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Pets, Romance and Lots of Suspense

January 6, 2008 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , ,

Happy New Year! Have you made any resolutions regarding your writing this year?

I have. For one thing, now that I have a part-time law job I’ve become less efficient in the use of my remaining time. Of course I still write a lot, but I get annoyed at myself for not making the best use of the time I have available. Solution? I’m going to put myself on a better writing schedule.

Okay, maybe I’ll convince myself of that one. In any event, I intend to continue to write in multiple genres as much as I can. Why do I do that? Because, for me, it’s always been fun and a challenge to be able to change how I write. I used to be in journalism, advertising and public relations, and then I became a lawyer. And during all that time, I’ve also written fiction. It’s a kick to be able to change types and tones of writing from one minute to the next: a feature article to a short story. A contract to a chapter of a novel.

Why else do I do that? Well, being able to move from one genre to another also opens up extra possibilities, especially since trends in what publishers buy seems to change so often based on what they think readers are looking for. Plus, it’s fun!

More about that, and changing genres, in my future Slice of Orange entries!

–Linda O. Johnston

Linda O. Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.com


Linda O. Johnston is the author of 14 romance novels as well as the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.

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A Fantasy Life – 4

December 27, 2007 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. My family bought me a laptop, which was exciting. My oldest bought me a cool case with wheels and a handle to carry it around. He pretty much figured I wouldn’t be able to lift a regular case and get it across the room. So far I can play games on it. I was practicing using the touch pad. My oldest has promised to set up the internet connection and Word tonight, but he’s in his office making up characters for his new role playing game. The major reason I wanted the laptop is because I am going to become a online facilitator for Axia, a division of the University of Phoenix and my middle son and I are always fighting over the computer. He plays World of Warcraft and gets cranky when I want to use the internet. The whole family is into fantasy worlds. The youngest also does role playing games.

It’s almost the new year and time to look back at what was accomplished in 2007 and what I want to accomplish in 2008. I have a tendency make more goals than anyone person could accomplish. I’ve made a few less for 2008, but will add to the list. I always do. A new project comes up and I finish it, so I have to add it to the list so I can cross it off and say, “Look what I did.” I pretty much ignore those that didn’t get done. Some of them I really didn’t want to do anyway. Others get moved to the next year. I keep all of my goals in a journal so I can look back and see what I did and didn’t do in past years. When the same goal has been running for three years, it is time to rethink that project. I actually got one of those goals done this year.

I still have a few days left and am on vacation from my day job, so I have a list of what I have to do this week. Write two fantasy short stories for The Enchanted Hawk which comes out in February. I need give aways for a contest. Finish the rewrites I’ve been working on for two months that should have taken half that time. And venture into the world of trailers. I want to do one for my Augeas fantasy short stories before the next two come out in February. I also have to order new character pictures since the city scape is nearly done. I hope you enjoy the black and white version. I don’t have color yet.

Everyone take time and visit the fantasy world of your choice. Where would we be without a good book to read.

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Writer On The Verge

December 18, 2007 by in category Writer on the Verge by Kate Carlisle tagged as ,

Why I Can’t Blog Today

1. I have a headache. No, really. And no, it’s not a hangover so just don’t go there. It’s my sinuses. I’ve got bad ones. And with the rain and the changes in barometric pressure, I get all stuffed up. I’ll be okay, but I really can’t blog today.

2. As mentioned above, it’s raining. And rain effects the electrical connections in my house causing little brown-outs, which messes with the router and I lose my internet connection. How can I post the blog without an internet connection? I can’t. So I’m really sorry, but I can’t blog today.

3. I can’t concentrate on blogging because I’m stuck in Chapter Seven. Why am I stuck in Chapter Seven, you ask. Because in Chapter Seven my heroine has to go home, and I have to describe all that “home” stuff. Now, some of the home stuff has little to do with the mystery—and some of it does. But the point is, this is the chapter where I’ve got to introduce some of the ongoing characters who will appear and re-appear in subsequent books in the series. It all happens in Chapter Seven. So you see my dilemma, right? I mean, what if I give my heroine a sister with twins and a nice husband and a cozy lifestyle in the mountains near Lake Tahoe and it turns out in Book Four that the sister should’ve been a New York fashion editor? I could screw up the whole series. Or what if the heroine’s mom is a bi-polar hairdresser and her dad owns a liquor store, and then it turns out in Book Twelve that I really needed the heroine to be an orphan? You’d think I’d already worked all this out, and I have—for Book One. But what if I was wrong? What if–well, you get the idea. Who has time to blog when all this turmoil is eating away at my brain?

