Feeds:
Posts
Comments

ROW Update 7/4/12

July 4, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Hey, it’s the Fourth of July! Which makes me wonder if anyone will even be sitting at their computer reading this. LOL

What I’ve done toward my goals this week:

1. Word count: Mon-874, Tues-1,464. Although my goals are time, not words, I still keep up with word count. I can’t help myself. But I’ve found that when I started setting aside a time instead of shooting for a certain number of words, I actually end up writing MORE words.

2. I’ve proofed the first novella in the Libby Fox trilogy. Only two more to go, and the collection will be ready to format for print. I can’t BELIEVE how many times I used the word “that”. I know I don’t do it much anymore, but I must have “reformed” after writing the first in the trilogy. LOL

3. Exercise – not so much. I was doing well until it got so hot. It’s starting to cool down just a bit…mid 90’s…so I’ll probably go back to walking and riding my back on Thursday.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments »

ROW80 Goals for Round 3

July 2, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

I can’t believe it’s actually that time again! I really meant to finish my WIP in Round 2, but those of you who’ve followed my blog know that I was a slacker. I bounced back the last couple of weeks of the round, but it was way too late. Anyway, here are my goals for Round 3.

1. Finish my WIP by writing one hour per day, five days a week (Sundays and Wednesdays are church days, so I intend to take those days off unless I’m itching to write).

2. Proof Vampires’ Curse a second time, then format it for print.

3. Exercise five days a week.

Some writers have said they only want to post writing goals on their blog, and they won’t talk about anything else, but I’m a firm believer in putting all of myself out there and connecting with people. I also believe that exercise goals HELP with writing goals.

Good luck to everyone this round, and if there’s anything I can ever do to help, please let me know! We are all about support here at ROW80!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 20 Comments »

Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale!!!

July 1, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

All during the month of July, Smashwords is having a sale! Authors are selling their books at some really good discounted prices. (Some are even free!)

You can get Vampires’ Curse and The Gnome for 50% off. Regularly $2.99 each, you can get them for only $1.50 through July 31 by using coupon code SSW50.

Here are the links.

Vampires’ Curse

The Gnome

To see all the books included in the promotion, go to smashwords.com and click on the sale link at the top left. There’s something for everyone!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Lots of Random

June 30, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Yesterday my boss let me work from home the second half of the day because it was too hot for my kittens to stay outside in their cage. They have a fan blowing on them out there, but 105 is too hot for them to be out there. I think it’s just awesome that my employer had enough concern for my cats that they let me do that. My kitties were glad to be able to be in the house for hours. It’s going to be that hot again today, and I’m getting ready to let them in soon.

I’ve started cooking lately. I got my first shipment of cheese, butter, Devon cream, and tampenade from igourmet.com. I’ve tried the cave aged Emmental (Swiss) and it’s delicious. I’m planning on making au gratin potatoes with the Emmental and the Devon cream for dinner tonight. My husband will probably think the cheese is too strong, so I might have to fix another potato dish for him. LOL. And I’m making meatloaf in my Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker. In the MICROWAVE. I never thought I would cook meat in my microwave, but it’s the best meatloaf I’ve ever had. And I made Burrito Bake in it the other day. I also made a cheesy rice dish I found in my Fine Cooking magazine. I LOVE that magazine. I’m becoming a cooking machine. LOL

I’m currently in the process of proofing the Libby Fox trilogy again for print. Even though it’s in ebook form already, I always go through another proofing for each print book because it’s a lot harder to correct typos after a book is in print than when they’re in ebook form. Besides, I get to read it again that way, and I have a fondness for Libby and Adam. 🙂

I’m just lazing around today. It’s too hot to go outside, even though my rose bushes really need watering. Maybe later this evening….

Okay, I’m off to let Willow and Oz in. They can spend some time annoying my husband. LOL

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

Should I Write More Horror?

June 29, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Many of you who follow my blog know that I struggled with the writing of The Gnome. My struggles were mainly about whether it was going to be good enough, and whether or not I could write decent action scenes. I had only written paranormal romance up to that point, but I love to read horror, so I wanted to give it a try. And the kind of “light” horror I wrote wasn’t that far from paranormal romance. There was some romance in The Gnome, but that wasn’t the focus. I feel like The Gnome ended up being one of my better books. I worried about the action, but one of my beta readers told me that’s the area where I “shone” in the book. So where do I go from here? Do I stick with paranormal romance, or should I write more horror? And then there’s the book my husband has an outline for that I need to write, and it seems to fall somewhere in between. Although, since I’m the one writing it, I might put romance in it whether he likes it or not. LOL

