Notes from an author's month

While my life is rather low key—no jumping out of supersonic airplanes, no paparazzi chasing me on the freeways, no glamorous appearances at Fashion Week—I’ve had a lot going on lately, so I thought I’d share.

Being an author means juggling a lot of balls. Usually, I’m publicizing the current book in my Safe Harbor Medical miniseries, reading proofs or making revisions on the last manuscript, and starting work on the next book. That’s certainly been the case recently.

This past month, I started on book number 12 in the series. That’s a lot of characters to track, including their marriages and the upcoming births of their babies. I have to update the ages of their children from past books, as well. Those kids grow way too fast, just like real kids.

So it was good news when my editor emailed to say book number 11, His Baby Dream, doesn’t need revisions (it’s due out next June, following The Baby Jackpot in March). That would mean stopping for a few days or more, which breaks the momentum. Instead, I can go full speed ahead.

Meanwhile, I’ve been keeping up to date with posts on my Facebook fan page, JacquelineDiamondAuthor. While I feel rather obscure as I sit at my computer, I’m attracting Likes from around the globe. I’m astonished at how many people, men as well as women, read my books as far away as India, Turkey, Egypt and even the Republic of Mauritius, which in case you’re wondering is an island 500 miles east of Madagascar (I looked it up).

Then there’s my “other” publishing job, revising and updating older books to which I’ve regained the rights, and posting them as ebooks. I’m working hard on my Photoshop skills, since I enjoy creating my own covers. I’m now on the third cover for my revised Old Dreams, New Dreams,and I like this one the best.

In fact, Old Dreams, New Dreams is my November 99-cent special on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I decided to start offering a different book for 99 cents each month. That way, hopefully, readers, will visit my website or Facebook page regularly to discover the latest bargain. Plus at that price, people might try a mystery or science fiction novel or offbeat romance that they wouldn’t sample otherwise.

One more piece of news: an editor for an upcoming anthology,The Mammoth Book of Medical Romances, emailed and invited me to write a short story. The book will be published next year, and I’ve decided to do it. What better way to reach new readers?

And so, as November starts, I have a long list of projects to tackle. But there’s nothing I’d rather be doing!

Jackie's Facebook page

Jackie's website

Five Things That Distracted Me From Writing Last Week

I have a book due to my editor on November 1st. It's the last book of my Coffee Creek, Montana series and it's a story I've been dieing to write. So why, last week, did I get only one measly chapter written? I blame many things/people/events, but here are the top five:

1. My daughter brought her new kitten home for a visit.

Isn't she sweet? Irresistable, too!

2. We were hosting pianist Avan Yu for the Honen's Competition which entailed cooking meals, chauffeuring, attending musical events and discussing music and the artistic life until the wee hours of most nights.

Tough job, but someone has to do it!

3. The weather. We are used to crazy weather in Calgary but snow (the kind that stays for more than a day), fog and ice before Halloween is just too much. You'd think with this view to look at,

I'd be inspired to stay inside and write, but you'd be wrong. It just made me cranky.

4.I volunteer for a local charity that supports women dealing with breast cancer. Wings of Hope is there to help with the nitty gritty of paying rent and putting food on the table when you can't work because you're being treated for breast cancer. Our main fundraiser is a luncheon and raffle we put on every October. It fell on Friday October 26 this year and I'm pleased to say was a great success by every measure except my word count for the day...

5. And the last reason I wrote so little last week is...my daughter brought home a new kitten! Okay, I've used this one already, but gosh that kitten is cute!

Here's hoping this week will be more productive...for all of us!

Too tired to think of a title...

Oops.  I was offline for a few days and set my blog to automatically post on my date.  But I guess I hit the wrong button.  I must be more tired than I thought!  LOL  

Anyway, here's the post....

Lately, when it comes to rest and relaxation, I've had none.

Insomnia has hit.

Not a gentle tap nudging me away from the threshold of dreamland, but a fifty-pound anvil dropped from a great height and making sure I don't spend more than three straight hours in bed between nine p.m. and six a.m.  And usually, not more than two hours.

