Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

The Loving on the Edge series brought to you by copious amounts of Iced Tea

So guess what? I finished my draft of CAUGHT UP IN YOU! Woot! 55 Days - 85,000 words and enough Iced Tea to hydrate a Paula Deen convention.  

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A slow writer can learn new tricks apparently.

It was kind of like doing NaNoWriMo two months back to back. (I do not recommend it.) But after multiple false starts with this book and a complete change in concept (twice), which put me under the gun, I made my deadline! Now I have to do some revisions, then onto the next project which is due Feb. 1.  *gets back on hamster wheel*

But I hope to at least be sane enough to get back to some regular blogging now. And since it's Friday, I figured I'd get back to my normal round up post. This is two weeks worth of links.

 

 

On Writing/Publishing:

 

 

On Social Networking/Promotion:

 

 

Bright, Shiny Randomness: 

 

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! 

Me...On Deadline & an Exclusive Snippet from FALL INTO YOU

First, I want to apologize that blogs have been few and far between lately. But I have a good excuse.

Imagine doing NaNoWriMo two months back to back.

Yeah. That.

Me the last two months...

I've got two weeks until deadline. If I'm still alive at the end of it, I promise to return here with bells on and new posts. : ) Thanks for being patient and sticking around.

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek from FALL INTO YOU (my January release):


His expression remained placid, but the flare in his eyes said he was anything but. “Finish your sentence.”

She cringed but forced her vocal cords to work. “The thought made me mad. And jealous.”

He seemed to consider that for a moment, his head tilting ever so slightly. “Interesting. Kneel down.”

She responded in an instant and attempted to rock down gracefully. Her knees hit the polished wood floors with barely a sound. Yeah, buddy. She fought back a proud smile.

He nodded in approval as he walked a slow circle around her, like an animal sizing up its prey. He stopped in front of her again. “Very nice. Get used to holding that kneel.”

“Yes, sir.”

He stepped back a few feet but continued to watch her as he slipped his suit coat off his shoulders—a slow, fluid motion of a man in no hurry. He folded the jacket and laid it neatly over the arm of the couch, smoothing out an errant wrinkle. Next, he pulled at the knot on his tie, the soft silk-against-silk sound the only noise in the room. His movements stayed methodical, deliberate—his stare unyielding. With each removed item, Charli found her heartbeat ticking up a notch. She moistened her lips. Was he going to take off everything? Was she finally going to get to see all of him, touch him?

He ran the silk tie over his palm with an oh-the-things-I-could- do look on his face, and she could almost feel its smoothness against her own skin. What would it feel like against her wrists, her ankles? But he laid it across his suit coat, leaving it unused. His long fingers went to his cuff links and he unfastened the buttons at his wrists. Clink. Clink. The cuff links hit the glass side table, startling Charli.

Grant gave her a wicked smile as he rolled the sleeves of his white dress shirt up his forearms. “Am I making you nervous, Charlotte?”

“Yes.”

“Smart girl. Your instincts are better than your brother gives you credit for.”  

Read the first chapter or  Pre-Order the Book

*Excerpt Copyright 2012 Roni Loren - All Rights Reserved Berkley Publishing Group

Revealing 3 New Covers and the Reasons for the Change

 

The wait is over!

 

So I've been hinting at it for a few weeks, but today is the day I finally get to reveal my new covers and the new look of the Loving on the Edge series!

I'm over at the USA Today Happily Ever After blog with the reveal and the reasons behind the changes. And how it has everything AND nothing to do with the 50 Shades trend. : )

So please, stop by, comment, tell me what you think! I want to hear from you.

*If you have trouble commenting there because it requires a FB account, feel free to comment here. : )

Fill-Me-In Friday: Best Writing Links of the Week

Photo via Ben Salter (Flickr cc)Is it Friday already? Wow, weeks fly when there's a deadline looming. : )  Today will be a pretty short list since my web surfing time has been limited lately, but I wanted to pass along a few links of awesomeness I came across this week.

