Writing Wednesday: Two More Weeks

We only have 2 more weeks of summer vacation left. I’m, well, not complaining about this(unless you hear me say we still have 2 weeks left). It’s actually a little less than that since they go back on a Tuesday. It hasn’t been a bad summer(we’ve had worse where they seem to fight constantly), but I’m ready to have the house back to myself.

The girl’s 11th birthday was on Friday. My dad came up on Thursday and took us to dinner. They just left to drive to California to visit with my stepmom’s son. They’ll be gone for the boy’s birthday as well(on Labor day) so they celebrated both birthdays that night. We had her birthday party on Sunday. It was a small party. Only my mom, grandma, one sister, niece & nephew, and mother-in-law showed up. My other sister had left Friday with her family to go to Florida, my sister-in-law was taking her son to football camp that day. With the boy’s birthday on labor day, it will probably be just as small. Or we’ll put it off for a week. Really need to make a decision on that soon.

It’s time for WiPPet Wednesday again. This week I’m sharing from By the Gun. The last time I shared from this, Carlos wasn’t sure if he could trust the girl(Catherine) he’d been falling for. This is the first scene from Catherine’s POV in Part 3. I have 19 sentences(8+1+5+2+0+1+8)

He closed his eyes, and Catherine just wanted to reach out to him. But, what good would that do? He’d already made clear his thoughts on where she stood. She wasn’t even sure of where that was right now, though. “I can sniff around some,” she said. “Find out exactly what happened.”
His eyes snapped open again, and he shook his head. “No, do not even consider that. Just stay out of it, Catherine, and stay away from my family’s land. There may not be much left of it, but it’s still ours. I don’t want you here.”
The words felt like a slap to the face. “Fine,” she said. “But I will find those answers, whether you want them or not.”
She strode back to her horse and swung up into the saddle. But, she had to force herself not to look back at Carlos. He obviously didn’t care about her at all anymore. That was just fine, then. She’d just have to stop worrying about him, too.

Oh, how wrong you are, Catherine. 😉

Color Code:

Goal met

Progress

Nothing Yet

Set Aside

Plotting:

• Heart to Heart – Finish story toolkit& outline Act 1,list rest of chapters & scenes
  • This Week: listed out chapters, started adding in scenes
• Neil & Lin(The Rileys #2) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: brainstormed antagonists(I have 3 potential ones, we’ll see which direction the story takes and which ones have the most pull on the story), brainstormed plot, started GMCs
• Wyatt & Kaden(Gilbert, CO # 9) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: brainstormed antagonists(2 of them), brainstormed plot, started GMCs
• GH & SF 3 – Brainstorm
  • This Week: brainstormed Bridgette, brainstormed Desmund
• Build This Love(Kurztown #8) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: brainstormed Dawn, brainstormed antagonist

Writing:

• Nowhere to Run – Get through Chapter 18 – 4/16 scenes
  • This week: 1241 words
• GH & SF 2 – Get through Part 1, Chapter 4 – 6/15 scenes
  • This Week: 996 words
• Craving You – Get through Chapter 5 – 2/13 scenes
  • This Week: 681 words
• By the Gun – Get through Part 3, Chapter 9 – 4/11 scenes
  • This Week: 647 words

Editing:

• Short Story Collection – Flesh Out
  • Goin’ Down
    • This week: 644 words
  • Meeting Jonas
  • Changing History(though I may move this one to another collection)
• Paint Me a Picture – transfer to Scrivener – 2/9 chapter
• Green Hills & Smoky Fields – Initial Read through/Fill in [xx]s
  • This week:
• Stained Blood – Beta Edits
• Flames of Renewal – Proofread
• Law of Choice – CP edits

Side Projects:

• Geoff – Write, edit & post to Patreon
  • This Week: 203 words
• Hawk – 1500 words – 1265/1500 words
  • This Week: 183 words
• Jacob & Matthew – 1500 words – 1068/1500 words
  • This Week: 280 words
• Desmund – 1500 words – 1173/1500 words
  • This Week: 194 words
• Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 7.75/15 pages
  • This Week: 2.42 pages

