She interrupts me. I interrupt her. Elle A. Muse is unfortunately not amused…
I'm irritated because my posts won't publish.
Woo-hoo, it’s National Punctuation Day! Okay, it’s celebrated in the States, but I’m confiscating it. Ever needed a quick introduction to the semi-colon? How about the hyphen? (I especially like the bit about compound modifiers. I’ve always called them “adjectival phrases,” but what do I know?). You can even download a recipe for Punctuation Meat Loaf. Oh, joy.
My life will never be the same.
Enough planning the revisions for my single title. I’ve finally dug into them, and I’m loving the results.
Five pages down, 315 to go!
My buddy, my friend, my life-long pal, Kate St. James, finally received her cover for Secrets 28: SENSUAL CRAVINGS. Releasing in late December, SENSUAL CRAVINGS contains Kate’s erotic romantic comedy novella, Kiss Me at Midnight.
Way to go, Kate!
Found where? On my website, 0f course! Recently, Laura Bradford of Bradford Literary Agency, answered several questions for me. Quite thoroughly, too, I might add. It’s a fantastic interview. Check it out.
Older agent interviews (Kevan Lyon, Elaine Spencer) can now be found in Archives.
I am obsessed with research. Well, I’m not obsessed in the sense that I love to research. No, I’m obsessed in the sense that once I’ve started researching, I can’t stop.
It’s a disease, I swear.
A few weeks ago, a Canadian writer friend and I brainstormed revisions for the single title I finished this summer. We came up with a fantastic way to deepen the heroine’s GMC. I passed the brainwave by another Canadian writer. She gave it glowing reviews.
This week I began researching. My first step was to post questions to a couple of writers’ listservs. I’m very glad I did, because the American members alerted me to a whole host of issues I hadn’t considered. On the other hand, their replies sent me back to the Land of Research. A land that, all too often in my case, develops into a bog. I experience a great deal of difficulty digging my way out. There’s just so damn much to learn! And if there’s one thing my mind loves, it’s information. Even the useless bits.
My characters in this story are American. I am not. And the revisions to my heroine’s GMC involve the American medical/health insurance system. Every time I think I’ve hit upon a way to make the brainwave work, I smash into another roadblock. Now, I do believe the revisions can work. They will work. If I would put half the energy into reading the articles I’ve printed off the Internet as I have into scrounging for them, I’m sure I would come across the perfect solution. But every time I read another article, I feel a compelling need to hit the Internet again. Just in case, you know, I missed something the first trillion times.
All I can say is, it’s a good thing I don’t write historicals.
Are you a research hound? Do you have binders filled with articles you’ll probably never use? Do you feel the need to read 30 news stories when 3 or 5 will probably do? How do you stop the madness?
Saw this video on Facebook the other day. Didn’t take much digging to find it again on YouTube. And here I thought The Evil Entity was weird. She’ll run into the bathroom and sit on the edge of the tub until I come in and run the water—and scoop it over her. I start with her head and then under her chin. At that point, she puts her paws on the tap, and I water-pet her belly, back and even sometimes her tail. When she’s had enough, she runs off and has a cat-bath. The lazy feline. I’m doing half the work!
This cat, Snookers, takes the cake. Watch all the way to the end. It gets funnier and funnier.