F***ing White Paint

So, I have written several novels several times during NaNoWriMo.

I'm about 29,000 words into the Head Over Hoof sequel.

70,000 words for my first NaNo. Not sure if I'm gonna publish that novel yet. It's a vampire novel. And a romance. But some of the characters are older and there's a whole mythology and...totally not in the genre I'm writing right now.

But I digress.

I'm writing every single day now, which IS a good thing, but when you're missing something and don't know what to do with it, that's when you need to rewrite. I'm not really trying to give advice. I don't feel like I've been a writer long enough to give any real advice. But I did add two characters. And now I'm rewriting the whole book. And it's going where it needs to go and I was talking to one of my friends about paint colors earlier. Something happens and someone remodels a house in the new story and there's a really silly scene where Aidan, Lee, and Bobby are all looking at paint now in chapter five.

I'd share a small excerpt but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable sharing it yet...but ... I have to wonder.

Why the hell do they name paints such weird names?

If you have the answer, really, tell me. I came across some really crazy ones and I'm still scratching my head.

Oh, and I also paid off the cover for the second Cheap series story last week. That one won't be released for a while.

I think I'm just blogging to blog cause I said I'd blog every Wednesday.

Struggles

I decided, "what the heck? I'll make a Monday post."

When I named this post "Struggles", it wasn't because I'm struggling with writing. No, that's usually not an issue. Well...I might be struggling with making myself focus right now but I did manage to write almost three chapters over the weekend to the second installment of my Over series (I've been getting off Facebook and Twitter more in order to make myself write and that seems to do the trick, but during the week when I'm working I usually don't want to do anything before five in the afternoon...joys of working evening shifts).

No, I'm struggling pretty hard with not posting stuff for free to let readers read. And I'm battling like three or four other novel ideas. I'm going to write every single one of them but recently I've decided that it's better I write one thing at a time rather than three things at a time.

I am playing with the idea of a perma free series. I have thoughts on why writers shouldn't do that but I don't want to share them here. This is not a blog in where I will give advice to other writers. That's not my goal.

It's cause I want to do stuff like this... share one of my favorite scenes from Head Over Hoof.

I wondered how long Cyn and Aidan would be out for drinks. I kept my phone next to me on the futon just in case she called me. I had my laptop connected to the TV, watching old episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. It was in the early seasons, when Mark Sloan first came to Seattle Grace. Sinking into the futon with characters I loved is just what I needed after a long day.

I almost fell asleep before I heard the car in front of the apartment. The headlights lit up the whole living room through the small window. I almost dozed off again but then I jumped when I heard a key jiggling in the deadbolt.

“Thanks for the ride back, Samantha,” Aidan said before he stumbled inside. “Shit,” he said, almost tripping. He looked at me when I stood. “Sorry, Bri…”

He was clearly drunk.

“Um, where is Cyn?” I asked.

Aidan sighed. “Friends. She decided to stay. You don’t mind…?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s okay.” I dug my phone out of my pocket to look at the time. It was only midnight. “Um… I’m watching Grey’s Anatomy. You have a key?”

“Yup,” he said. “She gave me the spare before we left.” He flashed the key at me before he shoved it down into his jeans.

I sat back down and studied him. He didn’t seem like he was too drunk but it was clear he had been drinking. He braced his hands on the counter and kicked his shoes off.

“I see you decided to decorate the futon.” Aidan stumbled-slash-sat next to me.

I looked at the quilt I’d decided to place on it and laughed. “Oh, yeah,” I said. “Did you have much to drink?”

“Enough to make me admit you’re really pretty.”

I looked away from him, my cheeks growing hot. I scooted away just a bit too. I never knew how to react around a guy when he complimented me.

“Shit, Bri, sorry. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Aidan sighed. “I’ve had a rough day.”

“It’s okay,” I said.

I resumed watching Grey’s Anatomy.

“Cyn watches this show a lot,” Aidan said after a few minutes.

“She does?” I asked.

“Yeah. She told me I’m McSteamy once. No idea what the hell she meant so I sat down and watched a few episodes.”

I totally disagreed. Aidan was a McDreamy. I hugged my knees then hid my face behind my hair because I blushed.

I giggled. “It’s a good show.”

“I guess,” Aidan said. “Lee is Cyn’s McDreamy. McDreamy is Lee. They deserve each other ‘cause I work all the time.”

“Someone had more to drink than he let on.”

“Bobby’s girl kept slinging whiskey shots at me… like one glass wasn’t enough.” Aidan shrugged and scooted closer to me. “My mom even knew Lee and Cyn were fucking before I did. Girls confuse the hell out of me.” My breath hitched a bit when he pushed some of my hair back. “You and me though…we have something. You should go on a date with me.”

He started staring at my lips and scooted a little bit closer.

I jumped to my feet. “Okay you have had way too much to drink.”

“Wait, I—“

I jumped back.

“Way too much.”

I almost believed the hurt look he gave me. I was sure he wouldn’t remember what he asked me in the morning.

Aidan and I looked at each other for a few tense moments. He seemed like he wanted to say something to me. I wondered where in the world the sudden decision to ask me out came from. He almost did, too, but then my cell buzzed in my pocket.

“Hello?”

“My best friend is stupid,” Cyn said on the other line. She was clearly drunk. “I should have left with Aidan…can you pick me up?”

You can read more of Bri and Aidan's story in the following places:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Head-Over-Hoof-Book-ebook/dp/B00LSWMW28/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407166832&sr=8-1&keywords=head+over+hoof

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/head-over-hoof-mara-a-miller/1119970379?ean=9781501421167

It's on Kobo and iTunes too...I'd share the Kobo link but I have this pesky thing called an satellite internet and I think between watching the TVD panel at Comic Con and my mother's obsession with watching weird youtube videos that we used all our daytime data. It's not too hard to search. :)