Elena and Kitty Blabbing About Books – A Live Show
May 10, 2016 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Blab, Elena and Kitty Blabbing About Books, Elena Dillon, It's Worth It, Kitty Bucholtz, video podcasts
Looking Forward to Romance
May 6, 2016 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as A Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Linda O. Johnston
by Linda O. Johnston
The conferences I’ve attended this year have all related to mysteries, which I write in addition to romances. One was the Sisters in Crime meets Hollywood event, where speakers taught us how to pitch our mysteries to those who might be interested in making them into movies or TV shows. It was fun, but I’ll be surprised if any of my stories even get optioned.
Another event was the Dog Writers Association of America annual meeting in New York City. Most of the writers there write nonfiction–about dogs, of course. I was there because one of my mysteries was a finalist in the fiction category of their Maxwell Awards. It was fun, plus it was right next door to the Westminster Dog Show. I even saw some of my favorite pups: Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.
I also attended Left Coast Crime in Phoenix in February this year. And last weekend I was at Malice Domestic in Bethesda, Maryland. It’s for cozy mystery writers and fans. And I’m glad to say that my next cozy, TO CATCH A TREAT, the second in my Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries, is officially available in a couple of days, on May 8.
Hope to see you at OCC this month–and RWA National in July!
12 Titles in 12 Months [Pt Three]
May 5, 2016 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as 12 Titles in 12 months, Edgy Christian Fiction, Tracy ReedHappy Cinco de Mayo!
It’s time for an update on my exciting challenge, 12 TITLES IN 12 MONTHS. When I started this challenge I know it seemed like the rantings of a crazed New Indie Self-Pub Writer. Wow, that’s a mouthful.
I’m having a lot of fun on this journey experimenting with new genres and formats. When I started this, I was going to primarily do a mix of full-length and novellas. But I have to admit, in a brief moment, I sort of thought I was taking on too much. Then I read the article in the RWA magazine about story lengths. Honestly, it never occurred to me to do a short story. Funny thing, my first two published pieces were short stories. In my mind, I thought I would be doing my challenge an injustice if I didn’t commit to either a full-length or novella. So, I did a little digging in my files and found several starter pieces. I printed them and did a lot of reading.
I woke up one morning and remembered I had rewritten my next full-length book. Thank God, I kept the old manuscript. I had this really cool scene, that I thought would make a great novelette. I read the chapters and discovered, they weren’t right as a novelette, but will be great for the third installment of THE GOOD GIRL…which is on the schedule for next year. I was a little bummed and then went into a blank mode. This freaked me out. It seemed like the words were gone. I won’t say it was Writer’s Block, but more like Brain Jumble. Words were there but when I started to write, it seemed force. I had almost two thousand words on a piece, but it just didn’t click. But while I was writing, I got an idea, which I turned into THE FLING. As for the other starter pieces, I like them, but I’m not quite sure the time is right to bring those stories to life. The good thing about this challenge is that I can basically write whatever I want. YEAH!
I finished out the first quarter with some pretty good sales. Here’s a funny sales story. My mother and I were at the doctor’s office waiting to get our annual blood workup. I was teasing her about something while she was proofing one of my books. I kept bothering her and she replied, “How am I supposed to finish your book, if you keep bothering me?†A woman sitting across from us heard my mother’s comment and started laughing. Then my mother went into sales mode and told her that I was a writer. The woman asked where she could find my books. I opened my iPad and showed her my Amazon page. She called it up on her phone, read the summary and bought the book.
Last week, I released my April Title, THE FIX UP. This cute short is my first RomCom. Thank you to everyone that posted the link on their social media.
For this title, I didn’t do any advertising or paid promoting. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m trying different promotion options. For THE FIX UP, I sent an email to my mailing list, posted it on my blog, Facebook, Tumblr and Pinterest. I wanted to give my followers first dibs. This little tactic paid off on the release day. This was the first time I landed in the top 100 in one of my Amazon categories on release day. Double YEAH!! I was shocked. THE FIX UP, also aided my other books. My perma free book, THE ALEX CHRONICLES: GIRLFRIENDS & SECRETS, hit the top 100 in two categories. All this activity without me doing any paid promotions.
