The Florida Bride, book #4 in the Motosu Mysteries.
Preptober Day 13: Writing Books
These are the first writing reference books I bought, the Howdunit series from Writer’s Digest. I didn’t get the all at once as a group but over the course of my junior and senior years of high school. Some of these books are 20 years old! I can’t remember the first one I bought, possibly the Police Procedural one? Because I was such a huge fan of Law & Order and In the Heat of the Night. These books set me on the path of writing mysteries, and I still keep them close on the bookshelf behind my desk. I can’t imagine not having them close at hand, just in case I need them!
Preptober Day 12: NaNo Fuel
Coffee. Always coffee. I don’t need anything else.
Although, tea is also nice sometimes, especially if I’ve already had my coffee for the day. I’m very partial to the Twinnings Buttermint tea, with a little cream and sugar. I like sweet drinks.
My coffee drink of choice depends on where I’m writing. If I’m at home, I make an iced coffee with cream and maple syrup. If I’m at a cafe, it’s a latte with caramel syrup, iced or hot, depending on the time of year. I usually write at a Starbucks, and my favorite Starbucks drink is the Chestnut Praline latte they do in November and December. I love that drink so very much. It reminds me of a drink I used to get at a cafe near my apartment in Japan.
I don’t often snack while writing. It’s not unusual for me to forget about my stomach completely while I’m in the writing zone.
Preptober Day 11: Where I Write
My home office. Our house floorplan includes a little niche office, which is my own space to work and manage the house. When I’m at home and working, this is where I am, always.
However, I often find it extremely difficult to write at home. It’s too easy to get distracted by the cats or my daughter or the pile of dishes in the sink or the crazy mess on the dining table. I write a lot outside of the house, usually at a local Starbucks, especially on Tuesdays and Thursdays when my daughter is at her co-op class. It’s just easier for me to focus and get work done in a place where I know I can put my earbuds in and tune out the world without anyone disturbing me somehow.
Preptober Day 10: Inspiration
Inspiration finds me in several ways, but locations tend to inspire me the most. Often, it’s comes from the places I’ve lived in or traveled to, less from pictures of places I’ve never actually experienced. The Motosu Mysteries came into being while I was living in Japan, and many of the settings I have planned for that series are also some of my favorite places in Japan. I also have plans for a contemporary murder mystery series set in the city I currently live in, and I would love to work on a series - either historical or contemporary - set in St. Augustine, Florida where I went to college and lived for seven years. It’s a beautiful town with a lot of history, and I always feel inspired when I’m visiting there again.
The courtyard of Flagler College, formerly the Hotel Ponce de Leon. Someday, I’ll set a mystery here!
Preptober Day 8: Writing Music
I actually don’t like writing to music all that much! I prefer ambient sounds or background noise. I can write in a busy, noisy Starbucks without getting distracted at all. It’s how I used to write in college - I would go to Barnes & Noble with a pen and notebook, and I’d write for four hours. For a long time, I didn’t have a laptop or an iPod or anything else to turn off the B&N noise, so I just got used to it. And now I sometimes think I write better with all the background noise. When I do have my earbuds in, I’m usually listening to ambient noise channels on YouTube. And sometimes I’m not actually listening to anything, but having the earbuds in keeps random people from talking to me, which is a distraction, particularly at NaNoWriMo write-ins!
Preptober Day 6: Biggest Distractions
Family, all the time. The best kind of distraction to have!
I have a husband and a homeschooled 5-year old daughter (who will be six in November! I did not plan to have a NaNoWriMo baby, but she came three weeks early to make sure she didn’t miss it!), and being a stay-at-home mom takes up a lot of my time. I wouldn’t change this for anything; I love that I am able to stay home and homeschool my daughter, and I know how lucky I am to be able to do it.
But there are some days I don’t get any writing work done because I’m busy with housekeeping or teaching my daughter. I have to keep an eye on that kind of thing, that I’m not going multiple days without writing or otherwise working on a book. If I take a couple of days off from writing, it’s harder for me to get back into the flow. My schedule is a bit all over the place - each day is different from the one before! - which is why I use an hourly planner to know where my time is going each day. Some days, we’re constantly on the go, other days we’re at home taking care of housework. I plan my writing around the times I know I’m going to be busy with other things. It’s all about balance. Sometimes I look forward to a break from writing to spend time with the ones I love! Family time is important too!
Preptober Day 5: Goals
In the 17 years that I have participated in National Novel Writing Month, I have always stuck to the 50000 word goal, even though none of my manuscripts have ever been finished at that count. This year, I want to finish a manuscript draft, which means going after 90000 words total. That is never going to happen in one month, so I’m giving myself until December 31st to do it. My actual goal for November is 54000, which I’ve done before and think I can do again. The real challenge will be doing another 36000 in December. I have done 30000+ words in a month before, but never on the heels of NaNoWriMo. Also, my Decembers tend to be busier than my Novembers, adding even more to the difficulty level of this endeavor. But I want to see if I can do it, so I’m going to go after that daunting number 90000 and see what happens!
Preptober Day 3: Genre
Over the years, I’ve written in a lot of different genres. I even wrote fanfiction for a while, including for one (unsuccessful) NaNoWriMo. For a long time, fantasy was my preference, inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia and In the Land of Unicorns. Then, in high school, I started watching Law & Order and In the Heat of the Night, and I was bitten by the mystery bug. I wrote fantasy for a while after that, but then, for NaNoWriMo 2009, I plotted a steampunky murder mystery set in late-Meiji era Japan. It wasn’t my first NaNo win, but it was my most successful (56000 words written!), and I’ve been enamored with mystery ever since. I have plans for historical mysteries (starting with the steampunk, which has become less steampunky over time) and contemporary mysteries in the future.
Preptober Day 2: Plotter or Pantser?
Do I plot or do I pants? Or do I do a bit of both?
I prefer to plot. A lot. I like having my plot points ready to go, my scene cards written out and assembled in order. I like to know what I’m working on next when I sit down for a writing session, and plotting helps with that. My first draft doesn’t always follow the outline, and things definitely change for the second (and third and fourth and so on) draft, but it helps me to have one to start with. So I do my best in October to get as much plotting and outlining done as possible.
Plotting tools: outline worksheets from Heart Breathings, scene cards, and project notebook.