Sunday Summary: Lost Hour

Gotta love the time change for Daylight Savings Time. Or not. Totally not. Although “springing forward” means my kids might actually almost sleep in. 😉 Actually, they’re both still up before 7, which yesterday would have been before 6. So, not much on the sleeping in thing.

I had a pretty good week, progress-wise. Met all my writing goals, got all my reading done, started a new short story I plan to submit for this year’s World Unknown Review(it’s the second one I’ve started toward that, hopefully this one fares better). Today our church is doing a 1st responder’s appreciation thing so we’ll be going to that. Then, we’re going down to meet my family for lunch for my grandpa’s birthday. So, that will be a big chunk of my Sunday. Hoping I can still get stuff done around it.

Plotting:

• Primary: Heart of Christmas(BC Security 3.5) – write back stories, plot summary, and complete Story Toolkit – 1496 words on Alaina’s back story for this month, 1069 since last Sunday and finished it. Will be starting Caelen’s back story this week
• Secondary: Still Burning(Hunter Family #4) – Brainstorm –

Writing:

• Primary: Stay a Little Longer – add 45000 words/finish 38 scenes – 20363 words/45000, 18/42 scenes for the month. 13790 words/12 scenes since Sunday
  • Still, Jess had made promises to herself. That she was done with men. That she wouldn’t bring another into her kids’ lives. That she had to put them first. The last was the only one that truly mattered, though. And she was so tired. Tired of acting like she was doing more than keeping her mouth and nose above water. Tired of doing it all on her own. Tired of sleeping alone. Just tired.
    So she didn’t listen to Terrall’s warning. This didn’t have to mean anything more than two lonely people coming together. “I’m not asking you for forever,” she said, sliding her hands up his stomach under his shirt. “My boys are at my parents’ tonight, and Alex is still at her dad’s. And I don’t want to be alone.”
• Secondary: Side Projects – 5000 words, edit Chapter 1 of Patrick & Sarah & Chapter 1 of Tavin & Haiwee, read through 9 chapters of Snow White Twist(there’s actually 10, but I read through chapter 1 in February) – 2335/5000 words so far this month. 1225 words since Sunday. 56/63 comments applied to Patrick & Sarah. 26/51 comments applied to Tavin & Haiwee, have read through 5/9 in Snow White Twist(2 this week)
  • Midas’ Daughter – 161 words – “You even think about hitting me, boy, and you will find yourself out of a job, a roof, a family, faster than you can blink.”
    He did just that—blink—as he stared up at his boss. “I-I’m sorry, sir,” he finally managed to stammer. “I didn’t know it was you. You startled me.”
  • Patrick & Sarah – 87-ish words – Her face was still drawn in hard lines, but he thought her eyes had softened with…confusion, maybe. Just how had people been treating her in the years since her husband had died? But, something about these two pulled at him. He couldn’t explain it.Patrick had fought in the war, too, and had seen too many men fall. Men who had left widows and possibly even orphans. He’d never worried about helping any of them before.
  • Tavin & Haiwee – -12 words – Tavin couldn’t help but smile over at her. He could hear the affection and pride in her voice when she spoke of her brother. In his mind, that meant he had to be a good guy.  *some of the few new words I wrote(32, then I cut 44)
  • Roman – 143 words – “I’m sorry,” he said, even though she hadn’t even spoken yet. He started unbuttoning his shirt as he walked across the room. “I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. I got caught up in my work.” He dropped the shirt in the hamper then started to remove his slacks. “I didn’t think you’d wait up for me.”
  • Dougal & Shae – 111 words – Maybe his dad could help him figure out what to do about the woman he couldn’t get out of his head.
  • Mason & Lila – 120 words – “Need a quick tutoring session?” Brian asked.Mason banged his head against the locker. “Maybe if I thought that was actually going to do any good. I swear he knows the problems that give me the most trouble and makes sure they’re all that’s on quizzes and tests.” *oh, poor Mason. And all he did was want to date the man’s daughter.
  • Jacob & Matthew – 186 words – Matthew leaned back into Jacob’s touch. “I always said I wouldn’t go back there. After Ma died, nothing was right. Then, he married her, and they had [xx], and it was like I stopped existing. The few times I’ve visited, we have done nothing but fight. What reason do I have for returning to that?”
  • Hang On – 153 words – “I said I was coming,” I told him as I finally yanked the door open. The man on the porch shook his head, nearly white-blond hair falling into his face. “No. I certainly would remember if you’d given me that much information. You said hang on, but I can’t do that in public.” *Haven’t even named this character yet, but I like his sense of humor.

Editing:

• Primary: Stained Blood – 10 new scenes & apply CP edits to 40 scenes – 2/10 new scenes finished this month. 2/40 scenes edited. 1558 words added this month. 1100 since Sunday
  • The truth was he was a coward. A damn yellow-bellied coyote. Seeing her made him want so much. And he wasn’t sure he deserved any of it.
• Secondary: Flames of Renewal(if I get back from CP) – complete CP edits
  • In the Moonlight – start revisions

Blogging:

• A-Z posts – draft 24 posts – 2/24 for the month. 508 words on D post, 361 since last check-in. Finished D. 160 words on E post. I may not finish drafting all of these this month, but hopefully will at least have a good start.
• A-Z posts – edit & format 26 posts

Reading:

• Listen: 8 books – 3/8 for the month, 2 since last Sunday
  • In Her Sights(Robin Perini) – enjoyed this one.
  • Need You for Keeps(Marina Adair) – finished this one last night. Really enjoyed it(and listened to the end as a break from the emotional rollercoaster I was reading).
  • King’s Cage(Victoria Aveyard) – just started this one Wednesday morning. On Chapter 15.
• Read: 31 books – 11/31 for the month, 9 since last Sunday
  • Hope Burns(Jaci Burton) – enjoyed this one, though the resolution seemed a little too, I don’t know, rushed I guess.
  • Gone to Die(Stacy Green) – I had some issues with this one. Some of it felt out of character. And I just went “of course, the sadistic killer was raised by her killer truck driver father. Because truck drivers are always criminals.” That portrayal bothers me. My husband was driving truck when I met him, and I just…ugh, it irritates me.
  • Crimson Stain(Jim Fisher) – this is a true crime story about an Amish man who killed his wife not very far from where we live(It happened when I was about 8 years old). Reading this when I finish the rest of the books on my weekly list. On page: 23/314(not counting all the end notes & index)
  • Lucky Break(Carly Phillips) – I liked this one okay. Probably wouldn’t have finished the trilogy, though, if I hadn’t had all three books. Still, it was a light read.
  • History is All You Left Me(Adam Silvera) – Finished this Wednesday afternoon. Just, so, so good.  This had me crying within 50 pages. And a couple pages later, I was laughing again. I actually had to take a break and listen to the end of a romance. This was breaking my heart so bad. There are some downsides to being such an emotional reader.
  • Suffer Love(Ashley Herring Blake) – On page 12/344. Started this while waiting for the kids’ bus Wednesday afternoon, though it was kind of windy to read a physical book outside. Finished it Wednesday night. It was a nice, fairly light and quick read. Really enjoyed it. And needed it after the emotional roller coaster of the last book.
  • Burning Bright(various) – this was a collection of love stories set around Hanukkah. I couldn’t get into the first three, but read the last one(by an author I’ve read before) and enjoyed that one.
  • Against the Odds(Kat Martin) – started this one Thursday morning. Finished it Friday. Have an issue with a side character. Saying she has to force her daughter(5 years old, I think) into wearing dresses and playing with “girl” things. No, no, no. Just don’t. I’m hoping that attitude will be challenged in the book. And it’s not like it’s an older book. It was published in 2013. Update on the mini rant: She did finally realize she was being stupid about this, at least. And other than that issue, I mostly enjoyed the book.
  • Red Zone(Mari Carr) – Started this one Friday night. Finished it yesterday. Really enjoyed it.
  • Dangerous(R.G. Alexander) – read this one yesterday. enjoyed it, too.
  • Hammer of the Gods(Christina Ochs) – this is book 3 in her Desolate Empire series. I got the boxed set, but I’ve already read the first 2 separately, so I jumped right to this one on my phone. I’ll read it in the between moments.

Crafting:

• Knit: Georgian Lace Cap – started this on Monday. Have 4/4 rounds knitted for the brim. 16/40 rounds knitted for cap lace section.
• Crochet: Cross-over Long DC Hat –
• Loom: Ambrosia Love Scarf & Last Minute Slouchy Hat – I finished the scarf on Sunday.

Writing Wednesday: Charging Ahead

On Monday, I once again decided to change how I work on my projects. When it came time to work on my secondary project, I…just didn’t want to. And I’ve been feeling like that more and more. So, I decided to take the secondary projects off the table for now. I did look at what scenes I have left to write for Defending the Heart. And realized if I write 3 a day, I can have it finished by the end of the month. So, that’s what I’m shooting for right now. We’ll see if I can keep up with only 1 project. Well, except for my editing. If I get all those scenes done before the end of my writing time, I’ll switch over(after eating some breakfast, which I’m just finishing as I type this) to my editing/plotting. At the end of the writing time(9 a.m. which gives me about 4-5 hours), I’ll do chores and all that then get to my social media stuff. And my afternoon will pretty much remain the same as it has been. And now that breakfast is done, to editing! I’ll be back to finish this post later.

Chores are now done, so time to finish up this post! Yesterday we went and got our taxes done. We don’t always get them done this early, but we had everything together so we decided to get it over with. And we got more back than what I’d expected. We may have to wait a little longer to get the money than usual, but that’s not too bad. Then, we went and got Chinese for lunch(chicken and broccoli with fried rice. yum!) and were still home in time for me to wash dishes, fold laundry and write a few words before the kids got home.

It’s Wednesday which means time for WiPPet Wednesday!! I’m still working on Defending the Heart, so I’ll be sharing from it again. This may be the last one as long as I do get it finished by the end of the month. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be working on next. Depending on which project I choose, I may share one more snippet from this next week even if I have finished drafting it. We’ll see how that all goes. For now here’s 6 paragraphs(2/22=2+2+2) from when Piers and Xavier go out to dinner together.

But, he kept his mouth shut as the hostess greeted them and led them back to a table. He noticed the young woman keep glancing back at Xavier. He couldn’t really blame her, he wouldn’t mind never taking his eyes off the man again, either. But, Xavier was probably a decade older than her, and other than a brief smile of greeting—which he gave to pretty much everyone he saw—he hadn’t given her a second glance.
Piers had an urge to tell her it was a lost cause, but why burst the girl’s bubble? A little harmless ogling and flirting rarely hurt anyone. And, to his surprise, it didn’t bother him that much. Even when Xavier winked at her, and she blushed a deep red. So, maybe Xavier had noticed it, too.
“You didn’t need to encourage her,” Piers said when she’d left them alone with their menus. “It’s not really fair, you know.”
One corner of Xavier’s mouth kicked up, but he didn’t look away from his menu. “Maybe we were just commiserating,” he said. “Being with a handsome bastard like you, no one would notice me.”
Piers snorted out a laugh at that. “Oh, trust me, they notice you. I could point out at least three women and two men who have their eyes on you right now.”
“Oh, I’ve seen them. But, pretty sure they’re actually watching you.”

