Why I Went Traditional and 7 Reasons Why You Should (or Shouldn't)

December 18, 2011 Roni Loren

I'm a guest over at Anne R. Allen's fabulous blog today talking about my reasons for pursuing traditional publication. Would love for y'all to stop by and say hi! : )

"★★★★ After reading Loren’s book of bondage and love, readers will race out for their own handcuffs and whips." -RT Book Reviews magazine

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order! Read an excerpt here.

All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

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

December 16, 2011 Roni Loren

Hey y'all! Hope everyone has had a great week. I'm sure it's been a hectic one for everybody with Christmas coming up. So, in case you missed your web surfing time, I've rounded up the best links of the week that I've come across. Hope you enjoy!

On Writing/Publishing:

Does Blogging Sell Books? - 3 Marketing Strategies Every Author Can (and Should) Use by Roberta Trahan

How Much Time Should Writers Devote to Social Media? by Jody Hedlund

The Inevitable Identity Crisis That Happens After Publication by Jody Hedlund

Social Networking's Salad Days Are Ending (basically about how we're hitting the saturation point with types of social networking) by Deep Tech

The Big Mistake of Author Websites and Blogs by Jane Friedman

How Social Media Can Change Your Life by Jane Friedman

How NOT to Blog: Beginning Blogging for Authors Part 2 by Anne R. Allen

The Darkness Within (on personal attacks and hate campaigns from the public about what you write) by Ann Aguirre at Writer Unboxed

Sara Megibow Sells Romance -What Newbie Mistakes Have I Made As an Agent? at Romance University

Why I Stopped Looking at the Numbers by Shelli Johnson

The Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing But the Truth - a very honest post by Elana Johnson about things after her debut

My Top 5 Ways of Dealing With Reviews by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Why Writers Must Make Themselves Easy to Contact by Chuck Sambuchino at Writer Unboxed

Starting From Scratch: A Writer's Guide to Blogging by Jeff Goins

For Gits and Shiggles:

Virginity Cliches in Romances at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

Baby Seal Breaks Into House and Curls Up on Sofa via Gawker (cuteness overload, OMG)

Because It's Worth Watching:

YA Author Maggie Stiefvater on How Bad Teens Become Famous People

(about the dangers of labeling kids found via Dawn Alexander's blog)

What You Missed on the Author Blog:

Boyfriend of the Week: Robert Downey, Jr

What You May Have Missed Here:

5 Dialogue Mistakes You Can Fix Right Now

by Ashley March

The Single Best Piece of Query Writing Advice I've Ever Heard

CONTEST ALERT: You only have two days left to enter the Goodreads giveaway for a chance to win a copy of CRASH INTO YOU. Enter here!

Alright, that's all I have. What were some of your favorite links of the week? Feel free to list them in the comments. Have a great weekend!

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"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

The Single Best Piece of Query Writing Advice I've Ever Heard

December 14, 2011 Roni Loren

There is so much writing advice out there, and particularly advice on querying, that you could literally spend forever trying to absorb it all. It can be overwhelming. You've written this entire novel, yet trying to write 2-3 stinking paragraphs about it becomes a seemingly impossible task.

I used to beat my head against my keyboard trying to figure out how to do it the right way. (And by the way, this need to write a query never goes away. Even after you're published, you have to write back cover copy and short synopses. So it's a skill that gets used over and over again.)

But then I stumbled upon this simple tip from Agent Kristin Nelson and the dark storm clouds parted. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense. And I haven't stressed about writing that snappy little summary again.

So what did she say?

The query should be about the first third of your book.

That's it. It's not a synopsis of everything that's happened. It's a teaser, it's a back cover style blurb. You give the set up, the main characters, the big conflict, and then a nice juicy foreshadowing/hooky sentence at the end. The purpose of it is to make the agent or editor say--ooh, I need to read these pages to see what happens or where she goes with this.

I'll use my back cover blurb for CRASH INTO YOU as an example:

Brynn LeBreck has dedicated herself to helping women in crisis, but she never imagined how personal her work would get, or where it would take her. Her younger sister is missing, suspected to be hiding from cops and criminals alike at a highly secretive BDSM retreat—a place where the elite escape to play out their most extreme sexual fantasies. To find her Brynn must go undercover as a sexual submissive. [<--All this is set up and intro of MC.] Unfortunately, The Ranch is invitation only. And the one Master who can get her in is from the darkest corner of Brynn’s past. [<--And here's your character conflict. This entire paragraph covers what happens in just chapters 1-3, that's it.]

Brynn knows what attorney Reid Jamison is like once stripped of his conservative suit and tie [Introducing second main character]. Years ago she left herself vulnerable only to have him crush her heart. Now she needs him again. Back on top. And he’s all too willing to engage. [Deepening their conflict. She doesn't want this, but he does.] But as their primal desires and old wounds are exposed, the sexual games escalate—and so does the danger. Their hearts aren’t the only things at risk. Someone else is watching, playing by his own rules. And his game could be murder. [This last section is the hook to let you know that some serious stuff is going to happen once these two people enter into Act 2 and start their adventure. I don't tell you anything about the antagonist or why someone is after them. I don't go into why there is so much animosity between Brynn and Reid. I want you to want to read the book to find out.]

I hope that break down makes sense. Once you stop worrying about fitting in all that other stuff, the query no longer feels as daunting. Just give them your first act and get out. Save the rest of it for that other dreaded thing--the synopsis. : )

So have you heard this tip before? Have you ever received a simple tip that gave you an ah-ha moment (feel free to share those tips with us!)? What has helped you with your query writing?

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

5 Dialogue Mistakes You Can Fix Right Now by Ashley March

December 12, 2011 Roni Loren

It's guest Monday! Today we have one of our regular monthly contributors, the lovely and talented Ashley March (who will soon be known as Elise Rome for her new novels!)

Ashley is starting a new blog series here to help you out with those fine tuning things in your manuscript. Be sure to look for her tips each month. First up...dialogue.

Photo by Brian Gosline

You Can Fix ItNow: Five Dialogue Mistakes

by Ashley March

Sincebecoming a published author, one of the things I’ve tried to do as a way of“giving back” to the writing community is to offer critiques to other writers.Sometimes these come through auctions, sometimes through networking when I offera critique to someone who’s made an impression on me. I’ve learned a lot in thepast few years I’ve been writing and critiquing, and I’d like to start sharingwith you the most common mistakes I find in the manuscripts of aspiring/beginningwriters. These are mistakes that you can fix now, instead of waiting forsomeone else to point them out to you (although I highly recommend that everywriter has a critique partner, if not two, plus a few beta readers). I’mbeginning the series with dialogue issues.

Redundant Dialogue Tags

I’ve seen somewriters who include a dialogue tag at the beginning and end of a sentence.

For example:“Don’t do that,” Sheilasaid, “or your eyes will become crossed and no girl will want to dateyou again for as long as you live,” she said.

Only one tag isneeded. In fact, if Sheila were to go on for an entire paragraph, expounding onthe reasons why the person shouldn’t cross their eyes, she wouldn’t need anyfurther dialogue tags, because we’ve already established who the speaker is.

