Writing | Carol Moncado

Category Archives: Writing

2016, Day 308 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 4: Choosing Names

November 4, 2016 Carol M

Just a quick note. Hubs had the day off today so we went out to lunch and did a bit of shopping and then did some stuff with the kids then dropped them assorted places, went out for dinner, and birthday shopping, then walked the dogs and went for Andy’s Frozen Custard! Yum!

I also posted a request for names on Facebook. An adorable four-year-old showed up and needed a name. Over 100 of you responded. I’ve chosen a name but a couple of you will win an ecopy once this book releases. Plus I’m making the list in Excel so I can have a WHOLE LONG LIST of names next time I need one ;).

The name I’ve chosen is super special for many reasons. When we get closer to release date, I’m sure it’ll be told. I love the name. I love how the story behind the name relates to the title of the book to come. And so many other things that were already falling into place before this decision was made.

Only God…

But NaNo…

NaNo Yesterday Total Word Count: 3549
NaNo Daily Word Count: 0 (and unlikely to change)
NaNo Total Word Count: 6334/150000
Percent Done: 4.22%
Percent To Go: 95.78%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 307 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 3: Finding Calendars

November 3, 2016 Carol M

I almost went with “Finding Time” but I haven’t found much of that…

Today was a vet appointment for the new dog, plus a return trip when I forgot the paperwork the shelter gave us. And an appointment next week for a heartworm test because the shelter went by the word of the former owners that they’d been giving him medicine. Our vet wants a test to make sure. Plus a trip to the groomer tomorrow (but I won’t stick around for that obviously).

Then I spent quite some time looking for my calendars for Winning the Queen’s Heart and Discovering Home because there’s some overlap. I finally found them.

Kids are in bed. Time to write.

NaNo Yesterday Total Word Count: 2031
NaNo Daily Word Count: 351 (so far)
NaNo Total Word Count: 3136/150000
Percent Done: 2.09%
Percent To Go: 97.91%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 306 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 2: Life Happens

November 2, 2016 Carol M

I’m really afraid that’s going to end up being my motto this month.

Last night, I spent several hours doing insane things (like pushups, crunches, and leg lifts) to keep my mind off Kid #1’s district band tryouts. She did well, but only 4 of 15ish tenor saxophones made it – and she was a freshman competing against much older kids. So not this year :(. They didn’t get home until 1130. Because of that and because she wasn’t feeling great, she slept in this morning then stayed home.

It’s always harder to write when people are home. Plus I took her to get her favorite food (even though we brought it home to eat). Then Kid #2 twisted her ankle during Trick or Treating and needed to go to the sports’ medicine clinic to have it looked at. Slight fracture of the growth plate in her right fibula. Brace and rest for the next couple weeks (and two hours of time today…)

I have a vet appointment for the new dog tomorrow (we had a naming meeting tonight, but The Yorkie Formerly Known As Prince remains TYFKAP for a few more days while we decide for sure – I was on board with Zeus, but I think I’m voting for Chewbacca now).

Time to get some words in before bedtime…

NaNo Daily Word Count: 161 (so far)
NaNo Total Word Count: 916/150000
Percent Done: 0.6%
Percent To Go: 99.4%

NaNoWriMo, Writing

2016, Day 305 or #NaNoWriMo2016, Day 1 – Getting Started

November 1, 2016 Carol M

Because my goal this month (and every NaNo) is to do a quick blog post every day, I’m doing one super quick before I officially start on NaNo.

I was up until the wee hours last night finishing the Still-Untitled Christmas novella. Then took Kid #1 to school this morning. Went back to bed for a couple hours followed by an eye appointment with a semi-specialist. It’s the same doc kid #3 has spent a year in vision therapy with. Her reading speed and comprehension are Off. The. Charts. compared to last year.

My eye surgeon recommended I go see him because I have a bit of Gaze Nystagmus. This is unrelated to the PRK surgery I had in April, but it is why I’ve had the double vision issues. The inflammation from the surgery absolutely took significantly longer than most to heal, but it is healed. The Gaze Nystagmus means my eyes wobble just a teeny tiny bit. Enough to make everything just a smidge blurry – and help cause headaches.

For reference (kind of anyway), when cops suspect someone of being intoxicated they do the “follow my finger with your eyes only” thing. I would fail that because of this. They look for that telltale wobble.

Mine, however, isn’t the result of alcohol, but most likely because of the medication I take to (wait for it!) prevent headaches :p. Talk about counter productive. I have an appointment with my regular nurse practitioner next week to discuss the possibility of an alternative. If we find one, I’ll go see him a month or so later to follow-up because it’ll take a while to get out of my system.

