Lucy Score's Blog: Lucy's News, page 9

Writing Inspiration: That Fickle Bitch

Dear Readers,

I was due for a blog post and asked Facebook what they’d like to hear about and the answer was: inspiration. Where do I get the ideas for my stories and characters?”

Well, I’ll tell you. I’m the person sitting in the restaurant eavesdropping on the tables around her. At family gatherings, I’m filing away mental notes left and right. I consume books and TV and movies while cataloging details and tying them to plots or characters that I’ve had floating around in my head.

Inspiration is EVERYWHERE.

Anywhere there are people interacting with other people, there’s a romance novel – or at least a good fight scene – waiting to be born. People who are jerks in real life often end up as barely disguised jerks in my stories. And people who deserve a better outcome in real life just might find it in a story. It’s my way of playing karma, fictional though it may be.

The funny thing about inspiration is its inconsistency. That amazeballs fight scene that I’d been salivating about writing is over and now I’m banging my head against the keyboard for days trying to force the words to come out. Some days writing 5,000 words is a piece of chocolate cake with peanut butter icing (which apparently is not a thing outside of Pennsylvania??). Other days, 500 words is excruciating. The only thing to do is get better at plugging away at the tough parts.

And maybe that’s life. Enjoy it when it’s flowing and learn how to bust through the roadblocks when they crop up.

Writing outside the home

Every once in a while in this writer’s life, there comes a day like today where something (usually technology) pushes me too far over the edge for me to trust myself to write at home. Because, left to my own devices (ha), I will probably throw something important and expensive through a window and eventually end up regretting the mangled laptop and shattered glass all over my office.

So today I made the trek out of the house (had to put on real pants whomp whomp) to write at a cafe. I have a local cafe that I usually enjoy, but for writing purposes, it’s a poor choice. It’s one of those places where the same dozen regulars gather every day and then try to turn all of the strangers into regulars too. So you’re sitting there with your headphones on, but not playing any music because you’re too paranoid to listen to tunes in public and miss out on some yelling fire, and one of these charmingly disheveled, retired regulars will politely ask if they can take the other empty chair at your two-top table.

You, being a generally pleasant human being, give a polite nod and possibly a brief smile and a “sure” before getting back to the incredibly inappropriate sex scene you’re writing. But this regular doesn’t want to take your extra chair, he wants to sit at the table with you and talk politics and weather and today’s sock fashions. And if it’s not a regular distracting you, it’s the kids that come into the cafe to eat their lunches because apparently this school district allows students to leave school property during lunch hours so they come in and eat out of cute little lunch boxes and yell at each other and generally destroy the peace and quiet with their charming kidness.

Anyway, so I decided that today I’d drag my ass to a Starbucks because Starbucks customers know how to respect the anonymity and personal space of fellow customers. Plus, I really wanted a vanilla sweet cream cold brew. Anyway, I walk in the door and I’m already regretting it. There’s ONE table left with ONE chair and it’s located uncomfortably close to two guys having some sort of business meeting. That’s okay, that’s fine. I’m less likely to throw my freaking laptop through the storefront window with so many witnesses.

I get my drink, I take the table, and I put on my headphones. Unfortunately the business guys are pretty loud so I have to actually listen to music which is a whole other issue since I’m an oblivious headphone wearer, singing along out loud to music that no one else can hear and table bopping to the beat. So I’m sitting there, pouring my guts out into a really emotional scene and trying not to clap along with Fitz and the Tantrums, when a little redhead who couldn’t have been more than four years old skips up to my table and puts a gigantic iced tea on it. She grins at me and in those adorable little kid eyes, I saw the universe saying “Neener neener!”

The little iced tea thief skipped off after I laughed and her mother demanded she stop giving away her iced tea. And then I was like “Holy. Shit. I just met Aurora.” (Note to New Readers: Aurora is an adorable child from the Blue Moon series. You should totally read it!) I started looking around after that and I realized EVERYONE IN THIS PLACE COULD BE A CHARACTER! There were the two business guys who busted out a secret buddy-guy handshake, the cashier who was yelling jolly, friendly things at every customer because I think he was hard of hearing, and the retired couple who got coffees and she read a paperback (not one of mine) while her husband snuck a picture of my shoes.

