Time For July...

 Happy Tuesday Everyone!

It's...July? Yep. July. Can you believe it? I know I often say this, but it feels like the month went by very quickly. Or maybe it just seems that way because of all the weird things happening in my life. And, yes, it's hot. (But when isn't it during June and July in Texas?)

Real Life: At the end of May, lightning hit my car (at least, that's what we think happened, didn't SEE it, but based on what we know, that's what we think). Nobody was in it, but the car got damaged and wouldn't work properly. Insurance had it towed and thus began a saga (which is still going on at the time of the writing of this blog post). It's been about 3-4 weeks. We had a rental for a few days, and then had to return it. Then my husband's car had a problem and had to be towed to the dealership. So, husband talked to insurance and told them we were getting a rental because we needed transportation and he needed to get to work. Hopefully all this gets resolved SOON.

Writing Life:  I'm currently not working on writing a novel. But I've been editing Sugar & Frost and it's getting critiques, so I'm excited about that. I love this story. I really do. I feel it's very whimsical (purposely so) and sweet. Yes, there is some serious stuff in it, but mostly I'm hoping my readers will leave with "warm fuzzies". I do have other WIPs (Works In Progress) to be written, but for now this is most of my focus. (I did take some time off from it for a couple or so days just to not get too burned out and be able to find where I need to tweak/adjust/take out, and/or add stuff).

Querying:  I still have a couple of queries out. As for what I'll do with The Forgotten, I haven't made a complete decision. I did some edits on it, but right now I'm just taking a "wait and see" attitude with that one. Who knows? Maybe something will come of queries/pitches for it.

Other Author Stuff: So, I found out about a new pitching event on  X/Twitter called #UnhingedPit. This was incredibly fun. It was meant to be completely unconventional--so you didn't pitch your manuscript the way one normally would and you used older comps (generally comparison titles are ones that were released 5 or less years from present day), so the comparison titles for #UnhingedPit were ones that were older. So far I haven't gotten any agent likes on my pitches for that, but I did have fun with it and I made some new author friends, so to me, that was a success. There are other pitch opportunities coming up (I'm planning on participating in at least one) but this was a fun thing to do.

Blogspot is being weird about font color, so if you're seeing black for some parts of the post and purple for others, I apologize. I tried to make it all purple.

The 4th of July is coming up for the United States. So, Happy Birthday, USA! 

Plans for the July? Pretty much what I've been doing.

Do you have any fun plans for July?

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Hope your July is Joyful!

June Has Arrived...

 Happy June Everyone,

June is here! Yep, it's here. May was more eventful in my real life. So, off we go:

Writer's Life Updates: 

Nothing fun to report on the query front with the YA Fantasy I've been querying. I still have a couple out.

Editing:

I've got a YA Fantasy with a Christmassy theme to it. I'm enjoying getting it polished. I hope to start querying it, soon. I'm not sure what 'soon' is, yet, though.

Writing:

WIPs (Works In Progress) that I'm writing are on hold (for the most part) while I edit.

Other stuff:

I fixed up my Mood Board for the YA Fantasy (Christmassy) story and that's up on my social media accounts (Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram).

As for real life...strap on your safety belts: it's a wild ride!

There have been several storms in my part of the world (especially in May). We're all safe, which I thank God for that. 

One particular storm did something strange (well, strange for us, it's never happened before to us!) I was working on edits. Thunderstorm blows up. I listen for a bit and decide it's not too bad and should pass over quickly. No big deal. Then BOOM! Big ole crack of thunder--seems to be right above my house. I felt myself jump. I calmed myself down, backed up my files and shut off the computer.

Later, after both my husband and eldest checked on the car, my husband came in to tell me something was up with it. What he told me baffled me, so I went out to check it out for myself. One of the headlights was on. A small headlight on one side was missing (no clue where it was--didn't see it anywhere). I got in the car and tried to start it. The brake pedal started vibrating/shaking and the engine wouldn't turn over. I tried again. Same thing. Radio came on, but nothing else was really happening. The headlight that was on wouldn't turn off. So, we locked it up, and went inside. Husband called insurance.

Everyone I've talked to has been baffled. All we can think is that lightning hit the vehicle. There were no burn marks or anything anywhere else. The side mirror's glass was hanging from a wire out of the holder, and there was some glass on the ground, but other than that, nothing you could really see. Very grateful to God that none of us were near the car or in the car when this happened.

So, I'm hopeful that June is less weird and doesn't have quite so many storms. So far, we've at least one, but it wasn't bad.

I wish all the fathers a Happy Father's Day and hope everyone has a nice June.

Have A Fabulously Fun Friday!

May It Be...

 Happy Thursday!

It's May....which means the year is almost half-over. Wow. Well, my May is shaping up to be pretty busy:

QUERYING: So, I'm querying one of my YA Fantasies. (If you keep up with X(Twitter), or Facebook, or even Instagram (I don't post on Instagram often, but I updated it). The Forgotten is the story I'm querying. It's a fairytale. I've got more-recently-published comps (that is, books that are

similar somehow to it) in my query letters, but if you're a fan of Once Upon A Time, I could see you liking The Forgotten. We'll see what happens there. But it's close to my heart for a variety of reasons.

