Apr 3, 2008 | General, Rants |
Spammers surely have their own place reserved in hell. I get a lot, but my email does a nice job of filtering it. Though it sometimes sends things I want to see to the spam folder. Because of this, I tend to skim the contents before deleting. (I had an email from Harlequin go to spam — yikes!)
You know the trends. Male enhancement products (no, I do NOT want my thing to be bigger because I don't HAVE a thing, thank you), dates, h*rny girls in your area, people on webcams supposedly wanting to hook up, lottery wins, cheap drugs, etc.
But a new one cropped up lately that had me giggling. Don't know why, but I find this one funny: see your neighbor n*ked (the asterisk will hopefully prevent blog hits, but you get the point). Now why on earth would I want to do that? Have you seen my neighbor? I don't live next door to David Beckham or Brad Pitt, you know!
No, I live next to normal people (I hope they're normal). There's a good ol' boy who likes to fire up his lawnmower at 7AM on a Saturday (no kidding), an air marshal, a few engineers, and maybe even a military guy. No one I want to see in the buff.
What I really want to know is who falls for this stuff? If people weren't clicking on these emails and following through, there'd be no spam. So someone could right now be viewing a nude neighbor. That's something to think about the next time you disrobe for a shower, eh?
Picture from www.funnyville.com.
Click on over to I Heart Presents and see what my editor has to say about calling me with the good news. Tomorrow, you should be able to read my version of events when I guest blog there.
Apr 2, 2008 | Rants, Writing |
A very good writer friend of mine made an announcement recently that has me reeling in my socks. She's quitting the biz. She's tired of the rejections and heart break and she needs time away.
I understand this, I really do. At the same time, I want to grab her and shake her and tell her she's not allowed, under ANY circumstances, to quit! I'm furious and upset and sad. She's one of the finest unpublished writers I know. She's not unpublished because she has no talent. She's unpublished because she hasn't hit that right combo of luck, talent, and timing yet. Her books are not easily categorized. They aren't trendy. They are, however, full of emotion and damn fine storytelling.
But one editor too many sent her a rejection this month. It's not just this month, of course, because that would be silly. And she's not being silly, though I still think she's wrong. After years of contest finals and near-misses, she's just tired. Worn out and tired of being hurt. I understand.
Yet I want to give her a flame-retardant suit and tell her to keep going. I've quit before. I convinced myself writing wasn't for me. I missed it from time to time, but I went back to school and ended up with an MA for my trouble. I wrote plenty then. Papers, papers, papers.
I missed romance writing. I read it, sighed a lot, thought how apparently I just wasn't good enough to make it. And then I got an idea. It kept me up at night. I started to write, just for me, and it grew bigger. I kept writing because it was fun when there was no pressure.
That book was pure fun, but I never sent it out. Instead, I started another one. By this time, I knew I was back and the dream was still alive. I finished the next book. Decided it was awful, but I liked the idea. Threw just about everything away and rewrote it. Rewrote it again. That book is HOT PURSUIT, my Golden Heart Finalist.
I am NOT judging my friend. Our roads have been different, and I can't know her heart. But I grieve for the loss because I know she's good. I think (hope) she'll be back. The funny thing about me, when I came back, was I knew I wasn't ever leaving again. I can't. I will not quit because I've been there and it was no fun.
What would it take to make you quit writing? Do you believe in dragging your broken body up the mountain, or would you say, forget this, and withdraw from the race? Everyone's different. There is no right answer. But what would it take? I'd really like to know….
Mar 31, 2008 | Contests |
My picture and bio is on the I Heart Presents site now. You can read all about it here.
Mar 31, 2008 | General, Life, Writing |
It was a busy weekend here in Northern Alabama! The Heart of Dixie chapter participated in a local event called Female & Fabulous at the civic center. There were health, beauty, and lifestyle booths spread around the center, lots of giveaways, and Clinton Kelly from TLC's What Not to Wear made an appearance.
I've never watched WNTW, but I think I will in the future. I liked what Clinton said. He said one thing that really impressed me: “Don't dress to please a man.” The other thing he talked about was young women and the pressure to dress like Paris, Britney, or Lindsay. Those clothes, the ones that show lots of skin, aren't necessary. You don't have to dress like a ho to be beautiful. After that, I figured I was in love. 🙂 When he continued on to say that catalog models weren't women to emulate because they weren't typical, well, the applause was deafening. The guy was funny, engaging, and entertaining. Other than the women who just wanted to smell or hug him, it was a great question and answer session he gave. (And what's with people anyway that they raise their hand for a question and then just want to smell the guy when he comes over? Sheesh.)
As romance writers, we often write women who are smart and confident. They may not start out that way, but they end up that way by the end of the book. Confident women moving forward with the man they've fallen in love with. They don't compromise who they are to be with the hero. Nor does the hero want them to. I guess that's why I love romance. 🙂
So, let's remember that even though real life isn't fiction, we can still be confident women who have every right to our own sense of self-worth that is NOT dependent upon a man. A man is your partner, not your reason for existing. No romance heroine would ever make that mistake, so why is it that romance novels get the reputation for being fluffy and trashy? Just another thing I don't get. 🙂
What's the worst thing you've ever worn? I can't remember the worse thing I've ever worn, but when I was about nine, I got into my mother's makeup and proceeded to cake it on. Then I went outside to wait for my grandmother to pick me up for my trip to the skating rink. She took one look and went ballistic. Since she never, ever raised her voice or got upset, I guess I must have looked pretty awful. Needless to say, she made me wipe it all off. 🙂
Mar 28, 2008 | Business, Rants, Writing |
This has been one heck of a week, y'all. I'm still getting used to the changes. I have not sold a book, but my professional life changed in the space of one phone call. And then another call came that iced the cake even more. There have been emails, phone calls, old friends coming out of the woodwork. Mostly, it's been great.
It's also been somewhat distracting. I kind of got a glimmer of what it's like for authors who keep checking their Amazon numbers or need to stop writing and take care of business tasks that won't wait. You can get caught up following a task until you realize an hour has passed since you meant to stop and go do something else like, say, eat. 🙂
And then there's been the tiniest bit of, well, negativity floating my way. Most people are happy for me. A couple are not. It happens, and I understand that.
But I also feel somewhat blown away by it, by the idea that anyone would think I won the Harlequin contest or finaled in the Golden Heart due to anything other than hard work and a refusal to give up. I had this conversation once with a writer who got a fabulous book deal and then had people talking about how her “connections” are what did it for her. Her supposed connections weren't connections. She wasn't the First Dog or anything. (Millie the Spaniel wrote a book with Barbara Bush, you may remember…)
I certainly didn't get to this point alone. I've been lucky enough to have a husband who believes in me, a critique partner who tells me the truth, and an entire organization telling me to climb back on the horse when I fell off. Most of my writing friends know the vagaries of this business from personal experience, but there are always those people who think there's a secret handshake, a password into the temple of publishing.
There isn't, folks. You write the best damn book you can, realize when it may not be good enough, and then write another one. And you always, always act like a professional. That's the only secret I know.
Do you know any secrets to this biz? Why do you think a sensible person typically knows he can't play Mozart overnight but expects to be able to write an amazing bestseller on the first try?
P.S. Party over at the Writing Playground today! It's a Friday celebration by my friends at the Playground, so come on over and have a good time!
Spammers surely have their own place reserved in hell. I get a lot, but my email does a nice job of filtering it. Though it sometimes sends things I want to see to the spam folder. Because of this, I tend to skim the contents before deleting. (I had an email from Harlequin go to spam — yikes!)