Lauralynn Elliott's Blog, page 47

ROW80 Update and Cover Reveal

Writing is going a little better. I wrote over 800 words on Monday. Last night, I didn’t write because I was busy putting Pampered Chef orders in bags. I couldn’t believe how long that took! And I was also trying to watch two kittens so I could keep them out of trouble. They kept knocking over my digital picture frame and climbing into my basket of clean clothes. *sigh*

I’ve been working on formatting a print version of a compilation of three novellas I wrote some time ago. The novellas included in this version are Club Blood, See Me, and Guardian Vampire. Since two of the stories are about vampires and one is about a ghost, I jokingly said I should call it “Loving the Dead and the Undead”. I got so many comments from people saying they really LIKED the title. So I kept it. And the title looks good on the cover. This book is ready to submit, but I have a dilemma. I’m getting ready to go on vacation next week, so if I submit it now, the proof copy will come while I’m gone. (CreateSpace is QUICK about sending the proof.) So I’m thinking about submitting it while I’m on vacation and trying to time it so it will be there as soon as I get back or maybe a day or two before. I don’t know. I can’t decide. Anyway, I thought I would go ahead and let you guys see the cover and tell me what you think. The final pdf file has the novellas in a different order, but it was easier to post the original jpg file here. In the the final copy, See Me will come before Guardian Vampire.

I Finished 11/22/63

I just listened to the last few words of 11/22/63 as I pulled into the driveway at work after lunch. Of course, you are all reading this the next day since I’ve already posted something today and don’t want to do two posts. Anyway, I feel like I just got off an emotional roller coaster ride. I was crying as I listened to the end of this audio book.

This whole time travel thing starts out with a dying friend of Jake Epping asking him to go back in time “through the rabbit hole” to stop the assassination of JFK because the friend was now too sick to do it. I won’t explain all the particulars about it because, to me, they’re spoilers. You have to learn everything little by little when reading the book. So I think this is going to be more about how the book made me feel than about the book itself. I hate spoilers. Through this whole book, I felt closer and closer to Jake as I experienced with him so many things. He actually did more than just try to stop the Kennedy assassination. He changed some other things, too. His intentions were always good, but he had to do some unethical things for the greater good. I never blamed him. I wanted so much for everything to work out for the better, but there’s that little thing many call the “butterfly effect”. So many things happen in this book, some good, some bad. I couldn’t help empathizing with almost all the characters. And in typical Stephen King style, the characters were amazing. This book is SO character driven.

About the ending. I won’t tell you what happens, but it might be a little spoilery, so read on at your own risk. I write romances. I read a lot of them. I WANT an HEA. I NEED an HEA. I don’t know why I expected one in this book. It’s not a romance, so anything goes. I wasn’t happy with the way it ended, but it kind of ended the way it had to. Jake had to decide whether or not to be selfish. I realized what he was going to do before he did it, and I was like “No!”. There is actually a sort of almost HEA. I thought there wasn’t going to be, but King saved it. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it eased the pain a little. I still cried. And the ending line was perfect for what happened.

So now, I’m emotionally exhausted. I don’t know what to do with myself because the book is over. I’ll get in my car, and it won’t be there for me to listen to. I didn’t want it to ever end. I felt like I was in the story with Jake and Sadie, and all the rest. I’m sitting here at my desk trying not to cry. Stephen King is the MASTER. No one tells a story like King. I know not everyone will agree, but I can’t think of anyone who writes characters like this man does. This is definitely one of my favorite books of all time. I want to go to sleep now. I’m so tired….

My Husband Has a Story in His Head!

