Another Day In Writer’s Paradise

First let me apologize for getting my blog up so late. To be honest, I had forgotten all about the blog which I have only done one other time since we all started doing getting together weekly.

Now, the reason for this is simple. I wanted a lazy day. It had been a few months since I had had a lazy day...you know the type where you do little or nothing. You take a long bath, watch all those TV shows that you’ve been waiting to catch up on and have been hording on the DVR.

Basically, you do nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Except for me. I have one problem even on a lazy day. My mind goes a mile a minute on every novel I’m working on at the moment. And I’m working on quite a few. But even I surprised myself as I’m watching one of my favorite medical shows, I believe it was House at the time, when I realized I was zeroing in on just two stories this time.

One is the novel I have due at the end of the month. This is a good thing as it’s a historical and I’ve never really done historical before. Now, this doesn’t scare me, but it does make me very anal about getting it all right. I’ve checked and rechecked to see if my facts are straight and for those who aren’t, I’ve made sure I’ve explained why they aren’t. Sometimes the explanation is harder than the actual fact itself. LOL!

The second book is the one that I’m working on with my critique group. It’s the first time I have really had a group who demands so much. Sure, I’ve always had to produce but usually by the time I actually got to the critique session itself, I’ve already got much of the book done and can work on it at a leisurely pace. With this story, I need to produce a chapter a week or I feel like I’m letting them down. And more so, they let me know I’m letting myself down by not producing like I’m used to no matter if I have too many irons in the fire.

And this is good, very good. I want all readers out there to be able to enjoy my writing. If I don’t produce it, you can’t see it and won’t know I can write a good story. If I don’t produce my writer friends and critiquers will know something is wrong and try to help me figure out just what is eating at me which they have.

Now, this week, it’s all me. I wanted to be lazy and while it might have been precipitated by a change in weather, sometimes it is good to lay the blame all on my shoulders. It’s good to own when you do things wrong or not at all, the latter being my case.

But I like everyone else, needs to recharge, to restart my engine in the face overwhelming laziness. And know that next week, I won’t be as lazy nor will I be as slow in getting this blog up.

Now we come to the time I know you’ve all been waiting for...the FREE giveaway! Last week’s winner has won a copy of the first book in my Orchid series, Fluke...Phyllis C...come on down to get your free prize. Just email me a lynncrain@cox.net and send it right to you. Next week, I’ll be giving away a copy of my short, Shopping Spree...so don’t forget to comment on this week’s blog and let me know what you do to recharge.

See you next week!

Lynn

Being in the Story

Oops! It’s blog day and I just almost forgot. And I never forget since I have a calendar that reminds me of everything. But this week, I’ve been so much into my story, More Than Robotics, I’ve actually been on a computer which has no internet access.

Why you may ask? Well, because I am like every person on the planet who can read right now. The internet is fun and distracting. I can start reading the news and read more and more and more until I realize that I’ve been reading for well over three hours.

So just recently, I decided to get an Aspire. You know…one of those little tiny machines…which has a hard drive, internet access and very little else. I decided the moment I opened the box that I loved this thing. It is small and can fit in my purse. But the most amazing aspect it that other than the software activation of my Word and Excel, it’s never been online. And I plan for it to remain that way as all it will ever be used for is writing and getting things to my editor.

Now, I already have two other computers…a huge graphics oriented desktop…and this graphics oriented laptop that I’m working on right now. Why in the heck did I need another computer? I didn’t in reality. But I do need convenience and the ability to stay away from the internet when necessary. This same machine I can just pick up and walk to another room or go outside in the early morning, have coffee and start typing away.

Which leads me to the crux of this blog today. This week I have checked my email less than ever, I’ve looked at the news only once and that was yesterday. Most of my time has been spent with my head stuck in a story. And for a writer, that’s exactly where it should be most of the time.

Now, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t come up for air. Every writer should but what it does mean that for the first time in a very long time I have been exclusively focused on my chosen profession. I have been so focused that I’ve been writing an average of 5000 words a day. And while that may not seem much to some people, that’s a book a week if the book is small. Basically, it means that I am almost writing to my potential which in itself is a miracle.

Not many writers live up to their potential because life or the internet can get in their way. Some spend years plotting or editing a story because they just want to get it perfect. So perfect in fact that they never get around to finishing it or ever having it ready to submit to an editor.

