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I’ve mentioned before how I write notes while I’m at work. How I have the story I’m working on in the back of my brain, always working, plotting, thinking, writing. That’s basically always the case all time, whether current story or future.

But right this minute, I’m in the in between.

Right after I finish writing a book, I enter this kind of…holding pattern. I need time to decompress. And I’m never ready to let my boys go that quickly. There always needs to be some downtime after. I mean, I’m not quite done with them yet of course. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be working on comments the betas send in and tweaking and editing and shining up my work as much as I am able on my own. But still I need to downshift, to go from writing mode to relaxing mode.

I don’t write every day, even when I’m in the zone. I may write for several days in a row, but ultimately, I work better when I have a huge chunk of time and can really get into the zone and just write. But even when it’s been several days, or a week or two, since I’ve actually opened the document and put real words there, I’m still working on the story. Those aforementioned notes, for one thing. And the always thinking about it.

But now I’m in the weird space where I’m taking a break, which I need and want, and yet I feel itchy and strange NOT to be writing and working and thinking. It’ll give way soon, and I’ll be in full on relaxed mode until the next idea strikes.

Okay, I’m actually pretty sure I know what’s next on the docket, but I’m not giving it brain time right now. Well, not really. Some brain time is happening just because that’s how it works, but we’ll see how the story coalesces. Or if something else swoops in to take its place. (When I get going, you can check status on the WIPs page at the top, if you wish)

But ultimately, right now, I’m in the in between. Not yet fully done with the last one, not yet working on the new one. And my brain is working on downshifting, so that it can idle, until I’m ready to rev it into high gear again.

Okay, well, 3/4 finished.

I was doing the happy dance on Saturday! I had taken a couple of days off last week, to celebrate the release of Love at Roades End (yay!) and I did that by writing on my new story. I had some other stuff to do to, and I got a little anxious about writing one part, so I was a little bit of a slacker and didn’t get it done then. But with some work in the evenings and then a few hours Saturday morning, I finished it!

Woo!

That’s always a spectacular feeling. I feel very accomplished. (I also have that deep down dread that it’s all bad words and needs to be rewritten, but that’s my process. Can’t change it!) But it’s now complete and tweaked, and a couple people are going to give it a read for me, and then I’ll edit some more. In the next several weeks, I hope to have it ready for submission so I can send it off. And then comes the nearly unbearable waiting to hear if it’s accepted and then more waiting until its time for edits and publication. (It wouldn’t be out until at least December.) But that’s a whole other blog post.

At any rate, it’s finished and now it’s just time to fix and fiddle until it’s good. So I’ll be doing that over the next few weeks, while I also figure out which story I want to start writing next…

(Keep an eye on the WIPs page for details and progress)

Release day is still one of my favorite days! I love these guys, as I’m sure you know, and I do hope you’ll pick them up for a bit of Valentine’s Day treat.

You can buy it at all the places Dreamspinner, Amazon, ARe, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble

Whatever and wherever strikes your fancy.

Not to mention, I’ll be traveling around the web over the next few days with guest posts and the like. I hope you’ll stop in when you see me around, but here’s the schedule:

2/10–Open Skye Book Reviews–Guest Post

2/11–My Fiction Nook–exclusive excerpt

2/13–Love Bytes Reviews–Guest Post

2/14–Divine Magazine–Guest Post

2/14–Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words–Guest Post

2/16–The Novel Approach–Guest Post

2/18–Joyfully Jay–original flash ficition

Sean Newvine is looking forward to his weekend at Roades End Inn so he can review his stay there for inclusion on his travel website. What he never expects is for the owner, Hunter Roades, to capture his attention from the very start.

The only problem is Hunter thinks Sean’s been sent by his brother on a blind date so that Hunter doesn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day alone. Once the awkward misunderstanding is resolved, Sean is charmed by Hunter’s formality and hospitality. And when they have a chance to really talk, sparks fly.

A passion-filled night has them both wanting more, but Hunter pulls away knowing Sean doesn’t live in town and the distance might be more than they can overcome. Sean and Hunter must figure out if they can make it work for longer than one night, or if their chance at love will end at Roades End Inn before it can begin.

