Livia Quinn's Blog, page 8

#RELEASEDAY: Storm Warning #ASMSG #MFRWAuthor #IARTG #RomanticSuspense��How Brenna and I banished our fear of storms.

The first time I experienced the weather of the South was the very month I moved from DC to Mississippi. Only one week landed and there were tornados "walking the Interstate". One of the worst winters the state had ever had.

Coming from Maryland I was no stranger to bad thunderstorms. We had our share being near the Atlantic coast. But in fact my father told me I got my fear of loud noises and lightning from a Fourth of July fireworks event they took me to when I was three. 

Tornados, though, were another story. After I moved to the South, I became a weather watcher, a weather forecast addict, listening to all the preventive tips on avoiding lightning strikes, how to tell if a tornado is near, etc. 

I remember sitting up in the middle of the night that winter wondering "Is that a train? Or is that a train? To this day I still don't know what part of the train I'm supposed to be on the look out for, the roaring, the whistle, the wheels on the tracks... 

But my experiences aren't just based in Louisiana for the last how ever many years. I also spent a lot of time at my mom and dad's house near Tampa. I remember one weekend while I was visiting, four people were killed by lightning. It's the lightning capitol of the world. They were doing everyday tasks like washing a car, boating, bathing and one man was on the phone. Back then the weather authorities didn't advise the public as much as they do now to stay away from those types of activities during a lightning storm. But I was gathering clues to bolster my phobia.

I'm not as fearful of storms as I used to be, but I don't go out when it's thundering either. All this to say that much of what I write about in the Storm Lake series is first hand. As the months go by, I'll share a few of my funny stories about my ridiculous reactions to thunderstorms. 

But don't hold that against my heroine in Storm Warning. Brenna has chosen to confront her fears on Storm Lake, which is infamous for its severe weather. Storm Warning is set in Thunder Point (you can see a map in the front of your book or here on my website and read an excerpt as well.)

As you know if you've read any of the series, the books based on the west end of the lake are the paranormal books and as you travel east on the lake things have less of a mystical bent. By the time you get to Larue, home of the Under-Cover Knights and Thunder Point where the most violent weather is because of its location, you've arrived where the books are contemporary (military romance and contemporary). 

The Destiny books are a continued series with recurring characters and should be read in order. All the books are loosely connected to the lake and in Blame it on the Moon, Ridge from Her First Knight even made an appearance, but for the most part the Under-Cover Knights and Thunder Point books are standalones.

I hope you enjoy Storm Warning. It was the first book I wrote, ten years ago, in what would become the Storm Lake series. The characters are like family. I've already been asked if Declan will get a story and the answer is a resounding YES!

Sign up for my newsletter on the home page or news page to be entered for the ASUS tablet giveaway at Christmas. And as always, thanks so much for your support. I'd love to hear from you.

Livia

How I use #Scrivener for my series #Storybible @Scrivenerapp #amwriting #write

Livia Quinn's Storm Lake series Storybible


















I offered this as part of my "Why You Should be Using Scrivener to pants, plot, revise, brainstorm or analyze your next novel." It's a bit more of an advanced tip though it's very easy to do once you understand the flexibility of the binder, labels, status and cork board.

If you write multiple series - or would like to - keeping track of books, how they relate, when they are scheduled, when they published, which series they were in can be challenging. Scrivener is so flexible and such a great organizer that it is perfect for doing story bibles. In this case, I have my greater series - Storm Lake - and under that umbrella I have a series set in each community around Storm Lake. So it’s my Storm Lake series bible.

I could have chosen to organize by community but I wanted to see the list of books and my progress in my ongoing plan. So this is more of a series tracker than my storybible, which I have for each individual series since they each have their own set of characters and premise. 

Since the Destiny Paramortals are paranormal I gave that label the color purple and called it Paramortals. Each label (see on the right in the picture) is the name of a series and each status item a date when the book published, or I expect to publish. In the binder on the left I named each file with a code I use to tell me what series and in what order each book falls. SL6 PMS4 BIOTM is Storm Lake 6, Destiny Paramortals 4, Blame it on the Moon. You’ll notice on the index cards which are produced from the synopsis, I can add information like how much of the book is already written, 53k, 70k, etc.

This system helps when I am planning my writing and revision schedule for the year. I can also plop my finished .doc into a file inside each series folder. I can’t tell you how often that came in handy. I wish I'd thought of it back in in 2007 when I began using Scrivener.

As you can see not only is Scrivener flexible and organized but it creates a great visual. At a glance I can see all the purple Destiny books, Hot pink Under-Cover Knights (appropriate eh?), and blue Thunder Points.

Hope this gives you some ideas for your series bible or another way to let Scrivener work for you.

Livia

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving! #grateful #CA @LeahBraemel @DaleMayer @NNP_W_Light

This weekend a few of my friends are celebrating their Canadian Thanksgiving, and while we don't necessarily share the same ideal menu, we do share the meaning of the holiday.

Talking to two of them yesterday reminded me that it's never too early to think about what we're grateful for. As my DH says every time he goes to the doctor, "All I have to do is look around to see many people who have it worse than I do."

How true. When we have our health we are rich and shouldn't take it for granted. Now that doesn't mean I won't over-eat in November, but I am trying to concentrate more on healthy reasonable portions.

This early reminder gave me a reason to look at the things I'm grateful for, and one of those things living where I do, is the ability to meet new friends via writing groups and social media. 

Happy Thanksgiving my friends!

Livia

#Coverreveal for the next #StormLake book, Storm Warning, #giveaway

I'm so excited about this cover. First of all, as I said on Facebook, what's better than one handsome intense Jimmy Thomas if not two? 

He is truly Nick in this image. There's so much about Storm Warning that is personal for me. I'll be going into it more in the next month. I hope you'll stop in and visit. 

***
Hey, have you signed up for my newsletter yet? If not, click to the home page and do it to have at least one qualified entry for the ASUS tablet I'll be giving away in December. But you'll also receive infrequent emails about new releases or monthly giveaways/or free books.

As always I'd love to hear from you. I'm looking for titles, zeus' curses, ideas for the upcoming Destiny books. Get involved.
And,

Never give up on your dreams...

Livia

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