December – Milestone – So Distracted

December 2, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone who celebrated had a great Thanksgiving. Ours was nice and quiet and I think it was the most food I’ve eaten in months. (And I’m ok with that.)

Now here we are in December and there is just so much going on. I’ve been in full holiday shopping mode while trying to create some new things for one of my online shops (and failing miserably) as well as still trying like hell to shake the illness that has been plaguing me since August.

I’m also a huge holiday movie and tv specials kind of girl. Even as a kid, I couldn’t wait to get a tv guide and a highlighter and search for every version of a Christmas Carol and crazy animated special being shown on tv. These days, I look online every single day and make a list (check it twice) and then see what I can squeeze in to watch when I can. As I’ve said many times here, I’m a five year old in a very much not five year old body and this time of the year really brings it out in me. It’s the stuff like this that keeps the kid in me alive though. I still sing to the Grinch and Heat Miser and all the fun shows they only show this time of the year.

I also went a little crazy between Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. I’m a shopaholic at heart and during this festive season, I go nuts. Yes I got some books for myself, the sales were just too good!) Hopefully everyone will like what I’ve gotten and that my inner Santa has worked its magic.

All of this is to say…I’ve been distracted as hell from working properly on my book. I mean, I still have been putting the hours in, I really have. However, I’ve been fading much earlier while working and most of that though is due to the fact that I just haven’t been feeling well. Plus, the meds and the fevers have me a little loopy. Not that there is much of a difference than how I normally am, you can ask anyone who knows me about this. lol

I am, however, proud to say that I have hit a major milestone of words cut so far. Ready? I’ve cut just over 20,000 words! Ok so I still have hundreds of thousands to go, but still, this is a good chunk taken out and it is definitely a good start.

I am nowhere near the internal deadline I put in place for myself and that is bumming me out. But seeing this number appear tonight was the big shot of confidence that I needed. Just knowing that I hit that and that it’s truly showing just how hard I’ve been working? Huge. Really, really huge. So as distracted as I’ve been, I really am seeing the progress that I’ve been making. For someone like myself, this is so important.

This book has been an even larger undertaking than I ever imagined. I knew of course it would be the hardest work I’ve ever done. I’m not blind to that. But when I saw how high my word count was and what I’d need to cut in order to submit it, my old self would have given up and started work on a new one. I’m completely dedicated to this manuscript. It invades my thoughts 24/7, including my sleep time. Seeing actual proof that I’ve been making this dent has me excited knowing that yes, I CAN do this! I WILL do this! I will also get multiple books out of this story and I think knowing that, is a big bonus that is also keeping me going.

Even now with the holiday season upon us and all of life’s distractions, this work is keeping me going. And I truly mean that. Every couple of days, it feels like labor, can’t lie about that. Again, I think it’s just because I haven’t been feeling well. All that aside, once I sit and really get into it every night, I know it’s where I’m supposed to be and what I’m supposed to be doing. To keep it festive, I got myself holiday themed keys for my keyboard to keep me on track because that’s the kind of grown up I am!

And that is where I will leave you today.

Thanks so much for being here and please remember, if you’d like to help support my website and get some holiday shopping done? You can do so by clicking on one of the links around the site as well as the links below. Unfortunately, text links here are NOT underlined so be sure to hover over links if you’re interested in something. Thanks for understanding.

Until next time all…cheers!

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To follow me on social, including my #booktok (I’m on booktok the most these days) as well as shopping site relevant ideas, click: HERE

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To see my vintage and estate jewelry listings on eBay, click: HERE

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For book recommendations, check out the On the Bookshelf pages here on the site. See site menu.

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You can find some links in the sidebars here on the site for my blank journals, shops and my Ko-Fi link as well, if you’d like to help support the site a little differently.

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If you’ve made it this far, thank you SO much and I’m done pushing my shops for now. 😉See you soon! 🥰

Busy – Rewrites – Heat Miser

November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! Once again I must apologize to you for being MIA over this last week, week and a half. I assure you, I haven’t gone anywhere. Just putting in a ton of time on my work as well as gearing up for the holiday season.

It’s Thanksgiving week here in the states and while that used to mean the ‘official’ start of the holiday season, these days it seems, we can now start to decorate whenever we feel like it…and I’m on board with this 100%.

When I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to watch the parade on Turkey Day. It was during the airing of it that the airing of seasonal commercials would begin. Actually, they’d start halfway through the parade. Seriously. As the hours passed, we’d begin to see an ad here, another there (the M&M’s meeting Santa was big for being the first one) and I’d be so excited! To this day, I still start to look for the tv listings to see when the movies and specials are starting to appear…I’m a five year old in a very not five year old body during the Christmas season. And yes, I sat here the other night watching both the original Grinch and Year Without a Santa Claus, (aka. Heat Miser) and singing to every single song.

All that aside, I’ve been working so damned hard on this manuscript to get it done. Every time I think I have a handle on which way it’s going, I think of something new. I’ve been rewriting several chapters from the point of view of the MMC and I have to say, I really like writing for him. I didn’t think I could write from the male perspective, but it turns out, I can! So I’ve been flipping some chapters around to show his side of things and by doing that, my word count is getting considerably lower.

