Breaking news at Food for Thought

Good Morning.
Food for Thought thursday is bring fantastic opportunity to authors on the 20th October 2011.

Elizabeth Newman is the Octagon Theatre Bolton's Associate Director, and after working with author Margaret West and her novel Abigail Cottage, she has decided to launch a competition to find three novelists who would be interested in coming to the Octagon Theatre to learn more about adapting their novel for the stage.

Ms Newman is currently leading a team of eight playwrights to adapt Frank L Baum's classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, for the Octagon audience which will open on the 19th November 2011.

The competition will open on Thursday 20th October on the Food for Thought blog day, at Authors promoting Authors. You will be able to post your submissions on the blog ONLY on two dates 20th/27th October.

Guidelines will be posted on Margaret West’s blog on Friday 14th October.

As this is in the UK, ONE international author will be chosen to have a skype session with Elizabeth about adapting their novel.

The lucky winners will not only attend the day workshop at the theatre, with playwrights who adapted The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, but they are also invited personally by Ms Newman to see the show in the evening.

You will need to keep an eye on my writers blog for the competition guidelines, updates and rules, which will be posted in the next wekk or so.

You will also need to be a follower of authors promoting authors and margaret's blog, to be eligible to enter.

Please copy and paste this event to any of your groups.

This is open to any genre, with the exception of Erotic & Gay/Lesbian fiction.

Good Luck to you all. xx

On Being Published: Joanna Aislinn; What I'd Do Differently

Thanks so much to the wonderful authors here who get the ‘pay it forward’ concept and created an opportunity for me to do the same.

I, Joanna Aislinn, am a lover of reading. Writing—specifically editing—messed with the pleasure part of my passion; I can no longer get through a story without my pesky internal editor interrupting the flow. These days I’m crafting sequels to my debut novel, No Matter Why (The Wild Rose Press) and planting the seeds for my first historical or paranormal/contemporary, assuming I can decide how I want to handle this latest story idea! In the meantime, I’m learning all I can about promo, the ever-changing publishing world, social media and building my brand. Don’t ask when I work a day job, manage a home and raise two boys, a husband and two cats! (That may be auto-pilot.) Thank God for Fran Fine and tennis: these keep me sane! .

I come to you a year and nine months into having been blessed enough to be offered a contract which I was very happy to accept. Loved my editor (the wonderful Vicky Reed) and truly enjoyed the experience of seeing my story go from submitted manuscript to ready-to-sell copy. (Seeing my cover—courtesy of the amazing artist Rae Monet*,—and holding a hard-copy of my dream are experiences I can’t seem to word.)

Beyond all else, these past months have been an incredible and major learning experience. I’m grateful for where I am and how I got here. But: if I could travel in time and do this debut thing again, I might change my approach. Armed with the knowledge and perspective only hindsight brings, this is how I’d consider doing things differently:

1. I’d wait before querying. No Matter Why started out as flashbacks from another story. Its sequel is complete (and tentatively entitled No Matter What). Because stories often take their own course, what should have been part three of a trilogy is now slated to be a spin-off, showcasing characters who showed in part two. What originally started as a spin-off seems to taking on life as Part three, a romantic suspense (and currently untitled).

Why would I wait? Because I learned one book is enough to get started, but having a list of releases to follow it is better, even more so if I choose to self-publish. Among the reasons Bob Mayer and Amanda Hocking are becoming household names in multiple writer homes.

2. I’d write more up front. This is an extension of (1). Once promotion begins—which, by the way, I learned should have started WAY before the book released—life as a writer changes. As Rene Rocco of Lyrical Press recently taught at a workshop: The difference between and writer and an author is this: an author writes for publication (and publication is an animal unto itself).

If you eked out time to write before being published, expect to have that much time less once you’ve reached that goal. Don’t fool yourself thinking you’ve reached the finish line, either. Being published is the beginning of a whole new world, folks—one in which an author’s success is pretty directly related to how much effort one puts into getting effective word out to the penny (okay dollar) public.

Making that coveted time to create new products has been my biggest challenge since I finished that first sequel. Don’t know how those authors who rely on income from their books do it. My kids are older, and somehow need my time and attention more than when my biggest job was keeping a constant eye on them. The day job has gotten busier. I bring paperwork home. Hubby is always around and likes to chat. And now I’m also supposed to…

3. Establish myself as a brand and create an ever-growing social media presence and possible fan base by connecting with a virtual world of folks who are working at doing the same. At present, I blog. I interact with Facebook friends. I GET the amazing power of Twitter. I love making new online friends and getting to know people all over the world.

BUT: it takes time to do the social media stuff. People like the phenomenal Kristen Lamb, social media expert and author of We Are Not Alone: The Writer’s Guide to Social Media, breaks this other education I need to gain, along with this other thing I have to do, into manageable chunks. (Try her books. She also recently released: Are You There Blog? It’s Me, Writer. You will be changed for the better. Both are available in digital and print versions.) Oh, and I love blogging, but that takes time, too. So does taking some time to reciprocate by visiting your friends’ blogs and by reading the great recommendations for blogs they make. And each has the potential of unlocking another education of its own. (Yes, I just made myself dizzy too…)

4. I might skip the website simply because my blog functions very much like one. Wordpress makes life very easy for free. (I did, however, build my own website—another thing I chose to learn—and feel that I put so much work into it, I hate putting it to bed. Letting go is not always my best skill.)

