Photos, reviews, an interview, and a tantalizing tidbit!

This was one of the coolest presents I've ever gotten -- the cover of MLTF made into postage stamps and framed. My friends (and fencing coaches) Wes & Amy gave it to me last Christmas and I realized that I hadn't shown it to you all yet. Nifty, huh? : )

Here is the link to The Book Smugglers and a simply wonderful double review of both MLTF and A&M. Thea did an incredibly thorough job, and wrote two really fun and insightful reviews. Pop over and check 'em out.

And this week, Tia over at Fantasy Debut interviewed me for her blog. She posted it this morning. BTW -- There's a tantalizing tidbit about an upcoming project. ; )

And last night, my little website passed a milestone -- this month marks the first time that my site has surpassed 100,000 hits in a single month. Too cool! Since today's the last day of May, that figure will be increase before the day is over. I'll post it when it's final. My hits have been increasing by about 20,000 hits a month. Thanks to each and every one of you for your support! *huge grin of appreciation*

Update: For the month of May, my site had 103,220 hits. Thank you all for dropping by -- a lot. ; )

On Monday, I'll post a link to another really cool review, have a pic of the latest A&M ad, and hopefully have some great news on the CafePress store.

Coming up next week: Doing rewrites, how to push through and complete a novel, my favorite writing books, and more.

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Building Raine's world

Today I'm answering another one of your questions. You all have emailed me some great ones -- keep 'em coming. Backstory & world-building for my books -- How did I develop Raine's world? How did I come up with my characters' backstories? Was all this fleshed out before I started writing, or is it an ongoing process?

And last but definitely not least -- Do I have enough for prequels? ; ) The answer to that one might have to wait for another day.

The pic above is the map of Raine's world. I've made modifications in my head since then, but this is the most recent rendering of The Map. It was probably done about 12 years ago. My first scribbles were done while I was in college. Since I'm cleaning out my office in preparation for starting the next book, I found the notebook last night. I wrote everything out by hand back then -- I'll have to post a pic one of these days. The map was drawn by me and an artist coworker. I drew it, and then Sherry added embellishments, like making larger mountain ranges and forests stand out from smaller ones. (Click on the photo for a larger view.) She drew the sword in the lower left corner, and the sea monsters -- swords and sea monsters are beyond my artistic skills. ; )

It's always been in my mind to base Mermeia on Venice. I've never been to Venice, but one of these days I will go. I based Mermeia on Venice as it was in the Renaissance -- a hub of commerce and shipping. And I used Venice's islands for the Districts in Mermeia. It seemed only natural that the races would separate themselves in some way -- especially since goblins and elves are notorious for not getting along. And with Mermeia's proximity to the Isle of Mid, it seemed to be a natural for mages and mere magic users to set up businesses of their own -- apothecaries, alchemists, fortune tellers, magical instrument makers, robe designers, etc.

I had the core of Raine's world in my head, but as I write, more details come to light. The same is true of my characters. Before I started the books, I had the basis of each of my main characters in my head, but as I write, they reveal more of themselves to me. And when they're put into certain situations, they react in ways that contstantly gives me new insight into their personalities. Just like real people, as time passes, they change and grow. And that's just not a good thing, it's a great thing. And not only do I learn more about the characters themselves, I start getting peeks into their pasts -- and the people in their pasts. Some characters are more forthcoming with their pasts than others. Heck, I even found out that Phaelan has an older brother. You'll be meeting Mago Benares in Bewitched & Betrayed.

Coming up tomorrow in the Saturday Fun Pic: A photo of a really cool present some friends gave me -- the cover of MLTF as postage stamps. A link to a fabulous double review of both MLTF and A&M. And my website reaches a big milestone. Pop by tomorrow and check them all out.

Coming up next week: Doing rewrites, how to push through and complete a novel, my favorite writing books, and more.

It's Friday folks; we make it!
Lisa

Finding a novel's core

Before I get to today's blog topic, a quick ooops/sorry about the downtime yesterday afternoon through the evening. According to Webmaster Todd, apparently an application on our server used too many resources (probably high traffic) and we blew a fuse. If it happens again, we'll look at possible upgrades. I noticed in my website stats that we had a lot of new visitors yesterday -- welcome! I blog every day during the week and post Fun Pics on Saturdays. In my blog I talk about writing and publishing from a newbie author's point of view: Stuff I know, things I've found out, and crap I've learned the hard way.

Since The Trouble With Demons (Raine Benares #3) is finished and with my editor, and I'm gearing up to write Raine's fourth adventure, Bewitched & Betrayed (aka B&B), I thought I'd tell you all about an exercise I'm doing this week to find the core of that book -- the plot element/event/situation around which everything else revolves. I've discovered (the hard way), that if you don't have that core, you have a 300-page collection of scenes, not a novel.

To find the core of B&B, I did a bulleted list of the characters & their plotlines that I want to include in the book. As of yesterday, I have 12. That's going to be too many. As you may have noticed, I tend to have rather complex plots, but I have to draw the line at how much is too much. The ones that don't support the story core of B&B, get pushed to the next book. BTW -- If you all continue to buy my books, come next spring, I just might have a contract for Books 5 & 6. : ) When I have the plot elements that support the book's core, I ask myself what Raine will do about each one of them. That's the thing about main characters (at least my main characters), they have to be pro-active. They can't stand passively by and react to the events happening around them -- Raine has to act; she has to do something to solve the problems and fight the bad guys that I throw her way. And if she can do that with brain rather than magic, all the better.

