Zombie book interview & giveaway!

Happy Monday! I just saw there is a new short interview with me up at My Book Addiction  and.....

* Enter to win a galley copy (yes, groan, mistakes and all!) of GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie - contest ends June 8. See Book Addiction link above.

* See more details at website for GIRL Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie

Summer Journal 2013 - Entry #1

So I'm jumping the gun a little bit since it's technically not summer vacation yet. I still have a half day of school tomorrow and a week of faculty meetings, but (despite the icky chilly weather) it feels like summer, so I'm going to dive in!

I think I'm off to a good start on my summer writing routine. And my goal to actually do some writing. Something that's been sadly neglected in recent months.

Friday I got my second round of edits on This Feels Like Home from my editor. In her words, the manuscript is in good shape. There were just a few minor places where some re-wording needs to be done, and then it's just a matter of nit-picking and looking for all of those pesky typos, missing commas, etc. So yesterday, I got out my trusting writing tools (my lap top and memory stick) and headed out to the front porch. I worked my way through the minor changes and got about two-thirds of a complete read-through done. Today I'll finish up the read-through. This coming week I'll plan on going through the mss backwards, which makes it easier to spot errors since I'm not as caught up in the flow of the story.



It felt good to have my writing 'shoes' back on again, and even better to be working on steps to get this story closer to publication, as this one has been in the works for a long time.

Even better, I had some ideas flitting through my head for another story I've worked on here and there. For me, that was pretty exciting. It means I haven't totally lost the drive to write, it's just been hidden while I've been busy with other life things.

When I was at the library yesterday signing up for their summer reading program, I said that I was a local author and asked if I could donate one of my books to the prize cart. The woman was so excited to have the book. She had me autograph it and said she was going to pass it along to the readers' advisory committee as a recommendation for circulation rather than a summer prize. Now why didn't I do this sooner? If they accept it, I'll take over copies of my other books as well.



All in all, like I said, I think this is a good start for the summer!

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Just a Thought by Margot Justes

How often do we take the time to just whisper thank you to one in particular. Just a whispered thank you. How often do we count our blessings? How often do we take the time to just relax?  I think we should, on a daily basis. If we did that, we’d see how lucky we are, there are always others that are worse off.

We get on with our daily lives, but most of us are blessed, sure enough we have problems, issues at work, with friends, all the daily stuff that I call drudge stuff, but it is in fact life.

With age comes wisdom, or at least that is what everyone says. Wisdom to take a breath and say thanks, wisdom to know the difference between what is important, and what is superfluous.

I’ve always had the philosophy that you should do what you can now, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Don’t wait to call family and friends. Don’t wait to do what makes you happy; take that road trip, read that book, visit that family member or friend.  Stay physically connected to the people important in your life, and don’t let minor disagreements destroy those human connections.

We’re so hooked on those electronic connections that we lose sight of what matters. You go to lunch with friends, sit down and start texting.  Wasn’t it the idea to go to lunch with friends-sans the electronic equipage-is it really that important to answer that text? Don’t we get a break, maybe more to the point do we want that break. I do. Am I missing something, or is it just the age difference. You know, the with age comes wisdom adage.

Last week, I was walking out of Macy’s and a young thing bumped into me at the door, she didn’t even know I was there, didn’t look up, just plowed ahead. She was busy texting, and what was more telling, she didn’t even apologize. Must be the age thing.

On that note, take a breath, and be thankful for what you have, instead of what you wish you had.

Cheers,

Margot  Justes
A Hotel in Paris
A Hotel in Bath
Hearts & Daggers
Hot Crimes Cool Chicks
www.mjustes.com

 

Another Priority Today! by DL Larson

First of all, thank you all for your kind words of encouragement while I waited for my book to be released.  I appreciate everyone taking time to contact me.  It means a lot.  And I will talk more next week about my book and how I plan to promote it.  But today I have another priority.

A young man, Dalton, 16, is having major surgery today.  He's from our small town and we really are just one big family here in Earlville and his fight with cancer has been on many minds.  For the last several months Dalton has undergone chemo theropy for the rare cancer he has.  He is one of the sixteen people in the world with this type of cancer. 

His surgery is scheduled for noon.  The surgeons plan to remove the tumor in his leg and the three in his lung.  The chemo has helped shrink the tumors, but the one nestled behind his heart is of particular worry. 
On behalf of his family I'm asking for your prayers today.  I know so many times we are asked not to bring our faith into our business world.  Well, I'm breaking that rule today.  I hope you understand that when we are left with no physical way to help our loved ones, prayer is the best place to go. 

Thanks for letting me share this with you.

Til next time ~

DL Larson

It's Three In the Afternoon - How About a Teaser?

It's three in the afternoon, and I'm just getting around to doing my Acme Authors Link post.

