Creating a Press Sheet

For once, I'm blogging on Tuesday night according to schedule—will wonders never cease?

Maybe it's just because I actually know what I want to write about this week. It's how to create a press sheet for your book. A press sheet is a one page "everything you need to know" bulletin that you can use when promoting your book. You can use it when you talk to booksellers and librarians, and more importantly, when you give information to the press. It is a critical component of your media or press kit and may be the only thing a lot of people read.

For librarians and booksellers, it gives them all the information they need to order your book. And if you include the right information, it may spark them to decide to buy your book.

This is sometimes called a fact sheet. For those of you with a business background, you can think of it as sort of an Executive Summary.

And it's ridiculously simple to create.

I created a press sheet for my book, SMUGGLED ROSE, so I'll use that as a sample template.

Top Section: Just the facts, Ma'am, just the facts…

The top section is everything a buyer needs to know about your book. It should include title, date of publication, ISBN, publisher information, distributor information, and the list price. Here is the top section for SMUGGLED ROSE.

Smuggled Rose | Amy Corwin

 

Title:	Smuggled Rose	Distribution:	Baker & Taylor
Author:	Amy Corwin		Jasmine-Jade
Date of publication:	May 3, 2007		[www.jasminejade.com]
Price:	$9.99	Publisher:	Cerridwen Press
ISBN:	9781419956447		Ellora's Cave Publishing
Intended Audience:	Adult		1056 Home Avenue Akron OH, 44310
Format:	Trade Paperback	Phone:	330-253-3521
Genre:	Traditional Regency	FAX:	330-253-3531
		e-Mail:	service@ellorascave.com

 

 

Middle Section: Tease me, tempt me…

The middle section includes a pretty picture of your front cover and the blurb from the back cover. Hopefully, your blurb will be so fascinating that whoever is looking at your press sheet (or reading the back of your book) will immediately have
to buy your book. So, here is the middle section for SMUGGLED ROSE.

 

Summary:

A cynical earl and a rose smuggler are an unlikely pair, particularly when the smuggler is a supposedly fallen woman the earl owes for saving his brother's life.

Nonetheless, Michael, the earl of Ramsgate, is determined to repay his family's debt by presenting Margaret at Court—an action calculated to repair even the worst reputation. But Margaret has been burned before and is suspicious that Michael's intentions aren't entirely honorable…despite the certainty in her heart that she can trust him.

As the tension between them flares and Michael's feelings for Margaret strain his self-control, an old enemy bent on revenge returns to challenge Michael's iron determination…and threatens to take Margaret away from him forever.

 

 

 

 

Final Section: Wonderful me…

The final section includes a very, very brief biography and one or two reviews. Remember, all of this must fit on one sheet of paper, and visually, the more white space, the more appealing. So if you must err, err on the side of brevity and succinctness. This is not the time to drone on and on and on… But you do want to catch your audience's attention and leave them with the sense that they would like to meet you and that you are a successful author. Here is the final section for the SMUGGLED ROSE press sheet.

 

About the author:

Amy Padgett has been writing award winning Regency romances and romantic mysteries for nearly a decade. Smuggled Rose, her first Traditional Regency, was also the first of her titles to be published by Cerridwen Press for their Cotillion line. She worked as the editor and contributor for the Wilmington Cape Fear Rose Society Newsletter for three years and currently grows over 100 old garden roses.

From the reviewers:

"With precise attention to not only societal rules but also characterization, Amy Corwin has authored a riveting traditional Regency romance that packs a lot of punch. Rich with the romanticism of the era that appeals to this reader, SMUGGLED ROSE is a sumptuous tale of love and learning to trust." —Romance Review Today

 

To give you a feel for how this looks "in toto" here is an image of the SMUGGLED ROSE press sheet. The page is obviously "shrunken" and included merely to give you a visual of white space and layout, rather than read the text. In reality, of course, this is perfectly legible and prints out on standard 8.5 x 11" paper.

That's pretty much all there is to it.

And after you create this, you can have the fun of putting together the rest of your media kit, including such items as a cover letter, any news clippings/articles about you, additional reviews, a longer bio sheet, sample questions & answers (e.g. if you are requesting an interview), public appearance schedule, a publicity photo of you, and so on.

Media/press kits can be as elaborate or simple as the need (and your budget) dictates, but in all cases, you should always include your press sheet.

That's it!

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

Shameless Promo for Smuggled Rose

Call me an idiot but I just realized I've never actually plugged my own book (or soon to be—books) on my very own blog. Guess it just seemed sort of "exhibitionist" or something. So while my next blog will be about a useful tip for writers (creating your basic press sheet), this week, I'm going to be shameless and promote my own book. I figure folks might like a small sampling of what they will get if they lay down their cash on, SMUGGLED ROSE. It's a Regency—which basically means it's set in the early part of the 19^th century. Oh, and it's about a Lady rose smuggler who really wants to repair her reputation but isn't sure how to go about it. To her dismay, an earl decides to take matters into his own hands and drags her off to "enjoy" a Season in London. Neither one of them expects things to go as truly wrong as they do.

So here's a small teaser (basically, the blurb off the back cover) and an excerpt. I selected the passage which my editor indicated first made her "sit up and take notice". That's got to be good, right? It's the effect you're looking for, at any rate.

See what you think.

Back Cover Blurb

A cynical earl and a rose smuggler are an unlikely pair, particularly when the smuggler is a supposedly fallen woman the earl owes for saving his brother's life.

Nonetheless, Michael, the earl of Ramsgate, is determined to repay his family's debt by presenting Margaret at Court—an action calculated to repair even the worst reputation. But Margaret has been burned before and is suspicious that Michael's intentions aren't entirely honorable…despite the certainty in her heart that she can trust him.

As the tension between them flares and Michael's feelings for Margaret strain his self-control, an old enemy bent on revenge returns to challenge Michael's iron determination…and threatens to take Margaret away from him forever.

 

Excerpt

Without thought, he bent his head to her neck. A shock ran through him at her scent. Breathing harshly, he ran his mouth over the smooth, cool skin, tasting the soft flesh laced with an echo of lavender and rain.

She turned her head away. Her body, instead of relaxing under his touch, stiffened.

Michael raised his head and smiled at her. "Mistress, I won't harm you. We can both enjoy this if you stop struggling."

In response, she kicked him on the shin and twisted her hands to break his hold. He let her go, confused, and she jerked out of his reach.

The fire and single candle did not provide sufficient illumination for him to see her expression clearly, but she seemed almost abnormally composed and chillingly cold. However, her very control made her that much more desirable.

While he hesitated, she moved further into the shadows.

He stepped around the trunk at the foot of the bed. When he approached her, she reached out and plucked what appeared to be a small penknife from a writing table.

The gesture would have been ridiculously histrionic had it not been done in such a calm and calculating manner. Michael smiled, though he knew she could not read his face. The heat of the fire seeped into his back, leaving his face in cool shadow.

"Are you intending to kill me or yourself?" he asked sardonically.

"I can't decide. If I kill you, it'll be very difficult to explain one dead and one wounded Englishman." She paused as if considering the matter carefully. "Of course, I could simply throw your body into the Channel, but that's risky and the tides uncertain. It might inconveniently wash up upon my shore. I don't have a boat, you see, and it would be dreadfully awkward to borrow the Vicar's under the circumstances." She sighed mockingly. "Then there's your brother. I can't expect him to be particularly grateful if I murder you, though he'd inherit the earldom, wouldn't he?"

Nodding, he wondered if he was quick enough to grab the knife without risking a stabbing. It was unsettling to think of Edward celebrating his untimely demise. Michael wished she had not placed the thought in his head.

His brother loved him more than the earldom. Didn't he?

"Give me the knife." Michael held out his hand.

"Do you believe he'd object if I removed you? If so, I may need to ensure he doesn't recover, either. But then, two deaths are so frightfully bad form, aren't they? Not at all bon ton, though I'm sure I needn't worry about that."

"Damn it, just give me the blade. There are many much more pleasant ways to pass the night." She was making an ass of him and he did not find it at all amusing. He sighed. Why did his brother have to get himself shot on this difficult woman's doorstep? Why not in the yard of a comfortable tavern with plenty of wine, good food and buxom serving wenches?

"Your lordship may find this hard to comprehend, but I don't appreciate your suggestions. You don't know me."

"Ah, you're wrong, Miss Lane. You have a certain reputation…"

"Reputation?" She took a firmer grip on the knife as he edged closer. "You don't know—and please discontinue creeping about in that manner! I find it very difficult to hold any sort of a meaningful conversation with you when you insist on acting in this deplorable way. Have you no manners at all?"

Her tone pulled Michael up short. She sounded precisely like his mother when he arrived late for supper. If she screamed, or cried or behaved in any other acceptably hysterical female fashion, he would have been able to laugh at her. They could have both relaxed. As it was, he just felt rather naughty.

He was an adult, not an errant five-year-old, damn it!

"For the last time, put that knife down," he repeated testily. "I don't force myself on unwilling women."

