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Post Publication – All the Work that isn’t Writing

Before you sell a book you’re in a pretty sweet position in terms of doing actual writing. What do I mean by that? Well…all you have to do is write. That’s what I did. That’s how I learned. I wrote a manuscript, and I started another one. I know I’ve mentioned this here before, but I’ll say it again.

I submitted my first manuscript to Harlequin’s UK office shortly after the Instant Seduction contest and then I immediately started writing a second. And a third. All told, in between revisions for that first MS (which later was published and became His Virgin Acquisition) I wrote thirteen books. Because I just wrote. And wrote and wrote and learned pacing, and new ways to say things, new ways to explore emotion, execute an idea and flesh out characters.

Ultimately, I only submitted two of those thirteen manuscripts for publication. They were maybe my 7th and 8th? And they became my 2nd and 3rd published books: An Accidental Birthright and The Inherited Bride. But because so much rewriting was involved, I ended up leaving those other MSs in a box under the bed, so to speak, and chalking them up to a learning experience. Writing new MSs with my new skills was easier for me at that point than fixing the mistakes I’d made in the ones that were already written.

I say that mainly as a PSA for writing while waiting and on submission. Because that’s how you learn! And because once you’re published there are a lot of other fiddly things to do.

I’m not even talking about promotion. Promotion post publication is something most people are aware of. I want to talk about the other things.

First of all, wait times. You still have them. You’re going to turn a book in, and sometimes you’ll get it back really fast. Some editors and publishers are always fast. Most are not. My wait times with Harlequin have varied but the average turn-around on a MS of mine is three weeks. With Berkley it’s been longer. It’s easy to want to sit and wait to hear back. But that’s a waste of time, in my opinion. I’ve learned to do much the same as I’ve always done: Write while I wait. (see!? It was good practice!)

So you turn a MS in, you wait, you get revisions back, you do revision, you turn them in, you wait more, you hear your MS is all good. Done, right? NO. 😉

There are also art forms. Either a document describing what you want on your cover, with examples of other books and character descriptions, or an official form. You have to write a synopsis, or blurb suggestions. Add settings, seasons, time frames, relevant scenes from the book to draw cover ideas from. Every publisher wants something slightly different, but it’s typically a variant on this.

Done, right? NO.

At Harlequin the next step is to get AAs (author adjustments, I believe) where you read through a PDF of your MS and request final changes, catch remaining typos, whine about how the copy editor changed one of your more succinct words for the male member to ‘manhood’ etc.

With my other publisher it’s a different, multiple step process. I’ve had my novella Unbuttoned back twice to approve changes/corrections, and next I’ll have galleys, where you can only change a word here and there because the MS has been typeset. These are time consuming steps. With a short book, it can eat your whole day. With a long one, half your work week.

And the more you write, the more of this kind of stuff you have to do. I actually like most of the steps in the process, but sometimes it can really slam into you. I just had a week where I got AAs from Harlequin, edits from Berkley on Unexpected and then another set of AAs at the end of the week! You don’t get much in the way of new words on the page during a week like that.

Another thing linked to wait times is that the more people involved in your career, the more people you have to talk to about things. My agent helps me strategize my career in general, and sometimes I have an idea, but I need to wait to speak to her, or, I mean I don’t, but sometimes I end up with things written that didn’t need to be written if I do that. Sometimes I have to bounce a new idea off of my editor.

There are times when you’re negotiating contracts and sitting on your hands, not telling the internet and so consumed with everything that it’s hard to write. Because it feels like there’s a lot going on, even if half of it is nothing you can control at all.

My past two weeks were spent brainstorming and going back and forth with my editor about a project that isn’t going to happen now, not as I conceived it. But I spent two weeks working on something with what feels like nothing to show for it. That doesn’t mean I have nothing to show for it, because I firmly feel that any creative work and thought is valuable to you as a creator because it’s experience, and practice at your craft. But I have zero words to show for my effort and since I’m a word count oriented person, it’s hard for me to feel accomplished after weeks like that.

