Dec 7, 2010 | Books, General, Writing |
Just a quick post to tell you all that I'm working hard on book number 9 — yes, number 9! Can you believe it? I can't. It's been two years since I got the call, and only a little over a year since the first book came out. Time really does fly when you're having fun! This one is untitled, but I can tell you it features a yummy half-Indian hero named Raj and a socialite named Veronica. So far, they are burning up the pages!
I also have exciting news about what's next. In the UK, Prince Voronov's Virgin is the Mills & Boon Book of the Month for January! I've been getting a lot of early reader mail about this story, and it thrills me that you all are enjoying it so much. It seems to be flying off the shelves over there, and for that I thank you! In fact, it's the number 1 bestseller this week!! This book will be released in North America in June under the title Behind the Palace Walls. It will be a Presents Extra — my first, so I hope you'll help me make it a success here too!
Next up in the UK will be Strangers in the Desert in May! I have no links for this one yet, or order information, but this is my first full-length sheikh book. Adan and Isabella have a delicious past together. When they are reunited, the sparks fly. I can't wait for the back cover copy to share with you! I don't have it yet, so no idea what sort of things it's going to say — there's a pretty big secret in the book that I don't want to give away just yet. Though maybe the back cover will do so, LOL!
Next up in North America is The Devil's Heart in April! I haven't posted this cover on the site yet, but check it out. I am so in love with the Presents version of this cover!
Finally, coming in the UK sometime this summer, and in November to North America, is The Heartless Rebel. (Available at Amazon UK. No order links for NA yet.) This book is part of a continuity series called The Bad Blood Collection! In this series, you get to read about a family called the Wolfes and all their trials and tribulations. My Wolfe brother is named Jack — and he's an absolutely delicious mess of alpha toughness and stoicism. Just wait until he hooks up with his heroine, though! This is a very sexy story — probably my sexiest yet!
That's what's coming up in 2011. And now I'd better get back to work on this book, since it absolutely refuses to write itself. Hope you're prepared for the Holiday Season! I'm not, but what's new about that? 🙂
Sep 10, 2010 | Writing |
Seriously, I should have a tag that says “Deadline Brain.” Because you are getting a deadline brain post today. Not that I have time to post, but my mind is going so much lately that I can't just shut down at the end of the day. The brain is still in forward motion while the body wants to sleep. 🙂
(I'm currently working on my EIGHTH title for Harlequin Presents. I can hardly believe it.)
I was recently skimming entries at the New Voices competition that Mills & Boon are currently running and one thing kept bugging me. A lot. And it wasn't with the entries so much as within the comments.
I'm going to tell you all straight and true right here today: the only time I've EVER seen the term ‘head-hopping' is when writers use it to describe POV shifting withing a scene. I've never heard an editor say this. I've never heard an editor complain about it, quite frankly, though I suppose there might be one or two out there who don't approve of it. Not that I've run into them yet.
The truth is that it's all about the story, gang! Not whether you jump between the hero and heroine's POV's within the same scene. Now, that said, I am pretty much a purist in my own writing. I think it gives me greater control. I think it's tighter and harder to convey everything that needs to be conveyed from one character's POV. But that is my opinion and what works for ME. (And I did shift once, in one book that is yet to be released, and I agonize over the choice STILL.)
Because, let's face it, Nora Roberts isn't having a problem with POV shifting. And she is by far not the only one who does this. Within my line, Harlequin Presents, there are many authors who shift within a scene, often multiple times. If it wasn't allowed, if it were a “rule” that should not be broken, would so many of them be published?
So please stop telling people not to shift POV within a scene! It doesn't matter to the editors. They want a fabulous story, not a technically perfect entry that follows all the rules but fails to come alive on the page. If you shift, know why you do it. And if you're a purist like me, know why you do that too.
And now I'm back to the WIP that will not end (though it better end today!)….. Good luck with the writing. And remember the number one rule of all: it's all about the story!
Jul 6, 2010 | Business, Writing |
This probably isn't the business for you. Or, it's not for you if you want to get paid for your work. I am constantly amazed by the number of people these days who will pay someone to publish their stories. And I can't say that I wouldn't have been tempted to do the same back when I was new and green and didn't know better. Fortunately, I stumbled onto RWA pretty quickly in my green days — and learned that money flows to the writer.
Any company that claims they will get your book in front of Oprah, if only you purchase X package from them to publish your work, is lying. Sure, they might send the book to Oprah — but you could do the same thing. Look up the address for the Oprah show and mail your package. You aren't any more likely to get read whether they send it or you send it. Oprah doesn't work that way. Have you EVER seen the woman talk about a self-published book on her show?
Save your money, peeps. Work hard at your craft, know where you fit in as a writer, and target that publisher (or publishers). You will get told no. You will get told no multiple times. Don't let this negativity send you running into the arms of a company that wants to take your money to publish your book. They have no intention of selling it for you. They want you to buy your own copies and sell them to your friends. There's no incentive to get you into bookstores.
I have been a part of a self-published anthology, btw. It was done professionally and with a goal in mind. It met the goal and made money for the group. But the organizers knew what they were doing, and they produced a professional book for a purpose. It wasn't designed to break any of us into publishing — and a good thing too, because that's not what usually happens with self-published books.
You aren't breaking in this way. I can count on one hand the number of people who self-published and then went on to sell to NY in a big way. Self-publishing is not a bad thing. But you have to know the reasons for doing it before you simply throw in the towel after the 10th or 100th rejection and decide to do things your own way. If you are writing romance novels, self-publishing is not for you. It's expensive and it won't get you noticed by the publishers you really want to write for.
