Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 14

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I was asked to join in this blog tour by Julie York. The idea is to link here to the person who tagged you, then tag three other authors whom you’ve asked to do this.

I met Julie online and she participated big time in my Facebook Release Party for Hearts of Evil. Thank you, Julie, for this opportunity. So…here are the answers to the four questions about my writing process.

1. What am I working on? I’m currently working on a book called “Fire Wizard”. It’s a paranormal romance with a little bit of a different angle for me. There are no vampires, werewolves, or ghosts this time. The hero and heroine in this book are just a little…different.

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre? I usually put a little different twist on things. Some of the vampire or ghost lore doesn’t apply in my characters. I actually got criticized in a review because my vampires could eat real food. LOL. I believe when it comes to creatures that aren’t real in the first place, we have free reign to change the rules.

3. Why do I write what I do? I’ve loved vampires since I was a kid and starting watching Dark Shadows. I’ve always been fascinated with the paranormal, even though I’m a total skeptic. That’s why paranormal romance came easily to me when I started writing again. (I say “again” because I gave it up years ago and came back to it.) There’s always some kind of story in my head. I’ve branched out a little into horror a couple of times, and I’m actually playing with the ideas of other genres. I like to try new things!

4. How does my writing process work? I’m not sure I have a process. I’m always so busy at work, I barely have time to write. I feel like I’m always trying to just squeeze a little writing in when I can. When I do get to sit down and write, I like to do it in my office surrounded by munchies and my two cats.

As far as the plotting goes, I really don’t like it. I tried seriously plotting the last book I wrote, and although I was able to do it, I pretty much hated it. I’m a pantser at heart and like to see the story develop as I type. I love it when my characters surprise me. I really kind of plot in my mind. I don’t do it all ahead of time. I figure out what I want to happen the next time I sit down to write. Then I hit those main points I want to make, but I allow myself to drift away from those if I think of something even better while I’m writing.

Here are the three authors I’m tagging:

J.R. Pearse Nelson

I am a fantasy and paranormal romance author. My work is fast-paced, adventurous, and sometimes dark.

I’m a native Oregonian, residing in the beautiful Portland area. I live with my husband, two small daughters and the family dog. I’m always searching for the magic in our world. I love to weave tales rooted in mythology, bringing legend to life in modern-day and fantasy settings. I’m the author of the Children of the Sidhe paranormal romance series, and Queen Witch, the first installment of the Foulweather Twins fantasy series.

L.S. Engler

L.S. Engler is an aspiring writer, dreamer, creator and editor.

Her works have previously appeared in Temenos, 10;29, and The Grand Traverse Insider, and she is the author of a collection of short stories entitled Bowlful of Bunnies, available now on Amazon.

Michelle DePaepe

Michelle DePaepe is the author of The Gardener, Vampire Music, and Eaters (published by Permuted Press).

ROW80 Update 3/9/14

Just a quick check-in. I only wrote 1,111 words this week. My full time job just drains me this time of year. I have nothing left for writing most days. I would have gotten some writing in yesterday, but I was involved in helping with a wedding shower at church, which involved cooking, actually BEING there, then cleaning up. I so hope next week will be easier.

I’m Still Here!

Warning! Long, serious post ahead.

I just realized it has been 11 days since I’ve posted here! I almost never go that long without posting. There are a number of factors involved in my lapse, but the two biggest ones are 1) I’ve been sick, and 2) My day job is killing me right now. Since the company I work for caters to gardeners, especially rose growers, this is the peak season for large orders from rose societies and garden centers. And they all want their products at the same time!

So here I am. And I’m pondering. On what, you might ask? Well…I guess it’s genre and pen names. I’ve done posts about this before, I think, but I’ve got some serious decisions to make. I use a pen name because of my church affiliation. I’m a Christian, but I see nothing wrong with writing about paranormal creatures and such because it’s fiction. I don’t believe in vampires and werewolves, but they’re fun to read and write about. But some people don’t believe Christians should dabble in things like that, so I stay incognito to keep from offending anyone. I won’t fault them for their beliefs. I have a few issues, though. 1) My mom is so proud of me that she wants to tell everyone I’m an author. 2) I have some real life friends on my author FB profile, and sometimes they say things that could link my writing life to my real life. 3) I would like to be open about being an author.

