Sunday Summary: Refilling the Well

It’s been quite the writing week for me. The first half,  I pretty consistently wrote around 3k a day. Actually Monday I had over 4400 words. Tuesday and Wednesday were both 3k days. Then there was Thursday. I hit my 3k goal rather easily, but the words were flowing so I didn’t want to stop. I ended up with 5600 words. That’s a more than excellent day for me. Friday I was determined to finish the first draft, and I did. It took another almost 7500 words. That may be the most I’ve ever written in a day. Overall I wrote over 27k this past week. A little under 25k of that is toward my NaNoWriMo goal. I felt a little drained after that so have mostly spent the weekend reading & relaxing.

Thursday we had parent-teacher conferences for both kids. Basically we were told that both of them are wonderful. The boy got satisfactory marks(it’s either satisfactory or Needs Improvement) for social development, which is what his sister had more trouble with. Only things we need to work with him on are letter sounds and writing his name(though that’s getting better, too). The girl is doing really well in 2nd grade. High scores in math & reading(97 & 99), 102 in word study(b/c they get bonus words), and 84 in writing. Which sounds low, but her teacher said she has one of the highest scores in the class.

Last night they stayed with grandma and we went to see my husband’s friends’ band play at a local bar. Had a good time, then today we went to see The Peanuts movie. It was cute and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.

Now, for how I did this week:

• Guarding the Heart – finish 1st draft – like I said, I finished this on Friday. Ended up a little short of 95k. Not bad when I thought it would only be 80k. Not sure I’m completely happy with the final confrontation scenes, but I can fix that in revisions.
• Chasing the Ghost – 1st revisions – I haven’t worked on this since Wednesday. Still have 11 chapters to get through.
• Read: Gotta Read It – 25% – got through this
• Read: The Heiress Effect(Courtney Milan), Bringing Home the Bad Boy(Jessica Lemmon), Hot On Her Heels(Susan Mallery), Forever Grace(Linda Poitevin), & Lucky In Love(Jill Shalvis) – read all of these. Enjoyed them. Really loved Forever Grace (have been looking forward to Sean’s story almost since I read Gwynneth Ever After) and Lucky in Love (I have such a weakness for the ex-military characters). Started reading Soul Enslaved (Keri Lake). I also finished listening to Time’s Divide (Rysa Walker). I loved this series. Now listening to In Rides Trouble (Julie Ann Walker)
• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket – Get through Strip 19 – Made it through strip 18. Like revisions,  this feel to the side while I was finishing drafting.
• Loom: Hat – haven’t worked on this at all.
• I also started a sequel for Into the Sun. Basically pantsing this as I did the first one.

So,  it’s been a pretty good week. Now,  on to next week:

• Some Fools Never Learn – add 15000 words
• Chasing the Ghost – finish 1st revisions
• Come Back Down(Into the Sun sequel) – add 1000 words
• Read: Gotta Read It – 50%
• Read: Soul Enslaved (Keri Lake), Luck on the Line(Zoraida Cordova), Whatever Life Throws at You(Julie Cross), Captive Films episodes 1-3(Jillian Dodd), and Getting Rowdy (Lori Foster)
• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket -halfway through strip 21
• Loom: Hat

WeWriWa: “You’re the One”

Welcome to another rendezvous with the Weekend Writing Warriors, the blog hop for everyone who loves to write.  I’m still sharing from Into the Sun, and will for at least a couple more weeks. Today I have 10 sentences following just shortly after last week’s. Birdie has just greeted Trace rather…enthusiastically, and his mom isn’t sure what to think.

　　　”Is she the reason you wouldn’t come home?”
My arm tightened around Birdie’s waist when she went stiff. I don’t know if she thought Mom’s comment was because of the color of her skin or something else, but I wanted to reassure her. “Birdie’s a damn good reason to stay anywhere, Mom, but, she’s not the only reason I wouldn’t go back. I found family here, something I never found with Henry ruling over us. If you give it a chance, you can, too.”
Birdie still hadn’t relaxed much, though she tightened her arm around me when I’d stood up for us. I glanced over at her, but her eyes were still locked on my mom.
“You,” Birdie finally said. “You’re the one who broke his heart.”

I tried to come up with some clever questions, but my brain is tired. I wrote lots & lots of words Thursday & Friday. My creative well is feeling a little dry. I did write the first 700 words this morning of the sequel to Into the Sun(currently titled: Come Back Down). This one is from Birdie’s POV, and starts a few weeks after Into the Sun ends. I still don’t know what will happen with Into the Sun(submitted it for a collection of short stories), but I should hear something probably this month. Either way, I plan to write this, even if I only publish it here on the blog. We’ll see.

Now, time to refill the creative well with some reading and knitting.

