Blizzard – Edits – Learning on TikTok

February 26, 2026February 26, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! So since the last time I was here with you all, we got a ‘little’ snow. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that we in the Northeast US were inundated with a bit of flakeage. I gotta say, it was really something to watch.

I’m a snow person. I really am. My inner kid still looks to see if there will be school the next day and a huge part of me wishes I could go out and play in it. Instead, I made a big cup of cocoa and watched overnight as the winds picked up and the snow got to white out conditions…and I enjoyed every damned minute of it. Part of it was that the Olympics were over and I had nothing to watch anymore, so I dove deep into the intensity of the storm. Nature is incredible and should be respected and watching this storm? Reminded me of just that.

As fierce as the winds of that storm were, when we received even more snow yesterday, it was a much different type. Heavy but quiet. The kind that highlights every tree branch making the outdoors look like an Ansel Adam’s black and white photograph, creating light and shadows where there were none before.

One of my favorite things about snow is the quiet it creates. Nature’s own insulation from the noise of life. The only sound you hear are the flakes landing onto each other creating a blanket of silence. It is peaceful. It is somehow warm despite the cold. It is a time to stop and reflect and look at the new vision it has created…a wonderland of white that reminds us that nature…is…beautiful.

Having said all of that, while kids had the days off because of the weather, I was here toiling away at my manuscript. I approached it a bit differently this time after learning a few things from an editor I follow on TikTok.

Let me just say this, I love TikTok. I know many think it’s just a place for silly dance challenges, crazy people doing crazy things for attention and of course, there is a part of it that is like that. However, there are SO many other ways to use the platform.

As a former social media specialist, I would have killed to have this platform available when I was working. I didn’t like doing videos back then. As someone who doesn’t like to be on camera herself, I felt limited. However, it is such a different atmosphere now, that you don’t need to be visible and the creativity of TikTok alone is endless.

I started using it with my small businesses as a free way to promote my products, send out updates and better yet, meet other small business owners. I learned so much from these folks, I really did. When I decided to start a creative business (stickers, cards, bookmarks, clothing, etc) I looked to these folks both on TikTok and YouTube to find the best ways to start out with little money. To find out where to get some things made and find discounts share and swap tips and we even buy from each other.

When I began getting deeply serious about my writing, I decided to start a #booktok. For those of you who don’t know, booktok is a subdivision of sorts of the main platform dedicated to readers and writers alike.

From the reader standpoint, I’ve discovered new authors to read, popular books I might be interested in (as I’m always looking out to add to my TBR) and then came the best discovery of all…author profiles.

I’ve connected with other authors, both beginning and established, as well as publishers and editors. One of the best things about finding other authors from around the world? Finding out that many of the struggles we face? Universal. We are not alone in doing the crazy things we do, including having astronomical word counts.

Recently after posting a video of my own with my current read, my feed brought up an editor I honestly forgot I was following. She shares quick tips that are so damned helpful, it’s like taking a master class for free. When this particular tip played, I watched it several times to let it sink in. I then went to my own book and started from the beginning again.

That one fast tip helped me cut almost 5000 more words from the first 20 chapters alone! Something so simple yet I wasn’t seeing it. Sometimes, that’s what we need whether we realize it or not. Another perspective to push you in the right direction.

I’ve read my own manuscript upwards of a dozen times. I get lost in the story instead of the cuts I’m supposed to be making so often, I’m convinced this is one of the reasons it is taking me so much longer to figure out how to get this done. This one editing tip out of hundreds I’ve watched both by her and others, woke me up. Opened my eyes to something I was doing over and over again and never even realized it.

Once I paid attention to how I was saying something in dialogue or description, it clicked. I was yelling at the screen about how often I do this. How there is no need for over describing a scene, or explaining laughter when the reader should experience it for themselves. As someone with an editing background herself, I should be more than aware of this. Again, perspective.

After the first few cuts, it got so much easier. I was a madwoman on a mission. I was going through the chapters much faster cutting this, cutting that and soon the word counts were getting lower. Make no mistake, I still have hundreds of thousands to get rid of, or move to the sequel, but to see the progress move along this much faster than it has been in a while? The relief is real.

