Let There Be Friendship

Saturday, December 31, 2011

This year's theme for the Times Square crystal ball really struck a chord for me: 'Let There Be Friendship'. My parents are both deceased and what little family remains is scattered throughout the country.

However, over the years I have been blessed with circles of friends. Friends from writing, friends from practice of law and friends from playing trivia, etc. This Christmas I sat at the table along with ten others at a friend's house. We'd had a great meal and were simply talking when one person brought out a deck of Christmas trivia cards. Whenever a question pertained to a song, we would break out singing; for other questions we would shout out answers before the question was completed. At some point I looked around at the laughing, smiling faces and realized over the years I had built myself a family. Not one of blood but of love and fellowship.

So for 2012, my wish for everyone is friendship. I only hope your life is as enriched by friends as mine is.

Happy New Year! Love, Carol and Maddie

The End

Monday, August 15, 2011

At 4:24 p.m. on August 14, 2011 I emailed to my Carina Press editor the completed manuscript of Her Dark Protector. The book is hopefully the first in a series that I've been calling "The Justice Hunters" about a secret justice society.

The moment I punched 'send' I felt tremendous relief for I had once more met my deadline. However, I also experienced great trepidation. I've lived with this book and its characters since the beginning of the year. I care about them and their story so I fret whether I did them justice. The book is my baby and it's hard to step back and be dispassionate.

I know I wrote the best book that I could at the time and pushed myself to expand in areas of the craft. Now I have to sit and hope that all is well and everyone will love it.

:) Carol

Going Paperless with my Research

Sunday, July 11, 2010

At work we've been progressively going paperless.  When an article was passed around on an attorney's journey of going paperless, he mentioned electronic notebooks for trial and in particular the One Notebook. I realized One Notebook was included in programs on my laptop. 

With great trepidation since I am sooo not a techie, I tried it out.  When I packed away my notes and research material on my last proposal, I realized how little physical material I had.  Typically I have several expandos filling a shelf.  Although the research on the latest had taken months and was expansive, it barely made the folder expand.

The reason was the electronic notebook.  I had copied and pasted most of the internet articles and photos into the notebook. 

I still don't understand all the functions, but for my new book the first thing I did was set up the notebook with sections for characters, settings, plot, timeline, etc.  This time around I drew a table for my plotboard and a triangle that I've always used to follow the push-pull dynamics among the principal characters [i.e. if villain does this, how will it impact on the heroine or the romance].  I've also set up a page to keep track on my writing progress.  

I will automatically save the notebook on a thumb drive along with the wip, but to have the notebook at hand on my laptop is amazing.

Best yet, I'm saving trees.  :) Carol

NASCAR week on Harlequin Blog

Monday, May 24, 2010

Harlequin launches the new NASCAR continuity series that I was fortunate to participate in.  Editors and the authors are blogging at http://harlequinblog.com/ . People who leave comments will be put in a drawing for a free book.

If you love the NASCAR books or looking for a good romance, the NASCAR books can be found here:
http://www.eharlequin.com/store.html?cid=600

Readers can also try for a free book here:  http://www.tryharlequin.com/

Tomorrow I'll be blogging at http://www.frwriters.org/ about what it's like to write for a continuity series in the intense world of NASCAR.  :) Carol