Light Bulb Award

Thank you to three lovely ladies who solved my research problem into how to conceal a secret in my never-ending WIP that is Acelet's story.

The Light Bulb Award 

is hereby granted to:

Cindy R. William, 

Donna Hatch
and
Karen Adair

I'm all at 3s and 4s! Oh, my!

Some people are all at sixes and sevens. Tonight, I’m all at threes and fours. To be specific:

Medieval Threes:

The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Three days Christ spent in the tomb

Three Epochs: Before the Law (Adam to Moses); Under the Law (Moses to Jesus); Under Grace: (Christ to Judgment Day)

Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, Charity

Medieval Fours:

Four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Four creatures of Revelation: first like a lion; second like a calf; third had a face like a man; fourth like an eagle (Revelation 4:6-8)

Four horsemen of the Apocalypse: conquest, war, famine, death (Revelation 6:1-8)

Four humors: phlegmatic, sanguine, choleric, melancholic

Four points of the cross

What do the threes and fours have to do with my WIP? You’ll find out if it ever turns into a book! (If I don’t edit them out first, that is.)

Is it or isn't it a romance...and would you read it anyway?

So you see, it's like this. Although in my own mind, all my stories are romances, the "story" part always comes first with me. So suppose...just suppose...that the hero and heroine of my new WIP have a brief interaction in Chapter 2 (not necessarily a positive one), then don't meet up on the same page again until, oh, say, around Chapter 8 or 9? Would you still consider this a romance? (Even though they do ultimately reconnect and fall in love.) If it's not a romance in the strictest sense of the formula, would you still be interested in reading it?

(Not that I'm saying I'll change it if your answer is "no". Just wondering how many potential readers of Loyalty's Web and Illuminations of the Heart I stand to lose if my characters continue on their current merry way. :-) )

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 636 words

Sentence: She would mock and gibe and cast little daggers honed to a fine sting with her tongue.


Tuesday: 409 words


Sentence: But her brother's face smudged amidst her tears, the red-gold ringlets smearing into silken flax as his features melted into those of another.


Wednesday: 763 words


Sentence: "The man is double-tongued and double-hearted."


Thursday: 1072 words


Sentence: She had seen alarm in his face, heard panic in his voice, but she did not know just how desperate he truly was until she felt his fingers digging into her wrists hard enough to bruise her.


Friday: 1358 words


Sentence: His voice was deadly level, as steady as the wrist that held his blade.


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link.

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: Out of town all day

Tuesday: Retooling old chapter

Sentence: "How long will it take his letter to reach Lisette in Rouen?"


Wednesday: 1132 words


Sentence: "And don't pretend that he didn't mean Joslin, for I am not so fribble-brained that I didn't see how he looked from you to her as he said it."


Thursday: 1036 words


Sentence: "Such pride as yours, Joslin, I will happily seek relief from among the quick minds and generous hearts of the duke's lowly musicians."


Friday: 1063 words


Sentence: "I could laugh merry enough to charm the stars from the skies and men would still think me as desirable as a leper!"


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link.

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 811 words

Sentence: What harm could result from one sweet memory of an hour spent listening to him finish his chanson?


Tuesday: 1105 words


Sentence: Having refused the invitation for the fifth time, Acelet stuck upon the happy notion of silencing Bricot by offering him another sheet of parchment to draw upon.


Wednesday: Out of town all day


Thursday: 801 words


Sentence: Could he ever truly hope to be worthy of her himself, a bookish poet who preferred a common staff to a warrior's sword?


Friday: 974 words


Sentence: A tongue that would likely keep flapping in spite of himself even after it had been removed from his mouth.


Saturday: 1950 words


Sentence: She remembered again his drawing, with the tiny oval surrounded as though by rays of light.


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link.

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: retooling old chapter

New sentence: By the time Dowsabel squiggled away from the curve of her arm and leaned eagerly forward again, Joslin realized she had missed a critical part of Acelet's song, for Raoulin had departed King Arthur's court and was engaged in a mighty battle with a giant who had been harassing the king's fair lands.


Tuesday: retooling old chapter


New sentence: Acelet looked painfully wrenched out of his dream.


Wednesday: still retooling


New sentence: That she had been seduced by the tale for even an instant galled her, and she showed now her disdain of it with a toss of her head, though he could not have known her gesture's cause.


Thursday: 1069 words


Sentence: Acelet stared, torn between incredulity—for he'd seen the proud way she'd recoiled from touching the low-born jongleur—and anger that someone, anyone else had been threading his fingers through her fascinating tangles.


Friday: 1023 words


Sentence: "Is he so desperate to prevent me marrying his daughter that he sends you to drive me into a trap?"


Saturday: Gone all day. Book signing at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. :-)


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 874 words

Sentence: She stood again at the head of the stairs, straining to follow him into the shadows of the Great Hall.


Tuesday: 1292 words


Sentence: "I'd have been more than happy to probe your throbbing, swollen ankle for a broken bone."


Wednesday: 1118 words


Sentence: She blamed the doubtful look on his face on the patched gown the innkeeper's wife had lent her.


