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Erica Spindler

Erica Spindler

I am a New York Times and International Chart bestselling author. Critics have called my stories, "terrific twisted tales,” and "creepy and compelling; real page turners." In 2002, I received the prestigious Daphne du Maurier award for excellence, and am a two-time Kiss of Death award winner. My novels reflect a lifelong fascination with the... more »
  • New Orleans, LA, USA
  • member since December 27 2007

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Erica Spindler’s last login was 3 weeks ago.

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Public Notes

  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Erica, since mid October last year, I volunteer at my local hospital's Outpatient Occupational Therapy center, every Wednesday morning for 3 hours. I mainly file folders, place paperwork in folders and then go to the gym to return items and restock linens or other chores they need me for. Yep, still to jungle-training is on hold, no word from my job coach yet. I'll keep editing the best I can.

    Speaking of which... I have 5 new crit partners for Venom. There's a debate of splitting chapter one's first two pages (flashback scene) into a prologue and shorten it to a page or less. What's your thoughts on it? Just curious to know your input. I'll be working on it this weekend. I've got 30 pages left to edit before I tackle the final scenes to write/edit and then one more editing round. I'm closing in on 90 K.

    As for 24 Chain Reaction, the fourth round of editing ends on Sunday. Hopefully the last round of editing starts next week with harder, precise cuts to shorten 44 K by mid-July.

    P.S. Are you on Twitter? I just joined this week. I'm KristenH_09 if you're interested. I tweet about reading/writing/editing. I'll be reading Bone Cold next week too.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Happy Mother's Day Erica. I have a bit of an editing update. For Venom, I'm down to the final thirty pages. I should finish round 4 of editing and write/edit the final scenes. Then I'll do one more round of editing alone and with a crit partner. I did have a crit partner two weeks ago- but due to health/family issues, she had to bail out. Nonetheless, I've obtained four new ones from one of my old crit lists. I hope to finish by Memorial Day (my birthday in 20 days). If not, I'm hoping by the 4th of July.
    I hope to query in mid-summer and try to go to a conference. As for 24CR, I'll be finishing round 4 this week also and start heavy cuts right after it to knock down those 44 K left to 90 K somehow. I hope to finish by Labor Day or earlier. As for Double Exposure, I started to cut paragraphs in half (only chapter 1) and from there, just do more cuts. I'm down to 9 K and have many more to go, since I hit the next 1 K mark yesterday. I hope to finish my research for Venom/Double Exposure this month, belatedly since the holiday season, before I'll start research for Specimen next month-I'll be making a list of items to research this week. My goal is same as last year's JulNanowrimo: 100 K and edit from there. It worked out better than going over 100 K than it did for me for Nano in November.

    As for work, things are a bit better, since I worked 2.5 days last week. I have at least 4 more weeks left to work, when called, for 16 more opportunities (last day in 6/12.) I have to see where it stands, as I still volunteer. As I'm still looking for more permanent work, one option posed in March was training to be a pharmacy technician if things don't work out well. I applied last month and my job coach called last week. It was agreed upon, that after school, I'll go right into training with Employment Connection (their sponsor) for 3-6 weeks, and have an interview after my first week. I had that training before years ago which concerns of job interviews, resumes, applications, etc. It shouldn't take me 2 that long. Then after the interview, I could go into training for cashier/pharm tech in mid-summer. I don't know my phase one training would be, since I'm waiting to hear from my job coach, nor phase two. When I do, I have to figure out my volunteer schedule (taking those weeks off or work on Saturdays), along with working on my writing/editing. When i do my hours, I have to plan to go to a conference in the summer and/or fall. Will keep you posted. P.S. I'll be reading/reviewing Bone Cold real soon, probably within a week or so.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    HI Erica. Thanks. I do have new crit partners from another egroup to help me out with the trouble areas-one did chapter one only this weekend, one helping me out now and one in the summer. I did pick up Manuscript Makeover, which someone mentioned to me from a crit list, two weeks ago. So I'm making notes. I will reach 91 K for Venom today and have one K left to go with 79 pages left to edit (including the gap for the final unwritten scenes.) Then I'll do a final editing round, even as I'm doing chapter one now with my crit partner, to get it done maybe by Memorial Day Weekend in 5 weeks. Hooray! As for work, I have to wait a see. Will keep you posted.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Well I"ve reached 193 K for Double Exposure. That's eight down and many more to go. As for Venom, I do have four trouble errors reported by a fellow critter at my writing workshop: pacing (sort-of fixed), overwriting (trying to nail it down), language control (sort-of better) and continuity (a bit iffy). Any advice on those areas? I'll be reaching 91 K today or tomorrow with 90 pages left before I write those final scenes and edit them. Then hopefully a final edit to smooth out any inconsistencies or trouble areas by the end of next month (my birthday). I'm still planning to finish it somehow and query it this summer and go to a conference or two, if it's fixed. As for 24-Hour Chain Reaction, with 100 pages left, I'll hit 136 K next week. My work situation is a bit troubled right now-won't get it now.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Robert K

