Kim Lenox - Blog

Good morning world!

So you know I’ve been writing. Writing writing writing. I like writing to music — music that clicks with the story I’m working on.

For NIGHT FALLS DARKLY, I compiled a pretty large playlist of specific songs, the “centerpiece” title being The Cure’s LULLABY, which — curses! — isn’t available for my Myspace page. It’s cool, it’s creepy. It really fits the “chill” bill, and mirrors, in so many ways, the challenges my Amaranthine Reclaimer, Archer, Lord Black, and Miss Elena Whitney face throughout the pages of the book.

But … the NIGHT FALLS DARKLY playlist doesn’t work for SO STILL THE NIGHT. Not at all. So I’m slowly creating one specific to that book, and the challenges Mark, Lord Alexander, and the lovely Mina Limpett, will encounter. Do I have a centerpiece song?

Right now it’s #1 CRUSH by Garbage.

At least when it comes to my crit partner and pal, National Bestselling Author, Cindy Miles!!

Isn’t she beeee-uuuu-teee-ful? She has beautiful book covers too! See?

HIGHLAND KNIGHT, has garnered a 4 1/2 Star Review from Romantic Times Book Reviews Magazine, and a Top Pick designation! For those of you unfamiliar with RT and their ratings system, 4 1/2 stars and Top Pick is the highest rating! Congratulations Cindy!

Here’s an excerpt of that review!

“When it comes to delivering charming, funny and tender romances, Miles is at the head of the class. Not only are the primary characters wonderful, the secondary characters are engaging and bring depth to the story. This warmhearted book is guaranteed to leave you with a satisfied smile!”

Head of the class, indeed!! Cindy is currently confined to the Deadline Writing Den of Solitude, on the last stretch of her deadline for her future book, MACGOWAN’S GHOST. Check out her blog for fun details!

The new James Bond film is already making the news, but perhaps not in ways the producers would like. In Italy, last Saturday, an Aston Martin intended for use in the film plunged into Lake Garda. Ouch!

And now a stuntman has been gravely injured in a car crash while filming one of the vehicle sequences.

I love writing fiction. I can create all sorts of dangerous scenes — carriage crashes, falls from tall buildings and immortal battles with wicked weapons, but no one really gets hurt! No humans or animals are endangered in the writing of any Kim Lenox books. And I don’t have to pay out the wazoo for a huge insurance policy.

A lot of authors will pick out celebrities as models for their book heroes. I don’t really do that, or I do it in a backward sense. I write the story, and get to know my hero in my mind, and will, along the way, collect “inspiration” photos/artwork.

Here are the two I had for Archer. The first is a picture of a young Eric Bana.

The second is artwork I found on the website deviantart.com … I’ve tried to go back and find the artist so I could give proper credit to him/her, but haven’t been able to find it again, despite a ridiculous amount of searches. So if anyone knows who created the piece, please let me know.

In my mind, Archer doesn’t look like Eric Bana or the guy with the sword, but … kind of. Know what I mean?

I don’t understand why I still get so much SPAM in my SPAM filter. Are those scams/sales pitches even profitable? Even now that people are so much more eduated about them? I’ve even upgraded my SPAM protection, etc …

In one of my alternate e-mail addresses, I’ve been getting a lot of Russian SPAM. I have no idea why, because I don’t understand Russian. I’m not sure, but the influx may have begun after I joined either Myspace or Shelfari (a site I joined temporarily, where you can create a “bookshelf” and put your favorite books on it, etc., and read about other people’s favorite books, etc).

What I think is interesting is that I don’t get any Russian SPAM on Sundays. Apparently they’ve got enough “decency” not to scam people on Sundays? Either that or the internet cafes aren’t open?

I recently listed out all those great books that I’d purchased, but somehow got started on THE QUEEN’S FOOL by Philippa Gregory. Should I admit this is my first Philippa Gregory novel? Well it is. And no, I’ve not seen THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL yet, but I’d like to. I think I may read the book first.

