Excerpt Month - IMMORTAL OUTLAW

Immortal Outlaw

When the sun goes down, the beast comes out.

For centuries he’s hidden in the woods. Now a maid has come to lead him out...

It’s been four centuries since Steinarr the Proud was cursed by a wicked sorceress—along with the rest of his Viking crew—to live for eternity as half man, half beast. By day Steinarr is like any other man—by night he is a lion. He has taken refuge in the woods of Nottinghamshire, England, and there he encounters two young travelers, Robin and Marian.

Painfully aware of the danger he presents when the moon rises, Steinarr initially refuses to help them search for the key to Robin's inheritance. Then a kiss from Marian awakens his desire. Driven to protect the maid he so desperately wants to possess, Steinarr joins their quest…while the sorceress Cwen gathers her dark magic to destroy them.

As a legend spreads of an outlaw in the woods, their band is joined by others. But it is Steinarr who has the most to gain and the most to lose—if he is ever to be free of the curse and free to love as a man…

Please enjoy this brief excerpt from Chapter 2 of Immortal Outlaw:

_____

It was amazing every beast in the forest wasn’t ringing their camp, thought Steinarr as he rode back the next morning. The aroma of toasting bread and cheese permeated the still air, and if he could smell it as a man, every creature within a league certainly had the scent. And it did smell wondrous good. By the time he reached the cave, his mouth was watering so much, he could barely order young Robin to finish loading up the rouncey.

“And good morning to you, too, my lord,” said Marian, handing him some bread and cheese without waiting for him to ask. She stood watching, bemused, as he gobbled it down and took a second piece. As the sharpness of his hunger eased, he looked around. “Are you two ready to go?”

“We will be, by the time you finish.” She grabbed the pail and dumped water over the dying fire. A cloud of steam boiled up, forcing Steinarr to step back. As it cleared, he saw her heading into the woods.

“Where are you going?” he called.

“The bushes, my lord, now that it is light. Unless you suggest I avoid them all day as well?” She glanced over her shoulder, giving him a bland gaze that made the blood rise in his neck. “Though God’s truth, I hope you do not, because I fear I could not manage it.”

She sailed off before he could form an answer, and behind him, the boy chuckled. “See? She does have a way of making a man realize he has no wits at all.”

A man? This puppy fancied himself a man? Keeping his opinions of Robin and his cousin to himself with difficulty, Steinarr set about saddling the stallion, carefully lining up the thickest parts of the pad to protect the raw place on the animal’s withers. Robin finished loading the rouncey and moved on to the mare, and by the time Marian reappeared, all three horses were ready. She grabbed her bundle and put its tie-rope over her shoulder as Robin swung up on the mare. He reached down to help her. “Up you come, Maud.”

She gave him a look that would curdle milk. “I think, Robin, that I will have better luck if you move her next to the boulder.”

“No need.” Steinarr stepped around the stallion, laced his fingers together, and stooped down. “Here.”

“Thank you, my lord.” As she raised her foot, her bundle slipped, pulling her off balance. She reached out to steady herself.

The sudden contact made Steinarr glance up. She was right there, so close he could feel her breath on his face, her hand gripping his shoulder as though she were comforting him. And, oh, how he needed the kind of comfort she could offer. Needed softness and smooth skin and the warmth of another human body. Needed a woman. This woman. Now. Her eyes, level with his because of the way he was bent, widened, and suddenly he was floating in their green depths, cool as a woodland pool on a summer’s day. All he had to do was drown himself in that pool, in her, and it would all be washed away, all the empty years. As if in a dream, he swayed toward her.

Somewhere far above, Robin cleared his throat. Marian blinked and jerked her hand away, and the connection between them snapped like spider silk. A sudden loneliness welled up at the loss, so thick it made Steinarr’s chest ache. He swallowed it back and worked to make his voice sound normal. “Let us try that again.”

She nodded, and he handed her up onto the mare without further trouble, though a pang of unreasoned envy twisted through him as she wrapped her arms around the boy’s waist. Steinarr let one hand linger on her foot, using that last fragment of contact, of warmth, to steady himself as he turned his attention to Robin, “I intend to move quickly. Keep up.”

_____

See the Video and read more of Immortal Outlaw at lisahendrix.com

Dog Days

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Current Project: IMMORTAL CHAMPION

Mood: Twitterific.

I love research. If I were ever to stop writing, it would be to do research professionally. So rather than just talking about research, I though I'd do some and put in all the links so you can follow along. Right now, this is just an intellectual exercise and I have no intention of using what I find. But then again, one of the Vikings in my Immortal Brotherhood is a war-dog...

It's been a long, hot summer here in the Pacific NW, the kind of weather Grammie used to call the dog days of Summer. So I decided to see what's up with that term.

According to my research source of first resort, Wikipedia, 'the phrase Dog Days or "the dog days of summer", Latin: Caniculae or Caniculares dies, refers to the hottest, most sultry days of summer.' I never stop with Wiki, btw, but it's a good start, and there are usually outside links at the bottom of each article. In this case, none of the links were all that useful, but one was to another Wiki page, and from *that* one, I found something good.

Some people assume the name comes from the way dogs lay about in the summer heat. The Oxford American Dictionary on my Mac even references that in the secondary definition, "a period of inactivity or sluggishness." But it turns out the ancients were thinking not of the family pet, but of the Dog Star, Sirius, named for the dog-headed Egyptian god

Osirus (not Harry Potter's godfather) . It was an important star because its annual conjunction with the Sun coincided with the critical Nile floods. Sirius also happens to be the brightest star in the heavens, so bright that the Romans actually believed it added to the summer heat, which reinforced the association of Dog Days and heat. (Curious About Astronomy)

Traditionally the Dog Days are the 20 days before and after the Sun/Sirius conjunction. Nowadays, that's roughly from July 5 to August 10 (northern hemisphere), but because of astronomical precession, it's changed over the years; in ancient times, it was somewhat later, more like mid/late-July to early September. (Wilstar). Whenever the Dog Days fell, however, they were thought to be foul times, "when the seas boiled, wine turned sour, dogs grew mad, and all creatures became languid, causing to man burning fevers, hysterics, and phrensies" (Clavis Calendarium, 1813, as quoted on Wiki). Up north in Sweden and Finland, they call this part of summer "the rotting time" because the food spoiled in the heat.

The term Dog Days has been used as a movie title, the name of a band, several song titles, and even a kid's book. Dicken's referenced them (as a single word, oddly enough) in describing Scrooge in A Christmas Carol,

He carried his own low temperature always about with him; he iced his office in the dogdays; and didn't thaw it one degree at Christmas.

Finally, while poking around, I found a little video called "Dog Days" by Florence and the Machine. Unfortunately, Flo disabled embedding, so you'll have to go look here.

So there you have an example of how I wander, finding odd bits and pieces here and there. And I never even got past the first page of Google search on this. Imagine if I'd really been serious (serious...snort) about the whole thing and you'll get a hint at why I turn out books so flippin' slowly.

So ultimately, this is about procrastination. Useful, intellectually stimulating procrastination, but procrastination nonetheless.

What's your favorite way to "work" without actually doing the work?

Trend, Schmend

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently working on:  IMMORTAL CHAMPION

Mood: Waxing philosophical (because it's better than waxing the floor)

Trend-setting in fashion has never been my thing. For that matter, neither has trend-following, at least not in a timely manner. Back in my HS and college days, if I started wearing something, you could be pretty sure the trend was already over. I was fortunate enough to make a friend or two along the way who could point me in the right direction 

and keep me from looking like a total dufus, but through most of my life I've avoided the whole problem by keeping to classic styles: blazers, skirt or pants, turtlenecks or oxford shirts. Toss in the occasional tailored dress—when I can find one with a waist that falls somewhere near mine instead of 5 inches too high—and you've got my closet.  [Wishing I look like The Hepburn...]

And yet in books, I've too often found myself trend-watching. I think the tendency comes out of my first sale. I was finishing up a medieval just as the bottom fell out of the medieval market. Then I had a chance at an editor appointment. The house had just launched a new line of western-set historicals, and I realized that the idea I had for a second medieval would work just as well in the American west. So I pitched that one and ended up selling it to that editor. I wrote another western, then faded away just as that particular trend (and my editor) did.

