Revealed: what novels inspired me to write French historicals that led to me writing ‘Sisters at War’
August 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as Confessions of a Podcast Goddess, histoicals, writingWhen I was making this video, I found an old photo of me ‘studying’ back in the day at university. I was sitting outside what we called the ‘student center’ near the science building on campus. A friend captured the moment and I kept the photo in my college yearbook. [college photo in video]
Yes, we wore dresses and I remember those black suede shoes. Low heels. I started out wearing 3-inch heels — red, of course — but that didn’t last. The campus was vast and hilly and I had to trek across the campus from the humanities building to the library and then to the science building.
A different time.
I lived in Laguna Beach steps from the ocean, got my first surfboard, and had a wonderful mentor from the golden days of Hollywood. A charming, older lady who helped me with my singing.
I’ve come a long way… but I’ll always remember those days sitting on the beach and reading my ‘Angelique‘ books.
And studying French and German.
I made it through college, then went to live in Europe, and embarked on the adventures that eventually made it into my novels. Especially ‘SISTERS AT WAR‘. The story of the Beaufort Sisters in Paris 1940 when the unthinkable happens to one of them… a violent sexual assault… and how it affects them both.
More later… and how I added my own life experiences to the story.
Jina
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CONFERENCE PREP Part One
August 8, 2023 by Tracy Reed in category WritingHappy August. It really feels like time is zipping by on a bullet train.
Let’s get down to it. In case I hadn’t mentioned it, I’m excite to be signing at the inaugural Steamy Lit Con later this month. This is my first mega signing and I was surprised at the amount of prep it required.
I had a lot of questions. At the top of the list,how many books to take? Followed by what kind of swag to take and how much?…What titles to take so I could set up a preorder?…Table decor…what to wear?…Can I bring an assistant?
It seemed like the list of questions was endless. Then I started noticing in the author group people were talking about exclusives. My mind was buzzing. I didn’t have an exclusive book or product.
I was growing overwhelmed with each post I read. I finally reached out to couple of veteran mega book signing authors for clarity because the answers I was getting were all over the place.
Check out some of the questions and answers.
How many books to take?
50 – 100 copies per title
200 per title
Don’t take every title, but take about 20 – 40 per of the ones you bring
What Swag to bring?
Postcards
Buttons
Bookmarks for sure
Pens, Stickers and bag clips
Magnets
Signage…
You definitely need a sign
I only do table top signs
I hate those retractable banners
I use a custom table cloth or drape
Forms of payment…do you charge tax?
PayPal
Cash
Venmo
CashApp
Square
Get a QR code
My website
Bring a lot of change
Yes, charge tax
Figure tax into the price
Do you discount your books?
Yes
No
I’m not exaggerating when I say it took me about a month to come up with a plan. Originally, based on some early information, I thought I was going to need A LOT of books. I was basing this on what I’d seen on various social media posts. If I’d stuck with that plan, I was going to order a few books every month so I wouldn’t have to do large orders. Well that never happened.
So here’s what I did.
Selected a show inventory.
I have a few titles and knew I didn’t want to bring everything. I knew I wanted to take my most popular series, The Good Girl and The Alex Chronicles. I also wanted to take my duet, A Southern Gentleman. I hadn’t intended to take my other series Generational Curse, but it’s going…I’ll explain why later. Plus I wanted to take my stand alone.
Let me explain. If this weren’t a local event and if it weren’t the first time I’d be meeting these readers, I’d have take fewer titles. My two main series have five books each. When you add in the duet and stand alones, it begins to look like a book store.
I did a preorder.
I did this because it would help with figuring out what to order. I was hoping for a lot of preorders. I received three…technically it was four. My mom/show assistant was generous to place a preorder. This was two more than the last time I did an event with a preorder. I understand the low number is because I’m a relative unknown…I’m working to change that.
Two of the preorders came from books I was on the fence about taking. I figured if I got preorders on them, I’d take them. That’s how I ended up taking the Generational Curse series and the anthology I was in earlier this year. For the record, I always intended to purchase a few copies of the anthology. I just hadn’t gotten around to doing so. The other reason I wasn’t too eager to bring Generational Curse, is because I’m going to do an update. But that changed.
How many books did I order?
I took the advice of the veteran authors and focused on the first book in the series. No matter how much I want people who have never read me to buy the entire series, I couldn’t order based on that. Instead, I ordered 20 of the first two books in each series and the first in the duet, five of everything else. This was a game changer. I write big books and if I’d gone with the other advice, it would have cost me a few thousand dollars.