5. I’d promote in a whole different way, based on what I’m learning via (3). And I’d get into Twitter much, much sooner—like, the second it popped onto the virtual map. It’s an incredible, mind-boggling tool whose power is beyond my mere human comprehension (and fodder for a future blog post—stay tuned!).

6. Oh! I almost forgot: I’d write more.

Here’s where I hang out in the virtual world. Hope to see you there!

Twitter and Facebook

My blog (Currently, new posts release Tues and Thursdays—most of the time, anyway!)

My website (I like to think it’s very pretty and romantic, lol)

Short Blurb for No Matter Why: Trust and stability are empty words to Carrie Norwell. Her brothers were murdered; her father died upon arrival at the scene. Five years later, her heart remains impenetrable. Billy Jay Eldridge believes Carrie is the right girl but is clueless his noble career aspirations will be the biggest obstacle to getting Carrie to accept what she wants and needs most. How will Billy Jay win her closed-off heart? (Read an excerpt! )

*Before I forget: Rae Monet is an author too! Learn about her works here!

Thanks again to this wonderful group for having me today!

Until next time,

Joanna

Six of A Story: Lynne North and Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)

Our author today, on Six of A Story, is Lynne North.

About Lynne: I live in the north west of England and work as a data analyst for one of the local Health Authorities. I have been a prolific reader all my life, and for many years have spent the majority of my free time writing. As well as being educated up to degree level, I have completed courses and received diplomas from ‘The Writing School Ltd’ and ‘The Academy of Children’s Writers.’

My aim in life has always been to write, and I‘ve had a sideline of freelance writing for more years than I like to admit to having lived. This has mainly involved published articles in such magazines as ‘Prediction’. I have also completed two children’s novels, published by YouWriteOn in conjunction with Legend Press in December’08. I am currently working on a fantasy novel for adults, and another very different children’s humorous fantasy.

 Gertie Gets it Right (eventually) is a children's humorous fantasy novel aimed at the eight years of age to young teen market. It also has a growing fan base of adult readers!
Gertie Grimthorpe comes from a long line of witches. Unfortunately, she hasn't really got the hang of it. Being blonde haired, blue eyed and free of warts isn't much of an advantage.
Try as she might, Gertie's spells fall flat. She manages to give her bat-headed umbrella the ability to talk, but then wishes she hadn’t when all he does is complain and insult people. Even finding an owl to be her Familiar doesn't help. Then again, he is extremely shortsighted…
Gertie is sent to The Academy to improve her spell casting skills. She soon has a best friend in the form of Bertha Bobbit, a big girl, with a matching appetite.
Add to that a Moat Monster with a flatulence problem, the weirdest array of witch's Familiars possible, and a warlock determined to ruin Gertie's chances of success, and the story unfolds.
Not to mention the demon...

Can you tell us more about Gertie's heritage? How long does her family tree stretch? And - is Gertie an only child?

Gertie comes from a very long line of witches, and she is an only child. For the purposes of the book, we don’t go further back than Gertie’s gran, apart from a few mentions of other relatives. Gertie’s Ma and Gran are important characters in the tale, and Gran in particular is a very colourful one. I thoroughly enjoyed building Gran’s character, and in her own cantankerous way she soon took over and kept me well in my place! I hope that readers of ‘Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)’ will love Gran as much as I do. She has a heart of gold, but tends to keep it well hidden apart from when she is with Gertie. Gertie seems to have the ability to melt all hearts. Gran is protective, easily irritated, a deep thinker, and very funny!

What is the bat-headed umbrella's name? Does she carry him with her everywhere? Or is the umbrella in place of a broom for riding?

The bat-headed umbrella that Gertie gives the ability to talk is called, Bat. Uhm, I know. Gertie is not terribly inventive. Gertie does carry Bat everywhere with her, to a degree. Unfortunately, though Gertie gave Bat the ability to talk, she can’t do much about what he chooses to say. He gets Gertie into a few awkward situations with his comments. Bat says exactly what he thinks, without any thought of the consequences. Gertie is very tempted not to take Bat to the Academy with her, and indeed goes without him at first. When she visits home for her Birthday however, he persuades her he is a reformed character, so Gertie takes pity on him and carries him along. This might not be the most sensible thing she has ever done…

Gertie doesn’t use Bat as a broomstick. The broomstick comes later during one of her many incident ridden lessons at the Academy. Nothing comes easily to poor Gertie. The first problem is to get the broomstick off the ground, instead of digging into it.

I've thought up some silly ways she could have found her shortsighted owl to be her familiar. One of which is, did she just pluck him out of a tree?

You don’t know just how close that is to the truth. I’m impressed! Gertie meets Owl in the woods where she is helping her Ma pick ingredients for her spells. Owl’s introduction is a dull thud as he hits a tree. As you say, he is short-sighted. Gertie immediately takes pity on the poor owl and decides he will be perfect as her familiar, once he gets over his concussion. Gertie’s mum isn’t quite so sure. Neither is Gertie as time goes on. Though she loves Owl dearly, he proves to be more of a hindrance than a help to her spell-casting.

What kind of Familiars are you including in your story? I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I'm curious as to which way you went with this. Are they mythological familiars, or something more like everyday creatures, or inanimate objects made lifelike?

The familiars I use in my book were thoroughly enjoyable to create. They are everyday creatures, in a sense. I do however turn their personalities on their heads. Without giving too much away, we meet a cat with a god complex, a chameleon who has a problem with colour blindness, a depressive rat, a vulture without any patience to wait for his ‘food’ to die, and a praying mantis with the look of a trained assassin. That is to name but a few. Is that enough to be going on with, do you think?

