The Simmering Mind

I was tagged in this blog game by fellow author Kessie Carroll, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to dust off this sadly neglected blog and get it running again!

*blows off dust* *tidies up everything*

I apologize for my long absence! SO much has happened since I last blogged. For example, I started a newsletter (click on those words to sign up!), I’ve run several #WIPjoy events (one’s happening right now, in fact), AND I’ve launched into rewriting my treasured trilogy WIP again, after over a year’s hiatus – I am utterly thrilled about that!!

I hope to have some more updates around here for you very soon. 😀 But for now, without further ado, here are the questions from the writer tag…

Dust Bunnies and Plot Bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

My writing goals right now are to keep plugging away on my current draft of The Trusted! I’m at about 40,000 words, and I had been going strong until I got stuck at this spot. 😛 I hope to get over this snag once and for all and move forward again! I just hope to finish the draft this year, although getting a significant portion done before Realm Makers this summer would be awesome.

I also have a short story currently submitted to the Writers of the Future contest, and another short piece which I plan to submit to Havok’s Monsters Vs. Robots issue (a deadline which is coming up soon, so I’d better get on that!).

Lastly, I do hope to put out at least one more short story this year. Stay tuned on that!

Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

The tag gives these categories for stages:

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

Based on that, I’m cleaning out a closet – both “remodeling” and writing. I had a solid outline for this draft, but after writing the first third, it’s fallen to pieces on me and I’m scrambling to create a new outline that jives better with the first act that’s fallen into place. For my secondary WIP, the flash fiction piece for Havok, I’m at the “polishing” stage.

Treasure from the Back of the Closet (Share 1-3 Snippets You Love)

Here’s a snippet from The Trusted. 🙂

Catherine’s hand ripped out of his. Her scream echoed down the corridor, shriller and louder than the blare of alarms.

Carried by momentum, Kevin stumbled several steps further in the blackness before slamming into the curve and whirling around.

The emergency lights flared on again.

The girl stood in the center of the hall, with the metal arm hooked tight around Catherine’s neck, dragging her backwards—and her stinger buried in Catherine’s chest.

Darkness.

He caught a glimpse of Catherine’s enormous dark eyes pleading with him for help, and the blood soaking her hair under the yellow glow.

Darkness.

Her entire body went slack.

Darkness.

The girl bent and laid Catherine out on the floor. Motionless. Silent.

Darkness.

Kevin went numb. A frenzy built up inside him—deep, dark terror he had no power and no wish to contain. His heart thundered, blood rushing in his ears. No. No, no, no. This is not happening. She is not dead.

The lights flashed on again. The girl stood over Catherine’s body, facing Kevin, and tilted her head, both hands spread out…daring him to come back. The end of her stinger was red with Catherine’s blood.

If you’d like to read more sneak peeks like this one, and follow me more closely in my writing journey, you may want to join my Facebook reader group! 😉

Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self (Share a Picture!)

As it would happen, I just went around today changing my profile picture on my various social media platforms! I’ve been using the same photo since 2015, and felt it was time for a change. So here’s the new photo I’ll be using for my author platforms, at least for awhile. 🙂 I’m also doing some spring-cleaning around this site…editing my “about” page, my editing services page, and so forth. So take a peek around, if you’d like, and see how things cleaned up!

The game asks me to tag three people, so I’m going to tag RJ Conte, Laura Pol, and Kyle Robert Shultz. (No pressure, friends!)

If you’d like to do the tag, feel free! The questions and rules are below…

Rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Share the picture
3. Answer the questions (naturally…) or even pick and choose which ones you answer
3.5. Tag 3 other writers and inform them that you tagged them (via comment/message/email or hey, even carrier-pigeon or smoke signal; I’m not picky)

Questions:

1. Dust-bunnies and Plot-bunnies: Reorganize Your Writing Goals (Or Make New Ones)

2. Which Stage Are You At? Expound!

a. Remodeling layouts (planning the story)
b. Painting the walls in colorful hues (writing)
c. Polishing the windows and scrubbing the floors and putting flowers in vases (editing)
d. Blueprints (not to the cleaning or remodeling yet… just drawing up plans for the very beginning inklings of a story)
e. Some combination of those things (cleaning out a closet)

3. Treasure From the Back of the Closet (Share one to three snippets you love!)

3.5. Bonus: Do Some Actual Spring Cleaning of Your Writer Self! (And share a picture!)