tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58228309414569820052024-02-19T14:57:14.732-08:00Read, Write...Rocking ChairLaura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.comBlogger35125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-54928260890428150912013-02-12T19:31:00.002-08:002013-02-12T19:33:11.206-08:00Quick Hello!<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know I haven't blogged in a while so I wanted to drop in and tell you I haven't forgotten about you, just been very busy with edits for <em>Captive Art</em> and helping my critique partner, </span><a href="http://ericaluckedean.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Erica Lucke Dean</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, with <em>To Katie With Love, </em>both books are coming out this spring/summer so you can imagine how excited I am.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, if you want to catch me on a more regular basis, you can find me every other Tuesday on </span><a href="http://yastands.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YA Stands</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hope you are all doing well!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*hugs*</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">~ Laura</span>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-25175374755292807782012-11-28T03:00:00.000-08:002012-11-28T03:00:11.524-08:00Yay! for Happenstance<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">December
is only days away, which means my wonderful critique partner, </span><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Valerie Haight’s novella will be out
soon! It’s a great story and I’m very lucky to have been able to read it in its
early stages. Valerie put a lot of work into it and it really shows by the
sheer awesomeness of it!!! I thought you guys would like to hear a little more
about it so I invited Valerie to drop by.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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</div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-weight: normal; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Welcome Val! *big hugs*</span></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5PHwewUMd2vea7UIUBRKEi6FCsXi7pOn2WuzGpOwoc0rnY2LJTNFI3-kr8qj598-Jx_S36brdbxCGJxF1L3cCnATtSagwMhXjKI_GVVzlpabiQA5kbJhnSnxQJ7YfVq2dpqg8AGv0K1h/s1600/1+Author+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL5PHwewUMd2vea7UIUBRKEi6FCsXi7pOn2WuzGpOwoc0rnY2LJTNFI3-kr8qj598-Jx_S36brdbxCGJxF1L3cCnATtSagwMhXjKI_GVVzlpabiQA5kbJhnSnxQJ7YfVq2dpqg8AGv0K1h/s200/1+Author+Photo.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Laura! Thank you so much for letting me hang with you here!
And when you’ve got such <a href="http://readwriterockingchair.blogspot.com/2012/11/signed-sealed-delivered.html" target="_blank">exciting news</a> yourself!!! I’m so excited to be
bouncing alongside you! I’m thrilled to be a guest for your awesome blog. My
belly’s full from Thanksgiving and my heart is full from all this GREAT NEWS! December’s
right around the corner and my first release is almost here. I can’t wait to shout
it from the rooftops! </span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Happenstance</i> is my
debut novella available through Turquoise Morning Press and will be released
December 23, 2012! When I’m not walking around in an imaginary world, I play
gopher to a corporate executive so I get to see a lot of corporate setting
relationship conflict every day. I file this good stuff away in my scheming
brain for future novels but today, let’s talk <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Happenstance! <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.3in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Taryn Ballard is happily
married and a newly appointed analyst for a prestigious shipping company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her career upsurges in record time but she’s
about to discover the real price of corporate life. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.3in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">While on yet another business
trip, Taryn suffers a brutal attack by a carjacker. Her husband, Wade isn’t
there, but her co-worker, Devin is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">The accidental bond Taryn
and Devin share pitches them into dangerous and confusing
territory. Taryn struggles to discern both her feelings for her sexy
protector and Wade's reaction to it all. Unfamiliar emotions blur the
rules of the game and Wade's ready to quit.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0.3in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;">Taryn must rise above
disaster to save her marriage. But is she ready to let go of the man who saved
her life? In a single moment, Happenstance changes everything.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Putting MCs through the
wringer is my specialty and I didn’t cut poor Taryn any slack. She was so much
fun to write because I took everything I knew about the corporate world and
tossed it straight at her. She plays havoc on both Devin’s and Wade’s feelings
and lives. Yes, I’m awful. </span></span><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="color: #0d0d0d; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> I mixed my two favs-suspense
and romance-and came up with something that hopefully every reader can identify
with and enjoy. Here’s a snippet to give you the feel of the book. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Devin, it’s Taryn. You were right. The execs want me to
meet them for dinner and I feel really foolish because I have a GPS and a
connect-the-dot map from the concierge and I’m still lost.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Devin laughed. “Not a problem. Where are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Taryn took a second to locate the green street sign. “At the
corner of First and Third at a tiny, ancient-looking convenience store.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Oh, I know the one. You’re right next to us. I could
probably see you from the tower window. Okay, which restaurant are you looking
for?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Taryn gabbed the hand-drawn map. “Caminas.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I know where it is. Actually, it might be faster by
freeway.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Of course it would. I just came from—”<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0.3in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An unexpected rush of damp, hot air hit her and Taryn
turned, confused to see her door open wide. She sucked in a quick breath and
saw too late the arm reaching for her. Terror gripped her as she zeroed in on
the gun in her face.<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh9xW-Ca3M9ioMneLv3E0pSWFUpXNEaNDrsEYrenz7iAYT3e9Rf1ehbaQSHRJWlGkkT-aH3wD_zgXi2EmuhR7e9XCshEE9wRVxWCbZmRAGi4mcFMinmexqPNaOSTZ1lNxgxr5SLnJMxD6/s1600/1+Happenstance_VH_md%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKh9xW-Ca3M9ioMneLv3E0pSWFUpXNEaNDrsEYrenz7iAYT3e9Rf1ehbaQSHRJWlGkkT-aH3wD_zgXi2EmuhR7e9XCshEE9wRVxWCbZmRAGi4mcFMinmexqPNaOSTZ1lNxgxr5SLnJMxD6/s320/1+Happenstance_VH_md%5B1%5D.JPG" width="206" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
had so much fun writing this story. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! You
can purchase <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Happenstance </i></span><a href="http://www.turquoisemorningpressbookstore.com/collections/after-happily-ever-1"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">here</span></i></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>on December 23<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">rd</span></sup>!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Tweet
with me </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Valeriebrbr"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">@Valeriebrbr</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">, follow me
on</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valerie-Haight/423963590998953"><span style="color: blue; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Facebook</span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> or find out the latest on my </span></span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valerie-Haight/423963590998953"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">Author
Page</span></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> about my upcoming short story <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magnolia Brides </i>in a wedding anthology
out in June!</span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for dropping by, Val! I'm so happy for you and can't wait to get my very own copy of <em>Happenstance</em>!</span></span>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-4736052798250269942012-11-15T18:35:00.000-08:002012-11-15T18:35:05.071-08:00Signed, Sealed, Delivered<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am happy to announce I am
officially contracted with <a href="http://redadeptpublishing.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Red Adept Publishing</span></a> for my
debut novel, (tentatively titled) CAPTIVE ART (CA). I'm so excited to be
working with Lynn McNamee and her team.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here's how it all happened...</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">About four years ago I decided to
write a book, okay, not a book but a play. My husband was performing for our
local civic theatre and the play was only sixty pages long. I thought to myself
at the time, “I can certainly write a sixty page play!” Well, I never did
finish writing it. Instead, my mind began to wander and several other stories
filled my head.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Fast forward a few years and a bunch
of personal stuff later and here I sit having written four complete novels with
a good start on at least three others. I never set out to write because I
wanted to be an ‘author’, it was just something I thought I <i>could</i> do.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So I started
writing the play and shortly after that my grandmother passed away. Over the
course of the next year, I wrote my first full novel. It was more of a healing
process for me though, and very few people will ever read that story. But I
also discovered I love to write. I love creating a story and seeing it come to
life on my computer screen. In fact, if I’d known when I was younger how much I
love writing, and editing other peoples writing, my life would probably be very
different.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This brings me
to about a year and a half ago when I had the idea for CA. I was in the middle
of writing and editing a different story and eventually had to put that story
on hold because the characters in CA would not stop talking in my head (if
you're a writer, you know what I mean). Once I started, it took me exactly
sixty days to finish writing CA and I loved every minute of it because it's
exactly the kind of story I like to read, a little mystery, a little magic, and
a healthy helping of romance.</span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I knew right
away when I finished writing that I wanted to publish it, but publishing a book
is not something to be taken lightly. Finding an agent or publisher is HARD WORK.