This warlock that doesn't want Gertie to succeed must have some sort of an agenda. Can you enlighten us at all on this?

Fang comes from Gertie’s village. He has always been the pride and joy of Vile Vale with his perfect warlock looks and his evil ways. He is destined to be called to the prestigious Academy on his own merits. Gertie’s way is somewhat through the back door, as I explain in the book. Fang resents Gertie creeping into his limelight, and especially resents her growing popularity with the teachers at the Academy. He ensures his friends make life difficult for poor Gertie, and that everyone knows she was not clever enough to get into the Academy because of her witchy talents. Gertie has to learn the hard way how to make sure Fang doesn’t encourage her to give up. We also see Fang experiencing his own problems as the story progresses…

Not mentioning this demon, which has me curious as all else. But, I'm curious about Gertie's spells. Are they done with a wand or a twitch of the chin? Or are they something that is supposed to just be vocally invoked?

Well now, that is almost a yes, yes and yes! There are no wands involved though, and casting spells is not an easy matter. The process has to be learned in a series of ways. Gertie has to learn ‘The Grimace’, vital in attracting attention, ‘The Point’, in order to focus her spells, and ‘The Voice’ for casting them. The grimace is particularly difficult for a pretty blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girl. Gertie is at a disadvantage before she even gets to try. The voice and the point don’t come much easier, as she has never been forceful and struggles to get the hang of it. She sometimes also has problems seeing the purpose of them. A lot of spells seem to be aimed at punishing others by giving them warts etc, and Gertie can’t quite understand why she would want to harm anyone else. Though perhaps Fang comes close…

The demon has a big part to play in the culmination of ‘Gertie Gets it Right (eventually)’, but I think I’ll leave the reason for that to the readers to find out…

Where You Can Find Lynne North

http://tinyurl.com/4yhzhsp Gertie Book UK

http://tinyurl.com/6l283k2 Gertie Kindle UK

http://tinyurl.com/6cu7l4h Gertie Book USA

http://tinyurl.com/5trs9p6 Gertie Kindle USA

http://www.lynnenorth.co.uk/ Website

http://lynnenorth.co.uk/blog/ Blog

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Lynne.North.Author Facebook page

Food for thought

The publishing World

So you've been offered a contract. When you’ve finished dancing around the house, it’s time to think about getting a solicitor or an agent to get their advice on it. Contracts are negotiable, so negotiate if you feel the need to. The contact will cover many areas. Some of which are;

1. Title/s
2. How much, and in what form, your advance covers.

An advance is when a publisher works out how many copies they are likely to sell. They then decide how much of your royalty they will pay you up front. It can range from 30% to 100%). The advance is usually paid out over at least a year. As authors you must have noticed that Royalty rates are slipping. Sometimes to as low as 6% with some publishers. Check your contract has a clause that mentions ‘rising royalties'. This gives you a higher royalty once a certain number of books have been sold. You also tend to get different royalty rates for hardback and paperback books. Hardbacks seem to be slightly higher.

It is a sad fact that VERY few authors sell world rights to their titles. Getting your book published in one country is no guarantee that it will be published anywhere else. There are separate contracts for US rights, UK rights, German translation rights, French translation rights etc. If you sell to a book publisher you should really only sell the print rights. Publishers sometimes try to take the electronic rights, film rights, radio rights etc. Don't let them. Sell off your various rights one by one, so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket. Also find out how many FREE copies you will get. You’ll need those for your promotions.

Now you’ve sorted out the contract, you have the complexity of the editorial process.
The editing process really depends on the publisher. An editor will be assigned to your book and from then on, you will usually work on a one to one level with them. Most authors find it hard to view their work objectively. They are so immersed in their characters sometimes they don’t see the flaws. An editor can ask you to get rid of a character, revise one, cut scenes, all might enhance your story, but it will leave you with a great big headache.

One of the hardest thing an author can do is read read what someone else thinks of their work. A lot of emotional investment is in your book and cuts/changes made to it can slice into you like a knife. But do bear in mind that most books come out much better after the editor has had their hands on it.

Once you get on track and make the revisions as painless as possible, it goes back to the editor for a final perusal and then back to you for a final review. Now, during all this your editor should be talking to you about the book cover and any marketing strategies you may have. Authors do have a lot of say in their covers, but generally publishers have the last word.

So, now your book is published. Yaaaay. It never gets tiresome seeing a new book in print. Every time is exciting to me. BUT, what happens if, when you are admiring it, you see a glaring mistake on the very first page? I remember in my very first novel, my main characters name morphed from Brian to brain in the time it left my hands to go to print. I was mortified. But it CANNOT be corrected, it’s too late. So pray it doesn’t happen to you.

And finally a small tip. Sometimes bookshops are able to return books to the publisher, unpaid for, if they don’t sell. Which means, less profit for you the author. My advice! Sign as many of your books as you can, they can't then be returned, and they become guaranteed 'sales'.

Happy publishing

Margaret

Addicted to Series

Hello, my name is Shiela Stewart and I’m a Romance series addict.

Yes, you read that correctly. I am an addict. And it’s getting worse by the moment. Yesterday I went into a local bookstore to bring some of my books in to sell on consignment. While I was waiting to be helped, I browsed through the store. I would pick up a book with an interesting cover or title, flip it over and read the blurb. The instant I recognized it was not a series, I quickly put it down. I went to the next, same thing, and on and on until I realized, I’m addicted to series novels.

