Hello, everyone!

With Adrienne, Tracey and Kelsey off to Nationals, Carrie rules the roost. Follow her this week for a special series on how to build your own blog with WordPress.com. Join us for RWA updates Wednesday through Saturday when RU goes High Tech with cell phones, laptops and digital cameras at the conference.

Mon 7/26 – Crafting Your Career: First in a series, Carrie Spencer walks us through building your own blog with WordPress for the Non-Techie. No experience necessary. Some assembly required.

Wed, 7/28 – Crafting Your Career: Second in the series, Carrie Spencer relentlessly drags us through Part Deux of WordPress for Non-techies in Pages, Posts and Bears – Oh My!

Fri, 7/30 – Crafting Your Career: Third of six, Carrie Spencer gets to the fun stuff with Pictures, Tags and Categories in WordPress for Non-techies. Be there or be square!

Wed – Sat – RU at RWA – RU Goes High Tech – Live Updates from RWA. What we’ve done so far, what workshops we attended, and what’s coming up next!

All Romance University lectures are generously provided by our Visiting Professors. RU is a tuition-free zone!

Best regards,

Kelsey Browning, Adrienne Giordano, Tracey Devlyn & Carrie Spencer

PS  - Want RU’s weekly lecture schedule in a cool new email format straight to your in-box? Sign up on RU’s homepage or any of the lecture posts!

Hello, everyone!

Join Romance University this week as we explore small publishers, gender affairs and writing for e-publishers.

Mon 7/19 – Crafting Your Career: Author Christi Barth chats about the benefits and challenges of writing for a small publisher, Eternal Press.

Wed, 7/21 – Anatomy of the Male Mind: Join us as radio host Bruce Sallan discusses the state of gender affairs in today’s culture.

Fri, 7/23 – Chaos Theory of Writing: Carina Press’s debut author J. Wachowski shares her thoughts on e-publishing.

All Romance University lectures are generously provided by our Visiting Professors. RU is a tuition-free zone!

Best regards,

Carrie Spencer, Kelsey Browning, Adrienne Giordano & Tracey Devlyn

PS  - Want RU’s weekly lecture schedule in a cool new email format straight to your in-box? Sign up on RU’s homepage or any of the lecture posts!

Good morning and welcome to Crafting Your Career. Writer Sally Bayless joins us for another installment of her publishing journey. Today, she shares with us how she discovered her lack of writing discipline and what she did to refocus on her writing. As we all know, discovering you have a “problem” can sometimes be half the battle. My hat’s off to Sally for discovering this issue at this stage, because discipline is so important to a writer’s success.

Here’s Sally!

During the past two months, I discovered a disturbing fact about my writing life. If this were a real job, I’d have been fired by now.

When I first thought about writing a novel, a dear friend who was a sculptor told me repeatedly to “treat it like a job.” And when I started writing in January 2009, I did. I outlined my story, made a PERT chart with each chapter as a task, and steadily worked toward my projected finish date, coming in a couple days early.

Then I began revising. And that’s where my job performance went downhill. I looked like a good little worker bee. I showed up—sitting for hours and hours at the computer. The thing about a real job, though, at least the ones I’ve had that paid enough to afford luxuries like Nordstrom shoe missions, is that you actually have to produce something.

Part of the problem—the part I’m giving myself a pass for—is that I’ve had, as my husband puts it, a rather steep learning curve. If there’s a basic writing error you can make, I committed it—in every chapter. So, for the past fourteen months, I’ve been revising, learning, and revising again. I’m now working my way through the book, implementing a major fix for some ugly plot problems. Once that’s done, I’ll need to polish, polish, polish, and then it’s time to query. But to be honest, what I’ve accomplished in revisions shouldn’t have taken fourteen months. And here’s where I’ll admit the rest of the problem: lack of discipline.

