December 2015

Commit to a Writing Date: Day 3 of the Challenge

Nephele Tempest

Holiday_coffee_writing

Welcome to day 3 of the December Writing Challenge! Whether you’ve written the previous two days or you’re just joining us, it’s an important day of the writing week because it’s Thursday. What makes Thursday so special? Well, it tends to be the last day of the week before weekend brain starts to set in and lure you away from your good intentions. So not only are you going to write today, but you’re going to plan ahead so the weekend doesn’t interfere with all your good work.

As crazy as a work day can be during this time of the year, weekends blow them out of the water. Between shopping for gifts, holiday parties, your kids’ recitals and concerts and Nutcracker performances, and decking the halls, it can seem like you don’t have a minute to spare. That makes it even more important to schedule some time for yourself, specifically time to write.

At some point today, take a look at your calendar, whichever one you use to schedule important things, like dentist appointments and business meetings and anniversaries. You’re going to schedule your writing time in for the weekend, and set an alert or reminder on your phone or computer. This is a commitment. It’s a date with yourself to get in your writing time, even if it’s just a half an hour as part of a mid-afternoon coffee break each day.

If you really want to hold yourself to it, team up with a friend (or several) who writes and agree to meet them for a writing sprint. Go to your favorite coffee house or bar and promise to work through a couple of 15-minute writing jags between beverages, or grab lunch and write between your entree and dessert. To change it up a bit, have each writer participating bring a short prompt, and take turns setting the writing topic for the sprint.

December weekends fill up quickly, and no doubt you already have a few commitments on your calendar. Just make sure your writing doesn’t get pushed to the side. Take the time for yourself, and get those words out. Happy writing!

New Day, New Words: Day 2 of the Challenge

Nephele Tempest

Welcome to the second day of the December Writing Challenge. So many of you got off to a great start yesterday, either writing new words or editing some old ones. But this is a fresh day, which means it’s time to do it again. Because isn’t that what writing is, after all? The one-day-at-a-time accumulation of words on the page, building and shaping — sometimes tearing down and rebuilding — the story or essay, novel or work of nonfiction that you’ve decided to write.

If you haven’t already read Anne Lamott’s brilliant book on writing, Bird by Bird, I highly recommend it, but the (extremely) condensed version is just this: Take it day by day, a little bit at a time. Don’t get bogged down in overall word counts or series arcs or the need to self-promote. Yes, those things need attention in their own time, but none of it means anything if you don’t first commit yourself to the building blocks. Sit down, open your computer file or your notebook, and write. A little today, a little tomorrow, a little the next day. On and on, letting the words flow or, sometimes, no doubt, giving them a push. Look at your day and pick a time to write and then schedule everything else around it. Now get to work.

Ready, Set, Write: Day 1 of the Challenge

Nephele Tempest

Yesterday I issued my annual December Writing Challenge, and today we officially kick off. There’s been a wonderfully enthusiastic flutter over on Twitter, with people accepting the challenge, so I hope many of you are going to join in as well. I’d love to hear from you if you’re giving this a try, so please do leave a comment here or shout out on Twitter!

Just remember, you don’t need anything fancy. Just your writing tools of choice and a bit of time each day. Write on an existing project or start something new, or work on a combination. No one says  you have to add to the same project every day this month; mix it up if that keeps you motivated.

The key here is to keep up your writing habit during this terribly busy month of the year. Just get some words down every day. Make your writing — and your goals — your priority. In this season of giving, give yourself this one thing. You can do it. Go write!

Happy Book Release Day!

Nephele Tempest

Bring the Heat

A very happy book release day to Jo Davis, whose latest Sugarland Blue romantic suspense novel, BRING THE HEAT, is available today.

Being on the Sugarland P.D. means never backing down, no matter how intense the case—or how dangerous the attraction…

Captain Austin Rainey knows all too well that being a good cop sometimes means gaining some bad enemies. After his ex-wife is killed, he finds himself on the wrong side of the law, trying to prove he’s innocent of her murder. The last thing he needs is a distraction—especially of the irresistible female kind…

Medical examiner Laura Eden has always found Austin more than a little intriguing, but she’s kept her feelings under wraps. Now she’s determined to do her job and clear his name—but as her investigation brings them into close proximity, she can’t deny the attraction between them—or resist the temptation he presents.

But Laura and Austin soon realize their budding feelings might be more than emotionally perilous. Someone is coming after everyone Austin holds dear—and Laura might be the next one in the line of fire…

Check out this tense romance at your favorite book/e-book retailer today.