Tag: writing

June 2

My Mary-Sue muse has stopped chasing the other muses/plot bunnies away. I’m done with the WIP I’ve been working on. It ends rather abruptly but that’s the way the muse left it. I sent it out to my publishing coordinator and see if she’ll pub it. I’m not touching it again. It consumed me for months a trickle at a time. And I don’t know why cause it was just a little snippet of a dream I had years ago. But the muse wanted it done. But on her terms.

Maybe it was taking up valuable real estate in my mind that needed to be cleared out. I don’t know. Anyway it’s done now and I’m moving on finally.

My next two WIPs are novella 3 of Elemental Voice companion series and one of the dragon fantasy Fallborn books. I hope to get at least one of them out before September. The other I hope by November.

Read this month’s book club book and did the review. It was a Christian romance. I usually don’t read them cause some get real preachy but this one was fair. Only got a little preachy towards the end but still was a good clean book. She had changed the title but I prefer the older title. I think the older title suits the book better. But the new title does grab attention.

I ordered and got a few books for inventory. I was out of a couple. Since they are older I didn’t get many. I’m hoping to get my WIPs out and ordered before Hootin An Hollarin so I have new books to sell. That’s the thing about writing you always have to have new inventory to put out or you don’t sell as well.

Gonna relax tonight, watch a DVD. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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June 2025

Halfway through the year already, and I haven’t published a book yet. I’m still working on my WIP. I have two more books I want to get out, but I can’t work on them until I get this thing done. My muse is being so fickle about it. She won’t let me work on anything else til I get this done. It’s irritating me. But my muse wants this written now. It was at the bottom of my queue, but she shoved it in front and said, ‘Do this’. Like I don’t have thousands of books to write in my queue.

Anyway, Summer’s here officially now. Mornings we do a little bit outside, then have lunch and sit in a/c for a few hours after. Evenings we go outside for a while as well, once the sun has moved a bit. The ferals are haunting the shade, and the little babies aren’t so little anymore. They’re growing a little bit and playing around with mamas keeping an eye on ’em. There are three water bowls for them near the feeding boards and a metal container full of rainwater that they like to use, so they’ve got plenty of water. All the kittens have started to eat the dry cat food so I’ve increased the amount a bit in the three main feedings. Before I go in at night I put a little out. I figure that mamas need a little extra. 🙂

Did last month’s book club book. It was actually good. At first I thought it was going to be a retelling of David and Goliath but it wasn’t. It did have giants and battles but most of it was a coming of age tale of a slave who became a champion of his people. Slayer of Nephilim by Daniel Moots. This month’s a romance and one I normally wouldn’t read as it’s not paranormal. We’ll see how it goes.

My in-person TTMP event last month was okay. I didn’t sell much. Of course I didn’t have anything new. Hootin An Hollarin is up next in September and then another TTMP event in October. I’m hoping to have new books for both.

I didn’t do a cover last month. I’ll see about doing it this month. I need to build up my covers. They keep me on track with what I’m writing. If I have the cover I have to do the book.

Time to feed the ferals their last main feeding. Stay tune for the next installment.

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May 2025

Almost half way through the year. April indeed was wet but the flowers have already bloomed and some have come and gone.

We’ve been sitting outside on the porch in the evenings for a bit and doing odd ‘projects’ here and there before dark. Now that it doesn’t get dark until after 8p.m. The ferals have been hanging around napping while we sit on the porch and some of the females seem to have had their kittens. Now that it’s warm the cats don’t eat as much. There’s leftovers after they go through and I’ve cut down to 3 feedings a day.

Time to start reading the next book club book. The other members read mine and gave me fair reviews. I can’t afford an editor and I usually go for a proofreader but sometimes even they miss things. However I think I didn’t have either for Bone, just spellchecker. So I agree about the grammar errors. When I read a book if I get immersed in it I don’t even see the typos.

I have not finished my main WIP. My muse is adding things in, fleshing out some more. It’s gonna be published this month one way or another. I have two novellas I want to get out by September. This WIP is a little different than my other books. Probably why my muse is being so fickle with it.