But first, an announcement. :) My NEW covers with their new look for my series will be revealed on Tuesday on the USA Today Happily Ever After blog! Yay! Can't wait to share them with y'all. That also means I'm going to need to find some time to update my website and the header because I've got a brand new...uh brand. :)

Alright, on to the links...

On Writing/Publishing:

Screenwriting Tricks for Authors - FREE this week! <-- love this book, go get it

What's New in YA? Mashups via Publisher's Weekly

Author Image | Annie Neugebauer <--should your author photo match the vibe of your books? (I know mine doesn't. But I've got no shot of being dark and sexy in a photo. My non-smiling expression in photos always look like a frog is peeing on my foot.)

NA Alley: Entangled Publishing Announcement <--more news on the New Adult front

 

On Social Networking/Marketing:

The Bookshelf Muse: The Path To 10K In Sales: Strategy, Luck & Mistakes

Who Needs a Platform? | Rachelle Gardner

Author, Jody Hedlund: Is Blogging a Time-Suck for Writers? <--really interesting discussion and points from James Scott Bell on both Rachelle's and Jody's post.

 

For Gits and Shiggles:

This Risotto Gonna F**k You Up, Son via Chuck Wendig - so, so funny. He needs his own cooking show.

EXCLUSIVE Cover Reveal: Maya Banks’s Breathless Trilogy! <--so purty

 

What You May Have Missed Here:

Is Reading the Genre You're Currently Writing Dangerous?

 

That's what I've got for this week. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend! I think I'm going to head out to the TX State Fair for all things deep-fried (cinnamon rolls, grilled cheese, jambalaya, the list goes on.)  :)

 

Is Reading the Genre You're Currently Writing Dangerous?

Photo sent to me by the lovely Stephanie Haefner

There's this thought out there amongst writers that reading something too close to what you're writing poses danger. Why? Because you may lift some idea or concept from a book and incorporate it into your own writing without realizing it--subconscious absorption or something.

So many writers, if they're writing say fantasy YA may stay away from reading any fantasy while they are actively writing and stick to things a little further from home. I get that. It would suck to have someone else's story influence yours too much.

However, here's the thing, if that's the case, then it would be dangerous to read ANY fiction or watch a movie or TV show for that matter. By nature, our stories incorporate ideas we get from things we're exposed to. For instance, if I'm writing my erotic romance, but go see some action film set in Hawaii, it could inspire me to whisk my couple away to the island for a vacation there. There's a difference between inspiration and stealing an idea (whether subconsciously or not). And I think that's where you have to be aware.

 

 

 

But, having said all that, I still read heavily in my genre even when I'm writing it. Why?

 

1. I'm ALWAYS writing.

If you end up doing this for a career, there is very minimal non-writing time, if any. I write every day. I'm under deadlines at least through 2014. If I didn't read romance while I was writing it, I would NEVER get to read my absolute favorite genre. Not acceptable.

 

2. It's important to know what is going on in your genre and what is successful.

This industry is constantly shifting, tastes are perpetually changing. You want to write what you write and stay true to your style, BUT you also don't want to be stagnant or unaware of what is selling. For instance, if you write my genre, you probably should read 50 Shades. Regardless of whether you love/hate/feel indifferent about it, it's important to try to discern what about that book made it such a phenomenon when erotic BDSM romance has been around forever. Keep a thumb on the pulse of your business.

 

3. You learn what is cliche and overdone so you can avoid it.

If you don't read widely in your genre, you may not realize that your SUPER BRILLIANT IDEA has been done a thousand times or that SUPER CREATIVE SCENE is a big fat cliche. 

 

4. You have recommendations to share with your readers.

This is a small thing, but it really does come into play. Many of my readers are new to the genre and they want to know after reading my books, what else is out there that's like this? So if I'm well read in my genre, I can give them some of my favorites, which in turn, helps promote the genre and its authors as a whole.

 

So yes, be aware when you're reading that your mind may try to glom on to something from someone else's book, but don't deprive yourself of the books you love. You're writing this genre for a reason. If someone told me I'd have to give up reading romance if I wanted to write it, I would've found a different job. : )

What do you think? Do you steer clear of reading your own genre when you're writing a new book? Have you ever found yourself accidentally lifting some concept from another book?