I loved THE QUEEN’S FOOL. The story followed a complex young woman whose heart (and intellect) did not see in simplistic shades of black and white. I enjoy reading about characters who have conflicting strengths and weaknesses, and make mistakes, and sometimes act impulsively, but yes, learn and grow from their experiences.

I also met Kimberly Frost this morning for some coffee and writing, and made some progress on my weekly page quota.

Yipee!

I hope all of you authors heading off to the Romantic Times Convention in Pittsburg have a great time! Me, I’m headed to the coast this weekend.

My pal, Julia Templeton, reminded me that I’d forgotten to share my cat-dog Duke’s new hairdo. Here he is!

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Yes, he’s nekkid!! Now I don’t have to vacuum every day. He’ll be grown out and majestic again by September.

One thing you’ll find when you read NIGHT FALLS DARKLY, is that my fictional story threads through a series of actual events. Specifically, my story unfolds in the weeks when Jack the Ripper committed his terrible crimes in London’s East End. I relied upon newspaper accounts, police records, and even meteorological reports about the weather, when plotting the book.

The second book in the series, SO STILL THE NIGHT, also centers around a true to life event. I spent several hours yesterday, scouring newspaper archives from 1889, and it’s amazing how much fits in with the story I’ve already got spilling out onto the page. I’m excited. I love finding pieces of the puzzle.

And yipeee! My laptop is home from the doctor. He’s happy, and working better than before. I’m so glad, because I’m the sort of writer that wants to write in one location one day, and a different spot the next.

Hey all! I’ve missed a few days here on the blog.

Author Colleen Thompson and I went to the Big D (and I do mean Dallas) for the weekend, to attend the DARA Conference. I’ve attended that conference twice in the past, and it’s always well organized. Great speakers, and lots of fun!

I don’t attend many conferences throughout the year, but they are always really energizing/motivating. And it’s fun to meet new people, and see writers and friends that you never get to see (except for on-line). Plus, you always come home with more books!

This morning I’ve got to work a few hours on the non-writing day job, and then I’ll be zipping through my copy edits to make sure I didn’t overlook anything before shipping them out. I’ve got a lot of pages to write this week! WHEEEEE!

Oh, and hey, according to this survey that I saw on Nalini Singh’s blog, I’ve got only a 49% chance of surviving a zombie apocolypse.

49%

I thought I would have scored better, but it appears I need to stock up on canned goods, up the Bowflex workouts and educate myself on zombie defense methods a bit more … hmmmm. My brother would be a likely source. Not only does he read zombie fiction (fiction?) but he’s trained in ordnance (things that go B-O-O-M) which apparently work well in fending off a zombie attack.

Here’s the good news, (excerpted by Colleen Gleason’s Member News article in the online RWA Update) –

Book Sales Increase at Start of 2008
According to the Association of American Publishers (AAP), book sales in January 2008 rose 7.2% to $745 million (based on domestic net sales at 79 publishers as reported to AAP).
http://www.publishers.org/main/PressCenter/January08StatsRelease.htm
• Adult paperbacks sales rose 37.6% (with sales of $135.2 million)
• Children’s/YA paperbacks were up 28.2% ($34 million)
• E-books rose 26.1% ($3.1 million)
• Adult Mass Market increased 17.3% ($65.3 million)
• Audio Books gained 16.8% ($13.5 million)
• Adult Hardcovers were up 4.2% ($94.4 million)

And some not-so-good-news!

Borders Possibly Up for Sale
Book retailer Borders Group, Inc. is considering putting the company up for sale. Borders took a loan from Pershing Square Capital, its largest shareholder, for $42.5 million to keep the company operational and to grow. Borders executives believe this capital will “give them time to fully explore all strategic alternatives, while also providing the necessary capital to implement their strategic plan.” ( Publishers Weekly , 3/24/08; http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6544012.htmlq=borders. Forbes.com, 3/20/08; http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/20/borders-sale-barnesandnobles-markets-equity-cx_md_0320markets10.htmlpartner=alerts)