Or when I have to pause to do any of these things, really! But I’m getting used to them being part of the process, and the more I accept them as part of it, the less I resent them when I have a week where other things that are related to the business keep me from making progress on a new MS. It’s been a matter of me changing my perspective, and accepting the fact that being a published writer means adding a lot of things that aren’t strictly ‘writing’.

So these are some of the things that come into play post publication, beyond blog tours and the like.

The good thing about all this? When I have a week where all I have to do is write words? It feels like bliss. And getting to feel like the majority of your job is bliss is pretty darn good. 😉

(If you have any questions, or, authors, anything to add as I’m sure I’ve missed something, feel free to do so in the comments!)

Believing That You’re Beautiful

“One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see. Your body is your temple, it’s your home, and you must decorate it.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about the way we see ourselves. Partly because I’m in the early stages of a project with a perfectionist heroine who has struggled all of her life to meet the expectations of others in nearly every way, including the physical. And partly because well, it’s a struggle that’s close to my heart.

I spent all of my jr high and high school years feeling out of place. I was heavier than every girl I was friends with. And even though most everyone was nice to me, I couldn’t help but feel there was something wrong with me. I was afraid people judged what I ate, and how much of it I ate. Sleepovers and parties were hard because of that.

These are silly little issues I still carry a piece of with me. Because those thoughts and fears were so much a part of my formative years. The fear of judgment. The fear that people looked at me and saw only the things I perceived to be flaws.

The internet certainly doesn’t help things like this. It’s so easy to be negative from the keyboard. To pass judgment on models and actresses, to criticize their bodies from the comfort of our own homes in our sweats. (I was actually guilty of this last night on twitter re, a male actor, I don’t feel like I can point all this out without confessing that I fall into the criticism mindset)

But tweets and blog posts that are so harsh on celebrities I think confirm the insecure person’s worst fear: That people are that judgmental. That they probably do look at ME and think unkind things about my body or my big nose or whatever.

But then I come to Gabouray’s quote. And I smile. Because she’s right. It doesn’t matter what anyone else on the whole earth thinks, except for you. And when you value yourself as beautiful, or your work as worthwhile and good, then you’ll start to feel like it is.

We can’t wait for approval from outside sources. Either on our physical looks, or our other efforts.

I’m not even worried about whether or not that might make someone full of themselves, because the vast majority of women I know don’t struggle with that. They struggle with insecurities. With the feeling that they are somehow not good enough as they are. That their work isn’t good enough, their bodies aren’t good enough. And it’s a tragedy.

We all have value. We’re all here for a purpose. We’re all made beautifully. Not all the same, but beautifully. Mind and body.

We’re so often our own biggest critics, our own biggest bullies, when we could be our own biggest champion. The support of others is great, but it’s something that can be taken away. What no one can take from you is the strength inside of you. No one can change the way you feel about you, unless you let them.

I know this is all very touchy feel for me, but that’s ok. 😉 I’m tired of the idea that we’re obligated to be self-deprecating. That we’re bad people if we’re comfortable in our own skin because that must mean we have ego issues. *eye roll* Pretty much I want to buy the world a Coke and tell every woman I hand one to that she’s flipping beautiful and the world and Photo Shop,and airbrushing can suck it.

But since I don’t have that much Coke money…Give yourself permission to be happy with what you’ve got. And decide today that you’re beautiful.

A Long Post About Characters

It’s been a busy few weeks for me, in spite of the fact that I DO NOT have a book out this month. It’s been filled with new and exciting projects, which always makes me happy.

I got an email from a reader/online friend (and I hope she doesn’t mind me referencing it!) after she read an advanced copy of Heir to a Desert Legacy. She was asking me if I personally had gone through any similar struggles to my characters, because they do always seem to be very broken.

This got me thinking. Because honestly, I haven’t gone through anything remotely like what my characters have been through! Okay, no surprise with some of them. I doubt many of you thought I’d lost my family in a terrible accident and had to become ruler of my small desert nation by default. However, I’ve dealt with a lot of issues: domestic violence, crucifixion at the hands of the media, physical scars, the loss of a child, neglect…that I’ve never personally had to face.

