Lacey Louwagie

NaNoWriMo

Dark Crystal Authorquest - The Final Stretch

I’m entering the final stretch of the Dark Crystal Authorquest, and much as in the frenzy of NaNoWriMo, I’m starting to feel as though I hardly have any words to spare for non-Authorquest writing endeavors. I did manage to write last week’s  Young Adult Catholics post while

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A Year in the Life, Week 31 - Your Perfect Opposite

This week’s prompt referenced the Griffin and Sabine books, which I meant to read once upon a time but which kind of fell of my radar. In particular, it talks about how the symbolism in Griffin’s letters implies that he is searching for his “perfect opposite” so he

fiction

Have Books, Will Read, Need Time

Recently, I’ve had the good luck to acquire a nice stack of new (or new-to-me) writing books. They are … Publishing E-books for Dummies by Ali Luke – This is fairly technical reading, but after checking it out from the library, I really wanted my own copy as a reference. I’

Book Reviews

Book Review: Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones

Since The Dark Crystal has been occupying so much of my creative space these last couple months, it seemed worth sharing my review of the new Jim Henson biography here. As a creative person, I found the biography to be inspiring on many levels — in its reassurance that even cultural

authors

My Marketing Revelation

Last week, I went to a community ed class about how to market your book put on by Sarah J. Pepper, a local author who has achieved success through both traditional and self publishing. I always wonder when I show up at these things whether I’ll learn anything new,

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A Year in the Life, Week 29 - A Recipe

The prompt from A Year in the Life for this weekend was “a recipe” — that is, how do you put together something you know how to create well? It was ironic because I got this prompt when I sat down to write the night I finished my Once a Month

Book Reviews

Fairy Tale Book Review: Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wavered between giving this a high three stars or a low four. It was beautifully written, with believable characters and motivations. For me its main drawback was how long it took to get going; for half the book, it’

blogging

On the Transubstantiation

Just posted over at Young Adult Catholics my piece on that most Catholic of subjects, the Transubstantiation.

authors

Orson Scott Card's Plea for "Tolerance" is not Enough

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” – A.E. Wiggin Warning: this post contains Ender’s Game spoilers; proceed with caution unless you’ve already read the book, seen the movie, or

Book Reviews

Writing Book Review: APE by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch

This book makes its point well: that it is possible to self publish a book that is high enough quality to compete with traditionally published books. The writing here is clean, direct, and clear, and the formatting is impeccable — no small feat in an ebook that is being delivered across

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A Year in the Life, Week 28: Each Side a Balance

Today’s A Year in the Life prompt asked me to take a common object and write about it alternating the lines, “I love you for …” “I don’t love you for …” I looked up, and there sat my water bottle, and a journal entry was born. My dear Water

blogging

Are You a Success? By Whose Standards?

I’m still a little bleary-eyed and disjointed from odd train schedules and driving throughout the night — I just got back from the annual Call To Action conference, where I came up with ideas for at least two blog posts for Young Adult Catholics, so overall, I think it was

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A Year in the Life, Week 27: Own a Place

This week’s A Year in the Life exercise was about “owning” a place. I wrote it while taking the Amtrak from Minnesota to Milwaukee for the Call To Action retreat. How strange that I always get these prompts that are very place specific when I am traveling. As I

fiction

NaNo'Ers, I'm With You in Spirit

Although I usually take one year to “recover” between attempts at NaNoWriMo, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to look at November the same way again. This year, I’m on “recovery,” still working on the novel I pounded out last November (I’ve discovered that novels

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A Year in the Life, Week 26: Self-Reflection Week

Can you believe it? I feel like I Just posted my quarterly review yesterday, and it’s already time for my six-month review. It went all right, although I think I may have gotten a little too snarky to my boss near the end. Think she’ll keep me around?

blogging

Marriage, Mass, and the Power of Rituals

Newest post it up at Young Adult Catholics, about Marriage, Mass, and the Power of Rituals.

article writing

It's Here: The Nov/Dec Issue of Verily Magazine

I’ve been waiting to write this post for a long time. The November/December issue of Verily Magazine is finally for sale, and it features my article, “Natural Wonder: Understand Your Cycle to Regain Your Sanity and Appreciate Your Body,” on page 87. In case the title doesn’t

fairy tales

Rumpled ebook Cover - Your Opinions

I’ve been reading a lot about self-publishing ebooks lately as I slog through APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur and Publishing e-Books for Dummies. A few months ago I made a “final” decision about the cover for my retelling of Rumplestiltskin, Rumpled, but I’ve been second-guessing myself and overthinking it.

blogging

A Prayer for Vocations

My latest post is up on Young Adult Catholics, which is a reflection of gratitude on the many ways people creatively answer their vocations despite obstacles.

blogging

Booklikes: My New Website Crush

Book blogs have been around for as long as the Internet has been, and WordPress alone probably has hundreds of them. But now there’s a website created for the sole purpose of hosting book blogs, making it super easy to connect books to your entries, with templates for book

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A Year in the Life, Week 24: This is a Story About ...

Although I’ve been keeping up with my Year in the Life journaling, the last two exercises, which I wrote while on my trip to Puerto Rico, were not especially inspiring. Now that I’m home, today’s exercise helped me crystallize the experience in Puerto Rico. I find I

Catholicism

Unruly Catholic Women Writers are Here!

A book of women’s reflections on Catholicism that I contributed to is now available for sale through SUNY Press and Amazon.  Don’t let the hardcover price alarm you — it’s available in paperback and ebook formats, too! You can download the flyer with more information here.

imagination

Imagination and the Preservation of Culture

I didn’t get a chance to blog last week because I was on vacation in Puerto Rico with my husband, with only one laptop (his) between us. When I’m on vacation, I prefer to be as fully “present” as possible, so I didn’t ask for access to

fiction

To Outline or Not to Outline: A Question Only You Can Answer

A few weeks ago, as I fretted over my Dark Crystal submission (which I still haven’t started), one commenter authoritatively told me I must write an outline for it. I did, and I am, because it’s such unfamiliar territory for me that I just feel a lot safer

opening lines

Where to Begin?

Recently, a writer friend of mine told me that the opening line for one of my stories wasn’t really working for her. Like most negative feedback, it wasn’t easy to hear–but it will ultimately lead to a better story. Luckily, I wasn’t particularly attached to that