ARCs for The Trouble with Demons

Look what arrived on my front porch on Thursday -- ARCs of The Trouble with Demons. : ) Two months from today, it'll be bookstores everywhere -- about danged time. I've been as impatient waiting for you all to read it as you have to get your hands on it.

However that also means that two months from yesterday, Bewitched & Betrayed is due to my publisher. Freakin' yikes! You guys should see my office. Normally, I'm a neat freak, but when I'm in the home stretch of writing a book, all thoughts of neat go right out the window. My focus is on the screen, not on the clutter that's on the desk and floor around the screen.

This weekend I'm rewriting a love scene chapter (Thank you, Linnea!!!), and then it's back to my one-chapter-a-day polish. That'll take back me up to Chapter 19 where I stopped writing. I anticipate 25 chapters. All that in eight weeks. Though I prefer to think of it as two months, it kinda sounds longer that way.

As to the ARCs of The Trouble with Demons . . . hopefully there are two more copies on the way from my publisher. (Thank you, Cam!!) I'd like to have a contest or two and get those ARCs into two readers' happy hands. Signed and personalized of course with additional book goodies.

Can you think of any fun (but easy for this overworked author) contest ideas?

Lisa

Fresh (or not) off the treadmill

Okay, I'm not going to blog on what I said I was going to blog on today. I'll blog on that Monday. Here's the topic: It's something encountering in the final edits of Bewitched & Betrayed: If you set up a plot twist in your manuscript, you've got to pay it off -- either that, or take it out. It's basically a case of too much stuff for one book (a regular problem for me). I'll tell how I decide what stays and what goes.

My morning schedule is a little wacked today because I've decided since I don't have to be at my day job until 9:00, I can get my butt upstairs and log 20 mins of treadmill time every morning (since I always find an excuse not to do it at night). Now all I need to do is find a laptop attachment for my treadmill and I can blog and check email while speed walking -- multitasking at its finest. Any product suggestions are welcome.

I want to talk books. Yesterday, I got my copy of Rob Thurman's Deathwish (the fourth book in her Cal Leandros series). Folks, if you like dark, snarky urban fantasy -- GO GET THIS BOOK. Heck, go get the series. Next to Jim Butcher, this girl's books rock my world.

Next, is Linnea Sinclair's Hope's Folly which hit the shelves on Tuesday. Hot and romantic, and primo sci-fi. This lady knows her stuff and can spin a story like nobody's business. I'll be hitting B&N for my copy this weekend. A must have. (Gabriel's Ghost and Shades of Dark are great pre-reads for this one.) Treat yourself to all of them.

Burn Notice. I LOT of my author buds wouldn't miss this show. It's on USA network, and if you go online you can catch some episodes for free. Derek & I love it so much we ordered the first season on DVD -- we have NEVER done that before. Yes, it's that good. Great spy fun, fabulous characters, complex & twisty plots, lots of snappy & snarky dialogue. Needless to say, this is my favorite show, and a DVD is perfect for me since I don't get to watch TV on a regular basis because I'm hard at work writing books for all of you. ; ) I do love to keep you guys happy.

Tomorrow for the Saturday fun pic, I'll show you what arrived at my front porch yesterday from my publisher via the kind folks at FedEx.

Now must fix and consume breakfast, take shower, get dressed, and get to my day job.

Happy Friday, people! We made it!
Lisa

P.S: Can you tell I'm hyped on exercise endorphins??? Woot!!

Locus magazine

Today I want to give a shout out to Locus, the magazine of the science fiction & fantasy publishing industry. Their website is chock full of goodies, but I always look forward to getting my copy of the magazine in the mail every month. (that's where the really good stuff is). Yeah, I'll admit it, it's always fun to see my name in the People section or an article/listing about upcoming books.

Locus is a little pricey, but in my opinion worth it. ($34 for 6 issues and $60 for 12 issues). But they cover absolutely everything that happens in the industry. And if you're to the point in your writing career where you can take tax deductions, magazine subscriptions in your field are one of them. But if you just want to give it a try, most newsstands including the one at your local Barnes & Noble or Borders probably carries it. If you're an aspiring SciFi/Fantasy author, it's well worth checking out.

The next issue is March and it might be of special interest to all of you, both readers and writers. It covers "Forthcoming Books through December 2009." Always a good issue to help you plan your TBR pile for the rest of the year. ; )

Sorry for the short post, but I'm swamped this morning. And I get my stitches out today from my root canal. Problem is, I think the temporary filling came loose yesterday. Oh well, that's why they call it "temporary." Judging from the way my mouth is throbbing this morning, I guess I'll be getting that permanent filling ASAP.