Every time I came to a point where I needed to think, I’d decide to check my e-mail instead. I’d work ten minutes, spend fifteen on e-mail, pop over to Facebook, then notice the laundry piled on the bed behind me, fold it, snag a fingernail and need to file it, then see that the rest of my nails looked twice as long and file all of them, then go hunt for a snack. I’d come back to my desk and see the FedEx truck driving up the street. In our tiny town, going shopping means Wal-Mart, so the FedEx man comes to our neighborhood every day. If I wasn’t running downstairs to meet him at the door, I’d start thinking of that new pair of shoes I’d been looking at. And then I’d have to zip over to Zappos and call my best shoe pal to discuss color choices. My friends here in town had assured me they wouldn’t call when I was supposed to be writing, so I called them. Whew! Clearly, this was not the work ethic of a model employee.

The longer this went on, the worse it got, especially when I tried to deal with a nasty quagmire in my plot. The less I concentrated, the more frustrating revisions became, and the more frustrating they got, the more time I wasted. I’d like to say I recognized this while it was happening, but no, it was only when the plot problem was solved and I made a nifty new PERT chart that I saw how long I’d been revising my WIP.

It may sound hypocritical, because I’m writing this in a blog, but a big chunk of my problem was the Internet. Now the online connections I’ve made have been invaluable to my growth as a writer. I’ve found a wealth of educational resources, encouragement, and friendship through Romance University, amazing critique partners, and writing organizations—all of it online. But remember the healthy food pyramid, with the big section of whole grains? Well, I think, even if you don’t have a real deadline, the healthy writing pyramid has to have similar big section of actual writing. Mine had become a bit skewed. Kind of like those days (rare, very rare, I promise) when my meals are mostly Chipotle and Ding Dongs. I was using my time online, the laundry, the summer sandal collection, anything I could find, to avoid problems with my book that I didn’t know how to fix.

With Ding Dongs (and sadly, with crunchy Cheetos as well), the bottom line is that I just can’t buy them, can’t allow them in the house, much to the disappointment of my family. If they’re there, I will eat them. And if distractions are available, I will play. So, based on my experiences with the beloved Hostess product, I’ve made a change. Previously, my desk was along one wall in the master bedroom. Now I’ve taken over the guest room, which is not wired for Internet, declared it my new office, and told my techno-savvy husband and 14-year-old son that I do not want a wireless Internet connection for my desktop computer. (Note that if you plan on visiting me, the nice queen-sized bed is gone. Guests will be offered an extra-long twin, probably piled with books, or kindly routed to the hotel down the hill.) My new routine is to return my e-mail, read blogs, etc., for no longer than an hour on my laptop in the kitchen while I return to consciousness in the morning. Then I turn off the laptop and “go to work” in the new office, one with no laundry to fold, no view of the street, no connection to the outside world, real or online.

There were some initial difficulties. For instance, I had an e-vite saved in e-mail on my desktop that I couldn’t figure out how to access. (I’m sure my husband or son could have moved that e-mail, but they’d already moved the, um, not-so-light desk, and I thought it best not to ask.) And now I have to do critiques on my laptop or transfer them back and forth to my desktop. I really like to work with the big screen of the desktop, so neither option is quite as easy as my previous setup. But I’m hoping my increased productivity on my own book will more than make up for this.

I can’t give definitive results yet. We’ve been traveling a lot since the big desk move, so I’ve only had a few days to try things out. But when we’ve been in town, I’ve accomplished my goals and then some. Of course, this new set-up will mean I spend less time shoe shopping during my work time, but hey, if Van Gogh can cut off an ear for his art, I can forgo a couple pairs of shoes.

So what about you? Is “Discipline” your middle name? Or do you have your own strategies for staying focused as a writer?

* * *

Thanks, Sally!!

RU Crew, let’s talk writing discipline and strategies for staying focused! Share with us your success (and not so successful) stories.

Join us on Monday when author Christi Barth shares her thoughts on small publishers.

Sally’s Bio:

Sally Bayless is learning to write inspirational romantic suspense and cozy mysteries. Before realizing that ordinary people were allowed to write fiction, she edited corporate publications and technical reports. In January 2010, she was a finalist in the first contest she entered, SVRWA’s Gotcha. A member of ACFW, RWA, MWA, and several online groups, Sally lives in rural Ohio with her husband and two children.

Hello, everyone!

