Are you ready to wrap up summer? No!
So let’s party and stock up on our TBR pile before we ‘fall’ short. Ha! Join me and a ton of authors at the Romance Studio Party site August 21-25 2019.

Are you ready to wrap up summer? No!
So let’s party and stock up on our TBR pile before we ‘fall’ short. Ha! Join me and a ton of authors at the Romance Studio Party site August 21-25 2019.
What is Writer’s Block? The inability to move your story plot forward.
Why is Writer’s Block? You know… Everything else gets in the way of Story. You forget who your characters really are. Where they’re going or why. Life is a lot like that too.
Clutter can be as bad as a blank page or canvas. Start somewhere. Clear the path to open your mind. Have no preconceived notions. Allow no no obstacles to prevent you from advancing.
This is my advice to me. You’re welcome to look over my shoulder…
You can’t write or live if you can’t pause and open your senses first. Find your inner space where the story grows and mentally become a time traveler. Ask questions. What happened before ? What caused the action? What would happen next if something changed. Get out the telescope or microscope and zoom in–zoom out. The view is different from different perspectives or angles. Pay attention to details. Make every word count. Make every second count.
You only do this life once (I think) so do it well and thoroughly. Appreciate a sunrise or a sunset. Watch the moon rise. Laugh at the squirrels.
Take a moment to be still. Be observant. It will make you wiser.
Prioritize.
Make a plan. Follow it. Break it. Only deter if the outcome may be worth it or unavoidable. Adjust.
Breathe. Inhale, but don’t forget to exhale. Expel the bad and keep the good.
Listen with your brain turned on high. React with your heart and soul. Write one word. OPEN. Add another. OPEN. UP. NOW. LIFE. IS. WAITING. For you…
Smile at one person. Then two…
So I’m writing this fantasy salon and spa series and the characters feel like family. Strange family but who doesn’t have a strange family member or two…or more? They’ve become co- workers and family to me.
Teamwork! It doesn’t matter if they’re shifters or faeries or gargoyles, when it comes to getting the demon bridal party from hell presentable for humans…literally…it’s all about teamwork and respect!
My husband and I went out to dinner and observed the dance of the staff, and we commented to each other about their seamless grace in getting their jobs done and working together. Tall, short, slow, quick…each did their one-step or two-step to the right or left, trays high, drinks low, swaying or dodging–doing the dance.
I see this same team work in my story characters when the stakes are high and the chips are down!
Yesterday, Frankie was late. The Halfling twins, Rolf and Dolf, weren’t there on time either… I had to create the salon dance until the Calvary arrived.
What happens if and when the system breaks down? This is what sets up this story…Delia’s goal to fix Frankie!
Sick of juggling schedules because of Frankie’s curse, Delia spends her time in the next Luna de la Mar adventure with her best friends Carrie and Jen hunting down the witch who was dumb enough to trust the alpha Werewolf with her heart. While Delia struggles with answers to her own dilemma: What is she? She re-discovers, beneath the scales, fur, and fangs of her friends and foes, everyone suffers the same great pain when loving and losing. You love who you love! Even if you know from the start it will cause you pain. Is that what awaits our heroine?
#shifters #fairies #werewolves #romantic #comedy #witches #charms #magic #love #ghost #mermaid #siren #dragon #vampires #atlantis #poseidon #comingofage #soulmates
Every day I get up with a list of stuff I’m going to blog about…and every day I get slammed when I open my email or turn on the news. I should probably tackle the blog before my good thoughts are tsunamied. Today was one of those days when one thing led to another and another until I was so far away from my immediate goals I couldn’t see or recall them…I think I’ve caught up and actually managed to do a bunch of other things in the process…I haven’t gotten dressed yet, and may not at this rate.
