I am not dead.

I am not dead. I did not fall off the edge the Earth.

However, I was on vacation in Texas, which is a totally awesome place. I hung out with the fam, specifically my favorite aunt and uncle and my brother in law, who is also a favorite, mostly because he’s the only one I have thus far.

I ate enough Mexican food to add about 8 pounds to my body weight, but it was quite delicious. That’s the important thing with food – it must be worth the calories, and trust me, it was.

Bluebells are the Texas state flower. They were everywhere and very pretty. Here is a pic.

I’ll post more vacation photos soon.

A couple of quick bits of info. The limited edition of Lair of the White Wyrm is up until Monday evening. The price is discounted to $10.50 until I pull book for all time. Here is
the link - http://www.lulu.com/shop/lea-ryan/lair-of-the-white-wyrm/paperback/product-18905414.html

Thank you to everyone who entered the Goodreads giveaway. The number of entries exceeded 500 people, which is awesome! Congrats to the two winners. I will be shipping the books out shortly.

looking for people

I’ve been at this whole book thing for a few minutes. I feel like I’m doing ok, but I could use a couple more people on my team. Specifically: an agent and a publicist.

Regarding the agent, I’m fine with publishing independently, but getting in the game for real would be cool. I occasionally get nagged about my lack of agent by a couple of people, mostly my husband. This whole query letter thing just seems…almost futile. I know how many query emails agents get. I read some of their blogs. I truly respect what they do, but I know the chances of getting picked up are slim to none.

But part of me wants to try because I think most of the people who are able to make a full-time living writing have agents.

On to the next: the publicist. This is in the realm of something I could actually get because all I have to do is hire one. I don’t just want some random person. I intend to do research.

I want someone who specializes in book pub. They need to be able to get me into places I can’t, ie very high traffic media blogs/websites and maybe some traditional media too. I want them to write super powered press releases that end up everywhere. I also need them to be somewhat cost effective. Mama doesn’t exactly have money to burn. Know what I’m saying?

If anyone has recommendations or suggestions, as always, I welcome them. Please hit me up at lea-ryan at Hotmail or on Twitter - @LeaRyan1

Also, I have an interview over at Darcia Helle's Quiet Fury Books blog today!

http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2012/03/lea-ryans-lair/

An interview

I'm super excited to have an interview over at Darcia Helle's Quiet Fury blog today! Be sure to check it out.

http://quietfurybooks.com/blog/2012/03/lea-ryans-lair

announcements and a poem from 7 year old me

Good evening! You know what? I really have an excessive number of announcements for a writer who only has like 4 books out.

Ok, first up, the paperback version of Destined for Darkness is scheduled for release on 6/12. There is a Goodreads giveaway running for between now and then. Oddly spaced entering widget is below. Keep scrolling after that if you would like to read the rest of this post.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Destined for Darkness

by Lea Ryan

Giveaway ends June 12, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Devil in the Branch paperback and ebook release date is 7/24. That’s the second AnnaBeth book. There will also be a giveaway for that, but I don’t have it going yet because I haven’t written the book synopsis yet.

I recently received a bunch of papers and things from my mom. She kept some old homework and report cards, etc. I thought it was weird but whatever floats her boat, I guess. In that odd mix of papers was some writing I did when I was in elementary school. Aaawwwww…little me.

This is a poem that appeared in the local newspaper, not because I was super special , but because every once in a while, newspaper people would come to my school and demand that we tiny children generate content so they didn’t have to pay reporters. Lol, totally kidding.

To get the full effect of this poem, I would like you to read it in the voice of William Shatner.

“There once was a small black beetle,
Who sat on a long sharp needle.
He shouted, “Ouch!”
And hid under the couch.
“Never again!” said the beetle.

movie: No Strings Attached

We watched No Strings Attached this weekend. It was a chick flick, not usually my favorite kind of movie, but it looked like it might be funny.

Natalie Portman is Emma, a girl who has trouble relating to men. She hasn’t really had any real relationships. Ashton Kutcher is Adam. He has had a crush on Emma since they were kids. She finally decides to give him a shot with the condition that they keep the relationship physical.

The movie had a lot of funny parts, and of course, it was romantic. One thing I liked about this movie was that it was a little less cliché than the usual chick flick. I hate movies where the girl is mindlessly chasing the guy around the whole time. That kind of desperation is unbecoming.

No Strings Attached was ok, not exactly art on film, but entertaining enough. It gets a B.

some friday rambling

It’s Friday! Woo!

