Sadie Jay

This month was the Rainbow Readers Cruise, and while the actual cruise was only four days, because I drove and spent a few days with a friend, it turned into a twelve-day trip for me. What that means is I came home exhausted and now I'm trying to catch up on everything. It really is a fantastic book conference that also feels like a huge reunion, but I definitely spent more money than I could actually afford. So now it's nose to the grindstone!  The progress on Slam Tilt is minimal. I honestly do not know where I'm going with the story, and it's hard to move forward without a more developed plot. The first two books in the series are angsty, so I'm trying to figure out how to match this one with that. The problem is, Roger and Carmen apparently aren't interested in angst. Also, trying to write this book so it can be read as a stand-alone means adding backstory without info-dumping. Here are some inner thoughts of Roger's that may get pulled. They feel impor...

I like to read books in a series, both the kind that follow the same couple and the kind that follow a group of friends and family. I also like to write them. I've found that as I write the first book, the side characters develop their own backstories, and it's fun to explore that.  Sadly, I'm a chaotic writer. I'm horrible at sticking to a plot. Often, as I write, something emerges that I hadn't planned, but it's better. That's fine if it's the first book, not so good if it's the last, especially if it changes a detail in one that came before. Book 1 not published yet? Great! I can go back and make any changes I need to. Unfortunately, it means I have several books sitting in the queue, waiting for that last book.  Happy Memorial Day to those in the US.  Blind Ante is the first book in my Bar Games series.  It was a NaNoWriMo project pre-Covid. The second book, Cut Shot , came a few years later. And now I'm working on the third book, Slam Tilt ...

I feel like I've been "buffering" lately. I'm "loading" but not getting where I need to be. It's frustrating, and I keep trying to reboot. I'm beginning to think this is my new normal–a combination of my age and the mental strain we're all under right now. So I'll keep plugging away at my current project, because it's the only thing I can do, since I refuse to give up!  This week's Snippet is from Blind Ante , book one of the Bar Games series. Jordan doesn't normally drink much, but he gets drunk and kisses Reese. Reese drives Jordan home, and they have a brief conversation before Reese heads back to work: Jordan inhaled as he looked up at Reese’s flashing eyes. “Why are you mad at me? Because I kissed you? I’m sorry.”         Reese’s face softened. “No, not because of that. I just… I worry. This isn’t like you.”          “You don’t know that. Maybe this is exactly like me.”           Reese sat on the other cha...

I read a lot of fantasy series in my teens and twenties. You know, where things unfold throughout the various books and something that happens in book one is explained in book two, to five, or eight? And I've just realized that I do that in my books, even though each has a different set of main characters. Actually, I knew it—it just hadn't given it much thought. Headphones is a true trilogy with the story starting in book one and ending in book three. Even the Campfire Stories series does this. Vaughn's "motivation" is explained in book two, and Lindsey's weird relationship with Vaughn is explained in book three. They build on each other, which isn't the best strategy for Contemporary Romance. So why am I bringing this up? I got notes back from a beta reader on the first book in the Bar Games Series. And I've done it again—big time. In the first book, Blind Ante , Jed is a bad guy. Or, at least, a total jerk. And he gets a lot of "screen time...