IWSG: The Voices in My Head

I glance at the clock.

3:45 a.m.

Cursing Daylight Savings, I try to go back to sleep. Just two more hours. Is that too much to ask after grueling weeks of non-stop editing, blogging and proofreading on top of my full time job? But it’s too late and I know it, because my mind is already drifting—not toward that desired sleep. The voices begin. I recognize them. Just whispers at first from those who’ve been part of my every waking hour for the last few months as we worked together toward Release Day in mid-October. Then a scene begins to unfold, rolling like 35mm film, filled with action and passion. Not one of the many that I’d been tweaking and polishing in that frantic race to meet deadline. But something new.

Something from the next book.

I try to ignore them. I’m SO not ready. Still in the middle of a blog tour, just having finished a fun and frantic week on my Haunted Open House, all I want to do was NOT think, NOT plot, NOT listen to those murmurs of dialog. Just a week or two of blissful decompression. I have tons of mental and physical housecleaning to do that’s been piling up during the scramble to produce my first self-published book, REMEMBERED BY MOONLIGHT. I don’t want to get sucked into the next project, but those greedy, persistent characters won’t leave me alone.


Even as I roll over and grumble to my pesty felines that their breakfast is not imminent, the conversation picks up again between characters old . . . and new. I close my eyes and listen, letting it play out, teasing up images to go with the words. And then I can’t sleep. I’m up, heading for my desk, turning on the computer, anxious for it to boot up so I can commit that dialog to page before it escapes me. Not even waiting for coffee!

Smiling, I reread the scene, nod, then head for the Keurig instead of the sheets.

Whether I like it or not, whether I’m ready or not, the new project has just begun.

While I’m busy sketching out an outline for that next book, here’s a glimpse of the nagging scene that got me started writing my new release, REMEMBERED BY MOONLIGHT:


Where was Max?

Had she expected it to be easy having him here so close and yet so agonizingly far away? Bad enough watching him in that antiseptic clinic cell, a prisoner of his own panicked madness, raving, raging, out of control. Worse was having him here in the lush, sexy surroundings he’d built for them to share, temptingly near yet impossible to reach.

A bargain made in heartbreak hell.

Though she might be tortured by cherished memories, he was not. She was nothing to him but a protective port in his emotional storm. And that knowledge was driven home like a stake through the heart every time they were together. Every time he stared at her through those cool green eyes without the slightest flicker of response. Every time he took that distancing step back to evade the casual graze of her hand. Every time he lay next to her in the night and silence created a force field of discomfort.

Tripping over him every minute of the damned day only emphasized how much she wanted, needed him back.

And underlined how far away he was. 

Praise from Publisher’s Weekly for the “By Moonlight” series:

“A paranormal romance series with intriguing characters and zippy action . . . Gideon masters the tension required to keep her complex and engaging story moving.” (Starred Review) 

“Vivid writing, plot twists and a satisfying ending will keep readers coming back to Gideon’s magical NOLA.” 

“Rich and complex. Enticing new dimensions to the Shifter world keep things fresh. Gideon delivers well-crafted prose and page-turning tension.” 

Do you have those annoying voices, too? Do you listen or ignore them? At least they woke me up in time to get this post written! Follow along the links below to see what’s on the minds of my other Insecure Writers Support Group friends . . .
Insecure Writer's Support Group
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