"That's not at all the impression you gave me earlier. And, not to put too fine a point on it, doesn't your set make a habit of insisting your demands be met? Since when has a woman's willingness been a consideration?"

"Damn it, Miss Lane! I don't insist on anything except some sort of regard for personal safety. Now be reasonable."

He was surprised to hear a faint laugh and was thankful she could not see his face. He felt a hot flush rise up his throat and stain his cheeks.

"When faced with unreasonable behavior, the irrational is an effective recourse."

He snorted. The situation was just aggravating enough to tickle Michael with frustration. He examined her again, though the dim light revealed precious little.

She was attractive, but not overwhelmingly so. If anything, he should have been put off by her coldness and her obvious distaste for a man's touch, but her attitude inexplicably fueled the burning within him.

Her shawl had dropped to the floor during their struggle, and though she kept the neckline of her dress closed with one hand, she could not hide the contours of her shape beneath the thin material. His mouth remembered the fine texture of her skin. It glowed pearl white against the darkness. His heart hammered in his chest.

"Miss Lane," he said, his voice harsh.

"I should get back to your brother. Please hand me my shawl."

"Let me apologize." He was acting badly and impulsively, but he could not stop.

"No. Don't apologize. Hand me my shawl and let me pass."

He picked up the material and let it slip from finger to finger as he studied her. She hadn't dropped the knife, but how resolute was she? Would she truly kill him—or herself?

 

That's it—that's all you get. ;-)

Enjoy!

The Wild Rose Press author: Jenny Gilliam

It is always a privilege to help out other authors, and I am thrilled to provide a tantalizing look at a book just released on March 21, 2008. Jenny Gilliam's THE WEDDING WAR is already garnering wonderful reviews. Her book is out now as an e-book from The Wild Rose Press and Fictionwise, and will be out later this year as a paperback. And she's been gracious enough to give me a blurb and excerpt from her book.

If you are interested in finding out more about Jenny, you can visit her on myspace.com at: http://www.myspace.com/jennygilliam or at her website: http://www.jennygilliam.com .

So, without further fanfare, here is just a small taste of THE WEDDING WAR. I hope you will enjoy it!

Backcover Blurb

What happens when a fairytale-believing wedding planner and a jaded hot-rod builder who thinks love is nothing more than a chemical reaction end up on opposite sides of the aisle at the wedding of her best friend and his brother? A wedding war erupts.

Jake Ryan will do just about anything to keep his brother from making the same mistake he made. He's convinced there won't be a wedding because he's out to stop it. Mia Briscoe's determined this will be the most spectacular wedding she's ever planned. And when she discovers the groom's brother is out to break up the happy couple? The battle begins.

Jake and Mia have both suffered deep emotional wounds that prevent them from making lasting connections. And both are baffled by the intense feelings they bring out in each other. Can Mia teach Jake that love is something to cherish and not loathe? And if she can, will he be strong enough to bury his past so they can have a chance at a future together?

EXCERPT from THE WEDDING WAR

Oh, baby. Come to mama.

Mia Briscoe had never been one for flights of fancy, but the big, bruising man sprawled out in First Class seat 2B made her want to drop to her knees and thank nature for producing such a fine specimen.

If the long, muscular legs clad in soft denim were any indication, he had to be at least two or three inches over six feet. The jeans, worn in all the right places, drew her gaze to what promised to be an impressive package. His black T-shirt hugged thick, sinewy arms roped with muscle and stretched across a pair of well-defined pecs. A ball cap hid his face, but she sensed a firm, square jaw. He stared at a magazine that lay open in his lap, as his long, masculine fingers touched the page.

Mia told herself not to stare, but damn, how could she not when the man's body was so...mouth watering? She whimpered. She actually whimpered.

She'd never been affected by a man like this before. Not even in high school, when other girls swooned over rock and movie stars. To have this reaction here, on an airplane, of all places seemed...strange. And wonderful.

It took her mind off the fact that the last time she'd boarded an airplane it'd been to sit at the deathbed of the woman who'd raised her after her parents died in a car accident. She'd been thirteen. Aunt Eva took her in, loved her and guided her to make the right choices in life. Eleven months later, her aunt's absence still felt as raw as an open wound. Don't think about it.

Mia gathered herself, realizing she stood in the middle of the aisle salivating over a piece of man-candy. She glanced down at the boarding pass in her hand. 2B. Her eyes flickered to the bulkhead.

Wait a minute. Mr. Studly is in my seat!

Wow, she must have managed to repay one hell of a karmic debt, because good fortune shone on her today.

A coiffed and polished flight attendant gave Mia a plastic smile as she passed by. Mia looked back down at Mr. Studly, still engrossed in his magazine.

She cleared her throat.

No response. She tried a more direct approach. "Excuse me. I think you're in my seat."

He finally glanced up and Mia's heart all but stopped.

Oh, my.

Blue eyes, as deep as the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean, stared up at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Intelligence shone in those gorgeous depths, and his dark brows pulled into a frown as he gave her face and body a slow perusal. Mia felt his gaze as if he'd touched her with those tough, masculine hands. She suppressed a shiver.

She'd been right about that square jaw. At eleven in the morning it showed signs of a heavy beard. His strong chin boasted a faint cleft. She'd always had a weak spot for a man with a strong chin with a faint cleft.

He broke eye contact, returning his attention to his magazine. "I'm not moving."

Huh?

"I beg your pardon?" Mia asked.

"You heard me," he said, in a deep baritone.

"But…you're in my seat." She thrust her boarding pass under his nose. "See? It says right there. Seat 2B."

"I can read, sweetheart," he said, sending Mia's blood near boiling point.

Is this guy for real? A hunk of studly man-love he might be, but he had the manners of a garden rock. Wishing he had just kept his mouth shut, she drew up to her full five feet nine inches. "Are you sure about that?" she asked sweetly.

"Lady, I'm not gonna sit here arguing with you all day. You better sit your pretty little ass down or you're gonna be in for a rude awakening when we take off."

Of all the pigheaded, misogynistic things to say! Mia's blood pressure skyrocketed as a fine red mist gathered before her eyes.

Mia wasn't one to stand by while people trampled over her in order to get their way. No, sir. She was no one's doormat. And it infuriated her that this guy expected her to toe the line simply because he said so.

She planted her feet and propped a fist on her hip. "I'm not going anywhere. You're the one who should move."

He glanced at her and smirked. Why did the colossal jerk have to be so damn gorgeous? It wasn't fair.

"Not gonna happen," he drawled.

"The hell it's not."

One black brow lifted sardonically. "What are you gonna do? Tell on me?"

"You bet your ass I am." Mia spun on her heel and smacked into the Barbie-doll flight attendant she'd seen moments ago.

"Is there a problem?" she asked Mia.

"As a matter of fact, there is. This…this person" —she infused plenty of meaning into the word so there was no mistaking what she thought of squatters, "is in my seat." She shoved the boarding pass at the flight attendant, who stared at it as though Mia handed her a smelly sock. "It's right there. 2B." She whirled back on the interloper. "He's in my seat."

While it pleased her enormously to vent her frustration, Mia realized her behavior was a tad childish. True, the man occupying her seat had started this whole mess, but as an adult she should have risen above it. She ran a successful—okay, successful was stretching it—wedding planning business, for crying out loud. She dealt with disasters worse than this on a daily basis.

"Sir?" the flight attendant asked. "May I see your boarding pass?"

He smiled, the act transforming his entire face. Mia wasn't going to fall for his charming act this time. Uh-uh. No way. However, Airline Barbie was a different story. She looked ready to climb on his lap and take him for a ride. While she perused his boarding pass, he flicked a glance at Mia. And smirked.

Bastard.

"Sir, it does say here you're in 2A." She seemed disappointed.

He turned that megawatt smile back on Airline Barbie. "It's just I have this thing about planes," he explained, speaking to the flight attendant as if Mia had ceased to exist. "I have a real hard time flying as it is, so it helps if I sit in the aisle. I thought I was getting an aisle seat, so I just sat here."

"That's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard. You are not seriously going to believe him, are you? He's totally playing you." Mia huffed and folded her arms under her breasts.

Airline Barbie turned on Mia. "Ma'am, you need to calm down right now or I'm going to have you removed from the aircraft."

Mia's mouth hung open. Outrage sang through her blood, but logic and reason, temporarily out to lunch, decided to make a comeback.

"If he would have said that to begin with, I would have gladly given up my seat." There. She even managed to sound the teensiest bit contrite—though she spoke through clenched teeth. "He can have the stupid seat if he's afraid of flying. Okay? It's not that big a deal."

Mia's temper often landed her in situations such as this. However, had The Jerk explained his fear of flying in a calm and rational manner when she'd first spoken to him, she would have gladly traded seats. But, nooo, he had to be a big ol' butthead about it.

Really, The Jerk deserved Mia's ire.

Airline Barbie didn't look convinced. In fact, she and The Jerk shared a commiserating glance, as if Mia had lost her mind. She knew she fought a losing battle. And the hell of it was, she had to sit next to him for the next five hours.

