Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 158

Win, lose, write

Before I became published, I used to love to enter writing contests. I was kind of a contest slut. Ahem. Not a very nice term, is it? But I did enter...a lot. After I published, I never entered any RWA contests for published books. It just seems too much work to ship books, etc.

[image error] I've entered a couple of online contests since I published and done well. But checking the RWR and planning several a  month like I used to do is in the past.

This morning a friend told me abou...

Back home again...

          The roommate and I are pretty good travelers. Or maybe I should say we’ve always been pretty lucky travelers. Either way, our last trip was…well, a trip. Here we go:
          Wednesday: We left for Mackinac Island. It never rains when when we travel by car, but that day, it rained all the way. ALL the way. I drove the first 60 miles or so, then Duane took over. (This is always a happy thing for him—he hates m...

Those Quirky Characters

I love characters that are a little quirky. I'm not talking about the ones with flaws. I like the ones that have that have those strange ways about them. Favorite quirky characters? The entire cast of Ally McBeal. I never missed an episode. I go back and watch a few on Netflix every once in awhile. I loved Ally's clumsiness and horribly embarrassing situations, Fish and his obsession with turkey waddles, and Cage, a seemingly mild mannered nerd, but a beast in the courtroom.

Favorite quirky ch...

The World Infinite

 I got a job! I know, you're thinking, "Why? You were enjoying unemployment, weren't you???"

And yes, I had a wonderfully stress-free summer. Probably the laziest most
carefree summer since I was a child.

But--when I was in Freddies this week and they were setting Halloween, something in me itched to join in. I miss merchandising. I miss people--because even though you have a few bad apples, the peaches of society make up for them.

So, when I got a notice from Burlington...

Old Friends & Reunions

Yesterday afternoon was bebe's first day back in gymnastics class since the end-of-summer break. We always arrive early because the gym is about a heartbeat away from her school..and both are at least 20 minutes away from our house. So it makes no sense to pick her up, go home, turn around and go back. Usually she and I sit on the sidelines and talk about her day, have a snack and wait.

Yesterday, something different happened. As we were talking about her art project and munching on blueberry...

A Picture Paints 1,000 Words

A couple weeks ago my BFF and I traveled to Denver to meet an editor from Avon. Oh, and listen to guest speaker, Julie Kenner. It’s no secret I’m usually the last to know stuff out here in the middle of cornland. I had seen these before, but never thought about making one until Julie Kenner suggested it. Buy a cheap photo, add a caption from your book! Easy-peasy. And did I mention fun? It’s entertaining looking though pics to find the perfect one, and then searching my book for the right wor...

It's Monday--Shall We Dance?

Do you ever read a book, lean back with a sigh, and think, "God, I wish I'd written that"? Well, yeah, I think we all do. Most of us are writers. We're book people. But it just occurred to me (something had to--this is my day to blog, after all) that there are different reasons for wishing we'd written something. Some of my favorites, like Mary Balogh and Kristan Higgens and Pam Morsi, leave me just flat-out jealous. I am so envious of their talent, it comes pretty close to breaking...

Ride or Die

So much has been going on in the last couple of weeks, I don't know where to begin. I guess the beginning is always best.

Hubby and I both got called out for the ice-bucket challenge. Well, actually, hubby called me out. I took it like a trooper. I never could resist a challenge, and hubby knows it.. Got that lovable trait from my bra burning mama!

Dragon Con weekend in Atlanta! I saw some really cool costumes. Couldn't get a pic of the one I really loved. Police shooed us along. Lots of traff...

Christy Effinger's First Novel is WHERE?

On August 29, 2014, my first novel was released by The Wild Rose Press.               Well, that’s not entirely true. My first novel sits unpublished and unread (thank God!) in a closet next to a stack of shoe boxes. The book that was just published is my second novel.             My real first novel was a mess, though I didn’t know it at the time. It was bloated and meander...

Shattered. Broken. Fixed.

I've dropped my iPhone about a hundred times and nothing bad has happened. I've gotten that clutchy feeling in my heart. I've panicked a little. Picked up my phone and nothing had happened.

Yesterday I dropped my phone and the screen shattered. The clutchy feeling in my heart turned to full on panic because I do everything on my phone - I talk, I text, I check social networks and email. I write, I dictate, I make notes. It was on this phone that my agent called to tell me I sold to Harlequin S...