So…genre. Aside from the fact that I feel like I have to lead a double like, I’m finding the paranormal genre is FLOODED with self-published authors. I’m thankful that publishing is so easy for everyone these days, and I believe everyone deserves a chance to do so, but it also brings in a LOT of competition. It’s so hard to even be found lately. I’ve been lucky enough to attract the attention of a couple of frequent reviewers lately, so that has helped me a bit. I’m so grateful for them, and I’ve tried to express this to them. But I still have to keep myself out there and try to be found.

This is what I’m contemplating. I’ve been thinking about sweet romances and cozy mysteries lately. I could easily write a sweet romance. The mystery would involve a lot of plotting ahead of time to make sure I get the “whodunit” right. And there’s still that Christian romance I started a long time ago and never finished. I think I could take the strong religious undertones out of that and market it as a sweet romance. I think, although there are a lot of books in these genres, too, there are more readers for them. I could be wrong, but just from comments I’m getting from readers I’ve met online who say “I don’t read paranormal”, it leads me to believe there’s a wider range of readers for the sweeter romances whether they be contemporary or historical (which I wouldn’t attempt).

Another decision I would have to make…new pen name or real name. I honestly feel like I shouldn’t write in these other genres under my current pen name. I want my mom to be able to shout to the world that her daughter is an author. She doesn’t like it when I tell her not to do that right now. I want the ladies at church to be able to read my books. I want to be FREE.

Now here’s the biggest decision of all. Should I completely do away with my current pen name and stop writing paranormal altogether so I can focus my time and energy on the new stuff? Should I try to do both? I think the worst part of leaving Lauralynn behind would be not interacting with all my wonderful online friends. I think I would probably tell my closest friends who I really am. It’s not so much that I don’t want my Lauralynn friends to know who I am. It’s that I don’t want my real life friends to know who Lauralynn is. Does that make sense? This is very hard for me, and I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Even if you think I won’t like your thoughts, I would rather have the honesty.

That’s all.

ROW80 Update 2/23/14

Hello all of my fellow ROWers, as well as those who are not ROW80ers but still loyal blog followers! I appreciate you all so much!

I’ve had a really good writing week. I hit my 5K goal for the first week since this round. I wrote 5,213 words this week. I’m really getting into this story, and I hope my momentum continues.

A word about page fright. I’ve noticed I’ve had that with the last few books I’ve written. I’ve finally figured out why I didn’t have it as much before. I’m not afraid of novellas, so when I was writing those, I wasn’t scared. It’s these full length novels that scare me. I don’t know why. I think there’s a part of me that’s always afraid I won’t be able to write enough words. Honestly, there’s nothing wrong with writing novellas. My only problem with them is they’re not really long enough for a paperback. And I really like having copies of my book I can hold in my hand. And I have a few readers who still read that way. I have some more thoughts about novellas and short stories, as well as genre, but that’s for a different post.

I’m trying to revamp my website just a little bit. For my book page, I want just the covers, then a link to another page when you click on the cover. Then that page will have the blurb and the first chapter of the book. I never dreamed this would take so much time. But I think it will be better once I get it done.

Have the rest of you met your writing goals this week? If not, are you fired up for next week?

ROW80 Update 2/19/14

Forgive me. It’s been seven days since I’ve confessed posted.

I haven’t posted a lot because getting ready for my FB party really took a lot out of me. I had so much to do to get ready for it. I’m still trying to figure out if it was worth it. I think so, mostly because it was a lot of fun, and several people attending the party bought Hearts of Evil, which was the book that the party was all about. But I haven’t been able to sustain the sales. It got up to #50 in a category, but then it fell away after the party. It has 1 4-star review and 3 5-star reviews, and I know at least three of the reviews came from people at the party. So we’ll see how this book does. I still would like to do a FB party for my next release. I have to try at least twice, right?

Now, on to my update. I wrote 720 words on Tuesday and 1360 words today, for a total of 2080 words so far this week. I seem to be able to write more words at lunch here at work than in the evenings, and I think it has a lot to do with the fatigue factor. So I might try doing a little more of that. We’ll see how that works out.

How are YOU doing?

