50k or Bust: #NaNoWriMo2017 #AmWriting @LDBlakeley

It's that time of year again!

Do you NaNo? I have a few times, but have only managed to do it successfully once. I've decided to give it a whirl again this year since my writing schedule somehow magically aligned with NaNoWriMo. There was no scurrying around trying to come up with a story idea. And because I'm writing the third book in a series, banging out character sketches and plotting storyline didn't make me want to pull out my hair. Much.

I'm so organized I could cry.

Actually, I'm pretty sure I just jinxed myself by putting all that out into the universe. That's how that works, right?

In any event, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for the unindoctrinated) kicks off today. And while 50,000 words in one month may sound somewhat daunting, it's not so bad if you break it down into daily chunks. 50,000 words in 30 days? Yikes. But 1,667 words in one day? A bit less nail bitey.

I know a lot of full-time writers can hit this word count goal in their sleep. But for someone like me (quite possibly the slowest writer in all of Canada; most definitely the slowest one in the Greater Toronto Area) I can drag 50,000 words into months and months of writing, no matter how inspired I'm feeling. So for me, NaNoWriMo is the perfect virtual cheerleader.

I like dropping by Twitter or Instagram (provided, of course, I don't get sucked into a day-long scroll) for a bit of a check-in with other participants. Knowing so many others are in the same boat can sometimes give me that extra bit of oomph I need to push past a scene or chapter.

If you'd like to join in the fun, head on over to NaNoWriMo.org and sign up. And if you'd like to add me as a writing buddy – you can find me HERE. I'd love the company!

With that said, I have a word count to meet. See you in 30 days!

Happy writing,

Summer Shorts!

Life is crazy busy these days and it’s easy to get caught up in the day to day juggle of all our responsibilities. Often we don’t have the luxury of an hour, or sometimes day, long reading binge. Then right when you’re at the best moment in the book, Especially when your brain is obsessing over what happened to the character in the book you were just reading.

Short stories are the perfect solution for those nights when you think “I’m going to start this book but just another chapter or two” and then it’s 2am and you have to get up in four hours knowing you’re going to get exhausted at work the next day.

It’s the instant gratification of being able to enjoy a story in the tub and be relaxed when you get out safe and secure in the knowledge that the characters are living their happily ever after.

As an author, I love building the rush between the characters exploring love at first sight or the moment when the character loose as a friend and realizes there is so more more to them than friendship. The challenge of making it realistic or at least plausible capturing that moment for my readers to experience. 

My newest release is tomorrow and I loved the theme of the short stories included in this anthology. Mature couples! Writing about a heroine I can personally relate to made this even more enjoyable. While you don't have to be in your 40's to enjoy these stories, they are a celebration of love at every point in our lives. 

Release Date June 27th!!

In the world of working women and glass ceilings, these heroines have kept their eye on the prize. Until now. The prize has suddenly shifted, and they're ready to break the rules, and get wild. From past loves, to forbidden strangers, these good girls are swooning for bad boys, and you're invited to join in.

From 12 NYT and USA Today bestselling authors, these tales of seduction will leave you panting for more...
Featuring stories from: Adaline Raine, Elizabeth Kirke, Ever Coming, Kate Richards, Katherine Deane, Kayleigh Malcolm, Krista Ames, Michele Ryan, Monica Corwin, Nicole Morgan, Tina Donahue, and TL Reeve

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MEANT TO BE – Kayleigh Malcolm

Cassandra Jakes’ career gave her more satisfaction than her ex ever did. Making time for relationships was pointless, because at her age, Mr Second Chance wouldn’t be an easy find. She’d kept her inner bad girl locked in a cage for so long, there was no easy way to change that now.  

Remy Moraes had a two week maximum on any relationship and enjoyed the fact that no one expected a commitment from him. Cassandra was the only woman who could have tempted him to stray from his eternal bachelordom, but she was too far out of his league.

When Remy interrupts Cassandra’s solo camping trip, the two of them fall into an erotic weekend of unbridled passion. Returning to the world of indoor plumbing, they both have a lot of baggage to unpack. Can they work out their differences and accept they were meant to be?

Excerpt:

Forest air tasted different, Cassandra inhaled deeply and smiled. It smelled better up here too. No car exhaust, city structures, rush hour, or gridlock. A 20 minute hike into the woods to her site had her almost light headed though. Especially since she did it twice in order to get most of her gear up to her site, the rest she left in the car. After only a couple of nasty swear words her tent was up and food stored away in the bear boxes, the last thing she wanted to do was to have any big fuzzies show up for a visit.

            Why didn’t she ever think of this sooner? The sun was setting over the mountains painting the sky in shades of purple and red. A perfect end to a beautiful day after spending the afternoon wandering along the marked trails, and enjoyed the simple beauty around her. 

