Percolating Pleasantly

Tickled a lovely shade of pink to announce that coherency has returned, nervousness has scampered back from the front lines and the creative juices are once again percolating pleasantly.

Profound apologies for yesterday’s posting hiccup. But sometimes you have no choice but to go with what the mind gives you that day, however embarrassing that may be.

Some semblance of a writing agenda should return today (*crosses fingers, toes and my dog’s long, long ears*). The family is all settled in with me for a nice weekend visit.  And while they head to the Gulf to indulge in fresh seafood, I will be putting my literary nose to the Book Three grindstone.

Admittedly I should be working on finishing up that last 10k of “The Sun and the Sand Cat” but since it is based in modern day West Africa I feel a little weird weaving a romance through the countries so busily battling the Ebola outbreak.

Yes, I do realize that’s silly but my inner muse is a bit eccentric even in its finest hours. (FYI… The outer muse, i.e. my dog, doesn’t really care what I’m working on as long as she gets a good, undisturbed nap while I’m writing it.)

So it looks to be Book Three in my sights today. (I’m sure Brevyn and Sam are giddy at the prospect of my once again complicating their hot love affair. *smirks*)

Hope your Saturdays are brilliant ones, my friends!

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

Fighting the Fade

Getting reacquainted with characters you haven’t seen in a while can be rather, well, demoralizing.

Case in point: Sabella and Conyer from my West Africa novel.

After spending the majority of last year working on The Sun and the Sand Cat, a reasonable person would think that getting back in sync with the good doctor and the special agent would be a breeze.

Wrong.

Big, demoralizing wrong.

Oh, I remember the details.

Her backstory is still crystal clear in the old noggin.

His work travails are still carved cleanly in my memory.

But…

Sabella’s cadence of talk and thought has faded into a warm hum I have to struggle to hear.

The sun has bleached Conyer’s intensity into something unrecognizable.

Recapturing the tone of the novel (3/4 of the way done, remember) is like trying to catch fireflies in a bright noon sky.

Yep, demoralizing.

But…

Challenging.

And I am a sucker for a good challenge!

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

The Seafaring Coward

Ok, change of plans.

*the crowd snickers*

Alright, admittedly my plan-making as of late has left a lot to be desired.  The thought has been there. The desire has been keen, but the execution has been, well, rather crappy.

For two days I’ve been all set to put some hurt on the Six Brothers synopsis. I’ve been raring to go on bullying that darn chapter outline into two pages of coherency.

Well, best laid plans of mice and men and all that jazz.

Yesterday, after floundering quite embarrassingly on the Six Brothers for more hours than I wish to recall, I retreated to a known entity: the third book in “The Lion and the Steed” series.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Go ahead and say it.

“soccer mom in the second row yells helpfully, “Coward!”*

Spot on, ma’am. Thank you.

I didn’t linger too long on it, however. So it wasn’t as much a case of hiding in familiar romantic smut as a case of re-gathering my authorly wits in welcoming territory.

*the snickers return*

Like I said, I didn’t stay with book three the entire work day. I actually took a dip in The Sun and the Sand Cat for several hours and it is in these modern day West African waters I have decided to sail for a while.

With only another 10 to 15k to go on the agented romance, I need to get it done.

Hence, change of plans.

So, if anybody is looking for me today please check the gold mines of Guinea. Me and my authorly wits will be hanging out there for a while…

At least, that’s the plan.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

Into Africa

To nobody’s surprise, the creative juices are still damned up in my head.

No story writing has taken place today.

Not a single, solitary word.

However (and this might be my brain’s saving grace), I have gotten considerable work done on the project package I’ll be sending to the literary agent on Monday.

Yeah, me!

(Tooting one’s own horn is an acceptable practice in a writer’s life. It is. Really.)

I have jazzed up the query letter, the synopsis and I’m currently working on perfecting the first three chapters of The Sun and the Sand Cat, my f/m Romance Thriller set in modern day West Africa. I have 40k written on the novel (about 2/3 to ¾ of the expected total word count). This is the book I had planned to use to launch my new and final pen name of Cora Douglas Sands. I think it’s good. I guess we’ll see about that.

It’s amazing how much one’s writing improves just through the process of writing. I last worked on The Sun and the Sand Cat (www.coradouglassands.com) last year and while I believe it was the best I’ve written up to that point, I read through it now and see how many places I can tweak it to make it just a tiny bit better.

Hopefully, all those “tiny bits” gleaned from years of writing will finally pay off. Keep your fingers crossed for me, please.

I am currently fighting through a headache the size and breadth of Ben Hur, so I will be keeping this short tonight.

Consider the brevity a gift from me to you.

You’re welcome.

*winks*

Until tomorrow…

Chloe