So I've bitten the bullet and I'm starting to contact agents. It is going to be a long and arduous process, and who knows where it will lead, but I know I'll learn a lot. I've already discovered one thing: Agents ask really tough questions. I understand they have to weed through dozens and dozens of query letters and proposals. So it only makes sense that they ask about your goals, your social media platform, your experience. But here's one I came across today - “What is your favourite sentence in the manuscript you are submitting?” Really? REALLY? It's tough enough choosing a two hundred word excerpt. But a sentence? Do I go straight for the hot and sexy – show them I'm not afraid to make my readers blush? Do I search for something poetic and descriptive? What about a line of dialogue – which I consider one of my strengths as a writer? NO LIFE BUT THIS is an 80,000 word manuscript (my longest ever). How do I find that perfect gem of a sentence that shows my talent (such as it is) as well as conflict, romance and character? How??
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Do you like to read romance novels? Would you like to meet new authors, and learn more about your favorites? Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes and tell all...about our writing of course! Every week we'll all answer the same questions. Once you've read my blog, the link below will direct you to another. Feel free to ask more questions or make comments.
If you've linked here from Nina Mason's blog, welcome! Here are my answers to this week's questions: How does your writing impact your inner life? Writing makes me happy. I always enjoy the process of putting words on paper in a pleasing order, although sometimes plotting can make me tear my hair out. When life gets in the way and I fall behind on my word count I try not to be too hard on myself. But every once in a while I don't write because I'm lazy, or I can't bear the thought of the blank page. On those days my conscience berates me. It's what I imagine skipping school (not that I ever did that) feels like. You can't enjoy playing hooky because you know what you should be doing. I guess it boils down to this—I am happier at least trying to write than I am if I don't do it at all. How do you hope your books affect your readers? I want my readers to enjoy my books. It's that simple. I read for fun and entertainment—I want my readers to feel that way as well. Every once in a great while I will read a book that is supposed to challenge me, or make me a better person, or help me see the world in a different way. While it is also possible to enjoy reading those kinds of books, more often than not they make me feel inept, incompetent and insensitive. I am not writing to change the world. But I am writing to change one person's mood on any given day. Hopefully reading my book(s) will make that person feel just a bit better on a bad day, or reaffirm their enjoyment of life on a good day. Has anyone ever told you your book changed their life? If so, how? Short answer – no. But reader comments have changed my life. A man at work read MOUNTAIN FIRE and sent me a lovely note praising my determination and commitment in writing it. I thought it was fabulous that he could see the work that went into simply completing a manuscript. My sister sent me a text after reading it, saying how proud she was of me. And my editor for CHEF D'AMOUR commented on one short scene where my heroine's grandmother is talking about her late husband. My editor's husband passed away recently, and she said I had described it perfectly. That really touched me. Thanks for joining me on Romance Weekly. I invite you to visit J.J. Devine and see what she has to say this week! As a mom with a full time job trying to build her career as a writer, I have to do a lot of juggling. Right now, I'm about 10,000 words in on WHEN TIME FALLS STILL (Manuscript #4). CHEF D'AMOUR (Book #2), contracted to the Wild Rose Press, is in galley edits. I am researching agents, because I'd like to explore that avenue with NO LIFE BUT THIS (Manuscript #3). I am trying to expand my social media network by blogging, Facebook posts, and the odd Tweet. Let me tell you right now—I don't get all of those things done every day. And that's where the juggling comes in. As a Writer/Producer of TV commercials at a small market station, I'm used to working on multiple levels of multiple projects. On any given day I will write a script for one client, go on a shoot for another, and package a third client's commercial for editing. I'm used to prioritizing, so I use those skills with my writing, as well. Galley proofs are Priority #1. The sooner I can get those back to the publisher, the sooner CHEF D'AMOUR gets published. It's been more than a year since MOUNTAIN FIRE was released, so getting a new book into my readers hands is top of the list. Writing WHEN TIME FALLS STILL is Priority #2. It's important to keep moving forward on my newest writing project. Leaving it alone for too long disrupts the process dramatically. And writing is the whole reason I'm doing this juggling. It's not about the editing or the publishing or the promoting—it's about the writing. Expanding my network comes next. It is important to get out there, make new contacts, meet new readers. But this falls behind the actual writing, because readers want to read, and if there are no new books out there, they've got nothing. Which leaves researching agents. NO LIFE BUT THIS is the only one of my manuscripts not earning it's pay right now. It's sitting in its folder, waiting. This is a necessary evil—in order to get an agent, I have to have a manuscript to offer. But the fact that this book is simply lying fallow is gnawing at me. I'd better brush up on the juggling skills and get more balls in the air! One of the most amazing things I've discovered since starting to pursue writing romance seriously is the incredible support from other writers. I've met dozens of them online, and all have been unfailingly helpful and encouraging. Just last week I joined a blogging group called Romance Weekly. Each week we will answer three questions that give you a behind the scenes look at our writing—and give you a chance to discover your newest favourite author! Tell your friends and feel free to ask questions in the comments.
