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Typing With Wet Paws: Welcome, 2020 Edition

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Happy New Year, Storm Troopers, and welcome to the very first Feline Friday of the new year and decade4. This is very exciting, because this is my second decade I have ever experienced, and maybe my second year, period. My mom said I was two when Aunt Anna got me, but I am noticeably bigger than I was back then, so the humans think I may be actually a little bit younger. That’s pretty cool, because that means more adventures ahead.

First, I will tell you about our Christmas adventure. We went to Aunt Linda’s family home, which is in a different state. I met Aunt Linda’s brother, Uncle Bob, and his daughter, my Cousin Kristen. They are both grownups. They are visiting from far away, and missed their kitties, who were home, so they poured all the attention on me. That was pretty awesome. I got lots of presents, like a whole new set of food bowls, toys, and even a litterbox that can stay there, so they will be there when we visit next time. Because I am a really good traveler, this means that when the humans go to visit, I can come, too. I am all for that.

I was very young for last Christmas, but I caught on with the traditions for this one. On Christmas morning, I brought Aunt Anna a lightbulb. Nobody is quite sure where I got it (and I am not telling) but bringing Aunt Anna presents is kind of my thing, and she had not unpacked my toys yet. I couldn’t show up for Christmas morning empty-pawed. I’m not an animal. Oh, wait, I am. Nevermind.

Aloha, Johanna Lindsey

Okay. Moving forward and getting back to business at the same time, Aunt Anna is back at Buried Under Romance, though with a bittersweet topic. Last week, romance lovers heard the sad news that Johanna Lindsey, an important writer of historical romance for many readers and writers, had gone to Rainbow Bridge back in October. She will be missed, though there is a little bit of her in all of the books she left for her fans.

As for Aunt Anna’s Goodreads challenge, I am very proud of her, because she did it. Ninety-nine books read out of ninety-five. She wanted to make it an even one hundred, but ninety-nine is still pretty impressive. If you want to follow her challenge for 2020, she is going for ninety books once more. We will see how that goes, but I have faith in her. I will cheer her on by sitting close to her and giving my best, loudest motor purr.

Moving on to Instagram, Can you believe that not one of Aunt Anna’s top pictures is of me? Hmph. Granted, she only got me in October, so that may have something to do with the slight, but I will reserve judgement for next year. She does plan to keep posting stationery pictures, but never fear, I will be in some of those, as well as being the star of my own shoots. Csn Aunt Anna double her Instagram subscribers by this time next year? Only time will tell. Since there will be more pictures of me, I can only imagine so.

Now that the holidays are past, Aunt Anna is back at work. She wrote a scene for an upcoming novella yesterday, and is going all in on this whole Patreon thing. She has been researching what other creators she likes are offering, and deciding on tiers and a lot of other fun stuff. Watch this space for the big announcement when she opens shop. There will probably be some growing pains, but that is okay, because Aunt Anna and her patrons can grow together. If you have any ideas of what sort of content you would like to see her offer, leave your idea in the comments, and I will make sure it gets to her. Maybe along with her usual morning present.

Headbonks!

2020 Vision?

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Yesterday, I didn’t mean to spend the entire day on Patreon work, but that’s how things worked out. I started out making a spreadsheet for my TBR for the coming year, and things kept going. One list for favorite lush historical romances, another for favorite contemporary YA, and a batch of ideas for more. I love making these sorts of lists, and I love connecting readers with favorite books in favorite historical eras, with particular themes, etc. Current plans are to make requests for such lists available on one of the tiers., If the list is for something that isn’t quite my taste, say wallpaper Regencies, I can still do some educated guessing, as in what’s popular, has received high reviews, or looks interesting in some aspect. I could pick out books all day long, seriously, and be happy to do it.

Today is the first day of my one page a day writing schedule. One page of fiction -doesn’t matter what- bare minimum. More if I can, more if I want to, but that first page, those first two hundred and fifty words, they don’t have to be perfect, don’t have to be even good, but they do have to be. That’s easy enough. I will proably lump those in with Storm’s weekly blogs, along with other progress reports. We will see how it goes, and I am more than likely going to make some sort of paper tracker because that’s how my brain goes.

