 Tuesday, January 30, 2007 "Like Sand in an Hourglass...These are..." Does anyone remember how this ends? Do they still say this on this show? If you know this show, and how it ends, please leave a comment telling me so. I've kind of felt like that hourglass recently, with sand being my "to do list" as it quickly slips away. Things just aren't sticking. For instance, my blog last week. Did anyone get a chance to read that January 23 entry? No? And do you want to know why? (No, n0--don't go back looking for it) Because I forgot to post my blog that day! Sheesh, just like sand in a sieve. It would be easy for me to blame age and senility. I am the big 4-0 now, after all, but I really can't do that. Nope that's not it. It's really more about time, or the lack of it. Lately I've been, well, just B-U-S-Y. And as such, there doesn't seem to be enough hours in a day. I want to get everything done, I really do--and I want to stop whining about it as well--but it's not quite coming together...yet. But it will, oh yes, it will. And I really shouldn't be complaining. My writing is flowing and I'm having a blast creating those lovely new creatures and romantic happily ever afters. It's all about time management. Something I've had to learn as an aspiring author with a family, and now as a published author with family and professional obligations. Time can slip by so quickly, and I want to make the most of it. So this year, I'm going to work on that. Managing my time, keeping things balanced, and, of course, remembering my blog. :-) Until I post again on February 13 and February 27 I wish you well as you manage your time, find balance and know that these are the "Days of Our Lives". (Ha! I had to get that in there!) Best, Eden www.edenrobins.com 
Monday, January 29, 2007 I'm J L Wilson (please, called me 'J'). I signed with CP last fall and my first book with them will be out on June 28. It's a mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. I write about older heroes and heroines, and most of my stories are set in the Midwest, where I live. My books are mystery-oriented, not really thrillers or suspense, but what I call 'cozy sexy mysteries', not quite cozies and not quite sexy. Sort of like real life, I guess, now that I think of it. In my other life, I'm a senior documentation specialist for a software company. My company was just acquired by a HUGE company and we're going through some gobble-pains (they gobbled us, so we're the ones feeling the pain of course). I enjoy what I do and I'm pretty good at it. The job is just challenging enough to be interesting without being stressful. I document some of the code that goes into our software product, and tell people how to customize it to use at their companies. It's sort of geeky stuff, but I enjoy it. I just got word from my CP editor that she wants two more of my stories, so it looks like I'll be around for a while I'm on two other blogs, mine and one I share with friends (hopefully we'll get the links set up from this Cerridwen blog). I really enjoy blogging but I haven't ventured yet into the MySpace world or chats -- my friends find that amusing since I can chat with the best of them. But I just haven't gone there yet. What about you folks out there -- do you enjoy chats? How's it done -- I mean, I know the generalities of it, but do you have to sit there waiting for folks to come online and talk to you? That seems a bit High School dance to me -- you know, waiting for somebody to choose you as a dance partner. Is that what it's like? And MySpace ... I don't know, virtual worlds sort of creep me out, although it's really just an extension of Yahoo groups, I guess. It shouldn't bug me, I've been surfing the net since before it was the World Wide Web (anybody remember newsgroups and Mosaic?) I just started using PCs a few years ago, I've been a UNIX geek most of my computer-life. I still get lost in Windows sometimes and the whole concept of using icons is sort of foreign to me, I'm accustomed to a command line and writing scripts to customize how my tech-box works. Did I mention that high tech almost always shows up in my books, too? I need to venture into these new worlds because of the P-word (no, not that P word, the other P word): Promo. I'm putting together my plans for promoting my upcoming book and the books that follow, so I've been reading a lot about what others are doing. I'm not sure if I'm ready for the whole MySpace thing, though. I've got my hands full with rewrites, new books (two WIPs), 3 blogs, and work. I'm also V.P. of Communications for my local RWA chapter. I produce a monthly newsletter for them as well as my own monthly newsletter. Plus I update their web site and my own. Oh, and I have another publisher, too. My book with them will be out in November. I'm kind of busy. In fact, I composed this while offline so I could upload it later. I'm seriously into multi-tasking. Luckily I have a spouse who is very supportive (and as involved with hobbies/other things as I am), and my free time is largely my own, so I can focus on my writing for several hours a day. I try to make the most of every minute I get. So that's enough about me ... like I said, more info can be found on my web site, or in my newsletter if you want to sign up for it. I'm going to try to blog once a month or so, and get to know other CP authors a bit better. I'm subscribed to the newsgroups, but have a hard time keeping up due to the volume of posts there (some of those groups are BUSY). So I'm hoping the blogs will help me stay in touch with the other talented folks out there who are writing for Cerridwen. And help me stay in touch with those who read what we write, of course. Talk to you later. J
