Laura Chapman's Blog, page 23

what's on my bookshelf? bonus treasures

Blogger's Note: After years of sharing my thoughts on books through book releases and #bookselfies, throughout the month of August I'll be giving you a closer look at what books are in my home library.

I still have more shelves and favorite stories to share, but today I wanted to showcase a few of the little extras that make my little home library uniquely mine.


This beautiful Murano glass pen and ink set on my Garwood to Gibson shelf was a gift from my little sister. During a trip she took to Europe a couple of years ago, she found this set in a shop in Venice, Italy, and brought it home for me. And I adore it. Not only is it a perfect gift for a writer, but it's beautiful and looks particularly pretty in the morning sunlight. It has added meaning, because it came from Sarah.


The Ariel and Belle bells on my Montgomery to Robb shelf were another gift. A couple of my friends brought them back to me from Disney World as a thank you present for checking on their dog while they were on vacation. Again, these are two presents that mean a lot because of the givers and because it's always nice to know your friends get you and what you like.


This is a memory jar, located on the writing resources shelf of my library. I've blogged about this before, but basically this jar contains little mementos from some of my travels. Notable pieces are train and tube passes from my college trip to England, a VIP pass to the backstage of the 2008 Scream Awards, and a sea shell from the beach where one of my best friends got married.


This is a never-before shared shelf, but I like to think of it as my nerd nook. I ran out of room on my regular bookshelves, so I keep the boxed sets to my Song of Fire and Ice, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings collections on top of one of the shelves. For a little flare, I have this metal "&" decoration, which I snapped up at Michael's during a trip to find supplies for a project.


I adore the ceramic white owl that stands on top of one of the shelves. I found it at a vintage shop earlier this summer, and I like how it looks sitting in front of that picture frame (another gift from a friend, it is the framed ISBN number for my debut novel, Hard Hats and Doormats).


And last but not least, the story behind the picture you've seen a lot of throughout the month. Those are framed paper-art portraits of my beloved Jane and Bingley created by my sister for me as a Christmas present. These came about, because I fell in love with some artwork my sister was creating to give to a friend for a baby shower. After months of not-so-subtly dropping hints (which ultimately led to me saying, "All I want for Christmas is cut-out pictures of the cats") I was beyond thrilled to find these sitting under the tree. The ceramic squirrel is another gift from my sister, and it doubles as a tea light holder.

Mr. Squirrel is sitting on top of three gift books, including The Wit and Wisdom of Jane Austen , Downton Abbey Rules for Household Staff , and A Short Guide to a Happy Life by Anna Quindlen.


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my jealousy can go fly a kite

It's been a while since we had one of these posts, but grab your jackets and meet me at the park down the street. Let's go fly a kite...


If you're new to the blog, this is a moment where I'm telling someone (usually myself) or something (usually a bad habit of mine) to go fly a kite. And if you're not familiar with that little diddy, basically it's a nice no swearing way to say go eff yourself.

So back to why we're flying a kite today. This is nothing new, but lately it's reared its ugly head in my life again, and it's getting out of control. The green monster that sneaks out and sours what should be sweet and for lack of a better description, turns me into a bit of a mean wench. I'm talking about jealousy.

I've been feeling a lot of jealousy lately. It happens almost every time I'm on Facebook. It happens every time I see a post from a friend or acquaintance (particularly fellow writers) when they share what is great, wonderful news for them and their careers. Instead, I see the "my book is a best-seller" and "I just received my first advance" and "my fans keep saying this" and, well, I get jealous. I'm sure it's a perfectly normal, natural thing, but I don't like what it brings out in me. I don't like that instead of thinking, "way to hit that best-seller list" or "you earned that reward" or "you have such wonderful fans," I turn into an Ursula-like monster who grows bigger and badder until she's about to explode and thinks rather loudly HOW COME I DON'T GET THOSE THINGS TOO??? (She also tends to write insanely long run-ons, but she doesn't have the self-discipline or energy to rewrite them into smaller, more user-friendly sentences.)

I kind of touched upon these feelings last week with my post about wishing my life away (read it here). That envy feeds me jealousy. And that's a bad thing. I mean, when you watch a lot of TV shows and movies or read a book, one of the major motivators of any villain is his or her envy/jealousy of someone else. I don't want to be the villain in my own life.

