In the midst of a very bumpy summer, I finally gave up trying to update and stay online while writing, so I just stopped everything but surviving and wrote. So the first draft of Mostly Magic is finished. And, scene by scene, it stayed almost exactly on target with the plot cards. Of course there are a LOT of things that need to be smoothed out in revision, but I think it is going to be a bit easier than More Than Magic.

Mostly Magic – The Reluctant Seer
First Draft:

113659 / 110000 words. 100% done!

Reading stuff: Gosh, in the interim, I think I went through everything Susan Elizabeth Phillips ever wrote on audio book while walking the dog, cleaning the house, etc. I ADORED her Chicago Stars series. The very best narrator in the world – Kate Fleming – who is sadly, no longer with us. Definite keepers for a re-listen. Loved some of her others, too. Now I’ve started on Nora Roberts – actually J.D. Robb – and the In Death series on audio books. The narrator of those is really good as well, although I really miss Kate Fleming, bless her.
Music stuff: Watching The American President again. God, I wish we WERE that country again. Maybe we can be, but I don’t think so.
Tool stuff: OneNote is still performing WONDERFULLY. It held up to all the graphics, house plans, and maps I wanted, tracked all the plot cards, notes and sticky notes and research

After considering the way I was framing the books I realized I was putting the wrong slant on the way I was marketing them myself. Not that it matters, but by tweaking More Than Magic – The Woodruff Witch just a bit, I could change the way the books could be marketed making it a bit easier to understand what they were about.

Basically, the books are all about romance, but I needed to refocus the paranormal aspect to make it more global and make the direction of the series more obvious. So, you will notice changes in the website reflecting the ‘tweaks’. I’m really excited about the changes.

And based on those changes, and the marketing requirements, I’m going to try to finish at least three of the books before offering them to a publisher (or an agent). So, onward.

Mostly Magic – The Reluctant Seer

Writing is going well on Mostly Magic. So far no bumps. The scene by scene is proving to be pretty much on target with a few tweaks and some absolutely lovely toys from my muse (thanks Tink!) Nicely balanced POV between Daniel and Mel so far.

First Draft:

32083 / 90000 words. 36% done!

Reading stuff: Finished “Soldier” by Grace Burrowes on my Kindle. Didn’t enjoy it as much as “The Heir”. Still trying to figure out why. Listening to Suzanne Brockmann’s “Kiss and Tell” on my Sansa Plus. Rereading my friend Carole Cumming’s wonderful Dream: Book II of The Aisling for reviewing purposes. I am straining the bounds of what the library has to offer though. I want more vintage Jennie Crusie *SIGH* Audible here I come.
Music stuff: Doctor Who (while I do this, then RAIN while I work).
Tool stuff: Why didn’t anyone tell me about Query Tracker ? What a GREAT tool!! I had been running around looking for information on which agents represented which authors, and right there it is.

But, the weather broke a bit. It is actually cooler outside than inside this morning. Amazing.

Finished Grace Burrowes’ “The Heir”, which was a gentle and tender and genteel romance. Enjoyed it enough to pick up “Soldier” for my Kindle as well. I do love Regencies. I hope to attempt one someday. Also finished “Body Language”, one of Suzanne Brockmann’s older books, on my Sansa Plus. It was short and sweet and fun. (I know, I need to do more than three word reviews, but my impetus at the moment is to write. Someday on a break I will overload GoodReads with reviews.)

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

24213 / 90000 words. 27% done!

Reading stuff: “Soldier” by Grace Burrowes on my Kindle and Jennifer Crusie’s “Manhunting” on my Sansa Plus.
Music stuff: Mozart at the moment (for which the reason will become obvious if you read Mostly Magic.

Added two scenes where I thought I might have to. I think this puppy might end up at 100000 words though, at this rate.

Did I mention the weather? O_o WAY too hot here for this time of year. I am not looking forward to when summer REALLY starts, nor the lovely month of August. Neither is Cali. Twice this week she has laid down in the shade mid-walk to rest. This is not an option for her owner.

Glad to see Sourcebooks Casa with so many hits on their hands these days. I picked up a copy (on Kindle) of Grace Burrowes “The Heir” and I am eyeing Susanna Kearsley’s “The Winter Sea” as well. Whether they decide to take a chance on “More Than Magic” or not, I really like their style!

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

15306 / 90000 words. 17% done!

