Ceara Nobles's Blog, page 6

Writing Status Update: August 2021

If you've been following me, you know that my daughter just started preschool last week. And I can't even tell you how excited I am to have dedicated time to work. The excitement is unreal!

I've made several lofty goals to accomplish during these two days per week (that's a topic for another day) and one of them is to get back to a regular posting schedule here on my blog. I've created a rough blogging schedule and I've decided that at the end of every month, I'll create a blog post dedicated solely to updating you on writing progress. Not only will this keep me accountable, but it will be fun to take you along for the ride as I finish this draft. I'll share all the nitty-gritty, including my word counts and current issues I'm struggling with. I want this to be a reflective experience for me and a fun behind-the-scenes for you!

Let's get started!

CURRENT WORD COUNT

Current word count: 31,371

Target word count: 80,000

Whew, it's exhilarating and terrifying to share these details with you! I'm an underwriter, so even though I'm only at 30,000 words, I'm at about the midpoint of the story. During the editing process, I'll go back and add a ton of scenes and details. For right now, I'm speeding through this draft, getting down the main story beats so I can write "THE END!"

WRITING THOUGHTS

My writing process is crazy right now. To tell you the truth, I've been working on various iterations of this book for about three years now. In my latest iteration, I made a TON of changes to my outline, and right now I'm focusing on figuring out which scenes I can keep from the previous version while also writing a bunch of new scenes. If you could see my Scrivener right now, you'd be appalled! It's a jumbled mess of notes and new/old versions of scenes!

The good news is, I'm pretty much past where I had previously written content, so from here on, it's all new! I think this will be a lot easier for me. I won't have to worry about the old stuff. Instead, I can focus on what I'm good at: getting lost in the story.

Can I share a lofty goal with you? I want this draft to be finished by the end of September so I can move into the editing phase. In order for that to happen, I need to write 1.5 chapters per week.

That doesn't seem too bad, does it? Especially now that I am working two full days per week!

If I can hit this goal, then it will FINALLY be time to schedule a cover and release date reveal! I have so many fun ideas brewing for this, including creating a book trailer. Eep! I am so excited.

Stay tuned. In my next status update, we'll either celebrate my victory or bemoan my defeat!

Author Mom - A Day in the Life

Have kids, they said. It'll be fun, they said.

... Okay, having kids is actually pretty fun. But nobody warned me how HARD it is to get things done with little kidlets running around! And I only have one; I see you author mamas out there with multiple kids! You are warriors!

In the two years since I gave birth to Annabelle, I've struggled with my identity as a mom and author. It felt like two full-time jobs were trying to pull me in separate directions, and I lived on the precipice of being torn apart. (Dramatic? Probably, but the feeling was real!)

I wanted to work on my art, but this little human required so much of my attention. By the time I gave her what she needed, I had zero mental energy or willpower to work on my author career. I coasted through the first year postpartum, struggling to keep all the balls in the air at once.

Then I learned to delegate. To take the time I needed to work on my passion.

And THEN? Annabelle started preschool.

Okay, it's only been a week since she started, and she's only going 2 days per week, but WOW. 12 hours per week of uninterrupted work time. What is life??

I thought it would be fun to break down what a day looks like for me as a full-time mom, part-time author, and part-time freelance editor! Here we go!

Morning: Mom Time & Mom Duty

I've made a resolution to wake up earlier than Annabelle. Some days I succeed, some days I don't, but when I do, my day always starts on a positive note! I've read countless blog posts about productivity as a mom, and the number one advice is always to get up early. I didn't think it was true until I tried it!

On preschool mornings, I get Annabelle up, fed, and ready for the day so we can get out the door by 8 am. On non-school mornings, I let her sleep until she wakes up, which is usually around 8. We spend the morning playing and getting some chores done. Sometimes we take the dog for a walk or go to the park for a bit to kill some time before lunch.

Nap Time: The Ultimate Work Sprint

Annabelle takes one nap every day from 1 pm to 3 pm, which gives me two hours to get ALL the work done. As soon as she's down, I shut myself in my office and tackle my task of the day. Since I'm working 6 hours a day on Annabelle's preschool days, that's where I do my long writing sprints and editing sprints. I reserve naptime on other days for random tasks that need to be done, like business courses, marketing, social media, and blog posts. Those are usually pretty easy to complete in a two-hour block!