Her first time in First Class, paid for by her best friend, whose wedding she would be planning for the next two weeks, and it had been ruined by a misogynistic pig who, quite unfairly, resembled a dark, delicious and seriously yummy god.

Well, crap. It appeared her good fortune had turned into a curse.

E-book Reader Contest Open a Few More Days

For those who might have missed the contest a few of the Cerridwen authors are sponsoring, we're extending it until the end of this week! Yippee! There are details on my web page at: http://www.amycorwin.com/march2008contest.htm. Check out the rules so that you can send in a winning entry. The clues were distributed each day during the contest period, but to make it easier for late entrants, I'm including all the clues for the "secret words" below.

Some folks have also expressed an interest in the Cerridwen Press Authors' blog (which also contains information about the contest). You can find the blog at: http://cerridwenpressauthors.blogspot.com/

In addition to collecting the secret words, please note that we have included a tiny picture of a tree, so you will want to note all the pages where you see the small tree. We also have a correction to "tree locations": Lise Fuller's icon is on her MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/lisefuller

And now, for the secret word location clues…

Day 1:

Amy Corwin writes Regencies (and dabbles in other genres, coming soon) -- check her BOOKS page at http://www.amycorwin.com for the secret word of the day!

Day 2:

Micqui Miller's home page (http://www.micquimiller.com) sends you to her books page where a secret word is sitting right on top of her guest book -- the word could be an male animal or it could be something we'd all like a lot of! Check it out!

Day 3:

Sometimes characters have a say in their own character development.  Read how Randy, hero of Finding Sarah, helped author Terry Odell.  And it won't cost you a thing to read it. (HINT: it's FREE).

Check her web site at http://www.terryodell.com for details.

Day 4:

Terri Thackston always puts this person first when she thinks about her next book. Go to her blog at http://www.terithackston.blogspot.com and find out today's clue (this was posted on March 4).

Day 5:

Vicky Burkholder hangs out with these folks and brainstorms her great plots with them.  

Go to http://vickyburkholder.blogspot.com  and find today's word!

Day 6:

Check out Eilis Flynn's website in her reviews section. Her secret word points to generosity in action!

 http://www.coffeeon sundays.info/_sgg/m5m9_ 1.htm

Day 7:

You can find This 'n' That at Sharon Horton's web site, including today's word.

Check it out at http://www.sharonhorton.com

Day 8:

We've got a poet today! Go to http://www.NDHansen-Hill.com and solve this riddle:

'tis a four-letter word with an "m" and a "t", so stop by the lighthouse, look, and see.

Day 9:

Sam Cheever's website contains lots of surprises for readers. Check it out at http://www.samcheever.com!

Day 10:

She never knew when she grew up that she'd be writing romance for this publisher. Check out Jenyfer Matthews' bio page at her web site (http://www.jenyfermatthews.com) for today's secret clue.

Day 11:

Jude Atkins writes romantic suspense. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe you'll find that's true (and her picture) if you check her web page at www.judeatkins.com

Day 12:

Karen likes fantasy and mystery along with her romance, but for Christmas get her a vampire. Please! Check http://www.kmccullough.com for today's secret word.

Day 13:

Next to Chambord and champagne, Frances likes this best. Go to http://www.francesstockton.com/blog/index.php to find out the answer. After all, this and champagne go together!

Day 14

Liz Jasper's UNDERDEAD is now available in print, but her 2008 EPPIE Award nomination (and WINNER!!!) was for UNDERDEAD in this green version. Look for today's word in VERY BIG PINK TYPE at Liz's website www.lizjasper.com

Day 15:

Mary Ann's Secret word has to do with her FOUR-footed friends, which is a big clue right there to the Secret Word. Check it out at http://www.deadlinehellions.blogspot.com

Now you have all the clues!

Gather up the location of the tree icons, your list of secret words, and send your entry to: GreenBookFriend@yahoo.com

——At some point in the future, I'm hoping to sponsor another contest, so stay tuned!

Writing Favors

After finally passing the two Microsoft exams to upgrade my Systems Engineer certification to Windows 2003 (in preparation for the upgrade to 2008) I was thinking that I could get back to writing. Not. Well, sort of not.

You see, I often volunteer to judge writing contests. I found contests very, very useful to help hone my skills before I got published and I like to help out with them now that I am published, to sort of give back to the community. So I'm trying to get those entries read, think about them, formulate some reasonable comments, and then return them.

One of the things I'm reminded of whenever I do this is how much you can learn from reading other people's writing. In fact, you can probably learn more from reading not-quite-publishable than you can from reading published work. If a pre-published author makes mistakes, they are usually easier to find and easier to see how you might fix them. And avoid similar mistakes in your own writing. I can't tell you how much I've learned this way.

I occasionally go back through my favorite books to try to extract similar how-to information, but a lot of my favorite authors are so good, it is nearly impossible to dissect their writing. It's too smooth and unobtrusive. In fact, it's often hard to read more than a sentence without getting hooked into the story and forgetting why you were looking that the writing, anyway. That is the mark of a very skilled writer. Their writing is so unobtrusive that it does not get in the way of the story. You get sucked into the characters and plot to the point where you almost can't even see the writing.

This is something that may be more true of popular, commercial fiction than literary fiction. Literary fiction often showcases the writer's way with words or poetic voice—sometimes sacrificing story for the writing form itself. Some speculative works also do this—where it's more about the style of the vehicle than about the message it carries. And that's cool. I've been known to really enjoy fiction that is "out there" and uses weird language or a strange style. It's fun.

But if you are writing commercial fiction, then as a writer, you really need to make one critical decision before you start: Is your voice and "way with words" more important than your story?

It's okay to answer yes. But if your voice or poetic style of writing is more important to you than the story, you need to be prepared for a hard sell. You may be writing literature—not commercial fiction. And maybe someday, they'll include your books in "English 101."

Anyway, I was reminded of this issue because of some of the contest entries I've been reviewing. At least two of them had very strong, distinctive voices. One was very poetic. Lovely, really. But the voice and poetry was louder than the story, so the story failed to grip me. I was enjoying the play with words—I could not have cared less about the characters or plot. And I realized after reading the first two chapters that there was no way I would ever read more than 50 pages or so. It was too tiring. Evocative, but tiring because you never got emotionally invested in the story. It was all pretty surface with no soul.

For a story to be compelling and gripping, the reader has to forget they are reading a story. They have to sink into it. And readers can't do that if they are constantly paying attention to the writing or if they have to stop and figure out what the writer "meant".

Unobtrusive. Smooth. That's what you're looking for when someone describes your writing. Don't make the reader go, "huh?" And don't let them see your technique. If they see your technique, they're not into the story.

So, I've got to get back to the contest entries.

Good luck and sweet dreams!

News Flash!

My lovely and talented editor gave me a release date for my upcoming book, I Bid One American! I'm so pleased. The e-book version comes out on May 9, 2008 and the print version will be available on Nov 7, 2008. What a thrill!

Although, my joy is somewhat tempered by fear on a number of fronts. I have a couple of manuscripts that I'll be submitting shortly to several places, but it's always scary not to have another actual contract in my hot little hand. And I would really like to have more books coming out in 2008, but we will have to see what happens.

My more immediate and overwhelming terror has nothing to do with my writing career, except that it eats up time that would be better spent writing. I'm trying to prepare to take the two Microsoft exams (70-292 and 70-296) to upgrade my Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer certification from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003. I was going to let it lapse because I never seemed to need my MCSE for anything. And the two exams to upgrade are going to be retired March 31. And I started to think…oh, no. Maybe I should reconsider.

Of course, then we had a major reorganization. And now they are saying that people who are the senior Enterprise Admins (that would be me & two others) will need to be certified. Grrh. And the only smooth path to get certified for Windows 2008 and the new Enterprise Admin path is to first get your Windows 2003 certification. And for me, the easiest path to that is to upgrade my 2000 MCSE to 2003.

This will be the first time I've tried to take any of the Microsoft exams without first going to a class. I'm trying to do it on my own, since I work at this junk every single day and as an Enterprise Admin, I also get to work on all the problems in our enterprise. So you'd think it would be a piece of cake.

We've got ~600 domain controllers, 300 sites, 30 domains and close to 300,000 users. So I keep thinking all this experience has to be good for something.

But I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be easy and I'll probably fail the first time. But I can retake it, thankfully.

Unfortunately, all this studying and fretting is taking time away from writing…grrh again. But I do have a few queries out-and-about. After I finish the Microsoft exams, I intend to finish my "final touches" on a Regency mystery called: The Vital Principle and send that toddler out to walk or fall on its face. And I still have The Bricklayer's Helper staggering around the circuit to see if I can find a home for it.

And I'd really like to write a few more short stories. They're fun.

Anyway—those are my meandering thoughts and worries for the moment.

Wishing you a happy and healthy weekend!

