Typing up and Tea

I had my first official go out of the house and work day on Wednesday, which is embarrassing, because I wish I worked a lot more. That is to say, I am almost always working, it just usually isn’t the kind where I get paid in relation to the hours I put in. That being said, I spent the day watching people sing and play games in between organizing my stories and putting down new ideas. Not to mention seeing some friends and singing along to Miley Cyrus. If every day could be like that, I would be one happy actress/writer.

The rest of the week was mostly spent typing up my first attempt at a Regency romance novel, currently titled To Trap an Earl. I am so excited about this new venture! It’s very different from the Giftedverse (although there are some similarities) and I absolutely love the family I’m writing about. The relationships between the siblings, between the couple, the settings I’ll research in person once I get to London…I’m over 60 000 words into the second draft of this book, yet I am still in the shiny new idea/initial excitement phase. Which is awesome. I’ll be looking for Alpha and Beta readers for April, but in the meantime, I am doing my best to make it as good as it can be on my own, which means typing it up, rereading it, replotting, rewriting, etc. Even that is going rather smoothly so far. Granted, I’m not even done typing, but I put xx for anything I need to look up or change, and for the Giftedverse, that usually means plot issues or worldbuilding questions that might entail an entire rewrite. For TTAE, it usually means a little bit of historical research, coming up with names, or reminding myself of characters I might want to expand on and use later. I’m in the honeymoon phase and it is very refreshing!

I’m still working on the cover with my designer (and the print version of Third Eye if you’re waiting on that like I am) because I am hoping to fall in love with the cover like I did for Prophecy, which hasn’t happened yet. But I’m very optimistic. How can I not be?

I took most of the weekend off from writing (the days at least) so I could spend hours running after all six of my nephews, and having afternoon tea with my writer friend, JF. We met at a Nanowrimo event over a decade ago and he is still one of my favorite people to talk shop with. This was our second time having the Afternoon Tea at Gryphon D’Or, and it did not disappoint. I chose the Winter Spice tea and everything was delicious, with my favorite being the scone (and all of its toppings). They were super accommodating and let us come in at 12:30, even if it was only supposed to start at 2:00, but next time I might try to book later, because there was a Disney sing-along/dance party going on as we were leaving.

*They only take cash or e-transfer, which wasn’t an issue, but always good to know beforehand.*

I also sent my attempt at translating Prophecy to my cousin-in-law for her opinion. I am hoping it makes more sense to translate it on my own and have it edited, rather than to pay for someone to do all the translating, because otherwise I’ll feel like my entire french education (all 11 years of it) was a waste. Especially if I don’t even give it a try.

Until next week,

Amanda <3

“I want to thank me. For believing in me and doing what they said I could not do. And I’m gonna say to myself in front of all you beautiful people: Go on girl with your bad self. You did that!”

-Niecy Nash

^I need this kind of confidence and energy in my life.