How manuscripts did you write before you sold? Five. The first one doesn’t count though. That was my practice book. =)

How long was it from the time you began writing seriously and the time you sold? Oooh, tough question. I’m going to focus on the writing seriously part because the practice book alone took me a few years. I was probably writing (in spurts) for six or seven years before I thought I had something good enough to shop. I was submitting for five years before I got the call.

Tell us about The Call. Was there singing? Dancing? Drinking champagne out of a stiletto? There was shock. For sure. Maybe a little disbelief. LOL. I actually wasn’t home when Angela James called. She left me a message (which I still have saved) and when I picked up the message, I listened to it three times. I had to put the phone on speaker because my hands were shaking. In the message, she said she would send me an email so I ran to my office to see if the email was there. I refused to let myself get excited until I saw the email. The email confirmed it for me. It was also a special day because it would have been my father’s 80th birthday. So, I think my Dad sent me a gift from heaven. For more on that see this RU post. As a side note, the second book I reference in The Call post was also acquired by Carina. The book needed fairly major revisions, but I was determined to get it published because writing it helped me get through the brutality of grief.
What are your favorite Man Laws? I have a few:
Never mess with your best friend’s sister.
Never wonder if you should have thrown the asshole off the roof.
Never mess with another guy’s grill.

Was there a challenge in writing a man’s POV? Or does it come natural? I loved, loved, loved writing this book. It was the first time I really let myself go in terms of finding the character’s voice and it was so much fun. The interesting thing for me is that the male POV usually comes much easier than the female. I have no idea what to think of that, (considering I’m a woman!), but I’m not going to analyze it. =)

Who are you dedicating your first book to, and why? My dad. He, in every way, represented strength and dignity and he never, ever gave up. When he believed in something, he fought hard for it.

After years of submitting my work, I was getting discouraged, but I knew if I wanted to be published, I couldn’t give up. If my dad taught me anything, it was to keep fighting.

Why do you think this particular manuscript sold? The hero. Hands down. Don’t get me wrong, I had fun with the plot, but the hero in this book isn’t your typical hero. He’s the sort of guy you meet and think “Yikes. What an idiot.” But then you get to know him a little bit and realize he has a huge heart and is extremely loyal, so you’re willing to forgive his unintentional slip-ups.

What surprised you about the sell? I’d been submitting the book for a few years and had been getting great feedback on it, but no one was willing to take a chance. I submitted it to Carina after a friend sold to them, but decided if they rejected it, I would rewrite the story. I love the hero in this book and wanted his story to be told. I had actually started outlining the revised plot when I received the call from Carina. So, I guess the answer is I was surprised the book sold when it did.

What challenges have you faced since “the call” you didn’t realize you would encounter? Time. Time has been my enemy for the last four months. People always say to have other books ready when the call comes because your editor will ask to see them. Well, believe it. In my case, I had two other books in the series and an idea for a fourth. Carina bought the second and third books, but wanted revisions on the first in the series. I immediately dove into those revisions. By the time I was done with the rewrite of book one, I received the first round revisions on book two. In the last five months I’ve done revisions on three books. At one point in May I was revising two books at the same time.

Let me just mention that in between all of this, I’ve had to get my website revamped (thank you, Carrie!), get my Twitter and Facebook pages up and running, create author accounts at all the various social networking sites and create a newsletter. Be warned gang, the marketing end of being published can be a full-time job in itself. Figure out ahead of time, what kind of time you’re willing to sacrifice from your writing. I promise, you will never, ever be done with marketing. There will always be something to do. You just need to decide what the most important tasks are because you will need time to write.

Is there anything you wished you’d done before you sold? Not really. And I say that honestly. I’m a big believer in learning experiences. Whether the experience has been good or bad, I always want to walk away knowing more than I did before. The road to publication continues to be a tremendous learning experience and I don’t think I’d change any of it.

What’s your best advice for writers who are still waiting to sell? I’m sure you’ve all heard this one. I know I did, but it’s true. Keep writing. When you finish a book, start the next one. While you’re submitting books, write the next one. Don’t sit around waiting for answers on submissions. Keep writing. Here are three reasons why:

My first book just launched.
I have a September 2011 release.
I have a November 2011 release.

Last year at this time, I was contemplating taking a break from writing because the grind of trying to get published was wearing me down, and then— bam!—I sold three books. That’s how it works. If you have books ready, you’re editor will want to see them.

Do you have anything else you’d like to share with the Romance University readers? Just that I think you all are a smart, savvy bunch and I’m so proud to tell people I’m a co-founder of this blog. We have the most amazing readers. Time and time again, we hear from Visiting Professors that we have great conversations at RU. That wouldn’t happen without our readers, so thank you all for making this blog what it is.

And last, will you tell us all about your debut book?
As if I’d say no. LOL. Man Law is about security consultant Vic Andrews. Vic lives by his Man Laws:
Never mess with your best friend’s sister
Never get caught
Never get attached
When one of Vic’s assignments goes wrong and the target selects Gina Delgado and her kids for revenge, there’s nothing Vic won’t do to protect the family he realizes, too late, he wants. He’ll accomplish his mission but he breaks most of his Man Laws in the process and almost loses his only chance at true love.

If you’d like to read an excerpt of Man Law click here. I’m also giving away a copy of Man Law to a commenter. And because this is RU (and I’m crazy about you readers), I’m also giving away a pair of bullet earrings. Oh, heck, why not? Let’s do a third giveaway of a bullet key chain.

So, get those comments rolling if you want to win one of the three gifts.  Psst…RU, Crew, I’ve teamed up with our own Tracey Devlyn and two other mystery authors for a NOOK giveaway at Romance and Suspense.com.  So, if you’re in the market for a NOOK, just click here for the details!

Man Law available at:

Carina Press
Amazon
Barnes & Noble

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RU Readers! Do you have a particularly manly man in your life? What are some of HIS Man Laws?

Join us on Monday as Misty Evans walks us through helpful pointers on writing a series.

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Adrienne’s Bio: Adrienne Giordano writes romantic suspense and women’s fiction. She is a Jersey girl at heart, but now lives in the Midwest with her work-a-holic husband, sports obsessed son and Buddy the Wheaton Terrorist (Terrier). She is a co-founder of Romance University blog. Adrienne’s debut romantic suspense, Man Law, will be released by Carina Press on July 4, 2011. Her second book, A Just Deception, will be available from Carina Press on September 5, 2011. For more information please visit www.AdrienneGiordano.com. Adrienne can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

Anna, thanks so much for joining us today.

You’ve written six books since 2006 and received oodles of awards. Has your writing process changed with each successive book? Was writing your first book, CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, easier than writing your latest, MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION?

