Writing?

As you know, I've been writing a thing called Thing, a sort of generally romantic women's fiction non-plotted writing exercise just to keep my hand in. I've done about 8K of this 'thing' so far, and while I like it, it's not really going anywhere as, of course, it has no real structure, no angst, no conflict, and none of the other things that constitute a good piece of fiction. But, I'm not writing it to sell. I'm writing it to keep writing, in the hopes that soon I'll return to writing something readers will actually enjoy.

However, I'm now starting to feel inklings of an urge to return to the project I was working on when I stalled, which is a sensual romance romance novella, #4 in my Secret Pleasures series. It was called The Boss's Secret, but I've decided that doesn't really fit right. Lawrence, the hero, is more than Rachel's boss. He owns the company and quite a few others. I see 'boss' as someone that a character interacts with every day, on site, whereas Lawrence is a distant, lofty figure who only very occasionally might visit her workplace. So, a new tentative title is Her Lover's Secret, which I think is evocative and fits the story better.

Her Lover's Secret started out with one hero template, and now has a different one, probably just as unlikely. He's a gorgeous man, but not conventionally so. As Lover's Secret is an older hero story, he has white streaks in his hair, and he's in his late forties. He's also about 6' 7" tall!

Above is a draft cover I designed for Her Lover's Secret, but I'm not sure I'll use it. I may even go mad, and get a pro designer to do me a cover. It's rather difficult to find cover images when you have a very specific looking hero with silver streaked hair, so you generally have to go with a 'headless' cover in these cases. And show his chest rather than his face and hair! LOL

'Lawrence'

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The Dumpster Office of Doom

Well, here it is, The Dumpster Office of Doom!

I'm sure you'll all think this is a 'before' picture, but it's actually taken just now. LOL I'd estimate about 50% of the 'stuff' has gone, but as you can see, the task ahead is still monumental. Even when I've got rid of as much as I can, arranging what remains in a usable fashion is still quite a job.

But, having said that, this room has been accumulating books, paper, DVDs, CDs and all manner of other crud for around 30 years now, so it was never going to be an endeavour achieved overnight to sort it out.

But I'm getting there! :)

ps. Back in 2010, I said I was going to sort this disaster out... but it's taken me this long to do something!

http://wendyportia.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/dumpster-office-of-doom.html

Update

For everyone wondering what I'm up to...

Yes, I am writing. But I've had to put aside the WIP I was working on. Again. Even though I love the characters and their story, and have introduced some really fun elements, there are some aspects of the story that I just don't seem to be able to write well at the moment, so I'm giving myself a rest from it. Another rest.

I'm sure that mojo will come back in its own good time, but for the moment I'm tinkering with a different story. One that I'm really writing just for fun, as an experiment and to keep the writing muscle exercised. I refer to it as 'thing' and I'm not really sure what genre it is, and I'm not sure I'll ever publish it. It certainly would never be accepted by a publisher, as it's not commercial or in a hot category. If pressed, I'd say it's sort of romance, but with a side of very light women's fiction. It's just a 'thing'. :)

At the moment, I'm enjoying 'thing' and just puttering along, writing a few hundred words a day in this new world. Which is better than not writing at all, as I did on my recent 'hiatus'.

In other news, I like to think I'm being creative in another way. For a long time, I've talked online about the Dumpster Office of Doom, my office which turned into an episode of Hoarders, more or less. Well, I finally decided to do something about it. I mean, really do something rather than pick at the edges of the horrible mess of books and papers and general crap. I've been filling black rubbish bags, and bags of books/bric a brac etc to send to charity, and bags of paper to recycle. I've also bought a swishy new shredder, which is doing sterling service with the more sensitive stuff ie stuff with addresses and drafts of copyrighted work.

And I'm really making progress! I can see huge areas of floor that haven't been visible for at least 10 years! I got rid of one of the 3 large tables that were taking up space, and I'm roaring through the heaps of paper and magazines and whatnot. I'd estimate I've maybe done 40% of the job so far, and my goal is to reclaim the office as a usable space by the end of 2016. It's very tiring work, especially for an oldie like me, who also has fibromyalgia and some arthritis. But it's like the writing. A little bit of meaningful work each day on the task will get me to my goal eventually. :)

I'm also keeping up with my Mini Habits of reading each day, and journaling each day, and I'm delighted to say that my calendar with glittery stars for each achievement has never been lacking. I've always been able to stick on my full quota of stars each day. I've also added a new 'habit' of one promotional/online presence thing per day. It doesn't matter if it's the tiniest, most unobtrusive item, maybe just one Tweet, but it's just a way to let people know I'm still around, and even if I'm not publishing much, I'm still working towards it, in my own way.

This blog post is today's promo/presence 'habit'. :)

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