CampNaNoWriMo April 2017 - Week 3 End

Today's Earworm: I Am a Stone by Demon Hunter
Today's Date: April 24, 2017

What to say today?

Actually I don't have an answer to that. I've been writing so hard and fast the last few days that I've kind of lost my own thoughts.

I found myself a new story that is kind of eating my brain, based around the above song and Heart Heart Head by Meg Myers. Both songs have damn near been on repeat since I discovered them and just let the sound and the lyrics work their magic on me.

So I think I found what I wanted to discuss beyond my current word count (just over 20K actually).

Inspiration.

I know I've touched on this on my twitter (@SLStrailo) and sometimes here, but I don't think I've done a full on blog about it.

Inspiration can come from anywhere and right now I'm not looking a gifthorse in the mouth. So to say, I'm not complaining.

Really. I want the inspiration to hit. I want those words to come to me and to work with me instead of giving me issues with trying to get them down and out. Let me tell you, fighting the words is a bitch. I don't think that there is a writer's block, there's just an inability to want to get those words down and issues mentally that stops the connection between word and writer's mind.

Which can suck. But still not writer's block.

So I've been getting words but they have been hard fought for words, which tend to read better than an easy flowing words but hey that shit happens.

Inspiration helps me get the words. And I love it. I love the fact that I can put the music on and get the words out and then...then I can go back with a sickle in hand and cut them down or fix them up. Whatever I need to make them look polished and pretty.

As for words...I'm currently at 2,0633 words and I need to cram so many words in yet.

April 2017 and What Has Been Going On

Today's Earworm: Narcissistic Cannibal (cover) by Earlyrise
Today's Date: April 18, 2017

So I'm pretty sure that you've noticed that I haven't posted a new blog for two weeks in a row right?

Eh, I'm sorry that I didn't but I kind of needed to just stop and get away from things. I needed to relax and focus on my writing and not my blog as I've been doing for most Sunday's since I started a long term Monday Blog Series.

I had to stop and focus on...me.

I've spoken about my mental issues, including ADD and OCD, but I don't think that I've talked about the issues that I have with Depression, Anxiety and panic attacks. At least not in detail.

No, I'm not going to talk about those in detail this post so don't worry.

I am going to talk about what has been going on in my writing life and what I'm shifting around, fixing up and thinking about in regards to it.

After my lovely friend left last Sunday, I kind of crashed. And hard. I didn't write all that much during the first week of Camp and the second week kind of was meh, but this week so far has been good. I haven't actually worked on either Black Veiled Saviour or Bad Dog. At least not in getting words so far.

I've been working on other things that need to be focused on. But I have, surprisingly, gotten over 16 thousand words. I have dropped my word counts down to 30K because of the rocky start to my writing, but shit happens.

I'm also doing a lot of rewriting and going over information with various stories. It's seemed to be working well enough for me, so I'm happy with that.

I just need to finish off a few things. Get them off of my long, long list. Which is driving me up a wall. A big, craggly wall.

But I'm doing it.

So thank you for understanding. Tune in next week for the update on the stories and after that I'll be talking about what I'm thinking of doing for the next few posts.

April Camp Nano 2017 - Part 1

Today's Earworm: Heart Heart Head by Meg Myers
Today's Date: April 3, 2017

I have made a decision. A very serious decision to.

It's about Black Veiled Saviour, which is one of two books that I'm working on.

I have decided to just scrap the original story and start it anew. I have plans on using bits and pieces of the current chapters that I have, but I'm not going to continue the current story line.

I still need to work a few things out but to note I am keeping the characters used so far, and keeping their personalities. It's going to be interesting to rewrite this world.

But that'll wait for a bit of time. I'll survive. Really.

Now, something I wanted to talk about: Genres. I've noticed that there have been threads about Happily Ever After's (HEA) in romance and why it's a part of romance.

If you don't have a HEA it's not a romance damnit! We read romance for that. That is what makes romance romance.

People are trying to get rid of the need for HEA's and a few other things that make the romance genre what it is. Which is kind of stupid actually because then it's not romance.

Now mind you, romance has so many sub-genres that the sub-genres need sub-genres. It's that damn vast of a genre.

I personally write horror, comedy-horror, mystery, and sometimes Sci-fi, but I still work within the rules that sell those genres. Why?

Because that's what sells. It's been changed and perfected and honed over the years. A genre is set up a certain way because it works and yes, I'm playing with some cliches and some not so cliches and changing up my characters and introducing some new ideas...but...

I am still playing by the damn rules.

I write according to the beats that were set by authors that were around long before I was. I write my villains and I write my heros and I write my victims according to what sells.

And I do the same for my romances, rare as they are.

Stop trying to be edgy. Even the author of Twilight played by the rules set in her genre, as distasteful as I find the book. I grew up on Dracula, and Anne Rice okay.  Vampires do not sparkle and those wolves aren't werewolves. They're shifters.

But still, genre 'rules' are there for a reason. And that is because...

They fucking well sell! Learn what the guidelines are and figure out how to put your own damn spin on them. That's the idea behind writing. I swear.

Preparing for Camp 2017 - Part 4

Today's Earworm:
Today's date: March 27, 2014

So...I was going to focus on Bad Dog, Mean Bunny, Follow Me Down, and my Untitled Prompt Story...

I don't think I'm really going to be able to do that juggling act this round. Not because I don't want to, but because I want to focus this round. That means that I'm going to actually probably focus on Black Veiled Saviour and Bad Dog at the most. I'm not going to do a lot of plotting for the stories either.

Now, hold on, don't go complaining and pouting at me for focusing on two of my stories instead of bouncing around between stories. I decided to focus on the two stories instead of just bouncing around because that's how my mind is working this round.

It just means that I want to work on a certain amount of stories instead of having a wide variety of stories to play with.

This does not mean that I'm going to not work on other stories. I'm just more likely to not work on them actually work on them.

But since I'm less than a week away from April starting (4 days and counting actually), I will be setting up the two stories because I do have ideas for them and getting ready for things to come.

So, what's the stats on the stories as it is right now?

Black Veiled Saviour
Words Currently Written: 11,047
Chapters Currently Written: 8

Mean Bunny
Words Currently Written: 14,876
Chapters Currently Written: 7

I will try to keep you updated on word count and how much I've added to eat story as April goes along.

Right now, I'm going to get ready for today's writing marathon. Here's hoping to fun.

Preparing for Camp 2017 - Part 3

Today's Earworm: Snuff by Slipknot
Today's Date: March 20, 2017

Okay, so this was supposed to go up yesterday but due to a long day going with my friend to a pain treatment and then a pill review (which isn't happening next month hopefully!).

So this is a day late but hey! I have gotten it out and up which is nice.

To tell you what I've been up to...not much actually. Why? Because I've been working up to a cold and damn it, it hit and hit hard yesterday. So I crashed out yesterday about 9:30PM and didn't crawl out of bed until about 1:30PM today. So yeah.

I'm catching up on things though and I really don't think that this blog is going to be very long since I don't have much to talk about this round since I was sleeping or dealing with the cold building up.

But! I do have a new book that I'm currently called my "Househunting turned into a murder mystery" kind of thing. Not sure as to what I'm going to do but it's probably going to be a rather interesting and long story. I'm already having fun with it so far and I might let it be a stand alone because I have no idea if I do want to use it as a second book to a main story line or not.

