Liz Lee's Blog, page 9

I LOVE Kristen Ashley. Rock Chicks Rule!

I've spent sooooooo many hours with the Rock Chicks. I love them. My friend recommended them to me, told me I would love them, let me listen to five minutes of an audio book, and BOOM! I was hooked.
If it weren't for the new Jill Shalvis, I would have started book 4 in the Rock Chick series as soon as I finished book 3. They are that good. Seriously, only two authors could stop me. Shalvis and SEP.
I listen to the books on audio. Usually that's a great thing to do while running around town, going to work, cleaning house. Usually it doesn't interfere with my writing time. Not the Rock Chicks. I MADE time to clean house to listen more. I never do that. My husband thought something was wrong with me or we were having surprise company. Nope. I just had to hear more.
So yeah, I love, love, love the Rock Chick books. And with all books I love, love, love, I start to analyze what it is I love so much.
As a writer it's important for me to be aware of that special something that makes a book click with me because I should be working hard to bring that to my stories.
It hit me this week that the Rock Chick books are COMPLETELY impossible. I mean, they are so far out of the realm of possibility they could give GRR Martin a run for his money. BUT as impossible as they are, every female character seems like someone I know. The heroes are HOT, and that's important, but the heroines and secondary characters are the reasons I read the books. HOT guys are a dime a dozen in romance novels. Okay, so the Rock Chick heroes are NOT the dime a dozen kind of hot...
I digress.
With the Rock Chicks Kristen Ashley has done what Jill Shalvis has done with Animal Magnetism and Lucky Harbor in some ways. She's created people I like and a community I want to sink into while I'm reading. On top of that she's pushed those people into outrageous and FUN plots.
And every book has incredible voice.
If you like streamy contemporary romance and you're not reading the Rock Chick series, you are missing out. If you write steamy contemporary romance and you're not reading the Rock Chick series, you are missing out. Do yourself a favor and go check the books out now. You won't be sorry!
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The Power of the Pin(terest)

I've been a Pinterest fan from the beginning. I could spend hours there pinning recipes and quotes and tutorials and ideas for decorating and workouts I will never in a million years do but like to fool myself into thinking might one day be possible.
So yeah, I'm a Pinterest fan.
BUT
In the last few months, something has changed. It started with my day job. I started pinning ideas for design and color and Adobe tutorials. I made an account for the yearbook and gave the log in to the kids and they took it and ran. We've done some amazing Pinterest assignments this year.
Then I saw the MFRW group had a Pinterest account for their members' books.
Then one day I was working on revisions and decided to go over to Pinterest to look for the Perfect Shoe for my heroine.
Pinterest Writing Love was born.
I've made inspiration boards in the past for my novels. Pinterest boards for them are a million times better. Clothes, food, decorating tips, hairstyles, eye candy motivation, the list goes on and on. Suddenly the vague ideas in my mind are concrete. My heroine needs a sparkly headband to wear with her leggings and boyfriend shirtdress? No problem.
I work on several novels at once right now. Because of that I have trouble connecting with a character sometimes. I've used soundtracks to help with that. Now I use the book's Pinterest board.
It seems weird, but it really does work.
I know I have to be careful or I'll spend hours pinning for a novel instead of writing the book. If it becomes a problem, I'll set a timer. :)
If you're a pinner and want to follow me, feel free. I pin LOTS of writing motivation.
I'm on Pinterest as Mary Beth Lee.


If you're not on Pinterest because you think it's a waste of time, it can be. BUT it doesn't have to be. The choice is yours.

What I'm Reading: Then Came You by Jill Shalvis (just finished Kristen Ashley's Rock Chick Redemption...SOOOOOO GOOD!!!!)
What I'm Watching: DH has commandeered the TV for The Walking Dead marathon, so not much other than zombies.
What I'm working on: Becky & Jeremiah's story. If you read my books, you don't know them yet. I love them, but they need A Lot of work. :)

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First drafts are skeletons

I started the first read-through of a first draft yesterday.
WOW first drafts are humbling.
I sometimes forget that my first drafts are ugly. Yesterday after three chapters I was so dejected I cleaned house instead of continuing. But then while watching the new Star Trek with my sweetie, it hit me that I was judging my first draft story on final draft standards.
This isn't the first time I've made that mistake, and I'm sure it won't be the last. Hopefully blogging about it will help me remember that first drafts are skeletons. The magic happens in the revisions.

Zumba is to writing as...

