Typing With Wet Claws: A Few Skulls Couldn’t Hurt

November 21, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

Skye here, for another Feline Friday. It’s been an interesting week here. Though we are in New York, we did not get any of the big snow. We are several hours east of that, and while it is cold, all we have is sunshine and a few clouds. Anty has been at the glowy box a lot. She had two posts go live on Heroes and Heartbreakers:

A first look at Twice Tempted by Eileen Dreyer

and

Heart to Heart: The Walking Dead season 5, episode 6: Consumed by the Chemistry

I do not get to read books because I am a kitty (even though I am named after a book) so I do not know anything about the book she read, but I do get to watch The Walking Dead with my people. They seemed to really like this episode because it was Carol and Daryl and lots of things happened. I like the show because no kitties have been eaten or zombified. That is always the mark of a good show to me. Then again, I have never seen any kitties on that show, but that is my head canon.

So it begins…

Anty has begun the process of “fixing” my notebook alterations. The black and white book is the book that I peed on, but I have nothing to do with the brown book’s funny smell. That one is because Anty did not make sure her water bottle was fully closed before she put it in her purse. She did not check that until things became fragrant (personally, I think it smells fine the way it is, but humans are funny that way) and says this is the last ditch effort to de-stink both notebooks. She may take the paper out of the black and white book and have different paper put in, if only the paper is smelly, and that seems to make her happy. So, with that in mind, did I really do such a naughty thing in altering the paper in this one? I don’t think so. Sometimes, it takes humans longer to grasp cat logic. Really, it’s not that difficult. If this paper is ruined, then Anty can use whatever paper she would like, and since ivory (or cream, like my undercoat) is easier on her eyes than stark white, this is actually a good move. I did what I had to do, and I did it out of love. Also a full bladder.

Listen here….

As part of Anty’s office reclamation, she has (finally) obtained earbuds for the old desktop computer. Anty really likes skulls, so these had to come home. Now if she will get rid of the speakers that came with us from the old house but have not worked in recent memory, that will get rid of some tangly wires and let me sit even closer to her while she is working. Not everybody knows this, but I can be a cat ninja when I want, and get reallyreallyclose without making a sound. Like on the humans’ feet close. It does not hurt that I am somewhat carpet-colored. Anty says I am allowed in the office, though I am not yet sure if I want to go in there. She has a lot of skulls. None of them are kitty skulls, though. Only human, and she says they are made out of things like plastic and rubber, not the actual remains of her enemies or anything like that. I don’t know; that would be an effective way of warding off interruptions. Warnings work, as a show of power and intent. Anty says a closed door does the same thing, but I think a couple of skulls on the door could not hurt.

Until next week, I remain very truly yours,

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

NaNot Ramblings: Clearing the Dust

November 20, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

This is my third time attempting to write this blog entry, on my old desktop in the office of our current apartment. Part of reclaiming my writing is reclaiming my office. First thing on my list today was to turn off the ceiling fan in the office, which required getting up on the kitchen stool, one hand braced against the semi-opened office door and having fuzzy gray dustbunny babies rain down upon me. Not something I would like to repeat in the near future, but it was a neccessary step.

Basic truth; if I’m going to get any work done in my office, it needs to be a room that I want to inhabit. It can’t be for storage. Storage took over my office in the old apartment, and climbing over boxes of books and other essentials took some of the appeal out of the process. Things had started to go in that direction here, but no time like the present to put my foot down and break the pattern. Maybe the old writer was willing to go through that. The writer I am now is not. I want and need and deserve a dedicated place where I can go, shut the door and enter into my story world. Hence the orange Post-it note that reads ‘writing cave.’

I do a lot of work in public, at the local coffee house or nearby Panera, but the desire for my own office, set up to my specifications, rose within me this week, and it’s time. As easy as that. Not that this is going to be easy, because I’m going to have to figure out what to do with the boxes that should not have made it onto the moving van. I do not serve the office; the office serves me, so what will make me want to be in this room the most and get the most done? There were nights, long nights, in the old office, when I didn’t care that it was too hot or too cold, because this was my space and there were stories that had to come out of me and onto the page, so a little discomfort was no big deal.

