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You Mean…People Are Going To Read It?

Yeah, obviously. You get a book published people are going to read it. Well, you hope they are. You really want them to. I really want them to. But actually knowing people are, maybe at this moment, reading what you’ve written? Yikes!

This week, some of the UK book club subscribers received His Virgin Acquisition in with their monthly orders, and the reality is now hitting. People are really reading my book.

It’s the most thrilling, frightening, awesome thing ever. Thrilling? Yep. You better believe it. Frightening? How can it not be? Awesome? Dude. So awesome. 🙂

So far, the two people I’ve heard from who have read it were very nice and told me they enjoyed the book, which really, really made my day. I have so much fun writing these books, and the characters mean so much to me. I want to share their stories as best as I can, and I want people to love them too. Or at least like them as a friend. I’ll take what I can get. 😉

But yay! Massive rejoicing! My very first book is in book form! (I haven’t seen it yet…but I’m expecting author copies soonish). People are reading it! *pants* I need to go lie down…

You Have To Be Like Joey

We open with a scene from Friends…

CHANDLER: I kinda, had an incident
JOEY: Don’t worry about that man, that happens.
CHANDLER: It happened to you?
JOEY: Yeah, once
CHANDLER: What did you do?
JOEY: I did it anyway…

End scene. (edited for content. 😉 )

Well, I’m actually talking about writing. But that was what I thought of when I was thinking of this post. Sometimes, we have to be like Joey. Things may not be coming together, so to speak, but when the work has to get done, it has to get done.

That means we can’t always wait around for the mood. Or the muse. That means…*gasp* discipline. I had a hard time coming down from my sheikh story. It was an extremely emotional experience to write that book. My characters were tortured, and I felt like I was right there with them. And moving on was…well, it was really hard. My heart was still with my Sheikh and his Princess and….I wasn’t ready to see other people! But, there are these things called deadlines, and they said, it was time to see other people.

And that meant having some days where I just didn’t feel in it. I love writing, don’t get me wrong. I would rather write than do almost anything else, barring spending time with my husband and kids of course. But, shopping or writing? Writing. Party or writing? Writing. You get the idea.

I’m not saying you can’t take breaks, or days off, but what I am saying is that, inspiration isn’t always going to be there, bright and shiny. And we can’t always afford to wait for it. Sometimes you have to sit and find your own while the muse is off doing her own fickle thing. I’ve said a few times that I took my muse and chained her up under the porch because I can’t let her dictate when I’m productive or not.

That, I think is part of writing being a job. Just like other jobs, some days you don’t want to clock in. But, just like other jobs, you do it anyway.

Now, those days where I sit and force myself to work are not as productive as the days when I’m dying to get my fingers on the keys and let the story just flow forth, but the tough days have been instrumental in my growth as a writer. I’ve learned to write every day (except Sundays, generally), I’ve learned to turn the inspiration on when it’s convenient, because it’s become more of a learned discipline now than something intangible and hard to grasp.

Writing, like anything else, takes practice, and that practice doesn’t come from reading books, or even reading blogs (except mine…mine is magic…always read it. LOL). The practice is in the doing, the real valuable learning is in the doing.

So do! Even if you don’t feel like it. 😉 I managed to muscle through my little slump and find some real love for The Land Stud, who I’m expecting revisions for any day now.

But at the moment, I’m working on an idea with a very sexy Russian hero. And here is some of my inspiration:

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Getting Closer…

As you can see by my little countdown timer over there —->
we are inching ever closer to the release of HIS VIRGIN ACQUISITION!!! (and you can actually get it a whole month sooner if you order it from the M&B UK site…yep.)

So, in honor of the book, I’m gonna talk a little bit about how it came to be.

It all started with a contest. A contest I didn’t win, with a chapter that only ever stayed one chapter. This chapter had horrible pacing, a ridiculous plot and a petulant heroine. It also had a hero who wasn’t so bad. And this hero, it turned out, had a brother.

And while I waited for the outcome of the contest, I started thinking about that hero’s brother. His name, so he told me, was Marco De Luca.

I sat down in the Starbucks at my local mall one day, and I just started to write. The first sentence, which is still the first sentence of the book (though a lot else has changed) just sort of came out of nowhere.

