Writing Wednesday: Shifting to Revise

I almost left the f out of shift in that title(and almost did it again). Maybe my fingers are trying to tell me something. Ok, not really. Actually it’s going fairly well so far. Monday I compiled notes for three chapters of Stained by Ashes, Tuesday I finished one more(which caught me up to what I have back), highlighted sections in Healing the Heart that need to be cut/rewritten, edited the first 2 chapters of Stained by Ashes. Today, so far I’ve edited almost 2 chapter of Stained by Ashes and did some research into 1880s ladies’ hats. I have another hour of editing time for today, so hoping to finish this chapter and maybe even the next one(since I’m bouncing between this post & editing – I’m now into that next chapter). I’ve also added words to Protecting the Heart, Shed Some Light, and Closing Time. And I’ve made progress on plotting Defending the Heart(sequel to Protecting the Heart).

But, first, it’s time for WiPPet Wednesday! I’m sharing for possibly the last time(at least for a while) from Shed Some Light. Today’s math: 8+3-2+0+1+6 = 16 paragraphs. For those who read last week’s snippet, here’s more about Tereza’s promise, with the person she made it to.

She looked down at her hands, twisting them together. “I’m sorry, Dad.”

“Sorry for what, Tereza? Have you done something wrong?”

His voice sounded benign enough, but she wasn’t fooled. He knew exactly what she meant. “I broke my promise to you.”

“What promise would that be? As far as I remember, you’ve always held true to anything you’ve given your word on.”

She searched his face, but he didn’t look upset. “I slept with him. You have to realize that. We…we were together. That’s why he was the one who called you.”

“Yes, even though you told him not to. I know.”

“I promised you I wouldn’t be with him again.”

Roman let out a rough laugh. “You were fifteen,” he said. “I knew you two had been together, but he never should have touched you.”

“I initiated our relationship back then. It’s not like he took advantage of an innocent girl.”

“I don’t care. He was an adult at the time.” He sighed. “But, I also knew he cared about you. Neither of you were in the place for that kind of relationship, though. You were fifteen,” he said again. “You needed to finish school, and I saw how smart you were, almost as soon as you moved in with us. I wanted you to do something with your life. And I knew he could too, once he got himself straightened out.”

“I know. And we’d wreck each other. I already feel wrecked, and we only spent a couple days together.”

“You’ve been through a lot recently. But, Carlos is a different person than he was back then. He’s a good man, one that deserves a good woman like you. You can’t think I’d hold you to a promise you made twenty years ago. You’re a grown woman now. I can’t dictate who you have a relationship with. I just wanted to make sure you got through high school and possibly college without losing yourself in a bad relationship. And it would have been bad back then.”

“I know,” she said, even though it felt like a weight had lifted from her shoulders. “But, it’s good now. Or at least it was. He gets me, and I don’t feel like I have to hide any of myself with him because he knows. But, he’s upset with me now, and I’m not quite sure what I did.”

“He’s scared. Right now, he’s terrified. He’s losing his brother and likely thinks he’ll lose you too. Maybe try showing him that won’t happen.”

“What if I’m scared, too?”

He smiled at her, though it looked a little wistful. “Then, maybe it’s time you two held on to each other.”

A lot of history here, but basically: Something bad happened(which also involved Carlos) and Tereza was in a dangerous situation at her foster home, Roman and his wife ended up taking her in then adopting her. Roman also helped Carlos out of most of the trouble stemming from that bad thing, and then ended up helping him get a job and later open his own restaurant. So, they both feel they owe him a lot. Honestly, I didn’t expect Roman to play more than a very, VERY minor role. Yeah, that hasn’t happened. 😉 And I just realized she contradicts herself in this snippet, but this is very rough draft-y, so this may change.

As for my progress this week:

