Everything I know about love and life I leanred from Nora Ephron

1.      Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.

2.      You can’t take it back. It’s already out there.

3.      Everyone thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor but not everyone could possibly have good taste and a sense of humor.

4.      He’s never going to leave her.

5.      I’m not your consolation prize.

6.      And I’m going to be forty! Some day.

7.      How long do I have to stay here and hold her. Is five minutes enough?

8.      When I took her hand for the first time it was… magic.

9.      Elizabeth Bennett is the greatest female literary character of all time.

10. I could never be with anyone who likes Joanie Mitchell.

And the most important of all... 11.  I’ll have what she’s having.
                                                                                      
Your voice and your romanticism will be truly missed Ms. Ephron. Thank you for everything.

Got Cover?

I do. :)

I expect many people who frequent this blog have seen this already, but just in case...

Here is the front of the dust jacket for DEVIANTS. The first book in my YA sci-fi thriller series that comes out October 30, 2012.

It's available for pre-order in hardcover, kindle and audio formats. More links to come when available. :)

Barnes & Noble
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon UK

Welcome Geri Krotow!

Every month Harlequin Superromance puts out some amazing books. It's a line that consistently challenges and fulfills the promise of category romance. One of my favorite authors is Geri Krotow, whose books are as interesting and surprising as her life!

One lucky commenter can win a book!!

Hi Molly and thanks for hosting me!

My new book, NAVY RULES, is the first in the Whidbey Island Series and published by Harlequin Superromance. It stars Commander Max Ford, an injured naval officer who is back from the war and in need of healing. Winnie Armstrong is the Navy widow and wife of his best friend who died in a Navy crash. Winnie offers Max relief in the shape of her therapy dog, Sam. Max and Winnie have a history, though—she became pregnant the one night they were ever together, almost two years ago.

I’ve wanted to write a military family series since I first sought publication. My desire is to highlight the strengths and struggles of military families who, world-wide, sacrifice and serve so that you and I can go after our dreams in the freedom we enjoy. As you know this business can be a bit convoluted and rarely do we get to write our “book of the heart” right out of the gate. I was thrilled when my editor suggested I focus on military romance and particularly that involving an entire military community. Our family was stationed on Whidbey Island, Washington for a total of 5 years, and my husband had the privilege of commanding a squadron there. I was blessed with so many friendships and the opportunity to see first-hand how we can all come together in the toughest of times—I learned about the September 11, 2001 attack while my husband was deployed and I was alone with our two children. But I wasn’t alone—I had the entire Navy and civilian community of Oak Harbor on Whidbey Island to join hands with.


Our navy life came to an end just two weeks ago as my husband retired from active duty. But our many duty stations and overseas experiences continue to inform my stories. The increase in word count to 85,000 for Superromance came just in time for me, as I long to write subplots and richer character arcs.
Thanks to you and your readers for having me!

Awesome or unlikeable

Like Maureen, I read the first scene of Can't Buy Me Love pretty much in it's first draft and my first reaction, besides seething jealousy, was awe. In ridiculously few words, Molly had created a heroine I instantly loved.

I loved her at the beginning and loved her more at the end, and always, always found Tara Jean fascinating and compulsively readable.

And then the reviews came out. That most were incredibly positive came as no surprise, but where I was dumbfounded came the reviews that called Tara Jean unlikeable and difficult. Because I truly did not understand.

She's not perfect, certainly not at the beginning, but writers learn quickly that our characters have to grow and change and become better people over the course of the book, and if she's perfect to start with, then there's nowhere for her to go.
And she had to create sparks with the hero and a passive, nice girl is not going to create sparks with a hockey legend.

Some of my favourite romance heroines start their stories as challenging. Ain't She Sweet's Sugar Beth was a genuine highschool bitch who made life miserable for those around her, and I adored her story.

Jenny Jones in Maggie Osborne's book starts the story in jail for killing a man, in self defense, and she's rough and hard, even with the little girl who recently lost her mother, but over the course of the book, she changes and becomes one of my favourite romance heroines ever.

I prefer heroines with hard edges, smart, even a little opportunistic. They're more interesting than the heroine who is great at her job, kind to old people, a great friend, even when those friends are walking all over her, and in general a doormat to everyone around her.

I'd like to see more heroines like Tara Jean in romance and I'm glad to say a lot more people loved Tara Jean than hated her.

Game Changers...

It’s Can’t Buy Me Love release week and I was thinking about what I wanted to write about because anything I say is probably going to be interpreted as … oh she’s Molly’s friend and she’s just supporting her.


And while that’s true – I think it’s important to look at this book and talk about the change I believe it’s going to have on contemporary romance. One of the things I love about the DBSA podcasts with Sarah Wendell and Jane Litte is that they are two intelligent women talking about romance books intelligently. In a genre that is much maligned this was a huge deal for me because finally I could relate to people who were taking what I did and more importantly what I read seriously. I feel like Can’t Buy Me Love falls into that category of books that says to the world, yes this is a romance novel, it’s smart and damn good, so stick it.

These characters are real and engaging and flawed. Many reviewers have commented on how difficult it is to like them right away until they fall under their spell. I think Molly’s effortless voice makes that easy. But it also made me realize how accustomed we are to “likeable” and “easy” characters.

That goofy heroine with the crazy wide smile who trips over her own feet but is so deserving of love… and look she’s finally found it!

And yes sometimes you want a light read and that’s all good. But sometimes I want a little meat to go with my potatoes and Molly does that. She brings the meat. She challenges the reader and she makes us think and feel and laugh and cry. That’s what a good book is supposed to do.

Making everything so darn easy… well it’s like vanilla ice-cream. Sure vanilla ice-cream tastes good. But when you get super rich deep dark chocolate you realize that the vanilla just isn’t as satisfying. So are we clear? Molly is meat and super rich deep dark chocolate ice-cream.

I think historicals went through this transition in the last few years with authors like Bourne, and Thomas and Milan. These are smart women writing at the top of their game. And suddenly the expectation of what constitutes a “good” historical has changed for me. Enter Cecilia Grant. To the point where there are authors I won’t read anymore. Not worth the calories for plain old vanilla.

I think – completely objectively – Molly’s books are going to be game changers. The bar has been raised and I think it’s going to make readers think about what they should expect from a really good contemporary romance going forward.

Renovating the romance genre

Dear Author gave Molly's new book an awesome review. In the review, among other great things, the reviewer said, "It’s as if O’Keefe understands the genre so well that she’s renovating it from inside, from the very center of its archetypes."

Not that any of this praise is surprising to me. I loved this book right from the first paragraph, the first time I read it, in the first draft of her proposal for this book. I don't think the opening changed a whole lot since the first time I had the privilege to read it.

"This was not how Tara Jean Sweet imagined her engagement. Perched on the edge of her eighty-nine-year-old fiance's wheelchair wearing a skirt so short there was a good chance the photographer was getting a shot of her uterus.

But at the top of the very long list of what was wrong with this picture were the cows."

Is that not the best opening for a contemporary romance, ever??? I mean: it raises questions, it's intriguing, it shows character, it sets up the situation -- and it's freaking funny. I think I snorted, loudly, when I hit the word uterus. People's heads turned.

I knew from reading this line the very first time that I was going to love finding out more about Tara Jean Sweet. (Even if I was a tiny worried about how Molly was going to pull off a romance where the heroine falls for her rich husband's son.) But only a tiny bit worried because I know Molly and her talent well enough to know that if anyone could pull that off, it was her.

And boy did she.

If you haven't bought this book yet, here's a handy link for Amazon:  Can't Buy Me Love and Barnes & Noble.

Not every reader of romance is going to love this book. And while I believe everyone should love it as much as I do, I think any time you're doing something different, something bold, something that pushes the limits of the genre, not everyone is going to immediately love it or recognize its brilliance. Look at any author who's taken the romance genre places it hasn't gone before--J.R. Ward comes to mind--and there will be haters.

But there will also be rabid fans. Of which I am one. :)

Congratulations, Molly!!!! 

Can't Buy Me Love is HEEEERRRRE!!!!!!!

At 9:27 p.m. on June 25, 2012, I received an email from Barnes and Noble informing me that my purchase had downloaded and indeed it had!!! I have Can't Buy Me Love on my Nook.

