And yet another cover...

Am I getting warmer? Actually, I am getting desperate.

Another Cover Mock-Up

This is more in line with my original cover idea. My in-house graphic designer has bigger fish to fry these days so I am trying to figure out the nooks and crannies of making a cover myself. It is not easy. What do you think about this attempt?

More Inspiration for Timeless

My characters in Timeless were invented based on this sort of science. Please watch because while my evolutionary mutants may be beyond the ideas discussed, the ideas themselves are extremely promising for us regular mortals. Enjoy!

Hello Again

Just peeking out from my cave to say howdy. I am working on the edits and rewrites and am stunned by how tiring it is. I feel like I am writing a new book. Yet I will prevail! Perhaps I will share a few pages here, when I have time.

Meanwhile I have also been busy nagging the in-house graphic designer to work faster on the cover. And because it was making me anxious, I decided to do a mock-up myself just to get the ball rolling. Hopefully it will make my designer feel sorry for me and get cracking on the cover. What do you think?

Chapters Nine and Ten

These will be the last rough drafts I share with you. I am one chapter (plus a heck of a lot of editing) away from completing my first book. I really didn't think I could do it but here I am, with an almost novel on my hard drive. Very exciting.

Time to retrieve monkey #2. Enjoy the read...

Timeless, A Novel- Chapter Nine Rough Draft First Half
Timeless, A Novel- Chapter Ten Rough Draft First Half

For All The Tired Novelists Out There: This One's For You

I have been some combination of mother/teacher/grad student/small business owner/designer/maker/writer/novelist for a while now and let me tell you, I'm beat.

Sometimes, I fall asleep as I'm writing and yet somehow keep typing, resulting in some interesting dream transcriptions (though it isn't so interesting if you are trying to finish a term paper or a novel).

I have found a certain system to help beat back the drooping eyelids that I thought I would share with you, especially since this is November and National Novel Writing Month is now in full swing.

1. Eat well and drink lots of water during the day. Seriously. Common sense and yet a lot of us skip meals or get dehydrated at work. Avoid this at all costs.

2. Around 5 PM, ingest something that will give you a boost. A banana, a cup of coffee, whatever works for you but do it around sunset.

3. Vary your liquid intake at night. Don't just drink coffee. Mix it up and you'll get better results.

4. Go for a walk. Not a long walk, but about a 15 minute brisk walk.

5. Take a shower and scrub your body well. Gets the blood flowing.

6. Stretch or do yoga. Try to include a little something aerobic in your routine.

7. Don't eat the same snacks every night. Chocolate will help you stay awake only if it is new to your system. So rotate your snacks, particularly those sweets you might rely on to keep you going.

8. If all else fails, go to sleep. And don't feel bad about it. Sleep is necessary for recharging your mind and body. You might get some good ideas from your dreams or be able to figure out a plot problem when you wake up with a fresh brain. Feeling guilty about your slumber will only drag you down and, guess what, make you more tired. You don't need that.

I hope this helps those of you who struggle like me to get as much done in the hours around midnight. If you have anything you would like to add to the list, please share in the comments. I am always looking for new tricks.

The End of Chapter Eight

I am on the downward slope now, my friends. Chapter Eight is finished and Chapter Nine is underway. I have decided that for now on, I will only share bits and pieces of the novel, saving a lot of the juicy bits for the actual publication. I am looking forward to starting on the editing this weekend. My partner-in-crime, I mean life, is working on the cover as we speak. Things are going strong. I hope that by this time next week, I will have already pressed the submit button on Amazon. Before then, I have a lot of work to do. It is good work though so worth the loss of sleep and sanity for a few more nights. Until I have to start book two, that is.

Happy reading!
Timeless, A Novel- Chapter Eight Rough Draft Last Half

Indie Writer Role Models

So, this new indie ebook publishing world has a slew of great authors. A few of them have stood out for me (and the general public) for their success. I wish I could just say this was for the pleasure of writing, but with little ones to support and my soul feeling all dingy teaching full-time, I want to follow in their particular footsteps.

There is the young star Amanda Hocking, who brought the possibility of e-publishing to the mainstream media's attention.
Read more about it here: Authors Catch Fire with Self-Published E-Books
Hocking is young and had a lot of time on her hands and no dependents so as much as I cheer and envy her success, it is hard to compare what she has accomplished to what I can accomplish with my particular situation.
When I look for writing role models, traditionally published or otherwise, I look for mothers, particularly working mothers with multiple noses to wipe. My favorite one so far is Darcie Chan, whose best-selling novel has generated much acclaim due to the merit of her story alone. She works during the day writing environmental legislation then writes really good fiction at night after bedtime. Chan makes for an excellent role model and is an inspiration to literary fiction writers who want to support themselves.

Of course, with Timeless, I am following Hocking more, writing for a cross-genre loving audience more than for myself. Yet once I am finished with Book One and Two (and hopefully experience a portion of the success Hocking has experienced), I will be afforded the time to slow down and be more careful with my writing. I hope to strike a balance of pleasing my readers and writing stories that I would want to read. It is the dream of most indie writers, I am sure, and having at least two good role models encourages me to continue. Who are your indie writing role models? How did you choose them?

Pushing through Chapter Seven with some inspiring words

This chapter is taking me a few days longer than I had planned. It is strange because I have already mapped it out and done a draft by hand, which is usually the magic combination for writing productivity. Perhaps I am stressed over something outside of the book. Perhaps I am feeling nervous since I am now on the downward slope, having passed the halfway mark in the last chapter. After this chapter, everything is action packed and should flow out of my fingertips and onto the page like water. This chapter, in the meantime, has proved to be a little challenging.
To meet the challenge, I have come to rely on this list:


It has been our desktop wallpaper for months. There is always one line that stands out when I glance at it, that is just right for my needs at that moment. And last night, I came across this, by my nerd crush Ira Glass:


The main thing I need to do right now is push past this. I have set a deadline that I will, for once in my life, respect. Tomorrow is a holiday so tonight I will not sleep but two hours and tomorrow I will write for a least eight hours, plus the hours I put in after the kids' bedtime. I am determined that I will accomplish #33.

So, here is what I got so far. As always, any feedback in the comments is most welcome. Thank you for reading!


Timeless, A Novel- Chapter Seven Rough Draft First Half