Drunk Writer Talk

The same story - vastly different results

2012-01-27T10:48:00.002-05:00

Have I mentioned how much I love my kindle. Well, let me repeat it. I do and here is one significant reason. Backlists, a lot of author backlists are now available on kindle at reduced prices. So if I hear even a hint of a good review for an author, I'll check their backlist and buy the book that most appeals to me.
It's a great way of discovering new authors, and finding books that might not be available in my local bookstore or that I missed the first time around.
In doing so, I bought a historical romance with a lower class thief for a heroine and a hero who needs her to act like she's always been nobility. And then Molly handed me a romance by another author with almost that exact same storyline.
The same storyline told by two different authors. Fun, right, to see how voice can affect a story. It's hard not to make direct comparisons, which have not been kind to one of the stories.
One is rich, beautifully detailed, grounded in realistic details and really engrossing. Both the hero and heroine are fascinating, well written and imperfect, with great internal conflict.
The other is cute. The heroine is cute, perfect, gets along with everyone and the hero is a little bland and the story itself is exactly what you expect all the way through. And read by itself it would be fine, but in comparison it's plain white rice next to mushroom risotto.
The difference between the two is characterization and detail. One heroine immediately becomes the perfect lady, almost without effort and with little conflict. The other struggles to find a way to fit into both worlds and the choice is inherent with conflict for both leads. In one every opportunity for conflict is capitalized on and in the other, conflict, what conflict, everyone is so nice.
It's been an interesting experiment. One I might definitely repeat.

Poof Magic

2012-01-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

So I was talking to Molly the other day saying how I needed to come up with a bunch of new ideas for my editor. This is new for me. Usually I’m a one idea at a time girl. By the middle of the book I’m working on, I usually come up with what I want to do next. I can honestly say it’s kept me steadily writing for years. But it hasn’t always made me the best category writer.

I wrote comedies, then I felt like doing a suspense, then I felt like doing a golf book, then I decided I wanted to write weird historicals.

This has resulted in a lot of complete books. But not a lot of progress in my career. Now part of this wasn’t always my fault. I had several lines close on me which forced me to change gear, but still I have to own up to the fact that I’m a little bit of a writing wanderer.

However, now for the first time in the 20 years I’ve been writing I’ve been asked to think of a bunch of ideas at once. For moments my brain froze. Multiple ideas didn’t compute. Sure I had vague thoughts of what I wanted to do, but the idea of trying to really pull out concrete stories seemed incredibly daunting.

I could no longer rely on my poof magic just happening out of the blue. I was actually going to have to deliberately call on it like a genie in a bottle.

Let me explain - Poof Magic is my very scientific writing process. I think conceptually about the type of relationship dynamic I want to explore….wait for it and then… Poof, magic. The couple pops into my head. Then they live there for a while simmering and eventually I start to see those movie trailer flashes that lead me to the perimeter of what their story is.

The idea of using poof magic for several ideas at once… craziness. I had this very logical and rational fear I would fizzle it out if I over used it.

Surprisingly, poof magic has come through. I need only one more couple to show up and then I plan to just let them all simmer simultaneously. Like four different pots on four different burners all working toward a common goal. Which for me means a little forward career momentum.

I’m sure we’ve all talked about our process before, but I would also love to hear from some lurkers… Another classic writer questios.... Where do your ideas come from?

MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!!!

2012-01-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am writing the short story that would not end. Will. Not. End. It's my own fault. I went into it with a premise I liked, but not a lot of structure. It took off on me and I'm having a great time with the characters and the dialogue, but I'm nearing 10,000 words and it's not ending.

My darling Andy pointed out that it might be helpful if I knew how I wanted it to end and I do think that's part of the problem. There's really only one good ending. The bad guy has to die. He's a threat that can never be neutralized. He's driven, he's got nothing to lose and he feels that he's on the side of the angels.

I don't think I can stand to kill him, though. I know what happened to him. I know the horror of it all. I know he's certain that he's out slaying the dragons that threaten all that's good and pure about our world. How can I kill him?

The problem is, how can I not kill him?

And so the story keeps going. Help me. Please.

Why is Brad Pitt always eating?

2012-01-23T10:49:00.002-05:00

Husband and I watched Moneyball this weekend - and I do believe Sinead's house did too! It's a great movie, totally engrossing, enlightening and entertaining. Highly recommend. And I have to say as Brad Pitt ages, he's becoming a better actor - or maybe he's getting better roles suited to his strengths (which are not long speeches, stir the troops, or declare the love or explain the mysteries of the universe - no, he's not good at that).

But, he's got pretty great comic timing and he can be still when he needs to be, which is something not a lot of actors can do. He's got great chemistry with men, even Jonah Hill, there were wonderful believable moments in this Mutt and Jeff relationship. And I think his best skill is his physicality. When he's moving, doing something, he's great. Smashing things up with a baseball batt, destroying enemy soliders, twitching and ticking through 12 Monkeys, bare fist brawling with an Irish accent, as a gum-chewing, goofy dancing trainer in Burn After Reading - give him something to do and the guy sings.

Which is why in contemporary movies, the guy is always eating. The Ocean's movies, and now Moneyball. Endless scenes with the busy working of dipping french fires in ketchup or shrimp in cocktail sauce.

Perhaps the argument is - people eat. All the time. At the very least three times a day. Which reminds me of something Wanda Ottewell told me in the very beginning of my career, when I CONSTANTLY had people eating or taking showers. "Because people do it all the time, we don't need to see it." Unless it means something, obviously. But busy work does not make good reading.

And I think it's time Brad Pitt found something else to do with his hands, because it was the only distracting thing in that movie....

Would you rather write one great book, or three good ones?

2012-01-20T09:29:00.000-05:00

Long title, but I've been thinking about some of the great books I've been reading lately, or looking forward to reading soon. A lot of these books are first books, where the author had years to polish and revise, or they have been from authors who took a solid year, or even more to get the book to where they are happy with it.

I just finished the Cecilia Grant book and it's exactly how Molly described it, surprising, fun, beautifully written and very different from any other historical on the market. The same with Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, it's go gorgeous that it's intimidating to other writers out there, and so beautifully crafted, and I've skimmed her blog to find out how long it took her to write it, but can't find out and don't have the time to do any more research, but it reads like it took her three years to write it.

Joanne Bourne takes a year to write a book, Sherry Thomas takes almost as much time and I feel like their books really show this. And they have the luxury of time. I know a lot of authors that need to write more than one book a year, more than two really, especially in romance, where advances are low and building a readership means three books a year on the shelves.

And some authors write amazing books in three months, and I'm intensely jealous of them. A lot though, write competent books in three months. And a lot of readers are probably thrilled with competent. As writers, we get excited about the books that surprise us, give us something new and unexpected, something impeccably crafted. Books that get a lot of buzz in the writing community. Buzz that can push a book's sales, or not.

We all know of authors that were intensely admired by writers and bloggers, who never hit a list.

Or do we just learn to write better in less time?

Downton Abbey and Pacing

2012-01-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Is anyone else watching this show? It’s a Masterpiece theater show that follows the life of an Earl and his family at their family estate, Downton Abbey.

If you are at all a fan of historical romance I highly recommend this show. It’s more soap opera in feel but it’s so spot on the with the details of the period that you get completely lost in it. The clothes are spectacular. The second season is set two years into WWI. And I really hope editors are watching this show (I know my agent loves it) because it’s about time we focus on other periods besides Regency with a dab of Victorian.

This period is so ripe with drama. You’ve got the class structure still in place but there are cracks as socialism is starting to take hold. You’ve got women gaining power and fighting for the right to vote. You’ve got the war and the impact it’s having on the people in England. All of it fabulous!

But forgetting all the juicy story lines that are happening in this show, I took a moment when I was watching it the other night to marvel at the pacing. Ever since I hooked up with DWT I’ve been more focused on craft. I’ve learned that movies, TV and books aren’t just entertainment anymore. They are learning tools. Especially the good ones.

What makes DA so completely enthralling (I think) is the way they move from story line to story line and with each jump something “big” happens. There is always a secret revealed, love is expressed, hate is exposed, a new intrigue is developing. There is not one minute of downtime, or a scene for a scene’s sake, or a scene that explains or recaps another scene. It just goes, constantly, in one direction at full speed.

By the end of an hour your head is spinning and you love it. I’m near the end of my WIP that’s due February 1st. And as I edit I really really want to keep Downton Abbey in mind.

Obsessing

2012-01-18T07:30:00.000-05:00

I've been working on my line edits for Deviant and gaining further evidence of my insanity. :)

Those of you who've followed this blog over the years (we have our SIXTH anniversary for Drunk Writer Talk this summer, I think...) Anyway, you may have heard me say before that editing and polishing the words is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. Second only to first drafting when (if) the words and ideas are flowing out of my fingers like magic.

But I'm learning that polishing/fine tuning can be the most angst ridden part, too. Yes, I do already have two books in print, but they were done on a write-for-hire basis, and very quickly and I didn't feel as if I really had final say over the text, even though my name is on the covers.

This new book... This is mine. This is a big deal. This is a book that (I hope) more people will read. This is a book that (I hope) more people will review.

And I have been making myself crazy obsessing over the words.

Does anyone else get like this?

Not a Thought in My Pretty Little Head

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-05:00

I've got nothing. I don't know why. I just don't. I've read a bunch of good books lately. I'm reading John Lescroat's The Hunter right now. It's awesome. Smart. Emotional. I wish I could do setting like he does. I read Catriona MacPherson's After the Armistice Ball. Also great atmosphere. Great dialogue. Oh, and Harlan Coben's Caught. Love his dialogue and pace.

I don't think I have anything to say about any of them, though, except I liked them.

On TV, I'm thrilled with the continuation of The Good Wife. I love the palace intrigue of the law office and the cases they work on. Incredible characters. Great conflicts. Don't have anything to say about it, though. I'm not so sure I like House of Lies. I've only watched the first one and maybe the people will become less reprehensible, but I think not. I'll give it one or two more episodes, but I don't have anything to say about it either.

I watched a funny little indie movie called happythankyoumoreplease. A little sweet. A little charming. But I got nothin'.

I'm writing. It's going fine one some days. Not so fine on others. I need more time without interruptions. I need to be stricter with myself and my friends and my family. That's all I have to say about that, though.

Help me, please. Get me started. Somebody say something.

Unravelling Eileen Cook

2012-01-16T13:10:00.000-05:00

Since Molly's on vacation today, I'm going to assume she isn't posting and hijack the blog.

I interviewed the fabulous and honorary drunk writer, Eileen Cook, on another blog today about herself and her fabulous new book UNRAVELING ISOBEL.

Here's a link to the interview: LINK

A random commenter over there will win a book! It's lonely over there this morning. Stop by and say hi. :)

Making something really familiar feel fresh

2012-01-13T12:51:00.002-05:00

It's been a slow start to reading for me in 2012, but I have this sense that it's going to be a great year for books and creatively, so I have nothing but great anticipation going into this year.

The book I'm reading right now is Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and it's flawed. Not every scene is absolutely necessary, it jumps about a little and parts of it feel a little like the author is still learning the nuts and bolts of craft, but it reads completely fresh in the genre and I think that's why it's getting so much buzz.

From the location to the plot points, it does not seem familiar to me and I've read a lot of YA over the past two years. The protagonist is interesting, but it's not her, it's what happens and how and the elements she introduces them and how. I'm guessing on all of this, but it seems as I read this book, that the author hadn't read a lot of YA going into the writing of this book and that's why it seems different.

And truly, I have no idea where she's taking me, which in itself, is exciting. It's not that she's reversing my expectations, it's that the story is progressing in a way that I can't predict and so I don't have any idea where a scene will play out.

Which is fun and I suspect why so many editors and agents love this book.

And on another note - Game of Thrones Season 2 - starts April 1st. Anyone else excited. Molly, I still have your copy of that...

Why Tim Tebow is a fictional hero...

2012-01-12T09:36:00.004-05:00

I don’t know how many of our readers follow American Football – but if you do, Tim Tebow is the America’s newest fascination. If you don’t follow football and you’re wondering what all those strange pictures are of people kneeling in seemingly odd places… that’s the phenomena known as Tebowing.

As a sports nut and a writer – this guy fascinates me.

Here are the facts. He is not a proto-typical quarterback. He runs more than he throws, he misses receivers more than he finds them. He can only throw so far. And he doesn’t have what’s known as “touch” on the ball. Not to mention a very slow throwing motion and bad footwork.

But this is the other fact: he finds ways to win in clutch situations. He’s had I believe four 4th quarter comebacks in his 8 wins. He just won his first playoff game in OT against a team none of the professional analysts said he could beat.

People either love him… and I mean really love him. Or hate him. And I mean really hate him.

Some people don’t like the idea that someone less talented has a job someone else could do. Some people think he’s just lucky. Other’s think God is on his side. He’s very religious and very open about it. That kneeling motion is no joke. But some people think he flaunts his beliefs in their faces.

So why is he such a sudden star?

I think I finally figured it out. Tim Tebow is Luke Skywalker. Tim Tebow is Harry Potter. Sports in my opinion has always been about the drama and this guy has arrived as an unlikely hero and people are rallying behind him.

Of course there are obstacles. Every good hero has them because he needs something to leap over.

His detractors are numerous. Not just the analysts but other professional players have mocked him and his game. A future hall of fame linebacker when asked about Tim said he was a good “running” back – obviously mocking his talent as a quarterback. To that Tim said, “I take any compliment from a future hall of famer as a great honor.” AND HE MEANT IT!

What makes Tim Tebow special is his innate goodness. He’s sincere and real and … really really good. When asked what was the highlight for him of his overtime win against Pittsburg he said, “Bringing joy to a little girl who in her short life has had 73 surgeries. Because that’s what’s important.” AND HE MEANT IT!

In our stories we want to see good triumph over evil. And in a time of a bad economy, where coaching legends turn out to be pedophiles and baseball legends are drug users… on to the stage steps this weird guy who for whatever reason has captured our attention.

Just like any good hero out of any great story.

I will be watching Tim against the Patriots this week. I will be rooting for him with everything I have. I don’t think they stand a chance against Brady and the Patriots… but what if our hero wins again?

It’s going to make for a great story.

What do you all think? Do you know about Tim? Do you secretly Tebow in the shower? Come on… you can tell us.

And just because I haven’t heard anything – Kristin Fischer you were the winner last week. If you want to claim your prize you can reach me at www.stephaniedoyle.net.

Starbuck

2012-01-11T07:30:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't a flashback post about one of our favorite topics of years past -- Battlestar Galactica -- it's a post about a great movie I saw last night that I expect very few if any of you have heard of or seen, unless you live in Quebec.

The movie's called Starbuck and I can't remember when I last had such an unexpectedly good time at the movies. After I got out of jury duty this afternoon, I went down to the TIFF building just to see the Grace Kelly exhibit before it closes... and this movie was starting in an hour and I'd remember people raving about it during the festival this year, so thought I'd check it out.

The star is Patrick Huard who's not well known outside of Quebec, although according to the programmer who introduced the film, he's just about the biggest movie star in Quebec TV and film these days. I saw him a few years ago in the Canadian film Bon Cop/Bad Cop, which could have been fabulous, but was just kind of okay... But this post isn't about that movie, one that frankly was trying too hard to be "Canadian". This post is about Starbuck, which wasn't trying to be anything but funny and heartwarming and succeeded at both.

I'm trying to analyze Starbuck from a DWT perspective, but honestly, I think I'd have to see it again. I think there's something to learn about introducing a less than heroic character, but I can't 100% remember how the character was introduced. No, that's a lie. We first see him about 20 years before the story starts, jerking off at a sperm donor clinic... But then I can't remember what came next, (oh, that pun was not intended!), except that I started laughing out loud (really loud) soon after the movie began, and also teared up at least twice near the end. For me, that sums up an perfect comedy movie experience.

The premise is a tad ridiculous and some of the ways in which the story develops aren't plausible, but it's so funny and has so much heart, you don't care. The premise is this affable 40-something screw up who's just learned his girlfriend is pregnant at the same time she breaks up with him for being a screw up (oh, and some loan sharks are beating him up daily for the $80,000 he owes them, and he's trying to start a grow-op, but doesn't have a green thumb and his plants are dying...) Anyway, things are already not going well for this guy when he's visited by a lawyer who tells him that based on all the sperm donations he made back in the late 80's, using only the name "Starbuck", he's fathered 533 children, 148 of whom have filed a class action lawsuit to force the clinic to divulge his identity.

In one of the implausible plot points (which honestly, you just slide) the lawyer hands him an envelope with a profile and photo of each of the 148 young adults he's fathered who want to meet him, and after realizing some of them turned out well (the first is a famous pro-soccer player) he decides to visit (stalk) more of them and be like a guardian angel to as many of them as he can.

Of course, it doesn't go how he plans, but what enfolds is just so funny and so sweet... And Patrick Huard is beyond hot. These photos don't do him justice... You really need to see him in his soccer shorts to fully appreciate the hotness. ;)

Okay, here's a photo I found of him, but not from this movie... Are you getting it now?

The film is in French with subtitles but so worth that tiny bit of extra effort. It's really, really funny. I have no idea how easy it will be to track this one down. imdb.com only lists release dates for France and Belguim right now, later this year... Looks like it screened in Quebec last summer...

But if this one comes to a theater near you that plays foreign language films, it's seriously worth checking out.

If a movie is really funny, I think I can forgive some implausible developments... like court cases happening almost over night... How about you? How many "mistakes" can a movie or book make before you're done with it?

5 Things Not to Say to an Author

2012-01-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

I am offering this post as a public service both to authors and the people around them. I am the first to admit that we authors can be a tad on the sensitive side. Honestly, we wouldn't be able to do what we do if we weren't. We feel deeply. While we have no choice but to develop thick skins when it comes to the public in terms of reviews and public commentary, it's not always so easy to toughen up that epidermis in social situations. I am offering a list for any of you out there who know an author and would prefer not to have him or her seething or plunged into despair after an encounter with you.

This came up because of an encounter at a book signing I recently attended. The author is a hugely successful (like fourteen or fifteen times at the top of the NY Times Bestseller list successful) guy who lives in my town. He's also a total sweetheart and very supportive and helpful to other authors. I went to try to be supportive back (not that he needs it, but you know what I mean). The signing was huge. Packed. Bigger than any of his other signings I've attended and I've been to probably all the local ones over the past three or four years. We ran into an acquaintance there who said, "So, Eileen, are your book signings this big?"

I was completely floored. My sweet and somewhat clueless sweetheart launched into something about how well-attended my signings are, but I was really stung. What was I supposed to say? No, I'm not as successful as John and probably never will be. It seemed rude to point it out, especially in front of an audience. My honey contends that it wasn't meant as an insult, but was just a casual and thoughtless remark. It still was hurtful, though. Here's a list of a few more casual remarks that tend to leave me gnashing my teeth.

1) Wow. You're really cranking those books out.

I understand that you're trying to say that I'm prolific, but what you're implying is that I'm like a factory. My books are not widgets. I do not crank them out. I work very hard to produce a book a year and sometimes more. I'm crafting, revising, plotting and thinking. Not cranking.

2) You should send your book to Oprah!

I don't get this one as much anymore as most people realize that Oprah is now off the air, but for Pete's sake, really? Do you think the book isn't sent out for promotion? Don't you realize how many people send books to Oprah or Kelly Ripa or any of those celebrities? Do you honestly think that's a helpful hint that no one's considered?

3) Do a lot of research for those books?

Honestly, I've only gotten this one once, but it really stands out as incredibly offensive since we were at a school function and he said it while staring at my boobs which I realize are magnificent, but really?

4) I'll read your book and then I'll tell you what I think of it.

Then the next day I'll stop by your office and tell you how I think you're doing your job, 'kay?

5) So are your books self-published?

This one is slowly leaving my offensive list with the rise of e-pubbing, but it used to drive me nuts. I would not tell you I was a published author if I was self-published. Why are you assuming that no publishing house would want my work? How about just asking what publishing house(s) I write for?

I know there are more, but these are the ones that I can come up with off the top of my head. Any others out there?

Cage Match: Cecilia Grant's A Lady Awakened vs Joanna Bourne's The Black Hawk

2012-01-09T12:24:00.003-05:00

For Christmas this year I gave my son a series of books called "Who Will Win?" It's sort of like a Deadliest Warrior for animals. Like if a Tiger and a Lion would fight, who would win? T-Rex and a Velociraptor? In the only one I've actually read a Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear duke it out, but it ends up as a tie - the two are too evenly matched.

