A warm welcome to author Kate Sherwood joining us here at Love Bytes to talk about her new release “Long Shadows”, book 1 in her new Common Law series.
Distractions
Writing is fun for me, but it’s not laugh-riot, shrieking-in-joy, dancing-around-the-room fun. (I’m trying to picture a writer having that kind of fun, and it’s a little disturbing…). So one big part of writing for me involves avoiding distractions and making myself stay on task. What kind of distractions do I face?
Is there a writer alive today who isn’t distracted by the internet? It’s tricky because there are so many ways to justify the distraction. Social media is an important part of a writer’s marketing strategy, right? So browsing Twitter for an hour, trying to track down the scandal people are dropping hints about… that’s totally legit! Networking, man! And looking at pictures of cats is important because…
Because I needed to find a cute picture of a cat to use as an illustration for this blog post! Yay! Yes, my cat does distract me from writing, mostly by being adorable, but sometimes by being unbelievably loud. As she’s getting older, she’s picked up a habit of yowling for no reason until I stand up and find her, then giving me a dirty look and going to sleep. She’s a charmer, obviously. But… cute!
No, this isn’t a picture of my cat. If I’d used a picture of my cat I would have had no excuse to waste an hour looking at cat pictures. But this cat looks very, very, very similar to my cat. It takes a long time to find a cat-twin, you know.
My dog doesn’t distract me at all. But… maybe someday he will, so, in advance, here’s a picture of a dog who looks very much like my dog.
Damn, it doesn’t actually take too long to find a picture of a dog who looks like my dog. Back to writing…
Oooh, except there are so many fun internet games! For a while there I was playing a lot of Trivia Crack on Facebook. And then that circle-eats-other-circles-and-gets-bigger game, Agario or something? I won’t even look it up to get the name right, because I broke that addiction and don’t need to go back!
Other things that distract me? When things are going well in fiction-ville? Just about nothing. When things aren’t going well? Just about everything.
Anybody else got any good time-wasting internet sites/habits to share? Not that I need the help…
About Long Shadows
LA cop Jericho Crewe got the hell out of Mosely, Montana, when he was seventeen. Fifteen years later, he’s back, and everything is just as messed up as when he left. He planned a quick visit to deal with his injured father, but of course things are never that simple. Family complications, police complications, social complications—and, as always, Wade Granger complications.
Jericho and Wade had been so close, once upon a time. First friends, then more than friends—and then, after Jericho’s escape, nothing. Wade’s magnetism hasn’t been lessened by a decade and a half apart; even when Jericho learns that Wade is the prime suspect in the death of Jericho’s father, the old connection still sparks.
When Jericho’s newly discovered half siblings are kidnapped, he needs to trust someone to help him find them. Wade’s a terrible choice, but Jericho’s never been known for his good judgment. Anyway, he’d rather make a bad decision with Wade than a good one with anybody else.
Now available from:
About Kate Sherwood
Kate Sherwood started writing about the same time she got back on a horse after almost twenty years away from riding. She’d like to think she was too young for it to be a midlife crisis, but apparently she was ready for some changes!
Kate grew up near Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and went to school in Montreal, then Vancouver. But for the last decade or so she’s been a country girl. Sure, she misses some of the conveniences of the city, but living close to nature makes up for those lacks. She’s living in Ontario’s “cottage country”–other people save up their time and come to spend their vacations in her neighborhood, but she gets to live there all year round!
Since her first book was published in 2010, she’s kept herself busy with novels, novellas, and short stories in almost all the sub-genres of m/m romance. Contemporary, suspense, scifi or fantasy–the settings are just the backdrop for her characters to answer the important questions. How much can they share, and what do they need to keep? Can they bring themselves to trust someone, after being disappointed so many times? Are they brave enough to take a chance on love?
Kate’s books balance drama with humor, angst with optimism. They feature strong, damaged men who fight themselves harder than they fight anyone else. And, wherever possible, there are animals: horses, dogs, cats ferrets, squirrels… sometimes it’s easier to bond with a non-human, and most of Kate’s men need all the help they can get.
After five years of writing, Kate is still learning, still stretching herself, and still enjoying what she does. She’s looking forward to sharing a lot more stories in the future.
Twitter: @kate_sherwood
To celebrate the release of all four books in the Common Law series, we’re giving away one four-tour-wide GRAND PRIZE of $100 in Riptide credit! Enter at each stop on each tour (once they go live) to maximize your chances to win! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on April 8, 2017. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following the Long Shadows tour, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!
