Reading like a reader is a gift.
Before I started writing seriously, I always read like a reader. It is why I love fiction – its ability to immerse me in worlds and characters. Then as I studied the craft of fiction writing, the reading like a reader came to be harder. I wanted to know how other authors crafted their work. So I began to read like a writer or an editor. After finishing any book, I wrote a synopsis. Eventually I began to notice the craft far more than the story. It is one of the downsides of being a writer. Inevitable, I suppose.
But I also discovered that I missed the excitement and thrill of reading fiction. I still wanted to glory in the beauty of the rainbow, even though I knew the why behind it. I found myself watching more television. But the internal editor started to filter through to movies and television shows.
Then I had a conversation with my editor and how they were trained to read like readers first, and editors second. In order to understand how to edit, you had to understand the readers’ responses. It was a lightbulb moment. I could do this as well.
So once again, I tried to retrain. Rather than critiquing everything, I tried simply to experience. And yes, it was hard. But the enjoyment came back into my reading. Yes, I can see the craft and sometimes, you have to wonder why certain editors did not point out certain things. But I suspect people could say that about my books...
Recently, my daughter had to make her A level choices. In the English school system, at sixteen, students have to decide which four subjects they are going to take for the next two years. Then when they apply to university, they apply to study a specific subject and it can be very hard to change your major. Very different from the American system which I experienced. Anyway, she deciding against taking English because one of the major works studied is Pride and Prejudice which is one of her favourite novels. Her reasoning was that she wanted to keep loving the book, and she knew that studying it would mean that she would end up hating it. She is taking science instead. I am just pleased that my daughter knows the value of reading like a reader.
I am not doing a contest this month as I am off to Venice for a few days. BUT all next week, Barbara Vey who blogs on Publisher’s Weekly about romance is having a huge blow out party with giveaways from hundreds of romance authors. So you might want to check out her blog.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Is the Bachelor a Bad Guy?
So, who saw The Bachelor?
I don't even watch the show, and I've heard all about it. The people I know who do watch the show seem pretty convinced that The Bachelor is a big jerk in this scenario (for dumping his "fiancee," who he chose at the end of the show, for the other woman he'd originally decided against), and that he's a bad guy.
I guess I don't really see this. Should he have stayed with the woman he knew he didn't love? Was he obligated to her? Or is it better for everyone involved that he understood his feelings and owned them?
I guess I feel that if it was me, I would rather know that my fiance was in love with someone else as soon as possible, no matter how much it hurt. I would rather not hear this news on national television, but then, I would not have met and become engaged to a fiance on national television either, and I don't think you can have it both ways. Because... why would I want to be with someone who knew he was in love with someone else? Why would anyone?
What do you think? Is the Bachelor a bad guy, or was he just in a bad situation?
I don't even watch the show, and I've heard all about it. The people I know who do watch the show seem pretty convinced that The Bachelor is a big jerk in this scenario (for dumping his "fiancee," who he chose at the end of the show, for the other woman he'd originally decided against), and that he's a bad guy.
I guess I don't really see this. Should he have stayed with the woman he knew he didn't love? Was he obligated to her? Or is it better for everyone involved that he understood his feelings and owned them?
I guess I feel that if it was me, I would rather know that my fiance was in love with someone else as soon as possible, no matter how much it hurt. I would rather not hear this news on national television, but then, I would not have met and become engaged to a fiance on national television either, and I don't think you can have it both ways. Because... why would I want to be with someone who knew he was in love with someone else? Why would anyone?
What do you think? Is the Bachelor a bad guy, or was he just in a bad situation?
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
INFORMATION OVERLOAD
The other night at book club my friends and I were bemoaning what everyone's inevitably lamenting these days: the disastrous economic Armageddon plaguing the world. A few of us admitted that we've given up listening to the media doomsdayers who are bent on bombarding us 24/7 with tales of world demise, and instead have decided to tune it out in favor of more pleasant things. Except that sometimes even that is hard to find, given that we are being deluged with too much stimuli from every angle.
One popular escapist outlet is the myriad of social networking groups on the Internet, from that now-dinosaur/ADD nightmare, MySpace, to Facebook, to Twitter. Add to that blogs, grogs, Library Thing, Red Room, LinkedIn, Yahoo listserves, and niche chat sites that can run the gamut from professional networking to holistic parrot care. All this means absolutely no end to the realm of e-distractions that can drain your brain, and while you're at it, every waking moment of your life as well. I actually found a social network site called VampireFreaks.com. Seriously. That I even bothered to spend the time on the Internet researching that is worrisome to me on some level. Talk about sucking your soul.
I know many sing the praises of this profusion of Internet connectivity. But one could argue whether social networking really is a boon to society, or is merely one more distraction that's holding us back from living our lives more fully. I mean sure, thanks to Facebook (co-opted from the young, who hate us for that), you might now have re-connected with Tommy Stromboli, who sat behind you in sixth grade health class and sketched amazing pictures of Loony Tunes characters (and the occasional body part) while the rest of the class took notes. But honestly, did you need to be back in touch with Tommy? I mean, if you'd really wanted to communicate with him, would you have ever lost contact in the first place?
I have Facebook "friends" from childhood with whom was I not only decidedly not in their circle friends, I wasn't even in their galaxy of acquaintances. Interestingly, though, Facebook seems to be resurrecting that very social strata we all gladly left behind years ago. It's middle school redux: the cool kids still only chat with the cool kids and the others are left out in the cold, this time from the LED screen of your computer in the comfort of your home.
Graduating on from Facebook, we have the latest rage, Twitter, a micro-blogging site. The place to be in the e-ether. If you don't tweet, you're so out of the loop. So everyone's tweeting: a whole lot of blather bloating the e-waves. Twitterers can use no more than 140 concisely-constructed characters to condense their little moment in time for whomever in the world follows them on Twitter. A big New York editor recently endorsed Twitter to encourage writers to tighten their prose. Seems a stretch to me.
Now back when I was in school, I was a doodler. A doodler with absolutely no artistic ability whatsoever. So while I was stuck in classes like symbolic logic with my mind absolutely numb with boredom, I quickly ran out of things to doodle. After so many birds, sunshines, moons with faces, and garden-variety flowers, what was left to draw? But nowadays, instead of doodling with pen and paper, with Twitter you can doodle with your words. And instead of only Tommy Stromboli peering over your shoulder to bear witness to your mindless nothingness, well, hey, you have the entire e-world in which to infuse your verbal helium.
Just think of the people you can touch in the world with that 140-character tweet on Twitter, after all. A quick glimpse of tweets of folks I am following include: I need to shave my legs. Sigh. Or: Finally found a small carton of the elusive pink malted milk balls. Commence sugar shock. Lastly this: Wheat Ritz crackers are just wrong. Who wants a healthy Ritz cracker? There's also a link to a photo of one twitterer eating her foot. She felt compelled to post it after being proven wrong about something she insisted she was right or she'd eat her foot. Okay then.
The thing is, I totally "get" Twitter and have gotten pulled under the riptide of reading and writing tweets myself. Sometimes it's just more of a challenge to come up with something fun or stupid or entirely useless in 140 characters than it is to do something you ought to be doing. But that's the thing of it: it keeps us—i.e. however many hundreds of millions of subscribers to Twitter, Facebook, or you name the site—from doing useful things. Like talking to someone nearby, for instance. Or conducting brain surgery. You laugh, but on the news the other day (that very news we're supposed to be avoiding, due to its glum nature), I heard about doctors tweeting while removing some man's cancerous tumor in his abdominal cavity. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer my doc not tweet while in my gut.
Makes me want to dial 9-1-1, stat, because I fear we have become victims of information overload, and we're now hemorrhaging all that useless knowledge.
My tweet response to that? Remember when ignorance was bliss? Sigh.
