Did you ever see the show Nip Tuck? I never watched it, but I used to see commercials for it during Charmed, because they had an actor in common. Overall, it didn’t strike me as a worthwhile use of my time. It still doesn’t. I really hated how the main character would ask women, at the start of the cosmetic surgery consultation, “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself.” I mean, I have my issues with cosmetic surgery as it is. When it’s approached in that self-hating way, I really loath it.

Even so, that question stuck with me. Tell me what you don’t like about yourself. I think it’s a good question to ask yourself sometimes, now that I’m older. Not about my appearance, but about my actions.

I don’t mean this to come off as derogatory. For the most part I think that I, like most people, am doing the best I can with the resources I have.

But I know for sure that I have some really bad habits that are causing me some grief. I love me, but there are still things that I don’t like about me. It’s getting toward that time of the year when we all make promises to ourselves about how we’re going to be better people. Quit smoking, lose weight, start reading more, eat healthier. While those are great goals, I wonder if they’re really what’s going to make the most impact on your life. Maybe you’re health is just freaking fine. (Unless you’re smoking. Go ahead and quit that, please. I like you and I’d like to see you stick around.) So, rather than making the same goals everyone else is making, let’s make some that are based on that simple question.

Tell me (you) what you don’t like about yourself.

What don’t you like about your home life?

What don’t you like about your current financial situation?

What don’t you like about your self-care regiment?

What don’t you like about your creative outlet/side hustle?

I chose those four because they represent the four corners of what I feel are a balanced life. My home, my finances, my self-care and my writing are the four areas that I feel that I can focus on and improve in my life. You might have totally different categories, and that’s fine. This is your life. How you want to improve it is personal.

So, what don’t you like about yourself? More importantly, what can you do to change it?

If you’re a sports fan, this is your favorite time of year. Football is in full swing, and hockey is just starting up. As a Steelers and Penguins fan, I’m finding that my schedule is dictated by the game nights. This is a far cry from when I was a kid and couldn’t have cared less about sports. The older I get, though, the more I like it. Because it’s me, I have to overthink this. But I finally realized that the reason why I love sports is simple.

As many of you know, I don’t have a great relationship with my extended family. I often feel like a tree without deep roots, unsteady. As though a strong gust of wind might blow me down. The way I’ve learned to cope with that is to build a foundation, to take the place of roots I don’t have. This little Western PA town holds all of my memories. And this town bleeds black and gold. That is my heritage.

Here’s the great thing about following a sports team. It’s not about wanting to win. If that were the case, everyone would cheer for the Steelers, Cowboys or 49ers. It’s about your home town. People move all over the world, and carry their home town colors along with them.

I’ll cheer for the Steelers and Penguins for the rest of my life, whether they’re winning or losing. I’ll feel an instant warmth for others who cheer those teams. I’ll feel like I belong, because of my team. I hope my daughters have that, too.

It’s November 4^th. If you’re participating in Nanowrimo, you’re probably either ahead of the game, or already wondering what the hell you were thinking participating in this crazy thing. Either way, you’re my hero. I can’t say enough good about Nanowrimo. I wrote Broken Patterns because of it, and I wrote the sequel, Starting Chains, the year after. If you want to write your first book, or at least get the first 50,000 words done in a month, do this!

Last year, though, I wasn’t going to be able to participate. I had Broken Patterns sitting on my desk, undone, and Starting Chains was still in rough draft form. I couldn’t start on another novel with those two still staring at me, like two neglected alley cats might watch if you bring a new kitten into your home.

Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one. Nicole Simms, who I found on Facebook and just fell in love with, was in the same boat. So we decided to do Nanoedmo in November. That way we could participate in all of the writing brother/sisterhood of the month and make progress on our current projects.

Full disclosure, we didn’t make up Nanoedmo. It’s just normally done in March. There’s a whole website dedicated to it, which you can visit by going here.

You might find that you, yourself are in a similar situation. (Yes, I’m already thinking of Alice’s Restaurant.) I imagine that a lot of writers have that abandoned ally cat of a manuscript, lurking around their desk, hissing at the new kitten manuscripts that have your attention with their fluffy fur and potential. Let’s give those cats a home together. If you want to join us, that’s awesome. Don’t think that four days in is too late, you can still catch up! It’s an hour and 55 minutes a day, every day for the rest of the month. Check us out on the official Facebook page, right here.

My goals this year are pretty grand. I have the rewrites for Broken Patterns that I’m working on. Once that’s done, I’ve got two books that I’ve written and they need to go through their second draft. Do I think I’ll get all of this done in a month? Hell no, I’m not masochistic. But I plan to get the rewrites on Broken Patterns done, and that will be an awesome project in itself.

What do you want to accomplish this month? If you’re not going to do either Nano event, but forge your own path as a writer, I’m especially interested in hearing your goals. Let us know in the comments below!

With Broken Patterns on the way to publication, I’m feeling nostalgic. I mean, I started this book in 2014, and it’s just now coming out. It’s also a little weird, because I’m almost done with Starting Chains and about to be working on Missing Stitches. It’s all coming back full circle.

So I wanted to walk through the steps I’ve taken with Woven so far, broken down by year. I’ll be doing updates as the book progress, of course, but I just want to take a minute and read the mile marker.

2013

I wrote the rough draft of Broken Patterns in six weeks. I had never written anything that long before. The novel I wrote before was just barely novel size. I had to add a whole secondary plot line just to puff it up. Broken Patterns was huge, though! It was over 800 pages long hand, double spaced.

Then I got fired from the shoe store, and my daughter was kidnapped by her paternal father from school. That’s when Broken Patterns saved my life. It was all I had to cling to while I was trying desperately to save my family.

2014

In which everything had a happy ending. I spent a good amount of time cleaning up the novel before Woven, and started trying to submit it.

I spent seven months writing the second draft of Broken Patterns. I was so sick and tired of it after that I jumped into Starting Chains with both feet for NANO that year.

I did write 50,000 words in November, but that wasn’t half of that book. I threw the thing away halfway through and started from scratch twice. It took six months, total, to finish that draft, that spanned five composition notebooks.

In the meantime, my daughter came home, and I landed the best damn day job ever.

2015

Most of 2015 was spent finishing Starting Chains, but when that was done I wrote the final draft of Broken Patterns. It was finished, for good (not really) in November. I put it away with a sigh, only to pull it back out to add a prologue and epilogue when I was finished with the second draft of Starting Chains and realized I’d need to foreshadow some of the things going on. The Final draft of Broken Patterns took me six months, then another three weeks for a final polish. When it was done, I jumped right into the second draft of Starting Chains. That took me into 2016.

My life was pretty awesome this year. Mostly I was still recovering from the two years before. I did get promoted at my day job. And, we moved into our first ever house! Our family also gained a member. Our dog, Oliver.

2016

This year isn’t over yet, of course. But so far I’ve finished the second draft of Starting Chains, which took a total of five and a half months. I think it took less time than the first one because I threw it away twice during the rough draft process.

After that I wrote the rough draft for Missing Stitches. I am really apprehensive, because it seemed so easy to write it. Which probably means it’s predictable and boring as hell. All told, it took me three months.

Now I’m working on the final draft of Starting Chains, in the hopes of getting it done before I start on the rewrites for Broken Patterns. If it doesn’t take too long, I’ll start on draft two of Missing Stitches after that.

No estimated release date yet.

I can’t wait to see what happens next.

I realized that, while I’ve gone over most of my creative process, there’s one tool that I’ve designed over the last few years I’ve never talked about. It’s an essential tool, though, and one that I’d like to share with you today.

A series outline.

Why to make a series outline

You probably have an overlying plan for your series, unless you wrote one and then got another idea for the same characters. This happens, but I rarely think it’s as fun. One of the reasons why I loved Harry Potter and Hunger Games so much is that there is a plot, tight as a piano wire, through the series. It’s undeniable how a well plotted series sings.

A series outline is also a handy place to store ideas for future books that you don’t want to forget. We all think we’re going to remember our bolt from the blue ideas, but we don’t. Why do you think I’ve twice nearly been hit by a car while walking? I was trying to pull up literally any program on my tablet to get the idea down before I lost it.

How to make a series outline

What should go into your series outlines? I have two, and they look pretty much the same, despite how different my books are.

• Who’s the main characer?
• Where’s it going to be set?
• Major plots.
• Minor plots.
• What series plots will be involved?
• What happened in the books before that I need to wrap up in this one?
• What do I need to foreshadow for future books?
• Any other notes.

No, I don’t know all of that for every book I have planned. Start with what you have, other ideas will follow. For instance, I might know the major plot for a book, and who’s going to be in it. But I really won’t know what minor plot lines aren’t getting settled until I’m done with the book before it.

Don’t put it on paper, it will break your heart. You’re going to change, add to and take away from this document all the freaking time. If you try to put it on paper, you’re going to have a scratched out, scrambled mess. I use Evernote, of course, so that I can add to it and refer to it on the fly.

And I do add to it often. I get ideas as I’m writing, editing or just brushing my teeth that I don’t want to lose. I also take time after every draft to update it.

I also find some additional lists to be helpful additions.

• Who’s still alive.
• Where each character is, geographically.
• Master list of series plot lines.

