Being creative breeds creativity...

Wow. Life has taken a crazy turn this week. 

I'd planned on putting this post up on Thursday...and then life happened. 

But some incredibly exciting things. 

Nothing I can share yet, but yeah...

it's thrown me a bit off track this week.

So, onto the title of this post.

Being creative breeds creativity.

I'm a creative person. For as long as I can remember, I've created.

Anything and everything.

For the last few years that creation has been through books. 

But lately that's been tougher than it should be.

As a result, some of my other creative interests have popped up. 

My soul NEEDS creativity.

If you're on my Instagram account, you've probably seen hints of this.

Lately I've been doing things, like making jewelry. 

And I discovered something.

Letting my mind go in the creative process of something else has boosted my creativity in writing again. This is a huge win/win.

So this week, I changed my daily schedule. 

It's summer.

And this week, I set my alarm for 5:45.

If you know me, you know this is HUGE. 

I treasure my sleeping-in days.

Which means summer is my Nirvana.

Because I can sleep in every day.

But my writing is more precious to me than sleep.

Yep, I just said that.

Writing.

It's my everything.

So, I'm doing all I can to preserve my creative mojo. 

If I have to wake up at 5:45, well then, I'm doing it.

What am I doing at 5:45?

Well, honestly, I'm staring at my phone screen in bed trying to get the light to wake me up. 

I do that for 30 minutes.

Then at 6:15, I crawl out of bed...nod vaguely at Ben who looks at me in shock as I stumble to the coffee pot, and then I head to my office. 

Then for the next 45 -75 minutes, I decorate my planner and think about what I want to write on my book starting at 7:30. 

This has been HUGE to my writing process.

And I have a pretty planner that makes me happy to look at it.

Supplies:

*planner from Target (this one features a week on a double page layout...starting in July, I'll be using one that has a single day/per page...also from Target)

*Unity Stamps...Start Something New, Artful Expressions, Brave Girl Teepee, Quinn Girl, KOM...Best Year Yet

*Derwent watercolor pencils

*washi tape 

*random project life cards

*my Facebook banner graphic

*Cuttlebug

*Spellbinders Samantha Walker die cut

And for those of you wondering what I got done this week writing wise??

THE FIRST DRAFT OF 

INTERTWINED HEARTS

IS DONE!!

And it's massive. It's going to need major revisions because it's just over 127,000 words which is 27,000 more words than I'm willing to publish. But the bones are there, so I have a place to start to fix it.

For those of you wondering...this is the Snowcroft menage story that was supposed to be a novella. 

Yeah...sigh.

Intertwined Hearts...Men of Snowcroft #2.5
(m/m/f contemporary romance) 
coming Fall 2016

Three people who’ve given up on love...

Hudson:

After a brutal, late-night attack in his restaurant left Chef Hudson Richmond too traumatized to even enter his restaurant again, he escaped to Snowcroft. Now he’s trying to find a new normal when the reality of his world is a man’s touch makes him sick and his dream has become his nightmare.

Leigh:

Leigh Vaughn lives in a man’s world running Vaughn Construction with her brother, Jamie. She’s tried to be feminine and failed over and over again. Growing up with only her brother, father, and construction crews to guide her, Leigh has no idea what a feminine wile is, much less how to deploy them. But when Jamie and Trevor begin to research finding a surrogate to carry their baby, she knows this is something she can do. Hell, it’s not like those parts are getting used for anything else.

David:

When this small town came looking for a new police chief, David Warner jumped at the chance. After too many years spent working vice in the city, he’s burnt out and jaded. And his love life has been even more depressing than his work life. He’s made one true connection in the last five years, but she disappeared without a trace the next morning.

Three people who have given up on love, may just find a new beginning where they least expect it...in Snowcroft. But love is only supposed to happen in twos. How can they make it work with three intertwined hearts?

*********

And for those of you curious about my creativity...

Before I was a writer, I was a huge stamper. You can explore my old blog here...Altered Ambitions. It's no longer active, but there are years worth of stamping projects on there.