunt Anna is starting off her TBR list with two titles:

She’s keeping the list small for now, but if she finishes both during the weekend, she’ll add another. I don’t remember how long it was since she read anything, but that’s the way it goes. Reading slumps/droughts hit, and then they end, as abruptly. Aunt Anna is okay with that. She is still looking for a YA contemporary to tickle her fancy, and there is a fantasy collection, The Grand Tour, by E. Catherine Tobler, that she expects she will devour.

That return to reading will be the topic of Aunt Anna’s next blog entry at Buried Under Romance, which she expects to get up by tomorrow morning. One of the things she is working on right now is a social media planner, so she can keep better track of what she means to post, and when. Part of that also includes making sure her Instagram has the proper number of pictures of me, so I fully support that effort. Apparently she’s going to shoot for one-third pictures of me. Eh, it’s a start.

Finally, Aunt Anna would like to unveil my brand new signoff picture, which she might try making into a sticker. That, I want to see. Guess that’s about it for right now, so until then,

Headbonks!