Here, I am comfortable. I am happy. I am healthy. I am having fun learning this new me and seeing what the new office she will inhabit will look and feel like. The best way I’ve found, at least for me, is to jump in and do. Hence this entry. My laptop, which has become my main computer, is set up in the living room, at the other end of the house. I will take it down after lunch, when I head to the coffee house, and work on the day’s scene. First, though, I’m getting myself reacquainted with working in here. The vintage burlap bulletin board is going to need some help. It took itself down a few weeks back, and that gave me the opportunity to see that the random things I had pinned to that board don’t reflect what I’m doing now as well as they could. Still figuring out what will do that trick. Maybe the board needs to go back up with new things upon it, maybe it needs to be retired and replaced with something new. I don’t know yet.

What I do know is that I am sitting now at the antique secretary desk I had coveted since childhood. I am sitting in the ergonomic chair that I bought with my own money from one of my old retail jobs. I remember how proud I was, walking out of Office Max with that cardboard box clutched awkwardly in my arms, taking it home and upstairs and figuring out how to put it together. Then sitting in it, behind the big metal desk we’d acquired through souces I do not now recall, and telling myself this was my space and I would honor it and keep it. I didn’t do that great, but y’know, those years weren’t that great, so it’s okay. I’m here now. I don’t have to keep the dust of another life if it doesn’t have anything to add to the life I am actually living. What I need to surround me are things that will feed the stories I write now. Some old, some new, some that blend the two in a new way I wouldn’t have been able to see before. Kind of exciting, that, and having a new/old place to write, that fits right in with the plan.

NaNot Blather: The Way I Do It Is The Way I Do It

November 18, 2014November 18, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

“You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won’t discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself.”
~Geneen Roth

Yesterday, at about this time, I was all set to get my Monday post up on schedule. It’s probably still somewhere in my drafts folder, lurking under (no title) or something else equally obscure. I had pictures embedded, all good to go, feeling rather smug about staying on track with the “other” tasks of the day so I could buckle down and write, and then…because there is always an ‘and then,’ an email notice popped up; could I possibly write a post for Heroes and Heartbreakers on the all-Caryl (Carol and Daryl shipping) episode of The Walking Dead that aired the night before? Well, yes, of course, I’d be glad to. Which meant the world’s fastest rewatch of the episode so I could verify some quotes and count scenes (which ended up being all of them.) Do the first draft blabber, which is basically throwing words at the page like I’m talking, which is fast and rambly, and then whittle it down to the suggested word count. (Fun bit of Anna Trivia here; word count is not a problem with nonfiction, but comes darned near close to paralysis in first drafts of fiction) Anyway, the end result is here, for those curious to see what i can turn out in about ninety minutes.

View from my front door yesterday -gorgeous gray weather is like catnip for me.

Today’s quote is from Geneen Roth, and is a new addition to my quote file, but is among those that have had the most effect on my current writing adventure. I haven’t read Ms. Roth’s books, been to any of her events, and I’m not even sure where I found this quote in the first place, but it has stuck with me. Since the gist of the post I was going to write yesterday wandered off after getting that request for the Walking Dead post, I’ll go with this instead.

Picture of yesterday’s lunch, which went perfectly with the day’s weather.

The big thing that tipped me away from NaNo this year was the word count, and realizing that I was not the problem, that I did not have to change myself to fit into a program, that meant something. I don’t know that I got that before now. Even so, it’s scary to let go of things I’ve thought should be my guidelines. I should aim for a word count. I should plot. I should pants. I should do character charts and GMC and I should make sure there are ~~absolutely~~ no adverbs and whatever else piles on in there, because shoulds tend to multiply.

One thing I’ve noticed in the should family -and I have no idea how this happens- is that I often find myself in proximity to people who say lovely things about my writing…but I should be writing in their preferred genres. I’ve kept a list: contemporary romance, SF/F, YA, inspriational romance, nonfiction, historical mystery, literary, erotica, children’s books, thrillers, suspense, humor, and (I am not making this up) standup comedy aimed specifically at people with IQs over 150. There was a time, and it went on for longer than what I would care to admit, when I would bash my head bloody against a brick wall, trying to force myself to fit into that should, when it was never, ever going to happen. I love big, sweeping, emotional historical romance, high on the angst with a big payoff in the end. So that’s where I’m concentrating my time and energy. There are other authors who do all of the above amazingly well and love doing it, so those genres will not mourn my loss.