That's how this cage match is going to go for me, these two books are too evenly matched, but I REALLY want to talk about them.

These books rocked my world. They are totally different, Bourne's is an intricate historical spy novel and Grant's is an intricate historical landowner novel. Not kidding. Landowner.

But as different as these two plots are, in each book the plots are utterly key to the romance. Each character being (or becoming) GOOD at thier jobs was a big part of why the characters fall in love. So, Bourne's book wasn't just a romance with a dangerous espionage suspense plot thrown in - the plot and it's details ware crucial to what keep the leads together and throw them apart. And again, it wasn't vague. It wasn't easy. She's a French spy. He's an English spy. She shoots him, vows to kill him at one point. And we BELIEVE it. We believe she hates him as much as she loves him. Deeeeeeelicious.

Same with Grant - this wasn't a story with a wall paper village life. The character's attatchment and involvment with the land created the turning points that made the love believable. Made the love possible. Cheese, actually makes the love possible.

And because the non-romance plots are so nuanced and detailed and so tied to character growth - the romance is nuanced and detailed and tied to chracter growth.

To some extent this seems like a no-brainer, but in EVERY SINGLE BOOK I WRITE - I get bored writing about the "life stuff" the subplots about jobs and family that create a characters sense of self-worth. I kind of want to yada yada that stuff.

But Grant and Bourne take thier time. They totally commit to these "job" scenes. You can't skim this stuff like so many historical romances.

Grant's book challanges every single expectation, it zigs and zags. Bourne keeps us climbing deliciously upward, ratcheting up tension.

Both are difficult to put down, both are two of the best books I've read this year.

Best supporting characters

2012-01-06T09:31:00.002-05:00

One of the new shows I've started watching is Suburgatory. I love that the humour is dry and the main narrator is a snarky teenage girl, a fish out of water type and that her single Dad is drool worthy, but what I love most about the show is the Cheryl Hines character, Dallas.

At first glance she is the typical rich, suburban housewife. Enhanced, clueless and a little batty, but Hines brings such a sweet vulnerability to everything, a real sense that she only wants to be a help to those around her and I'm not sure if the character was written as such, or if Hines brought it to the screen, but she is utterly compelling.

A character that could so easily have been cliche is the best surprise about the show. When Hines fell for the single Dad, with just an expression, we could see her hope, her heartbreak and even a hint of pride, all without dialogue.

I know in the past I've wasted my supporting characters, I haven't thought enough about them, gifted them with surprise elements or taken them past just being support to the main characters or possible heros and heroine's in future books, but going forward, I'm going to try and pull a Suburgatory. Because we should all have a Cheryl Hines in our books, or at least try to.

And I finally got my replacement kindle. So excited about the reading ahead of me. The first is Cecilia Grant.

And the winner is...

2012-01-05T17:57:00.001-05:00

Kristin Noel Fischer! Congratulations.

Kristin if you either want to leave your email address in comments or you can contact me through www.stephaniedoyle.net I'll arrange to send you your gift card.

Happy Reading!

Last call for Free Stuff and Chemistry

2012-01-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder I’ll be announcing the winner of the $20 Amazon gift card later today. And today’s comments still count so feel free to say anything that moves you. At the end of the day (that’s 5:00 pm est) I’ll put all the non DWT writer comments in a hat and draw. Good luck!

Now onto my thoughts for the day. I’m reading a book now where a reviewer made the comment that she liked both of the characters but didn’t necessarily buy them together. As I’m reading the book this does make sense to me. All the pieces are there but for some reason I’m just not getting that click. And I don’t know why.

As a writer of romance obviously I need to make sure the click happens. Naturally I’m starting to obsess about it. I tried to break it down analytically by reading different stories where for me the chemistry just leapt off the page.

An easy example - kicking it old school - I’ll use Nora Roberts. In her first “In Death” book Eve and Rourke meet and there it is. That magic moment when they are standing at the funeral and you realize he’s found the button off her drab grey suit. As a reader you just know these two want each other. It’s not overdone, it’s not obvious. It’s just there somehow on the page.

I went back and re-read the early chapters of my current WIP and yeah, I really feel this chemistry between my hero and heroine in spades. Somehow it’s just there. Yeah me!

But then I went back and read some of my other stuff and … yeah not so much. Boooo… I suck.

It’s not that the book sucks. The characters, their development, their growth… all that’s there. And yes you get to a point where you can feel the love between them – at least I hope. But that’s not the same thing as chemistry.

Chemistry is the click. It’s the thing that makes you look at a person and decide you want to take your clothes off in front of him. You can write words like lust, and tension, and desire. But for whatever reason sometimes that works and sometimes it just doesn’t. No click.

The editor in me – I obviously wasn’t able to see this flaw. I hope by having this new couple show me the way I’ll be able to recognize it going forward. But I don’t know. Can we ever see the click as we're writing our own stuff?

Is it the characters? Is it the writing? Is it the way we set the couple up? Who knows! What do you all think?

When Flawed is Good Enough

2012-01-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

I'm reading a YA novel right now that I shall not name, but it was one of the big anticipated books of 2011 and while I don't think it hit high on any bestseller lists (or as high as it was expected to) it did pretty well.

I can't quite decide what I think about this book. (Am waiting for Sinead to finish it, so we can discuss.) In parts it's amazing and creative. In parts it seems cliched. Parts are graceful and breathtakingly beautiful. Parts are clunky and awkward. Parts I've skimmed. (I'm not a skimmer.) And ultimately I've decided, reading it through writer's eyes, that the author, while clearly very talented, didn't know that much about writing. I'm guessing she didn't go through the "apprenticeship" that many of us go through writing multiple books that gather rejections and criticism through which we learn the craft of writing.

But the book is entertaining. And I keep turning the pages. So like other bestsellers that weren't considered "well written" clearly the story is making up for the muddy POV's, the occasional lazy choices, like repeating the same scene from two different points of view, or adding of a random POV for no reason other than to explain something she couldn't figure out a better way to explain... The things that stand out like sore thumbs to me as a fellow writer.

It almost makes me think I've wasted my time learning all that I have about "good" writing. But then I remember. I actually care. I know not everyone will like or appreciate my style or agree with my choices in storytelling, but no matter what criticism I hear in reviews, I know why I made the decisions I made in my books.

And in contrast, a study in perfection... I saw an absolutely wonderful film tonight that I highly recommend. Do not let the fact that it's a silent film made by a French filmmaker scare you off. It's very commercial and very entertaining and at its core is a really simple and believable and very sweet romance. Of course I'm talking about The Artist. The lead actor, Jean Dujardin, is favored to get an Oscar nomination and if I had a vote I agree. I'd also nominate the jack russell terrier in the movie for best supporting actor. Awesome.

I don't believe in writer's block

2012-01-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

I don't. I really don't. I think it's . . .self-indulgent. Yet, I've spent the last two weeks not making any progress on my book.

Oh, there are reasons. Holidays. Kids. Mother. News I didn't like that set me back on my heels a bit. But I've never been this clabbered up for this long. Never.

I tried outlining. I spent quite a few hours looking at my current favorite plot structure craft book. Then I played a bunch of spider solitaire. Let me tell you, it didn't leave me feeling better about myself or my book.

I've now been reduced to just making a list of scenes that need to be written. Usually that gets my juices flowing. I'm still playing solitaire although the juices are starting to trickle.

So I lay it on me people. It's the start of a new year. What are you favorite ways to unstick and unblock yourself? I need info!

A very Kindle Christmas

2012-01-02T10:40:00.003-05:00

I am a really nostalgic person. And for me the act of reading a book in my bed is part nostaliga part habit. All love. And when I asked for a Kindle I thought primarily it would be helpful with my critique group so I wouldn't be reading manuscripts on my computer. Because there was no way that a Kindle was better than reading a book.

And it's not. Not really. What it is however is way better than how I usually buy books. Like, hugely better. Like the best thing ever. I never get to book stores - I live in a huge city and love bookstores, but I never get there. SO, for years I've done most of my book shopping on line. And then waited for the books to arrive.

But I am a junkie. A filthy dirty reading junkie. I am Bubbles with books - a heart of gold, yes, but I will do anything to get my next fix.

Having a kindle is like living with a dealer.

Since getting my Kindle the day after Christmas, I have read Cecilia Grant's AMAZING! Truly truly amazing A Lady Awakened (I can't wait to talk about this, so hurry up and read it guys!) Courtney Milan's self-published Novella and novel. I've started Joanna Bournes' Black Hawk. And Stephen King's latest.

And there's no way I'm the only one like this - buying books like crazy. Full-priced, mostly agency books. Those three million Kindle's sold in the weeks before Christmas are an exciting reality. I'm not sure what it will all mean, but for me it means more books, faster. My habit and the habit of at least three million other readers will only get worse. I mean better. Or something.

How about you guys? Kindle Christmas?

In Preparation for the New Year...

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

So every year I make a list of things I want to accomplish in the next year. Usually stupid mundane things, get my carpet’s cleaned, take golf lessons, learn French… that kind of thing. I’m horrible at resolutions so I’ve basically just given those up.

I always want to eat better, drink less, exercise and write more. Since they are a given – I don’t even bother to write them down anymore.

Last year I had one very big goal which I finally accomplished at the end of the year. The Toronto DWT girls will remember my adventurous trip to San Francisco.

For 2012 though I’ve been floundering. This is what I have so far…

1. I want a repeat of my adventures in San Francisco – any city is fine.
2. I want to write 3 books.
3. I want to start a face care regime. Because at 41 let’s face it, every woman needs a face care regime.

That’s it. Seems pretty pathetic. I don’t know if it’s because as I get older I find that I’ve done a lot of things I’ve already wanted to do, or if I’m just particularly unmotivated this year.

I don’t know which is more depressing.

Anyway I figured I would throw it out to all of you – any resolutions or plans for the new year? Any hobbies you find yourself wanting to take up? This way I can steal from all of you.

And don’t forget the chance to win an Amazon $20 gift certificate is still out there. Leave a comment on any blog post from now until January 5th. I plan to just pick a random day, and from there a random comment.

Got Game

2011-12-23T10:06:00.002-05:00

In 2003 Annika Sorenstam played in a men's PGA tour event and made history as the first female golfer to play in a men's tournament in over half a century.

I had never watched golf before that, but I watched that tournament and heard some of the commentators speak about her in patronizing terms, some supportive, but no one really thought she could win, and I'm not sure she ever thought she could win and I can't imagine the pressure on her.

But at the time, I remember thinking, it would be cool to read a book about this, but with the ending changed. I even half-heartedly told my fellow drunk writers about the golf book I thought would be great to write, but truly, I would never have done it justice.

But my friend Stephanie has. A golf book where the female golfer not only plays, but believes she can win. And it's awesome. The proper ending to the story that began in 2003. Because hopefully in my lifetime, I'll see a woman playing a major tournament and win.

Stephanie, I'm not sure if I ever asked you, but did you see that tournament, is that what sparked the idea to write this book?

Free Stuff!!!

2011-12-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

So is everyone sick of reading about me? I know I am. Turns out I’m not the best at pimping myself. I felt embarrassed if I tweeted more than once a day about my book so I didn’t. And reading all the nice things my fellow bloggers have written about this book and my characters has kept me in a perpetual state of blush….

Or that could be all the red wine I’ve been drinking.

So this is not about Got Game? Or my new website… www.stephaniedoyle.net... Or a shameless effort to get people to come to our website by offering free stuff. (Okay it’s a little about that.)

What it’s really about is finding out what works for readers. We all know advertising is a crapshoot. I can tell you my Goodreads Ad to date is a total failure. 66,000 views, only 18 clicks. So maybe the cover is wrong, or the title isn’t interesting, or my “blurb” sucks. Right now those are intangibles I can’t change – but I can learn from.

But in terms of using social networking I am curious if there may be a trend out there. I can tell you I had an experience where I was following an author who tweeted about her book because the price was reduced along with the link to buy it. From one tweet to the “click here to buy” to my Kindle in seconds. I loved that! Anything that makes buying simpler is a good thing. Anyone else buying books directly from Twitter?

And who doesn’t like free stuff? But would rather have a better chance at a small thing? Like a free book or a gift certificate? Or do you want to take your chances in a big contest like the one the Knight Agency ran where you could win an iPad?

Speak people! To this end I’m offering a $20 gift certificate on Amazon.com. I can’t figure out how to give a free eBook away – but a gift card I can do. And since I’m tired of this being all about me – I’ll be pulling randomly from any comments left from today – all the way through the new year to January 5th.

So for folks busy around the holidays who don’t have time to check the blog and leave a comment you’ll have plenty of time to catch up in the new year.

Stop by, read some other blogs completely unrelated to my book, leave a comment and win a chance at a $20 gift card from Amazon. Or B&N if you are a Nooker and would prefer that.

I have learned there is a way to email a gift card… fabulous. Absolutely fabulous.

Golf and the Long Tail

2011-12-21T10:13:00.001-05:00

Gee, that's a strange post title. LOL. But Stephanie's adventure into self-publishing has me thinking about niche markets and the so-called long tail.

I remember several years ago, when Amazon was really picking up as a retailer and e-books were becoming more of a reality, a statistician did a talk at some big publishing event (BEA??) about "the long tail". I wasn't there, just read about it.

I didn't read the material thoroughly but with the help of some flashbacks to stats class, I think I got the basics of what he meant. Think of a bell curve type diagram, with a bulge in the middle and then tapering out to the side. He argued that traditionally publishers could really only publish books they hoped would hit the bulge part of that curve, because they needed to find a lot of readers to make their investment in publishing it back, and also because shelf space in bookstores was so limited (even more limited now) that consumers would have no way of finding books if the number of titles increased exponentially. Even if readers/consumers would be interested in a particular book/product, they'd have no way of finding it.

Then along came retailers like Amazon with unlimited shelf space and search engines got better so that regardless of retailers, we could all find things we were interested in on the internet, with mind-boggling specificity. And then as e-readers became better and cheaper... Well, it all became viable. That is, it became viable to publish books that might be about the long tail, not the bulge. In fact, I believe he was arguing that for the long haul, it's just as good or better to be in the tail than in the bulge. Or that the bulge would smooth out and go away over time? (Need to find the article again. :)

And tons of books that are first deemed "long tail" will end up having tons of commercial appeal. I think Stephanie's Got Game is one of those! But what's really exciting is that she can have success in the long tail.

I think anyone who enjoys a strong heroine, great banter, fabulous characterization, romance, suspense... will love Got Game. And there's absolutely no need to know anything about golf to enjoy this book, but golfers?--especially female golfers--are going to LOVE this book.

I can't wait to see it soar!

Why I Love Steph's Heroines

2011-12-19T22:09:00.003-05:00

I'm about 70 pages in to Got Game? and am totally loving it. As always, I can't be content with just enjoying a book. I have to try to figure out why I like it and how the author did what s/he did.

It's probably not the milieu of the story. I don't golf. I live with a golfer which means that I deal with him being gone for hours and hours over the weekend, with him getting up stupid early to get to the golf course, with listening to him obsess about various statistics. I'm happy he has a passion, but seriously, I'm not in love with golf.

It's not the setting. Right now, the heroine is in Nebraska. I grew up in Nebraska. I haven't been back for a very long time. There's a reason.

I'm pretty sure it comes down to Steph's heroines. I'm completely loving Reilly. She's awesome. She's so smart and talented and driven. I want to be like her. But she's vulnerable, too. She's not perfect. Part of what makes her not perfect is the drive and ambition that make her so cool. To make your heroine's vulnerability also be her strength takes a writerly awesomeness that I have to bow down to.

This isn't the first time Steph has done this either. She did it with her book that came out last year. Camille in The Doctor's Deadly Affair? Same dealio. The very thing that makes her a kick ass awesome surgeon is what turns around and bites her squarely in the ass when it comes to her personal life.

Steph did it in the very first book I read by her, too. Talia in The Contestant might actually die because of her fabulous competitive drive, but that's what makes her so completely fabulous.

I'm pretty sure I posted a couple of weeks ago about needing to like someone in a book or a movie or a TV show to want to stick with it. Steph knows how to do that in spades.

I really wanted to come up with a golf metaphor for that last sentence, but hitting a hole in one didn't sound right. Who's got a good golf metaphor for knocking it out of the park?

Stephanie Doyle's GOT GAME!

2011-12-19T08:36:00.003-05:00

Well, this is it, release day for GOT GAME! Steph's self-publishing adventure.

I'm hugely envious to tell you the truth. I think this self-publishing model is really only going to be making money for a few select groups of people. 1. Published authors and thier backlist or the manuscript that never got published - Steph's in this group. 2. People who pimp the hell out of thier book - not sure how much Pimping Steph will do, but I imagine it's some. 3. People with niche manuscripts - again, Steph has this one too.

Got Game is a golf romance/women's fiction. It's rich with golf detail, that is relevant and interesting. It's also got Steph's trademark humor and strong female characters.

I'm excited to hear how this works out and I'm sure she'll keep us posted. And, for any of you considering buying it - do it! It's her birthday! She's 25.

PS - winner of Cecilia's book will be announced later today!!!

Cecilia Grant Interview and Book Giveaway

2011-12-11T22:23:00.006-05:00

One of my favorite moments from Nationals in recent years was having lunch with Cecilia and our editor Shauna Summers. There was some general chit chat some Friday Night Lights gushing and fine food, but at one moment Shauna started to tell me about Cecilia's book A LADY AWAKENED and she absolutely raved! Raved! And watching Cecilia's face as her editor waxed poetic about her book to another author was utterly priceless. I wish all of us could have a moment like that.

Cecilia's moments with this book have just gotten better. Everyone is talking about A LADY AWAKENED. Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Book List - this book is going to be a big deal. And so is Cecilia. And honestly, it couldn't happen to a nicer, smarter woman.
I was thrilled to get a chance to ask her a few questions and the great news - answer Cecilia's questions at the end and you can win a book!

How did the idea for A Lady Awakened come about? Character first? Conflict first? Do you think about things like high concept or hooks? I ask because the premise for A Lady Awakened is deliciously hooky…a great twist on a familiar hook - it's genius!

Sex first! No, seriously, I avoided writing sex for a long time (I was trying to write trad Regencies long after they went out of fashion), and when I made up my mind to do it, I looked for a premise that would require me to do lots of it, so I couldn’t weasel out.

And I didn’t realize, at first, that I had a high concept or hook. Only after I’d entered some pages in a contest, and got feedback that the premise wasn’t original enough, did I realize that this actually was the hook; that what I needed was to embrace the well-worn nature of the premise, acknowledge reader expectations for that premise, and be deliberate about which expectations I’d meet and which I’d try to turn on their heads.

It's obviously working for you. A Lady Awakened is coming out in Jan to some fantastic buzz. Dear Author, Smart Bitches, Eloisa James! First of all - congrats and I am so thrilled for you! Second - how is this messing with your head? Is it? Or do you find you are able to roll with it?

Thank you. It’s funny; the book has not been universally loved by any means (later in my blog tour I’ll be doing a stop at a site whose reviewer DNF’d it), so I’m keenly aware of how lucky I am that it should have found such enthusiastic support in such high places.

And you know what? It does not mess with my head. Not one bit. There is just no downside to getting good reviews.

I suppose I do worry that for a lot of readers the book won’t live up to the hype, and that, for the readers who loved it, my second and third books will prove to be letdowns, but that’s really just a variation on the basic worry of people not liking your book, and that’s a worry I was going to have no matter what. Any way you slice it, “This book sucks; how the heck did it get a star in Booklist?” beats “Booklist was right; this book totally sucks.”

That is absolutely the most mature and sound answer I've ever heard. You must be saving your neurotic writer tickets for something else. You have lamented that you are not a fast writer - what is your process like? If you could change one thing about your process what would it be? You are working on the third book - is this a series? What's next?

If I could change one thing, it would be to excise the perfectionism from my psyche and cast it into the raging fires of Mount Doom.

Have you heard the building-construction writing analogy? You have to put up the building’s skeleton, or whatever it is, before you start fussing over curtains and paint colors? For a perfectionist it’s not like that. Writing is more like building a brick wall: you need to meticulously place each brick, and you need to get it right, if you want the part you’re working on to support the parts to come. Otherwise you eventually have to take it all down and start over.

Enough about my process. Yes, this is a series, centered on family: Martha, of A Lady Awakened, Will, of A Gentleman Undone, and Nick, of A Book Yet Untitled, are all siblings. All tend to excess when it comes to notions of duty, honor, propriety, etc., and all fall for people who turn their worlds inside out.

