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I'm an Author. I love to write, I love to read and I just love books in general.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

My desk (pic) and book talk

Okay, in my last blog I talked about how I made my work space a priority. Here is 1/3rd of my living room. That's my big L-shaped desk. The hutch stands taller than I do, which in all fairness, isn't hard. I'm a tad under five foot three. I LOVE my work space. I work full time, put in a lot of hours, and I honestly believe that you need a comfy writing zone to really enjoy what you do. (this after NOT having comfy writing spaces for a lot of years!!! LOL)



I am really happy that I was able to do it. It didn't even cost that much. I hit up Staples. My desk was a display model I bought for about $120. I paid my neighbor and his friend $100 to disassemble it, drive it to my home, and put it back together. I have a laptop, it's there on the desk, but I prefer the desktop. I've got a 24" widescreen monitor. You can put two word documents in full size next to each other. That really comes in handy when you write a series. You can open a previous book you wrote to check facts as you write the new one. When I'm editing them before submission, I pull up that second area to go over the editing notes I've made from my editor. If I'm working but paying attention to facebook, I can do both. Since this picture was taken I upgraded my desktop so my old one with a new 23" monitor now sits on it too. That comes in handy. Two big monitors and two computers. LOL. So this is where I spend most of my time.



Redeeming Zorus got a fantastic review. Here's the LINK When I wrote it, I was all kinds of nervous. I think I've admitted that. Zorus was the bad guy. I know I mentioned the weekly stream of emails I received with suggestions on how to kill him slowly and painfully from readers of the Cyborg Seduction series. Yeah. He was HATED! When I mentioned to some of my friends that I had started to write his story - the reactions were kind of funny but scary. A few people thought I'd lost my mind. One person thought I was setting myself up for failure. She said "You can't make anyone like that a**hole." That's a direct quote. LOL. Hence the nervous part. I wondered if I shouldn't do it. Kind of a .... 'have I lost my mind?' moment. I couldn't ignore it though. The story was there, it was unfolding inside my head, and I continued to write it. I'm one of those 'be true to your muse' types. I'd rather write something I know will never get published just to get it out of my system than allow it to fester inside my mind bugging me. I am pretty sure even my editor probably arched eyebrows when I told her what I was working on it but she's awesome. She never discouraged me. She never said "Don't write it!". She just smoothly accepted that was my current WIP. LOL. I love her!!!



I actually felt sick to my stomach when I submitted it. (Is that uncool to admit???) Yeah. Um...but true! I was really nervous. I finally calmed down by realizing the worst could happen is a big NO (if it didn't end up getting picked up), I survived rejections in the past, and I was happy with the story. Keep in mind I wrote a LOT of books for a LOT of years for no other reason except I loved to write in my free time. The pressure is on after you become published. Readers are waiting on books to come out, you don't want to waste time on a writing a long shot when you could be writing a book that does have a better chance of getting out there. It made me feel torn. It all came down to who I am, I guess. That story was there, I wanted to tell it, and it made me happy to write it. I always want to work on stories that I love.



It was picked up, it came out, and I started getting emails and great feedback! Awesome!!! Sheer amazement in a lot of cases that they really enjoyed the story and I was able to redeem Zorus. YIPPEE! So...I'm really glad I took a chance. I get a story stuck in my head and it won't let go. Zorus was especially stubborn! BIG surprise, right??? LOL.

His Purrfect Mate came out. WOW! Thank you!!! I have gotten such wonderful feedback and awesome emails about this book. Some of my friends snorted when I had dubbed this 'kitty love by woof woof'. (Yeah - I know. Hey...I didn't submit that title!!!) I plan to write more of them. I LOVE the Harris family. I've been working on a big project I'll wrap up by the end of the weekend but by next week... I'll be story deep in working on books for the current series - Zorn, Raines, Cyborgs, and now Mating Heat.

UPDATE - Added to KINDLE! His Purrfect Mate LINK!






This is a wallpaper I made for my computer for the 'big project' I've been working on. He's a male, it's at night, and he's not 100 percent human. LOL. I have submitted the first two books, will submit the third one in this series by the end of the month... so please cross your fingers!!! I'm trying not to get my hopes up because this series is an older one I wrote that I've been working on cleaning, touching up, and after my CP emailed me after reading the first book...I knew I had to submit it. She threatened to get on a plane and come kick my ass if I didn't. LOL. I enjoy my butt remaining unbruised. I suspect it will take a while to hear back on if it's being picked up or not...considering this isn't just a one book submission. There are nine books total in this series that have been written so far. The males of this series were an obsession of mine for YEARS. I lived, breathed, and daydreamed about them non-stop. YEARS. Before I had the time to write full time...I'd only have an hour or so a day, not even every day, to write. It would take me at least six months to finish a book, sometimes up to a good ten months. 9 books + 6-10 months each = LONG TIME . LOL! When I hear yes or no.... I'll share. Happy thoughts!

12 comments:

  1. Those eyes are sexy and I really love your books. The desk looks very comfortable and now I can picture you there when I see you posting on FB late at night. I know it will get picked up. Any story that you spent years on must be amazing. NINE BOOKS? NINE? I'm almost angry that you didn't try to put them out before now. How many other books did you write, what kind are they and do you plan to ever send them to a publisher? I love your books!!!!!!!!!!!

    LT

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  2. I was worried too about Zorus but I couldn't think that his stroy would be anything but fantastic after reading the entire series. I was great to get to see all of his layers and the reason for his dislike based on his own experiences. I found him very strong. You turned his f'd up traits into positive hero material by showing so much of him internally and with how he dealt with his son. It was a fantastic story and top read of all of them to me.

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  3. LT,

    Thank you. Yeah, those eyes are awesome. LOL. I hope they get picked up too. Yes, nine books. I wrote for a lot of years, wrote my first book in 1993, and didn't try to get published until 2009. I've written, well, about a lot. Shifters, horror/romance, even a historical western with a stagecoach/Indian attack (LOL!) and a lot of pregnancy stories since yeah...I was pregnant four times. Most of them will never see the light of day. They aren't very good, I had a LOT to learn, I'm still learning, but I'd have to basically totally rewrite them to get them up to par to try to publish them. I'm so grateful you read my books. Thank you.

    Mahalia, Thank you! Zorus...yeah. He deserved his own story and I'm so glad that it is out there. And doing so well! Krell will be next in the Cyborg series. I have more planned. : )

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  4. Definitively Zorus' story was my favorite one out of all the books you wrote. I am glad you did. And after all I think everyone likes when the bad guy is redeemed. I have seen some authors doing that and failing as they are not able to give the 'bad hero' enough background story or even believable enough for the reader to empathize with him. You did it quite successfully.

    Yay, Krell is next! Good I was hoping to read about him soon. I was afraid you would be doing Onyx's story first. Somehow he doesn't seem to be as interesting as Krell or Sky to me, but I am sure you know him better :)

    One's woman workspace is another woman's hell :P As soon as I saw your pic... the breath caught in my throat and my eyes almost popped out. And the first words out of my mouth "Oh my god! How can she work around that!" I couldn't draw or concentrate if there was more than my keyboard, mouse, drawing tablet, speakers and monitor on my desk. Yes, I know a clean desk is a sign of a sick mind. :P

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  5. Rivendark,

    LOL. I like my shelves cluttered. I have all my favorite stuff around me. LOL. My monitor is so big I get tunnel vision on it when I'm writing. LOL. Thank you about the kind words about Zorus and his story. Onyx will have an interesting story but I have started writing Krell and have the first few chapters of Sky done. LOL. He'll be after Krell in the cyborg books.

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  6. Laurann, I just burned through your cyborg seduction series over the weekend and I have got to say, WOW! You did an incredible job making Zorus a total tool in Ice's book and then redeemed him completely in his. It's tied with Coal's at my favorite in the series and I think it's probably my favorite SFR series ever, (except for the one's I write, naturally ;-) Keep 'em coming!

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  7. Jenna, Thank you so much for reading them and I'm so glad you enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to your book coming out. It sounds HOT! (pun intended - ref to candle) LOL!

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  8. When should we expect and new Zorn books? love them all. Totally agree Krell's should come 1st.

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  9. I'm over half way done with a Zorn book and like the cyborgs...two Zorn books will be tied together ( Like Touching Ice - Stealing Coal - Redeeming Zorus were linked ) So I will probably finish the 5th and 6th Zorn books since yeah... one leads to the other... before I sub them. Def by the end of the year (fingers crossed they get picked up when I sub them!!!)

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  10. I love all your books. I think your characters are very realistic and deal with their problems head on (no whiners) and are just awesome.

    I read every series you write, I think they are all great so this is happy news, news of many more books.

    I am so impatient. Any idea when ANY book will be published next? Give us a rough estimate. Months? End of the summer like August? End of the year? I need a light at the end of the tunnel! Keep up the amazing work!

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  11. Hi Anon,

    Right now I have some submitted but haven't heard back. I have no current release dates but plan to sub another book by the end of June. If they are picked up...they'll come out pretty quickly. I'm not sure but I'd guess by the end of summer or sometime during it. Thank you!

    Laurann

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  12. Hi, I ADORE everything I've read of yours, but I am especially attached to the Cyborg series. Are there more coming?

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