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September 11, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Confessions of a Podcast Goddess

9/11. It’s a number that resonates with anyone who reads this blog, picks up a newspaper or checks out a news website. A day no one will ever forget where they were when they heard the news.

In one morning our world changed forever.

What can I say about 9/11 that hasn’t already been said?

I shall leave that to the pundits and reporters on this eighth anniversary and instead ask you a question: how has your writing changed since 9/11?

I don’t mean what you write, but how you submit what you write.

Before 9/11, few agents, editors and publishing houses accepted queries, proposals and manuscripts by email. Many still don’t, but back in 2001 it was a novelty to send material as an email attachment. The Anthrax scare contributed to that change since snail mail could be dangerous to your health. Since then, we’ve all discovered that email has its own dangers (is your anti-virus software up to date?).

It seems like it all started with 9/11. Something changed in us that day. We weren’t as safe as we thought we were in our own backyard. We never expected that. If you traveled abroad, you understood the risks.

But 9/11 happened here, on American soil.

An urgency was born in us that day to know instantly what was going on as the horrific scene of the Twin Towers coming down unfolded before our eyes. I believe that same urgency has carried over to our daily lives, and that includes our writing.

We want to know without delay if our editor or agent loves our latest work, what our Amazon numbers are by the hour (admit it, you check more than you should), how many hits we have on our blog that day. E-books and Kindle have made it easier for us to transport reading material with us everywhere we go.

The submitting process may have changed since 9/11, but writing your manuscript hasn’t. You still put your butt in the chair with a cup of your favorite java nearby and write from the heart.

I believe that will never change.

Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, and Cleopatra’s Perfume.

Coming in February 2010: The Blonde Samurai
“She embraced the way of the samurai. Two swords. Two loves.”

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A Lapful of Booklovers

by Nancy Farrier

Some of my favorite memories are sitting in the rocking chair with two or three children piled on my lap as we read from a favorite story book. My kids loved looking at the pictures as they heard about llamas looking for their mamas, or what to do if a mouse wants something. We would laugh, or exclaim with wonder as we shared this experience.

All of my daughters grew up with a love of books. They often sleep with books beside their beds or in bed with them. They enjoy the experience of visiting new lands, learning about an historical event, or seeing something through someone elseâ€™s eyes. We often delight in the same stories, and can talk for hours about characters and plots.

When I read this week about a school in Massachusetts that decided to expunge their library of all hardcopy books, I couldnâ€™t help but feel sad and angry. They replaced the books with online versions and computer access, along with many amenities that might appeal to a younger generation. Their excuse had to do with offering their students the opportunity to search through many more books than traditional shelves would hold.

While e-books have their place, and Iâ€™m not opposed to them, I myself have trouble reading on the computer. I like to curl up in a comfy chair, or relax on the floor as I read. Thatâ€™s harder to do when your book is an e-book. I like having a book to hold in my hand. My daughters and I enjoy going to the library and perusing the shelves so we can find a new series, or a new author that we want to read, something that is more difficult to do online. I canâ€™t imagine those early years with my children if we only had an e-reader. How would we have snuggled up? I just canâ€™t picture that.

Nancy’s new book PAINTED DESERT was released September 1st. You can find out more about both Nancy and her books at http://www.nancyfarrier.com/

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Chapter Meeting News – September 12, 2009

September 9, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives tagged as Chapter Meeting Information

General Meetings are held the second Saturday of the month at the Brea Community Center, 695 E. Madison Way, Brea, CA 92821. For a map and directions, click here.
Meeting fees are $10 for Members and $20 for Non-Members.

Meeting Schedule for September 12 2009:

9:30 am: Doors Open / Ask an Authorâ€”Volunteer Ask an Author/s for September: Nancy Farrier
10:30 – 10:45 am: Announcements

Morning Workshop Speaker: EVE ORTEGA w/a TESSA DARE Historical romance author and OCC Member, Eve Ortega will be discussing “Cut to the Chase: Techniques to Keep Your Prose Tight and Your Story Moving.” She is a part-time librarian, full-time mommy, and swing-shift writer of historical romance. RT Book Reviews has given four and half stars to all three books in Eveâ€™s Regency England trilogy–Goddess of the Hunt, Surrender of A Siren, and A Lady of Persuasion.

