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L.J. McDonald

Goodreads Author

Born

in Canada

Website

http://ljmcdonald.blogspot.com/

Twitter

LJMcDonald1

Genre

Fantasy, Literature & Fiction

Member Since

January 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/ljmcdonald

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I first started writing in 1986, when my grade ten English teacher read some of my poetry and said that I had talent. I was so floored at the concept that I started writing short stories. My parents weren't quite so thrilled that I was doing something that took my away from my schoolwork, so I arranged to write a novel for two school credits, thereby turning writing into homework. Those two credits resulted in the creation of the novel Cure for the Phoenix, which I haven't read in over twenty years and which will likely not see the light of day. Even now I remember it as being quite clichéd, though my husband likes it.
I did make some attempts to get published over the years, and almost made it at one point, but other things were on my min I first started writing in 1986, when my grade ten English teacher read some of my poetry and said that I had talent. I was so floored at the concept that I started writing short stories. My parents weren't quite so thrilled that I was doing something that took my away from my schoolwork, so I arranged to write a novel for two school credits, thereby turning writing into homework. Those two credits resulted in the creation of the novel Cure for the Phoenix, which I haven't read in over twenty years and which will likely not see the light of day. Even now I remember it as being quite clichéd, though my husband likes it.
I did make some attempts to get published over the years, and almost made it at one point, but other things were on my mind. To me, not submitting was easier than dealing with rejection slips, so I stopped trying. I did still keep on writing though. It's true that for writers, it's a compulsion. I just never considered the idea that anyone other than my husband would want to read any of it.
That changed when I picked up a book titled Moongazer by Marianne Mancusi. It had an ad in it for the Shomi Romantic Fantasy Novel Writing Contest, where the winner would get a guaranteed publishing contract in Canada and the United States. I mentioned it to my husband and he nagged me until I entered the first three chapters of The Battle Sylph in March of 2008. Sometime after that, I was wandering the Shomi site and found a link to a page detailing what features the judges were looking for. Other than my book being fantasy, I hadn't done a single thing on the list and figured I must have lost. My husband said, okay, wait for them to confirm that, then ship it out to the next company. You're not hiding for the next twenty years this time.
So, time passed, and the contest closed. The day after the winner was chosen, I was emailed by someone at Shomi who did confirm that, yes, I'd lost the contest, but the head Editor liked my three chapters so much he wanted to see the rest of the book. So I had a minor heart attack and sent it in. I then heard nothing until November 2008, when I was contacted by Chris Keeslar, Senior Editor for Dorchester Publishing, asking if the book was still available. I said yes, as were the four sequels. A week later, he bought the first three books in the series and I had another near heart attack. I also decided I needed an agent.
It's a lot easier to find an agent when you submit emails with subject lines that read "I have a guaranteed publishing contract for three novels - need an agent". Within a month, I'd signed with Michelle Grajkowski with the Three Seas Literary Agency, and the rest, hopefully, will be happy history for everyone.

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Combine Editions
L.J. McDonald’s books

Average rating: 3.75 · 5,093 ratings · 472 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Battle Sylph (Sylph, #1) 3.63 avg rating — 2,988 ratings — published 2010	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Shattered Sylph (Sylph, #2) 3.94 avg rating — 1,095 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Queen of the Sylphs (Sylph, #3) 3.96 avg rating — 565 ratings — published 2011 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sylph Hunter (Sylph, #4) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 189 ratings — published 2014 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alphabet Soup for Sylphs (Sylph, #3.5) 3.93 avg rating — 73 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	War of the Sylphs (Sylph, #5) 3.83 avg rating — 12 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Door to the Sylphs (Sylph, #6) 3.73 avg rating — 11 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Lord of Winter 4.50 avg rating — 6 ratings — published 2012	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Cage of Burning Light it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 3 ratings — published 2013	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hunting the Rapture it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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L.J. McDonald's Blog

I'm still here

Hey, it's been a while. I hadn't realized how long of a while it was, however. Sorry about that. I've been dealing with real life stuff, Meanwhile, something went wrong with my email, so I haven't been getting notificiations from this page, and while I have been trying haphazardly to fix it, I finally gave up and created a new one.

My official author email is ljmcdonald.author@gmail.com. I see at t Read more of this blog post »

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Published on December 27, 2016 11:56

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Series by L.J. McDonald

Sylph (6 books)
by

L.J. McDonald (Goodreads Author)

3.75 avg rating — 5,101 ratings

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L.J. McDonald wants to read The Mislaid Magician; or, Ten Years After (Cecelia and Kate, #3) by Patricia C. Wrede (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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L.J. McDonald wants to read Ghostsmith (2) (House of the Dead Duology) by Nicki Pau Preto (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Quotes by L.J. McDonald (?)

“The new healer could do nothing about his memory loss, either. So, Sala was still unrecognized for what she was. She was still free and confident. Remembering”
― L.J. McDonald, Queen of the Sylphs

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“Lizzy grabbed Ril’s face between both of her palms and forced him to look at her. “This is an order, Ril. Don’t leave Dad, no matter what.”
― L.J. McDonald, Queen of the Sylphs

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“I want your permission, though.” Ril frowned and finally shrugged. “Fine, whatever. Just do it.” Leon straightened. The problem wasn’t that Ril didn’t like getting orders, it was that, in a lot of ways, he liked getting orders too much.”
― L.J. McDonald, Queen of the Sylphs

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Urban Fantasy: Challenge # 1: April 1, 2010 to June 30, 2010	401	673	Jul 01, 2010 11:33AM
Cover to Cover Ch...: Ronda Tutt's 144 Books for 2010	154	135	Nov 07, 2010 08:35PM
Paranormal Romanc...: December 2010 Reading Challenge	451	432	Jan 10, 2011 01:46PM

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L.J.’s Quotes

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.”
― Marilyn Monroe

tags: attributed-no-source, best, life, love, misattributed-marilyn-monroe, mistakes, out-of-control, truth, worst

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“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”
― Dr. Seuss

tags: attributed-no-source, dreams, love, reality, sleep

125479 likes

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.”
― Oscar Wilde

tags: attributed-no-source, be-yourself, gilbert-perreira, honesty, inspirational, misattributed-oscar-wilde, quote-investigator

173199 likes

“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.”
― Mae West

tags: humor, life

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“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
― Mahatma Gandhi