author life

Good – Bad – The Tired

/ ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment
Photo credit: ME! I have this sticker as well as a ton of others in my Etsy shop. (Or contact me and I’ll gladly sell off of there so they don’t get all of my money. 😬)

Hey all, welcome back! It’s a new week and in a few days, a new month. Is it just me or is the Summer flying by?! It seems like just yesterday, people were blowing up fireworks to celebrate the birth of our country. Of course around here, people are still blowing up fireworks because, well, that’s what they do. (And one day, my heart will start beating again.)

Anywhoooo, besides all the craziness of life, I have been up for nights-going-into-days on the book. The other day I worked from 2am to 1pm and pretty much collapsed to sleep. Well, sleep for about an hour. I’m having some trouble with that particular area. Sleep? What’s that? Between the heat and the story going through my head, sleep is a foreign subject to me.

That’s ok though! Just last night as I was getting something to eat, out of nowhere, a critical plot line that I’ve been having issues with resolved itself!! I have been having so much trouble with this part of the story, fully knowing that what I originally wrote was pure and utter crap. Even with all of the research I did on it, it still came off as made up nonsense that would never happen. Ever. I couldn’t figure out how to fix it. It’s been weeks of either obsessing about it or completely ignoring it and going on with the story. I hadn’t even thought about it in days so when it popped up last night, it was like a freaking revelation and I literally yelled out loud, “THAT’S IT!” (Thankfully no one else was home.) When I went into the old chapter, I did a complete rewrite and lo and behold, it works! So one major hurdle is being rectified and I’m feeling so much better about where it is going now.

In the meantime, it’s been days upon days of little or no sleep and I’m starting to get to the punch drunk tired phase. Which, I have to say, keeps me somewhat entertained, as when I read what I’ve written during these times? Has me laughing as I have apparently been writing like a lunatic on acid. Kind of how I’m writing now.

The point I’m laboring to make here is, eventually, things will work themselves out in their own time. Once I stopped putting so much pressure on myself to figure out this one plot point, it came to me. It’s like life I guess. Once you stop putting pressure on yourself to do something, it’ll happen. Once we relax a bit, you’ll be surprised at what happens. So I hope that will be your takeaway from this strange zombie rambling I’m doing tonight. Relax. Let life happen and maybe the solution to the problem you’ve been having? Will come to you. If it doesn’t, well then…have some ice cream. Ice cream can make everything better. 🙂

On that note, I shall leave you for today. I hope you all have a week of great opportunities and please, STAY COOL! It’s going to be a hot one here where I am and this Summer cannot end soon enough for me. Speaking of, for those who are keeping track, Pumpkin Spice Lattes start at Starbucks last week of August, you’re welcome.

Until next time folks, thanks for following along and I hope you will check out the links below. See you soon…cheers!

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To follow me on social, find my shops and more: linktr.ee/promosocially

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I’m participating in the Read Every Day Challenge for the American Cancer Society. If you’d like to make a donation, that would be great and you can click HERE. If you are unable to, I totally get that but, you can join for free or share the page to help raise the funds. If you have read my About Me page, you will get why this is a deeply personal fundraiser for me. I’ve done it several times now, even doubling the goal here and there.

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Please be sure to check out the links on this page for reader and writer gifts and book journals (all designed by me) and if you like what I’m doing here and would like to help support the writer? Hit my Ko-Fi link HERE. If not, that’s ok too. 😉

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and will see you in the next post!

Bubble – Family – Some Motivation

/ ccsocialcreative / 2 Comments
Photo credit: Engin_Akyurt on Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer, or whatever season you are celebrating this time of the year. I’m personally looking forward to Christmas in July as Christmas is kind of an obsession of mine. I already checked the schedule of the two classic movie stations we have here and one is doing all holiday movies all day including three versions of A Christmas Carol, so I’m all set. And just to be clear, I don’t do Hallmark movies. I just can’t watch them. I had one slip last season but that’s it. I swear. I’m also appreciating the fact that the 25th is falling on a day when we are expecting 105 degree weather, so you know, there’s that.