My heroine proposed to my hero. And that was when I first started learning about Elaine Chapman. She was determined, she was driven, and she was going to achieve her goals however she could (barring illegal activities of course…) and if that meant proposing to this sexy Italian billionaire, she would do it.

Ladies, (and gents, maybe…I dunno) I panted the first draft of this book. I had NO idea what was going to happen, when, or why, but I wrote it. Then I polished it as best as I knew how, and I (after finding out I had epic failed the comp) went ahead and submitted it.

Then came the real work. The revising, the rewriting, all with the fantastic guidance of my editor.

And I’m so glad I put the work in, because now it’s going to be a real, honest to goodness book, and people are going to read it. And now, it’s actually worth reading!

So I hope you love my smart, feisty heroine who isn’t afraid to go for her goals, a sexy alpha male who ends up with a bride that’s a little more than he bargained for, just as much as I love them.

They’re my first couple I saw through to the end, and I’m so glad I did.

And don’t forget to check out the Peek of the Week over at www.sevensassysisters.com

HIS VIRGIN ACQUISITION will be available everywhere on August 6th!

Daring proposal…

When Elaine gives her business presentation to Marco De Luca she thinks she can be cool, calm and collected. She’s wrong! The fierce tycoon can see straight through her shapeless suits and scraped-back hair to get right under her skin…

Ruthless awakening!

She may have proposed marriage as the perfect business arrangement, but suddenly Elaine’s not quite so confident. Marco’s made it clear that he’s no modern man- if he takes a wife, he wants a ravishing beauty by his side, obedient and willing, day…and night!

The Shiny Has Arrived

I ordered my iPad a few weeks ago now, and it finally arrived today! It actually made it into town Saturday and had to sit in a warehouse all alone until today, but I won’t dwell on that, because now, it is in my hot little hands! Bwahahahaha!

But, I know you all want the nitty gritty on how this works. For writing. Of course. Only writing. Cuz, we all want it for practical reasons…right?

Well, I opened the box, a chorus sang (not really, but it sounds good) and then I had to hook it up to the computer and get it linked up to itunes. (you need to latest version…do yourself a favor and upgrade BEFORE your iPad gets here so you don’t have to sit and stare longingly at it for a HALF AN HOUR while your computer updates).

So, once it was set and ready to go, I went to the app store and bought Pages (a must) and Corkulous, an app I was really excited to use for storyboarding. Then, I set up my email, which was so easy *I* could do it. I proceeded to email a Microsoft Word doc from my PC to my iPad. I opened the attachment, and it asked me if I wanted to import to pages. Um, yes, ma’am. And it imported beautifully, all formatting preserved and perfect. From PC to Mac. Next, I predict world peace.

I also ordered a nifty BlueTooth keyboard to go with the iPad. So I linked it up and I was typing away in Pages in no time. It’s as fast as typing on my laptop and infinitely prettier.

And this evening, I’ve been playing with Corkulous. Oh, wow, it is SO fun. I made a little storyboard you can see over there —> for my WIP. Some photos and some notes, and it’s just really, really really fun. And VERY easy to use.

Also, as you can see my one of my piccys down there, I made my book cover the wallpaper for the iPad, which just makes me ridiculously happy.

The battery life is pretty crazy good, 10hrs with WiFi on, but I hear there are people who are getting better than that.

Okay, bottom line: Is the iPad practical for writers? Yes, but please do get an external keyboard. While the one on the iPad is great for writing email and tweeting and Facebooking, it won’t work for big ol’ docs, and for those of us who type over 90WPM.

But Pages works great, even if you have a PC. It does what you need it to do, it lets you write, plus it has some stinking cool features beyond that.

Web browsing? Awesome. I love being able to zoom in with such precisions. The apps? So much fun, and very handy. I got Epicurious, since I like to cook, a dictionary, thesaurus, Dragon Dictation (which works amazingly well) and a Word Press app all for free.

Bottom line, you so want one. You do. You really, really do.

A Great Post on POV

My CP Chelsea is the original keeper of the POV. Whenever I’ve made silly errors (um…is my hero admiring his own bicep in this scene?? Wait…are we in omniscient now???) she’s always there to point it out, and not only that, explain it all to me.

