I'll believe it when I see it... The Big Freeze

Apparently we have “another” big freeze on the way. If the last one—about an inch of snow, some frost, and a cold snap—constitutes a “big freeze” then all will be well. However, according to the online newspaper, we’re maybe looking at an 8 inch dump. Now, that didn’t sound too nice, did it, but of course, I meant snow.

I had planned to go food shopping tomorrow but, even though I roll my eyes at those people who run to the shops when an upcoming big freeze is announced and buy everything in sight, I’m going to have to do the same. The weatherman usually gets it wrong around here, but knowing my luck, if I think he will again, he’ll get it right this time. I get my shopping dropped off by the shop’s delivery service, and going by last year, if there’s snow, they won’t deliver. Hence me having to go shopping today so I get my food brought to my door before those eight inches make an appearance. (Please don’t. I don’t really dig the white stuff.)

Last week I was able to write after a stint on revamping blogs for fellow authors. I managed 10K adding to a previously finished novella, introducing two secondary characters in the prologue so they play a bigger part throughout the book. I stopped at a fight scene, so I have that to get along with this week. Not relishing the prospect, but there you go. I write myself into these situations and have to write myself out of them.

At the weekend I had a fight with my Sarah Masters website and lost all the front page data. It said there had been an “error” when I saved my latest addition to the page, then promptly scoffed all my book pics, blurbs, and buy now links. I wanted to cry, thought about putting them all back on and decided that no, I wasn’t going through that again if the web hoster was acting up. So I just added my book covers instead and hope that those who visit the site are motivated enough to go browsing for my books by themselves until I get back to adding links to each picture. Who says the damn hosting site will behave when I get around to doing that? I really need to get a .com and have all my names in one place. Less stress when updating.

So, that’s it from me today. It’s 07:51 and I really must get the little one up and out to school, then into town, and finally back home where I can relax and await the promised inches of snow. Oh joy.

Wherever you are, whatever the weather, have a great day today, loves!

Writing...At Last!

Sometimes I like taking time off from writing. It gets to the point where I sit here procrastinating rather than continuing my tales. Time wasting. Internet browsing. However, there’s also the opposite, when I’m busy with other things and can’t write, and I get the need to creeping up on me, characters from books starting to chatter: Oi, have you forgotten about me? I’ve been left stuck in a tree for a month. My arms are aching! OR: Hey, you left me in a delicate position. I must be the only man on the planet to have maintained a state of excitement for two weeks!

Yeah, yeah, I heard the whispers, and now they’re up to “normal” voice volume. Thankfully, today I can write and stop them getting to the shouting stage. The shouting stage isn’t nice, because by that time I’m so frustrated I can’t write due to other jobs that need doing first, that I become a total grouch. Depressed, angry, everything annoys me, etc. I’ve finished a few projects I had on the go and, despite having two more things on my to-do list, I’m taking the weekend to write.

I’ve had Jaime Samms’ chapters of our latest novel sitting in my to-do email folder for a little while now. It’s been waving every time I go in there to check what needs doing next. Asking me to open it. Go on, just peek. For a minute… But I knew if I peeked, I’d write and forget about the to-do list.

Last night I peeked. And yep, I’ve forgotten about the to-do list. Jaime has taken the book in a very cool direction that ties in very nicely with my previous chapters. I can’t help it, can’t resist. I’m diving in to write about my heroine’s situation and my bad guy’s dilemma, bringing all the characters together for Jaime to deal with when I send it back. (Mwhahahaha!)

This book is called The Dreaming and should reach about 80+K by the time we’re done. A veritable m/m delight that delivers two cop lovers, a ballsy heroine, and a mixed-up killer. Oh, and also a mixed-up female who came along a little while back, plus a whole realm of people who aren't of this world… It’s a thriller, drama, paranormal, horror, romance…a good old mixture of genres that blend very well.

I love it. So now I’m going to get on with it!

Can we shout hooray? Yeah? HOORAY!

Have a great weekend!

You Write WHAT?

Come and join me HERE today and find out some of the reactions I've encountered when I've told someone what I write!

Flow or Stall?

When a book almost writes itself, for an author it could be said there’s nothing better. The words flow, the plot falls into place and the word count grows quickly. It’s sad, too, when books like that come to an end. There’s never any guarantee the next book will spill onto the page like the previous. Those books that are pulling-teeth painful to write could be books I shouldn’t even be writing. If I’m finding it tough, why do I continue with that book? Because I hate wasted words. I hate admitting the book isn’t calling to me as I think it should, so I write it anyway. It doesn’t mean I’ll ever submit it for publication, but I’ll finish it all the same. Sometimes I start over, which is what I’ll be doing with a book I’ve left half written. The beginning is an information dump, something I try very hard not to do, but at first I couldn’t work out what was wrong with it. I just didn’t have the urge to write more of it and was too close to it to see the light. Now, since taking a break and looking at it objectively, I saw the information dump and realised that rather than having my words wasted, I just need to rearrange them and write things in between to thin out the feel of giving my readers a list.

Lightbulb moments are great.

The thing is, I’m so into the flowing book that I’m afraid if I switch to the info dump book I’ll lose the urge to finish the one that is shouting to be written. So the flowing book wins until it’s completed, and then I’ll return to the other book and fix the mess I made. Hopefully. If not, I have a cozy home for it in a file on my computer.

So far I have no title for the flowing book. Sometimes I start with the title and work from there, but other times I find a title crops up as I’m writing. One line appears in the book and the title is born. I have yet to have a book where a title totally eludes me, but hey, there’s a first time for everything!

So, off I go back into my world where a kidnap has occurred and a rescue is about to take place. Oh, the joys of putting my mind films on the page. I really do love my job!


(Lightbulb image from www.faqshop.com)