The Tiburon Duet gets 4 stars from RT

I'm very excited to announce that my first trade paperback, The Tiburon Duet, got a 4 star review from Romantic Times Magazine. Look for it in the November 2006 issue.
Woo Hoo!!!












Meanwhile, at Fictionwise.com, The Executive's Wife climbed to # 3 on the bestsellers list.
It's also # 3 in the Romance section.
And I made it on the list of Recent Best Selling Authors at # 5.
Can I get another Woo Hoo?















Yesterday was a fabulous day.
Last night there were a couple of margaritas consumed in celebration. Yea!!
L

Trailer Addiction

My friend Kristen made a couple of short trailers for several of my books. The Wives Tales won't be out in print until Feburary of 2007. And The Lawman's Wife will be available November 2006.
They are way, way cool.
Check it out. Here are the links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veoy6C8-jPE&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sESh_BMkQro

And here is one from fellow STAR author Martha Powers for her book coming out in October called Death Angel.
It's also awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJjMyEwMd2E

L

The Executive's Wife # 18 at Fictionwise

Woo Hoo!
The Executive's Wife hit #18 on the recent Best Selling books at Fictionwise.com
Check it out!

http://www.fictionwise.com/topstories.htm

It's at #14 in the Fictionwise Romance section.
The reviews are even great. Yea!
L

How Fast Do You Write?

I think I write pretty fast.
Once I get an idea and embark on telling a story...I can smoke through a first draft in a few short weeks. I'm able to ignore my internal editor...or at least distract her with chocolate for long periods of time so she leaves me alone while I'm creating.

If I'm writing at full steam ahead mode, I can write 5,000 words in a day. My personal best is just over 11,000 words, but it took me 14 hours.
Looking back I think I may have been crazed. I wouldn't do it again...probably...unless there was a really good reason...sigh...oh who am I kidding, I'd do it again just to prove I could.
I have this rebellious streak occasionally. (Grin)

Once the first draft is complete and I begin the revision phase on my manuscript, my writing speed slows significantly. First, I have to shake my internal editor out of her chocolate coma. I'm lucky to get a thousand words written or re-written in a day.

I know a lot of writers gage their writing by how many pages they write in a day. Let's do the math. Why? Because I love math.
At 250 words per page, my average on a good day equals 20 pages.

I'm ever curious though. Because what if I'm mistaken?
What if I don't really write that fast at all?
Perhaps I'm a slow writer. Perhaps other writers out there are cranking out 40 or 50 pages a day laughing because on a good day I can only produce 20.

My question for today...how many words can you write in a day?
This is just for fun.
It doesn't matter how many words a writer writes as long as they write. Right?
(It's the same for woodchucks.)

I just needed a blog topic for today and this spilled out of me.
I said I was fast, not perfect. (smile)
Anyone want to share their personal best?
L

The Executive's Wife released at Fictionwise

My latest book The Executive's Wife has been released for sale at Fictionwise.






Here is the website where the new listing is:
http://www.fictionwise.com/recentadditions.htm


The Executive's Wife is book two of The Wives Tales.
Here is the blurb a couple reviews:

[Futuristic] Sophie is auctioned into marriage to her dream man, but will she be the executive's former wife when his ambitious father conspires to get rid of her?

"scorch-your- fingertips sex" —Leslie Kelly,
"intriguing and engaging story...5 Stars" —Ecataromance,
"refreshing and scary at the same time ...4.5 Stars" —Just Erotic Romance Reviews

So if you don't have a copy yet it's on sale at Fictionwise for 15% off. :)
Check it out!
L

Just A Kiss # 4 on Fictionwise's 6-Month Bestseller List

Just A Kiss went up a rank to #4 on Fictionwise's 6-month Bestseller List.
Yea!

http://www.fictionwise.com/topstories.htm







My latest book The Executive's Wife, released at Siren Publishing August 1st, will be at Fictionwise soon (in the next couple of weeks). Look for it on the new e-books page.

Sexy cover by Jinger Heaston!
Whew!








The next book in the series is The Lawman's Wife. It will be available for sale at Siren November 1st.


Really Sexy cover by Jinger Heaston!!!
Double Whew!!








Meanwhile I'm off to work on another book. :) Bunches of ideas are swirling...must get them out! :)

Have a great weekend!
L

Computer Viruses equals My Tortured Screaming

Very recently I experienced the first virus attack on my beloved computer. To say I was horrified the minute I lifted my finger from the offending click would not come close to the sickened feeling that hollowed out the bottom of my stomach.

I wanted to leap up and run through the streets screaming “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

My biggest fear of course was that my laptop was now spawning the virus to everyone I’d ever met. I tried to think of how I could call everyone I knew on the phone to warn them. Logistically, it was impossible and I knew it.

After turning off my computer, I disengaged the Cat 5 and did the same to all the computers in the house. I unplugged the router for good measure and then sat trembling before my now dark computer wondering what to do next.

Luckily I live with a computer geek. I called him at work crying. Between sobs he told me I did the right thing by unplugging everything. I had to wait until he got home to evaluate the damage. It was the longest day of my life. I was cut off from e-mail and my communication to the world. And worst of all I was cut off from my writing files.

My guardian angel was dancing on my shoulder that day because six minutes before the fatal click, I had backed up all my word files to another computer on our network. I was fairly certain all my books and writing were safe. I should send my guardian angel flowers.

Norton Internet Security 2006 (Norton Antivirus with Spyware removers) was my other hero in this devastating event. I need to send Norton flowers, too, because the software I had loaded on my laptop identified the problem before my finger fully lifted off my mouse and quarantined all the nasty viruses invading my files.

My husband spent three long days cleaning up my computer files and running repeated scans to ensure I was safe and virus free.
In the end I only lost all of the music I’d ripped from my CD’s. It will be time consuming to put them back, but at least I didn’t lose any of my writing.
Plus I have my computer back. For a while over this past weekend, I thought my computer was going to become a very expensive paperweight.

I think people who spend their time inventing computer viruses to unleash on the internet should be tortured to the brink of death and then put into the most dirty and despicable prison on earth. If it were up to me they would not be allowed to see a single shaft of daylight until they cured cancer for all the heartache they caused.
Just my opinion. Or am I being to lenient?
Anyone else feel this way?

L

Neo AlphaSmart Equals Coolness

I have a wonderful new toy.

Okay...wait! It's not 'really' a toy...it is a serious piece of equipment vital to my writing career. Yes, this is exactly what I told my husband when I ordered it.

I have a laptop. Unfortunately, the battery is completely dead. It costs A LOT of money to replace the battery in a laptop. And at peak performance it only lasts a couple of hours at a time anyway. My laptop computer is now my permanent desktop computer. :)

My Neo runs on three double A batteries…for as long as my fingers dance over the keyboard. Everything I’ve written saves automatically. I connect a single wire to my computer and it promptly downloads what I’ve written into my Word document so I can edit.

I can sit anywhere in the house and write.
I can sit anywhere out of the house and write.
So far my favorite spot is flat on my back lounging on the living room sofa with my legs draped over one arm. I call it the Scooter. :):)
(Inside joke ~ My good friend has a big lazy black cat named Scooter. I copied his favorite position. The one where he’s stretched out sleeping on his back with his paws in the air.)

I wrote over 14,000 words the first 8 days I owned it. Cool Huh? And the Neo has the capacity to hold around 80,000 words across 8 files. Plenty of room!

Any Alpha Smart lovers out there?

L

Not Poised anymore...Just Writing like Crazy

I gave up my day job a couple of weeks ago and I figured I'd have all this extra time to blog and lurk around on loops...
Nope, I started a new book. And now I MUST WRITE! :)

I haven't figured out how to do one of those cool WIP-o-meters like I've seen on other blogs. You know...where I can put numbers in like a fund raising drive percentage bar and show how far I am in my current project.
I guess I'll just have to do the math long hand right here.

Let's see...I started August 25th...I want to complete the first draft by October 1st. The complete draft will be 30,000 words give or take...
as of this morning I've written 14,188 words. Divide by 30,000 and I get...
47.3% of completing my current WIP.
Not bad for a week of power writing.
I'll probably finish in another week or two.
Then the fun revision and edit period begins. :)
L