October Weeks's Blog, page 9

And…I’m back!

I had a wonderful four-day weekend. Went down to New Jersey, to Metlife Stadium, to see Metallica. Easily one of the best shows I’ve ever been to! Five Finger Death Punch and Pantera were amazing, and Metallica was EPIC. We definitely got our money’s worth for both shows (was a two day event). On Day 2, as we waited for Metallica to take the stage, someone on the lower level started the wave and it was awesome! All three levels, and it went around perfectly about 8 times before finally breaking up.

80,000+ metalheads doing the wave- it was awesome to be a part of!

We also went to American Dream- three story mall. The aquarium was great, and the food was really good. Lots to do and see. And the next time I go, I will definitely be mini-golfing!

I did have a ghostly encounter while there- two, actually- which I will be talking about on the podcast. And on Day 1 of the concert, when Metallica was playing Nothing Else Matters, I got the best story idea. I’ve made notes as it’s not ready to be written yet, but I believe it will be a short story or a novella. I’m excited to start writing it!

Yesterday saw around 1.5k words on Tuck #4- awesome! It took another new chapter, but I’m at the point where I can now merge the original version of the book to this new beginning. I’ll have to change a few things, of course, but those changes are minor. Once those sections are merged and ironed out, I can move forward and write the rest of the book. Judging by how fast it’s writing now that I’ve got the correct beginning, this book should be done by October, which would be fabulous because that means it won’t be another long wait between the books.

I do have a title for Tuck #4, but it’s tentative. I’ll share when I’m certain. Normally I have the title all set the moment I start writing something and it rarely changes, but because I had to completely change the beginning of the book, the title feels as if it may change.

In other news, it won’t stop raining here in Vermont. It’s rained more this summer than we’ve been getting in previous years. I think we actually broke that record in June. It started raining last night and it is still going. Now, I love the rain. We need it. And thanks to a changing climate, this region is getting hammered this year.

But it sure would be nice to have a solid week without rain.

I’ve gotten all of the ebook files, print file, and cover files back from my editor for The Arena. This means I just need to choose a launch date for the re-release of The Arena, and I have a good idea of the date I want to use: I’ll annouce that soon!

I wrote another 1.5k yesterday on Shards, and I finished the go-through of the book that was giving me fits. I figured out what the problem was and now the story is moving along again, which makes me very happy.

This weekend is going to be pretty busy, but I’m going to try to fit in some time to blog. If I can’t, that’s okay. I’ll only miss two or three days. Then, I’ll be right back to blogging as normal

I’m disappointed I didn’t get to see the supermoon last night. Every time I stepped outside, it was too clouded over *sigh* That’s okay- there’s another supermoon at the end of the month. A blue moon, and I am determined to see that one!

However, I was not disappointed by my word count yesterday- another 3.5k words. Awesome! I also printed out the beginning of one of my books because it’s stuck, and something in the first 1/4 of the book is why it’s stuck. Instead of writing it out in a notebook, printing that first portion felt like the best thing to do. I’ll probably have the problem solved by the end of today- just need to sit down with the book and scan through those pages

Between the morning writing session, writing on my work break, and last night, I managed a good 2k yesterday. I’m pleased! Those words were on The Scrying House, which pushed the word count above 12k, and that’s exciting because once I’ve passed that 10k mark the book really starts to catch fire. Once I’m passed 20k? The story starts flowing so well my fingers can’t type fast enough.

That makes three books over the 10k mark, not to mention the other 10 files I have open and work on when the mood strikes. My non-writer friends often ask how I can work on so many stories at once and not confuse them. I honestly don’t know. I truly don’t. I have a hard time writing to a firm outline: writers block kicks in and the words will not flow. I have to force words and I don’t like that because I’m a firm believer that when words are forced, readers will pick up on it.

This is just how I operate as a writer- each of us are different. I can say for certain that I am definitely a panster, but many of my author friends are plotters. And that just shows that there truly is no right way write

Normally I answer reader questions on TikTok, but I thought this would be great to do on the blog as well. I’m just going to do a few

Q: Was your Isles and West series really inspired by personal events?

A: Delilah came to the stage on her own, but yes, there are personal experiences with ghosts peppered throughout the series. I’ve never been shy to speak about my paranormal encounters- I do so a lot on the podcast. In the first book, Over the River, you’ll find three events that are based on my personal encounters. Maybe I should do another podcast talking about this, but you can hear more about those experiences here: PERSONAL GHOSTS . As a warning, this was one of my very first podcasts, so the sound quality isn’t as good as it is now

Q: Why do you write under two different pen names?