The only smudge to the picture perfect sunset was a large black cloud formation in the sky adjacent to the vibrant shades. The weatherman hadn’t said anything about bad weather yesterday and she hadn’t double checked this morning. A little rain never hurt anyone. 

With a small fire going in the safety pit, she relaxed in her chair and read. Around her the forest was alive with sounds of little critters and hooting owls. There were already a couple chipmunks she’d bribed a return by tossing a handful of peanuts on the table for them.  She reached for her cell to call Jenny only to find it wasn’t in her pocket. Damn, she vaguely remembered tossing it on the passenger seat. That hike could wait till morning.

            A bottle of Alsatian Gewürztraminer sat on the cooler, a partially filled glass next to it. She held her hotdog over the crackling flame, toasting it perfectly on all sides, a bun in her lap already with horseradish mayo on it. This was the life, no worrying about what her breath would smell like, or if she made a mess. It was going to be a perfect weekend.

            A flash lit up the sky above her, followed moments later by a deep roar of thunder. She loved thunderstorms and her earlier thought of crawling into her tent with some of her toys crossed her mind again. She wished she was brave enough to go at right here and now, there was the slim possibility that someone might stumble across her. Exhibitionism was not her thing, neither was voyeurism. Both embarrassed her and that had been one of the nails in the coffin her marriage had been buried in. Karl was willing to do anything anywhere. Getting caught by a stranger while playing with herself was an intriguing fantasy but not one she wanted to experience. Unless it was Rémy….no! Not Rémy. She could feel her cheeks burning and was certain the heat from the fire didn’t have anything to do with it. Rémy Moraes was a fantasy all on his own and one that would have to stay that way.

****

            Rémy was going to throttle Jenny Jakes and her mother Cassandra.  The former because the silly twit had run off and gotten herself married in Vegas of all places. No doubt she had some Elvis impersonator do it too. His daughter, Tiffany had filled him in on a few details. Flighty and irresponsible. Apparently Jenny’s boyfriend/now husband had his feet a bit more on the ground, but then after this latest stunt he was going to have to question that previous impression. If this was a grand gesture to win Jenny’s affections back, the man was an idiot.

            Anyone could have seen that Jenny had been pining for him. Moping around, bursting into tears at the slightest mention of him. As much as he loved Jenny, and considered her like another daughter, whenever she came by to cry on Tiffany’s shoulder, he’d beat a quick escape from the house.

            Contrary to his long time impression, apparently Cassandra was as flighty as her daughter. Taking off on a solo camping trip? What was she thinking? She wouldn’t know the difference between a hatchet and a hammer. No doubt almost chopped all her toes off by now trying to break a stump into kindling while wearing a pair of dainty strappy sandals on her delicate feet. That thought distracted him enough that he almost drifted into a tree. Damn, she had sexy calves too, terrible thing if she cut herself.  Shit! He snapped his attention back to the road steering his truck off the gravel shoulder. His wipers barely keeping up with the onslaught of rain pounding against his windshield.

            Goddamn, that woman always had that effect on him. Ever since highschool, when she’d been far too good of a girl for him to ever consider speaking to. She’d hugged the walls when she walked, her head in a book. A riot of black curls surrounded her pale skin, she’d never strayed far from her pack of silly twittering girlfriends. Even at that age he’d know she’d doing more with her life that he ever would. She had a seriousness about her and a drive to succeed he later found out was from her parents high expectations. She'd done well for herself and matured into an incredible woman.

            It wasn’t that she was a snob or anything. Cassandra Banks was a delicate hot house flower and he spent his days as a National Park Ranger. He loved his job, loved being outdoors and to get involved with someone more comfortable in a boardroom then in a forest wouldn’t be fair to either of them. But, here he was driving out into the middle of nowhere at ten at night to find a woman because she’s failed to ensure her phone had a signal. He’d do the same thing for anyone else who’d called him concerned about a family member. She’s not going to drown or get struck by lightning, be attacked by bears, starve, or die of exposure.

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Finding Story Inspiration in New Places with @jsubject #romance #amwriting

Happy June! It's hard to believe we're almost halfway through 2017. Right now, I'm trying to tie up lose ends in my writing obligations before my children are off for summer holidays. No matter how I set goals for myself during July and August, I hardly ever meet them. So, I'm trying to get as much done now, and whatever I accomplish over the summer months is a bonus.

Now, onto the topic for today's post, finding inspiration in new places. I don't know about other authors, but I'm a very routine-oriented person. I see the same people and places day after day, week after week. Every now and again, something changes or is new, but that's usually completely accidental and only lasts until I can get back into my routine.

