Long road to travel.

This morning I was up bright and early at 5 am.

I am not a morning person.

So why was I up so early? The hub started a new job this morning and I needed to take him to work. With only one car and him working a 10 hour shift it was decided that I should take him in case I had to go get the kids from school or had an emergency.

It is going to kill us for gas until we can find a place to live closer to where he is working. Thankfully the hours put him before traffic gets crazy on the way there and back so the trip only takes 30 minutes or so.

It is still a crazy long drive at 5 am.

Thinking about it got me thinking about the crazy long road I have chosen to take to become a full time writer of words and teller of stories.

I recently chatted with some folks on twitter about the author ad spam that is a constant stream through the feeds. I have chosen to stop doing any “major advertising” there. You should just get regular ol updates about my day and crap I am going through from now on.

Full Moon Station is doing great on Smashwords. I was really excited to make it available for free. You can still get it on Amazon for $0.99. I figure that is a good way for folks to help out if they like my work. Until I can get set up with a donate button at any rate. Just purchase a copy of FMS or Lost Hope on Amazon and all the money goes toward helping me get the edits paid for and ensures another book in the future.

I am working on getting an official “IniribaGreyMyst.com” set up so that I can do what I want with the page. Donate button, sneak peaks and a storefront for book and art purchases. Not to mention links to fun things that inspire me.

If you want to contact me, I have set up an email for fans and friends to be able to reach me.

iniribagreymyst@live.com

As soon as the website is done I will also have a mailing list you can sign up for.

Anyhow, that is it from me today.

Are you starting to panic yet? NaNoPrep talk.

National Novel Writing Month is only a few days away!

I must admit, I am getting a little nervous. This year is going to be especially difficult because we are in the process of moving to a new house.

Add the Crazy of the Holidays plus Packing/ Unpacking (Yes that gets a Capital letter) while juggling 6 boys, one 80lb black lab, two senior citizens (my parents) and a Husband with various daily life schedules…Well, if you see a mushroom cloud over Western Washington, that is me and not the mountain or a bomb of some type.

I do plan on making it through NaNoWriMo. If I can write a novel this November without my eyeballs exploding or someone in my family dying, well then, there will be no more excuses for me NOT to be successful at this writing thing.

I know over the past year I have had many rambles of various things on the blog, but I always come back to writing and my journey to make a go of it. I try and post interesting things that other ‘would be writers’ and even established writers may find funny, interesting or helpful. Seeing how someone else made the journey helps you learn what you may or may not want to do on your own way.

Getting my butt in my chair is the hardest part for me.

I don’t know if that is a common writer problem or just an Iniriba problem, but there it is. My biggest issue with getting things written.

The moment I sit down I am either interrupted or think of something that HAD to be done RIGHT NOW. Mind you, it is usually not something that NEEDED to be done by ME, but as any mom can attest, sometimes it is just easier to do it yourself…

In between all the things that have to be done when moving from one place to another, I am doing my NaNoPrep. Packing does not take much brain power so it allows me plenty of time to go through different plot ideas I have had spinning in my head this past year.

When I get to the point in an idea that I need to write it down or lose it, I take a break, grab the pen and notebook every writer had within arms reach of them and write down everything I hashed out as I packed. Now I have a good stack of notes for the book and am about ready to outline everything 😀

Last years Nano taught me that I write best at night after everyone is asleep (or suppose to be anyway) so the plan is to do that again this year. The only foreseeable issue is going to be making sure I have munchies.

So there you have it. I guess this year will be the deciding factor in exactly how serious I am about this ‘writing for a career’ thing. Thankfully I am blessed with an entire family that wants to see me succeed at this as much as I do.

Hope you all have a happy NaNoWriMo!

Things don’t always go as planned.

That being said, I have decided to put the crowd funding campaign for Lost Hope on hold until further notice.

I want this book to be worth your time and money. In order to do that, I have to make sure it is truly ready to send out into the hands of an editor.

After much thought and speaking with a few people about it. (My husband and a couple readers who have opinions I value) I chose to withdraw my crowd fund.

Pubslush, the platform I chose to use for the crowd fund, has been more than awesome in helping me make sure that I have everything exactly as I want it.

From changing the time limit on the project from 60 days to 30, and now allowing me to stop the funding process without having to delete the entire project to do it. They have sent me emails making sure I am prepared as well as encouraging me as I head out on a new adventure with my novel and my dreams of publication and success.

I strongly encourage any writer to check out Pubslush. It is a BOOKS ONLY Crowd Funding platform. Think Kickstarter for your novel, short story, children’s book, Photo album etc.

 

Writing and Muses.

 “I got this Mom.” ~ one of my reasons for writing.

Music is a muse for most of the writers I know. They all have a favorite method for choosing what to listen to when working on a novel. Depending on the scene and the atmosphere they want to get through to the reader will determine what music they listen to.

Others go for nature walks, read another book from a favorite author or exercise. I have even heard a few writers talk about coming to a breakthrough while washing the dishes! (Those people are crazy! I hate washing dishes!)

