Author Archives: Karen

Writers block aka Creative Block

Posted on by
Reply

Sometimes when writing, you come to a crashing halt, and you can’t write anymore. Some call it writers block. It’s like when you paint yourself into a corner. There is little option of getting out without making a mess of the work you’ve already done.

I like to think of it as a creative block, because subconsciously, my story is telling me something isn’t right. I recently had this happen in my Romantasy story I’m writing. I’d successfully finished the first part, and just started on the second part, and I was three chapters in, but the third chapter just wasn’t resonating, and felt forced. So I sat back from it.

The thing is, when I’m out walking, I generally let my mind wander in my stories to see if there is a better way, or to find the direction it wants to move in. But unfortunately, it’s been stubbornly blank.

Until Saturday.

On my drive into work, I realised what was wrong. I’d already written that they needed to do surveillance around this person, but then I’d already written that it wasn’t possible, hence painting myself into a corner.

But there is more than one way to do surveillance on a person – such as using their own surveillance against them. They would be able to hack into their security system and see what was going on.

It was rather obvious, but for some reason I was trying to rationalise them having to stay in apartments above the property, which would give them a clear view, yet somehow be obscured. The rule is, if you don’t believe it, your readers won’t either.

Hacking into the security system it is. And the whole story is starting to flow again. And I can’t wait to get them mixed up in a new set of problems that will only be concluded in the third book.

On the up and up

Posted on by
Reply

A couple of weeks ago I wrote how I was suffering with the weather and down moods. I have since turned a corner, and now my mental health is improving.

And the reason for this, I believe, is catching up with a friend and talking about writing. It was as simple as that. We hadn’t been able to catch up over the previous few weeks because of weather related issues, or kids, but last Friday, we managed to catch up and mostly, we talked. We talked about writing, but we also talked about how we felt guilty because while we’d both been affected by the floods, we still had our homes and our properties survived unscathed, unlike a lot of our friends, and as a result, we have survivors guilt. Because we didn’t get the damage as bad as it could have been we felt guilty for feeling pleased that it hadn’t affected us.

We spoke about the trauma we both suffered having to evacuate and not knowing what we would be going back to, how the kindness of people we barely knew made it easier to cope. How we both emotionally broke down after it had all passed over because we were trying to be strong for our kids.

And then we talked about the power of writing, how cathartic it had been to write about our sadness and pain in various stories we’d written, and how it was our ‘therapy’, and how we felt so much better, mental health-wise, when we were able to find time to write.

I only spent two hours with Serena, but in that time, we found a companionship that went deeper than our writing friendship. We both had similar experiences and experienced the same emotions about the same things. And it was nice to know that someone knew how I felt.

It wasn’t until Sunday I realised just how uplifted I felt. How much lighter and brighter the world seemed. I was relieved that I’d finally turned the corner, because I wasn’t looking forward to spending another two or three weeks in that melancholy state, because even I don’t like myself when I’m in that kind of mood.

But sometimes, just spending time with someone who has a similar interest to you, can be all you need to was someone to shine a light so you come out the other side of the darkness, and realise that it was only a tunnel you were travelling through, and not a journey to the middle of the earth.

Tuivale Worldbuilding Pt3

Posted on by
Reply

Come and meet some more of the locals at Tuivale, the setting for my Men in Kilt’s series.

Andrea owns and operates the second hand shop, the Tuivale Community Centre. She started it one summer after an extended period of no rain and some of the locals had lost crops due to the drought conditions. In order to make things better and easier, she set up the second hand shop and with the funds raised is given to those in the community in need. She also is in charge of the food bank, and she knows the locals who need the most help.

Her daughter, Genie – or Gen owns and operates the Nailed It Beauty Salon. She studied hard to gain her beauticians degree despite being mostly deaf. She is very proficient at her job and well liked by the locals.

Dr Jason Partridge has become part of the furniture, and has been a family doctor for most of the Tuivale community. He runs the Tuivale Health Centre with his wife Patricia who is the receptionist. The nurse at the clinic is Matilda Shaw and handles any of the medical emergency’s that come in. Gerry Stone is the physio, and moved to Tuivale three years ago to take up the physiotherapy position.

Tuivale Community Chemist is run by Roger Flaxmore, but he is close to retiring and looking
to head north to Tauranga to retire in the next couple of years.