A: Simply because I wanted to separate my romance books from my darker works. If you haven’t checked out my romance pen name, you can go here: LIBBY BISHOP

Q: Why was there a lull in releases?

A: Burnout, that had nothing to do with writing but it slowed my writing down. While I’m still trying to deal with my burnout, my writing has finally picked up again and I am grateful. I have new works coming this year and at least three new books next year. I had a new release under my Libby Bishop name not long ago as well.

Q: Why do you have two computers now?

A: This was a question I got after I shared a post about the second laptop I purchased. It’s solely for my writing- that computer will never be used for the internet. It’s slightly smaller, and I’ve found it helps immensely to not have it connected to the ‘net. When I need to send a manuscript to my editor, I just plug my USB drive into this computer.

I think four questions is good for this first Q&A blog If you have any author questions for me, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do another Q&A blog.

I haven’t written anything today, but that’s okay. I still have a good four or five hours to get some words in. But between Friday and Saturday, I wrote a little over 12k words and that makes me so damn happy!

Next weekend is going to test my blogging goals. I already knew that blogging every day may not be possible at times, so if I miss a day or two I’m not going get too down on myself. I’m going on a little road trip to see a band that I’ve wanted to see since I was 12 years old, and considering I’m now 44, you can probably imagine how excited I am.

I hope to get in some words in today, or at least some revisions. So I’m going to make some tea and get to work!

Behold! The new cover for The Arena. It’s perfect, and it matches the other two covers so well! Skyla Dawn Cameron knocked another one out of the park As I said in yesterday’s blog, I’m aiming for a September re-release for this book. More details to come.

For now, isn’t it lovely?

Yesterday morning, before work, I got about 1k words in on Tuck 4. After work, I wrote a total of 2,362 words yesterday. Chapter 2 is now finished. I’m very happy. We get to revisit someone we haven’t seen since Path to Damnation! Chapter 3 will be all new words as well, which I didn’t realize until I finished chapter 2. Chapter 3 will bridge the gap between the original beginning and the new one.

Very happy with the progress. The book is really flowing now that I have that new opening.

After I’m finished writing this blog, I’m going to write a bit on The Scrying House, since that’s shouting at me this morning. I’m really loving the main character for this book, and we get to see a few familiar faces from Salt & Iron.

Shards is still flowing nicely as well. I’m in the last 1/4 of the book now so it’s a lot of action at the moment *smile*

I sent a novella to my editor the other day as well as the cover sheet for it, so hopefully I’ll have a brand new story for you before the end of the year. This is a novella in the Isles and West world, so it has new characters and a new setting.

In cover news: I recieved the final cover for The Arena, and I’m in love with it! The colors are different from the other two, since the setting is different, but it still matches the the first two books well. I plan on doing a cover reveal tomorrow.

If all goes well, I will be re-releasing The Arena in September. Once I have a firm date, I will write a blog with all of the information.

Lots of progress on the writing front!

Yesterday, I finally figured out why the fourth Tuck book keeps stalling on me. I’m over 21k words into it, but something kept hitting the brakes. I thought I finally had it going in the right direction- hence, the 21k words- but, unfortunately, I was wrong. It stalled once more.

Until yesterday.

I wrote an entirely new first chapter as well as notes for the second chapter. As soon as I did, I swear I heard Tuck sigh in my mind as if to say, “FINALLY!”. Now all I need to do is write the new second chapter then I can start adding in the 21k words I already have. And then I can finally get on with the rest of the story. I know how this books ends, and now I can get there without another stall.

I cannot express how happy that makes me.

Which brings me to the muse. I can feel the fourth book calling me to write as I type this. It’s a LOUD call, one that I can’t refuse. So, as much as we all know I hate having a writing session before work (couple blogs down *smile*), I will write for the next hour or so. Then, I must go to the day job *sigh*

The best I can describe it is this: In the original animated Cinderella, when she’s just about to start on her dress and her steps sisters start in with “CINDERELLA!”. That’s what is sounds like when a book calls me this loudly.

Only, it’s not the calling I mind. It’s the fact that I’m going to have to stop writing when the story is on fire and I’m typing as fast as I can to keep up.