Using a Dialogue Tag Every Time

It’s notnecessary to add a dialogue tag with every comment that one of your charactersmakes. In fact, less is better. You should use dialogue tags for these reasons:to establish who is speaking, or to remind the reader who is speaking; and tohelp with the rhythm/pacing of the words.

What not to do:

“I thinksomeone’s at the door,” Sheila said.

“Who is it?” Peter asked.

“How should Iknow?” Sheila asked.“I’ve been in my room.”

“Look,” Petersaid, “you’re the one who told me—”

“Just go see whoit is!” Sheila exclaimed.

And so on.Better alternative:

“I thinksomeone’s at the door,” Sheila said, motioning to Peter.

“Who is it?”

“How should Iknow? I’ve been in my room.”

“Look,” he said,“you’re the one who told me—”

“Just go see whoit is!”

Notice that weremoved one tag completely by including it in the narrative description ofanother tag. After two or three lines of pure dialogue I usually try to givethe reader a reminder of who the speaker is, as I did here. If we had twocharacters of the same gender, I would have specified a name. But because theywere different genders, I used “he” instead of a name, because the constantrepetition of names—whether in dialogue or narrative—can become tiring for thereader. If you’ll notice, the second example of dialogue now has a much betterpacing with the changes we’ve made.

Using a Dialogue Tag Instead of a Descriptive Tag.

I am a huge fanof the descriptive tag. They help keep the reader in the room with yourcharacters, so your characters don’t end up as talking heads. They reveal ticsabout your characters (for example, revealing that your heroine bounces her legwhen she lies). They help to avoid repetition of dialogue tags over a long stretchof dialogue. There are several great uses for descriptive tags. However, keepin mind that these tags can easily be overused as well.

Examples ofdescriptive tags:

“I don’t know.” Peter’s hand hovered over thestair banister as he peered into the dark entryway below. “I have a badfeeling about this.”

“Don’t be awuss.” Sheila blew on herfingernails. “It’s probably just the UPS guy.”

Improper Dialogue Tags

I know you mighthave seen these in published books before, but unless your dialogue tag describesthe way someone speaks—their volume, pace, and so forth—then it’s not adialogue tag.

The most commonoffenders I see:

“Sometimes Ireally do hate you,” Peter sighed.

(If you doubt meon this, try saying this sentence while sighing. It doesn’t work.)

“I know,” Sheilasmiled.

This goes forgrinning, giggling, laughing, etc. The proper way to write this would be tochange this from a dialogue tag to a descriptive tag.

“I know.” Sheila smiled.

Yes, you cansmile while speaking and even laugh while speaking, but when it comes down toit in terms of writing, a dialogue tag describes how the character speaks,whereas a descriptive tag describes what the character does.

Please note thatthere are a couple of exceptions to this, such as “lied” or “hedged”. But thesedialogue tags tie directly into what the character is saying, so that theycan’t be used apart from the speech itself. You never see: “Sometimes I really do hateyou.” Peter lied. Just as you never see: “Sometimes I really do hate you.” Peter shouted.

Alienating the Reader Through Dialogue Tags

This is more ofa character issue and how you want to present your character to the reader.

For example,let’s say that you write about a strong, independent heroine who knows who sheis and what she wants and has a good head on her shoulders. Then you write thissentence:

“Oh, Mr. Smith,I can’t believe you said that.” Rebecca giggled.

Unless I as thereader know that Rebecca is acting like a silly coquette for a reason, thisdisturbs me. Note that if you leave off the descriptive tag, I can imagine thissentence being said in a number of ways. It’s not the sentence itself thatthrows me off, but the “giggled”.

“Whined” hasthis same effect. Be careful in choosing your words. Just one wrong word canthrow off the reader and destroy character consistency.

Do you recognize any of these issues asthings you need to work on? What other dialogue mistakes have you read inmanuscripts/books that drive you crazy?

Ashley March is a historical romance author who lives in Coloradowith her adoring (or is that adorable?) husband, her two young daughters, andtheir dog. Her latest book, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS, was released in September2011. She won’t be Ashley March for much longer, however; as of January 1,2012, Ashley will become Elise Rome.

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

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

December 9, 2011 Roni Loren

Hope everyone has had a grand week. Mine's been a little hectic. Why do I always feel so out of sorts when I come back from vacation on a weekday? It gets me all discombobulated. But that has not stopped me from hoarding the best links of the week like always, so hope you enjoy...

BREAKING NEWS: Want to win CRASH INTO YOU? There's a giveaway going on at Goodreads! There are 15 copies up for grabs. Enter here. (Contest closes Dec. 19)

On Writing and Publishing:

How To Network Without Networking by Nathan Bransford

25 Ways to Build Your Author Platform Before Your Book Is Published by Meghan Ward

What to Do With Contradictory Feedback by Jody Hedlund

7 Psychological Studies Reveal Secrets to Blogging Success by Sparring Mind

Can Authors Be Rock Stars? by Jim Devitt

Are Publishers Putting the Squeeze on Bloggers? by The Guardian

The Ugly Truth About Consumer Book Reviews - Part 1 via Huffington Post

25 Financial F**k-Ups Writers Make by Chuck Wendig

The Seduction of Self-Publishing also by Chuck Wendig

6 Reasons Partnering With Other Authors Can Benefit You via Writer's Digest

Be A Tweep, Not a Tool Part 2 - Beware the #FF Fire Hose by Kristen Lamb

For Gits and Shiggles:

10 Things You Need to Stop Tweeting About via The Oatmeal

How #FollowFriday Is Supposed to Work via The Oatmeal

23 Adult Truths via Keri Ford

The Twelve Gays of Christmas discovered via Jeffe Kennedy

What You May Have Missed Here:

Can A First Novel Find a Publisher? 10 Dos and Don'ts to Increase Your Chances

by Anne R. Allen

Why Only Focusing on Your Target Audience May Hurt You

What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

Hair Drama 2011- I'm now a brunette

So that's what I've got. What have been some of your favorite links this week? Feel free to leave them in the comments. And hope y'all have a great weekend!

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

Why Only Focusing On Your "Target" Audience May Hurt You

December 7, 2011 Roni Loren

In the world of book marketing--or any kind of marketing for that matter--you often are told to figure out who your target audience is. This group of people is the way to the promised land of success. You need to figure out WHO will buy your books and then target your platform to that niche.

So, using that logic, I should target 25-50 something year old women who are already romance readers. Most of them are probably in relationships. Many will have children. I write sexy so I can cut out the super ultra conservative sector. And on and on it goes.

There is, of course, a lot of logic in this approach. Knowing who your "ideal reader" is can be helpful.

But, what about everyone else?

The reason that Twilight became so successful is because it didn't just get the teenage readers who like vampires and romance. It busted through the genre and got people who not only weren't typical young adult readers to read it. It got NON-readers to pick it up. It jumped the nice lines of its target market and that's why it became so big.

Now, the number of books that do that is small. Phenomenons are called such for a reason. But that doesn't mean we can't use that logic on a smaller scale.