Admittedly, when I first started out, I just didn’t think much about POV or transitioning between viewpoints. Knowing her has been a massive help, and today, on the Sisters’ Blog, she’s posting about POV. Come, grasshopper, learn. Grow. You know you want to.

Goodies!

Today at the Sisters’ Blog we’re giving away a copy of The Devil’s Heart by Lynn Raye Harris. The book doesn’t release in the UK until July and we have an early copy all ready for one lucky commenter!

Also, it’s our Peek of the Week! So, come for the chance to win a book, and to pick your team: Team Kirk or Team McCoy.

And, since we’re getting closer and closer to the release of His Virgin Acquisition, I have a question in honor of Miss Elaine Chapman (oh she of the gorgeous blonde locks!)

How far would you go to gain your life’s ambition? Would you propose to a sexy Italian billionaire? She would. 😉

Molding the Manuscript

I wanted to talk a little bit about the construction and shaping of a manuscript. Why? Because I can honestly tell you that when I started writing, I had no clue what I was doing. I knew I had to get from point A to point B in a certain amount of words. But that isn’t all there is to it. There’s so much more.

Ultimately, it’s about character, and the character journey. (yep, character again) But really, with romance, that’s what it comes down to. If I’m going to enjoy a book and get really involved, really care about what’s going to happen, I have to care about the characters.

Which means that when I’m writing, I have to try and remember that!

I’ve talked about this before. About not letting the plot steer the characters, and all that jazz. But, I’m going to throw in some things I learned while writing The Sheikh. (that isn’t the title, BTW, I just don’t have one yet, but it releases in the UK in Feb!)

I was really letting my characters down in a few ways in the initial draft of that MS. In the first three chapters especially, I was sacrificing character development for action. (Again) I was moving them through the plot at breakneck  speed so that I could let this wild, crazy storyline with all its external elements unfold. But I wasn’t letting the reader get to know the characters. I had too many scenes that went by too quickly, the old, telling not showing thing. ;p

An example of that would be a scene I had in an elevator. My hero had just kissed the heroine and she was upset. They were going from the alley by his penthouse back into the apartment and I had put ‘they didn’t speak the whole time they were in the lift.’

When my editor and I spoke on the phone, she was talking about how I was moving through scenes too quickly and how I needed to make sure I was putting the reader there with the characters, staying in scenes longer so we can really feel what they’re feeling. So that one line became:

When they were back in the building he propelled her into the lift, the doors shutting behind them. She couldn’t believe he had done that. Kissed her as though he had every right to touch her, as though he…he had some claim on her. And only to shut her up. Her first kiss had been a diversion.

Worse than all of that, she couldn’t believe the restless ache that was building in her body. The curiosity. The need to know what it would be like to kiss him again. Only gentle, and slow this time longer so she had time to process it, to learn the texture of his lips, the rhythm of his movements.

She shut that traitorous part of her brain down. He’d had no right to do that. She wore another man’s ring. Even in her wildest fantasies of escape she had never imagined betraying her fiancé in that way. She didn’t know the man. She certainly didn’t love him. But they had a signed agreement, and she had no intention of violating it.

He’d done it to shut her up. That stung her pride. Much more than it should.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she said icily.

It’s not a lot of added words, but it gives you something of the character. Something seriously big has just happened to the heroine and she’s angry and confused and a little bit intrigued. And the reader should know that.

Another thing I got dinged on: Sexual tension. It was there. It was there from page one, in full force and in all its glory. And that was wrong. It’s not wrong for every book, but it was wrong for this one. But I was so focused on showing ‘hey! Teh lovemakings, they wants it!’ that I wasn’t paying attention to the characters and how they would really react in a situation. I was just doing everything I could to show attraction, and not an attraction that was truly unique and authentic to these characters. And as a result, as my editor said, the tension was the same in chapter one as it was in chapter six. And that is not good. It needs to build. Everything needs to build.

Way back (haha) when I was working on the revisions for HIS VIRGIN ACQUISITION, my editor said that a successful MS has that give and take, ebb and flow, pursuit and retreat. That’s not to say they kiss, she pulls away, they kiss she pulls away. It’s more than that. It’s physical and emotional.

When I first started writing I was more concerned with what scene I would write, what my characters would DO next. But what really matters is how each scene helps them in their journey, how it pushes their internal conflict to the crisis point, then, ultimately, to a resolution.

