Need more coffee…

Ugh!

Yup, that pretty much covers my feelings on this day so far. If it’s not one thing it’s another. I swear, my brain is like a narcoleptic hamster on an acid trip that’s stuck clinging to his wheel as it spins madly out of control. Think on that one a while, it’s not a pretty vision. What this all boils down to is a lack of any form of concentration on my WIP. Not a good thing. Need to get this puppy put to bed so I can get rolling on the next one that is already harping on the brain. Thankfully with that deranged hamster in control it’s a pretty low drone of harping, way-way in the distance of my head. For the moment.

It’s when it finally manages to get past the off-his-rocker hamster that I need to truly concern myself with. Don’t need that kind of pressure riding me, from myself no less, to finish my book. Nope, totally not required, needed, nor wanted. With that in mind I intend to caffeinate myself a little more and get to work.

As long as I’m not vibrating too hard of course. It is incredibly difficult to type when your body is vibrating out of control. Though I do find it leads to some funny out takes of what a scene could be with one misplaced word. One word – all it takes to change a scene if it’s the “right” word in a key moment of the scene.

But that’s an entirely different story for maybe another day. Maybe. Right now I’m off to refill the mug, focus with laser guided accuracy on my WIP and get to work! At least that’s the plan. Though I know better than to plan too much, too far along the way. I always end up derailing myself with something… OH! SHINY! As I was saying, best not to get too far ahead. Coffee, writing, all other things of distraction are on the back burner.

Okay… I’m going in. Have a great Sunday folks! ~ Moira

Fabulous Friday

Aug1

There are so many reasons why it’s so much more fabulous than any other Friday of late. First and foremost, it’s obviously Friday which brings the logical and foregone conclusion that a weekend follows promptly, which is true. The added bonuses were:

The boss let us go early – big YAY!
This led to me getting all my chores done before dinner time
It was take-out night, which meant no dishes and very little clean-up (I only do it twice a month so it’s a treat – the rest of the time I cook my meals for the coming week)

Now that I’ve got all that out of the way I get to fully enjoy my three day weekend. Yup, you read that right, we have a long weekend. Thank gawd! I needed one so badly. Plus the creative juices are chugging along so I fully intend to put them to use and get some more of C&M 4 done, if not fully complete the story. Still have a ways to go on it, but with three days I can dedicate most of my waking hours -not including coffee intake, meals, bathroom breaks and the occasional run out of the house to do other things- to getting it a hell of a lot closer to being completed.

Have a great weekend, long or not ~ Moira

Just relaxing

Jul26

Not sure what all I plan to get up to today. Relaxing is at the top of my “to do” list for sure.

I do plan on doing some writing, C&M 4 is still in the works with the crescendo scene quickly approaching. It’s one of the few books of this series that won’t have an immediate bad guy being shown for the readers to get behind. This bad guy’s totally hidden, and will remain so until… Well, I can’t tell you that because that would just ruin the surprise. Which if the characters play along as they should, should be pretty fucking amazing. Course, they do seem to have a mind of their own, so we’ll have to wait and see if they are willing to continue playing ball or not.

Other than a little bit of shopping for me, my b-day gift to myself, I have no other major plans outside of reading a couple of new books that I have awaiting me in my Kindle. Today though will be pure laziness. Lots of movie watching, lots of chocolate eating and some writing. Beyond that I plan on doing nothing strenuous. Though I think I may need to go and beef up my chocolate supply. Only downside to living alone, you can’t blame anyone else for eating your chocolate stash lol!

Well, that’s it folks. Hope you all have a lovely weekend. From a sunny Calgary, hope you all have a marvellous day ~ Moira

Summer has arrived

Jul8

With a vengeance. It’s wonderful really. After a horridly cold winter, and then an indecisive spring, it’s nice to be warm again. It won’t last sadly, but while it does I’m enjoying every second. We’ve even gotten a bit of rain some of the evenings which makes sleeping so wonderfully comfortable. I love when it rains at night, so much more than when it does it the instant I leave work.

I’ve been working on book 4 of C&M Security. No title yet, but I never decide that until the very end, or close to anyway. I’m not one of those people that just knows what the name will be. Sometimes it’ll come to me at an important spot of the story. Usually not though, lol! The writing is going pretty well, it’s a slightly different story from the others. It’s still got trouble in it, it’s still got C&M in it, and it will also be introducing a character that will have a major role in the next book of the series. Haven’t figured where I’m bringing in said character, but I know it will be soon…ish.

Other than that I’ve had a few ideas on a couple other stories I’ve been puttering on. One’s a standalone, the other is a paranormal that I’m still trying to figure out the “rules” of since it’s not of an earthly nature. Trying to figure out how their world works, and all that fun stuff. Then there’s this other potential story that is circling, no clue what it is, but the beginning just keeps circling in my head over, and over, and over, and over again.