Trust me. I cried several times when I got rejections. But the one thing I
didn't do was stop trying. Then, a few months ago, I happened to meet a woman
by the name of Chanda Stafford who was contracted with a small-press publisher
for her own upcoming YA novel and she suggested I submit CA to them. I was
nervous and anxious and at first not sure if that was the best thing for me and
my manuscript...and then I got THE CALL.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is a
funny side story to the morning Lynn called me. Let’s just say I’m lucky I
opened my power bill that day and discovered they had my account mixed up with
someone else, otherwise they would have been shutting it off! So there I was,
standing at my desk at my day job, fuming over the power company’s mistake and
my cell phone rings with a number I don’t recognize. On any other normal day I
would have let it go to voicemail, but because of my frustrated state, I
answered it. The next few moments went something like this…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Hi, this is
Lynn from Red Adept Publishing. Is this Laura?”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Uh, yeah.” (eloquent,
I know)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“I’m calling
because we’ve reviewed your manuscript and we’d like to publish it.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Um, okay.”
(again, eloquent)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As Lynn and I
talked though, my frustration evaporated and eventually turned into elation. So
now, after a year of sending out query letters and doing edits, my story has
found a great home.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are
several things that need to happen before I can share CA with all of you, but I’ll
be sure to keep you posted. In the meantime, here are some fun pictures for you…</span><br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 1em 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p>This is me.</o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is me signing my contract.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbzZs9KiBMG4gd4HNemm-MH-Idod5xmnGZDLj9LspW5mpSqUkA0hsl7SLoeAt7VFejStbzjcFUIwtLU-tl2-NubcTYbTGPieqbib1ChfyfwDd3u5JT6S2Nv0De9O4w76poeFUHd9su_49/s1600/Pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmbzZs9KiBMG4gd4HNemm-MH-Idod5xmnGZDLj9LspW5mpSqUkA0hsl7SLoeAt7VFejStbzjcFUIwtLU-tl2-NubcTYbTGPieqbib1ChfyfwDd3u5JT6S2Nv0De9O4w76poeFUHd9su_49/s320/Pic2.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my friend Angie notarizing my signature.</span></div>
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Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-48283392317026003912012-10-14T10:40:00.002-07:002012-10-14T10:40:44.484-07:00Recap
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does anyone else feel like Fall is rushing by? I looked at
my calendar the other day and couldn’t believe it was already mid-October.
Perhaps I feel this way because I’m back full-time at my day job, my hubby is
back to school and my daughter started kindergarten this year. Or maybe it’s because
the next few weekends are packed with activities for my family. For whatever
reason though, time seems to be moving forward at top speed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the end of the year is getting ever closer, I thought
I’d give a brief recap of my journey so far on the road to publication. I
finished writing <em>Captive Art</em>, edited it, sent it to beta readers, edited it
again, took a writing class with agent/author/Wonder Woman <a href="http://mandyhubbard.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Mandy Hubbard</a>,
edited some more and am now querying this project. I became a contributing
blogger on <a href="http://yastands.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">YA Stands</a>. I entered a writing contest and received a partial manuscript
request from it. And I began writing my next novel, <em>Crossing the Blue Line</em>,
which I will be working on for <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/" target="_blank">NaNoWriMo</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I’ve been busy, but in a good way. This year has taught
me a lot about my writing style and habits and I’ve grown as a writer from what
I’ve learned. I’ve been lucky enough to connect with some amazing
writers/authors. I’ve been able to help others as a beta reader. And I’m
looking forward to all the busyness yet to come.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With only two and a half months left in 2012 though, I want
to make sure I’m using what little time I have to keep moving forward toward my
goal of finding an agent/publisher. I know the stroke of twelve on New Year’s
Eve doesn’t mean my time is up, but I’d at least like to know that I did
everything I could this year to accomplish what I set out to do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How about you? Did you accomplish your goals yet this year?</span></div>
Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-83101193176698421402012-09-26T18:10:00.000-07:002012-09-26T18:10:10.965-07:00Reader Appreciation<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://www.kristinaperez.com/media/2012/09/ReaderAppreciation.jpg" title="ReaderAppreciation"><img alt="ReaderAppreciation" class="attachment-medium" height="146" src="http://www.kristinaperez.com/media/2012/09/ReaderAppreciation.jpg" title="ReaderAppreciation" width="193" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">My fabulous, villain loving, writing buddy, <a href="http://www.kristinaperez.com/" target="_blank">Kristina Perez</a>,
gave me a Reader Appreciation Award and I’m pleased to accept and pass it
along. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Here are the Rules of
the Game (for those I’m about to nominate):</span></strong><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Identify and show appreciation to the
blogger who nominated you.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">You must add the reward logo to your
blog.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Tell your readers 7 things about
yourself.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">You must nominate 5-10 of your favorite
bloggers for this award.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-left: 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Inform your nominees that you nominated
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";"><o:p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">Easy, right?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">And here are my seven things:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">I’m an
ophidiophobic. I have a fear of snakes. I not only fear living ones, but also
dread to think about them or even see them on TV or in pictures. I also hate
stuffed and rubber ones.</span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve eaten jellyfish. It was chewy and crunchy
at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I cry every time I hear the National Anthem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">One summer, when I was a little girl, I wouldn’t
share any of my two bags of Black Forest Gummy Worms with my uncle. Ever since
then, every student of his in the University of Hawaii’s Engineering Department
has had to solve a measurement problem based on how many gummy worms I wouldn’t
share.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I had to change the words to ‘You Are My
Sunshine’ so my daughter wouldn’t cry every time I sang it to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">I wear socks all the time, even in the summer.
