More awards news, and an upcoming hiatus...

Eeeeeek!! You guys, the Christian Editor Connection announced last week that Common is one of four finalists for their 2019 Excellence in Editing Award! YAY!!!! I'm thrilled beyond words to have my book recognized for such an honor, though most of the credit goes to my amazing editor at Love2ReadLove2Write Publishing, Michele Israel Harper, who works SO hard for her authors, plus is an incredible source of support and encouragement. The winner will be announced next month!

Also, did you hear Common made the Top 20 for the Alliance Award?? The Alliance Award is a readers' choice award sponsored by Realm Makers, my all-time favorite writers' conference :) I still squeal every time I see my name listed among so many of my favorite fantasy authors! *insert happy dance here* The voting period is already past (it seems I missed posting about it in the midst of all the Encircled release excitement), but I'm so grateful to everyone who nominated Common to make it a semi-finalist and to everyone who took the time to vote! Your enthusiasm for my story truly means the world to me!

And in other, non-writing-related news, I'm about to have a baby! My due date is less than two weeks away (eep!), so we've made it to the final waiting stage. Which feels so fast and so slow all at the same time! So unless I have really big news to share, I don't expect to be posting any updates over the summer as we settle into a new norm and endure the sleep deprivation that comes with having a newborn. Everything seems to be going well up to this point, but prayers are definitely appreciated as baby's arrival approaches!

(For the record, this picture was taken a month ago - I'm quite a bit larger now!) Have a wonderful summer, everyone! I look forward to being back in the fall, hopefully with news of huge progress on Traitor (Tales of the Mystics, Book Two)!

A Winner, A Release Date, and Blog Tour Signups!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who helped me celebrate Common's first birthday last month! I so appreciated all your love and creativity! And I'm excited to announce we have a giveaway winner! Congratulations to...Jebraun Clifford! I'll be in touch about mailing your prize :)

Here's a picture of me and Leah baking cookies to mark the end of the Common birthday celebration!

In other news, I have tons of updates about Encircled, my critique group's collection of fairy tale retellings! We've set a release date of April 16th, which is only a month away! Eeeeeeek! We'll be revealing the gorgeous cover on March 20th - if you'd like to get a sneak peek at the cover and help us share it with the world, you can sign up to be a part of our cover reveal HERE. And, we're in the midst of planning the Encircled Blog Tour, which will run from April 8th through April 17th! If you're interested in participating, you can find the signup form HERE. *Both forms include an opportunity to be an advance reviewer of Encircled!*

I hope everyone is having a fabulous March, I'll be back next week with the Encircled cover reveal!!


P.S. Please consider voting for Common in the Christian Indie Awards if you haven't yet (it's in the Young Adult category), you can find the ballot HERE. Common is also eligible for the Alliance Award this year, a readers' choice award run through my favorite writing conference, Realm Makers :) Stop by HERE and nominate your three favorite fantasy / science fiction books that released in 2018! If Common happens to be one of them (YAY!!), it's ISBN-13 you'll need for the nomination is 978-1943788279. Thank you!!!

Realm Makers 2016 Overview

I hardly know where to start with this post! I attended the Realm Makers conference for writers of speculative fiction (fantasy, scifi, dystopian, steampunk, etc.) the last weekend of July, and it was epic. I've been home for almost two weeks, and I'm still processing all the amazing lessons I learned (both writing-related and life in general) and people I connected with.

I won't go into all the classes I attended in detail (though feel free to reach out and ask, if you're interested!), but they were everything from marketing and creating a great proposal, to inspiration about the unique gift of being a writer, to how different writing stages compare to dating milestones, to engaging discussions about how faith impacts our writing and what Christian literature is and should be. Suffice it to say I learned a lot!

But the highlight of the conference by far was being surrounded by so many like-minded people. At every turn I met someone who has embarked on a journey as crazy as mine, and it was such a pleasure to be able to share, commiserate, laugh, and even cry with them. I couldn't believe how hard it was to say goodbye to these new friends, even though we had only spent a few days together.

Realm Makers also provided me the opportunity to meet with several agents and editors and pitch my manuscript. While a nerve-wracking experience, I so appreciated their kindness, encouragement, and genuine interest in my story. I'm feeling more motivated than ever to finish editing to get my manuscript submission-ready! I'll be sure to post any updates along the way!

And now...the moment you've all been waiting for! What mystery costume did I wear to the Realm Makers costume banquet??

Ta da! Any fellow Big Bang Theory fans out there? That's right, I was Amy Farrah Fowler :)  Not as many people recognized my costume as I'd hoped, but I still had a great time!








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Not much to report...

Happy July! My family has been caught up in the craziness of summer, including a vacation just my husband and I took to Door County, Wisconsin (you can find out more about it here if you're interested) and a roadtrip our whole family took to Wyoming, which we just returned from this week. As you can guess, I haven't been able to accomplish too much writing-wise during all this travel, but the breaks have been refreshing.

Now that we're back I'll be gearing up for Realm Makers for the next few weeks, which will hopefully involve lots of editing! Wish me luck :)

#WIPjoy & Conference Prep

I wanted to mention that I'll be sporadically participating in #WIPjoy throughout the month of June, in which I (and many other writers) will be sharing fun insights about my work-in-progress over social media. Make sure to like me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaurieLucking/) and follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/LaurieLucking) if you want to check it out!

Also, a quick update on my conference prep. I have a costume! No, I won't say what it is because I don't want to spoil the surprise, but I promise I'll post pictures later :)  And while my manuscript still needs plenty of work, I've taken a break from editing for the moment to work on putting together materials for pitching my story. Less than two months to go!

Heading to Realm Makers 2016!

This July I will be flying to Philadelphia to attend Realm Makers, a conference dedicated to Christian speculative* fiction. My plane tickets are purchased and the registration is sent in, now all I have to do is come up with a costume for their highly-acclaimed costume dinner / awards ceremony. Oh, and get my manuscript ready to pitch to agents and publishers - no big deal, right? :)

Not only will I have the opportunity to meet several of my amazing critique partners in person for the first time, but I've also been able to connect with many other writers who will be there. Let me tell you, this is an unbelievably fun, welcoming group! I can't wait!!

*If you're not familiar with the phrase "speculative fiction" (I wasn't until very recently!), it encompasses fantasy, science fiction, and related sub-genres, such as dystopian and steampunk.