Happy New Year and A New Cover for Leave No Trace!

Here's the gorgeous cover for the rewritten Leave No Trace, due out hopefully in 2010. The book is completely rewritten thanks to the editing assistance of Melissa Holt and I'm ready and waiting for the edits from the publisher.

With Blind Spot, Leave No Trace and Night Noise all in the edit process, it's hard to think about writing on my 5th  book, The Reckoner, which has been patiently waiting for the past ten months. Maybe soon!

WRITING TRUE TO ONE'S SELF - HOW DO YOU DO IT?

Well, I'm reading Writing Past Dark by Bonnie Friedman, a remarkable book on writing (copyright 1993) and I hope she won't mind my quoting a few of her passages since they are so spot-on with the experience my struggles as I learn to write.

Some time in the early stages of her career, she went to a writing workshop in Iowa to learn to write. (Of course, Iowa, the beginning for many great women writers):

"It was here that we noticed the nature of words.

It is possible to write for many years and never notice. It is possible to write so much one's pages swarm, and still not detect how an individual word behaves. Writing school changes that....no longer can I assume, as I did, that the way you feel writing something will be pretty much the way a person will feel reading it....The reader wants a good story. It is the words themselves that are reluctant to cooperate. ...Yet, learning to write hurt me. I had to give up a sense of natural unity with my writing--of the natural way."

And she goes on to say while one moves from one's  natural writing in learning how to use words through the process of workshops and learning to write..."The formal writing needs a counterbalance. Training in caution needs training in danger. So much polish needs rawness. So much restraint needs wildness. So much head needs heart."*

Exactly. Or rather indeed.  I wrote my first two books spitting out the words onto the page, having no concern for a better word or a better way to say it. Then came my third book and the struggle began. It took three years to even find a publisher, I was so constrained by the editing process. And with all that, the book still succeeds early on, but then falls apart somewhere one-third in, recouping its losses towards the end and finishing with a bang. 

What do you think? Is this your experience? I met a very wise woman two years ago in Omaha who was well on her way in her publishing career and she said something to the effect that ...those of you who are just writing your first book are very naively lucky. By your second or third, you'll be so tied down by your own self criticism, what your editors want, what your readers like, that the joy of writing flies out the window.

It is possible to get beyond the constraints of learning to write well but I am still in the gripes of trying hard to write. Or maybe I should listen to  my friend, Ruth, who says, she's learned to love the struggle.

*Writing Past Dark, Friedman, Bonnie, Harper Collins Publishers, 1993, pages 57-59.

INTERVIEW WITH EMMA LAI

 EMMA LAI INTERVIEW

12/01/09

1.      Tell us about your most recent book.

His Hope, Her Salvation

Promised in marriage to an obusive oaf, Judith resolves to find out if there can be passion without love. Snatches of conversation overheard at the local inn lead her to a mysterious American merchant who might be able to satisfy her carnal curiosity and capture her heart.

Donovan, a Guardian Hunter, is on the trail of a rogue Elysian in Georgian England. As the son of the First Hunter, he long ago gave up hope of finding his heart's mate. When Judith appears in his study, his inner beast and his heart demand he answer her plea for help.

Will their passion answer their hearts' pleas, or will it wither under the threat of reality?

2.       Where do you get your ideas for your books?

Dreams. Whether daydreaming or sleeping, my characters and their opening scenes tend to come when I’m most relaxed.

3.      What’s the hardest part about writing?

Editing. Once I’ve captured the story and it’s played out, I have a difficult time staying interested. I want to move on to the next one!

4.      What are you working on next?

That’s an excellent question. I’m still trying to work it out. I have two stories in my published series begging to be completed. I have two other stories spun off from the series in progress. I have a contemporary romance that needs polishing and a young adult sci-fi/fantasy that is about a third through. I also recently started a romantic suspense. On top of all that, I have a handful of other stories started. 

5.  What advice would you give a new writer just starting out? Write. Write. Write. You can't get published if you don't get your story onto paper. 


6. What keeps you going when you get rejections or feel uninspired? If the rejection is accompanied by an explanation, I make the improvements and submit again. If I'm feeling uninspired, I listen to music, watch a movie or read a book.


7. What is your advice for getting published?
Study the publishers. Make sure you meet their guidelines. Don't fool yourself into thinking your work is perfect because rejections will come and edits will be requested. Be nice about rejections and edit requests. Editors are just doing their job.


8. What are your goals--short and long-term--as a writer?
I want to complete my romantic suspense by March 2010. I want to finish polishing my contemporary romance and get it submitted by June 2010. I would like to get the rest of my published series completed and out by the end of 2010. I would also like to finish the first book of my young adult sci-fi/fantasy by the end of 2010. 


My long-term goals are to complete my young adult trilogy and my spin-off series. I really like the two story lines and would love to see them housed with a big publisher.


9. What's the next book you're thinking about?
The romantic suspense is targeted at a submission call at my publisher's. Think average Joanne gets sucked into industrial espionage.


