• In the spotlight …

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    So I did something kind of unusual today — I filmed a television spot for National Library Week (April 12-18). I’m going to be appearing at one of my regional libraries, the Bristol Public Library, at 7 p.m. April 13, and I was one of three authors the library recruited to do the spot.

    It was nothing big, just a local cable access channel in my area. We went in, stood in front of the camera, went through a short script a couple of times, and tried not to flub it up too bad. Bada-bing, bada-boom, we were done. The whole thing took less than 30 minutes.

    I think these things are always interesting, though — the different setups, different equipment, different ways people approach promotion. Since this was a local cable channel located in the community center, it was very bare bones. A guy with a camera and some equipment.

    But it was still fun to do. And hey, it actually required me to try to do something with my hair and put on some makeup this morning. :bubbles:

    I kind of dread seeing myself, though. I always think I sound completely hillbilly (hey, y’all!). And for some reason, I always seem to look angry on television — probably because I’m thinking too hard about not screwing up my lines. So don’t blame me if I look like this … :hulk:

    Anyway, I hope you will all go out in April and support your local libraries. They really are great places to visit!

  • Decisions, decisions …

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    So I met with my critique group last night. I’d sent them some sample chapters of Quiver, my young-adult fantasy, to look over. The general conscensus was that my second effort – making my main character, Gwen, more of a Robin Hood-type outlaw — was much better and more in keeping with my voice.

    That’s good and made me feel like I was going in the right direction with the book …

    Until this morning, when I had yet another idea — to make Gwen more of a Scarlet Pimpernel-type character and basically switch her role with that of her love interest’s.

    I think it’s an idea that has merit, but argh!!! :hulk:

    Now, I don’t know what to do — keep going with what I’m doing or go back to the beginning again and start over. I’ve never had such problems deciding what to do with a book before. Sigh.

    But at 36,000 words in my second draft, I think I’m just going to keep going and finish this draft out. Then, I’ll let it sit for a few weeks and see what I’ve got. Hopefully, even if I do decide to change Gwen’s character yet again, I’ll have enough good stuff from the second draft to help me make the changes relatively quickly.

    Oh yeah, and sometime during all this, I want to start working on the rough draft of Elemental Assassin 4.

    So hello, computer. I think you and me will be spending a lot of time together this weekend … :rolleyes:

  • Going, going, gone …

    2 Comments

    So I’ve gotten word that the trade paperback edition of Hot Mama is going out of print. This isn’t unusual after the mass market version comes out. Why buy a book for $14 when you can get it for $7.99? And with the economy the way it is, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.

    Anyway, if you want the trade paperback of Hot Mama with the cool cartoon cover, get it while you can …

  • · ·

    And the title is …

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    Spider’s Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book.

    Pretty cool, huh? At this point, we’re thinking all the titles will have the word Spider’s in them. Spider’s Web is another title my agent, editor, and I all like – it will probably be used for Book 2 or 3. Anyway, more to come.

    I’m just glad I have a title now! :ww:

    Also, the first chapter of Spider’s Bite has been up on the Web site for a while now, but I thought I would also share it here. Please excuse the formatting. For some reason, the blog doesn’t like me to copy and paste stuff in. So I had to take all the code out. I think I cleaned up everything, but at the very least, you’ll get a sense of what the book is about. Warning: Violence and language follow. The book is about an assassin after all. Happy reading!

    Read More “And the title is …”

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    Done … for now …

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    So I’m back at the day job this week. But I actually did get a few things done while I was off last week. Namely, I finished revising the Spy book and sent that to my agent. Huzzah! Now, let’s just hope she thinks it has some potential. Fingers crossed on that one.

    And, yes, I got my house clean too. We’ll see how long that lasts, though. 😈

    And I finally decided on how I want to proceed with Quiver, the young-adult fantasy that I’m writing. My heroine is going to be a Robin Hood-type outlaw who gets mixed up in a plot to kill a queen. It’s very much going to be a fairy tale, action fantasy with lots of battles. Swords, sorcery, a cute prince. All the things I love about the genre, with a hefty dose of girl power thrown in. :ww:

    I’m not sure if this is necessarily the right direction to go with the book, but I’m having fun writing it so far, which is always important. Because if I’m not having fun, it pretty much means that what I’m writing sucks out loud. At least, that’s my general rule of thumb. Anyway, I’ll keep you guys posted on how it’s going. If I can figure out how to do it without screwing up the blog format, I’ll post the first chapter here on the blog for you to read.

    What about you guys? Anyone working on anything interesting? Share in the comments.