Sadie Jay

I didn't do much on the writing front this week. I get this lethargy between manuscripts , like I'm a bit lost and don't know which way I'm supposed to be walking. I did a couple of edits on my NaNo project first page (which you can read in a previous post ) and worked on a couple of pages in the second Headphones book. But what I need to be doing is outlining and prepping. Since the beginning of Fire and Smoke runs concurrently with the end of Embers and Flame , I really need to reread and take notes so everything lines up. I always feel so unprepared when I start a new story, but somehow it always falls together. Hopefully, it will this time, also. Today's snippet comes from Embers and Flame . Daryl and Vaughn meet through Ben and Cherry, who are in a long distance relationship. Ben is from Southern Indiana, Cherry is from St. Louis. Ben, with his son Eric and his cousins Mike and Daryl, join Cherry and his sister and her friend Vaughn for a weekend of food ...

podcast here I want to listen to this at work, so I'm "leaving" it here to make it convenient for myself. It's a podcast about NaNo, if you're interested. I'll probably pull this post after I listen, unless I learn something I want to share. 

For my NaNo project (National Novel Writing Month), I've decided to work on the Embers and Flame sequel, tentatively titled Fire and Smoke . It's going to be Vaughn and Daryl's story. My goal is to make it into a light-hearted romance without a great deal of angst. Probably not going to happen. When I write, the angst just always finds its way in. So anyway, I like to have the first few pages set before I start the serious writing. I know I'll edit it 10 times in the next week, but here's the first draft. Opinions? (just for reference, the incident that Vaughn and Lindsey are talking about happened in the first book and entailed Vaughn following her brother into the bathroom, where he proceeded to get a bit too handsy.) Chapter One “I thought you said your brother was working tonight,” I hissed to my green-haired companion. “Relax, Vaughn. I must’ve got my days mixed up. Maybe he works tomorrow? Er, no. Oh, it’s Wednesday!” She smiled as if she was waiting...

I finished my revisions by my goal date by some miracle. Now, to find some beta readers and wait for feedback. In the meantime, I decided to do my Vaughn and Daryl story for my NaNo Challenge. It's what I originally planned, but I've been wavering. I have so many things I want to work on and so little time. Hopefully, over the next week I'll get a blurb together and hopefully come up with a title I like. In the meantime, here's my last snippet from When Silverfish Dance , at least for the moment. Barry and Greg have gone for coffee and the discussion gets fairly heavy: Barry reached out and grasped one of Greg’s wrists. “Greg, do you love her? You shouldn’t marry her if you don’t love her.” His answer came out no louder than a whisper. “I don’t know. I care for her. Is that love?” “Maybe. I’ve never been in love.” “Can two men even be in love? I mean, real love?” Greg didn’t mean the question to sound so acerbic and he regretted it immediately when Barry’s f...

I wanted to have this first revision/edit done on When Silverfish Dance by the 15th so I could spend the rest of the month preparing for NaNo, but it's not happening. I'm so undecided about what I want to do anyway. I've been jotting notes for my next two projects, plus I need to finish up Headphones . I wanted to start something new but a voice in my head keeps yelling at me to focus on what's written and start publishing instead of adding to the list! (Probably, I just need to get better organized.) Anyway, this week's snippet is another from When Silverfish Dance. This paragraph is about Barry's cat but its purpose is character building, showing that he really doesn't have anyone in his life. He has no family and his few friends are co-workers. And yet, he's an upbeat, happy person most of the time. “Well, that was a waste of a perfectly good meal,” Barry said aloud, directing the words at Hilton where she lay on his chest, gently purring a...

A year-and-a-half ago (or so) I sent out some queries for When Silverfish Dance and got back a "positive" rejection letter, by which I mean they didn't option the book (obviously) but the editor made some nice comments and then went so far as to make some suggestions. I'm taking her feedback and using it as I do my revisions. I've had one beta reader do that in the past, point out what wasn't working as well as what was. It's the kind of feedback I appreciate. (Although the kind that is all positives makes my heart feel good and keeps me motivated!) I'm hoping to be done with my revisions by next weekend, but my "writing time" is limited at the moment by my other job-- you know, the one that actually pays the bills. The boss is on vacation which means extra responsibilities which means more hours at the store. It's good for the paycheck but bad for everything else! My Rainbow Snippet this week takes place in Barr...