Category Archives: Writing
NaNoWriMo, Day Three
Today: 1,867 words
Total: 5,286 words
Just crossed the 10% milestone and cranked out a good solid scene between two of the villains that should help hint at what’s to come, heh, heh, heh.
One of the nice things about realizing that I write romantasy rather than pure romance is that I no longer feel bad about writing these kind of scenes. Before, I used to have a certain amount of guilt for taking the focus away from the main romantic grouping and their love story even for a while. But now that I’ve accepted that my stories aren’t pure romance (and my loyal readers like that, bless all of you), it’s a lot easier to add scenes that drive the story from non-MC characters’ viewpoints and do some world building along the way.
Basically, I like to think of it as slice-of-life scenes from my MC’s points of view that round out their lives and help show what drives them as they fall in love with each other. Maybe this has something to do with my tendency to eavesdrop, I dunno.
And today is Friday, which means I have a challenging weekend ahead of mixing writing with cleaning. As I mentioned earlier I have family coming on the first of December and we haven’t had any guests since 2020 so, yeah, the place desperately needs a deep clean. But the nice thing is, once they’ve come and gone I’ll have a clean (and ideally decorated) house for December and can kick back and enjoy the holidays.
Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be spending December frantically working on Hurricane Warning and trying to get it finished before New Year’s Eve. Because that’s just how I roll in the Shire.
NaNoWriMo, Day Two
Today: 1,708 words
Total: 3,419 words
I think I’m running into a bit of a problem with High Tide. Namely, I don’t really have a solid outline for it, and when I don’t have a good outline I have a real problem getting words on the page (I am not a pantser by any stretch of the definition. If I don’t have a roadmap for where I’m going, I can’t move).
See, back when I came up with the concept for the series I had an MFM trio in mind for this book until I realized that, well, let’s just say that a female romantic lead wouldn’t face the challenges I needed her to face. Switching the romantic menage to MMM fixed this, but it also changed a lot of plot elements of the story that I probably should have sorted out months ago. But hey, cancer and all that.
So I spent today with earbuds in blasting my song list for this book and hammering out the details of the new outline. It helps that when I moaned to Ramón abouta sticky plot point he asked me what the problem was, then came up with a couple of possible fixes. Turns out one of them prompted a very apropos subplot that is probably going to get me some hate down the line but what the hell, I stand by what I’m writing.
Once I got the outline massaged into shape the words started to flow again and I churned out 1,708 words for the day. So I’m still hitting my daily word quota and the story is progressing, tra la!
In associated news I had the last visit to my surgeon this morning for 2023. Everything looks good, he snipped off the remaining stitches on my neck and one long little bugger inside my mouth that was annoying me, and I’m to schedule an appointment with him after my scans in January.
I am still pretty swollen and my face is a little lopsided but I can feel tingles in the numb part of my lip, chin, and earlobe so hopefully the nerves are healing/decompressing and I’ll get full sensation back. To be honest the left half of my chin has been throbbing more than tingling, so I take that to mean that healing is in progress. More importantly, new gum tissue is growing over the bit of exposed jawbone in my mouth, as expected, and my remaining teeth are quite white and clean from my 3 times a day brushing habit and gargling with dry mouth mouthwash twice a day. My hygienist should be happy when I have my cleaning appointment this month.
As for potential reconstruction possibilities, implants are verboten for the time being because he wants to be able to monitor the area, but I’m cleared to get a partial denture if I want chewing surfaces. Dunno how my dentist is going to feel about that (I mentioned the possibility of a partial the last time I talked to him and he said very flatly, “You’re getting implants”) but I literally *have no bone* in which to put implants for at least the next six months so it’s a moot point. If a partial will help me chew on that side of my mouth once the stitches finally dissolve, I’m all for it.
NaNoWriMo, Day One
High Tide Episodes 22: A Little Tenderness and 23: Meanwhile, Back on the Yacht, and 24: Kiss That Frog are all live on Kindle Vella. Go forth, read, enjoy.
Today: 1,711 words
Total: 1,711 words
So today is the start of November, which is also the month where thousands of writers around the world throw their sanity, cleaning routines, and diets to the wind and attempt to crank out 50,000 words in a month, which breaks down to 1,667 words a Day. Hence the name National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo for short.
