Trying to be Smart

Sorry to be posting so late in the day, but I've had a little excitement. My manuscript, THE MISEDUCATION OF APRIL HILLSON, has made the semi-final round of the Amazon Breakout Novel Competition.

To read the excerpt and post a review, click here. Making it to the next round requires lots of positive reviews... so if you have a chance, I'd appreciate your support. (I've just learned of a complication that you need to be an Amazon.com customer -- the American store -- in order to post a review. This sucks. I'm looking into it and will let you know if Amazon fixes this. The authors are from all over the world. I think there were 12 countries from which writers were eligible to enter. The reviews should be eligible from those 12 or so countries, too. Luckily, some of my Canadian friends have Amazon.com accounts, but I've had people who are loyal customers of Amazon.ca and Amazon.nz and Amazon.uk tell me they weren't allowed to post a review.)

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled post.

And I don't have it all that well thought out. But I wanted to talk about the double edged sword of trying to be smart in this business. I guess there are tons of ways to be smart or the converse, but here I mean: trying to find that intersection between the books you want to and think you can write, and the books the market seems to want at any particular point in time.

This is a tough thing. One never knows for sure about these things, (oh, for a crystal ball) but I think it's highly possible that if my April Hillson ms hit the desks of NYC a year earlier, it might have sold. It certainly would have had a greater chance, anyway. Conversely, I think fellow DWT Sinead had a book that hit desks a year or two too early for what the market was doing.

I'd like to pretend I wasn't chasing trends when I started that book, in fact, I wasn't thinking chick lit at all when I started it. I was going to target the NEXT line at Harlequin... but it just came out with a chick lit sort of voice, although the subject matter is decidedly not chick lit. But, some editors painted me with that brush and frankly, with the glut of chick lit on the shelves and warehouses, and pipelines at major publishing houses when my ms was submitted, it was getting hard to sell anything in the commercial women's fiction arena.

C'est la vie.

I've written another complete women's fiction ms since then and started another, but it sometimes all feels so pointless. Like I'm writing books that are missing that magic intersection and I could be smarter about the whole thing.

So, I've just switched gears again. An idea came at me in a rush just before Christmas that I think might be at that magic intersection between books I like, books I think I can write well, and what the market's doing right now.

Problem is... I fear I'm too late for the market surge once again.

How does one balance this? Makes me crazy.

When Plotting Isn't Much Different From Pantsing...

I think I've said this before but - I used to be a pantser and then when I started to sell books it behooved me to become a plotter and then I became a seriously anal retentive plotter. Fifteen page synopsis with snippets of dialogue and characters thoughts were my forte. And still are, but man they take a lot of time to do and I've got less and less time it seems every day.

And so now I find myself in a strange spot. I am at the big black moment and third act in my current WIP and I find that I need a little guidance because I've managed to keep my romantic conflict on the plot lines I had laid out - my subplots have run amock (in a seriously fantastic and bizarre way - I adore my subplots right now and don't want to change them) and now these crazy unplanned plot lines and my romantic plot line are converging. So, looking for guidance I go to the synopsis I turned in with the first three chapters, thinking that my anal retentive plotting habits will give me some footholds for writing my black moment scene.

Here's what it says:

J.D. comes face to face with his past and the man he believes he truly is.

What? Huh? That's what I came up with? Isn't that every black moment? Where are the snippets of dialogue? The clever thoughts I can just plug right into poor J.D.'s head? Where's the help? Where's the plot? Who does he think he is? Who do I think he is? I thought I did all this work already?

So, here I am staring at 50 blank pages. I've got a mob boss, ( I know? I'm not kidding - a mob boss) a pregnant teenager, a man who needs to go on the run from the mob boss, a nine year old boy who wants his mommy and a woman who wants to sleep the next 50 pages away because J.D. can't get his head out of his butt (not me, thought I wouldn't mind a nap) And I have no idea what to do with all of them. In fifty pages. Isn't this what pantsers face every time they sit down to write? It's making me a little nervous. And you know something - I just don't like it. Pantsing is for people braver than I.

Movies

For the first time in a long, long time, I think I’m reasonably caught up with the movies out there. Saw a lot(for me that is) over the holiday. I’m nowhere close to the number Maureen’s seen, but that’s not going to change for a few years.

I am Legend. – Gotta agree with Molly on this. Really entertaining and tense, and Will Smith is amazing. A couple of big plot holes, but they didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the movie. A great movie to study how to create tension with little dialogue.

Juno – Seriously quirky, well-written movie that is both more serious and funnier than the trailers make it appear to be. A great movie to study how to craft dialogue.

No Country For Old Men – This was a really interesting movie for me. Amazing cast, great, great performances, tight, tight story telling, and riveting tension and then it all fell apart for me at the end. Now, I’m seriously in the minority with this, as every critic out there disagrees, and I think I’m showing my genre roots here, but an ending that left me puzzled, and thinking for days afterwards, but not entirely satisfied.

Sweeney Todd – Johnny Depp is wonderful, I love Tim Burton and the story was already fascinating. It’s a musical so don’t expect serious character development. Maureen covered this better in her personal blog, but a really fun, dark movie.

