Just when you thought another Friday would never get here…here it is!

(I know I was thinking it would never get here…)

It’s bitterly cold today – I went outside this morning and it was 16 degrees. With the wind chill, it felt like 6 degrees. Horrible. I’m going to stay in and drink hot cocoa all weekend, because that’s what a shut-in would do, right?

Still trucking along on Book 3. I’m up to 56.5k! Still hoping to have the first draft done by the end of the month. We shall see if that comes to fruition.

Speaking of things that are trucking along! My blog tour! Today’s stop is over at Writing the Renaissance. Today’s topic? Procrastination and self-discipline.

One last quick note — I never heard back from my two winners, so I’ll do another flash giveaway this weekend. You’ll win your choice of book 1 (woo!) or book 2 (woo woo!).

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

It's been a momentous 12 months here at LiveJournal. We crossed a capital T at Ten years young. And, like most precocious pubescents, we celebrated turning double digits by publishing our first book! Needless to say, we've experienced some major changes, both inside and out. Before we recap, we'd like to thank you for bearing with us as we've struggled through ungainly growth spurts, identity pangs, and, yes, the occasional blemish. We hope you'll continue to stand by us: We're gaining wisdom with maturity.

Stuff you liked

• Back in February, we placed a call for entries for our ten-year anniversary anthology in lj_turns10. In December (less than a year later!), we officially announced the publication of Live Journal: The First Decade. Featuring an inspired collection of writing, photographs, and artwork from the pages of LiveJournal history, the book has been selected by Blurb.com as a top staff pick! We are proud to have played host to so much talent over the years, and we thank our contributors for sharing their extraordinary work.
• We all love quirky surprises, but not when it comes to managing our account settings. This year we streamlined settings into one central account management area. No more pouring through FAQs to figure out how to control privacy settings, modify notifications, adjust mobile settings, or update contact information!
• Being users ourselves, we realize our own mothers couldn't find us on LiveJournal based on our usernames and userpics alone (*heaves heavy sigh of relief*). But since there are times when we actually want to be found, we created a search tool--Find Your Friends--to help locate people by email address (it's in the Friends drop-down menu).
• Spam counter-attack: The war against vicious malware and spambots reigns eternal, but we've been making serious inroads to ensure your online security. We've established new protocols, such as requiring email address validations. We've grown more savvy about ferreting out suspicious behavior. We've added features, like whitelisting, to help you protect your communities. Our valiant (i.e., overworked) spam avengers (a/k/a the LiveJournal ops team) are standing on red alert so you can sleep safely at night.
• After an intensive beta, we launched My Guests at the end of the year, which lets you see who's been hanging around your journal. A number of you have even discovered secret admirers (not all of whom are creepy)!
• Last, but by no means least, we want to thank our volunteers for providing invaluable support and feedback. Their Herculean efforts enable us to answer your questions more efficiently, identify spammers, reduce abuse, and deliver better features (through tireless testing). On behalf of the staff and the larger LiveJournal community, we are truly grateful for their diligence, intelligence, loyalty, and passion.

You got your fix

• We recently debugged a number of the oustanding issues with the rich text editor so your entries look great regardless of whether you know html. You can read more about text editors here.
• In response to user demand, we brought back international voice posting. For more info on voice posting, read here.
• At long last, we revived TxtLJ with Verizon. For more info on TxtLJ, check out the FAQ.

Paid features you enjoyed

• In December, we introduced My Stats, which provides detailed data on who's been viewing your entries as well as statistics on commenting, RSS requests, friending history, and more. Despite a few early glitches, the response has been extremely favorable.
• This year, we launched and improved Notes (i.e., the feature formerly known as Alias), which lets you add private comments on friends and commenters (it's in the Profile drop-down menu). This way you won't be caught red-faced when you strain to remember details about that wonderful LiveJournal friend who sent you a birthday vGift. For more info, read the FAQ.
• When we first announced View friends pages by date, we thought it would be a quiet, minor enhancement. The rave reaction floored us, which made us all very happy. We gave it a fine tuning in February of 2009, so it's even better!
• How embarrassing! It appears pingbacks have gone back to the shop for service. We’ll keep you posted. We didn't know just much you liked pingbacks until it went in for service. It's back and, judging by your irritation when it wasn't available, this is good news. FYI, pingbacks send instant notifications (via screened comments) whenever someone links to one of your entries on LiveJournal. For more info, read this entry in paidmembers or check out the FAQ.

