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The Big Swim

Waiting for Godot…err Diana

me waiting for diana small
Waiting….patiently…

It’s Sunday. Time for this week’s book update. Since my latest novel, a sequel to How to Sex Your Snake , takes place in Key West, and I’ve been immersed in research, I thought it would be fun to include some memories from my time on the island. Last week, we looked back at one of my favorite watering holes, the Bull and Whistle bar, which features 3 distinctive bars and with some iffy nudity. This  week, we’re outside, looking at some actual water. But first, the update. 

How to Square Your Grouper – A June Nash Misventure, Book 2

Premise: Following an embarrassing blunder, June heads down to Key West to hide out and accidentally becomes a drug runner.

captn eddie small
Captain Eddy rallies the troops

Genre – Adventure
New words this week –1239 (plus a few pages of handwritten notes)
Total word Count – 13,543 
Release date: Summer 2017

Goals last week: continuing my research, tightening up my outline

What I did: Mainly research. I spend the week reading up on the Coast Guard and some other things that will spoil the book if I mention them. The more I read, the less I feel like I know. I’m currently looking for someone who was actually in the Coast Guard. So, if that was you, drop me a note in the comments. Outlining – I realized I had two different outlines for the book. So, I’ve been combining both into a notebook. That’s my preferred method. I can take paper and pencil more places that I can take my computer. 

Goals for next week: finish up my outline sometime during the week. I’d like to start the actual writing around the 20th. (I’ve got a few pages here and there but it’s mostly in outline form) I’m still living in a delusional state thinking I will be able to hand the book to my editor around tax day. We’ll see. 

This weeks trip down memory lane:

diana close to shore 2 small
I spy with my little eye…

See the boats on the right? Diana Nyad is somewhere in the middle, about to finish her world record Cuba to Key West Swim. Mark and I happened to be biking down the southern side of the island, probably headed to Caroline’s for a cuban sandwich, when we noticed the news crews and the swarm of people on the beach. Mark checked the internet and Diana was still a few hours away, so we did our lunch thing, wandered Duval a bit and then headed back to Smathers. By this point, it was close enough that we decided to lock up the bikes and find a good spot. We lucked into a roped off section and ended up against the barrier. When Diana came ashore, we’d have a ringside seat as she emerged from the Atlantic Ocean. 

And then, of course, life happened. Later, Ms. Nyad said that as she was approaching Key West, she wasn’t sure where she was supposed to land so she just picked a spot. Which wasn’t anywhere close to where everyone was standing. Chaos ensued and people raced to be first to her new landing spot. Mark and I were separated and I quickly gave up. There was no way I was going to get close up to the action. I texted my husband, took my sandals off and headed for the sidewalk and our bikes. And got stuck in another crowd. I pulled out my phone to text Mark again and realized, almost too late, that Diana was on a stretcher being wheeled to an ambulance by EMTs. I hit video on my cell phone and held it up just as they went past. If you’re interested, you can read more about her historic record here. 

 

That’s it for this week. Next Sunday, we’ll reminisce about men dressed in tiny shorts pushing a bed up the street. Believe it or not, it has absolutely nothing yet absolutely everything to do with the time the tiny island of Key West succeeded from the United States.

Until then, keep your head above water, don’t drink too much rum, and Write on,

Melissa

 

 

 

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Key West Quickie

The Rum is for Research

img_2498
The rooftop patio is clothing optional. And no, you really don’t want to partake. 

Last week, I was reading a blog post from one of my favorite tv writers, Ken Levine, and he talked about a director friend who wanted to make his next movie in Hawaii. Didn’t care what the movie was. He just wanted a few months in paradise. I totally get that. Why immerse yourself in something that doesn’t tickle your fancy?

 

That’s why I decided to set my next book, a sequel to How to Sex Your Snake, in one of my favorite places on Earth. The spot where I hung my hat from ’12 – ’14.

You can’t go home again…

Screw that. Sure you can.

For two years, the tiny island of Key West was home and I spent my days pedaling from sandy shore to quaint cafe to rowdy bar. Mornings strolling the stretch of surf on Smathers Beach, afternoons parked at a corner table in Sippin Cafe hammering out How to Sex Your Snake, evenings meeting up with my husband and/or friends for half priced happy hour munchies and booze.

What better place for June’s next MisAdventure?

While I know the island fairly well, there are always things I will need to double check for accuracy. Rather than spend all my time surfing the internet, I thought it would be a lot more fun to get my research the old fashioned way.  In person.