I still need to see Atonement, Michael Clayton and There Will be Blood, before I really feel ready, but I’m close. Or at least closer than I have been for a few years.

I feel like it’s been a good year for movies. For the first time in a few years they’ve eclipsed TV in storytelling for me. With the writer’s strike, I don’t see that trend changing anytime soon.

As long as the fourth season of Battlestar still starts in April, I’ll be happy.

And on a last note. If anyone is looking for a really wierd, but very entertaining horror movie, check out The Host. It's Korean, so if subtitles put you off, this will not be your cup of tea, but it went in directions I did not expect, but made sense, in a strange, but enjoyable way. The monster is cool and the humor is bizarre. Anyone else out there seen it?

Don't mess with my awards season, damn it!

Now, I'm all for writers getting paid their due, and if TV writers aren't getting royalties on DVD's and internet broadcasts that others involved in the production are getting, (or whatever the exact dispute is), then I'm behind them.

My support for the strike has been pretty strong in theory and it's not like the it's been affecting me, anyway. I mean, so far the TV schedule hasn't been affected much and when the new shows stop coming, well, I've got DVD's and movies to catch up on and maybe a big break in new programming this winter will mean some interesting TV over the normal summer good TV dearth. Or maybe, just maybe, I'll find something other than TV to do with a few of my evenings. ;-)

But why oh why did they have to mess with award shows???? I mean, how much writing is there anyway? A few bad jokes in the introductions. Some silly monologues for the hosts we could all live without. Why not just let the presenters wing it the way the award winners do in their acceptance speeches? Sure, the show wouldn't be as slick without the writers, but really we just want to see what dresses the women are wearing and how hot the guys look and, with the Golden Globes, to see how drunk everyone gets.

But no Golden Globes this year. Egads. This strike better be over before the Oscars. Oh, the humanity!

(Thanks Wylie for the topic suggestion.)

What I Did Over My Christmas Vacation...

I gained five pounds. Damn my mother's banana bars! I managed to leave almost all of my family's Christmas gifts on my table in Toronto. My Dad got an orange in his stocking from me instead of the three million John Wayne movies I got for him. I wrote zero until yesterday when I managed to open my laptop, squeeze out two pages before passing out, exhausted from my efforts. I got snowed in at my folks house - which was kind of nice with all those banana bars. BABY MAKES THREE got nominated for the Romantic Times Best Superromance of 2007! A fantastic holiday gift.

I finished Battlestar Gallactica. And I totally get why Sinead and Maureen couldn't spend five minutes together without blathering on about some fantastic element of that show - namely how many times Apollo appeared in a towel. It's fantastic storytelling anchored by some seriously grounded and dynamic actors - Mary MacDonald slayed me in the pilot and she just got better. Of course Starbuck and her past and her angst is easily as interesting a character as Tim Riggins - and that's pretty darn interesting. The only weak spot is Boomer/Cylon whatever number she is. I didn't believe her for a minute with any of the emotions or conflict she was supposed to have.

I saw Alpha Dog and am now officially in love with Justin Timberlake. The scene at the end when he's taping that boy's mouth -- oh my god! Powerful, really powerful stuff. Who knew he had it in him?

I saw I Am Legend and you know I was really blown away. I am a Will Smith fan from the Fresh Prince days and I still had doubts that this would be a good movie. And it was. It was poignant and scary and sad and I think it stayed really true to it's sci-fi roots. Watching it reminded me that every scene, every moment is a fork in the road and you can pick the fork that might be more dramatic, bigger or flashier, or you can pick the fork that stays true to your story. Watching I am Legend I kept going 'okay, here's where we get the Hollywood Blockbuster scene' or "here's where Will Smith says his one-liner that everyone will be copying for months' - but they never happened, the writer's took the fork that kept the movie's focus. The movie was big in a really small way and I loved it.

Husband got to finally play Guitar Hero on New Year's Eve - that was a big moment for him. Mick got a bunch of firetrucks - so, all in all, a great Holiday. How about you guys?

Happy Holidays

New Blogs from the Drunk writers are going to be hit and miss over the holidays, so first and foremost.

Happy Holidays to all out there. Thanks for reading the blog and commenting, it is, in our lonely, every day worlds, really fun to hear other’s thoughts. And usually really thought provoking for us.

I’ve hit the first five chapters on the current WIP and as usual realize my initial plotting was too shallow, too vague and ultimately not going to take me any further into the book.

This is nothing new for me. I hit this stage with almost every book, and learning from past mistakes, I have to plot all the way through to the big conclusion, otherwise I end the book with a whimper, not a bang.

For me, this is the point where I also try and sort through all I learned while writing the last book, all I’ve picked up through numerous drunk writing sessions and from reading other, smarter writers.

I have to be a better plotter. No more dead scenes, no more scenes that only move the plot forward an inch, it had better be a yard, or the scene has to be changed.
No more scenes to establish character either. This is a personal point, but if I can’t establish character during the scenes that actually move the plot along, then I’m doing something wrong.
I’m trying for bigger scope, bigger stakes, my characters will face life and death situations, and I’m going to try really, really hard to up the emotional content of my books, never an easy thing for me.

So I’m spending Christmas plotting.

And I’m looking forward to it.