As a result, I'm snatching pockets of time during the day whenever possible to squeeze in a nap, but let me tell you, the pockets aren't very deep and neither is my sleep.

This deprivation has been going on for so long, my days and nights are getting mixed up.  Just like a baby.  And I'm EXHAUSTED!  Wah!

The list of remedies so far has included:  warm milk, warm baths, chamomile tea, crackers (carbs), sweets (sugar), and cheese (protein).  So far, my weight's gone up but my snooze time has not. 

Now, normally, this isn't something I'd complain about in public...  But it can't hurt to tell you, can it?  Maybe you've got the perfect cure to help me get some zzz's?

If so, pleazzzzzzzze share!

All my best to you,

Barbara

~~~~~~

August 2012

Barbara White Daille

http://www.barbarawhitedaille.com

http://www.facebook.com/barbarawhitedaille
https://twitter.com/BarbaraWDaille

North to Alaska

My husband and I went on our very first cruise this summer and from the moment we sailed out of Vancouver, we fell in love with cruising!

Juneau was our first stop. Here's a shot of the state capital building.

At Skagway we took the train to White Pass and I snapped this photo of an abandoned train trestle.

And in the afternoon I went on a horseback riding adventure. This is me on Liberty at the Dyea flats.

We had a perfect day in Glacier Bay...

...and then it was on to our last stop in Ketchican.

One evening I even got to be part of the entertainment as a participant in a game show. They were looking for people with "interesting or unusual occupations" and apparently I fit the bill.

You'll have to forgive the person who made the PowerPoint slide for not knowing how to spell Harlequin! The panel of three on-board celebrities was completely stumped until the moderator let the audience give them some clues. "She gets to work at home in her bunny slippers" and "think Fabio." LOL.

A week didn't seem long enough, and before I knew it I was back home and hard at work on my next book.

Happy reading!

 

Lee
www.LeeMcKenzie.com
The Daddy Project, December 2012
Daddy, Unexpectedly, May 2012
Maggie's Way (Harlequin Heartwarming), May 2012

October: My Favorite Writing Month!

October

 

"Youth is like spring, an over-praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes.  Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits." - Samuel Butler
 

 Full Hunter's Moon.

The Native Americans referred to the full moon in October as the Hunter's Moon.  The  time to hunt in preparation for winter. The full Moon is also sometimes called the Travel Moon or the Dying Grass Moon.

 According to the Old Farmer's Almanac

 

--The crescent Moon hovers to the right of Venus on the 12th

--On Halloween, the Moon's in its spooky football-shape gibbous phase, floating above Jupiter.

--Corn planted under a waning Moon grows slower but yields larger ears.

--Babies born a day after the full Moon enjoy success and endurance.

--A new Moon in your dreams promises increased wealth or a happy marriage.

 

Best Days in October

For Harvesting: Above ground crops: 20, 21 , Below ground crops: 2, 3, 12

For Setting Eggs: 3-5, 23, 30, 31

For Fishing: 15-29

For Marin's Latest release 30th!

 

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector



4.5 Stars Top Pick 

October 30, 2012

 

Buy!

 

Beau: Cowboy Protector is book # 5 in the six-book multi-author Harts of the Rodeo--Born to Rodeo series from American Romance.  You can check out the Harlequin trailer for the series on my goodreads page.  You'll find more information on each book in the series, along with author interviews and book giveaways at harlequinjunkie.  I hope you'll help me celebrate the release of Beau: Cowboy Protector during the month of November when I'll be blogging at harlequinjunkie and giving away an autographed copy of the book plus a small cowboy gift each week throughout the month! 

 

Back to October....

Having grown up in the Midwest, I've always thought of October as the month when world settles down and finally becomes quiet.  The temperatures at night in Wisconsin got darn chilly and the dew on the grass in the morning was cold and thick—some mornings it was white with frost.  The days grew shorter quickly and October was when we began turning on the kitchen light to eat supper at five-thirty. 
 