I'm not old enough to have experienced the days when you'd pick up the phone and an operator would connect your call for you—hence adding a layer of actual human interface. But I think I miss that sort of interaction nevertheless.
Come to think of it, even more, I miss the days when social networking meant going to a really fun party.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Tax season is upon us - Ann Roth
If you're like me, you'd rather suffer through a root canal than fill out dreaded tax forms. Yet, long ago in another lifetime, I loved crunching numbers, loved filling out those forms. So much so, that for several years during tax season I worked as a tax preparer. I also enrolled in a graduate program to earn my MPAcc-MBA (Masters of Professional Accounting and MBA), with an eye on taking the CPA exam.
But after a grueling summer when I completed six accounting classes in ten short weeks, I realized that I no longer wanted to be a CPA. I dropped out of the MPAcc part of the program and ended up graduating with an MBA.
Now my husband and I hire a CPA who keeps up with tax code and forms. For months every year he works long hours, seven days a week. Doesn't seem like a sexy job, does it?
Unless the CPA happens to be Carter Boyle, the hero in Ooh, Baby! Okay, the job will never be sexy. But Carter's pretty darned hot. Lily Gleason, who hires him to help with her audit, certainly thinks so. I'd love to share their story, which I truly enjoyed writing but I'd rather you read the book.
What about you-do you prepare your own taxes? If so, do you enjoy it?
Until later and wishing you an IRS refund,
Ann
But after a grueling summer when I completed six accounting classes in ten short weeks, I realized that I no longer wanted to be a CPA. I dropped out of the MPAcc part of the program and ended up graduating with an MBA.
Now my husband and I hire a CPA who keeps up with tax code and forms. For months every year he works long hours, seven days a week. Doesn't seem like a sexy job, does it?
Unless the CPA happens to be Carter Boyle, the hero in Ooh, Baby! Okay, the job will never be sexy. But Carter's pretty darned hot. Lily Gleason, who hires him to help with her audit, certainly thinks so. I'd love to share their story, which I truly enjoyed writing but I'd rather you read the book.
What about you-do you prepare your own taxes? If so, do you enjoy it?
Until later and wishing you an IRS refund,
Ann
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Boxers or Briefs?
In the movie Keeping Mum, a married woman is about to start an affair with a sleazy golf instructor. They are getting undressed and it comes to an abrupt stop when the woman sees his unfortunate choice of underwear. He thinks it's sexy and she thinks it's a mood killer.
Which leads me to this question: Which do you prefer on a man? Boxers or briefs?
Let me know in the comment section and on Mar 3 I will randomly pick a name. That person will win a copy of Naughty Bits: An Anthology of Short Erotic Fiction. This anthology has 15 Harlequin Spice Briefs and it just arrived in stores. My contribution is "Anything You Want" and it's written under my Jenesi Ash pen name.
I'm looking forward to your answers!
Susanna Carr
**Update: It sounds like there is no clear majority in the boxer or briefs debate. I'm not surprised! I randomly picked a name and Sarabelle (commenter #4) wins a copy of NAUGHTY BITS! Sarabelle, please e-mail me your mailing address and I will get the book to you right away. My e-mail address can be found at http://susannacarr.com/contact.htm. Thanks, everyone, for blogging with me!**
Happy St David's Day from Kate Walker
It’s March 1st – the beginning of a new month. It’s St David’s day and he’s the patron saint of Wales. In fact he was supposed to have been born in Pembrokeshire, not all that far from Fishguard where I was teaching a Writing The Novel course last weekend. I had a wonderful time and added to my happy memories of Wales. Of course one particular memory of Wales stands out above the rest because it was in Aberystwyth, on Cardigan Bay, where I first met my husband a long time ago.
So March 1st is for celebrating St David. Realising I knew very little about him, I looked him up and discovered that he’s supposed to have lived to be 100 and that he advocated vegetarianism so I can relate to him there - the vegetarianism I mean. I don't know about living to be 100 - not yet! He’s also supposed to have been born on the edge of a cliff in a violent storm.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why there is a saying about March that it is supposed to ‘come in like a lion and go out like a lamb’. I was thinking about that saying this morning and realised that really it’s the sort of thing that could be used to describe one of my heroes too! Being typically Presents heroes, these guys appear on the scene ‘stormy’ and forceful, sweeping all before them and turning his poor heroine’s life upside down. Take Santos Cordero, the hero of my March UK release, Cordero’s Forced Bride for example. When the woman he originally planned to marry does a runner and doesn’t turn up at the wedding, he is determined that someone else will take her place. And the someone else he insists on is Natalie’s half-sister, Alexa. Alexa will marry him he declares and he’s determined to make it happen, whether she likes it or not. The passion between them is too strong to be denied.
But of course that’s at the beginning of the book and as the story progresses both Santos and Alexa learn that there is so much more to this relationship than there appeared to be at the beginning. By the time comes for the happy ending, Santos, if not exactly ‘like a lamb’ is a very different person from the man who began the story stormy and blustery.
Personally I love both sorts of weather – wild storms or gentle sun-warmed days. And in the same way I love my heroes in their wilder more difficult times and the loving, caring men they finally can show their heroines at the end of the book. I suppose it’s like the way that when the storms are raging outside I know they won’t last for ever and in the month of March there is the hope of spring very close behind. I think that’s why March is one of my favourite months – it holds such promise.
So March 1st is for celebrating St David. Realising I knew very little about him, I looked him up and discovered that he’s supposed to have lived to be 100 and that he advocated vegetarianism so I can relate to him there - the vegetarianism I mean. I don't know about living to be 100 - not yet! He’s also supposed to have been born on the edge of a cliff in a violent storm.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why there is a saying about March that it is supposed to ‘come in like a lion and go out like a lamb’. I was thinking about that saying this morning and realised that really it’s the sort of thing that could be used to describe one of my heroes too! Being typically Presents heroes, these guys appear on the scene ‘stormy’ and forceful, sweeping all before them and turning his poor heroine’s life upside down. Take Santos Cordero, the hero of my March UK release, Cordero’s Forced Bride for example. When the woman he originally planned to marry does a runner and doesn’t turn up at the wedding, he is determined that someone else will take her place. And the someone else he insists on is Natalie’s half-sister, Alexa. Alexa will marry him he declares and he’s determined to make it happen, whether she likes it or not. The passion between them is too strong to be denied.
But of course that’s at the beginning of the book and as the story progresses both Santos and Alexa learn that there is so much more to this relationship than there appeared to be at the beginning. By the time comes for the happy ending, Santos, if not exactly ‘like a lamb’ is a very different person from the man who began the story stormy and blustery.
Personally I love both sorts of weather – wild storms or gentle sun-warmed days. And in the same way I love my heroes in their wilder more difficult times and the loving, caring men they finally can show their heroines at the end of the book. I suppose it’s like the way that when the storms are raging outside I know they won’t last for ever and in the month of March there is the hope of spring very close behind. I think that’s why March is one of my favourite months – it holds such promise.
Actually, as I write this, the weather is mild and mellow – no sign of those March winds that mean the month is coming in like a lion but I’m sure those will come – after all, there’s snow predicted for next week!
So what’s you’re favourite month and why? Tell me and I’ll get Sid the cat on the job of picking out a winner from everyone who posts and they’ll get a signed book from my backlist
Kate's latest novel Cordero's Forced Bride will be released in Mills & Boon Modern in March and Mills & Boon Sexy in and it is still available in Harlequin Presents.
Pink Heart Society Reviews described the book as :" . . . intense, explosive and the passion leaps off the pages. It’s one of those books that once you begin you’ll literally stay up all night reading.
Cordero’s Forced Bride is part of the Bedded by Blackmail series and a wonderful addition especially with this year being Harlequin’s Diamond Anniversary, celebrating sixty years. It’s a beautiful sensual and passionate love story and one you definitely won’t want to miss."