The other night it also occurred to me, and maybe it’s because of the time of year we are in and the books I’ve been ordering for myself these days, but I think I’m going to switch things up a bit. I make several references now to the characters loving fall and Christmas so I’m thinking that instead of this book taking place earlier in the year, Spring/Summer, I should move it to Fall/Winter. Why not right? Stop making the references and have it set during my own favorite time! Of course doing this is going to take considerable reworking and right now, I’m fine with that.

I think my fellow writers will understand this…I HATE EDITING! Ok, let me rephrase that…I hate editing my OWN work. I used to love editing others, can’t lie about that. But really, I miss the writing so much. I still have so many ideas for these characters and quite frankly, after seven+ rereads and doing so many cuts, etc, I want to go back to the writing, the creating, the making their lives what I think they could be. Unfortunately for me, the writing is where I get over enthusiastic and end up with hundreds of thousands of words that then need to be what???? Edited and cut! (It really is a vicious cycle.)

I’ve read so many Fall and holiday themed books over the last year, I think my mindset is with them as well. So I’ve decided not to fight it any longer. Besides, if I switch the book to this particular time of the year, it can become someone’s new ‘cozy’ read for next year (fingers crossed) and in the long run, some of what I’ve already written will really make a little more sense. At least in my mind it will. (Work with me here.)

In a nutshell, I’ve been losing my mind about all of this. In my head, the book is done. It’s ready to go. It’s ready to submit. And yet, I also know that I’m freaking delusional and it needs SO much work. So…much…work.

So here I am. Trying to get this done, still watching pieces of Hamilton every single night and wishing I could speak with Lin-Manuel Miranda and ask for his help. (WWLMM is my mantra now) and getting into the holiday spirit all while still fighting whatever illness I’ve had since August. However, neglecting this blog was never supposed to be a part of it and for that, I’m sorry. Being here is what is supposed to keep me on track, helps me to work through issues and also touch base with you all and hope you are doing well. I very much hope to do better.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I appreciate you guys so much and thank you for hanging in there with me!

If you are celebrating this week, I hope you have a great turkey day. As a vegetarian myself, I’ll be saving lots of room for apple pie because that’s how I roll. Also, and this is a very shameless plug…with ‘black Friday’ deals all over the place, if you are looking to start your shopping, I hope you’ll check out the links scattered all around the site. I’ll post more below for you to see and every purchase made though my site helps to support it and greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for being here and let’s get the holidays started!

Until next time…cheers!!

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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my #booktok: linktr.ee/promosocially there is also my linktree shop inside that link besides my other shops.

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For items with my designs on them, you can find my other shops here: linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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Looking for vintage and estate jewelry? I’m on eBay as well! (Have been since 1998!): linktr.ee/stuffwefind

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Book recommendations can be found on this site…check out the On the Bookshelf pages in my site menu.

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If you’d like to help support the site without shopping, you can hit my Ko-Fi link (see logo on the site) or click HERE

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and remember…calories don’t count on holidays so go crazy! 😉

Cutting – Rearranging – Fall Reading

October 4, 2025October 4, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

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.

Until next time folks…Cheers!!!

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To follow me on social including my increasingly growing Booktok: linktr.ee/promosocially

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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. 🎃

First Draft – Word Count – Totally Screwed

September 23, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey all, welcome back, hope you all had a great weekend. I’m going to jump right in, because I’m so excited to announce that I have finished the first draft of my book! Woo-hoo!

I still can’t believe it’s done and of course now the hard work really needs to happen, the serious editing. If you’ve been following along here, you know that I’ve been editing like crazy throughout this process including over the course of five rereads of the manuscript. However, just as I feared, I went over the word count goal. Not even by a little bit either.

From doing all of my research on how to get published traditionally, when submitting to a literary agent, there is a magical word count number that will get you noticed. Depending on the genre and the agent, it can be from 80,000 to 140,000 with the sweet spot being about 100,000. Mine isn’t even close to this.

When I checked my count, I was more than shocked to find that since April, I have written, (are you ready?) 437,404 words! And no, that is not a typo.

I knew I was in trouble when I was combining the chapters into one document and Google docs wouldn’t allow any more chapters into it. Did you know that there is a 1.5mil character limit in docs? Well, now you do. And so do I! I had to break the book up into two separate files.

I’ve done editing work in the past for others and have been brutal when I needed to be. But this is my own work. To me, every word is needed for the story to unfold properly. I’m now rethinking this of course. It is unbelievable to me that I have to cut almost 340,000 words of my own work. I have only rarely in my life used the word unfathomable, but I think this occasion calls for it.

Apparently I write the way I talk and if you know me in person, you know this to be true.

So now comes phase two. Lots of cutting, lots of red ink on printed pages and lots of my work going down the drain as I figure out how to shape this story into something that will not only get the attention of an agent, but will make sense and be readable to my future audience. To say that I’m totally screwed is an understatement but I am up for the challenge!

Of course the real challenge is also going to be not writing the sequel while I’m editing this one…although I have thought about using what I cut from this work in the next book. Seems sensible, no?

