July Book Update

June is done, and I'm at least a little closer to finishing the first draft of Rescue. It started out as a tough month, with a lot of other things going on that needed my attention. First off, both of my grandmothers had been in the hospital for several months. My dad's mom lives in another province, and my mom's mom lives in my community. Since April, I had been visiting my mom's mom several days a week (and feeling lucky that not only do I still have her with me, but she's also close enough I'm able to spend more time with her). At the beginning of the month, my dad's mom took a turn for the worse (Both grandmothers had almost the exact same injury- broken shoulders- but then my dad's mom got COVID right after being admitted to the hospital) and began receiving palliative care. We had a quick trip to go visit her while we still could, and then honestly, for the first three weeks of June, my brain was in a fog and I just let myself take the time off from writing. The fog is starting to burn off, and I've had a renewed excitement about Paige's story.

We also have been busy with garden stuff. It seems to be dragging on a bit this year, though- I just get one task done, and then we get a ton of rain and the garden is too wet to work in again. I'm going to have SOOOO many weeds to pull very soon... I also had a random fixation on social media stuff, trying to plan Facebook & Instagram posts, and blog posts, and TikTok videos lol. Fortunately (or not) that hyperfocus is done. For now.

What's Happening Now

One of the things that's got me excited about getting back to work on Rescue is a revelation I had about my characters' pasts. I can't give it away right now, but I was surprised when I thought of it. You'd be amazed at how little I really know about my characters or their stories, even when I think I have it all planned out beforehand. I never used to really plot out stories ahead of time- I just followed along wherever the story took me. Then I started plotting and planning, and had was able to write stories faster. Now I do the plotting, but I'm still surprised by what happens, and I find even with a plan, I don't really get to know my characters and the story until I start writing it.

I know when I start editing, there's some scenes I'm writing now that will have to be moved so they happen earlier in the book. But that's fine. It'll make things more complicated. In a good way. I hope.

What's Next

Barring another emergency trip out of province, I should have Rescue finished in another week or so. Then I'll be putting it away and forgetting about it for a few weeks and taking a little break. Or thinking about the next project. After that, it will be time for editing. I'll have a lot of things to cut out of this draft I'm sure, but there are also a lot of things to add in. I'm really looking forward to the editing process for this- the first draft is just to get it out of my head. The next one is to actually make it good (I hope). Here's another sneak peek from Rescue!

Rescue Excerpt

Paige reeled back like he’d slapped her face.

“What?” she said dumbly. “What does any of this have to do with me?”

Tires crunching on gravel cut Jake off. Paige’s heart sank at the sight of Nick’s SUV.

“Fuck,” Jake muttered. “He always knows just when to show up.”

“Everything all right?” Nick asked smoothly, his eyes conveniently hidden behind a pair of (super expensive brand) sunglasses.

“Just fine, little brother,” Jake spat.

Even with Nick’s eyes covered by the sunglasses, she could feel them on her, like they were boring holes into her.

“Paige doesn’t look fine,” he said, a hard edge to his voice.

“I am,” Paige said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I was doing chores alone, and it gave me too much time to think about stupid exes. Jake must have heard me, and he came in…”

“Cut the bullshit, Paige,” Jake said.

Paige jumped, blinking to keep her eyes from filling with tears at the sharp tone. She looked at him, but his eyes were locked on his brother. Nick’s frown had turned into a snarl, as if he was about to rip Jake’s head off for snapping at Paige.

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Nick said, his voice icy.

Jake glanced quickly at Paige. “I’m not mad at you, Paige,” he clarified. “I just mean don’t bother making excuses. He saw what was going on. Like you said, there’s cameras everywhere. That’s why he’s here. He doesn’t want me scoring with his prize…”

“I saw what was happening and I saw Paige crying,” Nick said. “I came to make sure she was safe.”

Jake laughed, a scary, mirthless laugh. “That’s cute,” he said. “You’ve all of a sudden become her protector now, huh? You trying to make up for twenty years ago?”

“Shut up,” Nick snarled, losing his facade of calm.

“What are you talking about?” Paige asked, mentally doing the math and figuring she’d been eighteen.

When she’d briefly dated Nick. When he’d disappeared out of her life without even a “Maybe we should just be friends.” Bile rose in her throat and she almost threw up.

“Ask Nick,” Jake snapped, his eyes still on his brother. “But I’m sure he’ll just feed you a bunch of bullshit.

This is part of a scene I'll need to put earlier in the book when I start rewriting. Now it's time to get back to work, then enjoy some summer fun! What are you looking forward to this summer? I'd love to hear about it! You can leave a comment here, or on my Facebook or Instagram!