Lillian Csernica's Blog: Brainstorms

Hi there. I've been pushing hard on the major edit for the Japanese romance novel. I cut it back quite a bit and changed a lot of the last third of the novel, so it was intense work. Now I'm going through for the "consistency edit" to make sure everything lines up properly from beginning to end. I still have to do some editing to bring the manuscript under the 400 page limit.

I've been reading a lot, so look for my reviews.

Hi there! I'm learning more and more about the benefits of social media and how to expand? extend? one's circles so they overlap and reinforce each other. Great stuff. It's both taxing and exhilarating making sure I keep up with everybody who's supporting me. Gotta give back!

Come see my site redesign. Two sidebars and lots of pretty graphics. More links than a rapper's bling.

Look for my work on Listopia lists. Ship of Dreams is on the pirate lists. The Writer's Spellbook is on the nonfiction for writers lists. Please, if the spirit moves you, give a click. Both are fun reads. I'll be bringing more fiction and nonfiction to the electronic realm in months to come.

Stay tuned!

Yes, that's right, my pirate romance is now in ebook form. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HKY38FS

Just in case you didn't see the earlier notice, let me say that Elaine LeClaire is my romance pen name. I am she and she is me. There's paperwork to prove it.

I hope you read, enjoy, and review Ship of Dreams. Welcome aboard!

SO much to do! I'm editing Sword Master, Flower Maiden. Writing a new short story with my best friend and collaborator. Editing a novel ms for a friend as her book doctor. Reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and liking it A LOT.

Most of my fresh writing consists of answering the letters to Santa Claus that come in to my local post office. I handle the letters for four separate post offices in my area. I'm up to 25 now, which is down a bit from last year. Demographics shift, so that's OK.

Took John to visit Santa Claus, and that went really really well! Read the details at www.lillian888.wordpress.com

She's me. You will find the English language version of my pirate novel, SHIP OF DREAMS, listed under my romance pen name of Elaine LeClaire. Why did I put the German version under my own name? Probably because I like the cover so much better. It was taken from one of my favorite scenes in the novel. Rosalind's dress is almost exactly what I envisioned. Alexandre should have long hair, but oh well. I can live with that.

Just wanted to clear that up. :-D

I am pushing on through the edit of my current historical novel. I and my heroine are in a similar position, thrashing through the underbrush as we both labor to reach our destinations. I can see I'm going to have to print out another draft once this edit is finished. Then I'll go in with the machete and come out with the scalpel.

I'm reviewing for Tangent again, only now I'm writing for the online edition. The 90th Anniversary issue of Weird Tales is about to hit the stands! It is wall to wall great fiction, poetry, and more.

As if I wasn't busy enough already, I am learning the fine art of flash fiction. I've sold stories that were 750 words max, but now I'm going for the 500 word limit. Complete story, two complications, meaningful ending. My education in this art forms comes to me from Holly Lisle and the excellent educational materials at her site.

Must sleep. Sleep is good!

Sorry to vanish into the cybernetic weltsmertz. My laptop decided it was going to implode. Fortunately, ever since I lived through two disk crashes during the writing of my pirate novel, I'm a little paranoid about backups. My thumb drive was current, and my new external drive awaits the transfer of my Documents to my new Lenovo laptop.

It was almost a relief, being knocked out of my office routine for a few days. I had to go downstairs and work on the laptop available for family use. I've also been having fun with a flash fiction course offered on Holly Lisle's site. It's great for teaching you bare bones writing. Holly Lisle

Sold another short atory today. "The Heart of a Diamond" has been accepted by Carol Hightshoe for Sorcerous Signals, the online magazine, as well as Mystic Signals, the print edition.

I am very happy about this. It's not just the sale, it's the pleasure of knowing the a story that means a lot to me has found such a good home. I really enjoyed writing "The Heart of a Diamond." I hope the readers of Sorcerous Signals get as much pleasure out of reading it.

So the work continues on the Japanese novel as I do my best to sort out the details of daily life in the Forced Marriage scenario when sudden death is a constant possibility.

On the short story front, I've got a strong hero and heroine who both have troubles enough of their own before they're forced to cross paths. Does the heroine believe the urgent message the hero brings? Does the hero get past old grudges and do what's right?

All this and I'm pursuing the A to Z April Challenge over on my main blog at http://lillian888.wordpress.com.

The fun just never stops!

I love this job.

I got ambushed by a short story idea tonight. I had the basic plot roughed out and some bits of scenes written in haste in a notebook just to catch them while they were hot in my mind. As I was typing those bits into the computer tonight, my mind caught fire. Everybody in the story came to life for the big finish. The voices were strong, the names were individual, the loose ends got tied up, and I poured out ten, count 'em, TEN fresh pages.

Hot damn! I LOVE this job!