But, I do know people who have been through these things. Actually, the second manuscript I wrote, which I’ve never sent anywhere and probably never will…was sort of the start of this method of writing. I’m a fixer. I want to fix things for people and sometimes you can’t. I have a cousin who lives with an abusive husband. It’s a terrible thing. We’ve tried to help, we HAVE helped her leave, but she goes back.

I wrote my second MS shortly after she went back to him again. In that MS I have a heroine who left her abusive husband for the sake of her child. And in the end, of course, finds love with a tall, dark and gorgeous hero who treasures her.

So there’s that aspect to my characters, a need to fix the things I see happening around me. It’s a control freak approach to writing, I’m sure. But it’s a source of inspiration for me, and more than that, it creates stories that I HAVE to get out of me sometimes.

But not every situation stems from my real life. I don’t know anyone with horrible burn scars like Ella, my heroine from The Highest Price to Pay.

This is where my theory about being a ‘student of people’ comes in. People react in wholly unpredictable and varying ways to different traumas in their lives, and in general, there isn’t a right or wrong answer to how they respond to things. This is what makes writing characters A) so freaking hard. B) so awesome.

Because you could take the same backstory and apply it to a different character and come up with something totally new, because people are so variable.

But putting together actions, reactions and feelings that match a character and make sense in context with their background DOES require thought because there isn’t a stock standard reaction to all of life’s situations.

You don’t have to have experienced something to write about it, but you should sit down and really think about WHY your characters are reacting how they do. You should try to understand. Analyzing people is a helpful exercise, also crazy making, but helpful. Pondering people’s motivations, and not JUST the actions, is helpful. It’s not just about what they do, or what they’ve been through, but…at the risk of sounding like a stereotypical movie psychiatrist…how it makes them FEEL.

But how they feel is where the personal comes in. It’s where you start injecting what IS personal into things that aren’t. This is an important one, IMO, because it’s where your readers will relate to these characters as well. I don’t have burn scars, but like Ella, I know what it’s like to feel lacking in appearance (most of us who lived through our teenage years do) and I could use those feelings, those personal insecurities, to help tap into Ella’s and get them across on the page.

With a character like Ella, or Clara from One Night in Paradise, or Paige from Her Little White Lie (they’re definitely the character’s who most closely share my own issues…) it’s not about me having been shamed in high school like Paige (I wasn’t) or having a contentious issue with my mom like Clara (I don’t) it was relating on the level of feeling like you don’t fit it, like you’re ‘wrong’ in some way. Then it’s kind of easy (and revealing and emotional) flesh out their characters.

But what about with a character like Jessica from At His Majesty’s Request? I don’t share any of her issues, personally. I haven’t been divorced, I haven’t had a hysterectomy or serious health issues. But again, the point at which Jessica and I relate is that little place of feeling like there’s something that might make me not quite right. Something that makes me undesirable (rest assured, also, I’m not a total ball of insecurity, I borrow a lot from high school drama past) and that’s where I can inject my personal pieces into the MS.

I think what my long and rambling post is trying to say is that you can tackle all manner of issues, and you don’t have to have experienced them to do it. But at the core of these major issues are very relatable human emotions that we all. Sayid from Heir to a Desert Legacy has very little in common with me. Male, sheikh, lost his whole family, now having to rule a country. But the heart of his issues: not feeling up the task, afraid of failing everyone…that’s relatable. We’ve all had that fear.

And that’s the real challenge. Looking beneath the big issues to find the essence of the emotion.

With me? WITH ME?

A Post on Doing ALL THE THINGS

So yeah, THINGS people. I have been doing ALL THE THINGS. In the past week I’ve had line edits from two different publishers, revisions for my latest Presents MS and I finished Unbound (AKA bad ass cowboy, though it badly needs a read through!)

I also got a title and release date for Presents #20! (buh buh buh duhHhhh!!) His Ring is Not Enough, and it’s out in September, 2013. That book was a pain the drain so I was pleased to see it done. And pleased that Presents #21, which I just did the revisions for, was in much less need of repair.

OH YEAH and I got the release date for Unbound, which is already up for pre-order on Amazon as Silver Creek Romance #2…December 17th, 2013.