Now I’m not saying the book will be ready to submit next week. TONS of work still left to go. But at least I have a new starting point of how to do my edits. And because of this, I’ve also been rewriting scenes that are making the book take shape in a new way. Adding more depth to the characters that should have been acknowledged long ago while also decreasing the word count.

So I say, if you think that TikTok is just a doom scrolling time waster? Sure. It can be that. I’ve certainly spent hours escaping life watching cute animals and other stuff as well. It can be a fun app. But there is so much more to it and learning from others and supporting one another? These are the added bonuses of social media in any form. I am personally grateful to those I have learned from and look forward to more lessons that will help me get out of my own head and make the progress I know I can make.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for being here and I hope some of this resonated with you! Until next time…cheers!

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Victory – Defeat – Inspiring Peace

February 18, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! I’m going to go out of my usual box this post because I haven’t been able to concentrate since the opening of the Winter games in Milan.

I mentioned in my previous post that. I’ve been a fan of the Winter Olympics since I was a kid. As much as I like the Summer games, I like the Winter ones so much more. They are action packed, sit on the edge of your seat, holy crap did that just happen kind of sports that get my blood pumping. I can’t stop watching. And because I’m up in the overnight hours, I see a lot of the competitions live before they head to prime time reruns.

I’m watching so intently, that the screen in front of me, the one I’m supposed to be working on, is the one being neglected. I’ll read a sentence, watch three skiers go down the slalom run. I’ll read a paragraph, watch the snowboarders spin until I’m dizzy. I’ll scroll to the next page and then watch as a bobsled almost flips over and don’t even get me started on curling. (This is the first year I’ve watched a lot of it and I’ve actually yelled at the tv during matches.)

That being said, I’m not getting much done and my sleep schedule, that is already more than screwed up, is getting that much worse. I’ve been up until the afternoon and then finally sleep until much, much later only to start watching the games all over again. I’m afraid to miss anything so I’m trying not to drink a lot of liquids. (You get where I’m going with that, right?) My blood pressure is I’m sure going up, because I keep yelling at the announcers to shut up or the camera guys to stop with the up the nose close ups of an athlete that just crashed and burned.

I live near the NBC Sports HQ building where they are calling all the shots and it is taking every ounce of control not to walk over there to say, “please, enough of the drones!” But I digress…

As frustrating as some of it has been, I love to watch. I love to root for the underdogs and those from my home state of Connecticut. I love to see those who may be competing for their last Olympic Games pass along their knowledge to the next generation of athletes. I love that a lot of the skaters chose music from wayyyy before they were born and that many competing, pushed the boundaries of their sport just to see if they could do it.

I love watching these competitors from different countries cheer for one another and trade pins or autographs with each other so that they have their own souvenirs. All making friends and showing the world what it means to be at these games.

I’ve been alive long enough to remember when women weren’t allowed to do a lot of these extreme sports and now to see them compete on the same hills, the same tracks, the same venues as the guys? Hell yeah I’m all for cheering them on! (Go Half Pipe!)

There’s been bumps and bruises, broken limbs (we love you Lindsay!) and tears from low scores and times that have kept them off the podiums. Horrible weather conditions and many MANY crashes. But no matter how they’ve done, no matter if they won a medal or not, these athletes can say that they made it to the Olympic Games and that is something no one can ever take away from them.

There’s only a few days left and while a part of me is happy about that so I can remember how to live again, I will miss it…a lot. I get excited to watch months in advance knowing that there is something fun coming up that will take away the dreariness of the dregs of Winter and make it fun. (The games also give me ideas for my next life to become a snowboarder or luge runner.)

There is so much inspiration that comes from the Olympics whether Winter, Summer or Special. The back stories of what it took to get them there and how some have survived both injuries and tragedies. To see little kids watch and get the spark inside of them that makes them realize that hey, maybe they can grow up and do it too! That is what these games are all about…oh and of course Snoop Dog because how could I forget him?

Yes I’m still reading, writing and editing and all of that but really, it has been nice to lose myself in the highs, the lows, the cheers and the battles faced across snow and ice. To see all their hard work come down to thousands of a second in some cases and to watch as for a little over two weeks, the world comes together for something good…something…peaceful.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Until next time…cheers!