On that thought, I’m off to jot this beginning down so maybe I can purge it. Until another day ~ Moira

I’m all giddy!

Jul3

Just got word, AND signed the contract for book 3 of the C&M Security series. Tentatively titled Dangerous Lines I’m all bouncy and grinning like a goof. Which could be considered a little weird since I live alone, but on the plus side, I live alone so there’s no one here to say anything. I even got the Cover & Blurb thing back to them – I’m like super efficient or something today. At least in terms of my writing lol!

Work on the other hand was barely controlled chaos all day long. For those who haven’t been on my Facebook page and seen where I live, I live in Calgary, Alberta Canada. This is important because it’s the time of year when the city goes crazy for the Calgary Stampede. Basically it all boils down to a ten day period where everyone is a cowboy/girl. This includes business men, house wives and every single, damn tourist that comes to town. Yeah, it’s great it’s such a big thing, people come from all over the world. But, really, could they not accept the Canadian way and be semi-polite while jostling for space on the side walks. There’s room enough for everyone, I swear!

In other news, I’ve been working on C&M 4. Not as dedicatedly as I’d like but, m’eh, I’ll get there. Still looking for the “groove” I need to hit where it just flows… That and I’m still not 100% sure what this one’s about. Working on “feeling” out my characters in this book. Both of which were introduced in book 3 by-the-by. The main male had a bit, but very important role in book 3. The main female was in there a bit more though you really won’t get to see what her role in help book 3’s lead characters was until book 4. Figured it was a good tie in doing it a bit backwards.

Not sure how my editor will feel about it all – hopeful she doesn’t smack my fingers overly hard. LOL! Well, methinks that be it for the night. I have writing and plotting to do, so be good everyone. From a slightly overcast Canadian city hosting “The Biggest Outdoor Show on Earth”, I bid you good evening ~ Moira

Day four of a four day weekend

Jul1

First off, to all my fellow Canucks…

Well, this is the last day of my four day weekend – which is so depressing. I quite enjoy this long weekend stuff, I really like it and I’m damn productive too! But it sadly means that I have to go back to the evil “day job”. After finishing and submitting C&M 3 yesterday, tentatively titled “Dangerous Lines”, I started to work on book 4. Actually got a good start to it, not a lot – it was pretty damn late last night – so I wasn’t expecting to get a lot done.

The foundation is there though I still need to figure out how to take it from the tie in of the start deeper into the story. This one will be a slight shift, a different look into the C&M Security I’ve set-up already. While it’s not a departure by any means, it will be a little different take – I hope. LOL! So hard to tell at this point since I’m waiting on the characters to throw in with their ideas on how this will all go. Yes, I’m one of “those” writers. I have no issue allowing my characters to drive my writing bus. Though I do hang onto the map and at least try to play navigator so we don’t end up doing a swan dive into a gorge.

This book will also be stretching my knowledge a little. I’m by no means an expert in anything I write about. This one may need me to reach out to a few folks that are more knowledgeable than I could ever dream of being. Not sure yet, as it all depends on how the characters pull me along. We shall just have to see.

Anyway, I think that covers everything so far today. I need more coffee and then I have a bunch of projects to get working on. So I’m off, have a great day, especially my fellow Canadians. At least at this end of the country it’s turning out to be a beautiful, sunny day. HAPPY CANADA DAY! ~ Moira

Day two of a four day weekend

Jun29

It’s been a pretty productive day over all. At least in my writing world, lol! Everything else, well – I’m just ignoring it until later, or it comes after me, whichever happens first. It was a very rainy day, apparently the weather guy wasn’t wrong – for once. Which meant I had the absolutely perfect excuse to stay inside and write. And write I did.

I’ve got my main female character facing off against our bad guy. He’s in the midst of messing with her, little taunts and threats, that sort of thing. He’s a very polite, well educated, yet ruthless jackass of a man. I’m hoping I’ve developed him into the sort of bad guy that, even while people secretly kind of maybe like him, they want to see him go down. Because, even though he has his own sets of standards, his own moral code, he’s an asshole that needs to be tossed under the jail. Not sure if I’m accomplishing that great feat, but I’m ever hopeful.

Really, my biggest thing is, making him real and believable. Yes he’s a dick, yes he’s the “bad guy”, yes we all know he’s going to get what he’s got coming (cause that’s how I write them), but he still has to feel “real” to the readers. Cause, if they don’t buy it, then the whole thing just flops. Which would abso-freaking-lutely suck ass.

