No Valerie, no Seth. Even my new story has stopped the past two days. Instead, I've gone back to a story I started almost a year ago. I wrote about Harmony more than a year ago, a witch. I started working with one of her sisters, but Serenity stopped about 50 pages in. Suddenly she started talking again. So, we're working together. I'm happy to get back to my witch sisters. I need to be working more with Spencer, but I enjoy the witch sisters. Each of them is getting her own story; going to meet their wonderful love and deal with a struggle.
I'm hoping to work with my most recent story again though. I have really enjoyed working with my female wolf and the two men she's room-mating with. It is a different kind of story for me, but I have been enjoying it.s
Girl Scouts is in full swing and my daughter is happy about it. Homeschooling my children means making sure they are active with other children. We are lucky to have several other children in our neighborhood so they have kids to play with. It has taken some of my time, but I have still managed to get work done.
Okay, I'm going back to Serenity.

Well, I have gotten little done as far as useful writing.
I have been busy with schooling and G/S. Things seem so busy during the school year even though my kids stay home.
I ended up getting away from Spencer again for some reason. Valerie's second story still has gone nowhere and I stopped trying with it for now. I have started with a new idea, but it's taking a little playing with before I can say it will be more than a really good idea. Mainly though, I've been playing with Seth still. We've gotten away from so many sad moments. Now we just pick up random moments in his life with Kat and Valerie and write them out. It's rather fun, learning things about him that will never make it into any story. I do like Seth.
I have done a little reading this past week. I haven't picked up books over the summer, but I finally did this week. I like Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Okay, most of it. I do have some issues with a chunk of the series, but I like that last couple. They are more like the first half of the series, more murder mystery. Her latest book came out in June or July and I finally sat down and read it. I enjoyed it.
So that is what's been going on the past couple weeks that I haven't been online. Hopefully my new idea will grab me good soon and the characters start telling me their interesting story. And it will be interesting and different.

So... Valerie kind of stalled out on me. She still wants a little attention, but not enough to keep writing with her. I think she's a little jealous because her friend Seth has been getting some attention. I've written a few tidbits from his point of view, from random moments in his life. I've even got a 7 page piece, though some of it is from Val's view. I like Seth, but I have to be careful with him. He's just emotionally fragile (I guess that would be a decent term) that getting into his head pulls me a little too deep and I feel his sadness, because most of his tidbits are from points when he's upset over something.
I'm back with Spencer for now. I'm having to revise the first 35 pages I had of him. I had originally been writing form third person with him, but like I said in a previous post, I was told his should be first person just like Rina's. So that's what I've been working on today. I'm not really changing what I have, but certain things have to be said differently, and he has his own thoughts he wants to add.
Things have been a little rough, which is why I haven't posted in more than two weeks. School started back, which means my schooling with my kids has picked back up too. My daughter is in Girl Scouts and that has resumed as well, and I work with the girls. I have been trying to write, but spent a lot of time trying to make Val work with me, much to my disappointment.
Well, I'm going to see if I can get a few more pages with Spencer done before heading to bed. Going to be an early bed tonight.

Yay!! A Witch is finally done! It's now on sale on amazon!
I am so happy. I'm still supposed to be working on Spencer's story.... and I will. As soon as Valerie lets me. This story isn't flowing as quickly as her last, but she's still demanding my attention.
Really I don't have a lot to say tonight other than being happy about A Witch being available. I am working with Valerie and she's ready to go to the party. This girl loves having fun.

I HATE finishing a story.
It's like my best friend leaving, even if it's just for a little while.
Yep, I finished Valerie's story.  :)  I struggled that last three pages, hating to end it. I love her and the people around her. But I had to do it. It is not her end though. She gets at least one more story.
On that statement, I started her next story. I tried to go back to Spencer and revise what I have of his story. I need to work on his. Valerie though, she just wants to go on. We're already 10 pages into her new story and we're looking forward to this. Things are going to be different for her, away from her parents. I think we're going to have fun.
I am going to try and get some work done with Spencer, but when a story is flowing like Valerie's have been, it's hard to refuse.
I have written a small piece from her best friend's point of view, a short bit that mostly happens away from everyone, but it gives an insight to him that he doesn't fully express around her. He is just so complicated that I had to delve into what and how he thought.
Well, I'm going to try to go to bed. I to do it when I'm on a roll, but morning does come early around here.

