Hello!!

*waves frantically*

Yes, I’m coming out of hiding…no, not really hiding, and it’s not quite time for me to hibernate…ah, heck, I’m not sure where I’ve been…anyway, I’m here to post a random update.  

No, really, I just felt like posting…

Okay, fine, I’m desperately avoiding EDITING HELL.  Besides posting, I’ve actually started cleaning house AND doing laundry.  I need to get to the editing stage more often.  ;D

Yes, as I mentioned before, I’ve finished the first draft of Along Came Jones, and am now editing the crap out of it.  Um…pun intended, I guess, LOL.  It’s going remarkably smoothly, which always makes me nervous, and if I would stop procrastinating, I’d be on the 3rd draft by now.  Maybe even the fourth.

As for what else have I been up to:  well, I’ve had both cats to the vet this summer, and no, I don’t take them regularly, and yes, I know I’m a bad fur-mom, but on the other hand, they never go outside, and until this summer were perfectly healthy and badly behaved.  Now they’re back to being both, only I’m ultra paranoid with them now.  They’re pretty much sick and tired of me prodding at them every time they look extra sleepy – LOL.

In terms of the current book tour, it’s been, um…well, a little weird.  As far as I can tell, very few of the scheduled stops posted on the days they were scheduled, but I do know some have posted on different days.  I need to do a round up post and update the schedule.  I knew this one would be very different, because it’s very long and has lots of (potential) posts, plus book clubs reviewing the book (don’t analyze it, just enjoy it!!) but I haven’t kept up-to-date with the tour stops, and now I’m out of the habit of checking every morning.  Ugh.  

Ah, well, everything is a lesson learned, and I’ve learned a lot from all the tours I’ve had this year.  🙂

As for work, well…the things I’d like to say after last week are inappropriate in this forum, so I’ll just say that I’m still gainfully employed, and I’m still enjoying it more than 50% of the time.  I think that’s pretty good.

Anyway, I guess I’d better get back to editing…although maybe I should dust my TV stand first…

 

Hello!!

*waves*

Long time no update (again). I planned to post an update last week, but, well…it was a bit up and down.

Sunday night (August 10th), I FINALLY FINISHED THE FIRST DRAFT of Along Came Jones. Confetti was flung, tears were shed, couches were collapsed upon, and there was great rejoicing throughout the land…or at least in my townhouse. I planned on posting a giddy, happy update on Monday to share my euphoria…

…and then the news about Robin Williams broke.

No, I didn’t know him personally, but just like for millions of others, he was an actor who was part of my childhood (Mork and Mindy), and my young adulthood (Good Morning, Vietnam!) and my later adulthood (Good Will Hunting – I still sob like a child when I watch that movie). I’ve watched his stand-up routines and his interviews, and I’ve laughed until I’ve cried, and my heart had gone out to him in his more vulnerable moments. He made me laugh, he made me cry, he made me respect his intelligence and his talent. Falling in love with him was a gradual thing, but fall in love I did, and the news he was gone was simply heart-wrenching.

Why he took his life is something that only he could ever fully understand. I can only hope for nothing but peace for his family, and for their good memories to outweigh the bad.  I also hope he’s now at peace.  I’m so grateful we had him, and I’m so sad to see him go.

Just as I was getting used to the idea of Robin Williams being gone, I learned that Lauren Bacall also passed away last week. My sorrow for her was different than for Robin Williams (she was 89; she was a living legend; she had the best voice in show business; she was so talented), but it was sorrow, nonetheless. It’s the sadness of knowing an icon is gone, mixed with the gratitude that she had existed in the first place.

Once again, I wasn’t really in the mood to post about my finished first draft.

