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Jax's Artistic Journey… » Happy-Joy-Joy
I've been working on this paranormal, Project X, for seven long months…lots of stress, anger, weeping and frustration because I wasn't sure I would ever see the end of this thing. It's bizarre because I really love this story and the world building but it was truly a test for me. I don't know why it was so difficult to get it done but I suppose a part of my brain feared failure. I have always pushed forward like a warrior on anything I truly wanted to do, but this particular time I was uncertain whether this was the right project for me.
There are so many stories I want to pen. Most of them contemporaries but I am not afraid of change. I am not afraid of trying new genres or testing my abilities. I think in working on Project X, I learned that I create my own limitations. If I had just buckled down and written instead of fretting over things I can't control–I would have been in a better place sooner. Tonight, I was able to send out my pages to be critiqued and edited. I'm really proud of myself and my accomplishments. I think this is the first awesome milestone of 2010 and I wouldn't have done it without the support of my friends and Mr. Right.
Tomorrow I start back up on the Italian story I'm so in love with. Hopefully this year I'll see these projects find a happy publishing home. 
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Ember Case » Aragon
Hello, new friend.
Almost two years ago, we adopted a kitten. Tiger was a ten week old baby when we got him, who’d lived all of his short life under a beach cottage porch with the feral colony he’d been born a part of.
He adjusted to the life of an indoor kitty well. Mostly he’s content with his pampered housecat life, where he spends his days napping on the couch and his nights snoozing at the foot of my daughter’s bed. Occasionally he makes a break for the outdoors, once getting all the way to the back bushes – about 30 feet from the door – before huddling into a pitiful ball of confusion and waiting to be rescued. He endures the occasional cuddle, and plays with the dog or anyone who will roll a golf ball for him.
But he’s still only a step out of the streets, and that left its mark. A cuddly lapcat he is not.
A few months ago, my sis started talking cats to me. Let me be more clear. She started linking cats to me. Her heart will always have a tender spot where her memories of Sultan are, but she has a very big heart. Big enough for Layla. Which is it’s own special story, one you should read.
Of course the linking of one cat let to the linking of more cats. And soon I realized I was checking the cats looking for homes with way more interest than someone …
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THE NAUGHTY LADY FROM SHADY LANE » Writing a serial story: YIELD TO ME
I said I'd post about my experience of writing a Harlequin online read, and now that YIELD TO ME has gone in I can take a deep breath and think about it.
It was quite an experience writing this kind of project! I expected it to be a big challenge, and it was. I learned a huge amount along the way. The good news is the comissioning editor thought it was a terrific read and didn't want any revisions. That was a big relief. I was working so close to it that even when my lovely CP reassured me, I wasn't sure if I'd pulled it off.
Partly the challenge was down to the unusual format. It had to be 8 chapters of between 1,000 and 1,300 words, so the writing had to be tight whilst also moving the story forward at a fast pace. I surely learned how to tighten up my work…
When writing a chapter in a novel or a novella, an author can usually take it to its natural conclusion, and that might be a whole heap of words more or less than the last chapter. With the serial story it had to be spot-on. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in each of the chapters, and my writing experience went a bit like this: I’d be merrily writing away and then realise that there wasn’t going to be room for some of the details or description I would naturally have included had it been a novella … [Link]
Beyond the Veil » Steampunk Workshop
Interested in Steampunk? Then click over to the Romance Diva forums (you have to register, but it's free) and get in on the discussion with these great authors!
Zoe Archer
Gail Carriger
Katie McAllister
Meljean Brook
Sarah Hoyt
Dru Pagliassotti [Link]
Lilli Feisty :: Blog » Chattel.
I love Carson City. Seriously, it’s a shit-hole of a town, but you just never know what absolutely ridiculous thing might happen. Take last night for example.
I have this friend who shall remain nameless. Or, we’ll just call her Maxine cause she’d like that. In fact, I’m changing all the names of the innocent. Wait, I don’t have any innocent friends. I’ll change their names so they don’t kill me. Anyway, last night, around 5:00, I was sitting right here at my computer, writing BDSM pirate sex, when I start getting texts from Maxine:
M: Hey girl, I’m at Red’s, wanna come down? We’ll pick you up.
L: Thanks, you’re sweet. But I just want to hibernate (It was snowing buckets)
M: Come to Reds. No. Come Down. I’m gonna come get u.
L: Nah, also I’m broke.
M: R u ready?
L: Hell no.
M. Shut up ride will be there in 3 min.
L. Noooo!
M: On my way to get u
L: You bitch! I’m not dressed!
M: Y
L: Or wearing makeup!
M: Get dressed
L: Ug, really?
M: Now
L: Bossy!