    Robert K says

    Thanks for adding me. Your books are very nice.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Just to let you know, I've hit 194 K yesterday and have 7 K cut and 19 pages down of my novel so far. I haven't hit my target amount to cut, but I do cut paragraphs and dialogue in half, even close to it the amount for Double Exposure. P.S. I've requested Bone Cold at the library yesterday and hope to read Red and Breakneck this summer.

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Janey

    Janey says

    Looking forward to your new book as always. I had it on my list of books to read but had a different title (but it was close enough).

    posted 7 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Janey

    Janey says

    Hi Erica. I finally got a chance to read Breakneck and loved it. It kept me in suspense until the end like always. Can't wait for your next one.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    It was ok. Yours?

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Happy Easter Erica! Round 1 of editing have ended today for Double Exposure. 18 pages cut, 6.75 words eliminated. 95 K left to go. I'm at 194351 for the final editing round of word cut. Tomorrow I'll move over to the moderate cut of also eliminating passive highlighted words and shortened prose/dialogue for round two. Take a 500 word paragraph and cut it in half to 250 for example. It's hard. But I find a way to do it and keep all the particulars there, aiming for 250-1000 words per round. A tricky task per page. I'll reach the 7 K mark later this week. Venom's 91 K will hit this week as I have 109 pages left to go for round 4. The 24-Hour Chain Reaction's 136 K will also happen later this week, perhaps by the weekend. Will let you know when it hits.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Erica, I've reached 6 K today for Double Exposure. I have 100 pages left to edit for the first round and finish on Easter. Then I'll start round 2 cuts and average 250 minumum to 1000 max each editing round, since I've averaged between 110 to 230 rounds cut per day. It's going to be tricky to cut down prose in half before I have to cut/edit scenes and then characters as a last resort. I've also cut down 16 pages so far, which isn't bad. I failed to do those cuts last year for 24 Chain Reaction and will do the same for it this year too. I should reach 136 K sometime next week and have 200 pages left to edit and finish next month. As for Venom, I should reach 91 K this weekend and have 150 pages left to edit to finish this round, then do my final scenes and do one more cursory edit to finish next month. I hope by my birthday (Memorial Day Weekend 5/30), it should be done. So I can query in the summer and maybe try to go to a conference or two like Thrillerfest. I probably won't have it done for Book Expo next month. I'll keep you posted. If I don't hear from you, have a nice Easter.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Hey Erica. Juggling like a clown. What's there to enjoy about editing? I'm trying to. Will keep you posted.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Erica, I had a typo error for the 24-Hour Chain Reaction. It's 137 K not 133. 47 K left, not 45. Somehow I put down 133. I wish. I got my numbers mixed up. Oh well.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Hey Erica. I have another editing report on all three of my Nano mss almost. I'll break them down one by one.