I have an in-person event this first Saturday of the month at Hardenville, MO. Triple Treasures Market Place. I also signed up for Hootin An Hollarin at Gainesville, MO in the third week of September. These are probably the only 2 I will be going to as funds are short. Unless I get a lot of sales this month. And I do mean a lot. 🙂

I have picked a cover to do this month. The cover for book 3 of the Bone Whisperer series. That is if I can. Money isn’t a sure thing right now.

The clock says it’s lunchtime and so does my stomach. Stay tune for the next installment.

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April 2025

 A little late with these posts this month. Yesterday we lay chad on our driveway so I was outside all day, except for mealtimes. We finished an hour before dark. I didn’t feel like writing any thing yesterday evening so I watched a video after checking all my emails. 

Now that the weather is getting nicer I’ll be doing ‘projects’ with my Dad and most of the time not being indoors long until suppertime. Not all the time but usually at least once a week or other week. That’s what I’m here for according to my parents, to help so they get what work they can from me. 🙂

I’m still working on the two WIPs. I only got a few days left til the deadline.

My book, A Playground of Bones, is up this month in the Book Club.

Want a walk-on role in one of my Elemental Voice books? In book 4, Wind Whisper, one of my past co-workers, gave me permission to use her maiden name, and she became the M.E. because she was good at cutting up the stuff for the salad bar. She thought I was joking about making her the M.E. because of her knife skills. But there she is in Wind. Message me the name and occupation/skill and you’ll be slipped in.

I’ll see about doing another book cover this month. I want to try and do at least one a month, to keep way ahead of my books incase my book cover company stops being able to do them. As I’ve said they’re in Ukraine.

The ferals are doing fine. A few of the females have shown up pregs. So kittens will be coming. There are ten cats that show up regular, other not so much. The count is fluid and some like to hang around incase we put out food between feedings. Which we do, some leftovers from our meals. The more that stick around the less pests we have hanging around.

Clock says it’s almost lunch time and I’m eating with my parents today so I best be going. Stay tune for the next installment.

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February 2025

It’s my birth month already. Seems like 2024 just zoomed right on by. But I’m havin’ the feeling these next few years are going to seem endless. I just hope we see the other end.

My muse jumped ship again. She’s working on a WIP that’s way down the list like the Fallborn story. She’s just hopping around right now. I will get one of my WIPs done by April’s deadline. But which one? I don’t know. I have 5 of them open, two of which are novellas. So one will be finished by the deadline.

The five are by the way The Dragon Mistress–a Fallborn book, Deadly Sea–Elemental Voice Companion book, Remnant–book 3 of Ghostwolf, Blood Singer–a werewolf clan book, and A Field of Bones–book 2 of Bone Whisperer. Sea, Remnant, and Field are in the top five of my queue but Singer and Mistress were in the bottom ranks. However my muse decided it wanted to work on them soo…

The werewolf clan books by the way are stand-alones like the Fallborn but set in the same place with some of the same people showing up. They are way down the list below the Fallborn books. They are not related to the Ghostwolf books at all. Completely different ‘universe’.

I plan to do at least one cover this month. I just have to decide which one. It will be one of the WIPs I have open I’m sure. Only two of them have covers so I have 3 to chose from. Better than randomly choosing one from the queue.

The younger ferals don’t like the rain we’ve been having, and they definitely didn’t like the snow we had last month. But the older ones were blahzy about the snow, however they don’t like the rain either. I don’t blame them about the rain as it messes up their fur. The snow though that was funny watching the younger ones. The looks they had and the way they pawed around trying not to sink. Hillarious. By the way we only had six inches so no hazard to them.

I’m still looking for vampire names. I have 2 novellas and 1 main book to get out in the Elemental Voice serieses. The Wedding is coming up soon and we will meet and greet a number of Orro clan vampires. So if you want to name a vampire leave a comment, email, dm, whatever. Names always give me trouble. Some of my characters come with names and full personalities, but others have no names and just a basic personality until I figure out the name, then Bam…Suddenly everything comes together on that character.

Just drank the last bit of tea. I got a bit more to do online then I’ll eat lunch. Stay tuned for the next installment.

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January 2025

It’s the new year already. 2024 seemed to fly on by. Now we get to see what the new year brings.

