Combating blank screen anxiety

**Attempt #4 at getting this posted; bloody Internet issues**

Having participated in NaNoWriMo for 11 years running, I've gotten fairly good at jumping head first into first drafts without knowing much of anything.  However, the blank screen still taunts me with its blinking curser, telling me I don't know what I'm doing, and that this draft is going to suck.

But you know what?  That's okay.  First drafts are allowed to suck, because the biggest point to that very first sentence is to write it.  It doesn't matter what you write, just write.  Whether you start off with a page worth of ranting about how this is going to be the worst thing ever written, or start with a perfectly coined sentence; the important part is that you're writing.  You're putting pen to paper, or keystroke to screen, and you are telling that niggling voice of doubt that it can stuff it.

First drafts are just what they sound like, beginnings.  Once you've given your story something to work with you can go back and fix everything you omitted, or forgot.  But get that first, sucky draft done.  Bite your thumb at the voice of doubt, and pound out the vision in your head.

And once you've finished that draft, treat yourself to a drink; because even a really shoddy rough draft is quite a step down the path of writing a fully functional story.

<3 Lacie J

Current projects:

Two Darkest Mercy stories, and something winter holiday themed :3

Those silent months, in summary

Since it's been quite a few months between posts, I figured I'd take this post and babble about some of the things I've been up to, and give you a few mini reviews of my recently read books. 

~*~

Back in January, and again in March, I had the pleasure of attending showings for the Donmar Warehouse's 'Coriolanus' thanks to National Theater Live's worldwide broadcast.  Not only did this allow me to see a fantastic adaptation of a Shakespeare play performed in London, and meet fellow Shakespeare fans, it also gave me the opportunity to fangirl over the acting abilities of Mark Gatiss, Hadley Fraser, and Tom Hiddleston. :3 

Then, at the end of March, I got to enjoy the exhausting, box filled, process of moving into a new apartment.  So many boxes of books to haul up a flight of stairs. XP I can honestly say that moving I'd the only time I hate having as prolific a reading habit as I do.

Also during the past few months I've been able to attend book signings for Brandon Sanderson, Laini Taylor, Charlaine Harris, Laurell K Hamilton, Alice Clayton, Ruthie Knox, Monica Murphy, Tiffany Reisz, and Andrew Shaffer.

Now that we're all caught up on the mundane happenings of my life, onto some mini book reviews!

~*~

I picked this one up at the dollar store while visiting my mum, because I'd already finished the book I took down with me, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.  The first 75, or so, pages dragged a bit, and almost had me putting the book aside; but once I made it through the world building/stage setting the pace picked up, and the story became more engrossing and enjoyable.

Norse mythology, and two of my favorite authors, together in one book?  Sign me up!

I adored this book and its romp through a present day world populated with reincarnated gods.  Fast paced with the well balanced characters and plot I've come to expect from both Marr and Armstrong, this was a fantastic introduction to a new MG series.

I was completely predisposed to loving this book, being that I'm a former writer, though still a reader, of slash fanfiction, and a self admitted fangirl.  That being said, this novel was a fantastic blend of laugh out loud humor and the gut wrenching struggle to find yourself amidst the often times frightening world of adulthood.

~*~

Come Wednesday I'll be talking current projects, and how I approach the nerve wracking blank page of first drafts.

<3 Lacie J

Sorry

I've got no excuse for my lengthy absence:  that being said, I'm sorry about going silent on this particular branch of my social media. <3

I'm working on an actual, official post for Monday; so, I'll see you then!

Lacie J

*photographic proof I'm still alive*

Happy October!

It's now officially October, which means two things:

One; Halloween is EVERYWHERE!  We're talking bats and pumpkins, spiders and witches, and I'm loving every single minute of it.  I love Halloween, in case you've somehow missed the memo/tweets/tumblr reblogs/etc.  And in honor of this wonderful season, I'll be spamming you *coughs* posting all sorts of things related to my favorite time of year.

Two; NaNoWriMo is officially almost here!  Thirty-one days before all of the world's Wrimos buckle down, and write those masterful 30-day-novels.  2013 marks my tenth years of NaNo, and hopefully my seventh win.  Also, this year I'm stepping up as co-ML (Municipal Liaison for the non-NaNo savvy) in my region.  So expect lots of NaNo babble here, and don't forget to grab your popcorn to watch the rapid loss of my coherency as November progresses. ;P

Along the NaNo lines, October also marks the beginning of Crunch-tober; a wonderful month wherein many Wrimos begin 'practicing' their daily word count skills by answering daily writing prompts.  As co-ML, and an all around crazy person, I will be participating in Crunch-tober this year, and will be posting some of my daily responses every Thursday for everyone's amusement.

Other than that, round one of edits for Connect have been completed and returned to LT3, and I'm ridiculously happy both with the edits I received via their editor, and with the tweaking I did.  I still think there's some growth necessary before it's ready to be released, but we're well on our way now.

Prompt #2 - use the song you're currently listening to

Now for your reading pleasure, or displeasure, I give you another unedited free write, this one brought to you via the way back machine...

Use the song you're currently listening to - 'Dancing With Myself' by Billy Idol

Dancing With Myself circa 2003

Slumping into his arms I nuzzle at his throat. Got to be careful not to leave any marks. She’d wonder if he showed up with the mark of my teeth on his skin. Especially since I’m not supposed to be around anymore.

Fingers trailing through my hair he smiles. Lifting my chin I wrinkle my nose at him.

Brushing his mouth against mine he slides hands under my clothes. Latching onto his lips I wrap my arms around his shoulders.

Tugging at his lip with my teeth I arch as he kneads fingers into my rear. Tongue moving in to taste his mouth. Fight for dominance. Grind my hips forward in slow circles. Shudder in my grip.

Release his lips and move down to attack the smooth skin of his throat. Fingers tugging irritating clothing out of the way. Shiver as nails scratch down my spine.

Tumble down together, rustle of sheets beneath us.

Hands roving over heated skin. Mouth’s locked in breathless kisses.

Prod of fingers. Arch off the bed as they slide in. Stars flash behind my eyes.

Give in to his insistent kisses. Fingers leaving me empty for a moment.

Muscles scream as he pushes in.

Rock with his rhythm. Caress of his palm on me.

Voice crack as I find my release. He follows seconds later.

Snuggle together in the haze.

She doesn’t need to know about this fall.  

*******

I'm going to go hide in a corner now. XD

Take two on being back ^^;

Once again, my apologies for falling off the face of the internet. XP I've been suffering from 'over work' with my day job (retail is hell), and some irritating writer's block; but, I think I've broken through the evil writer's block, and as for the retail hell, well, what'cha going to do about it save the best you can?

On the writing front, I've got two new stories out; one free read, and one that's part of a serial anthology.

Free read

Written as part of Goodreads M/M Romance's summer 'Love Has No Boundaries' event.  The story can either be read over on the group's site, here; or, for those who aren't members, you can download it over here.

PHOTO DESCRIPTION:
A naked, tattooed man stands under a shower head, looking over his shoulder.

STORY LETTER:
Dear Author,

Oh shit… he must have heard me! But can you blame me for perving a little here? Who’d have thought that my boss was hiding that ink and perfect ass under his tight buttoned, prim and proper suit! Talk about a dream come true. Now if only the other vibes I’ve been getting from him are true…

Sincerely,

Shaz
STORY INFO:
Genre: contemporary
Tags: lust, boss/employee, mutual masturbation, fluff, men with children, tattoos, piercings
Word count: 5,379


This was the photo inspiration: *drools*






Serial read

Also available for online reading pleasure is my addition to LT3's 'Rocking Hard' serial anthology, 'Put You in a Song'.  I've never done a serial story before, unless you count my fanfiction writing sprees XD.  

Ten months ago, on a whirlwind New Year's Eve, Garrett and Rich enjoyed a wild night together. Back in town for the final performance of his band's tour, Rich can't wait to see Garrett again, unable to forget him. But a wild night and a lifetime are two different things, and the first real challenge they face may be more than their fragile new relationship can take.

Head on over to LT3's site to read part one, and the other stories in the volume. :3

<3 Lacie J

Prompt #1 - what was stolen from the children

This was written in response to the first of hopefully many prompts with my writing group.  I have not edited this brief drabble in any way, so I guess it can kind stand as an illustration for what my initial, rough, rough drafts tend to look like.  ^^;  The group is on a temporary summer hiatus currently; however, I'm thinking of setting aside 15-30 minutes every Thursday to write to a prompt, to help clear my mind and stretch my creative muscles.  We'll try it out for a few weeks, and see how it works, but I'm hoping it might be a fun idea that I can drag other authors into joining.

Prompt: What was stolen from the children?

Chatter a wild thing around her, the girl-child stands motionless in the middle of the mall, ignored by everyone. Wide, silver eyes blink slowly, her hands beginning to jitter by her sides, as though trying to wake herself from some nightmare. Right hand rising with a tremble she draws a deep breath before letting out a shrill scream. People continuing to bustle around her without regard she screams again, rainbow painted nails digging into her cheek.

Jerking into motion she wends through the blind crowd, words beginning to form from the senseless panic. Toe of her purple sneaker catching on a step, sending her to her hands and knees, she lets out a cry of pain. Bloody scratches on her face she gasps as no one even slows to ask if she's alright.

“W-what's ha-happening? Why i-isn't anyone p-paying attention t-to me?”

