Out in the country in Central Texas, the skies are huge and storm clouds and sunsets can truly be dramatic. With houses and trees blocking the sky here, it’s hard to get a vista like this.
It’s chilly this morning. Love it! It’s supposed to get to 95. So I need to get out and enjoy this while I can.
But I’m also off to write. We’re celebrating birthdays today, did preschool graduation last night, so busy, busy. Need to write!
These are different Oscraps challenges just to play around with. And they’re fun when I need a break from writing and life.
I need only 9,000 more words for You Had Me at Cougar to get my minimum word count. Yay!
So today we’re back to me taking care of little one two days a week and picking her up after school. I managed to actually get 4,000 words on Saturday, and then just a 1,000 yesterday.
I was out photographing the beautiful sunset the other day and my neighbor’s redheaded granddaughter was out with her dad so I took pictures of her so I can turn it into a fantasy picture for them.
I’m working on photos I took of the family to give to them. And then it’s back to the book. Well, and little one will be here. I’ve been losing on average 2 lbs a week also, so I’m really happy about that! I’m at my first goal, working on my next. 🙂
We’ve had boring skies at sunset–just plain old blue skies turning to dark. But clouds give it character. The storms didn’t even leave any rain, just a lot of grumbling, but I loved it.
I saw the beginning of a sunset the other day and I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of one in a while. But it was too hard to see for the trees and houses, and so I didn’t think anything more of it. But then I saw this on New Year’s Eve when I was taking all the dogs out for another potty break. Now this was worth taking pictures of. A sunset in all its glory! We had storms all day yesterday and we’re supposed to have them all day today, so no beautiful sunsets probably.
I’m nearly done with Claiming the White Bear. It’s a year in the making, though I still need to write a couple of more scenes. I think that’s it, but I’ll have to make sure. The dogs are still here through tomorrow night. And I hope to have the book done by this weekend. And then? I’m off to work on the wolves in Silver Town!
Have a beautiful sunrise kind of day. I won’t be having that either as rainy as it’s been! But if I finish this book soon, it will be like a symphony of sunsets and sunrises all in one.
Absolutely! For just about anything, or take you away from the drudgery of what you’re doing, carrying you away to some other fantastical world. But boy can it be jarring too, if it’s not the right music for the job. On the other hand, what works for one, might not work for another.
I pay my neighbor to mow my yard and he was listening to music while he was weedeating. He said he would never do yard work again without listening to it. It carries you away, you see, from that hot, menial task.
You’ve probably watched a movie that has the most beautiful musical score and it carries you right into the world with no problem. And then the worst ever musical score that pulls you right out of the story because it doesn’t suit the mood at all.
Storms and sunset and clouds and sunrise.
I had been listening to Halo (game theme music), and Game of Thrones. I listen to a lot of movie scores like Bourne Identity, etc, for the thrill of the chase. But someone was telling me for his work, photo composition, he listens to Youtube game music. And so I found the one he was listening to, and it was beautiful. So I’ve been switching music for background music and it helps me to write.
I’ve been listening to Skyrim because it lasts for 10 hours and I don’t have to keep starting another hour-long song. I write all day, so it helps. It’s relaxing, not great for exercising to though. So when I want something that has more of a beat while I’m editing, I just look at the sidebar and pull up some other song. One that came up was a chilling space kind of music and it had a pretty good beat so I could exercise and read to edit at the same time.
This is the 10-hour long, relaxing music. This is more suitable for mystery, mystics, magic, and otherworldly, rather than driving conflict, like I usually write. But I still love it.
One cover artist mentioned some music that really gets her in the mood for a certain kind of cover. I listened to it and it was the most jarring, bone rattling, chalk screeching music I’ve ever heard. I’d be running for the hills to get away from it. So you have to find the music that works for you!
We had stormy-looking weather, barely any chance of rain, and it poured. Yay! The sunset was spectacular! It truly looked like a vampire day…and night!
One of the covers I had to redo for my vampire series, was The Siren’s Lure. I loved the first one I had, but it was a stock photo that I found was popping up all over other authors’ books, so I had to create my own.
I had to put aside Silver Town Wolf Christmas for a day because I had to work on final edits for You Had Me at Jaguar. They’re due Friday, and I have to take care of baby on Wed and Fri, so today I’ll finish it up and turn it in. I have 3 more chapters and a prologue to go. And then I’ll be adding the edits in that I’ve done on the paper copy of Silver Town Wolf Christmas.
I can’t remember why I started writing vampire novellas, but I did, and so this is one of them!
The Siren’s Lure, a novella
A vampire wishes upon a falling star and ends up with more than he bargained for. When he attempts to rescue a woman in distress, he soon learns she’s not quite human and not a huntress–or at least like any he’s ever known. That’s when the seduction begins–but who is seducing whom?
Tristina isn’t a huntress in the normal sense. Before meeting the vampire who would rescue her from danger, she never thought anyone could love her for herself. Now, just maybe she’s found the right man for her.
Sardis wants nothing more than a vacation from his ponderous role as prince of the New York vampire clans, but ends up having anything but a peaceful time while staying at a beach resort when he meets the most enticing siren. Trouble doesn’t even begin to describe the new world he finds himself in as he tries to seduce her, and he falls under her siren’s spell instead.
Some fun sightings in San Diego–gnarled trees along the waterfront, a go-cart driving down the street, and the reflection of the sunset and the marina in the glass of the hotel.
These were taken a couple of years ago, and I haven’t ever shared.