EDITING: Saturday, April 28, 2024 I finished writing my Christmassy-type YA Fantasy, Sugar & Frost. This was a fun one to write as I leaned more into a whimsical type approach (although there are some serious moments). I played with some of the Christmas-themed stories (Kringle, Jack Frost, little
Christmassy type town). (Fun Fact: This one is set in contemporary time period, but it has an all 80s Playlist...why? When I decided to do that, I just thought it would be funny, but then, after I wrote my dedication, it all made sense). But now it's entering the polishing (aka editing) part of the process.

WRITING: Yes, I have another project (well, more than one). I'm keeping it (and the others) under wraps as I like to do in the beginning. But, yes, I'm writing other stories, too.

NEWS: Me and my husband's anniversary is this month. Mother's Day, at least one birthday, and a sibling's anniversary are this month, as well.

And, yes, I've been reading books, as well. In fact, I just finished 2 books recently. Both good.

So, that's my May so far. Just keep plugging away!

Hope your May is wonderful.

Have A Marvelously Meritorious Monday!

April Hopping and Springing In...

 Happy April Everyone!

April has sprung or arrived or hopped in (whatever image suits you). The leaves are returning to our trees and I've seen some flowers around in different places. How about you?

My Easter was very nice. We went to Mass (Catholic Christian liturgy). I really like the joy involved. It was beautiful. In the evening, we went over to one of my sister's house and had dinner with her and her family, my parents, and one of my aunts who had come into town. It was fun. My father made apple pie (one of his specialties) and my sister cooked (delicious). 

Updates? I think I've mentioned this before...I've been working on a Christmassy-mythology inspired type of novel. It's a YA Fantasy (of course...because I like to incorporate fun type of magic in my work). It's going pretty well. I'm getting closer and closer to the end of writing the manuscript and then I can move into edits. It's mostly whimsical and light, with some serious moments.

I'm enjoying the fact that it's not horribly hot (yet). We've had some beautiful days (with nice breezes, too!) so I'm happy to not be sweating buckets (like I said, YET...I know it's coming).

I hope your spring has been nice and enjoyable. Comment below with your favorite current reads and/or shows. :-)

Have A Fantastical Friday!

March, Titles, Etc...

Happy Thursday Everybody,

It's March! 

February seemed a little long to me (and not because of Leap Day) so on March 1st I was like "Oh wait...it's is March. I need to flip my wall calendar."

So, what's going on? Let's see...I continue on the query road (nothing I'm ready to report, yet). As for writing, I decided to take one of my WIPs (Works In Progress) and write it with a completely different plot. And then, I got another idea and had to work on that!

I try to focus on one WIP at a time because it helps me move forward, but sometimes you gotta get that other idea going before you can finish the previous manuscript. Sometimes the new manuscript becomes the one you finish first. 

When I started with this blog post I was at a loss as to what I should say--not that I didn't have things going on, it's just that when I'm querying a manuscript, I don't say much about the process publicly. The same is true for when I'm writing a manuscript. I don't say a lot about it until it's further along and/or finished (in which case I only say a tiny bit until it's either got a contract, or about to be published, or is published).

The beginning of the month I just didn't feel inspired regarding a blog post. It wasn't until recently (i.e. today, March 14, 2024) that the idea popped into my head (sometimes you gotta let things sit and simmer).

On one of my WIPs I'm having a hard time coming up with a title. Titles aren't exactly my strongest talent, but I'm not completely unable to think of something (I came up with the title of the manuscript I'm querying--and some of my other WIPs have titles). This one, for some reason, is proving difficult. I'm somewhat still developing the story on one end (although a problem I'd had, I think I've got a solution for, now). So, I thought I'd talk about how I, as a writer, come up with titles.

Titles, in general, have been an up-and-down type journey for me. With my first published work, I had a title I used when querying, but when I signed the publisher's contract and we began the process of polishing and working on it, I was asked to come up with a new title. This situation is not unique to me. A lot of times titles get changed before publication. But I blanked out. So, I turned to my long-time critique partner, Tess St. John, and we brainstormed. Eventually an idea came forward, and my publisher accepted the new title.

So, how does a writer go about figuring out a title?

I can't speak for all writers, just for me. My process is generally: "Okay, what is this story about?" and then I go from there. If I'm still working out the plot I may focus in on an aspect of the story, or a particular character trait or something I've yet to put into the story, but I know is coming. If I'm really blanked, I talk to someone. After that, it goes into my manuscript file at the top of the manuscript on the title page and as well as part of the header of each page (as well as my name, and page number). 

Some authors don't come up with a title until the story is written. I like to have one while I'm working on the story so that I'm not sitting there with a file that says "Story about--" or "Inspired by--" because that's a long file name, generally; plus, it helps the story feel more "real" to me. Like it's coming together.