I haven't stuck to reaching out to just that "ideal reader" profile above. By complete happenstance, I ended up reaching out to writers first then expanded a bit with my author blog. I've become friends with people who write and read every kind of genre you can think of.

I mean, think about it. I host authors like Jody Hedlund on my blog. She writes inspirational/Christian historical romance where a kiss can be considered risque. I write seriously steamy erotic romance with BDSM elements. I am not her ideal reader and she's not mine. But you know what? I buy her books and give them as gifts because I like her and know I'm giving a quality gift to people who ARE her ideal readers.

And I can't tell you how many times I've had someone say to me:

I don't read romance, but...I'm going to buy your book because it sounds really interesting or I read your excerpt and liked it or I enjoy your voice on your blog so am going to try your book.

Those comments give me the squees because there is no higher compliment to me than for someone to say--I'm willing to take a chance on you even though this isn't normally my thing. I love that.

And I find myself doing that with other authors as well. I'd never read historical romance until I picked up Ashley March's debut. I bought it because I wanted to support her as a friend, but then loved the book and have since bought more historicals.

So what would have happened if Jody had only reached out to her "target audience"? I would've never found her or bought her books.

There is benefit in not tightening your network too much. A niche can be good but don't make it too exclusive. I have guys who have told me they are going to buy my book. Everyone in marketing would tell you that's definitely not my target audience, but hey--why the heck not? I read "boy" books. Guys can enjoy "girl" books on occasion too.

So blog and make friends across the spectrum. Don't limit yourself. If you do, you're not just going to miss out on some potential new readers, you're going to miss out on some really cool people and friends.

So what do you think? Do you try to cater to a "target audience"? Have you bought a book way outside your normal preferences because you got to know the author?

Can A First Novel Find a Publisher? 10 Do's and Don'ts to Increase Your Chances by Anne R. Allen

December 5, 2011 Roni Loren

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I went to Atlanta for the SEC Championship to support my LSU Tigers and had a fabulous time. I even was on TV in the crowd on EPSN Gameday, which was so much fun.

Now first before we get to our awesome guest blog, I wanted to let y'all know that I'm being interviewed over at August McLaughlin's blog and am talking about blogging, how I got my book deal, and where the idea of CRASH INTO YOU came from. I'd appreciate it if any of you would like to stop by and say hi. :)

Alright, on to the main event...today I have an awesome treat for you guys. Author and blogger Anne R. Allen is here to talk about how to give your first novel a fighting chance. If you haven't heard of Anne, where the heck have you been? Anne has one of the best blogs for writers out there. Even in my I-don't-have-time-to-read-blogs-like-I-used-to manic state, I still make sure to visit Anne's every week. She always has great nuggets of wisdom to impart.

And though I haven't had the chance to start reading her books yet, I have no doubt her novels are going to be as witty and fun as her blog is. (And her books are about writers so how could we not love that?) So without further ado, here's Anne...

Can a First Novel Find a Publisher? 10 Do’s and Don’tsto Increase your Chances

by Anne R. Allen

It’sa sad truth that most first novels never see print. Editors call them “practicenovels.”

Likeany other profession, writing requires a long learning process, and most of ushave to write two or three or six novels before we get the hang of it.

Butsome writers DO get top agents and Big Six publishing contracts with theirfirst books. I’ve gathered a few tips that might give you a better chance inthe marketplace.

Pleasenote: These aren’t “right and wrong” rules of writing. They are guidelines formaking your book easier to sell.

Mostof us don’t know when we’re starting out that certain things are going tored-flag us as amateurs, and/or turn out to be so difficult, there’s a muchsmaller chance of doing it right. I don’t recommend doing what I did—spendingten years on a saga that was so ambitious, even a pro would have had troublepulling it off.

Theseare a few tips I’ve learned the hard way:

1) DO writein a genre that’s being read. You may have always dreamedof writing a sweeping Micheneresque saga, a Zane Grey western, or astream-of-consciousness Kerouac ramble, but the sad truth is it’s not likely tofind an audience. Publishing has fashion cycles.

I’mnot telling you to follow every hot trend—what’s sizzling now will be over bythe time you’ve got the book finished—but do be aware of what might be a toughsell down the road.

Self-publishinghas opened up a way to reach readers who enjoy older genres, so trend-watchingisn’t as important if you’re not trying to market to New York, but even if youself-publish, you want to be aware of what most readers are going to be lookingfor.

Thetruth is that consumers tend to be sheep, so it’s good to know where the flocksare doing their munching right now. It helps to read book reviews and be awareof what’s out there. Visit your local bookstore and book blogs often and read,read, read.

2) DON’Twrite a novel that imitates a screenplay. If you’re under 65, youprobably have the TV screenplay format seared into your subconscious. Thismeans that when you’re writing a first novel, you have stuff to unlearn. In anovel, we don’t have to rely so heavily on what the characters say. In fact,they often don’t say what they’re feeling at all.

Areader perceives the action from INSIDE the head of the character/s rather thanviewing it from OUTSIDE. In a movie, we’re peeping toms, watching the actionthrough a camera lens; in a novel, we’re experiencing it. A novel is amindscape, not a landscape.

3) DOavoid an omniscient point of view or constant head-hopping. Choose fewerthan three point-of-view characters and you’ll save yourself a ton of grief.Omniscient and multiple points of view aren’t “wrong” but they’re consideredold-fashioned (at least in women’s fiction, mystery, and romance) and are toughto do well. They tend to slow and confuse the reader (and turn off agents,according to a lot of blogs.)

Themost common point of view in contemporary fiction is third person limited. Thatmeans you stay in the head of one character and see the world through his/hereyes for his section or chapter of the book. Even though you use “he/she” insteadof “I” the narrative allows you to see inside the head of that character, justlike first person.

Firstperson is probably most common in YA fiction, and is increasingly popular inadult fiction as well. First person is often good for a first-time novelist,because it keeps the writer from head-hopping or slipping into omniscientviewpoints.

4) DON’Tdepend on a prologue to initiate tension. There’s much debate aboutprologues out here in the blogosphere, but a vast majority of agents andeditors dislike them. Myblogpost on prologues is here. Prologues aren’t wrong. But they maykeep you from getting traditionally published, so if you can put that informationin chapter one, do try that in your final edit.

5) DOmake sure your story has one protagonist. There has to be one maincharacter. Equality is ideal in the real world, but in narrative, one personhas to dominate. If another character walks in and tries to take over, tell heryou’ll put her in a short story later. Otherwise, change the focus of yournovel. (Not always a bad idea. Sometimes we start with the wrong point-of-viewcharacter.)

6) DON’Tchoose a protagonist who’s easily satisfied. Your main character hasto want something. Badly. Satisfied people make lovely companions, but assoon as your characters get what they want, your story is over.

7)DO make sure your novel has an antagonist. This isn’t necessarily amustache-twirling villain. It can be a situation, a disease, or societyitself—anything strong enough to thwart your character’s goals. Make sure yourantagonist is powerful enough to provide conflict for the whole narrative—notjust each episode. The wonderful blogger Kristen Lamb has a whole serieson antagonists (she calls them the Big Boss Troublemakers.) It’s amust-read for anybody who has trouble with episodic storytelling (which I didfor years.)