We'll have to see.

For now I'm going to go write and read and drink tea so I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week.

Preparing for Camp 2017 - Part 2

Today's Earworm: RESIDENT EVIL 7 Biohazard Full HD 1080p/60fps Longplay Walkthrough Gameplay No Commentary
Today's Date: March 13, 2017


Bad Dog

Total Chapters Planned: 1
Total Chapters Written: Prologue plus 6

Mean Bunny (2015 NaNo Novel)

Total Chapters Planned: 2
Total Chapters Written: Prologue plus 7

Follow Me Down

Total Chapters Planned: 1
Total Chapters Written: 2

Untitled Prompt Horror Story

Total Chapters Planned: 25
Total Chapters Written: 2

So as you can see, didn't do much this week. Life has been a tad on the busy side of things. So I haven't had much of a chance to really plan anything. But I have been doing things, including catching up on things that my friend has been posting over on AO3.

Now, when I read, I don't read like a writer, I read like a reader. I don't let my knowledge of the writing process color my reactions and enjoyment of a story. I don't go into a story expecting to have it cater to my exact tastes.

But I go into a story with an open mind. And sometimes that knowledge of the writing process, tenses, and POV's, and all the other little goodies come in handy.

Now, my friend got a comment. The short and dirty of it, this person was trying to say it was a "This character can do no wrong so this character left all that they loved". I can tell you that no, this story was not that. For that matter, it was more of a "Character leaves behind what is tearing them apart to find a little happiness in their life" story.

Just because the character compares themselves to another character is just the character focus coloring the POV.

I'm sure you did come here to listen to me babble about POV's and character's and how they tend to dictate what you say in a story, but I think this is kind of important and something that I have to remind myself about occasionally.

When you write in First Person, you are getting all of their observations and all of their thoughts. From the characters Point of View. You don't get a full range of details but you get more insight into the person themselves.

When you write in Third Person, you are seeing the full picture. You are seeing the details that the characters miss. You are seeing all of the reactions of the characters, the setting, all the little things that help build things up.

I used to write in First person and let me tell you that was hard to do because if the character didn't observe it, it didn't exist. I now write in Third person with a past tense.

Anyways, when writing in Third person, as my friend was doing and I tend to do, if you're writing with a focus on a single character, their personality and opinions are going to color the words that you write. Their personality dictates how the words talk about other characters, and their opinions tell the tale.

For example: If one character hates another, a focused chapter or scene in Third person will talk very little about that person unless it's a needed chapter/scene. Then the scene will show how character A hates character B.

When it comes to writing, reminding yourself that you're not writing yourself, you are writing a character with a mind, a personality, and opinions. And when writing a focused chapter, all of that will bleed onto the page in a wider range. Third person is just First person through the reader's eyes and mind after all.

Anyways, I'm going to go back to watching today's earworm nnd writing. I have much to do and little time to do it. 

Preparing for Camp 2017 - Part 1

Today's Earworm: Treat Me Like a Lady by Anneke van Giersberben
Today's Date: March 6, 2017

So, wow! Has it been a year since the last April Camp NaNo? Why, yes, yes it has been!

And what a year it has been. It's been up and down, left and right, and twisting all over the place.

But I'm here to start plotting for what I'm going to do with Camp this round. I am doing a mix of fanfiction and originals, but here, for this purpose, I'm going to talk about the originals I'll be touching on during this month. I'm hoping to get at least 12 or more original chapters/scenes done.

So, I'm going to break down what I'm going to focus on this round.

Bad Dog

- As of right now? I'm still rewriting chapter 1 and turning it into 2 chapters to smooth out the lovely info dumping that I did. I need to finish that off, go through the other 6 chapters to make sure that I didn't do that to much more, and then start planning on what I'm going to do next. I have a general idea and it's going to be interesting to say the least.

I still blame Ashe for this. I swear.

Total Written Chapters as of 3/6/2017: Prologue plus 6
Total Chapters Planned as of 3/6/2017: 1

Mean Bunny (2015 NaNo Novel)

- I haven't really touched this one outside of rewriting the original chapters. I know where I want to go with this story and I know that I will write on it this month, so I'm hoping that I have a rather good sized list of stories to write come April will help in this fact.

I'm hoping. Cross your fingers with me?

Total Written Chapters as of 3/6/2017: Prologue plus 7
Total Chapters Planned as of 3/6/2017: 2

Follow Me Down

- Ahh, this story holds a special place in my heart. I love my little insane Oniel and his fascinating world. I'm actually going to have a friend work on some things for this world with me because she knows this world and loves it just as much as I do. And she helped create one of the more crazy characters.

I am getting back into this world this April. One way or the other.

Total Written Chapters as of 3/6/2017:  2
Total Chapters Planned as of 3/6/2017: 1

Untitled Prompt Horror Story

- This story was one that I started because I was bored. So I went and hunted down 25 one word prompts. And proceeded to build an outline out from around them.

I have about 25 prompts total and I'm rather fascinated by this world since it's a mix of history and present, and is focused, mostly, on the detective who is trying to figure out just what happened to our victim. It's a mix of ghostly horror and mystery so, all around, a lot of fun to work ont.

Total Written Chapters as of 3/6/2017: 2
Total Chapters Planned as of 3/6/2017: 25

So I hope this gives you an idea of what I'm working on planning next, and hope that those who are joining us at Camp Nano reach their goals!

Once more, I'm hoping to hit about 35K, if not 50K in April. Cross my fingers and pray!

Post CampNaNo July 2016 and Preparing for NaNo 2016

Today's EarWorm: "End of Me" by Ashes Remain
Today's Date: 8/15/2016

So I had to sit down and really think about what I wanted to write for today's blog.

I drew a blank.

Then I remembered that I had started a list of ideas for future blogs just in case I don't have an idea ready for the next blog. And the first subject on that list? "Preparing for NaNo after Camp". Thus this post was born!

For all of those who follow my twitter (@SLStrailo), you know that I've been working on a series called Murder and Love/Lust (yeah, I still don't know if it's going to end up being love or lust). It's a short piece series set pre-books. Said books really don't have a plot as of yet, but I am working on that.

I have characters. That's part of the harder part of the battle for me when it comes to writing.

But now that it's been a couple of weeks since the end of July's Camp National Novel Writing Month, with me sliding in under the deadline like usual, I'm turning my eye to November and what is going on there.

To be truthful...I have no idea. Absolutely none. Whatever.

No...wait...I have some ideas. But I'm not sure what is going to happen, so we'll have to see.

Let's go over what I have in options.

Thread the Needle

This was actually started as my April 2016 Camp, I think, but it came to a stop because I started working on others and need to figure out just what I'm going to do with it since things are a lot different then our world.

Which is kind of interesting since I'm going to have a lot of people crawling up my ass for messing around with history. But hey, that's the beauty of writing fiction.

The Retail Worker Turned Supernatural Hunter

Again, if you follow my twitter, you've seen me complain about a new series. Originally it was going to be with a homicidal poltergeist, but then I started to get bits for a werewolf and shared those bits.

From there, I changed the plan because I was getting that instead of homicidal poltergeist.

Fun times.

Crimson Shadows Rewrite

Actually I've been meaning to get back to this story but it's always been kind of on the backburner. I just need to pull out the original story and made some more notes about what I want to do with it if I do go with this one.

