Friday Frenzy!

Guess what? It finally rained her in California yesterday. Thank God. It wasn't much rain but at least the plants and trees got a sprinkling. Having lived in both Florida and California, I can tell you the rain is VERY different. In Florida, it comes mostly in heavy spurts pounding all around. I remember it being so thick I had to pull over on the side of the road because I couldn't see. Then, usually, it's gone rather quickly. Here in California the rain is more like a mist. We do get an occasional downpour, but mostly it's just light sprinkles that last for days and days. One year I remember I didn't see the sun for a month!  Even though I find such gloom terribly depressing, we could use that right now with this drought.

Writing News!

I started writing The Reckoning!  Check out the final cover on the left!  After 2 months of not writing, it felt good to be back into creative mode. I'm a pretty slow writer and I plot much of the story while I'm writing so I'm only on chapter 2.  I'm hoping for a summer release. I know that is a long way off, but hey, I'm working as fast as I can.  It always amazes me the amount of time and work and research and sweat and tears that goes into a novel, and then some of my readers finish it in a weekend!!  Yikes!  If you've ever truly tried to write a novel, you understand. I congratulate anyone who has finished an entire novel. It's a huge accomplishment. 










Mermaid Gift Basket!
In honor of the release of Tears of the Sea, I'm giving away a huge mermaid gift basket filled with lots of goodies. If you haven't already, please go HERE  to check it out and enter!  You still have a week before I choose a winner.

Blog tour Giveaway!
I'm taking part in a blog tour with different authors who are giving away books every week.

This week's book giveaway. Author: Katheryn Haddad. Title: Star Song. Topic: a lyrical novel retelling the story of Christmas from many different characters' perspectives.

Go check it out  and enter to win!  Star Song Giveaway!

Friday Writing Tip

Speaking of plotting as you write, there's an actual name for it called Pantzer. So you are either a plotter or a pantzer. My friend Camy Tang spends months plotting every scene of her book. Some authors write each scene down on index cards and hang them on a story board. Others use a software program to do the same. Some just keep track of everything in an outline. But if you're a plotter, you will know most every scene in your book before you even start writing. There are great advantages to this way of writing. With everything so well thought out, the scenes just naturally fall into place and rarely does anything not make sense. No plot holes for this type of writer. Nothing is forgotten or overlooked and the story flows logically to it's intended conclusion.

The Pantzer may have a general idea of the plot and may even have in-depth character sketches, but they don't really know what's going to happen in each scene. For me, I normally have a beginning, an end, and a couple of disasters and other events that must happen to pull the story forward. I also have all my characters figured out, their personalities, fears, quirks, journey, etc. But other than that, I don't have a clue. It usually takes about 5-10 chapters before the characters become real to me and start taking over the story. When that happens it's so sweet!! It's like riding a roller coaster. I just sit back and enjoy.  

The tip? Figure out which way works best for you (or maybe it's a combo) and enjoy the process. Don't let others tell you how to write your own book!


I pray you all have a great weekend and a fabulous Thanksgiving!! I can hardly believe it is upon us.



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