A Ramble

Again only two pages so far today. (last time i said this though i went on to punch out ten more pages before bed) I have once again gone back and read what I have so far. I hadn't realized how big a part her best friend has in all of this. Now, he does live with her family (kind of like a servant/family member) so he is around a lot, but there is a lot going on between them. He is getting attention because who he is is important to her. I just hadn't realized how big a role he is in her life.  I like him though. He is complicated (which is why he spends a lot of time talking with Val), but sweet. And hot. :)  I've brought in a character from Kat's story, one who comes in at the end of Blood Natured. I didn't want to have a bunch of stuff reflecting to Kat's time, but this woman really fits with Valerie. It's also been fun taking my young lovers from Blood Natured and making them parents.
I finally got an answer to my Spencer problem, about to write it from 1st or 3rd person. My niece again, since she'd read Rina's for me, said it would be better to do 1st person again. She loves that she got to make an important decision on a book.
I did have to burst her bubble about Valerie's story. Valerie is my niece's name and I told her if the story was a teen she'd read it first, to give me her opinion. There is NO way she can read it. She's 14 and I'm placing this story at 18+. There is too much sex and sex talk for 16 in my opinion.
She's been promised to proof read Spencer's story.  It's nice to have someone at my target audience to read the story and get their opinion.
A Witch is under last review! It should be available soon!
Well, I'm going to see if Valerie is ready to talk again.

I've managed about 2 pages today. I have been stuck. I have actually gone back and started at pg 1 reading. I'm just about caught up and hoping it will flow from there. I have no idea why Valerie suddenly decided to stop. I mean, she'd about to go on a date. She should be excited, right?
On a side note. My cat is definintly mine. She won't leave my coffee alone. Every night she's chasing it around my desk. She also waits until my cup is just about empty then she curls up on my lap and goes to sleep.I swear she does it all on purpose!
I'm only days away from having finally proof approved for A Witch! I'm excited and ready to have it out there. It's my first teen novel. I really do plan on writing Spencer's, but Valerie had me hooked. Too bad she couldn't keep her story to a teen level, but I just can't label a book with sex in it for teens.
But, just wanted to pop on and grouch about the low page number for the day.
I'm heading back off and hoping she's ready to go out.

Well, Valerie is still coming along. Not so great today, but it's still early tonight.
Yeah, Valerie is not a traditional teen novel. It might still make the 16 to 18 range (depending on parents), but not a teen to me. I've refined her, and man is she hot. She's a beautiful girl, but she'd one of those girls who is confident with her sexuality, knows how to flirt and tease. She's fun though. And still playing ping-pong. One minute she's laughing and having fun, then I turn around and she's arguing with her mom, or there is something emotional going on with her and her best friend. I swear, she is driving me crazy with it. I'd like to say that the emotional game will stop now that something important has been said, but something tells me something else will come up.
Anyway, just had to express that, to step away from Val for a second. She's ready to go back to her party, so I have to go too.

Valerie/Rina

Well, got home from a family camping weekend. It was nice, some of my in-laws camped with us and we celebrated my son's 5th birthday. I enjoy getting away,enjoying nature.
At night though, I was tapping away on the computer. Valerie's story is just coming along. She's great to work with, a little mood ping-pong, but she's a new vamp so it's aloud. Hers is not going to be a teen story, not in my opinion. I think of teen novels as mostly clean of sex and cussing. Valerie's story isn't heavy with either, but it does have some. It's turning out very different than I first thought. I like it, it's just not what I was expecting.
It's been a long time since a story has flowed this quickly. Even with as busy I've been this past week and weekend, an i'm already 70 computer pages. The last time this happened was with The Werewolf and the Rancher, which came out in just over 2 weeks. I have hopes for Valerie. I also hope she tells me what's going on.
Rina's story, A Witch, is getting it's final read through before being approved. I'm doing last edit check. And I have a teen girl read it for me. My niece is happily reading it. :) She's enjoying it so it has to be okay. It's good to get a teen's perspective on it, get her ideas.

