#NanoWriMo2019 for the All Around Win!

Once again, I am jumping into the insanity of National Novel Writing Month. Last year, for the first time in a series of efforts, I actually won—I had a 50,000 word draft of a novel I titled Too Close. Yay, me!

Unfortunately, most of those 50,000 words are not good. Not good at all. When I am ready again to focus on this novel (I LOVE the premise, although I am not ready to share it), I’ll have to start pretty much from scratch. Hopefully, I’ll be able to salvage some of the better sections.

Consequently, this year I’m doing things differently. I’ll share with you the lessons I learned the hard way.

Lesson #1: Plan your story. The rules of Nano permit and even encourage outlining of your plot and scenes. I do always plot but in the past I’ve waited until Nanowrimo started to really look at the story in detail.

Lesson #2: Plan your time. I work, so scheduling writing time is essential—in the past, I’ve just winged it. Bad idea. I’m also going to be realistic about holiday expectations, meals in general, and well…housekeeping.

Lesson #3: Screw housekeeping. “A clean house is a symptom of a rigid mind.” I heard that somewhere. Really. did.

Lesson #4: Sedate the “internal editor”. Prevailing wisdom says to turn off your internal editor. You know, the voice in your head that tells you your writing sucks. But in order to prevent ending up with a huge percentage of words you can’t use, you need a little self-editing. Instead of killing him or her off (or “it”—My internal editor is a pesky troll named STFU), just give it a valium. Or a hard punch in the head. This will help you achieve a balance between letting the words flow and making sure they’re good.

Lesson #5: Hire a dog/cat sitter. Or leave the house. If you are lucky enough to not have an attention-seeking or high-strung puppy or kitty then this doesn’t apply to you. My Chloe is a marauder and a menace. I LOVE HER DEARLY but cheese and rice she doesn’t like me to work. I have to leave the house.

I hope you find a few kernels of help in these lessons. If you’re participating in #NanoWriMo2019, good luck. And if you’re in need of a Buddy, drop me a tweet @TrevannRogers or a comment and let’s connect.

Dress Up/Dress Down Wednesday with Patricia Preston and Darlene!

Hi ! Thanks for stopping by Living After Midnight! I’m excited to hear about your clothing, Darlene but I admit, my mouth is already watering to learn about your cookbook!

Thanks for featuring Darlene from “Darlene’s Redneck Recipes.” She is always ready to run her mouth and Darlene loves clothes. So straight from the 50’s, here’s Darlene Higginbottom, who is going to use the name Darlene Durand when she becomes a movie star…

“I’m just so happy to be talking about clothes and not cooking. I can tell y’all right now that clothes are my favorite thing. I mean, what’s more important to a girl than looks? Beauty is my priority, especially since I plan to be a movie star/sex symbol. I mean, me and Marilyn Monroe are practically twins, honey. If Elvis and Marilyn can make it in Hollywood, I know I can. 

Back to my clothes. Well, I learned when I was sixteen the importance of tissue paper and padded D-cup bras. I’d wear one of those beneath my pink twin set and the boys would be falling all over themselves. I never had to carry a book. That’s because I’m enterprising and every enterprising gal knows how to manipulate a man.

Back to my clothes. I just love a wiggle dress. They fit every curve just perfect. I have a red one that I wear with black heels and of course, I always have the seams on my stockings straight. Honey, when I wiggle down the street, I can’t count the wolf whistles. Like everybody else, I have swing dresses and circle skirts. What I love to wear under those skirts, besides a frilly garter belt, is a can-can trimmed in lace. So every now and then, the lace peaks out from beneath the hem of your skirt. I’ve known men to miss their mouths with their coffee cups. What a mess. Anyway, I think wide cinch belts are fantastic with circle skirts and a knit top. Those belts, pulled really tight, make your waist look tiny. Of course, you may can’t breathe, same as with a  girdle if you can manage to get the sucker on. But they do trim up the belly.  

One more note on being chic, wear a neck scarf. Are they not the cutest trend ever? Just tie it in a bow on the side of your neck. I’ve got white chiffon neck scarf and I love it. 

Now I will tell you I’d never be caught dead in one of those flowery dusters that old women, like my granny, loves. Maybe I’ll love them when I’m old as dirt, but not now. It’s like this: while I’ve got it, I’m gonna flaunt it as every woman should.

Darlene’s Redneck Recipes~Humor and Home Cooking

Over 200 mouth-watering and simple-to-make recipes narrated by Darlene Higginbottom, 50’s movie star wannabe and comic character from “Laid to Rest.”

Although Darlene’s no expert in the kitchen and hates cooking, she’ll be sharing down-home recipes that are favorites with her family and friends. She’ll also provide a hilarious commentary on Southern foods and traditions such as why the cornbread skillet is sacred, picking poke sallet, and frying everything. From cornbread to fried chicken, it’s all about comfort food that Southern mommas have cooked for generations. 

Full of butter, fat, and everything that’s bad for you but tastes so good that Darlene promises you’ll be swooning and asking for seconds.

