Do You Multi-Task???

I am. Okay, today, I’ve got to start proofing the final copy of SEAL Wolf Hunting. Don’t you love this cover? Besides the guy, I LOVE the wolf. Since I write about wolves, as  in werewolves, but they’re so human and so wolf-like that it seems sacrilegious to call them werewolves–as in a horror version of them, I love to see a beautiful wolf on the cover taking up center stage too. Why? Because the man is not just a man, but a wolf. I love this time with the book–it’s nearly done–just checking to make sure there are no other mistakes, but there are so few, that it’s a time for me to have that one last read that’s more for pleasure than anything, before you get it!

So that’s one of my number one priorities. I also want to continue to work on bears. I finished two last night. I finished making a 3rd, but still need to embroider the paws. :)

Plum bear with plum faux suede paws, 19″

Purple Bear with faux suede paws, 10 1/2″

And I want to get my word count in on She-Wolf. 2500 words a day. I need to be at 8500 today. I’m at 7200 right now. So moving right along. Usually when I get in edits, I have to quit everything and concentrate on only the edits. Then I’m playing a horrible game of catch up. So I’m trying to work on my blogs, word count, then proofing, then bears so I don’t get behind on anything. :)

It’s kind of like playing an RPG, role-playing game. I’m playing Dragon Age: Inquisition for my break time at night once I have all my other stuff done. Yesterday, besides word count, I was critiquing 10 chapters of a critique partner’s book, and while I was playing the game, I was finishing up the bears. Now, I also have to constantly stop to take puppies out, to play with them, cuddle with them, train them, feed them. So I do have other stuff going on. But in the RPG–there’s always a decision to make. Do I concentrate on the Big Boss, the guy with all the strength that is really, really hard to kill, and then work on his minions after he’s dead? Or do I tackle everyone at once? Then once the little guys are dead, I can use all my strength against the big guy?

Well, oftentimes I’ll go after the big guy while the little guys are beating at me too. And when I’m working on my projects, often I’ll tackle the one that needs to be done first–just all day long for every day that it takes to get it done. Then my stack of things to do goes down a little before it goes up a lot again.

So this is kind of a new experiment for me. Working on all things–having a goal for each, and getting each of them done, and not just working on one big project. I think it’s working, so far, because I think when I do just one major thing, I tend to take breaks anyway, and I don’t get as much done. Time will tell.

I want to get half of the proof book done today, and the other half tomorrow. That’s my goal. I need to start sewing up the other bears–4 of them, so another goal. And word count on She-Wolf.
Other than that, that’s it! :)

When you have jobs to tackle, do you go after the tough ones first, or the little ones until you’re ready to tackle the big one? I do that with first line edits. The simple stuff first. Then I tackle the bigger issues. :) When I see a page of issues, I want to reduce the number quickly. Then it doesn’t seem like so much.

Have a terrific Saturday and hope all your issues are little ones. The Big Bosses can be a real chore to deal with.

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

Foreign Rights Sales

I'm happy to announce that I've sold foreign rights to the first three books in The Highland Adventure Series (My Fierce Highlander, My Wild Highlander and My Brave Highlander) to Italian Publisher, Harlequin Mondori! I've also sold Japanese language rights of My Fierce Highlander to Oakla Publishing. I'm not sure when these books will come out but I'll be excited to see them up for sale in foreign markets. And it's fun to see the beautiful foreign covers. I have a wonderful foreign rights agent who is helping me with these sales.

Last year, I sold French language rights to the first 4 books in the series to French publisher Bragelonne Milady. The first two French editions have been released.

The French version of My Wild Highlander

The French version of My Fierce Highlander.

Here is part of a 5 star French review for My Fierce Highlander I roughly translated:
"Exciting

Here is a promising new saga. I loved the story. The pages turn themselves. We discover the exciting adventures between Alasdair MacGrath, this chief of a Scottish Clan and Gwyneth Carswell, a lady banished by her father. Secretly rescuing Alasdair, the sworn enemy of her cousin, and having betrayed her clan, the MacIrwin, Gwyneth, healer, will trigger an unprecedented vengeance. Because he believes he has a debt to this woman, Alasdair takes her under his protection. Then will be born a consuming passion between these two. Is this relationship strong enough to withstand the many difficulties Alasdair and Gwyneth will face? I will say no more. Buy this novel full of action, passion and intrigue set against the backdrop of wild landscapes, the Highlands." ~Line

Thank you!

http://amzn.com/B005ESI94C

http://www.amazon.fr/dp/281121335X

Vonda

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She-Wolf–Next….

