Fill Me In Friday - Best Writing Links of the Week

Did I miss the train?

Photo by Son of Groucho
  

Busy week? Need to catch up? It's that time of the week again. Hope everyone has had a great one (and survived spring break with your kids!) This week's links list is actually a compilation from two weeks because I skipped last week. Hope you enjoy!
On Writing, Blogging, and Social Networking:
On the 50 Shades of Grey hoopla:
What You May Have Missed Here:
All right, that's what's I have this week. What were some of your favorite posts of the week? Anyone else ready for spring break to be over?

Parenting and a Chance to Get a Copy of CRASH INTO YOU

 

 Just poking my head out of my writer's cave for a few updates...

Today I'm over at the new parenting blog I've joined - Peanut Butter on the Keyboard - talking about a mommy fail: The Too Observant Child

Also, author Carly Phillips has given her take on the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and is giving away a number of books from some erotic romance authors--including mine! So go check it out for a chance to win. : )

A Lesson in "Don't Write to the Trend"

By Joel Resnicoff (died 1986), showing mannequin he designed as artist. [FAL], via Wikimedia CommonsSo we hear it all the time in workshops and in blog posts from agents and editors--don't write to the trend, write what you love.

Why? Because at the rate publishing moves, that thing that's the trend now was bought probably two years ago. With the age of digital publishing and self publishing, this has a little more flexibility because stories can get turned around more quickly. But even so, most of the time when something "hits big", if you don't already have a manuscript close to finished, you're probably already too late.

We see it happen all the time. Twilight exploded then all of a sudden every book on the shelf was about vampires. Then we got a little burnt out on vampires, so "ooh angels!" that's totally different. And soon we tired of angels. Then shapeshifter werewolves, weretigers, werehampsters were popping up (okay, maybe not hampsters.) Then we're over that.

Same thing has been happening with dystopian. Hunger Games busted open the dam, then all these YA dystopians flooded the market. And now I'm hearing people say, love The Hunger Games but, ugh, I'm getting so burnt out on dystopian.

The market ebbs and flows and certain things are going to spike. The ones that get to ride that wave of a trend are usually people who were already writing that kind of book before the trend became a trend. Their books were already lying in wait, complete and ready to go once a publisher took interest. All the others who scrambled to start writing to the trend end up with a manuscript that's ready when the popularity is starting to wane.

We're on the cusp of a new trend as we speak. If you haven't been living in a cave for the last two weeks, the book Fifty Shades of Grey has been on all the major news programs and is popping up everywhere. This book is BDSM erotic romance. It's what I write. Now, had you told me a month ago that my little niche genre would all of a sudden become the talk on the Today show and Good Morning America and that an erotic romance was going to hit #1 on the New York Times, I would've laughed. I mean, are you kidding? Most people don't even know what BDSM is, much less that there are romances about it.

But wham, there it is, everyone is talking about it. My agent is getting calls from editors wondering if she has any BDSM romance to shop, audio rights people are calling to see if she has any BDSM books they can look at, film rights people are suddenly open to looking at those kinds of books. It's craziness.

Now I don't know how far all this exposure for the genre will go--I hope very far, obviously. But all of a sudden, I'm writing something "trendy". How the eff did that happen? I'm NEVER up with the trend for anything, lol.

But here's the lesson: I wrote the books I wanted to write. I wrote stories I was passionate about. I didn't write a BDSM story because it was the "thing". It wasn't the thing. But now when a trend is starting to explode, I have four books coming out right in the middle of it. Now, that may not affect my series' success at all, but damn, it can't hurt, right? : )

So write what you love. If that's something that's a trend right now (say you love writing dystopian), that's fine. If you are passionate about it, that's going to come through and hopefully stand out amongst a crowded shelf. For instance, there are still people writing about vampires and doing well because the stories are good and they are passionate about the topic.

But if what's "hot" right now is not your thing, don't try to write it to get a piece of that trend. You'll probably be too late and the lack of authentic passion will shine through. It will feel like an imitation.

And if what you love is not "trendy" right now, go for it anyway. Maybe you'll be the trend setter. (Ask Nirvana or Pearl Jam who started their style of music when all the other rock bands were wearing spandex and Aquanet). Or maybe you'll get lucky like me and something in your genre will break out unexpectedly, and you'll be ready to be part of the wave.

So what are your thoughts on trends? Do you write in a "trendy" genre or are you writing something not so popular? What trends have you grown tired of? 

A Sneak Peek from STILL INTO YOU

First, want to give y'all a heads up that I've been interviewed for Elise Rome's March Madness extravaganza and I'm giving away a copy of CRASH INTO YOU. Would love it if y'all stopped by.
Secondly, I'm taking a break from Made of Win Monday today to bring you the first peek into my novella, STILL INTO YOU, which releases in ebook in June. The cover isn't final yet, so I'll post that soon, but it's SO pretty. Can't wait to share. 
This is the first story I've written where the hero and heroine are already married. I never realized how much of a challenge that could be, but I love how the story turned out. I hope you do too. :) For those of you who've read CRASH, this story is about Jace's older sister. (You'll see her a little bit in MELT too.)
So here's the first look at STILL INTO YOU:

Her throat closed and she looked away, ashamed and devastated. He had heard. The hurt in his voice was almost too much to bear. So this was going to be it. The end of her marriage. And it was her fault. “Seth, I—I’m so sorry. I—”

“Do you love me, Lei?” he asked, his tone hard.

She looked back at him. “Of course I do. I just—”

“Do you want a divorce?” 

Tears filled her eyes. Divorce. The word itself made her want to lean over the bed and hurl. They had a life together, a house…the kids. Almost a decade of memories. She thought of Myra and Preston. Imagined telling their hope-filled faces that mommy and daddy weren’t going to be together anymore. That sometimes love wasn’t enough, that sometimes relationships faded. 

