Welcome to Lisa Vallier's literary blog!

Hi all,

I've created this web page to track my writing trials and tribulations. As most visitors to this site know I've written a novel, Four Circles. I am currently editing (for the tenth time it seems) based on agent feedback. Actually, it was the feedback of one lone agent who seems to have read the first three chapters.. Her name is Carole Greene and she is with the Simenauer and Greene Agency in Florida. I had given up all hope until her rejection letter came through. She suggested I rearrange the book to bring more of the action to the beginning and capture agents attention. Having gotten similar comments from multiple readers I decided to head back to the drawing board. Some of my avid fans (my father and Karen specifically) are not happy about it but I think the result may be a more fluid story. I plan to post a few chapters in the not too distant future for everyone to enjoy and (*ugh*) review.

I'll try to end most posts with a literary recommendation (or two):

Blame - Michelle Huneven (Sarah Crichton Books, © 2009)
The story starts with a young girl on top of a hotel roof witnessing the her mother being brought by ambulance into a hotel. The girl's uncle is charged with taking care of her and allows his pretty but drunken girlfriend to pierce the 14 year olds ears.
The girlfriend, Patsy, is the main character of the book. She ends up driving drunk one evening and, unbeknownst to herself, kills two people. The book follows her imprisonment, entanglement with the young girl's family including uncle Brice, his boyfriend and a wealthy recovered alcoholic uncle. The story of how she transitions back into society unfolds seemlessly but there is a twist at the end that even I (an avid end guesser) couldn't see coming. I love this type of book! Likable characters that really come through on the page. Some of the authors comparisons are a little odd. In one section she says, "his green-smelling cologne" as if it's a good thing when all it made me think of was sewage but some people would smell forest green. Ah, the beauty of reading!

Tethered - Amy MacKinnon (Shaye Arehart Books © 2008)
This novel follows a woman who is abandoned and taken in by a family that owns a mortuary. See, right that different, right? Anyway, Clara Marsh is a little different, not only because she lives and works at the mortuary but she is a social outcast. A child attempts to befriend her but Clara shies away until she realizes the child has no one else and then disappears. Clara ends up finding where the child lives and untangles a web of horror that no child should have to endure. The book makes you cringe but keeps you reading with it's twists and turns. It's based in Massachusetts and the author lives in Marshfield! I actually spoke with her and she gave me some great advice on how to get my book published. Another good read - and fairly short at 272 pages.
If you can, buy this one as it will support a local author!