Part of me want to just open it and devour it. A wiser part of me wants to wait and take it on vacation with me next week. It's going to be difficult to force myself to listen to the wiser me, but I'm going to do it because few things equal the pleasure of getting to sink into an awesome book without interruptions.

Molly always does a fantastic job of balancing romance and conflict, both inner and outer. Plus, she's funny. I love that.

So Mazel Tov, Molly, on the release of Can't Buy Me Love and Mazel Tov to me on knowing what I'll be doing to make my plane flight whiz by next week!

Can't Buy Me Love Stuff that is happening this week...

You know, considering I've written 20 books, the release of Can't Buy Me Love shouldn't feel like such a big deal. But it really feels like a big deal. My stress level, as Maureen and Sinead can attest has hit new highs. Always a needy kind of friend, I've required a lot of hand holding this last week - and I think those two for making me feel like I'm not crazy. And in advance for the mess I'm going to be on Tuesday night.


So, there is a blog tour in the works, if you comment you can win a copy of the book. Here's the low down:
6/25 – HEA USA Today
6/26 - Get Lost In A Story
6/27 – Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
6/28 – Writerspace Blog
6/29 – Reading Romances

There have been some great reviews here are my favorites:

Janga at The Romance Dish

Jessica at Read React Review



And I actually really like this one, perhaps because she calls my characters douche bags...

Heroes and Heartbreakers



And for the whole week - if you happen to see Can't Buy Me Love in the wild - at a grocery store or bookstore, pharmacy - wherever and you can take a picture and send it to me on facebook or twitter - you are in the running for a $50.00 gift card to a bookseller of your choice, as well as some other fun odds and ends.

One More Sleep!

Tomorrow is the official release day of Molly's fabulous book, CAN'T BUY ME LOVE!

So excited. :)

Love or Hate?

So, I had a movie night last week and went to two in a row: Prometheus and Cosmopolis. Both were movies I was really excited to see, so I went in with high expectations.

For me, one delivered and one did not. Both had big ideas but for me one worked and one didn't. At all. In fact, I'm having trouble remembering the last time I hated a movie as much as I hated Cosmopolis  (and I saw that babysitter movie with Jonah Hill, the name of which I can't even remember. But I didn't hate that as much as I hated this. In fact, I rarely hate movies.)

What's ironic to me is that the one that was the more commercial of the two I saw that night actually pulled off more subtlety and interesting storytelling than the more high brow one.

I've read a few bad reviews of Prometheus, and I know a few people I follow on Twitter and Facebook didn't like it, but I really did. Interesting. Tense. And a heroine to root for. Plus, I've read a few reviews and analyses of the film that made it even more interesting to me. Things that would be spoilerish to mention. But I really liked Prometheus. Plus, really, if a movie has both Michael Fassbender and Idris Elba, what more could you want?

But I hated Cosmopolis. It's been almost a week since I saw it and I think I'm finally coming to grips with the reasons why. I've read a few of the positive reviews, wondering if maybe I just missed some deeper meaning, but no... I don't think so. People who liked it keep talking about how prescient the novel was but really? It was published in 2003. Seems to me that there were plenty of films and novels that were critical of rampant capitalism and the craziness of the finance industry well before that. I mean, even Wall Street covered that ground. And it's not as if the credit market collapse of 2008 was the first blow up in finance land.

Regardless of whether the film had "things to say", I think the biggest problem was that the main character, in spite of being played by the usually appealing (to me) Robert Pattinson, was beyond hideous. I'm all for an antihero if he/she is interesting, or if the story that unfolds is gripping, or if the ideas are compelling, but this man was despicable and boring (until he turned violent for no well-motivated reason, at which time he became repellant), the story was non-existent, and the ideas were, I thought, banal and obvious. Or maybe, while I believed a "greed is good" Gordon Gecko character, I did not believe this character could or would ever exist. Not for a moment. He was a bizarre cartoon idea of someone who works in the finance industry. Yes, a lot of people in that industry have a disproportionate sense of entitlement, inflated egos, delusions of grandeur. Sure. But most aren't insane. And this man was insane.

I think I'm so full of hate because I so badly wanted to like the movie. First, it's a Canadian movie and I'm a fan of David Cronenberg, and the cast was full of interesting actors, but yuck.

Ninety percent of the film takes place in a limo. But I don't think that was the problem. (I mean, I saw and enjoyed a movie last year that took place in a coffin...)

Has anyone else seen Cosmopolis or read the book?

Has anyone seen Prometheus yet? Gory, but good. :) I predict that Sinead will love it.

Lovin' another book and I don't know why

I've been listening to Anna Quindlen's Every Last One on CD while I'm driving all over hell and creation in northern California for the past few days. I actually cannot wait to get in the car to drive to Salinas (yes, Salinas!) on Wednesday just so I can listen to another disc or two. Well, that and get that spicy sweet tamarind candy on the plastic spoons that they sell at the Mi Pueblo Food Center.

Anyway, I have no idea why I'm loving this book so much. I'm on disc 4 and something finally happened. Granted, it's a super big thing, but really the first 3 and a half discs were what would be essentially step one of Christopher Vogler's adaptation of the hero's journey. It was the main character's ordinary world. It was, essentially, back story. Three and a half discs.

Now normally this would make me crazy. I would be hurling discs around the car (okay, I wouldn't do that because they're from the library and I don't want to return them scratched up) and swearing, especially with that whole New York Time Bestselling Author thing. I mean, really, shouldn't she know better?

It appears she does. Because I was absolutely rapt through all that back story. I even knew it was back story. I could tell what she was establishing. I didn't care. I loved it. Instead of hurling discs, I'm sitting in front of my house with the CD going, waiting for the end of the scene before I turn the car all the way off even if I have to pee. Now I have to figure out how she did it.

Part of it is that the heroine is a woman with teenagers. She is, essentially, me. I recognize myself in her and her friends. Quindlen's insights into the friendships between women are perspicacious, to say the least. She gets it. She also gets the rhythms of a marriage and how we relate to our teenagers.

But it's got to be more than that. That would totally hold me for a disc, but for close to four discs? No way! I'm a much tougher customer than that.

Part of it is the writing. It's the kind of stuff I love. Nothing fancy. Nothing overblown and purple. Clear and direct and bone-achingly beautiful without ever being show-offy.

That would also totally hold me for a disc, possibly two. We're still only up to 3.

I'm honestly not sure. I used to love Quindlen's columns in the back of Newsweek. This is the first of her novels I've read. I'm totally getting in line to read more.

BOOK PROMOTION...AGAIN

I know we've talked about promotion before, but my experience has changed so radically with CAN'T BUY ME LOVE, that I thought it was worth revisiting.

I still think that if you're writing category romance, there's not much you can do that will change your sales in terms of promotion. For the vast majority of category readers - the author's are less important than the line they buy. But if you are interested in elevating your name into one that people seek out, here are some ideas:

1. Goodreads giveaways are free except for the price of shipping. I firmly believe in giving your book away to readers as a form of promotion. If you have some loyal readers, send them a copy. If you're proud of your book, it's the best publicity you've got.

2. Reviews. A good review on an influential and well-read site, absolutely sells books. Dear Author and Wendy the SuperLibrarian I think are responsible for nearly a thousand e-book sales of my book HIS WIFE FOR ONE NIGHT. A good review on a site that isn't influential or is known for handing out soft reviews - might make you feel good (and that's always worth something) but it won't sell books. It takes guts to query those big sites for a review and more often then not, you'll get shot down. But if they like it - it's worth it.

3. Blog tours. I think blog tours are more about fostering relationships with the people who have the blogs. Will you sell books? Maybe. Will you make connections. Absolutely. And those connections matter. Again, be pointed in who you approach, do a giveaway. Return the favor.


Now, for Can't Buy Me Love - I don't have anything concrete yet. The book isn't out for another week, but there are some things that my publisher and yes, the publicist/marketing guru that I hired, have been doing that are great.

1. It's still about giving away books - Bantam put together what seems like a gazillion arc's and they are giving them away left, right and center. Creating word of mouth requires a lot of ground work and I think that's what the books do. By now people have seen the cover a bunch, heard the title, and they know about it. They've read some bad reviews but they've also read some good ones.

2. Facebook. Facebook feels more and more like ground zero for romance readers. Instead of worrying about postcards and bookmarks, or ads in magazines, I am throwing my attention and money into facebook. Ads. Fan page revamp. But the biggest boost I've gotten so far has been from the brilliant and generous Susan Andersen, who has posted regularly on her fan page about me - and sent her fans my way. My connection to Susan came through my publisher, but there are all kinds of ways to use facebook. And it's really about connection. With readers and other writers.

3. Writerspace. Go check them out. I pay a hundred something a month for them to run my contest, manage my mailing list, include me on all sorts of promotional events - they're amazing. Honestly, check them out.

4. The review thing still matters. And while my blog tour is still to come, I think that it too matters, more about connection than selling books, but we'll see.

My summer guilty pleasures

Summer is here, and so are my favourite time wasters of the entire year.

1) Bachelor Pad - It's truly awful and the people on the show are terrible human beings, but it's funny and the show, unlike The Bachelor, doesn't try and dress it up as anything but what it really is, a place for pretty people to act really, really badly towards each other. A true time waster, but I'm in for each episode and have been since the first season aired.

2) Battleship - Molly already sang its praises, but it's fun, really fun and if Taylor Kitsch and Vampire Eric aren't enough to get you there, its twice the fun of any Michael Bay movie without the blatant misogyny and prettier people on screen and it's sweet in its own way.

3) True Blood - it's devolved into a guilty pleasure, because the plots don't make a ton of sense any more, but its still really fun to watch and well, Steph, your boyfriend, Vamp Eric, is always really entertaining.

4) Beach reads - I never really count a book as a time waster, but during the summer I want fun, even campy, something chick lit and funny and I'm actively searching after reading a series of tense YA's.

5) Researching my dream vacation - I can't take it yet, but this time of the year I spend a little time on the internet discovering where, if I had the money and time, where I would go. A little apartment in Florence, or a hut on stilts over the water in Bali, a private plunge pool next to the beach in St. Lucia, or discovering amazing pastries in the South of France. Every week a new vacation.

That's it. Those are my time wasters. Anyone else have any good ones I can add to the list?

I Want to Write Like...

I want to write like Sherry Thomas, because even when I disagree with a choice she makes she still makes my heart ache with her emotional dynamics. She has set up a relationship dynamic for a couple that’s coming out in her next book and when I even think about reading this book I get teary eyed!

I want to write like Sarah Mayberry because she makes me remember everything I used to love about category and why I wanted to write it. She can fill up 70 thousand plus words over just a relationship conflict with no other bells and whistles and that is amazing. Plus she’s contemporary and fresh.

I want to write like Meljean Brook. I keep going back and reading her short story set in the Iron Duke world, which ultimately makes me go back and start reading The Iron Duke again. I want to invent that world. I want that world to be mine.

I want to write like my fellow DWT writers because they know more about craft and construction and pacing than I ever will. I want Eileen’s vampire guy with the icy breath, and Molly’s, Eli in Can’t Hurry Love and Maureen’s Dome world and Sinead’s historical/monster/YA idea because it’s so freaking new and different.

I want all of that to be mine instead of what is mine.

Do you all ever get like this? Like every time you write a sentence you’re just like blahhhhh that’s not any good. I’ll never be good. I suck. Why do I think I can write when there are other better writers out there?

I’m in this weird phase where I’m waiting for my next Super release in October and wondering how it will be received. Some days I think I nailed it. Other days I think… I’m kidding myself. Because it’s not Sherry Thomas and it’s not Sarah Mayberry and it’s not Meljean Brook. (Of course it couldn’t be… no steam punk in the Superromance line.)

But that fear, which I don’t ever remember having before about a book, is impacting the one I’m writing now. I’m trying push myself harder and go deeper with it and all I can think of is blaaaahhhhh!!!

So that’s what my current WIP is going to be known as. The Blaahhhhh book. And maybe tomorrow I’ll get up and think I don’t suck.

Revisions

I'm getting ready to dive into revisions. I love revisions. Revisions are when the project has a chance to actually become what I thought it could be when I started. Thing is, I think I want this to be even better than that. I am itching -- ITCHING, I TELL YOU -- to mess with the structure and the point of view.

I am tired of telling stories from the beginning to the end. I want to do something to explode the structure. Certainly not as ambitious as Time Traveler's Wife, but maybe as ambitious as Rosamund Lupton's Sister.

As far as point of view, well, I've written books in third person and I've written books in first person. I've never written one in multiple first person points of view. You know, like the Barbara Kingsolver thing where each chapter is a different character's first person point of view?

All this would be a big stretch. The book was a stretch in the first place. If I'm willing to stretch a little more it might actually turn into the book I dreamed it could be when I first dreamed of writing it. Those were damn big dreams, too. Damn big. I wanted to write a book that could change people's minds and hearts. It's not there yet, but I think it could be. I think I could make it that way.

Wish me luck.

Donald Maass Workshop

Donald Maass came up to Toronto for a full day workshop this weekend. He'd been here once two years ago and I still have the notebook of scribbles and lightbulb moments I took during that workshop. My memory was that it was magic so I eagerly grabbed my notebooks for this years workshop. And it was magic again - but of recognizable sort.

For those of you who haven't gone to one of his workshops - I highly recommend it. He spends hours and hours helping you create three-dimensional, fully realized characters. His whole methodology seems to me to be about time. He asks you a question about your character, a question that has nothing to do with the plot or about the characters relationship with other people, and then he tells you a story about why that question matters and then, gives you a few minutes to scribble things down. It's the last step that matters.

I give myself lots of time to think about my books - I go for walks, I brain storm, honestly , it feels like weeks before I'm able to actually write. But this kind of time - with no distractions and just asking questions about my characters, going deeper and deeper - I don't do it anymore. And I think it makes a big difference. It's not just about knowing your characters - which for some reason makes me roll my eyes - but it's about being informed about your world.

Last DWT Sinead (after determining that we could kill with our combined strength both Adam Levine and Fassbender (because they are thin little men, not because we are actually murderous) should they happen to walk into Maureen's living room) made the comment that we need more brainstorming. One day of plot work and then another day of character work. And I remember thinking - Good God, why would we kill Adam Levine - and that character thing seems like a luxury.

But then we had the Donald Maass workshop and I'm totally convinced - we need to make time for that luxury.

Some of my favourite things right now

I'm deep in line edits, my brain is mush and even the giant coffee I drank this morning isn't doing anything to wake me up. To top it off, my kids recently saw Sound Of Music for the 100th time and have been singing 'my favourite things' all the time.

So it's top of mind. So here it a list of my favourite things right now, only some of them writing related.

1) Cole haan shoes - Love them, some of their high heeled shoes have made me gasp when I've tried them on, because they don't feel like your toes are being squished into a little vee. Not all are amazing, but the ones that work will be the only heels you'll ever wear again...

2) Anna dressed in blood - by Kendare Blake - an amazing YA ghost story that is scary and tense and quick paced and with a great guy protagonist who is smart and wry and funny. I'm half way through and loving it.

3) P90X and Insanity - OK, this is more a love hate thing. I don't know if you've seen the cheesy informercials, but I have both of these. They are tough, tough, and I'm reasonably fit, and these regularly kick my butt, but as work out at home DVD's go, it saves me a ton of time getting to and from a gym and no other workout has ever felt as challenging as these. But the warnings should be considered, they are really tough and need to be approached with caution, as it would be easy to get injured if you haven't worked out before.

4) Yoga jeans - as comfortable as they sound and really flattering. I live in my pair.

5) Any book by Sherry Thomas - her latest just got released and it's part of my reward for finishing edits.

6) Sangria - Because it's patio season and nothing is more refreshing on a hot summer day.

That's it for me. Anyone have any other favourite things to add?

Why Movies Need Editors

I recently watched This Means War. First let me say I’m falling a little in love with Christopher Pine. My crush started in the new Star Trek and is consistently growing. Soon he might make boyfriend potential.


And I thought this movie was good. But as it ended I thought, it could have been great as a romantic comedy. But this movie needed my editor Wanda.

It spent too much time on the “action” and not quite enough time on the character development. Essentially it’s a romantic comedy/action film with a love triangle (a real triangle in this case and not V as the two men were in fact friends). As the movie progressed though it became way more romance than action film.

And I truly wondered what was going to happen. Who would she chose and how would the two love interests’ friendship survive. And as the movie went along it became obvious to me who the choice was going to be – I won’t spoil it for you. But when I got to the end and learned I was right – I saw all the little things they could have done to have made her decision more clear.

