Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone out there is doing well! Just here for a quick post to say hello and give a fast update on my progress. So far? It’s been a trainwreck.
It seems that cutting words from the manuscript is proving to be a vicious challenge. I am having so much trouble trying to figure out where cuts should take place! I had to cut the book into two sections so I could fit the entire thing into the app to work on. In the first section, I cut over 3000 words…ok good start. This week in the second section? At one point I added words! It was unintentional of course. I was trying to reword a paragraph and ended up with a higher word count. As I get closer to the last chapters, I’m having trouble with where to make cuts in them.
The one light at the end of this twisted tunnel is that I think I’ve figured out a sideways solution to this situation. Rearrange the chapters, the dialogue, the story and then doing major cuts with the old work. I believe that by possibly making the book into a sort of jigsaw puzzle, my problem may be resolved. In the meantime, I’m finding myself getting distracted and getting off track during the process and that is a red flag for me. I do have a bit of ADD but while I’ve been working on this book, I’ve been laser focused on it. To suddenly be distracted? That worries me that it will take me much longer to get this finished than I had hoped. Of course, it could just be the panicking of the cuts that has my mind going in different directions.
The one thing that will always ground me of course is reading. As I said in my last post, I had been rereading a series to gear up for the newest addition to it and now that it finally arrived? I’m diving in all the way. So far this book is exactly what I’ve been waiting for and I’m excited to keep going with it. The one thing about this series is that it has kept me grounded with my own writing, both this reading and the previous one and right now, I’m holding onto that. I have absolutely no idea if that makes any sense, but then again, my brain is currently mush right now.
Anyway, I can’t recommend doing something like reading for yourself to escape more. Escaping, even mentally, can help in so many other ways. It’s how we reset our minds for other things like the dreaded word…responsibility. So whatever your escape of choice is: listening to music, crafting something, picking up a book, going for a walk, it all helps you reset to be your best self. Now that Fall is here, maybe going pumpkin or apple picking, watching something scary, or decorating for Halloween is the way to go!
And that is where I will leave you for today. Short, sweet and a little off course, but as always, I hope you’ve gotten something out of this post.
To check out the series I’m reading, hit the 2025 On the Bookshelf tab up above on the site to see what I’ve been reading this year. The series is under the author Laurie Gilmore, just click her name to find the books!
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Need something new to read? I’m a proud PangoBooks ambassador! Click on my link to get $5 off of your first order. PangoBooks is a great way to buy used books super cheap and you can sell them as well: https://pangobooks.com/NEWCHAPTERCOVE
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To find some fun Halloween and Fall themed designs (that I’ve designed) on stickers, tshirts, mugs and so much more, you can check out my shops: linktr.ee/stuffwemade
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If you’ve gotten this far, I thank you! Thanks for being here and I’ll see you real soon. 🎃
Hey guys! Welcome to August!! I’m honestly clueless about what to write tonight. It’s been a whirlwind few days and my mind is quite scattered…but it always is, so let’s see where this post takes us, shall we?
I’ve been reading up a storm for my cancer society fundraiser (Read Every Day Challenge). I already read a lot, but here it is the fifth of the month, as of this writing, and I’m already two and a half books in! I’ve been more in a reading mood than a writing one these past few days and have been enjoying the total escape into these books. Of course I will link to them below the post and add them to the 2025 On the Bookshelf page as well, but that’s not really the point. The point here is that a book can be a great vacation. So far this month I’ve been to Maui, an island off the coast of Rhode Island and now I’m visiting Nantucket. No airport hassles, no middle seat nightmares and no traffic to deal with. Just me and a book and I’m happy. So if you can’t get away this year, I highly recommend this as an alternative.
While this has been going on, I’ve still been trying to keep on track with my writing. I have so much to do as far as reworking scenes, edits and of course, coming up with new stuff. But by the time I’ve been getting to it lately, I’m just too damned tired to write. I have also not been eating. I don’t mean a little here and there, I mean I’ve gone a full day with no food which is not helping the tired. And yes I know, I have to deal with that, but it does happen to me from time to time and I try to get a little something in me, but again, like insomnia, it happens.
