Taste of Kiwi: Blog of Author Shelley Munro

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I’m taking part in the Mistletoe Madness Blog hop. The hop is a huge one, involving oodles of authors, and goes from 16 – 23 Dec. Plenty of time for you to explore new-to-you author websites.

What am I giving away? How do you enter?

I’m going to pick four names from all the people who answer my question below. International entries are welcome. The books I’ll be giving away are:

1 x Lessons in Seduction by Sandra Hyatt (This is my friend Sandra’s last book. Sadly, she passed away earlier in the year.)

1 x Reclaiming His Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley (Another NZ writer friend. These ones are autographed)

1 x Summer in the City of Sails by Shelley Munro

1 x Sex Idol by Shelley Munro

A few months ago I wrote this post on heroines for Savvy Authors. I’m going to reprint it below, but as a quick aside, if you’re a writer, either pre-published or a more experienced one, do go and check out Savvy Authors. You can join for free or if you’d like to take advantage of more of their resources go for the premium membership of $30. They run workshops, have chats and agent/editor pitches and are an excellent community. I highly recommend them for writers at all stages of their career. Right! Back to business. Heroines. One of my heroines wrote me a letter, and this is what she said…

Dear Author,

I realize your job isn’t the easiest one. You sit in front of a computer hour after hour, day after day creating me, along with my hero and the cast of characters who populate your stories. You spin a plot as you write the first draft, then you spend even longer polishing the story until it’s ready for submission to publishers. Without you, I wouldn’t exist.

Mostly, you do a great job, but I’d like to remind you of a few things pertaining to writing a good heroine:

1. I know popular opinion says heroines are slender and pretty, but how about making me stand out from the crowd? Make me sexy–sure. I like sexy as much as the next girl, but I can be sexy and an average size. Give me a few curves. Don’t you know I enjoy food? Oh, and if you give me curves, don’t go on and on about my size. I’m happy this way, really I am.

2. Don’t make me go down to the basement when there is a killer on the loose. Credit me with a little common sense and help me do something intelligent. I don’t want readers to snigger at me and call me Too Stupid To Live. I deserve more than that, don’t you think?

3. Don’t foist a stereotype on me. I’m not a hooker with a big heart. I’m not an ice princess. I’m not a geeky librarian. I’m a combination of a lot of different things. Give me individuality.

4. I like alpha men–really, I do, but give me a spine so I can stand up to them. Readers don’t like wimps who can’t handle their man. Let me best him now and then. It’s good for his ego if he doesn’t get his own way all the time.

5. I’m not perfect. I know that, but do you realize it too? Give me some flaws and balance them with some of the good stuff. Make me human because readers will like me better that way.

6. Give me a snarky voice. I’m cool with that, but don’t make me snark all the way through the book. Readers won’t like me if I do that. They might call me a bitch, you know, and wonder what the hero sees in me.

7. Likewise, if my hero is going to be a bastard, let him fall off his high horse at some stage. Make him see the error of his ways or at least let me use my knee in his private parts. It might hurt him, but it would make me feel better after all the verbal abuse.

8. If you want me to behave badly, give me proper motivation. Dig into my past history, exploit my emotional baggage and make the readers want to cheer for me. Believe me, I’ll forgive you if I end up with Mr. Spunky plus a diamond ring on my finger.

9. Match my personality with my actions. Make me act consistently…unless you have a damn good reason to make me look stupid.

10. And finally, if you’re into kink and want to paint me the same way—authors look away if you’re easily offended—if you’re gonna make me have anal sex, please, please, please give me lots of lube.

Yours faithfully,
A Heroine.

Now dear visitor, you’re welcome to add your fifty cents to the above letter, but what I’d really like to know is this…

If a hero wrote a letter to you what would he say? Finish this sentence and go into a draw to win one of the above books. Dear Author, you do a good job with me but remember that a hero…….

This link will take you back to the central Mistletoe Blog Hop Page

Check out these other contests while you’re here!

I’m giving away a copy of Reclaiming his Pregnant Widow by Tessa Radley. Details on my contest page. Closes 24 Dec.

Win a print copy of Sex Idol at Goodreads. Sex Idol giveaway closes 18 Dec.

