And so Starts Another Year

As the end of the year rolls around, and this is my last blog of this 12 month series, A Year in the Life of an Author, I find myself planning for the future.

Most people think ahead to the next year as to what needs to get done. My 2013 is already planned and has been for nearly a year. I'm speaking at the Midwinter ALA meeting, the Southern California Romance Writer's conference, and again at the Orange County RWA meeting in June. I'll be at the RWA National conference in Atlanta in July, and there are few trips down to Portland and other places in between.

In addition, I have a book due in February, a book coming out in March (AND THE MISS RAN AWAY WITH THE RAKE) and another in November (IF WISHES WERE EARLS). And in amongst all that, there will be another book to plot, plan, write, revise and finish. And if you been reading my blogs throughout the year, you also know that will mean copy edits, page proofs and the other necessary parts of bringing a book to publication.

So if I have my year all planned out, then what am I planning? Believe it or not, 2014 and 2015. I already have events on the calendar for those years. Yes, my life gets planned out years in advance. There is a comfort to that, (Huzzah for the work!) a bit of panic, (Yikes how am I going to get that all done!) and the inevitable fears that life will step in and muck it all up. But I have to do it. I have to come up with a reasonable guess as to when I will be able to complete three more books in the next two + years.

With kids, a husband, a house, a family, and that one thing we all have: LIFE, I just make the best guesstimate I can (factoring in all the elements that go into writing a book) and march forward. Sometimes it works, other years, not so much. In those instances I either have to haul on the hip boots and wade through it or even sometimes find myself crawling along at a whimper. But do it I must.

So for 2013, I have chosen a word to guide me and a word to challenge me to rise above my doubts and fears: COURAGE.

Debbie Macomber and Christina Skye told me I was taunting the powers-that-be to chose that word, I was just asking for life to present the need for courage. I laughed, realized they are probably correct, but am sticking to it. COURAGE it is.

So with COURAGE in hand to tackle the world in 2013, I challenge you to find a word that fits, that will broaden your outlook and buoy your heart into taking great big striding steps into 2013. And 2014. And even 2015.

A Year in the Life of an Author - April

If you've been following my posts (January, February and March), you'll know I've been working towards finishing the draft of my next book, traveling more than usual, and trying to keep up with business. April was no exception, 'cept that it whirled by! I did finally get the draft done. After 5 solid months of writing, the draft for the 2nd book in my new Rhymes with Love series is done.

Tentatively titled, And the Miss Ran Away with the Rake, I really like this book. Love the characters and it has been a fun book to write. Not all books are like that, but this one has--thank goodness! However, as it always is with my drafts--it looks like swiss cheese right now. Missing scenes, no love scenes, and a lot of XXXs where I need to insert . . . something!

On top of finishing the draft, I added into the mix, the kids Spring Break. We headed off to Hawaii to stay with my dear and wonderful friend, Jane Porter and spent an idyllic week on the beach. And that is where is I got the draft done. If you think the writer's life sounds perfect, know this: we always have work hanging over our heads and it goes with us everywhere.

No rest for the wicked.

After returning from vacation, I've had to immediately start prepping for the Washington Romance Writers Retreat, where I am the opening speaker and giving a workshop. These things take time to write and prepare, so the life of a writer is also about being able to shift gears from one thing to another and back to the first. So as I write this, I am once again packing, gathering pages to bring with me to work on, and of course a couple of books to read.

Now one thing of note happened in April that I must share: my upcoming book, Along Came a Duke got a starred review in PW. I couldn't be more proud. This is one of those moments where you take a deep breath and look at the email twice and then say, "Shut the Front Door!"

Here's the link, and for those of you who love digital reads, Along Came a Duke is being offered for pre-sale at $4.99 from Kindle and Barnes & Noble and most every online purveyor of ebooks. See you May 29th!

A Year in the Life of an Author - March

This is the time of year--three months into the year--where I start to say to myself, "Good heavens, where has the year gone?" That and I start panicking about school letting out in about two and a half months. Yikes.

If you haven't been following this series, I am writing a monthly blog here at Tote Bags 'n' Blogs, giving you an inside look at the working year of an author. My first two recaps can be found here:

• January
  
• February

March revolved around two things: writing as many pages as I could and going to Philadelphia for the Public Library Association Conference (PLA). Like most trips, especially when you are going from one coast to another, you lose days just in travel--but I try to make my flights count. I spent the time doing the final read through of an e-pub version of a short story I wrote several years back for the Mammoth Book of Regency Romance.

The nice part about being an author is that a lot of your work is portable. I take notebooks with me everywhere for scene planning, and with the short story, I had it loaded on my ereader. Two cross-country flights gave me the focused time to get Cynders and Ashe ready for publication and I am happy to say it is now available on Kindle and Smashwords. Nook should be available this week.

So it was off to Philadelphia--where I spent a whirlwind day speaking and signing. Three different signings--giving away advanced copies of Along Came a Duke (lucky dang librarians!) and Lord Langley is Back in Town. So you are thinking--two full days of travel crossing the continent for one day of work? Yeah, I know. Crazy. But really fun. The librarians I met were a kick in the pants and I fell in love with Philadelphia. Loved it! What's not to love about a city that embraces its history on every corner. Loved, loved, loved the place. Blogged about my visit here.

And in between all this jet setting, I was writing. Full on, get your pages running, writing. I am now past my difficult part--every writer has their difficult part to a book, whether it be starting, editing or finishing. Mine is the first seven chapters--and from here on out it is a dead run to the end. By the end of Chapter 7, I find that I finally really know my characters and stories. Instead of having the story trickle out, it becomes a river of words rushing toward the ocean. In the late afternoon and evening, I map out with a paper and pen my scenes for the next day, and the next morning, I lay out my notes and just start story telling. I love this part of the book.