So, which of them is right? Both? Neither? And just where is this night going to lead? Things are getting intense with where I am in drafting. Yesterday there was some family drama and that certainly made the words flow fast. A lot more fun to write it than to live it. 🙂

And now on to this week’s progress:

• Write: Shoot for 10000 words between projects – 6375/10000 words. And all of those have gone toward Defending the Heart. I also started brainstorming a Christmas novella for this series.
• Edit: Stained Blood – continue writing new scenes, shoot for total of 1000 words – 411/1000 words. didn’t work on this until this morning. didn’t finish even one scene yet, but made some good progress on it.
• Side Projects – 1000 words/200 per project – 62/1000 words
• Patreon – write new side story(this one will be Mason & Lila from First Choice, Second Chance) & if I get chapter 1 of Patrick & Sarah’s story back from beta & edited I’ll post it too – nothing on either of these yet. But, you can check my page out if you want.
• Snow White Twist – read through – weekend project
• Listen: From the Moment We Met(Marina Adair) & The Emerald Brooch(Katherine Lowry Logan) – Still listening to From the Moment We Met. Really enjoying it. Have a little less than 2 hours left to it.
• Read: Walk the Edge(Katie McGarry), Leveling the Field(Megan Erickson), Ignite(Rebecca Yarros), Forbidden(Beverly Jenkins), Murder Comes Ashore(Julie Anne Lindsey), Destiny(Carly Phillips), and It’s Always Been You(Jessica Scott) – Finished Walk the Edge(loved), Leveling the Field(loved), and Ignite(enjoyed), and started Forbidden.
• Crochet: Flower Coaster – haven’t started yet. Hopefully will this afternoon.
• Loom: Ambrosia Love Scarf – haven’t started
• A to Z Challenge: Draft – Post B-Z – I finished the ‘B’ post. Haven’t started ‘C’ yet.

Sunday Summary: Ahead of the Game

It feels like I’ve been running behind or just barely on track the last couple weeks. Things might be falling into place with my routine now because I’m actually ahead this week. Well, for the most part. Thursday I had trouble focusing on any words and barely managed to squeak out 700+ words on Defending the Heart. And I didn’t have much motivation to work on my secondary project or editing Stained Blood. Friday I got up and words just tumbled out(over 1700 in 1.5 hours). But, again, the motivation to work on anything else was just…nonexistent. It probably didn’t help the kids were home Friday for an in-service day. That always messed with my routine. But, I am well ahead on my reading. It’s Saturday morning and I’ve already started reading Sunday’s book(yes, I even put my reading on my to-do list). And I’m putting this post together already.

I also worked on getting my Patreon page ready to go. I hadn’t been sure about doing this, but I finally decided to go forward with it. We’ll see how it goes. I have a list of stories, little side trails from my novels, that I’ll write for it. So far there are 24 on there. That should keep me busy for a while. And of course, feel free to check it out if you’d like.

That’s pretty much all the other business I’ve got for the end of the week. So, on to my progress for this week:

• Write: Shoot for 10000 words between projects – 7863/10000 words. Yeah, so I wasn’t quite ahead of things on this one. Maybe next week.
  • Defending the Heart – 5914 words – Ross sighed. “Do you actually expect me to believe this? Come on, Xavi. I know you, and I know when you’re telling tales. What actually happened to him? And why don’t you want the authorities to know?”
    Xavier grit his back teeth together. Ross thought all he did was help install security systems. It was just better, easier, that way. He would have gotten pissy, thinking they were stepping on the cops’ toes if he knew everything the security company did. *Xavier seems to keep running into “friends” of his. Though the two different ones had different reactions to him being with Piers.
  • Midas’ Daughter – 504 words – There was just something about her that kept drawing him in, no matter how much distance he tried to maintain. It wasn’t going to work. Not when every part of him wanted to be as near to her as possible. Just to soak up some of that natural joy she seemed to carry with her. At least when her father wasn’t around.
  • Stay a Little Longer – 780 words – “It’s not a problem. Not like I didn’t deserve it.” Even if some of the barbs still stung.
    “I don’t know,” Patrick said after a moment, “I think you deserve more than you give yourself credit for.”
  • Not Meant to Be – 581 words – His willpower against his own addiction was pretty low at that. And he was going right toward her, but he didn’t see another choice.
  • Playing with Fire – 84 words – Jeremiah had confided in him about what was going on, with him, and Corrin. How she’d started crashing on his couch nearly two months ago now. He hadn’t told him everything, but then again, he didn’t even know everything.
• Edit: Stained Blood – write new scenes – I finished 2/14 scenes and started the next one. Added 854 words
• Plot: Playing with Fire – finish outlining scenes – I finished this on Wednesday. Nothing else to plot until I’m almost finished with Defending the Heart and start planning a novella to go along with the series.
• Side Projects – 1000 words – 1059/1000 words. I had all these done by Wednesday
  • Fade Away – 213 words – What the hell was going on here? I was used to being mostly ignored. Sometimes I didn’t even mind it. But, this was different. It was like they weren’t even seeing me. 
  • Patrick & Sarah – 207 words – Patrick felt something shiver down his spine at her explanation. It didn’t make sense to him. But, he hadn’t been her, either. Maybe it had happened just as her son had said. He hadn’t met the older boy, so he didn’t have any idea if he’d lie about something like that or not.
  • Tavin & Haiwee – 213 words – That brought even more softness to his face, and it made her feel light. That she could be the one to bring that to him. She didn’t know why that was so important to her, but she wanted to keep that look there in his eyes.
  • Roman – 223 words – She left the kitchen then and for the first time in what felt like weeks, even months, Roman felt hope that they still existed.
  • Dougal & Shae – 203 words – Instead he only had thoughts of a green-eyed lass who had barely even granted him a smile the night before. She obviously didn’t care for him, so why couldn’t he get her off his mind?  *Haha, oh poor Dougal. 😀
• Snow White Twist – fill in [xx] and start read through – I got all 52 [xx] filled in and sent it to my kindle do start the read through
• Listen: Glass Sword(Victoria Aveyard) & Unintended Consequences(Marti Green) – I finished Glass Sword(!!! And that ending just about killed me), started Unintended Consequences but after an hour still didn’t care, so stopped. Got some more through Kindle Unlimited and started listening to From the Moment We Met(Marina Adair). Much better. 🙂
• Read: Finish Duke of Thorns(Sara Ramsey), Dead Before Dying(Kerry Schafer), The Unsung Hero(Suzanne Brockman), Truths We Tell(Brenda St John Brown), Of the Bauble(Debbie McGowan), Relic of Sorrows(Lindsay Buroker), Best Worst Mistake(Lia Riley), Written in the Stars(Aisha Saeed), The Rule Maker(Jennifer Blackwood), & Against the Sun(Kat Martin) – I finished Duke of Thorns(liked), Dead Before Dying(really enjoyed), and The Unsung Hero(enjoyed) on Sunday. Read Truths We Tell on Monday(really liked) and finished Of the Bauble Tuesday(loved). I also finished Relic of Sorrows(loved), Best Worst Mistake(really enjoyed), Written in the Stars(really enjoyed), and The Rule Maker(loved). I finished Against the Sun last(Saturday) night. I enjoyed this one too.
• Knit: Clean Slate Hat – I just finished this morning.
• A to Z Challenge: Draft – Posts A-Z – I finished the ‘A’ post with almost 900 words and I’ve written about 275 words on the ‘B’ post.