SAD time of Year

Posted on by
Reply

It’s been a tough couple of weeks. My mental health has been on the decline, but it is that time of the year.

My mental health is something I am very conscious of, because it can sometimes be a delicate balance between feeling good and feeling nothing. Because when I go into a depressive state, I tend to feel numb. I also want to sleep more, I guess to take come of the numbness out of the day.

I do have go to ways of lifting my spirits, like getting out for a walk, and going to the gym, and watching stupidly funny videos, but even that hasn’t helped me get through this week. Instead, I’ve watched funny videos and thought more about how some of the falls would have hurt, and how close some people came to giving themselves concussion. Yeah, things are pretty bad when I can’t see the funny side of things.

It is that time of the year, when it is at it’s coldest and bleakest. Winter is still here, frosts are taking their toll, and I don’t do cold – have I told you I don’t do cold?

This weekend was an opportunity to escape to Wineheim, and catch up with my Mum and my brother’s family. we have a lovely time together, and it’s those moments that remind me that family are important in helping heal mental health issues.

It didn’t help that last week, my ankle and knee decided to play up, just as I was going for a walk, or to the gym, put I pushed through it and went anyway, because sometimes any excuses not to do something good for you, is the opposite of what you should do. I learnt that from my Bobba. He would get out and go for long bicycle rides just to chase the blues away. I miss that he’s not around to confide in anymore, but I can still talk to him, I just don’t get the answers like I used to.

Another couple of weeks and there will be longer days, and those who are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder will lift, and we will get back to our normal daily routines, and our moods will lift with more sunlight in our day.

Until then, I will keep going, one funny video at a time.

Q3 Mid Quarter Progress Report

Posted on by
Reply

We’re half way through July and things are happening.

I have the edits back for Carol’s Christmas and I have it away with my friend, Carole for her to check it out and proofread – don’t worry, she’s an author as well. I hope to get this off to two of the lovely lady’s who shared their cancer story’s with me for them to check it over as well. I kind of want their approval before I proceed any further. My plan is to publish this book in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I also want to donate some of the funds from the book to the Breast Cancer Foundation. I’m thinking $5 for paperbacks and $1 for the ebooks. That’s my thinking at this stage.

I was thinking about publishing another book this year, but I think I will hold off on that, and focus on writing, because I have my editor booked for Finding Faith, my first Racing Harts book for the end of September 2025, which means that I will probably publish all three Racing Harts books next year.

I’m well on the way with my Men in Kilts series, which will be released in 2027. It sounds like a long time away, but I don’t want to burn myself out trying to write and publish 12 books a year. I’m already stretching myself to writing two books at a time, because I want to start publishing under my new pen name next year as well.

My new pen name will write Speculative Fiction – which is anything other than normal. Pretty much Science Fiction, Romantasy (Romantic Fantasy), Urban Fantasy. This is my first passion, and I want to write these again. Some will be spicy (full of sex), some will be sweet (kissing at the most), but it will be dark, because that seems to be where my stories have been going.

But never fear, because while I like writing dark, I like light and fluffy too, and for that reason I’m really enjoying writing Quin and Stef’s story in my first Men in Kilts story. It’s not quite a Romcom, but it’s pretty close, so very light-hearted.

Towards the end of the year I will have a publishing plan going forward, at this stage, I’m enjoying the writing process still, and can’t wait to get Carol’s Christmas out to you all to read. I had a lot of fun writing this book, which is another Women’s fiction. It has a strong female lead who discovers that money isn’t always the answer, and that people matter more than you think.

When it feels like Forever

Posted on by
Reply

Wednesday night, I had little sleep after a nightmare repeatedly woke me up.

Thursday, another bad dream left me with little sleep.

I planned on having a sleeping pill to help me sleep Friday night…but nature had other plans.

I’d gone into town on Friday morning to have a catch up and lunch with a very dear friend. While I was there, my manager rang and told me to reconsider coming into work, because the worst of the rain was going to hit around 3pm. So I chose not to go to work.

I got home about two in the afternoon, and it was really pouring down. When I got home, I noticed the water in the orchard next to us was up, but not overly high.

