Creative Attention Deficit Disorder

Misbehaving OTHER SITES

Let’s get this part out of the way first, shall we? Blackout and Forbidden Fruit have been bundled in a collection titled Misbehaving, which is available exclusively at Amazon for $1.89. Yes, I feel a little like Jay Sherman every time I do that…but honestly, what choice do I have?

So I made a prediction on August 5 in Mid-Year Review (Alternative Title: Close Enough) that I would be finished with my WIP, Hellion, by the end of August. I was so bold as to say that it was an entirely achievable goal.

It is now August 31. I guess you know where this is headed.

Now, I will say I made a REALLY nice dent in it. According to my outline, there are only 2.5 chapters left, plus an epilogue. But things happened, as things are wont to do. Things like work and…well, work. I was making nice headway with my 1k/day pace until WORK happened. The fact that this coincided with the book’s first sex scene made for a perfect storm of procrastination. I am not at all ashamed to admit that writing sex scenes is my absolute least favorite thing in the world to do. I love my genre—truly—and I don’t want to not be in this genre, but sex scenes are brutal. There’s only so many ways you can write them. Well, only so many ways I can write them, I guess. My characters typically aren’t into kink (sorry). But sex itself is such a repetitive act, and I am always so aware of the words I am prone to use and abuse, and other words/phrasing I hear when reading erotic romance, that I strive for it to be different and good and as cliché-free as possible. This is a hard recipe to nail and it leads to constant struggle.

All that said, Sera and Colin (Hellion) have finally made with the sex, which means I can get back to the plot. If they’ll let me. I swear, these are two of the chattiest characters I’ve ever created. I’ve done my best to not reread what I’ve already written in an effort to not stall on the writing by rewriting, so these numbers are inflated by how I’ve felt writing them and not an accurate representation of the story, but as the book’s author, it feels to be broken down by 90% Banter, 5% Sex, 5% Plot.

Insofar as what comes next, I’m not certain. I can’t stress how much I love writing the Sinners & Saints series, and I’m returning to my roots in Book 5 with the setting (the Deep South), but my contemporaries are performing so much better than my paranormals at the moment—did I mention the 2-for-1 Misbehaving collection is available for $1.89 at Amazon? I did? Good. The part of me that writes for love is at war with the part of me that wants to be loved—that sounds dramatic, but it had a nice cadence to it, so I’m keeping it there. Really, what this comes down to is I have ALL THE THINGS I want to write and, with my work schedule(s) and this much time to write (you can’t see it, but I’m representing my writing time with my thumb and index finger, and the measurement is approximately three hairs).

The I mentioned above contemporary also received some really good feedback in the Weta Nichols Writing Competition. It didn’t advance to the finals (though Hellion did! Guess Sera and Colin can keep chattering after all!) but reading the judge’s remarks got me excited to continue it. But I want to write Book 5, too.

A few years ago, I wrote Sex, Sin and Scandal (originally published as Sinfully Scandalous) and Know Thine Enemy at the same time, which was a fun experience. I switched off chapters, and the result was I had two books completed at the same time. I’m considering doing that again for the contemporary and the next Sinners & Saints book.

I suppose the only thing that’s keeping me from committing to that are the re-releases. Ripples Through Time, A Friend in Need, Insatiable Need and Insatiable Cravings are all out of print—some longer than others. All demand an edit, some of them an extensive revise. Ripples Through Time is changing dramatically—since it had such a poor run the first time, I doubt anyone will notice—and I have a good bit of that written. The other books I’m extending—not by much, but enough. It’s hard for me to work on new things when older material is sitting around collecting dust, and will—at least in my head—be easier to get ready for distribution.

I’m not really looking for a solution. Just hoping one comes to me. Maybe I can switch off three books instead of two, and get everything accomplished that way. Who knows?

What say you, internet? Contemporary? Paranormal? Re-releases? All of the above? I can’t say I’ll follow any offered advice, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting it.

What? I figure I might as well be honest.

(PS. Get TWO sexy stories for the price of one in Misbehaving, exclusively at Amazon! …wait, where are you going? I won’t mention it again. I promise!)