Hi Jen! Thanks for inviting me to Romance U today. Each book seems to require a different process. Most of the time, it’s really tough, especially writing the first draft. I wrote both Claiming the Courtesan and Untouched before I was published so at least with them I had the luxury of no deadline. The two of them together probably took me five years – I’d leapfrog them by working on different drafts of each one. For some reason that I wish I could figure out, Midnight’s Wild Passion came like a gift. Smoothest bit of writing I’ve done in years. I wish they were all like that!

Romance often gets a bad rap for being formulaic and full of tired clichés. Your books have unconventional heroes and heroines who find themselves in situations which aren’t the norm for most historicals. Your heroines aren’t husband-seeking misses at Almack’s but women who’ve experienced life’s harsher realities. Are your heroines (and heroes) based on historical figures you’ve researched?

As you know, I do a lot of general reading about the Regency and then once I’ve got a story in mind, I pinpoint the things I need to know more about like courtesans or the treatment of mental illness. Many of my characters do have a basis in real people. With Claiming the Courtesan, it was almost uncanny. After I’d written the first draft, I picked up Katie Hickman’s Courtesans which included the story of Elizabeth Armistead, a courtesan who married the aristocratic Charles James Fox, one of the era’s most famous politicians. Elizabeth and my Verity had so much in common, I was astonished at the links. Gideon’s background in Captive of Sin is based loosely on the British army officers Conolly and Stoddart who were captured by the Amir of Bokhara in the Victorian era and kept in a pit in the marketplace until their eventual execution. In Tempt the Devil, a lot of Olivia’s idiosyncrasies stemmed from the famous Victorian courtesan Skittles, including the way she’d have herself sewn into a riding habit to show off her fabulous figure when she rode in Hyde Park. Sorry – I can go on about this stuff for hours! I’ll stop now.

I love reading historicals because of the fascinating tidbits of history, and I know you’re a big history buff. Is the period in which you write one of your favorite periods of history? Can you share a couple of your favorite research sites for the period? 

Jen, I love writing Regencies. And not just because of the fashions (although the fashions are pretty cool). I love the way it’s the last hoorah of decadence before Victorian morality hit the scene. I love the elegance and the wit. I also love the contrast between glittering surface of the elegant aristocratic world and the harsh circumstances of life beyond all that luxury. When it comes to research, I mainly use books – I find a lot of internet sites can be unreliable. Favorite resources include The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose (full of wonderfully naughty phrases), my shorter Oxford English Dictionary and What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool which is great for a quick check of things like modes of address. A gorgeous book for anyone, not just Regency buffs, is Steven Parissien’s Regency Style. On the net, I love the BBC resources and the English National Trust sites are always inspirational when I’m seeking a luxurious bower where my hero and heroine can get up to mischief.

Your books are big on emotion. Which is easier to write, the hero or heroine’s emotional arc?  

Hey, thanks! Actually it depends on the story – whoever has the most difficult row to hoe tends to be the person who gets the most complex emotional arc. While both my hero and heroine generally have big problems, one will have BIGGER problems. So in Claiming the Courtesan, the person who had to come the longest way was the Duke of Kylemore. In Untouched, it was Matthew. In Tempt the Devil, Olivia is the one with the hardest road ahead before she gets her happy ending. With Captive of Sin, Gideon is definitely the one with the major problems. My Reckless Surrender, it’s more heroine-centric with Diana needing redemption rather than Tarquin. In Midnight’s Wild Passion, it’s back to the hero, the Marquess of Ranelaw, needing to learn some big lessons before he gets his happily ever after.

I’ve wanted to ask this question for a while. The BIG words. :) Reading your books has certainly improved my vocabulary. I remember reading Claiming the Courtesan and telling you I had to look up five words in the first two chapters. My CP Carrie said she had to look up words too. So, I have to ask…when you were unpubbed and active on the contest circuit, did you ever get comments from judges about using “big” words?

Ha ha! Yes, I’m fond of fruity vocabulary as you’ve noticed. I think that’s part of my voice and yes, I have had a few people yelping with horror of the idea of having to reach for a dictionary occasionally. One industrious judge even went to the trouble of rewriting the entire first chapter of Claiming the Courtesan in words of one syllable. One of the things I love about romance is that there is such a variety of styles – mine tends to veer toward the baroque. It’s all part of life’s rich tapestry, LOL!

One piece of advice for unpubbed authors?

There’s so many distractions out there but if you want to be a writer, you have to write.

Okay, enough with the serious stuff. Vanity Fair Magazine is known for their Proust Questionnaire.  Here at RU have the RU-oost Questionnaire.

Three writers (living or dead) you’d like to have dinner with… 

Dorothy Dunnett, Sir Walter Scott, Georgette Heyer.

You wish you could write like…

Susan Elizabeth Phillips.

The one word you tend to overuse…

Actually it’s probably ‘actually’.

Two places you’d love to visit or re-visit. (Please note: A tropical island resort with Richard Armitage lounging sans shirt in a hammock outside your tiki hut does not count.)

Dang! You took my answer! I’d love to go to Iceland and I’d love to go back to Cordoba in Spain one day. Can I take Richard?

And finally, complete the following sentence.  He silenced her with a….

Goodness me! Let me work on my fantasy life. OK, this really turns me on – he silenced her with a mouthful of Swiss chocolate.

Check out the gorgeous book trailer for Anna’s latest book Midnight’s Wild Passion.

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So what do you like to see in a Regency romance? The classic elements like balls and Almack’s and the season (Midnight’s WildPassion is actually pretty much a classic Regency)? Or do you like the stories to range further afield? 

Tomorrow, historical author Kris Kennedy talks about “Becoming a Master Craftsman: Quality Over Quantity. 

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Australian Anna Campbell is the author of six Regency historical romances for Avon. Her most recent release (26^th April) is Midnight’s Wild Passion. Anna blogs regularly with the Romance Bandits (www.romancebandits.blogspot.com) and you can also find her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/#!/AnnaCampbellFans Please check out her website: www.annacampbell.info

Stories are not lists of things that happen.

They are transformative affairs.

This became clear to me one night when I was reading a bedtime story to my five-year-old daughter. In the story, five sisters had a picnic, then played dress-up, then ran around outside, then danced, then sang. Finally, my daughter sighed and told me she was bored.

“You don’t like the story?” I said.

“‘Course not!” she exclaimed. “Nothing’s going wrong!”

Aha. Yes.

Even at five years old, my daughter understood that a story is not a list of events; it is the account of a character facing a struggle.

At its essence your story isn’t about what your protagonist does, but rather what she is trying to achieve, overcome, or accomplish. Tension, not action, propels a story forward. So, one of the first keys to building engaging stories is to stop asking what should happen and start looking for ways to make things go wrong.

Key #1 – Create Reader Empathy & Concern
Readers will not care about your story until they care about what happens to your protagonist. And they will not care what happens to your protagonist until they have both empathy for that character and concern about her.

It has to be both.

