Lazette Gifford's Blog, page 99
June 26, 2011
Sample Sunday: Summer Storm
This is a part of a chapter from Summer Storm, an urban fantasy. The main character found something earlier in the story and he has no idea how important it really is. I hope you enjoy it!
I drank the cup of tea and decided bed would be better than sitting there, shivering. Bed and warm covers where I could let myself slip off into sleep. I felt exhausted. I stumbled into the room stripped
I drank the cup of tea and decided bed would be better than sitting there, shivering. Bed and warm covers where I could let myself slip off into sleep. I felt exhausted. I stumbled into the room stripped
June 23, 2011
Trying to get a handle on my novels
From For Blog
Look at the title to this blog. See the 'prolific' up there? It's not just a word I thought would look neat. I am prolific and I have been for many long years. Since I spent many of those years without editing at all or editing badly, that means I have a huge backlog of novels to choose from now that I'm doing some Indie (self) publishing. So, what is there? Where to begin?
I
Look at the title to this blog. See the 'prolific' up there? It's not just a word I thought would look neat. I am prolific and I have been for many long years. Since I spent many of those years without editing at all or editing badly, that means I have a huge backlog of novels to choose from now that I'm doing some Indie (self) publishing. So, what is there? Where to begin?
I
June 19, 2011
Sample Sunday: Ada Nish Pura
From My Cover Art
Chapter 1
Marcus tapped his fingers across the touch screen controls, righting the pole-ward drift of his fighter as he headed for the curve of the horizon. He glanced at the two massive starships orbiting almost side-by-side above the world. The smaller Moonwind had unexpectedly dropped in system within hours of the larger Augusta's arrival -- a rare occasion to have two
Chapter 1
Marcus tapped his fingers across the touch screen controls, righting the pole-ward drift of his fighter as he headed for the curve of the horizon. He glanced at the two massive starships orbiting almost side-by-side above the world. The smaller Moonwind had unexpectedly dropped in system within hours of the larger Augusta's arrival -- a rare occasion to have two
June 18, 2011
The story behind Ada Nish Pura
From My Cover Art
I love writing science fiction. This probably looks odd from someone who has published so much fantasy and urban fantasy, and so little science fiction, in the past. However, my first love was always science fiction, and those were the tales I started with. I love epic tales and space opera, and even the hard science fiction if they have good characters.
So what took me so
I love writing science fiction. This probably looks odd from someone who has published so much fantasy and urban fantasy, and so little science fiction, in the past. However, my first love was always science fiction, and those were the tales I started with. I love epic tales and space opera, and even the hard science fiction if they have good characters.
So what took me so
June 17, 2011
Zette's Take: Chapters
From For Blog
Remember the reader
There is one big reason to keep chapters in mind: the reader. Most people don't have the time or inclination to sit down and read an entire book in one sitting. They look for the best place to take a break. This is a problem for writers because while you want to give them such a spot, you don't want to make it too easy by giving them a dull section in the
Remember the reader
There is one big reason to keep chapters in mind: the reader. Most people don't have the time or inclination to sit down and read an entire book in one sitting. They look for the best place to take a break. This is a problem for writers because while you want to give them such a spot, you don't want to make it too easy by giving them a dull section in the
June 15, 2011
Zette's Take: Why this series
Little things can help
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be putting up posts tagged as 'Zette's Take' which are going to be writing-related. I have 18 of them planned out so far, and I will likely add more as I go along. I hope you enjoy them.
Originally, I was going to do these in a new blog, but I feared there might be long stretches between posts of this nature. Besides, this blog
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be putting up posts tagged as 'Zette's Take' which are going to be writing-related. I have 18 of them planned out so far, and I will likely add more as I go along. I hope you enjoy them.
Originally, I was going to do these in a new blog, but I feared there might be long stretches between posts of this nature. Besides, this blog
June 5, 2011
Sample Sunday: New story
This story hit me a couple days ago. I am in the midst of final rewrite/edit of something else, but I decided to get the opening out of my head anyway. This is VERY rough and will likely be cut back later, when I have time to work more seriously on it:
My mother, unfortunately, has a healthy dose of whimsy; far more, in fact, than a grown woman should possess. She spends most of her days making
My mother, unfortunately, has a healthy dose of whimsy; far more, in fact, than a grown woman should possess. She spends most of her days making
June 3, 2011
About the flooding
From For Blog
The Missouri River, August 2008
When Russ typed on Skype that he was going to call me last night, I knew something was wrong. He had already said he was heading for bed. That meant he had just gotten news about something. I started going through lists of things to be worried about, including the bills we had just been discussing.
The news was not what I expected. It turns out the
The Missouri River, August 2008
When Russ typed on Skype that he was going to call me last night, I knew something was wrong. He had already said he was heading for bed. That meant he had just gotten news about something. I started going through lists of things to be worried about, including the bills we had just been discussing.
The news was not what I expected. It turns out the
June 1, 2011
Good, old-fashioned adventure?
Before you think this is a rant about the current state of books, let me assure you it is not. There are thousands of great books out there drawing all kinds of readers and pleasing them. They are doing exactly what they should be doing. I have nothing against sex in books, either, so don't think that's the problem. And, as someone pointed out not long ago, romance is not just about sex,
May 27, 2011
How NOT to get work done
I had every intention of getting up and finishing the chapter for Ada Nish Pura first thing today. My mistake? Looking at my email first. I knew better. I should never look at email before I set about doing the one thing I have planned to do for the day.However, at least this time I had fun email: A request to use one of my pictures in a conservation flyer to be distributed in various areas of
