Yesterday, I was determined to get on with my 'Schedule' and write a word or two on my novel. However, life gets in the way. You know how that can go!
I had to sweep up dog hair, mop the dog mud off of the hardwood floors then make some chocolate cookies. I cleaned up a few other places that needed it because I get tired of looking at the dust etc. when I spend all my time writing stories. By the time I was finished, it was dinner time, a TV show (Not Grey's Anatomy), then bedtime.
So, 8pm, I"m off to bed to read someone else's story. Falling asleep, I had another one of those nights where I wake up around 2 or 3 am my mind doing double-duty. First it was another dream with a character from Grey's Anatomy, Dr. McSteamy. I don't see him as a steamy guy but a lot of women on the show do, so he showed up in my dream!
I won't go into the details, because truth is, his pseudo name, McSteamy says a lot about my books, which I ruminated on for hours. I've been considering ways to not write about sex. Why you ask?
Because, while my scenes are merely suggestive. I don't go into details that take over an entire chapter, like some writers. Those books I have to skip through those chapters because they take away from 'the story' solely for the sake of gratuitous sex. In my books, the sex has a purpose.
For instance, in one book, Miriam, the angel, arrives on Earth. A witch sets a spell and her memory is gone. Of course, hell's new ruler, Andras contrived the scenario. She's sold into the demon Astaroth's pleasure house as a whore. That starts off with a sex scene to set the stage for the rest of the drama and Astaroth's attraction to this woman he believes is a whore named Honey. When he discovers she is an angel, oh goodness! Yes, there's goodness deep in this demon and now his guilt and shame surfaces and must be dealt with.
You get the idea. Sometimes sex serves a purpose.
Miriam's memory returns, and she's ridden with shame and guilt because in another novel she was taken captive by spider demons and secured by a binding that would not allow her to transport away, as angels can. In that book, she again has sex with a demon incubus. She is trapped and cannot get away so she enjoys the physical pleasures and it takes a while before her guilt and shame push her to escape.
Again, sex served a purpose as did other tortures she endured. Why, you wonder does the Lord of Heaven allow this? Well, it serves a purpose wherein her loss of faith and enjoyment of sensual pleasures strengthens her faith so later on she can help others overcome lust.
Now, I'm sort of accepting there's a reason for writing these stories, and can see myself finishing "Descent into Hell" where three angels on Earth fall prey to temptation. Guess who will step in and help them overcome. Not their mentor who's supposed to train them on Earth. No-o-o. He's busy dealing with his own temptations, especially after one of the angels ends in hell and the other two go into help her escape. When they get caught up in hell's fiery depths, he goes in but is taken captive.
Now I know who I can send in to help retrieve them. After all, Miriam is familiar with Astaroth and Asmodeus (demon of lust) so knows how to get around his temptations and sly manipulations.
Writing this blog helps me to think through my story and what I'm doing, which characters I need to do what and when. I hope to have this story, "Descent into Hell" published by the first of the year. 
Stick around for more of "Tales in the Beyond" musings. 
The stories I reference are in the "Children of Adonai" series on Amazon, which I will write a brief story about to finish up the characters and how they life as gone on. However, I cannot sell it as an add-on on Amazon, but let people know, if they want the free copy they can contact me on my website. If you're interested in the series go to:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1CQ772L
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The first several books I wrote - well, I had no trouble starting them, but after about a dozen, even though I had a title and knew what the book would be about, I slowed down. Came to a standstill........
It's not like I had a brain freeze, more commonly known as writers block. Indeed no. I'm always full of ideas for books. I even have a folder with a list of what could come next. 
Most of the time, at least with my first few books, I wrote by the seat of my pants. They call it pantser. I'm not a plotter, or I wasn't before now. Now, I'm all for plotting because I've become a procrastinator. As I write this, I'm suddenly aware of what my roadblock or tree-that-needs-to-be-removed may be. It's the subject matter.
Anyway, before I share anything about that very hot topic, let me go on with this post. To remain on track, or get back on track, I looked up what other writers do to not procrastinate when a tree is down in the middle of their writers road. They make a plan to follow. At least Stephen King does and one website even gave me a list of what to do.
It's stuff I've always sort of done, but now need to become more serious about it. Are you ready to get organized? Here's a schedule:
1. Find a time of day. 7am onward is me. I organized my files/folders to make sure I had what I might need close at hand.
2. Create your own writing calendar. Oops. Still need to add that one.
3. Prioritize your projects. 
     List of your ideas in order of priority. The novel I'm writing!
    Write an outline or a step-by-step ideas. Did that, and cheated by using AI to outline for me. I hate making outlines. Don't want to learn and why should I if an AI can do it probably better. 
    Create milestones and deadlines. A chapter a day sounds good. I've done that sort of thing before, Wrote a book at my first Na-No-Wri-Mo a few years ago. Nowadays I'm too busy writing to bother with Nano.
4. Have a plan for writer’s block. 
    Daily writing prompts or do stream-of-consciousness freewriting. Either one works for me.
5. Set a daily word count goal. 
    A minimum word count. Usually 3000/chapter and if I write two, then the tally goes up to six or seven thousand.
6. Find a writing space. 
    Set it up so it’s ready for you to write when you sit down. Happy day. My sofa is curved sort-of white leather. I have three Aussies so it's never really white. More like, dog dirty muddy footprints, but they wipe off.
7. Keep your writing files organized. 
    Save in Google Docs [done] or Microsoft Word [yup]
    Keep them in folders labeled with the working title. Will do.
8. Start blogging. 
    Start a blog. I did that, as you can see, if you're reading this.
    Build a following that you’re accountable to. Huh. What the hell. Now I have to learn to use mail-chimp or some such to do the email thing. Yuk.
    Dedicate a portion of your writing sessions to blog entries. Got it.
9. Join a writing community. Find inspiration with other writers. 
    Find a local writer’s group, and writing workshops. Love Meetups. One favorite is in England - 8 hours ahead. The 0730 meeting is 2330 for me, Not going to happen. I'm in bed by 2100 at the latest.

