Cate Morgan's Blog, page 4

Author’s Log: The More You Know (#amwriting, #ROW80)

This week, I was type-type-typing away on Sweet Home #1, and I experienced a minor epiphany.

I’ve been really enjoying this story (the banter is extra-bantery, for some reason, so the dialogue has been a BLAST to write), when my Infernal Editor reared his horns in my direction.

I know I make him sound like an evil little bastard, and a lot of the time he is. But occasionally, every once in a Blue Moon (and sometimes not even then), he comes in handy.

There was something wrong with my story, though I couldn’t put my finger on it. Fortunately, my Infernal Editor has two horns, and he had no trouble spearing the issue.

My heroine was too perfect. She has a sensible head on her shoulders, though she’s a mite quirky and given to mischief when the occasion calls for it. For someone who was adopted by older parents, she’s got little to no angst about it (because angst simply isn’t in her DNA). She knows what she wants, and has no problems going about getting it.

But, fun as she is, she needed more than just a few quirks and pranks up her sleeves. She needed, when you come right down to it, a flaw.

BING!

:::AUTHOR LEVEL-UP!:::

So I turned one of her assets–her Olympic-level ability to banter–into a potential downfall. In short, I gave her a Mouth with a capital OW, and a struggle for reining it in. She speaks her mind, even when she perhaps shouldn’t. Because Consequences.

All of a sudden her character started to shift a little for me. Instead of being happy and bantery ALL THE TIME, when she settles down a bit she begins to reveal another level to her character. And it’s my hero’s task to draw that out, little by little, on behalf of the reader. And suddenly she has a reason for maybe wanting to stay in Small Town, OK.

Now I’ve got a story that’s not only fun, and funny, but also works on a deeper level. And I like it all the better because of it. Because now my protagonist is believable, as well as likable.

And now, on to:

TO DO VOODOO FOR FEBRUARY:

1. Complete Production on Sweet Home #1.

Getting closer by the moment…I have a cover proof, which I plan on tweaking and releasing later this week. I have to rewrite a scene from my heroine’s POV, and I got to write a scene sequence I’ve been looking forward to ever since I got the idea for this story. It’s a hilarious scene in which my hero is in church while my heroine is complaining to him via text about the boisterous couple in the hotel room next door, and her subsequent eviction.

2. Start drafting Reliance #1.

SO EXCITED to be starting this one. I should be able start next week, if all goes well. I’ve begun gathering ideas for the cover, which just makes me more happy.

3. Begin Pre-Production on Keepers 5.

I started my notebook on this piece this week, meaning character profiles and such. I’ve got my Keeper (who doesn’t have a name yet), my hero (who is adequately monikered), and a fair idea for an antagonist. The idea is to let this one percolate as much as possible before getting the story beats down.

That’s all for me this week! How about you guys–what are you excited to write in the coming round?

Valentine’s Day Book Giveaway – Get The ENTIRE Waking Muse Series For FREE

In honor of Valentine’s Day I’m embarking upon a FREE BOOK EXTRAVAGANZA! The ENTIRE Waking Muse series will be TOTALLY FREE Feb 11-15.

Here’s how you get your grabby, chocolate-covered hands on this sweet deal:

BOOK THE FIRST:

The Lady Tennant is currently Perma-Free at Amazon and other online retailers. This is Book 1 in the Waking Muse series.

BOOKS THE SECOND and THIRD:

FREE AT AMAZON FEB 11-15

But WAIT. There’s MORE!

If you review any of these books on Amazon and email me the link, I’ll give you a free, Advance Reader Copy of Sweet Home Oklahoma, the first book in my new romance series.

GIMME MY BOOKS!

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Author’s Log: Work, Word Monkey, Work (#amwriting, #ROW80)

So this month has only (barely) gotten started and Whoa, Nellie–have I been busy!

(Wait, have I?)

(Why, yes–I HAVE.)

The fourth book in my Keepers of the Flame series has finally launched, and now I’m looking ahead to prepping Book 5. But not before I finish drafting Sweet Home #1 for release by the end of the month.

Later this week all my current romance titles will be going free on Amazon for Valentine’s Day, so I’ve got promos to plan and a newsletter to write. I feel like I need to get a handle on Facebook Ads, so I’ll be looking into that as well.

