The Romance Studio

Check it out! I'm in the spotlight--along with my book and my dd's cat ;) -- at The Romance Studio. They have it up a little early, but I'm not complaining. :)

Go back tot he main page and you'll see three other Moonlit Romance authors are being featured as well: Nell Dixon and the writing team of Joann Baker and Patricia Mason.

It's a Moonlit kind of month this June. (GGG)

Bit by bit

I'm getting there. If you'll notice the word count meters to the side of my blog, I'm about 70% done with my short story, Accidentally in Love. Which is great, except that I'm racing a June 1st deadline. :(

Oh, I'll make it--thank goodness tomorrow is a clear and 'easy' day as far as errands and such go. I'll be commandeering the computer ASAP and my butt will likely be sore from sitting in this chair all day. But it will get finished ON TIME! I love meeting deadlines--it's one of the few moments in my life where I'm actually early or on schedule. Just ask my dh--I tend to be late for everything else.

Well, hey, I was born early and have been making up for it ever since. ;)

Where's the funny?

I have a deadline -- June 1st. The project is a short story to be published in a Blue Plate Special Anthology this August.

My problem? My story is supposed to be funny and my funny bone seems to be a bit fractured at the moment. Life has -- once again -- gotten in the way. Nothing really serious has happened. Nothing that can't be fixed or work itself out eventually. But when I need to put two people together and make the reader laugh... oy! The writing has been like pulling teeth these past two weeks. Meaning: I've had to fight for every word, every sentence, every laugh.

But I haven't given up. I'm almost there and I've started seeing the humor in the fictional situation -- well, okay, the humor that will be there once I start editing.

So I've discovered the main thing a writer needs is perseverance...and the willingness to fall flat on your butt now and then. If you can do that and still 'find the funny', you've got writing (and life) in the bag.

COMING SOON!

Secrets and Shadows is now on the COMING SOON page at Samhain! I know it's still three months away, but I'm excited. :)

Check it out!

Photo posted

Finally took the plunge and posted my photo on my website. Wished I could put up a super model or at least one of my high school pics, but I figured too many people would call me on it. ;)

And another one...

Wow! Moonlit Romance has another best seller at Fictionwise -- currently at #20, The Cinderella Substitute by Nell Dixon. I'm so excited for her and for the company as a whole. Can't wait to see how the Blue Plate Special series does...keeping my fingers crossed that we hold the trend. ;)

Quick Review -- The Reluctant Rancher

I bought and read The Reluctant Rancher yesterday. I'm very impressed! If you've been looking for a sweet romance with a big and beautiful heroine, this is the book for you!

The characters are wonderful; their insecurities so believable; and the sexual tension is just right. :) Patricia Mason and Joann Baker are a great writing team! Can't wait to read their next novel.

Another best seller!

Moonlit Romance has another book on the Best Sellers list at Fictionwise! Congrats to Patty and Joann! It's well deserved. :)

Check out the Moonlit Web Journal for more info.

Done and out...

Well, the never-ending historical has done just that. It ended. I finished late last week and sent it to my editor that very night -- oh the marvels of e-mail! ;)

While she did tell me she got the submission and "loves" the premise and the hero's name, so far I don't have any idea whether she'll buy or pass. Of course, I'm hoping for a buy. I love working with this editor and this particular publisher is going places. But most of all, I'll be happy to find my story a good home. If not, at least I did what every good writer does. I gave it my best and didn't give up. And yes, I do have another option to pursue should she decide the story isn't what they're looking for.

The Samhain Author List chat was wonderful, btw. I enjoyed every bit of it -- especially the great comments regarding my excerpts. (GGG) If you'd like to read some samples of my writing, check my website on the EXCERPTS page. Happy reading!

Samhellions out in force...

Join us for the Samhain Author List Day on Saturday, May 6th, from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., EST. Samhain authors -- two different writers each hour -- will be chatting, sharing excerpts and announcing contests. All you have to do to share in the fun is to join the Samhain Cafe loop.

I'll be there from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. with author Elisa Adams. Hope to *see* you there!

Time to gloat!