Nothing is set in stone

I’m sure the pantsers among you have dismissed this idea as a bad one. How is anything to be creative when it’s all so structured? Isn’t it nothing more than dictation if you already know what’s going to happen? What if a new idea strikes?

That’s why you have a delete key. If you’re looking over your notes, and something doesn’t fit anymore, take it out. If something strikes you as boring, your reader probably thinks it is, too. If you have a burst of inspiration that changes the whole structure of the series, just change it! That’s why we don’t write it on paper!

Sorry, guys, no short story this week. But I think you’ll be pleased with what I have for you.

Once again it’s time for my yearly Nanowrimo and Nanoedmo shopping list. “But Nicole,” I can hear you say, “Nanoedmo isn’t until March.” Or maybe you’re saying, “What the hell are you talking about?”

Well, last month, the awesome blogger Nicole J. Simms hosted a Nanoedmo in November, for all of us who can’t rough draft this month.

So, since this is the third year I’ve done this, I prepared two shopping lists for you, one for rough drafting and one for editing.

So, to participate in Nano, since I’ve already got everything on  this list, I’ll need…

1. A subscription to Dropbox, to store your rough draft.
2. A case of Coke. Coffee’s expensive, but you still need that caffine boost. Besides, it pairs better with rum. (Just kidding, don’t write drunk!)
3. Dog treats, to distract Oliver.
4. Desk yoga videos, so I can stay stretchy while not leaving my desk.
5. One of those lower back support things for my chair. (I’m getting older, and my back’s been doing weird things.)
6. Spam, because that is a quick meal anytime.
7. A pound of unsalted butter and a big jar of coconut oil for bullet proof coffee.
8. A brand new Moleskine for notes.
9. An inspirational background for my computer. Or, an evil clown picture for my desktop, so that I want to keep Open Office open to hide it.
10. A pomodoro timer, to keep me on track.

For editing, of course, we all have different needs. Here’s my editing list from last year, and here’s what I’ll be getting this year.

1. Some tiger balm. (I told you my back was bothering me)
2. A new canvas bag, because lugging around my laptop and manuscript has all but killed my old one.
3. A gift card to my favorite coffee place, since I’m going to live there for a month.
4. A Lindsay Stirling album. Violin music helps me focus.
5. Some makeup removing wipes, since I’ll be pulling some long hours and won’t want to fully wash my face before crashing.
6. New binder clips, because there’s a ton of pages, and organization may save what’s left of my mind.
7. Wasabi peas. They are delicious and a filling snack.
8. BB cream, mascara and lip balm. All the makeup I’m going to have time for this month.
9. A big bottle of bubble bath for sore muscle soaking.
10. And finally, a cheesecake to hide in my freezer for when I get in my 50 hours of editing in one month!

Good luck, everyone! Let us know how you’re doing, whatever challenge you’re participating in, so we can all cheer you on.

What can’t you write without? Let us know in the comments below.

Harry Potter fans, raise your replica wands!

This has been a pretty good year to be a Potter fan. At least, as good as it can be now that the series is done. But, we got a screenplay and a new movie, so we can’t complain too much.

Now, I haven’t seen Fantastical Beasts yet, (since it comes out in November) but I did read The Cursed Child. And I’m not going to lie, I had mixed feelings about it.

Here are some things you should know before you read it.

It is a play, not a novel.

If you pick this book up expecting it to be, well, a book, you’re going to be sadly disappointed. It’s a play, and this is a play script that you’re reading.

This is not a bad thing. I like reading plays, and in fact one of my favorite Steven King Stories, Storm of The Century, is a screenplay. Just don’t be expecting the flow of dialog and descriptions that we found in the books.

JK Rowling didn’t write it.

I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you that every writer has her own voice. I could write the same story as you, and it would be completely different. If you’ve read the books, you’ll recognize Rowling’s voice, and find that this play lacks it.

I don’t mean to disparage the writers of the play, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany. Their style is different, but good.

As of this writing, the edition available is the rehearsal edition.

And another edition is going to come out. I think it’s slanted for later this year, early next year. I don’t know how different it’s going to be. They might just want to clean some things up after the show was done. But be warned, it might come out and be completely different. It’s kind of like comic books. Just when you think you know something, a writer decides to ret-con a character and screw up your day.

I still loved it.

Even with all of that, I still loved this story. I wanted, like everyone did, to know what happened! What did everyone do after Hogwarts? I mean, we know that there are kids (poorly named kids) but that’s it! I wanted to know so much more. While Rowling has given us some of that, there was more to learn about. And I wanted something a little more official than fan fic. If that’s what you’re after, then The Cursed Child delivers.

Just know what you’re getting into.