I realized this put my total number of releases in 2013 up to 11. Yeah. I know, right? Two are novella length, seven are category length and two are single title length, and that adds up to A WHOLE LOT OF WRITING I did this past year.

Incidentally, I’m doing a workshop in Australia on the topic of productivity and having a life to go along with it. *cough shameless plug cough* But I’m going to touch on some of how I go about life and work in this post. (again, I know)

So this is how I wrote that many books…

1. I write when I don’t wanna. No muse? Oh well. I write even when I hate it, even when it hurts. (and thankfully, I often get to write when it feels awesome, so it’s a nice trade off!)

2. I’ve given myself permission to enjoy my work. I can breathe easier when I feel positively about my projects and I have a lot more fun.

3. I see revisions as a chance to find the best in my MS, I don’t look at them as a failure. Or like I’ve done something wrong. Again, it’s the positive spin and gaming my brain that way works for me.

4. I set strict goals and I keep them. What’s my deadline per my contract? Dunno. I set alternate deadlines and those ARE my deadlines. They are not fake. Failure is not an option. That means I want to hit x number of words a day, be THIS far on the book by THIS time and have it done THIS DAY.

5. I am in the habit of writing. I practice it. Sort of like people who run, and then want to run all the time. (which, whatever. Those people are cray cray)

6. It’s my job. That right there helps a lot. Barring serious garbage, people go to work every day no matter what.

7. It’s my passion. I have to do it. It’s my therapy. It keeps me sane. It gives me an escape when I need it, a distraction from my problems. A world to escape to.

So those are some of the ways that…11 in 2013 happened. I hope that helps some of you. My methods, of course, aren’t helpful for everyone. A huge part of finding the process and mindset that works for you is knowing yourself and knowing what you need to be at that sweet spot of productivity high and personal life happiness. In life as in writing! 😉

Book Trailer For Unbuttoned!

I’m really, really really excited to share this!! My husband, the amazingly talented (and handsome) Haven Yates, has worked really hard to get this song written, recorded and produced for my book trailer.

I love the lyrics. I think he did a brilliant job of capturing the mood of the story.

And, I love collaborating with him. And definitely enjoyed singing a duet with him! And I hope you enjoy it too…

Unbuttoned, June 18th 2013 – Carly Denton has learned to keep her buttons and emotions firmly fastened. Her parents’ constant drama, and an unrequited crush on her brother’s best friend, taught her to keep her passion beneath the surface. But she can no longer avoid the one man with the ability to bring that passion to a boil…

Lucas remembers Carly as a freckle-faced tomboy—not a frosty woman who treats him like a burr under her saddle. But when they have to work together on a charity project, Lucas is shocked to find their bickering melt into some serious mutual attraction. He’s determined to show Carly that he’s the man for her, if only she’d learn to let loose.

Lucas is the last man on earth Carly should give in to. The freedom she finds in his arms has her feeling happier than ever, but is it enough to make her realize that the greatest risk isn’t losing your heart, but losing the chance at happiness?

Sports Made Me Think of Writing

It’s big news here in the land of O. Chip Kelly, our beloved Ducks coach has traded us in for some bigger birds. He’s going to the NFL to coach the Philadelphia Eagles.

Part of me is proud of me. Part of me feels like Samwise. “Don’t go where I can’t follow!” and part of me is doing this:

But what really fascinates me are the amount of people trying to predict the outcome of his move. And oddly, I find myself relating to what he must have gone through in making the decision.

Because the NFL isn’t college ball and the percentage of coaches who bomb out in the transition is high (I’m going somewhere with this…) BUT it’s the way for him to take his career to the place he envisions. It’s the way for him to expand, to grow.

I’m a pre-panicker. I panic before the panicking ever needs to happen. But I found myself sitting in a hotel room in New York in 2011, with Maggie Marr, Aimee Carson and Abbi Wilder. And I was panicking about going to a meeting with an agent to pitch a Single Title book.

“But the chances of making it out there are slim! Contemporary romance is so hard to sell. What if I forget how to write category length books? What if I BREAK WHAT I HAVE in my attempt to have more?”