You can find out more about Kate and her books on her website or for the most up to date news, visit her blog.
WINNER - Sid has done his job and the name he has picked is Virginia. So Virginia will you please email me kate AT kate-walker.com and then I can organise your signed book.
Thanks to everyone who commented.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Get Your Happily Ever Afters Here!
AUR
Yeah, I know the economy is looking sad right now. Let's face it, everytime you turn on the television you're bombarded with more doom and gloom. Jobs are down, debt is up and there's no shining rainbow out there--
Or is there??
Romance, folks. Romance is where you can find Happily Ever After. We never disappoint. In a romance novel, good always triumphs. The bad guy always gets his just desserts. And Love is that shining rainbow you're looking for!
Books are still the cheapest form of entertainment there is. And we 've got it all. Hardbacks, paperbacks, ebooks, audio. There's something for everyone. We've got historicals, contemporaries, paranormals and romantic suspense! And at the end of every story, the promised rainbow.
The cover picture there is of my own most recent release, VANISHED from Silhouette Nocturne. It's a paranormal, set in County Mayo, Ireland. And if I do say so myself, it's pretty good! With that happily ever after I've been talking about!
So don't let the news fool you. Sure things are tough, but they'll bounce back. I think it was Abraham Lincoln (and if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me!) who said, 'People are generally as happy as they choose to be'. Well, I've made the decision to be happy anyway. Keep smiling and it'll eventually feel real. Keep moving forward and you'll eventually get where you're going.
And keep reading romances and you'll never be disappointed!
I'm going to draw one name from the posters here today........and that person will get a signed copy of Vanished.....so come on. Step right up. Tell me what your favorite romances are. And show the world you're ready for the rainbow!
Yeah, I know the economy is looking sad right now. Let's face it, everytime you turn on the television you're bombarded with more doom and gloom. Jobs are down, debt is up and there's no shining rainbow out there--
Or is there??
Romance, folks. Romance is where you can find Happily Ever After. We never disappoint. In a romance novel, good always triumphs. The bad guy always gets his just desserts. And Love is that shining rainbow you're looking for!
Books are still the cheapest form of entertainment there is. And we 've got it all. Hardbacks, paperbacks, ebooks, audio. There's something for everyone. We've got historicals, contemporaries, paranormals and romantic suspense! And at the end of every story, the promised rainbow.
The cover picture there is of my own most recent release, VANISHED from Silhouette Nocturne. It's a paranormal, set in County Mayo, Ireland. And if I do say so myself, it's pretty good! With that happily ever after I've been talking about!
So don't let the news fool you. Sure things are tough, but they'll bounce back. I think it was Abraham Lincoln (and if I'm wrong, feel free to correct me!) who said, 'People are generally as happy as they choose to be'. Well, I've made the decision to be happy anyway. Keep smiling and it'll eventually feel real. Keep moving forward and you'll eventually get where you're going.
And keep reading romances and you'll never be disappointed!
I'm going to draw one name from the posters here today........and that person will get a signed copy of Vanished.....so come on. Step right up. Tell me what your favorite romances are. And show the world you're ready for the rainbow!
***Maureen's winner is KARA!! Congratulations! Kara, please email me at totebag@authorsoundrelations.com with your full name and mailing address so we can get your prize in the mail. :) Thanks to everyone who shared about their favorite romances!***
Friday, February 27, 2009
Confessions of a Bookaholic - Susan Gable
All right everyone, step away from the refreshment table. It's time to get the meeting started, so find a seat.I'll go first.
Hi, my name is Susan, and I'm a Bookaholic. It's been three days since my last read. If you were to search my house, you'd find books stashed everywhere. Not just on the bookshelves in the office, but also on my nighttable. And on the floor next to my bed. And under my bed. There's another whole shelf in the exercise room. Some are stashed in the bathroom, on the back of the toilet. On the vanity. In the kitchen on the table and the counters.
I even keep them stashed on my cell phone now so I'm never caught without a "fix."
I blame my parents. They were bookaholics, too. Still are. I grew up watching them guzzle one book after another. You could find books scattered all over the house I grew up in. My father actually read during dinner. Right out there in the open, at the table. Scandalous!They haven't found the gene that causes bookaholism yet, but I think it's just a matter of time. Because if it was learned behavior, then my sister would be a bookaholic, too, but she's not. She just has one from time to time. I must have been the lucky one who inherited the book gene.
All kidding aside (well, mostly
I love books. Love, love, love! I still have some the books I owned as a kid - and if I hadn't moved some many times, and faced critical space issues, I'd still have more of them. I have numerous copies of The Hardy Boys, and Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon, and The Three Investigators. I've got a couple of the first Heinleins I ever read, and my Star Trek book collection is massive. Then there are the newer books – the Nora Roberts/JD Robbs, the Janet Evanovich, the Julia Quinns, Susan Wiggs, Susan Anderson, Susan Grant (notice how many Susans there are that write books? Hmmm...I wonder if there's some sort of genetic predisposition that goes with the name, too.) There are the numerous series romance novels, too. And mysteries.
There's just something special about a book. It can take you anywhere, from historical America to a far-off world called Pern, or a magical place called Xanth.
I don't think I'll ever recover from this addiction – nor do I want to.
So who's next? Are you a bookaholic, too? What's your "drug" of choice when it comes to books? How long have you had this addiction? Do you want to overcome it, or do you think it's okay to just live with it?
---------
Susan Gable has sold five books to Harlequin's Superromance line. Her books have been Rita and Golden Heart Finalists, she's been a Waldenbooks Bestseller, been twice nominated for Romantic Time's Best Superromance of the Year, and she's won numerous other awards, including the National Readers' Choice Award. Her next book, A Kid to the Rescue, got 4.5 Stars and a Top Pick from RT. It hit shelves on Feb. 10th, and is the story of a heroine who assumes custody of her nephew after the little boy witnesses his father murder his mother. The hero, a comic book artist who's also an art therapist, brings hope and laughter to their lives, along with love. And he teaches both aunt and child to fight for what they love. Visit Susan's website: www.SusanGable.com
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The Law of Cosmic Laziness
Before I was in seventh grade--the year I began to awaken to an alarm clock--time seemed to literally be slower. Everything was slow. The minute, the hour, the day, the week, the year. Time was like soup, oatmeal, or Cream of Wheat--thick and hearty. Time took effort to get through, the hours of every day piling into a mountain I felt I had to push. A weekend day was like a lifetime, the events occurring with eons of space between them. Breakfast. Chores. Lunch. Play. Television. Dinner.
Summer felt like ten years, the days hot and gooey.
Then, all at once, time went on a diet, slipping out under my bedroom door like a river, pulling me into a day that never seemed to stop. The next thing I knew, I was the mother of two children. Then a teacher. And here I am, now, writing to you about 40 years later.
I like the theory of general relativity, the idea that time and the experience of it is relative to the space it "occurs" in. I am no science major and the only scientific experiments I conduct are in the kitchen, but I like this notion. I can't really explain it to you better than that (it involves the curvature of space-time and gravity, and if I write longer about those things, I will begin to quote from Star Trek), but it know that someone else's childhood, a person born in 1961 like me, might have taken first breath and then zipped through to adulthood faster than I did. Or my slow childhood was like a race track compared to someone else's.
But now, time is like a Boeing 767 over Canada, headed for Rome. Whoosh, it's gone. Where is it going? Who knows? I'm scared that I will look up from typing and find myself an 80-year-old woman, and I won't have even finished my coffee. I want to cherish even the icky moments these days, and it's so easy to wish them away. Even the "bad" moments are our moments, the moments that we have. Enjoy their badness, I guess. Or at least pay attention.