I’m finding that the scenes that I’m writing in this state have been all over the place and good for a blooper reel, if that’s a thing for authors. Plus, trying to get into my own work after deep diving into these other novels has been a little harder lately. Usually when I’m reading a book, I will get a sudden idea for something. Ironically, not related at all to what is in front of me, so no, I’m not plagiarizing anything. It’s just sometimes reading clears my head and an idea hits. The lack of sleep, the lack of food and a lot of caffeine have been fueling such strange stuff that I have been more than happy to not just edit here and there, but cut full pages completely.
I will say this though, my own book is never far from my mind. I have had the opportunity to see both family and friends over the last few days and while in conversations, my mind is playing out something that I wrote just the night before. The bonus of this, was that with the research I’ve been doing for one plot line, I remembered that someone close to me was once in the same profession as one of my characters. I was able to pepper her with question after question to get the inside track of what the life was like and it really helped me navigate the story a lot better.
Never let a resource get away!
You may be surprised to find that while you are googling for background, there may not be a reason to. That someone in your life is connected to what you have been looking up! Also, don’t be afraid to ask questions. For many, many years, I’d never asked anyone anything for fear of sounding stupid or totally out of my element. Especially in the workforce. However one day I realized that at most, someone could just simply answer ‘no’ and that would be that. Never fear the ‘no’. Just go for it. If they won’t answer, then Google it is! In this case, I was able to find out some valuable information that is really going to help a lot and I couldn’t be more grateful.
And that is where I’m going to leave you for today. As usual, I hope you got something out of this post. I know I sounded completely scattered and that’s basically how I’ve been feeling lately, but the message still rings true…never fear the no.
If you are enjoying this site and would like to help support this site (and me in the process), you can click on my Ko-Fi link either by clicking on the logo or by clicking HERE. I appreciate those who have already clicked so much. It is not taken for granted at all.
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You can shop with me either by clicking on the links here on the site or my linktree above. Lots to see from jewelry to bookmarks to shirts and blank journals and more!
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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you so much. See you all soon!!! ☺️
Hey guys, welcome back! Hope you are enjoying the new look of the place. I’ve been trying to make sure that all the links have been updated and may soon start a TikTok that will also reflect the new name, but I’m not rushing to do that. Still a lot going on, so stay tuned.
Speaking of, this week I had a medical test done. Now, I’m pretty much used to every kind of test there is because the last 9 years alone has had me glowing in the dark from all the stuff that’s been done to me. But this one, I’ve had before and it is one I knew would be painful as hell. (I almost punched one doctor in the face and the next time I screamed until my throat hurt. But I digress…) So I haven’t really slept in weeks since they told me I had to have it done. Thankfully, it went better than expected, I wanted to hug the doctor who did it and I may even have some answers that no one else has been able to pinpoint, so, yay! In the meantime, I’ve been such a basket case about this I made myself a little sick. (Like cold sickness, not the regular nonsense going on in my life.)
Why am I sharing this? Because, this is a reminder to you…take care of yourself! Yes, it’s ok to worry about things. But not sleeping, not eating properly and just plain being a mental mess can lead to other ookie feelings. (Yes, that is a medical term I just made up.) I was barely functional the next day and I decided that it was some cosmic way of telling me, it was time for an unplug day!
I turned off all my devices and just read, for hours. Finished the second half of the book I had started over the weekend and got about a third into a new one. It felt great! Just me, the quiet and escaping into the lives of others was just what I needed. I know not everyone can take that much time to do this of course. Some have kids or hectic schedules. However, I’m throwing forth the challenge to you, to take at least one day a month and for an hour, two hours, or however long you can, just unplug. You don’t have to read of course. That is my personal escapism. Go for a walk, a bike ride, get ice cream, hell, take a nap! Just do something that makes you happy without looking at a screen. Summer is here, why not go swimming or go exploring your own town. You may discover an area you never knew about or stumble on a historic marker you never spotted before. Unplugging can feel so good and there is actually a part of me, after doing this, that regrets it when I turn the phone back on. There are times I’m just not in the mood to face real life again. So days like that? I may just shut it back off, pick my book back up and escape some more.
As for the other days? Well, I’ve been doing a great deal of editing the first chapters of the book. I’ve written 28 so far, but for continuity’s sake, I needed to go back and see if I had mentioned something in a previous chapter. So I decided to take the opportunity and re-edit the early chapters and go from there. SO GLAD I DID!
