Updates on What I’m Doing
I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve been in a writing routine. I did well this summer, and then in mid-August, I took a break. Since then, I’ve been struggling to get back into a solid writing routine. This is why I’m not a fan of long breaks. The longer the break, the harder it is to get back into the habit that’s already been established. Thankfully, I was still able to get some things accomplished over the last two months, which I’ll discuss below.
First of all, I’ve decided to keep writing stories at the length I’ve been doing all this time. I appreciate all of the comments people gave me on my last post. It means a lot to me that you took the time to let me know what you thought.
Second, I still prefer typing to dictation, but I do dictation when I have to. It’s easier for me to think a story out while I type. I guess it’s because my brain has been wired that way for years. Dictation is coming along easier, but I feel like I’m training my left hand to write when I’m right-hand dominant. It doesn’t come naturally.
Now, for the things I managed to get done over the past two months.
The Bride Price is due out October 28
(Some retailers haven’t updated the release date yet, but the update should be showing up in a week or two.)
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If you want to, you can pre-order a copy now:
I finally have a release date on this. The story has been uploaded to all retailers. This is Book 1 in the Misled Mail Order Brides Series. This story has some great suspense in it that I really enjoyed writing. The romance came very easily for this particular couple. They fell in love right away. I tried to get them to hold off on saying the “L” word (love) until later in the story, but they fought me and prevailed. So if you’re looking for angst between the main characters, you aren’t going to find it in this particular story.
I did an entire outline on this book from beginning to end. Halfway into the story, the characters said they weren’t going to follow the outline I did. I give up on plotting. I didn’t really enjoy the process of it. The logical part of my brain still bucks against the creative part of my brain on this story because I let the creative part take control as soon as the characters started veering off course. I know this is hard for some understand, but the subconscious mind does a magnificent job of creating stories. I say it’s the characters who are running the show, but the truth is, it’s the subconscious part that is really at play on this stuff. All I learned from the experience of plotting a book is that I have a lot more fun and enjoyment from writing when I let my subconscious mind run the show. From now on, that is what I’m going to do.
Anyway, I see this book as the springboard into books 2 and 3 in this series, and those books will have plenty of angst between the hero and heroine. Not all stories are created equal. I can’t do formula romances where X + Y = Z because my subconscious mind doesn’t work that way. Each story is going to be its own entity. (This is why I wasn’t a good fit for romance publishers and had to self-publish my books. I couldn’t write romances to fit what they wanted.)
Enough about all of that, though. Let’s continue with what else is new. 
