Friday, July 31, 2015

Celebrate: Muse on the Loose & Giveaways

This week I'm Celebrating:
1)  Although my muse refuses to get back on the writing/revising train for my novel -- she's been a Muse on the Loose! -- she's been giving me good ideas for artwork and copy for promotions.

She helped me make this:

From this:

Pretty cool, huh? :)

2)  My wild & crazy Muse has also pointed me away from a new project -- Oooh, ahhhh! Shiny! -- (which had actually kept me scratching my head for a month because I couldn't iron out the details) and pointed me toward a project I thought up a while ago.  The old idea has a more interesting premise and characters.  My muse showed me a way to combine the new shiny one with the old one and create something unique and better!  It will be a novella, the first in a trilogy, and I'm starting to research, write the blurb, and plot now!  Woohoo!

3)  Although my Muse has been an uncontrollable nut for a while, I think she'll settle down soon and allow me to finish my novel, Bloodwalker.  (Yes, the one I swore would be done by the end of this month.  I gave up trying to be Speedy Gonzalez -- which was making my writing a dull, cliche-ridden disaster -- and had to admit that at heart I'm just a slow-but-meticulous Tortoise.)

Does your Muse ever get wild and crazy by giving you ideas for new projects instead of the one you're supposed to be working on?  Do you go with the new or stick with the old?


My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 30, 2015:

(These are older freebies that you might have forgotten about)

Free First Page Critiques -- Three fabulous and talented published authors are willing to critique YOUR FIRST PAGE FOR FREE!  Dianne Salerni (author of The Eighth Day series, HarperCollins 2014) and Marcy Hatch (author of West of Paradise, WiDo 2014) and Krystalyn Drown (Legasea, Curiosity Quills 2013) will post your WIP's first page (350-400 words) and offer their impressions as will their readers/commenters.  That's AWESOME feedback and super-helpful for any aspiring author!  For rules and mailing address go read the side bar on any of their blogs. 

Free Query Critiques by Kim Graff (editor, cover designer, & agent intern).  Go to Kim Graff Blog - Free Query Critiques and read the instructions for getting a critique.  I know Kim, and she's a great editor!

Free Query Critiques from Matthew MacNish. He writes full, detailed and helpful crits that appear on his blog. Contact him at: mattmrush(at)gmail.com

Free Book Badges, Banners, and Countdowns at Ben Ellis Graphics

Free Copyright-Expired Books at Black Mask Free eBooks. (They're dated, but they're a fun change of pace and great if you're researching historical modes of speech and style.)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com


Friday, July 24, 2015

Celebrate: Relative Success & Giveaways!


This week I'm celebrating:
1)  The free offer of my short story "The Inter-Galactic Gourmet" netted over 70 downloads and 3 new reviews, all 5-stars (one from a UK author I don't know and two from authors I do know).  I'm sure I'd have gotten 50 times that  on Amazon, but since they refuse to loosen their rigid payment rules that are prejudiced against 3rd world residents, I'm on Smashwords for the foreseeable future.
2)  I haven't done a lick of work on my WIP, but I'm feeling more relaxed and stopped having the stress-induced nightmares I've had for almost a month.  Ahhhh, sweet sleep.  :)
3)  This week I hit 3800 followers on Twitter and 900 friends on Facebook.  Yay!  That's pretty good for only having the accounts for 4 months.  Plus they're quality followers - horror authors and other writers, not sunglass salesmen.  (Why is Rayban spamming everyone?  You can get sunglasses anywhere and they last for years -- unless you're my husband who regularly breaks his, usually by sitting on them.  lol)

Do you remember your dreams when you wake up?

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 24, 2015:

Free YA Apocalyptic SF novel – win Fractured Memories by Jo Schneider via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 29)



Free Urban Fantasy novel – win 1 of 5 signed print copies of Ink Calls to Ink by Nathan Crowder via rafflecopter on Juniper Book Solutions blog. (ends Aug 3)




Free Paranormal Romance novel – win The Omegas by Annie Nicholas via entry box sign-up on the page at Romance Novels and Giveaways blog. (ends July 31)


Free $15 Amazon or Barnes&Noble Gift Card – to celebrate the release of Stolen Moments (romance) by Cara Bristol she’s giving away a $15 gift card to either Amazon or B&N via rafflecopter on Romance Novels and Giveaways blog. (ends July 31)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Friday, July 17, 2015

Celebrate: I Been Bad & Giveaways (Mine too!)