My feet are always cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-fareast-font-family: Garamond;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">Nine times out of ten, I’ll pick vanilla over
chocolate. (I say 9 out of 10 because sometimes you just need chocolate.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">My nominees are:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://apalessandri.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Alexandra Alessadri</a>, my newest critique partner. She’s
working an awesome YA story that I love!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://ericaluckedean.com/" target="_blank">Erica Lucke-Dean</a>, because if I ever need a laugh I can hop
over to her daily blog and re-read her bikini </span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;">wax disaster.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://www.joaniplenty.com/home.html" target="_blank">Joani Plenty</a>, because she makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://thewriteoneval.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Valerie Haight</a>, because I couldn’t ask for a better
cartwheeling cheerleader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://rachelwritesthings.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Rachel Simon</a>, because sometimes tragedies can make the
best, most memorable stories.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-27589292009841845962012-09-07T20:54:00.000-07:002012-09-07T20:54:30.640-07:00TAG, you're IT!
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Today has been one of the best days I’ve ever had at being a writer,
and I did very little actual writing today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>First, I got picked as one of the top sixty pitches for #PitchMadness
going on over at <a href="http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Brenda Drake’s</a> blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And now, my awesome critique partner </span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.6pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://apalessandri.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Alexandra Alessandri</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">has tagged me in a great game of <a href="http://deanabarnhart.blogspot.com/2012/07/sign-up-time-for-gearing-up-to-get.html" target="_blank">GUTGAA Tag</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s an amazing writer and you should absolutely
check out her blog.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Without further ado, here are my answeres to the Tag questions...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the working
title of your book?</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which one?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Okay, I’ll focus on CAPTIVE ART for the
purposes of this post.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where did the idea
come from for the book?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was mostly from
Harry Potter with all the paintings coming to life at the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CAPTIVE ART has nothing to do with wizards, but
there are some very uniquely talented characters.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What genre does
your book fall under?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">YA Magical Realism
(with lots of romance)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Which actors would
you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you check out my Pinterest board for Captive Art you can see all the pics,
except for Dean.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to take that picture
down until I can find some of the Nordstrom’s model I saw in Santa Monica a few
weeks ago. (Other than the picture’s I took…see YA Stands blog.)</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What is the <span class="msoDel"><del><span style="color: red;">one-sentence</span></del></span> short synopsis of your book?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">t’s about sixteen-year-old, Libby Tanner’s paintings coming to life
and the boy who is trapped in them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Will your book be self-published or
represented by an agency?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am currently
seeking an agent and would like to go the traditional rout.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How long did it
take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exactly sixty days.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What else about
your book might pique the reader’s interest?</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></b><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aside from the hot
guys?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well there is that one scene where
they…oh, I probably shouldn’t give that away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Let’s just say it’s very unexpected.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Okay, my turn to
tag three more writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be sure to check
them out (their blogs that is).</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.kristinaperez.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kristina Perez</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> @babelbabble</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://laurenspieller.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lauren Spieller</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> @laurenspieller</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.ja-bennett.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">J.A. Bennett</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> @j_a_bennett</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><u><span style="color: #088253;"><strong></strong></span></u></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span class="username js-action-profile-name"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><strong><u><span style="color: #088253;"></span></u></strong></span>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-2863291535860816782012-09-03T12:18:00.000-07:002012-09-03T12:18:59.256-07:00Questions/Answers for the GUTGAA Meet & Greet<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>Where do you write?</strong> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In my rocking chair of course!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With my laptop and a Boppy pillow from when my daughter was born.</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>Quick. Go to your
writing space, sit down and look to your left. What is the first thing you see?</strong></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My dining
room table and a pile of Barbies. (I should probably have her pick those up.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>Favorite time to
write?</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After 8 p.m. when my house is quiet.</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>Drink of choice while
writing?</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Chai Latte or regular Coke if it’s too hot for tea.</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>When writing , do you
listen to music or do you need complete silence?</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Complete silence, though I usually listen to music before I
write.</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>What was your
inspiration for your latest manuscript and where did you find it?</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The inspiration actually came from the last Harry Potter movie. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though ‘Captive Art’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">noting</i> like Harry
Potter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has to do with the paintings
coming to life.</span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-<strong>What's your most
valuable writing tip?</strong><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
you haven’t felt like quitting, your dreams aren’t big enough.</span><span style="color: #353535; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-17015573731473587872012-08-30T06:23:00.001-07:002012-08-30T06:23:57.495-07:00Top 10
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The top ten things I learned this
summer:</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Having knee surgery is not the best way to
start your summer off.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Physical
therapy sucks, but it works.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Air-conditioning
is a must.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Taking
a writing class with one of your favorite authors is awesome!</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Watching
your little brother get married is harder than you thought it would be because now
you’re both really grown up.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The
smile on your five-year-olds face when she rides a plane for the first time is
priceless.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Disney
really is the most magical place on Earth.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">8.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes,
there is a person out there that looks exactly like the character you’ve
imagined in your head, just don’t freak out when you see them in real life
(especially when they are being photographed for Nordstrom’s on the Santa
Monica pier, see my post on <a href="http://yastands.blogspot.com/2012/08/character-sighting.html" target="_blank">YA Stands</a>).</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">9.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I
love the mountains.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">10.</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Writing
the perfect synopsis may give me an ulcer.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what things did you learn
this summer?</span></div>
Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-40704598421536328912012-08-09T08:11:00.000-07:002012-08-09T08:11:01.395-07:00What's Next?<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I love the thrill of starting a new project.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There’s this magical feeling that something
great is going to happen, but you don’t know what it is yet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even as the writer you don’t always know
where a story is going to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know
what you want to happen and roughly how you want it to unfold, but as you
write, the story changes, taking unexpected turns.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’ve been neck deep in edits for CAPTIVE ART the past few
weeks, trying to get it in tip top shape for querying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is one of those stories that took some
