Laura Langston's Blog, page 30

Giving Thanks

This blog post originally ran in 2013. Aside from needing a few tweaks, it’s as fresh now as it was back then. And since we just celebrated Thanksgiving, I decided to run it again. Happy
Thanksgiving, belated though it may be!

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When I do author talks or school visits, one of the questions I’m often asked is what I like best about being a writer. Until now, my answer has usually been twofold. I’m most thankful, I generally say, that I can write in jeans and slippers (there’s something inc...

And So the Story Grows

I have no shortage of ideas for novels. In fact, I have files of story ideas going back two decades. They’re filled with random scraps of paper, detailed notes, newspaper clippings and magazine articles, even transcriptions of interviews I did as a journalist for the CBC.

Ideas are cheap, easy, and beautifully compelling, like that picture of an impressive 9-layer chocolate ganache cake you might see on Pinterest. Make me! the cake says. I’m impressive and delicious and everyone will love me....

A Sneak Peek

It’s still being tweaked but here’s a glimpse of the proposed cover for Fabulous Feathers in Her Hair. The book should be released early next year. I’m pleased!

My September Reads

It’s been a year since I relocated my writing space from a cozy bolt hole in the basement to an office on the main floor of our house. I knew it would be an adjustment but I was looking forward to paring down, cleaning up and starting fresh. My old space was small and L-shaped with a single window overlooking my herb garden. My new office has higher ceilings, a large window that lets in more light, and a symmetrical shape that lends itself well to lots of shelves and two desks – my walking tr...

Save The Cat

In a few days I’m heading up island to Schooner Cove for another Red Door retreat with the Pen Warriors. These ladies have been getting together every three or four months for fifteen years! I’ve been part of the gang (with a few breaks here and there) for a good part of that time.

Retreat is an act of moving back or withdrawing. And that’s what we do. We withdraw from the outside world. We retreat from our families, our responsibilities, and the news of the hour. We spend a couple of days co...

This Little Pinkie Went to Market

Grocery shopping is an extreme sport. Who knew? I had too much on my mind last week (too many story ideas colliding in my brain; more about that in another blog) and I was in a hurry to get everything out of the cart and onto the counter at the checkout. Unfortunately, my baby finger took the brunt of my impatience because I tried to leave it between the spokes of the cart when I walked over to talk to the cashier.

I didn’t know such a little appendage could twist quite that way. Or hurt quit...

Vacation Time

Heads up: the blog is taking August off though I won’t be. I’ll be working flat out for the next couple of weeks in an effort to conquer my ‘to do’ list.

I’m just about finished another round of revisions on One Good Deed, I have a book proposal to finish by the beginning of September, and a couple of articles to research and write too. I also have line edits to tackle for Million Dollar Blues and I’ll be exchanging emails with Estrella Cover Art as we work to come up with a cover concept. I’...

Cover It

Book covers are on my mind. Last week I received an advance copy of the cover for In Plain Sight. If you missed it on my Facebook Author Page, here it is on the left.

I’m thrilled with the way it turned out though I’ll admit my first glimpse of the cover raised concerns. Megan, the girl you see, finds out early in the story that the father she thought was dead is very much alive, he’s a convicted terrorist, and he’s Middle Eastern. For my story purposes, Megan needs to look a little like him....

Fabulosity!

I know, I know, fabulosity isn’t a word but I think it should be. Doesn’t it sound great? Fabuuulossity. It has a nice ring to it, I think.

The fabulous news around here is that I’ve signed a contract with Winnipeg publisher Peanut Butter Press to release a picture book called Fabulous Feathers in Her Hair. So fabulous is a theme these days.

When you drag out the word fabulosity there’s some loss in there. And this story has loss at its core. Fabulous Feathers in Her Hair is about a little gi...

The Power of Words

Words are my currency in life. They’re what I use to do my job, That, in turn, allows me to pay my bills, to put food on the table and to buy the occasional pair of very nice shoes. But it occurred to me recently that words are everybody’s currency in life. How we use them, what we say to each other, has a profound effect on the quality of our lives and the relationships we have with each other.

So today please take ten minutes – just ten – and listen to this Ted Talk from Julian Treasure on...