Tuesday, November 29, 2011
THE LORD OF ILLUSION contest--win a gorgeous citrine necklace!
First contest for THE LORD OF ILLUSION
To celebrate the upcoming release of THE LORD OF ILLUSION, I am offering a gorgeous 1.32 carat citrine pendant (retail value $180). The golden stone represents the magical scepter and the power of glamour and illusion at Dreamhame Palace, where my heroine is enslaved. See above for a photo and description of this magical prize.
This contest is all about spreading the word for THE ELVEN LORDS series. Just post the blurb and/or cover below anywhere on the internet (Chatrooms, Forums, Blogs, Myspace, Twitter, etc.) No inappropriate sites, please, and the exact blurb cannot already be mentioned on that site. However, you may Tweet about it once a day, as long as you don't drive your friends crazy. :}
Email the url link to your post to: kathryne@kathrynekennedy.com with THE LORD OF ILLUSION CONTEST in the subject line.
BLURB:
THE LORD OF ILLUSION is coming soon!
www.KathryneKennedy.com
A winner will be randomly chosen from the entries using RANDOM.ORG. Your information will be kept confidential. Contest ends January 31, 2012. One entry per 24 hours. Winner will be notified via email provided with subscription. If winner does not respond within seven business days, a new winner will be chosen. We are not responsible for any misdirection of email. Rules are subject to change for any reason without prior notification. Void where prohibited by law. You must be 18 years or older to enter. No prize substitution permitted. Odds of winning are determined by number of entrants. This contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations. Open to U.S. residents only. You accept all terms and conditions by entering into the contest.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Looking for an Agent to represent your YA novel?
Friday, November 25, 2011
Happy Black Friday.
Discovering Jenna
Matt McCutcheon is confined to a wheelchair but doesn’t let life confine him. He’s determined to unearth the mysteries of a woman whose physical scars camouflage wounds that go far deeper. But are his efforts to unlock the warmth and beauty inside Jenna enough to draw her back into the land of the living?
http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Jenna-ebook/dp/B005PII8XS
http://www.amazon.com/Dog-Days-of-Summer-ebook/dp/B005PIMJEW
http://www.amazon.com/Scales-of-Love-ebook/dp/B0062PEEVI
Injured during D-Day, Johnny Davenport is shipped home. His only plan: to find the woman whose love letters kept him sane and hopeful throughout the destruction of war. Nothing will stop him from drawing out the beautiful, shy girl he left behind and making her his wife.
But once the true writer is revealed which sister will he claim?
http://www.amazon.com/When-Johnny-Comes-Home-ebook/dp/B0062PBDX0/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1322164870&sr=1-2
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Sisters in Crime (SinC) 25th Anniversary Celebration
Saturday, December 3, 2011 – 4:00-6:30 PM
We will begin with a panel of SinC authors, followed by food, drink and merrymaking. Panel will include award-winning authors Kris Neri, Deborah J Ledford, and Clark Lohr. Please raise a glass with us at the Poisoned Pen Bookstore in honor of SinC's 25 years of achievement in championing the efforts of women crime writers. Look where woman writers are now!
RSVP: DesertSleuths@gmail.com
Monday, November 21, 2011
And the winner is......
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Meet Agent Cherry Weiner
Cherry Weiner, literary agent, only takes on
new clients she meets in person first. She became
my agent recently after speaking to her at a Desert Rose meeting.
Cherry has been agenting since 1977. She started out by handling science fiction, fantasy, and horror and she now handles all genres. Some nonfiction has even crept into the mix but no poetry, childrens or YA. She represents a good number of well-known authors including Lauren Nichols, Tammy Hoganson, Deborah LeBlanc, and Desert Rose's own Gini Koch.
You can meet Cherry at the Desert Dreams Conference.
If you have a manuscript to pitch, she will be taking
appointments, but they are filled on a first registered
and paid basis so don't delay.
