Counting My Words #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Can you believe we are in week 23 of the MFRW 52 Week Blog Challenge? We're in the middle of 2017. Today's topic is Word Count.

As a writer, I don't write as often as I should and I'm slow. Some days I average about 300 words. Some days I sit in front of my computer and look at a blank word document because the words won't come.  I'll usually give up then and do a little reading, research or play three-dimensional mahjong.

I promised myself I would change that this year after a friend of mine posted her end of year total. She had enough words for four novels or five novellas or ten short stories before editing.  I have another author friend who writes 3k per day, five days per week no matter what. I've tried to find that kind of dedication for myself. I'm still looking.

I wanted my end of year total to be at least 120,000. Not a lot, but I wanted to start small. So I decided to just write and not count. Write without the pressure of making a goal and you know what? It's working. I still don't write every day, but I write a lot when I do. The year-end goal I set for myself may be reached this year. Maybe not. I won't sweat it. I'll just write.

What about you and word count? How do you handle it? Let's talk about it in the comments.

Laugh Out Loud Funny #MFRWauthor #amwriting

This is week 18 of the Marketing for Romance Writers 52-Week Blog Challenge. Today's topic--What Makes Me Laugh Out Loud. For more information or to join, click here.

I love humor. I sometimes laugh so hard and loud, I'm doubled over attempting to catch my breath while clutching my stomach and tears run from my eyes. What makes me laugh out loud? Quite a few things actually:

Slapstick Comedy Movies. Watch this video of sample slapstick.

Romantic Comedy Movies like Pretty Woman, Bringing Down the House, The Bird Cage, Coming to America, Sweet Home Alabama and YA movies like What A Girl Wants and The Princess Diaries.

I'm showing my age, but I started with comedy by watching TV variety shows like Red Skelton and Carol Burnett as well as programs like I Love Lucy and the Beverly Hillbillies.

TV shows like 3rd Rock From the Sun. A group of aliens sent to earth, disguised as a human family, to experience life and report back to their home planet. John Lithgow is a comedic genius. I giggle days later thinking about something he did or said.  Watch him in action.


(photo: tvlistings.zap2it.com)

British comedies (remember last Friday, I admitted to being a secret Anglophile) like Keeping Up Appearances starring Patricia Routledge. A snobbish housewife is determined to climb the social ladder, in spite of her family's working class connection and the constant chagrin of her long-suffering husband.  This program, at one time, was part of the comedy line-up on Saturday nights on PBS. I watch episodes on Youtube now. My mother and I have considered pooling our money together to buy the entire collection. Watch this

                                                                                                 (photo:  www.imdb.com)                                                                                                                                                                               

My other favorite British comedy, Coupling. Six best friends talk about all aspects of sex and relationships on their never-ending quest to find true love. When a couple gets together, it's never just the two of them. They also bring baggage in the form of their friends and exes. I bought the DVD collection recently and watch them over and over again. Watch here.






(photo: www.imdb.com)


Romance Novels and Novellas. The funniest so far being Shelly Laurenston/G A Aiken's Magnus Pack & The Pride Series, Dragon Kin Series. Kerrelyn Sparks's The Love at Stake Series. Lynsay Sands's The Argeneau Series. Katie MacAlister's Aisling Gray Guardian, The Dark Ones Series, The Light Dragons Series, The Silver Dragons Series. Each line or scene that have me giggling,  I bookmark and go back over them chuckling again and again.


There you have it. Some movies, books, and TV that have me roaring with laughter. What about you? What makes you laugh out loud? Tell me below in the comments.

Be sure to check out the blogs of the authors listed below. Have a great weekend.

My Social Media Meeting Places #MFRWauthor

Hi y'all, it's week 15 of the Marketing For Romance Writer's 52-Week Blog Challenge. I've missed a couple of weeks by being caught up in other things, but now I'm back.

The subject of this week's challenge is 'Social Media Hangouts'.

This challenge is an opportunity for authors to connect with readers and each other. An opportunity to learn a little more about each other besides what's in our bios. Any author can join the challenge. Click here to find out more.

Two of my 2017 intentions is to blog more and keep my website updated. One of the ways I'm blogging more is taking part in this challenge.

I have a Facebook Author Page. While I should be using it to promote my writing, I primarily post positive quotes to keep me psyched and share posts about other authors releases. One of my 2017 intentions is to post more about my own writings on all of my social media. I've only done it once or twice this year.  Of course, I have my profile page where I hang out with family and friends, and on various FB groups.

Next is Twitter. Again, I schedule positive quotes through Hootsuite to appear on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday--the same ones posted on my FB author page. I tweet about craft blog posts and retweet promotion from other authors. I not very good at thinking of things to tweet on my own.

Instagram. Most all of my social media reflect the same things. I'm consistent that way. Positive quotes again, but I love the notion of posting photos and enjoy cruising through other pages getting ideas for posts and, one day, my own book promotion. In recent months, this account has been converted to a business account.

Pinterest is my favorite. I'd rather be on Pinterest than anywhere else. 29 boards of things/places/people I find fun and interesting plus 12 secret boards representing ideas for my future books. One of my boards is for the blogs I own and participate on. I save my posts for each blog there.

The four above are my main meeting places. There's Google Plus, Snapchat (I have no idea what to do with this one.), a YouTube channel where I watch snippets of my favorite movie scenes and music videos. Also, there's Goodreads (just a regular page since I'm not published yet, I log in books I've read and hang out in groups) and WattPad (I haven't published the short story I'm working on yet).