I’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo since 2011, and while that first novel never got finished all of the others I’ve done have. This year I’m using High Tide as my project because I need about 50,000 words to finish it and hey, perfect opportunity, right? To be honest I want to get it finished before the end of the month because I have family coming on December 1st and I need to do a buttload of cleaning before then, but I am Olde™ and we will see how well that works.
Anyway, today I’ve written 1,711 words which puts me above the daily required amount, so that’s a nice way to kick off NaNoWriMo. Onwards!
Still Working on High Tide
High Tide Episode 9: …Or Will It? is now live on Kindle Vella. You know the drill.
With that done and uploaded, I’m about to send out a newsletter to my subscribers with a special epilogue to Crystal Blade that won’t be released publicly. Only my newsletter (and Patreon subscribers, when I get it set up) will be able to read it. So if you want to see how the Buff Lords react to the events at the end of Crystal Blade, you might want to subscribe.
In other news I’m setting up a Shopify storefront so that I can sell bundled ebooks (and eventually signed print books but I don’t have the spoons for that at the moment) directly to readers. I figure I already have the Esposito County Shifters bundle, so I can do one for Olympic Cove, Two Thrones, Hidden Empire, and my standalone MM titles. We’re looking at some major bills in the near future so any money I can make from my writing is needed and most welcome. And I will finally be putting my Patreon together this month, so readers will be able to get sneak peeks at work, exclusive short stories in one of my series, and free ebooks and print books depending on their tier.
And now, I must write.
Oh, Thank God
The portable AC unit arrived today. It’s rated at 14,000 BTUs, which with the 8,000 BTU window unit in the breakfast nook is generating enough cool air to make downstairs bearable. And we’re getting three days of double digit temps this week which should make things even cooler.
And yeah, I know I’m rattling on about my AC unit instead of writing but this is an object lesson that not all romance authors are rolling in dough (I wish). As it is, Ramón has regretfully asked me to go find some contract work once my gum treatment is completed so that we can afford to replace the downstairs system and get some long-needed repairs done around here. Which I agreed to because it’s necessary and I’m a grown-up who will do what is necessary.
That being said, if I can start making enough money with my writing to match what I’d been bringing in as an instructional designer, I won’t need to look for contract work. So if you want to see more work from me on a faster schedule, would you please talk me up to your friends and get them to buy books or read my Vella eps? And I’ll work on getting my Patreon and Storenvy site up in a couple of weeks, which will be another way to keep me writing fiction instead of spending my day coming up with use cases. *twinkle* We thank you for your support.
Soon, My Precious. Soon…
As of tonight I hit my 3k/day writing word count for the first time since May 14 and I am approximately 17,507 words from the end of Crystal Blade. Once I finish the chapter I’m currently working on, I’ll have Act II finished and can start the frantic landslide of Act III. Each chapter is already outlined and ready to go, and all I have to do is stick the words into place.
And to my surprise everything is flowing remarkably smoothly. I don’t know if it’s just years of experience, the fact that this book has been pending for over a year, or what, but I’m not fighting the story anymore. In fact, it’s getting kinda fun again to work in this universe and pit Crystal against her family’s machinations. It’s also a lot of fun to salt hints and suggestions about things that will happen in books 3-5, so that readers will be able to read those books and think, “Oh, now I understand why she mentioned X back in Crystal Blade. Okay, that makes sense.”
It’s one of the underlying tenets of writing a series. You need to make sure the books as a whole are cohesive and relate to each other in some way. Also, readers love following breadcrumbs in a complicated plot and will love you for it if you drop enough to keep their appetite whetted.
Writer’s Strike
It now looks like the Writer’s Guild of America (the people who write your favorite TV shows and movies) are going on strike as tomorrow. USA Today explains:
“Hollywood writers have left their keyboards behind.
At 12:01am Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America, the union representing most of Hollywood’s scribes behind your favorite TV shows and films, went on strike. The board of directors for the WGA, which includes both a West and an East branch, voted unanimously to strike after talks between the guild and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which bargains on behalf of the nine largest studios, failed to reach a contract. Writers, they said, are facing an “existential crisis.”
If it feels like a TV repeat, that’s because it’s all happened before. For 100 days in 2007 and 2008, writers went on strike, bringing the entertainment industry to a halt. Now those behind everything from network series like CBS’s “NCIS” to Marvel movies to streaming series including Netflix’s “Stranger Things” will hit the picket lines for the first time in 15 years.”