Once you've found you book's core, you get to ask yourself the fun question -- How can I make it worse for my main character? Of course, whatever you get them into, you have to think of a way that they can get out of it. In my case, the solution has to be clever, cool, and/or funny with plenty of snark, action, and death-defying danger. Yeah, no pressure there. ; ) Occasionally I'm too mean to Raine for my own good, and have no clue how to get her out of the mess she's in. But I tell myself: "You got her there, Lisa. You gotta get her out. Good luck with that." And when I do that (or work out any plot point), I "talk" my way through it by typing out my thoughts in my "Plot" Word document. Since my plots are complex, there's no way I can do all of that in my head.

Coming up this week and next: Character backstory, worldbuilding, doing rewrites, how to push through and complete a novel, and more.

Have a great day; and again, welcome to the new visitors!
Lisa

Why are the goblins in my books sexy?

Before I get to today's blog topic, I want to congratulate Mark Van Name for winning the Compton Crook Award for his debut novel One Jump Ahead. Since the Baltimore Science Fiction Society graciously pays all travel expenses for the winner, they notify the finalists weeks in advance to let them know which one needs to clear their calendar for Memorial Day weekend. (The Compton was awarded Friday night at Balticon.) I had been notified that I had not won, but I didn't know the winner's name until last Friday. I am so thrilled for Mark, and I felt truly honored (and incredibly lucky) to be nominated. : ) The next book in Mark's series -- Slanted Jack -- will be out on July 1st. Be sure to check it out.

For today's blog topic, one of you had asked how I came up with my view of goblins.

Not only did I want to go in a different direction with my books (modern voice in a traditional fantasy setting), I wanted to give a new twist to two traditional fantasy characters: elves and goblins. When I first started writing I went with a more traditional idea of elves, but my goblin have always been as they are now. And when I found Raine's voice, traditional Tolkienesque elves, gave way to elves like Raine and Phaelan. I don't think that Raine and Galadriel would have all that much in common. ; )

And as to my goblins -- most of the goblins in books that I'd read were short, gnarled, and had a bad case of post-nasal drip. Again, I wanted to do something different. I asked myself why couldn't goblins be gorgeous? Why couldn't they be tall, lean, silvery skinned, and wicked sexy? And while I was at it, I thought fangs and long, glossy black hair would be a nice touch. (Heck, they don't call it "fantasy" for nothing.) My goblins are just your basic dark-eyed, smooth-talking, dangerous bad boys who you probably wouldn't take home to meet the parents.

My goblins have dark eyes and vision that is much like cats. It was a natural progression for me -- if they move with smooth grace (much like cats), exceptional night vision would be a logical trait for them to have. One thing led to another and soon I had an image in my head of quasi-gothic architecture, dim lighting (for the comfort of those sensitive dark eyes), and when they go out during the day, they have to wear sunglasses. After all, there's nothing like a good pair of shades to make their wearer cool, mysterious and sexy. ; ) And for me, all of those sexy and mysterious vibes led to a race that considers intrigue and manipulation to be their national sport. Once I had the basics for my goblins established, other little details just started coming to me. And as I wrote, various aspects of their social order began to fall into place -- and believe me, that social order is very strictly regimented; a good example being the reaction to and the perception of Talon Tandu (goblin/elf halfbreed). Goblin aristocrats are real sticklers for racial purity; but as evidenced by their less than mentally stable royal family (the Mal'Salins), it wouldn't hurt goblin nobles to venture out of their family trees once in awhile. ; )

In upcoming blogs: World-building for my books, how I pick which ideas to develop, outlining, how I get through the "saggy middle" of a novel, and more.

Lisa

Happy Memorial Day!

Today is a holiday here in the U.S. -- Memorial Day. It's a day we set aside to remember and honor the men and women who have fought in our armed forces -- and in some cases made the supreme sacrifice -- so that we have the freedom to enjoy life, liberty,and the pursuit of happiness.

Since I'm not on a book deadline right now, and Anne my editor won't have feedback for me on The Trouble With Demons for another few weeks, I'm using this time to get some things done around the house that have kind of fallen by the wayside. Today, Derek and I are working in the yard -- and believe me, it needs it. ; ) I shall then reward myself this afternoon with a comfy couch and a good book.

This week I'll begin blogging on all of the great topics you all suggested.

Have a wonderful day!
Lisa

The contest winners & some CafePress store previews!

Here are some of the bumper stickers that will be available in the CafePress store that will be up and running soon. There will be plenty of other items (t-shirts, mugs, tote bags, messenger bags, mouse pads, etc.) but the bumper stickers show up best on Blogger. So you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the other items look awesome! ; ) BTW -- All profits from the CafePress store will go toward the upkeep and maintenance of my website.

Now to the winners of my Amazon review contest:

Marie Andreas is the winner of the signed & personalized poster from my Barnes & Noble Book Release Party for Armed & Magical, plus signed bookmarks, postcards, refrigerator magnets of the book covers, and an Armed & Magical pencil made for the party.

Cathy Springstead and Marianne Reed are the winners of the book gift packs consisting of a signed copy of both Magic Lost, Trouble Found and Armed & Magical, plus the bookmarks, postcards, an A&M cover fridge magnet, and a pencil.

If you ladies could email me with your mailing addresses, I'll get your goodies in the mail to you.
lisa@lisashearin.com

And for all of you who posted reviews: thank you -- I appreciate you all so much! I have the best fans an author could ever wish for! : )

Coming up next week: I'll dive in on all of your blog topic requests. You all sent some great ones.

Have a great weekend!
Lisa

Print & eBook sales for Armed & Magical!

Sales for Armed & Magical are very good -- and Magic Lost, Trouble Found sales have increased to almost match it. Thank you everyone for all of your support!! -- I am a very happy author! That is for print sales. Fantasy traditionally does very well in eBook sales, and Armed & Magical is no exception. I got the coolest article on my Google Alert. Yes, we authors search the Internet for articles, blogs, etc. that mention us or our books. Needless to say, I love Google Alert -- it does the surfing for me. ; )

The article was on WebWire and announced BooksOnBoard's eBook bestsellers for the first half of May. (BooksOnBoard has the largest eBook catalog online at 200,000 titles.) The article is great, but the Top 10 list was what wowed me the most:

Bestsellers (not romance)
1 The Host Meyer, Stephenie
2 Star Wars: Legacy of the Force Allston, Aaron
3 New Moon Meyer, Stephenie
4 The Whole Truth Baldacci, David
5 Armed & Magical Shearin, Lisa
6 The Atlantis Prophecy Greanias, Thomas
7 Twilight Fantasy Bundle Meyer, Stephenie
8 Careless in Red George, Elizabeth
9 Odd Hours Koontz, Dean
10 Reliquary (audio) Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child

Now that's a list of names a newbie author can be proud to be in the middle of. ; )

Blog topic ideas: I've gotten some great ideas, but I always need more. Writing-related questions are best. Don't be shy, if you have a question -- except giving away plot twists ; ) -- either respond to this blog or email me at lisa@lisashearin.com. I love hearing from you all.

A reminder about the Amazon review contest -- If you want to have your name included in the prize drawings tomorrow, please post your reviews of Armed & Magical (and email me to let me know you've posted one) by tomorrow morning. Thank you SO much to all of you who have already posted reviews! I really appreciate it! For more details on the prizes, scroll down to yesterday's blog.

Drop back by tomorrow to see who the winners are, and for the Saturday Fun Pic -- I'll give you preview of some of the items that will be for sale in our CafePress store.

Have a great holiday weekend!
Lisa

Bewitched & Betrayed update & assorted stuff

A reminder about the Amazon review contest -- I'm having a contest to try to get Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble reviews for Armed & Magical. People pay more attention to (and are more likely to buy) books that have a lot of reviews (they're perceived as being more popular). Since review writing can be time-consuming, I'm making it worth your while with a contest and prizes. (The pics above are of the prizes that you can win.)

The first name drawn will win a signed & personalized poster from my Barnes & Noble Book Release Party for Armed & Magical, plus signed bookmarks, postcards, refrigerator magnets of the book covers, and an Armed & Magical pencil made for the party. The next two names drawn will get a book gift pack consisting of a signed copy of both Magic Lost, Trouble Found and Armed & Magical, plus the bookmarks, postcards, an A&M cover fridge magnet, and a pencil. All you have to do is post your review before this Saturday morning (May 24) to be entered -- and be sure to send me an email telling me that you've posted a review. Three names will be drawn at random on Saturday. It's easy, it can help me by helping the sales of my books, and you can win cool, free stuff. ; )

I've finished organizing my notes so I can hit the ground running when I start writing Bewitched & Betrayed. In about three more weeks, my editor will have her comments back to me on The Trouble With Demons. At that point, I'll need to address any issues that Anne found (I generally get 4-6 weeks for that). After TTWD is put to bed, I'll get started on Bewitched & Betrayed (aka B&B). But until then, I've started cleaning out and organizing my office at home. We've been in our house for about a year, and I've been writing constantly since then, so I have absolutely no filing system, just a closet crammed with stuff. Beginning this weekend, that will start to change.

As to organizing the notes I'll be using to write B&B, I've cut 37 pages from the files of single-spaced novel notes that I've accumulated over the years (scenes, dialog, plot ideas, etc.) The stuff I've cut out are the things that I've used in the books I've already written. So I now have 97 pages of notes to work with. My next step is to go through those, and select the stuff that I think I might use in B&B. That will be the final idea file that I'll pull copy and ideas from. Of course there's all the new stuff that comes to me while I'm actually writing the book. So my notes just form the core.

Something I haven't done in a long time is to ask for your ideas on blog topics. Writing-related questions are best -- and no, I can't give away upcoming plot twists. ; ) Don't be shy, if you have a question, either respond to this blog or email me at lisa@lisashearin.com. I love hearing from you all.

Tomorrow I'll post a fabulous article on how well Armed & Magical is doing in eBook sales!

Lisa

The easiest (and most fun) characters to write

In a continuation of yesterday's blog about interviewing my villains before starting a book, today I'll talk about who are the easiest characters for me to write. As scary as it may sound, other than Raine, the easiest character for me to write is Sarad Nukpana. His dialogue simply flows. I don't have to sit around and immerse myself in his motivation before I start to write. It's like flipping a switch; when I'm ready to write a scene that he's in, he's right there waiting. And he's actually been known to slither into a scene that I hadn't planned on him being in.

But what is the most fun are scenes with Raine and one of the villains. Absolutely nothing is more fun than Raine and Sarad/Rudra/Carnades getting in each other's faces. Again, no dialogue strain for me at all -- the snark, banter, threats, and one-liners just flow. And don't think that I reserve all of that villainous fun just for the guys -- future books will feature some heavy-hitter female villains.

Let's face it -- villains are fascinating. Heck, I've got so many of them, I've broken them down into classifications. There are the obvious major villains (Sarad & Rudra), the minor villains (Carnades), the bad guys (Lucan Kalta), and the ever-popular toady/snitch (this would be Ocnus). And in upcoming books, there are characters who are not what they seem: Raine's not sure if one character in particular is a villain or a good guy doing one heck of an undercover job.

I saw a bumper sticker once that pretty much sums it up for me: Villains Have More Fun!

And speaking of bumper stickers, my designer sent me the files for all of the CafePress store items. They look AMAZING!! I'll show you some of them in this week's Saturday Fun Pic. We'd hoped to have my books' CafePress store up and running before Armed & Magical hit the shelves, but there was too much design work to be done. Apparently each phrase has to be sized for each item. Based on your votes, we have a lot of phrases on a lot of items. While this will give you a lot of shopping choices, it also made for a longer design process. But trust me, the wait will be worth it. ; )

Lisa

Why I interview my villains before starting a book

Before starting a new book, one of the most enlightening and productive things I can do is sit down with my characters and talk to them, sort of like an interview. Believe it or not, Raine is not the first character that I talk to. I talk to my villains -- the established ones like Sarad Nukpana and Rudra Muralin, and the new ones from the next two books that I can't tell you about yet.

Why do I do this? A book's villain is the one who makes the trouble that Raine and my other main characters have to overcome and/or get themselves out of. So in my opinion, it's vital to understand what plots they've got brewing in their nefarious minds. I need to know their plots, plans, and manipulations before I type that first word on the screen.

And even more important, I must understand the "why" behind their actions. The best villains don't see what they're doing as evil -- to them it is necessary. A good example of this is the elven mage Carnades Silvanus. He doesn't see his actions as evil, or even as unreasonable. He views himself as the champion of the elven people, an unrecognized hero, and anyone who doesn't agree with his world view is against him and the "good" that he stands for. Carnades sees things in black and white (good & evil). As far as he's concerned, gray is the same thing as black. And after reading Armed & Magical, you all know how narrow and warped his world view is.

Important Safety Tip: Interview your villains one at a time -- they're notorious for not playing well with others. ; )

Coming up this week: I finished organizing my notes for Bewitched & Betrayed -- whew! And I'll tell you who are the easiest (and most fun) characters for me to write.

Lisa

Why do we have to wait a year for your next book?

I've been getting this question a lot lately, so I thought I'd blog on it.

"Okay Lisa, you turned in The Trouble With Demons to your editor last week. Why do we have to wait the eternity of almost another year before we can read it?!"

That's a danged fine question, folks. ; ) One that until I became a published person, I never understood either. It killed me to read a book by a favorite author, only to know that I'd have to wait another year to get my grubby hands on their next book.

Here are the high points of the book publishing process from the my point of view. I know there's much more than this involved, but these are the steps in the process that I'm involved in (and/or know about).

I turned in The Trouble With Demons (TTWD) last week. My editor has three books ahead of mine to be edited before she can work on TTWD. She said that she'll have her editorial comments and suggestions back to me in about a month. Then I'll have about 4-6 weeks to make the edits that I agree with. And seeing that Anne and I are always in agreement on what's best for my books, that means I'll make almost all of her suggested edits. Of course, there's always an exception to this. Anne's "edits" on Armed & Magical consisted of one question for me. I added a sentence in the manuscript to clarify that one point and voila, the edits were done. I believe that's why A&M was able to hit the shelves at the end of April versus the end of May. No edits needed. Of course, "no edits" is rare. Though I wouldn't be opposed to lightning striking twice -- aka no edits on TTWD. We'll see how that works out. ; )

After the editor's comments are addressed, the manuscript goes to the copy editor to check for grammar boo-boos, typos, etc. (And BTW, it is virutally impossible to catch them all regardless of how many people read it.) The manuscript then comes back to me and I'll proof it myself and either approve or "stet" (meaning leave it as it was) the copy editor's comments. Most I agree with, some I don't. Next comes typesetting (the manuscript was still in Word document format up until now), then another round of proofing (me and the copy editor in New York).

While all of this is going on, the cover is being developed, front and back cover promo copy is being written, marketing and sales meetings are taking place, etc. And on top of this, publishers have to schedule publication dates for books way in advance. When I sign a contract for a book, it includes a delivery date that has been negotiated and agreed upon ahead of time. Basically this means that Anne asks me, "Does May 1 work for you?" I say "Yes," and it gets put into the contract. When the delivery date is agreed upon, that pretty much sets the "on shelf" date. Publishers (especially mine) have a lot of books to come out every year. Everything that has to happen to get a book from the author's laptop to your local bookstore takes time, and then multiply that times the number of books a publisher has coming out in that year.

So in a nutshell, that's why readers usually have to wait about a year to get the next book from their favorite authors.

Coming up tomorrow: I'll tell you why I "interview" my villains before I start writing a book.

Lisa

Saturday Fun Pic -- My day job office

The above luxurious cubby is where I spend Monday thru Friday. Yep, it's the day job. I'm an writer/editor/proofreader at an advertising & design agency. I love it there. : ) My windows are filling up with my newfound love -- orchids.

Coming up next week: Among other things, I'll talk about one of the most important things toward shaping the plot -- sitting down and having a heart-to-heartless chat with each one of my villains.

Contest with Prizes! -- Scroll down to my May 9 & 10 blogs for prize photos and all of the details. The condensed version is that I'm having a contest to try to get Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble reviews for Armed & Magical. People pay more attention to (and are more likely to buy) books that have a lot of reviews (they're perceived as being more popular). Go figure. Since review writing can be time-consuming, I'm making it worth your while with a contest and prizes. All you have to do is post your review before next Friday night -- and be sure to send me an email telling me that you've posted a review. That email will enter you in the drawing for the prizes. Three names will be drawn at random next Sat., May 24. It's easy, it can help me by helping the sales of my books, and you can win cool, free stuff. ; )

Have a great weekend!
Lisa

Bewitched & Betrayed -- Organizing my notes

Gracie the Greyhound is 7 years old today -- Happy Birthday, sweet girl!
With all the dog beds, chairs, and sofas in the house, sometime Gracie likes to get snuggly in Lucy's bed (our Jack Russell Terrier).

Yeah, I know I just turned in The Trouble With Demons to my editor yesterday, but even though I'm not "writing" yet, there are things that I need to start doing to prep for beginnning the next Raine adventure, Bewitched & Betrayed. Like organizing my notes. I have Word files, all of them single spaced, two of them are nearly 70 pages long. All of them are filled with character sketches, dialog, scenes, parts of chapters, future plots, and general ideas. I've been accumulating this stuff for years. If I think of something, I write it down. If you're one of my regular blog readers, you know that I have notepads all over the house, and in my purse (actually a laptop case -- it's massive and I love it), and in my Jeep. And the first chance I get I type the handwritten stuff into one of the Word docs, usually the same day.

When I start a new book, I copy these files over to a folder that I've started for the new book. I copy them into the new folder so that the originals still exist. Then I go into the newly copied files and delete everything that I used in the previous book. I then combine what's left into one file and that's what I've got to worth with. Well, that and the plot synopsis that I wrote this time last year to sell books 3 & 4 to my publisher. At the moment, I have over 120 pages of notes to go through. I imagine it'll reduce to around 60 pages once I get rid of stuff I've already used and any duplications.

In the upcoming weeks, I'll let the ideas stew. More ideas will come to me and I'll continue to write them down and the book starts to take shape. I have a loose idea in my head of the plot arc, but the notes help me fill in the subplots. As I go through the process before I start writing, I'll add and also discard plot elements. Important thing: When I say "delete" I don't blow copy I've written out of the airlock never to be seen again. I start a new file for unused ideas. Just because an idea isn't right for this book, doesn't mean that it's no good. It might be perfect for a future project.

That's what I'll be doing over the few weeks. It's nice, light work, and it keeps my brain on the project to come but gives it a rest at the same time. During this time I'll be reading and doing the things that I haven't had time to do for months. For example, planting some flowers in the yard is the perfect idea brewing time. It's one of those mindless activities that lets the creative mind run off and play. ; )

Coming up next week: Among other things, I'll talk about one of the most important things toward shaping the plot -- sitting down and having a heart-to-heartless chat with each one of my villains.

Tomorrow for the Saturday Fun Pic, I'll show you my day-job office.

Happy Friday!
Lisa

The Trouble With Demons is DONE!

WOOT!!!!!

Set off the fireworks and hoist a glass of whatever -- I've finished writing The Trouble With Demons (aka Raine Benares #3)! Or as we say down south here in the U.S.: Stick me with a fork, I'm done! ; ) Last night, I sprawled on the sofa with the dogs and watched The Discovery Channel -- it was gloriously decadent.

I emailed the manuscript to Anne my editor in New York this morning. With the manuscripts ahead of me in her work queue, it'll probably be a month before she gets back to me with any needed edits. But during that time, I won't be idle. Yes, I am taking two weeks off from novel writing to act like a human being (and reacquaint myself with my husband). However during that time, I'll compile all of my notes for Book 4 (Bewitched & Betrayed) which is due this time next year. Other than that, I'm going to read, get out my summer clothes (I still have sweaters in my closet), read, organize my office, read, sleep, go out with friends, plant some flowers in the yard, and read.

Once I've taken care of any edits that Anne may suggest, I'll start fleshing out the synopsis for Book 4. It was a lifesaver to have a full synopsis for The Trouble With Demons -- it kept me on track. And once I start organizing my notes, fleshing out the synopsis, and gearing up to write, I'll be blogging about every step in the process. And if it doesn't include spoilers, I'll let you in on what it's like to work on book edits with Anne. It's always a fun and creative process.

For Saturday's Fun Pic, I'll post photos of my day-job office. And don't forget about the contest that's going on:

Contest with Prizes! -- Scroll down to my May 9 & 10 blogs for prize photos and all of the details. The condensed version is that I'm having a contest to try to get Amazon and/or Barnes & Noble reviews for Armed & Magical. People pay more attention to (and ultimately buy) books that have a lot of reviews (they're perceived as being more popular). Go figure. Since review writing can be time-consuming, I'm making it worth your while with a contest and prizes. Just post a review over the next two weeks, send me an email telling me you've posted a review, and you're in the drawing for the prizes. Three names will be drawn at random on Sat., May 24. It's easy, and you can win cool, free stuff. ; )

Your relaxed and relieved author,
Lisa

Finishing The Trouble With Demons tonight

COOL NEWS -- Armed & Magical was reviewed this morning on Barbara Vey's blog on Publisher's Weekly! This is HUGE! Barbara said to be sure all my fans and friends read the blog and "comment on how wonderful you and your book are." So, if you have a few free moments, please pop over and gush. ; )

I should be finishing The Trouble With Demons tonight -- I am one more tired puppy. Then I'll check a couple of key sections to make sure they still work for me. And then I'll put together the big Word document with all the chapters to send to my editor on Friday morning.

As most of you have heard, my laptop died a slow and painful death after falling off the bed while I was packing for the Romantic Times Convention last month. The laptop was in its case, and it still sustained critical injuries. However, it was almost five years old, but I wasn't ready to replace it yet (isn't that always the case?). Until I finish TTWD, Derek has given me his laptop (he's the best!). Yesterday, my new Dell Inspiron 1520 arrived. Sweet! Derek's getting it set up for me, and when I put TTWD to bed, I'll add my music, email lists, desktop shortcuts, etc., so it'll feel like I'm right at home.

For those of you who are new to my blog, Penguin (my publisher) did a Q&A with me on their Science Fiction & Fantasy site. If you haven't already, pop over and give it a read.

Sorry today's blog is so short, but I've got a book to finish. ; )

Lisa

I'm back

No, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth -- just the Internet. From our local news folks, here's what happened:

Thieves broke into a Duke Power substation Monday evening and ripped out about $4,000 in copper materials, police said. The theft occurred at about 5:30 p.m. Monday at a fenced substation at 2900 Ashe St., police said. The thieves stole copper grounding rods and damaged dozens of fiber-optic communications lines while cutting through a pipe to grab more copper, police said. Damage to the substation was estimated at about $20,000, police said.

Of course, this put an unknown number of companies essentially out of business today as far as email and Internet was concerned. Fortunately our phones were up, so we were able to contact our clients that way. Service was restored about 20 minutes ago (a little before 2:00 in the afternoon). I'm sure those repair guys busted butt to make it happen.

So. . .for an update on The Trouble With Demons, my plan is to finish the writing by tomorrow night. This will give me Thursday night to put together the transmission for my editor, Anne Sowards. At the moment all of my chapters are in separate Word documents. I have to put them all in one file, format, paginate, and insert the appropriate headers (my name/book title). The "master plan" is to email the finished manuscript to Anne first thing Friday morning (my due date), so that it's in her email inbox when she gets in the office. I like to turn books early in the morning of my due date. I don't know why, I just feel it's the polite & professional thing to do. Anne wouldn't mind me taking the rest of the workday, but I would. If it's due on Friday, in my mind, it's due first thing Friday morning. ; )

Your "on the verge of being giddy because she finished a book" author,
Lisa

The Trouble With Demons -- Almost there!

I'm about six pages away from being finished with The Trouble With Demons. My deadline is this Friday. I busted my butt this weekend (I wrote about 10 pages on Saturday, and 8 pages yesterday). Friday night was almost a DEFCON 5 emergency. I'd gotten a really intense scene written and was very proud of it, and did what I do every minute or so -- I clicked on Save. Well, the computer thought about it for longer than normal and then saved it not as the same old Word document I've been working with, but saved it as a .tmp file. What the *$#*?! Then it wouldn't let me open it. Or let me save it as another file name. Or as another file type. And then the freakin' computer locked up. I've got adrenaline going by this point. I told myself I wasn't going to panic. I'd wait another 60 seconds, THEN I'd panic. I called Derek upstairs. I had a flashback to Tom Hanks in Apollo 13 as I tried to be calm when I yelled, "Derek, I have a problem!"

Derek didn't know what was wrong, so I calmly thanked him for trying to help, sat back down and stared at the offending machine, whom I'm starting to think of as the evil HAL 2000 by this point. It's Derek's laptop, not mine. I dropped my laptop case (with the computer inside) while packing for the RT Convention and it died a slow and painful death. My new Dell will be arriving by Friday, but in the meantime, Derek gave me his computer -- is he the best husband, or what? Anyhow, I started fiddling with it again, and somehow convinced HAL to cough up my final chapter. I saved it as quickly as my fingers would type, and then backed it up on my flash drive. Disaster averted.

Part of the reason why I was so freaked out was not only losing all of that work, but one of my main characters had done something they weren't supposed to do for at least another book. When a character snatches the reins out of my hands like that, I know I'm on to something good and go with it -- even if it wasn't in my plans at all. Plans change, and this time it was something much better. ; )

Contest with Prizes! -- Scroll down to Saturday's blog (for prize pics), and to Friday's blog (for all of the details). The condensed version is that I'm having a contest to try to get Amazon reviews for Armed & Magical. People pay more attention to (and ultimately buy) books that have a lot of reviews (they're perceived as being more popular). Go figure. Since review writing can be time-consuming, I'm making it worth your while with a contest and prizes. Just post a review over the next two weeks, send me an email telling me you've posted a review, and you're in the drawing for the prizes. Three names will be drawn at random on Saturday, May 24. It's easy, and you can win cool, free stuff. ; )

Coming up tomorrow: More on finishing TTWD.

Lisa

Book release party poster + other prizes that you could win!

As I said in yesterday's post, I'm having a contest.

A lot of you have read Armed & Magical and loved it. One of the first things people will do when they hear about a book is to go to Amazon and check the reviews. And the number of reviews reflects the popularity of the books. So if you loved Armed & Magical, please tell the world about it with a review on Amazon. And it takes time to post a review, so I'm going to make it worth your while. ; )

Over the next two weeks, when you post a review to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, send me an email to let me know that it's up there. That email will enter you in a contest; the prize drawings will be on Saturday, May 24th.

The first name drawn will win a signed poster from my Barnes & Noble Book Release Party for Armed & Magical, plus signed bookmarks, postcards, refrigerator magnets of the book covers, and an Armed & Magical pencil made for the party. The next two names drawn will get a book gift pack consisting of a signed copy of both Magic Lost, Trouble Found and Armed & Magical, plus the bookmarks, postcards, an A&M cover fridge magnet, and a pencil.

For those of you who have already posted reviews (THANK YOU!), you're already entered in the contest. For those of you who want to post a review, but haven't gotten around to it yet, you have two weeks to post your review and email me so I can enter you in the contest. The more books people buy, the more popular the series becomes, the more manuscripts my publisher will buy -- and the Raine, Mychael, and Tam stories will continue. It's a beautiful thing. ; )

Have a great weekend!

Lisa

Coming up next week: It's the final week of writing The Trouble With Demons (my deadline is next Friday). I'm on the last chapter. Stay tuned for harrowing computer malfunctions, author panic, and a character who does something that he wasn't supposed to. (Heck, and that was just last night.) ; )

L.

Raine needs Amazon reviews: Let's have a contest with PRIZES!

A lot of you have read Armed & Magical and loved it. I can't tell you how much fun it is to read all of your emails telling me what you loved and why. I need for you all to do me a big favor -- if you loved Armed & Magical, tell the world about it with a review on Amazon. One of the first things people will do when they hear about my books (or any book) is to go to Amazon and check the reviews. And the number of reviews reflects the popularity of the books. Unfortunate, but true. If there aren't a lot of reviews there, it can give the impression that it must not be any good. Big name authors with established series have lots of reviews. I'm not a big name author, and my series isn't established, so I need your help.

I don't have any deleted scenes (yet) from The Trouble With Demons to bribe you with. ; ) But I know it's time-consuming to compose and post a review, so I'm going to make it worth your while. We're gonna have a contest. ; ) Over the next two weeks, when you post a review to either Amazon or Barnes & Noble, send me an email to let me know that it's up there. That email will enter you in a drawing in two weeks (let's say Saturday, May 24th) to win one of three prizes.

The first name drawn (Derek will be doing the drawing from a hat, bowl, or something) will win a signed poster from my Barnes & Noble Book Release Party for Armed & Magical, plus signed bookmarks, postcards, refrigerator magnets of the book covers, and an Armed & Magical pencil made for the party. (Instead of my day-job office pics, I'll post a pic of the poster tomorrow.) The next two names drawn will get a book gift pack consisting of a signed copy of both Magic Lost, Trouble Found and Armed & Magical, plus the bookmarks, postcards, an A&M cover fridge magnet, and a pencil.

For those of you who have already posted reviews (THANK YOU!), you're already entered in the contest. For those of you who want to post a review, but haven't gotten around to it yet, you have two weeks to post your review and email me so I can enter you in the contest.

The more books people buy, the more popular the series becomes, the more manuscripts my publisher will buy -- and the Raine, Mychael, and Tam stories will continue. It's a beautiful thing. ; )

Thank you so much -- and Happy Friday!
Lisa

Interview with me on SciFi.com!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by John Joseph Adams, a writer for SciFi.com (the website for The SciFi Channel) to ask if I would do an interview about Magic Lost, Trouble Found -- since it's a finalist for the Compton Crook Award for best debut SciFi/Fantasy novel of the year. I was thrilled, and of course I said yes. ; )

The interview was posted on SciFi.com this morning. Click here to go there.

Your excited author,
Lisa

Signed books and other cool stuff

I've signed and personalized your books, and they are on their way to you! ; ) For those of you who were in the first wave of orders for signed & personalized copies of Magic Lost, Troble Found and/or Armed & Magical, I went to the Barnes & Noble at The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, NC, signed all of your orders, and had a ton of fun doing it. : )

For those of you who are new to my blog, the B&N mentioned above is offering FREE SHIPPING in the U.S. to anyone who wants signed copies of my books. All of the details are in my Thursday, May 1 blog (just scroll down), or there's also a shortcut button on my homepage that'll take you straight there. You order 'em and I'll sign 'em! And UPS will deliver them to you for free if you're in the U.S. (For anyone outside the U.S., email me and I can get shipping rates for you.)

It's a great deal, and something I've been wanting to offer to all of you since I'm not a big name author (yet *grin*) and don't get sent on book tours. This lets me sign books for you and all you pay is the cost of the book, plus tax -- it's just like you walked into your own local B&N and bought them; you can even use your B&N Member Card to get your discount. So if you want me to sign some books for you, get your orders in soon -- I'll be making another trip to B&N to sign books next week.

Last night, I made some great progress on the last chapter of The Trouble With Demons. Yea! After I finish it, and before I start Bewitched & Betrayed (Raine's 4th adventure), I'll write and post a short synopsis of The Trouble With Demons to give you all an idea of what I've been working on all these months. ; )

Cool upcoming stuff: And as I'm gearing up to begin writing the next book, I'll be doing a series of posts on how I lay the groundwork for starting a new novel. I'm not one of those writers who can just dive right in there. So that will be coming up, and after I have a final approved manuscript for TTWD, I'll be occasionally posting short snippets for you to enjoy. And I think I'm going to have an entire chapter that didn't make my final cut, so I'll be posting that for you to read. I altered that particular subplot, so the chapter no longer applied -- but it's good. ; ) And coming up on the Saturday Fun Pics, I'll have photos of my day-job office.

Have a good one!
Lisa

Romantic Times Convention photos

The following are some of the pics from the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Pittsburgh. I met a lot of authors that I'd only previously known online, got to meet my "author mentor/mom" the amazing Linnea Sinclair, and my new author gal pal, the incredible Stacey Klemstein. Next April, the RT Convention is in Orlando. I will be there. ; )


Linnea Sinclair and Stacey Klemstein.


Me ready to start signing books. (photo courtesy of Linnea Sinclair. Thanks, Linnea!)


Maria Snyder signing a book for me and a friend at the Book Fair.


The Book Fair on Saturday.




Me at my table at the Book Fair.




The view outside my hotel room window in Pittsburgh.




More views outside my window.
























And more views. (It was a nice view.)

The last chapter (with a side-order of the sniffles)

Well, I was supposed to begin writing the last chapter of The Trouble With Demons yesterday. Didn't happen. Sleep happened. As I've met more authors, I've discovered that there's quite a few things we all have in common -- one of the not-so-fun ones is that we have a tendency to get sick the day after we finish writing a book. I guess it's all that pushing yourself and while not taking good care of yourself. We try to, our spouses try to, but the gruesome twosome of stress & fatigue will get you in the end.

My deadline for TTWD was May 1st, but due to my laptop dying at the RT Con., my ever-caring editor gave me a two-week extension. (Derek ordered a new Dell for me, but in the meantime, he's given me his laptop until I can finish TTWD. I have got the most fabulous husband!) Apparently with everything that's been going on, I forgot to tell my body that my deadline wasn't last Thursday. Because, guess what? Last Friday I started getting sick. And it arrived under full sail Saturday evening. So here I sit, coughing like a harbor seal, and going through half a box of Puffs Plus every few hours. My magnificent husband, Derek, knew this from past experience when he went to the drugstore for me yesterday to get my stock of cold-survival supplies. He got me not one, not two, but three boxes of Puffs Plus, and one of them has the most wonderful (and logical) tissue additive invented by modern man -- Vicks. Words cannot discribe how wonderful it is. Though it's kinda gross, so I won't.

