Lorraine Stephens

I woke up in a bad mood to begin with. Groggy, tired, I squinted at my cell phone as I staggered into the kitchen in search of some coffee and dog food. The kibble was for Sandie and Dolce, the coffee, well, for me. But I paused when I saw an email subject line from an old friend in the east:  “Sad news.” And I knew.

Lorraine was my first real editor. While that in itself is important, what was even more valuable was her belief in me as a writer. As an author. She loved my stories, praised them time after time. The edits were grueling; after all, these were my early romance novels and I was still developing my skills. But she once said, of StarCrossed Hearts, “I must have read this manuscript seven times by now, and I still love reading it. Your characters are like old friends of mine.”

She once pitched my book to John DeSalvo, who happened to be sitting at the same table during a romance book convention. For those not in-the-know, John is one of the most popular romance novel cover models ever–he’s appeared on over 1500 books! So John mentioned he was going to become a movie producer and was looking for a big, epic romance to film. Lorraine handed him a copy of my book. Bless her heart.

Lorraine was a founding partner of Wings ePress, which opened its publishing doors just ten years ago next month. StarCrossed Hearts was one of their four launch titles. I was quite proud of that fact. Later, I went to work for Wings, managing their cover art department. It was a lot of work for very little pay, but I enjoyed working with Lorraine, the other partners and staff members. And, of course, the authors, all realizing their dreams of becoming published.

We always worried about how hard Lorraine worked. She would often sit in her recliner until the wee hours, reading and editing on her Rocket eBook device. She was exhausted, but she almost never missed a deadline. She was firm but kind to her authors. She loved her dogs, her friends, her sons (not necessarily in that order). She spoke with a little bit of urgency, but with a Southern inflection I loved. Writing under the name Margaret B. Lawrence, Lorraine was also a fine author of romantic and historical suspense.

I’m sure the long hours and stress took its toll; a few years back, Lorraine had a debilitating stroke that left her unable to work like she had before. Regrettably, at first because I didn’t want to bother her, we lost touch. I’d been meaning to write her. Always thought I would, one day, talk to her again. But last night, her heart decided to take a well-deserved rest.

Lorraine, you did good, girl. You went after a dream and made it come true. You made it possible for hundreds of struggling writers to become published authors. I’ve seen their tears of joy upon getting that first copy, that first tangible evidence of their success. You accomplished that. All those nights of burning the midnight oil, all those aches and pains, the tired eyes, sacrifices—it was all worth it. And in case I didn’t say it enough before…

Thank you, LOLly. I miss you.

Our Lovely Tree

Happy New Year.

Have been thinking about what to say, but I’m so late I’m afraid all the good topics have already been written. And it’s already the 4^th; folks are probably DONE hearing about how bad the ending of LOST was, how sad it was when so-and-so passed away, how shocking it was to see Miley sucking on a bong. Okay, maybe not so shocking, that.

And the year to come? My plans? I have plenty. In the writing arena, I’ve made some decisions concerning my backlist, which has been just sort of sitting without much support from me. These three books are going to get a minor makeover and be re-released under my own publishing byline by this spring. New edits, new covers, new prices. I mean, why not?

Becoming a publisher means I can publish some other things, too, experimental works and some shorts for a couple of

Great Room Ready for Drywall

new authors just wanting to dip a toe in the water. I’ll need an editor or two, and some help with the cover art. Cover art must be first rate, it’s the very first impression and if it’s shoddy or amateur, no level of quality in the book will make a difference.

That being said, my books with Echelon (CAPE SEDUCTION, POINT SURRENDER) will stay with Echelon. I have no desire to move them, and will continue to promote them alongside my newly released backlist work. If I’m right, all will benefit. I will focus heavily on ebooks this year (as if I haven’t for twelve years already!), although with the help of sites like Amazon’s CreateSpace I can re-release my older books in paperback as well. I’m glad for that, for those people still digging in about paper.

Once I reach a level of completion with this project, I’ll be able to resume work on my next lighthouse mystery. ANGEL’S GATE is started, but I felt it was heading toward a proverbial cul-de-sac and I need to back up and take a turn. I’m hoping to be able to convince the PTB to let me inside the real Angel’s Gate Lighthouse in Los Angeles Harbor. I just need to meet the right person!

