Archive for the ‘What About Everything Else?’ Category

Revising a Year: Being Still…

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

We all need to regularly regroup, re-evaluate, and refocus. My sabbatical from blogging since September has been just that for me–a long-awaited escape, even though I’ve been here all along, lurking and watching and enjoying the rest of you while I watch ;o) A year ago, I was a writer desperately needing an infusion of energy and courage. So I went on a retreat with other writers and recharged. This year, that “being still” place came before the trip, which I leave for in just a few days. This year, I’m bringing the peace with me.

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Being still, in preparation for being still. That’s what this time away has felt like. Last year, I was seeking courage. This year, as I walk the surf on a barrier island in South Carolina, my retreat will be about breathing in the life I’ve spent the last twelve months living, and knowing that even more abundance is awaiting me going forward. What will I be? How will what I’ve become grow even more? What amazing things from this last year will feed into all that is to come? These are the things that being quiet brings to me. To all of us, I suspect.

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When we step away, consciously, we honor what we’re leaving as well as what we withdraw to contemplate. We’re focusing on both ourselves and all the wonderful things we’re temporarily letting go. We’re giving ourselves a chance to be grateful and to long to return. The perspective it gives me and my creative work, no matter how little or much time I have to step away, is priceless. (more…)

How We Write Wednesdays: Catherine Mann Guest Blogs Tomorrow!

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

To kick off a HoWW Guest Blog series tomorrow, USA Today bestselling author Catherine Mann talks about building protagonists and “High Octane Heroes.” She writes amazing military heroes and walks us through exciting, visual ways for using movies to hone your character archetypes…

USA Today bestselling author Catherine Mann has over two million books in print in more than twenty-five countries. 

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She pens military suspense for Penguin and Sourcebooks, as well as steamy romances for Harlequin.  Catherine’s work has won numerous awards, including the prestigious RITA and the Bookseller’s Best.  A former theater school director, she hold a Master’s Degree in Theatre from UNCG.  Catherine resides in Florida with her aviator husband and their four children.  FMI visit her website, and she can be found on Facebook  and Twitter.

I’ve heard Catherine teach at conferences for years, and this is a blog version of one of her most popular workshops. She’s amazing. You don’t want to miss it, so come back tomorrow to learn, talk amongst yourself in the comments and over on Twitter in the #HoWW hashtag, and have a blast!

Keep checking back here and on Jenni’s blog for more details on August/September HoWW guest bloggers–we’re getting their topics, bios and blog dates lined up now! It’s going to be a great group, including Joanne Rock, James Scott Bell, Candace Haves, Susan Meier!

RWA Nationals, Here We Come!!!

Tuesday, June 28th, 2011

I’ll be blogging, Tweeting, Facebooking daily again, now that I’m digging myself out of drafting a new book and catching a flight for the Romance Writers National Conference in NYC! Catch me if you can ;o)

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Also, check out my RWA Con Today e-newsletter each morning, to stay in touch with what everyone at #rwa11 is doing all week. It’s shaping up to be an amazing, busy adventure for everyone!

Nook FREE Friday Giveaway!!!

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Dark Legacy’s a Nook Unbound Blog FREE Giveaway all day today.

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Jeremy Cesarec says, “Fans of the blockbuster film Inception will love this week’s Free Fridays selection: Dark Legacy… DeStefano’s novel is an insightful psychological thriller of the first order.”

Secret Legacy’s still a $2.99 download on Kindle and other platforms.

Secret Legacy front cover

It’s been a busy week, keeping me away from blogging while I mascarade as  Super Mom AND write the first few chapters of Haunted Legacy, continuing my psychic fantasy series into the world of a new family of three gifted siblings with all new latent powers everyone’s hunting for their own purposes. Look for an excerpt soon!

Enjoy Freebie Friday!

How We Write Wednesdays: Jenni’s Upping the Stakes

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

By popular request, we’re capping off my discussion last week about narrative structure and arching character through a novel, with Jenni’s workshop on upping the external and internal stakes of a novel. Check her out. She’s fabulouse when she teaches this.

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Remember, it’s all about character. And story. It’s about both. Because they’re the same thing in the end. When I focus too much on one, I know to take the other deeper. When one hits the wall of writer’s block, the other is somewhere screaming for attention that I haven’t given it.

That’s how we write?

What’s your process for discovering where your reader will go when he dives into your novel? Do you know? More importantly, have you put much thought into how you’re going to take your way and make it better, with each character and each plot and each book…

Next week, come back here for the exciting roll out of our HoWW “guest blog” schedule. You’re gonna love the authors who’ve signed up to come out and play over the summer–Phase 3 in our plan to get writers talking about about their craft and their journeys, so we can support each other without the hype and the promotion and the competition you find all over social media.

Phase 2, you ask? Check out our #weWRITE Twitter tag, where we continue the conversation every day!

A Dream in a Glass… Guest “Recipe” Blogging at Authors and Appetizers

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

I’ll actually have a guest blog up over there on Friday. But check out Authors and Appetizers today for my “Dream in a Glass” Guest recipe post.

