So about my project…

This is one of the ideas I came up with when I was brainstorming for the non-Cavemen anthologies for 2006. I didn’t write a proposal for it because I wasn’t sure it could work, or if it could work, how. These are things you like to be sure of when you try to sell a story in advance. Not that I’ve ever sold a story in advance, but if I promise something I want to be sure I can deliver. So I didn’t send in a proposal, I just filed it away under “what a great idea, I must write this”. I did mention it to my editor, who made enthusiastic noises, so that’s encouraging.

I’ve got the setting, the general concept and the backstory. Today I sat down and wrote two pages. I think this whole story is going to surprise me. Already I have two characters in a behind-the-scenes power struggle that I never intended to be present in the story. I thought they were backstory. They disagree. Who knows what trouble they’ll cause? And the romance, I have no idea how it’s going to get to happily ever after.

I do know this is a story that grips me, I’m having fun, and I want to see where it goes. I’ve learned to trust that a story always knows where it wants to go whether I can see it ahead of time or not. I just start with what I know and see what happens next.

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

I love the sound of neurons in the morning when dialog and scenes start to roll.

4:00 a.m. seemed wayyy too early to wake up, but after feeding Morgan and getting her back down I realized I had probably an hour before Alex woke up and I should use it to write, even though going back to sleep was tempting. Sort of like water in the desert is tempting. I grumbled a lot to myself about how I should be sleeping, but pulled out the laptop and journaled. And then suddenly I knew what I was going to write next, one of the novella ideas I developed back in Jan. or Feb. It’s coming to life in my head and I want to play with it.

It’s a great feeling to have scenes burbling up to the surface and to feel excited and WANT to write them down. Not feeling like I have to produce or like I want to write but am too exhausted to do it, but feeling energized and enthused and eager to get on with it because it’ll be fun and writing it will make me happy.

I’ve been telling myself all throughout pregnancy that I would feel this way again, that I’d have to expect to need some time to recover but it would come back. And here it is, that feeling. Almost 5 weeks to the day since Morgan’s birth and it’s back. I feel like myself again.

Fingers crossed and another great review on Dangerous Games

Cupid’s Library Reviews has a terrific review on Dangerous Games. 4.5 cupids plot factor and 5 cupids pleasure factor! Reviewer Danny has this to say:

“Dangerous Games is a real fun book and a page turner. This was my first book by Charlene Tegalia and definitely not my last one. Drake and Melinda are two really loveable and believable characters. I recommend to keep some ice cubes near you, because you will need them when you read the book. The sex scenes are perfectly interwoven into the plot of the story. In my opinion is the book a real keeper and I can’t wait to read more books by Charlene Tegalia.”

Things are afoot on the moving front. Fingers crossed.

Blog neglect!

I’m guilty of blog neglect. Bad blogger! And not because I’m finishing a story, either, it’s just been really busy around here. Argh, the time and energy involved in planning a move. We’d love to never, ever move again once this is done.

So for lack of a better topic (and to avoid gnashing my teeth about the prospect of moving) today’s entertainment is a list of things I will not be blogging about this week:
1. the RWA convention (since I’m not going)
2. shopping for said convention (which I wouldn’t do even if I were going)
3. overheard in the bar at said convention (I don’t drink)
4. any other industry gossipy bits (nobody tells me anything juicy)
5. religion and/or politics (I avoid these topics like the plague)

However, I can report that I finally had time for a haircut and I no longer look like I’m living under a shrub. Also, Amazon will be more than happy to ship The Beast Within to me. There’s always some good news, even with the prospect of moving looming over me and making me hyperventilate into a paper bag.

Pax conspiracy

For months I’ve been anticipating the first installment of Suzanne McMinn’s Pax League series. (Think grown-up X Men with a lot more romance. Just my kind of thing!) This is July, the first book is out, and yet I still do not have The Beast Within in my posession. Not for lack of trying, either. Local grocery stores? No. Walmart? No. Barnes and Noble? Showed 2 copies in the system, but neither could be found, even after the clerk checked in the back.

I think I’m the victim of a Pax League conspiracy! Thank God for Amazon, open 24/7.