If it's a preschool day, I'm working from the time I drop Annabelle at school to the time I have to pick her up. It's a huge chunk of time that I have into blocks with certain tasks. It's been so helpful to have long blocks to get stuff done and be productive!

Evenings: Shift Work

On weeknights, my husband and I take shifts on Annabelle duty. Two nights per week, I have the night "off" to work on whatever I need to, and my husband gets the other two days. Often, we end up hanging out as a family, but it's nice to have the responsibilities delegated! If I have the night off, I'll sometimes work on editing projects if I'm on a deadline, but I'm trying to shift away from working during the evenings when I can avoid it. I'm trying to spend more time intentionally focused on my family!

Final Thoughts

In the past two years, my daily schedule has shifted more times than I can count. This is a snapshot of what my schedule looks like today, but tomorrow it may be different. As a mom, I have to be flexible and adjust my schedule to what's needed on any given day. That being said, I'm really working on dedicating time to my author career and finding a work/life balance that works for me.

Any other writer moms out there? What does your daily schedule look like?

How to Outline Books Like a Pro

If you're a writer, you've probably heard this question before: are you a plotter or a pantser?

Personally? I'm somewhere in between. A plantser, if you will. I like to outline the big plot moments in my stories, and then I let the writing take me where it will. Usually my final result only kind of resembles the original outline.

I've tried a bunch of outlining techniques over the years - the sticky note method, lists in a notebook, Word documents, worksheets - but I've only recently found what I believe to be the magic formula for outlining.

Are you ready?

It's a little program called Campfire.

The Best Outlining Program - EVER

I first heard about Campfire from a friend of mine who's really into DnD. Apparently a lot of DMs (dungeon masters) use it to craft worlds and stories for their DnD players.

I was just starting to write my current fantasy novel at the time, and I was looking for a way to keep all my worldbuilding details organized and easy to access. So I did a little checking into the program.

It. Is. Amazing.

It is a standalone program (or they have a web version, if that's your thing) where you can develop characters, weave plotlines, build worlds, and write your story. I tried a free trial of the standalone program and immediately fell in love. It's fully customizable, and you can keep track of everything from character stats and characteristics to magic systems and maps of your world. I'm not kidding when I say that the developers have thought of EVERYTHING.

Speaking of outlining, though, here's a little preview of what my story timeline looks like:

Each of the speech bubbles opens into a detailed page about each plot point in my story. Within that page, I can link characters, settings, and magic systems. I can also add pictures and maps to each plot point for easy reference later.

This program is SO FUN.

A Word of Warning

Just a word of warning though: if you purchase this program, you WILL fall down the rabbit hole and spend a week (or longer) creating your story bible and exploring all the fun pages.

Check out their website if you're interested in the program. They just launched a new version called Campfire Blaze, which is a web-based program that includes a word processor so you can outline AND write your story within the same program. I'm sticking with the standalone version because I like that I can use it without an internet connection. I'm old school, I guess!

Final Thoughts

If you're looking for a fun way to plot or outline your next story, give Campfire a try! It makes the process fun (at least it did for me) and interactive. Plus, with all this info in one place, I'll never have to worry about a character having blue eyes in one scene and green eyes in another. :P

Are you a plotter? What does your process look like? Please share in the comments!

How I Supplement My Author Income

Here's the truth: most authors don't get rich quick. (And some don't get rich at all!)

Are you surprised?

We can't all be like JK Rowling or Suzanne Collins or Stephanie Meyer. Many authors don't see much (if any) income by the time they pay for publishing and marketing costs.

My Story

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I'm a self-published author. That means that I pay for all of my publishing and marketing costs myself--everything from cover design and editing to Amazon and Facebook advertisements. If you want to do it right, that stuff isn't cheap. Four books later and most months, my ad spend is more than my books actually make.

When I first decided to pursue my career as an author, my husband joked about writing my "million-dollar book," but I knew going in that a sudden bestseller probably wasn't in the cards for me--or most authors, statistically speaking.

But I had to pay for my publishing costs somehow. When I published my first series, it was in the midst of having my first baby. I had just transitioned to working from home part-time and we had lots of new family expenses, so our budget was tight. We didn't have wiggle room to pay for a cover designer or professional editor for my books.

It was time to think outside the box.

Fiverr

I signed up for Fiverr. If you haven't heard of it, it's a website where freelancers can advertise their services. I've always had an eye for grammar and syntax and I have experience as a copywriter, so I decided to list myself as an editor.

