"Fitting the Pieces Together Times Two"

This past week was interesting, both writing wise and otherwise...
Tuesday, Hubby worked dayshift and that meant time for me to write. So I took advantage of it, and managed to get a lot done in Chapter 11. One sees a LOT of conflict in this chapter and some resolutions happening but there is also some nastiness which moves the story forward the way I want it to go. One character, who I had set up originally as someone with a good heart, is now a major cause of conflict, meaning the reader is going to hate their guts. I wasn't going to do it like that but since there isn't a lot of conflict in the first part of the story, I decided to toss it in and see how it went. It's flowing much better than I had originally planned. HOWEVER, this character does make a bit of a turnaround later on in the book as time marches on so don't hate them fully and see they only mean well, even if they're driving the reader nuts! LOL
I have also gotten the AST file spliced in on Tuesday... It took me several hours of editing/adding a LOT of stuff into it on Friday to get it to fit in and flow with the rest of the story that happens ahead of it, but after a lot of work, grumbling, etc, it's finally up to "draft 1" quality.
Friday also saw the start of Chapter 12 and another battle between two characters... It wasn't something I had planned to do originally but once again, it seems to fit in with the story better than my original idea. 
I'm not sure how many pages or how many words were added but I do know this week saw a LOT of work done to #7. The cats actually behaved and I was impressed.
I am so close to splicing in the FLSD2 file it's unreal... If I had another hour or so on Friday to write, I probably would have been able to do that but due to time restrictions, it didn't happen. Hubby will be gone here and there through this coming week (working, running errands) so I'll be deep into getting the gap closed so I can splice it in and edit it to fit the rest of the story... IF I need to that is! LOL I may change the setting on it, I may not... It all depends on what fits and what doesn't.
I did have the full day to write on Wednesday while Hubby took his mother to an appointment in the Valley... But due to being stressed out and not sleeping well the night before, I decided it was best if I took a break and just relaxed for a change on that day. I wound up having to take a break from my main Facebook profile but was still in there, in another profile that where only a few select people know it's really me. I didn't want to neglect my duties in Sanctuary or MW so I was in both at various times the last couple of days and only officially returned to my main FB profile today.  It was either take a break or not write, so I chose to take a break from the "drama", got my equilibrium back and was able to write this week.
I'm not going to go into detail about what prompted me to take a break from my main profile... You see, I have learned my lesson about saying nasty things about people publicly, and I know better than to open my mouth in public about certain things. I'll gladly share something silly or fun but drama is a NO NO on this blog. End of story!
Anyway, that's what went on this week in my world... Hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!
~Veridian~

Writing Marathon!

Thursday and Friday consisted of a very long writing marathon... I packed three days' worth of writing into two hours on Thursday and a full day on Friday.
On Thursday, I managed to get 670 words worth of new material added to Untitled #7... It was part of the Chapter 3 "expansion/rewrite" once again, and it was the start of my shamelessly promoting different things in the western half of the province.
Friday saw more expansion/rewrite of Chapter 3... This is also where the main characters start realizing there is more between them than a passing acquaintance and things start developing a lot more. I also added in a lot of material to the stuff I wrote up on Thursday and didn't keep track of the amount of words I added to that section so the numbers I have for total word count are for both days, combined.
This past week's totals:
5,242 words as of 1 a.m. Saturday morning!!
That means I had added over 4500 words on Friday alone!
I am also finished Chapter 3, I THINK, and am ready to start Chapter 4, which will probably happen later this week. Right now I am wanting to get things in the main manuscript file tied together with the part I had prematurely spliced in several months ago, then I will continue on with that until I can splice in the MMLTG file, which is also being worked on at this time and has a few major events into it. 
I have also decided that the "base" of what was originally Chapter 2 is scrapped but I will be using parts of it here and there for Chapter 4 and 5, which shows the leading characters' reactions to their developing feelings for one another. I've been going through the file containing those parts (which were removed from the main manuscript file and saved in another document) and "red lining" (highlighting in red) the parts I will NOT be using. Anything not highlighted in red will be used at some point. Needless to say there is a LOT of red highlighting in that particular document!
My eyes were very crossed by the time Son came home from school but I was determined to get things finished, so I stayed up VERY late editing, adding a few things and wrapping up the chapter while talking with my friends online and keeping an eye on Sanctuary. I am VERY grateful for the "blue background, white font" option in Word because it really helped cut back on the eye strain after being on the computer for almost 20 hours straight! 
This week, I will be visiting a couple of local towns for researching and getting pictures... I want to describe things in detail and have all of my facts correct so I don't get lynched by the locals when I finally do get this book published!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend... And I hope y'all have a wonderful week! Blessings!
~Veridian~

Cats, Tea, Coffee, WRITING...