When I came back, my new editor was looking for contemporaries and paranormals. I had a couple of ideas floating around in the back of my head, so I wrote one of the latter (paranormal light, really) and then a couple of the former. And then I had family issues that took me away from writing again.

And came back to another new editor.

This time, I had an idea—a dream, really— that had nothing to do with what anyone was looking for. I LOVED this idea and the even bigger idea that grew out of it, and that's what I pitched, and the stars or the Muses or something were with me—or perhaps it was just my clear enthusiasm—and my editor loved it too.  As it happens, the idea touched on a trend that was current (paranormal) and on one that was due to come back and now has actually started to burgeon (historicals/medievals) to come 

up with a "paranormal historical romance." And for once I was out ahead of a trend.  Not setting it, perhaps, but not tagging along like your little sister, either.  At any rate, I wasn't trend-hunting, 'cause if I had been, I would undoubtedly have been the last onboard, just as I was the last girl in high school to put on hot pants. (Stop snickering, ladies.  I only weighed 120 pounds back then...)  [Anyone recognize Jo Ann Pflug, aka Lt. Dish from *M*A*S*H*?]

So what do you take away from this?  I don't know.  It wouldn't be "Write to trend." That first sale (Hostage Heart) came from an idea that I already had, and I merely tailored it to the trend. And it's not like a forced myself to write something I didn't like. I read westerns and still do, and the next one came to me easily (Drifter's Moon). 

But it also wouldn't be "Never write to trend." I generated the ideas for the next books (Razzle Dazzle, To Marry an Irish Rogue, and Runaway Bay) specifically because my editor was looking for those kinds of book. That doesn't mean I didn't enjoy writing them.  Those ideas came to me just as easily and flowed with just as much joy as that very first unsold medieval.  I always have a dozen or more sets of characters rolling around in my skull anyway, so it's easy to coax one or two up to the front to meet a need. Right now, I could easily drift off course on my Immortal Brotherhood series and write something utterly different. But I won't.

I guess the message is "Write the book you WANT to write." If your idea is unique and "weird" and a "tough sell" but you love it and can't imagine writing anything else, write it.  You probably have equal shots at being the one to set the trend or nose diving into the tank of anonymity. That's the risk you take. On the other hand, if you have a a couple of ideas that are equally attractive and one just happens to suit the trending market and you want to have a better chance at selling...well, why not write that one?  Just don't write a book you have no desire to write solely because it's a trend.  Unless, of course, you need the money and already have the sure sale.  Or if... 

Oh, what the heck.  Be bold. Write what you want, for whatever reason you want. Plenty of people have supported their families by writing a combination of books of the moment and books of their heart.  Just ask Charles Dickens and Mark Twain.

It's your life and your business. You get to run it how you want. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

[Think these Harajuku Girls worry about trends? Or do they just want to have fun?]

—————

BTW, the result of that dream I mentioned is The Immortal Brotherhood series, Book 2 of which, IMMORTAL OUTLAW, is coming out in about 5 weeks.  Excerpt goes up today at lisahendrix.com. Pop on over for a peek.

Demonstration of Personalized Stress Management

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently Working On: Interview for Rhapsody Book Club feature on IMMORTAL OUTLAW

Mood: Pensive and Impatient.

First a couple of definitions, sort of. Stress means several things, two of which are relevant to this discussion.  

There's the tension kind of stress, "the consequence of a failure to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether real or imagined." (Wikipedia)  That's the kind that everyone has been writing about so far, and which I experienced over the weekend as I drove 450 miles each way to look at colleges with three teenagers. Pity me.

And then there's the emphasis kind of stress, which, if applied correctly, can minimize that other kind.  If you stress the proper things in your life as a writer—set a rational schedule, invest in education and adequate tools, surround yourself with supportive people, set aside time to recharge your body and your imagination—you can put words on paper with fewer of those perceived threats that will generate stress.

Face it, we hit the wall as writers when we're behind in our work and running on empty. We can't think. Can't write. Panic sets in and makes it worse. Deadlines loom like the Ghost of Christmas Future, bony finger pointing straight at our souls. We sweat. We can't sleep. We're stressed.  All because we failed to find that balance Angie Fox mentioned. Because we didn't emphasize what was important.

