This week was an interesting experience, expanding a short story into a novel. It also allowed me to revisit a character who needed more of her story told, so I was glad to be able to do that. Below is me reading an excerpt from the new book, Herstory.

I'm one of the panelists for the Writers' Guild of Alberta's Controversy @ Noon online panel today, which takes place at noon MT.

Together with Matthew Stepanic, Travis J. Croken, and Christine S. Taylor, we will give you the rundown on where we see AI in the creative business and why our discussion is a hot button topic these days.

The event is FREE to attend - you can register HERE through the WGA. Hope to see you then!

​Monday, June 24 --- 5,066 words

Tuesday, June 25 --- 1,092 words

Wednesday, June 26 --- 6,918 words

Thursday, June 27 ---  6,710 words

Friday, June 28 --- 5,424 words

Saturday, June 29 --- 5,760 words

Sunday, June 30 --- 9,554 words

TOTAL words for Week 10 --- 40,524 words

I'm a little bit late getting this week's book info out into the world, mainly because I'm preparing for guests. Tomorrow, my kids' grandparents are going to come for a week-long visit, which the girls are very excited about. It'll be a lot of fun! So, I've been busy cleaning my house in preparation. Let me tell you, I'd rather be writing than scrubbing toilets, ha.

But now that my home is spic and span, I can get back to business. So, this week is going to dive into dark and uncharted waters in more ways than one. First off, I'm taking a short story that I've written called "Herstory" (which you can read part 1 HERE and part 2 HERE), and turning it into a full novel of the same name. Pretty exciting, right? I've never tried to turn a short into a book before. Here's what it's all about:

Sexism is a thing of the past shortly after biological warfare by an extremist group releases an airborne virus that targets men. The women left to pick up the pieces must learn how to function again in a society that doesn’t include the Y chromosome, including for purposes of reproduction, friendship, and love.
 
Twelve years have passed since the genocide, and Lori is old enough to remember the time before, although the government issues various laws and proclamations to quash dissent against their repressive policies. She’s secretly struggled with the idea of obedience to this new world order, since others she’s known who have spoken up have been taken away for “repurposing.”
 
However, when Lori’s chosen to be a part of Onenation’s inaugural mass reproduction, she has her own personal reasons for accepting. When her baby is deemed imperfect and taken away from her and she’s thrown into jail for protesting, she hatches a plan to overcome the extremist government that metaphorically (and sometimes literally) kills any opposition to them. As a former biologist, does she have the tools necessary to bring the lost gender back from the dead? And, in doing so, can she find a way to erase the mistakes of the past and move America—and the world—forward again?

Okay, time to get cracking on this one. See you on Sunday when I will share an excerpt from this new(ish) book idea. Until then, have a great week!

I had a fun time traveling back in time to the 1990s - a decade I lived through many years ago. Back then, we had no idea what was to come once we hit the millennium... but that's another story. I think I even have a pair of original Doc Marten boots around somewhere, perhaps in a box I'll never open. They were my go-to footwear.

So, along those lines, here's an excerpt from my new novel Walk a Mile, where my character gets to find out what the '90s were like for the first time, and she has a few surprises along the way. But this excerpt is from before she time travels, which is in Chapter 1:

Next week, I'll be tackling a serious story as well, so stay tuned to find out what it's all about!

​Monday, June 17 --- 3,332 words

Tuesday, June 18 --- 5,060 words

Wednesday, June 19 --- 6,002 words

Thursday, June 20 ---  5,401 words

Friday, June 21 --- 6,701 words

Saturday, June 22 --- 6,998 words

Sunday, June 23 --- 8,075 words

TOTAL words for Week 9 --- 41,569 words

I'm headed back from short stories to novels, so in a way I'm turning back the clock... which ties into this week's theme of time travel romance. My new novel is called Walk a Mile, and here's what it's about:

Years of pandemic, political upheaval, climate change—Sophia has grown up with all this and worse. After her parents died in a car crash when she was young, she was raised by her indifferent Aunt Margaret.

Her aunt constantly talks about the one who got away, a professor who lives in the next town over. When her aunt dies from COVID, Sophia feels adrift… until she discovers an old pair of classic Doc Marten boots while packing up her aunt’s belongings. As soon as she puts them on, Sophia is transported forty years in the past to the year when her aunt was her own age, twenty-eight.
 
Now, Sophia’s stuck in the 1990s with no home and no family who recognizes her. After Margaret chases her out of the house as an unwelcome intruder, Sophia has to figure out a way to get back to her own time. She manages to enlist the aid of her aunt’s old college flame, and along the way of solving her own problem, she might just help her Aunt Margaret find love again.

The clock is ticking, so I better get to work. See you at the end of the week, which is when I'll read an excerpt from my newly written book. Until then, happy travels (through time)!

I'll have to start out this post by saying that I've been more absentminded of late. It could be that there's a lot going on in my life, or it could simply be that there are so many characters stuffed in my head after 8 weeks of my project that there's no room left to remember simple things, such as brushing my hair or finding that I've put on my sweatshirt backwards (true story).

So, along those lines, one thing I've been forgetting is to post my word count every night. Perhaps because I've been writing earlier in the day and only have a reminder set on my phone to post the word count at the end of the day. So, I'll have to get better at remembering to put the word count on my website at the end of every day. Perhaps two alarms? I dunno.

Having gotten that explanation out of the way, I have to say that I had a lot of fun "pantsing" the short stories this week. It was a tiny bit slower, since I just let the muse take me where she would (and sometimes she led me straight into a brick wall). But since I had a pretty solid idea of most of the ideas I wanted to write, I wasn't led astray too often.

Here's an excerpt from one of the stories, which is called "Howard's End."

If you'd like to read the ending and find out what happens to Howard, I'm going to be polishing up the short story this week and sending it out with my newsletter next week. So, please feel free to sign up to my newsletter to find out how this tale becomes truly horrific.

Next week, I'll be shifting back in time for my new novel's inspiration. Stay tuned!

​​Monday, June 10 --- 5,660 words

Tuesday, June 11 --- 6,782 words

Wednesday, June 12 --- 4,569 words

Thursday, June 13 ---  5,445 words

Friday, June 14 --- 8,875 words

Saturday, June 15 --- 3,564 words

Sunday, June 16 --- 5,280 words

TOTAL words for Week 8 --- 40,175 words

​This past weekend I was at a writer's conference, and so I had a slow start this morning. But now I'm back on track and ready to write my new book!

I mentioned a teaser about it last week and how it's going to be "short." Well, that means short stories! I'll be writing a complete collection of short stories for this week in the horror/thriller genre, called Treacherous Tales. Here's some info about what the stories will be about:

As I mentioned in the video, I'll be returning to my pantser roots to tackle these stories. While I have the general summary of each one written down in 1-3 sentences, I'm going to do this week's writing in a more freeform style. Let's see if that hurts or helps my process and word count.

If you'd like to check out some of my previous published short stories, you're in luck. I have a fantasy short story collection out, called Enchantress of Books. Or you can check out my author page, which has links to some online stories.

Hope you all have a great week! See you again on Sunday when I'll be reading an excerpt from one of these short stories.