#IWSG: Back to Normal

It's the 1st Wednesday. Happy Insecure Writers Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh.

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Thanks, Alex, for starting this group and keeping it going. And thanks to this month's awesome hosts:  Tyrean Martinson, Tara Tyler, Raimey Gallant, and Beverly Stowe McClure!

Back to Normal

Back to school time? Home Alone? Are we back to normal? Hah! After two months of sharing our home with Son, Daughter-in-Law, Toddler Girl, a Great Dane, and a yellow Lab, our house is ours alone again. The summer flew as I discovered chasing after a two-year-old exhausts me. Don’t get me wrong. I loved every minute of their extended visit. Okay, maybe not the barking or whining. And maybe not Toddler Girl exhibiting the definition of “Terrible Twos.” Watching TG’s vocabulary increase and her sentences grow longer has been a real treat. Best of all were the hugs and kisses at night and the cuddles as we watched “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” and Finding Dory. I was amazed at her attention span. We only had to take two breaks.

The downside. They moved into their new home. It took them all of last week to get their place ready so they could leave ours. I’m sure I’ll keep finding items left behind, besides a lot of dog hair. The upside is their new home is only two miles away. So now all of my family is close by. Daughter and her family are twenty minutes away. The grandkiddies can visit often, and we can visit them.

Now I have no excuse not to write. Rather than stress out over the upset routine for the summer, I accepted the fact that I wouldn’t write much. I kept up with my blogging obligations (except my Monday Morning Musing) and considered that good. Then the leader of a group newsletter I participate with thought up a “wonderful” promo to increase our readership—an anthology of short stories that we’d offer free. Surely, we all have short stories lying around. Wrong. I don’t write short. My stories run 80-100k words. And don’t call me Shirley. (I couldn’t resist.) I had one story that was about 3,000 words. Not long enough. So last month I had to write a 15k short story, in my spare time between babysitting TG. Hahaha. Mornings (my best time to write) were spent keeping her out of trouble, playing, reading, etc. By the time she went down for a nap, I followed the advice given to new mothers—when Baby sleeps, you sleep. I took naps almost every day.

I surprised myself by finishing a 14k word short story on August 31^st. I even polished up the 3k Christmas story and added that to the anthology. Goals are great. Peer pressure works better. LOL We have a cover and the book will go up on Instafreebie shortly. What a deal. A free book just for signing up for our newsletter.

Besides amazing myself that I could write 14,000 words in 31 days, I discovered I could write during chaos. It’s always fun to learn something new about the writing process. Shutting out our surroundings, concentrating on what’s in our imagination, and putting what’s there on paper or a computer screen is an accomplishment. Some people use noise-canceling headphones. Or listen to music to drown out the noise of everyday life. Whatever works. I also learned to write during my least optimal time—evening.

The optional question this month is Have you ever surprised yourself with your writing?

I’ve already answered most of the question. My most memorable surprise was while writing Switched Resolution (book 3 of my Switched series). As I wrote a reunion scene, I cried. When I reread it as part of the final proofread, I got choked up. While reading the story again (months later) before submitting it for the print edition, I cried again. That I could elicit that kind of emotion from myself amazed me. I hope the readers experienced that, too.

I hope you have a great September. That you meet your goals. See you back here in October.

Speaking of anthologies . . . Do you know about the IWSG anthology contest?

The next anthology contest is here! All details are posted at the IWSG website!

Click here to find others on the Insecure Writers Support Group Blog Hop. Or go to IWSG on Facebook to see who’s blogging today. 

Aliens

What is it about the word "aliens" that sends people into a tizzy and makes politicians talk about building electrified fences or walls? Unless we're one hundred percent Native American, our ancestors were aliens.

Since I steer away from political issues, that's not the kind of aliens I write about. My aliens are from another world. Outer space. That conjures up Devil Girl from Mars. Men in Black. Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. Planet of the Apes. Alien.

Hold on. I do not write about creepy aliens. I write science fiction romance. My stories are more like Buck Rogers, Star Wars, and E.T. with some Star Trek for good measure. Space adventure. My characters are people, more like you and me, living and working on starships or planets in other galaxies. Why, you may ask, do I write about them?

Because it's fun. I love a good adventure. Space exploration has fascinated me since we finally put a man on the moon. No, wait. Even before that. During every space launch, I was glued to the television set—black and white, at first, but that didn't make it any less exciting. The possibility of exploring beyond our universe intrigues me, captures my imagination. What if . . . Isn't that the way all stories begin in the author's mind?

What if people from an advanced society in another galaxy parked a starship above Earth? Does that sound like Independence Day? Nothing like that. This starship wanted to research our civilization? While the serious researchers examine Earth because of its similarity to their own world of the past, the younger, more enthusiastic crew members become enamored with  transmissions of our communication satellites. Forget War of the Worlds. How about Galaxy Quest meets Desperate Wives? Throw in a deranged scientist and a rebellion and you have the beginning of my Switched series.

What happened to the romance part of science fiction romances? Well, of course, there has to be hunky heroes (aren't they always?) and beautiful (ditto) heroines. (As we all know, hunkiness and beauty are in the eye of the beholder.) What if the hero and heroine are from different worlds, different cultures? The possibilities of conflict increase. The series revolves around two sets of twins, separated before birth. Yes, you read that right. Before birth.

