A Writing Wednesday: Writin' Readin' and Readin' Some More

Well, here it is Wednesday again, and I promised y’all a blog post. I like devoting one day a week to writing about writing. For one, it keeps me accountable, because I know those of you who are reading are interested in what I am writing. Another reason is it keeps me thinking.

As far as my latest work in Progress, I’m up to 12,188 words. Y’all know I sort of jump from story to story, writing a while on one before going to the next. Something else that seems to be common, here lately is that I can’t get beyond 12 thousand words before quitting. I don’t know the true reason for this, but I do have my suspicions. Here’s the good thing, though; so far on the current WIP...the one about a mail order bride...I’m still writing. I’m still having ideas for it, and I also have a title for it. Actually, I had the title before I had the story, and that, y’all is the strangest thing of all. Of course, now that I think about it, I knew i would write a book called “Wild Heart” before I wrote it, so maybe, I’m on the right track. Maybe, this one is destined to be.

What’s that? You want to know what it’s called? “A Place Called Home”, at least for now. I still don’t know where my characters live, exactly, but it’s out West, somewhere. I’ll figure that out later. I also don’t know what time of year the story starts in. I originally had it starting in August, but now I’m wondering if it’s more closer to October. But, those are things that can be changed as time goes by. The main thing is to write the meat of the story. I can add all that other stuff later. It doesn’t matter at this point where my heroine’s brother was injured. He isn’t even a main character. It doesn’t really matter where the hero and heroine live, yet, and maybe it will never matter. I’m not allowing myself to care, right now. All I’m concerning myself with is the story. Word count? I glance at it now and then, but other than that, I don’t worry about how many words a day I write. I don’t even worry about the time of day. Whenever I’m in the mood and a scene comes to mind, I just write it down. I don’t even edit it until several days later. If I get tired of working on it, I put it down, and I don’t stress about it. If I feel like reading instead, then I read.

Now, it’s time for a complaint.

Everybody is in to Kindle or iPad, or some other type of electronic reader, these days. That doesn’t bother me. I mean, hey, whatever makes you happy. But, what I wish is that authors would be more concerned about getting their books in audio than in an electronic format. Maybe, they have no control over this. I for one, know how expensive it can be to get something put in to audio, especially when you self-publish. Maybe, I don’t even have an arguement, because at least if i owned an iPad, the built in speech program makes it easy for someone who is blind to use.. So, if the iPad makes an electronic reader accessible, what use would an author have for an audio book. Right? Just my thoughts, that’s all.

Ok, no more complaining for today. :) Doesn’t seem to work, anyway.

So, I was looking at the guidelines for writing for Harlequin. You can find those on their website, BTW.
www.eharlequin.com
One of the lines open for submissions right now is Heart warming. One of the guidelines was “something a mother could share with her daughter”. Basically, a book with no bad language, no descriptions of sex unless the couple is already married and... Well, you can find it, if you want to online. Anyway, I got to thinking, “Hmm, I could do that.” So, I opened up a new document and got to work.

Now, don’t y’all go and start thinking I’m real amazing, cause I barely got 200 words written before i lost my momentum. lol But, that little scene I wrote gave me a jump start with “A Place Called Home”.

Is writing ever a waste of time? Nope, never! Will I ever use the beginning of that story? Maybe, maybe not, but what is important is I am writing. And, that, I guess is what this blog is for. I am writing. I am sharing something of myself everytime I write. I believe that whatever your talent is, as long as you do it, it counts.

On that positive note, here’s y’all something to read for this middle day of the week. Keep in mind it has not been edited. Enjoy and come back on Friday.

“What do you mean you can’t see him? Teri, you don’t see him, because you aren’t looking! Girlfriend, get your nose out of that book and check him out!”
Teri sighed, but she lowered the novel to her lap and glanced in the direction her friend pointed.
A man was keeping up a good pace as he made his way around the end of the track, and yes, he was hot. His back was to her, which left his face a mystery, but from what she could see of him, there was a mangnificent body inside those levis. His black hair was cut short, and he moved with a grace that belied his height, which she would guess to be about six two.
“He’s too tall,” she said.
“No he isn’t! You’re just short.”
More like a midgit, she thought.
At five feet, zero inches, Teri usually kept her dreaming to the guys five ten and shorter, but she had to admit that Mr. tall, dark and hot might be worth changing her mind for.
Then, he made the turn around the end of the track and her heart plummeted.
“Oh, no!” April groaned.
“I knew it was too good to be true,” Teri sighed, going back to her book.
“Maybe, not. I mean, the kid could be his niece or nephew.”
“April, men don’t bring their infant nieces or nephews along on a jog.”
“They do if they are babysitting. What if his sister had to work, and she had no one else to watch the baby but him?”
“Nope, either it’s his weekend to have the baby, and I wouldn’t want to go out with him because he has way too much baggage from his previous marriage, or he’s taken.”
“Teri, you don’t know that for sure! Why can’t you give the guy a chance?”
“For one, he hasn’t asked, and for another, I’m not looking for a man.”
Sure, she wasn’t. But, she wasn’t about to admit that to April.
Glancing down at her watch, Teri put a bookmark between the pages of her novel and closed it. Time to get back inside and finish up her last three hours of work for the week. Her job as a customer service rep for an insurance company was not the profession she had imagined in high school, but it paid the bills.
As the minutes ticked away, she took call after call, but her mind kept returning to the hotty pushing a baby stroller around the middle school track across the street. Her friend April could talk until she was blue in the face about grabbing up opportunity when it presented itself, but April came from a single-parent home, and she, April hadn’t grown up with the luxury of siblings, so she didn’t know about diaper bags, bulky strollers and extra outfits in case of emergencies. Teri did, and Mr. tall, dark and hot had an overstuffed diaper bag crammed in to the space on the bottom of the stroller. As if a pink stroller and a diaper bag with the Disney princesses on it weren’t a big enough sign the man was happily married, she didn’t know what was.
“Teresa?”
Turning in her chair, Teri saw her boss walking toward her.
“Yes?”
“I’d like to speak with you in my office for just a minute.”
Butterflies set up a flying tornament in the pit of her stomach, as she nodded and pushed back away from her computer.
“Is there something wrong?”
“I just need a few minutes,” Carlie said, leading the way toward her office.
When the door was closed to the prying ears of her colleagues, Teri gave in and allowed some of her nervousness to show. She was by no means the worst employee on the floor, but Carlie had hadd it in for her since the beginning.
“Teresa,” Carlie began, “I hate to be the one to tell you this, but we’re letting you go. You’re production is down, we’re getting some complaints about your attitude over the phone, and you’re taking too much time off.”
“You’re kidding me! Right?”
“I’m afraid not.”
Carlie’s sympathy was faked, and Teri knew it, but it still didn’t change what had been said.
“You...you’re firing me?”
“Yes.”
“But, you know why I had to take so many days off. You know my mom had heart surgery. You said you understood that I was the only one who could be with her. You know my dad’s in the nursing home and can’t be there with her. As for my production, I explained that to you, and I have my first appointment with a Chiropractor on Monday.”
“The fact of the matter is, Teresa, if you are not willing to give this company one hundred percent, we have no use for you.”
Teri was so mad, she didn’t trust her voice. Without a word, she slammed out of Carlie’s office, snatched her things from her cubical and marched out the front door. She heard the questions following her, but she didn’t answer. She’d call April later, and tell her what was going on. For now, if she stopped, she just might plant a fist in the nearest wall - or in the nearest face.