I don’t know yet what’s next. I’ve tried to stay away from dukes, which maybe means I should tackle one.

You write complicated women, is that something you do on purpose? Or are you just fascinated by the kind of story complicated women create?

Yes and yes. You always hear about these readers who want an essentially transparent heroine, so that they can ignore her and imagine themselves interacting with the vivid-by-comparison hero, but personally I don’t know anyone who reads romance that way. What I want, and what I think most readers want, is a story of two equally flawed, intricate people discovering that they belong together.

And as a writer, I like the challenge of finding my way into characters whose flaws don’t just potentially put readers off, but put me off too. For example, awhile ago I was reading about Byron-mania, specifically about women who’d disguise themselves as chambermaids to get into Byron’s hotel room. My first thought was, “What kind of idiot woman would do that?” And my next thought was, “I need to write a heroine who does that.” Maybe some day.

That's a great way of looking at character construction - what fascinates you as the writer should fascinate readers as well. You are a Friday Night Lights fan - what are you watching now - anything as good as FNL?

Nothing has come along to take the place of Friday Night Lights. I miss it still. Now I have to spend my Friday nights with creepy Keith Morrison on Dateline, and I think it is warping my brain.

I suppose the show I’m enjoying the most these days is the sitcom Parks and Recreation. If you want to see a beautifully executed romance arc, rent Season 3 and watch geeky, over-earnest small-time bureaucrats Ben and Leslie fall for each other. (Bonus: Leslie’s awesome relationship with BFF Ann.)

Okay - cage match: Meredith Duran vs Courtney Milan and then Joanna Bourne vs Sherry Thomas

Oh, you had to go there.

Courtney Milan happens to be better than pretty much anyone at portraying this one specific thing - men yearning for platonic connection with other people - that I have a huge weakness for. (Think of Ash Turner feeling left out of his brothers’ easy camaraderie, or Gareth Carhart remembering his schooldays, when he could never think of the right thing to add to the other boys’ conversations - oh, the angst!)

However, there’s something about Meredith Duran’s books, aside from the beautiful writing, that just absolutely meshes with my sensibilities. I relate to her characters in a slightly different way from the characters of any other romance writer; I always feel like I could sit down and have long conversations with them. So I give her a slight edge.

The second match-up is even worse. In the past five years there have been exactly two romances that I finished, and then immediately started over again: The Spymaster’s Lady, and Not Quite a Husband. I’d say it’s a toss-up... but I’ve just had a Bourne fix with her excellent The Black Hawk, whereas it’s been a year and a half since the last Thomas book, so... no, actually, that doesn’t help me decide. Call it a draw.

Yeah, it's a draw for me too. All right Drunk Writers answer one of the following questions and you could win a book:

name either a) your favorite flawed heroine, b) your favorite duke hero, or c) the tv show you believe could fill the Friday-Night-Lights-shaped hole in my heart, if I gave it a chance.

And thanks so much Cecilia for stopping by!

My christmas list

2011-12-09T10:40:00.003-05:00

So Christmas is a few weeks away and while I'm sweating the presents I still need to buy, the tree I still have to decorate and the Christmas cards I'll feel guilty for not having sent out, I'm putting my own Christmas list together. A sort of, if I had the time, here is where I would spend it.

1) Legend, by Marie Lu. This is a fantasy YA that is getting great buzz and while I know nothing about it, the buzz alone makes me want to read it.

2) Daughter of smoke and bone - an urban fantasy YA, again because of the buzz.

3) Girl with the dragon tattoo - because I'm fascinated to see what Fincher does with the material, and having seen the original Swedish movie and enjoyed it, curious to see if they bring something new. Plus, I've almost always enjoyed Fincher's movies and this one has Daniel Craig.

4) The Descendants - because I hear nothing but great things about this movie.

5) Sherlock Holmes - because the first was so much fun and Robert Downey and Jude Law and are my new favourite onscreen couple.

6 Downton Abbey - Because I love British historical TV dramas and this one has gotten great reviews.

7) Luther - I saw the first two episodes of this and loved it, plus Idris Elba in the title role is incredible. I need to get my hands on this.

There you go. I have my fantasy list where Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Sherry Thomas both manage to get books out in time for Christmas, or Karen Marie Moning writes another urban fantasy in the next month, but that's pretty unlikely.

Right now, I'm happy to go with the above. Throw in a glass of wine and I'm in heaven. Anyone else have a Christmas list?

The Unknown...

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

So next week I’m about to launch (I think) my indie ebook. I’m waiting until everything is online and then I’m going to start my campaign blitz. I found a great golf blog for women that I want to run an advertisement on (thank you Maureen) and I plan to do a Goodreads ad (thank you Molly).

There are all sorts of suggestions and things I need to do to update my Amazon page. I’m actually going to log on to facebook and do stuff there. And finally I will tweet. (My whopping 48 followers I’m sure will race to buy my book.)

Then I just sit back. It’s very odd to have no expectation of what will come. There was an article in the RWR that painted a fairly grim, but probably accurate, picture of what to expect. But then there are those anomalies that make you think why can’t that be me?

When I put out my category work, I know what to expect. I know there are going to be a set number of readers, a basic number of sales. Yes, they certainly do range for authors – but I get the general idea. When the royalty statement comes I know how much to anticipate (or not anticipate in my case.)

But this feels like stepping my toe out into the great unknown. I could sell no books. I could sell many.

I could attract the attention of a Hollywood Producer (in my dream it’s Sandra Bullock) who decides she must turn my story about the first woman to compete with the men in a major golf event into a movie and I’m offered millions. See how creative my fantasies can be?

I absolutely plan to report back on the numbers for anyone reading this blog who is thinking about self-publishing. But I can say regardless what happens with the numbers, this whole experience has been eye opening. It’s made me think more about the business of writing than I ever have before. And it’s made me think about advertising and promotion and social networking more than I ever have before. If nothing else – it’s made me a better business woman.

Anybody out there have any self-publishing stories they want to share?

Jimmy, Boardwalks and Backstory

2011-12-07T13:09:00.001-05:00

I'm so late today with my promised post and I suspect it will be short. But this week's Boardwalk Empire got me thinking about the calculated timing of the backstory reveal once again.

Whether you're writing a novel, or a TV series that might go over several seasons, timing is everything when it comes to revealing backstory. And if you've thought up cool, dark backstories for your characters, the temptation is to make sure the reader/viewer knows and sees all that great stuff. But holding it back is so, so much better. They did this well on Battlestar Galactica. And really well in the movie Shame, to the point where they never really did reveal the backstory, and now Boardwalk Empire.

I loved how they revealed the stuff about Nucky's childhood in the first season, and how Margaret got to America in this season (although frankly, that was a bit of a letdown) but the reveal of Jimmy's backstory was perfect for me.

Yes, with hindsight, we've known some of that all along, and we knew a few details... We knew he'd been at Princeton, but never finished (but didn't know why). We knew he'd been in the war, so I assumed his enlisting had been what cut his University career short. But no... We knew he'd gone to war when his girlfriend was pregnant. We knew his mother is super young and super pretty and there was some super creepy sexual energy between them, but wow. What great timing to explain some of the missing pieces in Jimmy's background.

And to add layers to his already very complicated relationship with his mother. Not to mention his wife.

When things like that get revealed in second or third seasons I often wonder when the writers knew... Is this something they thought of after the fact or knew all along and held back. And in this case, I think it's deliciously obvious that they knew all along. And that the director told the actors from the start. Every look between Jimmy and his mother.... The awkwardness between Jimmy and his girlfriend/wife once he comes back from war.. That, I assumed, was just due to the time they'd been apart, (and then the fact they reveal she's a lesbian). But no. So much more delicious. They barely freaking knew each other.

And his mother got him kicked out of Princeton. Or he did because he was freaking jealous of a professor hitting on his Mom. Wow.

All of it delicious. One of my favourite episodes yet.

Why Must I Like Them? Really Really Like Them?

2011-12-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

So this weekend, in a fit of laundry-folding, filing of papers and other organizational chores, I watched a lot of television. On Friday night, I watched Cedar Rapids. Ed Helms plays a total shnook of an insurance salesman who gets sent to the big regional conference. My expectations were pretty low, but still it was funnier and way sweeter than I expected. There's a moment where Ed Helms explains why he became an insurance salesman and it all has to do with helping people and being there for people when their lives are falling apart. So through all the goofiness and even John C. Reilly walking around in his boxer shorts, I hung in there because I wanted Ed Helms to win.

I also watched Web Therapy. My expectations were a little higher for this one. I love shows with psychologists. To keep it simple, I hated it. Lisa Kudrow's character had, from what I saw, absolutely no redeeming qualities. She was a narcissistic, selfish, self-absorbed, greedy twit. I didn't even make it all the way through the first episode because there was absolutely no one to root for. Not even her clients.

I can't decide if this need to have someone to root for is a failing or not. There seem to be plenty of shows and movies where everyone else is perfectly happy that the heroes aren't heroic. Chicago, anyone? I hated it. I wanted them all to be executed. On the other hand, though, I get so sick of the perfect heroines who are always smart and kind and blindingly pretty. I need a good middle ground.

So what drives you nuts more? Having no one to root for or having the person you're rooting for be too effing perfect?

A conversation about category romance and effective promotion

2011-12-05T09:10:00.004-05:00

I've done some blogs about category romance and royalties and while I am still very much a middle of the pack Superromance writer, sales as a whole have gone down. It's still a great place to write I adore Wanda Ottewell and deeply respect her eye for story. It's been a great place to write. It's pretty much anything goes over that at Superromance and while I think there are authors who sell better than I do because they might have branded themselves better in terms of the stories they write - or they stick to one kind of subgenre that appeals to the category reader, I have enjoyed writing pretty much whatever I want - probably to my detriment.

So, for those of you focusing on Superromance and for Stephanie whose first Superromance comes out in April - here are some tips for making the most of your career at Superromance (from someone who probably didn't, so take all of this with a grain of salt).

Cowboys and kids sell. And they sell pretty well from what I can gather. So if you can get that cowboy hat and a baby on a cover, chances are you'll see some sales. I've never managed to get this kind of cover - although maybe in July since I have a cowboy and some kids. I'll report back. Without that selling feature, unless your cover is different and really pretty radically different - I think covers are just covers. People aren't impulse buying like they were - they go by name recognition and recommendation - more on that in a second.

Yes, you do have to do social networking. But only do what you like. Readers want giveaways. Who doesn't? Do a little blog tour - there are a lot of websites out there who would LOVE to have guest bloggers. Do the blog. Giveaway some books. Be on Facebook - do some giveaways. Are you going to see sales - can't say. No idea. But giving away books in my opinion is the best promotion there is. Especially if you're proud of the book. I did a Good Reads giveaway, which is free - I do recommend that, they pull from a huge pool and get a lot of rabid readers who might not know your name, or romance.

Paying for advertising - be it on Facebook, Good Reads or Romantic Times - I honestly don't know if it makes a difference. I've stopped doing it for my category books because I just never felt like there was a huge result from it. If I would recommend one I'd say Good Reads - it's concentrated on readers and it's not outrageously expensive. Once again, no idea if it resulted in sales.

I have not done a bookmark or a trading card. I print up business cards for conference - which inevitably I forget to hand out. If I get my act together I think I'll do a trading card for my single titles, but for category...I probably won't do it.

Consistently, the best promotion you can do is write great books that your editor loves. Because your editor is your best sales force.

Now, the real surprise from my royalty statement is the number of ebook sales for my Feb book - HIS WIFE FOR ONE NIGHT. There were over 1,000 sales. The rest of my ebook sales hover between 200-400. Now, perhaps a contributor to this was my Good Reads ad and giveaway. I'd never done that before this book. So again, Good Reads - check it out. Another contributor might be that at Christmas there were a whole lot of new e-readers in stockings.

But the real factor I believe comes down to Internet buzz and the hand-selling of one very important librarian. I got a great review on Dear Author and it was before the book came out, most of my reviews have been long after the fact. So a good review at the right time. And Wendy the SuperLibrarian raved about this book practically door to door. Can not thank her enough.

We all know there are blogs in this business that have some clout. It takes some guts to send your book to Dear Author, Smart Bitches and All About Romance for review - because they might trash it and trash it hard. But if you can get over that - great. Do it. And maybe you don't approve of what they do on their sites - fair enough. But Internet buzz has become - in my opinion - the game changer and no one does Internet buzz like those sites.

That's my takeaway this time around. Thoughts?

Stretching credibility

2011-12-02T09:50:00.002-05:00

I will go a long way with a show or book that is exciting and keeps me guessing, or makes me laugh, probably past where a lot of other people will fall off. I'll accept if there is more good than bad.

I'm just past the point into bad with a show right now. Did anyone out there watch the first season of Camelot? I did, mostly for Joseph Fiennes and the clever, clever episode where it twisted the legend regarding how Arthur came upon Excalibur. The show is clever in some ways. They know that Fiennes is chewing scenery in a truly memorable performance. They know Eva Green is also chewing scenery, but like Fiennes she brings such energy to the screen that it elevates the show. Both actors are more interesting than the actual script and any scenes with them together are really fun to watch.

Then there is the plot of the actual King, Arthur and his love for Guinevere, a pretty blonde who's hair styles look like they came directly from the 1980's, not the distant past. Arthur is supposed to be a youth, growing into his responsibilities and that I buy. What I don't believe is the instant sizzling attraction between Arthur and Guinevere. In the show she is betrothed to Arthur's right hand man, a man easily ten years older than Arthur, one who is far better looking and more interesting and quite frankly, the moment he removed his shirt, the show lost me.

There is no way I believe Guinevere would ever be more attracted to Arthur than her fiancee, and this is the central concept of the romance on the show.

So even with Fiennes and Eva Green and some cool twists to well known legends, I'm done. There isn't enough good about the show to overcome the way they mishandled the subplot.

Anyone else watching? Are you more patient than I am?

Getting my ducks in a row...

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

As writers we often have to worry about our creative process. We need to think about structure characterization, conflict and plot, blah, blah, blah…
But sometimes we also need to focus on the business. That’s where my head is out now. I’m almost ready to announce my new website that has all the bells and whistles it needs. Links to things… links are good.

I’ve dotted every I and crossed every T on my indie publication which will be released in December. (Where I will post a big splashy picture and ask everyone who is anyone to please buy this book because I really like it.) I’ve made decisions about branding, cover art and book titles. Yeah me!

Now I have to sit down and think about 2012. I have a book to finish and a new proposal to write, that’s for certain. But do I want to write 2 or 3 category books? Do I want to schedule time to try and fit in my new historical? Do I want to focus more on the indie work and see if I can gain any traction in that market?

Hard decisions. And not creative at all. It brings home to me again that as “authors” we need to be both things – creative writers and logical business people. I’ve met author’s whose work I thought was okay – but did an amazing job of marketing themselves. I’ve met author’s whose work is amazing, but so few people have ever heard of them. Either group can get lucky – but I think long term success requires a blending of both skills.

If you are reading this blog – you know that we never say the easy things about writing and publishing. Was it you, Molly, who said realistically hitting it big in publishing is not all that different from winning the lottery? And that’s the truth. But know that writing the great the book, crafting the best query, landing an agent, publisher, whatever… all those things are great things. Once you've done that, then it’s… okay what’s next – Are you tweeting?

(I am tweeting and some day I’m going to figure out how to tweet my blog – 2012 to do list!)

Tense and Tension and Night Circuses

2011-11-30T08:17:00.000-05:00

I was talking to a writer-friend this past weekend who also recently read The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. I loved this book and I'm 99% sure I would have loved it whenever I read it, but I do think I looked at it slightly differently as a writer. Writers often notice things readers don't.

The book is written all in present tense. Mostly in omniscient third person present tense, except for a few sections in 2nd person. But I'm pretty sure all of it is in present tense. (I don't have the book with me and I'm out of town, so I can't check.)

The present tense was a problem for the other writer I was talking to because the events in the book are happening in the past not the present so she didn't think using present tense made sense. She also said that although she couldn't stop turning the pages, she didn't end up caring about the characters or thinking about them much after finishing, and she thought present tense was to blame.

I thought for this for a while after our conversation and instead of e-mailing her with my opinions, I'll just post them here. :)

First, clearly not every book is going to speak to every reader. It's subjective. And full disclosure: I've written 3 books in first person present tense, including the ones I'm working on now. And I have a partially completed manuscript in 3rd person present tense. So I'm not totally unbiased here. :)

But I would assert that a lot of the tension and the rapid pace of The Night Circus comes from the author's use of the present tense. I don't think it would be as creepy or fascinating or as immediate in past tense. Present tense can make you feel as if you're watching a scene unfold. (Rather than hearing someone tell you about something they saw in the past.) I think present tense can pick a reader up and swoop her into a scene, even if that scene is in the past. I do assert that the present tense was responsible for creating tension in that book and it would have been flat in past tense.

I think that the omniscient viewpoint is a more likely culprit for the detachment she felt. In hindsight, I felt detached from the characters too. We're never fully in any characters' POV, so we never fully feel any of their emotions. Now I'm not meaning for a second to argue that this was a "mistake" or "bad choice" on the part of the author -- just a different one. I think in this particular book, the omniscient viewpoint had the advantage of creating mystery and allowing the author to show many, many points of view, but the disadvantage of emotional detachment. It worked for me. I also liked how it clouded things or kept the reader from immediately seeing which characters were the most important. Experienced readers know that when a character gets a POV they're going to be important for some reason or a major player. But in a book where virtually every characters' thoughts are disclosed, there's almost another layer of mystery to figure out who's important and who's not or why I'm being told about a little boy sent on a dare, or a German clock maker.

I also loved how the description of each circus tent/act was done in 2nd person, (but also present tense, I think. Again, I don't have the book on me.) These short 1-2 page chapters are scattered throughout the book and are presented almost as if the circus itself had written them as ad copy to entice people to visit. Or more likely as if one of the rêveurs (avid night circus fans) had written about his or her experiences. eg. You walk through a curtain and.... (I'm not quoting. Just giving the idea.) PS. This trailer was clearly done based on an old cover.... I kind of like this first cover better, but maybe they didn't think men would pick it up? UPDATE: It's the UK cover... Here's a link to an interview with Erin Morgenstern I just stumbled onto at Writer Unboxed. BTW. Erin and I are at the same literary agency which freaks me out to no end.

All of this also got me thinking about how and if a writer using present tense might use different techniques depending on whether she's writing in first or second or third person... In first person present, I'm of the opinion that you need to keep description of scenery and action simple and minimalistic or the reader will no longer be "in the moment" or believe that events are unfolding in real time. But in third person, I think you have slightly more leeway--especially when it's omniscient--but still, during scenes with action, I'm pretty sure she kept her sentences clean and clear and easy to parse. There's a ton of vivid description in this book, but I suspect not during actual action scenes. I see myself reading this book again to study it. :)

I have heard some people say they do not ever enjoy reading in present tense, but usually this comes from other writers and I suspect some English majors who were told by their professors that it was infantile to write in present tense. (A reviewer "informed" me that I was using an infantile style when my first person present tense women's fiction manuscript was in that Amazon Breakout Novel competition a few years back.)

Does present tense bother you?

Ambition

2011-11-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

So I've been thinking a lot about structure lately and how I'm a little tired of the fact that every book I write starts at the beginning and goes to the end, over and over and over again. Beginning, middle end. Beginning, middle, end. Beginningmiddleend.

I've read two books recently whose structures blew me away. Sister by Rosamund Lupton (I think I've mentioned it before) and Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian. They both mess around with the timeline. Starting at one point, hopping into the past, coming back to the present until both timelines meet up and then charging into the present/future. They were both awesome.

I had also been watching the first few seasons of Damages with my niece. The writers for that show also used a structure where you're in the present and then hopping into the past and then back to the present until the timelines merge near the end and pull you along to the conclusion.

We just started season 3, though, and they're even a little more ambitious with the timeline. There's the past then a mid point and then the present and frankly, I'm confused. They got too ambitious with their fancy storytelling technique and it's all gotten muddy.

I really want to try to do something more in my next book (not the one I'm writing now, I'm too committed to how that one works, but the one after that assuming there is one after that), but the idea of biting off more than I can chew is scary.

Have you seen that before where the writer or writers go too far in a book or a movie or a television show? Where they get too ambitious and instead of being intriguing, it's muddy and confusing?