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Winter – Olympics – Reading for a Cause

February 10, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Photo credit: michaelwedermann at Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back! Yes, I know I’ve been MIA again. This time, I’m putting the full blame on the Olympics. (Ok so not all of the blame can be put on the games, but it sounded good.)

I love the Winter games. Always have. Even as a kid, I’d be glued to the tv to watch as athletes glide on the ice, soar down a mountain and risk their lives on a tiny sled going at insane speeds. I got to see the torch (both Winter and Summer) a couple of times during their runs to the big show. And now that the Winter Olympics are here? I am getting nothing done. Add in the Super Bowl and days of long sleep hours due to illness and basically, I’m a lost cause.

Speaking of causes, (nice segue, eh?)…I’m once again doing the Read Every Day Challenge for the American Cancer Society. This is my fifth time doing it and I’m hoping to break my previous record of doubling the monthly goal. It’s a very personal cause for me, having had cancer surgery a few years ago. I followed my mother who also had it a few years before me and unfortunately, the illness has been all over my family in various ways. Friends, family…this monster touches all of our lives in some way and while I cannot do a whole lot to donate or do more physical fundraisers myself, I can turn my love of reading into donations during these designated times. I’ll post the link to my fundraiser page below this post if you’d like to donate or share it to help me spread the word.

Back to Winter. I don’t know about where you are but it’s been damned cold here! Now, let me just say this, I love Fall and Winter. Love them. Even with my pure and utter hatred for January, I’d still take the cold over Summer’s oppressive heat and humidity any day. Having said this, this particular Winter with it’s below zero windchill factors have been pretty impressive. If there was ever a time to stay inside with a book and hot cup of tea, coffee or cocoa, it’s definitely now. Like I need an excuse. 🙂

I’ve been reading a book series that has had me absolutely laughing every night and keeping me in a much better state of mind. I’m sorry that I’m now on the last book. These four books have really had me not only loving the characters, but letting me ‘live’ vicariously in a fictional small town with a Christmas tree farm destination spot for year round fun. While the series may be ending after this final book, (although hoping she adds to it in the future) I’m happy that I discovered this author and am looking to read more of B.K. Borison’s work. She writes in a very similar style to myself and it’s nice to read the work as someone else who gets it. Plus, I love that I have a new romcom author to follow!

As for my own writing, trying to focus as best I can with my editing/rewrites while still dealing with my medical crap as well as my attention issues. For you see, I’m up in the overnight hours and that is when a good deal of the Olympics are live. So here I am, even while I’m writing this post, watching the slopestyle and slalom finals and this has taken me three times as long to write this because I keep watching the races in front of me.

And for the record, yes, I did watch the Super Bowl. That was pure entertainment and didn’t take away from my writing at all. Hell of a game!

Back to my writing, I am happy to say that in the last two weeks I’ve cut another couple of thousand words and think I have a way to cut a huge chunk out while still keeping the story intact. Trying to keep much of the back and forth between the main characters has been the truest challenge for me. There is so much that is vital to the story but sadly, also really adds to the word count. It has become my biggest struggle while I reread my work every night. A lot of internal conversations that have me both cursing myself at times as well as yelling at my screen, “why did I even write that?” Then hitting delete over and over again. I’m truthfully finding this round of edits to be more cathartic than past runs. There is something quite freeing about clearing away the clutter and narrowing a scene down to its very foundation. Life lesson there? an obvious one but sure, I’ll take it.

The one thing that is worrying me this time around is that I’m starting to get ideas for a new story. This cannot happen. I know how my mind works. Once a new idea pops into my head, it will start to override what is already right in front of me. It is actually how I ended up here in the first place! I already have a book done. Unlike the current romcom I’m working on, it is a mystery. It needs a ton of work to edit, however, while I was working on it, I got the idea for this current book. I dropped the other one and wrote this one. At first I was so happy that this new book took only months to write. My first manuscript took over three years to complete. When the editing started though and I realized how much work would have to be done on it, I knew it was too good to be true. And now, my mind has been alternating between this current work to my previous one to a new idea and I just can’t lose focus. Not when I’ve worked pretty much every night for almost a year on this one. I’m married to these characters. I live and breathe them every single day and night. I will not let them down and I cannot let another story take up residence in my brain right now. I will, WILL finish this book and get it submitted and then I will go back and work on my previous piece and edit the hell out of that one as well. I will finish what I started and hopefully, there are a few bestseller lists waiting for me in my future! (Why settle for just one, right? Go for gold!)