I know what I want to get to, and have the first three books mostly thought out, but seriously? It's driving me up a wall.

Superhero Series

I'm actually not sure where I'm going to be on book 1 when it comes time but it is on that list to finish it off before working on another story. So we're going to see where I go in the long run.

When My Eyes Close

I started this story last year, but I haven't picked it up yet, but I've been doing a lot of things lately. So it kind of fell off to the wayside while I did some rather...interesting research. I have a lot on my plate but now I have the research done and I know where I'm going (mostly) with this story. It's just going to take a bit of time to do this. Fun times.

Anyways, that's my options and thoughts. So we're going to see what I need to do for the NaNo. I have a couple of months and some time to think about what I'm going to do, much less plan for it. So here's hoping that I get SOMETHING done yes? I can hope. I really can.

Can you hear all of the sighing going on over here? I swear that if I sigh any more someone is going to pop up and ask if I'm yearning for some long lost love.

Or vampires.

Yeah, like I haven't heard that before. >>

Anyways, I'll keep you up to date on what I'm doing in regards to this. Keep an eye on the countdown in the bar next to this post and please feel free to comment. :D

And if you have any ideas for what I should write on these blogs, please, leave a comment with a suggestion!

I tend to answer.

Thank you for your time!

What Is Up With My Stories?

Today's Earworm: "Beautiful Loser" or "Strangers" by William Control
Today's Date: August 8, 2016

What is up with my stories?

To be truthful, my muses are being a bit of a bitch. Excuse the language, but I'm sure that you all can forgive me.

This is kind of normal for me though so I'm not too worried. There was a time where I didn't write a single original piece for like a year, but that was while I was rediscovering myself.

It's just gotten to a point where I need to stop thinking of publishing and just write. No more contemplating the future of publishing and all that I need to know. I will get to that point, I really will. But that time is not right now.

Right now I need to turn my focus to writing and finishing stories.

On that note, I'm creating a new series of short pieces under the Murder and Love banner, with the first 16 piece set called Just a Little Murder. It's a horror mystery with a lot of dark themes and the books to come will be much more descriptive.

As it is, in Short Piece 4 there is some rather callous thinking of forced slavery in the BDSM world, but that is the character.

I keep telling people that my stuff can be dark but do they believe me? Nope. Not until I pull something like this out and show them with all attached warnings. It's highly amusing to see their reactions while they read.

Anyways. I have decided that I need to put aside the thoughts of what I'm going to do with the stories when I finish them and just work on finishing them.

With that said, I've decided to work on When My Eyes Close, which is my 2015 NaNo novel, my zombie fic that was inspired by J.A. Marlow and Honey Drops bk 1. I'm plotting them out and have what I want to happen in them pinpointed.

Mostly.

It's taking me time, yes, but then again, everything takes time to happen, so I'm not to worried really.

I am working on several interesting stories, including a "Magical Girl" kind of world, a Magical Modern world, a dystopia that is based off of my story that I handed over to Forward Motion writers for publishing, and a few others, so no worries about that. Actually, you can see the full list of things that I have in the works here.

I'll try and create a newer list here by September, so we'll see how things go with that.

As it is, tomorrow I'm going to be heading over to my friend's place after some last minute shopping for foods so we can go see "Suicide Squad" in theaters. We're picking up some chips, dips, and adult beverages. My local Albertsons has a "Build your own 6 pack" set up for like 10 bucks? Little less than that. And considering there is Smirnoff, various Mike's products, ales, beers and other goodies? Worth it.

Are we going to drink our six packs? No. I'll probably drink one or two and bring the rest home to indulge in over the next few months. I'm odd like that. I rarely drink but when I do I do it sparingly.

Yes, I'm over 21. So yes, I'm legal. More than. Thank you.

But we're going to need something to relax with on the 11th because we're going to be out ALL day on the 10th. Fun times. Really.

Anyways, I hope to see you here next week! Keep an eye out on Fridays for when I start posting my short pieces. :D

Camp National Novel Writing Month July - 7/25 to 7/30 and Final Thoughts

Today's EarWorm: "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots
Today's Date: August 1, 2016

July 25, 2016
Words Gained Today: 1,898
Total Words Today: 32,211
Thoughts and Notes:

So, wow. Today was good to me. Or at least mostly good to me. I got up kind of late (because I went to bed kind of late, so whoospies), and started to write. It took me some time and a lot of cursing, but I did get the words down! Which is awesome since I just have over 2K to write and I can easily do that in a couple of days.

So that's what I'm going to do in the morning. I'm going to write. I am also, hopefully, going to get a few more of my short pieces written down. Hopefully.

And figure out what my plans for the next few Monday blog posts are. Joy.

July 26, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

7:06PM:

I have no idea what I'm going to say so I'll just list them off.

1: I have written another short piece for my future blog story bits. It's got big bold warnings at the top. Can't say I don't warn the shit out of you.

2: My back is full on "Fuck you, bitch" mode because I dared to sneeze. going to write a blog about being a spoonie and a writer. Not sure how that will turn out.

Might see it come next week. We'll see how it goes.

July 27, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: --
Thoughts and Notes:

See the 28th's post

July 28, 2016
Words Gained Today: 3,340
Total Words Today: 35,551
Thoughts and Notes:

I have made it over the hurdle of a muse not wanting to work with me. Please ignore the cursing muse. She has a large amount of hot chocolate, coffee and tea at her disposal along with several treats that she is allowed to have.

Now, what happened to me getting my word count done before the 27th as I usually do?

Well...my muse wanted to play with an interesting story subject that kind of formed from my Magical world. I have a duology/series (still trying to decide on what will happen past books 1 and 2 so it might just be a duology) that is very much a tumblr inspired series but with my own interesting twist. Well me and a fellow writer in the Forward Motion chat room got to talking about sexualities. I.E. asexuality, demisexuality, aromanticism, demi-romanticism, and so on.

Which sparked a rather interesting idea for a character who is an asexual witch who practices sex magic and how that would work for this character since they need the sex.

The rituals never said that the sex had to be fun while they were doing it after all. So it's going to be an interesting exercise in presenting this character without pissing everyone off. Because no, the sex in this book will not be for the fun of it between two characters. Rather it's for magical purposes.

It's like sacrificing an animal, fruits or other items to whoever they are calling to this character. It needs to be done for their magic to its job. Simple as that.

So I'm doing more research into asexuality.

Thus my muse wandered off to try to play with this idea. Luckily I got it under control and working on this last bit because I have a mini story (such stories are usually between 5 and 15 chapters in length) that is prodding at my brain so I'm going to go start that.

Get it out of my head for a while.

But I'm happy to have gotten my validation done and in and all that good shit! Hurrah me.


For July 29 and July 30th, please see my final Thoughts and Notes down below.


Final Thoughts and Notes:

What to say about this last month? Cause really? There isn't much TO say about it.

This month has been full of lots of ups and downs, both in my writing and in my personal life. I have been helping a friend get past the loss of the last family member that really cared for her while we wait for her therapy place to have another opening to get anti-depressants again. Which is hard enough to do when you're not doing good as it is, but this is just that much harder.

I've also been editing and fiddling around with a few videos that need to be posted but that does take time to do. Which kind of sucks but it happens.

I did get a story done, which is nice. Even though I wanted to get further into one of my stories, but that happens sometimes. For now though I'm doing a few days of rewriting to give my creative brain a bit of a rest.

