May 7, 2010 | Blogging, Books, Inspiration, News |
Okay, so I'm very busy writing a book that's due in 3.5 weeks (yikes!!!!) and yet I still make my online rounds of Twitter, Facebook, and the blogs I enjoy reading. As I was looking at my incoming links, I clicked on the one for eHarlequin which took me to my author page. Shockingly, to me anyway, I have three books in print. THREE. The Prince's Royal Concubine is available exclusively at eHarlequin this month in both print and ebook, which brings me to three.
It hasn't even been a year since my first book hit the shelves, and the 3rd book is about to do so in a month. I simply can't believe it. Not only that, but the same three books have come out in three other countries — and one of them has been printed in German and Italian so far. It boggles the mind. I have also just submitted, and had accepted, my 6th title for Harlequin Presents. What a ride it's been — and I love it. I love writing these books, no matter that some people don't seem to understand the appeal of the ruthless tycoon and his heroine. These books are Beauty and the Beast for me. That doesn't work for everyone, and I understand that.
But I love them, and I'm proud to write them. And I just want you aspiring writers out there to know that you don't need to apologize for what you write, and you don't need to worry what people will think. There will be people who hate your work — and who proclaim it loudly and frequently — and then there will be what I like to call the vast silent majority who love what you do. They love it, they buy it, and they may never write a review or send you a fan letter. But they are out there, and they love what you do. Don't forget that.
Keep writing and dreaming. The dream can come true for you too. And for my readers, thank you. I love telling these stories and I'm so thrilled you love reading them. 🙂
And now I have to get back to writing that 7th title!
P.S. Totally unrelated, but I blogged about the category romance panel I was on while at RT! There's a picture too!
May 4, 2010 | Travel, RT Convention |
There will be an RT2010 post with pictures very soon, I swear. But today I've been recovering from the travel ordeal of yesterday (not to mention the non-stop pace of being at a conference, attending workshops, meeting people, having impromptu interviews, etc). Kimberly Lang and I drove up to Nashville, left a car, and boarded a flight on Tuesday of last week. You can pretty much figure out what happened on Sunday.
With the Cumberland River overflowing, the interstates shut down, and Nashville dealing with a torrent of water, flying into the city quickly became impossible. Kim and I had an evening flight, so we were spending our time in the Hyatt and the convention center in Columbus, surfing the web, watching the news, and waiting until it was time to go to the airport.
When we got the text message that our flight was canceled, we grabbed our bags and headed for the airport. The very helpful man at the Southwest counter, a gentleman named Russ, went into action when we told him all we wanted was to get close to Huntsville. Within moments, Russ had us booked into the last two seats to Birmingham, via Baltimore. He helped us rush our bags straight to TSA, told us there was a good chance they wouldn't make it to Birmingham when we did, and then called the gate to tell them we were coming.
We made it to the flight, which was late boarding, made it to Baltimore, and then had another delay. Finally, the Birmingham flight boarded (both flights were jam packed) and we were on our way. We made it to B'ham in a driving rainstorm where Kim's husband picked us up, then had to drive about an hour and a half home (did I mention the driving rainstorm?). I still have a car in Nashville; I've been told the long-term parking at the airport didn't flood, so hopefully it will be fine when I can finally get it.
Kevin Smith may not like Southwest, but I'm very happy with them for doing their damndest to get us home. They succeeded–and the bags made it to B'ham when we did. I can't complain at all. Southwest really does love bags. 🙂 (You will notice there were no trains in the story, but it wouldn't have surprised me if there had been. It was that bad trying to get home.)
I made it home by about 11, then fell into bed and slept like a rock. There's nothing like being back in your own bed, is there?
Apr 26, 2010 | Travel, RT Convention, Readers |
This has been one jam-packed weekend! There was much packing to do, much shopping to get done, and an unscheduled trip to the doctor. The hubby made me go see a doctor about this cold. Turns out I have a sinus infection, and I now have industrial strength drugs to see me through the week. Thank goodness the hubby cares, right? 🙂 Otherwise I'd have probably developed walking pneumonia or something during the next week, because I kept thinking it was just a cold that was going away soon.
This is my first RT Convention. I'm looking forward to meeting with readers and other authors, dressing in costumes, and getting to sign my books at the Giant Book Fair on Saturday. I hope I packed enough clothes. Hubby would say I over-packed, but you always need extra outfits, right? And shoes. I typically travel with at least 5 pairs. Not sure how many I packed, but it's hovering around 5. Might be a little more when I finish tomorrow. I love my shoes.
But it's not all play. I have a book due June 1st, and I will be taking my computer along so I can work on it. If you're going to be at RT, look me up! I'd love to meet you. 🙂
Apr 23, 2010 | Writing |
For the writers: I love this post by Bob Mayer! Talk about smacking me upside the head with reality. I always make excuses for why I get good things when I get them. Just yesterday, when I found out that The Prince's Royal Concubine was a Top Pick from RT for the month of June, I emailed my pal Kimberly Lang and said how excited I was — and then I made an excuse for why it happened this time, as if it was due to the concurrences of planetary alignments, eclipses, the bad winter, etc, and nothing at all to do with the story I wrote.
Don't worry, she promptly emailed me back and told me to stop being so silly and of course it was because the book deserved it. 😉 Sometimes you need friends to smack you with the clue stick.
I hope you enjoy the post! See how many of the signs you have. I had 11 out of 13. I'll probably always think I could have done a better job, but I think that's normal. 🙂 Let me know what you think about that post! I'm off to lunch with the fabulous Kimberly Lang right now, so will be back later……
Apr 19, 2010 | Blogging
Today, I'm at Tote Bags ‘n' Blogs, talking about my crazy schedule! Come on by and tell me about your crazy schedule….