Speaking of paper planners, I plan (see what I did there?) to share more about what I do with that, as well. There is a beautiful black version of Spinebreaker headed my way, to hold my everyday carry bullet-y journal-y commonplace-y notebook. Spinebreaker’s lovely pink self will hold some different inserts to help me manage the writing projects I have on tap for this year. I will figure it out as I go.

Both yesterday and today, I have been listening to YouTube videos analyzing episodes of Black Mirror. I have seen exactly one episode of that show, “San Junipero,” but I’m still getting a lot out of the commentary. My tenure at Heroes and Heartbreakers gave me the chance4 to ramble on about my favorite TV ships, and the moments that worked, as well as the ones that didn’t. I’d like to bring some of that to the blog, and/or Patreon. This amy involve another attempt at making video blogs. We will see. Some of that will depend on where we land, Stately Bowling Manor-wise, but it’s definitely on the table.

The thing that has to happen before any of this other stuff can occur, though, is the writing. The putting of the bottom in the chair and words on the page, paper or virtual, one page at a time, one after the other, on and on until Once Upon a Time reaches And They Lived Happily Ever After. It’s a new year, and there are stories to tell. There is no section on Amazon or in Barnes and Noble or any other brick and mortar store, for great three chapters or excellent outlines. Only. Full. Books.

That means moving forward, even when there’s no gaurantee that t hings are going to turn out on the page the same way they are in my head (can they ever be?) That means tapping back into the girl who set up a makeshift desk out of TV trays, and typing out stories that couldn’t possibly go anywhere on an electronic typewriter. Only, they did. Maytbe not those exact pages, but the were needed to get me one step further down the path to where I am now, and where I am going next.

For today, that’s going to mean this blog entry, one page of fiction, and probably planner therapy after. Doesn’t have to be perfect, does have to be written. That’s doable. Let’s see where it goes.

Happy New Year.

Two Hundred and Fifty

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Welp. Last post of 2019. I will not be sorry to see this year in my rearview mirror. While 2019 did have some standout moments – the publication of Chasing Prince Charming, adding Storm kitty to our family, the support and love of amazing friends when real life plot twists took some crazy turns – the bar for 2020 is not on the dauntingly high side.

IRL challenges aside, there is the whole RWA debacle, about which I have a lot of feelings, and feelings about those feelings. Romance Writers of America has never been a perfect organization, but the new developments that have come fast and furious, over the holiday week, those raise a whole lot of questions. As it stands now, I am waiting for my next CR-RWA meeting so that I can learn more and be around other people who are going through the same thing, before I say much more. The fact that this is all happening at the same time we learned of the passing of one of the OG historical romance superstars, Johanna Lindsey, makes it all that much more surreal.

As the great Beverly Jenkins has said, and Nora Roberts has pointed out that the middle word in “Romance Writers of America” is “Writers,” this is a time to keep going forward. Keep writing. Keep writing romance. That seems like a good note on which to start a new year. While yes, there is still adulting to do, and we are doing that, writing has taken a back seat while dealing with IRL matters, and it’s time now, to pick it back up once again.

I have said on many occasions that I am not a word counter, and I am not. Right now, however, when I went to figure out how to get myself back in Serious Writing Mode, what came to mind was that a page a day is a book in a year. That’s something I can do whether I am at a computer keyboard or working with pen and paper only, and it’s pretty easy to measure. Get to end of page, that’s the minimum required for the day. If anything more is too much, I can kick off for the rest of the day, read, adult, stare off into the distance, whatever is needed. One page is roughly two hundred and fifty words, which is not that daunting. Even counting words, two hundred and fifty of them in one place are not really that much.

Morning pages do not count for this requirement. It has to be fiction. Morning pages are their own thing, though I can use parts of them to prime the pump for the day’s fiction. Naturally, I plan to write more than one book this year, as this is a reality for a career in commercial fiction. Baby steps, though, are always a good place to start, or re-start. Neither does any writing that is not actual fiction writing count. Pump priming, list making, that sort of thing can get me to where I can write actual fiction, but it’s only the fiction that is going to count.

This year, I want to tap back into the writer who didn’t know any better, the one who knew how to shut out everything else and throw that story onto the page with all she’s worth. Maybe even more than that. Strike the “maybe.”

