I woke up this morning to a wonderful email - an acceptance from Pill Hill Press for a short (A New Magical Earth) in their Daily Flash anthology. It's a for the love of market but the exposure has to be good. Plus the flash piece only took me about a half hour to submit, edit down to under 500 words, and submit.
Other than that flash piece, my muse has been on vacation. Which is fine with me, after all I wrote 56k in 6 weeks to finish up Torn Between Murder and Love. But June it'll be back to the grind, I have several ideas that I want to get started on.
In the mean time, I'm getting ready for the Lori Foster Reader and Writer Get Together. I have so much to do yet and the conference is next week already! I'm really excited about going.
How are you all doing with your writing? Is your muse cooperating or giving you a hard time? I would love to hear about your latest WIP!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Guest Blog: Jean Hart Stewart - Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
Decisions, decisions, decisions !!
Do you remember the decisions that shaped your life? The decisions you yourself made, not the ones fate forced on you? Sometimes they stick in your memory forever, and often you don’t even notice their importance at the time.
I made one when I was sixteen, in high school and thrilled to pieces when a handsome hunk (hereafter known as HH) asked me to a school dance. You don’t really want to know how long ago that was, do you? I’d secretly drooled for weeks over this guy, and could hardly believe my good luck. Then, only a week before the big dance, my very favorite aunt died suddenly. She’d always been the mainstay of our small, fatherless family, coming to visit whenever her teaching job allowed her to help out. I quite simply adored her.
On top of the sorrow of her death, I learned her funeral would be the weekend of the prom. Services were to be in another part of the state, and in order to attend, you guessed it, I would miss the dance. My mother, bless her, left it entirely up to me. So I had to decide on my own what to do.
You can imagine how I was pulled in opposite directions. Finally, after much agonizing, I chose to attend the last services for Aunt Ella. HH took the news with polite acceptance, and you guessed it, I never heard from him again, except to pass him in the school corridors.
Was I surprised? No. Was I devastated? Pretty much. Although even underneath my regret I was proud I’d made the right and hard decision. Ella had changed my life for the better in so many small ways. I do think that decision helped shape me for the better. I’m so glad I didn’t go the selfish route, although at the time it was hard, hard, hard.
Now I’d love to have you tell me if you can remember your first difficult decision. How you responded? How old were you? Did you make the same choice you’d make today?
Come on, I’ve told all, now you tell me about yourself.
Do you remember the decisions that shaped your life? The decisions you yourself made, not the ones fate forced on you? Sometimes they stick in your memory forever, and often you don’t even notice their importance at the time.
I made one when I was sixteen, in high school and thrilled to pieces when a handsome hunk (hereafter known as HH) asked me to a school dance. You don’t really want to know how long ago that was, do you? I’d secretly drooled for weeks over this guy, and could hardly believe my good luck. Then, only a week before the big dance, my very favorite aunt died suddenly. She’d always been the mainstay of our small, fatherless family, coming to visit whenever her teaching job allowed her to help out. I quite simply adored her.
On top of the sorrow of her death, I learned her funeral would be the weekend of the prom. Services were to be in another part of the state, and in order to attend, you guessed it, I would miss the dance. My mother, bless her, left it entirely up to me. So I had to decide on my own what to do.
You can imagine how I was pulled in opposite directions. Finally, after much agonizing, I chose to attend the last services for Aunt Ella. HH took the news with polite acceptance, and you guessed it, I never heard from him again, except to pass him in the school corridors.
Was I surprised? No. Was I devastated? Pretty much. Although even underneath my regret I was proud I’d made the right and hard decision. Ella had changed my life for the better in so many small ways. I do think that decision helped shape me for the better. I’m so glad I didn’t go the selfish route, although at the time it was hard, hard, hard.
Now I’d love to have you tell me if you can remember your first difficult decision. How you responded? How old were you? Did you make the same choice you’d make today?
Come on, I’ve told all, now you tell me about yourself.
Blurb for The Third Rose:
When Sara Coverly hides in Lord Wolverton’s bedroom to avenge him for the rape of her friend, she is determined to shoot him so he can never ruin another female. Instead she finds herself wondering if she’s picked the wrong man! Wolf decides he needs a token fiancée to cover his tracks as he searches for a spy, and soon Sara finds herself helping him. And falling deeply in love.
