Canary covers

Oh me oh my.

Sometimes, one forgets what they are doing. I am that one.

I designed the cover for "Out of the Shadows" before I'd written most of it.

Now, I'm excited to put this entire project together.

But, if you hadn't seen them, here are the three covers. Designed by me and Canva.

That book that didn't end

I have never, in my entire lengthy writing career, wrote a book that I simply couldn't blow right through. Characters, premise, and everything in-between came to me.

There's always one.

Canary. My wonderful Urban Fantasy series. I love it so much. I love Ray, my protagonist. Like LOVE. Books 1 and 2 came right along. Then 3, the finale, took months. I don't take months. This is not the norm. And I'm not quite sure where he block or blocks came from. Hold up. It's all coming back to me now. (Thanks Fibro and Celine).

It was the fight above and below. Because the fight below actually came in stages. And my OneNote (praise the technological lordt) made it a bit easier for me as I listed out all the elements and then put them in order of important and timing. Really smoothed me out. But took a couple of weeks. And I, in my literary hubris, thought the battle above would be a piece of cake.

headdesk

No, Crystal. It most certainly wasn't. Because I already had the baddies picked out (LOTS of research) to mesh with the battle below because everything is connected.

Then I had to take the baddies talents and proclivities into my soul when matching with the fighter. Then...blend in other fighters to help the good guys. 

It was fucking overwhelming. And I let that get to me. Like...two to three months worth. It was daunting as hell. 

But, finally got to it. Then I had to sew everything a bit, as I already had the scenes after the battle. Had a checklist for each open scene or problem I had throughout the entire series. Then...went through them one-by-one and fixed those. I think it was some unholy number like 35. Because I remember looking at the list and cursing myself. 

It was giving a row of 50 hook and eye closures where 35 were undone. As in a corset. Then I hooked each individually and tightened up the story.

Ta damn da!

And that, my friends, is one of the reasons I do what I do. Ah, the pleasure of the finale. Then, of course, I'm twitchy and immediately start or continue on something else. Because of course I do.

Speaking on Canary: Out of the Shadows, it's going through edits today, and I'll publish it this week. Uber excited about it!

Pretty sure I wrote an entire new story whilst in the bog of Canaryville. And let's hope that never, ever happens again.

😌

I should be writing.

As a writer, do you ever feel like you have a kink and must somehow work that out before truly working on your main novel? Not like KINK...but a hitch, so to speak. It's almost like a mental cramp to me. Something I need to work out to clear a path for better thinking and cleaner writing.

A lot of times, it's this. I like to blog before I write. Cleans out the cobwebs and helps my ADHD sweep the corners. Those ADHD thoughts like to hide in the dark, sometimes. I suppose it's rather like writers needing a clean desk to write. Though others, such as myself, can make do with cluttered, but not too cluttered.

Started on "Ace" this morning. Little bit of fog so I broke that off to come over here. I'm at 17,369 words. Cool beans. Freshest ever. But now, part of me wants to work on my erotic romance. But it's divisive. I'm on this trail right now, and I usually don't fork off until I'm nearly finished. I'm not that. Give me continuation. Follow-through. I can't mess up my rhythm now. Not that I HAVE a rhythm, I guess???

I mean. I do. But that's constantly in flux. And now I'm more confused than when I started.

Go me.

*deep deep breath*

Ace. Yes. Let's do that. Because once I open the door to my erotic romance, I'll have dialogue and scenes to jot down. There'll be more research. 

Hello FBI! Yes, I write books for a living. Never mind my G search. I need to know what type of adult toys are on the market right now. Most popular. Things of that nature. *ahem* And orgasms. I love me some orgasm research. You never know what you never know. 

Anyway, now that I'm sweating, I'll probably hit "Ace" back up since I cleared out some room in my Mind Cabin, more of a chalet really. Shoved my properly improper heroine back into her room until later. But gave her a couple of catalogs to look through. 🤭

Ah, yissssssss...the writing life.

 

Twice in one day

First, and most importantly, here is a picture of Murphy today. No, he should not be there. Yes. I let him, anyway.

No further questions.

Interesting searches for the day:

Yoruba food

How long do foxes live?

Confucius

Wood clad

Colonial house

451 square meters to feet

hostel/dorm/shelter floor plans

And I'm not done yet.

Admire Murphy again. He doesn't leave the house, either.

I don't do boring

But it's doing me right now. 🖕

Twelve thousand words into "Ace". Okay. But I'm finding it a little on the plain side. Every part of me is against this. The first two books slammed into the reader and continued to take their breaths. This one, I feel, is a bit slower. It works for the fact I needed to divulge some information, and I needed certain characters to do this. It doesn't work for the fact I feel like it's taking forever to get there.

I blame the ADHD. And my absolute dopamine-seeking ass.

I can't do slow burn romances. I'm not about high fantasy (except for the master Tolkien--I've read The Hobbit word for word) because the minute I start seeing all sorts of names I can't pronounce, I tend to skip over and then some of the story, if not a lot, is lost.

My attention span is not my friend. But that also means I can read a 53 chapter book in 4 hours.

Tuesdays are a no for everything from me. I have an intense appt in the morning that washes me out for the rest of the day. 

But today?

I hope to either add in more jazzy scenes or come correct with the pacing I want. 

Update on Mr. Murphenstine. He's a bit better. He did get sick, a little bit, this morning. But apparently, ginger boy kitten asshole has decided to absolutely nocturnally terrorize the hacienda. And, the little shit has dug out tinker toys from lordt knows where. But the little buttcrunch is EATING THE PAINT off them. 😠

They were supposed to be all put up. But when your vertical is 4 inches, you can squeeze into all the places.