Traditionally the month of October has been my most productive writing month out of the year.  Even though I now live in Arizona and the weather where the weather is warm and sunny every day in October….I still feel that "settling down" inside me.  When I sit at the computer to write during the day I don’t feel as antsy as I used to during the summer months when I'd stare out the window and wish I was digging in my garden or off hunting for antiques with a friend. 
 

 How about you?  Which is your most productive month of the year and why? 
 

A Cowboy's Duty*Rodeo Rebels* 08/2012

Beau: Cowboy ProtectorHarts of the Rodeo--Born to Ride! 11/2012

No Ordinary Cowboy*Rodeo Rebels* 04/2013

www.marinthomas.com

Twitter

FB

October is Bullying Prevention Awareness Month

Today I am honored to be part of a 55-author blog blitz...Authors Against Bullying. I hope you'll join me on my blog, The Writer Side of Life, to read my post. From there you can link to the other authors' blogs.

Individually we struggle to make a difference, but we believe that together we can.

Until next time,
Lee
www.LeeMcKenzie.com
The Daddy Project (Dec. '12)

Jane Goodall & Brushing Teeth

That speck at center stage is Jane Goodall!

Had an interesting date night last Friday with Hubby and my Mom.  We'd heard primatologist and conservationist, Jane Goodall,would be speaking at Barnhill Arena at the University of Arkansas and couldn't resist.  My dad had heard her back in the sixties at Western Michigan University and thus chose to stay home.

I wasn't sure what to expect.  Ms. Goodall has fascinated me forever, but Barnhill's a mighty big place.  It was a rainy and cold night.  What if no one came?  I would be mortified on behalf of my alma mater.  Ha!  As is with most of my worries, this one was unneeded as the place was filled to the rafters with people who genuinely seem to "get it".  By that, I mean people who care about animals and our environment and the "golden rule".

I'm hardly the poster child for our planet.  I loathe washing all of our trash for recycling and am incapable of brushing my teeth without running water.  I don't use my own cloth bags for groceries, but Hubby did convince me to switch to those fancy new low energy light bulbs.  When I hear about what's happening in the rain forests, it's depressing.  And so I choose not to think about it.

Ms. Goodall made me rethink a lot of things.  Small in stature and extremely soft-spoken, she somehow managed to clobber me over the head with uncomfortable, not popular ideals that should've maybe even angered me, but instead called me to action.

Much better photo courtesy of: http://www.kait8.com/story/19743223/jane-goodall-to-lecture-at-university-of-arkansas

As I sat in the arena where I'd accepted my high school diploma nearly twenty years earlier, she unwittingly forced me to assess a lot in my life--not just where I truly stand on environmental issues, but other more personal areas, as well.  In the anonymity of that crowd, I was able to give myself a report card and came up with a solid C.  I do all right in most areas, but have the potential to do so much better.

Three-quarters of the way through the lecture, I received a highly upsetting call.  Hubby and I had made plans to be out of town for the rest of that weekend, but instead went home.  The call acted as an emotional bungee cord, snapping me back to what I know is the most important part of my life--family.

But back to the environment, whereas I have been cursing the City of Tulsa's exhausting new trash rules, I now see them a little differently.  Ms. Goodall made a simple request for all of our families--do better.  If not for ourselves, for our children and their children.  Our families.

And so lately, I've been faithfully washing jars and plastic take-out containers and tin cans.  It really doesn't take that long.  As for brushing without hearing running water?  I'm working on it . . .   :-)    

NEVER AGAIN!

I’m not only an author, I’m an avid reader.  From time to time I stumble across things that really set my teeth on edge.

My rant is twofold. 

#1  An editor is an author’s best friend.  They want you to write the strongest book possible, so embrace them and let them edit!  With self-publishing on the rise, I see far too many books in desperate need of editing. If you go this route, please hire a professional editor.  Your readers will thank you. 

#2  I want to know what ticks you off, so my books don’t end up in the “never again” pile.

 

My NEVER AGAIN items:

Member – No No No!  Don’t do this to the male appendage.  For some reason every time I see member, I think of the band Menudo. I have no idea why.

Flower – Do NOT under any circumstances refer your heroine’s area down there as her flower.  That warrants a book toss.

