M.L. LeGette's Blog, page 21
May 12, 2017
May 10, 2017
Coming this Sunday …
Coming this Sunday …
May 9, 2017
November 2, 2015
Melissa Reads :: Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
Synopsis:When a mysterious package is delivered to Robin Ellacott, she is horrified to discover that it contains a woman’s severed leg.
Her boss, private detective Cormoran Strike, is less surprised but no less alarmed. There are four people from his past who he thinks could be responsible–and Strike knows that any one of them is capable of sustained and unspeakable brutality.
With the police focusing on the one suspect Strike is increasingly sure is not the perpetrator, he and Robin take matters into their own hands, and delve into the dark and twisted worlds of the other three men. But as more horrendous acts occur, time is running out for the two of them…
Career of Evil is the third in the highly acclaimed series featuring private detective Cormoran Strike and his assistant Robin Ellacott. A fiendishly clever mystery with unexpected twists around every corner, it is also a gripping story of a man and a woman at a crossroads in their personal and professional lives.
My Rank: 5 stars
To say that I liked Career of Evil would be a gross understatement. I freakin’ loved it. The sort of love that leaves you shaking after the final page — that sort of love.
By far my favorite in the Cormoran Strike series, Career of Evil is more thriller than detective, which is one of the big reasons why I enjoyed it so much more than the other two. (I’ve always had a lukewarm relationship with detective/murder mysteries.) But it isn’t just the burning desire to unveil the sadistic killer that makes this book delightful. It’s the ‘ordinary’ characters. The growing camaraderie and building tension of unspoken desires between Strike and Robin, the manipulative, controlling, possessive undercurrents of Michael, the smelly old Land Rover, the inviting pubs with their beer-battered fish and chips … Galbraith paints a vivid picture of characters and setting with one seriously creepy plot and hits a home run.
Favorite Lines:
“All right, who d’you know who likes chopping up corpses and sending them through the post?”
—-
A woman had died in what were likely to have been terrible, brutal circumstances, and nobody seemed to care as much as Robin did. Death and a hatchet had reduced the unknown female to a lump of meat, a problem to be solves and she, Robin, felt as through she was the only person to remember that a living, breathing human being had been using that leg, perhaps as recently as a week ago…
—-
This, he thought, was how women roped you in. They added you to lists and forced you to confirm and commit. They impressed upon you that if you didn’t show up a plate of hot food would go begging, a gold-backed chair would remain unoccupied, a cardboard place name would sit shamefully upon a table, announcing your rudeness to the world.
—-
October 11, 2015
New Writings and Other Ridiculously Exciting Things
Hello World! It’s been forever since I’ve actually written up a post, but here I am, at the keyboard…
I’ve had a bit of a dry patch with the writing, but things have changed these last few months with two projects that I’m pretty pumped about. I’ve always thought I work better later in the year. Also I will be dusting off THE ORPHAN AND THE THIEF and giving it a serious going over. See below for further details…
If you follow me on facebook or twitter (and I just joined Instagram–Yay!) you might have noticed an excitement regarding a certain literary agent and myself. I have signed (SIGNED) with Molly Jaffa (CO-DIRECTOR OF FOREIGN RIGHTS AND ALL AROUND AMAZING PERSON) at Folio Literary Management (AN AGENCY WITH AGENTS AND ME!!). As you can surmise, I’m thrilled and pinch myself three times a day.
And to all my fellow Potterheads who bought the Jim Kay illustrated edition: Isn’t it the most stunning, impressive, delightful, amazing, gorgeous, makes-you-giddy-about-Harry-Potter-all-over-again-book you have ever seen? I can’t stop flipping the pages and staring.
I need Chamber of Secrets, Jim.
October 1, 2015
Guest Author Lin Stepp
Yesterday Lin Stepp’s novel SAVING LAUREL SPRINGS was featured. It’s out in stores now!
Thank you so much for chatting with me today. Why don’t you introduce yourself.
I’m Dr. Lin Stepp, a native Tennessean, a businesswoman, and educator—and now an author with Kensington Publishing. I’ve taught psychology courses and research for 16 years with Tusculum College … and worked in marketing, sales, production art, and regional publishing for over 25 years. My latest novel SAVING LAUREL SPRINGS just released with Kensington on September 29th and to date I have eight published novels set in the Smokies, a novella in Kensington’s 2014 Christmas anthology When the Snow Falls and a hiking guidebook THE AFTERNOON HIKER, co-authored with my husband J.L., describing 110 trails in the Great Smoky Mountains with over 300 color photos throughout.