Tomorrow I'll blog on something I'm encountering in the final edits of Bewitched & Betrayed: If you set up a plot twist in your manuscript, you've got to pay it off -- either that, or take it out. It's basically a case of too much stuff for one book (a regular problem for me).

Lisa

Backing up my work

Shana recently had a blog topic question for me, and it's a great one for all you writers out there -- how do you back up your work?

For those of you who've written books, you know how you'd react if suddenly your one and only copy/source for your precioussss suddenly vanished into thin air. A couple years ago, I heard of a bestselling author who works on a typewriter and accidentally tossed his one and only copy of his latest manuscript on a freakin' bonfire (he was burning old office papers). I just shook my head in disbelief when I read that one. For the rest of us who use modern (but still failable) technology, for probably more than a few authors, it'd be good move on their family's part to put away the breakables, hide the knives, and get the hell out of the house. Writers are high-strung creatures; trust me, it's gonna get ugly.

This is why you back your work up six ways from Sunday.

Here's what I do, and from what I've heard and read, my precautions aren't obsessive in the least; in fact, they're rather tame.

I have two thumb drives: one lives in my cavernous pocketbook, the other in a drawer in my day-job office. That's the key to successful backup -- divide and conquer. DO NOT keep all of your backups in one place. So every night when I'm finished writing, I backup what I've done from my laptop to my thumb drive, then the next morning when I go to the day job, I back it up from one thumb drive to the other.

I also back up my work on a finished chapter basis to my husband's laptop. He keeps a folder on his desktop just for me.

And I'd been hearing for quite some time about authors emailing their work nightly to their gmail accounts. I now do that as well. Gmail is danged near limitless sizewise, it's free, and most importantly, it gets your work waaay offsite. So if (God forbid) there was a simultaneous fire at both my home and day-job office, I wouldn't be SOL (that's "Shit Out of Luck") for anyone who hasn't heard that one before.

So backup is good, backup is your friend, and backup can save not only your work but your sanity.

If you have a backup method that you use and I didn't cover here, please share it with the group. You might just help save a fellow author's work -- maybe even mine. ; )

Lisa

Drive-by book signings

Kristin Nelson (my agent) has a wonderful daily blog called Pub Rants. If you don't already make this part of your morning (or late evening) blog reading, do so -- especially for those of you who are pre-published. Kristin gives a priceless look at the publishing industry from an insider's point of view. You'll learn something new every day. I never miss it.

In her blog last night, Kristin posted on one of her new authors, Jamie Ford, who has made it big with his debut novel, Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. His blog yesterday is about his thoughts on book touring.

Jamie had a link in his post to J.A. Konrath's post on the "how-to" on book tours and drop-in book signings. This is great stuff to add to your stack of things to remember when you sign that contract and go from pre-published writer to published author. Enjoy!

Lisa

Bewitched & Betrayed -- final draft started

Early last week, I was about five chapters from the end of Bewitched & Betrayed, words flowing like water and suddenly that flow stopped.

Crap.

With previous books, I'd push and shove for a few days or even a week before I would realize what had happened. I guess this being my fourth book, it recognized the signs quicker, like within an hour or two. The exact same thing has happened with my other books, and this one is apparently going true to form, which is a good and reassuring thing. I've never been able to write a first draft straight through to the end.

So what causes me to slam on the brakes?

It happens because I know there are sections of the book that need work, new characters need to be named, dialog/action tags need to be put in. All of this has to be done before I can write those last few chapters. Essentially, unless the foundation and walls of the house are solid, I can't put a roof on the thing yet. So . . . time to start Draft 2.

Last week, I dropped back and started the final polish on Chapter 1. That took one day. So did Chapter 2. Due to having a root canal on Friday, I took that day off. Saturday, I put Chapter 3 to bed. Yesterday, apparently the root canal caught up to me and I felt the need for a 4-hour nap, so I took it. (I'd like to complete a chapter a day, but it's fine if a few of them take two days, but no more than that (if at all possible).

If I can stick to that and write the last few chapters with a mininum of trouble, who knows? I might actually turn this book in on time. ; )

Lisa

Tam/Talon snippet from The Trouble with Demons

As promised, here's a snippet from The Trouble with Demons -- Tam is experiencing some of the trials and tribulations of parenting a goblin teenager. Enjoy! (For those of you who voted for the first page of Bewitched & Betrayed, I'll post that in the next Saturday or two.)

Tam ran through the apartment to Talon's bedroom door. It was locked. Tam kicked it once and the lock ceased to be a problem -- and so did most of the door. The kid was halfway out the window when Tam jerked him back into the room by his collar.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

Talon looked at his dad like he'd lost his mind. "I have a date."

Tam blinked. "A date?"

"You know, with a girl."

