I have been neglecting my blog for far too long. In truth, I have just been in the doldrums...a reading slump, a writing slump. It's not a pleasant place for me to be.

I realized that I wrote myself into a corner with one of my most recent works-in-progress. Of course, my characters were misbehaving in a gloriously fun way, but that made my plot go all askew. And yes, I'm blaming this all on fictional characters. I still think I know where my characters are going to end up by the end of their tale, and to get them there I am going to have to do a fairly major rewrite. I'm going to have to kill some of my darlings to get there, though.

Well, today is November 3 and NaNoWriMo 2018 is officially underway. This is the fifth year I have participated in National Novel Writing Month and I am off to a good start. The goal for today was to get to 5000 words. I hit that goal somewhere around 11:40am. I took a little break to work on a non-NaNo project, but my new goal for the day is to reach 6000 words. As of right now, I have 475 words to go. I think I've go this.

I'm switching gears this  year and trying something new. Instead of writing romance, I'm trying my hand at telling a thriller/suspense type story. The way it sounds in my head is good, but the challenge is to get that story translated onto the page in a meaningful way.

As for my previous projects, I'm working on finishing up Porter's story. The first draft is still fairly rough, so it will still need pretty extensive editing before it's ready for its release into the world. I'm not going to even try to give an estimated release date yet, since there's so much work to do on it yet.

Ok, I've dawdled long enough. Those 475 words aren't going to write themselves, you know.

Until next time, folks...

The suffering artist I am not

I have had a rough summer. August was especially awful, because of personal reasons that I have no wish to put on the internet. Suffice it to say that I am glad to see September arrive.

Until today, I had not written a single word since the end of July. That was when my troubles started. I have many friends who are fellow writers and who can bury themselves in their work to cope with their pain.

I am not such a person.

I retreat inward. My characters exit stage left and remain silent. I think much of being a writer is having a way to bring your internal world out. Retreating into yourself runs counter to that. In my grandiose moments when I imagine myself to be the next Hemingway in the making, I think all  I need is a cabin in the woods, a bottle of whiskey, my demons, and a keyboard...my great American masterpiece is sure to follow, right?

Sadly, that's just not how I operate. I will never be the artist who must suffer for my work. Life, inevitably, will bring along with it some very painful moments. I find myself unable to write to my pain.

I suppose that means I must, instead, write to my joy.

Hi all,

I know I have been absent from writing for a few weeks. I have a confession to make...I'm in a bit of a slump right now. Just a slump. I can't even really call it writer's block, since the ideas in my head are flowing at a fair clip. No, I simply have no motivation.

It's a terrible state of affairs.

I open my manuscript. I write a few sentences here or there. Sometimes I even go back and fill in a few known plot holes. But really, I'm lucky to be writing 500 words a week, when I should be writing at least twice that much each day.

My slump will lift, this I know. I'm filling my time, instead, by catching up on some reading that I have neglected. My unread pile of books on my coffee table is becoming smaller, and I can feel myself rising out of the slump. I'm not quite there yet, but I'm working on it. Slowly.

New Release

And now the wait is over. My new release is ready and is officially launched!

Western Secrets

            In the midst of the Colorado mountains, lived three brothers who were driven by love, loyalty, and secrets. In this wild, untamed land, each brother would find scandal, betrayal, and a love that threatens to burn out of control.

The Agreement

A young widow, Rachel Waters, is in search of a better life for her son after leaving her home in New Orleans. Warner Ellis needs her help. After the untimely death of his wife, he is left alone caring for his infant son and trying to run his ranch. The agreement between them was meant to be strictly business, but they could not escape their longing for each other. Now her life has been threatened, and Warner’s resolve to protect her will be tested to the limit.

  

Now available on Amazon here: http://tinyurl.com/zohd8eh

The release of my second book is behind schedule. I fully acknowledge my time management problems.

Now that that is out of the way, I have good news! It is ready for release...almost. It is written, edited, re-edited, re-re-edited, and formatted. I am now simply waiting for my cover art to be completed. Also, A Dream and A Kiss has been renamed to "The Agreement." I thought this title fit the story better.

A new post will come as soon as The Agreement is ready to go live. 

Happy New Year!

I'm a day late, I know. I have a good excuse, though, as I have been sick. Quite the lame way to ring in the New Year, indeed.