Ok, I hope this post doesn’t make me sound like a pretentious twit. Also, fyi, I am not an idrone. I have strong opinions on the ipod, and they aren’t good.
The husband got me an ipad for Valentine’s Day. I recently decided that I was going to try to write on it.

I’ve written on several different devices. I’m kind of a technology geek. I had a few Palm pdas, an ipaq, a Blackberry and of course, the laptop. I like being able to write on the go.

The ipad is by far my favorite thing to write on right now. Typing on it is ok. It’s kind of quirky sometimes. However, it does have something close to a full keyboard, so that’s nice.

I also like that I can just pick it up anytime and start typing. I don’t have to wait for it to load like the laptop. I don’t have to have it on a desk. The ipad has the convenience and portability of a paper notebook and word processor power that’s somewhat comparable to a laptop. I’ve actually been able to write faster on it. I started a new book earlier this week and I’m 10,000 words in.

I also think it will be good to edit on because I can hold the thing in my hand, kind of like paper, but I can make the changes directly in the document instead of carrying around a printed manuscript in a binder. I’ll probably still do the paper edit at least once for each book project, but I can definitely cut down on the number of trees I’m killing. Plus I could almost eliminate the whole transferring the changes on paper into the computer task, which I truly do not enjoy.

That is all.

movie: John Carter

John Carter is a really good movie. I am immensely sad that it isn’t drawing a big crowd because it is certainly worthy of one.

Disney’s John Carter is based on the book A Princess of Mars, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I pasted the IMDB synopsis below.

“Transplanted to Mars, a Civil War vet discovers a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. Finding himself a prisoner of these creatures, he escapes, only to encounter a princess who is in desperate need of a savior.”

The special effects are amazing. This is just the kind of sci-fi I like – the gritty, more realistic kind. For all my love of Star Trek, it was a bit unrealistically sterile. John Carter mixes primitive warriors with flying ships and aliens with advanced teleportation technology. It’s a rich mix of cultures.
One thing that was fun about this movie was picking out the difference between it and the book.

There was some significant rearranging of story. The Tharks weren’t as violent as they were in the book. There was no air machine. Some of the Thark hierarchy is rearranged. The story is streamlined, but the most important elements are still there.

Even if you didn’t read the book, this movie is very entertaining.

John Carter gets a big, fat A.

Also, on a side note – Disney, your marketing for this movie SUCKED. I loved A Princess of Mars and had no idea that’s what the movie was. It has the most boring title ever and the non-Imax poster says little to nothing about the story. Next time, generate more pre-release buzz. Consult your resident geeks for suggestions. That is all.

An interview!

I'm over at RM Fraser's The Fraser File today! Stop by, leave comments if you got 'em.

http://rmfraser.blogspot.com/2012/03/lair-of-white-wyrm-reviewlea-ryan.html

geeking the funk out

Why didn't anyone tell me that Disney's movie John Carpenter was actually A
Princess of Mars?!?!?! How was I left out of this loop? Where was I? Why didn't
I realize?

I saw some press, but my eyes glossed right over the words. I finally read an
article. Now I am freaking.

I read A Princess of Mars last year and LOVED it. The story is about a guy who
somehow magically ends up on Mars and becomes involved with all the
interspecies alien drama there. The book was written by the same author that
wrote Tarzan.

I...need to get to the movie theater. I can't believe how awesome this is. The original
book is on Project Gutenberg. It's free for download.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62

Also check out the pics from the movie on IMDb.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/mediaindex

must go. movie theater.

Friday Evening Blogging

This week has been really frustrating all around. I don't know if it's the moon
phase or what, but very little seems to be going my way.

One thing that did go right was the library book I found on writing. It's kind of
old, from 1982, but I feel like it has changed the way I write, and I haven't
even finished it. The book is – Thirty Days to More Powerful Writing by
Jonathan Price.

This quote in particular, near the beginning of the book really got to me – “A
powerful style is as flexible as you are; it should express your feelings and
your thoughts as easily as you can talk at home.”

Some part of me knew that, but I needed this advice. I feel like this idea, this...almost
permission to inject more of my personality quirk (trust me, there's plenty of
quirk), into the stories. I've probably been too concerned with being proper
and trying to do things a certain way that I trip myself up sometimes. I
struggle with making everything flow and work together when all I had to do in
the first place was let go.