I've got a good excuse, since I've been working on my Blessing or Curse edits, and am now six pages from finishing them.

So, I'm almost at the finish line. Once I cross over, I'm looking forward to some breathing space until the edits come back.

This book consists of five different stories. Each has it's own name. This Teaser is from Too Much of a Good Thing, and I have to confess it's a little dicier than my usual, but to some of you it probably seems tame. (g)

The male enhancement pill, plus an extra for good measure, had not done the trick, so neither could he. Ezekial rolled off the water bed, and nonchalantly glanced over his shoulder. “Be right back.”  

Cocoa-skinned Luana, of the tight bod, champagne colored eyes and straight black hair, flashed a seductive smile. “I’m not going anywhere, big boy.”

Wincing at her choice of words, he stumbled into the bathroom, shut the door and groaned. At the moment, he did not live up to the typical African-American male image. 

Okay, that's enough for now.
Back to my edits.

Morgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel

Back in the Saddle?

I feel like I've been away from writing for a while. Not entirely. I've been keeping up with my blogs, working on cover art sheets and promotional information, and doing edits and such. But I haven't been to one of my local writers' meetings for so long I can't remember the last time I attended, and I haven't written anything new in about five months. I needed a break. Real life is busy and trying to fit a 'second' life as a writer into it just seems to add to the stress.

But now summer vacation is fast approaching, and I feel like I want to dedicate some time to actual writing again. Right now I don't have a project screaming at me to complete, but I do have several ideas out there, so I guess I just need to pick one and get to it. I'm about two chapters plus some extra scenes here and there into one story. At this point I'm not sure if it's going to be a full-length or a novella. I also have an idea (outlined!) for a time travel. That one will probably fall into the novella category. And then I have some thoughts about a few spin-off stories from my three- book series. These will definitely fall into the novella category.

I also need to figure out what happened with the mss I submitted to Harlequin last August. I sent it out, and then put it in the 'don't think about this or you'll go crazy' category. Well, it turns out I put it so far into the back of my mind that a whole bunch of months passed before I realized I should have heard something by now. And I haven't heard boo, not even a rejection in the self addressed stamped envelope I sent. We are well past the three to five month timeline I was given. So, I need to dig out the original request letter and see if I can find an e-mail address or snail mail address and find out if the mss was ever received.

I have some promotion to do. Even with my self-imposed hiatus from writing, I have a Halloween novella coming out this Fall (The Vampire and the Vixen) and the third installment in my series (This Feels Like Home) I'm guessing will release sometime early next year. I'm just waiting on an official release date for Vampire and the blurb for Home was just approved so we're heading into the cover art process. I'm also waiting on the second round of edits from my editor.

So I have plenty to keep me occupied in a writing sense. I just hope some sort of motivation to actually put words on paper makes an appearance soon. If not, maybe this time next year Debra St. John will be one of those authors that has faded away into the pages of publishing history...only time will tell.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

Lifestyle Change by Margot Justes

I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a writer, but I’ve always been a reader.  The need for a challenge allowed me to become a writer. When faced with mundane tasks, I’d hear voices in my head, and that was becoming more frequent when at work. My characters would hold some lively conversations, until one day I said enough, you’ll be heard. I started writing.

It was that easy, at least that is what I thought. I was wrong. Musings are lovely, but to make coherent observations, learn whose point of view (POV) you’re in, and all the other lovely writing essentials are hard to come by-osmosis notwithstanding.

It’s a continuous learning experience, one that keeps me challenged, that was after all what the process was all about. The challenge of putting a coherent product out, keep the voices in your head happy, and  get better with every word, while at the same time make it  fun. Writing for me has to be joyful, it cannot be a drudge, because then it becomes laborious in the worst sense possible.

I don’t plot out my stories, I have an idea and go with it. The most fun I have is when characters interact with each other, and take me on their journey. More often than not they surprise me. It keeps the process fresh and enjoyable, except when the evil writing block hits, and the voices are silenced. So far they have always returned.

I didn’t want my writing to become homework, an obligation. I wanted to have fun with it and learn by reading others, doing research, which I love doing anyway, and just seeing where it would lead. That was my first lifestyle change as a writer. I still kept my day job, and wrote in the evenings and on weekends when possible. That became increasingly more difficult.

My formal retirement notice was eighteen months-probably the longest in the company’s history. There was a perfectly logical reason to do so. I gave myself enough time to make sure I was disciplined enough to become a full time writer, and making it official meant I wasn’t going to back down. now that time is fast approaching, two more weeks to be exact, and I’ll be a full time writer. I’m ready for next journey.

It’s never too late to change.

Cheers,

Margot  Justes
A Hotel in Paris
A Hotel in Bath
Hearts & Daggers
Hot Crimes Cool Chicks
www.mjustes.com