Kat & Valerie

Well, Kat's daughter is loving me so far. We've been talking, fleshing out her personality and the world around her. I think she is going to be great. Her name is Valerie.
The problem that dawned on me a few minutes ago though is that her story is eighteen years after Kat's. Shouldn't have been a big deal, expect that I drastically changed that world about the time Valerie would have been ten. I'm working on how to express the changes in the world around her, for those few who actually read Kat's story. I think I'm getting it, little piece of info here, little piece there. So there isn't this huge spot of back information. Of course, this is Valerie's story, so most of the changes in Kat don't need to be in detail.
Glad to have a teenager working with me. I though there for a couple days that I couldn't get back to a teenage mindset.

I haven't even been able to work on Spencer's story the past few days. Just can't get my head into it.
However, I have been reading Kat's story, and the ones that go with Blood Natured. I'd intended to only read a few scenes and get back to writing. No go. I have read all four stories. I even read the small collection of scenes that happened ten years later. (Sometimes I just have to know what happens later)
All of a sudden, about an hour ago, my mind latched onto an idea. Okay, a character latched onto me. This girl is nothing more than a baby at the end of Kat's stories, a young girl in the later scenes. She said she's a teenager now and wants to tell me about what happens to her.
So, I'm talking to her for a bit. If we hit it off and the story flows, well, Spencer can wait. I want another teen novel. Spencer's would be logical, since it goes with the one about to come out. However, if he isn't working with me...
I like this girl. She's a little like Kat, yet so different. She's mainly like Kat in the sense of what she is, not who she is. I think she is going to be much more fun.
Ok. I'm going to try to do some work. Don't know how much I will since my bratty niece keeps IMing me. :)

Again the damn cover! I got a new copy of A Witch today, with the new cover and I cursed. The picture was so dark that I couldn't really see anything.
So, i adjusted the brightness of the picture by a lot and am resubmitting and ordering a new copy. No way am I going approve the book until I get a cover I like.
Breathe.
I have been doing a little work the past few days, but nothing worthwhile. I have been working on revising Blood Natured, my first book. However, I can not republish it for two more years. I learned an important lesson with that book. Always research the publishing company very well before signing a contract. Publish America accepted by book, but they set the price so high, I won't even buy it.
I do plan on republishing, just not yet. However, I've hit a stall in Spencer's story, and the other two stories I have going. I pulled up Kat's story, mainly to read, but have been tweaking it.
The thing with Spencer's story. Rina's story was written from 1st person (I, me, my). I've been doing Spencer's from a third person (he, his). I rather like this since it's easier when writing from a boy's perspective. However, I've stopped, wondering if I should be writing from 1st person. I could do it, it wouldn't be hard really. I just don't know which way and it's stopped me in my tracks.

Cover Image

I have changed the cover of A Witch. I did like the last picture, a girl standing in front of graveyard gates, all spooky with fog and full moon. It was clearly a computer created image. My husband liked it okay, but he suggested us making our own picture. :) We have gone to older graveyards taking pictures. I have fixed up the one I like best. It is me in the picture, though you can't tell. And just to make sure we get it right, we're going to another graveyard in a few days to take more pictures since it is a larger one and we might find something better. I kind of doubt it. I am really liking the one I have on the cover presently. It had to be lightened, but I think it will still be darker on the cover.

This is just the picture on the cover. I like it. What do you think?

Isis

We named my kitten.
I have gone through names for days, finding ones I like, ones that fit her. Everyday I ask my husband what he thought and after several minutes, I was back to searching, with only one or two names on the board. I really wanted to stay away from classic names, especially class witchy names. Today I found several I liked and once again asked what he thought. I had only one classic name one the board, just because It sounded nice when I looked at her. It came down to Inka and Isis, because both seemed to suit her. My husband, who does not like cats and had little interest in my religious beliefs, looks at me and says, "She looks like an Isis."
Which fits her nicely, and fits with me. Isis is not just a common name, but the Supreme Egyptian Goddess, the goddess of nature and magic.
So, I have Isis. My little bit of magic.