Finally, (and my dear buddy Lisa Hendrix was just helping me with this the other day) there are some really good questions to ask yourself when you’re writing a scene, especially if it’s not going like you want it to! What are you trying to accomplish? Which character is risking the most? Whose POV should it be in? (sometimes a POV switch is the best fix for a scene that wasn’t quite right) and most importantly, How would your characters react to what’s happened? Are they responding in their character, or are they just doing what people in a romance do. (like I did, having my characters be wildly attracted just cause.)

Approaching the MS from that standpoint (at least for me) makes it much easier to keep the characters…in character, which is going to make a much stronger MS that a reader can really connect with.

Let’s Hear it For Dee!!

Dee Tenorio is a super cool lady I’ve had the opportunity of chatting with a bunch on twitter and on the Harlequin subcare board. (which she hosts, which I think is super fantastic and techie of her in ways I cannot begin to understand)

And she also makes book trailers!!! (something else which makes my head ‘splodey.) This is the most excellent trailer for her brand new book with Carina Press, Tempting the Enemy. I think it’s really cool, and I can’t believe she made it. (Dee, teach me your voodoo computer magic!)

So, check her book out, and check the cook trailer out! It’s definitely appealing to me. Every so often I get the itch to grab a paranormal…(Twilight was my gateway drug! :X ) and I think I definitely need to grab this one…

Werewolves!

Surrender To The Shiny

I did it. I was seduced by the shiny. I just ordered an iPad, a handy case and a blue tooth keyboard. I want it for the battery life, the portability and…and…it’s SO SHINY.

I’ve tested it a bit, both in store and by taking advantage of my friend and fellow writer Lisa Hendrix, and I’m really satisfied that it will do what I want it too. Which is basically be an alternative to a netbook or a laptop.

I have big plans for it, and I’ll blog more about it when Teh Shiny arrives in the mail. (BTW, no one will leave the house until it arrives. I has to be signed for. We’re all stuck here, signing hands at the ready for the foreseeable future).

Biggest thing, I needed it to be practical for writing. I love the blue tooth keyboard. It’s extremely comfortable to use and it can be pretty far away from the iPad, you know, if you want it to be for some reason. 😛

I also like some of the productivity apps, like evernote, which lets you compile screen shots of websites, photos you took, notes you took, yada yada yada, all in one place. And Corkulous looks like lots of fun. A virtual corkboard for me to pin photos of my heroes and their gorgeous houses.

Anyway, as I said, I will blog about how it holds up as a writing device and how very, very shiny it really is, when it comes in the mail. Except squeeing. Lots of it.

Confidence

A funny thing, confidence. You have to have a measure of it to submit. Heck, you have to have a measure of it to sit down and write a book in the first place. But the thing about confidence (for me at least) is that it’s a fleeting thing, and easily upset.

I’ve been told several times (by my parents, husband, editor) that I need more confidence. A funny thing, again, since I’ve always considered myself a confident person. I’m outgoing, I can talk for seven or eight people. But, there are plenty of areas I lack confidence. Oh, and I lack it spectacularly sometimes.

I can easily doubt every word that goes down on the page while I’m writing, and then do it again as I revise. And it’s to the detriment of my writing. Because when I can just forget about what others might be expecting and just write. Trust what I feel, and my inclinations, then it’s usually better. Of course I have to think about what I’ve learned, since I have this strong inclination to move my poor reader through several conversations and, sometimes, several countries in the first few chapters to the detriment of my character development.

I guess it’s that happy medium that Jackie A was talking about. Yes, you have to keep in mind what you’ve learned. Yes, you can’t be so confident you can’t see the mistakes you’ve made and correct them. But you also have to trust your instincts and be you, and be confident in what you bring to your writing, the thing that makes you unique, so that you can stand out. (in a good way, not in a kid throwing a tantrum in the supermarket way)

So, I’m off to search for my confidence and try to take my own advice as I write about The Land Stud. *g* I have to follow someone’s instincts…might as well be mine.

Of course, there’s also overconfidence…which you have to watch out for.

Also, come and see Ms. Jilly Aston over on the Seven Sassy Sisters blog as she discusses winning the MH portion of the M&B comp, chimpanzees and George Clooney.