Quite a bit of blue and green and only the one red. Not a bad week at all. So, not to look toward next week’s goals:

• Write: Shoot for 10000 words between projects
• Edit: Stained Blood – continue writing new scenes, shoot for total of 1000 words
• Side Projects – 1000 words/200 per project
• Patreon – write new side story(this one will be Mason & Lila from First Choice, Second Chance) & if I get chapter 1 of Patrick & Sarah’s story back from beta & edited I’ll post it too
• Snow White Twist – read through
• Listen: From the Moment We Met(Marina Adair) & The Emerald Brooch(Katherine Lowry Logan)
• Read: Walk the Edge(Katie McGarry), Leveling the Field(Megan Erickson), Ignite(Rebecca Yarros), Forbidden(Beverly Jenkins), Murder Comes Ashore(Julie Anne Lindsey), Destiny(Carly Phillips), and It’s Always Been You(Jessica Scott)
• Crochet: Flower Coaster
• Loom: Ambrosia Love Scarf
• A to Z Challenge: Draft – Post B-Z

Sunday Summary: Another One Down

I feel a little weird acting like business as usual when there’s so much going on out there. And I’m having trouble ordering any of my thoughts on all of it. But, it’s definitely keeping my anxiety up almost constantly. Part of me just wants to shut myself away in fictional worlds, my own and others. But, I know that won’t do a lot of good either. Just my unhealthy coping mechanism at work again.

And along that line, I finished the first draft of Crash and Burn on Friday. It ended up being just a little over 40K. Pretty happy with that since it was supposed to be a novella anyway. I was hoping to have Playing with Fire ready to start writing, but I’m not quite there yet. Hopefully sometime this week, even if it isn’t completely outlined.

I’ve got a good bit done this week:

• Write: Target of 10000 between all projects – 12715/10000 words. A really great week for words.
  • Crash and Burn – 9440 words – That had him perking up slightly. Jaya was here? He’d extended the invitation, but he wasn’t sure if she’d come or not. He’d thought maybe she decided being with him wasn’t what she wanted after all. That she’d realized it might be too dangerous.
  • Defending the Heart – 1072 words – Xavier muttered something in Spanish that Piers wasn’t quite able to make out. He was pretty sure it wasn’t too complimentary to him, though. “You don’t bleed like that from a scratch. Come on, my car’s right here.”
  • Stay a Little Longer – 576 words – No one had ever had that kind of faith in him off the football field. But, he didn’t know how to voice how that had always made him feel. Why it had made him act like an asshole so often. It felt too much like a cop-out. And he didn’t want to use it anymore.
  • Not Meant to Be – 838 words – “Get your head back on your shoulders and out of your pants,” he muttered as he filled the mug with coffee. *oh, Toby.
  • Buried Secrets – 789 words – “A few times a week.” Why was he having so much trouble with this? He was known to have a pretty decent bedside manner. He could talk to an ill or injured patient, help put them at ease. Yet he couldn’t even carry on a casual conversation with a pretty woman.
• Edit: Stained Blood – finish Story Toolkit & outline new scenes – still working through Toolkit. Finished up the romance arc
• Plot: Playing with Fire – Work through Story Toolkit & explore characters with Just Jot It prompts. Outline if I get that far. – got through the romance arc for this one as well. and have kept up with the prompts:
  • Compromise – Corrin & Silas try to find middle ground
  • Elusive – Jeremiah tries to balance school & work
  • Extraordinary – Jeremiah & Corrin get a little steamy
  • Incomplete – Silas & Corrin spend some time together
  • Wood/Would – A little slice of after the HEA
  • History – Jeremiah tries to convince Corrin she won’t get between him & Silas
• Side Projects: Add another 2000 words – 1616/2000 words
  • Midas’ Daughter – 516 words – Put her away, like she was just some prized toy to place on a shelf then forget about. Big surprise some spoiled rich girl would think that way. “Okay, Dad. I’ll get it done.” *oh, you’ll figure it out, Flip. 😉
  • Dance with the Devil – 514 words – “We had absolutely nothing to do with that.” I knew they’d never believe it. But, I had to keep them talking. Keep him from putting a bullet in Hawk’s head right in front of me. *things aren’t looking too good for these two right now.
  • Fade Away – 78 words – Once I had paid for my groceries, I hurried out to my car, a bag in each hand. And, of course, almost as soon as I stepped outside, it started pouring down rain. Just my luck. I dropped the groceries into my trunk and slammed the lid. By the time I climbed into my car, there was no wringing my clothes out. *I have only a very vague idea where this one is going.
  • Patrick & Sarah – 67 words – His eyes twinkled as she looked back up at him. “I guess you will have to open it to find out.”
  • Tavin & Haiwee – 61 words – The other men riding with Tavin made a strange sound, but her attention was still on Tavin. “I am just standing here.”
  • Roman – 209 words – “They may have let worse than that happen. If she knows she’s secure here, it will stop being an issue. We just have to let her be for a while.”
  • Dougal & Shae – 171 words – Her sister was right. That fight at the bar could have been a lot worse. A lot worse than having a man make her feel something she wasn’t sure she wanted to.
• Listen: It Had to Be Them(Tamra Baumann) & Midnight Betrayal(Melinda Leigh) – finished both of these, listened to He Can Fall(Melinda Leigh) and enjoyed and almost through with Changeless(Gail Carriger) which I’m really enjoying.
• Read: Loud is How I Love You(Mercy Brown), Love Ignites(Jaci Burton), Just a Girl(Ellie Cahill), Star Seers(Lindsay Buroker), Lucky Streak(Carly Phillips), All I Want(Jill Shalvis), & Idol(Kristen Callihan) – I really enjoyed Love is How I Love You, Love Ignites, and Just a Girl. Loved Star Seers, liked Lucky Streak better than the first book in the trilogy, but the climax felt kind of, well, anti-climatic. And I really enjoyed All I Want. Will be starting Idol today.
• Crochet: Giraffe Hat – finished this
• Loom: Meadow Moss Headband – started and ripped this out a couple times. Need to restart it again.
• A to Z Challenge: Plot – N-Z posts – finished plotting all of these. Now to start drafting them.

