Tag: J.T. Ellison

Fiction, Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Process, Random

Friday Fare: Links from the around the ‘Net

Michelle Kubitz

FridayFare On Fridays, I post a round up of the various posts and articles that have been of interest to me during the week:

I loved this article about Nora Roberts from the New York Times’ “By the Book” feature.  I’ve wrote down many of the suggestions and have added them to my Goodreads.

Sometimes I add recipes of things that I plan to make on this blog, since cooking is one of my other creative outlets.  I made this soup from my writing hero J.T. Ellison this past weekend.  Since my kiddos don’t touch it, it makes a ton of leftovers.  Which means I don’t have to cook for most of the rest of the week.  (WINNING.)  And I got a kick out of this post regarding Joan Didion’s cookbook.

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Listening to:  I wrote a blog post awhile back about listening to music while I write.  To that end, I made a Spotify playlist of the songs that have inspired me / contributed to the muse for After Life.  The songs are a little all over the place (Bowie!  Off-Broadway!), but they all have a spot in the canon.  (Let me know if the link doesn’t work … I’m new at this Spotify thing.)

Reading:  Still on Deborah Harkness.  Took a (very) quick detour to the first Pendergast novel “Relic” by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child.  A boyfriend of mine from high school had loaned me that book during my senior year and it was an absolute joy to rediscover it.  It also reminded me how important pacing is in novels.  I am a fast reader by nature (and necessity – I’m the mother of two toddlers) and I slammed that book in four hours.  It was exhilarating.  I’m going to have to visit the library and read the rest of them as well.

Fiction update:  Editing, editing, editing.  I’m past the “this is shit” phase from last week and I remain cautiously optimistic.  The deadline I have set for myself is pages in hands of beta readers by April 1.  I can do this.

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Process, Random

Friday Fare: Links from the around the ‘Net

Michelle Kubitz

FridayFareConfession:  I love the Internet (affectionately known in my household as “the Interwebs.”).  On Fridays, I’m going to post a round up of the various posts and articles that have been of interest to me during the week:

I have a lot of articles that I’ve pulled down this week and are waiting for me in my bookmarks, but since life is crazy, my time has been limited to read them!  Next week will likely be full of information.

In the meantime, since I like to cook and since I love J.T. Ellison, I was thrilled to see that she has now archived the recipes that she’s included in her monthly newsletters.

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Listening to: I spent a little bit too much time on the FB earlier this week and one of my girlfriends posted that NPR had a “First Listen” segment featuring Damien Rice.  I really like it when my musical tastes veer in other directions and am so very glad that my friend recommended this.

Listening II:  My parents and I are going to see Garth Brooks at the Target Center tonight.  So maybe I shouldn’t be listening to Patti Smith … it might be time to put on the “Double Live” album.  I. CAN’T. WAIT – tonight’s concert is going down in the books!

Reading:  “Shifting Shadows” by Patricia Briggs and I’m trying to get into “Sneaking Suspicions” by Jan Hinds.  In terms of Hinds’ book, it’s nothing against her, but it’s more about the genre.  It’s a futuristic thriller and that’s not a genre I choose to read often.  So – the future leaves me meh, but give me some werewolves and other paranormal characters and I am a happy camper!  “Shadows” is incredible – this is a collection of short stories from Briggs’ “Mercy Thompson” world.  Last night, I read “Grey” and I am just reminded what a wonderful transport a short story can provide.  I got “Shadows” from the library, but on the strength of “Grey” alone, I think I need to buy a copy of Briggs’ book.

Fiction update:  I am making progress.  Slowly but surely.

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Process, Random

Friday Fare: Links from the around the ‘Net

Michelle Kubitz

FridayFareConfession:  I love the Internet (affectionately known in my household as “the Interwebs.”).  On Fridays, I’m going to post a round up of the various posts and articles that have been of interest to me during the week:

Over the past year, I’ve been intentionally seeking out the mystery writing community.  I’ve joined a couple of writing associations (Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers Association) and follow various listservs and blogs that are devoted to the craft, research, etc.  D.P. Lyle’s blog has become one of my favorites and there are times where I just feel so incredibly lucky and blessed to have a legitimate reason to read these things. 🙂  This recent Q&A blog is no exception to this rule.

I’m a huge Deborah Harkness fan – these articles were a delight to read.  And timely too since the first book of the All Souls Trilogy and its intro is set during this time of year. (Also – I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Harkness earlier this year.  If she is at a book signing in a community near you – go.  She is a wonderful speaker and just a warm person.)