Join Romance University this week as we cover the gamut from refocusing on your writing, whether men fantasize about other women, connecting with readers via your website and grounding those flying body parts!

Mon 7/12 – Crafting Your Career: Find out how a PERT chart helped Sally Bayless recognize her lack of writing discipline. She’ll walk us through the drastic steps she took to refocus on her writing.

Wed, 7/14 – Anatomy of the Male Mind: RU once again goes where few others dare. Wayne Levine asks some men if they fantasize about other women while making love to their wives. A not to miss lecture!

Thu, 7/15 – Special Lecture: Jeannie Ruesch of Will Design for Chocolate returns for the final lesson on websites. This installment concentrates on multi-published authors and what they can add to a website to enhance the experience and connection with readers.

Fri, 7/16 – Chaos Theory of Writing: Join us for Ask An Editor where Theresa Stevens helps us ground our flying body parts.

All Romance University lectures are generously provided by our Visiting Professors. RU is a tuition-free zone!

Best regards,

Tracey Devlyn, Carrie Spencer, Kelsey Browning & Adrienne Giordano

PS  - Want RU’s weekly lecture schedule in a cool new email format straight to your in-box? Sign up on RU’s homepage or any of the lecture posts!

Good morning and welcome to Anatomy of the Male Mind! I’m excited to introduce you to Sarah C., a young adult reader and fan of the Twilight series. As an avid reader of the genre, Sarah’s consumed hundreds of YA books in her score of years, especially the paranormal sub-genre. Today, Sarah’s going to give us the scoop on why masses of young readers (and not so young) are “crazy” for the Twilight Saga. Specifically, obsessed over Edward and Jacob. It is guy-day, after all.

Sarah will stop by later this afternoon to answer your questions.

The class is yours, Sarah!

Many adults have been hearing about the crazy obsession that seems to have consumed the teenage/young adult world; the Twilight Saga. T-shirts, posters, buttons, mugs, bumper stickers…in a “gimmie-more,” capitalistic society the Twilight series has whipped up a frenzy that is as intoxicating as it is profitable. Most adults are questioning why their children, grandchildren, nieces, etc…, have become so fixated with this series. Having been fifteen when the first book was released, I have a pretty good hold on why the masses are becoming so consumed with everything Twilight. Atfifteen, with hormones raging and such a limited scope of what the “real world” is like, teenage girls’ thoughts are overrun by boys, dating, and love. So when a book comes out that has somehow successfully married all of these ideas and then proceeds to add a hot werewolf and a sexy vampire into the mix, you can bet money that it’s going to be the next BIG thing. On the surface, you might be wondering what is so appealing about a dead guy who sucks blood and a feverish wolf boy with a bad temper.

Let’s go Team Edward for a moment. Edward is a 17 year old boy who has been the same age since 1918. His life began in a time where women were meant to be treasured and cared for. Consider how well he would treat you, being from the early 1900s and having completely different standards and morals than say a 17 year old boy born in 1990. In 1918, a man wooed a woman, courted her, and showered her with affection and gifts. Fast forward to 2010 and I can barely get my boyfriend to remember to put the toilet seat down. Despite the way relationships function now-a-days, the idea of a chivalrous gentleman who will open doors, write you musical lullabies and save you from danger still makes women’s hearts go pitter patter. Perhaps the most romantic thing Edward has going for him is that while he has spent the past 100 years of existence as a vampire, never before has he found anyone he wanted to be with for eternity until he met Bella. Furthermore, he is willing to risk the torture of his insatiable desire for her blood – he goes against his very nature, his own carnal instinct, to continue to love her. What teenage girl wouldn’t want to be “the one”?

