May 7, 2008 | Writing |
My posts are erratic this week because I'm chained to the desk! Much writing to do, much going on. Oh, and if you're checking in from the I Heart Presents site, you'll be pleased to know that my friend who I went to dinner with in my call story has sold her book to Modern Heat!! (Her celebration was yesterday, and I never got around to posting here about it–sigh.) So just because you didn't win the contest, or weren't a runner up, doesn't mean you won't sell to HM&B! So take heart and keep writing! Yay, Kimberly!!!!
What are you working on this week? What's your good news? Please share — I'll check back from time to time! 🙂
May 5, 2008 | Research, Travel, Writing |
One of the fun things about being a writer is that you never know where you'll find inspiration. Saturday, I was so looking forward to my historic homes tour because, though I love old houses, I also needed to have a complete picture in my head of an antebellum mansion for one of my books. And going on this tour delivered in spades!
From the gardens to the infinity edge pool, the 200 yr-old oak trees, the plaster friezes and medallions, the leaded glass, the art gallery (!), and the indoor racketball court, this house had it all. It had the new and the old all meshed together in a home built in 1858. And, this person had more art on the walls of this home (not to mention in the art gallery he'd built) than the official art museum downtown has. In fact, as I was walking through, I saw the original painting of a print I have. Talk about stunned. Who knew?
Though I'd gone to see the house, it was actually the gardens that inspired me. I'd envisioned my antebellum mansion having gardens, but I hadn't envisioned the gardens to this extent. Now, I know what the sweeping lines look like — the ornamental grasses, the statuary, the fountains, the trees, the benches — and I can remember them while I write.
Of course it's possible to get your inspiration from a research book, too. I've certainly done that when I needed something. For one of my books, I need a jungle. I've lived in Hawaii, so I've seen jungles of a sort, but I can't go to a South American jungle for research. Hence the book I bought that details living and traveling through jungles. Cool.
For my Harlequin Presents, THE SPANISH MAGNATE'S REVENGE, I have a bag full of things I got in Madrid — maps, brochures, postcards — and the photos I took. I loved Madrid. What a fabulous, lively place! I'd go back in a heart beat. Maybe my Spanish magnate has a brother who needs a book. Even a friend would do. I'd have an excuse to go explore those art galleries again, to sit in the Plaza Mayor and sip a Tio Pepe.
This July, I'm going to New Orleans for a family trip. I'm looking forward to that because I plan to, you guessed it, use the trip for research. It's been many years since I've been there, and I want to explore the French Quarter, take the River Road trip to see the plantations, and enjoy the local food. I never know what will strike me as something I need for a story, you know?
Do you have any favorite research methods? Do you travel for inspiration? Have you ever used a place you've been as a setting, or used an element from it, in your stories? If you could go anywhere to research a setting, where would you go?
May 2, 2008 | Fun, Life, Photos, Travel
What's on tap for you this weekend? I'm going inside this gorgeous home. It's the oldest documented antebellum mansion in Alabama. Every year, the town of Twickenham, which is Huntsville's historic district, opens several homes to the public. For a mere $17, I get to tramp through about six beauties, peering at people's antiques, going gaga over their renovations and views, and wishing like heck I had the kind of money to afford one of these babies.
Ah well, at least I get to go inside! I think it's a cool thing that people open these old homes to the public. The tour raises awareness for preservation of old homes, and shows people just what treasures we have still in the South today. Read more about the Huntsville Tour of Homes here.
Hope you have a great weekend! Once I finish that tour, I'll be writing like crazy!
May 1, 2008 | Blogging, Life, Writing |
My hands hurt a bit from all the typing lately (which isn't stopping me from writing this blog, lol). Typically, I don't force myself to write SO much all at once, but I have a lot on the writing plate at the moment.
I'm having SO MUCH fun, even though I'm tired, a bit cranky, and my hands hurt. I'm so in the zone that I committed an email faux pas yesterday — I accidentally sent Person A an email that was supposed to go to Person B where I, you guessed it, said something about person A that I'd prefer she not have seen. It wasn't that bad, but I was a little disgruntled she had made a decision without asking my preference first. (This is not, in any way, writing related.) She made a decision she thought would help me, but I was a little blindsided by it and reacted. I apologized, but her feelings are probably still hurt. My Southern Lady Graciousness gene is certainly lying on a fainting couch, sipping iced tea, and feeling quite horrified.
Yeah, this little faux pas, as mild as it is, reminds me how careful we must be in our communications online. Email can exist forever. Vitriolic blog commentary will come back to haunt you. That time you got upset and vented your spleen on the RWA loops? Yep, it's still there, somewhere, lurking. It's human nature to get irritated. It's human nature to fight back when we feel threatened. But when you get upset about something, take your time to think it through before hitting that reply button. You just might save yourself a lot of headache — and a whole lot of apologizing. If you do say something you regret, apologize. Not an “I'm sorry if” apology, but a real one: “I'm sorry.” No qualifications.
But, really, the thing to do is to always, always remember that words on screen, sent across the Internet, are forever. Don't say anything you wouldn't want to admit you said. Remember that blogs and email loops have lurkers, and you have no idea who those lurkers could be. Don't shoot yourself in the foot by branding yourself as a rabble rouser without a cause or an argumentative so-and-so who always has to jump in and give her 2 cents. And don't think that anonymous comments are anonymous. They never are to the blog or loop owner. 🙂
Have you ever committed an email faux pas? How did you handle it? Have you been on the receiving end of an email faux pas? What did you do?
Apr 29, 2008 | Contests, Writing |
Folks are getting Golden Heart scores back this week. I won't get mine until after the winners are announced, since I'm a finalist this time, but I DO remember getting that envelope in the past. The fear of opening it. The burning desire to know how bad it is. Am I in the top 25% or the bottom 50%? Should I open it now or wait?
Only you can decide what's best for you. But, I gotta tell you, don't obsess more than a couple of days MAXIMUM over it! I entered 4 times. The 4th time was the charm. I've opened that envelope three times before, tremulous and scared, and then had to talk to myself about what was in it.
You simply can't let it stop you. You write a new book, or revise the one that didn't final, and get prepared for next year. The deadline is in November, y'all. Not so far away. I almost didn't enter this time. I almost let it go. I debated with myself — should I work this hard to get the book done quickly? What category should I enter? Am I ready for this? Is it a waste of money?
I entered before I finished the book, which gave me incentive. Money, as I've said before, is a big motivator for me. I wasn't losing that $50 for nothing! Then, of course, there was the cost of printing and postage. Yeah, I was a last minute Express Mail girl because I finished it right before the deadline. Can't remember what it cost, but it wasn't cheap. Forty dollars maybe?
So look at your scores with a grain of salt, a dash of hope, and a huge helping of determination. Just because you didn't final this time doesn't mean you won't EVER final. It also doesn't mean you won't sell. Plenty of best selling authors never finaled in the Golden Heart. Some people final never to be heard from again. And some end up selling a different book than the GH book.
Get upset or get happy about your scores, but also get over them. Keep writing. 🙂
Any interesting or frustrating contest experiences to share? Any lessons learned? Did you ever get advice that upset you, but later saw the value in it? I have. Someone told me my hero was a jerk and my heroine was juvenile — and then proceeded to tell me WHY. Dang if she wasn't right — once I got over it and could see the truth, of course. 🙂
Update: Found my GH scores from the first time I entered: 10, 8, 7, 8, 5. Yeah, they used to score to 10 and there were no fractions. Oh, and they used to give comments too. 🙂 This was the long historical category and I scored in the 2nd 25%. The following year, I entered two books. Can't find those scores, darn it.
