Tag Archives | Laura Pauling

I admit. I’m jealous.

By on August 21, 2014 in How I Write

I’m talking about a wips tab here. Works-in-progress. That tab on the menu bar where authors share a little bit about their upcoming projects.

I admit. I get jealous. I stop by at blogs because I love seeing what other writers are up to, and I love soaking in new covers and the excitement that lies between the lines on an author’s post. It’s contagious. We can all use a bit of inspiration. I know I can. I also love hearing about works in progress.

And I would agree that talking about works in progress is a form of marketing. Sharing a cool premise or an enticing logline can build anticipation in your friends and potential readers. I would love to add a tab where I describe future projects.

Then I think about my production schedule.

The cool ideas that I’m itching to write. That I plan to write in 2014 and 2015. I should share them.

Except, every once in a while I completely ditch a story before it’s written or part way through. Sometimes an idea jumps the line. This happened last spring. In sudden inspiration, I wrote a story that haunted me and wouldn’t let go. And it’s now sitting. I haven’t looked at it since. Here’s the thing. I don’t know yet if and when I’ll publish it.

What if I talk about a work-in-progress and then the concept changes in rewrites, or I decide it needs to sit a bit longer? Or if I decide not to publish it? Then what?

Ah well, for now, I will continue on without a wip tab. Such is life.

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Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt!

By on July 16, 2014 in book reviews

Welcome to the Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt!!

A chance to win tons of great books, gift cards and swag!

The Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt will run from TODAY until midnight on SUNDAY (19th July). To enter to win FORTY signed paperbacks by a wide range of authors PLUS $30 worth of Amazon Gift Cards, simply hop around ALL participating stops, collect all of the highlighted numbers, add them together, and then go enter the requested details along with your calculated answer in the ENTRY FORM. You can find more information on how the stop works HERE. All stops will direct you to the next place to hop across to. And don’t worry if you get lost, because the entire list of participating authors can be found HERE.

For a chance to win Prom Impossible bookmarks and A Spy Like Me and Heart of an Assassin ebooks visit Emi Gayle!

To win some swag from author Laura Howard fill out this form!

The number you need to collect at this stop is 7.

Here are my top 5 Summer Reads that I have read or will be reading!

A fantastic heist novel. Loved it!

A must read!

Steena is a friend and I can’t believe I waited so long to read this one! Another love!

To be released in August!

and the companion novella…

Keep on hopping and head over to Jennifer Comeaux’s blog.

If you’re finished with the scavenger hunt then head on over and fill out the Summer Reads Scavenger Hunt form!

Please share your favorite reads in the comments!

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How can four high school students pull off a major heist? Find out!

By on June 25, 2014 in guest posts, murder and mystery

If you’ve known me for any length of time as a writer and/or reader or have stopped by the blog at all in the past few years, then you might know that I love heist movies and books! Love them.

My post on the story structure of a heist movie in 15 sentences is my most viewed post and shows up on the first page if you google: How to write a heist novel.

I recently read Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig and loved it! And I’ve read and watched a lot. I considered this one excellent.

I was psyched when Elisa said she’d guest post on the background behind writing Coin Heist! Oh, and watch the video (link at the bottom). It’s pretty cool.

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Check out Elisa Ludwig’s book page for purchase links and more information!

Pulling a heist is no joke, and while the process of writing about one is somewhat easier, there are still plenty of challenges for the author at the helm.

I had some preparation for the climactic scene in COIN HEIST as I’d already written the three books in the PRETTY CROOKED series (Katherine Tegen), all of which involve thievery, break-ins, scams, carjacking, computer sleuthing and code breaking.

Even so, getting four teens into the Philadelphia Mint required research—a lot of research. First, I read as much as I could about the Mint, its history and heists at all of the U.S. mints over the years.

Then, because I live locally, I cased the joint on foot, walking in as a tourist. (FYI: It’s a very cool place to visit, but it often gets slept on in the middle of Philly’s historic Old City district.) I wore my baby in an Ergo carrier, which, I hoped, would help me evade suspicion. Meanwhile, I took copious notes on my iPhone.

