by Shauna Roberts
http://www.ShaunaRoberts.com
http://ShaunaRoberts.blogspot.com
Today’s Guest: Tanya Hanson
Tanya Hanson enjoys life near the beach with her firefighter husband. They’re busy getting ready for their daughter’s wedding this summer, and their son and daughter-in-law have given them a totally adorable two-year-old grandson—the ring bearer. Her newest book is Marrying Minda (Wild Rose Press), a Western tale of a mail-order bride and the wrong groom.
If you could travel back in time to before you were first published, what advice would you give yourself?
If I could go back in time to before I was first published . . . I’d definitely not wait until my kids went off to college to write and submit. Saying I was “too busy†was just an excuse and, I suppose, a fear of failure.
Some other things I learned:
1. Check your pen name early on. I didn’t and now share cyberspace with a porn star of the same name.
2. Remember that nobody dies from rejection. Gnash your teeth for a day, then move on.
3. Write what you love, not what’s trendy at the moment. If you don’t, writing’s a chore and what’s the point?
4. Enter contests. It’s such a feel-good thing when you do well, and the comments are helpful if you don’t. It might open some doors. And practically speaking, having to follow directions and prepare a perfect manuscript is great training. My current release, Marrying Minda, placed first in two RWA chapter fiction contests, and Outlaw Bride is a finalist in the Romance through the Ages Contest sponsored by the RWA online chapter Hearts Through History.
5. Ease up on e-loops, mySpace, Facebook, and twitter. All that can really get in the way of writing time. My editor encourages two full hours of writing before going online, although I must confess I’m not there yet.
6. Read! I got a recumbent bike both for exercise and for a dedicated time for reading. Reading good literature helps with such things as varying sentence beginnings and structures, increasing vocabulary, and improving your own grammar skills when you see our language done well. Can you tell I taught high school English forever?
7. Take advantage of workshops and online classes. The book I’m finishing now took an unexpected turn thanks to a plotting class I recently took.
8. And last but not least, forget about your mom and Great Aunt Edna reading your books when you write love scenes.
✥✥✥✥✥
To learn more about Tanya Hanson, please visit her Web page at http://www.TanyaHanson.com or read her blog posts at http://www.petticoatsandpistols.com. You can order Marrying Minda online at Amazon.com and the Wild Rose Press.
Monica Stoner, Member at Large
Years ago I had the great good fortune to attend a weekend workshop with Paul Gillette. In the process of having our work analyzed, he brought up the concept: “I can teach you HOW to write but I can’t teach you WHAT to write.” It sounded quite wise, and as he was saying this in praise of something I had submitted I tucked the concept away to consider later.
Come forward through years of writing and not writing, into a time when of new experiences. I’ve had the great good fortune of judging contests. I am amazed at the quality of work entered. Even though not everything is ready to submit, it’s clear these people have put a lot of thought into their work, and have the principles of formatting, sentence structure and basic usage down pat.
Every now and then, though, I review an entry lacking in all those basic writing skills but so rich in story I’m stunned. Just as rarely I read something perfectly crafted, showing great skill in word choice yet totally lacking in imagination. Finally, I understand what Paul Gillette was telling us. Anyone can learn to write with an acceptable level of skill but not everyone can come up with a story that grabs at the reader and demands we drop everything else to finish the book.
Who would have the easier task for improvement – the person with the excellent skills but ordinary story, or the person with the great story but little idea how to organize her thoughts into words? I’m not really sure, both have a hard road ahead of them. A lot will depend on how badly they want to write, and how much it means to them to finish the book. Then the next book.
Happy writing
This week I started writing again after, literally, months of hibernation. That is, if you count a three-page synopsis and revisions as writing. I did spend a lot of time thinking about the project and tweaking the plot until I felt I had a complete story. I have to say, it felt good.
That’s the good news. The bad news is I was thinking about my story and not what I was going to blog about, so I have nothing. I don’t feel too bad about it though. You see, I started writing this week after a very long hiatus. 😀
Now if I can just keep up the momentum, maybe I’ll even finish the story. Wish me luck.
Linda McLaughlin
w/a Lyndi Lamont
The finalists for OCC’s 26th Annual Orange Rose Contest for Unpublished Writers were announced at the July meeting by contest chair, Charlotte Lobb.
This year’s finalists range the globe, from California to Georgia, Vancouver to Toronto, and even Australia by way of Paris.
And the finalists are:
Lecia Cotton Cornwall, Unmasking the Countess, Historical
Pamela Kopfler, Better Dead, Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy
Kate Frieman, Strong, Sweet & Haunting, Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy
Kathy Bennett, A Dozen Deadly Roses, Romantic Suspense
Gayle Link, w/a Vanessa Riley, Carriage of Honor, Historical
Laurie Thompson, A Sweet But Deadly Desire, Paranormal/Time Travel/Fantasy
Gabrielle Luthy, Learning How to Stay, Mainstream
Alison Pritchard, The Sons of Gregor MacLeod: Highland Promise, Historical
Jo Anne Banker, This Child is Mine, Contemporary
Cheryl Nagro, Love Thy Neighbor, Inpirational
Congratulations to all, and a big Thank You to Charlotte for all her hard work on the contest.
Final results will be announced at the October meeting.
Posted by Linda McLaughlin, Orange Rose Contest Electronic Entry Coordinator
“In the journey of life, love is the sweetest reward.”
http://www.lindamclaughlin.com
http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/
by Jina Bacarr
Last month I posted the book trailer for my latest Spice release, Cleopatra’s Perfume, about a woman’s insatiable appetite for sex and adventure in 1939 Cairo (also Berlin and London) when the world was teetering on the brink of war.
I put together the one-minute book trailer in color and a second trailer in color and black and white (similar to when Dorothy visits Oz in the 1939 film and the screen goes technicolor). The interesting thing is that the black and white/color trailer has gotten more hits than the color trailer.
So when fellow OCC member, Bobbie Cimo suggested I try ALL black and white, I thought, that’s a cool idea. (Thankz, Bobbie!) So I put it together and uploaded it to several sites. What’s really amazing is that on one site I received a thousand hits in one day–and on others, just a handful. So you never know…
You be the judge: Here’s the black and white book trailer for Cleopatra’s Perfume!!
Best,
Jina
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jinabacarr
Jina Bacarr is also the author of The Blonde Geisha , Naughty Paris, Tokyo Rendezvous, a Spice Brief, and Spies, Lies & Naked Thighs, featuring an Indiana Jones in high heels.
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Now they must choose – save themselves, or fight the Nazis
More info →He’s the most irritating, inscrutable, insufferable lord in the kingdom.
More info →Christmas in Marietta, with all the trimmings, may be just the ticket.
More info →The beautiful wife of a senate candidate is dead; his disturbed sister is accused.
More info →A Slice of Orange is an affiliate with some of the booksellers listed on this website, including Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. This means A Slice of Orange may earn a small advertising fee from sales made through the links used on this website. There are reminders of these affiliate links on the pages for individual books.
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