ARC Winner

A few weeks ago, you might remember me posting a contest where the winner was to receive an Advanced Reader Copy of the first book in my upcoming Amish Mysteries (written as Laura Bradford)–HEARSE AND BUGGY.

The book will release to the public on June 5th, but, as is the case with new series, the publisher prints up a number of uncorrected proofs for the purpose of getting them into the hands of the big reviewers. As the author, I am given a handful of these special copies to give out as I see fit.

I chose to put one of these copies up for grabs via a contest with my only real requests being that the winner 1) doesn’t sell it or share it with anyone prior to the June 5th release and 2) if they like it, they consider posting a review somewhere or talking it up among friends and family.

Well, I got tons of entries into my email account (as per entry rules) and my daughter pulled out the name of one luck winner. This particular winner also happens to be a regular in the comment section of this blog–woo hoo (always nice to see)!

So, Mary H., from Cudahy, Wisconsin…I’ll be sending an ARC of HEARSE AND BUGGY out to you later this week. Congratulations on winning!!!

Bummed you didn’t win? Well, I’ve announced another giveaway in the “lastest news” section of this website, so click that tab and check it out!

Enjoy your Monday, everyone!

~Elizabeth

Going, Going, Gone?

Inspired by an essay Dear Son # 2 has to write (in which he has to choose an item under $500 that he would bury today to be dug up and worth a TON of money in 200 years), I thought maybe I’d make you choose between those things that will soon be obsolete and the current “wave of the future.”  Reasons why, would be fun, too.

Ready?

1) Snail mail or email?

2) A greeting card or an e-card?

3) Telephone or Skype?

4) Regular film or digital?

5) Records or downloadable music?

6) Report cards or print-yourself-grades?

Have fun!

~Elizabeth

Step One–The Idea

Last week, I gave some tough talk on writing. The point being, that if you want to “write a book,” you have to write. Daily.

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk about how. As in, how (and where) to get ideas. My advice? Stay away from the “my life” stories. So many people I meet along the way think their lives would make great books. And maybe they would. But it’s the rare person who truly has a book-worthy life.

So, this means you need to find something to write about. Assuming you’re writing fiction, the “finding” is half the fun. Truly.

Start listening. Really listening. Listen to what, you ask? Conversations at the next table in a restaurant, cell phone calls on the train, newsy things on the radio, etc. If something intrigues you, listen harder.

Then, start thinking. And plotting.  Who is the person on the phone fighting with and why? Why does the one person keep glancing over their shoulder like they’re nervous? The elderly woman dug up what in their backyard?

Don’t have the real answers? Make some up.

Maybe he’s fighting with his boss…or an old college friend who sold him out with a friend or a colleage (sold him out in what regard and why, being the next line of questions).

Maybe the person keeps glancing over their shoulder because they did something awful and they can’t shake the feeling that someone was watching (what did they do and who was watching?)

Maybe the elderly woman was planting a garden and found a skull. Or a suitcase with a million bucks (where’d the money come from, why did someone bury it, was the skull that of a person who died naturally or some other way?).

Each time you come up with your answer, you ask yourself another set of questions (who? what? when? where? why?). Come across a sticking point? Toss it out at dinner with your friends or family and see what they come up with. Maybe you’ll like what they say…or maybe it will serve as a springboard you didn’t see on your own at first. Either way, though, this part of the brainstorming process is always fun.

Jot notes. Draw it out. Just do something to keep your ideas in order.

Next week, I’ll talk about finding your starting point.

Questions so far?

~Elizabeth

Take The Day

There are a lot of positives to working from home–positives I get to enjoy as a writer.

1) I can write in my jammies all day if I want.
2) I save a ton of money not eating out every day.
3) No traffic jams to contend with.
4) I can yell at my computer when necessary without fear of being considered a loon by whatever fellow employee might be listening.

Of course, like most things in life though, there are downs to offset the ups.

1) I tend to be in my  jammies and sans make-up any time a delivery dude comes to the door.
2) I tend to skip meals, making the box of milk duds and bag of candy corn all the more attractive.
3) My family seems to think my working from home means my job is one I can just put off or do later–especially when they need to go somewhere/do something.
4) I don’t get mental health/personal days. Not ones where I can call in and do whatever I want for a day while knowing I’m still getting paid (I don’t write/I don’t get paid).

And you know what? I’ve been thinking about # 4 on the con list a lot lately. Everyone needs a mental health day once in a while, right?  :)

Soooo, I’m eyeballing the calendar today and trying to decide when I want to ”call in.” And when I do call in, I’m heading straight to the city…for lunch in Chinatown…or maybe a pretzel in the park…or maybe an eat-on-the-go kinda thing while I stroll along 5th Avenue.

Hmmm. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Now it’s your turn. If you took a mental health day next week, what would you do?

~Elizabeth 

Books, Books, Books

What are you reading right now?

~Elizabeth

Happenings

Quick update on the book-related stuff going on at the moment.

**REAP WHAT YOU SEW (#6) comes out in just three weeks (April 3rd)!!!  I just got my first looksee copy over the weekend and it looks great!