But I have my tea (and then lots of water), cough drops, The Puffs Collection, and a determination to get this chapter going, so I can get this chapter finished. So that I can turn in TTWD and move on to what is the most eagerly anticipated event after finishing a book (besides sleep and actually getting to see my husband) -- reading something that someone else wrote. This is another post-book thing that most authors have in common. Don't get me wrong -- I love my books, I love my characters, but I want to read something else. In her blog yesterday on Alien Romances, SciFi Romance author Rowena Cherry in "What I'm reading" told about settling down with her post-book writing reward -- and bless her heart, she chose Armed & Magical! I was thrilled. ; ) Rowena's post was on Sunday. On Friday, SciFi Romance author Cindy Holby (whom I met at RT) tells about "The care and feeding of your deadline slammed author" -- her post is the best and funniest description of "Deadline Hell" that I've ever read. Go to Alien Romances and scroll down to Friday's post. This post describes my life of the past few weeks in spades.

Your coughing, sniffing, nose-blowing, hard-writing author,
Lisa

Coming up this week -- I got my RT Con. pics developed, so I'll be posting those, and stay tuned for more of pushing through to the end of TTWD.

Boris -- 1991-2008

This morning, Derek & I had to do one of the most difficult and heartbreaking things we've ever had to do. We had to have Boris put to sleep. He had terminal cancer and kidney failure and there was nothing the vet could do. The photo is of Boris and Natasha -- Boris is the short-haired one on the right. Not only was he my kitty, he was Raine's cat as well in Magic Lost, Trouble Found.

He was 17 years old, had a long and happy life, and I will miss him more than I can say.

Lisa

The Trouble With Demons -- almost done

I've taken today and Monday off from my day job to knock out most of the rest of The Trouble With Demons. I'm on the final read-thru and tweaking now, and will write the last chapter when I've finished. At the pace I've got going, I should be writing that last chapter by Sunday. I'd love to be finished by the end of next weekend. It's due to my editor on Friday, May 16, but I'd love to turn it in a couple of days early.

I'm going through the same thing that I did this time last year -- author empty nest syndrome. One book is launched to the world, and other one is about to "leave the nest" for my editor's desk. You kinda have that empty feeling, and one heck of a twitch. Once TTWD is off to Anne, I won't know what to do with myself. And I was discussing this with other authors at the RT Convention -- it's an author thing. We all go through it. We say "oh, I can't wait to get that book turned in," or "I can't wait for launch day" -- but when they happen, we feel like we just lost every bit of control. And believe me, authors are control freaks. ; ) Once a book hits the store shelves, it's out there, and you're left feeling the angst of "will they like it?", "will they hate it?", "will the reviews be good?", but the biggie is "will the sales be good?"

Turning in a book to your editor is much the same angst-inducing thing. The biggie there is "will she like it?" You go back and forth from thinking it's a brilliant work of art, to you're a talentless hack. Again, all authors are like this. That was another great thing about the RT Convention -- getting to know other authors and getting reassured that I'm not a freak of nature -- I'm just an author.

Well, I need to get to work on TTWD, and at 11:30, Boris has a vet appointment. He's a sick kitty.

I haven't had my RT pics developed yet, but I'll be taking care of that tonight. And I have more photos from the A&M Book Release Party on those cameras as well. Yeah, I used two Kodak disposable cameras for RT and I had one left, so I gave one of my party-goers a camera and told her to "have at it." ; )

And scroll down to yesterday's blog: You can get your hands on autographed -- and personalized-- copies of either MLTF or A&M (or both). All the details are below. I'll be going to sign and personalize the first batch of orders on Tuesday, so if you want your books mailing out in the first wave, get your order in by Tuesday morning. ; )

Happy Friday!
Lisa

SIGNED COPIES of my books available!

The Barnes & Noble at The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, NC, has most graciously offered to make autographed copies of my books available to you. If you live in the U.S. (including Alaska and Hawaii), you can have autographed copies of my books for only the cost of the book plus tax. So it'll be the same price you'd pay if you walked into your local B&N. And for now, shipping via UPS is FREE! Is that a great deal, or what? ; )

And if you would like, I'd be delighted to personalize your book. Just include the name you'd like it signed to and any related event (birthday, anniversary, etc.) and I'll take it from there. Email your orders to Angela Born (the B&N Community Relations Manager) at crm2109@bn.com with the following information:

* Name of person the book(s) will be mailed to
* Street address (UPS won't deliver to P.O. boxes)

* City, state, zip

* Phone number (so Angela can contact you to get your credit card info, if that is how you wish to pay.)
* How you would like your book signed -- just an autograph or personalized. If personalized, please give the name and related event (if applicable).

Payment must be received prior to shipping. You can pay with a check, credit card, or Barnes & Noble gift card. And if you're in B&N's Member Program, include your member number in your email and you'll get your B&N discount. If you want to pay by check, make the check out to "Barnes & Noble" and mail it along with a printout of your order email to:

Angela Born
Community Relations Manager
Barnes & Noble #2109
The Streets at Southpoint
8030 Renaissance Parkway
Durham, NC 27713

The cost breakdown is as follows:

MLTF -- The price for one copy is $8.53 (this is the book price of $7.99 and includes tax). If you're a B&N Member, the price for one copy (including tax and your discount) is $7.68.

A&M -- The price for one copy is $8.53 (this is the book price of $7.99 and includes tax). If you're a B&N Member, the price for one copy (including tax and your discount) is $7.68.

For 2 books -- The price of 2 books is $17.06 (this includes tax). If you're a B&N Member, the price for 2 books (including tax and your discount) is $15.35.

For 3 books -- The price of 3 books is $25.59 (this includes tax). If you're a B&N Member, the price for 3 books (including tax and your discount) is $23.03.

* For more than 3 books, please email Angela for pricing.

And as an added bonus, the first 15 orders get an Armed & Magical pencil from the Book Release Party!

I'm so glad I can do this for you all!
Lisa