Two weeks ago, I was down, taking some preliminary notes and photographing spots where all sorts of delightfully horrible things would happen to poor June. As I continue to work my outline, more questions will spring up and I will probably head back down in about six weeks seeking answers. And a bit of rum. And maybe a morning of drag queen bingo.

As I continue to research and write the new book, I’ll post updates each Sunday, just like I did for How to Sex Your Snake. This time, though, since my setting is Key West, I’ll include favorite memories from my time on the island. Think rum, rebellion, ribs, sexy men pushing beds down the street, and eager tourists getting their drink on and letting their hair down. Fill out that little form in the upper right corner to follow along.

 

 

img_2535
They make an excellent Club Sandwhich

 

Onto this weeks update:

How to Square Your Grouper – A June Nash Misventure, Book 2

Premise: Following an embarrassing blunder, June heads down to Key West to hide out and accidentally becomes a drug runner.

Genre – Adventure
New this week – 0
Total Count – 12, 304
Release date: Summer 2017

 

 

Goals for the week: Continue my research and outline. Right now it’s all about the planning. The tighter my outline, the faster I’ll write the actual book.

This weeks trip down memory lane: See that photo at the top? That’s the Bull and Whistle Bar. It’s a three story establishment and a hopping spot for drunken sing alongs on the first floor, aka The Bull. Get there early. Most nights you’ll find a singer/s covering hits from the good old days along with original offerings. The bartenders are friendly, the featured performers get the crowds roaring along and you’re bound to make a friend or two. When your voice gives up, climb the stairs to the second floor , aka The Whistle, for a game of pool and a quiet drink while you watch the madness of Duval Street from a safe spot on the balcony. And when you’ve gotten your second wind, head to the stairs one more time and climb all the way up to the Garden of Eden, a clothing optional rooftop oasis. And while that may sound titillating, beware. For every beautifully firm co-ed grooving topless on the dance floor there are two pasty old naked guys sitting on towels at the bar. Unless that’s your thing. Then by all means, indulge.

And what about me? Did I ever find myself grooving in the garden? Sort of. We got a lot of company while we lived in Key West and visitors always wanted the full experience. And while my dancing never involved nakiditity I was known to sneak a peak or two at those  who did.

That’s it for this week’s update.

Keep your clothes handy and Write On,

Melissa

 

 

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11-2-15 Word Count

fosterdog mia in her new sweater
Fosterdog Mia, sitting on a rug that needs vaccuminig, while wearing her new sweater.

Had enough of Lisabeth Salander for the moment and I took Girl with the something or other back to the library. I think I’m on page 290. Ish. It’s written down. Somewhere. Reading this book has felt like the girl with the everyday mostly uninteresting life. Do I really need to know what she and her cohort Mick do every day? Especially when it has what feels like nothing to do with the main story? If there is one. While I liked the part with the math, why were those first 150 or so pages included? If you tell me via the blurb on the back of the book that I’m about to dive into a double murder mystery and then you don’t even have that happen until almost page 300, I’m gonna be unhappy with you. If, in December, when I’ve got some free time, and if I wonder, hey, whatever happen to that Girl with the something or other, I’ll swing back up to Crandon library. Until then, I’ve got a half a dozen ebook samples I’m going to look through to try and figure out what I need to read next.

On to the word count.

I spent the last two weeks in high gear trying to knock out the rest of the rewrites before Halloween. Like I keep telling my husband. I’m close. Oh, so close.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New this week – 5460 words
Total Count – 44,547 words
Release date:  Pre-orders Dec 10

Gonna leave the release date as is for the moment. There’s still a chance that it will all come together.

Goals from last week: 8 chapters of rewrites. I got about half of that done. I’m back at it in the morning.

Goals for next week: did you see that I wrote week and not time? To keep on track, I have to finish and get this off to my editor. I’m also doing Nanowrimo this year. My 50k words will be a very detailed outline for my next June Nash book. Today (or rather yesterday, I’m writing this on the 1st to upload on the 2nd. Ain’t technology grand) I’ve written a whole 340 words for namo. Pretty amazing, huh? Actually, not bad since I’m not feeling well. I woke up dizzy this morning. Something that just happens. Doesn’t seem to be caused by anything. I just wake up dizzy and write off the day as lost. I’ve been planted on the couch, watching football and I’ll move to the bedroom, shortly, to watch more football. The one bright spot today, was a quick video chat with one of my favorite friends, James.

So, if you missed it in there, cause I kinda did, goals for next week: finish the damn book. Send it to my editor. Have 15,003 words on my namo book completed. Now, I’m gonna get set up for the packers game. Go pack!

Write on,

Melissa

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10-13-15 Tuesday Word Count

 

bear poop
poop!