Friday: retooling chapter


Sentence: "Why not north," Bricot said, "to Anjou or Touraine?"


Saturday: 1095 words


Sentence: All but Sir Marcus applauded him, but Sir Marcus gave a nod of his head and allowed Sir Randall to pass a few coins to his daughters, which they merrily tossed into Bricot's cap.


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Tuesday: 879 words

Sentence: She suspected he had been born with a nature of ice, and wondered if his mother had spent nine months chilled to the bone before his birth.


Wednesday: 908 words


Sentence: "I have been laying the groundwork for this since before you ever came to Poitiers," he said.


Friday: word count ambiguous; retooling an early chapter


New sentence: Acelet stared at Joslin in surprise, and Joslin, meeting his gaze with a rising color in her cheeks, lowered her eyes quickly back to her embroidery and sent her needle flying in and out of the cloth.


Saturday: 733 words


Sentence: Had he inadvertently said something more to set her off tattling falsehoods to the duke?


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Light Bulb Award

And my latest Light Bulb Award goes to...

Rachel Rager! 

In response to a brainstorming plea to help me overcome a bump in my WIP a few months back, Rachel made a suggestion which I failed to see the significance of at the time. But the idea nestled in my mind, just waiting until the last few days to suddenly burst free and (hopefully) propel my plot forward in a whole new way. Naturally, I can't tell you what her suggestion was or how I plan to use it, because that would give too much away. :-) But I wanted to take a moment here to say:

"Thank you, Rachel! You've won my rarely awarded and highly coveted Light Bulb Award!"

(Okay, so I don't know whether anyone actually covets this award, but that in no way lessens my gratitude to the winner!)

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 1011 words

Sentence: He blamed an unseen root for his stumble as he remembered Lisette.


Tuesday: 423 words


Sentence: He had marveled that a hand so small could feel so strong and determined against his sleeve and had experienced an almost overwhelming urge to tangle his fingers into hers to discover if he had only imagined their unexpected vitality.


Wednesday: 509 words


Sentence: One large section (of hair) stood up from the back of her head in a frizzy heap, while another exploded like a fuzzy bush from the right side of her head.


Thusday: 642 words


Sentence: He did not think his opponents today had been seasoned warriors, but he had never been faced with two assailants at once before, and he had been desperate that she not be proved right.


And that's all she wrote this week!


If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 1059 words

Sentence: "What?" Acelet said, sounding cross.

Tuesday: 730 words

Sentence: "We have become quite boon companions on our shared journey, most likely because you knew how it would irk your father."

Wednesday: Out of town all day

Thursday: 1011 words

Sentence: "Ah," Bricot said. "Um...er...that was not quite what I intended."

Friday: 1057 words

Sentence: Now he moved like a veritable whirlwind, driving off his two would-be attackers again and again.

Saturday: 1113 words

Sentence: Acelet heard two screams--one of pain, the other of sheer terror--and stopped spinning his staff long enough to look over his shoulder.

If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 1013 words

Sentence: "They have no imagination in fighting, so I rarely have to use mine."

Tuesday: 1013 words

Sentence: In another moment, the bafflement might flash into a realization that pierced her secret hurts, and that she could not bear for him or anyone to see.

Wednesday: 669 words

Sentence: Except for herself, because she was not a wife and no man had leave to strike her except Sir Hilary, whose courage she had been careful never to mock, however else she might nettle him.

Thursday: 1177 words

Sentence: "What was I going to do, tie it up in this cloak?"

Friday: 1234 words

Sentence: "I'm not the one who risked catching my death by standing out in the whipping rain, merely to wash some mud from my face."

Saturday: Spent all day at the Arizona Renaissance Festival. Huzzah!

If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Here is a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

(And my other motto is: Some days are better than others! as you'll see below:)

Monday: 1026 words

Sentence: She understood this reaction to Acelet's touch no better, only that it shook her in an utterly bewildering way and that for the space of a heartbeat, her own fingers longed to twist themselves about and entwine themselves with his.

Tuesday: 610 words

Sentence: The merchants, too, were shuffling restlessly when the mad Nildred abruptly died and Janeta found herself rather murkily thrust into marriage with a rich, old, jealous lord who immediately thrust her into yet another tower to guard her from youthful and handsome rivals.

Wednesday: 1161 words

Sentence (brace yourself, it's a long one!): Though he sat perfectly still while Bricot flung himself dramatically around the room, flapping his arms like a hawk, clapping his hand to his breast in mimicry of Janeta's palpitating heart, striking a noble pose for the knight, and wringing his hands together with an exaggeratedly fiendish sneer as Janeta's husband plotted the young lovers' downfall, Acelet's lips moved silently, mouthing along Bricot's tale word for word.

Thursday: 1018 words

Sentence: Joslin tilted the comb closer to the light of the fire and saw that what she had first taken for tiny flowers among the garlands were, instead tiny seashells.

Friday: 351 words (due to distractions, some good, some just...distractions...and needing to stop to do some research)

Sentence: Surely men would take him more seriously at a glance if they saw him now, rather than waiting to be convinced by the speed and force of his staff?

