There are times when I get the blahs and I just can't decide what I want to do with myself. Nothing seems to hold my interest for more than a few minutes regardless of whether it's something I enjoy doing or not. And when these moments happen, writing seems to go right out the window because I can barely put two coherent words together, let alone an entire sentence.
I love being creative and really abhor when my creativity gets blocked by random visits from Blah-Ville. But, I've learned that I don't have to be creative in writing during these times. I've discovered many different ways for me to be creative without having to try and smash words together.
So, during this particular visit from Blah-Ville, I've discovered an interest to possibly put my Bachelor's degree to work. My degree is in Simulation and Digital Entertainment which basically means I learned how to create computer/video games from the ground up. And I've been kicking the idea around of maybe creating some fun, casual games to coincide with The L & L Mysteries series. Possibly create a game for each book in the series. I'm not sure what type of game yet, but I don't think it will be something too complex as I'll be the only one working on it. But there are all different kinds of levels of creativity when it comes to creating games that I have a feeling I could be drowning in this project before long. But I'll have a very happy, cheesy grin on my face!
Actually, I'm still working on the concept right now. So game creation will not begin anytime soon. But, as I go along with this new idea, I'll keep everyone informed of what's happening with it.
Writing comes first, though, and I have one more book in The L & L Mysteries to produce. Plus, I'm co-authoring with the Muse on a sci-fi/adventure series that I really need to give more attention to in the coming months. Fortunately, The Butterfly Connection (the final book in L & L) is already drafted out. I just have to go through and massage it and tweak it a bit before it's ready to be published.
With all of this stuff floating around in my brain, I really can't begin to fathom how I could have received a visit from Blah-Ville. But it happened and I'm trying very hard to push through it so I can continue on with all the great ideas and plans I've got rolling around upstairs. And I'm confident that I'll push through and will be moving full steam ahead very soon!
I know this was a bit of a rambling session. But, do any of you ever get visits from Blah-Ville? How do you handle those visits? Leave me a comment below and have a great All Saints Day!
Blog for Author Wendy Lohr
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
New Author On Board!
Today is a totally awesome day for my publishing company, Cressen Books LLC. We've signed on a new author!!!! Her name is Jessica L. Padilla and she'll be writing in the paranormal genre. We are so excited to be working with her and I look forward to sharing progress updates as we move towards publication of her first novel in the series.
Here are links to her social media and internet sites:
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Author's Website
Also, check out our website and see the new addition of Meet Our Authors tab. There, you can see pics of our authors and follow the links to their individual author bio pages. And, we have the announcement up on the homepage about Jessica joining us.
So, exciting times here at Cressen Books! Make sure you Like us on Facebook so you can keep up with progress, updates, and announcements! Now it's off to celebrate!
Here are links to her social media and internet sites:
Goodreads
Author's Website
Also, check out our website and see the new addition of Meet Our Authors tab. There, you can see pics of our authors and follow the links to their individual author bio pages. And, we have the announcement up on the homepage about Jessica joining us.
So, exciting times here at Cressen Books! Make sure you Like us on Facebook so you can keep up with progress, updates, and announcements! Now it's off to celebrate!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Tough Decisions Have To Be Made
For the past 4-5 years, I have been working diligently to create stories in The L & L Mysteries series. I absolutely love the characters, Leyla and Lucien, and really enjoy getting inside their heads as they deal with various situations, some fun, some hokey, and some dangerous. These two characters have become a huge part of my life and I look forward to continuing to develop them and their relationship through future mysteries and investigations.
When I first began this series, I envisioned it going on indefinitely. I didn't really have a set number of books I wanted to write in the series and felt that I would just go with the flow. Then, as the fifth book began to take shape, I realized something: Leyla and Lucien were maturing but their investigations were not.
So, I decided that The L & L Mysteries would consist of 5 books. Then, I would create a new, more mature "detective" series set during their college years. I still like that idea and have already begun drafting the first book in this new, more mature series.
But something was still bothering me. As anyone who has been following this blog has seen, over the past several posts I've mentioned beginning final edits on the fourth book in The L & L Mysteries, Dangerous Moves. I had talked about cover design and the difficulty I was having in figuring out what design I wanted to go with. I'd also talked about trying to get through rewrites and edits of the first chapter.
