Time to get back on the horse...

And ride it until the horse's legs give out.

So, here we are, nearly 3 months into 2025, and the last 3 years haven't really gone the way I wanted them to, in regards to writing.

I'm not giving up though. If my mommy taught me anything, it was You can do anything you put your mind to and she was preaching 'Never Give Up.' long before it was one of John Cena's catchphrases
I’ve decided to put my mind to meeting my 2025 goals. 

That being said, Here’s what I have planned for the rest of 2025…

~FINISH WPWA BOOK #5
I’d say I’m somewhere between 70% and 75% done with this book. According to my notes, I have 4 more pages of plot notes to cover. I'm picking this up again this month, because WWE is in the thick of Wrestlemania season, and ever since Triple H took over, I’ve felt the love for the business coming alive again; it’s exciting again. It’s unpredictable (to a point) again. (TOTALLY did not see Cena's heel turn at the end on WWE Elimination Chamber, but here we are!)<--ADULT LANGUAGE IN THIS VIDEO -- DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If I really apply myself, I can probably get this done by the end of April, if I REALLY push. I'd ideally like to be writing 'The End' right before Night 2 of Wrestlemania starts, but my muses don't always like to cooperate with me. So, I'm realistically aiming for April 30th.
When I finish it, Edits will be done the following month, aiming for pushing 'Publish' about 7-10 days after edits are completed.
So, I’m thinking I am going to publish around the end of May.

~FINISH 'MALIBU'
This book was the one I started in 2022. In October 2022, I had a scene just bothering me. I mean, this scene was just SCREAMING at me... and I've always heard if something is SCREAMING at you, don't ignore it! So, with no plot notes or anything, I just started writing.
Over the course of 2023 and 2024, I fleshed this out a bit more and I am now sitting at about 12,500+ words into this now-book. I've given up trying to formally plan this, so I'm hoping I don’t end up with some ugly plot holes. I pantsed one of my books and ended up with a GLARING plot hole I needed to fix after I published it.
I’m going to be finishing this in June, during PRIDE month. Again, when I finish it, Edits will be done the following month, aiming for pushing 'Publish' about 7-10 days after edits are completed.
So, I’m thinking I am going to publish around the end of July. I will say this scene/book deviates from my normal style of writing. However, I am NOT going to get another pen name for it. I plan to publish it as Daisy Loveless with HEAVY warnings that it’s not like my normal writing.

~PLOT 1 OR 2 MORE BOOKS
I have at least 15 more ideas that are nothing more than a few sentences… just enough to get the gist of the plot… plus a few more bouncing in the noggin. I’m halfway through planning one book (which is going to be the 2nd book in my Country music series) and I have a 6th book floating in the head, which will be another departure from my normal writing style. I plan to publish WPWA #6 as Daisy Loveless with HEAVY warnings that it’s not like my normal writing.
I'm not entirely sure if the 2nd Country music book will ever be completely plotted, much less written. I've been drawing AWAY from the muse, so I think that might end up being a permanently shelved book.

2025 is going to be the year I come back roaring.

As Bon Jovi says…

Oh, We’re halfway there…

So, we’re in July, and I should be sitting at roughly 60,000 words written this year.
Not counting this post, I’m at 27,447 words. I’m behind by 33,000ish words.

And a LOT of it is my fault. Mama Melissa has GTA V/Online and I play on her system, which cuts into what I could be using as writing time. And I admit that… but I’d be lying if the game isn’t a blast to play.

That being said, Here’s what I have planned for the rest of 2024…

~FINISH WPWA BOOK #5
I’d say I’m somewhere between 65% and 70% done with this book. According to my notes, I have 6 more pages of plot notes to cover. I'm picking this up again this month, because WWE is starting to shift into SummerSlam season, and ever since Triple H took over, I’ve felt the love for the business coming alive again; it’s exciting again. It’s unpredictable (to a point) again. If I really apply myself, I can probably get this done by the middle of August. When I finish it, Edits will be done the following month, aiming for pushing 'Publish' about 7-10 days after edits are completed.
So, I’m thinking I am going to publish around the end of September.

~FINISH 'MALIBU'
This book was the one I started in 2022. In October 2022, I had a scene just bothering me. I mean, this scene was just SCREAMING at me... and I've always heard if something is SCREAMING at you, don't ignore it! So, with no plot notes or anything, I just started writing.
Over the course of 2023 and 2024, I fleshed this out a bit more and I am now sitting at about 11,700+ words into this now-book. I've given up trying to formally plan this, so I'm hoping I don’t end up with some ugly plot holes. I pantsed one of my books and ended up with a GLARING plot hole I needed to fix after I published it.
I’m going to be finishing this in September, while I edit WPWA #5 (because editing takes WAY less time that writing). Again, when I finish it, Edits will be done the following month, aiming for pushing 'Publish' about 7-10 days after edits are completed.
So, I’m thinking I am going to publish around the end of October. I will say this scene/book deviates from my normal style of writing. However, I am NOT going to get another pen name for it. I plan to publish it as Daisy Loveless with HEAVY warnings that it’s not like my normal writing.

~PLOT 1 OR 2 MORE BOOKS
I have at least 15 more ideas that are nothing more than a few sentences… just enough to get the gist of the plot… plus a few more bouncing in the noggin. I’m halfway through planning one book (which is going to be the 2nd book in my Country music series) and I have a 6th book floating in the head, which will be another departure from my normal writing style. I plan to publish WPWA #6 as Daisy Loveless with HEAVY warnings that it’s not like my normal writing.

My Mommy taught me from a young child, You can do anything you put your mind to.
I’ve decided to put my mind to meeting my 2024 goals. 

Well, That didn't go as planned...

And that's okay.

So, I had a few goals for 2023…
~FINISH WPWA BOOK #5
~START ANOTHER BOOK
~PLOT 1 OR 2 MORE BOOKS

~WRITE 120,000 WORDS

Sadly, I met only 1 of those goals; I started another book.
Just when I thought the medical issues with my adoptive grandfather were calming down, he had a stroke in March and passed 7 weeks later. Everything dealing with the stroke and events leading up to his death really zapped a lot of my creative energy. I barely wrote over 48,000 words in 2023, which I think has been my worse year to date.
So, I’m calling 2023 my own ‘annus horribilis’ and taking it as a wash.

That being said, my goals for 2024 are
~FINISH WPWA BOOK #5
I’d say I’m somewhere between 50% and 60% done with this book. According to my notes, I have 7 more pages of plot notes to cover. I'll be picking this up again towards the end of January, to coincide with Wrestlemania season. If I really apply myself, I can probably get this done by the middle of April. When I finish it, Edits will be done the following month, aiming for pushing 'Publish' about 7-10 days after edits are completed.
So, I’m thinking I am going to publish around the end of May.

~FINISH 'MALIBU'
This book was the one I started in 2022. In October 2022, I had a scene just bothering me. I mean, this scene was just SCREAMING at me... and I've always heard if something is SCREAMING at you, don't ignore it! So, with no plot notes or anything, I just started writing.
Over the course of 2023, I fleshed this out a bit more and I am now sitting at about 8800 words into this now-book. I've given up trying to formally plan this, so I'm hoping I don’t end up with some ugly plot holes. I pantsed one of my books and ended up with a GLARING plot hole I needed to fix after I published it.
I will say this scene/book deviates from my normal style of writing. However, I am NOT going to get another pen name for it. I plan to publish it as Daisy Loveless with HEAVY warnings that it’s not like my normal writing.

~PLOT 1 OR 2 MORE BOOKS
I have at least 15 more ideas that are nothing more than a few sentences… just enough to get the gist of the plot… plus a few more bouncing in the noggin. I’m halfway through planning one book (which is going to be the 2nd book in my Country music series) and I want to get at least one more book planned this year.