One element of the theory of general relativity that I like is called "the law of cosmic laziness." This law suggests that bodies left to themselves take as long as they can to their destination.
We so often are not left to ourselves, demands and people pulling us through time faster than we want. Maybe this law comes into force on a vacation, when one is bobbing, say, in the emerald green water off of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. No wonder I go there each year, a place where time does stand still, at least in long, hot, sandy chunks.
Summer felt like ten years, the days hot and gooey.
Then, all at once, time went on a diet, slipping out under my bedroom door like a river, pulling me into a day that never seemed to stop. The next thing I knew, I was the mother of two children. Then a teacher. And here I am, now, writing to you about 40 years later.
I like the theory of general relativity, the idea that time and the experience of it is relative to the space it "occurs" in. I am no science major and the only scientific experiments I conduct are in the kitchen, but I like this notion. I can't really explain it to you better than that (it involves the curvature of space-time and gravity, and if I write longer about those things, I will begin to quote from Star Trek), but it know that someone else's childhood, a person born in 1961 like me, might have taken first breath and then zipped through to adulthood faster than I did. Or my slow childhood was like a race track compared to someone else's.
But now, time is like a Boeing 767 over Canada, headed for Rome. Whoosh, it's gone. Where is it going? Who knows? I'm scared that I will look up from typing and find myself an 80-year-old woman, and I won't have even finished my coffee. I want to cherish even the icky moments these days, and it's so easy to wish them away. Even the "bad" moments are our moments, the moments that we have. Enjoy their badness, I guess. Or at least pay attention.
One element of the theory of general relativity that I like is called "the law of cosmic laziness." This law suggests that bodies left to themselves take as long as they can to their destination.
We so often are not left to ourselves, demands and people pulling us through time faster than we want. Maybe this law comes into force on a vacation, when one is bobbing, say, in the emerald green water off of Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. No wonder I go there each year, a place where time does stand still, at least in long, hot, sandy chunks.
Jessica Barksdale Inclan
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The Impact of a Book Cover - Carla Neggers
Thanks for inviting me to guest blog! We’re in sunny south Florida for a break from the Vermont snow and cold. Yesterday my mother, sister and I headed to the beautiful Borders at the Galleria Mall in Ft. Lauderdale for some beach reads. My romantic thriller BETRAYALS is due out today after being out of print for some time. It has a fabulous new cover, and I found myself talking to my sister about covers while Mother wandered off to the mystery/suspense section.The cover is our first clue as readers as to what a book’s about. For me, the art for BETRAYALS is both suspenseful and romantic...the path and the gate invite the reader into the garden and the story itself. There are, however, other aspects of a cover that give books and authors “presence” on the shelves. As an author, I’m very aware of what they are. I wondered about my sister, an avid reader. So I dragged her through the store and showed her various mass market paperback covers.
First we looked at step-back covers. They’re more expensive for a publisher to produce, and many are gorgeous and/or high-impact. My sister nodded and said, “I never noticed.”Is the impact, then, of a step-back cover more subliminal? Might we otherwise walk past that book in our rush through the store? Might a step-back tell us, on some level, this is an important author?
We moved on to author photos. Color or black-and-white? On the back cover or on the inside cover? What about color thumbnails of covers of upcoming books on the inside cover? Does any of that make a difference?
My sister looked at me and said, again, “I never noticed.”
We checked out embossing and foiling. I showed her the cover of a book by a debut thriller writer that has neither and put it next to the cover of a book by a major thriller writer that has both. She could easily see the difference, but she wasn’t sure it affected her book-buying. The debut author’s book -- the story itself -- intrigued her. But would she have picked it up if I hadn’t shown it to her?
Meanwhile, Mother emerged with a book in hand. Simple cover -- no step-back, no foil, some embossing, black-and-white author photo. She’d heard of the author but had never reader her and was attracted to “cat” in the title.
My sister grabbed a book by a major bestselling thriller writer. Oversize paperback. Step-back cover. Lots of foil and embossing, and a big color photo of the author on the back. An expensive cover with “presence.” But she was drawn to the author’s name -- she’s a fan who’s read most of his books and had missed this one when it was out in hardcover.
I grabbed several books by author friends, and off we went to the cash register.
Are you aware of what attracts you to a particular author, a particular book -- especially if it’s a new-to-you author or genre?
In other words, what can you tell about a book by its cover?
Have a great day, and thanks again!
Carla
http://www.carlaneggers.com/
Carla Neggers photograph - photo credit to Nina Subin
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Appreciating every day - Wendy Toliver
Photo: "Wendy (right) hanging out with her girlfriend Christina (left)"
Today my oldest boy turns 9. It's truly mind boggling to realize how fast time goes by. As writers, we sometimes get so wrapped up in our WIP, or stress about our futures in the publishing industry, we forget to enjoy day-to-day life. I think a very important part of being a good writer is experiencing life to the fullest.
This year, I've made some changes in my routine to help me appreciate each and every day. I've become more healthy, taking yoga classes, working out at the gym, and cutting out a certin diet soda that I was borderline addicted to. I take time to read to my little boys, which not only nurtures their growing minds; it's great bonding time. I've taken up snowboarding, which is another great connection with my boys. My husband and I have movie nights, where we get the kids to bed and watch a DVD together with a glass of wine. And every now and then, I make it a point to have a Girls' Night Out, whether we go to a film festival, shopping, or just a nice dinner.
Some writers might think that doing these sorts of things (in addition to one's day job, if applicable) doesn't leave much time for writing. But I've found that when I do sit down at my computer and start working, my ideas flow more freely and I am more satifisfied with the results. I feel more inspired and creative. My yoga teacher recently gave me a book called The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron and I look forward to reading it.
Before life passes us by, we need to reevaluate what really counts. For me, it's a balance between my family, friends, career, and alone ("me") time. What really counts for you?
Wendy Toliver
This year, I've made some changes in my routine to help me appreciate each and every day. I've become more healthy, taking yoga classes, working out at the gym, and cutting out a certin diet soda that I was borderline addicted to. I take time to read to my little boys, which not only nurtures their growing minds; it's great bonding time. I've taken up snowboarding, which is another great connection with my boys. My husband and I have movie nights, where we get the kids to bed and watch a DVD together with a glass of wine. And every now and then, I make it a point to have a Girls' Night Out, whether we go to a film festival, shopping, or just a nice dinner.Some writers might think that doing these sorts of things (in addition to one's day job, if applicable) doesn't leave much time for writing. But I've found that when I do sit down at my computer and start working, my ideas flow more freely and I am more satifisfied with the results. I feel more inspired and creative. My yoga teacher recently gave me a book called The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron and I look forward to reading it.
Before life passes us by, we need to reevaluate what really counts. For me, it's a balance between my family, friends, career, and alone ("me") time. What really counts for you?
Wendy Toliver
Monday, February 23, 2009
Dark or Light - - - Or Maybe Not!
I grew up in a family where no one ever raised their voice. I’m sure my parents disagreed on lots of things, but my sister and brother and I never heard them do it. As a result, when I became an adult I had to fight my natural inclination to avoid controversy. Life is never all peaches and cream and sometimes the world just smells and sounds bad. I can’t simply hide my head and run from strong opinions or snark forever. (stay with me, I’m telling you all this for a reason)
My newest release from the Silhouette Romantic Suspense line is the second book in my Safekeeper series called SAFE BY HIS SIDE and is out now. For those of you who read the first book in the series, SAFE WITH A STRANGER, this is Ethan’s book, the one you’ve been waiting for! Cool cover, don’t you think?