Which is why right now--and it's not going to be easy or as simple as flipping a switch--I'm going to do my best to adjust my mind-set and get over being so jealous. I'm not entirely sure how that works. I suppose one thing would be to spend less time on social media, but who are we kidding? I can't quit it (I have a blog and novel career to run!). But maybe I should handle it the way a counselor advised me to handle my panic attacks. I should recognize the triggers and avoid them. And when that isn't possible, I should know the starts of an attack and be prepared to handle it. For the panic attacks, I'm supposed to walk it off or go to my happy place (which is actually a list of five things that bring me a lot of joy that I focus on). Maybe I do the same with the jealousy.

And maybe I should work harder at being happier when other people succeed. Because at heart I am happy for them. They've worked hard. They've earned their rewards. They don't deserve someone begrudging them their joy.

So that's going to be one of my new goals for the near future. I'm going to manage my envy and tell jealousy to go fly a kite.


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join the 'first & goal' team

Thank you for all of the kind words and support since I revealed the cover and release date for my upcoming novel, First & Goal . For me it's always a kind of exciting and terrifying time when you're about to share your book baby with the world. This time around, it was twice as scary, because I designed the cover myself. So the compliments meant even more to me.

Today I wanted to extend an invitation to all of you to be part of my release week team helping to spread the word about First & Goal when it is released. I'm looking for fellow bloggers wanting to feature a guest post, interview, or promo. I'm looking for social media fanatics willing to spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There are lots of ways you can help. Use the sign up below to let me know how you'd like to help, and I will be in touch with you soon.

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Thanks in advance for your help spreading the word on my new book baby. Your support means everything. Please let me know if there is ever a way I can repay the favor.


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my life as a plotter

Here's the cast list, 10-scene tool, and working synopsis
aka outline I used while writing the first draft
of what became Hard Hats and Doormats .
One of the most frequent questions authors receive is "Are you a plotter or a pantser?" Though I primarily fall under the plotter category, I've tried my hand at pantsing. I can't show you any examples of that, because none of those stories have been finished. I guess that means I'm truly a plotter at heart.

There are a few tools I use to plan and plot my novels/novellas/shorts before I officially begin the writing process. Here's a rundown of what I do before I write:

Character Sketches
This is a good opportunity to get to know my characters. I write down everything from what they look like to their major ticks to the way they drink their coffee--or if they drink it at all. I also write a brief history, which is usually a free-form essay of sorts that explains why this person is the way they are. For The Marrying Type, I wrote about how difficult it was for Elliot to lose her mother to cancer when she was in high school. I wrote about her strained relationships with her father and sister. I wrote about what it was like to begin dating Eric and then to breakup with him. Having this background and knowledge was important to have before I wrote, because it showed why she acted the way she did in certain scenes. And some of it actually ended up being included in the story. I sometimes also include aspects of a character that don't make it into the story, but they're still important because they help me better know who I'm writing about.

Cast List
From this, I create a brief cast list that has a rundown of each of the characters in the story along with a one- or two-sentence explanation of his or her role to the story. Often it explains the relationship a supporting character has with the main character. This is a quick reference for me to pull up while I'm writing, because sometimes all of the names can get confusing.

Before & After
I've blogged about this before (you can read about it here), but basically what I do is imagine where my primary characters are in their lives when the story begins. I write this down in one column, and in the next I write where I would like them to be after the story. So, without getting too spoilery, in "Oh Baby," the Autumn and Tuck follow-up featured in A Kind of Mad Courage , I knew Autumn would be super pregnant at the beginning, and she'd have a baby in the end. Somehow, during this story, I'd have to show that happening. Getting her from Point A to Z is the story and my plot.

Ten-Scene Tool
This is another resource I've blogged about (read about it here), but basically this is an opportunity for me to do a quick outline tracking the major conflict(s) or a story and how it will unfold and how it will be resolved.

Outline
Now that I use Scrivener, most of this happens in each project rather than on a sheet of paper, but this is where I write the A-Z of what will happen. I give a slug to each of the scenes--usually something that will stand out to me as a reminder of what that scene involved. Here's a picture of what this looked like when I was just starting the Christmas novella I'm wrapping up this week:

I should note, several of these scenes have been eliminated
or renamed as the story evolved during the writing process.
Then, in the notes section of each individual document, I'll write a few sentences about what needs to happen to the characters in this scene to move the story forward. For example, in The Marrying Type , during the first scene my notes would have read something like, "Elliot is searching through the family business's financial records in preparation for a meeting when she receives a call from her cousin. Marissa is filming a reality TV series about wedding planners and she wants Elliot to be on board. Elliot founds the idea repulsive, but politely declines. During the call, she uncovers the badly stored company records and realizes they are about to lose the business to the bank. Desperate to save the company, she agrees to do the series as long as the price is right." Now, that scene is a little more descriptive than some of my outline notes. It could be as simple as, "Elliot and Eric meet to talk wedding plans, and both feel a lot of the old emotions resurface and neither knows what to do about it. Elliot's instinct is to push them behind and be kind. Eric's is to also repress them, but also use them as an opportunity to keep her at a distance."