I thought...No biggie, so I like to read series over stand alone novels. It was then that I realized, I write mainly series novels. OH NO!!!! I really am an addict. Help me…wait, that’s not so bad. Okay, so I like reading and writing series novels. It’s not the end of the world, unless of course I write about it being the end of the world but we won’t go there. So I sat back and had a good look at myself. Why do I write series novels? Why do I prefer to read series novels? I thought, maybe I have issues with letting go, parting, saying goodbye ending things. But if that were the case, I would never end a series I write and I can say goodbye to loved ones when they visit and I do say goodbye when talking on the telephone so that can’t be it. Is there an “I’m addicted to series novels anonymous” I could attend? Maybe they could help me understand my addiction.

I take a look at my writing history and even before I was published I wrote in series. I have the Demon series, the Spiritual series, the Best Friends series. And since being published I’ve released The Passion series and The Darkness series and the Demon series. Oh sure, I have stand alone novels as well. There’s Kidnapped, Sex Therapy: Spiritual Style, A Taste of Humanity and Secrets of the Dead…wait…the Spiritual series is a spin-off from Secrets of the Dead. Oh Lord, I only have three stand-alone. For now. I could always do a spin-off of one of the secondary characters. There are a few that are begging to have their story told. Darn it! There I go again, planning for a series. I’m hopeless.

Why am I like this? Why do I write series romance? The only thing that comes to mind is…it’s in my blood. I’m like those people who can’t just eat one chip. I can’t write just one story. I can’t leave the secondary characters hanging without a life to continue on with. How cruel is that to introduce a secondary character and then at the end of the book they’re forgotten. It’s like creating two children then ignoring the second one. I just can’t do it. I must create more, I must give them life.

I can’t be alone in this, though. There must be others out there like me who would much rather pick up a book if it belongs to a series than a stand alone? I know there are other authors who write series. Are they as addicted as I am? Readers? Are you like me? Are you addicted to series romance?

Addicts Unite!

Check out my latest series Awaken the Demon.

Blurb:

Book One of the Demon Series

Abused for years by a sadistic fiancé, Missy Green has finally had enough. Running away is her only recourse. Wanting a new life, she takes refuge with a group known as the Stargazers. Taken in by the illustrious Draco Starr, Missy is elated to finally find peace. Yet, something doesn’t seem right about her host.

Born in the pits of hell, Draco Starr was once a fearsome Demon. For centuries, he collected soul s for Satan. Having done his time, Draco sets out to start a new life. Even with more wealth and prestige than anyone could ever want, something is missing in his life.

Love.

Missy is about to have her world turned upside down. Discovering Draco is a demon is terrifying enough, but finding out she too is a demon is more than she can handle.

Can Missy deal with her new life, and the affection she is beginning to feel for Draco, or will her past come back to haunt her?

Coming soon: Offer the Demon:

Twenty-one years ago a bargain was made for her existence. Twenty-one years ago was the beginning of the end.

Born to serve Satan, Aurora Starr wishes she could lead a normal life. Being a demon, that’s not so easy to do. By night she takes the lives of those Satan chooses, despite her dislike for her job, she knows she must continue. Wanting to live like a normal human, Aurora is willing to do anything to get it.

Enter Scott Monroe.

Tall, blond and gorgeous, he is more than Aurora can resist. Knowing mating with a human is taboo, Aurora throws caution to the wind and begins seeing Scott. But when Satan makes her chose between her family or the man she loves, Aurora has had enough.

Will love win in the end or will Satan damn them all.

Website: www.shielasbooks.ca

Publisher: www.decadentpublishing.com

The Business of Erotica

Looking back after my attendance at the Erotic Authors Association inaugural convention, several things became apparent to me. First off, the long time authors (hereby referred to as the Old Guard) started out with the desire and drive to write just like the new guard does but after time, changes must occur in how they proceed.



The new guard is driven by desire to write and make money, real money. And as Jean Marie Stine posted on WriteSEX, Erotica (and erotic romance) are the top selling genres in the e-book format. For those of us writing in either or both of these genres, this is great news. The problem comes when new publishers are constantly opening their doors, older publishers are dying off OR taking crap for submissions and hoping to polish them. Then your competition becomes stiff. And what we're left with is the trouble some readers (primarily your undeveloped audience) don't know about quality. Meaning, some authors just suck and can't be fixed or edited to a point of publication but some publishers still put out their work anyway, so you're stuck having to compete against them, lose potential sales and wonder what next to do.

The answer comes from the Old Guard lessons, combined with new guard marketing techniques. First things first. This is erotica so we have a built in audience. Stats at Amazon back that up. Second, this is writing, so it must be treated like a business. You are your own boss. This isn't that hard for most career authors becuase they already set schedules to write, edit, promote, email, and if there is time, sleep and eat. The extension comes from the business part.

Do you have a plan for your career? Are you looking at your career as being solely an author? Or, like me, are you an author that caters to a certain audience (erotic romance in all sub genres) AND caters to being the Author Expert via WriteSEX, panels geared towards WRITERS at conventions as well as being the focus of panels geared towards READERS at the same conventions?

Before I came onboard officially to Sizzler Editions, Jean Marie and M. Christian had a chance to meet and talk and lo and behold, she convinced him to work for Sizzler. Chris is a well known master of the literary erotic word with a good past behind him, but his career had petered out slightly, needing a kick somehow to resurrect it. I can only speculate but I imagine personal problems were the culprit. They often are for numerous writers.

