Tag: Series work

Accountability check-in: bread machine

This week, I unearthed my old bread machine from one of the lower cupboards in my kitchen. And when I say old bread machine, I do mean old. Not only could it vote, but it’s been around long enough to graduate college, complete med school, and residency before chucking it all to become a YouTube influencer.

My bread machine. She’s been around the block a few times.

I was wondering whether it would still work. Then I reasoned, why not? It’s only been napping there on the lower shelf, and there was no reason not to try it out.

So I bought a couple of bread machine mixes. Low stakes here. I decided not to go all in until I knew for certain.

What do you know?

It still works! And there’s nothing like the smell of baking bread for instant comfort. Unless it’s slicing into a warm loaf soon after.

So, my bread machine is very similar to my writing process. I’m not a fast writer. My stories need a lot of subconscious churning before they’re ready. So, this series I’m working on?

It’s been “in the works” for ten years.

Yep, you read that correctly. Ten. Whole. Years.

Granted, I’ve been doing any number of things during that time, including writing a whole other series (Coffee and Ghosts). In fact, I think I needed to write that first before writing this one.

It can be frustrating to be in this place, to have your process be the opposite of the current hustle and grind culture. But I’ve learned (often the hard way) that it’s so much better for me and my stories to write this way. In the long run, I actually get more words and more stories, have more fun, and end up with better stories.

And this week, I’m grateful that my bread machine reminded me of that.

Blame it on the rain

Bloganuary: Write a short story or poem about rain

I don’t have a short story or a poem, but I do have this snippet from my work in progress (which may or may not end up in the final draft).

Rain greets us in the morning. We stand in the doorway and inspect the downpour. It’s fierce but not too unusual for early autumn.

“How infected do you think it is?” Agent Darnelle asks.

My impulse is to say not at all. After yesterday’s freak attack? This could be the aftermath. Mixed in with innocuous raindrops could be plenty of residual toxins.

“One way to find out.” Already, I’m tugging on my rain boots, which I keep by the door. They are pink, with polka dots, nearly a match for my umbrella.

“Agent Little, stop. I insist—”

I halt his words with a pointed look at his shoes. They may be hand-tooled and lovely. But if he steps outside in this downpour?

They’ll disintegrate.

I take up my umbrella and bound out the door. I only venture a few feet down the walkway. No matter what mixture is falling from the sky, this is no day for patrolling. The muck in the housing development will be ankle-deep.

I stick out an arm and feel the cold pelt of raindrops against my skin. When I turn to race inside, a gust of wind catches my umbrella and brings a shower of rain beneath it. I am soaked, my T-shirt clinging to my skin, jeans plastered to my thighs. I run for the door.

There, Agent Darnelle stands. In his hands, he holds a huge bath towel. I rush straight into the waiting terry cloth, and he closes it around me.

“You’re drenched,” he says, the towel skimming my arms and fluffing my hair.

It’s warm and chaotic, encased in the towel and his embrace.

“Tea,” he commands before frog-marching me toward the kitchen. There, a steaming pot of tea is waiting for us.

“I know you’ll want to change,” he says, “but we should assess the damage to your arms. Do you mind?”

I shake my head. It’s what I’d do on my own. He seats me and drapes the towel around my shoulders. While I sip the tea, he inspects my right arm. He does this by pulling out what can only be described as a monocle and peers through it.

“It’s infected.” His lips compress in concern. “Actually, if the rain weren’t so heavy, the damage would be worse.”

“It’s a small advantage King’s End has,” I say. “We get good rain.”

Weekly writing check-in: meet our new family member

Introducing … Milo!

Yes, we’ve added another four-legged member to our family (this makes three dogs and one cat if anyone is counting).

Milo is an American Bulldog, and he’s the sweetest dog you’d ever want to meet. American Bulldogs are often called a large-breed lapdog. Um. Yeah. He’s totally that. And everyone is (more or less) getting along as well.

In writing news, I not only completed the “book map” for my trip through expanding The Trouble with Doppelgangers into a novel, but I started work on it as well.

I also played around with some cover concepts for the first book and the series.

In audio news, I approved the audio for the first season of Coffee and Ghosts. Now the fine people at Findaway Voices will do all their technical checks and get it into the distribution system.

Weekly writing check-in: done and done!

And yes, I drank a lot of coffee this week.