Mixed reviews

• The search is still on. Some of you have reported getting more comprehensive results for keyword searches using the new Yandex search engine and like the ability to search within content categories (like entries or comments). Others have not been satisfied with the relevancy of search results. Please be patient. We're still tweaking this product.
• This past December, we wanted to try out a new holiday promotion. Given the crap economy, we decided to offer our Paid/Permanent users a stack of $10 coupons to send to Basic/Plus users for paid account upgrades. We hoped you would like it. And some of you did, but many were disappointed that we didn't offer Give More as well. We want to thank you so much for letting us know. Your input will help us plan better in the future. Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users can continue to send out coupons through January 15th. Coupons can be redeemed through January 31, 2010.
• We were pretty excited about Your Journal Your Money, which allows Paid/Permanent users to earn extra cash by displaying Google ads to Basic/Plus and logged out users. A number of you tried it. Some of you really like it. Others, not so much. (Just FYI, Paid/Permanent users who do not participate in this program will not view ads on journals. Participants will see ads on their own journal, but won't see them on other journals unless they specifically opt in.) For additional details, visit here.
• We relaunched m.livejournal.com, our mobile app. While it offers a nicer UI and enhanced functionality, some of you think we can do better on load times. Like most of us, it's a work in progress. You can customize your mobile settings here. For more info, please read the FAQ.

Missing Inaction

• We shudder to bring up the neon purple elephant squatting on our heads, but, yes, we didn't give you those a la carte userpics. We've been making radical improvements to our backend in order to support them. But no excuses. We know you want them. We cringe every time you mention them. We're sorry we dropped the ball on this, and we promise to do our best to get them to you in 2010.

Stumbling points

• Back in early August, we experienced outages related to a series of DDoS attacks. We are proud to report that we were down a total of one hour over the course of a few days. We thank our heroic ops guys for getting us up sooner and more consistently than any of our less fortunate social networking friends. We apologize for leaving you temporarily stranded.
• A couple of months back, we offered a free, unrestricted vGift, which induced a snowflake cookie avalanche. This resulted in backed up/delayed notifications, which, in turn, led us to reboot systems, rendering scrapbooks unavailable. It took a while to shovel free. Apologies for the inconvenience. We learned a valuable lesson that should keep us calamity-free in the future (fingers crossed while knocking on wood).
• That darn Best Buy ad. First off, we're sorry about the audio auto-play (we got it turned off as quickly as possible). While it's true that we'll continue to show this type of ad to accounts that normally see them (never to Paid/Permanent accounts), we'll make sure the sound defaults to off moving forward. We promise to do our very best to keep ads to a minimum on LiveJournal, while keeping a roof over Frank's head.

Full steam ahead!

As we plunge headfirst into the next decade, we want to take a moment to look back and thank all of our employees, both past and present, who have worked so hard to create our unique and magical universe. We couldn't have made it this far without you: Your contributions brighten our path everyday. We also want to extend our heartfelt appreciation to each and every one of you. Whether you've been around for ten days or ten years, your humor, intelligence, talent, and creativity are what makes this the most vibrant global community on the Internet (the best place on the Web, in our humble opinion). Here's hoping that 2010 will be the greatest year yet! We thank you for joining us as we embark upon another glorious decade of LiveJournal history!

The blog tour continues with Sarah Eve Kelly — we discuss historical research and how those can possibly fit into a romance (they do!). Remember to leave a comment to be entered in to the Holly Root query critique contest!

It’s also my day over at Odd Shots. I go totally juvenile and talk about farts and elevators. High brow, I know! But that’s just how I roll.

I’m behind on a few things, but am going to try and catch up over the weekend. Scouts’ honor!

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Meh.

In the first chapter, possibly even just the first few pages, 'Richard Castle' used the word 'just' about 20 times.  I kid you not.  And instead of reading the story, I kept counting 'just's.

It was a mediocre attempt to invoke the fun and games of the show in characters that are blantantly ripped off from the tv characters.  I think if an author did this in real life, people would sue him.  But they just *evil manical laughter* don't feel 3-D.  It's like they assume you know the characters so things like basic descriptors of main characters are lacking.  Yes, you get some of Nikki Heat but beyond that, I don't recall any for the Captain or Roach or anything beyond a few personality descriptions.  But like I said, I was distracted by the 'just's, I just may have missed them.

