Adventures in Crafting with Words

One of my friends was gifted this awesome 400 writing prompts book for Christmas.  Naturally, I needed it. So his wife told me where I got it and I went to my local branch and looked all over the story for that book of 400 writing prompts.  I'd even settle for the book of 300 writing prompts. But nope.  I had to settle for this one... Whatever.  *shrugs shoulder* 'But,' the little voice in the back of my head challenged me, 'what if you use this book to help you with the plethora of stories you are struggling with?' 'And,' another voice agreed, 'you use them for your writing prompt blog posts... The catch with these prompts:  there is only one page to write and there are a handful of words that must be added into the scene.   For this scene I brought in Winnie from Half-Moon Manor.  I've been pondering her story for a while now, and she volunteered for the prompt.  And now... Magic in Everyday Occurrences Winnie closed...

It's quickly approaching and I had to pick just one project to work on.  Do I finish the second Enchanted Forest?  The third Hastings?  The College Edition of Bookworm Next Door that is taking me forever? Do I tackle one of the other five project ideas that have appeared to me? Or the non-young adult romance that has been floating around in my cluttered brain? One particular project is prodding at me, telling me to write this one.   Character names. Plot line issues.  Motivations.  Pretty much falling into place with some exceptions. This particular project has a friend prodding me as well, but that's beside the point. So... what will the NaNoWriMo2107 project be? You'll just have to wait and see. However, want to tackle a 50,000 word lightening manuscript in a month? A month with Thanksgiving in it! Know your story.  Prep. Plot. Know your characters.  The journey might change, but regardless... Be Prepared.  And most i...

You never know where it will take you. Growing up I wanted to be Sarah Dessen.  She tackled the 'issues' - as I call them - without being overwhelming about them. I've found myself doing that at least twice.  In Keeping Secrets Gwen deals with the murder of her father, Mitchell deals with an abusive father, and Rilla with an emotional drain. In my NaNoWriMo project I've found myself with an emotionally abusive and controlling character that I never expected.  I started off dealing with toxic friends and ended up with a toxic relationship. Here's the thing, folks, writing will take you and your characters in directions that you never expect. Alicia

Sometimes you sit down and realize something. Okay.  I sat down and realized something as I was writing Jennifer's part of the Bookworm story. The Bookworm Next Door wasn't finished when I self-published it.  It's a disturbing reality that faced me with two difficult decisions.  I could close the door on The Bookworm Next Door and leave it imperfect or I could rewrite it and make it perfect. I decided to do exactly that.  Perfect is better. So then I was faced with the daunting task of piecing everything together exactly the way it needed. There was also the fact that I was faced with continuity issues with some of the characters names.   Last night I finished The Bookworm Next Door.  It has all of the short stories combined.  It has new material.  It has a never before seen ending that only I knew was going to happen. Is The Bookworm Stories Series over?  No.  There's still Aimee Kirkland's story.  Grace and Kyle....

It's been a few weeks since I've written a blog post of any kind.   I've been diligently working on my own manuscript and it's getting closer and closer to being finished. There...  moving on. Gryphon's Heir written by D.R. Ranshaw has been on my kindle for weeks.  It was a big part of my #gymandbooks routine, but getting about an hour read at a time takes a while.  It became a habit that took a little while to break.   This is decidedly a 'boy' book.  There is no obvious romantic interest; actually, this grabs my attention even more because I'm already trying to decide who Rhiss (Rhissan) will end up with at the end.  (I am a hopeless romantic after all.)   World creating is extremely important, even more so when creating your own world for your characters to live, work, and love in.  I believe that Ranshaw did a superb job of creating his world.   More on that later. When we first enter the story we...

I know, I know.  I missed Writing Prompt Wednesday.  I've been busy getting ready for an Arts and Crafts show on Saturday.  I also knew that there was 70% chance of rain today.  If you want to see the blog post for my Overthinker Creates account just look to your left for the link.  It should read Etsy Shop Blog.  Today's writing prompt is courtesy of WritingPrompt.com @DailyPrompt on Twitter.  It began - A green glow could be seen in the cave.  Curious, they entered.    I kinda like what I did with that prompt so I might add more to it later.  And now... The Prompt  _____             A green glow could be seen in the cave.   Curious, they entered.   They never expected that the cave was emitting the glow in an attempt to pull the unsuspecting into its grasp.               Within mom...

*Warning: Contains a free write that is basically a stream of conscious jumble of verbal diarrhea. Yes. Writer's block. A freeze on words that are necessary for forming the next story in the Bookworm Stories series. I have my base. I already know the major event that is going to happen during the prom chapters. I've already referenced it. I'm working my way towards it. But what about what happens before this event? After? It's been 12 years since I went to my own prom. Even then I went stag because I was too shy to ask any off the guys - including the track team member I had a crush on, or the baseball player I had a crush on. That was an interesting semester... It's not like I was Miss Popularity. I was Miss Bookworm. Miss Awkward. Miss Socially Awkward. I'd rather be on the track running in circles and trying to improve my personal best times instead of dealing with the boys at my high school. (No offense, guys, if any of you are actual...

Is that even possible?  Can Aimee Kirkland from the Bookworm Stories Series be redeemed?  She isn't supposed to be a likable character.  She's one of the mean girls that everybody sees in real life.  That girl that believes that she deserves it all.  Did she learn anything from The Bookworm Next Door ?  Did everybody rallying around Gloria in Along the Road teach her anything about her actions?  But as I released Along the Road and got started on my next installment - what is supposed to be Jennifer's story - I started my outlines and plotting... but Aimee kept popping up.  And then her unnamed sister - now named Amanda.  So, when the Bookworm Series moves out of the high school area and into the college arena we'll see more about Aimee and Amanda and how these sisters deal with their mother's influence in their lives.  Can Aimee be redeemed?  What is going to happen to be the catalyst for this redemption?  I don't k...

In all three books I drew inspiration from my local area. From the high schools I'd been in. The high school layout for The Bookworm Next Door was the high school I attended.  It had - counts - 5 parking lots. One for the theatre/football stadium, football locker room/weightroom, administration, North Campus/baseball field, and the front Student/Staff parking.  Six if you count the softball field.   So while Mr. Wallace's (a math teacher I actually knew, who once taught at my alma mater, but not when I attended) car would be parked near the North Campus/Baseball field in staff parking hidden by the Foreign Language portables, David's car could easily be overlooked in the crowded Front parking lot.   By the way, my high school also had 5 buildings. Are all,  they say "write what you know" and using actual locations helps. Half-Moon Manor and Keeping Secrets are both in the same county.  This county in fact has 4 school districts.  3 city/...