Your protagonist might be sarcastic, but she must not be smarmy. She might be unhappy, but she cannot be whiny. She might do undesirable things, but she cannot be unlikable. Only when the reader has both empathy and concern for your protagonist will he or she connect on an emotional level with your story.

To engage readers in this way, you’ll need your main character to desire something your reader desires, but not (at least at first) be able to get it. For example, your protagonist might want to love or be loved, to find freedom, to pursue her dreams, to overcome the wounds of the past, to learn to forgive, or any number of things. But only when readers emotionally identify with that central unmet desire of your protagonist will they be drawn into the story.

Key #2 – Add Multi-layered Struggles
In the world of marketable fiction today your protagonist will need both an external struggle and an internal struggle. So, give her both a problem to solve (avoid foreclosure, slay the dragon, escape from prison) and a desire to fulfill (any of the things I listed in Key #1). These two intertwined struggles drive the plot and the character development forward.

And remember, the initiation of at least one of these struggles must happen on the pages of your story.

Depending on the logic of the story you’re telling, one of the two struggles might have occurred before the first chapter. For example, in my book The Pawn, you first meet my protagonist, FBI special agent Patrick Bowers, on a helicopter flight to a crime scene in the mountains. You soon find out that he’s still emotionally devastated from the death of his wife eight months earlier. So, the introduction of the external crisis occurs in the first chapter, but the introduction of the internal crisis happened eight months earlier.

You might explain one of these struggles, but you must render the other one.

Key #3 – Escalate the Tension
If the tension of the story doesn’t build as the story progresses the reader will lose interest.
Generally, the worse things get for your protagonist as she tries to resolve her struggles the more the readers will be drawn into the story. We want to see the main character get into an impossible situation, and then find a way out that is both unexpected and inevitable.

So instead of constructing a story around a theme (such as forgiveness or freedom, or whatever) build your story around a moral dilemma: What’s more important: truth or justice? What makes us different from those who do the unthinkable? At what point does intimacy require dishonesty?

Tension is built by raising the stakes, deepening the danger, and shortening the time available to complete the task at hand.

It’s all about unmet desire.

Think about this: in a romance story as soon as the romance begins, the central internal struggle of the two main characters is answered, their desire is fulfilled, and the story is over.
So in a very real way, romance stories are not about romance; they are about romantic tension. To deepen this tension, introduce more cultural or societal pressure to keep the couple apart, add misunderstanding between the lovers, create meaningful deadlines, or make one of them choose between saving the life of the other, or sacrificing him (or her) self.

Key #4 – Reveal the Transformation
When I was a sophomore in high school my English teacher told us that a story is something with “a beginning, a middle, and an end.” To this day I remember sitting in class thinking, So what? Everything does! A description of a chair has a beginning, middle, and end. But that’s not a story.

Over the years I’ve heard other teachers give this definition of a story, and, quite honestly, it’s not a very helpful one for people who are serious about improving their storytelling.

At its heart, a story is about a vulnerable character who faces a struggle and makes a discovery that changes his life. I like to tell people that a story is “transformation unveiled.”

So if your character is the same (emotionally, physically, relationally, spiritually, or psychologically) at the end of the story as she was at the beginning of the story, you don’t yet have a story; you simply have a list of events.

If your protagonist isn’t altered, your story isn’t finished.

In summary, create reader empathy and concern, develop meaningful struggles for the protagonist to overcome, continually tighten the tension, climactically resolve the conflict, and then show how the protagonist’s life is altered, and you’ll snag readers’ attention early and keep them engaged until the very last page.

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RU Readers – how do you find ways for more things to go wrong for your characters?

Join us tomorrow to read an excerpt from Ann Charles’ Nearly Departed in Deadwood, followed at 8pm CST with a live chat!

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Bio: Steven James has a Master’s Degree in Storytelling. He has written five critically acclaimed psychological suspense novels and taught writing and creative communication on three continents. Publishers Weekly calls him “[A] master storyteller at the peak of his game.”

We love firsts, don’t we?  First kiss, first love, first book, first sale.

Now I like firsts as much as the next girl but today, I’d like to talk about seconds.  Specifically, I want to talk about the second book.  My second book, MONEY SHOT, is due out on June 7, and it is without a doubt the best, strongest book I have ever written.  But I won’t lie to you people.  Writing it was a career-shaking disaster.

Because here’s the thing about second books.  That magic formula you finally discovered, allowing you to write a book that actually sold?  Yeah, you’re not allowed to use it again.  You can’t write the second book that same way.

And why not?  Because when somebody buys your debut book in a two-book deal, you have to give your editor a proposal outlining what exactly it is you’re planning to write for that second book.  And then you have to write THAT.  Or something approximating that.

As it turns out, I have two problems with this model.

Problem one:   I don’t know what I’m going to write before I write it.  Even when I outline it in excruciating detail, I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen.  Or, wait, I do know what’s going to happen–the broad strokes, anyway–but I don’t know to whom.  Or exactly how.

See, when I outline a book, it looks mostly like dialogue, only without any attribution tags.  Because it’s not the who that’s important to me, it’s the what.  It’s the argument.  When I write a story, it’s all about letting the two opposing viewpoints in my head duke it out.  The characters are just vehicles for the argument.  And back in the day, when my writing was just another invisible mommy chore I sandwiched between loads of laundry, this was no big deal.  Draft one rolls around and I assign my heroine Opinion A and my hero Opinion B because, hey, it seems reasonable.  And if, three drafts down the road, I realize the book won’t work unless it’s my heroine who holds Opinion B, and the hero who’s all about Opinion A?  No worries.  Nothing but time, baby.

Except now?  Not so much.  Now there are deadlines and expectations and oh dear lord I’m disappointing everybody who ever believed in me or–worse–cut me a check which I’m totally going to have to give back because I can’t write this book.  Not only is it not what I said it would be but it sucks, too!

Which brings us to problem #2:  charm.

Despite what I just said about the story being about the argument, nobody picks up a romance novel for the arguments.  We read romance for the characters.  We want to fall in love.  And so the argument doesn’t matter until you fall in love with the characters having the argument.  And my characters don’t get charming or loveable until about draft three.  (I’m sad to say three truly is the magic.)  Drafts one and two?  The balance is all off.  Light/dark, humor/gravity, plot/character, it’s all wonky.  But something magic happens in that third draft and it suddenly balances out.  The characters start to sparkle, the argument tightens up, the humor and depth dial themselves into harmony.

Which is why, for my money, you should always write the proposal AFTER you’ve written the book.  It’s way easier.  And more accurate.  And, unfortunately, impossible.  Not when you’re getting paid to write books.

I wish I could tell you I had a plan for fixing this but for me, this was the Lesson Of The Second Book:  You can’t fix how you write.  Your process is your process, and the sooner you embrace it, the better.  And if you can get your editor and agent to embrace it, too, and plan deadlines and/or contract negotiations accordingly, please drop me an email to let me know how you did that particular bit of voodoo.  I’d love to know.