Tam gave him a shake, and I couldn't help but notice that the kid's boots weren't touching the floor.

"Okay, okay. Technically a woman." Talon grinned lasciviously. "Two women, actually."

Tam put him in a chair, but kept his hand right where it was. "I told you not to leave this room."

"Well, see, here's the thing. When you told me not to leave, it was after I'd already set this up. So technically my plans supercede--"

"Nothing!" Tam roared in his son's face. "Your plans supercede nothing!"

"You don't have to get so--"

"Yes, I do."

In a split second, Tam's voice went from a roar to a tight, hissing whisper. Talon's aqua eyes went wide as saucers. I think he wanted the roar back.

"I'm sorry?" Talon guessed.

With some effort, Tam unclenched his hand from the back of his son's neck. "You could have been."

Talon stopped just short of rolling his eyes. "Give me some credit. I take precautions; I always carry protection."

A vein I'd never noticed before was throbbing in Tam's temple. "That's not the kind of protection I mean."

"My bodyguards?" Talon shrugged. "They can come along; I don't mind. They just can't watch. I'm not into that."

If Piaras hadn't been in even more danger, I would have enjoyed watching Tam's attempts at parenting a goblin teenager.

I raced back through the apartment and flung open the door. "Phael--"

Phaelan and Vegard fell into the room from where they'd been trying to listen through the door.

"The damned thing's soundproof," Phaelan said indignantly, as if him getting caught eavesdropping was entirely the door's fault.

"We couldn't hear a thing, ma'am." Vegard managed to sound incensed and apologetic at the same time.

"I'm sure Tam had it built that way," I told them both. "Phaelan, Guardians took Piaras back to the Fortune. I need to know if he's still there."

"He should be."

I felt my own temple start to throb. "Does your crew know to keep him onboard?"

Phaelan had to think about that one. "You would think so."

I couldn't believe my ears. "Dammit!"

"Dammit, what?"

I told them what Sarad Nukpana had said.

Vegard's next words blistered the air blue, and if I hadn't grabbed his arm as tight as I could, he'd have been running for the ship. As it was, he almost jerked me off my feet.

"You won't get there in time," I told him. "Phaelan, get hold of your ship's contact wizard. Tell him to keep Piaras onboard. And if he's gone -- Go. Get. Him."

It's Lisa's Root Canal Day

POST-SURGERY UPDATE: I'm home now; the surgery took two & a half hours. My mouth is numb (thankfully) and starting to swell a little and I'm really sleepy. Though not from anything they gave me (I only got novacaine). I'm just one of those people who almost fall asleep in dentists' chairs -- tooth cleaning or major surgery -- it doesn't matter. Though what did keep me awake and entertained was watching most of the surgery (I could see the reflection in the big lens of the microscope she was using). Everything went very well, but the jury's still out on whether it'll work (the damage was in a very bad place). I go back next Thursday to have the stitches out, and she'll evaluate me further then. Going to bed now with my ice pack. I'll post the snippet from The Trouble with Demons tomorrow morning.

Nighty-night.
Lisa


Well, I'm off to get a root canal and some sort of related gum surgery.

Yea. (Yes, that was sarcasm.)

Though I know I work too much when in a sick kinda way I'm looking forward to the whole thing, because my surgeon told me I had to come home afterwards and go directly to bed for the rest of the day. A nap?! In bed?? Really?? WOOT!!

As you fans of my goblins will appreciate, the surgery is on my left "fang." It should only take about two hours (8:30 to 10:30), and when I get home, I'll try to remember to post to let you know how it went -- then I'll put myself to bed.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your supportive thoughts and well wishes! I have the greatest fans ever! : )

I know one thing I won't be trying to do post-surgery before I leave the doctor's office -- put on lipstick. I'm pretty laid back in the dentist chair, so they'll just be giving me lots of novacaine. As some of you ladies might already know, it's completely and utterly impossible to put lipstick on novacaine-numbed lips. I always end up with the stuff on my chin. So I'll be going with chapstick this time, that way if I end up painting my chin, no one will notice.

By popular vote, tomorrow I'll post a snippet from The Trouble with Demons (this one will feature Tam and Talon, with Tam experiencing the trials and tribulations of trying to parent a goblin teenager.). And for those of you who voted for the first page of Bewitched & Betrayed, I'll post that in an upcoming Saturday blog.

Lisa

When I got "The Call"

Today's topic is about getting "The Call" from Kristin Nelson offering to represent me, and "The Email" from Kristin telling me we had a two-book contract offer on the table.