There are a lot of stories ahead in 2020, to be read, to be watched, to be written, risks to take in all of those things. Writing, reading, and watching romance has been a driving force in my life since I was eleven years old and stole my first historical romance from my mother’s nightstand. I have had the wonderful experience of writing about all of that for blogs both personal and commercial, and I look forward to bringing some of that over to my Patreon-to-be, which is in itself a daunting yet exciting prospect. On the one hand, who am I to ask people to pay me to, well, be me, but on the other, this fits right into the idea that I don’t have to put the pressure on myself to appeal to everybody. Maybe doing what I do and focusing on people who like that sort of stuff is s more liberating way to go.

We’ll find out, one page at a time.

Random Blabbery Post

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Leftover picture from Monday’s photoshoot is a good indicator that I this is going to be one of those posts where I open the document and start throwing down random brain droppings, because the plans for the original post aren’t going to work. Where are we going with this one? I have no earthly idea.

I am now only six books behind on my Goodreads reading challenge, which gives me a nice boosts. I have a mental sticky note on the books that I am turning to while pushing for my reading goal this year. Right now, I am both absolutely thrilled to be reading Broken Things, the fourth book in Jessica Cale’s Restoration era Southward Saga of historical romances, and itchy that there is only one other historical romance by this author, set a couple of hundred years later. I need moar. There will be a Buried Under Romance post on this sometime in the future.

Though making my reading goal for 2019 has become personal, something I am going to do, goshdarnit, last night, I DNF’d a book. Yeah. A historical romance. No, I will not give the name or author, as it might work better for me at another time. This book was a novella, so it fit my desired length. It was a time and setting I usually like, and I very much liked the premise. So, what wasn’t working for me? Ehhh, I don’t know. I will say that I might have liked more detail, more showing rather than telling, but it could also be that I had not been in the right frame of mind. I’ll try again later.

I’m not sure what the reading goal will be for 2020. Real life is still sorting itself out, and my educated guess is that all of the attendant stress/depression/anxiety/lack of energy has had a big hand in the lack of reading that led to the big reading lag. Being behind does create its own stress, but since the remedy for that is to stick my nose in a book, paper or electronic, I am not going to complain and consider that a self-solving issue.

According to Real Life Romance Hero, the snowstorm we got this weekend is the eighth largest in city history. I take that as an indicator that snuggling in bed with a hot beverage, purring cat and hand knit afghan (thanks, Housemate) diving into a good book. There is also some TV viewing backlog, and I may have figured out how to fix the snafu with my Sims 3 installation and engage in some retro-gaming. There could be an art journal or notebook on hand to keep me occupied during loading times. I’m not sure yet.

The calendar says we’re in December, which is getting ready for Christmas season. The snow should be helping but not feeling it quite yet. Still time, though. Maybe some Christmas novellas will help, possibly helped by a traditional fireplace video on You Tube. I haven’t watched any Christmas videos yet, so that may be another thing to try. I haven’t done much seasonal decorating in my planner, so that might play well with movies or music. We’ll see.

Got any favorite romance novellas? Bonus points if they are on Kindle Unlimited, and/or Christmas themed.

maybe I could read this book…

December Planner Post – Non-Planner Edition

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The view from the motel lobby

Yesterday, I busted some old friends out of jail. Still dealing with adult-y things, which is progressing, and also demanded that I go to a sure-fire mood booster; stationery. Housemate and I swung by the storage unit, so I could get my Papermate Flair pens all in one place.

Pretty, but lonely. I think they need friends, aka colors I don’t have yet. Not bothered with having a few duplicates, as that means readily available backup. All the fun of pen shopping, without the sticker shock, because they are already mine. Some days, a pen lover needs a fix. Yesterday was such a day. I have not yet had a chance to actually play with these pens since their jailbreak, but they are meeting up with my planners later on, as we are now in a new month.

I also busted out Big Pink (standard size Websters Pages traveler’s notebook) and Spinebreaker (B6 size Pen + Gear traveler’s notebook) both of which I have used as planners in the past. Neither of them are planners right now. I didn’t know if I had any concrete plans (hah) when I grabbed them, but I did know I couldn’t see them and leave them there. I’m using mini and classic size Happy Planners for actual planning, but I could not in all good conscience leave the girls alone

First thing I did when I got back to the motel was to ensconce myself on the bed, and rip everything out of each cover. Everything. Every insert, every accecssory, pouch, piece of deco, etc. Everything. Doing that, one finds that one has a heck of a lot of…stuff. Stuff one may not remember what it was doing there in the first place. Clear the decks, and then start adding.

