Have you ever been writing and went back to read over what you’d written? Sometimes you have to sit back and go, what the heck was I thinking…
I had one of those moments just now. It was a LOL moment. I have no clue what I was trying to say, but I had to delete almost a whole paragraph.
That’s why we edit, edit, and edit some more. Then we send to an editor, then edit some more. Sometimes I really think I’m drunk when I write some of my words. But, as I’ve said a thousand times, it’s a rough draft people.
So, happy Wednesday people…
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
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How many of you hasn’t heard the old saying, ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’? Yep, I thought so. Here in Georgia, apples are all the rave at the moment. Tis the season I always say.
It’s the same with writing. But it would say, ‘Writing every day keeps the writer’s block away’. I do believe this is true. A couple of days lately, I’ve been so busy with other things, that I didn’t get to write. I know, that’s horrible, but true. By the time I went to bed on those days, my head was so filled with writing that I couldn’t sleep, so back to writing every day.
Do you write everyday? Even if it’s just a line or two, it helps to keep your writer brain from becoming over full. As I’ve said before, I have a schedule and if I miss a day, well, it causes a schedule jam. I’m in the middle of that jam right now. When you schedule so many words a day, then miss one, well, you get the picture.
How do you keep your writer brain happy?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You..
Just to give you a snippet of my current wip, here’s a few lines from Wine, Wedding, & The Cowboy…
Abri stood there looking at her best friend. She couldn’t do it, could she? Would she find someone in less than a month? No, she couldn’t. Taking a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eye and straightened her shoulders. “Baron, we have to get married.” There, she’d said it. Although from the look on Baron’s face, she hadn’t handled it very well. Baron sat forward, his eyes wide with surprise. “This is so sudden. I don’t know what to say.” Then he laughed. “Have you been testing the new wine again?” “No, I’m serious Baron.” Abri dropped into the chair across from him. “Ok, what do you mean you’re serious?” Baron saw the look in her eyes and knew she wasn’t joking. But what on earth could have her asking him to marry her. Abri clasped her hands together as she looked down at her lap. “My father, being the old fashioned man he is, says that I have to be married before my 25th birthday in order to inherit Tuscan Rose Farms.” “What? When did this come about?” Baron bunched his brows together. He knew that this farm and vineyard was her heart. “If you’d showed up for Thanksgiving dinner as you were supposed to, then you’d know.” Abri shot him a withering look. “You know that I don’t like eating at the main house. It’s no secret that your father doesn’t care that much for me. Besides, I ate with the guys down at the mess hall. We had the best fried turkey and the dressing, well, what can I say, it was amazing.” He began to relay all of the menu, knowing that Abri was beginning to fume, but he loved it when she got angry. There was this light that came into her face. She was beautiful, but when she got angry, wow. “Baron! I don’t need a play by play of what you ate for lunch. All I need is for you to say you’ll marry me and we’ll be good.” “I can’t marry you. What would people say?” Baron was giving her a hard time and it paid off. The light came into her face and he was awestruck. “You have to. I don’t have any other takers. You know yourself I haven’t dated anyone in months. And where would I find someone to marry on this short of notice. Oh, and I already told my father and cousin that we were engaged, well, that you’d asked and I had yet to answer.” “What? Abri!” Baron stood up, running his fingers through his blond hair. “I know! Just listen. I have a plan.” Baron rolled his eyes. “Abri, I’ve been a part of your plans before. They never work out as you see them. This will be a disaster and both of us will be homeless when the dust settles.” He held his hands in the air, then growled in response to the thought of the disaster it would be. “No, wait. We can have a quick wedding, with a fake minister and fake license. Once the deed is done, we can get a divorce later. If I meet someone, then we’ll have a fake divorce.” Abri shrugged her shoulders. Baron sat back down, the air leaving his lungs in a long sigh. “Abri, do you realize what you’re asking?” “Yes, I know it’s a huge favor, but I can’t lose my birthright because of an old fashioned man with old world ideas. Please say you’ll marry me, at least for a short time. You’re my best friend, it can’t be that big of a deal. Well, maybe it’s a big deal, but it will be fake.” Abri sat forward in the chair and smiled at him, batting her lashes. “Abri, I need to think about this.” Baron said, running his hand over his face. He’d die a slow death if he was married to her, fake or real. She was everything to him, but if he married her, it would be the real deal. It would be for love, not for a vineyard.
