Part 7 of More Than Just a Good Book now available

Cover-Md-MoreThanJustSerial

The next installment of Mark and Scott’s story is now available.

If you check it out, I hope you enjoy the continuation of MORE THAN JUST A GOOD BOOK.

And remember, if you want don’t want to miss reading the rest of the story for free, you can sign up to follow this blog via email and/or to receive my newsletter. Once the final installment has been published, the entire e-book will be available as a free download for two weeks.

Story Blurb

Scott is a big book geek and Mark is a little controlling between the sheets. During one afternoon at the university library, they find they are the perfect match. Now they have to find out if they can keep on proving that some things are even more enjoyable than a good book.

Except from part 7

Mark awoke to the oddest sensation. He could feel the heat of Scott’s body beside him. He opened his eyes and found the bedroom still dark. The rain pounding against the window as the storm continued its onslaught added to his feeling of unease. His eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Scott was leaning over him, watching him. “Are you awake?”

Mark laughed. “I am now.”

A loud crack of thunder ripped through the room, startling him. So did the look of worry on Scott’s face that was visible as the flash of lightning lit up the room. Mark scrambled for the lamp on the bedside table. “What’s wrong?”

“I want to go with you when you confront Bruce.”

“What?” Mark moved to a sitting position. “No way.” He tried for a calmer tone. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Scott pulled his legs up under him so he sat on the bed facing Mark. The plaid flannel pajama pants and white long-sleeve cotton shirt he wore had him looking much younger than usual. They’d both been frozen when they got to Mark’s after their stroll through the rain. Mark had forgone his usual insistence that Scott strip down to nothing, and they’d dressed for bed. Although Mark had skipped a shirt with his sweatpants. He’d been glad about that as soon as Scott had settled into the bed with his head on Mark’s chest. That was the last thing he remembered before he drifted off to sleep.

What time was it? Had Scott gotten any sleep?

“I don’t think…” Scott breathed deep, as if summoning the courage to say more. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go alone. You don’t always keep your cool around Bruce.”

He was right about that, but… “Everything in me says I need to make sure you stay away from him.”

Scott said nothing. He folded and unfolded the tip of his right sock that hung off the ends of his toes.

Mark leaned back against the headboard and stared at the ceiling, drumming his fingers on his bent knees. “Don’t ask me to do this.”

read the rest of part 7

 

Take Me Home Officially Coming 12/13

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

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”

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.

(c) istockphoto.com, davidf 2010

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)

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