After a very nice, blessedly quiet Thanksgiving, I finished playing with my shape-shifter novella, Rakahnja’s Haven. The story has been submitted the story to my editor. Now comes the nerve wracking weeks waiting to hear if the book will be contracted or need some changes first. Thank goodness the wait to hear back from my publishers is not too terribly long. I can only imagine what those brave souls submitting their books to NY go through, but I don’t have the internal fortitude to withstand such nail biting anticipation!
TK and I are working on Margarita Day, the sequel to Mimosa Night. It will likely be a novella length story when we finish it. Then hopefully the two novellas can be paired together and go into print. After that the general plan is to get back to work on Out of the Mist, my faery ménage story and book three of the Corralled series, Jesse’s story, which is not titled yet. So many characters and stories, so little time! <deep sigh>
Part of my incredibly long writing ‘To Do’ list and in random order:
Out of the Mist – Faery Menage
Margarita Day with TK – Mimosa Night sequel
Alaska Heat with TK – Romantic Suspense
Corralled book 3 – Jesse
Corralled book 4, 5 & 6 – Brock, Riley and Zeke
Raven’s Song – Romantic Mystery/Suspense
Passionate Revelations – Passionate Realities sequel
Time Travel idea
Paranormal dating service/resort idea – novella series
Hospital-based story idea
Character and author meet idea
Rework two Contemporary stories written before I was first published
Something tells me I won’t be getting too much done before the first of the year. We just celebrated my daughter’s birthday a few weeks ago, and now this week it’s my son’s. I also just realized that we have less than a month to go until Christmas…ack! At least I don’t have much more to do. At the same time I shop for the kid’s birthdays, I also start on my Christmas list. There are only a few things on my list not yet checked off.
Whew, I’m tired just from thinking about it all!
Whether you celebrate the holiday with the traditional turkey feast, create your own custom or treat it as just another day, I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope your heart is filled with contentment, love and peace. May your mind be occupied with thoughts of the good things in your life, while remembering those less fortunate. I pray that your loved ones and family will be gathered near, if not in person than at least in spirit.
As I sit and think about my own blessings, I find myself to have an abundance of things to be thankful for. I have been gifted with two careers that I love. The ability to tell as story others find entertaining, and the strength to care for children in poor health. These careers have provided a safe, comfortable home, food and clothing. I have been graced with a loving family who sticks together, even when we disagree. I’ve also been fortunate enough to experience hard times, which have afforded me a true appreciation of those times when things go my way. Even through my own medical harships this year, I’m thankful for the skilled medical professionals who have helped me feel better.
This is just a small glimpse of the bountiful blessings in my life. My greatest desire today is that my words will inspire you to stop and appreciate the riches of your own life that tend to be forgotten in the everyday rush of activities.
While it will be good to get back to my “normal” routine, I’m not really looking forward to going back to work and having to stay awake all night. Over the past month I’ve been on medical hiatus, I’ve been sleeping nights so it’s going to be a big adjustment. It will be nice to see my coworkers again, but I was enjoying being a woman of leisure…lol. Now it’s back to reality. Ugh! Reality can suck, although I do still prefer my quiet overnight shift to dealing with all the insanity of day shift!
I have completed one of my goals early. I have finished Rakahnja’s Haven, jaguar shape-shifter novella, and sent it to my critiquers. They’ve all had wonderful things to say about the story, and it should be ready for submission by the end of the month. Woohoo! The rest of the goals I set are going to be waylaid as I have to spend some time making sure Tamara’s Spirit is ready for edits, but it’s all good.
TK and I have also been working on Margarita Day, the sequel to Mimosa Night. We at just over 10K right now, and loving the way the story is shaping up! This will be the continuation of Jodi’s story, bringing the Smut Squad together again to help her find happiness.
Time for me to turn into a vamp again. No more sunlight and lazy days. I’m going back to work and praying for a quiet night!
Woohoo! Restless is the sequel to my free story, Enough. This one is Jamie’s story, and its finally available for download on my website http://www.nicoleaustin.net/freebooks.html
Blurb:
Never one to stay in any place for long, Jamie’s life is ruled by a restless wanderlust.
Attending his best friends’ wedding in Vegas elevates his antsy need to move on to a whole new level. At least until he meets the maid of honor, Rachel. The feisty siren makes him long for something different–something permanent.
Rachel was taken off guard, totally unprepared for the devastating bachelor who brought out her wild streak with little effort. Still, before long, her struggles against him become a deep craving she’s powerless to resist.
Stop by and check it out if you get a chance. Maybe one day when I don’t already have about ten stories waiting to be written, I’ll combine and expand the two stories into a full novel.
I’ve got a full house for the weekend. My 19 year old daughter is down for a visit with her fiancé. Their visit has wound up my 11 year old son, and all the pets. I thought the dog was going to have a heart attack when she showed up last night. It’s been six months since he’s seen her, and suffice to say he went wild. Trying to get my son into bed was a nightmare.
My daughter is catching up with old friends today. Tomorrow we are hitting the stores to start wedding planning, oh joy. Then there will be the family gathering with the godparents Saturday night at the Japanese steak house for both kids’ birthdays. I didn’t plan that very well, having both kids’ birthdays in November, on month before Christmas. Makes for a very busy few months.
Life won’t get back to normal until Sunday afternoon, when the love birds head back home. It will be nice to have some peace and quiet again, not to mention having my bathroom back. Sharing with several other people is the pits!
Somehow reality never quite meshes with expectations. I expected to spend about a week relaxing then get right back into the swing of things. Boy was I wrong. I hadn’t even realized how long it’s been since I was really on my game. Normally, I’m zero to sixty at the speed of light, but I’ve gotten used to this life of leisure…lol!
So today I’m going to push myself back into things by setting goals for each day. My shape-shifter looks like as good a place to start as any, so I plan on reading over what I have and making notes.
Goal 1 – Finish Rakahnja’s Haven and get it to critiquers by the end of the month
Goal 2 – Plot out my time travel idea by the end of the month
Goal 3 – Get back to work on Out of the Mist, my faery ménage story, and finish it by the end of the year
On your mark. Get set. Here I go… Wish me luck!