I knew right away that Spinebreaker was for the B6 notebook I received from N and Mr. N. I use that for morning pages.

The green covered insert was there when I put Spinebreaker away, and could not have gone better with the other book, so it stays. This one is dot grid, and will be used for trackers. That will probably let me play some with my Flairs, or maybe some other pens. We’ll see.

I’m liking the UK theme for the pocket deco, so we’ll see how that develops. No pen in the pen loop yet, but it will probably be a basic black ballpoint or gel pen, unless I go with a multipen, but that’s for another post.

Big pink was where I had the biggest “huh” moment, because she had been my main planner, but I am using the Happy Planners for that now, and redundant calendars make me itchy. Also, I had mis-numbered December anyway, so no calendar insert for her this time. I also have a dedicated Happy Notes set up for writing stuff, so she wasn’t going to be for that, either. :drums fingers on desk:

Since the pink elastic I had for her closure had stretched out, and my only options for replacement (on hand) were turquoise and purple, I figured this would be a great time to dive in and make her a pastel Christmas themed sort of thing. Second thought was to make her gothy. Couldn’t decide, so now she’s both.

diecut from lizzyplans

No lined paper in this TN at all, as of this point, which surprises me, but it does give me the chance to try some different art-y journal things, the kind with paint and fancy lettering and :waves hands vaguely: special stuff that isn’t only bare bones handwriting. I have pockets filled with stencils and stickers and ephemera, a washi tape sampler, and we will see what this actually turns into, but it feels right for now.

Sometimes, when “real life” gets chaotic, a little creative chaos can help put things back into focus. Play matters. There will probably be another insert or notebook section for Sims games, as I want to plot out all of my households I want to play, and in which iteration, before I actually play them, or it gets to be too muddley. There may also be a reading schedule/tracker put in place, but we will see how that develops organically as I mess about with these girls. The process is part of the fun.

See you next time!

Typing With Wet Paws: Creativity and Cat Toys Edition

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Happy Friday, Storm Troopers! It’s a beautiful grey, wet day (well, to Aunt Anna, anyway) here in NY’s capitol region, which is very good writing weather for Aunt Anna, so let’s get this blog moving, so she can have the computer to herself.

As usual, she was at Buried Under Romance on Saturday, talking about strategies to not only get through her reading challenge but maybe even come out ahead, Check over there tomorrow, because she’s found a couple of other ways since then. Keeping a notebook helps her with things like that, and, this week, we have a new notebook in the family. I find it especially important, because it is also partly a present for me.

Miss N, and her husband, Mr. N, picked this up for Aunt Anna, at a local art supply store, that they all love. This gift does some multitasking, because it covers Aunt Anna’s birthday, getting me, and just because. I do note the lack of calicos on the cover, but who could compete with all this, anyway? Aunt Anna will use this as her morning pages book. It is a B6 size, and has ivory lined pages, that are smooth and fountain pen-friendly.

Speaking of that reading challenge, Aunt Anna is making some progress. As of this post, she is only six books behind schedule, seventy-eight books read our of a projected ninety-five. That’s eighty-two percent of the way home, and only taking three books per week to cross the finish line for the win. Go, Aunt Anna, go.

This week was okay, writing-wise. Aunt Anna expects that next week will be better, because she is doing some research and taking a good look at what she likes to do most, what time she has, and how she can use it most efficiently. Work has begun on the big mess writing notebook. She will farm things out to individual notebooks as it makes sense, but for now, there are some recycled planner dividers that will keep the sections kind of in order until she figures things out. She will share pictures in a future post.

I think that is it for updates so far, so I can get to the most important part of today’s post, and that is the cat toys. While I do have Mousie (my forever number one best buddy toy, for always) I am also discovering many new toys. Aunt Anna, Uncle, and Aunt Linda do not always appreciate my choices. Can you guess out of the following list which ones the humans are okay with me having?