10. Describe your writing experience and your writing day.
I used to write ten hours a day. Then I got pregnant and had a baby. Now it's all I can do to get an hour to write, but I love writing and I love all of the authors and editors I've met as a result of getting published.

11. Do you have a theme in writing? Something that’s in the background of your books?

Insecurity. I have experienced a host of them in my lifetime and each book explores one or another of my insecurities.

12.      Anything else I haven’t asked you’d like to say?

I’d like to know what readers want to see more of.

13. One last thing – tell us something unique about yourself

I’m one of sixteen kids from five marriages.

Thanks for the great questions, Lynn!

Thanks for taking the time to do this interview

Lynn romaine

Book signings and breaking the shelf barrier at Borders and B&N!

Since so many of my fellow authors are working hard, like me, to get our books on the shelves of major booksellers, or at least in the door, I thought I'd share some of how I got mine there.

Get a book signing any way you can with one of the big guys - Borders or B&N - either by knowing someone, know someone who knows someone, or just starting with your local store and promise them  that you'll sell at least 10-15 books (or your firstborn child). Once you get one major retail booksigning, getting more is way easier - just use one to play off the other - "I just had a signing at B&N and sold..." etc. If you start with book signings where you have family and friends, it helps also also - my sister invited everyone from her church, her work, her neighborhood.  You can pretty well promise selling at least 15-20 books that way.  Make sure you get an email list of those who attend so you can email them a few weeks later and suggest they can invite friends to get your book still on the shelves at the store.

As to keeping them on the shelves, make sure you ask them if they will be willing to keep the extra and they may be very nice, like my Border's person in Detroit, and agree to shelve the remainder. Alas - you're in the big stores on the shelves!

Other book signing ideas that work are libraries - they often have more than one branch and if you get the librarian there, she or he will likely purchase for all libraries. Offer to do an informal discussion at the signing or if they don't allow signings, just do the discussion and ask the librarian to purchase your book beforehand so patrons will have it available.

Another way to book sign is little salons in people's houses - have them invite friends, like a Mary Kay event, and give away a book as a door prize or a mug with your book title.

Please feel free to add ideas here!  Anything you've done that works!

Welcome Author - Cate Masters

1.    Tell us about your most recent book. My most recent release was a Halloween-themed short titled Reflections from Shadowfire Press. Halloween’s my second-favorite holiday, so I had a lot of fun writing it, researching crystal balls and the practice of scrying. My next release will be a historical romance novel set in 1850s Key West called Angels, Sinners and Madmen. It’s still in first edits so it’ll likely be released early next year from Freya’s Bower.
2.     Where do you get your ideas for your books? I have an overactive imagination (sometimes a good thing, other times not so good!), so anything can spark a story idea. For Reflections, the detailed description of a crystal ball in a novelty catalog set my mind in motion. While on vacation with my family in Key West a few years ago, the basic story for Angels, Sinners and Madmen flashed through my head at a maritime museum. So little’s been written about the wreckers, incredibly brave sailors who rescued passengers and salvaged goods from shipwrecks long before any real diving equipment was invented. Last year, I decided finally to commit it to paper and wrote the bulk of it during NaNoWriMo. After a few months of revisions and sending it through critique, I submitted and Freya’s Bower accepted it.
3.    What’s the hardest part about writing? Having time to do everything I want to do! Sometimes edits present a challenge because I become so engrossed in whatever story I’m currently writing, it can be tough to dredge up the emotions needed to get back into the flow of the last story.
4.    What are you working on next? I just finished up a contemporary romance novel, and am working on revisions for another historical set in my local area in 1879. Driving past the gravestones of the Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pa., would always evoke such sadness for the Native American children torn away from their homes and lifestyles. My characters are completely fictional, but I wove their stories into actual events of the school’s fitful start.
5.    What advice would you give a new writer just starting out? So many new authors don’t allow themselves to be called writers if they’re not published. If you write, you’re a writer. Never let anyone say otherwise. Keep reading and writing, and learning all you can.
6.    What keeps you going when you get rejections or feel uninspired? I always have plenty of inspiration, but rejections can be difficult sometimes. It’s something every author goes through, whether unpublished or multipublished. A few writers’ books such as Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul and the New York Times series Writers on Writing chronicle the hundreds of rejections received by now-bestselling authors, so the lesson there is to never never never give up.
7.    What is your advice for getting published?  Publishers are subjective, and a rejection simply means your story doesn’t fit a particular publisher at a particular time. If a story comes back, polish it up and volley it out again. Always keep it in play.
8.    What are your goals –short and long-term—as a writer? To keep improving my craft and writing as long as I can, and to make every story better than the last.
9.    What’s the next book you’re thinking about? I have a backlog of stories clamoring for attention and sulking from neglect, from contemporary to paranormal/dark fantasy. I have a contemporary in mind for NaNoWriMo. We’ll see! This year’s been a bit overwhelming on the personal front, but writing helps me maintain some semblance of sanity.
10.    Anything else I haven’t asked you’d like to say? I’d like to invite everyone to visit my web site: www.catemasters.com, and keep up with the latest news on my blog: http://catemasters.blogspot.com.
And thanks so much for having me here, Lynn! It’s been a pleasure.