Wolf’s espionage duties bring danger to them both. When he decodes a message threatening the assassination of Wellington at Waterloo, they both set out for Brussels to catch the villain.
Can their growing love endure through war, a desperate villain who is out to stop them, and Wolf’s determination to save Wellington at any cost?
Excerpt:
At last. The bastard had come home. He must have lit more candles, as the room became brighter. She could see a large man, elegantly dressed, stride across the room. Double drat! He moved out of her vision, and she did not dare part the draperies any further. She waited, breath suspended, as he re-appeared and sat on the bed. He arched one long muscled leg, bending over to tug at his boot. His face was in shadow, but his build was powerful, that of a more than adequate sportsman. His size didn’t worry her. A gun was a great equalizer.
He meant to take his boots off himself? She was surprised he didn’t require his valet to wait up for him. An unusual bit of consideration for a servant, one she’d not expected. She’d thought she’d have to stay hidden until the valet had come and gone. Perhaps this was better, since at least he was decently clothed. Not that she’d let any missish tendencies deter her. Actually seeing a large nude male might be educational.
Now was the time.
She cocked the gun and stepped out in front of him, the barrel pointed directly at him.
“You will please rise, my lord. I do not intend to shoot a seated villain.” She felt pride in the composure of her voice. She’d worried a little about that.
Wolverton did not appear unduly upset, although his eyebrows arched upward. He bent the long leg stretched on the bed and clasped both hands around his knee.
“A woman. How interesting. I admit you make a very fetching young man dressed in those breeches, but your voice is definitely female. Might I inquire why you have your gun pointed at me?”
She had to give him his due. His tone seemed as cool as hers, and she certainly must have been a nasty surprise. Although come to think of it, he probably often found women accosting him in his bedchamber. But surely for more pleasurable purposes, cad that he was.
“Stand up, my lord.”
Neither her voice nor the hand holding the gun on him wavered, as Joshua Sinclair, Earl of Wolverton, slowly placed both his boots on the luxurious Aubusson carpet and rose to his feet.
“Is there anything I can do for you, madam?” he inquired, as politely as if he were asking her if she took milk with her tea.
She shook her head slowly, carefully lowering the gun a trifle. What a shame he was such a handsome devil, but then she should have expected no less from a despoiler of virgins.
She was pleased to see him blanch a little as he realized where she aimed.
“Can I persuade you to raise your gun a little? I don’t mind being shot in the chest nearly as much as if you hit the most valued part of my anatomy.”
Accolades for Jean's previous work:
Druid Redeemed. Fallen Angel Reviews. Five angels: A fantastic novel. Stewart deserves praise for delivering this superb treasure.
Kiss of a Druid Bard. Love Romances. Five hearts: Another great story, full of adventure and emotion. This reviewer will be first in line to get Stewart’s books.
Damien’s Destiny. The Romance Studio. Five hearts: Ms. Stewart weaves bits of history to help keep us interested. Fascinating and well-crafted. Her word power in building pictures of places and characters is exceptional.
Druid in Flight. Love Romances and More…4.5 hearts: A fabulous story, interwoven with adventure and a sensual love story. Characters leap from the pages…the story had me captivated until the last page.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
More on Edits
Each writer has there own distinct style. I'm sure there are a few (whom I utterly despise) that can sell their first draft. Few and far between. Most authors have to revise and edit and polish their stories several times before they send their babies to editors at publishing houses and/or agents.
For me, my rough draft is the meat and potatoes of the story: the dialogue and the action. Some emotions. But I tend to gloss over the descriptive parts of the story, the garnishes, the loaded aspect of the potatoes, the marinade.
Right now, I'm just editing Torn Between Murder and Love for content errors. Then I'll go back through it again and add in more descriptive passages and more emotion. The main character, Lorna, undergoes a big character change, and I have to make certain its believable, otherwise the story will fall flat.
I think some of the reason why I had a hard time adding description into my stories from the start comes from my tendency to gloss over the big paragraphs of setting and description in books. I love my imagination and I like to see the characters and the buildings as I want to see them, and since it doesn't always mash up with what the author says, I ignore the author. LOL Wow, does that sound narcissistic. But I honestly think that's where my problem comes from.