~WRITE 120,000 WORDS
I only have ‘records’ back to 2020, where I wrote 80,000 words. 2021, I wrote over 115k words. My challenge for 2022 and 2023 was 120k words, but that never happened.
So, that’s my challenge for 2024 is once again… 120,000 words.
It SHOULD average out to 10,000 words a month, but with April, July and November taking 15,000 words each, it knocks the other months down to roughly 8350 words.
Totally doable, as long as I don’t slack off.

I also want to update this blog more, but I don’t want to make it into a full-blown goal, because I may slip up on this one.

I’m signing off for now. How you all have a great 2024!

The Best Thing about being a Writer...

This popped up on my Author Goodreads page...


I guess the best thing about being a Writer is...

Freedom.

I'm my own 'boss.' I don't have to answer to anyone else.

Having a bad day? Nope, not writing.

Plot not working for me? Okay, let's shelve it for a while; come back when the eyes (and mind) is fresh and I can think more clearly.

Writing about the things I like, and not what others think I need to write about? Sure can!

Deadlines? Only self-imposed, and I have the ability to move them as needed.

Sure, telling the stories are fun, and I love seeing the characters come alive with each keystroke...

But for me? The best part is the freedom to be able to write around MY schedule, whatever that may be!

Review - ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid Review

DISCLAIMER: Usually, I don’t do reviews on here, but this is a product I use quite a bit and love.

Being an Indie author with a nearly $0 editing budget, that leaves the editing part of the writing process up to me. Good thing I was an English buff. I have a decent to excellent sense of the English language and I know my way around a word processor. Over the past 30 years, I’ve used a LOT of word processors, ranging from ClarisWorks/AppleWorks in the early 1990s to Microsoft Works in the late 1990s to OpenOffice in the 2000s. I’ve even used Google Docs as my word processor when I was using a Chromebook.

But the one thing those word processors did NOT have built in was an actual grammar checker. As I said above, it’s a good thing I was an English buff in school. Anything to do with grammar, I excelled at. But, there are even some rules I’m not sure of… whether that be because I’m rusty at the rules (I’ve been out of school for 20+ years at this point) or my school’s curriculum decided my knowing Romeo’s soliloquy by heart was more important that grammar rules.

In the writing world, this is where an editor would step in and correct my grammar faux pas, and tightening up my writing. But, editors are pricey... Being an Indie author with a nearly $0 editing budget, that leaves the editing part of the writing process up to me.

Enter ProWritingAid.

What I like most about ProWritingAid is the plethora of options it has for usage. The company offers a standalone desktop app, which integrates with the Microsoft Office suite of apps, Google Docs, Scrivener, OpenOffice, and Final Draft. They also offer browser extensions (compatible with Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari browsers), so if you’re more of a Cloud-based author, you can still use their product.

Another feature I LOVE is the reports. ProWritingAid offers 20 original reports to help me see my errors and to also see my strengths.


My favorite report is the ‘Real Time’ report.


This shows me where my errors are, and I can fix them right on the go. That helps me so much because I’m usually editing right before I send the file to my ‘Beta Girls.’ I like my work to be as polished as possible.

Another report I’m fond of is the Readability Report. It tells me how easy my writing is. As a Romance author, I know my readers are looking for an escape from real life; a vacation from life, so to speak. So, I want to keep my writing easy to read and understand. The Readability Report helps me ensure that my readers won’t be left scratching their heads.


I’ve used other web-based grammar checkers in the past, and they worked fine. But between privacy issues and missing errors other checkers have picked up, I constantly go back to ProWritingAid for its ease of use and reliability. In fact, I ran this review through ProWritingAid before posting it.

But don’t take my word for it. Go check out some of their YouTube videos. Read some of their articles… there’s over 1000 articles to choose from. Take a free two-week trial of their software integrations.

Simply go to this link to register: https://prowritingaid.com/en/Account/Register2

Writing is not a race, nor a competition...

After losing 3K+ words on January's project, I took the remainder of January off and in February, I returned to the book I started in November. I was renewed in it, having given it a few months to 'simmer and stew,' so I could look at it with fresh eyes.

And then my muses had other plans.