You can find me via my website, Kensington Publishing’s website, and on Facebook and Twitter at:
WEBSITE: www.linstepp.com
AUTHOR FACEBOOK PAGE: www.facebook.com/Lin-Stepp/715932788428635
My FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/linstepp
AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE: http://www.amazon.com/Lin-Stepp/e/B0028OJMPA
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/linstepp
KENSINGTON: http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/author.aspx/27477
Give me a random tidbit about you. It could be anything. Anything at all.
I grew up in East Tennessee near the Smoky Mountains. My relatives trekked down the Appalachian Trail to help settle this area and I have explored the mountains and loved them all my life. One of my greatest joys is to bring readers to visit in the Smoky Mountains I love so much through my books. One of my readers said: “You are without doubt east Tennessee’s best ambassador for tourism (don’t tell Dolly though!) that I know of.” I cherish that comment and the idea that I make readers yearn to visit the mountains of east Tennessee. The comment “don’t tell Dolly though” comes from the fact that Dolly Parton sent me a wonderful endorsement for my first Smokies-set novel, which my publisher and I loved, and she asked that I send her a copy of every Smoky Mtn novel I published, and I have. It’s fun having Dolly Parton as a book fan!
Wow — Dolly Parton! That is fun! How long have you been writing? How many books have you written? They can be published or not published.
As a younger woman I wrote copy as a production artist and occasional articles in business and academic fields—and dabbled with fiction—but I never seriously pursued writing until mid-life. This should be an encouragement to many reading this, and one of my favorite quotes is: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.”
I have ten published novels; I made the USA Today and Publishers Weekly Best-Seller lists last year and went international with my books.
Congratulations! Which genre do you prefer writing the most? What challenges do you face in this genre?
I write contemporary Southern fiction with a bit of romance, a touch of suspense, a sprinkling of inspiration, and a big dollop of Appalachian flavor. To date, all my novels have been set in different regions around the Smoky Mountains … and another is due out in March 2016 titled WELCOME BACK. I love taking readers to a different location around the mountains in each book with a new, stand-alone story and a new set of characters in every novel. My 2014 book DOWN BY THE RIVER was set on the quiet side of the Smokies in Townsend, Tennessee, MAKIN’ MIRACLES (Jan 2015) was set amid the charm of downtown Gatlinburg, SAVING LAUREL SPRINGS (Sept 2015) takes readers to the rural community of Cosby on the northeast side of the Smokies, and WELCOME BACK (coming Mar 2016) is set in Maggie Valley on the North Carolina side of the mountains.
Challenges in writing books in a specific locale are in bringing that setting to life for the reader in a “real” way –with actual places, bits of factual history, characters true to the region, and an engaging story. My publisher even uses one of my hand-drawn maps in the front of each of my books to bring the setting to life for my readers.
You make me want to book a trip to Tennessee. Tell me more about
SAVING LAUREL SPRINGS.
In studying Appalachian history, I enjoyed reading about the many resorts and campground that built up on old assembly grounds, mineral springs sites, and mountain retreat areas. In their prime eras, many were visited by dignitaries and famous names and were truly elegant places. A few still remain, although many have disappeared or declined. I liked the idea of setting a novel on one of these old assembly-campgrounds and creating a story around it, which is what I did in the novel set in the fictitious Laurel Springs Camp Assembly Grounds.
Characters Rhea Dean and Carter Layman had grown up at Laurel Springs and always dreamed of bringing it back to its old glory. But Carter went away and married someone else, with Rhea staying on, trying to keep Laurel Springs going. When Carter returns, widowed with a small son, wealthy and determined to turn Laurel Springs into the place he and Rhea once dreamed of … the two face many challenges. The big question is: Can they forgive the past and trust in each other again? And can the old love they once knew find life again?
Around Carter and Rhea’s story spins the story of Laurel Springs, the Cosby area of the Smoky Mountains, the families and friends of the couple, and several unsolved mysteries and problems going on at Laurel Springs.
How do you typically begin your projects? Do you create outlines and character profiles or see where the story leads?
I am a consummate planner. Once I envision and lay out the general idea, main characters, and conflicts of a book … I spend about three months researching, planning and working on a book’s characters, setting, and plot before starting the writing. I create a chapter-to-chapter outline, locate photos of characters and places that may be in my books (I’m very visually inspired) and I visit the books’ settings to saturate myself in the feeling of the area. Once those stages are complete, I write my books, each taking about three months to finish. So, around my teaching and other jobs, it takes me about six months to write a book.
Editing can be quite the challenge. How do you go about editing your work? Do you have any tips you’d like to share?
For me, writing and editing are like wearing two different hats. Writing is highly creative – so when I write I wear that “artist” hat and I write. Except for minor editing, the main task is to write the book. I read through the chapter I finished the day before to get back into the flow of the story and then move on into the next chapter or section.