Publishing:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 13 books – 11/13 books
  • The WAG and the Scoundrel(Debbie McGowan) 
  • Year of the Guilty Soul(A.M. Leibowitz) 
  • Blue Flame(Jill Shalvis) 
  • Cleaning House(Jeanne G’Fellers) 
  • Those Jeffries Boys(Debbie McGowan) 
  • Can’t Stand the Rain(Kait Nolan) 
  • Mastering Her Senses(Laura Kaye)
  • Darkest Night(Megan Erickson) 
  • Gold Dragon(Lindsay Buroker) 
  • Even Odds(Elia Winter) – Started this Saturday evening. Finished it Sunday night.
  • Pretending He’s Mine(Mia Sosa) – Started this Sunday night. Finished it Tuesday night.
• Listen: 5 books – 13/5 books
  • Protecting What’s His(Tessa Bailey) 
  • His Risk to Take(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Officer Off Limits(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Asking for Trouble(Tessa Bailey) 
  • An Unseen Attraction(K.J. Charles) 
  • An Unnatural Vice(K.J. Charles) 
  • An Unsuitable Heir(K.J. Charles) 
  • Risking It All(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Up in Smoke(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Boiling Point(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Raw Redemption(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Saturday morning. Finished it Sunday afternoon.
  • Between then and Now(Zoe York) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday morning.
  • What Once Was Perfect(Zoe York) – Started this Monday afternoon. Finished it Monday night.
  • Where Their Hearts Collide(Zoe York) – Started this Tuesday morning. Finished it Tuesday afternoon.
  • When They Weren’t Looking(Zoe York) – Started this Tuesday afternoon. On Chapter 24/27

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 10/22 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 1/3

Sunday Summary: 11 Years

Friday was the girl’s 11th birthday. We’re having her party today. Thursday my dad came up and took us to dinner. He got both the kids big brownies at Pizza Hut. The boy’s birthday isn’t until 9/3, but my dad won’t be here for that, either. We’re having her party today. Ordered an ice cream cake, so that was one less thing I had to worry about last night. I did bake 2 loaves of zucchini bread though.

She opened gifts from us Friday night. I bought wrapping paper when I got the gifts last Sunday but was apparently not paying any attention. Because as I was wrapping them Wednesday night, I realized the paper said “baby” all over it, not “birthday”. Oops.

For now, here’s my progress for the week.

Color Code:

Goal met

Progress

Nothing Yet

Set Aside

Plotting:

• Heart to Heart – Finish story toolkit & outline Act 1
  • This Week: Act 4 beat sheet, timeline
• Neil & Lin(The Rileys #2) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: brainstormed Neil, Lin
• Wyatt & Kaden(Gilbert, CO # 9) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: Brainstormed Wyatt, Kaden
• GH & SF 3 – Brainstorm
  • This Week: Brainstormed Torin, Eamonn
• Build This Love(Kurztown #8) – Brainstorm
  • This Week: Brainstormed Chris, Raegen

Writing:

• Nowhere to Run – Get through Chapter 18 – 3/16 scenes
  • This week: 983 words
• GH & SF 2 – Get through Part 1, Chapter 4 – 5/15 scenes
  • This Week: 3562 words
• Craving You – Get through Chapter 5 – 2/13 scenes
  • This Week: 1695 words
• By the Gun – Get through Part 3, Chapter 9 – 4/11 scenes
  • This Week: 2872 words

Editing:

• Short Story Collection – Flesh Out
  • Goin’ Down
    • This week: 999 new words
  • Meeting Jonas
  • Changing History(though I may move this one to another collection)
• Paint Me a Picture – transfer to Scrivener – 2/9 chapter
• Green Hills & Smoky Fields – Initial Read through/Fill in [xx]s
  • This week: finished filling in details.
• Stained Blood – Beta Edits
• Flames of Renewal – Proofread
• Law of Choice – CP edits

Side Projects:

• Geoff – Write, edit & post to Patreon
  • This Week: 414 words
• Hawk – 1500 words – 1082/1500 words
  • This Week: 582 words
• Jacob & Matthew – 1500 words – 1068/1500 words
  • This Week: 507 words
• Desmund – 1500 words – 979/1500 words
  • This Week: 444 words
• Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 7.75/15 pages
  • This Week: 4.63 pages

Publishing:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 13 books – 9/13 books
  • The WAG and the Scoundrel(Debbie McGowan) 
  • Year of the Guilty Soul(A.M. Leibowitz) 
  • Blue Flame(Jill Shalvis) 
  • Cleaning House(Jeanne G’Fellers) 
  • Those Jeffries Boys(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Saturday night. Finished it Tuesday night.
  • Can’t Stand the Rain(Kait Nolan) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Wednesday evening.
  • Mastering Her Senses(Laura Kaye) – Started this Wednesday evening. Finished it Thursday night.
  • Darkest Night(Megan Erickson) – Started this Thursday night. Finished it Friday night.
  • Gold Dragon(Lindsay Buroker) – Started this Saturday morning. Finished it Saturday evening.
  • Even Odds(Elia Winter) – Started this Saturday evening. At 11%
• Listen: 5 books – 10/5 books
  • Protecting What’s His(Tessa Bailey) 
  • His Risk to Take(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Officer Off Limits(Tessa Bailey) 
  • Asking for Trouble(Tessa Bailey) 
  • An Unseen Attraction(K.J. Charles) – Started this Saturday morning. Finished it Monday morning.
  • An Unnatural Vice(K.J. Charles) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday night.
  • An Unsuitable Heir(K.J. Charles) – Started this Monday night. Finished it Tuesday afternoon.
  • Risking It All(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Wednesday night.
  • Up in Smoke(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Wednesday night. Finished it Thursday afternoon.
  • Boiling Point(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Friday morning. Finished it Saturday morning.
  • Raw Redemption(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Saturday morning. On Chapter 10/20.