Writing Wednesday: Last Day of 30

Today is my last day as a 30 year old. I actually had to stop and think about that. But, yes, tomorrow I’ll turn 31. 🎂

This time change is really wrecking my sleep schedule. I’ve been waking up an hour before my alarm goes off then struggling to stay awake until nine at night. Last night I didn’t. I fell asleep on the couch around 7 and woke up at 11:30. Went to bed (and had to kick the dog out of my spot) and woke back up before 3. I’m sure I’ll adjust soon and then it will be almost time to change the clocks again.

Words have been going well so far this week. I’ve already got over 10k toward NaNoWriMo. More on that in a bit. First for a snippet from Guarding the Heart. I have 11 paragraphs from some of yesterday’s writing. Xavier works for Casey, he called him in to stay with Emelyn while he had to be somewhere else. And the [xx] is because I need to decide on a name for that guy, still.

“I still don’t understand,” Emelyn said as Xavier held the door open for her. “I was going to go back in and see Sarah when Alex came out. I don’t get why we had to leave. And why you’re sneaking me out like a celebrity with the paparazzi after her.”
Xavier didn’t say anything until after he’d shut her door and rounded the car to his own to slip inside. “That guy you were talking to, [xx] Turlington.”
“What about him? He can’t be that dangerous. He’s too soft to do anything.”
Xavier shook his head. “You apparently still have a lot to learn about people. It doesn’t take a lot of physical strength to be dangerous. He called the media.” Xavier pulled something up on his phone and handed it over to her as he backed out of the parking space. “They were right out in front of the hospital. That’s why we went out the back.”
Her stomach clenched as the video played out. “He keeps mentioning his sister. Who was she?”
“Our last client. And no matter what he, or anyone else in that family, says, what happened wasn’t Casey’s fault. He did everything right to protect her. She broke one of his rules, her ex-husband realized where she was, and he came after her. Nearly killed Casey before he went after Lydia. And Casey still stopped him, but it was too late for her.”
Tears filled her eyes when he said Casey almost died. So, she could have lost him before she’d ever even known him.
“What happened to him?” she asked, wanting to think about something else. “The ex-husband.”
“In jail. Hopefully he’ll rot there. He beat on Lydia almost daily, threatened to kill her if she ever tried to leave him. And he saw that through.”
She thought she saw more than the loss of a client in his eyes. And she remembered the things he’d said to Turlington, how he’d talked to him. “You knew her, didn’t you? Before she was a client, I mean.”
His knuckles tightened against the steering wheel and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, he let out a long breath. “No wonder someone’s after you, Emelyn. You’re dangerous for a man’s secrets.”

This is coming along well this week. I realized on Friday that I had a big plot hole in the last quarter of it, so I re-plotted the end. Ended up cutting a few scenes and adding in a few others. I’ve already hit 80k(which is how long I figured it would be) and I still have at least 12 more scenes to finish. I’d still like to finish the first draft this week.

• Guarding the Heart – finish 1st draft – making good progress on this. 10842 words so far this week.
• Chasing the Ghost – 1st revisions – more than halfway through these. Have 4 scenes I might add in plus other changes. Still hoping to finish it this week but might not happen.
• Read: Gotta Read It – 25% – 10% through this right now.
• Read: The Heiress Effect(Courtney Milan), Bringing Home the Bad Boy(Jessica Lemmon), Hot On Her Heels(Susan Mallery), Forever Grace(Linda Poitevin), & Lucky In Love(Jill Shalvis) – I finished The Heiress Effect, really enjoyed it. Finished Bringing Home the Bad Boy last night. Liked it, though I had some issues with it. Started Hot on Her Heels last night, but didn’t get too far before falling asleep on the couch.
• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket – Get through Strip 19 – made some progress on this yesterday.
• Loom: Hat – Planning to work on this over the weekend.

Sunday Summary: October Wrap-Up

Yesterday was Halloween and our town’s trick-or-treating night(my hometown always does it the Thursday before Halloween). We started at the fire station and walked around for close to an hour. Then, we stopped at one of the churches for hot dogs and hot chocolate before heading back up to the fire station. On the way there, a call went out for an outside fire. So, the boy got to see the firetrucks leave. By the time, we were in our truck, they’d already cancelled the call(so, probably someone burning a leaf pile or something). So, he got to see them come back too.

Before trick-or-treating, we’d gone up to Erie. I took 15 paperbacks I had stacked up on a shelf to the used bookstore. This was my first time taking any in, though I have bought some from there. We walked out with another 8 books(only 4 of those were for me) and only spent about $10. And I wonder why my TBR piles doesn’t seem to shrink. 😉

I posted my WeWriWa snippet separately this week, but you can go check it out if you want. It’s been a pretty good week, and I seem to have found a good routine for balancing writing/editing and everything else on my to-do list.

