Working on book..... now?

 Happy Wednesday all!  

Hope you are enjoying spring.  Here in NY it is actually quite nice.  It almost... almost.. makes me want to dive into spring cleaning.... but... nah.... 

I have been working on Sara and Christophers story which will lead into Vanessa and Tav's story.  But the twin sisters, Casandra and Ciara are occupying my brain.  I can't get them out so I have been writing down their stories.  And.... !!!!  I realized how to link them to my first book!  Both sisters!  That's an epic step for me.  

And then there are sisters April and Daisy... I have been writing scenes of their stories too.  

SO to count... I am working on 6 books at the same time.  I get an idea and then just get it down so I don't forget.  

I have Charlottes story in the wings - her love has not been named yet... and then I have my two marines and a vet story... yes... I am so going to do a throuple book.  And then of course.. a gay romance... I am currently obsessed with my gay romances!  

But I digress.  Do any of you have multiple stories clouding up your imagination? 

oh yeah... and then... where did this come from... I am writing down some poetry.  I am not into poetry... but.. its there in my head.  I have been writing that down too.  I have a special book for that.  My book of poetry.  I am no Emily Dickson or Sylvia Plath... maybe more a Lisa Simpson?  But Hey,  you have to write what is on  your mind. 

And talking about special books... Who has special books?  or keeps ordering special books.  The ones with the pretty covers?  or the leather bound books with the soft leather covers? I have so many of them, its going to take a life time to write in all of them.  Now that's a challenge right there!  

Enjoy the beautiful spring days all... have a great day too. 

So Many ideas......

 I have so many ideas.. my brain is exploding.  I have approximately ten to twelve books in my head.  I have written a synopsis of them so that I don't forget my ideas.  

I do my best thinking at night in bed or when I am in the car... supposed to be paying attention to driving... and on the way home from work the other day... it happened.  My brain was on overdrive and I created a storyline arc to connect Casandra and Ciara (twins) (books 7 and 8?)  to Alexei and Angela.  How does that happen?  

As a writer - where do your ideas come from?  

Ultimately all my books in the Forever Home series, while independent books, will relate to the final book of Diane and Bud. So there will be a common theme in all the books in this series that relate to Forever Home.  As you can see that I started this theme in my first book with Alexei and Angela. 

And while I should be writing about Sara and Christopher, and I have, but Vanessa's story has been infringing in my writing and also Casandra and Ciara are pushing through.  But before Casandra and Ciara, I have April and her sister Daisy - daughters of Bud who will be involved with Diane - creator of Forever Home, need to have their stories told.  

Do you have favorite characters?  While Vanessa starts out hard, I love how her story is evolving and how she is growing.  And while April is a strong woman, her underestimated sister Daisy's story is turning out to be so much fun to create.  

As a writer - do you write only one book at a time or do you have a few in the hopper? 

And to anyone out there who is a fan of Astronomy, did you see the Eclipse?  Here in Long Island, we only had about 91% coverage but I didn't care!  It was beautiful!  Exhilarating! I felt it in my soul.  I love everything about space and natural phenomena like this. I had my solar glasses and I was out every 10  minutes to watch the moon take little bites out of the sun!  It was extraordinary!  

Ok, reining in my geekness..... 

https://www.amazon.com/Conflict-Forgiveness-Catherine-MERVYN

https://www.amazon.com/My-American-Angel-Alexei-Angela- 

Hope you all have a great day... enjoy the spring!!  

Cathy 

Working at work

 I transferred all my docs to google docs because I can easily open them at work.  This week I have been working on my book during some down time. I find that I am more productive during the day at work.  

I addition, I have come to realize that I am going to have to plot more than I have in the past.  I am truly a pantser.... flying by the seat of my pants kind of writer.... but my 3rd book got a little confusing.  So I have a note book and am doing a synopsis of each chapter and what I want to write in it.  I have about 8 chapters done.  I have about 4 more to go.  I have it all in my head, I just have to get it down on paper.  

And I have been writing on my other books too.  the 4th book is going to be related to the 3rd book. They are stand alone books, but there are references back and forth between both of them. So I now am setting this up in my chapter notebook to kind of keep track.  So I guess now I am a plotting pantser??  

I am excited about the 4 upcoming books... and hell, I'm excited about the other books in my brain.  I think one is better than the other and I can't wait to get them all down on paper.  But one day at a time... one book at a time..... well... maybe two books at a time.  

And I have decided that I need to learn spanish.  I  took years of it in high school, but you all know how that goes.... use it or lose it.  I set up an account with babbel and so did my boss.  So we are both learning spanish from the beginning at the same time.  

Squeezing all this fun into one day!!  Oh my!!

later taters...... 

Change of weather

 Its almost spring and... sadly, I have not been writing much.  It is all in my head and it goes round and round.  But sitting my ass in my chair and getting those words down on the page... I keep saying.. tomorrow... tomorrow.  

Slacker.... :)

I have uploaded my vignettes to google docs so that I can do some writing at work also.  It is quiet time at work until say.... the end of March.... and then its going to get busy. 

But I like to write at work.  That is where I did most of my first book.  Much to the dismay of my boss.  But ultimately he was cool about it.  As long as I was discrete.  

