IWSG: October Already

It's time for the monthly bloghop started by the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh. Insecure Writer's Support Group posts on the first Wednesday of every month and we share our fears, successes as well as asking for and giving advice. Hope you'll join us by signing up here and visiting more members.

This month's co-hosts are Chemist Ken, Tamara Narayan, Olga Godim, and Jennifer Hawes. Thanks to them for volunteering to help.

IWSG is running a contest where you post of a picture of your IWSG swag. Alas, I didn't take any pictures despite having some pretty great swag hanging about my writing space. I will enjoy checking out all the pictures.

The optional question for this month: Have you ever slipped any of your personal information into your character either by accident of on purpose?

No, I haven't. Something that does often appear in my novels are siblings with special, supportive relationships. Not only do I have 6 siblings that are wonderful, but I have six children who love each other. I love brothers and sisters working together in books I read and on TV shows I watch. It's one of my favorite things.

“A brother is a friend given by Nature.” – Jean Baptiste Legouve

“Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories to the inevitable dusk.” – Susan Scarf Merrell

Making some progress on my WIP though slower than I want. I'm determined to finish it soon so I can start on my next project. More on that later.

On the entertainment front, I forgot all about Poldark coming back on this past Sunday. I really enjoy the show now going into its third season. Lots of drama, history and romance. It doesn't ignore the plight of the poor like some period pieces do.

My granddaughter continues to amaze. She turns seven months old today and is already walking around things and behind push toys. And at the weekly library group, she is the only one who will sit quietly and listen and watch the leader reading a story. The other kids distract her at times, but she turns her attention back to the reading. It's great fun to be with her doing things that I didn't get to do as a mother to my own children because I was working full time.

Did you show off some swag today? Do parts of you show up in your writing? Have any siblings you adore? Are you a Poldark fan?

Business of Writing

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by writing business that has nothing to do with getting one with my WIP. I've barely typed a word into that document, leaving my protagonists hanging in the middle of an emotional scene. I want to get back to it, but other things have been taking my time.

Being a member of the board in two different writing groups makes this a busy time of year. One had new officers with new ideas coming on board. The other is in the final stages of planning this year's May writing conference with hundreds of little details that need taken care of. A five and a half hour online meeting took up most of Saturday and another few hours are needed to attack the list of chores I need to do. Sigh. Enough whining. I did make the mistake of volunteering.

I also worked three long days on a final read-through of The Outlaw's Savior, Book #3 of The Galactic Outlaws series. I forgot how much I loved those characters.

Wait, last bit of whining. I haven't had time to read this past week! Horrifying.

I wanted to mention another TV show I really like. It's on PBS in my part of the world. I think it's produced by BBC. Poldark is an interesting period piece of an honorable man struggling to fit back into society after fighting in and losing the American Revolution. It's a wonderful glimpse of how the poor and the moneyed saw the world. There's uplifting moments as well as many tragic and sad parts. It's in its second season in the States.

My big hope this week is to get back to my WIP and maybe even settle on a title. I'd planned on having the first draft done by the end of the month. Clock's ticking.

We all live in a digital world, but there are still many times I print things out. Why is ink so expensive? And I bought my husband a new razor last week. Why are razor blades so expensive? Inquiring minds want to know.


Have you seen Poldark? What things are distracting you from your writing recently? Why are ink and razors so expensive?