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Fantasy Romance

Romance Novels

Available for Pre-Order: A Knight’s Redemption

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What secrets are okay to bury to save the life of a child? A town? A province? And who will pay the price when those secrets are unearthed?

Sir York buried his noble title and his past to join the Knights of Valor. He then accepted the most difficult of assignments to prove his dedication: rebuild the war-torn province of Marren. But the annual harvest is the least of his worries as a powerful and ancient evil threatens to consume all in it’s path, including every soul in Marren. When a beautiful but reclusive mage saves his life, Sir York will do anything to win her help to save Marren. Anything but fall in love with her.

Tessa couldn’t care less about Marren. Or so she tells herself. But they need her magic to survive, and so does Sir York, a man far too handsome, too charismatic, and too blessed by the gods. After all she’s endured, the last thing she needs is to fall in love with someone that will break her heart as surely as he will. Especially if he ever learns the truth about who she really is.

Just when it seems the people of Marren may actually stand a chance, unearthed secrets lead to a dead woman and a holy inquisition. Now, neither Sir York’s blade nor Tessa’s magic is enough to save them all. As darkness descends, Sir York and Tessa must face their pasts and risk everything, including their hearts, before the ancient evil devours them all.

Available for pre-order now!

Writing: Finished!

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I finished Siegfried and Sarah.

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Let me celebrate a little!

Yes, the story is only forty-thousand words, but this is how stories work for me.

My first draft are skeletal. I will not be killing my darlings, as frankly, I don’t have many darlings to kill.

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He has some really good advice, but I would NEVER let him read me a bedtime story. Ever. I like sleep too much.

But I will later. I will layer on all the things that make the story come to life. Character motivation. What they are thinking and feeling. Maybe even a description of where they are and what they are wearing.
Yes, my first drafts are pretty bare, but they have a beginning, middle and end. They are a complete story, even if they are a very hurried, very incomplete story.

I have come to terms with my methodology of writing. I have learned to trust my inner muse, to let her have free reign on the first draft.

There is only one way to account for stock comp expense, but I believe there is a myriad of ways to write a book. I sometimes think the writing community’s obsession with outlining stems more from our society’s obsession to control things, to understand the process, and then sell that process.

If it works for Stephen King, it must be the correct way!

Except I am not certain this works with creative endeavors the same way it works for accounting. I also think it’s a lot harder to sell the pantsing methodology. You can’t really put together a class on trusting your muse and letting her see you through. And most writers have seen more than our share of classes on how to plot a novel.

I am rambling a bit about process here to hide the sense of loss I am feeling right now.

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Siegfried and Sarah’s story is done. After the hours and hours we have spent together, I have their first draft complete.

It is with great sadness, and more than small feeling of loss, that I say goodbye to them.
I always feel such loss when I finish a first draft. I feel a certain sadness as I complete later drafts, but never as much as I do on this first one.

As I bid them farewell and allow them to enjoy their happily-ever-after, it’s time to turn my focus to revisions.

I can’t wait to introduce you to Sarah and Siegfried, but first, Sir Matthias needs his happily-ever-after…

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NaNoWriMo 2019

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I will not be doing NaNoWriMo again this year.

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And any love from your family.

To those that are doing it, I will once again cheer for you from the sidelines.

I set my goals last January, and I am trying to stick to them as well as I can.

At the moment, I am working on my February 2020 goal because that is what has me inspired right now and because I managed to finish my October goal earl. Which happened to be the first draft of Thomas of Claudia. So maybe that means I already finished Nano?

Okay, so not really.

I just can’t complete so much in a month, especially not a month when I am already so busy at work.

Thomas and Claudia’s story is currently only fifty-five thousand words, but it has a beginning, middle and end. I like the characters, but clearly the novel needs more robustness.

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Will always be how it is for me.

Not surprising as that is how I write.

