Release The Stars Archives - Page 3 of 3

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 6

May 8, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

First things first. The lovely Clare Lydon interviewed me for the Lesbian Book Club podcast, and you can listen to our chat here >>

The radio show we recorded yesterday (it’s called The Sex Crystals) was really great fun. It ended up being more about lesbian sex than lesbian erotic literature (even though they made me read from one of my stories without telling me in advance!), so of course we talked about scissoring and such. 😉 I’ll post the link once it’s been aired (in about 2 to 3 weeks.)

Meanwhile, I’ve taken Release The Stars over the halfway mark. Although I ‘only’ wrote 5000 words today, of which the bulk made up a very long and emotional bedroom scene, which left me quite empty and reluctant to continue after. (It was awesome to write, though!)

During our lunch break, the wife and I went to have a second look at the new Ladylit office. As of June 1st, we’ll be moving into a new space on the island, thus reducing our commute with 1,5 hours (one way!) (Yes, life is swell.) I’m not entirely sure where I’ll find the time to move, what with still having 1,5 novels left to write in the 5 weeks before we leave for Belgium, but I’m sure we’ll make it work somehow (by ‘we’, I mean my wife, who is awesome and gorgeous) (and almost 40.) 😉

Also, yesterday I sent Once In A Lifetime to my editor (the multi-talented Cheyenne Blue), so that’s still on track. Yay! (I’m so excited about this book. It’s my new favorite.) 😉

I will be working this weekend (not too much, though), but my next writing day is only scheduled for Tuesday. See you then!

The segment where I wrote 1010 words in half an hour is where things REALLY heated up…

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 5

May 6, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

While I would say that my #1 piece of advice to every writer is: Stay Off The Internet, Damn It! I have to admit that today I didn’t follow my own advice. I cracked around 10 and checked my e-mails and Twitter (and Facebook…)

Fortunately, a small fix was enough to get me going again and, although I felt from the very first second I sat down that it wouldn’t be another epic 7000 words day, I did manage to write 6000 words.

Because of not going all out (and sleeping a little longer this morning) I don’t feel as wiped out as I did yesterday at this time. I do feel the need to stress that not all writing days are equal. It’s definitely not all exhilaration and mental fist pumping and patting myself on the back for my amazing word count. Some days, it can be like that, but those days are not typical.

Most writing days are actually like today, slogging along, fighting the urge to go on the internet, and spending my breaks wondering if what I’m writing is not complete drivel. Hey, I never said a writer’s life was glamorous! 😉

Speaking of breaks. If you watch my numbers image, you may notice a returning pattern of quite a long lunch break. That’s because I have to watch The Voice while my wife is not home because she hates the show (sometimes I do wonder why we are married?!) 😉 I’m almost caught up with the current season. (Team Xtina all the way!)

So, today was not a stellar day, just a good, solid one (and those are the days that build a book.) Tomorrow I’m not writing. I’ll be in the office all day, editing and cover-designing, and basically bossing my wife around (this is a joke!) Then, at 5, my wife and I are being interviewed for a Hong Kong radio station about lesbian erotica… Which means that wine o’clock will have to start at 4! 😉 (The interview is not live. I’ll post a link when it’s available.)

I’ll be back on Friday!

I was never very good at Maths, but I do love these numbers…

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 4

May 5, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

Would it be rude to just upload a picture of ‘my numbers’? 😉 I woke up at 4 this morning, completely obsessed with this story. I stayed in bed brainstorming for another hour, trying to remember my ideas by attaching them to easy to remember words or abbreviations like SMS (which stood for strap-on, manly and self-sabotage.) 😉 I finally did get up around 5 and made some notes on my computer in order not to forget.

I’m very much a morning person, but I draw the line at getting up before the frogs stop croaking and the birds start whistling, so after making my notes I went back to bed to hug my wife (which basically equals waking her up.) (But because of this interview at Women & Words we all know she wants to be ‘fit for forty’ so she had to get up anyway to catch an early ferry and hit the gym before work!) 😉

I ended up having an excellent writing day, producing 7000 new words, bringing my manuscript to 21.000 words. (This time last week it was at 0 words, so I’m very happy with how this first draft is progressing.)

Tomorrow is another full writing day, so I’ll check back in. I have to say, though… when I came up with this plan to write a blog post at the end of every writing day, I did not know I was going to totally fry my brain with 7000 words days!