The whole time in my head I could hear Wanda saying… you need more here. You need to develop this earlier. We need to see more of her reaction/his reaction earlier on.

Let’s face it – sometimes when we write a story we know way more about what happens in it when we get to the end. It’s our job and our editor’s job to then fix the first part so that it leads us to that conclusion successfully.

I feel like this movie figured out in the last act who the “winner” was. But what they needed to do was go back and give us all those little delicious clues as to why she made the choice that she did.

They were there…. They needed more... just like Wanda is always telling me.

First Lines of Novels

I'm at that dreaded place again. Dreaded for me. Well, when I really think about it, it wasn't always a dreaded place. I think now that I have a modicum of success, the pressure adds more dread to....

Da-da-da-dum... The first line of a new book.

I know I could just get started, dive in, and figure out the first line/scene later, but thus far, books don't work like that for me. Wow. I've just realized it's true. I've written 8 or 9 full manuscripts and probably 4-5 other partials that I have yet to finish (and may never) and I have NEVER changed the opening of one of those books.

Sure, I edit and tweak--a lot. But that opening line, the way I see the beginning of the book, I've never once changed it. Have I? Sinead and Molly can correct me if I'm wrong. I did add a prologue to two of my unpublished manuscripts after the fact... but I've never completely cut an opening scene or completely rejected the opening line that first fell into my head.

I sometimes roll my eyes at authors who say that characters talk to them, or stories arrive from the ether and they (the authors) just transcribe... But I realize I need to take some of my eye rolling back. Because first lines come to me that way.

First lines are important. They draw the reader in. They set the tone. They raise questions.

I was at a great workshop with Donald Maass about 5 or 6 years ago during which he spent about 2 hours just reading out people's first lines, asking the group if they'd keep reading, and then we'd work as a group to find a better place/way for that author to start if their first line didn't work. Of the 40 or more first lines we looked at, I think mine was one of two that he and the group liked. I'm not bragging. Merely saying that these lines come to me like miracles from heaven and I'm not sure if I know how to start a book if the heaven's don't provide.

But I must. And I will. Every book I've written has developed differently (no process is my process) so maybe this will be the book where the first line/opening scene reveals itself later.

Or maybe my first line magic is used up... I have realized (with some trepidation) that in my last two completed manuscripts (the ones for Deviants and Chosen, the first two books of The Dust Chronicles) I open with a scene-setting line. Something that's considered in most circles to be a beginner mistake. (It was a dark and stormy night.) But I like the lines... I think that, while they do describe setting, they also create mood and pose questions, so I decided it was okay to break that no-description-in-your-first-line rule.

And now... in celebration of Deviants going into production and the ARCs being available at BEA this week--I hope they got them done in time--here is the opening paragraph of Deviants, coming October 30, 2012 from Amazon Children's Publishing:
 

The air at the uppermost reaches of Haven is hot and thick with the stench of rat droppings. Small price to pay for free food. Normal girls run screaming when this close to rats, but I can’t afford luxuries like fear.

And the original opening paragraph from my first draft:
 

The air at the uppermost reaches of Haven is hot and thick with the stench of rat droppings. Small price to pay for free food. Most teenaged girls would run screaming this close to rats but I’m not most girls. Not by half.

Not that different is it? OH, YIKES. Now I like the original better. Why did I do this?????? :)

And, first line gods... Please deliver onto me the first line for Glory. Book 3 of The Dust Chronicles.

Ding dong! The book is done!

I turned it in. The third book in my Messenger series has flown through that series of tubes we call the Internet from California to New York City. I walked around all day yesterday whistling, "Ding Dong! The book is Done!" Then tonight my youngest child graduates from high school. He turned 18 about 3 weeks ago. Some of the ladies here know about the little issue I had with his birthday dinner, but they've been sworn to secrecy. Hear that drunk writers? SECRECY.

Anyway, I'm done with my book and apparently I'm done with child rearing. I told my oldest I'm now just his friend. He told me that sounded chill.

Another thing that's chill? Getting to the book that's been waiting for revisions for months. Months!!! I don't even remember what I wrote. It has to do with a car accident, some teenagers, a senator, a preacher and some religious controversy.

Then I have to figure out what to do. The last couple of years have been crazy busy. Kids graduating from high school and applying to colleges. Kids going to college. We've moved my mother twice and she's had innumerable health crises which seem to land us in emergency rooms on holidays with lots of drinking. Oh, and my day job went from part-time to full-time.

One of my sisters thinks I need to take a hiatus and "just be Eileen" for a while. The other sister thinks that I need to keep writing because it's usually most crucial to keep going just when it's the hardest. I don't know what I think except that I'm pretty sure that I'm at a major crossroads and that there's no right road and no wrong road, but I'm going to have to choose a direction.

The Avengers and liking your characters

So it's no secret that I'm a hugh Joss Whedon fan, and last night I finally got around to seeing the Avengers, and yes, it's as good as the hype. So go see it, you will have fun.

But my major take away from the movie is how much affection Whedon has for each of his characters and it shows. Everyone in the movie has one great moment, at least one great line and is as strong as everyone else.

And no where is this evident than in the female characters, even the minor ones, who are strong and interesting and equally as capable as their male counterpoints. And yes, Scarlett Johansen does wear a skin tight suit, but so does Captain America and the camera spent as much time focused on his butt as it did on hers.

Whedon does this, his women are always as capable as his men, it's why I've loved his work, and a fantastic contrast to the usual women as sidekick role, see anything directed by Michael Bay, where the women are lingered on by the camera, but pretty useless elsewhere, but I'm pretty sure Michael Bay hates his human characters, why else would he make them act like that?

The Avengers made me think about my current WIP, which is definitely centred on one protagonist, and whether I've given all my characters a heroic moment, a sweet moment and one where they are the star of the scene. I'm pretty sure I haven't, but I'm going to go back and fix that and I'm going to try and like all my characters equally, because I'm pretty sure I've played favourites before.

Has anyone else gone to The Avengers? What was your favourite part of the movie?

Back to self-publishing...

Two interesting things came up this week since my mini rant that I thought I would share. Turns out there was a sampling done (very small) among 1007 self-published authors. I don’t’ know if any of these authors had been traditionally published previously.


Some were earning more than $100,000 per year, but the average was around $10,000 a year with less than 10% of the authors earning 75% of the total revenue. And half of all authors earned less than $500 in a year.

I thought this was a perfect mini picture of what reality looks like. It shows there are definitely going to be top earners, but most are going to be lower earners.

Guess what – that’s very true of traditional publishing too. Some are going to be Nora Roberts. And some are going to be… well me.

And then I read Sarah Mayberry’s blog regarding her self-publishing effort Her Best Worst Mistake (which if you enjoy her books or category novels in general you’re going to LOVE this.) This was a perfect example of how a combination of traditional publishing and self-publishing can work for you. She had a project that didn’t really work for Harlequin and was a nice compliment to her category career. Harlequin gave her permission to use the characters previously printed in a Blaze book and because she’s an established category author with a great reputation for writing quality books she’s probably going to make out really well with this title.

But she makes the point that the one thing that was missing from this project was Wanda Ottewell. For those who don’t know Wanda, she’s Molly’s and Sarah’s and my editor with Harlequin. I think we would all raise our hands and say she’s amazing and has made us all better writers. And to Sarah’s credit, she has obviously learned enough from Wanda over the years to know what she’s doing. Her book was awesome. But still there is that risk.

And I thought that is it. That’s the choice we get to make. Sarah made a great point about not standing on either sideline and wagging our fingers at one another. And I thought right – I don’t want to be on the sideline either. I’m a traditionally published and self published author. Now I know which I prefer and what I think works for me, but the great part of this new shift in the business is that we have options.

What’s important is that we recognize the pros and cons of each option.

I love it when Shatner shows up

We're watching the season premiere of Rookie Blue. I sort of constantly want to smack Andy and Sam because they can't follow the rules for more than like two seconds. Then all the sudden, William Shatner stumbles out of a car and the whole show just got better.

Say what you will. He can be melodramatic. Still I just love him. Maybe it's my memories of how goldenly beautiful he was back in the Stark Trek days. Maybe it's remembering him calling people maggots when he was TJ Hooker. I even liked it when he kept saying his character's name on Boston Legal. Of course, let's not forget his turn as my uncle on Sh*t My Dad Says. He just makes me happy.

So does Patricia Clarkson, for that matter. She's another one. She makes everything she's in terrific.