In other news, I'm putting the final editing touches on A Dream and A Kiss. I will be working on the cover art (or rather, finding a good cover artist). My new expected release date is February 1, 2017.

In the newest installation in this series, you will follow Warner Ellis' journey. A recent widower, he needs someone to help tend to his infant son and is in dire straights until Rachel Waters, a widowed single mother in need of work, comes to town. What started off as merely a convenience quickly becomes something far more. That is, until several untimely accidents begin to befall Rachel.

Who is trying to harm her? Can Warner keep her safe?

Well, stay tuned...

November is coming

So, it is now T minus three days to the beginning of November...aka, National Novel Writing Month. I have been participating for the past five years. Since I started participating, I have started a new story each year. With the exception of one story, all of them remain unfinished.

Therefore, this year, I'm going to defer starting something new so that I can focus my energies on finishing a couple of the others I have been working on.

NaNo is great. NaNo is intense and stressful. Inevitably by mid-month I will be fully in the weeds with my story and half-convinced that this writing thing is totally for the birds. Then sometime in the third week, I start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Plot holes start getting filled (or at least flagged for later review) and somehow I crawl, exhausted and emotionally beaten, across the finish line.

Luckily for me, I have a relatively clear calendar, lots of coffee stocked in the pantry, and a brand new laptop at my disposal. A couple write-ins are already scheduled each week throughout the month, and of course there are all of the various online forums where I can go commiserate with other writers (of course, this won't be used as a procrastination tool...that would just be silly! Pfft!).

I have been hard at work getting A Dream and A Kiss ready for its release. I am behind schedule, but I am making amazing progress on the story.

I have also been absent from my blog for, oh my, four months. In that time, I have gotten a promotion at my day-job and have taken a few trips out of town. Now that autumn is just days away, I am trying to focus on sitting my butt in the seat and getting words on (virtual) paper. I am also looking ahead to the continuation of the Ellis family saga. Book 3 in the series will feature Porter, the strong, sensitive, silent type and by far the most dynamic of the brothers. I have his whole story mapped out in my mind, but I have to finish Warner's story first. He needs his happily ever after.

"It's an honor to even be nominated..."

I don't know how many of you watch award shows, but in nearly every award ceremony (Oscars, Grammy's, Golden Globes, etc), you will see interviews with celebrities on the red carpet. Inevitably, someone will say something to the effect of "It is an honor to even be nominated." I used to think that was a faux-humility BS statement that they said just to save face in case they lose.


I have since seen the error of my ways.


A few weeks ago, on a lazy Sunday afternoon, I checked my email and found out that I have been nominated for an award. Specifically, the RONE award through InD'Tale Magazine. My debut novel was reviewed in 2015 by that publication and was given 4.5 rating (out of 5). That put me in the running. Needless to say, my ego was stroked.


I now know the feeling of being flattered just by getting the nomination. To me, it's a pretty big deal. Yes, I will be disappointed if I don't win, but that doesn't take away the fact that I did well enough to be in the running.


Voting goes from May 9-15, and this is the link: http://www.indtale.com/2016-rone-awards-week-four


Of course, there is no pressure, but I would really appreciate the support if you want to help out.


Regina




P.S. Oh, and I'm still working on my follow-up novel. I'm getting close to having a completed manuscript.

The best laid plans of mice and men...

I have come to believe that I have time management issues. I had every intention of having A Dream and A Kiss ready for release by mid-March. Well, here it is mid-April, and it just isn't ready yet. I regret that I must push the release back a few months. I'm really, really, really hoping to have it ready by mid-July. However, I won't release it until I feel it is the best possible version of the story that I currently have the ability to write. Although I'm still relatively unknown as an author, I believe I owe it to my audience, myself, and my characters to write to the best of my abilities.

Good news, though! One of my beta readers told me today that Warner Ellis is now her new literary crush. Swoon! I mean, he is pretty dreamy. He has the strong, silent, sensitive thing down. I have really enjoyed getting to know him and translating his journey through his world to the page.

I let myself get distracted a fair amount. I have a full-time job and a couple recurring social events. Often times, I'm mentally fried by the end of my work day, so if I get a full page written in the evening, I think I'm doing pretty well. And then this happens when I am in the zone and ready to get some work done:

 

He's "helping" Mom do her work. Ugh! Thwarted. And he looks so offended when I put him down and get back to what I was doing.