So work hard, swallow the lumps, and keep writing and submitting. It's the only way I know that works for sure. Instant gratification happens when eating a chocolate bar, not when trying to sell your work. 🙂
Jun 29, 2010 | Writing |
It usually happens somewhere in the midst of the book I'm trying to finish on deadline. As my relationship with the current book grows rocky, a new idea comes along, seducing me with its attractiveness, its promise not to be difficult, and its possibilities. I want to stop writing the deadline book and write this book instead!
I never do.
Because, well, there's a deadline attached to the book I'm working on and an editor waiting for it. But I've turned in the deadline book, and now the idea is still there, seducing me. This is the stage where it's fun. The stage where I'm collecting photos and pasting them into my Notes document (I use Word's notebook layout feature for this, creating tabs for the characters, story, and settings) and thinking up all the lovely possibilities.
This story is a bit different than what I've written before, but it still features the exotic location, the gorgeous alpha male, and the determined heroine. The possibilities are endless! Of course I'll eventually reach the stage where the book becomes work and the next new idea pops into my head. But until then, I'm going to have fun.
I believe this stage is essential, the fun stage, where you think and plan and maybe write a chapter or two. I've proven I can write a category novel in 3 weeks (not easy, but I did it), but there's no need to write every book so quickly. There are always deadlines, of course, but the dream time is very necessary to creating. One writer I know takes a month off between novels. For her, it's essential to her process and to writing the best book she possibly can. I don't need quite so much time, but I've found that a week or two is a nice break. I read, go shopping, cook gourmet meals, and generally let myself enjoy every day without the pressure to get as many words on the page as possible.
Remember while on this crazy writing journey that you still need to have a life. People change, kids grow up, friends move away. So don't spend every hour of every day hunched in front of your computer because one day you'll look up and wonder where everyone went. Let the blush of that new idea have its time swirling in your head. Approach it slowly but steadily, like it's a forest creature you don't want to frighten. Soon, it'll be eating out of your hand. (One day it'll bite you and you'll want to let it go and find a new idea, but that's another story….) 😉
Now I'm off to play with my shiny new idea…..
May 12, 2010 | Life, Writing |
Wow, she's back again! Yep, somehow I've managed to come back again when I'm pushing hard toward deadline — maybe it's because writing so much requires an outlet of unrelated writing. I don't know.
But I was thinking today, as I was rereading a portion of the WIP to remember where I was and what I was doing, about how easy it would be to let all those writerly fears and doubts crash down on top of me and grind me to a halt. I've certainly done it in the past, when I had no date set in stone on a legally binding document that I signed. I've let the doubt and uncertainty stop me and send me off into self-pitying mental gymnastics where I wondered if I would ever be published.
You might think, once you're published, that these doubts and fears go away. They do not, unfortunately. That fear will probably always be there.
Another thing I do when I get slammed with work is compare my career to others. Never a good idea, I assure you. We know we shouldn't do it, and yet we do. So-and-so writes six books a year, or so-and-so makes it look so easy, etc. If so-and-so were writing this book, she'd be done already and it'd be brilliant!
What's really bad is when you start thinking that someone has it better than you do, not only career wise, but life wise. A big house, a fancy car, lots of friends. But you don't really know what goes on behind the scenes of Jane Author's successful and fabulous life. Maybe she's lonely, or maybe her fears are as big as yours. Maybe the perfect looking life is a shield she wears that hides the truth. Maybe her life is every bit as crazy as yours, and maybe she wishes she could be you.
You just never know. Which is why you must learn to keep it together when these fears and doubts assail you. You have to look at what you DO have and know that it's good. My life isn't your life isn't Jane Author's life. I think it's very normal for women to do this sort of comparison. And we have to learn to stop ourselves when it happens. Because the life you have is full of blessings and richness. You just have to stop and take a good look sometimes.
Keep it together, y'all. Keep it real. You are you, and that's a mighty fine thing to be. 🙂
May 11, 2010 | Writing |
I don't mean to be a terrible blogger, really I don't. But I'm on deadline — in fact it's a huge brick wall at the end of the tunnel and my train is going to crash headlong into it in the next 3 weeks. You might be wondering how I found myself in this predicament where the time is running out and I'm writing like crazy. “Doesn't she know how to set a deadline?” you may ask.
Well, yes. But a couple of special projects came along, and I wasn't about to say no. Not because I didn't feel I could say no, but because I knew I could do the work. Yeah, it's a bit grueling — but if I weren't doing this, I'd be puttering around and making excuses as to why I couldn't clean the house or something. Worse, I'd be at DSW, combing the clearance rack for new heels (actually that's worse for my husband, not so much for me). 😉
So here I am, writing two to three thousand words a day. Before I was published, I wrote regularly — but it was very easy to go do other things if the writing got hard. Can't quite figure out that scene? Then go to the mall, or go shoe shopping, or call up a friend and go to lunch.
Now, I can't do that. And I really don't mind.
I'll tell you the truth: when I see unpublished writers lamenting that they just can't get the muse to work that day or that week or that month, I shake my head sadly. Because that used to be me, and I know it for the excuse it is. It's an excuse, a cop out. Because if you ever hope to publish, you have to write. And once you get bought, especially in category romance, you'd better be ready to write at least two books a year (said at the RT Harlequin spotlight just over a week ago). Two books a year minimum.
There's no time for finicky muses, no time to ‘get in the mood', no time for procrastination. You simply must write.
My work ethic has always been good in that when something is expected of me, I will deliver. But what do you do when something isn't expected of you, when you can go shopping instead of wrestle the book?
You have to find a way to make it work. If it's setting deadlines for yourself, bribing yourself with new clothes or shoes, or maybe a nice weekend away somewhere, you must finish the book. And you must do it at a good pace. Two books a year isn't unreasonable, and these days they kind of expect it in single title as well. Gone are the days when you could write one book a year.
So, I've rambled on long enough. I have a book due in 3 weeks. Have to write!