Hubby and I are at the movie theater waiting for Battleship to start. Out of the blue he said, “If I give you an outline for a story, do you think you could write it?” After picking myself up from the floor, I tried to stay calm and I said, “Tell me some of your ideas.” Oh my stars, they were GOOD ideas! He had this whole story line in his head. A GOOD story. I asked him to write out the outline, and he said he would, but he wasn’t in a hurry since I was working on something else right now. I told him to please write it down because I didn’t want him to forget anything. If this thing comes to fruition, I’m totally going to list the book as co-written by me and my sweetie. But I told him since I used a pen name, he would have to use the same last name if he wanted people to know he was my husband. LOL. I am so excited about this. I hope it works out. After the good ideas he gave me for The Gnome, I shouldn’t have been so surprised by all of this, but it totally floored me.

Sunday Stuff 5/20/12

1. Ok, I might as well admit right now that I haven’t been writing. About 10-12 years ago, I had some pretty bad hand pain, mostly deep down in that fat area under my thumb. Maybe down in the thumb joint. I even went to an orthopedist who said there was some arthritis, but not enough to cause me that kind of pain. They couldn’t find anything else. I was given an excruciatingly painful cortisone shot that did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Gradually, through the years, the pain lessened to something very manageable. I almost didn’t notice it anymore. Then, in the past week, the pain suddenly flared up and I could barely use my right hand. It was scary, but it’s better now. Maybe I just injured it somehow and didn’t know it. That kept me from writing for several days, but I was feeling better and was going to write Saturday. I had all day to tinker with my story. However…we have a clothing giveaway at church once a month, and it wasn’t my group, but I ended up volunteering to help. Because NO ONE will do their job! There was only ONE person from the group that was supposed to do this…everyone else was volunteers. It’s true that 10% of the people do 90% of the work, especially in church. Oh, and then my husband says we’re going to leave right after this thing is over (at noon) and go to the movies. So my day is shot. I came home from the movies and went to sleep at about 4:00. Grrrrrr.

2. We went to see Battleship. I loved this movie! Lots of action, characters that grow, and moments that made me cry. And moments that made me want to pump my fist and say “Yes!” I feel stupid, though…I didn’t know that the movie was based on the game with the same name. LOL

3. My kittens are still as adorable as ever. Even if I do have to sweep up dirt from the potted plants. And we have one climbing plant that was wrapped around a broad stake that’s stuck in the dirt. Not anymore. The plant is no longer wrapped around the stake. The kittens tried to climb the stake. I need to buy them a climbing/scratching post.

4. Six days and counting until my vacation. I really want to get some major writing done during this vacation. The trick will be to get up before anyone else and write. That shouldn’t be to difficult. I’m the only early riser of the bunch.

Am I Destined to Write Novellas?

Some of you may remember when I was writing The Gnome, I had intended it to be a novel. As it turned out, it became a longer novella of almost 40,000 words. I went back and read it, added some things that I had thought of along the way, but it was basically still going to be a novella. I went ahead and charged $2.99 for it because it was longer than my novellas that are $1.99. There was just nothing left to add to The Gnome, at least not it my opinion. My beta readers liked it, even though I had worried about writing something in a different genre than I usually write.

So flash forward to the present. I’m working on something right now that I think has a great title, which is weird since I usually can’t think of one. I’ll reveal that title later, but for now I think it would be best to keep it quiet. The story line is good, but when I think of the critical points of the story (kind of like an outline, but not exactly), it looks like this is going to be another novella. I originally thought I wanted it to be a novel, but I don’t think it will be.

This is what I’ve discovered may be the reason I don’t write too many novels. I prefer to READ novellas. When I open a book on my Kindle, if it has too many “locations”, I inwardly groan. Why is this, you might ask? Because I want to hurry and get done so I can read the next thing, and the next thing. Different new things. This is also why I rarely read series (except the awesome ones). I don’t want to get too involved because I might be in the mood for a totally different kind of book the next time. Many times, novellas feel like “a great ride” because they’re usually fast paced and things get done. Now there are some exceptions to this rule I’m currently listening to Stephen King’s 11/22/63 on cd. And it’s LONG. 25 disks. But Stephen King is one of the few authors who make me want to keep reading a book and never stop. I feel sad when it’s over. There are very few authors that can do this for me. There ARE some, both indie and trad, but it’s definitely the exception to the rule.