Well, today I had an epiphany. When the Muse and I sat down to go over the rewrites I'd done in the first chapter, we kept struggling with the process. Almost every sentence we went over felt forced or unnatural. And it suddenly dawned on me.....I was having major issues with the entire book. But why? So, we set aside our work and began talking about why I was having trouble with this particular book. And the answer suddenly came to me: I was actually trying to rewrite one of the earlier books but was using a different angle this time.
It finally made sense to me why this book bothered me so much. So, I made the tough decision to completely remove Dangerous Moves from The L & L Mysteries line up and have decided that there will only be 4 books in this series now before I move on to the newer, more mature series.
It was not an easy decision to make which is probably why it's been bugging me for the last several weeks/months. I love Leyla and Lucien and they had some great interactions in this particular book. But, I also realize that it's not fair or enjoyable for my readers to pick up a book and suddenly feel as though they've been cheated because the core plot of the story was similar to another book I'd already published in the series. So, I am stopping work immediately on Dangerous Moves and moving on to the final book of this particular series.
I do have a title for the final book and a cover concept is already brewing inside my little brain. So, from here on out, you will here me talk more and more about the final editing stages for The L & L Mysteries #4, The Butterfly Connection! I'm really excited about this book and the intriguing mystery that Leyla and Lucien find themselves investigating. And I believe that readers will start to see a definite maturing aspect in the friends' relationship and partnership, as well as the type of case they will be investigating. And this should lend itself for a nice transition into the new "detective" series I'll begin writing that follows Leyla and Lucien into college.
So, with that out there now, I'll probably be working some over the weekend to have the first chapter ready for final edits with the Muse hopefully by Monday or Wednesday of next week! If you've read this far into the post, thank you for taking the time and showing the interest. I really appreciate it!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend and hopefully I'll have more updates to post soon!
When I first began this series, I envisioned it going on indefinitely. I didn't really have a set number of books I wanted to write in the series and felt that I would just go with the flow. Then, as the fifth book began to take shape, I realized something: Leyla and Lucien were maturing but their investigations were not.
So, I decided that The L & L Mysteries would consist of 5 books. Then, I would create a new, more mature "detective" series set during their college years. I still like that idea and have already begun drafting the first book in this new, more mature series.
But something was still bothering me. As anyone who has been following this blog has seen, over the past several posts I've mentioned beginning final edits on the fourth book in The L & L Mysteries, Dangerous Moves. I had talked about cover design and the difficulty I was having in figuring out what design I wanted to go with. I'd also talked about trying to get through rewrites and edits of the first chapter.
Well, today I had an epiphany. When the Muse and I sat down to go over the rewrites I'd done in the first chapter, we kept struggling with the process. Almost every sentence we went over felt forced or unnatural. And it suddenly dawned on me.....I was having major issues with the entire book. But why? So, we set aside our work and began talking about why I was having trouble with this particular book. And the answer suddenly came to me: I was actually trying to rewrite one of the earlier books but was using a different angle this time.
It finally made sense to me why this book bothered me so much. So, I made the tough decision to completely remove Dangerous Moves from The L & L Mysteries line up and have decided that there will only be 4 books in this series now before I move on to the newer, more mature series.
It was not an easy decision to make which is probably why it's been bugging me for the last several weeks/months. I love Leyla and Lucien and they had some great interactions in this particular book. But, I also realize that it's not fair or enjoyable for my readers to pick up a book and suddenly feel as though they've been cheated because the core plot of the story was similar to another book I'd already published in the series. So, I am stopping work immediately on Dangerous Moves and moving on to the final book of this particular series.
I do have a title for the final book and a cover concept is already brewing inside my little brain. So, from here on out, you will here me talk more and more about the final editing stages for The L & L Mysteries #4, The Butterfly Connection! I'm really excited about this book and the intriguing mystery that Leyla and Lucien find themselves investigating. And I believe that readers will start to see a definite maturing aspect in the friends' relationship and partnership, as well as the type of case they will be investigating. And this should lend itself for a nice transition into the new "detective" series I'll begin writing that follows Leyla and Lucien into college.
So, with that out there now, I'll probably be working some over the weekend to have the first chapter ready for final edits with the Muse hopefully by Monday or Wednesday of next week! If you've read this far into the post, thank you for taking the time and showing the interest. I really appreciate it!
