Blog | Laura McNeill

Dec 5, 2018
2 min

3 Over-Caffeinated Lessons Learned from NaNoWriMo 2018

Yes, I’m one of the (semi) crazy ones. This year, over-committed and over-caffeinated, I joined hundreds of thousands of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) writers worldwide. By signing on, authors accept the challenge of writing 50,000 words in a month. That’s a commitment of 1,667 words every day, rain or shine, despite relatives, work, school, and national holidays. With several novel ideas rattling around in my brain, I settled on penning the first book of a dystopi

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Laura McNeill

Nov 7, 2018
1 min

Fabulous Fall Giveaway – Books, Coffee, Mug, T-Shirt, & More

Hi Friends, I am in deep in the middle of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), working on my next book, but hit the pause button today to visit the blog of Karen Pokras Toz! Jump on over to Karen’s site for all of the details on my new Lauren Clark novel, The World Breaks Everyone. Fabulous Fall Giveaway from Lauren Clark & Karen Pokras Toz Entering is easy and free! Best of luck and I hope you’re having a spectacular November! xo, Laura BTW – Karen is a fabulous writer!

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Six Writing Lessons Learned from Watching ‘Stranger Things’

Laura McNeill

Oct 21, 2018
3 min

Six Writing Lessons Learned from Watching ‘Stranger Things’

My 13-year-old son loves Stranger Things. He sits on the sofa, rapt, as the music starts and the action begins. He can’t wait for season 3. And, not long ago, he invited me to watch it with him. I figure it’s either because I’m the coolest mom on the block or he’s expecting the fright of his life. (I know, I know. The latter.) Still, as a parent, I savored the experience, absorbing the show and his reactions. The grins. The shrieks. The looks of horror. The bouncing up and do

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Five Reasons Why Taking a (Temporary) Writing Break is Okay! (And What to Do in the Meantime)

Laura McNeill

May 23, 2018
2 min

Five Reasons Why Taking a (Temporary) Writing Break is Okay! (And What to Do in the Meantime)

Nearly two years ago, I had reached writer-burnout. I’d released two suspense novels back to back, done large, multi-state book tours, and was about to enter my second year of graduate school. I had moved for a new full-time job (with two growing boys) and was trying to wrap up the final pages of my third suspense novel. The story, set in New Orleans, begins with an attack on the daughter of a famous restauranteur. She escapes and goes on the run, attempting to figure out why

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Laura McNeill

May 3, 2018
1 min

Best Writing Books, Part 2

I’m back today with three more “best writing book” recommendations. Two of today’s choices may seem a bit out of the ordinary, as they fall in to the film and screenwriting industry category, but I have found that both are exceptional when it comes to capturing the magic of story construction and creating compelling characters. Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need The author, Blake

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Writer Wednesday – Do’s and Don’ts ~ Part 3 (Networking)

Laura McNeill

Oct 21, 2015
2 min

Writer Wednesday – Do’s and Don’ts ~ Part 3 (Networking)

This is the third part of three in my series of Do’s and Don’ts for New Authors. I’ve covered Work-Life Balance (Part 1) and Marketing (Part 2), and as promised, will talk about Networking this week! So, as a new author in the publishing business it is important to connect well with many groups of people, but primarily these three: Readers Other authors Bloggers Why are these three groups so important? It may seem obvious, but without readers, we as authors couldn’t do what w

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Writer Wednesday: Do’s and Don’ts for a First Book ~ Part 1 (Work-Life Balance)

Laura McNeill

Oct 7, 2015
3 min

Writer Wednesday: Do’s and Don’ts for a First Book ~ Part 1 (Work-Life Balance)

A few weeks back, I served on a writer panel in Dallas with three wonderful and smart authors — Kristy Cambron, Katherine Reay, and Mary Weber. All fresh off our first year in the traditional publishing industry, we shared our thoughts about the whirlwind that’s been the last 12 months … in the hopes the information and discussion would be of help to other aspiring authors! Today, I thought it might be fun to share portions of our talk. Here are some of the questions that our

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Laura McNeill

Jul 10, 2015
1 min

Write an Amazon Review in 3 Easy Steps

Since the Center of Gravity, I’ve had a number of people ask exactly HOW to leave an Amazon review. Whether it’s for Center of Gravity or your favorite novel, leaving a review on Amazon means the world to an author and can be done in a few simple steps! Let’s take a look: STEP 1 Visit the book page and click under the title, next to the yellow star rating, where “customer reviews” are listed. Click on “customer reviews.” Step 2 On the next page, you’ll see this section. Click

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Character Casting for ‘Center of Gravity’

Laura McNeill

Jul 6, 2015
2 min

Character Casting for ‘Center of Gravity’

Although I think everyone sees characters differently in the novels we read, I’m often asked who I’ve pictured while writing Center of Gravity. If the book was made into a movie, it’s also fun to think about which celebrities might play the main characters. Here’s my cast for Center of Gravity: Ava Carson – Emma Stone Emma Stone is best known for her roles in The Amazing Spider-Man and Crazy, Stupid Love, and would play Ava in Center of Gravity. She and her mother moved to LA

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Laura McNeill

Jul 3, 2015
7 min

Summer Reads: 35 Books Not To Miss!

