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Make Your Own Luck

February 19, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , ,

Monica Stoner, Member at Large

There’s been a lot of discussion lately about the ‘luck’ intrinsic for success in the publishing world. And it sounds like a great discussion.  Except, well…hogwash.  Yeah, you heard me right, that’s pretty much a lot of bilge water emptying into the ocean.  Sure there’s luck involved.  Absolutely some writers just happen on to the right publisher, the right agent, at the right time.  But, as Harry Stone (Night Court…remember him?) pointed out, he might have been on the bottom of the list of judges to appoint, but he was on the list.  He had done the work and made the effort to qualify for that list.
By the same token, we can gag at the overwhelming popularity of writers whose books just aren’t that good, at least in our educated minds. We can point fingers at the lack of logic, or the grammar issues, but the fact is they’ve written those books, generally a lot of those books. And those books are what their fans want to be reading. While we’re stressing over the poor writing, they’ve written another book, and again it’s at the top of the Amazon rankings.
Maybe luck does have something minor part to play in readers enjoying their work.  But luck has nothing to do with them producing that work. As much as we want to bow down to our muse, or curse the lack thereof, the relevant issue here is just plain hard work. They possess a work ethic that has them at the keyboard early and late, that doesn’t allow them to check e-mail or cruise Facebook until their pages are done, and their word count is met.  Are they the best writers in the universe? Maybe, maybe not. But if quality of writing is based on the books which are written, and not those being mulled over in the mind of the writer…then yeah they probably are.
Okay, this is a bit of a whine since my work ethic is pretty much down the tubes. But I’m giving up complaining about luck, and even being envious of someone else’s ability to get things done. All of this produces artificial road blocks to accomplishing any sort of goal…and I’m getting a lot better at setting those goals.  Who’s ready to start that journey of a million words with me???

I realize I’m late putting fingers on keyboard and sharing this month’s thoughts. If you have just a minute more I need to share my thoughts on the loss of a wonderful woman who believed in me when I didn’t always believe in myself. Simply said, be at peace Barbara.  You touched so many lives.

Monica writes as Mona Karel

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emaginings: Romance Fantasies

February 16, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , ,

When I joined OCC in 1988, I knew very little about writing romance. One of the first Special Events I attended was a day long workshop at the Fullerton Library taught by Ann Maxwell, aka Elizabeth Lowell. It was an amazing overview of writing romance fiction.
One of the things she said that stuck in my mind was how important it was to tap into the reader’s romantic fantasies. She went on to list some of the more popular fantasies, like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, the Guardian fantasy, and the captive story. That day I decided I wanted to write a captive story, and eventually decided to set it against the backdrop of the French & Indian War where frontier settlers were taken hostage by war parties led by French officers.
The captive story is an old one, with roots in the Greek myth of Persephone in the Underworld, and in reality. Among tribal societies, marriage by capture was not uncommon, a pre-scientific method of enlarging the gene pool. In our own time, the Stockholm Syndrome has been observed, in which hostages begin to identify with their captors. Though “marriage by capture” is no longer practiced, the story still resonates in the collective unconscious. 
That book became Rogue’s Hostage, which was a finalist in a number of contests including the Orange Rose and was eventually published by Amber Quill Press in 2003. In a few weeks it is getting a new incarnation as an indie book with a sensual new cover designed by OCC’s talented Lex Valentine.
This is the book of my heart and I’d never have finished and published it without the wonderful educational programs and the support of my friends at OCCRWA. 
What is your favorite romance fantasy?

Linda Mac

Website: http://www.lindamclaughlin.com/
Blog: http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LyndiLamont

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It’s Time to Break Out (with a little help from your friends)

February 15, 2013 by in category Archives

Three years ago I took the plunge and left traditional publishing. It felt like walking off a cliff. Gone were the editors, designers, agents, and booksellers. It was me, my words, and my computer.  I thought I was isolated, but boy was I wrong.

There is a diverse community out there ready, willing, and able to help indie authors publish their books. Early on, though, I found authors were mostly talking to authors. For all of us the challenge wasn’t writing, it was figuring out where we fit into this new publishing paradigm. How would we get noticed? Who would read our books? Would our work be considered lesser because we published independently? The answers, initially, were not in the author’s favor.  It was when I read an article about Smashwords, a digital publishing house run by Mark Coker, that I was inspired to move forward boldly. With his encouragement, I believed the best was yet to come.  
Mark is a standard bearer for the democratization of creativity. He believes that everyone should have the opportunity to publish their book if they have the courage to write it. The last few years have seen Smashwords grow to a major force in a vital and ever-changing, industry.  Recently, though, an even more encouraging and positive layer was added to the indie publishing experience. Apple launched a unique section in iBookstore called Breakout Books featuring indie authors. They launched as only Apple can: hugely, brightly, and proudly.
This move was hailed by Smashwords as unprecedented, and the New York Times equated Apple’s Breakout Book feature to ‘front of the store’ space in brick and mortar stores. I was thrilled that Hostile Witness was chosen to be part of launch, but also realized that this new feature signaled a change in the psyche of the industry.  Writers helped one another, innovators like Mark Coker actually admired us, and now iBookstore was wrapping our work up in ribbons and bows and presenting it to the reading public without apology.
What does this mean for you, the author? It means you have true friends in high places to champion, encourage, and promote your work. Don’t hesitate a moment longer.  Start the journey with these five steps:
1)   Write the best book you can
2)   Educate yourself about the business (technical and creative)
3)   Reach out to individual authors and online groups respectfully
4)   Reciprocate when you have information to share
5)   Support indie writers. Read and analyze their work
Be bold. Be brave. Break out – with a little help from your friends.
Find Breakout Books here: http://iTunes.com/BreakoutBooks.
NY Times on Apple’s Breakout Books: http://nyti.ms/XZGKhh
Mark Coker on Breakout Books: http://bit.ly/XtaZNK
Hostile Witness on iBooks: http://bit.ly/W4l5Hf

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Things That Make Me Go Mmmruh

February 13, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,
Cover Me
by
GVR Corcillo

When I decided to self-publish my ground-breaking chic lit masterpiece, She Likes It Rough, I contacted cover design goddess Lex Valentine of Winterheart Design. I commissioned my cover and explained through email, in excruciating detail, just what I wanted. A pretty do-able cover, I figured, made of inexpensive photographic images. In less than twenty-four hours, she emailed me back a cover that – horror of horrors! – was EXACTLY what I’d described. But it didn’t make my heart sing. It was the cover I’d asked for, but not the cover I’d dreamt of. I hadn’t requested the illustrated cover I’d been imagining for months because I figured that my vibrant, wild ideas would be impossible. And who was I, mere unpublished writer, to reach for such heights off mad fancy? So I asked for what I thought I could get, what I thought I deserved. And I got it. 

But some survival instinct in me bucked at my willingness to sell myself short without even trying. I deep down wanted an illustration that would convey the sexy and off-kilter humor of a story about urban scaredy-cat Lisa Flyte trying to find her backbone by teaming up with aloof adrenaline junkie Jack Hawkins. They go on white-knuckle adventures out in the wild in order to make her brave. But what happens in the wild doesn’t stay in the wild, at least not for Lisa, who starts to fall for Jack. Will what she learns on her escapades give her the courage to go after him? Come to think of it, would I have the guts to pursue what I most desperately wanted? I had to bite the bullet and go for my dream cover. I commissioned a new cover from Lex, and this time I told her my ideas. We both scoured available images for days, but we found nothing that would satisfy me. 

Then she told me about Annicka.

Lex’s daughter, digital artist Annicka Rietveld, code name Brosephiine, has a lot of her artwork posted on deviantart.com if I wanted to check it out and see whether I liked her style. If I did, she would put me in touch with Annicka and we would see what we could work out. I loved Annicka’s illustrations and her style. Her women were sexy, flirty, and kick-ass. 

Here is what we worked out:




The vivid illustration pulsated with sass and humor beyond my most daring imaginings. The details of the artwork blew me away. The lining of the shoe? Wonderful! I’d told Annicka that Lisa Flyte, the heroine of my story, has brown eyes with blue-green flecks. And sure enough, her eyes are brown with blue–green flecks! And the combo of the cover’s colors – sky blue contrasting with deep brown, accented with red and a little green – it just pops! Once the illustration was magnificently complete, I sent the artwork and all the cover info to Lex so she could design the cover. Here is what she sent back: 

You know, they say writing can be a very isolated profession. But putting this book together was anything but an act perpetrated in solitary confinement. I had the chance to work with two incredibly gifted and professional artists, who brought both my book, and me, to a higher level. I needed to not only believe that I was a writer, but I needed to be a writer. Putting this gorgeous cover on my book made me feel just and powerful, like Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.) putting on the Iron Man suit. Suddenly, I was a professional writer. I could feel it. My professional connections with Annicka Rietveld and Lex Valentine have been integral building blocks as I construct my life as an author. And the beat goes on. I have commissioned Annicka to do some artwork for my website that I’m building and Lex to do advertising bling for me. Creating my first novel has galvanized me to plow into a career in independent publishing. And with the majestic She Likes It Rough as my flagship, full speed ahead!