It’s so close I can taste it. And it’s yummy.

I have a good 10-15k left to write. It’s not like I’ll be able to sit down and finish it tonight. But a concerted effort this weekend, coupled with work on the couple of days I have off next week, and it should be finished. Well, I’ll have a complete manuscript that will need a thorough read through and then to be sent off to betas. But it’ll be complete.

That’s one of the beautiful things about editing as I go. By putting in the work on all the earlier chapters beforehand, by reading through them and tweaking and fixing and changing, I’ve already go them to the point of 3rd or 4th or 10th draft. So the end chapter lag behind a little, sure. But it’s not the number of passes. I haven’t changed a thing in the first five chapters on any of the last couple of read throughs. I’ve barely touched the middle ones. The last couple of ones have been poked at heavily. So it all depends on when it feels right and done.

And then I give it to the betas so they can point out all the places where I don’t make sense, and I can fix those too.

But I’m winding down, and so I’m mentally at the place where I’m ready to see the complete story. To read it through as a whole so I can see my boys fall in love from start to finish. And I’m going to do my damnedest to have it done by the time I go to bed on Wednesday night.

Riding the high of Love at Roades End release will certainly help. Look for it on Tuesday! (you can find the buy links here)

I had a fairly productive weekend! I didn’t make much progress on the WIP because I was writing and sending off guest posts for Love at Roades End.  It’s just over a week till release (yay!) and next week and through the weekend, I’m stopping in at some great sites to share a little about my process and my inspiration for this lovely little short. I have to admit that it was kind of daunting to write all those guest posts, but also a little bit fun.

I’ll post links next week to where I’m going to be on my mini blog tour. And one of the stops has an original flash fic too!

But Sean and Hunter, the boys of Roades End, didn’t get all the the attention this past weekend. Sure, they got a lot of it, but that’s because they’ll soon be out in the world and I want people to know about them, should they choose to spend a little time with them. Travis and Noah got some brain time too, and though I didn’t manage to get a lot of words on the page there, I was thinking and head-writing. These guys are at about the two-thirds mark, and they are starting to find their feet, so I don’t want to leave them hanging. I expect to get their story finished within the next couple of weeks.

So look for Love at Roades End in a week from tomorrow! And know that other things are on the horizon as well.

Oh!  So.  Now, you can pre order Love at Roades End in any flavor you want!  It releases February 9th, so just over 2 weeks from now, and if you want it ready and waiting for you, you can follow one of these links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

ARe

Kobo

Sean Newvine is looking forward to his weekend at Roades End Inn so he can review his stay there for inclusion on his travel website. What he never expects is for the owner, Hunter Roades, to capture his attention from the very start.

The only problem is Hunter thinks Sean’s been sent by his brother on a blind date so that Hunter doesn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day alone. Once the awkward misunderstanding is resolved, Sean is charmed by Hunter’s formality and hospitality. And when they have a chance to really talk, sparks fly.

A passion-filled night has them both wanting more, but Hunter pulls away knowing Sean doesn’t live in town and the distance might be more than they can overcome. Sean and Hunter must figure out if they can make it work for longer than one night, or if their chance at love will end at Roades End Inn before it can begin.

I have atrocious handwriting. Especially when I’m going fast. But that doesn’t keep me from writing story notes out longhand. Sometimes I just have to get the idea down or I’ll lose it. Sometimes pen and paper is the only medium available to me. And sometimes it’s just cathartic to write things out and get it down on the page. (Even if I can’t always read what I wrote and I end up sending pics to people who know me well, asking what it says)

Yesterday at work I had some, er well ahem, downtime. And so I made some notes. A lot of notes. I detailed the next three chapters in scene snippets. And wrote a couple sentences about the two chapter after that, just so I would know the main plot point of those chapters. And when all was said and done I felt pretty good about where this story is going.

The thing is, I see it very clearly. About where these guys are going and how they are falling in love. But I’m not quite to the halfway point in the story and I’m struggling with the internal drive to sit down and write. Everything else seems to take precedence. And I let it.

Truth is, there about seven chapters and 16k words to go (roughly guessing by my past style) and I know, I know, that if I just sat down and got to it, I could get it done.