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RU Writers, do you have a process for writing? How do you think it will change for your next book?

Join us on Wednesday when Author Steven James talks about the Essence of Story

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Bio:
Susan Sey is the author of MONEY, HONEY, a 2008 Golden Heart Winner released by Berkeley Sensation in July 2010, as well as MONEY SHOT, her dreaded second novel, coming June 7.   She lives in the Twin Cities area with her wonderfully supportive family where she studiously avoids the laundry and dutifully rewrites everything three times, because three truly is her magic number.   (She wishes it were two.  One would be nice.)  You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, blogging with the Romance Bandits (www.romancebandits.blogspot.com) or on the web at www.susansey.com.  She loves to hear from readers.

We’re pleased to welcome debut author Al Leverone as our guest today.

I’m really excited to be here today. My invitation to appear at Romance University stemmed from a post I read at Vicky Dreiling’s blog written by your very own debut author, Adrienne Giordano, regarding her path to publication; a post which struck a nerve with me the moment I read it. I emailed Adrienne relating some of my own debut experiences and she very graciously invited me to share them. So here I am!

“The path to publication.” It sounds so civilized, doesn’t it? Four words that make the journey seem like a bucolic Sunday stroll through a quiet rose garden, tea cup in hand, bees buzzing in the background, hummingbirds . . . uh . . . humming. Masterpiece Theatre. Sir Lawrence Olivier. Dignified. Scholarly. In reality though, at least for me, the journey was less a Sunday afternoon stroll along a quiet path than a confusing, terrifying trip through the Amazon. With no guide. And no machete. And definitely no map.

I decided about four years ago that I wanted to write fiction; genre novels, specifically. I’ve always been an avid reader and a good writer. In fact, writing might be the only thing in this world at which I truly excel. How hard could it be, right? 

So I wrote a manuscript. I figured I would finish it, polish it, send it out to all the major publishers and wait for the offers to come rolling in, then pick from the best one. And to answer your question, Yes, I really was that naïve. Once I discovered the major New York publishers don’t take un-agented manuscripts and haven’t for decades, I shook my head in frustration and decided to do the next best thing: get a literary agent.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to snag an agent? It was like being back in high school trying to get a date again, only worse. Because now, all the guys were trying to date all the girls, and to top it off, you couldn’t just ask her out, you had to submit a query letter first, and if she decided your query letter measured up, then she would allow you to ask her out.

But don’t hold your breath waiting for an answer. And, oh by the way, the answer is no. Usually delivered via form letter.

The activities in those last two paragraphs represent roughly three years worth of struggle, during which time I wrote three complete novel-length manuscripts and parts of three others. And I was getting nowhere. Oh, I would receive the occasional request for a partial from the occasional agent, and every once in a while—woohoo!—a request for the full manuscript, but the end result was always the same. While their responses indicated I definitely had the skills, there was always something that kept the agents from being interested enough in my work to commit. Like I said, it was high school all over again, only without getting stuffed into my locker.

That was when I decided to try a different tactic. I would begin submitting to smaller, independent publishers, most of whom have no qualms about receiving work from authors without representation. And my thriller titled FINAL VECTOR, about an air traffic controller who gets tangled up in a plot to assassinate the President of the United States, was almost immediately received enthusiastically by this really cool Indie outfit outside Chicago called Medallion Press. They liked FINAL VECTOR. They wanted FINAL VECTOR. They would release FINAL VECTOR as a mass-market paperback in February, 2011. And just like that, the kid who couldn’t get a date was on his way to the prom.

Cue the violins and sappy music, cue the walk into the sunset, cue the happy ending, roll credits, fade to black. End of story.

Except that wasn’t quite the end of the story.

I signed my contract with Medallion for a mass-market paperback release of FINAL VECTOR in late December, 2009. In mid-March, 2010, I was upstairs working on another manuscript when the telephone rang. I have three children, ages 22 to 18, and it’s not an exaggeration to say the telephone is never for me, so I ignored it. But this time it was for me. It was a representative from Medallion, calling to tell me that due to the rapidly-changing environment in the publishing industry and the lack of profitability in mass-market paperback as a format, Medallion was exiting the MMPB world completely.

Their plan was now to release an ebook edition of FINAL VECTOR. I had a long talk on the telephone with Medallion’s Director of Sales and Marketing regarding this new plan and I was left feeling less than enthusiastic. My dream since I was a young child had been to one day hold an ink-and-paper book in my hands which said “Allan Leverone” on the cover; I had never once imagined myself holding a portable hard drive with a reading screen.

So I agonized. I went back and forth over whether to request a reversion of the rights to FINAL VECTOR from Medallion. I had a signed contract in my possession stipulating a mass-market paperback release of my book, so I was quite certain I could walk away, no blood, no foul. But was that what I really wanted?

By March, 2010 I had owned my own Kindle for six months and loved it. I’m an avid reader of thrillers and horror novels and in that half-year had probably downloaded and read at least a dozen books on it. I had done a lot of research and knew that the ebook market was exploding on an unprecedented scale, basically keeping the publishing world afloat while simultaneously scaring the crap out of “traditional” publishing. So would an ebook release of FINAL VECTOR really be so bad?

After three weeks of soul-searching I decided, no, it would not be so bad. I bought into Medallion’s new plan and let FINAL VECTOR ride with them, and, boy am I glad I did. In the year since receiving that disheartening phone call, ebooks have continued to be the ten ton elephant in the room, assuming a bigger and bigger profile in the publishing landscape. It’s exciting to be part of a revolution that represents the first real change in how books are packaged and consumed since Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the fifteenth century.

All of which brings me back to my original point: that the “path to publication” isn’t really a path at all. It’s more like a meandering, dried-out riverbed, and you have to pick your way over the boulders and through the mud, sometimes striking out through the jungle for a while but always making your way back to that riverbed in the end. And, oh yeah, by the way, watch out for those flash floods, because they just might wash you away if you’re not ready for them.

But nobody said it would be easy, and what fun would that be, anyway?

Al, thanks for sharing your experience with us today.  Ever have to choose between a traditional print publishing versus an e-publisher? Any thriller writers out there? If you have questions for Al, ask away!

Be sure to join us on Wednesday, March 30th for our two-day pitch workshop with Diane Holmes from Pitch University.

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Allan Leverone is a three-time Derringer Award Finalist for excellence in short mystery fiction as well as a 2011 Pushcart Prize nominee. His short fiction has appeared in Needle: A Magazine of Noir, Shroud Magazine, Twisted Dreams, Dark Valentine, Mysterical-E and many others, and his debut thriller, FINAL VECTOR was released February 11 by Medallion Press. Learn more on Facebook or at www.allanleverone.com.