Tips for Writers

Writing is not an easy, armchair diversion—it's more of a blood sport, really. And there's really only one piece of advice that is worth anything: write the best book you can and then write the next, better one.

Not exactly what most writers want to hear. They are all looking for the ruby slippers, the magic key, the holy grail, the answer to life, the universe and everything. (Which, by the way, is 42.) But there is no single answer that will get you published except that first one.

That being said, I have learned a few things the hard way. They might help you, or they might not. Shrug. It's all a crap shoot, anyway. It's more like winning the lottery than anything else, except you don't have to pour your blood and sweat into a lottery ticket.

For serious writers, however, there is at least one fairly critical decision you need to make:

Are you going to submit your book, or get an agent?

'Cause…you don't want to do both for the same manuscript.

Submitting your own book to Publishers

If you decide to submit your own book to publishers, you need to face reality: most sales of new authors involve an agent. There are, however, exceptions.

• E-Publishers and Small Press: Authors are better off selling their manuscripts directly to these publishers. Typically, there is no advance. Authors of erotica and highly sensual material do very well with these publishers, so it is definitely something to think about.
  
• Category: Authors who write category romances or other types of shorter works targeted toward category publishers (e.g. Harlequin, Mills & Boon, or Avalon) then again, you can sell directly to the publisher and generally don't need an agent. There are advances offered.
  

If you want to sell to a large publisher, however, you will probably need an agent. Most large publishers will not even accept a query from an author, although a few will glance over a query letter.

Don't think you can send your book around to all the publishers, get a bunch of rejections, and then try agents as a last resort. This is called: shopping your book. It's deadly. If you do this, then if you miraculously found an agent, you will have placed him (or her) in the position of having no place to send your manuscript.

That manuscript is basically dead.

Agents

If your book is fabulous and you want to sell it to a big publisher: get an agent. Send your queries, partials, and manuscripts only to agents until you sign with one. It's really the only way.

Do not send the book to any publishers, first. Or simultaneously. Do not shop your book and then expect the agent to find a home for it after you've already sent your manuscript to everyone and their brother.

Scenario

You've written a brilliant historical romance. You try a few agents but it's so slow and you just know that it is perfect for Avon, so you go ahead and try Avon while waiting for Agent B to respond. Avon rejects you.

By some miracle, Agent B signs you. Agent B knows the Senior Editor at Avon, personally, and could convince her to buy your brilliant book...except you already submitted to them, so that's out! Agent B can't submit there because you've already poisoned the well with your submission, just because you got impatient.

Do not shoot yourself in the foot.

Best of Both Worlds

But wait! There is a way around this conundrum. Remember that first rule I gave you: write the best book you can, and then write a better one? Well, do that. And then look at both of them.

Take the strongest, best manuscript you have and dedicate that one solely to getting an agent. No matter what, do not submit it to any publishers.

Take the other strong, best manuscript you have (and it better be good, too) and send it to publishers—if you're sure you want to take this risk. Remember, if you try all the publishers, then that's the end of the book's life. It will have to go into the drawer when you're done.

And then write a better, stronger, faster, more powerful book.

Conclusion

This all sounds easy, but self-control is the most difficult part. You want to do something. After months and years of submitting to agents, you want to get it to a publisher. You want to get published.

That's why you have to decide on what you can live with. And it's why you have to keep on writing and improving. Each book you write will be better than the last. Each new book will stand a better chance.

The reality is: You need an agent to sell to a large publisher. So you need the self-control to set aside your best manuscript and submit it only to agents.

And you need the discipline to keep on writing.

Final Edits on Galley

Just finished what I hope are the final edits on the last galley for I Bid One American, my newest novel. It will be coming out soon from The Wild Rose Press. As soon as I get a date, I'll let everyone know—the anticipation is killing me. I Bid One American snagged me an agent and I'm extremely proud of it. Not that I'm not just as proud of my other stories, but as any writer will tell you, the book they are working on is almost always their favorite. This story is a mystery set during the Regency period, about an American heiress no one wants and a duke every woman is after. Unfortunately, after a debutante is killed during a soirée, the Bow Street runners are after the duke as well! So what else can an heiress do but help him out of a tight spot and possibly marry the poor sod.

In I Bid One American, I also introduce Second Sons, Discreet Inquiries—and its founder, Knighton Gaunt. I have several stories planned for Mr. Gaunt's inquiry agents and I'm afraid the murder rate for Regency England is about to go up.

While I Bid One American "brewing" I've also sent another manuscript to my fabulous agent. This manuscript is called The Bricklayer's Helper. It is another romantic mystery set in the Regency—also featuring an inquiry agent from Second Sons, who undertakes the task of discovering who is trying to kill a woman disguised as a bricklayer's helper. I got the core idea from an actual case of an orphaned girl who made the decision to cut her hair, dress in boy's clothing, and get a job as a bricklayer's helper. In the Regency, there were precious few ways for a penniless female child to survive except walking the streets, so her decision meant she could get a decent job and pay her own way. It worked pretty well for her until her mid-twenties when her landlady discovered "he" was a "she." Since about the same time, the landlady's daughter realized she was pregnant, the landlady came up with the scheme to have her daughter marry the disguised woman. The hope was that this would serve the dual purpose of "proving" that the woman in disguise was actually a real man, and making the landlady's grandchild legitimate when it was born. Their plans rather fell apart, but the story was so intriguing I couldn't help playing "what if" with it.

What if the little girl became an orphan because someone had killed her family?

What if the killer subsequently discovered that the girl had survived, and that the girl might have proof that would convict him—or her?

What if the girl realizes someone is trying to kill her and hires an inquiry agent to discover who and why?

And there you have it—the bones of a murder mystery set in the Regency.

A lot of folks have asked why I enjoy writing stories set in the Regency period so much, but really, there isn't just one answer. I like the period and "distance" makes it appear even rosier than it really was. The Regency was a more stratified Society with a great many restrictions, so there is more opportunity for a writer to explore how people find and fit into their place in a society where it isn't just "anything goes" as it is today. It was definitely not an "I'm Okay, You're Okay" situation. I've always been fascinated by the juxtaposition of outsiders versus insiders—who is acceptable and why.

And I like the comedy of manners aspect that Jane Austen does so well.

In addition, the Regency was before the regularization of the police force in London so I can play more with "amateur" detectives/inquiry agents without really stretching credibility too far. There was more leeway for that sort of thing. Now-a-days, no matter what people think, there is little (no) room for amateur detectives because they simply don't have access to the police files, forensic data, and other information that would be necessary to solve a case. The science of the Regency is at a level I can handle.

It does mean I have to do a lot of research, but I enjoy that aspect as well. Over the last few years, I've collected quite a library of original material such as Gentlemen's magazines, Ladies magazines, newspapers, and other source material that is fascinating to read on a rainy day.

Lastly, it's just fun.

So, over the next few months, I Bid One American should come out and I've even got some short stories up my sleeve.

Enjoy and have a fabulous Valentine's day!

Making Someone Love You

The reality is that you can't make someone love you…or can you?

I'm not a psychiatrist, psychologist, sociologist or anything like that. I'm a writer and I'm interested in portraying how people interact. How they fall in love. How a bad guy can manipulate others. Because let's face it, some people seem to be masters of persuasion. You know they are terrible people, but you can't help yourself.

There are a lot of articles about how criminals can essentially brainwash an individual, break them down and make them do what they want, but really…most criminals probably don't do that. They've probably discovered easier ways to get someone to love them. Once you have love, you have the person. You have a measure of control.

Sociopaths and con men do it all the time because they are masters of manipulation. They learn very early several lessons that the rest of us just don't think about. Subconsciously, those of us on leaning toward the more "normal" end of the spectrum may also do it, although perhaps not consciously and deliberately the way a con man might.

So, how do you make someone love you?

Assumptions

I'm writing this for writers, to help them portray attraction (and control) in their fiction. So…take that under advisement.

If your character (or you) is physically repulsive to the target, then this is probably not going to help much. Although…often time itself can be on the character's side. Over time, ugliness can sort of disappear in the eye of the beholder.

So, I'm assuming that the two people (characters) involved are not repulsed by each other. It is even easier if they are physically attracted to one another, meaning: pheromones are good; not physically repulsive; may have one or two physical traits that are a "turn on" for that particular person, e.g. be it good legs, a certain smile, or whatever.

We want an even playing field, in other words. Although, under certain circumstances, if you do this right, even someone who you would never be attracted to in a million years can become attractive if…

Basic, Underlying Theory

Everyone has one or more (usually many) triggers. Just like you can have a hot button that instantly provokes your anger, there are similar triggers that can give you that feeling that the other person loves you (or cares for you). And once you feel the love, all things being equal (see assumptions) it is very, very difficult to resist falling in love. If a person seems to love you and "sees you for what you are," you will feel an inexplicable closeness to them and are one step away from being in love. It's easy enough, then, to just go ahead and fall in love.

If you want to make someone love you, all you have to do is identify the triggers. And then pull them.