• Write: 5000 words – I’m at 2794 words so far.
  • Protecting the Heart – 726 words
  • Shed Some Light – 1019 words – and let’s just say I’ve pretty much wrecked Carlos for the moment
  • Closing Time – 1049 words – and I’m so loving these two at the moment.
• Stained by Ashes – compile beta notes through Chapter 16(more if I get them back) – As I said above, I got caught up on this, and now I’m partway through editing Chapter 5. I’ve added about 8 words.
• Healing the Heart(if I hear back from my CP) – highlighted spots that need cut/rewritten
• Guarding the Heart – layer in World Building details – haven’t got to this yet. if I get through the first two editing projects, I’ll move on to this.
• Defending the Heart – Finish brainstorming, write Xavier’s back story – Finished the brainstorm, figured out Goal, Motivation, Conflict, and started Xavier’s back story(only a paragraph so far)
• Dance with the Devil – add 820 words – 544 words. And Hawk and Devil are just…killing me. So much.
• Snow White Twist – add 990 words – 630 words – somehow I wrote exactly 315 words two days in a row.
• Come Back Down – finish polishing – weekend project
• Read: Writing Vivid Characters – 25% – 12% through this. Need to do the assignment at the end of chapter 1.
• Listen: Fatal Affair(Marie Force) & The Night Circus(Erin Morgenstern) – I finished Fatal Affair yesterday. Liked it for the most part, though I had a few issues. Added the next book to my wishlist. Started listening to The Night Circus, but…it just wasn’t doing anything for me. Not sure if it was the narrator or the style of the book. But, I decided to set it aside(might pick it back up if I run out of other books to listen to) and stared A Court of Mist and Fury(Sarah J Maas). Enjoying this much more(though I have a few things to say about the one character, but don’t want to spoil anything).
• Read: You’re It(Leigh Ann Kopans), Never Never(Brianna Shrum), Dangerous and Unseemly(K.B. Owen), Beyond What is Given(Rebecca Yarros), One Last Song(S.K. Falls), & Eight Naughty Nights(Eliza Madison) – Finished You’re It(enjoyed) and Never Never(liked okay), and am a little more than halfway through Dangerous and Unseemly.

 

Not bad for the first half of the week.

Sunday Summary: Mellow Progress

I mentioned on Wednesday that I instituted Mellow Monday. Though I don’t take the day off, I have taken it easy. And…it seems to have helped. Over all, I did write less words during the week, but I didn’t feel like it was such a struggle to get the words. So, I may be continuing with this, at least for now. I’m hoping once our social weekends are over(hopefully after Labor Day), I may be able to stop with this.

As I said, the week went really well. I wrote over 17,000 words. And I’m ahead on my reading for once this month. And finished revisions on one of my side projects. Yesterday we went out to a friend’s for a fire. Had some food and laughed and kids played in the pool for about 3 hours until it was dark, and we practically had to force the girl to get out(she’d probably swim 24/7 if we let her). This morning, we dropped them off at church with their grandma, came home, got on the bike and took off for a meeting with the club we ride with(usually we meet Sunday night, but our usual meeting place is under renovations, so we had it at a member’s house). Home for a few minutes, then we’re off to get groceries & some birthday presents for the girl(she’s going to be 9 in just over 2 weeks!)So, another busy, social weekend.

• Write 14165 words between 5 projects – 15285/14165 words.
  • Protecting the Heart – 3495 words – “Damn it, Eva,” he muttered as he pulled back into the street. “You should have just trusted me.”
  • Closing Time – 3185 words – Nolan nodded and stepped back. But, he held his hand out as Gio started to step past him. “Give him a chance, Gio. I know he made a bad mistake. I know you don’t want him to hurt you, too. But, give him a chance to prove he won’t.”
  • Shed Some Light – 3996 words – “I can’t do this, Reza. I can’t lose him, too. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him, too.””Survive.” She pressed up to him, and he tried to take in the comfort she offered. “it’s what you’ve always done.”
  • Break on Me – 2271 words – He nodded, but his face had fallen. “I get it, Lora. Don’t worry. I won’t pursue you if you don’t want me. I’m a big boy.”
  • In the Moonlight – 2338 words – “Hot,” I said quickly. “If you meant what I think you did. Please don’t ever apologize to me for saying anything dirty. Even if it’s only vaguely dirty.”
• Stained by Ashes – Compile Beta notes from Chapter 12(and any more I get back during the week) – Got Chapter 12 done. No more chapters received this week.
• Dance with the Devil – 920 words – 1199 words – Hawk following me to my bed? Yeah, I didn’t see how that had good idea written anywhere remotely near it.
• Snow White Twist – 995 words – 1021 words – “Please drop the princess. I already told you I do not own that title any longer.”
• Come Back Down – Revisions – Done. Going to do a search for all my crutch words next weekend
• Read: Romancing the Beat – 80% – Got to this point
• Listen: George(Alex Gino) & Wrong Number, Right Guy(Elle Casey) – finished both of these, loved George and really enjoyed Wrong Number, Right Guy. Listened to most of Dead Weight by T.R. Ragan(less than an hour left). Enjoying it.
• Read: Finish Tough Love(Lori Foster), Officer Off Limits(Tessa Bailey), Always on My Mind(Jill Shalvis), Thorn Fall(Lindsay Buroker), Into Elurien(Kate Sparkes), Caged in Bone(S.M. Reine), The Everlasting Circle(Juliana Haygert), & Wish Come True(various) – I finished Thorn Fall(enjoyed), Into Elurien(loved!), Caged in Bone(really enjoyed), & The Everlasting Circle(really enjoyed). I finished Wish Come True this morning. It was a collection of LGBT short stories(actually, I think they were all m/m). I read most of the stories, but it’s not unusual for me to skip a few in an anthology.