Anyone else in the Monday afternoon slump? I’m thinking it’s coffee-thirty.
Why is it that around 3pm you feel drained and don’t think you’ll make it another hour? And that’s not just on Monday’s. But, think about this – Do you do that on the weekend? Most likely not!
It’s Halloween! I know this year has been a challenge, but let’s eat a little, well, maybe a lot of candy and drink hot chocolate. Don’t forget to carve that pumpkin and put it outside to ward off the spooks. Spooks? Yes, spooks.
Tonight I’ll be dressed as Princess Lollipop and will be participating in our annual Trunk or Treat at the church. It’s an amazingly fun time to let your hair down and just enjoy life. And to be silly.
In honor of the day, let’s get a little spooky… Have you ever walked through a graveyard at night? Or went to the old covered bridge to call out to the spooks that live inside? Maybe you’ve driven to the old train trestle and listened for the headless conductor. Yes, I’ve done all of these things. It’s that tingle that runs up your spine. The rush of adrenaline as every sound sets your spook-o-meter off. Sometimes you just have to give in to the child inside and go to the unknown.
And let’s not forget the ghosts that roam free on this night. Say hello to a few while you’re out and about. When the bump in the night begins to take form, just hold your breath and cover your head.
It’s just after midnight and you hear a sound. Is it the dog or is it something else? The door squeaks, the floor creaks, and the hair on the back of your neck rise. Don’t turn out the light…
How do you explain it to someone that’s never written or published anything? In three words, DESPAIR…HOPE…PUBLISH. It’s the three stages that most writers go through. And sometimes they repeat themselves as though on a reel.
Despair – The moment you’re so excited about getting the words on paper, but then you hit a wall. We all do at some point in the writing process. It’s like a given that the wall will show up and sometimes you hit it so hard that you worry about a concussion. Then despair can hit again when you put your work out there and get rejected at every turn. Or sales don’t seem to do as well as you’d hoped.
Hope – That moment when the idea comes into your head. You have the hope of a book that will astound the world. Also, the feeling you get after you bust through the wall of despair. And then again when you send your work to a prospective publisher and you wait. It’s the hope that keeps you moving forward.
Publish – Ahhhhh…. That moment when you hit the publish button and all is good with the world, then all three emotions run rampant. But there’s a relief in publishing your work. And if you’re luck enough to get an amazing publishing contract with a big publisher, then true relief takes over.
It’s amazing the emotions that run through your mind as you start, work on and finish your manuscript. So, let them run, but never let them run you off from your dream.
Monday! After a crazy busy weekend, all I wanted was a Pumpkin Spice Latte, but the Espresso machine was down at the coffee shop, so I had to get a Pumpkin Spice Coffee. Yep, not what I needed this Monday morning. So, pushing through the tired fog.
Rough draft… It’s the nemesis of a writer. How many rough drafts do you go through? Me? Several. The first round of writing on my manuscript is usually unreadable. My editor laughs when she gets one of my rough drafts. Often there is a question posed to me of ‘what the heck did you mean by that sentence?’ It actually makes me giggle when I go back in to see what she’s talking about.
But, are rough drafts essential when writing? No… Maybe… Yes! It gives you a chance to go back over what you’ve written. The rough draft also gives you the freedom to get the words on the paper. That’s why it’s called a rough draft. It’s the flow straight from your brain. There is no rhyme or reason to that first draft, it’s just pure writing at it’s roughest. I love getting that raw first draft on paper. There’s such a sense of freedom.
So, posing the above question again, how many drafts do you go through to get to the finished product?
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Check out my newest release, Time Love – Marina’s Story… It’s on sale for a limited time only!
In a world of corporations, concrete, and business suits, there are still cowboys. I love writing about them because to me, they are a dying breed. As long as time can remember, there was cowboys.
With every cowboy I write, I try to make them as real as possible. Since I personally know a lot of cowboys, I have lots of examples of what a true cowboy is. It’s more than the jeans, cowboy boots and Stetson. They are true men that are hard workers, rough handed, and down right tough guys. That’s the ones that are the real thing.