Making her way back to her feet with a slight whimper she turns around in place, watching the people go about their business as though she weren't even there. Mouth pinched she darts directly into the path of a portly man staring at his phone, desperate to get a reaction. Rush of people slowing, shifting ever so slightly out of place, she stumbles as everything resumes its pace, the man having somehow missed her.

Experiment repeated a half dozen times, each time with the same weird herky-jerky response she sinks to the ground with a low moan. Tears in her eyes she watches the endless, unseeing flow of people pass her by.

“It's no use ducky, nothing you do will make them see you.”

Balance lost as she twists wildly, elbows connecting sharply with the tile, she stares up at the teen who just spoke. “Y-you can see me?”

Snap of gum louder than it should be as the world gives another one of its strange skips, the teen nods. “Course I can ducky; now come on, up off that floor before you catch a chill.”

“But-”

“No buts, up we go, places to go, witches to see.”

Frowning the girl glances away from the teen to take in the crowd, suddenly not wanting to leave the familiar stretch of mall, even if no one could see her. Hand to her mouth she stares, going cold, as a woman – Mother – strides by holding hands with a girl almost her identical twin. Warped mirror image giving her a shark toothed grin it wiggles rainbow painted nails in farewell.

Reaching out, grasping for the teen's arm, she cries, “What is that thing doing with my mother?”

Another loud snap of gum, the almost-twin vanishing amidst the crowds. Expression kind the teen guides the girl in the opposite direction. “Stealing her, and your life; now come, as I said we've got places to go and witches to see if you mean to survive the theft.”

And, we're back

Wow, it's been a bit, hasn't it?  My apologies for 'slacking' in my blogging, I've had a hectic couple of months in regards to the non-writing portion of my life.  But I'm back now, I promise, so let's get on with it.  :P

My 'Love Has No Boundaries' short is in the final stages of formatting prior to being posted up on Goodreads' M/M Romance group, and I'm actually quite pleased with the way it turned out, even if it is a tad short.  The two main characters were such a delight to work with, even when they pissed me off by refusing to do what I wanted them to do.  I can definitely see myself revisiting them later to prod more of their lives out of them.  And yes, I will be posting a link to the story's thread once it's released; I might even post the story here after a while, for those who aren't members of the group.

I've also been working on several new ideas for a variety of stories:  a pair of vampires who enjoying surfing, my poor cursed flower Calliopsis, a young man named after one of Shakespeare's great tragedies, and a bitter retail employee stuck helping entitled university students.

Oh!  I almost forgot, Put You in a Song, my second short story with Less Than Three Press, is due to be released in their serial line up next month.  Put You in a Song takes place around a year after the events in Rock 'n Roll Seraphim, and while AJ and Z are in it, it features the band's drummer Rich and his try at finding love.  I had a lot of fun putting words to Rich's story, and can't wait to delve back into the characters who make up this world.

*hums and skips back to rewriting The Prince's Flower*

Not dead, just busy combating real life; more news soonish. :3
<3 Lacie J

Guest post - Skylar Kade

Today I'm pleased to be hosting a guest post from one of my writing buddies, author Skylar Kade, as part of her Heat up the Night blog tour.  :3 

So, without further ado,I give you her guest post about writing:

Writing Punchy Sentences

Writing 101: Write good sentences. But what the hell does that even mean? Most beginning writers will load their sentences with vivid adjectives and adverbs and wildly imaginative verbs.

But this may not actually accomplish what you want—a sentence that punches right at the reader’s psyche. In romance, this is especially important because when you’re dealing with stories about sex and love, you want to bypass the logical forebrain and have the characters’ trials hit the reader as if they were their own.

In this scenario, our heroine is getting ready to have sex with the hero for the first time. We’re going to take the most basic sentence that summarizes her feelings, and looks at ways to take it from blah to punched up. Remember—not every sentence has to hit this level of precision, but this is a good way to selectively hit the reader in the face (or the heart, if you’re into that kind of romance) on occasion.

WHAT WE WANT TO EXPRESS: She felt excited.

This isn’t a bad sentence, per se. It’s just bland. You’re not giving the reader any access points, or ways to approximate what she’s feeling. Is she excited and nervous? How does she experience excitement--what does it feel like to her? “Felt” is what I like to call a nothing verb. You’re telling the reader she’s experiencing something, but in an empty way. Don’t get me wrong—feel is a great verb, and I use it in my writing. But when you’re going for a scene of high emotion or high intensity, every word counts.

IMPROVED SENTENCE: She thrilled at the excitement flooding rapidly through her body.

To me, this is a little heavy-handed, and it has three main issues. First, we have the same problem with “thrilled” as we did with “feel”—it’s kind of a nothing verb. We want to evoke a visceral, physical reaction in the reader.