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 9/22 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 1/3

Sunday Summary: Busy Weekend

It’s been a busy weekend, and it’s only half over. Yesterday morning, my mother-in-law picked the girl up to take her shopping for her birthday(which is this coming Friday. *gulp*) They were gone all morning and most of the afternoon, and my husband picked her up on his way home from work. The only snag: she bought 3 books from the series she told my mom she wanted. And that’s the only thing she told my mom she wanted, so she bought her the whole set. We’ve had this discussion before about not buying stuff you’ve told someone you wanted right before birthdays/Christmas.

After that we headed up to the Lake Erie Speedway, where his company was having their company “picnic”. It was inside a set of VIP suites next to the racetrack. And had a buffet dinner. So a really nice picnic, I guess. In air conditioning. There were *a lot* of people there. He told me a bunch of their names, but I probably wouldn’t be able to tell you who was who again. I left my kindle in the truck and figured I’d be good and maybe actually, you know, talk to people. Ha. Ha. I lasted less than half an hour before I was downloading the book I’d been reading onto my phone. And then after I finished that one, I downloaded another. Oops.

The kids had fun watching the demolition derby, bus racing, and Megasaurus. I stayed inside. It was easier to handle when most of the people went out to watch.

Today we’re planning to take the kids either to the beach or to Waldameer(an amusement and water park, though we usually just go right to the water park). If we go to the beach, I can at least get some reading done.

Color Code:

Goal met

Progress

Nothing Yet

Set Aside

Plotting:

• Heart to Heart – Finish story toolkit & outline Act 1
  • This week: Finished Act 3 Beat Sheet
• Neil & Lin(The Rileys #2) – Brainstorm
  • This week: brainstormed general characters
• Wyatt & Kaden(Gilbert, CO # 9) – Brainstorm
  • This week: Brainstormed general characters, started brainstorming Wyatt
• GH & SF 3 – Brainstorm
  • This week: Brainstormed general characters
• Build This Love(Kurztown #8) – Brainstorm
  • This week: brainstormed general characters

Writing:

• Nowhere to Run – Get through Chapter 18 – 2/16 scenes
  • This week: 1496 words
• GH & SF 2 – Get through Part 1, Chapter 4 – 0/15 scenes
  • This week: 729 words(from two Stream of Consciousness Saturday posts I wrote in February then the start of Chapter 1)
• Craving You – Get through Chapter 5 – 0/13 scenes
  • This Week: 7231 words(from Story a Day pieces, some of those go beyond Chapter 5, and the first scene)
• By the Gun – Get through Part 3, Chapter 9 – 0/11 scenes
  • This Week: 259 words

Editing:

• Short Story Collection – Flesh Out
  • Goin’ Down
    • This Week: 699 words
  • Meeting Jonas
  • Changing History(though I may move this one to another collection)
• Paint Me a Picture – transfer to Scrivener
  • This Week: typed up Chapter 3
• Green Hills & Smoky Fields – Initial Read through/Fill in [xx]s
• Stained Blood – Beta Edits
• Flames of Renewal – Proofread
• Law of Choice – CP edits

Side Projects:

• Geoff – Write, edit & post to Patreon
  • This Week: 540 words
• Hawk – 1500 words – 500/1500 words
  • This Week: 500 words
• Jacob & Matthew – 1500 words – 561/1500 words
  • This Week: 561 words
• Desmund – 1500 words – 535/1500 words
  • This Week: 535 words
• Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 3.08/15 pages
  • This Week: 3.08 pages

Publishing:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 13 books – 4/13 books
  • The WAG and the Scoundrel(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Tuesday afternoon. Finished it Wednesday night.
  • Year of the Guilty Soul(A.M. Leibowitz) – Started this Thursday morning. Finished it Thursday afternoon.
  • Blue Flame(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Thursday afternoon. Finished it Friday night.
  • Cleaning House(Jeanne G’Fellers) Started this Saturday morning. Finished this Saturday evening
  • Those Jeffries Boys(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Saturday night. At 25%
• Listen: 5 books – 4/5 books
  • Protecting What’s His(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Wednesday afternoon.
  • His Risk to Take(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Wednesday afternoon. Finished it Thursday morning.
  • Officer Off Limits(Tessa Bailey) – Started this Thursday morning. Finished it Thursday night.
  • Asking for Trouble(Tessa Bailey) – Listened to this Friday morning.
  • An Unseen Attraction(K.J. Charles) – Started this Saturday morning. On Chapter 5/12

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 5/22 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 0/3

Sunday Summary: Slower Weekend

This is the one weekend we don’t have much going on until after Labor Day, I think. Next weekend, we have husband’s company picnic Saturday, the weekend after that, he’s going on an ATV poker run Saturday and we’re having the girl’s birthday party on Sunday. I’m not sure about after that, but I’m sure there’s something. And Labor Day weekend is the boy’s birthday.