Website: www.allanleverone.com

Publisher’s website: www.medallionpress.com

Blog, “A Thrill a Minute”: www.allanleverone.blogspot.comVideo

Book trailer for FINAL VECTOR: www.youtube.com/watch?v=86g7_negT8o

In May 2009, one of the biggest editors in romance at my dream publishing house offered me a three-book contract. I had worked for years to achieve this.

But that’s backstory. The story I’m going to tell today is what happened next. I call this story “What I Learned on After-the-Sale Vacation.”

First (since I am also a professional historian, and historians love to tell the punch line before the joke), here’s The Big Lesson I Learned: Nothing changes. Well, yes, your book ends up on bookstore shelves and lots n’ lots of people read it and tell you they adored it. This is fantastic. Actually, it’s way beyond fantastic. But nothing inside you changes. All that eagerness, all that love and passion and emotion I put into my writing, all that heartbreak and anxiety and uncertainty and frustration and fear and sheer boiling mania I felt before I made that sale is still with me. It is part of me. Succeeding in this manner has not changed me as a person. Ten years at a Zen monastery and some really good therapy might. But that’s also another story.

What did I learn, in practical terms?

1. First-week sales are HUGELY IMPORTANT. Great first-week sales land you on bestseller lists, which then go into promotion for your next book, which then sell more of that next book. They also help determine whether the big buyers will buy your second book in quantity. Do whatever you can to encourage readers to buy your book in those first few days. This includes promoting your book through social media (Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc.) and mailings to booksellers and book clubs before the book releases.

A Lady's Wish by Katharine Ashe

2. Professional contacts are crucial for creating a buzz for your first book. But you must start networking early. I don’t mean four months before your release date. I mean four years. At least one or two. Volunteer for positions in writers groups that will help you meet industry people. Every positive contact you make during these years will serve you well. I was co-chair of Programming for my local RWA chapter for two years before I got published. In planning monthly programs I met industry luminaries whose effect on my career has been significant. This takes time and effort, but it is incredibly fun, and it ensures that your name is familiar to influential people when your book hits the stands.

3. Take your time. When I learned of the eight-month space between the release dates of my first two books, I groaned. How would this build an audience? But I spent those months learning about promotion and, more importantly, writing the best books I could. That time also gave me the creative space I needed to propose an additional project to my editor. That project became my e-book, A LADY’S WISH (March 15), a $1.99 delicious little novella tied into my print trilogy, to be released two weeks before book 2 of the series, CAPTURED BY A ROGUE LORD (March 29). We invented this e-novella as a promotion for the print series, but it turned out to be super fun to write! It never would have happened, though, if I’d been rushing. In the crazy-speedy world of publishing, time can be a writer’s friend.

4. Don’t be surprised when people you thought would embrace your triumphs do not. Be gracious. No matter what. No. Matter. What. (Graciousness always feels better to me anyway.)

5. All bloggers are not created equal. Many are magically wonderful and I cherish them—like the women of Romance University! Other bloggers are not interested in furthering your career. Some are unprofessional. Take very great care in planning your blog appearances.

6. Fan mail is worth it all.

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If you are a published author, did you learn any crucial lessons after your first sale? If you are yet-to-be-published, tell us what you are doing now to prepare for those months between your first sale and book release, because we’d love to give you a high five and “Way to go!”

Don’t forget to join us on Monday, March 14 as Sally Bayless pops in to tell us about her writing journey.

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Bio: The American Library Association’s Booklist named Katharine Ashe one of the “New Stars of Historical Romance” and her debut historical romance, Swept Away By a Kiss, was nominated for Best First Historical Romance in the Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Awards. Katharine lives in the wonderfully warm Southeast with her husband, son, two dogs, and a garden she likes to call romantic rather than unkempt. A professor of European history, she has made her home in California, Italy, France, and the northern US. Please visit her at www.katharineashe.com.

Jen: The locales in your books are from places you’ve visited. Do you visit these places with a story in mind or does the story come later?

AC: Unfortunately, the story comes much later. There will inevitably be something or somewhere in the locale I’m writing about that I did not see. For example, in The Treasures of Venice, I wanted to set some key scenes on San Michele en Isola, the Cemetery Isle. Venetians have buried their dead on this little island in the Lagoon for centuries. Of course, the one time I was actually in Venice, I didn’t set foot on the place. Never in my wildest dreams thought I’d have a reason to, since this was several years before I started writing seriously.

Lucky for me, I have a good writer-buddy (yes, YOU, Tina Ferraro) who has family near Venice and she just happened to be visiting them the summer I was writing the book. Not only did Tina force her three teenagers to accompany her to the Cemetery Isle so she could take pictures for me, but she also bought me a map that highlighted all the famous people (like Ezra Pound) who are buried there. She also read and critiqued the chapters set on the Cemetery Isle to make sure I got it right. What a pal!

Jen: I’m amazed by the authentic flavor of the locale in your books. Your latest, The Wild Irish Sea, which encompasses Irish folklore and history with paranormal elements and suspense, is a wonderful example of your ability to capture the essence of the setting. How much time did it take to research the book?

AC:  I hate to admit that most of what I researched for The Wild Irish Sea was the folklore about selkies. I’d already done quite a bit of research on Irish history, art, topography, you name it, for The Wild Sight, and even though they are not set in the same counties, Ireland really is a pretty small island. The spectacular scenery in the north is present whether you are in County Antrim, Derry, or Donegal.

I did spend the better part of a day at the Giant’s Causeway, and I tried to render it as accurately as possible in The Wild Sight. But most of the descriptions in The Wild Irish Sea were based on personal memories that were often spurred by pictures, and of course, my own imagination.

Jen: Which comes first, your characters or the story line?

AC: Definitely the characters. They usually arrive in my mind with their looks and full names intact. Once they start revealing their backstories, then I start to formulate the story line too.

Jen: I’ve noticed all of your heroes all have dark hair. Is that a conscious decision?

AC: They are all of Celtic heritage, and true Celts have dark hair and blue eyes. I’m just sticking with genetics.

Jen: What are you working on now?

AC: What I hope will become a series of books centered around a cruise line. The first one, predictably, has an Irish hero.

Jen: With three books under your belt, did you use the same approach for each of them?

AC: I’m sorry to say that each book was an entirely new writing experience. Sorry because I keep thinking it would be much easier if each book happened the same way. Unfortunately, they didn’t.

My first published book, The Wild Sight, was actually the third one that I wrote, and I did a lot more planning on it than I’d ever done before. I can’t say I really plotted it out, because the story kept going off in different directions than I’d planned, but I always had the basic framework in mind.

My second published book, The Treasures of Venice, was actually the first book I wrote with the express intent to publish. I’d messed around with writing for years and even finished a couple of other books, but when I started writing Treasures, I’d made up my mind that this was IT! I wrote the book that I wanted to read, and I totally pantsed the whole thing. I didn’t even know how it was going to end until I was in the middle of chapter six and I dreamed the ending!

