More on our “Blue Jeans and Stilettos” Book Launch

Each of us three authors wore our stilettos.  I finally sat one of mine on the table so people could see it.  We had a cutest stiletto contest as a lot of the ladies in the audience had worn their stilettos in honor of our book launch.

We also gave away our huge themed give-away bag.  This is our book theme bag.  It’s a canvas carry-all with the book’s photo on the front.  Inside we have items related to each of the three stories.  For instance, Deanne’s story centered around a coffee shop so there was a coffee mug and other items representing her story.  Jordyn’s was an Italian-themed story so she placed Italian related items inside.  My own took place on a fantasy island so I chose Ocean Breeze sachets and wine.

It was an exciting event and we heard so many great comments.  From “This is my first signing to attend and I didn’t know it was this much fun!” to “This is the best book signing I’ve ever attended!”.

Our florist went all out for our centerpiece with stilettos, a cami, and lights and our cake lady went all out with a scrumptious chocolate cake in the shape of a Gucci shoebox complete with edible Gucci red stiletto!

Centerpiece

Stiletto Cake

June 27, 2011 – The book launch is over

Wow, what a wonderful event our “Blue Jeans and Stilettos” book launch party turned out to be.  I lost count after 200 people coming through the door.  It was awesome!

The event was to start at 6:30 p.m.  People began to show up at 5:00 p.m.  I felt like a rock star with fans showing up early.  LOL!  We began to autograph books and the line never stopped, but it was delightful.  We had people who traveled from as far away as Nebraska and South Carolina to attend.

Autographing “Blue Jeans and Stilettos”

Blue Jeans and Stilettos Arrived!

Jordyn holds "Blue Jeans and Stilettos"

That’s right! Our book, “Blue Jeans and Stilettos” arrived on Wednesday, May  11, 2011.  Yippee!  Here’s a pic of Jordyn showing off the cover and Deanne shows off her story inside.  We were all so excited to hold the actual first copy in our hands.  There’s no feeling like seeing your name on the cover of a book you wrote.

Deanne showing off her story

There’s nothing like holding a book in your hand and feeling the texture of the cover and smelling the aroma of those new book pages.  For writers, it’s the best.

Hope everyone can make it to the book’s actual book launch party on June 23, 2011!  Contact us for more details.  If you’re not able to attend, you can pre-order your autographed copy now!

Come join us for the fun!

29 March 2011 – And we’re off to a good start!

WOW!  The Writers of the Lake are off and running.  We have three books in the works and more on the way.  The first anthology will be out June 1, the second November 1 and the third February 1.  Whew! It’s a little hectic around here.

Our first book entitled Blue Jeans and Stilettos will be launched on June 23, 2011 and, of course, everyone is invited to the party.  Can’t wait.  Be sure to stop by and say “hi”.   You’ll also want to get your name in for the door prize drawing – a beautiful basket complete with a bear dressed in blue jeans and stilettos!  It’s the cutest thing ever.  Of course, there’s lots of other goodies in the basket, too.

The second book is a Christmas anthology complete with a six-pack of abs on the cover!  Mmmmmmmmmmmm!  I love great abs, don’t you?  The third is our Valentine’s Day tribute to lovers everywhere.  In addition to the anthologies we write together, we each write individual books in several genres and we’ll have some of those finished as well.

We’re also gearing up for our multi-state book tour.  That’s right, the Writers of the Lake have been scheduled for book signings and talks in several states now and are adding to our stops almost daily.  If you’d like us to add your town, just contact us and we’ll see what we can arrange.

In July we’ll be back on the lake again trying hard to get those next two anthologies finished by deadline.

During the summer months, we have quite a few festivals to attend so you could spot us all over town.  Do stop by and say hello if you spot us.

Well, it’s 5 a.m. now and I’ve been up since 2 a.m. writing.  Thought I’d take just a minute to update you on our progress.  Gotta get back to the writing now or my Christmas story won’t be ready in time!

Writing Away

I’m 11,805 words into a new manuscript!  Woohoo!  Been up this morning since 5 a.m. which is a little late for me.  Usually I’m up at 2 or 3 a.m.  But I’m plotting right along on my story and it’ll be ready in time.  Stay tuned for its upcoming release date.

Explore. Dream. Discover.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

 

Mark Twain

Lilypad – What’s Your Favorite Comfort Food?

So you’ve had a bad day.  Everything that could go wrong did.  For example, let’s use a day I had awhile back.

I awoke late (my alarm clock didn’t go off – I’m sticking to that story), quickly dressed and headed out to work on a Saturday morning.  At that time I worked in a law office and was having to do some overtime on a case that was in trial.  When I got to my car, it had a flat tire.  Okay, I said to myself, I’ll just change it.  That presented the second problem.  Where did I keep the jack?

I called my auto service.  Twenty-five minutes later, flat tire fixed, I was on my way.  Thinking that since I was late anyway, I may as well swing into the local fast-foodery and grab a cup of coffee as I hadn’t had my usual cup before leaving home.

Pulling into the drive-thru I ordered the coffee and a breakfast sandwich to eat on the way.  Grabbing the cup from the attendant, I accidentally tapped it against the steering wheel which presented the third problem.  Hot coffee all over my lap and the white suit that I was wearing.

Forget the coffee and sandwich, head back home to change clothes (black this time just in case) and head back to the office.  Upon reaching my parking lot, I’m praying for a spot close to the building but as you’ve already guessed, I had no such luck.  I was lucky to even get the last spot at the farthest distance from the building.  No problem though.  The temperature was only a balmy minus 10 that morning.  If I hurried, they might find my frozen body halfway across the parking lot. 

