I wrote this poem many years ago. Our world was forever changed that beautiful September morning, without a cloud in the sky, suddenly darkened by smoke and ash.
I stayed awake for a week, glued to every detail, every news report, scanning images online thinking “if only I could spot a victim and help from home.” I was obsessed in a way I have never been in my life. I had finally collapsed from exhaustion and then started all over again. I had been ashamed that I had been asleep while the world was collapsing. I felt I needed to stay up until…I don’t know what. I wasn’t thinking but then none of us were during that time.
We lost friends that day and in tribute, my mother went down to volunteer to help the responders and those working on the Pile. Her hardhat remains in our home as a reminder of her time there and how many didn’t make it home.
When I wrote this, I did so through tears. And every year, I post it as my own tribute.
May we #NeverForget what happened in NYC, DC and PA. And may we come together again as we did after that day. It should take a tragedy to bring us all together as one. 🕊️
Hey guys, welcome back! I hope everyone’s September is going well so far. I’ve been loving the cooler weather and reading during the rainy nights we’ve finally been getting. I’ll admit though, my mind has been blanking on what to write here, so let’s see where this post goes today, shall we?
While creating posts for the site has proven to be somewhat of a challenge lately, I’ve been uber focused on my book. I can’t stop thinking about it, working on it and it’s even affecting my sleep and dreams lately. It’s also starting to blur the lines between what’s real and what happened in a chapter…although that could be the meds I’ve been taking lately for an illness that just won’t seem to go away. (I’d like to chalk it up to that instead of losing touch with reality.)
In my previous posts I’ve talked about how I keep rereading my manuscript. I’m still doing that and in the process, have been rewriting sections, editing and adding to the text as a whole. Suddenly scenes that I thought were complete, are now really taking shape even more. If I haven’t said this before I will say it now: YOU CAN NEVER READ YOUR WORK ENOUGH!
Seriously, keep reading your work over and over again!
No matter how many times I read through these chapters, I continually find odd typos here and there that I’ve missed the other five-six times I’ve read it. I’m finding that scenes that I thought were fine previously, really weren’t and needed more detail. Character traits that seemed perfect in the past, I’m now realizing, wow, I missed something there! And never forget, continuity issues!!
I am constantly finding issues with continuity that I had no clue were completely off. If the story doesn’t make sense to you, it sure as hell won’t make sense to your future readers.
It amazes me that the more I read this book and the more I think I’m coming to the end where I can finally submit this work somewhere, the more I’m finding that it needs work. The more I freak out that I’m going to miss something major that will prevent me from getting this sold. The stress has creeped in and taken hold and I’m already dealing with a lot on the personal front and it is just adding to it. Life never stops moving and I have to keep telling myself that this is my own doing. That I created this issue myself and yet, this is so damned important to me. I just want it to be the best it can be so it can lead to something greater and eventually stop the other stress that is going on in my life.
I’m slightly losing it. But knowing this is the first step, amiright? So here I am admitting that yes, I am obsessed with my own work. There, I’ve said it. I feel a little better! Score one for being aware enough to write about an obsession for writing. (Did that even make sense?)
I follow many other authors on #booktok and one thing I love about doing that is knowing that I’m not the only one who is struggling like this. That’s one of the reasons why I started writing about my journey here. To possibly help other writers know that hey, it’s not just you going through this! We are all a little off center as most creatives are. It’s what makes us, us. It’s what drives us to create new works and want to share ourselves with others. We are not in this alone. Really, we’re not. So just keep doing you.
And that is where I will leave you for tonight. So see? Sometimes you can stare at the blank page with no ideas and end up writing something that is not only cathartic to you personally but that may just help someone else in the process!
Hope you got something out of this post and until next time…Cheers!
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Hey guys, welcome back! I’ve been remiss in my posting and I apologize. I normally try for twice a week and I dropped the ball. But I’m back and hey, it’s September!
This is my favorite time of the year. From September 1st to New Year’s Eve, my soul is happy. The rest of the year, I’m just one of the pack. However, I never smile as much as I do during the ‘ber months. I know many are sad to see the Summer go and I get that. I hope everyone had a great time and appreciate that this upcoming time of the year isn’t for everyone. We all have our thing that makes us happy. If you’ve found yours, hold on to it as best you can. Whether it’s a season, a daily ritual of reading or spending time with family and friends, whatever it is, we all have that one thing that makes our soul smile. It’s what makes you…you.
Having said all that, let’s get to what’s been going on with the book!
If you’re new here, hello! I’ve been documenting my writing journey with my current book and have been inching along to the finish line. I started off strong. Sometimes writing one or two chapters a night. It’s how I roll. I don’t stop typing until a chapter is done and if I have an idea in mind or even when I don’t, I write until I’m done. I let my characters lead the way. Now that I’m in the final chapters, it’s the wrapping up of the story that I’m taking my time with. A lot has gone on with these characters and I want to give them the best ending that I can. These last chapters have been a challenge, but I do love a challenge.
