Celebration and a Melted Brain

EDITING. The bane of any writer’s life, and yet it’s the part which turns a book from OK, to beautiful.

It also turns my brain from functional, to mush. (And my laundry pile into a mountain, but I digress.)

However – I’m finally done with my part of the editing process! It’s a blissful relief that I’m well and truly celebrating. I’ve handed it on to my editor, so now I sit and watch my inbox like a hawk until she returns it, covered in red…

I’m not sitting on my hands while I wait, though. Spare time means cover designing! I can’t wait until we’re done and I can show you the pretty results.

Of course I’ll be sharing it with my mailing list first – as well as the inevitable giveaways and special deals when the book is ready to be released! Sign up here if you haven’t already. http://eepurl.com/bwTdtD

Who else has reasons to celebrate? Share the happy with me, I want to hear about what’s happening with you!

 

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Work work work

Almost through the toughest part of the editing phase, but I have to say, my writing partner isn’t impressed. Total snoozefest, apparently!

PHOTOBOMB

Printed out the entire book today, for round two of editing. Thought I’d take a picture to show off the enormous amount of paper…

But someone decided she was more photogenic.

Celebration Time

The barista always knows how my day is going, based on order. Today I got a “long black? Congratulations!”

And congratulations is right, if I do say so myself. No need for a mood-boosting mocha today, because I finished the first round of editing for the current book. And damn, but I love this story!

Now only five more edits to get through…

 

(Are you on Twitter or Instagram? I love hanging out with fellow readers and writers. http://twitter.com/AuthorLibby and http://www.instagram.com/authorlibby/)

Bribing The Muse

 

The first round of editing is always a tough one. You find lots of silly mistakes, rushed conversations, cardboard characters… But that’s fine, that’s why we edit!

Except yesterday my muse ran away. One particular paragraph needed a major overhaul, and I was blank.

So I did what any good writer does, and set out to bribe her. I got a mocha, with marshmallows of course, and sat down in the sun to clear my head. Staring up at the blue sky through this tangle of branches, birds singing around me, my brain unfocused… I may have napped for a bit.

Today I sat down in front of the WIP, and the muse has returned. The troublesome paragraph was sorted in about five minutes flat!

So if all else fails, bribe the muse. Every time.

 

(I love hanging out online with fellow readers and writers. Instagram https://www.instagram.com/authorlibby/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/AuthorLibby)

Review: King of Campus

Roan King.

The uncrowned king of Barnett University. He’s like a freaking celebrity around here. It’s totally ridiculous. People, by which I mean grown women, actually stalk him on the internet. And around campus. Apparently he’s god’s gift to both football and the ladies (I’m using that term loosely). All he has to do is smile and girls just fall right onto their backs before spreading their legs nice and wide. I’ve heard that he’s already plowed his way through half the female population here at Barnett. I’m sure he’ll work his way through the second half before he gets drafted to the NFL later this year.

Yeah… I don’t plan to be one of them. The guy is nothing more than a conceited player. You know the type—a steroid infused meathead jock coasting through college on his football prowess.

Ugh.

I have three words for you—avoid, avoid, avoid.

*******

This book has me torn. I really liked it in some ways, and not in others. So let’s start where any sadist would – with the bad things.

It was mostly little things that kept pulling me out of the story. Ivy was quiiite obsessed with being flat-chested, giving it a mention several times in the internal dialogue. But she’s a ballet dancer, so I would’ve thought that was to be expected! Come on girlfriend, more than a mouthful’s a waste anyway.

There are very detailed descriptions of what people are wearing in every scene, which I kept skimming. And phrases that kept popping up over and over, which I know can happen, but it started to grate just a bit.

I saw a few DNF reviews, which I get, because these issues are definitely worse for the first quarter of the book.

BUT.

The characters hit their rhythm after a while, to be witty and fun. Once they finally got their ish together, it was a sweet, selfless love between them. Not just Ivy and Roan, but the supporting characters too. It was worth hanging in there to get to this stage, because finally those first issues melted into the background.

It was a fun read, and I definitely enjoyed myself, but there were just a few little niggles.

3.5 stars!

Have you read it? What did you think?

 

(I love hanging out online with fellow readers and writers. http://twitter.com/authorlibby and http://www.instagram.com/authorlibby/)

Magic Moments With Sea Monsters

A few readers have asked me if you really can go for a night snorkel with manta rays. The answer is 100% yes you can!

I’ve actually done it myself, and it was magical. Magical enough that I knew it had to be included in Hawaiian Heartbreak, and I made sure it was involved right from the first outline.

So, to satisfy curious minds, I’ve found a video of it. There’s a little bit of advertising because I just found it on Youtube, but it’s also a great video, promise!

Did I just add something new to your bucket list?

 

(If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, I love to chat. http://twitter.com/AuthorLibby and http://www.instagram.com/authorlibby/)

What’s Next?

Now that the Hawaiian Heartbreak roller coaster is over, what next? Well, I may not look like it, but I do have a plan…

Tess obviously had her own drama going on in the last book. If you go back further, you’ll actually see she had her own background issues happening right from the very beginning.

I always knew problems in her life would end up causing a rift with Kayla. But when it came to that last book, I ran into a problem. I just couldn’t do her story justice and keep it to a similar length as the other two books.

So I’ve been busily beavering away at a story just for her, and now I can finally say I’ve finished the first draft! It’s a full length, standalone book, all about Tess. Although of course there are lots of Hawaiian Heartbreak nods for those of us who’ve been here since the beginning.

I hope you’re as excited about the Tess news as I am. Now to start the first round of editing… Eep.

 

(Current WIP: let the editing begin.)

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More Freebies!

It may be April 1st, but I promise I’m not fooling! I’ve teamed up with some fellow indie authors, and we’re offering 65 books for free, or 99 cents.

It’s all different genres, so of course romance, but also sci-fi, horror, etc. Jump over to events.supportindieauthors.com to check them out.

Have fun 😉

Hitting A New Milestone

You know how it is when you’re addicted to a book you’re reading? You have stuff planned for the day, but even while you’re hanging out with friends or family you’re secretly looking forward to getting back home so you can read some more?

Well, here’s a secret; writing a book can be pretty much the same. Sure it’s hard work, but when you’re on a roll you begrudge anything that stops you! So, between Easter chocolate and hanging out with people this long weekend, I kept sneaking away for a date with my keyboard, sorting out the latest project.

And hey, you can’t argue with results, because I hit a new milestone.

Yep, past the 40,000 words mark, and past 100 pages. (That’s 100 pages of a Word doc draft, which is more than 100 pages of a printed book, FYI!) Not only is this past where I’d hoped to be by now, but it’s actually the longest book I’ve written so far.

Because of course, the Hawaiian Heartbreak trilogy book were novellas. Sure they can be read all together, making them slightly more than the length of your average book. But each novella is its own distinct story, with its own little life cycle.

Whereas this is one stand alone story, and it’s bigger from the start. Which is proving to be a lot of fun! And so we’ve raced to this little milestone, and I’m taking a moment to celebrate.

I don’t want to jump the gun, but we’re almost at the point where I’m ready to tell you what it is I’m working on. Of course, I’ll tell my mailing list about it first – it’s only fair! If you want to sign up, I also do exclusive giveaways there. You can sign up right here http://eepurl.com/bwTdtD

How was Easter for everyone else? Don’t worry, I don’t expect you all to be workaholics like me!

 

(If you’re on Twitter or Instagram, I love to chat. http://twitter.com/AuthorLibby and http://www.instagram.com/authorlibby/)