ElainaHarper

@dmtoft The Calling. Available on Amazon. A discontented priest, searching for change. A high-end call girl looking for a way out. What could go wrong? A compelling story of unexpected love and the search for true meaning in this modern world.

#WritingCommunity I totally agree!

@FixingEducation I've always felt if teachers can't get all the teaching done in the hours they have the student, there's something wrong.

Thoughts?

@authoradraeanna You are AMAZING at helping people write their blurbs. On a side note, no author should have to write their own blurb. Trust me on this.

I discovered something, yesterday... I'm much better at helping people write their blurbs than I am at writing my own.

@redheadranting The human equivalent is a human swinging on a on a swing on a mildly windy spring day.

Is there any human equivalent to cats and boxes? Is there something that as humans we simply cannot resist or are programmed to do without thought or consideration? All I can think of is drawing penises on fogged up windows.

@authoradraeanna Next time just call me. It's been a few years, but I can remember.

I completely forgot to mention all the research I did for: Hangovers How the body reacts to certain levels of alcohol and where the line is for poisoning and blacking out. Symptoms of Alcohol withdrawal Google just started telling me to call someone for help.

@authoradraeanna I just found out a group of unrelated cats is called a "clowder" and I'm using that in chapter 2 of my current (as of today) WIP. Also in chapter 2: "borracho" means drunk so I named a restaurant the Borracho BBQ. The story takes place in Tyler TX so, I'm okay.

What's your WIP/book as research topics? Redeeming Cain: 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Class, servants, wealth...Genteel poverty 🏠 Regency London, activities that were offered 🍷 Popular alcohol of the time and how strong they were 💰 Debtor's prisons 👦 Childhood PTSD 👴 Dementia (these are just a few!)

Holy cow!!! My debut novel, The Blue Dress, is out!!! It's been such a wonderful, hard, heart-pounding, lonely & joyful path to get here. The book based on my childhood is my heart and soul and I can't be happier that it's out in the world today. 💙

Got my copy of my first published book. What a feeling 😁❤️

Just read this headline" "Airplane Strikes a Coyote." I'm pretty sure that isn't a sentence I've seen before.

And another book finished!!! 💪 Now to celebrate. 🎉

So much pressure to be in a critique group when one's printer refuses to work and the writer's block is crippling.

my debut adult horror is OFFICIALLY OUT!! I could not be more excited and freaking proud of this darkly twisted haunting little book. so grateful to everyone who has loved and supported You Did Nothing Wrong im so ready to haunt you forever 🥹🖤👻

With all that's going on in my neck of the woods, my creativity is at an all-time low. I want to write. But I need at least half of my household drama kinda-sorta-possibly settled before I can type.

@authoradraeanna Actually, two quilts and four table runners (getting paid for the table runners!). One quilt finished today!!!

@ElainaisWriting so much to do, so little time!

TFW you want to: Finish current WIPs Write that WW2 romance novel about pen pals falling in love using V-mail. Write the contemporary romance idea you've been thinking about. Re-write your fantasy YA novel. Write a fantasy Fairytale retelling. All at the same time 😅

Leon has been like this for about 10 minutes. It appears he put himself in timeout. I'm terrified to find out what he did. @crazy_duck_lady

@authoradraeanna I don't like the dystopian genre. It seems to be a current trend in YA, just look ladies' book clubs seem to all be reading WW2 books from the German POV. Art directs life or life directs art?

I just want to say that this is not me saying the genre is bad! I've read wonderful novels in the genre. This is just me hating sad endings. 😅😆

@jakonrath My take: every leader has a team behind them. Whether a captain of industry, a world leader or a school principal. Even Jesus had a posse. Any writer--indie or trad--needs a second set of eyes over their story. They need to build a team they trust.

Should indie authors hire outside editors? The topic is now trending, and I wrote about it a few days ago. I've had traditional publishing contracts with trad editors. I wasn't impressed. One made me cut an essential character (one who later became a protag on his own), and another outright rejected a book of mine (that went on to sell hundreds of thousands of copies without any edits) and wanted to make changes in another so drastic I cancelled the contract (that one also went on to sell well). Newbie authors have overwhelming hurdles to overcome to sell books. I believe they need to focus on learning how to write, rather than pay someone to fix their prose. I'd love to hear from some freelance editors when it comes to justifying their work. If you read a book that doesn't need many edits, do you suggest edits anyway to justify your cost? Have you charged someone $800 and just said, "This is really good, and I don't have suggestions" and been okay doing that? I have been a judge of writing contests, and have written editorial suggestions. It was brutal. Not because finding stuff wrong was difficult. But because I was walking the line of being encouraging vs. trying to constructively explain what was wrong in an economical amount of time. Editing bad writing is a form of Brandolini's Law. With a trad editor, there was already a level of competence reached by the book (that is why it landed a contract). With new writers, the books can need so much work, hiring someone to fix it is akin to hiring someone to rewrite it. If that's the case, the writer doesn't need an editor. They need to learn the craft and rewrite. I agree books need to be proofread. But I believe if a book needs serious developmental help, the best (and cheapest) paths for an author are writing groups, peers, beta readers, and crit partners. While there are no doubt some fantastic freelance editors, there are also some scammers. This is a brutal business. We all need help sometimes. But a freelance editor has no skin in the game. An editor at a trad pub house does. Err to the side of caution. And be kind to each other.

A 36 hour whirlwind shopping trip to Dallas. Came back with a new-to-us car and amazing pizza.

@RobertlewisIR @SteveLovesAmmo I came here to say this.

@SteveLovesAmmo Can I count my entire library as "one thing?" Actually, on second thought, maybe my computer (or a typewriter) so I can crank out a few books of my own.