Peace out!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll tell you about what I do during my breaks… 😉

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 3

May 2, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

My goal for today was to bring my manuscript to 14.000 words, which I did… to the exact word. 😉

I’m now 2000 words ahead of schedule, which is doubly excellent because it means I can skip Monday morning’s session and go to the office all day to take care of all sorts of publishing tasks for Ladylit.

This morning’s session did not start well, however. I always use Google’s timer to count down my 30-minutes session but when I googled it before wanting to start… it was gone! It didn’t show up anywhere in the search results. I was very upset for a bit (and proceeded to annoy my wife for a good fifteen minutes) until I got over it, found another online timer, and got cracking. (Writers and their rituals. It’s sacred!)

I’ve also realized that describing this book as ‘chick lit’ may give the wrong impression. I don’t really know how to describe it accurately yet. It’s definitely a romance, with a bit of a fairy tale aspect to it, and it’s also a bit of a romp/comedy. (And the polar opposite of Once In A Lifetime, but more on that later…)

I’ve mostly been sticking to the plot. When I say ‘plot’ though, it’s really no more than one sentence per chapter, so there is a lot of leeway. But the story is definitely still following the direction I have planned for it (so far.)

So, all in all a good day today. I’m now going to shut down my writing computer until Tuesday, and start my weekend for real.

Obligatory screen shot of ‘my numbers’…

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 2

May 1, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

I’m writing this in a slightly less frazzled state than I was in when I wrote my first blog post about Release The Stars. The first day is always such a huge rush. Today was mostly about bringing my feet back to the ground. (I might have needed that.)

Because today is a public holiday in Hong Kong, I only wrote for half a day. As you’ll see in the table below, I started later than the first day. Partly because I slept later and partly because I re-read the first 3 chapters before continuing. I do this to remember what I wrote exactly, to get back in the swing of things, and to pick out the biggest typos so that I can send a readable version to my wife so she can give me her opinion along the way.

Today the writing didn’t go as smoothly and quickly as last Thursday, but I still managed almost 3000 words, which was my goal for half a day, so no need for concern. (I know exactly how many words I need to write on any given day to be able to finish this and the other first draft I want to write before flying to Europe in… 6 weeks!) (Argh!)

I’m 10.000 words into the story and I can already tell you it’s very ‘chick lit’ (so much banter!) and there have not been any erotic encounters just yet. 😉 More details will follow as I progress…

If you’re wondering what ‘Pomodoro’ stands for, it’s a timer I run for (mostly) 30-minutes long stretches of time before taking a break.

In other news, I have a story out in Ylva Publishing’s brand new lesbian erotica anthology Don’t Be Shy! (I’ll post a snippet soon.)

Ideal May Day reading I would say!

If all goes well, I should be back tomorrow with a quick update. Happy May Day if you have the day off. If you don’t, it’s Friday so hang in there! 😉

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 1

April 29, 2015 by Harper Bliss Leave a Comment

So, as promised I will be keeping a public diary of writing the first draft of my new novel, first dubbed ‘The Hollywood Novel’, but now (tentatively) titled Release The Stars.

I was awake at 5.30 this morning because I was so excited to start I couldn’t sleep anymore. This story has been brewing in my mind for a very very long time so to say I was raring to go would be an understatement. After showering etc. I was in front of my computer and ready to go at 7AM.

Things got off to an excellent start as I reached the 5000 words mark before 11AM. I was so pumped by then, I felt almost physically high. It’s such a rush to be in the zone and to feel as though your fingers can’t keep up with your thoughts. (I don’t mean that in a dirty way!)

I took a long lunch break because we’re looking for a new Ladylit office and we had a few viewings planned.

After lunch, I managed 3 more writing sessions of 30 minutes and brought my total word count for the day to 7.500 words. My goal for the first day was 6000 words, so needless to say I’m very pleased with myself.

If you’re into numbers, you’ll find the break-down of my 9 writing sessions in the image below.

Admittedly, my brain is completely fried right now and I had to push myself to write this blog post. All I’m good for now is a quick swim in the ocean and an extensive lie-down in my sofa.

I won’t be writing tomorrow (so I won’t be blogging either) because I have a bunch of Ladylit/publishing tasks to complete, but I should be back on Friday.

(I can’t even come up with a witty caption for this image anymore…)

Also, if you’ve reviewed At the Water’s Edge you have a chance to win a free book if you send me the link to your review. More info on my Facebook page here >>

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 6

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 5

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 4

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 3

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 2

Writing ‘Release The Stars’ – Day 1

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