Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 140

Failing in good spirits

"Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits." ~Robert Louis Stevenson

I'm nervous this morning. I'm going to orientation and training to be a volunteer at the local hospital. There have already been some missed signals, some unreturned calls, some communication errors on my part and on others' as well, and I'm afraid I shouldn't have done this. The Pink Ladies have done fine without me since their inception and I'm afraid at this point maybe I should have t...

Thanks, Mom...

Nan Reinhardt
Mother’s Day is always a special day for me, but not actually because I’m a mom. It’s special because about every seven years, Mother’s Day lands on May 13, which is my mother’s birthday. So the day becomes a double celebration. And even though Mom died in 1988, Mother’s Day is still all about her for me. It’s the day I bask in memories of a lady who was completely unique, more than a little eccentric, and who loved me unconditionally. Mom was a reader. I don’t remember a time wh...

Dreaming.....

I love it when my characters talk to me at night--especially if I'm still conscious and can take notes. Last night, I came up with a new possible title for Bix, if I decide to go MG with the book and character. What do you think of: Bix, Paintball Assassin?

I also love it when I dream about them. That doesn't happen as often, but when it does it makes me wake up in a good mood.

I wake up in the best mood when I have a Dad dream. Especially if he talks in the dream. And I remember it.
My sisters...

On Motivation and Being Positive

A couple of weeks ago (was it all the way back in WINTER? GAH, where have the first 5 months of 2015 gone???), Margie mentioned a quote by Pharrell...about motivation and hearing 'No'. And I made her a meme and now I'm sharing it with you guys, even though she didn't *technically* give me permission because...well, it kind of goes along with my post today.

The gist of the quote is that no should be a great motivator and not something that leaves us lying on the floor like a puddle of goo.

I've...

Killing Off Our Darlings

I wrote for several hours the other night on the newest Women of Willow Bay book. Just wrote—didn’t stop to edit as I often do, didn’t take any breaks, didn’t even get up to go to the bathroom. I simply sat at my computer and the words poured out of my fingertips. 
Well, today I reread what I’d written and about a quarter of it is worth hanging on to. The rest? Meh. Kinda demoralizing, but those couple of thousand words that won’t be included in the book led me to the next scene in the st...

Proms and good books and shiny and swirly

        Have you read any good books lately? I read Holly Jacobs’ Carry Her Heart the day it came out. I loved every word of it. Every one. Yesterday I read the first three chapters of Kristina Knight’s work-in-progress and loved every word. I get peeks at Nan’s Women of Willow Bay and Margie's WIP...oh, my gosh, I love—yeah, every word. One day last week, I was looking at a story of my own, one I’d been sitting on for a while because I’m not sure what to do with it....

The Death Of McDreamy

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#WriterWednesday ~ Author Interview with Elley Arden!

Hi, WordWranglers readers! We're excited to welcome Elley Arden to the blog today. Elley has a fabulous new bundle of books - all baseball themed! - out and it's a steal (pun intended) at less than $3 for 4 books! Okay, here come the questions!

Liz:What is your favorite way to get over a writing block or hurdle?

Elley: When I'm stuck, I watch a romantic movie. I try to pay attention to the development of the story and then link it back to my work in progress. It really helps. I suppose that's b...

Well, I Was Gonna…

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"Gilbert, I'm afraid I'm scandalously in love with you..."

http://avonleavignettes.com/anne/phot...        Margie wrote about movie quotes last week. I really enjoyed the post, but since I’m not a movie person, I didn’t have anything to bring to the quotes table. I could remember scenes and how they made me feel, but not quotes. However, the “how they made me feel” thing has come up a lot in my mind—and my emotions—lately.
          In 1994, I made my daughter’s wedding  Pho...