Today was another productive day in the writing department. Hubby was working, Son was in school and I took advantage of having the house to myself for seven full hours!
Today I continued on from where I had left off on Monday... Main Manuscript file, Chapter 2, last half of the chapter. I had started a scene on Monday that had gotten me stuck and I wasn't sure how to proceed when I finally packed it in that day. 
Today, I reread the beginning of the scene and after struggling with it, I managed to continue on and finish it, wrap up the chapter and move on to the start of Chapter 3, where the heroine divulges a secret to the reader and is unsure if she should let the hero know about it or keep it to herself. Unfortunately by the time I reached the conversation that reveals the secret to the reader, it was time to get Son from the bus stop and I knew the peace, quiet and time to write was at an end for the day. I did keep Word open though, to finish the outline for the scene and to jot down any ideas that I had floating around. 
So five hours, two teas, three coffees, countless swear words (yes, that blue cloud hanging over southwest NS was caused by me!), six pages and many bumps on the head from banging it against the wall, I managed to get 2421 words and 6 pages worth of new material added to the Main Manuscript of UT #7. There is a LOT of dialogue in this section, and I'm glad I got it all in even if it's not up to my high standards... YET. It's getting easier to write but it is STILL my Achilles heel, darn it!
So that brings this week's total word count of new material to 3,840 words. I was hoping for another 5,000 word week but I'm pleased with the almost 4000 word one!! I can't believe the amount of dialogue in Chapter 2 though, I swear over 70% of it is just the two main characters talking and trying to get to know each other despite opposition from various corners. 
Now I'm at the part of the story where things start to move even more, it's when the characters start realizing they're falling for each other. This is where things can get tricky... I don't want them falling to quickly yet I don't want to drag it out for more than a couple of chapters, I must find the right balance to make it happen at the right time without rushing things.
I'm still a little ways from where I can finally connect things with the first kiss scene, which is already written up and spiced into the main manuscript after rushing through Chapter 2's first draft a few months ago, but I'm getting there. After I get that all connected, I'll be able to continue on from where their relationship actually starts to where the MMLTG file can be spliced in and eventually the AST (teaser) scene after that... IF I haven't spliced that into the end of the MMLTG file beforehand that is! LOL
It's been another great week in my writing world... I hope to have yet another one next week, even if it's only a 2000 word week!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
~Veridian~

An Unexpected Gift....

Today, I had an unexpected gift land in my lap, thanks to my loving and wonderful husband...
We've been busy with a lot of things lately when he's home from work... Housework, taking care of our son and playing with him, taking care of the pets, running errands, and other general real life stuff that doesn't allow me time to write when he's home.
Today was different. He feels bad that I don't have a lot of time to write these days, especially with him working only part time right now, so he suggested I take the day off from things, put the ear plugs in and plug away in Word for a couple of hours. He promised not to disturb me unless the house was on fire or our son's school called... And he even turned the TV down to ultra low so I could not hear it even with the earplugs in.
It took me a little bit to get into "writing mode" but I managed to do it and I found myself continuing on from where I had left off on Friday afternoon. 
Three hours of uninterrupted, quality writing time, two cups of green tea and a cup of decaf coffee later, I managed to get 1419 words worth of new material added to Untitled #7!! This is more of "building on the foundation" like I was doing on Friday... It's all plain vanilla stuff that shows how the main characters are starting to get to know each other and how the strong the connection between them is even early on. There is a lot of dialogue in this part again, which made me smoke like crazy and swear under my breath a lot (yes that blue cloud hanging over my part of the province was caused by me! LOL) plus bang my head against the proverbial wall countless times, but I managed to keep things moving a little more and start building up to where things start heating up between the main characters. 
I don't know if I'll begin a new chapter just before where I left off today or not... I have to reread things again/edit (GAG!) and make sure it's all fitting in the way I want it to before deciding where chapter breaks go in this section. I do know certain things will be in later chapters in the first part of the story, due to the fact I don't want things moving TOO quickly for the characters.
I'm pleased that I managed to get that much done today... And I am extremely grateful to my husband for giving me the unexpected gift of some writing time. Guess he thought I've been chomping at my monitor and keyboard long enough and took pity on me!! LOL
Have a wonderful Monday and may your week be fun and happy everyone!
~Veridian~

Building on the Foundation....