The Safekeepers trilogy is what I call ‘light paranormal’ suspense. The three Ryan children have been cursed by their great-grandmother who is a Mexican black witch. The three Ryans know some white witchcraft themselves, but each uses that knowledge in a different way in their everyday lives. Behind the scenes, a battle rages in Mexico to have the Ryan curse reversed before the great-grandmother dies. In the Safekeeper series, the witchcraft is mostly in the background of the three stories, but the curse plays a big part in the Ryans’ lives.
Last week I was talking to my editor about the light paranormal aspects in the books I’ve been writing. We were trying to decide whether I would be better off to take them out of my books, leave them in, or go darker and move to the Nocturne line with a new series. I’m still considering. It depends on my next story line. But in the meantime, I sent out a newsletter last weekend. By the way, do you get my newsletter? If you want to sign up, go to this link: http://www.lindaconrad.com/keepintouchwithlinda.php
I asked everyone for their opinions on light paranormal.
Last week I was talking to my editor about the light paranormal aspects in the books I’ve been writing. We were trying to decide whether I would be better off to take them out of my books, leave them in, or go darker and move to the Nocturne line with a new series. I’m still considering. It depends on my next story line. But in the meantime, I sent out a newsletter last weekend. By the way, do you get my newsletter? If you want to sign up, go to this link: http://www.lindaconrad.com/keepintouchwithlinda.php
I asked everyone for their opinions on light paranormal.
Here is what I said:
“Recently I’ve been including a little light paranormal in my own mini-series books. (but not in The Sheriff’s Amnesiac Bride) I’ve been having a terrific time learning more about Mexican witchcraft for The Safekeepers stories. By the way, if you want to find out more, I have articles on my website about healing with crystals and a new one on the healing powers of colors. See: http://www.lindaconrad.com/funstuff/extras.php
So, I could use a favor. How do you feel about ‘light’ paranormal? I know lots of readers love vampire books and that shape-shifters have become quite popular. But do you also like to read books with just a dash of magic? Or a touch of the fairies? Or with a heroine with some psychic ability? Either way I need to know how you really feel.”
Boy have I been hearing how people feel! For a moment there, I felt like hiding. I know, I know. Don’t ask unless you want to hear about it. But I’m all grown up now and I can take it. Yikes! So many people seem to have extremely strong feelings one way or the other. The biggest surprise for me, I guess, was how many people have grown tired of vampire and shapeshifter stories. Interesting.
So… at the risk of “getting what I ask for”, I’d like to get your opinions too.
How do you feel about ‘light’ paranormal? Do you love vampire books and shape-shifters? Or are you tired of them? Do you also like to read books with just a dash of magic? Or a touch of the fairies? Or with a heroine with some psychic ability? Either way I need to know how you really feel.
Leave me a comment and I’ll pick two winners from all the comments left before Tuesday February 24TH to win autographed copies of SAFE BY HIS SIDE.
Linda’s Silhouette Romantic Suspense series, The Safekeepers, continues in March with SAFE BY HIS SIDE and in April with IN SAFE HANDS. Don’t forget to drop by Linda’s website to find out what’s Behind the Book for the series, and register to enter her ongoing contest to win books and gift certificates! http://www.lindaconrad.com/
“Recently I’ve been including a little light paranormal in my own mini-series books. (but not in The Sheriff’s Amnesiac Bride) I’ve been having a terrific time learning more about Mexican witchcraft for The Safekeepers stories. By the way, if you want to find out more, I have articles on my website about healing with crystals and a new one on the healing powers of colors. See: http://www.lindaconrad.com/funstuff/extras.php
So, I could use a favor. How do you feel about ‘light’ paranormal? I know lots of readers love vampire books and that shape-shifters have become quite popular. But do you also like to read books with just a dash of magic? Or a touch of the fairies? Or with a heroine with some psychic ability? Either way I need to know how you really feel.”
Boy have I been hearing how people feel! For a moment there, I felt like hiding. I know, I know. Don’t ask unless you want to hear about it. But I’m all grown up now and I can take it. Yikes! So many people seem to have extremely strong feelings one way or the other. The biggest surprise for me, I guess, was how many people have grown tired of vampire and shapeshifter stories. Interesting.
So… at the risk of “getting what I ask for”, I’d like to get your opinions too.
How do you feel about ‘light’ paranormal? Do you love vampire books and shape-shifters? Or are you tired of them? Do you also like to read books with just a dash of magic? Or a touch of the fairies? Or with a heroine with some psychic ability? Either way I need to know how you really feel.
Leave me a comment and I’ll pick two winners from all the comments left before Tuesday February 24TH to win autographed copies of SAFE BY HIS SIDE.
Linda’s Silhouette Romantic Suspense series, The Safekeepers, continues in March with SAFE BY HIS SIDE and in April with IN SAFE HANDS. Don’t forget to drop by Linda’s website to find out what’s Behind the Book for the series, and register to enter her ongoing contest to win books and gift certificates! http://www.lindaconrad.com/
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Promotion? Or Peer Pressure?
by Tawny Weber
There is so much promotion being done on the Internet, it's hard to keep up with what's what. Even harder to keep up with what actually works!
Remember a half-dozen or so years ago when the biggest ‘have to’ was having a website. All the 
cool writers were getting them. Some were flashy and expensive, with lots of bling. Others were clearly homemade, often with their own flash such as kisses that glittered behind the cursor as it moved across the screen. Peer pressure didn’t win out instantly, but after a few years, author websites were the norm.
Then there was blogging. Remember the start of blogging? Only a few people were comfortable
enough to dive in at first. A lot watched from the sidelines, calculating and figuring out what was involved while they measured the promotional benefits and time commitment. But now? Personal blogs, group blogs, publisher blogs, agent blogs. They’re everywhere! Blogging is the norm.
How about video trailers? Flash in the pan or here to stay? From pricey actor portraying characters to homemade Windows Media player slideshows, they hit the net with with a bang. But did they sell books? Did it matter? Soon a lot of authors were jumping on the wagon, either because the trailers looked like wild fun or out of fear of missing a promotional tool that might work.
Aaaaand now there are the social networks. MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. Bulletins and walls and tweets. You know the drill. We’re going ‘huh’ and wondering how and why. But at the same time, everyone who’s anyone is doing it. It’s all the rage. Heck, even politicians are
twittering and my parents are on MySpace. It’s everywhere. But does it work? Does it promote authors? Does it connect readers with books they love? That’s the question, isn’t it?
cool writers were getting them. Some were flashy and expensive, with lots of bling. Others were clearly homemade, often with their own flash such as kisses that glittered behind the cursor as it moved across the screen. Peer pressure didn’t win out instantly, but after a few years, author websites were the norm.Then there was blogging. Remember the start of blogging? Only a few people were comfortable
enough to dive in at first. A lot watched from the sidelines, calculating and figuring out what was involved while they measured the promotional benefits and time commitment. But now? Personal blogs, group blogs, publisher blogs, agent blogs. They’re everywhere! Blogging is the norm.How about video trailers? Flash in the pan or here to stay? From pricey actor portraying characters to homemade Windows Media player slideshows, they hit the net with with a bang. But did they sell books? Did it matter? Soon a lot of authors were jumping on the wagon, either because the trailers looked like wild fun or out of fear of missing a promotional tool that might work.
Aaaaand now there are the social networks. MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. Bulletins and walls and tweets. You know the drill. We’re going ‘huh’ and wondering how and why. But at the same time, everyone who’s anyone is doing it. It’s all the rage. Heck, even politicians are
twittering and my parents are on MySpace. It’s everywhere. But does it work? Does it promote authors? Does it connect readers with books they love? That’s the question, isn’t it?As I gear up for the back-to-back releases of my next two Harlequin Blaze's in April and May, all these options tend to make my mind spin in circles as I wonder what works, what doesn't and what's just for fun. What's the right promotion, and what falls into the category of just wanting to have the same cool toys as the other kids?
