Developing The Writer’s Thick Skin by Linda O. Johnston
March 6, 2010 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Writing tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Harlequin Nocturne, Linda O. Johnston
Last month, I asked for questions, and I got a couple of excellent ones from Jeri Hoag. One of them was about how to keep positive in the face of rejections that often come when you start submitting a book for publication.
It isn’t easy, but it is necessary. Keep in mind that, no matter what stage of writing you’re in, there are always negative things that can occur. Published or not, you can receive rejections on your submission, by editors and agents. If you already have a relationship with them, they’re sometimes kinder in how they reject your work, but a rejection is still a rejection.
Once you’re published, though, you have a track record that follows you. I won’t lie. It helps. But remember that when you’re published your work is out there for more than a few people to look at. You’ll get reviews. Some are positive, which is always a kick.
But some will be negative. Sometimes very negative. Sometimes very negative and posted on Amazon and other sites from which you hope people will want to buy your books. That kind of review, one that can discourage people from trying your work, is always a real kick in the gut.
3 0 Read moreBlogging About What I Love by Linda O. Johnston
February 8, 2010 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Linda O. Johnston, Nocturne Bites, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, Silhouette Nocturne
Blog = web log. That’s elementary. And what’s a log? It can be a kind of journal. That’s how I look at it, anyway.
I always enjoy blogging on A Slice of Orange. As you may know, I also blog weekly at killerhobbies.blogspot.com. I was invited to join a long time ago because Killer Hobbies’ focus is on hobbies that are featured in mysteries. My Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series features pets, and I’ve always maintained that pets are family, not hobbies. Even so, I usually try to mention pet-related things on my posts there. Of course I love writing about pets, so that works out well.
Other times, I focus largely on writing, its fun and frustrations. Since writing is so important to me, that’s fun, too. It’s often when I get the most comments. Same appears to go for my blog sisters, too.
This week, I blogged about writing short stories, and I was pleased at the number of comments that came up early in the day–faster than usual. Not a huge amount, as some other blog sites get, but a bunch just the same.
So… since A Slice of Orange is the blog of OCC, it’s natural for me to focus on writing here, at least more than pets. I love writing. I do it all the time, and I’m always looking for more! I can always talk about what I’m working on, and that’s a lot of what I’ve done here so far. But I’d still love to hear more about what YOU are interested in hearing. Feel free to ask me to reveal secrets. If I know the answers, I’ll have to gauge whether I want to make them public, but you’ll never know how much I’ll give up till you ask.
By the way, I’m going to be giving a class soon at the new online school, Story Stew University. It’ll be on Blending Romance and Suspense. Check it out, along with other classes at: storystewuniversity.com
Linda O. Johnston
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 15 romance novels and several novellas, including a current Nocturne Bites, with 2 more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. HOWL DEADLY, the newest title in the series has just been released.
2 0 Read moreHoliday Season by Linda O. Johnston
December 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, Pets, Silhouette Nocturne
I recently returned home from a trip to Branson, Missouri. Talk about Christmas spirit! Most of the shows are at the ends of their season, but nearly every entertainer included a lot of Christmas carols.
I’d never been to Branson before and enjoyed it—including all the shopping! I still needed a lot of holiday presents and was able to check off a quite a few people from my list of those I still needed to shop for by the time I got home. Of course that ruined my ability to fly back home with only carry-on luggage.
I did see my latest Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, HOWL DEADLY, on bookstore shelves for the first time in Branson, at a Books-A-Million. It’s a December release, and that, as always, was a kick!
My writing suffered some on this trip—too busy to get much done. But I did take an afternoon to do nothing but write, and also was able to edit on the plane home. I had a couple of appearances as soon as I returned—a talk on promotion at the East Valley Authors chapter of RWA at the Azusa Library, and a holiday party at the Mysterious Galaxy bookstore in San Diego. I’ve other parties I could be going to now… but it’s time to get down to work!
Happy holidays, everyone! And come see me at the OCC meeting next week. I hope to be signing HOWL DEADLY.
I’d love to hear what’s keeping you busy during this holiday season…
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 15 romance novels and several novellas, including a current Nocturne Bites, with 2 more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime. HOWL DEADLY, the newest title in the series has just been released.
The Plot Thickens by Linda O. Johnston
November 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Kendra Ballantyne, Linda O. Johnston, Pet-Sitter Mysteries, Silhouette Nocturne
In my September blog, I asked people for ideas of what they would like me to address in my posts on A Slice of Orange. My apologies, but I didn’t use those ideas last month because I’d just attended the West Hollywood Book Fair and was jazzed about it, so that was what I talked about in my post.
But now, here’s a topic that one of the commenters mentioned in September: plotting. Holly wrote: “My biggest issue is keeping the plot/subplots simple and not too many. It is like ideas pop into my little head and I add them instead of filtering. How do you filter through them to keep the storyline flowing?â€
That can be a problem, Holly. I’ve found it particularly affects me when I’m writing some of my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries. Kendra is my alter ego, and she keeps throwing ideas into my mind about what’s happening in her life while I’m writing about her.
What I generally do, though, is tell her that I need to stick to the synopsis I always create before I start writing one of her stories. I don’t do detailed outlines or scene lists any longer, but I have found that if I go off on a tangent that isn’t in my original synopsis I generally have to remove it.
That’s not to say you can’t save it for another book. I certainly do! That’s such a great thing about computers. I always keep lists of ideas in the same folders as the stories I’m working on. Then, when it’s time to plot the next story and create its synopsis, I generally can pick and choose from ideas I’ve already jotted down.
Of course, everyone writes differently. Not everyone can work with a synopsis or outline. There are a lot of seat-of-pantsers out there, too–and I’m sure it’s more difficult for them to ignore new ideas as they crop up.
Another caveat here. (Yes, I’m also a lawyer, so I use legalese at times!) Even if you are someone who writes a synopsis, outline or scene list first, if something comes to you that you haven’t already included and it’s a real doozy that you think readers will love, you don’t always have to save it for the next book. But think it through before you run with it. It may make what you’re doing a whole lot harder to finish–especially if it’s also interrupted by other ideas!
So–was this helpful? Any other things you’d like for me to address in the future?
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 16 romance novels and several novellas, including a Nocturne Bites that is also in a current print anthology AWAKENING THE BEAST, with more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime and is also working on the spin-off Pet Rescue series.
2 0 Read moreBook Festivals
October 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Events, Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston, Reading tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, Linda O. Johnston, Silhouette Nocturne
On Sunday, I attended the West Hollywood Book Fair in–you guessed it!–West Hollywood, California. I was on a panel called Ghosts, Ghouls & Goblins: Exploring the Supernatural in Mystery Fiction. Several of us on the panel write both paranormal fiction and in other genres, so it was enjoyable to discuss our decisions about what paranormal elements to include, and which stories to include them in.
I also signed books at the Sisters in Crime/LA booth, and I helped to staff the Mystery Writers of America, Southern California Chapter, booth, to tell people what MWA is about. Yes, I belong to MWA and SinC as well as RWA. Each organization provides something different–and valuable.
At the times I wasn’t otherwise scheduled, I sat at the Arfriend booth with my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Lexie and Mystie. Lexie stars in my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries–or at least her counterpart, also named Lexie, does. It’s a natural thing to take her along to promotional events where dogs are permitted. Mystie goes along for the ride whenever possible, and she steals the scene as she chases sunbeams, real or imaginary.
Arfriend, BTW, is a wonderful organization that acts as a resource guide for human and animal friends. Check out its website: http://www.arfriend.org
And, yes, I brought my own dog-sitter along for when I couldn’t pay complete attention to my pups. Fortunately, my husband Fred is a good sport and excellent pooch minder.
So… what book events have you attended lately? Which have impressed you most?
Linda O. Johnston
http://www.lindaojohnston.com/
http://www.killerhobbies.blogspot.com/
Linda O. Johnston is the author of 16 romance novels and several novellas, including a Nocturne Bites that is also in a current print anthology AWAKENING THE BEAST, with more Nocturnes upcoming. She also writes the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series from Berkley Prime Crime and will soon start working on the spin-off Pet Rescue series.
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