Just found out -- thanks to my wonderful editor -- that Romancing Jenny has been nominated in the Best Novella category for the 2005 Golden Rose!

This is a first for me and I'm very excited!

Comedy or drama?

I write different types of romance. Sweet and sensual -- in other words, no sex to something a little spicier.

I also write a bit of historical, quite a lot of mystery/suspense, and paranormal. Then there are my funny stories. Okay, I hope they're funny. I do manage to make some people laugh, anyway. ;)

I have found that while I enjoy writing all types of romance, rom com is in some ways the easiest. I say that because with a comedy your Hero and heroine don't have to be almost perfect but slightly flawed. They can be completely opposite as long as they're likable. But to me, the characters are more *real*. They seem to be people that could live next door or in the next town. My humorous characters get some of their best lines straight from real-life -- my life. They live through the same kinds of problems and insecurities as the rest of us. No where in comic romance do your characters have to be 'larger than life'.

Real. Likable. The boy-next-door; the nerd at the office; the sassy waitress at the local coffee shop; the shy girl behind the perfume counter. They don't have to be spies or millionares or have a perfect voice, body, smile... or anything! So in that way, they are so much easier to create and write. And they can also be a lot more fun.

Yeah, the hard part is keeping it funny for the long haul. That's where I really give credit to other writers who 'keep it funny' in book after book after book. Jennifer Cruise is the first that comes to mind. Even her blog and website make me LOL!

To write romantic comedy you need: a sense of humor; some writing skills; a bunch of real and likable characters; and a lot of time to get it down and get it right. Hey, I've got most of that covered -- plus a few plots spinning in my head.

When the historical is done and out the door, then I'll take up one of those rom coms and finish it up. My editor and publisher will be happy, as will I. It's hard to have a bad day when you're looking for the humor in it all.

Dive into a romantic comedy soon. Sometimes the angst gets to be a bit much, don't you think? We all need a good laugh ... and a little love ... and a Happily Ever After, now and then. :)

Revisionist blues

I hate to let go of things. Particularly when the thing in question took a hell of a lot of work, time, and tears. Hence my revival of the manuscript I lovingly call: The Historical that Will Not Die.

If you're a writer, then you understand how much your writing grows and changes from that first story to the current wip. So you wind up finding things in older stories that can make you cringe. If it's bad enough, you even throw in the towel and bury the story for all eternity. That is if you don't just delete the file.

I have a hard time with deleting. It almost feels like I'm killing off an old friend. So my computer files are filled with stories I haven't gotten back to -- and for my own sake, hopefully never will. Why? Because I've found it's a heck of a lot easier to start from scratch than to pick something apart and try to make it work. Have you ever remodeled a house? We have. Building from the ground up is easier. Trust me.

However, we don't always have the luxury to build from the basement up and those months of work banging out a story feel like a loss if it never flies.

So, I'm determined to give my first "baby" one or two more shots at being seen. She hardly resembles the ms she once was. She's lost about 40k of words that really were not necessary--I'm cringing, btw, to know a real editor once read this part. Yet, the structure is sound, the writing mostly passable and fixable, the characters are dear to my heart. Will it sell? Heck if I know. But I promised myself that I'll set it aside if plans F & G fall through. Really. I will. Scouts honor.

Okay, I might have to reuse the hero's name for another character down the road (I love, love, love the name) ... but I will move on to something else. Something newer. Something with a little more pizzazz. ;) And I have just the thing ... right there in my documents list. (GG)

Holiday wishes

Happy Easter and Passover to all those who celebrate!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Come chat with us!

We'll be chatting at Coffeetime Romance tonight, April 11th, at 9 p.m. EDT. The subject of the evening will be the upcoming romantic comedy series, Blue Plate Special: Pops' Girls, to be released consecutively in April, May and June by Moonlit Romance.

Come join Laura Hamby, Shara Jones and me as we talk about the books we've been working on together over the past year. A whole year!? Wow, where has the time gone?

We'll be giving away prizes and sharing excerpts and blurbs -- and knowing my writing buddies, it should be a fun chat.

See you there!

