I took this photo at the San Diego Zoo. They have a lovely hummingbird exhibit there. They look like little fantastical creatures, they’re so pretty. This one was being so nice to sit still for me. I usually don’t have much luck taking pictures of them because they move so fast.
I didn’t manage to get my word count yesterday, just 1,000 words. I did more edits last night and that can help to jump start me. I’m off to write some more!
Have a fun day! We have a scorcher every day for at least 2 weeks unless a storm comes to break things up.
I used Daily Textures and Magnolia Textures to emphasize what I wanted to and exclude the rest. On the zinnia and hummingbird picture, I used the same texture both around the flowers as a background and another on top.
If I had my feeders away from the shrubs, then I could capture a creamy background instead. But the birds like the protection of the vegetation. We have shinned-tail hawks out here that would love to swoop down and have a nice meal too.
I have 3,000 words to go on Red Wolf to make 80,000 words, the minimum word count. Hope to get that today!
I’m on a NO chocolate, NO chips diet. I’ve been doing it for 4 days and feel so much better, lost 3 lbs right away. I don’t eat a lot of processed foods, so no sugar added that way. Yay!
Today, I found this article on sugar and how bad it can be for you. Brain fog? Okay, anything that messes with my writing can’t be good for me.
I’m off and running this morning. I wrote another 3,000 words yesterday, did all kinds of switching scenes around which changes things a lot. What? They were going to bed but now it’s daytime? Lunch is breakfast? This isn’t relevant. Oh, no, need more setup here now. Anyway, somehow with all the moving around of stuff, I still managed to write more. I’m at 95,000.
I finished edits on Night of the Billionaire Wolf and turned it in. Yay! Now I’m back to Red Wolf Christmas. It’s due in 2 weeks and I’m still working on it. It would be all right if I had it finished and was just editing it, but…it’s not finished. ugh.
This morning I moved a scene to a couple of chapters earlier. Which changes things for the next about 3 chapters. The butterfly effect. I haven’t figured out the ending, or what ties everything together yet. sigh. It’s got to come soon!
Okay, I’m off to work on it and hope your day is beautifully orchestrated.
In the wild, the hummingbird is asserting its territorial right to all the zinnia flowers in the garden while the monarch butterfly is trying to ignore the bird. Yesterday, a giant yellow swallowtail was harassed by another hummingbird. Two hummingbirds chase each other off all the time too. And a red-bellied woodpecker is not happy that the cardinal is on HIS feeder, chowing down.
My two-year old granddaughter is the same way. “Mine,” I hear all day. Even when she knows it’s not, if she claims it, she feels she has a right to it, unless Grandma says, “No, that’s Grandma’s.” And even then, if it’s something she really wants, she will insist, “Mine.”
Depending on what it is, Grandma will let her play with it, but it’s still Grandma’s.
During my research, I’ve been reading about people who take metal detectors on “abandoned” property, looking for treasure. The property is owned by someone, maybe an absentee owner who still pays the taxes. So when the trespasser obtains the “treasure,” is it really…his? When someone finds something that’s of a huge value, after he’s bought the property, can he keep it? It seems that yes, sometimes, sometimes, no.
So I changed my story to the owner finding the treasures in her shop as part of her inheritance, rather than buying the property from someone who had inherited the property and sold it off. End of gray area. And it makes it more personal for the character also.
A point in fact: A master’s painting had been stolen from a museum. It had to be returned to the museum. A beautiful antique chest had a secret drawer and the new owner, while refurbishing the furniture, found it full of jewelry and cash. He could have kept it. But he didn’t. He contacted the owner and gave them their treasured possessions. He wanted the beautiful chest. That was the treasure to him.
In another case, a man was digging on his new property, to plant a garden, and discovered a cache of jewelry and other valuable items. It turned out his neighbor had been robbed by the previous owner and the items were buried in the backyard! If he’d tried to sell it, the police might have been alerted that the property had been stolen. And that would certainly be a new twist to a story, wouldn’t it.
So it’s something to think about when you find buried treasure. Hopefully…you won’t find buried bones.
Okay, I’m off to write. I wrote 2,000 words on my day “off.” Isn’t it awful to have a day off from writing, only to spend it babysitting? lol Though we have fun. I hope to take her to Galveston Island to the glass pyramids one day to see the aquarium and tropical pyramid.
Have a super day!!! I’m off to get busy. The days is all MINE.
I managed to capture a couple of pictures of the hummingbird on zinnia!
But I didn’t make my word count. It’s not like I wasn’t trying. I’m editing, and that means removing as much as adding. Okay, so I repeated that HOW many times? Really???? No wonder my word count was going to town.