A black bear has hitting the apple tree on the edge of our back yard leaving lots of piles of lovely poop. So far, the dogs haven’t spotted him. (we haven’t either) The last bear I saw near our house, was off in the brush, watching us stroll by with the dogs. (I think I’ve mentioned that horrible day) Bears freak me out a bit. They’re huge. After two seasons here, I’ve still only run into two bears while on foot. I’m hoping that never climbs to three.

Onto the word count.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New this week – 564 words
Total Count – 39,087 words
Release date:  Pre-orders Dec 10

Writing has sucked this last month. I’ve been running ’round in circles with rewrites since early Sept not liking any of the drafts.

wiz of oz puzzleFeeling really blocked, unlike the bear who has been scarfing down all the apples from our tree, I turned to one of my favorite mind-freeing activities that doesn’t involve rum.

Puzzles!

I love puzzles so much. Always have. One of my favorite memories of my dad is working together on a giant puzzle of a lion head. I think I was about 10.

So anyway, after about two weeks of non stop puzzling, I got back to the computer and churned out the rewrites. They went off to the retired cop and came back with a big thumbs up. I’m moving through chs 3-11 fixing a sentence or two here and there so that the changes make sense. I’ll be back to work on the ending of the book either today or tomorrow.

Goals from last time: Getting the rewrites done. It took long enough but it did happen.

Goals for next time: See, I didn’t write next week, since I’ve had some issues getting a blog post out every week. I have 8 chapters that need that final draft touch. If I can tackle each chapter over 2-3 days, I can finish by Halloween. Then the draft goes to my editor for a final pass. Once I get that back, approx mid Nov, I will implement the changes and then send copies go out to my format readers who will be looking for anything that was missed. (Not by my editor but by me not getting the change fixed correctly. My editor is a seasoned pro) Hopefully, the readers will be sending manuscripts back to me the first week of Dec. The book will then move into pre-sales on Dec 10. Sooner if the stars align.

Nanowrimo. Are any of you doing it this year? I love this event. It’s part of the reason I want to finish this month. I have enough of my outline for the next book in the series and I’d like to knock out a rough 1st draft in November. If you’ve never heard of nanowrimo, it’s national novel writing month. You write a 50k word book in 30 days. If you decide to do it, make sure you plan ahead and put together as much of an outline as you can. It will make the writing flow easier. Outlining always does. Now I’ve got to get back to work. Today is a double run day. (easy 3 miler this afternoon, yasso’s later tonight) We’re training for another half marathon.

Hope the leaves are beautiful where you are. (they kinda suck here. None of the gorgeous reds we had last year)

Write on,

Melissa

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9-15-15 Tuesday Word Count

dogs sunning on porch
when we move, the surviving voles and chipmunks will thow a block party.

Today marks day three of my Harvey Fierstein impression. At least I managed to get up off the couch, stuff a few tissues in my pocket and head to breakfast at the casino. I used lots of hand sanitizer and tried not to stand too close to anyone. Right now, I’m out on the patio at home, basking in some of the last rays of sunshine before winter hits. This time last year, we’d already had snow. I think. I remember it coming early.

I managed to get some work done on the book this week, despite being sick. I tried to think of a completely non writing related post and failed beautifully. I’ve already written about the trees and the occasional bear and that’s pretty much it.

Nothing else interesting. Oh, I got 4 out of 5 double 7s this am so I won 45 bucks instead of 7K. Thank goodness. I don’t know what in the world I would have done with all that money. On to the word count.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New since Thursday –  664 words
Total Count –  38523 words
Release date: Pre-orders mid October

Goals from last week: edits on the fixes to the crime scene. I’m almost done with that. I’m feeling pretty good so I might have the energy to sit out here for a while. Uh oh. I just saw husband give me his I’m starving look through the sun porch (snake room) door. I might get sidetracked here shortly.

I wrote a couple of drafts of fixes to ch 2 and 3. One more pass and they should be good to go. After that, I need to get back to a my second and in some cases third drafts of 13-18. Though, chapter 18 might get absorbed into 17 and 15 might end up being split into two. In any event, I still have quite a bit to do to finish. If I can get a good two weeks of work in, I could still be done end of September. Maybe. Probably not though. If the next couple of weeks are like the last couple of weeks, I’ll still be plugging away come Halloween. I just hope my beta readers don’t get bored and wander off.

This log has definitely been helpful to me in analyzing my work flow. If you haven’t kept track, it sucks. I think I write 3 to 4 days a week, usually for 3 hours but sometimes for up to 6. I am making continuous notes though, so when I do sit at my computer, I work continuously. That’s something I suppose.

Goals for next week: as usual, finish. Other than that, finish. Oh and I’d like to finish. Realistic goals? Final draft of 2, 3 (with the changes) final drafts of 12 and 13. We’ll see what happens. Have a good week and enjoy the warm weather if you’ve got it.

Write on,

Melissa

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9-7-15 Monday Word Count

maple leaf
Winter’s on the way.

Got woken up a bit after 5 Sunday morning and had to drive to the next town over to pick up the kid from his night shift job. We’ve always told him, if he’s too tired to drive, call and we’ll pick him up. So we did. (living in the boonies sucks sometimes) The rest of the day was spent being exhausted while some pretty intense storms kept the house dark and dreary. Tried waking up with a movie, Star Wars, but we kept konking out and then rewinding to the last point we remembered. I’m not sure we ever saw the whole film. After napping off and on all day, we were surprised to actually sleep through the night. I’m working from the living room today. It’s a bit cold at my desk, and this table has a nice view of the golf course.

Last week, or so, I finally got around to having an expert look at a very small scene that I knew was full of all sorts of errors. I figured it would be an easy fix, once I found out what would really happen in that situation.  Boy was I wrong. The changes rippled all through the entire friggin’ book. So, since then, I’d been rewriting and making notes of what still needed to be fixed. (I’m pretty mad at myself because I know better than this. Always check with your expert first.)

walking dogs
Hurrying through mosquito loop.

Then two days ago, I needed to clear my head so I took the dogs for a walk. We didn’t get far before I realized I could easily fix everything with the next scene and nothing after that would have to change. Now, I’m going through and doing some restorations. I’m anxious to finish this and get back to work on the edits of the last couple of chapters.

Once all that’s done, the manuscript still needs to go back to the editor for a last look and then onto the folks checking for formatting and missed errors.  (I keep finding extra spaces at the end of sentences. This is so much easier to see on a printed sheet) Because of this, I’ve updated the approximate release date.

Onto the word count.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New since Thursday –  3389 words
Total Count –  37859 words
Release date: Pre-orders mid October

Goals for next week: keeping up with the edits and then actually writing a post next Sunday. That’s a huge goal. I’ve been terribly lax about keeping track of my week’s work.

Things will be much easier now that the golf season is winding down. I have my last day in the bar cart soon, probably this Saturday. For the rest of September, I’ll still follow Mark over to the bar on his nights and write at a back table. The course closes at the end of the month so it won’t be long until I’ll be able to get into a writing routine for winter.

Hope it’s sunny where you are.

Write on,

Melissa

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8-17-15 Monday Word Count

concerned fosterdog mia at vet
Fosterdog Mia

Company is finally all gone and I don’t expect anymore this season.

Red wine is now my nightly prescription thanks to a high LDL Cholesterol level. It wasn’t horrible. It was 120 and should be under 100. Having that double cheeseburger at 11:30 the night before a fasting blood draw might not have been my best idea ever. I’m not a fan of red wine but my brother-in-law left a few bottles and so far, it’s all been quite good. On the plus side, I don’t wake up feeling dehydrated and tired like I do after a big glass of white wine.

We’ve added planks to our marathon training. My core muscles hate me very much right now. (why couldn’t my husband’s midlife crisis have involved fast cars or loose women?) We have a 10 mile race in a month and we’re looking for our next half marathon. There’s one in New Orleans in Feb that we’re considering. I’d love me a hurricane at Pat O’briens and am ready for nice long visit with a favorite friend who blew that way a couple of years ago.

I’m finally back to multiple hours in front of the computer. Since it had been awhile, I sat down with a copy of the book and read end to end. I like to do this periodically to make sure it’s flowing with plenty of June-ness. Most was. Some parts, not so much. This led to an extra 400 words at the end of ch 2, 1ooo replacement words in ch 11, about 1000 words dropped and then another 1000 new ones scattered here and there.  Or something like that. In the end, my words count did not jump by much.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New since Thursday –  438 words
Total Count – 34470 words
Release date: Pre-orders mid September 

Goals for next week: The complete book printed out and shipped off to my editor. She said she can get it back to me the first week of September. Then it goes out to 4 lovely volunteers that my beta reader Rosie found. They’ll look for any formatting issues. The total word count should be around 40k.

Of course, this is all dependant on me finishing by the 24th. As you can see in the top photo, fosterdog Mia is a bit concerned that I won’t be able to pull it off. I’m gonna pour a really big glass of the red stuff and do my best. See you next week.

