August writing was very hit or miss. I shifted my energies to resurrecting a mystery (with romance) novel idea I first had, oh, probably 12 (!) years ago. Revamping character outlines, revisiting my setting details. Solving the murder at the heart of the story so I had some sense of where-the-f I had been planning to go with this thematically.
I still don’t think I have it settled. But I’m beginning to understand that being unsettled is simply the way things are going to be for a while because *gesticulates wildly* around at f%&! all everything.
Digression moment: (skip down to the next headline, “Anyway…Writing,” if you don’t want to read…)
In my own “backyard” we are having a back-and-forth with the Florida Department of Transportation and the dipshit governor over a RAINBOW crosswalk outside the nightclub where 49 people were gunned down in a hate crime spree 9 years ago! We had permission — even had DOT approve the plan and the paint and the design just six months ago, but because the dipshit previously mentioned needs a distraction from his wife’s fraud with state money — and he always picks a culture war to do it — he ordered the colorful crosswalk painted over. Actually had FDOT steal down here in the middle of the night to do it.
Now, because he’s so pissed volunteers are out here rechalking it daily, perfectly legally, he’s ordered ALL colorful crosswalks around the state removed. Including a black-and-white one in Daytona that honors that city’s racing history. Which now made the redhats mad at him. I want to laugh, but chalk dust on my hands would sucked into my lungs.
Anyway…Writing
So, writing. Yeah. I pulled apart a good portion of the the 30k already written on this mystery romance and have been filling in the gaps and revising. The new one crossed 10k last week. The WIP title is really basic: Murder at the Marina.
I do continue to keep myself open to creativity, showing up weekdays for writing sprints with writing friends. I use every tool I can think of that worked in the past to get stories off the ground to build this one. We’ll see if it continues to fall into place.
Can I hook myself with this story to see it through?
Fall season means football and festivals
We’ve actually had fall-like weather here for the last couple weeks, a couple tropical storms churning by in the Atlantic notwithstanding. So, sandwiched around my university’s football season tickets are lots of street fairs, festivals, and boozy book fairs (think Scholastic’s book fairs but for adults, with books, stickers, and bookmarks, and all those wonderful books!)
I haven’t settled on everything yet that I want to attend. I’ll pop a post on my social media though when each is happening.
What’s on tap for your fall—or spring if you’re in the southern hemisphere? What do you love to do when the weather turns more mild?
One last thing, a bit of tooting my own horn. I want to thank the unpublished writers of Romance Writers of America (the PRO folks). I was named one of three mentors of the year for 2025 for volunteering my time helping them get their own writing and careers off the ground.
