learning

Cut – Paste – Dream Craziness

/ ccsocialcreative / 1 Comment
Photo credit: Edar on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! August is here! How crazy is that? This whole year has been flying by. With the exception of January of course, which seems to go on for a year all on its own…but hey, it’s August and I’m all kinds of happy about that. (Sorry for those who have to go back to school, I can write you a note to skip class if you’d like.)

Anywhooo…I’ve been buckled down with editing and have made some real progress the past few nights. A whole lot of cutting and pasting and revamping chapters as well as rewriting storylines, have me a little twisted around these days. But after reading and rereading this part of the book, I think what I’ve rewritten fits much better with the story now. At least, I hope it does.

There is of course still much to be written with tons more edits and several chapters to go. However, when a story loses the writer? That’s a major problem. As someone who doesn’t take criticism well from others, criticizing myself? Well, that’s a whole different ballgame! I’d like to say I yell at the screen, ok I do. But when I’m writing in the overnight hours like I do, whisper yelling, while comical, doesn’t quite have the same impact.

MANY chapters had to be revised over these last days. Any reference to the old storyline had to be rewritten and it’s been a task within itself just trying to find them all. Think ‘Where’s Waldo’ but in written form. Of course the best thing about rereading all of this, (and the upcoming full reading again of the entire manuscript thus far) is that I’m still finding occasional typos and mistakes I’ve missed over the last few read throughs, so this is always a good thing. If you are a writer yourself, remember, the more rereads you do, the more things you will find. It is always good to keep going back over previous chapters to make sure the continuity flows and that errors are caught.

While again it’s hard to write about my process without revealing anything about the plot, story, characters, etc, what I can tell you, is that this book is written in the first person as seen through the eyes of the main character. I know some don’t like that and I appreciate that. My first book (the one stuck in editing hell itself) isn’t written that way. But I wanted to try a first person story and I’ve been really enjoying writing like this. The main problem from my own standpoint though, is that there are times when I’m away from the book, I think of something and I suddenly can’t remember if it happened to me or the character! Now, I have mentioned that because of my medical crap and meds, my memory is shot. I’m the living walking meme of: I can remember my phone number from when I was a kid, but can’t remember why I just walked into the kitchen.

This first person account and the fact that I love my story has been seeping into my dreams…especially when I’ve had a string of days like I have been, diving deep back into the work. I dream about the town, the people, the story, what “I” should have said in that scenario (here we go yo) and how “I” would have reacted. I do come up with some new ideas while I’m asleep, which is why I keep a notebook next to my bed so I can jot them down. This is something I highly recommend doing by the way, so you are not tempted to pick up your phone. However, there are nights when I’m so engrossed in the work that I don’t know where the character leaves off and I begin. Again, some could be the meds I’m on, never dismiss that, but for the most part it’s like anything in life. See a movie? You may dream about it. Read a book? Same thing. Write a book? Well, their thoughts are your thoughts and you just have to ride it out until it’s over.

So now that I’ve revealed an even crazier side of myself to you, let me just say this…if the story you are writing doesn’t resonate with you? It’s time to take a step back and really think about how you can turn it around. I took a break the other night from writing. I’ve been so sleep deprived (see my previous post) and basically a basket case, so I took the night to finish reading the book I had started the night before. It was a nice break, gave me a different world to think about for a bit and it was nice to shut off all the devices and get my eyes off a screen for the night. When it was time to write again, I went back to it with a much clearer head and made a ton of progress in one night. It also helped with the frustration I’ve been having, as I wasn’t feeling quite a number of scenes of mine before I did this. After the break, the story started to flow again.

Remember to take that break every now and then. For your eyes, your mind and frankly sometimes? Your sanity.

And that is where I will leave you for today! Please remember, I’m doing the Read Every Day Challenge for the American Cancer Society this new month. This is a deeply personal cause for me and this will be my fourth time doing this fundraiser. I’ll post the link below.

Also, if you are still looking for book recommendations? Check out the 2025 On the Bookshelf page for ideas and be sure to keep checking back as I add more titles to it after I finish a book. I have recently become a PangoBooks Ambassador and you can save a ton of money if you shop through their app. Again, see the link below for details. 