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Frozen Brandy Alexander. Yummm…

WIN: COACH Purses, Cover Models for Dessert, and a GREAT Cause

Friday, May 13th, 2011

Brenda Novak’s annual cure for diabetes auction is in full swing. There are so many chances to win yummy goodies, including at my COACH boutique!

Like…dessert with a romance cover model!

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Come to New York’s famed Serendipity for dessert with model/actor Bill Freda and me during RWA Nationals in New York City this July.

Does Bill look that great in person??? You tell me.

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Yep, that’s him in the center of some of his Romantic Times cover model buddies. And, yes, those really ARE his abs.

Sigh… My job as a roving photographer can be quite trying at times. But I’m willing to serve when I must.

Or, if getting sticky and sweet (eating desert, that is) isn’t your thing, how about one of these amazing Coach bags?

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There are awesome totes and fun wristlets and cosmetic bags and even a satin evening bag and a signature Coach flap duffel. Don’t tell me you can’t find something to bid on here!

Bid often and enthusiastically.

As someone with extremely low blood sugar, which means diabetes is most likely in my distant if not near future, I’m thrilled to give you so many yummy things (and men) to tempt your pocketbooks!

Thanks again to all of you who come out each year to support Brenda’s auction and my boutique and all the other authors who’ve donated so much to help a great cause!

I’m ScifiGuy Guest Blogging Today…Chris Keeslar will be HERE tomorrow!

Thursday, May 5th, 2011

I’m psyched (pun intended) to be guest blogging at SCIFIGUY today. I’m equally psyched to have Chris Keeslar joining us in Publishing Isn’t for Sissies  here tomorrow. I’m getting to talk about a creative passion and a passionate colleague the last two days of this week. Excellent!

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Here’s a bit of the scifiguy post to wet your appetite. Come out, come out, wherever you are and hang over there with me a bit today… Then PIFS with Chris and me tomorrow, before we all hang with the mom’s this weekend.

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Sci-fi/Fantasy…I’ve had more conversations about the term in the last few years than I did in my entire geeky, Trekkie youth. On KindleBoards, on fantasy forums, through GoodReads networks, in person etc. Everyone has an opinion. Some are purist. Some enjoy variety. But everyone who digs what’s now considered speculative fiction is searching for more of what they love, and there so much variety on the market there’s little chance of the genre boring you.

Coming from a romantic suspense background already makes me an odd duck in many circles, including my growing involvement with International Thriller Writers. Especially there, since my thrillers are more psychic fantasy than mystery/suspense.

Well, they’re contemporary fantasies with a strong scientific basis for my world building that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Three-fourths of the action in my latest release, Secret Legacy, takes place in dream sequences shared between the protagonist and the scientists and psychic warriors battling for control of her mind. Think of the movie Inception, and you’ll get an idea of how the lucid dreaming and shared dreaming science behind these books plays out. Though, let me just say that Dark Legacy was written and published long before the movie hit theaters ;o)…

Read more here!

The Thing About Conferences…

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

More I Hear the Craziest Things Friday  (after HoWW tomorrow and PIFS Thursday), where we’ll delve deeply into the kinetic mess I call travelling. “But what’s the thing about conferences?” you ask after reading the title of this post…

I taught with my fabulous agent last weekend, Michelle Grakjowski. And when we weren’t embarrassing ourselves in restaurants driving the wait staff crazy, we got to know 35 amazing people from the Rochester/Syracuse areas of New York. We talked publishing industry trends (particularly the rise of eBooks and digital publishing as major players), I taught an interactive version of my character planning and rewriting workshops (with a dose of drafting/improvisation to round things out), and we did one of my favorite things–discussing the communication skills that can make or break your career.

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But that’s just the framework. The mechanics. The syllabus. My handouts are detailed and up on my website and a lot of the nuts and bolts of what Michelle and I teach can be taken away from just reading them.

The thing about conferences, especially magical events like this, is the energy. The dynamic of learning. The growing connection that began Friday night when after about an hour everyone loosened up and took me up on my offer to tell us every horrible thing they’d heard about digital publishing and everything they were scared about it doing to their careers.

Then Michelle and I started leading the group through a reality check that was cathartic for everyone. Yes, it’s scary out there. But the thing is, it always has been. (more…)

Gone fishin’

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

Days like today weren’t  meant for deep introspection. They’re meant to sit in a boat and stare at water with your best friend while you pretend to be catch dinner.

Gone Finshing

I FaceBooked my wee hours of the morning, breakfast-making drama–shudder. Then after I watched my son’s 8:30 a.m. tennis match, we proceeded to cram so much into the schedule by early afternoon, the best I could do after that was FaceBook the awesome shoes I wore for the rest of the day, even doing dinner dinner dishes, to give me a little (well, big) boost.

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Dinner, BTW, comprised of sliced fresh pears and AMAZING fresh white cheddar for my husband and me, and pizza for the teenager. That should tell anyone who knows how much I love to cook how exhausted we are around here. So, I’ll be doing my version of goin’ fishing for the rest of the evening–taking in a home movie (most likely Salt) and a glass of wine with my husband/best friend.

‘Til then, hang with your buds and wear amazing shoes yourself ;o)

Live it up for me!