For more information on the conference go to
http://www.desertroserwa.org
Friday, November 18, 2011
Interview with Hannah Jayne
UNDER ATTACK is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?
What made you decide to write in this genre?
Where did you get your idea for this particular book?
What are your favorite paranormal research books or sites, and why?
Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?
Tell us about how you develop your characters. Do you create character sheets, do interviews, that sort of thing? How does your research and/or world affect your character development?
How do you go about building your world if you use one? Do you use maps, charts or drawings?
Do you have any authors that inspired you?
What do you feel is the most effective promotion you have done for your book?
What do we have to look forward next? Sophie steps in it again this spring! Look for UNDER SUSPICION in May 2012!
Thanks, Hannah!
To celebrate her book release, Hannah Jayne is offering a free book of UNDER ATTACK to one lucky commenter on today's blog. (please check the blog Monday night to see if you won. Chances of winning determined by the number of entries.)
She will be around all day today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...
Check out author’s website at www.hannahjschwartz.com
Thursday, November 17, 2011
A Must for Authors-Tracking Visitors on your Website or Blog
Do you have tracking on your web site? If not, you might want to consider doing so. Many traffic services are free. www.statcounter.com, www.google.com/analytics, www.freestats.com are just a few to mention. A web tracker shows you how people found your site, how they explore it, what country or state they are from and exactly how many people came to your site.
Tracking who goes on your site and how many
people visit over the course of the day, week, month can tell you whether or not the strategies you are using for advertising or promotion are working. It doesn’t necessarily say if these people are buying unless you can track that through Amazon, an online store on your site or other device. I always think any traffic is better than none.
For example, I did a Facebook invite last month because I was holding a contest. The day I sent an invite out, my traffic drastically increased. I could visually see that on the graph Google supplies. I always know that a newsletter has some affect. Each time I have a spike in traffic when I send one out. I also have tracking on my newsletter which informs me how many people actually opened my newsletter, forwarded it on to someone else and clicked on any of the links.
On Facebook, if you have a page, you have tracking included called Insights. It tells you how many people are talking about your page, how many people you are reaching through friends of fans, the number of people who have created a story about your page, and how many unique people have seen any content regarding your page. You can export that data onto your computer for further research.
Promotion has drastically changed for authors over the years. I think it’s critical that each dollar you spend is effective. Using a tracking device on your site sure helps on narrowing down what works and what doesn’t.
Carol WebbBella Media Management
www.bellamediamanagement.com
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Just for the fun of it.
The winners are:
1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs.
2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained.
3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.
4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent.
6. Negligent (adj.), a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown.
7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp.
8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavoured mouthwash.
9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller.
10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline.
11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam.
12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.
13. Pokemon (n), Rastafarian proctologist.
14. Oyster (n.), person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.
16. Circumvent (n.), opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.
The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter,
and supply a new definition.
Here are this year's winners:
1. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking
down in the near future.
2. Foreploy (v): Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
3. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period.
4. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high.
5. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.
6. Inoculatte (v): To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.
7. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness.
8. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. ( that one got extra credit)
9. Karmageddon (n): Its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.
10. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.
11. Glibido (v): All talk and no action.
12. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.
13. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've
accidentally walked through a spider web.
14. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.
15. Caterpallor (n.): The colour you turn after finding half a grub in the fruit you're eating.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Smartest Readers I Know
What you might not know is that often authors don't get to choose the name on the cover of their books. I don't mean choose as in "Mary" instead of "Jane," but choose as in "I want my real name on the cover." There are many valid reasons why a publisher might want an author to take on a pseudonym, but the one that has always dumbfounded me is: "so readers aren't confused."
They say this when an author who is known for one genre moves to another. For example, when I moved from writing as Erin Grady to Erin Quinn, the reason was publisher driven. They didn't want my readers getting confused. I objected. MY readers are intelligent enough to recognize the books are different, I protested. But of course, they won.
