Thinking about thinking about stuff

I've had the niggle for a while of possibly wanting to work on another novella. Nothing as long as a novel; working on two of those to begin with and more in sight. Novellas, or novel bytes as my titles with Uncial Press are termed, are a nice size, very do-able, and the author can cross that THE END finish line quite a bit sooner. I've published two so far and I think the itch may be returning.

Historical romances are what I love, and that's what I'd be sticking with, but historicals can be tricky to handle in a shorter format. Maybe that's why some anthology entries are connected to well known series? Seeing as how I don't have any series myself at the moment, nor am I yet running with the big dogs, we'll put that aside for later. Besides, I like the unconnected stories best of all, so it would be new people.

Setting, though, would be something to consider. Normally, I start with characters and then find the best setting for them, which I could still probably do. Maybe characters with a history? Hmm, both Queen of the Ocean and Never Too Late have h/hs with a history already, so I could go with that sort of lost love found relationship again. Certainly, in ages past, there were plenty of opportunities for even the truest of lovers to be separated for a time. Alternatively, there could be strangers with a powerful connection, bridenapping, marriage of convenience, possibly a few other scenarios. I don't need to commit to one at the moment, but the wheels will probably start turning soon. Likely something fairly familiar to most readers; in the novella, space is at a premium and I want to keep the focus on the characters.

Historical setting, h/h, HEA, those are the only must haves for me, so everything else is up for grabs.

Thirteen Random Thoughts I Have Had Today

1. It totally stinks that Ryan Kasprzak got cut from Vegas on SYTYCD
2. Blythe Gifford writes amazing medieval romances.
3. I hate when Rhapsody crashes.
4. Finding ten pages I thought I'd lost, hiding in a different file is wonderful.
5. Every time I watch SYTYCD or Dancing With the Stars, I want to be a twentysomething ballroom dancer
6. Since I am old enough to be two twentysomething ballroom dancers, I will do it vicariously through my heroine, Summer, in my time travel.
7. I had a good writing morning and greatly appreciate that.
8. Really need to make more icons.
9. The trial download of Photoshop Elements 8 taunts me by not downloading.
10. Visiting Maria Louisa on Saturday, so lots of romance novel related gab ahead.
11. Bones tonight.
12. How long until new Lost?
13. Not entirely sure what they put in the new diet cherry 7Up to make it antioxidant but it tastes good.

Outside looking in is a good thing...

For those who haven't met her yet, the image here is my favorite Sim model, Jacqueline. I put this poor Sim through about as much angst as I do my characters, and this shot is one of my favorites, as well as appropriate for the day's post.

Normally, when I do a Simmy photoshoot, I'll go through a series of poses that capture the mood and effect I'm after for that project. Sometimes, though, the same old same old won't do and what's needed is a fresh perspective. For this image, I shot a posed Jacqueline through a window - same pose, same set, different perspective. Which, as things turn out, is a very useful thing to remember when writing.

When I've been away from a project for whatever reason, there's always that phase of feeling each other out when I resume work on it. We need to get to know each other again, and the best way to do that is to read what's there, be it a single page or a few hundred of them. The trick is to read as a reader, not a writer. That will come later. It's like meeting the book for coffee (tea in my case; I like the smell of coffee but not the taste) to feel each other out and see how we'll get along as we are now. Since I'm the one writing the book, the good news is that we most likely can do quite well together.

This is the time to see the extant pages for what they are, not what I wanted them to be. What are they now? Is there anything that needs to change in order for me to move forward? How would I look at this if I'd plunked down my hard earned cash for it in the bookstore? In most cases, by the time I've read through, I'm eager to do the work that will take the project from partial to full. That's when the butt in chair, fingers on keyboard part kicks in and writing buddies are called upon to crack their whips and keep me on track. Handing any questionable passages off to said friends for their input also helps keep the wheels turning. That, and my ironclad rule that I can't do any Simmy photoshoots until I've written.