Does this make me shallow? I hope not. Does it make me restless? Probably. Does it mean I get bored easily? Yep. I might mention I also prefer movies to TV series as a rule. And, no, I don’t have ADHD. I can focus on something intently when I need to (like my job in accounting). I’m just so darn eclectic. Yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

ROW80 Check In 5/16/12

I know this is a late check in, but I’m trying to be a better employee and not do too much personal stuff at work. And I had church tonight, so this is the first time I’ve really gotten to sit down and do anything.

I finally started back on the writing last night. I only got a little over 400 words down, even though I sat at the computer for almost an hour. This is partly because I changed a couple of things I had written earlier. I know most people think you should write a first draft, then do all the editing later. I work better if I edit as I go, then I have a cleaner first draft when I’m finished. When I think of something I want to add or change, I usually do it right then. Anyway, those changes plus a little snag slowed my word count down. The snag was because I couldn’t figure out what a certain artifact was supposed to do. I’ve done a little brainstorming with hubby, and I think we’ll come up with something. He’s proven to be a lot of help lately. He had a lot of input in The Gnome. One of the major ideas in the book was his. He’s come a long way from back when he was calling my writing a hobby. LOL

On the kitten front. I’ve been letting them come in the house and play some in the afternoons. Monday, instead of staying under the couch like they did the first time, they decided it would be fun to get into my potted plant and fling dirt everywhere. I tried to sweep up all the dirt before my husband saw it, but they can fling faster than I can sweep. I just had to wait and clean up later. I WILL eventually get pictures, but right now I can’t get them to slow down enough. They’re just a blur of fur and claws.

ROW Check In and Other Stuff

I need an intervention. I’m addicted to Words with Friends. And Draw Something. And Solitaire. Stupid iPad. I have to learn to put the iPad down and not pick it up until I’m finished with important things. You know, like writing. And housework. And exercise. I haven’t touched my WIP in a week. I’m disgusted with myself, and I’m determined to get back on track this week. The vacation’s over.

Speaking of vacation, I’m going to Panama City Beach in a couple of weeks. I really hope to get a lot of writing done that week. What better place and time to write…out on the balcony, listening to the ocean, drinking my morning coffee…

My kittens are still as cute as ever and really seem to be happy in their ginormous cage. I’ve watched them climb and play. I let them in the house last week, and I was planning on getting some pics and videos, but they seemed to only want to play under the couch. On the bright side, they do clean out the dust bunnies under there. I had to pick dust off fur and off whiskers. LOL

Hubby and I went to see The Avengers yesterday. Such a great movie! I could definitely see the Joss Whedon influence, especially with all the snarky comments. Of course, Tony Stark was his usually smart a** self. I loved his lines. Of course, I enjoyed the Tony Stark and Thor eye candy. I had heard that the Hulk was a scene stealer, and I kept telling my husband I just didn’t see it. But I realized that came later in the movie. The Hulk did a couple of things that even got my husband laughing out loud. If you haven’t seen this movie, you need to go. See it on the big screen, don’t wait for the DVD.

Happy Mother’s Day!

My Kittens!

I have my two kittens! They are adorable! Words can’t describe them, so here are pictures. The first picture is just a picture of the empty playpen after I put it together. The second picture is the precious one.

ROW80 Check In 5/6/12

Not really much to say about this week. I haven’t touched my WIP since my check in on Wednesday. I’ve had so much going on this past week and still not feeling the best in the world. I’m going to go back to walking on the treadmill early in the mornings. The two weeks I made myself do that, I felt better than I had in a long time. When I’m lying in bed thinking about how much I want to just sleep another hour, I should remember how good I felt when I was exercising. It’s all about motivation. Besides, my husband said something to me that really hit home. My mother is overweight, diabetic, and has arthritis. We went to my daughter-in-law’s graduation, but my mom couldn’t go because it was in a place where there were lots of steps. I told my husband that my mom would never make it up the steps and he made some remark under his breath about how I would be in the same situation in a few years. I was stunned. I think he’s really worried about me getting into the shape my mom is in. So I’m determined not to. I CAN’T.

On a brighter note…I’m getting two kittens tomorrow! I’m so excited! I haven’t been able to have cats because I can’t leave them outside because of coyotes, and my husband won’t let me have them inside because of a bad experience with a cat we had with bladder problems. So my friend suggested a compromise. She had crate trained her cats before and they did really well. So I bought this huge cage that is big enough for the two cats to play in. It has three levels, two of which have little ledges for them to lie on. I’m going to keep the cage out on our deck and make a nice little roof on it for shelter from the elements. When I’m at work, they’ll stay in the cage, and when I’m at home, they can stay in the house with me. The reason I’m getting two is because I don’t want them to be lonely while I’m gone. I’m going to fix up this cage to be a nice little playhouse with toys and stuff. The cage also comes with a little soft bed to put on one of the ledges. This cage is big enough for 2-3 large cats, so two little kittens should have a ball in it. There’s no danger of coyotes coming up on our deck. (They couldn’t get through the cage anyway.) Our dog protects our deck fiercely, and he’s always there at night (and my cats might be able to stay inside with me overnight). So my kitties will be safe, sheltered, and showered with lots of toys. I can’t wait to get them!

Eleven Random Questions

I was tagged in the game of Eleven Random Questions by Emma Meade, so I thought it would be fun to participate. The rules are:

1.Answer the questions set by the tagger. In my case, this would be Emma.

2.Create eleven new questions to ask eleven new participants.

3.Share links to those eleven people in your blog and let them know you’ve tagged them.

Here are my answers to the questions asked by Emma:

Where is your Favourite Place in the Entire World?

My home in SE Tennessee

What Country Do You Most Want to Visit?

Oh, there are so many! Scotland would probably be at the top of my list.

Who is Your Favourite Author?

Stephen King

What Song Describes Your Mood Today?

Put the Lime in the Coconut…because I feel silly today.

Do You Judge A Book By Its Cover?

Maybe a little, but it’s usually the title that grabs me.

What is the Last Movie You Saw?

Wrath of the Titans

What Is Your Favourite Food?

Pizza

What is Your Favourite TV Show Of All Time?

This is a toss up between X-Files and Buffy

What is the First Record You Bought?

My mom bought me my first record when I was about 6 six years old. It was the first Beatles album, and it was on the Vee-Jay label. There was another record that had almost the same songs on it on another label, but my record is the rarer one. I found out recently it’s worth about $5,000!

What is the Best Concert You Have Ever Attended?

Paul McCartney. Twice!

Do You Prefer Blondes or Brunettes?

It doesn’t really matter, but I would lean toward brunettes.

Here are the people I tagged. Many of these people are very busy and don’t have time to do this, but I hope the ones who do have time will join in the fun.

Anya Kelleye

Michelle DePaepe

Nadja Notariani

J.R. Pearse Nelson

Kait Nolan

Susan Bischoff

Andrew Mocete

C.M. Hubbard

Ruth Ann Nordin

Matt Hofferth

Claire Farrell

Again, I won’t feel bad at all if you choose not to play this game. It can be very time consuming. Also, if I didn’t tag you, please feel free to answer these questions in the comments. I love comments.

Ok, here are my questions for the people I tagged (and for those of you who weren’t tagged, but want to play). I actually kept a couple of Emma’s questions.

Who is your favorite author?

What’s your favorite color?

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

How old were you when you had your first real kiss?

Who is your hero?

Who is the sexiest person on TV right now?

Who is your favorite vampire?

What’s your favorite beverage?

What’s your favorite food?

What would be your ideal job?

What do people do that annoys you the most?