My success started slowly. I gave a few friends and family members each $5 to buy an editing service for me. I edited a couple emails and office memos to get some positive reviews on my Fiverr profile.

After that, the orders started coming in. I edited everything from cookbooks to memoirs to blog posts to web course content. Many of my clients were non-native English speakers, so their copy required heavy editing. I worked for cheap until I built a solid base of five-star reviews, and then I slowly raised my prices.

Now, over a year later, I have almost 200 five-star reviews and a Level 2 seller rank at Fiverr. Whenever I need some extra cash flow, I turn on my gig and wait for the orders to come in.

It's an excellent way to supplement my income at my own pace!

Private Editing

Once I had spent a decent amount of time on Fiverr and felt that I had the experience necessary, I started accepting private editing clients. A few other authors requested my assistance editing their novels, and now I have a few private clients that send books to me regularly. It's super fun to read other authors' work and I get to keep 100% of my fee, rather than losing 20% to Fiverr with every order.

I choose to only have a few clients because I'm also a full-time stay-at-home mom and author, so I try to find a healthy balance.

Final Thoughts

If you're a self-published author and you're trying to find ways to supplement your income, take a look at your strengths. Are you great at editing? Are you a fast, proficient writer? Can you draw?

Fiverr is a great place to offer those skills to clients willing to pay for them. It's a great option to dip your toes in the water of freelancing and see if it's a side hustle you're interested in.

I know other authors who supplement their income using online courses, YouTube videos, and merchandise design. The sky is the limit when it comes to finding a side hustle that will work with your author career!

Do you have any other ideas for an author side hustle? Leave them in the comments below!

5 Things I Learned in My First Year of Self-Publishing

Wow, I can't believe I'm writing this.

TRUTH REVEALED, the last book in the ESI series, came out this morning.

If you had asked me this time last year, I NEVER would've imagined that I would self-publish 4 books in one year. It has been a rollercoaster of an experience: exciting, terrifying, exhilarating, depressing, and inspiring... all at the same time!

If you're thinking of self-publishing a book or if you're just curious about the process, here's a list of 5 things I learned in my first year of self-publishing.

These are the things I wish someone had told me when I started.

1. It's Not The "Easier" Option

Before I decided to self-published, I watched a lot of panels and read a lot of articles about the pros and cons of self-publishing instead of traditional publishing. Traditional publishing, as you may know, consists of querying your book until you find an agent that agrees to represent you. That agent then sells your book to a publishing house, and most of the time, they do most of the work. Self-publishing, on the other hand, makes YOU the publisher (as the name implies). This means that all the work falls on you.

I've seen and heard people say that self-publishing is the route that writers go when they can't get their books published. And while some may do it for that reason, I've found that most writers have legitimate reasons for choosing self-publishing, and it's definitely NOT a backup option or an easier path than traditional publishing.

In fact, I would argue that it's MUCH harder. Not only do you have to be self-motivated and extremely organized, but you have to learn a ton of new skills - like editing, formatting, and marketing, to name a few.

When I published my first book, DUAL INNOCENCE, I had no idea what I was doing. I read a lot and watched a lot of YouTube videos by authors a lot more successful than me. It went a lot better than I expected, but I learned so much through the process!

2. Consistency Is Key.

When it comes to self-publishing, consistency is key. This advice applies to ALL areas of self-publishing, especially if you're writing a series or multiple books in the same genre.

It's important that your writing is consistent through your books, yes, but not just that. Think about your cover design, branding, social media presence... It all needs to be seamless. When a reader stumbles across your Instagram page, for example, they should get a feel for you as an author. That feeling (light and airy, dark and broody, humorous, etc) should match the books you write and your presence on other platforms.

I wish I had thought of this from the beginning. I had a Facebook and Instagram page, but when I published my first book, I hadn't yet figured out what my brand looked like. Now that it's a little more cohesive, I get much better returns from my readers!

3. Don't Waste Money On Ads*

... Unless you do your research first.

If you're self-publishing through Amazon like most authors do, you'll soon learn about Amazon ads. I cannot stress this enough - DO NOT mess with them unless you take the time to educate yourself first.

I dove into Amazon ads right away, thinking I could figure it out as I went, but it was an expensive mistake. After 6 months running ads, I've spent roughly $750... but I've only seen $360 in sales from those ads.