Thursday, January 25, 2007 You see, this friend of mine--also published--was starting on a new book and asked me to help her brainstorm. I'm always willing to give advice (who isn't?) and it was a real eye opener for me, to say the least. It is amazing to see how differently the creative process works for each person. For me, the idea for a book is usually developed from two things: a plot idea such as a story about perceptions regarding social acceptance; and the first meeting/conflict between the hero and the heroine. Usually, the hero and heroine's initial meeting comes to me first. For example, when I was writing the Regency historical, Smuggled Rose, Margaret Lane meets Michael, the earl of Ramsgate after she saves his younger brother from the Excise. Despite her "after hours" occupation as a rose smugglar, Margaret longs to regain her social acceptance--destroyed by gossip after she spurned a man several years previously. The last thing she wants to deal with is an injured man and his brother, both members of the same set as the man who ruined her reputation. And for Michael, he's not about to let a ruined woman try to restore her respectability by working her wiles on his young brother in the hope he will marry her. Margaret and Michael's first meeting is what propelled me to write the book. What intrigued me about brainstorming with my friend is that she works in an entirely different way. She gets the idea for one of the characters and then builds the other character around the first one. So far, so good. I like the idea, but I was completely shocked when she had me read the first three chapters for one lady and gentleman and then brainstormed with me about the heroine, because she changed her mind! She decided she didn't like the first lady she had created (although I, personally, liked the heroine) and she just ripped her out and created a new woman and rewrote the first three chapters. Of course, the second heroine was excellent, too, but I was so appalled I couldn't even begin to offer any suggestions! (A very unusal circumstance for me.) I felt as if I had witnessed a murder--or at least one of those uncomfortable situations where one woman steals another woman's boyfriend. At the back of my mind, I always felt the second lady was an imposter in the story. Weird. That's why I'm babbling about this, because I'm still shaken! Characters, to me, are like living, breathing human beings. I could no more rip out one and insert another then strangle someone. While this author was undoubtedly correct and uses this as a part of her creative process, I was not entirely successful helping her because I couldn't imagine how to develop a "better heroine". My brain creates the first scene complete with the male and female leads and when that happens, those two characters are set. Then the secondary characters come along, interferring and generally wreaking havoc. If I changed the male or female lead, I'd have to change both characters because it would be a different setup and a different story. Isn't it weird how the mind works? You would think all authors have similar processes, but in fact, they are all different, and I've even heard authors say that from book to book, their process often changes. Some authors start with a plot and then develop characters to work within the plot. Some create their characters and conflict first and the plot just grows out of the characters' attempts to solve the conflict. Many authors don't think about it at all and just sit down and write (pantsters--authors who write by the seat of their pants). Me, I get that first scene in my head, like the first scene in a movie, complete with dialog and setting. Then I plot out the story roughly and begin to write. After the first six chapters or so, I usually have to rethink the story because it has usually gone off in some strange direction so my initial plot doesn't hold water. Which is good, because often the inital plot is a rather sad, obvious chain of events and it needs a few odd twists. Anyway, I'm still puzzling over that whole "creative process" thing and how we see our characters. I'm also curious how other authors and readers view the characters they read about. Do you ever think the wrong heroine got the guy?
Saturday, January 20, 2007  Hi, everyone! And I have exciting news. ON DANGER'S EDGE (available at Cerridwen Press) has been nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Awards for 2006 for Small Presses! It'll be in the MARCH 2007 issue!Here's a blurb ~ On Dangers Edge By Lise Fuller Fear be damned… …is the code photojournalist Rorie Lindsay lives by. Free of her abusive ex-husband, she celebrates her divorce with a one-night stand then heads to her next photo shoot in the Panamanian jungles, thirsting for adventure. Finally sensing her life is her own, Rorie relishes her autonomy until guerillas take her small troupe captive. Now, in order to survive, she must match wits with the soldier who came to save her—Chief Warrant Officer Tom MacCallum, the same stranger she'd spent one incredible night with. Tom couldn't forget the passionate brunette he'd bedded—a vain attempt to assuage his guilt over a comrade's death. Like his father several years before, Tom had been unable to save his friend. Driven in his Special Forces missions, the failures haunt his private life. Because loved ones die, he's refused to commit himself to a woman. Still, he longed for something with Rorie. Unable to find her again, he's encouraged when he sees she's in the party he's rescuing—until the rescue effort goes awry and he finds the terrorists hot on their trail. Now, both their lives and their destinies are… …On Danger's Edge. And you can read an excerpt by clicking here: Excerpt for ON DANGER'S EDGE. This is a biggie, especially for an up- and coming author like me! Please help me celebrate! And if your interested in the book, click the link above or see me and my other books at the author site they have for me: Lise Fuller. Thanks for reading and many blessings to you all! ~ Lise How much danger would you face for the perfect romance? Lise Fuller, www.lisefuller.com, Pikes Peak Romance Writers 2006 Author of the Year http://www.myspace.com/lisefuller Blogs: Lise Fuller's Writing Adventures, http://lisefuller.blogspot.com/ Lise's Fitness Tips, http://lisestips.blogspot.com/ ~ "Intimate Deceptions", 11/30/06, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com, RECOMMENDED READ from Joyfully Reviewed ~ "On Danger's Edge", 12/8/ 05, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com -- 4 1/2 STARS FROM RT! ~ "Cutting Loose", 2/9/06, Cerridwen Press, www.cerridwenpress.com Labels: action, adventure, books, captivating, fiction, Lise Fuller, novels, Romance, romantic action adventure, suspense, writing