He's now behind me and chilling out. 

For now.

🙄

Okay. That's me. 

I already know where I want to go, of course, with the story. But now I'm playing with add-ins. The internal conflict is so much more than the external conflict, and I don't want to lose a beat.

Making magic. ✨✨✨

It's been one shit of a morning

There are days that are simply POS motherfuckers you want to cleanse from your memory and soul. And these have nothing to do with the sacred writing. But how can you write when you want to absolutely show your unhinged side?

I'm having one of those days.

Let me complain for a bit.

Toddled to the Sanctuary after a bit of toast. Look at me adulting. Sit down. Boot up. I'm not quite ready to work on "Ace", as I need to do a tiny bit more research on one aspect. Wiki me this. That was great. Cool. Awesome.

Then I decide, on a fucking whim, to pop over to QueryTracker and look up some possible agents for this series.

alright

I want to save a search, but it will not allow me until I subscribe to Premium. FINE

I've wanted premium for a bit now. Only $25 a year. Bells and whistles. Yee haw. I go forth and fill in my info. Then the site asks for payment info.

NOW

I have a business account. Then we have the general fund. Fine and dandy. I look over to the list on the right as it brings the ones I use all down. I expect my business account card to look like that in the list. 

No.

I accidentally use the Honey's general fund card. And didn't realize THAT until I went to renew my LLC, and it auto filled her name. WHAT? So I grab my card, from the kitchen, and pop back to my desk. 

sigh

I then pay for the LLC out of my account since my card is right in front of me. THEN...I go online to transfer $25 from my account to the general fund. Except...let me call and give you an access code.

You. Mother. Fuckers.

I have my phone on Do Not Disturb for so many reasons. If you're related, you'll ring through. The rest of the world? Big NO. I take my phone OFF DND and wait for the call. I receive the call, jot down the got damn number, and enter it into the site.

I'm in. Transfer the money from my business account to general funds. Put back DND.

Email the Honey explaining I'm about to lose my shit and why.

Check to see if I have QueryTracker Premium now.

I do not.

FOR THE LOVE OF THE LORDT

Run a payment using my business account.

Goes through.

Honey comes to the Sanctuary.

Explains I used an old general funds card.

Because of course I fucking did.

Fine. Great. 

Said I'd simply transfer the money back to business account.

NEEDED ANOTHER GODFORSAKEN FUCKING SET OF NUMBERS

Said fuck this. Lots of times.

Decided to get into my Sonic app and order some caffeine. 

Um.

App was having issues.

*needs a moment of silence*

Finally opened, and I placed my order. Drinks--which are half price through the app. EXCEPT...it wasn't showing that as an option.

And my short ass is NOT paying full price for a drink. 

nah, homie

Turned off my phone.

Turned it back on.

Opened up the POS app again. Looks to be in order.

Put in my info.

And during all this, my poor Mr. Murphster throws up in here and a tiny bit in the hallway. I've changed his dry food, and we're working on making sure he only eats things that are good for his sensitive stomach. And heavens, does he have one.

And that, my friends, is when I did the shutdown.

The shutdown includes completely being still and silent whilst also wanting to take everything in my sight and destroy it. Doors off hinges. Glass at walls. 

Temper tantrum with the premium edition of that.

I, however, did not give into the temptation because what purpose does it serve? Then I'd only have to clean up more shit.

meh

Finally calmed down.

It was quite a long finally.

Grabbed Sonic drinks.

Completely burned out by eleven.

Damn it, Pepe!

And that's where I'm at right now. Three hours into my workday and not in a good way. 

I would say the rest of the day could blow me, but I've my weekly appt tomorrow which consumes the entire day, and I can't afford to lose one.

I hope to hell your day is better.

Locked in? Yes, please.

Finished "The Morrigan" two days ago. Already 6000 words into the next, "Ace." 

Did I have to research a plethora of things that will be more important in book 4 but I need in book 3? Of course I did. 😑

I use MS OneNote Notebook, and it's my jam. Online notebook with each having its own set of sections or tabs. The further I write into this series, the more tabs I'm collecting on the side. Then I can copy tabs to paste into new works on the same series. Luckily, of course, this notebook is online. My handwriting is...eh...illegible for the most part. I blame my thoughts being way quicker than my hands. But with OneNote, I can type nearly to thought. Nearly. 😂

This is uber handy when I'm writing. Scenes unfold. I jot.

Ah, but as I was saying...research. I need my construction sisters to build seven studio apartments connected. I G'd how long it would take. What size the apartments would be. Permits and planning. ADUs. Did I need them to build a parking lot? Contracts out for electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems. Access rights. Easements. And other wonderful information I'll need a bit later on. 

Back to "Ace." 

LA calls him "acehole" which pretty much sums it up. Excessive ego on this one. Takes no one at face value. And he can't be taken as such, either. Gives nothing to LA about himself. She has to unearth who this deity is and why he darkened her driveway. 

In the meantime, LA discovers more about her mother.

Good times.

Back at it today. Won't write much as the OKC Thunder play the Cavaliers at noon. Then we're off to celebrate my birthday with an early dinner. That will wear my little ass smooth out. 

Murphentology is killing his litter box, and the rest of us with it. Changing his food to see if that helps. Poops are solid, but sweet baby Jesus...they are life-threatening. 

He was tagged, vaccinated, and fixed when I adopted him. Was going to wait until around his birthday to take him to our vet, but maybe I won't wait.