“Ooh, and I Like It”

Some of you caught the title immediately – you heard the song in your head and sang along with DeBarge right away. Others of you are waiting for me to explain what I mean when I say, “Ooh, and I like it”. Don’t worry… I will.

Because that phrase means a lot of things to me right now. There have been a lot of reasons for me to say it recently and I am so, so amazed by each of them… including the couple I can’t talk about just yet. (LOL!)

I’m being unnecessarily cryptic now, so I’ll just spill.

1. It’s Finally Happening! Mars, The Band Man, and Sara Sue will finally see the light of day! This novel means so much to me because it is my first foray into the mystery genre! Yeah, now I’m writing mysteries too! 🙂 I am so excited to add this to my cross genre toolkit – psychological horror borrows from mystery often enough, so it felt like a good fit. And what a fun story! You know me and book trailers – I just love ’em. Check this beauty out:

I’m in love. So… in honor of this beauty, I’m offering something pretty cool. If you preorder this book from my personal sales site… you know the one you didn’t know existed because I hardly ever use it (that one!), I will sign it for you and send it out when it releases (looking like mid August of this year, friends!) and…

AND THIS IS AWESOME…

When you preorder this little beauty, I will give you a 30% off discount on any other L. Marie Wood title you like, while supply lasts!

So, get some vampire or ghosts goodies, some realistic horror, or learn how to write horror fiction yourself. Try some dark romance with a side of mystery. Have some Sci-Fi Horror in your coffee. Get some more L. Marie Wood in your life! 🙂

2. I had the honor of being the Guest Author at the In Your Write Mind Convention this month! It was an amazing experience. I was able to share my experience and be among writers in a space that encouraged creativity. I taught workshops, participated on panels, gave the keynote speech (OMG!), lectured, and signed a few books too!

They took me on a ghost tour on Seton Hill University’s campus, a place that really does look and feel like Hogwarts. It is full of tunnels and passageways that turned me upside down and messed with my sense of direction. Oh, and the stories they told about the nuns were… wow.

They let me prattle on about the stuff that matters to me – finding your own voice, letting yourself write the way you write, making your own way through publishing. They let me talk about my little academy and all the fun things we’re doing there. I certainly hope I gave as good as I got. This was an author/educator’s dream and I am so thankful to have experienced it.

3. I got a magical phone call asking me an important question that I almost didn’t hear because of the excitement bouncing around my head. I was asked if I would accept a nomination for the MICO Award. Ummm, of course! Like I could say no to THAT! This award acknowledges innovation, courage, and excellence in the Film Arts and is named after the founder of the NOVA Fest and Capital Film Market, Fernando Mico. Only six people a year are nominated worldwide. It is an honor to be seen and chosen.

There are two other amazing things I really can’t talk about, but OMG you guys, wait until I can! Here is a little something about one of them…

The Dynamic Duo right here. The Dream Team. This picture was years in the making. And I am-… oops… I’d better leave it right there.

The other thing? I can’t say anything about that… yet. BUT YOWZA!

Ok, that really has to be it (at least about that!). 🙂

What else is going on?

Me and a couple of friends (oh, just some amazing authors, screenwriters, and publishers from DWASF ) will be at BlerdCon on July 9th talking about filmmaking and writing speculative fiction. If you’re planning on going to the con, come say hi! I’ll also be on ConTinual in July and August talking about cross genre, Japanese horror movies, and scary bad guys (though not all at the same time) and at MultiverseCon in October, reprising my role as Horror Track Director for the 4th year (time flies!)! Check me out if you are around.

My TBR list is growing exponentially. It’s really getting to be out of hand. I just added The Murder of Tutankhamen by Bob Brier, Ph.D. and I still have The Lying Game by Ruth Ware waiting for me to get serious about reading. I don’t know which one I want to read first. It’s a great problem to have. What are you reading? Reply back… enable me some more!

I finished The Silent Sea on Netflix and loved it. It was nice to see Bae Doona again and I now have a new actor that I want to see in more stuff: Lee Joon. Sci-Fi and super dark – loved it!

“Ooh, and I like it.”

I really do… Just like DeBarge said. DeBarge, that group from the 1980s led by El? This was one of my favorites by them. Here’s a blast from the past because yeah, I like it.

I like it all.

Until next time…

L. Marie