IWSG & Writing Progress Report #1

Happy IWSG Day! It’s the fifth month of the year and we’re together again. Giving and receiving support as we plod along on our writing journeys. Thanks for bringing this community together goes to ninja extraordinaire Alex Cavanaugh.

The awesome co-hosts for the May 5th posting of the IWSG are: Erika Beebe, PJ Colando, Tonja Drecker, Sadira Stone, and Cathrina Constantine!

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

So what’s going on with me this month?

The Match Game anthology featuring my romantic short Sensual Delights is a year old now!

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Other than that I can’t wait for my blogging break. I’ve been slipping, falling and don’t know how long it’ll take for me to get up. But get up, step up and write, I will.

So, to my blog followers, my dismal writing progress report of the past four months won’t come as much of a shock.

Submission:

• None

Wattpad:

• No new stories added on Wattpad

Writing:

• Edited/cut out several sentences/paragraphs
• Added 182 words to ~40k word count

Spring/Summer Writing Plan:

• Rewrite/revise/edit romance short “What Happens in Caribana”
• Submit “What Happens in Caribana” to Omniverse Press Only One Bed Anthology
  • Find other presses, magazines, anthologies, etc to submit short to
• Rewrite/revise/edit urban fantasy “The Otherside of Paradise” (FKA Hellsgate)
  • Reunite with main character Anaya Jean
  • Get a deeper grasp of Anaya’s dreams, goals, fears, trauma etc as well as how it conflicts and is similar to other characters in the story
  • Question and get a clearer understanding of the story’s themes/core concepts to better express it

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  MMC: Donovan, FMC: Roseline

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  Right to Left: Anaya Jean, Sift, Lorelai, Sun, John, Lilly, Sorel, Gavin, Tamara, Ryan, King and Rummy

May 5 question – Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn’t expect? If so, did it surprise you?

When I wrote and published my poetry chapbook “Can You Catch My Flow?” I only expected to resonate with grown adults. But a Goodreads review completely took me by surprise. The poems resonated with both parent and child. The mother had won the book as part of a Goodreads giveaway. And found the poems beautiful and thought provoking. And surprisingly, the poems had opened up and spurred conversation between mother and daughter. 

When I think about it now, I don’t know why that was so surprising. The chapbook was a coming of age poetry collection from self-identity to adulting. The mother had already traveled through the experiences the poems explored. While the daughter would have begun the travels her mother had already walked before her.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m off on my blogging break and becoming Anaya Jean. Plan to hit the pavement hard in re/writing this story. And by fall will have some ideas ready to pre-plot the sequel for NaNoWriMo.

See you next IWSG day! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Has any of your readers ever responded to your writing in a way that you didn’t expect? If so, did it surprise you? Have any new writing news to share? 

PS Romance writers, you don’t want to miss the Twitter pitch party tomorrow. Usually, it’s held Valentine’s Day February 14th but this year’s #KissPitch is being held tomorrow. Have a completed/unpublished romance or women’s fiction manuscript? Then this pitch party is for you. Good luck!