WRITERS WRITE. OH, YEAH!
June 6, 2017 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston
I became a writer because I love to write. A side attraction is that writers can write for their whole lives and never have to retire.
I began to question that a bit, though, over the last few weeks after I broke my knee.
Hey, you say, what does that have to do with writing?
Exactly. But my creativity seemed to take a break for a little while, too, probably thanks to the exhaustion of healing.
When I sat at the computer and told my mind to get going, to begin plotting the next book, it rebelled, telling me to go take a nap and forget that I thought I had any imagination. Ugh. That wasn’t me. Or was it?
I worried. I stewed. I napped. I read other people’s books. And I kept arguing with my mind.
And guess what! My mind finally decided I was right after all. It may be taking me a bit longer, but I’m plotting once more. And soon I hope to actually start writing that next book.
So my advice to other writers? Keep at it. Writers do write, even if we sometimes have rebellious minds. But we’re in charge and can ultimately direct those minds to get busy, even under unusual circumstances.
Now I just hope my mind stays on course, for now… and forever!
Oh, and by the way, my 8th, and possibly last, Alpha Force paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne, PROTECTOR WOLF, is a June release. Enjoy!
Linda first novel was the 1995 Love Spell time travel romance A Glimpse of Forever. Since then she has published over 40 novels—mysteries and romances, including paranormal romance and romantic suspense.
Linda has two new books out for 2017. May 8th will see the release of BAD TO THE BONE, the third book in the Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series. On June 1st, her book PROTECTOR WOLF (Alpha Force) a part of the popular Harlequin Nocturne series of paranormal romances will be published.
Linda also blogs at Killer Hobbies, Killer Characters and Midnight Ink Author blog. You can also find her on Facebook.
2 0 Read moreKat Martin with an Excerpt from BEYOND REASON
June 4, 2017 by A Slice of Orange in category Guest Posts, Spotlight tagged as Best Selling, excerpt, Kat Martin, Suspense
AN EXCERPT
from
BEYOND REASON
by
Kat Martin
Carly pulled the pickup into her garage, saw the single headlight of Linc’s impressive black Harley coming down the street behind her. He’d insisted on following her home. She waved as she got out of the truck, hoping he would take the hint and leave, but instead he pulled his motorcycle into the driveway behind the truck and turned off the engine.
As she took the pistol out from under the seat, Linc walked up beside her.
He eased the gun out of her hand. “Stay here till I make sure it’s safe.”
She didn’t argue. Now that she was home, the whole terrifying chain of events came rushing back with stark clarity. She followed Cain into the kitchen, thought of the Glock, and wished she’d had it in her hand when those men had attacked her.
She sank down in a kitchen chair to wait while Cain walked through the rest of the house. Tears welled. Dammit, she didn’t want to cry. Joe had taught her to be tough. He’d known he wouldn’t always be there for her.
But deep down inside, she was still the frightened ten-year old who had walked into the bathroom and found her mother on the floor, dead of a drug overdose.
She closed her eyes, bit back a sob. She didn’t realize she was crying till she felt Cain drawing her out of the chair and into his arms.
For several seconds she let him hold her, let the tears come, just wrapped her arms around his thick neck and hung on. Then she realized what she was doing and felt like a fool, eased back and turned away.
“I’m sorry, I’m not…not a cryer. Not usually. I’m sorry.” She wiped her eyes, mortified that he had seen this side of her.
“Hey. It’s been a helluva day.” His mouth edged into a smile. “Maybe I’m the one who needed a hug, okay?”
She managed a smile in return. She wouldn’t have thought he could be sweet. “Thanks for checking the house.”
“No problem. You sure you’ll be okay?”
Her smile returned, more real this time. “You’re bigger than I am, but I’ve got the gun.” Now resting on the kitchen table.
He chuckled. “All right, if you’re sure, I’ll see you in the morning.”
He’d see her in the morning? Dammit, she’d forgotten he was coming to the office tomorrow for the call to his private investigator. “Good night.”
Cain left the house through the garage, swung a long leg over the seat of his Harley and fired up the engine. The biceps in his huge arms bulged as he grabbed the handlebars. Carly pushed the button on the garage door as he started backing away, turned the bike and roared off down the block.
Exhaustion swamped her. Dragging herself into the bedroom, she stripped off her clothes, pulled on an XXL navy blue Drake Trucking T-shirt she liked to sleep in and crawled beneath the covers. The pistol rested on the nightstand. She should have been able to sleep.
But she couldn’t.
Linc got up Sunday morning at the crack of dawn, loaded his fishing gear onto the back of an ATV and took off to one of the two lakes on Blackland Ranch. He’d called Townsend way too late last night and told him what had happened at the roadhouse. He’d instructed the investigator to set up security on Carly Drake twenty-four/seven and find out everything he could about a guy who called himself El Jefe.
