Today was one of those days where the simple act of crawling out of bed was a major triumph. (My apologies in advance for all the bleary-eyed typos that may creep into this post.) I don’t get it. Night before last I had a horrible night of sleep. I was restless, tossed and turned, woke up every half hour to hour, not a good night. You’d expect that I’d be tired, right? Wrong. Yesterday I had energy, got things done for the day job, got a couple things accomplished last night, and when I finally started to yawn, I went to bed. At a reasonable hour. I slept really well last night, but morning came and crawling really is the best description for how I was moving.

You know the feeling… the one where the Mac truck left tire tracks on your back as it drove on through. Not that I was achy, just overwhelmingly tired. If I would have had to drive to work, I don’t think I’d have made it, but when all I have to do is cross the landing, it took me approximately half an hour, but I convinced myself to make the trek.

Day job went the smoothest it has all week, which is not to say smooth, but the past two weeks have been ugly as far as things needing attention. I actually accomplished something new. Not as much as I wanted, but I’ll take accomplishment where I can get it. And the accomplishment is something I’ve been pushing for for several years, so to finally get it implemented was HUGE.

Tom Wolff
Photo: Alptraum

But when the day job was done, I was drained. Completely wrung out. I was ready for bed at 6 o’clock, but knew better than to give into the urge, and didn’t want to take a nap for the same reason. If I went to bed at 6, I’d be up at 2 or 3 AM staring at the ceiling in the dark. And then my sleep pattern would get all messed up… and it is a delicate little beast, so I don’t like to mess it up more than I can help. There remained the question of what to do with myself for the evening. But then Tom (the guy in the picture is my vision of Katie’s best friend, Tom) showed up and flooded me with a scene. I had to write. I didn’t know whether I’d be putting gibberish on the page or not because I was so bleary-eyed and exhausted I wanted to face-plant on the desk. But I had to trust the instinct driving me.

I am soooooo glad I did. Tom kept talking, I plugged in some Christmas tunes, which were a little at odds with the scene we were going through, but it somehow worked. Funnily enough, the more I wrote, the less tired I became. A little over 1,500 words later, I stopped. The characters were still talking, but I needed to take a moment because one was trying to take the spotlight, and my gut said that was the wrong direction. And I wasn’t ready to work with the next character—who is frankly a pain and I knew I wouldn’t do him justice tonight. Maybe tomorrow.

Poor Tom is having such a rough time, and I’m so proud of him. He usually bottles up his feelings, but this time let me hear them loud and clear. When I realized we had completed a few necessary scenes (and even one unexpected one) I was ready to break into the Hallelujah chorus. This was the most I’ve been able to accomplish word-wise, story-wise since finding out I needed chemo. FINALLY!! I don’t have the words to say how good this feels. I was trying not to despair that I wasn’t writing… but it is probably the most difficult thing for me to battle. I’m missing part of me without the writing.

So tonight, I feel whole. And other than the CLL sweats when it’s 45 degrees, I feel pretty normal, too. And tired, but not the sheer exhaustion that plagued me all day. Good tired. Accomplished tired. Ready for sleep.

Good Night. May your dreams be sweet or if they’re not at least a good plot for a novel.

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Photo of Tim: © Alptraum | Dreamstime.com
Creek Photo: © David Coleman | Dreamstime.com

In a Read it before you can buy it measure, I’ve decided to post a few snippets from the companion book to the Misfit McCabe series I have been working on. The title of the eventual book is Diary of a Misfit and will be available in ebook only (or at least that’s the plan for now). I am concurrently working on the companion book and One Way Ticket Home which will be the fourth book in the series.

Anyway, while working on the stories, which will be parts of Katie McCabe’s diary, giving a little of the background which doesn’t actually make it into the novels, Katie’s thoughts on some of the things that happen in the books, as well as her thoughts on current events.

Tim’s Shiner is a glimpse into the past with Katie and her best friend, Tim Lawrence and gives some insight on Tim’s family situation. I’m going to post the first couple paragraphs here, and then provide a link to the full story (which is 3,100 words, so short and quickly read).

