Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 85

Things or Experiences?

www.TomPetty.comA couple of weekends ago, my husband and I drove eight hours (one way) to the Twin Cities – St. Paul, Minnesota to be exact. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were making a stop there on their 40th Anniversary Tour, and my husband really wanted to take in the concert. It was a bucket list thing for him. I’m not as big a Tom Petty fan, but it was a fabulous concert and we had a great time.

Except…

We need a new couch. We’ve had the one in our living room for nearly twenty years, an...

My Editing Hell

I’ve been whining on Facebook about editing and how miserable it is… and I think I was a little unclear in my post. Editing is a vital part of the writing process, and editors are also essential to a quality product. I did not intend to malign either, and I greatly appreciate both.

What I was really addressing was a very narrowly-defined aspect of editing: the critique.
Some might correct me and declare that the critique is an entirely different animal, but I say that what I do to my story af...

Be right back!

We've taken a couple of days off here when real life got in the way--amazing how that happens, isn't it? But stay tuned--we'll be back tomorrow with more snorts of laughing at whatever Ava's going to entertain us with.

We all hope you're having a great summer!

Kristi, Margie, Liz, Nan, Ava & Jana

Done . . . Begin Again

My apologies to you for recycling my own blog from last week here at Word Wranglers today, but frankly, it's been a hellacious week and creativity is hard to find right now. Better next week, I promise. Until then . . . here you go . . .

Saving Sarah is with my editor, which means it’s out of my hands for a few weeks, which also means it needs to be out of my mind for the next few weeks. Honestly, that’s a really hard thing to do–release a book. I keep going back through it . . . but it’s tim...

Guest author @Theresa Lynn Hall

Thanks for coming today, Theresa Lynn Hall! We have some questions for you right out of the corral gate. We also want to hear about your new release, Ransom in Rio.



What is your favorite thing about yourself? And your least favorite?
My favorite thing about myself is my ability to work hard. Luckily, I’m very good at multi-tasking. My least favorite thing is probably dealing with my insecurities.
Writing-wise, where do you want to be in 10 years?
I would love to be writing full-time and selling...

Great Beginnings

I'm off golfing today, so I dug out blog I wrote back in about 2010 for Prairie Chicks Write Romance, a group blog I belonged to back then. The quotes are from books from my own shelf that I loved then, and still love. I love writing beginnings, but it's often difficult to get it right. I hope you enjoy this re-run!

from Flickr by VegWe’re often told our stories need to open with a bang. If our editors/agents/readers aren’t hooked by the first page, even the first sentence, we’re doomed. They’...

Unemployment Update

Update on my Unemployment. The bad news: I haven’t found a job. Of course, I’m not really looking, which might be part of the problem. The good news: I’ve decided that, in lieu of a job search, I’m just going to win the lottery. That’s a feasible option, right?

On the home front, my jobless status has allowed me the time for the numerous trips to the service department. Apparently, my new-to-me car had been in an unreported accident and no one wanted to touch it with a ten-foot pole. Fortunat...

Cast Of Characters

 I don't know if it's going to be a powerful moon or what tomorrow, but I do know that I have had several "Character" interactions this week. 

Thank you, retail gods.

First of all, I had an older guy, late 60's or early 70's roll up to my counter in his wheelchair. He had a tube of oxygen running down the side of his face and a canteen fastened to the back of his chair. He was sending money via WU. I made a comment that he was pretty experienced with the system because he knew what st...

Conference Season Is Here - What Do I Do?

I'm headed to my first conference of the season, so you guys are getting a repeat this week. But next week? I'll recap the conference (Lori Foster's Reader Author Get Together), and have lots of pictures, and possibly a few shenanigans stories. Oh! And I'll be signing copies of my first 2 Slippery Rock books on Saturday, so if you're headed to RAGT, come find me!

In the mean time, here are Kristina's Rules For A Great Conference: 

Conference Rules.

I'd like to rename that.

Conference Expecta...

Contests . . . Continued . . .

Liz had a lot of great stuff to say about writing contests yesterday and I thought I'd chime in. I really don't disagree with anything she said, but I will add that judging contests from the viewpoint of a copy editor is tough.

Here's the thing--I judge our RWA chapter's contest every year. Sometimes, it's arduous and other times, I find a lot of satisfaction in the entries because man, some of the writers who enter can really, really write! However, I have to say, in all honesty, that that's...