8) DON’Tput something in a novel just “because that’s the way it really happened.” Evenif your story is based on your own experiences, remember real life ismostly boring. That’s why we read fiction.

9)DO activate your inner sadist. Never let your characters get what theyneed. Throw as many obstacles into their path as possible. Hurt them. Maimthem. Give them cruel parents and girlfriends who are preparing to kill themfor alien lizard food. It’s OK. You’ll solve their problems in the end. Thenwon’t you feel good?

10)DON’T rely on flashbacks. Overuse of flashbacks is the mark of a newbie.They stop the forward momentum of your story and make us feel as if we’reslipping backward. Again to quote KristenLamb, “this makes the reader feel as if she is trapped in the car with ateenager learning to drive a stick-shift.”

Irepeat—none of these “don’ts” are wrong. But they will stand in yourway, especially if you’re going the traditional publishing route. As the late,great Miss Snark used to say: “why shoot yourself in the font?”

(from Roni): Any first novel war stories anyone wants to share? (I know my first novel was dead in the water and is now hanging out with the monsters under my bed.) Have you seen any of these don'ts creeping into your book? Any first novel success stories?

********

Anne R. Allen is the author of five comic mysteries debuting in 2011 with two publishers: Popcorn Press and Mark Williams international Digital Publishing. FOOD OF LOVE (September 2011) THE GATSBY GAME (October 2011) GHOSTWRITERS IN THE SKY (October 2011) and SHERWOOD, LTD (December 2011) and THE BEST REVENGE (December 2011) She is also working on a self-help guide for writers with PAY IT FORWARD author Catherine Ryan Hyde. Anne has a popular blog for writers at http://annerallen.blogspot.com, where she blogs with NYT bestselling author, Ruth Harris.

Her first Camilla Randall mystery (but not her first novel, alas) GHOSTWRITERSIN THE SKY debuted in ebook on October 31^st with MWiDP and willbe available in paper from Popcorn Press in January. It’s murder and mayhem ata writer’s conference in the “Sideways” wine-and-cattle country north of SantaBarbara, CA. It’s full of fun insider jokes for writers: there’s the bogusagent who’s really a blackmailer, the pompous poet who hasn’t written in years,and the romance writer who tries to live her own fantasies. Plus a hard-riding,straight-shooting, cross-dressing dominatrix named Marva who turns out to be thesanest person around.

AnneR. Allen Website

Author page at Amazon.com

PopcornPress

MarkWilliams International Digital Publishing

"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

Fill-Me-In-Friday - The Best Writing Links of the Week!

December 2, 2011 Roni Loren

It's that time of week where I round up my favorite posts (and shamelessly re-pimp my own). Hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful weekend!

On Writing and Publishing:

Writers Must Write First by Susan Kaye Quinn

The Number One Overlooked Skill for Every Author by Writer Unboxed

Reasons Not To Self-Publish in 2011-2012 at The Millions

Platform and Social Media Must Not Be Your Center by Jane Friedman

The New Media Melee - 5 Indisputable Truths of Author Marketing by Idyll Conversation

Can SEO Help You Sell More Books? by The Creative Penn

Is the Traditional Book Dead? by Jim Devitt

My Twitter Retweeting Policy by John Scalzi

Are You Blogging to the Wrong Audience? by Meghan Ward

When Do Readers Trust You? by C. Hope Clark

What You May Have Missed Here:

How Low Can You Go? The All-Important Lost Moment

by Sierra Godfrey

Slow Writer Reform School - Why Your Process Shouldn't Be Sacred

What You Missed on the Author Blog:

A Six Sentence Sunday excerpt from Grant's Story

Boyfriend of the Week Casting Call

My New Cover Revealed!!!!

Those were some of my favorites, what were some of yours?

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

Slow Writer Reform School

November 30, 2011 Roni Loren

So we writers can sometimes be a superstitious bunch. We make up stories for a living and many times that creative thinking bleeds into our real life. And one way we do this is by placing some mythical or magical significance on our "process."

Shh...don't disturb the Process. Don't try new things. This is working for you. You ARE a (insert appropriate designation: a plotter, a panster, a fast drafter, an edit-as-I-go writer, a morning writer, a midnight oil burner.)

I know I've done this. I read writing craft books like they're going out of style, but I quickly discard suggestions that may go against my Process. I can't write shit down on notecards! *gasp* That will send my pantsing brain into a tailspin. My muse will curl up into the fetal position and weep in a corner!

Okay, maybe you aren't as melodramatic as I am. But I know I'm not the only one who is scared to change things around too much because it might just suddenly steal our ability to write. Like our creativity is made of some delicate blown glass that will shatter if jostled.

Here are the things I've told myself: I'm a slow writer. A thousand words a day is about what I can do. I'm a panster. Planning ahead will kill my passion for the story. I will hit writer's block at some point in every one of my stories. I'm a morning writer. I must blog brilliantly every day and must be on Twitter all the time.

Well, guess what happened though? I sold two more books which have tighter deadlines than I've ever worked under before. My kidlet switched preschools and now goes in the afternoon instead of the mornings. And I fell in love with the Save The Cat! technique.

My Process has been tossed into a blender. Everything I was doing before isn't going to fit into this new setup. I had to figure out something different.

So for book 3, FALL INTO YOU, I've changed up the sacred process. I'm calling it Slow Writer Reform School.

Slow Writer Reform School Procedures

I've dialed back my online time to free up more hours for writing. I don't need to be constantly available online.

I wrote the synopsis of this book before starting to write it. (Something you have to do, btw, if you want to sell on proposal.)

I plotted out my beats using Save The Cat!

I wrote out a sentence for each of my major scenes and turning points on (ack!) index cards

I'm holding myself to a 1k a day minimum goal

I'm writing in pockets of time I usually wasted doing something unimportant

I'm am not tying my ability to write to a certain time of the day

And when I want to make a major change in the story, I just make a note and don't rewrite the whole thing right then.

And you know what? In seven days, I've written about 12,000 words. Now that may not seem like a lot to you fast drafters or Nano-ers (congrats, btw, to those of you who won Nano), but for me, that is a revelation. I even had an afternoon where I wrote 3200.

And it's been fun. Refocusing myself has helped me remember how awesome it is to get lost in your story and to be itching to get back to it. And having those simple plot points already sketched out has kept me moving forward instead of taking a day off to figure out what happens next.

So if you are feeling stuck or not as productive, consider throwing a few curve balls to your sacred Process. If it doesn't work, you can always go back. You never know what you might find.

And if you need more inspiration, there have been a number of posts recently about how others have sped up their writing:

How I Went From 2k to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron (I linked to this last Friday, but worth a read if you haven't looked at it.)
Writers Must Write First by Susan Kay Quinn
The 10,000 Word Day by Zoe Winters (found via Susan's blog above)

2016 Update: Practice does make you faster. Now I have a regular goal of 10k a week (2k a weekday) when I'm in drafting mode. And though I haven't had 10k days yet, I have had a few 7k days.

