January Featured Author: Linda McLaughlin writing as Lyndi Lamont
January 7, 2018 by marianne h donley in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as January Featured Author, Linda McLaughlin, Lyndi Lamont
Lyndi Lamont is the racy alter ego of romance author Linda McLaughlin. Writing sexy stories gives her a license to be naughty, at least between the pages of her books! She has written several full-length novels plus numerous short stories and novellas, ranging from historical to futuristic. She believes that love is unending and universal, and enjoys transporting her readers into a different world where her characters learn that, in the journey of life, love is the sweetest reward.
website: http://lindalyndi.com
blog: http://lindalyndi.com/reading-room-blog/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LyndiLamont
NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS
January 5, 2018 by Tracy Reed in category WritingHappy New Year.
I’m almost embarrassed to admit I have yet to write my goals for the new year. Okay, that may not necessarily be the truth. I have a few things I want to accomplish this year, I just haven’t committed them to paper. There’s a scripture I like and keep posted near my computer…Habakkuk 2:2-3, “And the Lord answered me: Write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it delays, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”
I cherish this scripture. Yet, last year when I made my goal list, I failed to really consult myself and God. I heard a joke that went something like this, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” I’m pretty sure I gave God a lot of things to laugh about last year.
I started out 2017 with these grandiose plans. I was going to write something like 7 books, a couple of novellas, 3 non-fiction books and 5 flash fiction pieces. Ha, Ha, Ha. I forgot I had just come off a very busy year…12 Titles in 12 Months. I foolishly thought it would be easy to complete the task I wrote out. I did good to get two titles out last year.
Midway through 2017, I realized a very important fact, I was tired. I had worked so hard the previous year, that I was mentally burned out. Funny thing, all while I was doing the challenge, I was fine. I had ideas bouncing off the sides of my brain. Seems like when I got to December and hit publish on my last title, my brain said, “Now I can rest.”
Although I published 12 Titles in 2016, I had written a little more. [I’m not going to rehash the project, you can visit past posts for details.] I wrote a book for my lingerie business, plus I had started two other books. One with 5,000+ words and the other with 3,600+ words. I really thought I was going to complete those books, but they just didn’t make it. Plus I was approximately thirty percent away from completion on the book I’m releasing this month, which was supposed to release last month. Insert God laughing here.
How did I fair out with my 2017 goals? I figuratively burned the production schedule and vowed to commit to complete one novel and my non-fiction book. We won’t even discuss the personal things on the list I wanted to accomplish. Thank God for another year and opportunity to start over.
Back to my 2018 writing goals. A couple of days ago, after meeting with my accountability group, I took a long look at my production schedule. I deleted anything that hadn’t been started or wasn’t the next book in a series and added the books that were completed but weren’t quite ready to be released last year. Boldly pressing the delete key left me with a very scary production schedule.
When I did my challenge, instead of writing books in one or two series, I wrote the first or second books, and some stand alone novellas. The titles were well received. However, I started getting emails from people asking “What happens next?”. Holy crap. I like writing cliff hangers and books setting up the next book. So when I looked at my schedule I knew what I had to do, “Write, a lot.”
My proposed 2018 Production Schedule is scary. If I can muster up the create juices and energy, I’ll finish the year with nine titles. Don’t call the crazy writer police on me just yet. I said “titles”. Here’s how things look.
Title One : Completed, and releasing at the end of the month
Title Two: Completed, needs to be set up as an ebook
Title Three: Completed, it’s a print only book, so I need to review the proof
Title Four: Completed, needs a major edit
Title Five: 30% complete
Titles Six – Nine: Need to be written
It’s not as bad as it seems. I have learned my lesson. If I see where something needs to be pushed back, I’ll do it.
Back to the scripture I mentioned earlier. I believe in writing down goals because it seems when you write things down, you give life to them. However, in order for them to grow they need to be nourished and that’s where I failed. I was too tired to nourish my goals.
I know things will be better this year, because I’ve started talking to my characters as well as eavesdropping on their conversations. Could it be, they needed a break from me last year?
Well, whatever the reason for a slightly less productive 2017, I feel like 2018 will be booming with stories to tell.
I’ll keep you posted. Here’s to an amazingly creative writing year.
Great Minds…
January 4, 2018 by H. O. Charles in category Art, Cover, Design by H. O. Charles tagged as common themes, repetition, rian johnson, star wars, that sounds familiar“Fight to save what you love, never to destroy what you hate.” (City of Blaze, 2011) <– That’s my book!