Well, I think that’s about it. I have to go and torment my lead female character a little more, see about the grand rescue, and then a little hanky panky between the leads. Which, given a number of things that have happened to them up to this point, will be pretty damn hot. Have a good night ~ Moira

Day one of a four day weekend

Jun28

Yup, that’s right! I got me a four day weekend. With Canada Day on Tuesday the boss said to hell with it, we’re not working Monday. The reality is, he didn’t want to work on Monday since he wanted to go out to his trailer to spend the weekend on the lake. Don’t blame him, the weather today is freakin’ fantastic! From the forecast, except for a “possible chance of precipitation” the four days look like they will be stellar.

Which means I have four days to write, write and write some more. On day one, today, I slept in. I’ve been battling a bit of a head cold on top of my yearly bout of allergies. It’s been a challenge but with my buddy the Kleenex box at my side, I’ve been making it through. Beyond a bit of sinus ache, it’s actually not all that bad this year around. We’ve had just enough rain to help with the dust issue that always arises right around this time. It’s one of my bigger allergy issues, that and the dry crap that’s kicked up when people mow and de-thatch their lawns for the first couple times of the year. Yes, I’m horribly allergic to the dust kicked up by mowed lawns. If I even get a whiff of a freshly mowed lawn at this time of year I will travel four blocks out of my way to avoid it just so I don’t have the wonderful seizing in my lungs. Can’t avoid it entirely, but I damn well try for the first bit. After the first month though it doesn’t much affect me, unless I’m the poor sucker out there doing the mowing. Which, as I have no lawn thanks to apartment living, I don’t ever have to do.

Up to bat on the writing front is C&M book 3. Still need to finish this sucker off. So I have my TV playing softly in the background, coffee at my elbow, and this sucker is getting done this weekend. Come hell or… Okay, given where I live, I’m not finishing that. Since we had high water’s last year and I’m not temping Fate or anything else. *knocking on wood*

With all that in mind, I’m off to do some writing. Hope you all have a lovely weekend ~ Moira

Sunny Saturday…

Jun21

It’s actually sunny out there, not kidding in the least! It’s a miracle really, given I was starting to feel like I was living in Vancouver (hehe!) after the last couple of weeks of nearly constant rain, and drizzle. I love my neighbors to the West, but seriously, keep the rain over there. Those of us living right across the Rockies are still feeling a little twitchy from last year over anything more than a couple hours of rain.

If I didn’t feel like such a pile o’ shit right now, I think one of my co-workers gave me her cold, I’d be out enjoying it. Instead I’ve been cleaning furiously in an effort to sweat some of it out. Now that I’ve exhausted myself though I think I shall write for a while before I go shopping. Nothing exciting though, just some food for my relatively bare fridge. Not bare-bare, but definitely lacking more than a few beverages, bread, butter and eggs. Need something for dinner, something with a bit of substance, maybe a nice thick and juicy steak. Oh god that sounds good! Of course, if I’m still feeling crappy when I go shopping I’ll likely just get a bunch of comfort foods instead, lol! It’s always that way.

On the writing front I’m stuttering through a bit of C&M Security book 3. I’ve been playing around with getting my hero and heroine back into town to confront the bad guy after they made a necessary, and strategic, retreat to recover from what he’d done. Now I need to get them back onto the playing field, quickly, so that this guy goes down – hard. Not really sure how I’m going to do this, but we’ll see. I’ve got a few ideas that I’ve been playing through, seeing how they’ll come to a conclusion. So far only two really seem to work, but I’m not really sure if it fits them. Oh well, it’ll work out, always does.

I think that’s it from me. I’m going to watch a bit of backlogged TV – Games of Thrones and 24 – while I write. Maybe I’ll be hit by some inspiration ~ Moira

Whole new meaning to Wet Wednesday…

Jun18

The weather is dreadful, raining and nasty cold out there. It has been raining on and off all day long. It’s only just picked up in the last hour or so, the temps dropped and the clouds have lowered enough that it’s truly dismal out there. Ick!

To commemorate this gawd awful day of wet weather I’m getting into the spirit of things with a Wet Wednesday slide show of naked, wet men. All of whom should raise the temperature just a little bit more. These are all images I got out of my purchased file folder – so I have no clue who any of them are, but I really wish I knew at least…well, maybe…screw it, I want to know them all!

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And, because what would a Wet Wednesday be without the one, the only, the original…

Oh yeah, I went there. Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller of course.

All right, I’m off to keep working on my C&M Security book 3 -title yet to be decided- and see if I can’t make my characters nice and uncomfortable for a bit. Before I make them all run for their little lives. It’s good to be in charge of such things, lol!

Have a great night ~ Moira

Moira Callahan

Tag Archives: Plotting