M: Look outside
So at this point I proceed to throw on some makeup, trudge out into the snow, go down to Reds where I consume copious amounts of random concoctions of alcohol, and eat a plateful of fried zucchini. So now I was feeling okay, which lead to going to one of Carson’s many dive bars. We go there. We drink more. Maxine’s …
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Lilli Feisty :: Blog » It Might Get Loud.
I watched this documentary with my kid’s father last night, and it was amazing. Then I was happily surprised to find a gift from Itunes for the movie so now I can watch it repeatedly and write down all the amazing quotes. Thanks, Jay!!
I’ve always loved Jack White. I think he’s a genius.
Technology is a big destroyer of emotion and truth. It doesn’t do anything for creativity. Yeah, it makes it easier and you can come home sooner, but it doesn’t make for a more creative person.
I love that quote. I love Jack White.
Copyright © 2010 Lilli Feisty :: Blog. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@lillianfeisty.com so we can take legal action immediately. Plugin by Taragana [Link]
Around The Writer's Block » A Real Wall-Banger
Okay, so my idea of what’s acceptable as far as editing errors in a published book has changed since I started writing. It’s not like I haven’t seen errors in NYT Bestselling books in all genres and mostly I thought … sheesh, they couldn’t catch that? Because the fact is, something missed in editing whether it’s a typo or an incorrect use of a word … just throws you from the story.
On the one hand, I’m a little more forgiving. Come on let’s face it. First I write the book. Then I spell check. Then a reread beginning to end looking for continuity (and yes, typos or wrong words). Then I have at least one other author do a pass and catch more. Then my editor gets her hands on it. More spell checks, grammar and word usage. Then I look at it again. Only this time completely out of order one scene at a time. Yes, every word, every book. And then last but not least … it goes through copy edits.
Still, errors get through. It’s disheartening.
So I cut the author lots of slack. I don’t think editing errors are their fault.
BUT, and this is a biggie. I’m feeling the publishing world is exploding. With authors and publishers. But there aren’t anymore of the reader’s dollars. As a matter of fact, with this economy, there are probably less. Which means more competition all the way around. I think there’s a push to get books out to …
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Me Want Food » Thrust and Parry (Not as Dirty as You Suspect)
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Nara Malone » Shadow Journey
David Paul Ohmer: Chicago – Michigan Avenue Bridge Steps “Railing Shadows”
We started where most lovers do –
that starry-eyed place lit by candles.
Our tongues mapped each other’s bodies.
Next time,
his teeth stenciled a crescent moon.
Color rose, red to violet.
Next time,
the marks were stripes
light and dark, side by side, a repeating pattern,
a codependency.
Dark giving birth to light.
This is my contribution to the Friday 55 at G-man’s blog. He has a great “Flash” this week. See what he and the other Friday 55 Flashers have done here.
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Naughty and Spice Blog » Help me for a chance to win by Teresa D’Amario
By Teresa D’Amario
EBook: A llRomanceEbooks
Amazon.com KINDLE
Once the victim of scientific experimentation by the Government Control of Supernatural Activities (GSA), Damon doesn’t have a past, and he isn’t sure he has a future. He doesn’t even know if his ability to change from human to wolf is a virus, or magick. But the instant he lays eyes on the pretty cop from the local police force, he knows he has to learn the secrets of his past before they destroy her future.
Krystal is the best animal cop on the police force, hiding magickal talent beneath layers of excuses and quick thinking. For five years she’s tracked Peter Burke, a butcher who steals any form of canine to supplement his dietary needs. The day she saves a wolf from losing his head at the sharp end of an axe, her entire life changes. And then there is Damon, the mysterious, sexy ex-soldier with no memory of his past who awakens fantasies of dark and sensual nights.
But the GSA isn’t finished with Damon, and when the shadowy government agency joins forces with Burke, Krystal too finds her life in jeopardy, the target of men and women led by their own desires. Damon and Krystal must work together to stop evil and destroy years of illegal research.
Oh my goodness! Chapter Eleven! Wow. We’re getting so close to the end, ladies and gentlemen. First, thanks so much, ladies of …
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Nine Naughty Novelists » Every girl wants to be a Princess!
I just go t back from Disney World (seriously, yesterday!). It was a great trip. I mean, Florida in winter, Mickey Mouse, no e-mail access (well, okay, that bothered me a little but it did force me to just let go of work)… how could it not be great? Besides the fact that it was fifty degrees warmer there than where I live, and I got to spend seven uninterrupted days with my kids and parents, Discover card now loves me even more than they did before (which was really, really a lot anyway!).
But I thought about you all while I was gone! *G* I brought back some gifts! But to get them, you have to keep reading!
I want to talk about Disney movies. I love them. The animated ones in particular (though National Treasure and Pirates of the Carribean (I-III, though I is the best in my opinion) are definitely favorites). Pretty much all of them. I’m not crazy about Dumbo (I won’t go into why) and did not really enjoy Ratatouille (even animated rats in the kitchen kind of creep me out). But otherwise, I absolutely can not pick a favorite.