Is it possible to write in a genre or style one doesn’t love? Well, sure, it’s possible, but is it advisable? For me, generally not. No matter how much an intended audience might like a story, if I don’t, I will begin to hate that story. Avoid it. Cross the street if I run into it in public, metaphorically speaking and pray we don’t make eye contact, because it’s going to be awkward. On the other hand, there are those stories, long buried in notebooks and printouts and floppy disks (oh yes, that long ago; some of them may be painted on cave walls with swamp mud) that whisper and beckon because they are not done with me yet.

I suppose that’s a big takeaway for this month’s experiment. Lock the shoulds in a closet and do what I do. I wrote before I got tangled in shoulds, didn’t I? Then I can do it again. I’m doing it now, and there is nothing at all wrong with that.

Random picture of Skye because my brain is fried.

Skye thinks she should get more treats.

Typing With Wet Claws: Domestic Tornado Edition

November 14, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

Cat selfie for the win

Hello, all, Skye here, with another Feline Friday. Anty really needs me to post for her today because this week has been full of domestic tornadoes. That is Anty’s term for things that happen at home that need her attention. She says those are private and I should not tell them here, but she does want me to remind everybody that the bed is usually made (that is Anty and Uncle’s room) and the trash is going out later. Things are a bit behind, but I am eating on schedule, so it is not that bad.

phase one; free writing

Anty had a suspicioin today was going to be another tornado day, so she started out with some Lapsang Souchong tea (she says it is like catnip for people who do not want to be sleepy, but I don’t entirely understand, because catnip does nothing for me. Some cats are like that. I will take her word on the tea.) in the Starbucks mug. If she is drinking out of the Starbucks mug, she is probably cranky and it is not a good idea to sit quietly next to her feet in case she moves unexpectedly. Do not ask me how I know that; I just do. Anyway, she had this tea at the kitchen counter, while free writing in a notebook she assembled from a Picadilly hardcover and the removable cover of another notebook whose insides she did not like. Free writing is writing down whatever is in her head. Then she plays with highlighters and sometimes draws faces. This usually decranks her at least some.

this counts as therapy

Sometimes, Anty needs to get out of the house when the tornadoes come through, and takes her glowy box to a coffee house or Panera. The choice of which often depends on things like wifi and refills. I am not sure what those things are, but if refills of tea are like refills of cat food, I understand that. I do not go with her, because I stay at home because I am a cat. She sometimes mentions finding a ‘Kitty Bjorn,” so she can carry me with her, but I do not think she is serious about that. Probably.

Some of Anty’s current notebooks

Anty has these notebooks with her today. The pastel spiral bound one is by Abbington Park and takes the place of the notebook I improve…um, peed on. That is for notes on one story. The black book is a hardcover Picadilly, and is her all purpose notebook. That gets everything in it and she sorts or copies things later. The small notebook is the white pocket Moleskine, which seems to be working well so far. She likes the smooth paper, the size is convenient and she says the cover feels good in her hands.

That is about it for this week. Anty is fighting tornadoes and still managing to write, so we will call that good. Tornadoes eventually subside, so all will be well in time. I suggest hiding under the bed, but maybe that’s just me. Scritches help.

Uncle scrtiches are theraputic, too.

Very truly yours,
Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling

(the kitty, not the book)

NaNot Ramblings: This Should Have Been Monday’s Post (and new Moleskine)

November 14, 2014November 14, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

Or Wednesday’s. This week kind of blends.

Domestic tornado -,more accurately more than one of them- touched down and I think it’s Thursday. Probably. Dunno. Hm. Monday, trash day, torndo day number one, tornado day number two, :counts on fingers: Thursday.

There has been writing, done midst twists of tornadoes, and a momentous day in the life of any notebook aficionado occurred; I started a new Moleskine. Pocket sized, lined, white, acquired during the ridiculously discount period of the closing of what our family termed “the good” Barnes and Noble, which of course we descended upon like the starving hyenas we are during such events.

Possibly due to thriftiness, and possibly due to masochism, I set myself a challenge when I saw that my current pocket notebook, an unlined (yep, found a way to use them) cahier was close to full; instead of buying new, I’d use the pocket sized books I already had and had not yet used. Hence this one. I’ve never used a lined hardcover pocket size before, so this is new, and I’d been wanting a white Moleskine since before there were white Moleskines.