So what’s on tap for the next quarter? I have a full-length and what I think will be a couple of novelettes. The reason I say could be, is because I haven’t finished writing them. I already created the covers which I’ll share later in the post. but I’m not quite sure if I’ll keep the titles. Title duplication is something that really can’t be helped. But I was a little shaken when I saw a book on several sites this week with the same title as my proposed August release. Now I’m wondering if I should keep it, or rename it. If you have any thoughts on this, please post them below or send them to me…readtracyreed [at] me [dot] com.
On with the 3rd Quarter update…
Title: WHAT MY FRIENDS NEED TO KNOW
Length: Full-length
Status: Completed
Release Date: July
This is the second installment in The Alex Chronicles Series. It’s also the second book I wrote. But like it’s predecessor, I held it back and I am so glad I did. The characters are more mature and the issues they deal with seem a little more realistic. This story focuses on what happened after Alex said yes to Moses’ proposal. It’s no secret they got engaged. What is a secret is if they get married. Following the rest of the girls in this series is fun as well. There’s the return of someone’s first love, a surprise break up and a so much more.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a mini blog tour or Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.
Title: MISS MATCH
Length: Novella or Novelette
Status: Still writing
Release Date: August
The reason you don’t see a cover image, is because there’s a slight possibility I might change the cover. I don’t purchase images until I’m convinced I want the image. With this story having a common title, I’m a little on the fence. Even though I like it a lot. As you may have guessed, this story is about a matchmaker. She’s polished, beautiful, and very good at what she does. But her evenings are spent alone. I see this possibly becoming a cute series.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.
Title: MY FIRST HUSBAND
Length: Novella or Novelette
Status: Still Writing
Release Date: September
This will probably finish out as a novelette length. It started out as the beginning of a series, but I have since changed my mind. I don’t think the characters are ready for a series or more than a few thousand words. Only time will tell. Hey, I didn’t think THE GOOD GIRL would go beyond book one. This is a complicated love hate story.
Sales Outlets: eBook – KDP Select
Print – Amazon, Createspace, B&N and my website
Marketing Campaign: Posting on my blog and social media outlets [Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest], blast to my mailing list, GoodReads Giveaway and possibly a Cover Release Blast tour. And miscellaneous blogs.
Writing update. Technically, I have every month completed or partially finished. I have something special for my December release. I was going to do a novelette, but I saw something that really intrigued me. A Sampler. I saw Beth Yarnell’s romance sampler and asked her if she minded me copying her idea. She was cool with it, because she’d gotten it from someone else. I thought about releasing the sampler this summer, but decided against it. Part of this challenge has been to experiment with writing and marketing/promotion styles. Seeing I have nothing lined up for the holiday, I thought that would be the best to release my sampler in the fourth quarter. I’m going to make it a free download, just in time for all those new to the world of eReaders. I’ll share more on this title later in the year.
God has answered my prayer and those three titles I was concerned about, are coming to life. In addition to my 12 Titles challenge, I’m almost done with my first non-fiction book. Let me just say this, I commend anyone writing non-fiction. I had no idea how difficult it would be. I thought since I write fiction, it would be easy. No. Non-fiction requires a lot of person reflection and sharing. At least for the book I’m working on. Because this book is part of a larger project, I’ve elected not to release it until January.
Why the rush to finish everything a head of schedule? I would like to take a little time off and relax. But we’re writers. Do we ever really stop writing?
Have a good month and I’ll check in with you next month.
Tracy
Tracy Reed
www.readtracyreed.com
Fiction for Women Who Love God, Couture and Cute Guys=
All about Eve…
April 24, 2016 by A Slice of Orange in category From Isabel Swift tagged as Isabel SwiftDuring a difficult dating phase in my youth (single and looking) I felt I’d set the bar for boy behavior about as low as it could go (on the ground).
But it kept being too high to clear in terms of what seemed like basic human decency. It was a bit depressing. At the time, I was thinking: WTF? (but without the acronym).
Indeed films of the era, like Unmarried Woman, confirmed that after dumping their wives of decades, guys mostly just traded in for a new model, whereas women were left holding the family together, coping with lost income, lost self-esteem, and taking a long and difficult journey to reconnect to their sense of self.
