Burning the Candle at Both Ends

June 30, 2008

This expression is a favorite of my mother’s and today it fits. After week of staying up too late, getting up too early, doing too many things without any down time in between and not eating properly (yes, I realize coffee is not it’s own food group) I’m sick. Just a head cold, but it’s enough to force me to slow down. Fortunately, we didn’t have any plans this past weekend (a first since early May) so I could take it easy. Well, as easy as I take it. I get bored when I’m not doing anything. So I did catch up on some crits and kept working through The Witch’s Stone. I’d hoped to be finished my revisions yesterday, but I may have been a touch ambitious. This week for sure.

The WIP has slowed a little over the weekend. I just couldn’t stay awake past nine to write. I’m hoping that now that the cold is primarily in my head, (ears and throat no longer sore) I won’t feel so tired and wiped out. Blood and Bone is moving at crawl again, part of the reason I want The Witch’s Stone done. Okay, enough worrying about what I have to do, time to get to it.

Mood: Tired

Music: Babe I’m Gonna Leave You - Led Zeppelin

The Orphanage

June 25, 2008

Well summer is here and evening television is awful right now. (The only bright spot being the return of Coronation Street now that hockey is finally over. Yay!!) I have also determined that the powers-that-be will make a reality show about ANYTHING. Please T.V. executives, no more.

So with that in mind, DH and I have been renting a lot of movies. Last week we rented The Orphanage. This is a Spanish film that I kept hearing really good things about.  The movie is about a woman who returns the the orphanage by the sea where she grew up in hopes of opening a home for special needs children and meets with a ghostly presence. (This is bare bones, but I don’t want to say to much and spoil any twists and turns for anyone.)

Now, I like a good scary movie (and please don’t confuse scary with gory, they’re not the same thing) but in the end this movie just didn’t seem all that scary. There was some decent creepiness at the beginning, but I felt once the ghost’s identity was revealed, the rest of the movie was fairly predictable. Still the setting was wonderfully atmospheric and their were a few scenes that made the hairs on the back of my neck bristle. Perhaps if I’d discovered the movie on my own without hearing anything about it, I would have enjoyed it more.

Mood: Relaxed

Music: Closing Time - Leonard Cohen  

My First Review & Other Happenings

June 23, 2008

I received my first review for Living Lies, and it was a good one. WooHoo!!! You can read it at ParaNormal Romance. I must admit, as nerve wracking as this part of the process is, it’s exciting too.

This week I am determined to finish up the changes for The Witch’s Stone. This is DS’s last week of school and I want to be finished with that MS so I can really concentrate on Blood & Bone and Thicker Than Water over the summer.

The past week I’ve been working to switch my writing schedule from working the WIP in the morning to after DS has gone to bed. So far, so good. Though, it’s tougher on weekends.

Tonight, I’m going out to dinner with some friends. I’m really looking forward it. What’s better than great coversation and great food? Not much!

Mood: Good

Music: Hello, I Love You - The Doors

And the Winner is…

June 20, 2008

Congratulations PamK!!!

Thanks to everyone who participated. And thanks again for the well wishes, I really appreciated them.

I will be having more contests in the future. Actually, I’m taking part in a really great one with my RWA chapter. I should have more details on that soon. So keep checking back.

Living Lies is Out!!

June 17, 2008

It’s the big day, Living Lies is now available! WooHoo! I’m so excited.

Doing whatever it takes could get them both killed.

Twelve years after her sister’s disappearance, Haley Carling spends her days trying to hold what’s left of her family together, running her late father’s shop and caring for her alcoholic mother. Then her sister’s remains are uncovered in the basement of their old home, and fingers start pointing. At the Carlings.

Dean Lawson, long the prime suspect in the Carling girl’s disappearance, is sure he’s got evidence proving who the killer is. He’s determined to clear his name, and he won’t let anything stand in his way. Not even his lingering attraction to Haley.

Haley is just as determined to protect her family from the former town bad boy’s accusations. But now someone is stalking her, and Haley realizes Dean’s the only one she can trust.

With a killer closing in, Dean wonders if he’s made the biggest mistake of his life…a mistake that could cost Haley her life.

Okay, now down to business. In honor of my first release, I’m going to be giving a copy away. Of course, there is a skill testing question…

What does Haley find on her porch when she arrives home? (Big hint, the answer in the excerpt.) Leave your answer in in the comments. I’ll draw names and announce a winner on Friday. Good Luck!!

Today’s Embarrassing Moment…

June 5, 2008

…brought to you courtesy of NOT ENOUGH SLEEP!

So with Living Lies out in just two weeks, (Holy Cow!!!) I’m going like mad working on promotional stuff that I will not bore you with the details of right now. Also thrown in is the usual writing, rewriting, critting and what not.