Linc had slept a little after that, not much. He’d awoken early and decided he needed to clear his head. Tossing a line in the water, kicking back and waiting to get a bite, worked almost as well as morning sex.
Well, almost. Hell, he hadn’t been with a women in nearly a month, too damned long as far as he was concerned. He needed to make a phone call, talk to Renee or maybe Melissa, see if one of his friends with benefits was up for a good time when he got back to Dallas.
Something stirred deep and hot inside him. Unfortunately, it wasn’t an image of Renee or Melissa. It was Carly Drake who fired his blood.
As he leaned back against the trunk of a tree, the end of his line jerked. He waited for another tug, set the hook, and started reeling. Dammit to hell, whenever he thought of Carly, he felt like the fish on the end of that line. How had the little blonde managed to sink her hooks into him? How had she managed to snag his interest so quickly?
In fairness, she wasn’t even trying. He knew women, knew she was attracted to him. He also knew she wasn’t interested in climbing into bed for a couple of nights of fun.
BEYOND REASON is available at the following retailers:
Bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, in Missoula, Montana, Kat has written sixty eight Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, INTO THE FIRESTORM, took the #7 spot on the New York Times Bestseller list. This will be the 15th novel in a row to be included on that prestigious list. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
You can find out more about Kat on her website or follow her on social media: Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
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HE SAID, SHE SAID: HOW WE MADE TWO WRITERS SOUND LIKE ONE
June 3, 2017 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as co-writing, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, mysteries, partners, Will Zeilinger
My wife, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, and I have been crime writing fiction for several years. In the beginning, Janet was the first to take a of couple classes and workshops. That was after we discovered we didn’t know what we were doing. I was a bit reluctant because the whole writing thing was foreign to me. But she came home with tools and information that opened my eyes.
When Janet was writing solo, she would often ask me to read some of her work. I’d make comments like, “A guy wouldn’t care what brand of shoes a woman was wearing” or “A guy wouldn’t say/think that.” It got to the point where one day Janet was writing and said to me—“Will, if you were a guy…” to which I replied, “What?”
Thus began our co-writing partnership. I would tweak many of the male characters’ voice styles while Janet handled the female roles. We’d brainstorm the plots, discuss our characters’ quirks and make sure the characters’ voices sounded different enough while maintaining the voice of the story. Next, we read aloud to each other. Sometimes one of us would fall asleep during the reading, but that just meant we had to fix that part. If it bored us, it would surely bore our readers.
The result is that our writing had become a true partnership in authorship and our stories sparkled (in our eyes.) We now take turns polishing and refining our work before handing the manuscript over to our editor.
And after all that… we’re still married.
Will
STRANGE MARKINGS
The Pacific breezes blow many things in from the ocean, this time its power, greed, and murder.
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Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger
Published authors Will Zeilinger and Janet Lynn had been writing individually until they got together and wrote the Skylar Drake Mystery Series. These hard-boiled tales are based in old Hollywood of 1955. Janet has published seven mystery novels and Will has three plus a couple of short stories. Their world travels have sparked several ideas for murder and crime stories. This creative couple is married and live in Southern California.
http://www.willzeilingerauthor.com/
www.themarriedauthors.blogspot.com
6 0 Read moreAn Interview with Author and RWA® 2017 PRO Mentor of the Year Maggie Marr
June 2, 2017 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as 2017 RWA PRO Mentor, Jann Ryan, Maggie Marr
We’re here today with Maggie Marr—a woman who wears many hats. A woman who is also the 2017 Romance Writers of America® PRO Mentor of the Year. She will be honored during the PRO Retreat at the RWA® National Conference to be held in Orlando, Florida this July.
Maggie Marr is the author of twenty-plus books including the best-selling Hollywood Girls Club series. She is the past president of Los Angeles Romance Authors (LARA) and legal advisor to WFWA. When she isn’t writing, reading, practicing law, or chasing her kids, you can find her binge watching her favorite shows. For more information about Maggie and her novels please visit her website-www.maggiemarr.net or follow her on social media, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
Jann: Maggie, welcome to A Slice of Orange. Why be a mentor?
Maggie: There are so many reasons and first among them, for me, is that mentoring is fun. I love writing and I love writers (my tribe!) and being helpful to other writers gives me so much joy and fulfillment. Plus, I’m an introvert by nature, so mentoring allows me to build a relationship based on a mutual love for writing, which really takes the pressure off my introvert-nature.
Jann: Tell us about the mentor programs at LARA that you are involved with.
Maggie: LARA has great programs and many of them offer authors the opportunity to reach back and help. First among them is the mentor-mentee program which matches published authors with newer writers so that writers can utilize their mentors as a resource. We also have book-in-year, 20k in 2 weeks, published author chat, the write-in, and the LARA anthology. Each program intends to help make writing a well-formed habit.
Jann: Do you have any writing rituals? Schedule?
