Distractions

Image courtesy of TrinityRedSprings.org

I'm editing the fourth and final book in the Crown Phoenix series now, and as a result my brain is  a bowl of tomato soup. As I edit, I have to pay attention to the normal line edits and story lines, but I also have to watch who gets what letter, which characters are in what room, and what lessons the children are on. It's called flow of logic, and it bogs me down each time I go through a book.

Did I mention the three huge glaring holes in the plot, as well as the amazing disappearing person who fades away for no reason? Well we can't have that. Getting the writer's version of my toolbox ready now.

After a long day of edits and rewrites, I am ready for distractions that don't tax poor old Soup Brain too much. In a way, it's like my college days when I finished studying for exams and I couldn't watch anything more intellectual than The Love Boat.

First distraction: Other books, of course, and I mentioned before that I'm reading The Sable City, Beautiful Creatures, and The Night Circus. Next up: book three of the Darkness Rising series by Ross Kitson, Losing Hope by Johanna Garth, The Body War by Kathleen Barker, Yum by Nicole Antonia Carson, The Azalea Assault by Alyse Carlson, and The Forbidden Road by Connie Jasperson.

And I'm waiting on Fireseed Two, *ahem* Catherine Stine....

Second distraction: Food. Tonight it's fresh salmon, baked with fresh lemon juice, dijon, dill, and sea salt. New potatoes alongside, as well as a Romaine salad. And, since I have a gafrillion Hershey kisses leftover from the recent Brownies Father-Daughter dance, maybe a few of those as well. 

Third - The "Don't Judge Me" section. Nog's Gem Quest and Vanderpump Rules. Nothing to see here, move along...

Image courtesy of Lifehacker.com

Fourth - The "It's a Given" section. Tea, more tea, and a glass of wine at the very end of the day.

Fifth - Because I have to - Laundry and dishes. Also, scrubbing toilets and floors, and exercising my authorly butt.

Sixth - Friends, with all the laughs and chat that comes with them. Best of all and not a distraction really  - my pals are a necessity.

Also, this blogpost by ZenCherry.

My cup of tea is at the dregs, so I'm off to fill in plot holes with tarmac and boot leather. See you on the other side!

Cool Stuff About Being a Writer

I get to imagine stuff and have it come to "life" on my desktop.

Other writers send me their books and ask me to read them. That means I get amazing books for free, and better than that, I am allowed to watch the evolution of those cool books.

I have a fantastic cover artist who rocks my Kindle world.

I'm in a group of talented, dedicated people who help me out every single day.

Nightmares are cool now, because when I wake up in a sweat, I just think, "Hey! New novel idea!"

If my husband comments on my disheveled, pajamas-in-the-afternoon attire, I can silence him with my Novelist At Work stare.

My little Alternet universe is fueled with tea, wine, and chocolate.

I am never, ever bored. Seriously, I don't know what boredom is  like. I've got movies in my head to watch, and I mean that in a very non-psycho killer way.

As I tap stuff out in the keyboard, I become one with a long line of writers. Maybe not Hemingway or Colette, but Edgar Rice Burroughs and Enid Blyton? Those are my peeps.

This just screams pulp fiction. Love it!!!!!!

See, I have to go and watch The Housewives of Beverly Hills. It's rich bitch research, dammit.

Ditto reading pulp fiction. All part of my job. Now, hand me my bon bons.

My New Year's Steampunk Resolutions

This year I will:


Acquire a real pair of goggles.

Learn the specs for a sentient automaton.


Discover the working boundaries for my Crown Phoenix typewriter that is really a quantum computer, and then push beyond them.


Develop a set of maps for The Night Watchman Express and the entire Crown Phoenix series. Because there is nothing like a book that comes with a map (see: Narnia, Middle Earth etc.)

Bring out Devil's Kitchen in print.


Finish the edit on The Lamplighter's Special, book three in the Crown Pheonix series.


Decide on the title for the final book in the series. (I'm leaning towards The South Sea Bubble or In His Majesty's Post, what do you think?)

Caricature of The South Sea Bubble

Write The South Sea Bubble (or In His Majesty's Post.)


Develop some Cogs and Gears Wine, or some Clockworks Brewery Ale. Or maybe just some Airship Pastries. Because why not?


Somehow meet this gentleman: