click here for the Thankfully Naughty Giveaway Hop!

The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

It’s been intense around here lately, compact emotions bursting at the seams. After one of the most profound weekends of my existence, I’m ready to look forward.

We have one month left in 2013 and only a few weeks left in this forth round of eighty days. I’m looking forward to 2014, but I have lots yet to do this year. I have two WIPs that need finishing and polishing and tons of marketing to do.

I need another cup of coffee, lol.

I haven’t started my Christmas shopping, nor have I ordered my Christmas cards.

Yikes!

This month is going to be crazy. I accept that. There’s a lot I’ve had to accept lately. It’s an important thing to do. Once you accept, you can move forward. This is where I want to be, moving forward. Eyes front, Maylee.

Oh! Segue Alert.

How about a look at my next release. I can share my new cover. This made me smile. I hope you like it too.

UNTANGLE ME releases Thursday. You can read more about it and add it to your Goodreads TBR list here.

The Goals – week-8 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- half done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- half done. I finished final edits this week, sent in my dedication (can’t wait to share it), picked my teaser excerpt, and approved my awesome cover art. These final steps were definitely easier the second time around. Bonus, I’m not a newbie, lol. The rest of the week got swallowed by guest post writing, marketing, getting five days of evil day job done in three days, and lots of family time.
• Take care of and be kind to myself- done. This week was less about the physical care and more about the emotional care and I did hit the mark there. Now, I need to get my focus on the physical side too.
  

What you might have missed here this week:

Inside Look with Amy Gregory author of Mike’s Way Back

Daily Picspiration – Backwards and Forwards with Roxanne and Jonathon

click here for the Thankfully Naughty Giveaway Hop!

The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

It takes an effort to be happy. For some it comes easier and it certainly can be easier on happy occasions, but for the rest it takes an effort. To start, you need to want to be happy.

Really?

Yes, you need to want it. I can tell you, since I’m in the middle of grieving for my FIL, it’s hard to want it. Emotions are so strange.

This week I planned the flowers for the memorial service. As you know, I love flowers and so did my FIL. It was one of the things we talked about all the time.

It was an honor to do this for my family. The white vase is for my MIL and it will be filled with white oriental lilies and white calla lilies. White and red were the colors of their wedding and fiftieth wedding anniversary this summer. So, we decided to go with pure white.

Besides red, my FIL enjoyed all shades of purple. The vase from the brothers/myself and the vase from my two boys, I picked mostly purple. I think it will be beautiful. Happy. My FIL enjoyed life. He got a kick out of making people laugh. It’s okay to still be sad. It’s okay to celebrate his life. It’s okay to be happy.

If I’m going to be happy, I’m going to have to want it.

This light bulb moment arrived the same evening as the edits for my next release. Coincidence? I think not. I can not wait to release this story. I’m proud of it. I love the characters and their courage. They filled me up yesterday as I read their story once again. Thank you Ivy and Seth.

The Goals – week-7 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- half done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- half done. Sunday and Monday I was still moving full steam ahead. Once Tuesday arrived, I fell apart. Planning for my FILs memorial kicked my grief into high gear and I lost my energy to write. Between Sunday and Monday I added just shy of 4k to the WIP and I ended the week editing my next release and sending it back to my publisher. It’s surreal to be excited and heart broken at the same time. Life moves forward and I will too. I probably won’t get back into Nano, but that’s okay. I had no idea I could write 29k in 18-days. I learned a lot this month. I also see lots of writing and editing in my future and that makes me happy. 🙂
• Take care of and be kind to myself- half done. This week I had a hard time with this goal, because taking care of myself makes me feel better and it’s hard to feel happy. UGH!! Grief sucks. Anger is only stage two. Grr. I’ll probably be bouncing around the stages this week. Just like writing, grief is a journey and not a sprint. I have to choose to be happy. This is definitely a Week 8 Priority.

What you might have missed here this week:

Spotlight: Inn for the Holidays by Ella Jade

Spotlight: RIVER RECKONING by Jenny Lyn

Mid Week Tease: Nadia’s Slip and Ethan’s Catch <– I shared from my NaNo project

Thankfully Naughty Giveaway Hop! <– stop by for a look at TAKING CHANCES and my soon to be new release UNTANGLE ME. Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win.

The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

I lost my father-in-law this week. He’s at peace and although this does help, I have a long road ahead before I’m through all the stages of loss and grief.

I moved through denial pretty quickly. I’ve actually been dealing with this one for weeks. I kept hoping he would get better, that cancer would let us win. I’ve been angry a lot. I’m pissed that he’s gone, that I only knew him for 18-years, but mostly I’m angry that my boys won’t have him around. Thank goodness for pictures and videos. I’m starting to deal with bargaining. Depression is most definitely here. I’m so very sad. I can’t, just can’t put that in words. Acceptance will come, I know, but today I’ll cry.

My FIL was an amazing man. He met his wife of over 50-years when he was 16. He knew then that she was the one. She’s one lucky lady. He was a proud Navy man who enjoyed talking about his years of service. He raised two incredible sons. Although he hated high school, he excelled at games like Trivial Pursuit and Jeopardy. He was one of the smartest men I’ve known. If you had a question, about anything, he was your man.

He was a techy guy too. With his thirst for knowledge, he kept up on all the changes, but he hated Facebook. We talked about it a few times, but he just never got on board which is why I didn’t mention him there this week. It didn’t feel right.

I can’t tell you how many times he and I would sit at the dinning room table. I would be typing away and he would be searching for something. Throughout the day we’d share things. These little talks will stay with me always.

He also had a love of music, from classical all the way to AC/DC. He loved to rock. Many times I entered their house to loud, very loud music. He is definitely behind my husbands love of music. One of his all time favorites was Bob Seger – Old Time Rock n Roll.

So, this one’s for you, Chuck. I love you.

The Goals – week-6 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- done. I thought about throwing in the towel on NaNoWriMo a few times this week and I still might, but for now the distraction is helping. I added just over 11k this week which beats my one week 9k total from last week.
• Take care of and be kind to myself- I could be doing a better job of this, but that’s okay. I’m trying and that’s all that matters right now. Week 7 Priority.

What you might have missed here this week:

Inside Look with Raven McAllan author of Livvy’s Devil Dom

Spotlight: Sweetest Splendor by Kacey Hammell

The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

Understatement of the year -> NaNoWriMo is an interesting experience. This challenge is revealing all sorts of things I didn’t know. This isn’t the first time I took my writing seriously, but until these last nine days, I didn’t really see what I was capable of and I can now also see my own personal limits.

I’ve often struggled with all of my distractions. As a stay at home mom who also works from home, distractions are my reality and social media compounds the issue. Having this word count goal hanging over my head has gotten me to see my day in a whole new light.

I had a productive week. Yes I did. For the girl who’d never written more than 3k in one week, I’d say writing over 9k was certainly productive. However, there were a few things around the house that didn’t get done and I’m not sure if they’ll get done until December, lol.

Thank goodness I’m not hosting Thanksgiving this year. 🙂

I’ve always said I’m a mix of plotter and panster. My plot lines change and grow as I go, but I struggled this week when I didn’t have things plotted. I averaged 1300 words a day and I’m now 1k behind my NaNoWriMo goal. My most productive hours were those that had been pre-plotted. Sure, things still changed while I went, but only those scenes that had a direction got the easy traction.

Hi. I’m S.J. Maylee and I’m a plotter. 🙂

NaNoWriMo is revealing. I’m still not sure if I’ll win, but I’m looking forward to what else this journey will reveal.

You can find me here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/sjmaylee

The nominations are still open for the First Annual Evernight Publishing Readers’ Choice awards. I’d love your support. There are 36 exciting categories. You may skip categories, however nominations are limited to one per category per person. 

