What would you like to tell readers about yourself?
Today Erzabet Bishop will be talking about how she handles balancing life and writing.
* Sometimes my life and writing don’t go hand in hand. I work a full time job as a bookstore manager and my schedule is anything but set. There are days I have to be at work at six in the morning and other times three in the afternoon. It’s a bouncing ball but I manage.
* I’ve heard a lot of writing advice over the years and have come to a single conclusion. The only thing you simply must do is not give up. #Don’t Quit. Things can get tough. Life gets in the way. All the time and every day. You steal time here and there and you make it happen. You. No one else.
* What does that mean? You think about plot lines when you’re folding laundry or making dinner. You write down notes so when you get in front of the computer you’re ready to rock. There is no time to stare at the screen and wonder what’s coming out of your fingertips today. Nope. You only have twenty minutes? Use it. Any word count is good word count as long as it points you in the right direction. And if not? You scrap it or save it and start again.
* Right now I’m on vacation and that means I have deadlines. Big ones and lots of them but I use my time as best I can. I’m getting faster at my hourly word count and I love my Pro Writing Aid for quick edits before the story goes out the door.
* Rejections? All the time. You get up, dust your pants off and send it out again. Learn from every one. You may not see it yet, but you will and then you’ll laugh and rework it. Happens. It’s a work of writing. They aren’t rejecting you.
* If you want to write, there are sacrifices that will be made. My hubby loves to watch movies and play games in the living room. I can maybe get twenty minutes of television in while I’m eating and then I’m back on task with a vengeance. Time is precious, so I snag it when I can. He helps me with trips to the grocery store and the occasional fast food run. And he knows after dinner-it’s my time and when the bedroom door shuts, I’m in at least until a quarter to one if I don’t have to be up at an ungodly hour the next morning.
* So life…writing. We tango. We weave around each other and hope to meet in the middle some days. And when we do…ah. It’s magic.
* The process of writing for me is an organic one. It begins with a legal pad and a series of colorful sticky notes and a foam board. I start thinking about the chapters and what needs to happen to make the story move and there you go-plot points on sticky notes I can adjust as needed. It works too. Sydney had lots of thoughts on where she wanted to go and believe me, she is still in there talking. The second book in the Shadow World series is already writing itself (think dragon shifters and a psychic) and I can see the fireworks shaping up nicely.
* I hope you will enjoy the introduction to my Shadow World series and return to Club Beam for many more adventures. I am happy to share that the audio book is now in the works.
* Detective Sydney Marr is having a very bad day. Her boss is on the warpath, she’s being treated for a werewolf bite, and her current case has hit a dead end. When her friend Erika talks Syd into going with her to Club Beam, she jumps at the chance, even if it means spending an evening without her spell arsenal. A high-class vampire bar and fetish club, Club Beam is fantasy made real.
* Club owner and Dom Gideon Raines spies the red-haired beauty and is transfixed. A fight against a skillful murderer brings war for fae and vampire alike. Sometimes when you play with monsters, the monsters play back.
* Sydney grumbled under her breath and watched the club-goers parade past, each dressed like a fairy-tale character. The Little Mermaid trounced by in a see-through, diaphanous gown revealing too much in the way of personal attributes. Sleeping Beauty sashayed down the sidewalk with a leash around the neck of her Prince Charming. A woman in a way-too-short Red Riding Hood outfit approached. Her arm was wrapped around a seductress dressed in wolf ears, a tail, and a skimpy thong-style bikini. Red carried a basket full of what looked like pink fuzzy handcuffs and a can of whipped cream, which she swung into Syd.
* “Hey!”
* The red-cloaked vixen sent her a wink and traipsed on by, joined by a near-pornographic version of the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland. Any shorter and the skirt would show her naughty bits. Or maybe that was the plan.
* Syd had just gotten off her day shift as a detective, and the last thing she wanted to do was be around more people. Especially people with more skin showing than on late-night cable shows. Her head hurt from the lights and the pulse of the music, and her stupid witch costume was pinching her toes. Erika’s scant fairy costume hugged all her curves, her breasts bursting from the bodice. The skirt barely covered her backside, and the strappy silver sandals showed off her silver-glitter nail polish.
* The building loomed next to them. A giant warehouse-like structure, it was large enough to house all manner of mischief, and Syd was itching with the desire to get inside and find out just what was going on behind its doors. The sidewalk was flagged by trees lit up with twinkly white lights, adding an upscale ambiance to the area. What in the daylight looked like an industrial area gone to the dogs had been transformed into an attractive and well-attended venue.
* She didn’t have the heart to tell Erika she’d been here once already today for the case she was working on, but the entrance had been sealed up tighter than a drum. Sydney’s recourse was to infiltrate Club Beam by night as a patron. Her sergeant, Debra, would kill her if she realized Syd had even considered going in without backup. So would her partner, James. Erika had asked her to come so she wouldn’t be alone, and, despite herself, Syd couldn’t resist. To catch a vampire, you had to go out at night, and Club Beam was the hot spot. After last month’s fuckup, she had to do this and do it right, even if it killed her. James was on medical leave, and it remained up to her to get this guy before someone else got killed or turned furry.
* I will not think about becoming one of the terminally furry. It’s over. Move on. Take the pills the doctor gave you and freaking pray.
* “Oh look. I think I see Snow White.” Erika stood on her tiptoes and craned her head along the huge expanse of line they still had to navigate to get inside.
* Syd peered into the crowd and grimaced. Hairy legs. More makeup than a Mac commercial. “Nope. That was a guy in drag.”
* Erika narrowed her eyes. “God, Syd. You’re the world’s biggest wet blanket ever.”
* Sydney shifted her weight and moved another two steps toward the door as the line inched forward. “I told you, I’ve had a hard day. We had a homicide case come in, and I’ve been out beating the street. I want to go home and bury my head under my pillow. But, no. Out of the kindness of my heart, here I am standing in line at a vampire bar with a bunch of overgrown kids playing dress-up in fairy-tale fetish wear.”