As to the mystery, I thought I knew who did it about 5 times but that ended up being a surprise, though in the end, there was no real confession of a motive.  So this character did this thing but no one clearly stated why.  Makes a mystery end on a kind of flat note.  It also felt like they had wrapped things up about halfway through and there are a few chapters in there just to fill out the book since it was so much shorter than expected anyway.

The only other thing to note is that if you are not familiar with the series, you will miss alot of subtle jokes and references to characters that have been on the show.  Like another writer who is a conniving bitch on tv.  Richard Castle tells her that he is going take what she did and put it in a book... which he does in like 3 paragraphs.  Fun to see, but doesn't move the story along.

In conclusion: If you're a fan, it's a quick one time read that feels a bit more personal b/c you've experienced some of the characters and story bits on the tv series.  If you can get to a signing and meet Nathan Fillion, it would be completely worth the read since he actually shows up as 'Castle' to sign (though I doubt he wrote it).  *wipe away drool*  But if you're just not interested in the tv series or if you are and haven't watched any, this book would not be for you.

Anyone else read it?  I'd love to hear some other opinions.

Someone found my website by searching for “Why do plastic forks have an expiration date?”

To that person – I do not know. But if you find the answer, do let me know.

To the person that typed in “What can I ride?” and found my website…I have no answers for you either.

Oh! And for those following my LJ, I had my husband draw me another icon to use. Poor artist – he thought it was going to be so easy to be married to a writer. Little did he know I’d demand that he draw my characters. Repeatedly.

And now I go sleep.

(And a big thank you to everyone that has bought a copy, sent me a picture, or is following the blog tour. I appreciate it far more than these small, random blog posts can communicate.)

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Blog tour continues over at Stina’s blog. Today we’re talking succubus mythology and vampires.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

An online friend of mine recently mentioned how she always wanted to write. She asked if I had any advice on getting started. Other than start writing, I wondered.

Writing is weird that way. Nobody ever asks my XY -- a musician -- "Oh, I always wanted to play guitar and sing; how do I get started?" I think the answer is so obvious, they never bother to ask. If they want to play guitar and sing, they'll learn to play guitar and they'll learn to sing.

I gave my friend a list of my favorite resources -- Romance Writers of America and Alicia Rasley's Writing Corner to start -- and suggested she, you know, get some words on paper (or on a screen, or whatever). Afterward, another friend said perhaps I had done the aspiring writer a disservice by offering any advice until there was something to talk about.

Because until the words are given a life outside her head, she won't be a writer.

( Read more... ) 

Here’s the next stop on the blog tour: Kerri O’Connell. Today’s topic is mythology and world-building.

BTW – if you’ve left me a question on one of the other blogs, I haven’t had a chance to answer yet! But I will! Just be patient with me. It’s a little hectic right now. Be sure and comment to enter the Holly Root contest, though!

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Hey everyone, I just wanted to SQUEE because HALLOWED CIRCLE is available and I'm excited about it!

Over on the Rath (click "forum") I give away 6 books I like every 6 weeks or so.  In doing that, I've already given away a lot of books. Some are by authors whose books I read & loved before writing (Holly Black, Tithe); some are books I've blurbed & gushed over (K Cashore Graceling; Kami Garcia/Margie Stohl Beautiful Creatures; Kim Derting, The Body Finder; Gillian Shields, Immortal), and others I just really liked and wanted to give to my readers (Sarah Rees Brennan, Demon's Lexicon; Malinda  Lo, Ash; Lauren Kate, Fallen; and Janni Lee Simner, Bones of Faerie).

I was in a mood the week before Solstice, thinking about the books that were a factor in my world & the authors who have kept me from falling to pieces. So I went shopping & requesting bookplates & signed copies from a few friends :)

By the time I was done, I had around 60 books . . . you have about 6 weeks to enter to win them.

TO ENTER/DETAILS:
Reply to this blog post with the number of your entry (count off!!!)  ETA: I give up on the numbers. Just reply. I'll count them later :)

ALSO: If you don't have a LJ acct, use a signature/blog link.

DON'T include your email address for privacy reasons. 

Winners will be announced here at or on the 14th of February. At that time, I'll announce the winners names/numbers, & you will email to say which book(s) you want to claim. Prizes will be on first requested basis at that time NOT now.

