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Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Begets begets begets

I like knowing what I have to do the following day. Kudos if I actually put in Notes on my iphone. A lot of times I'll leave my OneNote and manuscript up that shows exactly my next step. I should be killing it on the daily.
Yesterday damn near killed me.

I started out only needing to edit A&H. Doing 100 pages or so at a time and then recombing a couple more times. It's nearly 400 pages.

But I realize I needed to research the tiniest bit on one part. Give myself some more credibility. Then I needed to grab from a later book in the series to make sure I described a character fluently throughout.
Please explain why I have fourteen tabs open in G and am glaring at OneNote like it did me dirty. Then, take into account I actually had 4 fucking manuscripts open at the same time. 
And my short forgetful self often puts tabs on the wrong stories. 
That's a hoot. ๐Ÿ˜’  

It was like some horrible magician pulling colorful fabric after colorful fabric out of their pocket. 
Stop! STOP!!!

Quit before I wanted, but it was heavy med day, and I was done. 
Told myself I would take it up again today.
๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸŽ‰
The fun, or some twisted version of it, never ends. 

Sunday, May 24, 2026

You guessed it...

...I'm indie publishing my mythological retelling series. I was going to pitch at Romancelahoma this year, but I don't want to wait that long. I feel strongly that the mythological retelling trope is in its infancy. I have 4 1/2 books ready. 
I'm not waiting. ๐Ÿคท

Worked on book cover. NOT AI. You should have seen my ass discovering new things on Canva. There's a fucking "style" button that can recreate the style from an element to another element. 
I nearly cried.
It was ๐Ÿฅน.

Going for a countdown to cover reveal. 
Available June 1, 2026.
Apollo and Hyacinthus
Plot Twist Book 1




Stay tuned!
Big reveal and availability June 1st! ๐Ÿฅณ๐ŸŽ‰

Saturday, May 23, 2026

Stranger things have happened in the unlikeliest of places

The Honey and I go and drop her car off at the butt crack of dawn for oil change, etc. I offer to have breakfast with her. This is a rare occasion. I loathe mornings. Catch me at 10.

We go to Black Bear Diner. I have this amazing egg scramble something or other with avocado, spinach, peppers, and onion. Pass the tic-tacs. She always gets the pancakes.
We're checking out, and she has one box of leftovers but wants something from the dessert case. The lovely cashier asks if we'd like a bag. 
WE would. 
Honey says "no" at the same time.
I ask who will be carrying, and she says we'll take a bag. ๐Ÿคจ
That's what I thought.
And I make some remark about carrying the bag whilst the Honey does something.
The cashier looks at me and says she's never heard anyone use the actual word "whilst" in a sentence. 
I don't have time to describe the multiplicity of my oddities, but the Honey chimes in that I'm a writer.
๐Ÿ˜Š
This woman is a reader. A fantasy reader. ๐Ÿฅณ
She asks for my name; I give her my card. 
She said, "Are you my girl?" 
And I respond, "I might be."
We grin at each other. ๐Ÿ’–

Friday, May 22, 2026

A rolling stone gathers no moss

I did it. Took me two days and found another setting on Canva that I love. But I mocked up a book cover for book one in my mythological retelling series.
Because, of course I did. 
I can either wait, or I can plunge my ass directly into the fire. 
Flames, here I come. ๐Ÿ”ฅ

I should be able to have two books of the series in print before I hit Romancelahoma and the Red Dirt Book Sale.
THIS...makes me happy.
Because I can turn around and take them to Book Me Romance 2026 a couple weeks later.
All the woots!

This series will be a new take on old mythologies with an irascible protagonist finding her own way through the absolute chaos.
I love mayhem.
Sorry, LA.
๐Ÿคฃ

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

It's the time of the season for...

 ...awards programs, graduations, and birthday sleepovers. Ya girl hasn't sat her ass in this chair for a long minute. I've missed it.
But too busy being a Mimi, which is one of my favorite labors of love.

Back to the writing. Woot! ๐Ÿฅณ
Left off at a place in book 5 that could go two different ways. Well, similar but different. And this has given me time to think about where I would like to go.
Trajectory is key. And with a series, you like your sequences to line up with the other books. Are there breakout and breakthrough moments? Of course there are. There HAS TO BE. But you need to keep some items in sync.
My protagonist, LA, is irascible. Is she cranky all the time? Again, of course not. I'd yeet her ass to the sky. But I need her to be a bit cranky. It's how she's developed the self-preservation she was denied when she was younger. It's her knee-jerk from fear and change.

But you need balance if you're going to have a blunt bitch with childhood PTSD be the main character. I've surrounded her with a blend of people who accept, understand, and challenge her. Because no one is going to let LA crumble into depression/anxiety/PTSD dust. Not happening. These characters provide growth assistance. Sometimes they offer. Sometimes they push the fuck out of her. Both work, in her situation. 
Lean into the characters. If you've empathy, use it. If you're symmetrical, use it. If you love the fucking chaos...Hey! HEEEEEEEY! *waving*...then use that. Each of these provides potential for great storylines. 
Don't doubt yourself.
You're the first to introduce this literary idea?
YES! 
You're the hundredth to introduce this literary idea? But you have a majorly different spin? 
YES!

A couple of the biggest killers of writing motivation are: comparison, lack of confidence, and questioning if you're writing for yourself or readers.

Don't compare yourself. As has been said: those are their highlight reels compared to your struggles. Unfair.
Lack of confidence. Should I? What if I can't sell it? What if my writing is trash???
Let me be blunt. It's my wheelhouse.
If you want to write, then write. Not writing is akin to trying to stop a bullet wound with a band-aid. Thanks, Taylor! ๐Ÿ˜˜
Who am I writing for?
First and foremost, you're writing for yourself. 

Writing gives me the dopamine I literally cannot scrape from the meds I take. One is supposed to hit my dopamine receptors, I believe.
Oh. Is it?
Because, nice try. I don't even think the med is in the same body, at this point. ๐Ÿ™„

Writing, like all the best shit, is a passion. It comes from the soul. And if you're blessed to share your words with the world? Great! And if you only write the stories because you'd be in a padded room with a nifty jacket that buckles in the back...also great!

You don't need the questions. You need the doing.
Get to doing.

Saturday, May 9, 2026

Ah, Canva. It's been a minute.

My mind scattered yesterday morning as I thought about possibly indie publishing my PT series. First thought? 
Book covers.
Because they need to tie-in to one another. Some theme I can use for each. I immediately opened Canva, where I make all my book covers, and started.
๐Ÿ˜‘

Mythological art is extremely monochromatic. Lots of vanilla and black in there. While, in fact, these beings are the liveliest bunch to grace a page in a hot minute. These fuckers make Caligula look like an altar boy. They are EXTREME.
I need bold colors and striking themes. Seems I'll have to do more editing than normal on these.
Because of course I will.