Thank you to the Creatively Green blog for hosting me! When I sat down to write this blog post, one of the suggested topics was how to juggle writing with children, household, etc. It’s been quite a while since my kids lived with me, though one of them still comes home from graduate school a couple-few times a year. (The other is learning to juggle kids of their own! Not literally, of course.)
When they were here, by the time I started writing, they were old enough to entertain themselves, so other than having to learn to tune out cartoons and loud music, I didn’t have to do much to manage writing when they were around.
But cats. Man, cats can really interfere with the writing flow.
I was inspired to write this post because during the fifteen minutes or so while I was trying to decide what to write for this guest blog spot, I had to:
- Leave the computer to stop one of the cats from trying to open my bureau drawer so she could climb in
- Leave the computer to chase the other cat away from my husband’s bedroom door because he’s trying to sleep and she was sitting there yowling for him to come out and play with her
- Remove the first cat from my computer keyboard so I could type
- Chase the second cat away from the spot on the carpet that she keeps trying to destroy even though she has a scratching post and a bathmat that exists solely for her to scratch
- Explain to the first cat four times that no, I wasn’t going to open the curtains for her to look out the window, because it’s only five in the morning and it’s still dark out
The fact that I try to explain things to the cats might be an indication of more of a problem than just the fact that the cats distract me from writing!
That isn’t even taking into account the two times this week when I’ve been sitting on the couch with my laptop trying to get some work done on my current book (book 6 in my male/male series Real Werewolves Don’t Eat Meat) and the first cat, instead of stepping over my legs or jumping past me, walked across my laptop keyboard and stepped on something that locked the keyboard and/or finger pad so I couldn’t use the laptop at all! She’s lucky she’s adorable…(Pictures below for cat tax!)
I think the intention of this topic was to offer tips on how to manage writing under certain circumstances. But to be honest, the only way I’ve found to manage writing with cats is to realize that the cats are the ones who manage things. I simply exist to serve them.
Fortunately, I do get some writing done. During their frequent naps.
Real Werewolves True Mates
Book Two
Karenna Colcroft
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Vegan Wolf Productions
Date of Publication: November 10, 2022
ASIN: B0BKQLY5RN
ISBN: 978-1-958346-03-7
Page Count: 344
Word Count: 100,671
Cover Artist: Kim Ramsey-Winkler
Book Description:
Tareth McConnell has learned not to count on anyone other than herself. She definitely is NOT in the market for a relationship. But the first time she sees the man with the long braid on the subway, she’s drawn to him.
The first time Justin Ruel speaks to Tareth, he knows there’s something special about her. Something that calls to him as clearly as her beautiful voice. If he didn’t know better, he would swear she was his mate–but that’s impossible. Justin is the Beta of City Pack, the largest werewolf pack in the United States, and he absolutely cannot have a human mate.
As their connection grows and they begin to act on their attraction, Justin hides the truth from Tareth. But when a series of attacks on members of the two Boston werewolf packs occurs, Tareth’s life is endangered. To protect her, Justin has no choice but to tell her what he is–even if it means losing her forever.
Excerpt:
She knew Justin
wasn’t anything like Max. He didn’t seem at all fazed by his discovery.
If anything,
he’d been amused. She hadn’t seen that at first. To her, the situation had been
anything but amusing. It wasn’t until he’d threatened to leave that she’d realized
she was overreacting.
At least we got
the arguing out of the way on the first date. Maybe that means our relationship
will be smooth sailing from now on.
That wasn’t
exactly a logical thought either, but it made her feel better.
She rummaged
through the pile of menus and mail on her kitchen table until she found menus
for the three nearest Chinese restaurants. Justin could decide which one he
wanted to order from, since he was insisting on paying. For once, she was
grateful for the clutter. Having to search for the menus gave her a little more
time to calm down and think rationally.
When she
returned to the living room, Justin was at the window looking out at the
street.
“You have a
great neighborhood here,” he said without turning around.
“It is pretty
nice.” She’d entered the room quietly, or so she thought. How had he known she
was back?
He turned and
smiled at her. “I just wanted to tell you how great today has been so far.
I’m glad we’re
continuing the date. To be honest, I didn’t want to leave yet.”
“To be honest, I
don’t know if I’m going to want you to leave at all. At least not until
morning.”
The words seemed
to drop out of her mouth without consulting with her brain. Of course she’d
considered spending the night with him. She would have had to have been dead
not to be attracted to him. And despite the way she’d reacted to his finding
her toy, a tiny part of her found it arousing that he knew she’d used it on
herself. Maybe he even knew that she’d been fantasizing about him.
No matter what
her libido and body wanted, she hadn’t intended to let him know that she might
let him stay. They’d agreed to come back to her place and kiss. Maybe more.
She’d laid down her ground rules at the beginning. First date, no sex.
Neither of them had said anything about his staying the night, but that was
exactly what she’d just suggested.
She bit her lip
and managed to look him in the eye. He smiled, and something in his eyes let
her know that she could say anything she wanted to him and he would be fine
with it.
“I don’t want to
leave either,” he said softly. “I’ve already told you I want you. It doesn’t
have to happen tonight. If it does, I’m not going to complain about it, and I’m
not going to think any less of you.”
It was an odd
thing to say. Not something Tareth had ever heard from a guy. And it was exactly
what she needed to hear.
“I won’t think
less of you either,” she said, trying to make a joke of it.
“Good.” He held
out his hand. “Let’s take a look at those menus. Lunch was way too long ago.”
They chose a
restaurant and placed their order, then sat on the couch again to wait. Justin
held her hand, and for several minutes they sat there together in silence, as
they had on the boat. The silence now was just as comfortable as it had been
then.
Justin’s touch
was just as much a fuel for desire as it had been earlier.
A writer since childhood, Karenna Colcroft delved into the world of romantic fiction in 2009 and brought numerous novels, novellas, and short stories into the world until 2016, when various circumstances combined to enforce a hiatus. Now Karenna is resurrecting herself and some of her previously-published books along with new books set in the same universe.
Karenna lives just north of Boston and has been in love with the city since childhood, though she has yet to encounter any werewolves, vampires, or other paranormal beings in her travels. (At least none that she knows of.) Though since in her non-writing life, under another name, she offers services as a channel and energy healing practitioner, it could be said that she herself is a paranormal being. The jury’s still out on that.
Karenna is a polyamorous, nonbinary human who splits time between the home she shares with her husband and the one she shares with her committed partner. She also has two adult children and a bonus son, three grandchildren, and two and a half cats. (Half in terms of time the cat lives with her, not in terms of the cat itself…)
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2 comments:
Interesting post, I enjoyed the excerpt and Beta Test sounds like a book that I would like to read!
Thanks for sharing it with me and have a terrific day!
I enjoyed this excerpt, thanks for sharing
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