The Wild Irish Sea was a different experience yet again. My editor told me she wanted another Irish book. I’d become fascinated with the subject of twins, and mental telepathy. Then I remembered a beautiful film from the 1990s called The Secret of Roan Inish and I tossed all those ingredients around in my mind and the ultimate result was The Wild Irish Sea. I was very nervous because it was the first book I’d written under contract, and only one of my critique partners was able to stick with me through the writing from beginning to end which was about ten months. Even though my CP told me it was my best work yet, I was still plagued with doubts until I submitted it to my editor and she email, “Congratulations on a beautiful book.”    

Jen: I’m sure everyone wants to know…what’s the most important advice you can give to an aspiring writer?

 AC: Besides Finish The First Draft ( FTFD)? Find yourself a good critique partner or group. Honestly, a good CP is invaluable! Finding one can sometimes be a challenge but once you do, you’ll wonder how you wrote without one. We all know the “real” writing happens during revisions and a good CP will give you the feedback and encouragement to help you to turn out your absolute best work.

Jen: Write to market or write from your heart?

AC: Honestly, do a bit of both. I’d never recommend following a trend because they can come and go so quickly. By the time you recognize something is “hot,” write and submit your book, even if it is accepted, it will easily be another year before it hits the shelf. By then, something else will be “hot.” Or even if you were lucky and got in at the beginning of a trend, unless the book is something you enjoyed writing, I believe your lack of enthusiasm will show.

But on the other hand, if the book of your heart is set during the American Civil War, you should be aware that you will have an uphill battle trying to sell it right now. So an awareness of the market is not a bad thing.

Jen: Would you ever consider writing outside of the romance genre?

AC: Possibly. I hadn’t really considered it. Romance is what I like to read – I must have my Happily Ever After!

Jen: I’ve noticed that all three of your books are available on Kindle. What’s your take on the future of e-books? Do you believe e-books will eventually replace books in print?

AC: Yes, I believe e-books probably will replace print books, but I hope not in my lifetime. There’s just something about the feel and smell and weight of a print book. An electronic reader will never be able to replace that for me.

 Okay, enough of the serious stuff! I’ve got three travel-related quickies for you.

Jen: Your favorite travel accessory.

AC: Those handy little adaptor plugs so that my hair dryer and curling iron work in any country.

Jen: Your next travel destination.

AC: Sorry to disappoint you, but I don’t have one yet. We were scheduled to go on another cruise in January, but the ship was the Splendor – yes, the one that had the engine fire back in November and had no power for like three days. The repairs took longer than the cruise line anticipated and they had to cancel all the December and January cruises.

My DH is talking about another cruise to Alaska at the end of May. He tends to book things at the last minute to get the best deal. That’s how we ended up going to New Zealand last June. Air New Zealand had a two day sale around the middle of May, and we left on June 2^nd!

Jen: Your top three favorite places.

AC: I love every place I’ve visited. Each one has something unique and wonderful to offer, and most all of the people I meet are great! So my favorite places are the ones I haven’t visited yet, like the Greek Isles (I’ve only been to Athens), Croatia, Japan (I’ve only been to the Tokyo airport) and the Panama Canal… OOPS! That’s four, sorry.

Travel and writing are two of Loucinda’s great passions. Do you have any questions for Loucinda about writing, researching exotic locales or travel?

In honor of having Loucinda as our guest on RU today, we thought we’d have a little fun. 

How many cruises has Loucinda taken? The first person who guesses the correct number of cruises wins a $10.00 Amazon gift card. Post your lucky numbers and we’ll announce the winner later in the week.

Wait! There’s more! Loucinda’s generously giving away an autographed copy of her latest book, The Wild Irish Sea, to one lucky commenter today.

Loucinda McGary is the author of three contemporary romantic suspense novels, The Wild Sight, The Treasures of Venice and The Wild Irish Sea.  Loucinda blogs regularly with Romance Bandits (www.romancebandits.blogspot.com) and on her personal blog Aunty Cindy Explains It All (www.auntycindy.blogspot.com).  Please check out her website: www.LoucindaMcgary.com

Carrie Spencer – First of all Leah, congrats on your win! You must be on cloud nine!
Leah Ashton – Thank you! Winning the competition was an incredible experience, and I certainly spent a few days not quite believing it.

It seems surreal that out of so many entries – and some of them were incredible! – the judges and voting public chose mine as the best new voice. Crazy!

Carrie – Tell us what has happened to you and your story since you were announced.
Leah – After the competition ended I received a phone call from my editor mentor, Meg Lewis. We discussed my story, and also the Mills & Boon line she felt the book was best suited for (how exciting!). She talked to me about the strengths and weaknesses of my entry, and we set a deadline for the finished manuscript.

The thing was, when I entered New Voices all I had was an opening chapter. That was it – no plot, no internal conflict for my hero – nothing! Over the course of New Voices I worked with my mentors to come up with a plot and conflict, and that worked brilliantly for the competition. I carried on with this plot for the first few weeks, sending through chunks of my manuscript to Meg for review. That’s when I got my next phone call from Meg – the story that worked great for New Voices was just not working as a full manuscript. I completely agreed – it was a struggle to write and just didn’t feel “right”.

So I started revising, and I am really excited about the story now! Eagle eyed readers of my New Voices entry may have noticed that my hero, Dan, goes from a bit of a player in Chapter One to a family-focused man in the later chapters. Well, he’s back to my original player, which I love! The most important thing for me is that the story I really wanted to tell – which explores infertility and what makes a happy ever after – is still the core of my book.

Carrie – Tell us about your mentor.
Leah – As mentioned above, I’m still working with Meg. She has been amazing – her feedback and encouragement has made the book infinitely stronger. She is also just a lovely person, and very tolerant of all the mistakes I feel like I’m making She’s been with me every step of the way, both via email and through phone calls.

During the competition I also had Jessica Hart helping me, and she was wonderful – and a remarkable brainstormer!

The finished entries for Chapter Two and my Pivotal Moment were both significantly different to the original versions I subbed to Jessica and Meg. My mentors really made me question why my characters were behaving in a certain way, and challenged me to strengthen each scene. For example, in the Pivotal Moment originally my heroine was forced to reveal her infertility, but Meg said it would be stronger if she chose to do so. Of course, that meant I had to dig deep – because why would she do that? A total rewrite of the second half of the scene resulted, but it was certainly worth it!

Carrie – Thanks so much for posting with us today, Leah. We’re looking forward to seeing your book on the shelf!
Leah – Thanks Carrie! I don’t think it will feel truly real until my final revised manuscript is accepted, but assuming it is (crossing my fingers and toes!) my book will be out late this year.

I’ll also be in New York in June for the RWA National Conference, I’m hoping I might meet some of the other New Voices entrants while I’m there!

***

Carrie Spencer – Heidi, tell us what’s been happening with you and your book since the competition?

