Dress up like a... book?

Halloween is coming! Do you love books? Do you need a costume? If your answers to both of these questions is, "Why yes!" I have four solutions for your literary Halloween. All the creative thought and shopping has been done for you. Just click the pics and read the books just in case (for any possible trick questions from fellow book fans-slash-trick or treaters.)

Let's start with something easy.

Daisy from The Great Gatsby.

All you have to get is a flapper dress. Fun, glamorous and an American classic? What could be better?

Fancy Nancy!

If you have kids, especially little girls (like I do) you know this precocious, oh-so fashionable character. I think it would be fun for a grown up to find her inner Fanciness with a red curly wig, a tiara, and a few fancy accessories.

 

Outlander

If you're a romance novel fan, or a historical fiction fan, you may be obsessed with Outlander, the books and the tv series.  Halloween is the perfect time to practice your Scottish burr with a glass of whisky and a young red-headed Scot (IYKWIM.)

If you're lucky enough to have a Jamie Fraser lookalike along for your hayride, you could dress him up in something like this:

A Claire Beauchamp Fraser costume may be a bit trickier, but a historical type dress plus a bit of plaid should do the trick.  Maybe carry a cellphone for that anachronistic, time-traveling touch.

Gone Girl

You loved the book, you loved/hated the ending (I loved it-but no spoilers here!), now you want to spread the love/hate on October 31.  This one's kind of tough, but here's what I'd do.

1. Recreate the Gone Girl missing poster, seen here.

 2. Hang around neck.

3. Add a disguise:

Those who are in the know will get it.  Those who don't know, well, it will give you an excuse to talk about books you love!

What are you dressing up for as Halloween? Will it involve a book character? What other book costumes have you seen or thought of?  Hit me up on Twitter, Facebook to talk about it and make sure you sign up for my newsletter.  Maybe I'll put my costume in there! (Maybe it will be one of these?)

It's Fall Y'all

I’m calling it. FALL. http://photos-b.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xpa1/1741049_1997988823675897_132302074_n.jpg

I know some of you in other parts of the world may not understand the seasonal uncertainty that we Texans have.  When the calendar says October and you’re still in flip flops and shorts and smacking mosquitos, it can be a bit confounding to the internal clock.

But I have a scarf on today, and I’ve got “closet change” on my weekly to-do list, the process wherein I pull out the knits and boots and long sleeves and box up the tanks and floaty skirts.  So that’s it. It’s Fall. Done. *mic drop*

And yes, I may still be smacking mosquitos at Thanksgiving dinner, but I’ll have boots and a scarf on, damn it.

TEXAS FALL TRADITIONS

So now that it’s fall, it’s time to share my favorite fall traditions.

1. Aggie Football – http://photos-b.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xaf1/10724904_772889306108089_1947678452_n.jpg We got to go down to College Station to soak up the Aggie/ Ole Miss game day atmosphere last weekend. A beer at a tailgate in Spence Park, a look at the new stadium remodel, and seeing the yell leaders and Aggie Band bring the football team into Kyle Field. There’s nothing better. (Ok, a WIN would be better, but I’m focusing on the positives, here.)
2. State Fair of Texas http://photos-g.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xfa1/10729349_1497252487223054_216507153_n.jpg Look at this guy. This is Big Tex and he's an icon here in Dallas. And this year, he’s telling everyone to wash their hands.  *Sigh* (Hopefully  incurable disease is not a new Texas tradition) My family spent a fun day at the fair, watching pig races, going to the car show, and eating fried foods.  My favorite? The Fletcher’s corny dog. Close second: fried collard greens from Chef Cassy’s. No pic because I ate them too fast.
3. Pumpkin Ok, this isn’t a Texas tradition. I just wanted to share my favorite pumpkin find this season – Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bar mix.It’s like a blondie with chocolate chips and pumpkin and spices. The PERFECT treat to enjoy with a cup of tea and a good book on a chilly 85 degree day.

I’d love to hear your favorite fall traditions in the comments or on Facebook  or Twitter.  Also, make sure you sign up for my newsletter!  I promise I’m only going to mail it out for the BIG IMPORTANT  BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS (hopefully soon! *crosses fingers*)

On Editing.

I just turned in the second pass of edits for the first of my Love & War in Dallas series.  When I finished, I realized that this is a very hard process to explain to people (husbands, children) who don't understand why other hypothetical writing people  can't focus on anything (e.g., laundry, personal hygiene) until edits are done. So I thought I'd try to illustrate the editing process from a writer's point of view, using the magic of a new technology that captures the fundamental nature of human experience (GIFs).

By the way, this story will be told in third person, deep POV.  If you don't know what that is, well, I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask.

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful writer, Regina Falange, just going about her daily life.

Then she gets an email from her editor, which is very exciting!

Or it could contain horrible news. So the beautiful writer is waylaid by some important procrastinating.

But finally, Regina finds the time to open the e-mail and remains completely calm even while faced with what looks like a Dexter Morgan crime scene.

First, Regina texts her  writer friends to let them know the good news!  They know exactly what to say.

Regina also lets everyone on Twitter know that she will be #editing. As always, Twitter is totally supportive.