very unexpected turns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I love the
way it all turned out, it’s worlds different from what I originally had in my
head.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This brings me to the bright shiny new idea that has invaded
my brain space.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s even been keeping
me up at night thinking of lines and scenes between these new characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to sit and work on it all day (&
night), but I know I have other priorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Priorities like reading for my critique partners, doing my physical
therapy and folding that pesky pile of laundry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Not to mention showering, but running through the sprinkler with my 5yo
works just as well.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m so excited
about this new idea that it’s hard <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i>
to make it a priority.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, what am I going to do next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, I can tell you this…laundry will have
to wait.</span><br />Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-7877314392485320232012-06-28T06:56:00.000-07:002012-07-12T10:19:43.536-07:00Time FliesWow! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Has it really been over a month since my last
post, the time has whizzed by. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth
is I’ve been very busy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of May and
the first part of June I spent preparing for my third, and hopefully last, knee
surgery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s been a long and trying
year since I first had to contend with the fact that my knees just weren’t
strong enough to do all the things I want and need to do at this point in my
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So even as I sit here in bed for a
few more days with an ice pack on my leg and pain meds on the night stand, I
can see an end to all the doctor’s appointments and tests and (fingers crossed)
pain.<br />
<br />
Part of my pre-op preparations
included enrolling in an online writing class through a site called <a href="http://litreactor.com/" target="_blank">Lit Reactor</a>,
and taught by non-other than the fabulous agent/author <a href="http://www.mandyhubbard.com/" target="_blank">Mandy Hubbard</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The class is dedicated to writing for young
adults and along with informational lectures from Mandy we are also getting
critiques from her on our current projects. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another great part of the class is between the
18 students we can read and review each other’s work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So not only do we get Mandy’s thoughts, but
we also get thoughts from other writers! Awesome right?<br />
<br />
We’re currently half
way through the four week course and I’d have to say that the biggest impact it’s
had on my writing is that I’ve learned to slow down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve learned that each sentence, each word,
must have a purpose for going on the page and it must draw the reader in and
pull them forward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also have a much
better grasp on the whole, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">show</i> don’t
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">tell</i> concept, which I know will
improve my writing immensely.<br />
<br />
My one complaint (well,
not really complaint, bummer mostly) about the class is that it’s only four
weeks and we’ll only get through about the first three chapters of each of the
student’s WIPs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously Mandy is a
very busy person and couldn’t possibly critique 18 manuscripts for people who
aren’t her clients, but one can dream, right?<br />
<br />
In addition to the
class, I’ve also recently become a contributing blogger to the <a href="http://yastands.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">YA Stands</a> site,
a site dedicated to the young adult writing community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I encourage you to hop over there and check
it out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a diverse group of
bloggers with tons of great information for writers, readers and general lovers
of the YA genre. Also, if you hurry and check out my post from June 19th, you could win a copy of <em>A Beautiful Dark</em>, by <a href="http://jocelyndavies.com/" target="_blank">Jocelyn Davies</a>.<br />
<br />
So how about you, what have you been up to the last few weeks?Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-91969992470008723872012-05-24T16:27:00.000-07:002012-06-12T18:02:57.992-07:00If You Give A Writer A PenIf you give a writer a
pen, she’ll ask for a piece of paper.<br />
<br />
When you hand her the
paper, she’ll notice your watch and ask what time it is.<br />
<br />
You’ll tell her and she’ll
remember she has an appointment.<br />
<br />
She’ll grab her phone
to call and say she’s going to be late.<br />
<br />
Her phone will show she
has an email from her critique partner.<br />
<br />
She’ll respond to the
email.<br />
<br />
Her critique partner
will see the response right away then want to chat on Twitter.<br />
<br />
She’ll log into Twitter
and see a tweet on an interesting blog post.<br />
<br />
She’ll open the blog
and begin to read it.<br />
<br />
The blog will include a
music video she’ll like and she’ll want to download the song.<br />
<br />
When she opens iTunes
she’ll see she has updates pending.<br />
<br />
While she’s waiting for
the updates, she’ll log into Facebook to see what her friends are up to.<br />
<br />
One of her friends will
have sent her a message saying they want to meet for lunch.<br />
<br />
This will remind her
she’s late for an appointment.<br />
<br />
She’ll need to write a
note to tell her husband she’s going out.<br />
<br />
You’ll give her a pen.<br />
<br />
And chances are, if you
give her a pen, she’ll ask for a piece of paper.<br />
<br />
The ‘If you give…’
books by Laura Numeroff are some of my daughter’s favorites. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If You
Give a Mouse a Cookie</i> is the most widely known, though our family favorite
is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If You Give a Dog a Donut</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stories are made up of situations where
one thing leads to another, and then another, until you end right back where you
started.<br />
<br />
I often feel like this
when I sit down to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My intention
is to just write, but the many distractions of life, and largely the internet,
get in the way. Eventually I find I’ve wasted copious amounts of time <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do usually get back to what I was doing,
but I’ve often lost the inspiration I had when I originally sat down to write.<br />
<br />
Some of those
distractions are necessary evils of being a writer, but I’m working on limiting them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve been trying to do my writing first
before logging onto social media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, if
there is something I need to look up online, I refuse to look at anything else
except the specific information I was searching for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I'll even set a kitchen timer so that I
know I can only be online for twenty minutes instead of an hour (or more).<br />
<br />
Do you find yourself
easily distracted when you should be writing?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’d love to hear how you handle that.<br />
<br />
Now, where did that pen go...?Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-63075541512216301942012-05-18T18:39:00.001-07:002012-05-18T18:39:42.699-07:00Rave Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_4wwfVij1IBakHN-xUWHeh_ThIDKTxbmvJk1F53UfaxCmUsuPxwIhm_PUqH6UKFa1puBMhgMHQS1K6xEFD3lVByZyLFs-RoDpF90BCFt-G0EPqY5c_ZbAL6BFelKZ5Ve2KUaY-YN9FsO/s1600/Never+Sky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ_4wwfVij1IBakHN-xUWHeh_ThIDKTxbmvJk1F53UfaxCmUsuPxwIhm_PUqH6UKFa1puBMhgMHQS1K6xEFD3lVByZyLFs-RoDpF90BCFt-G0EPqY5c_ZbAL6BFelKZ5Ve2KUaY-YN9FsO/s200/Never+Sky.jpg" width="132" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The clock ticked to 11:17 p.m. and I turned another page.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The clock ticked to 12:38 a.m. and I turned to the next chapter.</span></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The clock ticked to 1:26 a.m. and I closed the book…satisfied
to have read every word.</span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Late last year I met <a href="http://veronicarossibooks.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html" target="_blank">Veronica Rossi</a> on Twitter and immediately
put her debut novel, UNDER THE NEVER SKY, on my to-read list, I even pre-ordered
it and picked it up the day it was released. Unfortunately, some circumstances happened
that prevented me from reading it right away. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when it came my turn to pick the next book
for my YA book club, there was no question what my choice would be.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I am a very slow reader so for me to read a book in one sitting
is basically impossible, but this book came very close.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I read the first hundred pages earlier in
the week and last night finished the rest.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The story’s basic premise is of a girl, Aria, who is wrongfully accused
of a crime and forced out of her home, a protective dome, and into a dangerous
wasteland.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She soon meets a boy, Perry,
who has also been exiled from his home and the two of them form a packed to
help each other find the loved ones they’ve been separated from. (This is an
extremely brief description, but I don’t want to be spoilery at all.)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The thing I enjoyed most about this story was the character development.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved how Aria turned from a girl, who
seemed weak and sorry for herself, to a woman, strong and determined to fight
for what she loved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perry turned from
someone who seemed to constantly second guess himself, to someone who knew exactly
what he wanted, and needed to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also
loved, that where Aria’s changes were often big and bold, much like herself,
Perry’s changes were subtle, yet extremely compelling, much like him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to Aria and Perry, I thought the
secondary characters had great arcs as well and I can’t wait to see more of