4. Christmas is less than a week away. I know most of you are just sitting around waiting for the fun to start but I’ve still got a pile of Christmas cards to write and address and mail, and a whole bunch of presents to buy, and hey, I’ve got to finish that stupid Chapter Seven (see Item No. 3 above), then start Chapter Eight, then pack for the trip to mom’s, and oh yeah, and I’ve got to stop at the drugstore to pick up sinus medicine (for my headache–see Item No. 1 above). But before that, I’ve got to make breakfast, take a shower, get dressed, go to work, FedEx a bunch of stuff to the family back East, then come home, wrap all those presents, finish Chapter Eight, pay bills, and bake cookies for the office holiday party.

So I think I’ve made my point here, right? I’m just too busy to blog. Sorry. Maybe next month.

But meanwhile, y’all have a Happy Holiday and a Wonderful New Year! Cheers!

[Kate Carlisle would’ve posted her really cute photo and some of her truly impressive writing credits but she was just too busy!]

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WRITE ANGLE

December 16, 2007 by in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as ,

by Rebecca Forster

I guess you’ve figured it out. The months of the year are my inspiration for this blog. You tune in and I give you my take on – well, something about the month. Sometimes it’s a stretch, sometimes not. But now it’s time for the big one.
December. Xmas. The holiday season.

So much to write about and so little time. Gifts. Holiday music. Horrid materialism which, if truth be told, would be relabeled miraculous generosity if I was the one opening a little blue box from Tiffany’s on Christmas morning. Be that as it may, I’m a writer and this time I’m not going to take the easy way out. I want to give you something to think about. I want my words to paint a picture that is eloquent in its simplicity, deep in meaning. In short, a blog that is unforgettable.
I want to tell you a cautionary Christmas tale. It is true. I saw it with my own eyes.

We lived in Los Angeles then. Our families were still in the South Bay. With parents getting on, brothers and sisters spread out all over the country, we felt obligated to spend the Christmas holidays driving: Long Beach, Redondo and back home to Los Angeles more times that I could count.

Back and forth; forth and back. Nothing spectacular – until two days after Christmas. The children were asleep in the back of the car. My husband was silent, tired of the freeways and cheer that had run its course. I sat beside him, my head resting on my upturned palm, thinking about nothing in particular. It was late afternoon and I would have nodded off too – but then I saw her.

I sat up straight and touched my husband’s arm. I raised my chin. He looked. His eyes narrowed. We didn’t wake the children. We didn’t want them to see the woman standing on the off-ramp but we couldn’t take our eyes off her. We passed her slowly. For a fleeting moment I wondered if we should stop. She looked so pitiful. I started to speak but my husband shook his head. He drove by. I swiveled in my seat hoping she saw that I, at least, sympathized. Perhaps she felt my interest. She turned to watch us. I saw the terror in her eyes. We could have helped. We didn’t. She held up her sign. The words were burned into my memory.

Spent too much at Xmas. Please help.

I turned my back just as the late afternoon California sun caught the diamond on her hand and shot a Christmas star of light into my eyes. She pulled her fur coat tight around her, shook back her streaked hair and turned to the next car. There, I thought, but for the grace of a credit limit, go I.

Merry Christmas to all those who give and those who receive.

Rebecca Forster
http://www.rebeccaforster.com/
HOSTILE WITNESS
SILENT WITNESS
PRIVILEGED WITNESS

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Pets, Romance and Lots of Suspense

December 6, 2007 by in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as , ,

by Linda O. Johnston

I’m really excited to be joining the wonderful writers who blog on A Slice of Orange. I write romance and mystery, sometimes suspenseful romance, and sometimes romantic mystery. I’ve also become an experienced blogger. I blog weekly on KillerHobbies.Blogspot.com and, since I write the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, the “hobby” I blog about is pets.

Of course, I consider pets family, not just hobbies. But the topic is fun and versatile.

So what do I hope to talk about here? I think one focus will be the fun of switching between genres. I started out writing mystery short stories, moved to time-travel romance, then romantic suspense, then back to mystery–novel-length, but also, still, occasional short stories. And I continue to write romance, too. In addition to my Kendra series, I’ve sold a paranormal romance to Silhouette Nocturne, although its publication date hasn’t yet been established. Why do I switch? How do I switch?

Well, come back and visit me on the sixth of every month, and I’ll tell you all about it! And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Linda O. Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.com


Linda O. Johnston is the author of 14 romance novels as well as the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime.

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