I keep my outlines flexible during the writing process. Sometimes scenes move around, or sometimes they go away. Sometimes new ones come up as I write and realize the story needs something more. But I find I need to have this sketch of a roadmap to begin, otherwise I'm unable to navigate the trip from the first scene to the last.

So here's the question to you, fellow writers: What sort of pre-writing resources do you use to prepare for your story?


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what's on my bookshelf? from coulter to garwood

Blogger's Note: After years of sharing my thoughts on books through book releases and #bookselfies, throughout the month of August I'll be giving you a closer look at what books are in my home library.



I introduced part of my Catherine Coulter collection last week, but the real mass appears on this shelf, particularly in the form of the Sherbrooke series.

My most-read Coulter book is The Sherbrooke Bride , the first in the series. I have fond memories of reading it. Not my first historical romance novel, but one of the first, I borrowed it from a friend, who had probably borrowed it from her mom. This was about the time that we, at 13, decided we should probably try our hands at co-authoring a historical romance novel. If I'm remembering the story correctly, then I'm fairly confident there were definitely some major allusions to the Sherbrooke series. It's also worth noting that we only made it a few pages in before we took a break to focus on watching Practical Magic  while eating leftover lasagna. And then we never picked it up again. (By the next year, we were concerned with writing the next Harry Potter series, which was also abandoned for The First Wives Club and imitation crab time.)

We also see additional books that came to me from my mother in the form of Michael Crichton's works. That said, I did read Jurassic Park and The Lost World when I was in middle school. (They were probably the most challenging books I'd read to date at that point in my life.) My mom is a purist, and she preferred the book to the movie (as most people do), but man oh man, I really liked Sam Neill as Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm in the movies. They were defining parts of my childhood.

We move on to other books in my collection like James and the Giant Peach (not my favorite Roald Dahl book, but the one I picked up at a book fair) and my incomplete Bridget Jones series (I opted not to read Mad About the Boy, and a former roommate borrowed the first book in the trilogy and never returned it, which is part of why I still don't like lending books).

This is also the beginning of my Julie Garwood collection, which is one of my most extensive collections of historical romance. I'll talk about it more in my next bookshelf post, but these were some of my favorite books when I first discovered romance novels. Oddly enough, this shelf features three of my least-read Julie G books, but not because I didn't like them. I just already have about four or five in my "I read these every year" pile. You'll probably be able to pick those ones out for yourself in the picture.

Do you have any of the books on this shelf? Have you read any of them? Share your book story in the comments below.

The Complete List of Books Featured on This Shelf:The Heiress Bride by Catherine CoulterLyon's Gate by Catherine CoulterMad Jack by Catherine CoulterPendragon by Catherine CoulterThey Penwyth Curse by Catherine CoulterThe Scottish Bride by Catherine CoulterThe Sherbrooke Bride by Catherine CoulterThe Sherbrooke Twins by Catherine CoulterA Case of Need by Michael CrichtonDisclosure by Michael CrichtonJurassic Park by Michael CrichtonThe Lost World by Michael CrichtonRising Sun by Michael CrichtonJames and the Giant Peach by Roald DahlA Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensFoul Play by Janet EvanovichBridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen FieldingGone Girl by Gillian FlynnFatal Distraction by Emma FredericksonThe Bride by Julie GarwoodCastles by Julie GarwoodThe Claybourne Brides by Julie Garwood

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cover reveal for 'first & goal'

I am thrilled to announce the upcoming release of my new novel, First & Goal. It is the first book in my Queen of the League series. As a lifelong football fan and fantasy football fanatic, working on this series has been a lot of fun.

Here's the scoop on this book:

When Harper Duquaine’s no-nonsense approach to work unintentionally ruffles the wrong feathers at her new job, she joins her co-workers’ fantasy football league to prove she can hang with the guys. Only problem: she doesn’t know a sleeper from a keeper (or any of the other lingo thrown her way). 

Embroiled in a world of lineups, stats, and trades, Harper’s quest to make nice topples when her competitive streak emerges. And her promise to herself that she’ll be a strong, independent woman and leave the drama and heartache behind is seriously tested when she catches the attention of her two biggest competitors: J.J., a local celebrity determined to win a fantasy championship, and Brook, the mild-mannered coach who seems too good to be true. Both threaten her resolve to remain single… and, more importantly, her chances at winning the prize pool. 

