Monday, October 31, 2005

Newsletter is out!

The latest issue of my newsletter is available tonight. The new format matches my website, and looks a lot nicer than the plain text. To subscribe, click on the link to the left. In other news, I've started a chat group for readers to get together and talk about reading, writing, life...whatever they feel like chatting about at the moment. *g* To join, click here. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone. Happy Halloween!! Lis

Friday, October 28, 2005

What I've learned from writing a series...

1. That quite a few reviewers will pick up a book in the middle of the series, without having read any of the previous books, and give the book a so-so rating based on the fact that they missed out on backstory since they hadn't read the other books. I really, really appreciate the time they took to read the book and write reviews, but IMO it's hard to offer an objective opinion when you don't know the whole story. 2. That I need to keep more detailed character description sheets. Going through books 1 and 2 to get descriptions for characters in book 5 can waste a lot of time that could be spent writing. *bg* 3. That they're really hard to write. Keeping all the little details straight was tough for me, being a pantser. LOL All in all, it was a fun experience. I plan on doing it again--with a series connecting to Dark Promises--but after that I'd like to take a break and write single stories for a while. *g* Lis

Thursday, October 27, 2005

The blinking curser...

Blogger's block--I think I still have it. Not much has been happening lately on the writing front, so I don't have much to write about here. Writing has taken a backseat since family life has been on the hectic side. My oldest son is going to his first school dance tomorrow night. I swear I'm not ready for this. And soon he leaves on a field trip--and will be gone for 4 days! He's really excited, but mom's having a little bit of a hard time with the whole thing. *g* Being a typical middle-schooler, he can't wait to get away with his friends for a while, even if it is in an educational setting. Lis

Monday, October 24, 2005

Blog slacker

That's me. *g* I guess I've had blogger's block--haven't been able to think about what to write. I'll have a long post later today or tomorrow, just wanted to check in and let everyone know I'm still around. Lis

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Question for readers

Okay, I know there are some of you out there. *g* I'm going to be revamping my newsletter soon, and I'm curious what kinds of things you like to see in an author newsletter. What makes you keep reading? What features do you want to see? Thanks in advance! Lis

Monday, October 17, 2005

Website updates

I just finished doing a bunch of them. Tarnished and Grave Silence are listed on the bookshelf page, this month's contest is posted, and the blurb of Divine Intervention is up on the coming soon page. October newsletter number 1 is going out tonight, with a special Halloween contest announcement in it. If you aren't a member and want to join my newsletter list, click on the link to the right or see the sign-up box on my website. Lis :)

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Divine Intervention

I've been offered a contract with Loose Id for Divine Intervention, a paranormal ms I've been working on off and on for a year or two. I'll be getting a blurb up on my website and in my newsletter soon. Lis

Monday, October 10, 2005

What kind of novel?

I saw the link for this quiz on Maria Brown's blog and I couldn't resist taking it. GenreErotica EROTICA! - Wet, salty and delicious You are driven to excite the reader into a literal froth with your literary talents! You are a connoisseur of the carnal side of humanity from Kink to high-speed BJs in the front seat of a speeding jag! Sex is GOOD. Penthouse and the Internet after dark are your inspirations! What Kind of Novel Should I Write? brought to you by Quizilla

Thursday, October 06, 2005

More on story writing

The post about outlining has me thinking. How do you write your stories? Do you write them from beginning to end without editing? A chapter, written and edited at a time? Do you write the scenes out of order and string them together? Myself, I write the book in order, unedited, up until the second to last chapter. Then I go back and do the revisions, write the last chapter once I know the story is going the way I want it to go, and then give the book a final pass to check for the ever-present spelling and consistency errors. Every once in a while a scene jumps out at me and needs to be written out of order, but usually I go from start to near-finish without stopping to revise. Lis

Monday, October 03, 2005

Outlining

I started outlining a year or so ago, when my editor asked for a synopsis of what I was working on next. Having an outline worked well for that book, and I was able to finish it in less than a month. A former pantster who never outlined anything before writing, I decided to start outlining everything I wrote in hopes of making the story easier to write. But lately I've noticed a flaw in that system--when I outline, I don't want to finish the book. My critique parter described this perfectly--with the outline written, it's like the story has been told and there's no real urgency to write the book. I know outlining works really well for a lot of people, but I'm not one of them. As much as I tried to make myself more organized by plotting the story before I start, I generally find myself unable to write the story once I know what's going to happen at the end. So, I'm back to my original system of just writing and seeing what happens as I go along. I still envy the people who are organized enough to be able to write an outline, though. *g* For all you writers out there, do you outline first or write as you go? Have you ever tried it the other way? Lis

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Recommended read and my new baby

Night Creatures was selected as a Recommended Read at The Road To Romance. Thanks Tracey!! This afternoon the kids and I bought our new baby. Brady, a green cheek conure. We have to get the cage set up, and then we'll be picking him up next weekend. Lis