Then there was the coolest lady I’ve ever seen and I want to be just like her when/if I grow up. She was teensy with excellent posture, and dressed in really sexy looking workout leggings and a long-sleeve tunic tee. She had on these super trendy plastic frame glasses and was also wearing the smuffiest moccasins I’ve ever seen. She had her hair (gray with lavender highlights) pulled up in a fun topknot. When I do a topknot and wear leggings out of the house I look potentially homeless. She looked like she had just ambled out of some fancy art studio where she spends her afternoons creating masterpieces and was on her way to the grocery store to pick out a few items for tonight’s chef-inspired feast she would prepare for a dozen of her closest friends who are all almost as cool as she is.

Can you see why it’s dangerous to let me out of the house? My mind is on constant character alert. I actually exhaust myself sometimes. Fortunately, I nailed my word count goal before my bladder exploded (close call) and I was able to return home, calmer, less likely to destroy my laptop, and excited about either turning into my new life and style icon or at least writing her into one of my books.

In book news, Not Part of the Plan, the fourth title in the Blue Moon series is ALMOST finished!!!

xoxo,

Lucy

The post Writing outside the home appeared first on Lucy Score.

Happy Belated Valentine’s Day

Happy day after Valentine’s Day, everyone! I hope you had a beautiful day!

Mr. Lucy made me look like a jerk and got me presents (Victoria’s Secret, the sexy AND the comfy kind) even though we said no presents and all I got him was a card. I made up for it by taking him out to a really romantic lunch… at a Chinese buffet.

We romance novelists know how it’s done!

That’s total crap. Out of the two of us, Mr. Lucy is the romantic one. Guys, he gets me a mid-month present every month. FOR NO REASON! They range from computer equipment to books to the perfect hoodie to olive brine for my dirty martinis. Each one is thoughtful, sweet, and has me waking up on the 15th like it’s Christmas morning.

You may be wondering what I give him. That’s a fair question. Beyond tension headaches and too much work, I have devised the ultimate gift that keeps on giving. Every time he leaves the house, I go to the window and flash him.

Keepin’ that romance alive all year-round!

xoxo,

Lucy

 

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The voice of Harper and Luke

When Mr. Lucy and I decided to turn Pretend You’re Mine into an audiobook, we had a very strict list of must-haves:

The narrator needed to make Luke and Harper so real, you’d forget you were listening to an audiobook.
She needed to deliver the story with energy.
She had to be the perfect Mrs. Moretta.

We found all that and more with voice talent Melissa Moran. Melissa was kind enough to chat with me about her experiences in the world of audiobooks in general and what it was like recording Pretend You’re Mine.

Me: How did you get involved with narrating audiobooks? 

MM: A colleague of mine had just started doing audiobooks on the side and suggested I give it a shot. He knew that I had a love of acting and had access to the equipment and technical know how to produce an audiobook through the radio station I work at. I thought, “What the heck!” and gave it a shot. Over 70 books later and I now have a home studio and another career path! Thanks, Dave

Monday Musings

I had an inkling that today would be a rough Monday for many of us so I went to great lengths to bombard people with hilarious memes on FB.

And together, through laughter, snarkiness, and some alcohol, we got through the day! Nice job, everyone!

In writing news, I’ve officially started writing Blue Moon #4 (working title, unless I literally can’t come up with anything decent). So I’m getting to know Nikolai and Emma as they get to know each other, if you know what I mean… WINK. I’m really excited to be working on a Blue Moon book again. It feels a little bit like coming home… if home were a hippie commune in upstate New York.

In other non-news, we’ve got a Sinner & Saint: Crossing the Line GIVEAWAY going on on Amazon! So if you have any friends who haven’t read it yet, tell them to visit the contest and enter for a chance to win a free ebook.

Okay, I’ve got to take a shower before Mr. Lucy starts sniffing the air when he walks in the room.

xoxo,

Lucy

The post Monday Musings appeared first on Lucy Score.

