Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 157

Finding the Descriptive Balance

Yesterday I read Kristan Higgins' new release In Your Dreams. It was a very good book. I finished it in a few hours.  One thing I did notice is how many times she described Jack's blue eyes. Seriously. A lot.

 Which made me realize  that I don't. Ever. I describe a character when they come on the scene, but then I forget about it. I think I might have to work on that.

Imagine the words I could add to my manuscript if I kept reminding readers what colors Dex's eyes are or how mel...

#WriterWednesday: A Little Downtime

So, it's Wednesday. Are you feeling the stress of mid-week? Getting kids to school, meeting deadlines, fixing breakfast-lunch-dinner everyday infinitum, attending unlimited meetings? And then coming home to write and meet deadlines and critique and revise and submit...and then get beaten down by rejections? Yeah, it's a vicious circle and yet we do it all the time because...sometimes we get that high of a 'we'd like to see more' or 'we'd like to buy your book'.

I live for those moments.

Still,...

I Don't Quit

A few years ago, I heard a term I'd never heard before--blog. What the hell is a blog, I asked.
An on-line diary, I was told.
Hmmmmm.....interesting.
At the time, I was in a smallish critique group. Why not start a blog, I asked those members.
We started out with 7-8 of us who blogged randomly. There was no certain days/topics. But that changed when five CPs got it together and picked a day. For the last several years, here on Wordwranglers, it's been Liz, me, Kristi, Margie and S...

I know you won't believe me

I know you won’t believe me, but sometimes it’s so difficult being a writer that it’s hard to open the WIP file in the morning. You play 25 games of Solitaire or you catch up on Candy Crush, you answer all your emails including the ones from political parties that say “we haven’t heard from you lately—send money”, and you clip your toenails because, hey, they’ll need it soon.
You refill your coffee cup and wonder whether to have Cheerios or leftover chili for breakfast. You check out Facebook,...

When Do You Just Give Up?

 I've never been one of those writers who sends out mass queries--I'm more of a small batch girl. I usually research and send queries to agents who actually might be interested in what I'm offering.

And that seems to have worked pretty well for me with Bix. I've had a 2-1 ratio for requests. For every two rejections, I've gotten a request. That's pretty good odds in the life of submission.

So, recently I had two full requests come back as rejections with the same kiss of death comment: Bix...

Being Kind on the Journey

I don't have a writing related post today, not really. Jeremy Aldana once said, 'It's not so much the journey that's important; as is the way that we treat those we encounter, and those around us, on the way."

Over the past year I can't count the number of times someone has told me (or someone I know), "this is my path/journey/whatever, go find your own." And I can't help feeling that what is being implied is that we can't help one another on our varying paths or journeys because writing (and...

Sick on the couch

I'm really sick with a stomach bug tonight, so I'm going to recycle part of an old blog. I may lay on the couch tomorrow and watch movies. Here are some of my faves...I love western movies! No surprise there, right? I was trying to narrow it down to just one, but there’s no way. I did come up with five faves in order of release:
Will Penny: 1968. Charlton Heston is an aging cowhand who takes a job protecting the range of a wealthy rancher. He finds his line cabin occupied by a widow (Joan Hack...

Welcome Karen Rock

 The Wranglers are excited to have award-winning author Karen Rock with us today!
1     Your bio tells us you’re an eclectic writer—you spread your talent around to different places and subgenres. (We’ll discuss envy later.) Where would you like to “go” next? 

      Great question! Since I read all genres, I would love to try a few more. I have a paranormal YA love story that’s finished and ready to go as well as a sci-fi NA love story and a sexy suspense...

Memories of Water

As a child of the Navy, I have always lived near water. Always.

I can't imagine living in a land-locked area. I can't imagine not having access to the calmness that water offers me.

I love visiting our coast. Even though it's usually windy and a little cool, not to mention the high probability of rain, it's my favorite place to be.

The roar of the ocean, the spray of the water, wet sand beneath my toes...love it all.

In all my years living near the water, I've never become a water sportsman--I do...

Love in a Small Town - Box Set Spotlight!

Who doesn’t enjoy a charming love story where the towns are small but folks’ hearts are big?  Now you can get ten of them together for just 99 cents in this Love in a Small Town book bundle courtesy of Crimson Romance…
Release date: September 15, 2014
Curl up tonight with these ten down-to-earth heroes who know just how to set the neighbors’ tongues wagging with their good looks and easygoing charm. But life in a small town isn’t always sweet and simple, and love can get more than a little...