When her best friend Tim shows up on her doorstep with a black eye, Katie McCabe teases him for being a klutz, until she learns the horrifying truth.

Tim’s Shiner

I ran into my room and dove on the bed. How could I be such a horrible friend? My eyes traced the whorls in the ceiling support beam as tears welled. I hammered my fist against the mattress. Frustration and rage made me want to scream, but if I did, Timmy might hear me. And that would make things worse.
     Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply. As I forced the air out of my lungs, I grabbed my diary from the nightstand and sat up. Maybe writing everything out would help.
     Today started off like any other day. But it might have ended as the worst day in all my twelve years….

* * * * *

“Katie, hurry up!”
     Most people knocked on the door, but not Timmy. When we had plans, he’d stand on the grass outside my room and yell.
     “The fish’ll be takin’ a nap if you wait much longer.” He held both our fishing poles and the can for worms.
     I poked my head out the window. “Keep your pants on, why doncha? I just hafta get my shoes on.” Scrambling to the closet, I shoved my feet into sneakers, and headed out the door, laces flopping with each step. I yanked the front door open and a blast of heat barreled in. Another scorcher, but summer would be over too soon, the weather would cool, and we’d be stuck inside.

Link to the Complete Story: Tim’s Shiner – Absolutely Free!

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For the entire month of February, the print versions of the award-winning Misfit McCabe series will be available for 25% off the cover price through my website. Use coupon code NDD0Z8Z79YRD at time of checkout. That’s right, you can purchase Misfit McCabe, Nowhere Feels Like Home, AND the brand-new Tattered through the Griffie World store and receive 25%, or more than $2 per book off.

And for those of you who have entered the eReader world, I’m not leaving you out!! For the entire month of February you’ll be able to purchase Misfit McCabe and Nowhere Feels Like Home in the digital format of your choice for 50% off the regular ebook price. For Misfit McCabe use coupon code TX74G and for Nowhere Feels Like Home use coupon code YG82K.

Wait a second!!! I can’t leave Tattered out of the discounted book love. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you already can download Tattered for free (which will be the case for a limited time), BUT Tattered, is a part of the Chirenjenzie Lovapolooza (along with The Light of Asteria by Elizabeth Isaacs and The Willows: Haven by Hope Collier) so it will be FREE as a Kindle download from 2/13/12 — 2/15/12. Then for the remainder of February, Tattered will be reduced by $2, so if you missed the freebie, get it on sale. Don’t have a Kindle? No problem, did you know that there is a free Kindle PC app as well as Kindle apps for other devices?

So thank you to my current readers (I love you all) and welcome to my world for all my new readers. I truly appreciate sharing my stories with you.

About the Books:

Book 1 – Misfit McCabe
When Katie McCabe accidentally burns down a neighbor’s shed, she thinks it’s the worst thing that could happen. Boy is she ever wrong. Hustled off to live with her Uncle Charley, Katie struggles with the changes in her life. The only bright spot is making a friend who wants to be more. But the first person she meets is an enemy with ties to her past who believes in dangerous retribution. How far is he willing to go? Katie wonders if she has the strength to survive.

Book 2 – Nowhere Feels Like Home
Stuck in bed with a broken ankle and reeling from the loss of her father, her home, and life as she knew it, Katie McCabe must deal with her anger toward the town bully and a world that’s fallen apart. Being cooped up in the house with Uncle Charley and three overprotective cousins isn’t helping. Despite her new family’s good intentions, Katie feels like a lonely outsider. Will she ever be happy again?

Book 3 – Tattered
What do Sunday afternoon court proceedings, cheerleader tryouts, and a book burning have in common? Katie McCabe is back in action.

After her nemesis Harvey is found guilty and sentenced to community service, Katie wants to believe her troubles are over, but Harvey won’t rest until he gets revenge. When blackmail rears its ugly head, she’s caught in between friends and enemies putting her growing relationship with Tom at stake. Books go up in flames and Katie’s world rains down in tatters.

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