The Idea Stage

Okay, so I forgot it was Wednesday, my DWT day, and I haven't thought of a thing to talk about.

One excuse is getting ready for visitors and Christmas and all that good stuff. Over the years, I've perfected the shove-everything-in-a-closet-or-corner technique of housecleaning, but the fatal flaw of that technique is coming out to bite me in the *ss. The fatal flaw is that at some point there are no more corners or closets, and then it's about 100x more work to get the house looking tidy than if you'd been doing it properly all the way along... Gah! I have a big house and I'm ashamed to admit I've been using the shove-it-over-there-and-deal-with-it-later technique since I bought the house nearly six years ago. It has come back to haunt me. Big time. I've been tidying for several days solid. And it looks worse. There are seriously rooms in my house you can't walk through right now. (Molly's going to say, "What's new?" But seriously... this is worse than anything you've seen here before.)

But that's not what I was going to post about and if I were feeling clever I might figure out a way to tie that to what I was going to talk about... but I'm tired from spending 2 hours digging my car out of heavy wet snow so I won't even try.

I wanted to just say, "Isn't the idea stage fun???"

Those of you who know what I'm up to will go, "Idea stage? How could Maureen be at that stage? She's in the middle of something."

But I'm putting that something aside for a while because I came up with a really fun idea that I love. And one that will make me eat a lot of words I've said in the past in terms of what I think I should write and what kind of writer I want to be. (But I'm a master rationalizer, so I'm sure I'll figure out a way to make it consistent with things I've said in the past.)

We'll see. Too early to talk about it, but let's just way that brainstorming is fun and I haven't been so excited about an idea since, well, ever.

Cop-outs and the finale of Dexter

I received an email from an angry reader the other day. She felt that in Baby Makes Three, having Alice get pregnant at the end of the book was a cop out. Anti-woman, even. Resolving my conflict by having her magically conceive was a total breach in trust that I had created with the reader. Now, I am fine with criticism and people can feel however they want about my books -- but, man, I could not let this go. I emailed the woman back - thanked her for her time and for buying the book but I told her that having my character get pregnant - I thought - was the best way to up their conflict. Having babies, or not having babies was the external conflict that highlighted their internal conflicts. It was one of those "it seems like the best thing to happen but it's actually the worst" sort of plot points. I didn't think it was a cop-out because things got worse for the characters after she got pregnant. And I really didn't think it was anti-woman - but again, everyone is entitled to an opinion. I just didn't agree with hers.

But then I watched the finale of Dexter and man, I am pissed. How lame. How terrible terribly lame was that? The driving question of the whole series is "is Dexter good or bad." And in the finale, it seems like it's going to be proven by whether or not Dexter is going to kill an innocent man to save himself. If he does - Dexter is evil. If he doesn't -- good guy. And then the crazy ex-girlfriend strolls in and ruins this delicious balancing act. SPOILER - she kills the innocent man, for Dexter, out of coo-coo bird love. So when Dexter then off's the girlfriend it's still all part of the code that his father taught him. The code he's used to. The code we the viewers are used to. And that's not even the part that made me angry - what made me angry was the voice over at the end. Dexter says he has his own code now. He's going to stop asking if he's good or evil, it doesn't matter any more.

What?? Huh?! He just killed again, using his father's code. And that's fine if he's not going to care if he's good or bad anymore -- but we don't see it! We don't get that from him at all. He's still putting his slides in the air-conditioner and talking about his father??? How is he different? He's not. And if he's not - don't have Dexter say he's different. Don't lie to us - because it wasn't Dexter lying, it was the writer - I thought. I was with him and then he not only took an easy way out - but then he didn't even capitalize on that easy way out by making things harder for Dexter. They just got easier.

I don't know if they are setting things up for another season - but what's the tension if they are? What's the question? What's his own code? Will he kill indiscriminately - if so, don't show him using the old code.

Anyway, I understand my non-fan's anger better, now. Not that I would change my book, or do anything differently, but man, when a writer cops out - it hurts. Last night's finale really put a dent in my Dexter love.

Miscellaneous thoughts to end the week

Lots we could talk about this week. The golden globe nominations came out this week, and while they couldn’t limit themselves to nominate just five best dramatic picture nominees, they also couldn’t find any love for Friday Night Lights, or Battlestar.

Even Dexter just got a nod for Michael C. Hall, a well deserved nomination, but what about the show itself?

And I sort of get that Battlestar shows up on Space, a really far away place for a lot of the people choosing the nominees, but Friday Night Lights is easy to find.. Maybe the foreign press has a life and are out on Friday nights?

And Grey’s.. a show according to the critics I’ve read that is having a weak season managed to get nominated, as did House, which really isn’t breaking new ground this season, despite my enduring love for Hugh Laurie.

But I’m starting to be a broken record about this stuff. For a better best of List, check out Steven King’s the best of 2007 on the entertainment weekly website. The man really, really knows his pop culture and while I didn’t agree with all of his choices, I agreed with most.

Other than TV, what’s on the drunk writer mind this week?

Well, Molly’s post earlier in the week, when she talked about the elusive muse and what separates the writers from the want to be writers. Writing, even when the muse deserts you.

