Tag Archives: writing news

Take Me Home Officially Coming 12/13

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It’s official. I’ve signed a contract for TAKE ME HOME, my love story about two friends finding their way to what started 10 years before with one passionate night that ended too quickly. Tentative release date is December 13, 2011 from Loose Id. Sometimes Loose Id will adjust their schedule closer to the release date, but I’ll keep you posted if that happens.

Thanks to all who commented on the blog, sent an email, or have chatted with me on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere for your support while I was working on this manuscript.

Editor Friend & Prof Guy

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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:

BabyNames.com

Baby Names Finder

Baby Names World

Popular Baby Names

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!

“Arrr! Lick Me Nipples”

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Hi all. Hope everyone had a great week.

I’ll explain the title of this blog post in a moment, but first a brief writing update:

As I mentioned on Wednesday I finished a new short story and sent it off to my critique partner. Now that it’s done (or close to it) I realize I feel like I’ve spent months with those two guys, writing a novel, not a short story. Hopefully that means something good. I don’t know.

Since then I’ve been focused on TAKE ME HOME. Now that I have all the revisions in place I’m working on another read-through to polish the dialogue and descriptions. Today I read the first 5 chapters, and I think they are ready to go. I still need to do my final checklist of common mistakes and get my critique partner’s input, but other than that, I finally feel like this book is close to submission-ready.

Now on to review the next 20+ chapters again.

Before I get back to it, I wanted to share a link. This week I blogged at Loose Ends, the Loose Id author blog, where I talked about the importance of having someone else proofread a story. The blog is titled: “Arrr! Lick Me Nipples” Or the Importance of Another Set of Eyes. I’m curious how much errors bother readers. I’d love to hear what you think. Feel free to leave a comment here or at Loose Ends.

Hope you all have a great weekend. My little baby nephew is getting married tomorrow. I guess that means he’s not a baby anymore. When did that happen?

Back to Walter’s story (dang, this book needs a title)

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Happy Friday! Hope everyone is doing well. I’ve had the best week. Does that sound like bragging? Really, I’m just feeling good this week and wanted to share. Just before we celebrated Thanksgiving here in the US, I took a week off from writing (which was both necessary for many reasons and incredibly scary since I haven’t done that in a long time). Well, this week I headed back into a more normal writing schedule, and things are moving along nicely.

Here’s where my current projects stand and some other news:

  • Home Again
    I have a tentative title and a first draft for my friends-to-lovers story. For now I’m calling it HOME AGAIN. The draft is pretty rough, but I’m really happy with the story and characters. I can’t wait for everyone to meet Kyle and Evan.
  • Walter Simon
    So now I’m back to working on Walter’s story (this book desperately needs a title, but nothing has come to me yet). It’s a stand-alone story with a secondary character from MORE, Walter Simon. I decided to take a break to get the first draft done on HOME AGAIN, but this week I was able to get back to Walter’s. I’ve kept the poor guy waiting on first base for far too long now.
  • Contest News
    I’m going to be hosting a Happy Holidays contest on the blog this month. It’ll be winner’s choice of one free ebook from my work or any Loose Id title. Check back in the next week or so for details.
  • Blogging News
    I’m going to be guest-blogging at author Tara Lain’s blog next week. I’ll be talking about the differences between writing MORE and BREATHE. If anyone has questions about either book, I’d love for you to stop by and post a comment. I’ll share the link to the blog when it’s live.
  • Banners
    I have a couple of new banners and skyscrapers that I’m using for online advertising. Feel free to grab one for your own website or blog if you’d like. They can all be viewed here.

I’m hoping to do more Friday posts than I have been in the past few weeks. Some of these will be writing updates like this one. For those of you who follow the blog regularly, this might get a bit repetitive. I apologize for that, but I think it’ll be a good way to keep my updates easily accessible for those new to visiting my site as more people become familiar with me and my work.

If anyone has any questions about my books, my current projects, or anything at all, feel free to contact me or add your question in the comments section of this post.

Hope you all have a great weekend!
Sloan

Contest & an Interview: Cocktails and Cock Tales

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In celebration of my second release, I have two links to share:

  1. Today Reviews by Jessewave is hosting a giveaway. One commenter will win a free ebook of BREATHE.  Stop by for a chance to win and be sure to check out the site’s awesome new look.
  2. Also, I’m honored to be the first author interview at writer Deanna Wadsworth’s blog. She’s starting a new series titled “Cocktails and Cock Tales.” Isn’t that a great title? She’s looking for more authors to feature for any of you writers out there who are interested. Deanna recently had her first m/m release, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Congrats, Deanna!! Stop by if you can. I’m talking about my inspiration for Breathe, the easiest part to write, and the hardest, as well as what I’m working on now. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section at Deanna’s blog. I’d love to hear from you!

Good luck to all who enter Jessewave’s contest!
Sloan

Brainstorming Retreat – I needed this!

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I just finished working with my editor on Breathe, and we’ve sent it off for line edits and proofing. Perfect timing too because I’m spending today and the rest of the weekend at a writing retreat with a group of fellow romance writers who are some of the most creative, fun people I’ve had the privilege of hanging with. Today we are all writing and doing a bit of brainstorming. Tomorrow is our meeting and a full day of brainstorming to help each other with plot points and new story ideas.

I need weekends like this. I spend a lot of time in my writing cave, and it’s good for me to send time with others who know what it means to be a writer. Who get why I’m crazy sometimes. Who get the need to spend hours working on rewriting chapter 1. Who understand my dreams and disappointments.

Here are a couple of quotes already heard during the first half of the day:

“I can’t help it if your crack was in my face.”
“artificial immaculate insemination”
“We should have brought a blow up doll.”

I’m getting a little worried. Who knows what will happen once we dip into the booze.

Have a great weekend!
Sloan

Quote I Love: Plotting is like sex

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“Plotting is like sex. Plotting is about desire and satisfaction, anticipation and release. You have to arouse your reader’s desire to know what happens, to unravel the mystery, to see good triumph. You have to sustain it, keep it warm, feed it, just a little bit, not too much at a time, as your story goes on. That’s called suspense. It can bring desire to a frenzy, in which case you are in a good position to bring off a wonderful climax.”

- Colin Greenland

The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass

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This week I worked on the outlines for several upcoming projects. I had some good moments, some frustrating ones, and others that were filled with horrible ideas that I quickly tore up. (Don’t ask because I will deny they ever existed)

Today, I had a breakthrough. I read a few passages from non-fiction books on writing and a light bulb went off (no, make that fireworks). Some of the best advice I’ve read about how to create believable villains and how to take a suspense story line and make it believable (no matter how implausible it is) came from a book titled The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. I haven’t read the entire thing yet, but from what I’ve read so far I recommend it for anyone writing fiction.

Anyway, just wanted to share that my outlines are moving along. My goal is to be back to writing Trapped (my third novel-length gay romantic suspense featuring Walter Simon from More) by August 1.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. And happy 4th of July to my US followers. Happy belated Canada Day to those of you in Canada.

Sloan