Spring!!!

The weather has finally, finally turned the corner to sunshine and warmth. I have been eagerly anticipating this for months now. When it snowed earlier this month, I nearly cried because in my mind it was spring, and snow just doesn't belong in spring. This is the season where short sleeves, skirts, capris and shorts begin to make their return to my wardrobe. They can't do that if there is snow falling from the sky!!

Now that the warm days seem like they're here to say for a little while, I've begun eyeing my container garden. I need to get it cleaned up from last year. I took the time to plant seeds in starter pots that I can keep indoors until the danger of frost is over. I'm growing jalapenos, cayenne peppers, green beans and spinach this year in addition to the herbs I normally grow. I love using produce from my own garden for meals. It gives me an extra oomph of achievement. Here's hoping my troublesome cat doesn't eat anything that sprouts.

The beginning stages.....again

It's official. I've started laying out the plot for the sequel to Aileen's still unnamed book. It'll be the first sequel I've written so I'm a little nervous. Hopefully, it'll be easier because the world and characters are already established. Either way, I'm hoping that extensively outlining the plot will make the writing itself a breeze or at least not an uphill battle from start to finish.

It feels like I learn something new with every book, whether that's how to fix the pacing issues to the importance of a good outline BEFORE I start writing. For Aileen's first book, I spent several weeks fleshing out the story. It seemed to make the writing go easier. Instead of sitting and staring at the computers for hours trying to figure out what happens next, I could just let the words flow because I already had a road map of where the characters needed to go and how they would get there. An unintended benefit for this method was that the rewrites were nowhere near as extensive as they were for previous books. It cut down on the writing and editing process from start to finish.

That said, this beginning stage is both exciting and frustrating. On one hand I get to let my mind wander down uncharted roads that lead to fantastical ideas. On the other hand, it can be tedious and there are days/weeks where it feels like no idea is germinating anywhere in my brain. It's enough to make someone want to tear their hair out. :-)

Let's hope I still have hair at the end of this.