This week, I was not too optimistic. I completed the edit of The Trouble with Necromancers and the audio review for Coffee and Ghosts 1: Must Love Ghosts! I even managed a note or two for the second book in the series.

As far as progress goes for the week, I am pleased.

I can’t wait to share the audio of Coffee and Ghosts. The narrator is one of my all time favorites. I knew she’d do a fantastic job, but I’m completely blown away by her performance. She’s captured Katy’s voice completely, and even the minor characters shine.

That’s it for this week. (Except for prom–but that’s a whole different story. I may need to go back to writing YA one of these years. So. Much. Material.)

Weekly writing check-in: pour a cup a coffee …

I was too optimistic, but I came close. I have fewer than fifty pages left in this edit. I’m confident I can finish it off this week (well, 99.99% confident).

One additional thing I did this week was work on the notes for book two. I have seven pages of longhand notes along with an updated calendar (pro-tip: always write with a calendar), and a whole slew of new ideas.

Plus (and I’m so excited), the audio is in for Coffee and Ghosts 1: Must Love Ghosts! The narrator is fabulous and I can’t wait to share the end result.

So, this week, I’ll be pulling on the headphones and listening to nearly seven hours of Coffee and Ghosts. The last time I reviewed the text (for world building), I ended up with the overwhelming urge to drink cup after cup of coffee. I think I better stock up on a fresh supply along with some half and half.

Weekly writing check-in: springing slowly

Spring has sprung, and everyone is happy

What a difference a week makes. We went from blustery cold and snow to sunshine and April showers.

I am still inching my way through the edit. If I weren’t enjoying it so much (and I am, really I am), I’d be frustrated with how slowly it’s going.

I’m halfway through the manuscript. Well, almost.

It might be too optimistic to say I’ll finish it up this week.

But I can always hope.

 

Weekly writing check-in: snow and slow editing

As predicted I’m inching my way through the edits, and as predicted, we got a lot of snow. But it’s April and I’m pretty much over winter, so I didn’t take any pictures.

I’m up to page 50, but surprisingly, this isn’t a slog. Not only that, but I’ve (easily) cut five pages. I’m really enjoying going through the manuscript at this pace. That being said, I really hope this is the last major edit I need to do.

In exciting news this week, I listened to and approved the extended sample for the audiobook version of Coffee and Ghosts. The narrator is amazing, and I am So. Excited. Must Love Ghosts (Season One) is up first. I’m really looking forward to listening to the rest of the episodes.

Weekly writing check-in: of owls and edits

Editing owl thinks you should be editing.

I met my goal this week. The paper edits for The Trouble with Necromancers are done!

Not only that, but I’m up to page 8 on getting those edits back into the electronic version of the manuscript.

Slow and steady and all that.

And since I was in the editing zone, I also edited two pieces of flash fiction as well.

This week’s goal is to get as many edits as I can from the page and into the manuscript. This really will be a slow and steady endeavor (I’m trying not to call it a slog–need to stay optimistic).

Also, we have barred owls in the neighborhood, although this is not the most photogenic picture of them. They must be nesting close by because yesterday, the “who cooks for you” sounded like it was coming from the back porch.

I wonder how they are at editing.

Weekly writing check-in: spring break

Kitty’s taking her own spring break

Spring hasn’t exactly sprung here yet, but since the driveway is no longer an ice rink, I’ll take it.

I’m continuing the paper edit of The Trouble with Necromancers.

I’m really hoping to finish that this week. Just the paper part, mind you, not the part where I put all the updates into the actual manuscript. That’s its own challenge.

Otherwise, that’s about it. There’s not a lot that’s exciting about editing. Oh, look! I removed a comma. Oh, look! I put it back in.

Weekly writing check-in: back again

I was offline for a bit. And now? Here I am! Back again.

I’m working my way through the paper edits of The Trouble with Necromancers. I’ve forgotten how much I like editing on paper. It’s so tactile.

In Coffee and Ghosts news, I have all the large print editions available. You can find them most easily on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Not only that, The Complete Coffee and Ghosts is now live on all vendors (and in print).

You may have noticed that I didn’t do a launch for this box set. My goal is to (hopefully, eventually) snag a BookBub featured deal on the set. But for now, it’s selling quite well on Barnes and Noble.

Also? I took the plunge (again) and signed up for the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. So. Very. Excited.