S.M. Butler's Blog, page 42

Alright, so it’s the first of the month! I’ve been a lousy blogger, but I’ve had my head down to finish No Strings Attached and get that subbed, which I did on Friday. I took the weekend to not do much of anything, and just took care of stuff at home, which was good because my uncle and his daughter came in to visit.

It’s also #ROW80 day, so let’s get on to the goals. For August, this is what I have planned:

Authors After Dark, 8th – 12th
Write unnamed bounty hunter story
Finish revisions for Off Her Game
Start zero draft of Scoring His Heart

Next week, I’ll be in New Orleans for Authors After Dark so i don’t expect to have writerly things happen. In fact, I’m treating it as a vacation. I will suffer financially for this, but I will survive. I need this time away and I get to meet cool peoples.

I pitched to EC during NGTCC on Romance Divas this year, so I got a partial request from them. I’m hoping to hear back within the next month or so, though she didn’t really give me a timeline for that. In general, from what I’ve seen, people tend to hear within 4-6 weeks. So I’ll wait that long before I think about status updates or anything.

I also came up with a bounty hunter idea and (YAY!) I get to scratch this fantasy itch I’ve had the last couple months. But time for this call is short (it’s due in Nov) so I’m hoping they’ll buy NSA so I can have that extra month to write this book.

I’m also going to try to get into revisions for Off Her Game. At this point, it’s made the rounds and gathered lots of rejections from epubs. I’d planned on shopping agents with it, but I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just self-pub it. I mean, I do have a cover for it already. I was playing around and made a mock cover that I kind of love. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do with it. I love that story, so letting it sit in a drawer (file folder) isn’t going to happen.

I’m also going to start working on Scoring His Heart, the second book in my hockey romance series. This book gives me fits. I’ve started and scrapped it more times than I can count. I’m hoping this month I can get the first couple of chapters done. But it’s a busy month and I already planned way too much, so I’m thinking it might not happen.

Priority is going to be the bounty hunter story though. I should look at titles for that book too….

Other than that, I’m good. Charging full steam ahead and having fun with it.

How’s everyone else’s writing going?

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday, the day in which I join a couple hundred other authors to showcase fun six sentence long snippets on their blogs.

This week is from No Strings Attached, a contemporary romance I’m currently editing. In this snippet, Ashlynn is preparing herself for her wedding day and her husband to be just snuck onto the balcony to see her.

“Someone might see you!” This was like a bad romantic comedy movie. She forced the trepidation from her voice, steeling her spine. The screen door squeaked on the slider as he pressed on it.

“Little piggy, little piggy, let me in…”

She yanked him inside the room and pulled her robe tightly around herself. She narrowed her gaze at him. “Did you just call me a little piggy?”

For those new to Six Sentence Sunday, you can play too:

1) pick a book– a current Work in Progress, contracted work or even something readers can buy if you’re published

2) pick six sentences from anywhere in the story

3) post them on Sunday (hence the Six Sentence SUNDAY)

Want to play? See the site: Six Sentence Sunday

I was going to do a recap of the stripper fun times from last night but I’m exhausted still. Instead, I’m giving you guys some links to peruse today. There’s a lot of crazy out there on the internet today.

It seems the internet has taken crazy pills today. It starts with this post:

Stop The GR Bullies: Why It’s Time To Stop The Goodreads Bullies – The person behind the Stop The Goodreads Bullies site bullies her way into Huffington Post by writing this opinion piece. Really, it’s a good marketing strategy… too bad it’s way misguided. Huffington Post Books

Shortly after the publishing community as a whole collectively rose up and protested, the Books editor of Huffington Post came in with this response:

Andrew Losowsky: Stop The GR Bullies: An Explanation – The Huffington Post Books Editor responds to the many people complaining about the STGRB blog post. Huffington Post Books

Then finally, shortly after that, Foz Meadows wrote this amazing recap of what happened with the Stop the Goodreads Bullies and gives an even balanced reporting of the incident.