But as the afternoon progressed, the waterlogged soil was unable to cope and the water got closer and closer to the house. Until by five pm, we had a lake out the front as the water from the orchard was trying to find the easiest way to get into the drain, and that was through the front of our place. The drain was so full, that for the first time ever, it was overflowing the footpath and the vehicle bridge to access our property.

We lost power about 4pm, and Mr H and I were outside barbequing our tea, when I saw Police cars go past, and then stop. They stopped at our place and told us we had to leave. Even though water hadn’t entered our property, and we knew we still have half a metre to go before it got there, they wanted us out. So we had five minutes to pack bags grab the cat and go.

Lunar wasn’t happy about the situation, but I wasn’t going to leave her behind, so with my laptop, tablet and phone, I then had to consider what else I needed. Clothes weren’t my top priority, but I had grabbed cat food and treats for her.

Fortunately, we were able to stay with a very dear friend, who had two cats of her own, which simply dwarf Ms Lunar. Our friend had a dog crate that she set up for us to put lunar into, so she could experience the warmth of the fire without worrying about the big boys harrassing her.

By 8pm, the rain had stopped. And it was eerily silent. Even the wind had stopped blowing.

But we stayed the night (another sleepless night) before we returned home about 1015 the following day. The only flood damage we had were apples from the orchard in our backyard. Nothing else was affected…

Except my mental health. It felt like we’ve had nothing but grey cloudy skies for three weeks (we have had some sunny days, but only like two or three), and then the stress of having to evacuate, by the time Saturday morning came around, I just wanted to cry. Even though it was just over twelve hours since we’d left our house, it felt like forever. Even though we’ve had periods of sunshine, it feels like it’s been grey forever.

But I have to keep reminding myself, it isn’t forever. We had a beautiful sunny day on Saturday, and I will remind myself after another couple days of gloomy weather that we have had sunshine.

Even when our mental health dips, we have to remember that we haven’t been feeling that way forever. It is just a small blip that we need to get through. It won’t last forever, only until we have a new sunny moment shine upon us.

Worldbuilding 101 – Tuivale Map and some locals

Posted on by
Reply

As promosed, a chance to meet some locals at Tuivale.

The Tuivale Tribune is the weekly newsletter which is produced by Elsie from the Tuivale Holiday Inn. Elsie is a busybody and knows everyone’s story, or at least she thinks she does. Between Elsie and Julie, who runs the Crusty Loaf, they think they know who does what and when.

Ian Tiddsdale owns and operates the Tuivale General Store is a genuinely nice guy who actually does know more than the Tuivale Tiddlers as he calls Elsie and Julie. People tell him all sorts of things, but he keeps mum, because he isn’t one to tell tales.

Glyn Davis runs the Highlanders Arms, the pub, and the adjoining restaurant, the Kilt and Kirtle. He started the Tuesday Night Quiz to bring more people into the pub on a quieter night of the week. Each money, money raised from the quiz is donated to a local group who have requested financial help.

It was Glyn who started the Men in Kilts club as a means to connect with others who had Scottish heritage and proud of it. Turns out, Tuivale has a large contingent of men claiming Scottish ancestry.

But only Old Man McDonald knows how to play the bagpipes, and he does so very badly. Glyn hopes that one of the younger men will take them up.

To give you some idea of the size of the town, here is a map of Tuivale.

Tuivale.pdf – 1

Worldbuilding 101 – Welcome to Tuivale

Posted on by
Reply

Any story, whether contemporary or fantasy needs worldbuilding. Most of my previous stories have been based in Nelson, and I’ve created businesses to fit into that the actual world, but I’ve named streets that don’t actually exist. It’s all for the sake of privacy.

For my Men in Kilts series, I wanted to have a seaside town, that was fictional, and I didn’t want it to relate to any existing town, so I created Tuivale. It’s a popular tourist spot, being on the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. With a population of around 2,500 people, the numbers swell during the summer season when visitors arrive to start the Abel Tasman Track and visit the golden sand beaches to sunbathe.

Tuivale has a town centre, complete with a supermarket, two cafe’s, two restaurants and a pub called the Highlanders Arms. The restaurant based at the pub is called the Kilt and Kirtle. There’s a garage for all the mechanical needs, along with a car parts shop, a handyman complex that sells outdoor living and plants. There is also a beautician and women’s wear shop. There’s even an engineering workshop, where the first of my protagonist’s work.