SO, while I’m much more in the mood, this somewhat-rambling post will just have to do for today. I’ll post a happier, more focused on my writing news, post in the next day or so. 🙂

~~~~~

Along Came Jones – Editing – 2nd Draft

 

00 / 295 pages. 00% done!

 

World Wide Blog Hop

Good afternoon, all!  Long time no post – and I will have to do an update about that.  🙂

But today’s post is focused on a World Wide Blog Hop, which this prong, sadly, is coming to a screeching halt with me (at least for now) – sorry, Maggie!  If anyone would like to take up the cause, drop a note in the comments!!

With no further ado:

I was asked to participate by Maggie Thom, who writes romantic suspense (suspenseful romance?).  She has three books available (Deceitful Truths, Captured Lies and Tainted Waters – the links are here:  http://wp.me/P2ydBl-dX ).  Please, check them out, buy a copy (and one for each of your friends), and follow her blog.  Unlike me, she posts regularly!  🙂

As for me:  I’m a 40-something woman, living in Edmonton, who writes romantic comedies and post-apocalyptic dystopian novels…with a bit of romantic comedy thrown in there, too (don’t ask).  I started writing again, after 20-some years of writer’s block, in 2008 when I started writing fanfic.  Yes, the “F”-word!!  Regardless of personal opinions, writing fanfic let me develop a writing process, showed me people could enjoy my stories…and exposed me to some pretty harsh criticisms (albeit vicariously – knock on wood).  It also gave me the courage to share my stories with others.

Anyway, on with the tour…

1.  What am I working on?

In order of amount completed:

1.  Along Came Jones – a romantic comedy set in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.  He’s a wealthy man, rejected by his long-time lover, and she’s an agoraphobic recluse living in the small town he stumbles into.

2.  Historian’s Daughter – a tragic romance set in a dystopian world that is turned upside down when their capital city is destroyed.

3.  Plugs – a dystopian novella about the last of humanity merging (Plugging In) with the technology…and then the power goes out.  The story’s told from the perspective of the few remaining people who are not Plugged In, because…what do you do with 14 billion bodies?

4.  Aliens/Ghosts (working title) – this is currently a script, and I’ll be expanding it into a novel.  It’s about alien invasion, and using our ghosts to save us.

5.  A Year in the Life – the sequel to my first book, A Life Less Ordinary.  🙂

2.  How does my work differ from others in the genre(s)?

Well, in my romantic comedies, you’ll never find 20somethings whose biggest concern is the fact they’re still single at 25.  (OMG – the horror!)  Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of sex in my books…I’m working on that, but until I get better at sex scenes, I won’t inflict them on anyone.  It’s bad enough I have to read them!  I also love banter.  Lots and lots of banter.  Even in my darkest stories, there’s always a thread of humor and banter and a sense of “Life is just funny, you know?”.  ;D  I also tend to like heroines who are a bit older, although I may have to someday try my hand at writing a twenty-something main character.  I also like writing the male perspective, both because, well, I like my men, and because I like showing the other side of the relationship, too.

3.  Why do I write what I do?

I write what I love to read.  🙂  I also find that I can’t seem to get really dark (so far), and, like in real life, there’s usually something ridiculous in every situation that you can point to and say, “Life’s just funny, you know?”

4.  How does my writing process work?

I’ll write whatever scene pops into my head, and then whatever scene(s) flow from that, or whatever character points/plots/quirks come to mind.  I don’t write in sequence, and I usually only have a broad plot/premise (“what if she’s a recluse?”  “what if she has a mid-life crisis and goes on a road trip?”).  Characters develop from the scenes, and sometimes (like in Historian’s Daughter) the main character switches around.  🙂  I write with wild abandon, and then I go back and edit.  And edit.  And edit…and edit.  😀  Generally speaking, there are at least four full edits (not counting the first and second drafts), before something’s ready to be published.

Like I said, I don’t have any blogs to hand off to – if you’re interested, let me know!!