But now… stats… then I’m headed to write…

NaNo Daily Word Count: 0
NaNo Total Word Count: 0
NaNo Goal Word Count: 150,000 (yes, I’m insane)
Percent Done: 0
Percent To Go: 100

NaNoWriMo, Writing

Fall 2016: What I’m Working On Now

September 18, 2016 Carol M

What am I working on now?

Well, the honest truth is not much of anything.

A couple days ago, I posted this post about why I’m taking some time off. Not too long. Just a few weeks, but I need some R&R. Or at least no writing/deadline stress.

I’m also entering my first competition season as a marching band mom. Our next four weekends have competitions anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours from home. Plus three family birthdays and… well, it’s time for a break.

I’m also going to watch a bunch of movies and/or episodes of things like Gilmore Girls. Read a bunch of books for fun. Make my story world bible. Read some craft books to become a better writer.

Things like that. And give my mind a break.

I will finish up the Christmas story in October and get it out when it’s done.

So what will I be writing when I do write?

Christmas story in October
Possibly fun thing just for fun
Christopher Bayfield’s story for NaNoWriMo! (I already have the cover for it! YAY!)

I’m also updating my “What’s In The Works” post to reflect what’s coming next, further into the future. 😀

What I'm Working on Now

2016: Day 259 or Taking Some Time Off…Kind Of

September 16, 2016 Carol M

Sometimes real life throws curve balls. As writers, we try to anticipate that SOME curve balls will come our way and get ahead enough that when one comes, we’re all good.

But that doesn’t always happen.

So, life threw a monster curve at me this week (everyone’s fine, just life stuff), and I had to, unfortunately, back out of the Christmas boxed set I was supposed to be in (it’ll be fantastic anyway, and I’ll let you know the deets when I get them).

I’m taking the rest of this month to just recuperate a bit from the stress of travel, conference late nights, multiple deadlines, etc. I’m going to read books for fun (I’m currently reading the first book anyone’s ever asked me to ENDORSE!), read craft books, work on my story world bible, etc. So I’m not taking the time completely OFF – I’m not “staycationing” but not actively writing anything new.

At least the rest of this month.

In October, I’m going to finish the Christmas story and release it. I might write on a super fun thing that’s outside my normal genre (at it’s core? a human romance – but in space/on an alien planet). Then again, I might not. I’ll keep working on craft books and fun books and the story world bible.

And then in November comes National Novel Writing Month. And then I will write Christopher Bayfield’s story. He’s Duke Alexander of Ravenzrio’s twin brother and former teen heartthrob. My goal will be to release it around the first of the year.

This need for a break has been coming for a while. In the last 22 mos, I’ve released 11 novels and 5 novellas. Of those, all 5 novellas have been written from scratch, as were 3 of the novels. Six of the novels were more or less done (the first six), while two others required extensive edits. And even when taking a break unofficially because of schedules, etc., I’d still be pushing myself to get SOMETHING accomplished.

And I need a break. So I’m taking one. Not too long. I still hope to have my next book out by January, but before then…rest and recharge.

If only I actually was on that beach up there ;).

Reviews

2016: Day 219 or Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

August 7, 2016 Carol M

SO MUCH going on around here these days…If you “follow” my Facebook profile, you’ve seen at least some of this – but the biggest thing is NEWS! 😉

Top: Four generations – Aunt Dot, her two daughters, me, my children
Bottom: my family with Aunt Dot

Jonathan’s story – Discovering Home – FINALLY releases September 15! It’s available for the preorder price of 2.99!
We went to Louisiana for a semi-impromptu family reunion (thrown together in less than a month). About 50 people showed up, including several of my cousins who are avid fans – which is SO COOL!
One cousin brought a family Bible (sadly, not OUR family) from the mid-1700s. Printed in England. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. It was INCREDIBLE!
I got to spend about 2 hours with my great-aunt. Dot is 90, but we were able to have her identify a few older pictures – including one of her mother that looks JUST LIKE my oldest daughter.
One of my cousins was talking books with the receptionist and she said she’d read my books! HOW COOL IS THAT?! The ONE DAY she didn’t have her Kindle with her! But she made me sign a notebook instead ;).

But the biggest news…

I quit my job.

Me with the lovely Annette – receptionist where Aunt Dot is staying

Well, kind of. Officially, I’m taking the fall off and letting my boss know if/when I want to teach again, but the reality is, once you give up a class, it’s hard to get it back because they have lots of people willing to teach them.

Why?

To write full time.

There’s more to it than that, but that’s a HUGE part of it. And the reason why I can consider it at all is that my books are bringing in enough income that I CAN take the fall off.

So yeah. That’s HUGE.

