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Monday, November 19, 2012

Laurie London: A Piece of Advice I’m Glad I Followed


When I set out to write ASSASSIN’S TOUCH, book one in the Iron Portal series, it started out as simply a fun diversion. Something to keep my mind off the fact that my Sweetblood series was out on submission.
In case you don’t know that that means, it’s when a literary agent shops an author’s book around to the various publishers, trying to find an editor who loves it and wants to buy it. If you’re the author, you obsessively check your email to see if there’s any news yet. When the phone rings before 2 pm (in Seattle, that marks the close of business on the East Coast), you jump and fleetingly wonder if this is it—if this is the day when you learn you’re going to become a published author. The submission process can take months, and as you might imagine, it’s very nerve-racking. It’s truly a lesson in patience.

A wise author friend told me I should work on a completely different project to take my mind off the fact that editors in New York were reading my other manuscript. That way, if my vampire romance series didn’t sell, I’d have another story world and characters to be excited about. You know the old adage about not putting your eggs in one basket...

Thankfully, I did what she told me to do, and ASSASSIN’S TOUCH, the first book in the Iron Portal series, was born. The Sweetblood series did sell, so it wasn’t until now that I had a chance to revisit Rickert and Neyla’s story. I fell in love with them all over again. Even though there aren’t any fangs, there’s plenty of danger. It’s still the same dark, sexy paranormal romance with alpha heroes and strong heroines that readers have come to expect from me.  

Have you ever gotten a piece of advice from someone that you’re glad you followed?
I’m giving away a digital copy of ASSASSIN’S TOUCH to one random commenter. Please leave your email in your comment so we can easily contact you if you win. 

Two worlds. Two enemies.
Haunted by loss, Cascadian assassin Rickert D’Angelus is on a mission of vengeance. Determined to stop the Pacifican army from finding a portal to his world, he leads a group of warriors into New Seattle with one goal—to kill all Pacifican soldiers.
Neyla Trihorn had the perfect life until a deadly accident revealed her latent para-abilities. Now, the former fashion designer is the Pacifican army’s hottest commodity in their fight against the invaders.
When Rickert discovers a beautiful, unconscious soldier on a cold mountain ledge near the portal, he realizes she’s a Protection-Talent and cannot be killed. To prevent the army from using her skills again, he takes her as his prisoner instead.

One fated touch…
But when he pulls her into his arms, a sexy and compelling vision appears, awakening something inside him. Something he can’t ignore.
Torn between duty and passion, Rickert must decide if the vision is a Talent trick designed to foil the enemy or the answer to his deepest desires... 


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For more information about Laurie’s books, please check out her website at www.LaurieLondonBooks.com.
To be the first to find out about new releases, please sign up for her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/rNTBL
Download ASSASSIN’S TOUCH for $2.99 at
Kobo http://bit.ly/QHA5LS

***Laurie's winner is Victoria! Please email totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your mailing details!***

31 comments:

erin said...

Thanks for a great post and congrats to Laurie on all her success :) A long time ago, a great friend of mine told me to stop worrying about what other people thought and stop expecting people to be nice. He said "In this world, the only person who truly has your best interests at heart and wants the best for you... is *you* . Don't feel guilt or allow others to make you feel guilty for putting yourself first". And this piece of advice has kept me sane and happy.

Laurie London said...

Great piece of advice, Erin! Thanks for you comment.

Unknown said...

She gave you this advice. — To work on a completely different project, to take you mind off of the fact that agents were reading your manuscript. That way if your vampire romance didn't sell, you'd have another piece to be excited about.

I absolutely love your writing. Please keep doing it.

A friend of mines told me that if nobody wanted to pick up my writing I could always self publish. I laughed, but it was still good to hear, because rejection is a Mother *&%#+ . *grins*

Laurie London said...

Aw, thanks, Shawnie!!! Yeah, rejection hurts, but sometimes it's meant to be, otherwise you may not have gone down that other path you were meant to go. At least, that's how I try to look at it!

HockeyVampiress said...

I am glad I followed a few friends advice to take a chance and try nano this year. I jumped in with a book that has been in my head for two years and over half of it is written down
now and hopefully I will hit the deadline and get the rest finished.

hockeyvampiress at hotmail (dot) com

Paige Prince said...

The best piece of writing advice I've received is "You can't fix a blank page." And "The first draft is just to get your thoughts on the page. FINISH! The real writing is in the edits."