At Disney World, specifically the Magic Kingdom, you can’t walk more than fifty feet without seeing a Disney princess. Most of them are little girls (age 8 and under) dressed up, but of course you run into “cast members” depicting the heroines of these great movies from time to time. Which got me to thinking about heroines and … [Link]
Xandra Gregory » Vox Humana, Vox Scriptor
Random pages on Wikipedia are dangerous things. My latest random visit took me to the entry on the Vox Humana (I was actually trying to remember the latin quote “Vox populi, vox Dei” – the voice of the people is the voice of God, but I digress). Turns out the Vox Humana is actually a piece of a pipe organ used to simulate the human voice.
As authors, we simulate the human voice in our writing–each of our characters has their own “voice” – their own sound and rhythm of speech yes, but also their own outlook on life, their own values and their own worldviews.
But as authors, we also need our own voice–our particular, peculiar ways of telling stories that make those stories unique to us. There are, at best, three dozen or so plots in the whole world so far–there is nothing new under the sun, and it’s the way we as individuals tell those stories that make them mediocre, or make them great. Voice is that elusive quality that editors and agents look for that makes a book stand out, and sadly enough, it isn’t something that can be taught.
The only way to find your voice is to use it. The amazing experience that is listening to a pipe organ is made or broken by the acoustics in its cathedral. Same with your writer’s voice. Find your cathedral and then let your Vox Humana echo from the rafters.
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Xandra Gregory » Something To Say
Every author writes because he or she has something to say to the world. That message may be as small as “chocolate birthday cake is the world’s most perfect food” or as large as “can’t we all just get along…to survive the zombie apocalypse” but it’s that message that keeps us going through recalcitrant characters, lame plots, killer revisions, and impersonal rejections, not to mention the demands placed on our writing time by family, friends, and of course, judgmental acquaintances who wonder when we’ll get a “real job.”
Messages are like sermons–they best belong in pulpits and not in pulp fiction. There’s nothing I hate worse than to be jolted out of a story with a thwap upside the head over an Issue. Or the Moral Of The Story writ large in flaming letters. Consequently, that’s the last thing I want to do to somebody else, either. I’ll keep it in my pants if you’ll do the same.
Finding your message is one of the toughest parts of the writing process and your writing career. Figuring out what it is that you’ve got to say to the world. Some writers might never be able to articulate it, and some don’t care. I’m one of the ones that do care, though, and for me, it’s very important that I be able to articulate just what message I’m trying to send the world when I put pixel to paper. I’ve been involved in a six-month quest to figure out what I truly want …
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Embrace the Shadows » Character Development is Job ONE!
Yep, it's True Blood's Eric as Mr. January
NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION, what’s the most important (and first) responsibility of an author? Okay, this isn’t meant to be a test, but seriously, character development is job ONE. There’s nothing worse than finding your character in a life-and-death situation and not immediately knowing how he or she would react. Authors should know their characters intimately. They should know not only how their characters will behave in any given situation, but also the motivation behind the behavior.
There are several popular and world-renowned methods for understanding character. In addition to filling out extensive character charts (try www.charlottedillon.com or Marcel Proust’s famous list of questions), there are personality tests (many available online for free) that can aid in character development. And while you’re taking the tests for your characters, you might also find out what makes YOU tick.
I like the Myers-Briggs personality profile for determining behavior and the Enneagram Institute’s test for getting to motivation. You can take a FREE test (it’s really NOT Myers-Briggs per se, but more of a precursor) at http://kisa.ca/personality/. My personal Myers-Briggs profile is ENTJ, which means I’m extroverted, intuitive, thinking and judgmental. (Me, judgmental? Nah!) Because I tend to use my head more than my heart in determining action, I’m a great plotter but my critique partners constantly remind me that while I’ve got my hero hanging off the edge of the cliff, I need to let my readers know what he’s feeling, not …
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Kiss and Tell » Love Is….
This morning I'm going to my son's school to interview his Kindergarten class. Parents do the hallway bulletin board, and I'm on the committee for February. The theme is Love/Compassion/Empathy. So I'm dividing the class into three groups and asking them a question:
1. Who do you think of when you hear the word Love?
2. How do you feel when a friend is hurt?
3. How can we help others who are less fortunate than we are?
I’m going to photograph each kid holding a giant heart and put their picture on the board next to their answer. Cute, huh?
So, what is love in your house? In my house it's:
* My 9yr old son waiting in the driveway for his 3yr old sister to catch up before he starts walking again without being told;
* My husband getting up early to make breakfast for the kids and letting me sleep in EVERY MORNING;
* My 3yr. old telling her older brother, "Good job, big boy!" when he does something good.
* My 6yr old son sleeping in the hat I knit him because I made it for him.