With a slew of conflicting advice in her real and fantasy worlds, Harper must figure out how to play the game and come out a winner.

And here's the cover:


This book will be published by Marching Ink on September 9. Stay tuned for more details about where you can purchase it, but until then you can add it to your to-read list on Goodreads.

You can also enter to win a free digital Advanced Reader Copy of the story by entering the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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my confessions: dubsmash addict

I'd like to think that we've become friends here on Change the Word during the past five plus years. And because we're friends, I'd like to confide one of my deepest darkest secrets. Here it goes...


My name is Laura, and I am addicted to Dubsmash.

For those of you who don't know, Dubsmash is a video messaging application that allows users, like moi, to use anywhere from two to ten seconds of audio (from songs, TV shows, and movies) and record a video lip synching it. The finished project turns out something like this...


Naturally a chance to be all kinds of dramatic, then force my friends into watching the results, holds a lot of appeal for me. I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise to those of you who read Hard Hats and Doormats . Lexi Burke got her mad karaoke skills from someone (like her book mama). But appealing doesn't even begin to describe the sheer joy and excitement--which ultimately led to obsession--once I downloaded this app. The night one of my good friends and her husband introduced me to it, we exchanged videos back and forth for hours.


Nothing is sacred. Any and everything is a potential future Dubsmash. In the days that followed, it was rare for her and a few others to go a whole day without being forced to watch a couple of video responses. It actually reached a point that my sister told me I had to stop sending them, because she wasn't going to watch them any more. Everyone's a critic, or haters are gonna hate, I guess.


I liked to think I was offering inspiration or a few laughs, but I guess not.


My filming and distributing has grown less frequent in the past month, but Dubsmash is still there for me when I most need to procrastinate actual work or just can't express myself through my own words. Bless its little heart.


Maybe the real confession here is that I have a serious case of vanity. Bless MY little heart.



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playing i wish

I've been playing the "I wish" game a lot lately. And my wishes have spanned just about every topic.

I wish I lived somewhere with mountains. 

I wish I didn't live in an apartment with noisy neighbors. 

I wish it wasn't 100 degrees and humid. 

I wish my air-conditioning worked better.  

I wish I would have had more money to go on vacation. 

I wish my staycation wasn't over. 

I wish I worked from home. 

I wish I'd gone to RWA. 

I wish I was a best-selling novelist. 

I wish I had more reviews on Amazon. 

I wish I was a full-time writer. 

I wish I was better at meeting my goals.  

I wish this draft didn't need more editing. 

I wish my other project was coming together more smoothly. 

I wish I was thinner. 

I wish I didn't hate everything in my closet. 

I wish I was more disciplined. 

I wish I was more patient. 

I wish I was nicer. 

I wish Ever After was still on Netflix, because I'm too lazy to get up and put the DVD in the DVD player.

And so on.


Most of this wishful thinking comes from the amount of time I find myself spending on social media studying and envying the fabulous lives of the people I know. While the rational part of my brains knows and understands that we don't get the full picture of what a person's world looks like through the lens of social media, the jealous part of me is too busy wishing I was reading those posts from a five-star hotel in Seattle or London or anywhere fabulous.

The grass is always greener, you know?

Some of it also comes from myself, and I'm not sure what to do about that. I know I have plenty of good things in my life. I know I'm fortunate to have any home, and a job, and food, and family, and cats, and so on. And I am grateful for it, even if I don't always celebrate the good as often as I should. Maybe it's the burden of having an overactive imagination--one that has built up an amazing dreamworld for myself, one that makes my reality, which is really pretty good, seem less than stellar.

I should do less wishing and more praising.

I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to say here, or what point I want to make. Maybe I just miss my staycation, and I should get over it. There's another part of me that doesn't want to let it go. That's the part of me who looks to those wishes--some of which may or may not come true--as a way to motivate myself to keep going. Isn't that what life is all about? Trying to make things better, pursuing happiness?

Do I have any fellow wishers in the house right now? What's on your mind?



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#bookselfie: maybe someday

During my Staycation last week, I finally read a book that has been on my Kindle for way too long from an author I've been following for a long time, but hadn't actually read yet. I'm pleased to say that the time I spent reading Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover were well spent, and my only wish was that I'd read it sooner.

At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her—and she’s forced to decide what her next move should be. 

Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can't take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

A passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance, Maybe Someday will immerse readers in Sydney’s tumultuous world from the very first page.

