Blogging Mojo

(If you’re looking for the Friday Snippet, it’s one post down — I posted it last night.)

Sorry I’ve been a bit absent this month.  I haven’t had much to talk about, so instead of writing a boring plain-Jane blog post, I’ve simply tried to write.

Yes, tried.  This has been a hard month.  I’ve made modest progress on Vicki but I’ve also been scattered by plot bunnies.  I’ve had something happen TWICE this month that I’ve always longed for — editors have asked me specifically for stories.  Of course that’s wonderful!  But I don’t have anything finished that’s not already contracted.  Many of my ideas percolating on the back burner are connected and so by association, will already have a home assuming they meet with approval. 

I really needed two entirely new ideas.

So I pulled out my Little Black Book – a Moleskin journal I bought at B&N – that’s sort of my catch-all idea book.  When I see a movie, hear a song, overhear a line of conversation, etc. that sparks an idea or feeling, I jot it in that book.  Some are more fleshed out than others, and eventually I’ll move the project to its own notebook or folder.  I’ve been reviewing those ideas, going over my partial files, and listening with that inner sense that tells me YES, this is what I need to work on.

It has to be special.  It has to have heart, that IT feeling that makes me excited to get up at 5 AM and work on it.

Last night, several ideas finally gelled and I was able to get beyond basic premise to almost plot.  I simply need to figure out who my antagonist is and how the ending will pan out.  Some really freaky coincidences have happened in brainstorming that gave me chills.  Things I did not plan, but once I got into the research, made eerie perfect sense. 

Needless to say, my schedule is in a bit of flux.  Because of the distractions, I haven’t finished Vicki and the month is almost over.  I’m juggling things up and down in priority, filing a few things for later, etc.  I still plan to attack the shortest novella on Sept 1st so the next few days I’ll really be hammering out last minute plot details and getting whatever I can on Vicki.  I don’t know if I can manage drafting two projects at the same time — we’ll see.  Both are contemporary, Texan (Dallas vs. Houston), BDSM, and even menage!  Eeee!  Yet they’re entirely different in setup and characterization.  Pretty cool stuff, actually, and I’ll be excited to talk more about them.

Once my editors sign off on them. 🙂