Mostly blue and green. I always like to see that. Now, for next week’s goals. At least for the rest of January. Will be adding more at the mid-week check-in for the beginning of February(the top ones won’t be affected by that).

• Write: Shoot for 10000 between all projects
• Edit: Stained Blood – finish Story Toolkit & outline new scenes
• Plot: Playing with Fire – finish Story Toolkit, the last 2 Just Jot It January prompts, and outline if I can
• Side Projects: Add 1500 words(since I’m moving Midas’ Daughter up under the other writing for now)
• Listen: Changeless(Gail Carriger), Be Mine Forever(Marina Adair), The Sapphire Brooch(Katherine Lowry Logan)
• Read: Finish Idol(Kristen Callihan), Mixed Signals(Alyssa Cole), Act Like It(Lucy Parker), & Engaging the Bachelor(Cathryn Fox)
• Loom: Meadow Moss Headband
• A to Z Challenge: Draft – Posts A-Z

Writing Wednesday: Good Start

It’s been a pretty good week for me so far. Getting a good bit of writing done. If things continue this way, I should have Crash and Burn finished this week. The boy’s ear infection from the weekend seems to be clearing up. I’m staying caught up with my reading goal and even getting some of my side goal done. But, I’ll have more of that in a little bit.

First, it’s Wednesday, so it’s WiPPet time again! Crash and Burn is still in my main project slot, at least for this week. This will probably be the last snippet I share from it, though. Unless I am actually still working on it next Wednesday, but I don’t think that happens. of course, this means next up will be Defending the Heart, so you’ll get more snippets of Piers and Xavier. 🙂 But, for now, here’s 8 paragraphs(1+2+5) of Brann and Jaya starting to make up(and he’d brought a pizza for them to share, to put the final exchange here in context):

“You don’t need to apologize for that, Jaya. I’m the one who was in the wrong. I was out of line. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I went off on you. I’m so sorry. I want you to be safe, but it’s not my right to dictate what you do. I was an idiot, and I’m sorry that pushed you away.”
She finally turned to him. “You’re not an idiot, Brann.”
“Not for long anyway,” he said, smiling a little as he remembered Luisa’s words. “But, I was yesterday. I probably will be again where you’re concerned. Does it help if I apologize in advance?”
Jaya laughed and took a step toward him. “I don’t see how it could hurt. But, you do understand I don’t need to be put in some bubble to be kept safe? That I won’t let you do that?”
He couldn’t stop himself now. He had to reach out and touch her. He ran the back of her hand across her cheek. She closed her eyes and seemed to lean into the touch. He couldn’t even describe what that did to him. “I know,” he said softly. “I’ll do my best to keep that in check, but if I think you’re in danger, I don’t know how well I’ll be able to do that.”
“How do you feel about cold pizza?”
Her question took him by surprise since it had nothing to do with what they were discussing. “What does that have to do…”
But, before he could finish his question, her mouth was on his. Oh. “I’m perfectly fine with cold pizza,” he said as she pushed him back until they were in her living room.

I’m not even going to ask what you think happens next, because I think it’s pretty obvious. 😉 Of course, this isn’t the end of their problems. But, I’m getting close to resolving that for them.

Now, as for that progress I’m making this week:

 

• Write: Target of 10000 between all projects – 7139/10000 words. Almost 4500 5500 of that is from Crash and Burn. At this moment, I still have an hour of writing time left on that for today. just finished my writing time on this with a total of 1500 for today.
• Edit: Stained Blood – finish Story Toolkit & outline new scenes – working through this. Up to the romance arc worksheet now.
• Plot: Playing with Fire – Work through Story Toolkit & explore characters with Just Jot It prompts. Outline if I get that far. – still working through this, too. On the final character arc worksheet(I’m doing 3 for this one, usually only have 2). And keeping up with the prompts. So far this week, I have:
  • Compromise
  • Elusive
• Side Projects: Add another 2000 words – 877/2000 words. I made the goal on Midas’ Daughter and got a good bit on Dance with the Devil. Getting intense on that one as I get through the climax. May not finish it this month as I’d hoped but definitely getting close.
• Listen: It Had to Be Them(Tamra Baumann) & Midnight Betrayal(Melinda Leigh) – I finished listening to It Had to Be Them(which I loved) and started Midnight Betrayal(which I’m enjoying).
• Read: Finish Last Seen Leaving(Caleb Roehrig), Burned(Sarah Morgan), Loud is How I Love You(Mercy Brown), Love Ignites(Jaci Burton), Just a Girl(Ellie Cahill), Star Seers(Lindsay Buroker), Lucky Streak(Carly Phillips), All I Want(Jill Shalvis), & Idol(Kristen Callihan) – I finished Last Seen Leaving(absolutely LOVED!), Burned(liked), Loud is How I Love You(really enjoyed), and Love Ignites(enjoyed). I’ll be starting Just a Girl later today.
• Crochet: Giraffe Hat – finished this on Monday
• Loom: Meadow Moss Headband – started this yesterday, though the directions were a little confusing at first. Think I may have gotten the hang of it now.
• A to Z Challenge: Plot – N-Z posts – I got through R plotted yesterday.