And how do I know this? Because I have a history of failure to emphasize the correct things, of falling behind, of hitting the wall, of panic. I'm working on changing that, which is why this is a short post. Blogging is wonderful, and I love it (both reading posts and writing them), but it's not what I need to be doing right this moment. So to avoid further stress in my life, I'm going to make that choice, emphasize the important, and go finish those interview questions so I can send them off to my editor to be forwarded with plenty of time to spare. And then I'm going to bed, so that my brain is fully functional in the morning and I'm ready to write.

Correct choices. That's the key.  I'm making mine.

What choices can you make today that will lower your stress levels tomorrow?

Signings funny and not-so

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently Working On: Immortal Champion and losing 45 pounds

Mood: Exposed (see my new weight-loss blog, New Year, New Ass, and find out why). Also sad (see my regular blog for this one).

I have no funny signing stories of my own, so I'm going to tell one on Stella Cameron that I've heard her tell many times:

Some years ago, Stella was at a group signing in a mall in Washington state.  As per usual, she had set out a bowl of M&Ms by her spot and was merrily signing books when a nice-looking lady came up, picked up the bowl of M&Ms and...wait for it...dumped them into her purse. 

ALL of them.

In her PURSE!

Stella is a genteel English woman, and in her shock and dismay, said nothing at all as the woman walked off. When she recovered, she got more M&Ms, refilled the bowl, and continued signing books.

A little later, the same woman came sauntering back down the mall headed to her car, spotted the fresh M&Ms, and headed for the bowl.  Stella forgot she was a genteel English woman and dove across the table, snatching the M&Ms away just in the nick of time. The woman got huffy. 

With Stella.

Fail...

----

My personal story is a little less, um, amusing:

Years ago, I had a Saturday book signing on an island in Puget Sound which shall not be named in case the store owner is reading this (tho' I doubt the store is still open, and you'll see why).  This book signing had been set up for nearly three months. There had been several phone calls discussing the signing. All was set.  Then my husband was called out of town on business, so I hurriedly made arrangements with a friend on the same island to watch my then-3-year-old son during the signing. I drove 40 miles or so, took a ferry at some expense, then drove another 10 or 15 miles to the bookstore.

Where I found an old, wobbly card table and two books.

Two.  (Note:  at least they hadn't lost them, like they did Heather's)

No tablecloth. No chair. And no freaking ADVERTISING.

Yep, I had schlepped myself and my kid something like 60 car miles and a 40 minute/$6.50 ferry ride (that's 1994 dollars) to a bookstore where they thought two books made a signing. Thank goodness I had been forewarned about such occurrences. Thanks to advice from Debbie Macomber and Linda Lael Miller, I had, in the back of my car, a paper tablecloth, autographed copy stickers, and—the key to success—a dozen books.

I quickly covered the ugly table, made the store owner find me a chair and a not-too-ugly bowl, ran next door for a giant bag of M&Ms,  a la Stella, and proceeded to sell every available copy--basically one to every other person who happened to walk through the door that day.

These days, I travel with stand-up covers and posters, a real tablecloth sized for banquet tables, duct tape to tailor the tablecloth to a smaller table if needed, markers for sign-making, candy and an unbreakable but nice-looking bowl, stickers, promotional materials and giveaways (bookmarks, postcards, etc.), signing pens that don't bleed through the book paper, props according to book, various other things to make the table stand out and/or look nice, and at least a CASE of books, and usually a second case full of backlist books.

Always.  Always, always, always.

Fool me once, shame on you.  Fool me twice, shame on me.  

Stella taught me that. 

How about you?  What have you learned from a romance author about how to take care of/stand up for yourself?

Things that make me go Jingle-Jingle

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently working on: A Bailey's and Coffee

It's Christmas Day when this goes up, but 10 days earlier when I'm writing it. Despite the fact that I'm having my annual pre-Christmas Scrooge attack, there's no way I'm going to have my Christmas Day post be a list of things that make me go hmmm. So instead, I'm giving you my list of things that make me smile broadly, with an emphasis on the holidays.

Sleighbells.

Stockings on the mantle.

Snow flakes, real or paper.

Paper chains.

Popcorn chains, especially with cranberries.

Laughter.

Branches covered with ice and snow.

Bacon frying
Family ornaments from WWII.

