New Event in La Verne, California!

Exciting news for you southern Californians! The ever-fabulous Sophie Jordan (Firelight) and I will be signing at Mrs. Nelson's Toy & Book Shop in La Verne, CA, next Thursday, April 7th at 5:00pm. Find out more about the event on Mrs. Nelson's website. If you're on the northeast side of Los Angeles (or are willing to drive there) we'd love to see you!

We're both supposed to be talking about our latest books, but I bet we end up sharing info about our upcoming releases (Fins Are Forever, Vanish, and Sweet Venom). I'm just saying.

And, because I can't hear La Verne without zipping back to childhood reruns, here are the opening credits of Laverne & Shirley.

Hugs,
TLC

Project 365: Days 61-75

Fifth installment of my picture-a-day project.

And links to the full-size images...

• Day 61: Ceiling Fan
• Day 62: Swedish Goddesses
• Day 63: Froggy Pot
• Day 64: Pre-Trip Post-It
• Day 65: Frozen Fire Pit
• Day 66: Zoom in on Fur
• Day 67: Birthday Cake Pop
• Day 68: Lamp Leg
• Day 69: Deadbolt
• Day 70: Pretty Purple Flowers
• Day 71: Dandelion in Seed
• Day 72: Pen and Pencil Tips
• Day 73: Lichen on Bark
• Day 74: Sunshine on Daisy
• Day 75: Sleepy Daisy

Hugs,
TLC

Project 365: Days 46-60

Foruth installment of my picture-a-day project.

And links to full-size images...

• Day 46: Bricks at Louie's
• Day 47: Textured Blinds
• Day 48: Mushroom and Onion Gnocchi
• Day 49: Peace, Love, and Water Bottles
• Day 50: Laundry Day
• Day 51: Vegan Blueberry Muffins
• Day 52: Thai Chopped Salad
• Day 53: Cabinet Knob
• Day 54: Clouds at Sunset
• Day 55: Trees That Sparkle
• Day 56: Cirque du Coffee
• Day 57: Summer Sun (Hat)
• Day 58: Glass Menagerie
• Day 59: 2314
• Day 60: Porch Light

Hugs,
TLC

One More Question Answered: Movies

The one question that nobody asked here on the blog, but that I get quite a lot via email, is about turning my books into movies. It ranges from "Is there going to be a movie of this book?" to "You should totally turn this book into a movie. Why aren't you?"

Today will be an answer in two parts.

Part the first: Will there be a movie?

At this time, there are no plans to make any of my books into movies or TV shows. Oh. My. Gods. was optioned for television for a couple of years, but the production company didn't renew the option last time it came up, so right now none of my books are being considered for production.

Part the second: How a book becomes a movie.

If I could personally turn my books into movies, trust me, I would. I'd be out in Hollywood right now having casting calls and hiring screenwriters and attaching directors and whatnot. But that's not how it works. It costs millions of dollars to produce a movie (even low budget indies cost hundreds of thousands) so it's not at all feasible for an author to do that.

Basically, although there are always exceptions, the process goes like this:

In order for a book to become a movie, it first has to be optioned by a production company. This means they buy time (usually a year to 18 months) to think about turning the book into a movie. They talk about it, probably pitch it to stars to see if anyone would be interested in the roles, hire a screenwriter maybe. Anything short of actually filming.

There are huge contracts involved (usually hammered out at the option stage) that includes what percentage the author will get of the gross or net profits and where they get credit and consultation fees and a million other details. The contract stage with the Oh. My. Gods. option took several months. No joke.

If they decide to actually film the movie, then they have to buy the rights. This is for significantly more money than the option. Once they buy the rights, then they have the right to start filming.

That doesn't mean they will start filming. I know tons of authors have sold their rights, only to have the project stall because someone got fired or someone with a very different vision for the production company got hired or the audience demand for that kind of movie changed or there was a blue moon on a Sunday (aka who knows why?).

Basically, a lot of stars and planets have to line up in just the right order on just the right day when everyone's had their morning coffee in order for a book to turn into a movie.

So, no, at the moment, none of my books are being produced. But the stars could realign at any moment. We'll just have to wait an see.

Hugs,
TLC

Your Questions Answered (Part Two)

How much do we have to beg for there to be a third Oh. My. Gods. book?

• Like I said on Friday, it's not totally within my control. BUT what is totally within my control is SHORT STORIES. It's been a (long) while since I wrote one for the Oh. My. Gods. gang. Here's the deal: When the Oh. My. Gods. Facebook page gets 500 fans (we're at 230 right now) then I will post a new short story about NICOLE!

When will you start the Fins are Forever Splash Team?

• I haven't set a specific date yet (I'm kind of a procrastinator, if you hadn't noticed) and I still have a couple things to finish up with the Forgive My Fins Splash Team. I'm going to say ... late April. I'm traveling until the 18th and I'll probably get everything settled and ready to get when I get back. Remember, first dibs goes to existing Splash Team members, second to NEWSLETTER subscribers, and then finally the general public.

