Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

Friday night saw the first apartment cockroach sighting in almost 5 years. Torn between disgust, irritation and aiiiggghhhh!!!!!!! but I KILLED IT DEAD with the help of a heavy book grabbed off the reference bookshelf (IDEAS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD, for those interested). And this from a woman who will calmly help spiders and beetles to the window so they can go somewhere more appropriate.... Roaches just bring out a primal KILL IT DEAD instinct.

In better news, this weekend also brought the BVF royalty fairy. One of the glorious things about BVC is getting more-or-less realtime (and easy to read!) royalty statements. Many kudos must go to Madeleine Robins, who - no matter how large we grow - still has not killed anyone in the sorting and sending of said royalty statements....

(And if all you know of BVC is our admittedly active and interesting blog, you really should check out the bookstore... http://bookviewcafe.com/bookstore/.  DRM-free publishing, and home to my SFnal novella DRAGON VIRUS as well as much else that is nifty....)

Other than that, I spent the weekend working (slowly but steadily) on GIN & TONIC #3, running errands, and saying "Cas, what are you doing?" a lot.  Also, "Cas, leave your brother alone."  And "Cas, you idjit."  Boomer is being pretty damn patient, and only hissing when the tail-jumping gets too obnoxious.
I hope to have photos of them together, soon.  As soon as Cas actually slows down a bit.

excerpt from G&T#3:

Teddy wanted to protest - it felt wrong, to poke at a friend, a co-worker- but she was only dividing things up according to their strengths: she researched, and he, well, poked.  "If either of them takes a swing at me, you're paying for my ER visit.  My insurance sucks."

"Hello, self-employed here," Ginny said.  "Mine's not much better.  They swing, you better duck."


A few links:

what crowdfunding can do: "Inspired by Star Trek. Run on NASA technology." Pretty Damn Cool.

Burka Avenger: Potentially Seriously Awesome.

Also also: I need to do this. For Research Reasons. Who's in?

http://www.lauraannegilman.net/theres-got-to-be-a-morning-after/

Yesterday, I put the final touches on the revisions for SOUL OF FIRE, and sent it off to madame editrix. The next time I see the book, we'll be in copyedits, and then page proofs, and then a finished book. So it's not dusted, but yeah... it's done.

And that means my ten year, twelve-book relationship with Harlequin has also come to - well, a pause, if not an end. HEART OF BRIAR and SOUL OF FIRE will be the last books from Luna for me. The next fantasy book I want to write isn't one they thought would be right for their list, and I really didn't want to put this one aside for another year or more

So we'll see what we see.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on the 3rd Gin & Tonic mystery for Simon & Schuster, and putting "Promises to Keep" into production for the Kickstarter backers, and there's half a dozen other non-novel projects, as well as That Book I Want to Write. Which is good, because the morning after you hit a deadline, there's this sense of panic - but what do I do NOW? I mean, after you catch up on all the old tv episodes you've been meaning to stream on Netflix, and sleeping all the sleep...

Life goes on. The work goes on. Being bored is, thankfully, not an option.

The "Dog Talk" interview I did a while back is online now! In which I do a quick reading, talk about the household animals, learning Seattle to write about it, and what's coming up next....

(go to the 46: mark - the previous guest ran long, so we were squished for time)




originally posted at http://www.lauraannegilman.net/l-a-kornetsky-speaks/

if this appears twice, it means Dreamwidth has decided to crosspost after all



Last week, I got an email from Madame Editrix, saying she had read the manuscript for FIXED (Gin & Tonic #2) and loved it. And that I should prepare for incoming notes.

(Because no book is so good that a good editor can't show you how to make it better. That's me saying that, not her. Although she totally would, too.)

In these Modern Times, usually an announcement like that would lead to checking my email for the above-referenced editorial letter. Hell, even when I was back at Penguin in the early 2000s, we were doing it that way, and all the editing work I do for d.y.m.k now is digital....

But Madame Editrix, she is Old School. She sends me a marked-up manuscript. Yes, actual paper (a printout of the file I'd sent her). With an actual pencil.

0-0

It's...kind of adorable. And weirdly reassuring. A reminder that for all that's changed in this industry, all the long-term and overnight disruptions, it really does still come down to this: words. On a page. Marked up and moved around, until they're perfect.

And, if I'm very good, little smiley faces in the margins, where I made her laugh.

So today I will be taking my printout and walking away from the computer screen for a while, to read her comments and see what she's scrawled, and think about murder, mayhem and misdirection in a calm, off-screen manner.

(there will still be caffeine, of course. Caffeine is a constant, no matter what tech you use)

I confess, I'm still not quite sure i feel like a mystery writer. Maybe that's because it's Ms. Kornetsky, not me? Or maybe it will take two or three books to settle into that skin. But this, the editing and being edited side? It always feels right.



Oh, and for those of you who've somehow missed out on COLLARED, the first book in the series? Click Here.

EtA: because of people howling that they were traveling/had no access to critters, I've extended the contest a week.  December 2nd is the deadline.


One of the things I'm thankful for - after my best-beloveds (blood kin and otherwise) and my health - are my readers. You make it possible for me to wake up every morning and, no matter how tired I am, look forward to the day's work.

So when I saw this t-shirt, I HAD to buy it.


*or a bear. Or a pony. Or a platypus. Etc.