One more thing before I go…I would like to say a giant THANK YOU to those who clicked my Ko-Fi link here on the site and sent a little tip my way. It means so much to me that you like what I am doing here and I hope I continue to keep you entertained and motivated! The money helps not only support this site, but myself as well, as I have no steady income and rely on the sales of my eBay and Etsy shops which have been few and far between lately. So again, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Ok, now I’m really going. I hope you all have a great weekend and here’s to a new month and new possibilities!! Until next time all…Cheers!

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Read Every Day Challenge: Click HERE to donate. If you are unable to send a donation, believe me, I understand that…it is free to share or hey, join the fun! It’s free to do and it’s for a great cause!!

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Looking for a book but want to save some money? Use my link HERE and head to PangoBooks! With my link and code: NEWCHAPTERCOVE at checkout, you an save $5 on your first order. PangoBooks is a used book marketplace and I’ve personally gotten some great books from sellers in almost new condition for as low as $1.38 (seriously!)

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For my Ko-Fi link, check the side bar of the site or click HERE Again, thank you for any and all tips that come in and I so appreciate your continued support. Not comfortable doing that? I get that. You can always shop through any links on my site. It all helps. ☺️

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For my social, shops, #booktok and more, you can click: linktr.ee/promosocially

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and hope that you will explore more of the site and come back again. You can also subscribe with your email to get updates of new posts and site changes. See you next time!! 🩷

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.

Rereading, Spice and Tone Change

/ ccsocialcreative / 2 Comments
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!! ☺️

Odd question, Changes Coming and Oh yeah,I’m Back!

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Photo credit: JillWellington on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! Yes, I’m back as well! I have been MIA for the last week because, well, life happens. Thankfully, it was almost all good. I just couldn’t find the motivation to write a post instead and kept on writing my new book. However, I’m here and hopefully, so are you!

It has been an interesting time around these parts and so happy because I got to see a friend from elementary school I hadn’t seen in over 40 years! We were the two in class who were always in trouble for laughing, passing notes (yes, paper notes) and just could never keep a straight face when we were together. We found each other on Facebook and have been trying for quite some time for a meetup and last weekend, it finally happened! I’ve pretty much been smiling since. We picked up right where we left off, still making each other laugh and had a great time. So I hope you will take this as inspiration to reach out to someone you’ve been thinking about for a while. We are only here for a short time, make each moment count!!

While I’m talking about moments, I’ve been using many to work on the rebranding of this site. I’m sure you’ve noticed the changes in the look of the site and a new name is in fact coming. I’ve already created the logo and the new url and site name will reflect it as well. I’m very excited about this change as it will be much more relevant to the current one that I chose many years ago. My original name, CCSocialCreative was born out of my social media management era when I was working for someone else then went to consulting and had many different plans for this site. I now introduce the new name coming: New Chapter Cove!

New logo!

Why this particular name? Because the term ‘new chapter’ refers to both my writing journey, reading journey and every new day presents a new chapter in life as well. Cove? Well, that is from my favorite place in my town and I wanted to incorporate it somehow. (Could it be that my romance novel era is seeping into my subconscious? After all, a whole lot of romance titles have the word ‘cove’ in it. Nah, it’s about my favorite place here.)

The new name and url will be implemented in the coming days, so if you suddenly see updates with a different name, it’s just me being me. 🙂

I’m sure there are questions out there, several I’m sure I’ve been asking myself. However, I’d like to address some odd ones in regards to my writing and kind of wondering if anyone else has had this asked of them as well. During the writing of both my first book and the one I’m currently writing, the most asked question has been, “how long will it be?” I find this to be the strangest of all the questions. When I handed out the first six chapters of my first book to a few friends and family members to get some feedback, most asked this question. I first took it as an insult. After all, were the first six chapters that bad that they didn’t want me to continue? But after thinking about it, a couple of them asked this even before they read it! So my next thought was, why ask this? This time around, I’m now 27 chapters in (yay me) and it’s happening again.

Since I’ve already established here that I do not use an outline when I write and am known as a ‘pantser’ writer, meaning, I let the story take me where it wants to go, I’m still baffled by the question. After all, the last few novels I’ve read have all been different lengths…the longest being well over 40 chapters with the shortest just 26. We write until the story has an ending. If it looks like it will continue, well, that’s what ‘series’ writing is about! I think for me though, I’d never go up to a songwriter, an artist or another creative and say, ‘so you still have more to go’ or ‘how long will it take for you to finish?’ I also have had, ‘where did you come up with the character names?’ That one though, I can see. After all, when we create worlds, we also have to create names and personalities for the people you are reading about besides the story. However, I think what I find most interesting is who asks what questions.

