No Excuses April

I’m happy to report my Writus Interruptus has dissipated with the spring rains and I am back in the saddle, writing-wise. The saddle in this case is every chair in the house. Unfortunately I have my feet up these days as I tweaked my knee last week. As my pal Sherri asks, “Did you trip or fall in a hole?” Not this time! (I am a well-known klutz.) I was just walking along the trail by the canal and my knee started hurting.

My knee is a well-known irritant to pleasure. This same knee has had a meniscus tear, a lateral ligament release, and in the infamous ski accident — Park City 2005 — lost cartilage in the tibial plateau fracture. Yes, my bad leg. My bad knee. So no big surprise that something new would pop up. But very annoying.

The good news for writing is — always look on the bright side 🙂 –that I have no excuses for not getting some major writing done this week while I rest my knee. I am currently at 53,000 words when I should be done, so still about 20,000 words behind. This week though — it’s onward into the breach.

Keeping your enthusiasm for your project going is one of the main issues for the pro writer. Even if you’re so enamored with your story and in the full flush of story-telling that you’re getting up at 4 a.m. before you go to work to write, keeping your head in the game can be a struggle. I used a weekend a couple weeks back to simply re-read my entire novel. I wanted to make sure I remembered all the aspects of it, little hints of things to come I put in consciously or subconsciously, characters I wanted to flesh out a bit, stuff that might not make the final cut but still had some juice. By Monday I felt excited about getting back to the story.

This Bennett Sisters novel has only a splash of French sunshine in it– and is drenched in Scottish rain. It is mostly set in the Highlands of Scotland at Annie’s wedding. (I hope readers who love the French setting aren’t too disappointed.) It feels like more an ensemble piece than the other books in the series, although Merle, middle sister and tentpole, is still the core. I love getting into these characters more with each book, it makes writing about the sisters very satisfying. All five sisters are staying in a Highland hunting lodge that belongs to Annie’s fiancé’s family. But this is no simple romance about a wedding. There’s an upstairs/downstairs aspect as the staff gets involved as well. Lots of plates in the air here. But at least no one but the cat cares if I get up off the sofa. (Oh, occasionally my husband does like a hot meal.)

I’m working with a new cover designer, Connie Dillon, who is doing an original painting. I love Connie’s work and hope you will too. Check out her website. Connie lives in Billings, Montana, one of my “hometowns.” Stay tuned for a cover reveal!

The title of the new one? It’s another Beatles song title, like ‘Blackbird Fly.’ See if you know it from these lyrics. Give it a guess in the comments!

“Me, I’m just the lucky kind
Love to hear you say that love is love
And though we may be blind
Love is here to stay and that’s enough”

Follow my Pinterest pages to see images like this one that have inspired me as I write this new novel. (Who can resist a man in a kilt?!)

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There’s still a copy of The Girl in the Empty Dress up for grabs over at Amazon! Try your luck!