Reading stuff: Now on to “The Heir” by Grace Burrowes on my Kindle and Sandra Brown’s “A Whole New Light” on my Sansa Plus (the range of choice on audio at the local library is rather limited).
Tool stuff: Have I mentioned CaptureWizPro? A great way to clip a photo, article, whatever, when there is no other way to grab what you need of the interwebs. Just click pick and stick!

Sad sight yesterday morning on our daily walk. Some neighbors apparently threw in the towel on their house and abandoned it. I was hoping they were just away on an extended vacation because I could see their girls’ toys in the backyard. But no, apparently not. Signs appeared this morning in the windows and a little later a truck and trailer pulled in, quickly filling up with abandoned furniture and rugs and various things. But the saddest sight was a little girl’s bicycle, white and pink and purple with little tassels and training wheels, lying on the grass beside the trailer. Yet another foreclosure and another family’s abandoned dream. I wish them well, wherever they are. And I hope they managed to keep the little puppy.

Well, back to romance and some guaranteed HEA!

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

10636 / 90000 words. 12% done!

Reading stuff: Still enjoying Patricia Rice’s “Merely Magic” on my Kindle and Jayne Ann Krentz’s “White Lies” on my Sansa Plus and my Romance Writers Report the old fashioned way (with highlighter in hand). But the reading, like the writing, goes slowly in this busy life of mine!
Music stuff: Thank you AGAIN RAINY MOOD !!!

Good progress yesterday, but still not as many words as I would like. Still too many interruptions. But it looks like around 1800 may be my top limit with the current situation. *sigh* And now the tree guys show up at 8 a.m. and ruin yet another morning grinding up my neighbor’s trees. Noisily. I can drown them out with my headphones, but that doesn’t keep Cali from continually letting me know that the monster next door might be coming for us. So protective and diligent.

Onward!

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

7924 / 90000 words. 9% done!

Reading stuff: Still enjoying Patricia Rice’s “Merely Magic” on my Kindle and Jayne Ann Krentz’s “White Lies” on my Sansa Plus and my Romance Writers Report the old fashioned way (with highlighter in hand).
Music stuff: Thank you RAINY MOOD !!!

So far so good. Daniel’s prologue and Mel’s first scene went off without a hitch. And my lovely muse has thrown at least two “toys on the floor” so far, so things are moving along happily and smoothly, when they move!

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

3561 / 90000 words. 4% done!

Reading stuff: In the middle of the wild wedding scene in Patricia Rice’s “Merely Magic” – so far not too much actual magic, but the Ives boys are fun
Tool stuff: You know it is great to have a software tool to turn off the internet, but would someone invent one to turn off interruptions from the rest of the world please?

Mostly Magic
First Draft:

1478 / 90000 words. 2% done!

Reading stuff: Still reading Patricia Rice’s “Merely Magic”
Tool stuff: Still loving me some MS OneNote – no new tools at the moment!
Music stuff: RAINY MOOD layered over my More Than Magic playlist (still haven’t worked out a Mostly Magic playlist, but it will create itself as I go!)
Interesting stuff: Discovered yet ANOTHER blog to follow! We Are All Savages Inside and I need to get me one of those mugs…

Mostly Magic
Process: First Draft

0 / 90000 words. 0% done!

Reading stuff: Reading Patricia Rice’s “Merely Magic” – VERY interesting!
Tool stuff: Not using Freedom enough. Must try harder.
Music stuff: Cali barking in her sleep.

I have worked my way through all the preliminaries – character sketches, conflict analysis, settings, maps, and research – thus the lack of posting! Now I am working on just sketching out my “Gelato Scenes” but I have ended up detailing ALL the scenes, instead of just the key scenes (which is a no no per Holly’s process, but I couldn’t help myself.) Next comes Scheduling, which, with my handy dandy Excel tool won’t take long at all. Then Line for Scene cards, which, with all the scenes detailed shouldn’t take too long. Then Writing the Draft – fun times.

Mostly Magic
Process: Gelato Scenes
Progress: About 90%
Next: Scheduling

Reading stuff: Finished all of Kim Harrison’s “Hallows” series (that is in print at the moment anyway!) – loved it! Started Heather Webber’s “Lucy Valentine” series and I am enjoying it as well.
Tool stuff: Discovered Freedom http://macfreedom.com/, which is a GREAT piece of software that lets you shut off access to the internet for a certain period of time. Now, if I can just consistently USE it!! (Problem is, I love thesaurus.com and dictionary.reference.com and I feel deprived when I can’t get to them, darn it.)
Music stuff: Nothing at the moment!