 What if these twins switch places? Not once, twice. Will anyone figure it out? Can the "impostor" fool their twin's best friends, mother? 

Each book in the series demanded a sequel. Until the last one. "What if . . ." guided the stories. Just as we look at space exploration and wonder what's next. 

As our own space exploration ramps up with NASA pushing ahead on deep space exploration and private enterprise venturing forth, we might just come across those aliens. They're probably sitting back, watching us take our first steps, waiting for us to catch up with them.

To find out more about my Switched series, visit my website or my Amazon author page. 

Trick-Or-Treat-Read-A-Book

I am so happy to participate in Patricia Lynne's Book Blog Hop. What a terrific idea she has. Giving away a book. Since I love to read and enjoy a variety of genres, you bet I'll be going around to each author's site.

Here's a little bit about the book I'm giving away. Switched was my first published book so it holds a special place in my heart. It was also my very first science fiction romance--even though at the time that wasn't what the genre was called. Back then, it was a futuristic romance. Whatever it's called, I hope you'll find it's a fun read. According to author Nancy Gideon "who knew science fiction could be so sassy, sexy, and fun?"

Blurb:

Kidnapped by aliens? By mistake?

When wise-cracking Jessie Wyndom is beamed from her farmhouse in Ann Arbor, MI aboard an Alliance starship, she meets a regular Mr. Spock. Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by a free-spirited Terran. Fate brings them together. Treachery tears them apart.

Use Code  SG25S

at Smashwords 

Coupon expires December 31, 2015 

After you pick up your free book here, visit the other 42 sites for more books. HAPPY READING!

1.	Patricia Lynne	16.	Heather M. Gardner	31.	Eliza Green
2.	Marie Landry	17.	Kelly Marsden	32.	Farah Oomerbhoy
3.	Lilly Avalon	18.	Julie Flanders	33.	Deborah Coonts
4.	M. Pax	19.	The NoteBook Blogairy	34.	AD Starrling
5.	Echo Fox	20.	Dean K Miller	35.	H.M. Jones
6.	Faith McKay	21.	Wittegen Press	36.	Kat Vancil
7.	James Drummond	22.	C.D. Gallant-King	37.	J Lenni Dorner
8.	Decadent Kane	23.	Sophie Duncan	38.	Lindsay Fischer
9.	Mia Epsilon	24.	Yolanda Renee	39.	Amy Keeley
10.	Melissa Barker-Simpson	25.	Connie B. Dowell	40.	Cassandra Giovanni
11.	Jemima Pett	26.	Tui Snider	41.	A Book a Day Reviews
12.	Stephen Tremp	27.	Oops Comic Adventure	42.	Robert McKay
13.	N. R. Williams	28.	After Daylight - A Vampire Comedy	43.	Z.A. Waterstone
14.	Natasha Duncan-Drake	29.	D. Wilder - Fantasy Novels and Dragons For Adults
15.	Diane Burton...Adventure and romance	30.	Kate Tilton

Read an E-Book Week

This week we're celebrating e-books. If you've seen any of the other posts on this subject, you'll probably notice my logo for the week is different. Since my books are about adventures, I thought this one was very appropriate.

Books have always been an adventure for me. They transport me from the humdrum, everyday to worlds I can only dream--or read--about. I can visit foreign lands or even other planets. With each book, my mind stretches and grows, my imagination takes over. It's the same when I write.

When e-readers came out, I refused to get one. I loved the feel of a paper book. Almost four years ago, Hubs "twisted my arm" and got me a Kindle for my birthday. How amazing! I realized what I was missing.  I LOVE e-books!

In honor of "Read an E-Book Week", Smashwords is offering all my science fiction romances at half price. Yes, $2.00 each. Look for the coupon code at the site for each book that you'll need at checkout.

When wise-cracking Jessie Wyndom is beamed from her farmhouse in Ann Arbor, MI aboard an Alliance starship, she meets a regular Mr. Spock. Captain Marcus Viator's well-organized life is turned upside down by a free-spirited Terran. Fate brings them together. Treachery tears them apart.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/103546

Be careful what you wish for . . . you might get it.

Scott Cherella's lifelong dream to go into space quickly becomes a nightmare. Veronese Qilana must protect him, a Terran masquerading as a starship captain. When sabotage erupts, they must work together to get the crew safely home. In doing so, they discover opposites really do attract.

 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/170386

Actions have consequences as Space Fleet Captain Marcus Viator and NASA reject Scott Cherella discover when they switched places. SWITCHED RESOLUTION, which wraps up the Switched series, takes the reader from Earth—where Marcus adjusts to a pregnant Jessie—to the starship Freedom commandeered by rebels, to the chase ship with Scott and Veronese aboard.

 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/313093

There's no place like home and he just stole hers.

Cargo hauler, risk taker Celera d'Enfaden must work with rule-bound Administrator Trevarr Jovano to save her brother from a galactic gangster.

  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/259950





Check out Smashwords for the Read an Ebook Week promotion page: https://www.smashwords.com/books/category/1/newest/1

Enjoy an e-book.