So what do you think? Is it promotion or peer pressure? Is there a difference and does it matter? What do you think? As a reader (even if you write as well) do you check out websites? How about blogs? Video trailers? What about those ubiquitous social networks. And if you do the social network thing, since it’s our latest form of peer-pressured promotion, which network do you hang out on (and do you really understand how to use it?) Kindles and eReaders
If you've been anywhere near the writing blogs lately, then you've seen the buzz about the lastest version of Kindle. I have to admit, I haven't paid much attention to e-readers. I'd assumed most of them were tiny little devices the size of my cell phone, and insisting that I see more than two sentences of a book at a time, I figured I'd stick with my old standards.
But then I saw a Kindle demonstration and realized it was more like a real book than I realized. From what I've seen, the device is about the size of a paperback, can be read in the sun (no screen glare like a computer or TV), you can flip around to different pages, read the ending if you want then come back to the spot you bookmarked. And the Kindle even allows you to highlight text, make comments, and read Word documents, apparently.
As a Harlequin author, I have to admit that e-books are something I should be rooting for. The print versions of my books have a shelf life of 4 weeks. After that, you can buy them new from www.eharlequin.com or www.amazon.com for another 5 months or so. At that point, you can only get them used, and authors don't get royalties off used book sales. Conversely, the e-book format stays around forever, endlessly paying royalties and giving readers full access to all my backlisted titles. As an author, that's a big win.
But as a reader, can I really make that leap to e-book? One of my greatest joys is going to Borders and perusing the bargain book table. It's where I've found a number of new-to-me authors. On the flipside, all those books take up space in my house, and I've found myself having to give away lots of paperbacks because I don't have room to keep them. As a hoarder of books, the idea of holding onto all of them in the space of a little chip is pretty intriguing.
So here I am, seriously pondering e-book readers and wondering which one I should be setting my sights on. There's Kindle, which offers the most titles, and I can get them wirelessly from just about anywhere I happen to be standing. But if Kindle books go the way of Beta Video in the race for e-book technology, I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of books I can't read. Therefore, something that reads PDF, such as the Sony e-Reader, has merit. But I hear the makers of Ipod are coming out with something that could blow the lid off everything that's out right now, which leaves me thinking I should wait it out and see what floats to the surface.
I'm curious to know what you all think about the new e-reader technology. Do any of you have e-readers, and if so how did you end up with the one you've got? And if you don't, are you considering getting one? Pros and cons, anyone?
But then I saw a Kindle demonstration and realized it was more like a real book than I realized. From what I've seen, the device is about the size of a paperback, can be read in the sun (no screen glare like a computer or TV), you can flip around to different pages, read the ending if you want then come back to the spot you bookmarked. And the Kindle even allows you to highlight text, make comments, and read Word documents, apparently.
As a Harlequin author, I have to admit that e-books are something I should be rooting for. The print versions of my books have a shelf life of 4 weeks. After that, you can buy them new from www.eharlequin.com or www.amazon.com for another 5 months or so. At that point, you can only get them used, and authors don't get royalties off used book sales. Conversely, the e-book format stays around forever, endlessly paying royalties and giving readers full access to all my backlisted titles. As an author, that's a big win.
But as a reader, can I really make that leap to e-book? One of my greatest joys is going to Borders and perusing the bargain book table. It's where I've found a number of new-to-me authors. On the flipside, all those books take up space in my house, and I've found myself having to give away lots of paperbacks because I don't have room to keep them. As a hoarder of books, the idea of holding onto all of them in the space of a little chip is pretty intriguing.
So here I am, seriously pondering e-book readers and wondering which one I should be setting my sights on. There's Kindle, which offers the most titles, and I can get them wirelessly from just about anywhere I happen to be standing. But if Kindle books go the way of Beta Video in the race for e-book technology, I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of books I can't read. Therefore, something that reads PDF, such as the Sony e-Reader, has merit. But I hear the makers of Ipod are coming out with something that could blow the lid off everything that's out right now, which leaves me thinking I should wait it out and see what floats to the surface.
I'm curious to know what you all think about the new e-reader technology. Do any of you have e-readers, and if so how did you end up with the one you've got? And if you don't, are you considering getting one? Pros and cons, anyone?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Lost and Found Treasures
I met a man recently who was looking for a copy of Jane Eyre. As we spoke, he told me a sad story involving his family, the long and the short being that several members of his family had decided their mother didn’t need her books anymore because she could no longer read like she used to, nor could she remember what she’d read anyway, so they gave them all away.
The man told me he didn’t care if she only read one word a day, or if she never remembered reading that single word. All he cared about was finding her a copy of Jane Eyre because that had always been her favourite book. How wonderful is this man?!
It made me think of all the old books I have on my shelves at home that I have found over the years, either at garage sales or in second hand stores, and how they all must have meant something to someone. The one I treasure most is an old tattered copy of The Swiss Family Robinson.
Now don’t get me wrong, I completely understand that there are people out there who don’t go all ga-ga over books, but this one broke my heart. I truly hope this book was not just thrown out like last week’s meatloaf, but perhaps was lost or put in the wrong box when the family moved or something. The thought of anyone (book lover or not) giving it away after what Grandpa wrote in it just seems incredibly wrong to me, so I’m honoured to be the one who will treasure this book and keep it and look after it as well as Grandpa did for many years to come.
Do you have old treasures on your shelves? Anything you’ve given away that you regret? (like my Shaun Cassidy and Donny Osmond records)
The man told me he didn’t care if she only read one word a day, or if she never remembered reading that single word. All he cared about was finding her a copy of Jane Eyre because that had always been her favourite book. How wonderful is this man?!
It made me think of all the old books I have on my shelves at home that I have found over the years, either at garage sales or in second hand stores, and how they all must have meant something to someone. The one I treasure most is an old tattered copy of The Swiss Family Robinson.
There is no publication date in it, but inside the cover was written: To Jack From Grandpa – 1932. That alone would be reason enough for me to want it, but then I turned the page and read this: (I’ve changed the child’s name)
To Peter - Christmas 1994
This wonderful book was given to me by my grandfather when I was 10 years old. I think it is a privilege for me to give it to you from your grandfather. It’s my pleasure. I read it many times and I hope you will too. I fervently hope you will treasure this book and keep it and look after it as well as I have, all these many years. It is, indeed, a book every boy should read. Best of all, it is the original text by Wyss.
Love Grandpa
To Peter - Christmas 1994
This wonderful book was given to me by my grandfather when I was 10 years old. I think it is a privilege for me to give it to you from your grandfather. It’s my pleasure. I read it many times and I hope you will too. I fervently hope you will treasure this book and keep it and look after it as well as I have, all these many years. It is, indeed, a book every boy should read. Best of all, it is the original text by Wyss.
Love Grandpa
Do you have old treasures on your shelves? Anything you’ve given away that you regret? (like my Shaun Cassidy and Donny Osmond records)
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Grandma and the Prince - Part 4 (Barbara Bretton)
I'm going to jump forward in time this month and give you a preview of things to come. Next month we'll head back into the early 20th century and visit New Zealand and New York City.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
----
Once upon a time my Grandma El and her daughter, my Aunt Mona, dated the same man.
Unfortunately that man was my grandfather.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
----
Once upon a time my Grandma El and her daughter, my Aunt Mona, dated the same man.
Unfortunately that man was my grandfather.
I thought that would get your attention. I didn't cut my teeth writing confession stories for nothing. If you want to sell your story to an overworked, underpaid editor, you've got to hit her right between the eyes with a left hook she's not likely to forget.