Upcoming:

On January 22^nd, I’ll be speaking at the Blanchard Community Library in Santa Paula, California. The topic? Lighthouses, of course! Specifically, California’s lighthouses, and how they helped shape our history (it is California history month, after all.) I will focus on a few specific beacons, then segue into those that inspired my work. Really looking forward to this event.

Considering Romantic Times Convention on April 8 at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. Pricy, but lots of fun. Will advise.

April 30/May 1, in addition to my yearly stint signing with Sisters in Crime/LA, I’m joining a small consortium of authors in a booth at the L.A. Times Festival of Books, this year being held at the University of Southern California. I hope UCLA fans won’t stay away!

The cabin in the mountains is coming along nicely! Should be done late February. I can’t wait to hunker down with my books and hot toddy before a roaring fire…

Outgoing:

Over the holidays, my niece and I took a day off and drove up to Santa Barbara for lunch. To our astonishment, both Barnes and Noble and Border’s were selling out their inventories, both closing their doors on December 31^st. These stores are across the street from each other. I guess Santa Barbara book buyers will have to turn to the web. And ebooks?

Speaking of those minute miracles, I am rapidly filling up the new COLOR NOOK my husband bought me for Christmas! Man, do I love this device. I’ve always been somewhat of a gadget person, but this thing is fab. Does almost all that an iPad does – for half the money. I’ve loaded it up with songs, photos, books – I can do a crossword puzzle, check Facebook, write an email and edit my latest manuscript – and I can do it in the dark!

Follow up:

Further to my “Long Lost Relatives” post, I was contacted by my newly discovered cousin’s ex-wife. I wrote her back, giving her all the info I had and the one photo from my website. She has yet to respond, but I can wait. It’s been my whole life, after all.

So a few words.

Connor Davian

My delightful little grandson was born 4 weeks ago today. He’s already playing Scrabble and longboarding down the street. Well, maybe not. But he’s holding his bitty head up now and again! Little sweetie. My dear son and dearest DIL are settling in to the routine. Her wonderful parents are visiting from Singapore. All good.

Our cabin seems to be constructing itself right before our amazed eyes. Might be occupied by mid January (?) (!)  There is snow up there now, but the roof is on and the windows are installed. All good.

Thanksgiving was super good. I brined the turkey for the first time. Made wonderful gravy-for the first time. Daughter made chipotle mashed sweet potatoes that were spicy and yum. Lotsa work, lotsa fun, very thankful and all good.

On the down:  My 2 month old Kodak EasyShare broke. I have to mail it to Kodak, at my expense, for repair.

I have been summoned for Jury Service at the U.S. District (Fed) Court in downtown Los Angeles. If called, I will have to board a bus at 6:30 am tomorrow and ride for 1.25 hours to the courthouse, then repeat after 5 pm to come home. I am stressing beyond belief. Why? I don’t know. Perhaps it’s a phase in my life.  A few years ago it wouldn’t have bothered me much. But now, I’m a wreck. And I have to be on-call for 2 weeks. Bleh.

Did you know that Grand Jury appointments last for 6 or 12 months? Yep, you have to go once a month for the duration. Somebody hand me a Tums?

PS – I’m supposed to remind everyone that POINT SURRENDER is still on sale at Amazon & BN.com! Just 99 cents for your reading pleasure…

May I have a drum roll please? Contest time! Jeepers, I had a lot of entrants. Have written all the names down on tiny fortune-cookie-sized papers and folded them up. Have dropped them into the beautiful ceramic bowl my son made in high school. Have stirred them. Have woken my teenaged daughter from her after-school nap and made her dip her fingers into the bowl. Draw one please?

But wait! No, I’m thinking I’m feeling very generous today. Pick THREE. Yes, dear, pull out three and then go back to bed.

WINNER #3 – DEIDRE DURANCE

WINNER #2 – CAITE MAIRE

and (drum roll quickens, ascends, ceases!)

WINNER #1 – SUSAN GRISCOM! Susan, you’ve won your choice of a $25 giftie card from everybody’s favorite big box book bin, Barnes & Noble… or 5 ebooks of your choice from Echelon Press!!

Deidre and Caite each win a copy of one of my books!

Well done, bloggers!!

And thanks ever so much to Karen for hosting me today! In the words of our immortal governator, “I’ll be back!”

Nonetheless, I embark on another sort of tour Monday, where I will begin my “trip” with author Sean Hayden! Sean has taken the time to ask me some new and interesting questions, and will share them on his blog at Sean Hayden’s blog.  Do stop by!

Same day, I’m guesting at The Romance Studio, talking about whether books with lotsa sex and lust sell better than those considered “sweet” = plot that suggests intimate relations but doesn’t give the play-by-play. Help me out with your comments.

Don’t forget about the contest! All you have to do is read the CAPE SEDUCTION excerpt and leave me a relative comment—you’ll be in the drawing for FIVE Echelon Press eBooks of your choice, downloaded onto a really cool 2GB flash drive! (Or a $25 gift card to B&N, your choice.) Drawing will be on my last blog tour stop.

To make this more interesting, you’ll get an additional chance to win for every comment you leave at my tour stops! Whoa! Dude! So here’s the sched:

Monday, Aug 30:  Sean Hayden’s Blog

Monday, Aug 30:  The Romance Studio Blog

Tuesday, Aug 31:  Legendary Lighthouse

Wednesday, Sept 1:  Enjoying the Waves

Thursday, Sept 2:  Beth Fish Reads

Monday, Sept 6:  JFHilborne’s Blog

Tuesday, Sept 7: Mysteries and Margaritas

Wednesday, Sept 8:  A Writer’s Jumble

Thursday, Sept 9:  Lighthouse Musings

Friday, Sept 10:  Echelon Press

So, come on down!!

Why couldn’t you have a vampire in the Old West? Who said a sci-fi tale couldn’t also have paranormal elements? Crime thrillers with gay cops? Authors suddenly had the freedom to write what they wanted to write, not necessary what some big publisher’s marketing person thought was the next big craze in fiction.

Wonderful, right? Yes. Freedom is a good thing. However, there is one fact that should not be completely overlooked. Creating a multi-genre manuscript can whittle down the book’s broader appeal. The more genres crammed together, the narrower the slice of the populace that will like them all. This is akin to niche writing.

I’m bringing this up because I recently noticed something about my own work.

I write (what I call) romantic mystery, with paranormal (ghostly) elements. When I go to mystery festivals, I focus on the mystery surrounding CAPE SEDUCTION. When I’m among romance readers, of course I mention the romantic thread or subplot. But here’s the rub:  I’ve noticed that conventional mysteries have specific elements that readers look for. Police procedurals, amateur sleuths/cozies, noir, to name a few. My book doesn’t have any of that. It’s a mystery, because there is a murder, an unfolding story about who/what/why/where/how the murder occurred, but no cop, no sleuth (other than the female protag, who is not any kind of regular sleuth.) So I have trouble classifying this book in the mystery genre.

Now. I was recently invited to participate in an all day on-line book launch party at a popular romance reader site. What fun! There were around 12 romance authors participating. But as I watched the rotating cover art at the side of the screen, waiting for my cover to pass by, most of what I saw was fairly explicit sexual scenarios between men/women, and men/men. I’m talking lots of flesh, here. Groping. Garters, fishnets. Bare chests, a thumb tugging down the waistband of a pair of briefs. The excerpts, too, were pretty explicitly sexual (dare I say, racy?)

Now my book has sex, but it’s just a scene or two that happens between characters and moves the development along. It’s not the main thrust of the story. The readers, the visitors to the “party” virtually fanned themselves over the covers and excerpts, citing this one or that one as “hot!” Clearly, my book didn’t feel like playing with the others.

Don’t get me wrong: I have no problem with these books! They are P O P U L A R for a reason. I don’t often read them, but that’s just my preference.

I might add that being termed “paranormal” doesn’t always help a lot, either. If you list your book as paranormal, it’s thrown in with all the vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches, warlocks and various other-worldly creatures. So one must further classify “supernatural” and even then, weed it out from the tales about mediums, seers, and those with ESP! (I even hesitate to mention that now, so strong is the stigma attached to the word.)

So, what to do? I appreciate all comments and thoughts. For now, I will continue to look for my niche, which I thought was lighthouses. Oh, did I forget to mention the lighthouses?

Hollywood was wooing back the public with blockbusters like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo and The Three Musketeers. The beautiful people were “seen” at the Brown Derby and held their not-so-secret trysts at Chateau Marmont. They drove fishtail-finned Caddies and flew in the luxurious Douglas DC-6.

Darla Foster wanted to be in pictures. Just 21, she worked the circles, attached herself to the arm of any available actor with connections. On this night, March 20, 1948, one of her dreams came true as she sat at Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theatre watching Hollywood’s brightest accept their coveted Oscar statuettes. Later, at the Derby with her date, she met one of Tinsel Town’s favorite sons: the suave, slick headliner, Jordan Kent.

Darla’s life was about to take a sudden left turn as she found herself cast in Jordan’s next big film, about star-crossed lovers, a lighthouse and murder. Exciting fantasy, or true life?

CAPE SEDUCTION… available now for your reading pleasure!  BUY IT HERE:

My Planets?

So what’s going on in the world?

I’m feeling good. Like some positive vibes are at work, downloading in the background. Can’t really explain it. Planets aligning or some such malarkey. When I feel this way, I want to share it. So here, have a slice!

Been hard at work making decisions about my career, and am going to be delving into some new areas this year. Will be posting more about that later.

I’d love to hear from any newly converted ebook readers. The news this morning that Apple’s half million or so brand-new iPad owners downloaded a whopping 250,000 ebooks was exciting, especially to us 12 year plus veteran e-authors. What a showdown this is becoming! Devices and formats are facing off in a “High Noon” scenario, and I’m confused but loving it. Making darned sure all my books are offered in those most popular formats. I’ve always been pretty technologically sound, but even my head is doing the Linda Blair trick right now.

My website wants a new face. I really like the template/theme I’m currently using, but it doesn’t provide for some of the things I want to do in the future, so I’m prowling for a new one. Dreading and yet looking forward to the customization process. It will be my forth Word Press customized site, and I learn a lot more every time.

When I was in high school, our French teacher made us all get “pen pals” in France. The French students were far better at English, I’m afraid, than we were at their language, but it was lots of fun. Today, I have a new on-line pen pal in Wales. This delights me to no end. There is something incredibly special about sharing news with others so far away. Fortunately, my new friend speaks English, otherwise I might have trouble. Anybody know Welsh? LOL.

Will I buy an iPad? No, not now. Too expensive for me. Plus, you know that old advice about never buying a first-run anything. My niece is loving her nook, which is a whole lot more affordable, but of course, it’s “just” a reader. Thoughts?

• Small press month
• Women’s history month
• National Nutrition Month
• National Kidney Month
• American Red Cross Month.

See anything interesting yet? Maybe you’re not up to a whole month of anything, so consider this: it’s Read an ebook week! Yes, those annoying tree-huggers are back, admonishing you for still reading paper books! I’ll admit to reading both, although I prefer the “e” variety and have for many years. Do I have a dedicated ereader? Yes, and no. My ereader is the granddaddy of all ebook reading devices, the Rocket eBook, and it’s like 8 years old already. Heavy, clunky, but adorable.

On Monday, I noticed the woman on the next treadmill was jogging while reading a Kindle, placed on the magazine deck of her machine. She had to reach up every few seconds to press the spot that would turn the page as she ran. Very jazzy. Poor me, trying to read about Johnny Depp in Entertainment Weekly, while the overhead fan kept blowing the magazine’s leaves. Hrmph.

To celebrate REBW, my niece and I went to B & N yesterday and she scraped up $280 in cold, hard-earned cash (she’s 18) for a nook™ ereader. (Yes, it’s lower case. Go figure.) We were both so excited and spent quite a while playing with it later. While I am enamored with the upcoming Apple iPad, I am so not enamored with the $500+ price tag. So I’m going to wait a bit, get the feedback from my niece on the nook and see if I get a chance to test drive the iPad when it comes out. In the meantime, I’ll play with her nook. Say, look what she’s reading!

POINT SURRENDER is available for your nook, your Kindle, your Sony reader and even your Rocket eBook. Read it on your computer, your iPhone, your MACBook. Your Pocket PC, your Blackberry, your Palm Pilot. And even (shhh! – don’t tell everyone) available in dead-tree version! (On sale at B&N.com for $11.69!)

Happy Reading!