Sadie Jay

      It's been a crazy week, weather-wise. The high school's FFA (Future Farmers of America, for any that don't know) was selling plants --by appointment-- and I bought some tomato plants. And on our one nice day this week, the husband and I planted the garden. Unfortunately, I didn't have a big variety of seeds so we planted what we had and if they do well, I'm hoping to "barter" for the things I'm not growing. I think we'll see more "victory gardens" this year, maybe.         I've seen numerous posts both on FaceBook and Twitter, people asking how the pandemic was affecting everyone's writing. I have a scene where Jay is sick and Scoey plays nurse. I originally wrote it in 2015 and poor Jay had the flu. Acceptable then but maybe not so much right now. As I was doing my final edit, my fingers hovered over the keyboard. What to do? Because everything in the story connects to something else or has a purpose, so totally cu

It's again been a week of promo and editing with only a little writing actually happening. Something that usually works for me is keeping a "journal" of how many words I manage each day. Even if it's only 200, it gives me a psychological boost to see a physical reminder of progress. I want to become more disciplined which means setting some firm goals and working towards them. I've now been "home" for 2 1/2 weeks and I'm still not as organized as I'd like to be. It takes time. Like a friend of mine said when we were talking last night, it's like starting a new job and being completely unprepared for it (she's a kindergarten teacher--it's been quite a challenge for her!) (early morning walk with the husband before it turned cold on us again!) This week's snippet is the opening paragraph of the MS I'm working on now. It's a rough draft and will probably get changed 10 times. Cinders and Ash will be the third boo

Started in 1981 as something to do during study hall, Headphones and the occupants of The House became companions that lived in my head, their stories growing and evolving over the years. In 2013 I decided to give them new life and prove to myself that I could finish something. The result was an online serial that ran from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2016. To call it a vanity project is probably generous. But by the end of the year, I was getting 100 hits a day from readers around the world. For someone who grew up without the internet and social media, it was exciting. Early last year I decided to rewrite it into a publishable book. The problem was, it was too long for one book.  My solution? Make it into a trilogy! So I introduce, nearly 40 years in the making, Headphones ! Book one:  In from the Cold introduces Headphones and a group of friends who are going about their lives while not truly living them. Book two: Sunshine Smile is heat and healing–new love bl

(Keeping with today's Unicorn theme, I collected them when I was in High School. Here's a few special one's I kept.) It's been an exciting week for me. My Headphones series is up for pre-order ( In from the Cold , Sunshine Smile , and Fall Out ) and we did the cover reveal for the Vampire anthology I'm participating in. Working Stiffs is a collection of 13 short stories with a shared universe about working Vampires and the people they love. It's a little tongue-in-cheek and a whole lot of fun. I also now have a FaceBook author page and I'm encouraging fellow authors to share/promo their books there. I figure if I'm stuck at home, I'm going to put my time to good use! Here's another excerpt from my story, Fangs for the Memories : I tried to not stare but I couldn't help myself. He was exactly the same except his long white hair was streaked with a rainbow of colors and pulled up into a messy bun. An inch taller than my fi

I had to retreat. I've always been calm and organized and sensible. But the pressure of too many store customers not taking the sheltering order seriously began to wear on me, to the point I was having physical symptoms. So I requested a leave of absence, as did my husband. We are home now, self-isolating. I'm feeling oddly guilty but I'd gotten to the point where I literally wasn't breathing and was having chest pains. These are scary times. On the writing front, I've finished my edits on the Headphones series and am working on covers and blurbs. I'm going to be so happy to publish it and move on to my next project! Speaking of which, the vampire anthology I'm participating in will be released May 1st. I've read some of the other stories and they are so good. I can't wait to read them all. This is the opening of my contribution, Fangs for the Memories :  I’d staked him--fifteen years ago to the day, to be exact. The other bartende