So I periodically Google reviews for In the Storm to make sure I haven’t missed anything, and today I stumbled across a blog referencing In the Storm in relation to how it has affected her idea of fate.  The Fragments of Life blog reviewed it originally in March, 2011 and I’m glad to see it stuck with her enough to reference it again in March, 2012.  Unfortunately I didn’t discover it until almost March, 2013.  It’s here if you want to check it out.

It’s always nice to know that your book has made an impression on someone.  In my searches today I saw In the Stormrecommended to a blogger looking for something to read, in an Amazon review for a much bigger-seller than my book, and by several foreign online retailers.  Not bad for a teeny tiny little book.

And yes, here we are two years since it came out. You don’t have to say it. I know. I’m working on it in the midst of a total career change, so give me a break.

Just don’t be mad at me if it’s not necessarily a sequel, kay?

I definitely over-explained this and probably made it sound much more difficult that it really is.  I do that.

I often find myself traveling about as much as you do for the holidays and last year in my complete and utter boredom I came up with my own version of the old Mad Libs, which are nearly impossible to find these days.  As a kid this was the best time-killer for any road trip.  If you never played these as a kid, your childhood was wasted.

We were about 3 hours into our umpteen hour trip, when I pulled out an old romance novel I had thrown in my bag.  I chose one of the dirtiest scenes I could find, underlined some sex-related adjectives, nouns, articles of clothing, etc. and had my family members fill them in after choosing a random male and female.  Ended up being one of the funniest things I have ever read.  Of course we were sleep deprived, which makes this all the better. We did this several times throughout our visit, and I’ve played this with up to 8 or so people.  Let’s be honest, the dirtier, the funnier.  You don’t want to play this with the uber-conservative relative or children, obviously.  I’m sure that other genres work as well, however romance novels tend to include the most adjectives.

Step One: Find a scene with two (or more, reow) people with lots of adjectives and body parts, if possible.  The body parts always end up applying to the wrong sex, which just makes me giggle.  I’m easily entertained, okay?  Feel free to skip over a line or paragraph if it doesn’t add to the story.  (I did this below, represented by  …)

Step Two:  Underline nouns, verbs, clothing, beverages, names, smells, etc.  You can do this in pencil for paperback.  If you have it on a Kindle, you can highlight the words and a line will appear under each of them.  Just continue to substitute the same names as you go.

Step Three: List whether the word is a noun, verb, blah, blah on a sheet of paper, in order.  You can switch out a noun for a pronoun, etc. if needed.

Step Four:  Have someone give you a new noun, verb, blah, blah.  It’s best if these are requested out of order. (I used * if I am reusing the same noun later in the story.)

Step Five:  Read your passage with the new words and names filled in.

Voila, most ridiculous sex scene between your mom and your high school teacher that you’ve ever read.  It probably won’t make any sense at all.  You may think you’re too old for this.  You’re not.  Everyone laughs at this ridiculousness, especially when full of turkey.

In case you’re still confused, I’ve included a very short example from my novella In the Storm (pg 32).  As I’ve said, romance novels work best in my opinion, but for legal purposes I had better stick to my own work.

Original:

I sit up quickly and realize I am in a tank top and thin pajamas. With rubber ducks on them. Damn. Thank God, I’m still wearing my bra. It isn’t raining, but the ground is wet and threatens to dampen my underwear. I hop up and cross my arms; the breeze feels chillier than I remember. My socks are getting muddy.

Shaking his head at me, amused, he begins to pull off his sweatshirt.

I watch it slide over the white t-shirt underneath and pull it up slightly, revealing a small portion of his side and stomach.

I tear my eyes away quickly and pretend to look at … something.

“I can read your thoughts, remember?”

I curse myself for thinking about my bra. Dammit! I did it again. I snatch the sweatshirt away from him and step back, blushing. The blue complements the rubber ducks quite nicely, and his half-smile tells me he agrees. Still embarrassed, I avoid eye contact. “Thank you,” I say quietly.

The sweater is soft and smells like him. I like it.

Revised:

____ sit up quickly and realize I am in a ­­­­­­______and thin _________. With _____ on them.

Female name                                                 Clothing item              clothing             plural noun

Damn. Thank  ______, I’m still wearing my _____. It isn’t raining, but the ____ is wet and 

              name/pronoun                                   Clothing                                             noun

threatens to dampen my_____. I  ____ up and cross my ______; the breeze feels

                                          Clothing     Verb                            body part (s)            

____ than I remember. My ______ are getting _____.

Adjective                                 plural noun                  adjective

Shaking his _____ at me, amused, ____ begins to pull off his ______.