Enter your name and email address at the end of the nomination form for a chance to win a $25 Evernight Gift Certificate!

 I believe you have until November 15th to nominate your favorite Evernight books and the semi-finalists will be announced and voting begins on November 17^th. Click the pic to find enter.

The Goals – week-5 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- This goal is definitely done. I started the week ahead of my word count goal because I knew I was starting the week out of town. The rest of the week I kept going and pushed the word count. Plotting troubles sent me on a detour the last couple of days and I lost my footing a little bit, but I hope to catch up today. I wrote over 9k this week. 😀
• Take care of and be kind to myself- half done. My week started with spending time with my in-laws. My FIL is in hospice and it’s an incredibly hard time. Lots of tears were cried this week and it looks like it’s going to be another hard week ahead. It’s definitely a perfect time to be kind to myself and I’m doing the best I can. I’m letting the tears come, but I could be doing a better job taking care of my physical needs. Week 6 Priority.

What you might have missed here this week:

A visit from The Housewife and the Film Star by Doris O’Connor

Twice the Fun – TRR’s Year End Splash and Readers’ Choice Awards

The writing challenge that knows you have a life.

To NaNoWriMo or not? All month I said no. I have a book releasing this month. I need to finish polishing and submit my next story. My FIL is now in hospice and I’ll be seeing him as much as possible. It’s the first of the last two crazy months of the year. I said no. I kept saying no because internally I kept saying yes. I should have known.

The last day to plan came and guess what I was doing? Signing up for NaNoWriMo and prepping to write. OMG! Yes, I’m crazy, but I’m doing it.

You can find me here: http://nanowrimo.org/participants/sjmaylee

Evernight Publishing is holding their first annual Readers’ Choice awards. I’d love your support. There are 36 exciting categories. You may skip categories, however nominations are limited to one per category per person. 

Enter your name and email address at the end of the nomination form for a chance to win a $25 Evernight Gift Certificate!

 I believe you have until November 15th to nominate your favorite Evernight books and the semi-finalists will be announced and voting begins on November 17^th. Click the pic to find enter.

I’m taking part in The Romance Review’s Year End Splash. It’s a fabulous event with over 400 authors. There are more than 400 prizes up for grabs during the whole month of November and the Grand prize is a $100 Gift Certificate! You can find my game on Nov 8, from 12:00am EST to 11:59pm EST on the event page at their site. Hop on over then and enter for your chance to win a copy of my debut, TAKING CHANCES.

You’ll need to be registered on their site to enter, but it’s quick and free. Click the pic to start the party.

The Goals – week-4 results

• Spend at least 1-hour a day with my characters- done.
• Daily progress in writing craft, word count, editing, and/or plotting- half done. Again, the beginning of my week got swallowed by the evil day job and my volunteer responsibilities. I also attended a field trip for my youngest on Monday and worked his school party. By the time I got back on track, I made some decent progress on my WIP on Wednesday and Thursday I decided to NaNoWriMo. WHAT!! I had one day to prepare. Yes, I’m nuts. I pulled out one of three stories I’ve been wanting to write. I built out my structure in Scrivener, started my beat sheet, and named my characters and places. Friday came and went with only 966 words. Yesterday, I got back on track by adding 4,041 words. Yes, you read that right. 4k in one day. I’ve never done that.
• Take care of and be kind to myself- I had a couple of long chats with each of my two besties from High School and that did this girl a lot of good. We ranted and got out the uglies of our lives, then me moved on to happier things. They love to tell me how much they love my stories and how excited they are for my ROTG to release. They’re great cheerleaders. I hope you have cheerleaders in your lives. Give them a call this week. Tell them how much you appreciate them and let them put a smile on your face.

What you might have missed here this week:

Daily Picspiration – A Beautiful Day

Spotlight: Night of the Horse by Elodie Parkes

Flash Fiction #51 – The Exploration