It's a new year! 2010!
I love the start of the New Year, except that I date everything wrong for about a month. But it feels like a new start when the year begins. Like anything is possible.
I try not to make resolutions but I do try and make some goals for the new year. I definitely have some stories to find a home for! That would be a goal in 2010. I'd also like to work on my weight issues. We'll see how that one goes.
Do you make resolutions? Made any for the new year?
Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
Warning!
Friday, January 1, 2010
Friday, December 25, 2009
Sending Out My Christmas Greetings
As the clock winds down I'm finding myself looking back over the last year. I've been very fortunate to have three books release this year from Loose Id.-- Diablo Blanco Club: Unfair Advantage (January/August -print); Diablo Blanco Club: Under Control (May); and A Neighbor's Ultimatum (November). I'm hoping to have more books next year, but so far only one book is contracted for the first week of March.
This Christmas season marks my second year as a published author. My first book, Santa's Elf, came out two years ago this month. As a holiday title it put a sexy twist to the old Christmas carol, The 12 Days of Christmas.
Santa's Elf was actually the first book introducing the Diablo Blanco Club, but nothing fun happened in the Club itself. Dayton and Elf never got the opportunity to visit the DBC. Perhaps in a later story I'll have them visit, although Dayton is in the Club in a few scenes in Unfair Advantage, but that book takes place years before Santa's Elf.
Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday. May you and your families enjoy the Merriest of Christmas's or the best Greetings of the Season.
Go have some fun. And if you're interested in reading some great ebooks, check out the Jingle Bell Rock Titles at Loose Id!!
Qwillia Rain
This Christmas season marks my second year as a published author. My first book, Santa's Elf, came out two years ago this month. As a holiday title it put a sexy twist to the old Christmas carol, The 12 Days of Christmas.
Santa's Elf was actually the first book introducing the Diablo Blanco Club, but nothing fun happened in the Club itself. Dayton and Elf never got the opportunity to visit the DBC. Perhaps in a later story I'll have them visit, although Dayton is in the Club in a few scenes in Unfair Advantage, but that book takes place years before Santa's Elf.
Here's hoping you all have a wonderful holiday. May you and your families enjoy the Merriest of Christmas's or the best Greetings of the Season.
Go have some fun. And if you're interested in reading some great ebooks, check out the Jingle Bell Rock Titles at Loose Id!!
Qwillia Rain
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Santa, baby, I've been a baaaddd girl...
Okay, have to credit my pal Caitlyn for the idea for this blog....
What to give that writer in your life.....
At Christmas, more than anytime, the question arises, what do I give that friend of mine who writes?
So, thanks to Caitlyn, I've started a list of gifts I'd love to get....
Caitlyn's Box of Paper - hell, it's perfect. Heavy, but so needed. I go through a box of paper about once every six months, and at 30-40 bucks, one box is a Godsend.
A 1G flash drive - don't bother with anything smaller, it just won't hold enough.
And make sure it doesn't have a cap to lose -- get one of those retractable ones, like a lipstick...and if it looked cute too, that might be nice.
A Journal, for those of us who still use a pen/pencil to write with. You know our style...mine would be leather, just cuz there's nothing like the feel of fine leather...
A dozen red pens... I use them for editing, since I print out my chapters and edit on paper (hence my desperate need for more paper). And I prefer the Pilot rolling ball ones. And they're not cheap, either. (I'm sure each of us has the "perfect" pen we just love to use, find out what your writer prefers.)
A fancy pen - one that has our name and website on it. For signing books, of course. They can be plain, fancy or silly, but it has to have the name of the author, the website and his/her catch phrase printed on it. (Mine is "When you open your heart, you open your mind")*hint hint*
A digital photo album...for displaying all your covers on. I have one for the covers of my books from 2008, and I'm hoping Santa will bring one for my 2009 covers. Takes less space than framed covers, and you can create a slide show with them and get creative, like with an opening title, etc. You can even bring it to the book signing, if there's electricity, plug it in and voila! Instant back list!!
Gift certificates to various e-publishers!! I say publishers, not Amazon or Fictionwise, cuz the author gets more $$ from publisher sales. Most of them have gift certificates, so why not snatch up a few for your favorite writer so they can support their favorite writers. We read too!!
Now, if the writer is someone really special, like a husband/wife/significant other...and money is no object????