I was wailing, I tell you. Because change is scary. Stepping out of your comfort zone is scary. And the thought, which, plenty of people are currently slinging around Coach Kelly, is that the wrong decision can ruin you completely.

Unlike Chip, I didn’t have to choose between one or the other. I didn’t have to leave category. (I love category far too much to leave it. Harlequin Presents was my DREAM from day one. And I am LIVING it.) But I still felt like trying out ST was a career gamble. Even the act of getting an agent was terrifying.

But after pep talking from my roommates I went to breakfast and pitched my book, and now I have an agent I love and a book deal I’m happy with. Sometimes you have to pull your pants up and be brave, and get over yourself. Sometimes you have to take the chances you feel pulled toward.

For each of us, those chances are different. And sometimes people will root against you, or feel betrayed by your decision, or jealous of where you end up. And sometimes they’ll end…badly. That is a possibility. But you have to take them anyway. In life as in writing. And in football.

This sort of follows the theme of a post I did recently about fear. But I find that fear controls a lot of my life. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was true for other people as well.

One thing I know for sure is that I don’t want to turn away from something because of fear. There are better reasons. Basically any reason is better. (Unless you’re turning away from a spider out of fear. There is no better reason or better course of action)

Sometimes moving things forward in your career is about taking a step into the unknown. It involves ignoring your fear and pushing through anyway. It’s about being willing to get beat up along the way.

I’ll just say, my road to category romance wasn’t paved with rejection. But my road to single title was. It was indeed.

So I, kind of grudgingly, wish Chip Kelly the best. And I hope he goes from glory to greater glory in this. I hope his risk is rewarded.

And may we also be brave enough to take those big steps. So that we can have our risks rewarded too.

Busy!

I’ve been busy since last Monday! Since then I’ve had revisions on a couple of books, AAs and I’ve been continuing to work on Book 2 in my Silver Creek series which is masquerading under the name Unbound or on twitter #badasscowboy.

I also got final confirmation on my 20th Presents, which, after two rounds of hard revising, is done and dusted! Yay!

This was a tricky book, with a tricky hero, who really pushed me in a direction I wasn’t sure about. He was a challenge in every way. From the things he’d done to his past to where he was at in his present.

I’ve never written a hero who starts the book in love with someone else, and now…oh now I know why! It’s a unique and horrible challenge. It’s one thing to write a hero who think he can’t love, or that he won’t again, but to write a man currently in love with someone else, and then to shackle him to the heroine…well, that was mean. Worth it in the end, but torture for me and for him! And probably for my editor.

BUT I have reached that lovely round twenty number and it feels kinda bask worthy. 🙂

Oh, and forgive me if I’m repeating myself, my brain is basically mush…but I’ve confirmed with my editor that Xander Drakos will get a story and that Call of Duty 3 will be out in early 2014.

AND I have a cover to share with you! The UK cover of Heir to a Desert Legacy!

He’s quite alpha and *gulp* sexy. What do you think?

I think maybe I should go eat cake… 🙂

Why Romance?

Our genre, whether we’re readers of it or writers of it, often gets very little respect. I could go on about how sad that is. How it’s a sad commentary on our society that love and reading about love is so easy to devalue. How it’s disturbing that Saw V (or whatever…and the fact that the movie exists and that there are several of them…) gets an R rating for depicting a woman being cut in half, while Blue Valentine is NC-17 for Ryan Gosling giving a woman oral sex.

Yes, I could go on about that. At length.

But instead I’m just going to answer the question: Why romance?

When I became a mother, I found I didn’t enjoy the TV shows I used to enjoy. I saw an episode of CSI where a baby was killed and I could never watch the show again. I used to read a lot of inspirational fiction, which certainly has merit, but after reading one too many where the woman lost her husband and all her children, or a baby was suddenly killed by a bee sting toward the end, I lost my taste for that as well.

That’s when I discovered Harlequin Romances. I knew they were ‘safe’. I knew it would end well. I knew they would end up together.

I don’t live in denial of life. I know how life is. Life is hard. Marriages end. People you love die. The son that is so perfect to you is diagnosed with autism. That last one is personal to me, and I know a lot of you know that.