So how about you? Do you see your Process as precious? Have you told yourself that you can only do things a certain way? What have you changed up in your process that's helped you? What hasn't worked?

How Low Can You Go? The Important All Is Lost Moment by Sierra Godfrey

November 28, 2011 Roni Loren

It's guest post Monday! Today the lovely and infinitely wise Sierra Godfrey leads us through that dark black part of our manuscript where we go all sadistic on our characters. Fun times!

Over to you, Sierra...

How Low Can You Go? The Important All Is Lost Moment
by Sierra Godfrey

In women’s fiction, one of the main story features is the transformative journey our main characters usually go through, which ultimately ends in self-realization and a life change by the end of the story. But getting to that resolution first requires our gals to go through some tough times and situations. And it’s our job to put them through the literary wringer.

In plot structure, one of the hardest moments in a character’s transformative process is the All is Lost point—also called the Dark Moment, or the point about ¾ of the way through the story when after everything our girl has been through, she’s lost. She’s defeated, broken, and there’s nothing left. The All is Lost point comes after the midpoint, and is the point at which our girl will fall, and then ultimately gather herself up and head into the finale where she’ll (ideally) take back the day and win. (The All is Lost moment really applies for any genre of fiction--must apply, really--but in women's fic, it's especially important in our heroine's journey.)

In the movie Bridesmaids, the midpoint of the story comes when main character Annie snaps spectacularly at the bridal shower. She throws things, swears a lot, and makes a massive scene--all in public. Her behavior is the culmination of lots of tension, and she lets it all out. After Annie storms out of the shower, her car’s pesky broken taillight (the one she was told to fix repeatedly) causes an accident and she gets stranded (which is bad). Worse, she calls the only person she can think of, the smarmy guy she was dating/sleeping with, who greets her with possibly the most insulting greeting ever—“Hi F- Buddy!” Worse, he does this right in front of the nice Irish cop Annie’s been sort of dating. Oooh. Ouch.

Cop leaves Annie, and Annie has no choice but to go with smarmy F- Buddy guy. He continues to be obnoxious, and she gets out of his car and has to walk home. It’s the movie’s All is Lost point. Annie has lost her friends, her place in the bridal party (let alone maid of honor position), her car, her Irish cop, even her smarmy her F-Buddy. The next few scenes see Annie really take in the despair of this moment by lying on the couch in misery and watching TV.You need this All is Lost point in a story so your heroine can sink as low as she can go before she can rise again. It’s a natural story dip. Your job is to make this moment as low as possible. Take everything away from your character that you can—everything that matters.

Your All is Lost moment should:

Feel like the heroine’s lowest emotional point in the whole story—she should die inside a little.
Be a huge blow to every goal the heroine’s been trying to achieve.
Happen after the character has resisted hard against every obstacle.
Take away things from the heroine and leave her bereft.

In general, the lower you go, the better the high of the bounce back up will be, and the more satisfying the story’s conclusion.Let’s look at a few more All is Lost moments:

In the movie Tangled, Rapunzel and Flynn finally come together and are sharing a loving moment out on a boat. But then Rapunzel’s evil mother tricks her, and takes Rapunzel back in (in a great display of maternal guilt tripping) and Rapunzel is heartbroken and bitter, and has lost her freedom and her love. Flynn is also captured by the mother’s henchmen and tied up in a boat so palace guards will capture him. For both Rapunzel and Flynn, all they’ve fought for has been lost.

In Pride and Prejudice, the All is Lost point can be hard to pick out. It initially looks like the point after Elizabeth hears the news that her naughty sister Lydia ran off with the equally naughty Mr. Wickham, wreaking general disgrace and havoc on the Bennett family. Elizabeth thinks Lydia’s disgrace will cause Elizabeth to end her acquaintance with Mr. Darcy. But in fact the real All is Lost moment comes when Mr. Darcy’s stink-face aunt, Lady Catherine, visit Elizabeth and tells her to renounce Mr. Darcy and that he’s engaged to her own daughter, Anne. Elizabeth goes for a walk, unable to sleep. Of course, she meets Darcy on that walk, but that walk is your moment. (Austen clearly knew about modern plot structure way back in 1813!)

In the story I'm working on now, I just took away my girl's house, fiance, and job--and for good measure, I let her see that someone had been tricking her for most of the book. And I loved doing it.

What are some of the low All is Lost moments you've put your character through?

About Sierra:
Sierra has enjoyed crafting stories for as long as she can remember. She especially likes stories that feature women who grow from the choices they face—and get the guy at the end. She’s a member of RWA and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband, two little boys, and two annoying cats. In her spare time she works as a freelance graphic designer and technical writer. To the untrained eye she can appear somewhat sassy, but at heart she loves a good story and is really quite sweet, especially when the lighting is right. Visit Sierra at her blog or on Twitter.

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

November 25, 2011 Roni Loren

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I'm currently in a carb coma, but I tried to be lucid enough to give you my favorite links of the week. :)

Enjoy!

On Writing and Publishing:

How I Went From Writing 2k a Day to 10k a Day by Rachel Aaron (don't know if I can pull off 10k a day, but great tips)

A Social Media Survival Guide by Jenn Reese (LOVE the idea of everyone having their own guide and to not put your own expectations on others.)

How To Build a Blog Following From the Ground Up by Jody Hedlund

Amazon Reader Reviews: 12 Things Everybody and Their Grandmother Needs to Know by Anne R. Allen

Ten Things I Dislike About Your Blog by Story Siren

For Gits and Shiggles:

Five Things Romance Writers Should Know About Vaginas by Kat Latham

VIDEO: An argument via Siri. (This one is R-rated for language, so be warned it's NSFW). Found via Allison Pang's Blog

What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

A Six Sunday Excerpt from CRASH INTO YOU

Boyfriend of the Week: Matt Davis aka Alaric Saltzman

What You May Have Missed Here:

Something to Think About

by Suzanne Johnson

3 Things You Can Do Now to Prepare for Published Authorhood

Favorite Tumblr of the Week:

Ryan Gosling in the rain, click here for more wet Ryan pics :)

Oh, and did you hear my news?

CRASH INTO YOU was given 4 stars by RT Book Reviews Magazine!

"After reading Loren's book of bondage and love, readers will race out for their own handcuffs and whips."

Yeah, buddy. :) AND I've been interviewed in Writer's Digest magazine's Breaking In section. So if you pick up a copy, check it out! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! (Unless you're an Arkansas football fan. Then I hope you have a really bad Friday. ;) Geaux Tigers!)

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

3 Things You Can Do Now to Prepare for Published Authorhood

November 23, 2011 Roni Loren

Like anything else, being a writer is a journey. You go through stages. Some exciting, some frustrating, some overwhelming. Right now I'm in my about-to-debut phase, which is a combination of so many emotions I can't even describe it. It's the deep breath before the moment I've been waiting for since the day I put words on a page again.