To be blunt, HOLY SMOKES...
Today I was going to get work done on Untitled #7 even if it killed me. For a while, I wasn't sure if I was going to have the house to myself for the full day or not but somehow, some way, the universe decided to give me a break and allowed me to have a full seven hours home alone...
The expansion/building upon the foundation of Chapter 2 has been nagging me for ages but until recently, I had no idea on how to expand upon it. 
I went looking through various files and came across a part that I had originally used as a "build up scene" to the first kiss between the main characters, but I 86'ed it because it didn't feel "right" for the build up scene and I wrote something else that is more fitting instead. The now 86'ed scene gave me an idea on how to create "chance meetings" between the characters, how they start to get to know each other and become friends before they become so much more. 
I started writing up outlines for various "meet ups" and slowly things started gelling. I went offline and started typing away.
After two cups of green tea, three cups of coffee, countless swear words flying from my lips, countless cigarettes smoked and over five hours worth of burying my brain in #7, I came out of the writing fog and stopped to take a look at what I had written.
It covers 7 pages in Word, there is a lot of dialogue, a lot of descriptions and 2,936 words worth of NEW material added to Chapter 2!! At this point, C2 is 3,019 words long and it's going to get a little longer... I still have to finish the scene I was working on when Son's bus arrived and I'll probably toss in a few more "getting to know you" scenes and other stuff that shows how hard the main characters are falling for each other, etc, before I move on to C3 and otherwise. I don't want the chapters to be TOO long but not too short either, I have to find the right balance without cutting things off abruptly or rambling in each chapter.
My brain is mushy but I'm very pleased with what I managed to do today... It was what I've been trying to do for months, ever since I wrote the "base/foundation" for that chapter. Now that I know which way I'm going to go with things, I'm going to continue chugging along and see what other good ideas I can come up with in the meantime.
If anyone wants the link to my PG Writings and Grumblings thread in Sanctuary, let me know via here or Facebook and I'll send you the link via private messaging.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
~Veridian~

Kicking the Caffeinated Soda Habit - UPDATE!

Yesterday was another milestone in my life... A good one but it took a long road for me to get where I am now.
Two years ago, I was finding I was having problems sleeping, my tachycardia and blood pressure were WAY out of whack and I was gaining weight like crazy... I started looking at every aspect of my lifestyle and realized that I was guzzling WAAAAAAAAAAY too much soda, notably caffeinated cola... I was addicted to the stuff and HAD to have it else I'd get the shakes and get snarky with everyone. I drank it pretty much from right after I had my morning coffee until midnight each day. I was drinking way too much of it.
I'm talking over one US GALLON of it a day, folks. That's 2 x 2L bottles of the stuff in ONE DAY on my own. There is over 8 tablespoons of sugar in ONE glass... Think about how many tablespoons of sugar I was guzzling in one day just by drinking that much regular soda! No wonder why I was gaining weight!
So I talked things over with my doctor and he said to cut back slowly, like cut out two or three large glasses of the stuff out per day a week until I was down to one small glass per day. He said that much wouldn't hurt me but I was scared that even having only one small glass of it would lead me back to being addicted to it again... 
So I decided to go cold turkey on the caffeinated soda. Hubby and I looked around for regular soda that didn't have caffeine in it to help me out but the only thing cola wise that we could find without caffeine in it was the decaffeinated DIET variety... So after thinking about it, I got a bottle of it to help fool the brain and taste buds into thinking I was drinking regular soda and started down the long road to breaking the habit.
At first it was horrible... I had the shakes, I was nauseated, I was snarking at everyone and I just was NOT feeling great at all. I was drinking the decaf diet stuff constantly but at first it didn't help me at all. I considered just giving up and going back to the addiction...
But I had so many people rooting for me... The instant I said I didn't think I could do it, I had people cheering me on... So many people from so many places telling me that I CAN do it, both in real life and on various boards/sites. 
It is thanks to EVERYONE's support that I managed to get through those first few VERY long weeks of breaking the addiction... Even though I no longer talk to some people who had cheered me on, I am very grateful for their help, as I'm very grateful for those whom I still talk to! If it wasn't for all of you who cheered me on or kicked me in the rear when I felt like I couldn't do it, I probably wouldn't have been able to kick the caffeinated soda habit... Seriously! In cases like this, the more support one gets, the better the chances they will succeed and I am thanking each and every single one of you who supported me... My family, my local friends, my online buddies (from places like MW, ESF, Sanctuary, PBF, Facebook, etc)... I can't thank y'all enough for being there and supporting me when I needed y'all the most! 
Two years later, I'm more healthy... I've probably reduced my sugar intake by 800%, my caffeine has reduced by over 1000% (I've also switched to half caff coffee so I don't guzzle caffeine that way!) and I've lost weight by giving up regular soda alone! I'm sleeping better at night, the frequency of my headaches has gone WAAAAAAAAAY down because I'm getting the sleep I need each night, my tachycardia and blood pressure have evened out and I'm feeling SO much better about myself! Yes, I do still drink soda but it's the decaf-diet stuff. Regular soda tastes TOO sweet and sickening to me these days... Diet (decaf) soda is more to my tastebud's liking believe it or not!
I can't believe I've done it... I never thought I could do this but I have... And if I can kick the regular cola habit, anything is possible! 
Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone... I'll post another blog if I can get any new material added to Untitled #7 later today!
~Veridian~

Success -- AGAIN!!

