Black + Blue

God never gives us more than we can bear. I believe this with all my heart, but there are moments when I doubt I'm as strong as God thinks. This year has brought many of those moments as Pooh's health deteriorated. In the last few weeks, his troubles hit a peak and only prayers kept us afloat.

Again a glimmer of hope revealed itself. Now the pressure slowly begins to lift away. God really does know how much we can bear.

As Pooh finally gets the help he needs, the rest of my family adjusts to our new reality. Things haven't settled down quite yet. However, we're making strides to get into a more relaxed groove. Roo and I are even planning to have our first visit to Denny's in over a month. He'll do schoolwork while I write Saint.

Even as far behind as I am on my books, I feel like a few solid weeks of writing is all I need to finish Saint and complete the main edit. Once I get the book into the hands of Miranda and Sally (with Sarah, Patty, and Stacie after them), I'll be able to focus on Broken Memphis.

Next year is pretty booked. I'll attend two signings (which is nothing compared to the schedule of most midlist authors). I'm working on my first contribution to a box set. I also plan to look into audio books. My main goal for next year though is to publish a lot.

Since Broken Memphis won't be out in 2014, it'll be added to the list of books for next year. I have a ton of them. Yet even with planned series and standalone books, I plain to try my hand at erotica shorts. Why? Think of it as doinking for dummies.

I started my writing career with Christian fiction. The love scenes were all fade-to-black. In one case, Sally wasn't certain a newly married couple even had sex because of how vague the scene was written. So when I began writing urban fantasy, I needed to be more specific. With romance, the scenes became even more graphic. While I worked to be more creative, Miranda still teases me about my wording for each doinking scene.

So I've been doing research and now want to have a little fun. I've come up with a few contemporary erotica ideas along with a few paranormal ones. Clearly, I can't focus on them currently since I'm behind with my must write projects. Next year, I'll give it a try. I'm even thinking up pen names.

Next year will bring new opportunities, yet 2014 isn't quite over. In fact, Thanksgiving is only days away then Tigger's birthday and Christmas. To prepare for the holidays, I'll finish my post with a list of what I'm most thankful for:

1. The Lord
2. Sally, Tigger, Pooh, and Roo
3. Miranda and my warmhearted friends
4. My patient and loyal readers
5. My two kitties and Sally's stinky dog
6. The roof over my head, food in the fridge, money in the bank, and stories in my head.

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy a lovely song from the lovely Christina Perri.

Crimson & Clover

Life in limbo sucks. I like a forward momentum to my days, but for the last week especially, I feel stuck. Pooh's health remains poor and finding him the proper care has proven difficult. We can only wait to hear back from those with the power to help him.

I can't really write. Sure, I churn out a paragraph or two, but there's no flow. I'm so stalled that Sally suggested I work on editing Wounded Soul for my Dakota Shepherd pen name. Whatever I'm able to finish now will be less I'll need to work on later.

The end of the year is always a time for reflection. I look back at the books I've published and the marketing I tried. I ask myself what I want to focus on in the upcoming year. What projects do I personally love, but might not sell well? What is the market like? What's hot? What genres are saturated?

The one project I know I'll write next year is the novella for the box set. It's a lighter second chance romance. Besides Rebound Biker, I have a few darker ideas for standalone books. There are also a few spin-off series in the works.

In reality, I have too many ideas to complete in 2015. Even if I published a book a month (which I've never managed before), I wouldn't have enough time for all the books and series I have lined up. So I'll spend the rest of this year attempting to finish Damaged and the Saint and Broken Memphis while also making tough choices about which books are front burner ideas and which ones will need to wait.

Despite the stress of the last weeks, I've been blessed with very understanding readers. When I explained why Saint wasn't published and Broken Memphis might not be completed this year, their warm responses brought me to tears. One mother of a child with autism sent me a beautiful heartfelt message that improved my mood after an especially gloomy day.

Candy Girl remains my sounding board. Even though she doesn't have children, she understands what I need to hear. She pushes me when I'm lazy and backs off when I'm stressed. I know Miranda won't kiss my ass if I have a bad idea. She tells me the truth because she wants me to succeed. Let's be honest, some of my ideas are f'ing stupid. If she won't tell me the truth, who will?

Right now, I'm overflowing with ideas, but lacking the attention span to make any of them come alive. So I watch crappy TV and movies with Tigger. I also spend way too much time on Listverse. Oh, and in a random thought, I love those DirecTV commercials with Rob Lowe. The Creepy Rob Lowe one makes me laugh every time.

Today's snow flurries made me realize how soon the holidays will be here. My Amazon shopping cart is full of items for Christmas and Tigger's upcoming birthday. As usual, Roo wants a million things. All I want for the holidays (besides a happy family) is to finish Saint and Broken Memphis.

In both 2012 and 2013, I published seven books. I was really hoping to beat that number this year, but seven isn't too shabby. I know a few authors who didn't published a single book this year while others managed that book a month magic trick.

I hope in my next post will be less gloomy babbling and more happy babbling. I might even be all full of myself because I'm writing again and ready to publish. Yeah, that would be sweet.