|
Where I like to write
We all have our favorite rooms, surroundings, atmosphere for writing. As I said in yesterday's post, occasionally I have to work downstairs at the dining room table, but I prefer my office. And I have found that I prefer my office pretty dark. Which isn't a problem since I'm usually writing up there at night. I have a desk lamp with a low-watt bulb, and a floor lamp with a dimmer switch. I rarely use the overhead light at all, unless I need to refer to reference material. Occasionally I do light candles in my office. I haven't done it this summer because it's just too danged hot, but as the weather gets cooler, I'll start lighting the candles on my desk again. When you're writing fantasy in a quasi-renaissance setting, nothing says atmosphere like candles. I only use a few, and they're in a safe place away from anything flammable. Having the lights turned way down and the candles glowing, makes (at least for me), the ideal writing atmosphere. The brightest glow in the room is my computer screen. It really helps me focus. Question for all you writers out there -- what's your favorite writing place, atmosphere, way to focus? Either respond to the blog or email me. I love to hear how other writers work.
BTW: About the recording I made of me reading from Chapter 1 of MLTF for you all to listen to -- I've changed my mind. I'm still going to do the reading, but it occurs to me (with inspiration from Mark Van Name's Monday blog) that I have a webcam on my computer. I should use it. I'll need to find the directions to work out the finer points, but yesterday I signed up for a YouTube account. I thought it'd be much more fun for you to be able to see me while I read. And I figure I can use it for other stuff too: holiday greetings, you can meet my dogs, I can tell you big news, and answer your questions. I think it'll be a lot of fun. Let me know what you think. ; )
Coming up tomorrow: I'll post my answer to the following question: How many books will there be in the Raine series? Is there an ending in sight? And if/when there is, have you considered writing another series or stand alone books? Lisa
Book update and recording session
Update on Bewitched & Betrayed: I finished Chapter 3 on Friday, brainstormed Chapters 4 & 5 on Saturday, and started writing Chapter 4 yesterday. I say "started" because I kept getting interrupted. If I'm not working on the first draft of a project, Derek & I go to his parents' house every Sunday after church for dinner with the entire family. (Derek's mom teaches Sunday School and still manages to whip up a fabulous meal for 12-14 people every Sunday -- the woman is a force of nature.) But right now, since I'm working on the first draft of a book, I need every minute of writing time I can get. So Derek goes to his parents' house and I stay home and generally eat fishsticks -- note the sacrifices I make so you all can have Raine stories to read. ; ) I have to work downstairs at the dining room table rather than upstairs in my office because Andy the Greyhound can't do stairs (neither can most greyhounds); but if I'm up there, he'll try to come upstairs (which would end with a trip to the emergency vet), or he'll stand at the foot of the stairs and cry. I can't listen to my "big guy" cry, so I work downstairs. Of course this puts me at the mercy of the whims of the pack. Gracie the Greyhound wants to be petted, Andy wants to snuggle, Lucy (the Jack Russell) wants to play. Then the entire pack has to go pee -- and sniff the entire back yard. Then there were the political candidate volunteers and the Cub Scouts at the door. Needless to say, concentrating on my work yesterday was a challenge. Yesterday, I thought I'd take a brief break to record myself reading the last half of Chapter 1 of MLTF for you all to listen to, maybe enjoy, and possibly laugh at. If you've never heard your own voice on a digital voice recorder, give it a try, and prepare for a shock. I have a Southern Twang (think Holly Hunter "lite"). And yesterday in taping that section for you, I didn't try to cover it up; in fact, I may have emphasized it for fun. Webmaster Todd is converting it to a file that will work on Blogger, and I should be posting it in the next day or so. If you like it, I'll keep recording; if you don't, I'll spare you the torture. ; ) Basically, what I'm doing is letting you all hear what I read when I do a book signing. Coming up tomorrow: Writing atmosphere, aka the work setting that makes me the most productive. And later in the week, I'll post my answer to the following question: How many books will there be in the Raine series? Is there an ending in sight? And if/when there is, have you considered writing another series or stand alone books? Lisa
Snippet from The Trouble with Demons
As promised, here's a snippet from The Trouble with Demons:
Running sounded like a real good idea. As a Benares, I'd been taught that there's no shame in running, only in being caught. I ran, but not to get away from the mob. I ran to catch a murdering bastard demon. I didn't know if it was what they thought they'd seen me do, or the fact that I was running straight at them, but the mob who'd just called me a murderer got out of my way. Vegard shouted for me to stop. I ignored him and kept going; he'd catch up. He always did. Phaelan was already beside me. What I was after didn't make any difference to my cousin; I'd found trouble and he wasn't about to miss a second of it. When all this was over, I needed to have a long talk with Phaelan about his mental stability. While I was at it, I might want to check into my own. Tall, naked and purple wasn't trying to get away from me; the demon wanted me to follow him, and I was obliging him. That wasn't healthy, mentally or otherwise. But I didn't have any choice. He was back on the street, running through innocent bystanders and heading toward campus. Hundreds of young magic users, some knew how to defend themselves, most hadn't learned yet. I had to take him down before he got there. Problem was, I had no freaking clue how. Have a great weekend! Lisa
Upcoming cool stuff
Happy Friday, everybody! I thought I'd let you in on some cool new stuff that I'll be doing. 1. Webmaster Todd should have my website updates done and live late this evening. The updates will include the cover photo and synopsis for The Trouble with Demons; updates to the HOME, NEWS, EVENTS, and BOOKS pages; adding to the FUN STUFF TO READ page the series of blogs I did on "Things I didn't know until I was published," and more.
2. I'll be posting short snippets from The Trouble with Demons. In fact, I'll be posting the first one tomorrow. These will be a couple of sentences or a paragraph or two. A little something to tide you over until I can post the first three chapters in December.
3. Now this is the cool one. ; ) As I said the other day, I had a brainstorming phone call with my editor. And so I wouldn't have to take notes, I used my digital voice recorder. I never really thought I had a Southern accent -- oh man, was I wrong. LOL! I guess when you're born, raised, and have lived in North Carolina all your life, you'll probably have a wee bit of a twang. Well, I've got one, in spades. But to show that I'll do danged near anything to entertain you all (or ya'll as we say here), I'm going to post recordings of me reading from sections of MLTF and A&M -- just like I'd do at a book signing. Since most of you can't get to one of my events, I'll bring the event to you. Webmaster Todd is working out some of the details so I can give you the best quality recording possible. I'll let you know when you'll be able to hear some good ol' Southern-fried elf. ; )
Drop back by tomorrow for the snippet from The Trouble with Demons, and have yourselves a great Friday!
Lisa
Book stats & The art of the agent search
A question from a friend, fan, and my Yahoo Group fan club moderator (hi Tairis!) prompted me to look up the word counts on my books. For Ace Books (my publisher and the fantasy imprint for Penguin Group USA), the preferred word count is between 90K-100K words. When my agent put Magic Lost, Trouble Found out on submission, it weighed in at 116K words (and this was after some extensive editing at Kristin's recommendation). I think it started out at 122K. After Anne Sowards at Ace Books bought MLTF and once she and I worked together on another round of edits (deleting some subplots/characters that were great but were just too much for one book), the word count decreased again to 108K. That's the word count it was published at. BTW -- A lot of those deleted scenes and chapters from MLTF are in my "Fun Stuff to Read" page here on my site under "Outtakes from MLTF" if you're interested in reading them. They contain quite a few characters that didn't make the final cut. Here are the word counts for my books so far:Magic Lost, Trouble Found = 108,000 words Armed & Magical = 88,000 words The Trouble with Demons = 114,000 words For those of you who want my books to be longer, so you have more to read and enjoy, The Trouble with Demons will be my longest book so far. And it is jam packed with non-stop action. It'll be out in April, but I should be able to post three sample chapters in December as a Christmas present for you all. My agent Kristin Nelson, posted about The Art of the Agent Search last night in her blog. There's also a great link in her post to GalleyCat on the Overlooked Art of Agent Research. Be sure to read that one too. Actually, GalleyCat is packed full of book industry insider goodies. If you're looking to get into the publishing game anytime soon, you might want to add it to your daily blog reading. Lisa
Cool conference call
Well, I'm happy to announce that I'm over the Chapter 3 "speedbump" and am now about a third of the way through the chapter. Yea! Yesterday after I got home from my day job, I had a conference call with Anne Sowards, my amazing editor at Ace Books. Since I'm just starting to write the fourth book in my Raine Benares series, I wanted Anne's take on things, bounce some ideas off of her -- general brainstorming both for this book and future books. Sometimes I can't see the trees for the forest, meaning a really cool plot twist is right there in front of me, and because I might be focused on the "big picture," I simply can't see it. Or as I like to say, sometimes the obvious eludes me. ; ) Just talking with Anne opened my eyes to some really exciting plot twists -- for Bewitched & Betrayed and future books as well. After I hung up the phone, my brain was going non-stop, popping out new ideas, interesting variations on existing ideas, and opening up a whole new world of possibilities. Exciting stuff! ; ) BTW -- Webmaster Todd will be updating my website this week to include the cover photo and synopsis for The Trouble with Demons; updates to the HOME, NEWS, EVENTS, and BOOKS pages; adding to the FUN STUFF TO READ page the series of blogs I did on "Things I didn't know until I was published," and more. Keep checking back; the updates should be made in the next few days.
Lisa
The Chapter 3 Speedbump
Yep, I've hit it again -- The Chapter 3 Speedbump -- or more accurately, I've run smack dab into the Chapter 3 Wall. It happens with every single book, every single time. And since it's become a regular occurrance, it doesn't freak me out anymore. I know that slamming into a wall after Chapter 2 is perfectly normal for me and it doesn't mean that I'm completely and utterly screwed. Chapter 1 and 2 are the big action chapters that launch the book, Chapter 3 launches the story. Launching a book is different from launching a story. Chapter 3 begins the section where I have to start weaving my subplots into the main story line. My problem is without fail that I have too danged much stuff that I want to fit in. After straining my brain last night for several hours, I came up empty. It was late, I was tired, so I backed up what little writing I had accomplished, and turned off my computer. On my way out of my office, I stopped and stared at my wall of post-its (see last Tuesday's blog entry for how I used post-its to plot). THEN it came to me what I needed to do with Chapter 3. (snort) Figures. Since I'd already shut down my computer, I went with the trusty notepad to scribble my inspiration. Hours of butt in chair in front of the computer = Nothing. Five seconds of standing in front of a wall of post-its = Problem solved. Jeez, don't you just love the creative process? ; ) Don't forget that Felicia Day (my fan and a fabulous actress) is the "patient of the week" on tonight's episode of House at 8:00. There are clips from the episode on the House website. I'll be on the couch in front of the TV snuggled up with Derek & the dogs. Lisa
Getting to know your characters
COMING UP: Webmaster Todd will be updating my website this week to include the cover photo and synopsis for The Trouble with Demons; updates to the HOME, NEWS, EVENTS, and BOOKS pages; adding to the FUN STUFF TO READ page the series of blogs I did on "Things I didn't know until I was published," and more. Keep checking back for the updates. Yesterday, Derek & I had a great time at a pig pickin' /birthday party for sci/fi author David Drake. Dave & Jo Drake have an amazing and incredibly cool house (bookshelves and books are literally everywhere). Mark Van Name, sci/fi author and long-time friend of Dave, posted about the party this morning in his blog, complete with photos. Pop over to Mark's blog if you'd like and enjoy! Today, I'm answering a question that Kara asked last week: You always say listen to your characters, right? What about when you are starting a book and you don't know them -- so you don't what they would or wouldn't do? How do you know you're on the right track? Or do you? When I was first starting the Raine series, the characters came first and then the story started to follow soon after. So it was a journey of discovery for me and my characters. I knew Raine pretty well already, and through her, I got to know Tam, Mychael, Piaras, and Phaelan. Kind of like a friend introducing you to their friends. But having Raine introduce me wasn't enough to get a complete sense of who the other characters were, their motivations, and basically what makes them tick. I'd always read about literally interviewing your characters, or figuratively taking them out to dinner. I've tried both, and it worked for some characters, but not for others. I do have a tip for you on the "dinner thing" -- if you want to have a dinner date with one of your characters, let them pick the restaurant. Because subconsciously, you know more about your characters than you think you do, and that'll show in the kind of restaurant the character chooses. For example, Sarad Nukpana does not do burgers. His preferences run toward dimly lit, elegant, with a somallier that he can enjoy intimidating. Piaras loves a good burger (actually three burgers, he's having another growth spurt), and Phaelan will go anywhere where there are gorgeous waitresses. He'd be a Hooters man for casual dining, but a private gentleman's club for fancier fare. Once you know the type of personality you're dealing with, you put your characters in the scene you have in mind and turn them loose. They'll take it from there. As always, if anyone has a writing-related question, just respond to the blog or email me, and I'll do my best to answer it for you. It's Monday again, try to make it a good one. ; ) Lisa
Couches and cover letters
 Derek took this photo of me, the pups, and the kitty from the loft. Note the TV remote on my chest. Hmmm, it must have been one of those rare breaks I take to enjoy a little TV. ; ) Today, I finish Chapter 2 of Bewitched & Betrayed (come hell or high water). Lisa
Manic Friday
We're moving offices here today at my day job, and I just now got my Internet connection restored. I'm in a different office now, and I'll post a pic when I get it set up. I'll post a Saturday Fun Pic tomorrow, and on Monday I'll answer the following reader question on knowing your characters: You always say listen to your characters, right? What about when you are starting a book and you don't know them -- so you don't what they would or wouldn't do? How do you know you're on the right track? Or do you? Great question, and I'll answer it on Monday. Happy Friday! Lisa
The Trouble with Demons -- The Cover!
 As promised, here it is -- the final cover for The Trouble with Demons. (Click on the image to see a larger version).And late yesterday afternoon, I got the final back cover copy. Enjoy!
My name is Raine Benares. I'm a seeker. People hire me when they need something found. I'm not usually the one being sought. But that all changed when I found the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone of unlimited power -- and the bane of my existence. Now mages and madmen have me in their sights, not to mention demons . . . An opened Hellgate leads to a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid, and while there's never an ideal time to face down demon hordes, it's hard to imagine a worse one. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides -- and Raine's stuck in the middle. But with demons pouring through the Hellgate, Raine can't afford to be distracted. Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she's a magical cataclysm waiting to happen . . .
Coming up tomorrow: I'll answer a reader question on getting to know your characters.
Let me know what you think about the cover,
Lisa
Embracing the chaos
UPDATE: I just got the final cover for The Trouble with Demons and will be posting it here tomorrow morning. It rocks!Well, I'm in the middle of Chapter 2 of Bewitched & Betrayed, and Raine's uncovered a conspiracy and a setup -- naturally, she's smack dab in the middle of both of them. I know what's gonna happen with Chapter 3 -- I'm going to run into a wall. It's happened with every book so far, and I'd be stunned (but incredibly happy) if it didn't happen with this one. I don't know what it is about the massive speed bump between Chapters 2 and 3, but I get it every time. Which brings me to the topic of today's blog -- Embracing the chaos. My normal preference is to work with a complete outline. Guess what? I don't have one for this book. So I'm writing without a net, swimming in the deep end, whatever metaphor you prefer for "I don't know what the hell's gonna happen next." That being said, I do have the beginning, the ending, and a couple of big events in between, but that's all. And I'm doing what I can to make myself at peace with that. I mean, what else am I gonna do? After three books, I'm finally having to admit, accept, and now embrace that my writing brain is a chaotic place. Combine this with a love of complex plots . . . and well, the next 8 months are going to be interesting. ; ) Viva le joy of discovery! Lisa
Wall of plot post-it notes
 As promised, here is the wall of Post-It notes I've used to help flesh out my plots for Bewitched & Betrayed, and Book 5 (to be named later). Book 5 hasn't been sold to my publisher yet. Once I turn in B&B in May, I'll jump on writing a synopsis for Books 5 & 6 in hopes that my publisher will want to buy them. If you all continue to buy my books, my publisher will continue to buy my books. ; ) So if you've read MLTF and/or A&M and loved them, please spread the word -- I've got lots of Raine stories to tell. I'll keep adding to the wall as new sections of plot come to me. I still have no idea where a new villain (a woman, BTW) makes her entrance. But when she's ready, I'm sure she'll let me know. I got 5 pages done on Chapter 2 yesterday, and hope to do the same today. Though at 8:00 tonight, I'll have to stop for an hour to watch my fan and a fabulous actress Felicia Day on the season premier of House. I think she's the "patient of the week." I can't wait to see this. Update: According to a Twitter from Felicia, her episode is NEXT Tuesday. Reading at the moment: Dead Beat by Jim Butcher (this is a re-read), and I have been WAY overdue in reading my author friend Ilona Andrew's latest, Magic Burns. I'm loving this book! Coming up tomorrow: Embracing the chaos that is my writing brain. Lisa
Post-Its & a blank wall -- a writer's best friend
This weekend was the final push to get enough of the plot for Bewitched & Betrayed worked out so I could jump back into writing Chapter 2. I did something I hadn't done in years -- post-it notes and a blank wall. It worked like a charm. (I'll see if I can remember to take a pic of the wall tonight and post it here tomorrow.)
I was having two problems: the book was just too big, and I couldn't wrap my head around everything at once. So I put each character's name on a post-it and arranged them in categories: main characters, good guys, villains, and the people who you're not gonna be so sure about. (Good or evil? Uh dunno. ) Then I did a post-it for each element in the main plot, and one for every element in any and every subplot. Then I started to arrange them in sequence -- the main plot was in order of occurrance on the top row, subplots on the next row, elements that needed to be woven in throughout the story on the third row, and the things that just didn't quite fit below that. When I did this, it was obvious what fit and what didn't.
And the biggest revelation of all -- what I thought was one book is actually two books. It's twins!
I'll leave the post-its up and keep adding to them as I write. I can HIGHLY recommend this as a way to see where you are, where you're going, and what you need to do to get there.
Happy Monday -- do what you can to make it a good one,
Lisa
Great photo from the book signing
 Jo Drake (wife of sci-fi author David Drake) sent me this photo she took at Tuesday night's book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Cary, NC. I was doing the signing with James Maxey ( Bitterwood and Dragonforge) and Mark Van Name ( One Jump Ahead and Slanted Jack). James and Mark are ones sitting down. I'm standing behind Mark and next to David Drake (author of a gazillion sci-fi books, stories, essays, etc.) Dave is a good friend of Mark's. As you can tell, we all had a great time. Have a wonderful weekend! Lisa
A cat, coffee, and a honey bun
Last night I was trying to figure out how and when a new villain makes their entrance in Betwiched & Betrayed, and sitting at my desk staring down a computer screen was just freezing me up. So last night I sat on the floor of my office, next to a bookcase, leaning against a wall, a notepad on my knee. Natasha (aka Tasha Kitty or Princess Kitty) was lying next to me on her back, with much purring and rolling around, wearing her best "pet me" look. I obeyed. Earlier, I'd unpacked a shipment of office supplies from Staples and put the box on its side for Natasha to play in. Oh, and I was having a big cup of coffee with a honey bun -- good, wholesome brain food. In addition to figuring out the villain's entrance event (meeting, ambush, embassy reception, negotiation talks, the possibilities are endless -- and that's part of the problem), there are a few final plot questions that I have to answer before I jump back into writing Chapter 2 or I know from past experience that I'll regret it big time. By Sunday night, it will be done; and on Monday, it's back to work actually writing the book. Today's piece of advice is if you're stuck, or trying to fill in a plot hole, or just looking for a different perspective on what you're working on -- get away from your usual writing zone and go somewhere different, even if it's just a few feet away. It worked for me last night. Happy Friday! Lisa
Simplification -- It's a beautiful thing
Those of you who've read my books know that I have a tendency toward packing a lot of action into 300 pages. With one main character (Raine), four supporting characters (Mychael, Tam, Phaelan, and Piaras), the villains (it's always fun to have more than one), and the "special guest" characters -- my books are packed tighter than my suitcase going to a convention.
But there is too much of a good thing. As my editor said when she was making recommendations for trimming MLTF, "You've just got too much good stuff for one book." That's what I'm wrestling with now -- deciding what subplots, scenes, and new characters have to wait until future books. Though yesterday something very important came to me and I typed as fast as I could. With a little polish, those four sentences could make great back cover copy. And believe me, back cover copy ain't easy to do, so I was thrilled to have this pop into my head before the book is even started good yet. Those four sentences say " this is what this book is about." I have now achieved pinpoint plot focus -- yea! Now I'm running it by my editor to see if she likes it. (fingers crossed) Lisa
Last night's book signing
Last night's book signing was a blast! The audience had fun, the authors had fun, and afterwards the authors/spouses/friends went out for burgers at a local diner -- a win-win for everyone. For those of you who haven't been reading my blog lately, I had a booksigning last night at the Barnes & Noble in Cary, NC, with James Maxey and Mark Van Name. Mark wrote a wonderful account of the evening in his blog this morning, so rather than try to do the same here, just pop over to Mark's blog and enjoy. BTW -- After I check email every morning, Marks' blog is the first thing I read. Great guy, wonderful blog -- and he blogs 7 days a week. Impressive. Also impressive and way cool was that David Drake came to the signing. Dave doesn't see why anyone would be thrilled to meet him, but I was and told him so. Heck, the man's a sci-fi legend -- check out his bibliography. Dang! Dave's a good friend of Mark's. Thank you to Linda Maloof and Buck at the Cary Barnes & Noble for as always being gracious hosts, and as you can see in the photos below, this store has an amazing space to host events. And it's also cool and convenient that I consider it my "home" B&N store. Whenever I shop for books, that's where I go.
 The panel: me, James Maxey (love the Hawaiian shirt), and Mark Van Name.
 Derek (my hubby) took this photo just as we were getting started. People continued to come in, the seats filled, and there was standing room only. Cool. That's Linda Maloof up front introducing the three of us.
 James Maxey and Mark Van Name (seated)
David Drake and me behind them.
Coming up tomorrow: Narrowing the plot focus for Bewitched & Betrayed even further by applying the KISS principle. Lisa
Writing without a net. No way.
Today, I was going to talk about how writing a novel is the ultimate mind puzzle. Believe me, it is. Those of you who are writers know that human gray matter has to go through all kinds of contortions to determine how a book gets from beginning to end, where the main characters make their entrance, what turns a snooze-fest of a plot into a page turner of a novel. Yesterday, I remembered something I'd told myself months ago, something very important that I needed to do before I started writing Bewitched & Betrayed. Yesterday, I realized that I hadn't done it. Go back and flesh out the plot before I started writing. When I sold The Trouble with Demons and Bewitched & Betrayed to my publisher in the spring of last year, I did so with a synopsis for each book. For Demons, I had a complete synopsis -- beginning to end and everything in between. Of course, as usual I deviated somewhat from that synopsis, but that was okay; the entire plot was there for me if I needed to refer back to it while writing the book. And I did, many times. Well . . . with Bewitched & Betrayed, I did a "half synopsis." Since I didn't know exactly what was going to happen in Demons, I couldn't be concrete about the plot for B&B. So in the B&B synopsis for my publisher, I hit the highpoints, the new characters who would come into play, and their motivations. I even had the ending. Sounds kind of like a complete plot, doesn't it? I discovered that for me "kind of" doesn't cut it. I read back over the "synopsis" I wrote, and it reads like back jacket copy. You would read it and go, "Oh man, I want to read that book!" And my publisher did, because they bought it. But I need more in order to write the book. I got the first five pages of Chapter 2 done last night, and realized I need to stop and get the plot finalized before I go any further. If I don't, I'm gonna regret it big time. So for the rest of this week, that's what I'm going to do -- finalize the plot for Bewitched & Betrayed. I'm sure it will change (they always do), but by Sunday night I will have a workable (and writable) plot, something to make sure that I don't go off track. Tonight I won't be working on the plot, because I'll be at the Barnes & Noble in Cary, NC, tonight at 7:00 doing a booksigning/discussion/Q&A with fellow authors James Maxey and Mark Van Name. If you're in the Raleigh/Durham area, drop in and introduce yourself. Derek (my husband, manager, and arm candy) will be taking pictures, and I'll post them here tomorrow. Time to put my nose to the grindstone. Lisa
Updates and news
The Trouble with Demons news: I got an email on Friday afternoon from my editor Anne Sowards at Ace Books. She loved the edits I did for The Trouble with Demons, so that book is DONE. WOOT!! The next step is copy editing (checking for spelling and grammar), and then it'll be typeset. I hope to be posting the first couple of chapters as a Christmas present for you all. And hopefully in the next few weeks, my publisher's art department will have the final version of the cover ready. Believe me, as soon as I get it, I'll post it here. This cover is amazing; words cannot describe how much I love it. Bewitched & Betrayed update: I finished Chapter 1 late yesterday, and have a jump start on Chapter 2. Typically the first couple chapters of a book are tough for me -- building up my writing momentum, I guess. Since I'm just getting started, I'll probably only be able to do a chapter a week; but once I get the book going, I'll need to go to two chapters a week. Not easy, but necessary when I'm due to deliver the book in eight months. And a reminder for those of you in the Raleigh/Durham, NC, area -- My booksigning at the Cary, NC, Barnes & Noble is tomorrow night at 7:00. Fantasy author James Maxey and Sci-Fi author Mark Van Name will be signing with me, and we'll all be discussing our books and answering questions. Coming up tomorrow: How writing a book is the ultimate mind puzzle. Lisa
Tropical Storm Hanna
It's about 8:00 AM Saturday morning, and we're sitting smack dab under the middle of Tropical Storm Hanna (or for the weather geeks out there -- myself included -- the "center of circulation.") She's moving fast (or so the weather folks say), and should be mostly out of North Carolina by mid-afternoon. The beaches are getting the high winds, the folks west of I-95 (that would be us) are getting the lion's share of the rain. We've had about 4 inches since midnight, but the wind hasn't been bad so far. A LOT of flooding though. Fortunately, we're not near any creeks or rivers, so we're good. They're calling for up to 7 inches before God shuts off the water works. The only problem I'm having this morning is the whole "dogs going potty" thing. The greyhounds (Andy & Gracie) ran outside and peed (yea!). Lucy (our Jack Russell) just ran outside and stood on the deck. I'd have been fine with her peeing on the deck, but the look she gave me said that wasn't gonna happen. No one wanted to go outside and poop after breakfast. Needless to say, I keeping an eye on the rain (and the dogs), and whenever it lets up, I'll try again to get the pack outside. They still look at me like I'm nuts. Oh, a funny thing happened. And yes, I'll admit to it. It's raining so hard that even the cicadas don't want to be out in it. A cicada is a bug. It's about two inches long, and looks like cross between a fat cockroach and a beetle -- with wings and bulgy eyeballs. There was one snuggled up to the door on the deck. (I didn't know this yet.) I opened the back door, shooed the dogs out on the deck, dashed outside with them (they're not going out there if I won't), and I quickly closed the door. Well . . . apparently the door touched the cicada in some way and annoyed it greatly. (Oh, and did I tell you these things are famous for their noise?) The black, monster bug screamed and flew right at my face. I jumped and screamed, and immediately opened the door and yelled in the house: "It's okay, just a cicada!" because I knew Derek was gonna come running to see what the scream was about. He turned around and went back to bed. All of this had the undesired effect of upsetting Gracie the Greyhound so much that she only ate half of her breakfast. But considering that she refuses to go outside and poop, this is probably a good thing. Gonna go get coffee now and start writing, Lisa
Procrastination -- Or how to do anything except write
**Sorry that I'm posting my blog later than usual today. Blogger was having problems No, I wasn't procrastinating. ; ) ** Before I get to today's blog, I thought I'd tell you all about our trip to the grocery store yesterday. As of this morning Tropical Storm Hanna looks like it'll be 40 mph winds, heavy rain, and tornado warnings here in central North Carolina. While that's nothing to sneeze at, it's not much to get worked up about either. Bring in the plants, put the trash can in the garage, and we're pretty much done with our storm prep. But yesterday, we weren't all that sure (and neither was anyone else), and besides we normally do our grocery shopping on Saturday morning. And if we have 40 mph winds and it's raining sideways, I'd just assume get the shopping out of the way. Folks here aren't worried about Hanna; we've got our eyes on Ike for next week. I mean come on, naming a hurricane after Tina Turner's abusive ex-husband is just asking for trouble. As a result of getting our shopping done, we now have plenty of canned goods and kibble (canned goods for me and Derek, kibble for the dogs and cat). Oh, and a big, honkin' box of honey buns. No way am I gonna be potentially stuck in the house without snacks. And this week, I've got a sweet tooth. No Cheez-Its. What fascinates me is what other people get for storm supplies (be it a hurricane or an ice storm). We saw a guy in the grocery store store parking lot who had a different take on hurricane necessities. He had two cases of beer and one bag of chips. I dunno, I think if it were me I'd have sprung for two bags of chips, one for each case of beer, just for nutritional balance if nothing else. Though with the last hurricane to come through here, some friends of ours said they were all set food-wise -- a box of cereal and plenty of rum. And last night at the store, I noticed there was a big run on Goldfish crackers; there were a couple of lonely boxes left at the far back of the shelf, but that was it. Interesting. Though I'm one to talk. We bought the usual hurricane necessities -- and a "jeweled" hair barrette. Wonder what the checkout guy thought about that? Hey, I needed that hair barrette; it was cute. Though that's not the most bizarre combination of things I've ever bought at the grocery store. Derek and I once went through the checkout with a bottle of champagne and a box of butter. Oh yeah, we definitely got a look from the bag boy. Hey, get your minds out of the gutter -- I was baking cookies. Okay, the champagne was for something else. Okay, now on to procrastination. The fine art. The sweet science. The bane of a writer's deadline. I don't remember how I procrastinated before the Internet came along, but I'm sure I found something to lure me away from the humongous manual typewriter I wrote my two "practice novels" on. Procrastination and writing go hand in hand. Nowadays most writers (including myself) write on computers, and most of those computers are connected to the Internet. Some writers can claim research as an excuse. I can't. I'm a fantasy writer; what I write, I make up. Don't need the Internet for that. That's the main reason why I'm so productive at my family's mountain cabin -- no Internet, no TV, three radio stations. That's it. I get an amazing amount of work done. Hmmm, I wonder why? To stay on track (and on deadline), I'm taking the "just say no" approach to surfing. I love chatting with my blog/livejournal/yahoo buddies, and I'll admit to being a news addict (and at the moment, a rabid weather addict). When your friends IM you to find out what the weather's doing, you know you're at The Weather Channel's site WAY too much. When I'm online, I lose track of time. I think we all do. Of course the exception is responding to comments on my blog and answering fan emails. I'll always make time for that. : ) Happy Friday! And for those of you in Hanna or Ike's path -- drink your beer, eat your chips, and stay safe & dry. ; ) Lisa Coming up on tomorrow's Saturday Fun Pic: I'm not sure what I'm going to post yet. Possibly a pic of the greyhounds, possibly an action shot of something blowing sideways down the street. Dunno. Pop back by tomorrow and see what I come up with.