I Been Bad

This week I'm celebrating:
1)  Playing hooky from my writing.  I completed one new chapter but hit a stumbling block on the next one.  I came up with a solution the following day, but by then ... I just didn't feel like writing.  That's right!  I just plain didn't FEEL like it.  So there!
2)  Since I felt guilty about doing nothing, I read and reviewed two books for author friends. :) 
3)  I also decided to put one of my stories for free this week and made promo ads for it for FB & Twitter. And then I realized I was using any image other than the cover because I hated the cover.  (And I'm the one who made it.  Go figure.)
4)  So now I'm celebrating making a new cover for "The Inter-Galactic Gourmet" (see it on the right sidebar!) and uploading it to Smashwords, GR, FB, Twitter, and all the little places my book covers go.  This is one of the awesome perks of self-publishing.  Any time you want to change something -- YOU CAN!

Do you sometimes play hooky from writing or other responsibilities? 


My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 17, 2015:

Free $5 Amazon Card and 5 Free Novels – The awesome T.B.Markinson has done it again! She’s put together a super giveaway for July featuring an Amazon gift card and these great books: The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear by M. Pax, Immaterial Evidence by Milo James Fowler, Twisted Earths anthology from Untethered Realms, Ocean of Dust by Graeme Ing, and Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade by Susan Flett Swiderski. Enter via The Rafflecopter. (ends July 30)

Free Horror Short Story – “Troll” by Wodke Hawkinson is now free! I downloaded the story and loved it so much I rated it 5-stars! Get it FREE on Smashwords.


Free Sci-Fi/Horror/Black Comedy Short Story –My weird, creepy, and silly short story "The Inter-Galactic Gourmet" is free from July 16-23.  It's a bit gory, but if you enjoy horror get it FREE on Smashwords. (ends July 23)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Friday, July 10, 2015

Celebrate: Swim Fins & Lots of Giveaways!


This week I'm celebrating:
1)  Since last Friday, I got 3 chapters (6500 words) written and 2200 of it revised.  Yay!
2)  Unfortunately, since I have to finish 11 chapters by the end of the month, that means I must write and revise  (can't give my CPs un-revised doo-doo) 3 chapters per week.  Piece of cake ... IF the weeks were 9 days long. Which they aren't...
3)  Rather than freaking out over my daily totals and beating myself up with the math stick, I'm pretending it's doable.
4)  I'm strapping on my Swim Fins, and like Dory, I'm going to "Just Keep Swimming..."

How do you NaNo-ers write 50k in a month?? Are you super-human??

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 10, 2015:

Free $5 Amazon Card and 5 Free Novels – The awesome T.B.Markinson has done it again! She’s put together a super giveaway for July featuring an Amazon gift card and these great books: The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear by M. Pax, Immaterial Evidence by Milo James Fowler, Twisted Earths anthology from Untethered Realms, Ocean of Dust by Graeme Ing, and Hot Flashes and Cold Lemonade by Susan Flett Swiderski. Enter via The Rafflecopter. (ends July 30)

Free Contemporary Memoir Novel – Five copies of The Drummond Girls by Mardi Jo Link are being given away via rafflecopter on A Bookworm’s World blog. (ends July 18)


Free Regency Romance NovelA Relative Matter by Karen Cogan is free on Amazon. Go to Free Book Friday blog for the link to Amazon. (ends ?)


Free Romance NovelToxic by Kim Karr is being given away via rafflecopter on the Socrates Book Reviews blog. Few entries so far = good chance to win! (ends July 16)

Free YA Fantasy Novel – Win Wolfskin by W.R. Gingell being given away via rafflecopter on the CBY Book Club blog. (ends July 16)



Free $50 Amazon Gift Card and 2 Signed Novels – To celebrate the release of A Summer Like No Other (YA Contemporary Romance) by Elodie Nowodazkij, she’s giving away a $50 Amazon card plus the novels One, Two, Three and One Dream Only via rafflecopter on the CBY Book Club blog (ends July 23)

Free $50 Amazon or B&N Gift Card – To celebrate the release of The Summer Diary by Elyse Douglas she’s giving away a $50 Amazon or B&N gift card via rafflecopter on the CBY Book Club blog. (ends July 31)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Friday, July 3, 2015

Celebrate: Full Speed Ahead & Giveaways!


