It seems like I’ve been fiddling with my sci-fi romance romp forever. I went over the plot, checking for
potential holes, building the backstory and filling out the cast of
characters. Then I created the skeleton outline, my own personal diagram
and trip tik so I could navigate the storyline and not get confused or
lost along the way—which I did anyway, of course…
Then when the holidays hit, my mother became very ill and I dropped
most of what I was doing and focused on my mum. When I wasn’t at her
place, I played house in Second Life, putting up holiday decorations on
my dream villa and taking a breather from my writing, planning to
regroup in January.
Of course, nothing ever goes as we plan it, does it? Only a couple of
days after Christmas 2009, my life did a 360º and everything I thought I
knew had changed. I won’t go into the details of my tailspin, but it
took me several months to regain my footing and even want to write
something more creative than a grocery list. My nerves were shot and I
felt up in the air about so many things, basic things I thought I had
nailed down. Like where I would live, where my home was and who I’d be
sharing it with.
I did a lot of growing as a person and realized some of the fault lay
at my own door. I’d become complacent. And fallen into a serious rut.
The person I used to be had changed over the years and I wanted her
back!
So I started going to the gym again, I worked out, I started eating
right and taking my vitamins. And as I lost weight, I realized I needed
new clothes, so I rediscovered the love of shopping for wearable items.
You see, before I hated clothes shopping because nothing ever fit the
way it should, due to my size. But having lost two dress sizes made
enough of a difference, that I could now shop with ease and find
something that fit me without a struggle. Was I skinny? Hell no! I have a
gene pool full of obese people, but at least I could see a glimmer of
daylight.
I started writing again, small things, mostly angry letters I didn’t
send and a few that I did. lol. Then, as I was going through the cancer
scanning again, facing my own mortality yet another time, I realized I
needed to get back at my writing or else give it up and admit defeat.
Now, I’m sort of stubborn in case you didn’t know, and the idea of
simply giving up pissed me off. So like everything in my life, I fought
and I pushed through my own angst and mental barriers by picking up the
threads of a story I’d pushed to a back burner the year before when I was going through the radiation and all the surgeries.
The
story was a departure for me, almost pure erotica and probably the
kinkiest stuff I’d ever attempted. ::insert blush here::
I decided at the onset that I wouldn’t try to publish it through my
usual avenue and would branch out a little and try something new since
it was a new kind of story for me, especially since the ebook was also
going to be below the word count required by Amber Heat, my publisher.
Earlier in the year, I’d uploaded a few freebies to Smashwords, to reach
a new audience of readers, and the response was incredible. Thousands
of downloads and even a few nice reviews came from the effort. So I
decided to finish a couple of stories I’d place on Smashwords for sale
and release them as 99¢ short story ebook specials.
The first of these stories is
The Deal Breaker, and will be available to purchase on
Smashwords starting June 11, 2010.
With most of the hard edits done on
Deal Breaker, I returned my attention to my sci-fi romantic comedy, tentatively titled
Earth to Elena.
I’m happy to say I finally finished the first draft and now can focus on some of the other things in my life I need to do. That way Elena can sit and ‘cure’ and I can
get a little distance, so when I pick it back up,
it’ll seem fresh again and I’ll be able to spot the mistakes easier…at
least that is my hope. ::wide grin::
Not sure where I’ll send the story, since it’s less erotic romance and more romantic comedy.
E to E
(as I’ve nicknamed it) is also a full fledged novel, sitting at just
under 100k, so that will also make a difference. But before I look at
where to send it, the story will have to go through its paces, which in
C.C. speak means about three to four drafts. Yeah, I know. How some
authors can do a single draft, then simply edit and be done has always
astounded me. I wish I knew their secret. I have to reread the story
from scratch, agonize over ever sentence and red pen the printed out
version until my fingers bleed ink. lol.
Oh yeah, I did move out of my house, just not the one in RL (at least
not yet, lol). Nope, I moved out of the Villa I had in SL, so those
pictures I took of myself there are bittersweet, but nothing lasts
forever and in the case of SL, that is doubly true I’ve found. For the
hell of it, one day I went through all my landmarks, some 200plus of
them, and went to every location. I found that well over half no longer
existed or had been changed and were now something completely different.
Nothing like going back to your favorite hat and hair boutique and finding it’s
become a virtual gay country western bar. lol. Ahh well, cie la vie.
Until next time…
Cass