I have taken a page from the awesome Yasmine Galenorn and started putting together playlists that I happen to listen to while I am writing. I plan on adding these music muses to the back of the book. No particular order to listen to but you may figure out what music inspired what scene.

The entire writing process can be a mystery to anyone who does not write. Maybe I can help give a bit of insight into how ideas and images flow through the mind and body then out through the fingers onto the keys of a type writer or computer keyboard. Or maybe I should keep that bit of mystery and magic to it. Believing in a thing helps make it so. If writers were to lose the mystery of what they do then maybe there would no longer be magic in the pages of a good book.

Keep Reading and believing!

More FullMoonStation

Since putting up Full Moon Station on a free promotion, several people have asked for more from the story.  It never seemed to speak to me beyond the first part but the story was so great I wanted to give it more. Here is what I have so far. Maybe after Beast Within is completed and uploaded to Amazon, I will be able to finish Mark and Ted’s story.

 

The sun reflected off the chrome of the ‘64 mustang, straight into the eyes of Detective Theo Logan as he pulled up to the gas station, It was in a ditch about forty feet away from the pumps. Local police and state patrol hovered at the edges of the vehicle trying to peek inside without actually looking in the window, a couple of the officers glanced his way as he parked next to one of the state patrol SUVs.
Ted was no where to be seen, but then they may have taken him into town to the station or the hospital. Positive thinking was a plus.
The desert heat poured into the car as he opened the door. It smelled like dust and dried weeds. It was only ten in the morning. “Detective Logan?” a younger female officer approached she was almost military in her uniform. Her black hair was pulled tight in a bun. Olive skin and flashing brown eyes took in everything about him and more.
Despite her small frame she seemed to radiate an aura that said “Mess with me, I dare you”. Her name badge read Hernandez. Theo unfolded his tall frame from the rental then leaned back in and grabbed his white stetson hat from the passenger seat popping it onto his head. He held out his hand, nodding his head in reply.
“The sheriff wants to see you before you get started. Could you follow me please?” the only reason Theo caught the accent in her words were from years of having a proud Latino partner.
He followed the young officer into the gas station. The front window had been broken out. Small shards of glass glittered in the sun like a million diamonds scattered across the pavement. There was a dark red patch of blood on the grey pavement just outside the window. He knew the body was already on the way to the local morgue.
He stopped himself before his mind raced around in circles with the thought of his son lying cold on a steel table.

The managers office was little more than a closet at the back of the store. Toilet paper rolls lined a small wire shelf packed in next to a file cabinet and a small desk. There was an ancient computer complete with green screen monitor and a small stack of three and a half inch floppy disks.
The sheriff was a roundish man with thick grey hair and a clean cut goatee. His dark brown sheriff hat sat atop the monitor while the man himself filled the small office chair beside the desk. Theo stood in the open doorway. Hernandez had dropped him off at the door then did a sharp about face and headed back through the store and out the front.

“Sheriff,” Theo said in greeting nodding to the man in the chair.
“Detective,” he replied. “ You wouldn’t happen to be the same Theodor Logan on the registration and insurance from that mustang out front now would you?”
Theo nodded.
The sheriff said. “Well, I spose that means you want in on this deal then?” again Theo nodded. “One thing first Detective Logan…” the sheriff glanced down at his hands then back up at Theo.

He could tell by the look in the sheriffs eye that he knew who was driving Theo’s car last night. “It was your kid wasn’t it.” It is a statement rather than a question.
“Yes, sir. My son borrowed the car so he and a friend could go to the concert out on the coast yesterday.”
The sheriff nodded his expression saying he already knew that as well. “Well, I suppose if you can report to my lead detective, I will let you get involved in the case.”

“That works for me.” Theo said.

 

Published and panicking!

Well not really Panic.

OK maybe a little. But really it is anxiety over whether or not people are enjoying the story! I have received one tweet from a friend who complimented the work. As grateful as I am, I am paranoid about the other people who have grabbed the book while it is in free promo. No one has posted a review as of writing this. Good or Bad. And I have read some awful degrading reviews for some of my fellow writers!

Full Moon Station is a short story in the Shifters and Sorcery Series that I will be uploading to Amazon on a regular basis. The story is about two college age guys on the road back from a concert who stop by a gas station in the middle of the desert. After Mark heads in to the station to grab cigarettes and coffee, a werewolf begins to tear the place apart. Ted must use the skills taught by his detective father to help his friend and stop the monster.

The next book in the set is called Beast Within. This story comes at werewolves from both sides. Beth is a young high school girl from Minnesota who has recently moved to Tacoma, WA to live with her mom. She starts her first day of school feeling outcast and alone. After the main bully and his girlfriend prey on her in the cafeteria, Beth is befriended by a young witch named Skye who sees great potential in her new friend.

On the flip side of the story is a sociopath werewolf who has gone around the town killing people. He fails to connect his humanity with the people he murders when he is a wolf. The killer has caught scent of Beth and her special abilities and has decided he wants her as his mate.