Well, there you have it. This is where you will find me. Where do you hang out? Let's talk about it in the comments.

Plot Away...My Writing Process

Welcome to week 11 of the MFRW's 52-Week Blog Challenge. Today's post is about my writing process. This a blog hop for writers to learn more about each other. Anyone can join at any point in the challenge. Learn more about the challenge by following this link.

angelacavanaugh.com

Planners (Plotters)--Plotters like to know where is the story is going from beginning to end mapping it out to the last scene and detail. My brain doesn't work like that. I've tried plotting with no success. I'll attempt an outline and quickly loose interest.

Pantsers--Those who "write by the seat of their pants" make the story up as they go along. Pantsing is easier for me. I'm not bound by an outline. I'm free to create a story from a blank page.

Plantsers--Writers who like both methods. That's me. A hybrid. While I can't rigidly outline, I do write 20 to 30 pages describing what happens in the story. For me, it's a guide giving a general idea of how the story may progress, but still allowing for detours from the script as needed.

Plotter, Pantser or Plantser?  Which one are you? Let's discuss them in the comments.

My Guilty Pleasures #MFRW

It's week 10 of the MFRW's blog challenge. This weeks prompt is "Seven Guilty Pleasures."
Anyone can join at any point in the challenge. Follow this link to learn more.

My Pleasures:


1. English Breakfast Tea. Nothing like starting the day with a cup of tea. Both hot and cold tea is my favorite beverage. There is something about it that's soothing. allows it to drains away the day's stress. As I write this post, it's cold, thundering and raining outside. I have a cup beside me. The robust scent, coppery-red color, and hint of lime added in a beautiful, delicate bone china cup and saucer is warm and comforting on a day like today.

2. Reading. As I mentioned above, it's raining. Curling up on the couch with a good book, a cup of hot tea, pillow and matching fleece throw over the lower body is heaven. I've never physically been to Europe or traveled through time, but reading carries the reader to faraway and exotic places past, present and future creating tender and adventurous moments to be relived again and again.




3. Star Trek. I looove this franchise. At present, Star Trek (TOG) and The Next Generation (TNG) are the ones I've been able to find and watch on TV plus the movies with the Chris Pine crew. My plan is to buy all of the movies and the series for Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise. TV/Movie Marathon!

I have ideas for world/universe building and a science fiction romance series percolating.

4. Dilled Cucumber and Tomato Salad. This year I decided to make a life change. I've started the Mediterranean Diet. So far, other than a greek salad, this cucumber and tomato salad is my favorite.





5. Pearls.  In my opinion, pearls represent refinement, beauty, and class. In the book, "Grits (Girls Raised In The South) Guide to life" by Deborah Ford, the sign of a true southern woman is pearls, a cast iron skillet, and a magnolia tree in the front yard.

Imagine: Seated on a wide veranda a victorian bed and breakfast dressed in cool spring flirty tea length dress, pearls clasped around your neck, a mint julep in hand conversing with the Ladies Garden Club.  I've got the pearls, the flirty dress,  and the skillet. To complete my qualifications to be a full-fledged GRITS girl, I just need the tree.

6. Tiny House Living. Tiny House Living is an HGTV program showcasing various sizes of tiny homes and the person/families making the decision to free themselves of "stuff" and living tiny. The homes can be stationary or mobile. As small as 96 sq. ft. or as large as 500 sq. ft., wood or metal, single or modular. They can be one story or have a loft or two. I would love to attempt living in a tiny house for about a week, maybe longer to see if it's something I could do long-term.  Travel across the country taking my home with me--no hotels, no restaurant food just paying for utility hook ups and taking to the road again. If that doesn't work, I could use it as a writing retreat or a guest house for visiting family or friends.

7. Jamocha Shake. The best thing Arby's ever created is the Jamocha Shake. Smooth, creamy, chocolatey coffee flavored drink.



What about you? What are your guilty pleasures? Tell me in the comments.

Icky Words #MFRW

It's week 9 of the #MFRW blog hop. This week's prompt, words that make me go ick or eww.
Follow this link to learn more. Anyone can join at any point in the challenge.

There are just a few words that make me shudder.

Snot/mucus comes to mind. It conjures a child's runny nose with mucus laying between the nostril and top lip and the color is usually whitish or green. *shudder*

Vomit. Witnessing or thinking about it makes me want to hurl too. My stomach and throat ache from my dry heaves.

Words of a sexual nature:

• pussy
• moist
• dick
• cum 

They make me uncomfortable and I can't force myself write those words in a love scene. What about you? What words make you go ick?

Be sure to check out other posts in this blog hop.

Book Titles: How I Choose #MFRW

Welcome to week eight of the MFRW 52-Week Blog Challenge. Any author can join in at any point in the challenge. FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE CHALLENGE.

Dozens and dozens of story ideas are all around and I usually record them in a handy notebook in my purse or in a notepad on my nightstand. I have no problems meeting characters who introduce themselves to me asking that I tell their story. But titles for their stories--not so much. There's where my difficulties start.

Sometimes family and friends will make suggestions if they've  read an excerpt or my plot notes. It's like I have some sort of block when it comes to naming the book. As a result, I usually give tentative titles like Mariah's story or write a short sentence for the title until I can think of one which I'm embarrassed to say takes months.


Do you have trouble coming up with titles? What is your process for naming your books? Tell me in the comments.