I would add, writing despite rejections. Getting a rejection on a project you love, and sitting down at your computer (within 24 hours, everyone gets a day to pout. I have to be reasonable) and typing another page on the next WIP. That really separates the people who are writers.

Or maybe it’s just me, but we have two choices, we can be defeated, or we can sit down and say, this one, I won’t give them a reason to reject.

And then eat a pound of chocolate, or better still drink some wine.. I’m sure it will add to the creativity..

Writing through the Holidays

So, I'm wondering what most people get done in December. People with deadlines. People sans deadlines. People who will take any excuse to procrastinate. People who are super disciplined. All of you. Do you keep up your schedule? Slow it? Stop it? Speed it up? (Gasp.)

I know in past years December has never been a big writing month for me. Looking back, I think part of it's been timing. Although I've never officially done Nanowrimo -- in that I've never started a book fresh on November 1st -- I have used that month and the collective enthusiasm of the masses to push through huge chunks of writing in November. So, I'm often switching gears in December, anyway...

But all this is just excuses. This year, in particular, I feel like I have no real reason not to try to keep working through the holidays. Sure, I've got lots to do to get ready. Sure, there are a gazillion relatives showing up to distract me. But on the same token... there are a gazillion relatives I'll need to escape from occasionally and if I'm going to have some alone time, why not spend it writing?

Any words of wisdom out there? Do you write through the holidays?

Filling the well....

That sounds dirty. But it's not -- I'm referring to Hemingway's quote about his writing process. He wrote in the morning and then took the afternoon to "fill his well" so he'd be ready to write the next morning. Now, filling the well is something every writer needs to do. We all need to seek out inspiration and ideas and creativity. For Hemingway this meant getting hammered, loading a couple of rifles and going big game hunting. Oddly enough -- I don't think there are many of us out there who still get to do this. Margaret Moore? Is that the secret of your success? Big game hunting? I know Maureen has been known to have a few mid afternoon drinks and watch Friday Night Lights, hunting for Tim Riggins, but somehow I don't think that has the same effect as Hemingway's afternoons.

Sadly, these days my afternoons are all about picking up the Mr. Potato head pieces (stupid idea to get him that toy. All the kid does is empty the bucket out and chuck the earrings at the dog.) Emptying the dishwasher, staring into the freezer wondering what I'm spending all that money on at the grocery store if my stupid freezer is always empty. A few days ago I watched two episodes of Battlestar Gallactica in a row -- that was fantastic. Almost like big game hunting - or maybe almost like getting hammered - either way, more inspiring that digging under the furniture for plastic potato ears and mouths. If I were writing a book called "The Male Toddler and His Unreasonable Attachment to Fire Trucks and Poop" I'd be done with the thing by now, having all the inspiration in that area that a woman needs. I've got laundry, grocery shopping, someone actually has to pay the bills, walk the dog, write the blog and clean the crayon off the tv set.

Is it any freaking wonder my well is empty?

Sinead's post reminded me that as stay at home mom's we need entertainment to inspire us. Because we don't really leave the house! In my life before my son I would ride the subway and look at people and write their stories based on their clothes and the way they sat and what they read and then I'd take what I had come up with and create the opposite of it and try to reverse all my expectations. It was a fun game. Helpful and creative and useful to me as a writer. I don't even have that anymore. Every time I get on the subway these days, I'm like my son, distracted by the lights and scared of the loud noises.

This will change at some point. Right? It has to. Because there is a year until the next JR Ward book and a writer's strike on and I am sucking air at the bottom of my well.

PS - I am adding this after this has been posted for a while, because I forgot the whole point of this post in the middle of my stay at home mom rant. The point is -- these moments, I think are what separate the writers from the I wish I was a writers. When the muse is nowhere to be found and you still have a page count to fill - these moments are what scare a lot of writers away. When you just pound stuff out and you know it's awful but you have to do it -- ugh. Even writing that made me depressed. But it's what we have to do - because if this was easy, everyone would do it.

Still, it would be nice if those Hollywood writers weren't on strike right now....

What to write when your brain is empty

Hey, apologies for advance for how late this post is, and how weak..

I got nothing this week. With the writer’s strike, TV has been really disappointing, except for Dexter, which as it comes to an end in the second season has been really amazing. It’s building to something I believe is going to thrill me.

I just feel it in the air.

Heroes for me has been a complete bust this season and while I adore Friday Night Lights, even in it’s 2nd season, I feel it’s hit just a bit of a slump. By that I mean it’s gone from brilliant to just excellent, but it's still the best show on network TV.

But there’s not a lot out there that’s getting my brain moving in a storytelling kind of way.

And I’m finished the JR Ward Brotherhood series and slightly bereft that I have to wait almost another year for my next fix.


So if anyone gets to this post, as late as I’ve posted it, I’m looking for recommendations. What do you go to for inspiration, books, movies, TV, anything?

Speed

No, not the movie.

No, not the drug.

I'm talking about writing speed. I mean, how fast we all write.

I feel sure we've broached this topic at least once before at DWT, but like with most writing topics, opinions change, lightbulbs go on (or off), bold statements made in the past are retracted, and therefore, some topics bear repeating.

I was talking about being a Nanoloser over on my other blog this week and some commenters wondered if speed might not make an interesting topic for broader discussion. So here goes my speed ramble.

