Archive for the 'Living Lies' Category
Blogging, Contests and WIPs…Oh MY
Last week I was reading a post at Fiction Groupie (which is fast becoming a favorite for me to read) about blogging, and I realized I’ve become rather lax about blogging regularly. Since the summer, I sort of fell off the whole posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday wagon. So today, I’m getting back on.
In other news, the contest at my editor’s blog starts today. The prize is a Kindle preloaded with with some great books, including Living Lies by yours truly. To enter, all you have to do is answer the scavenger hunt question and email your answer. I’m scheduled for the 25th.
I ordered my author copies of The Curse of Culcraig last week. The book should be available for pre-order very soon. I will certainly keep you posted.
The NaNo WIP continues to move well. By Friday, I’d hit over 29K putting me well ahead of schedule. Last week, I even got some work done on Blood and Bone which was good. Three chapters and an epilogue left. I’ll be so glad when it’s done.
Off to work now. See you Wednesday. 
Mood: Good
Posted by Dawn Brown @
1:09 pm |
Things Are Coming Together
Lots of good things happening right now.
My editor at Samhain has announced a very cool contest with a great prize for later this month. Also, I’ll be putting together a few contests of my own for the launch of The Curse of Culgraig. So keep checking back to learn more. 
I just hit 19K and change on my NaNoWriMo story. Yay! The good thing about writing at a break neck speed, there’s no time for the self-doubt demon to pop up and tell me that my opening is dull or my characters are flat, or any of the other little nit-picks that would usually have me halting progress and going back to rework or scrapping it altogether. My daily work goal is 2K, double what I normally try to write in a day, and I’m thinking I may try to maintain it even after NaNo is over…but, we’ll see. Ask me again at the end of next week.
I’m neglecting Blood and Bone terribly, but I suspect I needed the break. I’m hoping I’ll be able to get a little more done this afternoon.
The counter and back splash has finally been installed in my kitchen. WooHoo!!! You remember my kitchen, don’t you? That renovation we started back in June, and we’re still working on. But the end is truly in sight. All that’s left is the baseboards and painting the kitchen chairs. And even without those things done my kitchen looks amazing. I promise I will post pics when it’s done.
Mood: Up
Posted by Dawn Brown @
1:51 pm |
Contest Winner and…Another Contest!
First off, thanks everyone who participated and for all your kind words. I really appreciate it!!
Okay, the winner is…Val Pearson. Congratulations Val!! Send me an email and we’ll work out all the shipping details.
But wait…there’s more!
My wonderful editor, Tera, is posting an interview and the first chapter of Living Lies on her blog, and giving away an ecopy. All you have to do is leave a comment and she’ll draw a name. Good luck!!!
Posted by Dawn Brown @
11:15 am |
Contest!
Good morning!! So to celebrate the print release of my first book, I’m giving away a free signed copy. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment. I’ll draw a name and announce the winner first thing tomorrow morning.
Easy, right? And who doesn’t like free stuff?! In the meantime, here’s another excerpt…
Living Lies
Copyright © 2008 Dawn Brown
Haley left Dean at his car across the street from her store then started home. The name Sandra still played through her brain. Why did it sound so familiar? Where had she heard it before?
Absently, she nibbled at the corner of her lip. The only thing more perplexing than the name tickling her memory was her uneasy alliance with Dean. Who would have guessed he would become a strange sort of ally in all this? Ally or not, Sandra wasn’t a whole lot to go on, for either of them.
She pulled into her driveway and got out of the car. Her muscles had stiffened from the long drive and an air of defeat seemed to have settled over her. Maybe after she ate something she’d feel better.
She followed the narrow cement walk to her doorstep, digging for her keys in her purse. They jingled maddeningly just out of reach as she searched blindly, through the receipts, gum wrappers and ATM statements. She needed to clean this crap out.
At last her fingers closed over the cold metal, but as she reached out to push the key into the lock she realized she didn’t need it. The door stood open. Barely a quarter of an inch, but open just the same.
Her heart rate tripled as she pushed the door the rest of the way, fisting her keys in her other hand so that each one stuck out between her knuckles. A vague recollection from a self-defense class in high school phys-ed.
Maybe she should call the police. She shook her head as if answering herself. What if she just hadn’t closed the door properly when she left that morning? She’d look like an idiot.
From the small front hall, the pale kitchen light spilled into the living room. Had she left that light on this morning? She struggled to remember, but came up empty as she ran her hand over the switches for the light overhead and the lamp next to the couch.
Nothing moved, or seemed out of place in the sudden brightness. The house was silent except for the familiar tick of the furnace and the ever-present hum of the refrigerator. She stepped farther into the house, half expecting someone to jump out at her from the dining room, but no one did.
With her heart pounding in her ears, she went into the kitchen. Everything was as she left it. From the dregs of coffee still in the pot, to the mug, plate and knife on the counter, to the crumbs next to the toaster. But then, what had she expected? That an intruder would break in and tidy her kitchen?