10. Start right now.  [Already done] Now with the blog written, I can get on with my story, Descent into Hell.
​~

Oh my goodness. I had dreams last night, two I remember. I dream a lot and last week, one night I had several dreams all night long but do not recall one thing about them. But last night, and the night before, those dreams stay with me. I rather suspect there's a reason for it.
In reading up on Angel powers (not biblical) and discovered our dreams sometimes can be a message from an angel. Or at least one Adonai has sent the angel to impart. 
Before I get onto last nights dream, let me tell you about one dream... No, it was not a dream and it was scary, at first. I woke up during the night and saw someone standing by my bed. It was not human, so I reached and briefly touched the entity before it vanished. Wow. I've not forgotten that one. Talk about moving between dimensions.
Do you ever wonder if that's where heaven is, in another dimension and Angels move between ours and their's? Just an idea.
I've been having memorable dreams since the third grade, so I'm never surprised by even seemingly frightening dreams. I find them intriguing and assume there's a reason for the dream. Sometimes my mind/brain is simply rehashing events of the day and other times, it's a warning or a message about change that needs to occur.
Last nite one of the dreams was about my feet being hurt in some way. I was with a friend going to the doctors fearful I would loose my feet.
_______
Feet are those parts of our bodies that move us around and get us where we're going. It’s also what we stand on. What comes to mind? Is there a principle I stand on that needs rethinking? If my feet are  hurt, the dream could indicate I am unable to move into my own sense of self, or unable to "stand on my own two feet." 

An injured dream foot - the soul might point to some injury in the soul--some deep pain that needs to be acknowledged and healed. Except it was both feet; they were red and swollen from an injury or an infection.
Regardless, I use my dreams in my stories. So, if you read the stories and a character has a dream or vision, chances are it was a dream of mine that I found meaningful for the story. 
​Comments anyone?

Until a short time ago, I didn't know what ghosting was, then I saw an article on it. Was I surprised they had this weird name for a common behavior.
A while back, I had a friend who suddenly stopped phoning (she never did very often anyway) but now she didn't answer when I called, nor did she call me back when I left a message. I've known this person for over twenty years, so I was hurt and confused. I imagined, as a 'good Christian' she was feeling guilty and I didn't want to feed into it, so I didn't call back.
I tend to be self-focused and take the blame for a lot of what happens in my world. But is that a reason for someone to cut me out or 'ghost' me? Anyway, I looked it up and was surprised by what I found. I'll give you the short version and a link if you want to follow up on it.
In this article, admittedly, they are often speaking about intimate relationships. But these can be friends who ghost you. Take a look:
GHOSTING
Some ghosters keep you on the hook or use "ghosting" to keep their options as open as possible. They'll drop all contact with you because they're interested in someone else, but save your number to return to the "backburner" relationship when their main relationship inevitably dies down.[1]

• You deserve to come first in your relationships! If they treat you like a backup, close the door on that relationship. Don't engage when they text you; focus on finding someone new.