I don’t blame the writers a single bit for this. They are regularly screwed over when it comes to payment for movie and TV work and that screwing just got harder and even more lubeless with streaming. I would also not be surprised to see studios start to approach indie authors and other non-WGA writers to see if they’re willing to cross a picket line.
Needless to say, I wouldn’t do that. And I really could use the money right now. But the only way these larger entities, be they studios or corporations or what have you, will ever start paying people what they deserve is if those people band together with all their colleagues and stand as one. So donate to the WGA members if you can spare a couple of bucks and plan on finding something else to do if your favorite show goes dark during the strike—say, read a book.
The End of the Month Is Approaching
I didn’t mention yesterday but Crystal Blade Episode 9: An Intimate Family Dinner was released yesterday on Vella. At least I finally got it into my head to call them episodes and not chapters.
I have to admit, I was really hoping to have Blade finished by now, but between various stressors and a couple of bouts of Not Feeling Well I just wasn’t able to get it done this month. Which is annoying because I would really like to publish something every month and have Amazon keep promoting me, but I’m starting to think that this may not be realistic for me.
At least, not at the moment. I’m tired. My last vacation was January 2017 and it has been go go go ever since then. I would dearly like to have one week where I didn’t have to do anything, cook or clean anything, or take care of anything. Basically, I want to go on a cruise. But to do that we not only need enough money to pay for the cruise itself but also for the week of time Ramón would need to take off from work (not having PTO really sucks). Which means I need to sell a lot of books. Which means I need to write more new books to keep myself in Amazon’s sweet spot. But I’m tired. You see my dilemma.
At least the sterling silver jewelry I’ve been making recently has been selling, which is something. Frankly, I’ve made almost as much from that as I’ve made from writing this month. Part of me thinks that’s sad, and part of me is just damned grateful that I have another income stream. And all of me knows that things could be so, so much worse so I should just shut up and be grateful for what I have.
So Much On My Plate
Lord, I’m juggling so much at the moment. Between being an indie author with all the hats I have to wear in that business, trying to crank out stories under my SF name, making jewelry (don’t judge—my sterling silver jewelry brings in decent money and crafting is part of my writing process), and managing everything in the house, it can be a challenge at times.
But I could also be stuck in an office job that I loathed and dealing with a micromanaging boss. So I’m looking on the bright side here and reminding myself to schedule a little free time in between everything else.
Speaking of the jewelry, I’ve already sold one of the pieces I made this week and now have a placeholder page here where I’ll be putting new pieces as I get them (yes, I had an Etsy store but I’m tired of dealing with their rising costs. I’d rather just pay a flat PayPal fee and keep the rest of my money). If I’m correct I can add a Buy Now button to each piece that will take people to PayPal where they can purchase the piece with their PP account or a credit card.
I think. I know a website I used to manage was able to do that, so I should be able to as well. Need to experiment over the weekend, tra la…
Not a Lot of Writing Work Today, Either
I was going to get up at 9 AM, open Crystal Blade and get cracking, I really was. But my body decided otherwise and woke me up at 10:30 AM, at which point I had to go out to Joann Fabrics while the Daffodil Dash Sale was still running to get fabric for two quilts that I’ve been commissioned to do, then I had a doctor’s appointment and I’d been fasting since dinner last night so the only thing I was capable of doing while waiting for that was cleaning because my brain would not produce complex, difficult things like words.
Went off to the physical, all was well, gave blood and pee at the lab, stopped off for a very well-deserved meal, and returned home to find that my pharmacy couldn’t refill my new scrips because there’s an issue with the medical insurance. “They probably want you to go with their mail order pharmacy,” the tech explained. We did this same dance with Aetna so I will be donning my Southern Baptist Church Lady persona while calling The New People tomorrow and telling them no, I am not relying on our dodgy mail service when I can literally walk to my pharmacy so approve the scrips, bless your heart.
Then I made some TikTok and IG promo videos and posted those before going out and getting the makings for dinner (taco salad—still couldn’t deal with anything more complicated than that). Made it, ate it, then went upstairs and sewed another row of quilt blocks because this quilt has a hard deadline and I need to get it done ASAP. And now it is 11:01 PM CDT and tomorrow I have to pay bills, call three different businesses to get various things sorted, and mail a quilt to my SIL in England. And exercise. And get something for dinner. And sew another row of quilt blocks. And maybe, please God, get some writing squeezed in there somewhere.
I need a margarita, stat.
Nicola Cameron Writes 