I am looking forward to the spring.  Not that our winter here was so bad.  It really wasn't.  One small snow storm and the next day it was all cleared out. I am getting the spring cleaning urge to purge!  watch out junk, here i come.

So getting my books over to google docs, I can now play around at work and I am feeling good about that. 

Have a great day all and enjoy

Other mediums?

 What other mediums do you use as a writer.  For inspiration?  For ideas?  For commiseration? 

I do like to watch tik tok videos of some of my favorite authors that are on the site.  Even follow authors that I don't know and write in different genres than I do.  

Everyone is interesting in their own way.  I enjoy watching their videos. 

I also belong to a few groups on Facebook.  Beginner authors, more advanced authors.  I see that I do get a bit of spam from those wanting to "help" me with my book or publishing or marketing, but I kind of ignore that.  

I am amazed -in a good way- at how many people really love to write.  Love to get their stories out of their heads onto paper.  The enthusiasm is catchy, and the self-doubt is relatable. Isn't that about life in general though? 

I love to read the posts from authors.  Hearing about their own insights on their books, on other books.  It's fascinating to me. I think I may have joined too many groups as it gets a little crazy, but that is OK.  Reading about peoples journeys as an author is comforting.  So many successes. And failures!  You don't learn unless you fail.  The best teacher is failure.  But the successes are ooohhhh so sweet.  I cheer for all the authors no matter where they are in their journey. 

The marketing of yourself is the hardest part for me.  I am shy.  Introverted.  I am better today than I was when I was younger, but still, marketing myself is very hard to me.  I don't want to infringe on anyone... be a pest to anyone.  UGH!!  I know!!!  It's awful.  

I guess that is why I like to write.  I can put my feelings, my words, down on paper and not have to be face to face with anyone.  My hubby, not a reader, listens to me, but he hasn't a clue.  I can see the blankness behind his eyes when I talk about my latest plot.  Not that I blame him.  I am sure I have the same look on my face when he talks about cars.... everyday.... every....day.....   

All in all, I like to check out different places authors gather and read about their experiences.  Does it help?  Don't know, but it feels nice to be included in this groups of people, even if they don't know who the hell I am.... 

Almost the weekend - Enjoy all - until next time. 

Other Hobbies?

 Do you have other hobbies other than writing? 

My biggest hobby right now is reading.  I love my books.  Love them!  I have 829 books in my kindle library.  Do I wish I had a real dedicated room for my books?  Yes, yes I do.  At one time, many moons ago, I had over 1500 books, packed away neatly in boxes in my closet.  I had no room for them.  I kept them because I like to re-read my books.  I ended up giving them up, just never had the room for them.  I did keep my favorites though.

But with my kindle, I can have as many books as I want.  And that does not include the books that I read and give back to kindle.  The 829 books are purchase books.  Since I joined Kindle Unlimited, I am sure that the 829 books is really closer to 2000 books.  Looks like hoarding books, even on line, is a secondary hobby!

And then come Astronomy.  I am an amateur astronomer.  I love everything from super massive black holes to neutrinos and smaller.  I read (see...I'm just a reader!!) everything I can about space.  Once of my favorite shows is about the Universe. I won't even get started on my guilty pleasure, Ancient Aliens!! 

I think that is why I have tried out the genre of books about Alien romance books.  They are outrageous and fabulous! Sadly, if we did have an alien invasion, methinks its not going to go like any of these romances... sigh.....

Then lastly, I am trying my hand at junk journalling.  I have all different sized journals and all kinds of stickers, paper, et al. that comes with journaling.  I would like to try written journaling, but I am not that exciting to write about my life every day in a journal.  I am kind of a boring person.  My brain is a bit eclectic, but me... nope.... boring.  after about writing for 5 minutes, I'd die of boredom just from reading about my own life. 

But the junk journalling thing..... is me trying to be creative or artistic.  How is that going, you didn't ask?  Yeah... I'm not that artsy.  And that sucks big ones because my grandfather was a very very artistic person.  He was incredible.  His granddaughter.... not so much.   I got the bad eyes and the big ass... but no artistic talent.  

So what are your hobbies?  What are you good at other than writing?  What do you do to destress from writing and life?  Do tell 

Later taters....... 

Time Flies By

 Time is flying by so fast.  I was warned when I was 18.  My boss said... before you know it, you are going to be 62 and wondering where the time went.  My 18 year old self had the nerve to say to him:  Oh Gus, you don't know what you are talking about.  I'm close to 62..... and where did the time go?  

It's just about February and January zipped by so fast I hardly noticed it.  

I keep telling myself, I'll write tomorrow night and something gets in my way.  The stories are floating through my head and they have to get down on paper.  

I did some writing over the weekend and today.  I am getting closer to completing my 3rd book and as I am looking at it I realize that I have to put it in order.  I am a fly by the seat of my pants writer.  I think of something for the story and I write it down.  Then I put the story in order.  Is it a little confusing sometimes but it works for me.  

I need to write the words to get them out of my head.  If I wait too long, I lose the snap I had with the first draft in my head.  

God bless those writers that have everything in order.... every chapter synopsis.... I admire that.  But it does not seem to work for me.  

So I am taking my time, enjoying the trip and writing at my own pace.  I love my journey no matter how much time it takes. 

Talk to you all soon!!