Do you have anyone like that? An actor or actress that makes you tune in?

I loved Battleship and I'm not afraid to admit it

I did, I loved that movie. There is a good possibility that the two beers I had before hand were what made it so special, in which case I can only urge you to have two beers and then go see a really fun movie.

I think Peter Berg must be a nice guy. All the stuff he does, seems to have such a warm beating heart to it. He takes the time to show the small moments that create not just character, but special character. This is a total action movie, no real surprises, but he gives us little moments with the characters that are special. Different. The winks and nods to the game Battleship were really clever. The bombs, the fact that for a part of the movie the two opposing forces were fighting each other blind - really clever.

Maybe it's my love of Taylor Kitsch that has blinded me to possible flaws in this total popcorn, summer, special effects driven blockbuster. It's possible. I do love him and this movie could have been called Tim Riggins Gets a Haircut and Saves The Planet. Honestly, Kitsch's character even drives the same freaking truck as Riggins. Not joking. And there are some other nods to FNL. All fun, for the four of us in the audience that had actually seen that show.

As a side note did anyone watch Simpson's last night? Lisa wants to be a YA writer but can't actually sit down to do the work so she does all the procrastinating that all of us do, including watching all the season's of FNL. Very funny. A good wink at the YA world.

Anyway - there are worse ways to spend some time. Have two beers and go watch Rigs save the world.

Mandy Patinkin is breaking my heart

I got my hands on Homeland and watched the entire series in less than two weeks, because it is amazing. It's tense and the characters are amazing and complex and the plot twists are awesome and Claire Danes plays possibly the most interesting, driven and screwed up woman on TV right now and she's totally believable.

But hands down my favourite part of the show, (and Damian Lewis is on it, so this is saying a lot) is Saul, played by Mandy Patinkin. I love that on a show with so much tension, he is so calm, almost understated, a pretty wonderful foil to the Claire Danes character.

He is soft spoken, so when he does yell it makes more of an impact, he is a voice of reason and somewhat of a power player in Washington and during the course of the first season, his life sort of falls apart. Sorry(Spoilers ahead), stop reading here if you don't want to know, but in a show with lots of twists, this is one of the minor ones.

His wife of 25 years leaves him. It's quiet, no yelling, no hysterics, just the extreme sadness of two adults. She wants a husband who can be with her, is interested in what she loves and he wants a wife who is there for him when he needs her, but their needs do not line up. He loves her, because when she is in his life, he isn't lonely, but she is often lonely, because his job takes up so much of his life, which is shown perfectly in the first episode when he goes to pick her up from the airport and he gets called away and he has to take a cab home.

In a show where a lot of plot is a little over the top, life and death, this subplot, in it's understated and quiet way, was the perfect counterpoint. Saul, while being the backbone for everyone around him, sees his own life falling apart and no one really notices. Especially the main character who is caught up in the drama in her own life and job, and yet the relationship between Saul and Claire Danes doesn't change because she is not his backbone.

It's a fascinating relationship, and one of the many things the show does really well. Anyone else watched it? (Maureen has, and is the reason I watched it)

In Defense of Harlequin...

So I was incredibly disappointed that I couldn’t post last week on the heels of Maureen’s post about Owning your own Decisions. (Darn day job!) But I have to say I was startled by the Peterson blog. Yes, I think it’s great she wanted to share her numbers, but I feel that new authors reading that post might not have all the facts and without them could be making the wrong decision to go with self-publishing vs being published through a traditional publisher.


Now, I don’t know this author and don’t know her work. I think it’s great she was able to sell through her advance on all her HQ books the first time out and was actually earning out at such high numbers. Truth – I’ve never earned out more than 20K on an HQ book.

But I would contend that the only way she is going to make any money in the self-publishing world is if she takes the readers and fans she’s cultivated through traditional publishing with her. And in my opinion it’s totally uncool to have the advantage of writing for HQ and building a following from those books, to then turn around and call them a crummy company because of contract rates she agreed to. Sorry.

Harlequin is a business. Its purpose is to make a profit. It offers writers contracts which we choose to sign or not. My agreement with them - I write a good book on time. Their agreement with me - they content edit it, copy edit it, design cover art, brand it with the HQ label and put it in stores and make it digitally available so people will buy it.

If a writer thinks she can make more self-publishing go for it. But let’s look at the facts. I don’t know the actual numbers (I’m sure it’s out there somewhere) but I have to believe the mass majority of previously unpublished ‘self-publishers’ will make SIGNIFICANTLY less than what they could earn with HQ. I know RWA did a study to show how significantly less “digital only publishers” ultimately paid out rather than traditional publishers.

I know this sounds harsh - but I think Konrath is selling some kool aid folks.

I spent 6 months writing a book, months beyond that editing a book. I had beta readers (at no cost to me – but cost in time to them – thanks DWT). I spent $400 plus dollars on a copy editor. $150 dollars on an ad at Goodreads. I blogged. I tweeted. My agency spent ad dollars at Smart Bitches and sent my book to Netgalley for reviews.

Ask me how much money I’ve made in the near 6 months since its release.

I’m a traditionally published author. I’ve written fourteen books for Harlequin. I’ve won an RT award and have been a Top Pick twice. Ask me again how many people rushed out to buy my self-published book? A book I priced (I thought fairly) at $4.99 given that it was 90 thousand plus words. Which is now on sale for $3.99.

Okay I’ll tell you. In 6 months I’ve sold less than 75 books. I’m just about to crack over $125 dollars with my next month’s sales. Let me say that again $125 dollars!

Now the traditional publishing critics I’m sure will abound. Maybe I wrote a book no one wants to read. Maybe it’s the cover. Maybe I didn’t do enough publicizing. I recognize all those things.

But here is the kicker do YOU want to do those things? Do YOU want to spend every 30 minutes tweeting and promoting when you could be writing? Do YOU want to constantly be giving away FREE material in an attempt to attract readers to your PAID material? Do you want to compromise your craft by rushing feverishly to produce content in order to build momentum and attract enough readers that will finally make your self-publishing efforts worth it?

Last time I checked Harlequin never asked me to write anything for free.

When I read the comments on that post – I was amazed at the numbers I was seeing. People talking about hundreds of thousands of copies sold. And maybe it’s true, but if you’re selling those kinds of numbers it’s because either a) you have some built in platform/fan base already b) you’re doing absolutely everything you can to promote/push your books including writing A LOT for free c) you’re focusing on erotica which is still the best money maker in ebooks. Or d) you’re damn lucky – which I know happens.

If you’re not one of those things – if you are a newbie – then you have to ask yourself is it worth taking 6% 15,000-20,000 sold or 70% digital only of 100 books sold?

What’s misleading I think is for an HQ author who is consistently selling 15,000 copies per book, who has been released consistently maybe two or three times a year, who then decides to migrate to self-publishing - to say how much more money they are going to make self-publishing. Obviously their numbers are going to be better! They have a following. 70% of that following is better than 6% of that following. And truthfully if you’re willing to take on the risk, be your own editor, do your own cover art and your own promotion then you deserve 70% of that money. But to suggest that Harlequin or any other publishing company is out to rob, cheat or give you a bad deal is just not accurate. They gave you a great deal. They gave you a leg up in the self-publishing world.

Newbies beware! Is Harlequin perfect – hell no. Is any option perfect - hell no. But when someone starts throwing around numbers like all anyone has to do is put a book up on Amazon and start raking in the dollars – I’m here to tell you – that just isn’t true.

Recent YA Fiction is Not Written for Kids

A mutual friend of the Toronto DWT contingent recently read a short story that I recently had published in a High School English text (how cool is that, BTW!). Midway through reading she looked up at me to say something like: I like how it's written as if it were for adults, not for kids.

I took that as a great compliment. But was thinking later about the surprise in her voice when she said that. This is a friend who doesn't read a lot of YA. If she did,  I don't think this would have been a surprise. That is, I don't think I'm the only writer who writes YA but doesn't tailor the work "for kids".

And it made me realize yet another reason why YA fiction is gaining so many fans of late.

While the "New YA" books are about teens, most aren't written for kids. The language and writing style of the best YA's I've read hasn't been dumbed down because the target readers are teens. And why should they be?

I mean, let's face it, teens often read way more than adults (primarily because they're forced to for school) so even teens who are not fiction fans probably have better (or at least as good) comprehension levels as adults. In fact, teens might be slightly more sophisticated readers than your average adult.