To me, there are at least two sides to this speed question. First, how fast can a writer write without sacrificing quality for quantity (each writer is different) (possibly each story for each writer is different), and second, how fast MUST a writer write if they want a career in commercial fiction? Is it possible to have a career if you're one of the slow ones? Can a slow writer train themselves to be faster?

I guess another way to phrase the latter question is how fast do publishers expect you to write?

There's no clear answer here, either.

If one writes category romance for Harlequin, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that to build a readerwhip you want at least two books a year, preferably three. And the same (based on my observations) seems to be true at houses like Elora's Cave. Single title romance publishers never used to put out more than one book a year for most authors, (creating the reputed inventory backlog of Nora books), but this too is changing. Rapid, tightly packed release schedules, like Ballantine did for Allison's Brennan's debut series, have proven the old marketing mold of releasing a new book for each author every 9-12 months has been broken very successfully.

So, how fast? I've heard you need to write a book in 9 months or less several times (Madeline Hunter says this in her amazing "Surviving Almost There" talk, as does Cherry Adair. And that sounds about right to me. (Surely a book shouldn't take longer than a baby?)

Problem is, I can't seem to do it. Well, maybe if I added up the time I actually spend writing a book, it is less than 9 months, but for me it seems, all-too-often, to be maybe 6 months of actual writing spread over 18 months on the calendar.

On the other hand, I have a writer friend whose first novel will be released next year. (Because I'm mentioning some details, I'm going to keep in anonymous.) She wrote this book around the same time I wrote my April Hillson book. That is to say, in 2004-2005 (gosh, that seems like a long time ago). And she's working on her second now.

Her book's being published by an "accessible literary" imprint of a major NY house, and they don't seem to be that surprised that she doesn't have her second book ready for press yet. In fact, I don't think there was even talk of two book contract when she sold the first. And her agent doesn't think she can sell the second book on proposal, either. I've heard similar stories from other writer friends and acquaintances who write women's fiction -- even the more commercial kind -- and this is what seems to be typical in that little slice of the publishing world:
One book deals.
No second contract until the publisher sees how the first one sells.
Each book sold 100% complete and quite separately from the others.

I'm sure this changes at some point. I'm sure Jodi Picoult can sell her "next Jodi Picoult title" sight unseen or on a vague idea, but this career transition happens so much more slowly in mainstream fiction than it seems to in the romance genre where relatively new authors seem to routinely sell their second books on proposal, and many authors get multi-book deals right out of the gate.

So, the above-mentioned friend's agent recently rejected a book of another of my friends and told her she'd be happy to look at her next project when it's ready. This woman replied to the agent that it would be at least six to seven months. To which the agent replied. Take your time. It takes at least a year to write a book.

So, is there a right answer here that's based on what type of book you're writing? Is there a difference in mainstream women's fiction vs romance? I'm not so sure. To go back to my Jodi Picoult example, she seems to release a new book every year, and they're pretty complicated and original stories and at least 120,000 words. So obviously it's possible.

And while I guess some people might read between the lines of this post that I'm implying it's faster to write a romance, I don't think that's necessarily true. I do think, however, speed does vary somewhat on the complexity of the book. The structure, the themes, the relative subtlety.

I just deleted a whack of this post that was talking about whether it's faster to write romances than woman's fiction... I deleted it because I feel like I was going off topic and also because I feel like I was trying to give myself excuses for writing more slowly. But I feel like when I write too quickly. When I don't let my stories percolate. What I come up with is trite, boring, derivative, predictable crap.

But even as I get ready to post this... I feel like I'm just making excuses. That on those days when it's not working to push forward in the story, I don't try hard enough to get something onto paper, even if it's just ideas for upcoming scenes.

What do you think? Is my relative pokiness because of who I am as writer, pure laziness, or a function of what I'm trying to write?

How about you? Can you write fast? Do you wish you could? How fast do you think you NEED to write to reach your particular career goals? Do you feel pressure to write faster than you can?

Totally Blunt Conversation About Royalites and Category Romance Part 2

Ah! Royalty Statement time and in keeping with my last post about royalties I thought I'd share my numbers and thoughts again. This is the second statement for my Superromance books out last year Family At Stake, His Best Friend's Baby and Who Needs Cupid? And from what I gather, this is the end of the road in terms of North American sales. In my last post I mentioned the huge reserves Harlequin keeps between statements to see if books will be returned or sold through. And those reserves are now gone. I have maybe 300 books in reserve. So, these numbers are pretty much it. Family At Stake ended up selling around 20,000 copies retail in the US and Canada. His Best Friend's Baby sold 22,000. This translates into around 10,000 dollars. Now, I'm a pretty new writer to the line and I think these numbers reflect the middle of the pack. To be a Waldenbooks bestseller you need to sell nearly 10,000 more books retail - give or take depending on the week's sales. Who Needs Cupid sold about 23,000 books, but because it's an Anthology and I'm taking my 6% from one third of the cover price I imagine I won't see much money.