One of my WIPs, I came up with the title almost as soon as I came up with the plot. I love it when it works out that way because then I can just focus on writing and editing. However they come, titles are important. Not only do they give you something to call your manuscript, but oftentimes they give a clue to the reader what the story is about, or even the genre.

What are some of your favorite titles (whether you liked the story or not, if it was clever, funny, or interesting)?

Before I forget...

Easter is coming at the end of this month, so I wish everyone a very Blessed and Happy Easter!

Have A Thrillingly Terrific Thursday. :-)

A Leap Into February...

 Happy February!

Okay, for the first time in a while I can say that a month didn't zip past me at lightning speed. I don't know if that's good or bad. Just that January didn't seem to go by quite as fast as most of last year seemed.

Perhaps the lack of "zipping by" has to do with the fact that my eldest had a bacterial infection near the end of December and then 2 weeks later had Covid and a week later I had a bacterial infection (different one from eldest). So for awhile there, it was a bit crazy at my house. Luckily the rest of January was pretty healthy.

This February has a couple of particularly interesting things about it...for one, there are 29 days this year for this month (most of the time it's 28) so Happy Leap Year!

Query news...not really anything I'm ready to report on, so I'll let you know when there is.

Writing news:  I have several unfinished manuscripts and after some revision work that I did for like 2-3 months, I'm back to them and reacquainting myself with these stories. They need to be written and edited.

In my non-writer life (my personal life) I've got some family birthdays and at least one anniversary this month. So that's fun. :-)  Another interesting thing about this February is that Ash Wednesday is on St. Valentine's Day (February 14), so that's a bit different than previous years. We'll attend an Ash Wednesday service and observe the Catholic Traditions of fasting and no meat on that day.

Some people I know have amazing trips planned (for their personal privacy I won't mention details) and I can't wait to hear about their trips.

As for me, most of my trips consist of either within my state or within the USA. The only other country (that I recall) I've been to that wasn't my own, was Canada (and I can't remember how many times I've been, but it's been a long time since the last time I was there). I've been to St. Croix, but that's in the US Virgin Islands, so I'm not sure it counts as going to another country (but it was a fun trip!) I do have ideas of places I'd want to go outside the USA, but haven't really gotten to doing that. Maybe someday.

Fun Fact about my trip to St. Croix:  It was for my honeymoon and the way I came to choosing it was that author Lurlene McDaniel had mentioned it in her novel, For Better, For Worse, Forever. The descriptions of St. Croix in this novel made me want to go there. So I made a decision (either this was Middle School or beginning of High School) that when I got married that's where I'd go on my honeymoon. When I told my husband where I wanted to go, he said that he was all for going to the Caribbean, and we enjoyed our time there (particularly a restaurant that apparently isn't there anymore, but it was a really lovely outdoor one).

For those of you unfamiliar with Lurlene McDaniel's books, she's a retired YA author (according to a Google Search she retired in 2019) who wrote about teens in tough situations. I've loved many of her because she wrote them so well. For Better, For Worse, Forever is the sequel in a 2-book set that starts with Till Death Do Us Part.

Have you ever decided to go somewhere based on a book you read? Did you enjoy it?

I hope you all had a good January and that February treats you well.

Have a tremendously terrific Tuesday!

January 2024 Is Here...

 Happy January, 2024, and Friday!

If December snuck up on me, January just blew right in without me being ready to be done with December. Christmas cards got mailed Wednesday (as in January 3, 2024!) Yeah, I was that behind. But I think my close friends and my family members are a forgiving bunch and won't mind getting their Christmas cards a little late.

My Christmas was fairly nice. I had a sparkly red dress this year (see my Instagram for a photo). I love sparkles. I don't always wear them, but I do like them. I did refrain from purchasing glittery eyeshadow for Mass (Catholic Christian Church Service). A little sparkle at Mass is okay, but I don't need to be attention-grabbing there. Later in the week we ate Christmas dinner at my sister's house (no, not on Christmas Day because we were waiting for one my brothers and his family to arrive in town and they couldn't get in any earlier because of their responsibilities at home). The weekend of New Year's my eldest got a bacterial infection, so eldest had to celebrate New Year's in a bedroom (which was fine, since my husband had to go to work on January 1st and we weren't planning on staying up for the new year--but he was off from Thursday after Christmas through Sunday).

The New Year has been okay so far. Other than some health stuff that I've had to deal with on and off since the beginning of December, it hasn't been too bad. I'm still trying to grasp that it's January 2024. When I'm dating my files for my backups, I keep wanting to put 'December' and then I keep wanting to put 2023, so I have to remind myself that it's January and 2024.

I'm working on revisions on a manuscript that didn't get done before the end of December and thinking of my unfinished stories still waiting for me. It's a process. Some pages I'm not making many changes, while others I'm rearranging things, or taking stuff out, or putting something else in. But that's how revisions and editing goes (generally speaking).

I've no idea what this year will bring--but I do know there is always good and bad in every year and I try to find the blessings and the good amid the hard/bad stuff. Sometimes it isn't easy, but for me, it helps.

I hope your Christmas went well and wish you a blessed 2024!

Have A Fascinatingly Fantastic Friday!