THE BOOKS YOU CAN WIN:

"Lyric Poems" John Keats (6 copies, NOT signed)-- In WL, Ash is in Lit class & reads two of my fav poems. The first is "La Belle Dame Sans Merci."  I used to love teaching this poem.

"Goblin Market and Other Poems" Christina Rossetti (6 copies, NOT signed)--This includes second poem from that class in WL. Rossetti is the reason I became an English major.

The Hollow Kingdom Clare B. Dunkle (6 copies with signed bookplates)-- In WL, Seth has all sorts of books including a "Clare Dunkle novel." I didn't expect that the book would sell when I wrote, but when it did . . . I panicked. I am a huge fan of hers (hence Seth reading her book). So I looked Clare up online & sent her an odd email asking if she'd be offended to be referenced in my book. Yeah, it was neurotic. Clare not only was okay with it, but she asked to read the book, became a mentor, a friend, & when I needed a new agent, I remembered Clare telling me how fab HERS was, so I queried her agent (but didn't tell Clare until afterwards bc I didn't want a reference).

American Gods: A Novel Neil Gaiman(3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- The short story "Stopping Time" has a character reading this. Plus, Neil is my favourite living author (one of the only 2 authors I ever went to see for a book signing prior to becoming a writer), and oddly, the person I was having dinner with the night I got the call that I'd sold my first adult novel. The bizarreness of that happening cannot be overstated. I wasn't sure if I was more stunned by him or by selling my book, but either way it was an amazing day.  

and

Coraline Neil Gaiman; Hardcover (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- Reading this makes me want to go back to teaching so I would have an excuse to study this book over & over again.

Flowers of Evil: A Selection (translated) Charles Baudelaire; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)--I'm not sure if it'll make the final version, but the current start of Darkest Mercy (aka WL Bk #5) includes a reference to a Baudelaire poem.

The Blue Girl Charles de Lint; Paperback (2 copies, NOT signed)-- Quite simply, I love this book. I love the characters. I love the lore.

Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North America and England Jack Zipes; Paperback (1 copy, NOT signed)-- This was one of those books that influenced me to be a fairy tale & folklore based writer. Zipes is brilliant. Before writing, I considered getting another degree just to have an excuse to take a class taught by him.

Sanctuary: The Corrected Text William Faulkner; Paperback (2 copies, obviously NOT signed)-- I did my thesis on this book.  Faulkner is my fav dead author.

This Heart of Mine Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)

and

It Had to Be You  Susan Elizabeth Phillips (3 copies--with signed bookplates)-- At a conference, this amazing woman swooped up to me, told me she loved my book & informed me she was adopting me. I mostly stuttered. Like Clare, Susan has been right there offering advice, support, & words of wisdom.

And then there are the poor folks who keep me from running screaming into the dark.. .

One of each of the 4 Night Huntress books (Halfway to The Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave's End, & Destined for the Grave) Jeaniene Frost (4 signed copies)-- J is my crit partner. (Yes, that means I get to read all the Cat & Bones books first. *happy dances*). It would take pages to explain all she does to keep me on solid ground.

Skin Deep (Laura Blackstone series Bk #1 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
and
Unfallen Dead (Connor Grey series Bk #3 Mark Del Franco (1 signed copy)
--Mark & I have an odd research overlap (which makes shopping together fun). Sometimes I get to swap crits w him, and often, he's my 1am phone call.

City of Souls Vicki Pettersson (6 signed copies)--Vic and J and I proposed an anthology (Unbound) to get to share a table of contents, & then we critted each others stories. I get lost in her worldbuilding, & then I get lost when I talk to her. Someday, when I'm a grown up, I want to be as funny as she is.

Stray Rachel Vincent (3? signed copies)-- Rachel & I have these lovely-unpredictable chats & great bar outings. She never complains either when I forget to say hello, but dial her up mid-thought. . . and, well, I read all of her books (even though I rarely get early looks despite plaintive sighs).

On the Edge Ilona Andrews (3 signed copies) Ilona tells the world's best late night stories. If we reach an endstates, I want her on my side.

Nightmare Academy Dean Lorey (6 signed copies)-- My son was a beta reader for Dean (who, as my son tells it, is Much Much Cooler & writes Great Funny Stuff . . . which, "by the way, Mama, he lets me read . . . unlike YOU.") Once I quell the the temptation to envy Dean for the coolness, I remember that he's also a helluva friend, who did me the huge favour of talking me through the film deal for Wicked Lovely  AND prepped me for the meeting with my producers.