INTERVIEW WITH MELINDA ELMORE

I'd like to welcome Melinda Elmore to Women Writers Underground. Please feel free to leave comments and questions for  her

1.      Tell us about your most recent book. 

Melinda - “Native Dreams” is my first published book.  It is a Native American romance novel.  It reveals my fascination of the American Indian.  I hope to show, in my writings, of the proud people that the American Indians truly are. 

2.       Where do you get your ideas for your books? 

Melinda - Mostly my ideas come from thinking a lot of what I am trying to accomplish, but I also do a lot of research.  

3.      What’s the hardest part about writing?

Melinda - Finding time to write has been the hardest thing for me. 

4.      What are you working on next?

Melinda - Currently I am working on a Native American Mystery Novel.

5.      What advice would you give a new writer just getting started?

Melinda - First, edit your manuscript to the best of your knowledge and most importantly is to never give up.  Rejection letters will come, its just part of the process, but always keep faith in your work.

6.      What keeps you going when you get rejections or feel uninspired? 

Melinda - This is really simple, my family.  My wonderful husband always keeps pushing me by reminding me that I have to keep submitting until I find the perfect publisher for me.  My two wonderful kids stand beside of me too.

7.     What is your advice for getting published? 

Melinda - Submit, submit, submit.  You have to keep submitting to as many publishers as you can.

8.      What are your goals-short and long-term?

Melinda - Short term goals:  To get articles, poems, and short stories published.  

Long-term:  To get with a big publishing company, with my mystery novels.  I strive to be like Tony Hillerman.  He is the best!!!!

9.     What's the next book you're thinking about?

Melinda - well, I plan on writing mystery novels for the next little while.  I also intend to write a couple of romance novels.


10. Describe  your writing day 

Melinda - I find my perfect writing day is when the sky is blue and the little white puffy clouds float by.  I am sitting at my desk, thinking of the next scene in my mystery novel.

11. Do you have a theme in writing? Something that’s in the background of your books?

Melinda - Yes.  I am trying to show how Mother Earth and all creatures upon it is one.  We all have a purpose, nothing is more important then the other.  We have to start protecting Mother Earth.

12.      Anything else I haven’t asked you’d like to say?

Melinda - Yes, I hope to show in my writings how important the American Indian is in our society.  The elders have a wealth of knowledge and if you listen to their stories, you will learn something and it will make you a better person.

Thanks Lynn for having me here.  I have really enjoyed it.

Walk in peace and harmony,

Melinda

INTERVIEW WITH ALEE DRAKE ABOUT HER BOOK, THISTLE DEW

Alee Drake was kind enough to give me an interview on her recent book. Feel free to comment and give her a welcome.

LYNN - Tell us about your most recent book.

ALEE - THISTLE DEW is a sweet paranormal romance set in the Adirondacks. Four year old Pia disappears during a winter blizzard, and no one pays attention to her guardian angel/ghost who is trying to direct her mother to her whereabouts.

LYNN - Where do you get your ideas for your books?

ALEE - My life is a never ending story. I have enough story fodder for many more books, as well as my guardian angel/grandmother who motivates me to keep writing.

LYNN - What’s the hardest part about writing?

ALEE - Putting just the right words to the movie that is playing in my head. And my fingers don’t move fast enough on the keys. The story moves faster than I can type.

LYNN - What are you working on next?

ALEE - Men in T’s is based on a Model T tour to Richmond, Indiana to the Model T Centennial Celebration. Scott Douglas, old car enthusiast reluctantly agrees to travel with thoroughly modern reporter Pax walters.

LYNN - What advice would you give a new writer just starting out?

ALEE - Don’t ever give up. If writing is your passion…then write passionately.

LYNN - What keeps you going when you get rejections or feel uninspired?

ALEE - I have a tremendous support group…my husband, children, my critique group and CNYRW friends.

LYNN - What is your advice for getting published?

ALEE - Present yourself and your manuscripts in a professional manner.

LYNN - What are your goals –short and long-term—as a writer?

ALEE - Short term…Publish Men in T’s,…. Long term…Have one of my books made into a movie.

LYNN - What’s the next book you’re thinking about?

ALEE - A YA werewolf book.

LYNN - Describe your writing experience and your writing day.

ALEE - My writing day begins after work, I’m an elementary school librarian, and after dinner and yoga. I write until I crash…usually around 10.

LYNN - Do you have a theme in writing? Something that’s in the background of your books.

ALEE - I love a strong sense of family and children that are cherished.

Thank you, Lynn, for this opportunity to be interviewed. Have a great week.

Andrea
aka : ALEE DRAKE
Thistle Dew - available NOW at The Wild Rose Press
http://aleedrake.blogspot.com/