Anywhoo, that’s what’s going on here. While I’m more than happy and ecstatic that this book is now in its next phase, I’m already panicked about the work that needs to be done. For now? I’m going to enjoy the accomplishment and maybe, take the night off.

And that is where I’m leaving you for today. Until next time…cheers! ☺️

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If you’d like to follow me on social and check out my shops: linktr.ee/promosocially

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If you’d like to help support this site, you can click on the Ko-Fi icon on the site or click: HERE

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Looking for some cool Fall and Halloween stuff? I have lots that I’ve designed that you can see in my other shops at: linktr.ee/stuffwemade

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And if you’ve made it this far, I thank you. I very much appreciate your following along the journey with me. Thanks again and see you all soon! 🍁

Anniversary – Reworking – Finish Line?

September 16, 2025 / ccsocialcreative / Leave a comment

Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I know we here in the Northeast for the most part had great weather. Of course, we here know that can change hour by hour so we revel in it when it’s good. Especially this time of the year!

I’ve personally still been sick. I had posted a few weeks back that I was dealing with something and this has been with me since. Ironically, it’s been going on just as I hit the anniversary of when my life was changed by illness. If you’ve read my ‘Bit of Personal History’ page in the About section of this site, you know that I’ve had quite a health journey over the last 9 years. (Ok the page still says 6, but that’s because I wrote it three years ago.) Well, this particular illness now is hanging on and it’s been frustrating as hell. Not that it is stopping me from writing and working on my book, but still, this happening at my favorite time of the year is really pissing me off. Sorry, but it is. But on to other things…

I’ve mentioned several times that I’m in a cycle of reading and rereading and rereading my manuscript. I’ve become rather obsessive doing this and again I want to drive this point home…YOU CAN NEVER READ YOUR OWN WORK ENOUGH!

Even with going on more than several times of reading this book, I keep finding things to fix, to add, to cut and of course, the dreaded missed typos that I may have missed the other eight or nine times I’ve read the thing. That’s ok though. What I’m finding, is that the jokes are still landing. The tears, both happy and sad, still fall in the right places and I’m genuinely surprised at lines I’ve written several months ago. I go into each read through fresh and I think that is helping the process.

I just finished another one right before I started to write this post. Sure enough, the last few chapters (not the ending, I’ll get to that in a minute), had me all over the emotional map and I was feeling all the feelings. I’d been waiting to read these last few for days, having been stuck on a few previous chapters for over a week, reworking them quite a bit. So when I got to these last ones, I surprised myself with what I had written. It had been a while since I read them and while I was dreading them, I ended up being happy with what was on the pages.

Let me go back a second…not dreading them in the sense that I thought they were bad. Just that they were the newest I had written and so little had been edited. Plus, to be honest, I hadn’t read through the last five or so chapters. I honestly forgot a lot of what was there. However, I’m glad I did because I really am happy with how this story has progressed and now that I’ve done this latest read? It is time to start gearing up for the finish line.

I’m not looking forward to finishing this book. I know I’ve said that several times that I don’t want the story to end. However, the past couple of days, I’ve come up with what I think will be the ending for this one and how I can bring these characters back for a sequel/series. It is finally starting to come together in my head and the only problem with that of course, is that I want to start writing the next book! Of course, I still have to finish both this one and finish editing my first novel. And that one needs a tremendous amount of work. Plus, I don’t want to leave these current characters. If I go back to my previous book, I will lose the momentum of this current one…really I’ve written myself into a vicious cycle.

This is the problem that I know a lot of us have. We get more story ideas and soon, our files are filled with started books, while very few are finished. That’s me. Right here. If you were to go into my docs, you’d find quite a few novels begun and only one fully completed.

I’m so determined to finish this current one and get it sent off with my query letter as soon as I can. I’m getting excited for it now. I really am. I know there’s still a lot of formatting, cuts and more to happen before I can send it off, but just knowing that it’s getting close is keeping me going! (It also makes me a little nauseous as well from nerves, but hey that’s life right?)

I would love to say what a great thing it is to have so many ideas. In many ways, it is. But it can also be more than overwhelming. For myself, it reminds me to take a step back. Reevaluate what’s important right now. I’m big on pro/con lists. I’m also big at writing down new ideas until they are out of my head, thus the several started novels in my docs files. (Insert head slap here.) This is where I should mention that I also keep reading a ton to get my mind off of all of this. The beauty of that of course is that it clears my mind for what’s next. So whether it’s reading, going for a run, watching a ball game or binging a show, doing something else can clear your head and find the answer you need. For me, while reading another book, out of nowhere I was sparked with the idea for my ending. I know a marketing guy who used to get his ideas from running. Creatives need other outlets to fuel their work. Right now, if my other outlets could help me get to my own finish line? I will be forever grateful.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thank you so much for being here and following! Until next time…Cheers!

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To follow me on social including #booktok: linktr.ee/promosocially

(you can also shop my linktree shop through there as well)

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If you’d like to help support the site, you can shop the links on here for gift ideas, blank journals and more. You can also use my Ko-Fi link by clicking: HERE

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If you’ve gotten this far, I appreciate it and will see you soon! Thanks all. ☺️