I’ll say right up front that what I consider a surprise and what you consider a surprise will probably differ. By a lot.
The first surprise was tied into waiting. Of course, most things are, right? As humans, we spend huge amounts of our time waiting for people, appointments, trains and traffic lights, in line at any store, on the phone with customer service and tech support, for deliveries – and even to fall asleep (if you’re anything like me).
Knowing that, I try to bring a small notebook and pen with me wherever I go, just in case inspiration – for anything – strikes. And a couple of days ago, it struck! And it still makes me smile every time I think about it.
I didn’t have a clue what I’d wind up putting down as I sat there with the notebook in one hand, the pen poised over it in the other. But I did know I needed to start getting to know the characters in book three of the new series.
Book three? Yup. I’m down to about forty pages of editing before the first book is finished. Book two is maybe seventy pages away from ‘the end.’ That means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is looming in thirty days! And I really, really am hoping to get the first draft of book three written then. I’ve even got a loose outline – from the opening scene to the last one. But I knew I needed to know more about the hero and heroine.
Suddenly, having never given the childhood of either one much thought, I knew what motivated both of them. I knew when those events happened. I knew the details. And in the half hour I spent waiting, I wrote like a madwoman. The results of that surprise are going to make November a lot easier.
Second surprise? I was at the store today – when I stumbled on a fantastic sale. For some reason, I keep forgetting to add folders to my shopping list. All I need are the ones with the fold out metal prong things. And today, on one of the endcaps was a display of – folders! On clearance!
Jackpot! Just what I need – and at a third the price. Yes! And these weren’t just the cheap poster paper-ish kinds of folders either. These are made of some sort of plastic so they’re washable. I can slap labels on them with the titles of the books … and when the books are finished, I can peel the labels right back off again and start over with something new!
Now, I have a place to put all of the character sheets! And yes, I’ve blocked out all the pertinent information I have so far. I think writers guard their writing ‘babies’ in much the way they guard their human offspring. At least I know I do. 🙂
Here are some of the songs on tonight’s playlist – and then I’ve got to get to work! And by the way, until the new series is available, if you haven’t read all of my books yet, you can find them by clicking here – or here (the second ‘here’ is an affiliate link – learn more about them by clicking here). In case you didn’t know … a couple of those books are FREE!
