“I want to live a long time with you. I want to be old with you. I want to sit on a porch and rock with you. … And when we die, I want us to die together. I want us to get real old and then say ‘one, two, three…die’.”
-Steven Keaton, Family Ties
Monthly Archives: June 2011
A title & another teaser for SWEPT AWAY
I can now share my new short story’s title. It’s called “Swept Away.” I guest blogged at Michael Mandrake’s blog today about writing from a picture prompt and shared another short excerpt: http://ow.ly/5raI8
I have to say, I had fun writing in first person POV again. I’ll let you know when the story is available to read.
If you haven’t read MORE or BREATHE you can also comment at the link above for a chance to win a free ebook copy of your choice.
Hope you have a fabulous week!
Sloan
Friday Photo: Then and Now
Starting a new topic on the blog this week. Thought it might be a fun way to share a bit about writing, my inspiration, my life, and the world around me. It’s called Friday Photo and will include only pictures I’ve taken or ones from my own life. It won’t be every Friday, but when I do share a photo I’ll try to do so with as little verbiage as possible to let the photo stand on its own.
But I’m a writer, you know I won’t be able to resist saying something, at least part of the time.
(c) Sloan Parker
My nephew, 23 years ago (yes, that’s me holding him):
(c) Sloan Parker 2011
And now (with his new wife):
Congratulations, kiddo!
MORE is a finalist in More Than Magic RWA contest
I’m thrilled to share that MORE was selected as a finalist in the First Book category of the More Than Magic RWA (Romance Writers of America) contest.
As I posted before, MORE and BREATHE were finalists in the Passionate Plume Contest and BREATHE won third place in the New England Reader’s Choice awards. (Final results for the More Than Magic and the Passionate Plume contests will be announced in July.)
I cannot tell you how blown away and thrilled I am with those results in this year’s RWA contests for my highly erotic m/m/m and angst-filled high-drama m/m love stories. Well done Luke, Richard, Matthew, Lincoln, and Jay!
A special thank-you to the New England, Passionate Ink, and Romance Writers Ink chapters, their contest coordinators for putting together the awards, and the judges. I was very impressed by the organization and professional communication from all. Also a huge kudos to these chapters for hosting contests that recognize digital-only books in electronic formats.
Editor Friend & Prof Guy
Check out the new book I just got: The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby
No, I’m not having a baby. I just get wickedly excited when I find a writing resource that’s a gem (at least for me).
Lately when it comes time to give my secondary characters their names, I’ve been drawing a blank, selecting the same ones over and over or not finding something that fits the character. For my current works in progress I had two secondary characters whom I affectionately called “Editor Friend” and “Prof Guy” for far too long. For a while I was afraid I’d get so dang used to “Editor Friend” and “Prof Guy” that I’d send it off to my editor like that. It was nice to finally pull out my baby name resources and search for actual names for these guys.
Lists that are organized or searchable in specific ways (by first letter, sounds like, meaning, popularity per year, etc.) are the most helpful. So far The Baby Name Wizard is the best naming book I’ve used, along with these websites:
And for last names I almost always end up using a printed phone book.
For any writers who are interested, these links have also been added to my website on the Resources for Writers page.
I’m off to work on revisions for my next installment of More Than Just a Good Book. Hope you all have a great week!