MLK Day and Heart of Hope

Happy Monday morning to you! First, a shoutout to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on his day. It’s always a pleasure for me to mark the day that honors a man so focused on love and peace. May we all remember his Pinterest-worthy wisdom…

Speaking of love, my new release, Heart of Hope is out! This long-ass novella is set in the Kindle World of Hope Falls created by the lovely writing duo Melanie Shawn. Melanie and Shawna have been kicking butt at the romance game and I was thrilled when they invited me to write in their Hope Falls world. And not just because there was a town Bible so I didn’t have to make up any places or secondary characters myself 

Positively Monday

Mondays for nearly everyone suck. It really doesn’t matter if you work in the house or outside the house. Mondays are rough. So let’s talk good stuff to get the week kicked off right…

My top three Positively Monday Things:

Not only did Mr. Lucy take me to Taco Bell for lunch, he also gifted me with a sexy bottle of olive brine for my dirty martinis. Not only does the man know me well, he also gives me a mid-month present EVERY MONTH. This one just happened to come a little early. #LuckiestWomanAlive
Writing awesomeness: I finished my basic outline of Blue Moon #4 this weekend and I’m so in love with these two characters already. Word of Caution: totally teared up on the plotting of a continuation of Jax and Joey. Oh, speaking of tears, Heart of Hope comes out this week (1/12). And while it’s a novella, I packed the hell out of the feels into 50k words. #ReadWithKleenex
It may be cold outside, but I’m lucky enough to have a warm home, fleece-lined slippers, and a feta-spinach turkey burger from the farmer’s market to make for lunch today.

It’s going to be a good day. Go out there (or stay in) and be awesome! What are your happies? #PositivelyMonday

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Hello there 2017, you sexy beast

I love New Years in the same way that I love makeover movies. It’s a NEW BEGINNING, GUYS! We can be anyone we want to be this year, do anything we want to do, smell any way we want to smell in 2017, because we’re metaphorically shaking off the shackles of 2016 and taking stock of our lives.

I took the last two weeks off of writing—and anything else that resembles working or providing a positive contribution to society—and started to think about how far off the rails I went in 2016. My little train car not only went off the rails, it rolled end over end, spontaneously combusting into a fiery pyre on top of a bunch of poorly placed gas cans. But I digress… and exaggerate.

Don’t get me wrong, 2016 was a beautiful year with many good things in it. It also left most of us feeling mentally violated at least four times a day. Combine a world gone mad with three ridiculously optimistic deadlines and I was a disorganized, crazy person by the end of it.

Which brings me to my New Year Makeover, or what I like to call “I Swear I’ll Do Better This Year.”

Morning routine

I’ve spent the last year luxuriating in the fact that I no longer have an office job to get up and put on pants and leave the house for. It’s great. It’s fabulous. I haven’t been this well-rested EVER in my life. What’s the problem? I putz around like a sloth under the guise of “checking my email” and “catching up on Facebook.” That putzing usually carries me right up until 3 p.m. when I haven’t written a word or taken a shower or accomplished anything else that is a socially acceptable form of adulthood.

 

I had planned to learn to meditate. I had wanted to get up every morning and work out. And the mornings that I did do those two things, I felt GOOD. Centered. Awake. Productive. But it’s so easy to talk myself into grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down with my laptop for “just a few minutes” first. That ends now.

I will establish a morning routine that gets me out of bed at a not embarrassing hour AND starts my day in line with my priorities (the health and kick-ass writing priorities, not the coffee and putzing ones).

Be more present

Or present at all. Seriously any amount of presence is going to be a huge improvement over my current state of “Huh?” I’m going to put my damn phone down. I’m going to stare deeply into Mr. Lucy’s eyes when he talks to me. I’m going to give distractions the finger. I’m going to see, hear, smell, taste, and touch my way through 2017 instead of bumping around in a digital fog.

I’m going to pay attention to the person in front of me rather than the dozen on social media or text.

I’m going to murder anxiety

I waste a quantifiably huge amount of time regretting any number of things I’ve done/haven’t done and worrying about the million things that haven’t happened YET, but might at any moment.

Me: OMG! What if everyone just stops buying my books? What happens if my books start sucking and people stop telling their friends to read them? What if my income just evaporates and I HAVE TO MOVE INTO A CARDBOARD BOX IN MY FRIEND LORI’S DRIVEWAY? SHE LIVES ON A HILL!

I’ve failed a lot, or as Mr. Lucy prefers to call it “falling down.” And falling down still scares me, but what’s important is that every time I’ve fallen down, I’ve gotten back up. There’s no reason to think that in 2017 I’ll just take the next tumble and decide to curl into the fetal position forever. That would be the ultimate stupidness.

Every time that shitty little doubt-filled voice starts running its dirty (and not in the good way) mouth I’m going to do whatever’s necessary to stop it.

