Spacefreighters Lounge

Laurie's Journal

There’s been a lot (whew…maybe too much?) going on lately, which is why I missed my posting date yesterday. Sorry about that. I sat down to edit on Sunday afternoon and next thing I knew, it was after midnight. Not good for a person who gets up at 3:45 in the very dark a.m. *yawnsville*

Anyway, on with my entry this week…

Action!
Actions I've taken as a writer. Where am I? What am I doing?

From my priority list last week:

1. Finish the revisions to The Outer Planets at Warp 11
2. Begin querying agents on P2PC

I’ve arranged for a four-day weekend so I can completely focus on #1. Sorry laundry, dishes, bills, and housework, writing reigns supreme this weekend. No Six Sentence Sunday, hair appointments or other distractions. I need to fire up those warp engines and get TOP where it needs to be…even if that does seem to be halfway across the galaxy right now.

Meanwhile, I’m ready to start a query volley with P2PC.

It’s exciting being where I am, but nerve-wracking, too.

Discoveries
New authors, cool web sites, great resources, great workshops, great online sites!

I have a great promotion tip for you.

Mailchimp!

What the heck is that? I received two mailings this week that originated with this free newsletter service and had to check it out. Awesome. It will help you manage mailing lists, send out newsletters, organize campaigns and link it all to Facebook and Twitter. There’s a bit of a learning curve ahead, but the site is well organized and I’m looking forward to learning how it works via the tutorials and help sections. Check it out by clicking the link above.

Pssst!
The latest buzz. Submission calls. New publishers. Industry changes. Inspirational sayings or quotes for writers. And our take on them.

Great Quotes for Writers:

“May the power of your dreams

carry you to places

beyond your imagination.”

--from a Leanin’ Tree greeting card

Bookshelf
Books we're reading and mini-reviews. Writers must read voraciously. Sometimes we find gems in the literary universe or sometimes certain elements of a book really speak to us (and our muses). Do we know about book giveaways? A big debut? We'll dish on those.

Lisa Shearin’s latest (book 5) is out in the amazing Raine Benares series that started with Magic Lost, Trouble Found continued in Armed & Magical, The Trouble With Demons and Bewitched and Betrayed. The latest? Con and Conjure. (Aren’t those titles brilliant!) Raine is back in all her snarky, sword-toting glory, and so is the hunky, magic-packing cop (Guardian) *sigh* Mychael and the brooding and mysterious reformed(?) dark mage, Tam. After a sizzling, steamy scene between Raine and Mychael in the last installment, I can’t wait to see where this story will lead now. And this from one who isn’t all that in to fantasy. Trust me, this series has enough action, twists, laugh out loud moments, and unexpected happenings to keep even this diehard SFR fan very well entertained.

I recently won a copy of Hope Ramsey’s debut novel, Welcome to Last Chance. It’s about a small town in South Carolina, or to be more specific, the motley inhabitants of the town and a few newcomers who wander in from by way of a 9:30 bus. This isn’t my normal sort of read, but the quirky story and occasional paranormal touches kept me turning pages. I was rather taken with good-man-in-bad-boy disguise, Clay, and the MCs eternal faith in manifesting her own positive destiny. (Which seems to work, in most cases.) But I have to be honest. I can’t wait to see if there will be a novel devoted to Clay’s tortured, police chief older brother, Stony.  Yeah, call it a serious crush.

Happenings
Events, conferences, cons as well as Facebook, Twitter and blog events.

Don’t get the whole Twitter thang? Even if you have an account and dabble from time-to-time, you still feel like you’re stumbling about in the dark? Welcome to Club Clueless. But there’s a cure. Check out Twitter 101: A Twitter Cheat Sheet brought to you via Aliza Sherman. Packed with great info and examples that will help you better understand this brave, new social networking phenom.

Ping Pong
We'll comment back to our co-bloggers on things they've posted on their journals.

@Donna Loved your article on SF(R) in film, part 2. I am hopeful this popularity in SFR on the screen will translate to the print medium. Maybe, just maybe, it’s already happening?

@Sharon Hope you’re enjoying yourself in the sunny tropics. Looking forward to hearing about your trip!