IWSG: Quit Writing?

 

Happy Insecure Writer's Support Group Day. IWSG is the brainchild of 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. We are rockin' the neurotic writing world!

The awesome co-hosts for the July 7 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Victoria Marie Lees, Chemist Ken, and Louise – Fundy Blue!

This month's (optional) question: What would make you quit writing?

When I saw the question, I wondered if it had been written just for me. I tell myself and others, with regard to writing one of several unfinished novels, that I'm on hiatus. Some of you may remember the Lil Abner character, Joe Bifspik, the guy under a cloud.

credit: www.bookofjoe.com

That's me. Over two months ago, my oven went out. I called for repair, of course, but thanks to the computer chip shortage, the needed part was on order. Last week, the dishwasher joined the oven and quit working. In the meantime, I broke my wrist, which is now healed, thank goodness. Also during this time, Hubs was in the hospital, then in rehab, home, in the hospital, and, as I write this, he's waiting transport to rehab. Did you know an excess of calcium is dangerous? It can make you so weak you fall. Again and again. Our doc said this (hospital, rehab, home, hospital . . .) could be our new normal. 

Writing? What's that?

I apologize for last month when I visited so very few of you. I'll try to do better this month. Maybe while waiting as the repair guy fixes my oven and dishwasher. I'll bet I could take my computer to rehab while visiting my sleeping husband. (Another thing excess calcium does is make the person fatigued.) Meanwhile, the docs are still trying to figure out what is causing all this calcium in his blood. They can treat the results, but until they know what's causing it, it will keep coming back. 

That's my tale of woe for this month. If all that doesn't make me quit writing, I'm not sure what would. At times, I feel like a fraud for being in a "writers" group, since my writing is non-existent, except for our monthly blog. And, sometimes, the Weekend Writing Warriors. Oh, and a monthly post at Paranormal Romantics. Hey, I am writing, if only a little.

I hope you have a great writing month. Maybe that cloud over my head will go somewhere else by next month.

By the way, two of my books are in Smashwords' Summer Sale, each is the beginning book in a series and each is available for 99 cents.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/489085

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

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.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: I'm Confiscating Your Ship

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. Sorry I'm late this week. I think I got my post in under the wire.

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. In this snippet, Celara has landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo. There. a mechanic catches her eye. She just introduced herself.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

When he reached into the pocket of his work uniform and pulled out a zircan leather folder, she groaned before he even opened it. She knew what the folder contained. A shiny gold badge, carved with an intricate array of stars, swirls and a tiny red jewel in the center. The insignia of the Coalition.

“I am Administrator Trevarr Jovano.” He snapped his fingers and two armed Security personnel stepped out of the shadows of the Agilean Speeder. “I am impounding your ship and confiscating your cargo.”

That's the end of chapter one and the last snippet from this book. Next week, I'll begin with my work-in-progress--the fourth in the Outer Rim series.

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: And You Are?

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week, which wasn't a good week for me. After dealing with my husband's health issues, I had no energy to visit. I will try to hit both your post last week and this one on my visits.

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. When Celara's ship is hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security, she gives them the slip in an asteroid field. In this snippet, she's landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo. There. a mechanic catches her eye.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.
  

“Did you arrive on that hauler?” He nodded to her ship, his voice, a tantalizing allure of baritone and chokiris, sounded vaguely familiar.

“Yep, that’s my ship,” She tucked her thumbs into the side pockets of her trousers and thrust out her chest a little in pride, “D’Enfaden’s Thermopylae, fastest little transport in three sectors.”

He walked past her to examine her ship then ran his hand—long, strong fingers, she noted—over the dents and scrapes along the aft section, “It appears to have sustained damage.”

“My thruster gimbal got damaged when I kissed an asteroid evading filthy pirates—they didn’t catch me, though,” She grinned, “Hey, you new around here? Don’t remember seeing you before—and I sure would remember seeing you.”

He arched his dark eyebrow.

She raised her hand, palm outward, in the traditional indie greeting, “Celara d’Enfaden.” As he stared at her with green eyes as sharp and clear as veridion, she raised her own eyebrow, “And you are . . .”

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: Wanna Party?

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. When Celara's ship is hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security, she gives them the slip in an asteroid field. In this snippet, she's landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo and sees a mechanic bent over an engine. The last sentence was: As she stared at his butt, all she could think was oh, mama.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.
 

Celara hoped he was human and the rest of him lived up to the preview—better yet, she hoped he was in a party mood. After escaping from the pirates, she wanted to howl . . . and someone to howl with.

“Hey, big boy,” she called to the mechanic, “Wanna party?”

“Yo, d’Enfaden,” a pilot hollered, “How come you never ask me to party?”

“You space jocks will party all night then stick me with the bill,” she shot back before approaching the mechanic, “You there, working on the Agilean—that is one fine ship.”

When he turned around, she sucked in a breath, Oh, yeah, a primal part of her sat up and took notice. His backside, gorgeous as it was, didn’t compare to the rest of him—the broad shoulders and muscles of a laborer plus the black hair, square jaw and blade-straight nose of Bricaldian aristocracy—what a delicious combination.

He tossed aside the rag on which he’d wiped his hands, then he raised his arms to slip them into the work uniform, and she noticed a fading red scar near the bottom of his ribcage. Knife fight . . . he was lucky the wound hadn’t been deeper or higher.

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: Oh, Mama!