For a brief moment in time and space, my maternal grandmother
My grandfather Bert died on
For such a tiny family, mine seemed to generate enough sturm und
Grandma El in NYC around 1952
I don't remember anything about that time. I was too young and families were much better at keeping secrets in the 50s than they are now. However, the knowledge that El and Larry had been briefly engaged seemed to become part of my particular universe when I was around six or
When El and Larry walked into a room, they brought their own built-in spotlights. Star quality? Absolutely. They both had it in spades. And it had nothing whatsoever to do with looks. It was something else, something that went so deep that my grandfather still had it--whatever it might be--when he died at 100 years of age. Oh yes, they were a match made in romantic heaven and, for a time, it looked like they'd have the happy ending I've spent many years writing about.
So where does El's daughter Mona enter into it? She's the one who
Still, although it was more than fifty years after the fact, the look of
Mona at 16
It's Christmas 1952. The middle-aged mother is widowed and
The man? Well, he just might be in over his head.
Grandma El and Grandpa Larry
My parents took sides. My mother's sympathies were with El. My
But, in the end none of that mattered, because the whole affair was
They broke up and before the year was out both had married other
Grandma El's wedding to Grandpa Les - she looks so sad, doesn't she?
The rivalry between El and Mona, however, intensified.
El & Larry at my 1968 wedding; Bess refused to attend
Grandma in her 70s; her life force comes right through, doesn't it?
In 1982 my grandfather took a mutually agreed-upon hiatus from his fifth marriage. He was 86 years old and living a comfortable life in Rossmoor, a retirement village south of Princeton. Unfortunately he and Bess were rubbing each other the wrong way and they decided that a
And about ten blocks away from El and Mona.
You know that old saying, too close for comfort? This situation
Grandma Bess called me two and three times a week. "What's your grandfather doing?" she would ask me, sounding angry and fearful and all shades of emotion in between. "Has he seen THAT WOMAN?" THAT WOMAN, of course, was my eighty-two year old Grandma El. God only knows what she would have done if she'd known about Mona.
Mona seemed indifferent, but Grandma El glowed like a schoolgirl
Now picture a dinner table in
Mona was at this dinner too. Maybe it was the champagne. Maybe
"I don't get it," I remember saying to her. "He wanted Grandpa Larry to find someone for Grandma?"
"Find someone for her?" I can still hear Mona's bitter laugh. "He wanted him to sleep with her."
According to my aunt, in 1948, the year my parents were married-- four years before I
Either way, Grandpa Bert's time was almost past, while Grandma's was
PS: I'm Barbara Bretton, author of CASTING SPELLS, and you can also find me here and here and here.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Why I Love My Agent – by Julianne MacLean
The second most common question I get asked as a writer is: “Do you have an agent?”Yes, I do. I’m with Paige Wheeler at Folio Literary Management, and I’ve been with her for 10 years. She took me on as a client in 1999 when I was still unpublished. I had been submitting my work to publishers on my own before that, and had a full manuscript at Harlequin, which had been sitting in the slush pile for 6 months. The first thing she did was call the editor to inform her that she was now representing me, and viola, my manuscript was pulled out of the pile. That was PRAIRIE BRIDE, my first published historical romance, and Paige negotiated that contract for me and ushered me into the world of royalties and deadlines.
Most of the time, everything rolls along smoothly, and not much happens except for royalty checks coming in and regular stuff like that. I work away at home, and I just focus on writing the current work-in-progress.
Other times, however, I will hit a speed bump, and she is always there for me when I do. She has taken me to three different publishers over these ten years. The first was Harlequin, where I wrote my first 4 books. My fifth book, however, was rejected there, and I was disappointed because I really wanted to write it. So Paige shopped it around, and within 3 weeks, we had an offer from Avon. That book was TO MARRY THE DUKE, my first single title.
What I remember most about that experience was getting the initial call from Paige that the book had been rejected. As an author, it’s not the call you want to get from your agent. But by the time we were finished talking, and I hung up the phone, I felt positive and excited – also not how you’d expect to feel after getting a rejection. It’s always been that way with Paige. Even in the darkest moments, I hang up the phone, and the world seems brighter.More recently, I had begun to feel like I was stuck in a rut, and Paige was again there for me in ways I cannot even describe. She always kept me grounded during our phone calls, talked me off the ledge a few times, and every time I hung up the phone after talking to her, I felt hopeful again.
We eventually decided that a move to a new publisher would be a good thing to freshen up my career. I wrote a proposal that was different from my Victorian romances – it was set in the Scottish Highlands, and had a very savage and rugged hero. Paige helped me polish it and make it the very best it could be, then she shopped that around, too. To make a long story short, there was an auction and two houses bidding besides Avon, and it ended with St. Martins Press winning the day.
Interestingly, I had met the St. Martins editor at a cocktail party that Paige hosted at a national conference about five years ago. Little did I know then that Paige’s party would have a big influence over a future career move – because I never forgot the conversation I had with that lovely editor.
So now I am feeling good about my new home at St. Martins Press, and I am very thankful to have an agent I can always trust to support my long-term career goals, and to always listen and hear me. I have always felt like she “gets” what I want and need, and does her best to try and make it happen.
And I listen to her, too. Often her advice is to be patient, think long-term, even when the short term seems hopeless, and that advice has always turned out to be the right thing. And that’s why I love my agent.
Monday, February 16, 2009
25 Things about Shiloh Walker
Hey everybody...thanks for dropping by today. My brain is on overdrive from deadlines and instead of trying to think up something witty, unique and captivating, I'm just going to do one of those infamous memes...these are kind of fun, though. I've had a blast reading some on the web and learning things I never would have guessed about people.
Now I'm not going to tag anybody to follow this up, but feel free to do it if you want to!
And now here's 25 things you probably don't know about me:
1. When I was five months pregnant with my son, the DH and I went to Ireland.
2. I got to see the Blarney Stone.
3. I did NOT kiss the Blarney Stone...and I doubt you could convince me to do it unless it was cleaned with Clorox first. LOTS of Clorox.
4. I grew up listening to my mom tell me and my brothers ghost stories...they are true, accordingly to my mom and her side of the family...they are hauntable, I guess.
5. The reason I write so many different kinds of romance is because I have a wicked short attention span.
6. I think I'm a lousy writer... (hmmmm...maybe I should keep that one quiet...oh well.)
7. The site of blood doesn't bother me, but I hate spiders.
8. I was about a year away from getting my black belt when I found out I was pregnant. Morning sickness made me stop taekwondo and it took me 7 years to start back.
9. In September, God willing, I'm finally going to test for my black belt.
10. I have a katana hanging over the door of my office.
11. I love romance, but I have a die-hard passion for fantasy and urban fantasy.
12. My favorite urban fantasies have romance aspects to them.
13. My husband knows a guy that is related to country/gospel music singer, Charlie Daniels.
14. I've been to see Gallagher three times.
15. I've seen Ron White twice.
16. I've seen Bill Engvall twice.
17. I'd rather go to a comedy or magic show than a concert.
18. I love music, but I can rarely remember who sings a song, or the title, unless it's a favorite of mine.
19. I'm dying to take my kids and husband to Scotland, Ireland and England.
20. I'm getting addicted to the gourmet chocolates found in New York City.
21. I've never been to New York City.
22. I married my high school sweetheart.
23. We got married in the church I've to since childhood.
24. I had a crush on him in middle school and used to kick him to show him my affection.
25. I kidnapped him for a getaway this Valentine's Day.
So there ya go...a sneak peek into the mind of Shiloh Walker, arachnophobic, die hard romantic, and author extraordinaire. If you're so inclined and would like to check out any of my books, you can find me at http://shilohwalker.com/
Thanks for dropping by and if you do a twenty-five things, let us know so we can check YOURS out.
Shiloh Walker
Now I'm not going to tag anybody to follow this up, but feel free to do it if you want to!