I stumbled on a major mistake I never realized I had made! I screwed up the entire timeline. There is a way to fix it, but I’m having trouble getting it done. I need to insert a new chapter but one that flows with the rest of the story. One that fits in seamlessly so that my readers aren’t aware that the chapter in question was never a part of the original manuscript. One that is stressing me out and mocking me every time I go to write it.
I was on such a roll with this book. Averaging about a chapter a day/every other day. Editing as I went. Story flowing. It was going well…a little too well. Normally I just write a chapter. It comes to me, I write it, I’m done. It’s just how my process works. But having to go back 20 chapters to insert a scenario that wasn’t meant to be a part of the story? Ugh. I had the feeling I was going to stumble at some point. Hit a speed bump and move on. Wasn’t expecting a major storyline snafu. And really, when in life do we ever get to use the word ‘snafu’?
I’ve now lost momentum on the higher chapters and will be editing the entire thing leading up to where I left off. I’m now hoping that will inspire where the story leads next. I’ve been making notes along the way to be sure that the storyline doesn’t get skipped over in such a way again. At least I get to spend more time with these characters I’ve truly grown to love.
The moral of this particular story? Editing is done for a reason. Not just spelling errors. Obvious? Maybe. When it happens to you? It’s a revelation! One that calls for another unplug day. See how it all comes full circle? (See how I can make anything into a reading session?)
And that is where I am leaving you today. We all have crazy weeks. This one was just a drop in the bucket for me. But stepping back, reevaluating things, unplugging and fueling the creative energies are all just a part of life. Right? 🙂
Hope you got something out of this post and so happy you’re here. Thanks for coming back and if it’s your first time visiting, welcome!!!
Until next time folks…Cheers!
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Hey all, welcome back and Happy New Month! Yes, I totally flaked out this week by not posting until today. That was of course, not the plan. I’ve been so proud of myself for keeping up with the whole ‘multiple posts a week’ thing. Creating content to bring folks here to my site and up until this week, it was going well. However, last week when I did my traditional Friday post, almost no one read it. My numbers dropped dramatically after going up over the last few weeks. To say I was discouraged would be an understatement.
I became obsessed with looking at the analytics across my social channels and here on WordPress. Then the internal questions started: Was it me? Was it the post itself? Was it the time I posted/reposted it? What was it from just days earlier when the numbers were up to just a few days later when my post seemed dead in the water? I got mad. I got angry. Not at my readers, far from that! I got mad at myself!
I used to do content creation for a company. I was so in tune with what times to post things and even had a chart on my desk for each platform. Instagram you post at this time, Facebook, this one, Twitter, etc. Blog posts went up at a certain time of the day as well and right now, I have NO clue when that is anymore! I thought I had a handle on it. It had seemed in the past that early Friday posts were the way to go and when I had tried to post later on in the day, I’d lose my audience. So I went back to an earlier post time last Friday and lost a good lot of you. Again, this is on me. This is ALL on me. And to those who were here? THANK YOU!!! You made my weekend!
After last week’s numbers, I went back and forth on what to do, when and what to write next. Then the week hit and will just say…it has been a rough one. So every night when I’d sit with my keyboard in my lap, I’d come to write something new here. Instead, end up adding another chapter of my new novel. I keep telling myself that is a good thing. I’m making progress on that story so why am I worried? I am also trying to remind myself that I am not HERE for the numbers. That my writing is my writing and I come here to be open, honest and that even if no one else reads along with me, that’s ok. Then I remind myself that I am kind of hoping this blog gets to the point where I can make some money off of it and I’m right back to where I started. I believe that the moment this begins to feel like work to me? That’s when I’ll have to step back and rethink things, but until then, let the rambling continue! Again, honesty.
Working on this site has become a lifeline of sorts to me. Not just, as I’ve included in several posts, that it holds me accountable on my writing journey, while a major help, that’s not all this is supposed to be. I wanted this place to become a sort of ‘destination’ blog where other writers (and readers of course) could come and see what I’ve been going through and think “oh good, it’s not just me!” We are in this crazy world together after all, we shouldn’t have to go it alone.