I went back to Zumba for the first time in over two years today. It was surprisingly fun. While I was dancing around sweating and looking like a complete lunatic it struck me that I LOVED Zumba and had since I first walked in the aerobics room the first time and danced to the Latin music while having the time of my life.
Today, just like that first time, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. Lacie, the instructor, looks like a million bucks and can do things with her butt no human who doesn't make her living with a stripper pole should be able to do. She used to tell us to just shake our butts and have fun, and we'd get the moves down in time. And she was right.
Now I'm starting over and I realize I look like someone who doesn't know what the heck she's doing, but I'm shaking my butt and having fun and I know, eventually, the moves will come.
Which brings me to writing...I know BIG jump.
But not really.
See people are always asking how to write and what to do and, I'll be honest, the last few weeks I've been driving myself crazy wondering if I'm doing the right thing getting three books ready to go back to back instead of publishing one at a time. I've been making myself nuts wondering if I should buy ads or do Kindle Select or get the ARC out there through Goodreads. I've been writing and rewriting and revising and editing and wondering some more. I've poured through emails on the Indie loops I belong to looking for answers and reading a million different answers and thinking I needed to wait one more day or week or month...and tonight when I came home all covered in sweat and happy that I'd survived a Zumba class it hit me that I'm in the same place with my writing career as I am with Zumba.
For years I wrote a book a year targeted to a specific Harlequin line and when that didn't happen, I quit. It wasn't that I didn't LOVE writing, it wasn't that I didn't love my stories, it wasn't even that I quit caring about Harlequin. It just got easier to sit and indulge in a Netflix marathon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer than it was to write a book, a query, a synopsis, submit and get requests then requests for revisions--sometimes twice--and then rejections. It got easier because I got confused about what I was doing. I focused on selling instead of writing and selling isn't fun--well, it isn't when you sell exactly 0.
It's like the drive to the Y and Zumba. Part of the process but not the good part.
So here I am sitting at the computer after my first day of full-time writing, after my return to Zumba, after a Netflix marathon--this time The West Wing. And I've got to say I LOVE what I'm doing. I shut myself in my office and go to another place with my characters. I play with words for fun. I listen to Yo-Yo Ma playing spaghetti Western music while I'm at it. And I'm having the time of my life.

The Day Job

...will never end this year.
This isn't true.
After 20 years I KNOW the last day of school will get here.
But they lengthened the year by a week this time and OMG, it feels like it will never end.
By the time I get home, I'm almost comatose.
This is me being whiny and making excuses for NOT writing much the last three weeks...okay, no, it's me being whiny but the feelings are soooo honest and real and it's the strangest thing ever because this has been a TOUGH year but also one of the most rewarding in my career AND I've written four drafts, three that are very close to publication-ready and one draft that I LOVED every minute of. On top I've that, I've read AMAZING books from awesome authors including the one I'm reading now, Skin Game by Jim Butcher, AND I moved into my new house AND went on a vacation to Ireland AND fit into a size 14 for the first time in years BUT still I'm whiny. And now I'm blogging about it, which I read is the number one thing not to do on a blog, but I guess my answer to that is It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To.
But by 1 p.m. on Saturday I will be rejoicing because by my song will have changed to School's Out For Summer and BOY is it going to be a GREAT summer.

So yeah.
That. :)

If you're a writer and you're reading this, HAPPY WRITING!
If you're a reader and you're reading this, HAPPY READING!
If you stumbled on this page by accident...HEY!

Signing out for now.

--Liz Lee, Romance Author and Proud of It!

To ARC or not to ARC #MyWANA

I've gone back and forth on the idea of sending out ARCs the last month. I don't think I'm any closer to an answer. I have beta readers, and they definitely get an early copy of my books, but those aren't the ARCs I'm talking about. I'm talking about sending free review copies out in the hopes that reviewers will love the book and talk about it. OR developing a team of people who get free advanced copies in exchange for honest reviews. The thing is I'm not sure I would get honest reviews for books I send out free and I'm not sure people trust reviews of books received for free....So...I'm torn.I'm not going to make this decision on my own. I'll seek advice from those who've gone before, and then I'll figure out what I'm going to do.I'm leaning towards writing the best book I can, getting it out there and then writing another. But that whole "Tending Your Garden" article thing comes up then, and I'm so confused because if all I do is write, am I tending my garden? Yeah, I'm still in this place. It's been a month, and I'm still there--which sucks.But the good news is, I'm closer to three months of new books because I'm writing, and that comes first.:)