This week I'm celebrating:
1)  After six months, I finally managed to hit 55k on my WIP!
2)  Yesterday, I outlined the climax to the end. I thought it would be about 10 chapters, and it came out to 11, so that's on target.  
3)  I'm determined to get these 11 chapters -- probably 25k -- done by the end of the month.  However, I reached the 55k mark in June by:
         Giving up all TV,
         Halving my time on social media,
         Letting the house go to wreck & ruin,
         Aaaaaaand instead of visiting every single blog hop member, I cut it to half. Last week I only visited the first half of the linky-list, this week, I'll only do the 2nd half, and so on until the end of the month. I hope you understand. (I'll still return-visit all blog comments.)

What things have you had to give up to find time for a WIP or other project?

My kind and wonderful co-hosts of Celebrate the Small Things are:
L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Celebrate The Small Things Linky:



Grab the Linky html-code here:



 Celebrate the Small ThingsTo be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is visit the Celebrate page on Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! (Originated by VikLit)



Foxy's Friday Freebies!

Foxy has been nosing around the net
When she finds great FREE STUFF, she'll feature it on Fridays Freebies posts -
  • Free short stories, novellas, and novels
  • Giveaways for books and swag
  • Free services for authors


Here are Foxy's suggestions for July 3, 2015:

Free $30 Gift Card to Amazon, B&N, or Kobo - To celebrate the release of Neighbors with Benefits (Adult Romance) by Marissa Clarke, she's giving away a $30 gift card to your choice of book vendor via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 9)

Free $25 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of Pixelated (YA Contemp) by L.S. Murphy, she's giving away a $25 Amazon card via rafflecopter on Mythical Book blog. (ends July 30)

Free $20 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of Sarina, Sweetheart (New Adult Sci-Fi) by Megan Carney, she's giving away a $20 Amazon card via rafflecopter on Mythical Book blog. (ends July 9)

Free $10 Amazon Gift Card - To celebrate the release of State of Vengeance (New Adult Dystopian) by Summer Lane, she's giving away a $10 Amazon card via rafflecopter on My Book Addiction blog. (ends July 9)


For Foxy's other Freebies, go to the Freebie page.

If anyone has a FREE short story (for download or online at a free ezine), novella, novel, special giveaway, or author service, please let Foxy know so she can plug you here!  Write to: laura.6eg(at)gmail.com

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

IWSG: 20 Funny Similes


We work so hard to try to make our writing perfect.  We slave over every word and sentence, and we second guess ourselves.  Lines that seemed fabulous one day, read like utter crap the next day.  And then it's back to pounding away at the keyboard, trying to find a better way to write it.

But no matter how bad you think your writing is -- it could NEVER be this bad!

20 Similes Written by High Schoolers 

1. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

2. Her artistic sense was exquisitely refined, like someone who can tell butter from I Can't Believe It's Not Butter.

3. She was as unhappy as when someone puts your cake out in the rain, and all the sweet green icing flows down and then you lose the recipe, and on top of that you can't sing worth a damn.

4. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

5. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

6. He was as tall as a 6′3″ tree.

7. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

8. The sunset displayed rich, spectacular hues like a .jpeg file at 10 percent cyan, 10 percent magenta, 60 percent yellow and 10 percent black.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

11. The lamp just sat there, like an inanimate object.

12. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

13. Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze.

14. Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center.

15. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

16. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

17. She was as easy as the TV Guide crossword.

18. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

19. They were as good friends as the people on “Friends.”

20. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.


 Which one made you laugh hardest?


This is a post for the Insecure Writer's Support Group, the brainchild of Alex J. Cavanaugh. It exists so the community of blogging writers can share and support each other, blog-hopping to cheerlead and commiserate. To find out more, visit: Insecure Writer's Support Group. Plus, check out the IWSG Website for lots of helpful info and links.

Similes via:
Huffington Post 
Eddie Snipes 
Ned Hardy 

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