their stories as the trilogy progresses.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My other favorite part was the way Rossi incorporated all
five (six) senses into what she was writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You could feel the heat of a fire and smell the pine of a forest as if
you were right there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like the
senses were a character of their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She used them not only to describe things, but also to move the story
forward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Overall, this was one of the best books I've ever read. I'm excited to see where she goes with the rest of the trilogy and hope she has more stories waiting in the wings. Below you will find the book trailer...enjoy!</span></div>
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<br /></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-48809473685528723002012-05-13T12:34:00.001-07:002012-05-13T12:34:44.141-07:00Tough Lemons<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We’ve all heard the sayings:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When the going gets tough, the though get going.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Or</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Well what happens when life hands you a bushel full of tough
lemons?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lemons you can’t peel or squeeze
or even cut open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kind of lemons
that are so hard and bitter you couldn’t add enough sugar to make them suitable
for drinking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you then and how
do you get going when you have to drag a pile of rock hard lemons with you?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This past week was one of the most difficult and stressful
weeks of my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t any one
thing that made it that way, but combination of a lot (I mean A LOT) of little
things that kept adding up on top of each other until all I had was a heaping
mound of petrified lemons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t go
into all the individual things that happened, but I will tell you I tried to
make lemonade.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I really did!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">(A quick side note, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one</i>
of the things that went wrong this week was a technical error on my part on <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>
and I want to tell you all to mark SPLINERED by <a href="http://aghoward.com/" target="_blank">A.G. Howard</a> on your ‘to-read’
list.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m very excited for Anita’s debut
novel coming out in January 2013!)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">(Back to what I was saying and this part has nothing to do
with my boo-boo on Goodreads.) I tried to make the best out of a bad
situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to take other’s
comments with a grain of salt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried
to remind myself that I am truly blessed in many ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried to look beyond the things happening
right now and remember that the day will come when I’ve met or even exceeded my
goals.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And you know what I discovered…I don’t like lemonade!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t like the bitter aftertaste it leaves or the sour
chalky way it makes my tongue feel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So,
I’m bagging up all those tough lemons and pitching them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I’m not giving up or giving in. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m deciding to make Kool-Aid instead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kool-Aid is sweet and yummy and filled with refreshing
goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m deciding to be kind to
those who are not kind to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
deciding to trust that I’m on the right path and these are just some of the
challenges I’ll have to face to get where I’m supposed to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m deciding to embrace rejection and shun jealousy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I’m deciding to love every up and down of
my life because if there were never any downs, I wouldn’t appreciate the ups,
right?</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of my favorite blogs, <a href="http://www.publishingcrawl.com/" target="_blank">Pub(lishing) Crawl</a>, did a post
this week on strong female heroines, heroines that have both inner and outer
strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was geared more toward
young adult books, but I think the premise stands for all women.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At every stage of life we have to have strength
to deal with the issues we face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have
to be our own strong heroine and set an example for others to be strong as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Call it what you like, getting tough, making lemonade
(or Kool-Aid in my case) or being a strong heroine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But whatever it is, I’m going to do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m going to persevere through the stuff of
life that weighs you down and holds you back, and I’m going to be better for
it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This song was my mantra for the week, here’s Jason Mraz with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I Won’t Give Up.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/O1-4u9W-bns?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-86831349318320846722012-04-26T20:43:00.000-07:002012-04-26T20:43:15.525-07:00K-I-S-S-I-N-G<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I spent this entire evening righting a first kiss scene for
a book I’m not even close to ready to write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unfortunately the scene was swimming around in my head since 7 a.m. and
refused to be ignored.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’m happy to
say it turned out well and now that it’s out of my head I can get back to what
I really need to be working on…edits.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anyway, what I’d really like to know is what are some of
your favorite kissing scenes, in books specifically, and why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d also like to know your least favorites,
in other words, kisses that happened between characters that made you mad and
want to throw the book. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I tell my
daughter we never throw books, but sometimes I’d really like to, instead I keep
reading until it gets better.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Also, if any of you would like to share an excerpt of a
kissing scene you’ve written, feel free to do so.</span></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-55319490459965466532012-04-20T21:06:00.000-07:002012-04-20T21:06:11.781-07:00Shit!I’ve been sitting here
trying to think of what to blog about and have finally decided it is more difficult
for me to write a blog than to write an entire novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes I think I’ll just stop altogether and
shutdown the site, but then I come up with something I want to share that will
take more than the 140 characters allowed on Twitter, and I don’t really feel
like signing into my Facebook account.<br />
<br />
So here I am…blogging
again.<br />
<br />
First I thought I’d
blog about my trip to Mexico, but you know the saying…what happens in Mexico….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I thought I’d blog about leftovers,
because I hate leftovers, but I always insist on getting a to-go box at a
restaurant, just to throw the box out later after the food has thoroughly
spoiled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally I thought I’d blog
about the rash on my leg, but really, who wants to hear about my folliculitis
(I checked the spelling, that is how you spell folliculitis).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I’ve come to the conclusion that the best
thing I can find to blog about tonight is shit.<br />
<br />
That’s right, s-h-i-t,
shit.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I was typing an
email to one of my critique partners the other night and my phone told me I
spelled shit wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband said it
only did that because it was my phone and it knows I don’t swear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So now my real dilemma is do I add shit to my
dictionary or do I let shit stand?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can I
simply ignore the fact that shit is wrong and needs to be fixed?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Am I willing to go on with shit the way it is?<br />
<br />
Well, to answer all
those questions, I ended up not being able to figure out how to change shit on
my phone so it is what it is…shit!<br />
<br />
For the record, I am
not a swearer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not use four letter
words in my regular vocabulary, but sometimes they are called for because there
is no other word that will express your emotions/sentiments quite as well as a
s@#$, f%^&, or d*)!.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(See how I did
that, I don’t even like to type them.)<br />Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-35266590115762161752012-04-10T18:18:00.000-07:002012-04-10T18:18:07.720-07:00Lucky 7<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wow, has it really been a month since
my last post?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wanted to start blogging
once a week, or at least twice a month, but time has just slipped away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could list all of my excuses, but then I
wouldn’t be getting to the point of this post.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So here’s the deal, my good friend, <a href="http://www.ericaluckedean.com/" target="_blank">Erica Lucke Dean</a>, tagged me in a </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">lucky seven game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the first time I’ve done one of these
so I hope I don’t mess it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The rules are as follows: *Open the document for your current MS/WIP
(manuscript or work-in-progress for the non-writers out there) *Go to page 7 or
77 *Go to line 7 *Copy the next 7 lines (sentences or paragraphs) and post them
exactly as they’re written. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No changing
or cheating! *Tag 7 other authors and let them know.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Here are my seven from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captive Art</i>…<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span>Something flashed in his eyes, but was gone quickly and he nodded
