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ROW80 Check-In 9/21/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on September 21, 2014| 6 Comments »

ROW80Badge
There’s been some progress this past week. I finished the beta read and got it back to the author. I’ve made a lot of progress on my paid proofreading job, which is due the end of this month. Once that’s done, I’ll get the other proofing job started, because it’s also due by the end of the month.

Now, for my own stuff. I can’t believe it’s only nine days until my Facebook release party! That means I better get those edits done quickly! The major thing that needs to be done is adding the scene a beta reader suggested. I also got some writing done on my cozy mystery.

Okay, so here’s why I actually got some of my own writing stuff done. Kait told me I HAD to work on my own stuff for 30 minutes four days a week BEFORE I worked on anyone else’s stuff. And she sent a little animated pic of Dean Winchester watching me, so I have to do it. Kait and Dean say so.

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Busy, Busy! ROW80 Check-In 9/18/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on September 18, 2014| 6 Comments »

Yeah, I’m a day late.

In my last post, I had listed four things I had going on. Well, I’ve added another proofreading job, but this one is a second pass-through, so it shouldn’t take too long. I have to get one job done because I’ve been paid already. 🙂 I need to get the beta read done, too. So I’m focusing on those two things first.

I just want to say I will strangle anyone who suggests I go somewhere or do something Saturday. My whole day last Saturday was filled with a church function, so I NEED this Saturday to get things done. If I really work hard, I can get the beta read AND the proofing job almost done. Then I’ll just have the one other one, so I can work on my own stuff. Hubby wants to watch Captain America: Winter Soldier tonight, so that will take up a couple of hours. But I need recreation and I need to spend time with hubby. We shall have popcorn.

And speaking of my own stuff. I’m still working on getting some suggested edits done on Fire Wizard. I HAVE to get these done soon because I’m releasing this book on October 2, and I’m celebrating with a Facebook release party. You are all invited.
Fire Wizard Release Party.

How are the rest of y’all doing?

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ROW Check-In 9/14/14 & Decisions, Decisions

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on September 14, 2014| 18 Comments »

Here’s what’s going on:

1) I’m working on a line editing job for a client.
2) I’m beta reading for a friend who also beta reads for me.
3) I’m trying to figure out which suggestions from beta readers to incorporate in Fire Wizard. (Probably most of them, LOL)
4) I’m working on my mystery, although not as much as I would like.

And here’s the decisions part:

I think most of you know by now I’m thinking of writing my mysteries under a different name. I have personal reasons for this, and I hope I don’t have problems building another following. I know mystery readers are often much different from paranormal romance readers.

Here’s the other dilemma. I don’t usually do series. I did a trilogy, based on the fact that readers were often asking me if there was a sequel to a book of mine they read, so I figured I should try one. They just don’t sell as well as my stand-alones. And I prefer to write stand-alones since I get bored even when reading series. BUT…series in mysteries are very common. So I’m wondering if I ought to do at least a trilogy to test the waters.

And here are some of the problems:

1) In mysteries, the main character is drawn into some mystery, usually a murder, in every book. In real life, most people don’t even get involved in ONE murder. So why is it so believable in fiction? Would I be able to make MINE believable?
2) Mysteries are hard because you have to find a way that the main character can figure out the mystery. The mystery itself isn’t nearly as hard as figuring out how it gets solved. (Hopefully, my husband can help with this since he is so good at this kind of thing.)
3) How do I keep the romantic thread (yes, I have to have one!) interesting through a series? I often lose interest in a series when the romance is resolved in the first book. So…either I have to keep dragging it out with reasons they can’t be together (which worked well in the Vampires’ Curse novellas, but doesn’t seem possible in this first mystery because of the circumstances), or I can maybe have them together at the end of book one but find something to pull them apart again in book two.

I’m reading a mystery series, right now, by Patrice Greenwood and also watching LOTS of episodes of Murder, She Wrote…for research. 🙂

Any thoughts? I would really appreciate feedback.

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ROW80 Check-In and Cover Reveal

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on September 3, 2014| 10 Comments »

Since check-in day corresponded with my cover reveal date, I’m going to combine them together. After all, this is all about writing, goals, and successes, right? So what better way to reveal a cover than during a ROW80 check-in?

Without further ado, here is the ebook cover for my upcoming release, Fire Wizard, with the fabulous cover model James Magnussen! The photo was taken by Anya Kelleye of Anya Kelleye Designs, and she also designed the cover. This was a fun photo shoot, and I’ll just say, James is as sweet as he is handsome. The print cover will be coming soon.

Fire Wizard eBook

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ROW80 Update 8/31/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on August 31, 2014| 9 Comments »

Here it is the last day of August, and I’m wondering where this year has gone! I’m sitting here already ready for church. I’ve made and ate breakfast with hubby (biscuits and gravy, a treat every couple of weeks), already walked on the treadmill and ready to go! 🙂

Fire Wizard is now with beta readers. I’ve already had one person come back and say they couldn’t put it down so they stayed up late reading it. That’s a good thing, right? The cover is practically done, just a little tweaking needed. I can’t wait! I plan on having a Facebook release party, but this time, I’m not going to do it myself. More about that later.

I spent hours yesterday reading a tutorial on Scrivener. I’m still not sure if I’m going to get it (I have the trial version), but I’m leaning toward it since somebody told me I could convert the file for my print book (with page numbers) as well as ebook formats. It’s only $40, which is a bargain considering all the bells and whistles it comes with. It would be a great tool for those who are serious plotters. But it’s good for pantsers who need to plot just a little.

What’s up with y’all?