"The Call" came during the day while I was at work (at the day job). When Kristin said she loved my book and wanted to represent me, I did a lot of silent "squeeing" and fumbling to find a pen and paper to take notes. That alone shows how completely befuddled and caught off guard I was -- I'm an editor, writer and proofreader at an advertising agency; I've got pens and paper all over the place. I had two other agents who were also considering my book, but I really wanted to sign with Kristin. Why? Because she was so excited about my book and seemed to love my characters as much as I did. For me, that was a must-have for an agent.

The frustrating part of getting The Call at the office was that while my co-workers congratulated me, they had no clue how freaking HUGE and MAMMOTH and HUMONGOUS this moment was for me. It's definitely more fun to squee with people who know why they're squeeing with you.

As to the email from Kristin saying that we had an offer of a two-book contract from Ace Books -- that one came at home. I'd just gotten home from work and had been checking my email like crazy every day. When I saw the subject line "We have an offer" or something to that effect, first I stopped breathing. Second, I let my breath out, took another one, and told myself to keep breathing. Then I opened the email.

And screamed.

Bear in mind that I was at home and so was Derek. Now HE understood how huge, mammoth, and humongous this news was, so when I burst into tears, I got the perfectly appropriate response of enthusiastic hugs and kisses. : ) The dogs were crowded around us and jumping up & down -- they had no clue that mom had just scored a two-book deal, they just wanted to share in the excitement.

For Saturday's blog, I need you to vote on the following. I'm going to post a short snippet on Saturday. Would you rather have:

1. A short snippet from The Trouble with Demons, or
2. The first page of Bewitched & Betrayed (the book I'm writing now).

The most votes wins. Send me your vote today; you can just respond to this blog entry.

BTW -- I'm having my root canal & gum surgery tomorrow morning, so I'll pop in for a quick post before I leave, and then I hope to post afterwards to let you all know how it went before I follow my surgeon's directions and go to bed.

Be sure to vote on the snippet today.
Lisa

The true purpose of The Notepad

I've been doing a brief session every night (no more than half an hour) with me and my notepad sitting in the "video gaming chair" in my office. (No photo, last night was sorta hectic. But I'll post one soon on the Saturday Fun Pic.) For those of you unfamiliar with video gaming chairs, they're for playing video games in front of the TV. Mine is like a bean bag with a high back. Very comfy; uber cool -- and best of all, incredibly conducive to creative thought, at least for me.


I've discovered that if I'm having a problem getting a chapter or section started it's because I may know what's happening in that chapter, but I don't know why. Let me explain. I can know in my gut what's supposed to happen in a chapter, but if I don't know why my characters act the way they do, or even how they would act in the first place, then I've got a problem. Forcing my characters do something is the writer equivalent of shooting myself in the foot. It'll throw me off schedule, and potentially screw up a section of the book.

So I not only have to know what they should be doing, but why. I typically start my notepad work by stating the problem/situation. For example, Talon is running off half-cocked and doing (insert stupid & potentially fatal act here). If my gut tells me that is the right course of action for him to take, then I have to ask why is he doing it? What does he hope to accomplish? And what will be the reprecussions of him doing (insert stupid, asinine thing)?


For me, that kind of brain work is best done on a notepad. I feel more free to explore my thoughts on paper than computer, and for some reason, the ideas come a lot faster, usually complete with dialogue. Once I'm sufficiently jump-started, I move over to my desk and computer and get to work in earnest.


Tomorrow, I'll tell you about getting "The Call" from Kristin offering to represent me, and "The Email" from Kristin telling me we had a two-book contract offer on the table.


I think I may have promised to post a short snippet from The Trouble with Demons on Saturday. Since I have my root canal & gum surgery on Friday, I guess I should pre-stage this one so all I have to do is click "send." ; )

Lisa

Am I hooked or not hooked?

Many of you are also readers of my agent Kristin Nelson's wonderful blog where she gives a daily insiders look at the agenting biz. Priceless stuff. Yesterday, she told about participating in the "Secret Agent Contest" over at misssnarksfirstvicitm (a great blog for aspiring authors) where Kristin read and commented on 60 (count 'em 60) first pages over the weekend. She had the moniker "Secret Agent" so the aspiring authors entering the contest didn't know who was commenting on their stuff. Plus if you entered, you had to comment on at least five other entries. There are 60 entries, so there's a lot to wade through (scroll down to get to them all), but if one of those entries resembles your own writing, you might want to check out the comment section on that entry. It just might give you just the pointer you need to jumpstart your writing and your book.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the great way I've discovered to jump start my writing every night (maybe even with a photo). It's working wonderfully for me, and it might do the same for you.

Thursday, I'll tell you about getting "The Call" from Kristin offering to represent me, and "The Email" from Kristin telling me we had a two-book contract offer on the table.