Because triggers work in wonderful ways in the human subconscious. If someone is pulling a trigger, the recipient believes s/he understands him and sees him for what he is. And loves him. (I'm going to drop the s/he stuff and just use "he." It's easier.)

Because our triggers develop when we are infants and we associate the trigger with the kind of unconditional love we get from a parent. If the child gets no love, then he will still develop triggers, but they will probably be developed later in childhood and based upon other relationships or activities.

What if someone isn't pulling my triggers? If you are in a relationship and your significant other doesn't seem to understand you. Or you just have this sadness/hollowness feeling that something is missing. Or you love your significant other—you really do—but this other person just really attracts you…

It is because of triggers.

In the case of:

• You are in a relationship and your significant other doesn't seem to understand you. Or you just have this sadness/hollowness feeling that something is missing.
  
  • It is because your significant other is not pulling your triggers.
    
• You love your significant other—you really do—but this other person just really attracts you…
  
  • Your significant other is not pulling your triggers
    
  • The other person is pulling one or more of your triggers
    

What are Triggers?

Whatever triggers that warm, fuzzy feeling for you. They can be almost anything. A gesture, a phrase, an action taken (or not taken), an object, a fragrance, food, clothing, basically anything or any action. They are the "hot button" for affection and love.

There is no such thing as a list of triggers. Triggers are unique to the individual. The only thing I can guarantee is that if you listen or watch someone long enough, you will discover their trigger(s). If you then wish to show your sociopathic side and use this information for evil, well, you're probably already doing so and don't need to read about it here.

With all triggers, if you have to ask about it, the trigger loses about 90% of its effectiveness because you've brought it to the level of awareness.

A few examples of triggers include:

• A wink
  
• A slight grin and shaking the head conspiratorially while someone else is speaking (because you both know that other person is a nutjob)
  
• Liking the same thing (book, movie, song, food, whatever)
  
• Making someone his perfect breakfast in the morning—when you apparently had no way of knowing what that was. (Not your perfect breakfast, his.)
  
• Siding with them in an argument—sticking up for him
  
• Insulting them (but in a good way—like, you idiot, said in that warm, playful tone)
  
• Ironing his shirt with real starch
  
• The scent of real, homemade apple pie baking
  
• Cleaning
  
• Grabbing the back of her neck as you're walking along (loosely—we're not talking strangulation here)
  
• Giving her a rose for no particular reason (note that for some people, gifts can be a negative trigger—and seen as an attempt to buy affection—so you do need to be a little careful)
  

Universal Trigger

Down to business. There is one, universal trigger. Women have used it for ages with men. Perverts are using it on the Internet to scam others—particularly young teens.

Listening.

That's right. That's all it is. Listening to the other person. Keeping your mouth shut and actually hearing what the other person is saying. Because you know what? Among all the detritus, the other person is probably going to tell you what their triggers are. And you can tell when they do because when the other person talks about it, whether it is something their mother did, or a particular object, or a song, or a movie, whatever it may be, their face will be suffused with joy. He'll get all sappy looking. He'll sort of grin sheepishly. You can hear it in his voice. It's one of his best memories. He'll stop and stare at someone doing it (a young mother giving her child an apple—whatever) and get all kind of weird and soft looking. Take note of this—he's revealing a trigger.

And by the way, listening, itself, is a trigger for almost everyone.

The one thing most people want and never get enough of is an audience. Someone to talk to. More specifically, someone to listen when they talk.

It's what all the blogging is about, really.

A Specific Trigger

Recently, there was a show about ghosts and ordinary people who thought they had seen something supernatural. I wasn't so much interested, but it got my attention when one of the men started talking. Because right there, on television, in front of the whole, wide world, he revealed one of his triggers. I doubt he realized it.

He was talking about his mother—he thought he had seen her ghost. He remembered that the house was always spotless, and he never saw her without a rag in her hand. (This ghost looked like it had a rag in her hand—whatever.)

Right after he said that, I could tell you these things about that man:

• He views a clean house as evidence of love.
  
• If he's dating a woman and she comes over and helps him clean his house, or she cleans his house, he will almost certainly view this as evidence that she loves him. He will be well on the way to loving her.
  
• If his significant other keeps the house spotless, he'll feel cherished and loved. If he sees that significant other with a rag in her hand, he will get a rush of warmth.
  
• If his significant other is a slob, he'll always have a part of him that wonders if she really loves him.
  
• If his significant other is a slob and they hire a housekeeper, watch out. Chances are very good he will either fall in love with the housekeeper, or have an affair with her. He's always going to be a little attracted to anyone who will clean up after him.
  
• He may deliberately leave things lying about or create messes, just to test if his significant other really does love him. Obviously, if she does, she will clean up after him with an indulgent smile on her face. (And it should also be clear that he probably won't even realize he is setting this test up.) If she objects, he'll always feel a little resentful, hurt and uncertain if she really loves him. He may even stop making messes, but the act of cleaning up after himself will always make him feel isolated and alone. He may eventually fell punished every time he does it. (I know I do.)
  
  • Scenario: This guy (from the above paragraph) has finally learned to pick up after himself after his wife has worked on him for a while. He's out in the park, eating. When he's done, he balls up his brown paper bag and puts it on the bench next to him, intending to throw it away in a minute. The wind blows it off the bench. A woman about his age bends down, picks it up and puts it in the trash. She smiles at him.
    
  • Trigger. He's going to feel an amazing rush of warmth for her. He'll think: she's not gorgeous and little old (after all, she's his age) but she's got a really nice smile. He'll want to talk to her. Ask her to lunch. He may get up the nerve to do so.
    
  • At lunch he'll think: she's got nice eyes, too. I like her. He's nervous and spills his coke.
    
  • She wipes up the spill and cleans up his jacket.
    
  • He's in love. Okay, maybe not completely in love, but he's going to have a hard time walking away because of that hole in his gut that doesn't get filled when he's at home.
    

So that how this trigger thing works. That probably won't be his only trigger, but from the expression on that guy's face when he talked about it, and the tone of his voice, it's a major one.

By the way, if you're dating someone, it's worthwhile to see if being around them makes you glow (they are pulling your triggers) or if you always have a sort of hollow space that is not getting filled. If you have any hollows, be warned. It is doubtful they will be filled and divorce is probably in your future. And if all your hollows are being filled but you suspect your "loved one" is a sociopathic mass murderer, then consider that he may be quite deliberately manipulating you. He may have identified your triggers from your babble and is very deliberately pulling them when they need to be pulled. Sorry. Bummer.

Triggers can be as simple as a bowl of hominy at night and someone reading to you. It can be as simple as someone calling you "Butch" (one of my triggers—from the days when that didn't mean what it means now—my family used to call me that occasionally as a nickname—and it still gives me warm fuzzies. Although I doubt I would react well, now, if someone used it. Simply because of the connotations. And no, I wasn't masculine nor in any way, masculine looking—in fact, others called me Teeny because I was somewhat delicate…okay, enough.).

Interestingly, a lot of high-powered working women have triggers like their significant other making the decision of what to have for dinner. Because she's freaking tired of making decisions all day long and she'd like someone else to drive for a change. Even better, to have her significant other do something without being asked, simply because it needed to be done.

See? Triggers can be almost anything. A gesture, a nickname, an action…anything that resonates subconsciously with you and brings back that warm feeling that you are cherished and loved. Once you feel cherished and loved, it is but a short step to being in love.

That's it for tonight.

Rather rambling, I know. I just hope it inspires other writers and makes them think about how their characters interact and respond to one another.

I may eventually clean this up and post it as an article on my website—but I'm not making any promises. J

Good Night!

January is nearly over…

I got my galley for I Bid One American back this evening and I've been working on that, trying to spot any errors. I'm sure some will slip through—my mind is excellent at supplying what should be there and ignoring what is there. But, I have found two more errors and I've got to get back to it, so this blog will be short.

For those of you following the adventures of the poor, abandoned cat I found in a derelict barn near us…well…I've been feeding it and playing with it and letting it sit in my lap. You can see from the picture that this barn is not the best environment for it, so I'm considering how to introduce it to a new home. Actually, I guess I'm getting ready to adopt it, even though we really don't need another cat. And I'm not sure how our current cat, Psycho, is going to feel about this. Or our dog, Honey. She loathes cats and will barely tolerate Psycho. Our lab, Rowdy, on the other hand is fine with everything. The more, the merrier. I also haven't broken the news, yet, to my husband, although I suspect that he suspects, since he knows I've been feeding and playing with the darn thing.

Don't know what I'm going to name it. I'm lousy with names. I've always been very fond of names like: dog 1, dog 2, cat 1 and cat 2. Or big dog, little dog. Orange cat, Tortie cat (the barn cat is a tortoise-shell cat with white paws and a white chest). My husband named Psycho. I named Honey because she's honey colored. We named our lab Rowdy because we expected him to be rowdy, considering our experiences with other labs, but he never really lived up to that, being more of a I'm-going-to-sleep-now kind of dog. I guess being 120+ pounds took the spunk right out of him. He's really laid back.