Pictures and a Cat

So, been down with a headache today, though I couldn't let it have me down. I had a meeting to go to today, so I went, headache and all. Came home from it and took a short nap. Starting to feel better and needed something to distract from the remaining pain. (If its not too bad, having something to focus on helps forget about it)
So, about the picture on my book, I may be changing it. My husband wants to take me around and have me pose for a few pics, since I'm about the size of the girl in the story. Not that I plan on being more than a figure in the picture, a cloaked figure, but still. So, here's hoping we can take a good picture.
Okay, so my husband does not like cats, at all.
That being said... I have a cat  :)  A neighborhood cat had three kittens on our carport several weeks ago. Curious about their response to people, I reached into their hiding spot, and pulled out a cute little black cat. To my great surprise, ten minutes later I had a kitten in my house! The catch is that I had to get my dog to accept her, but we're working on it. Katie hasn't eaten the little one yet.

A bit blurry, but here's the newest addition to the family, investigating.

Book Proof

Damn, I am glad I get a hard copy of my book to proof. A Witch Among Monsters came in the mail today. I haven't even started to proof the inside yet. The cover though! The picture I made for it! It seemed okay when I looked at it on the computer, but the digital quality sucked, majorly. I've fixed it now, and have fixed the pictures on the main site. I am so happy that I got the hard copy and was able to see just how bad that first picture was.
So, I get to proof and edit it now! I hate the final edit, I'm sick of the story at this point. I need the distraction today though. I haven't gotten more than two sentences done on the next story in this set, on Spencer's story.
Oh, his story though. I love the bayou (though I've never been) and his story is in the bayou. I've had to do research though, I want to keep as many of my facts straight as I can. It's different when you're writing about a certain location. Rina's story take place in an average American town, no research needed. Having them in a certain location, though. A little research is good though.
Well, I'm off to work now.... with the muffins about to come out of the oven. :)

Sometimes it's the littlest things that inspire the imagination. I've had many ideas spring from a song, even a few from pictures I see online. The music always amuses me. I can hear a song and it inspire a scene or event in a story, or it can give me a character. One of my stories was inspired by two different things. The first was looking at a little winter village and wondering what it would be like living in such a quaint town. Then I heard the Willie Nelson song Baby, It's Cold Outside. And of course I imagined a couple being snowed in in my little village. So that was the aim I had when I started writing Harmony's story.
I've had pictures online inspire character traits, though usually just in small ways. I found one picture, though, that inspired the whole story. When you see a picture of a sweet little girl standing among nasty werewolves and a psychotic vampire, and she is not afraid of them. Come on, there has to be a good story there. And I refuse to keep it in the picture. I started writing about the twisted vampire and his beasts and their sweet little girl. :)  Having some fun with them, though I'm sure the story will be short.
on another note, I'm working on the next teen story, actually putting it on the screen. It's a struggle to start. I know the bones of what is going on, but to flesh it out. Spencer is patient with me, knowing we both need to go carefully into his first few days of his summer. The first few days are so important, they have to happen right, for both of us.

Finally!

Yay! Wrote the synopsis! And the title!
Yes, you read right. I just came up with the title. Rina's story has been done for a long time and I just found the title yesterday. Sometimes titles are just handed out it seems, and sometimes they are a fight to get. This one was a pain in the ass. It is the fourth one I thought up.
A Witch Among Monsters  is the title I finally chose.
It's done though. I'm waiting on the proof copy to arrive and check it over again. I'm hoping to have this ready with in a month! Yay!
So, I can heave a sigh and relax right?
Nope.
My husband suggested getting another teen novel started, on the hope kids like this one. So, I'm starting the next in this series, written from another character's point of view, another story to be told. This one will be from a boy's point of view. Oddly enough, I do good writing from the male's view. I've done several short stories that way, and many of my stories change between the two main characters.
So, it's back to work. It's a good thing I enjoy my work.  :)

Synopsis

You know, sometimes writing the book is the easiest part. I have my next book ready to be sent for review. First though, I have to have the synopsis and title.
The title I have changed three times while writing the book. the last I thought was great, one I thought of a few days ago, but now I don't like it. I have been trying all day to come up with a good title.
And the synopsis. I hate trying to write it. It's so hard to know what to put in it and how to convey it. I have no clue what I'm going to do for this one, and I need it done. *Way to stress myself*
On a better note, this book will be ready for review and publishing soon. I hope to have it in print by August.
I have the next book in mind. It'll go along with this one, in a series, but from a different character's perspective, telling their story. I haven't really started it, just have it floating around in my head at the moment.