I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe weekend and hopefully I'll have more updates to post soon!
Sunday, October 14, 2012
The Return of the Wayward Author
Happy Sunday, all! I know it's been quite a while since I last posted and I apologize for that. I've been pretty busy lately with the publishing company side of things. Which means, the author in me has been MIA for far too long.
Hopefully I will be changing that this week, though. My game plan, as of today, is to finish editing the first chapter of Dangerous Moves with the Muse and moving on to final edits of chapter 2 of that book. I also hope to do some writing on Book One in the Galactic Dynasty series I'm co-authoring with the Muse. And, if my writing flow is cooperating, I may even get back to writing on some of the other projects I've got open. Yep, I can definitely feel the words wanting to flow from my fingers to the keyboard, so I hope that means that this week will bring my author side back into action!
For those who are wondering just what I've been up to these last few weeks, here's a quick breakdown:
Finished redesigning and uploading the new website for Cressen Books LLC;
Finished content and technical editing on a super-secret project that I hope to soon make a public announcement about;
Worked with the wonderful Rachel Stark, our intern from Shepherd University, on her novel in progress and got to see an amazing cover design for her novel (it totally rocks and I hope to have a cover reveal on the blog here soon);
Rachel has also been helping us edit the Muse's upcoming novel, Naked Lady Dreams;
And I just finished a two week Sparky-ism Campaign on Facebook to help promote the Muse's novel, The Drill Sergeant's Women.
Whew, yeah, a lot going on that has kept me busy and away from my story writing for a while now. But, as I said earlier, that will hopefully change this week! Besides, everything I've been doing the last few weeks has actually been a lot of fun and has given me a much needed break from writing that I didn't realize I needed until I was already waist-deep in these other projects!
So, writing this week, some editing, and maybe even some work on the cover design for Dangerous Moves. Should be a busy but fun and productive week all around!
And, on a closing note, tomorrow October 15, is my birthday....yay!!! I have already been told what my b-day present is and have even ordered them (yeah, that's actually plural). But, I want to wait until they get delivered to tell you all what the present is because I want to actually post pics of these beauties! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!! Unfortunately, I still have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks before they can be delivered....sigh. But, I know they are going to be well worth the wait!
Anywho...have a wonderful week and I'll try to post again soon!
Hopefully I will be changing that this week, though. My game plan, as of today, is to finish editing the first chapter of Dangerous Moves with the Muse and moving on to final edits of chapter 2 of that book. I also hope to do some writing on Book One in the Galactic Dynasty series I'm co-authoring with the Muse. And, if my writing flow is cooperating, I may even get back to writing on some of the other projects I've got open. Yep, I can definitely feel the words wanting to flow from my fingers to the keyboard, so I hope that means that this week will bring my author side back into action!
For those who are wondering just what I've been up to these last few weeks, here's a quick breakdown:
Finished redesigning and uploading the new website for Cressen Books LLC;
Finished content and technical editing on a super-secret project that I hope to soon make a public announcement about;
Worked with the wonderful Rachel Stark, our intern from Shepherd University, on her novel in progress and got to see an amazing cover design for her novel (it totally rocks and I hope to have a cover reveal on the blog here soon);
Rachel has also been helping us edit the Muse's upcoming novel, Naked Lady Dreams;
And I just finished a two week Sparky-ism Campaign on Facebook to help promote the Muse's novel, The Drill Sergeant's Women.
Whew, yeah, a lot going on that has kept me busy and away from my story writing for a while now. But, as I said earlier, that will hopefully change this week! Besides, everything I've been doing the last few weeks has actually been a lot of fun and has given me a much needed break from writing that I didn't realize I needed until I was already waist-deep in these other projects!
So, writing this week, some editing, and maybe even some work on the cover design for Dangerous Moves. Should be a busy but fun and productive week all around!
And, on a closing note, tomorrow October 15, is my birthday....yay!!! I have already been told what my b-day present is and have even ordered them (yeah, that's actually plural). But, I want to wait until they get delivered to tell you all what the present is because I want to actually post pics of these beauties! I'm so excited, I can barely contain myself!! Unfortunately, I still have to wait another 2 or 3 weeks before they can be delivered....sigh. But, I know they are going to be well worth the wait!