Happy American Thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T09:45:00.002-05:00

This will be a short post as I'm traveling. Just wishing everyone who is celebrating today a happy T-Day.

My sister is already panicking that she doesn't have a big enough bird so we are off to the store to see what can be done.

We're thinking of using a rotisserie chicken and just mixing it in with the turkey. I mean really, who is going to notice!

Anyway to echo what Eileen and Maureen said... ditto about being thankful for good friends.

Wish us luck!

Giving Thanks

2011-11-23T12:39:00.001-05:00

Like Eileen, I too am very thankful for this blog and my great friends. (She said it so well, I'm simply going to say, "Ditto.") I'm grateful that I finally discovered (admitted?) what I wanted to do with my life and I'm thankful for all of you for keeping me going and not letting me quit the many times the going has gotten decidedly rough.

To give credit where credit's most due... I am especially thankful for Sinead. She was the first of this group whom I met and her determination and talent and encouragement inspired me to keep writing past just taking a class. Then she introduced me to Molly and the rest is history so to speak.

I'm also feeling grateful for my family and my health. Breast cancer claimed another of my cousins this week, way too young. She never even had the chance to be middle aged and that's just not fair. But I'm thankful to have known her.

I'm also always grateful for the many turkeys and pumpkins and cranberries and their contribution to Thanksgiving dinners -- even though I had mine back in October. ;)

Thankful

2011-11-22T10:30:00.002-05:00

I'm going to keep this short. I have a house full of relatives and more arriving by the day. We're having 25 for dinner on Thursday and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to seat them all and we still haven't practiced getting my mother in and out of the van we rented to squire her around for the week. I wanted to make sure this was said, though.

I'm very thankful for this blog. I'm thankful for a place to put down the random thoughts I have each week about writing and to be able to do it in a community who understands what I'm talking about and why I want to talk about it. I'm thankful for the support. I'm thankful for the way you all make me laugh and think and stretch.

For those of you celebrating this week, have a safe and wonderful holiday. Hugs to you all.

Eileen

Standing up for our rights or career suicide

2011-11-18T09:44:00.003-05:00

One of the websites I love to read on a regular basis is Dear Author . Great website, thoughtful reviews, and always interesting information on publishing in general.

This week they had a brief article on an author suing her publisher for including promotional materials for other author's books at the back of her book. There was nothing in her contract against cross-promotional material, but she felt it went against the terms of her contract and because of this she has refused to hand in the third book in her three book deal.

There are lawyers involved, it's gotten ugly and for anyone interested, check out Dear Author's midday links for the details. Me, I read it and my immediate thought was this author is shooting themselves in the foot. Every other publisher will find out about this and would anyone agree to publish and author who had sued their publisher over something as common as cross-promotion. For more examples of this, see almost every Harlequin paperback.

I admire this author's self-confidence, her ability to speak out for something she thinks is wrong. I do think this is career suicide, but as writers, going through the critique process, through submitting to agents and editors, getting reviewed, there are so many ways our egos can be battered and I'm jealous of any author who can maintain their confidence through all of that.

Authors that will wait for the perfect agent rather than leaping at the first agent to offer representation, or can wait for the big deal rather than just accepting publication, the authors that believe inherently they are worth better treatment. Because I know I'm not that author and I wish I were.

Anyone think the above author was right in her stance? Would you have done the same?

The Weekend That Changed My Life...

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Sounds dramatic no? But I really believe it to be true. At least my writing life. We’ll see in ten years or so if I’m right. But as Molly posted on Monday I was in Toronto this past weekend and it was awesome. A weekend of good food, good friends, beer and wine, book talk and let’s not forget Friday Night Lights.

But the game changer for me was the brainstorming session. I had never been part of a critique group before. For many reasons. I often tell people who ask me about my writing that I’m the least creative person I know. I write simply because I like to control things. So the idea of a group talking about my idea or changing my idea… I thought, no.

And then there was this element of … if you accept help does it make it less your idea? I’m not great at accepting any kind of help and writing help in particular seemed like a foreign concept.

But then I did it. I told everyone my idea and they all listened (thank you for listening) and it was like watching someone with a Rubix Cube. All the pieces of my story were still there, but with a few twists this way and another few twists that way and what might have been a story that only had 3 sides of all the same color now was a completely finished cube.

I was stunned and amazed. And thrilled. Then Molly did her magic with the high concept stuff and bammo – I felt like I had this great high concept pitch married with a fully cohesive plot.

Now sure – I have to do some more work. The annoying business of actually writing the book. But I will forever be sold on the idea that it is not only okay, but downright smart, to pitch your book to other smart writers and let them find the holes you just can’t see.

You don’t have to use every idea – for instance my hero is not going to be German – sorry Molly! But it’s not even like that really matters. Just throwing things out there made me think about things I hadn’t thought of before.

I’m sold. And I absolutely want to do this again.

Talent vs. Skill

2011-11-16T08:40:00.019-05:00

I feel as if I've done a post on this topic before, but the previous one was more about whether or not you can learn to be a writer... Hmmm.. when was that? (I found it. A post I did on my other blog in 2006 about whether writing is a talent or a skill. I guess a five year gap is enough time to revisit. ;)

Something recently drew this concept to mind again--and it was partly Stephanie commenting last weekend that she was now paying more attention to craft than she used to. And I'd already thinking about talent vs. skill.

A few weeks ago, I was walking through a bookstore with the fabulous Debbie Ohi and we stumbled on a woman doing a signing and we listened to a small chunk of her presentation. From what we could gather, her book was a cookbook, but also had personal stories about the recipes and some cartoon-type illustrations. Someone in the audience complimented the illustrations and asked her about them.

The author was a tad shy about her drawings and said she wasn't an artist or an illustrator by any sense of the imagination, but she'd shown them to the publisher and they wanted to include them. She also showed them to an artist friend at the time, to ask her opinion (should I really let them publish these?) and the artist replied something like: you don't have much skill, but you definitely have talent. That made me nod.

I think you can go a long way in many creative pursuits relying solely on talent, but at some point, when the going gets tough, or when something isn't working, or when you want to push yourself to do something different or better, or when you need to continue to produce more and more books, faster and faster, it sure helps to have developed some skill. :)

What do you think? Do you rely more on talent or skill when you write? Which is more important?

Sometimes I Hate Romance

2011-11-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

Most of the time I love love. Young couples smooching on the street make me stop and smile. I often applaud when the couple finally kisses in the movie or the TV show. I get all swoony when one of my friends' husbands steps up to the plate and surprises her with jewelry or a trip or anything that makes her feel fabulous.

So when do I hate romance? Apparently when it's in a commercial. Those "Every Kiss Begins with K" commercials that will be playing nonstop from now to Christmas make me want to puke. Honestly, does that dude think it will really help unpack all those boxes to give her a necklace? Forget the diamonds, man. Start putting together some shelves!

Truth be known, I also despite those Jared commercials and the Zales commercials and I've been known to turn the car radio off the second I hear Tom Shane's voice, so maybe it's just jewelry commercials that set my teeth on edge. Perhaps not, though, because there's a few perfume commercials that make me want to scream as well.

Maybe it's just the start of my usual hatred of all things holiday starting up because of the commercials. Or perhaps I'm becoming prematurely curmudgeonly.

Is there any place where you hate to see romance? Or is it good for you wherever you find it?

Figuring out High Concept

2011-11-13T18:12:00.002-05:00

Big moment for some of the drunk writers - namely, me. For years when people have talked about High Concept, I have mocked them behind thier backs largely because I have no CLUE what high concept actually means. Is it JAWS meets LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE? What if we write straight up contemporary romance - where's the high concept in that? Don't I need zombies or post-apocolyptic drama to be high concept?

And, and this is ugly, I have always believed that the books I have adored you can not whiddle down to one line that manages to encapsulate all the tension, drama and nuisance of the character and conflict I love. Because I love those books, and emulate those authors, I thought my books were so damn special one line wouldn't do it.

I know, such a dummy.

Anyway, I had a slow-burning ah-ha moment after Lori Wilde's talk at the TRW meeting a few months ago, and in talking with Maureen and Sinead about the ideas they are working on and the rejections that they've gotten.

High concept doesn't encapsulate the book - it encapsulates the idea. It sells the idea. Shines it up to an irresistable gloss. The book is another thing entirely! (not really, but for this discussion, yeah it kind of is). And yes I think a contemporary romance needs a high concept line most of all. We've got to figure out why this book is different and get it out there.

I don't know about you guys, but after I've written a book, I could not come up with the high concept line to save my life. I'm all bogged down in the 100,000 words of nuance and conflict and backstory and mommy issues. In fact, as an aside, I could not come up with a high concept line on a book that I've written a proposal for.

But this weekend, Stephanie came to town to be a big timmer up at the Harlequin office and we got to do some brainstorming. Steph, Sinead and Maureen were all at the very beginning of brainstorming, they had some ideas, some plot and a character - all very fluid. But we decided for each of these ideas the brainstorming wouldn't be finished without coming up with this line...and HOLY SHIT! I am not kidding you, in all my years of writing and brainstorming - nothing has ever lit a spark under us like this. It wasn't just enthusiasm for the ideas - all of us wanted to pitch these books. We were excited about the part of the publishing process that every hates - submitting.

And the really amazing power of a great high concept line is that it shows the whole book. The world, the character, the external conflict, the twist - and if you choose the words right, you can even get tone and voice in there too.

It's freaking magic! Not kidding.

When are you fully committed?

2011-11-11T10:02:00.002-05:00

It's time for a new idea and I truly don't know what to write. Brainstorming is my favourite part of this writing process, and at this point, everything is on the table. I'm committed to absolutely nothing, not even genre, so I'm really going where my best idea takes me.

I like to plan in advance, have a strong sense of the major plot points, but usually I jump into a book too soon, a mistake I'm hoping not to repeat.

So my usual process is, I brainstorm a general plot, the beginning, the end, the internal and external conflicts and then, when I should be thinking more of developing the relationships between the characters or how the character arc plays out, I get impatient to start and I write the first chapter and go from there. Once the first chapter is written, I'm pretty much committed to the idea and I rarely back off from there.

I know people, who are committed to the idea almost from it's inception, and others who can write three chapters and still back away from an idea.

But by the time I start the first chapter, I'm so excited about the prospect of the story that I get caught up. It's nice, it's a place for me that has little doubt, and that's about the only part of the writing process that lacks doubt.

Anyone gotten farther into a book and turned to another idea?

Building a Platform

2011-11-09T02:10:00.030-05:00

I'm participating in a mentorship program through one of my online writers groups and my "grasshopper" recently asked me this question:

When did you start buildingyour platform? Can you identify the major steps to take? What made areal difference?

In answering her, I thought I'd just make it into a blog post.

First... I actually don't think it's essential for fiction writers to build a platform before they're published. I know or know of lots of very successful authors who had zero online presence prior to their first sale. A platform will not get you published in fiction unless it's a really awesome one. And wearing these shoes wouldn't count as an awesome platform for fiction, unless your name is Snooki or Lauren Conrad or Tyra Banks.

That said, I am someone who started to build a platform before I sold.

I used to be very active on several writers loops. I did this more to learn aboutwriting and the industry, and to share what I'd learned with others, than to build a platform per se... but I did develop a fairlysignificant network of writer friends both via loops and via blogging.

The keys with blogging are at least two fold. First, make your content interesting. And second leave meaningful comments on other people's blogs in the hopes that you'll gain readership either from those individuals or their readers. Or maybe that they'll link to your blog from their blog. It can be a lot of work to do both of those things consistently, so I only recommend this for someone who enjoys it and has time. Also, you have to be careful not to say something that will paint you in a negative light.

And I don’t think that either of those venues are as active as they used tobe. More people are now on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

I was apretty early adopter of MySpace and Facebook and Twitter and Google+, but Idon’t think it’s essential to do these things professionally before you’ve got a publishing contract. The trick is, unless you have really great content on those venues,why would anyone you don't already know follow you before you have a book out? It’s tricky. And is there any point in building up huge numbers of Facebook friends who are mostly interested in either hitting on you via skeevy messages, or asking you to buy them a cow for Farmville? (Asks the girl with 3800 Facebook friends. Do what I say, not what I do.)

Here's my twitter page if you're not already following me there. :)

Some people do social networking extremely well, but I don’t think it’s essential ifit’s not something you enjoy. It's easy to get started on these social networking sites, and the main "tricky" thing for a writer is deciding whether to separate your personal identity from your writer identity. If I could turn back time three or four years, I would have set up Facebook differently for sure. Not that I really could have done it the way I wish I'd done it, because it's changed so much....

If you're starting on Facebook now, it's a good idea to set up a Page. But again, why would anyone "like" your page before you have a book? So, it's really just preparation and I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to coerce people into liking your page. You'll just alienate them. Once you have a book out, they will come. ;) Especially if you have links for them to "like" you on your website and in various other places. :-)

My Facebook Page:

And here's a like button for Molly's new Facebook Page:

There are lots of great resources with advice on using social networking but I think the bottom line is be genuine. Be yourself. And again, be careful you don't tweet or post anything you might later regret. What you post online stays there forever. Minimize drunk tweeting. ;) Especially from an iPhone with autocorrect!

In terms of building a platform, one stepI would advise writers to take before they sell is to buy the domain name(s) for whatever authorname(s) they plan hope to use. There’s nothing more heartbreaking thanrealizing you can’t get “yourauthorname.com” when you want it.I reserved my website name in about 2003 and launched my website and blog after I got my first agent (in 2006) when I thought Iwas about to sell. I didn't get my first book contract until 2009. If I could turn back time, I’m not certain I would have putas much time/thought/money into my website. I do love the look of mysite. My designer was very talented and really “got” me and my writing that I shared with her. Problem is, I ended up published in a different genre than I was writing atthe time and while my website fits me as a person, I’m not sure it fits my currentwork... And I'll definitely need a new design with the books I have coming out starting next year (that I still can't talk about...)

Oneclear advantage I saw to blogging when I started, was that before I had a blog, when yougoogled my name most of the top hits weren’t me. After I’d been activelyblogging for just a few months, and other writers had linked to my blog, suddenly mostgoogle hits for my name were actually about me and not some other person named MaureenMcGowan. But again... that didn't get me published. I just thought it was cool.

If youknow you’re going to use a pseudonym, then by all means start to create anidentity online under that name, but know that things might not turn out as youplan. Maybe your publisher won’t let you use the pseudonym of your choice. Maybeyou’ll change your mind by the time you’re published. Maybe you’ll end up in adifferent genre than the identity you’ve built up...

All thissaid, I think unpublished writers should concentrate more on their writing andhoning their craft than worrying about a platform. Platforms are only essentialfor non-fiction writers. For fiction writers they're just a bonus, not a necessity and won't get your novel published unless your platform is that you're a cast member of a big reality TV show.If youenjoy social networking and have time, by all means. But make writing yourfirst priority until you have a contract. An agent or editor won’t sign you or publishyour novel because you have a gazillion facebook friends or a pretty website. Infact, unless they already love your book, they won’t even check to see.

Cutting the Squirrel

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

No. It's not a euphemism for something dirty. Trust me. I double-checked on Urban Dictionary. It might, however, be my new Cutting One's Darlings equivalent.

I had a lovely chat with my adorable and way-too-perceptive-for-her-age editor about my WIP. I'd had a chat back with another editor at Ace when we went to contract for the book. She'd really had only one real objection. It had to do with the squirrel.

I hate squirrels. I'm terrified of them and I'm pretty convinced they're out to get me. They're constantly dashing out across the bike path trying to knock me off my bike. I know people think they're cute, but they attack children, set cars on fire, cause car accidents and may even be involved in espionage.

It was one of those happy writing accidents when I was researching Norse mythology for my third Messenger novel and stumbled across Ratatoskr. He's supposed to be quite the gossip and I figured he could help me get information from one place to another and would also help me work through some of Squirrel issues. I mean, isn't one of the points of writing fiction to basically get cheap therapy?

Alas, I must cut Ratatoskr. Apparently, he doesn't "resonate." Also, I already have crows and some oxen in the book and my editor felt like it was turning into a something like a Disney movie gone terribly wrong. I don't think it will be terribly hard to fill the plot holes his disappearance will make, but I have to admit I'm a little bummed to leave him. I mean, just because he didn't resonate in a synopsis doesn't mean that he won't resonate just fine in the actual book. Sadly, he won't have the chance. I must cut the squirrel.

Have you had to cut any personal squirrels?

COVERS!!!

2011-11-07T07:51:00.004-05:00

Well, here they are my first single title covers from Bantam! I've never had the naked guy cover before and while initially it threw me for a loop - I have to say I've grown fond of his abs. Very very fond. And I think you will too. So: Can't Buy Me Love

I love the look on the woman's face behind the model. She's the perfect representation of my heroine: Tara Jean Sweet.

And my personal favorite of the two, the cover for CAN'T HURRY LOVE not because we see MORE of his chest, but I love the cowboy hat and the fact that his shirt is wrinkled? I adore it. I really do. Not to perfect, just perfect enough, sort of like the hero: down on his luck cowboy Eli Turnbull.

Let me know wht you think!

Vampire Diaries and the surprise plot revelation

2011-11-04T10:41:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my ongoing fascination with the Vampire Diaries. It's pretty much the only show in the week that I watch in real time, and if I have to PVR it, I do a back up recording at another just in case my PVR screws up. Because you miss a show in this series and you miss a lot. They somehow manage to keep it moving at that pace, without losing the central relationships either.

And this week was no exception. They surprised me (pleasantly) twice with revelations I didn't see coming, but made absolute sense within the framework of the story and the plot, and more importantly the revelations made the external plot tighter and added some lovely character drama to all of it. Essentially, they kept it all within one family and did it brilliantly.

Lovely surprises happen when you write, really lovely twists and turns, but I'm still a big believer that the important twists, (like the big bad also being the big daddy) is usually something that takes some advance thought. I do some of this, but I never feel as though I do enough, and the Vampire Diaries, on a weekly basis, is convincing me to to do more advance plotting before I ever type a word.

Because it's not just the plot twists, it's the time they take with the central relationships. They seem to understand that because they have so much external plot keeping everything moving along, they can really take their time and develop relationships slowly, build to them and trust the viewer will follow along. And I'm in, and for the first time since the show began, they have two male leads that are fascinating.
Damon and Stefan, because one walks the edge of the line and the other has to be all or nothing, and the show is more about their relationship than it is about the romance between Elena and Stefan which was never that interesting to begin with and the writers seem to understand that as well.

And just finished the Night Circus and it's amazing... loved it, every page.

New Girl... She's weird but I like her

2011-11-03T08:00:00.001-04:00

Okay so is anyone watching this show? This is the Zoey Deschanel show on Fox. When I watched the first episode I thought… I don’t know. I watched the second and wondered… do I like her or is she just weird?

I watched the third show and I thought she’s weird… but I like her.

This isn’t some show where some actress is trying to be quirky and cute but going over the top and failing at either. This is either a) Zoey is weird and she’s playing herself or b) Zoey is doing very well as an actress playing a weird girl.

Now the impact of this is sometimes she’s adorable. But sometimes she’s so weird it’s uncomfortable and I love that. We’re not going for the “semblance” of a character. We’re going for a real person who could be like this. I have a friend who shares many characteristics so maybe that’s why I can see the real through the weird.

But you’ve got a guy who played in Europe League Basketball who is trying to figure out who he is. You have the “player” who thinks he’s great with the ladies but is desperately insecure. You have the lead guy who will eventually be the romantic foil to Zoey and does a great job playing her straight man and you have her with these guys just being herself. Last night she brought out a “feeling stick.” When the main guy broke it (predictable) she pulled out of her purse a smaller similar stick. She called her travel size feeling stick. (Totally cute and funny.)

I think it’s a great show. It’s grown up. It doesn’t always go the way you think it’s going to go and I just love that either the writers or Zoey are not trying to sugar coat her. TV does that so often. They don’t give me real characters they give me –character-lite.

We should always strive in movies, TV and books to go full monty. Will it put some people off – sure. Will everyone watch this show – probably not. But at least they’re going for it and in going for it they might find success.

Happy November!

2011-11-02T12:43:00.000-04:00

Those of you who are writers probably know what November is. Sure, there's that big American holiday near the end of the month, but writers who really know how to party know November as the month of insanity, aka NaNoWriMo.

According to the NaNo site I've been a member for seven years and that sounds about right. I've even donated money to them (they're a not for profit) and bought a few of their t-shirts (to wear to the gym). I like NaNo so much that I've signed up this year, even though I just finished a first draft and my goal is to complete a second draft in November. But I might use the progress meter anyway. It's not cheating. ;) I won't apply to "win".