Foz Meadows: Stop the GR Bullies: A Response – Foz responds to the blog post by the Stop the Goodreads Bullies people with a well-informed look at both sides of the issue. Huffington Post Books

For stuff that aren’t part of the ongoing Goodreads war:

The New World of Publishing: Blurb Writing – Dean Wesley Smith talks about writing blurbs as an indie author. I think this applies to more than just indie authors because even traditional and epub authors have to write a blurb for say, a query letter. Relevant for many. Dean Wesley Smith

12 Most Relevant Reasons You Should Self-Publish – Rachel Thompson reveals reasons to self-publish. I like that she’s not using the vitriol that some advocates of self-publishing use. I like her objective “This is why I like it and this is why you should do it” approach to self-publishing instead of “YOU ARE WRONG IF YOU DON’T!” 12 Most

The Intimacy of Ink, with tattoo artist and author James R. Tuck | Sidney Bristol – Sidney Bristol talks INK with tattoo artist and author James R. Tuck Sidney Bristol’s blog

Then some fashion store online mistakenly tweeted that the reason #Aurora was trending was because of their dress when in fact it was because there was a shooting in Aurora, CO. The company has since tweeted its apology and ignorance of the real reason. I have friends in Aurora, but I’ve talked to them today. They did not choose to go to a movie this afternoon, thank goodness.

So the world has taken crazy pills today. I think I’m just going to stick my head in the sand and stay there for a few days.

We all have things that make us individual, that identify us as a person. Like the way a person shakes their head when they’re frustrated, or how a person chews their food like a squirrel. These are things that set us apart from everyone else. And in fiction, we need these things to identify with the book’s characters, to make them human.

Let’s start with some examples.

In Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series, Allie notices the way magic spells are cast. The way glyphs are written. She can tell who made those glyphs by the way they are drawn. She’s ambidextrous.
In the Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, Harry has this insane need to be chivalrous. He’s a smartass. He has a very strict sense of right and wrong.
In Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, Lord Macon loses his temper and yells a lot. His Scottish brogue comes through when he’s pissed off. Alexia’s gay vampire friend, Lord Akeldama, is flamboyant.
In Jaye Wells’ Sabina Kane series, we’ve got a demon with a forked penis. But who couldn’t love Giguhl? It’s more of a trait than a quirk, but his home shopping addiction is a quirk. Maybe the forked penis doesn’t impress you because demons aren’t the only ones with a forked penis.

I’ve read books in which the characters didn’t have quirks. The books were flat, and boring. I couldn’t identify with them. Very often, I put them down and never picked them up again. I think it’s the point of view character’s analysis of the secondary character’s quirks that makes me fall in love with the secondary ones. I loved Akeldama because of his flamboyancy, because of how he loved to touch Alexia even though it turned him mortal. Lord Macon grew on you because his Scottish accent was more pronounced when he was pissed off and Alexia loved to piss him off. The characters were human…so to speak. They had individuality, distinction.

In the end, I think that is what matters. Quirks that make you individual. I know I have some. I bite my lip when I’m nervous. I push angry people with jokes because it’s funny. Okay, that one might just be annoying and not so much a quirk. But it’s still funny.

As for my favorite one? I think I’ll have to go with Giguhl’s forked penis for the win. I mean, I know, it’s more of a trait… but come on. Seriously. It’s a forked penis.

What’s your favorite quirk in a character?

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday, the day in which I join a couple hundred other authors to showcase fun six sentence long snippets on their blogs.

This week, I’m continuing on with pieces of No Strings Attached, my contemporary military romance. I’m working on edits right now, and generally just layering in emotions and conflict and such, so yeah. There’s that. Work, work, work.

“Can we skip the speech today, Dad?” Ethan’s irritation scratched at the skin on his arms. “I’m meeting Ashlynn later for lunch.”

He’d have preferred to meet her at his apartment, but she was bringing her son. Midday booty calls worked better without the kid. Not that he didn’t adore Corwin. Good kid, but his mama, with her shapely hips and her killer long legs…

Now she was something.

For those new to Six Sentence Sunday, you can play too:

1) pick a book– a current Work in Progress, contracted work or even something readers can buy if you’re published

2) pick six sentences from anywhere in the story

3) post them on Sunday (hence the Six Sentence SUNDAY)

Want to play? See the site: Six Sentence Sunday

If you have a Twitter account, you can add the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets when you tweet a link to your Six Sentence Sunday post. If you’re a writer (regardless of published/unpublished status) come join us!

