by Barbara DeLong
“Dear Barbara,
Thank you so much for giving us a chance to review your work. We have enjoyed taking a look at your project but, while there are appealing aspects to the story, it does not ultimately meet the present needs of xxx .
…the hero was sexy and likable, but the story never quite came to life. There was a lack of that fantasy element we look for. Also, the pacing of the story seemed slow.â€
These are some of the comments from the rejection letter that earned me my Pro pin, and landed my manuscript under the bed with the dust bunnies (aka tumbleweed).
Until now.
For the past couple of years, I have started a number of projects and many versions thereof, only to toss them aside because I didn’t feel the thrill, the passion to complete them like I had my dust collector. I’d find myself working on a scene for one of those stories and end up thinking about the one under my bed.
Finally I succumbed to the inevitable and dragged it out. My critique group, always at the ready with an abundance of suggestions, provided much-needed encouragment. I re-read the whole thing in one day while I jotted notes on a yellow lined pad. Damned if that editor wasn’t right on the money with her comments – yes, my hero sure was sexy! New ideas began to flow, along with a renewed energy I hadn’t felt in years. Writing is fun again! In the spirit of The Secret (read it, please!), I created a mock-up of my book cover and posted it on my Vision Board. My goal is to finish the rewrite by the next National Conference so I can pitch it.
So, if you have a project under your bed that just won’t let you alone, drag that puppy out and give it a read. It’s bugging you for a reason. It just might release you from the doldrums and kick-start your engines. Happy writing!
When writing fantasy, there are so many things to keep track of it takes an entire notebook of its own. If I’m writing a historical, I know what religion my characters are likely to be, though it’s not always important. I know how my characters are going to dress and I have books to double check that I have everything correct.
In fantasy, I’m making it up as I go along. Linda Mac (Linda MacLaughlin/Lyndi Lamont)took a class on building a fantasy world which she found very helpful. I think it might have been a good idea, but I seldom have time to take classes. That means I learn from my mistakes, which are frequent.
Writing a fantasy novel, it’s easier to catch the mistakes. If the world is for one time use, then anything that needs fixing, I’ll find by the time I get to the end of the book. Ooops, I forgot about what religious ceremonies I might need. I can always go back and fix that. Maybe the dress I picked for my characters really doesn’t work, not a problem. I can redress them before I’m through.
The problems come when you want to create a world and use it over again. When I started the Augeas stories, I was only concerned with getting two of them finished and into the publisher. Having my characters dressed in robes seemed like a great idea. Robes are really awkward especially for soldiers, but I’m stuck since two of the stories have been published. Then when I commissioned pictures of my characters, just because I wanted to, and received the picture of Dorjan, my first thought was, “Boy, I hope he’s got on underwear, otherwise things could get indecent.†Guess I’d better add underwear to the list of clothing.
The other problem was, that being in a hurry, I didn’t really sit down and plan everything out. I wrote the two stories, sold them and went on to the next two. Story three, I figured out that the humans shouldn’t be as long lived as the Ancient Ones. Why would they call them Ancient Ones if they didn’t live a lot longer? So I had to write all these notes on the first two stories so that I’d remember to make changes when I got my edits. Poor Brencis has been several many ages now. He was really old, middle aged, no age mentioned and finally back to sort of really old.
The important part about writing fantasy is consistency. When you build a world, as the author you have to think about such things as religion, politics, life style, recreational activities, food, clothing, housing, and on and on. Every part of daily life has to constructed. Then you have to throw in the fantasy part. I have magic in my world, but figuring out what kind of magic wasn’t an easy task. I consulted my expert, my son Rob, and finally decided that the magic was done with the mind. But not everyone could have the same abilities. Not only would that be boring, but then they’d all be equal and there would be no conflict.
There are still several many holes in my world which I keep filling with each new story. Augeas’ residents are of two races, so of course there must be half-breeds. How are they treated? The Guard plays a game called Clootie. What are the rules? They must have some kind of religion. Every culture has a religion.