Heidi Hormel Mills and Boon New Voices

Heidi Hormel – I have continued to work on the story of Jessie and Payson with the help and encouragement of my Mills & Boon mentors. I handed in additional material at the beginning of December — working away while I vacationed in sunny Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday — oh, the life of a writer! I received helpful feedback from Megan at M&B, and she said that she would look at the story again as I had more. I figured I’d write another four chapters, a doable task, except I broke my arm in a car accident (thank goodness that mine was the worst injury — other than the poor SUV). I have been working one-handed, which has really slowed down the process. Oh, and I celebrated Christmas and New Year, too.

Carrie – Tell us what you’ve learned from the competition and the mentoring process.
Heidi – I was reminded to stay true to my voice as a writer. My mentors, even as they gave me suggestions on reworking the story, told me that I had to maintain my voice. The challenge was taking the comments on character and plot and figuring out how to make it happen while writing my own story in my own voice. What I learned is that delete button is a writer’s friend, really.

Carrie – What’s next for Heidi Hormel?
Heidi - Next, for me? Getting off my cast and getting my typing back to normal! Then on to Web domination by getting a blog/Web site up and running. On the writing front, I hope to be working further with Mills & Boon on The Surgeon and the Cowgirl. I am also starting a new story in February. There won’t be horses, but there will be roller skates, body checks, and tattoos.

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RU Readers, do you have any questions for Leah and Heidi about their mentoring experience with the New Voices contest?

Join us on Wednesday when we talk with Laurie Schnebly Campbell about that all important Character Motivation!

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Bio: Leah Ashton is an IT Project Manager living in Perth, Western Australia with her fiancé, two dogs and a very clever Devon Rex cat. She has a life long love of romance novels that a few years ago morphed into a love of romance writing. She is a member of Romance Writers of Australia and Romance Writers of New Zealand and can be visited at her blog: http://leahashton.blogspot.com

Bio: In addition to being a 2010 Final Four in Mills & Boon’s New Voices contest, Heidi Hormel has had a short romance published in Woman’s World magazine and was a finalist in the 2009 Suzannah Contest. She is a full-time writer and has monthly reviews in Romantic Times Book Reviews. You can find her on Twitter as @SpamPrincess

Welcome back, Tawny!

I’ll admit it, the major hook for me in any romance is the hero.  I love me a sexy hero.  Alpha, beta.  Nerd, Soldier.  Teacher, biker, CEO.  I love ‘em all.  I read romances for the story, of course, but also to fall in love with the hero.

Or I should say, to fall in love—along with the heroine.

Because as hot and sexy and wonderful as the heroes are (and they definitely are, aren’t they!) it’s the heroine that most readers connect with the strongest.  And it’s the heroine that we, as writers, need to focus on to draw readers in to the story.

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten in writing was from my uber-awesome editor, Brenda Chin.  She said that the heroine had to be relatable.  The reader falls in love with the hero, but does so through the heroines’ eyes.  She has to be empathetic—someone the reader can identify with in some way.

Does that mean the heroine has to be syrupy sweet perfection?  Of course not.  Does it mean she has to be a good girl, an average woman, a just-like-Jane-up-the-street character?  Not at all.

She has to be relatable in some small way, so the reader can feel an affinity with her.

In my first book, DOUBLE DARE, Audra was a bad girl in every way.  She was super-sex, with spiked black hair, wore leather and had multiple piercings.  She was wild, ambitious and overly-confident in herself.  She wasn’t the average woman at all.  But I received so much mail about her from readers who said they didn’t think, when they started reading, that they’d understand or relate to her at all. But to their surprise, she was just like them.  Not in any of the ways I’ve already described, but in her deepest fear.  Her need to be accepted and fear of chasing her dreams at the expense of the status quo.

Because really, everything else is just surface.  It’s the emotions that we capture our readers with.  It’s the character’s emotional journey that they’re interested in.

And what if you, as the writer, are nothing like the heroine you’re writing?  I can’t speak for all writers, but for myself, it’s all about finding that emotional connection. What does the heroine fear?  What does she dream of?  These are powerful motivations that both drive her, and that in the heroines I’ve written, I can relate to.  In many ways, their fears and dreams are universal.  They are the same fears and dreams that I have, that many of my friends have, that I’ve seen played out over and over again. It’s finding that emotional connection, as a writer and as a reader, which makes our heroines so wonderful to take that romantic journey with.

An example would be my current heroine, Rita Mae Cole, in A BABE IN TOYLAND, a novella in the December Harlequin Blaze MUST HAVE BEEN THE MISTLETOE anthology.  She’s a bad girl (I have to say, I do love to write the bad girls, and even more those sexy bad boys).   She’s making her way home for the holidays by selling misfit sex toys, has no problem seducing the guy her family has the hates for, and is so flighty she’s never been able to hold down a job for more than six months.  None of this spells relatable, although it does make for some fun writing and reading *g*

It was her emotions, though, that readers can connect with, even if they’d could never-EVER imagine themselves selling the Tyrannosaurus Sex of dildos out of the back of a pickup truck to make enough money to buy their parent’s a gift.

Rita Mae is the youngest of three sisters, and has always felt like the biggest loser in her family.    No matter what she’s done, one of her sisters already did it better.  They are more talented, smarter, better.  She loves her family, but she seriously wonders if someone made a mistake at the hospital, because she has none of their gifts.   It’s her dedication to her family, and her fears and self-doubts, that make her relatable.  And because the reader can connect with that, they are able to laugh about the way she packages fur-lined handcuffs and edible body paint into Christmas stockings instead of cringe.

Rita Mae’s story, A BABE IN TOYLAND, is out now in the MUST HAVE BEEN THE MISTLETOE Blaze anthology.   I hope people will check it out and let me know what they think… did they relate to Rita?  I’d also love to invite readers to stop by and check out the contest I’m holding to celebrate the holidays and the release of my novella, A BABE IN TOYLAND.  I’ll be giving away the sweetest chocolate truffle ornament – it looks good enough to eat – and a copy of one of my books.  Details are on my website contest page.

***

RU Crew, have you ever had a tough time writing about a particular heroine? What gives you fits about character development? Tawny will drop by to answer question. And don’t forget she’ll give away a book from her backlist to one lucky commenter!

Join us Friday when Harlequin Super Romance author Liz Talley will talk about taking your readers for an emotional roller coaster ride!

Tawny’s Bio:

Tawny Weber is usually found dreaming up stories in her California home, surrounded by dogs, cats and kids.  When she’s not writing hot, spicy stories for Harlequin Blaze, she’s shopping for the perfect pair of boots or drooling over Johnny Depp pictures (when her husband isn’t looking, of course).  In December 2010, her ninth Blaze, A BABE IN TOYLAND hits the bookshelves.  Come by and visit her on the web at www.tawnyweber.com.

