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So Many Writing Events!

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


I’ve come to the conclusion that there are too many writing events and not enough time! (Does time seem like a recurring theme in my Slice of Orange entries? I think I’m obsessed!) I recently returned from Malice Domestic in Crystal City, Virginia (near Washington) and the Mystery Lovers Festival in Oakmont, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh). The Romantic Times BookClub conference was held in Pittsburgh earlier in April, and I considered attending since I grew up in Pittsburgh, but couldn’t do all of them. By choosing Malice, I got to network with editors and publicity people from my mystery publisher, Berkley Prime Crime, plus see my agent and meet her new baby. However, I missed the L.A. Times Festival of Books, and I didn’t go to the Edgar Awards in New York, partly because I needed to get back here not only to write, but also because I was on a panel at the Palm Springs Book Fair last weekend. Of course going there meant I missed the Sisters in Crime meeting, and I also wound up not having time to attend the special Julia Quinn workshop held by the Los Angeles Chapter of RWA on Saturday.

Upcoming are BEA (Book Expo America) here in L.A., plus the American Library Association conference, also in this area. I’ll be in the Chicago area for a bridal shower for my future daughter-in-law (yay!) and it happens to coincide with the Printers Row Book Fair hosted by the Chicago Tribune, so I’ll have an opportunity to sign my newest (June release) Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery there, DOUBLE DOG DARE. I’ll be back in time for the next OCC meeting.

I’m registered for the Romance Writers of America annual conference in San Francisco, and hope to actually attend despite all my other plans for this year. I don’t have time to go to Bouchercon or Thrillerfest, and I missed Left Coast Crime this year, too, although I’m considering going next year since it’ll be on the Big Island of Hawaii. I will, however, be giving a talk during the Kern County Library’s adult summer reading program, as well as another talk for the new East Valley Chapter of RWA. I’ve been enlisted for a panel at the West Hollywood Book Fair and am also scheduling authors for the Mystery Writers of America booth… only I may wind up missing it since that may be the weekend my older son gets married.

Did I mention I have a couple of book deadlines? I’ve already blogged here about how adorable –and time-consuming–my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are these days, especially with the new puppy. Oh, and I’m still engaged in my “temporary” part-time law position…

Well, DOUBLE DOG DARE is about cloning. Maybe I can figure out a way to clone myself.

Linda O. Johnston
www.LindaOJohnston.com
www.KillerHobbies.blogspot.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–and has 2 Silhouette Nocturnes upcoming!

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A Fantasy Life

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

by Janet Quinn Cornelow

When writing fantasy, sometimes something out of mythology can trigger and idea that is just too good to pass up. A chimera seems to be one of those things.

A chimera is a mythological creature first mentioned by Homer in the Iliad. The creature is always referred to as a female. She is immortal, not human and made up of a lion in front, a dragon in back and a goat in the middle. Sometimes she has three heads. She also breaths fire. That has to be the dragon part of her. Most of us remember her from school. A scary creature who may have mothered the Sphinx and the Nemean Lion.

The interesting thing is that a chimera can also be a human being. (No dragon head or breathing fire, but just as interesting.) This condition occurs through the fertilization of two ova by two sperm, followed by the fusion of the resulting zygotes and the development of an organism which is actually two organism in the guise of one. A human chimera could have a heart with one DNA and a liver with another. Most chimeras never know that they are two people fused together. After all, how many people are going to have their DNA checked on different parts of their bodies to see if they are one or two people. It’s a rather creepy thought.

However, in fantasy, it is an intriguing idea. What kind of a character would a chimera be? An evil creature? The original one was. How can the other characters tell a chimera from everyone else? They’re not going to run out and do DNA tests either, so there has to be a way to tell. Otherwise, the whole idea falls flat.

Now that I have discovered this unique individual, I have to put her in a story. Dark fantasy. A chimera would never be in light fantasy.

