Writer issues

September – Continuity – 300 Words

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Photo credit: Cheerfully_lost on Pixabay

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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Stuck – Stuck – More Stuck

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Photo credit: picjumbo_com at Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! As I sit here thinking of something to write, I’m also thinking how thankful I am to have you all to write for. I’ve been so lucky to have an audience for my posts, my ramblings, my writing journey. When I was writing my first book, I didn’t do this. It took me years to finish that first draft. It is taking even longer to edit it. But this current work in progress, well, this has been a mission. This has been my baby and I’m so glad I am documenting this ride of mine. I’ve heard from other authors that they are going through similar situations as mine and I’m so glad I’m not alone.

For example, I’m currently stuck. Like really stuck. I was getting close to writing the last chapters of this book. Then I stalled. Not just because a part of me doesn’t want this story to end, but because I thought of a whole new way to tell it!

So ok, I go back to the beginning again, I wrote an alternate first chapter. I liked it a lot and it gave me more ideas. What’s wrong with this? Plenty.

Although the amount of work it would take to rewrite the story again from another perspective is daunting, it would also lend more depth to it as a whole so there’s that. Also, my current word count is huge. Like, huge. The editing process for this book is going to be massive and is going to kill me to cut as much as I need to.

I have read and reread this work so many times, it is how I want it to be right now. Well, that’s at this current moment. It changes minute to minute. I think it’s because I don’t want to finish it just yet and am looking for excuses to postpone the last chapters. I’ll snap out of it of course, but in the meantime, I’m torn…I’m…stuck.

Do I go back and add to this and offer two perspectives or do I just go in and edit what I already have? I keep going back and forth on the best way to proceed and in the process, I just keep reading it over and over again. So, I continue to be stuck.

I’m hoping the answer will come to me between the lines. That there will be something that jumps out at me to say “this is it!” So far, nothing. The back and forth continues and then I write the other perspective. If I continue doing that, then it’s even more words I’ll have to cut.

I mentioned in my last post that I did some editing work in my past. I know I can be brutal when I have to be when reworking sentences, paragraphs, chapters. But that is with someone else’s work. With my own? Let’s just say that I don’t take criticism very well, even my own. When I wrote for others and something of mine needed to be edited? I didn’t take it well at all. Just the idea of someone else hacking up my work gives me a stomach ache. But seriously the word count? Massive. So the hacking must be done.

Also, the amount of research going into this book has been a big part of this journey. Not just for the story itself, but also for the work. Learning about querying agents, traditional publishing vs. self publishing, learning from other authors and bouncing ideas off of them and of course, word counts. I’ve been looking at other books in the same genre that I love to see what their counts are. Chapter length, page count, all of it. This is going to be the first book of mine that I want to get out there and it needs to reflect my best work. I want to get it right. I think this is one of the reasons I’ve been freaking out about all of this and will continue to do so until I can finally say, “hey! My first draft is done!” Until then, I shall remain stuck.

I wish this was more uplifting, a little more motivational, but not every day can be like that. Some days, the reality sets in and we have to sit back and take a breath. Take a moment to reflect on what we are doing and if we are doing it the right way. Look at it from a fresh perspective and hope that when we complete what we have started, it is right with us. I will forever be proud of what I have written, which is why the idea of cutting so much is killing me. However, to get this out there to the readers? I will do what is needed to put out my best work possible. (Did I turn this post around at all? I hope so!)

And that is where I will leave you for today. Thanks so much again for being here, for reading my blog and for your support. For without you, I wouldn’t be here.

Until next time…Cheers!

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Procrastination – Emotions – Genre Issues

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Photo credit: ThoughtCatalog on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! It’s been a time here on my hill and just trying to get through the rest of the Summer. Actually, it’s been going pretty well! I’d personally like to thank the makers of meds for helping me get more mobile this season. (The side effects of being a bit loopy are just a bonus.)