When my book is complete, I lay it aside for a time and then return wearing my analytical “professor” hat to edit. Now I’m reading with an outside view to tighten, correct, and improve the work previously created. Usually as a final edit—preferably a few weeks later—I read the book out loud to myself to do the final edit before submission to my publishing editor. It’s amazing the things an author can “hear” that are wrong when reading a book out loud.
When I work with my publishing editors, I understand, always, that they are trying to help me strengthen my work to make it even better—and I value their input. Every book needs to be edited and every author needs to self-edit prior to submission and to work with good, professional outside editors before publishing a book, no matter what publishing route is pursued.
Talk to me about your marketing strategies. Any tips?
A favorite phrase of mine is: “Your book is your business.” It’s your product. It will sell if it’s good and it will sell if you advertise, work, and market it. No one comes to your door knocking to look at your book. You have to get out there to work—to find and connect with your readers to help your book be successful and to build readership for your writing.
Each author is an individual, but most successful authors utilize: (1) a good website; (2) social media used regularly; and (3) marketing both in-office and out of office to make their books successful. In-office marketing could be connecting with reviewers and bloggers, gaining interviews for newspapers, magazines, and online sites, calling libraries and bookstores to tell them about your book and its availability. Out-of-office marketing means doing book signings at bookstores and other venues, calling on book sales locations to drop off order information and to tell them about your product, doing radio and television interviews, and speaking for book clubs, civic groups and organizations, literary festivals, and other events.
I truly believe we all ‘reap what we sow.’ … If you sow little and sit back expecting your books to sell themselves or for your publisher to do it all for you, you’ll reap scantily. If you sow more, and work diligently to promote and market your books, those efforts will multiply and you’ll see good results and a good return.
What advice would you give a writer who is just starting out?
Be teachable. Writing and publishing books is a business – and an author has to learn that business as they go. Just as you might go to school to learn nursing or some other profession … you will have to work hard to “learn” the business of writing and publishing from other professionals – but in a more “self-educated” ever-growing, ever-gaining way, being willing to study and learn, and without a “know-it-all” arrogance.
Some people will truly help you and some will exploit you, knowing you are green, young, and growing. But persevere. There is nothing more joyous to an artist of any type than sharing their creative work with others.
Thank you again, Lin! I wish you all the best!
If you are an author and would like to be interviewed, check out more at Be My Guest.
September 30, 2015
Book Spotlight: Saving Laurel Springs by Lin Stepp
“A charming portrait of the Smokies, their people, and a wonderful way of life.” –Deborah Smith, New York Times bestselling author
In a heartwarming novel set amid the lush splendor of the Great Smoky Mountains, Lin Stepp reunites two kindred spirits in a charming story of first love and surprising second chances. . .
See ya later–and love you forever, Rhea Dean. Those are the words Rhea’s childhood sweetheart, Carter Layman, used to say whenever they parted. Not that she places much stock in words anymore. After all, Carter drove off to college in California, promising to make a fortune to help save their families’ vacation resort. Instead he stayed there and married someone else. It fell to Rhea to keep Laurel Springs going and she’s done just that, working long hours on the camp grounds, buoyed by the beauty of her Smokies home.
Now a widower with a young son, Carter has achieved huge success as a games developer. But he always planned to return to the spring-fed lake and the soaring mountains, to the covered bridge where he and Rhea made wishes and traded kisses. He’s coming home to turn Laurel Springs into the place they planned to build together. And as he reveals the truth about his past, Rhea must decide whether to trust in the man–and the dreams–she’s never forgotten.
Where to Purchase
Amazon ~ Goodreads
Follow Lin
Facebook ~ Website ~ Twitter
If you are an author and would like your novel featured, click here to find out how.
September 17, 2015
Love Triangles: A girl thing??
Wondering: Are there any young adult post apocalyptic and or dystopian books with a female lead that do NOT include a love triangle? If you’ve read ’em, tell me.
August 20, 2015
Roses. Who knew.
Life on the farm is calming down and the itch to write is returning. (I keep trying to tell myself that it’s been a very long and lovely break, but honestly I am thrilled to be enthused about my writing again.) Book four — can I actually call it book four? — is in infancy and I’m excited about it. This morning I was flipping through an old rose encyclopedia and stumbled upon some fun names that might find their way into the book. Check out the pic:
What about you? Where do you find names for those tricky characters and places?
August 2, 2015
THE TALE OF MALLY BIDDLE — Free on Kindle
To celebrate summer (in all its horrible, hot nastiness — at least, where I am) I’ve made THE TALE OF MALLY BIDDLE free on Kindle, worldwide. You can scoop up a copy till Aug. 5.
Happy Summer Reading!
Melissa