I have a desk I sit at while I write, but sometimes, I’m just so swamped with the “I don’t wannas” or the “I don’t feel it” that I just can’t seem to keep my butt in the chair to write. Yeah, people tell me to force myself to sit there, and power through it but I’ve found that just doesn’t work for me. I stare at the screen, knowing that I want to write, but i just can’t seem to focus to do it. I play on Twitter, and Pinterest, and in my email and generally find everything else to do.

I’ve discovered a little secret about myself, which has fantastically improved my writing efficiency ten fold. Ready for my secret?

Avoid the routine.

Yes, this IS a Han Solo in Carbonite desk. *geek squee*

Some people need the routine to write, setting aside from X time to Z time to write, with a ten minute break half past Y time. It doesn’t work for me. I need to vary it up. For that reason, I’ve varied up where I write, and how I write and when I write, even though I do have somewhat of a routine.

I recentely bought an iMac a few months ago. I kind of love it. It’s got a decent size screen on it. I have Windows running on it with Parallels, so I can run Windows while I’m in the Mac OS. It’s been pretty handy since both my Office package and my Adobe Creative Suite package were bought for Windows. That’s a lot of money to shell out just to switch operating systems. Anyway, I also have my Windows laptop and an old 8.9″ notebook. I have a desk area set up in my room where I spend a lot of my time writing on my iMac. Yes, I love my gadgets.

Anyway, sometimes, I have problems writing everyday when I sit at my desk in my room, even though that’s what I’m sitting there for. Occasionally, I just can’t concentrate. When that happens, I move. I’ll take my laptop, and go lay on my bed with my big fluffy pillow under my chest to keep me up. Or I’ll step away from the computer altogether and curl up somewhere comfortable with a pencil and paper. And yes, I use pencil, because you wouldn’t believe how much I erase and rewrite when I write. Let’s not even go into how many times I write the wrong letter when I know perfectly well, it’s this OTHER letter.

I even sometimes need to leave the house, venture out into the world. More often than not, it’s mostly because I need that human contact. It’s not necessarily that I need to commune with other humans, but more that I need to be around them. I’m extroverted by nature (even though I’m shy as hell) which means I need to be around people and I draw energy from them. I’ll still bring my headphones, jam them in my ear, and ignore the world passing me by. But there are people around me, and that makes it alright.

I find doing the same thing in the rest of my life helps as well. Sometimes, you get in these funks and you can’t even figure out why. I float in and out of them fairly often. Every three months or so, I fall into the Pit of Despair. I get frustrated by things not happening, I see others getting what I want and I end up being pissy and annoyed. Not their fault, of course. It’s been a fairly regular occurrence, as I said, about every three months. I also attribute this to my need to change things up. Writing the same way, every day, day in and day out… well, it gets tiring and monotonous.

So, the next time you get stuck on your story, think about changing something in your routine. Find a different way to let it out, or do what I do and change locations. Go have a coffee at your local coffee shop. Sit in your local bookstore. Whatever. Just do it.

What’s your favorite way of breaking the mundane, writing or otherwise?

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday, the day in which I join a couple hundred other authors to showcase fun six sentence long snippets on their blogs.

This week is from No Strings Attached, a contemporary romance I’m currently editing. In this snippet, Ashlynn is preparing herself for her wedding day.

Ashlynn closed her eyes, exhaled. This was her day, if the nausea was any indication. Her hands were shaking, trembling as if an earthquake had invaded her body. Self-doubt whispered in her ear, injecting fear into her heart.

Ash sunk into the high backed white chair, running her hands along the smooth surface of the vanity. It could be a mistake. It could be the worst thing she ever did.

For those new to Six Sentence Sunday, you can play too:

1) pick a book– a current Work in Progress, contracted work or even something readers can buy if you’re published

2) pick six sentences from anywhere in the story

3) post them on Sunday (hence the Six Sentence SUNDAY)

Want to play? See the site: Six Sentence Sunday

If you have a Twitter account, you can add the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets when you tweet a link to your Six Sentence Sunday post. If you’re a writer (regardless of published/unpublished status) come join us!

