Wednesday, September 26, 2012

"Zoe Thanatos" Book Trailer



On her 25th birthday Zoe Thanatos is ready to end her short and unhappy life by jumping off a cliff into the Pacific. But her plans irrevocably change when a stranger intervenes, preventing her death while seemingly cheating his own. She demands answers but unearths a whole new world of questions when her savior confesses his true identity, and leads her down a path of discovery that reveals truths about the life she was meant to live.
Available now on Amazon Kindle.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

"Zoe Thanatos" is now available on Smashwords!



I'm so pleased to announce that "Zoe Thanatos" is available now on Smashwords for just $9.99. Whether you prefer to read on a Kindle, Nook, or iPad, you start downloading in just a few clicks! Want an extra 15% off? Use coupon code LL68L and your grand total will be just $8.49 (expires Monday 9/24/2012).


If you buy the book send me a shout-out on Twitter using #ZoeThanatos or head on over to Facebook to Like the book!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

A Sick Day From Life

Yesterday morning I woke up with a headache (that eventually turned into a migraine). So I took the day off. I don't have an office job I go to, or even a classroom, but I can still take a day off to mentally recoup and maybe even do something fun. So I did! I broke out my old Compaq Presario tower, set it up on the dining room table, and spent the day playing The Sims 2. It was a lot of fun.

Woke up with another potential headache this morning. I think I'll just play this day out and see how it goes.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

An Anniversary of Sorts

Yesterday was a 1-year anniversary for Jeff and me. Last September 1st we officially moved into this apartment and began a joint life together. There have been some minor setbacks along the course of the year, but for the most part I consider us extraordinarily lucky and blessed.

This past week I was at my parent's house in Lompoc house and cat-sitting for them while they took a mini vacation to Las Vegas. It was a strange sort of reminder about how much my life has changed. I really missed home - my home - and thankfully the week went by quickly. It reminded me of the times when I lived in Lompoc and Jeff was in Camarillo (where he had an apartment for the last 2 years of his undergraduate studies) and Valencia (where he grew up with his parents) and we only saw each other a couple times a year. The longest we went without seeing each other was three weeks. Last week I was gone for eight days and it was the longest Jeff and I have gone without seeing each other since we moved in together.

When we initially moved in and I left my parents, I expected to have some sort of emotional reaction, or something. A few years ago when I first moved into the dorms at Cal State Channel Islands, I missed my parents so much that they came and picked me up every weekend to take me home. Once I met the boy next door - Jeff - I came home less and less often. Last September 1st I never did have that emotional reaction. Instead I took everything in stride and just rolled with it. It wasn't until this past Friday that I cried when leaving my beloved cat, Snuggles.

I'm looking forward to what the next year brings. I love this time of year, from September to Christmas, and 2013 is going to be an epic year. I'll be turning 30. Jeff and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Jeff will graduate with his Masters degree. I'll graduate with my Masters degree. Jeff will turn 25. There is so much to look forward to in the next year, especially considering we might not be living here in Apartment 54 by next September 1st. I look forward to the changes.

Monday, August 20, 2012

Editing Mode

Since coming back to full-time writing status I've taken it upon myself to start editing the manuscript for the practical purpose of editing (obviously) and as a way to re-familiarize myself with the story. There were some finer points I had forgotten about, and even found one small plot hole that I was able to fix easily.

Then a fellow writer friend mentioned to me all the occurrences of "s/he could feel" and after doing a search I found more than a dozen of those exact phrases. So I corrected them... Then I wondered what other things I should be looking for and found one common word that is overused in a manuscript is "s/he said". So I did another search for "said" throughout the manuscript... Oh boy... 134 instances. Not all of them were awful but most of them were. I actually taped a piece of paper on the wall with dozens of synonyms for "said" and referenced that for all 134 instances of "said". It took quite a few hours.

I guess this is the part of writing that is the least fun. It's great knowing that the manuscript will be more polished and less amateur once it is published, but the sheer amount of work is daunting at best. I've got my work cut out for me.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Return to Writing

I took about 3 weeks off for finals and a little post-term laziness but now it's back to writing and finishing "Zoe Thanatos". My mind feels refreshed but now I'm tempted to go on an editing spree rather than just finishing up and then editing. What to do, what to do!