Undercover Protector was out in July and the cut off for royalties is June so the only thing that's reflected on my statement are the direct/subscription sales and advance e-book sales! That's right - Harlequin now sells on-line. Which, I think will be huge but since it was the first month and a cut off month - my 16 books sold seems a little sad. But, I think these numbers will grow. Lots.

The future for His Best Friend's Baby, Family At Stake and Who Needs Cupid? now depends on foreign translations. From what I hear Superromances aren't translated very widely. I know FAS is in France now - with a wonderful cover. The big translations are Germany, Japan and Argentina. My Duets and Flipsides have all been in Argentina and I've sold a stupid number of books there - but there doesn't seem to be much action for Supers south of the border. I should know more by the next statement.

But looking at these numbers this is what I've come to believe. Category romance buyers buy on three principals -- author recognition, covers and blurbs in the back of other category books. There's not much promotion a writer can do that will make a HUGE difference in sales. I can't control the covers or force my editor to use my book as a blurb in other books. I can do everything I can to have a great relationship with my editor and hope she thinks of me. And I can write really good books fast.

On a side note, my December book Baby Makes Three was an RT Top Pick from Romantic Times and I know when the magazine came out I got a number of advance orders on Amazon but I don't know how many. Could be three. I placed an ad in the December RT and when it came out my amazon numbers didn't change. I don't know if Amazon sales really add up to big numbers. It would be fun to know -- anyone know?

Hope this answers some questions or creates a good discussion.

Contest Winner!!!

Kimber!!! You're it! Email me and we'll figure out how to get your fabulous prize package to you!!!

Crossroads

I’m starting a new book right now, or at least sifting through three solid ideas to come up with what I want to write next.
Apparently this time it means writing the first chapter and a rough plot outline for each idea to really get a sense for where I want to go with this next book.

For me each new book is a crossroads. I have to decide going in what I want the book to be, and how far I want to take certain elements.
I remember at an editor panel, one of the editors (St. Martins) described the kind of books they were looking for as really books. She explained she was looking for books that were either really, really emotional, or really, really suspenseful, or really, really, sexy, but they had to have a very strong footing in one thing.
At the time the explanation just frustrated me. Of course we want our books to be really emotional and sexy and suspenseful, shit, we’re trying to be everything.

Now I get it. Very few writers can be everything, but we can choose to do something really, really well. This kind of relates back to Molly’s commitment post from a couple of weeks ago.

I also know as an unpublished author, if I write a book and have the good fortune to sell it, I need to know I can write several more in a similar style, so I had better love writing this kind of book.

So as I sit down to start a new book, I have to figure out what kind of book I’m going to write and commit completely to it.
Five books into this whole writing thing, I have a strong idea of what elements I’m better at, what kind of stories I like to write.
So if I’m going to write dark and suspenseful, I had better make it really, really dark and suspenseful.
Because that’s the kind of book I want to write. Because in the end I’d rather get rejected for going too far, rather than not going far enough.
That is, if I have to get rejected.
At this point, I’m not thinking rejections, I’m just thinking about writing a book that’s better than the last and wholly, completely represents the best writing I’m capable of producing.
I'm also thinking about Razor and Battlestar Galactica. Did anyone else see it and love it as much as I did?

J.K. Rowling is Entertainer of the Year

I think it's very interesting that Entertainment Weekly Magazine has named J.K. Rowling as entertainer of the year.

Now, it might be easy to say, "Duh!" Of course she's entertainer of the year, she should've been named entertainer of the year every year for the past seven or so years, but remember, this is Entertainment Weekly.

Ms. Rowling's companions on this year's list are all actors and/or pop singers. One possible exception to my actors and singers only assertion is Tina Fey... but really, would she be as famous for her brilliant writing if she didn't also act? Another listing was "The Apatow Gang". I thought, okay. Another writer. But when I looked at the listing, they had all the actors there, too. It is true that many of the actors frequently in Judd Apatow's projects also write... but like Tina Fey, would people make such a big deal if they didn't also act? Besides, with both Apatow and Fey we're talking TV and movies, not books.

So, I guess my point (I will get to it) is that I think it's cool that a novelist is entertainer of the year. At a time when books have so much competition for our interest with movies and television and video games and the internet etc. etc. etc. I think it's so great that she has made even the likes of EW sit up and notice.

Hey, books are entertaining, not just something teachers make you read in school.

Sexiest Man Alive - Matt Damon??

I've been home the last week and a half getting ready for and then celebrating American Thanksgiving. Which in my family now means deep frying turkey (so American, really, can you believe it? The only truly healthy part of the meal and now we're frying it. But, here's the thing...it's sooooo delicious. We also brined one -- which was even better. But not as fun.) We also play very violent rounds of the game Spoons, complete with wrestling and blood and cousin Heather bit my brother - it was very bloodthirsty. And of course eating Pumpkin Pie for breakfast. Just writing the words Pumpkin Pie makes me want to eat some more. In fact, after writing this I am going to put some pumpkin pie on top of the leftover fried turkey....mmmm.....heart attack.

I also got a chance to do some very important reading, namely People's annual Sexiest Man Alive issue - featuring Matt Damon. I adore Matt Damon, and not just because he makes me think of Ben Affleck. But, I feel like Matt would like to come over to my family's house for spoons and fried turkey. I feel like I grew up with Matt, not that I know anyone like him, but he's got that vibe. That, I'm-not-really-a-superstar-but-actually-the-cute-kid-from-high-school-who-comes-back-to-reunions-as-a-successful-NGO-fundraiser-and-all-the-women-talk-about-him-in-the-bathroom-like-we're-16, vibe.