Love all that blue! Now for next week:

• Write 14045 words between 5 projects
• Stained by Ashes – Compile Beta Notes as I receive them back
• Dance with the Devil – 910 words
• Snow White Twist – 990 words
• Come Back Down: Search & Destroy
• Read: Romancing the Beat – Finish
• Listen: Dead Weight(TR Ragan) & Nothing Like Love(Abigal Strom)
• Read: Strong Signal(Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell), Anything More than Now(Rebecca Paula), Better When It Hurts(Skye Warren), Fight For Me(Sharon Page), The Girl at Midnight(Melissa Grey), Down & Dirty(Liliana Hart), & Saddles & Sin(Jessie Evans)

Fiction Friday: Top 2015 Books

Note: These are books I’ve read this year that I’ve enjoyed. That’s really all the criteria there is.

According to Goodreads, I’ve read 300 books so far this year. My goal was 250, so this is pretty good. 63 of those were audiobooks. At least 12 of those ones were novellas, between 2-4ish hours. So, that’s still over 200 actual books I’ve read this year. The majority of those were e-books, though there was likely a number of paperbacks as well. I’ll be sorting them out between audible, ebook, and paperback as well as between genres.

You can click on the title of each to take you to the Amazon page if you’re interested.

Audio:

Fantasy:

Snow Like Ashes(Sara Raasch)

The Winner’s Crime(Marie Rutkoski)

The Mime Order(Samantha Shannon)

Talon(Julie Kagawa)

A Thousand Pieces of You(Claudia Gray)

Graceling(Kristin Cashore)

Rogue(Julie Kagawa)

Paranormal Romance:

Caressed by Ice(Nalini Singh)

Clockwork Princess(Cassandra Clare)

Time’s Divide(Rysa Walker)

The Assassin’s Blade(Sarah J. Maas)

Dystopian:

Champion(Marie Lu)

Young Adult(technically category not genre, but still):

*I’ll Give You the Sun(Jandy Nelson)

Only the Good Spy Young(Ally Carter)

Ebook:

Fantasy:

Unbridled Magic(Angela Wallace)

Claimed(Lindsay Buroker) – steampunk, not sure it would actually be fantasy, but close enough for me.

Republic(Lindsay Buroker)

Deathmaker(Lindsay Buroker)

Evenlight(Krista Walsh)

Forgotten Ages(Lindsay Buroker)

The Falconer(Elizabeth May)

Six of Crows(Leigh Bardugo)

Crown of Midnight(Sarah J Maas)

The Iron Daughter(Julie Kagawa)

Bloodlore(Krista Walsh)

Dystopian:

Prodigy(Marie Lu)

Mystery:

Ill-timed Entanglements(Kassandra Lamb)

Cupid’s Cat(Angela Wallace)

Romance:

Shadow Spell(Nora Roberts)

Anything but Sweet(Candis Terry)

Back to You(Jessica Scott)

To Get Me to You(Kait Nolan)

Fiancee for Hire(Tawna Fenske)

*Trust the Focus(Megan Erickson)

Nice Girls Don’t Ride(Roni Loren)

*Yours All Along(Roni Loren)

Something Like Normal(Trish Doller)

Make It Count(Megan Erickson)

Sweetest Mistake(Candis Terry)

Break Me Down(Roni Loren)

Dirty Thoughts(Megan Erickson)

Historical Romance:

The Duchess War(Courtney Milan

Paranormal Romance:

This Weakness for You(Wendy Sparrow)

Thriller:

All Good Deeds(Stacy Green)

Young Adult

A Magic Dark & Bright(Jenny Adams Perinovic)

Paperback:

Romance:

Blood Magick(Nora Roberts)

Animal Attraction(Jill Shalvis)

Easy(Tammara Webber)

Rescue My Heart(Jill Shalvis)

Rumor Has It(Jill Shalvis)

Head Over Heels(Jill Shalvis)

Then Came You(Jill Shalvis)

Historical Romance:

Never Love a Highlander(Maya Banks)

Erotic Romance:

*Nothing Between Us(Roni Loren)

Not Until You(Roni Loren)

Call on Me(Roni Loren)

*could also be categorized under LGBT(or really in the case of the ones I’ve read just GB. Hope to branch out more with that next year). I debated about marking Nothing Between Us(it’s a m/m/f), but Colby is bisexual and open about it, and Keats explores that, so I decided to.

So, if I counted correctly, that’s 56 books on my list(those are all my 5 star ratings on Goodreads). You may notice some trends in the lists. Like a good amount of romance. And a few author names that kept repeating.