And this has nothing to do with writing, but it’s soup season.  Here are a couple of recipes that will be making their appearance in my kitchen very, very soon!

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Listening to: Busted … a conference call.  I’m multitasking.  In terms of music, I’ve been digging playlists on YouTube lately – listening to old favorites and discovering bands that are new to me.

Reading:  I am a proud owner of a Kindle, but I also love physical copies of books.  And thus far, the only duplicates that I have in electronic and physical form have been strategic buys.  (i.e. – I love Deborah Harkness’s books.  But dragging around my hardcover versions of her books around my house with two toddlers is akin to throwing a plugged in toaster into a bathtub.  Not the smartest idea that I’ve ever had.  So when her books have been on sale in the electronic format, I’ve bought them.)  But earlier this week as I picked up the “latest” Sam Owens novel from J.T. Ellison, I kept thinking to myself … “why do I feel like I’ve read this before?”  And not intentionally, I had purchased a paperback version and the ebook.  Sigh!

Fiction update: Plugging along.  I’m getting to a scary part of my WIP that I know is not well written, so … let’s hope that the luck and muse that have been with me so far don’t abandon me in this crucial part of the journey!

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Finally … Happy Halloween!   My husband and I are going to be escorting a mini-Batman and a garden gnome (sans hat and faux beard) for trick-or-treating tonight.

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Process, Random

Friday Fare: Links from the around the ‘Net

Michelle Kubitz

FridayFareConfession:  I love the Internet (affectionately known in my household as “the Interwebs.”).  On Fridays, I’m going to post a round up of the various posts and articles that have been of interest to me during the week:

The following column from UK’s The Guardian has caused a bit (understatement) of a brouhaha around the book blogger community. To be honest, I couldn’t stop reading Kathleen Hale’s narrative … it was kind of like watching a train wreck and wondering if the author would regain her sanity before making a total ass out of herself.  (Spoiler alert:  She didn’t.)

I think I’ve said this before, but J.T. Ellison is one of my favorite authors.  Hands down.  This article delves a little bit into Ms. Ellison’s professional life before her career in fiction.  As someone who has starry-eyed dreams about being able to hang up my day job (or even just go part-time?), this was inspirational.

I got my invite to Gmail’s new app – “Inbox.”  Just waiting to see if I can enable it without disclosing billing information.  (*Gnashes teeth in irritation.*)  Prior to receiving the invite, I had emailed this article to my husband and was super excited. Because this is an app I think I can actually use.

And finally – this has nothing to do with the writing world, productivity, or really … much of anything.  Except that I read this article from The Kitchn and was enamored with the idea of “mother sauces” as the backbone of French cooking.

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Listening to: “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse (That voice!)

Reading:  Just finished the “King” series from Mimi Jean Pamfiloff.  Oh dear … I’ll admit it.  These aren’t books that I’d recommend to my mother (or my mother-in-law who is a voracious reader), but this was absolute brain candy.

Fiction update:  Edits are going pretty well.  I’m back on my revamped schedule that will have me completing the next round of edits by November 10th.  After that, I’m going to let AL rest for a couple of weeks and then do a fresh read through before I send to my beta readers.  I’m excited and nervous.

Process, Random

This week’s goals

Michelle Kubitz
  • Rearrange editing calendar
  • Finish character list
  • Compare notes from v2 and v3
  • Look at notebook

I’m already behind.  But I’m making consistent progress on AL and after 10 hours of driving over the weekend to see a very dear friend of mine, I made a ton of progress on version 3. 

How do I make progress while driving?  Well, first off – very carefully.  Basically, what I do is retell the story in my head as I’m driving along.  I throw out the niggling issues that are causing me heartburn and asking questions.  Mainly … am I making things harder than they need to be?  And honestly – if you’re asking yourself this question, the answer is probably a resounding “yes!”  Some sketched out items for backstory were cut in favor of simplicity.  I figured out how to tighten the pace (that was a huge “a-ha!” moment that had me pulling over in the next town and scribbling madly in my notebook). 

I also finished my complete readthrough of version 3.  Here’s a picture of Sunday morning and the glorious three hours that I had transcribing the notes that I had scribbled while reading:

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Progress!

I’ll share the story regarding the motel I had been staying in at a later date.  While the place was dated, it was clean and the coffee was good and plentiful.  (And it was QUIET! Yay for quiet working conditions!)

In the meantime – this is what else is going on in this world:

Listening to: Vintage Ricky Skaggs and a new find.

Reading: I have a whole host of books that need to be consumed … one of those is going to be J.T. Ellison’s latest. 

Happy September, friends!