Cari Leighton

I'm very slowly getting back to writing. I needed a break, and I was busy, but I'm still working on editing ".Silence." slowly. My vertigo episodes are gone, for now, but I'm still dealing with rough oscillopsia (I always have it, but sometimes it's worse). I've been busy otherwise. I'm in the process of looking for a supervisor to oversee my hours for my internship to becoming a therapist (that was delayed for a long time because of Meniere's, having my son, Covid, and my son's ADHD). My schedule has been nuts, but . . . the good news is . . . I recently adopted a one-year-old calico cat named Autumn!!! I'm in love!! Everything is coming along super slow, but I won't give up. :)

Names for the protagonist of the new book I'm going to start writing: Mihala, Makaio, Kalei, Koa, Mele, Aolani, Konala, Malu, or Manu. I'm favoring Mihala (sounds playful, sweet, lighthearted, kind, loving, peaceful, etc., but I'm also loving Manu, Koa, or Malu. 
          
          It'll be more appropriate to consider it a fiction than a romance novel, but there will be a romance embedded in it as well at some point. It just isn't the main focus of the story, and it follows the character from a few months old until around 30 years old.
          
          It's a long story that will consist of at least three books to the series, possibly five if I split them into time periods and events. It's a story I've had in my mind for years, and I've finally decided to write a book of it. One of the reasons that I waited so long is because it's set in a jungle on an Island, and there's already Tarzan, The Jungle Book, The Swiss Family Robinson, and George of the Jungle. I've decided to write it, though, because while my story does involve someone growing up and living in the jungle, it's VERY different to the other stories. 
          Mihala seems to be my favorite name, though. It doesn't sound complicated, easy and beautiful to say and hear. Otherwise, I'd want something short and simple, but also playful and easy on the ears.

I've been really busy lately. I have so much to do in so little time. I've been reading books about ADHD, but also romance books, fiction books, and going back and forth with my kids (especially my son) lately. I'm also trying to get a job soon, planning to specialize in ADHD and disorders that are usually comorbid with it. My son was diagnosed with severe ADHD earlier this year, so a lot of me being away and being so slow with writing has a lot to learning as much as possible about it, but also dealing with medications, side-effects, adjusting dosage, behavioral techniques I've been finding and putting together, etc. I just haven't had much time to write. 
          
          Yet . . . I really miss writing. I'm also having trouble because well, editing is very different from actually writing a book, and I need variety. I'm going to be pausing working on the rewrite of "Damaged Goods?" because it'll take longer, and I want to do a thorough, good job with it . . . but I promise it'll eventually be back! I will continue to edit and post ".Silence." because it needs much less editing done, and I don't feel it needs to be rewritten. I've added to it, but not much. However, I REALLY miss writing, actually creating and writing stories, and I have so many in mind! So . . . I'm going to start writing a new one! It'll be called "Lost & Found", the same title as a previous book that I decided to scrap, and just keep the title of. The storyline will be completely different though, and the story will probably be at least three books long, possibly more. :) It's what will help reignite my passion for writing--edit one book while creating a new one!

I finished and posted chapter two of ".Silence." the other night, and I was planning on working on the next chapter of "Damaged Goods?", which I did start, but I'm going to do the next chapter of ".Silence." . . . because I can relate more to it at the moment lol! 
          
          My Meniere's Disease has been acting up lately (the protagonist in the book has Meniere's) because it's the rainy/hurricane season in South Florida, where I live. My main trigger for vertigo and other Meniere's symptoms is barometric pressure, and it's been raining a lot with intense storms lately, and there are/were two or three low pressure systems being monitored in the Atlantic (one was near Florida). Well, for the past month or so I've frequently had 3- 5 vertigo attacks in a day. Not long ones, very brief, but it felt like getting hit by a wall--the sensation is of being normal and suddenly being hit by something, then some spinning or disruption in my vision. Today has been the worst as far as my nausea and balance, though. I've been stumbling or falling over into walls, etc, but without having vertigo. My oscillopsia is worse. 
          
          I bought some ginkgo biloba tonight, as I've learned in a support group recently (then followed up by reading about it) that it helps with resolving or drastically reducing Meniere's symptoms . . . and people are having success with it! *fingers crossed*.

I'm over halfway finished the final read-through and editing of chapter two of ".Silence.". It's much faster (when I work on it), and easier than "Damaged Goods?". The only reason it's taking so long is because I've been really busy with appointments, etc. lately.

I've started posting ".Silence." - a romance story where the protagonist, Levi Novak, is on his way to a promising career in the music industry until he gets Meniere's Disease (a vestibular disorder that causes episodes of violent, unpredictable vertigo, imbalance, tinnitus, fatigue, and hearing loss) one day. The disease drastically changes his life and causes him to go through a series of losses, and then . . . possibly finding his way to rebuilding his life. 
          
          The first chapter of ".Silence." is posted, the second should be soon. I also posted the fourth chapter of "Damaged Goods?", which is a completely new chapter (sort of) that I've added to the new version of the book. It takes a small scene from the previous version and expands it into its own chapter. The old chapters four and five will now be the new chapters five and six. I've only posted chapter three "Walter" on this site so far since no further chapters have been posted yet (it would be confusing otherwise). Once I finish cleaning up those chapters, they'll be posted. :)

"Damaged Goods?" is coming along at a snail's pace. I've read two good romance series in recent months that made me change my writing a bit, but also notice where I could improve, etc. 
          
          "Damaged Goods?" is my baby--my first book I had written in ten years, and my first of the romance genre--and I don't really want to put it out until I'm completely satisfied with it. I've been going back and rewriting it, thinking of new things to add, I've started focusing on some minor characters to develop (something I feel the original "Damaged Goods?" lacked), etc. 
          
          However, I work faster when I'm working on more than one book/project at a time, so I'm going to start adding ".Silence.". That book will be much faster since I edited it was I wrote it. The few chapters I had done the final read-through on, and did a final edit on, was easy, quick, and overall minimal. It isn't a book that I'd have to completely rewrite!  I'll start posting it either tonight or tomorrow!

The new chapter four of "Damaged Goods?" is almost finished. It will be split into two chapters because I extended a scene. Then I'll adjust chapter five(the old chapter four), and continue working on chapter 17. I know this all sounds confusing, and I apologize, but I'm really enjoying rewriting the book. I just wish that I had read the romance series that changed my view about writing BEFORE I started editing "Damaged Goods?" to save the confusion for readers lol.

Back to working on chapters 4 and 17 of "Damaged Goods?" tonight. It's been a complicated week. Chapter 17 and up will be the rewritten version of "Damaged Goods?"--and edited and proofread more carefully. Chapter 4 up to 16, while they're already rewritten (mostly), I'm going back and fixing the many ridiculous, careless errors that I've been finding. Also, as some of those chapters weren't rewritten exactly how I wanted (leaving some comments out, etc.), I'm adding them. 
          
          I have no intention to perpetually edit and rewrite "Damaged Goods?", it's just that it was my first book I had written in 10 years at that point, my first in the romance genre, and the first written from a first-person point-of-view. Then, I tended to listen to old rules (e.g., books shouldn't be over 400 pages, etc.) that I've since learned are outdated . . . the reason for the rewrite (to write it the way I originally wanted to). 
          
          Thanks to a romance series that I've read recently that was very successful, it opened my eyes that the rules don't really matter--just write my heart out, or the way I originally envisioned the story!

Chapter 4 of "Damaged Goods?" should be up sometime tomorrow. I'm halfway through the last proofreading/editing of it.