She considered grabbing one of the serrated knives from the wooden block on the counter, but rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. She’d probably forgotten to turn off the light in the kitchen this morning. God knew she’d been a touch preoccupied lately. The door probably hadn’t closed properly behind her when she’d left for work. And the only reason she was climbing the stairs to make sure everything was how she left it was simply for her own peace of mind. Just so she could say “I told you so” to her overactive imagination.
Her breath locked in her throat as she reached the small hallway at the top of the stairs. Soft, pale light flickered through the narrow gap between the wall and her partially closed bedroom door. With feet that felt as if they were made of stone, she dragged herself forward and pushed open the door with one trembling hand.
Her stomach dropped and a strange sound escaped her lips, something between a whimper and a gasp. The room glowed as if on fire. Candles of every shape and color flickered on her dresser, vanity, and on the floor surrounding the bed. Someone had pulled back the bedspread as if in invitation and scattered dark red rose petals across the sheets.
She covered her gaping mouth with her hand and took a step back. Who could have done this? And more importantly why?
A dull thump from below made her freeze where she stood. Someone was in the house. She should have brought the knife.
Posted by Dawn Brown @
1:57 pm |
Another Monday
I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but here it’s shaping up to be a gorgeous day and I’m in a great mood.
First, all bookkeeping tasks are finished. Woohoo!! And after careful consideration, I have decided to pass on that particular baton. Aside from not enjoying the work, as the business grew so did the amount of time I had to spend doing the books. Bookkeeping was eating into family and writing time, and I just couldn’t keep all the balls in the air. Now that I’ve made the decision, I can’t tell you what a huge relief it is.
The WIP is coming along well. Changing the hero has meant going back to the beginning and reworking a lot of stuff, but I’ve done about 12K so far. Also I can get back to Blood and Bone and finally get that done. Yay!!
Living Lies is out in print tomorrow. Wednesday I’ll be having a contest and giving away a free signed copy so be sure to check back.
Also, my editor at Samhain is running a contest over on her blog. From today until May 10 she’s interviewing her authors and giving away a free ebook. All you have to do is leave a comment and you’re entered to win. Cool, huh? My day is Thursday.
Mood: Excellent
Music: I Alone, Live
Posted by Dawn Brown @
12:50 pm |
They’re Here!!!
My copies of Living Lies arrived Friday. Don’t they look awesome? Only 29 more days until it’s out. WooHoo!!! (Not that I’m counting or anything.)
Posted by Dawn Brown @
12:08 am |
Hamster Escape
Yesterday, my morning started with the discovery that ds’s hamster had somehow managed to escape from her cage. I had only just rolled out of bed when said discovery was made. So still half asleep, we tore his room apart searching for her. I was more than a little concerned that the cat might have already found her, Neurotic Kitty is quite the huntress, after all, but we soon heard scratching inside the wall. Not good. Hamster had managed to find a gap between the baseboard and floor in the closet. Fortunately we were able to lure her out with one of her treats. So happy ending for all.
Kind of sad that this was the most exciting thing to happen to me all weekend. I really need to spend less time at the computer, but I don’t see that happening for a while.
I received my galley for Curse last week and spent a fair amount of time reading through that. Very cool seeing the story as it will appear in print.
And speaking of print, Living Lies will be out in print in a mere two months, so between chapters of Curse I was working on promotion. Wow, that was time consuming. On the upside, I did manage to get a decent plan in place so putting it into effect should be easier. I’m certainly better organized than when the ebook came out.
Music: Mercy – Duffy
Mood: Up
Posted by Dawn Brown @
12:52 pm |
Win a Copy of Living Lies
That’s right, it’s my day to post an excerpt. All you have to do is visit my editor’ s blog and leave a comment. Good Luck!!
Posted by Dawn Brown @
2:42 pm |
December is Here
Only twenty-four days until Christmas.
We put the tree up this weekend and watched Christmas Vacation for the first of what will inevitably be many, many times. I even did a little Christmas baking on Sunday. I must admit, Christmas is my favorite holiday. For someone who is not terribly sentimental, this love of all things Christmas is an odd contradiction to the rest of my personality. (Or perhaps I’m more sentimental than I realize.)
So I wound up 8k away from my 50k Nano word goal. I know I said I was giving up, but I was still kind of hoping. Oh well, I did better than I thought was going at the beginning of last week. As to the quality of the writing… Like any first draft there are some good parts and some, well, rough parts. Sigh. That’s what rewrites are for. Today, I really noticed the characters are not well fleshed out. So I’m debating whether I’ll go back to earlier chapters and dig a little deeper, or just keep going forward and fix it on the rewrite. Hmm. Decisions, decisions.
I should finish up with Living Lies this week (hopefully, tomorrow) and I’m moving through edits for Curse fairly quickly.
And since I’m in such a Christmasy mood and Living Lies takes place at Christmas time, I’m thinking about putting together a contest. I’ll announce it next Monday so check back.
Mood: Happy.
Music: Winter Wonderland - Annie Lennox
Posted by Dawn Brown @
6:43 pm |
My Interview is Up!
I’ve been interviewed at Romance Writers Unlimited. It’s my very first, so go check it out and tell me what you think.
Posted by Dawn Brown @
12:35 pm |