And as I get closer and closer to that day, I feel my world continue to shift beneath my feet. Priorities change. New obligations get put on my plate. Blog tours get planned. Deadlines loom. I have a JOB. It's a vastly different playing field than it was a little over a year ago when I was in my "write when I'm inspired, blog like a maniac, live on twitter" existence.

So if you're on your own journey, hoping to get to the published stage, here are the things I'd pass along...

3 Things You Can Do To Prepare for Published Authorhood

1. Train for writing to be your JOB.

Enjoy the fact that you can write only when/if you want to right now with no pressure. BUT start training yourself to be a working writer early. Once you have deadlines (which for me means having 4-6 months to write a 90-100k book), you need to know how to make yourself write even if your muse is on a bender in Tahiti.

2. Being the BEST ONLINE FRIEND EVER is not going to be realistic once you're steadily publishing so learn to let go of the guilt.

In the beginning, you comment on everyone's blog who comments on yours. You visit everyone in your blog roll. You retweet all your favorite posts. You blog five days a week and it's amazing. You respond to every comment you get. This is great. It helps you build up a network of support and friendship.

BUT when the wheels start to spin faster in your writing life, something has to give if you want to make sure your time is spent writing your next book (or like seeing your family and stuff) and often blogging intensity is what falls off first. You can still maintain your own, but it gets harder and harder to visit everyone else. Give yourself permission to not be wracked with guilt when this happens.

3. Find your balance and know your limits.

I'm learning that balance is going to be the make it or break it component for me. I'm an all-in kind of girl. I don't want to do anything half-assed so I throw myself into things completely. But doing that in one area can create imbalance in other parts of your life. All you do is write, so you forget to read. Or all you do is blog and forget to write. Or you keep skipping that trip to the gym because you have more "important" things to do than take care of your health (I fall victim to this one all the time). Or you blog, write, and read but your poor family hasn't really "seen" you in a week.

So learn how to manage your time and not cut out the things that are important.

This is why you may not have seen me chatting as much on Twitter. It's also why I've invited regular guests to blog here these last few months and why I do a round-up post on Friday. Blogging is important to me, but the level I was doing it at was cutting out time for other things.

So I'm working towards my own balance. I'm holding myself accountable for writing at least 1k words every week day in order to meet my deadlines. I'm going to yoga classes to give myself quiet-mind time and exercise. I'm shutting my computer off at night so I can spend time with the fam. I'm reading for pleasure at least 3-4 times a week. And even though I still have a lot going on, I feel much happier.

Everyone is going to have their different challenges, but my guess is that these three are pretty universal. I wouldn't trade a minute of it because my dream of having my book published is coming true. But it's important to make sure we don't lose our mind in the process. :)

So what are your biggest challenges right now? Do you think you're prepared to be a writer working on a deadline? For those of you who are published or about to be, have you felt that big shift in priorities? What balls do you drop first?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!

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

November 18, 2011 Roni Loren

Sorry this is so late going up. It's been a crazy morning. First there was my squeeful news, then I had to take kidlet to get all his 4 yr old shots. Nothing says happy birthday like getting five needles stabbed into your thighs. :( But anyway, I'm here now. Hope you enjoy the links!

On Writing and Publishing:

5 Things to Know About Publicity Before You're Published by Writer Unboxed

9 Tweets You Need to Stop Sending by Amber Avines

More SEO Tips for Your Author Website or Blog by Curiosity Quills

How To Prolong Your Book's Exposure by Jody Hedlund

Should Authors Comment on Reviews? by Squeaky Books (make sure and read the comments, interesting to hear perspectives from book bloggers)

The Amish Guide to Intelligent Web Design by Copyblogger

Build or Boost Your Author Platform by Reviewing by Janet Boyer

DeKloutifying by John Scalzi

8 Tips for Successful Landing Pages by WordView Editing

What NOT to Blog About by Rachelle Gardner

Helpful Advice From History's Fastest, Most Prolific Authors from Flavor Wire

I'm There But I'm Not by Tess Gerritsen via Novel Rocket

5 Ways to Take the Ickiness Out of Marketing Books by Jody Hedlund

Writers for Traditional Publishers = slave? Indie Authors = f**kwad? Come on! by Bob Mayer

Why Writers Need a Platform by Kristen Lamb

For Fun:

Romeo, Ripley, and Bella Swan by Rosemary Clement-Moore via PopSmart Books (really interesting essay about how the Twilight books have roots in Greek tragedies.)

What You Missed on the Author Blog:

Boyfriend of the Week: Steve Boyd

What You May Have Missed Here:

Letting Your Character in on the Secret

by Ashley March

Debut-A-Phobia: The Fear of People Actually Reading Your Book

My Squeeful News!

All right, that's what I have for this week. What were some of your favorite links this week? Have a great weekend!

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

My Squeeful News!

November 18, 2011 Roni Loren

I'm running behind today because kidlet has to go to the doctor, so Fill-Me-In Friday will be up later. But I just had to share my awesomely terrific news with you guys.

I sold two more books! Squee! My books are now officially The Loving on the Edge series. So four books plus one ebook novella will be out over the next two years! *dances*

Here's the official announcement from Publisher's Marketplace:

Roni Loren's third and fourth contemporary eroticromance novels in her Loving on the Edge series, following the upcoming CRASHINTO YOU, to KateSeaver at BerkleyHeat, in a nice deal, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013, by SaraMegibow at NelsonLiterary Agency (World English). Translation:
wlee@fieldingagency.com

I'm still a little stunned. A little over a year ago I was querying. Now I have five books to look forward to. I'm so, so thankful and excited.

*off to do another happy dance* (and to take kidlet to the doctor). Links post coming later, promise. :)

"Hot and romantic, with an edge of suspense that will keep you entertained.” --Shayla Black, New York Times Bestselling author of SURRENDER TO ME

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

Debut-a-Phobia: The Fear of People Actually Reading Your Book

November 16, 2011 Roni Loren

So I'm officially about a month and a half out from CRASH INTO YOU's release. I can't even tell you how excited I am. My book is finally going to be on shelves! It feels like forever since I signed the deal in October 2010. (Though in some ways, it feels like only yesterday.)

But I have to say one of the other emotions I'm going through is the occasional freak out that -- oh crap, real people are actually going to READ my book. This particular freak out is littered with any number of insecurities. Mainly, what if everyone hates it? What if my agent and editor were just having an off day when they decided they loved my book? What if it only sells twenty copies, the amount my family will probably buy?

Oh, and speaking of family, here comes oh-crap-moment number two--my family and people I know in real life are going to read my erotic romance. Ahh! There are curse words and bondage and sadomasochism and lots of nakedness. Yes, all those things are part of a romance and a suspense plot and a story about healing, but I'm afraid those who know me are only going to focus on the NC-17 stuff.

I know that people in my life understand that this is going to be an erotic romance, but I don't know if they've wrapped their heads around that totally because they've never read in the genre. And it's going to come out of left field for many of them because I'm not the "kind of girl" who you would expect to write a super sexy book. I don't even curse in front of anyone but my closest friends.