What’s love at your house?
This is love.
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Star-Crossed Romance » Star Light, Star Bright…Interstellar Interview with Molly Harper
Molly Harper has been writing since the young age of 8. With a writing office on the family couch, consisting of her mother's old typewriter and a toy phone she set to work telling the story of her class' trip around the world…and how they lost a kid in each town. To say the least she has a dark sense of humor, which is apparent if you've read her "Nice Girls Don't" series from Pocket.
Thanks to Molly's print journalism major at Western Kentucy University, she garnered a job at her hometown newspaper. For six years she wrote about school board meetings, quilting shows, and even a guy who faked his death by shark attack. While she liked the daily adventures, her schedule coupled with her husband's shifts as a cop didn't lend themselves to a family. So Molly took a church secretarial job and found herself with her nights free.
One evening, while taking solace from life's troubles with a book, nothing sounded good. So she sat down and started writing what she'd want to read…a must do for any author who needs an outlet for their passion. Especially when some of her favorite things are vampire movies and TV shows. Combine that background, and the most embarassing way to end up a vamp and you have the kernel for her series…and the birth of Jane Jameson, who's now the star of three books.
So how did I learn about Molly Harper? The cover of NICE GIRLS DON'T LIVE FOREVER caught my … [Link]
Samhain Weblog » Green is the Loneliest Number
I was trying to think today how to explain the difference between competitiveness and jealousy. Competitiveness, I think, is a useful trait for a writer — for anyone, really. And jealousy is one of the most destructive emotions known to humans. But they’re closely akin — sometimes uncomfortably so.
Competitiveness is what spurs us on to do better, to try harder, to win — all good stuff. Sometimes winning means beating someone else, but it’s not the beating that should feel good so much as the winning.
If I’m competing with a friend for an award, obviously I want to win. I don’t want my friend to lose, though. If I can’t win, I want my friend to win. Sometimes I want my friend to win more than I want to win because my friend needs the win more. The only time I think it becomes personal is when we compete against someone we dislike. Not all our dislikes are reasonable, but that’s another story. If I dislike someone I’m competing against, then there is a peculiar (and not always guilty) satisfaction in whupping her or his ass. We’re none of us saints.
But then we have jealousy. Jealousy is a more exotic animal, a critter that many writers find lurking in the underbrush of their desire to succeed. Partly it’s due to the insecurity of our business. It’s competitive as hell out here — it feels like it anyway. Publishers are going under or cutting lines or dropping authors. …
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Victoria Janssen » Google Grab – Tom Purdom, Guest Blogger
Please welcome my guest, science fiction author and music critic Tom Purdom.#On January 20th I attended the New York workshop on the Google settlement conducted by the National Writers Union and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. The main speakers were Lynn Chu, agent and lawyer, who opposes the agreement; Paul Aiken of the Authors Guild, who spoke in support; and a law professor, [Link]
The Crayon Box » Friday Five
1. I have good news! Seek and You Shall Find…found a home with Liquid Silver! I'm very excited. Stay tuned for more details.
2. Do not get the stomach bug. Lysol, Purell yourself, wash your hands until they bleed. But stay away from that nasty little bugger if you can.
3. I've started the Lightning Thief and Magyck. Both very good. Oddly enough, especially with the Lightning Thief, I see a lot of the elements that Harry Potter used in the setting up of the story. They aren't the same but I see parallels. I'm going to have to put off reading both of them. Got my RITA books to judge.
4. I'm working on proofing edits for Another Dream, Another Reality. Always amazes me how much stuff I miss. I swear, I become blind to a story after a while.
5. Yes, I'm still working on the Rogue. It's been slow going. I think the story had a problem that I'm attempting to shore up. I'll keep you posted. I feel much better about it now.
May the muses have edits
Mechele
PS: An added bonus: go check out this review of Another Night, Another Dream. Whoo hooooooo! [Link]
Fierce Romance » I have a series!
by Kristin Daniels
I’ve hinted at this before, and now I'm bursting at the seams! I have a series! How cool is that?
Nameless Surrender, published in April of 2009 with Red Sage Presents, introduced the delectable and hunky Lucas brothers. Nameless Surrender told Dean's story, and I'm thrilled to announce that Wes's story, Safe Surrender, will be available May 1, 2010!
Carli Jacobs wants revenge. When her plan to bring down the drug lord responsible for her sister’s death goes awry, she finds herself thrown into the protective custody of two sexy detectives. Wes Lucas and Ian Gray are determined to keep her safe.
But there’s tension is in the air, and it’s not just sexual. Secrets are being kept. Lives are on the line, and trust is put to the test. As desire rips through each of them, heartbreaking truths will be revealed and lies will be exposed.
Are the three running away from danger, or are they headed straight for it? In Wes and Ian’s quest to keep Carli safe, will she end up surrendering her heart as well?