• By the Gun – get to 3000 words – 4236/3000. A lot of these were old words moved over from my last attempt.
• Some Fools Never Learn – reach 16000 words – 16687/16000. These rolled out pretty easily.
• Let It Begin – finish 1st draft – done, done, DONE! At 33226 words. Over a total of 10 writing days.
• My Way to You – reach 6000 words – 7144/6000. These were rolling good, too, and a bit emotional. I got through the beginning ‘present’ chapters and have moved into the ‘past’ chapters where Bryan & Leo first meet.
• Guarding the Heart – reach 70000 words – 70262/70000. I’ll be working on this first in November, but realized there was a really big plot hole in the upcoming scenes. Spent some time this morning, re-outlining the final chapters to try to fix that.
• Chasing the Ghost – revision note cards – this is done.
• Just Add Moonlight – Finish revisions & submit – done, Done, DONE! Submitted yesterday morning, just under the wire. Now, I wait to hear if any of my submissions will be accepted.
• Read: 2k-5k – finished this on Friday
• Read: Into the Devil’s Underground, Cutting Edge(Allison Brennan), Foolproof(Jennifer Blackwood), The Heiress Effect(Courtney Milan), & Bringing Home the Bad Boy(Jessica Lemmon) – finished my Loving on The Edge series(Roni Loren) re-read Wednesday night & read the new novella on Thursday. Then, I started back on the list of books I’d planned to read this month. Read Into the Devil’s Underground(I’d read an older version of the book before she changed the title and revamped it. I did like the changes). Realized Cutting Edge is the third book in a series, so I set it aside until I read the other 2. Then, I read Foolproof yesterday. Really enjoyed it. Moving the other 2 to November’s list, though I have read through a little more than half of The Heiress Effect.
• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket – didn’t work on this at all this week. I did just finish this afternoon my first project on a rectangle loom, though.

I do love seeing all that blue. Now, since it’s the beginning of a new month, I’ll check back on last month’s goals and see how I did.

Outline:

• Bryan & Leo: Finish Outline – finished this

Writing:

• Guarding the Heart: 12000 words – 12927/12000
• Some Fools Never Learn: 12000 words – 12677/12000
• Bryan & Leo: 9000 words – 7144/9000
• Let It Begin: 15000 words(should get me at least close to 1st draft) – 15526/15000 & finished 1st draft
• Also worked on: By the Gun – 4212 words, 3329 words in plotting, and 746 words on short story.

Total new words for the month: 56,561

Revising:

• Stained Blood: Finish revisions & Polish – finished this and ready to send to CP
• Chasing the Ghost: Revise & Polish – just got revision notes done
• Flames of Retribution: Start Revisions – didn’t get to this at all
• Work on anything I get back from CP/beta readers – still waiting on stuff

Reading:

• Read/listen: 21 books – 19/21 – doesn’t count the ones I reread. If I did, I’ve read 30 books this month.
• Read: 2K-10K(Rachel Aaron) – finished this & applying some of the methods to my writing

Crafting:

• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket – still haven’t finished this
• Crochet: Twist ‘N Shout Slouchy Hat – didn’t even get to this

My goals for next month:

Outlining:

• Love Who You Love(Kurztown #3)

Writing:

• Guarding the Heart – 1st draft
• Some Fools Never Learn – Reach 32000 words
• My Way to You – Reach 21000 words
• By the Gun – Reach 7000 words

Revising:

• Chasing the Ghost: Revise & Polish
• Flames of Retribution: Organize for revisions
• Anything I receive back from CP/Betas

Reading:

• Read/Listen: 22 books
• Read: Gotta Read It(Libbie Hawker)

Crafting:

• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket
• Crochet: Twist N’ Shout Slouchy Hat
• Loom: Scarf

And for this week:

• Guarding the Heart – finish 1st draft
• Chasing the Ghost – 1st revisions
• Read: Gotta Read It – 25%
• Read: The Heiress Effect(Courtney Milan), Bringing Home the Bad Boy(Jessica Lemmon), Hot On Her Heels(Susan Mallery), Forever Grace(Linda Poitevin), & Lucky In Love(Jill Shalvis)
• Knit: Cuddly Chevron Blanket – Get through Strip 19
• Loom: Hat

WeWriWa: “Almost Twenty Years”

Welcome to another installment of Weekend Writing Warriors. I’m still sharing from Into the Sun. This is from the next scene and answers whether Trace’s mom left with him or not.

　　　I pulled off my helmet and after hanging it off the handlebar, turned to Mom to help her. But, she already had hers off. There was a look in her eye that wasn’t quite panic, but I wasn’t exactly sure what it was.
“It’s been almost twenty years since I’ve done that,” she said. “I forgot how it felt.”
“Nineteen.” Icarus’ voice was soft, and I wasn’t sure if anyone but me heard it. But, she turned her head toward him. He turned away and fiddled with something on his bike.

So, what’s going to happen now? Will Trace’s mother realize how Icarus knows just how long it’s been? Just wait, and you might get the answers.

Usually I’d include my RoW80 update here, but I’m going to try splitting up my posts. So, I’ll have that up later for anyone interested in how my week(and month) has gone.