But that's simply because I'm a quiet, private person who plays my cards close to the vest. I only fully relax around a few people. So those who aren't in that close circle just make their own assumptions. And boy do people make lots of assumptions about quiet people.

Therefore, this whole experience is going to be interesting in a lot of ways. Not only am I opening up my writing for public opinion but I'm also opening myself up for people to make up all kinds of new assumptions about me--some that may be accurate and many that will be totally false.

But at the end of the day, this is what I signed up for. Regardless of whether you write romance or cozy mysteries or stories about aliens, writing is a deeply personal act that exposes the writer. There's no way around that. Regardless of the plot, your blood is on the page. It's the occupational hazard of good writing.

Hopefully we all survive it, lol.

So how about you? Even though you want to be published, do you fear people reading your words? Do you ever feel exposed in certain parts of your manuscript--a bit of dialogue or emotion that echoes something in your own life? Do you make assumptions about writers based on their books? Do you worry about your family reading your work?

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

Letting Your Character in on the Secret by Ashley March

November 14, 2011 Roni Loren

It's Monday again and time for one of our regular guests--the lovely and insightful Ashley March. Today she's giving us a great idea on how to turn some tropes on their head.

Take it away, Ashley...

Letting Your Character in on the Secret

by Ashley March

Awhile ago I had the pleasure of reading Julie Anne Long’s most recenthistorical, What I Did For a Duke. I say it was a pleasure because not only amI a huge JAL fan (if you haven’t read her work already, please do so—you’remissing out), but also because this was the first book I ever remember readingwhere as soon as I finished I wanted to start over again.

Butthat’s from a reader’s point-of-view. From a writer’s point-of-view, whatreally struck me about this book is that although it could have been a typicalrevenge plot where the hero gets back at the heroine’s brother by breaking theheroine’s heart, (warning! partial spoiler below)

Ms.Long instead surprised me partway through the book by having the heroinerealize that this was the hero’s intention. I admit it, I was stunned. Here Iwas, sure that the hero would succeed in his plans, make the heroine fall inlove with him (while he falls in love with her, of course), and then at the endwhen she finds out what his true intentions were from the beginning, therewould be drama (!) and angst (!). Yet Ms. Long completely turns thatpredictable plot upside down by having the heroine figure out the hero’sintentions before he could break her heart.

Whatdid this do?

1) Mostimportantly, I was even more excited to continue reading than I had beenbefore, because now I had no idea what to expect.

2) Itmade me believe that the heroine was an equal match for the hero, which isn’talways the case with plots like this.

3) Itmade me even more envious of Ms. Long’s genius.

Italso, however, made me wonder why we writers sometimes choose to take the easyway out. Is it because we’ve read certain tropes before and know that they cansucceed, thus we want to emulate their success for ourselves? Or is it becausewhen we brainstorm ideas, we choose something from the first three options,never daring to explore beyond the predictable?

Icould challenge you to copy from Ms. Long by choosing a common plot device andthen turning its on its head to make it unique—and I’m sure each of us couldfind a way to do that without much effort. (Throw in a rabbit here, a redherring there.)

Butinstead, I’m going to challenge you to dig a bit further. Specifically, whatcharacter(s) can you give knowledge to of an event/person/thing, etc. that iscurrently ignorant of that event/person/thing as the story stands? For you see,giving your character knowledge—whether he chooses to reveal it to anyone elseor not—makes him stronger and smarter in the reader’s eye, and it also makesthe story more complex and fresh.

Thinkof the heroine dressing up as a man and becoming the hero’s best friend. Whatif the hero knows the heroine is pretending, instead of questioning why he’ssuddenly experiencing sexual awareness toward a member of the same sex whenhe’s never done so before? (I have to admit, I like my heroes to be smart,too.)

Thinkof two ex-lovers reunited by circumstance. Instead of them both being attractedto each other still and constantly questioning whether the other person lovesthem, have one of the characters confident of their love being reciprocated.What other reason would they have to keep them at a distance?

Theseare just a couple of examples off the top of my head, and I’m sure you can comeup with better ideas when you look at your specific characters. Figure out whatthey currently don’t know (this could be about anything), then change it so thatthey do know. This can deepen notonly your characters and your story, but also create something that might oneday make your readers stand in awe and rave about your incomparable genius.(Here’s to you, Ms. Long. J )

What other book(s) can you think ofwhere a character’s knowledge turned what could have been a predictable plotinto something astounding?

AshleyMarch is a historical romance author who lives in Colorado with her adoring (oris that adorable?) husband, her two young daughters, and their dog. Her latestbook, ROMANCING THE COUNTESS, was released by NAL Penguin in September 2011,and she is currently psychoanalyzing the characters of her next two projects:the story of Joanna and Ethan, two secondary characters from her Victoriandebut; and the first book in a series set in 1920s Long Island.

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

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

November 11, 2011 Roni Loren

Hope everyone has had a great week! It's time to gather up the best links of the week.

But first, I wanted to announce the winner of Mia Marlowe's Sins of the Highlander from Wednesday's contest. Congratulations to Buffy Leonard!

All right, now on to the links. Enjoy!

On Writing/Publishing:

Fascinating Interview with Stephen King in NY Times

On Ebook Pricing from Indie Author Selena Kitt

The Craze for Long Books Goes On and On an On by The Guardian (found via Anne R. Allen)

8 Press Kit Elements for Your Author Website at The Fearless Self-Publisher

5 Mistakes Writers Make with Virtual Book Tours by Working Writers

On Humor in a Romance by Sierra Godfrey

The Creation of an Agent's TBR Pile by my lovely agent Sara Megibow via Romance University (This fascinated me.)

It's Not a Competition by Beth Revis

Book Bloggers: The New Publishing Gatekeepers by Jennie Coughlin

When to Modify Your Name for SEO Concerns by Jane Friedman

Why An Author's Early Works Are Usually Most Original by Vicki Hines

On Your Mark: Marketing Your Novel by Janice Hardy via The Bookshelf Muse

On Writers Covering a "Territory" In Their Novels by Laura Oliver

Are Social Media Sites the New Publishing Slushpile? by Publishing Perspectives

For Fun:

Okay, so I usually stay away from politics on here, but I was watching the Daily Show last night and knew I had to share this. Dude, I almost fell out my bed laughing at "I smell toast!" You have to watch it to understand. Go to the 6:30 mark in the video, that's when the funniest stuff starts. Hilarious.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

What You May Have Missed Here:

The Dangerous Side Effect of Becoming a Writer

Polishing Til It Shines with Mia Marlowe

What You May Have Missed on the Author Blog:

Boyfriend of the Week: Raoul Bova

Book Prices: Why a Good Story Should Be Worth More Than a Cheeseburger

(GREAT discussion going on in the comments)

Alright, that's all I've got for you this week. What were some of your favorite links of the week? Have a great weekend!

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

A Polishing Till It Shines Checklist from Mia Marlowe

November 9, 2011 Roni Loren

Today I have the pleasure of welcoming author Mia Marlowe to talk to us about polishing your manuscript. For all of you doing NaNoWriMo, this checklist of things to look for after you've finished your draft is going to be especially indispensable.

