I'm Holly Lisle, full-time writer, with 32 published novels so far, and in the midst of writing the 33rd. If you want to learn how to create characters, plot a novel, write a book, or start or maintain your writing career. I can help.
 

Writing Diary

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Pocket Full of Words
Writing Diary of Novelist Holly Lisle

DTD?504 words and a rock band
A short run through the bowels of Madison Square Garden in disguise, still pursued by killers. Finished the scene and the chapter, and now have 21,688 words completed. Tomorrow, I’ll pick up Ki’s point of view, and the invasion of his lair by his unwelcome, trouble-plagued guest. I had great fun with this scene. If I didn’t [...]
DTD?289 words forward, and a small clue
Aleksa gets the first hint that what she thinks happened to her assistant is not what happened at all. Small segment tonight—I haven’t slept more than a couple of hours a night since last Friday, and I’m determined to get a full night’s sleep tonight. So, with 21,184 words completed, I’m going to turn in. The [...]
THE WRITING CRAFT Update: Which kind of writer are you?
Based on heavy votes on THE WRITING CRAFT’s “I need this planned module first” poll, I’m now at work on the Motivation module. Following that, I’ll do the Pacing and Plot module. The votes were surprising. HOWEVER… the comments were far more telling—I got bunches on all three polls, and discovered that what I was [...]
DTD?286 words, and digging into the mystery
My heroine, convinced that her apparent allies are in fact allied with her enemies, questions her captor. Fun session tonight. Got to explore one of my important secondary characters on my way to the bigger surprise I have planned between hero and heroine. If you’re playing the “write a book with me” game, post your own [...]
DTD?Night off with the AFK
I took last night off. No words. The Air Force Kid is home on leave before going back to the desert for another 6 months, and we sat up and talked and played video games and just hung out together until about 3:30 AM. If you’re playing “Write a book with me,” here are [...]
?Write A Book With Me? is a go.
Look at the line of tabs right above the blog title (Pocket Full of Words). You’ll see a new tab there for Write A Book With Me. The tab includes the short list of game rules (mostly non-rules, frankly), the playing levels with explanations, and ways to keep track of what’s going on. You [...]
Want to write a book with me?
Got 506 words of Dreaming the Dead tonight, and put my MC in a situation where she’s not sure if she’s been captured by friendlies or enemies. And I realized what I’m doing right now creates a perfect opportunity for folks who want to write a novel but who need a bit of a boost to [...]
DTD: 333 more words take me over 20K
Good words last night, along with surprising action as my MC remembers something horrible that shaped her life, and decides to fight for survival. I’m stunned to realized that working at this ambling, casual pace, I’m already over 20,000 words, and that if I were planning a normal-length book, I’d already be 20% done. This [...]
Men, Women, Writing, and Getting Laid
Matt has assured me on more than one occasion that the reason men choose to do anything is, first and foremost, because they think doing it will get them laid. Design the Eiffel Tower? Compose a magnificent concerto? Do a hundred pushups a day? Write a novel? The man thinks “This will [...]
Camel Coat
Took myself by surprise when my villain (whom the heroine thinks of as Camel Coat) showed up without warning. Got 439 words and an edgy bit of a tense scene—tomorrow, I’ll probably hit the part where the trap snaps shut, and catches more that it was intended to catch. But for tonight, I’m done, and [...]

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The Ruby Key (Book I of Moon & Sun)

On the most dangerous night of the year, fourteen-year-old Genna and her twelve-year-old brother Danrith go into the forest to find a healing tree sap that could save their mother's life. But they don't come back. Instead, they are drawn into the world of the dangerous nightlings, and into a bargain with the immortal nightling kai-lord--find a missing child, or they and their mother will die. (Scholastic, May 1, 2008)

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Hawkspar

A young Tonk woman stolen from her family as a child and raised as a slave in the far-away Ossalene Citadel is given the choice--be free and be nothing, or give up every hope and dream you had, give up everything you cherished, give up your own life, and fight to save what remains of the people who were once yours--people you don't know and may never live to meet. More than anyone imagines rests on her choice. (Tor, June 24, 2008)

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