What about you? Is there any part of your writing that you have to go back and add? Or do you just tighten up and fix grammar when you edit?
For me, my rough draft is the meat and potatoes of the story: the dialogue and the action. Some emotions. But I tend to gloss over the descriptive parts of the story, the garnishes, the loaded aspect of the potatoes, the marinade.
Right now, I'm just editing Torn Between Murder and Love for content errors. Then I'll go back through it again and add in more descriptive passages and more emotion. The main character, Lorna, undergoes a big character change, and I have to make certain its believable, otherwise the story will fall flat.
I think some of the reason why I had a hard time adding description into my stories from the start comes from my tendency to gloss over the big paragraphs of setting and description in books. I love my imagination and I like to see the characters and the buildings as I want to see them, and since it doesn't always mash up with what the author says, I ignore the author. LOL Wow, does that sound narcissistic. But I honestly think that's where my problem comes from.
What about you? Is there any part of your writing that you have to go back and add? Or do you just tighten up and fix grammar when you edit?
Monday, May 17, 2010
Editing
I'm working hard on editing Torn Between Murder and Love.
It's amazing, I can type for hours and it doesn't bother me, but when I'm editing, I have to take breaks for my eyes and I almost always develop a headache. Maybe because I'm working too hard.
So far, I've cut out nearly 1K tightening up the story. There are parts, especially toward the end, where I'll need to add in more descriptions, so hopefully it'll round out to about 100K. It's at 96K right now.
What's your self-editing process? Have any helpful hints/tips/suggestions? Anyone might want to critique it once I'm done editing it?
It's amazing, I can type for hours and it doesn't bother me, but when I'm editing, I have to take breaks for my eyes and I almost always develop a headache. Maybe because I'm working too hard.
So far, I've cut out nearly 1K tightening up the story. There are parts, especially toward the end, where I'll need to add in more descriptions, so hopefully it'll round out to about 100K. It's at 96K right now.
What's your self-editing process? Have any helpful hints/tips/suggestions? Anyone might want to critique it once I'm done editing it?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Writing Update
Last night, I finished my assassin WIP. Woot! It's called Torn Between Murder and Love.
Lorna McCloud likes to think she's an assassin for the money and because she's good at it. But the real reason, because she was traumatized after witnessing her father's murder, is one she longs to keep buried. However a fresh lead in the cold case brings her closer to discovering her father's murderer.
Along the way, Lorna is captured by the Paranormal Intelligence Agency (PIA) and learns she is a paranorm with the ability of shadow manipulation. She flees to Creigh, where the country's king, Alaric, has an enormous bounty on his head.
Instead of killing Alaric, Lorna falls for him. When he learns that she is the assassin, he wants nothing to do with her. However they are linked -- there is some evidence suggesting her father and his killer had been on Creigh before the island had been discovered. Furthering digging reveals that the island's original inhabitants had been killed, most likely by the same man who later killed Lorna's father.
Will Lorna ever have her revenge? Has her assassin lifestyle doomed her to a life without love? And the PIA -- what do they want from Lorna?
Okay, that pitch is awful but it gives you a general idea what the story is about. I'll definitely have to work on it and polish the pitch as well as the story before the conference in June!
Lorna McCloud likes to think she's an assassin for the money and because she's good at it. But the real reason, because she was traumatized after witnessing her father's murder, is one she longs to keep buried. However a fresh lead in the cold case brings her closer to discovering her father's murderer.
Along the way, Lorna is captured by the Paranormal Intelligence Agency (PIA) and learns she is a paranorm with the ability of shadow manipulation. She flees to Creigh, where the country's king, Alaric, has an enormous bounty on his head.
Instead of killing Alaric, Lorna falls for him. When he learns that she is the assassin, he wants nothing to do with her. However they are linked -- there is some evidence suggesting her father and his killer had been on Creigh before the island had been discovered. Furthering digging reveals that the island's original inhabitants had been killed, most likely by the same man who later killed Lorna's father.
Will Lorna ever have her revenge? Has her assassin lifestyle doomed her to a life without love? And the PIA -- what do they want from Lorna?
Okay, that pitch is awful but it gives you a general idea what the story is about. I'll definitely have to work on it and polish the pitch as well as the story before the conference in June!
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