A really cool surprise
My covers have Raine on them, and only Raine on them. And more than likely, that will always be the case (so sayeth my publisher). But a lot of you have been dying to know what Mychael and Tam look like, so I thought that I'd get an artist to render a really good pencil drawing of each of them. I could post it here on my site, and you all could finally see what the men in Raine's life look like. Well . . . I know an amazing artist. She's recently read the books and is now a fan. And she paints portraits. She's going to paint two portraits in either oil or acrylic -- one of Tam and one of Mychael. I had lunch with her yesterday and she showed me her first sketch of Tam. Oh. My. Needless to say, I cannot wait to see these. I don't know when they'll be finished. She's a perfectionist, so I told her to take her time and get them exactly the way she wants them. She'll probably be doing Tam's portrait first, so I'll post it when it's done. I feel like a kid at Christmas. : ) I know I was supposed to blog on Procrastination today, but I'll put it off until tomorrow. ; ) Lisa
Book writing is hard work
A reminder about my booksigning next week: Tuesday, September 9 at 7:00 PM Barnes & Noble Cary Commons
760 SE Maynard Rd.
Cary, NC 27511
I'll be doing a booksigning/discussion with acclaimed fantasy author James Maxey, and award-winning Sci/Fi author Mark L. Van Name. This Barnes & Noble is an awesome location for a booksigning; James and I had a blast last time we were there. If you're in the area on that date, bring your questions and join us for what promises to be a fun-filled evening! Now back to our regularly scheduled blog -- For those of you who think writers think of a story, then sit down and cruise through that first draft, you're ever so slightly mistaken. In fact, you're downright wrong. For me, and for many writers, writing that first draft is like squeezing blood out of a rock. It's difficult to get started, the middle is a quagmire, and the endings are a bear. Let's face it, writing is hard work. Is there a part of a book that I don't have difficulty with, that doesn't give me fits? Apparently not. But I love it, or I wouldn't do it. I'm a sick girl, aren't I? ; ) I know I have to have a solid first draft to get to the part where I have the most fun -- the rewrites. (Yeah, I enjoy rewrites. I'm sick that way, too. It's the editor in me.) The first draft is for getting the story down. Everything after that is weaving in the magic and bringing it to life. Now that's what I call fun. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of the "joy of discovery" in those first drafts -- when the story goes off in an unexpected (and completely cool) direction, when a new character suddenly makes an entrance, or when an established character does something completely out of character (and it not only works, but rocks). Coming up tomorrow: I'm having a lunch meeting today, and hopefully I can announce a surprise from that. I'll also talk about procrastination.
Coming up on Friday: How writing a book is the ultimate mind puzzle. Lisa
Writing update, fun links, and more
Update on Bewitched & Betrayed: I'm writing Chapter 1 now, and it's going great! For one thing, I was trying to cram too much stuff into one book (but that's normal for me). So, I've narrowed my focus. A lot. So of the nearly 200 pages of notes, a few of those subplots have been pushed back to future books. I was simply trying to wrap my brain around too much stuff, and it simply wouldn't fit (either in my brain or on the screen). On Saturday, I copied and pasted the dialogue/scenes I thought I'd use in Chapter 1 into a new Word document. It was about ten pages worth, mostly single-spaced. On Sunday I worked with my Chapter 1 notes, adding to some, and generally got them into the order I wanted the chapter to take. Yesterday morning I started writing and got five pages done -- a good day's work. My brain's already started working on Chapters 2 & 3. It's possible that I'll run into a wall after Chapter 2 or 3 (just like I did with The Trouble with Demons), but maybe not. Who knows? Each book is different.
I'm a happy (and relieved) writer. ; )
Last week, Elizabeth over at PaperBackSwap.com emailed me and told me about a cookbook that their members are doing. She was asking some of the club's favorite authors if they'd like to submit a recipe for the cookbook. I sent her my most treasured family recipe -- my mom's recipe for Ginger Ale Pound Cake. If you're interested in ordering a cookbook (with over 350 recipes), go to their site and place your order. And in research for Bewitched & Betrayed, here's a book I'm reading: Book of Poisons by Serita Stevens and Anne Bannon. *Tomorrow I'm having a lunch meeting and hope to have some cool news to tell you on Thursday.Lisa
|
|