The Time-Lost book is out on Amazon. I’m moving on to the next book in the queue, novella 3 of the Elemental Voice Companion series. Book 3 of Ghostwolf is the writer’s block book this time instead of Bone Whisperer 2. I need to get Ghostwolf out as well. I have a feeling though that I’ll be working on all three of them. My muse never does exactly what I want.

When I say writer’s block book, I mean a book I work on when I get stuck on the main book. If my muse decides she doesn’t want to work on the main book I open the block book and see if she’ll work on it. Usually she does, at least a bit.

I only did the one cover this last month. I wasn’t settled on which cover I wanted to do next. I need to figure that out and get it done this month. Staying ahead is nice. Hopefully the company that does them for me will still be there in the new year. Ukraine is still up in the air.

The evenings and mornings have been chilly and the ferals have been cuddling in cat piles, either in a leaf pile or in a cat house. I’ve been feeding them extra on the boards in the mornings and evenings. During the day the young ones romp around while the older ones lay in the sun.

Joined a book club. My book is slated for either March or April. I can’t remember. I’ll look up the schedule later. Already started on this month’s book, a coming of age set in the 1960’s. Has a soda fountain area mentioned in it. Our local pharmacy had an old time soda fountain in it when I was a kid and this book brought about some good memories of ice cream and chats at the counter. I was sad when they reneuvated the pharmacy and took out the foutain when I was a teen. Not many places to go in a small town to hang out. But that was probably why they took it, too many kids hanging around. And it probably wasn’t profitable enough.

Just finished my glass of tea so I think I’ll wrap this up here. One more check of my email then I think I’ll go outside and check on the ferals, about time for a feeding since I feed them early. Stay tuned for the next installment

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October 2

Halloween is almost here. As I said before if I was living in a house I’d be having a party. Decorations indoors and out. Candy for kids and adults. I’d be dressed up either as a werewolf or a vampire or maybe even alternate. I love Halloween. But alas I am not my own master, none of us really are anymore.

I got the skirting up around my trailer, part of Winterizing the place. I’ll have to check it periodically to insure it’s as air tight as possible to keep most of the cold out from underneath my trailer, from freezing my pipes/water. We still got things to do though before the really cold weather sets in. We may have a semi-warm fall like we did last year before the cold snap.

The ferals are being frisky with the cooler weather. We got a batch of kittens running around plus the ones born this past summer. While the younger ones play around the older ones look on with what looks like a jaded eye. They know what the cooler weather means.

My newsletter went out yesterday. It was just a short and sweet one as it was the first. I glanced at the numbers and it looks okay so far. Thirty some percent opened and only 3 unsubscribed so far. I’m told that’s not bad.

Just got the proof for the cover of book 2 of the Elemental Voice companion series. Looks good. I plan to have them up soon. Almost done with revamping my covers. I got the cover for the Time-Lost book and for the next book, Book 2 of Bone Whisperer. Book 3 of EV companion series, Book 3 of Ghostwolf, and Book 1 of Of Gods and Curses is next up for covers as they are next in the queue. But my muse is fickle. So who knows what’s next really.

Speaking of my books–Have you checked out any of my books or Vellas? If you have not, Give them a try. My Elemental Voice books are in Kindle Unlimited and I have several Vellas to chose from. This Winter I should catch up with all my Vellas and get some book writing done. All that indoor time should do something, don’t you think? 🙂

Stay tuned for my next installment on the 1st of November

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October 2024

October is here and Halloween will soon be upon us. There is something in us that likes the thrill of horror in movies and books, that jolt of fear and anticipation–As long as it is only in movies or books.

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. We can let ourselves go. Let that creature inside us out for a bit. And the candy isn’t bad either. 🙂 As an adult I don’t get to indulge as much any more, except in books and movies. There’s no Halloween parties for adults here. That doesn’t mean there aren’t spectacular Halloween decorated houses around but no parties–unless it is for children. If I ever get a house, large enough to host, I’m going to have a Halloween party, even if no one else shows up, every year. For both adults and kids.