Is my mind all over the place? Sure. But what else is new? Hoping you all are staying safe, warm and happy. That 2026 is treating you kindly so far and that you are also cheering for yourself to make it a great one. Because the way you cheer for yourself, can make all the difference in the world.

And that my dear friends, is where I will leave you for today. Thank you as always for being here and until next time…cheers!

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If you’ve made it this far? THANK YOU! Stay warm folks! 🩷

Slackin’ – Distractions – Snow Days

January 27, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / 1 Comment

Hey guys, welcome back! So sorry that I missed last week, but I gotta tell you, it’s been a time. However, it’s good to be here and hope you haven’t given up on me! (I know, I’ve been saying that a lot lately. Oops.) I also hope that this year has been treating you well so far!

Anywhoo, with all the life stuff of both dr appointments and medical tests, I’ve just been kind of…here. Whatever this illness is that I have (that still has not been diagnosed as of yet), it’s just making me tired all the time. I have no energy, I just want to sleep nonstop and yet I have trouble actually going to sleep. My hours, which were never ‘normal’ to begin with, have gotten way off the charts. However, life goes on and so do I!

I have, of course, been working on my book. I am on yet another re-read and I have so many ideas now of how to condense the original story into something that get me within the word count I need to submit it somewhere. The problem unfortunately then goes back to the previous paragraph. The more I think about what I want to do with the book, the lack of energy I have at the moment is holding the actual new writing back. Every night I sit and read through a few chapters, edit more and then mentally drift off somewhere else. In other words, I get so lost in the reading of the story, that when it comes time to change things around, I just kind of sit there.

To say it has been discouraging is an understatement. The last read through I did, I made so much progress. I had rewritten chapters and cut thousands more words and felt like I was really making a lot of progress. Now here I am, at chapter thirty-something again and I think last night, all I did was change some grammar and an apostrophe. Woo-hoo.

I’m trying not to get down about it. I just don’t want to lose the momentum and excitement I’ve had. I lost a few days of not working on it at all a couple of weeks ago and I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again. I’ve been working so hard on this since last April. Now here we are, with January almost over in this new year and while I’m not physically working on the book in front of me, I’ve been dreaming about where I want the story to go, how I want it to read and came up with new paths for the characters to go.

Of course, getting all of this from my thoughts to the page is something completely different. Keeping me focused instead of flaking out is a challenge and it takes nothing to get me distracted these days.

Speaking of distractions…how about this snow huh? Ok so maybe it hasn’t snowed where you are. But here in the Northeast, the snow/frigid winter we’ve been having has been reminding us that Mother Nature is indeed in charge of things. Personally, I love snow. Even though my hatred of the month of January is well known, I still love snow. It makes everything magical and even though I am nowhere near school age anymore, I still look for the school closings like a kid. I don’t think that will ever leave me either. I used to love snow days as a kid. Meeting my friends at the park to go sledding or have massive snowball fights. Of course the walk back home was always rough. All the enthusiasm of the day was replaced by cold, wet clothes and having to walk uphill to my house with a sled was brutal. But there was always hot cocoa waiting for me and layers of blankets to snuggle under.

During this past storm, I sat with both the book I was reading and my keyboard to work on my own book, a hot cup of tea and watched as the snow poured down on us. I was up in the early morning hours as I always am and it was so peaceful and quiet, that for a bit, I forgot I was doing anything and just watched it come down. There was no noise. No sounds of the nearby highway that I’ve become so used to. No sounds of people starting their cars to go to work. No kids trudging early to school. Nothing. Just complete and blissful silence that let me hear the occasional snowflake hit my window.