Second, “rapidly” is an adverb that doesn’t do anything to the sentence that a stronger adjective than “flooding” couldn’t solve.Actually, the whole phrase “flooding rapidly through” could be replaced by a single, strong verb. You could use “flooded”—good enough by itself—or “swamped” or “deluged.” Technically, I don’t think deluged is a verb, but this is one area of creative license I’m passionate about—appropriating words in one part of speech and using it in another. For example: using the noun “mouse” as a verb, as in “The shy girl moused into the back of the classroom.” Vivid, right?

The other problem is that pesky “she”.  If we’re trying to punch the reader, we need to be in deep point of view, which, as much as possible, closes the distance between the reader and the POV character. Instead of being told what she’s experiencing, we feel (see, nothing verbs are ok sometimes!) everything along with her. Here’s where we get super-tricky and all sexy grammatical. Right now, “She” is the subject of the sentence, “thrilled” is the verb, and “excitement” is the object. We’re going to invert this a little bit and say that “Excitement” is the main actor in this sentence.

EVEN BETTER SENTENCE: Excitement flooded her body.

So we’ve deepened POV by making “Excitement” the subject of the sentence. We’ve tightened the verb and have something action-y: “Flooded.” This is a pretty damn good sentence, especially since we started with “She felt excited.” This is leagues better. But how can we make it even more visceral? We have to show the reader how excitement feels to the heroine.

AMAZEBALLS SENTENCE: Excitement gripped her by the throat.

Punch to the face! We feel this along with our heroine. We know what kind of excitement she’s experiencing—part terrifying, mostly thrilling. Ka-pow!

Let me reiterate—not every sentence needs to be amazeballs. Not only does it not need to be this way, it shouldn’t. The moresentence you have that punch the reader, the more exhausted they’ll be by reading, and the less impact each punchy sentence will actually have. Pick and choose. String a few together for the turning points, or pepper them in your high emotion scenes. Use this power judiciously!

Pro tip: If you try to write like this your first draft, your head might explode. When you’re drafting (especially fast drafting) write those crappy-to-mediocre sentences. This is why we edit, my friends: to create a damn good story and to keep our heads from spewing pieces of brain matter onto our writing buddies. Edit your way to punchy sentences.

BLURB

Can they find love without losing themselves…

Tovia Douglas has devoted her adult years to sheltering her mentally ill mother and ensuring her sister's independence. When Tovia turns 27, those lost years come into sharp, painful focus and she decides it's time to start enjoying life, starting with a little mental vacation through submission at her local kink club.

Keilor Branson grew up believing in love at first sight. He just figured his other half would feel it too. Instead, feisty new submissive Tovia runs from their emotional connection. Determined, Keilor must chip away at her walls and prove that love is worth the risk.

When family troubles lead to Tovia's change of heart, their roles are reversed. Now she must prove to her man, her Master, that while love isn't always perfect, they are perfect for each other.

BUY LINK (All Romance eBooks)

https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-heatupthenight-1186667-147.html

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EXCERPT

His face hit her like a fist to the stomach. Even after seeing him in her dreams every night for a month, she was still awed by him. Dark brows framed laughing hazel eyes, now serious, which led to a nose that would have looked oversized on anyone else, with its reset-bone bump. It just gave him character. More laugh lines around his mouth, and the beginnings of a goatee. That was new. It was the only hair on his head.

She’d never been attracted to bald men, but Keilor was so sexy that even his bare skull turned her on. She knew it was by choice. She’d worked a little Google-Fu after their first scene together and found recent pictures of him with a full head of thick, brown hair.

Warning bells went off, but they were drowned out by his voice.

“I’m sure Master Mike will be tickled to learn he has such a steadfast champion.”

Waves of subtle lemony air drifted over her, as they always did in his presence. Or they did during their one scene together. She hadn’t been able to serve a Lemontini since without her panties getting wet.

Tovia sighed at his teasing even as the little hint of jealousy in his voice made her stomach jump. She shouldn’t react, but her body betrayed her so easily. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

Laughter rumbled her bones at every point of contact with his body. “I’m an elite member. I’m here all the time.”

“Not since we—” She bit off the rest of her sentence before she could dig herself in further and tried again to wriggle from his lap.

“Silly girl.” His words gentled, soothed. One rough hand slid up and down her arm. Damnit, she should not like that. “I was in Greece. The owner of the Hellena sent me over there to sample food and wine vendors. I assumed you knew.”

Now he’d think she was pining after him. Just because she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him didn’t mean she missed him. Or wanted a repeat that lasted all night.

No, because that would be ridiculous. Douglas women didn’t need men. It was practically the family motto.