  • Uncle’s rosary
  • Uncle’s scapular (devotional kind)
  • Uncle’s collar pin (of awesomeness at his job)
  • Aunt Anna’s pens/pen caps
  • room key cards
  • takeout forks
  • Aunt Linda’s planner cover (for scratching)
  • Aunt Linda’s purse (for scratching)
  • Craft store coupon flyer (for scratching)
  • random sweatshirt string that does not come from anybody’s sweatshirt here
  • empty toilet paper roll
  • actual cat toys (jingle balls)

Aunt Anna says I am getting a real scratching pad this weekend, and there will be a carpeted cat condo when we find our new apartment, where I can scratch any part of it that I want. That sounds pretty fun. Honestly, we cats are pretty good at picking out our own toys, but humans seem to like finding manufactured things from time to time. My mom told the aunts that I do like catnip, but I haven’t had any yet while I’ve been here. I think they are saving it for the holidays.

I also get to sit on Aunt Anna’s notebooks a lot (except when she uses the book stand, which I am still forming an opinion about) especially the disc bound ones. Those babies have some comfortable paper. I can see why she likes them. I can also play with the crumpled sticky notes she discards, but I am only really interested in them the first time. After that, they’re dead to me, and I would rather get some fresh prey. Somehow, I get the feeling that, this week, there will be a lot of that.

Okay, I think that is about it for this week, so I will see you next week.

Headbonks!

Typing With Wet Paws: Midnight Yowl Edition

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Hi, Storm Troopers! It’s Feline Friday once more, so I am taking over Aunt Anna’s blog. I planned for that when I took over her planner. My version of helping her plan, or write, is often to lie on the paper, steal the pen, or bat it with my paw, while she is trying to write with said pen. It’s lots of fun, and I am sure has a profound effect on her productivity.

She is in hardcore planning mode right now, because this was a different kind of week. Uncle did not feel so great for a big chunk of it. He is better now, so now Aunt Anna is looking to see where she can put in some extra effort and get things back on track. I commend her for this. She is several belly rubs behind, and that cannot stand. More on that later.

First, however, I have to talk about Aunt Anna’s writing, so let’s get to that. This week, she did not get to meet with Aunt Melva, but she did get to go over a bit of a scene Aunt Melva sent her for a new thing they are playing with, outside of the Love By the Book series. Still contemporary romance, and you know Aunt Anna is going to work something historically adjacent in there somewhere. She has also been doing some longhand work on Drama King, and feeling really, really guilty about Her Last First Kiss, which means it’s getting some for-sure time this coming week. I will let her talk about that later.

As usual, Aunt Anna was at Buried Under Romance this past week. This time, she noticed a curious trend in her market research. If the picture above isn’t enough of a clue, maybe this will help. That’s right, this time, Aunt Anna is talking about Australian romance, both stories set in Australia (or New Zealand) and by Australian or NZ authors. Do you have a favorite in either category? Drop on by nd leave a comment.

How many of these can Aunt Anna get through in one weekend?

On the reading challenge front, there is actually something to report, as Aunt Anna formulates a cunning plan (she will talk about that in tomorrow’s post over at Buried Under Romance, so keep an eye open) to get up to date, and maybe even ahead, because now it is personal. As of this post, she is only seven books behind, at seventy-five books read out of ninety-five. This feels doable. It may require cutting back on Sims 4 play, but it will be worth it. Story in, story out, and all that stuff.

Happy Planner mini, horizontal layout

Speaking of plans, Aunt Anna is rather happy with the way her mini planner spread looks for next week, mostly before the pen. I helped with this one (can you tell?) and there was a minute there where we almost had an incident with stickers and my paw fur, but Aunt Anna is super fast. The spread was done without incident. We will see how that goes, when she fills it in with all of her writing stuff for the week to come.

my buddy, Mousie!

Now for the important part of this post, which is why there is a midnight yowl in the title. In case you were wondering, I was the one yowling, loud nd long. Aunt Anna was the only one (I think) who woke up, and got out of bed. She found me in the dark and asked me what was wrong. I won’t say the whole thing of what happened, but the problem was that (I am okay, don'[t worry) I wanted to play Mousie, and there were no humans up to help me with that. Intolerable! Yes, Aunt Anna did play Mousie with me, so I know that trick works, but she was not happy about it. Eh, I’m still cute. It’s all good.