Anyway, so where am I? I finished another read-through for AnnaBeth 2. This round of
editing was much, much better. The manuscript is reading like a third to last
edit, maybe a second to last. I'm handing it over to the editor at the very
beginning of April. We all have business between now and then, so that delay is
necessary.

And then, all of a sudden, it's time to write again. I always feel a bit weird when
I switch modes. I have to reacclimate myself to just writing. Reading the book
about writing was part of that process. I like to read books about writing.
They motivate and inspire me. I should read one before I start each rough
draft.

The code name for the next project is Pestilence. They story involves a fallen
angel and a cult. That's all the detail you'll get from me at the moment,
except I will say that the cover will not be black. Almost all of my covers are
black. I already have a cover in mind and the design has color! Woo, color!

Petyon and an Interview

Aw, Peyton Manning is leaving the Colts! I'm not a football fan but it does make me sad. He seems like an okay guy with the whole Riley Children's Hospital donation and other things he does for the community. He really seemed to bring the team together too. Like The Dude's rug, he pulled the room together.

However, I do understand why Jim Irsay might not want to pay him for another season of sitting on the bench. I know very little about sports in general but I can say that the best quarterback in the universe is no good to you if he's stuck on the bench all of the time. How many millions of dollars did Manning make last year?

I can’t believe that Peyton won’t be a fixture around town anymore. You get used to certain faces being present, especially after 14 years. I hope whoever replaces him has similar character and the willingness to pull the room together.

Anyway, guess what I have – a link to an interview. Be sure to check it out. This one was fun.

http://earthsbooknook.blogspot.com/2012/03/lea-ryan-interview-and-giveaway-of-lair.html

My Freedom by 40 Plan and a Goodreads Giveaway

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where I want to go and how I want to get there. Since I started writing books, I’ve never had any doubt that I want to write fiction for a living. However, the full-time writing career has always been this maybe-someday-if-I’m-really-lucky thing. I don’t want it to be like that anymore. I don’t want to feel like this goal is out of my reach.

That’s why I have made an official goal. I want to be writing fiction full time on or before my 40th birthday. I’m 34 now (35 in October), so that gives me about 5.5 years to kick some ass. And kick some ass, I shall.

Having a deadline has inspired a sense of urgency in me. I would like to kick out 3 books a year, ideally. That’s a book every 4 months. Can I do it? I can damn well try; I already know that. I have willingness, the work ethic, notes for several books. I just need to step up the pace and manage my time better.

Anyway, guess who has a giveaway listed on the Goodreads. Me! *fancy-pants-dance* If you would like to win a true to life, dead tree copy of Lair of the White Wyrm, please utilize the oddly spaced widget below. Also, don’t forget to add it to your bookshelf because that’s what all the cool kids are doing.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Lair of the White Wyrm

by Lea Ryan

Giveaway ends March 30, 2012.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

in lieu of movie, monster trucks

No movie today! We went to the Monster Jam in Indy. We had never been before. It was loud and crowded and quite fun. Here are some pics for you.

The Monster Jam was in Lucas Oil Stadium. I hadn't been there yet, so it was cool to get to see it.

The way the arena was set up with the dirt, the enthusiasm of the crowd, etc, I was reminded of gladiator arenas of ancient Rome.

This was my favorite. It was the Ironman truck.

The truck below is Spiderman, as you can probably tell. The man sitting two seats down from me said of this truck, "That 'un right there jump purdy good."

LOL! I wanted to be like, thank you, sir, for making my experience authentic. It was a very Larry the Cable Guy moment.

Here is a pic of Gravedigger flying through the air!

Here is a pic of Gravedigger not flying through the air.

One aspect of this competition that I found interesting was that the drivers almost seemed to want to destroy the trucks. The truck in the picture below is Maximum Destruction. They should have called him Maximum Self-Destruction. He flipped the truck over during qualifying and drove in a generally rough manner the entire time.

I took this picture during what they called Freestyle time. He had already rolled the truck a few times. Pieces were scattered around the arena. A minute or so before this, he actually knocked the front passenger side tire completely off the truck. The maintenance people all ran out to him. He sent them away and KEPT driving...on three wheels. It was nuts!

He even went over the ramps in that condition. It was very badass.

where in the world is LR?

Today I have a guest post about character evolution up at Jill Elizabeth's blog! Be sure to enter for the Lair of the White Wyrm giveaway. boo-yah.

http://blog.jill-elizabeth.com/2012/03/01/guest-post-the-importance-of-character-evolution-by-lea-ryan/