Pictures are dark and fuzzy because they were taken on the kitchen counter while I preheated the oven to bake cookies, and the fizzled out flourescent bulb in our lovely high celings is currently in a resting period, so my former bedside lamp, on the other end of the counter, is doing all that bulb’s work.

Normally, I’m tending more toward gridded or blank pages these days, so of course my next book up had to be lined. Not as much of an adjustment as I’d first thought, so maybe I’m finally at an “everything’s good” phase when it comes to page formats. At least until I try dot grid. I have tried dot grid, on an oddly greyish off white sort of paper, and the color bothered me so much I had to stop using that book. Will try again with got grid Moleskine, but not for a while. I have a few more books to use first. Using my multicolored Bic Cristals at the moment on this one, with Sharpie pocket highlighters. No pictures yet of book-in-action, but that’s for another day.

Yep, she’s so tired, she’s loopy. But at least she got a blog entry up. That has to count for something.

NaNot Ramblings: Story over words

November 11, 2014November 11, 2014annabowling 2 Comments

Measuring your output against someone else’s output is a game with no winners at all.
—Seanan McGuire

I spent this past Saturday at my CRRWA meeting, learning about Twitter from the fabulous Rebecca Grace Allen. There was, of course, discussion of who’s doing NaNo and who isn’t. I did not personally take part in said discussion, since I’d been pounced by a scene for one of my current projects and wanted to get that down (in purple fountain pen, not pictured) before the actual presentation started. Some people did mention where they are in word count, but I don’t remember any of the numbers.

The quote at the top of this post comes from Seanan McGuire, and has been sitting in my quotes folder since this time last year. Last year, I was slogging through a historical romance someone else had asked me to write, and a story I wanted to want to write, one that hewed to the historical facts, including cool but little discussed historical fact. There were settings I should have loved, characters who, for the most part, should have fit the bill, but still felt like cardboard cutouts on popsicle sticks moving about a stage made from a secondhand produce crate from the grocery store. I had index cards and plot structure and dangit, everybody had to fall in line because this was NaNo, and I had to get words on the page.

That’s not what I’m doing this year. This year, I am letting the characters have their heads and trust that they are going to show me where we all need to go.It’s a different experience, and staying outside of the focus on word count is, so far, a very good thing for my process and output. I’m not visiting the NaNo forums this year (or at least I have not, yet) and when I do see the reports of those who announce they wrote however many thousands of words a day, or bemoan that they did not reach a word goal, it doesn’t affect me. Last year? Oh woe. 1667ish words per day – some days yes, some days no, and the no days meant without a doubt that I sucked, I was a failure, I would be moving my popsicle sticks around a grocery crate from now until doomsday, in endless circles, lapped by the ‘real’ writers who could set a word goal and meet it.

This year, I’m writing. My goal for the day is to get a scene written, or to the halfway point -that’s good, too- and outlined to the end of the scene. This lets me focus and live in the scene, crawl into the POV character’s skin, see what they see, feel what they feel. It’s what I did when I first fell in love with writing and didn’t know any better. It feels awesome. One of the projects I’m working on makes my heart slam against my ribs, beating its fists against the voices that insist I can’t do it. Those voices, I shut out. Mostly. Still learning. They sneak in once in a while. They always do. Still, head down, eyes on own paper, trusted CP on hand for blabbering to and talking me down from the ledges on which I occasionally find myself.

I don’t think I could do that and do NaNo this year. This year, it’s story over words. Get to the end, and if the story needs to be longer or shorter when I’m done, that’s what the second draft is for; this one is for getting the story out, and for getting to know Anna-the-novelist again. I’ve missed her. It’s good to see her back.

Typing With Wet Claws: New Notebook and Cat Selfie Edition

November 7, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

Hello. Skye here, for another Feline Friday.

It’s been a full week, so I need a moment to recharge in this sunbeam before I post. I hope that is okay. The sun has been in and out today. I am fond of sunbeams, but Anty prefers the clouds. Must be part of the artistic temperament. Or being human. Or being Anty’s kind of human. The less sun, the more energy. I don’t know how that works, but that is part of her. Suffice it to say there is a lot of writing going on, spread out over a few projects. One of which is taking pictures of me, because as you can see below, cat selfies are seldom successful. (Okay, taking pictures is not writing, but she helps me help her, so it all works out.)