I have given up on trying to do what I am “supposed to” do. I don’t outline. Yes, it means more rewriting. So be it. In my defense, my editor says my first draft is like a very chunky outline. All the pieces are there, but they are stripped down to their bare bones. Not that she has ever seen a first draft, but she has seen how my revisions work. And she knows how spare the third draft she receives from me is. So, instead of paring down and killing my darlings, I tend to start by writing a skeleton draft and layering on from there.

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Actual footage of my first draft.

This is what works for me. It may not be the best thing, but it works.

To everyone out there taking on Nano, I wish you well!

I will be writing this year along with you instead of revising as these new characters just won’t hush, but it will be at a much slower pace.

My family thanks you, especially as I need to keep that day job!

And so does my cat.

 

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Yeah, he’s cute. Until you want him to move.

 

Wunderlist, Where Have Thou Gone?

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Me, trying to learn something new when I don’t want to.

Microsoft bought Wunderlist. Of course they did. Wunderlist was awesome, and Microsoft’s offerings…were not. Wunderlist was voted best product, Microsoft wasn’t. So, as is the case these days, the giant consumed the little guy.

I have been using Wunderlist for almost two years to help keep me on track with writing goals, and this year especially, I have used it as a motivating tool. I have even shared progress reports to help keep myself accountable.

September Update
Like this one.

Of course, I have no idea what Microsoft will do with it. For the moment, I can still access my stuff. Not sure how long.

But I can see the changes coming.

One of the things I loved about Wunderlist was that it was platform neutral because it was all on the web. I could access it from my android phone, my iPad, my laptop, or my MacBook. It was always the same exact screen.

The very first thing the new Microsoft platform wanted was for me to download the app for my specific device.

Uh, yeah, no.

Looks like it still has a web component. For now.

Maybe it will be as easy to use, maybe not.

I get progress, I really do, but I am not sure this is progress. The original program was terrific, met all my needs, and was easy to use. I don’t really want to spend brain power re-learning how to use something I understood before. I just want the darn thing to work.

Of course, I can’t tell you how well the new program works. Because I have to go back and figure out all of the passwords I had simply saved as part of my keychain.

Yeah, I know.

I am the weakest link. But I figured if someone really wanted to steal my To Do list, they could have it. Maybe they’ll even do it for me.

Writing Update: September

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Things were going okay until they weren’t.

September Update
Thank goodness I worked ahead a little.

Work has been crazy, and I have been struggling to feel even remotely creative.

We tend to play video games as a family, and some of that game time crept into my writing time as it was easier to consume creative content than to produce it.

Still, all in, I am on track for the year, but only because I worked ahead earlier in the year.

I am halfway through Prince Thomas and Mage Purple Class Claudia’s story. Finishing it in November is my goal. I hope to make it, but work will only get busier. I have a huge deadline on November 15th, and a “drop dead” date on December 19th. I am marching to those orders now.

We all know stress kill creativity, but with so many other things going on at work, it is absolutely overwhelming right now.

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Me right now.

I also need to tackle a series of promotion stuff I tend to be less enthusiastic about doing. I need to set aside some time to just do it, and I am hoping that will happen late in December. Work will not quiet down until next April, so I have to figure out a way to push through this. I also need to start a lot of the bits of publishing a Knight’s Redemption ahead of time so it doesn’t derail me like publishing Knight of Valor did this year.

Yes, I finished my December goal. It was a rewrite I worked on while I was delayed with Knight of Valor.

As I am reviewing this year’s goals, the one thing I have to admit is revising take a lot more time than I would like.

Once I complete Thomas and Claudia’s story, I will have written three first drafts this year. But I was only able to publish one book.

As I take a look at next year’s goals, I think I need to reduce my number of first drafts to two. I wanted to publish three books per year, but the editing time doesn’t permit that with my other obligations. Perhaps if I only write two in a year, I can then have the time to do all the edits on them so I can release two in a year.

Something to ponder.

I do enjoy the thrill of crafting a story fresh. It’s one of the best and most exciting parts of writing.

But there is also something gratifying about a final draft.

Given how goal oriented I am with my day job right now, might not be the best of times to make such decisions.

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