Team Jacob is not to be out done though. His most appealing quality is that of his happy and outgoing personality. He has fun with life–enjoys every second of every day, because he has a sense of aging. Another of Jacob’s most valuable traits is that although he turns into a wolf sometimes, he’s also human. He is a living, breathing, being. He can relate to Bella on being a confused growing teenager because he’s actually getting older. Although Jacob is only 16 and hasn’t been around for 100 years, his maturity level is sky high. He knows he wants Bella and loves her so he’s going to do everything he can to be with her. Even if that means being there for her while she’s pining over another guy. In the series, Bella and Jacob develop a very strong bond and become the best of friends. In our real life relationships we all look for a lover and a best friend in one, which is why so many people think that Jacob is the right choice for Bella. He, like Edward, is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Bella safe from harm. With his inhuman strength and speed, protecting her comes easy to him. Bella means the world to him and he won’t let anything or anyone get in the way of his love for her.

The battle of who is better for Bella will continue until the Twilight hype decreases, so Team Edward and Team Jacob are here to stay. The fans of both the novels and movies have their own opinions about who is better than who but the main points are clear on both sides. If you appreciate a cultured, world traveler, who shimmers in the sun, Edward is your man. If you long for strolls under the full moon, puppy dog eyes, and a warm, kind-hearted heart throb, Jacob is your man.

If you’re smart, like Bella, you’ll let both of these men fight over you!

* * *

Thanks, Sarah!!

RU Crew, which are you–Team Jacob or Team Edward? Inquiring minds want to know. Well, I do ’cause I’m just nosey, er, inquisitive that way.

Curious about paranormal? Wondering what it takes to succeed as a writer in this ever-popular sub-genre? Then stop by on Friday to hear what authors Angie Fox and Erin Kellison and Dorchester’s editorial director Leah Hultenschmidt have to say!

Kathy Bremner is the winner of Alex’s The Harrowing and AJ Best wins a copy of Book of Shadows! Please drop me a quick note at Tracey@RomanceUniversity.org and we’ll coordinate on your prizes.

Thanks once again to Alex Sokoloff for her fantastic lecture and her generosity!

Hello, everyone!

Join Romance University this week as we discuss query writing, a young adult’s view of the Twilight craze and the paranormal romance sub-genre with authors Angie Fox and Erin Kellison and Dorchester editor Leah Hultenschmidt.

Mon 7/5 – Crafting Your Career: C.J. Redwine returns for another installment of Query Writing 101.

Wed, 7/7 – Anatomy of the Male Mind: Love Bites – Sarah C. shares a young adult’s perspective on the appealing qualities of a tortured vampire and a bad boy werewolf. A look at the Twilight craze.

Fri, 7/9 – Chaos Theory of Writing: Authors Angie Fox and Erin Kellison stop by to chat about the popular paranormal romance sub-genre, and Dorchester editor Leah Hultenschmidt will also drop in to answer questions throughout the day.

All Romance University lectures are generously provided by our Visiting Professors. RU is a tuition-free zone!

Best regards,

Tracey Devlyn, Carrie Spencer, Kelsey Browning & Adrienne Giordano

PS  - Want RU’s weekly lecture schedule in a cool new email format straight to your in-box? Sign up on RU’s homepage or any of the lecture posts!

Good morning and welcome Chaos Theory of Writing! Today, I’m excited to introduce supernatural thriller author Alexandra Sokoloff to the RU Crew. I first heard of Alex through a friend who used her Screenwriting Tricks for Authors blog to help her learn how to plot. Then I saw Alex’s latest novel Book of Shadows featured on the International Thriller Writers web site. And the clincher, the moment I knew I had to invite Alex to blog with us, was after listening to an RWA workshop on the paranormal sub-genre, featuring Alex and bestselling novelist Heather Graham. It became very clear to me why I was seeing and hearing Alex’s name here, there, and everywhere. She knows her stuff. It’s that simple.

Leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of The Harrowing or Alex’s newest release Book of Shadows. Thank you, Alex, for your generosity!

It’s time for me to let the expert takeover. Welcome to RU, Alex!

When Tracey asked me to guest lecture here at RU, the question she lobbed at me was “How have you successfully distinguished yourself in a genre dominated by men?”   (By which she meant – horror).

Hah.

I can tell you exactly.   I have never, ever forgotten that the most interesting authors in this genre have ALWAYS been women.