Pebbled – Really?  He kissed her neck and her breasts pebbled against him.  REWRITE!

Little (when referring to an adult) – I judged a contest recently where the author wanted to convey the heroine’s small stature. I’ll allow it once, twice, maybe even three times, but when it comes to the repetitive use of little hands, little feet…we get it.  She's small, but she’s NOT a child. 

A well-known author (name withheld) went through a "little" stage in the late 80's where every book for prattled on about the small heroine.  I stopped reading her books.

Last page character introductions – This mainly pertains to thriller/suspense books. I'm invested in the story, trying to solve the mystery, only to discover on the last page a new character is introduced and they conveniently are the villain.

Beautiful Abuse –  I just finished a romance where the heroine was described as “beautiful” thirty-six times in fifteen chapters.  After the first chapter, I kept score.  Despite her beauty, I found the flawless character very unbelievable. 

A page of dialogue…without tags – Sure, I leave them off too, when it’s very clear who is speaking. But when I see an entire page of tagless dialogue and I have to actually COUNT down the page, “him, her, him, her” then you have a problem. 

My friends and family chimed in with their book peeves:

Mom dislikes over descriptive filler - pages of details that don’t move the story forward and are clearly there to make page count.  

Kelli can do without the info dumps.  “I’d like crime writers to stop having the cop/forensic characters describe forensic procedures to each other.  It is their job to already know that, isn’t it?”

Kimberly has trouble with pronoun abuse.  “There were so many she she she, he he he I lost track of who was who.  Put a name in there every once in a while.”

Since I'm a debut author, it's important for me to listen to my readers. After all, I’m writing for you and I don’t want to write the book you toss across the room.

Let's get down and dirty.  Tell me what you never want to see in another book again.

Amanda Renee 
Betting on Texas (March 2013) 

www.amandarenee.com 
www.twitter.com/TheAmandaRenee 
www.facebook.com/AmandaReneeFanPage

The Other Side of Writing

 

I love to write. Which is to say I live to write. I’ve known I wanted to be an author ever since I penned my first story in the second grade. For a long time, though, writing wasn’t the top priority in my life. Putting food on the table, keeping a roof over our heads, raising my kids—those activities forced my writing into the back seat for a lot longer than I wanted them to.

But now, finally, I’m able to do what I love full time.   

Except...sometimes not.  

This week, a wonderful package arrived at my house. See the Harlequin logo on the side?

Squee! Inside were copies of my December release, Rancher’s Son. Much celebration ensued!

 

Aren’t they beautiful?

Soon after I finished dancing around with books in my hands,though, it was time to get to work again. But this part of my job as an author didn’t involve much writing.

See, nearly everyone of those advance copies had already been promised—to reviewers, to immediate family, to my editor, my agent. There were contests to enter and books to ship. And ship. And ship. And ship. 

So, away went the notes on the story I was writing, and out came piles of bookmarks, envelopes, tape, scissors, pens, markers and note pads (‘cause my mama said you can’t just slip a book in an envelope, you have to send a note!). Soon, my desk looked like a shipping office.

 

I have to admit, this isn’t my favorite part of being an author. Oh, I love the notes part, but the shipping? Not so much.

I’ve gotten pretty good at it though because I know that the sooner I finish, the sooner I can get back to what I really want to do—tell the story of how my next hero and heroine overcome the odds to fall in love.

By the way, I do have a few Rancher's Son bookmarks left over. If you'd like one, drop me a line at

leigh@leighduncan.com. Include your snail mail addy, and I'll slip one in the mail to you.

Austin: Second Chance Cowboy

 

Austin: Second Chance Cowboy

October 2012

BUY!

 

When I started work on the Harts of the Rodeo continuity series, I knew I was in for a treat. What a joy it was to work with so many fine authors! And, since writing is very much a solitary activity, it was great fun for me to get a chance to see how Cathy, Roz, CJ, Marin, and Linda plotted, researched, and approached their novels. For a few months, I was part of their club, and avid student of theirs, too.

