It Takes an Army

I have a small army behind me. They push me to continue, cheer me on and most importantly, get down in the trenches with me. Several people have edited my manuscripts for me. I am so grateful. Seriously. Remember editing blinders? I need other people to edit.

I mentioned to my husband I was going to take a little writing break and edit The Ordinary again. A friend had recently reached out saying she'd found some mistakes (THANK YOU!) and I couldn't get it out of my mind. I needed to clean up The Ordinary. I printed it out and got a couple chapters in and then he asked if he could do it. Um, yeah. Remember my editing blinders? Ha!

We had a snow day here yesterday which means today, too, even though the sky is clear and the roads appear dry. We are in a small town in SC and snow is rare. The children bused to school come from mostly rural area's in which the roads aren't cleared nor treated before a storm. The snow sticks on those small, tree-covered roads. My husband is a professor and school was canceled for him as well. He has had his head tucked in the pages of my manuscript for hours. Yep. He's a keeper! And this is the best part...

Thanks, Kim!

Goodreads Giveaway Wrap-up

The Goodreads giveaway for The Heir ended a few days ago. 521 people entered the giveaway, which is pretty ironic because 521 highway is where I spend most of my life! It connects my little town with what I like to call civilization! Ha! Don't get me wrong. I adore this small town and the people in it, but sometimes this city girl just needs a Target. But, I digress...

I sat down today and wrote a little note to send to the lucky winner. Her book and my note are already on their way to her house. I hope she feels the love in the pages of the book and the little note I sent. In a little over two days, I'll send another note along with The Ordinary to another lucky winner. Truth be told, I wish I could send a little note to all my readers. I often wonder if all authors feel such gratitude for those who take the time to read their work. I have always been hesitant to "pester" authors of books I love but now, being on this end, I think I'll do more pestering because hearing from a reader? Well, in my humble opinion, that's not pestering at all. Not. at. all.

Happy reading! And head on over HERE if you haven't entered the Goodreads giveaway for THE ORDINARY. You have just over two days to do so!

Writers Block

Writers block. I don't get it often but when I do it's miserable! I love to write. I love to see where the story takes me and when that stops happening...well, it's sad. Imagine you're reading a book you LOVE and are just getting to the good part and your baby wakes up. Or your mom hollers up the stairs and tells you to clean your room. You eye that book propped open on your bed and can't wait for the time when that little baby is snoozing peacefully again or you get your mom's approval on the level of cleanliness in your room and you can pick up where you left off. It's like that for me except I can't get the babe back to sleep nor my room clean enough. Sigh.

Usually leaving it for a bit helps. I wish I kept a record of how many times writers block set in and I left to pick up my girls from school only to have an idea on the drive there. Sometimes the block lasts longer, though. Weeks at a time. Eventually, an idea comes...often in the shower. I need to put a white board in my shower for ideas. Or maybe move my office into my closet and run the shower while I work. Then my cute family will think I'm off limits. They don't respect the creative process. ;) That's okay. I really don't mind.

What I do mind is this BLOCK. I set a deadline for myself, which I've never done before. Maybe that's why this is setting in. Maybe I don't write well under pressure. I'm not really sweating the deadline at this point though. Nope. I don't think that's it.

 Or it could just be the holidays. Life has been busy and exciting. Everyone is home and our routine, well, we blew that thing up day one of Christmas break. Today my husband offered to take the kids out for a while and give me some writing time, and I told him no. Gasp. Maybe a quiet house would have jump-started my writing but I sure didn't want to sit here in an empty house knowing this is precious time and not have anything to write. And I really wanted to get the Christmas tree down. Yes. I'm sure that's the reason.

However, maybe it's not really a writers block. Maybe it's really writers process because figuring out where your story is going to go is no easy task...usually. I was pretty clear where The Ordinary was headed. The Heir and book 3 (which still has no name. Poor third child book.) have been a completely different story--pun intended. You're welcome, Kim. That guy's the punniest guy I know. The storyline came together painfully sometimes but it came together. It was a process for sure.

So, I think I'll embrace this writers process and take advantage of the downtime. I've written two blog posts. That's a good thing. And my husband and I gave our office a serious spring cleaning. Took a day and a half. It feels GOOD!

Last night I sat in this sparkling clean office and worked on a brainstorming web and it worked. I know where this book #3 is heading and I'm excited! The laundry is not as excited. It will not get done today.