Sharla Lovelace's Blog, page 21
December 5, 2011
On the 3rd day of Bookmas…
…Kim L. gives to you…
The lovely third Bookmas Clue!!
What piece did Kim have to memorize in her 10th grade English class and who wrote it? And what author did Kim do her 11th grade presentation on and what's the title of that author's most famous work?
** four part answer… BCOWBREAKYJ (scrambled) / author initials LC, then CAREEBC (scrambled) / author is French**
Go to BookEnds for more on Kim's description and to leave your answer, and use my clue above and those of the other authors listed on the BookEnds post to solve it! First one to comment (on the BookEnds site) correctly, wins prizes for this day!
You can also follow some clues and leads at the hashtag #bookmas
Good luck! And happy hunting!!
Tagged: #bookmas, book giveaways, BookEnds, BookEnds authors, bookmas clues, Christmas, contests, fun stuff, kim lionetti, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, Twelve Days of Bookmas
December 2, 2011
On the 2nd day of Bookmas…
…Jessica A. gives to you…
The lovely second Bookmas Clue!!
What was the first romance Jessica Alvarez ever read?
** The title has three words, and the first word means "balance". **
Go to BookEnds to leave your answer, and see more on Jessica's story. Use my clue above and those of the other authors listed on the BookEnds post to solve it! First one to comment (on the BookEnds site) correctly, wins prizes for this day!
You can also follow some clues and leads at the hashtag #bookmas
Good luck! And happy hunting!!
Tagged: #bookmas, book giveaways, BookEnds, BookEnds authors, bookmas clues, Christmas, contests, fun stuff, jessica alvarez, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, Twelve Days of Bookmas
December 1, 2011
On the 1st Day of Bookmas…
…Jessica F. gives to you…
The very first Bookmas Clue!!
** I would love to live there…especially where it is dark. **
Go to BookEnds to see the Dec 1 puzzle, and use my clue above and those of the other authors listed on the BookEnds post to solve it! First one to comment (on the BookEnds site) correctly, wins prizes for that day!
You can also follow some clues and leads at the hashtag #bookmas
Good luck! And happy hunting!!
Tagged: #bookmas, book giveaways, BookEnds, BookEnds authors, bookmas clues, Christmas, contests, fun stuff, jessica faust, romance, sharla lovelace, Twelve Days of Bookmas
November 30, 2011
Fun book giveaway contest at BookEnds!
Well, I'm officially back from hiatus…and I'd love to say I completed book two…but no. I am, however, on a better momentum with it, so I have hopes to finish by the end of the year. That sounds better than the end of this next month, which is the same thing.
Today I want to announce a fun game/contest my agent Jessica Faust is putting on over at the BookEnds blog. She did this last year as well, for any of you who might have participated then. It is a spin on the Twelve Days of Christmas, called "The Twelve Days of Bookmas Giveaway" and involves a daily question posted by one of the agents–something that could involve their work life, personal life, books they've read, etc. They post the question, and then their clients post clues to the answers on their own websites/Twitter/Facebook pages. It's a hoot, and by blog-bopping around, you get to meet new authors!
The first person to correctly answer the question in the comments section of the BookEnds blog that day is the winner, and will be announced the next day.
*FREE BOOKS! FREE BOOKS!*
Each new daily question will be posted no earlier than noon EST, which is 11am CST for me, so my clues will be posted at that time.
Head over to BookEnds right now, they have posted all the details and rules today! Contest starts tomorrow December 1st!
So I will see y'all tomorrow here at 11am CST/noon EST for the first clue! Yay!
Tagged: book giveaways, BookEnds, BookEnds authors, Christmas, contests, fun stuff, jessica faust, new writing, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, Twelve Days of Bookmas, womens fiction, writing
November 24, 2011
Happy Turkey Day!!
Popping in to wish you all a very blessed Thanksgiving Day!!
So….while we all celebrate this holiday in different ways….some with turkey, some with gumbo, some with lasagna… (my table does NOT look like the above, by the way…) the basic idea is the same. To reflect on the year, and the blessings you've been given.
For me… there are the things I'm always thankful for. My family, my amazing supportive and loving husband, my kids who almost aren't kids anymore. They are 21 and just short of 17. My old lady dog, Ruby. The 21 cockatiels in our backyard aviary that are enjoying a little bigger feast this morning. My awesome friends, both in person and online. For having a day job which although I gripe about from time to time…it is a huge blessing to have nowadays. Then to look at this year…I'm thankful for the new people that came into my life. My friends at TCPT who showed me about dedication, the amazing PT family I got out of that. My agent, Jessica, in February and my editor, Wendy, in April. For a brand new book deal and entering the business side of this industry that I've been knocking on the doors of for ten years. For getting more involved in my RWA-WF chapter, for being a part of Women Unplugged, and for being so blessed with the opportunity to keep writing.
So what are you thankful for this year?
Tagged: berkley, blessings, family, friends, jessica faust, kids, new book, romance, sharla lovelace, tcpt, the reason is you, wendy mccurdy, women unplugged, womens fiction, writing
October 18, 2011
Going under till Turkey Day! Slap me if you see me!
