I’ve spent way more time than I’d like to admit obsessing over what to do this year. Trying to fit in solid, productive writing time, plus working full time (gotta pay those bills) leaves little time for the fun stuff associated with writing- aka, the reading part of it. My plan this year was to attend some author events, just to see how the big girls do it, and had several on my schedule. My two favorite authors- Karen Marie Moning and J. R. Ward both had big books coming out this spring, and both (somehow) managed to have...
I’ll be having my final book signing for Shadows of Ghosts this coming Saturday, January 27th from 1:00-3:00 at the Learned Owl Bookstore in Hudson, Ohio. These last couple months have flown by so fast- I know when I scheduled this it seemed so far away! A big thanks to all of my readers and supporters who have made this journey the wonderful trip that it’s been! I couldn’t have done any of this without you!!! I just sent in the MS for Reflections of Your Heart, book 2, to my editor at the beginning of this month,...
So it’s always the same thing whenever I sit down to start a new project. Am I all written out? Are the ideas going to come? And if they don’t, what am I going to do? I’ve spent the past month finishing up (my) final edits on Book 2 and getting ready to send it over to my awesome editor at TWRP, but before I did that, I felt like I had to get Book 3 at least partly finished. Honestly, there’s just something about knowing where the story is headed next that gives me a sense of...
This morning I realized, a little bit too late, that 2017 is almost over. I can’t even begin to tell you half of what happened this year, because it’s pretty much a blur of missed doctor’s appointments and deadlines barely met, and I’m pretty sure that next year will be more of the same. For someone who on January 1st was damn confident they were the Queen of Multitasking, this year has sure been the great equalizer. On one hand, I feel like I have accomplished nothing. Zero. Nada. On the other hand, I feel like I haven’t had...
So I had this brilliant idea to volunteer for something that sounds kind of like a cool science experiment- writing in a store-front window at a bookstore up in Cleveland- AppleTree Books. The basic concept: sit in the window, write, maybe talk to some people about writing, get work done, have fun. Win-win. As a bonus? The whole month of November was NaNoWriMo, so I absolutely needed to get at least 50,000 words written last month. (I was actually shooting for 65,000-70,000.) But let’s keep it real. I’d have settled for 50,000- that’s solid first draft territory. I’m...
If you have a second today, head on over and check out this interview I did with Kay about Shadows of Ghosts on Sorchia’s Universe (plus, there’s a never before seen excerpt from book 2 (about half of Chapter 1) “Reflections of Your Heart”!!!: Here’s the link: Novel Magic: Shadows of Ghosts by L.A. McGinnis
Wow, I was truly humbled on Saturday at the turnout for my book release party. Tons of people came out to help me celebrate the occasion, I (think) my little speaking part wasn’t a total disaster, and we had lots of good food and drinks and laughs. There were lots of really good questions that made me re-think how I want to develop the series going forward, and others that brought out the laughs, which, if you know me, is what life is really all about. As an added bonus, we all got to spend the evening surrounded by...
Sooo….I’m planning my first ever book release party and I am a complete nervous wreck! Not because I can’t plan a party, ’cause I can plan a heck of a party, but because I am going to have to, at some point, stand up and actually talk in front of people. Not something I’m good at and something that I’ve actually been obsessing over since I first signed my contract. Weird, right? You’d think of all the things I had to worry about, that would be super low on my list, but no…. Editing? Got it handled-...
Yes! It’s almost here again. THE MONTH! The time of year when it feels like you simply have to write every single day. The month when you make any and all excuses to sneak away and tap out a couple of words, or, if you’re lucky, actual, complete sentences. The month when your husband is always looking for you, the house is a constant wreck, and you never know what’s for dinner because…WRITING TAKES PRIORITY. Which it probably should all the time, but hey, life usually gets in the way. So this year, like last year, I’m coordinating a...
The day we arrived in Charleston she was underwater, as she often was, after every drenching summer rain. It was disconcerting, dodging the hordes of tourists, umbrellas braced against the downpour, winding our way around knee deep water at every intersection. Charleston, I’d thought, would be a proper setting for my story, rich with history and culture, but looking around at the drenched crowd, now I wasn’t so sure. Scouring the travel logs, it had seemed far more exotic than rural, dusty Ohio (although the two ended up melding seamlessly into not dissimilar small towns). Charleston, it turned out,...