Time Flies!

Hi all!

You know what they say about March—in like a lion, out like a slightly less grouchy lion?

At least, that’s how it is for me these days! I’ve got a new book out, Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier (Berkley), on April 5.

So far so good! I’ve got two great quotes from wonderful writers, and the buzz is already picking up speed.

PLUS I’m getting married on July 2. Talk about busy!

(As a side note, I’m looking texts and readings for my wedding ceremony, bookworms. If you have any ideas, or if you want to tell me what was read at your wedding, please drop me a note about it here.)

Although I’m not a parent, I suspect that gearing up for a new book release is something like gearing up to welcome a new baby. Obviously, two different things. But there’s an excitement and anticipation, as well as a flurry of preparation, stress, and lots of things to do.

In between the wedding planning and writing and promoting and whatnot, I’ve also been on a pretty serious quest in search of deeper peace and happiness in my life. Yes, I know that’s cheesy. But it’s also honest. I’ve been trying to carve out time to walk, to meditate, to do things I love, to spend time giving actively as much as possible—you know, finding my higher path.

There are moments of stillness that, a year ago, I might not have noticed—and I’m glad for them. I recently stumbled across this quote: “No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it.” Harry Emerson Fosdick

But sometimes, finding peace can feel like an intense journey when you're up to your eyeballs in tasks! I've got my own methods, but I'd love to hear yours.

What do you think? What’s your advice for staying peaceful and staying busy at the same time?

5 Tips To Beat Stress When You’re Trying To Do It All

Hi everyone!

I must apologize: I missed last month because I was on a tight deadline. Along with the Christmas chaos, I had a book due to my editor at Berkley by Dec 31. It was one of the most insane months of my life.

So I rushed. I tucked in and hunkered down. I stopped seeing friends. I stopped cooking for myself and grocery shopping. I stopped calling my mom.

I kept telling myself: December 31. Just think of December 31.

I got it done. And now that my book has been turned in, what did I discover about the light at the end of the tunnel?

A whole lot more tunnel.

The things is, as writers, we’re always busy. Even when we’re not writing with a pen or a keyboard, we’re writing with our brains. There’s no turning it off.

So after taking a long, hard look at my "schedule" (aka, working 'round the clock), I wanted to offer a few tips that I discovered to make the sheer insanity of the writing life a little easier. I offer them to you in a spirit of helpfulness and good wishes—and I encourage you to add your own tips in the comments section below!

Make a schedule. Perhaps you already do this, but I’m just newly learning the lesson of how important it can be to create and stick to a schedule. I’ve blocked out each hour of my work week—with allowances for flex time and the occasional funk—and I’ve even left certain hours as “work free” hours. I like knowing that “Tuesday evenings mean I can meet a friend for dinner and a movie.”

Notice things that make you relax. Practice mindfulness. Don’t just take a shower—notice the feel of hot water, the smell of your soap. Don’t just eat; savor. Even foods you don’t love. All time is precious.

Reward yourself. If you’re tracking your progress and work hours with a journal (I’ve started keeping a day timer) then reward yourself when you do well. Your reward doesn’t have to be huge. It can be as simple as: “Tomorrow, I will treat myself nicely and think only kind generous thoughts toward myself.” Or it can be cheesecake. (I like both!) Either way, pause to acknowledge your personal successes and embrace any “failures” with equal love and affection.

Treat yourself as if you were a three year old. This is a silly thought, but so helpful. Talk to yourself like you’re a little kid. When you’re exhausted, tuck yourself into bed. The world will be okay without you for a while. Of course—having a realistic schedule you can work with makes it a lot easier to treat yourself gently.

So…that’s all for now! Now that my books are turned in, I’ll be gearing up to start promoting my April release, Slow Dancing on Price’s Pier.

Can I share this great blurb author Karen White so awesomely offered? (I’m a little proud.)

"Slow Dancing on Prices Pier is a charming and wise tale of second chances and forgiveness, peopled with characters as full-bodied as the coffee Thea brews. This book goes down as smoothly as a cappuccino and is just as satisfying. I loved it!" --Karen White

Thanks for reading!

Lisa Dale

PS—Please feel free to come hang out on my blog, where I give away multiple prizes every month to readers who leave comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts on reading, writing, and living the curious life!