There’s a school that caters for years 1 – 8, but they will have to head to Motueka High School to complete Year 9 – 13. There is a small facility in Tuivale, however, that caters for the small number of people who are in apprenticeship training, called the New Zealand Training Institute. It looks after those doing apprenticeships, including the studying part of their training.

There is a sports complex next to a sports field, which provides for soccer, netball, rugby, rugby league and hockey. The inside facilities cater to pickleball, basketball, squash, badminton, and has a rock-climbing wall. One of the inside arena’s also plays host to the occasional Roller Derby tournament.

There is a First Responders Station where the fire brigade is based with easy access to the main road, along with an ambulance and a one officer police station. There is a small emergency department and maternity suite at the First Responders Station.

Tuivale is a popular place for young professionals – but not a yuppie haven. There are a few retired people who live there, but they are in the minority. The average age is about 45. Most of my heroes and heroines are in their late twenties to mid-fifties – with a variety of tropes to cater for every story, like age gap, fake dating, one bed, boy next door, best friend’s sister,

Over the next few weeks you’ll get to meet some of the people who populate the town, and some of them will have books of their own to tell their love story.

Next week we’ll meet some of the people who populate Tuivale.

The End is Nigh

Posted on by
Reply

I’m working through the edits for a book that is due with my editor on 25 July, and I could very easily just blast through the last few pages, and just send it.

But I’m not like that. I prefer to take my time and make sure that I have everything done.

Of course, I’ve already read through the manuscript and altered it, added or deleted from it countless number of times That can often take me a few times before I’m happy to proceed with the final edit.

So what do I do when I’m running a final edit?

The first thing I do is read through it and add in or take anything that does make sense. This might be taking out words because I got over wordy trying to explain something, or used too many words in a sentence.

The next step is to use ProWriting Aid to go through it and make sure that things make sense. I sometimes accept the changes it recommends, and sometimes  I don’t, because it will change my voice if I go with their suggestions.

Then I like to run it through a text to speech to hear it. This is invaluable in picking up those errors that you miss because you’ve already read it forty times. It will pick up those ‘is, if, it, in, of’ that you’ve misspelled. Sometimes it misreads words like retrain (ret rain)???

My last step is to spellcheck before I format and get it ready to send through to my editor.

Progress Report

Posted on by
1

We’re half-way through 2025, how did that happen?

So I thought I better update you on progress I’ve made so far. I’ve published Finding Sam Healey, thanks to those who brought a copy. It was a low key entrance into the world, but I’m seeing some results, so that’s great.

I’m currently working through edits on Carols Christmas, which is a modern day retelling of the Christmas Carol. This is due to the editor on 26 June, and I’m steadily getting that finished. It isn’t a big book – clocking in only just at 40k, but I love the story, and the fact that so many people helped me to write this book is just mind blowing. Thank you to everyone who has talked to me during my research into Breast Cancer. Two of them will get to read the finished product before anyone else for their comments and thoughts before I release it, which I’m hoping to do in August 2025.

I’m battling my way through my Angel story for my new pen name. I’m only struggling because I keep running out of time when I’m editing so much at the moment. I want to try and limit my writing to three months, so getting a story written in three months, which is totally doable for me. I just need to be a bit stricter with my deadlines.

Once Carols Christmas has been through the editor, I have the first of my Racing Harts books to be edited. There are three of them. Finding Faith, Gaining Grace and Having Hope. Those names might change, but that’s what I have at the moment.

Writing-wise, I’m in the process of making vision boards and plotting out my Men in Kilts series. Hence the very odd photo I posted yesterday (if you didn’t see it… here it is again… I can’t stop looking at it, for all the wrong reasons so I can’t use it. It’s AI generated…)

He’s rather stunning, but I can’t take my eyes of her missing thigh…and what is her arm and hand doing???

There are seven books in that series so far, and it will be a fictional New Zealand Town that it’s set in, and I can’t wait to start delving into the lives of these men who like to wear kilts (Thanks Mum!)

So the next six months will be busy with writing, finishing off the first angel book, then two more, and starting on my Men in Kilts, and editing the Racing Harts. All going well, I might get one of the Racing Harts books out by the end of the year… Fingers Crossed.