Ghosters can show up if they see you're interested in someone else. I had a partner for many years then, we'd split up and I heard nothing from him. One year, on Valentines day when my neighbor (I rescued his run-away dog a couple of times) brought me some candy and a card. My so-called partner suddenly showed up. I don't know how he knew about the neighbor but he put his arm around me on the front porch. Claiming his territory. At least he didn't pee to mark me. Needy me, knowing what he was doing, I was still happy. Yuk.

If a ghoster comes back when they think you're moving on, feel free to give a second chance if they claim to have feelings for you, but don't give them endless chances. Someone who repeatedly deceives you isn't worth your time.
Some ghosters return because they think you'll put up with it. When you're a kind-hearted person who is always there, a ghoster might take advantage of your willingness to forgive and forget. A ghoster's bad behavior is not your fault! However, tolerating it repeatedly reinforces the message  they can do it as much as they want.
To end the cycle, putting your foot down and cutting the ghoster off is best. Tell them firmly that you need some space.

• For example, try saying, “I care about you, but I can't wait around when you disappear for weeks at a time. I’m looking for a stable relationship.”

A ghoster often seeks attention from anyone who will give it. Unfortunately, some people have shorter attention spans in their relationships. They get bored easily, ghost you, and then realize they're bored alone, too. So they send another text or call out of the blue, but it's really because they're looking for a bit of fun or a quick distraction, not a serious relationship.[2]

• This pattern can also be cyclical if your ex frequently pops back up claiming to be bored or lonely but never shows interest in a formal relationship.
• Clarify that you're looking for someone who can always be there for you. For example, you could say, “It’s important to me to feel connected with my significant other and text regularly. Can you do that?”
• If they can't fulfill your needs, they part ways and move on.

Ghosters call people they already know for sex because it's convenient. To ghosters, it's easier to revisit an ex than to meet someone new and seduce them. In that case, the ghoster might reach out to you with a weak apology or excuse for ghosting and focus their efforts on sweet-talking you into taking them back.[3]

• If you want to try again but worry they're looking for sex, you could say, “I’m still interested, but I don’t want intimacy right now. I’d like to get to know you better first! Is that something you’re interested in?”
• If your ghoster is serious about rekindling the relationship, they'll agree to your boundaries and stick around. If not, at least you'll know the real reason they came back, and you can move on.

Ghosters return when they're struggling and need a shoulder to lean on. Your ghoster might hit a rough patch in life; maybe they're arguing with a friend or having trouble at work. Suppose they suddenly text you out of the blue and immediately start telling you about some dilemma or problem they're having. In that case, they might just be reconnecting with you for emotional support.

• They might need something else from you instead. Sometimes ghosters come back if they just want to call in a favor.
• Emotional support is a 2-way street. If your ex isn't willing to do the same for you, you don't have to step in whenever they come to you with a sad story.

A ghoster might come back if they got rejected and want a quick fix. "Rebound" relationships occur when one person is dumped and immediately enters a new relationship for a confidence boost. Moving on after a relationship is healthy, but rebounds don't last because they're more about showing up an ex than enjoying the new relationship.

• Avoid getting involved with them if they're on the rebound. You can check social media and dating profiles or ask them directly if they've just been in a relationship.

Some ghosters see (or hear) something that makes them think of you. Not every ghoster has a complex or hidden reason for coming back! Sometimes, they just get reminded of you and take it as a sign that they should call you. If a ghoster likes you and gets frequent reminders, they might just come back asking you to hang out again.

• For example, a ghoster might hear a song you recommended, or their friends might simply ask about how you're doing.
• This isn't necessarily a good or bad sign; it just means you're on the ghoster's mind. Whether you want to try again or break things off finally is up to you!

Narcissistic people often blow hot and cold to get an ego boost. Narcissistic behavior involves delusions of superiority and an inflated sense of self. Unfortunately, if your ghoster has narcissistic tendencies, they might just return to prove that they can have you whenever they want you by taking advantage of your feelings for them.[6]

• Learn to identify narcissistic behavior, so you avoid it in the future.
• If you determine that your ex is purposefully manipulative, do your best to cut them off and move on from the narcissistic relationship.

Your ex might realize they still want to see you after ghosting you. Sometimes a ghoster comes back simply because they've discovered that they don't want to lose you after all. Some exes ghost because they think there's a better option out there, but then quickly find they missed the steady, happy relationship they had before. Ghosters like that might be asking for a new chance.[7]

• It's okay to take someone back after they ghost you, as long as they apologize for ghosting in the first place. If they're not sorry for doing it (or don't understand what they did wrong), they're more likely to do it again.