To keep things light, she teased him back, ignoring the way her skin heated beneath his touch. “Oooh, poor thing. That must have been such a hardship.” A smile even teased at the corner of her lips despite her efforts to remain unaffected by his presence. When was the last time she smiled at a man who wasn’t tipping her for drinks?

Keilor stared down at her. “Actually, it was.”

Oh boy. She wasn’t touching the wealth of subtleties in those words. Not going down that path.

Keilor lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. Butterflies hatched in her chest, then died when he said, “You look tired.”

She scowled. “Well if that isn’t what every woman wants to hear from an attractive—” Her jaw clunked shut around the foot in her mouth.

He nipped her forefinger, zinging arousal to all her naughty bits, then stole her breath when he kissed her nose, her cheek. “Do you get a freckle every time you sass a Dom?”

An indelicate snort escaped her. “Sure. The freckles are a little-known Dominant Warning System saying ‘steer clear of the angry redhead!’” Yes, she thought, hold dear to your sarcasm. It was her current chastity belt of choice, and that was swiftly crumbling at the edges.

“Good. Less competition.” His lips drifted to her neck, where he pressed kisses to random patches of skin still exposed around the edges of the blanket.

Oh shit. She clutched the soft brown cover around her, remembering what she wore beneath—absolutely nothing aside from her short shorts. Like flipping a switch, her nipples hardened and her pussy clenched. He could so easily expose her. Not that she hadn’t been naked in the club every weekend, but it was different now, with Keilor watching her.

Dangerous.

“What…what are you doing?” His exploratory kisses had turned into sizzling nips to her collarbone.

“Counting your freckles.” He tugged at the blanket, playing momentary tug of war with her until he stopped fighting and simply went around the mountain. His hand slithered beneath her shield to scald her stomach, then higher. When the back of his hand brushed across her nipple, she moaned. “I need a baseline count. Scientific study and all of that.”

Skylar Kade is a logophile who spends her days reading, writing, and dreaming up new characters. She lives in sunny Southern California with her sweetheart and their two dogs. When not immersed in words, she loves long walks on the beach…er, make that sitting on the beach and watching others walk by. Find her blogging with the Nine Naughty Novelists (http://ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com), or on Twitter (@skylarkade),Facebook (www.facebook.com/AuthorSkylarKade), Tumblr (http://skylarkade.tumblr.com), and Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/SkylarKade).  

Busy, busy times

So many things have happened since I last posted, and I apologize for the silence, but I'm getting back up and on my feet, so we'll be back to a slightly more regular updating schedule soon.

I've almost finished my LHNB story, and hope to get it wrapped up this weekend so it can take a trip to one of my betas to get a second pair of eyes looking at it.  This story has been ridiculously fun to write, and I'm really hoping Shaz likes it. *crosses fingers* Hopefully this weekend I'll be posting a second teaser both here and on Goodreads. :3

My living situation took a bit of a nose dive, which is why I've been nonexistent, for the most part, on the internet.  Long story short, my long time roommate had been planning to move to CO, which I knew all about, so I've been helping her pack and prepare, as well as say goodbye to CA.  In the meantime I'd been hunting for a new roommate, and thought I found one:  he moved in on the 1st of April, paid his portion of rent for that month, as well as his security deposit.  All of April went by without a hitch until last weekend, when I got a call from my other roommate telling me that he was packing his stuff up and leaving.  So he left, with no warning or intent to say anything to me, and I've been scrambling ever since.

I'm good right now, but it's been a rocky couple of weeks.  XP

But enough whining about my personal life; writing!

Alongside working on my LHNB contribution I've been writing the story that picks up where Rock 'n Roll Seraphim leaves off, as Seraphim was only intended to bring the two together. *tries not to say anything that might be considered a spoiler* Now I get to write all about the ups and downs of them adjusting to their relationship, and the stresses both current and former jobs puts on them.  I love my boys, but I know relationships aren't all fluff and hearts, so I wanted to visit that, and show how they become as strong together as I've seen them in future stories.

Other than that, there are a couple of ideas I'm poking at but nothing concrete as of yet.

And now I'm off to paint my nails a shiny Tardis blue, and try to wrap up the lose ends in my LHNB story.

<3!

Winners, updates, and a teaser

First and foremost, before I get going, the winners for my contribution to LT3's 'Way to Your Heart' birthday shenanigans; Shayla Mist and Crissy Morris!  Emails have been sent out, so please holler back at me for confirmation, and the first one of you I hear back from gets first dibs on choice of shiny. And a big thank you to everyone who stopped by my neck of the internet to say hi during the past couple of weeks, thanks to your replies I've now got a couple new addictions to pile into my poor iPod. XD

Now, moving on to everything else...