They are fine with two of the names, Aubree and Logan. But, they wanted to free up Jarrett to use him in another book.

which isn't too much work. Just a lot of 'Find and Replace' commands in LibreOffice. But it's thinking of a new name that had me stumped. I wanted to keep 'true' to the muses, but something that won't get me into some serious hot water.

Considering who the Original Jarrett was based on, I toyed with the idea of just using a spelling variation of his on-screen name. But there is already another wrestler with a similarly spelled name, even with the variation I had planned.

And I surely don't need a Billionaire Owner and CEO coming after me for trying to steal his intellectual property. Nope, not on my to-do list.

Between one of my 'Beta Girls' and a fellow author in a group I'm in, I figured out how to keep that Billionaire Owner and CEO off my case AND honor one of my sisters on my Daddy's side.

Why I didn't think of this earlier is beyond me! My pen name is honoring my deceased BFF, so why didn't I think of honoring my deceased family?

I'm very grateful for their help. If it wasn't for those ladies, I'd still be stuck. We should be willing to help others when the opportunity arises.

In my 40 years on this earth, I have seen too many times when people have tried to hurt one another, just to get ahead. I understand, everyone wants to be 'Top Dog' in their chosen career, but not by being vindictive. Why? Why do this? It just reflects badly on the vindictive one, no one else.

Before I became an author, I dabbled in freelance graphic design (self-taught) on a journaling site and product review blogging. Both 'careers' had very selfish and conceited people in them. While doing the freelance graphic design, I asked a fellow designer (or 'maker,' as they were called on the site) how she did a certain technique. She never answered me. I don't know if she didn't want the competition or she didn't like me, but she could have at least said, 'I'd rather not answer.'

As a product reviewer, I met someone that had experience in PR work for 5+ years helping me, saying she knew 'what companies were looking for in reviews/influencer marketing.' Turns out she really didn't and my pitch acceptance rate dropped significantly after she had me rewrite my pitch letter. Again, I'm not sure if she did this intentionally or if I was just in the wrong niche.

But, the writing community is full of helpful people, willing to advise and guide you correctly.

This is why I say Writing is not a race, nor a competition... We're all heading in the same direction. There are so many different genres of books. Why not help fellow authors?

You may just make a friend in the end.

This is the story of a girl...

Who just did something REALLY stupid!

I run Linux Mint 19.1, and I had a kernel update today. Every time I have a kernel update, I usually back up my blogging folder and my book writing folder, just as a precautionary measure.

Well, as I'm prepping my backup, I'm talking with my 'Mama Melissa' about some things going on in the house and I deleted the WRONG copies of the files. And when I say 'deleted,' I don't mean just move to the trash. I mean 'Delete forever' deleted.

Everything I had written/done in the last 3 weeks... GONE.

I started getting upset and nervous... I wanted my files back!!

Ran a few programs... nope. Those files were GONE gone.

And then... I sat back, sighed HEAVILY and regrouped myself. This wasn't a big deal, truthfully speaking.

Technically, I lost about 3000+ words in my stepbrother story...which, honestly? Is fine. I wasn't really liking the way it was going, if I'm being completely real with myself. It was moving WAY too fast and away from the visions I had in my head. Kinda mad I lost an AWESOME 'oral' scene... probably one of the BEST I've ever written, but I'll live. I can probably re-write it, even BETTER (if that's possible), somewhere else.

I also lost an edited story that should have gone to my girls last weekend, but that's easily re-editable. Again, I'll live.

BUT the upswing? I still have the entirety of my 'NaNoWriMo' file and I'm pretty sure I have the entirety of the fanfic I was working on in December. So I can STILL pick up with Aubree, Jarrett and Logan again in February. ALL IS NOT LOST!!

So, What have I learned from all this?
a. Watch what you're doing when backing up.
b. Back up often
c. Back up to an online storage site, like Google Drive or OneDrive.

Ask the Author - 03.18.19

Ask the Author

Over on Goodreads, they have a 'segment' called "Ask The Author." Since I only have 2 followers over there, my personal GR account and my friend/boss, I screenshotted the question and decided to bring it here.