his head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was definitely cute with
his lean frame and light brown hair, but it was hard to concentrate on anything
other than the moistness now leaking into the very cleavage Travis had teased
me about earlier. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I scanned the room for
him, but he was lost in the sea of people, so rather than standing around in a wet
dress I just left…with Brent at my side.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “I’m Brent Henderson, by the way,” he said once we were out of the
dining hall.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “Libby Tanner.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “Yes, I know, but I didn’t know you
preferred ‘Libby’.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “I’m not famous.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “No, not Hollywood famous, but you
are talented and smashingly good looking I might add, minus the punch that is.”<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cccccc;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"> “Thanks,” I replied, feeling my cheeks turn the same crimson
as the liquid soaking my chest.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And here are the seven I’m
tagging…if they’re up to it!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://www.rachelbongart.com/" target="_blank">@RachelBongart</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://www.ja-bennett.com/" target="_blank">@j_a_bennett</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://www.lafreeland.com/" target="_blank">@lafreeland<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://www.jennifershirk.com/" target="_blank">@JenniferShirk<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://gdonaldcribbsbooks.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">@gdcribbs<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://annerileybooks.com/" target="_blank">@AnneRiley<o:p></o:p></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><a href="http://onthebird.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">@onthebird</a></span>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-10854581325271447342012-03-11T07:01:00.000-07:002012-03-11T07:01:35.508-07:00Swimsuit Roulette<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF0Ugtq3-wl9VhlueBXsSZLISDgNn77VYzmRXJ5yxP84fl8yoWvl_duDnoeTFUprpE4rE-OLMmJMGFTF5unvykDLiAvftdi07fo9QLQ2sykx1NC5EP2kQl8LeVw-sfud8_EDTmeQbJuSC/s1600/swimsuit+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF0Ugtq3-wl9VhlueBXsSZLISDgNn77VYzmRXJ5yxP84fl8yoWvl_duDnoeTFUprpE4rE-OLMmJMGFTF5unvykDLiAvftdi07fo9QLQ2sykx1NC5EP2kQl8LeVw-sfud8_EDTmeQbJuSC/s1600/swimsuit+1.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday I went gambling (a.k.a. bathing suit shopping). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> It's</span> like playing Russian roulette, you spin the rack and hope your hand lands on a winner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole experience made even more interesting by the fact that there are at least twenty to thirty other women standing there doing exactly the same thing as you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re all hoping to find the perfect suit…whether it actually exists I’m not sure.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before I entered the swimsuit department I thought I would just pick a few different sizes and styles to see what fit and what I might like. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was my first mistake. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I should have known I was in trouble when half the department store was filled with bathing suites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I almost turned right around thinking I could probably just wear my old suit with a muumuu over it to hide the fact that it’s way too big on me and starting to fray.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">They had everything from itty bitty yellow polka dot bikinis to full coverage, skirted granny suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were purple tops with black bottoms and black tops with pink bottoms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I saw brown stings that I think were meant to be a suit, but the designer must have forgotten to sew on the rest of the fabric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As far as styles went, halter tops seemed to be popular this year, there were also regular straps, single shoulder straps and strapless tops.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bottoms came in skirts, shorts, standard bikini and of course those brown strings with the rest of the fabric missing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All in all there were probably a thousand different choices.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I decided the best course of action would be to just close my eyes and start grabbing; hoping the luck of the draw would be on my side…it wasn’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I started with ten suits which quickly turned to fifteen then twenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I made at least four or five separate trips to the changing rooms, dressing and undressing, squeezing into the (insert size here) of one style that fell off me in another and wondering why you would even bother wearing anything with how little some suits covered.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Three (plus) hours later, I’d found two fairly well fitting suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I won’t say they’re perfect, but they cover the important stuff, I look decent in them and they’re not granny suits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may not have won the swimsuit lottery, but at least I won’t be walking around the beach in a muumuu.</span></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-45657723305456998572012-03-04T13:20:00.000-08:002012-03-04T13:20:07.947-08:00Porn Books<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Before you get any ideas, I’m not talking about books with graphic pictures or a Karma sutra encyclopedia. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m talking about good old fashioned smutty romance novels. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You know, the ones you hide in the back of your closet so company won’t happen to see them, and read late at night when it’s inconvenient to wake up your husband even though you’d really like to…yeah, those ones.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t a big reader until a few years ago, and I certainly hadn’t ever read a romance novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when I did start reading, I asked around to see what other people were reading and one of those people was my mother-in-law (MIL).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, MIL loves romances novels with a passion (Ha! Get it, ‘passion’?) and she can read through a 300 pager in a day, so it wasn’t a big surprise when she handed a whole pile of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was, however, a surprise when I began to read them!</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I will admit here that I was a bit naïve when it came to exactly what was in those books and the first one I read was a bit of a shock for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m certain I was blushing just reading it and possibly blushing for days after that just thinking about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the first one I picked up happen to be the first in a series and the story line was actually very interesting so I went ahead and read the rest of the ones the author had out and made a note to keep track of her new releases.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Flash forward a few years to a blistering cold winter’s day with no heat in the house, due to a power outage, and a writer friend mentioning the book she was reading didn’t have any kissing or even heavy flirting by page 100.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Compelled to find a good kissing scene for her I went to my closet and pulled a book out of what I affectionately call my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Smutty Stack</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book was also from MIL and I’d tried to read it before, but the first time I picked it up I could barely get through the first thirty pages without the sex being so graphic that I had to put the book down and walk away…far away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book was so dirty that if it’d been made into a movie it would be so X rated even the actors would be embarrassed to watch it.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But that’s what I was looking for, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A good kissing scene.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, maybe not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> kind of kissing scene, but it was the one that stuck out in my mind…for obvious reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, I wrapped myself in a several blankets, turned to the approximate page of the scene and began to read, and read, and read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And a few hours later I was no longer under the blankets and I’d finished the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only did I read the book the whole way through, I went back to my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Smutty Stack</i> to see if I had the next one in the series.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Luckily…I do!</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess sometimes you just need a little sex to keep you warm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Take that however you like.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oh! And here's a little mood music for you...</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/BKPoHgKcqag?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-32690101572846215462012-02-23T19:20:00.000-08:002012-02-23T19:20:32.447-08:00Your Mouth Will Thank You<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is my favorite time of year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I’m not being sarcastic, well maybe a little.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I do love the weeks between Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because they are the only weeks of the year McDonald’s sells shamrock shakes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if you’ve never had one then let me extend my condolences to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are quite possibly the most delicious frozen dessert you will ever taste.