I do my very best thinking in the shower. I think about my day. I think about my current work-in-progress and plotting problems. I think about my goals. The only problem with doing my thinking in the shower is that I can’t take notes. By the time I get out of the shower, some of my brilliance is forgotten. So, imagine my excitement when I saw Stepcase Lifehack’s post on Productivity PrOn: 5 Unusually Useful Nightpads and found a mention of some special notebooks.
Author Adrienne Kress has an interesting post called It’s Not About the Odds. She talks about the luck required in getting a publishing contract and how you can slant those odds in your favor by doing a great query letter.
Rebecca at Dirty Sexy Books has a tongue in cheek post about urban fantasy stories. If you’re not really sure what an urban fantasy is read the Ten Commandments of Urban Fantasy.
Margie Lawson has a guest post at Routines for Writers. It’s all about writing body language and verbal cues–an important thing in good characterization.
I’m reading a book called The Wolf Almanac by Robert H Busch. It’s research for a new idea I have, and you might have guessed from the title that my story will feature wolves.
I often come across good articles and posts relating to writing and the writing business when I’m surfing on the net. What? You thought I wrote all the time?
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy both keeping up with the writing market and learning new things. I thought I’d share the bounty and repost some of the links I’ve found.
Bootstrap Book Marketing Co-op has a post on one thing that can really derail a writing career, and that is professional jealousy. We all have times when we feel down or think someone else is getting a better deal than us and the green-eyed monster creeps in. Bootstrap has a post called The Writer’s Other Classic Curse and Four Ways to Deal With It.
Erastes writes some very thought provoking posts at Reviews by Jessewave. A recent post related to horses in historical novels. Neigh…I blame Hollywood talks about horses and mistakes writers making with them. Note Reviews by Jessewave reviews gay romances, but the post on horses relates to all historicals.
I like blogging. I enjoy doing my posts and visiting others to see what they’re blogging about. I like the interaction with readers and other authors. Initially most of my blog stops were writing related and I visited other writers plus agent, publisher and reviewer blogs.
I’ve learned I enjoy posts that give me visuals as well as the post and have started implementing this at my blog. (although this one has nothing to do with my post! It’s just a nice shot of New Zealand) Most of my posts also end with a question to give visitors something to comment about if they want.
Recently I’ve started branching out because blogging is one form of promo that I enjoy. I’ve visited blogs on cooking, travel, handicrafts, photography and farming. My exploration started as research for a story idea, but it also turned into a personal analysis of what I think works in a blog.
I’ve also discovered a phenomenon called the Blog Carnival. This is where one person acts as host and sets a theme. Different bloggers then send them links and the host does a post showcasing all the links. Here’s a more detailed explanation. I thought this was a good way of reaching potential readers and decided to join some of the carnivals.
I think I might even set up my own blog carnival soon, probably writing or romance related, although I might venture into new territory and connect the blog carnival with an aspect of my research.
Do you like blogging? What are your favorite non-writing blogs to visit? Have you heard about the blog carnival before and would you be interested in participating?
So this track was playing on my iPod while Scotty and I wandered at our old-dog pace around the reserve this morning. It made me start thinking. Possibly a bad thing, but follow along…
I’m a country girl at heart, and my husband also grew up on a farm. The farming background gives us a lot in common. But I’ve also lived in towns and cities and met city boys. Their idea of dates are different for a start. A country man might take you to a rodeo, to an agricultural show or stock sales. Dinner out might be at the local pub and jeans are fine. In the city, dates are to nightclubs, nice restaurants or maybe a walk in a park. There are art galleries and museums and sexy dresses. Spiky heels that áre in no danger of sinking halfway to China when you walk beside your man. Try that in the country and see what happens!
In most of my writing, and especially in my Middlemarch series, the heroes are all country boys. Strong, capable farmers who don’t need to work out in a gym. An exception to this rule would be PLAYING TO WIN where my hero is a professional rugby player and businessman. He does a lot of promotion and charity work and is at home wearing a suit. While my Middlemarch men could do the suit thing, they’re more at home in the wide open spaces.
I like to read about both types of heroes, but I have a real soft spot for a cowboy, country male type. I like them because they’re independent, capable, usually emotionally strong and can turn their hand to anything. They’re not generally full of themselves. Maybe they’re not quite as good at romance, but we know the right woman can smooth the rough edges.
What do you think about real life – country man or a city man and why? And in fiction – which do you choose? Is your answer different and why?
This year Harlequin is celebrating sixty years of romance. They’re giving away free downloads of sixteen titles that represent most of their lines. If you haven’t checked out their free offer yet, run straight over and download the titles that grab your interest. I’ve already downloaded my share.
Here’s the link.
Today I have a selection of interesting tidbits for you from the world wide web.
