Showing posts with label WIP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WIP. Show all posts

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Productivity, WIPs, and Julie Andrews ♥ @LDBlakeley

I'm the world's slowest writer. No, really. I've been working on my current WIP for two years. TWO. YEARS.

Granted, it's not my only WIP and it did get put on hold a few times for other (since published) projects. But I've recently had to slap on blinders, so to speak, to the dozen or so other stories waiting in the wings vying for my attention. And they can be incredibly loud. Not to mention persistent. So it's off to the writing cave for me.

In the meantime, I'll take my scheduled blog date to wish a Happy 81st Birthday to the absolutely incomparable Dame Julia Elizabeth "Julie" Andrews.

Please enjoy her in one of my childhood favourites! :-) 


Oh, yeah. That WIP I'm determined to finish before the calendar flips? It's the sequel to Opportunity Knocks. So if you'd like to check it out...

Opportunity Knocks by L.D. Blakeley

Series: Laissez Faire
Publisher: Evernight Publishing

Small-town security guard, Gill Martin, has lived in Mystique Pointe his entire life. His dating prospects are non-existent and he doesn’t particularly like his job, but at least it’s better than unemployment. Besides, he hasn’t got any better ideas.

Big-city artist, Tommy Hearne, knows exactly what he wants out of life: a successful art career and a successful relationship. He also knows that living in Liberty City is his best chance for pursuing both. Unfortunately, for him, neither of these pursuits seem to be panning out quite to his liking.

When Tommy and his misfit band of friends roll into town for the Laissez Faire, Mystique Pointe’s annual music & art festival, worlds definitely collide. A fiery tryst sparks more than just a lust connection, but what happens when the weekend is over?



✽ EXCERPT 
Tommy followed closely behind Gill as they made their way out to the parking lot. He did a quick head count and realized that there were only five of them and that lap-sitting wasn’t going to be on the menu after all. But when Kat took out her keys to trigger the unlock remote and Tommy saw the responding lights on a tiny Fiat 500, he almost cheered. There was barely room for two grown men in the back seat. Good thing he was willing to make the sacrifice and let the others ride in comfort.
“Amy, why don’t you sit up front?” Kat had opened the driver-side door and was about to climb in when she added, “You can pull the seat forward and let the two leggy boys have a bit more room. Sorry, Tommy—looks like you’re gonna have to squeeze in on top.”
Tommy had never been so happy to be the short man out. He waited to see which side of the car Alec chose, and made sure he was at the opposite door. And when Gill climbed in, his T-shirt rucked up slightly, giving Tommy the most delicious glimpse of skin above the most perfect denim-clad bubble butt he’d ever seen. Oh, thank goodness for well-lit parking lots.
“You getting in?” Gill had an expression on his face Tommy was unable to read. Although, if it they’d been working with a bit more than car lot lights, he was sure he’d be able to see another blush staining that handsome face.
Poking his head inside the car, he carefully leaned across Gill’s lap and braced himself on Alec’s leg before climbing in entirely and sitting carefully on top of Gill. There really wasn’t a lot of room in Kat’s car. Despite only being five-foot-eight, Tommy still had to keep his head ducked down to avoid bashing his skull against the roof. He also used it as more excuse to snuggle down closer to Gill. But, hey—not my fault the girl drives a Fiat!
“Sorry it’s such close quarters guys. The car was a graduation gift from my grandparents. I wouldn’t have picked it, but who says no to a free car, right?” Kat caught Tommy’s eye in the rearview mirror and winked. Yeah. Definitely not his girlfriend. Tommy didn’t get the feeling she was upset about his crawling all over Gill. Potential matchmaker, maybe? “Luckily the campground isn’t that far, so you won’t have to suffer long.”
“I don’t mind. Really.” Tommy wriggled slightly and rested his fingers at the back of Gill’s neck. It couldn’t be classed as a grope. He still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if that would even be welcomed. But it was a touch, and a delicate one at that. And it was enough for Tommy to feel the shiver that it elicited from Gill.
“Sorry, Gill. Hope I’m not crushing you.”
“Oh. No. You’re fine.” Gill’s voice was low and slightly hitched. His glasses had started to creep down his nose and Tommy reached up, without thinking, to adjust them.
“Don’t want to lose those.” They were so close that, had it been a colder night, Tommy’s breath would have fogged Gill’s lenses. And, fuck, didn’t that send indecent thoughts straight to his groin. Images of fogging up the car windows with Gill or, to be precise, images of what they might be doing in order to cause said situation, sent a message straight to Tommy’s dick. He fidgeted slightly, not wanting to reach down and adjust the hard-on he’d hoped he could keep at bay.
He was about to fidget again when the sound of Gill clearing his throat distracted him slightly from the problem at hand. And alerted him to another. Of course, describing the feeling of Gill’s answering erection under his ass as a problem couldn’t have been further from wrong. Gloriously, heroically magnificent, perhaps. But not a problem.
Tommy turned slightly to make eye contact with Gill but found the other man uncomfortably looking in the other direction. He twisted slightly, making sure his ass did a slow grind into Gill’s crotch as he did so. Yep. That got his attention.