And if that wasn't enough, Mia is giving away an ARC of SINS OF THE HIGHLANDER to a lucky commenter! (open internationally) So be sure to leave your email address in the comments.

Now, over to Mia...

Polishing Till it Shines

The manuscript is finished. Now what? Time to revise andpolish. And let me encourage you to be brutal. This is your last chance to makethe story as good as it possibly can be before you start submitting it. Youonly get one chance to impress an agent or editor. Make it count.

Start with the beginning. Does your opening sentence raise aquestion in the reader's mind, something to hook them into reading on? If not,work on it until it does.

Is your first chapter bogged down with back-story? Slash itnow. Hit the ground running and don't look back. You need to know what's comebefore. Your readers only need the barest hint. Don’t include more backstorythan is necessary for readers to understand well enough to continue. Keepingyour reader slightly off balance, wondering why something is happening or why acharacter is reacting in an unusual manner is a good way to keep the pagesturning. And that is your goal.

I often tell my husband he married a hooker. No, this isn’t TrueConfessions! ;-) I'm talking about writing hooks. These are tiny tantalizingbits of information that create a path for your readers. If you work it right,you can literally pull your reader forward through your story. This is what keeps readers up nights.

Check your prose. Are you using passive voice? Hope not.Lots of helping verbs? Weak. Circle every word ending in "ly" and cutthem till there's no more than one or two per page. Use descriptive verbs andnouns instead of adjectives and adverbs.

Read your story aloud. You'll hear the echoes of over-usedwords your eyes may miss. Any sentence you have to take a breath to finish istoo long. Cut it in half.

Look at your pages. How much white space is there? Are you tooheavy on narrative and too light on dialogue? Do you need the tags on yourdialogue or can you tell who's talking based on their speech patterns? Do allyour characters sound alike?

Can you smell your scenes? Have you engaged all the senses orare you relying merely on visual? Your reader wants to walk in the heroine'sshoes. Give her enough to know where she is and how to feel about it.

Are you sticking with one point of view per scene or are youpopping in and out of your character's heads so much you'll give your readerswhiplash?

Do your characters have similar sounding names? Tolkien mayhave gotten away with Eowen and Eomer, but most readers prefer not to have towork that hard. Do your character's names start with the same letter? For thesake of clarity, change one of them now.

Use the spell checker. I mistrust the grammar checker, butthe spell check is my friend.

When your story is polished till you're sick of it, turn it overto someone whose judgment you trust--generally not a relative or someone whowants to continue to sleep with you. Don't be defensive. Prepare yourself forrequests for revisions. If you don't develop the hide of a rhinoceros, yourstay in Writerland will be painful and brief. Accept their comments andconsider them carefully. You didn't come down the mountain with the storycarved in stone. Revise if you find you agree with them.

Once you're satisfied your manuscript sparkles, do yourhomework. Don't send it to an editor or agent who doesn't handle your brand ofromance. Choose your targets carefully. Why set yourself up for a 'no?'

Print it up. Say a prayer. Submit and start working on thenext one. Don't even think about contacting them for a response before threemonths. Good luck and Happy Writing!

What special trick do you use tomake sure your final manuscript is the best version of the story of yourheart?

Mia Marlowe writes historical romance for Kensingtonand Sourcebooks. A classically trained soprano, she calls her adventurous,sensual stories a cross between Grand Opera and Gilbert & Sullivan…withsex! Her Touch of a Thief(May 2011) received a rare starred review fromPublishers Weekly and January 2012 will see the release of her firstcollaborative novel with New York Times bestseller Connie Mason,Sins of theHighlander. Check out her blog at MiaMarlowe.com for RedPencil Thursday. Mia does an online critique of the first 500 words for anintrepid volunteer each week. She loves to connect with other writers andreaders and hopes you’ll join her on Facebookand Twitter.

Remember to leave a comment and your email if you want to be entered to win the ARC!

Thanks, Mia, for stopping by!

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

A Dangerous Side Effect of Becoming a Writer

November 7, 2011 Roni Loren

So if you're reading this, it probably means you're a writer. And whether you are full-time or whenever-you-can-squeeze-it-in, published or taking steps in that direction, it seems many of us suffer from the same affliction once we decide to "get serious" about this writing thing.

We cut our reading time.

Sure, it's not intentional. We only have so much time and we want to grab every second we have to chase this dream. And that means writing, writing ,writing...and blogging and tweeting and facebooking and researching the craft and querying and building a brand and creating a website and ooh, a newsletter, and wow, Tumblr. And oh yeah, my spouse/family/children may want to see me every now and then without a laptop attached.

It's like Alice's rabbit hole. Things start swirling around and we get sucked in to being constantly busy. Making us forget what started us wanting to be writers in the first place...

Books. Reading. Getting lost in a story.

Case and point - My Reading Stats:
(I started writing again at the end of 2008.)
2009 - read 85 books
2010 - read 40 books
2011 - have read 26 so far

This obvious decline makes me sad. Something that used to be such an integral part of my life is becoming an afterthought. I literally have an entire bookcase of unread books staring at me.

And I know it's not just me. I hear the same story from other writers. And once you've got a contract and are working on a deadline, the problem gets even worse because now there is this expectation on you--one you can't fall short on.

And this doesn't just affect your entertainment/downtime in your life; it affects your writing. If all you do is pour out words and never refill the well with reading, you risk your creativity going dry.

New stories feed our muse. They challenge us. They expose us to new things, other types of voices, different styles. Imagine if a film director said he rarely gets time to watch movies. We'd look at him like he was nuts.

Reading helps you become a better writer. It makes you a happier, more balanced person. It reminds you why you spend so many hours typing away on that keyboard in the first place.

So I'm challenging myself to look hard at my schedule and find a pocket of time at least three days a week to read. An extra hour on Twitter may raise my Klout score, but an hour lost in a book will feed my soul.

And my reader soul feels downright anorexic right now.

So how about you? Do you find yourself cutting out your reading time more and more to do more "writerly" things? Do you find your creativity stalls if you stop reading for a while? How big is your TBR pile?

“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!

Read an excerpt here.

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

November 4, 2011 Roni Loren

Been busy? Haven't had time to hang out on Twitter or catch up with your blog reader? Well, Fill-Me-In-Friday is here to help. This is where I post the best writing, publishing, and just for fun links of the week.

On Writing/Publishing:

Bad Critique Groups - 8 Things That Can Push a Group Over to the Dark Side by Anne R. Allen

Planning Your Novel's Middle by Janice Hardy

50 Problem Words and Phrases by Daily Writing Tips

The Two Social Media Site to Focus On Before Your Book Comes Out by Friesan Press

How Often Should Writers Blog? by Jody Hedlund

Testing the Middle: Subplots by Editortorrent

Social Media - What's It Good For? by Jen's Book Thoughts

Whatever: My Blurb Policy by John Scalzi

What Makes a Dream Author by Editorial Ass

The Difficulty but Necessity of Being Content No Matter What by Michelle Davidson Argyle

Spamming or Promotion? (How to Get Readers to Want Your Book) by Stina Lindenblatt