I wanted to share this “35 Top Summer Reads” article by Canadian news writer Deborah Dundas. It’s reprinted from The Toronto Star. Here goes: From comedy to thrillers to romances to non-fiction to stuff for kids, books to dive into on the beach or wherever else you go this summer! (P.S. Center of Gravity is #4 on this list … read on!) Thrills and chills The Intruder by Hakan Ostlundh (Minotaur, Aug. 18) Nordic crime fiction is intensely popular and this is yet another great S

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Publishing, Pen Names, and Breaking the Rules

Laura McNeill

Jul 1, 2015
3 min

Publishing, Pen Names, and Breaking the Rules

When I first began writing, several authors generously shared their unwritten rules for forging a successful career. They unanimously recommended: Writing in a popular genre Thinking long and hard before using a pen name Sticking with one genre Being a newbie to the business, their advice seemed reasonable and sound. After all, they’d played it safe, signed with agents, and landed long-term publishing deals. Fast-forward a year later, and I’d finished my first terrible, awful

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Starred Library Journal Review for ‘Center of Gravity’

Laura McNeill

Jun 25, 2015
1 min

Starred Library Journal Review for ‘Center of Gravity’

Keeping it short and sweet today with this Starred Library Journal Review: Sharbrough, Christine. Library Journal 140.10 (Jun 01, 2015). Ava Carson is enjoying the perfect family life with husband Mitchell Carson, a new baby of their own, and Mitchell’s young son, Jack, until Mitchell’s personality changes from Prince Charming to an unpredictable, jealous control freak. Digging into a past Mitchell refuses to discuss, Ava finds more than she bargained for. When Mitchell files

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Laura McNeill

Jun 23, 2015
1 min

“I Love Summer” Giveaway

Love summer? Love books? Love cooking and Southern recipes? The Prize Pack offers everything you need for the perfect summertime party or get- The winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter July 1st and announced here on my blog Thursday, July 2nd! a Rafflecopter giveaway xo, Laura #cook #book #summer #giveaway #grill #fiction #free

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Writer Wednesday: 10 Ways to Fuel Motivation

Laura McNeill

Jun 17, 2015
2 min

Writer Wednesday: 10 Ways to Fuel Motivation

A lot of people tell me that they’ve always wanted to write a novel. They have an idea, a synopsis, an elevator pitch, and interesting characters. They have a setting, a But, they explain, when it comes down to actually writing — actually putting fingers to keyboard — life gets in the way. And I understand. A job definitely gets in the way. Family, friends, and the laundry can distract. There’s also the mail. And the latest HBO original series. Pretty soon, there’s no time le

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Laura McNeill

Jun 16, 2015
1 min

@Publish15 Convention – Part Deux

Day 2 of Publish 15 was just as fun and fulfilling as Day 1. In all, more than 500 people from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Alabama attended the event in Cumming, Ga. During the convention, I talked to so many great aspiring authors about self-publishing, traditional Stephanie, Me, & Holly Agent pitch sessions went on all weekend, and it was really exciting to find out that writing duo Stephanie Erbesfield and Holly Hearn had a request for a full manuscript and a req

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Laura McNeill

Jun 13, 2015
1 min

Whirlwind Report from #Publish15

Book enthusiast? Aspiring author? Interesting in pitching a literary agent? Consider attending Publish15! If you live near Atlanta, there’s still time to attend today (Sunday, June 14). If you’re outside the area, make plans to attend next year’s event! Jonathan, David, Me, & Bennett Publish15 is a 2-day convention for new and experienced writers — featuring topics like blogging, book proposals, and the business of being an author. On Saturday, I participated in two panels, G

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Writer Wednesday: Word Count or Word Quality

Laura McNeill

Jun 3, 2015
2 min

Writer Wednesday: Word Count or Word Quality

There is a belief among writers that, every day, authors must put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard and reach a certain word count. Stephen King has said, more than once, that he writes 2,000 words a day and rarely takes a day off. Jodi Picoult admits to sneaking away to her office to write on weekends. For much of his life, Frederick Forsyth insisted on working, 7 days a week, without fail. Like many other writers with lofty writing goals, I initially found it easy to get

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Writer Wednesday: Why Chatting with Strangers Helps Boost Creativity

Laura McNeill

May 20, 2015
2 min

Writer Wednesday: Why Chatting with Strangers Helps Boost Creativity

Writing is a very solitary profession. The glamour to work ratio is relatively low, though every six to nine months, there is the thrill of a new book launch, the fun of book signings, and meeting awesome readers!! In truth, 98.5% of the actual job is competed in a room, in front of a laptop (pad of paper, electronic In my world, writing is accomplished early morning, before most of the world wakes, from 5:30 am-7:30 am Monday through Saturday. From there, I transform into Mo

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Laura McNeill

May 19, 2015
2 min

5 Reasons Kids Make Great Novel Heroes

There’s something magical about novels that include a child or teen’s point of view. J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter comes to mind immediately, as does Scout Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and the Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen. Including a young person’s point of view (POV) isn’t limited to young adult or middle grade genres, however. Adult fiction author Jodi Picoult (Leaving Time) writes these POVs masterfully, as does Sue Monk Kidd (The Invention of Wings), and Susan Meissner

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