A Late Little Giggle

Hi all!

I'm getting in a bit late today: I'm on deadline to turn my new novel in to my editor on Nov. 15. (It comes out in April!)

So, in lieu of writing up a blog post, I want to share some pictures that make me laugh, courtesy of the ICanHasCheezburger family of blogs.

When I'm grumpy or can't focus, I head over there for some giggles--then, back to writing!

Hope you're having a great week. Enjoy the pix!

cheers, Lisa Dale

Is Writing Magic?

So, even though I’ve got a couple books published and a couple more coming out, I’m constantly improving my technique. If each book I write isn’t more intense than the last, then I’m not doing my job.

As part of my self-imposed endless schooling, I like to reading “how to write” books. Yes, the material gets old. Yes, I know “show don’t tell.” But still, I head over to the store, buy a new one, and get out my pen, sticky notes, and highlighter.

I find that reading “how to’s” while I’m working is a great self-check for me. As I write I jot down specific notes about my own manuscript. Are my secondary characters truly strong enough, or am I letting myself get lazy and settling for “okay”? Are all my scenes like fire on the page? Or am I becoming complacent and accepting writing that’s merely lukewarm.

At the moment, I’m reading The Fire In Fiction, by Donald Maass—who also wrote what might be my all-time favorite how-to, Writing The Breakout Novel. In the introduction, Maass talks about writers who talk about their work in an “I don’t know what happened; It just came to me this way” type of narrative. He writes:

It disappoints me when authors perpetuate the myth that writing is magic. Some allow it to be so. It’s a shame that those writers fail to understand their own process.

Obviously, I’m a person who love the mechanics of books—I probably would have gone to school for narrative theory if I wasn’t going to give it a go as a novelist. And I like what he says here. We should understand our own processes. Writing is not magic. It’s grunt work.

Once, after a huge snowstorm, I heard my neighbor shoveling snow at two o’clock in the morning, and the sound of the shovel on the pavement was the loneliest, most exhausted sound I’ve ever heard—the sound of having given up, and then gone on. I think writing can be like that.

But I have to confess. My new manuscript? It’s going really smoothly. I feel almost as if I’m coasting downhill. The characters are leading me with a force that I’ve never quite felt before. I’m not reaching for action—it’s simply there. The settings are fascinating without my muscling them to be so. And the plot arc—always such a tenuous thing, and myopia-inducing—seems to be laying out well.

In short, it does feel a little like magic. I’m in a giant soap bubble—and I feel that if I sneeze it will pop around me. I pray it lasts!

But if it doesn’t—that’s okay. I’ve never really believed in magic. As Maass says, magic doesn’t write books. “Butt-in-chair” time writes books. That, and a good hard look at technique at the advice of a trusted writer.

What do you think? Have you ever had that “magic” feeling? Do you have it all the time? Eight percent of the time? Sixty? Never? Is it necessary?

Happy writing!

Lisa Dale

Scene Craft Checklist For Meticulous Writers

Hi all! I'm offering this to members just as a little tip sheet. I refer to it when I double check myself to make sure my scenes are strong. Hope you find it helpful too!

This article is also available at e-zine articles (an article database) if you'd like to use it!

Scene Craft Checklist: Below is a checklist to help writers craft stronger scenes in their fiction or nonfiction (novels, memoirs, short stories, essays, or other creative prose).

• Does the scene begin on a strong note?
• Does your scene have a strong setting that supports the action? Do the characters interact meaningfully with the setting?
• Do you use the five senses to drive home the physical details of the scene and make it come alive?
• Does the description convey the mood via focus and language choice? Is the mood consistent with the action?
• Is there strong characterization through present action, with only the most necessary backstory?
• Are the characters doing something to move the action forward in the narrative present?
• Is the point of view carefully controlled and consistent-no "head-hopping"?
• If there are POV changes, is the reader prepared for such shifts with scene breaks or other devices?
• Is there emphasis on action over summary?
• Is the dialogue believable? Does each character speak in a unique voice? Is there a good balance of dialogue, internal monologue, description, and summary?
• Does the scene have one main plot point? Is that plot point moved forward successfully and clearly?
• Are minor plot points kept to a minimum?
• Is the scene focused (have you taken pains to make sure that description, dialogue, setting, characterization, summary, and all other elements don't veer off course away from the main plot)?
• Does the resolution reinforce the mood? Does the resolution of the scene imply further action; Does this scene lead into another scene in order to keep the action moving forward?
• Does the scene raise questions, deepen conflict, or otherwise lead by pointing to a forthcoming scene? Is your scene "undeletable" so that if you took it out, the whole plot would crumble?
• Does the scene end on a strong note?
• Do a visual check. If the scene is strong, you'll have a balance of "white space" and "gray space" with a variety of dialogue, description, and plenty of paragraph breaks-all of which should be visible to a reader who is just skimming the pages