But staying in something that was dying wasn’t going solve any problems either. She’d seen how her own parents had grown into more business partners than husband and wife. Leila had sworn to herself that she would never let herself stay in that kind of relationship. She and Seth were too young to sentence themselves to a life of empty smiles as they passed each other in the hallway.

A vice grip wrapped around her lungs, the writing on the wall impossible to ignore. “I don’t know what to do. I love you, but we’ve lost something. You’re never here—”

He sighed. “I have to work, Lei. You know that. I know the hours are hard, but I’m so close to getting a regional position. If I get that promotion, we could go buy one of those farmhouses you’ve always talked about. I see all those clippings you pull from magazines. I know they’re not for your clients.”

She shook her head, thinking of the kind of house she’d dreamed of since falling in love with interior design. A place she could renovate from the ground up, land the kids could play on, and... She sucked in a haggard breath. Suddenly, the image she’d always had of Seth converting space to play his music in again wouldn’t materialize. Like even in her fantasy house, her husband’s image had faded.

Seth watched her intently. “But I’ll take some time off, okay? I have a week’s vacation I can use.”

“I don’t know if we can fix it,” she whispered, the sad reality almost choking her. “Or get whatever it is back. This…us…feels empty. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it, too.”

He closed his eyes, her words obviously paining him, and took a long breath. When he opened them again, the lines of his jaw had hardened. “Why were you tempted tonight? What was it about him? His money? His looks?”

She looked down, his words stinging her.

“Tell me.”

She shook her head. “It was the way he looked at me, Seth. Like he wanted me. Like I was worth wanting.”

He winced like she’d slapped him. “I still want you, Lei.”

“No, you don’t. Not like that. Neither of us looks at each other that way anymore.”

He took a deep breath. “Give me a weekend.”

She swiped at the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. “Seth—”

“Three days,” he said, propping himself up on his elbow, a resolute look gliding over his stricken features. “No work. No kids. You give me complete control over what happens with us for the next three days and let’s see how things go. After that, we can call an attorney if that’s what you want.”

Confusion swamped her. “Three days to do what?”

“That would be up to me and not you,” he said, his tone firmer than she’d ever heard it. “You give me the control. If you want to pull the parachute cord at any point, you say ‘Austin’ and I’ll walk away.”

She had no idea what he was planning to do, but the implication of using her maiden name as her “out” word was not lost on her. “I don’t understand.”

He reached out and touched her damp cheek. “You don’t have to. But if there is any part of you that wants to see if there’s anything left between us worth saving, you’ll say yes.”

The look in his big, brown eyes broke her heart all over again and for a second, she saw a glimmer of that college boy she’d fallen in love with. The one who had looked at an awkward art student as if she held life’s greatest secrets. She didn’t have much hope that they could find what they’d lost, but she owed Seth the chance to try. And she owed it to herself. 

She put her hand over the one he’d used to cup her cheek and nodded. “Okay. Three days.”

***

If you want to know more, here's the blurb...

Blurb:

Seth and Leila used to have trouble keeping their hands off each other. Passion, desire, love—it was all there. But eight years after their whirlwind marriage and kids, they’ve settled into a life where choosing Letterman over Leno is considered a wild night.

Seth knows things need to change. But when he hears his wife call into a relationship radio show and admit she’s been tempted to cheat, he realizes how far off course they’ve gotten. 

He comes up with a dramatic plan. Three days. No rings. He’ll take Leila to The Ranch, a resort where any sexual fantasy can be had, and gives her the freedom to have whatever or whomever she wants. 

However, Seth doesn’t intend to simply stand by and watch other men fulfill Leila’s dark desires. He has a lot more bad boy in him than his wife could ever suspect. There’s only one man who can give her what she needs. Now he has to show her why that man is him.

You can add it to your Goodreads if you like what you've read. (Yes, I'm not above blatant promo on occasion. ;) )

Hope you enjoyed it! Have a great Monday!

Fill Me In Friday - Best Writing Links of the Week

 

Did I miss the train?

Photo by Son of Groucho
  

 Had a busy week? Need to catch up on the writing blogosphere? That's what Fill Me In Friday is all about. : )  This is where I gather up the best writing links I've come across this week. Enjoy!

 

On Writing/Publishing:

If Publicity Doesn’t Sell Books, What Does? « Meghan Ward's Writerland 

Focus Your Story | The Editor's Blog

Goodbye, Google Friend Connect–Now What? | Jami Gold, Paranormal Author

Can Blogging Help Your Writing Process? | Jenny Hansen's Blog

Make Me Stay: Author Blogs | Camryn Rhys

2 Ways to Make the Most of Goodreads | Jane Friedman

Lara Schiffbauer's Motivation for Creation: Blogging Your Naked Passion - Are You Brave Enough?

Are You a Purple Cow? | Author Media <--on standing out

Are Teens Embracing E-books? via Publisher's Weekly

Between Fact and Fiction: 10 Things I Wish I Would Have Done Differently (Natalie Whipple)

25 Things I Want To Say To So-Called “Aspiring” Writers by Chuck Wendig

25 Ways To Unf**k Your Story by Chuck Wendig 

 

On Romance Writing:

BDSM: A Conversation With Eden Bradley (a.k.a. Eve Berlin)

Oh, You Write THOSE Books – On Writing Romance | Nicole Basaraba (my guest post)

 

What You May Have Missed Here:

Made of Win Monday: Movies That TRULY Make You LOL

 

 

Boyfriend of the Week - Chris Pine

 

 

Enough With the Quid Pro Quo Blogging Etiquette - Free Yourself

 

All right, that's what I've got for the week. What are some of the best links you've seen this week? Hope you all have a great weekend! :)