I think it's crazy to imagine that a reader--a person who reads!--would have any trouble at all looking at the cover of book one, comparing it to the cover of book two, and seeing a difference. And--and that's a very big and--even if they missed catching that one has a historical gown and a hot Duke on the cover and the other has a werewolf, wouldn't said reader simply flip the book over and read the back cover? What degree in rocket science is required for such higher thinking?
I think that changing an author's name is far more confusing than an author changing genres or dabbling in many genres.
What do you think? Looking at the two covers in this post, can you figure out that the stories will be entirely different? I thought so. :)
BTW, Kissing Kris Kringle, a quick eRead, releases November 16. Haunting Embrace is available now!
Thanks for listening to my little rant!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Get Your Work Before an Editor or Agent
Friday, November 11, 2011
Interview with Kristen Painter
Blood Rights is a gothic urban fantasy filled with vampires, shapeshifters, fae and a new breed of creatures of my own making, the comarré.
Blood Rights is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?
What made you decide to write in this genre?
Where did you get your idea for this particular book?
What are your favorite paranormal research books or sites, and why?
Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?
Tell us about how you develop your characters. Do you create character sheets, do interviews, that sort of thing?
How do you go about building your world if you use one? Do you use maps, charts or drawings?
Do you have any authors that inspired you?
What do you feel is the most effective promotion you have done for your book?
What do we have to look forward next?
Thanks, Kristen
She will be around all day today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...
Bio:
When the characters in Kristen Painter’s head started to take over, she decided to exorcise them onto paper and share them with the world. Blood Rights, the first book in her gothic fantasy vampire series, House of Comarré, launched this October from Orbit Books. The former college English teacher can often be found on twitter at Kristen_Painter talking about her feline assistants, the last pair of shoes she bought or bemoaning the lack of chocolate delivery in her neighborhood.
Check out author’s website at www.kristenpainter.com and www.houseofcomarre.com
Buy:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Rights-Comarr%C3%A9-Kristen-Painter/dp/0316084778/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317148081&sr=8-1
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-rights-kristen-painter/1100083751?ean=9780316084772&itm=1&usri=blood%2brights
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Fall Colors
Fall. The crisp autumn air. The ringing of school bells. The thorns on the cacti turning colors.
Huh?
Right.
I live in Phoenix. There's a picture that I have in my head that doesn't jive with the one outside my window, nor with my notions of what fall really means. I've experienced fall once. New England fall where the trees blaze in the color of fire but there's no smoke, only the vibrant oranges, reds and yellow. That was in 1998. I carry that fall in my heart along with every photograph and image I've ever seen of the way Autumn is supposed to be.
I've grafted it on my memories of growing up in the Valley of the Sun. And even as I walk across the park with brown grass crunching underfoot, squashed olives dotting the sidewalk like freckles, and branches decked in greenery, I imagine fall. The thought filled my head like glitter-twinkling, sparkling and fleeting.
So this last week, I kidnapped my husband and drove up where fall resides in Arizona--in the canyons of Sedona. Alas, the place was packed with others who had the same quest. Eventually, we did stop to shiver and take in the views. Then we went out to lunch and warmed up.
The fall I've created in my head requires far fewer layers. And my husband screams when I put my cold hands on his belly. So it's quieter too.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Meet Editor Emily Rodmell of Love Inspired Books
In the past few years, we’ve given countless debut writers their shot and welcomed numerous other established writers looking for a new or additional outlet for their work. If you love writing about times past, I encourage you to give Love Inspired Historical a try. If you’re new to inspirational, the first thing I would recommend is reading the books that we currently publish in order to get a feel for the tone of the line. Here are some recommendations of debut authors that we recently published:
Marrying Miss Marshal by Lacy Williams
The Reluctant Outlaw by Karen Kirst
The Aristocrat’s Lady by Mary Moore
Unlawfully Wedded Bride by Noelle Marchand
The Doctor’s Mission by Debbie Kaufman
If you have a book you’d like to submit to Love Inspired Historical, check out our guidelines here: http://www.harlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=1186&chapter=0 . Then send a query and synopsis (unpublished authors) or a proposal (published authors) to me at 233 Broadway, Ste. 1001 New York, NY 10279. I’d also be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
And the winner is.....
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Looking for an Editor?
Deni Dietz, Senior Editor
Five Star Website: Five Star and www.denisedietz.com
Much Cheaper Than Therapy's own Kathryne Kennedy started at Five Star.
Deni Dietz has been in the publishing business for over 20 years, and has been reading romantic fiction for longer than that. When she was in grade school she tried to hide her mom's hardcover Gone With the Wind inside her Dick and Jane reader. She got caught, learned her lesson, and hid her mom's paperbacks instead. Deni still feels the same sense of joy and discovery when she reads a non-clichéd, well-written, character-driven novel. She says she wants to BE THERE, in the scene. For example, she doesn't want to know that General Santa Anna was captured in 1836. She prefers to know that he was naked except for his underpants. Published in crime fiction, women's fiction and historical romance, Deni's novels include the bestselling Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller "diet club" mystery series. Deni's The Landlord’s Black-Eyed Daughter, written as Mary Ellen Dennis, was selected as one of Booklist's Top Ten books of the year. As an author, she has "been there, done that," so she tries to respond to queries within two weeks, submissions within 8 to 10 weeks. Deni's long list of authors include Kate Flora, Maggie Sefton, John Lamb, Gabriella Anderson, Jonnie Jacobs, and Nancy Cohen. Deni says when she offers a first-book author a contract she does a Snoopy dance.
Acquiring: Romantic Suspense and all Mystery sub-genres, including but not limited to Cozy, Hard-boiled, P.I., Traditional, Historical, and Paranormal.
Deni will be taking appointments at the Desert Dreams Writer's Conference
April 27-29, 2012 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Don't miss this opportunity to pitch your completed manuscript to a senior editor. If she is interested, you'll be able to send her the first three chapters, or maybe even the full manuscript, and write "Requested Material" on your envelope.
How do you get one of these limited slots to pitch to her?
The slots will be filled on a first to register for the conference and paid basis.
You can also ask her questions at our editor/agent panel.
To register, or for more information, go to
http://www.desertroserwa.org
Friday, November 4, 2011
Interview with Theresa Meyers
Thanks for the invite! I always enjoy it here.
I understand you have a new release out called The Hunter. Can you tell us a little bit about your fabulous new book and what exactly is steampunk?
I often get asked, what is steampunk. The term steampunk was coined by author K.W. Jeter in 1987 in a letter he wrote responding to Locus magazine in trying to describe the type of fiction he, James Blaylock and Tim Powers were writing at the time. The quick version is that steampunk is Victorian age science fiction. Think H.G. Well’s Timemachine or Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, or movies such as Wild Wild West, and you’ll get the idea.
The Hunter is a steampunk with a paranormal and romance twist. It’s the story of the youngest of three supernatural Hunters, all named after their father’s favorite guns, Winchester Remington and Colt in the Wild West. Colt’s the outlaw in the family, the one fully invested in the Hunter life. He’s working to save the world from destruction by finding his father’s missing piece of the Book of Legend, but he needs a supernatural to help him open up the place where he believes it is hidden. Colt’s a real ladies’ man, so when the supernatural he summons to help him turns out to be a succubus, he’s kind of in trouble from the get go. Overall the book is kind of what would happen if you mashed together the television series Supernatural with Wild Wild West and added a dash of Indiana Jones or Romancing the Stone.
The Hunter is a very interesting title. How did you arrive at that name?
Mostly it was because that’s what these guys are. It’s what sets them apart from an average ordinary man. They are Hunters. Only Colt’s the only one out of his brothers who has really embraced the title. His oldest brother Winchester doesn’t want anything to do with the life anymore and his middle brother, Remington, is a Hunter when and how it suits him.
What made you decide to write in this genre?
I’ve always been a bit of a Victoriana nut. I loved the clothes, the mannerisms, etc. One of my favorite movies when I was younger beyond Mary Poppins was a film called The Two Lives of Jenny Logan. It was about this woman who bought a Victorian house in San Francisco with this old dress in the attic. She tries the dress on and it transports her back to the 1800s where she meets this artist and gets embroiled in solving a murder mystery. She goes back and forth between here and her life in Victorian times by using the dress and eventually decides to stay back in time. I was the kid that instead of asking for a calendar of puppies and kittens, wanted one of Victorian house plans. When I had to sew dresses for my high school formals, they ended up with mutton chop sleeves, bustles and long-skirts. Really I didn’t decide so much to write in the genre as I kind of fell into it because of what I already loved.
Where did you get your idea for this particular book?
When I was living in Arizona, in 1998 I came up with an idea for these three brothers who lived in the Wild West. All of them were named after their father’s favorite guns: Winchester, Remington and Colt. I knew that the oldest was a lawman, the middle brother an attorney and the youngest a gunslinger/outlaw. What I didn’t know is how they fit together, their history of how they became what they were. Fast forward ten years. In watching the television show Supernatural, I began to think, hey what would it have been like to have these hunters in the West or Victorian times? How would they have functioned, who would they have been, would they have had a secret society that trained them? I merged that idea with my brothers and found out what I had was a Steampunk story-line. My brothers are hunters in the Weird Wild West. They have an inventor friend who creates and maintains the unusual weapons they use to find and hunt down demons, shapeshifters, ghosts, vampires and the like. My youngest brother rides a mechanical clockwork horse. Applying the Steampunk aesthetic to my book made it so much better! It was like finding the missing jigsaw piece that made the whole thing work.
What are your favorite fantasy research books, and why?
My favorite standby is The MacMillian Illustrated Encyclopedia of Myths & Legends by Arthur Cotterell. It’s got so much from so many different cultures that it’s a brainstorming gold mine.
Which character did you like writing about the most, and why?
Probably my favorite character is Marley. I know it should be my heroes and heroines, but there’s just something about him that’s just very amusing to me. He’s like an 1880’s version of James Bond’s Q. Quirky, eccentric, and very dedicated. He’s got a story that keeps coming out in little bits with each book, and I can’t wait to find out the whole truth about just who he really is and how this British inventor came to be a hermit out in the American West.
Tell us about how you develop your characters. Do you create character sheets, do interviews, that sort of thing? How does your research and world affect your character development?
Yes. How’s that for an answer? LOL. Really the first thing I do is run numbers on a character’s name. It gives me a sense of what truly motivates him or her, how they see themselves and how others react to them. Then I start digging (sometimes by means of interviews) to find out more about what their background is, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. The hardest part of writing of writing this trilogy is that I tried something different. All the books have a scene or two that intersect with one another and happen at the same time. Keeping all the brothers and secondary characters straight on a timeline is a huge challenge. I have to know not just what’s happening in one book, but in all three books so that it will all make sense when they are read together. I hope readers have fun reading those scenes from the other brother’s points of view.
How do you go about building your world? Do you use maps, charts or drawings?
I look at historical maps of rail lines, maps from the 1880s of Europe and other places in the world to get things correct. I’ve also been to many of the places I write about, so that helps too. Most of what I do however is from my computer if I need to find a particular herb or find out exactly when a telegraph line came into being or electric street lights came into use.
Do you have any authors that inspired you?
Plenty! I adore James Rollins. No one knows how to craft better action adventure blended with science than he does. Yasmine Galemorn and Cherry Adair were inspirational in how they’ve crafted their stories about siblings. And of course J.K. Rowling for her world building.
What do you feel is the most effective promotion you have done for your book?
Sounds silly, but the big banner I had made with vistaprint.com has gotten the most comments. I’ve used it at each conferences I’ve gone to and my book signings and it always gets noticed.
What do we have to look forward next?
Actually, I’ve been really busy! I’ve got a dark urban fae e-novella out this month titled Shadowlander, out with Entangled. In March 2012 the next vampire book in my Sons of Midnight series will be coming out from Harlequin Nocturne, and then in April will be Winchester’s book, The Slayer. Starting in January I’ll be writing on the third book in the Legend Chronicles trilogy, which is Remington’s story.
Thanks, Theresa!
To celebrate her book release, Theresa Meyers is offering a free book of The Hunter to one lucky commenter on today's blog. (please check the blog Monday night to see if you won. Chances of winning determined by the number of entries.)
She will be around all day today. I'm sure some of you have questions or comments for her, so please ask away...
The progeny of a slightly mad (NASA) scientist and a tea-drinking bibliophile who turned the family dining room into a library, Theresa Meyers learned early the value of a questioning mind, books and a good china teapot. A former journalist and public relations officer, she found far more enjoyment using her writing skills to pen paranormal novels in the turret office of her Victorian home. She’s spent nearly a quarter of a century with the boy who took her to the Prom, drinks tea with milk and sugar, is an adamant fan of the television show Supernatural, and has an indecent love of hats. You can find her dabbling online on twitter at www.twitter.com/Theresa_Meyers
or at http://www.theresameyers.com/
Want to read an excerpt of The Hunter online?
http://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Legend-Chronicles-Theresa-Meyers/dp/1420121243/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320286255&sr=8-1
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Tia Dani‘s Writing Marathon
This has been another interesting week for Tia Dani. We started a new short story for a particular publisher and hoped to have it finished in a week. However, as usual, we got ourselves distracted and will be lucky if we get the first chapter finished during our set time frame.
We planned to start writing on Friday, but we had the annual Halloween party thrown by our friend and fellow romance writer, Kayla Janz, on Saturday night. So Friday required us to roam the mall deciding what costume we should wear.
First day of writing lost.
Saturday morning sent us running back to the mall for more costume ideas. Then the rest of the day required our attention for getting our costumes just right. We must admit we ended up pleased with our choice of outfits and we think we looked pretty darn good.
Didn’t get any writing done, but the party was fun.
Moving on to Sunday. We’re tired from all the partying we did last night. However, we managed to get the outline started for our workshop November 19th at the Scottsdale Library.
Sunday ended as not a total loss.
Monday we finished up notes for the team writing workshop and pulled the pages we’d started for the new story. Tried to get our heads into writing mode and fortunately we had lots of Halloween candy to help. Around
Writing zone lost.
Tuesday was much more productive. Discovered we needed better character charts on our hero and heroine. We selected their names, which is one of the hardest things for us to do. We want to have the names flow off our tongue easily. Since this is a historical romance, we finally settled on Abigail Turner and Jonah MacKenzie.
Now we’re on a roll.
First chapter done. It’s quite rough, but we’re happy with the way it’s progressing. Remembered we had a board meeting to attend with our local writing chapter, Valley of the Sun RWA. It was a productive meeting and afterward went with some of the girls for drinks. Got home late and were too tired to write. But, not too tired to play around on Facebook.
Tia discovered she has a stalker.
Wednesday started slow. Somehow we lost all track of time and got a late start on our manuscript. We had just got into the story when we realized it was lunch time. No worries, we’d get right back to our book after we eat. It was a good plan until Tia’s daughter called needing her to come home and baby-sit.
Only writing we managed to finish was this blog.
Better luck next marathon.
Don’t forget Tia Dani is giving a workshop on “Team Writing”, Saturday, November 19th. We’ll be answering any questions you might have about writing with a partner. Come meet us. It’s free.
SIXTH ANNUAL FALL WRITERS WORKSHOPS
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
SIXTH ANNUAL FALL WRITERS WORKSHOPS
Saturday, November 19, 2011 - 10 am to 4:30 pm
Scottsdale Civic Center Library - Downstairs
3839 N. Drinkwater Blvd - Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Free Admission - No registration necessary - First come First Serve seating - Lunch on your own - Complimentary morning coffee & rolls
Keynote speaker: 1:30 to 2:20 pm
CARIS ROANE - RT Career Achievement Award recipient and Best selling author of the GUARDIANS OF ASCENSION series.
Workshop: PARANORMAL: THE POWER OF EXAGGERATION
10 am:
The ABCs of PBs, MGs, & YAs - Writing for kids and Young Adults - by Shelley Coriell
I'VE WRITTEN THE BOOK, NOW WHAT DO I DO? - by Pamela Tracy
WRITING AS A TEAM - Tia Eaton and Dani Petrone
11 am:
THE INS AND OUTS OF SELF-PUBLISHING - by Kris Tualla
PLOTTING SECRETS FOR AN UNFORGETTABLE STORY - by Vijaya Schartz
GHOSTS - BRINGING THE DEAD TO LIFE ON THE PAGE - by Linda Andrews
2:30 pm
TEN GRABBERS THAT GUARANTEE A PAGE TURNER - by Connie Flynn
SOCIAL MEDIA 101 - Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Goodreads, Blog Talk Radio, and more - by Amber Scott
THE PROPER HUNTING, CAPTURING, CARE & FEEDING OF A LITERARY AGENT - by Gini Koch
3:30 pm
AS AN AUTHOR ANYTHING - Open panel with today's featured presenters.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
My Heart is in The Writing
Sure it is. I love my students, love watching them thrive, take what they learn and move forward. Many of the published authors in my local Romance Writers of American chapter are my former students and it’s a pleasure to see their careers growing. Except . . .
When I sit at the keyboard and compose my own books, this is when I feel the most alive. Yes, the joy of seeing a student grasp a complex concept or learning they’ve won in a contest are wonderful gifts from the work I’ve chosen to do. Building and running Bootcamp for Novelists has been more than gratifying.
Yet my heart is in the writing.
For the last few years I’ve been doing almost anything except marketing my work. It’s not that I haven’t been writing. I’ve completed 2 and 9/10th books (yes, that’s about 90%). But each submission brings suggestion for revisions and each revision takes time away from the current book in progress. And while all this time is swirling down the drain, I still have to eat. So what I’ve really been doing the past few years is chasing my money.
The trouble with publishing is that unless you’re pulling in the big bucks (and maybe not even then) you don’t know when your next contract will be offered, when the contract will arrive, or even when you’ll get the signing check. The insecurity is a killer which is why most published authors have the day job.
When you take a hard look at this reality, mixed with the constant merging of the publishing houses, all of a sudden independent publishing looks very attractive. And I do have a backlist of well received novels, so my latest not-writing project has been getting them back in print.
Harlequin reissued two of my romances as ebooks. I personally published my debut paranormal SHADOW ON THE MOON and its sequel, SHADOW OF THE WOLF as ebooks that can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords and other online book retailers.
Since I’m again promoting my Connie Flynn Author name, I had to dust off a website that I’d neglected so long that it had spider webs. As if that’s not enough, now Connie needs a blog . . . and a Facebook author page . . . and a twitter name — @connieflynn, in case you’re interested.
Because I figured that wasn’t nearly enough, I e-published my first short mystery story, OLD BONES. So now I need a website for my mystery pseudonym, K.C. Flynn . . . and a Facebook author page . . . and a blog. K.C. already has a twitter address @kcflynn2. (that's her picture, off to the right, trying to look mysterious) Already my names are getting out there and sales are trickling in and I wonder how I’ll ever keep it straight.
What matters now is that I’m carving writing time out of my overloaded schedule and setting my priorities because however the details turn out I’m now declaring myself as Connie Flynn Author and K.C. Flynn Author. These ladies are alive and writing and have a promising future ahead of them whether through traditional or independent publishing or a combination of both.
All because I finally found my heart again.
In the writing.
So long until next month,
Connie/K.C.
P.S. Email me at kc.flynn@cox.net if you'd like to read K.C's short mystery Old Bones and I'll send you a coupon good for a free copy.