watching Anthony Bourdain, No Reservations

I’m an insomniac. By luck, my life has allowed me, as a writer, to make my own hours in the past few years. I don’t have to clock into a job at 6:45 AM anymore. Or even 8 AM. So I find myself writing like my fingers are on fire at 1 AM sometimes, only to drag myself out of bed the next morning quite later than most people. I feel guilty about that, but  I look at my word count for the night before and know that if I’d been up earlier in the morning, I would have more likely been doing Domestic Goddess duties to get myself moving.

WHO DAT WON THE SUPERBOWL?!?! GEAUX SAINTS!I’m looking forward to a trip to NOLA next month! Plus a trip to Niagra Falls/Canada and another cruise this summer. Every stinking time a I have to go out in the cold I remind myself that I have places to go later this year that will make the daily grind worth it. Even if I’m busier at 1:15 AM than I was at 8:15 AM.

I only did 2695 words today, but I’m happy with them, at least until I have to start revisions. Seriously, I’m a pantster (I don’t plan out the entire book before I start writing it), so I have to stop and sort out details every once in a while. But at the moment, I’m letting the words flow and enjoying getting the story moving! I hope you’re happy with what you’re doing this week, too!

listening to Teagan and Sara

Like this band, for instance - K got invited to see a concert and I’d never heard the band (GASP! I KNOW!). So I’m checking it out, and I like it. I’ve never heard it on the radio, and we’ve got some pretty progressive stations around here. How did they fly under my radar?!

My friends over at Romance Divas put a call out for free reads for Valentines Day, so I thought I’d whip out a novella. Snort, right - like it’s that easy. I won’t be submitting a story, but if you like free stories, check out the site on Valentines Day!

I did, however, start writing another set of characters. Now I just need a plot and all of those other pesky details that make a novel work. Since I just started a different book last month, I’ve got plenty of time to develop the idea *after* I finish the new book… but at least I have an idea for when the time comes! I’m also experimenting with some new software - yWriter5. It helps organize and track details in novels. It’s taking some time for me to sort through the nuances of the program, but if it will help, it’ll be worth the time investment. Right?! Well, I’ll never know until I try it out…   

I finally decided I have way too many books. I know, it’s shocking even to me. So I’ve been going through and re-reading them to decide which ones have to go. I started with the books that are over 10 years old. Technology has certainly changed a lot in such a short amount of time. I should add that if I have an entire author’s backlist,  their older books have a spot on the shelf, no matter what.

I’m being completely random about it, picking a book if I don’t recognize the title, or if I only have one book by a particular author. What I need to do is go through all the shelves and make a stack to go through. A lot of the ones I’m getting rid of I don’t read all the way through. For whatever reason, the story just didn’t draw me in a second time.

What about you? Do you have a ton of books that you like to read over and over again? Or are you one of the many who never read the same book twice? I’ve noticed that romance readers are usually in the first group. I am a sucker for for a happy ending!

How was your weekend? Mine was great - Mother/Daughter Book Club met and had a lavish tea party in honor of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, this month’s reading selection. Next month we’re reading Love Story (I actually already read it on Sunday night & Monday morning). It boggles my mind how it became such a huge bestseller. We also went to see Sherlock Holmes - it was a great movie! It was closed-cationed, the first time I’d ever seen that in the theater. Interesting!

The first chapter of my untitled manuscript is almost finished, I’m at just under 4000 words (17 pages). As usual, I’m getting ahead of myself with characters and details. Do you use a computer program to keep track of your books? Which one? Have any experiences to share? I saw a thread over on the Romance Divas forum about it, so that’s my next cyber stop today…

Hopefully, I’ll keep things moving forward and not drop any plot points or character details. I’m kind of distracted by my birthday - it was always a big deal when we were growing up, and I’ve continued the tradition through the years. Sometimes I celebrate my birthday for an entire month! Here’s hoping you have a wonderful week, too!

I started my new novel! Actually, I’ve started my new novel several times! LOL I’ve written several scenes as a starting point. I just can’t decide which one to use. I think I’ve got it - but even if I don’t, I’m pushing through to the next scene. You know what they say…  you can fix bad writing, but you can’t fix what isn’t there. Onward we go!

Otherwise, I’ve had a serious case of couch potato-itis. I usually don’t watch very much TV, so I’m blaming the cold weather for my inability to tear my attention away from the pretty box that tells me stories. Today, let’s see if we can change that!

… and in with the new! As in a new unauthorized user hacking into my website. Again. Why in the world do people even bother?! So far I haven’t found anything amiss, but if you notice anything unusual when you visit (like porn or something equally appalling) PLEASE let me know.