Having worked with him for WriteSEX I learned a few things. While I'm old guard to most of you, he's even older guard than I am, if only by slightly a few years. He's worked with some big names in the business and had done his time to get where he was before his career was interrupted, but the VERY MOST IMPORTANT THING I've learned about him is that he's a team player. Even in his business focus, for both Sizzler Editions, WriteSEX and his career, he's got a plan. He treats his writing like a business that will make him a profit.

Let's scale back a bit and take another author (I frequently pick on) of mine. Margie Church. She's only been writing what, two years maybe? I believe she's over at Noble Romance but she also released her BDSM romance The 18th Floor through my Sizzler Intoxication line. She's done her best to learn the SEO stuff, give her career the boost it needs and treat her writing like a business from the start. While no one can predict the future, especially in this business, I believe she'll go far.

So, while we're going to sex up this blog a bit, once I take over and officially launch the erotica corner (or whatever Tina has in mind for a name) it's business. The difference is that we all get to come to the blog wearing our hottest lingerie, lower the lights a bit and talk about writing smut like grown adults who aren't afraid of making money writing sex.

It's a lot of work but then again what's the adage? Something doing is worth doing well.

Buy Light and Shadow - a Total E-bound Release - Will Stefan get Katalin's submission and heartor will his business mindset cause more problems?

Sensualities - An Erotic Collection for all

The Author Experience: The Story of Egyptian Heart, Kathryn Meyer Griffith

The Story of Egyptian Heart

A backstory and other tidbits from an old writer’s life

Eternal Press buy link:http://www.eternalpress.biz/book.php?isbn=9781615724437

Digital ISBN: 978-1-61572-443-7 * Print ISBN: 978-1-61572-444-4

You Tube Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cogCNYKzPqc

Let me start with this: I have always loved ancient Egyptian stories since I was a child. I remember I wrote one of my first school papers at around eleven years old in pencil on the ancient Egyptians after dragging home an armful of musty smelling books from the library. I don’t recall exactly why I loved this particular time period and the people that lived in it but it might have had something to do with the movies The Ten Commandments (I was raised a Catholic), the horror mummy movies of the 1960’s and the early TV shows on Nefertiti and Cleopatra. I just had this affinity for the period.

It was February 1994 (I noted it on the outside of the manila folder where I keep a running book history on each novel) when I began Egyptian Heart. Originally I called it The Cursed Scarab. Later, I retitled it Egyptian Heart because I wanted it to more reflect the romance tale it had become.

I still had my agent, Lori Perkins, who’d sold four earlier novels for me to Zebra Books (Vampire Blood, 1991; The Last Vampire, 1992; Witches, 1993 and The Calling, 1994…after I’d sold my first three novels on my own to Leisure Books: Evil Stalks the Night, 1984: The Heart of the Rose, 1985; Blood Forge,1989) and she’d told me about a new romantic horror line that Silhouette was starting called the Shadows Line. They wanted to tap into the darker romantic paranormal market. Lori said they wanted the kind of story I wrote but with more romance. It was Silhouette after all.  I’d been labeled as a horror writer from the get go, though all my novels blended genres; usually I wrote a romantic horror mixture with dashes of adventure, suspense and sometimes threw in a little history or mystery as well…but in those days the big publishers felt the need (and I think they still do) to squeeze a writer into one narrow slot. So I was a horror writer.

But by 1994 I’d lost my sweet editor at Zebra and a new one took her place...and over the next year he didn’t like anything I wrote for him and later that year Zebra unceremoniously dropped me and my latest book (Predator, a story about a dinosaur in Crater Lake…which never came out but still lingers like some weird ghost book in every computer on the global Internet) only six weeks away from going to the bookstore shelves. I’d begged the new editor not to call it Predator, bad title since there was a popular movie out of that name and it was nothing about a dinosaur, and the cover was awful, an empty boat on a lake…what!!! Having that book – my first ever – dumped like that was a crushing experience, let me tell you. I had a stack of finished, printed covers and had already done my final edits! I got to keep my advance but the book was officially dead. The new editor-that-didn’t-like-my-writing explained: “No one wants to read a book about a dinosaur.” And six months later Jurassic Park came out! The book is still sitting in a drawer somewhere and perhaps one day I’ll resurrect and finish it as well).

At that point, my agent wanted me to branch out so I wrote two manuscripts for the Silhouette Shadows Line or tried to.  Egyptian Heart and Shadow Road (a romantic suspense about a woman truck driver driving a dangerous wintry route with a murderer on her tail, and a hitchhiker in her cab that she feels she’s falling in love with…and fears, at times, he’s the killer; which later I retitled and sold as Winter’s Journey). To make a long story short, Silhouette Shadows turned both down. Seems I had too much horror in them; not enough sex. I didn’t follow the formula. Sheesh. I’ve never liked depending too much on sex in any of my books or writing a book too predictable. The originality of the novel and the characters make the story for me.

After that my agent dropped me. Ah, the life of a writer.

So, then life (as it has many times in my 39 year writing career), family and job problems, and my other novels (I was into murder mysteries for years and sold two to Avalon Books), got in the way and Egyptian Heart and Shadow Road went into drawer hibernation until, oh, about 2004, when I rediscovered them, dug them out, rewrote them and began trying to sell them again. Sometimes, I’ve found, a book left alone in a dark cubbyhole ages like good wine. (Or sometimes it just turns to vinegar.)