Now, when I say that, I'm not comparing all teen readers to an avid adult reader. I'm comparing an average teen reader to an average adult reader. Comparing those two, I'd guess the average teen reads more fiction than the average adult, even if it's just stuff he or she has to read for class. And the voracious teen reader? Well, she's got more time to read than most adults and reads a lot.

So, it makes me think again: what was with all the YA books written in the past that used simpler language, or had easier ideas, or spoon fed information, or contained on-the-nose "lessons"? I mean... no wonder teens didn't read them.

And thank goodness for all the awesome teen fiction available today! I sure wish books like that had been around when I was a teen! Instead I read adult books that, while entertaining, had little in them to which I could relate.

Desperation Exhaustion Exhilaration

I am at that point in the book. I am so close to done that I can taste it. I almost had the final scenes written today, but couldn't quite get them done before I got too hungry to write anymore and had to break for dinner which then apparently sapped my will to do anything but watch a TV show and work on my plarn bombing project.

The amazing Golden Heart finalist AJ Stewart helped me figure out how to accomplish a major plot point at dinner on Friday night. I should be able to write that scene on Wednesday some time. Now I just want it to happen. I want it to be done. I want to hit send. I don't even care if it's any good. I just want it gone. I am having memories of how good it feels to have it be over. It's a little like finishing a long run. I'm thrilled to stop, but so glad that I did it.

Everyone knows I'm almost done because I keep referring to it as "the f*cking book" which is apparently my tell. I hadn't realized that until about the third person said something about it. Do you have a tell? Can everyone in your tell when you're almost finished?

Sometimes I just want to be entertained

This is my post where I try and explain why I might consider going to see Battleship.

Sure, it looks awful, bad dialogue, stiff acting, plot ridiculousness, but things do go boom, and Taylor Kitsch and Alexander Scarsgard are really pretty and sadly, that's enough for me.

Apparently it's a pretty fun movie and those are my expectations going in. Make things go boom, have pretty people and I'm pretty sure it can live up to that. Now, it's great when a movie can go beyond, ie. Cabin in the Woods and The Avengers, but not everything has Josh Whedon attached to it (the poor man would be exhausted)

 I'm also looking for some entertaining books. I just finished, on Molly's recommendation, Courtney Milan's The Governess Affair, which is awesome. And I'm holding buying Insurgent until I finish another edit on a book, but I also want something really, really fun to read. Something funny, and light, and sexy would nice. (I've already Molly's Can't buy my love, but if you haven't, it's coming out soon)

 So any recommendations, I love a rich, emotional historical, or paranormal, but right now, give me a great, cute contemporary or chick lit to switch things up.

 Or should I just re-read one of the Susan Elizabeth Phillips on my shelf?

Own Your Decisions in Publishing

The writer loops have been all a-flutter with Ann Voss Peterson's very honest and well-reasoned post about why she's decided to no longer publish with Harlequin.

I applaud her frankness and her willingness to provide hard numbers to back up what most people who pay attention to the business side of things suspected or knew about publishing with Harlequin. It was great to see the bottom line of the number of books sold and the actual amount earned over various titles, and to see what the average royalty rate is (after sifting through all the various rates for different formats and different sales channels and different foreign markets.) I also applaud her right to make this decision and own it.

But what bothered me about some of the reaction out there in writer-land were the: "this is another example of publishers ripping us off!" comments.

Um. No. Harlequin isn't ripping authors off.

They aren't violating their contracts (like some publishers have), or failing to pay what they agreed to pay (like some publishers have)... They paid her what she was due according to the contract she signed.

To suggest that publishers are taking advantage of authors, infantilizes us. I don't know about you, but I consider myself a grown up. Immature, sure, but a grown up capable of making my own decisions.

Authors who sign contracts aren't (usually) idiots. They aren't being bamboozled. Yes, as that post illustrated, if that particular author had sold the same quantity of books on her own, or with just about any publisher, she would have made more money. BUT the big question is... Would she have sold that same volume of those particular books with anyone besides Harlequin?

It's kind of moot for her, because the self-publishing option wasn't viable when she published the books in question, so perhaps it's more interesting/relevant to wonder: if you're an aspiring author today, who's written a category-style romance, and you're trying to decide what to do, would you do better self-publishing or publishing with Harlequin? (Let's assume you've written a book strong enough that Harlequin wants to publish it and you're weighing the to-sign-or-not-to-sign question.

Only the crystal ball knows with certainty how things would turn out (and mine's in the shop), but especially for an unknown author who's written a short-format romance novel--a market that Harlequin virtually owns, owns globally--one would have to consider at least two major questions:

1. Can I compete with Harlequin and sell as many copies of my book as they could and get it translated into as many languages and into as many markets?
2. Would I rather make more money per book, or reach a wider audience?

There's no right or wrong answer--each of us has different goals and even when we have similar goals, we might choose to bet on a different horse, so to speak, but the questions have to be asked.

In my mind, by publishing with Harlequin, you give up revenue per book sold in order to: a) get the wide distribution (that's enough for some people), and b) gain name recognition to possibly launch yourself elsewhere at some point in the future.

We all make bets. None of us can predict the future or guarantee how many copies of any title will sell. But the point I started out this post planning to make is ;) whatever you decide to do in publishing: own your freaking decisions. If you're published by Harlequin, or whoever, and not making a huge amount per copy, don't let the pundits talk about you as if you're a child who was taken advantage of by your publisher.

And don't be that child.

Read your contracts before you sign. Learn about the industry. Think things through. Know yourself (your strengths/weaknesses and how much time and money you're willing to spend on marketing/promotion) and then decide how you want to be published. Weigh the pros and cons of all the options as best you can with the information available right now.

Then, if the world changes tomorrow and you regret a contract you signed?--and at the pace at which the industry is changing right now, it's hard to believe we won't all sign a few contracts we'll later regret--then don't whine. At least not publicly. Instead, whine to your friends (within reason) and drink beer (without reason).

Rant over.

Romantic Comedies Again

So this time it's Friends with Benefits. I watched it this weekend while I was folding laundry and Andy was out gallivanting somewhere near the coast. I am grateful for one thing. I did not suggest that the boys watch it with me. It could well have rated as one of the worst movies to watch with your children ever, even if the children are basically 18 and 20. There is a lot of sex in this movie. Oh, sure, there's a lot of flirting and a lot of cuteness, but mainly there's a lot of sex. As a bonus, there's a lot of Justin Timberlake's abs and butt. That boy is so adorable. I wish it didn't make me feel like such a dirty old woman to notice it.

I'm sure you all know the basic plot. Two friends decide to relieve their sexual urges with each other and it's supposed to be a no strings attached situation. Just friends. Of course, it doesn't stay that way. That's the great thing about the sex scenes. When they start their deal, the sex scenes are hysterical. They tell each other exactly what they want and don't want in a way we pretty much never do with lovers because we don't want to ruin the moment or hurt their feelings. They joke around and banter just like they do when they're playing Wii or walking in the park.

Then comes the big moment when the sex totally changes between them because the relationship has changed. I thought it was such a great expression of that. Really well written and well acted, too.

It wasn't a perfect movie. I wasn't really sure why Justin Timberlake finally realized that Mila Kunis was "The One," but that could have been because I was trying to match socks by that point and frankly that can be complicated.

Anybody else seen it? Liked it? Loathed it? Think Justin Timberlake is hot? Think I should be jailed for noticing?

Being Chosen

We had an awesome Toronto Romance Writer's meeting this weekend. It was an author panel and the organizers selected a varied group of authors who, I felt, were all very honest and very real. The focus of the conversation was on goals - which in these changing times - is a pretty interesting and fluid conversation. Making money writing books used to mean New York houses and best-seller lists, but that's all changed and when I thought about what I would do if I was starting out in publishing right now - I honestly didn't have an answer. Would I still target Harlequin? Digital first publishers? Self-publishing? Man, the options make my head spin, and everyone you talk to has a success story and a cautionary tale.

But, I did say on Saturday that there is nothing NOTHING like working with an editor you trust and respect. The kind of trust and respect that comes from a track record of working with other authors that they have helped make into super stars, and the kind of trust and respect that comes from working together over years. If I was hiring someone would I feel the same way? I am not disparaging the many talented editors for hire out there, I am disparaging myself - I'm lazy and don't want to change things unless I have to - would I feel like I had to if I was paying someone? If I disagreed, as I often initially do with my editor, would I sort myself out until I agreed with them and did the right thing? I've got no answer.