Some people ghost because they think you just aren't interested. Ghosting can result from a misunderstanding! If you unintentionally act disinterested in a relationship, your ghoster might assume it's easier just to cut contact and move on. However, if you show them that you do actually miss them too, it's easier to get your ghoster back for good.[8]

• For example, you can use texts to show them you like them so your ghoster knows that getting back together is an option!

A ghoster might realize they were being selfish and want to apologize. Ghosting on a date or a relationship is taking the easy way out, suddenly dropping the other person rather than considering their feelings. A few ghosters might realize it's not a nice thing to do, so if they suddenly come back (with heartfelt apologies), they feel guilty about treating you unkindly.[9]

• Everyone makes mistakes. If your ghoster returns with a good apology and renewed commitment to the relationship, it's okay to let them try to make amends.
• You can choose to forgive the ghoster and give them another chance, or you could forgive the ghoster but decide not to rekindle the relationship.

In some cases, a ghoster are so angry they feel compelled to attack you. Unfortunately, some ghosters tend to bebullies and would want to insult or bash you. They may have a grudge on you or learned something about you which may compel them to bash you!

• It's best to ignore them if they start insulting you, instead of trying to start a fight with them.
• Don't give them a reaction, or politely ask them to stop.

In some cases, people can lose contact without meaning to! Not every ghosting is deliberate. They might have accidentally ghosted you after having a rough couple of weeks at work, for example, or while enjoying a busy weekend getaway. If they don't realize it's a problem, a ghoster might leave you hanging for days and come back like nothing is wrong.

• Don't assume they ghosted you just because they became inactive. They could just be inactive without trying to ghost you. It's possible someone might be dealing with mental health struggles, a major life event, overwhelming tasks at work or school, or anything else in their personal life that could be preventing them from responding to messages. If you know the person is living a hectic life at the moment, it's best to avoid drawing conclusions. Even if you don't know that, unexpected events can happen in another person's life.
• Ask what happened before you jump to conclusions. Life may have gotten in the way for them, which can result in a sudden and unexplained hiatus. Since ghosting may happen when there's a sudden lack of communication, it's beneficial to ask what's going on instead of assuming that they deliberately ghosted you.
• If your ghoster doesn't see the problem, help them. Ask them directly if they understand what happened or meant to ghost you. Then, let them know what you need going forward.
• For example, you could say, "Hey, I didn't hear from you for a week there. Did you mean to ghost me? I understand being busy, but I need you to at least check in once every day or so."
• Once you set your boundaries, they should be able to give you what you need—and if they don't, you'll know the ghosting is intentional next time.

THE END

So, last night I fell asleep way too early. That was a mistake - as far as my sleep went. However, as to ideas that loom while sort-of-awake and trying-to-sleep, I was besieged with several.
First came the idea for a new title for my novel, 'An Affair with An Angel'. I couldn't help but think there was so much more to the story than his attraction to the angel, Miriam. So, I had to open the darn book and read through it in skips and jumps. 
Wanting the book's title to better reflect its contents, which is more than an angel attraction, I used an AI (artificial intelligence) to consider a few new ideas for titles and settled on one - for now. But, that also meant I had to rewrite the story, and now I needed an outline. It's an arduous task. I wrote one, and this is what I came up with and I'm liking it better.
”How you have fallen Son of the Dawn.” These words Adonai spoke casting Lucifer out of heaven. Little did Lucifer know he was destined to fall even further one day - possibly into love.
And so we have the beginning, a bit different than before. It's a good thing not too many have sold so far because now, readers won't be disappointed when I delete 'Affair with an Angel' and replace it with 'Lucifer’s Temptations: Redemption of the Fallen.'

I remember years ago when I could get a 'Buy Now' button from Paypal. Yes, it's been a while since I've tried to sell anything on Paypal. Anyway, it's now impossible, at least for me.
On my website, I posted several books for sale. All the books for conferences I've attended and came home from with left over inventory. Long story short (like that happens), my idea was to sell the books at a huge discount. 
The nightmare began when I went online to Paypal. As I said, it once was easy to get the html code to Buy Now. Except now, it's pages upon pages of confusing html code, API, and any other terms along with a process that is impossible, at least for me.
I spent over an hour on the phone with a 'helper' from Paypal who couldn't figure it out either. Now what does that say about overly complex. I know she was reading from a 'how to' manual, which was absolutely not helpful. Now, I'm stuck with three boxes of various books and cannot sell them because it's become so complex.
Churches have their own bookstore with authors they prefer and my books (the fiction anyway) does not comply with their terms of acceptable. I write about Angels and demons.
Now, I'm going to try something different. On my for sale page, I plan to place all the books on sale for $6 + postage $4 and see if I can intrigue my visitors. Fingers crossed.