Fast forward three years to 2007 and a new e-book (e-books still being considered a risky new-fangled craze at that time!) publisher called The Wild Rose Press contracted both and eventually a third called The Ice Bridge, a ghostly romantic murder mystery set on Mackinac Island, and published them. Good publisher. They treated me well. But in 2010 when I contracted my two newest novels, Before the End: A Time of Demons and The Woman in Crimson (both romantic horror) my new publisher, Kim Richards Gilchrist at Damnation Books wanted to bring out all my old out-of-print novels again (going back to those early Leisure Books from the 1980’s) in print – and e-books for the first time ever.  Seven old paperbacks. I’d rewrite them all, get new covers and they’d all live again. I was thrilled. And grateful. It would take a lot of work on both our parts but when we were done ALL my old novels would be in print again and in electronic form out in the world. I jumped right in.

Then when my two year contract (I was lucky, e-books still being new, it was only for two years; now most e-book publishers contract for five years or longer) ran out with The Wild Rose Press. I happily switched Egyptian Heart, Winter’s Journey, The Ice Bridge and a novella Don’t Look Back, Agnes to Eternal Press (Damnation Books sister company). Kim Richards, and her husband William, had just brought Realms of Fantasy Magazine into the fold, as well.

So. Egyptian Heart has had a very long history. Simply put, it’s a time travel paranormal romance set in the ancient times of Nefertiti and her heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton.  It’s more romance than history, though I did a lot of research in 1994… originally for my 1994 Zebra horror paperback The Calling. I thought: why waste all this hard worked for research on just one novel? So I also used it for Egyptian Heart and an erotic short story, The Nameless One, one that Zebra had placed in their 1994 horror anthology Dark Seductions and now it’s available from Damnation Books.

The new cover for Egyptian Heart by Dawne Dominique is amazingly beautiful and Kim Richards herself was my editor. Thank you both.

So from a child’s love of ancient Egypt to the finished book, it’s been a long journey and goes to show all you writer’s out there that, yes, persistence does sometimes win out.  And a good book never dies. It just ages like wine in a dark drawer.

I hope you’ll give Egyptian Heart a look and a read. The best way to describe it is through its blurb and so here it is:  

Maggie Owen is a beautiful, spirited Egyptologist, but lonely. Even being in Egypt on a grant from the college she teaches at to search for an undiscovered necropolis she’s certain lies below the sands beyond the pyramids of Gizah doesn’t give her the happiness she’d hoped it would.

There’s always been and is something missing. Love.

Then her workmen uncover Ramose Nakh-Min’s ancient tomb and an amulet from his sarcophagus hurls her back to 1340 B.C – where she falls hopelessly in love with the man she was destined to be with, noble Ramose, who faithfully serves the heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton and his queen Nefertiti.

She’s fallen into perilous times with civil war threatening Egypt. She’s been mistaken for one of Ramose’s runaway slaves and with her light hair, jinn green eyes and fair skin she doesn’t fit in. Some say she’s magical and evil. Ramose’s favorite, Makere, tries to kill her.

The people, angry the Pharaoh has set his Queen aside and forced them to worship one god are rising up against him.

Maggie’s caught dangerously in the middle.

In the end, desperately in love, will she find a way to stay alive and with Ramose in ancient Egypt–and to make a difference in his world and history?

Because Maggie has finally found love. ***

                           And thank you for having me on your blog! Kathryn Meyer Griffith

Food for Thought

Good morning everyone.
The sun us shining here after a hellish week of rain, storms, winds and then sunshine. No wonder we all get ill with such changeable temperatures.
On a brighter note, the winner of my fabbo prize last week is Michael Offutt



Hedge Witchery publishing house is here today to answer any questions you have about the publishing world. She is open for submissions and is especially interested in recieving short stories that could be published as part of a collection.
Here is a bit about Hedge Witchery Books
Hedge Witchery Books is a small publishing company based in Northumberland. We print New-Age, Alternative, Pagan and Paranormal fiction and non-fiction, and have recently expanded into audio media. We have been running for little over a year and are constantly growing as a company.



I asked Lily what she looks for in a Manuscript.



Lily. We don't need to see full manuscripts. 1-3 chapters with a synopsis is ample initially. A covering letter/email from the author detailing what they've done in the past, and links to any sites they have or are featured on.
It's also nice to see any social media details, twitter, facebook, blog, myspace, etc. We are into our social media marketing in a big way!



You can find Hedge Witchery on facebook



Lily will answer all your questions. it is a rare treat to have such an approachable pub;isher on a blog, so do take advantage of this opportunity. I look firward to your comments.




Have a great day

The Author Experience: Jesse V Coffey and The Brothers Cameron: An Opportunity for Resentment

 First, I'd like to thank the APA for hosting me today. My name is Jesse V Coffey and I'm here to promote my latest release, The Brothers Cameron: An Opportunity for Resentment—officially out for the public as of September 15^th by Edin Road Press. It's available through my publisher, as well as Amazon's Kindle bookstore. It will also be available through iTunes/iBookstore, Barnes & Noble's Nook bookstore, Sony's bookstore, and others at the end of the month.

When I was young girl, I had a serious crush on Richard Chamberlain, on television at the time as Dr. Kildare. He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen—at my tender age of 10 or so. When he left to go "study acting" in England, I was heartbroken. When he returned a couple of years later, to star in Hallmark's Hall of Fame production of Hamlet Prince of Denmark, not only did I sit for four and a half hours absolutely glued to the TV but I found a new passion.