Thanks to those of you who've linked here from Carrie Elks' page. Here's my first post—and don't forget to link to the next author in this fun relay! 1. Who is your favourite author in your genre and why? There are so many wonderful contemporary authors that I love to read. But if I define “favourite” as “the author that made you see things differently about reading and writing romance” it would have to be Susan Elizabeth Phillips. SEP has been writing for decades, but I only discovered her a few years ago. I've since searched out all her titles and read them for both enjoyment and as a lesson in how to do it right. She is amazing at invoking emotions and making her characters flawed yet fascinating. A great example of this is AIN'T SHE SWEET. I didn't like either the heroine, Sugar Beth, or the hero, Colin, all that much to start. But they were such great, strong characters that I had to find out how they redeemed themselves. 2. What is your favourite book by them and why? I'm not a crier, when it comes to books or movies, at least. I can always keep that one step away from totally immersing myself in the emotions of the story. Not with SEP. She's made me tear up more than any other author. I remember the wrenching sense of loss she made me feel during one especially sweet scene in THIS HEART OF MINE. So, again, going with theme of “favourite” being a book that changed me, I would choose that one. THIS HEART OF MINE is book 5 in SEP's Chicago Stars football team series, and tells the story of Molly (half-sister of the owner) and Kevin (quarterback). One night together results in Molly getting pregnant. To avoid a public relations drama, they get married—extremely reluctantly. And then Molly has a miscarriage. The way their relationship grows is so organic, so compelling, that I hated to put it down. 3. What about their style inspires your writing? I want my readers to feel as invested in the lives of my characters as I feel with SEP's characters. There are so many sub-genres of romance—paranormal, suspense, inspirational, YA—but all of them are defined by the characters, the people, in them. It's extremely difficult to describe how SEP does this—I'm sure it's mostly gut instincts that cannot be taught—but I also love the mechanics of her writing. Her descriptions are lyrical, her sense of pacing exquisite. Reading any of her work is a master course in writing. Continue visiting with Romance Weekly Writers! Click here to learn how Susan Peterson Wisnewski answered these questions. I've always been a voracious reader. But because I truly enjoy re-reading my favourite books, I have probably read fewer authors over the years than other many readers. In most cases, I would rather re-read a book I know I will enjoy than take a chance on a new author. I know what I like, and if I don't see the possibility within a few pages—by which I mean less than one chapter—I stop reading. I know, I'm mean, but there it is. Once I've found an author I love, I'm single minded in tracking down all their books (thank goodness for inter-library loans). If the author writes a series, or has a big back list, I'm thrilled! I have a long list of fail safes, in a mix genres, including but not limited to:
When I decided that writing romance was something I was serious about, I started to look for new authors. This was partly as research—how can you write a genre if you haven't read as much as possible?—but it was also because I'd exhausted my favourite authors book lists. In the last three years I've discovered:
I still go back to my tried and true friends, but not as often as I used to. That's another reason to thank (or blame on) my e-reader—it gave me a huge new library to explore! In Northern BC, you can't trust March. It's a tease, giving you days and nights of melt, before snapping its teeth and putting you back in a deep freeze. But it's closer to Spring than November, so we put up with its mood swings and wait—impatient and cranky—for May. Warmer temperatures make me itchy to do. Do what? Almost anything. Mr. C enjoys building projects, and I've benefited from that with renovated kitchens and bathrooms and every other room in the house. It's common at this is the time of year to come around a corner and find him contemplating walls with a feverish look in his eye. It's also the time of year he can convince me to say yes to almost any construction project. Because I want to DO! We're scratching that itch by checking out open houses. It's amazing the number of floor plans available, and it's inspiring to discover new tile, new flooring, new colours. I like to imagine who the first buyers will be, and how they will make it their own. Then we come back to our home—which we love—and stare at the walls some more. Here's to the The Melt—Northern BC's fifth season. Bring it on! Before anyone says anything, I know this is a first world problem. So don't be mad if I am a little whiny today. My e-reader screen is kerflooey. I held out on buying an e-reader for a long time. I love the smell and feel of a “real” book, and buying an e-reader felt a little like deserting an old friend – one that hasn't quite kept up with the times, but that has shared a lot of great memories with me. I've now owned two. One was half e-reader/half tablet, and it was okay. But with my most recent one I discovered many things to love about it, including:
The main drawback to an e-reader is its very nature. It's a machine, a delicate instrument. And while I don't toss it about the room, I do use it. A lot. And it might have got a bit of a bump yesterday. I didn't think the bump was big enough to cause the screen to go kerflooey, but it did. The top 1/5 of the screen has “faded” for want of a better word. The words are there, but very faint and streaky (like a printer when it runs out of ink). I can still get to all the menus, and I can read all but two lines on every page. But I have to admit, it's driving me crazy. I've just started Belle Andre's Sullivan #9 and I feel like I'm missing all the “good parts” (if you know what I mean.) The worse thing is, I only bought this e-reader last July. I haven't even had it a year! That's not very long for an investment of $220 (I'm including tax and a cover, because, yes, it did have a cover on it when it was bumped). I could have bought a lot of "real" books for that amount! So now what do I do? Do I struggle through with the faded screen? Do I shell out another couple hundred bucks? It feels like a lose/lose situation. Bah, humbug!!! |