In the land of editing: my final, personal revisions to 'Connect', still not entirely certain on that title, went in to LT3, as did the reviewed manuscript for 'Put You in a Song'. Woo-hoo editing madness! I'm looking forward to getting back the edits for 'Connect' because I think right now I'm still too close to it to be able to do it justice editing wise, but I am really, really pleased with the way it turned out, and can't wait to share it with you.

In the land of revisions: I'm working on rewriting one of my rejected stories from last year for re-submission at the end of next month, tightening and tweaking things to make it even better than it is currently. Also on the running the revision gauntlet is the rejected 'Prince's Flower', am hoping to expand it from 7K to 10-12K before I submit it to LT3 for their fairytale serial line.

In the land of new writings: I've sadly come to the conclusion that I'm not going to make LT3's 'Proud to be a Vampire' submission deadline for two reasons; one, the characters aren't talking to me, and I refuse to force the story to happen and end up with something I hate, and two, my Darkest Mercy boys have been chattering up a storm in my head space, so I'm giving in to them, and writing something that'll fall in-between 'Rock 'n Roll Seraphim' and 'Put You in a Song'. But I will return to my vampires in the not so distant future, so I'm not completely bummed to have to shelf them for now.

Also, I'm hard at work on my contribution to the Goodread's M/M Romance group's 'Love Has NoBoundaries' writing event. My 'Dear Author' letter was written by Shaz, and I'm having entirely too much fun with it. :3 For those of you who aren't members on Goodreads, here's the teaser, from the working draft, that I posted last week:

Names removed, and replaced with place holders, as per event guidelines

**

Way to Your Heart winners

I'll be posting the winners once I get home for the day, so expect a much more verbose update later this evening. :3

Belated birthday drabble for Melanie Tushmore

Melanie,

Happy belated birthday! Sorry it took me an extra week to get this done and up. ^^;; My manwhore of a guitarist wasn't behaving. But I finally coaxed him into this diddy; so here you go, and I hope you enjoy it.

<3 Lacie J

**

Bag of overpriced, but oh so worth it, band merchandise to my chest I wriggle free of the crowd surrounding the vendor's booth. Pushing free of the crush I pull my messenger bag around and manage to fit my latest purchases into the already crammed space. Glance around the convention hall as I snap the buckle back into place.

I still had a couple hours before my roommates were due to meet me for the benefit concert across the way. Normally I would have spent the day holding my place in line, but I'd somehow lucked out with reserved seating thanks to being one of the first fifty people to purchase tickets to the event. And all of that before Darkest Mercy had announced that they would be performing a couple of songs in the concert.

Phone in hand I ride an escalator up from the main dealer floor.

<So, how much have you spent on DM merch? Find anything you don't already have w Tobin, or Chris' face all over it?>

Snort under my breath, they knew me so well; anything with Darkest Mercy's guitarists was almost guaranteed to find its way into my room eventually. It was like a disease the way I felt compelled to buy the weirdest crap if it had them on it. <Round $100 :P taking a smoke break on one of the hall's roofs before descending into the madness surrounding the arena to meet up with you guys.> <cut>

<Only $100? What, do you have everything they're selling?>

Blowing a kiss to one of the boys I'd danced with last night as we pass each other I shoulder the door open. <...no...yes...maybe...shut up, I know you're laughing at me. It's not my fault they're hotter than hell.>

<You're worse than the teenage girls who stalk them.>

Less Than Three Press is celebrating their fourth birthday this month, and to help with the celebration they're hosting a bloghop featuring a bunch of awesome people.  You can check out the master post here to find links to all of the other participant's blogs.

And now, without further ado, I give you my contribution to the birthday shenanigans:


As anyone who regularly spends time with me can tell you, my life revolves around books(both the reading and writing of), music, my cat, coffee, and alcohol.  Now, since I can't take you out drinking, unless you want to travel to me, I decided to focus on music first.

Music to me, is less a way to my heart and more a way of life.  I love, love, love music!  I constantly have either my headphones in or something playing.  And I love all kinds of music; pop, classical, jrock, country; anything really.  Even at work I'm a musicoholic, constantly singing along with whatever random psuedo crap we've got on the in-store play loop.  There's just something about music that's followed me through my life that has made it one of the unchanging facets of day-to-day me.

Back when I was an itsy little bit, I used to sing in church choirs.  Did all sorts of embarrassing shows; which I'm certain my mum has on video somewhere in her house... ^^;  Come fifth grade my dad got me started on playing the flute alongside him.  Unlike him I continued to play, making my way through junior high in the band, and high school in marching, parade, and orchestra.  Nowadays I've slacked off on my flute playing, but I do occasionally pick it up and just twiddle away a chunk of time playing whatever comes to mind.

As for 'commercial' music, you know, the stuff they play on the radio and what have you, that didn't threaten to take over my life until eight grade when I was one of the millions of unfortunate casualties to the boy band resurgence  yes, I was/am a fan of Backstreet, 'N Sync, etc., and I do believe I've just dated myself. XD

*coughs* Anyway, moving along before I'm made fun of for my boy band liking...