Anywhoooooo….I’ve been on a writing roll again. I’ve figured out the best way to progress right now is to pass by the parts I’m having trouble with and keep going with the story. There’s so many scenes I want to get to and the ones giving me issues? Well, I’m going to have to revisit them after the rest is out of my head. Which of course means I’ll have to do a lot of rewriting once I incorporate these things, but that’s the life, right? The rest is flowing a little better than it has been lately and at least that’s something.

I just hit a milestone moment in the book. As it is a romance, there is a little bit of spice to it. I mentioned in a previous post that I had written a scene that was a bit spicier than I had planned (now saved for a possible future book). I did want to have characters share a good moment and I think I was able to nail it…no pun intended. However, there is a voice in the back of my head telling myself to remember to tell any family members who will read this thing to skip over the pages involved. I may be an adult, but every now and then, I freak myself out about what my parents will think. 😂

Speaking of, if you’ve read the post I did about my wanting to use a pen name, I hath cleared it with both mom and dad and they are fully on board. Yay! (You’d never know that I will turn 55 in November. As mentally I will forever be 36.)

So the first hurdle where that is concerned has now been written. I can breathe a sigh of relief that it’s now done as it is quite the pivotal plot point. It may sound benign, but with books out there ranging from deep dark romance with lots of kinks to the mild mention of a chaste kiss, there is a broad range of how romances can go. Again I admit my first go around surprised me as the darker side came out in the first draft of the scene but scaling it back, being a bit more on the romantic side, I think I hit the nail on the head. This is a book that also deals with a bit of a serious issue and one that needed to be worked through. Remember, not every romance is a Hallmark movie. Some do deal with real life issues that need to be out there for awareness and as I have tried to keep 90% of this on the lighter, funnier side, life is not always light and funny. There’s always that 10% lurking in the shadows that we all have to deal with.

Because I have been writing for hours and hours for days on end, I’ve created my own little bubble for myself. I live a very Groundhog Day life. I pretty much do the exact same thing over and over, the only real differences are what book I’m reading and what new scenes I’m typing out. I hardly know what friends are talking about when they say the’ve seen this or that on Netflix these days. Although I did finally see a documentary I’ve been waiting to see and have another in my watchlist on Prime. I am also an insane Yankees fan and do make sure to catch all the night games. (I say insane because we all have to be insane to keep up with the team these days, but third generation fan here so I shall suffer until the next ring is won. #fireBoone)

I know many may see my life as boring but I’m actually pretty happy. Considering I can’t do much with my illnesses and live on my bed with the rare day out at a bookstore or the always ‘exciting’ trip to cvs to grab prescriptions, I’ve managed to run two (struggling) businesses, write one full book and 3/4 of this new one as well as reading like I’ve never read before.  Do I miss my old life? Going out every night with friends, having fun and knowing everyone on my favorite street? (The one with the bars.) Of course I do. That being said, all those nights out, all those people I’ve met and those who are still in my circle? Alllll fodder for characters. My first book that I do hope I will get back to editing after this one is completed, is my tribute to them. Almost all characters are somehow based on my friends, either with names, characteristics or both. This new book may have some basis on those I know, or on myself in some ways, I’m just thankful I have this outlet to create a place that gives me an escape to go to and relive what it was like to be out and about. To be able to walk down the street and see folks I know, sit and have a drink with them or even get some advice from the friendly neighborhood bartender.

If we can’t have the life we want, we can create it. Whether if it is making up a story, or actually DOING that which we have wanted to do forever. Want to paint? Do it. Want to sing, go to karaoke and get started or take lessons! Want to run a marahon? Start training! Before I got sick, I once trained for my first 5k (walking, could never run) by starting in my bedroom! Eventually I started walking all over town and by the time the race came around I had gotten my time down from over 23 minutes a mile to 15:20. No matter your goal, it always takes that first step.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Once again I thank you for being here and I hope that my little rambling motivations give you the boost you need or at least a smile. We all need that now and then I’m hoping I can be there for you. 🙂

Hope you will check out the links below and continue to follow me here. Keep having a great Summer and until next time…Cheers!

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If you are new here and confused about what I was talking about with my health, you can check out my ABOUT ME page to learn more. (You can also add three years to it as it will now be 9 years since all of this happened.)

