Melani Blazer

Mark this on the calendars, friends. I finished a book!
Writing, not reading, just to clarify.

It’s short, and it’s still missing that sex scene (or two or three….. I’ve got a night to fill). The ending is rough and there’s a few loose threads I’ve got to go back and follow through—aka, lots of editing, but omg, I completed the arcs, I satisfied the plot and gave these two characters a long awaited and well deserved happily ever after.

Knock me over with a feather.

Now, I’ll let it stew a day, or at least a night, cuz I’ve gotta go visit my Grandparents, stop at the store for meat for my contribution to tomorrow’s dinner and….I knew there was something else I wanted to do… gah! I’ll think of it, I hope.

Anyway, I’m a heck of a lot more excited than this post can convey, mainly because I’ve shifted focus SOOOOO many times lately with so many books, I was beginning to doubt my ability to hit “the end.”

I mean every one of those!

And before anyone asks…I have no idea what I’m doing with it yet. Will depend on word count and heat level after editing, I guess. I’ll let you know. But I finished, OMG, I finished!!!

or why I didn’t finish the book tonight….

Lacing those was a huge

And of course, the kidlet wanted ALL the laces flat… no crooked ones, heaven forbid.

So, now I’m off to make pepper steak (with family help) for the husband’s “potluck” tomorrow.

Maybe I’ll sneak in a page in before I pass out. Maybe.

But you can pre-order THIS now, and it’ll arrive in November, just in time for a cozy read that’s sure to get you in the holiday spirit.

Yeah, I haven’t crowed much about it for a couple of reasons. Most of us are barely over last Christmas, who’s thinking ahead to next? And I wanted at least a solid, stickable title. Looks like this is it, since it HIT the Amazon page already. Whoo hoo!!!! I won’t be able to stop talking about it once it gets a cover!

I’m wicked thrilled to be in an anthology with two phenomenal authors, Lacey Alexander and Shelby Reed. Santa’s Naughty List is one of those you’ll want to put on YOUR list–to pre-order now, and maybe even buy it for a few friends who want to heat up their cold November nights.

Anyway, I’ll post again when I get a cover. And keep your eyes out at the bookstores and at Amazon. There’s a great Ellora’s Cave/Pocket books anthology hitting the shelves each and every month through this time next year, I believe. Yummy!!!

Just for you, Emma, I was all set to write a lukewarm love scene sounding like Scarlett O’hara. Of course, what I was supposed to be writing was a real sex scene between my characters in my current WIP. Fearful I’d have my characters, who are in New York, sounding like southern belle and suitor, I typed *insert sex scene here* and moved on to the action occurring the next morning. Really.

Yeah, still can’t shake that word. Working on it though.

This book is on it’s, oh, maybe 4th, 5th synopsis? Rough outlines of what I want to happen. First couple were based on a full length story, then I decided to….de-complicate it and shoot for quickie or novella length. I only tell you that because I don’t change my story THAT much. *cough cough* normally.

So I wrote about….15K then decided I need to really have a solid idea of how this is going to resolve itself. I’ve got the character arcs laid out, at least internally. I know, shaking on that though, what will need to actually happen (externally and internally) to give these two a happily ever after. So I wrote it down, about 2 1/2 notebook pages, handwritten in various amounts of detail and have been happily writing from that.

Then what does my hero do? Walks out of a room to face the “villian” without having a very IMPORTANT conversation with the heroine. That conversation would lead to a minor but understandable misunderstanding (huh? Mel, what????) and cause the hero to make a decision based on what he thinks the heroine wants and is best for her, rather than what she wants. Hero’s actions have also left heroine in possession of a very core piece of….paraphernalia that has been central to the story, and that the hero actually needs.

You know the whole advice about doing the very worst thing to your characters and then seeing how they react because it really brings out the emotions? Hello, they’ve just gotten even and done it to ME!

Someone give me IV valium and some blank paper. I need to completely rethink this. WHY, what if, and “oh no you didn’t” are doomed to be among the things exiting my mouth as I venture into this discovery time.

Pray for me.