Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 175

Baker City or Bust

 I was on vacation this week and for two days, I visited Baker City, Oregon because that's where I decided to set my WIP. I'm not sure why I chose Baker City--I wanted the book set in the Pacific NW because that's the area I know and love. 

But I wanted a small town that wasn't super small but was also a little remote--not easy to reach from Portland--five hours over mountains, through canyons, and along the Columbia River.

I'd been to Baker City once before--when my daughter had a to...

A Pretty Cool Thing

There is a lot that is thankless about this gig we call writing. There are the weeks/months of waiting to hear from that first editor, there are the critiques that come back from our CPs with more red than black ink. There are scary edits that make us question whether we actually *are* writers or if we've just been pretending all along.

There are bad reviews or - sometimes worse - no reviews. There are late nights with no sleep, there is time away from our family when we're on deadline. There...

Ramblings of a Sleep Deprived Mind

It's 2:00 a.m. and I can't sleep. Again. I seem to suffer from insomnia nearly every night these days. That makes no sense. Every night these days.

I'm rum-dum. My eyes are tired, aching. My shoulder hurts. I need to rest. I can't sleep. Argh!

I'd write, but I can't think straight. I'm working on an untitled novella titled only Starla, for the heroine. I just finished one called Shiloh's Song. They're connected, part of a series. In the state I'm in, I'd probably have Shiloh doing what Starla...

...take me back to yesterday...

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"Everything is changing fast. We call it progress, but I just don't know." - from "Grandpa" by the Judds
          Sometimes I miss the “good old days.” (Quotes are necessary because, you know, they weren’t really all that good.) When I first started writing—well, for a long time after I started, as a matter of fact—I wrote in longhand on yellow lined paper then typed what I’d written, editing as I went. My final draft, the one I...

Writing Tip: Combating Eye Strain

This week bebe got her first pair of glasses (she was born with an astigmatism in one eye) and I had my yearly eye check. In which my doc reminded me that computer screens are very hard on the eyes...and reminded me to use my eye drops throughout the day (something I forget. Too much). I've worn contacts since I was in junior high, so I should be used to his reminders and yet I find that I forget. But my eyes are important and I want to set a good example for bebe, so I'm renewing my eye-focu...

Contest Alert!!

  Hi, all! My eleventh book, The Cowboy's Baby, released yesterday.  Here's a blurb:Cat O’Brien moved back to Granite, Colorado, ready to face her past. Before she is completely settled in, the daughter Cat was forced to give up for adoption appears. Eve has been thrown out of her adoptive parents’ home because she is seventeen, unwed and pregnant. Cat is ecstatic when Eve asks to live with her. Tanner Burke brings his younger daughter to Cat’s house for trick-or-treat. Stunne...

Release Day!

There's nothing we like better in the Corral than announcing the release of a great new book with a hot cover. Except for when one of the Wranglers wrote the book, then, yes, we do like that better. :-) So without further wordiness from me, I'm pleased and proud to introduce The Cowboy's Baby by D'Ann Lindun. Look, here's the dishy cover--

I do so love a black hat...and this is one of my favorites of D'Ann's stories. (Of which she has a million, I swear--just wait!) This does not mea...

My Name Is...

Sometimes my characters can be a little fickle. Ella, my latest heroine was that way. She drove me crazy. But my current hero and I just had a pretty nice, but short talk.  The hero's name was Allen. I have to admit, I never liked this name for the hero. It just seemed...wrong. I read what was on the pages and heard a deep male chuckle. Then the conversation started. It went like this.

"You got my name wrong." The voice had an accent but I coul...

Following My Muse

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Hello from The Waiting Room

Before we even get started, no, I'm not writing this blog from a hospital. Or doctor's office. Or car dealership. I have this thing I call The Waiting Room. Characters, some anonymous, some I know already...some with only really amazing eyes or a killer chest (yes, my Waiting Room can sometimes look like the Makeup trailer for a war movie), introduce themselves to me and poof! off on a story tangent. But I call it The Waiting Room because I make them wait there until I'm ready. The rule for T...