I’m thinking a sequester is in my near future. And that would be awesome.

It’s the thing we all know, right?

I mean, we all say it.  It’s a truth.  No matter what, there are going to be people that hate something, and they are going to be vocal about it.  There’s nothing we can do about that.  We can’t stop them from voicing their opinion, much less from having one.  So it’s something we all need to accept.

I recently saw a meme that said something along the lines of “if you can’t handle criticism, then being a published author is not the job for you.”

Okay, to be clear, I haven’t seen a whole lot of bad criticism for my work. (Not to say that it’s not out there, it may be.  I just haven’t seen it.)  Sure, there have been some less than favorable reviews.  But mostly, it’s been pretty good.  And no, I don’t handle criticism well.  My skin is sometimes not thick enough and it hurts.

But the truth is, no matter what I write, someone out there isn’t going to like it.  Hands down, no matter what, there is absolutely going to be at least one person that reads it (and maybe more) and they are going to hate it.  There is no way on this earth I can write something that will please everyone who reads it.  That is completely impossible.

I’m also in a position where writing is not my full time gig.  Sure, I’d love it to be, but it’s not, and I can’t make a living at it.  It’s my side job, my joy, but it’s not my main source of income.

With those two truths combined, I’ve come to the conclusion that, for the first time since I started this journey, I actually and completely believe: I’m going to write the story I want to write.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

Okay, yes, there’s something to be said about writing what will sell.  I mean, people are going to have to want to buy it.  That’s the only way a publisher will pick it up, and that’s the only way I’ll make any money at all.  But!  And here’s the beautiful part; I know that there are readers out there who’s brains work like mine.  Who want to read the same things I do, and therefore, will want to read what I write.

So the haters can hate.  I’m not going to stop them and I’m not going to try to change their minds.   I’m not writing for them anyway.

Releasing February 9th and now available for pre-order!  Love at Roades End 

I kind of adore the crap out of this story, and it’s just a sweet little Valentine’s Day short.  But I love these guys and I hope, when you’re looking for a little Valentine’s Day reading, you’ll consider picking this one up.

Sean Newvine is looking forward to his weekend at Roades End Inn so he can review his stay there for inclusion on his travel website. What he never expects is for the owner, Hunter Roades, to capture his attention from the very start.

The only problem is Hunter thinks Sean’s been sent by his brother on a blind date so that Hunter doesn’t have to spend Valentine’s Day alone. Once the awkward misunderstanding is resolved, Sean is charmed by Hunter’s formality and hospitality. And when they have a chance to really talk, sparks fly.

A passion-filled night has them both wanting more, but Hunter pulls away knowing Sean doesn’t live in town and the distance might be more than they can overcome. Sean and Hunter must figure out if they can make it work for longer than one night, or if their chance at love will end at Roades End Inn before it can begin.

Okay, so I had a pretty good year last year, writing wise.  And after having taken a break at the end of last year, I was pumped and excited for this year.

Well, so far, all 11 days of it, has been a mixed bag.

I’ve gotten some good words down on the page, and just last night, I broke 10k on my WIP.  I started it a few weeks ago, right at the end of the year, and it’s been going in fits and starts.  I’m really liking it though, and already in love with my boys, so you know how that goes.  I’m aiming for a December release with this one, since it’s holiday themed.  But I’m totally enjoying Travis and Noah, and my excitement to be with them and get their story told is ever growing.

After that, I have the next two stories in the writing queue already planned.  One of which is the fourth book in the Something Like series.  I have plans for that series, but I’m not going to talk about them quite yet.  Watch this space in the coming months for news!

And the sad news to mix in this beginning of the year is, of course, the closing of Amber Quill.  Not only do I lose the home of my series, and the opportunity to work with great people, but the industry as a whole is losing a great publisher.  I’m not going to rehash everything here, but it’s still a blow that I’m reeling from and can’t quite believe it’s happening.

But despite that news, the year is off to a promising start, and while I’m not quite at my peak of writing excitement and motivation, I’m certainly getting there. Writing brings me joy, and I’m going to keep doing it as long as I can.

And!  Love at Roades End, a Valentine’s Day short story, will be released next month!  Details coming soon.