Anywho...have a wonderful week and I'll try to post again soon!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
The 4AM Munchies...
Yes, you read that title right. Thanks to my newfound love of all things Photoshop, my brain decided it wanted to do some graphic decorating. So, instead of dreaming about my characters in various plot scenarios, I laid awake for more time than was necessary, thinking of ways to bring a fresh new look to Cressen Books website and ways to create the book cover for Dangerous Moves. And thanks to all that brain power going towards decorating instead of sleeping, I think I may have figured out what to do with both the website and the book cover.
And that brought me to the realization that I was laying in bed at 3:30 in the freakin' morning, my stomach growling from all of those calories I'd burned while thinking about Photoshop projects. At the same time, a crazy storm was blowing through, lightening flashing, thunder rolling, and rain gushing down, which made it next to impossible for me to go back to sleep. So, my Muse being the most amazing man alive, happened to be up at the same time as me but for different reasons (he's usually up this early). And, bless him, he offered to make me breakfast.
So, I found myself eating a delicious meal of biscuits and spicy sausage-gravy at 4AM. Not a norm for me, who usually doesn't rise before 8AM, but my tummy didn't care about the time; it just cared about the food. Now it's happily digesting the scrumptious breakfast and I will probably begin work in Photoshop in the next few minutes.
Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? It happens to me occasionally, but usually I'm able to sleep straight through. I'm a pretty sound sleeper (i.e., WW3 could be happening outside my house and I probably wouldn't notice), but sometimes my brain has other things in mind. Oh well, at least now I have some new ideas to try out!
And that brought me to the realization that I was laying in bed at 3:30 in the freakin' morning, my stomach growling from all of those calories I'd burned while thinking about Photoshop projects. At the same time, a crazy storm was blowing through, lightening flashing, thunder rolling, and rain gushing down, which made it next to impossible for me to go back to sleep. So, my Muse being the most amazing man alive, happened to be up at the same time as me but for different reasons (he's usually up this early). And, bless him, he offered to make me breakfast.
So, I found myself eating a delicious meal of biscuits and spicy sausage-gravy at 4AM. Not a norm for me, who usually doesn't rise before 8AM, but my tummy didn't care about the time; it just cared about the food. Now it's happily digesting the scrumptious breakfast and I will probably begin work in Photoshop in the next few minutes.
Has anyone else ever had this happen to them? It happens to me occasionally, but usually I'm able to sleep straight through. I'm a pretty sound sleeper (i.e., WW3 could be happening outside my house and I probably wouldn't notice), but sometimes my brain has other things in mind. Oh well, at least now I have some new ideas to try out!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Can My Brain Get A Reboot?
So, long time, no post but that doesn't mean I wasn't busy. After my root canal, I had more complications and it's taken this long just to get over the initial procedure, which was over 2 weeks ago. And during that time, my brain seemed to shut down where writing was concerned. Instead of pushing the envelope, so to speak, I said 'okay, what can I do that doesn't require creative thinking?' and the answer was....Editing.
On that note, I spent about a week and a half going over my Muse's novel, The Drill Sergeant's Women, and making much needed technical tweaks to it. I will readily admit that I am embarrassed that we published it in such a state of grammar errors, but I have remedied that and am now waiting for him to approve all the tweaks. Then, I can upload the clean and polished version to Kindle, Nook, and CreateSpace and have it ready for readers everywhere. And that is when the Teaser Campaign will commence. So, if you want to get sneak peeks at what's inside The Drill Sergeant's Women, head on over to Cressen Books LLC's facebook page and like us to receive your dose of Sparky!
Okay, so now you all know what I've been up to these past few weeks. And as the title of this post states, I believe I'm in serious need of a brain reboot. If any of you have any suggestions on how I can go about rebooting my brain to get the creative writing flow going again, I am all ears! I believe the desire is there, I just need to get the actual words flowing again. Of course, it also helps when I don't have other distractions going on, which I think I may have resolved by getting the editing done and (finally) getting over the root canal drama.
On that note, wish me luck as I begin a new week and hopefully, the magic will return to my fingertips once more!