So this week, I’ve been a good little author and had my head where it should be in my own books. Which is wonderful when you think about it but I have allowed myself some lead way and actually read some books this week as well. My TBR pile had grown enormous over the years and I decided to start at the top. I was amazed at how many books I’ve discarded after the first chapter. It made me wonder why I picked them up at all because I found myself not liking the writing, the story or just generally going yuck and moving on.

But my real passion came back to me as I’m ready more and more sci-fiction based books than ever. I can highly recommend Close Encounters by Katherine Allred. It’s an amazing story about a women sent to another planet to save the people living there. Another one I just recently finished was Linnea Sinclair’s Games of Command. Yeah, it had been on the shelf that long. All I’ve got to say is OMG and wonder why I never picked it up before. Now those are the type of books I want to write. Sigh. I’m working on it.

And in that vein, here’s a bit of my next story in the Orchid Series. The series started with Fluke which was about a woman who couldn’t quite remember her past. It’s a story where she finds the strength to do the near impossible while planning for the future. In it I introduce two new concepts, and yeah, they are copyrighted, clonedroids and mindswiped both of which I use in this new story. Here’s a little bit of this new story, More Than Robotics, set for release October 1 from eXtasy books.

Remember, these are the unedited versions. And thanks for giving this story a look!

More Than Robotics

BLURB: (This is unedited.)

There were only three things in life that Commander BekkaTaylor wanted in life: 1) Command of a Warrior Class Star Marauder, 2) To grow old gracefully and 3) A lover who understood her fiery nature. She was accomplishing two out of her three objectives very nicely when an internal IUA conflict begins to encompasses the whole world as she knows it. Then Lieutenant Javed Malik comes aboard, clearly younger than she, with dreamy eyes and a secret meant only for her. But letting him in means getting rid of years of frustration, anguish and maybe her career as old secrets come to the surface. Can she survive another war or the smoldering looks from her junior officer sent to protect her 24/7?

TEASER EXCERPT: (This is unedited.)

“That’s all for now and it’s most of what I know. But we all share the same concerns as I’m sure you have. Javed has the specifics on our next contact. And please don’t get mad at me for the unconventional way I have instructed him to give those orders to you. It was necessary.”

I turned from the vidscreen to look at him suspiciously. “What is she talking about?”

In less than the blink of an eye, he was again by my side, pulling me up from my chair, his hands taking my face to gaze in my eyes. “Don’t struggle,” he whispered close to my ear. “I think we have prying eyes.” His lips came down fiercely on mine, his tongue snaking in to dominate me and I wanted to do the very thing he asked that I not do. Instead I tried to let myself enjoy the moment as it had been quite some time since I had had this type of human contact.

My hands gripped his waist and pulled him even closer to me. I could feel his legs press harder into me as his arms went completely around me. Within moments, I could feel the hard bulge of his body and mine responded in kind. There was nothing more I wanted to do except rip his clothes off that luscious male form.

He pulled away from me and shuddered, resting his forehead against mine. “We should really stop right now.” His brown eyes looked deep into mine and I nearly passed out as his next words flashed across my consciousness. You are an amazing woman and rest assured, we will finish this.

The last bit had exploded across my brain and I raised a shaky hand to rub my forehead. It was as if he were right inside me, whispering his thoughts.

Don’t fight it. Let it happen. The clonedroids helped us to perfect one of their technologies for our use. This is the major way they communicate between each other. You are now the proud owner of some audiobotic nanotechnology. They attach to your nerves for hearing and other pertainent areas of your brain associated with the function. From now on, we’ll be able to communication this way as we are attuned only to each other. No one else is on this frequency.

I glanced quickly toward the camera I knew Trevor had poised on us. You realize that Trevor was the only one spying on us, don’t you?

A slow lazy smile crossed his face and he gently caressed my cheek. That’s what you think. The other ability that we’ve been given is you will actually sense when someone is a clonedroid. It’s an ability they have as well as they can immediately tell who is clonedroid or who is human. Fallon 2 has been so helpful in our development of these abilities.

I swallowed hard. It would be hard but I knew what I had to do. “Just what do you think you were doing?”

A brief look of surprise crossed his face. Bravo! Well done. Fallon said that you’d be quick to adapt. And because you adapted so quickly, I know you haven’t been brainwashed. Those who have been have some difficulty when trying to access certain aspects of their brain which are necessary when using this technology.

Thanks again…and see you next week!

Lynn