Will the Splash Team be opened internationally anytime soon? I'd love to! It would be great that your books were available in more languages. I'm still studying translation but if I was working professionally on it I'd die to translate your books into spanish and promote them!

• Sigh. I really want to set one up but I just haven't had the time. BUT if there is an international fan (or two or five) who would be interested in helping me set up and run one then email me and we'll talk!

I was wondering what was going on with the forum? its been down for a while, is something special happening or something?

• I killed it. Not on purpose, it was more like roadkill. (I won't go into the boring computer nerd details, but I was trying to add something new to my website and I think I accidentally deleted the whole thing--it's such a mess that I don't even know if it's still there or not.) Anyway, bottom line is it's not coming back right away. I'm in the process of moving, upgrading, and redesigning my site (with way more awesome per byte) and when that goes up there will also be a shiny new awesomer forum.

What got you interested in Greek mythology?

• I don't know. I've loved Greek myth and ancient cultures (Greece, Rome, Egypt, Maya, Inca, etc) for as long as I can remember.

When can we expect an excerpt from Sweet Venom?

• Um... Okay, I'm going to be super mean here. The release is still such a long time away and I really want the buzz to build. So I will post the excerpt of Sweet Venom when the Sweet Venom Facebook page gets 1000 fans (currently at 142). So get all your friends who read to like the page and we'll get there sooner. (I'll post by August 1st no matter what though, so don't panic.)

I'd love to hear more about your writing process--what you do when you get distracted and how you get yourself back on track--is it sheer will-power?

• It is equal parts willpower and deadlines. Okay, it's mostly deadlines. Even before I was published I used external deadlines to force me to finish books. I finished my first two manuscripts (Summer Sapphire and Eye Candy) because I had entered them in RWA's Golden Heart contest, which required completed manuscripts. I finished the next two manuscripts (Straight Stalk and Oh. My. Gods.) because I had pitched them to agents who requested the full book. So I might not be the best example, but getting deadlines that are dependent on something other than just me is my key to staying on track.

also, before you were talking about doing another serial after Eye Candy--was the second unpublished novel Straight Stalk?--or is there more to come????

• It was (is?) Straight Stalk. I decided to send it straight to ebook instead of serializing it. (Partly because of ALL the whining about waiting for chapters--kidding, sort of--and partly because it was just easier.) And I'm considering writing the stories of the other two girls in the chick lit books, Fiona and Cassie, but those would probably be straight to ebook, too. We'll see. If the first two sell well enough I'll write others. :)

can u plz give us a sneak peek of your secret writing???

• Hmmm.... I'd never thought of doing that. I don't want to jinx the projects by letting them out before their ready, but I'll think about it.

By the way when do we find out who won the fins are forever contest?

• April 18th (same as the Goodreads contest)

I never considered field guides before. Was there one you preferred over another, or not really?

• I used the Golden Field Guide Seashore Life a lot. And I have a laminated fold-up guide to Florida seashells that was really helpful, too. I'm very visual, so I like to use references with lots of pretty pictures and illustrations.

Your Questions Answered (Part One)

Wow, I got a lot of great questions from you guys. So many that I've decided to break the post into two. The first few questions will be answered today, and the rest on Monday. Here goes...

Have you toyed with the idea of writing another "Oh.My.Gods." book, where we'll get to know Nicole's lineage? Or maybe just writing another book where its still in that world of the "Oh.My.Gods." series?

• Yes, I've definitely toyed with the idea. Part of the reason I never revealed Nicole's heritage in the first two books is because I kind of expected there to be more (and also because she didn't tell me until I'd finished writing Goddess Boot Camp, but that's a whole other issue). Anyway, as of right now there are no plans for more books. That might change someday. Or I might find another way to share Nicole's story.

yeah sort of freaky, but when I scroll over your Kindle link to Eye Candy I hear jazz music?? It freaked me out and I was like ohmigosh where is that coming from. O_0 Silly question, I know.

• That is weird! It doesn't happen to me. Maybe you're special! Or maybe it was the Oscars autotune video I had posted. I was an autoplay and I couldn't figure out how to stop it.

Will you ever make bound copies of "Eye Candy"? I know this great self publishing website called CreateSpace...It's my fave book and I would love to have it forever!

• I haven't completely decided about this. Maybe. Maybe not. It's a little more effort to design the cover and insides of a printed book. I'm going to wait and see how the ebook does first.

Also when will the sequel be out about Lydia's friend?

• It's out now! Straight Stalk is up and available from Amazon, BN.com, and Smashwords. In brief, it's about Bethany Lange, a southern belle turned city boutique owner with a string of gay exes. She gets offered a consulting gig on a gay makeover show. When one of the cast members turns out to be her latest ex, she's determined to prove that this one is straight, even if she has to stalk him to succeed.