I'm always really impressed when authors write dynamic and interesting characters with a twist--and this was definitely one of those books. Aside from the amazing and growing sexual tension between Ridge and Sydney, Ridge in particular was one of the most unique characters I've ever encountered. As much as I was flipping the pages to see what happened next, I was curious to get to know more about Ridge and his history.

Though I wish there had been a little more resolution between Sydney and Tori, the rest of the story developed nicely. Again, Hoover succeeded at taking a topic that's been done--girl gets betrayed by her best friend and boyfriend--and made it completely fresh and inventive.

The story also elicited this tweet from me during the reading process:

I'm at that point of a book I #amreading where you just feel so sad it's like real life instead of fiction. The power of books, y'all.— Laura Chapman (@lmchap) July 29, 2015

Because, yeah, there were quite a few "OMG" moments, and I'm pretty sure I said, "Eff that" out loud a few times... and I once or twice may have thrown my phone across the couch and buried my face in my hands until I was able to develop enough courage to see how the characters got out of the latest development.

Filled with plenty of angst and delicious tension, this was my first time reading Colleen Hoover's work, and it won't be my last.


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what's on my bookshelf? from christie to coulter

Blogger's Note: After years of sharing my thoughts on books through book releases and #bookselfies, throughout the month of August I'll be giving you a closer look at what books are in my home library.


My second shelf is pretty basic content-wise. We have the final 20 Agatha Christie novels in my collection, the Hunger Games trilogy and the first part of my Catherine Coulter Collection.

This is also the shelf with the most books still on my to-be-read list.

I confess, I've only read one Agatha Christie book in my life, and it isn't even one that I own. I borrowed my mom's copy of And Then There Were None when I was in sixth grade. I remember being pretty fascinated by how a grown-up murder mystery unfolded, particularly one with the characters being killed off left and right. I was also impressed by how well the story was written and how complicated yet simple everything seemed in the end.

Because of that early interest in Agatha Christie, when my mom was parting with some of her book collection a couple of years ago, I jumped at the chance to give these books a new home. While I haven't read them yet, I look forward to it. And when I do, there will be something kind of special about the books, because I'll know how well they were loved and read by my mom, the person who showed me the joy in being an avid reader.

Okay, another confession. I actually haven't read these copies of the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I was a little skeptical going into the series, and so I downloaded the first book on my Nook on a Sunday afternoon a couple of weeks before the first movie was due for release in the theaters. And I couldn't put it down. I read the book in one sitting and promptly downloaded the second book. I stayed up most of the night reading and started the third book Monday night, again staying up. I was completely captivated by this series, and I desperately wanted to know what happened next. At the time, I considered calling in sick to work that Monday, and it wasn't because I was exhausted (though I was) from staying up most of the night reading. It was because I wanted to keep reading.

My former co-workers in the office and my friends will tell you I was pretty much obsessed with the trilogy for the next bit of time. I encouraged everyone I knew to read the books stat so we could get into deep philosophical conversations about them. Because I loved the stories so much, I wanted to have the whole trilogy. And because I wanted to have a nice, matching set, my friend who manages a local independent book store ordered the hard-bound volumes for me to adopt for my own collection. I've had a few people ask to borrow these books, and I've instead let them use my Nook, because I love these books so much (and I'm a really stingy book loaner--it's kind of terrible).

The next five books are historical romance novels from Catherine Coulter. I discovered her books in middle school when one of my best friends (the one, in fact, who manages the bookstore) and I would swap romance novels. In college, when I came into a little Barnes & Noble gift card money, I bulk-bought a lot of historical romance, including Coulter's work. I haven't read all five of these, but  The Countess , which is a re-release of her debut novel, is one of the most well-worn and loved books on any of my shelves. It's one that every so often I'll think, "I really want to read about Andy and John." It's a first-person Gothic Regency, and it's pretty fantastic.

The Complete List of Books Featured on This Shelf: 
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie The Clocks by Agatha Christie Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie The Hollow by Agatha Christie An Overdose of Death by Agatha ChristieMrs. McGinity's Dead by Agatha Christie The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie Murder in Retrospect by Agatha Christie The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie The Mysterious Mr. Quin by Agatha Christie Partners in Crime by Agatha Christie Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie Peril at End House by Agatha Christie The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie Third Girl by Agatha Christie Towards Zero by Agatha Christie Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins The Countess by Catherine Coulter The Courtship by Catherine Coulter Devil's Embrace by Catherine Coulter The Hellion Bride by Catherine Coulter The Heir by Catherine Coulter

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