So yesterday, to get a better handle on things, I started my day at five and wound up working right through until midnight. When I woke up this morning at seven, I was a little bleary eyed and feeling a little rough. To perk myself up, I decided to wear a new outfit that I bought on the weekend. And I did feel much better in my new jeans and top.

I took DS to school, stood in the playground chatting with the other parents then walked home. That’s when I discovered the long sticker with the width and length printed over and over again still stuck to my jeans. Yes, that’s right, I said width. And to add insult to injury said sticker was stuck to my considerable backside. lol!

Yeah, I rock!

Music: Across the Universe - The Beatles

Mood: Amused

Digging Deeper

May 29, 2008

So I opted to go back to the beginning of my WIP and fix both plot and character problems. When I reread all that I’d written so far, I realized that if I fixed the character issue the plot issue would fall into place. After all, the two are interwoven. It only makes sense that by digging deeper into my characters, addressing how they would really react to a situation instead of trying to force them into doing what I wanted to move the story forward, the sense of rushing would go.

Now I’m going back and really trying get into my characters’ heads–probably what I should have done in the first place–and what’s happening? Why all the those little pacing quibbles are working themselves out. So this week’s lesson to self is to always, ALWAYS, remember to be true to the character and the story will follow.

Mood: Up

Music: Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen    

Detours and Write Arounds

May 25, 2008

This week I hit my first snag on the WIP. I’m not terribly worried at this point. These things happen, and fortunately it hasn’t brought the story to a screaming halt. A definate plus. The situation however leaves me with a decision. Do I push on and fix the problem on the rewrite? Or do I stop, go back and fix then move on?

Truth is, I discovered there are two issues that have cropped up. The first, the scenes I wrote last week are leading to a major plot point, but it’s coming up too soon. I need for more information to be revealed before this happens. The second is the romance element has fallen by the wayside while I develop the mystery. Again, this happens. Sometimes I become so fixed on building the story I forget the relationship between the characters and I need to flesh that out some.

This is tricky. I don’t want to spend a great deal of time fixing things further back for fear of losing momentum. At the same time, making the changes now while the ideas are fresh in my head means less work on the rewrite. Hmm, what to do?

I’ll have to deal with the plot point problem immediately, and the write around will be minimal. It’s the fleshing out of the relationship that will be the most work. Hmm. I’ll think on it awhile.

Made a trip to the bookstore last night, and bought three new books because God knows I can’t leave the place empty handed. Today the weather is gorgeous, and what I really want to do is sit in my backyard with a cup of tea (This week’s tea is Bengal Spice, in case anyone cares.) and read one of my new books. What I should be doing is weeding my garden.

So many decisions. 

 Mood: Good

Music: Strawberry Fields - The Beatles

The Sound That Said “Meep” and Other Mysteries

May 22, 2008

This morning I’m suffering the effects of lousy night’s sleep. At four a.m. I awoke to a strange sort of intermittent ‘meep’ sound. It’s kind of like a high-pitched squeak. Not terribly loud, but at four in the morning–without any other household noises–it was loud enough to keep me awake.

I’ve managed to track the noise to the front hall, but from there I’m not sure what’s causing it. Maybe the vents or the floors settling. The house is one-hundred-and-thirty-years-old so it makes odd noises all the time, but this ‘meep’ is starting to get on my nerves. I wondered if it could be the battery in the smoke detector starting to die, DH claims he’s sure that’s not it. I remain unconvinced.

Also, in the relm of the unexplained is HellHound’s turquoise back paw. I can’t find anything that he might have gotten into, and whatever turned the fur on his paw that lovely shad of blue/green washed off easily.

Hmm, so many mysteries this morning.

Mood: Perplexed

Music: Cuts Like a Knife, Bryan Adams  

New Website, New Blog

May 20, 2008

Welcome to my new blog!!! And my new website. Pretty cool, huh? I’m so pleased with the overall look. It’s so…me. My good friend Karen at Swank did an awesome job.

It’s been a while since I last posted so there’s lots of new stuff. First, I’m finished my edits for Living Lies. The excerpt is now available to read. Less than a month until the release date. I’m so excited. Also, I have a revise and resubmit for The Witch’s Stone which I’m hard at work on right now.

The WIP is coming along, though I did back burner it for a few days while I was wrapping up my edits. I’m also wondering what I was thinking setting the story in Wales. Doing so has led to few hassles that will no doubt create more work when I’m rewriting. But the setting worked so well with mystery element. Oh well, I’ll worry about it when I have to.

Okay, because I’ve spent so much time playing with the new website today, I really need to stop now and get some writing done.