In any case I have a very busy schedule. Three of my back list books are with a new publisher. That’s exciting! And I’m adding a new pseudonym to this website and separating my super erotic romance from my other romance writing. To use an example, Hot Highland Fling is a romance but the story is about the sexual journey of the heroine. I’m going to publish those under author name E.L. March so you know what to expect. they don’t come with a warning but I don’t want my erotic romance disappointed if the book they pick up with my name on the cover is on the tamer side. Eliza March will still write sizzling romance, but the story won’t revolve around the sex, like Witch of Air and Fire where the lives of the characters depend on the consummation to break a spell.
Next week, if I can get back here, I’d like to share a few new works coming up this year. The work in progress is A Witch’s Tale from the As the Chair Turns series. Frankie and Delia are still trading quips while Aelric is just trying to keep his intended alive. I’m hoping for a late spring release … a cover will be coming soon! Read the some Hair of the WERE reviews. One click to all sites: Hair of the WERE
Don’t we all? Surprise below. Wait for it. here’s some information on where to buy and follow the books if you like them. All three books are sequential in the Luna de la Mar Salon & Spa series, so it’s best if you read them in order but these are shown below, left to right as #3, #2, #1
If you do happen to read them out of sequence, I tried to keep each story mildly independent of the others. My recommendation? Read them in order. Also follow this blog and my special Luna de la Mar page on Facebook
As the Chair Turns is a location on Facebook where you can meet all the authors who will be joining the writing team thi coming year. be the first to hang out with us and stay up to date on the latest characters in our Fantasy town in Florida.
Click HERE to go to my author page on Amazon and if you follow me, they will update you when my next book is released.
This salon and spa is more than you bargained for. . . not to mention the town.
All my books are also at most online retail locations and in most formats. If you can’t find them, contact me and I’ll find a link for you.
Drumroll please . . .
Now . . . A Holiday EXCLUSIVE excerpt:
I was reading spam today… Sometimes it sparks a thought. The company mentioned how authors spend so much time writing their books only to see them buried beneath tons of virtual books online.
https://www.books2read.com/u/bxZl8J
Frankly, I remember walking into libraries and bookstores experiencing the smell of the pulp and ink, and that overwhelming sensation of “so many books–so little time.” Where to begin…
I worked in a library in college and learned how to search and whittle down my preferences, yet still the numbers and varieties of books are vast and countless.
I love books… especially tangible books. But having a library or bookstore in the palm of my hand…think of it, the knowledge of lifetimes is available electronically to anyone with an e-reader… How does one choose from all those books?
Reviewers, you see how you matter, right? Search engine developers think of your responsibilities. Librarians listed books according to categories and the N.Y. Times best seller list depended on publishers and reviewers to promote the books. Well, money still talks. Darn it.
But hope springs eternal someone once said. Every once in awhile an unknown book or author will break through the millions of new titles and rise to the top of the lists. A miracle of discovery, a gift for readers of that genre.
You know the accidental yet totally deserved success stories I’m talking about. The books that explode out of nowhere by unknown authors who have struggled with invisibility, disinterested agents, editors, and publishers.
It’s about the money. You know that and I know that.
“That isn’t what readers want.”
“We aren’t publishing that now.”
“No money in that genre.”
“It may come back but not now.”
Self publishing solved the publishing issue but money seems to be the only other way to solve the invisibility issue…or is it?
When you find that gem of a read, the one that puts a smile on your lips at the very first page and grips you to the very last, share it. Rave about it to the world, please. Word of mouth is still the best way of advertising.
FB page, if you haven’t heard from me then it’s because I’m writing, which is what I’m supposed to do. Instagram, I love you but my productivity is gaged by words I write in a book not about what I’m eating. Twitter, hello did anyone notice when I stopped by? Nope… gone in a blink of an eye, right?
I blog when I have something to say or share because it’s so much more personal. You can read it whenever you want or not… Sometimes social media is entertainment and sometimes it’s connecting with the world because I’ve been writing alone in an empty house with no human contact. Not entirely true. My husband comes by and asks me where the bread is, my son wants to know where his keys are, the tv keeps telling me what’s going on in the world in spite of my reluctance to participate. I use social media to watch animals and comedy and happy stories about heroes and heroines who are kind to others. I write romance the ultimate escapism in books and movies.