Next on the docket is the Sci-Fi Western I’ve been dying to write FOREVER, so I’m looking forward to finally diving in to that world, with those characters. I mean, my bad guy’s name is Jericho Ross, and he’s modeled after actor Donal Logue. What could be better? *bliss*

In Other News, the weather here on the Gulf Coast of Florida has FINALLY turned autumn-cool, which I am totally digging. Tweed! Scarves! Boots! Hot Chocolate, with MARSHMELLOWS. YAY!!

TO DO VOODOO FOR FEBRUARY:

1. Complete Production on Sweet Home #1.

Lots to do here–besides finishing the draft, there’s revisions, formatting, and a cover that needs doing by the end of the month.

2. Start drafting Reliance #1.

Still having trouble with a particular plot-knot, but I’m not going to let it slow me down. There’s a strong possibility it will end up teasing itself out during drafting, and if not, there’s always revisions. Perfect is the Enemy of Done, yo.

3. Begin Pre-Production on Keepers 5.

I pretty much know what this book is about, and who the characters are, so now it’s just a matter of getting it all down and fleshing out the detail. This bad boy is docketed for April.

 

 

 

 

 

Author’s Log: Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming (#ROW80, #amwriting)

Um, yeah. So I’m back.

It’s been a little crazy these last few weeks. The big news is I finally got Keepers 4 out the door, despite much in the way of cover design shenanigans and revision mayhem.

I also went through a period of not sleeping well, which hasn’t helped matters in terms of mental as well as physical energy. I think I’m getting too old to be a night owl, but neither am I of an age when mornings look to be a good idea, so I’ve been trying to suss out a balance.

So now I’m back into mad-drafting Sweet Home #1 and outlining the next book on my schedule, a Sci-Fi Western I’m calling RELIANCE (Reliance #1). I’ve got a good feel for the story, but it’s structure is giving me some minor trouble I’m hoping will be ironed out sooner rather than later.

Still, that’s one of three goals completed for the round so I’m not doing too shabby regardless of my stumbling start to the year. And I’m still looking forward to 2016 and all I hope to accomplish over the next twelve months.

SO MANY THINGS, Y’ALL. YOWZA! o_O

 

Because bad omens, deaths, and sundae scoops come in threes:

TO DO VOODOO FOR JANUARY:

1. Complete Drafting Sweet Home #1.

Back to the typeity-typeity on this one–LOTS of work to do.

2. Complete Production on Keepers #4. QUEST COMPLETED.

YAY! :-D

3. Complete Pre-Production on Reliance #1.

Working on detangling the knotty plot-knots. I’m hoping to have everything straightened out this week.

So those are the deets, folks. How has January been treating you?

 

Author’s Log: The Stating of the Goals-2016 Edition (#amwriting, #ROW80)

Top Google Search term this week to find Yours Truly: “totally slipped my mind”. Well, that’s probably about as accurate as anything else I suppose.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE!

No, seriously–can you hear me back there?

*taps mic*

*reels from feedback*

So it’s 2016, and the Dread Internetz is awash in resolutions, goal setting, advice, and general, fresh-new-year broo-ha-ha.

As many of you are aware, I have this whole Project Insanity thing where I’m going to try to release one new novella per month for all of 2016. It’s going to be a mad dash, but I think I have enough tricks up my sleeves to pull it off.

(Wait…is that a used tissue? Ew.)

I’m really excited for my Production Schedule wherein I plan to start AND finish 2 new series, begin yet ANOTHER two, and make some serious progress on my flagship series, Keepers of the Flame.

And then there’s the fact I’ve got two–count ’em, TWO–fantasy novels in various stages of revision, another I’m drafting, and YET ANOTHER I want to plan.

So, yanno. All The Things, aka Business as Per Usual.

Because bad omens, deaths, and sundae scoops come in threes:

Goal The First:

Revise and Release Keepers of the Flame #4 into the wild, which will include getting Tess’ origin story to my newsletter subscribers.

Deadline: Jan 22

Goal The Second:

Finish Drafting and Release Sweet Home #1.

