#IWSG: Bad Month

 It's the 1st Wednesday of March. Happy Insecure Writers 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. And thanks to this month's awesome hosts: Mary Aalgaard, Bish Denham, Jennifer Hawes, Gwen Gardner, and me.

Last month, I wrote about having the winter blahs. I think I jinxed myself by mentioning them. It continued throughout February. I forced myself to write, and I did make progress. Some progress. My enthusiasm for the romantic suspense dwindled. Because technology has changed since I first wrote this story, so many details needed to be changed. I’ve been sharing snippets each weekend with Weekend Writing Warriors and have gotten good feedback.

I have made some progress, finally coming up with a better title for the romantic suspense than Unpredictable Nature. It’s now titled Numbers Never Lie. So much better and more to the point of the story. I wrote over 7k words this month on both that story and the Alex O’Hara mystery, which is more fun. Still, I’m behind on where I wanted to be by now.

My supporters would say, hey, you’re 7k farther than you were last month. I know, but it’s still disappointing. With more sunshine and the flowers poking their tips out, I’m sure that March will be a better month.

Optional question of the month: How do you celebrate when you achieve a writing goal / finish a story?

I don’t really. I tell Hubs, and he says good job. That’s about it. Maybe I need to celebrate small achievements, like meeting my writing goal for the week. I’ve been having a pity party for six weeks. It’s time to celebrate progress.

On a side note: I’m participating in Read an Ebook Week by discounting two of my books 50%. If you scroll down to the previous post, you can read about them.

I hope we all have a great month.

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: Visiting His Kid Sister

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

Thanks for all your comments on last week's snippet. I'm sharing a work-in-progress. It's a romantic suspense about a woman who doesn't believe her brother's car crash was an accident. Suggestions are very welcome.

Today's snippet picks up right after last week's, which ended with She lowered the shovel, “Gee, I don’t know. Ya think maybe because I live here?”

Jack picked up the CD and case, “Are you sick? It’s Friday, and only—” he checked his watch, “—one o’clock, why aren’t you in school?”

Maggie gave him a long look—shadows rimmed his eyes, and his mouth had creases she hadn’t noticed the last time she saw him, three or four weeks ago—her neatnik brother never looked disheveled, yet there he was in wrinkled slacks, sport shirt nearly hanging out.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, “you look tired.”

Actually, he looked like his shoulders carried the weight of the world, as their mom used to say, “With Ben out, I had to take over his clients on top of my own.”

Jack’s partner in the accounting firm had a nasty confrontation with the pavement when his motorcycle went one way, and he went the other.

“How’s Ben doing?” she asked.

“He came into the office today, hobbling on crutches and trying to type with one hand, and you never said why you’re home in the middle of the afternoon.”

“School is out for the summer—” she returned the shovel to the rack “—and you never said why you’re sneaking into my garage?”

He gave her a cocky grin—the creases along his mouth and across his forehead eased, “Can’t I visit my kid sister?”

Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors. 

#Weekend Writing Warriors: Who's Sneaking In?

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

Thanks for all your comments on last week's snippet. I'm sharing a work-in-progress. It's a romantic suspense about a woman who doesn't believe her brother's car crash was an accident. Suggestions are very welcome.

Today's snippet picks up right after last week's, which ended with  The numb-nut scaring her half to death had better be him.

In case it wasn’t, Maggie moved quietly to the rack on the wall where the garden tools hung. It was a good thing she’d leaned the shovel against the wall instead of hanging it up properly. The awful screech when she’d pulled it off the hook would've given the intruder warning. She seized the shovel just as the figure outside bent in half and ducked under the door.

Maggie raised the shovel, ala Detroit Tiger Miguel Cabrera, fully prepared to whack the intruder. When he straightened, his look of surprise almost matched hers.

“Jack Sinclair,” she yelled, “What are you doing sneaking up on me?”

“Whoa!” Her brother recovered, right after dropping a plastic CD case on the dusty garage floor and a CD spilled out, “What are you doing here?”

She lowered the shovel, “Gee, I don’t know. Ya think maybe because I live here?”

 Be sure to check out the other WeWriWa authors.