You Have To Be Published To Get Published…(And Other Things I Hear That Make My Head Explode)

I wanted to write this post because in my travels around Teh Interwebz I have seen a lot of disenchantment with the publishing industry. It’s all very rage against the machine. Fight that man. I see a lot of ‘it’s not fair…I don’t live in New York and I don’t have an Uncle in publishing’ *snivel* or ‘you have to be published to get an agent and you have to have an agent to get published and you have to be published to get published’ *snivel snivel*

Okay, a little sniveling is both normal and acceptable. This is a tough, extremely competitive business. It’s about more than talent, there’s the right book at the right time factor, the right editor, the right agent if you have one, divine intervention. There’s just a lot of factors.

But it’s not impossible. And every time I see one of those posts I long to respond with my personal story, but that’s not the time or place. But this is. 😀

I submitted through slush with zip, zero and no inside contacts. I had no agent. (This, admittedly, worked because I was submitting to a publisher who takes unagented submissions…but I knew that. It was perfect for me.) I do not live in New York. I do not smoke cigars in a Manhattan men’s club and share saucy anecdotes over brandy and moustaches whilst my manuscript gets reviewed by my fellow fat cats.

Why am I repeating this? Because I think it’s important to know. It is possible to go from slush to sold. It is possible to be an unknown from a rural part of the US that your editor is…well…unfamiliar with.

I find a lot of people who complain on those boards so loudly and…snivelously…are the kind who tout how amazing they are. So clearly, it’s not them, it’s the industry. *Maisey’s head explodes*

I’m willing to concede that it’s possible that really amazing, marketable books that would have been bestsellers get passed over. Maybe. It’s possible. But the vast majority of the time, that’s just not true. And it’s not even to say what these people are writing isn’t good, but when a rejection comes you have to be willing to learn from it, not just get mad at it. Writing is a learning process. I’ve made sales now, but I’m in no way “there”. I’m still learning and I’m still getting better. (This is something I have to remember…just in case I experience rapid ego growth…LOL)

The thing is though, a lot of these people who are so angry because they can’t make it, don’t realize that what they have just isn’t there yet. It might even be close, but they get so upset and so offended that people don’t see what they do, that the genius has been missed, they can’t concede that they need to improve.

So here’s the deal: It’s possible, but you have to submit. You have to be willing to revise. Sometimes you have to accept that an MS isn’t ready for primetime and move onto the next project. Don’t write editors and agents nasty letters. Don’t post rude things on blogs. Keep writing, keep getting better. Submit. Write and submit some more. Because you can do it. It’s not a closed club. It’s not only for the good ol’ boys and their buddies.

Really, I wanted to write this post to encourage you. Because you can’t change the fact that you don’t have a great aunt at accounts payable at Random House, or whatever connection you’re supposed to need, but you can work on your craft. You can keep going. You can have the dream.

The moral of the story? You don’t have to be published to get published.

Keep on keepin’ on, my friends. 😉

Back to the Drawing Board…

Well, not completely, but back a chapter. I thought I new just what I was going to do with the Land Stud, but sadly, I was making him seem a bit morally questionable. And he’s better than that! He does not deserve me besmirching his character.

Let me walk you through how I analyzed this, and why I (or really, my characters) ultimately decided to go in another direction:

Option 1: Accomplished my goal of forcing them together, but did cause question as to my hero’s morals. Also, my heroine got to stay in her ‘business is my life’ mode, which is great, and it’s very her, but I think this is the point where we see more from her. She’s more than just her ambition. Who is she when she’s at home and she’s by herself and there is no business matter at hand? That’s important, and the reader needs to see some of that, otherwise I think she’ll come off as being a bit cold!

So then I thought of option 2: also accomplishes the goal of proximity but, makes my hero look morally shiny, gives him a chance to have some justified, alphafied raginess at the media. Also, forces my heroine to think beyond strictly business and gives us a window into who she is.

Ultimately, this small thing doesn’t change the whole trajectory. But SO much more can be revealed about the characters in this if I go option 2. And I think we should always go with the option that does the most for character!

*sigh* *delete delete delete delete delete delete delete*

Onward and upward, and here’s to a stronger MS!