If you like what I’m doing here, I hope you will sign up with your email to get updates on when new posts are made. Look for the subscribe button on the right sidebar (or if on your phone, keep scrolling and you’ll see it below the post.) If you would like to help support the site and would like to send a small tip, you can hit the Ko-Fi button or click HERE to get to my page. 

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I’ve updated the On the Bookshelf 2025 page with more books, so if you are looking for some book recommendations, there’s a nice list for you there.

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To follow me on social, including my #booktok as well as to find my shops, you can find me at: linktr.ee/promosocially

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Thanks so much for being here and if you’ve made it this far? You rock!! See you next time.

Edits – Support – Writing Hangover

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Photo credit: StartupStockPhotos on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! It’s been a busy time and as I type this, I’m looking at the screen through tired eyes. While many are out enjoying their Summers at pools and vacations, I’ve been writing for hours upon hours each night. And you know what? I’m loving every minute of it!

Last night alone, I typed for six hours straight and with hands that are affected by arthritis, it was an exercise in determination. (Also, shoutout to the makers of painkillers. You guys rock!)

I’m in the final third of the book and have been having lots of issues with both story and character development. I’ve strayed quite a bit from the original feel of the book. However, the way it has progressed? Has now given me the basis for a future novel. NEVER THROW YOUR WORK AWAY! Just because what I’ve written doesn’t fit with the current story, doesn’t mean it won’t be good for a new one with new characters. Sometimes you just need to write it out. Get the thoughts out of your head so you can move on to the rest. While doing that, this past week alone, I have almost three chapters worth of material that I can use for a future project. I just wish I knew where this storyline came from because it was completely out of the blue.

Anyway, I’ve been writing and rewriting, changing chapter after chapter and also rereading what I’ve already done to make sure that everything flows. It is vital for me that I do this as I have memory issues. But also for continuity’s sake, it is so important that I keep reading this work over and over. I keep finding areas that need work and unfortunately, big chunks that now need to be cut. I wrote 42 pages over two days and looking over them tonight, there is so much that cannot be used. I have no idea where my mind was going with what I wrote, but again, at least it’s out of my head. And as you can probably see, I am so tired right now, I’m talking in circles. I do believe that the tired has infiltrated my story and is helping to take my characters to a place that they were never destined to go.

I’ve said before and I will say it again, these characters mean the world to me. I’ve created a place I look forward to going to every night. There’s pieces of me in each one and they deserve my best. However I am feeling lately that I am not giving it to them and I need to reel myself back in and get back to the foundation of this book and what I started to do with it. The early chapters came so damned easily to me and keeping the flow of it as I get to these later ones is proving to be the true challenge. It is one that I am up to though and I will make this the best work that I possibly can do.

I have found great support with the writing community slash #booktok community on TikTok. When other writers post about the struggles they are going through with their own characters and plot lines, it makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one dealing with these issues. It’s like having access to a support group from my home and I’m so grateful to all of them for being there. I’ve tried to do the same, posting videos with some kind of message here and there, thanks to the new five hashtag limits though, my views have gone to almost nonexistent. I’m still there though and happy to be a part of that community. After all, creatives help creatives and that is what I hope I am doing here with this blog. 😉

In the words of the immortal Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Remember, if you are looking for reading suggestions for the rest of your Summer and beyond, be sure to hit the ‘On the Bookshelf 2025’ page. I’ll be adding to it all the time. I’ve been on a great reading roll myself and will once again be participating in the Read Every Day Challenge for the American Cancer Society and I’ll put the link below if you’d like to donate. It’s a very personal cause for me being a survivor myself as well as having many family members affected by it. If a donation isn’t in your budget right now? (Which I totally get btw.) You can certainly join in the challenge yourself! It’s of course free to join and it is such an important cause.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thank you as always for following along with my insanity and tired ramblings. No matter what your creative outlet is, remember to just keep going. Even if something doesn’t fit, even if something comes out wonky, it doesn’t matter. Just keep doing what you are doing and keep being the best you that you can be. 🩷

Until next time…

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On the Bookshelf 2025

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New Chapter Cove on TikTok/#booktok: Click HERE

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My donation page for the Read Every Day Challenge for the ACS can be found HERE

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To keep up with all of my social, shops and more: linktr.ee/promosocially

Revising, Rethinking and Lots of Rewriting

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Hey guys, welcome back! It’s a dark and stormy night here in New England and that for me means, lots of reading and writing! I love rainy nights, days, weeks, for just this reason. Plus, it holds the oppressive heat at bay so that’s always a bonus.

