December 20, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things! — Weekend Edition

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

I know, it’s Saturday, not Friday, but I didn’t want the week to go by without celebrating a few things:

I got my Christmas packages all mailed out in time to reach their destinations before the big day (which is why I’m late with this post).
Baking! I love the way the house smells after baking Christmas goodies!
Christmas Vacation! My kids are celebrating this big time.

What other celebrations are going on out there?

December 17, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

The 777 Challenge

Last week, Loni Townsend over at Squirrel Talk participated in the 777 Challenge. The idea is to pick one of your WIPs, go to the 7^th page, find the 7^th line, and post the next 7 lines or so. At the end of her Challenge, she wrote: “If you would like to participate, consider yourself tagged.”

I thought it sounded like a fun idea, so I decided to take her up on it and post the appropriate 7 or so lines from page 7 of my soon-to-be published fantasy novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble, which, to me, will be a work-in-progress until I hold it as a book in my hand.

So here goes…

*****

The clash of battle began to fade.

Tara headed for the door. “Now is our chance to escape. This is not the time for vengeance. There are too many of them. We need to get away and warn Faragellyn. I doubt the Sulledorns intend to stop here.”

Kaden pounded the edge of his fist against the wall. “I will not be driven from my own castle!”

An ear-splitting scream rose above the battle sounds.

“Aurelia!” Prince Kaden cried.

“Wonderful. That’s all we need.” Tara whipped out her sword and dashed into the corridor.

*****

What did you think of this snippet?

Since I wasn’t specifically tagged for the Challenge, I’m not going to officially tag anyone else, but I’ll say the same thing that Loni did: If you’d like to give it a go, consider yourself tagged. 🙂

December 12, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

It’s been a snowy week up here in Vermont, thanks to a coastal storm that doesn’t seem to want to go away. I guess the good thing about it is that we should now have a white Christmas! This week I’d like to celebrate:

Snow days! My kids enjoyed their day off from school because of the storm, and we have two odd-looking snowmen on our lawn to show for it.
I received paper samples in the mail from Ingram/Spark who will be handling the printing and distribution of my book. Very exciting!
I’m just about done with my Christmas shopping! Yay!

What other celebrations are going on out there?

December 5, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

Celebrate the Small Things!

Celebrate the Small Things is a weekly celebration created by VikLit to celebrate the happenings of the week, however small or large. You can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

I missed last week because I was out of town enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with family. This week I’m celebrating:

The fun visit with my brother and his family, up from PA, last weekend. Family time is always worth celebrating!
A birthday party for my daughter this weekend! She’ll be turning 15. Wow, 15. How did that happen??
Sneaking in another trip to IHOP while Christmas shopping with a friend. Yum! 🙂

What other celebrations are going on out there?

December 3, 2014 by Lori L MacLaughlin

IWSG — To Review, Or Not To Review…

Today’s the day for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG) where, on the first Wednesday of every month, writers get together to share their insecurities and offer encouragement. The IWSG was created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, and you can learn all about it and sign up for it here.

I will soon be sending out ARCs and requesting advance reviews for my fantasy adventure novel, Lady, Thy Name Is Trouble. I know that getting reviews is vital if I want my book to rise above the obscurity that self-publishing can bring. A solid word-of-mouth campaign is essential for an Indie book to succeed.

So it stands to reason that if I’ll be requesting reviews, I should be willing to give them in return. I’ve never written a book review because of the horror stories I’ve heard about authors who took offense at not-so-shining, albeit honest, reviews and retaliated by trashing the reviewers’ books, giving them terrible one-star reviews on all the online sites, and having their friends do the same.

The thought of going through something so devastating has persuaded me to keep my opinions to myself. However, I don’t feel that it’s fair of me to ask other writers for reviews if I’m not willing to reciprocate.

I would love to know how other writers feel about this. Do you write reviews? Do you ever worry about the bad apples out there trashing your books?

I would also like to thank the IWSG for putting together the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Guide to Publishing and Beyond – Available Now! Thank you! Can’t wait to read it!