(And now I need to get back to my day job!  :D)

 

Tour Stop – Quality Reads UK

Good morning!

It’s Friday, and shaping up to be another beautiful day!  Plus, it’s Friday, so it’s automatically a beautiful day – LOL.

Today’s tour stop is at Quality Reads UK – please drop on by and leave some appreciation for the host.  (Gift card giveaway begins July 1st!)

 

Tour Stops x2 – My Reading Problem and Reading the Dream Life

Good evening, all!

I’m so-o off-rhythm with this blog tour, it’s not even funny!  Of course, it doesn’t help that I usually only leave myself about 20 minutes in the morning to do any online stuff before I’m out the door to go to work.  *looks as innocent as possible*

Well, I’ll just have to start using the scheduling feature of WordPress from now on.

In the meantime, I have two tour stops for you to take a look at.  The first is here at My Reading Problem, and the other is here at Reading the Dream.  Please stop by and leave some love!

PS – the gift card giveaway begins on July 1st.  🙂

 

Tour Stop – Lonely Heart Reviews

Good morning, all!

It’s Saturday (S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y – NIGHT!)(oh, dear, I think I just dated myself…  ;P ).

Ahem.

As I was saying, it’s Saturday, it’s the first day of summer, neither of the kitlets show any signs of needing a vet visit (whoot!), rain is stopping in the southern part of the province, and I didn’t have a headache when I woke up this morning!  Life is good.  🙂

This tour stop is from yesterday, an excerpt here at Lonely Heart Reviews. Please stop on by and leave some love and appreciation.  🙂

 

Tour Stops – ummmm, a bunch

My apologies out to my lovely blog hosts over the last week to ten days.  Life has gotten away from me a bit, I’m afraid.

To give all my hosts their proper due, I’m listing the posts I’ve found.  For some reason, my site navigation skills have deserted me, so if I’ve missed a post and somebody finds it, please let me know and I’ll update the link.

Without further ado, please stop by and leave some love for the hosts of the following blogs:

Book Feature at Peace from Pieces

Author Interview 1 at Mommy Adventures

Excerpt at The Reading Cat

Guest Post 2 at Nose in Books

Excerpt 2 at Blog-A-Licious Authors

Excerpt 3 at Brainy Book Reads

Excerpt at Author’s Friend

Excerpt at Books & More

PHEW!  There’s also a gift card giveaway, so hopefully there are links to enter that as well!

Thanks, everyone – and I promise to be much more organized from here on out!  😀

 

 

Whoooopppsss

My apologies for being MIA for the last couple of weeks.  Between being unable to find the posts on my host blogs (I’ve found some now!!), Twitter confusing the hell out of me, Biggie’s turn for a vet visit (nothing major and he seems all right now), work, arguing with my muse, and waking up with a #$!@$%! headache EVERY DAY for the LAST WEEK (did I say #$!@$%! already?), time has slipped away.We won’t talk about sleeping in yesterday, or missing the bus last week, or…wait.  We’re not talking about all that.  *cough*

So as not to confuse myself, and to make sure I give proper thanks to my blog hosts, I’ll be doing a separate post with all the stops I’ve found, and then keeping on top of things a bit better.  I should get to that later today.

*hangs head*

I hope everyone else has been having a better time of it!  🙂

 

New Tour Starts – Orangeberry Book Tours

Good morning, all!

It’s June!  June? JUUUNNNEEE!!!  O.O  Where the *bleeep* has the year gone??

Let me rephrase that: time has been going so quickly ever since it warmed up.  Winter lasted for-ev-er.

But with the ever-quickening passage of time comes a new book tour.  My Orangeberry Book Tour kicks off today with a book feature at Peace from Pieces.  This tour goes until November(!), so there will be period where I have two running at the same time.  Should be an interesting time!  😀

~~~~~

Along Came Jones Wordcount

37780 / 77183 words. 49% done!

 

Tour Wrap Up – Reading Addiction Book Tours

Good morning all!

Today’s the last day for my Reading Addiction Book Tour, and they’ve kindly provided a review wrap-up post.

Today is also Friday, which of course means THE WEEKEND!!  Whoo!!  Blondie finishes her antibiotics this weekend, and I will have a brief pause between book tours.  ;D  On the down side, I can’t believe it’s going to be June on Sunday.  JUNE!!!!!!! Where the bloody hell has the year gone??