“That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” (Star Wars, The Last Jedi, 2017)
Co-writing: Getting Your Ducks in a Row by @janetlynn4
January 3, 2018 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as co-writing, organization, partners, writing
Getting your Ducks is a Row
My husband, Will Zeilinger, also a published author, and I decided to come together and write a 1950’s hard-boiled mystery, the Skylar Drake Murder Mystery series.
Without organization, nothing, and I mean nothing, would get done!
[tweetshare tweet=”Getting Your Ducks in a Row by @janetlynn4 Tips for writing with a partner” username=”A_SliceofOrange”]
Brainstorming
Though we each bring different things/skills to the table when it comes to writing, I am the one who seems to get the organization together. During the early life of the novel, we start off brainstorming. No idea is too “outrageous” or “stupid” to write down. This includes characterizations, character names, background, and their part in the story.
Plot meetings
From there come several plots and subplots. An in-depth discussion of each follows. We then find the main plot that may even be several subplots melted together. This comes about over several meetings, we try to limit them to five. If we need more than five meetings to get any one of the issues resolved, something is usually wrong with the characters, plot or subplots and we revisit it by going back through prior meeting notes.
Purpose and agendas
Each meeting needs to have a specific purpose. Agendas are a great way to keep the discussions on track. When writing mysteries, like we do, this is an absolute must. We keep copies of all meeting agendas and decisions which helps with future reference, especially when we are stuck and can’t remember why we made the decision we did.
From this point, we set a timeline for when things need to be completed. If we do not meet a timeline that is a warning to get going and focus.
The results? SLIVERS OF GLASS, STRANGE MARKINGS and DESERT ICE. Our fourth book in the series, SLICK DEAL, will be released in February 2018…and yes, we’re still married.
Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: www.janetlynnauthor.com
Blog: www.themarriedauthors.blogspot.com
Intelligence Official to Amateur Sleuth Author—Oh My!!
January 2, 2018 by Jann Ryan in category Jann says . . . tagged as amatuer sleuth, cozy mysteries, mystery
Maureen Klovers is the creator of the Jeanne Pelletier amateur sleuth series set in Washington, DC, and the memoir In the Shadow of the Volcano: One Ex-Intelligence Official’s Journey through the Slums, Prisons, and Leper Colonies to the Heart of Latin America.
As suggested by the title of her memoir, Maureen has served as a U.S. intelligent agent; taught in the shantytowns of Quito, Ecuador; toured a notorious Bolivian prison in the company of a German narcotrafficker; and been inspired by some of the most positive, life-affirming people on the planet–residents of a facility for those suffering from Hansen’s disease (the new name for leprosy).
More recently, she has switched to writing mysteries. Her first novel, Hagar’s Last Dance, features lawyer-turned-bellydancer Jeanne Pelletier and her zany, crime-fighting urban family and delves deep into the Washington, D.C. that tourists never see. A sequel, Graveside Reunion, is set to be released in January 2018.
Maureen is also hard at work on a garden-to-table culinary mystery series starring Rita Calabrese, an Italian-American matriarch (and excellent cook!) turned small-town crime reporter.
She loves poking around forgotten corners of DC; speaking Italian, testing recipes for Italian-American classics (which will later work their way into Rita’s cookbook!), and traveling to Italy; and spending time with her incredibly supportive husband, fun (but exhausting!) toddler, and energetic black Lab.
Jann: We’re starting out 2018 with a bang! Maureen Klovers, author of the Jeanne Pelletier amateur sleuth mystery series, is going to chat with us today.
Your character, Jeanne Pelletier, that you introduced in Hagar’s Last Dance—what can you tell us about her?
Maureen: By day, Jeanne is a mousy temp attorney slaving away at a big Washington, D.C., law firm. But outside of work, she has a whole different persona—as a belly dancer named Zahira, and as a successful amateur sleuth. She’s assembled a fabulous crime-fighting “urban family” in D.C., consisting of her curmudgeonly ex-CIA agent neighbor; her ravishing sister, Vivienne; her commune-dwelling wild child best friend, Lily; her Scottish hacker boyfriend, Fergus; and a Salvadoran ex-con, Carlos—the only man other than Fergus that gets her pulse racing. She’s also got a third-legged rescued Golden Retriever named Scarlett!