I’ll stop here, otherwise this post will begin to resemble a novella. I hope this helps as you prepare for your next book signing.
Tracy
Featured Author Renae Wrich
August 7, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured author, Mac and Cheese, renae Wrich
A born and raised Minnesotan, Renae Wrich is a lover of hot dishes, lakes, and snuggling up with a good book on a cold winter day. Renae holds a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota Duluth. She lives in a suburb of Minneapolis with her husband and two children (who love macaroni and cheese). Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please is her first book.
Visit her website at www.renaewrich.com to learn more.
A Break from Writing? Not Really.
August 6, 2023 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Between drafts, finishing the book, Linda O. Johnston
What does a writer do between drafts of a story? Well, that depends.
I finished a first draft of my upcoming fourth story in my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. It still needs some work, but it’s currently in the hands of my excellent beta reader.
So what am I doing while I’m waiting? I have another book under contract that I could begin, but for now I’m trying to play catch-up in some things I’ve been ignoring while I worked on that draft, and also attended the Romance Writers of America Conference.
I won’t get into what kinds of things they are, but they definitely needed to be worked on. Will I resolve them all now? Not hardly, but I hope to at least make a dent in them.
Meanwhile, I’m also making some preparations for Bouchercon, the mystery conference I’ll attend at the end of this month and beginning of September.
So how about you? Do you ever get a chance to take a break, however short, from your writing or your other kind of job? If so, how do you decide how to handle it?
I hope you’re more organized than I tend to be these days. But hey, I’m always amused when my interruptions come from my puppy!
Hope you all enjoy the last half of 2023. I intend to!
Some of Linda’s Novels
Hot Novels about the Cold War by Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn
August 3, 2023 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as 1050s, cold war, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, thrillers, Will Zeilinger
Janet and Will are taking a break this month. So we’re reruning a column they wrote in 2019. Hope you enjoy Hot Novels about the Cold War.
The genre of novels that seems to endure are the spy thrillers and stories of behind-the-scenes government scandals. Here are some very interesting and I’d even say, “watershed” novels about the cold war that have colored our vision of the past and the future. After researching some, I’ve made a list of just a few of the more influential titles and included a short synopsis of each:
Our Man in Havana (1958) by Graham Greene
First published in 1958, Our Man in Havana is an espionage thriller, a penetrating character study, and a political satire that still resonates to this day. Conceived as one of Graham Greene’s ‘entertainments,’ it tells of MI6’s man in Havana, Wormold, a former vacuum-cleaner salesman turned reluctant secret agent out of economic necessity. To keep his job, he files bogus reports based on Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare and dreams up military installations from vacuum-cleaner designs. Then his stories start coming disturbingly true. (Goodreads)
The Ugly American (1958) by William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick
A piercing exposé of American incompetence and corruption in Southeast Asia, The Ugly American captivated the nation when it was first published in 1958. The book introduces readers to an unlikely hero in the titular “ugly American”—and to the ignorant politicians and arrogant ambassadors who ignore his empathetic and commonsense advice. In linked stories and vignettes set in the fictional nation of Sarkhan, William J. Lederer and Eugene Burdick draw an incisive portrait of American foreign policy gone dangerously wrong—and how it might be fixed. The Ugly American reminds us that “today, as the battle for hearts and minds has shifted to the Middle East, we still can’t speak Sarkhanese” (New York Times).
The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1963) by John le Carré
In this classic, John le Carre’s third novel and the first to earn him international acclaim, he created a world unlike any previously experienced in suspense fiction. With unsurpassed knowledge culled from his years in British Intelligence, le Carre brings to light the shadowy dealings of international espionage in the tale of a British agent who longs to end his career but undertakes one final, bone-chilling assignment. When the last agent under his command is killed and Alec Leamas is called back to London, he hopes to come in from the cold for good. His spymaster, Control, however, has other plans. Determined to bring down the head of East German Intelligence and topple his organization, Control once more sends Leamas into the fray—this time to play the part of the dishonored spy and lure the enemy to his ultimate defeat. (Goodreads)
It is interesting to note that each of these novels was later made into a motion picture. Our Man in Havana with Alec Guinness (1959), The Ugly American with Marlon Brando (1963), and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold with Richard Burton (1965).
As is the case with most things a writer encounters, great fiction will always be thrilling but many times the reality is scarier and more strange than we could ever write.