While I looked around, I made some changes. Edited a few pages, and figured out some others I need to make. Today I’ll be fiddling around with my site, so it you encounter any problems it might be because in in the process of changing the page… but check with me just in case.

Tomorrow I’m officially starting my new book! So very excited, and a little scared, but ready to go. I’ve been playing with ideas, so I’m pretty sure I’ve figured out the opening scene. I’m so decisive! Looking forward to plunging ahead and getting this project off the ground… 

Anyone else starting a new project? Finishing one up? Trying to fix a sagging middle or just muddling through? Best of luck to all my writing friends!

watching the NCIS Holiday Recovery Marathon

How did time pass so quickly? It seems like just yesterday we were preparing for Y2K and the speculation that the world would grind to a halt! That was fairly entertaining… it was before our house was finished, so we lived in a different part of town. My kids were just babies! Ten years went by faster than I could have ever imagined.

With the Christmas holiday behind us, we’re chilling out and waiting for New Years Eve. I don’t plan on doing any writing (I’ve noticed that my process tends to shut down around the holiday, but I make up for it when I get my fresh start in January).  Maybe, if I get too bored of being a slacker, I’ll start another round of revisions on the Hard trilogy. We’ve got new games to play, television marathons to watch, tons of food to eat… we truly are a blessed bunch!

Here’s hoping you and yours have a happy, healthy, and wonderful new year! Cheers!

I can’t believe it’s already a week before Christmas! I have been shopping like a fiend, and coming home empty-handed more often than not - I’m not having much luck coming up with gift ideas for a long list of people.

It’s officially Winter Break for the kids, so hopefully they can help me whittle down my list. Plus, I haven’t been to any of the artsy shopping shows. And maybe I can squeeze in some extra shopping in after ice skating at Whole Foods and the MDBC meeting…

Happy holidays!

listening to the Elf soundtrack

This month came blasting in with an arctic front - our first freeze of the season. It even snowed Friday, but not enough to stick or even keep the ground wet. We went to an annual law firm party, then Saturday we picked out a Christmas tree. We also got out all the outdoor lights and decorations.

It rained leaves while we worked outside, but I didn’t last long out in the cold. Brr! We got all of the indoor finery displayed and the tree on the stand, then the kids and I headed out for some shopping. While we didn’t actual purchase any gifts, we did get some good ideas for what people on our lists might like. There was a lot of traffic, but the crowds weren’t too bad. Yet.

Sunday we got the tree trimmed and wasted most of the day watching Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler movies. I took my time looking through the newspaper ads, strategically planning my next shopping adventure. Today is dreary and cold, and the rest of the week doesn’t look promising as far as sunshine goes, so I might just have to suck it up and brave the elements (such as they are in South Texas! LOL). I’d really like to get all the shopping out of the way before it gets crazy out there…

Otherwise, we’ve been busy with a crazy choir schedule and trying to get a certain high school freshman passing grades. It’s amazing how hard it is to come back from a series of low marks. Oh, the joys of motherhood! LOL

The new story is still in research mode - my FBI contact gave me some really great scenarios to work with for my hero. I think I’m calling him Leo at the moment. So I’ve been going back in time online (again), and I’m slowly building a background for my characters. I’ve even been having dreams that are helping bring things together. I think by the time winter break starts, I’ll be itching to be back at the keyboard! If I’m not, feel free to call me on it! LOL 

This morning we went to the Chuy’s Children Giving To Children Parade. We got there late (parking was a nightmare), so we missed the beginning. I think the kids had a lot more fun when they were smaller. This time we mostly mocked people - those marching, etc. just didn’t seem to have much enthusiasm! It felt good to donate toys to needy kids, and my kids had fun in the process…

Later, we went to Mother Daughter Book Club, which is ALWAYS a good time. Friends, food, just being together… This month we read Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F. Scott Fitzgerald (since we enjoyed the Great Gatsby last month). Had a very lively discussion about the story, caught up on what’s been going on in each other’s lives, and watched some old silent movies with Clara Bow in them. Listening to teenage girls fill in the blanks when there aren’t words it quite hilarious. We all had a blast ad libbing the scenes. If we could manage to find the time, I’m sure we’d meet more than once a month. Back when they were younger, the girls all took dance classes together, so we’d see each other every week, but their high school schedules are much too busy for that now. Sigh. They grow up too fast!

I wish I could say I have a lot of writing time planned, but I’m still trying to work out my hero - he’s still a mystery to me. Got a few ideas, but nothing solid yet. I’ll make up for it later, when I crank out multiple scenes in a day. But for now, not much is happening.

Hope you had a great holiday! Can you believe December is in just a few days?! Have a good one…