The idea, is that everyone who participates starts writing a novel on November 1st, and finishes their first draft of said novel, at least 50,000 words, by November 30th. If you accomplish that, you are deemed a "winner". It started in 1999 with 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area, and last year there were over 200,000 participants all over the world. (I would have guessed more... but that's what their site says.)

The rules state that you can't have started the book before November 1st and that you must finish a first draft by November 30th. That is, you can't just write 50K of an ongoing WIP, or a 50K start of a new book... So while I have written 50K most Novembers, I haven't applied to "win" very often because it's rare that my timing works out that I can start something new in November.

But I have a special place in my heart for NaNo. The first "longer" book I wrote; that is, the first novel that wasn't targeted for one of the shorter Harlequin lines, I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2004. That book still might not be published, but it did land me my first agent and won a lot of awards and more importantly, it was the book that made me think I could actually be an author.

I also wrote most of Cinderella: Ninja Warrior during NaNo 2009. Yes, I kind of cheated that year. I had a December 31st deadline for that book and so started it as soon as I knew I had the contract, on or about October 20th, and I finished the first draft before the end of November. But I definitely wrote more than 50,000 words of that book in November. I wrote the bulk of during NaNo and swear competing on word counts with a few of my extextremely prolific erotica writer friends mates really spurred me on. (If she wrote 4,000 words today, so can I!)

And so Nano is inidrectly responsible for my first agent and my first published book. On different books.

What about you? Do you NaNo? Do you like to write fast first drafts or take your time to get it right?

Very Drunk Writer

2011-11-01T01:19:00.004-04:00

I am in San Francisco with the fabulous and gorgeous Serena Robar. She's in town for a conference and I am hanging out with her, doing some writing, doing some shopping and tossing back some drinks.

I had a lovely hangover run on the Embarcadero (where were you, Molly?) and then had total sticker shock at Bloomingdale's. Thank God for Macy's and the 40% off rack where Serena found me the perfect dress for an upcoming event. Then tonight it was dinner at Zingari's and off for an end of the evening cocktail at the Redwood Room. Where we took this awesome photo in the fabulous giant chair in the lobby:

In case you can't tell, I had a Manhattan which had LOT of bourbon in it. I am not, sadly, feeling brilliant, but am quite content. Wish you all had been there drinking with us!

Effing things up for yourself...

2011-10-31T09:29:00.003-04:00

For the last few years I have been a head of my deadlines. And not just a little. But like, months ahead of deadline. I seemed to keep having these events that I wanted to get books completed by - biths of babies, American Thanksgiving, Conference, Drunk Writer Talk. So, I had real deadlines and then I had my own.

And let me tell you, this has been great. I am heroic in my editors eyes. I have so much good will built up in this department that if I could somehow transform good will into shoes I would be Maureen.

And I've liked it too, I feel on top of my game and focused. I was really diligent every day despite being ahead of the deadline.

But OH! Oh the times they have changed - my deadline is November 15 for my Harlequin Superromance (I thought it was Nov. 22, why? No idea). And it's doable if I stick to my word count goal every day and work on the weekends and in the evenings...really, it's not even that hard. But what have I been doing? SLACKING OFF. Watching TV - in the middle of the day. Eating cookies? (That's effing up this no cookie diet I was on for about ten minutes. The second I said "Molly, no more cookies, what did I want? Ten cookies.) Friday Maureen and I had a writing date and what did I convince her to do? HAVE A BEER!

I am so far away from my word count goal that it's actually funny. Like ludicrious. Like a Monty Python sketch. And it's not my children, or my husband, or fate conspiring against me, it's me. %100 me. Though Maureen could have been a bit more firm on that beer thing...

Do you do this? When the pressure is on, do you go to sleep? Because I've been doing that too.

How much attention should you pay to the market before you write?

2011-10-28T12:15:00.002-04:00

I've been actively watching the YA market for a while now, but never as much as now. I've always been a firm believer in write the idea that grips you, makes you smile and excited to sit at the computer. And I still believe in that to a degree, but there was a point where I would have done so without being really aware of what else was out there.

Now, as I check author/agent/publisher blogs and learn what people in the industry are saying, I realize what a mistake that can be. In YA right now, according to most agents, trying to sell a vampire/werewolf/angel paranormal would be almost impossible. It would take an incredible book to break into that market. Similar with dystopian YA. Two years ago, a dystopian would have been requested by most agents out there, three years ago, vampires were still something publishers were excited about.

As a writer, locked in my writing cave, would I have known that I most likely couldn't sell a vampire book right now. I'm not sure and it is why most agents/publishers say don't write to trends, but be aware of them. I just don't feel as though I've ever been really good at that. Looking at the market and seeing what I shouldn't write. Because like most people who read the Hunger Games, I saw tremendous appeal and potential in a dystopian world, and the potential to create drama in that kind of setting.

So is the answer to be aware of the market? To be aware of what's selling in your genre and ensure that what you are writing is different, but with the elements that still remain true to the essential nature of the genre?

I go back and forth, especially now that I'm submitting, where if you'd asked me a year ago, I would have emphatically stated that the book is the only thing that's important. Now, I'm not entirely sure.

Revenge

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

In keeping with the theme of mindless entertainment is anyone watching this show? It was absolutely not something I thought I would be interested in. Soap opera level drama in the Hamptons (been there/done that) But here is the thing. The actress who plays the lead is really good.

She’s completely convincing when she’s pretending to play the innocent girlfriend. Then completely convincing when the audience sees her plotting her revenge against the people who did her father wrong.

It’s got it all. Emotional conflicts, sticky situations… murder. You can’t really figure out who likes who but there are all kinds of romantic connections. Each week the heroine (who we are sympathetic towards because of how she lost her father) sets up these elaborate cons to take down the people responsible for setting up her father as a patsy. The cons are sometimes silly. The drama is a bit over played. And I’m not really sure how this can go for more than one season.

If anyone remembers the summer murder mystery series Harper’s Island – this feels a lot like that. Over the top – but completely watchable. Kind of like a Sydney Sheldon novel.

It occurred to me how often this can be true in books as well. The plot can be done to death, there can be holes and gaps everywhere, the writing might be flawed but if the voice of the author is good, really good - it can still make the book enjoyable.

I recently read a book by an author and it was just like that. I kept telling myself this… this is bad… this isn’t good… this isn’t right… I must keep reading. Is there a book two? … I must by that as well.

Ever done that with a TV show or a book?

Pure Entertainment

2011-10-26T07:50:00.030-04:00

Eileen's post yesterday about Bridesmaids had me thinking about fun movies.

This fall, after all the dark and difficult movies at TIFF -- and some that weren't dark or difficult but didn't really inspire me all that much -- I went to a few movies just for the pure fun of it.

One was Our Idiot Brother which I found adorable if forgettable... But I've loved Paul Rudd ever since Clueless so I enjoy just about any movie he stars in, even if he's cast as an irresponsible and naive stoner.

But the film that inspired this post is Real Steel. It seems as if they were showing the trailers for this film for close to a year before it came out... Which often is not a good sign... And I have to admit, it did not seem like the kind of movie I'd like. More like one Molly's son would like. But writer-friend and movie-critic for Hard Core Nerdity, Adrienne Kress saw the film at a press screening a week before it came out and she told me it was worth seeing so I thought I'd give it a shot.

And you know what? I was completely entertained. There are some completely corny cliche lines like, Son to Dad: "You can do this. I believe in you." (or something. I'm paraphrasing.) And while I might have rolled my eyes once or twice I had to do my eye rolling quickly, because mostly I was just too busy being entertained. :)

And if I have to watch boxing... there'd better be either a great story to offset the violence, or the boxers getting beat up had better be machines and not people. This movie delivers on the second for sure ;) and the first mostly. The story is simple, but I admired that simplicity...We know exactly who the protagonist is, how he has to change, what his external goals are... and we see him change and get what he wants and deserves.

I have a bit of a love-to-m'eh sliding continuum thing for Hugh Jackman (as opposed to Sinead who is fully in love). And this was a movie where I swung to the love side of my continuum. (As I did the night Sinead and I went to see him perform live this summer.) It's like Hugh can either be the most masculine and most feminine man on the planet -- and I heart the masculine Hugh. (Without facial hair and with his shirt on, ;) he comes off too pretty for me) But he was definitely masculine Hugh in this movie. Yowza.

The only thing that would have made it perfect for me was a tiny more emphasis on the romance, but then that would have turned off their key demographic -- twelve-year-old boys -- so I had to be satisfied with a few kisses and some clear chemistry. I'll say one thing about Evangeline Lilly -- she can look at a man and convince me she loves him. And she looked at Hugh like she looked at Sawyer.

I've read reviews that criticize Real Steel for morphing together movies from the past like Rocky and The Champ and Transformers... But I think the filmmakers were smart enough to take what worked from each of those movies: underdog triumphing, heart-breaking father-son relationship, big robots -- and combine them into pure entertainment.

I saw the movie in one of those enhanced theatres, with a bigger screen, better sound and comfy seats (with built in speakers...) and I was thoroughly entertained. And really, that's exactly what I wanted.

Bridesmaids

2011-10-25T02:02:00.003-04:00

I just watched Bridesmaids with my darling and talented niece. I really really liked it. We laughed really really hard, but I also liked the fact that I felt a little verklempt more than a few times in the movie.

I really related to Annie. I know that awful feeling of not being able to afford to do what everyone else can and feeling like the least successful one in the room. I know the feeling of watching a friend leave me behind for greener pastures. As funny as the scene on the airplane was, I think the real reason people like this movie is that everyone has had that sinking feeling in their chest that those moments create.

Oh, we suck it up. We plaster smiles on our faces, but hasn't their been a moment when you wanted to splash the chocolate out of someone's fountain and wrestle their giant love cookie to the ground?

If the movie had been an endless parade of women having diarrhea in the middle of the street while wearing wedding gowns, I don't think it would have been that big of a hit. It was, as my brilliant niece said, how relatable it was. I know Annie. I've been Annie. I knew the other bridesmaids, too. I may also be a little bit of the blonde bridesmaid raising three boys. I am the same kind of drunk as the sweet newlywed bridesmaid. And I've run for a buffet just like Melissa McCarthy did.

So did you see it? Did you like it? Did you relate to Annie? Or anyone else?

What a Literary Agent Should Do For You

2011-10-24T09:35:00.002-04:00

A few weekends ago a NYT bestseller came to speak at our local RWA group and she answered all of our questions with utter honesty. One of the questions was about her relationships with different agents. She's had some good ones and some bad ones but she said with the one she has now it was the first time she actually felt agented.

This got me to thinking...do I feel agented? The answer quickly for me is a resounding yes.
But why do I feel agented? She sells my books - but is that enough? The answer quickly there was no. What are the elements besides selling my books that makes Pam Hopkins such a great agent for me?

1. She's not my friend. We're chatty. Sometimes we gossip, she's VERY friendly and warm and I like her a lot - but everything comes back around to business. I think this is important. Sometimes, after a glass of wine too many - I feel awkward, because I want secretly to be best friends with everyone, but it's business. Good business.

2. She subtly and not so subtly pushes me. I was having babies and writing Superromances and life was pretty good but after every book I turned in she'd send me an email saying - I know you're busy now, but you really need to think about single title. Every time. I never pushed her into thinking about my single title career, she was there all the time with the next steps in mind. An agent should see your worth and hopefully your trajectory. The NYT bestseller at the meeting had a conversation with an agent who had been selling a lot of her books but the writer wanted more and the agent said "not everyone can be a star." Your agent should think you can be a star...

3. She helped my work. Pam is not an editorial person and I didn't want an agent who was going to critique my stuff - I have lots of critique partners - I wanted an agent who would look at my stuff and critique it's salability. Her comments on my proposals were always things like "I don't think this works. This won't sell." She's the one having conversations with editors - she knows what they want and she helped me match my work to that need/want.

4. Respected in the business. Sometimes we don't know how our agent is viewed in the wider world - but considering the respectful and warm business relationship she has with me, I can guess she has the same relationship with editors. If your agent crosses a line in your mind with you or another author - red flags should go up. She hasn't burned any bridges. And as much as writers want to write for editors like Shauna Summers and Jennifer Enderlin, agents want to work with them too and should be building relationships with every editor despite being thorns in thier sides when it comes to contract negotiations.

5. As your career changes so should thier services. This is new to me. Moving into single title I am getting a whole different service from Pam. Wait...maybe that's not true. It's the same service but more of it. She's always been the middle man between me and my editors but now she is more so. In more ways. Tuesday she has a conversation with my editor about what the publisher is doing about promotion...that's never happened before. And I think it should. Promotion is a freaking big deal and a big freaking mystery. And almost no writer I know feels like they've gotten a great answer from thier publisher. Please, tell me if you have...

6. Despite how little money I made or make for Pam, I feel important. Writing catagory I wasn't making Pam much money - like almost none. But I always felt like I could call her. I might be uncomfortable doing it, but that was me, not her. We should feel like our agents - no matter if we're making NO money or ooodles of money - work with us. So many authors I know after a couple of manuscripts don't sell - the agents stop calling. Or returning emails. Wow. Really?

Now, sometimes questions in emails don't get answered. And sometimes it takes a day for an email to get answered. Sometimes I feel all alone in the world - but I'm a writer, I'm bat shit crazy on a good day.

Anyway - those are my thoughts. Do you feel supported by your agent? Why? What do you wish was different?

Fringe - come for the crazy mysteries, stay for the family dramatics

2011-10-21T09:36:00.002-04:00

So I tried watching Fringe Season 1 when it played on TV and gave up when it seemed a little repetitive and kind of an X-files rip off. But then we got our hands on Season 2 and Entertainment weekly had been singing the show's praises and so I started at Season 2. (spoiler alert - I'll try not to give anything away, but it's going to be hard, so if you're planning on watching, don't read this)

Which is SO much better. They still have the bizarre monster of the week, and the overarching plotline of what are those things from the other universe, but the dynamics between the players is so much better.

And everything is underplayed. but what I've enjoyed the most is the dynamic between Peter and Walter, son and father. The father is a brilliant scientist, who spent 17 years in a mental institution and is utterly incapable of living independently, and in season 1 the character was nothing but weird and in season 2 he has developed this relationship with his cynical, clever son that humanizes the son and keeps the Dad tethered to reality.

And that relationship, in particular, is underplayed by the actors, a clever choice, considering the drama of the weekly mysteries and the strangeness of the overarching plot.

But then the show introduces us to an alternate Walter, one far closer in personality to his son and we see what Peter could have become had he remained on the path he had been on, and we see what Walter would have been had he not had his mental breakdown and it's brilliant and a great choice by the writers.

It's show I would definitely recommend, because they never forget the characters and the writer's choices are always interesting and usually different from what I'm expecting.

And I just started The Night Circus and so far it's pretty amazing. Has anyone read it? Is it this good all the way to the end?

So I'm doing it...

2011-10-20T09:33:00.000-04:00

I’m actually starting to make decisions now about this book I want to self-publish. It really is kind of a crazy thing. Part of me likes it.

Most of me hates it.

I’m a worrier. When I write a book for another publisher all the worries other than - did I do a good job - lands on them. When you’re doing it yourself all the worry is with you.

Forget the obvious issues – are there any typos or inconsistencies that are going to make it seem like a “self published” book? Did the copyeditor catch everything? What about copyright infringement issues. What if I used a brand name I wasn’t supposed to?

I’m also dealing with cover art and title. I have ideas. I know what “I” like – but I’m no expert in this kind of stuff. What sells? Then of course there is the marketing. How much money should I put toward advertising? How many copies do I need to sell in order to cover the costs of the copy editor and advertising combined in order to make a profit?

Because as Maureen said so eloquently yesterday… it’s about the money. I’m not going to get rich – but I need to be compensated for the effort. Yes my love of writing and for whatever reason this story in particular carried me a long way but this a whole lot of work and worry to do this for free.

I’m still a couple of months away – but then I will use this Blog to shamelessly promote it and you can all go and look at the cover and read the title and tell me how you think I did as a publisher.

(And you know… while you’re there… maybe you could buy it... if you want to…)

Stating the Obvious

2011-10-19T08:00:00.092-04:00

Can we all just stipulate that pretty much everyone in the publishing industry wants to make money? (Stipulate is what the TV lawyers say. ;)

There are some very popular bloggers who've gained disciple-like followings by railing against agents and traditional publishers. Also, some of my writers' loops have been inundated with posts from authors complaining about how publishers or agents or retailers (especially Amazon) are just in it for the money, and how these various entities are behaving in ways that support their own interests.

To which I say, "DUH!"

What I don't get is why some--not all--of these posters seem to think that wanting to make money and caring about books/authors are mutually exclusive.

Sure, not every person in the world loves what they do for a living. Lots of people work in jobs or industries because they landed a job there and need to learn money; and so they plod along, caring little for the products or services their employers provide. I used to be one of those people.

BUT, I would assert that this is less true in the publishing industry than most other industries. Why? Because frankly there just isn't that much money in it. Or at best, the risk/reward balance is skewed such that more people earn a very small living than a great living. You don't go into a business like publishing unless you love books. You don't become an agent unless you love reading and writing and authors and books. I read a discussion recently about how it's almost impossible to become an agent or editor unless you have a trust fund or spouse backing you, because the money's so bad or non-existent for the first many years... (That discussion was about whether this "wealthy white New Yorker" preponderance in the industry biases "taste" and what gets published... but I digress.)

It is also true that the big publishers are now mostly all owned by huge multinationals whose CEOs and shareholders probably don't care about books all that much... but editors and publishers, from everything I've observed, are fighting the good fight for books within these huge corporations.

All that said, I think it's the railing against agents that bothers me the most.

I'm not meaning to suggest, for an instant, that agents' motives are altruistic, but I am sick, sick, sick of hearing authors make anti-agent arguments using, "They just want to earn more money."

Of COURSE they freaking do!!! What kind of fairy tale land are you people living in?

Given all the changes happening in the publishing world right now, I'm very interested in discussions about the pros and cons of some of the recent developments... agents being publishers, retailers being publishers, and everyone trying to figure out what's fair in terms of splitting the proceeds from selling a book in the digital age, and whether agents should earn their normal commission if authors self-publish a book the agent once sold (many years ago) or tried and failed to sell, and whether a publisher can consider a book "in print" paying an author a tiny royalty on a book they aren't promoting, but have up for sale on their website...

All important topics. All interesting. Lots of turmoil and new industry "norms" will undoubtedly be worked out over the next several years, and yes, we authors have to stand up for ourselves and our interests as this all works itself out...

But in these discussions, can't we all just stipulate that everyone involved is out to protect his or her interests and turf? That everyone wants to maximize their potential for earning a living? Including authors? Isn't that obvious?

Romance Writer Moments

2011-10-18T00:29:00.002-04:00

I've had two in the past couple of weeks. The first happened in the grocery store. It was around 3 o'clock and I hadn't had lunch and I was starving. I figured it would be better to buy a little something healthy to eat and munch while I shopped rather devour a box of cookies in the car on the way home which was where I was headed.

So I'm eating my turkey wrap and steering the cart through the store with my elbows. There's mayonnaise dripping down my wrist that I'm considering licking off (did I mention that I was STARVING?) and this woman comes up to me in the meat department and says, "excuse me, are you Eileen Rendahl?" I said yes. And she starts clapping her hands and sort of squealing because she recognized me from the photo in the back of the book and calls her daughter over to meet me.

And I have mayonnaise dripping down my wrist and lettuce between my teeth. Very unglamorous. Not how I pictured that moment at all. I did, however, want to hug the woman, but refrained because I didn't want to pay her drycleaning bill.

The second one happened at our neighborhood block party. Andy and I were chatting with a new neighbor who lives sort of catty-corner from us when Felix who is our neighborhood Gladys Kravitz among other things came up. Felix has a VERY loud voice and a VERY thick Polish accent and is VERY nosy, but I don't care because he calls me Princess. I may forgive almost anything -- including, I suspect, some casual inspection of my recycling from time to time -- if you will just call me Princess on a regular basis.

Anyway, Felix comes up to us and says (really loudly), "You know, she write book! You can read! They have at bookstore! On shelf!"

New neighbor asks what I write and I tell him and he says, "Ha ha ha, I bet they all have Fabio on the cover."

New neighbor is now dead to me.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I found that so dismissive and denigrating. I wanted to punch him.