Between browsing the SMs timeline – and sometimes end up clicking one too many links – looking up new Yaoi stories and MM titles alike, …joining in book giveaways! Lol. Yeah, internet is pretty distracting. ;p
Thanks for this post, Kate. Congrats with the new book release and best wishes with the blog tours!
puspitorinid AT yahoo DOT com
Hi Kate, Congrats on the new release and thanks for the post.
Not so long ago I gave into demands to join Facebook after many years of denying. And oh boy, is that distracting. You can caught up in the many posts so easily. But is also fun. You ‘meet’ interesting people and read about things you wouldn’t dream of before.
tankie44 at gmail dot com
LOL! I’m not a writer, but I get easily distracted as well. My cat is also one of the biggest causes of distraction, she just jumps at my lap, and from my lap to the keyboard, every time I try to do something on my PC. And of course, the internet is an endless source of distraction….
Congratulations on the new release, Kate. I love your books
susanaperez7140(at)gmail(dot)com
Congrats on your release! I love the blurb!
I’m the master of googling aimlessly and wasting time on the internet. Lol
I also tend to just end up watching silly videos on instagram… It is so very easy to waste time when the internet is quick to hand. ;’)
Facebook is the biggest distraction of my life especially Sarcasm & 9gag fb pages. They make me crack up like I wouldn’t be laughing the following day. LMAO! Instead of scraping some dent on my TBR pile, I always end up scrolling & scrolling & endlessly scrolling. Sometimes I binge watch movies or anime too. See! A lot of distractions. But seriously, imho, it can’t be called distraction ’cause it’s like THE TIME YOU ENJOYED WASTING ISN’T WASTED TIME.
Well, IDK what I’m saying I think. LOL!
mushyvince(at)gmail(dot)com
Congrats on the release. I love the kitty picture and I miss mine.
Bejeweled is always good, and I had a brief flirtation with Sesame Fighter (Sesame Street/Street Fighter mashup game). Glove and Boots is fun from time to time…
vitajex(at)aol(Dot)com
I loved the ‘Dark Horse’ series so I’m looking forward to this one.
Time killers for me… Love Bye Review emails. Goodreads. Prism Reviews. Reading twitter postings for The Daily Show.
Facebook is a major distraction for me, as is my addiction for doing all sorts of giveaways….and then being distracted by the post it’s attached to and getting lost as I follow links all over the place lol
leetee2007(at)hotmail(dot)com
Almost everything I do online could be considered a waste of time. Everything takes twice as long because my CAT won’t leave me alone!!! But I still love him. 🙂
aelnova@aol.com
Thanks for the post. Time sinks: FB, Twitter, email, book giveaways, wiki. I’m sure there’s probably 1000 more. But I have 50 more book giveaways to enter today! 😉
legacylandlisa(at)gmail(dot)com
I can see how all that can be distracting. Cats need attention well more like they want to cat around with your affections, lol. Games are very time consuming too. You think you’ve only played 10 mins when really an hour or two has passed >o<
humhumbum AT yahoo DOT com
Congrats on the new release! Looking forward to reading it.
serena91291@gmail.com
The internet is so distracting. It’s so easy to fall down the rabbit hole and waste a ton of time. Thanks for the post. violet817(at)aol(dot)com
Sometimes I think I browsed Internet a lot more than I actually do my work *lol*
amie_07(at)yahoo(dot)com
Oh, no, I shouldn’t have read the comments! Too many NEW suggestions for how to waste time…
The internet is too easy to loose time too! Facebook is a big one for me, though when books have a real life reference I can often loose 30 minutes just looking at images of houses on the road mentioned!!
My easy distractions on my tablet are card games and scrabble
Thanks for the post and great giveaway. I’m a terrible procrastinator, and what fuels that is my surfing through all these great books to see what’s tbr.
Forgot to leave my contact info: TheWrote [at] aol [dot] com
Thanks for the post and great giveaway. I’m a terrible procrastinator, and what fuels that is my surfing through all these great books to see what’s tbr.
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My biggest distraction are all those great review sites and other book related sites 🙂
booklover-forever(at)web(dot)de
I LOVE this Cover! Added to my wish-list. Entering author and blog contests is by far my biggest distraction. Lol. Fair warning…don’t get started. It’s addictive!