And I promise not to sneeze on anyone. ;)

Controlled substances??

I have a cold. No big deal, really, just something settled in my head and now I'm miserable. But I don't need a doctor -- not yet. I'll just take some over-the-counter stuff and keep up the Vitamin-C until I feel better.

Oh, but if you go to buy cold meds anytime soon -- don't forget a photo I.D.

HUH? Yep, in case you're like me and have been living in a fog for the past months -- you now need a photo I.D. to buy Sudafed and other similar medications. Apparently, some very enterprising people have figured out how to make meth amphetamines out of our once every-day, ordinary cold products.

This shows me three things:
1. I've been suffering from a tunnel vision of sorts lately -- not knowing or really caring what's going on around me;
2. The world is getting out-of-control-weird if people have to find such bizarre ways to get high and/or make money; AND
3. I really need to keep up-to-date for professional purposes.

Professionally, I like to write contemporary and often suspense. One of my next novels is a sequel to my Summer release, Secrets and Shadows. The new story is tentatively titled, Small Town Junk, and involves a gang of drug dealers in the mountain town of Castle's Grove, PA. (A fictional burg which only exists in my imagination.)

Now I'm wondering... well, maybe the dealers don't have to have big city connections to heroin, maybe I can just outfit them with a chem lab and a hot case of Sudafed Cold and Flu? Huh. This is definitely something I'll have to research.

But I admit -- I feel a little uneasy about the strange twists and turns our society is going through. As a mom, it worries me that drugs are such an 'easy' thing to get hold of these days. The new trends in getting high give me moments of real dread as I think about my own children being faced with these choices. And it kind of ticks me off that I have to show I.D. & sign something in order to buy cold medicine!

When did any of us old folks ever dream that our cold meds would be dubbed as controlled substances? It boggles the mind ... and sets the imagination on a new flight. But wherever this might lead any future stories, at least I know my romance H/h will have a happy ending. All I have to do is make sure I have the right villain for the piece.

Good news

Two of my writing friends have great news to share.

Laura Hamby's latest release, It's all Greek to Me, is a best seller at Fictionwise.com! Drop by her blog and tell her congrats. She'll read it soon enough -- once she comes down off the ceiling. ;)

Sela Carsen is also floating a bit these days. She's sold her fantastic and very funny paranormal romance to Samhain Publishing, Ltd.!

I am so proud of my former critique group buddies! We're all still heading in the right direction. :)

Lesson learned: Don't give up the dream -- but don't be afraid to change your plans along the way.

The cost of success

It's kind of amazing that when I first started writing, I really had little thought to getting published. Then when I decided to give it a whirl, I thought -- oh, it won't be too hard, I'm good.

Yes, I hear you snickering out there. Stop that.

Reality landed square on my shoulders in the the form of my first rejection letter. At the time, I thought it was a sign of failure -- now I know it's a badge of honor in my profession. Very few professions consider you 'one of us' when you fail, btw. That just shows what a strange lot we writers are by nature.

Now I have success. Not exactly as I envisioned it five years ago when I started this ride, but success all the same. And I'm finding the work has just begun. So has the price.

Promotional items; advertisement; websites --- all of these cost money and/or time. While I do have a do-it-yourself freebie website at the moment, I know the time will come when it won't be enough. I'll want something 'prettier', more professional looking. Whatever that may mean.

So how do I explain to my oh-so-supportive dh that I need to invest money where I've made very little? Well, he's a smart man. He'll be able to see the wisdom in that eventually. It's just getting up the nerve to approach the subject that's the problem.

Author page

I now have an Author Page up at Samhain Publishing, Ltd.! It looks so nice -- I love the font and colors on the site are gorgeous. Cannot wait until my cover art is ready! I'm expecting great things from their artist, Scott Carpenter. :)

Have a great weekend!

Chat tomorrow!

We're holding a chat tomorrow, Monday, March 20th, at Moonlit Romance to celebrate the release of Nell Dixon's book, The Cinderella Substitute.

Join us from 4-5 p.m. EST, and chat with Nell and other Moonlit authors.

See you there!