IWSG Update 10/2020: Is It Over Yet?

Yes, it is still 2020. There's no way around it. We just have to get through it. 

On the bright side, in a few years, we'll be able to brag about being survivors. 

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. And smile. 

Insecurities for this month are pretty much the usual kinda stuff...what else does 2020 have in store for us all? Yesterday, boy #4 was driving down the road and a tree limb fell from a bank onto his car smashing the front end and windshield. He's fine, thank God. The car, however, was totaled. How so very 2020. 

Keep saying it...stuff can be replaced. It will be all right. 

It did put me behind posting this. I am my usual procrastinating self and I'm still getting things done on an as needed basis.

One day. One day, I swear, I will have my work done ahead of schedule. Like the Ninja. 

And I'm going to start being a better blogger. I've been getting myself oriented and situated at my new day job (2020 has pushed the field of social work wide open! Where there is instability, chaos, and isolation there is a greater need for mental health services, so I'm back in an office...and being an even slower writer.) 

But I miss you guys and will be making my rounds. 

But there is good news! 

I have a new book coming out October 12th!!

Pre-order now! 
Cover art by Al Diaz AKA Father Dragon

Some hearts are fixer-uppers, hers is a total flip.

For Danni Lowry, going home for her aunt’s funeral means facing reality, and that’s not something she’s eager to do. Since leaving North Carolina, she’s lost her money, her husband, and all hope for happiness.

She goes to the memorial, but regret hits her on arrival. She is about to leave when she bumps into Fisher, her childhood friend and one-time sweetheart. For him, she will stay for the memorial that challenges her grief… and her sanity. During the service, Danni swears she sees her aunt—the dead one—bouncing about, making fun and cracking jokes.

Certain she’s lost her mind, Danni tries again to go, but Aunt Max won’t allow it. She is a reminder that Danni has obligations. There is the hotel. It is now Danni’s, and a sensible person would flip it before selling it. There is young Darby, the orphaned teen her aunt was adopting. Danni couldn’t leave the child homeless. And finally, there is Fisher— loyal, dependable, heart-skippingly-handsome Fisher. The guy she didn’t realize she missed until he was gone.

Fisher offers to help her with the renovations hoping she’ll stay long enough for him to convince her they are meant to be together. Danni agrees to the help and to the friendship, but nothing more. She will not lose Fisher to love. Not again. It’s better to stay friends. Friends don’t break up like lovers do.

This month's optional question: When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

I imagine a working writer as this magical creature who strides to the bank with stacks and stacks of checks to cash. A bit like a unicorn, they're elusive little creatures often avoiding the din of the not-yet-successful writers they might have known in their previous lives as struggling wordsmiths. 

As I read the second half of the question, I realized I misunderstood the first part of the question, but in my tenacious attempts at finishing this post and hitting publish, I will simply say: 

Write for pleasure, hope for profits. Enjoy what it is you're doing. 

Many thanks to our host and leader, the Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh. And a HUGE thank you to our co- hosts for this month: Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!

Join our Reading Community with the Goodreads IWSG Book Club!

For October/November, we will be reading Animal Farm by George Orwell to study symbolism.

Discussions will take place in November.

Mark your calendars for the next #IWSGPit Twitter Pitch Event!

The next #IWSGPit will be in January 20, 2021

8:00 am - 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time

Create a Twitter-length pitch for your completed and polished manuscript and leave room for genre, age, and the hashtag. On January 20, 2021, Tweet your pitch. If your pitch receives a favorite/heart from a publisher/agent check their submission guidelines and send your requested query.

Image by Anita S. from Pixabay