Vacation

We just got home from our vacation. We took the kids to Disney World then to visit my family. We spent four days at Disney, at the parks everyday. It was very fun, the kids had a ball, and we all got tired from it all. :)  Four more days were spent at my family's. I spent six days straight without writing of any kind, entirely focused on my kids. It was nice not to work on my book, it was in print and I didn't need to do anything more with it for a bit.
I couldn't go the entire eight days though. I was sitting in the car with my mom the other day when an idea hit me. I spent the rest of the day and most of the next writing out the short story. (Now, I did not ignore my family, just wrote while hanging out with them.)
I'm home now, which means it's time to get back to work. The Werewolf and the Rancher is in print and seems like it will do okay. Now, onto the next book. My teen novel is next on my list. It is already written. I need to edit and do some touch-up on it. I love this story, in the simple teenage way. This one is a teen story like the ones I found in my library in school; no sex, little to no cussing, so on.
So, working on the book starts tomorrow. Tonight, I'm kicking back, relaxing from our vacation, watching some stupid grim cartoon with my husband.

The Werewolf and the Rancher is done!
It is on Kindle now and will be on Amazon within two weeks. I'm so happy.
Now, to the next book. :) I still plan on touching my teen novel up and publishing it soon.
I have to get back to actually writing though. I've done a little play writing, simple scenes that are not part of any story, but nothing real. I have one book about sixty pages in that I was really enjoying, but it stalled a while back when I got busy in the real world. I really must get back to Serenity, I left the poor girl in the hands of slavers.
Her story is actually the second in a set of four. The Jordon sisters are Witches and each get their own story, of course. Harmony's story is written, just needs formatting.
Anyway, I'm taking a break from working on books. I want to sit and do some writing (which is not really work if I'm not struggling), but I am not editing or reformatting. It's going to be a busy two weeks so I may not even get much writing done. We are going on vacation next weekend, leaving Saturday for Disney. So many things need to be done for our vacation. Of course, there is a Girl Scout meeting tomorrow, a ceremony night.
It's been a nice weekend though. Saturday I went to two birthday parties, one for a child and the other for her mom. The mom's party was much more fun.  Yesterday we went to a pool party at a different friend's. And today, we went to the beach. It's been a really nice family weekend. (the adult party was not a family thing, but still good)
So, I think I'm going to stop rambling. Maybe I can do a little writing.
Check out my website for the links to but my book, or just search on Amazon.
Let me know what you think, please.

Doing the final edit of The Werewolf and the Rancher. Hoping to have it ready to send back in a day or two. Hopefully that means it will be on sale within a month. I wrote this story three years ago and have had it set aside, as just a silly romance. Pulling it back out though, I fell back in love with Kayla and Randy.
Aside from doing a final edit on The Rancher, I've done little writing this past week. My house has been busy, between Girls Scouts, two different camping trips, schooling the children, and all the other demands of running a home. :) I hope this week will be a little slow, but it doesn't look like it. Already, we have two Girl Scout meetings, two birthday parties this weekend (One for a kid and one for an adult :) ) and grocery shopping of course. I hope that will be all the running around I have to do. I plan on spending the rest of the day with the kids, doing their school work.
I plan on pulling my teen novel back out soon. I've read it recently and believe she is ready to print. I love this girl and her friends. It has all the classical monsters; a witch, werewolf, vampire, ghosts, zombies. I feel this story is a teen novel like that ones I read as a teen. There is no sex, no cussing, ect. The content is appropriate for young teenagers.