But I don't think he's hot. Not like Brad. Not like George. Absolutely not like Ben or Tim Riggins (who is featured in the magazine - he's skating -- go now, Maureen.) Even the picture on the cover of the magazine, makes him look not at all sexy. Makes him look like a high school science teacher after an explosion in his classroom or something.

I do think he's probably the most underrated superstar actor in Hollywood. We watched Departed last night - and while Leo was all sparks and danger, Damon's performance was so compelling, so understated and terrified, that rewatching the movie, I actually see far more from his character than Leo's. Watching the movie the first time, you got everything you needed to know about Leo. But Damon gets better each time. So does Alec Baldwin, to tell you the truth. And I won't go into my hysterical love for Mark Whalberg...

So, I didn't think Damon was terribly sexy. But then, I read the People article, which was actually just Matt Damon's letter to People explaining why he couldn't take the honor and was, seriously, not the right guy for the job. It was the sweetest, sexiest thing ever. And then there were articles from George Clooney and Ben Affleck that just sealed the deal. Matt Damon goes a bit beyond sexy and is now my romance hero come to life.

I just need to get his cell number to ask him over for Spoons and Turkey next year. Mmmm, a fried turkey, pumpkin pie, Matt Damon sandwhich.......

Welcome, Trish Milburn

Hey, everyone! Welcome to the party! And please welcome our special guest blogger, Trish Milburn. Trish is a finalist in the American Title IV contest sponsored by Romantic Times magazine. The winner of the contest gets a publishing contract with Dorchester, so vote for Trish and show your support! We DWT girls have been so proud to have had good friends in the past two AT contests as well. Michele Ann Young's NO REGRETS, just released by Sourcebooks, was a finalist in ATII, and K.J. Howe was the runner up last year in ATIII with her marvelous book, ONE SHOT, TWO KILLS. So we're really excited to put our votes behind Trish this year.

Also, in the spirit of the party (and American Thanksgiving) we're offering a PRIZE today. Just comment on this post to be eligible to win some goodies. (If we're really lucky, Molly's new book, BABY MAKES THREE, hitting stores in December, might be involved!)

Trish figured out that we drunk writers have been rather obsessed by television these days and chose to blog about one of her favorites. Take it away, Trish.

From my early days of watching reruns of the original Star Trek, first-runs of Woman Woman and mini-series like V (all of which I’m sure would be reallllly cheesy if I watched them now), I’ve loved shows that deal with superheroes or delve into the paranormal. I loved to imagine being able to fly or fight the bad guys without worrying about being hurt. I liked the idea of being invincible or possessing special knowledge or powers and using it for good. That’s why the Season Passes on my TiVo include programs like Supernatural, Smallville, Heroes, Journeyman, Bionic Woman, Moonlight, and Blood Ties.

Today I’m going to focus on my favorite – Supernatural. Unlike some shows that start off with a bang in their first season or two but quickly fade in quality thereafter, Supernatural just seems to be getting better and better. It’s one of those shows that’s inspiring to me as a writer. In fact, it was part of the inspiration for my manuscript, Coven, which won the Golden Heart in the Young Adult category this year.

Here are my top five reasons to watch Supernatural:

1. The Winchester brothers – Sam and Dean Winchester are just about as cool as it gets. They hunt and kill demons and other paranormal baddies that most of the world doesn’t believe really exist. They’re following in the footsteps of their dad, John, who became a demon hunter after his wife was killed by a demon. But while the brothers share a mission, they couldn’t be much different. Dean is the bad boy who wears a worn leather jacket, listens to classic rock and drives a black 1967 Impala known to fans as the Metallicar, the trunk of which is filled with guns loaded with demon-fighting rock salk, knives and all manner of other weaponry. He’s a bit of a ladies’ man and has a hilarious sense of humor. While I’m a Sammy girl, I freely admit Dean almost always has the better lines of dialogue. This reminds of of a similar situation with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, another favorite of mine. While I’m an Angel fan, it was Spike who had more of the hysterical lines. Sam is the brainier of the brothers. In fact, he was at college at Stanford, getting ready to go to law school, when Dean ropes him back into the “family business” in the first episode. He was dedicated to his girlfriend until she was killed by the same demon that killed his mother. In the parlance of The Hero’s Journey, Jessica’s death was the point at which Sam gave a different answer to the Call to Adventure (he at first refused to go hunting with Dean) and Crosses the Threshold (similar to when Luke Skywalker leaves Tatooine after his aunt and uncle are killed in Star Wars. The brothers’ relationship is fantastically created by Eric Kripke and crew and wonderfully played by Jensen Ackles (Dean) and Jared Padalecki (Sam).