As soon as I finish stories five and six, I’ll try and figure out some of these things. And I’m still trying to figure out where I could put in dragons, just because I like dragons.
Drawings by Jasmine Tanner, veildandy.deviantart.com
*********************************************************
Available now by Janet Quinn at her website: http://www.janet-quinn.com/ –
WHISKEY SHOTS Vol 7 from Whiskey Creek Press,
WILD HONEY
Available from Whiskey Creek Press –
THE IRISH COUNTESS, THE LUCKY LADY and A MOMENT IN TIME
Available at Amber Quill Press –
THE KILTED GOVERNESS, ARROW OF THE HEART and THE RIVER’S TREASURE
I’m a go-for-it, goal-setting kind of person so I had to really think hard about the advice I’d give myself if I were just starting out. My mind drew a complete blank, because I never look back with regrets. Every day I learn something new about writing, the craft, the business and the interactions between authors and friends.
When I first started out, I was forewarned not to sell to a flat-rate publisher, but my gut instincts told me, this would be a good move. I wrote 3 books for the Kensington Precious Gems line and still keep in contact with those authors today. As it turned out, my next sale was with Harlequin Historicals and having those Precious Gems books in print, meant something. It provided me with credibility as a published author, got me a very decent advance and established me as a sell-on-proposal author. Nothing but good came from that controversial decision. I trust my instincts and always have.
There’s no doubt that there’s a lot of self-doubt in the publishing world. Writers are always second-guessing themselves, so if you have good instincts, you’re halfway there. Ultimately you have to go with what your heart tells you – I’m a big believer in that. If you fail, you can only point your finger at yourself and say, “Next time, I’ll try harder,†or “Okay, I learned from that, now I’ll do it differently.â€
I really believe events in life happen for a reason and that eventually everything will fall into place. With a positive outlook, the glass half full philosophy – lemonade really can be produced when you’re handed a bagful of lemons.
So what would I have done differently?
I could say, nothing.
But that’s not entirely true. I’ve learned a good deal about promotion these past few years. I see newbie published authors struggle with this all the time. They ask themselves how much promotion should I do when I can barely meet my next deadline? What avenues do I tap into that best suit my needs? Your first book might have taken years to write; honing, polishing and revising so when you finally have to deliver a book on deadline, you’re stumped and can barely get the words on the page, much less promote it.
So my advice to myself would be to have learned the ins and outs of promotion a little bit earlier on. As a category author, what kind of promotion works and what doesn’t? How do I best reach my readers and garner new ones? How much do I spend? Are there easier and less expensive ways to do what I’m doing now? And the big one, how do I know it’s working? How do I gauge my own personal success?
I find that now, I’m spending half my time working on promoting my books and half my time writing them. It’s truly 50/50. I’ve sought advice from professionals, read everything I could on promotion, taken workshops and trusted my own instincts when it came to decision-making.
The second piece of advice I might give myself, would be to write for one line, solely. There are definite advantages in doing that, but there are disadvantages as well.
The advantage is that you build a readership more rapidly. If you’re a prolific writer and can produce several books in one year, the readers recognize you and you tend to do better in that one line. Establishing yourself as a writer of hot, sizzling love stories, or fun, light-hearted romps or military thrillers will bring you readers who will love what you write, eagerly await your next story and always buy your books. Every author wants to be an “auto-buy.â€
I write for two lines, Harlequin Historical and Silhouette Desires. I’ve split them down the middle, writing equally for both.
I feel writing in two time periods keeps my writing fresh and compelling. When I’ve had my fill of urban alpha males in the corporate world, I mosey on over to my western writing roots and delve into my cowboy stories. And when I tire of no indoor plumbing, I head back to the contemporary settings. It’s ideal for me in a craft sense. I love writing both.
Having been involved in various lines folding, I feel it’s a little safer writing for two lines. It’s the “cover-your-butt†philosophy that seems to work for me. But is it wise to have two very diverse readerships? Honestly, I don’t know. There comes a time when you have to distinguish between what’s right for you business-wise and what’s right for you as an author? What’s most important is that you write what you love and you love what you write.
