Lissa Matthews's Blog, page 2

The Endurance Series

I have been working on and thinking about this series for the last few years. I have written and re-written the first book. I have started and re-started the second book. I also realized there will be a fourth book (which I need to contact Bookin’ It Designs for that cover). I have second, third, and fourth guessed the books and the whole series. I have spent countless hours and sleepless nights watching races and researching. I wanted to get it right. As right as I possible could.

One of the th...

Music Monday – Duran Duran’s Arena

When I’m working through revisions and edits on books, the music I listen to generally has nothing at all to do with the book. It’s a playlist of songs I grew up listening to. It’s an album on repeat that I know every part of right down to the millisecond. And I’m one of those people that when music is on, I have to sing along if I know the words. If I don’t know the words, I have to listen intently so whomever I’m with is going to be ignored for a bit.

The album I get listen to mostly is Duran ...

Snippet Saturday – Memories

Welcome to Snippet Saturday! Each Saturday, I’ll pick a theme and then pick a part from one of my books or one of my works-in-progress that I think fits. I hope that once I get back into the swing of this (I’d forgotten how long it takes to find just the right snippet) that I’ll be able to find some authors to participate on their blogs, too.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself thinking of years gone by when the holidays come around sometimes more than any other time of year. Maybe because...

It Was Never Meant for Me…

It’s been a long time since I’ve come to the blog with some thoughts and ideas and just ramblings. I used to love blogging, well, to a point. I never learned the ins and outs of SEO or how to make it look more polished and professional like some other authors did and have and still do. I never learned to do that with my newsletters either. The thing that I wanted most out of blogging and sending newsletters was some way to connect with those who chose to read them, to make it an extension of my ...

Music Monday – Diane Keaton’s First Christmas

Happy December!

Diane Keaton is one of my favorites and this song is lovely and sad and I’m so happy she’s done this… She inspires me because she’s still trying new things, doing new things, exploring new things at the age of 78. She’s always had her own style (I mean, the polka dots!! and the hats!!!), embraced her own quirks and lived her life, by all accounts, on her terms. I hope to be more like that over the next 24 years of my life…

Have a good day, y’all!

Lissa

Music Monday – Postcards from Texas

Miranda Lambert has a new album out and it has been on repeat on Spotify for me since it came out on Friday, September 13th.

It is so great. I have all the song lyrics memorized. it’s classic Miranda and yet it’s not. Her last 3 albums… Wildcard, Palomino, and now Postcards from Texas have been her best ones and I have listened to her since her very first album, Kerosene. She’s grown, she’s changed, she’s been through so much, and her music always reflects it. She’s one of my favorite artists, ...

12 Hours of Sebring and a Writing Day

One of the things about these endurance races is that they keep me in a seat… The desk, the dining room table, the couch, the chair on the porch… And the more I’m in a seat, the more writing I am likely to do. I don’t want to miss any part of the race, and I want to get words in because I want to finish at least one of these books. There are 4 that need to be finished and finished before May. There are personal and professional reasons for that.

So, some facts about the Sebring race…

-12 Hours…...

Spring Forward

I’m currently sitting on my back porch. The sun is out, the sky is as clear as it could possibly be, the temperature is just barely 70, and it’s so so so quiet.

I try to sit outside as often as possible spring through autumn. In the middle of summer that amounts to a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evenings because once the sun is up, it’s like hell here in the South.

The trees are turning green, a few things are starting to bloom, and the mountains are calling in the distan...

It’s March…WTF?!?

I look around and wonder where the hell the first part of the year went… What have I done? What do I have to show for the first 70 days? I had such grand plans for 2024 and though it’s not anywhere near over, I’m struggling to find my way and dig myself out of the hole I’m in.

I have a lot of books I want to write. I have a few I’d like to revise. I have a new pen name I’d like to get off the ground. And I have Ella Claire that I’d like to add more titles to. Plus…so much other stuff. I’m not g...

It’s Racing Season…

…And I’m a romance author who writes about racing.

I haven’t been too interested in NASCAR the last couple of seasons, but for some reason, I’m kind of excited about this one. Maybe it’s because I’m working on (yes, I’m still working on) Checkered Curves (Stick Shift Motorsports, Book 3) and have another racing series planned that I’ve started writing and have a lot of ideas for other stories and spin-offs in my fictional sports world. I hope that’s it. I’ve missed watching races and being inter...