Krusteaz Orange-Cranberry Muffins (our traditional Christmas morning feast)

Piles of wrapping paper with cats in them.

Lines of kids waiting to see Santa.

Family all around.

ZuZu's flower.

"We'll follow the Old Man wherever he wants to go..."

Ribbons.  Loads and loads of ribbons.

Driving around to see the lights.

Hanukkah gelt.

Stars.

Giant full moons (last Friday)

Lazy mornings (my kids are teens now)

New PJs.

Instruction manuals for new toys.

Dawns that happen late enough that I'm awake to see them.

Chocolate oranges.

Icicles.

Children who, for one glorious day, don't fight.

Snow ice-cream.

Singing Muppets.

Warm blankets.

A black President-elect.

Merry Christmas to everyone.  I'll see you after the New Year...and the Inauguration. May they both fulfill all the best expectations we have for them.

The X Factor

Post by:  Lisa Hendrix

Promoting: IMMORTAL WARRIOR

Just Finished: IMMORTAL OUTLAW (June 2009)

Currently:  Pre-writing (i.e. noodling around) in preparation for beginning IMMORTAL CHAMPION

Mood: Relaxed for the first time in 3 months

Yep, I finished IMMORTAL OUTLAW at last, so no more excuses for not writing a real blog post--although I could claim topic depletion, since I've been blogging all over the 'Net on my virtual book tour (if you're curious, you can find info on my stops at my personal blog).  

So, we're talking about keeping the butt in the chair.  I've been keeping mine in the chair so much in the last 8 weeks, both it and the chair have gone flat.  My legs ache from sitting too much, my clicking thumb hurts from too many clicks, and my walking shoes have gathered dust. And yet I'm happy, partly because yet another book is done (which means on acceptance money is coming soon) and partly because I really love accomplishing another part of my dream. 

And of course, BICHOK is how I accomplished it -- but not why. When I'm nudging writer friends, what I say is:

Butt in chair, hands to keyboard, heart to dream.

The heart to dream part is critical. Without the dream, there's no reason to sit down in the first place. I just did a big post over at Plot Monkeys titled Persistence of Vision, in which I discussed getting from that initial "I'm going to write a book" to actually doing it, i.e. turning the dream real. The dream is the motivator.

Oh, yeah, sometimes there are other motivators, for sure.  I'm a big external motivation person myself--nothing like a deadline to make me get the job done.  But I had to have the dream in the first place, or there would never have been enough book written to get that deadline. I had to have the dream to put my butt in the chair that first time. And I have to keep that dream in my heart, or the temptation to just say, "Oh, what the heck,"  and give the money back would sometimes be too great. At 3 am after only 4 hours sleep the night before, it's the dream that keeps me awake and punching at the keys.

And after the hellacious month I've had finishing Outlaw, it's the dream that made me start a file the very next day named Immortal Champion, and open a Word doc to start brainstorming the plot. Not the dream of finishing that book, but the dream of being a WRITER when I grow up.

What do you dream of doing? What are you willing to do to make your dream come true?

BONUS BICHOK TOOL:  Freedom (Mac only).  Disables your wifi and ethernet connections for an amount of time you choose, 5-360 minutes, then re-enables it when the time is up. You literally cannot bypass it during the specified time, short of rebooting your computer.  Solves that email/web-surfing problem.

Blog upon blog upon blog

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently Writing: IMMORTAL OUTLAW

Mood: Frantic

This month finds me in a major deadline frap (FRAP=Frenetic Random Activity Period, usually applied to the daily period when your puppy--or your child--runs around the house like a demon has suddenly possessed her, here applied to my approach to writing), so I'm going to simultaneously flake out and give you a link to the best damned list of book blogs in the known universe, thanks to Book Blogger Appreciation Week.  They're not all romance blogs, nor have they been checked for quality, but there are hundreds of them, in alphabetical order.  Dive in HERE.

And I'll see you next month, with more to say and (I hope) more time to say it.

Posted By:  Lisa Hendrix

Currently Working On: IMMORTAL OUTLAW

Mood: Bemused

My favorite conference moments often have to do with people. I love that I get to see old friends, make new ones, meet some of my idols, and just hang with outrageously smart people.  Naturally, touching bases with my editor and agent rank high on the list of must-do people activities, but it's the serendipitous incidents that stand out in my mind--things like bumping into Jennifer Blake in the loo and ending up sitting with her at lunch (Dallas).

