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Writing Through the Holidays

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

by Linda O. Johnston

Where will you be during this holiday season? What will you be doing?

I’ll be writing. Why? Well, it’s what I do. Plus, I have two different deadlines in January. Yes, I’m a glutton for punishment, and I also find it fun to change voices at different times of the day.

I’m also going away for a week to be with extended family. Thank heavens for laptop computers! Plus, I hope to have enough done to be able to hide in a corner and nod my head at conversations now and then as I edit.

I wish all of you an excellent holiday season, full of happiness and warmth with family… and, yes, also full of writing!

Linda O. Johnston is the author of 14 romance novels as well as the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime–and has 3 Silhouette Nocturnes and a Nocturne Bites upcoming!

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A Fantasy Life

November 27, 2008 by in category A Fantasy Life by Janet Cornelow tagged as ,

By Janet Quinn Cornelow

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope all of you are enjoying the day with family and/or friends. This year my household is up to seven. My sister, my daughter-in-law and my youngest son’s girlfriend will be joining my sons and I. I get to cook the turkey. The two youngest cook most of the rest. I have been having holidays at my house forever and do not see someone else taking over, ever.

The picture is from my Augeas short story series. This one is titled “Berry Cake” and is part of Whiskey Shots Vol. 19 from Whiskey Creek Press. I have a new artist, so the pictures are a little different. In this picture, Lord Culain is asking the mouse for berry cake. As with all artists, she took some liberties because there wasn’t a mouse in the story, but Lord Culain did ask often for berry cake.

There has been no fantasy in my life lately. I suffered burnout judging the EPPIEs. It all seemed too much to do in such a short time with everything else in life. I laid on the couch weekend after weekend until I didn’t think I could read another word. In fact, I have hardly read anything since I finished the seven books. Reading for a contest is just not the same as reading for fun. The fact that you can’t stop because you aren’t going to get done in time, seems to make it into an ordeal. Especially when you have to read books you would never pick to read yourself. I did discover one new author that I will find her other books. As Linda Mac said, “Thank goodness for cable TV.” Now I find myself laying on the couch watching TV. It takes so little effort.

After Thanksgiving is over, I will have to force myself back into the chair and into the writing. Poor Sam is still in bed with Jubilee, though I haven’t heard any complaints from them.

Art work by Loki – http://loki-rei.deviantart.com

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Writer on the Verge

November 18, 2008 by in category Writer on the Verge by Kate Carlisle tagged as ,

Write? Promote? Write? Promote?

I’m writing Book Two, but what should I do about Book One? It’s a quandary every writer faces, but I think I know the answer to this one …

Sell, baby, sell!

Yup, that’s me. Kate the Promoter.

Okay, yes, I’m a little obsessed with promotion right now, but it happens to everyone, right? I’m determined to sell every book printed in order to trigger a second and third printing. Is that so wrong? I just wish I knew how many books my publisher is printing. Then I could really obsess.

But I don’t know how many they’re printing and they won’t tell me, so I’m forced to play with imaginary numbers on the calculator. I carry my calculator around with me, just in case I get the urge to figure out something.

That’s not weird, is it? No, it’s fun. Obsession can be fun. Really. And then there’s bookmarks. I really want bookmarks. I’ve got postcards, but bookmarks can go anywhere. And I’ll need pens. And magnets.

I obsess over my calendar daily. When my book comes out, I’ll need to fill my calendar with lots of speaking engagements. I’ll need to schedule readings, and maybe go on a book tour and meet booksellers and lots of readers. I need to do a blog tour, and contests, and I’ve got to get lots of reviews, do radio interviews, go to every conference in the country.

My protagonist is female, so I’m hoping to speak to a lot of women’s groups. There are women at Rotary meetings, right? And lawyers’ groups, legal secretary organizations, nurses’ associations, librarians, teachers.

Oh, and my protagonist stops for coffee in chapter seven. I wonder if barristas have speakers at their meetings. There’s a connection I could exploit. I wonder if they have a mailing list.

Maybe I need to take a nap.

Kate Carlisle’s debut mystery, Homicide in Hardcover, comes out February 3, 2009. Buy, baby, buy!!

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The Write Way……….

November 17, 2008 by in category The Write Way by Maureen Child tagged as ,

My big worry this weekend was the deadline hovering over my head like a razor sharp machete just waiting to swing down and well….you know.
Then the fires kicked off. That’s a picture of the sun taken from my front porch and we were about forty miles from the closest fire. The smoke and ash in the air were incredible and the yellow light coloring the world was extremely weird.
But, since we are Orange County Romance Writers, I want to put this hope out there that all of our friends and their families came through these wildfires safely. There are a lot of things more important than deadlines.
Maureen Child is the author of more than 100 romance novels and novellas. She’s diving back into deadline mode now………..
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Writing Inspiration

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

by Linda O. Johnston

There’s nothing like a trip to New York to get a writer’s creative juices going! I was fortunate enough to be in the Big Apple a couple of weeks ago and to have meetings with my editors. I hadn’t met my current Berkley editor in person before, so I really enjoyed the opportunity. She’s every bit as nice as I’d thought she was from our e-mails and phone calls. We had a great time discussing my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series and what Kendra is up to these days, and more. Kendra’s seventh adventure, NEVER SAY STY, will be out in April 2009, which pleased both of us. We’ve even seen the cover!

I also met with my Harlequin editor and the senior editor for the Nocturne line. That was definitely enjoyable, too. My first Nocturne, ALPHA WOLF, and related Nocturne Bites (e-novella), CLAWS OF THE LYNX, are both January releases, so the timing was wonderful. Plus we agreed on the title for my next Nocturne, BACK TO LIFE, which will be a June release. I’m inspired to do even more Nocturnes!

Of course I look forward to staying in touch with them all, and to seeing them at upcoming conferences as well. But there’s nothing like meeting them individually in a less stressful environment to enjoy their company even more. I came home with all sorts of additional writing ideas and the inspiration to leap right into them!

Linda O. Johnston is the author of 14 romance novels as well as the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime–and has 2 Silhouette Nocturnes and a Nocturne Bites upcoming!

http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
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