Amazon ads can be extremely lucrative and I know a lot of authors who have seen amazing returns (especially with

4. Community Is Everything.

I can't even begin to express how much I love the writing community. You won't find a more supportive community anywhere else on the internet!

If you're looking to self-publish (or even if you're going the traditional route or just writing, period), start following other authors on Instagram. Join some Facebook groups for authors (I highly recommend

5. Rapid-Release Isn't For Everyone.

If you're just dipping your toes into self-publishing, maybe you haven't heard of rapid-release yet. Don't worry - you will.

Rapid-release is a self-publishing strategy where you write and publish books really quickly - like within weeks or a couple months of each other - to generate buzz and rapidly increase your revenue.

If you look around on the 20BooksTo50K Facebook group, you'll run across this really quickly. Some authors over there swear by it, and it has worked wonders for their bottom line!

When I published DUAL INNOCENCE (my first book) in July, I had the second book in the series ready to go, and the third book was halfway written. I rapid-released book 2 a few months after book 1 (in October), then set a rapid-release date for book 3 in January.

The problem?

By the time book 2 released, I still hadn't made any headway on book 3. So I rushed to finish that book. Then when it released, I hadn't written ANYTHING for book 4. Now I had an audience expecting the 4th book a couple of months later, but there was no way I could write a book that fast. So I had to delay the release until 5 months later.

Whew. I get anxious just thinking about it.

Rapid-release works really well for some authors, but it makes more sense in my life (while juggling being a full-time mom to a toddler) to take it easy and space out my releases.

Moral Of The Story

At the end of the day, I'm so grateful that I've had the opportunity to self-publish. I've learned so much along the way and I've had so much fun learning all these new skills. I know that I will continue to learn as I publish more books, and I can't wait to see where the future takes me!

Are you thinking of self-publishing? What about traditional publishing? Let me know in the comments below. I'd love to chat about it!

How My Marriage Makes Me A Better Writer

They say writing is a lonely profession, but I don't believe that for a second. To tell you the truth, I wouldn't be half the writer I am today without the support of my husband. I've said this a million times before, but I always wanted to be an author. I started writing books when I was 12 years old. Even though I was writing like a crazy person, I never had the confidence to believe that my stories could go anywhere. Shortly after I got married, I mentioned my dream to my husband in passing. Being the amazing person he is, he immediately looked for ways to support me. That was 6 years ago. In that time, he has been my cheerleader, my editor, my beta reader, my sounding board, my babysitter, and my #1 fan. Without his support, I wouldn't be getting ready to publish book #4. Aside from his amazing support to my career, though, he shows me daily what a true partner looks like. Romance has always been my favorite genre. I love ALL things romance, no matter what sub-genre it is. Love stories with happy endings are the best, and I'm a sucker for a swoon-worthy hero. That being said, though, real romance isn't so cut-and-dry. It's imperfect, it's messy, and it's complicated. There are days when it's really just hard. But a true partner is by your side for all of it. My marriage is just like that, too. It's imperfect, messy, and complicated, but it's SO beautiful. As a writer, I think it's important to incorporate that into my stories. My characters are never perfect; their flaws make them beautiful and relatable and oh, so human. My marriage continues to inspire me, and with a partner who supports my dreams, I know I have MANY more romances to write and share with you!

ESI Book 4: Meet Emmett's Leading Lady...

I've got a secret. Truth Revealed is only a few months away from release day, so I thought it would be fun to introduce you to someone special. As you may know, this book is Emmett's story. If you've read any of the ESI books, you know Emmett. He's the surly eldest brother in the Erickson clan; stoic, strict, and secretly soft and cuddly. (But don't tell him I told you.) But today's not about him. Today, I'm going to introduce you to our leading lady, the only woman alive (besides Sarah) who can go toe-to-toe with Emmett and come out victorious. Say hello to Ryann! She's a wanderer, a free spirit, and tough as nails. Her favorite things are her Harley Davidson motorcycle and her paint-stained jean overalls. She would get along well with Abby, because she has special talents of her own. When she graduated high school, she didn't follow her parents' plan to attend an Ivy League college. Instead, she took her tuition money and flew to Paris with nothing but her paint set. Shortly after, she met Emmett, and the rest is history. Well... actually, that's not true. Because her history with Emmett is actually quite complicated, and it's NOT just history. In fact, she's about to drop into Emmett's world again and explode his carefully-laid, peaceful life into smithereens. That's just how she rolls. ;) I can't wait for you to learn more about her, but you'll have to wait until June to learn the rest of her story. (I don't want to spoil the fun!) Speaking of the Erickson siblings, if you haven't read the first 3 books in the ESI series, now's the time to get caught up! Chance, Sarah, and Owen are waiting for you!