If I’m going to step into another world for a few hours, I want to be uplifted. I want to see that no matter how bad things get, and that even if bad things happen, everything is really okay at the end.

As a writer, if I’m going to spend MY LIFE in these other worlds, then I will make them worlds filled with beautiful things. With characters who overcome ugliness with love. With handsome men and great sex and multiple orgasms and the kind of love that lasts for ever and I will NOT apologize for that.

It isn’t wrong to want to read that. It isn’t wrong to want to write it. Sadness isn’t superior to a happy ending. Hatred and violence are not more acceptable than love and sex. They shouldn’t be. And yet in our culture, I think often that’s how it’s perceived.

We as a culture fear sex more than violence. We elevate a commentary on the futility of life above books that depict the beauty in life. And as a result, those of us who love the romance genre are delusional for wanting a happy ending. Unrealistic for wanting a man who treats us like a human being and gives good foreplay.

Why romance? It reminds of the wonderful things in this world. It reminds me how fortunate I have to have my own personal hero. It reminds me of the rush of falling in love, and makes me want to recapture it…with the man I’m married to.

And simply? I choose to read and write romance because I love it. Really, that should be good enough.

Year in Review, Next Year in Preview

Is it really almost 2013? REALLY!? This year flew by SO quickly, and it has been such an amazing one.

Personally, because we moved into our first real house. We got health insurance. We potty trained out youngest two children. Our oldest son is going to school all day without one on one help in the class room! (YES!) We got a dog. Our cat abandoned us for greener pastures. (we tried to get him to move with us and his response was basically: you’re not my real mom!) We went on our first real family vacation! (Disneyland!) And my husband is making the transition into being a stay-at-home dad. (Which means he’s going to be working harder than he ever has in his life!)

And professionally…

I had 7 books and 2 shorts out (mainly in the UK). I sold my Silver Creek series to Berkley! (Woohoo!!!) I got the offer to participate in Lori Foster’s charity anthology coming out with HQN in June and I accepted so fast it would have made your head spin if you were there!

I wrote some books this year that pushed me hard. (A Hunger For the Forbidden, out in December US, August UK, & Her Little White Lie, out now in the UK come to mind.) With those books particularly I had to reach really deep emotionally. I had to stop being afraid and just write. I wrote my first single title length book and held my breath as the word count climbed over 50K. And I realized I could do it, when I’d believed for a long time I couldn’t. I wrote novellas. I thought, for sure, that I would hate writing novellas. Turns out, I love it. I wrote four of them this year, and every one has been such a joy to write.

I learned a lot. I learned I could write books that were different lengths! (as evidenced above)And books that were different from each other. I learned that not everyone is going to like me, and that’s okay. I learned that Golden Retriever hair gets everywhere and you will never be able to clean it all up. I’ve learned I can do more than I think I can. I’ve learned having friends who understand you, and what you love to do, is invaluable. I’ve learned the support of family is incredible, and something I should never take for granted.

So…what’s up in 2013 for me? Lots! I’m going to be at the Romantic Times convention in May, and I’ll be giving a panel with several other category authors on which Harlequin category is right for you! I’ll be at Lori Foster’s reader even in June, signing and having fun. I’ll be at RWA in July in Atlanta doing the same, and in August I’ll be in Fremantle, Australia giving a workshop at RWAus! *wipes sweat off brow*

I’m also in the process of making my first book trailer with the help of my husband, who has written/recorded/engineered an original song for Unbuttoned, my Silver Creek novella that’s out in June.

AND I’ll have a newsletter this year! I did a trial run newsletter in December, but I’m going to try to kick it off in ernest in January, so if you’re inclined, sign up for that on my home page.

As far as releases go…there are many. I think I’ve tallied ten for 2013 so far. Some are untitled, but I’ll give you a quick rundown.

At His Majesty’s Request – January

Heir to a Desert Legacy – April

Heir to a Dark Inheritance – May

Lori Foster Anthology novella – June

Unbuttoned – June

The Couple That Fooled the World – July

Unexpected – August

Ajax and Leah – TBC

Zafar and Ana – TBC

A Hunger For the Forbidden – December

o_O Well, so…that’s a lot of things! And no ear in review/next year in preview would be complete without me telling you all how much I appreciate you. Readers of my books, and the readers of this blog. You guys make it all possible. Thank you for letting me share my stories with you.

