Tag Archive for: California’s Central Coast

Saying Goodbye and Planning for the Future

/in /by

Hi Gang,
I’m turning in my Stiletto heels with this post. The amount of writing and promo and releasing and of course, the day job, has caused me to cry uncle.

If you don’t know, I have two series – The Tourist Trap and the new Cat Latimer Mystery series that releases to book stores in September 2016. I have the lovely cover, but I’ve been sworn to secrecy until my publisher does a cover reveal. So watch for that coming up.

I hate not doing things well, and I’m struggling to get everything on my list completed. So I’ve been contemplating what I can juggle. I’ll be focusing my blogging on my website – www.lynncahoon.com
Stop by soon. There’s a gooey butter cake recipe that was the hit of the Thanksgiving table this year.

Anyway, I wanted to leave you with my favorite time management techniques since it’s almost time to set new goals (or resolutions) for 2016.

#5 – List out what you HAVE to do. Set these deadlines in ink on your 2016 planner. What? You don’t have a planner? Get one. Digital or paper (I still love my paper), a planner is an easy way to set reachable goals each month and adjust when emergencies happen.

#4 – Set annual goals – Want to save money? Set a yearly goal, then work at it each month. You’ll be surprised how fast those dollars add up if your consistent. Same with word count. You don’t write a 100K novel in a week. (Or at least I don’t, but I hear rumors it’s been done.) You write it by getting your daily word count done every day. 500 words a day equals  176,000 words in a year. Or a novel plus two weeks of vacation time.

#3 – Divide your goals into month’s targets. It takes me just about two months to write a cozy. A little less to write a contemporary series size romance.  I know what I’m writing all of 2016 and had to move some of my want-to-write projects to 2017. A successful author early in my career told me they had a spreadsheet for the next five years on what they were writing. Now that I’m contracted, I understand the necessity of her process.

#2 – Make a weekly to do list – I have a list I write in my planner each week, filling in the days with appointments or book related activities. This week, I’m attending my critique group, so my word count for that day will be slim to none, but I can adjust to other days. Planning to reach goals during the week gives you the flexibility and accountability.

#1 – Do one thing today before 11 am that moves you toward your goal. Just one thing. Rinse and repeat tomorrow.

I hope that helps you take your dreams and turn them into reality.  I’ve enjoyed my time here with the Stiletto Gang and I’m sure I’ll see many of you out there on the web. Thank you for being part of my virtual family.

Lynn

Going Fallow…

/in /by

Unplanted, unseeded, unsown, bare, empty, seedless…
Uncreative, unproductive, barren, idle, inactive…
Driving out to the in-laws place for Christmas dinner, we
saw a lot of fallow land. Crops harvested and the land let sit until spring
plowing. I’m feeling a lot like those forgotten fields.
I wrote three books, two novellas, and a handful of shorts
for 2013. And a whole lot of blogs, not just a peck but a bushel or two,
keeping up the farm imagery. So this week, as I’m off for my holiday, I thought
I’d tidy up the year by finishing a romance that I’d started during the spring.
I’d set it and all my notes aside when the Tourist Trap mysteries were contracted
in April. 
Unfortunately, I’m being uncreative, unproductive, and
barren, at least for my word count. I’ve read my previous chapters trying to
get back into the story. I’ve pulled out my vision board for the story, placing
it next to my computer so I can see the images. Four days, 1062 words. Not my
best showing.
So, instead I’m switching gears and working on page proofs
for Guidebook
to Murder, Book 1 of the Tourist Trap Mysteries. I moved my books to a
new place. I’ve kind of cleaned my desk. And, to prove I’m utterly blocked, I’ve
not only kept up my exercise plan, I set up a budget for 2014.
Instead of fighting the lack of progress, I’m taking the
time to recharge by reading, watching movies, and spending time with my loved
one. I’ll try for words again tomorrow. Today, I have a book calling my name.
What are you doing this long winter’s night?
Lynn

From Idea to Finished Product

/in /by
One late night at a McDonalds, a group of writer friends sat
chatting after a book signing. As the evening wore on, the subject of how we
start a book came up. (Yes, writers are a wild sort. I even had chicken nuggets
to snack on while we talked.)
For me, it’s setting. My bull rider series is set in a
little fictional town based off a real small mountain town nestled in the Idaho
Mountains and the site of the first local rodeo of the season. I wrote a book
about a woman who didn’t know her witch heritage set in a bar that has an
uncanny resemblance of one where I spent many a night playing darts.  And I have a story floating in my head that
starts with a lonely dock in a secluded cove on a lake near McCall, Idaho. The
place just radiates magic.
It probably won’t surprise you that Guidebook to Murder
started with a picture–one I shared with you in my introductory post. I love the way the fence is part wood and part wire.  The cheerful yellow and white paint contrasting against the dead tree and overgrown yard.  The place spurred a question
or two – Who would live there? Why is such a cute house in such bad shape?

And when writers have questions, we fill in the blanks with story. 

I took this shot one spring break while I was vacationing at
my sister’s house in central coastal California over a decade ago.  This became the touch point for Miss Emily’s
house in Guidebook to Murder.  And now, the
entire town of South Cove has been built around the idea.
That one picture spurred the series.  But now I have a new picture to share for South Cove.  Guidebook to Murder, Book 1 of the Tourist Trap Series is available for pre-order
on fine digital stores everywhere. Can’t wait for April when you all
can visit South Cove too.
Which leads me to my question –do you read books because of the
setting?  
Lynn
Guidebook to Murder –
A Tourist Trap Mystery
Available – April 17th, 2014
In the gentle coastal town of South Cove, California, all
Jill Gardner wants is to keep her store–Coffee, Books, and More–open and
running. So why is she caught up in the business of murder?

When Jill’s elderly friend, Miss Emily, calls in a fit of
pique, she already knows the city council is trying to force Emily to sell her
dilapidated old house. But Emily’s gumption goes for naught when she dies
unexpectedly and leaves the house to Jill–along with all of her problems. .
.and her enemies. Convinced her friend was murdered, Jill is finding the list
of suspects longer than the list of repairs needed on the house. But Jill is
determined to uncover the culprit–especially if it gets her closer to South
Cove’s finest, Detective Greg King. Problem is, the killer knows she’s on the
case–and is determined to close the book on Jill permanently. . .

Back from a Weekend in San Luis Obispo

/in /by

I love the coast. I’m speaking of California’s Central Coast. We lived in a beach community for over twenty years before moving to our present home in the foothills of the Sierra (above the Central Valley of California). Where we live now, we have real seasons–not as extreme as what some of my fellow bloggers experience, but the trees do turn color (in Southern California it’s green all year around), it gets cold, rains, and once in awhile it snows and we can see snow all around us on the mountains during the winter. And spring is wonderful, though sometimes we only get two or three days before it’s summer–summer is hot and lasts forever.

San Luis Obispo is one of those places near the beach and it stays green all year long. They think it’s hot when it turns 80. Most of the time the weather is wonderful there. It was not on Sunday.

We traveled to San Luis Obispo to attend the Central Coast Author and Book Festival.
We stayed at the Apple Farm Inn, a place we’d always wanted to experience. Our room was small, but so darling, with a canopy bed, couch and chair, a desk, an armoire, a fake fireplace and a two fresh carnations in a vase hanging on the mirror in the bathroom. The Apple Farm has beautiful flowers everywhere. The restaurant has wonderful food and most of the wait staff are students at the nearby college.

Our first evening we met friends at an interesting restaurant that is by a creek and most of the tables are outdoors. It was chilly that night and I was afraid I would be too cold–but they had heaters all around and it was quite comfortable. Victoria Heckman Doust and her hubby were there–she’s a fellow mystery author and I hadn’t seen her since we roomed together in Anchorage AK at Bouchercon. Karen Kavanaugh is also a mystery author and a publisher and she’s been a good friend for a long while. Needless to say, besides having a wonderful meal, the conversation was great.

The next morning, we arrived at the Central Coast Book and Author Festival about 8:30and found out our assigned spot. We were situated between the Central Coast Sisters in Crime booth and Madeline Gornell’s booth, another mystery writer and friend.

People started wandering by almost immediately. It looked like it would be a great day. Unfortunately, a chilly wind began to blow. It blew so hard it turned some of the umbrellas we all had over our table upside down. Authors’ decorations blew away. Picture frames fell over and glass broke. The wind seem to chase some of the interested people away too.

Oh, we all sold some books, but not as many if the weather had been a bit more cooperative. Despite all that, I felt the weekend was a success. A reader who bought a book from me at a book fest a couple of weeks ago, found me to get the next one in the series. I met a lot of people, handed out cards, talked about my books and visited with friends.

I have one more outdoor festival coming up in two weeks, the Springville Apple Festival. It’s a two day affair and almost in my back yard. We’ll be sleeping at home. I do hope the weather is a bit more cooperative.

For the writers who read this, what book selling venture did you attend that didn’t quite go the way you hoped for?

Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com