Feeds:
Posts
Comments

A Strange Experience

January 24, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

This past weekend, I went on a business trip and my boss let me take my close friend and cover artist, Anya Kelleye with me. We had a booth set up at the Inn at the Biltmore and that’s also where we stayed. Since this was a working trip, we didn’t really have time to do much, but we were able to at least tour the Biltmore mansion for about an hour. And that’s where something weird happened.

I write paranormal romance. I love paranormal stories. But, the thing is, I don’t BELIEVE in the paranormal. As a Christian, I can’t reconcile what the Bible says with the existence of ghosts. I’m a true skeptic when it comes to supernatural things, but I’m not a completely closed minded person. Anya and I were touring the house, and we had gone through several rooms, which I found interesting and beautiful. But I didn’t get any kind of weird vibes or feelings from them. Until we entered the tapestry room. This is a room that’s 90 feet long and there are several furniture groupings placed down the length of the room. When I entered that room, I had this overwhelming desire to cry. It was all I could do to hold it back. And I also had a desire to STAY THERE in the room. The feelings just flooded over me. When we left that room, the feeling was completely gone. I toured some other rooms with only an admiration and appreciation for what I was seeing. The tour took us back through the tapestry room and it happened again. I was choking back tears and pretty much freaking out for feeling that way. After we left the room, the feelings went away once again. And never returned in any other part of the house.

I can’t explain what happened. It wasn’t like I SAW anything or HEARD anything. I just FELT something. I’m still a little shaken by it. I’m a skeptic by nature, so this is a new thing for me. I hear people tell of all these experiences they’ve had, and I just kind of smile and nod, but I’ve never really believed them, even though I knew THEY believed it. (I don’t think they were lying to me.) So this is what I’m wondering. Even if I don’t believe in ghosts (although it would be cool if they were real), I’m thinking maybe a person leaves some kind of imprint behind. Some essence of themselves, of their personality. SOMETHING.

So what do you think? Do you believe in ghosts? Have you ever had a paranormal experience? What do you think was going on with me at the Biltmore? I would love to hear what you all think. This is all kind of intriguing.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 30 Comments »

ROW80 Update

January 23, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

I missed the check in yesterday because I was on the road. I’ve been on a business trip at the Inn on the Biltmore and have had almost no computer time. Anyway, here’s the dirty truth.

I’ve just stopped. I’ve stopped writing, stopped exercising, stopped proofreading, stopped commenting on other people’s blog. Now, before you start worrying about me…I promise this is temporary. I just needed to take a break. I’ve had some really rough days at work where I came home exhausted. Then I left on the business trip Friday morning, knowing that I still had a lot of work to do and that it would be here when I got back. I don’t know when I’ll pick things back up, but I’m shooting for Tuesday (tomorrow). I have a birthday dinner to attend tonight, and I don’t want to be stressed there, so I’m waiting until things get back to normal.

I’ve really missed checking in with everybody. I may try to stop by a few places today and tomorrow and get caught back up with my online friends. Thanks for understanding!

Tomorrow, I’m planning on writing a post about something odd that happened to me at the Biltmore house. It was kind of strange for a skeptic like me!

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

ROW80, Migraines, and Shoulders…Oh My!

January 18, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

This has been a totally frustrating few days. On Sunday, I somehow injured my shoulder. I wasn’t really doing anything…I just felt a sharp pain. Then I couldn’t pull on anything (like to open doors) or move it in certain directions without horrible pain. So that really put a damper on the exercise. It seems to be a little better today, but that’s what I thought yesterday until there was a big clap of thunder which caused me to jump…and then to scream in pain. I think the people here in the office just thought I yelled because the thunder scared me.

Yesterday, I developed a migraine right before I left for work. I know it was due to the storm that passed through because changes in barometric pressure usually trigger my migraines. When I got home, I didn’t feel like doing anything but sacking out on the couch and watching TV. Then my power went out. Bleh. Needless to say, I didn’t get any writing done last night, which put me just a little bit behind on my word count. Luckily, I was a little ahead, so I’m not a whole day behind.

I really hope the rest of you had better days this week!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 26 Comments »

ROW80 Check In 1/15/12

January 15, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

First…if you haven’t checked out my previous post for today, do it! There’s a giveaway! When I scheduled that post, I had forgotten it was the same day as a ROW80 check in day. But I HAD to do it today because, well, it’s my birthday. 🙂

Anyway, back to the subject of this post. I’m a little bit ahead of my cumulative word count. I didn’t do my 30 minutes a day on proofing the print book, but I spent about an hour and a half on it today, so I made up for a few days. I’ve enjoyed this proofing because I had forgotten how much I loved one of the stories in this collection, See Me. It has a little more humor than most of my books. Exercise and housework has been a massive fail. And I have an excuse for this. I got hooked on The Vampire Diaries and was watching several episodes a night on Netflix. That show is addictive. I’m happy to say that I’m caught up now and will only be watching it once a week on TV. I’m watching the original Dark Shadows on Netflix now, but I’m not getting caught up in it, so next week I’ll be taking time to do what I’m supposed to instead of drooling over Damon watching The Vampire Diaries.

Anybody doing better than me on exercise? I hope so!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments »

Birthday Book Giveaway- Today Only!!!

January 15, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Happy birthday to me…happy birthday to me…..