Anyway, so I'm trying to think of a name. I thought of Annie (as in "little orphan") but when I called the cat that, it didn't much care for the name. It likes words that start with "c". It loves the word "come" so other than just plain "Cat"… Sigh. I know. And the cat isn't nutty enough to be called Crazy (which would go so nicely with Psycho).

If anyone has any good cat names for a sweet (slightly nervous) cat, I'm all ears.

And finally, I've been considering an article on how to make people love you. It's really for writers and character development, but it sort of works with living, breathing humans, too, if you don't mind being a complete sociopath who manipulates the heck out of everyone. I've been sort of putting off writing the article because I'm actually a little paranoid that it might actually be used for evil instead of just good writing. J But what the hey. It's not like the sociopaths out there haven't already probably figured this out. That's why they are so effective at manipulating others and making them fall in love with them, and us nearly-normal folks aren't.

But it has to do with triggers—not the kind found on guns.

And here's a hint: if you actually listen to your significant other, s/he will eventually reveal one or more triggers. And all you have to do is pull that trigger and s/he will be yours. Unfortunately, you do have to listen to her (or him). Sorry.

Strangely enough, the act of listening itself can also be a huge trigger.

Anyway, I may eventually write the silly article as part of my other articles on developing characters and characterization. Or not if I get too engrossed in writing my next book. :0-)

Have a great evening and huge success in the coming months!

Edit, Edit, Edit

I'm about two-thirds of the way through editing The Bricklayer's Helper and having a ball with the manuscript. That is definitely one of the great things about being a writer. Each new story is a fabulous opportunity to try something different and shine. When I'm writing, I feel like a kid making stuff up and rubbing her hands with glee at each twisted turn. What other job lets you make stuff up for a living? (Okay, maybe ad execs also get to lie for a living. And actors. And…)

For years I wanted to be a writer and I even wrote a few things, but I felt sort of intimidated by the whole "writer mystique". And I thought I could never come up with story after story after story. But for my entire life, I've always made up little stories and scenarios in my head. I thought everyone did that, in fact. It never bothered me if we had an hour commute or a three day car trip because that just meant more time when I could dream stuff up and not get in trouble for doing nothing except stare at the scenery.

Strange how the mind works. Or doesn't work. It never occurred to me that my fear that I could not "come up with a storyline" was completely silly. What the heck had I been doing all along but coming up with strange little scenarios and stories? Then I had that epiphany when I realized that I was already creating plots, I just needed to actually write them down.

It was a little difficult at first. It's still difficult. Writing is hard work even if you do it mostly sitting down. The characters get wayward and don't want to cooperate. You build a plot only to realize that your characters and your scenes don't mesh. The heroine would never, ever do that. Stuff like that. But the more you work at it and master the basics, the better you become at creating real people and plots that work for those people. It never gets easier, but it doesn't feel so much like rusty gears trying to turn without oil. And you learn ways to cope with the dead ends and irrational characters.

Tonight, I'm fumbling around blogging instead of getting back to my edits. Mostly because I'm lurching into that nasty final third where you have to bring your characters' to their ultimate moment of painful truth and then somehow get them out of the mess they are in and tie up all the loose ends. And I was distracted by the discovery of a little tortoise-shell cat someone abandoned in a derelict barn near us. I fed the poor thing and was sort of shocked when it ran up to me, rubbed my legs and wanted me to pet it. Cats are supposed to be aloof. The darn thing wasn't even really afraid of our huge, 120lb lab until he started to sniff at it. That's what makes me think it was abandoned, because it sure isn't wild. I'm not such a nut that I think all animals will automatically fall in love with me if I pour a little kibble on the ground.

Anyway, we've already got a cat that showed up one day—also not afraid of the dogs. He's pretty much insane so we called him Psycho. Despite encouraging him to leave, he moved in. The nutjob thinks water is a toy and comes running whenever you turn on a faucet or flush a toilet. If you aren't careful, he'll climb into the sink and try to bite the stream of water. I guess it offends him. And he thinks nothing of having a stream of icy liquid flowing over his head and face as he tries to bite and smack it. Tries to bite and play with the dogs' tails, too, and they aren't all that fond of cats. Like I said: Psycho. Sometimes it's like living in a demilitarized zone around here with the dogs eyeing the cat and just begging for a few, quiet minutes alone with him…

I don't think my husband is up for another cat, although I caught him feeding a stray a couple of weeks ago. Don't think Psycho or the dogs will appreciate a new pal either, so it's a big of a quandary. Guess we will see what happens. Maybe I'll get pictures of the new beast tomorrow and post them.

[You can see I'm still wasting time here instead of editing.]

I've really got to stop fooling around and get back to work.

Have a grand and glorious evening…

Amy

2008 Starts on a High Note

Today my editor at The Wild Rose Press sent me the final edits for my new book, I Bid One American. I'm hoping to get through the manuscript this week and get it back to her, which means they will soon fit it into their publication schedule and give me a release date. I am so incredibly excited about this.

I Bid One American is a romantic mystery set in the Regency period, set in London around 1818. I had such fun writing this story and I was privileged to sign with a wonderful agent on the strength of this manuscript. I literally can't wait until I have a release date. But I'm trying to control my excitement and do due diligence to the editing—I don't want to rush through at this point and botch the job.

One of the things that has stuck in my mind at this point is what I owe my readers. Jen Crusie and Bob Mayer recently went through an entire year of knowledge-transfer to help other writers learn the craft. And one of the points they made during their concluding remarks was how much writers owe their readers. After all, if someone spends money on your work, and then devotes several hours to reading it, you should give them the best product possible. I totally agree with this and don't want to mess up the story now.

Of course it seems virtually impossible to eradicate all errors. No matter how many times I read something, the next time through, I inevitably find something wrong. And that's true of other writer's published material—I'm not sure I've ever read anything that didn't have an error or two. But we do our best and hope the readers will forgive us.

So, hopefully, within a month or two, I will have a release date—and even more incredible, my book will be available in the Amazon Kindle store for all those gadget-lovers who have gone out and bought the latest in e-book readers. This is so exciting! I'm dying to get my hands on a Kindle. I've always loved electronic gizmos and one of the coolest things about e-books and e-book readers in general is that they are green.

E-books don't require paper and therefore, don't cause massive numbers of trees to be pulped for paper. I don't think most folks realize how wasteful the whole print industry is. When bookstores stock books, they only have them on the shelves for a set period of time. Then they have to make room for new books. And when this happens, they strip the covers off the old books they didn't sell, and send them back to the publisher for reimbursement. And the publisher disposes of the stripped books.

Totally not green.

And while I love printed books too and buy dozens, I'm having severe bookshelf overflow problems. So I'm now thinking of seriously developing my e-book library. No shelf space required. No trees cut down. No waste, no fuss, no muss. And with an e-book reader, I can carry around a small library wherever I travel.

The change has been coming for some time. I know that as a computer geek, I've gradually moved away from computer books to online material, because I don't have the shelf-space or time to thumb through dozens of books that get outdated in a year or two. I'd rather search my desktop and the web for the references I need to work. And now, after working this way for a while, I've started buying my historical reference material for my novels in e-book format.

I'm ready to go green. I'm ready to start a green library and invest in an e-book reader.

And don't think I'm an e-book snob only interested in the Kindle. I like that particular product for my very own, specific reasons, but I totally see the value of other readers. I'm not plugging the Kindle over others—I just happen to be interested in it because it fits what I want to do.

I want to be able to download books when my computer is not available. This is sort of critical for me, because when I travel, I have two choices:

1. Have personal devices that don't require a laptop or computer to support their functions
   
2. Or carry TWO laptops with me
   

Because you see, my "day job" will not allow me to use my company laptop for non-work activities. And in fact, they've applied security to it to ensure I can't plug anything into it, like USB devices. And I simply refuse to carry two laptops with me when I travel.

So any personal devices like e-book readers need to operate independently. Hence my interest in the Kindle.

And…TADA! My new book, I Bid One American will be available in the Kindle store, so there is a weird sort of synchronicity to it. And all sorts of other books from The Wild Rose Press are already available through the Kindle store (just search for The Wild Rose Press) so it is extremely exciting.

Well, I've got to stop for the evening and get back to the serious task of editing.

Enjoy and have a wonderful week!

Roscoe, 1995 – 2008, The Best Dog in the World

Our chocolate lab, Roscoe, died at 8:00am this morning. My husband had gone out and when he got home, Roscoe greeted him as usual, ran around the truck, and then collapsed. By the time my husband got out of the truck, Roscoe was gone. We think it might have been a stroke—but whatever it was, at least it was mercifully quick.

There will never be another Roscoe.

I've had dogs before, but I'd never had a lab, and never one like Roscoe. He was the most amazing dog I've ever known. Sure, he was stubborn and could be a royal pain in the ass sometimes, but he was just so darn smart. Heck, he was smarter than some people I've worked with. In fact, thanks to Roscoe, I now think that chocolate labs are the only kind of dog to have.