Not-So-Lofty Plans for 2017

Lose the back fat that’s escaping my sports bras
Buy less disgusting kitchen towels
Eat more sushi
Pet more dogs
Run a 27-minute 5k
Stop slouching like a vulture
Stop leaving loads of laundry in the washer for three days

That’s my I Swear I’ll Do Better plan for 2017. What are your plans for this year?

 

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Christmas Letter 2016

Merry Christmas and happy holidays, my friends! I hope your weekend is full of peaceful, sweet hours. And if it’s not, may I suggest hiding in a closet with one of my new releases?

“Where’s Mommy?”

“Locked in the closet with Lucy.”

I feel like this year was a tough one on all of us. At times it felt like there was a giant black hole of negativity and doom that was trying to swallow the entire world. Hey, I’m a writer, I’m supposed to be dramatic! My biggest source of comfort this year—besides Mr. Lucy being all handsome and bearded—was you. I’m convinced that if romance readers ran the world, it would be a happier, safer, kinder place. In my humble opinion, when you love love and spend your time absorbing stories of love, family, and happily ever after, it makes you great people.

You, my lovely readers, are beautiful, tolerant, and loving. You say wonderful things about your spouses and significant others, you’re enamored with your kids without being blinded to how freaking hard and hilarious and sometimes futile parenting is. You share books and hope and support. You get mushy at the viral videos of homecomings and surprise gifts I share. And most importantly, you view this world with hope.

That is a beautiful thing.

Every time I felt like 2016 was beating me down, I turned to you and you never let me down. Your comments, posts, reviews, and emails have been the brilliant, sparkling highlight of my year. And I thank you from the bottom of my fiction-filled heart.

So this wouldn’t be a Christmas letter without some obnoxious bragging. Let’s get to it!

In 2016, I published five books this year! FIVE. It was insane. I haven’t answered my phone since the end of July and I think some of my friends and family think I was abducted. But this year the funny, sweet, steamy, small town Blue Moon Series was born and the world also got their romantic suspense fix from Waverly Sinner and Xavier Saint in two intense, hot-as-hell novels (my laptop started smoking).

Also this year, Mr. Lucy and I ventured to Belize and Barbados—both of which appear in Sinner & Saint: Breaking the Rules. I can’t imagine a happier ending than Barbados! We drank tropical drinks, swam, and met some great people. And then drank some more.

 

The other most proudest accomplishment ever for me (did I mention I’m a writer?) was learning the basics of sailing and going out on our sailboat with Mr. Lucy and NOT capsizing. Sure, we fell off the boat ramp and there was that time I couldn’t climb back up the ladder to get out of the water and into the boat. But other than that, I actually did okay! There are few things as freaking cool as feeling the wind fill your sails and push you forward! And I’m hoping for lots more smooth sailing in 2017.

So on this Christmas Day, I just wanted to let you know how deeply I appreciate you and your rabid readership, your mood-boosting comments, and the way you browbeat your friends until they pick up one of my books. You have made my year and I love the crap out of you. I’m really looking forward to our 2017 together.

xoxo,

Lucy

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Early release for Breaking the Rules!

Oh, happy day! Thanks to Mr. Lucy’s tireless work, you can get your hot little hands on the conclusion to the Sinner & Saint duet five days early! Breaking the Rules is available on Amazon now. Consider it my Christmas gift to you!

Breaking the Rules
Lucy’s Tags: steamy and suspenseful and hot as hell

He killed for her.

And then he walked out on her.

Xavier Saint has spent the last five years growing his private security firm and trying to forget Waverly Sinner and everything she meant to him. But you can’t forget a love like that, an all-consuming need like that. She’s in his blood and when it looks like Hollywood’s princess is in trouble again he knows he can’t stay away any longer.

Waverly doesn’t want to be rescued and certainly not from the man who abandoned her. She’s not making room for Xavier in her new life. Waverly calls the shots now and not just in the home she’s made or her thriving movie career. Her acting talents have opened up a whole new world of adrenaline-spiking opportunities.

But when her side job takes a life-threatening twist, Waverly is forced to turn to the one man she swore she’d never trust again. Now, with a bullet hole in her side and Xavier demanding a second chance, the clock is ticking for her to find her partner and clear her name before she ends up on trial… or worse.

Xavier is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Waverly safe and win her back, even if it means finding her missing boyfriend and delivering him to her. But the secrets she’s keeping could get them killed.

Last-Minute Christmas Gifts

Did I mention Crossing the Line and Breaking the Rules would make amazing Christmas presents for your friends and family?