But this year, serendipity slipped over into the Twilight Zone.

Since I didn't have a current book to sign during the Readers for Life Literacy Autographing, I printed off a bunch of excerpt booklets for IMMORTAL WARRIOR and started handing them out in various lines. I eventually ended up outside the hall, working the checkout line. I was merrily shoving booklets into readers' hands when a vaguely familiar face made me look at a name tag. I went back and forth a time or two: Face. Name tag. Face. Name tag. "Marion Spicher?" She says yes. "Marion Spicher from Juneau, Alaska? Who worked at St. Anne's?" Another yes. And then, "Lisa?"

Now you have to understand, St. Anne's Nursing Home in Juneau is where I worked for a year in 1982.  1982!  I was the administrative secretary and Marion was Director of Nursing. We worked in adjoining offices and became pretty good friends, but that was 26 years ago and I left Juneau for Fairbanks in 1984. Literally, I had heard not one word from or about Marion in that time. 

Anyway, much squealing and hugging ensued, and my promotional efforts were momentarily abandoned in favor of a quick catch up. It turns out that she now lives north of Bellingham and has been writing for a couple of years.  She attends meetings of the Seattle Chapter--which used to be my home chapter until I moved to southern Oregon!

Twenty-six years.  Two entire states of separation. So of course I run into her in a line of 5000 people in San Francisco! And we bumped into each other twice more.  I had people I was actually looking for that I didn't run into (Amy - signage!)

And then I get home and open my email one day to find a list of Emerald City Opener finalists, and guess who's a finalist in Single Title Contemporary?  Yep. Marion.

Rod Serling is someplace smiling.

Who did you meet in San Francsco?

Romance through the ages

Posted by: Lisa Hendrix

Currently working on: Immortal Outlaw/Getting out the door for conference

Mood: Harried

The month has gotten away from me. I'd planned to be all organized and have this post ready to go a week ago, then let Blogger post it on schedule, but here I am on Wednesday night, with this due on Friday, and I'm traveling all day tomorrow. So I'm in panic mode, and you're getting the quick and dirty version of research, Hendrix style.

Since my current series, The Immortal Brotherhood, will consist of nine books spanning a period of nearly a thousand years, research is going to be a huge part of my life for quite some time to come. Except for the last two books, each of the tales will take place in a different century. Also, I believe in over-researching. I find that the more I internalize the time/place/clothing/social mores of my characters, the more likely I am to incorporate the details in a natural way and avoid the kind of data dumps that stop a story dead.  This means I'll have a ton of details to gather in a relatively short period of time.  It's all about approach.

Inevitably, the first place I go is the library and the local used book store to find general history books on my era. These give me the overview I need of the time period, so I can narrow things down and pick a specific location and year. I don't like writing in generalities, so establishing a firm time and place is critical to me (i.e., medieval England must narrow down to 1096 in Alnwick, Northumberland). During this phase I frequently find some historical incident upon which to hang the story, or which I can at least include in the background. At a minimum, I must know what would be occupying my characters' thoughts and conversations. (a war, the king's death, those new windmills from Normandy, or whatever).

Once I've got the time period and location narrowed down, I go hunting for specifics. I use the library again, but I also hit the Internet, looking for timelines specific to my locale. For instance, for Immortal Warrior is set in Northumberland, and there is a terrific website, the Northeast England History Pages which has a timeline that I referenced quite a bit. This site was a real treasure trove, because it also has dialect, songs, place name histories, and famous people. (I haven't found any single site quite as useful for Immortal Outlaw, but I'm still hunting and hoping.) Then I start filling in with details: clothes (I love you Dover Books!), politics, food, and so on. Since the first two books are medieval era (though 200 years apart), I've been putting in a lot of time on SCA and Regia Anglorum sites and on the Internet Medieval Sourcebook. The latter is very nearly as good as being able to dive directly into a European university library, with the additional benefit of having the source materials already translated.  I buy a good map of the area, usually special ordering through Metsker Maps. (Addendum: not just "a map"—a truly detailed topographic map that you can use to figure out things like how many paces your heroine walked before she fell off a cliff in the dark, like the USGS and British Ordinance Survey maps at 1:50,000 or better).