Thanks to the offices of a good friend who -despite gas rationing and shortages- was still willing to drive me to the airport at oh ack thirty, I made my flight with a minimum of stress. And we apparently had not a tailwind but a shake-your-tailwind, because we beat the predicted arrival time by a full hour. Seriously.

And so here I am, settled in my twinling's guest room, with three dogs, a cat and a dishonorary niece and nephew to abuse, and I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't a vacation. This week is all about launching COLLARED. Today...I am L.A. Kornetsky.

(except when LAG needs to make her wordcount on the WiP. Because THAT still needs to get done, too.)

So today will also be about hitting local bookstores to see if they have copies of COLLARED in, and signing everything I can lay hands on, and while I'm at it, doing some more research to finalize some settings in G&T#2: FIXED (out in mid-2013). And then tonight I may be taking some time off to go see SKYFALL, because violence and Daniel Craig are a damn good way to get over the impending ACK! of NEW BOOK!

Which you are all going to run out and buy, either for yourself or a mystery-reading friend/relative, right? As always, since this is a near-holidays release, if you want it personalized, I will send out bookplates on request, no cost to you. Just email me at lag-at-lauraannegilman-dot-net and tell me who to sign it for.

And if you're in the Seattle area, come out and see me! Tuesday at noon, for a lunch signing at Seattle Mystery Bookshop (117 Cherry St, Seattlw WA), and then Tuesday evening at 7pm, for our launch party at Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub (Post Alley, Seattle, Washington).  I expect to see you, Seattle!

So, everyone loves it when a reviewer - a professional critic - likes their book. But honestly, the thing that makes us jump up and down and do the Delighted Author Dance?

Is when a bookseller likes our book. Because booksellers aren't critics, they're critical readers. And I mean critical in both senses of the word... they're picky, and they're necessary.

And if they like you, odds are they'll be picking up your book and saying to buyers "here, this one. I liked this one."

Which is a long-winded way of saying that I was utterly delighted to be pointed to this review of COLLARED on the Seattle Mystery Bookshop's "What We've Been reading" page:

Fran recommends:

I'm not a fan of cutesy. My sweet tooth is dedicated to chocolate, and my reading tastes tend to be a bit sharper. So I'm serious when I tell you that the cover of L.A. Kornetsky's first "Gin and Tonic" mystery, Collared is a bit misleading. Collared certainly has some cute components, but it's got an underlying strength that elevates it from fluff to good reading....

Virginia (Ginny) Mallard has a personal concierge service in Seattle, and she's good at organizing things, from picking up dry cleaning to arranging a child's birthday party. So when she overhears someone complaining about needing to find his uncle, who wandered off with some paperwork, Ginny figures that it can't be any harder than finding the perfect getaway holiday for a lovestruck couple and she jumps at the chance. But it's soon obvious to her that she's going to need help, and her bartender friend, Teddy Tonica, has the connections she needs. Ginny has three days to find Jacob and the papers, but he hasn't just wandered off -- he's deliberately gone into hiding, and there's a reason for it. Suddenly Ginny's job has become a lot more dangerous than she imagined.

L.A. Kornetsky manages to do something that is not at all easy to do: she throws in snippets of action as seen through the eyes of Ginny's Shar-pei, Georgie, and Teddy's bar cat, Mistress Penny-Drops. I didn't think it would work, but Kornetsky manages to keep their interactions intriguing and interesting... And it works.

I liked that Ms. Kornetsky was willing to take the chances she did, allowing bad things to happen instead of taking the easy way out. She has created a couple of realistic and likeable humans, and her feline and canine protagonists are pretty darned cool too.

(emphasis and ellipses mine, natch)

You can read the entire review (and pre-order the book) here

On-Sale November 13th.

Well, the Library Journal reviewer was not entirely pleased by my refusal to tie up every thread at the end (this is me, guys, I don't make everything 100% tidy, nope) but overall she seemed to like COLLARED....

"VERDICT: The plot moves quickly, enhanced by smart dialog and good characterizations... a fairly strong beginning to what should be an entertaining series. Recommended for purchase where pet mysteries are popular."


So yeah. You like pets? You like mysteries? You pre-ordered, yet?

8 hours work + 1 hour movement + 2 glasses of wine = a day that achieves and does not hurt.

I should probably tattoo that somewhere I can see it easily... maybe I can shave it into the cat's fur?

So, I finished the first pass of FIXED (Gin & Tonic #2), and am now pretty sure I know where I broke things during the fixing. So, revisions pass #2 begins on Monday, and I'm on schedule to hand it over to Madame Micki at Pocket on the 8th.

And then, because the universe loves me and doesn't want me to get bored, Madame Matrice sent back her pithy and useful notes on "Miles to Go," the first installment of the Sylvan Investigations series. Since it's due to go to First Reader (aka "She Who Must be Entertained") on Friday.... yeah, I know what's on-deck for the weekend.

Along, that is, with cleaning the apartment, plotting the rest of 2012's travel schedule, and getting outside into the OMGYAYit'sAutumn! weather, and doing my share of cooking for Sunday night's Rosh Hashannah gathering at my folks. As I told a friend recently, I'm not a practicing (religious) Jew, but the High Holy Days mean something to me, spiritually. I don't try to explain it, I just accept and embrace it....

so there will be more on that, come Monday.

So have yourselves a lovely, productive, entertaining, restful, fill-in-the-blank weekend!