If I go a little awol for the next month, just letting you know that I'm going deep into the bat cave to get back on track. 
I'm a bit behind on hitting my deadline for book two…there have been a couple of derailments knocking me off course, and so I'm unplugging. (gasp!)
I will still do my every other Wednesday post over at Women Unplugged, our group blog, because that's not a big time pull. But I'm not planning to blog here till Thanksgiving. That's my goal. By Thanksgiving, I want to be hot on the heels of completion. Oh dear Lord, please hear that.
I won't lie…I will still check things on my phone here and there…because I'm just not that good. LOL. But I've already turned TweetDeck off on my computer at home which normally is always up. I'm going to write longhand till it's time to type it in, so I'm not tempted to go anywhere. And I love longhand anyway.
So if you see me on Twitter or Facebook, call me out! Slap me around! Kick me back into that chair and tell me there will be no holiday sweets for me if I don't get busy!
Oooooh, that should do it.
Tagged: deadlines, new book, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, unplugging, women unplugged, womens fiction, writing
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October 11, 2011
Not the normal girl…
I have a very close friend who loves to go to the grocery store. She loves to cook, and therefore browses the store with love, looking for that next culinary adventure. I have more than a few friends like that, actually.
I do love to eat, and I do love amazing food. But it doesn't come from me. I dig out a post it note with absolute disgust when the fridge gets pathetically skinny, knowing that I need to go to that place with the carts and the aisles and the endless cans and packages. I go out of guilt, because you can only stop for Sonic and Dairy Queen so many times before your family starts to dry heave.
My sister in law adores cleaning. Kind of fanatically, actually, I mean she has days assigned to certain parts of the house. But my point is, she enjoys it. She loves that feeling of a clean house. Her house is so immaculate, that when I walk in and she gets all embarrassed over some invisible piece of lint or a pillow on the chair instead of the couch…I want to bury my head in shame.
My house is a perpetual experience in chaos. I would love to say it's just clutter. I would kill to say it's actually clean. But it isn't. I have earthtoned tile for a reason, because I know how long it's going to be between mopping. I have a dog that can generate two of herself in dog hair every three days, and that is something that should be swept every day but isn't. I do pretty well on the laundry, but towels only get folded when the cabinet is empty, and the dining room table we never use only gets swiped clean of the boxes / paperwork / school notes / book notes / random whatevers that land there daily in the universal junk pile…when we have company coming. Ditto to the mopping.
I would give my left foot for a maid. And I pick that appendage because my left foot always gives me grief anyway so what the hell.
It's not that I don't want to love to cook. It's not that I don't want to live in a cleaned and primped house. I would love both. I have approximately four dishes that I do well, and I have to spread them out or my family will be on to the fact that I really do suck. I love it when my house is clean, I just unfortunately don't love the "doing it" portion of that equation. I barely get writing time as it is, so I'm feeling pretty darn domestic if I get off work, go to the stinking store, cook and do laundry and write something beyond a paragraph all in one night.
So… tell me about you. Are other people like you? Can you invite people over without a panic attack? Can you cook more than spaghetti?
Tagged: if I were rich, list of wants, maid, random, real life, responsibility, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction, writing
September 27, 2011
Paying It Forward!
In the spirit of linky-love today, I'd like to direct your attention to my "Links" page. Over there is a long list of wonderful places I'd love to visit every day but there isn't enough of me or hours to go around.
I do make a point of picking five random ones each day to visit and comment on, and I highly recommend them all! Go check out the page, and if you feel so moved, pick five of your own to visit!
And to further the spirit… leave me a comment below with a new link of your favorite blog to visit. Because…yanno…even though I already have too many places to go, I'm always looking for a new trip!
Tagged: linky love, romance, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction
September 22, 2011
What's Your Creative Process?
I mentioned a couple of days ago how my writing process works when all the stars line up in a perfect world. Because–that's what we all have, right?
Being a character-driven writer, I don't come up with the story first and then fill in with characters. I let the characters find me, and the story will come. I should have known my latest attempt was all back-ass-wards when I spent most of a day on name databases looking for the perfect name for my mc. That should have been the first clue!
Because yesterday, as I sat on my front porch bench at home, staring across the street at my mother's old house…the one I grew up in and is now inhabited by strangers and doesn't look like the picture below anymore… my mc came and sat next to me, stared at the same house, and told me her name is Emily.
I was full of happy…
Because even though I don't know what the story is yet, I know it's going to be about this house, and besides that, I'm getting to know her and that is where the good stuff comes from.
I knew Dani from THE REASON IS YOU long before I knew her story. I knew her name was Dani Shane, and I felt the weight of the world on her shoulders as she drove down a highway in the heat of the summer in an old car with no air conditioning. That's how she started. I knew nothing else.
Now, I'll wait for Emily.
So tell me about you. If you write, are you plot driven or character driven? If you are an artist, where does your inspiration come from? Whatever you do…what inspires you?
Tagged: characters, new book, sharla lovelace, the reason is you, womens fiction, writing
September 21, 2011
I've Moved!
Sharla