I’ve been going through a cycle of reading and rereading and rereading again of the entire manuscript. I never tire of this story which is a good thing. If I found myself getting bored with it then that would mean that there are serious issues with it. What I’ve been finding doing all of these read throughs, is that I’ve been finding the occasional continuity errors.
Having started this book months ago, trying to remember where each character was at a certain point can be tough. I’ve been able to fix a lot, rewrite a lot and cut out a lot (ouch) but now the story is flowing much better. I know this will be a constant thing to keep doing until I finally submit this and I’m fine with that. The more I find now, the better the finished product will be. (I just need to actually finish it!)
Speaking of submitting, I’ve fully decided to submit my book to a literary agent. I’ve been doing a ton of research, looking very carefully at the acknowledgements at the ends of the books I really like and taking note of names mentioned and more. The one thing I am personally dreading is the query letter. I’ve been checking out sample letters across different writing resource sites and I’m so grateful that they have these samples available. I had no clue what was involved until I started doing this! Am I slow to understand it all? You betcha! But at least I know what is involved now.
The biggest struggle for me was writing out the synopsis of the book. Summarizing an entire story in only three hundred words. Why three hundred? Because from everything I’ve read and from talking with other authors, three hundred words is the sweet spot. That’s the number that will get your synopsis read. In rare cases, when they are written incredibly well, the publishers will even use the original synopsis as the summary on the back cover of the published book! Mine is not going to be done that way…trust me. I can write, I can not summarize. At least, I don’t think so. I have gotten some nice feedback from those who have read it, but I will always be my own worst critic.
To me, having to narrow down a full story in a few hundred words, is like trying to sum up your life in a few hundred words. (I mean, isn’t that what an obituary is?) Still, I found it humbling and while it, no joke, took hours to do, I needed it to be the best it could be so that when it lands in the inbox of a future agent, they read it and think, “I’ve found the next best selling novel!”
Again, I just need to finish the actual story. But hey, semantics, amiright?
Anyway, that is where I shall leave you for today. I hope you got a little something out of this and I will try to keep true to my posting schedule more. I invite you to check out the links across the site…whether it’s my past works, the shops I have linked to or even if you are looking for a little reading inspiration, there’s lots to see here. (Remember, there’s two ‘on the bookshelf’ pages. They are quite different from each other so be sure to check out both.)
Thanks again for being here and until next time…cheers!
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Hey guys, welcome back! Hope everyone is doing great out there and enjoying their Summers. We just picked our first pumpkins today! Yes, I know, it’s very early…don’t care. Last year, we put out some pumpkins for our critter friends and a horrible overgrown tree grew over them. When they cut the tree down, an accidental pumpkin patch emerged and lo and behold, on August 18th, the first ones were ready to pick! As someone who would live in Fall year round? This was the perfect way to start the week.
Anywhoo…let’s get to it shall we?
Over the past week, I’ve done almost no writing. Instead, I’ve been doing a complete reread of my manuscript to make sure that it flows, the tone is consistent and the story holds up. What’s so great about doing these rereads (something I highly recommend doing if you are writing a book) is that because it’s been months since I’ve started it, reading the early chapters again is like reading the book for the first time. There is so much that I don’t remember writing. Not so much the story of course, that will always be at the top of my mind. But rather little one liners and character traits I threw in there early. Little tidbits of information and backstory that I had to constantly make notes of to go back to in these now later chapters that I’m in. What was a great surprise to me is that, as I read this as a new reader, I laughed, I cried, I was pretty proud of myself throughout the entire thing. Sure, some parts made me cringe and called for rewrites…again, this is why you do this! Overall though, I think it’s going ok.
I’ve mentioned before in an earlier post that I have found myself in a genre problem. I started this book with the full intention of it being a romcom. I love me a good romantic comedy, (thank you Nora Ephron for my early inspiration) and have wanted to write one of my own for some time. For the most part, that’s what this novel truly is. The issue comes into a deeper plot point that is a bit darker and deals with issues that could be trigger sensitive to some. And no, I’m not talking ‘dark romance’ stuff, that’s not my deal. At least, not this book.
When I decided to read this again from start to (almost) finish, I wanted to see if the story would still hold. Would it be that obvious where the two don’t mesh together? Would it not work as a complete story? Would it be a noticeable jump from comedy to drama? I’m both happy and confused to say that I never saw where the jump happens. It flowed well, worked out seamlessly and it can be kept as it is, unless I decide to completely rewrite the darker chapters and come up with an entirely different storyline. I’ve been literally losing sleep about this. I happen to like what I wrote a lot. But it takes what was once a fully romantic comedy and changes the genre to what? I don’t know. ‘Contemporary Romance’ maybe? Or the oh so dreaded general ‘Women’s fiction?’ (I will forever hate that ‘genre’.)