I’ve been kind of losing my mind lately with the progress of my book. I wrote myself into a hole of crap that I now am trying to fix. If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that this current novel that I have been working on has been really flowing. I was on a role writing a chapter a night and the story has been going great. And then…

I hit a chapter with a pivotal plot point. One that is taking much more research than I thought it would. As I’m working on that, there is another aspect that I also need to do some follow up on and in the meantime, the rest of the story wants to come out! Yes folks, I’ve hit that point where I yell at my screen at least once an evening now.

I’ve rewritten full chapters, cutting scenes that I really thought would work but now see that they would be better in future pages. Lots of cutting and pasting to rework what’s already been written which, by the way, is another reason why I save each chapter separately. This way I can rework them individually without having to scroll through the entire manuscript. Still, it’s been hard to change what I thought were great pages.

Like others who write, this book has become such a part of me. I dream about it. I work scenes in my head like a movie and even as I talk to people, the next chapter is playing out in my mind over and over again until I can get it written. I feel like I owe it to these characters to give them my best and damned if I’m not going to give it to them!

Is this a public pep talk to myself? Maybe. But when it’s now been months and reams of paper have been printed with chapter after edited chapter, I need to keep myself on track. I lost several days of writing last week when I was stuck, blocked and basically up against a wall. Plus, I was reading a book that I never wanted to put down and once it was over, it stuck with me deeply and I couldn’t get my own story back in my head for two days. So here I am, putting this out there…all creatives will get to this point. That time where there is a pause in the flow of our work. Where there will be a blip in how we think and a time where we constantly curse at ourselves while we try to get it back.

For me, stepping back last week was good. I had been taking the book in the wrong direction. Not saying it wouldn’t have worked the way it was going, but it wasn’t where I wanted this story to go. It was like writing an alternative universe for these characters. Sure it would have been a bit spicier, but I’m writing a romcom not a Fifty Shades kind of book and that’s when I knew stepping back was needed. (However, if I do decide to write something steamier in the future? I’ve kept those scenes in another document, just in case. Throw nothing away.)

Maybe the Summer is affecting me, who knows. As I sit here and type this, waiting for Fall and my first PSL of the season, my characters are trying to keep me in the moment. It’s really a good thing I have no life or else this wouldn’t get written at all! 😂

Anywhoo, this is where I’m going to leave you for today. I hope this resonates with you on some level. If it doesn’t, that means I’m just losing it. But hey, thank you for letting me lose it here! 

Until next time…keep enjoying your Summers!

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For my socials, including my new #booktok you can find all of my links: 

linktr.ee/promosocially

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To read one of the best books I’ve ever written, The Things We Left Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros: click HERE

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I’m happy to announce that I’m now a PangoBooks ambassador! Use my link to get $5 off of your your first purchase and get some great books at super low prices! My first order with them, I found two brand new books for less than $1.50 each! Click my link to get started: https://pangobooks.com/NEWCHAPTERCOVE

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If you’ve gotten this far, thanks so much. You guys rock!! 🙂

Rereading, Spice and Tone Change

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Photo credit: StockSnap on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope you all had a great weekend. It was an interesting one around here with fireworks and a brief blackout, but hey, that’s Summer, amiright?

Quick update, I have added a new page to the site: 2025 On the Bookshelf If you missed the Summer reading post, it contains the books I mentioned there and more and will be updated as I continue to add those that I’m reading throughout the year. Hope you’ll check it out if you are looking for reading recs or Prime Day goodies. (Remember that Prime Days have now begun and run from July 8th-11th. You can find my associate links around the site and on the bookshelf page as well.)

So now that’s out of the way, let’s get to this!