The tour allows you to watch the coins as they’re being made on the production floor, so after a couple of visits, I got a sense of how to physically stage the night of the heist.

However, I still needed some more information about how the computer hacking portion of the heist would take place. That’s when I called on Michael Viscuso, a computer security expert. (Conveniently, one of my day job freelance gigs happens to be writing for a company called Net Diligence, which offers cyber risk management services.)

Michael walked me through multiple scenarios for how it could go down, and together we decided on the best one for the purposes of the book—something teens could feasibly pull off. I knew I wanted a combination of hacking and real-life stealing, because frankly, reading about someone sitting at a computer, no matter how many risks they’re taking, is kind of dull.

Oh, and the part about the prom at Franklin Institute? I didn’t need to research it. I lived it. My own senior prom took place there, but we didn’t have a cool band like Jason’s headlining. We had a band called the Flaming Caucasians—which was about as terrible as it sounds.

For more information about the making of the book, and a tour of the sites involved, check out this video from Adaptive Studios. 

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Thanks Elisa!!!

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The delicate balance between art and publishing.

By on June 5, 2014 in publishing industry, Writing

I self publish. I’m an Indie. At some point I heard it was good advice to create a business plan. I did, even though it was simple and not filled with some of the intellectual language I’ve seen in other samples.

I also heard it was good to create a production plan, which I do. It’s on a digital sticky note and it goes into the year 2016. At some point I had to stop going so far into the future because I kept changing my mind. New ideas would rise up, demanding to be written. Or flashy ideas that I thought had merit needed more time to simmer.

That is the delicate balance between art and publishing.

If I were a robot, spitting out words just for profit, different stories would be on my production plan. Ones that made more sense. Ones that were part of a large series and with romance and kissing. Ones that fell into commercial genres. And sometimes, I write those stories.

Just today, based on the Create Bravely theme from NESCBWI and everything I talked about here, I deleted every project past this coming December. I will finish projects I’ve started and there’s a certain sequel I want to write. But then it’s all free and clear. And I love it!

Sometimes I have to follow my heart and write the stories that are a challenge, that are scary, that seem to fall outside those genres that sell well. Sometimes I need to write the stories that call to me, those that I will love writing, those that won’t let me go.

There’s nothing wrong with writing to sell, with choosing a genre that you know sells well. Nothing at all. I’m just saying that there is no guarantee no matter how you publish or which genre you write that a book will sell well, so you might as well write what makes you happy.

Right?

Anyhow, I am always thinking about what I’ll be writing next, trying to find that balance between art and running a small business. It isn’t easy.

So for now my calendar is open while different ideas push at the envelope of my creativity, wanting to be written. I honestly don’t know which one will win.

How do you deal with this balance? I would imagine a similar struggle exists for those pursuing the traditional path.

photo credit

 

 

 

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Create bravely: Make your Mark!

By on May 9, 2014 in Writing

It’s been a week since the New England SCBWI conference. I keep seeing recap tweets and blog posts, and most of them are saying something about being brave. This unnamed courage that applies to anyone expressing themselves creatively.

And, of course, I got hit with plenty of chances to show courage this past week. Not in a way that anyone would notice. My life is continuing. I met my word count, and I see the finish line for this current novel. I can sit down and write every day. That’s not a problem.

As an Indie author, I run a business. And that means I need to balance between loving what I write and considering the market too. There’s sticking somewhat to my brand while improving my craft while also being open to try new things.

I want to explore with my stories. Brave things. Scary things.

I want to experiment.

That said, I’m really struggling with what to write next. I have several ideas, and to be honest, they are all calling to my heart in the same way. I want to write all of them. I try not to write anything I’m not completely one hundred percent in love with and passionate about.

As I finish writing this current work, I’m struggling to decide if this was a good practice manuscript, but not something I should pursue. What comes next?

I’ve gone round and round, and I might possibly have reached a decision. Deciding what to write next, to spend months working on, takes a lot of bravery. So I keep returning to the theme for NESCBWI.

Create bravely: Make your Mark. (This phrase coined by conference director Kris Asselin.)

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