Camp NaNoWriMo: April 2020

Thursday, April 30, 2020 No comments

Hello lovelies!

As I was going through a bunch of my old blog posts, I realized that I don't do enough to keep it updated with what I'm doing. It's true that there hasn't been much to talk about in the last few years... but now that I'm actually making progress, I figure it would be a good time to start. Not only to let y'all know what's what, but also to keep a record of what's what for future me.

April is Camp NaNoWrimo! I set my goal to be 12,000 words instead of the usual 50,000 words that most do in November every year. It's was an estimation of what I needed to complete the novella I'm working on (more on that very soon!), so it felt like a reasonable goal.

As much as I love to write, I tend to lose focus often. Sometimes it's out of my control, sometimes it's because of other responsibilities (I currently work from home with a couple of online business ventures so I have to complete those tasks by the end of the day), and sometimes it's because I get distracted by other things. I've been learning what works for me and what doesn't, so I'm getting better at writing on a regular basis, although I still have my unfocused days.

What's been helping me is writing sprints. I'll either do them with others or by myself. I watched writing sprint live streams on the YouTube channel The Courtney Project and that sort of kickstarted everything. I completed my outline in a couple days after procrastinating on it, then began actually writing. When I can't watch the videos live, I'll either put on a previous stream or I'll set a timer. I began using the Forest App and have discovered that shorter sprints are where it's at for me. I was doing 20-25 minute sprints, but 10-15 might be my sweet spot to knock out more words.

Throughout the month of April, I went back and forth on getting ahead. I was often 1000-2000 words behind daily, but then I'd write more than the minimum (400) and get caught up slightly... then miss a day. *sigh* But as I said on Twitter, even if I only reach 10,000 words, I would still consider that a victory.

Where do I stand on the last day of the month?

I've tracked my progress on what I've written throughout the month below. At the end you'll see my total.


April 3rd = 387
April 7th = 711
April 11th = 1543
April 14th = 860
April 16th = 501
April 17th = 603
April 19th = 428
April 20th = 676
April 22nd = 513
April 23rd = 1097
April 24th = 1171
April 25th = 251
April 27th = 142
April 28th = 1107
April 29th = 728

TOTAL = 10,718


To reach my goal of 12,000, I still need 1282 more words. So, can I sprint my way to 12k today? I mean, I could, but it turns out I overestimated  how many words I needed to finish my novella because as of last night, the first draft is complete!

Will I still write 1282 more words? Probably not. I'm going to celebrate finishing the third of my three novellas in this new series by relaxing today. It's been a long journey, but I've finally reached a mini goal in a long list of goals for 2020. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to start the revising process. There are a number of things that need to be fixed between all three books, so I need to make notes of everything to make sure it all get addressed.

Expect to hear lots more about my progress in the coming weeks... as well as the titles of all three of these novellas!


Start the RESIST series for FREE!

Tuesday, April 14, 2020 No comments


Hello lovelies!

With everything going on in the world right now, I wanted to offer you something special. Since numerous authors were offering free books, I decided I should do the same.

Resist, the first book in the Resist  series, is now available for free! That's right, you can start the series for absolutely free. This isn't a limited time sale either. I'll be leaving it for free likely until the end of the year. I would like as many people to have the opportunity to get a copy as possible. Since things are so chaotic, some may not even find out about the sale until our lives return to some sort of normal again.

Hopefully this free book will help with your boredom and/or cabin fever!


Get RESIST for FREE!


Allegra Maxwell is sick of the monotony of life. It's all work and no play, and right now she wants to play. She shows up to an annual company meeting with one goal in mind: have a one-night stand with a stranger. What she doesn't count on is Devlin Pierce walking through the door. 
When Allegra first met Devlin, she knew he would be nothing but trouble. After he proved her theory to be true last year, she made a vow to never have anything to do with him again. He's the last person she wants to see, and he knows it. He refuses to leave her alone though. As much as she tries to fight it, the pull he has on her is undeniable. Her ability to resist him proves impossible when Devlin makes her an offer she can't refuse. 
One night. That's all he asks and all she wants. Or is it?



Get the sequel for only $2.99!


It's been two months since Allegra walked out of Devlin's hotel room. Well, two months and five days, but she's not counting. She needs to move on, but before she can, Devlin shows up again...as her new coworker. 
Seeing him at work every day is enough to make her lose her mind. Allegra tries to stay away from Devlin, knowing the effect he has on her, but she can't. The more she's around him, the more she's tempted to have something more with him. After everything that's happened in the past, it's a slippery slope that may land her in a place she never wants to revisit. Something is happening to her heart, though. A longing is building up that isn't one-sided...and doesn't feel temporary. 
He wants her. She wants a forever. Is it possible to have it all?



---

As a side note, a long time ago I was thinking about writing a third book in the Resist  series. I tried to write it on multiple occasions, but every time it just wasn't working. I finally had to bid farewell to the idea of it, which was really frustrating. Writing Allegra and Devlin's story was so much fun because I adored everything about them and I wanted their story to continue. Recently I thought about this, and while I still don't feel I could write a continuation of their story, there is something else I could do instead. Both Resist  and Longing  were written entirely from Allegra's POV, meaning we have no idea what was going on in Devlin's mind. Now, I don't know about you, but I'd love to dive into that.

This doesn't mean I'll be rewriting the entire series from his POV. While that may be fun for me to do, I'm not sure how fun it would be to read. However, I would like to pick and choose some scenes that I would like to see from his perspective. I've already started to scan through both books to see which chapters I would like to do for him. This is as far as I've gotten with this, though. Since I'm in the middle of writing the third book in a novella series (more on this soon), I would like to at least have revisions done on all three novellas before I dabble too much in an alternative POV for Devlin and the Resist  series.

So there you have it! A free book, a $2.99 sequel, and the possibility of reading more from Devlin's point of view. I'd say that sounds pretty nice, right?

You all please take care of yourselves. I'm sending you hugs and hoping you're doing okay in these trying times. Wash your hands, practice social distancing, and stay safe. Love y'all!