And now here's 25 things you probably don't know about me:
1. When I was five months pregnant with my son, the DH and I went to Ireland.
2. I got to see the Blarney Stone.
3. I did NOT kiss the Blarney Stone...and I doubt you could convince me to do it unless it was cleaned with Clorox first. LOTS of Clorox.
4. I grew up listening to my mom tell me and my brothers ghost stories...they are true, accordingly to my mom and her side of the family...they are hauntable, I guess.
5. The reason I write so many different kinds of romance is because I have a wicked short attention span.
6. I think I'm a lousy writer... (hmmmm...maybe I should keep that one quiet...oh well.)
7. The site of blood doesn't bother me, but I hate spiders.
8. I was about a year away from getting my black belt when I found out I was pregnant. Morning sickness made me stop taekwondo and it took me 7 years to start back.
9. In September, God willing, I'm finally going to test for my black belt.
10. I have a katana hanging over the door of my office.
11. I love romance, but I have a die-hard passion for fantasy and urban fantasy.
12. My favorite urban fantasies have romance aspects to them.
13. My husband knows a guy that is related to country/gospel music singer, Charlie Daniels.
14. I've been to see Gallagher three times.
15. I've seen Ron White twice.
16. I've seen Bill Engvall twice.
17. I'd rather go to a comedy or magic show than a concert.
18. I love music, but I can rarely remember who sings a song, or the title, unless it's a favorite of mine.
19. I'm dying to take my kids and husband to Scotland, Ireland and England.
20. I'm getting addicted to the gourmet chocolates found in New York City.
21. I've never been to New York City.
22. I married my high school sweetheart.
23. We got married in the church I've to since childhood.
24. I had a crush on him in middle school and used to kick him to show him my affection.
25. I kidnapped him for a getaway this Valentine's Day.
So there ya go...a sneak peek into the mind of Shiloh Walker, arachnophobic, die hard romantic, and author extraordinaire. If you're so inclined and would like to check out any of my books, you can find me at http://shilohwalker.com/
Thanks for dropping by and if you do a twenty-five things, let us know so we can check YOURS out.
Shiloh Walker
Saturday, February 14, 2009
What to Do if You’re Dateless on Valentine’s Day - Lisa Daily
Yes, it’s Valentine’s Day again. (Otherwise known as Singles Awareness Day) Even if Cupid (and the flower delivery man) overlook you this year, there’s lots of fun to be had if you know where to look. Here are seven fun dateless options that will make even your most blissfully-coupled friends envious of your Valentine’s Day plans.1) Throw a Trade-Your-Ex party
She squeaks when she blows her nose. He eats like a rabid warthog. It’s just didn’t work out. But hey, who’s to say your warty frog of an ex isn’t somebody else’s Prince (or Princess) Charming? Throw a singles-only party where everybody brings an ex boyfriend or girlfriend who was nice but just wasn’t “The One.” (Sort of a “people potluck.”) Just add snacks, maybe a few mixed drinks, and you’ve got yourself a Valentine’s Day blast. You might even meet someone fabulous. At the very least, you’ll unload your ex.
2) Vegas, baby
Get some friends together, take a long weekend (and a cheap flight) and head to the most singles-friendly destination on the planet. Yes, it’s fabulous Las Vegas. You can dress to the nines (or even wear the same clothes for 48 hours straight,) gorge yourself on 99-cent lobster, and drink all the dwarf-sized rum and Cokes you can wheedle from the casino waitresses. Try a little indoor skydiving, flirt with a showgirl or Elvis himself, and blow a month’s worth of laundry money on the slots. If you do it right, you won’t even remember it’s February 14.
3) Book a spa day
Don’t wait for someone else to pamper you, do it yourself! Spend a day at the spa, listening to that groovy new-age music and padding around in a borrowed bathrobe. Go ahead, have yourself kneaded, buffed and polished until you’re positively blissful. Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, so be sure to book your appointment early. Most day spas are uber-quiet, so at you can look forward to not having any have nosy co-workers grilling you about your lovelife. When you finally emerge from your herbal bodywrap cocoon you’ll look and feel completely fantastic. Like a butterfly.
Don’t wait for someone else to pamper you, do it yourself! Spend a day at the spa, listening to that groovy new-age music and padding around in a borrowed bathrobe. Go ahead, have yourself kneaded, buffed and polished until you’re positively blissful. Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday this year, so be sure to book your appointment early. Most day spas are uber-quiet, so at you can look forward to not having any have nosy co-workers grilling you about your lovelife. When you finally emerge from your herbal bodywrap cocoon you’ll look and feel completely fantastic. Like a butterfly.
4) Do your taxes
Okay, so this one isn’t really going to be that much fun, but think of it this way: every restaurant in town is going to be booked anyway, Saturday night TV sucks, and you’ll have a HUGE weight off your shoulders for the next two months. Plus, filing early can shorten your refund time by weeks!
5) Babysit for some married friends or a single parent with a hot date
Finding a babysitter on a Saturday night Valentine’s Day is about as complicated as determining the molecular formula of SPAM. Take the pressure off somebody who really needs a little romance in their lives by offering to babysit while they head out for a night on the town. It’s not exactly glamorous, but the good karma will follow you around for the rest of the year. (Besides, if you’re not having sex tonight, at least somebody should…)
6) Throw a Pajama Party or Poker Night
Invite the girls over for a night of junk food, amateur pedicures and girl talk. Do each other’s hair and stay up all night giggling. Or, break out the cards, the beer and the salty snacks and reminisce about your wildest times.
Either way, you’re sure to be reminded that romance may come and go, but good friends are with you for the long haul.
7) Buy a copy of my brand new book How to Date Like a Grown-Up: All You Need to Know to Get Out There, Get Lucky or Even Get Married in Your 40s, 50s and Beyond at Amazon.com TODAY, and get $800 worth of free bonus gifts.
Who says you have to be in a relationship to get a fabulous Valentine’s Day present?
For today only, you can get an online goodie bag worth $800 when you purchase How To Date Like a Grown-Up: Everything You Need To Know To Get Out There, Get Lucky, or Even Get Married in Your 40s, 50s and Beyond. (It’s about $12 at http://www.amazon.com/)
How to Date Like a Grown-Up offers realistic, counterintuitive advice that will help you finally find the relationship you deserve, including: where and how to meet better men, 5 easy tips to chat up any stranger, what you may be doing to make yourself a magnet for losers, little-known secrets to dramatically improve your dating odds, and the one simple thing you can do in the bedroom to make a man speed up his marriage proposal. (It's not what you think!)
For details and a complete listing of all the free bonus items, which includes a free T-Tapp exercise video download (lose 2 sizes in 30 days!), free dating site membership, a collection of fantastic audio downloads, sneak peek chapters of not-yet-released books and lots of other goodies, check out http://www.lisadaily.com/swagbag
To get the free $800 in online bonuses, purchase How to Date Like a Grown-Up before 12 midnight PST TODAY at Amazon.com (where it’s currently bargain-priced under $12) and email your receipt to swagbag@lisadaily.com.
Wishing you much love, and a very happy Valentine’s Day,
Friday, February 13, 2009
Friday the 13th...
Friday the 13th...I've never had a problem with the day. I've never noticed it was particularly more unlucky than any other day of the week. I sort of feel bad for it. I mean, in China the number 4 is unlucky, and I've never had a particular problem with fours, either.
Luck.
When I sold my first book to Harlequin 9 years ago this March, I think there was an element of luck to it. It landed on the right desk of the right editor on the right day. But I also had been working hard towards that goal. I'd written books, received rejections, taken the comments to heart, written more books, got more rejections... I worked at it. I didn't give up. I stuck to it. So, though there was an element of luck, there was a lot more to the sale.
Maybe we make our own luck?
So what about you? Do you worry about Friday the 13th? Do you believe in luck?
Holly
ONCE UPON A VALENTINE'S...on the shelves now!!!
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