I don't know what I'm going to do in the garden anymore. Roscoe always guarded me from snakes. If he found one, I had to rush him into the house or he'd just kill it. If the snake was lucky, I got Roscoe away, picked up the snake tongs, and move the snake into the woods. If the snake was unlucky, Roscoe got to him first. I'd find bits of snake for weeks after, all over the garden.

If there was a particularly pernicious weed that I could not pull up, I just had to call Roscoe and give the weed a little yank. Roscoe would then take hold with his teeth and absolutely would not give up until that weed was out of the ground.

If something blew into the pond—say, our picnic umbrella—all I had to do was tell Roscoe to go and get it. Darn if he didn't. I'll never understand where he learned the word "umbrella."

God help you if you were shooting and missed what you aimed at. You were in for a very lively "talking to" by Roscoe, who would have shown you how to do it if he just had opposable thumbs. He despised bad shots. He expressed his opinions so clearly and with such a disgusted tone that it was almost as if you would be able to understand what he was saying if you just listened to his mumbling a little more intently.

He went everywhere. He dove without hesitation into the coldest, frozen-over lakes to fetch. And he wouldn't give up until he brought back whatever he had been sent to find. We might have cursed his stubbornness when we were trying to train him, but that trait is what made him a fabulous hunting companion. He simply would not give up until he had accomplished what he set out to do. He was amazing to watch in the field. He never missed a bird and was relentless in "getting the bird" no matter the weather. It could be a hundred degree day or a minum ten degree day—he just liked being outdoors. He loved gunfire, despised you if you missed, and would go after anything.

He was, without a doubt, the best and smartest dog we will ever know.

We will miss him.

E-Books and E-Book Readers

There has been a lot of news in the press lately about the current crop of e-book readers, such as the Sony Reader and Amazon.com's new Kindle. Since I have a book published (and will soon have two) in both an e-book and traditional print versions, I'm often asked if my book(s) can be read on such devices.

My fans will be relieved to know that the answer is a resounding Yes. At the moment, many smaller publishers like The Wild Rose Press, Ellora's Cave/Cerridwen Press, and others, may not have e-books in the Sony and Amazon Kindle stores, but readers can purchase their e-books as they always have directly from the publishers and sites like FictionWise. I believe many of the smaller presses are working to get their e-books into the Sony and Kindle stores, but that is not necessary for readers to enjoy their favorite e-books or other materials they need to read.

Most e-books purchased outside the Sony/Kindle stores are easily converted and transferred to e-book devices including Amazon.com's new Kindle and Sony's e-book reader.

A few extra steps may be needed to transfer your favorite books, however, you do have an additional benefit you may not be aware of. E-books from most publishers like The Wild Rose Press and Cerridwen Press/Ellora's Cave are not DRM-protected as are e-books purchased directly from the Kindle or Sony store. This means you can transfer books to whichever reading device you chose, and more importantly, you can back them up as needed. You are in complete control. When you acquire a new computer, you can transfer them just like any other file. In the future, if you decided to switch from Sony's device to the Kindle, vice versa, or even get an unknown future e-book device, you could still transfer and read your e-books.

So if you were one of the lucky ones to get a Kindle or Sony e-book Reader, here are a few tips to help you make your favorite e-books available on your new reader.

Kindle

The Kindle uses a proprietary format (.azw) so you will need to convert your e-books. There are two ways to do this: a free way and a cheap way. You can convert e-books that are purchased in either MS Word format (.doc) or HTML. You can get the following types of files (or e-books in these formats) converted by either method listed below:

Microsoft Word, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files.

Special Note: .PDF (Adobe Acrobat) files are listed as an "experimental" format. Most readers find it best simply to download the MobiPocket Creator program (a free program) which will convert .PDF e-books to the MobiPocket (.PRC or .mobi) format. Once converted, you can transfer them directly to your Kindle from your computer through the USB cable. You do not need to take any additional steps if you use this method to convert and move e-books to your Kindle.

Free Way

You can e-mail the e-book to yourname@free.kindle.com. Replace yourname with your username, as defined when you got your Kindle and set up your Kindle account.

The file is converted to the Kindle .azw format and is sent back to you, through the e-mail address you registered for your Amazon account. You save the file on your computer. Once there, you transfer the file to your Kindle via the USB cable.

Note: You can transfer .TXT, MobiPocket (.prc or .mobi), .AZW, .AUD, and .MP3 files directly to the Kindle without e-mailing them for conversion. Just copy them from your computer to your Kindle through the USB cable.

When the Kindle is connected to your computer via the USB cable, it shows up as another hard drive in Windows Explorer. Just drag & drop the files into the Book folder of the Kindle.

Cheap Way

The cheap way to convert and move e-books to your Kindle costs $.10 per e-book. The advantage of this method over the free way is that the converted e-book is sent directly to your Kindle library where you can access it without connecting to your computer.

You e-mail the e-book to be converted to yourname@kindle.com. Replace yourname with your username, as defined when you got your Kindle and set up your Kindle account.

Sony Reader

The Reader supports .JPEG, .PNG, .PDF, .TXT, .RTF formatted e-books. It has an application, "CONNECT Reader," that can convert MS Word (.DOC) e-books to .RTF before copying them to the Reader from your computer. In most cases, you should use the "CONNECT Reader" software to transfer supported files to your Reader.

The text size for .PDF e-books transferred to the Reader is considered small by some readers, but if you hold down the <Size> button for five second, it will rotate the screen, which is a tremendous help.

In addition, you can purchase your e-books in HTML format and convert the e-book to .RTF, which would allow you to enlarge the font as you would with any other document on your Reader.

Hope this helps a few of you who were blessed with new electronic toys. As soon as I can save up enough money, I'm going to bless myself. J

May you achieve every success and dream,

Amy

2007 Goals

Happy Holidays!

I got up this morning thinking about what to blog about and realized it is almost time to review my goals from 2007 and begin creating new goals for 2008. I was in a pretty good mood, too. My editor for my new book, I Bid One American, gave me my first edits and they were extremely light (whew). And I managed to get those done, as well as finding a few more errors, this week so I could send it all back to her. I am really excited about this book and can't wait to get a publication date.

So I was really riding high. And I decided to go back to editing the traditional Regency I've been working on since November.

Of course, that was all before I did a google search of my desktop to find my 2007 goals and see how well I did this last year. And wow. Bummer. I had forgotten that I spent the better part of 2007 racking up a bunch more rejections. Publishing is such a strange business. Even published authors get rejected and get rejections from their current editors/publishers.

Here's irony for you:

I had a goal of selling several Regency romance and Regency romance/mysteries to my current publisher. But I ran into a few snags.

The books were too long for the line that published my first book. So I tried to cut them down and learned a very important lesson: some stories can't be cut down without losing their charm and integrity. Of course I didn't learn that until I butchered several of them and sent them to my editor. Who despised them—thereby proving to her that I'm a one-book wonder.

So there went my first four goals, right down the…well, you know where they went. And it was four goals since I actually had four manuscripts which were rejected. I wasted the better part of 2007 trying to cut back manuscripts that were already lean and deserved better treatment. Very sad.

But all was not lost. I took a step back and thought, well, what if I went to a different publisher with different length requirements? I could go back to an earlier version that had not been butchered and try that.

I did and I sold I Bid One American to The Wild Rose Press.

And I wrote a couple of short stories just for fun. I'm trying to sell Malice through Amazon's Connect program (if I didn't just jinx it by mentioning it) and still ruminating over where to sell My First Case. I also wrote a contemporary mystery called: Whacked!

Therefore, what did I get done in 2007?

1. I learned not to butcher books. As a byproduct, I learned I'm already a "lean" writer (meaning I don't have any extra fluff in books—in fact, I probably need more fluff—not less) and cutting back a book is not a good idea unless I'm willing to totally gut it and remove subplots.
2. Sold I Bid One American
3. Finished my first draft of Whacked!
4. Wrote Malice and submitted it to Amazon Connect
5. Wrote My First Case
6. Finished my first draft of a Regency romance (no title yet, though)
7. Racked up six rejections
8. Spent a lot of time learning about promotion and doing my best to promote my first book: Smuggled Rose, which is available in print now from Amazon.

I didn't do everything I wanted to do, but I did do some things I am proud of and I can't wait to see I Bid One American in print.

As 2007 roars to a close, it's time to reflect on our accomplishments and select new goals for the coming year. There are always new opportunities and even when we did not accomplish what we expected, we did manage to survive and learn a few things.

I sincerely hope each and every one of you can find at least one thing in 2007 that you can be proud of and has one more thing left to be done so you can start 2008 with anticipation and energy.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a bright new year!

Happy Holidays

The fall and winter seasons are my very favorite times of the year. And I am very pleased with my publisher, The Wild Rose Press (TWRP), who contracted I Bid One American. I love that story and am just thrilled to see it getting published. To my amazement, I no sooner signed the contract than I had a cover! Talk about a quick art department.