Ballads of Suburbia Stephanie Kuehnert (3 signed copies)-- Every tour, I get to go to Chicago, & every time, Stephanie reveals an amazing bar . . . and then I find myself thinking that life in a freezing cold city isn't that bad, really, I could do it. I realize after I leave again that I really & truly hate the cold, but she's awesome enough that she makes me forget that detail. Also? Her books make me cry, & sigh, & remember things I often set aside. She writes powerful stuff.

Over at Jen Hayley’s site.

(And I wrote 1500 words last night! Woot! Go me!)

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

(Side note – the other day I quoted a Lady Gaga song in my blog post and have gotten all kinds of weird hits from fans looking for info on Lady Gaga. Sorry people! This here’s a writing blog. And now I’m wondering if this title will bring forth legions of Paula Abdul and MC Skat Kat fans.)

I intended to get 10k this three-day weekend on my book. Yeah. That’s not going to happen. I wrote 1500 on Friday, and got stuck. Wrote another 1000 last night and got really, really stuck. A one line, flyaway summary in my synopsis had turned into a monster that was going to require about 15k of building into the story – 15k that I hadn’t allowed in my outline or even knew where to begin. Oy. I was feeling a little desperate, and I kept writing but it wasn’t…well, good.

Cue my husband, my hero. He said, “I can help with your plot.” So I rambled at him about my plot and tried to summarize. And he immediately came back with the perfect plot fix.

Husbands are good like that.

So this morning I’m reading back through the last 100 pages of the manuscript and tweaking what I have to make it line up with the new vision. Instead of setting up a big, elaborate hunt for a missing character, I’m setting a trap for the character instead. No Scooby-Doo-ish mystery, and I can skip that 15k of bloat that I was worried about.

Today is going to be a good day. Even if I don’t make up the wordcount, I’ve already saved myself 15k, more or less.

Oh, and one more thing – I have not heard back from either winner of my contest here on my blog! Sadness! Don’t you want signed copies? Sniff. I’ll give you guys two more days to respond, and if I don’t hear anything by 12:01 AM on Tuesday, I’ll re-draw.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Just a quick note to wish you all a happy & safe start to the New Year.

Traditionally, I'm not much for resolutions & introspection at this point in the year (I tend to reserve such things for my birthday, as that's my "start date" & therefore the date from which counting fwds & bkwards makes the most sense to me). There is, however, appeal in a group date for such things too.

Top Moments of the Year (never in order):
1. Being w Daughter when she fell in love w a Dali painting at the Met.  She's loved art in general, but rarely has she been so utterly smitten.
2. Son & Daughter & Spouse video-skyping to have dinner with me when  I was on tour.
3. Stretched out on the beach (off season when it's deserted w Spouse AND during summer w Spouse & son).
4. Niece curling into my lap & announcing that she needed purple boots "just like yours, Aunt Miss"
5. Floating in the pool with son & spouse.
6. Late night conversations in the dark listening to frogs & insects.
7. Owl perched on a branch outside my window
8. Outside w kids & Spouse w telescope & seeing one of Jupiter's moons pass in front of the planet (THIS might be the top moment for me)
9. Building bird feeders w my beasties (& then watching birds).
10. All of those random moments that are so fleeting, yet one pauses & realizes that I Wish This Instant Would Last Forever.

. . . and at the end of it all, that's what it's all about: the moments.  It's why I like photography, why I write, why I enjoy meeting new ppl whom I'll never talk to a 2hnd time.  There are these things we do, these attempts to pause the world & fit all of the living we need into a space less than a second.  At the end--whether that's this instant or many years away--I want to have a collection of moments to think on.  I suspect  that the desire to fill moments to bursting, to freeze them when they happen, is what causes us to think of afterlives and of folkloric immortality. 

I hope your year has been filled with many moments & that your next year will be overflowing with them.

If you are so inclined, I love hearing of moments, so pls feel invited to share some of yours.

(Just a reminder, the rules of the contest are here on Gretchen McNeil’s blog)

Today’s stop is over at Dorothy Winsor’s journal, where we discuss the long wait between offer and the book landing on the shelf.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Hi all,

Sorry I’m late to posting! Yesterday was, in short, not fun. Thank you, Day Job!