We’re delighted to host Jessica Barksdale Inclan’s return to RU! Jessica is not only a genre fiction writer, but also pens poetry, short stories and more. She’s here today to talk about how we can use different writing techniques to overcome blocks in our creative processes.

Welcome, Jessica!

Writer’s block is very dramatic, a painfully romantic way to think about the intensity of the creative process.  There the writer is, sitting slumped at her desk, a bottle of (add in liquor of choice) at her side.  It’s clear she’s written before and perhaps well (her published books near her desk), but no longer.   Life as she knows it is over.  She’s blocked.  She has nothing to say at all.  The violin, harp, and cello wax and swell, the writer swoons some more.  End scene.

As much as it would be nice to believe in writer’s block, I don’t.  I believe in not being able to write something very good—happens all the time.  I believe in having a bad idea that is going to die and wither on the vine about page 75 (happens all the time, too).  I believe in fear—the notion of being scared to write because 1) no one will like it or 2) you won’t like it.

All of the above are common problems for writers.  But I don’t believe that a writer is blocked.  That the writer’s head is completely empty, that her fingers won’t move, that she has nothing to say.

Bottom line is that she just doesn’t want to say it.  Not now, at least.  And in an attempt to explain the non-writing, she says, “I have writer’s block.”

Everyone nods and understands, and the writer goes ahead and cleans the sink instead.

There is use for a fallow period in writing (most people who work take breaks from said work), but sometimes this fallow period lasts so long that the writer forgets to write.  Not writing certainly is easier than writing.  Cleaning  the sink—while useful and necessary—is not going to get a novel published.

So when I feel the urge for the Comet and sponge, I remember a few useful tips that have kept me from a dramatic swoon and writing.  Maybe what I’ve written hasn’t be published or been read, but that “bad” writing has kept the chain of writing alive and something later has been liked and read—by me and others.

1)    Write every day.  When I was a writing student, one of my teachers Anne Lamott famously said “Write 300 words a day.  In a year, you have a novel.”  Maybe that “novel” will be an ugly first draft, but 300 x 365 is 109,500 words.  That’s a little overlong for some novels, even.  There are a few thousand words to cut!  And writing 300 words isn’t too scary.  It’s barely a page and a half.  The truth is that once you start, you likely won’t stop at 300.  But 300 is ALL you have to do.  I promise.

2)     Try to back off the judgment.  More than likely, you will not be the next Nora Roberts or (fill in the latest NYT bestselling author).  Sorry, I have to say it.  But you might be the next—well—you, and you have things to say.  Don’t worry about the 300 words as you write them.  Now that getting them out is fabulous, and then know that you will have all the time you need to make them better.  Stop feeling that you are wasting your time and just put down the ideas.  Let the character roam.  Let the themes play out.  Since you are in control, you can later take all the time you need to make your story “perfect.”  But for now?  Lay off yourself, please.

3)    If a scene won’t start and you are sitting there about to develop a full blown case of fake writer’s block, start with dialogue.  In fact, make sure that you always write down  a provocative line that you hear in the grocery store, at a restaurant, at a coffee date.

One of my friends told me a story recently about her son’s first kiss.  He was telling my friend about it—a sweet summer vacation kiss by a lake—and my friend told me that after his first short kiss, her son turned to the girl and said, “That first kiss was so short, I have to ask for another.”

Hello!  What a line.  If I were blocked write now, I’d take that line and just go.  Do they kiss?  Does she say no?  Where are the parents of these almost 13-year-olds?  Is it sunrise or sunset?  Or 12 midnight?  Maybe the scene would go nowhere, but I’d have a nice little bit to use at some point.  And more importantly, I’d have opened the dam and let the words pour out.  As we know, broken dams are hard to fix.

4)     Get a good book on writing, one with exercises.  There is nothing like a prompt.  my favorite textbooks on writing are Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction and Sandra Scofield’s The Scene Book.  If you really don’t know what to do, open the book and grab and exercise and do it.  Again, the above dam metaphor.

5)     Take a class.  There is nothing like peer pressure to get you going.  For my current sabbatical at the college where I teach at full-time, I am focusing on short story writing.  I am in a class, and even though I was in Barcelona on my honeymoon, I had homework to do!  So I wrote my story.  Is it groundbreaking?  I’m pretty sure not, but I know that I will get good feedback from my teacher and my fellow classmates, and I wrote a 17-page story.  Any threat of writer’s block was cured by the syllabus.

The bottom line is that if you want to write, you will write.  I think that’s the hardest thing to admit to yourself.   If you really wanted to tell a story, you’d be telling it.  Often for would-be writers, it’s easier to just sit back and let other parts of life take over.  And that’s not a bad thing.  Being a writer is often hard, unpaid work.  But for many, the fear of rejection and judgment keep them from sitting down and doing what they really dream of doing.

My advice:  do it, regardless of success.  Write because it’s fun and amazing.  And lord knows, you can clean the sink later.

Good luck.

***

RU Crew, how do you keep your creative process healthy and flowing? Have you tried techniques that absolutely do not work for you? Take a minute to share in the comments.

We have a treat on Friday when debut author B.A. Binns explains how a woman writes in a teenage boy’s point of view.

Jessica Barksdale Inclán’s debut novel Her Daughter’s Eyes, published in 2001, was the premier novel published under New American Library’s new imprint Accent. Her Daughter’s Eyes was a final nominee for the YALSA Award for the best books of 2001 and best paperbacks for 2001 and has been published in both Dutch and Spanish. Her next novel The Matter of Grace was published in May 2002. Her third, When You Go Away, came out April 1, 2003. Her fourth, One Small Thing, was published April 2004, and was translated into in Dutch and Spanish. Walking With Her Daughter, was published in April 2005, and her sixth, The Instant When Everything is Perfect in February 2006. Starting in June 2006, she published the first in a trilogy from Kensington Books, When You Believe. Reason to Believe, and Believe in Me. Her next trilogy began with Being With Him and Intimate Beings. The mass market version of Being with Him was released in September. She is a 2002 recipient of the CAC Artist’s Fellowship in Literature. Inclán teaches composition, creative writing, mythology, and women’s literature at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, and on-line and on-land creative writing courses for UCLA extension. She has studied with Sharon Olds, Anne Lamott, Kate Braverman, Grace Paley, Marjorie Sandor, and Cristina Garcia. Her short stories and poems have appeared in Rockhurst Review, Hotwired, The Salt Hill Journal, Free Lunch, The West Wind Review, The Prairie Star, Gargoyle and many other journals and newspapers. Her short story Open Eyes was given first prize by Sandra Cisneros for El Andar magazine’s 2000 writing contest. She co-edited a women’s literature/studies textbook Diverse Voices of Women (Mayfield Publishing, 1995). Ms. Inclán has degrees in sociology and English literature from CSU Stanislaus and a Master’s degree in English literature from SFSU. Ms. Inclán lives in Oakland, California and is currently at work on a contemporary novel and a book of essays and another romance.