How She Writes

As a side effect of being a writer, I have acquired some strange quirks in the past year or so. Some of them just come with the job, others are my own peculiarities that come out through writing. I talk to myself While I'm immersed in a project, or trying to work out a problem with a story, I can be found muttering to myself. I'm not crazy...probably. I just have a tendency to think out loud, and it usually happens when I'm writing. I have a weird search history This is definitely a side effect of being a fiction writer. (There are some crazy things writers need to know.) Search history is a running joke in the writer community, and a quick search will bring up plenty of jokes about it. While most of mine aren't too crazy, I do have a few gems, like: What are the best ways to knock someone out? (this one also includes, what are the side effects of chloroform.) Would someone die of a stab wound to the side? What are the symptoms of a bruised rib? Wh...

If there is anything I've learned about writing recently, it's that if there is something stopping you from enjoying writing, you need to deal with it. I had something like that not too long ago. As I mentioned in a recent post , I hit a writing slump, and it resulted in me not wanting to write. What I didn't realize was that as the problem continued, I was the cause. I set up a schedule and tried to organize myself into staying productive. I couldn't do it I tried so hard to stick to that schedule. I failed to meet goal after goal. As I continued to fail, I added more goals. I became more and more determined to succeed until I couldn't do it anymore. I felt trapped in problems I had created and realized that more work wasn't going to cut it this time. So I let go I  closed my spreadsheets, turned off my alarms, and set my schedule aside. I didn't stop writing entirely, but I did allow myself to write what I wanted to because I enjoyed it, not ...

For those of you that didn't already know, I am currently in the revision stages of my first novel. In other words, I'm writing the last pieces of my second draft, and I'm getting ready to edit it into something enjoyable for you. But before I do, I wanted to give you a quick glimpse behind the scenes into what I'm working on. The Ambassador Note: this is a temporary cover and title, and it may change before it gets published. Synopsis Rita Hart is was born between two countries. As the honorary Ambassador between them, it is up to her to uphold a treaty of peace, and smooth over the scars of a war buried deep in their history. But, as a plot to resume the age-old war surfaces, peace is threatened, leaving Rita to protect it. When a stinging betrayal leaves her reeling, and everything comes crashing down, she must decide how much she is willing to risk to save the countries she loves. If she succeeds, she gains everything she's ever wanted. If she fa...