Yesterday was a little productive in the writing department... Son was in school and after Hubby left to run a few errands, I dived into the MMLTG file to see if I could add any more to it. Unfortunately that file was NOT clicking at all so I kept trying to get in synch with something so I could get a little more done on that story this week.
Well, the rewrite of the FLS file was starting to nag me... A LOT. So I opened it and started trying to think of how I could do the rewrite on it. Between acting goofy in Sanctuary with P, T and the rest of our awesome regular members, tripping over silly cats, and my own need to guzzle COFFEE, things started flowing...
The next thing I knew it was almost 2 hours later and the rewrite was DONE. I did some quick editing on it and it was a LOT better than the original had been. I do have the original draft of it saved in a special document/file on the computer for future reference and just in case I want to use it as a base for another scene similar to it.
Last night after my son and husband went to bed, I opened the file again to do a quick reread/edit while acting goofy with the crew in Sanctuary. (LOTS of laughs last night!) One of my best friends in there had a couple of suggestions for me for that particular scene and her suggestions were wonderful! (Thanks T!) I had to think of where they would work best and the right wording for it but when I did, it made the scene even better, which pleased me to no end! *HAPPY DANCE!!!*
The new version of the scene is a little longer than the original... But it has a LOT more detail and isn't so "rushed" like the original version had been.
Today, I am unable to work on the "naughtier" stuff due to school being canceled but that's okay... I can still work on the "child friendly" stuff my mother can read without wanting to shoot me! I'll probably be editing the MMLTG and Main Manuscript files today, both are "clean" and editing doesn't require quite as much concentration that actual writing does.. Or that's the way I work at least. ;)
I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend, thank the stars it is FRIDAY!! :)
~Veridian~

*****On another note:

I don't go around telling tales... It's not my place to. When someone tells me something in confidence, it shows me that I have their trust and I will  NOT  break said trust!!! My code of honor prevents me from telling others without the original person's permission to do so. In other words, when I'm asked to be quiet about things, I STAY quiet about it!

People who go around spreading tales and trying to pry others for information on stuff that is NOT their business have NO code of honor and are lower than whale S##T in my mind.

Just saying...

~VERIDIAN~

Coming Soon....

... A combination of files in Untitled #7... I hope! :)
Yes, I had yet another semi-productive day in the writing department, make that two pretty good days!
Last night I was hanging out in Sanctuary with P and one of my other best friends and decided to dive head first into the writing after the guys went to bed for the night.
Last night, I managed to get 608 words of new material added to the MMLTG file, despite working at only 10% of normal brain efficiency, hitting writer's block several times and being distracted by fun in Sanctuary, notably having a blast with P and T over there! 
Today was also pretty darn good too... I added 852 more words to the MMLTG file and I am finally starting to close in where I can splice the AST file onto the end of it! Another chapter or two, MAYBE three or four, and I should be up to that point!
I really can't believe how much I've gotten done on this particular story over the last 3 months or so... I had the original idea for it back in June of 2010 and had done a little work on it but between real life and some stuff happening online (NOT in Sanctuary!) I wasn't able to do a lot with it until recently. Now that things have settled down, it seems I'm wanting to write ALL of the time instead of only once every couple of months and I am REALLY loving this! I have put more material into this story in the last three months than I had in the previous 15 months! Back at the end of the summer, there wasn't even 5,000 words in Untitled #7 and I was thinking I would probably have to scrap it or put it on the back burner and work on Untitled #6 and RH (my shorter story). But somewhere along the way, the story came back to me, even better than the original idea for it, and now I'm literally flying through it.
Even if I can get 200 words of new material added to it a day, it's been productive in my mind! I had lost the writing bug for a while and now that it's back, I'm going to embrace it fully and continue to chug right along with the story and hopefully get it finished by the end of next year... And after that's done, I hope to finish Untitled #6 and RH, all for publishing.
I'm really amazed and happy about this. Life can't get any better, that's for sure!
Have a wonderful Monday friends!
~Veridian~
 

Forgiveness, Cleansing the Soul of a Painful Weight

Yesterday an old school friend of mine shared something on Facebook that inspired me. It speaks the truth about forgiving someone for their past mistakes and cutting ties... It was a post shared on a page called "Inspirational Quotes" and it's one of the best quotes I've seen in a long time...

I think that sums it up pretty good when I talk about forgiving someone but never forgetting what they did so I don't allow them to cause the same problems for me ever again. 

I have cut ties with so many people, both in real life and online life, that harmed me for no reason other than their own personal gain or to just cause trouble so they can sit back and laugh about it.

I do forgive them for what they did... To err is human after all. 

But who says I have to keep in contact with them and let them do it again and again? *winks*

Just something to think about, that's all.

I'd like to thank my longtime friend DB and the Inspirational Quotes page for posting this... It is very true and I hope others learn this lesson like I have.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

~Veridian~

Wow!!!

It's been an ULTRA productive week for me, writing wise! Today Hubby was working day shift and since Son was in school, I once again took advantage of the peace and quiet to write!
I want to get the MMLTG file done so I can splice in the part that I wrote up on Monday... I'm still not there yet but I am slowly closing in on where the splice will happen! The MMLTG file is going to be a big part of the early stages of the leading couple's relationship so it's going to cover about 2-3 chapters at the least!
Today's total is 2069 words, which brings this week's total of new material added to Untitled #7... Drum roll, please....
5, 862 words this week alone!! *HAPPY DANCE!*
I haven't had a week quite that productive in a VERY long time and I am so darn pleased with myself, I could just run around Sanctuary like an idiot!! *laughs* I won't but you have to admit that I did give y'all quite a funny mental picture...*GRINS*
I still can't believe I did that amount between housework, taking care of my son and the cats (read: getting ran over by an insane puddy-tat once in a while!), writer's block, helping out in Sanctuary, letting my son have the computer by times and anything else life threw at me this week! I'm so happy!
Hopefully I'll be able to work on Untitled #7 sometime next week... IF I can get a day or two of being alone in the house for a few hours and with no interruptions... (Dratted furballs!)
Have a wonderful Friday and a wonderful weekend everyone! I'll update y'all the next time I get more new material added, even if it's something I can't talk about here... You know, the "naughtier" side of writing a romance novel.
Which reminds me, I should go over to my adult writing blog and update that one... I haven't updated it in ages... Not that many people know where it is though! LOL
Blessings!
~Veridian~

You Can Keep My Sanity, But I Want My Brain Back Please...

It's been one of those days when I want to bash my head against the wall...
First of all, it was way too cold and too icy to get my walk in this morning. That didn't bother me very much, considering how I had my walk yesterday PLUS walked all over several of the stores in town running errands yesterday morning. It's still cold out and there is still ice on the road and the side of the road, which means it's unsafe for me to go today.
It's the second thing that drove me nuts more than anything... 
Hubby worked day shift and Son was at school, so I had planned to work on Untitled #7 today. I logged online at my usual time, got caught up and signed out a little after 9 AST, and opened some of the files for that particular story.
Well, the brain refused to work at all. I would reread something I wrote a few weeks or months ago, try to expand upon it and would hit a brick wall. Each time I tried adding a new sentence or even think about it, nothing felt right. I did manage to get a couple of paragraphs added into the MMG file of that manuscript but I wasn't feeling the groove for that particular part today. I opened the file I started last week, couldn't budge on it and got really frustrated.
Finally I gave up for a while. I puttered around the house, doing housework, I played Rocket Bowl on the computer, managed to brush some of Noelle's fur and tried to get into what I call "book brain mode".
After a couple of hours of this, and getting lunch, I determinedly opened the file I started last week (code name of MMLTG) and reread it again. After fighting with getting the right way to continue the story where I left off, I finally found it and began writing.
Two and a half hours later, I had over 1,000 words worth of new material added. I know, not my best day for writing, but it IS better than nothing! It's over 3 pages worth but there is a lot of conversation in what I wrote today and that takes up a lot more page space with the paragraphs than just describing something. 
I would have continued on after reaching what will probably be the beginning of a new chapter, but by the time I got to that point, it was close to the time I would have to go to the bus stop... Plus I would have wanted to continue writing after Son was home and as we all know, that generally doesn't work very well! LOL
I'm not pleased that I didn't get more written today but I am happy I did get a *little* written up into it. Each word I write means I'm one word closer to finishing the darn thing after all! I'm hoping to get more written later this week, my husband has one more dayshift that coincides with Son being in school during the daytime. I'll update y'all if I get any work done on that day!
Have a great Wednesday everyone!
~Veridian~