A big ol' thanks to Mel for somehow getting this edited despite wrangling a big author/teen festival (Cavalcade of Authors West) this weekend. For those of you that read Lena's book on here, you'll see a familiar face, or I guess faces. Ha!
Okay, back to my editing cave. Hope you're all having a grand weekend.
--Lish
2023-05-08 01:06:16 +0000 UTC View Post
In lieu of a TBR post this week, I thought I'd do a snippet. Mostly because I'm trying realllllly hard to not panick about my current work load. Two novels in my lap to edit at the same time. Looking for a new agent. Drafting BTLN for here. Working on my next YA to (hopefully) sell soon because it would be really awesome if someone paid me.
Plus all the stuff I have to handle at home, like the last minute visit to the vet we had to book this morning because we found a puncture on ...
2023-05-05 20:50:19 +0000 UTC View Post
New Chapter! Hope you enjoy following Sam into the underworld!
--Lish
2023-05-01 03:19:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Spring has sprung where I live and I love it but also my allergies have gone absolutely bananas. Which means I wrote part of this outside because I hate myself, I guess. Anyway, because I felt like it, today's TBR of doom will be all about ghosts. This doesn't mean all the books will be spooky! In fact, they will not. I mean, Brooke is a ghost and she's rarely spooky.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake (YA, Horror)--this one IS spooky and contained a scene that was ...
2023-05-01 02:31:14 +0000 UTC View Post
It may have taken a little longer, but not only is there a chapter, but there are two cameos from characters I've missed from NTS. Wait, now that I think about it, there are four! I'll let you read it and see. Happy reading!
--Lish
By Mel's Request, I'm linking the Right Said Fred video that is referenced in this chapter so you can all fully understand the mesh shirts reference. Also, I FINALLY updated t...
2023-04-20 18:35:28 +0000 UTC View Post
I've been thinking a lot about horror, terror and fear. Part of that is because I've been working on pages for the new YA book and writing the synopsis, but it's also because I have friends working on horror books and it has come up. My friend Chelsea passed along a few great articles on the subject--one is about why we like scary things and the other is about the words 2023-04-20 01:44:17 +0000 UTC View Post
I've been struggling with the next Sam chapter. Partially because we're getting to an important and (I hope) exciting bit, and I haven't quite figured out who I want where. This is the downside of being a pantser and writing things as they come to me. Boo hiss.
I've also been doing my usual juggling. I got Rough Around the Hedges off to the editor. I also got to see the preliminary design for the cover! (Spoiler alert--I love it.) I'm in the process of finding a new agent, which takes a...
2023-04-16 19:33:58 +0000 UTC View Post
My brain is always a little mushy after I turn in a book, and it didn't help that I immediately turned to writing another book almost the next day. (My first book without magic in it?!? But lots of murder, so that's good.) Still, brain-mush or not, I have to read or...what else would I do? Get a hobby? HAHAHAHAHA.
No.
On audio I've been catching up on the last two Veronica Speedwell books by Deanna Raybourn. I love these books and I think the narrator does a prett...
2023-04-12 22:05:51 +0000 UTC View Post
Look, I don't know where you live, but in my house, it's Spring Break. All this really means for me is that getting any work done is damn near impossible because I have a bored eight year old harassing me all day. So right now the concept of getting away and going somewhere new (where I could read quietly) is very tempting.
If you're getting some down time and looking for a book to take you somewhere else, here's a short list of suggestions. I tried really hard to only mention books I h...
2023-04-07 23:00:15 +0000 UTC View Post
New chapter! While Sam is off getting ready to storm the underworld, we're checking in on the characters that are already there.
--Lish
2023-04-03 23:57:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I've mentioned before that I don't like reading Sad Things or books that make me cry. I mean, sometimes it's fine, but I don't want a sob fest. That's not why I'm here. That being said, there are some books that made me cry that I would still read again. Even though they hurt me. I guess some people never learn. (Mild spoilers ahead for books that are older so I don't feel bad about spoiling any of them.)
Charlotte's Web by EB White (MG Contemporary) I still remember ex...
2023-04-01 00:15:07 +0000 UTC View Post
I used to have a really hard time DNFing books. I would skim to the end, or power through, wasting long hours on books that frankly weren't worth my time. I'm not like that anymore--I DNF with abandon now, and a lot of that change was helped along by examining my own relationship with books.
I'm not here to conquer. I'm not here to beat myself up with a novel just because someone told me it was A Classic or ART or a Must Read or whatever. I'm a mood reader and I'm here mostly because I ...
2023-03-21 21:17:52 +0000 UTC View Post
Look! New chapter! Getting back on track!
Hope you all have an amazing weekend.
--Lish
2023-03-17 23:16:13 +0000 UTC View Post
2023 continues to come in hot. I have been juggling all the things. BUT, I just sent off a new chapter of BTLN to the copy editor, so we're getting back on track on here! You've all been so amazingly patient. Thank you.
Despite all the stuff--teaching, drafting BTLN and Rough Around the Hedges (and now quickly editing it), and family stuff, I've still been reading. Not as much, because my brain has resembled a squishy pudding lately. Still, I want to share what I've inhaled! I will say ...
2023-03-16 23:20:56 +0000 UTC View Post
I like to post these every once in awhile because people have questions and yet are weirdly reluctant to ask said questions. Will, here is your invite. Ask away. If you feel weird asking in the comments, you can DM me. The questions can be general, writing questions, about specific books or characters, etc.
--Lish
2023-03-09 22:47:26 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm writing what I *think* is the last chapter of Rough Around the Hedges. YAY. Then I have a week to furiously edit the hell out of it and turn it over to the editor. In between teaching, some time-consuming family drama, and what not. The upside? Back on BTLN next week!
This snippet is from Will's POV. He's on a date, which he has met in the coffee shop Wicked Brews.
Enjoy!
--Lish
****
Some people are turned on by tattoos. Nothing wrong with that. No different ...
2023-03-09 22:45:07 +0000 UTC View Post
My Husband: Why are you looking at pictures of tattooed men on the internet?
Me: I'm trying to pick something for the snippet today, and I wanted someone who was somewhat close to Will.
My Husband: Just use a picture of me.
Me: Once again, I repeat, you are NOT Will.
Husband: *remains unconvinced*
So this picture doesn't look much like Will and Savvy--the baby is too young and Will is blond, but eh, whatcha going to do. But yes, my husband is convinced...
2023-03-04 20:36:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello my friends! I have an editor booked to look at Rough Around the Hedges in mid-March. Which is great! Except I wanted my draft to be done by now and it isn't. It's almost done...but not quite, and I need a little time to go through it again before handing it off to the editor. Which means I need to put a temporary pause on the TBR of Doom posts *and* probably BTLN. I'm hoping for only about a week or so. This is of course filling me with guilt, because I am that type of person.
I'm...
2023-02-23 21:06:05 +0000 UTC View Post
We had to delay posting this one a few days because copy editor Mel had the AUDACITY to leave her house and go somewhere. Mel, for shame. The upside of this--besides getting a chapter that reads much better--is I got to see Mel in person and we had a chat about jumping into chapters and remembering who's who and what's going on. Since we're posting this bits at a time, it's much harder to page back, and you're also not reading it over a normal timespan. I decided that maybe it would help to d...
2023-02-21 22:25:15 +0000 UTC View Post
I went to a writing retreat this weekend to try to finish up Rough Around the Hedges. Despite having to leave the retreat for a book panel at a local Barnes and Noble (it was a ton of fun) and to teach (Also fun. I have a great group of writers) I added about 12,000 words to my manuscript. Not as much as I wanted, but I'm not mad at it, either. I've been working a lot to try to catch up from being sick, and when I'm writing huge chunks like that, I don't read quite as much, and I mostly rerea...
2023-02-16 06:12:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Psssst--hey, guess what? This week, I took a break from the very long list of stuff I'm working on (hahahaha--whhhhyyyyy? Why do I do this?) to write a bonus scene from A Little Too Familiar. Why now? There was a book narrator on TikTok that was going to be reading saucy snippets with another creator and I wanted to throw my hat in the ring. They didn't read it (loads of authors also sent their stuff in) and though I'm hoping they'll pick it next time because that would be fun, I tho...
2023-02-16 05:31:03 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello, friends! I'm back from the wedding. We had a great time in California but came home with a parting gift in the form of some kind of cold. Not sure what. The only one that escaped it was my husband. I've been downing vitamin C, drinking tons of fluids and theraflu and napping because I want to get back to normal ASAP. Not only do I need to catch up on posts here, and work on Rough Around the Hedges, but I also have an event this weekend AND a writing weekend. (Though the writing weekend...
2023-02-07 22:35:47 +0000 UTC View Post
Postings next week might be a little wonky because I have to go down to California for a wedding, but I will do my best!
--Lish
2023-01-28 22:08:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Hello my bookish friends. Today we're going to talk about books that have made me laugh. I'm going to try and contain myself, so I'm going to keep the list to five books. FIVE. We'll see how successful I am.
Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Hall (Adult, Romance)--look, all of Hall's books are funny. Boyfriend Material was an absolute stitch. So why did I pick Rosaline, then? Because there's a scene in that book involving a pitcher of tea that honestly is pitch perfect ...
2023-01-26 05:33:17 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm not the biggest fan of short stories. I love them if they're connected to larger universes, little side quests attached to characters and stories I already know, but other than that, I mostly find them frustrating. Because if I love them, I always want more, and short stories are only a little morsel. A tiny bite. A literary amuse bouche if you will.
This is not saying short stories are bad or easy to write--they are neither of those things. Short stories are very difficult to write...
2023-01-19 01:13:20 +0000 UTC View Post
I'm a little thrown off by the three day weekend, but catching up. Enjoy the new chapter!
-Lish
2023-01-17 01:03:27 +0000 UTC View Post
I have the next BTLN chapter with the copy editor (yay!) so that should be up soon-ish, depending on her schedule. In the mean time, I wanted to share two links with you. One is to an upcoming writing workshop I have at Hugo House. It's an 8 week course for people interested in working on their Sci-fi/Fantasy novels. Hugo House is a literary non-profit, and while the classes do cost money, they have scholarships as well. (Though I'm not sure how they work or what that process is like.) Anyway...
2023-01-13 21:36:08 +0000 UTC View Post
If you follow me on instagram, you might have seen me post the photos above. (And also lots of pictures of my dogs. I know what the people want.) I am a person who doesn't do resolutions for the new year. I do some reflection of the past year, but I've long learned that arbitrarily doing "this is the time of year where I make a big change!" tack doesn't work for me. I am a human cat. I do not like feeling forced to do a single thing. And inevitably, NYE resolutions for me felt like a change I...
2023-01-10 22:07:35 +0000 UTC View Post
Today has been an exercise of screaming into the void. We were supposed to fly out tomorrow to visit my brothers. Our flight was cancelled. My mother and I have spent all day doing triage between rescheduling flights, parking, rental van (because we had to get one big enough for us AND my brother's family), and making sure this didn't screw up anything we'd booked to do while we're down there. Our dates are shifted, but everything is rebooked.
It only took...five hours. Weeee, traveling...
2022-12-20 01:33:55 +0000 UTC View Post