For those following the saga of the notebook, I am happy to report that Anty has decided to keep my alterations to her notebook, and keep it as is, at least for now. She says that is only because she has not yet been able to get baking soda and a really big Ziploc baggie, but I think she knows I perfected that book and she does not want to mess with it. You are welcome, Anty.
She did, however, start another one in its stead. I have not peed on that one yet, but then again, she has not left it on the floor overnight yet, either. I am somewhat surprised that Anty picked a notebook with such light colors (she really loves black) but she likes this photographer’s work and she says the look agrees with the look of the first notebook she has for this project, so that helps them connect in her mind. She also says photographs like the ones on this cover smell like baby powder. I think they smell like notebook, but we can agree to disagree.

Smells like notebook…

Anty would also like me to remind everybody that she has a new post today on Heroes and Heartbreakers. You can read it here, and it looks like this:

If you want to read all of Anty’s posts at Heroes and Heartbreakers, (and you should) you can. They are all listed here. Pretty handy, that. Or paw-y, in my case. Because I am a kitty.

Tomorrow, Anty is going to her Capitol Region RWA meeting, where she will learn how to better use Twitter. I wonder if they are going to say anything about author’s cats having Twitter accounts. Purr-sonally (Disclaimer: I do not actually purr, but Anty has been known to appreciate a good pun, so I thought I would try one. Did it work?) I think that could only help.

That’s all for this week.

Very truly yours,

Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book.)

NaNot Ramblings: Week One, So far

November 4, 2014November 4, 2014annabowling 2 Comments

I know I now have the choice to write what the heck I want to write, how I want to write it, and to make it as long and big and bold as I want to make it.
—Marsha Canham

The plan for this month (and hopefully continuing) is to post at least thrice weekly. Monday, Wednesday and Friday are ideal. Today is Tuesday. Above is the picture that should have run on Feline Friday.This should give some indication of how the week has started.

Which is okay. We’re halfway through the first week of November, NaNo for many. I’m sitting out on the word count this year, but not on the writing, and so far, so good. Head down, eyes on own paper, focus on the scene and forget about word count entirely seems to be working. I’m feeling relaxed and confident, moving the story (stories, as I’m multitasking) forward and it’s, for lack of a better word, right for right now.

The place we lived before we moved to Albany was on the same street as our local Panera, and for quite some time, I would get up every weekday morning, get dressed, pack up computer and head there, sometimes arriving slightly ahead of opening. Today and yesterday, I packed up computer, put on clothing that would not look out of place were I going to one of the offices or medical facilities around our local Panera and took a walk through the park to create a home office away from home office. Bagel, tea, same as I used to in the old place, find a table with an outlet, and down to business.

Both days, the wifi was down, which meant the only thing I could do was write. Okay, then. Guests in scrubs and lab coats came and went. Deprived of Spotify, I listened instead to recordings from this year’s RWA National conference, as well as the, um, eclectic selection of music saved in my media player, and I wrote. Puzzled out the scenes I’d planned for both days, head down, shoulder to wheel as it were, and things happened.

Scene not working? Could I have missed a step? What would have happened between the last scene and the scene I’m finding a challenge? Try writing that. Nine times out of ten, that’s at least half of the problem. Blinking cursor staring me down? Try longhand. Bic pen? Fountain pen? Both have their uses. It’s a coming home of sorts, taking off the expectations and allowing myself to actually tell the stories. It’s different, maybe, from what I’ve felt I’m “supposed” to do, but am I moving forward? Yes. Are there more pages filled when I pack up my popup office and head for home? Yes. Do I feel good about what I wrote? Yes. I call that winning, at least from this perspective.

Typing With Wet Claws: The other side of the notebook story

October 31, 2014October 31, 2014annabowling Leave a comment

Hello. Skye here, for another Feline Friday.

Classic picture because camera batteries are down. No cats are implicated in this explanation.

This week, I would like to address the matter of the notebook. Anty has talked a lot about how I peed on her story notebook. It is true. I did do that. I have special paws, and that means I do not use a litterbox like most other cats. I go on the floor. This is all right with my people because I make sure to let them know when I am going to go and I like to go in the same place.

That place is the Chair of Evil. How do I know the chair is evil? That is a very good question. It is green. It is really really, really old. It rocks back and forth. Chairs are not supposed to move on their own like that. It has cushion and a couple of teddy bears on it. The teddy bears are not evil, but I do know Anty does not like the cushion. Anyway, the Chair of Evil needs to be in the right place so that I can pee on it and this time…this one time…it was not. I do have an auxiliary pee spot in case the Chair of Evil is in an unacceptable configuration.