Anywhoooo…I’ve just been through emotional hell with my book. Strange for a romcom? You betcha! The story that I’m writing does have an underlying plot line of a serious nature which is now making me rethink the genre of the book as a whole. While a good portion of it is a romantic comedy, the rest is a bit deeper. Which then begs the question, what the hell genre is this anyway?

When it comes to romance books it can be categorized in many ways. The all too generic ‘romance’, the sappy old school soap opera type book, the Hallmarkian syrupy sweet species, ‘dark romance’, you know, the ones with a whole lot of spice? There’s ’contemporary romance’, historical, fantasy aka. ‘romantasy’, the list goes on and on. Then of course there is the dreaded “women’s fiction.”

I HATE that category! Many women authors are with me on this. It makes our work sound like less than and it makes me crazy. But that’s a rant for another time. (Something to look forward to, huh?)

I believe right now, my book is headed towards the ‘contemporary romance’ genre. It kind of combines several into one and that’s how the story has been going. The other option, one I’ve been toying with, is cutting full chapters out and rewriting the entire third act. If I did that, I’d have enough material to start a whole different book, or I stick with this one and see it to the end.

The other issue here is that, I believe the story I’m telling is one that should be told. It has it’s place and like life, we deal with serious situations with humor, love and shopping. Ok that last one was just thrown in to see if you were paying attention. 😉

I will say this, the chapters recently written were very hard to write. I literally typed with tears in my eyes and had to keep stopping to wipe them because I could no longer see the screen. Yes, that is how deep this book has gotten. It was completely unexpected and if anything, by revealing this? It is proving that I am truly putting my heart and soul into this story.

With such an emotional storyline, I’ve also been having trouble getting through it. Not because I’m not happy with it, but because I know what’s coming next. I always want to get to the next scene. In my head, I’m skipping over the parts I’m writing at the moment and already writing what’s next. This has led to some procrastination issues.

I’ll be going along fine, then hit a snag. I’m talking to my screen constantly asking where I was going with this line or that paragraph. So I stop what I’m doing, pick up my phone and play word games. Sometimes to clear out my mind, sometimes to put off writing the next thing. When the tougher scenes were happening, I did this a lot. I had a lot of trouble writing them emotionally and needed a buffer. Although, the entire time I was playing these games, I was chastising myself for putting off just getting through them. After all, once they were written, I wouldn’t have to think of them again until it was time to edit. Instead, it took me much longer than usual for me to write them and as a true procrastinator in life, I hated that my old habits came to the surface.

I think the one thing that has gotten me through doing these last few chapters is the hope that the emotions of them will come through to the reader. That they will feel what I’ve poured out on the pages. That the story shows that we can survive our past and look to a much better future.

And that is where I will leave you for today. I hope some of this made sense. Because whatever your craft, sometimes we just need to get out what’s in our head before we can move forward. Whether this book stays how it is or not, at least I know that what I’ve already written will have its place somewhere…and hopefully, resonate with the ones who read it.

Thanks so much for being here today and until next time…Cheers!

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If you’d like to follow me on social, including my #booktok? You can find my links at: 

linktr.ee/promosocially

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If you are looking for great deals on used books? I’m a PangoBooks ambassador. This app is a used book haven and I’ve gotten deals for like new books as low as $1.38! Click HERE to get $5 off your first purchase!

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Still looking for something to read this Summer? Be sure to check out the 2025 On the Bookshelf page here on the site! (The original on the bookshelf page as well.) This is always updated with more titles as I’m reading and you just might find your next favorite book.

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Like my site? I hope you will check out the links that are all around it for my shops that have gifts for readers and writers alike as well as my other shops. If you’d like to help support the site (aka me) a bit? You can click my Ko-Fi link HERE or by clicking on the logo to make a small donation to help me keep this site going.

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Thanks for getting this far guys! I appreciate all of you so much. See you soon! 🩷

Energy – Marathons – #Booktok vs Public Speaking

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Photo credit: lograstudio on Pixabay.

