Mondays, Memories…Coffee!

Good Monday morning! Why are Monday’s so hard? I think somehow the weekends have grown shorter or is that just me?

Yesterday, I took a short walk outside. It was short due to the high pollen count outside. My allergies are not fans of pollen. But, anyhow, as I walked I saw the two things in the pictures above. As a country girl, these two items are part of my pleasant childhood memories. The dandelions were fun to blow on, sending the little fluffy white seeds floating into the sky, of course as children, we didn’t know we were spreading the flowers everywhere. Then, of course, there were mad searches in among the patches of clover for the elusive 4-leaf clover. I’ve found a couple in my lifetime, which usually ended in a wish. But the memories are heartwarming. It makes me sad that children today, for the most part, don’t take part in this kind of fun.

Several of you have emailed me, asking about my latest manuscript. Well, I can tell you that the first half is in the capable hands of my editor. I’m working on the second half, which is exciting. As you know, I outline, so I’m seeing the ending coming and all I can say is, it’s different from anything I’ve published thus far. So, keep watching for release dates and snippets, which are coming…

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S.: It’s Monday, so grab an extra cup of coffee for the road.

Friday’s Ramblings…

Good Friday morning! Yay… It’s finally Friday!

So, we’ve worked all week to get to this day, but what are we planning? Why might I ask? Well, someone made a good point the other day and I’ve taken it to heart. They said that we look forward to the weekend, but why if we just do more work and don’t get in a little fun time? It made me think…

On Saturday morning, I spend the morning cleaning my house but wouldn’t it be nice if I incorporated the cleaning into my weekday mornings so that on Saturday morning I could, let’s say, write… So, with that in mind, I made a list of my cleaning duties and have separated them by the weekdays. With it separated it actually makes for less time each day. Then I can spend my Saturday mornings doing something fun. Oh, and don’t forget to spend some time with your family, it’s important for our mental health.

So, what about you? How can you make your weekends more fun and relaxing? Writing perhaps?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Let the light in…

Good Tuesday morning! Grab a cup of coffee and settle in for a beautiful morning!

After a short stint of writer’s block, the words are flowing in. As I told you in a previous post, the outlining part of Scrivener has helped. I’m keeping my focus and know where the story is going. Actually, the process is making it flow faster than ever. Not to mention, I’m not straying off on little detours that will derail the story.

I feel like the light has been let in and everything is clear. It’s a great feeling and I can’t wait to share this story with everyone. So, have you let the light shine in on your story yet. Tell me about your breakthroughs in writing.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

A sigh…romance

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It’s Friday!

Good Friday morning! Wow, what a busy week. I’m so ready for the weekend, even though I’ll be in my accounting office most of it, but sleeping late in the morning is on my schedule.

The weather here in Georgia is fabulous at the moment and totally out of season, but I’m not complaining. It does make it hard to stay inside the office when the sun is shining and the days are warm. I keep telling myself that I live in Georgia and that means winter is not over yet. Hoping winter doesn’t come back in like a lion…

So, what are your plans this weekend? Any writing in those plans? If you’re like me, there’s always writing in your plans 😉

So, good writing and May God Bless You…

Coffee, Books, and Romance…

Good morning! We’re halfway to the weekend and that’s awesome. This has been a busy week so far, so I’m looking forward to diving into the weekend with some much-needed writing so I can get lost for just a little while.

As I sip my coffee, my mind is on all the things I’d like to accomplish today. Is there writing on that list? Well, I try to get in as much writing as I can each day, but some days, a few promotional posts and such are all I can fit in during tax season. But I’m hoping to catch a few minutes of mind cleansing writing.

A fan asked me a question a few days ago and I’ve been wondering how to answer it. Her question was, ‘How do you stay focused on just writing Romance?’. Well, let’s see… For one thing, I love romance and everything about it. There’s so much you can do with romance writing. It’s my favorite genre to read also, which makes it an easier niche for me. But, think about it, in romance novels you can add elements of mystery, the paranormal, humor, history, real life, etc. The list goes on as to where you can go with romance. Actually, it’s endless.

A romance novel can be in any era because there’s always been romance somewhere. So, to me, it makes the best writing genre in my mind. But, I love romance. If you love mystery or horror, well, that could be the best writing genre for you. My philosophy is this, write what you love, it helps keep the words flowing.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

P.S.: Here’s another look at the amazing cover of my upcoming release, ‘Beyond One Moment’. Yes, I’m a little in love with it.