Yesterday we went to a local parade, it’s mostly just the local fire companies that come out(it’s part of the town’s Fireman’s festival). Then, we got dinner and groceries. Today we just have church then home again.

This week was a pretty good one. I got words in, and even finished a couple goals. I think I’m going to keep working in 10 minute bursts. I also may go back to working on all the projects. My characters do so hate waiting on me, and there are so many of them in my head.

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Locations, beat sheet 1
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 22360/25000 words
  • This Week: 6 scenes – Finished 6/6 scenes
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 5175/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – Read through, edit, & proofread
    • Hawk – 225 words – 564/225 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 225 words – 390/225 words
    • Geoff(this will be next month’s Patreon story) – 100 words – 263/100 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 15.17/15 pages
  • This Week: 3.5 pages – 4.25/3.5 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters – 4/4 chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 4 – Finished 4/3 scenes

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Goin’ Down – rewrite final scene(which will no longer be the final scene in the story).
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 30/20 books
  • Playing with Fire(Avery Cockburn) – Started this Saturday afternoon. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • All for You(Laura Florand) – Started this Monday night. Finished it Wednesday afternoon.
  • Under the Lights(Tia Louise) – Started this Wednesday afternoon. Finished it Thursday morning.
  • Five Dates(Amy Jo Cousins) – Read this Thursday afternoon.
  • Winning Back His Wife(Gwen Hayes & Zoe York) – Started this Thursday afternoon. Finished it Thursday evening.
  • Relentless(Elizabeth Dyer) – Started this Thursday night. Finished it Friday night.
  • The Troublemaker Next Door(Marie Harte) – Started this Saturday morning. Finished it Saturday night
• Listen: 5 books – 15/5
  • Still the One(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Friday morning. Finished it Monday evening.
  • All I Want(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Monday evening. Finished it Tuesday evening.
  • The Hate U Give(Angie Thomas) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Friday morning.
  • Nights with Him(Lauren Blakely) – Started this Saturday morning. On Chapter 17/39

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 19/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 2/3

Writing Wednesday: Wet Times

Rain, rain, rain. It’s been doing that the last several days. Supposed to for the rest of the week, too. Better than the heat, I suppose. I’ve been bouncing between projects this week. Sometimes I just can’t settle on one thing. During those times, it works better for me to just work on one thing for a short time(10 minutes usually) then switch to something else. That works better for me than trying to force my way through something when my brain just isn’t working the way I want it to. And yesterday, I got through most of my goals. I just have Nowhere to Run, Jonas & Isaac, and By the Gun to finish with.

This morning I worked on those first two. Today I’m sharing from Nowhere to Run again for WiPPet Wednesday. This happens a couple weeks after what I shared last week.

James just glanced over his shoulder then went back to handcuffing the man’s hands.” Glad to see you could make it to the party, partner.”
Tracy relaxed as she realized he didn’t mean James harm. “You know me. I can always do with an exciting party. What do we have here?”
“This man,” James said, acid dripping from his voice with that word, “was attempting to assault Ms. Blackstone. She defended herself with her keys. I’m taking him in.”
The other officer’s gaze flicked to her keys, still sticking out between her fingers, then back up to her. He gave her a nod. “Good job. Ms. Blackstone, was it?”
She nodded. “Tracy. I work in the bar. I closed up and was just heading…home.”
James jerked his head toward her. “Alone?”
“Yes, I tend to go home alone.”
“I meant closing up,” he growled. “Why would Trish have you close up all on your own.”
“I guess because she trusts me.”
“You know that isn’t what I mean. It could be dangerous. Obviously.”
James’ partner hissed out a breath. “Damn, Rudler. I’m not even attracted to women, and I know better than to say something like that.”
Tracy glanced up at him and caught his wink before he moved over and took the cuffed man from James. “I’ll take him to the waiting carriage while you remove that foot from your mouth.”
“You’re weird, Hellerman,” James said.

So, will James pull his foot out of his mouth? Wyatt just kind of popped up in this story. I don’t think he plans to go away any time soon. He has got a scene that was lagging moving again. And what nearly happened before this is a very hot button issue for James.