Mousie is my bestest bud (besides the humans) and he was a present from my mom, so I have a little bit of her, which is nice. You can tell how much I love Mousie because I chewed off most of his face, his tail is long gone, and his string is tied around his tummy because I am a fierce hunter and catch him a lot. I mean a lot. You don’t even know how much. I do have a few balls my aunts and uncle gave me, but nobody beats Mousie.

Headbonks!

#calicolovestorm on IG

Typing With Wet Paws: Well That Was a Week Edition

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Hi, Storm Troopers! I figured it was about time for my fans to have their own name. I am a very popular girl around here. Housekeeping loves me, and I love going in my adventure cave. Some humans call it a carrier, but it is my adventure cave, and I love it. The soft lining is super comfy and smells like my people. I can see out of the door and little windows in the sides, so there is always something to see, unless we are in the car and whoever is holding my adventure cave holds it too low. Then, I tell them in no uncertain terms that my view sucks, and that must be remedied immediately. I want to see everything.

This week, we changed motels and then changed back. We did not like the other one, and are settled back in our for-now home. Aunt Anna has her computer set up again, and I have my towel next to it, so I can sleep…I mean supervise…while she works. This past week, and the weekend, have been for adulting, so Aunt Anna wants to buckle down and make this week a big return to writing.

buriedunderromance.com

Part of that is her weekly Saturday Discussion post on Buried Under Romance. Last week, she talked about where the site is going, and where it’s been. Click the link above to go read about that, and feel free to add your comments if you would like in on the discussion. It is never too late to talk about great books.

Speaking of which (smooth segue, right?) let’s take another look at Aunt Anna’s Goodreads challenge. It is, in fact, the dreaded ten books behind, with seventy-one books read out of ninety-five, but Aunt Anna is determined, and she is digging in to get this done on time, which will also go a long way to filling her creative tank, because there is a lot of writing yet to be done.

That’s along with that adulting stuff, of course, and taking care of me. Did you know I made some milestones this week? Well, I did. I first did something I have wanted pretty much since getting here, and that is getting out of the room and into the hallway. Aunt Linda was onto me, though, and Aunt Anna was on her way back in, so I followed her, and have not been allowed near the door by myself since. The other thing is that I can open drawers now. I taught myself. Aunt Anna was writing at the time, and she tried to stop me, but I come from a long line of determined women. My mom, Aunt Anna, Aunt Linda, that’s a long line, right? Anyway, yeah, I can open drawers now. Well, at least these drawers. I like grabbing a quick snooze in Uncle Rheuben’s drawer. His clothes are soft and he smells like food. Probably goes into why Aunt Anna picked him.

I will, of course, be on hand to provide cuddles and purrs while Aunt Anna does both the reading and writing things, and we are not supposed to go on many more adventures anytime soon, until we get new apartment. Wherever it is, it better get ready. There’s a Storm coming.

Headbonks,

Typing With Wet Paws: Post-Book-Launch Edition

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Hi, everybody, and happy November! I’m Storm, and I am not a big expert on Novembers, because this is probably only my second one, but that should make it very easy for me to have the best November yet, right? I know some cats have writers who are doing NaNoWriMo this month. It sounds very exciting. All of thst lap time, and all those warm keyboards has to be an incredible experience. I will be having some of that, as Aunt Anna and Aunt Melva are committed to getting Drama King to the end of draft one this month, and Aunt Anna wants to get a few other things under control at the same time. Maybe that’s what all those planners are for? I, of course, will be on Mews duty, to make sure she gets it all done, including taking copious breaks to pet and play with me.

mews on deck

Buried Under Romance

Aunt Anna would like to apologize for the absence of posts at Buried Under Romance this past week, but exciting new things are coming, very soon. For a while now, she has half-joked about what she would like to do if anyone ever dropped a romance magazine in her lap, and that is very close to what is going on there. There is a platform, there are some very talented reviewers and other people to make it all work, and what better time to truly kick into gear than the holiday season?

Readvember

I don’t know if Readvember is really a thing, but maybe it is, now. Aunt Anna flatly refuses to look at how far behind she is in her Goodreads challenge until she finishes reading at least one book. She would rather look at the books she is supposed to be reading instead, and maybe find a way to track reading progress that will keep her motivated. Do you know of any reading challenges that are fun? Leave as link in the comments, and Aunt Anna will give them a look.