I have been doing next to nothing but writing.

My head hurts and I'm exhausted. But this is normal.

Yes, I did get my verification in and I did get my goodies. Which makes me happy.

Now, mind you, I'm not normal when it comes to the amount of wins versus losses in that I have yet to lose a Camp or a Nano. I don't have much of a life outside of my writing okay? I really don't. Mostly due to the fact that I do have issues being around other humans and crowds, and getting around.

So to all those who have done this round, win or lose, congratulations on having joined us in this insanity that is Camp National Novel Writing Month.

See you in November for National Novel Writing Month!

Camp National Novel Writing Month July - 7/18 to 7/24

Today's EarWorm: "Wear Me Out" by Skylar Grry
Today's Date: July 25, 2016

July 18, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

2:47AM:

I am exhausted. Drained. But I'm still up and working on a story. Which is about normal for me. I have gotten some words, so we'll see how I do with the rest of this rewrite on this long smutty smut.

Like 8 pages worth of smut okay? I'm on page 3. I'm sighing and whining so hard right now.

Just...*headdesks* Yeah.

July 19, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 21092
Thoughts and Notes:

I had an early morning appointment. I'm exhausted. I'm going to go to sleep now. Yes, without words. The next few months are going to drive me insane. *sighs*

July 20, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

8:37PM:

Hmm, let's see. I have gotten a chapter written (hurrah) and it's time to move to write something naughty. It's liable to add minimum 2K to my word count. To be honest? I'm still exhausted so I might crash out early again and see if I can't get some sleep in. Then get up tomorrow and write.

But for now I'm going to write. Here I go!

July 21, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 22500
Thoughts and Notes:

See the 23ed edition.

July 22, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 22500
Thoughts and Notes:

See the 23ed Edition.

July 23, 2016
Words Gained Today: 3,377
Total Words Today:26,967
Thoughts and Notes:

9:04 PM

I am not even going to try to fill in what I was thinking during the last couple of days because most of the last two days was spent in a pain filled or drugged up filled daze. I'm sure those of you who follow my twitter account saw that yes, I was working on a chapter. But since it was kind of an erotic scene and I was in pain, it took me until today to get it down and out.

Which really kind of set me back. Luckily, it was over 2K and I was able to get it down. Right now I'm working my way through a rewrite that I started but had to stop because I needed more than just a couple hundred words. But that's about normal for me.

I'm still tired. Still in pain. And very much want it to be the 10th of August so I can hang out with my best friend and go see "Suicide Squad". But I'll continue to wait.

And watch horror movies from South Korea because I love their horror movies.

11PM

Had to re-add all my word counts and figure out what my final word count was. Which was actually in the 26K+ range, so that helped me out a lot.

I am so glad that I keep such detailed wordcount information. I really am.

July 24, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

9:25PM

I am sitting here working on creating a series of drabbles and short pieces for Saturday postings. The first series is going to be called Just a Little Murder and it's actually spawning its own book series. The entire series (both book and short pieces) will be called Murder and Love (or Lust later on. We'll have to see how it goes in the long run.).

So be on the lookout for that. I have 16 short pieces that are currently ranging from 400 to 650 words a piece, and for the information post about what is going on with my short pieces and drabbles.

I'm actually really happy with how this world is coming together, but just remember, the Murder and Love/Lust series are pre-book, and just help fill in some information I'm thinking. That and giving me and you, the reader, a feel for the world.

But I also got a full chapter written. The drabbles alone gave me 1,677 words, but this newest chapter gave me another 1,671 words. So yay!

I'm going to go edit a few things, set up a few chapters for other things, plot the next set in the Murder and Love/Lust series, and maybe fiddle around with some rewriting since I'm now ahead in my word count.

We'll see.

Camp National Novel Writing Month July - 7/11 to 7/17

Today's EarWorm: James Michael - Learn to Hate you
Today's Date: July 18, 2016

July 11, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 11,727
Thoughts and Notes:

Well, I was writing but I was kind of foggy for most of the day due to the damn heat. But I did get some planning done! Which was nice.

July 12, 2016
Words Gained Today: 6,442
Total Words Today: 14,900
Thoughts and Notes:

5AM:

I got a chapter written and a chapter edited! I have 5 more chapters of this story to write and a brand new story idea to play with. This is...going to be fun since it's based on the song that is today's ear worm. Go listen. And I mean LISTEN to what he sings. I'll wait.

*waits*

All done? Spoke to you? Yeah, it spoke to me in a deep way that I now need to write something that will rip out a person's heart and puree it before filling a new mold and setting a new heart for them later in the story. It'll be fun.

For me.

Midnight: I got my words.

July 13, 2016
Words Gained Today: 1,453
Total Words Today: 16,353
Thoughts and Notes:

Wow, yeah, today was kind of a very slow day since I was just out of it. Not surprising at all since I got like 2 chapters and a rewrite done yesterday, but I did get my finished wordage today. That's always nice.

July 14, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 16,353
Thoughts and Notes:

Not really sure as to say what happened today beyond the fact that my muses were like rabbits on crack. They could not sit still.

I actually ended up planning out part of a mini-story, several one-shot stories, and some more of my various other stories. So there's that.

July 15, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

2:34AM: It is after 2AM right now. I should be in bed. I am not. Instead, I am writing. My life people.

July 16, 2016
Words Gained Today: 2,059
Total Words Today: 19,209
Thoughts and Notes:

Not much to say about this. Got a long chapter done, and am going to bed at a decent hour. I'm exhausted.

July 17, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 19,209
Thoughts and Notes:

6:30PM

Haven't gotten any words, but have been going through #ShitAbledPeopleSay tag on twitter. I feel all of these! I swear. Gonna go add some of mine.

After Midnight:

I did get words, so no worries, but unfortunately for me, it was after midnight when I finished the chapter, so it's going on to Monday's word count, which doesn't hurt me since it just means I 'll have at least 2 chapters written on the day.

Camp National Novel Writing Month July - 7/4 to 7/10

Today's EarWorm: We the Kings "Phoenix Hearts"
Today's Date: July 11, 2016

July 4, 2016
Words Gained Today: 3239
Total Words Today: 7,133
Thoughts and Notes:

Mmm, what to say about today? It went surprisingly well. I got lots of words after midnight rolled around. Got two chapters down and introduced a more sexualized character then I normally do. It'll be a slow start for the most part, since I do have to kick a few characters around before we get to the meat of the story.

I also got some rewriting done which was nice. Now that it's after 4AM I'm going for more words and hopefully I'll get them done before I crash out. That is if I don't crash out in self defense from hallucinations. Tea and coffee will be my friends for this month. I swear.

July 5, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 7133
Thoughts and Notes:

Okay, so I got a few words in but nothing to add to my count. Why? Because I crashed out so hard when I finally went to bed. It was ridiculous. I try tomorrow.

July 6, 2016
Words Gained Today:
Total Words Today:
Thoughts and Notes:

5PM:

Oh look, words! Yay for me! I got up at 6:30AM and it only took me until about 4PM to get the words. Why? Because I was exhausted and felt like dragging my feet mostly. Luckily I didn't have to shop today but I'll be doing so tomorrow. Which will be nice.

I hope.

Anyways, I'm going in for more words. Time to roll up those sleeves and get them!