Write on,

Melissa

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7-26-15 Sunday Word Count

cookie photo
Best mother-in-law ever. A whole bag. Just for me. Whoo-hoo. Wait. I’m suppposed to share? Riiiight.

On Thursday, I decided to stay at it till I wrote the words, The End. When I was done, I was going to celebrate by making a delicious pizza at the bar and eating it all by myself. 

Well, I didn’t get the pizza, cause the kitchen closed before I could get in there, but hallelujah, praise the saints, and stand to one side while the peasants rejoice; I got the first draft of the last chapters done. (yes chapter 18 is one long paragraph of dialog and action but it will get fixed.)

This happy camper says onto the word count. 

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New since Thursday –  2024 words
Total Count – 34032 words
Release date:  late Summer 2015 

Goals for next week: attacking various parts of chapters 11-18. I don’t plan on doing this in any particular order. I will probably jump from here to there and all around until it’s finished. I’m going to shoot for sending the book to my editor on August 9th. 

The August 9 goal probably means How to Sex Your Snake will have a release date in September because my editor still has to have her way with it.

Cover design update: I’ve been in touch with an excellent artist who said he’d be in touch shortly. Not sure he’ll take the job but I’m hoping. I think his style would work really well with my June Nash series.

And now, I’m exhausted. We were up at 6 for a set of 8x800s at the gym. Run fast for 8 half mile stretches, walk slow for 3 mins in between each. Whatever you run on average is what you’d run for a marathon. We won’t talk about our times. We’re in it for the pics with Disney Characters.  We’re looking at you Tinkerbell half marathon at Disneyland in May.

Have a good week and write on,

Melissa

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Mid Week hoopla

pizza pic
Eat me I’m delicious

I plan to make a replica of this yummy pizza at the bar tonight after I finish a rough of the last two chapters and type, the end.

Then, I’ll pop some antacid, cause I’m gonna eat the whole thing, before I go back and fix what needs fixing in chs 11-16. Or 17. That last chapter might have to be split into two. Hopefully all that doesn’t take more than two weeks.  Rosie, my beta reader has been tapping her foot waiting for the next chapters. She hates when I leave her hanging.

It’s not Sunday, but I’ll end with the word count. When it’s all complete, I figure it will be around 40k.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New since Sunday –  2863 words
Total Count – 32,008 words
Release date:  late Summer 2015

Write on,

Melissa

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7-20-15 Sunday Word Count

golf cart art
Interesting water damage on one of the golf carts.

I know. It’s Monday. Oh well.

No bear sightings since the last post. Things like that make my husband sad while things like that make me breathe a little easier.

287 laps at the gym last night just to get to 13.1 miles for a practice half marathon. Today, I’m still leaning to the left. On to the word count.

How to Sex Your Snake

Genre – Mystery
New this week –  1435 words
Total Count – 29,145 words
Release date:  late Summer 2015

Goals from last week: A rough draft of 12-14. Well, I didn’t get much done until company of ten days, left. I have most of 12 done, but I realized I needed to do a better job of showing June’s inability to remember names. So, I spent most of my time, going back through and editing. That led to more editing. Blast you editing. You’re a time stealer. Yesterday, I was back on track. I wrote most of the new words while hanging out in the course clubhouse. (if you’re just joining us, I work as a bartender at a golf course owned by a family member) I’ll be hanging out there as much as I can for the next week or so to see if that helps. I’ve never been one to write at home, not that I’ve ever mentioned how home is too quiet and too close to the tv remote and the bounty of netflix and pitifully droned on about how I’m weak. Oh so weak. When I lived in civilization, I wrote at public places. Coffee houses, Denny’s, the library. I could knock off a 22 page script, for my webseries, in an afternoon and my feature in 6 weeks. (If I hadn’t shot it, I could have used the time to write 2 or three more before moving to Key West and being distracted by a whole new set of obstacles) Here there’s not really any place to loose yourself in the writing without someone wanting you to order something or get the hell out. Parking myself at a back table at the clubhouse might work. Yes, I will shut up about this and get over there. In 90 minutes. We really need to try to set in the bones of the closet so I can hang everything back up. I’m getting tired of going into the guest room to work my way through a tangle of clothes wearing hangers tossed on the guestbed. Did I mention we’re redoing our highly disfunctional walk-in closet?

Back to the word count. Some headway was also made on the book cover. Another reason I need to fnish these last chapters and get the book to my editor. My fingers are crossed that I can post a cover in the next couple of weeks.

Goals for next week: Geez. Let’s see. How about 12 done and to the editor and a rough of 13. I won’t aim too high cause, you know, of how weak I am.

Look out for bears and write on,

Melissa