Social media, you are adding too much realism into my fantasy life. Commercials, politics, news, weather, education, shopping… the list goes on. Too much everything!
If y’all don’t mind, I’m going to go write a book. Why don’t you go read one of mine and I won’t have to remind you on FB that I’ve just published the third book in my series. Many people are reading it and liking it. You too can escape into an unrealistic, impossibly funny, fantasy world for a few hours.
Mayhem, Magic, and Mistletoe by me, Eliza March.
You know where to find my books?
Right! On Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Apple Book, just about anywhere you want.
The Draft2Digital universal link below will take you there.
https://www.books2read.com/u/bxZl8J
This will help you find my recent book.
After working all my life with five children and a husband who liked to eat but had no imagination for cooking I came up with necessary ways around tedious meal preps without skimping on taste or appeal.
This is one of those meals.
Ingredients:
I don’t know about you but I don’t eat the Chinese white rice I get with my Chinese food order. I love fried rice so I usually order that. What can you do with the white rice? I began freezing it. One day I was out of rice when I thought to make stuffed peppers, then I remembered my stash in the freezer. I defrosted it and mixed it with my chopped meat, added two eggs, seasonings (oregano, basil, pepper, sauteed onions and garlic), four ounces of the canned tomato sauce, and a little parmesan cheese…blending well. Wash and cut the peppers in half, lengthwise, and clean out the seeds then stuff them with the meat mixture. Put them in a glass casserole dish and press a chunk or two of mozzarella cheese into the middle of the meat and rice mixture. Finally, pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the top of them., cover with aluminum foil and cook in a preheated 350 degree oven for forty-five minutes. Between prep and cook time this one dish meal is ready to eat with a red or white wine in under an hour.
Dialogue Tags
I have a love/hate relationship with dialogue in general: I love reading it when it’s written well.
When I’m writing it, I don’t want to pause during the mental conversations that my characters are engaged in long enough to add tags or description. Hey, the conversation is in progress–no interruptions allowed, except from the characters. But without narrative something is lacking. Long dialogue passages frustrate and leave me unsatisfied. I’m frustrated reading scenes when I can’t figure out who is speaking, or being unable to identify where or when the dialogue is taking place.
When I’m reading scenes, including dialogue, I want to be in the moment, but it takes precise design to create clarity. Who is speaking? What sort of words do the characters use? How high pitched or deep is the character’s voice? Where are the characters? What does the location feel like? Look like? Smell like? Sound like? How are the characters moving? Acting? Gesturing? What is the point of view character thinking? When a scene can draw all that together…now that is a dialogue scene I want to read.
Things to check:
He saids/she saids may be necessary to keep from confusing the reader, especially when there are more than two characters. Name them or characterize them. Characterizing is a way of defining a character with an accent, favorite movement, affectation, or phrase. Always read through your dialogue to ensure the flow is clear, readable, understandable, and that it makes sense. Make certain a response isn’t too far from the original question or comment.
Mixing narrative with dialogue? Wonderful. Be careful not to interrupt too much of the interactive dialogue. Keep narrative limited to short descriptive actions until there is a natural breaking point to add more detailed narrative or deep point of view. Then when appropriate, begin interactive dialogue again.
So August is well established and I need to make a mark to claim 2018! This could be it…
I’m looking at houses while waiting for a buyer for my place. God help me, yesterday I wanted to establish a buyer application. Title it: Are you qualified to buy this home?
Will you appreciate the trees.? Allow the frogs and lizards and bunnies to live unmolested?
The concerns go on and on. At what point did my relationship with this property turn from being a landowner to being the caretaker? A steward?
Can you risk selling your memories to a stranger who may not appreciate them? A tree you planted in memory of a birth? A bush to commemorate an anniversary? The house you can change but the living things here on this land depend on me to protect them. I respect their lives and independence so much that when we added on to the house, I moved the trees. They are thirty years older and much larger than they once were but they are my friends. I hope I find a buyer who will appreciate their cooling shade and constant presence.