Another source I find myself going back to over and over is the dictionary: the compact edition of the unabridge OED (thank you Book of the Month Club) and, even more immediately useful, the dictionary program on my Mac, which accesses New Oxford American Dictionary, the Oxford American Writers Thesaurus, and Wikipedia, all at once. I hit them at least 20 times a day for word origins and derivations, word choices, and general knowledge--so often that I frequently default to the Dashboard widget for the Dictionary, to check when a word came into use and what it meant at the time. Excessive, perhaps, but I am that nerdy kid that used to sit and read the Encyclopedia Britannica. It comes naturally.

Of course, I have other sites I use, everything from Google Earth to a site that chronicles the history of British winters, but I found them all using Google, so they're nothing mysterious.  I google multiple times for any given topic, using variations on my basic topic to get a wider range of sites.  Some of what I find gets organized in text docs, where I cluster tidbits of related information (with url references at the bottom of each tidbit) so I can find what I need easily. Other pages get saved in entirety and dropped into a general "Research for [bookname]" file. Not precisely organized, but accessible using search.

One final favorite site is more about pleasure than research. When writing about Vikings, of course you must have Vikings to inspire you. I found plenty of juice for the imagination in the Jomsvikings website. The Jomsvikings are the leading Viking reenactment group, and they have some very nice photo galleries—not to mention the very nice Vikings in their Heroes gallery. Enjoy. I certainly have.

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Lisa Hendrix

Currently working on: Immortal Outlaw (Book 2 in my new series)
Mood: Forthcoming

I'm a slob.

There. It's out.

However, slobbishness is only part of the reason you're not getting a peek at my actual office. I'd probably take 15 minutes to tidy up a bit and snap a very tightly cropped picture, paper stacks and overflowing bookshelves and all, if I really did most of my writing there. The thing is, I don't, except when I must, partly because I'm currently sharing the space with a house rabbit who randomly thumps at me and my music, and partly because I have two active kids and find that hiding in the far end of the house with a nearly soundproof door between is us good for my writing but bad for my parenting. You can guess which is more important.

So when I write at home, I tend to plop down at the kitchen table. I love my kitchen. It's painted a clear, buttery yellow that makes my heart sing, and it's got a long wall of windows and a door out onto the patio (you can see the pool, or at least the pool cover, through the door). The picture you can see hanging behind the door was painted by the previous owner of our house and goes perfectly with the wall color, even though I got it after I painted. I like that, and I like the fact that I can see or hear pretty much everything that's going on in the house.

Another thing I like about the kitchen is that the cats, who aren't allowed out with the bunny, can and do hang out nearby and help me write. The grey one trying to engineer an escape from the back of the chair out the door is Zelda, and the black one trying to figure out the keyboard is Clouseau. Both are rescue kitties, one rescued by Animal Control and adopted at PetSmart, one by us outside a local buffet restaurant when he strolled up to say hello.


(That picture on my computer screen? That's the cover for my upcoming book. He's very hunky, and you can get a closer look on my website.)

Anyway, the kitchen is where I do most of my writing at home, but during the school year or when the kids are otherwise occupied, I typically don't write at home. At home, too many distractions raise their colorful heads, beckoning me away from the agony of getting the movie in my head to come out right on paper. To counter this, I find shelter elsewhere, anywhere, so long as people will leave me alone. This morning, while my daughter went off to Young Authors camp—apparently the aberration is genetic, because she begged to go—I spent three hours with my laptop at Donut Country (no donuts, thank you, but a huge iced coffee). Noisy as it was, no one wanted to talk to me, which is, after all, the critical factor for a good writing retreat. I've developed a panorama of such anonymous locales, and I actually posted about them on my personal blog a while back. Some of my favorites are fairly typical, while others are, ahem, odd, so if you're interested or would like to see one of my favorite writing tools, check it out here.

So, I've come out the slob closet. Would anyone else care to raise their hand and join me? Or does anyone else have a good/unusual place that they write? If so, please share in comments. I can always use another idea for somewhere to go. After all, it's only 70 more days until school starts again.

Person Lisa Hendrix

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