Not too much blue but a good bit of green. And hopefully a lot of that will turn blue by the end of the week.

 

March Recap

It’s the end of the month, so it’s time to look back at how I’ve done for the month, then look forward to my goals for next month.

Outlining:

• Protecting the Heart – Outline – Done
• Rylan & Kirsten – Outline – Done

Drafting:

• Protecting the Heart – get to 8000 words – 7571 words
• Ready When You Are – get to 25000 words – 21374 words
• Rylan & Kirsten – get to 12000 words – 11371 words. Also came up with title: Paint Me a Picture
• Love Who You Love – get to 56000 words – 71130 words – you can maybe see why I didn’t quite reach the target for the other projects.
• By the Gun – get to 26000 words – 21293 words
• Come Back Down – get to 28000 words(or finish 1st draft) – 25855 words

Only hit 1 of these goals, but I did write 73,008 words in total. That’s definitely a success.

Editing:

• Stained by Ashes – finish CP edits & find beta readers(if you’re interested, let me know in the comments. I’m hoping to have it ready by the end of next week.) – got this sent to beta readers & even back from one of them. Leaving it to sit until I get it back from the other one.
• Healing the Heart – apply CP edits –  I got through all the comments in the document, but there are some more general ones I need to address.

Reading:

• Listen to at least 2 audiobooks – listened to 6. A couple were shorter(Shame on Me), while a couple were quite a bit longer(Queen of Shadows). I’m more than halfway through Map of Fates, but I probably won’t finish it until at least tomorrow.
• Read: 29 books – 24 books. I’ll probably finish at least one more today, but still a little short.
• Read: Write Great Fiction: Description & Setting – Finished this. Didn’t get as much from it as I’d hoped.

Crafting:

• Knit: Mug Hug – Finished this
• Crochet: Finish Leaping Blocks and Stripes Blanket & Half and Half Slouch Hat – finished both of these
• Loom: Morning Light Cowl – should finish this today

And as a bonus goal:

• Draft 25 A-Z posts(I already have 1 of them finished) – 9 drafted. 2 revised & scheduled.

Didn’t finish everything, but I made progress on it all. Which makes me pretty happy. So for next month:

Outline:

• Break on Me(Kurztown #4)

Drafting:

• Paint Me a Picture – get to 36k(or 1st draft)
• Ready When You Are – get to 46k
• By the Gun – get to 46k
• Protecting the Heart – get to 33k
• Come Back Down – finish 1st draft

Editing:

• Healing the Heart – finish CP Edits, Polish, and send to beta readers(so if anyone wants to read the follow-up to Duty to Protect, let me know)
• Stained by Ashes – apply beta edits once I have them all comments back
• Stained Blood – CP edits once I have them back

Reading:

• Listen to at least 1 audiobook(I have 5 in my audible library)
• Read: 26 books
• Read: Conflict & Suspense(James Scott Bell)

Crafting:

• Knit: Entwined Fingerless Gloves
• Crochet: Twisty Cabled Beanie
• Loom: 2 Way Headband

Blog:

• A-Z – Draft other 17 posts, Revise & Schedule 24 posts
• RoW80 – Draft, Revise, & Submit Sponsor Post; post twice a week; keep up with sponsor duties

RoW80 2016 Round 1 Recap

I thought I was going to take today off from writing any blog posts. Then, I remembered it was the end of Round 1 of RoW80 today. Which means it’s time to look back at how I did for the round. I had my mid-week check-in yesterday, so you can read that if you want to see how I did for the first half of this week. I’ll still have my Sunday check-in, too, even though RoW80 is now on break.

I’m pretty sure I’ve changed my goals once or twice during the round(pretty typical for me), so I’ll add in other things I got done if they aren’t on the list.

Plotting:

• Protecting the Heart(BC Security #2) – this probably won’t be til near end of the round. – plotted this & one other story. 7313 words of plotting(that’s mostly character back story)

Writing:

• Love Who You Love(Kurztown #3) – finish 1st draft – not quite there. But, I have written 43614 words on it this round. May not finish before the end of the month, but probably early next month at least.
• By the Gun – finish 1st draft – not even close. Keep getting snagged with this one. May end up setting aside. Have added 16799 to it.
• Protecting the Heart – write 20k – not quite there, either. Have added 7389 to it.
• Also worked on Ready When You Are(21219 words) & Paint Me a Picture(1o,274 words),

Revising:

• Flames of Retribution – Revise to send to CP – have this revised and waiting to be sent.
• My Way to You – Revise to send to CP – Did 1st revisions then set aside until I get caught up with ones that need to be sent
• Flames of Recompense – Organize to revise – didn’t even start on this.
• I also got Stained Snow back from beta reader and made edits & published it. And got Stained by Ashes back from CP, edited & sent it to betas. Already have it back from 1, will wait until I get it back from the other beta before I start revising. And got Healing the Heart back from CP. I’ve just started working on those edits.

Reading:

• Listen to 6 audiobooks – 14/6 audiobooks. Audible had sales. What can I say?
• Read 75 books – 62/75 books. Fell a little behind in my reading.
• Read 3 craft/research books – Just about there with this. Have about 15% left to read in the third.