July 7, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 8,558
Thoughts and Notes:

Today was just not a happy day since I had to go shopping. That left me drained and just so very tired.

July 8, 2016
Words Gained Today: 0
Total Words Today: 8558
Thoughts and Notes:

It's nearly 8PM as I write this starter bit to today's section and I'm compulsively scratching at my skin. This tells me that my anxiety is high. It's not because of the fact that I'm doing Camp NaNo, it's because I'm not writing.

That is, I haven't gotten enough writing in for the last couple of days to really do me any kind of good to satisfy my hypergraphia. If you're new to my blog, hypergraphia is like a physical itch, a need to write. I can't just stop writing.

I end up with anxiety and scratching at my own skin. I've already scratched myself bloody a few times since this shit really kicked in, so I'm trying very hard not to do that now. I think that I will take a few minutes, shape my nails (and get rid of any rough edges) and take a hot bath while reading. After that, I will sit down, watch MrKravin on youtube (watching his play through of Until Dawn), write and I think...just ignore the world for a little while.

There is just so much hate going on that people who have all sorts of triggers for their anxiety are probably going through a lot of what I'm going through. We just want the hate to stop, to let us breath and be what we keep saying we are.

I'm not going to get into that because that's just not a pretty thought process and it's not what my blog is all about.

So I'm going to go play some Knights and Brides on Facebook, watch my twitter for interesting links to click that are rather random and have nothing to do with the outside world, take a hot bath, and watch some interesting play throughs while I write.

I'll keep you guys updated on what is going on.

July 9, 2016
Words Gained Today: 1619
Total Words Today: 10,177
Thoughts and Notes:

So I got words. After midnight. I was able to just cool off (since it's been pushing 109, 110 here again) and finish off that chapter. Tried to write after I woke up. Didn't work. Not all that well at least. So I read a lot, crash early, handwrite a chapter to my Superhero novel.

So once I type those words up I'll lay claim to those later this week. So that's nice.

July 10, 2016
Words Gained Today:1,550
Total Words Today: 11,727
Thoughts and Notes:

7:48PM

I am slowly getting words when a fellow spoonie comes up with "Some people have euphoria during migraines? I want."

Now mind you, euphoria during a migraine pretty much means you don't care you're hurting, you feel good emotionally and somewhat mentally while the pills are working. But the moment that migraine is gone and euphoria wanes, there's a crash.

I hate to break it to her, but that crash can be BRUTAL. I have, at least when I feel the migraine coming on. When I wake up to one, not so much because I'm well past that stage into "damn it, hospital here I come" stage by then.

But it's the crash that really can mess with someone. Cause you have all these lovely feelings/thoughts/whatever going through you and they die a horrible death once the migraine is gone. It's like a bad drug trip that started out wonderful okay?

It's not worth it and I've been fighting off sinus headaches for the last two days so I'm going to take some sinus pills and write.

10:45 PM

I got my words. Barely before I have to crash out, and I suspect hard, but I got them! Hurrah. Or something. Ugh.

Camp National Novel Writing Month July - 7/1 to 7/3

Today's EarWorm: Spells by Orgy
Today's Date: July 4, 2016

This one is kind of short since I just started Camp on Friday, and seeing as these things from from Monday to Sunday, this is the last 3 days.

So let's get started, shall we?

I had to work on figuring out what song was the best earworm, but that took me a bit. I finally decided on the above so I do hope that you enjoy.

July 1, 2016
Total Words: 3,894
Total So Far: 3,894
Thoughts and Notes:

So I kind of started rather late all things considered, about 10 in the morning, 3 hours after I got up. I was going to start at Midnight but about that time I got up from my nap with a migraine that was pounding in time with my heart beat. So I took pain killers (enough to drug me into sleep for about 6 and a half hours and leave me a bit fuzzy for the rest of the day), ate some toast, drank a bit of coffee, took a hot shower, and crashed. Crashed out hard.

Well worth it though.

But I did get two chapters on another story written, mostly because it was going to be one long chapter, but I had to split up one of my chapters into two which annoyed me. But hey, I'm not one to leave a long chapter in one piece unless it's sex. Then it stays put because I don't like to split up sex scenes.

I also got a chapter on another story rewritten, which made me happier. I'm going to go take a hot bath and depending on the time here, I will either be going to bed or writing another chapter. We'll see how it goes once I take my meds and relax a bit.

Because tomorrow? Long ass shopping trip. Very long ass shopping trip. Urgh.

July 2, 2016
Total Words: 0
Total So Far: 3,894
Thoughts and Notes:

I went shopping starting around 11 in the morning. I didn't get home until close to 5 that night. And that was with like ten minutes sitting down and eating actual food while figuring out money and budget. Yeah, it was not a fun day.

Haul video is going to be recorded and edited later on. For now I have words to do.

July 3, 2016
Total Words: 0
Total So Far: 5359
Thoughts and Notes:

Okay, so first of all, that total is AFTER midnight on the 4th, so on the 3ed I got no words, but that is my current count.

Let me tell you what, I suffered all day with sore shoulders and a building migraine until I took a damn pain killer and some muscle relaxants. It turned out to be a good thing. But it still took me nearly 3 hours to unwind enough to write the chapter and get the word count.

Which happened just before 2:50 AM in the bloody morning. It's a good thing I have a lot of tea and coffee right?

Yes.

This month is not happy so far. Here's hoping the rest of the month is.

Remember, you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, CampNaNoWriMo and NaNoWriMo!

Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 4

Today's Earworm: Bradley Caleb Kane "Once" Or Alice Cooper's "I Am Made of You"
Today's Date: June 27, 2016

I'm actually writing this on the 23ed of June, so the numbers are a bit odd because I'm kind of doing mass amounts of writing. You'll see down below yes?

Yes.

We are coming up on the last week before July starts. July 1st is on Friday so I'm going to finish getting ready to do my July. I have set my word count on the Camp NaNo site and have set up my novel choice for it.

Word count goal is 35K, or 35,000.

Story is a fanfiction that can easily turn into an original. Why? Because this story is nomming at my brain and all of the ideas for it are already making me cackle and make my fellow writers on Forward Motion chat cackle with me.

Some of the gems that I've shared? I warn you now, this is also on my twitter and is Not Safe For Work (NSFW). Or at least most of them aren't.

But whatever.

1. I have a ball gag and ropes. I will truss you up like a kinky turkey to get you to shut up!
2. Fuck. He went from "where's your daddy?" to "Fuck me daddy"! 
3. Female character seeing the above character topic in 2: Well...damn! Fuck me daddy and make me cream! (Yeah, that's not subtle at all.)

Yes, this will be a rather sexual romp into another side of a world that we can only speculate. I'm actually trying hard to finish another story before Camp, but that might not happen.

67 chapters long, and I'm only on chapter 56 okay? I have 11 chapters to write in 7 days and some odd hours because it's just after 2AM here on the 23ed, so yeah. Fun times. 

I can get a good chunk of those chapters done (about 7 of them at the least) but I'm going to have to scatter them amongst the other chapters for this story so I can have it completely finished before my 10 week (by the 27th happens) end date of my other story. 

Joys. 

I'm not doing to bad all things considered but anything smutty (and I'm talking down and dirty, ranchy, pull out the toys for a little fun after reading that shit sex) has been a hard fought battle to get down. 