My Early Christmas Present and a Partial Explanation of Why I’m Such a Weirdo

So, a couple of days ago my brother got into town, and he and my parents came over for dinner. We were sitting there at the dinner table and my dad started to tell me about how he had this GREAT new marketing plan.

Now, this from the man who has oft suggested I write a forbidden romance with a pope hero, or start a trend with clown romance. I understandably skeptical, and a little afraid.

Me: What did you do?

Dad: It will double your readership!

Me: you DO know that more than two people have bought my books, right?

Dad: Yeah! I don’t care how many people have read them. THIS WILL DOUBLE YOUR READERSHIP.

Right. Okay.

So yesterday, he came over with my mom and brother in tow (they had no idea what was up either) and he had a flash drive. And well…then this happened:

Yep. My dad commissioned A Stereotypical Englishman to make me a video. As someone said on twitter: Your dad thought an English chap in a loincloth would make a good stocking stuffer?

Well, yeah. And my mom would like me to take this opportunity to point out that *I* clearly take after my dad. Apple. Tree.

So what do you think? Will people be running out and buying my novels? They ARE exceedingly good. A man in a loincloth said it. So you know it’s true.

Oh, and Merry Christmas!

The Next Big Thing

My good writerly friend Laurie London tagged me for The Next Big Thing! She did it last week, and told us ALL about her current work in progress. It was really interesting and you can check it out here!

And now…It’s my turn in the hot seat!

What is your working title of your book?

The working title of this book is Unbound. It’s the second full length book in my Silver Creek series, releasing in 2013 with Berkley. 🙂

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Lark, the heroine, first appeared in Unexpected. She’s the younger sister of the hero in that book. She was so delightfully geeky and awkward, and I knew she had to have a book. I also knew I wanted to put her with a bad boy. Because a good, awkward, geek girl with a very bad boy? Well, that’s too much fun. Then I hit on the idea of setting her up with her brother’s biggest enemy and well…well, that’s where Quinn came from. 😉

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s a contemporary romance. Steamy, funny, and, I hope, still emotional.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I would pick Anne Hathaway to play Lark. She proved she could do awkward and charming well way back when Princess Diaries came out. And for Quinn…Maybe Alex O’Loughlin. He’s got a bit of a bad boy, tattoo thing happening.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When Lark Mitchell takes a job working for Quinn Parker, she never imagined she’d find herself falling for her brother’s mortal enemy, but she sees the good man beneath his bad boy exterior. Can she make her family see it too? More importantly: Can she help Quinn see it for himself? (I cheated. Oh well)

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

This book is being published by Berkley’s InterMix imprint.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Heh. I’m just starting. I’m hoping it will take eight weeks!!

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The phrase ‘dirty Debbie Macomber’ was bandied about early on, but that was mainly for fun. 😉 These are small town romances, but they’re spicy and with a good dose of humor.

Who or what inspired you to write this book (series)?

I had decided I wanted to think of a single title idea to expand what I do, and for some reason, the Mitchell family came into my head. And they were a ranching family. From there, the city of Silver Creek, Oregon came onto the scene. Lark, Cade and Cole came first. Then I started trying to figure out who I would match them with. 😉 So I already know what’s going to happen with all of them. (wvil laugh)

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

With my single title books, I like to introduce a secondary romance. In Unexpected, the romance is between the heroine’s best friend, and a younger ranch hand living on the hero’s ranch. in Unbound,   I plan to have a romance between a married couple in their mid-forties. I’m really looking forward to re-igniging the passion and love these two feel for each other.

Okay…Now I have to tag people. I’m going to tag Jackie Ashenden and..and…I didn’t have time to ask anyone else. Anyone who wants to play! *hides because I broke the rules*

Own Your Awesome

“I should not have described my work that way. No more than you should say you dabble in geology. Why is it that we women so often downplay our accomplishments?”

“I don’t know. Men are always boasting of theirs.”