After months and months of writing, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and the first draft should be done in about two or three more weeks. And then comes April. But we'll talk about that next month.

Oh, hey! If you are bummed that you aren't a librarian and didn't return from PLA with an extra suitcase of books and ARCs, Mondays find me giving away books over on my blog, and if you are looking for a great deal on my new book, Along Came a Duke, the e-version is currently $4.99 on preorders.

See you at the end of April!

A Year in the Life of an Author - February

This is my second installment in my year long series here in what happens in an author's working life over the course of a year. I suppose that is sort of self-evident in the title, but you never know. LOL. If you are interested, my January post can be found here.

February was a working mom's nightmare. Two words: sick kids. For two full weeks. I think they went through the entire litany of flu, ear aches, and finally settled on bronchitis. Then came the double-whammy of four snow days--of course when the kids were healthy. I watched in frustration as my writing schedule and goals evaporated into thin air to the sound of hacking coughs.

To write, I really need a block of uninterrupted time. To dive in and just live in the story. Unfortunately, I saw little of that, so my page goals are rather in ruins. I have high hopes for March, where I have (fingers crossed) four full weeks (counting this one) of uncommitted time to write. I'll still be behind, but if I can stick with catching up, I won't be SO far behind.

My other project for February met with a little more success: the re-release of my first three books, BRAZEN ANGEL, BRAZEN HEIRESS and BRAZEN TEMPTRESS, as digital books. Hurrah for ebooks, they are giving new life to stories long out of print. Not only did I bring out all three individually, but they can also be had in a boxed set edition. You can find these on Kindle, Nook and Smashwords. The iBook edition is coming.

Bringing out a book on your own makes you realize all the steps that go into publishing behind the scenes and make you thankful for your publisher. I've had to learn the ins and outs of epubbing, formats, ISBNs, and jump through all the hoops of the various vendors. I've spent a lot of late nights filling out forms and uploading files to get it all to fall into place.

Last but not least, February was rounded out with a quick trip down to Huntington Beach, California, where I spoke at a Reader's Tea for the Friends of the Huntington Beach Library. Lovely group of women, truly delightful company and tea! Okay, I am such a sucker for a tea. But it was a chance to get some sunshine--Seattle winters are GRAY and DARK--and meet some lovely readers. And I have to admit, I love speaking to groups. After spending most of my time working alone, the chance to get out and talk to real live people who are not in my head keeps me from living in my sweats and muttering too much to myself.

And so ends February. Off to March and writing. Fingers crossed for a ton of pages and a fun trip to PLA in Philadelphia.

When a Cover Works

We all know what a wrong cover looks like. The one where the man and the woman on it look nothing like the characters the author created. Or there is an extra arm there. The colors make the hero look orange. The hero looks like a bad version of Donald Trump.

But when a cover works, like this one for my new book, Tempted by the Night, all the right elements converge together like a perfect storm.

When I was asked (and yes, authors are asked what they would like on the cover--they don't always listen, but it is nice to be asked), I suggested a moonlit scene, because the bulk of the story happens at night. I had seen a Harry Potter movie poster that I thought was brilliant--just Harry in the moonlight with a sword in his hand. And I wanted the same dark, desperate, passionate mood on my cover.

Yet the art department and the artist took another view, and put the couple together here, on the dark streets of London, in this fabulous, desperate embrace, as if this is their first and only kiss. And boy, are they going to make it a good one. While murky darkness surrounds them, together they glow. She is his light.

It captures Hermione's and Rockhurst's relationship perfectly. Like I said, when it works . . . But you'll have to tell me if it fits the story. Tempted by the Night goes on sale Tuesday, August 26th. Get a copy and let me know if the cover and the story work for you.

In the meantime, what is your idea of a perfect cover?

BTW, I'm having a contest over on my blog to win a box of goodies from the RWA conference. Drop by, comment before Monday noon, and you could win!

Just Like Family - Elizabeth Boyle

I got an email from a reader the other day wondering how two characters were doing. Had they resolved their disagreements and were they friends again. Of course the smarty pants part of me wanted to email her back and say, "Sure they are! Why they just went bowling the other day . . . " But then after a few moments I had a different sort of response--I was truly and honestly touched that a reader cared enough to ask about one of my characters. That these two men from my stories had entered her heart, just as they'd come out of mine and become family.

Who was I to joke about these characters taking on a life of their own, when I collect my characters around me and spin their stories and delve into writing huge, convoluted, inter-connected series and love every minute of it, simply because it allows me to revisit the folks that I can't let go of, i.e. Temple and Diana from Stealing the Bride. I've even dedicated part of my books and website to proudly displaying their family trees.

And those are just the family trees I show off in public. My writing files are filled with notes about the Danvers, the Marlowes, the Langleys and Knolles. The family trees I've mapped out and filed away for future books--like this one of Thatcher's family (the hero of Love Letters from a Duke.) Before he became the Marquess of Standon, two uncles and a brother held the title. To me these were important facets in creating his character, but they also brought his family dynamics to life.

I like to think that these families represent every family out there--well, minus the wealth, power, titles and servants--but they represent the families we come from--from the uncle who embarrasses you at family weddings by singing Danny Boy off key and too loud, or the grandmother who can't help meddle in your love life--I had two of those!--or the incredible loyalty a family can show when one member is struggling, sick, or just plain in trouble.

So in answer to my wonderful fan, yes, Alex and Jack are still friends. Best of friends. Just like family ought to be.

What do you love about books built around families? Series that continue? What makes you stick with them?