Thank you whoever invented disposable pens that actually write nicely, and lined 3 ringed paper. Thank you.

Yes. I have been writing by hand my smut. Let me tell you what, some of my pieces have gone from 3K up to hitting nearly 5K okay? And that's for one frickin' chapter. 

I also have a few other things I need to get off my list some I'm at the point of "Okay, where's my coffee and an all night spree of horror game playthroughs?"

My current choice (outside of Markiplier's "Amnesia" play throughs)? MrKravin. He really does have a very nice voice. I can tell you that.

Anyways, I'm going to go plot and write and curse and pull an all nighter so I can sleep most of the hot, hot, unbearably hot, day away. Seriously world? 120 degrees fahrenheit?

Yeah, I have to deal with that shit. Got to love desert living.

For now all, I hope you guys enjoy your day and hope that the words come easy!

As of Sunday, 6/26/2016: I have written 57 chapters, removed one chapter, and come down to 66 chapters. Why? Because one chapter didn't seem to fit once I got to it. So yeah, that happened. I have also hand written one (1) out of who knows how many smaller one-shots. I currently have about 6 oneshots for this story on the list but I'm also trying to get through my Through the Ages bk 1 first draft done.

But I'm still doing good considering I'm nearly living off of American Breakfast Tea (the tea version of a good cup of coffee) currently because my sleep schedule is shortened due to being flipped.

I'm going back to writing and twitter. 

Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 3

Today's Earworm:
Today's Date: June 20, 2016

I have decided to do something a little interesting because I keep seeing this running around, so this is my response to a lot of these. And I keep hearing this shit, so this is my response to things like this.

Don't worry, you shall get an actual update on where I am in regards to setting up my story and preparing for Camp this year here soon. Promise.

Anyways: What NOT To Say To a Writer

All of them make my eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Why? Because it's rude that's why!

If you want to see where a lot of these come from, check out the twitter hashtag #tenthingsnottosaytoawriter or just Google Ten Things Not To Say to a Writer. It's not that hard.

1) You write? That must be a nice hobby for you. My wife/partner/whathaveyou *insert hobby here*

Hobby? What is this hobby thing you're talking about? This is my career! I do this because it's what I love and what I can actually do. It's not a hobby.

Kindly stop comparing me writing to a hobby.

2) “Are you still writing?”

Yes, yes I am.

3) What do you mean, don’t drop by, you’re working? You’re just sitting around making stuff up.

I'm working. What do you not understand about this? If I was trying to do something you consider an actual job, you wouldn't be saying this! I have money to make and only a few hours in each day to do it in, okay?

4) You’re an author? I’ve got at least ten books in me.

Uh, so? I have hundreds of books in me and I'm going to write them all. I don't care if you have them in you. If you do nothing with them, they're not interesting to me. 

5) I have a great idea I want you to write for me. Can you draw up a contract detailing how we will split the advance and royalties?

No. Cause that's a lot of work and I don't want to write your supposedly "Great Idea" that is most likely overly cliched make me twitch into an early grave story. 

6) It’s irritating to wait a whole year for your next book. Can’t you write any faster?

I'm sorry, did my typing speed annoy you? Does the fact that I have to put a book down after finishing it for a month so I can come back to it with fresh eyes for rewriting and editing purposes annoy you?

Tough. As a writer I have an obligation to make sure whatever I put out is good!

7) I have the most amazing life story, but I don’t have time to write it. Maybe you can write it and we’ll go 50/50 on the royalties.

Me: No.

Person: Why not?

Me: Because I'll be doing ALL of the damn work and you'll be profiting from that. And I know your life. It's duller than that 50 Shades BS. So no.

Person: But...

Me: *sips coffee* No. 

Person: *pouts*

Me: *spikes the coffee* No. *goes back to killing off characters*

8) So can I have a free copy of your book?

No. As to why? I need to make money. I don't work for free thank you very much.

9) So what do you really do?

I write. That's what I do. I write. Oh and I make youtube videos with my friend about being broke. 

10) Do they even publish books anymore?

Shocking I know but yes, they do create actual real life books still. Surprising I know but there are people who want to have a nice solid book in hand. 

Shocking.

11) So you write romance novels? 

Person finding out I'm a female writer: So you write romance huh?

Me: Romance? Why? Because I am a female and that's all we can do? I write romance. Very short Male/Male romance stories. But my main genre? Horror.

Horror that will make you wonder where in the world I learned how to screw with a person's mind. Where you're left wondering what that noise you just heard was. Was it the wind? Or was it a murderous creature coming to slowly drain the life out of you.

And make you wonder where I learned to write such things.

Person: *stares in horror*

Me: *sips tea* High school was very informative.

12) I want to write a novel one day.

Uh, that's nice...why not now?

13) Want to edit something for me?

Want to pay me for it? It's 15 dollars an hour currently. And I'm only going to work on it for two hours at a time. It usually takes me about 30 hours to get through a 200 page manuscript to.

14) You're not published? Doesn't this mean that you're not really a writer? 

What? Because I'm not published means that I'm somehow not a 'real writer'? Let me tell you, I am a writer for the simple fact that I put words down and then I sit there and beat the story into submissions to get it just right for your viewing pleasure.

15)You need to move on to new material! 

No. No I don't. I will write what is fun for me to write and I will make money doing so.

16) That’s really cool that you want to write but I could never give up stability. 

Meaning you could never give up your cubical with a possibility of promotion for something that you enjoy and love. Personally, I would love to actually have a job but due to various issues, writing is my career.

Outside of the fact that I love it so much. 

17) I loved Fifty Shades of Grey! And the Twilight series!

Those series are so bad it hurts. Twilight is quite frankly a Mary Sue fest gone paranormal, the wolves are shapeshifters, not actual werewolves, and vampires don't sparkle. And Fifty Shades of Abuse is a how to guide to fucking up in the BDSM world. 

It's a very BAD fantasy of what the BDSM world should be. And it pisses me off. Don't make me throw you on that bonfire.

18) You should dedicate your book to me. 

No. No I should not. Because I don't know you. You only want your name on a book because it'll make you feel good, and because that way you can say you know a published author.

I have my choices for whom the books will be dedicated to. 

19) We don't pay, but it's a great opportunity for you to get your name out there!

Uhh, no. No I don't think so. Sorry, but not happening.

If it doesn't come with a pay check it doesn't happen. I have other ways of getting my name out there. Thank you.

Updates

6/14/2016

I am still trying to not write on the story but I have been able to plot out a couple more chapters. I wrote down the summary for chapter 8 and 9 and went "Huh, smut in the first 9 chapters. This is going to be fun". Then...I started writing down pairing ideas.

My next thought? "OMG, this guy is going to get around so much".

Yeah.

Anyways, I have also received the contract for my Forward Motion 2015 Anthology submission from J.A. Marlow. J.A. has been amazing busy what working a new job for the summer and dealing with the loss of their mother.

Soon, very soon, the book shall be published and I'm happy to do this for no money.

Why? Because it supports the one forum that I've discovered that I like the most. So all proceeds from this book goes to upkeep and paying all sorts of things that go into the forum. I am able to publish it elsewhere or even publish it myself in a future collection if I want (which is good since it set off a duology and the scene will make it into book 2 in some form).

I'll keep you updated on what's going on with that and will add a small tidbit when it comes out!

