The Fall

When a writer takes a tumble, we do our best to chant the mantra ‘tuck-and-roll’ then pop up and figure out a way to replay that scene in our next piece. Or is that just me? I admit that I’m easily distracted by the next task or flitting butterfly, resulting in a few bumps, bruises, scrapes, and stumbles. Until a few weeks ago, five to be exact, that is all they were.

Five weeks ago, I made the fateful decision to water a few ferns that I had recently planted before heading to my office to work on my manuscript, Duncan Graham’s Fallen Angel.

And then, Contact Gardening. Face. Head. Right elbow. On a collision course with the stone steps.

The main results? Concussion. Fractured right orbital shelf. And, per the wisdom of several of the hospital medical staff, they felt the need to advise me that I did a really good job of destroying my elbow. I’ll save the gory details for another day. Two days later, I have a partial elbow replacement.

Five weeks. Five weeks! This post is the first thing I’ve written since The Fall. Is it the concussion or pain meds slowing my brain down, or both?

Five weeks, and we’re thrilled that I bent my thumb. Because, hey, there are nerves, tendons, muscles, skin, and several broken bones that have to heal. My pen is forced to grow silent while I recuperate. Hunting and pecking the keys with my left hand is a slow and tedious job. PT hopefully can start next week. Holding onto a toothbrush or fork has now become a goal.

For now, my latest WIP will have to wait unless I learn how to write from voice to text. Any recommendations on how to get through this hump in the road?

Hurry! Tickets for 3rd Annual Utah Readers Luncheon are selling fast

 

The Heart of the West, Utah Chapter Romance Writers of America is hosting the 3rd annual Readers Luncheon on October 14, 2017.

2017 Readers Luncheon Flyer (RGB)

I know, you’re asking yourself. “Why is she telling me about this so soon?”

I have to. Please, hear me out on this.

I know, it’s spring and the event takes place in the fall. I know, we all have busy schedules, but it’s also important to do something kind for ourselves. It’s time to be good to you, right? Come to the event! There will be prizes and gifts. Great food. And wonderful speakers, like the amazing Jill Shalvis. And did I mention free books? A LOT of FREE BOOKS!

If you happened to sit at my hosted table last year, you would have received this goody bag. IMG_4785 (Edited)
I added a custom candlIMG_4789e that is linked to my Knights of the Swan series. A mystical blend of rosemary, sage, lavender, and sweetgrass.

Since the series has to do with a secret brotherhood and they use the symbol of the swan, I added a sterling silver necklace created by Kevin N Anna. IMG_4790AIMG_4791nd who doesn’t love coloring in medieval themed books?

And of course, BOOKS!

So raise a glass to honor your loved one, or yourself with a toast for eternal love. Read a book that offers hope and celebrates the power of love. And treat yourself to an afternoon of romance.

And that, my friends, is only the tip of this fun event.

Most of all there will be authors who want to say, “Thank you for reading our stories, loving our characters, and allowing us to carry you away for just a few moments.”

The Davie Conference Center is located in Layton, UT. http://www.davisconferencecenter.com/   If you want to spend the evening you don’t even have to step outside to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn.http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/utah/hilton-garden-inn-salt-lake-city-layton-SLCLAGI/index.html

But don’t wait too long. I have to tell you that the tables are filling up. Our readers know this is a great event and they are clamoring to claim their seat. Won’t you join us?

C.C. Wiley is Featured on Alli Sinclair’s Behind the Story

Today we have the super talented C.C. Wiley, who lives in Salt Lake City with her high school sweetheart of over 35 years and their four wacky dogs. When given a choice, she prefers a yummy, well-written, historical or contemporary romance that is chock-full of hope, love and a Happy Ever After. She believes there […]

via Behind the Story: C.C. Wiley — Alli Sinclair

Let the Games Begin

This coming year is going to be quite busy. Lots of learning.  And being active on social media.

I’m still getting the hang of changes to my website theme. WordPress.com has evolved in many beautiful ways.  So many buttons and widgets, customization has become easier.

Lots of learning about adding my own artistic touches. I’ve been having some fun with depositphotos.com. So many lovely photos to choose from.

Old books on wooden table

Depositphotos

By using my mouse, I can write my name, but my hand is a bit too shaky.

 

Old books on wooden tableJust when I started to get the hang of it, I found out that I can add more layers by using Canva.

theres-magic-inside-of-every-great-book

Canva

 

Just remember to SAVE it before you change to the next best thing to learn.

And one last thing that I dearly love. Grammarly. It works in the background, especially on social media. It’s like a little fairy, watching over those fat-finger typos that tend to slip by.

Time is of the essence, I must remember to click on save before heading on to the next rabbit to chase.I’ve three books coming out in 2017. I think time management will need to be on my To Do List for 2017. I’ll let you know if I find anything new.