I think I may have promised to post a short snippet from The Trouble with Demons on Saturday. Since I have my root canal & gum surgery on Friday, I guess I should pre-stage this one so all I have to do is click "send." ; )

Have yourselves a great day!
Lisa

Writers' "brain gush"

Writers' Brain Gush -- I know it sounds disgusting, but to a writer with a looming deadline, it's a VERY good (though an embarrassing and potentially dangerous) thing.

First the brain gush, then I'll get to how it's dangerous and embarrassing. I'm on Chapter 19 of probably 25 of Bewitched & Betrayed, and apparently my muse has realized that the time to quit futzing around is over. I am in a notepad-writing frenzy. Ideas strike anywhere and everywhere. I don't want to jinx myself, but I seem to have broken through the wall. Yea! I have a stack of scenes written on notepad paper piled up next to my computer waiting to be typed in.

Now to the embarassing and potentially dangerous part. Since I was up early on Saturday (the muse's fault again), I decided to go to one of the two grocery stores we go to on Saturday by myself and let Derek sleep in. I did good on the drive there, and actually managed to get through the store and out the door without incident (major miracle). But when it came time to put my cart back in the "cart corral" I had two problems. One, I couldn't figure out how to re-attach my cart's chain to the line of carts already in the corral. (We shop at Aldi, and you have to put a quarter in to unlock a cart to use. When you finish shopping, you re-attach your cart's chain thingie to the one in front of it and you get your quarter back. Cool.) Now these things aren't rocket science. Yet there I stood, completely unable to figure out where to click the other end of the chain to get my quarter back. I finally had to study the line of carts next to mine to figure it out. I figured it out, then came the really embarassing part. For some reason I couldn't get the chain to reach to my cart, so I pushed on the cart, and then and only then did I see what the problem was.

All of my groceries were STILL IN THE CART.

I did a quick glance around, no one had seen my complete moron moment. So I ducked my head in embarrassment, took my groceries to my Jeep, loaded them, and THEN I returned my cart -- and successfully attached the chain and got my quarter back. Let's hear it for writer ingenuity!

I went home, told Derek that he had missed the entertainment and told him what happened. He chuckled and assured me that he still loved me. Bless his heart, he's used to the complete absent mindedness that is me while in the midst of brain gush. We had one more grocery store to go to and I told him that I thought it best that he drove. We went to the other store, no incident, until we were on the soap aisle. Our favorite soap was on sale (woot!), so I bend over to get it off the shelf and rammed my head into a huge display that a normal person would have noticed. No blood loss, so it was okay, but I probably lost a couple of hairs. Again, I don't think anyone saw me. Though the nice thing was, Derek kissed me on the head to make it better and gave me a hug right there in the soap aisle. As he held me against his chest, I could feel him laughing. What can I say? I'm a source of constant amusement to my husband.

So while brain gush is great for a book, it's embarrassing and potentially dangerous to the author. Apparently this weekend, my brain was working so hard on the book that it didn't leave me two brain cells to rub together for basic human functioning.

This coming week should be interesting.

Your absent-minded, Mr. Magoo-impersonating author,
Lisa

Saturday blog lite

Happy Valentine's Day!

Because I need to catch up on my writing to get back on schedule, and I have a ton of errands to run this morning before I can even start writing, I'm not posting an official blog today -- BUT next Saturday I'll post another snippet from The Trouble with Demons. Remind me, okay?

Though I'll have to prep the post before next Friday. For those of you who haven't popped by in the past week or so, next Friday (the 20th) I'm having a root canal with some oh so lovely gum surgery to go along with it for added enjoyment. ; ) The surgery starts at 8:30AM Friday morning, and should take about two hours. I've already been told that I'm to come home and sleep afterwards. Imagine that, I have a surgeon's permission to come home, go to bed, and do nothing. WOOT! Being my workaholic self, I'm pushing to see how much I can get done between now and then.

I'll be blogging again per normal on Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

Your hard-working weekend author,
Lisa

Writer schizophrenia

Yeah, it's really early (and I've been awake since 3:30); and yeah, I had to look up how to spell "schizophrenia." But it's important to this morning's post. I'm in that state of writing Bewitched & Betrayed that I like to call "writer schizophrenia" (saying it's different from having to actually spell it; dang, that's a funky word).