Each one of my cowboys that I’ve written has encompassed one of the cowboys I know. One cowboy I knew was an older man with that weathered skin, keen eye, and cowboy swagger. He was the epitome of an old world cowboy. There was never a conversation that we had that didn’t involve a horse. I loved every minute of each conversation. But now he’s gone, and I long for those conversations.
So, do you love cowboys? Maybe you know one, or even married to one. Let’s give it up for cowboys this Thursday!
Alright ladies, who can raise their hand on this one? If you’re already at that age where your brain is fuzzy at best, then you’re aware of the effects it has on your writing. Some days my mind just doesn’t want to function, which can cause quite a disturbance in my daily word count. What to do?
For me, I caffeine up and take something naturally, which does help, but there are days when none of this makes a difference. I feel sluggish, irritable and just uninterested. That makes me crazy since writing is my happy place.
I’ve been reading a lot lately on how to combat this. One of the things is I make sure that I write everyday, even through the fuzzy edged mind. My editor laughs sometimes when she gets the first draft because, well, the menopause brain makes me stumble over my words, quite literally. Some of my words get ahead of themselves, but thank goodness she understands me, so she plows through it.
Another thing that has helped is a painting app on my phone. When the fuzziness starts creeping in, I pull out my phone and begin to paint. It’s paint by numbers and very relaxing. I’ve also found that while I’m painting, I can work through plots and scenes in my head. So, this is helping.
How many of you have these issues? Let’s work through them together and get to the next stage in our lives. Yes, I’m proud to be almost 52. My life has been an amazing adventure and I know this season will be another adventure that I will laugh at when I get past it. But for now, I’ll just do everything in my power to keep up my work.
As always, May God Bless You…
And while you’re working through it, give Marina a read. It’s a short story to finish out my The Journal Series.
Today I want to throw it back to 2015 I wrote a book that would change so many things in my writing adventure. Check out this nice little emblem I was honored with for Tuscany.
And this was out of over 950 entries!
Tuscany then led me down the traditional publishing route with a great publisher, Solstice Publishing. I was so excited as I signed that contract and began that part of my publishing journey.
Signing publishing contract!
Then in 2019, I took the ownership of my manuscript back and started a new journey. As you can see, Tuscany has taken me so many places, not to mention to Italy in my writing. I discovered so much through writing this novel and added a strong item to my bucket list, a trip to Tuscany. One day… But for now, I’ll stay rooted to the ground.
Tuscany
***Tuscany made it to the top 55 of 985 books in the SYTYCW contest through Harlequin***
Sometimes life leads us on a different path… Fall in love with Tuscany as you follow Lana on the adventure of a lifetime… When Lana Daniels, a simple girl from Georgia inherits a large olive farm in Tuscany, her world is turned upside down. Then she meets Romeo Russo, the farm’s foreman, the most handsome and infuriating man she had ever met. Romeo loves the farm and is afraid that Lana will ruin everything if she stays. But as he gets to know her, he can’t imagine the place without her. Just when he thinks that they can have something together, she finds out that she has three months to decide whether to stay in Italy or sell her grandmother’s legacy. As accidents start to happen on the farm, Romeo and Lana try to figure out who is behind it all. The more they work together, the closer they get. When a lie tears Lana and Romeo apart, Lana disappears leaving Romeo confused. Can she stay away or will she sell the farm and never look back?. Tuscany made it to the Top 55 out of 905 of Harlequin’s 2015 So You Think You Can Write Contest…
So, I hope you fall in love with a bit of Tuscany in this novel. I know I did!
Deadlines… A writers nemesis, but necessary. As an Accountant I have many deadlines to meet, and as a writer, I also have them. They surround me and some days I feel overwhelmed. But I love what I do on both fronts, so I push toward the next deadline with zeal.
But, procrastination also plays a part. As I’m procrastinating now by writing this blog. Sometimes I work best with a looming deadline. Then other times, a chill runs up my spine as the anxiety fills me.
As writers, we set release dates for our work, then work toward them. It’s like a means to an end. If we don’t set a deadline, then where will our work go? I do a schedule every year that sets deadlines for the draft, the editing, and the release. This is setup by evaluating the work itself. Is it to be a full length novel or a short novella? I calculate the words per day, but I manage to add some empty days that allow for procrastination, but still have me meeting my deadline.
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 