With the help of The Silver Moon Society, an organization made up of witches and other supernatural beings, and Mark (from the short Story Full Moon Station) Beth must learn who she really is to help stop the werewolf from killing again.

I hope to have Beast Within available for purchase around Halloween.

I hope you all get the chance to grab Full Moon Station while it is still free for another day! Please, if you do, stop and leave a review! If by chance you read this after the promo and still wish to support my efforts, the story will be available for 99 cents until the 90 days is up then I will make it available for free on other media. That should help drop the price to match 😀 Until then, know that I appreciate your love and support!

Thank you all

I hit the “Save and Publish” button.

Today I set out on a new adventure.

I hit the “Save and Publish” button in KDP.

If you have been following me for a while, you will recognize the story.

Full Moon Station. The short story about a couple of guys making an innocent stop at the gas station who end up running into a world of trouble when a werewolf kills everyone in sight.

I wanted to make it available for free because it is such a short piece but that was not an option. It is $0.99 and should be available sometime tomorrow morning.

If you choose to purchase the story, THANK YOU! Any money made from this will go toward helping finish Death’s Hope. I want to professionally edit the novel length story. Making sure you all have the highest quality book available.

I chose to publish Full Moon Station because I wanted to familiarize myself with the way KDP works. I don’t want any surprises popping up when I publish DH!

Again, to all who have chosen to support me, Thank you so much! SHARE the book with a friend.

Full Moon is just the start of another series I have in the works called Shifters and Sorcery. These books are going to be available through KDP as well. Keep an eye out for “Sunrise” (the story of a sorceress named Charlene Talon, the last living descendant of Merlin and prime suspect in several murders of supernatural people) and “Beast Within” (the story of an Alpha Shifter named Elizabeth new to her powers. Her town is being terrorized by a sociopath werewolf who wants Beth for his mate.)

Today on Adventures of a Busy Mom…

 

The youngest came in to the bedroom at around 5 am. Crawled up across the bed, over the top of his older brother who had already snuggled in beside me. Making sure he was between be and the 4 year old, he firmly squeezed himself in making sure there was no more brother anywhere near mom.

I can not get my children to keep cloths on for more than 5 minutes if we are at home. So when he wedged himself into the already crowded bed, his bare back was pressed against me. His skin was hot to the touch.

If you have followed my blog for a while, then you know I am a mom of 7 wonderful boys. This gives me plenty of experience in the ‘fever and sickness’ department.

We got up, heading out to the kitchen and the medicine cabinet to grab the thermometer. After spending a few moments getting him to stick out his tongue (This is the secret to getting an oral temp from a 2 year old) his temp read 101.3.

Fevers in young kids are, for the most part, not something to freak out about. It is the bodies way of killing of something that might otherwise cause them to be extremely ill. If you are a new parent of a toddler, have courage. As long as your little one is still smiling and playing, let them be.

(Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor. I am just a Mom with experience. DO NOT take any advice I give as proper medical advice. Always trust your instinct as a parent and speak with your child’s doctor.)

If you are worried about how high their temp is,  give them some Tylenol or ibuprofen to help bring down the fever. Usually there is no need to freak out unless your kiddo seems lethargic and their skin is red from heat. Make sure you have talked with your child’s doctor about when to call him if your munchkin does get a fever, Most of the time you can wait a few days before needing to take them in.

So, now it is 6 am. The teen is awake. He will be getting out the door for school in the next 30 minutes. I have a can of Red Bull at my side. Madagascar 2 is playing with the two youngest children watching.

I have given my friendly Mom advice for the day. I shall see you all in Twitter Land. I am off to work on Crowd Funding Rewards.

Have a great day!

Writer tips, tricks and fun.

I have come across many tips, tricks and cheats for assisting the would be author on the road to publication.

I have shared a few of these over twitter and thought it would be a great idea to add them here as a blog post.

One I found that was fun is a picture of editing marks. Common and not so common.

Who can wear the badge of writer without knowing the basic keyboard shortcuts?

And the most helpful thing I found was this…

Rewriting is a…

Bitch.

Blast.

Thing.

All these words are accurate. If you are writing your first novel or even your 101st then you know exactly what I mean.

I am learning the hard way the rewriting your work is a must. Unless you are God giving the law to Moses on Stone, you will HAVE TO rewrite.

Especially if you are a pants-er like me.

I wrote 50k words for NaNoWriMo last year. 50,000 words. How?

One action sequence after another. My characters fought, had sex, fought some more and no one was really sure why or who they were fighting or screwing!

So now during the rewrite I have to untangle the bodies and figure out who is killing who and who is sleeping with who (or what).

It is Gloriously Aggravating!

I hope to have a decent book out of it by the time it is all said and done. I have taken out the sex for now. It may go back in depending on what the Beta Readers have to say. If they are not needed in the story then great! If the readers like the idea of some hanky panky time (And I am able to write a decent sex scene) then I will include them.

Mostly I just hope the story is good enough that people will want to spend their hard earned dollars on it.

Everything you have ever read, that was worth reading was NOT a first draft.

Rewriting in a MUST.