How do people react to you when you tell them what you do? Do you ever get recognized?

Credible Suprise and how much is too much?

2011-10-17T08:50:00.002-04:00

So, I'm back at it. Rusty and antsy and unable to apply butt to chair for longer than an hour and half at a time. Maureen had to tie me to my seat to get to 46,000 words on Friday. But the time off has done all it should, the glaring problems are all right there, the big muddy mess I was in the middle of isn't really muddy at all - I was just going the wrong direction. So, fix fix fix.

But I had this thread I was pulling out and playing with in this Superromance I'm in the middle of. In my subplot I have a romance/friendship between an older couple. He has always loved her and is ashamed of it because she was his best friend's wife, he drank too much, he ignored things he should have stopped and basically was not a great man. He's working on that. However, in order for the romance to work and to get one of those gasp moments of credible suprise and to ramp up drama drama drama, I had her keeping a secret about her husband who died five years ago. She has no proof, they certainly didn't talk about it, but she suspects he might have been gay.

So, my question is this. How much is too much? Really. I think it would get a big gasp, and it's an interesting thing for her to have to deal with, having kept this secret and her anger and frustration with a marriage that wasn't at all what she'd wanted.

But is it more interesting to watch a recovering alcoholic and a devout catholic sort through thier stuff and feel honest things for each and just basically talk it out?

I think catagory romance lives for moments of credible suprise - in constant battles to stop predictability editors love these little suprises. I'm torn right down the middle. Securely on the fense, so I'm going to let you guys decide and I'm going to take a nap...

Everyone's a critic

2011-10-14T09:49:00.002-04:00

Me included. When the drunk writers get together, we talk about books we've read, what we liked about them and what we didn't. We are critical, but I like to think we mostly focus on what we loved, rather than what didn't work. I read several review sites on a regular basis and most of the time the reviews are well thought out and lacking in personal bias.

And as writers, I think we all understand, that the decision to publish is partly putting your work into the world and getting that feedback, good and bad, and hopefully finding a way to mine the useful from the bad. I do honestly think it's part of the process of writing to publish.

But then sometimes I want to whine, why does no one understand how hard it is? I read a review today that basically said, book was OK, but not great. And my first thought was how does a writer absorb that? And I know it's not a reviewers job to tell us how to fix our books, but seriously, where do you go with that?

Writing is hard work, coupled with a ridiculous self-awareness of the words we put on the page, and throw in a little magic for good measure. It takes equal measure working everyday and being absorbed into the work, and finding other outlets to inspire creativity. As a critic I can easily see the great when I'm reading, but as a writer what takes the good to great feels magical.

And that's my whine for today. Great is really freakin' difficult and so for today, I'm celebrating the good books, because those authors are one little measure of magic away from great, and who knows, maybe it will happen in the next book.

Would you rather...

2011-10-13T08:53:00.002-04:00

I was struggling for a topic today and we played this game at lunch yesterday so I thought I would bring it to the people.

The trick is you have to pick one or the other for the REST OF YOUR LIFE... So choose carefully.

Would you rather...

Be able to eat chocolate or cheese... for the rest of your life!

Ice cream or Cake - (this includes cupcakes as determined by the lunch table ruling)

Hot dogs or Hamburgers

Potatoes (any form) or Pasta

And since this is a writing blog...

Your favorite genre or all other books!

Classic novels or current bestsellers

Would you rather...

Write or read... (I'm still thinking about my answer to this one!)

Page Turner -- Compliment or Insult?

2011-10-12T07:22:00.001-04:00

Before I started writing, I was a bit of a literary snob. Well, in truth, I think I was a wanna-be literary snob. (Maybe that's worse: a literary snob poser.)

While I was still in school (high school and university) I read mostly popular fiction for recreation--as opposed to the books I was required to read for class--many of which I enjoyed, too.

I read voraciously in high school but don't remember too many titles/authors, but I do remember Sidney Sheldon and Judith Krantz and Jackie Collins and Jaqueline Susanne... I think I read an article in which someone dubbed that genre/style of book from the 70s/80s as "glitz or glamor fiction". Precursors to romance, perhaps? Maybe. I think if there had been such a thing as single title romance when I was in high school, that's what I would have been reading, or would have been reading, too. I also remember reading multiple books by James Michener and Andrew Greeley...

So, while I was in school, my recreational reading tastes definitely skewed "popular" or "commercial" versus "literary". Then after I graduated, I read mostly what I considered to be more high-brow fiction than I'd read in my teens. This started when, on a beach vacation right after graduating, I was bored. Used to reading all day while I was studying I didn't know what to do with myself on a beach--one can only consume so many pina coladas, even at age 23--and I found Robertson Davies' Fifth Business in a used bookstore at the resort. I recognized the title, having seen it on shelves in my high school, and thought I'd give it a try. I was hooked and read through everything he ever wrote. Then I set out to read "more books like that" -- whatever "that" meant. I read a bunch of classics that I hadn't read (or barely read) at school... And also bought and read a lot of new at the time fiction...

But although I considered my reading tastes at the time to skew in the literary direction, looking back to the decade or so after school, I mostly bought and read books that got table placement in big chain bookstores -- so probably defacto the more commercial books in the literary genre.

As a Canadian living in the US at the time, I also made a point to read a lot of Canlit, and I suppose I also read books that other people were talking about -- award winners, great reviews in big magazines etc. And I have to say that the vast majority of those books were exceedingly readable. Some favorite authors from that period of my life include Anne Tyler, Robertson Davies, John Irving, Jane Urquart, Carol Shields, Tom Robbins, Margaret Atwood, Anne Rice... I sure I'm missing a lot; I'm doing this off the top of my head.

But because all these authors' books were incredibly readable and "page turners" for me, I get annoyed at some genre fiction writers/readers when they talk about literary fiction as if it's all boring, impenetrable and lacking in story. That was not my experience. I do agree that some literary writers could benefit from learning to plot... but not all literary books lack story. And some that lack story more than make up for it with voice and with tension/conflict. (Like Michael Chabon's first novel, Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Molly and I were talking about it on Sunday night...)

And so it never occurred to me that "page turner" might be ever levied as an insult. Even most of these so-called literary novels (at least the ones I finished--grin) kept me turning pages. I mean, isn't turning the pages what ANY author wants readers to do? Yes, some books are faster reads than others, but all great books, IMHO, are page turners by default. Even if each page takes slightly longer to read in some books... each page should still make you want to turn immediately to the next one.

Call me a slow learner, but only recently have I started to realize that some people consider the term page turner to be an insult (in the same ilk as "trash" or "bodice ripper" or "pulp".) It implies that if a book reads quickly it must also be bad or poorly written or not worthy of any kind of merit.

I do *not* like it when someone refers to my work as trash or fluff or pulp or formulaic... To me, words like that diminish all the hard work I put into writing a novel. But call it a beach read or a page turner or an airplane read and I'll kiss you. :) To me those terms reflect the hard work I put in, rather than negate it.

So why would anyone consider them insults? Color me confused.

Jonathan Franzen

2011-10-11T02:11:00.003-04:00

I went to hear Jonathan Franzen speak on Saturday night. I went with some buddies from the best ever bookclub (word to the BDBC!!!). Not everyone wanted to go because several people still hate The Corrections with a passion. I hadn't read that one, but had really liked a lot of things about Freedom. Not the super bad sex scene(s). Not the bazillion pages about mountain top removal. I loved the characters, particularly Patti. I wanted to jump into the book and be her friend when she needed one.

Franzen was way more charming than I expected and significantly more handsome, too. He had this fantastic grin. He'd get lost in something or digress down some little rabbit hole, realize it and then look up and flash this fantastic smile and I found myself forgiving that whole ugly Oprah thing.

I so wish I had brought a notebook with me, though. He'd say things and I really felt like I needed to really look at them and decide what I thought about them, but then he was already talking about something else and I didn't have time. Of course, it appears I might have a chance since I saw a deal in Pub Lunch today for a book of essays from him one of which has the same title as the talk he gave.

Anyway he had this list of things he considered his enemies when writing a book and I'm pretty sure he did at least two of the things on the list in Freedom and I thought, well, well, well, people in glass houses shouldn't introduce pots to kettles. Just as I was about to start to feel somewhat smug, though, I started to wonder how many things I hate in other people's books I might do in my own and opted to cancel the self-righteousness for the moment.

One thing I couldn't quite stop myself from laughing out loud about, though, was when he was talking about writing The Corrections. At one point, he said he'd been working on one character for about a year and at the end of the year had 30 pages written. THIRTY PAGES!!!!!!! Jumpin' Jehosophat! That's not even a page a week. Can you imagine an active romance writer producing 30 pages in a year! Thumb your nose at our mechanistic plotting (yes, he said that, but not just about romance writers. He said it about all genre fiction writers.), at least we get the words on the page.

Has there been an author you've heard speak that defied your expectations? Or met them? Who?

I'm HOME!!!!

2011-10-10T11:22:00.002-04:00

After six weeks in a camper, six thousand miles up and down and back and forth across New Zealand, five days in Fiji, a lost book, and what had to be one of the worst ten hour flights of all time -- we are home.

It took us about a year to plan this trip, and it seemed to go by so fast every day was quite literally full of adventure and fun and melt downs and pinot noir and rain and gorgeous vistas, hikes and runs and octopus and amazing food and and now, home since tuesday, it feels like it happened a year ago. Maybe to another person. That's the nature of vacations, I guess, they don't linger.

I also love how different this vacation was from what I expected. I actually expected to WORK. Like I was going to sit in a camper and write a few thousand words. Hilarious. I also thought I was going to do a lot of reading. That was pretty much a no, too. Too tired to read, perhaps a bit too drunk. I made up for that in Fiji - The Autumn of Jacob De Zoet - AMAZING BOOK!

So, what I'm saying is that I didn't read and I didn't write for six weeks. This vacation was a like a vacation from who I usually am. I listened to sports radio - with interest. I watched a lot of Rugby. This is not me. After the initial excitement of the New Zealand RWA conference - wonderful conference. Wonderful group of woman, so warm and welcoming - there wasn't even any writing talk. Or movie talk. Or book talk.

But now, I am looking at Thursday (my first day back at the office with Maureen) with serious trepidation. I'm going to be rusty. it's going to be ugly. But I am so glad to be home, so glad to get back to work. I know it's going to be ugly and I can't wait.

My ideal vacation

2011-10-07T09:46:00.004-04:00

Ever since I've read Stephanie's post, I've been fantasizing about a vacation of my own. And as it's all I've been able to think about, it's what I'm going to blog about.

So here it is, my ideal vacation.

1) Somewhere hot, a gorgeous hotel, a pool and a lounge chair for during the day.

2) the drunk writers, because we have books to plot and by the pool is the ideal location for plotting new books.

3) time to write, quiet computer time to actually put into words what we've been working on during plot group.

4) books. The perfect mix, two great YA reads, a historical romance, a great contemp and perhaps a mainstream fiction.

5) the first season of Friday Night Lights, because I've wanted to re-watch it for a year now.

6) drinks... goes without saying, I guess.

7) A great movie in there. I would love to see Moneyball, or 50/50.

8) Sleep... lots and lots of sleep

9) more drinks.

there you go, my perfect vacation in a nutshell. Anyone else want to escape, maybe to Vegas?

Best Vacation Ever!

2011-10-06T08:00:00.000-04:00

I have been on vacation now for what will be four days today. I didn’t go anywhere. I didn’t have to catch a flight. I didn’t have to pack. I didn’t have to set up care for the kitties.

Instead, I planned to have a back room carpeted. I needed to add an electrical socket to a wall. I wanted to organize my shoes. I wanted to get rid of all my old T-shirts which no longer fit and have stains on them. And of course I found time for a pedicure.

I also wanted to write. I had a new book to start and this was the perfect week to just sit down and start cranking out pages. So far forty pages in four days. Right on track.

Every time I think I couldn’t do this full time I have one of these amazingly productive and relaxing weeks and wonder. Now my career being what it is, I have no choice but to work and write. But I used to think even if someday I hit it big I would still want to work in my office.

As a single person with no kids I always imagined the solitary lifestyle would get to me. But after four days, six if you count the weekend, with only the workers who’ve come to the house to chat with and my cats naturally, I am in bliss.

Maybe I’m part hermit. All I know that having the day to write and think about writing and organize things – which I compulsively love to do – it’s been heaven.

Now if the Phillies could win the World Series… well that’s just icing on the top.

Did you like it?

2011-10-05T00:51:00.002-04:00

While I was at TIFF this year, I got asked this question a lot by people in lines (one tends to spend as much time in lines for movies as in actual movies at the festival) and I realized it's not an easy question to answer about some books and movies. For me, movies (perhaps more than books) can be really great, and I can even say that I loved them, but not really be able to say that I liked them...

There are certainly lots of movies I've been riveted by and/or felt like I really got something out of, but that I can't say I "liked". Some stories are simply too difficult to like depending on the subject matter or style or whatever.

Here are some examples of movies I've seen in the past year or two that I would recommend to others, or that really affected me in some way, but that I can't possibly apply the "like" word to:

Shame (talked about that one here)

Meek's Crossing (a very bleak and quiet film I saw at the 2010 festival, staring Michelle Williams about a group of pioneers in a wagon train totally lost in the desert on the way to California and running out of food and water fast)

Rabbit Hole (a really great film with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckart playing parents mourning the loss of their four year old son)

Thirteen (not a film I saw at the festival, but one that will scare the crap out of any parent of a young girl, or basically anyone who knows or ever was a young girl.)

Hard Candy (just jumped to mind. First time I ever saw Ellen Page and she is no Juno in this movie...)

Beautiful Boy (a movie Molly and I saw together at the 2010 TIFF -- poor Molly, I picked her some tough films -- that was about an almost divorced couple coping with their son having done something horrific. Similar plot to this year's TIFF film We Need to Talk About Kevin, which I didn't see, but I'm sure I will when it comes out.)

Elles (A French film I saw this year, starring Juliette Binoche, about a journalist interviewing young student prostitutes for Elle magazine and then having a sexual awakening of sorts of her own)

Drive (The Ryan Gosling film about a stunt car driver who drives getaway cars for crimes on the side and gets caught up in some bad (and very violent) business because of a (married) girl. A lot to "like" about this film--Ryan Gosling for one--but ultimately too violent and bleak to apply the term "like" to, I think. But I was enthralled and would acutally see this one again.)

Irreversable (This one's not so recent, from 2002, but it immediately sprang to mind as I was thinking about "difficult" films I'm glad I saw but couldn't say I "liked".)

I'm sure I'll think of more movies from this year's TIFF tomorrow. Or moments after I press Publish on this post.

Interestingly, I can't think of any books to add to the list right now. Perhaps because I typically don't finish books I'm not "liking". Oh, maybe I could put Lolita on the list. Admired certain things about that book, but most definitely did not like it. Oh, and Sons and Lovers (I'm going back to high school English class now. Detested that book -- I'm convinced that D.H. Lawrence hated women), but kind of loved it, too.)

How about you? Any books or movies you kind of loved but really can't like?

Done!

2011-10-04T01:30:00.002-04:00

I turned it in on Friday. I am done. Yep. The book that has had me tearing my hair out, gnashing my teeth and chewing my tongue in my sleep is done. I feel like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've already cleaned my closet, signed my child up for SAT subject tests and gone for 40 mile bike ride. Tomorrow I'm paying bills and straightening up the laundry room. Wednesday it's sweeping the patio and coffee with friends.

This will be my tenth novel, which I realize is pretty small potatoes in the romance industry, but feels like a big deal to me. I'm trying to come up with a way to reward myself. One of my friends has a necklace with ISBN number of her novel engraved on it. Another has a necklace made of beads that were formed from her book cover (don't know quite how that works, but it seemed interesting). I can't figure out how to do something with 10 ISBns, though and I don't think I have cover flats from all the books so I'd have to strip some to make beads from each one and that feels painful.

Any suggestions?

THE PASSAGE Update.

Sinead, I'm on 218 (out of 844). I'm still a little confused about what's happening and who's in charge and who's actually a good guy and who's actually a bad guy, but I can not put it down. I'm carrying my Nook around with me at all times just in case there's a minute of down time when I might be reading. I'm afraid my sudoku skills are going straight down the toilet.

There are no rules

2011-09-30T10:54:00.002-04:00

I'm on an interesting reading binge right now, which started with the second book in Game of Thrones series and then moved to The Passage.

I'm loving the Passage, to the point where there have been evenings when I should have been sleeping and instead, I've been reading compulsively. What the book does really, really well is create sympathy for the main characters, you really, really care about them and how they survive the catastrophic happenings in the horrific world the author has created. It's a book that reminds me a lot of Stephen King's earlier works, and the comparison has been made in almost every review I've read of the book.

But largely I find the book works almost in spite of itself. It's huge, and a little disjointed. We get backstories on a lot of the characters. Even characters that have only minimal pov's, and POV's of characters that are minor elements and more backstories that add very, very little to the plot, but because the central storyline is so tense and because we care so much about the two central characters in the first section and a few more in the second section (it's hard to describe this book without giving away spoilers, so apologies for the vague sentences) I'm drawn through.

As a genre writer, I'm careful to ensure that backstory is crucial to both plot and character and that POV is for important characters, but when you have a storyline as compulsively readable as the Passage and a little girl in danger, and it's as tense as this book, I'll read past the flaws and just enjoy, perhaps skipping a few paragraphs here and there.

And I guess we come back to a rule my critique group decided upon, which is, when a scene/chapter is engaging and tense and readable, there are no rules.

The Thing about Self-published Ebooks...

2011-09-29T09:36:00.002-04:00

I was on a business trip this past week to the west coast and as everyone knows I’ve been struggling for something to read as I wait for a lot of my favorite authors to release their books in the next few months. It came down to crunch time as I was going to have a five hour flight back and forth to the west coast. (I won’t go into the part about how my boss convinced me to check my carry-on and then they lost it and I was stuck at a Walmart at 12:00am at night struggling to find something business appropriate. Business travel sucks!)

But to my delight as I went on Amazon I found an author whose historicals I really enjoy. I was surprised because I know when her next release date is and this wasn’t it. In this case this was a self-published eBook.

I was like – okay. Let’s give this a shot. I want to self-publish some of my titles why not start reading other’s self-published work and see how it goes. Other than short stories this was my first foray into this world. The price point was less than one of her normal books, but not .99. For a little more than six dollars I got what I felt was a full sized book. One that would suffice for my trip out and back.

It was good. But… every other sentence started with And… First this made me smile – I don’t know if you remember my rant on cleaning up my own work and realizing I start all my sentences with “And” too. Then it got a little in the way of the reading experience.

Overall I couldn’t see why publishers would have passed on this book but they must have. I could feel this was an older work but the author’s voice still came shouting through and really that was enough for me.

But it is a reminder of why it’s going to be worth it to pay a little extra for an “agency” priced book. There is no doubt about it – a professionally published book may not be “better” – but it sure as heck is going to be more polished unless a whole lot of effort is put into the copy-editing. Which let’s face it - costs money - which can result in a decrease in profits. After all the whole point of this is to make money.

So my message to the big “Six” is you all have nothing to fear. While I may seek out new self-published works, I know concretely what professional editors and copy-editors bring to the table and will always continue to want that level of professionalism in the books I read.

Fall Funk

2011-09-28T14:07:00.000-04:00

Just a few weeks ago we were blogging about all the reasons we were looking forward to fall... and for some reason this new season's just not working for me yet. It might be because, with the exception of a few cold days at the end of TIFF, we haven't had fall-like weather here, yet. Still wearing cropped pants and sandals and it's almost Thanksgiving! It might be because I've been anxiously awaiting the green light to make an announcement that keeps taking longer and longer (and consequently seeming less real and less exciting). It might be because so far I'm not turned on any of the new fall TV.. Or it might just be because I'm in that always horrible for me half to two thirds of the way through my book--the stage where it always seems like crap. (Every time, after I push through this part, I remind myself not to listen to the doubt demons at this stage--to just plow ahead as fast as I can and finish, trusting I can fix whatever's wrong in revisions--yet with each new book, the demons get louder, or my ability to ignore them gets worse instead of better because my personal stakes keep getting higher...)

All those reasons seem like valid contributors. But I think I've hit on the real reason I'm in a fall funk. I miss Molly. Come home, Miss Molly!!! We miss you!

Banned Books Week!

2011-09-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hey, kids! Welcome to Banned Books Week! No. They're not celebrating the banning of books, they are trying to raise awareness about censorship, though. I figured I'd lend a hand.

