IWSG & Inspirations

 

Happy August! Did you enjoy IWSG’s first ever Twitter pitch party last week? Well, lucky for you the fun doesn’t end because today’s IWSG Day! We came out last week and we’re back again, the first Wednesday of the month. Whether you’re struggling or flying high in your writing journey, we gather today to lend you our support. Thanks that we can be there for each other goes to ninja extraordinaire Alex Cavanaugh.

Don’t forget to check out today’s awesome co-hosts Christine Rains, Dolarah @ Book Lover, Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor, Yvonne Ventresca, and LG Keltner!

Interested in joining us? Click on the badge above. Our Twitter hashtag and handle are #IWSG and @TheIWSG.

So what’s been going on with me this month?

Well…I’ve been thinking of trying something new. I know my 2017 writing plan said no new stories this year. Been on a romance binge and recently I’ve read a fairy tale retelling anthology by Jill Myles (pseudonym). And it got my muses doing the happy dance.

For awhile now I had a story idea rolling inside my head. It’s about a palmist and her client, a long time crush. Somehow the idea never made it from my head and into my story ideas folder on my computer. Until, I read the author’s “Once Upon Another Time,” a novella collection.

Then BAM!!!

I suddenly knew how the story should go. And then one story morphed into three more standalones. All starring heroines who are into and have occult/mystic careers. They’re all semi-outlined and I’m still trying to come up with names and character profiles for story #2 and #3. They’ll be at least 6-7 chapters long of good, smexy fun each.

But one thing comes to mind though. I’ve been writing, lengthwise in two extremes, poetry and the novel. And although The Soul Traveler is a novella, this new set of stories are even shorter than that. How can I condense a novel length of ‘will they or won’t they?’and HEA in less than ten chapters satisfactorily?

Either way, it’s a good side project to undertake whenever I need a break from the current WIP manuscript(s) I’m writing. Which reminds me, I also had another similar story idea. This time a supernatural fantasy inspired by a crazy dream I had two weekends ago. Even created a temporary cover on Canva.com, written a short synopsis and tagline for it:

Short synopsis

It was a routine hijacking for Anaya Jean and her band of merry human and supernatural men. They scored big time. But between looting the government truck. And halving the goods to sell on the black market and keep for themselves. She’d never noticed the tracking device on one of the items.

Their headquarters now raided. And her friends, family arrested, she has no choice but to accept a deal for their release. Go undercover into the city’s housing development. Sounds easy enough. Until Anaya finds out it’s a front to the second coming of another supernatural war.

Tagline

A thief’s life never easy.  

Did you take part in #IWSGPit last week? Will you take part in the next one or any other upcoming pitch parties? Ever been inspired by another story? Which story and which author? Where/when/how do you get your inspirations?

PS Do you have any alternative title suggestions for “Hellsgate”?

PSS I’ve entered Dreaming of You and The Soul Traveler into Wattys 2017 and they need your support. How? You can click the star on upper right corner or bottom of the page to cast your vote. Or promote it by sharing it on Twitter with the hashtag #Wattys2017. Thank you so much.

August 2 Question: What are your pet peeves when reading/writing/editing?

For reading and writing, it’s the same thing. Inconsistent names for people, places and things. It’s very disconcerting and brings me out of a story once Peter, a character in a story, is now called John. And not because he gave it as a fake name either.

For editing, misuse of and misspelling certain words. And the overabundance usage of ‘that,’ ‘was,’etc. I try to look out for most of these in my own work when I self-edit. So can’t abide when it’s so obvious when another doesn’t. I can understand a few mistakes, but throughout a published story? SMH