Okay, so I sell on a plot synopsis. A short synopsis.  A couple of paragraph synopsis. And since I’m nearly finished with A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble–one of my beta readers suggested moving a couple of things around, to which I said I had NO TIME. Because I’m due at my daughter’s house soon and then won’t have time to write. I’m afraid I might be keeping dogs from fighting the whole time I’m there, *sigh*, but hope they’ll get along. BUT, I made the time because I want the best book out there, and so she and I were going back and forth on how to fix the issues last night, and I’ve been rewriting this morning. :)

And now that it is really nearly done, I’m opening up a file on the next book. I’ve made a start. I opened up a file for the next book. Yes. That’s it. The first step. Without it, no file, no book. And I opened one on the next one because here I thought I had already for  this one and hadn’t. So I’m a step ahead. One thing was finding my blurb to remember what I said I was going to write about. That was like two books ago. And I have 3 more I’m writing.

Then, I typed in the title, which will probably change. And my name. Which most likely won’t. And….yes, Chapter 1. That’s it. The book is started. and I have 80,000 words to go. Well, 79,995 technically. Hey, every word counts. I need to add my bio and that will add a few more words.
But on SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble, it ended up at 90,000 words and I haven’t even added my bio, acknowledgements or dedication. So I know I can do it.

I just have to take baby steps. I have to get to work on the dreaded taxes, and I still need to put Phantom Fae in print form, and I need to send off SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble after any other changes are made on Monday. And then it’s nose to the grindstone on working on She-Wolf.
First, since it’s a romance, I have to think of how they’ll meet–hero and heroine. Since it’s a werewolf story, I have to have the wolfishness show early too…one running as a wolf, or some such thing. And I’ll have to show the conflict early on.

That’s my Mission Impossible, and I’m stepping up to the challenge, as soon as I can. This book is due Jun 1, so no time to lose. :)

Hope you are having a glorious day! It’s FREEZING here, literally, with more snow showers on the way.

I look outside at them today, and they look just as pretty as they did before they got frostbite.

Have a happy Saturday!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

50 Shades of Controversy

            So… have you seen the movie version of 50 Shades of Grey yet?  A whopping $90 million dollar opening weekend means that many, many people have, and probably a lot of them are the 100 million people who bought the book. 

            I saw the movie on its opening weekend. The theater was full, with a much bigger percentage of boyfriends/husbands than I would have expected (altho not mine, LOL). I had the misfortune of sitting next to one very uncomfortable man who squirmed and huffed and muttered under his breath during the entire 125 minute showing.

 I thought the movie adhered pretty well to the book, but I did feel sorry for people who came into the theater expecting an erotic romance and instead got a profoundly dysfunctional hero who, to quote Christian Grey himself, is 50 shades of f***ed up.

The reviews have ranged from average to awful, so what do you think? If you’ve read the books and seen this first movie, did you enjoy it? What did you think of the casting of Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan in the leads? Do you feel the moviemakers toned down the sex in order to attract a wider audience?

At the very least, the film seems to have launched a national conversation about sex. And for romance writers, that’s never a bad thing.

Give me your opinion!

Leigh

www.leighcourt.com

Flowers at Biltmore House

Are you ready for Spring? I certainly am! Here are a few photos I took inside Biltmore House's conservatory a few months ago. I hope they brighten your day!

I hope you enjoyed the flowers!

Gwyn

I Miss Writing!

As many of you know, for the past four months, my hubby and I have been living in our fifth-wheel in an RV park in south central Florida to help my mom and dad. Living in Florida this winter has not been a hardship. Normally we would have been in the middle of all those frigid temperatures and piles of snow. I admit to enjoying the sunshine and warmth weather, being able to walk outside instead of hibernating. But while we've been able to get away for a day or two here and there, I'm here for my parents and basically on call. My dad was discharged from the nursing home last Thursday (yay!) but there's already been a late night run to the ER.

I'm glad I'm at a point in my life where I'm able to help them. I haven't spent this much time with my parents since I was growing up at home and I'm enjoying much of this time together. I don't want to sound like I'm whining or complaining, but the truth is, most mornings I wake up with a fist of nerves in my stomach. We never know what the day will bring. I have so much respect for caregivers. I'm only doing a fraction of what many of them do.

I miss my family and friends up home. The little guy is two-years-old, growing and changing every day. My son and his wife are expecting their first child in May and I'm missing watching her grow large with child. There are texts and phone calls and pictures and videos, and we'll catch up on all those hugs we've missed when we get home. I expected to miss my family.

I didn't expect to miss writing.

First of all, I thought I'd be able to keep up with my writing. I thought I'd have finished Her Royal Masquerade by now. I thought I'd have another book started by now. After all, I do have a lot of free time I could spend at the computer. But I discovered that just because my time is free, it doesn't mean my brain is. I didn't expect it to be so filled with G-tubes and dysphagia and doctor appointments and pureed food diets and overwhelmed mother and recovering father, that there isn't any room left for creativity. I've tried to write but if I'm not staring at a blank screen, the words I do type are stilted and I end up deleting them.

So somewhere down the line, I stopped writing. I'm allowing myself these few months to give the writing a rest. It will still be here when life settles down. I'm reading a lot. Hoping to refill the well. I have plans for a couple new series and even considering a new direction. But for right now I'm not writing. I'm okay with that. I'm not allowing myself to feel guilty for not writing.

But I miss it.

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com

Rats in the Attic! And the Muse and Me are in Time Conflict!

Okay, so the termite inspector came out to do his annual check and yes! No termites! Also, and this was so great, so exciting, the puppies didn’t even bark at him! They greeted him and were still shy, but they didn’t bark and misbehave! They even held it so that I could take them out to potty when he left. That’s a BIG deal.

Tanner tuckered out.

The bad news is–hey, without bad news, all the good news is just boring, right? Who wants to hear about all the great news? That everything is going along fine? We want conflict, right? We want to see that someone else has problems so we feel better about our problems, right? Of course. :) That’s what makes life interesting. The conflict. The drama.

Okay, so I’ve got rats in the attic. So says the pest control guy. I KNOW I get mud daubers in the house constantly in the spring through the fall. I know I have a lot of places that things can get in. Never seen a mouse or evidence of mice in the house, though when my parents lived here, the first few years, they had a terrible problem with them. I have snakes in the house. So maybe that’s why?

Anyway, he said that on a little bit of decking in the attic, he could see rat prints in dust, and their droppings. And that there’s a little bit of chewing. So I’ll have to check this stuff myself, document it, and share it. With you. Isn’t that what friends are for???

I’m finishing a book first. I’ve GOT to finish this. Eleven days and it has to be turned in. I have a ton of stuff stacking up in the meantime. Call of the Cougar–need to proof the audiobook for one.
So what’s happening now is my Muse and Me are in time conflict. What this means is that it wakes up at times that I want to sleep. Sure, I hear the puppies stirring a bit, and that’s probably what really wakes me, but then my Muse decides to go through scenarios in my book. Not only that, but it tells me all the things I should have done during the day or when I get up. Like, Hey, did you put the clothes in the dryer last night?

Shoot! Nope. But if I get up to do it right then and there, which I would if I didn’t have puppies, I would wake them, and they’d want to go out.

Now, the problem with that is for the last two nights, I’ve actually put them to bed at 7 pm, then I continue to edit, or write, and they wake up the next morning at 5 am. It’s great! But it means I can’t turn on the light or get up without “telling” them that it’s time to get up. And I want them to learn that 7 pm to 5 am (or later) is their bedtime.

Oh, and you know I do lots of research for my books, so I’ve talked a lot about the phases of the moon in this one, and so I was looking at the phases, making sure I got it right, and wow, guess what I found???? The werewolf diet. Hey, sometimes I can’t even make up stuff that great!

Anyway, so I’ve got to figure out a way to talk about it in the book, that makes it seem seamless. It’s not just an urban legend. Some actors supposedly followed it–Madonna, Demi Moore, according to Grazia. It’s also known as the lunar diet or moon diet. It has to do with fasting during the new moon and full moon. But what’s interesting is that when I was at The International Wolf Center, they fed the wolves only once a week. That’s normally how they eat in the wild. They’ll have a dead deer, for instance, (often road kill and someone will drop it off at the center), and once it’s gone, they don’t get fed until the next week. So it’s really appropriate to call the moon diet a werewolf diet, even though it’s not based on the phases of the moon. Anyway, food for thought.

I now officially have wordcount on A SEAL Wolf Diving for Trouble, and then had to turn in the cover sheet specs including the blurb. Now I’m still writing the book, but it’s getting closer to being done. I printed out the first 100 pages, again, and am making more corrections. But I still have to finish writing the book.

Max Rubber Banded in Black and White

I love all his black and silvery tips and hope he gets to keep them as his hair grows out. I was able to pull more of his hair back, but this morning I found Tanner chewing on something, and yep, Max’s rubber band.

When I was coming in from one of my trips outside with the puppies, I saw that the daffodils had bloomed! The day before, I noticed they were getting ready to. It’s amazing how fast they open up when I’m not paying attention. Also, freesia has bloomed!



And all kinds of weed flowers are popping up! And my rosebushes are leafing out.
And white stuff on the roof. 

Okay, back to the book.  Nose to the grindstone and all that sort of thing.
It’s getting closer to being finished! And that’s the main thing!

Tanner stealing away from Place

Tanner stealing away from Place

Learning to Place

The funny thing  is when I say Place, Tanner is the first to get there. But then….he’s the first to leave.

Have a great Saturday!

Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear: Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com