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. When Celara's ship is hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security, she gives them the slip in an asteroid field. In this snippet, she's landed at Vesteron Colony to deliver her cargo.

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

As Celera walked out of her ship, the heat and humidity of Vesteron coupled with the heat of the repair bay brought her to a halt, so she loosened the top of her shirt and rolled the long sleeves up to her elbows. The environment and gravity of this place always weighed her down—she took several deep breaths to orient her body to the surroundings, while the cloying sweet smell of barzilium, the tang of lubricating fluids and the odor of male sweat assaulted her nose.

“Hey, guys,” she called to a cluster of pilots lounging near a Volpian cruiser similar to the one she’d evaded, “Watch out for pirates near the Ytersigon Asteroid Field.”

One of the men gave her a mock salute, “Thanks for the warning, d’Enfaden. Glad to see they didn’t get your cargo this time.”

“Thanks,” She scanned the bay for the Dock Master, “Is Vakus around?”

She stopped looking for him when she saw a pair of legs topped by the most gorgeous set of male buns she’d seen in at least a year. The owner of the aforementioned body parts, encased in the dark blue uniform of the repair crew, was bent over the open hatch of an Agilean Speeder.

Now there was a ship—the sleek vessel, one of the fastest in the galaxy, almost distracted her from the mechanic. He’d shrugged off the top portion of the jumpsuit so that it pooled around his waist, the environment of the repair shop affected many newcomers, especially those unaccustomed to the heat.

As she stared at his butt, all she could think was oh, mama.

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: Let's Celebrate Our Survival #sfr

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. Celara's ship was hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security. In this snippet, we're still with Trevarr and his buddy Laning in their ship, and Celara is long gone. (By the way, Trevarr is from the planet Bricaldia. That will explain the last line in this snippet.)

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

In an attempt to make restitution for his bad judgment in entering the asteroid field, Trevarr said, “I will repair your ship when we return to Vesteron.”

“You’re the best mechanic I know, buddy,” Laning drawled, his anger gone, “I’d rather get a drink to celebrate our survival. Let’s go to Astron, it’s not that far, and there’s a great tavern there—the food is top-notch, the barkeep is gorgeous, and she doesn’t water down the liquor, either.”

“We are returning to Magnos Prime. If that cargo hauler made it through the asteroid field, Vesteron Colony is the closest port. A few of your shots actually hit that ship, and it will have to put in for repairs. I will teach that indie to heed orders.”

“Trevarr,” Laning shook his head sadly, “You were more fun a few mins ago, even if you almost destroyed my ship.”

“You may refrain from continual recriminations—I said I will repair the damage.”

“There you go, again, sounding like a stiff-ass Bric.”

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: I'm Too Young To Die #sfr

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. Celara's ship was hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security. In this snippet, we're still with Trevarr and his buddy Laning in their ship, and Celara is long gone. 

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

“Looks like the damage is superficial,” Laning grudgingly admitted after they finished running diagnostics, “No thanks to you. What in Lexol’s Fire has gotten into you? This trip was supposed to be a little run around this region to see what my new ship could do—my ship that’s so new the paint isn’t dry—my new ship that is now dented and scraped,” Laning rarely lost his temper, but he was in fine form now, “You damn-near got us killed. I’m too young to die and so are you.”

Technically, he could have Laning disciplined for insubordination, but his anger over losing his quarry paled next to his anger at himself for his recklessness, “We could have caught that hauler.”

“By claiming to be disabled? Have you forgotten distress signals are taken very seriously, especially out here? Word gets around about sending a false distress signal and you can kiss off ever getting rescued when you need it.”

“I wanted that ship—the pilot needs to be taught to heed orders.”

“At what cost—by lying? Or does the end justify the means?”

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.

#WeWriWa ~ THE PILOT: Give Me Back My Ship

Each weekend, the Weekend Writing Warriors share an 8 - 10 sentence snippet. Be sure to visit the other authors. You can find them here.

Thanks to everyone who visited last week. 

I'm sharing snippets from The Pilot: An Outer Rim Novel. It's the 1st book in a series featuring strong women on the frontier of space. Celara's ship was hailed by one claiming to be Coalition Security. In this snippet, we're back with Trevarr and his buddy Laning as they follow Celara through an asteroid field. 

Please excuse the creative punctuation, necessary to keep this within the guidelines. It's also edited a little from the original.

Laning leaned over to look at the comm display, “Sherd, Trev, not only did you leave the channel open, you used the wrong one. It’s no wonder that transport fled. You heard her—she thinks we’re pirates. Give me back my ship.”

After steadying the cruiser, Trevarr steered out of the asteroid field then relinquished control. Was Laning right? Did the transport pilot actually believe they were pirates? That would explain why the ship fled. Still, it was suspicious that the pilot had not responded initially, if only to demand proof of authority.

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

Life on the frontier of space is hard enough so when pirates stole Celara d'Enfaden's cargo, she vowed not to be tricked again. 

Determined to make an example out of indie pilots who disobey orders, Coalition Administrator Trevarr Jovano impounds Celara’s starship and cargo. If he backs down, he’ll lose respect. If she can’t deliver her cargo, she’ll default on her loan and lose her only home—her ship. 

More important than her ship, though, is her brother. To rescue him from a galactic gangster, she’ll even work with Jovano who is bent on avenging his wife’s murder.

 Amazon ~ AmazonUK ~ B&N ~ Kobo ~ iBooks ~ Smashword

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.