So now where does this leave me? I have no clue. I still love this site and of course will continue to write these rambling posts of mine. I just really need to start doing the research again, (and if you’ve been with me for a while, you know how much I can’t get enough of research! If you’re new here? I LOVE it!). I need to figure out how to reach more of you. I also need to calm my mind down a bit because it had been working overtime.
Enough of the numbers game, let’s get back to ‘writing is writing.’ When I opened my new Dashery shop (see link, right sidebar) I made sure to include in my social promotions that it is for writers (and readers) of all kinds and I sincerely mean that. I am a believer that whether you write books, speeches, news articles, blog content, hell even a tagline for a ketchup bottle…YOU ARE A WRITER! Are you writing? YES. Never forget that.
You are also a writer if, like me, you have a parallel story in your head going while you are doing anything else but typing. I was making my dinner tonight and the narrative of my next scene in Chapter 11 (yes, I hit double digits this week hooray) was playing out in my head. I knew where the conversation was going to go, how I was going to get the characters to their next destination, all of it. This story is so embedded in me right now, I feel that I am living it in an alternate universe. I was at one of my doctor’s offices yesterday trying so hard to focus on the questions he was asking me as this was a pretty important appointment. Yet in my mind, I kept picturing the scenery in the town my characters are living in. What was the weather like? Was it about to change? And ‘shit, I really need to change the name of that guy. It just doesn’t fit at all.’ I also consider this a kind of writing because after all, where does the story come from in the first place? Your mind! So keep having those thoughts, just maybe do better than me at the whole focus thing. And don’t do it while driving, that’s just asking for trouble.
While all this has been going on this week, I’ve also been hiding out in books again. I was waiting for my rather huge haul of books that I ordered during the Amazon book sale, (I went overboard) and was still in the process of rereading a few of my favorites just for pure escapism. I’m a huge Emily Henry fan. I’ve mentioned this before and no one is paying me to say it. I just love her books. Three in particular, are my favorites. The first two, Beach Read and Book Lovers being about writers/editors/agents has helped me get to understand the processes of others a lot better. After all, who better to write about writing than a writer?! Being new at the whole business side of it, while these are considered romance books, do go pretty deep into how they work and I love them for it.
The third book Happy Place just makes me laugh and who the hell doesn’t need that right now? I don’t do reviews. I’m very well established in saying this. I can only recommend what I like and I like, no LOVE this book. I think because it has to do with a group of friends that is very much like my own and it brings me back to the best time in my life. This is one has nothing to do with writing, just about being around those who know you the best. Of course the scene where they all take pot gummies and then ride the Ferris wheel just makes it that just better.
The book’s title is very much what I was thinking of when I was rereading it. It’s been a hell of a time in my personal life and having this type of book to escape to has helped a great deal. It lifted me up. It brought me joy and I don’t mean that in a cliche or corny kind of way. I think in rereading something you liked the first time, you see things in it you didn’t previously and that’s what happened while I read these three over again. I learned more. Not just about the whole writing process as in the other two, but about me as well. I very much saw myself in the characters and then took more notice of how they developed. It literally became my ‘happy place’ this week and I was really sorry that the book ended. Even as I was staring at this new mountain of books that arrived this week, I still kind of wanted to go back and have fun on that Ferris wheel all over again.
Books do that, don’t they? Give us that escape, that moment, that wonderment. The time to leave what is going on in our own lives to then live vicariously through the characters in front of us.
I started reading a new and much anticipated new release last night by a different author, but another I’ve become a big admirer of. I suddenly had another personal revelation. While I’m sure the rest of the world who reads has already come to this themselves, forgive me if I’m a slow learner here. Books have truly become my own personal happy place. I am grateful to all those who have created these characters that I just can’t get enough of. The ones who make me laugh, make me cry and in some cases, fall in love. I think my own story writing has become all the better for it, or at least I hope it has and I hope that one day my books will be found alongside these good folks.
The next question is, will it be under my own name or a pen name? But that is the subject for another post!
And it is there I will leave you for now. Thanks for being here, all of you and for making it this far in the post. I guess only writing one this week, I had a lot more to say than I thought I did. Hope you enjoyed it!
Until next time…Cheers!!!
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