Crafting:

• Knit: 3 projects – 3/3
• Crochet: 3 projects – 1/3
• Loom: 3 projects – 1/3

Overall it’s been a pretty great round. I’m still trying to find the best way to fit in everything I want to get done. That’s probably never going to happen, though. I’ll have my monthly recap sometime next week and goals for next round up sometime before it starts on 4/4.

Writing Wednesday: Getting Ahead

This week has been going pretty well. I got ahead on Monday and stayed caught up yesterday. I’m already most of the way through my goals for today. At the rate I’m going, I should be to my reading goal by lunchtime. If I get all my reading done for today, I can even get started on tomorrow’s goals.

Today is Wednesday, which means time to share another snippet for WiPPet Wednesday. I have 10 paragraphs(1+2+7) from Love Who You Love(Kurztown #3). This is Susan(Doren’s sister) & Kendall’s story, with some Chris thrown in(I actually thought there was going to be more of a love triangle, but that wasn’t working, so he’s stepping back. But, he’ll have his own story later).

“No,” he said, his face flaming with heat. “No, I don’t think any of that. I just know there’s always been something about you and Kendall. And the way you are with her, the way you talk about her. I just wondered if there was something there.”
“There’s nothing,” Susan said but wouldn’t meet his eyes.
“Sue,” he said softly and waited for her gaze to come back to his. Something wounded in her dark brown eyes tore at his heart. “We’ve already established we’re friends, right?” She nodded, and he added, “And that you’re practically a little sister to me.” She winced, and he let out a rough laugh. “I know we thought maybe it could be more, but that’s what it is. I’d hope Lyndsey would tell me what was going on in her life, too.”
She dropped her gaze again and twisted a ring she wore on her right middle finger. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “There’s always been…something. You’re right about that. But, she’s my best friend. I don’t know if it’s enough to ruin that.”
“Why do you think it would? Going out with me hasn’t ruined our friendship. Has it?”
She shook her head. “I hope not. But, that’s different. You’re not the same kind of friend she is. I can tell her anything. I don’t want to ruin that.”
“Have you told her you have feelings for her?”
“No. Didn’t I just say I didn’t want to ruin everything we do have?”
“I’ve seen the way she looks at you, Sue. It’s not going to ruin anything.” He squeezed her hand then stepped back. “Think about it. You shouldn’t have to keep your feelings a secret. There’s nothing wrong with them.”
He turned and walked out of the house. He would have told Lyndsey the same thing, but he had lied about one thing. It wasn’t completely brotherly affection he felt for Susan. He just wasn’t sure it was enough to put himself through being with her when she loved someone else.

I feel like I’ve been struggling with this story. But, that could be partly because I’ve only been writing about 1k a day before switching to revisions. Next month, I’m going to shift how I do things, but I’m going to keep at it for the rest of this week.

• Love Who You Love – 33000 words – 31042/33000 words.
• My Way to You – Pre-revision(scene map, time line, note cards) – I got the scene map & time line done.
• Stained Snow – continue to edit as I get chapters back – 13 chapters edited. Waiting to get more back now.
• Come Back Down – get to 18000 words – 16115/18000 words.
• Read: Writing Vivid Settings – 100% – at about 94% through this.
• Read: The Year We Fell Down(Sarina Bowen), Star Cruise: Marooned(Veronica Scott), Not in the Script(Amy Finnegan), & A Home By the Sea(Christina Skye), Rev It Up(Julie Ann Walker), Last Will & Testament(Dahlia Adler), Roses are Red, Violet is Dead(Monica-Marie Vincent), The Things You Kiss Goodbye(Leslie Connor), Of Metal and Wishes(Sarah Fine), Red(Kate Serine), Warrior Mage(Lindsay Buroker), and First Time in Forever(Sarah Morgan) – Enjoyed all the ones I’ve finished so far this week. I’m about 69% through A Home by the Sea. I may not get to the rest of these, but it’s what’s left on my list for the month.
• Loom: Zig Zag Hat – Finished this yesterday.

Hoping this week continues to go well. On Sunday, I’ll have my monthly wrap-up and my plan for next month.

Sunday Summary: Slow Progress

It’s been a pretty good week for me. Cold, but we didn’t get more snow, so there’s that. It’s been more slow and steady than anything else. My word count is actually low for the week. But, that’s mostly because I was polishing up Flames of Retribution, which meant a lot of cut words. My reading has fallen a bit behind, too. I’m behind my goal on my goodreads challenge right now, but I usually start the year behind, so I’m not too worried about that right now. I imagine I’ll catch back up eventually.

• Love Who You Love – get to 28000 words – 28023 words. It’s coming along. And took a turn I wasn’t expecting. That’s always fun.
• Flames of Retribution – Polish– got this finished up. Cut 3402 words from it.
• Stained Snow – continue to edit chapters as I get them back. – did 1 chapter a day again. I have through chapter 13 back and edited through chapter 11.
• Come Back Down – get to 16000 words – 16115 words.
• Read: Writing Vivid Settings – 80% – didn’t quite make it there. At 78%.
• Read: Between Everything and Us(Rebecca Paula), The Siren(Tiffany Reisz), Only His(Susan Mallery), The Year We Fell Down(Sarina Bowen), Star Cruise: Marooned(Veronica Scott), Not in the Script(Amy Finnegan), & A Home By the Sea(Christina Skye) – like I said above, I fell behind on my goal for this. Moving the rest of this to the next week, plus the other books I had on my list for the month. Whatever I don’t read will just get moved to next month.
• Loom: Zig Zag Hat – did get a little work done on this. Not as much as I’d like, but some.

I got my high priority tasks done at least. So, that’s something. And I go through periods of binge-reading, so eventually I will catch up on that.