Guys remarried and started a fresh new replacement family, no remorse (though if the new wife turns out not to treat him quite as well as the earlier model, there may be some self-centered regret).
Males in general seemed to find a simpler way to negotiate the universe. Direct, uncomplicated, without self-doubt, self-questioning, able to dismiss mistakes and move on….Clueless. Happy.
Drove me crazy.
Then I thought about Genesis and how the Bible presents paradise as an innocent world. An ignorant world. Clueless. Happy.
Within that world view, the “Original Sin” that humankind is cursed with, is the sin of disobedience. Though I must note the particularly poignant fact is that when you look up “original sin,” it is referenced as “Adam’s sin” in eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And as you know—per the Bible—Eve got there first and is vilified because of her actions. But in terms of history, it is his actions that are referenced, because, really, he’s the only one that counts.
So I was thinking about the “curse,” and that it was not just the “sin” of disobedience, but the declared “sin” of desiring the knowledge of good and evil. The desire to know more, to understand more, to open the door to information—with all its responsibilities, challenges and demands.
To stop being ignorant and be aware, accountable. To go beyond the self and not only appreciate your impact on others, but to acknowledge that you have choices. And that you are accountable for making those choices, and responsible for the consequences of your actions.
You have taken a bite, and the knowledge of good and evil is now inescapably part of who you are. It is a burden. It is a gift.
So during these difficult dating times, I wondered why women, on balance, seem to suffer more, be more aware, and often got the short end of the stick. It didn’t seem fair.
But then I reflected on Genesis and was helped by the following insight: Eve took a bite of the apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil before Adam did.
And it seemed that that Eve’s first mover status—in reaching greater awareness and thus greater responsibility, sometimes greater pain—were metaphorically (and actually) carried forward though life. Women are cursed—or blessed—with the ability to tell the difference between good and evil just a little bit sooner, a little bit more than most men.
That was a helpful metaphor for me in explaining the fact that women are usually just a bit ahead of the game in that area.
And even more helpful when I asked myself the big question: would you rather be blissfully ignorant and happy, or accept the burden of knowledge, even if it might bring unhappiness?
My answer: If I had a choice, I would bite the apple. Despite the cost, no question.
Romances have always inspired me in their acknowledgement of that emotional burden. Reinforcing that we are not alone. Giving the support and validation to keep carrying it forward, with all its challenges.
Research: Does Inaccuracy in a Novel Bother You? By Connie Vines
April 13, 2016 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Connie Vines, Gems in the Attic, GothRom RWA, Native American Romance, OCC Blog, OCC RWA, Research for WritersI blog weekly on two sites (in addition to my own) and monthly on four website, I thought I’d post a topic from my Round Robin Series.
Topic: All story genres take some research for establishing details in the setting. What type of research have you had to do? Does it bother you when you read something happening in a story that is inaccurate historically, socially, scientifically, etc?
Does it bother me?
Yes.
However, in my case, there are varying degrees of irritation. If it is an easily found fact, or a fact that any functioning adult should be aware of then, yes—I am very irritated and will probably not finish the novel. On the other hand if current verbiage is used or the description of an item of clothing is more modern, that could be the writer’s choice. The writer may feel that her ‘readers’ wish to have the ‘flavor’ of a historical story without the genealogy charts or gritty reality of the era. Then I am okay. But to pass the facts off as accurate/ or marketed to make the reader believe this is not a fictionalized story—as in “The Other Boleyn Sister†or Disney’s “Pocahontas†animated movie (with what I like to call the Vulcan-mind-meld when the Hero and Heroine suddenly speak and understand each other), I do become angry. Apparently, I clamp my teeth, and my husband will swear that I growl when these movies become a topic of conversation.
We all make mistakes, I remind myself. Alternatively, the copy-editor adds/ deletes a needed fact. Moreover, sometime we simply ‘thought’ we removed it from the final draft. Still sloppy research makes for sloppy writing. If you do not like research, build your own world/town/or, do not give the reader a date or place to hang her hat on. You and add a statement: liberties were taken; the mistakes are my own, etc.
Researching
Any professional writer knows there is a lot more to the job than simply writing. There is also revising, editing, promoting, and much more. Before I even consider typing: Chapter One. Whether I am writing, historical, or fantasy, I conducted days—if not months or even years, gather my research material and scheduling interviews.
Research is vital to every writer. Contemporary novels required daily research to keep up-to-date on the latest tech item, hairstyle or whatever relates to your storyline.
Every encounter with a new person or visiting a new place is an opportunity for better, more descriptive writing. Writers never truly take a vacation, or turn off the research part of her/his brain.
So how do I organized my research material? (Tossing everything into a large bin is oh-so-not-the-way to be organized.)
#1: Keep a File Folder for Ideas
I have files where I stash clippings of articles on specific topics I feel will come up again, or will one day make great short stories/articles. I have plain colored folders for “shared†topics (I write multiple genres), cute folders (for YA/Teen topics), action folders for supernatural stories, etc.
These clippings are often story generators or prompts to open a chapter/create a pivot point. How many times have you heard something on the radio or watched something on television and thought, “Wouldn’t that be so great in my next novel�
Story prompts can be anything that you find interesting, anything that relates to your genre or area of writing interest. Because my books are character driven, I tend to be drawn to articles that talk about the human condition (i.e., why we do the things we do) or specific topics that I feel relate to my particular ‘character’.
#2: Story Premise Research First
When you start a new project, you must make some decisions. What is the theme of your book? (We might also think of this step as “what is the premise of your book?â€) The answer to this question will guide your starting research.
My third book, Whisper upon the Water, focused a lot on the living conditions and societal attitudes about Native American children. I already knew that Native American children were forced to attend government run boarding schools after the Indian Wars, but I did not know about the process, and how it affected the children or how they adapted. Therefore, I began with interviews, tours of the schools still in operation and trips to historical archives and reservations.
Before I wrote a single word, I looked into this, and the answers I found are what formulated my plot points. I needed this foundation of research to create a convincing plot, otherwise I would not tell the story correctly. I wanted the truth, I wanted historical accuracy and I wanted my readers to have an emotional connection to my characters.
Poor research in the beginning often results in a manuscripts dying at the halfway point. Think of this step as the foundation of your novel.
#3: First-Hand Accounts
As a rule, I set my stories in placed I have lived or visited. However, a writer does not have to go to a city/country to get a feeling for it.
Online Resources
Travel sites, local blogs, and YouTube all have a place in a writer’s arsenal. In particular:
• Travel Sites often have detailed maps and downloadable audio walking tours that can give you context for notable buildings and directional substance for urban areas to include in your book.
• YouTube is a major resource, often underutilized by writers. Those seemingly normal videos are great for providing local terminology, dialect, visual perspective and even minor details like the amount of traffic at a particular park or on a particular street.
#4: Details
• Using Google Maps and Streetview, for my upcoming release anthology at BWL: Gumbo Ya Ya—for women who like romance Cajun & men Hot & Spicy! I was able to get a street view of that area and I could ‘walk’ the streets as they appear in New Orleans. The Streetview feature setting on Google Maps plops you down right at street level and gives you a 360-degree view of everything including traffic, crowds, and architecture. While I do have my personal photos and memories of the city, it is always good to make certain the details are ‘just right’.
#5: Remember to Write
You can always do a fact check on the smaller items as part of the final revision process.
When I am dictating or typing my story, unless an earth-shattering event is in the works, I do not stop the process. I will type:** research time line of Spanish Flu or ** insert the popular song year, and keep writing. When I go back over the material, I will have time to add the particulars.
Research is fun. Unlike may authors, research in my favorite part of writing. Like a method actor, I immerse myself in the process. Hobbies, Music, Books, and Food (well, not food when I wrote my Zombie novella, “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrowâ€. right now, however, it is shrimp Creole, pecan pie and coffee with chicory). Research need not be cumbersome. If you are interested in your subject matter, then it is not work. It is just another part of writing a book.
I believe it is writing a book that is rich in research helps to separate the writers from the multi-published authors.
Readers, how do you feel about this topic? How important is historical accuracy to you?
Happy Reading,
Connie Vines
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