    The 24-Hour Chain Reaction: I've hit the 133 K mark today. I have 44 K left to go. 189 pages left to go for the 4th round of editing, before I'll do a final round of shorten prose/dialogue before I'll remove characters or shorten/remove scenes. By doing 2 pages a day, that'll be in July. Starting tomorrow, it'll be 4 pages a day to speed things up to May, two months away. Round 5 will start in mid-May.

    Venom: With one hundred pages left for round 4, I still hope to finish by May with the final scenes written/edited and do one more editing round. I should reach 91 K sometime next week thereabouts. Then I'll query.

    Double Exposure: 254 pages to go for round 1, I'll be done by April 15th and then do medium/big cuts for round 2 in 2-3 weeks. 6 K cut, 15 pages down, isn't bad. I've also hit the 196 K mark today and have 95 K more to go. I still hope to aim 500-1000 words a day and to finish by this fall, if I need 2 more editing rounds to go. (My same goal for the final round of The 24-Hour Chain Reaction too.) I'll beep you informed. I also hope to request and read Bone Cold this spring along with three others like Breakneck.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    I've hit the next 1 K mark Erica today, when I've made some cuts of cutting 4 big graphs and half of one to cut 100 words or more. I've at 196 and have cut 5 K so far with 106 K left to go. I'll be done with Nano a few days early when I reach 50 hours tomorrow and will go beyond that. When I reach 500 pages, I'll have 357 pages left to go. After round one, I'm aiming to cut prose in half before I cut the scenes out by aiming for 500-100k a day. I tried it before last year and failed with 24 Hour Chain Reaction's edit. But i'll try it again.

    As for 24 Chain Reaction, I should reach the 44 K mark this weekend.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Erica, this unexpectedly handed me for me now. I've cut out four big unnecessary words and went down two pages from 860 to 858. Plus it helped me out cut out more than 500 words, with the words I've cut out before and after I've cut those chunks out. So I've made the next mark to 197 K and have 108 K left to go. I'm getting there. P.S. I'm almost there for the next 1 K Mark for 24 Hour Chain Reaction-should hit the 44 K mark by next week, early on thereabouts.

    posted 8 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Hi Erica. I've reached the 199 K mark for Double Exposure. So far I've logged in 30 hours for 300 pages. I have 561 pages to go, since I went down 7 pages so far, since I started. I do have 109 K mark to go. I've marked off areas with asterisks to go back to for round 2 of editing. So we'll see where it takes me.

    As for Venom, I should hope to be done with it next month, probably around the end. And for 24Hr Chain Reaction, I should reach 132 K by the end of the week and have 44 K to go. I know for sure, for JulNanowrimo, I'm sticking back to 100 K for Specimen. I won't start research into June for that. We'll keep you posted and will request Bone Cold next month to read along with Breakneck.

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Hey Erica-I've reached 200 K for Double Exposure, just by cutting out words for 9 days. So far I've edited 9 chapters, a total of 180 pages, 18 hours. I do have 110 K to go.

    I've also reached 91 K for Venom. I'm going to finish this round of editing, write my final scenes, edit them, do one more editing round, and be finished. I'm hoping by mid-April (4/15 thereabouts), I'll be ready to query, after almost a year of editing though. One down, two to go. I'll let you know when I land that hallmark. Bring the champagne!

    As for the 24-Hour Chain reaction, I'm getting there for the next mark and will reach it probably by Friday or this weekend. I'll let you know.

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • 2Prairiedogs

    2Prairiedogs says

    Awesome, chilling, fascinating page turners! Not enough words? LOL But in other words...keep up the good work! Love your books!!

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Kristen H

    Kristen H says

    Erica, one quick note: I've reach 200 K today. I have 110 K to go. I went down two pages from 867 to 865. I have about 785 pages left to go.

    posted 9 months ago. ( send a note )


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