Well, that’s all from here for a few days. I’m off on vacation until Saturday. Woohoo! Don’t know if I’ll have internet access, so I probably won’t be around. I’m taking my laptop, a couple of new books and my CP‘s final chapters to crit. I hope to get a lot of writing and reading done, and hopefully relax a bit with the family.

On the writing front, I managed to write twenty pages today (woohoo!), so I definitely feel like I’m making progress. I’m closing in on the last 25%.

In case you missed it, my post is … Read more »

In case you missed it, this week the girls over at Murder She Writes have been blogging about their first books. Not necessarily their first published books, but the first books they wrote. It’s been a hoot to read…and very interesting.

The general concensus seems to be most authors sell their 4th or 5th book. Why that is, I’m not entirely sure, although I’d bet it has something to do with practicing your craft enough so it finally hits home. (BTW one girl at MSW did sell her first completed ms. And we struggling writers all hate her! LOL – … Read more »

I’ve played about twenty games of spider solitaire this afternoon and finally realized I need to get my butt in gear and get writing.

So…I’m blogging.

Well, it’s writing in a form, right? At least, that’s what Piper keeps trying to tell me. *sigh* Sorry, Pipes. I ain’t buyin’t it. This is what we call wasting time and avoiding the WIP. BIG time.

Why am I avoiding the WIP? Not sure. I think the main reason is because I have to write a crime scene, and I hate the thought.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. But, Eli, you write … Read more »

This is one of those holidays I used to love when I was teaching. A day off that wasn’t a major holiday you had to prep for like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Just a day to hang at home and veg out. And it was sure a kick to know all my non-public sector working friends all had to go to work and I didn’t. (Snicker, snicker)

Of course, that’s when I was teaching. Now that I’m home, it’s a day when all my Gremlins are home from school, when the banks are closed and the mail isn’t delivered, … Read more »

I’m taking this new workout class called Group Power at my health club. Basically, it’s set up like your typical aerobics class, but it’s all weight lifting. You have a bar and weights, and an instructor up on a stage shouting orders through a microphone attached to her face. And it’s all set to music. So you do one muscle group to one track…for example squats (oooh. I hate squats!) for 5.5 min, thereby working every major muscle group in your body in one hour. The idea is mid weights with high reps to tone instead of bulk.

Okay, that’s … Read more »

Tagged by Linda. (Gosh, um…am I supposed to be thankful???)

current clothing: blue sweats, white long-sleeved tee
current hair: Down, messy
current refreshment: Water with lots of ice
current annoyance: My legs. They ache thanks to my nazi weightlifting instructor. Lunges suck, and that track/set was NOT easier than the normal one!
current avoidance: laundry
current smell: Chocolate. DH brought home chocolates for Valentine’s Day
current thing you ought to be doing: working on my love scene
current thing or things on your wall: The one I can see? The most fabulous sunset picture of Marigot Bay I took … Read more »

I just got news Make Me Believe placed first in the Single Title category of the Romancing The Tomb contest!

What a great gift today!… Read more »

Ever have a scene you’re trying to work toward, but things keep getting in the way?

That’s where I am at right now. Chapter twelve. I’m closing in on the first love scene, but I have a series of events that have to happen first. What I thought would be a couple of pages has turned into a whole freakin’ chapter, and I’m nowhere closer to that love scene now than I was before writing over the weekend.

*sigh*

Joan keeps asking me what’s stalling my progress. Nothing! It’s just all this other stuff that has to get in there … Read more »

Just in time for Valentine’s Day: ROMANCE WORTH KILLING FOR, a blogging collaboration by three romantic suspense authors, Elisabeth Naughton, Joan Swan and Linda Winfree.

All writing-related topics, all the time. With 8 collective years of serious writing between us, the subjects will range from back-to-basics grammar and GMC, through the submission process, obtaining an agent and beyond. Posts scheduled Mon/Wed/Fri with surprises planned in between, so check back often.

Don’t worry, I’ll still be posting here with my usual rants about writing, the Gremlins and life in general. But egad! I’m scheduled to post first over … Read more »

Did that get your attention?

I came across this great article today while doing research. No, it wasn’t that kind of research, but I still managed to stumble across this. It’s interesting (um, to say the least).

Anyone who’s ever written a love scene knows it’s the hardest scene in the world to write (no pun intended there). You gotta keep it fresh, new, exciting, and you have to figure out a way to say the same thing without repeating yourself in the last scene you wrote. The following article might just stimulate your mind and give you some interesting … Read more »