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, I know there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of other frozen desserts in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of these other desserts are more decadent I’m sure, but the pure minty simplicity of a shamrock shake makes it my favorite of all time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, drinking a shamrock shake is like having an orgasm in your mouth, a high that only leaves you wanting more.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think my love for the shamrock goodness stems back from when I was pregnant. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My husband and I made several trips to the doctor’s office leading up to my daughter’s delivery and each trip was followed by a stop at McDonald’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, when my doctor finally decided she was going to induce me and sent me from her office to the hospital, my husband and I stopped for a shake on the way. (In case you were wondering, he gained almost as much weight as I did that last few weeks.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose it’s no surprise our daughter was born on St. Patrick’s Day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">At any rate, I’m feeling a late night McDonald’s run coming on…</span>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-84698253026973060042012-02-13T15:34:00.000-08:002012-02-13T15:34:38.131-08:00I'm No Susie Homemaker<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This morning - tea in hand - I wandered around surveying the messy state of my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Four laundry baskets filled with clothes waiting to be folded huddled near the dining room table.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(At least the clothes were clean.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The blanket fort built days ago in the living room, now resembled a leaning shack just waiting for a gust of wind to blow it down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dirty dishes needing to be loaded into the dishwasher filled the sink and covered the counter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A pile of dog hair had collected in the corner of the kitchen and I wasn’t exactly sure what my sock was sticking to on the floor.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I briefly considered calling a cleaning service, but decided it would be more work to locate the phonebook in the piles of papers in my office than it would be to just start cleaning myself. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So that’s what I did.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I folded and put away clothes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took down the poor fort/shack and put the blankets where they belonged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loaded the dishwasher and wiped the counters then swept and vacuumed the floors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the time I was done you’d never know I wasn’t ‘Susie Homemaker’, and I’m not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I’m boarding on ‘Susie Homewrecker ‘.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But today I had a mission and by golly I was going to complete it.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Several hours later when I was finally finished, I sat down in my rocking chair and turned on my laptop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I waited for it to boot-up I took another look around the house feeling satisfied with what I’d accomplished.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know I’m not alone when I say my writing and editing have a way of taking over every essence of my being.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the words and ideas flow it’s easy to forget about all the other things in life that need to be tended to.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For now though, the house is clean, the laundry is as close to done as it can be and I’m ready for my next inspiration to hit.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In case you were wondering, my cleaning theme song was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Love to Get Used,</i> by Matt Pond PA.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, be sure to check out my guest blog post on <a href="http://www.ericaluckedean.com/" target="_blank">Erica Lucke Dean's</a> site on Friday, February 17<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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</div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-87594351194879650822012-01-28T16:22:00.000-08:002012-01-28T16:22:16.652-08:00I knew her when...<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I’m not really a celebrity watcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t pay much attention to who’s with who in Hollywood or who’s in rehab or who’s having a baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I also don’t put much stock into tabloids or shows devoted to giving us the scoop on the entertainment world at-large.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the most part I think stars are regular people and their job happens to be to entertain us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">However, I do get a sense of satisfaction when there is an actor/actress or singer that I have been watching or listening to for a while and all of a sudden they become popular.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, I started listening to ADEL back before <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Chasing Pavement</i> even hit the airways and my absolute favorite song of hers is not one that’s played on the radio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have this feeling like I could say, ‘I knew them when…’, and now everyone else gets to know how talented they are.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I imagine this to be what an agent or editor must feel like when one of the books they’ve worked on hits a best seller list or gets optioned for a movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They can say, ‘I knew that author when their book still needed work’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like being the first one to know a secret everyone will eventually figure out.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As a writer I know I have tons of great ideas in my head waiting to be shared (okay, maybe they’re not<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> all great</i>, but tons of them anyway) and it’s one of those ideas that someone somewhere will pick up and say, ‘This is great, I’m glad I read it’. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe they’ll get the satisfaction of saying, ‘I read her debut novel’, or ‘I read her work before she was a New York Times Bestseller’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, I do not ever expect to be as popular as J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer (I can dream of course), but I will share my stories just as they did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, that’s really what it’s all about, sharing our stories with others, sharing part of us with the world.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This brings me to something I’m particularly excited about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few weeks ago I saw a commercial for a new show on NBC called <a href="http://www.nbc.com/smash/">SMASH</a> and when I saw that <a href="http://www.katharinemcphee.com/">Katharine McPhee</a> is starring in it I nearly screamed (nearly).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have enjoyed listening to her music since her American Idol days (even though I rarely watch the show) and I got all tingly inside thinking how wonderful it is that other people will finally see/hear, and appreciate, how beautiful her voice is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, one of her songs played a major role in the writing of my first novel and I’m afraid that if it hadn’t been for that song I probably would never have finished writing it or even thought about writing more after I’d finished that first one.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">So here is the song with the lyrics, maybe it will inspire you as much as it did me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feel free to share what other songs, or persons for the matter, have inspired you.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/l281MyfKzJ0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">(P.S. If you haven't checked out this new site for writers, you are majorly missing out. <a href="http://www.publishingcrawl.com/">Pub(lishing) Crawl</a>)</div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-64939569529180503522012-01-07T06:07:00.000-08:002012-01-07T06:07:06.528-08:00GOAL!(You'll have to imagine me shouting the title with a crowd of people.)<br />
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Now that we are a few days into the New Year I thought I’d better get my ‘resolution’ blog posted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only problem, I don’t have any resolutions this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After my complete resolution debacle last year, I think I’m officially never making another New Year’s Resolution again.<br />
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The short story on 2011’s resolution: <br />
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Jan 1, resolved to exercise at least 4 days a week<br />
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Jan 3, fell on stairs and injured knee<br />
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Jan 4 – Feb 21, continued to stick to resolution even with increased knee pain<br />
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Jun 21, had micro fracture surgery on left knee<br />
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Nov 21, had partial knee replacement because previous surgery didn’t stop the pain<br />
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I’m not saying that my resolution is to blame for all of this, but I certainly don’t want to set myself up for failure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So this year, instead of making a resolution, I’m going to set myself a goal, the goal of finding an agent.<br />
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(I’m not a soccer fan, but this is the best analogy I can think of.)<br />
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In soccer, there is ultimately one player who kicks the ball into the net (Me). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your teammates assist by blocking, passing, etc (Family, Friends, Critique Partners). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other team members are your obstacles (editing and polishing your manuscript, writing and sending query letters, writing a synopsis, researching agents, finding time to do all this, life in general). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The goalie on the other team is your ultimate obstacle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the one thing you can’t rely on anyone else to help you get past. It’s the one thing standing between you and your goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the one thing that is with you all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You eat and sleep with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You even go to the bathroom with it.<br />