Happy writing!

Lisa Dale

www.LisaDaleBooks.com

10 Reasons Being A Writer Rocks

Sometimes, the writing life can get you down—the rejections, the solitude, the relatively low chances of big pay…

But this weekend, I thought it would be fun to think of all the reasons why being a writer rocks. Please add your own positive ideas to this list—and spread the love! What’s your favorite thing about being a writer?

10. You can work in your PJs.

9. A trip to the bookstore is a tax write-off.

8. “Not now, I’m reading this book,” is akin to “I can’t, I have a meeting.”

7. It’s weird if you don’t hear voices in your head.

6. When you go to a job seminar, you actually have fun!

5. What other job puts such a high value on otherwise useless information?

4. If your coworker is annoying you, get the leash and take him for a walk.

3. Writing is the perfect fusion of acting (inhabiting character), drawing (indulging in detail of space), performance (a show offered with unmatchable intimacy), social sciences (the study of human behavior), and imagination (possibility is infinite!).

2. To a writer, everything in life--from a skinned knee, to a divorce, to a broken car, to the bottom of a baby's foot--is filled with the potential for inspiration. Everything has practical value in the writing life.

1. With book people, you’ll find kindred spirits everywhere you go.

Best and love,

Lisa Dale

www.LisaDaleBooks.com/blog

Come join me for book giveaways, author interviews, and book talk!

Reading Jitters?

I’m so excited for my first post on this blog! Thanks to Mona and everyone who helped put this together!

A question for you writers out there for today.

So, because I live in New Jersey, I was lucky to be able to attend the Lady Jane Salon reading this past week. Let me tell you—the club where the reading was held, Madame X, was a romance writer’s dream. Rich red lighting, shabby-ish red velvet furniture, big Victorian lamps with black fringe (and red light bulbs, of course). It was like Fangtasia (woot! to fellow True Blood fans!)—but NYC style.

I heard and met some fabulous writers, Maya Rodale, Andrea Pickens, and Elizabeth Mahon reading for Amanda McCabe.

For the most part, reading a romance novel has always been such a private pleasure for me. When I’m reading silently, I can adore and embrace the wonderful cheese and gratuity of some romances however I please. I make no secret of loving romance for its grandiose passion and unselfconscious style.

But Lady Jane turns all of that private pleasure thing on its head. Hearing someone read (perform) a romance is a much different thing than reading silently and alone!

I’ll be honest, I’d be lying if I said I didn't want to giggle--giggle, as in, like a school girl—at some of the racier camp that I love so much. It was so great hearing how other people interpret those wonderful “come hither” lines and flirtations. Some part of me got to relish her inner twelve year old in public, and it was fabulous!

So here’s the question part. So far in my (newish) career (my last two books with GCP, my two forthcoming ones with Berkley), I’ve managed to avoid reading my own work aloud. I give talks and lectures, sit on panels—all easier than reading my own work in my own voice.

Apparently I’m not the only one who gets reading shy. Rumor has it that Eloisa James is also a bit skittish about reading her work aloud.

What’s your take on this? Do you feel shy to read your own work to a crowd? Or do you love it? What’s your secret?

Also, because I can’t resist myself, True Blood starts this weekend. Is anyone else pumped?!?

Cheers!

Lisa Dale

PS - A quick note: Along with rallying the nerd-troops in support of libraries everywhere, I’m giving away a copy of Robyn DeHart’s wonderful historical romance Seduce Me over on my blog today. Drop in to win!

PSS - I normally wouldn't put my face on a blog post like this, but I was stumped as to what pict would be appropriate to use! So...my face it is.