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ROW80 Update 8/27/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on August 27, 2014| 14 Comments »

Is September almost here? Wow, where did the summer go? But I’m really looking forward to fall. The cool breezes, the colorful leaves, Halloween.

I’ve been hard at work, reading through Fire Wizard before I send it out to beta readers. Here’s the problem. I’m finding little typos and places where I want to reword stuff. But I’m not finding any major changes that need to be made yet. I know when the love scenes (NOT sex scenes) come up, I’ll need to expand a bit on those. But the actual story up to this point seems pretty tight. I always worry about this because everyone always talks about revisions and rewrites, etc., so I think I’m supposed to do those, too. But I rarely have to do any major overhauls. Which makes me wonder if I just don’t see those things. And, yet, my two MAIN beta readers are VERY good authors, and they don’t usually suggest anything TOO major, either. And I respect their opinions a LOT. Have I just been doing this so long that my first draft is already pretty tight? Is it because I’m an “edit as I go” writer? We are told not to do that, but here’s what I usually do. I don’t edit the chapter I’m working on. But before I start a new chapter, I always go back to the chapter before and make changes that need to be made, while that part of the story is still fresh on my mind. Maybe that’s why the first draft is close to ready. Because I’m already tweaking it while I’m writing it. I just don’t know. Maybe experience plus continual tweaking is the reason. I hope that’s it instead of me just being too clueless to see I need to fix stuff. Again, I trust my beta readers, and they would tell me. And who knows, maybe they WILL find something that needs major overhauling in this one. (I hope not, LOL.) We’ll see. I can’t wait to see what they think.

What about you? Do you just spit out words as fast as you can and THEN do revisions, or do you constantly tweak as you go like I do? (That doesn’t mean I don’t sprint sometimes, but I would go back and fix everything the next day, LOL.) I would love to know if there’s anyone out there like me or if I’m just weird. Really, really weird. LOL

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ROW80 Update 8/24/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on August 24, 2014| 10 Comments »

I said in my last post I was finally finished with Fire Wizard. Now I’m in edits. It’s weird, but I’m loving this story. That never guarantees everyone else will, but I keep thinking, if I like it this much, if it entertains me even though I know what happens next, surely someone will like it. 🙂 It’s been a long time since I wrote the part I’m editing right now, so it’s almost like reading something new.

I hope I can get this published in about 3 weeks. It depends on my beta readers and also on my cover artist. Anya said this cover is kicking her butt. LOL. But that’s because she wants it to be GOOD. And when you’re dealing with FIRE….

Soon, I want to start on my mystery. I still can’t decide if I want to publish that one under another name. There are reasons I want to, but everyone already knows Lauralynn. I would have to sort of start over. I’m not sure that’s necessarily a bad thing since I’m not selling squat right now. I guess I’ll decide after publishing Fire Wizard and seeing how that goes.

I hope everyone is having a happy Sunday!

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ROW80 Update 8/20/14 – It’s Done!

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on August 20, 2014| 15 Comments »

fireworks

Finally! A check-in where I can say “it’s done!”. Fire Wizard is officially finished. Well, not the editing part, but the writing part. I finally got all the cat litter cleaned out of my office (which I share with the cats) and I felt like writing in it again. I sat at the desk and typed away. The next thing I knew, hubby was saying goodbye. I’m like “What? It’s not time for you to go to work.” Then I looked at the time, and it was after 10:00 PM. Where had the time gone? I was THAT into the story.

Now that it’s done, I’m seriously worried about the ending. Is it too bland? Too sappy? I’m bad about sappy endings. I guess my beta readers will tell me. 🙂 I’ve struggled a lot with this book. I think it was more about having too many other things to do and not having time for it. But I’m learning to use my time more wisely, even though I have so little of it. Ah, evil day job, how you take up so much of my time!

What have YOU accomplished this week?

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ROW80 Update 8/6/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 6, 2014| 14 Comments »

You know, I used to blog more than I do. Now it seems it’s mostly for my ROW80 check-ins. I must remedy this!

I still haven’t touched my WIP. I was going to last night, but the time got away from me. I am making progress on the book I’m proofreading, though. 🙂

Since my update is so short, I’m going to mention something not related to ROW80. I did something that might be construed as kind of stalkerly. I met this poet on the airplane, and we started talking about writing. She was delighted to have met a fellow author and she said she learned some things by talking to me. She said she almost never talks to people on airplanes, and I told her I didn’t, either. I got the impression she was definitely an introvert, maybe a little shy. We exchanged names. So, the other day, I started looking for her online and found her email address at the university where she teaches. I hesitated a little, but in my usual “go for it” manner, I emailed her and told her how happy I was to meet her and gave her a little encouragement with her writing. I was a little apprehensive, wondering if I came off like a stalker. To my delight, she emailed me back and was really happy that I had contacted her. So I was glad I did.

How about you? Have you ever done anything “stalkerly”? (I probably won’t user “stalker” as a tag for this post because that would bring interesting people out of the woodwork.)

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ROW80 Update 8/3/14

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on August 3, 2014| 16 Comments »

What have I been up to this week? Let’s see….

I’ve been using HabitRPG to keep up with habits and daily things I need to do. It’s pretty neat. Check it out HERE

Saturday, I made mozzarella and ricotta cheese, then made lasagna with them. I’ve had my friend’s 11-year-old son here this weekend, and he really loved it. Hubby did, too. 🙂

I finished a line editing job and am finishing up a second one in the next week. And I got another one today.

I haven’t written on my own WIP in a LONG time. I plan to change that this week. I’m going to put it on my HabitRPG list. I’m done with business trips for awhile (I got out of the last one I was supposed to go on), so life has settled down a bit.

So, anything interesting going on with you?

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