Then, as I’m doing a half run, half walk across the lot, I spot a man.  He’s not bad to look at so at least that’s the first plus I’ve had all morning.  Maybe my day was turning around after all.  I had made up my mind to say a cheery hello when we got close enough.  I’m usually a shy person (oh, come on, yes I am) and so I have to think about doing something like that before I actually do it.

Anyway, just as we got close enough, I opened my mouth to say hello and at that precise moment, he opened his overcoat to say hello!  Whatever possesses a man to be a flasher in minus 10 degrees?  Does anybody have the answer to that question?

Well, I’d had it.  I began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh some more.  Really, it was that funny.  Everything that could have gone wrong already had.  And now, on top of all that, this man insists on showing me his private parts.

I distinctly remember saying something about how the poor “little” thing needed a stocking cap to help keep it warm because it was already turning blue.

The last words I heard were “You @#*& bitch” as he hurried on his way.

My day improved 100% after that because everytime I thought about my “flasher” I started laughing until tears ran down my cheeks.

At this point you’re probably wondering what does that story have to do with comfort food?  Well, I went home that night and baked myself a Triple Chololate Double Fudge cake.  After all, I deserved it.  Didn’t I?

It Happened on the way …

Music floated across the room as Marie made a few turns around her new pole.  Her hips swayed to the music and she could see the effect it was having on her audience.  Young studs could not resist the naughty images she was sure played through their minds as she did a squat facing the pole and then slithered her way back to a standing position.   Sweat was now beading on their foreheads.

Marie gyrated harder as the intensity of the music increased.  Seductively, she reached down to the front snap of her bra releasing her best features.  Turning her back to the pole, she reached overhead to grab it.  Letting her bra fall loose, she watched the expression on the men’s faces.  It excited her to see she was pleasing to watch.  Holding to the pole, she slowly let herself slide down it and back up again.  The music reached a fever pitch as she reached for her bottle of oil.  Uncapping the bottle, she held it over her breasts and waited.  Slowly she turned her face toward the men.

Trying for as sultry a voice as she could managed she asked, “Shall I?”

It happened on the way to ….Part 2

The remodeling was just about complete.  The fire had caused Marie’s bedroom to have to be completely gutted.  The only item Marie really missed was her mirrored wall but it was going to be replaced.  She was more than willing to sacrifice her mirrors for a short time so she could install the next item she had been dreaming about — a stripper pole.  Not only was she looking forward to using the pole for exercise but also entertainment.  The two young studs who were installing it didn’t know yet but they were going to be her first audience.

“So, you’re sure it’s secure.  I can do just about anything on it and it won’t fall?”  Marie seductively ran her hand up and down the pole then swung slowly around in a circle. 

 ”It should stand up to just about anything.  It’s bolted into the studs in the ceiling and floor”  Marie pretended to listen as the young man moved closer pointing to the metal plate in the ceiling and floor. 

“Speaking of studs, how would you two like to watch the first performance on my new pole?”  Marie smiled.

“That would be nice but we really have to get to the next install.”  Watching as they started putting their tools back in their toolboxes, Marie decided this called for desperate measures.  She slipped off the shear blouse and slacks she was wearing revealing as skimpy of a two piece she dare wear, then slipped into a pair of red stilletoes.  Reaching for her new boom-box she turned on the music and began her mating dance.

“I guess I’ll dance for myself.”  She watched as the two men stopped what they were doing and took a seat on the edge of her bed.  “That’s right boys.  You made the right choice.”  She closed her eyes and let the music move her.

Spooky October

It’s October already.  Where did September go?  I’ve been busy writing and I did manage to get a manuscript finished and off to the publisher!  Yippee!  Can’t wait to see my name on the cover.

So, what does it take to get your name on the cover of a book?  I can’t tell you how many times, when people find out I’m a writer, they’ve said to me “Oh, I want to write a book some day.”  The problem is, with that attitude, “some day” never gets here.  They never have that euphoric feeling of seeing their name in print.  Why is that?  Well, I can tell you why.  Writing is hard work.  That’s it in a nutshell.

People tend to think that writers spend a few minutes dreaming up a story, another few minutes writing it down and then off it goes to the publisher.  Not so.  We have a saying in the writing world – BICHOK.  That means “Butt in chair, hands on keyboard”.  And that sums up a writer’s world.

To get the story written, it takes endless hours of sitting at the keyboard putting your thoughts for the story down on paper, so to speak.  Once you get the gist of the story down, the really hard part of writing starts.  Some writers are “pantsers”.  They simply sit down at the keyboard and start writing their story from beginning to end.  The only thing they know at the beginning is they have a character.  They find out, as they write, the who, where, what, etc.  Others are “plotters”.  They plot out the story in minute detail from beginning to end and then they start writing.

Once the first round of writing is done, you go back and agonize over every word.  Is there a word that would say better what you intend the reader to hear?  You check to see you aren’t using a word more than once on the same page.  What about point of view?  Did you change point of view more than once to a scene?  What about “beats”?  Do you have too many, not enough?  The questions are endless.

Once all that’s done, you write your query letter and synopsis.  Sometimes you get a response from your query letter asking to see the synopsis and a partial of your manuscript.  Other times it’s “thanks, but no thanks.”  It’s a waiting game and the waiting seems like an eternity.  If it’s the “no thanks” letter you get, you’re heartbroken.

It’s actually rather comical.  It takes forever for you to finally let your “baby” (your manuscript) be ripped from your hands by the postman in order for it to be sent to a publisher in the first place and you cry as you watch it leave.  Yet, if the publisher doesn’t accept it and it comes back to you, it’s time to cry again.   For you, it feels like a no-win situation.  And then, if they do accept it, you cry over that, too!  So, just be aware and if you do decide to become a writer, invest in a Kleenex company.

Oh, and what does this have to do with a “Spooky October”?  Absolutely nothing.