How I Published My First Book (In 7 Steps)

Writing a book is hard. It takes a lot of time, patience, and dedication. Once that herculean task is complete, getting the thing out into the world should be easy, right? Nope. Publishing a book is just as hard. ;) Now that I have three (soon to be four!) published books out in the world, I can tell you that it doesn't get any easier. But it's so worth it to see my books in readers' hands, so I keep writing and I keep publishing. With the last book in the ESI series coming out in just a few months, I thought it was appropriate to look back on my publishing process with my very first book, DUAL INNOCENCE. So keep reading, because we're going to look at the exact steps I took to bring my book into the world! 1. I finished the book. Step one should be self-explanatory. Before you can publish a book, you have to FINISH the thing. It took me 5 years to finish Dual Innocence. I wrote the first draft really quickly, but then the story just sat on my hard drive for years. Life got busy and I moved on to other projects. I never looked at it again. One day, I found it on my computer and started reading. I fell in love with the story all over again, and I decided to revise it. Once I revised it, I let my husband read it. He gave me some great notes for improvement, and I revised it again. Next thing I knew, I had a solid story and I had to decide what to do with it. I'd always dreamed of being a published author, but I didn't think I was good enough. Why would anyone want to read what I have to say? Even with my doubts, though, I decided to push forward. I decided to publish my book! 2. I decided on my publishing method. Great. I decided to publish my book, but what now? I attended a writing conference and learned about the two main publishing methods: traditional and self-publishing. My first reaction was to go for the traditional publishing route. I pitched my book to a couple literary agents. I sent out query letters. I received a few requests to read more, but nobody seemed interested in moving forward. After a few months, I sat back and reevaluated my story. It was a niche genre, not a mainstream one, so it would be harder to find a publisher that would accept it. After a lot of pondering, research, and prayer, I decided to self-publish Bellamy's story. The only problem was, I had NO idea how to do that. So I had to move on to the next step: research. 3. I did my research. I spent countless hours researching self-publishing - reading articles, watching conference panels, devouring books about it. I wanted to know every aspect of the process, from marketing to cover design to formatting to the actual publishing of the book. I started following a bunch of great self-published authors on Instagram and Facebook. I joined an indie publishing group on Facebook where I learned LOTS of great lessons from successful authors who have been through this already. Once I felt semi-educated about the process, I didn't give myself time to hesitate. I dove in headfirst! 4. I hired a fantastic cover designer. Every published book HAS to have a cover, so that was the first thing I tackled. I looked through different avenues for cover design, evaluated portfolios for dozens of cover designers, and settled on Les with GermanCreative. She designed all 4 covers for the ESI series, and as long as she's available, I'll keep hiring her. She is AMAZING and she does such a great job on a budget! By the time I had a cover for Dual Innocence, it finally felt real. I was actually going to publish the book. Now it was time for the final push! 5. I formatted my book for publication. Now it was time to get my book ready for publication. I didn't have the budget to hire a professional book formatting service, so I did my research and muddled through it myself. I found some great free DIY book formatting templates and created both a paperback version and an ebook version for my book. It took some trial and error and a lot of cursing at Microsoft Word, but I finally figured it out! 6. I decided on a release date and announced it to the world! This was the fun part. I picked a release date (after much staring at a calendar and puzzling things out with my schedule) and announced it on my official author pages through Instagram and Facebook! Once the release date was decided, I marketed it like crazy. I talked to everyone I knew about it, sent out ARC copies so I could have positive reviews on release day, and hyped it up as much as I could with my 30 followers. ;) 7. I published the book! The big day finally arrived! I woke up that morning feeling completely giddy. My family and a handful of great friends bought copies on the first day and my ARC readers left great reviews. My favorite part about being an author is hearing the words, "So I read your book..." It's equally exhilarating and terrifying, but there's nothing better than hearing that someone enjoyed it! Each time I've published a book, I've learned something new. I keep tweaking my method with each book, so hopefully I'll have it streamlined one day. (Probably not, but one can dream!) Do you have any specific questions about the publishing process? Share them in the comments below! I'd love to talk about it.