ROW80 Update 2/12/14

I’ve missed a couple of check-ins, but I’ve been concentrating on my Facebook release party for Hearts of Evil. That happened last night, and it was a LOT of fun. I didn’t know what to expect, but I think it went extremely well. If any of you have any questions about how to do a release party, let me know. There was a lot of conversation. I had all my questions in a Word document so I could just copy/paste them onto the page. I had all my prizes numbered so I would know which prize went with which question. But carrying on multiple conversations for four hours absolutely wore me out! I never dreamed I would be so tired. My husband brought me a Diet Coke and my medicine when it was time. All I had for dinner was corn chips and sugar free candy. LOL. Will I do this again with my next release? Probably. I had some book sales that I’m pretty sure came from the party attendees. I know some of them did. And it was fun. And maybe by the time the next one rolls around, hubby will be back to work and I can afford some better prizes. Although, I think everyone enjoyed the keychains and book thongs marks. Kait knows about the thongs, LOL.

So…it’s time to get back to writing Fire Wizard. I really hope I can keep the momentum going on this one. I already have a cover model lined up for a photo shoot in May, so I’m excited about that.

Hey, it’s snowing again! I’m taking a snow day today!

Join Me for My Book Release Party Tonight!

I missed both Wednesday’s and Sunday’s ROW80 check in. I got in almost 2,000 words, but the rest of the time I’ve spent trying to get ready for the book release party. I never dreamed so much work went into these things. I just hope I’m ready. I have the questions ready. I have the prizes ready. I have PICTURES of the prizes ready. I have 39 people who say they are coming to the party. Of course, I know that sometimes things come up, so not everyone will be there. But I’m hoping to have a decent turn-out. So won’t you please pop in for awhile? The party lasts for 4 hours, from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST. If you don’t want to participate in the prize drawings, just come and say hi.

Here’s the link: Hearts of Evil Book Release Party.

Oh, by the way, the book is live on Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.

Hearts of Evil Release Day Party on Facebook!

Join us next Tuesday, February 11 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM EST for a Facebook party to celebrate the launch of my upcoming release, Hearts of Evil. There will be prizes.

Hearts of Evil Release Day Party

That is all.

I Need Opinions!

Okay, I’m closer to releasing Hearts of Evil. I fixed some issues and made some decisions. But I’m still waffling on something else, and I need your help. I have no idea what genre to put this book in. I originally thought it had to be horror. My two main beta readers thought it could go in that genre. One also suggested romantic suspense, because there IS a romance in it. It could be a supernatural thriller, but I’m not sure that’s even a genre. Here’s a few facts about the story, and maybe you all can help categorize it.

There have been murders for the last ten years.

The murders were brutal…however, I don’t go into really graphic detail.

The murders were committed by a supernatural element.

The supernatural element is extremely evil.

Many of the townsfolk are evil and are in cahoots with the supernatural evil.

There is a strong good vs. evil thread in this story.

There is a romance that’s secondary to the story, but still a pretty strong element. (I don’t want to call it a paranormal romance because the romance isn’t the main thread.)

There is a dragon who came from somewhere else, so there’s also an element of fantasy and sci-fi.

See, this is what happens when a writer crosses genres and steps “out of the box”. LOL

Those of you who beta read for me, can you think of anything else I should add?

ROW80 Update 2/2/13

Wow, is it February already? One weather model is predicting a big snow next weekend. The weather that comes toward us often passes us by, even when it’s predicted. I think it’s because we’re in the valley. I will admit, I would love to see a big snow. Well, we had one last week, but this other one is supposed to be bigger. I’m not holding my breath.

I didn’t get my 5000 words in this week. I made it to 2580. I usually write more on Saturdays than any other day, but yesterday I spent a lot of the day making key chain swag for prizes for my FB book release party. I finally have a tentative date in mind, but I want to make sure I can have everything ready for it before announcing.

There’s been someone I’ve wanted for my cover model for my WIP, Fire Wizard, for a long time, and we’ve finally come to an agreement. He’s agreed to let us do some custom shots, and I’m really excited (even though I won’t be there). Anya is doing the shots for me. This has made me even more motivated to get this book done! More about that when the time grows closer. I must make you wait!