So I gutted the Kringle book and started it again. My female protagonist is now a writer who can spend a bit more time at the lodge and start her stay early enough that they might actually progress to a “breakup” before Christmas.

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The romance novel has a structure. I use a Scrivener template called “Romancing the Beat” based on Gwen Hayes’ book of the same name. This lays out the romance in terms of four parts: Set up, Falling in love, Retreating from love, Fighting for love. Each of those parts has five steps that progress the reader through the story. (If you think that romance novels are too formulaic, there are beat sheets for your favorite form of literature as well. We have expectations when reading a story).

The problem with my original story is that the happy ending has to happen by Christmas (it’s a Christmas romance, after all). As the romance started less than a week before Christmas, the plot had no time for them to pass through the stages between doubt and breakup. I suppose I could have collapsed them, but part of the fun for the reader is to pass through those stages. It’s not only part of the plot, but gives the reader a satisfying emotional roller coaster.

So I am rewriting the story with a protagonist who can stay a little longer. Not even that much longer — she’s got two more days to be there. The days are important, not only for the timing of the novel, but for what can happen during those days. Because their getting together time is not as close to Christmas, they have time to do things together before the male lead (an executive chef) has to buckle down for the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day buffets. This is in closer keeping with the original plot. It’s not romantic if they don’t get to enjoy some courtship.

I wrote the first thousand words yesterday. I think this will be a better book, although I won’t be done by the end of November. At least I won’t spend all my writing time grumbling about how it’s not working.

Keep Writing

I’m having to abandon the current Kringle (Christmas romance) story because of encroaching improbability. The way I set it up, romantic developments are supposed to happen in hours rather than days, which is just too rapid. There is no way to stretch out the time the book covers, because the female protagonist is a schoolteacher and would not get to the Lodge sooner than she has. Nor could she afford to stay there for two weeks; a week is expensive enough. The relationship needs to be resolved by Christmas. There’s just no time for the two of them.

This has been happening to me lately; stopping in the middle of a book and not feeling it. Here, I’ve not been feeling like writing for a very good reason: The book is untenable. I can resolve this with some plot tweaks, including a protagonist who can arrive at the lodge a few days earlier. Maybe a writer on a writing retreat. That would be writing what I know. I already have someone from the last book in mind.

Today I have to keep writing, even if I’m not doing NaNo, even if I’m having to start from scratch. This is my flow activity; I need to keep it in my life for my health.

October

Daily writing prompt

What’s your favorite month of the year? Why?

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In the American midwest, our summers are too hot and our winters are too cold. Our springs are rainy and last little time at all. But we have autumns, which have fiery trees and comfortable jacket weather. And the highlight of autumn (or fall, as often said in the US) is October.

Autumn colors peak in about the second week of October. The skies on a cloudless day are a clear blue, a backdrop to the orange-red maples and the rusty brown oaks. Time seems to stand still as one looks at the trees.

The tempermental rain in October pelts the ground with abandon, or mists the pavement. The fallen leaves turn sodden underfoot. They smell of endings, of which October is a glorious reminder.

Good News on the Writing Front

I will release Reclaiming the Balance on January 1, 2025 as I had hoped. My sensitivity reader came through and I fixed all issues (mostly proofreading!) The book is now in the hands of KDP (Amazon’s self-publishing arm) and ready to release.

Reclaiming the Balance is in the Hidden in Plain Sight series, book 3. Janice Wilkens escapes from an abusive, non-human Archetype boyfriend. She takes refuge at Barn Swallows’ Dance, a haven for those who don’t fit ordinary reality. Amarel Stein, an androgynous half-human Nephilim, challenges her about her own Nephilim son. They plot to rescue her son from the boyfriend’s clutches and fight prejudice against the Nephilim at Barn Swallows’ Dance. Their success depends on their working together and giving up their preconceived notions of reality.

I don’t know if it’s clear from the description, but it’s contemporary romantasy, closed-door (not spicy), and very much a story for this time.

First Impression

Daily writing prompt

What’s the first impression you want to give people?

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What first impression do I want to give people? At professional conferences, I want to give the impression of gravitas, like the learned person I am. Most times, though, I like to give the impression of a softer person who is enthusiastic about life.

This is the first impression I prefer, because this is who I am. I don’t enjoy pretending to be someone I’m not. I highly value authenticity (as a Quaker, it’s one of our values). I also want to disarm people of their natural hostility toward someone with a higher level of education and status.

