But if there’s one thing that will wear the man down, it’s this nagging suggestion that he writes romances. ”Would Tom Clancy go to a legal thriller writers’ convention?” he asks in the patient tone one might assume with a naughty toddler. ”Would you say ‘noted travel writer John Grisham’?” He pauses to neatly swap out an old piece of gum for a new one. ”I write dramatic fiction. If you go into a further subgenre, it would be a love story, but it has its roots in the Greek tragedies. This genre evolved through Shakespeare. He did Romeo and Juliet. Hemingway did A Farewell to Arms. I do this currently today.”
I’m sure the guy is lovely but in every interview I read he sounds like an asshat.
We now have definitive proof the financial world is, in fact, in huge trouble. My evidence: Playboy is cutting 80 jobs. It’s shutting down it’s DVD business and cutting expenses.
When photos of naked women aren’t selling, the entertainment industry is in deep trouble. It’s a world gone wild…
I was chatting with a fellow author this week. She writes historical fiction and commented that it must be nice to write contemporary romance because no research was required. Ummm, not quite. While I don’t need to worry about historical accuracy when writing in contemporary times, I still have to worry about accuracy.
For my upcoming release HOT AS HELL** I had to do some background work. The book takes place at a hiking spa in Southern Utah. Now, I’ve been to a hiking spa in Southern Utah. I have the photos and memories and can visualize the area pretty well. Still, I checked out the area through some online research. Also did some research on security firms and cyber attacks, just to be clear that what I wanted to have happen could happen. But the biggest research came on the subject of hoarding. This is the compulsive disorder where people acquire and collect worthless items until they are living in piles of trash. I represented a few of these folks as an attorney, so I’ve seen the personality type. Didn’t get it but was familiar with it. But that wasn’t enough. I ended up checking about ten sources and reading a book by a woman who grew up in this sort of household. By the way, the mix of functional on the outside and dysfunctional behind closed doors is pretty amazing.
Why does the hoarding thing matter? Lexy, my heroine in HOT AS HELL, comes from a family of hoarders. That meant to write her I needed to know not only about hoarding, but about how hoarding would affect the children in the household and impact their adulthood. The goal was to be accurate and not in any way make fun of something that is actually quite serious. Lexy is pretty imperfect thanks to this background. On the outside she’s tough and together, but the tough cookie shell cracks when she’s under pressure. And she’s under pressure. She thinks her fiancee – now ex – stole from her family’s business.
Our hero Noah is clueless. He’s a guy and thinks he can fix everything. He also insists they are still engaged. He’s a guy who sees things as good or bad and doesn’t really get nuance. Lexy is all nuance. It makes for some interesting battles. Honestly, I love this book. Noah is such a knucklehead – a lovable one – that this book makes me smile.
**The book officially comes out November 1st but B&N appears to be shipping it now. So, if you can’t wait, you might try there for an early copy.
Some people bet on sports. Apparently some bet on literature. USA Today says:
A surprising number of bettors correctly chose French writer Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio to win the 2008 Nobel Prize in literature — leading the award jury to suspect a leak.
Yes, I know the point of the story is that someone leaked the name of the winner. Bad, bad Swedish Academy voters. But, really, I’m more intrigued by the idea of a bunch of folks betting on this. It kind of cracks me up. Guess people will bet on anything if there’s the potential to make a dollar.
It’s time to submit books for the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards, awards that honor the best in romance fiction. The chances of being a finalist are slim, but so what. Submitting is not hard. You pay a fee, fill out a form and send copies of your books in for fellow authors to judge. Easy. No real reason not to participate.
Last year (2007) was easy because I had one release. This year is tougher since I have two single titles and four novellas. Needless to say, I’m not submitting all of those since the electric company folks insist I pay them instead. So now I must choose. I’m thinking one single title and one novella. I have the following to choose from:
-RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (single title)
-THIS OLD HOUSE (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-ALL ABOUT ADAM (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-MAN AT THE DOOR (novella from HARD AS NAILS)
-CAN YOU HAND ME THE TAPE? (novella from TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT)
-HOT A HELL (single title)
Now, the titles HOT AS HELL and HARD AS NAILS likely are problematic for those entries. People see those and think the books are something they’re not – ie, erotica – and I truly think that impacts the judging scores. That’s not a slam to erotica. It’s just that I don’t write erotica and if people are expecting that, they’ll be disappointed. And, honestly, I don’t think the RITA judging is very pro erotica.
There is a somewhat horrifying story up at Publishers Marketplace regarding the impact the bad economy is having on bookstores and booksellers. It’s enough to make me think about taking a job at Quiznos. Really.
For those authors and wannabe authors looking for good news, this might not be the story for you. For those who want to know so that they can decide whether or not to take that third job at the night window at Wendy’s, here is a peek of what’s been happening the last few days:
-Barnes & Noble is off 19 percent
-Scholastic had peaked on September 19, and is down 26 percent since then
-Borders is off 44 percent
-Books-a-Million has fallen even further, giving up 49 percent
-Amazon peaked at $81 a share on September 19, losing 31 percent since then
Oh, happy days…
The good news is that some publisher are buying. There are sales notices for all sorts of book deals. If you’re writing YA fantasy, you are in the right place at the right time because all the publishers appear to want that. Everyone else? Deep breath.
I’ve been quiet because I’ve actually been in Seattle/Bainbridge Island since last Thursday. For the first few nights we stayed in the guesthouse of NYT bestselling author Susan Wiggs on Bainbridge Island, one of the most stunning places in the U.S. We later ventured over to Seattle and stayed there while taking in some of the sights.
Susan is lovely and her home is unbelievable. Honestly, the view from the backyard is inspiring. But don’t take my word for it. Here are some photos…
This is what Susan sees from her yard every single day. Debbie Macomber’s house sits somewhere on that piece of land to the right:
Here’s a photo of me with Susan. She hurt her arm right before we got there but that didn’t stop her from being a fabulous hostess:
My hubby playing with Susan’s dog Barkis.
The view of Seattle from the ferry:
Here we are getting blown all around while on the ferry. Note: my hair does not normally go up like that.
I took a quiz on AOL courtesy of Women’s Health. One of the questions asked why graham crackers were invented. You may think the answer has something to do with yummy goodness. Nope. Here’s the explanation:
Rev. Sylvester Graham led America in its first health food crusade. He bought into the widely spread notion that spicy foods contributed to lust, and vice versa. So in 1829 he introduced the spice-less snack to curb sexual desire.
Apparently Dr. Kellogg (the cornflakes guy) apparently believed the same thing.
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