2. Overarching story – While each week’s episode doesn’t focus on the “big mystery”, it’s always there in the background, coloring everything. For a long time, the brothers sought the yellow-eyed demon who’d killed their mother and Jessica. Even though he’s been dispatched now, his effect on their lives still lingers. Sam is supposed to be some sort of “chosen one”, but we’re not certain if that’s a good or bad thing, considering the source of the revelation. We still don’t know how that particular storyline is going to turn out. And now we also have the question of whether the brothers will find a way out of Dean’s deal with the crossroads demon – his life at the end of one year in exchange for bringing Sammy back from the dead at the end of last season.

3. Monster of the week – What’s really cool is that Supernatural doesn’t get too bogged down in the big, dark, overarching plot. It’s broken up by monster-of-the-week episodes, some of them quite funny. They take myths and urban legends and craft episodes around them. We’ve had Bloody Mary, the Woman in White, a ghost ship and more.

4. Dialogue – When you’re watching Sam and Dean verbally sparring, you could actually believe that Jared and Jensen are actually brothers. Maybe it’s the fact that they’re both from Texas that helps them play off each other so well. Seriously, I laugh out loud at least once an episode. For some great Sam/Dean interchanges/snark, go to any of the following:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460681/quotes
http://wgntv.trb.com/entertainment/network/stv-supernatural-pkgquotes,0,7416597.special
http://blog.sofeminine.co.uk/blog/seeone_92921_1938494/my-fav-things-how-interesting/memorable-supernatural-quotes
http://www.fanbolt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27182

5. Secondary characters – My friend Mary is a big fan of Papa John Winchester, but I think my favorite secondary character is Bobby, a demon-hunting friend of John’s. He’s a crusty redneck of a guy, but he’s really funny and is a father figure for Sam and Dean now that their dad is gone too. I’m also intrigued by the demon chick Ruby who is evidently helping the brothers, particularly Sam, in their fight to kill or return to hell all the demons that were released when a gate to hell was accidentally opened. Another new addition this year is Bela, who seems to be matched more with Dean. A lot of fans have expressed a dislike for out-for-herself Bela, but I’m inclined to wait a while longer to see what the writers have in mind. And we got a hint of deeper layers for her in the episode “Red Sky at Morning,” in which it’s revealed that she killed someone in her family (deliberately or not, we don’t know). She looked pained and refused to tell the guys any details, so I’m intensely curious. I have all sorts of theories running through my head.

So if you haven’t seen Supernatural, check out seasons one and two on DVD and watch the current season three on The CW Thursday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern/7 p.m. Central.

~ ~

Trish's current finalist in the American Title contest, OUT OF SIGHT, mixes elements of her love for the paranormal and suspense. Jenna McCay, the heroine, can make herself invisible and goes undercover at the White House to determine who inside 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is sending threats to the president. To vote for OUT OF SIGHT, go to http://www.romantictimes.com/news_amtitle3.php

Reading level and Harry Potter

First, I want to announce that we'll be having a guest blogger stopping by for a drink on Wednesday!

There will be a prize. Make sure you come by!

Now, back to what I've been thinking about the past few days.

I spent last week babysitting for my niece and nephew, and my nine year old niece is making her way through the fourth Harry Potter book, so I had a chance to revisit it, listening to her read aloud, and reading some aloud myself.

I read the first four HP books back to back very quickly round about 2000, I think. I can't remember the exact year, but I do know it was before I started writing novels. And, in spite of buying books 5-7 (preordering two of them...) I still haven't read 5-7. Thus, I haven't read any J.K. Rowling since I started seriously writing fiction myself. (Shame on me.)

Reading her again last week was a bit of an eye opener, and made me think about something I haven't really been thinking much about for a while, and that's sentence structure, particularly complex sentences.

I take some pride in the fact that my writing is easy to read. I do think I vary my structures to keep things interesting and get a rhythm going. At least I try to. I often have double meanings and, I hope, the occasional clever reference not every reader will get... but the sentences tend to be clean and simple, with the verb near the subject and that sort of thing. That said, I was a little disturbed, running the grammar feature in MS Word, to discover that, according to Bill Gate's staff, I'm writing at a grade 3 or 4 level.

Does that mean that a kid my niece's age should read my books? No way. Does that mean they'd understand everything in by books even if they did read one? I sure hope not. There are seriously adult themes in them thar books. Does it mean they'd understand the meaning of every word I use? Probably not. But, it does mean that my niece, if she got a hold of one of my books, could probably read it.

I'd be interested in running J.K. Rowling's books through that MS program... Her sentences are often long and complex with the verb separated from the subject by multiple clauses or phrases... Reading aloud, there were often times when I had to go back and reread a sentence realizing I'd misinterpreted what was being said at the beginning, by the time I got to the end. For my niece, this happened several times a page. But hey, she's only nine. (Reading silently, I don't find JK's stuff hard to read at all... but if you're trying to get the intonation right when reading aloud... I found I made mistakes every 3 or 4 pages. Maybe I was just tired?)

But what it really got me wondering about is whether I'm being lazy in my writing. Not trying hard enough. Or whether I should continue to be proud that my writing is easy to read.

I mean... if commercial fiction is about the storytelling, then why make it hard on the reader? On the other hand... complicated sentences haven't exactly held JK back, now have they?

Thoughts? Has anyone else checked out what grade level the folks at microsoft think you're writing at?

And make sure you come back on Wednesday for our guest blogger and PRIZES.