Saturday: 435 words

Sentence: "But the sight would give our poor innkeeper the fright of his life, don't you think?"

If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to my original blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

Summary Sunday

Some writers I know write much faster than I do. Some writers I know write slower. Some writers I know write more hours a day than I do. Some writers I know write less. One thing I've learned. I cannot successfully complete a new book if I worry about comparing myself to others, therefore...I write the number of words a day that I write. I write the number of hours a week that I write. When my efforts feel so small that I sometimes wonder if it's worth it to continue, I take this verse as my mantra:

"Out of small things proceeds that which is great." (Doctrine & Covenants 64:33)

Today I begin a weekly summary of my often "small" writing efforts. And just for fun, I'm throwing in one "new" sentence a day from my daily writing. These sentences may or may not make the final editing cut when all is said and done, so enjoy them while you can!

Thanks for joining me on my journey!

Monday: 704 words

Sentence: "He flew out to rescue the 'distressed damsel' before I could stick out my foot to trip him, as I indeed sought to do."

Tuesday: 0 (not home)

Wednesday: 697 words

Sentence: He had been annoying and maddening and rattling of tongue, and a frightened, desperate part of her half-wished he'd been struck blind years ago before he'd ever juggled and tumbled and sung for the Earl of Gunthar in the halls of Pennault Castle.

Thursday: 873 words

Sentence: Joslin watched the fluid expression of guilt that flowed across Bricot's face, and wondered if Acelet's barb about the ink struck less deeply than knowing himself the cause of Acelet's wet, muddy morning, as well.

Friday: 996 words

Sentence: Even after a good hour by the fire, her heart still felt like ice, her emotions so angry, so bitter, so...so vengeful..that she suffered a wave of self-hatred almost as strong as the hatred she felt for the man who had ruined her life.

Saturday: 1270 words

Sentence (and a half): ...Acelet remained agoggle. She could hardly blame him as Bricot's increasing cadence betrayed his enthusiasm for his improvised tale.

If anyone would like to start a Summary Sunday on their own blog, you're welcome to share my idea. All I ask is that you link back to this specific blog link. Maybe we can start a new meme (rhymes with "cream") for working writers!

And the Light Bulb Award Goes To...

Jennifer Griffith!

Thank you to each and every one of you who have left a comment on my previous blog. Each one has helped me to think things through a bit more clearly. But Jennifer (in a cunningly concealed exchange via Facebook) may have given me the "key" I needed.

Jennifer, if you had a blog, I'd tell you to wear this award proudly on your site. Since you don't, you can just visit it here whenever you like. :-)

Oooo, I may make this Light Bulb Award a recurring feature. I'm sure I'll be "thinking aloud" about my WIP many more times in the future. Maybe one of you will be my Light Bulb Award winner next time!

What Am I Writing?

Okay, so here's my dilemma.

Chapter 1: My new heroine's POV (Joslin). Begins at moment of significant change in her life.

Chapter 2: My hero's POV. Makes decision affecting the direction of his future life; very brief interaction with Joslin. Sparks don't exactly fly. (Mostly, they just annoy each other.)

Chapter 3: My hero's POV. Joslin mentioned positively by my hero's traveling companion.

Chapter 4: My hero's POV. No mention of Joslin, but furthers plot towards their eventual reunification, so to speak.

Chapter 5: My hero's POV. Ditto Chapter 4

Chapter 6: Joslin's POV. My hero is much referred to (though he's actually miles away), with hints of Joslin's reluctant attraction to him.

Chapter 7 (though I haven't started it yet) is looking like it will be in Joslin's POV as well.

Odds are looking strong that my hero and Joslin won't actually appear on the same page together again before Chapter 8 at the earliest (and that's if I'm lucky, the way I keep going!).

So, if the hero and heroine don't actually get physically on the same page together before Chapter 8 or 9 of a novel, is it still a romance, even if they fall in love before the end of the story?

If I'm not writing a romance, then what am I writing? And if it's something a little different, will readers of my first two romances be disappointed that the romance takes longer to happen in novel #3?

(Hey, if I can't think out loud on my own blog, where can I?)

Heroines, heroines...

Did I say I knew who my new heroine is? I may have spoken too soon! I'm pretty sure Leonia is gone for good. It might still be Joslin. But with my WIP proving itself to have a stubborn will of its own, it might turn out to be someone I (and my hero) haven't even met yet!

Or maybe (gasp!) I'm not even writing a romance at all this time. If anybody knows, it certainly isn't me! Looks like I'll just have to keep writing to find out what the heck this next book of mine wants to be!

And I'm off...tomorrow, anyway

I'm off to a writers retreat tomorrow. Looking forward to cooler temperatures than 110 and hoping to get some progress made on my new WIP. Maybe by the time I get back, I'll know who my heroine is!

Who's Who in my new WIP?

Is Joslin the villain or heroine of my next novel? If heroine, then what do I do with Leonia? Joslin will force the story to end one way, Leonia allows it to end completely differently. I want Leonia's ending, but what if I want it with Joslin? What to do, what to do? Can this story ever work? (Just thinking out loud. Sorry!)