**My current wip (work in progress) is Amish Mysteries # 2. I’m 25 percent into it and so far so good. In fact, writing this story is a treat!

**In addition to the wip, I work through a few relatively minor edits on a romance I have coming out in October–STORYBOOK DAD. Ths story has extra special meaning for me so I want it to be just right.

**I’m hard at work with my web designer on a total revamp of my Laura Bradford site (the name under which I write both my romances and my upcoming Amish Mysteries under). I tossed an idea out at her for this site and she loved it. So now we’re seeing if we can make it happen.

**I’m setting up events to coincide with the launch of both REAP WHAT YOU SEW in April and HEARSE AND BUGGY (Amish #1) in June. I love watching my calendar grow. The Amish launch events will be posted to my site soon.

So that’s a quick catch-up. Busy, busy, busy.

~Elizabeth

Favorites

Today’s Bits & Pieces is all about favorites.

1) Favorite song when you just feel like being happy?

2) Favorite outdoor activity?

3) Favorite treat?

4) Favorite dinner ever?

5) Favorite breakfast ever?

6) Favorite stuffed creature when you were little? (what did you name it?)

~Elizabeth

Don’t Just Say It

I’ve been to a fair amount of signings and other book related events over the past seven years. And there’s always one statement I hear a lot.

“I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every person who has said that along the way, I’d be doing pretty well. But, see, here’s the thing. If you want to write a book, write one. Because like everything else in life, talk is cheap. Or, to go the route of the trite phrase: actions speak louder than words.

So how do writers do it? How have some of us “written a book” while others merely talk about it?

Well, we write. We write in the mornings, we write in the evenings, we write on the weekends, we write on vacations, etc.

Now, notice I didn’t say, we write when we have a chance. Because that is a key difference between one who “writes” and one who “wants to write.”

Yes, people’s lives are busy. But if you want to write, you make the time. My first (and my second and my third) book was written in twenty minute spurts while my kids (whom I spent every waking hour interacting with–and interacting doesn’t mean planting them in front of the television) entertained themselves looking at books or exploring their toys. When they grew tired of what they were doing, I stopped writing.

That first book took me nearly five years to write. But I made it happen.

When I wrote the first Southern Sewing Circle book I was a single mom working five different jobs (Borders, two different teaching gigs, free lance business writing and, of course, my fiction writing). And I worked all those jobs in such a way that I was still home with my kids after school and all but one evening per week. Toss in the fact I was in the early stages of my M.S. diagnosis at that point and, well, making the time to write wasn’t always easy. But I made it happen.

I’m not writing this post as a lecture. I’m writing it in the hopes of motivating anyone out there who may “want to write a book.”

Not sure where to carve out the time? Think. Is there a thirty minute span where you tend to veg? Or watch a television program you really don’t need to watch? Or a time when you’re sitting in your car waiting for a kid to come out of dance or baseball or whatever? If so, you just found your time.

Seriously.

Thirty minutes a day is better than no minutes a day. And thirty minutes a day will have you actually writing your book instead of simply talking about it.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

~Elizabeth

Phone A Friend

Moving can be difficult regardless of age. When you’re young, switching schools can be beastly (though, my girls handled the change amazingly well–a fact, I’m sure, that had everything to do with it being a move they wanted). When you’re older (like me) it’s lots of things–change in routine, change in familiarity, distance from friends.

Social network sites make it easier these days to “keep in touch” with people all across the country–and even the world. But, for me, there are certain people/relationships in my life that can’t be relegated to commenting on status updates and clicking my way through their latest family photographs. 

With those people, I need more real contact. Phone calls, face-to-face time, etc. Because while I could technically get all the same info in a long winded email, it’s just not the same.

In just the past six days, I’ve been able to spend time on the phone with two of my dearest friends–catching up, laughing, sharing secrets and worries, etc. And both times, I got off the phone feeling good. Happy. 

Time with these particular friends does that for me. We get each other. We know what matters in each other’s lives. We know the other is there even if life gets in the way and time slips through our fingers for a little while. We don’t judge or try to change one another. And we each know that the other person cares.

You can’t put a price tag on that.

So here’s to those friendships that go far deeper than any status update and/or email can go. They are some of my greatest treasures in life.

~Elizabeth

Hail To the Pig

Today’s blog, at least for me, relates back to books (as in the ones I read, not write).

You see, I got to thinking about my childhood piggy bank the other day and how I’d save all my quarters for whatever was the golden egg at the time. My quarters were saved to buy everything from Honey Hill Bunch dolls (remember those?) to Jordache Jeans, and cherry Jolly Ranch flat sticks to a new piece of furniture for my prized dollhouse. Because, back then, those were the things that made me happy, I guess.

Today, when I can scrape together enough quarters after all the bills are paid, I find my thoughts going in one basic direction–the bookstore. And if I can amass enough quarters to get a book and a hot chocolate (and secure the time to enjoy both at the same time)…well, then, I’m a happy camper.

So how about you? What’s your piggy bank money for these days?

~Elizabeth