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Time Management

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

I’ve mentioned in my blogs here before–no, complained!–that I’ve become less efficient with time management as I get older. Of course I still manage to meet my book deadlines… sometimes as extended. I have two facing me now, one on April 15 for the manuscript for my seventh Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, called, at least for now, NEVER SAY STY. Then comes my May 1 deadline for a revised proposal for my second Silhouette Nocturne, which stars a Valkyrie.

So what do I do to try to increase my productivity? I adopt a new, very lively puppy as a good friend to our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Lexie. Little Mystie, also a Cavalier, is a handful. And time-consuming.

So, will I meet my deadlines? Yes. But a little piece of advice to anyone else considering taking in a new pet. Expect delays in everything!

At least pets are absolutely worth it.

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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WRITE ANGLE

February 15, 2008 by in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as ,

by Rebecca Forster

Consider the month of February. It is an odd and joyous month. Christmas is over but bills still trickle in. The New Year already feels a little worn. Odd.

Spring is just around the corner and summer is on the horizon. Joyous.

February is the month of odd days. How many? 29? 27? 21? Where’s the rhyme when I need it?

My last few books came out in February. Odd or joyous, who can say?

My husband and oldest son are Aquarius types. Their birthdates are the 8th and 9th days of February. Twenty-three years ago my husband, in the hopes of having my son born on the same day as he was, fed me a spicy burrito. It brought on labor, just not fast enough. Oddly joyous?

The point is that things that make us happiest, things we remember, are always a bit odd and a bit joyous.

There is an author I admire. His name is Richard Jordan and he writes a mystery series about old Hollywood and a wonderful woman named Polly Pepper. His latest novel, FINAL CURTAIN, is a Polly party. A veritable gala of memorable characterization.

Final Curtain

Polly is such a delight because Richard adores the charmingly odd lady. Every word he writes about this woman is joyous. From her ever-present champagne to the disappointing revival of an acting career that embroils her in a murder investigation (a director is clubbed to death with an Emmy), Polly is Polly. Odd, joyous, charming, challenging. She is a reader’s delight; she is a character-in-waiting for some smart and talented actress. Rita Wilson, are you listening?

Just like February, FINAL CURTAIN ends too quickly. And, as February flies by me, faster than I care to admit, I am beginning a new project. As I do so I will be inspired by the odd month of February, by Richard Jordan and his joyful Polly and I will write with abandon. I will let my imagination spread its wings and will not allow the rules and agent warnings and ever-changing market forces to clip them.

That will be oddly, joyously, fabulously satisfying. This will be writing as it should be.

Rebecca Foster

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

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Multiple Hats on the Same Day

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

Okay, so much for my keeping the New Year’s resolution I proposed in my last Slice of Orange blog–becoming more efficient in my writing. Where did the last month go?

It may have passed so fast for me because I was on a delightful cruise to Australia and New Zealand for almost 3 weeks. I think. I lost track of time because of crossing the International Dateline a couple of times.

The great thing was that, while traveling, I got word that I’d sold my second Silhouette Nocturne! The not quite so great thing is that the sale was on condition that I make some significant changes to that Nocturne proposal, which I really didn’t mind since that’s sometimes part of the process. The only problem was that I’m on a March 15 deadline for my 7th Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, and didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped on the cruise (big surprise!)–although my 2 talks on writing went well.

Fortunately, my Silhouette editor was quite accommodating. I was able to schedule a date for providing the proposal revisions several weeks after my mystery manuscript was due. But I still needed to prepare for a brainstorming telephone call with my editor that occurred soon after I got back. That meant switching writing hats from light mystery to dark paranormal romance each day during several succeeding days as I thought through the Nocturne changes yet continued to write my mystery. Not to mention going to my downtown LA law job each weekday morning. Yikes!

Well, it really wasn’t that bad. As I’ve said often before, the ability to change between genres is something I feel strongly about. My mysteries generally contain romance, and my romances contain mystery, or at least suspense. And changing from fiction writing to contract drafting isn’t much of a stretch. In any event, I met the challenge. My editor seemed to like the revised direction I proposed for the new Nocturne. And I’m making progress with the draft of my new mystery.

How about you? How many hats do you wear on one day?

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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