Deadline: Feb 19

Goal The Third:

Begin Production on and Release Reliance #1

Deadline: Mar 18

TO DO VOODOO FOR JANUARY:

1. Complete Drafting Sweet Home #1.

2. Complete Production on Keepers #4.

3. Complete Pre-Production on Reliance #1.

 

HAPPY FESTIVUS! Book Giveaway (#freebooks)

Merry Christmas, Keepers!

Ah, Florida. Nothing says “Christmas” like…like…um, palm trees. And gators wandering the golf course behind our condo complex. Oh, look–they’re chasing the UPS delivery guy!

Ahem. Anyway.

Books! Yes! FREE BOOKS! December 26-27 only!

For Action & Adventure, Magic & Mayhem (because not everyone has gators in their backyard):

Need to catch up on the series? The Amazing Adventures of Acacia Carlisle (Blood & Steam #1) is currently on sale for $0.99!

For the Romance of New Beginnings (because, once in awhile, it’s nice when SOMEONE ELSE cooks):

Oh, hey, wait–have you already read these books? Or would you rather read one of my OTHER books instead?

Email me to let me know which book you’d rather have instead and I’ll leave it in your stocking (hey, what’s that coal doing here?).

Author’s Log: Hiding From The Dread Internetz (#amwriting, #ROW80)

The new Star Wars movie came out on Friday.

So did the final installment of my Blood & Steam trilogy.

COINCEDENCE?!

Um, yeah. Totally.

Sadly, I haven’t gotten to see it yet, so I’m taking brief Hiatus from the Dread Internetz in a vain attempt to avoid being spoiled. This may, or may not, involve me sticking my fingers in my ears and singing selections from Cthulhu: The Musical, which is apparently a lot like Cats only with Cultists and Great Old Ones.

So, yanno, fun for the whole family.

Thusly, this will be a quick Goals update before I duck back into my rabbit hole.

1. Draft Sweet Home #1: In Progress.

2,500 words a day should keep the deadlines at bay, I’m thinking. And the faster I draft, the more time I have to get everything into shape.

2. Revise Keepers #4: In Progress.

This one is due for release toward the end of January, so in addition to Revisions and Editing, I need to finish up my cover and write a cover blurb.

3. Finish drafting DRAGON’S HEART: In Progress.

I took a break from this one is order to get Blood & Steam 3 out the door, so now that’s off my plate I can return my attention to finishing this up. I’m hoping to have this done by the end of the year.

Looking Ahead:

JAN 8

RELIANCE 1: Pre-Production

KEEEPERS 4: Wrap

JAN 22

KEEPERS 4: Release

SWEET HOME 1: Post-Production

RELIANCE 1: In Production

 

 

RELEASE DAY: The Innovative Adventures of Lucia Carlisle (Blood & Steam 3)

This is it, y’all–the final installment of my Steampunk Action & Adventure series, Blood & Steam.

Will the Carlisle siblings finally recover their missing father? Will Lucia live up to her family’s name in courage, cunning, and resourcefulness?

Sign up below for a free review copy!

[contact-form]

Author’s Log: A Much Needed Break (#amwriting, #ROW80)

So, not a lot of actual drafting happened this week, sadly. I think my brain needed a little rest from all the mad tyepity-typeity, so I mainly focused on revisions for Blood & Steam 3, since it’s coming out in less than a week and I need to get ARCs out sooner rather than later.

Not a big deal, since I’m (technically) ahead on drafting new words, and have an extra week this month to make up the difference. I should be able to get a lot done in the mornings the last week over Christmas/New Year’s, since I’ll be home from the Day Job. A cool 2500 words/day should do the trick to get me caught up which, as I learned during NANO, is about 90 minutes of work per writing session. I can manage that.

Honestly, after the Epic Crazy that was November, it was kind of nice to let the ol’ jets cool for a bit. Although, I’ve found that if I take one day off I’ll often take another, and another, and so on, until it gets harder for me to get started again.

So, simple goal: 2,500 words per day at ninety minutes.

I’m more or less through with content edits on Blood & Steam 3, and am into line edits. This means I’m into the tedious business of parsing the thing out into separate sentences and examining each one independently of the rest. Context edits are focused on story, while line edits are focused on language. At least, that’s how I look at it.