I have been in love with all things English since then. But if you ask me what my favorite time period is, I'd have to admit it's the Tudorian/Elizabethan time frame. The Italian Renaissance spread into England around the time that Henry VIII took the throne and resonated strongly in Elizabeth's reign. The Reformation of the Church, the scientific knowledge that was forming, and the amazing art fascinated me. But it was the comings and goings of the court of Henry, Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth were a never ending source of romantic dreams and plots in my head.

I'd always wanted to write a story set in that era, with the intrigue and danger that existed, not just in the courts but in the country side as well. When I met "Will" and "Stephan" through a mutual friend, I knew they were perfect characters. "Stephan" was the older of the two, tall and gorgeous, very muscular physique. I had a thing for him and it was a crying shame he was already engaged or I'd have done my best to sweep him off his feet. He was quick witted, spontaneous, and didn't hesitate about anything. His younger brother Will was dark, poetic, a scholar, and a romantic. Okay, I had a crush on him too. What can I say, he was also a musician. The fact that they were brothers added spice to the mix. I would take my two friends—who begged me to put them in one of my stories and I was only too happy to oblige—and put them in that setting.

Finding the story was the easiest part—take two brothers and add a romantic interest that both of them want to woo. And then, add another lady who's practically grown up with them, who has a thing for the youngest brother but he seems to be oblivious to that fact. The sparks are set for a romantic quadrangle that sure to light up the pages. But, add a member of the peerage who has something against the brothers—the whole family, in fact—and the clout to do something about it. Add an Irish mercenary who's living in the baron's pocket and paid to do something about the baron's "Cameron problem." And what you get from there is:

 

Stephan Cameron is impetuous and lusty; William Cameron is measured and romantic. Only one thing can divide the brothers--an attraction to the Lady Jessica Chynoweth, a flirty redhead who seems to have eyes for both--and the baron Joseph Turnbull besides. Only one thing can bring them together again--bringing the murderer of their father to justice. If it doesn't kill them first, they will! 

 An Opportunity for Resentment is the first book in the trilogy. The second book, A Crooked Rainbow Trail will be out next year, and hopefully the third book, A Wild Heart, will be out soon after.

Thanks for reading along. I hope you enjoy the book and I welcome your feedback.

Author Bio:

Jesse V Coffey, who also writes as J. W. Coffey and Meggie Chase, is the author of short story collection Illusions & Reality (J. W. Coffey) and new release The Brothers Cameron: An Opportunity for Resentment. She write a literary column and a writing column for the Lexington KY affiliate of Examiner.com, as well as a National Indie Romance Novel column. She also is the on air hostess of Edin Road Radio, an internet radio show that introduces new authors reading excerpts from their work. She is a member of ASCAP and the Erotic Authors Association.

Links:

http://www.authorjwcoffey.com
http://www.edinroad.com/radio
http://www.edinroad.com/press
http://www.facebook.com/jessevcoffey
http://twitter.com/#!/JesseVCoffey
http://about.me/jessevcoffey

Six of A Story: Author Michelle Davidson Argyle and Monarch

Our author today on Six of A Story, is Michelle Davidson Argyle and having followed Michelle's Lady Glamis blog for quite awhile (having spent years in the world of theatre, when I first came across her blog, I immediately caught the reference to Macbeth and was intrigued), I was thrilled to interview her about her new release,
Monarch.
 Here is more about Michelle:
 Michelle is a mother, artist, and writer who lives in the Rocky Mountains with her sword-wielding husband and energetic daughter. She writes contemporary, literary, and fantasy fiction. Michelle graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor's Degree in English/Creative Writing in 2002. Her short fiction has been published in the University of New Mexico's national literary journal, Scribendi, 2002, the Rose & Thorn Journal, 2010, Suspense Magazine, June 2011, and Stories for Sendai Anthology, 2011. She served as the editor-in-chief of Utah Valley University's literary magazine and has won awards for her short stories. She is also an editor/publisher of “The Literary Lab Presents…” series of anthologies.

Michelle believes imagination is the only rule in fiction. This is the foundation of her writing, and she plans to strengthen it with each and every story she writes. Her first traditionally published novel, Monarch, will be released September 2011 by Rhemalda Publishing.
Oh, and she likes peanut butter and tomato sandwiches. And cheese. Lots and lots of good cheese.
http://www.michelledavidsonargyle.com/
Monarch looked so fascinating, I wanted to know all about the characters and settings and events--there is even a seventh question-and I hope these great replies by Michelle, draws you in and gives you plenty of reasons to buy this book today.

1. How long has Nick been a CIA spy?  Is his wife's death the reason that he is leaving the CIA? 

Nick has been a CIA officer for most of his career, although he started out in the Army. He never actually leaves the CIA during the course of the novel, but he’s not quite sure if he’ll get fired when he discovers they are searching for him due to his being set up for a murder.  As for his wife’s death – she committed suicide (or he’s under the impression that she did so, and he might be right) because she never approved of his career choice in the beginning, and it eventually drove her away from him.

2. To have two daughters that resent what he's become, his career as a CIA agent must have started after the girls were of an age where they could really understand him.  How old are they now?  I'd peg them at mid to late teens which would result in Nick's CIA career being relatively short.  Is he resentful of having to drop his career?