Will the short story of how Quince met Lily ever be posted on your blog? (I already bought the hardcover so it would be silly of me to buy the paperback...)

• I'm waiting to hear from my publisher about this. Hopefully, even if I can just out and out post it on my website, I'll be able to do some sort of secret download code or something for every who already has the hardcover. (I promise, you'll get it somehow!)

What are all the secret projects and what is the faerie short story? The short story sounds amazing!

• The Secret Projects are uncontracted books (and one screenplay) I'm working on. The reason they're secret is because I don't know if they will ever get published. I'm hopeful, but nothing's final until it's final. And the reason I put the wordcount tracker on my blog is so that I'm kind of publicly accountable for finishing them, since I don't have a publisher's deadline or anything.
• The faerie short story, called "When Magic Sleeps", will be in the Wicked Pretty Things anthology this September. It's about a dark fae prince who must turn into an owl for one day each month, and he always spends that day in a tree outside the room of a human girl. Only she's a little more than she seems and one night, when the magic sleeps, everything changes.

Why fantasy? What got you interested in writing this style? I know why I like them, but I wonder if you like the style, world or what?

• I never really consciously decided to write fantasy. I'd been writing historical romances and chick lit, and I read tons of fantasy and paranormal romance, but I just wasn't writing it. Then, one day, I got The Idea. I was playing around with TV show titles (while writing Straight Stalk, actually) and came up with Growing Up Godly (the working title for Oh. My. Gods.). In which someone was obviously growing up (making it a YA) and someone was obviously godly. Since I don't write religious fiction, then godly had to mean something else. I'd always loved Greek mythology, so everything just seemed to fall into place.

I would love to know what, if any, research you did when creating the world your mermaids live in.

• I first came up with the idea for Forgive My Fins while I was in Florida for the summer. I spent a lot of time on the beach in the Gulf and some in Miami Beach, so a lot of the beachy research came from that. When I was building my underwater kingdom I relied heavily on field guides to seashore life, which have the common and scientific names for all sorts of plants and creatures. Periwinkle, Whelk, Dosinia, Tang, Calliope, Barnacle, Cidaris... they're all names of real ocean life. And the pictures were great for helping describe what the kingdom might look like, and what kind of plants and animals might live there.

Tune in Monday for the second part of Your Questions Answered.

Hugs,
TLC

Buzzing About Me

Our interview/catching up week continues over at Books, Boys, Buzz... and today the Buzz Girl du jour is me! Find out what I'm up to and what's going on and don't forget to comment for a chance to win our fabulous St. Patrick's Day prize!

Hugs,
TLC

Straight Stalk Is Available

With Eye Candy over (and available as an ebook Kindle, Nook, and from Smashwords in various formats.) I turned my attention to the next book in my chick lit series. I read through it to (hopefully) catch any typos and make sure the story still worked. Now I deem it ready for public consumption.

Straight Stalk is the story of Lydia's friend, Bethany Lange, a southern belle turned city boutique owner with a string of gay exes. She gets offered a consulting gig on a gay makeover show. When one of the cast members turns out to be her latest ex, she's determined to prove that this one is straight, even if she has to stalk him to succeed.

Just $.99 for Kindle, Nook, and from Smashwords in various formats.

Hugs,
TLC

Buzzing About Heather Davis

We're catching up with our Bee sisters over on Books, Boys, Buzz... this week. Today I shared what's new with Heather Davis and she'll post my latests update on Thursday. We're also giving away a beautiful set of green jewelery just in time for St. Parick's Day. All you have to do is comment to enter.

Hugs,
TLC

Gimme Your Questions

I realized the other day that I have never done a Questions post. (If you're wondering, a Questions post is one in which I answer your questions. Maybe it should be called an Answers post instead, but you get the idea.)

If you have any burning questions—about me, my books, writing, anything—ask it in comments below. Then later this week and/or early next I'll answer them. To the best of my ability of course.

Time to ask away...

Hugs,
TLC

Foreign Copies and News

Yesterday I got my author copies for the Swedish book club version of Goddess Boot Camp, called Den Gudomliga Prövningen in Swedish. The fun thing about foreign copies (besides not being able to read a word) is spotting differences from the original.

Big things like the cover...

...and the graphics for each chapter heading...

...and little things like footnotes to define Greek words used in the book.

In other foreign news, I'm happy to announce that my UK publisher, who releases Forgive My Fins in the UK this summer, will also be putting out Fins Are Forever. That makes the UK and Indonesia the first two foreign sales for the second Fins book.

Forgive My Fins has racked up a total of seven countries for foreign editions: the UK, Indonesia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, and Germany. Rest assured I'll post covers and pics as soon as I have them.

Hugs,
TLC