If you check out the list of most challenged books of 2010, you'll notice (if you're a follower of this blog) that there's a book on the list that I detest. Yep. Twilight. I hate that book. I think it has some terrible messages laced through it about female submissiveness and sexuality and what love should be.

Do I want it banned? Absolutely not.

I don't care for Meyer's world view one bit. I think it's a terrible example for young girls. I also think they should totally have a right to read it. In fact, I might just encourage it. If we don't read it, how can we discuss it? If we don't discuss it, how can we show the young women in our lives that romance doesn't mean being physically subdued whenever she disagrees or being isolated from her friends and family by an overly possessive boyfriend or that sexual desire is dangerous.

So, in celebration, go read Twilight. Or And Tango Makes Three. Or The Hunger Games. In fact, just read. We have the right to do that.

I still say contemporary romance is the hardest genre to write

2011-09-23T10:23:00.002-04:00

I just finished a contemporary romance, which after all the dark YA and urban fantasy I've been reading lately, felt a but like a palate cleanser, light and frothy and fun. At least for the first half, and then for the second half, I lost interest.

The characters were still engaging, it's just the scenes could only progress so far, with the way the author had set it up, and the conflicts could only be hashed out so much before they felt repetitive. I know my own limitations, this is the point where I would have thrown a murder mystery at the wall, simply to add wordcount and I commend the author for not doing so. But it's why I still feel like this particular genre is so hard to write.

How do you come up with compelling internal conflicts and external conflicts that aren't life and death, keep each scene moving forward and keep the reader invested through 90,000 words?

Paranormal, fantasy, suspense, all have life and death, a strong external plot to pick up the slack when the internal starts to feel repetitive. But not contemporary.

And this is where I write my ode to Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who never seems to have this problem. She keeps me engaged and voraciously reading all the way through, without ever throwing a dead body into the mix.

Molly does this as well, which is why we drunk writers are so in awe of her contemps and so excited for them to be released on the world.

And it's why I could never write one. The urge to kill someone on paper would overcome me.

Ode to Old Elizabeth Lowell...

2011-09-22T09:45:00.002-04:00

Now I really hope Elizabeth Lowell doesn’t have a Google Alert which will pop up because she might not like the title of this blog! But of course I don’t mean the “actual” Elizabeth Lowell. I’m talking about her older category novels.

My collection consists of tons of the old school Silhouette and Harlequin category novels of the 80s and 90s when I first discovered romance. This was back in the day when S&H were discovering authors like Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, Sandra Brown… I could go on forever. But some of the most delicious stories came from the amazing Elizabeth Lowell.

Usually what happens when I hit a reading dearth which is where I seem to be now, I’ll go back and just pick up a random book from my shelf and relive the glory days. They are a short investment of time. I know where all the good parts are. And they leave me feeling nostalgic.

What astounds me every time I read her, is why I love her heroes so much. I mean truly a woman in 2011 should probably look at these near Neanderthals and balk. They are crass, rude, usually sexists and sometimes actually sexually threatening… but there is always that lingering reason why. That soft gooey middle which gives him humanity.

These men will abuse their women (not physically of course) but emotionally to the point where you are screaming at the heroine… “Walk away! You don’t need this. You don’t need him!”

In most cases this is accurate. She doesn’t need him. But in an Elizabeth Lowell book he always needs her. It’s his desperation which is so compelling. The reader knows he’s hurting this woman because he hurts so much inside. Elizabeth Lowell plays on this theme so perfectly and in the end somehow redeems these hard men.

As a thief who is about to start my next book (Naturally suffering from startabookaphobia… but I’m hoping to overcome that this weekend) I plan to steal from Elizabeth Lowell. Just that one element.

In this story my hero is strong, he’s ruthless and he’s cold. He’s also lost and desperate. He NEEDS someone. Cue blank page… in walks my heroine. Boy is she in for a ride.

Thank you Elizabeth for so many amazing heroes!

Pirates are Funny, Copyright Infringement is Not

2011-09-21T07:10:00.026-04:00

Somali pirates aside, piracy of old isn't something people have had to deal with over the past, say, hundred or more years, and at some point during those hundred years pirates have become less something to dread and more something associated with Halloween costumes and children's games. And then along came Johnny Depp and suddenly pirates were not only funny, but also cool and sexy.

So it has occurred to me that the entertainment industry (or whoever started it -- software industry?) made a huge tactical error in calling people who infringe on copyrights pirates. Huge.

Pirates are funny. Pirates are cool. Pirates defy the big bad authorities to claim spoils and get the girls. The general public does not think "criminal" or "thief" or "immoral" when they hear the word pirate.

This has never been more evident to me as it has been during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) these past few years. TIFF has become arguably the most important festival in the world in terms of launching award winning and commercially successful films. And while most of the movies screened at TIFF are made outside of the studio systems, many come to the festival already sold to big distributors who have a huge stake in not having the films leaked before their releases. Hence, it's probably also a great festival for a criminal to attend who wants to record the films and sell the bootleg copies.

I'd say that about 5-6 years ago, TIFF started taking this very seriously. Also because that was around the time that cameras started getting smaller and better quality. And now most of the "bigger" films have burly men in uniforms with night vision glasses standing around the audience watching us watch the film...

The first year the burly men showed up, they were super aggressive at some screenings and didn't even let people take out their cameras during the introductions before the films. (Which led to my tragically blurry photo of Heath Ledger, in spite of only being less than 15 feet away from him, because a big burly man was diving at me as I took it.)

But back on topic, about five years ago they started making announcements before the films to the effect of, "as part of our anti-piracy program, night vision technology may be in use during this screening."

And what happened? Some joker one night made a pirate "Arrr" sound during this announcement. And, as so often happens, it became a tradition. (Kind of like the audience used to clap wildly and cheer for the guy who took away the podium before screenings at the Uptown. I miss the Uptown.)

This year, clearly trying to stop this tradition and probably to make the filmmakers believe that TIFF festival goers do take copyright infringement seriously, the TIFF staff stopped using the word piracy during these announcements. Instead, they started their announcement with something like, "recording the movie is a criminal offense."

But did this stop jokers from saying "Arrrr!" No, it did not. And it still got laughs from the audience. Not from me. As someone trying to earn a living from royalties, I don't think copyright infringement is funny. But after being annoyed for the first few days, I realized I just needed to have a sense of humor about the "Arrr".

Pirates are funny. Copyright infringement is not.

Apparently point of view does matter to me

2011-09-20T00:34:00.002-04:00

I have met a few people who have told me flat out that they dislike any book written in first person. I've also met a few who only like first person. This has always seemed strange to me. Both first and third person POV have their uses, their pluses and minuses. I like writing in both (but always in different projects) and I like reading both.

But apparently I really dislike omniscient point of view.

I'm reading two books right now. Sister by Rosamund Lupton and The Little Book by Selden Edwards.I am loving Sister. It's the of a woman figuring out what happened to her sister. It moves from the present as the heroine prepares for the murderer's trial and deal with her grief to the past as she unravels the mystery and solves the case. We are always in Beatrice's point of view, but we always know when we are because she cleverly uses present tense for the present narrative and past for the past. I know that sounds really elementary, but it's a great reading experience and feels very subtle as you read. I am so deeply into this character's POV (although she's very different from me in temperament) that the scenes where she recounts finding out that her sister was dead made me weep. And we already knew she was dead in the book! We'd known for pages and pages and pages!

I wish I could say that I hated The Little Book, but it's too boring to even incite that much emotion. It's an incredibly intricate story with time travel and cultural references and historical figures and it's all told from the point of view of the hero's dead father. I guess he might not really be dead, but he's supposed to be dead.

Because it's always him telling the story, we're never deeply in anyone's POV. We're floating above it all and watching. To me, this has about as much life as the flattened snake I saw in the road last week. Everyone's voice is the same. Everything's a little removed. I hit a "love" scene and it was so clinical and detached and weird that it actually kind of grossed me out.

I keep wondering what that book would be like if Edwards had gone ahead and written it deep third person POV. Would those scenes in nineteenth century Vienna have come alive? What about the tension of the baseball game at the prep school? Would the love scene have seemed tender and sweet instead of icky?

So . . . third person omniscient is a deal breaker for me. Do any of you have POV deal breakers?

Irrevocable Decisions...

2011-09-15T08:00:00.001-04:00

As authors we make a ton of decision every time we tell a story. Everybody knows that. Our readers have to put up with those decisions. Some are going to like them and some are not. Let’s face it.

I recently ran up against a book where an author made one of these big irrevocable decisions. This is an ongoing series and the author did something to fundamentally change the main character’s life.

As an author I thought it was brave and daring because there is no walking back from this decision. It’s not like in the old days of daytime soaps where you could kill a guy by having him drive off a cliff and then suddenly bring him back to life ten years later.
When it’s done – it’s done.

I thought about the courage it took to go that direction not knowing how readers were going to react to it. But the truth is as a reader I hated it.

It made me think about how important the really big decisions are. This writer removed an entire element of the series that might not be an issue for a couple of books, but could impact the series down the road when you start to worry about how you can continually show character growth.

This writer took a chance a lot of readers (including me) were going to be disappointed. The author had to hope the disappointment wouldn’t be so great these readers don’t come back for more.

For the record – I probably will go back.

But it really brought home the concept that when we make the big decision, when we take the road less traveled or bring about a major change which will dictate the character’s actions going forward - we really really need to think about what it means. Not just to us the author – who is telling the story – but to the people we tell the story too.

I’m not saying give the fans what they want all the time. We have to own our work. But when we know we’re probably going to upset them, then we need to consider the whole picture before we do.

Shame (and Michael Fassbender's penis)

2011-09-14T02:39:00.001-04:00

I'll now disappoint all the people who stumbled onto this post from google because of the penis reference. (And another warning: This will be a short post... I'm bagged. I'm basically out of the house 14-15 hours each day during TIFF. Love it. But it's tiring.)

One of the best films I've seen so far at this year's Toronto International Film Festival was Steve McQueen's Shame.

It's not an easy film and goodness knows whether it will ever be released in the US (because of all of the nudity and sex and full frontal penis) but wow, it's a powerful film.

And, more relevant to this blog, a lesson in "show, don't tell" -- particularly where it comes to revealing character without revealing much backstory... Also it made a great use of foreshadowing to create tension.

The film is about a man with a sexual obsession. A man who uses sex to block out feeling any emotions. To the point where the one time he tries to have sex with someone he knows and likes, he can't. (Sorry, that was kind of spoilerish.)

The man's world, one in which all he does is work, watch porn, and f8ck strangers, is disrupted when his sister (also clearly damaged) lands on his doorstep to live with him for a while. She's clearly also messed up and we see this both through their interactions and through a heart wrenching rendition of New York, New York she sings in a night club (sister is played by Carey Mulligan). We never learn why these two siblings are so damaged. The only clue is her telling him via a voice mail late in the movie, "We aren't bad people, we just come from a bad place." That line tells us what we've already figured out at that point... that something happened to these two in their childhoods that messed them up. And I suppose it doesn't matter exactly what happened in the past, but most writers would tell us or add a flashback or something. And I admired that Abi Morgan and Steve McQueen did not.

Each of the two siblings has chosen a different but very destructive way to dull his or her pain and the movie builds to a moving climax where we finally see the hero emote.

I liked the slight ambiguous ending, too... Actually, would like to see the movie again to decide for sure what I think he'll do the second the movie stops. I think he changed during the movie. I hope so.

My final comment: Fassbender naked. Wow. Just wow.

Best. Book Club. Ever.

2011-09-13T01:58:00.001-04:00

My book club just left and I know I'm a little biased and a little drunk, but they are the best book club ever. We call ourselves the BDBC which stands for Big Dumb Book Club. We came up with the name after we read One Hundred Years of Solitude and all looked at each other and said, "WTF? I don't get it." We know it's a classic. We just don't get it. It was like a bunch of random stuff all strung together. What I love best about this group is that they're completely unafraid to say that they don't get it.Tonight was the All Eileen All the Time Night. They read both the books I published this year. They always read them and they always show up at booksignings and they always want to hear about the writing and publishing and all of it. They're fabulous. They're also unafraid to try something new which is how we ended up drinking Chocovine tonight which we decided tasted like a chocolatey Bailey's. We have some lawyers, a couple of therapist-types, some scientists, a nurse, some stay at home moms. Some of our kids are toddlers. Some have graduated from college. So I'm a little high on all the love and the Chocovine and I wanted everyone to know it.Oh! I almost forgot! Romantic Times reviewed Vanished in the Night and it was kind of awesome! They compared me to Tami Hoag! I love Tami Hoag!!!Good night, everyone! I'm sending you all a big chocolatey kiss and a overly friendly wine-soaked hug!!! May you all find awesome book groups with whom to talk and drink. I came really close to ending that last sentence with a preposition, but I'm not that drunk!!!!

Do the pictures of naked men really work?

2011-09-09T09:51:00.002-04:00

Well, maybe not completely naked, but mostly, and I'm referring to a lot of romance writer blogs and websites where they post pics of half naked men, as inspiration for heroes and as well, inspiration for the day.

And hey, I am not against seeing a fit half-naked men, but sometimes I worry that those pics aren't doing anything to dispel the myths about romance.

I still know a ton of people who dismiss romance novels as porn for women, who think of them as nothing but silly and poorly written. Which, as anyone who reads this blog, knows is completely untrue. Like any genre, there are great and not so great books, but the ambassadors of romance have to be the authors and if we spend more time discussing a hot bod, rather than craft and story on our blogs and websites, how can we expect to be taken seriously?

I want to mention JR Ward, and Courtney Milan and Sherry Thomas to strangers and not have them look at me as if I'm an addle brained twit for reading romance. Because these books are great examples of craft, and character and a lot of "serious" authors could learn a lot from romance writers. Which is why I sometimes worry, do romance authors treat their own work with the respect it deserves?

What we put on the internet is basically out there for the world, and I don't want it to be serious all the time, but it cannot be taken back and when I look at those pics, I wince, because I think of a reader that has never read a romance and is investigating an author thinking whether the might pick up their book and would they after seeing that?

I'm not sure, but I do hope they pick up the romance, because if they do, they'll probably be a romance reader for life.

My post to explain why I have no post...

2011-09-08T09:59:00.002-04:00

With being off Monday for Labor Day it sort of messed up my days of the week.

What I thought was Tuesday was really Wednesday and today is really Thursday and my normally well thought out post (not really... I just like to pretend I think them out) is not available.

This is me, live and unedited.

So I'm going to take the most completely lame approach and ask (or beg) our readers to help me out.

I'm out of books to read. I know that's crazy talk, but truly I've gone through all my favorite authors and I haven't seen any amazing new reviews of new authors to tempt me. I'm counting the days until Meljean Brook's new Steampunk novel is out. Other than that I'm a little lost.

I don't want serious, sad or depressing. I want a great romance novel. Any genre. So for all you out there thinking, seriously? I clicked on the blog for this? I apologize but can you help a sister out and at least tell me what you are reading and loving.

Falling into Autumn

2011-09-07T07:15:00.007-04:00

Inspired by Eileen's list yesterday I thought I'd do my own It's Fall! list.

Fittingly, temperatures here dropped dramatically on Monday, so I definitely had fall on my mind already.

Things I'm Looking Forward To:

Sleeping with my windows open. Toronto is hot and sticky in the summer and the only thing I hate more than sleeping with the air conditioning on, is sleeping when I'm hot and sticky... I love a nice cold room for sleeping and so fall is one of my favorite times of the year, for that alone.
TIFF. The Toronto International Film Festival opens on Thursday and runs to the following Sunday (8th-18th) During that time, I will be seeing a minimum of 32 films. At least that's how many I have tickets for at this point. And I'm excited about them all.
Oscar season. TIFF usually gives me a head start on the fall movies, but I'm looking forward to all the great films that typically open between now and the Oscar deadline at the end of the year.
Fall colors. This part of the world has some pretty spectacular autumn colors and I love the show. Who knows how it will really be, but at this point the weather people are predicting a long and mild autumn. Here's hoping it doesn't turn into full-on winter until January.
I've been sitting on some exciting news and fall is when I'm supposed to be able to finally announce it... I hope. Soon.
Fall TV. I'm most excited about premieres for The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire. And Sons of Anarchy Season 4. (Sinead, you really should watch Season 3.) Also pining for Mad Men and Game of Thrones, but those won't be until winter or later, right?
Finishing my WIP. I cannot wait to be over the first draft stage and on to revising. I told Molly I'd be done my first draft by the time she gets back from New Zealand and barring a miracle, that's not likely to happen, but definitely before the end of October. (TIFF is eating up way too much of my September.)

Things I'm Not Looking Forward To:

Winter. As much as I love me some fall, I hates me some winter. It's a tough call between which season I hate more, the 35 C degree and humid days of summer, or icy, windy cold days in winter. (I actually don't mind the freakishly cold weather we sometimes get here in the winter, as long as it's sunny. You can dress for cold.)
Shorter days. As much as I jested yesterday, I dread the shorter days too. And they start to get shorter so dang quickly. It's no secret I'm not an early riser, and the consequence of that bad habit is that my days get VERY short...
Deadlines. I'm going to be facing at least two over the fall/winter and I'm already a bit stressed out.
Sandals. I will miss my open toed shoes and going sans socks. I actually wore closed toe shoes for the first time yesterday since some time in May, possibly April. On the other hand, I bought an AWESOME new pair of Fluevogs this summer I can't wait to wear. (See below.)

It's over.

2011-09-06T01:21:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was Labor Day so as far as I'm concerned summer is over. I know it has a few more weeks according to the calendar, but in my mind, summer goes from Memorial Day to Labor Day. In our listy spirit at Drunk Writer Talk, allow me to tell you about things I'm looking forward to this fall and things I'll miss from the summer.

THINGS TO WHICH I AM LOOKING FORWARD

1) Finishing the book I'm working on now. I've got less than two weeks to go. I think it might be good. I can't wait to find out.

2) Fall TV Premieres. I can't wait for The Good Wife and Castle. I'm also curious about a lot of new shows. There are TWO fairytale based urban fantasy sounding series. Two! Plus Ringers and something with Claire Danes and Damion Lewis that sounds interesting and a bunch of others.

3) Starting a new book. I've got a third Messenger novel and a novella that I'm itching to get started on.

4) My kid's soccer season. This is the last one. He's a senior this year. I've made so many wonderful friends on those sidelines and have had such fun watching him play.

5) Figs, persimmons and mandarin oranges. I adore the summer fruit, but some of the fall and winter fruit is pretty darn special, too!

THINGS I'M GOING TO MISS

1) The light and the heat. I love the long hot summer days. I like it being light at 6 a.m. and still light at 9 p.m. I groove on it. I'm already losing the morning light and it's totally bumming me out.

2) Summer TV (In Plain Sight, Suits, Wilfred, Burn Notice, plus some more I can't come up with off the top of my head). Summer TV seems a little quirky and weird and I love it.

3) White clothes. I don't have any white shoes, but I love me my white capri pants.

4) My big boy when he goes back to school. I think we laugh more when he's in the house. I am not, however, going to miss the chaos he tends to spread through the house.

5) More relaxed schedules. School's started. We're all busy. Our house runs on a schedule year round, but in the summer it feels like it has a little more grease to it.

What I've learned this summer

2011-09-02T10:00:00.002-04:00

More lists, in honour of Molly, who is having the vacation of a lifetime.

1) summer is the hardest time of the year to write. I'm unfocused, reluctant to sit and work and lacking in focus. And judging by how much work my critique group sends out, we all feel this way. When the Fall hits, it seems all of us get to work and scenes get sent out, and we meet much more frequently.

2) Without an actual deadline, it's hard to muster up the enthusiasm to put the last, finishing edits on a book, the detail work that I generally don't enjoy as much. I should have finished this book three months ago and I'm still editing it... Creating my own deadline doesn't work for me any longer.

3) Every writer needs a break. I've watched critique partners and friends push to three, even four books a year and there is inevitably the book that teaches them they need to take a break, the one that needs a complete edit, or where each sentence is painful and they lose the joy.

4) Too much bachelor pad can turn your brain to mush, but two hours a week is just perfect.

5) Wear white after labour day. That rule that says not to is outdated.

time to get back to work. Have a great labour day.

Things I've learned after writing this book...

2011-09-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Once again in honor of Molly and her love of lists I thought I would put together a list of everything I learned from writing this last book. Which if I prevail will be turned in after this weekend. (I always ask my editor for that extra weekend – this time I was super sneaky because it included a holiday.)