I’m once again rereading my manuscript because somewhere in the last two weeks, the tone of the story has really gone off the rails. What started out as a romcom that I’d hoped the legendary Nora Ephron would approve of, suddenly went to a more serious and darker place I wasn’t expecting. Not to mention, it also got a bit, let’s say, ‘spicier’ than I was going for.

So it was time to take a major step back. I tried rewriting chapters and found that I kept ending up in the same place. I’m chalking it up to the Summer heat finally frying my brain and a few juicy books I’ve read in the past few months. However, for this particular book, I had never planned on it going in that direction.

I’ve decided to put those new chapters aside, maybe rework them for a future project that is leaning more towards that particular genre, but for this book? I want to keep it lighter, funnier, more romance and less smut. Not that there’s anything wrong with a bit of spice, but seriously, my mind went to a place that even I didn’t know it could go. So maybe this whole therapy thing needs to be looked at again? Who knows. At least I started to see the shift change before I wrote any more so I could put a stop to it.

Thus, the rereading.

Going back to my earlier chapters has been great for me. Not only am I finding editing errors, I’m also finding where I can combine my much shorter chapters into larger ones. So numerically, I’m not as far along as I thought I once was, but flow wise, it will read much better. I’m also finding the humor again which is what I really needed to do. 

This particular story does have a deeper backstory and one that I think needs a voice. So I have no issues with having a slight bit of a darker reality behind it. However, when the entire story started to take a more dramatic route, I knew it needed to be changed. When you as the author winces at your own work? It’s time to take a step back.

I’ll be honest, I have trouble with criticism. Of any kind. But with my writing? I get instantly defensive and either get angry or curl up into a ball…it’s just a reflex. Reading and rereading my own work these past two weeks, I’ve been criticizing myself like crazy. How could I let the story go this way? What the hell made me go to the dark side? Why would I ever have a character do that when I have never established any such behavior from them during their development? As harsh as I have been on myself, I can at least look at my writing through fresh eyes as I reread these chapters. Why? Because as I read them, they don’t even read as if I wrote them! So I feel like I am critiquing someone else’s work.

By the way, this is a reason why I don’t do reviews. I hate getting anything of mine reviewed, so I won’t do it to someone else. I will only share what I like. If I don’t like something? You won’t see it. Anywhere. Here, my social media, whatever. But if I like something, I’ll throw a post onto my #booktok or add it to my bookshelf page. Artists of all kinds from sculptors to musicians to writers and beyond put their hearts and souls into their work. To criticize them to me, (and me only here), can feel very personal. So I try to keep it more positive by sharing the stuff I really enjoy.

Anywhoo, back to my book for a quick moment…I am now halfway through the reread and it has really been helping me get the story back on track. I’ve taken more notes in the past week of new story ideas than I have in a month, so hey, maybe I’m onto something here! After all, this project has certainly been going faster than I would have thought. It’s a story I have been excited about getting out there. I’ve also been waiting for the other shoe to drop. One that will slow me down, block me from moving forward and lo and behold, I hit it.

Whatever you are working on, take the time to go over it constantly. Then go over it again to keep the flow going, the continuity, the voice. Make sure you are keeping with the vision that you’ve had for it all along. Sure there is room for change, maybe your vision has also been altered. Just make sure you are doing it in a way that will make YOU proud. I’m not saying that the darker stuff I wrote wasn’t going to work. In fact, in some ways, this book could totally go in that direction. It’s just not what I wanted for these characters, so I’m going to stick with the original plan. It’s what’s best for myself and for this work. (Then maybe, I’ll add the spicier stuff to the next one.) 😉

And that is where I’m going to leave you for today! Thanks as always for following along my strange journey and hope that you are getting something out of my rambles.

Be sure to check out my links below and on the site and until next time…cheers all!

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You can find the new 2025 On the Bookshelf page in the main menu or click here.

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To follow me on social, including my new #booktok account, click: linktr.ee/promosocially

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To subscribe to this site with your email, be sure to hit the ‘Follow NewChapterCove’ button on this page.

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If you’ve gotten this far, thanks again and see you soon!! ☺️