Wednesday, December 01, 2010

A New Chapter Begins!


I have changed my writing identity. Join me at my new blog, alexabourne.blogspot.com, and at my new website, www.alexabourne.com! If you have a link to this blog on your blog or website, please change it. If you are a "Follower" of this blog, I hope you'll "follow" me over to the new blog!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

And So It Ends....


It is with both joy and sadness I say goodbye to LEXI CONNOR, the name I've used for so long. I hope that those of you who have journeyed with me so far choose to follow me in my next adventures with my new name beginning tomorrow.

Monday, November 29, 2010

LEXI CONNOR

When I first chose this as my pen name, this is how I came up with it.

LEXI came from two women, the love interest of Methos from the Highlander TV Series (played by Ocean Hellman) and the modern day laird's wife from the Monarch of the Glen TV Series (played by Dawn Steele).
Alexa on the left, Lexie on the right








For the last name CONNOR, I used one of my all-time favorite fictional characters, Connor MacLeod, from the original Highlander movie.


If you have not seen Highlander (the original, not the rest of the movies), GET THEE A COPY! It is totally worth it! Sean Connery, men in kilts, sword fights, immortality, gorgeous Scottish scenery and romance...what's not to love?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Almost Goodbye

Thanksgiving is over, my NaNo book is drafted and the finishing touches are about to be put on the new blog & website. In 3 days I will no longer answer to Lexi Connor.

I'm sad about this because it's a special name for me, crafted with much thought, and one I've used for several years. People have asked me why I'm even bothering with a pen name before I sign a contract. I first chose to use a pen name when I was teaching. I wanted to keep those two careers separate. Although I shared my ups and downs with my students on a regular basis, I kept most of my writing life in its own compartment in my life.

People have also asked why I'm starting to use another pen name when someone else could come along and take the name I'm switching to. When I chose Lexi Connor, I didn't think I'd still be unpublished at this point. The same thing applies to the new name. Even on the heels of my latest rejection, I still hope to be published with the new name sooner rather than later.

At the same time, I'm excited about all the changes I'm making. I'm focusing on my romantic suspense stories for a while. I've put together a website for my new persona that I love and I'm excited to change the blog as well. There is also a contest coming later this week to celebrate my move!

For the record, I would have kept Lexi Connor as my writing name, but there is a Lexi Connor who writes kids' books and I've already started getting emails for her. She has 2 or 3 books coming out next year, with the first one in January, so I thought this would be the perfect time to make the changes.

I expect to only have a couple more posts to this blog in the next couple of days. Then we'll be surfing the new website, blog and Facebook page!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

To All My American Friends


HAPPY TURKEY DAY! Eat well, drink well and nap well afterward!

I am thankful for:
1. My family
2. My health
3. My talent
4. My friends (online and in person)
5. Books

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

SQUEE!


I DID IT! I AM A NANOWRIMO WINNER! 50,047 WORDS ON A WONDERFUL NEW SUSPENSE STORY CALLED A RELUCTANT HERO! TIME TO SIT BACK AND RELAX!

Pushing For The Finish Line

Less than 2000 words for NaNoWriMo.

Finally feeling connected a bit to my hero, the older brother Grady. And you know how that happened? I wrote a scene last night where he's watching the heroine work. She's totally oblivious to him watching her and he thinks about her and why he likes her. It's one of my favorite scenes so far in all my 48000+ words. Why? Because it's examining the emotions and THAT makes for good character and a good story.

More later.....

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Almost....

I'm 2550 words away from 50K on NaNoWriMo. I'm happy with that, excited I don't have to keep up this insane pace and at the moment I'm pretty sure most of my words are crap.

On the plus side, I've got 2 heroes that are absolutely AWESOME.

The minus side? Their stories are still entwined. At least I've figured out which hero gets which heroine, but beyond that I still feel very far removed from my characters and their stories.

I do intend to keep writing until the end of November, just not as much each day as I have been.

I need to focus, as always, on finding a permanent job. Also, I'm getting closer and closer to the day I drop the name Lexi Connor. I imagine once I finish my 2550 words for NaNo and jump into the final prep for my new name, I'll post here more details about the switch and what it means to me to give up a name I've been using for so many years. AND on top of all that, we have Thanksgiving this week!

But for now, I need to get some sleep. My only sub job for the week is tomorrow at 7:15!