11:50 â€“ 1:00: Lunch Break (Lunch Orders available)
12:30 â€“ 1:00: Book signings
1:00 – 1:30 pm: General Meeting and Announcements

Afternoon Speaker: LINDA HOWARD–New York Times Best-selling author Author of romantic suspense, including Up Close and Dangerous, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cover of Night, Killing Time, To Die For, Kiss Me While I Sleep, Cry No More, Dying to Please, and her newest release Burn. Linda began writing at the age of nine, sold her first book way back when dirt was two days old, and currently lives in a nut house. She has no idea how she ever gets a book written, but nevertheless, she’s written forty-something of them so far, and may be closing in on the number fifty, but she doesn’t know and has no time to count them. She does know that number 25, Dream Man, was the first to hit the New York Times List, and every book since then has also made the list. She is active in her local RWA chapter, Heart of Dixie, and served a four year term on the RWA Board of Directors.
3:00 pm: Meeting Adjourns

Attention: OCC Members Attending the Meeting–Monthly Critique Drawings!Volunteer Critique Author for September: Laura Wright

Important 2009 Dates to Remember:

September 14, 2009 – October 10, 2009 Online Class: “Plot That Novel YOUR Way” with Sue Viders and Becky Martinez.

For current Online Class Schedule and registration information, please visit http://www.occrwa.org/onlineclasses.html.
For more chapter meeting information visit OCCâ€™s website at http://www.occrwa.org

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Inner beauty is great…but gimme a little outer beauty, too!

September 8, 2009 by A Slice of Orange in category Archives

If you watched Miss Universe recently, youâ€™re probably feeling overly conscious of your age, your pores, the crooked teeth your miserly parents always assured you were â€œcharacterful.â€

At the same time, beauty pageants are fun to watchâ€”how could they not be, with all that beauty on display? If you like to look at pretty things, Miss Universe is a must-see show.

You just have to hold on to your perspective. Remember, those women have trained for years to get where they are now, and it hasnâ€™t been easy. That looking beautiful is their job, while for the rest of us itâ€™s very much an optional extra.

My latest book (Her So-Called FiancÃ©, out from Harlequin Superromance this week), features a beauty queen heroine. Sabrina is forced to keep a hold of her perspective when the media attributes her dumping in the first round of the Miss USA pageant to her chunky thighs. Ouch!

So, what can we learn from beauty queens? Some beauty tips, obviously! Try these, which come courtesy of Hollie Domiano, a volunteer in the Miss America program and author of Myths America: A Practical Guide to Pageantry (self-published through Lulu.com for the specialist pageant market):

– Use hair conditioner for shaving your legs etc. It lubricates the hair and makes shaving easier. Your skin will be smoother, too.

– Got sunburn? Take a cup each of cornstarch and baking soda, place in a bath of cool water, and soak in it.

– Need moisture on your skin? Try oatmeal. It’s great for moisturizing dry skin.

For a lighthearted look at keeping our wannabe beauty queen feet firmly grounded, Julie Linker, author of young adult novel Crowned, passes on these â€œtruismsâ€ :

You know youâ€™re a beauty queen when
– You know the difference between a crown and a tiara.
– You own 2 pairs of taupe leather pumps.
– You think 5-inch acrylic heels go with everything.
– You paid more for your evening gown than for your car.
– Your coach has never caught a football.
– Diet Coke is the breakfast of champions.

Hmm, I think I just got disqualified.
Whatâ€™s your take on beauty and pageantry? Are you pro-pageants – or do they just make you feel a mess?
Abby

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A Question About Questions

September 6, 2009 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Berkley Prime Crime, blogging, Linda O. Johnston, Questions

Iâ€™ve been blogging here on A Slice of Orange for a while now, on the sixth of each month. I donâ€™t get many comments, but, then, neither do most of our other bloggers–with a few exceptions. Maybe Iâ€™m just boring. Or maybe I havenâ€™t hit on topics that resonate with our members.

So… what would you like to see me write about here? Iâ€™m asking for you to post a comment and let me know! Iâ€™d love to address what our members and other blog visitors want to hear about from me.

Iâ€™ve got lots of ideas about writing, and ideas about selling what you write, and, yes, ideas about getting ideas! I write in different genres, and I write two series (my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series, plus my Alpha Force shapeshifter series for Silhouette Nocturne) and am about to embark on my third–a spin-off mystery series about Lauren Vancouver, pet rescuer. If you have questions about any of that, please let me know and Iâ€™ll be glad to address answers in future blog posts. Or–nearly–anything else relating to writing. Just ask, and Iâ€™ll try to oblige.

Meantime, I consider OCC an immeasurable asset to my writing. If youâ€™re a member, you know what Iâ€™m talking about!

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, 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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