Today’s Flirty Friday is a little different than my normal ones. Usually, I’ll take a message I received from a dude and dissect it and snark it for you guys. But today, I wanted to talk about something just a little different.

A friend of mine recently started feeling the frustration of being single. She’s a successful professional, in her twenties, and she’s kind of awesome. If I were a dude, I’d totally date her. The funny thing about this, is that it’s something I’ve been feeling for a while, which is why I haven’t done Flirty Fridays in a few weeks. I’m frustrated, too.

Being Single Sucks

Yeah, it does. I’ve been married. I have kids. Both of those things make guys run in the opposite direction, or I get the really shady types or the ones who don’t like good hygiene. Dating is hard work, and for the last couple years, it’s just been easier to not do it. My best friend recently got married (I say recently… it was last year) and ever since then, I’m tired of not having that support system, or having that person to share things with.

The green-eyed monster isn’t cute

I fully admit that I’m jealous. I see people with more baggage than me, worse attitudes than mine… and they always have a date. They’re always in a relationship. My best friend is not one of these people, but I watched her from the moment she got a divorce start dating. There might have been a couple months in between, but not much. She dropped one guy when he stood her up, and found another guy. That guy married her last May. They had a child together in February. She’s happy.  I’m jealous as hell, even though I love her. I’m still single.

I know I’m whining. I toyed with the idea of doing a dating blog separate from this one, but really, it would never work out. I’d lose interest pretty quick.

I remember that I used to go from guy to guy when I was younger, but I knew it wouldn’t go anywhere. Now that my kids are older, I’m realizing that I’ve sort of killed off any real social life I have. I like going to bars, and hanging out and meeting people. And because I have kids, I haven’t been. I’ve been sticking it out at home. I have more girl friends than guy friends (which has never happened to me before) so I don’t even find the opportunity to meet or get to know guys.

A possible solution?

I’m thinking about suggesting a weekly social night with friends. Just something to get me out of the house and into public. I know something needs to change, but I’m not sure what yet.

So what do you think? Should I actually make the effort to date? Is it worth it just to eradicate the melancholy I’m feeling? What’s your best experiences dating? Worst?

So last month, it was all about the edits. I’ve done pretty well. I didn’t get the book done yet, but I’m in the final chapters. So there’s that. I’d reason that either today or tomorrow, I’ll finish. But today, I’m going to try something I used to do on the first of the month and talk about what I want to accomplish. Probably no one will care but me, but I’ve found that I really do better when I say things on the blog and then have to own up to it when I don’t get it done.

This Month’s Goals

Finish up No Strings Attached, get critiques, and revise for submission
I need to write a synopsis and query for NSA
Begin edits (again) for Off Her Game
Plot out the sequel to Off Her Game that still needs a title
Brainstorm titles for the four other books in the Texas Highlander series.

So that’s my month. We’ll see how it works out.

Welcome to Six Sentence Sunday, the day in which I join a couple hundred other authors to showcase fun six sentence long snippets on their blogs.

This week is from No Strings Attached, a contemporary romance I’m currently editing. In this snippet, Ethan meets with his parents for their once-a-month meeting about investments and his general future. It never goes well.

“So you’ve told me,” he said, “every month since I was eight.”

His mother wrote more, her manicured nails scraping the page along with her pen. His father shuffled more papers around. More seconds ticked by on the wall clock behind them. Prisoners in Guantanamo had it easy. None of them had to deal with his parents.

For those new to Six Sentence Sunday, you can play too:

1) pick a book– a current Work in Progress, contracted work or even something readers can buy if you’re published

2) pick six sentences from anywhere in the story

3) post them on Sunday (hence the Six Sentence SUNDAY)

Want to play? See the site: Six Sentence Sunday

If you have a Twitter account, you can add the hashtag #sixsunday to your tweets when you tweet a link to your Six Sentence Sunday post. If you’re a writer (regardless of published/unpublished status) come join us!