Life After Launch

Please note that is “launch,” not “lunch.” Lunch has not happened yet as I write this, and I am more of a breakfast and dinner girl, anyway. Aunt Melva is sending Aunt Anna some more pictures from the book launch, to share with everybody The pictures look like everybody had a really fun time, and Aunt Anna says they did. Now, all of the reception leftovers are gone, except for the memories, and it is back to business on all things reading, writing, and blogging related, not necessarily in that order.

So far, Aunt Anna is planning to show what planners she is using to keep her writing stuff in line, at least for the time being, at the start of next week. I suspect she will move a lot of things around before then, but as long as she settles on something that makes sense, that is all that matters.

There has also been talk of getting a real cat bed for me, to keep next to the glowy box. Anything is a “real” cat bed, as long as there is a real cat sleeping on it, but I have heard that the motel will want their towel back when we move into our real apartment, and so it’s probably best to get something in place now, so I can know it is mine when we do pick up sticks and set down roots in a different place.

That’s about it for this week’s post. Not that much to report, it’s true, but it’s a brand new month, beginning today, and Thanksgiving month, at that. For those who are curious, yes, I will get a special dinner on Thanksgiving day, but it will be chicken, not turkey, because my mom told Aunt Anna that turkey and my tummy are Not Friends. We won’t go into how my mom found out that bit of information.

Wait. There is one other development this week, which I think needs to be included. I have a new Thing that I do. Sometimes, the humans don’t immediately stop what they are doing (including sleeping) when I ask them to play, so now, to show them I am Really Serious, I bring them my Mousie toy. I also have crinkly foil balls, which are fun, but I only ever bring them Mousie. When a cat brings you a slimy stuffed mouse, trailing a long string, it is an expression of love. There is a lot of love around here.

Okay, that’s really it. Headbonks!

short-haired calico cat, eating out of a pink bowl. Handwriting font reada "love, Storm"

This Year, I’m Going as a Writer

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So, this is happening:

read the article here

Two days after tomorrow, two days after my birthday, five days before Halloween, I will be hitting the road to western MA, home of many friends,. and many memories, to join Melva Michaelian for a book launch for our first co-written contemporary romance, Chasing Prince Charming. Eep.

Melva and I have certainly talked writing before, and we have certainly talked writing, together, in front of people, before. We’ve even presented a workshop on how to keep writing through the tough patches of life. When we’re talking about writing this particular story, we literally wrote the book. :rimshot: I know for a fact that people I love, and who love us, readers interested n our book, or have already read it, and/or are interested in writing. I get to go to a library. I get to see the glorious fall foliage between NY and MA and back again.

There is still one more article about our writing partnership planned to hit the interwebs prior to our presentation. I’m not counting on any afterwards (unless something goes phenomenally wrong or phenomenally right) but I will be sure to give a full recounting here, and on melvaandanna.com, which I definitely need to update, but that is for another day.

Since we are only a couple of days before The Event, that means my attention needs to go into getting ready for that. I kind of know what I’m wearing (in the black dress family) and will probably need to check local retailers for red shoes, because the ones I had always planned to wear to any Chasing Prince Charming related appearances, are too deep in the storage unit to retrieve easily. We will see how this goes.

Earlier in the week, Melva and I went over how we’d like to address the we-talk-to-a-bunch-of-people portion of the day. It’s probably going to go fine. There will probably be funny stories, definitely a picture of me and Melva together (we do not have one, despite being friends and critique partners for double digit years) and possibly pictures of foliage, because, well, fall.

The process of being a Real Writer ™ isn’t in being in the newspaper (paper or digital kind) or having bookmarks or fancy signs or even glossy paperbacks. I am happy to have all of that, but the real work of writing is done with pen and paper and fingers on keyboard. It looks rather like this:

my typical writing view now

Not a bad setup, I have to admit. The day, and days, after the two hour library even, I will be removing cat from keyboard (repeatedly) and attempting to read my own handwriting (also repeatedly) and lather, rinse, repeating, until I hit The End again. Repeatedly.

I really need a new signoff picture…