Beyond One Moment Front cover

Outlining the story easier…

Good Tuesday morning! With tax season in full swing and a couple of manuscripts on deadline, I’ve been a little behind on my posts. But I found something that has helped me a lot.

So, as most of you know, I use Scrivener to get my manuscript typed up and ready to go. But, I had never taken the time to look into the outline part of the program. I’ve always typed my outline in Word or wrote it longhand, which was alright, but I had to keep it beside me, sometimes losing my place while going back and forth.

But now that I’ve taken the time to figure it out, I don’t know how I worked without it. In the program, you can have the outline points for each chapter on the same page that you’re typing on. It’s amazing. And you can also scroll the outline points back or forward while working, which helps you to keep on focus. This concept has made a huge difference in my writing.

If you haven’t started using Scrivener for your writing, then I suggest you give it a try. It’s great and keeps you on track. Not to mention your character bios are always at your fingertips and places. But now with the outline set up, wow!

As always good writing and May God Bless You…

What’s in a character?

Good Tuesday morning!

So, how do you form your characters? Do you develop them as the story goes forward? Or do you write a character sketch before putting the first word into the manuscript? In Scrivener, I always start out with a blank page for each character. Of course, I know basically who my character is. When I start a new manuscript, I develop their main character sketch, but what is included?

Name – Oh, this can take hours for me. I play with first and last name combinations. It’s crazy, but as a writer, I know that when the right combination comes across, it will pop. So, I scan name lists, Scrivener’s name generator, and even newspapers. Sometimes things just stand out.

Flaws – Ok, so maybe your main characters don’t have flaws, but I try to make mine less than perfect. Of course, my first books had perfect characters, but I want my readers to relate to my characters, so I add flaws. It could be as simple as having an attitude, but I make it a flaw at the time.

Looks – Does my character have blonde hair and blue eyes? That’s something important because you don’t want to suddenly say something about their auburn hair halfway through. You need to know what they look like or at least have an idea so that it stays consistent throughout the book.

Career – What does your character do? Are they a lawyer, doctor or maybe a rodeo king? It’s important to know this so that you can add elements of what they do to your character.

Hobbies – This is not as important as other attributes, but if it’s going to play a role in the book, then you need to remember if they knit or oil paint. Changing it midway can confuse the reader at times.

You may be saying, but why are these important? Every writer is different in how they do their work. For me, I like to get to know my characters. As I write, I like to know what my character might say or do and why. In Scrivener, I always have a character note that details things and I can add to it as things happen. Believe me, it helps to keep the process going forward.

So, how do you create your characters?

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

When the words get blurry…

23173416364_e8f8ee489e_s Good morning! Smile, we’re halfway to the weekend.

As I sit here, working on my manuscripts in process, I’m glad to have the words coming back into my head. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been struggling with the words. Since I had the Norovirus, my head has been fuzzy, which made for a bad writing time. I actually went for a solid week and didn’t write not one word! Although the characters were in my head, screaming nicely, I couldn’t get my head wrapped around anything.

So, what do you do when the words get blurry? Well, for me, I stepped back. But, deep inside my heart, I was wanting to write. Several times I picked up my laptop and opened Scrivener, trying to get the words to come forward, but nothing came. My characters were just blurting out jumbled up words that made no sense. Now, I could’ve written what was coming into my head, but believe me when I tell you, it wouldn’t have made the bestseller’s list by no means.

But, as I sit here, I’m smiling because the words are back. Of course, since I’m an Accountant, this is my busy time, so my time is limited, but I’m grabbing every spare moment, trying to catch up on my word count. And you know how I am about getting my word count in.

So, with that being said, I’d better get back to writing because I only have another twenty minutes this morning before I need to get to the office and back to accounting. I do hope everyone stays healthy and safe during this flu season!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

Happy New Year!

Wow, it’s 2018! As we say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new, remember to make this new year even better than the last year. Let’s strive to do something for ourselves and others every day.

The last year held some great times, but also many sad times. My writing evolved and I managed to publish 8 books in 2017. I’m excited about all the projects that I have coming up in 2018 and can’t wait to tell you about them, but that will come later.

So, here’s to wishing all of you a Happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year!

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…