Add Opportunity Knocks (Laissez Faire #1) by L.D. Blakeley to Goodreads





Until next time,

Friday, September 1, 2017

Totality or Bust: My Epic Roadtrip across America #SolarEclipse2017 @LDBlakeley

Happy Labour Day weekend! And, for those of you with kids, Happy Reclaiming Your House weekend!

As of this posting, I'm out of the province (again) to celebrate my parent's 50th anniversary. The 1,381 km drive to their house seemed like a cakewalk after the epic roadtrip I recently took (and by recent, I mean, we weren't home a week before heading out for this current jaunt) with my husband to witness the Great American Eclipse.

Yes, that reads 7292.2 km. Also? We were already 50km in before we remembered to set the trip metre.

I'm not going to lie. It was worth every single kilometre. Even the ones when I desperately needed to pee and there was nary a stop in sight.

Our pretty little Honda FIT was none too pleased with the paces we put her through.

My husband is a huge NASA fan and started planning this trip two years (I know!) ago so we would be at the perfect spot for ultimate viewing of the total solar eclipse. So we loaded up the car with telescope, camera gear, solar films & filters, and headed toward the wild west.

With map co-ordinates chosen for four locations close enough that we could travel from one to the next should we encounter cloud cover, we ultimately decided on location #2 which put us in the middle of scrubland, off a dirt road just south of a tiny town called Shoshoni in Wyoming. We might have been in the middle of nowhere, but we certainly weren't alone. Dozens of others had clearly consulted the same map and chose similar map co-ordinates within the path of totality.


So, in nine days we covered a LOT of ground, saw a lot of the United States, and witnessed a celestial wonder.

1st contact, totality, 4th contact - all shot by yours truly!

Not the shabbiest of ways to end the summer. And in a wonderfully weird twist of serendipity? The path of totality for the 2024 solar eclipse not only rolls right over my parents' house... it falls on my husband's birthday.

As for my WIPs, I have a few things in the works I hope to be announcing sooner rather than later. So if you'd like to stay in the loop, I'd love to have you on my mailing list (I'm not a spammer, I promise!)  Sign up HERE.


Sunday, July 16, 2017

Keeping Up With Kacey (@KaceyHammell) #Writing #Life #Summertime



Good morning everyone! And Happy Sunday. Mid July and this year's summer in Ontario, Canada has had it's ups and downs. With more rain than we've had in years, beach days for many have been few and far between. While my hay fields are loving the long drinks of water they're getting, I'm not as enthusiastic about it. It has to be dry longer than a day or two in order to get the fields cut and baled. Basically it's a cut one day, let it lie for a full day to fully dry out and then bale it. But with sporadic days of sun then rain, it's been a struggle. Plus the time frame of hubby's work schedule and mine are also interfering.