And yes, my characters are happy, happy, happy, but I have them smiling and laughing and chuckling HOW many times? Ugh. So there goes some more word count. I have to add NEW stuff. Conflict. Answer questions. Remember to turn on the Christmas music in the antique shop. At 105 degrees heat index, I keep forgetting it’s cold in the story and Christmas!
I want to get my word count for yesterday and today. I really, really do, but…it’s only going to get there if I can come up with some reasons for what’s happening.
I do NOT have writer’s block. I refuse to say it’s writer’s block. I don’t want to use that as a crutch. I just need to think…harder.
Okay, off to think harder and do more edits, but I’m nearly to the end of what I’ve written and then I don’t have anything else to do…but write.
Have a glorious day!!! I’m really, really, really going to get some word count today.
So I I almost didn’t take any pictures of the hummingbird that was eating from my zinnia flowers. I knew there was a reason to plant them in the backyard. So I could see them! But this was the first time I saw one feeding there. I was out in the backyard with the baby the other day to see the squirrel, and a hummer was on another flowering plant. We were so close, no camera. Sigh.
I took this one from a long distance away, through my window and a tomato plant. And I didn’t have my controls set for the higher speed hummingbird, not enough time before he was gone. But I thought I’d chance getting some pictures anyway. Despite all the problems, they turned out half decent. Since then, I moved the tomato plant!
And I really got to town on the Red Wolf Novella. I wrote 4300 words yesterday. I also finished one of the two blogs I needed to send in. Baby is here today, we’re supposed to go to the mailbox, which is way far away and I’m making her walk, not ride her stroller, an hour at the pool, longer if she is good, shorter if she is not, and the grocery store. Hopefully, it will all wear out baby, and I can reach another 1,000 words today. I took care of her on Saturday after 2 hours at the pool and what happened? She DID NOT SLEEP. They picked her up at 6 pm, and I’m sure she went right to sleep. lol
All right, got to get the dogs out, fed, out, and ready for my granddaughter’s arrival. You have fun now, you hear?
Spear’s second Billionaire Wolf novel, following A Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing (2016), combines sexy paranormal romance with a lot of suspense. Spear leaves the possibility for sequels tantalizingly open.
— Lois Ray
When the wolves’ own blood betrays them, they risk their lives to find a miracle.
Wolf shifter Dr. Aidan Denali has been working day and night to find a cure for werewolves’ alarmingly sudden decline in lifespan. The key to the problem eludes him. But when Aidan grudgingly leaves his work to do some holiday shopping, he meets a remarkable she-wolf whose mysterious pack could bring him one step closer to the answer.
Dr. Holly Gray is thrilled to meet the wolf who’s been working so hard to help others. Now, it’s her turn to help him. But while their attraction is sizzling, the packs are at odds, and the danger is increasing. It’s going to take a holiday miracle for Holly and Aidan to get themselves―and their loved ones―out of this alive…
Billionaire Wolf series:
Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing (Book 1)
A Billionaire Wolf for Christmas (Book 2)
What People Are Saying About Terry Spear’s Wolf Shifters:
“Packed with adventure… Magnificently entertaining.”―RT Book Reviews TOP PICK for Billionaire in Wolf’s Clothing, 4 ½ Stars
“Spear has become a master storyteller.”―RT Book Reviews for Alpha Wolf Need Not Apply, 4 Stars
“Nobody does werewolf romances like Terry Spear. The romance sizzles, the mystery intrigues, and the characters shine.”―The Royal Reviews
And the book is coming out Sept 25! They changed the date on me. Which works for me!
I only got 1,000 words on Cougar Magic yesterday, spent the rest of the time rewriting chapters for Silver Wolves Making Spirits Bright. I’m on chapter 7 now, re-reading the whole book again to catch mistakes. And then it’s back to my first beta reader.
Zinnia, hummingbird, storm clouds
Baby is here today, but I’m hoping to get more read while she’s sleeping. I have the days off normally for writing, when she’s here, but I try to get some word count in when I can. Though I guess I’ll just be reading until Silver is done again.
Hummingbird, moulting male cardinal (he has a lot of black on his had and white feathers down below), giant yellow swallowtail, fritillary butterfly! The yellow swallowtail is extremely fast moving. I had to have a fast ISO setting to capture him. Even when he’s feeding, his wings are flapping like crazy. The fritillary is much more sedentary. The hummingbird is also moving like crazy, besides flapping his little wings so fast. I could have had it at a faster ISO for him.
Okay, I’m now at 97K and counting, 17K over the mandatory word count, and there’s an end in sight. But I’ll probably have around 100K by the time I finish, which is great! I don’t think I’ll get it done by the time baby shows up tomorrow though, but I’m trying.
See, persistence pays off. I kept trying to get a better shot of the hummingbird, and I kept pushing through on the story, and voila!
Hope you have a butterfly and hummingbird filled day! It just adds a little magic to our world.
