Maria Luis's Blog, page 5

Tracking My Word Count Progress: NaNoWriMo

It's almost that time of year again.No, I'm not talking about Halloween, though here in New Orleans Halloween is a BIG. DEAL. You know how I know it's a big deal?1) My dogs spend their walks alternating between barking at skeletal lawn decorations and trying to pee on them.2) In a city where witches and vampires roam the streets daily, the spooky season brings out the 'fakes,' better known as tourists.3) I work for a ghost tour company.  Enough said.Halloween is our biggest season.  It's both...

Traveling & Updates

I've been gone a while.  I know! It's hard for me to believe it to, but let's put it this way: I have spent the last month either with family visiting or myself visiting family.  Let's break this down:Mid-August to late August: Brother and his lovely girlfriend came down to New Orleans. In part because obviously they wanted to see me (ha) but mostly because they had reserved tickets on a cruise to the Caribbean out of the New Orleans port.Early September to mid-September: my boyfriend (Michae...

Writer's Block: Pitfalls and Battle of the Mind

Writers often fit into two different categories--or at least, we'resupposedto fit into one or the other.The first? The "plotters."  Those fine specimens who turn their wall into a sticky note haven, and turn "color coordinated" into an Olympic sport.  (2020 Tokyo: you'll find them smack between swimming and beach volleyball).Opposite the heavy duty plotters are the so-called "pantsers," those writers who fly by the seat of their pants and refuse to be beholden to a stack of note cards.Psssh,w...

5 Top Romances Novels : : July 2016

Guys, where has July gone? I'm serious.  I feel like it was just yesterday that I was celebrating my birthday (I'm a late-June baby) and,bam, hello to the start of August.  Now normally I'd be totally against the end of summer, except . . . the climate in Louisiana is sort of hot (read: Hades' backyard) and no matter what you do the mosquitoes creep in, and if I have to see one more roach in my line of sight I don't know what I'll do.I've lived in New Orleans since 2008, but like a bad boyfri...

Anything But Love by Abigail Strom | Book Review

Book:Anything but LoveGenre:Contemporary RomanceRelease Date:July 12, 2016Grade:BSynopsis:Socialite Jessica Bullock can’t catch a break. After a lifetime of chasing perfection, hoping to please her parents, all her hard work is set to pay off. But on her wedding day, her fiancé leaves her high and dry. Humiliated, she finds her calm, cool facade beginning to crumble…until an unexpected wedding guest, her childhood best friend and crush, offers to help her pick up the pieces.Never in his wilde...