If another Goodreads question catches my eye, I'll bring it here!


What book are we talking about?

If we mean my most recent release, The Six Month Arrangement, that came pretty much from left field. I was reminiscing about an ex-fiance and wondered how much different my life would be if we had married. And while an ex coming back into your life and saying, 'Hey, we're still engaged.' really has no clout, saying you're still married to your ex and you're not willing to sign the divorce papers without one final try does.

As far as 'Erick' and his actions, He was 'inspired' by an ex of mine. (Yes, I draw a LOT from my personal life) While he never used me as a wedding planner for another girl and himself, some of the things Tawny said Erick told her were actually said by this ex.

Well, what about your WIPs?

Currently, I have 3 WIPs going...
~Pinky Promise
This was my Camp NaNoWriMo project for July 2018. This was inspired by planning my 20th high school reunion. I had gotten a BLIP of a scene of two best friends writing a 'contract' up. The rest just kind of flowed to make the blip be possible AND make sense. I'd say I'm 80-85% done with this one.

~My NaNoWriMo '18 project (Currently untitled)
This started out as my first actual NaNoWriMo attempt in November 2018. To be honest, this was not my original NaNoWriMo plot; this plot was stuffed into my ideas list and kept being shelved for other plots. I actually had another plot all ready to go. I was so pumped to write that plot (and still plan to at some point)…
And then, Fate stepped in and said, “Nope!”
Everything changed on the night of October 22, 2018… The night Joe Anoa’i AKA Roman Reigns announced his leukemia had returned.
It was like a calling inside me; a light switch flipped. This plot was just SCREAMING at me... and I've always heard if something is SCREAMING at you, don't ignore it!
So, with 8 days away from NaNoWriMo, everything was changed. New research had to be done. New names thought of. It was like I was starting fresh.
And I wouldn’t have done a single thing differently.
Even though Roman has now returned to action, I still plan on finishing this one up soon.

~The Stripper Story (Currently untitled)
Oh, boy.
Okay, so about 10 days ago (as of this writing), I had a dream about Roman Reigns as a stripper/male exotic dancer and 'climbing him like a telephone pole.' I was getting into a rut with Pinky Promise and my NaNoWriMo'18 project, so I decided to take what I remembered from the dream and expand it.
It's actually titled 'stripperstory' on my hard drive.
This is probably going to be a short story, no more than 10,000 words, and an HFN ending.

Inspiration comes in many forms; you just need to be able to see them.

An explanation...

So, I think I better explain why there has been so many name changes...

Let me start by saying I am VERY indecisive. It's a Gemini thing. I have got through 6 different pen names, trying to find ME. I finally found one I adore, and I'm STICKING with it!! It has very personal and sentimental meaning to me.

Honestly, I don't even remember some of them... The ones I DO remember are:

Rebecca Ann
Rebecca Drake
Beckilyn Marie
Daisy Nathaniels
and now, the one that is going to STICK
Daisy Loveless

The one that stuck the longest, Daisy Nathaniels, also had personal meaning to me... daisies are one of my fave flowers (roses and peonies being the other two) and if I was a boy, I would have been named Nathaniel... I felt like I was honoring my mother by using 'Nathaniel' in my pen name.

About a month ago, I just started not feeling it.

So, I really sat and thought about it. I really wanted to keep the 'Daisy' of it, but what last name could I use? I really didn't want to use my real last name, because I didn't want to have it change it if I ever get married.

And then it came to me.

I chose 'Daisy Loveless' because I love daisies (roses and peonies being my other two fave flowers) and how close I was to my best male friend Johnny, who died in 2011... so it's my way of 'memorializing' him. I miss Johnny every single day, and I know if he was still alive, he'd be supporting me 125% in being an author.

That being said, I want to thank Mama Melissa, Shelia, Andrea, Marci, Paulette and Ryan for helping make the decision, because I was actually sitting on the fence for a LONG time about this... Their positive words and memes gave me the gentle 'push' I needed to actually go for it.

So, here we go... Thanks for following along for the ride!