 

 

 

Had I Known Then

 

Had I known the title of my blog had more truth than fiction, I would have changed it to something like She Who Writes A LOT!  Instead, I have C.C. Wiley’s Life Between Words. Believe you me, there was a lot of life shoved between the words. Last year brought everything from floods, pestilence, publication, and marketing.

January 2010 brought rain that fell in epic proportion. It was like God decided to end Global Warming with a biblical firehose from the sky. And with that torrential downpour came brown water seeping into our home. We saved the home office by building a sandbag wall around the backyard. The ground was so saturated we sank to our ankles in mud. I get it. No big deal you say. But anyone who has ever tried to dig a hole of any proportion in California during the hot summer months will recognize that this is major rainfall. The baked earth that can defy the force of a two hundred pound person wielding a pickax was now sticky sloppy goo.  

As we all know, the sun will eventually break through the clouds. The winds will eventually drive the storm away. Who’s to say what changes it will bring? When it was all said and done, the winter storms of 2010 brought new floors in two bedrooms, a redesigned drainage system, repaired fencing, and a pond in the backyard complete with ducks that were willing to find any port in the storm. Too bad the dogs stamped their passports and sent them on their way.

The home office was safe. The writings. The books. The computers. All safe. And then the water heater broke.

With the rain came the joy. Our daughter returned home from college. A graduate of the University of Nebraska, she was making plans for the future. These plans included moving back home, getting to work in the real world and planning for her wedding in June. And two more dogs were added to our household.

I like to think of myself as being that calm boat that skims through life and stays balanced even during some rough seas. So having so many dogs in one household is not that big a deal when life is easy and your bedrooms are not occupying the living room and dining room while the drywall in the bedrooms dries out. We have great dogs. All six of them! However, when the rainfall totals start hitting 20 inches in about a month the mathematics of mud begins to increase: 6 dogs X 4 muddy paws = a whole lot of paw prints.

But I digress.

One spring morning the rain finally stopped, the sun came out, and we discovered our car didn’t run properly. It backed up five feet and then all the lights and bells the Lexus manufactures put in the car went off like a night at the local casino. It was just another day of not going to work. Another day of Life Between Words. However this time I could at least say that it was my first time to ever ride in a big rig to a car dealership. We were certain it was faulty manufacturing. Right? Wrong. A varmint of the toe-nailed-long-tailed-furred-critter-type had decided to sharpen its too pointy teeth on the wire harness things that hold the fricken’ engine in place. Hello! We have fruit and nut trees in the garden! Go eat those things! Instead it ate a meal that cost us over $500 for the repair and another $100 for my peace of mind. We now have the electronic pulsating things that plug into the wall sockets on every wall in the garage. 

Just more life between words. Right? Time to plant my butt in the chair and write. Instead, I’m busy in reader-loops, blogs, and email. I set up Facebook and Twitter accounts, placing an ad in RT magazine, tweak my website. Marketing.  It’s a necessary element to the published writer space, but who know that it would take so much time? It’s simple. I should have.

I look at the calendar. There is more good stuff happening. Our daughter’s fiancé graduated from college in May. In one week, he graduates from college, his parents throw them an amazing engagement party, the kids move out of their apartment and they head for California.  The plan is they will stay with us until they find a place of their own. Our spectacular daughter is a June bride! She’s made it easy on her parents. The all-inclusive resort is amazing!  All we have to do is show up for the wedding in the Riviera Maya. So far it’s been an easy job for me, the mother of the bride. Our daughter is the picture of the most efficient bride. We’re moving along. I’m not writing very much because, hey, I need to exercise and lose weight. There’s a lot riding on this. I have to find a mother of the bride dress and I have to look good in a bathing suit. How hard can it be? I’ve been working on losing weight but we had a so many reasons to celebrate. (Yes, that means with amazing food and wine).

The first week of June we attend a lovely book signing and then head for the wedding dress fitting. It was a fabulous day. My friend’s book signing inspired me to start writing again. It was time for me to shake off the change at the publishing house and write something new.

And then, more life came between words.

I broke my foot two weeks from the wedding. It is nine whole days before I’m ready to admit that ‘Houston, we have a problem.’ It is another couple of days to get to a specialist and the clock is ticking. Someone has gummed up the works and everything I have planned to do before our trip is now in a mess.  Soon I was no longer frantic and in pain. Now my productive life in between words had slowed down to a trickle. I was in a purple haze of pain reducing medications.

The resort offered me a wheelchair, but really, who wants to look that pathetic? Besides, the World Cup was on. Everyone would forget me in the corner of the bar. Crap. Even though my foot is swollen and I look like I can barely make it back to our room I decided to stop taking the meds. I refused to lose this time in a blur. Our daughter’s wedding is a memory that I will always cherish. And the broken foot will forever be a part of the photos from that glorious trip. Or at least until I can figure out how to use Photoshop. Maybe while I’m at it I’ll remove some inches from my waistline and ass.