The first is at Romancing the Blog and it’s about books and censorship. This post shocked me. I dislike censorship of any sort and feel that adults should have freedom of choice. I can borrow erotic romances at my local library. They’re labeled with large stickers that state the book contains explicit content. It’s my choice to check out a book with spicy content. I presume this also alerts the librarian if a minor tries to check one out. That’s all the oldies need on their library books – a sticker stating the book contains salty language or explicit content. They can then choose to read a particular book or leave it on the shelf.
Emily at EREC has a post about Everything Old. It’s about the universal problems faced by authors. They’re ageless problems!
I’m blogging over at The Samhellion about Sleeping with the Fishes and routine. I forgot to mention it yesterday. Oops!
Sign up to receive a free copy of Night Hawk, a short story by Lora Leigh.
I’ve been working hard with my writing, starting quite early in the day. I can only sit for an hour or so and try to walk around a little in between. I’ll go and get a cup of tea and do a few stretches. I’m still going through my Country music phase and had the Country station playing. A lively song came on so I started dancing instead of stretching. After a while I sensed someone staring. I turned around and our little dog had woken up from her snooze. She was out of her basket, standing beside it, and staring at me in total disapproval. We stared at each other for a long moment, silently communicating.
“You look stupid,” her look said.
My look said, “Too bad. I’m having fun.”
And I ignored her and carried on. She kept staring until I stopped and went back to writing. I could practically see her thoughts as she settled back down in her basket. I’m so embarrassed. Of all the owners in the world, why did I have to get this one!
On the web, I came across this post by agent, Holly Root. It’s about the Seven Deadly Sins of Publishing. I thought it was rather good, especially the part about each writer’s career being different and you shouldn’t compare your path to another writers.
I also found this post about Kitchen Myths and Pretensions very interesting. There were a few things I knew and I learned some new things, too.
I read in the New Zealand Herald today that some of King Henry VIII’s love letters, along with thousands of other Tudor and Elizabethan documents, go online this month for public viewing.
The love letters were written by the king in 1527 to the woman who became his second wife. He was still married to Catherine of Aragon at the time. He writes to Anne: “I beg to know expressly your intention touching the love between us. Necessity compels me to obtain this answer, having been more than a year wounded by the dart of love, and not yet sure whether I shall fail or find a place in your affection.”
Here’s the link. It wasn’t live when I went to look, but they say it will go live very soon.
Fringe Benefits is out today!! Readers have been asking me about this book ever since I put it up on my coming soon page. Buy your copy at Ellora’s Cave today. I need every penny or cent you want to spend because that’s the only way I’ll get another trip to the US in the near future.
JERR asked to interview me recently, and my interview appears in the 16 Nov issue of their newsletter. If you write or read erotic romance and don’t know about JERR’s newsletter you’re missing out! Here’s the link to their website. Details of how to join the newsletter are on their site.
After an anxious wait, I received a review for Tea For Two this week. The reviewer said, “This is the perfect story to curl up with on a cold winter’s night, add a glass of wine, some music, and lose yourself in the ups and downs as star crossed lovers discover their soul mates. This is such a fabulous story, and I look forward to reading more stories written by this amazing author. Kudos, Ms. Munro!”
Here’s the link to the full review.
And finally, the writing is going really well. I’ve cranked out a lot of words this week, and all going well, I should have my first draft done at the end of next week. This is the first time I’ve worked to a synopsis for ages, and it’s certainly a good way of keeping on track. I enjoy writing the first draft. I think it’s the creating and allowing my imagination to wander wherever it likes. Sometimes plotting too much freezes my brain, but this time, it’s all good, and I’ve even done a few fancy steps that aren’t in the synopsis.
How has your week gone? If you’re working on NaNo, how are you going?
I was very excited to learn Fancy Free has been nominated as one of the best contemporary/suspense books over at Night Owl Romance. Here’s the link. There are lots of great books up for awards. Go over and vote – either for me or one of the other excellent books. I feel like a winner just being nominated!
A few years ago agent Donald Maass of the Donald Maass Literary Agency visited New Zealand to speak to us at our conference. He’s a wonderful speaker and I came away from his workshop feeling very inspired. At the moment he has a free download at his website of one of the books he’s written – The Career Novelist: A Literary Agent Offers Strategies for Success. I’ve already downloaded my copy. I like his book Writing the Breakout Novel. I have a copy, which I must read again because it’s full of excellent advice.
I’m about all things tea this week while I gear up for the 14 October release of Tea For Two, my first Samhain book. I noticed when I was over in the US recently that everyone drinks iced tea. We even had iced tea at the conference. I have to say it’s not something I enjoy drinking. Hot tea–yes, but not iced tea. Could someone tell me why they like iced tea because I can’t see the attraction.
