They're Out...

Two of my books from two different publishers are out today!

My YA biography, Rihanna (People in the News) is out from Lucent and Summer Lovin’, a YA anthology of summer love stories is out at The Wild Rose Press.

You can check out the blurb for my story, “Summer Storms,” as well as those from fellow authors at the Climbing Rose blog: http://twrpclimbingrose.blogspot.com/. The e-book is available for purchase at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/summer-lovin-p-1249.html. Print release will be 7/10.

Rihanna’s up for sale at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Rihanna-People-News-Laurie-Edwards/dp/1420501291/ref=sr_1_1/192-9522716-1062700?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242999286&sr=1-1. The e-book's available at the Lucent website.

Blurbs:

SUMMER LOVIN’ is a collection of love stories by six Climbing Rose authors about life on a ranch, summer jobs, sandcastle competitions, the tragedy of a flood, and falling in love with a rock star. My story is in the anthology is "Summer Storms": Sixteen-year-old Paige nearly drowns trying to rescue a Pomeranian trapped in floodwaters that sweep through her town. Chase, the hottie who saves her, wants to help her and her mother, but Paige won’t accept charity. And can she risk him unmasking the family secret she’s kept hidden?

RIHANNA (PEOPLE IN THE NEWS) tells the story of R&B singer Rihanna, who loved to sing as a child, but had a rough homelife with a cocaine-addicted father. Discovered at age 15, Rihanna auditioned for Jay-Z and rose to stardom. My book offers a behind the scenes peek into Rihanna’s childhood, her rise to fame, her Grammy win, and some of the celebs she’s connected with, including Shia LaBeouf, Timbaland, Maroon 5, and Chris Brown.

WIN A FREE COPY!

Anyone who comments at my blog http://lje1.wordpress.com/ or friends me on MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter from now until May 31 will have their name entered to win a copy of Summer Lovin’. Winner will be announced at noon on June 1, so stop back to see if you've won.

Laurie J. Edwards

http://lje1.wordpress.com/

http://www.myspace.com/lauriejedwards

Twitter Screen name: LaurieJEdwards

One of the things I learned while I was getting my masters degree in creative writing was to not limit yourself to one writing style or type. Indeed, many of our faculty each wrote novels, screenplays, plays, essays, articles, you name it.
I started out as a writer for the magazine market and still do it as my bread and butter. Short stories came next and two will be published this year. I'm now working on a literary-style mainstream novel. A 10-minute play of mine was produced in Virginia last year and is due to be published by an imprint of the San Francisco Bay Press. I have another play that I'm working on and hopefully there's a stage somewhere waiting for it. But a genre I've always loved writing was horror. Perhaps it comes from sitting in darkened movie theaters and wondering why the protagonist decides to open THAT door. Maybe it was when my brother and I were kids and he made it his mission in life to scare me, and I would scream and giggle at the same time.
There are few female authors who produce well-written good scary horror. Poppy Brite is one. There are a few others. And of course, there are those who write vampire stories. The subject of vampires intrigued me and so I decided to give it a try and enter another discomfort zone. I did some research and immersed myself into the vampires' world. I came up with some "What If's", created some characters, gave them their sense of self, and conjured up a short story. On a whim I sent it off to an anthology for publishing consideration. Now, I had no intention to ever writing another vampire tale; the marketplace had more than enough and writers more expert than me to write them. Imagine my surprise when the publisher wrote back and asked if this was the start of a novel. I assured her it was a complete short story. She wrote back. While she loved the story and the writing quality, she had already accepted another one with a similar feel. But she said it was good enough that I should seriously consider turning it into a novel.
I was both pleased and perplexed. I'm certainly happy about that "rejection," but other writing projects beckon and I have deadlines that need to be met. But to try my hand at a vampire novel? I don't think it'll happen right now. But someday that bug may just bite...

Settling In

I couldn't settle in to sleep last night. Perhaps it was the two hour nap I took yesterday afternoon, but whatever the reason, my body was willing but my mind would not stop racing. And so I tossed and I turned, but I couldn't get it quite right.

It happens that way with my writing sometimes, too. Because I'm typically working on several projects simultaneously, (right now, that would be a magazine article, a non-fiction book on organization and an inspirational novel), I sometimes can't settle in and focus on one project. I procrastinate, trying to choose between what's most pressing and what's most exciting. The article that's due in two weeks? The latest chapter in my novel which is also an assignment for a writing class I am taking? The third chapter of the non-fiction book that will make my proposal complete?

When I finally settle on which project wins my attention (usually based more on mood than on logic), sometimes I can't settle in on the words. Rather than flowing onto the page, they come in fits, starts and short bursts. One minute, I'm typing away, trying to make my fingers keep pace with my thoughts. The next minute, I'm stopped short, stymied by a word choice or mystified by what should come next.

The trick, of course, is to persevere. Keep my head on the pillow, take a deep breath and try to tame my wild thoughts so I can find the sleep that is so elusive; or, keep my tush in my chair, take a deep breath and try to find the words that are so elusive. I may have to settle for what I can get - a position that's almost comfortable, a word that's almost right - and have faith that the "just right" counterpart will appear if I persevere. And relax.

And so, having completed that all-important third chapter and submitted it to my critique group, I'll move on to locating sources for the article and reading the most recent draft of Chapter 2 of my novel/Assignment 5 for my class. At the rate I'm going, I should sleep well tonight.