Thursday, January 18, 2007  Chasing time. Have you ever felt like that? As if all you’re doing is struggling to find the time to do everything you need to accomplish in your day-to-day life? This has been one of those weeks for me so I thought I’d explore this idea a little further. How can we stop chasing time? Maybe it requires better organizational skills, eliminating the demands in our lives, or a general slowing down of the fast pace we all seem to live in these days. For me, the demands on my time are fierce. I have a husband, four boys, five horses, a puppy and a bunny. Then there’s the kids school involvement, homework, a house and a farm to maintain. Now add on top of that working as a writer full time, promotion, marketing and networking. Did I mention I’m also a full time clairvoyant with an online business and we own a construction company? How many hours are there in a day? LOL For me, I’ve had to learn to delegate – to stop trying to do everything myself. I give my family more responsibility in the daily functions of our home and farm. It was hard because I think that oftentimes, as mothers, we get so glued into our role as caregivers that it’s hard to let go. I get up early, stay up late, and write in any spare minute I can find (in the car line at school, on a park bench while my kids play, at the kitchen counter while I’m cooking dinner). I’ve stopped worrying about the little things and choose my battles. I try to take a few moments for me each day – even if it’s only to focus and center my energy. I’ve also tried to stop procrastinating. If something needs doing, I just get it done and move on to the next item and I often am doing more than one thing at a time. It’s multi-tasking to the extreme. In Night Visions (which was just released a few minutes ago - yay!) my heroine’s dreams come true. If your dreams came true what would they be? Do you find that you’re always chasing time making those dreams slightly out of reach because you’re too busy? Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to stop and smell the roses, evaluate and consider your life and then focus on implementing a plan of action to bring time to you instead of chasing after it. What steps can you take to lower your stress levels and stop chasing time? I’d love to hear your comments. Smiles, Melissa Alvarez w/a Ariana Dupre NIGHT VISIONS, January 2007 MelissaA.com ArianaDupre.com APsychicHaven.com
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Now, of course, as adults, more likely than not, our reaction is slightly less optimistic. "Snow! Oh, cripes!" Whether that means a treacherous drive to work, having to shovel the sidewalk, worrying about the pipes, having the kids out of school ... snow probably doesn't mean good things. It's pretty, though. We've had three months in a row with unusual weather. First, November greeted us with ice and a little snow, much earlier than we were used to (if at all, since our area doesn't get much snow). Second, December gave us a windstorm that was the most powerful in decades, knocking down trees and power lines and (in my case) the back fence gate. And January handed us with more than half a foot of snow, which as of today is melting not nearly fast enough. As a rational adult, the snow is frightful, but purely for esthetics ... the snow is delightful. But you didn't read that from me. Eilis Flynn www.eilisflynn.com, eilisflynn.livejournal.com THE SLEEPER AWAKES, April 2007 FESTIVAL OF STARS, May 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007 I've been thinking a lot about trust lately. Not so much trust in others, but trust in one self. I've come to realize how completely and utterly true the following statement by William Shakespeare really is: "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the ground we oft might win, fearing to attempt." What that quote means to me is this. If I don't trust myself as a storyteller, if I don't believe in my ability to tell a tale, and tell it well, then I lose out on more opportunities than I'll ever know about. And I beleive that with all my heart. The past forty years of my life have taught me that there is an inexhaustible supply of abundance out there, but I have to trust myself to not only see it, but also believe that I deserve it. I think that holds true for many people, many lives, and many careers. Trust yourself. Trust your talent. Only you can make your dreams come true. Or as that wonderful first lady, Eleanor Roosevelt said: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." Until we chat again on January 23rd, I wish for you all the good you envision for yourself. Hugs, Eden Robins www.edenrobins.com AFTER SUNDOWN: SALVATION-Now available!
Wednesday, January 03, 2007 Every year brings a fresh start, a new willingness to try something new. At least that's the case with me; every year I try to study something new and fresh, so I can bring another measure of complexity to my writing. Part of the challenge of starting a new project is the research. Sometimes, of course, the research overwhelms the project, so I have to try to limit myself. But sometimes the research inspires a new project entirely. For THE SLEEPER AWAKES, I studied weather phenomena so I could create a new kind, one that has characteristics of acid rain and fog and lightning but is none of those things. And it is one that has a sentience of its own. For FESTIVAL OF STARS, I studied ancient myths and legends of Asia and even post-World War II history. What's up for this year? Good question. I haven't made up my mind! So many interesting subjects, so little time! And that's the hope for 2007 -- may you all have new subjects that give life to your own projects and give you inspiration. Eilis Flynn THE SLEEPER AWAKES, Cerridwen Press, April 2007 FESTIVAL OF STARS, Cerridwen Press, May 2007
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