July brought both the bitter and the sweet. I planned to celebrate the publication of KNIGHT DREAMS by attending the RWA Conference in Orlando, Florida. And that’s when my life stepped between me and the words. 

The first week back from our daughter’s wedding along the Riviera Maya, we found ourselves back in a medical facility. This time, my darling husband sat by my bedside as the surgeon wheeled me into the operating room. Mind you, I still have a lovely boot on my foot that I had started to call Black Beauty. However this little surgical procedure wasn’t for the broken bone. Nope that was just a side trip. This little procedure was to remove a two-inch benign tumor.  Normally I would try to ignore the thing, but it was in my ribcage and burrowing into the chest cavity. It was beginning to look like I had a side boob. Thank God it was benign. Thank God the three-inch scar is hidden. However wearing a bra became a challenge. I usually don’t mind going braless at home. Who doesn’t, right? How about the mother of the newlyweds. Let’s face it. The new son-in-law doesn’t want to see his mother in-law’s ta-tas. Mind you, it is now summer time. The temperatures in the valley occasionally reach 100 degrees. A heavy sweatshirt is not my friend. A loose swimsuit? Oh yeah! However, I still had to go to the writers’ conference in Florida. Have you noticed most airlines frown on bathing suit clad travelers? I made it there. No, not in the bathing suit. Nor did I wear Black Beauty. Thank God! I groused and whined the whole way there. My wonderfully patient travel friend can attest to that. I should put her name on an application for sainthood. Or at the very least erect a statue somewhere notable. A lovely, peaceful park maybe. I think I might even bury Black Beauty there.

In comes August! My novel, Knight Dreams, comes out in Print! Fanfare! Throws confetti! Blows the horn! Yay! Surely my new editor will love the changes to the second book. Sadly, she doesn’t. Perhaps the next one will.

I visit my parents. They’ve had their own adventure in 2010. It actually started on Christmas Eve, 2009. This adventure has kept them fighting to save my father’s feet and his life from the devastation of Diabetes. The battles have worn them down, exhausting the most stoic and stalwart of heart. We quit counting and kept praying after the number of medical procedures my dad had endured hit at least fifteen in the past year. They continue the fight. My mom and dad never give up. Not even when the rehabilitation facility makes his health worse. 

And reality of more life steps in.

I’m back to my preschool job and am dancing around twenty 3 years-olds on any given day. I’ve now been a published author a little over a year. The digital eBook publication released on October 2, 2009. The Print version released on August 2, 2010. And I’m struggling to remember to celebrate the accomplishment. On October 22, I have my very first book signing. It is amazing. To feel the love. To feel my family and friends’ admiration. To feel the good wishes of complete strangers. I am reminded that people whom I never met have purchased my novel, read the words, and care for the characters in the story.  And we celebrate. Finally. Days later. I really, really, celebrate and then I wonder what’s next. I can’t give up. It is time to write. To edit! To move forward. Don’t look in that rear-view mirror.

And life just happens to step in between those words again.

This time I saw it coming. I braced. And that, I’m learning, is not a good thing when your car is rear ended. Whiplash. Until that one afternoon, it’s a word that never really meant too much to me. And then the words slowed down because I couldn’t hold my head upright without feeling like a bobble head doll. The preschoolers seemed to speed up because I couldn’t turn my head fast enough to keep up with their busy minds and bodies. I hung in there. I’m like my parents. I don’t give up.

The holidays have come and gone. With the end of the old year comes a bright and shiny new year. Hopes remain high. Our daughter and son in-law are now in living in their own home and they celebrated their first Christmas as a married couple.  My dad’s health continues to improve and prepares for skin grafts. And I’m reminded that writing about hope and love is a blessing. God’s greatest gift to me is His love. It’s up to me to share that message of hope, love and joy. I’m grateful for the opportunity. And in this beginning of the New Year, I begin again. Because there really is life between each word that I write.   

What is your dream? Which path are you choosing to take next?

Each Breath, Each Moment

I’ve been thinking about the phrase ‘being in the moment.’ Recently, I spent a few days in Orlando, Florida and believe it or not, I didn’t chase after Mickey and Minnie. Seriously. Two mice, love and the power of the imagination.In Orlando. Sounds intriguing. But that wasn’t my focus.

Oh yes, I admit, I did go to Downtown Disney and play a bit at the House of Blues, but that wasn’t the reason for my trek across the United States. No, my adventure was for the love of romance.  Hmm. Now that I think about it, how many couples have a great relationship like Mickey and Minnie.