GVR Corcillo

author of  She Likes It Rough
Just released in trade paperback!

“Jane Austen Meets the New York Giants”


Queen of the Universe coming this Fall

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The Bride Wore Gray and Mr. Lincoln by Jina Bacarr

February 11, 2013 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , ,

I’ll never forget the time I had the chance to see the cabin where Lincoln was born. I was nine years old.

It had a dirt floor. Cool, I thought, his mom can’t yell at him for tracking dirt into the house.

It wasn’t the “real” cabin,of course, but a symbolic reconstruction in Central Kentucky to honor our sixteenth President.

I grew up in different parts of the US…but my favorite time was in Lexington, Kentucky.

We lived in what I called the “Civil War” house. It was a big ole home out in the boonies with a barn and plenty of Kentucky bluegrass. According to the locals, the antebellum house was built before the Civil War.

Over the years, the house had different owners, but it never lost its splendor in my eyes. Sure, it was run-down and the plumbing more often than not didn’t work. God knows, it was cold in the winter, but my dad–a historical buff–rented it for as long as my poor mom could take it. It wasn’t easy for her with no dishwasher or washer and an old, wood burning stove with a husband and two kids to take care of. No neighbors for what seemed like miles.

I loved it.

I’d race around the house with fireplaces taller than I was for hours, pretending I was hosting tea with fancy ladies or meeting that special gentleman in what I called my “secret” room. Wearing my mother’s long dresses, I dreamed of being a true Southern belle (years later I got my own authentic hoop skirt from the costume department when I was doing theater).

So it’s no wonder I followed my heart and wrote my own Civil War novel — “The Bride Wore Gray.” It’s a time travel romance where my modern day heroine, Liberty Jordan, meets up with her ancestor–who looks exactly like her! The only problem is, Pauletta Sue, is a Southern spy…

I’m working on formatting my story, making a cover, etc. so I can self-pub it. Which brings up a question: with the popularity of Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” will the Civil War make a come-back in romance novels?
What do you think? 
—-
Here’s a sample from the Prologue from “The Bride Wore Gray:”
On a lonely road in the Tennessee woods
1862
Even before she saw the swath of blue moving through the trees, Pauletta Sue could smell them.
Yankees.
The raw male odor of Federal soldiers made her nauseous, but she pushed her horse harder.
They won’t catch me.

“Faster, Savannah Lady, faster!”

Crack! came the sound of her whip hitting the mare’s flanks. Her scarlet-gloved hand trembled as she repeated her command, louder now. The animal sensed her urgency, snorted, then raced ahead down the dark, country road, its hooves making dull, thudding sounds on the hard dirt as horse and rider went deeper into the woods.

The young woman riding sidesaddle winced. What had come over her? She had never struck the beautiful bay mare before, preferring to ride her with only the tight bit and an easy hand, but she had to get through the Yankee pickets. Nothing must stop her from carrying out her mission.
Nothing.

Her gray silk skirts, frayed at the hem, whipped at her ankles. Her long, hooded cloak made of fine black wool, threadbare in places, billowed behind her like heavy smoke, shielding her face from the demons in blue hidden all around her. Ready to strike her down if she dared to stop.
She couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

The danger of her mission chilled her. She dared not think about what lay ahead of her. She feared dying before she found the revenge she sought, for only then could she release the madness and torment of her broken heart.
The man she loved was dead.
Shot as a Confederate spy.
No, no!

All around her, the sounds of the forest—the squeal of a trapped pig, the hard rumble of wagon wheels somewhere in the distance, a faraway cannon firing, the loud orders of Federal officers up ahead of her—were muffled by the loud beating of her heart in her ears.
I will not allow you to die in vain, my love. I promise. 
————–
Best,
Jina 
Jina Bacarr
www.jinabacarr.com 
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