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Locations
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 18696/25000 words
  • This Week: 6 scenes – Started 3/6 scenes
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 4569/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – Read through, edit, & proofread
    • Hawk – 225 words – 372/225 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 225 words – 240/225 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 13.25/15 pages
  • This Week: 3.5 pages – 2.42/3.5 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters – 3/4 chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 4 – Started 1/3 scenes

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Goin’ Down – rewrite final scene(which will no longer be the final scene in the story).
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 26/20 books
  • Playing with Fire(Avery Cockburn) – Started this Saturday afternoon. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • All for You(Laura Florand) – Started this Monday night. At 63%
• Listen: 5 books – 14/5
  • Still the One(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Friday morning. Finished it Monday evening.
  • All I Want(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Monday evening. Finished it Tuesday evening.
  • The Hate U Give(Angie Thomas) – Started this Wednesday morning. On Chapter 5/26

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 15/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 2/3

Writing Wednesday: A Little Slower

I’m not quite as far ahead this week as I was last week. But, I’m still making progress. We had a busy weekend, and the kids have had vacation bible school this week. Mother in law picks them up and takes them in, husband brings them home. Which gives me a few hours in the evening of having the house all to myself.

Not much else going on this week. Though it seems we might finally be lice free. Can I do a happy dance now? Cautiously optimistic right now, since yesterday is the first day I found none when combing through the girl’s hair. For about a week before that, I’d been finding about 2 each day. They just didn’t seem to want to give it up. But, hopefully now they’re gone.

I’m still working on Nowhere to Run this week, so you actually get something from that this week for WiPPet Wednesday. This is just after James and Tracy meet for the first time. James’ brother, and a couple others are taking him out for his 21st birthday. They’ve just ordered him his first drinks. I have 9 paragraphs(1+8 for the day)

James stared at the waitress who had just turned and gone back to the bar with the orders. He wasn’t even sure what the guys had ordered him to drink. He didn’t really care, either. He thought he might already be intoxicated.
What had just happened there?
His brother laughing drew him out of his thoughts. “What’s so funny?” he asked.
“You,” Todd said, still chuckling. “You look like you’ve been pole-axed.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Todd put his arm aver James’ shoulders. “Don’t worry. It’s natural. I’m pretty sure I felt the same when I first saw Jade. My god, was she lovely? And so often spitting fire at me.”
“She still seems to do that,” James said, shrugging his brother’s arm away as he saw Tracy heading back their way with a tray of drinks. “Stop being an idiot. This is nothing like that.”
Todd snorted, but James ignored him, keeping his gaze on the waitress. “Yeah, no,” Todd said. “Not a thing like that. Not at all.”
Even James could hear the sarcasm in his voice.

Already in denial, James? How long are you going to be able to keep that up? 😉

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Event Brainstorm 1 & 2
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
  • This Week: Outline – 20/20 scenes outlined
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 15054/25000 words
  • This Week: Write 6 scenes – Finished scene 4/6
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 3329/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – 275 words – 0/275 words
    • Hawk – 250 words – 0/250 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 250 words – 0/250 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 7.25/15 pages
  • This Week: 3.5 pages – 0/3.5 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters – 2/4 chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 3– 0/3 scenes

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Bree & Jenny – 1 scene –
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 19/20 books
  • Country Heaven(Ava Miles) – Started this Sunday morning. Finished it Sunday evening.
  • Two by Two(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Sunday evening. At 79%
• Listen: 5 books – 10/5
  • Rescue My Heart(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday night.
  • Rumor Has It(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Tuesday morning. On Chapter 26/28

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 11/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 1/3
  • This Week: Coming Soon

Sunday Summary: A Good Week

I had all my initial goals for the week done by Wednesday morning. Then, I got through a round of bonus goals + 1(I did yet another scene for Nowhere to Run). And that was with taking Monday off from writing.

Saturday we had a family reunion in Ohio(just over the border at Pymatuning, so not a really far trip. Last year’s was in Altoona, still in the same state, but a longer drive). On the way there, we stopped at the spillway, part of the Pymatuning Reservoir, so the kids could see the ducks walking on the fish. 

Then, we went on to the campground where the reunion was being held. We ate lots of food, got a picture of everyone, then went swimming. Of course, once the girl gets in the water, it doesn’t matter how long she’s in there, we have to negotiate to get her back out eventually. Hit the playground for a little bit, then went over to one of the cabins the family rented. They did a game for the kids of searching for coins in sawdust. We finally left, stopped at Burger King for dinner, then got groceries and finally came home. In the midst of all that, I finished reading another book for the week. 🙂

This has been a busy month, so far. I’m ready for it to settle down, but next month won’t be much better. Which reminds me, I really need to send out the invite for the girl’s 11th birthday party, since there’s less than a month until that. Gah! How did that happen?