Hey guys, welcome back! This week has gone by so fast and I’m all for it. It’s also been a busy one for me which is something that is very much against the norm. But getting to see both friends and family as well as a little league playoff game has been so worth it! Love the people I saw and they’ve given me a lot more energy just by getting me out and about.

If you are new here, I am someone who lives with both chronic illness and disabilities. I have periods of time where walking just isn’t in the cards, however, I also have waves of mobility, like the one I’m in now, where I can not only do things, but can also get things done. Just being able to take out the garbage is an accomplishment for me and it has felt great to contribute. Getting out to a local baseball game? Priceless. (Especially when I get to root for my favorite 8 year old.) Having the energy I’ve had lately has been amazing and I haven’t had it for two years. There is of course the unknown expiration date on this, so while I may pay for this tomorrow, I will be enjoying it tonight.

Because of this new found clarity, I’ve been doing major writing and editing marathons this week and while I’d like to say the writing has had some serious progress, I can’t. However, the edits have been going well and I consider that a victory, I really need to get the writing back on track. I’m in a momentous part of the book. The make or break chapters, the big surprise, all the feelings and yet, my head has not been in the game for it. Energy is great, concentration? A whole other animal.

I’m finding that even with my set writing schedule, I’m crashing just as it’s time to do the actual typing. The edits are flowing, the rereads? Awesome. The coming up with what’s next? Suddenly I’m hitting a wall and crashing hard. Tonight I’m hoping to break that by starting a few hours earlier than I normally do and actually getting something done. What a nice change that will be.

I’m convinced that I totally jinxed myself with the first chapters of this book. If you’ve been following along, you know that I was on a sick roll with them. Writing full chapters, sometimes two a night. Dozens of pages flowing from my fingers at a time and bringing forth the story I’ve been waiting to tell. And then…ugh. It started becoming harder to get to the next level. To bring the characters to their pinnacle moments. I know where I want to take them, but getting them there has been the issue. I know it will happen. I know it will connect. I also know that my brain has decided to fail me on where to go next. I’m hoping that this newfound energy will kick its ass into gear and get me going, so I can head towards the finish line in the best possible way!

While I’ve been doing all of this, I’ve also been doing a ton of reading and adding to my #booktok account. (Link will be below if you’re interested.) I love seeing so many other readers and authors out there. Bringing physical bookstores back and finding new titles to read as well as connecting with other writers and finding out that it’s ’not just me’ with certain issues has been awesome. My personal hangup on it though is that I’m not comfortable on camera. While I just posted my first pic of myself on there, I didn’t do a video. I have done a few in the past on my other accounts and for a little while had fun with it, but honestly, it’s just not my thing. I find this quite strange honestly as I am one of the few people in this world who actually enjoys public speaking.

I’ve given quite a few speeches in my time and love to feed off of the audience. I was involved with the theater once upon a time and there is nothing like getting the reaction from a live crowd. On video? You put yourself out there and hope you get a ‘like’. Not my jam at all. I like to read the crowd, see what sticks and all that. On video, I’m more than self conscious and hate it. So I stick to silly videos, trending stuff that  doesn’t require showing my face and of course, plugging this site with pics. Granted, this may be why my follower count sucks, (which stabs me in my former professional social media manager heart) but alas, it is what it is. I hope to get over the ‘stage fright’ of videoness one day, but for now, I will stick to what I’ve been doing and hope to grow from there.

And that is where I will leave you for today! I hope you all are doing great out there and I thank you so much for visiting and following along. Speaking of, if you are having trouble subscribing, please let me know. I understand the subscribe button is leading folks to a login page for some. I can manually add your email if you’d like to get updates from me.

Thanks again for visiting and until next time…Cheers!

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

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Please check out the links (and graphics on the sidebar) on this site for my other shops and book suggestions. You never know what you’ll find!

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If you like what I’m doing here and would like to help support the site, (and me), you can click on my Ko-Fi link: HERE Any donation would be more than greatly appreciated. 🩷

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If you’ve made it this far, I thank you and hope you will come back again! 😉

Bubble – Family – Some Motivation

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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.