Middles - Of Stories, that is . . . And Endings of my three weeks off

Hey! We got through the holidays! My husband and I got through the lay-off okay. Every cent going to bills with a little bit left over--in case of over-drafts. The good news is we won't be put out on the street. Yeay!

My three weeks off allowed me to work on my books--both second and third--and toward promoting the first one. I'm told it will be on Amazon Kindle soon. Probably the end of this week, in fact. So, all you Kindle people, get ready.

It's amazing what one can do when they have the time to do it. I'd love to do this for the rest of my life if only I could make money at it. But, hey, I keep on getting mailings from Publisher's Clearing House, so you never know. Right?

To the middle part of my post.

Everyone of you writers out there knows that the middle of your books could have the potential to sag if you don't do something exciting to keep things going. You need the Idea Train to be fed. (Idea Train is my word for it, I don't know what any of you like to call it, but I call it a train because once that train begins to move, it chugs along up and down mountains, no matter what.) If we relax our mind, not worry about finding that one or two things that would shock, or make the middle exciting, then, when you least expect it, it will happen. Like I've posted before, it's like a bolt of lightning when it hits.

When I'm writing, this is how it works. I write as much as I know--like driving at night with the lights on, you see only so far ahead. When I get what I can down, I quit. I may make notes because there are tidbits there, I just don't know how to connect them.

Usually while in the bath/shower--and some of you know that's when things hit you--or during the night, the idea will jell and solidify and become the full, or at least a portion of an idea. That's the exciting part of being a writer, when this happens.

And this is where I am, at this point with the third novel. Dark, scary things happen, and just when you allow your readers to relax, you spring a whopper on them.

Yesterday I wrote two new chapters. Nearly 4,000 words, but not quite. And later on, I went to my notes for the book and wrote some things down and this morning POW, BAM, WHAM! It was there.

All things must come to an end.
Not that I'm thinking too much about going back to work, but it's a niggling thought, I even had a dream about my boss last night--oooo, I hate those--even though I like my boss. But I'm capping off my 3 weeks in a wonderful way, I couldn't have planned it better--but actually I did!

My book signing is this coming Saturday. I'm looking forward to it. I'll be popping into the bookstore to make sure the books are in (if they're not we're gonna have problems selling no books!)

Its a good idea to go and get to know your book sellers, the people in the bookstore are there to help you, because you are there to sell some books--hopefully a LOT of them. So, if you do get a book signing, it's a good idea to go to the store, get to know the manager and people who work there. It's sort of nice to be treated like a celebrity. Because you are.

And, last but not least, my friend Jen Jackson, has agreed to post an interview on her post. I will make a separate post announcing it on Friday, when she has it up, and give her link on it then.