Category: Stacey Jaine McIntosh

So, the second day of NaNoWriMo got off to a slow start, but by ten o’clock I had written 1707 words and surpassed my quota, despite not catching up to the overall quota.

The story so far has quite a few holes, and the death tally is at one. Sorry Eirian, I’m sure you were a good kid, but I need some drama to push the story forward, and suffice to say it worked. And without your death, I never would have learned that Cassian had an older brother named Julian who died young, or just how uncaring Queen Beatrix really is.

Still not sure whether this story is contemporary romance or if it could have potential in another genre.

What can I say, I love writing fae, and I’m not convinced I couldn’t turn this story into a paranormal romance.

Overall tally…

2754.

Day 1 of NaNoWriMo is off to a slow start. 735 words so far with less than three hours to go until the clock ticks over to Day 2.

I’ve got this.

As for the story, it’s still untitled. Contemporary Royal Romance complete with lots of drama.

So the last few months have been a wash with the nightmare that was moving, but we’re finally settled and I can now get back into writing and blogging without feeling pulled in a thousand different directions.

As for my writing, I’ve got two stories on the back burner awaiting submission and two more to write.

November is looming and with it comes NaNoWriMo. Something which I’m not ready for.

And I’ve also got another writing endeavour in the works which I’ll share more about in the coming weeks.

Tonight, however, I’m planning on taking my kids trick or treating and pigging out on way to much junk food. Assuming they share, that is.

So, July is over and my word count was quite pitiful to say the least. I’ve yet to update my tally. I started off strong, but by the halfway mark it was all downhill.

That was actually thanks to finding myself in the Emergency Room with chest pain, on top of a bad cold.

I spent several hours being poked and prodded only to find out I had Pneumonia, which I’m just now seeing the end of.

It definitely wasn’t how I saw my July ending up.

Turns out, that sometimes a cold is not just a cold.

Fingers crossed, August’s numbers fair better.

Well May is drawing to a close less productive then I was hoping it would be.

Two short stories I had planned on sending out are sitting unfinished.

And I haven’t finished the redraft of a novel, either.

Chasing Magic hit Amazon and readers appear to like it, which is good.

Now to make the most of June.

They kinda flew by, and to be honest, I’m still struggling with the age old dilemma of “what the hell do I post”.

So, in light of that, I guess I should mention that I have one short story being published in May and another that I need to finish to submit in May.

Its all happening!

Yes, it’s that time of year again, and I’m taking my kids trick or treating it. They’ve dressed up for the occasion, as have I.

Granted Hallowe’en isn’t as big here in Oz as it is in the U.S. but the kids still have fun.

And we even have a jack o lantern.

Fun times.

And yes, just over 6 hours til NaNoWriMo… I’m not panicking… yet. 😂

When midnight rolled around on Sunday, I’d managed all of 850 words. Not great but I did get my minimum word count for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I did however walk a massive 20km. I stopped keeping track after that. At least I can say I tried.

Hopefully this doesn’t foreshadow how I’m going to fair during November.

Fingers crossed.

It’s probably entirely foolish to attempt something this big this close to NaNoWriMo but I’m going to try.

As of 9am today I’ve walked 2.2km and written 30 words. I have until midnight Sunday to reach 5k.

Time to get really creative.

Wish me luck.

So, I was enlightened today. Told by another writer that there wouldn’t be a former faerie queen. Because faeries don’t die. I thought to myself that while true, faeries do tend to live forever, it is possible for them to die. Iron is poisonous to them. It’s possible. And thus the timeline of events that unravel in my series are possible.

Queen Mab can give up her throne in order to lure her wayward daughter Annan back to court. She, however gets bit by a werewolf and is presumed dead, paving the way for Annan’s half human daughter Zooey to take the throne. Several years pass and Mab grows restless, and demands her throne back and when Zooey doesn’t relinquish it, war ensues.

That’s where I’m at. In the midst of a faerie war my characters brought about. On a whim. While I sit back and make sense of the scenes and conversations unraveling in my head.

I have, I realise, thought this through. And if there can be three faerie queens in the Dresden files, what I am doing can’t be so wrong.

There are no original ideas after all. Everything is borrowed from somewhere. I just make sure not to read about other author’s faeries while writing about my own.

Forgive me, I had a few blog post ideas planned for today but they seemed to have escaped me.

So, instead, I’m going to offer up this little gem, since November is creeping closer.

Develop a writing habit now. Even if you only write one hundred words, it’s one hundred words you didn’t have before.

I know, you’re sceptical, I was too in the beginning, but ten months in, I’ve learnt a lot about my writing an along the way I’ve improved.

So what are you waiting for? Get writing.

And… I’m taking the leap into weekly blogging. I’m optimistic.

So watch this space, and the Wednesday time slot. Exciting things are coming.

Also, with NaNoWriMo coming there’ll be an additional post on Monday, 31st October.

So it’s October which means November is right around the corner and with it comes NaNoWriMo. A daunting task filled with too much coffee and other caffeinated snacks. (I like chocolate)

It’s a time where I sit down and hammer out 50,000 words and when you have a family complete with four kids, it can be tricky.

And so I take it one day at a time, and hope the writing Gods will be kind.

I just finished writing a 250 word sample for a possible freelance article writing job. The pay is minimal and if the sample was any indication the real work is going to be a hard slog.

I have to admit, I’m feeling a little out of my depth on this one. But it’s experience nonetheless.