books

Blizzard – Edits – Learning on TikTok

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Photo credit: ME!

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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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you! It means so much that you spend some of your time here with me. Stay safe and warm folks! ⛄️

Winter – Olympics – Reading for a Cause

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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’d like to donate to or share my ACS fundraiser, click: HERE

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If you’d like to check out the Lovelight Farms series by B.K. Borison, (romcoms with some spice) click: HERE

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

Slackin’ – Distractions – Snow Days

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Photo credit: fotostart on Pixabay.

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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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and will see you soon!! ☺️

Spirit – Festivus – Ho Ho Ho

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Photo credit: Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back! ‘Tis the week of celebrations of all kinds and I am finally on board with all of it. (Took me long enough.) I have begun to read A Christmas Carol, my favorite book of all time and today we did the final shopping for Christmas dinner. Things are falling into place.

I don’t know how you celebrate the holidays, or hell, even if you celebrate, but I have what has been named by family members: Christmas OCD. I have had a strict schedule of things I do every year on the final days, especially on Christmas Eve…my favorite day of the year. I have it down to a science. What I watch, times I watch them, the final wrapping of presents, phone off and making the night last as long as possible because again, it’s my favorite night of the year! I don’t want to miss a minute of it.

If you’ve been following along with me, you know that I’ve been fighting illness for a good portion of this year. It had dampened my holiday spirit to a huge extent and it was really bothering me that I just couldn’t get into the season. I celebrate Yule, Christmas and of course, Festivus! I am someone that sings Let it Snow in July. I am someone who, on September first, is already fighting the urge to decorate the house. So for me to not be all holly and jolly has been making me sad. Thankfully, the spirit kicked in hard last night and I’ve been all about the holiday since! (Nothing like having it kick in at the final minutes!)

Now it’s trying to cram as much holiday madness into these final hours without falling asleep. Still fighting the sick and two days without sleep is starting to kick in as well as the holiday and they are fighting each other. I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!! Sooo much wrapping and cramming in a ton of holiday movies before it’s over. Oh and no Hallmark movies for me. Just saying.

Ok, so the movies can be watched after the holiday, just like I read my holiday themed books through Spring to keep the season going…but I have a schedule to keep! I have cocoa to drink! Cookies to bake! I may need to admit that I have a problem.

In the meantime, as of this writing, today is the glorious holiday known as Festivus. Let us rejoice in the Seinfeldian holiday that has been a part of our lives for almost thirty years. ALL HAIL THE ALUMINUM POLE! Yes, I had one for a while and we put it out for years. I am that person.

What I am saying here is this…the holiday season can be rough for many of us. I’ve certainly had my share of crappy holidays. However, if you celebrate something or not, try to look for some joy this season. Look at the lights. Watch the silly ads on tv. Read a holiday themed book. Or not. Maybe it’s having that cookie that you haven’t had since you were a kid or calling an old friend that you haven’t talked to in a while. Even if it’s something small that can make you smile, why not indulge? January can be gray and bleak. Carrying over the colorful time we’ve been living in for months (because fall and Halloween begin the most colorful time of the year) can keep your heart happy.

I’ve been saying for years that I never understand why we take our lights down after the holidays. Keep them up! Make January more colorful, more vibrant, more fun!! And late to the party or not, let this season try to heal you as best it can. Even if it’s just a little bit. Take it from me, that little bit can mean so damned much.

And that is where I will leave you for today.

Wishing you and your family a very happy holiday and if you celebrate Christmas? May Santa bring you what you’ve asked for this year.

Until next time…cheers!

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Made it this far? Thanks so much for taking some time to spend with me and I will see you soon. 😉

Holidays – Stress – Holiday Spirit

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Photo credit: JillWellington on Pixabay

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone is doing well and I want to say a giant thank you for continuing to come back and see what I’ve been up to. While it’s never anything too exciting, hopefully I’ve been doing something right here.😉

 I don’t know about you, but the holiday season is making me lose my mind. Trying to work on the book has been interesting during this last week. I’ll be in the middle of a paragraph and suddenly remember I forgot to order something for Christmas. Then of course, the Amazonian doom scrolling happens and two hours later, (and after adding lots of stuff I’d like to get after Christmas to my save for later), I go back to the book, forgetting what I was doing.