Best real life advice? "Don't put yourself in compromising positions. Then you don't have to figure a way out of them."

Tanna said...

Write it down when you think of it even when you are not sure it will get used.

elizabeth said...

The hardest piece of advice I was given was "Always go with your first instinct." Don't always follow it, but it's great advice.

Thanks for the giveaway,

Elizabeth Gray
elizabethgr@sbcglobal.net

Barbara E. said...

My mother-in-law actually told me to leave her son, because she could see that he had problems and I needed to get away from the situation. I made my own decision, but her advice reinforced to me that the decision was the right one. I'm definitely glad I did it.

*yadkny* said...

My dad has always said that the day you stop working for what you want is the day you die and I didn't know what it meant when I was younger, but beginning to figure it out now... and no I haven't stopped:)

CONGRATS on your latest Laurie!

yadkny@hotmail.com

Laurie London said...

Wow, that's awesome!!! I'm so thrilled for you!

Laurie London said...

Such great words of wisdom! Thanks for sharing them.

Laurie London said...

Love this!

Unknown said...

My mom said that even though I had no experience, I should apply for a job as a book reviewer. Best decision EVER. I am so happy doing what I love.

Laurie London said...

Elisabeth, I've been told the same thing. "Trust your instincts. They're usually right." Thanks for sharing!

Laurie London said...

Wow, that sounds like a hard situation. So glad your decision was the right one.

Laurie London said...

Aw, thanks! And yes, your dad is sooo right!

Laurie London said...

I'm so glad your mom told you that! There's nothing better than doing what you love.

Timitra said...

This is a tough question to answer...I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and everyones answers!

taccb_1981@yahoo.com

Victoria said...

Boy, that would be from a man I didn't even know. I always new I wanted to be an engineer but didn't know what kind. This man looked at my college test scores and said I should go into Ceramic Engineering and go to Alfred University. I checked it out and followed his advice. If not for him I would never have ended up in Ohio where I met my husband and created a beautiful family. His advice has led me to have a blessed life.

vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

Elizabeth H. said...

I've gotten lots of advice over the years and while I can't remember what everyone has said, some things just stick with me. I'm not sure where I picked this up but I've made it my mantra, "The only person I can be is me." A while back, I had a lot of people telling me how they thought I should live my life. Sure, it would make them happy but I would have been miserable. The advice worked. Some people weren't happy with some decisions I've made, but I have to be me, not someone else's version of me. Thanks for the chance to win your lovely book!!

Elizabeth H. said...

forgot my e-mail!
ehaney578 at aol dot com

Diane said...

Always buy what you can afford, that was the advice my father in law gave us when we were looking for a house and it's paid off, the house I mean!!!! And the advice!

diane dot sadler at gmail dot com

Desere said...

My father always says a change is as good as a holiday and can make the worlds seem better and that is the advise I follow when I feel down even something as a small change in my hairstyle can make me feel better and I follow that advise everyday ! Thank you for the awesome give away you rock !

desere_steenberg(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

The best piece of advice I ever received I sadly did not follow (not to marry my now ex husband), until several years later. Congrats on the new book.

nancywalters2714@Aol.com

Laurie London said...

I've been trying to reply to each of you individually, but it's not letting me.

Wow, Victoria, that's an amazing story! Can you imagine what your life would be like now had you not gotten and heeded that advice from him?

Elisabeth, that's very good advice!

Good advice, Diane! My penny-pincher self likes it. ;-)

Desere, I love it! Change is as good as a holiday. So true.

So sorry, Nancy. Maybe the advice didn't make sense then. You had to experience it for yourself for it to ring true.

Thanks, everyone, for your great comments and thanks, Tote Bags n Blogs, for having me!

Unknown said...

Smh email bookconnisseur@gmail.com

Pat Cochran said...

Enjoyed the post and all the comments! The
advice given to me, which I did not follow,
was that I not marry the young man who was
asking me to do so! The advice giver's rea-
soning: we were not of the same race, he a
Caucasian, I a Hispanic. To that person: we
celebrated our 51st anniversary this year!

Pat C.

Laurie London said...

I love it, Pat! Sometimes you've got to trust yourself and know when to ignore the "advice." Congratulations on 51 years of marriage!!!

Lory Lee said...

I'm glad I followed the advice of "someone" when he said not to give your 100% trust to people you only knew for a short time. It saves you from getting hurt and disappointed.

Eli Yanti said...

I have not followed a few friends advice to take a chance and try nano this year :(