I could have added about ten more things to that title, but I think it’s too long already. But my brain is busy all the time. Too busy sometimes. This is why writers always have somewhere to take notes, whether it’s a notepad and pen at hand, or their smartphone or tablet: because we can’t possibly be expected to remember everything that comes to us, be it story idea or shopping list.
( Photo credit: Courtney Dirks / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) )
One of my top 5 items is finishing the rewrites on Medusa #2, which I believe will make the rest of my hair turn white before they’re done.
But I’m also pondering things for down the road, like January 6, 2015, when the paperback of Hunting Medusa is released. Things like swag. Aside from the ubiquitous bookmarks, what other things do readers really want to collect from authors they like? I asked over on my Facebook page a while back and didn’t get much in the way of help. I hope some of you here have ideas. I mean, I could get a million bookmarks, but I don’t think everyone wants those, and I’m hoping for ideas. In other words, help!
Something else I’ve been thinking about are story snippets. I love when an author I read posts teasers of an upcoming or recent release. But I wonder if I’m the only one. I try to post something regularly on the Facebook page, but, while I can see the post is being looked at, there aren’t very many responses. Have I ever mentioned writers are insecure? Yeah, that.
And while we’re on snippets, I have a little one for here today, too, from Hunting Medusa.
—–
He pondered for several minutes as they walked, and then realized he could hear water that was louder than the stream below. The falls. “Can we go faster?” If Stavros had arrived early, he might already be in the forest, and on their trail. Kallan wanted to have her safely away before dark, when it would be harder for his cousin to track them. But he did wonder how the cave was protected exactly. That might prove problematic.
She squared her shoulders. “Of course.” She picked up her pace a little, and he smiled at her back.
Of course she could. She’d never admit weakness. Not to him. Not even to him. Maybe especially not to him. “Agaph.”
She stumbled, then righted herself, her wide, wary eyes turning back toward him.
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Shock widened her eyes more. “What?”
He caught her upper arms. “I said I’m falling in love with you.” He bent and pressed a hard kiss on her mouth, ignoring the heat rising up in him. “I can hear the water. How far?”
She stared at him for a moment, as if she hadn’t heard the question, then gave her head a slight shake. “Maybe half a mile. You’ll have to swim.” She pulled away and started walking again.
He huffed out a hard breath and followed her. She didn’t believe him. Why should she? He hadn’t given her much to believe in since his arrival, except his intent to kill her and find a way to take the amulet.
——
Have I mentioned lately how much I love Kallan?
I also love Ryder, the hero in Medusa #2. But rewriting this one to make it better is frustrating. Worse, I still haven’t found the right music to make it go faster, more smoothly. I know there are writers who don’t write to music, or write to instrumental music, but I need something with lyrics that fit my story and characters, and this one just isn’t making it easy. Of course, it took me until nearly halfway into Hunting Medusa to find the right music for that story and characters. I’m going to try not to pull out all my hair while I fight with this one.
A non-romance-reading friend who read
My shiny new cover art! isn’t it pretty?
left a review for it and said she got an email that a reader found it helpful, which means someone I don’t know bought my book based on her comments. I hope they like it as much as she did.
That’s one of those random thoughts I have. I hope everyone who’s read it has loved it. I’m sure that isn’t the case, since we all have very different tastes, but since I love those characters and their journey, it’s painful to think someone else may feel differently. (And there’s that insecurity again. Ugh.)
I think I’ll save some of the rest of those countless random thoughts for another day, however. I hope you’ll let me know what you think of the snippet above, and hey, if you have ideas for swag, let me know that, too, please!