I'm on Chapter 18 of probably 25. I think I'm coming up on the section that starts the end, but I'm not sure. And it's waking me up in the middle of the night, which makes for a cranky, sleep-deprived author when the alarm goes off at 5:45. BTW -- Based on a comment from Ace to yesterday's post, I did the math (I know, that's an amazing feat for an English major) and between my day job and writing job, I put in approx. 65 hours a week, every week, all year. No wonder I'm tired all the time. ; )

To my definition, "writer schizophrenia" is that special time in the writing of a book when you go back and forth between "It's good!" to "You suck!" When I woke up at 3:30 this morning -- or I should say when the book woke me up at 3:30 in the freaking morning -- I was most definitely in the "you suck and so does your book" phase. Of course, this oh so special time in a book's development happens with every book, but since my deadline's entirely too close, my muse slaps me awake at ungodly hours to tell me how deep the doo-doo is that I'm standing in -- like I don't already know it. Whatever would my self-esteem do without my muse. ; ) But when is a deadline not looming over my head?

It'll all work out (as always), and the book will be fine. But two nights worth of writing have been lost this week due to sheer exhaustion. Last night I had to go to bed at 8:00. I'd tried to write, and an hour later, I was just staring at the screen like a zombie after only having gotten out half a page. I knew creating anything worthwhile wasn't going to happen, and I had a headache that made me want to take my head off and put it in a box.

But it's Friday (always good), and it's Friday the 13th (always a good day for me for some reason). Tonight, I will pound Chapter 16 into submission, and this weekend, I will get an amazing amount of work done.

If I say it, hopefully it shall be.

Happy Friday the 13th!
Lisa

Latest website updates

Webmaster Todd has made a few updates to the site.

1. You can now pre-order The Trouble with Demons from Barnes & Noble via buttons on the HOME and BOOKS pages.

2. You can sign up to follow me on Twitter via links on the CONTACT and MEET LISA pages.

3. But the biggest change is on the CONTACT page with a email contact form. Since I had a few instances of emails not reaching me, I'll now be using a form. It's easy. Just fill in your name, email address and message and click "Submit." Oh, and there's a dropdown list of email topics to choose from. I'm doing this in response to some problems I'd experienced getting emails from some of you. It was only a few instances, but I want to read and respond to all of your emails. But for those of you who want to continue to use my regular email address, feel free to so so.

I hope this helps.
Lisa

Jim Butcher's next Dresden Files book

For those of you who have been reading my blog for a while, you know that Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series is my absolute favorite. I love these books. Over on Jim's site for the next few Tuesdays, he'll be posting a chapter a week from his next book Turn Coat, which will be on shelves (and in my hot little reader hands) on April 7. Here's a link to Chapter 1. Enjoy!

Lisa

My top three favorite characters

Simone recently asked who is my favorite character in my books? Or my fav top three?

(See I am getting around to answering your questions. *grin*)

I know I could say the expected answers of Raine, Tam, and Mychael -- but I won't. I love all of my characters (yes, even Sarad Nukpana; he's so deliciously evil). The characters that are the most fun to write are those that started as minor characters and pushed and shoved their way into major characters. Like Piaras, Phaelan, and Talon. In each book, I find out a little more about these guys and as a result, they grow and develop. For a writer, that's very satisifying, not to mention just plain fun.

Piaras especially. He started as just a "fetch & carry" character back in MLTF. He was just there as a backdrop to some action in Tarsilia's shop, but a few chapters later, the kid gets snatched into a dark alley by Prince Chigaru's men and I knew I was on to something. Any character who gets jerked into an alley or thrown out of a bar is worth paying attention to. Let's face it, I just love this kid.

The same is true for Talon. The kid's a "libido with feet" -- how can you not love that? ; ) And he has a past that's being revealed in each book -- and believe me, it's gonna be a shocker.

And then there's Phaelan. Completely amoral, but utterly devoted to his family, with a love of loose women and anything that goes kaboom in the night. What's not to love?

There you have it -- my favorite characters. Like I said, it's tough to choose when I love them all.

Lisa

BTW -- In the next few days, my new email/contact form will go live. I'll let you know when.

Book industry news ain't all bad

In the February issue of Romance Writers Report (the magazine of the Romance Writers of America), I read a very interesting and encouraging tidbit:

"According to Nielsen Bookscan, fantasy mass market paperbacks sold 102,660 units the week of December 8, 2008. The previous year, in the 49th week of 2007, fantasy mass market paperbacks sold 62,761 units. Romance, always the industry leader in mass market paperbacks, sold 202,667 units for the 49th week in 2007 and for the same week in 2008: 310,689. So, despite cutbacks in the publishing industry, book sales are encouraging."

I like those numbers. It tells me that the economy affects a lot of things, but readers will have their books. I know I haven't cut back. In the face of what I read on CNN.com, a visit with my favorite authors' characters is just what I need. Books are the perfect getaway, and at $7.99 for most paperbacks, one heck of a bargain.