I am so confused by all of this I don’t know where to go with it.
What has been great about doing all of this is getting thoroughly reacquainted with the characters. From start to finish. Reminding myself of their quirks, their humor, their affection for one another across all of the relationships and of course, the support they have during some life challenges that come their way.
Writing this in the first person has been fun. Reading it this way has also blurred the lines sometimes between ‘was it something I read or did that actually happen to me?” Not that the story is me by any means, but you get it, right? You get so involved with a story, whether a book or a series, etc and a week or two later you can’t remember if it was real, a dream or hey that actually happened! Every night after reading a few chapters, it took me a while to shake out of that feeling. I’ve already been dealing with this on the nights that I’m writing because again, I’m writing it as the character. Basically, it’s been an odd journey this time around. I didn’t write my first book this way and this is all new territory for me. I feel though that by doing this, I’ve created more depth and more feeling to the main character and I really hope that comes across to other readers as well. I want her story to be one that is not only one that you cheer for, but also one that is relatable, as well as one that you can feel for deeply during her darkest moments. She is truly a character I’m proud of and have loved writing her so much.
I just wish I could find that special sign that would come to me that says, yes! Keep it this way! Keep all of it! Or on the flip side…trash it. Rewrite it. Forget that you even went that way, what the hell were you thinking? But so far, no magical symbol has come my way to sway me either way. It works as it is and maybe this isn’t the book that should be my total foray into a complete romcom experience.
In the meantime, my ulcer grows, my story keeps going and the editing continues. I will say this, the closer I’m getting to wrapping up this book, (and seriously considering writing a sequel to it to keep the characters going), I’m also looking into querying agents. I had thought about going the self publishing route, but I’m immensely excited about this book and would like to see it in much more professional hands. Right now, I need to completely finish this manuscript and stop thinking of ways to keep the story going! Every time I think I can find a way to end it, I think of something else. I just don’t want to say goodbye to these people yet. So my ending has to be something that will be good for everyone. Myself, my characters and of course, my readers.
And that is where I leave you for today! I hope you’ve gotten something out of this post and I thank you so much for following along with my continued writing journey. I think if I had blogged during the writing of my first book, I’d be much further along with getting that one out to the public, instead of having put it aside in edits to write this new one. Procrastination is the curse of the writer and I have it in spades. 🤦🏼♀️
Until next time…cheers!
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Hey guys, welcome back! I hope this week has been going well for you, it certainly has for me! I’ve done more marathon nights of writing and in between these focused binges, I got to see the Connecticut team win the first game of the Little League World Series! (Go Fairfield!) I love watching this series every year. I’m a rabid baseball fan and watching these kids brings me hope, as they show a level of sportsmanship that I wish more adults would. They are fun games and it’s great to watch them making friends with kids from all around the world. (I also love it when they show MLB players in the stands having fun and being true fans.)
Anywhoo…my concentration has been laser focused on the latest chapters of my book. I wrote so much over the last two nights alone, my eyes have become blurred, dry and bloodshot and the headache is incredible. I’m not gonna lie, a ton of caffeine has been involved in this sudden burst of productivity, but it’s been oh so worth it.
Just this morning, I finished what is possibly my most favorite chapter of the entire thing. After a few emotional days with a rather deep plot point, to have some more lighthearted things to write has been a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this part of the story. And after rereading this current chapter again to make sure I got it just right, I have to say, I’m so happy with how it turned out. I’ve been going over the first chapters of the book once again as well. By reacquainting myself with the earlier tone of the writing, I think that it’s really helped bring this third act full circle.
There is still so much work that has to be done on my manuscript. A whole lot of editing, rewrites and more. But for now, at this particular moment, I’m happy with what I’ve written. I still have a little more to go before the first draft is officially complete, but this has been a true labor of love. One that I’ve been so proud to work on. My total obsession that lives in my thoughts 24/7. I dream about these characters, this small town that I’ve invented, this couple and their journey. A part of me doesn’t want to get to the next part. A huge part of me doesn’t want to actually finish this book. It has been my escape from real life, my hideout, my haven as it were. I don’t want to say goodbye to it. In reality, I won’t have to for some time, as again, lots of work still to be done. But knowing that the end of this particular story is close is starting to weigh on me. I’m just hoping that I can give these people the ending that they truly deserve. An ending that my readers truly deserve.
And that is where I’m leaving you for today. I know this one was short and sweet, but I’ve been writing now for 8 hours straight and wanted to write this post while the good mood was still with me!
I thank you as always for being here and following along. Until next time…Cheers!
I invite you to check out the rest of the site while you’re here. You may just find a new book to read, find some of my past works as well as catch up with the posts so far. And if you’ve gotten this far in this post, I thank you so much. 😊
New Chapter Cove 