Don’t get me wrong.   I am the most avid fan of Stephen King, Ira Levin, Sheridan LeFanu, Richard Matheson, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Dan Simmons, Thomas Harris, Bram Stoker, Shakespeare – and the grandfathers of horror, the Greek tragedians (ever read or see Medea?   Yike.).

But ever since I was – well, way too young to be reading this kind of thing – I have loved Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley, Daphne DuMaurier, the Bronte sisters, Anne Rice, and the lesser known but absolutely revolutionary Charlotte Perkins Gilman, who in The Yellow Wallpaper turned post-partum depression into a descent into hell that I personally may never recover from.

There are advantages and drawbacks to being – “special”.   When there are so few women writing what  do, I tend to stand out.   On the other hand, a male-dominated genre tends to have more of its share of not exactly female friendly critics and reviewers (recently a prominent dark genre magazine editor came under fire for running an article on 34 horror writers and directors – that had not one single interview with or mention of a female author or director).

But let’s face it – women have a lot to say about horror. We live with violence on a much more intimate and everyday level than most men do. A walk out to the parking lot from the grocery store can on any given night turn into a nightmare which a woman may not survive, or from which she will never fully recover.

I think security expert and author Gavin DeBecker (who wrote the must-read The Gift of Fear) got it exactly right when he said, “A man’s greatest fear about a woman is that she’ll laugh at him. A woman’s greatest fear about a man is that he’ll kill her.”

Women know what it’s like to be prisoners in their own homes, what it’s like to be enslaved, to be stalked, to be prostituted, what it’s like to be ultimately powerless. And they know everything there is to know about rage, even when it’s so deeply buried they don’t know that’s what it is they’re feeling.

(Actually the mystery to me is why more women AREN’T writing horror.)

So it’s that truth that I try to tap into when I write:  my outrage at the truly evil things that happen in the world… and my absolute belief that human beings have the capacity to fight and overcome evil.

Now, I don’t consider myself an out-and-out horror writer.  What I think I write is supernatural thrillers.    Well, kind of.   Maybe supernatural mysteries.    Or paranormal mysteries?

Oh all right, I admit it – I have a genre identity problem.  Depending on which bookstore or library you walk into, I’m shelved in horror, mystery/thriller, fiction and literature.  I go to mystery, thriller, romance, horror, and even sci-fi/fantasy conferences, and have avid readers at each.   Add to that the fact that as a screenwriter I would work on projects that could start out as adventure thrillers and end up as musicals, through that special process Hollywood calls “development”; and add to THAT my own personality disorder – I mean, chameleon nature – and the fact that my own publisher is careful not to call what I do “horror”…  yes, I’m a bit confused.

And I admit it – it’s hard, when paranormal and urban fantasy are SO huge, not to want to just jump on the bandwagon.  After all, I write about the paranormal, and about the erotic, and my books attract a lot of paranormal fans… it’s not that much of a stretch…   so tempting…

But the truth is,  I’m not a big fan of the wisecracking kick-ass heroine.   I would so, so much rather an author get serious and scare me, especially in a psychological way.    And I love a life-affirming ending, but I’d rather have honest ambiguity than a blanket Happily Ever After.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve asked my agent if I should just write a straight thriller for the next book, and he always says, “No, it’s going to take some time, but you’re doing something that almost nobody else is doing, and people will find you.”

Well,  people have found me, and I keep getting book deals and royalty checks, and I am starting to understand that my agent is right – not many people at all are writing this kind of thing, and people are paying attention.   I’ve been reviewed by the New York Times, nominated for Anthony (mystery), Bram Stoker (horror), and Black Quill (horror) awards and am the first and only woman so far to win an International Thriller Writers Thriller Award.

And I know from the letters I get that a lot of readers read me because I really do scare them, in a nail-biting, hair-raising kind of way -  I just don’t do any of that in-your-face stuff.   I won’t even read a book or see a movie that has torture or rape in it, so you know I don’t write it (I do write about characters who have been sexually abused, but that’s not something I’ll ever show).

The sensual thrill of the unknown…   the chilly feeling of something unfathomable behind the door…  that’s what I’m after.