On that note, I spent about a week and a half going over my Muse's novel, The Drill Sergeant's Women, and making much needed technical tweaks to it. I will readily admit that I am embarrassed that we published it in such a state of grammar errors, but I have remedied that and am now waiting for him to approve all the tweaks. Then, I can upload the clean and polished version to Kindle, Nook, and CreateSpace and have it ready for readers everywhere. And that is when the Teaser Campaign will commence. So, if you want to get sneak peeks at what's inside The Drill Sergeant's Women, head on over to Cressen Books LLC's facebook page and like us to receive your dose of Sparky!
Okay, so now you all know what I've been up to these past few weeks. And as the title of this post states, I believe I'm in serious need of a brain reboot. If any of you have any suggestions on how I can go about rebooting my brain to get the creative writing flow going again, I am all ears! I believe the desire is there, I just need to get the actual words flowing again. Of course, it also helps when I don't have other distractions going on, which I think I may have resolved by getting the editing done and (finally) getting over the root canal drama.
On that note, wish me luck as I begin a new week and hopefully, the magic will return to my fingertips once more!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Interns, Root Canals, and Work
Good morning, all! It's been a little while since I've updated this, so here goes. A lot has been happening over the last few weeks. Cressen Books LLC has an intern working for us this semester from Shepherdstown University. And she's already proving invaluable, giving feedback into the edits of the Muses novel and showing us what she's capable of when writing her own novel. We're excited to be working with Rachel this semester and hope that she comes away with a great experience (and maybe even a published novel) by the end of the semester.
As for root canals...they are evil! I had to have one done last week and was so excited to finally be pain free. I was envisioning gnawing on big juicy steaks again without it hurting. But, as is my typical luck, I began feeling pain again in the same area yesterday and was up for several hours last night with it. I think what's happened is the nerve is inflamed and hasn't had a chance to recover yet and I keep eating on that side and putting pressure there. So, it's a motrin regiment on top of already taking antibiotics for me and hopefully I won't have to have the dentist poke around some more in that area. I actually love my dentist and her staff is fantastic...but I'm ready to move on and not have to see her again until my next routine cleaning (six months from now). Oh well. We'll see how cooperative the tooth/nerve will be over the next day or two.
And work...it's been quite chaotic over the last couple of weeks and I have yet to settle back into my normal routine (whatever that was). I know I originally posted that I would be keeping track of my word count on the sidebar of this blog for the 2-3 stories I was working on. Well, the 2-3 stories grew to 5 stories. So, to clean things up a bit, I've moved the word count bars for each story to it's own page here on this blog. So, if you're interested, definitely flip over to that page from time to time to see how the books are coming along. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I might actually be able to come up with titles and synopses for these books so you have a better idea of what I'm actually working on! Or at least I'll have a better idea of what I'm working on. Whatevs.
Speaking of work, I guess I should really get back to it. I hope everyone has a great week and I'll pop back on again when I have the chance!
As for root canals...they are evil! I had to have one done last week and was so excited to finally be pain free. I was envisioning gnawing on big juicy steaks again without it hurting. But, as is my typical luck, I began feeling pain again in the same area yesterday and was up for several hours last night with it. I think what's happened is the nerve is inflamed and hasn't had a chance to recover yet and I keep eating on that side and putting pressure there. So, it's a motrin regiment on top of already taking antibiotics for me and hopefully I won't have to have the dentist poke around some more in that area. I actually love my dentist and her staff is fantastic...but I'm ready to move on and not have to see her again until my next routine cleaning (six months from now). Oh well. We'll see how cooperative the tooth/nerve will be over the next day or two.
And work...it's been quite chaotic over the last couple of weeks and I have yet to settle back into my normal routine (whatever that was). I know I originally posted that I would be keeping track of my word count on the sidebar of this blog for the 2-3 stories I was working on. Well, the 2-3 stories grew to 5 stories. So, to clean things up a bit, I've moved the word count bars for each story to it's own page here on this blog. So, if you're interested, definitely flip over to that page from time to time to see how the books are coming along. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I might actually be able to come up with titles and synopses for these books so you have a better idea of what I'm actually working on! Or at least I'll have a better idea of what I'm working on. Whatevs.
Speaking of work, I guess I should really get back to it. I hope everyone has a great week and I'll pop back on again when I have the chance!
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