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Romance Arc, Subplot
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 11063/25000 words
  • This Week: Write 4 scenes – Finished 5/4 scenes
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 3329/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – 250 words – 555/250 words
    • Hawk – 250 words – 473/250 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 250 words – 550/250 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 7.25/15 pages
  • This Week: 3 pages – 4.25/3 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters – 2/4 chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 2– Finished 2/2 scenes, Started Chapter 3: finished scene 1/4

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Bree & Jenny – 1 scene – 2 scenes
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 18/20 books
  • Heart Seeker(Juliana Haygert) – Started this Sunday morning. Finished it Sunday evening.
  • Winter’s Heat(Cristin Harber) – Started this Sunday evening. Finished it Sunday night.
  • Unraveled(Lindsay Buroker) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Thursday afternoon.
  • Red Hot Christmas(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Tuesday morning. Finished it Tuesday evening.
  • The Soldier’s Scoundrel(Cat Sebastian) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Wednesday night.
  • One Wild Finn(R.G. Alexander) – Started this Thursday morning. Finished it Thursday afternoon.
  • Star Survivor(Veronica Scott) – Started this Thursday afternoon. Finished it Friday afternoon.
  • Can’t Take My Eyes Off You(Kait Nolan) – Started this Friday afternoon. Finished it Saturday evening.
• Listen: 5 books – 9/5
  • Yours Forever(Farrah Rochon) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • Animal Magnetism(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Tuesday morning. Finished it Wednesday morning.
  • Animal Attraction(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Wednesday afternoon. Finished it Friday afternoon

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 10/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 1/3
  • This Week: What I’m Working On

Writing Wednesday: Cruising Along

Well, I managed to survive all the socialness of the last weekend. On Sunday, I mentioned the boy dancing at the festival Friday night. I finally managed to get the video up.

INathan Dancing from Fallon Brown 

I took Monday mostly off, which seems to be working well for me. I did finish curating a master character list for my Flames series. Fourteen stories so far and about 190 characters. Some of those only show up in one story. Next week I’ll be moving on to the Gilbert, Co series, updating the timeline and starting the character list.

Tuesday I made it through almost all my writing goals for the week: Drafting, editing, plotting, & side projects. The only ones I had left were Jonas & Isaac and By the Gun. I finished the goal for J&I this morning. So, I’m on to By the Gun now.

So, that’s what I’ll be sharing from for this week’s WiPPet Wednesday. I have the first 11 paragraphs of Part 3 this week. I just wrote this last week, so it’s still rough. The last time I shared from this, we were in Alejandro’s POV. Part 3 is mostly from Carlos'(Alejandro’s younger brother) POV.

“We cannot keep meeting out here this way,” Catherine said.
But, Carlos was shaking as he stared at her. Months had gone by. Months and he was wondering if he was even seeing the real person. “Did you know?” he demanded.
“Know what?” she asked, sliding down from the saddle and moving toward him.
He pulled slightly on his horse’s reins, making his horse take a step back. “Just tell me,” he demanded.
She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. My father is getting suspicious, though. I barely escaped notice by his men tonight. We are going to have to stop for a while.”
They might have to be stopping for good. Thank the Christ all they had ever done was talk and kiss. If more had passed between them, the betrayal might be even harsher. “Did you know?” he asked again. “Did you know your father paid men to teach my father a lesson? Which apparently included killing nearly his whole family. Did you know all that destruction was started by your father’s wounded pride?”
Catherine stared at him, color draining from her face. “No,” she finally said. “You have to be wrong. Father would not do something like that. He wanted to work with your father on something, some kind of partnership. But, he wouldn’t have done that just because he said no.”
“You said it yourself when we first met,” he reminded her. “No one tells him no and walks away unscathed. You can’t tell me you didn’t know.”
“Yes,” she said, “I can. I know Father can be ruthless in business, but even he would not go this far.”
She seemed to actually believe that, but Carlos couldn’t make himself trust that. He forced his horse back another step. He’d been reeling since Alejandro had told him what Patrick had said before their gunfight almost two weeks ago. And to think, he’d still been coming out here to see Catherine when his brother could have been dying. Because of something her father put into motion. He was such an idiot.
“I won’t be coming back out here,” he told her. “And I’m not going to let your father take the rest of my family from me. I can’t believe I let myself start to fall for you.”

Uh oh. Who is right? Will Carlos regret his actions?