BTW -- For any of you unfamiliar with the terminology, a "mass market paperback" is what my books are -- a regular sized paperback. "Trade paperbacks" are the slightly oversized ones. And for any of you unfamiliar with Nielsen Bookscan, it's a service that tallies retail sales from chains like Barnes & Noble and Borders, from Amazon.com, and from stores like Costco. It captures about 70 percent of sales for a typical hardcover book. My agent sends me a weekly Bookscan report on my books. I love it. Actually, I'm kinda addicted to getting my weekly numbers fix. ; )

Lisa

Short snippet from The Trouble with Demons

As promised, a short snippet from The Trouble with Demons. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

With my next step, I felt a crunch followed by a squish. I jumped back and stifled a squeal; it came out as a squeak. I grimaced and raised my boot; Phaelan saw what was on the bottom before I did. The last time I'd seen him look that sick was after a business rival sealed him in a brewing vat and Phaelan had the bright idea to drink his way to freedom.

I flexed my ankle and looked down. The goop on the bottom of my boot was blue, which was a healthy color for a demon, but flat wasn't a good shape. I tried to scrape it off, then froze. I sensed it before I heard it. Scuttling, sibilant hissing, straight ahead.

And right behind.

Above and all around us, glowing eyes peered out of abandoned offices. They were small, but when there were that many, size didn't matter.

Phaelan had a wickedly curved blade in each hand. "Let's hope these bleed and die."

Vegard's lightglobes flared bright as day, showing us things that made me want to scream, run, and not stop doing either one until I was back in the middle of Carnades's kitchen. Tiny demons, no taller than my hand, scurried like mice. That is if mice were blue and spindly and looked like legs with teeth. Really, really sharp teeth. I'd just squished their sibling; they probably weren't happy about that.

A swarm of demons, no room to fight, and we all had blades out. No good could come of this. Magic would be best; fire would be better -- both would make the tiny demons seething around us scream, which would bring bigger demon reinforcements from upstairs.

"If we skewer the little bastards, they're gonna scream," I warned in a singsong voice through clenched teeth.

"If they jump on me, I'm gonna scream," Phaelan shot back. "Can't the kid sing them to sleep?"

Piaras grimaced. "I don't think they have ears."

He was right. With that many teeth, the only other things they had room for on their misshapen heads were yellow eyes.

Highland hunk romance

Today is Root Canal Day -- though I'm still hoping the surgeon will look at my x-ray and say, "Let's keep an eye on it for the time being. Come back in three months." I cannot tell you how much I'd love to hear that, but quite frankly, I ain't holdin' my breath. It's an "evaluation" and "probable treatment" visit. They said I could do the eval. in one appointment and come back for the root canal, if it's deemed necessary. Heck, no. I wanna get this over with in one fell swoop.

ROOT CANAL UPDATE: Well, I didn't have the root canal today. Apparently what I need to have done is a rather extensive surgery, and will take a little over two hours. But the main reason they didn't do it today is that I need to tank up on antibiotics before hand. I'm scheduled for Friday, Feb 20 first thing in the morning. Since it's considered a surgery, I'll need to go home and rest afterwards. So in the next two weeks, I'm gonna be a writing fiend.

And those of you who are goblin fans will appreciate the fact that I'll be getting that root canal on my left "fang." ; )


For your entertainment, here's a link to Felicia Day's blog where she posted an hysterical take on "Highland Hunk" romance novels.

Tomorrow, I'll post a snippet from The Trouble with Demons.

Hmmm, I wonder if I get a visit from the Tooth Fairy for a root canal? (I danged well should.)

Your defective-toothed author,
Lisa

Being a writer = psychotic persistence

I had a request for that hysterical agent/writer clip from YouTube, but apparently it's been taken down for "violation of use" or something like that. Dang it. So I'll post something I read over on Jay Lake's blog yesterday. It's not as funny, but it puts an interesting twist on how and why writers do what we do -- psychotic persistence. Enjoy!

Coming up on Saturday, I'll post a short snippet from The Trouble with Demons. Coming up tomorrow, something else. I don't know what yet. ; )

UPDATE: I went to the dentist this morning, found out I probably need a root canal, so I'm going to the surgeon tomorrow afteroon to "get 'er done." Wish me luck. Jeez, what a week. ; )

Lisa

Loose threads and missing patterns

Well, I'm sitting at the kitchen bar for my pre-day-job morning writing session. I just refilled the birdfeeder outside our front window where a fat #&$ squirrel ate all of the food I put out for the precious little birds. I think I'll either get a squirrel baffle or coat the top of the feeder with cooking oil. ; ) Suggestions are welcome.