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It’s YOU.<br />
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You are the only thing that will ultimately stand in front of your goal.<br />
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It’s you against you and this year I am getting out of my own way, even if I have to plow myself down to get the ball in the net (obviously that’s not legal in soccer, but hey, it’s my analogy).<br />
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Here's a little soccer inspiration for you and I’d love to hear what your ‘goals’ are for 2012. Feel free to share some tips with the rest of us as well.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7uMDV5CMK3A?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-9965689315598393292011-12-01T19:28:00.000-08:002011-12-01T19:28:57.251-08:00The Guy At The BarToday was my first outing following my second knee surgery of the year, and let me tell you, it was fantastic!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ok, so I’m exaggerating a bit, but it was nice to get out of the house and do a little shopping with my mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took me almost two hours to get ready to leave the house (bum leg makes me slow) and by the time we’d finished with our first stop I needed a break so we decided to go to lunch (Chinese food, yum!). <br />
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My seat at our table gave me a great vantage point to see the faces of the people at the bar, mostly people on their lunch breaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just after the waiter took our drink order the bar emptied except for a single guy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He probably was close to my age, fairly good looking, and he seemed to know whoever the bartender was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our waiter came back with our drinks and took our meal order, but as soon as the waiter left I looked up and noticed the guy from the bar looking at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, usually when you catch someone staring at you they quickly look away, embarrassed at being caught, but he didn’t, he smiled.<br />
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I am absolutely positive that I blushed and looked away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here I was, a 30+ woman, ten days out from major knee surgery, having lunch with her mother and the guy at the bar was smiling at me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was pretty sure I didn’t have anything on my face since we hadn’t even gotten our food yet and there was only an elderly couple sitting behind us, so he must have been smiling at me, right?<br />
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A hundred questions began to run through my head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Questions like, was I the one who was staring, not intending too, or did he think he knew me, because I certainly didn’t recognize him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then there was, do I dare look back to see if he’s still looking at me and why would I even care if he was, it’s not like I was interested in getting his number or anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(BTW: I’m married and very much in love with my husband.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But curiosity got the best of me so I sneaked a look, and yep, he smiled at me…again!<br />
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Do you want to know what happened next?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well I hate to disappoint you, but it wasn’t anything exciting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The waiter came with our meal and other than being completely self conscious about getting food on my face, I had a nice chat with my mom and ate way too much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We paid our bill and as I was leaving the restaurant I sneaked one last glance. The guy was deep in conversation with the bartender and I don’t know if he even noticed me leave.<br />
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Today’s ‘post’ point has nothing to do with writing except that it helped me to remember what it felt like to blush and a writer can get inspiration from the simplest places, even lunch out with her mom. So thank you to the guy at the bar for making a 30+ woman on crutches blush, I’d forgotten what that felt like.Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-42717125331839576942011-11-28T10:41:00.000-08:002011-11-28T10:41:05.360-08:00What's all the hype for?I watched an ABC Family TV movie the other night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was good, really good, probably good enough for Hollywood, but it made me think that this is the difference between traditional publishing and self publishing.<br />
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I am not saying that self published (SP) authors don’t have the same quality writing as traditionally published (TP) authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let me repeat that, I am NOT saying that SP authors do not have the same quality writing as TP authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I’m saying is SP authors don’t have, or get, the same hype as TP authors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They don’t get the prime spot on the book shelf or the big add on Barnes & Noble’s home page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They’re lucky if they even get picked up by a corporate bookstore.<br />
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On the other hand there are plenty of Hollywood movies out there that got tones of hype then flopped at the box office, but they did get the hype and that’s the point right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point is to get people to at least try reading our story, to get our book into their hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not everyone is going to like our stories, but the more people who know about us the better chance we have at finding loyal readers.<br />
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Self publishing is a lot of work, you must self promote.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of TP authors have to self promote as well, just like actors and actresses do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But imagine the crowd difference at an event featuring the hunky guy from the TV movie or say, Brad Pitt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now you see what I mean! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brad Pitt still has to show up to the event, but he doesn’t have to work very hard to draw a crowd, his agent, publicist and movie producers have done this for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just like a literary agent, editor and publisher do this for the TP author.<br />
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Again I want to emphasize that I am strictly speaking about the difference in hype, not writing quality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love <a href="http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/">Amanda Hocking’s</a> stories just as much as <a href="http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/">Richelle Mead</a>, but I wouldn’t have ever read Ms. Hocking’s work if a friend hadn’t been arbitrarily scrolling through Amazon looking for something else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though, Ms. Hocking has created quite the following as I’ve recently discovered.<br />
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What it comes down to for me is I need help with the hype.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve never been good at self promotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m great at praising and promoting others, but have never been good at the ‘look at me’ thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you need to be good at that to be a successful SP author.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it’s the traditional road for me, the road I know will eventually lead me to publication.<br />
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How about you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you a good or bad self promoter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does it even matter to you so long as your book is bound and available to others?<br />
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BTW: I would choose to meet the hunky TV actor over meeting Brad Pitt, just saying.Laura M Kolarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16872946711785389515noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5822830941456982005.post-16636002433657683982011-10-02T07:45:00.000-07:002011-10-02T07:45:11.645-07:00More Than Words<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Show not tell.”</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">How many times as an aspiring author have you heard this phrase? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably enough times to make you sick. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You’ve also probably read a thousand blog posts on the subject and reworked your manuscript countless times to solve this very issue.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">But if you’re anything like me, you still struggle with it.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It’s an elusive goal we strive for with every word we write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the difference between saying how your character feels and describing what that feeling is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s how we get our reader to put themselves in the character’s place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If our character is scared our reader should feel their own skin crawl and heart race with freight, this is how we keep the reader turning pages instead of setting the book down and walking away.</span></div><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other day I was listening to the radio and the song MORE THAN WORDS came on by the group Extreme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an older song, but it fits this subject perfectly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve now added this song to my writing play list as a reminder to myself that it’s not about what my characters say it’s about what they do.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here’s the song with lyrics, hope this helps anyone else out there struggling with this issue.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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