Free Flow Writing

Originally posted on April 23, 2011

Revised May 8 2013

So I have a new story going. It started out as a ten page short story, just a quick little thing, but it’s already thirty-four pages and haven’t decided how the two main characters are going to fall together; it is a romance, though some mystery too. Stories like this one can sometimes turn out to be some of my best because I’m not trying to force myself to figure the plot out, I’m just letting it go where it will. Sometimes stories like this stay short and easy, sometimes they end up full length books, and sometimes 70-100 pagers. Most of my best work is when I don’t really have a plan for the characters, other than an idea or two. I work best when I let the story fall out as it happens, let my people make their own choices, and not try to figure the plot out before I start writing. This is the problem I’ve been having with my PI series. Her first book flowed out because i was just expanding on a short story. The second one was a little hard, but not by much. I had the obstacle in mind, but still let the characters live the story to me (even though doing so screwed with my plans a little). I’ve found now that I want to write her third book, I’m having trouble. I can’t just start another book with her without knowing at least a little of what’s going to happen, but every time I try to start writing with an outline for the book, I screw it up completely or hate the work within pages of starting. Romance is easiest to write in the free flowing style I do best, which is why so much of my work is romance, but my PI is my fav character, my biggest outlet of my violent side. This new story is a romance, but it’s about a cop so there is mystery to it too. I don’t know how long the story will be, but I’m enjoying writing it. I’m actually writing solely from the male’s point-of-view, not first person, but staying with the man instead of the woman as I do with most of my works. Well, I’m going to go back to my male witch and see if he’s solved his murder case yet. 

Character Decisions

Original Post: May 22 2010
Revised May 8 2013

I don’t decide how my characters live their lives. I create them, give them personality, then they live. When I’m writing a book, I come up with some sort of idea of what may happen, then jump into their lives at some point. They decide what they do and how the story goes. Just because I think something will happen, doesn’t mean it does. Many times I’ve wanted to have something happen, but the characters make decisions that end up leading away from my idea. I fully believe in letting my characters run the show, after all it is their lives, I’m just writing it. I rarely know what’s going to happen next in any of the stories. And it’s not just the main characters that do this to me, most of the minor characters do it too, just less often since they are minor parts. I write like life, you never know what’s going to happen next, and you can’t make someone do something they don’t want to, and you can’t make them change it once they have.

Speaking of my characters making their own choices. I had the next ten to twenty pages planned out for Blair and Erik (the lead characters in one of my books). It was going great, then Erik had to go and do something unexpected, changing everything. I’ve had to go back and reread everything I’ve wrote on the book to figure out how to make his decision and following consequences fit in with the plot I had set out in my head. Well, to be fair to Erik, it wasn’t just him. A new character jumped in from nowhere and helped force Erik’s hand so to speak.  Sometimes it’s hard when your characters rule and you’re just riding along. Makes for interesting writing though, except for when it ruins what you were planning.

Scenes

Original Post: June 25 2010

Revised May 8 2013

Sometimes I get these scenes in my head that don’t happen for awhile. I usually have to let theses scenes play out in my head, I’ve found it’s easier than trying to fight my mind back on track and takes less time. Some of these scenes take place so far in the future that they probably would not even be anywhere in the series. I used to try to write these scenes so they would be done when I got there, if it was within the book’s time frame. I’ve found I cannot do this. It’s like trying to write out a five hour span of your life six months in advance, you can’t. There are so many factors going on that what you think will happen, may never come to pass. For example, when I sat down to start the second book in my Kat series, the one after Blood Natured, I wrote the ending to the book before I even finished the first page. I thought it was a good thing, I knew where I wanted the story to go, I just had to figure out how to make that ending happen. That ending never happened. By the time I got about two thirds of the way through Halloween Blood, I knew I couldn’t use the ending I wrote. It just would not work the way I originally wanted. I had a couple scenes in Halloween that were like that. I stopped trying to advance write and just go with the natural flow, living minute to minute with my characters. I still get these advance scenes, and I do go over them in my head, watching them unfold, but I don’t write them, just store them away. If it’s something that can be part of a book, I put the idea on my board, but that’s it.

Music and Writing

Original Post: May 25 2010

Revised May 8 2013

Like a lot of writers, I listen to music while I write. Certain genres go with certain stories for me, help me separate the different worlds.  If I’m listening to the wrong music, I have trouble getting into the story, to concentrate properly. Like I can’t listen to rock while I’m working with Kat (romance character). She is more mellow, so more country to me. Now Blair (action/horror), I can only write her to rock. (I mean rock from the eighties and nineties, though maybe 2004, and hard rock) The type and artist change throughout her stories. Some scenes I listen to the same few songs over and over until I finish the scene because those songs put my mind in the right mindset for the scene. With Kat I’m not so particular, as long as I’m not listening to rock/rock.  I wrote my witch to country too. Most of my short stories I write to a mix of all my music, though one of them I wrote completely to a selection of New Age. Music just helps my muse, gives me a background, a rhythm for my head to nod to.