My great-grandmother

And I reworked my production schedule for the next six months. If I can stick to it, I’ll have the second two books in the Serenity Landing Second Chances series out by early January and have some novellas coming for you too – Christmas, plus some secret fun ones :D. If I can get into the groove, I hope to be able to release a book every 2.5-3 mos tops. Or four months with a novella in between. Or maybe even more often than that ;).

So those are the changes coming around here. It’ll be two weeks (at least) before it really sets in. My kids go back next Thursday, but the college doesn’t start for another week and a half. Hubs will still be teaching a couple of classes, but I won’t be. And that’ll be odd. I’m going to have to figure out how to find a schedule that works for me. I tend to write best late at night and into the wee hours of the next morning, but that doesn’t work when you have to be up by 630 or even 730 or 8 to get kids to school or assorted other things.

And there we go. The news around here. What’s going on in your life?

Family, Old Family Pics, Reviews, Update, Writing

2016: Day 179 or Two Months Later

June 29, 2016 Carol M

Two full months after eye surgery… I”m ready for them to be back to normal. Honestly, at this point, I’m almost ready to go back to my glasses at my old script. At least that was predictable. If I didn’t have my glasses I couldn’t see. Period.

Now I’ve got this double vision thing. I’m still working on the TV set up in a corner of the living room for a monitor (though, I’m gonna be kinda bummed to give it up). I have a pressure check tomorrow and am hoping they’ll do a whole appointment to see what progress I’ve made if any.

I’m trying to remain optimistic… but it’s hard…

I am making serious progress on Jonathan’s story though so that’s good…

Update, Writing

What I’m Working on Now: Summer 2016

June 2, 2016 Carol M

It’s time for another update! I know you’re waiting with bated breath ;).

And it’s kind of ironic, because the whole reason I’m writing this post right now is to procrastinate. Hey. At least I’m honest ;).

So…what’s coming up?

A fun novella that will be part of a collection later this month. More details coming soon! And this novella will revisit a couple old friends while introducing a new set of characters that will be the subject of the first novel in the new royalty series later this year or early next.
Jonathan William Langley-Cranston IV’s Still Untitled Story – but yay!!!! Hopefully hitting a Kindle near you in late July!
Christopher Bayfield
Prince William of Mevendia
Three fun royalty novellas (hopefully this fall)
A fun Christmas novella
New royalty series mentioned in #1 (late this year or early next)

I’ve got covers mocked up for all of those but the first one! I can’t wait! I’m so excited about all of them!

To stay up-to-date, and get special preorder prices, cover reveals, occasional freebie novellas, etc. – be sure to sign up for the newsletter! I promise not to spam and will only send one when I have news!

What I'm Working on Now

2016: Day 152 or My Happy Place and #CoverReveal

June 1, 2016 Carol M

So…I’m procrastinating. I’m supposed to be writing a super fun summer thing that should release later this month. I’m loving it, but am stuck for the moment…so I’m blogging. I also did mock-ups for covers for the next four (yes, FOUR) novels as well as three novellas I hope to release this fall. I don’t have TITLES for all of them…but they have covers… :p

The purple pin is on my seat. Mine. And everyone knows it ;).

I also wanted to come back after my last blog. It seemed more melancholy and whiny than I meant for it to be. I can see so incredibly much better than I could before surgery, but it’s not was I was expecting yet. Yesterday, my eye doc did use the word “improvement” so, hopefully, we’re on the right track and we’ll continue to see improvement. I will still likely need to have a touch up done at least 90 days after the original surgery, but I haven’t been back to that doc, yet. The massive screen is helping – though it only helps so much when trying to do fine detail work for one of the covers…

And speaking of covers…I shared my newest one last night! The Lifeguard, the Abandoned Heiress, & Frozen Custard releases later this month in the Whispers of Love collection! I’m so excited to go back to the Serenity Landing Aquatic Center. Alivia is back, of course, but this story features Gwendolyn Cranston-Schmidt, who runs the front desk, and Adam, a lifeguard we met last year. It also leads into Jonathan’s story which will release later this summer.

Whispers of Love is only .99 for over 2000 pages of new books from 12 authors! You can’t beat that with a stick! The collection itself will only be sold for a limited time, so if you haven’t preordered yet, you totally should! The .99 price will go up not long after release, too, so grab it while it’s still a spectacular deal!

The pool opened this weekend so we were there both Saturday and Monday. Swim team started yesterday. It’s so good to be back in my happy place :). Yes, the purple pin is actually in my seat. Just ask anyone :D. I keep asking for a “reserved after 430” sign, but they haven’t gone quite that far yet ;).

And in a further effort to procrastinate, I think I’m going to do some more website updating ;). And will also pray I have a flash of inspiration for what comes next… 😀

Update, Writing

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