And as I was thinking on the way home, part of publishing process that remains thrilling and affirming and special is being chosen. Being chosen by an editor or an agent. Getting the call, having a professional gush over your work, I tell you what - that shit never gets old. And there are a lot of writers out there who have worked hard to be chosen, never got the call and have struck out on their own with great success and to them I offer my heartiest and sincerest fist-pumping congratulations - way to own your decisions. Way to stick to your guns and preservere.

But to those authors who wrote one book that didn't get chosen and then they turned to self-publishing - you're selling yourself short, I think. Being chosen is still a very worthy goal, but it takes a lot of work.

I don't know what I'd do if I was coming up in publishing now and, honestly, I'm glad I'm not - too many options paralyze me. But being chosen is still a worthy goal.

Why does my E-Book version cost more than the print version?

I didn't notice at first, because I was so caught up in the excitement of ordering a book at 11pm at night and it arriving directly to my E-Reader. I was so thrilled because my bookshelves are overflowing and now all my recent books are on one, small little device.

Then one night I went to go buy a Joanna Bourne novel, because, well, her writing is gorgeous and the book came with some amazing recommendations. And the price for the book was $11 canadian. Which I found weird, because the mass market paperbacks at my local bookstore are $9.99. (We pay for books in Canada, than the US, mostly because of duties). I didn't buy the book then, because I thought it was strange. I had the same experience when I tried to buy Meredith Duran, and now Sherry Thomas, all the e-book versions of their latest releases are more expensive than the print versions.

 There's a lot of chatter about this on the internet. A lot of back and forth, none of which I've really read. I do know, when I go buy a YA novel thats out in Trade paperback, or hardcover, on my kindle, I pay a little less than the print version. This is really something I've only noticed in mass market paperbacks which is primarily how a lot of single title romances are released.

Here is my problem with paying more. There is a cost to printing a book, a much larger cost than downloading an electronic file. There is a cost for publishers in sending books to retailers, because retailers send back the mass market paperbacks they don't sell. This cost isn't incurred in selling an E-book. I'm not asking for a major reduction in cost, but paying more just doesn't make any sense to me.

I will happily pay for the editing of the book, the cover art, but all those costs are incurred in the print version, so it's not like they are an additional cost to the E-book. And given my love for my kindle a lot of my books are being bought through Amazon, who clearly state, price set by publisher on their sale page of each book, so Amazon isn't setting the price.

 I know there is a war being fought by the publishers and Barnes and Noble against Amazon, but as a consumer, I don't care. I've bought more books since getting my kindle, which works well, at least for the publishers.

But I still haven't bought the Bourne, Duran and Thomas books. It might only be a $1.00, but that dollar bothers me. Do they think I don't notice, or care? I may be the only consumer who cares, and maybe these author's sales haven't been affected.

But in the end, a book I would have happily bought the moment it was released, I'm now going to borrow from a friend, and the author and publishers lose out.

I just don't know why they don't see that?

Canonical Books

So I’ve been battling my insomnia lately with Sleepy Time tea and DBSA podcasts – which are Sarah Wendell (SBTB) and Jane Lit (Dear Author) talking about various different topics. I had this idea that some chatter in the background would help me drift to sleep.


Not so. Instead I hang on every word because it’s fascinating to me and then I join in on the conversation – they don’t know I’m doing this – and agree or disagree with the things they say. Needless to say I’m not getting any sleep during these podcasts but I’m really enjoying having very smart conversations about books and romance in particular. The last one I listened to was about Romance Canon and since Molly likes lists I thought we would do one for fun. Now the distinction is - these are not books we would use to introduce someone to romance – but instead are the romance “mothers” let’s say of their particular niche. Jane and Sarah broke these into new canon and old canon. There are many many of these types of books – but I chose a particular few.

My list

Old Canon – historical – Anything by – Kathleen Woodiwiss - A lot of people go Flame and the Flower but I think any of her books signifies at least for me the start of historical romance.

Old Canon – contemporary – Whitney My Love/Knight in Shining Armor – Judith McNaught. For me especially WML was the introduction into that torturous hero who just broke the heroine’s heart over and over again. I’m sure I would throw this book at a wall today – but when they mentioned it I was like YES! That book!

Old Canon – Paranormal - Gift of Gold – Jayne Ann Krentz – I loved this book and I don’t think Jayne gets enough credit for stepping outside the boundaries as early as she did. She was doing Sci-Fi Romance in the 90s which was pretty gutsy.

Old Canon – Category – This is a big fat tie between Nora, Linda Howard, Elizabeth Lowell and Jayne Ann for me.

New Canon – historical – This is a tie for me between Stephanie Laurens – who was really responsible for bringing me back to historical romance with the Cynsters and different types of heroines. And Sherry Thomas – for changing our expectations about what a romance is.

New Canon – contemporary – Can’t Buy Me Love – Molly O’Keefe. I know - it sounds like I’m dong promoting for her, but I truly think when her books are released were going to see a shift in contemporary romance. In that the small town, homespun, light hearted sweet natured contemps that have been ruling are going to have to make way for more meatier more angstyier (I know – not a word) type of books.

New Canon – Paranormal – Zhadist - need I say more? - JR Ward. For me he is the new father of the tortured Alpha hero. And I would add to this Meljean Brooks – Iron Duke (probably just because I loved it so much.)

New Canon – Category – I’m leaving this one open. I’m reading more category now than I ever have before and I’m loving a lot of it – but I don’t know if I’m ready to proclaim a name in this yet. I think I need to read more by the same author.

And that’s it. So what’s on your list? In YA, women’s fiction, Sci-Fi, Mystery? What are those books that might not have been the most popular, or the highest selling, but somehow fundamentally changed the genre.

Short is Hard

Except when it comes to blog posts. And this one will be very short indeed.

I've been struggling to write a short story for what must be a month now and it's just not working. Why can I write 5K of a novel in 2-3 days--easily--but a 5K short story takes AGES.

Okay, I do know at least some answers, but I'm not sure when I've felt this blocked. Aaargh.

In better news, I actually had a very short story (about 1,800 words) published in an high school textbook this month! How cool is that! And it was illustrated (not by me). That story took a while to write too, come to think of it. Although once I figured out I could write the story all in one scene, it came pretty easily (then it was about revising over and over and over). With this new one, I just don't have the structure figured out yet, and when I story's short... there's no room to drift about with structure.

I need to have an epiphany. Anyone know where to buy one?

Any short story tips? Any great online how-to articles? Clearly I'm more comfortable in novel form.

Unseemly Jealousy

I am absolutely green with envy at the moment. Green, I tell you! I'm listening to Joshilyn Jackson's A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty while I'm driving all over hell and back in northern California. It is so good that it's making me almost seethe. It's funny and smart and absorbing and so full of emotion and love that it's nearly overwhelming.

Not only is it flipping' fantastic, she's reading it and doing an awesome job. Some people have too much talent.

This is exactly EXACTLY the kind of book I want to write next. I am so jealous that she is already.

Professional jealousy is a topic that comes up on occasion in writers groups. It can be a really destructive force. In this case, I'm really hoping it's a positive one. I don't want anything bad to befall Joshilyn. In fact, I want her to keep writing so I can keep listening and reading. What I want is to take this book, rip it apart into little tiny pieces and figure out how she did what she did so that I can do it, too.

So anybody you're jealous of? Has it been a good thing or a bad thing?

P.S. Maureen, look at me getting the paragraph breaks in their correctly like a big girl!!!!

Inspiration Needed

So, I'm starting a new book and I've got a great idea I'm excited about and it got some great tweaking from Sinead and Maureen, but now, I find that with the changes, I can't picture my hero. I can't see where he lives, or what he's wearing when we first meet him. I'm not the kind of author who finds pictures of hot guys and then uses them as inspiration for my hero. Usually I do that after writing the book. I don't have a pintrest board, or a collage of themes. But what I do need is a vibe. And I totally steal my vibe from the greater world. For instance my heroine the vibe is a mishmash of Elizabeth Taylor, punk rock music, the book Eat Pray Love (don't hate me, Eileen, I'm sorry!!!) New York City, feminism and little girl lost. See, doesn't make much sense, but all that stuff - it gives me a picture of her. And right now, my hero has no vibe. He's rich. A Southern Gentlemen. Needs to get married. Sometimes he wears a suit...sometimes he doesn't. Has a kid. Maybe. See...nothing. I need a movie, an actor, I need some music, perhaps a drink. I need to see his office, think of a sexual hook or deviance. He's a suit with nothing in it right now... So, my question to you - southern movies? Actors? Books? Where the rich white guy isn't a bad guy, but a good guy. And hot. Any idea?