              Body part                             male name                               clothing

I watch it slide over the _______      ______ underneath and pull it up slightly,

                                      Adjective            clothing*

revealing a small portion of his ____ and ______.

                                                  Body part          body part

I tear my eyes away quickly and pretend to look at … _____.

                                                                                           Noun/pronoun

I _____ the _____ away from him and step back, blushing. …

  Verb              clothing*

The ____ is ____ and smells like ____. I like it.

Clothing*     adjective                      scent/odor

You get the point.  Hope the formatting works, it was giving me some trouble.

Happy Holidays!!!

Karen

What I’m supposed to be doing: Working on a sequel.

What I’m actually doing: Writing a New Age Romance.

Whaaat? I know, right?

In the many, many months that I wasn’t writing but avoiding schoolwork, I bought a Kindle.  And downloaded lots and lots of random stuff.  In that time, I found that I really dig the New Age genre. For those of you new to that, it basically means people in their 20′s.  You know, like me.  I figured I should write what I know best.  So far I’m pushing about 20,000 words.  (That’s almost the full length of In the Storm.)  A good start and still going.

Why am I telling you?  So I’ll be forced to follow through.  And because I’m kind of proud of it.  And because none of my family members are answering the phone today and I have no one to talk to

This doesn’t mean a sequel is out of the question.  It just means I have other people yelling in my head louder than Carly and Morgan.

Just a fair warning.  Wish me luck.

In case you were wondering, I am still alive.  I last posted earlier this summer regarding my return to writing, at least my full effort is now focused on writing.  I finally found the missing piece to my little puzzle.

A recliner.

I know, it sounds ridiculous.  I wrote In the Storm on my lovely reclining sofa.  We moved from South Carolina and I had to give it up.  I had several failed attempts to get something going while in Arizona and throughout my Masters program.  We found ourselves in Pennsylvania and I found myself without a single comfortable place to sit with my laptop. I made every attempt to get started on a sequel but it felt like pulling teeth.

Enter Wal-Mart $150 recliner, et voila!

Suddenly I’m writing a New Adult novel that has been in the back of my mind for a few years and have close to 20,000 words.

Moral of the story: Don’t move to three different states and expect the flow to maintain itself.  Stay comfy.  Who’d'a thunk?

For those interested in my new WIP, I hope to have more to share soon.  I’m very excited about this one, and it’s different from most of my other projects.  I’m making an effort to figure out this whole blog thing, and by now you’ve probably noticed that I kind of suck at it.  I’m working on it.

Happy fall!

This poor little blog has been grossly ignored!  I cannot apologize enough.

As some of you may know I have just finished up my Masters (today!!).  I found out that In the Storm was accepted for publication just a few days after I applied for the program.  The past year and a half has been pretty packed between work and school.   This means I have not spent as much time as I would have liked or should have spent promoting In the Storm or more importantly, writing the sequel.

I am happy to report that I finally have the time to get back to writing, and the sequel is in the works.  I just wanted to thank everyone that has shown me support throughout this time, and for all the amazingly kind words about In the Storm. These have kept me motivated to keep this story alive, and bring you something even better this time around.

Believe me, I miss my characters as well and cannot wait to finish telling the story they have been whispering in the back of my mind for the past year.

I hope to have more to report very soon!

The winner of my first signed giveaway on Twitter was @FaithMortimer.  Congrats to Faith and thanks to everyone who entered!

The first giveaway was such a success I’m doing it again for 300 followers!

I’d love it if I reached my goal by Christmas! RT any of my giveaway-related posts to enter and please share the word.

Go #Indie4Xmas.  I hope everyone participated in #SmallBizSat. Please contribute to the small businesses you would like to keep around for next year. Many small businesses are extending their sales throughout the holiday shopping season.

Check out my publisher, Vagabondage Press, who has some awesome 25% off sales!

Happy Holidays!

I’m giving away a free, signed copy of In The Storm on Twitter when I hit 200 followers.  RT one of my giveaway-related posts to enter.  Following me won’t hurt either   Getting close to giving away a copy so hurry!!

@TheKarenMetcalf