This morning I tried to get on the Illinois Health Insurance Exchange. As I talked about in previous posts, I am self-employed as an author and attorney. I bought health insurance through an Illinois program that allows people to continue their COBRA coverage. I was turned down for individual health insurance, so I'm hoping that through the Exchange I'll have some more options for coverage.First, I needed to find the exchange. I googled "Illinois Get Covered" because I'd heard on the ...
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Virtual Camping Out in Line for the Health Insurance Exchange (Post No. 3 of Adventures in Health Insurance)
Being both a writer and a lawyer, I have hard time turning off my brain (or maybe that's why I became a writer and a lawyer). As I wrote in my two previous posts, I'm self-employed, so I have no group insurance option, and I was turned down for individual health insurance. So I did some preliminary research on the exchanges. Below is what I learned.Differences in types of plans: The main difference I found between the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum plans that will be offered is the est...
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Once I Became Self-Employed (Post 2 of Adventures in Health Insurance)
On a sunny day about about a month and a half before I planned to leave the large law firm where I worked, I played tennis for the first time in years. I felt great. I'd arranged for office space for my own practice, FindLaw had finished my firm website, and I'd set up my landline and bought a Blackberry. As noted in the last post, I'd been very healthy, didn't smoke, and was the appropriate height and weight (see photo -- that's me). But I'd had an exclusion a decad...
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From Then Until Now (Post No. 1 of Adventures in Health Insurance)
Many people in both my professions (writing and law) are self-employed and, as do I, face the on-going issue of how to pay for healthcare or obtain health insurance. With the changes occurring due to Obamacare or the Affordable Healthcare Act, whichever you like to call it, I thought it might be helpful to share my journey. I plan to check out Illinois' healthcare exchange on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 and will report on my progress.I first purchased an individual health insu...
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Anatomy of (Rewriting) a Thriller
A few people have asked me where The Awakening II is. Which makes me very happy, as I hope it means they read The Awakening. The answer makes me less happy: It's on my dining room table. That is, the first draft of it is. A second/third draft (I rewrite in pieces) is in the laptop. I should add that, actually, first I outline, which sometimes takes longer than the first draft. So I basically write from point to point in my outline, in sort of a mad dash to the end. &nbs...
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Stranger Danger, Comic Con and Girls Gone Gore
Last month I presented a panel, Girls Gone Gore, at Comic Con Chicago with author Carrie Green. The first time we met, Carrie and I talked about how both of us have had people suggest that because we write horror/suspense/thrillers, we ought to consider using our initials or male pen names. The idea that readers believe male authors more likely to write good horror is nothing new. As I learned when I researched for the panel, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein originally was p...
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In Praise of Bookshelves
One year I combined my annual weekend in New York with ThrillerFest, a conference for writers of (you guessed correctly) thrillers. A few presenting authors signed books at a store called The Mysterious Bookshop. I fell in love with it, and now whenever I go to New York, I visit.I love paper books. I say this as an author who has published e-books and loves her Kindle. My perfect vacation involves a chaise lounge, a view of the ocean, and at least ten books.&nbs...
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GIRLS GONE GORE
Friends,Just a quick post to say that if you're attending Wizard World Chicago Comic Con Friday 8/9, please stop by the panel GIRLS GONE GORE! at 6.pm. central time. Fellow (or, rather, sister) horror author Carrie Green and I will discuss horror and femininity; the role of women in horror films and fiction; as well as how to write, publish and market horror eBooks, whatever your gender.Our bios are below. And check out our cool logo!Lisa M. Lilly is an author and attorney. &nbs...
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The Bionic Woman, Buffy, and the Man of Steel
I recently saw Man of Steel. Superman was a bit too dark for me, and the special effects struck me as overkill. All the same, retellings and new approaches to familiar tales fascinate me. I'm intrigued by questions such as why the storyteller chose to modify the origin story, or the mentor character's advice, or the overall theme. Was it to fill empty spaces? To fit with modern beliefs? Because the storyteller always believed the "new" backstory existed but wa...
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Why Do I Like Don Draper?
Warning - This Post Contains Mad Men Season 6 SpoilersA male friend -- who isn't a Mad Men fan -- watched the Season 6 premiere with me. Afterwards, he turned to me and said, referring to Don Draper, "I don't understand why you like this character." As a writer, I always want to understand what makes a particular character compelling or likable, or both or neither. As to Don, for me, it's both. The puzzle is, why? Don Draper is a womanizer, he treats my favorite characte...
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