Wait…is it my birthday? Why, yes it is. But the really cool thing about it is that I’m giving SOMEONE a gift for MY birthday. What gift, you ask? Well, everyone who comments on this post TODAY will be entered into a drawing for my entire ebook collection. That’s right, the winner will get coupon codes from smashwords.com for ALL of my novels and novellas. That’s nine books. Free. But you have to comment TODAY to enter, so take a minute to do that. Also, please remember to include your email address so I can email the coupon codes if you win. Happy birthday to you…um…me! 🙂

By the way, my short story, The Beast in the Mirror, is already free on smashwords.com, so go ahead and download that, too!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 16 Comments »

What TV Moments Made You Cry?

January 13, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

I used to cry a lot more easily than I do now. I’ve toughened up through the years. But there are still some TV and movie moments that make me tear up, and some that actually make me weep. Here are a few of my moments. There are more, but for the sake of brevity, I’ll limit them. And for those of you that haven’t watched these yet, there may be some spoilers.

1. BuffY the Vampire Slayer: The one that absolutely made me bawl was when Oz left Willow. Oz was one of my favorite characters and I didn’t want him to go. Willow was also a favorite of mine, and I couldn’t stand watching her heart break.

2. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: At the very end when Spike sacrificed himself to “save the world”. Buffy finally says “I love you”. Then Spike says “No, you don’t. But thanks for saying it.”

3. The Vampire Diaries: When Damon tells Elena for the first time that he loves her. He says, “I don’t deserve you. But my brother does.” And he says, “God, I wish you didn’t have to forget this. But you do.” And this big tear falls out of his eye. Then he makes her forget the whole thing.

4. Moonlight: When Beth tells Mick they can’t live in each other’s world and that she “can’t do this anymore”. He walks out and goes down the hall and stops and puts his forehead against the wall like he’s going to cry. She puts her head on her arm against the wall of her apartment and starts sobbing. I thought it was going to end that way. That one actually has a happy ending, but I won’t say how in case someone wants to watch it and hasn’t yet.

These are just a few of mine. What are some of yours? I would love to hear from you!

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

Surprise on January 15!

January 12, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Be sure to check out my blog post this coming Sunday, January 15. It might be worth your while. 😉

I’ll be doing two posts that day. I’ll have my usual ROW80 check in post, but there’s a reason I need to do this other post on the same day. You’ll see.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments »

ROW80 Check In 1/11/12

January 11, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

The first couple of days this week have been okay. I’ve managed to keep ahead on my word count. I’ve written the last two days, although this book is HARD to write (see my previous post). I just have to hang in there and see what happens when I’m finished. It may be good, it may be crap. I exercised Monday, but not last night. I had to help a friend with something and I didn’t get home until late. I had just enough time to write my 500+ words. So that also means I got no housework done, nor did I get any proofing done on my print book. But I have the rest of the week to make up for that. And helping a friend was worth it.

On a very pleasant note…my free story on Smashwords, The Beast in the Mirror, is getting lots of downloads. I got a 5 star review almost immediately after publishing. I now have another 5 star and a 4 star review there. I’m pleased with that because that story is dear to my heart. It’s still .99 on Amazon. I told them it was free on Smashwords, but it may take awhile for them to make it free on Amazon. And people are actually buying it for .99 and haven’t yet complained that it’s a short story. Of course, it states clearly in the description how short it is.

How are the rest of you doing so far this week?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments »

Why Am I Writing a Horror Book?

January 10, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

I have no idea why I’m writing a horror book. It’s one of my favorite genres to read, but I’ve never written anything but paranormal and fantasy romance. And there’s a little bit of romance in this book, but that’s not the main focus. My reading is so eclectic that I know I can’t write in EVERY genre I read. But horror has always been fascinating to me. So I thought I would give it a try. And I’ll have to say that this is the hardest thing I’ve ever written. I can’t tell if the violent scenes are interesting or not. Am I going into too much detail…not enough….? Are the scenes too long…too short….? The only way to know if this book is going to work is to set it down a week or so after it’s finished, then read it again as a reader. And then there are the beta readers. I’m really, really scared about sending this one out. What if my betas say this is trash? But what if it’s good? When I wrote Haunted Lake, I was able to get that spooky feeling that allowed me to write something a little dark. There was a little bit of mild horror in that book. Not anything really scary, although it would have been if it happened in real life. But the book I’m writing now has slasher type violence in it. I know I’m rambling, but I’m really, really worried about this book. I think this will be the last time I try horror. Maybe.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 7 Comments »

Eye Candy Post #3

January 9, 2012 by Lauralynn Elliott

Sometimes I just like to post things that are fun. I don’t usually get a lot of comments on my eye candy posts, but my stats show that I do get some lookers. 🙂 Anyway, here are my two lovelies for today.

Ian Somerhadler

It took me awhile to warm up to this guy. He plays Damon on The Vampire Diaries, and he was such a ruthless killer at the beginning of the series, I just didn’t see his hotness. I was told by many Damon fans that I would change my mind. I have. I really, really have. So Ian Somerhalder is now on my top five sexy vampires list.

Shamar Moore

Shamar is so good looking he’s almost pretty. His skin is a beautiful color, and those eyes…. He plays Derek Morgan on Criminal Minds, another favorite show of mine.

One of the things these two men have in common, and one of the reasons I put them in the same post, is their beautiful eyebrows. Ian’s eyebrows are so expressive, and he uses that to his advantage often. And Shamar’s eyebrows are shaped so nicely. People think I’m crazy when I say Shamar Moore has beautiful eyebrows, but they really are gorgeous. That’s always one of the first things I notice when I see him.

I hope you ladies have enjoyed the eye candy today!

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

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »