2005 Journal I

Don't miss Laurie's past journal entries. Here are the archives:

2004

2003

2002

2005 Journal
I'll keep you posted here on all my writing adventures...

December 31, 2005: Happy new year, everyone! Hope you all have a fantastic celebration tonight, and I wish you all a 2006 filled with whatever you hope for.

My year, in retrospect, was a fantastic experience. I finished TWO books this year -- Preacher Man and Casey V -- both stretches for me, outside of my "normal" writing genre. I'm hopeful that at least one of them will result in some new opportunity for me. I've done extremely well in contests with those two manuscripts, and look forward to finding out if I become a winner with either one of them.

And, this year saw the release of my third novel, Legacy of Lies, with a different publisher than my first two books. It's been a great growing year and I'm hopeful that 2006 will be a banner year with some new developments.

Since it seems like the right time for it, I thought I'd repeat what my 2005 New Years Resolutions/goals were for the year and see how I did on them:

Revise Preacher Man and submit it to Steeple Hill by March 1, 2005.

Update: Did that -- in fact, Preacher Man is STILL being reviewed by Steeple Hill. Think I need to send a follow-up query.

If Steeple Hill rejects it, (but why would they??) pursue an agent who specializes in inspirational romance.

Update: Haven't sent it anywhere else, but plan to start that in January. Still on the fence about obtaining an agent who specializes in inspirational, since I just have the one manuscript in that genre.

Begin new book by April 1, 2005. Current plan (which could change) is a Young Adult Chick Lit.

Update: Started and finished in three and a half months!!

Wait on Medallion Press, who is currently reviewing Keeper by Surprise. If Medallion rejects it, (but why would they??) continue submissions.

Update: Well, I haven't done anything with Keeper since Medallion rejected it, but I do intend to hold onto it and not rush into a sale JUST to make a sale. I want it to be the RIGHT sale. Patience is a virtue.

December 23, 2005: This year, along with this year-long journal, will be wrapping up soon, and before you know it, I'll be sticking this one in Archives and creating a new one -- a year hopefully filled with promise and excitement.

First, let me tell you, my Launch Party for Legacy of Lies was absolutely beyond my wildest dreams! :) It was a beautiful locale, it was well attended, the audience was attentive and enjoyed the readings, and it was such fun. It was truly a "mountaintop" experience in my writing career. I'm still struggling with getting some pictures up on this site, but believe me, as soon as I get them in shape I will post them for you. Thanks to all who came, and to all who wished me well. That was a blast.

In other big news, I'm getting ready for my hour-long radio interview on Jewel's Way Romance Author Radio Show! How exciting that will be. It's a national radio show that you access through your computer and listen to through your media player. HOW COOL IS THAT? Jewel and I have corresponded back and forth a few times, and she's done a wonderful job of updating her home page with all the promo stuff about my books. So if you're available this Wed night (12/28) at 11 PM Eastern time, please tune in! I'll be giving away two free e-books of Legacy of Lies!

December 15, 2005: Tomorrow is my big Legacy of Lies launch party, and I just hope hope hope someone comes! :) Regardless, it's all planned. I've dotted all my i's and crossed all my t's (and even bought a new outfit) so I'm going to have a good time no matter what! :) (The seven bottles of wine I bought for the occasion won't hurt, either...)

In HUGE news, turns out that Casey V isn't the only one of my manuscripts that finaled in the Stiletto contest that I gushed about in my last entry ... Preacher Man was a finalist in its category too!! :) The first round judges weren't as across-the-board crazy about it as Casey V's were, but it did get one nearly perfect score (134 out of 135), a solid 115 and then a not-so-great 88. Buy hey, it was enough to make the final round, and now, it's winging to NYC to meet with an agent and an editor (from Warner Faith!!) WOO HOO.

By the way, even though one of the scores was low, that particular judge gave me some excellent feedback on how to make it better, so I spent about 4 hours revising it before sending it back for the final round, so hopefully it's a much stronger entry now. Entering that contest turned out to be GREAT for me!! :)

December 8, 2005: Oh my gosh, I think this is going to be a LONG entry! So much is happening, and I'm having a very hard time NOT being optimistic.

Wait, what? Why am I trying NOT to be optimistic? Because it's so EASY to get your heart burned in this business. To get your hopes up, and then be dashed against the rocks. So right now, I'm going to enjoy a pleasant but cautious optimism -- how's that?

First of all, last weekend I FINISHED my first draft of my new book, The Chronicles of Casey V, OR Mental Ramblings of the Most Awesome Summer of My Life. DONE! It took me a little over three months, which is incredibly fast for me. And considering how much fun I had writing it, and how easy and naturally it came for me, I am pleasantly optimistic that maybe Young Adult is a good genre for me.

But wait, how do I know that it's any good? Maybe it was fun, and came quickly, but it's total crap. WELL, now I have PROOF that it's NOT! In fact, it's good! Here's how I know! I entered the first 35 pages and a synopsis in a national contest for Chick Lit, and guess what: Casey V is a finalist in the Young Adult division!! I just found out tonight and am still floating on Cloud nine! So there's two excellent pieces of news with that:

The first round judges gave me NEARLY PERFECT scores, both of them!! Out of a perfect 135, one judge rated me a 134 and the other rated me a 133!! (Click here for their comments.)
Now I have 5 days to revise it and then the manuscript will be sent to TWO EXCELLENT people who have the potential of making a huge impact on my life -- an agent who represents YA Chick Lit authors and a New York City publisher who acquires YA Chick Lit!!

PLEASE think very positive thoughts for me and send all those positive vibes and wishes to NYC along with my manuscript! And pray that the finals judges LOVE the manuscript as much as the first round judges did!! :)

In other news, I'm getting ready for my fabulous Legacy of Lies Launch party. and a new interview with "moi" appeared on the web today, so check it out.

The website flew by 6000 visitors on the first of this month, so I thank you very much for visiting, and coming back and visiting again!

Oh, and Legacy of Lies is now the #5 Bestseller for Whiskey Creek Press for the month of November! Thank you for all your support! Let's shoot for #1 in December. :)

November 26, 2005:

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all Americans! Hope you had a bountiful and pleasurable holiday. My family got in the car and took a 12 1/2 hour road trip to Brookhaven, Pennsylvania, my husband's hometown (and the town where my second book, Momentary Lapse, takes place!). We visited with family and friends, did a little relaxing, and of course, a lot of eating! (A little too much eating, actually.)

But I'm happy to say that despite the travel and the vacation, my work on Casey V is moving along nicely! In fact, while I was away I managed to finish Chapter 13 and today, since I'm pretty much done with the unpacking and laundry, I wrote Chapter 14 in its entirety AND am about halfway through Chapter 15. This book will have 16 chapters total. I am so close to THE END I can taste it!! My goal is to have the first draft completed by Christmas so it can sit for a few weeks, and then I'll go back in the new year and revise, then start my agent search -- looking for just that right agent who is passionate about the book and will want to sell it.

AND today I also created and addressed invitations to my Legacy of Lies Launch Party, being held here in my hometown of Bloomington, IL at the Studio 222 Art Gallery. I'm really excited about it and hope that it's a complete and total success. If you are in the area, please stop by!

November 13, 2005: My launch party is booked, and preliminary invitations have gone out via email. All are welcome! If you're going to be in central Illinois on Friday, December 16, be sure and stop by. Here's the location.

Work on Casey V has slowed considerably. I've only written 20 pages since November began, but my schedule outside of work has gotten extremely busy. I hoping the sabbatical will be good for my creativity and I still hope to finish the first draft by Christmas.

November 8, 2005: Week 1 of a new release! I'm having a lot of fun talking up the book, and lining up signings and parties. Tomorrow I meet with a local art gallery owner who invited me to have my launch party there. Hopefully soon I'll be able to post a date.

I'm writing Casey V in record speed. Considering I started on 8/20 and it's now 11/8 (not even three months in) and I only have 4 chapters left, about 70 pages. Really loving that book, too.

Over the weekend I wrote a non-fiction article for a e-zine called Writer 2 Writer. If/when it gets published, I'll post it here.

November 1, 2005: Today's the day! The release date for Legacy of Lies! I'm so excited. The best place to get it is directly from the publisher, Whiskey Creek Press. This link will take you directly to the Legacy of Lies page. Get your copy today, and then check out my Legacy of Lies Launch contest! You could be the lucky winner of a $30 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble.

Also, my newsletter went out today to everyone in my address book. If you'd like to be included on future mailings (about once a quarter) and you didn't get one, send me an email with your name and email address.

October 20, 2005: Things are happening so fast now! First off, my preview copy of Legacy of Lies arrived last Friday in the mail. I opened it up with shaking hands... after all, this book took me a year of my life to write, another year to sell, and a year in production after Whiskey Creek Press bought it! Three years, and now I was about to hold the finished book in my hand. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a pair of scissors. Cut open the packaging (carefully...) and whipped it out. I held my breath and realized... it's BEAUTIFUL!! It's a beautiful, gorgeous, attractive, wonderful book. It looks good and I know it's going to read good too! I can't wait now for it to be available for sale. It'll be a short, but torturous wait.

Another bit of excitement is that the ARCs (Advance Review Copies) are starting to generate some positive reviews, and just in time to include in the actual pages of the book! There's a page inside Legacy for reviews, and I received two back, just in time. Here's what they say. I'll link to the review websites once they get updated.

I hope you'll all order Legacy, read it, love it, and let me know how much you love it! Ha ha.

Living a dream ...

October 9, 2005: Work continues on Casey V. I just finished Chapter 8. I'm officially halfway done.

In other news (<<sigh>>) Medallion Press rejected my Keeper by Surprise. What is particularly frustrating about this rejection is that they requested the full manuscript after reading three chapters a year ago, and after keeping it all that time in an exclusive review, they rejected it with little more than a standard form letter rejection. I was so surprised with the lack of oomph behind their rejection that I sent a follow-up email to the editor, asking for some insight as to why it didn't "meet their needs at this time." I don't know if she'll respond, or if she'll even have anything to respond with. But in my opinion, it was worth a try.

This is SUCH a tough business. I'd gotten such fantastic rejections on Keeper by some of New York's major publishers. HQN described it as "bold" and "edgy." Bantam Dell said it had "many merits." The Harper Collins editor said she "enjoyed the overall story." My dream publisher, St. Martins said I was "obviously a very talented writer." Another RWA-recognized publisher, although not based in NY, said my chapters were "well written and easy to read." I really thought, after those rejections from major publishers who had seemingly taken the time to do a complete read-through, that I was getting close. That with each book I finished, I was making my way closer and closer to New York.

So, to have Medallion reject Keeper with a "it doesn't fit our needs at this time," was a real disappointment. But I'm going to take the high road and decide that there's a better plan for Keeper. Maybe Diane Dietz is going to love Preacher Man and offer me a two-book contract. Maybe I can re-engineer Keeper to be an inspirational. Or maybe, when my schedule frees up a little, I can go back through Keeper and revise it, making it stronger and more marketable. But I'm not in a rush to sell it to the first bidder. Not this manuscript. Now now.

And such is the life of a fiction writer. Thank goodness for my day job! :)

Three weeks and counting till the release of Book 3 -- Legacy of Lies.

October 3, 2005: Wow, it's been a flurry of activity in my writing world lately. I ended up writing out a Work Schedule to make sure that I make time for all the things I need to do, and get them done in a timely manner, without shirking the new writing of Casey V. And I'm happy to say I got my own two entries ready for the contest I entered them in on time, I finished my judging of the manuscripts I was responsible for, and I wrote 3 chapters of Casey V this month. My goal for October is 4. I'll be done with this book in record time if I keep up this pace. :)

Saturday was a beautiful day and I packed it full with a marathon of activity. At 8:15 I did the Alzheimers Walk with my sister-in-law. We had a great time, walking and talking and all for a good cause, too. At 9:30, I left and drove about 45 miles to my son's last cross country meet of the season (and probably forever, since this is his last year of junior high, and he informs me he's going out for freshman football next year instead). I watched his whole race and cheered him on. Then we jumped in the car and drove all the way back to our home town to make my younger son's football game. He played great, including catching an interception and in a separate play, running 25 yards for a touchdown! His first one ever! What a banner day.

September 24, 2005: Today I participated in the "An Afternoon of Romance" that my local Barnes and Noble hosted for me and another local romance author. It was a lot of fun. We got a small, but very interested crowd who asked lots of great questions about romance writing and novels. We each read an excerpt and then signed books for those who wanted them. My mom came and took a few pictures, so if any good ones come out, I'll post them soon.

I haven't written this week because I've been busy with other writing-related activities. I'm judging a unpublished writers' contest, and I have a few more entries to go with that. And I've decided to enter some of my unpublished excerpts in a contest, which required me to make sure my entries are written and revised and polished. The big goal (for me at least) for this contest is to make the final round, because then my manuscript(s) will be in the hands of editors at the major houses looking for material, so it's worth the price of entry.

September 19, 2005: I did a radio interview today and it was so much fun! It always amazes me how small radio stations are. One little ranch-style building housed the studios for like 5 separate channels! Anyway, Maria Henneberry of STAR 107.7 interviewed me. She immediately put me at ease and made it very easy for me to focus on her questions and try to come up with witty, original answers. My biggest fan (Mom) as well as hubby said I did a great job. Of course, it was live so I couldn't hear it, so I've asked Maria if I can get a recording. Then, if I really get high-tech, I'll try to figure out how to post it to the website so you can hear it too!

I'm at the 100-page mark of Casey V!! WOO HOO!! I'm more than 1/3 of the way done.

September 11, 2005: Getting ready for my new release, Legacy of Lies, in November, I had postcards made up, with the cover art on the front and some ordering details on the back. Any correspondence I send now to readers or website visitors (like my book giveaways) I'll use those postcards in an attempt to spread the word! :) I have to say I just love this book and I'm really looking forward to getting some reviews back on it, and hearing what readers think. But, I have to be patient. About 6 weeks (and counting...).

Of course, it's a bittersweet day here in the USA -- it's the 4th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on our country in US history, while we're still trying to recover from the worst natural disaster in US history. My heart and prayers go out to all the Hurricane Katrina victims, survivors and families who are now trying to start new lives elsewhere.

September 4, 2005: The school year is off and running, and so is homework, sports teams, practices and games, as well as it seems like a million other things to remember each and every day ... picture day, lunch money, fundraisers, band meetings, etc, etc, etc. Since work is also busy AND I'm well into writing my new book, I don't have too much of a chance to sit around and do NOTHING.

The big news definitely is that I'm off and running on my new book. As I think I mentioned before, it's a YA (Young Adult) Chick Lit. I plan it to be about 60,000 words ( 240 pages) and I'm currently right around page 50. So, only two weeks into the writing of it, I'm off to a bang-up start with over 1/5 of the first draft done already. YIPPEE! I'm loving this genre, and my main character. Here's a peek at the title, which will hopefully give you a little bit of an idea of the storyline and the tone of the story:

The Chronicles of Casey V, OR Mental Ramblings of the Most Awesome Summer of My Life

It's a journal-style book told in first person by Casey V, the 16-year old heroine, and we follow her entries as she embarks on her first job as a camp counselor (away from home.) There's a lot of fun, a little bit of romance and even a mystery to solve. Should be fun.

In other news, I got my royalty statement for Whispers of the Heart (yes, it's been released for 5 years now, and still sells copies pretty regularly (not a lot, but a few!) and one sale over the last six months took place in the UK! So, if my UK reader is visiting the site, let me just give you a hearty Thank you! and I hope you'll recommend me to your friends.

This website flew by 5000 visitors last week! Fantastic. It's gratifying to spend time keeping it up to date when I know that enough people visit it and like it enough to come back. Thanks to all of you regular visitors, and to first time visitors, welcome!

August 26, 2005: More great news! Earlier this week I got an email from Nora Baxter, my cover artist for Legacy of Lies. She said she'd located a photographer and baby model who would be willing to supply the child for Legacy's cover. So Nora plugged in this adorable baby model into my planned cover, and wa la! New cover for Legacy of Lies!! Now I'd like to know which one you like the best, so I'll put them side by side here. Then email me: and tell me which one you like better. The one with the the assimilated baby (artwork) or real baby model (photographed).

In other news, I'm working away on my new book and I'm about 25 pages into it. Not bad!

August 20, 2005: Great news!! Last weekend, I did a complete read-through of Preacher Man, made some edits, and printed it out, along with a synopsis. I wrote a personalized query letter to Diane Dietz, the editor who requested a full manuscript at conference, and I sent it off, with a heartfelt prayer, asking for its safe arrival, and an open-minded read-through! I also purchased a confirmation receipt from the PO, sent it Priority Mail, and according to the PO website, it has arrived. Now it's back to waiting for some sort of reaction. Is it great? Is it crap? Will she love it? Throw it against the wall? OR, worse yet -- read two pages and decide it's not even worth her time to continue. <<SIGH.>> Time will tell.

Another bit of great news -- I started my new book today! An idea had been niggling at the back of my mind for quite some time, so last night I sat down and figured out how long it should be, how many chapters, etc., and starting doing a chapter-by-chapter outline. It took no time at all before I got so excited about writing it that I threw the outline aside and wrote the first chapter! Literally. I sat down this afternoon and whipped out the entire first chapter, without so much as stopping for a breath. It just FLOWED out of me. I'm taking that as a good sign. Maybe this book is meant to be.

I'll tell you more about it when I'm into it more, but for now, I'm just enjoying the act of writing again and the fact that it's going well. (It doesn't always...)

August 11, 2005: What a whirlwind the last few weeks have been. You'll understand why when you read my trip report from my visit to the RWA National Conference in Reno, Nevada. Hope you enjoy it! I won't ruin the suspense, but I've got some work to do! I need to get a certain manuscript ready to send to a certain editor VERY SOON, and then I need to get started on my new book. My sabbatical is OVER.

July 23, 2005: I'm getting so excited about my visit to Reno for the national RWA conference. And as I surf the web of various romance authors' sites, it's obvious that the entire romance writing community is just as excited as I am!! It's so cool to be part of such a big group, and the national conference is a much-anticipated event each year! This year's conference will be my third.

I'm getting ready to pack. I did some last minute shopping today -- a notebook to take with me to workshops to take notes and write down things that inspire me, as well as a place to write the day-to-day journal that I'll publish here when I return. All my toiletries, as well as black pantyhose to wear with my RITA dress. I'm ready now to PACK.

I sent out three ARC's for advance reviews of Legacy of Lies. Two hard copy ARCs, and one electronic. I'm stressing because the hard copy ones were EXPENSIVE to print and reproduce and mail, and when I mailed them I paid a few cents extra for the delivery confirmation receipt. And what the Post Office website is telling me, is that of the two packages I sent last Monday, one was delivered to the WRONG zip code, and one is still en route. After 6 days! AHHH!! @#$%@

Well, this is probably my last journal entry until after my fabulous back to back trips of Reno and cruise to the western Caribbean. Hasta la vista. I'll tell you all about it when I return!! :)

July 16, 2005: Big news: I found a dress for the RITA ceremony in Reno!

I leave for my RWA conference in a little over a week, and the very last night is the very dressy, ultra-chic RITA ceremony, where the best books of the year in romance writing are celebrated. This year, in honor of RWA's 25th anniversary, it'll be a sit-down dinner, plus the always-entertaining awards ceremony. Each time I go, it warrants a new dress, and today I found it: a traditional "little black dress" that is classic and (I hope) flattering and comfortable. Yee-haw.

By the way, here is my blow-by-blow report of the last RWA national conference I attended in New York City. I'll post my Reno report when I return.

Speaking of returning from Reno, there's exciting news there: I go straight from a fabulous week in Reno/Lake Tahoe, to a cruise with my family! In fact, somehow I'm going to have to pack separately for two different vacations before I even leave for the first! :( We leave on 8/1 from Chicago, fly to Miami, and cruise to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica, returning back to Miami the following Saturday. Yippee!

In writing news, I've finally got busy on finding reviewers to do advance reviews of Legacy of Lies! I've created ARC's (Advance Review Copies) of the whole typeset book, and I've located at least 3 reviewers who are willing to do an advance review. If they have anything positive to say (here's hoping they will) and if they can return their comments by mid-September, my publisher will include the comments IN THE BOOK! That's something I never had with my first two books, so I'm really excited!

And, I posted an excerpt from Legacy of Lies, so check it out.

July 7, 2005:
Happy belated Independence Day, for all Americans! Hope you had a fun, sunny 4th of July.

It's hard to believe it's been a full MONTH since I last wrote in this journal. <<Sorry!>> But the truth is, I really haven't been doing much in my writing world, because my work and children's worlds are overwhelming me! My older son played in a golf tournament this month, and is in a nightly running club, and my younger son is on a travel baseball team, and has played (gulp) 50 games since 4/24!

But I'm looking forward to the RWA conference later this month, and that event ALWAYS gets me geared up!

June 7, 2005: Happy birthday to me! :) Yes, it was a very pleasant birthday. Despite an extremely busy day at work (they all are these days) I had a few successes today, which is always nice. I met my parents, my brother's family and my own family at a local restaurant and we enjoyed a great dinner and presents. AND a skillet cookie -- yum.

In writing news, I've completed both a thorough read-through of Legacy of Lies, and a quicker proofing of the galley copy. The edited manuscript and list of revisions arrived from my editor the week prior to Memorial Day weekend, so I spent the better part of three days reading every single word, and listing out revisions and corrections. And let me tell you -- I REALLY enjoyed the book! It's been close to four years since I wrote it, so it was all very fresh to me, and I'm very enthused about the story. I really hope people will like it. AND my editors are raving about it so I am one happy camper. Tonight I finished the final edits on the galleys (typeset in a PDF file) and sent a few more error revisions off. FUN. I can't wait till November.

And last Tuesday night, I was in a car accident, on the highway, with a semi. It was very frightening but I'm happy to say my son and I walked away without any major injuries. My car was a total loss, but our bodies stayed intact, and I couldn't be more thankful to God and my guardian angel. :)

May 22, 2005: I just received an email from my editor of Legacy of Lies this morning, and I'm still floating on a cloud! Here's what she had to say, (and I quote), "Your edits are going very well. I can tell you that you've done a WONDERFUL job of self-editing! One of the best jobs I've seen."

YIPPEE! Having a "clean" manuscript allows the editor to do what she does best -- making the book the best it can be. She also indicated that she'd be getting back to me very soon with the list of edits for my review. Things are rolling ahead!

In other big news, I made my plane reservations for Reno. The last week of July I'll be attending the RWA National Conference. I secured an appointment with Diane Dietz, who is an assistant editor at Steeple Hill. I'll have about ten minutes to spend with her one on one, to pitch Preacher Man to her. Hopefully she'll like it enough to ask me to send a full manuscript. Yes, for those of you keeping score, Steeple Hill is the one publisher who has already rejected Preacher Man (see my 3/15 entry), but often publishers will take a closer look if they meet you at a conference. So I'm taking full advantage of my conference attendance to hopefully get the manuscript on someone's desk!!

And my other bit of writing news is that I decided to follow up with Medallion Press for a status on my manuscript, Keeper by Surprise, that I sent them in October. Their website says it could take up to a full year to review a full manuscript, but my curiosity got the better of me. Hopefully I'll get a response like, "Everyone's read it and loved it and we'll be sending you an offer soon!" (One can dream, can't one?) :)

Ooops, I just looked up the Medallion Press website to do the hyperlink (above) and it says, "Medallion Press, Inc. will not respond to any e-mails or phone calls regarding the status of manuscripts." So sorry!!

May 8, 2005: Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there! I had a beautiful day. My younger son, Jeff and I appeared in a humorous skit at church, and then my family, my parents and I went out and stuffed ourselves silly at a buffet brunch. A nap ensued, and then a trip to the park with Gracie the Wonder Dog. Looking forward to watching Desperate Housewives tonight. A lovely, lazy, relaxing day.

I got results back from one of the contests I entered Momentary Lapse in. The bad news is, it didn't make it to the final round. But in true thick-skinned author style, even though one judge absolutely hated it, and three were mildly enthused about it, I can find the silver lining in any dark cloud. So, here it is:

The four judges were asked to rate various aspects of the book on a scale of 1 to 10. I received two perfect 10's from one judge on Clear Points of View, and Goals, Conflict and Motivation. From the other judges I received two 9's in Emotion and one 9 in Goals, Conflict and Motivation.

My books tend to do better with readers than with other writers (who judge writing contests). At least one of the contests I entered is judged by readers, so I'm hopeful it'll do better with that one.

April 28, 2005: Happy birthday, Mom!

I'm sorry to say, I haven't been doing much writing. Okay, any writing. But I have been busy. I am currently judging five entries for the Madcap Award for romantic comedies, and enjoying it thoroughly.

And if you've checked out my home page and seen all the appearances I've added, you'll see that I'm gearing up for promoting Legacy of Lies, my new book coming out in November! I can't wait for it to be released.

And in the real world, baseball season has started for my younger son, and that means double header games will be dominating my family's schedule a couple times a week for the next three months. <<YAWN.>>

Hope everyone's enjoying their spring and getting lots of good reading done. And if you need a good book and haven't checked out my Momentary Lapse yet, I'll hope you'll give it a try! All these people couldn't be wrong, could they??

April 9, 2005: I'm sorry to say that the Steeple Hill rejection put an unwanted screech (to a skidding halt) to my writing for the last three weeks. <SIGH> But I have done some thinking about what to do next, and I've decided to go along with my New Year's Resolution #2 (see my 1/9 journal entry, below) and pursue an agent who specializes in the inspirational market. These are new waters for me, and if I want Preacher Man to have any "prayer" (sorry the pun) of being noticed, I think I need to be represented. The only thing is, will I be of any interest to an inspirational agent, since I only have one manuscript they're interested in? And should I start another inspirational manuscript now, or go ahead with my plans for the Young Adult novel I'd hoped to write?

I don't know. <Another big sigh>

In other news, I was web surfing about a week ago and came across a review for Momentary Lapse that I was absolutely thrilled about!! It came from Coffee Time Romance and ML received 4 coffee cups out of 5, and some great individual comments. Take a look. The fact that ML was rejected by twelve agents, AND twelve publishers, and now is getting these fantastic reviews from readers and reviewers, makes me smile just a little. And chuckle evilly (picture Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movie, pinky up to lip, with the evil laugh).

March 15, 2005: Steeple Hill Cafe was quick, I gotta hand 'em that. I received their rejection a mere 7 days after I placed my query and synopsis in the mail. They wasted no time utilizing my SASE with their standard form rejection letter. No reason was given, just that it didn't fit their needs at this time. With that kind of turnaround I can't imagine that they gave it much consideration. <<SIGH.>> Sometimes this business is just one big disappointment. Consumption of massive amounts of chocolate ensued, in the form of a one-pint container of Ben and Jerry's New York Chunk ice cream.

March 12, 2005: Life marches on. I took on a big extra assignment at work and that has been taking up a lot of my time and attention. My younger son's basketball season will end today with his last game (or 2) of his final tournament. Baseball is right on its heels with his fourth practice tomorrow. His mind-blowing season (56 games in 3 months) begins 4/24.

And here in my writing world, I fulfilled one of my New Year's resolutions -- I submitted Preacher Man! Well, I sent it about a week after my New Year's resolution stated, but who's counting? And since I decided to send it to a publisher that requires a longer word count, the manuscript needs a little more work (length). But I did submit the query and synopsis, and I'll continue to work on the manuscript in anticipation of that welcome day that Steeple Hill Cafe requests the full manuscript for their review. Send positive thoughts!

In other news, I belong to a group called Rising Stars of Romance and we have all our fabulous, successful authors featured on a website. It features the authors' websites, books and contests. Check it out here to see my entries.

March 4, 2005: (Or in other words: 03 - 04 - 05, hee hee.) Sorry it's been so long since I updated the website and wrote in this journal. I've been busy going through the printed copy of Preacher Man with a fine tooth comb. In some chapters I changed quite a bit, and in others I barely changed a thing. But I'm pretty pleased with the result. Only two things left now: 1) I still haven't written that darn synopsis. Geez, I hate those. But, I've procrastinated long enough so I'm going to give it a stab this weekend. And 2) I've changed my mind about the line I'm going to submit it to.

As I mentioned before, I was targeting the Love Inspired line of Steeple Hill Publishing Group. And yes, I finally got it to 70K words like Love Inspired requires. BUT ... when I finished Preacher Man, and then read a few more Love Inspired's, it occurred to me that what I have is NOT a Love Inspired, which is a very traditional romance with an inspirational message.

What I DO have (I hope) is a newer line called Steeple Hill Cafe. The writer's guidelines calls it "inspirational fiction for the hip, modern woman of faith. This distinctively smart and spirited new line of books will depict the unique and varied situations women encounter as they learn important lessons about life, love and the power of faith." Check out the link for the full scoop. Anyway, after I read that and thought, 'Yeah, that's where Preacher Man belongs,' I realized that DOH! I'd have to add ANOTHER 40 pages!!

So, in doing my revisions I added five (yeah I know, not much, but at least it's something) pages, so I need to add 35 more, minimum. Again, I identified 2-3 spots where I thought a scene was missing and needed some sprucing up, so if I'm lucky I'll get those in and the book will be the right length to be considered for the new, fabulous Steeple Hill Cafe inspirational chick lit line!!

Hey, update on the Valentine's Day situation (or lack thereof) mentioned in my last journal entry: The Saturday after Valentines Day I had to go into the office and get caught up on stuff. About midway through the morning, hubby called and invited me to join him for lunch, just the two of us. We agreed on when and where, and I told him I'd meet him there. When I was racing out to my car at noon (late as usual) I jumped in the car, started it -- and smelled the most aromatic, fresh floral scent! There on the floor of my front passenger seat was the biggest, most beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers I ever saw! And with his card, "Just Because -- I love you." AHHH....

He done good! Late, but good. Have a great weekend.

P.S. The cover artist of Legacy of Lies put together her own personal website of all her book covers. Check it out and look for my cover!

February 16, 2005: Great news! I'm one step closer to having Preacher Man ready to submit to Love Inspired -- I've gotten it up to the length they're looking for! Their word count requirements are 70,000 to 75,000, and PM is currently at 70,500. YIPPEE. My next steps are to write a succinct, concise but very compelling synopsis (my most dreaded task) and a one-page, but equally compelling query letter. These are my sales tools and I HATE writing those things.

In other news, I've been assigned an editor at Whiskey Creek for Legacy of Lies. We've emailed back and forth a few times and she says she's looking forward to reading, and then editing the book. I can't wait for that process to begin. It'll bring us one step closer to having a readable, entertaining finished product in November.