“Too true. Let’s boast to each other, then.”

– A Night to Surrender, by Tessa Dare

A while back I was devouring the Spindle Cover series by Tessa Dare (which is on sale in ebook right now, the titles are $2.99 and they are the best books ever. Go get them. Be amazed.) and I came across this passage. I took a picture of it and tweeted it at the time, because it’s something I’ve often thought.

That in order to avoid appearing prideful or egotistical, women must downplay their accomplishments and their expertise on a given subject. I also noticed that last year, when workshops were given at conferences regarding the ‘future of publishing’ they were often (possibly always) given by men. Make of that what you will.

Now, this issue is not entirely one of gender, but even within the writing community OFTEN it’s women I see downplaying their expertise and skill, while you rarely see that from men. (often, rarely, not never and always. ;))

This post isn’t only for women, though, but for anyone who struggles with the: how am I supposed to feel about what I write? thing.

It’s hard. Because the absolute truth is, we have to write something and submit it to an agent, and editor, whatever, and they’ll tell us what’s wrong with it. Even if you bypass that stage and just bring it out to readers, they’ll tell you what’s wrong with it. And that will happen even after you get an agent/editor stamp of approval too. There will be criticism of what you do.

That makes loving your work unreservedly a challenge, especially if you want to improve it.

On the flip side, if you hate everything you do, and doubt every word you write, and if you’re convinced that what you write is magic and in no part a learnable skill you can grow in and improve in, then how are you supposed to work without feeling constant, blinding terror?

To be perfectly honest, I yo-yo violently between the two half of the time. I’m either writing and thinking I AM SO GOOD. OMG FREAKING GENIUS HERE!! GOLDEN FINGERTIPS! or I’m hunched over my keyboard like…oh this is all so bad. it’s so bad. it’s so bad. it’s bad.

Middle grounds can be tough to come by in this business.

But here’s what I KNOW intellectually:

1. You have to like your work, and be willing to tear it apart if that’s what it takes to make it better.

2. You do learn. You do improve. It’s not magic. It’s a craft. That means just like someone learning to knit, you will get better. It doesn’t mean that after years of knitting lovely shawls you aren’t capable of producing vomit inducing Christmas sweater, but, your skills will still have improved, even if you make an error.

3. It’s okay to be proud of your work. It’s okay to say you’re good at what you do. If my doctor went all around saying “I don’t know how this surgery is going to go. I’m just not that good.” I would FIRE HIM. I expect my doctor to know what she’s doing. And that quiet confidence in her ability is not ego, it’s her due after medical school and years of experience. So often we writers deny ourselves that.

4. It’s okay to get criticism and not say anything about it. Really. People will write lots of stuff about your books, and a lot of it won’t be nice. But that’s okay. I recently had one book get a bad comment regarding the ‘cheesy epilogue’ and then on a different book someone didn’t like that I had no baby epilogue. Essentially, everyone’s taste is different. I don’t like mustard. Put mustard on my burger, I’m not going to be able to gag it down. I don’t like it, I’m not wrong, but it doesn’t mean everyone would call it a bad burger. The cook wouldn’t need to take my criticism to heart in that instance.

5. This leads me to: you can’t please everyone. Not in the content of your story or in your professional and personal conduct. You just can’t. So be you, write the best book you can, don’t worry about what other people might think or say.

Confidence, enjoyment of your work, isn’t about ego, it’s about sustainability. It’s about not feeling obligated to put yourself down.

Because I think if you can sit down at the keyboard and say to yourself: I have this. I do. I’m learning, I’m growing, I’ve done it before and I liked my books, and I’ll do it again, then it will help make things feel not as daunting. Not as tiring. When you feel like you have control, at least over your part, it helps.

And it’s exhausting to not allow yourself any sort of pride or enjoyment or victory, even in your own head.

I have met some amazing and talented women in these past few years, and they deserve to feel that they are amazing, and talented. They, and we, and all of us, should never feel obligated to put ourselves down for the comfort of others.

In writing as in life.

Or as my friend Jackie Ashenden said to her daughter yesterday when they were discussing a school project: You have to own your awesome. Don’t put yourself down.