The truth, though, is that I’m more complex than this first impression. I am not always enthusiastic about life. At times I can be sarcastic. I am often stubborn. Yet, I don’t bring these out as first impressions. I make a choice to be one particular me.

My First Computer

Daily writing prompt

Name the most expensive personal item you’ve ever purchased (not your home or car).

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This question is altogether too easy for anyone who has bought a laptop or a smartphone in their lives. Other than a house or a car, these are likely to be the most major expenses, at least in the US.

I was relatively late to computer ownership, having gotten my first computer as I was finishing graduate school. As a grad student in the late 80s — early 90s, it was not assumed we would have our own computers. There were computer labs all over campus, and I availed myself of those when typing up my dissertation. Knowing that computer labs would not be part of my future as a professional, I bought my first computer, a Macintosh IIvx. In 1993 the computer cost me $2500, which is almost $5k in today’s dollars. I bought it with part of the proceeds from getting hit by a car, otherwise graduate student me would not have been able to afford it.

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Technology has gotten more powerful and less expensive. I could buy a Mac Mini today for $500, and this little puck of a computer is much more powerful than the IIvx I bought in 1993. The only reason I haven’t bought it is because the form factor isn’t convenient, and I already have a powerful laptop that cost me $1300.

Even today, my computers are the most expensive purchases I make outside of a car or house, even though they have gone down in price. But their utility makes them worth the price.

Holding in the Light

After the election, life goes on.

In the words of ee cummings, “The single secret will still be man.” I have faith in those people who see the need for all of us to sit at the table. It is my responsibility as a human being to help support those who need it to the best of my ability. This has not changed, but maybe I see the need more acutely because people around me are scared and hurting.

I have gone back to a practice I lost along the way when I became complacent, and that is holding people in the Light. It is a Quaker practice, and I am a Quaker (an agnostic, but that’s possible in the Religious Society of Friends). I am holding my country in the light, those who oppose what I stand for as well as those I stand with. (I stand with those who are marginalized). Because holding someone in the Light does not mean they will prosper, it means the hope that they will see the Light.

I don’t know if I believe in God, but I believe that my holding in the Light creates changes in me so I can see where to work for good. I don’t know if I believe it will move other people. Yet I do it, not knowing what else to do.

Election Day

I just voted. Now to pray … and I’m not even religious.

Language Arts

Daily writing prompt

What was your favorite subject in school?

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It should be of no surprise that my favorite class in school was what we called ‘English’, or more properly, ‘language arts’. This was a catch-all phrase that included classes in grammar, literature, and writing. As a child, I loved writing and reading, and I even loved grammar, although that came naturally to me.

I have to admit I didn’t often pay attention in class during reading. In younger grades, we would take turns reading out loud. The class didn’t read fast enough for me, and I would read ahead. When it was my turn to read, the teacher would have to direct me back to whatever page we were reading. Most of my teachers didn’t yell at me for not paying attention because they knew I was reading ahead.

I discovered that I loved to write in third grade, when my teacher taught a unit on poetry. In third grade, then, I was writing poetry forms that were way over my head — simple rhymes were easy, but she had us writing haiku, limericks, and once even tried a diamante form. And I went along with it and wrote these to the best of my ability. A third grader’s diamante leaves a little to be desired. And the limerick:

A lion lived in a zoo
with a tiger, a bear, and a gnu.
“I can scare three or more,”
said the lion with a roar.
And the gnu said, “Shame shame on you!”

Don’t ask me how I remember a poem I wrote in third grade. I don’t remember the longer Groundhog Day poem that my teacher posted on the front door of the classroom, mercifully.

Language arts was the class I looked forward to every day. It’s not surprising given my love of words even today.

Recommending Cats

Daily writing prompt

What is good about having a pet?

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I have three cats at the current moment, and have had many cats over the years, so I feel like I can answer this authoritatively. The best thing about having cats is the companionship. They are furry, friendly little creatures who want to share your life with you. Sometimes. Right now they’re making themselves scarce, only to get particularly chummy when I’m in the middle of a project.

They also provide lots of humor. Chuckie, our big orange cat, entertains with his total cluelessness. Chloe (the black cat in this picture) is just weird. For example, she goes crazy when Richard sneezes, chattering and running about as if she needs reassurance that he has not released demons into the world.

The best thing about a cat, though, is that you can’t take them for granted. They’re there when they want to be, not necessarily when you want them to be. They’re autonomous creatures with their own agendas. So, when they want to spend time with you, you know they’re there because they want to be. Or because they want food. Or because you’re busy with something else — they’re perverse little creatures.

I’d definitely recommend a cat.