The looming Black Moment.

I hate it.
I know its coming.
I can't put it off any longer.

I've spent the past three months working on rebuilding the budding relationship between my Hero and my Heroine, now, I must destroy it.

How sad that a love just starting to rebloom is about to be ripped from the heart. I know they will get back together because its romance. I need that Happily Ever After. Yet, somehow, it hurts to do this.

It will be public.
It will be degrading, yet it must be done. She has to learn what she holds dear is worth fighting for. How sad her public humiliation. She will lose face in front of her family, his family, and many members of the town. But it must be. I've danced around this now for about 6 weeks. I've tweaked and honed certian scenes. Now, I must face the music.

Bare with me gentle reader. I do have my box of tissues. I am girding my loins to make it strong. Sniff. Into battle I go. For the Black moment must appear as if all is lost.

I'm working on a new character...

I'm finishing up one book and now thinking about the hero in my new novel. He won't be a lawman, this time my hero is a rancher. A good man, good son, and brother but I need things more than just "good". So I pull out some of my little tricks from working with children and writing. I put in the picture and start writing around it what comes to mind when I think of this gentleman.

I use single words first....



CONFIDENT
CAUTIOUS
DANGEROUSLY HANDSOME
STRONG
EXPERT
SWEET
TRUSTWORTHY
TALL
MALE
LEADER
BROAD SHOULDERED

Then short phrases

"Not a big talker, saves his breath for breathing"
"Complaining is what quitters do"
"A cowboy is always worth his salt"
"Be a man and give your enemy a fighting chance"
"A cowboy is loyal to his 'brand' his friends, his woman"
"His word is his bond"

Once I know his make up I can work on physical descriptions. I also remember that this is a on going project things can always be added to flesh out his true identity. So this is my goal today to get Shawn McCormick fleshed out. He's got big boots to fill, Tisha Ross is counting on it.

Monday, Monday

The weekend has drawn to a close and with it another week begins. I'm up early. The sweet yellow cat(being so sarcastic here) pounced on my middle about 5:30 a.m since I did not respond to his purring and demanded his food. Rather than go back to bed like a normal person, I've decided to get started and work on revising a chapter in my WIP.
So, I'm up, wiping the sleep from my eyes and getting my life in order to write.

Writing takes discipline. No book is ever written on an idea. Your thoughts can't crawl onto a page without placing pen in hand and applying muscle pressure to move it across the page, or across the screen. So set aside an hour to write. I prefer to write during the day sometimes in the early mornings, but mostly late afternoons. I begin by placing a few new ideas down that I will expand on later. Then I work do my house work or prepare for my other job mulling over the ideas. Later in the day, I will take what I call MY TIME and write.

Those who are able to write as a profession view it as a job. They clock in. I do the same by keeping a day planner open. I write down my starting word count and my ending word count. I take time Saturday evening to add up my accomplishments for the week and at the end of the month, I see progress.

So, if you are contemplating writing, begin with your idea. Write down on paper, note cards, sticky notes what ever works for you. Then set aside time to work. Let your family know this is "Your time" and give yourself at least 90 minutes to be productive. You don't have to put down 5000 words a day. Yes, it would be nice. But remember novels are built on words. Any words put down is progress. It may come in spurts or long drafts but make sure you take time to write, to journal, to think. Its an amazing experience.

Catch my guest blog.

I'm over at Victoria Gray115 today as a guest on her blog. Come on over and have a look see at the stories I'm peddling and leave a comment, follow the blog and you'll be entered in Victoria's October contest. http://victoriagrayromance.blogspot.com

A Halloween Collection Anthology

~Sweet stories to satisfy your romantic cravings~


Stimulating stories to satisfy your romantic cravings

The Curse of Tempest Gate by Karen Michelle Nutt
Clarity Shaw, a reporter for Unbelievable Finds, seeks answers concerning the curse of Tempest Gate Cemetery. Warnings from the Bed and Breakfast’s receptionist and an old man only make her more curious. Determined to get her story, Clarity ventures into the old cemetery.
Even though she is tied to the legends surrounding Tempest Gate through her ancestry, Clarity does not believe in the paranormal. She intends to collect the local versions of the stories, take some photos, and be on her way.
A beautiful sculpture in the cemetery, a stone angel warrior, draws her attention and her admiration. Could this be the Archangel Michael? Then she finds out more than she bargains for when she sits in the devil’s chair on the eve of Halloween. Two entities need her for their own personal reasons, but only one will demand her heart.


Always and Forever by Cheryl Pierson
At a children’s Halloween carnival, a Gypsy fortuneteller predicts a new love for both Cindy and Gage. When the two meet over a poorly carved pumpkin, love flickers to life and the stars begin to align.
But the odds of finding a new love later in life seem insurmountable and the prophecy seems too good to be true. After all, Gage has been burned before and Cindy doesn’t believe in fortunes or second chances.
Will doubt overshadow their attraction or has love already been set in motion? Can the star-crossed pair put their faith in the love that was foretold? Can they believe in each other?