Get her/him an ereader...Sony, Nook, Kindle... you will be loved and adored forever!!
A mini laptop, like an Asus, Acer, HP, etc. for "on the go" use to conferences, workshops, etc.
A new computer...every writer needs a machine dedicated just to them!! It doesn't have to be fancy, or expensive, but it has to have some sort of word program on it. MS Word if it's a PC, or whatever those crazy Mac users have...
Conference fees - go ahead, sign them up for RT or EPIC or RWA or Romanticon!!!
Spring for the hotel room. Give a Visa gift card with enough $$ to pay for food and drinks (especially drinks! Writers have an image to uphold) for the duration of the conference.
Of course, you could just buy all their back list. For some, it might be print books, for others, one or two ebooks, but no matter what, your author will love you for it.
I know I've left out some great gift ideas...but that's where you come in.
Give 'em to me!! Let's hear it from the authors out there...what would be a great gift for you to recieve? And from the readers, what gifts have you given a writer that were appreciated?
Lynn Lorenz
www.lynnlorenz.com
When you open your heart, you open your mind.
What to give that writer in your life.....
At Christmas, more than anytime, the question arises, what do I give that friend of mine who writes?
So, thanks to Caitlyn, I've started a list of gifts I'd love to get....
Caitlyn's Box of Paper - hell, it's perfect. Heavy, but so needed. I go through a box of paper about once every six months, and at 30-40 bucks, one box is a Godsend.
A 1G flash drive - don't bother with anything smaller, it just won't hold enough.
And make sure it doesn't have a cap to lose -- get one of those retractable ones, like a lipstick...and if it looked cute too, that might be nice.
A Journal, for those of us who still use a pen/pencil to write with. You know our style...mine would be leather, just cuz there's nothing like the feel of fine leather...
A dozen red pens... I use them for editing, since I print out my chapters and edit on paper (hence my desperate need for more paper). And I prefer the Pilot rolling ball ones. And they're not cheap, either. (I'm sure each of us has the "perfect" pen we just love to use, find out what your writer prefers.)
A fancy pen - one that has our name and website on it. For signing books, of course. They can be plain, fancy or silly, but it has to have the name of the author, the website and his/her catch phrase printed on it. (Mine is "When you open your heart, you open your mind")*hint hint*
A digital photo album...for displaying all your covers on. I have one for the covers of my books from 2008, and I'm hoping Santa will bring one for my 2009 covers. Takes less space than framed covers, and you can create a slide show with them and get creative, like with an opening title, etc. You can even bring it to the book signing, if there's electricity, plug it in and voila! Instant back list!!
Gift certificates to various e-publishers!! I say publishers, not Amazon or Fictionwise, cuz the author gets more $$ from publisher sales. Most of them have gift certificates, so why not snatch up a few for your favorite writer so they can support their favorite writers. We read too!!
Now, if the writer is someone really special, like a husband/wife/significant other...and money is no object????
Get her/him an ereader...Sony, Nook, Kindle... you will be loved and adored forever!!
A mini laptop, like an Asus, Acer, HP, etc. for "on the go" use to conferences, workshops, etc.
A new computer...every writer needs a machine dedicated just to them!! It doesn't have to be fancy, or expensive, but it has to have some sort of word program on it. MS Word if it's a PC, or whatever those crazy Mac users have...
Conference fees - go ahead, sign them up for RT or EPIC or RWA or Romanticon!!!
Spring for the hotel room. Give a Visa gift card with enough $$ to pay for food and drinks (especially drinks! Writers have an image to uphold) for the duration of the conference.
Of course, you could just buy all their back list. For some, it might be print books, for others, one or two ebooks, but no matter what, your author will love you for it.
I know I've left out some great gift ideas...but that's where you come in.
Give 'em to me!! Let's hear it from the authors out there...what would be a great gift for you to recieve? And from the readers, what gifts have you given a writer that were appreciated?
Lynn Lorenz
www.lynnlorenz.com
When you open your heart, you open your mind.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Holidays
I love the upcoming season of holidays. I'm definitely a winter/Christmas person.
I love just everything about it. I don't like how I rush around like a mad woman and don't often take time to enjoy this season.
What's your favorite thing? Your least?
One thing I am looking forward to is the release of Settler's Mine 5: The Man!
Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
Where Sensuality and Wonder collide
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.collector-series.com
The future's never been so sexy
http://www.melanylogen.com
I love just everything about it. I don't like how I rush around like a mad woman and don't often take time to enjoy this season.
What's your favorite thing? Your least?
One thing I am looking forward to is the release of Settler's Mine 5: The Man!
Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen
Where Sensuality and Wonder collide
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
http://www.collector-series.com
The future's never been so sexy
http://www.melanylogen.com
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
What Am I Thankful For?
As I drudge up the courage to run out to the grocery store to pick up the last few items for my turkey dinner tomorrow, I keep wondering if I would be having as much fun today if it weren't for a certain editor. And the answer I keep coming up with is, "No."
Back in 2007 I mustered up the courage to send a book I'd written to Loose Id, LLC. It was rejected--I still have that email, by the way. Not because it was a rejection, but because it gave me the confidence to submit something else to LI. And that book was accepted.
On December 18th, 2007 my first book, Santa's Elf, was published. Yesterday, my 5th book with LI, A Neighbor's Ultimatum, hit the website and I'm hoping to have more in the coming year.
Writing is fun. Writing is hard work, too. It's done in isolation most of the time, but those people we connect with on the outside, besides our family and close friends, they're the ones for which we should be thankful. I'm really not a sentimental type of person. I'm pushy and opinionated--ask any of my friends or students. But when someone does something for you that changes your life for the better, you need to thank them.
So here's mine:
Thank you, Georgia for seeing enough in my writing to fight for it in the first place. And for telling me that so I could find the confidence to get past the rejection and try again.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it).
Qwillia
Back in 2007 I mustered up the courage to send a book I'd written to Loose Id, LLC. It was rejected--I still have that email, by the way. Not because it was a rejection, but because it gave me the confidence to submit something else to LI. And that book was accepted.
On December 18th, 2007 my first book, Santa's Elf, was published. Yesterday, my 5th book with LI, A Neighbor's Ultimatum, hit the website and I'm hoping to have more in the coming year.
Writing is fun. Writing is hard work, too. It's done in isolation most of the time, but those people we connect with on the outside, besides our family and close friends, they're the ones for which we should be thankful. I'm really not a sentimental type of person. I'm pushy and opinionated--ask any of my friends or students. But when someone does something for you that changes your life for the better, you need to thank them.
So here's mine:
Thank you, Georgia for seeing enough in my writing to fight for it in the first place. And for telling me that so I could find the confidence to get past the rejection and try again.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving (if you celebrate it).
Qwillia
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The baddest boys
Everyone likes a bad boy. It used to be pirates and regency rogues, and these days it's often werewolves and vampires. We've taken the things people used to frighten their children and turned them into misunderstood heroes, and had a sexy good time doing it. Things that go bump in the night are bumping and grinding with the heroine at the end of the novel instead of getting staked by van Helsings.
What's out there that still makes you think "dangerous" before you think "sexy?" Have we gone as far as we can with this, or are the baddest boys still to come?
What's out there that still makes you think "dangerous" before you think "sexy?" Have we gone as far as we can with this, or are the baddest boys still to come?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
NaNo anyone?
November is National Novel Writing Month. Each year people sign up and try to write 50K in the month of November.
It's a definite challenge. You're not supposed to self edit but to keep pressing forward. Something I can't do LOL. I always edit the previous page or two before I start writing again. It puts me back at the place I was before I had to stop.
I unofficially made NaNo one year. I had already started the story so I didn't get to count it officially.
I'm going to shoot for NaNo this year but we'll see if I make it. I'd like to but I'm not going to stress if I don't make it.
How about anyone else? trying it? avoiding it?
Mechele Armstrong
where Sensuality and Wonder collide
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
It's a definite challenge. You're not supposed to self edit but to keep pressing forward. Something I can't do LOL. I always edit the previous page or two before I start writing again. It puts me back at the place I was before I had to stop.
I unofficially made NaNo one year. I had already started the story so I didn't get to count it officially.
I'm going to shoot for NaNo this year but we'll see if I make it. I'd like to but I'm not going to stress if I don't make it.
How about anyone else? trying it? avoiding it?
Mechele Armstrong
where Sensuality and Wonder collide
http://www.mechelearmstrong.com
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