My Lovely CPs

You’ve heard it several times, “writing is a solitary profession.” In my case, it’s not true. In addition to the various online communities I belong to, I have a fabulous local RWA chapter, and I meet weekly with the best critique partners a girl could wish for.

The other day, I lamented to my CP Holly that I was feeling a little discouraged with my current manuscript. And maybe a little discouraged about trying to publish in the current market. As usual, she cheered me up with jokes and telling me how talented I am. I’m telling you, everyone should have CPs like mine!

A few days later, I received an email from Holly that had me laughing and crying at the same time. Here it is:

Subject: Please Forward

Dear Leif and Anja:

Hello, favorite characters. What are you up to today? I miss you. I want to know what you’re doing. Are you having hot, steamy sex? What are you wearing? Leif, you’d better tell Anja about that…thing…pretty soon. Before she finds out from someone else. Just a piece of friendly advice, because I like you.

Anja, I hope you find the cure for your brother Scott. I would like to meet him, but I don’t know if flying to Switzerland is really in the cards. Unless of course your Viking and Valkyrie buddies can really fly. Without planes. You know.

Tell Astrid and Ulf hello for me, and cranky old Harold as well. Oh, and if anybody knows some good gossip about Irja’s past, come sit by me.

Love,
Holly

Only a fellow writer would understand how real our  characters are to us and why writing an email my WIP’s main two people makes perfect sense.

I can’t tell you how blessed I am to have such supportive and talented writers in my corner. I love all my CPs dearly. Writing would be such a lonely thing without their support and ecouragement.

The Fabulous Four! Standing: Erin & Me. Sitting: Holly & Jere'

Posted in Authors I Admire, Critique Partners, Firsts | 6 Comments

IECRWA Writing Retreat 2012

The Inland Chapter of Romance Writers of America is having a fabulous time at Bear Creek Lodge, right at the foot of Mount Spokane. Not only are we eating great food, drinking delicious wine, and socializing with old and new friends, we’re actually getting some writing done too!

This morning, fabulous author and RITA nominee Margaret Mallory led a great workshop on taking your writing the next level. She also generously answered questions about the writing business and what to expect out of a writing career.

Spending so much time talking about writing, got me all excited and fired up about my current WIP. For the rest of the day, I’ll be working on comments from critique partners and then go through the book to outline my scenes. The plan is to have a revision plan for the last few tweaks by end of tomorrow, which just happens to be our last day at the retreat.

Hope your weekend is as much fun and as productive as mine. If you’d like to see pictures of the retreat, keep an eye on the chapter’s Facebook page. While you’re there, go ahead and “like” us and you’ll get updates delivered to your FB Wall.

Posted in Conferences, Inspiration | 2 Comments

Lucky 7 Game!

I thought my next post would be about the fantastic Rose City Spring Intensive I attended last weekend. That’s going to have to wait because I was tagged for the Lucky 7 game and my competitive side refuses to not rise to the challenge.

Fantabulous author Brooke Moss tagged me for this game, and here are the rules:

1.) Go to your current WIP…

2.) Go to the 77th page…

3.) Go to the 7th line…

4.) Copy and paste the next 7 lines…

5.) Tag 7 other writers on Twitter or Facebook to play the game with you.

Here’s my entry from my current work in progress, VALHALLA’S KING:

“Your skin is intact and you don’t have a concussion, so it’s just a swelling. It should go down in a couple of days.”

“If you’re a doctor, why don’t you work in a hospital?”

Irja’s face closed down even more than its normal poker-face demeanor. “I used to work in a hospital, but my work is here now.”

With so many of her own, Anya respected secrets. She still wanted to figure how Irja was different and how many people her “we” included, but she knew she wasn’t going to get any more answers out of the tall woman.

Alright, so I went with what was 7 lines in my manuscript, not on this blog, plus finished the last sentence so it wouldn’t end in the middle.

Thanks for tagging me Brooke, I’m off to Twitter and Facebook to find my 7 victims…ehr…writer friends.

Game on to: Holly Williams Doering, Jere Unalonis Jaline, Erin Karakas Dodge, Tamara Morgan, Griffin Asher, Jamie Leigh Hansen, and Teresa Brown Woodworth.

Posted in Blogging, Humor, Inspiration | 8 Comments

Upcoming Release! THE CARNY!

Have you ever thought back on how you met different people in your life? What were the circumstances that lead you to meet your husband? Your best friend? Your critique partner? Sometimes we set out with the purpose to meet someone to fill a role in our lives. We go on a blind date to meet a partner. We join a writing group to find someone to give us honest feedback on our work.

Sometimes though, it’s a complete fluke that you are in a particular location at a particular time. A random interaction ends up in a meaningful relationship down the line. That’s pretty much how I met Brooke Moss. We are both big fans of Jane Porter and during one of Jane’s visits to our home town we ended up next to each other at dinner before our favorite author’s reading at a local bookstore. Fast forward almost two years later and Ms. Moss and I spend much time together online and in person, talking about writing and laughing our heads off.

If you’ve met Brooke, you know how witty and funny she is. Her writing is as well. It’s also at times poignant and at times sad. In other words, everything you want from a great book. If you’ve already read her THE WHAT IF GUY, then you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, you need to pick up that title as well as THE CARNY, which is released on July 7th. Here’s the teaser:

At a town fair on the coast of Oregon, handsome Native American carny, Vincent Youngblood, bestows an unforgettable kiss on shy, awkward teenager, Charlotte Davenport. Then disappears without another word, leaving her baffled and enamored.

Ten years later, Charlotte is still living in the small fishing town of Astoria, while being trained to–reluctantly–take over for her philandering hotelier father when he retires. After all, who else will do it? Her two perfect sisters are busy being married to their flawless husbands and having cookie cutter children, while Charlotte remains single, childless, and every bit as mousy as she was a decade ago.

As Charlotte struggles to climb out from underneath her judgmental parents thumb, the carnival rolls back into town, and Charlotte finds herself face to face with Vin again. He’s back to run his father’s carnival, walking away from a promising career in medicine he started in Chicago. Will her biased and judgmental family accept her relationship with a man who is not only a Native American, but works as a carny for a living? And what unsavory secrets bind the well-educated and seemingly superlative Vin to that ramshackle carnival? After all, you can’t judge a carny by its cover.

Do you like contemporary fiction with strong women and wonderful love stories? Yeah, I know, stupid question. Who doesn’t?! Well, get ready for another great read from Brooke Moss.

Ps. Isn’t that just the most gorgeous cover?!

Posted in Authors I Admire | 4 Comments

Who Knew Plumbing Could be this Sexy?

I love this video because it is both funny and sexy. Although, it’s not the hot guys that makes me watch it over and over again, it’s the actress. I find her facial expressions and sounds hilarious. She does physical comedy really well. If they cast her in a romantic comedy or sitcom, I would so watch it just to see her again.

Enjoy!

Posted in Humor | 2 Comments