Back when I first got going on that side of my musical addiction I used to buy cd's like they were candy, which explains the boxes of them in my closet that I need to go through, and now, with cd's losing popularity, I have to watch myself with my instant gratification kick on mp3's.  I think I tend to pick up a new song every week or so these days with the convenience of the internet and itunes.

And yes, I do create soundtracks to my stories, and sometimes even character playlists.  Every time I settle in to a new world, with new characters, I have to find the music that sings to them before I can really connect with them to write.  I know a lot of authors find music in the background distracting while they write, but for me it's just another facet of the process.

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Giveaway Time

In honor of my musical obsessions, I've got two shiny prizes I'm itching to hand out

* $10 iTunes gift card

* ebook copy of Rock 'n Roll Seraphim by yours truly

To enter, simply leave me a comment telling me what your favorite song/artist is currently.  Don't forget to leave me an e-mail so I can contact you. :3

I'll draw a pair of winners at the end of LT3's celebration, on April 14th, and will contact the winners.  First one to reply gets first dibs on which prize they want. ^^

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*raises a glass in toast* Happy birthday Less Than Three!  Thank you for everything so far, and here's to a long continuing relationship together!

<3 Lacie J

LT3 is turning 4!!

LT3 is throwing a bloghop in celebration of their 4th birthday!  The Way to Your Heart bloghop is going to feature a bunch of their authors and associates blogging about the things we love; music, Dr Who, food, cats.  You name it, we'll probably be blogging about it. :3

And in honor of said bloghop, I'll be doing my first ever giveaway.  Woo-hoo, Lacie's going to give away free things to people who comment on her blog!  What kind of free things you ask?  You'll have to visit during the bloghop to find out, but they're going to be shiny.  Promise.

** Yes, I know, two blog posts in one day after nothing for almost a month...what can I say? ^.~ **

Wow, I suck at keeping an update schedule

I've been meaning to post an update for like a week, and for some reason I just keep procrastinating on doing so. Sorry for that. *hangs head in shame*

Moving on; I've got news, which is why I've been meaning to post. 'Connect' has been accepted by LT3! *happy dance* I'm so happy that all of my hard work paid off with it. Of course, now I've got to give it a final run through to make sure I've got it all pretty before it goes to an editor. Still excited though. :3

Also, 'The Prince's Flower' was rejected, so we're going to give it another pass through before deciding whether I should submit it to LT3 or do something else with it.

I've also hopped on board with the M/M Romance group's Love Has No Boundaries writing event; snagged my story prompt and need to post my own 'Dear Author'. So I've got a fun, free story to write which'll be released as part of their annual summer event.

Other than that? I just finished reviewing the edits for 'Put You in a Song', which is due to be released starting in August.

Feeling rather productive this morning; now it's time to decide if I want to work on one of my upcoming vampire submissions or start my answer to the LHNB prompt.

'Connect' has been submitted X3

The story I started back during last year's NaNoWriMo, and have been arguing with since mid December, is finally done!  Turns out what I wrote during NaNo is quite possibly the second part of these character's lives.  Oops. :P  But I'm overwhelmingly pleased with the 15K that make up Connect, even if it is shorter than I'd hoped for.  Submitted as a response to LT3's 'If You're Reading This...' serial anthology call it's kind of a bizarre twist to the whole message in a bottle idea; which just happens to take place on a website called Message in a Bottle. XD

Full of puns, that's me.  Plus, it's got tornadoes in it!  And no, I couldn't resist making a Dorothy joke, so there's a comment in there about Elijah trying to ride a tornado...

Anywho, I've got all of my fingers crossed, and my toes, hoping the team there likes it.

And as a pseudo teaser, here's the little mini blurb I created for Connect:

Raised in a fiercely Christian town in the Midwest, Elijah has always had his family and faith on his side; until the day he tells his father he's gay. Shunned and abused by the town he trusted for his revelation Elijah takes a chance on an anonymous note, and soon discovers a website which seems almost too good to be true. Posting alongside thousands of others he finds the strength to accept that his being gay wasn't a mistake on God's part.

The Prince's Flower is also done, I'm just finishing up tweaking my query letter before I send that one out as well.  

Next on my 'to tackle' list are a series of vampire stories, and quite possibly a something featuring exotic dancers that I blame entirely on my trip to Vegas last week.  *hums 'save a horse, ride a cowboy'*

The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

The Next Big Thing

So a couple of weeks ago I was tagged by the wonderful and amazing Eddie Louise in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop, and yes, it did take me that long to get this written, I'm a busy girl, so sue me. :P  Anyway, The Next Big Thing is a rather long running, world wide blog hop that takes people to a variety of author's, self-pub, unpublished, and published, blogs, and asks each author to answer a series of 10 easy questions. 