So I’ve learned that I have to be true to myself and write what I most love to read – the same kind of thing that terrific writers like Tana French, Mo Hayder, Sarah Langan, Sara Gran, Elizabeth Hand, Sarah Pinborough, and Rhodi Hawk are writing.   What it is, is feminist horror.  Or since the Right has somehow insidiously twisted “feminism” into as dirty a word as “politically correct” – even just “feminine horror.”

That’s what galvanized me about Shelley, Jackson, DuMaurier and Gilman when I discovered them, growing up. Not just that they told ripping good scary stories, dripping with perverse sexuality and unnerving psychological insight, but that those stories were from an unmistakably and unrelentingly female point of view. About oppression and patriarchy and a kind of madness, but prophetic madness, that comes with always being the Other.

It might not be mainstream, but it’s the truth, as I see it – and live it.   And writing is just too hard to try to write against your own nature.

I’m lucky enough to be a full-time writer, writing what I love.   And that – is no small thing, these days.

So how about you?   Do you ever walk on the dark side in your reading and/or writing?    Or have you ever hesitated about writing something you were drawn to write because you thought, or someone told you, it wouldn’t sell?

Let’s talk about it!

- Alex

* * *

Thanks, Alex!

RU Crew, be sure to answer Alex’s question for a chance to win a copy of The Harrowing or her newest release Book of Shadows.

Be sure to visit again on Monday when urban fantasy writer C.J. Redwine critiques another reader’s query letter.

Alex’s Bio:

As a screenwriter, Alexandra Sokoloff has sold original mystery and thriller scripts and written novel adaptations for numerous Hollywood studios.  Her debut ghost story, THE HARROWING, was nominated for both a Bram Stoker award (horror) and Anthony award (mystery) for Best First Novel.   Her second supernatural thriller, THE PRICE, was called some of the most original and freshly unnerving work in the genre by the New York Times Book Review, and her short story, The Edge of Seventeen, won the International Thriller Writers’ Thriller award for Best Short Fiction.

Alex’s third spooky thriller, THE UNSEEN, is based on real-life experiments conducted at the Rhine parapsychology lab on the Duke University campus, and her new release, BOOK OF SHADOWS, teams a cynical Boston cop and a beautiful, mysterious witch from Salem in a race to solve a Satanic killing.

Alex is also the author of SCREENWRITING TRICKS FOR AUTHORS, based on her internationally acclaimed workshops and blog. For more information about Alex, visit her web site http://alexandrasokoloff.com.

Hello, everyone!

Join Romance University this week as we discuss the medical genre, the definition of manliness and thriller writing. Don’t miss out!

Mon 6/28 – Crafting Your Career: Author Janice Lynn and Harlequin Mills & Boon Assistant Editor Lucy Gilmour dig deep into the medical romance sub-genre. Stop by to get their take on what makes a hot medical romance.

Wed, 6/30 – Anatomy of the Male Mind: Definition of Manliness – Join us as three men share their thoughts on what makes a good man.

Fri, 7/2 – Chaos Theory of Writing: Alexandra Sokoloff discusses how women authors rule the field in paranormal romance, but supernatural thrillers and horror are still completely male-dominated genres…at the moment. Come explore how some darker femmes are taking back the genre and claiming our birthright as the daughters of Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, Daphne DuMaurier, the Bronte sisters, Anne Rice, and other mistresses of horror. Leave a comment for your chance to win one of Alex’s books–The Harrowing or Book of Shadows!

All Romance University lectures are generously provided by our Visiting Professors. RU is a tuition-free zone!

Best regards,

Adrienne Giordano, Tracey Devlyn, Carrie Spencer & Kelsey Browning

PS  - Want RU’s weekly lecture schedule in a cool new email format straight to your in-box? Sign up on RU’s homepage or any of the lecture posts!

Congratulations to Luanna, random-number 9, who wins free registration to the August yahoogroups class on His Personality Ladder!

Luanna, contact Laurie via her website (www.BookLaurie.com) and she’ll get your email address for the class…or if you’re busy in August, you can donate the prize to a friend or let Laurie know to draw another number.

Thanks once again to Laurie Schnebly Campbell for her fantastic lecture and her generosity!