Mickey and Minnie

Mickey and Minnie

They worked through their issues and love each other no matter the distractions. So that brings me  back to why I’m learning about romance in Orlando. Why Orlando? Because Romance Writers of America had their 30th Anniversary Conference at Walt Disney’s beautiful Swan & Dolphin in Orlando.

And there, we talked about romance and finding the right words to portray each character’s story. How perfect. The conference was held at a place that celebrates one of the greatest partnerships known to modern man. Mickey & Minnie. It was the perfect unity of hope, love, passion, and adventure. Perfect.

And then those devilish, demanding thoughts arrived. They perched on my shoulder. What are you doing? Why did you do this? Why haven’t you done that? Who do you think you are?  Did you check your Blackberry? How about those emails. Do it. Do it while the speaker is talking. Do it. Do it, whether you are exhausted or not. Do it so that you look savvy, smart, with it, connected. Tweet it. Facebook it. Be the first to announce. Be the first to know…

Know what? I stopped my hand from stroking the Blackberry keys. I didn’t connect to Facebook or Twitter. I sat in the meetings and absorbed all that I could. I felt rejuvenated. Relief. My thinking cleared.  In all that extraneous chatter I just might have missed the beauty of the sunsets. I might have missed the honest words of the speakers. We are here to help each other. We share. We grow. We are. And there is balance. When we scatter our thoughts, our focus is dispersed, our light does not shine as brightly and we do not appreciate every glorious nuance that has been gifted to us in that moment.

I realized the panic of not doing was hampering the doing. I was not living in the moment. I was only surviving. I turned off my  Blackberry. I shut down the laptop in my room. Emails and networking were put on the back-burner. Afterall, isn’t the broth better after a day of stewing?

“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”
— Buddha

I can’t help but wonder if I’m the only one fighting to maintain balance. What do you do? Do you fight it? Do you follow Buddha’s advice?

When I started out with this blog…

I thought I was being oh-so-creative when I entitled my blog, Life Between Words.I never thought I’d have so much life jammed between every single word I try to sit down and write.

For example, in the last 30 days, I broke my foot two weeks before my daughter’s destination wedding in the Yucatán. With my foot encased in a lovely black-strappy thing, I traveled to the Riviera Maya and witnessed the most beautiful wedding at one of the most beautiful places on earth. Then I experienced my first Tropical Storm Alex.  I have to add that the turbulence on the plane ride home was exhilarating. After arriving home I had three days before surgery to remove a mass, this time from my  ribcage.  

Now, as I write this, my foot still propped in the air and ice on an incision that doesn’t allow for a bra, I can’t help wonder what’s next. Not in life. Let’s face it. Some of the stuff just happens. But with the rain comes the rainbows. It gives us ideas to mull over. It gives us time to experience breathtaking moments of absolute joy and heart aching sorrow to endure. It gives us time to silence our heads and just be.

As I mull over what to say on this  blog, I realize that instead of fighting the life that wedges itself between my time to write,  I intend to embrace the moments. No need to struggle so much. No need to turn what brought me great joy into a grinding job. No, instead, I’ll write as often as I can. It doesn’t matter where I write. Because writing is a part of my life. And from the life between words comes creativity. Each soul-touching word, strung together, breathes life into the characters in my stories. And then it’s my turn to learn from them.

Like the lense on a camera, my life is coming into focus. See, God is not only mending the bones in my foot, and knitting my flesh back together. In His wisdom, He’s given me back my dream. 

All is well.

KNIGHT DREAMS: Knights of the Swan, Book 1 releases TODAY!

KNIGHT DREAMS, October 6, 2009

Knight Dreams by C.C. Wiley

ISBN: 978-1-60504-674-7
Length: Novel
Price: 5.50
Publication Date: October 6, 2009
Cover art by Angela Waters

For king and country…or the love of one woman?

Knights of the Swan, Book 1

Wales, 1415

Terrwyn, the daughter of a dispossessed Welsh lord, is blessed with unusual talents. Her skill with a bow and cursed ability to dream the future, however, didn’t save her younger brother from conscription into the English army.

To honor a deathbed promise, she sets out to bring him home—and discovers that one of the king’s knights holds the key to locating her brother. Now she must stay close to her sworn enemy…and try to ignore the growing heat between them. A difficult task, when they wind up manacled together.

Sir James Frost, confidante to King Henry V, can trust no one, particularly the young Welsh maiden impersonating an archer within the ranks. With treason brewing, the last thing he needs is the secretive beauty chained to his side. The connection between them, though, becomes stronger than any links of metal.

When an assassination plot places their lives in jeopardy, James is torn between duty and the woman he loves. He must choose where his fealty lies…and Terrwyn must decide if changing Fate is worth the price.

READ MORE at  samhein_link2http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/knight-dreams