Jeanne’s a strong, independent woman. She’s smart, caring, and funny—but not perfect the way most protagonists of mystery novels seem to be! She guzzles hot chocolate, struggles to get to work on time, and has a fear of commitment. Basically, she’s human—a little like a more intellectual and more wholesome American version of Bridget Jones.
Jann: How did the idea for an amateur sleuth mystery series originate?
Maureen: One blistering August day, when my mom and sister and I were holed up in the air conditioning and a little bored, the three of us decided to write a spy novel set in 1960s Italy and starring Sister Gilmary, a character very loosely based on my mom (who actually was a nun in the 1960s and did live in Italy—just not at the same time). We ended up having creative differences, so we never published the book together (although my mother did on her own!). However, this process jump-started my interest in writing crime fiction. But I am more interested in writing about amateur sleuths than spies! (Which is ironic, given that although I was never a spy per se, I did used to work for U.S. intelligence.)
Jann: Tell us about the plot for Graveside Reunion, the second book in the series, which will be published on January 19th?
Maureen: When Jeanne meets a wealthy conservative congressman at a Halloween party, neither is in a festive 
mood. Jeanne is cash-strapped and anxious about her upcoming high school reunion. Congressman Richardson is worried about the mental stability of his wife, a beauty queen-turned-historian who claims to be terrorized by a vindictive two-hundred-year-old ghost.
Before their dance is over, Jeanne agrees to investigate who—or what—is behind his wife’s “haunting.” But when Jeanne finds a body draped over a Confederate spy’s tomb near the Richardsons’ Georgetown mansion, she begins to suspect that the “haunting” has escalated to murder—and that her clients may be involved.
Jann: Are you working on book three?
Maureen: Not yet. But I have an idea that involves Carlos, the Salvadoran ex-con who forms one leg of the Jeanne-Fergus-Carlos love triangle, being arrested for a murder he claims he didn’t commit. It gives me lots of possibilities to explore Jeanne’s conflicting feelings and put her legal and investigative skills to work!
Jann: Do you find yourself returning to certain themes in your stories? What? Why?
Maureen: I seem to gravitate to strong, not-particularly-girly female protagonists and nuanced, not-totally-evil villains. I’m really interested in local history, so setting my story in an atmospheric, historic location is important.
Jann: What are you working on now? Can you tell us about your next project?
Maureen: I am working on the first novel in a new culinary cozy mystery series starring Rita Calabrese, an Italian-American matriarch turned crime reporter. It’s peopled with an eccentric cast of small-town characters and features mouthwatering recipes and a bucolic Hudson Valley setting.
Jann: Do you have a website, blog, twitter where fans might read more about you and your books?
Maureen: Absolutely! Please connect with me at http://www.maureenklovers.com On my blog, I discuss anything and everything that’s related (even, tangentially!) to my books. That means sharing my favorite mysteries; telling you about my upcoming books, author appearances, and conferences; sharing the joys and tribulations of writing; giving you insider’s tips to Washington, D.C. (where my Jeanne Pelletier mystery series is set); and feeding your inner Italophile (like the protagonist of my upcoming garden-to-table culinary mystery series, Rita Calabrese) through Italian and Italian-American recipes and tips and trivia on la bella lingua italiana, travel in Italy, and Italian culture and cuisine!
Jann: In your books, who is your favorite character and why?
Maureen: Jerry, Jeanne’s lovably grumpy ex-CIA agent neighbor. He is Jeanne’s sleuthing partner, sidekick, and confidant. They communicate by banging on the paper-thin wall between their apartments, and since they both suffer from insomnia, spend many a late night drinking coffee and solving crimes. Jerry is something like a cross between her older brother and the oracle of Delphi—he manages to say some pretty profound things in his own inimitable way.
Plus, Jerry’s lines seem to write themselves! That’s a real gift for an author. He’s one of those characters I can really see with my mind’s eye.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share a corner of your world with us Maureen. Wishing you a wonderful 2018!!
Jann Ryan grew up with the smell of orange blossoms in Orange County in sunny Southern California, where she has lived her entire life and dreamed up stories since she was a young girl. Never an avid reader, she was in her thirties when she picked up her first romance quite by accident. She fell in love with happily ever after and has been reading romances ever since.
Wanting to put pen to paper, Jann joined of Romance Writers of America®. Currently, she is working on a romantic suspense series set in Stellar Bay, a fictitious town along the California central coast to fulfill her publishing dream.
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