“If you’re a cook or if you have one on your Christmas list, this cookbook is a must-have, especially when it comes to the pie recipes.”~Darlene

Amazon links:

Kindle  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z1DJVMF

Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/1688547436

About Darlene’s creator:

Award-winning author Patricia Preston writes single title contemporary and historical romance and Southern humor.  She is represented by the Seymour Agency and currently has several titles available online. Her writing awards include the Lone Star Writing Competition for Historical Romance, Harlequin’s World’s Best Romances Short Story Competition, and William Faulkner Award for Short Fiction. Besides writing, she also enjoys photography, graphic design, movies and trips to historical sites. Please check out her website at www.patricia-preston.com where you can find out more about her available titles, sign up for her newsletter, follow her on social media, and read her blog. She appreciates all her readers and she is always grateful for reviews. 

Dress Up Dress Down with Author Cheryl St. John #giveaway

Join me in welcoming Cheryl St. John to Living After Midnight! Cheryl will randomly pick winners to receive a copy of her ebook Dancing in the Dark. All you have to do to be eligible is comment on this post!

Cheryl, tell us about your heroine, Kendra!

A redhead, Kendra Price doesn’t shy away from pinks or reds, but shines in those colors. She chooses red, coral, pink or turquoise for most of her clothing, and she always carries a signature orange bag. After a challenging childhood and a traumatic end to her relationship with her first love, she left Spencer, Colorado with her sights set on a dance career. Her talent has earned her success and a monetary payoff, so she can afford to buy herself nice clothing. Her attire gives her confidence.

Because she dances every day, she has a wide assortment of dance attire, leotards, shorts and stretchy midriff tops. She has never kept her costumes, but offers them to dance schools and students. She has a passion for teaching growing teens not only dance, but how to care for their bodies and avoid injuries.

While on her travels, she has shopped in department stores across the country, so her clothing is unique and of good quality. She would probably never wear something ordered from a catalog, because she likes to shop and try on her ensembles.

One of Kendra’s favorite things to do is spend a day fishing from her aluminum runabout on Twin Owl Lake and on those days, comfortable shorts, a summer top, tennis shoes and a sun hat are her go-to outfit.

Here is Cheryl’s Pinterest board showing Kendra’s clothing:

https://www.pinterest.com/cheryl_stjohn/dancing-in-the-dark/

BIO:

Cheryl has always loved the exciting and diverse worlds available between the covers of books. As a child she wrote stories & drew covers, then stapled them into little books. She cut all the tiny images from the book club advertisements in the Sunday newspaper & glued them to bits of cardboard so Barbie® had a full library. She is the married author of more than fifty books, both historical and contemporary. Her stories have earned numerous RITA nominations, Romantic Times awards & are published in over a dozen languages. One thing all reviewers & readers agree on regarding Cheryl’s work is the degree of emotion & believability. In describing her stories of second chances & redemption, readers & reviewers use words like, “emotional punch, hometown feel, core values, believable characters & real-life situations.” 

The author lives in the Midwest, USA. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she’s checking out garage sales, flea markets & antique malls. Among her collections are teacups & teapots, roosters, chicken kitchen timers, vintage spice tins, wooden recipe boxes, Barbies®, charm bracelets, vintage jewelry, Kokeshi dolls, white stoneware, Delftware, souvenir spoons, Goebel birds, Royal Copley planters, vintage hankies & BOOKS. Cheryl admits she’s a bargain hunter with the heart of a hoarder, trying to live as a minimalist. The struggle is real.

Cheryl kicked off the Aspen Gold Series with Dancing in the Dark. She and her critique group devised a continuity series, filled with diverse and entertaining characters.

Readers are loving the books: "The Aspen Gold Series is by far the best series I have read in a long time" and "Love the series and love not having to wait 6-12 months for the next book," are common praises on the Aspen Gold Facebook page: https://www.aspengoldseries.com/

Aspen Gold Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/n9n7p3

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Newsletter Signup: http://eepurl.com/bqCji9

email Cheryl at: SaintJohn@aol.com

amazon author page: https://tinyurl.com/y6js92y8

Visit her on the web: http://www.cherylstjohn.net/

BookBub:  https://www.bookbub.com/profile/cheryl-st-john

Like her Facebook author page:  https://www.facebook.com/CherylStJ

Amazon:  https://tinyurl.com/y6js92y8

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/_CherylStJohn_

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/cherylstjohn/

She's a Pinterest junkie!  https://www.pinterest.com/cheryl_stjohn/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24516.Cheryl_St_John

EXCERPT:

He opened the screen door, closed it behind him and walked across the porch, taking the stairs two at a time. I hate it when you leave, but I love to watch you go. That backside and those long legs in a pair of jeans could stop hearts. An elusive memory came into focus. He was fourteen or fifteen, tall and lanky, his shoulder-length hair bleached from the sun as he walked toward his dad’s old Mercury, turning back with a grin to wave at her. The image was so clear that she felt the same peculiar sense of loss and longing she experienced every time he’d left to go home. But today Dusty didn’t turn around…or grin…or wave. He put his toolbox in his truck, climbed in, and turned the vehicle around in the drive.

She watched the truck until it reached the road and stared after it long after the vehicle had disappeared behind the trees. He had never married. What did that mean? He was probably liked by everyone in Spencer, and he was a catch. Surely there were women who’d gone after him. He couldn’t have held out, thinking there was still hope for the two of them. She’d made that crystal clear.

This wasn’t the life she’d planned. She didn’t want to be bitter or unforgiving, but here she was, watching him go. She missed what-could-have-been so badly that she lived with an empty ache. But she had dance. She had determination. She had self-respect.

What she didn’t have was the man she’d wanted with her whole heart.

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK:

Dancing in the Dark: https://books2read.com/u/mKx2B9