6/17/2016

Ugh! I am not sleeping very well, but I'm still working on creating an outline for the story. I have about a week and a half left before I have to worry about actually writing this darn thing but I'm getting there. Working on watching some anime, getting them off of my list because shit happens.

And that list is amazingly huge. Seriously huge. And some of them are longer than like 6 episodes.

Anyways, I'm getting things done and hopefully I'll get this story at least part of the way done by the time I get to that point. I have no idea how it's going to happen. I really don't.

I'm going to go back to finishing off another story and trying not to cry in horror at not having no extra sleep to keep me from killing people. 

Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 2

Today's Earworm: Highwayman by Bessech
Today's Date: June, 13, 2016

Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 1

6/7/2016

I have settled on what I'm going to write along with the secondary stories. I have decided to do a story that I'm really not going to go into since I haven't decided if it's going to stay as a fanfic or become an original.

Either way it's going to be fun to write. That's for sure.

I have been planning out the story and talking ideas with a friend of mine for the last few days. Yesterday had me sleeping most of the day away before going to bed at a rather early hour. But I kind of needed it apparently.

But I still have a lot to do yet.

6/9/2016

God, what to say? There's really not a whole lot to say since I'm working on getting things set up and ready to go for this round of Camp.

My back is killing me, my muses are running around like insane little bastards and I'm trying so hard to finish off a few things before it comes time to start this insanity.

What am I to do?

6/10/2016

My muses decided to calm down enough for me to work on things and get other stories down and out of the way. Which is a good thing since I want to get this one story done before I start on Camp here. It keeps coming closer with every hour that passes by me.

And life keeps going nuts on us. I swear. It's driving me up a wall. But I keep going.

Because I can't really stop and just say "I want to quit". Life doesn't work like that, no matter how we want it to.

Yeah, I'm sounding a bit depressed because of real life stress.

Anyways, I just want it to be July already! I really, really want to write this story.

I already have 5 chapters planned out (and 3 out of 8 total written because I did start it but the rules do state that you can continue a story, but you must only count the new words, so yeah) and I'm always plotting what will happen in future chapters. I also need to watch a few things and make notes.

Urgh. Not happy making.

But I'm going to do it because I need those notes for other stories to. >< I swear one day I'm going to have this huge bookshelf just jammed pack full of notebooks with various notes.

I sigh now. And go back to writing.

Preparing for Camp National Novel Writing Month July 2016 Pt 1 & Writers Advice

Today's Earworm: Mr. Uninvited by Bessech
Today's Date: June 6, 2016

Today was a day of shopping. Which wasn't happy making, but I got it done! Yes.

Anyways, as of right now, I am setting up to get ready for the next round of Camp National Novel Writing Month, which starts July 1st. Again, I'm going for like 35K for the round, but that's about normal since I usually average about 20 to 30K a month in my normal writing and rewriting work.

I have so much to work on that it's not funny. So I'll just go over what I have in the works that need to be done.

1) Untitled M/M pairing short story

This story is going to end up around 24 chapters in length, about 13 of those chapters are complete rewrites with a couple being split into two parts. It's an older story that I had finished, but after a couple years of letting it sit I decided that it needed a full on rewrite/fleshing out.

So if I do do this story, I'm going to have to write at least one chapter and one chapter rewrite as I come across them. I'll probably end up finishing it half-way through the month.

2) All You Need

Again, this is a full on rewrite/flesh out story that is a couple of years old and I have no idea how long it will be. I need to fill out the first half of the story yet, which means that it's going to be interesting. I have something like 5 chapters planned out so far? When I get to the main chunk of the story there's going to be another 10 chapters added, at least.

I'm still working on getting it planned out since I need to flesh out the world and the plot line yet.

3) Thread the Needle - Don't Look Bk 0

I actually got about 3 chapters into this story before steam just kind of tapered off. I'm working on building the world some more and building the outline but that's going to be interesting to do. That's for sure.

Especially since it's the entire basis for the rest of the Don't Look books.

4) Untitled Superhero Book - Through the Ages Bk 1

I'm somewhere in the 20's chapter for this story (since I don't have that file open right now and I'm not going to open it). I have about 37 chapters planned for this story so I might be able to finish it if I go with this story. We'll have to see how things go in the long run.

5) Random other short or almost done stories

I have a lot of these stories actually. A lot. Most of them are fanfiction but there are some originals, like the Forward Motion 2016 anthology submission that I'm working on. I just need to work it out.

As it is I think I'm going to use this time to think about my Butterfly Living world that I started oh so long ago. I swear that I need to rewrite that first book like nothing else. I might start playing with that idea here soon because that and the Crimson series are both eating my mind. Need to finish a few other stories first.

Fun times.

Time for some Advice from one writer to another:

Write. Every. Single. Day.

I can not tell you how many people who come to me and ask me how I get so many words done are always surprised when I simply say "I write every single day". They just sit there and go "No, way".

Yes way.

I get up. Turn my computer on. Go to the bathroom. Come back and log on (because dangit I am going to make idiots log on if they want at my stuff). Go get water/tea/breakfast. Come back. Say hi to my friends and writing cheerleading squad (who are made of the awesome), open a couple of files that I use to type up whatever I working on then. 

Make my tea. I usually let my tea steep while I'm doing the rest so I have my sugar and a spoon close at hand to sweeten as needed. I also take the time to start eating.

I then open up my Chrome, and for all the bs it puts me through, the GDocs are still my baby, wait for my tabs to open, and find the tab with my current file. 

I start to write.

And write.

And write some more.

I say hi to my friend who comes on. Tell her what file I'm in and go back to writing.

Or I'll be rewriting that day.

If I'm editing, I'm just usually editing my OpenOffice Writer file because I don't want to deal with the gdoc for whatever reason.

I'm doing something in regards to my writing. Anything! Every. Single. Day. 

Even those days that I have a migraine that takes down an elephant. Once I can see straight, sit up, and stare at paper or my tablet, I'm working on something. Usually plot points that my drugged up mind comes up with for later editing and figuring out how to make them possible.

It's not amazing. It's not a super power. It's good old fashioned hard work.

Ask any published writer who is serious about their work, and they'll tell you getting into the habit of doing something in regards to your writing takes practice. And time to get used to. But if you really want to see your name on a printed version of your book with some money coming in from sales, you Write. Every. Single. Day. 

I'm sorry to say but holidays are non-existent to most writers. We write. Be it on paper, phone, tablet or computer. We write.

To those who are just coming onto this and are horrified by this, go to the Camp NaNo website for the April or July, rounds of Camp, sign up, create your book, set your word count (minimum is 10K), and practice getting words every single day. I use these months as a way to finish off a few smaller projects (as shown above).

Or even join in the insanity that is National Novel Writing Month in November. Go to the NaNoWriMo website and sign up. Minimum word count? 50 thousand words in 30 days.

No, I'm not being paid to tell you to do this but my first Nano was back in 2009. I've won every single one that I've been a part of since. It taught me how to turn off my editors brain to get the words down and out. It also taught me how to write every day without fail. 

And I carried those lessons over into my writing career, just like every author and writer before me.

So again: Write. Every. Single. Day. And don't whine about it.

You're the one who chose to pick up writing as a career path. I get enough of that from the 12 to 18 year olds who come to me about writing advice. 

Until next week!