How JK Rowling Inspired Me to Be an Author

Where were you when the first Harry Potter book came out? Okay so I don't remember EXACTLY where I was. I was only five years old! But I do remember cuddling in bed with my mom and two younger brothers every night. She would pull out the paperback book and read a chapter to us before we went to sleep. I was enchanted with Harry's story before we even finished the first chapter. JK Rowling made me love books. By the time the last book came out in 2007, my mom and I stood in line together at Barnes & Noble on release day. Neither of us could decide who would read it first, so we bought two copies. We finished it in 2 days. As I got older and grew interested in writing, I learned more about JK Rowling's publishing story. (EVERY aspiring writer knows it. If you don't, what have you been doing all your life?) That was inspiring in and of itself, and I knew I wanted to write just like her someday. I wanted to see my own name printed on the cover of a paperback book. Here I am, 23 years later, and I have three (soon to be four!) published books out there in the world. My publishing story did NOT pan out anything like JK Rowling's did, but I'm so incredibly proud! Whenever I think about where I started, I remember when my mom read us the first line in Harry Potter. It's a memory that's been seared in my brain for the last 23 years and it will stay there for the next 50 years or more. That one book - that one author - changed the course of my life forever. Is there one person who impacted your life? I'd love to hear about it! Please share in the comments below!

How I Research for My Novels

Ever fallen down the Google rabbit hole? I have! I'm a sucker for a good researching session. Ask me any question, and I'll probably spend hours looking up the answer - PLUS the answers to a dozen other questions I have while I'm researching the first answer. This probably won't surprise you, but research is a HUGE part of the novel-writing process. I firmly believe one thing: Behind every good writer is a great researcher. Whether you write contemporary romance, historical drama, science fiction, steampunk, fantasy, whatever... There's a TON of research that goes into every book. Need to know how long it takes a person to bleed out from a gunshot wound? Better research it! Ever wondered what the pointy thing on the front of a ship is called? Google is your friend! (Hint: it's called a bowsprit!) The title of this blog post is a little misleading, because my research process changes for every book that I write. For some books, I do lots of research before I ever write a word. For other projects, I Google little things as I go and save the bulk of my research for the revision process. When I started plotting the ESI series, I knew I wanted the story to be set in a small town somewhere. I love the Pacific Northwest, so I focused my research there. I spent a lot of time looking through Google Earth and online photos of many small towns in the Oregon and Washington area. When I saw photos of La Conner, I KNEW it was the one. Just look at this: I mean... Wow! But of course, I couldn't fully understand La Conner's layout without visiting there myself, right? So I convinced my husband to take me on vacation to Washington for our 1-year anniversary. The following photos are unedited and taken by my husband, who (bless his heart) does not have a photography background. By the time we actually visited La Conner, I had already written most of DUAL INNOCENCE. Based on the images I saw online, I had a certain image of the town in my head. The drive from Seattle to La Conner was beautiful! If you've never been to the Pacific Northwest, I highly recommend it. I was SO EXCITED to see La Conner in person. I half-expected to see Sarah and Bellamy strolling down the street together! It was a quiet little town on the water, just like I expected. But there were also a lot of things that didn't match the image I'd created in my mind. For one thing, in the books, the Ericksons' house is right on the river. In the real La Conner, there aren't any houses on the water. Most of them are further away, and it's just the downtown area that sits on the waterfront. (I took some creative liberties there and kept that part in the book though!) We parked near the water and walked up and down Main Street, taking a million pictures. Then we walked inside some of the shops, bought some souvenirs, and ate lunch at a local restaurant on the water. After we explored the downtown area, we hopped back in the car and I told my husband to start driving. We didn't have any destination in mind, so we just drove through random neighborhoods, turning wherever looked interesting. I took a million pictures of the different houses, people on the street (sorry, random strangers!), and anything else I could see. By the time the day was over, I knew La Conner inside and out. (Okay, maybe not THAT well, but it was pretty good for one day!) For the ESI series, I really wanted La Conner to be its own character. I wanted the readers to fall in love with the little town as much as I did, so it was important for me to go the extra mile with my research on it. I did a lot of other research too, but most of that was standard Google stuff. (Google and I are great pals!) For my next project, I'm writing a fantasy series. That one starts off in Seattle, so guess who's got another trip planned soon? Hey, I'll use research as an excuse to plan a vacation anytime!