When Will I Learn

So the way to throw a wrench in any plan is to say you're going to make it happen no matter what.
It's almost as bad as the sign on the Titanic that said not even God can sink this ship.
My PLAN last week was to write, write, write in the evenings. I loaded my current WIP to the iPad and carried it with me across the State. Maybe if I hadn't been the driver...maybe. When I checked in the hotel Monday night, I said good night and that was that.
Tuesday was spent at UT.
Wednesday was driving again. By the time I got home Wednesday night, I couldn't see straight much less write.
I could have written, but it would have been a disaster.
Thursday and Friday were yearbook days.
Saturday...off to Family Reunion.
And then....
My niece texted. Her water broke.
So we raced back home in time to see her. The nurses felt like it would be a day or more so we went home to catch a quick nap. Big mistake.
We raced back to the hospital and met the baby. :)
He's a preemie. 4 lbs, 14 oz. Tiny.
Today....a week later....I was finally able to work again.
It took an hour to get back into the rhythm of the words.
I'm a firm believer in writing every day. I know when I take breaks, it hurts the work and my process and the way I can lose myself in a story. But life intervened.
And I'm okay with that, too.
Because I love writing, and writing is an essential part of who I am, but the incredible moments from the last week are the moments that we don't get back. And I'm glad I showed up for them.
For 15 years I spent most of my life at the day job. My kid went with me when she was sick, I arranged her schedule around mine, my husband came second when the day job was busy. I lived for that job. I didn't show up for more moments than I care to remember.
It's my biggest regret in life. And I can't have that time back.
But when I learned the lesson that a job is a job is a job is a job, I swore I wouldn't make the mistake again.
It's easy to forget that when it comes to writing because it's so AWESOME and wonderful and amazing to lose myself in the story I'm creating.
I love writing. But LIFE moments come first. <3

Update #CrappyFirstDraftClub

I spent the last three days making notes as I read through the crappy first draft of a book. The first five chapters I thought maybe I'd written the novel in the midst of the muse angels. Chapter six changed all that. I've got a ton of work to do on this book. I'm super thankful for chapters 1-5 because they set the tone and nailed the characterization of my main characters.After chapter five I have a book of paper doll characters and cliche after cliche. And I'm pretty sure my heroine commits a TSTL sin. The first five chapters, she's super strong ala Buffy or Veronica Mars. After that....she's definitely looking for someone to come rescue her. So yeah, lots of work to do. The book is hot. Way hotter than I remember. lol.I'm taking tomorrow off to go to a writing meeting, but after that, it's full speed ahead. 

That Moment When...AHAHAHA, okay seriously freaking out #mywana

I read the JA Konrath post about tending your garden as an author this week. Tonight instead of working on revisions, I spent about three hours looking for people who review indie books. After the first hour, I wanted to hyperventilate. Then I ended up on Goodreads and joined some groups. I hope the Goodreads answer is the right one. If it's not, it's no big. I love Goodreads. I could spend ALL my time there.
I blog here and on my personal blog, I'm on Facebook and Twitter @AuthorLizLee, and I tell people about my books.
I have a newsletter, which I send out when I have a new release. Feel free to sign up for it, btw.
I tend my garden...in some ways. But in a lot of ways I don't.
My friend Mel used to tell me about authors who thought it was enough to write and not promote and how that came back to hurt them. She's an expert promoter and a prolific writer, and I envy her skill. She builds relationships with readers like none other. Her readers LOVE her. She has a huge "street team". She's worked YEARS building this, but she started from day one.
The reason I bring up Mel is because I see her and I see all these other amazing indie authors, and I think I'm doing this all wrong. But then I think I need to chill because I'm writing and taking care of that first IS tending my garden.
I need to quit comparing myself to others. I need to focus on the writing. AND I need to get that work up for my readers. But I also need to look at what Konrath said and find a way to tend my garden, too.
Today on #mywana someone posted about looking for ways to promote and market. I was mid-freak out, so I understood what she was asking. And I hope she gets some answers because I'm watching that # for answers, too.
I'm reading The Success Principles right now. LOVE THAT BOOK! Canfield says find someone who's doing what you want to do and follow their example.
That's my new goal.
And the good thing about that is most successful indie authors are incredibly giving of their knowledge.
So I'm done freaking out, at least for tonight. I'm going to focus on nurturing my garden. And for now that means writing and revising and editing and blogging. It means checking in on twitter and posting my updates and saying hey to people. It means hanging on until the school year ends and keeping my goal of full-time writing in nine years front and center.
I'd love to know if anyone else has these struggles. If anyone else read that amazing Konrath article and thought OH DEAR GOD, I thought my books were my garden!?!
If you want to chat feel free to comment or reply on twitter.
Signing off to go revise.

Nashville Love

Nashville.
Okay, that's enough. Don't need to say any more.

J/K.

But seriously. Nashville is the best show on television and it's because of the writers.
I mean, the entire show is awesome, but the characters have grown with each episode and this season, they completely blew me away. I learn more about writing from watching Nashville than I from workshops, how-to-books, critique sessions.
A long time ago editor Leslie Wainger used to say if you can motivate it, your character can do anything.
Tonight, that was proved time and again, but when Juliet was bawling and Avery was standing there heart broken and I WANTED him to say I forgive you, I realized how true Wainger's statement is.
Rayna, Scarlett and Juliet are amazing strong characters with fantastic character arcs. I sincerely hope the writers don't leave. If they do, I hope they have to do some sort of fan fiction over the current show to let the creator know they understand what's going on. I will be so mad if they destroy the show like Mad Men and The Walking Dead. And speaking of TWD, I sincerely hope they don't jack with the amazing strength of the women in this show. They are incredible.
It's Wednesday, so that also means Survivor, the other show I watch. To that I say, Go SPENCE!!!!