Here are the winners of the signed copies. I did not count anyone that commented after 12 noon yesterday (luckily everyone commented before!). Everyone that commented on my Jill Myles journal was assigned 1-69, and the LJ comments were 70-87.

#1 — True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 87 Result: 39 =
Calila says:
December 22, 2009 at 1:29 am (Edit)

Congrats! I can’t wait to read it!

#2 — True Random Number Generator Min: 1 Max: 87 Result: 65 =
Rebecca says:
December 25, 2009 at 11:54 pm (Edit)

Fantastic cover! I’d love to read it. Please enter me.

So! Rebecca and Calila, please send me an email with your address information, and I’ll send out the books this weekend. Email me at jillmyles AT gmail dot com.

Also, check out the Blog Tour as it continues here at Shelli’s blog. She’s got a great overview of what’s scheduled.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Hi Everyone! It’s here! It’s finally here! The book AND the blog tour!

What is the blog tour all about, you ask? Well, hop on over to Gretchen McNeil’s blog and hear all about it. Twenty brief interviews! Twenty days of madness! Twenty chances to enter!

What you need to know: It’s all about me. And my books! And writing in general. Actually, mostly about writing.
What you want to know: You can win a query letter critique from my agent, Holly Root.

Check Gretchen’s post for all the details first!

Then, the Official Blog Tour starts over here at Amy Bai’s journal…

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Is the big day (at least, it’s exciting for me).

I’m…so tired I could fall over. Seriously. Next time I have a book release, remind me not to have it in December or January. Or BOTH.

Just a quick reminder that you have a few hours left to enter both my Goodreads contest and my blog contest to win a free copy!

I was also over at Dear Author today for the First Sale letter, and Mandi at Smexy Books reviewed Gentlemen Prefer Succubi.

There’s a little something cool launching tomorrow, brought to you by a group of the most supportive people ever…so stay tuned.

ETA – AAAAH! My counter says 2 hours until my book releases.

No writing tonight. My eyes are crossing. Hopefully tomorrow.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

Starting to get over the hump! Just write through it. Just write through it.

Might get a bit more today, but I’m at a good stopping point. Next scene should be easy-peasy to do. Here’s a teeny tiny snippet from My Fair Succubi to get you through the day. It’s very rough draft, so please be kind.

The set-up: Jackie & a friend (Ethan) are cleaning up someone’s trashed house. Ethan is…well, he’s the male equivalent of a nun. A monk, if you will. Raised behind monastery walls and all that. He’s…innocent. I lovingly refer to him as my Napoleon Dynamite.

Snippet!
#

“Thank you, Ethan,” I said, dumping my backpack of clothing on the corner of the couch and glancing around the room. “I really appreciate it, and I’m sure Remy would too if she were here.”

He said nothing, but I caught the gleam of his eyes again as he grabbed the garbage bag and began to stuff it full of shredded paper. “You are welcome, succubus.”

Oh brother. Again with the ’succubus’ thing. “Can you please just call me Jackie, for once and for all? Jeez.”

“Calling you by your first name would imply an improper relationship,” he said in a stiff voice. “And I have no wish to imply such a thing.”

Well, at least he was honest about it. “Can you call me by something else? A pet name of some sort?”

He straightened and looked at me with a perfectly grave expression. “Like…Fluffy?”

#

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.

I haven’t written in about three weeks, maybe longer. As soon as December 1st hit, my brain kind of exploded,  my schedule at work exploded, and with Christmas coming…I’ve been a mess.

But Christmas is over! And I think I’m over the worst of some of the other stuff (though I still anticipate next week to be brutal) so it’s time to poke at Book 3 again. Just a little poking – I left off at a nice rounded spot, so it was hard to get back into the story. I know where I’m going, it’s just a matter of picking up the threads again.

I always mentally picture writing a book as kite flying. And each plot-line itself is another kite I’m launching into the air. If I keep on top of it, and I pay attention, I can keep multiple kites up in the air at once, no problem. And it’s great fun and I look like a kite-flying badass. But when I stop paying attention, one kite crashes to the ground, then another, and another. And when I open my document after sitting on it for a few weeks…I have no clue what I was working with. Heh. So I’m slowly launching my kites back into the air again, but it’s going to take a few days and a few writing sessions to get them all flying again. Baby steps.

Mirrored from Jill Myles Dot Com.