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Romance Arc
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 9731/25000 words
  • This Week: Write 4 scenes – Finished 4/4 scenes
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 2762/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – 250 words – 264/250 words
    • Hawk – 250 words – 363/250 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 250 words – 384/250 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 6.25/15 pages
  • This Week: 3 pages – 3.25/3 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters – 1/4 chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 2– Finished 0/2 scenes

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Bree & Jenny – 1 scene
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 13/20 books
  • Heart Seeker(Juliana Haygert) – Started this Sunday morning. Finished it Sunday evening.
  • Winter’s Heat(Cristin Harber) – Started this Sunday evening. Finished it Sunday night.
  • Unraveled(Lindsay Buroker) – Started this Monday morning. At 56%
  • Red Hot Christmas(Debbie McGowan) – Started this Tuesday morning. Finished it Tuesday evening.
• Listen: 5 books – 7/5
  • Yours Forever(Farrah Rochon) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • Animal Magnetism(Jill Shalvis) – Started this Tuesday morning. On Chapter 24/26

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 7/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 1/3
  • This Week: What I’m Working On

Sunday Summary: Busy Times

It’s been a busy week. Tuesday night we went out to see fireworks over the bay(on Lake Erie). Wednesday we actually didn’t do much because it was HOT, but my husband was home, so that threw my routine off a bit. Friday afternoon we get a call at 12;30 that someone wants to look at the house at 3. THE SAME DAY!!  Thankfully they rescheduled it for Saturday evening, so that gave us more time to get things picked up a bit. Friday night we went to the Gathering at French creek that they have in town every year. Ate crappy food(I mean it was good, but holy grease). The kids did some crafts and played some games. The boy danced(I got it on video, but I can’t post it straight from my phone here. I’ll try to get it up sometime this week). Then, there were fireworks. I was an anxious mess by the end of the night.

And I slept in until 7 Saturday morning(if you know me, you know this is a big deal). I still managed to get blog posts written and more cleaning done, then we went to my husband’s aunt’s for a picnic. He was working, but his mom took us over there. And after he got there, we went for a short ride on the motorcycle. After we were back, we ate more food. I got annoyed at how judgey his family is about other people and tried to distract myself by reading. Then, we watched more fireworks. And finally came home.

I may need a full week to recover from all the peopling this weekend. And of course next weekend is his family reunion, so I’ll have to do it all over again. Though without fireworks this time, so that will be something at least.

The girl and her dog cuddling

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Character Arcs – Marshall & Natalie
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 6867/25000 words
  • This Week: Write 6 Scenes – Finished scene 8/6
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 1751/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – 500 words – 513/500 words
    • Hawk – 500 words – 661/500 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 500 words – 577/500 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages – 3/15 pages
  • This Week: 2.5 pages – 3/2.5 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 1 – Finished scene 2/2, started Chapter 2

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Bree & Jenny – 1 scene
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 10/20 books
  • Prowl(Alexis Duran) – Started this Saturday night. Finished it Sunday afternoon.
  • Pounce(Alexis Duran) – Started this Sunday afternoon. Finished it Sunday evening.
  • Roam(Alexis Duran) – Started this Sunday evening. Finished it Sunday night.
  • The Last Single Girl(Bria Quinlan) – Read this Monday afternoon.
  • Glutton for Pleasure(Alisha Rai) – Started this Monday afternoon. Finished it Monday night.
  • Just Juliet(Charlotte Raegen) – Started this Monday night. Finished it Wednesday morning.
  • Seared(Suleikha Snyder) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Wednesday night.
  • Shot to Hell(Cynthia Rayne) – Started this Wednesday night. Finished it Thursday evening.
  • The Tiger’s Watch(Julia Ember) – Started this Thursday night. Finished it Friday afternoon.
  • Fighting Silence(Aly Martinez) – Started this Saturday afternoon. Finished it Saturday night.
• Listen: 5 books – 6/5
  • Restore Me(Tahereh Mafi) – Started this Friday morning. Finished this Sunday morning.
  • Level Up(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • One True Pairing(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Monday afternoon. Finished it Tuesday afternoon.
  • Hooked(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Tuesday afternoon. Finished it Tuesday night.
  • Burning Up(Jennifer Blackwood) – Started this Wednesday morning. Finished it Friday morning.
  • Autoboyography(Christina Lauren) – Started this Friday morning. Finished it Saturday morning.

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 6/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 0/3

Writing Wednesday: Starting Again

It’s a new round of RoW80, a new month, and a new project to work on. That is the next story in my Gilbert, Co series. I wrote parts of this years ago. Back then it was actually book 3 in the series, now it’s book 8(not counting the novellas). If you read book 1, Duty to Protect, you’ll recognize the main character. Except he was sixteen in that one. This one takes place about five years later.