It looks like they are pretty quick off the mark in terms of getting books out there, which suits me. I'm hoping for a release date in early 2008. In the meantime, I'm putting the final touches on the first of a triple play of short stories, entitled: Malice, Revenge, and Murder. They are short stories set in the Regency period, in June 1809, August 1809, and September 1809, respectively. I hope to release them through Amazon Connect's Shorts program, although I know TWRP also publishes short stories so… One way or the other, 2008 is looking good to me as a writer.

Those three short stories are very loosely related—in fact the only real relationship between them is a reference to a certain character—but together I'm hoping they will do a nice job as the backstory for the hero in another of my books, The Vital Principle. With luck, I'm hoping to sell that one to TWRP, also. It's a—-yes—a Regency mystery/romance.

And here's the cool thing. As a writer, you're taught not to weigh down a story with a lot of background information (i.e. backstory) for your characters. But sometimes, a character's background includes one or more rather interesting events. Such as a murder or two. So rather than boring your audience, you can write related short stories that are, in essence, the backstory. The advantages of this are numerous.

1. You get to write short stories, which are a lot of fun. J
   
2. You can sell the short stories as a promotional tool for your bigger, bolder, badder (or gooder) novel.
   
3. You can finally tell all those background bits to the readers, without annoying them by taking up pages and pages of reminisces and background as would happen if you did this in your actual novel. Your short stories are "what happened, when it happened" rather than, "oh, way back when, this happened…" memories stuck in your novel.
   
4. You can round out your characters without doing the full-length novel/sequel thing (which I dislike intensely—I loathe sequels—speaking as a reader).
   

It's all good.

So now I have to get going and do just a few more edits on Malice so that I can send that story out this week.

Tense and the Reader

I'm blogging a little early this week since I'm about to go on a business trip and will have limited (i.e. no) opportunity to do so, much to my dismay. I haven't quite wrapped my head around the concept that I am not allowed to use my "work" laptop for any other activities. Since I object to carrying two laptops on the airplane… Well, you get the point.

This week I'm addressing something I ran into last night. It really bothered me. Tenses.

I'm hardly an expert in grammar—heck, I often forget how to spell the word 'grammar'—and I'm sitting here with a grammar book in front of me to make sure my rant is correct. Pathetic, true, but it does not negate this issue. And that issue is: use of simple present tense—or worse—present progressive. Or present perfect progressive.

Ah, you will say—you're writing that way yourself—right now. I know. But this isn't a piece of fiction and I'm not expecting you to get into the head of the main character—i.e. me. In fact, I recommend you stay out of my head, completely.

Now, I'm probably an old fuddy-duddy, so I admit that up front. Nonetheless, I've read a lot of experimental fiction, Science Fiction, and other just plain weird stuff and I've never run into any issue where the writing actually made my head hurt. I've read books I had to reread a few times to understand all the implications, but the writing was fine. It was invisible so that you could concentrate on the story and the concepts and not the author's use of verbs and tenses.

But just when you think it's safe to go in the water, you pick up a romance and/or a mystery and some author takes a hammer to your head.

About two years ago, I picked up this really, truly famous author's most recent book. I had never read her work before, but I'd listen to her speechify about writing and there were a series of movies based upon her books (mostly geared for young ladies). I thought, this ought to be a lot of fun. And wham, I read the first page and got a headache.

There was a bit of dialog followed by this sentence: The girl in the dressing room next to mine has a voice like a chipmunk.

I thought, well, okay, maybe it was just me—the reader. So I continued. There were a few more bits of dialog, and: I hear a sales clerk come over, his key chain clinking musically.

And I freaked out. My head started throbbing. I was like: What the heck tense is this and why is this author doing this to me? STOP IT—THE AGONY IS KILLING ME! However, grimly determined (because this was SUCH a popular author and I wanted to learn) I managed to suck up the pain and finish the book. But I only finished it because it was about 80% dialog and I just skipped all the action/narrative stuff. And I swore never to read another of her books. I've been true to my word.

That author, my friends, used present tense and it was horrible torture for the reader. It really put me off. I kept thinking—I am not there—I am not in the room with this bimbo narrator and I'm not seeing this. Who the heck is she talking to and when is this actually occurring. The writing got in the way of the story.

Writing should be invisible. You should get so absorbed by the story that you don't even notice the writer. In fact, Jenny Crusie has a rule that you shouldn't even use anything other than "said" for dialog tags because anything else makes the reader pause infinitesimally. (That may be going too far into the "make your writing invisible" but it does illuminate that dark corner a bit.) But here was this author that made me pause for every single verb.

Anyway. Maybe, I thought, this one book is just a fluke or weird thing this popular author is doing and no one else on the planet is writing this way. Because if they are, God Help Me, my reading days are numbered.

About two years passed. I went on about my business, reading and writing quite happily. Then I stumbled upon this wonderful mystery series on BBC America and I searched all over for the author of the books the series was based on. I found one book, and although it was not related to the series, it was so exquisitely written that I rushed out again and bought two other books from this author.

Last night I plucked one of the two books from my shelf and curled up in bed, planning on enjoying myself. And I read: London. A stifling early September afternoon, the sun beating down.

A little unsettling, to be sure, but I went with it. Then I got to the following sentence: Overnight bag and briefcase in one hand, handbag over her shoulder, Fran plunges down into the arguably worse hell…

Suddenly, for me, the reader, I start having issues with temporal displacement. I not only can't get into this, but I'm faced with: Who the Hell is she talking to and when is this taking place? Because it sure isn't now. But she says it is NOW. ARGH!

I really struggled through the first page, almost crying. My head throbbed. It only got worse. Because not only is the author using present tense, but the character suffers from flashbacks or memories (whatever you want to call them) where she explains who she works for and her circumstances. And it's all in the present tense which makes it really like some drug-induced hallucination where you can't keep straight what is happening for real, right now in present tense, and what isn't really happening but she's just thinking. Or really—isn't really thinking but it's the author in a God-like way explaining the heroine's job—but she's using present tense as if she's Fran, but not really, because why would Fran be thinking all this background sort of stuff?

I don't even know how to explain how confusing it was. Or how it really made me feel quite ill trying to read it and understand WHEN anything was happening. And to make matters worse, she didn't just have this character walking through the here-and-now in present tense, and sort of not remembering but thinking somehow in present tense about her job, employer and family, but…she also introduces actual memories. And the memories start out with a few sentences of past tense and then drift around between past, present and perhaps even a few progressive forms of past and present tense. Leaving you completely unable to get into the story because you're so busy trying to figure out what is going on, to whom and more importantly, when.

And as you can see from my own casual use of tense, I'm not perfect. But hey… This is a blog. Not a book.

So—here is what I, as a reader, did out of self-defense. I started to skim so that where the author had a phrase such as: Fran makes a run for it, I mentally substituted: Fran made a run for it. It was hard work. However, I got to the end of the first chapter.

Then the author switched point of view to another character and adopted the standard past tense we all know and love. THANK GOD. But by that time, I was shaken and mentally disturbed. Could I trust the author to now STAY in past tense or tenses like: past, past progressive or past perfect/past perfect progressive? Those, I can handle. I can even handle a few future tenses (future, future progressive, future perfect, future perfect progressive—whatever).

Now, this evening, I'm looking at this book and I'm thinking: why was the first chapter written that way? (And why did I just write that in present progressive—the very thing I hate? Ah, human frailty…)

However, back to my question. There was no—absolutely no—reason for it, particularly since in chapter two, the author adopted the more common and easy-to-read past tense. I read the blurb on the back of the book again and it says that first character is the book's heroine. And now I'm scared. I'm really scared that the author only moved to the comforting past tense for other characters and when she moves back to the heroine's point of view, she'll use that brain twisting present tense (and all it's ugly related brethren: present perfect, present progressive, & present perfect progressive).

I've lost my trust and faith in this author and she has scared me enough that I'm thinking I may not read any more for fear of running into another chapter of temporal displacement. And I'm sadly looking at her other book I purchased and haven't read yet. I'm having buyer's remorse. And yet there was that one, magical book she wrote which was so perfect. It's hard to believe she fumbled so badly on this other one.

Or maybe it's just me. Maybe this is the new "thing" and I'm just not getting it.

Finally, before I get back to my packing, I have only this to say: If you're an author, I'm begging you to avoid present tense (& its related forms) for the sake of your reader. Unless you have a really, really good reason—and frankly—I can't think of one.

Oh—that wasn't my final word. For those of you who are grammatically impaired (like me) here is a quick reference:

Present

Present - He walks to the store

Present Perfect – He has walked to the store

Present Progressive – He is walking to the store

Present Perfect Progressive – He has been walking to the store

Past

Past - He walked to the store

Past Perfect – He had walked to the store

Past Progressive – He was walking to the store

Past Perfect Progressive – He had been walking to the store

Future

Future - He will walk to the store

Future Perfect – He will have walked to the store

Future Progressive – He will be walking to the store

Future Perfect Progressive – He will have been walking to the store

Have a good evening!