Speaking of which, I started a full time job outside the house recently and it's cutting into my writing. I'm doing my best but it's difficult to have the energy after a long, fast paced day and a quite physical job. I've resigned myself to weekend writing. But things are progressing well and I am somewhat managing. My online presence is dismal, but it's unavoidable these days. I've never been so grateful to sleep at the end of a day. Being a stay-at-home mom for fifteen years, I was busy and my days were always full, but I appreciate the writing time a lot more now, as well as my sleep. I could stay up until two in the morning and be up at 5:30 and go all day without needing a nap. Now, I'm in bed by nine p.m. and getting up at five a.m. is hard as hell. But we all do what we must. Adjust and adapt has always been a way of life for me. 

But I have bought myself a new car. Being on the road more now for the job and needing something a lot newer for five days a week, I splurged a bit and have a shiny new toy. I love it. So, SO comfortable! I haven't decided yet, but I may be driving it to a book signing in Kalamazoo, Michigan in October. I haven't looked at all my travel options as yet (and it's like a ten hour drive), but I know I'll have something more comfortable than my previous car, and more reliable, should I decide to drive all that way. 



And in writing news, I signed a contract about a week ago. Another story coming out in the fall with Evernight Publishing. It is the sequel to Stirring Up Dirty, and the 2nd in the Stirred by Love series, called, Stirring Up Glory. I loved writing this story a lot. Drew and Glory, whom everyone met in book one finally come to a head with their past and their ire toward one another. It's pretty intense, but oh, so yummy, too. *g*  I'm steadily working on two WIPs currently. One is a wolf shifter, the other is a suspense. I'm having fun with all the characters. It's a new thing for me, working on 2 stories at once, but I'm managing. The suspense has a firm deadline that must be met, but the wolves are demanding a lot of attention to. And a writer should never ignore the voices in their head. *g*

I also have a new member of the family. Meet, Toby, my "grandson", who belongs to my oldest son and his girlfriend. They are both on their way to college/university in Sept, and have added a bundle of joy -- of the four-legged kind thankfully -- to their lives. Toby is a handful, so very energetic that his "Grandma" can't keep up, but a lot of joy too. Peaches (my cockapoo) has warmed up to him some, but she misses her peace and quiet days. LOL





Until next month, hope you're reading some great stories and enjoying the long summer days. 


   


Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Mid February Blues by Kacey Hammell #WinterBlues #CanadaBlues #Hedgehogs #Animals


Good morning all. Just when I thought my world was warming up a bit last weekend (weekend of Feb 6 & 7th) -- see no snow around Peaches...
Was gorgeous weather!!

Then, a cold snap came through that had me wishing I was a bear with the ability to hibernate!! Even driving Son #1 to work those cold mornings and afternoons was exhausting and bitter. I hate snow!! I was born on a night --- mmm blah blah years ago --- in the midst of a cold and frigid snow storm, and I really dislike winter! So why do I live in Canada, right? There's no place like home where my family is!

But I digress, with the cold snap came a lot of writing, which I've started to doubt will remain in my current WIP. The 3,600 words may not pass muster, there's just something "wrong" about some of them and it's quite disappointing when that happens. A lot of energy and time go into writing a first draft -- blood, sweat and tears -- and I dislike deleting chunks like this. I think my heart and mind just weren't in it. All this cold weather, family drama around me has turned me even more introverted than I already was.


Peaches
Thankfully I have Lily, Peaches, as well as new babies -- Sam and Dean (my hedgehogs) to keep me positive and smiling. I also have my Daughter's hedgie here for a few days (Jax), while she's not in school this week.  
Lily
Lily's just been "fixed", which is nice now -- no more in heat cries of torture for her. LOL
Peaches is as cute and cuddly as always. And the hedgies are about a week away from their mom and doing great.




Dean
Sam in his sock

Sam, Dean & Jax eating













But I have the mid February -- mid winter -- blues that I'm struggling to kick. Hubs and I should take a long Caribbean vacation until the weather turns. Though I'm not sure I'd be able to find enough sunscreen to keep me from turning into a lobster...another blog post entirely!!! LOL

What do you do during the winter that keeps you from going crazy with the ups and downs of the weather??






Until next time, stay warm!!!







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