But at least I’m in the home stretch. *whew*

1. Draft DRAGON’S HEART: In Process.

I’m reaching a really difficult part of the story, now, wherein EVERYTHING CHANGES and I more or less clear the playing field. This is going to be a decidedly emotional writing stint, which probably explains my hesitation in drafting this week more than anything. But it needs to be done, so here am I, bucking myself up before the epic disaster.

2. Revise Blood & Steam #3: In Process.

Nearly done. I’ll do my final polish and upload the book to Amazon this week, right after I get the thing to the ARC list of my newsletter.

3. Finish Pre-Production on Keepers #4: In Process.

I’ve pretty well got a cover I can live with, but I’m still playing around and tweaking. Who was it that said art is never truly finished, but abandoned?

Looking Ahead:

DEC 18

IN PROD: Sweet Home 1

POST-PROD: Keepers 4

RELEASE: Blood & Steam 3

 

Author’s Log: Keep Calm And Breathe (#amwriting, #ROW80)

 

Words Drafted: 15,322

Best Day (Sun thru Sat): 6,362 (Sunday)

Average/Day to Goal: 3,125

Days Drafted: 5/7

Vera, vera busy this week. The first week of the month generally is for me, but this week I finished NaNoWriMo to the tune of close to 72k words. Then I nearly forgot to do my monthly post for the Insecure Writers’ Support Group, and had to scramble at the last minute to come up with something pithy and helpful.

And then, of course, there are still MOAR WERDS.

I’m deep into Revisions on Blood & Steam 3, because that’s going to come out in a couple of weeks, and DRAGON’S HEART isn’t showing any signs of getting shorter anytime soon. I keep coming up with World Building Kewl (TM) and having to go back and make note of where to introduce/back load the Kewl so it doesn’t come out of left field for the reader.

And then I keep dropping characters because there’s so much to keep up with, and making note of that just so I can keep pushing forward. Yikes!! o_O

So those are the two biggest things on my docket this week. The other thing I have to do is get a cover and cover copy for Keepers 4 together, so I can make a webpage, etc for it and put a link in the back matter of Blood & Steam 3.

*Sings Just Keep Swimming under breath*

I’m really excited about keeping up the momentum, however, because tired as I am, it’s a thrill to look at that November word count and think Holy Crap–I did that!!

And then feel slightly less chuffed knowing I now have to go back to Revise That.

I’m also looking forward to 2016, when I can really put my new Production Schedule to the test. Projeckt Insanity, HO!!

I’ll be starting and finishing two new series next year, and starting two more that will carry over in 2017. Plus, I’ll be making significant progress on Keepers of the Flame with (hopefully) four books published next year. Book 4 is more or less completed and will be coming out in January, and I know what Book 5 is, and have inklings about Book 6.

For the record “inklings” are those little goblins that run the vast, dusty, spider-webby card catalog full of Stuff in my brain, and occasionally make demands about more caffeine and words but especially caffeine. They keep the voices in my head under heel and do a horrible job of it because they don’t have enough caffeine. They breathe a sigh of relief whenever I finish a story, because then they have more room in The Cells (heh).

It’s gonna be a crazy year, y’all. BRING IT.

 

DRAGON’S HEART (In Production): 49,946/90,000=55% Complete

I have no idea what’s going on with the structure of this novel. My notes are telling me one thing, but the story is telling me Quite Another. So it seems the best thing I can do is go with it, take halfway decent notes along the way, and get to the end to see what it looks like from the other end. Perspective is everything in a case like this.

2. BLOOD & STEAM 3 (In Post-Production):

Revisions are, thus far, not going nearly as bad as I initially thought it might, but it’s early days yet. There are definitely some things I need to clarify/cleanup going on here. But I just went through one of my favorite scenes, and it still makes me happy, so YAY.

3. KEEPERS 4 (Pre-Production Cleanup):

Started on a Keepers 4 cover proof over the weekend. The background elements are pretty well set, however it’s the foreground (i.e., my character/”hero shot”) that’s giving me issues. So I put it away for now and will go back to it later this week with a fresh eye.

Looking Ahead:

DEC 18

RELEASE Blood & Steam 3

POST-PROD Keepers 4

IN-PROD Sweet Home 1