reading

Clueless – Resources – Writing Tired

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Photo credit: Katrina_S on Pixabay

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.

Until next time…Cheers!

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To follow me on social, including #booktok you can click: linktr.ee/promosocially

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If you’d like to donate to my American Cancer Society fundraiser for August, click HERE

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The latest books read, (you can click on their titles):

The Unhoneymooners by Christna Lauren

RoomHate by Penelope Ward

The Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand

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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!!! ☺️

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!! 🩷

Edits – Support – Writing Hangover

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Photo credit: StartupStockPhotos on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! It’s been a busy time and as I type this, I’m looking at the screen through tired eyes. While many are out enjoying their Summers at pools and vacations, I’ve been writing for hours upon hours each night. And you know what? I’m loving every minute of it!

Last night alone, I typed for six hours straight and with hands that are affected by arthritis, it was an exercise in determination. (Also, shoutout to the makers of painkillers. You guys rock!)

I’m in the final third of the book and have been having lots of issues with both story and character development. I’ve strayed quite a bit from the original feel of the book. However, the way it has progressed? Has now given me the basis for a future novel. NEVER THROW YOUR WORK AWAY! Just because what I’ve written doesn’t fit with the current story, doesn’t mean it won’t be good for a new one with new characters. Sometimes you just need to write it out. Get the thoughts out of your head so you can move on to the rest. While doing that, this past week alone, I have almost three chapters worth of material that I can use for a future project. I just wish I knew where this storyline came from because it was completely out of the blue.

Anyway, I’ve been writing and rewriting, changing chapter after chapter and also rereading what I’ve already done to make sure that everything flows. It is vital for me that I do this as I have memory issues. But also for continuity’s sake, it is so important that I keep reading this work over and over. I keep finding areas that need work and unfortunately, big chunks that now need to be cut. I wrote 42 pages over two days and looking over them tonight, there is so much that cannot be used. I have no idea where my mind was going with what I wrote, but again, at least it’s out of my head. And as you can probably see, I am so tired right now, I’m talking in circles. I do believe that the tired has infiltrated my story and is helping to take my characters to a place that they were never destined to go.

I’ve said before and I will say it again, these characters mean the world to me. I’ve created a place I look forward to going to every night. There’s pieces of me in each one and they deserve my best. However I am feeling lately that I am not giving it to them and I need to reel myself back in and get back to the foundation of this book and what I started to do with it. The early chapters came so damned easily to me and keeping the flow of it as I get to these later ones is proving to be the true challenge. It is one that I am up to though and I will make this the best work that I possibly can do.

I have found great support with the writing community slash #booktok community on TikTok. When other writers post about the struggles they are going through with their own characters and plot lines, it makes me feel better knowing I’m not the only one dealing with these issues. It’s like having access to a support group from my home and I’m so grateful to all of them for being there. I’ve tried to do the same, posting videos with some kind of message here and there, thanks to the new five hashtag limits though, my views have gone to almost nonexistent. I’m still there though and happy to be a part of that community. After all, creatives help creatives and that is what I hope I am doing here with this blog. 😉

In the words of the immortal Forrest Gump, that’s all I have to say about that.

Remember, if you are looking for reading suggestions for the rest of your Summer and beyond, be sure to hit the ‘On the Bookshelf 2025’ page. I’ll be adding to it all the time. I’ve been on a great reading roll myself and will once again be participating in the Read Every Day Challenge for the American Cancer Society and I’ll put the link below if you’d like to donate. It’s a very personal cause for me being a survivor myself as well as having many family members affected by it. If a donation isn’t in your budget right now? (Which I totally get btw.) You can certainly join in the challenge yourself! It’s of course free to join and it is such an important cause.

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thank you as always for following along with my insanity and tired ramblings. No matter what your creative outlet is, remember to just keep going. Even if something doesn’t fit, even if something comes out wonky, it doesn’t matter. Just keep doing what you are doing and keep being the best you that you can be. 🩷

Until next time…

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On the Bookshelf 2025

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New Chapter Cove on TikTok/#booktok: Click HERE

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My donation page for the Read Every Day Challenge for the ACS can be found HERE

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To keep up with all of my social, shops and more: linktr.ee/promosocially

Revising, Rethinking and Lots of Rewriting

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Hey guys, welcome back! It’s a dark and stormy night here in New England and that for me means, lots of reading and writing! I love rainy nights, days, weeks, for just this reason. Plus, it holds the oppressive heat at bay so that’s always a bonus.

I’ve been kind of losing my mind lately with the progress of my book. I wrote myself into a hole of crap that I now am trying to fix. If you’ve been following along for a while, you know that this current novel that I have been working on has been really flowing. I was on a role writing a chapter a night and the story has been going great. And then…

I hit a chapter with a pivotal plot point. One that is taking much more research than I thought it would. As I’m working on that, there is another aspect that I also need to do some follow up on and in the meantime, the rest of the story wants to come out! Yes folks, I’ve hit that point where I yell at my screen at least once an evening now.

I’ve rewritten full chapters, cutting scenes that I really thought would work but now see that they would be better in future pages. Lots of cutting and pasting to rework what’s already been written which, by the way, is another reason why I save each chapter separately. This way I can rework them individually without having to scroll through the entire manuscript. Still, it’s been hard to change what I thought were great pages.

Like others who write, this book has become such a part of me. I dream about it. I work scenes in my head like a movie and even as I talk to people, the next chapter is playing out in my mind over and over again until I can get it written. I feel like I owe it to these characters to give them my best and damned if I’m not going to give it to them!

Is this a public pep talk to myself? Maybe. But when it’s now been months and reams of paper have been printed with chapter after edited chapter, I need to keep myself on track. I lost several days of writing last week when I was stuck, blocked and basically up against a wall. Plus, I was reading a book that I never wanted to put down and once it was over, it stuck with me deeply and I couldn’t get my own story back in my head for two days. So here I am, putting this out there…all creatives will get to this point. That time where there is a pause in the flow of our work. Where there will be a blip in how we think and a time where we constantly curse at ourselves while we try to get it back.

For me, stepping back last week was good. I had been taking the book in the wrong direction. Not saying it wouldn’t have worked the way it was going, but it wasn’t where I wanted this story to go. It was like writing an alternative universe for these characters. Sure it would have been a bit spicier, but I’m writing a romcom not a Fifty Shades kind of book and that’s when I knew stepping back was needed. (However, if I do decide to write something steamier in the future? I’ve kept those scenes in another document, just in case. Throw nothing away.)

Maybe the Summer is affecting me, who knows. As I sit here and type this, waiting for Fall and my first PSL of the season, my characters are trying to keep me in the moment. It’s really a good thing I have no life or else this wouldn’t get written at all! 😂

Anywhoo, this is where I’m going to leave you for today. I hope this resonates with you on some level. If it doesn’t, that means I’m just losing it. But hey, thank you for letting me lose it here! 

Until next time…keep enjoying your Summers!

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For my socials, including my new #booktok you can find all of my links: 

linktr.ee/promosocially

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To read one of the best books I’ve ever written, The Things We Left Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros: click HERE

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I’m happy to announce that I’m now a PangoBooks ambassador! Use my link to get $5 off of your your first purchase and get some great books at super low prices! My first order with them, I found two brand new books for less than $1.50 each! Click my link to get started: https://pangobooks.com/NEWCHAPTERCOVE

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If you’ve gotten this far, thanks so much. You guys rock!! 🙂

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!! ☺️