In the hour and 15 minutes I have until I have to leave for work, I'm going to try to make sense of the loose strings in my manuscript and find the missing pattern. As is always the case when I get to the middle of the book, I find there's quicksand and lots of it. I've got more than a few loose plot strings, and I know there's a pattern in there somewhere (ie, the solution that's gonna get my butt out of the quicksand), but at the moment I can't see it. But as with all my previous books, the answer is right there in front of me in plain sight. And to find it I just have to open my eyes to a new/different view of my book. Meaning look (and think) outside of the box.

Hmmm, come to think of it, the answer to my plot problem (and quite a few of life's problems) can be found when you look at the problem from a different angle and think outside the box. ; )

Going to write now,
Lisa

Romantic Times Booklovers Convention

Due to an immediate change in my employment status (my hours at my day job were cut back yesterday), I won't be able to go to the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in April. I'm heartbroken that I won't be able to go and meet those of you who will be attending. I was looking forward to it so much, but quite frankly, I simply can't afford to go.

For any of you who for one reason or another may want (or need) to cancel your RT convention registration, please do so before February 15. Up until that date, you'll be reimbursed for the full cost of your registration minus a $25 processing fee (according to RT's site). After February 15, you will only be refunded 50% of your registration fee.

The way I see it, it's my choice how I let this affect me. I'm choosing to see my situation as an opportunity. The hours every day that I won't be at my day job, I'm going to write. I'll continue to get up at the same time as always (5:45), take care of the dogs, get dressed to go in to the office as usual, but then I'll sit at the kitchen counter and write. I'll set the oven timer so I won't be clock watching, and when the timer goes off, I'll shut down my laptop and drive to my day job. Writing in the early morning (plus my usual evening session) will nearly double my daily writing time. This is a very good thing. Yes, there'll be a big dint in my paycheck, but I'm considering this as an opportunity and a blessing. God doesn't do anything without a reason. As a result of having more writing time, not only will Bewitched & Betrayed be a fabulous, kick-butt book, but it'll also be delivered on time.

Lisa

Tax write-offs for writers

Saturday, I got my 1099 in the mail from my agent, telling me how much "book money" I earned for 2008. Last night, I sat down and did my taxes. Or to be more accurate, I filled out the worksheet my accountant sends me every year, and organized all of my receipts. My accountant is also a tax attorney -- I love this guy; he stays on top of every new rule & regulation. When you sign your first publishing contract, it's a good idea to set up a meeting with your accountant. And if you don't have one, you might want to consider getting one. Good investment.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd do a repeat of the "tax write-offs for writers" post that I did last year, making a few changes based on what I found in my receipt stacks last night.

There are all kinds of things that you can write-off on your taxes when you become a published (and paid) author:

• Office equipment and furnishings
• Office supplies
• Phone calls related to your work
• The part of your home exclusively devoted to your writing. (Check with your accountant about the possibility of deducting a percentage of your house payment or power bill if you do the majority of your writing from your home office.)
• Postage (mailing galleys back to your publisher or mailing out prizes to your fans)
• Research expenses
• Hired help to do office work or assist with editing or research (SNORT, like I can afford an assistant. Hmmm, I wonder if this covers hiring a chef so I don't have to cook. Note to self: Ask Mike. Second note to self: Ingore Mike laughing at you because you asked that question.)
• Reference books (Woot!)
• Computer, printer, fax machine. (Had to buy a new laptop last year.)
  
• Software (I had to buy the new version of Word to go with my new laptop. I like it.)
• Magazines or newsletters related to your work. (I use the heck out of this one.)
• Advertising (Ads in magazines don't come cheap. I love this deduction.)
• Internet access (Yes, we all surf way too much; but if you email your agent and editor, and conduct writing business online, your monthy Internet bill is deductible.)
• Dues or memberships in writer's organizations (This can get pricey, too. Great deduction.)
• Seminars or training sessions to help you learn something related to your craft. (Conference expenses are deductible.)
• Travel expenses -- including food, lodging, mileage, and parking. (This applies to conferences, speaking engagements, events, book signings, anywhere you travel/drive related to your work.)
• Photography and photo processing (Need new headshots? It's deductible.)
• Web design, promotional item design, website maintenance, website hosting fees
• Any additional artwork and design
• Entertainment related to your work -- everything from taking your editor to lunch, to throwing a party to celebrate your book's completion. This includes gifts for the bookstore manager who coordinates your booksigning, gifts for your publishing team (editor, editorial assistant, agent, agent's assistant, your publicist, etc.)

KEEP RECORDS OF EVERYTHING!! Save every receipt, bill, everything. I use an accordion file folder and I keep it in my safe. (Yep, I'm extra special paranoid about losing important paperwork.)

I'm sure there are probably more deductions, but that's what I could come up with. And for you authors out there, if you do know of other deductions, let a sister author know. ; )

Lisa