Hump Day!

A little double entendre tile for this mid-week post. I've been getting stuck on A Cup of Conflict and Death Goddess Walking. Mainly because the characters in each are going in different directions than I'd originally planned.

Yes, my imaginary people have minds of their own.

So when I need a break for things to percolate lately, I've been going through an Alter Ego book from 2003 that was never finished. I'd forgotten how much fun it was, so I added it to my spreadsheet to finish it. Like my two current fantasy wips, the characters made an unexpected left turn along the way.

Plus the mystery is a little deeper and the romance has become a little more complicated. There's a little kink, but not as much as Alter Ego's other books.

The big problem is updating this proto-novel for the passing of the last twenty-one years. Damn, it's amazing how much has changed in our world.

And how much hasn't changed at all.

Gaining Traction

Our little town has a huge number of restaurants per capita. That also means we have an equally huge number of coffee shops.

I had really looked forward to the end of the pandemic so I could go back to the George House near the University of Findlay campus. Unfortunately, it has gone out of business. The Timmies near our house had reduced their hours. The staff at the Timmies across town glare at you if you dare to sit and eat at one of their tables, nevermind being in your laptop. Cafe Amici has excellent coffee and no parking since it's downtown.

Why am I talking about coffee shops? Because sometimes, I need to get out of the house in order to write.

DH and GK used to laugh at my because I'd circulate from room-to-room on the first floor. When that didn't work, I go to the neighborhood Barnes & Noble or one of the nearby Starbucks.  I know it's such a cliche. Also, I don't know why a change of scenario works to unstick my writing, but it does.

Best of all though, we now have two standalone Starbucks in town.

I've been stuck since the beginning of the year. Normally, I'd have half a novel done by now, but I'm struggling with edits since November. The cataract surgeries didn't help. Neither did my normal trigger of cleaning the bathroom. We bought this house so I could have my own office for crying out loud! And all I do is stare at the boxes I haven't unpacked yet.

So this morning, I grabbed Baby Blue and my Kylo Ren flashdrive and drove to the closest standalone Starbucks.

It worked! Solutions started clicking. My grilled cheese sandwich even got cold as I fixed the issues on the current manuscript. I came home feeling pretty good. I may have to go to Starbucks every day next week to keep up the momentum, but it'll be worth it.