Sometimes, I have to plan something completely different, something new that I've never tried or experienced before. I did that two weekends ago, and now I'm filled with story ideas that are making it hard to write my current work in progress.

What did I do? I went rugged...

On June 3, I joined several hundred people to run the Rugged Maniac course at Chicopee Ski & Summer Resort in Kitchener. I went there with a smaller group of close to 30 people from the studio where I take fitness classes.

Team Inspired before running the course.

Some had run the race before, but many of us hadn't. Except for what we'd read online, and what many of us had trained for, we didn't know what to expect. But, we were ready to do it together.

The one thing I did notice is that there were people there from many walks of life; different races, religions, and body types. Everyone was welcome to participate.

And as an author, my muse started running wild. While many races ran the first elite heat, many more participated simply for the fun of it. And throughout the 5k, 25 obstacle course, people helped each other, whether they knew them or they were a stranger. We went through mud, lots of mud, over walls, leaped over trenches, crawled under barbed wire, climbed many obstacles, and got very wet and dirty. I have three basic story ideas already based on this race. Like I didn't have enough stories planned. LOL Anyway, here are some more pictures from the event...

Commando Crawl - crawling through muddy water under barbed wire

Warped Wall - I made it up, but needed help to get over

Mount Maniac

Accelerator 3.0 - a giant water inflated water slide

Crossing the finish line felt so good.

Team Inspired after the course.

While I was a bit bruised and scratched up after the course, I definitely want to run it again. Not only was it so much fun, I also need more story inspiration. Maybe by next year, I'll find time to fit in writing those stories. ;)

Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you can not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to go to fitness class and walk her Great Pyrenees/Retriever her family adopted from the local animal shelter.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers.

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November - A Month of Challenges

Hi everyone! I hope your November is going well. I'm busy with two big challenges going on, on top of everything else in my life. If you're a writer, you've probably heard about NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, in which authors strive to write a minimum of 50,000 words in 30 days. So far, I've finished one story that I'd already started before the beginning of the month, and I've started another. There were a couple of days where members of my family needed medical attention. I got behind, but I've been able to catch up.

Another challenge I'm involved in is a fitness challenge. I've been going to a small fitness center for a year and a half. It's helped, in that I've built up a lot of muscle, and stopped gaining wait. But, I wasn't losing much. My fitness instructor introduced a new challenge where the end result was a fitness photo shoot. I decided to give it a try. Since September, I've been clean eating, and taking in A LOT of protein. Plus, I've been going to class, or exercising at home at least five out of seven days of the week. So far, I've lost twenty pounds. The challenge ends December 4th, the day of the shoot.

So, until then, I'm challenging my self everyday to write words, eat five high protein meals, and avoid the temptation to take a day off.

How are you challenging yourself this month?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you could not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk with her giant, hairy dog her family adopted from the local animal shelter.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers. You can find her at jessicasubject.com and on twitter @jsubject.

Big city, small town, or cottage country ~ Which to you prefer? #Canada @jsubject

I've lived in the same city for pretty much all of my life. It's not a metropolis, but a small city with a population just over 30,000 people. But, I've also lived in a big city when I went to university, and in the country for a couple of years. Each has their positives and negatives.

At the moment, I'm writing the third book in my Alien Next Door series. And each of the stories in the series take place in a completely different setting.

Alien Adoration starts in a small town where everyone knows everyone else. In these communities, the residents take care of one another. But, they also know everyone else's business. There are very few secrets.

With Alien Admirer, I decided to take the characters to cottage country. For those not familiar with this term, this is an area north of Toronto that contains many lakes big and small. It is a prime fishing area, and there are many cottages around the lakes. Some people live in the cottages year round, and others go up on long weekends, or rent them for a week. My characters live there year round, as this is their ideal place to live. But, there is also wildlife to contend with, including bugs. Plenty of bugs.

The story I'm writing now, Alien Attraction, takes place in a metropolis. While the heroine grew up in cottage country, she yearned to get away. The city offers her plenty of opportunities, but she finds it much less personable. 

Now, my ideal place to live has always been cottage country, but I do enjoy the convenience of the city, especially with children.

I'm curious as to which of these settings is your ideal place to live. 

About the author:

Jessica E. Subject is the author of science fiction romance, mostly alien romances, ranging from sweet to super hot. Sometimes she dabbles in paranormal and contemporary as well, bringing to life a wide variety of characters. In her stories, you could not only meet a sexy alien or two, but also clones and androids. You may be transported to a dystopian world where rebels are fighting to live and love, or to another planet for a romantic rendezvous.

When Jessica is not reading, writing, or doing dreaded housework, she likes to get out and walk with her giant, hairy dog her family adopted from the local animal shelter.

Jessica lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two energetic children. And she loves to hear from her readers.

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