I soon learned that I was not nearly as organized or as much of a plotter as I had previously thought! When other authors would ask me specifics about Austin’s western wear shop or Dinah’s apartment, I realized that I needed to become more detail oriented. Fast.

As I said, I learned a lot from them.

When I began Second Chance Cowboy, I was sure I’d feel closest to Dinah, but in many ways I connected with Austin the most.  I’ve always enjoyed writing about imperfect people, and Austin certainly had some imperfections. However, he also had some wonderful qualities. I liked how he looked after Dinah and bought coloring books for his nieces. I loved how he was just a little bit flirty, and just a little bit better than most folks realized.  In the end, I thought he was a perfect counterpart to Dinah Hart, Roundup’s sheriff.

One of my favorite characters of my book was Austin’s father, Buddy. He didn’t have a big part in the novel, but he did have a huge role in Austin’s character and motivations.  Thinking about Buddy, making him appealing yet real was a wonderful challenge for me. When I finished the book, I felt like I had done his character justice, and I was thankful for that.

 So, I hope y’all will enjoy Second Chance Cowboy.  It was a privilege to be a part of such a super series. And I have to say, I, for one, am already looking forward to Marin Thomas’s and Linda Warren’s books.

 

Fishin' Derby

(Bet you thought my post today would be about Cardinals post-season baseball, didn't you? I'll be watching this afternoon, so if I don't reply for a few hours, I'm sure y'all will understand.)

My husband's family holds an annual fishin' derby on Columbus Day weekend. This will surprise anyone who knows me, as I'm not an outdoorsy type, but I was the first in my immediate family to win a trophy: Most Fish in the adult category. This was gratifying as we have hard-core fishers and some hard-core competitors in the family.

Both children have trophies in the kid's category. Now everyone but my husband, who taught us all to fish, has won. He claims it's because he's helping the kids with worms and taking our fish off the hooks, as well as visiting with relatives we only see once a year. (Hey, whatever gets him through the day, right? lol)

I'm reminded of when we got serious as a couple and I asked him to teach me to fish. As fishin' was his favorite summer activity, I felt I should be able to share the "sport" with him. I learned a lot about him and his patience and his teaching methods. (This held me in good stead when he later tried to teach me to drive a stick shift. Unsuccessfully, some might say, but we didn’t divorce and I didn’t kill him, so it wasn't a total failure.)

At first, I found fishin' exciting and challenging. It will surprise no one to hear I took a book along. lol He likes to walk around and cast; I like to watch a bobber. One memorable day, I grew frustrated by the cork repeatedly going under while I was reading. Bobber sinks, I sigh, reel in the fish, release it, rebait the hook, recast the line and return to my book. Not too long after, just as I'd get back in my cozy spot in the shade and re-immersed in the story, the bobber would sink again. They were nice bluegill, don't get me wrong. I even kept a few on the stringer. But...I was tryingto read. So, with a glance to make certain I was undetected, I cast the line without a worm.

It was lovely and quiet. Every once in a while, my darling would call, "Need a worm?" and I'd call back, "No, I'm good." It took him several outings before he noticed the surplus of worms at the end of the day, and I was busted. I countered that I'd discovered a nice compromise where we both got to do what we wanted while spending the day together.

We continued to enjoy the outings, except for the sweating and sunburn I'd occasionally get, the nasty mosquitoes who love my sweet blood, and the day all the snakes in the lake swam around where I sat. Totally creeped me out. I didn't dare take my eyes off them to read, knowing they'd come ashore and slither up to me unawares. I wound up "fishin'" from the car. I was only reading anyway, not about to bring attention to myself by reeling anything in.

Ah, the things we do for love.

Any hobby you took on just because your honey liked it? 

I'll check in later for comments, after the game.  (Go, Cards!!)

Megan Kelly

Santa Dear, available now

www.megankellybooks.com