Conceived in Darkness by Laura Shinn
Prince Orekon is out of time and out of solutions. He must mate and he only has until sunrise in three days or he will lose his throne. The alternative would be disastrous for his people. The females from his world of Astovia are lovely and willing, but his heart remains cold. There is not even one among them who wants to discover the heart within the beast. And Orekon refuses to mate with just any female available. He wants a female who will join with his heart as well as his body.
Music is Kathryn Schaffer’s life and passion. It’s the only thing in her life that keeps her going, waiting for each performance. When a strange man in a corridor holds her captive from behind, Kathryn is momentarily terrified. Until his touch softens and he whispers words of passion and love in her ear. Knowing she will never experience those emotions in her entire life, Kathryn takes a chance and opens her heart to a stranger.
However, falling in love is never easy and trials and challenges await back on Astovia for the mated couple. Orekon is confident in his ability to maintain the throne, but Kathryn is in a world unlike her own. Will she find a way to win over the hearts of the Astovian people as she did with Orekon?


A Haunting Love by Rebecca J. Vickery
Trudy thinks she must have lost her mind by agreeing to house-sit a huge, old, Victorian mansion during Halloween week. Lights switching on and off along with odd noises lead her to meet a certain, handsome police officer named Simon. The attraction is mutual and undeniable. Maybe the scare was worth the chance to go out with this guy.
When odd things at the old house continue, Mina, Trudy’s best friend and partner in a vintage clothing shop, teases her about having a poltergeist. Deciding she can deal with that better than an actual person out to do her harm, Trudy relaxes a bit—until the ghost takes over on Halloween, revealing a curse and an ancient, haunting love.

There's a new Anthology in Town...

It's Halloween! And just in time for those ghost and goblins comes a new epress with a collection of delicious stories to make us shiver and keep us on the edge of our seats. Recently I sat down with one of the publisher of Victory Tales Press. This week we'll be seeing what they have in store for us.




A Halloween Collection Anthology
~Sweet stories to satisfy your romantic cravings~



Go on Without Me by Markee Anderson

Lydia Sanders is so lonely she dresses as a cat for Halloween and goes to a bar with a friend. She misses her boyfriend who died in a robbery the year before. Her brother’s new partner on the police force, Ian Thomas, meets Lydia at the bar. Her brother asked him to check up on her. Worried about her depression, Ian takes her for a drive in the rain to talk… But his car dies on a deserted road. They hike to a house where a strange, old woman lets them in to use her phone, but it doesn’t work. Halloween… At midnight…in a scary house? Lydia hopes it’s just a nightmare. But something’s going on, she’s sure, as the hair on her neck rises.
A man enters the room and the woman introduces him as her grandson. Eerily like Lydia’s dead boyfriend, he frightens her even more. Can this strange Halloween get any weirder?


Honor Cafe by Charlotte Raby

Adrianne has made it her life's work to run a non-profit cafe for the homeless because she knows what it means to be hungry and alone. She expects to remain alone until Simon walks through her unlocked door after hours. He intrigues her with his chivalric language and desire to stay hidden in the dark, but she needs to know more if he wants her love.
Living as a cursed vagabond for years has not prepared Simon for his powerful feelings for Adrianne and the danger in which those feelings put them. Their love could be his salvation, or their deaths. To try to save her life, he must leave her with his secret intact, but will he have the strength to walk away?

Halloween Witness by Rita Hestand

When the local town drunk sees a murder committed in the cemetery on Halloween night, will anyone in Haleyville pay any attention to his story? After all, the one he saw kill a woman was George Newman, the most respected citizen in town. Clooney, the drunk, hesitantly goes to Sheriff Joe about it. Knowing Joe to be a stickler for the facts, he figures he’ll investigate at least.
Joe is engaged to George's daughter, Elizabeth, and doesn’t want to believe Clooney. But the old man describes things in such detail and seems so shook up Joe feels it’s his duty to investigate the story.
At the cemetery they do indeed find a grave and dig it up. Joe is suddenly faced with the job of solving the mystery and how to avoid losing the love of his life. It's a harrowing Halloween night in Haleyville.



The Memory Charmer and the Boy Next Door by Christine E. Schulze

Imprisoned in a basement, at the mercies of an oddly powerful incubus, Elissa tries to escape many times. But the giant tarantula guards his master’s toy well. She fears she will eventually cease to exist at the hands of this Musician who steals her memories. The pain increases with every encounter.
Then a glimmer of hope appears. A boy moves in next door who knows things—secrets from the very heavens. The boy speaks of Elementals and Shooting Stars and wondrous things she’s never dreamed of. But the Musician knows of him and guards her even more carefully. Can this boy help her escape on All Hallow’s Eve? Or will the incubus destroy him too?

I Love Pie by Kate Kindle

Tony Gsullo, a burnt-out-on-life New Yorker, takes an unexpected autumn trip to the country with a friend. On the side of the road he sees a haunting sight. A beautiful woman stands poised on the roadside, seemingly in a trance. When the men stop to offer assistance, she flees into the woods.
When they rent a room in town, they discover there are some odd occurrences and secrets in the small town of Saranac Lake. At a large mansion on the outskirts of town, Tony once again meets the beautiful woman from the side of the road. Their attraction is instant, but Darla is married to a doctor, one of the most prominent men in the community.
Something is definitely wrong, Tony decides, when he sees the doctor strike his lovely wife. Then news of a young woman’s disappearance adds to his unease. His concern for Darla and her daughter drive him to take action. Halloween in Saranac Lake will never be the same.


Look for more about this anthology all this week.