Time to Winterize my trailer and get things situated before the cold gets here. The cool mornings are nice change from the Summer heat and humidity. But Winter in the Ozarks is not very nice at all. The old adage about waiting 5 minutes if you don’t like the weather is very true here. Morning can start out nice but by afternoon you can have harsh conditions. The opposite can happen but rarely. Usually if the day starts harsh it stays harsh, sun shining or not. However we don’t get the snow fall that the Northern states get which I’m happy about. I’m hoping for a mild Winter this year. While I like the time indoors to get writing done I do get cabin fever. Winter is not the best time to go for a spontaneous walk.

Speaking of my books–Have you checked out any of my books or Vellas? If you have not, Give them a try. My Elemental Voice books are in Kindle Unlimited and I have several Vellas to chose from.

This month is also the start of my newsletter. With some help it is actually going to be reality. I had put it off because I am such a Luddite. Computers are still mostly a mystery to me and the internet is like magic. Hopefully everything goes well.

Cover for book 2 of Bone Whisperer is getting worked on. That’s the next book after the Time-Lost book as well as Book 3 of the Elemental Voice Companion series to be worked on. I need to redo the covers for the EV companion series. The ones on now don’t match the EV ones. So that’s next on my author agenda.

Vella has seemed to fallen by the wayside. I’m still working on some of the stories there but they are not priority. Since the changes Vella has not been very good to me. Of course I haven’t been promoting it much either or updating it much so that could be why. But there are still good stories on there that I want to get out and I will. Just not as urgently.

Stay tuned for the next installment

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August 2024

The Time-Lost book is still not done. My muse is just not cooperating. She is interested in other things. They may or may not make an appearance on my Hootin An Hollarin table.

And the ravens are still nameless.

As are characters in book 5 of Elemental Voice. Have any good names for centuries-old vampires? This book and book 3 of Ghostwolf are slated to be next. I plan to pub them by the end of 2025.

Book 2 of the Bone Whisperer series is stalled as well. However I will get it and the Time-Lost book pubbed this year. One way or another.

I need to also update my Vellas. They’ve been sitting for over a month at least. At last count I had 12, I think anyway. I’ll sit down and open my Vella page and let my fingers do some walking. That is if my muse is in the mood to do some writing on them. I’ve been trying to concentrate on the Time-Lost book and ignoring my other Vellas.

September is coming up fast. I will be going to my local festival the third Friday and Saturday to hawk my books and maybe other things. If you’re in the neighborhood of Gainesville Missouri the third Friday and Saturday of September stop on by Hootin An Hollarin and enjoy the craftmanship of many local crafts persons.

Have you checked out any of my books or Vellas? Give them a try.

That’s it for now.

Stay tuned for the next installment

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Sit a spell

Or take a load off. Both mean let’s sit together and talk.

Each part of the country has it’s own terms for things and sayings. I’m in the middle of Hillbilly country. Now I wasn’t born here, I was a kid when we moved here from Florida. I sounded strange to the natives here and they sounded strange to me. I lost one accent and gained a bit of another. Reason I’m mentioning this is ’cause I set my newest book, A Playground of Bones, in a small town in Missouri. The names are all made up of course but while I was writing words from both areas snuck in here and there. I didn’t notice and my proofreader didn’t either until after I published. Also my parents are Northerners. So a lot of different sayings mingled. I’m a conglomerate. A lot of people are here in the USA. And we sure got a lot of opinions. On everything.

I still haven’t finished the Time-Lost book. Sitting on two chapters to go yet. I did get my muse to write a few sentences. But I don’t know if she’ll keep it up. I’ll see later when I sit for writing time.

The ravens are still not named.

I’m still looking for names for centuries-old vampires. I have decided not run the contest anymore since no one seems to be interested so I’m just going to ask if you have a vampire name for me. I’m not afraid to use silly/odd names. If I think it fits the character, he/she will get that name. As I said I’m terrible at naming my characters and use a baby book most times. Don’t have phonebooks anymore so I can’t use them like I used to.

September is coming up fast. I will be going to my local festival the third Friday and Saturday to hawk my books. I also will have a few other things for sale like metal bookmarks and some other things. If you’re in the neighborhood of Gainesville Missouri the third Friday and Saturday of September stop on by Hootin An Hollarin and enjoy the craftmanship of many local crafts persons.

Have you checked out any of my books or Vellas? Give them a try.

Stay tuned for the next installment

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