It hasn’t been a bad start to the month, though I haven’t made as much progress as I’d hope. Still, it’s only the first Wednesday. Last night we went and watched fireworks set off over Presque Isle Bay. Fireworks are not my favorite thing, but the kids enjoyed it. We got there 2 hours early, the display only lasted 20 minutes, then we waited another hour just to get out of the parking lot. More fireworks Friday for a local festival and then our community is doing their fourth of July fireworks on the 7th.

I don’t have a whole lot of Nowhere to Run written yet, so I am going to share a little more from Flames of Knowledge. This actually happens a little bit before last week’s.

He put his hand over theirs, and Ames jerked slightly. “Sorry,” they said and started to pull their hand away. “I shouldn’t have…”
They trailed off when he tightened his hand over theirs. “Don’t,” he said, his voice coming out hoarse. “Please don’t.”
Their eyes widened slightly, but their hand stayed there, relaxing in his grip. Even when he let go, Ames kept the hand right where it was. “Do you feel that?” he asked. “No one else has done that to me. Not in a long time.” Ever maybe. But, that felt like too much to admit. This soon at least.
“A rapidly beating heart is not a good thing, Connor. It means your heart’s trying to work too hard.”
His lips curled up. “This is what I get. I am often too literal, and when I try to expose myself, it gets thrown back in my face.”
Ames’ lips quirked. “You better not be exposing yourself outside this apartment, or your brother might have to arrest you.”
His mouth fell open then he’d realized exactly what he’d said and laughed. When he rested his forehead against theirs, he said, “You know that is not what I meant. I’m trying to tell you something, Ames.”
“I know,” they said, smiling up at him. “I’m trying to not let you get too serious.”
“Too late. Ask anyone in my family, I’ve always been too serious.”
Ames smiled and ran their thumb along his lips. “I don’t know about that. You lighten up occasionally.”
The more they touched him, the faster the blood seemed to rush through him. He wasn’t used to this. He got turned on occasionally, but never this quick. Then again, maybe it wasn’t quick. He and Ames had been dancing around each other for more than two months now. Still, he didn’t want to make the wrong move.

 

Color Code:

Goal Met

Progress Made

Set Aside

Not Done

Plotting: 

• Primary: Heart to Heart – finish Story Toolkit
  • This Week: Character Arcs – Marshall & Natalie
• Secondary: Heart to Heart – Outline Act 1, List rest of scenes
• Tertiary: Nowhere to Run – Outline Act 2
• Stretch: Neil & Lin(Rileys #2) – Brainstorm

Writing:

• Primary: Nowhere to Run – Draft through Chapter 14/~25000 words – 2694/25000 words
  • This Week: Write 6 Scenes – Finished scene 3/6
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words – 693/5000 words
  • This Week:
    • Arresting Callum – 500 words – 513/500 words
    • Hawk – 500 words – 180/500 words
    • Jacob & Matthew – 500 words
• Tertiary: Jonas & Isaac – 15 pages
  • This Week: 2.5 pages
• Stretch: By the Gun – 4 Chapters
  • This Week: Chapter 1

Editing:

• Primary: Short Story Collection
  • This Week: Bree & Jenny – 1 scene
• Secondary: Stained Blood – Beta Edits(as I get chapters back)
• Tertiary: Flames of Renewal – Proofread(once I get it back from proofreader)
• Stretch: Law of Choice – CP edits(if I get it back this month)

Publish:

• Flames of Renewal

Reading:

• Read: 20 books – 6/20 books
  • Prowl(Alexis Duran) – Started this Saturday night. Finished it Sunday afternoon.
  • Pounce(Alexis Duran) – Started this Sunday afternoon. Finished it Sunday evening.
  • Roam(Alexis Duran) – Started this Sunday evening. Finished it Sunday night.
  • The Last Single Girl(Bria Quinlan) – Read this Monday afternoon.
  • Glutton for Pleasure(Alisha Rai) – Started this Monday afternoon. Finished it Monday night.
  • Just Juliet(Charlotte Raegen) – Started this Monday night. Finished it Wednesday morning.
• Listen: 5 books – 4/5
  • Restore Me(Tahereh Mafi) – Started this Friday morning. Finished this Sunday morning.
  • Level Up(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Monday morning. Finished it Monday afternoon.
  • One True Pairing(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Monday afternoon. Finished it Tuesday afternoon.
  • Hooked(Cathy Yardley) – Started this Tuesday afternoon. Finished it Tuesday night.
  • Burning Up(Jennifer Blackwood) – Started this Wednesday morning. On Chapter 5/27

Social Media:

• Post 5 Regular Blog Posts – 2/21 posts
  • This Week:
    • Writing Wednesday
    • Fiction Friday
    • Stream of Consciousness Saturday
    • Weekend Writing Warriors
    • Sunday Summary
• Post to Patreon 3 times – 0/3