Then everything else falls into place and you take that tall drink of homemade lemonade.
Charlene Sands
www.charlenesands.com
Winner 2006 National Readers’ Choice Award
Bodine’s Bounty – November 2007
The Corporate Raider’s Revenge – January 2008
Taming the Texan – March 2008
by Sara Black
Sitting behind the register at my work I often know what it is to be a fish in a bowl. Only I get too see a lot more than the same boring family day in and day out. Passing by my window is an eclectic bunch of people, men holding hands, women holding hands, little old man in black suits with long curly locks, trendy young women on their way to eat, men who dress far better than me talking on their cell phones, and tourists in sandals and shorts with backpacks slung over their shoulders.
Lately I’ve been noticing the trendies, including the workers at the techno-beat filled hair salon next door, have a familiar style. Over sized T-shirts with metallic prints, leg warmers, leggings, large dangling earrings, and pointy boots. I haven’t seen any power suits or shoulder pads, but this may not be the right area of town. The 80’s appear to be on their way back.
I was too young during the 80’s to really accrue any humiliating pictures. I think you need to be a teenager to really emberass your later self with fashion choices. I do remember in about 3rd grade wearing some kind of ensemble that involved high tops, short green leggings, and a pink hair band and thinking that I was really cool, but this didn’t last long. A lot of people view the fashions of the 80’s with a horror normally reserved for the moment you spill a hot drink on your mother-in-law. They were a little, ridiculous, weren’t they?
Then I think about bustles, and corsets, and removing a rib or two for that perfect waist, or wearing a giant, white powdered wig, and really, leg warmers with high heels are relatively innocent.
Still, fashion remains mainly a spectator sport for me, something I observe from my fishbowl. I’m more into 70’s styles anyway.
Sara Black has a degree in Cinema/Television from USC. She watches far too much television, eats way too much sushi and is always writing a romance novel. This is the seventh in a series of posts on Pop Culture.
She will not be found in a pair of leg warmers anytime soon.
By Jann Audiss
For the last several years, I have been fortunate to spend time a few terrific days with close friends in a home on the north shore at Arrowhead Lake. We read, discuss our writing, watch movies, take walks and generally chilling out from our hectic work schedules and life in general.
Our days start at just before sunrise. Clad in hats, coats, gloves and wrapped in blankets, we sit on the deck sipping coffee from steaming mugs. Every morning we hope to see the local beaver swim by. It’s a quite time. We look out over the lake whose mirrored surface is broken only by the ripples of the occasional fish as it jumps to catch a bite for breakfast, or by the small wake left by paddling ducks. It’s paradise.
We usually take our retreat in October. On daily walks through the neighborhood we revel in the leaves as they start to turn the rich, vibrate colors of autumn. The oak trees drop acorns by the bushel. This time, one such oak tree dropped two particular acorns that found their way under my right foot. My ankle turned painfully and down I went. Needless to say, I let out several unladylike words to the astonishment of the local squirrels watching from near by.
After I crawled on my hands and knees to bed that night, I decided that a trip to the local ER was in order. While I sat in the examining room waiting for the doctor, my imagination began to work overtime. I must have dreamed up at least five or six different scenes between hero and heroine. There was the “can’t get out of the bath†scene. The “ER doctor who makes an after-hours house call to check up on his patient†catches her in a very provocative position after she drops her crutch. The “local Ranger finds the heroine crawling along the trail on her hands and knees.†The hero who…
I think you get the idea. It vividly showed me how a writer draws from her experiences. Although I can’t recommend spraining an ankle, I can advise that you take advantage of your adventures for everything they are worth. There’s nothing like “writing what you know†from first had experience.
In a special note – my heart goes out to all the residents in Lake Arrowhead and throughout Southern California who have been devastated by the fires. To the men and women who are on the front lines fighting to protect lives and property and those working in the evacuation centers – God Bless.
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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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