After clearing her schedule, Regina sits down and gets ready to review her editor's notes. As with every good critique, Editor starts off with all that is right in the book.

Then she points out  more positives!

Then she makes a few teeny tiny suggestions to "polish" the document and get rid of the "rough edges."

Regina was calm and professional,

And decided to get started on the minor tweaks her editor suggested.

50,000 calories later, Regina was a little overwhelmed by the challenges presented by re-writing a jillion words.

But then... after some more of this:

And going down some wrong-way streets:

Things started clicking. Light bulbs started to, you know, shine and stuff.  And suddenly, Regina looked at her editor's suggestions with a fresh appreciation.

And while it was hard, grueling, difficult, challenging, backbreaking work to think of synonyms for every word in the document, Regina got excited by what was happening.

Regina tells herself that she knew what she was doing all along.

And all her writer friends agreed that they knew she could do it all along.

When she couldn't edit the hell out of that book anymore, she hit "send."

Regina felt invigorated by the whole, life-affirming process that reminded her why she wanted to write Happily Ever After stories to share with the world.

THE END.

Author's Note:

The above story is fictional and bears no resemblance to anyone, living or dead, and especially not me, Lindsay Emory, who is a competent, professional, chill writer chick who really, really loves editing especially because it makes her beloved novel 1000% better.

Also, if you caught it, the above verb tenses were switched on purpose. For art. And reasons, OK? Geez. Let it go, already.

On Serendipity and Sacred Voice

So many smarter and more astute people are posting their wrap-ups to RWA14. Some can even do it with Supernatural GIFs.  (Jennifer Armentrout is so full of win.)  If you follow my twitter you’ll see that

I LEARNED SO MUCH.

And I didn’t even learn what I went to learn.

Which is great.

I will explain.  I went to RWA nationals with the intention to learn everything I could about craft, to only take the workshops that taught the fundamentals and mechanics of writing. I looked at the workshop offerings and thought, “publicity, six figures, publishing, blah blah blah.”  Those other things were for people more advanced in a writing career than me.  Someone like me, a virtual unknown needs to write a damn good book. Or six.  Hence, the  focus on craft.

But then I got to San Antonio and I just started… following. Following the whispers, the advice, the serendipitous occasions. Following Julia Kelly. (Or did she follow me? We may never know).  And when I followed this mysterious  whispering wind, I found myself in the presence of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Sylvia Day, Julia Quinn, Bella Andre… the list goes on and freaking on. And sometimes those fabulous women would talk about craft (SEP’s exercises on character will stay with me for a long time) and sometimes they would say stunning  things like “Don’t write from a place of fear” (That was the ah-maz-ing Sarah Maclean) or “Stop fucking around and write” (that was the inimitable Nora Roberts. Seriously. Nora Roberts is a BAMF.)

I heard these inspiring writers talk about having no regrets, even when their careers were dead and no one believed in them. To them, a dead end only meant they got to scale the wall or throw their truck into four wheel drive and take it off road. They look back and are thankful for a bad contract or an unhelpful publisher because it pushed them to be better, be stronger, be more resilient.

I heard, “Be you.”

I heard, “Your voice is sacred.”

These are not messages women hear every day.

And these were the  messages I needed to hear.   Maybe they won’t help me write a damn good book or six.

But maybe they will.

Welcome to Texas, RWA!

For those that don't get the title, RWA = Romance Writers of America. Every year, they hold a national convention and this year it's in San Antonio, Texas! When I heard that last year, I told Hubs that I was going. San Antonio is, after all, just a short six hour drive down I-35. What could be more convenient?

So I'll be heading to RWA Nationals this week. I'm terrifiedly excited and nervously jittering. SO MANY WRITERS. One small Riverwalk. And margaritas. It's an introvert's nightmare and my every dream come true. *Takes steadying breath*

On our way home from our Great All-American Family Roadtrip a couple of days ago, I got the idea to make a Texas-themed playlist for all the writers descending on Texas this beautiful July. So here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNGDRL6jNuBbv_8FXYpmMHJNfsq7FTDIK

I tried to include some of my favorite Texas-themed songs, some of which are in the playlists for my Love & War in Dallas series. Or some of them are just by my favorite Texas artists. Not all of the Pistol Annies are from Texas, but Miranda Lambert is, and I thought "Hell on Heels" was a pretty good theme song for some (most?) of the ladies headed to RWA14.  And I stopped myself at a reasonable number of videos. I couldn't include all of Robert Earl Keen's albums, or all of the tracks on Lyle Lovett's Road to Ensenada  which might have been about his breakup with Julia Roberts and also helped me find myself again after a breakup (but not with Julia Roberts). Or all the songs I drank to in parties while single in college. And for some of my favorites, there aren't good videos on You Tube.

I wish RWA had asked my opinion and organized a real Texas country music concert for the conference.  It's not that I'm a huge country music fan - I listen to music like I read - I'm an omnivore.  But when you're in San Antonio, you need more than the Riverwalk and five or six margaritas to experience Texas. You have an opportunity to discover the soul of a nation and music can help you do that.

Since there will be no concert, pop my playlist on and get ready for San Antonio. If you're going to be at RWA, I'd love to meet you! I'll be the girl with the margarita, singing Willie Nelson songs.