1. A book is easier to write when you are writing consistently every day or every other. When I take breaks between writing chunks… it’s disjointed and sucky.

2. Writing for an hour consistently every day allows for more pages than trying to do major chunks of time only on the weekend. I will commit my mornings to writing. I will. (Damn you double alarm clock which always gives me an out…)

3. I can’t start a sentence without And or So. I must also include the word “that” and “just” in every sentence. It simply is what it is. Thank goodness for Find and Replace.

4. I believe 20 percent of my sentences are fragments and I have a passion for the “…”.

5. My favorite parts of writing are the spontaneous things which come out. Not brainstorming, not executing a chapter the way it appeared in my head, not editing it certainly. It’s the things which go where I didn’t know they were going, which surprise me, which make me ask - Where in the hell did that come from? - which excites me the most. I never realized that until this book.

6. I’m too linear. I can’t get far enough away from the book to pick out the big things I got wrong. I can’t move chapter 11 to chapter 2 or insert chapter 2 ½ between chapters 2 and 3. Thank goodness for my editor.

7. Thinking about GMC actually helps. Funny story… I had no idea what that acronym stood for. Molly sent it to me in an email regarding a book I had asked her to read. I was like what the heck… oh no – I bet it’s one of those writer terms everyone should know. It was. Thank goodness for Google.

8. I need a little pressure when writing. Not a lot of pressure. I could never do a twenty four hour writing marathon. But sometimes I like to wait for the last moments because it lends a sense of urgency to the writing. I’m still putting my book together, still waiting for the word count to add up and I still have the final scene I need to write. I have to give it another read, then more editing. All of that in a handful of days. I think it makes me more focused.

9. I did not think I could write a book without killing someone. I was right. Someone in the book always has to die.

10. … I’ve run out but I wanted to have a 10 things listed.

And that’s it. So just what are the things that you learn too….

(See what I did there.)

Be Norman Jewison = My New Goal

2011-08-31T02:47:00.001-04:00

I'm joking, of course. Not about to go into film making. But the past few weeks I've seen a handful of Normal Jewison films as part of a retrospective put on by the TIFF and it's been kind of inspiring.

He was there to introduce a couple of them and I understand he'll be at the screening of Jesus Christ Superstar that I'm going to tomorrow evening. I bought the ticket after I learned he'd be there... (I know, crazy person going to all these films right before the festival starts. I call it stretching.)

Anyway, on the weekend I saw a rarely seen film of his called Gaily, Gaily. It was filmed in the 1960's, set in the 1910's and starred a very young Beau Bridges (playing a teenager) and an even younger Margot Kidder. In fact, the credits read: Introducing Margot Kidder.

I have a feeling the reason this film is so rare is that many Americans would consider its message to be "communist", but like so many of his films, it's critical of American society -- in this film: greed and corruption.

The film was fun, but that's not really what I wanted to talk about. Before the film, a big-wig from, um, Sony-Pictures Classics? (or one of the really big studios) introduced Jewison and then talked to him on stage for an hour. And he showed clips of 3 of Jewison's films (2 of which I'd just seen in the past few weeks--In the Heat of the Night, and In Justice for All. The third was In Country. At which I cried. At a 5 minute clip. Now I need to rent that movie. Bruce Willis. Who knew?) Anyway, the studio guy kept repeating that Norman Jewison was one of 3 or 4 filmmakers of all time whose work was a) universally appealing (he meant to a global audience) b) highly commercial, and c) art -- about something.

I don't know if "art" is the right word, but I get what the guy meant. The reason that so many of Jewison's films have become classics or are considered iconic is because he hit that sweet spot where commercial met the stories he wanted to tell. He turned Gaily, Gaily, a cutting look at politics and corruption (with definite socialist leanings... the book it was based on was written in 1910 after all), into a silly sex farce set at the turn of the century. He turns a film about civil rights into a murder mystery. He turns a cutting look at the growing power of big corporations (Rollerball) into a violent, action-paced sci-fi sports film. No matter what's at the core, his films are commercial.

At both the screening of In the Heat of the Night, and in this discussion before Gaily, Gaily Jewison told a story about meeting Robert Kennedy the winter before he started shooting and giving Kennedy a synopsis. (The two men were both in a hospital waiting room in Sundance, Idaho where both of their sons, by coincidence, had broken their legs skiing on the same day.) Anyway, the way Jewison tells it now, Kennedy told him that In the Heat of the Night was going to be an important film and Jewison claims he'd never even thought about the film in that way before that point. He just loved the story and was fascinated by the interaction and human dynamic between the two main characters. Yes, Jewison is someone who cared deeply about the civil rights movement and I'm sure that's why he chose that project (based on a book), but mostly, he claims, he was just hoping that people would turn up to see the film.

And really, isn't that what it's about? Because if no one shows up to see your film, or if no one buys your book, then who cares what fabulous ideas you included, or what beautiful sentences you crafted... Isn't it about sharing those ideas? And they aren't shared if no one wants to see the film or read the book.

If a book gets printed and nobody reads it, does it exist?

Clearly feeling existential this evening. I blame The Bachelor Pad. ;) That's what I should have posted about. :) So much more highbrow.

Fav line of this week? (and there were many, I was clapping and bouncing on my sofa a few times...)

Blake (with electric toothbrush in mouth): Give me four minutes and then we can talk.

Only a dentist could get away with using that excuse to postpone talking to the crazy chick.

Full of Hope

2011-08-30T00:47:00.002-04:00

Okay. The rough is done. It's a huge relief. All the scenes are there (I think). All the major turning points. All the character arcs.

This rough, however, takes rough to a whole new level of rough. Nothing is in order. Stuff came out of me sometimes according to character arc, sometimes according to philosophical underpinnings, sometimes (apparently very rare times) according to plot. There's going to be some crazy wild revising going on here.

I will get frustrated. I will get mad at myself. I will get crazy. But at the moment, I am a little bit thrilled. This book means so much to me and I really think some of the things in it are really important. It's been a challenge. I've been terrified of it. Right now, it's thrilling me. Andy keeps nodding and saying, "Phase Four."

I love this part of writing. I love when all the pieces are there, but they're rough and ugly and now I can use those more refined skills to massage things into place, to turn phrases, to create great scene endings. In another week, I'll probably again be convinced that it's a terrible book and the end of my career, but for now I'm hopeful and I'm sticking with that.

What's your favorite part of writing? Which phase? Does your family know which one you're in just by how you talk about your project?

Fringe and how to build a believable heroine

2011-08-26T09:37:00.002-04:00

I watched the first season of Fringe when it hit TV, got frustrated half way through and stopped, but since then, Maureen and Entertainment Weekly have convinced me to give it another shot.

What frustrated me about season 1 was that I didn't buy the heroine. I didn't believe her when she fired her gun, didn't believe her when she stripped to her underwear to climb into a sensory deprivation tank for the benefit of science, (and not for the hordes of teenage boys they were trying to attract to the show,) and didn't buy that this woman would be a successful FBI agent.

But when I picked up season 2 and started watching it, that all changed. I totally buy into the main heroine. First the show has stopped trying to create a sex symbol and instead they created a character. And this FBI agent wears flat, black shoes, loose black suits and a button up shirt that is untucked and not skin tight. She ties her hair into a ponytail when she works, she gets injured and takes several episodes to heal and when she fires her gun, I believe it now. I believe that woman, the one who dresses seriously, seems to wear no makeup and when she wakes in the morning, her hair is messy and even frizzy.

As the new TV season starts, and we get into a host of female dominated shows, where women will run wearing six inch stilletos, fight hand to hand wearing tight jeans and work a twelve hour day without a hint of a mascara smudge, I love that Fringe has committed to creating a realistic, intelligent female character while no longer caring what the teenage boy wants.

Because let's face it, he'll be watching the new Charlie's Angels tv show, and I'll still be watching fringe.

An Earthquake in New Jersey... Seriously?

2011-08-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

I don’t know if you all watch the news, but the east coast… that’s right Eileen the “east coast” - suffered a 5.9 earthquake yesterday.

I was heading back to my office after lunch wondering if the window washers were at it again when I saw the windows shake slightly. It took about five seconds to register what was happening. (I experienced an earthquake once when living in Seattle many many years ago so eventually I got a clue.)

I urged everyone under the doorways. I think I saw that in a movie or television show once – so it's good that I was using TV as some kind of survival guide.
Then I rode it out for a couple of more seconds with my co-workers. I might have giggled nervously. I might have.

When something like this happens you naturally take stock. What might have been if…? What was the worst that could have happened? More importantly… how did you react?

I’m a big believer in people finding out the most about themselves in crisis. As writers - isn't that what we are always doing with our characters? Natural disaster is one of those ‘BIG’ moments. What are your instincts? How does the adrenaline rush feel? What do you really want to do when crash hits? Have sex (like in so many romance novels) or lie down and take a Tylenol?

This was a minor event. A small tremor where for maybe 10 seconds total the earth shook and it freaked me the hell out. I didn’t cry. My first instinct was to tell people what to do (not shocking) and I tried to laugh as if it was okay but really I was wondering like everyone else if the building was suddenly going to collapse.

I want to point out… bring me a hurricane any day of the week. This we understand in New Jersey. Earthquake, mudslides, fires and tornados… not so much.

This will be good for my writing. We take so much of what we extrapolate from real life “as seen on the news” into how we think our characters will behave in certain situations. This is a good reminder the real thing – no matter how scary – is good research.

What about you? Did any of you shake a little?

Fright Night—Three Thumbs Up

2011-08-24T02:30:00.001-04:00

So, I’ve never really been one to like horror films—and it’s not only because I’m not a fan of being scared (although I am a bit of a ‘fraidy cat)—it’s more about the fact that they mostly seem dumb to me. Gore for gore’s sake, weak plots, stupid characters (if one can even call them characters), and teenaged girls running around in their underwear (or less) and screaming. But I was lured into the lair of Fright Night by two factors, or should I say two cute boys—Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin.

I’ve admired Yelchin as a young actor since the fabulous but underrated TV show Huff and I figured if he was in this, chances were it wasn’t that dumb. And Farrell? Well, even if the movie was dumb, watching him for 90 minutes would be a redeeming quality. ☺

So, I suppose I went in with relatively low but hopeful expectations, and boy was I pleasantly surprised. Because Molly loves lists, here are the top 10 reasons I liked it.

The vampires are scary monsters. Seriously scary monsters. No sparkling.
The plot holds together and—there actually is a plot. Sure, the main plot is pretty much: kill the evil vampire and live, but it was a really well structured story.
There were real characters. Well developed characters. Even characters who could have been throw-away stereotypes had some interesting quirks and inconsistencies that made them three dimensional.
The supernatural world holds together. Sure, to pull off a teenaged boy defeats an ancient evil vampire story the writer needs to put some tools and knowledge in the kid’s path to help, but the way those elements were introduced—it made sense and all hung together.
The girls weren’t stupid. The main character’s girlfriend was not only not stupid, she was brave and fought too. She wasn’t just a pretty victim for the hero to save. And we believed why she was with the main character beyond: the geeky guy in a horror movie needs a hot girl to save for no apparent reason reason. Even the neighbour who was basically a walk-on female character, who had maybe two lines, wasn’t a total dumb blonde stereotype.
There were lots of places that made me jump – but there were also lots of seriously funny parts. And not just making fun of the movie, funny. Actually funny. Smart funny.
Minimal TSTL moments. Yes, twice early on in the film characters run up stairs in a house when clearly they should be running out the back door... and I did roll my eyes at the time. But it turned out they actually had reasons to go upstairs, even if they weren’t instantly apparent as they started up the stairs.
Toni Collete is always awesome. (And did I mention Colin Farrell?)
A small suburb outside of Las Vegas made a smart setting for a vampire movie—lots of people work at night and sleep during the day, so even blacked out windows aren’t that odd.
It was just plain good fun and how can you not like a teen horror movie where there’s actually character development?

Phew, I made it to ten. ☺

Basically, throughout the entire movie all I could think of was how well it was done. Then the credits rolled. Written by Marti Noxon. I know that name. She used to write for Buffy. And then it all made sense.

Smart writer = smart screenplay = smart horror movie.

Yes, there was lots of blood and gore (and I saw it in 3D) but I really liked the way it all hung together. Has anyone else seen it?

Justified! No need for spoiler alerts!

2011-08-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Finally! I have science on my side! I have long been one of those people who must read the end of a book before I get there. It's too stressful to me to not know and I like seeing the way an author twists and turns things. Now, according to a study by UC San Diego, I was right all along.

Yep. Spoilers enhance our enjoyment of stories. In fact, spoilers may help us reach a deeper understanding of the story.

So . . . all you people who have looked at me with horror on their faces, all you people who have said that it's "cheating" to read the end of the story, to you I say HA! It's not just that I'm neurotic. It's science.

So are you an end reader? Or no?

Hair and bachelor Pad

2011-08-19T12:33:00.003-04:00

Because at this point in my life, I have absolutely nothing to offer on craft, and there seems to be a drastic absence of anything good on TV and me getting out to see a movie seems like a laughable concept, I have only Bachelor Pad to talk about.

Which is a tremendously sad statement on my life, and the glee with which I approach this show is bordering on pitiful.

That said, this week was the same soul sucking absence of anything worthwhile about the human condition, it did show some really interesting hair. Not just hair, but some pretty obvious extensions, so basically fake hair. Obviously there are no hairdressers in the pad, and the camera men are trying gamely not to show them completely from behind, unless they are in bikinis, and so the detail I noticed this week are that hair extensions are pretty obvious if your hair is stick straight.

And continually dying hair bright blond is pretty bad for hair as well, so in the bad lighting split ends and frizzies were everywhere.

So what does this have to do with writing. Well, truthfully almost nothing. Except reality television still gives me some of the most unique details about characters, like the hair thing, while showing the most broad characteristics out there. Kasey as a villain is so obvious because he practically cackles after every statement he makes. And even when you feel bad for a person, they still find a way to be awful, like the vapid blond chick who is humiliated when every guy in the house picks her as the least attractive and so she says horrible things about another girl to make herself feel better. That was a character detail that actually rang true to me.

And there, I just managed to justify the two hours that show will suck from my life this coming Monday.

The Final Stretch

2011-08-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

This blog will be super short today. All my energies are being poured into my WIP which is due in two weeks. Every word I type here is like one I’m taking away from my book.

Word count requirements….ughhhh. Darn publishers wanting things the way they want them.

But it is nice to take a break from the stress of the end. You know how it is, you can see the end in sight and you’re just typing and typing as fast as you can to get there. Pushing and pushing to make sure you hit that right word count number at the end of the chapter.

I love the end. I hate the end. I love deadlines because they push me to work harder. I hate deadlines because they stress me the heck out.

And people wonder why writers drink!

Okay that’s it. It’s all I can spare. This blog cost me 182 words and now I’m going to have to come up with a way to make that up. Here we go – the final stretch – DEEP BREATH.

Google What?

2011-08-17T07:12:00.004-04:00

Has anyone else played around with Google +?

I have to say, I really like it and if everyone I'm in contact with on Facebook and Twitter would move over to Google +, that would be awesome. *I"m waiting*

Alas, there is the rub with all these social networking things. You don't use the one that works best or has the best features, you use the one where everyone else is hanging out. Five or so years ago, that was MySpace and I hated MySpace. I did set up a page because all the workshops on how to promote yourself as a writer said I had to (it's probably still there) and made a very feeble attempt to get "friends" but found it mostly annoying. Then FB in the early days was so awesome. But lately I mostly find it annoying, too. It's like they're making it more commercial (ads, letting corporations set up pages) and at the same time making it WAY more difficult to use it, if one of your main aims in using it is commercial.... Or especially if you have dual aims... to use it to interact with actual friends and with, well, virtual friends and people you hope might read your books.

And Google + takes the best stuff from Facebook but sets it up the way you wish Facebook worked.

First, you can follow someone in a one-sided way and vice versa... That is, you don't need to accept me as a "friend" in order for me to follow your public updates and vice versa. In this, it's more like Twitter.

And... it's super easy to group everyone you choose to follow into groups -- called circles on google plus. So you can filter what you look at. "Only show me updates from people in this particular circle." That's possible on FB, too, but they've now buried their friend lists so deeply it makes me crazy. And it's very hard to manage your friend lists on FB. (Does anyone know how to delete an empty friend list???) Whereas it's easy to manage circles on Google +.

But I haven't even got to the best part yet. Every time you "share" or "post" you can choose who you want to share it with. No. It's not one main setting for the entire system buried under pages of security options. EVERY TIME you post, you can choose to share it with the public (everyone) or just certain circles, or just certain people. Awesomely flexible.

For authors and other people who have multiple reasons to use social networking sites, this verges on nirvana. I can share family photos with only my family. I can share a book review with everyone on the planet. I can share an article on writing or publishing with only other writers. Awesome.

And whereas it's possible to see who's added you to their circles, you can't see to what circles... so someone might be following my updates in a circle labelled "Idiots I laugh at" and I'll never know. :)

My friend Debbie Ohi (also known as @Inkygirl and @Ipadgirl has done some great posts about Google + if you're not yet convinced. Join. Please?

The Kids are All Right

2011-08-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

I know. Everyone else saw this movie last year. I just saw it Sunday night. I figured it wasn't one of those movies that you needed to see on the big screen. I was right about that, but now I want to talk about it and everyone else is like, "Eileen, that is so 2010."

BTW, this post will be positively BURSTING with SPOILERS. Alert. Alert. Alert.

Can I talk first about Annette Benning's face? OMG. She's beautiful. She appears to have resisted pressure to have plastic surgery. She looks so real and her emotions are so real on her beautiful real face. The scene at the dinner table when she realizes that her partner has been unfaithful to her and yet she has to endure the rest of the meal with her partner, her children and the man her partner is sleeping with? OMG. Amazing. Everything is on that face. She doesn't need to say a word. In fact, she doesn't.

I love that this family is essentially exactly where I am now. Two teenagers. Two adults trying to keep everything together. To be there for each other and for the kids and still find some level of self-actualization. The movie totally captured what that's like, right down to the fact that any house with teenagers in it can explode at any second. It just can. It's the way it is. They're crazy volatile and have a complete scorched earth policy. I have great sweet kids, but hand to God, it could go south any second. I've seen it. BTW, loved the way they handled the daughter leaving for college. She had to get that little snippet of rebellion in there before she left. Because they do need to. They have to separate from us. But she's still the same smart sweet loving kid she was.

It also captured how easy it is for two smart caring adults to lose their connection despite how much they love each other. I feel like I'm constantly fighting to keep from taking that step to where they are in this movie. I don't want to be Julianne Moore trying to control my partner's almost drinking problem or be the one with the problem who can't listen to what my partner's saying because I want that glass of wine that bad. The sex? That cracked me up, too. Who hasn't phoned it in here and there? Do that too often, though, and someone could end up doing Mark Ruffalo doggie-style in the middle of the afternoon.

Oh, and those moments when one or the other mom was totally tone deaf to what she was saying to her kid? I've heard that crap coming out of my own mouth. I know I'm screwing it up, but I can't help it. The thank you note thing? The one mom trying to be honest with the kid about sexuality and going oh, maybe a little too far, but maybe not and the other mom shutting her down. Okay. I guess it was always Annette Benning who was tone deaf.

So I loved loved loved this movie. I loved the people and the problems and the resolution at the end. It was a little like Molly's post about great reading experiences. I saw this movie at the exact right moment in my life.

Thanks. You may now all resume your previously scheduled 2011.

The core of your character

2011-08-12T10:39:00.000-04:00

There is this really amazing article in Rolling Stone about Breaking Bad. In it they have this really insightful analysis of Walter from Breaking Bad, where they sum up his need to continue making meth, in the current season, even after he has made enough money to assure his family's comfort after his death.

Walter, before his cancer diagnosis considered himself a failure, a mediocre teacher, his history a series of lost opportunities when his friends had gone on to make millions. But he is the best maker of meth in the criminal world and that has given him purpose and there has been a point in the show where it became not about his family, but about the work itself, and how he is the best at it, for the first time in his life and that's why he'll never stop.

What I like about it is that it's so specific. Mine has always been too vague for my characters, ie, she looking to gain more power to make up for having her freedom removed from her. It's fine, but the more specific that character core need gets, the better we can keep them true to their core needs, even as plot, or even the world changes.

Here's another one. Vienna from Bachelor Pad wants to be on television so she never has to go back to her minimum wage job again.