And these are my responses to said questions:

What is the working title of your next book?

Message in a Bottle was the initial working title, but recently I’ve taken to calling it Connect; of course, I’m also writing a short fairytale called The Prince's Flower at the same time. You know, to make sure I don't get bored. XD

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I’m what's commonly known as a pantser in the writing world. What this means is, I don't often have anything beyond a name, or the very foggiest of ideas when I start writing: that being said, Connect came into being when I tried to think of a different twist to the whole message in a bottle trope.

The Prince's Flower? That one was inspired by too much alcohol and a Grimm fairytale.

What genre does your book fall under?

The biggest genre any of my current writing falls under would be m/m fiction.  For the unitiated who have stumbled across my blog via this hop, or a lurker who hasn't figured it out yet; m/m essentially means what it looks like, it's a story that is about two men, and generally speaking, has a romantic twist to it.

 I write stories in a lot subgenres, fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, but they inevitably focus on the LGBT side of things; because, come on, everyone deserves their happy ending, don't they?

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I think I might be a freak of nature among authors because I very rarely find myself hunting down pictures of real people to play my characters.  That being said, I've got no clue who I would chose to play the part of anyone in a movie rendition.  Sorry *shrugs* just not my thing.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Connect:  17 year old Elijah struggles to come to terms with being gay, and being true to his faith, while living in a small Midwestern town.

The Prince's Flower:  Cursed by a witch for his callous behavior, Calliopsis laments ever finding someone worth the struggle of breaking his curse.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Both will hopefully be represented, if not by my current publisher LT3, by another of the LGBT friendly publishers out there.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

30 days; NaNoWriMo 2012 to be precise, for Connect; 2 days for The Prince's Flower, give or take.  

Now editing that first, initial draft?  So much longer. XD

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

With Connect, I'm not sure, I've yet to come across another that is attempting to go about it the way I am.  I don't mean that I'm all uber unique and special, but I really haven't seen anything quite like it in the m/m spectrum yet.  In more mainstream teen, and adult fiction, yes, but m/m?  Haven't found it.

As for The Prince's Flower, LT3 has a line called Fairy Tales Slashed which takes well known, and not so well known, fairy tales and kind of twists them around.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

One of my cousins and my two youngest siblings actually. My cousin is gay, and recently took his relationship with his boyfriend to the next level as much as he could in current politics. And my siblings, I wanted to write something that would show that you could be gay and Christian, and still whole heartedly believe in God, even when the world around you believed you were going to Hell.

This is all regarding Connect, The Prince's Flower was honestly spawned via a drunken Twitter conversation with LT3's CEO...nothing special or moving about that, just alcohol induced stupidity and her love for fairytales.

What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

Connect is definitely more of a coming of age teen-ish story, and I think it might be an easier drift from mainstream than some of my other work.  Kind of a m/m light story. ^^;;

Meanwhile, The Prince's Flower is a mostly lighthearted romp out in fairytale land where everyone is guaranteed to live happily ever after.

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I'm tagging Talya Andor, Sandra Bard, May Ridge, and Alessandra Ebulu.  Was going to tag Shayla Mist, but someone got to her first, but go check out her response to the 10 questions anyway. :3

Happy blog hopping!

**ps - check out Thomas Cardin's reply to the 10 questions too!

Obligatory birthday post

Yup, it's my birthday today, and what am I doing?  Well, I went to lunch with my Da and Granpa, had a slice of cake, got a whole pie to myself(which I'll be sharing...because I seriously don't need a whole pie to eat XD), got both my state and federal tax return direct deposited into my account(do you think it was on purpose? ;P), and now, now I'm putzing around online while working on an actual blog post for later this week.  Because I know reading my random babbling is not what you all want.  Right?

*nods*

In brief, writerly news, story #1 submission was rejected *sadface*, but I've got two more submissions going out this month, and am still waiting to hear back on story #2.  I'm hopeful that 1 out of 4 will make it further. ^^

Oh!  I'm also now part of an awesome weekly writing/critique group called the Barmy Drapers.  It's a new thing for me, since I've usually been a solitary sort of writer outside of NaNoWriMo, but since it's made up of fellow Wrimos it still carries some of that month's wildness.

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In regards to reading:

I really enjoyed all three of the KMaM stories I've thus far purchased. :3 How About a Boyfriend was ridiculously cute, and awkward. <3 TT!  The Glass Coffin made me squee, because come on, Rostislav and Jesse!  And Retirement was a lovely forced to work together couple. ^^

I've also reread Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, and The Warded Man by Peter V Brett.

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Now, back to writing, and enjoying my pie.

<3