One Scene at a Time

Exciting change in my life: my mom bought me a new bedspread, etc., and I’ve totally changed up the color scheme! I really love it. 🙂 Also, Isabel is pleased by how well it matches her blue-smoke fur.

I’ve been absent from the blog lately, I know – except for cross-posts with the SFF Seven blog – because I did thirty days of podcasting in November. (Well, I missed November 30 because of travel, but I hit October 31, so I *did* do thirty consecutive days!)

I’m also funneling all my word energy into writing THE FATE OF THE TALA. I tell you people: I thought this book has been hard to write. But I just got on the phone with my lovely bestie Grace Draven to talk through some plot points. She ended up making a diagram as we talked and more than once said “You’re trying to do WHAT?” and “Wait, that TOO?!?” I had to point out several times that her incredulity wasn’t helping. (She just laughed, the way she does, that high-pitched giggle that sounds just like Dolly Parton’s.) At least I ended up feeling better about the fact that this effort really IS difficult.

And she gave me ideas for how to proceed. We ended up with the writer’s version of AA, where I’m just taking it one scene at a time. So that’s what I’m doing. Getting through this scene. Then I’ll think about getting through the next scene.

Amazing how that perspective helps!

First Cup of Coffee – November 24, 2019

Also our topic at the SFF Seven this week is “With Gratitude: Shout Out to someone who makes you a better author (peer, editor, reviewer, SO, pet, etc.).”

Mine is weird, I know. Come on over to find out more.

Accuracy in Fiction – Where to Draw the Line

One of the most fun things about having a book release these days is the #bookstagram world. So many book lovers make gorgeous collages with my book cover – like this one from Reading Between the Wines Book Club – and then tag me on Instagram. With THE ORCHID THRONE, I’m getting all kinds of beautiful orchids and it rocks so hard!

The hubs and I have been watching Reign on Netflix – from the beginning as we’d never seen it – and we’re a few episodes into Season One. I realize I’m late to the game on this, as the show ran from 2013 to 2017. But I’ve seen so many people – like my editor Jennie at St Martins – who just LOVE this show, that I wanted to check it out. And it’s gotten me thinking about historical accuracy in fiction. Come on over to find out more.