How many of you cross genres in your writing? How comfortable do you feel writing something out of your normal genre? I would love to know!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 26 Comments »

Stupid Things I Leave Undone

June 28, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

A good while back Kait Nolan called me out for not having a book page listing all my books. I promptly obeyed her command and set up such a page. I just realized today that I have published THREE books since I updated this page. *blushes in shame*. I can’t believe my mind wasn’t in a place where I think about those things. I could use the excuse of my day job, my household chores, my family, my kittens, my new puppy…. But my mind needs to be on my business, too. And I fell short. Today (yes, while I was supposed to be working!) I fixed my book page. In doing that, I also realized that Kobo had changed the URL for the books where I had links to Kobo. So if any of you have links to your books on your blog, please check and see if those links are still good, especially on Kobo.

I still have one glitch on my book page. After I inserted Vampires’ Curse after the individual Libby Fox novellas, My Haunted Lake cover picture is askew. Every cover is supposed to be left adjusted, but Haunted Lake is sticking out, farther to the right, like a sore thumb. I’ve looked and looked at the html on Vampires’ Curse, and I can’t find the problem. I experimented and inserted it in a different place, and Haunted Lake was fixed, but the book after Vampires’ Curse was then affected. So it has to have something to do with Vampires’ Curse. I reinserted the cover image, and I reinserted the Kobo link (since it’s the last thing), but to no avail. I can’t find ANYTHING wrong with the html. Grrrrrrrr.

So, do any of you drop the ball on things like this? I hope I don’t do this again. As soon as my next book is published, I need to get it on my book page!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments »

Gourmet Food – I’m Giddy!

June 26, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

A couple of posts ago, I asked for suggestions on finding gourmet items that are hard for me to find locally. I only got a couple of suggestions, which disappointed me. But one suggestion was the one I needed! I had seen some things sold by “igourmet” on Amazon, and someone commented that they could vouch for them. I checked out their website, and now I’m giddy as a school girl. They have everything I could possibly need! My mouth is watering at all the cheeses they have to offer. And they have the Irish butter I need. I chatted with customer service and asked about shipping it in this heat, and they promptly responded and said it was packed with lots of dry ice. I should still probably have it shipped here at work rather than let it sit outside at home. Squeeeee! What a yummy site!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments »

Fairy T-shirt

June 25, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

My husband is awesome. He saw this t-shirt and thought I would like it, so he bought it for me. 🙂 See the dragon at the upper left? Cool shirt, huh?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 6 Comments »

Sunday Update 6/24/12

June 24, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Even though we are on a break between ROW80 rounds, I still want to continue to report progress on Sundays, even if just for myself. If not one person reads it, I’m still putting words down about what’s going on, so it helps me stay focused.

Writing: Mon-1119, Tues-1061, Thurs-722, and Sat-920. I’m a little disappointed in Saturday because that’s the day I have more time, but this Saturday I knew I was going to a wedding, so I felt kind of rushed. I’m one of those people who have a hard time focusing on something if I know something else is kind of hanging over my head. LOL

Exercise: Monday, Tuesday, and Friday I walked at lunch. 20 minutes the first two days, and 30 minutes on Friday. I have trouble getting back to work on time if I walk 30 minutes, so I need to start taking my lunch instead of going out. That’s another reason I had the plea on my blog yesterday for help finding foods. I want to start cooking more. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I rode my bike after work. That’s pretty brutal in 90 degree weather, but at least there’s a breeze when you’re riding that you don’t get when you walk. LOL

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments »

Where Can I Find Gourmet Food Items?

June 23, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

I love to cook when I have time. I’m ready to start cooking more, and I love my subscription to Fine Cooking magazine. The problem is finding some of the ingredients. For instance, I love European butter. It’s richer and tastier than American butter, and it actually keeps longer. We used to have a gourmet food store here in my town which was owned by the same people who own a local grocery store. Unfortunately, the gourmet store didn’t do well (I think the location was bad), so they remodeled the grocery store and combined the two. So now we have a grocery store that carries SOME gourmet items. Unfortunately, the Irish butter they used to carry is missing from their stock. I saw European butter on Amazon sold by a company call “igourmet”, but I’m not sure I want butter shipped to me. It doesn’t say how they pack it, and I’m afraid it will spoil en route.

Do any of you have places you order hard to find food items? I’m hoping I can find porcini mushrooms and fontina cheese locally for a rice dish I want to make. But it would be great to find one website, or maybe one seller on Amazon (it would be better if it shipped FROM Amazon since I have Prime) to order from. Any ideas?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »