Maddy Barone's Blog, page 45
February 5, 2013
Tuesday Truth February 5, 2013: I’m busy!
First, I’m buried in edits again. These are tough, and I have some re-writing to do, but I think Eddie’s Prize will be a far better book in the end.
Second, I am in the beginning stages of organizing an SCA event called Silks & Needles. It will be a day of classes on embroidery, weaving, spinning, etc. Tomorrow night is the Shire meeting where I need to present my budget. So, I guess I better get my budget smoothed out.
Third, my brother is coming to stay for the weekend. He’ll be here Friday. That means I need to CLEAN! He’s coming because …
Fourth, it’s my mom’s birthday party on Saturday night.
Did I mention I was busy?
February 2, 2013
Why Romance?
Last Monday a gal at work who had just learned that I write asked me why I write romance. She didn’t sound uppity or holier-than-thou, but was genuinely curious. Usually when someone says “Why do you read romance?” they obviously think their choice of reading material is infinitely more classy than your trashy romance. I didn’t get that vibe from her. She said didn’t care for the romance genre. She found it a bit shallow and predictable, but she knew a lot of people who loved reading romance and wondered why. I stammered and said I liked it.
Brilliant answer, right?
Well, I think I know why now. Last Thursday and Friday I listened on CD to Jaycee Lee Dugard’s memoir, A Stolen Life. Miss Dugard was 11 years old when she was kidnapped and held captive for 18 years. It was painful to listen to her horrible experiences at the hands of her mentally disturbed captors. Today I watched a special about Jonestown, where over 900 people commited suicide and were murdered because of a mentally disturbed eogmaniac. After three days in a row of hearing and seeing such painful things I was feeling depressed. And then it came to me why I love romance.
Because there are happily ever afters. Because love heals all wounds. Because a romance story ends on a high note. Hope is realized in a romance story.
How about you? Why do you read romance?
January 26, 2013
A Weekend Present For My Readers
To celebrate, here is another short teaser from Eddie’s Prize:
Eddie woke suddenly, shocked it was broad daylight. He flung the covers back and lunged up in bed. A voice said “Oof!” as his elbow landed in a soft stomach. What—? Lisa! He had been well and thoroughly loved last night by his bride. He had loved her thoroughly, too. Their first time together had been a blur of desperate urgency. The second time …What a delight it was to be married to such a beautiful and creative woman. This was their honeymoon. They had no chores to get up for, nothing to do but get to know each other. He grinned down at her startled expression and watched it melt into a satisfied smile. They could stay in bed all day with no one to complain over their laziness. The thought had its appeal. He kissed her flat tummy in apology, and let his lips travel gradually north.
“Good morning, Mrs. Edward Madison,” he murmured against her throat. “Can you think of any reason we need to get out of bed today?”
Lisa stretched and rubbed against him. “Why?” she teased. “Was there something you needed to do in bed today? Catch up on your sleep? Or—” She dissolved in giggles when he fluttered his fingertips over her ribs. “Hey! Stop! I’m ticklish!”
January 25, 2013
Do I Look Innocent?
Do I Look Innocent?
This afternoon I spent a half hour in the billing office of the local mega-hospital/clinic conglomerate explaining to the woman (who was extremely unhelpful in the politest possible way) why I believe I had over-paid my bill by several hundred dollars and should have a refund. After about twenty minutes of going over all my receipts with them and showing them my itemized Health Spending Account (HSA) expenditures, I finally got the woman to admit, that, yes, I had over paid. The issue stemmed from the fact that they switched billing software in June. No, I couldn’t have a refund. Their policy was that they would apply any excess funds to my next bill.
Does she realize that I plan to NEVER see any doctor at their facility again? My regular doctor had left the clinic to move to a distant city and their billing practices have convinced me that I don’t want to use their services again.
Grrr! See the image above? Yeah, lady, you are about to become a minor character in Wolf’s Prize, and you are going down. Buh-bye.
No, I never did get my money, but I’m not giving up. I don’t know what i’ll do yet, but I have a bottle of wine and a pound of fudge. Soemthing will come to me.
January 22, 2013
Tuesday Truth: the Giveaway is Coming!
What am I giving away? Well, for starters, an afghan (made by me. See on the left? It’s almost done!) based on the one Lisa crochets in Eddie’s Prize, a sterling silver skeleton key on a fine chain (because my tagline is “Unlock Your Imagination”) coffee and mugs, chocolate delicacies locally made right here in Fargo ND, and, of course, an ARC of Eddie’s Prize. Actually, I’ll be giving away a couple of ARCs.
When will this be? It will start on or around February 28, 2013
How do you enter? These giveaways will be through my newsletter only. I send out a newsletter only about every other month. At the end of February I will send out an e-form you can use to enter the giveaway. If you’re not a member of my newsletter and you’d like to sign up you can click here.
January 19, 2013
The Lady Lorri Hat
A few years ago I designed a handful of knitted hats and posted the patterns on Ravelry. Well, here’s one more: The Lady Lorri Hat, named for my good friend Lorri. It’s a very quick knit. Took me only three hours to design and knit. I think one of my characters will have a hat like this. Maybe Carla? Maybe Rose. Yeah, this will be the first thing Rose will knit with the yarn she spun herself.Click the link below for the free pattern.
January 15, 2013
Tuesday Teaser, January 15, 2013
I’ve been hard at work on edits for Eddie’s Prize. I’ve turned in the first round, but they aren’t done yet. Here is a little snip of the first time Lisa and Eddie go to visit Carla and Taye at the den.
Those guards sauntered over to meet them at the gate. One had short dark brown hair and a thick muscular wrestler’s build. The other was young, with a slight limp.
Eddie looked at the men behind the gate. “I’m Eddie Madison.”
“We know who you are.”
The younger guard sounded almost insolent. Lisa could feel Eddie’s annoyance in the way his hand tightened on her arm. “Taye Wolfe told me I could bring my wife to visit Mrs. Wolfe.”
“The Chief ain’t here.”
The burlier of the two guards elbowed the younger one. “Pipe down, Chad. Taye told us Mrs. Madison was welcome anytime.” He raised his voice to say, “Hey, Snake! Come here. Walk Mrs. Madison into the den. She’s here to visit the Lupa.”
One of the dogs loped over. Lisa blinked, realizing that it wasn’t a dog when a weird shimmer went over its fur and the fur … disappeared. A man stood in the dog’s place, a handsome man with long, dark curly hair whose muscular physique was completely bare. Lisa jolted in shock, but couldn’t help but run her gaze approvingly over his naked body.
January 8, 2013
Tuesday Truth: Edits
Some of my author friends tell me editing can be the hardest part of writing. A lot of writers dread doing edits. Personally, I love edits. Edits correct my punctuation and grammar. (Seems like no matter how hard I try, I always need a ton of corrections when it comes to punctuation) Edits help me see what I can improve. Edits make my story better.
That’s not to say that I don’t quail when I open the file and see all the red. And that’s not to say that I agree with every suggestion my editor makes. I suspect that most writers are a little sensitive when it comes to our “babies”. These stories are part of us, pieces of our hearts, so it’s natural to be defensive when an editor tells us that something needs to be changed. But before we get upset when we first open our edits, we need to step back and see the big picture. Editors are not enemies. They want our book to be as good as it can be. Trust them to do their job.
When working on edits I suggest doing to easy things first. Accept a comma insertion, delete a redundant word, re-phrase an awkward sentence, etc. Wait and really think about the things that you want to argue about. If you still feel strongly after honest consideration, then go ahead and email your editor. Tell him politely why you disagree with his suggested change. Try to work out an acceptable solution. A few authors I know on Romance Divas have had to ask for a change in editor. Sometimes an editor and author just don’t mesh. That should be a last resort.
So, I’m off to see what changes my editor has suggested to make Eddie’s Prize the best it can be. Happy Tuesday!
January 5, 2013
Reading Weekend
Anyone else ever get like that?
January 1, 2013
Happy New Year!
First, let me start off by saying the winner of the $10.00 Amazon gift card for the Naughty New Year bog hop was Jackie from TN. Jackie has received her gift card and is hopefully finding some good reading material. 
2012 wasn’t too kind to me in some ways. I started the year at a job I really hated, and then in July was able to return to a team I knew and enjoyed, although at a major pay cut, like a 32% pay cut. I was sick a lot (pneumonia in May, strep throat in December and assorted other colds and flu and asthma troubles the rest of the year), and it affected my writing. Eddie’s Prize is quite a long book, and it took me literally more than a year to write.
However, 2013 is a completely different animal. I started writing Wolf’s Prize in October, and although I’m still not a terribly speeding writer, I feel good about the story. I’m at 20,900 words of a guesstimated 50,000. I really hope I can finish it by Feb 20, get it sent off to the beta readers by March 1, and have it submitted to the publisher by March 20. Then, at last, I get to dive into Sky and Rose’s story. Whoo-hoo!
I also plan to be more active in the SCA (my medieval history group). This weekend I’m going to 12th Night and even made a new
outfit to wear. This is a very generic version of what might have been worn in the eastern Roman Empire around 900 AD. It’s pretty barebones now, but later I can pretty it up with pearls and gems and some embroidery. The colors of the pic (the before pic) on the left are accurate.
I wish you all a wonderful, productive and joyful 2013.