Kick ass and are you kidding me?

There has been a small trend lately towards women assassin movies, or CIA movies, and some are great, and some are laughable.

To contrast, we have Columbiana and Haywire. Columbiana is about a girl who becomes an assassin to avenge her parent's murder. She is played by Zoe Saldana, a really lovely actress, who I have enjoyed in other movies, but weighs max 100 pounds and looks like her limbs could snap pretty easily.

In Haywire, you have Gina Carano, a woman who had very little acting experience, and there were moments it showed, but came from a mixed martial arts back ground, was as tall as any of the men in the movie and when she fought them, I absolutely believed she could kick their asses. It was in her movements, her muscle tone, the way she stood. Even when she's running, and jumping in a sequence where she has to escape from the police, there's something in her movement, and her reactions that made her completely believable. I bought that she could run faster than the two police officers chasing her down.

I can suspend disbelief for a while if the movie is good enough, but a hundred pound girl kicking the crap out of a guy twice her size - well that's a bit of a stretch.

But I believed it in Serenity, which also had a waifish girl kicking some serious ass, but that's because she'd been given special powers by the corrupt government that turned against her. We see this a lot in urban fantasy and paranormal YA, young, slender girl with special powers and if it's done right, I believe it.

But once I start to question whether she really can do that, then I'm out and I can rarely get back in. It's what I liked about the Hunger Games movie. Jennifer Lawrence looked like she could run, and climb trees, and fight her way out of trouble. She made it believable. A tinier actress would not have. And I know the movie got some criticism, for casting an actress some believed was physically too large to play Katniss, as she's described as small and underfed in the book.

We see enough small and underfed on the large screen already. I'd rather see someone believable, rather than stick to the exact descriptions of the book.

Trending... Dominant Men

So I posted a couple of weeks ago about the 50 Shades phenomena and why this book in particular was such a success. Recently I was watching an episode of Girls which is a new HBO show about twenty-something girls growing up in New York and a lot of it seems to be focused around their sexual lives.


One of the girls is in a committed relationship and has been for years – I think since high school. We see her getting frustrated with how sensitive her partner is. She’s clearly getting bored with the sex. Then along comes a co-worker she’s been flirting with and suddenly at a party he pulls her aside and basically tells her he’s going to f*** her and she’s going to like it. This sends her absolutely over the moon with excitement.

Forgetting the sex element, what surprised me about this episode was how once again we see this dominant, man taking control over woman, scene being played out. And I definitely think we need to take notice because I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a trend that’s going to dominate (no pun intended) stories, in particular romances.

Uber alpha males are on the rise. Certainly not starting with JR Ward’s Brotherhood series, but there we see it being taken to new extremes. And now he’s becoming even MORE dominating. We all know that millionaires/billionaires have always been popular. But their alphaness seemed to be defined by buying things for the heroine (like her car which no longer works) and protecting them and being fiercely jealous of any man who looked at them.

But now it seems we are taking this further so that in the bedroom the hero is turning her over his knee and spanking her. I don’t remember any Harlequin Presents like that!

I have my theories. I think we’re seeing a reaction by women who have broken or at least severely cracked the glass ceiling. Women can chose to work or raise a family. They can buy their own cars, pay their own taxes and make their own decisions. Let’s face it in the last 10, 20 years our dependence on men financially has changed radically. And more people are single now than they were before, mostly because in cases where women have divorced they are not rushing back into second marriages like they used to in order to be supported.

I’m no social psychologist. I don’t even pretend to think I might be right in my theory. I just think it’s not a coincidence that the stronger women are getting, financially, politically, etc… we’re seeing some trends in fantasy land (and let’s face it that’s where all of this stays) where women want to be f*** by men who are strong and dominating.

I might have offended people with this post. Not sure. But comment away!

Free Book Overload

I remember the first RWA conference I ever went to. I was bowled over by a lot of things--mostly all the great information and how much I learned about writing--but another was all the free books.

This was true at the first regional conference I went to in New Jersey in 2003 (especially since I won a big basket of books in a raffle) but even more so at my first National conference in Dallas in the summer of 2004.

At my first National RWA conference, I went to as many of the publisher sponsored signings as I could, glommed onto every free book I was offered and seriously needed another suitcase, or two, to get home. (It's not so easy to ship books back if you live in Canada...) Possible, just a slightly more of a hassle.

It took a few years of going to these conferences before I started to get pickier. I'd only take books home I thought I was likely to read, or thought one of my CPs might read, or books written by friends.

But even so, and even after giving away TONS of them, my house is still overloaded with books I haven't read, and let's face it, will probably never read. I ran out of shelf space even before the Disastrous Bedroom Bookshelf Collapse of '11 (disaster movie coming).

I have piles of books everywhere in my house. I could be on Hoarders. No joke. I already had a bit of a book shopaholic problem before I started getting free ones at conferences.

When Stephanie visited last fall, she looked at a row of books in my TV room and said something like, "For a girl who says she doesn't read much romance, you sure have a lot of them." And I looked at the row of books she was looking at, and she was right... About 15-20 romances. But guess how many of that row I'd read? Zero. Sad, but true. Some I kind of still mean to. Or at least mean to start them to see why that particular author is so popular or whatever... And some are by friends and I bought them at a literacy signing and don't feel right giving them away... But not one of them have I read. And they take up space. And attract dust. And add to the clutter in my house and mind.

I figured one thing that having an e-reader would fix was this book overload problem. And it is helping. A bit.

But, you know what I noticed recently? I've got kindle clutter.

After I first got my kindle, I'd click "buy" pretty much any time I found out about a free book written by someone on one of my writer loops or on facebook or twitter, etc.. I figured, not only might I help the author move up in the Amazon rankings, hey, it might be a good book and even if it's not, it's free! And it's not like I'd have to find room for it on my shelves. What the heck. *clicks buy*

But I've hit my saturation point. It's not like I'm running out of storage space (and that cloud business solves that, even if I were) but I'm running out of brain space to even organize or process all the stuff I've downloaded that I really have very little intention of ever reading. And I end up forgetting that I've bought books that I really wanted to read that are now buried below a bunch of free or super cheap books I'll probably never read more than 5-10 pages of and I've already lost control of the quasi organizational system I'd set up.

Just because something's free, doesn't mean it has no cost...

Does anyone else have this problem?

Wrapping up In Plain Sight

So we're big fans of the USA Network series here at the Rendahl Ranch. They're wrapping up one of our favorites right now, In Plain Sight.

I did have this witness protection fantasy about being swept out of my life after witnessing a murder because of the show. Beyond that though, we love the cranky main character (Mary), her brainiac partner (Marshall) and even her dysfunctional family. I miss her boyfriend (Rafe) from the first season like I miss an old friend that moved away.

They're wrapping up the series. I like that they're tying up the story lines and bringing closure to a lot of things. It's nice. We get to see this character have her final arcs. I'm really worried about the romantic side of things, though. There's always been this tension with the brainiac partner. Throughout the series, they've both been with other people, yet there's always been those lingering glances and a few other instances that make it clear that they have feelings for each other.

Normally, I'd be all in favor of the two of them getting together. This time, though, I'm not.

I want Marshall, the brainiac partner, to stay with his current girlfriend/fiancee. I'd rather have her end the series alone with no one than have her end up with Marshall.

First of all, I love the relationship between him and his fiancee. It's sweet and supportive. Second, Mary would eat Marshall alive. Every day would be a battle and eventually he would get tired.

 She can't get back together with the boyfriend from the first season because he's already with someone else who is nice. She can't be with her baby daddy because ... well, he's unworthy. There was this military guy from last season that there was a glimmer with, but he'd have to come back in the very last episode and I don't want her to be swept off her feet. She's not that kind of woman.

I don't want her to end up alone, though. I really don't. She deserves love.

Is anyone else watching this show? What's your feeling? Who should Mary end up with?