Again, several closest to me have asked about length. One or two about names. But when I was at a party last month, I sat and talked to someone I hadn’t seen for a while and when we were talking about the new book, this woman was the ONLY person to ask me what it was about! Wouldn’t that be the most obvious question to ask a writer? I certainly think so. Just as I would ask that songwriter, ‘what is your inspiration behind the lyrics’ or a screenwriter, ‘what is the new movie about?’ I would never think to ask,‘how long will it be?’ I’m baffled and yet, I keep writing. Because that’s what I do.

Anyway, I had to get that out and as I’ve said in previous posts, this blog can sometimes be a sort of therapy for me and yes, I now feel better.

And that is where I will leave you for this week. I will try once again for multiple posts in the coming weeks and as always, hope that someone out there got something from this ramble of mine. I appreciate you guys so much and thanks for sticking with me!

Until next time…Cheers!

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To follow and shop with me, all of my links connected to this site can be found here:

Linktr.ee/PromoSocially 

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That’s it. No more links this week. Have a great weekend! 🙂

New Week, Excitement and Creative Juices

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Photo credit: annmariephotography on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back and happy new week! I wasn’t planning on posting today but I’m excited. I’ve been so hard at work on my new story that I’ve been making significant progress on it.

When I posted on Friday, I had crossed the dozen chapters mark and as of today, Tuesday, I am about to start chapter 18! This story has me hooked and I hope upon hope that when I finally get it out there, readers will like these characters just as much as I do. I honestly can’t wait to get typing to see what will happen next.

 I don’t know if other authors deal with this and this will sound a little out there, but as I am going about my day and taking care of other things, the story is playing out for me in my head like a movie. I feel that these characters are taking the lead and guiding me through this whole thing and I’m letting them. I know I touched on that a bit in my last post, but with the amount of writing I’ve been doing over the last several days, they haven’t let up and right now, I’m letting them!

While I block off a certain amount of time to write each day, I also have a block for doing my research. Tons of research. Steps to take on the publishing side, getting ISBN numbers, to copyright or not to copyright and putting numbers together to see how much I still need to save up to get this book out there when it’s ready. Unless something changes, I’m still planning on self publishing this book. It’s a big undertaking but the way this story is coming together, I feel this one wants to be seen and soon. Not that it’s anything profound by any means. I think that mainly, I need to get this out of my system. My first published book.

I also need to get this story out of my head. I can’t move forward with the first book I wrote (and its sequel) until this one has vacated my mind. That first book I do plan to submit somewhere and that is also part of my research process. Trying to figure out formatting, how much of it I need to send in, editors, am I going agent or direct to a publishing house and of course, figuring out the dreaded query letter. (Ugh)

The book I just finished reading, The Page Turner by Viola Shipman, while fiction, was based in the publishing world. It gave me a lot of insight to the process and some great jumping off points for what I will need to do. (I took a ton of notes.) Ironically, I started a new book yesterday that also takes place in publishing and it was a total coincidence that I picked this particular book off of my TBR pile. Or was it? I like a good sign thrown at me and while yes, a lot of the books I’ve been reading lately have involved writers, these two are the first I’m reading that deal with publishing. So sure, sign!

I think my takeaway from these past couple of weeks is that creatively, it is a strong time for me and I hope you as well! Even though I sit here, directly across from the pile of crafts supplies, mocking me horribly that I haven’t touched them in months, writing-wise (new word?) I’ve been nonstop. Even writing this post, my fingers were flying as I was typing. I’m in a good groove and here’s to hoping this is a wave we creatives can all ride for a long, long time!

May this new week bring you opportunities to flex those creative muscles. Go forth and write, paint, play, sing, sculpt, draw whatever your medium is, go out there and do it! Even if there is no plan in place, you may have something inside of you that has been waiting for its moment to come out…and this may just be that moment!

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

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Find me on social and shop the shops as well: linktr.ee/promosocially

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The Page Turner by Viola Shipman

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Hit ‘new posts’ to catch up with what I’ve been rambling about here.

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you! 🙂