However, one of the good things about this time of the year, is that I know I’m not alone. No matter what you are celebrating, or not celebrating, the end of the year brings about high blood pressure all around.

Being a one to strictly celebrate in a secular manner, I’m usually a total goofball around Christmastime. I watch all the specials (all hail Rankin/Bass), tv episodes with holiday themes and movies, (no hallmark, come on). I love to check out the holiday lights and LOVE to shop for gifts. This year has been tough for me to get into the spirit of the season, especially being in bed almost 24/7, however I’ve been working on it. Hell, even the year I had chicken pox as a kid, I was all about the holiday!

Many years ago, when I was still learning the internet and how to create a webpage, I created a Christmas website. It started as one page for kids and ballooned to something that to this day, I’m still proud of. I was completely self taught. I learned how to code it, design graphics for it including those for the two advent calendars, became an early affiliate (which was so new back then) and was even listed on top 50 sites around the globe. While several things had to be taken off as time wore on and some old links no longer worked, I still updated it last year and made sure to keep it going. I’ll link it under this post if you’d like to visit Eggboy’s Christmas Celebration…just please remember, it was created in the late 90’s and the graphics are as such.

One thing that’s been helping me get in the holiday mood are the old school gems I’ve found on YouTube. Retro specials and old holiday tv ads that I used to look forward to every year. I’ve started to watch those and the memories have come flooding back. I’ve also been watching more shows and stuff and with just days to spare, the spirit is seeping in. Oh and of course, I have a stack of holiday themed romance books next to me that I’ve been working though and will continue to read them well past the holiday season to keep me in the spirit a bit longer.

The next days will be filled with the usual mayhem of wrapping presents, trying to squeeze in as many silly things to watch as I can and gearing up for my favorite night of the year, Christmas Eve. No other night of the year compares for me. I keep an insanely strict schedule that night to savor every second. I do the same things every single year and even though I haven’t been a kid for quite some time, you bet your ass I’m still looking out the window every now and then to see if I spot a big guy and his sleigh. I even follow both the NORAD and Google Santa Trackers! (Because why not?)

 I’ll be missing out on some writing time this week and that’s ok. I need to clear my head a bit for the next steps. I completed the latest read through tonight and think I finally have a handle on how this book is going to move forward. I am quite upset that I am missing my self-imposed deadline for it to be finished, but I’ve finally decided that it’s ok. It was one I put on myself. I have no one to answer to right now and if I was to declare the book ‘finished’? It would be a freaking train wreck. Not only is it still entirely too long, but if I was to just cut things left and right to only focus on the word count? It wouldn’t make sense. So as much as it hurts, I’ve learned to accept that it will get done when it gets done. 

I was on a great path for it to be finished by now, but life is funny stuff. I wasn’t expecting to be sick for more than 80% of the year and the last few months have just kicked my ass. Maybe this was a way for me to slow down and look at the book as a whole. To figure out what is important to the story. To rearrange things, change the timeline and time of the year. I live by the rule that ‘things happen for a reason’ and I gotta think that maybe I was getting ahead of myself with the writing when I got sick. This slow down time, while frustrating as hell, has given me a new perspective and I can only hope that I will finish it with a much better all around story than it is right now. So am I close to being finished? No. However, that’s ok. It is what it is. Instead, it’s time to focus on the holidays and the things done that still need to get done. Santa only comes once a year and I want it to be special for him. 🎅🏻

And that is where I will leave you for today. As always, I thank you SO much for being here. For following my journey and for the support that I’ve been shown by so many of you. (Especially for reading the posts that were obviously done after the meds have kicked in. LOL)

I’ll be back before Christmas, but for those celebrating holidays right now, enjoy, be safe and may they be incredibly wonderful.

Until next time…cheers all!

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Made it this far? I thank you! Hang in there and let’s find the fun this holiday, ok? The way this year has gone, I think we all deserve a bit of fun. See you soon. 🥰