• Love Who You Love – 33000 words
• My Way to You – Pre-revision(scene map, time line, note cards)
• Stained Snow – continue to edit as I get chapters back
• Come Back Down – get to 18000 words
• Read: Writing Vivid Settings – 100%
• Read: The Year We Fell Down(Sarina Bowen), Star Cruise: Marooned(Veronica Scott), Not in the Script(Amy Finnegan), & A Home By the Sea(Christina Skye), Rev It Up(Julie Ann Walker), Last Will & Testament(Dahlia Adler), Roses are Red, Violet is Dead(Monica-Marie Vincent), The Things You Kiss Goodbye(Leslie Connor), Of Metal and Wishes(Sarah Fine), Red(Kate Serine), Warrior Mage(Lindsay Buroker), and First Time in Forever(Sarah Morgan) – I probably won’t get to all of these, but it’s what’s left on my list for the month.
• Loom: Zig Zag Hat

Writing Wednesday: Coming to the End

Two more days until Christmas. Yesterday was the kids’ last day of school until the new year. This morning we made some chocolate chip cookies, and I’m just about ready to take the second sheet of M&M cookies out of the oven. Those are going to be our Christmas cookies for this year.

Tomorrow we’ll be going to see my husband’s grandma then over to his mom’s for our Christmas with her. Picking up pizza on the way there. Then, we’ll go down to my mom’s Friday morning after we open presents here. Saturday we’re going to husband’s stepmom’s for our Christmas with her and his siblings. We used to try to see everyone on Christmas. It’s so much easier this way.

cat joined the girl’s stuffed animal collection

It’s WiPPet Wednesday, so time for another snippet. I started some pre-revisions on Flames of Retribution this week, but I’m going to share one more snippet from Chasing the Ghost before I move on. This one takes place the day after last week’s. Garren did some looking into Jason’s past, even though his father was willing to trust Jason’s word and his own instincts about people. I have 17 paragraphs(12+2+3) today.

“What did you find?” He hated that his voice grated through his throat.
Garren’s face did soften then. “I spoke to detectives Smolka and Duval in Farmington. They told me Lauren and Adam Matthews were killed in their home. Even though the case is still open, her husband is not considered a suspect. Charles Stevens though, the victims’ father and grandfather is known to hire private detectives to prove otherwise. As well as filing complaints against the department for shoddy investigation practices.” His eyes went hard at. “And to the press with pleas for information on his daughter’s killer, her husband.” He blew out a breath. “I’m sorry, Jason.”
“His daughter,” he muttered. “His daughter but no mention of his grandson.”
“No,” Garren said. “He never mentioned the child in any interviews.”
“Damn bullheaded old bastard,” he muttered. “He told her if she married me, he would never recognize our children. He never once held him. Did nothing for him. But, he tried to get her to leave me because I raised my voice to him.”
Brendan’s hand squeezed his shoulder. “I won’t ask you to leave, Jason, and I hope you won’t.”
“I’ll see about having someone keep an eye on this guy following you,” Garren said. “He hasn’t killed anyone, so there’s not a lot I can do. But, I can call in a few favors.”
The words took him by surprise. “Why? I’m not anything to you. You made it pretty clear last night you don’t like me.”
“I never said that, but I will protect my sister.” He let out a little laugh and ran his fingers through his hair. “Not that she’ll let me. I don’t want to see her hurt.”
Jason met Garren’s eyes. “I don’t want to hurt her either.”
“If someone’s after you, it could happen. Again. I don’t want her hurt again.”
“Garren.” Brendan’s voice was soft. “Would you have stayed away from Lisa if you would have known what would happen?”
Garren turned to his father. “Do you forget me getting drunk and sending her away? Right into the arms of that psycho.” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “She wouldn’t let me send her away anyway. She kept pushing to give us a chance. I wouldn’t give up what we have now.” He sent a sharp look at Jason. “I almost lost my sister to one person bent on revenge. I don’t want it to happen again.”
“Neither do I,” he murmured. “I’m not here to get involved with anyone. I don’t have any plans for that.”
“You know what, Jason,—” one side of Garren’s mouth quirked up again, “when my sister went missing, and I went to talk to her best friend and roommate, I didn’t plan to get involved either. Now, I’m married, sober for the longest stretch of my life, and have two precious little babies. Our plans don’t always make a difference.” He was quiet for a moment before saying, “I think it’s about time Connie had some happiness. The last couple years have been rough for her.”
His words floored Jason. The night before, he’d looked ready to call him out for a duel if he so much as touched his sister. He shook his head. “I don’t-”
Brendan reached out to touch his shoulder. “Stay, Jason. You have a place here, and you’re one of ours now. We fight for ours. I have a feeling not too many people have fought for you.”

So, is Jason going to stick around? Is more trouble going to follow him? Will he ever find out who killed his family?

This week is going very well. I didn’t make a to-do list for this Friday, as it is Christmas. Going to make myself actually take a break. And I’m trying to get everything finished before we go to MIL’s tomorrow. Doing pretty good at that so far. I only have a few more things to get through today, then I’ll start on tomorrow’s list.

• Love Who You Love: get to 9000 words(taking Christmas off) –  8820/9000. I’ve added 3747 words so far this week. Not going to have any problem meeting my goal. And while writing this morning I learned that Kendall’s oldest brother has a daughter & apparently a custody fight. gotta love the things that pop up and surprise even me.
• Flames of Retribution: finish pre-revision steps – Got these all finished yesterday. I probably still won’t start revisions until next week.
• Come Back Down – get to 8000 words – weekend project
• Read: Writing about Villains – 45% – 22% through this
• Read: Upside Down(Lia Riley), All Played Out(Cora Carmack), Part-time Cowboy(Maisey Yates), & A Kiss at Midnight(Eloisa James) – finished Upside Down and really enjoyed it. 66% All Played Out. Should finish it today.
• Loom: Hat – finished this yesterday.

I thought about including my end of round wrap-up in today’s post, but I’d say it’s already long enough. So, I’ll have that on Sunday.