Did everyone have a nice Valentine's Day? I entertained my three boys (one adult, two child) with cards and chocolate, but alas, didn't receive anything in return. My "main squeeze" has been home sick most of this week, so I guess shopping was out of the question. By the way, those huge full-pound Hershey kisses are very attractive to dogs, as we came to find out when Super Pooch Gracie sniffed it out where it was hiding on the counter, dragged it down, ripped through the foil wrapper and devoured it, leaving streaks of chocolate on the rug. Yes, I'm aware chocolate is dangerous for a dog's digestive system. I just hope we don't have any repercussions. So far, so good.

February 8, 2005: I completed one entire additional scene to add to Preacher Man, and am about halfway through with the longer of the two. I took about 4 pages of new "stuff" into my critique group and they verified I was on the right track. Next on my To Do list, besides finishing that longer scene, is writing a marketable synopsis that will summarize the story for the editor, and grab her attention enough that she'll fly through the first three chapters and feel like she'll absolutely die if she doesn't have the full manuscript right now!

Okay, that was a little bit dramatic but you get the idea.

Hey, check out my new Author's Page at Whiskey Creek Press. I've really enjoyed working with them so far. My experience working with the cover art designer was terrific, and I've now been assigned an editor. She sent me a nice welcoming e-mail and I look forward to her thoughts and insights on the book.

January 27, 2005: This weekend I went like wildfire and completed a second draft of the rest of Preacher Man. So, in other words, I read through the entire manuscript, cutting, adding, editing and polishing until I was happy with how it reads. I also identified two spots where I thought the plot sagged and brainstormed ideas for additional scenes that will help bring it up to the needed 70K word count. This weekend I hope to get some good work done on writing those scenes, and I'll definitely be on track for my New Year's resolutions (see journal entry below, for January 9) to start submitting it by March 1.

Also, I identified another contest to enter Momentary Lapse in, with the category of Mainstream Fiction With Romantic Elements. It's a new RWA category and many of the chapter-level contests don't offer it yet, but I've now entered ML in three contests. A contest win, or even a finalist position, is great "press" for a book and its author, so I'm hoping that at least one of these contests will result in one. It happened for Whispers of the Heart, and I only entered that in two contests, so keep your fingers crossed!

January 21, 2005: I'm off and running! This week I began my revisions of Preacher Man, completing polishing and revisions on Chapter One. It was good to get back to it (finally) and after a 6-week sabbatical, as well as the time lapsed from the start of Chapter One till I finished the book, it was fun to go back and see the beginning again.

Also, I did a really fun bookreading and signing today for a group of wonderful women from PEO International. They were very welcoming and supportive and even bought a stack of books. I've invested in some pens with my promotional info on them, and I told them, each person who bought a book could be the first on their block to have a Laurie Larsen pen! The ladies enjoyed the reading and I got a lot of compliments on my writing, so it was a very enjoyable afternoon!

January 16, 2005: I'm sorry to report that a week has passed since I wrote my New Year's resolutions, and alas, I haven't started on them. I'm putting my determination in gear this coming week. Too much snow, rain, leaky roofs, broken down cars, and resulting new vehicle purchases got in my way this week! Yes, that all happened in one week! Ha! Life does happen, doesn't it? Stay tuned. I'll have some progress to report next week.

January 9, 2005: A new year and a new Journal! And a new book on the way, and a brand new cover! The big news is that after 4-5 revisions, back and forth between me and a very accommodating Art Director, Nora Baxter at Whiskey Creek Press, we have a cover for my November book, Legacy of Lies! I really like what we ended up with. I think it's a very intriguing and pleasing cover. It gets the elements of the suspense of the story. And I like the back cover blurb. Boy, it ain't easy coming up with a visual for this story that took me so long to write. But seeing the birth of a book cover is an exciting and rewarding thing.

And my sabbatical from writing is now over. Starting as soon as possible, (this week, hopefully), I'm going to print out the finished first draft of Preacher Man, and I'm going through it with a fine tooth comb, making revisions to make it smoother and better, but I'm also going to look for places that I can add another 10 thousand words or so. It's short for the market I'm targeting, so I need to add a few more scenes to get it up in the running. I'd much rather add than delete, so hopefully it won't be too hard!

And, my New Year's Resolutions. I find that if I put these things down in writing, they're easier to work towards, so here they go: my goals for my writing career for 2005:

Revise Preacher Man and submit it to Steeple Hill by March 1, 2005.
If Steeple Hill rejects it, (but why would they??) pursue an agent who specializes in inspirational romance.
Begin new book by April 1, 2005. Current plan (which could change) is a Young Adult Chick Lit.
Wait on Medallion Press, who is currently reviewing Keeper by Surprise. If Medallion rejects it, (but why would they??) continue submissions.

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