Nick’s girls are well into their adulthood. Clara is in her mid-twenties, and Violet is entering her thirties. Clara is married, but Violet is still single. They grew up with a father who wasn’t home much because of his career, but he was sure to show his love to them. They resent what he has become because when they were teens, their mother committed suicide after which Nick became a different person, making choices they didn’t agree with.

3. If the U.S. has been hunting Ferreira for years, I wouldn't expect Nick's final case to be very quick unless he was doing a burn mission, which wouldn't make much sense.  So has he just promised to end his career once Ferreira is caught? 

Yes, Nick has agreed to try and find Ferreira as his last mission, and if he manages to do so he would then retire.

4. Nick does not seem to be a devoted family man.  Is Lilian a woman from long ago, or more recent?

In the past, Nick was very devoted to his wife and daughters, but after his wife’s death he pulled away from his daughters — mostly Violet because in a lot of ways he blames her for his wife’s death. This is one of the emotional issues he must deal with during the novel.  Seven years after the suicide, Nick meets Lilian and realizes the mistakes he has made in his choices. It is then that he starts to try and get closer to his daughters again and fix his mistakes. This does not truly happen until Monarch’s plot begins.

5. Is Ferreira based in the U.S. or does this story have a bit of international intrigue?

Ferreira is based in the Brazil, although nobody can find him there and it’s assumed he could be anywhere at any time. Monarch has a bit of international intrigue because some of it takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the Amazon.

6. Does the story parallel the Monarch butterfly's migration?

It does! Monarch follows the butterflies in many different ways. Part of the plot deals directly with the butterfly forgetting the past with the divorce of her ex-husband. This is where her character arc and true sense of growth in the story lies.monarch migration and the problems they are facing in becoming extinct. Part of the plot deals with the butterflies and how they must struggle to become such beautiful, strong creatures — just like the characters in the book.

7. Lilian Love owns a secluded Inn.  But, I don't think she is the damsel in distress type.  Am I right?

Lilian doesn’t think of herself as a damsel in distress, but in reality she does mirror that stereotype.  She’s a strong woman capable of running her own inn and taking charge of her own life; however, she does have issues with letting go of her son.

The blurb for MONARCH:

Nick’s life as a CIA spy should be fulfilling, but it has only given him unhappiness—a wife who committed suicide, and two daughters who resent everything he has become. Now, stuck in the Amazon on the last mission of his career, he must track down Matheus Ferreira, a drug lord and terrorist the U.S. has tried to bring down for years. If he succeeds, he’ll have the chance to start his life over again.

Just when Nick is on the brink of catching Ferreira, he’s framed for a murder that turns his world upside down. His only chance of survival lies in West Virginia where Lilian Love, a woman from his past, owns the secluded Monarch Inn. He’s safe, but not for long…

A random comment will win a free copy of Monarch (in PDF, Kindle or EPUB versions) to qualify, you have to be a follower of Michelle's blog or have given this author a like on Facebook :o) Contest open until 12:00pm EST, September 13th 2011.
 Would you like to be interviewed for Six of A Story? Please send all requests to: apasuggestions@gmail.com

Effective Writing and Blogging for Authors

The big trend lately is effective blogging and that’s a topic many authors who write romances are unable to grasp. We tend to deal in hard fiction, as it were and thus we tend to spout off on whatever random topic seems to come to mind without throwing a care to SEO or the mechanics of Google ranking. Worse yet, we tend to talk about things that don’t really matter as they don’t forward our career.

The problem with this is that it may show us having versatile interests; it doesn’t always draw attention to our platforms. When we speak of author platforms, we’re really trying to show how diverse our writing abilities are in a manner that does one of a few things. Either our blogs need to reflect our writing style as an extension of our brand, or they need to show more depth of who we are as authors.

So many blogs I’ve seen do little to help the author. Yes, in some instances we’re trying to strike controversy but does that help us? Take it from the KING of bad publicity (gay fish, anyone?) when I blog about my favorite oral fetishes on some romance blog, even if my language is appropriate for that blog, all I’m really doing is capitalizing on the short lived success of controversy. When I discuss cross dressing on my own blog though there is more relevance there due to my varied writing in erotic romance.

Be clear about our content. Ask yourself about the voice of the blog you’re writing for. Is it fun? It is quirky? Is it serious? Does it require a modicum of professionalism? Tailor your voice to suit that of the blog. On the Midnight Seductions Authors blogs for example, I tend to write about the process of writing from the standpoint of an established author. I have been writing longer than any other author in our blog aside from some of our guests. I have a lot of sage advice to offer.

Examine what topics you’re blogging on and why. When I put out a post on cross dressing, my point at the time was to use SEO tactics in hopes of capturing some traffic for affiliate marketing. I targeted that post to the few blogs I appear on where it’s appropriate.

Spend some actual time learning the delicate yet simple art of SEO. In this case I’m going to suggest you target your blogs to sites with a ton of traffic as I’ve learned from Student4Ever and a few others that back links from sites with a lot of traffic give Google the impression that you’re an expert. Learn proper link placement. It doesn’t make sense to use my name as a keyword. Nobody’s going to search for Sascha Illyvich the author, my analytical tools prove this. Sure I get hits based on that but it’s usually when I’ve said something of value.

These days blogging is still a needed form of promotion. Perhaps I'll cover that in later posts but right now I'm down from post con exhaustion, and I still have one more trade show to do!

Caressing Caitlyn at Amazon - sweet erotic romance

Caught in the Middle at Amazon - Hot Menage Stories