Peeking Into My Mind

Today's Ear Worm: Highwayman by Beseech
Today's Date: May 9, 2016

Forwarning: This is going to be slightly rambly because there has been a lot that has gone on in the last 9 plus days. But this is what I'm going through and what I'm thinking and what I'm planning so buckle in and read each section's title.

My Friend Tonya

The last couple of months have been extraordinarily busy for my friend. She has, like me, chronic pain, but unlike me she has found a good chronic pain specialist who has been sending her to get various tests done. Which is good for her.

But makes life a tad busy for all of us since some of those tests are to see how she reacts to epidurals steroid shots. What happens is she's put under so that they can take long ass needles and stick them on either side of her spine.

She did the last one of her spine shots on May 2nd and I was babysitting a mutt while exhausted and doing a younow stream. I'll talk about the stream later in this post, promise. But she has a few other shots to go yet and those will be happening on the 9th and later on the 26th of this month. 

She also lost her mother on Wednesday but we have been prepared for this for a long time. 7 Years and about 5 different types of cancer in those years will do that to someone who is having to watch. We knew that she wouldn't have long since the doctors couldn't unfortunately do a whole lot since through all of the other cancer's she became allergic to the chemotherapy and it was such an aggressive cancer this time.

She lasted a month at home with hospice care, dying with her husband by her side, holding her hand.

Tonya spent yesterday smoking her cigarettes and having an adult smoothie. Fruits, vanilla smirnoff vodka, and some juice okay? Adult smoothie.

So my friend isn't bad, but still it's been a stressful time for all of us since we do have to go with her to the appointments due to the fact that she is knocked out for the shots.

Camp National Novel Writing Month

Yep, that's right, I won April's round of Camp! I'm rather proud of myself really since it was such a fight to get the words out and down. I got about four chapters into Book 0 of the Don't Look series, the book called Thread the Needle. I have to work out what I want to continue to work on with it before I do anything with it thought so that's going to take time.

I did get some one-shots, gift fictions and a few other things done which was nice. 

But still it was so hard to get the words down, but I did get them.

Personal Life

My personal life is just kind of eh right now. I'm having to say no to people just to keep my sanity and of course jury duty decided to pop up. *rolls eyes* So now I'm having to go "I can't do jury duty because of this reason" and having to call them and all that good shit. I'm sighing and stressing. 

Not good for my health. 

Writing

My writing is actually going okayish. I'm getting words, which is nice, but I spent most of last week rewriting with very little actual writing because I was just so busy with everything else. 

I am focusing on Thread the Needle, figuring out what I want to do with it and how to go about doing it. I have the family and their names, have hinted at how the world is built (because it's historical but it's not at the same time), and have been thinking about how to mess around with that world.

I'm about 17 chapters through my first book of my superhero series, called Ages, and still have something like 19 more chapters to write before I put it to the side to sit and contemplate the second story for the series. It's now up to about 8 books in the series, but it's going to be interesting to write in the long run. 

I'm also working on book 1 of my Crimson series that is pretty much the rewritten version of my NaNo book from 2010 or there about. That's making me happy.

I'm also doing the next anthology for Forward Motion (2016 one, 2015 shall be out soon!) with the prompt "Open Roads". I need to write that so I can have time to rewrite and edit it actually. I'm planning on doing that sometime this month.

Younow Streaming

Yes! I stream on Younow.com. I'm called SunnyLewis on there and I've only done 1 or 2 so far. I'm trying to figure out the best way to get things going so we'll see how things do in the following months. I have decided that I will be doing a stream every week as long as I'm up to it, but I just need to figure out the best time to do so seeing as I live in Arizona and we have our own time zone. 

Can you see the rolling eyes? Yes? Good.

I'm thinking Sunday's around noon or 1PM will be best so we'll test that out for the next few months.

My Twitter account has the announcements of me online, along with my tumblr and facebook! So keep an eye out on that. :D

Well, that turned out less rambely then I thought it would be. Huh.

Anyways, if you have any topic that you would like to see come around, feel free to comment and suggest!

Also, on Connie's Random Thoughts on May 11th, she will be posting the interview with me! My first interview! Woot! I hope you guys enjoy and read it. :D

Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016 - Days 25 to 30

Today's Ear Worm: Billy Talent "Pins and Needles"
Today's Date: May 2, 2016

April 25:
Word Count: 0
Total Word Count: 33,622
Thoughts for the Day:

I spent the day going up to Gilbert. I'm exhausted and just to tired to do anything but crash out hard for the day. Nights all.

April 26:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

I have officially validated my novel! Yay! I hit just over 35K words which made me very, very happy. I'll work on getting more words probably tomorrow.

I do need sleep though. Still getting over yesterday's trip.

April 27:
Word Count: 374
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:

4:33PM

I actually started kind of late today but that's mostly because I was reading through Necia Pheonix's book and seeing how it read.

Two hours, 22 chapters, and a cliff hanger as I wait for more to come my way...and I'm hooked. *sighs*

I'm going to finish off another short story today since I need to get it done.

Midnight:

I got my rewriting done but that's about it. I started on actual words but only got about 200 in. That kind of sucked.

April 28:
Word Count: 2544
Total Word Count: --
Thoughts for the Day:

I did get those words done! One long as chapter that happily feel in about 2,544 words total, so that made me happy!

I also got a friend hooked on two of my stories. Which is fun. I cackled and teased her with ideas for future chapters. She pouted and demanded more.

Now I'm just rewriting an older story and getting that off of my plate (I'm still pretty damn far from the end actually), but it's slow going since it was well over 3K when I started editing it.

April 29:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

12:31AM:

I am still editing this monster of a chapter. Seriously.

I have no idea when I'll finish this but I've gone through two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, and half a huge bowl of popcorn so far working on this thing. And the entire collection of "Duff Until Dawn" which was like 6 half hour episodes. So about 3 hours.

So much detail to rewrite! This is killer man.

1:19AM:

3 hours, 3 cups of coffee, and a shit ton of squinting and I have gotten it done! *flops* I added well over 1K worth of words to it to, so that was surprising.

Really, really surprising.

I'm going to get ready for bed, crash out for a few hours. Get up at 11 to take a shower and wait for my friend to get her ass over here so we can go do things.

See you guys later!

April 30:
Word Count:
Total Word Count:
Thoughts for the Day:

I've been pretty much working on rewriting and putting down notes for one of my stories. I am still exhausted after yesterday. If you noticed, I didn't write anything yesterday because I was exhausted after all our shopping.

So rewriting and figuring out what to write tomorrow for the final thoughts on this April is pretty much what I'm doing today.

Fun times.

Final Thoughts on Camp National Novel Writing Month April 2016:

So this month was interesting. Seriously interesting since it was so busy outside of my writing.

I had days where I didn't have a single word put down and some days where I couldn't stop writing, which balanced everything out.

I got 3 chapters of "Thread the Needle" down but I need to plan a few more chapters out before I write on it some more. I want to get it done by maybe December, or at least the first draft.

I did get some fanfiction done and I'm working on finishing up a couple of other stories before I do anything since I have so much to finish.

And so little time.

I'm thinking that I will be doing the "Story-A-Day" thing on Forward Motion Writers, level 1 or 2 (which are light versions), and posting them here come June. So keep an eye out for those!

And maybe I can figure out a few of my stories, get a few other things done. Here's hoping.

But I think that I will make sure that July kisses my ass and I work on things during that month. Don't have much else to do after all.