Maggie: I prefer to write first thing. When I accomplish my writing-goal for the day I feel good because I can check that off my list for the day.
Jann: What kind of writer are you? A page a day or a burst writer?
Maggie: My goal is to write every day, but I don’t always achieve that goal. When I’m in my first draft I try for 3 thousand words a day. Lately when I revise I dedicate 2 hours a day because that’s what my schedule allows
Jann: Do you ever run out of ideas? If so, how did you get past that?
Maggie: I don’t run out of ideas, because there are couples lined up in my head, like airplanes on a tarmac waiting for take off, simply waiting for me to look at them and say, ‘you’re up tell me your story.’ What I do struggle with is scene location. I’m on book 25 and I don’t want the location of my scenes to feel tired or over-used so I’m constantly trying to think of new and unusual places to set scenes.
Jann: What’s the best writing advice you ever received?
Maggie: Never quit, never give up. Also, with every book try to write a better book than the one you just finished writing.
Jann: Author Maria Powers says: “Maggie Marr is a mentor, an inspiration, a motivator and a friend. She lives her belief that success for one is success for all, and her determination and tenacity always bring me back to the knowledge that I can do this. I am a better writer for having Maggie in my corner, but more importantly, I am a better person for having Maggie in my life.”
Thank you Maggie Marr for taking the time to be with us today to answer our questions. If you have comments or questions for Maggie, please use the comment form below.
Jann Ryan
Jann Ryan grew up with the smell of orange blossoms in Orange County in sunny Southern California, where she has lived her entire life and dreamed up stories since she was a young girl. Never an avid reader, she was in her thirties when she picked up her first romance quite by accident. She fell in love with happily ever after and has been reading romances ever since.
Wanting to put pen to paper, Jann joined of Romance Writers of America®. Currently, she is working on a romantic suspense series set in Stellar Bay, a fictitious town along the California central coast to fulfill her publishing dream.
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June Traditions
June 1, 2017 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as June, Kids, Summer, writing
June Traditions
Graduations and wedding. Strawberry stands close. Corn on the cob stands open.
June bugs attempt suicide by flying into a patio door. News programs announce grunion runs. Janet Evanovich’s new novel is sure to be on the book store shelf soon. June gloom weather patterns make it impossible to know what to wear each day. Pick shorts and a tee, the clouds never burn off. Jeans and a pullover guarantee it will be ninety by ten fifteen. The significant other always announces that the air conditioner will not be turned on until after the Fourth of July. The kids get out of school.
Ah, no school. For me, that was always both a blessing and a curse. I loved the slower pace of summer days, kids making mud pies, decorating the driveway with sidewalk chalk, back yard sleep–overs, and the wide-eyed wonder of a child blowing bubbles. I was less thrilled with sibling squirt gun fights that degenerated into all out bloody warfare in thirty seconds or less, other parents who assumed that because I was a teacher and therefore home during the summer I would leap at the chance to entertain their little darlings twelve hours a day five days a week for free, and those heartfelt words, “Mom, I’m so bored.”
No school for my kids rarely translated into no other commitments for me. I taught summer school classes, took graduate math classes and always had a novel on which I was working. So how did I carve out time for writing with a job, graduate school, three kids, and a husband who traveled?
First, I insisted both my sons and my daughter did housework. They made their beds. They vacuumed. They washed dishes. They scrubbed toilets. Few of their chores were completed as well as if I had done them myself, but I learned to turn a blind eye to what I didn’t have time to fix and to ignore snippy comments from other adults.
Next, I let my children join inexpensive summer time activities. The PTA arranged a summer movie series for children, a juice-box, a small bag of popcorn and the movie all for a dollar. Park and Recreation always offered swimming lessons, art lessons, piano lessons, gym classes. I traded play days with other mothers. But rather than drop my kids off and return to pick them up, I packed a lawn chair, a clipboard, sun screen and stayed. I graded papers during swim team practice, completed non-Euclidean geometry homework during gym class and edited chapters of my very first book while my kids played in the sand.
I arranged my desk and computer so that I could see the back yard while I worked. If they needed me closer, I handed them their own paper and pencils, pulled chairs up to my desk and had them write with me. I got wild stickers and made a refrigerator chart. They earned a sticker for each book they read and could redeem the chart for a small prize from the junk store. I bought books on tape like Treasure Island, The Hobbit, Tom Sawyer, cheap tape players with head phones and handed them out when I needed quiet time. If I was truly desperate and they were truly bored, I let them watch videos, a huge treat at my house where the TV never turned on unless it was dark outside. I set my alarm for four and wrote all morning, something I still do today even though my children are out of the house and have children of their own.
So if your children are home for the summer, cherish them and those mud pies drying in the sun, but plan on carving out time for your writing. You are creative, and if you really want to write, you will find a way.
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Trouble is coming…coming by land…coming by sea. Coming for you…and coming for me.
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