Anty never leaves her notebooks on the floor. Not ever. That was a first. I really had to go, no humans were up, it smelled like Anty, and, well, it happened. I am not proud of this. In my own defense, Anty always alters her notebooks, so I did not think she would mind if I gave it a try myself. In retrospect, urine has never been one of her mediums. I admit I might have wanted to take that into consideration before I did what I did, but I am a kitty. That has to have some weight in the matter.

She was not pleased when she saw the notebook there, in the middle of an admittedly large puddle, and she was very fast in getting the pee pads down on both floor and notebook. She sprayed a lot of Febreeze on the notebook, (I mean a lot. Uncle and I both think the humans need to buy another bottle to make up with how much she used) and she says that got some of the smell out, but she is still going to try an old librarian’s trick that involves putting the notebook in a Ziploc bag with some baking soda for a week. Personally, I think it smells amazing exactly the way it is, but it is not my notebook (though she says it may be, now, if she can’t get the smell out.) Besides, aren’t first drafts supposed to stink?

"My" notebook is the black one with the white writing in the lower corner. No other notebooks were harmed.

“My” notebook is the black one with the white writing that says “tomorrow” in the lower corner.
No other notebooks were harmed.

I will be back next week to let you know how the baking soda trick worked. Anty says I owe her a new notebook if that trick does not work.

Very truly yours,
Skye O’Malley Hart-Bowling
(the kitty, not the book)

To NaNo or Not to NaNo: Going Rogue

October 30, 2014annabowling 2 Comments

doing my own thing, now with my own graphic

Is this a final decision? Eh, maybe. There’s no saying I won’t lose my nerve and hop on the NaNo train in the next few days, or maybe do an end run and take a flying leap halfway or later through, but for now, I’m doing my own thing in November. That decision came last night, in the middle of my first meeting with an eclectic group of local writers, all talented, articulate and entertaining people. We’re still in the getting to know each other phase, and of course the question of NaNo came up. One gentleman asked if I was participating, and without thinking about my answer first, I said “not this year.”

What it came down to was that wordcount bugaboo. I don’t count my daily words at present, and I don’t find that a lack. What I do see is more pages in the document when I power down for the night than there where when I started, and I’m good with that. I’m filling notebooks, emptying pens, and transcribing most of that on my external keyboard, and I’m loving what I’m doing. I’m not bashing my head against the keyboard (maybe said bashing is why the laptop’s keyboard gave up the ghost before the rest of the machine; I don’t know, but I can’t discount it.)

Knowing what works best for me at this time is the mature, responsible thing to do for my writing, (and, honestly, a whole lot of fun) but that doesn’t mean I can’t adapt the things I do love about NaNo to my own use. In that vein, I’m going Rogue. I’ll be posting here about my writing progress during November, not with word count (but at the end, maybe, just for kicks) but what works for me. Scenes, characters, those unexpected turns stories take when we the writers aren’t looking.

What matters most to me this upcoming month is that I dive into both existing and new projects fully focused on what counts most for me; the story. Not to say NaNo ignores story for words, because that’s not the case. I had a lovely time in Camp NaNo this spring, and won then, and I’m proud of it.

Why does it matter to me so much if I’m doing NaNo at any given session? If I haven’t babbled it out by now, it may not have an explanation. I do love the community, but y’know what? Writers exist all over the place. One of the gents in group last night made a comment that there are thousands of writers in one city alone, and he’s right. There’s a great group of gals (and guys) in my local RWA chapter, I have writer friends scattered all over the globe, all as close as my email or an IM window, and unless write-ins come complete with bouncers demanding the password, there’s no saying I can’t plop myself and my notebook down at a write in, and keep my eyes on my own paper. Or talk to my neighbor. Or whatever. Because what matters is that the story gets written.

The journey from “once upon a time” to “and they all lived happily ever after” can take many paths, and no one is more “real” than any other. What is real is what gets the story from my head onto the page, and eventually into the heads and hopefully hearts of readers. Do I know exactly what going Rogue means for me this particular November? Not entirely, but I’ll figure it out as I go, and I’ll be sure to blabber about it here.

Typing With Wet Nails

for the love of romance