Snow muffles life. Not just the sounds, but it literally halts our daily routine. I may not go outside a whole lot anymore, but it still brought me to a standstill watching it. It made me take a break. Made me sit back and reflect and for a little bit, also make me just let my mind go blank as I watched the flakes come down. I love trying to focus on one particular snowflake as it descends from the sky. Trying to see if I can follow it all the way down to its landing place. Not just because I find it hypnotizing, but also because for a brief shining moment, I don’t have to think about anything. I can just be.

Snow quieting our world is a great metaphor for what we all need to do now and then. While everything else in life is happening, we all need to take a step back now and then and just quiet ourselves. Many can do it when they are going to sleep. I am not one of those people. I am the kind that replays everything that has ever happened in her life just before it’s time to close her eyes. So to sit and watch the snow fall, it was like erasing my mind for a bit.

No amount of meditations or ASMR videos on YouTube could do what a half hour of watching the snow the other morning did for me. A complete clearing of the mind. A reset if you will. Now I just need it to snow every day…or have Fall leaves falling from the trees. I’ll take either. (Although I’ll always like Fall best.)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks for putting up with me as always and I apologize again for skipping more than a week of posting. I’m still here and still trying to entertain, well, I hope I’m entertaining! Hate to think I’ve lost my touch!! 🙂

Until next time…cheers!!!

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Trying – Sleeping – Random Inspiration

January 12, 2026 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back. I know, I know, I’ve already missed a week and it’s only the first two weeks of the new year. Well, life is crazy stuff sometimes and that is what it is for me right now.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve been sick for many months. Well, it continues and right now, we are still trying to figure out what is going on. I’ve had more dr appointments and this week I’ve got more tests to get. In the meantime, my sleep schedule is even more erratic that it already was. I slept through the holidays, literally. I slept all Christmas Day and New Year’s days and then three days after, only being up for a few hours here and there. I slept almost this entire past weekend and trying to stay awake is a real fight. However, I’m still here!

With all of this being said, I’m trying so hard to stay focused on my book. The waking hours I do have, I dedicate to both reading and editing my manuscript. (And streaming Brooklyn Nine-Nine, because the show makes me laugh out loud.)

As dedicated as I’ve been, I actually went days without touching the book. That doesn’t happen and it bothers me that it did. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t open it up to read it, I just couldn’t go near it. When I can’t work on it? That’s when I know that I can officially say, I’m not well.

I am happy to say though that the time I have put into it? I’ve cut almost 4000 more words! I’ve been cutting full pages, full paragraphs and reworking/rewriting the story so that it will embrace the time of year I’ve switched it to which has been fun.

I’m still trying desperately hard to figure out just how to keep so much of what I’ve written, without having to break this particular origin story in two. I’ve talked about making this a series in the past, but I really want a lot of what is already done to be a part of this first book. The stress I’m putting myself through about it though, needs to stop. Can’t afford that right now. So as I get through this latest read through and cut and cut and cut, I remind myself that yes, I can indeed put some of this into it’s sequel and to calm the hell down. (I yell at myself a lot when I’m working…sometimes I wonder what my neighbors think is going on over here.)

I think one of the best things I’ve done to help the editing process along has been taking it ten chapters at a time. Honestly, it gives me such a sense of accomplishment when I’m done with a set of ten and seeing just how much I’ve cut from them. How much I’ve changed them. Doing it all as a full document was making it rather overwhelming. Doing it in stages? Well, I should have been doing it this way all along!

Someone on a video I watched on YouTube once said, ‘if you are feeling overwhelmed by a task, try breaking it down into small pieces.’ Well damned if they weren’t right about that! I couldn’t recommend this process more. This is my second time going through the book doing the ten at a time method and it has helped tremendously and I’ll continue to do it this way until I get it just the way I want it.

Whether it’s a video on YouTube or talking to a friend, attending a seminar or hell, watching a tv show you like, advice can come from where you least expect it. The video I watched? Had absolutely nothing to do with processes or writing. It was just a random sentence that popped up and I latched onto it. Always keep your eyes and ears open, for inspiration can come from anywhere! (Including your friendly neighborhood blogger.) 😬

And that is where I will leave you today. I hope you got something out of this post!

Until next time folks…cheers!!!

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