And finally, I’m visiting Maria Zannini’s blog today and talking about a project to make for Christmas. I’m also doing a giveaway. Drawn 22 Dec.

There are lots of elements to writing a book.

There’s the initial spark of an idea and the fanning of this idea into a book. This is the stage where the writer thinks “what if” and the characters, setting and plot start to gel. For some writers plotting out a story is the next step or, if you’re like me, you might firm up your conflicts and take a figurative leap into your story. Yes, I’m one of those pantsers or fly-into-the-mist type of writers. Research also slots into the process during this stage.

Next comes the hard part. The writer spends hour upon hour, sitting in front of the computer writing. This stage can take weeks or months, sometimes years. It’s also the stage where writers procrastinate and some fall by the wayside. No one ever said writing is easy.

Once the first draft is complete, it’s best if a writer can let the manuscript sit for a while. Let it season while the writer gains a bit of distance. The next stage is polishing. We edit for content and clarity, check for typos and those nasty little words that creep in where they shouldn’t. We add stronger verbs and nouns and delete some of the adverbs and adjectives. This stage might take a while. The writer might decide to rewrite sections, add or delete. Often the writer will reread and rewrite their manuscript several times. They might send their work out to critique partners and repeat the process of rewriting yet again.

The product of all this polishing and rewriting is a manuscript ready to submit to either agents or publishers. We write a synopsis (some writers have a synopsis at a much earlier stage), a query letter and start the submission process.

Let’s assume we’ve done a good job and our chosen publisher loves our manuscript. We receive a contract offer. Let’s also assume the contract is agreeable. We negotiate contract points and sign on the dotted line.

We receive edits and, once again, go through the process of sifting through our work for grammar, punctuation, content and clarity. We edit to house style and sometimes we mutter about our editors—in the nicest possible way, of course! We receive copy edits, which usually relate to the nuts and bolts stuff. Next come blurbs and cover sheets. We get to see our cover.

During this entire process, we should have been thinking about promo. Yes, it’s time to wind up the promo machine into top gear and put all our plans to help readers notice/buy our books into motion. Our release day arrives and, hopefully, everyone involved in the process has done a good job. Our book sells well.

Back to the beginning, and the process starts over again.

Like any job, there are parts of the process we enjoy and parts that aren’t as much fun but are a necessary evil.

For me, the best part of the process is the actual writing. I love the freedom of sitting down and letting my imagination and my characters free rein. As I mentioned above, I’m not a plotter. I sit down knowing a little about my characters, setting and conflict, and I learn the rest as I go. Somehow, everything works out in the end because I’ve learned to trust my instincts.

I also enjoy the polishing stage. This is where I get to delete words and check for continuity and clarity. I add layers of color and setting plus beef up the emotion in my characters.

Promo is a little harder for me and I confess that I’m happier sitting down to write rather than spreading the word about my new book.

What is your favorite part of the writing process? Least favorite part? Have I missed any steps that you consider necessary? And for those of you who are readers rather than writers—what books have you read recently that you’d recommend to other readers? (I always love to add to my reading list!)

I’m fairly new to Twitter, and I’m always wondering what to tweet about. I subscribe to The Book Marketing Expert newsletter and this week they included an article covering things for people to tweet about. Here are a few of them.

Thirteen Things For Authors to Tweet About

1. Teach stuff – teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.

2. Share sites or blogs that your followers would be interested in. Be their “filter” to new and exciting information.

3. Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise.

4. Tweet any good reviews your book gets, it’s always fun to share the good stuff!

5. Feed your blog through Twitter using Twitterfeed.com

6. Use YouTube to share helpful videos you think your followers will love.

7. Run a contest.

8. Ask for advice or ask questions that encourage responses.

9. Talk about the latest trends in your industry.

10. Review a product or book on Twitter.

11. Post an inspirational quote or message.

12. Follow big names in your market on Twitter: this will often bring in their followers too, and you want to see what the “big guys” are up to.

13. Widen your network – follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own “tweets” but it’s a great way to network with other writers or professionals.

Source: Reprinted from “The Book Marketing Expert newsletter,” a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Are you on Twitter? If so, what is your Twitter handle? (I’m @ShelleyMunro) What do you tweet about?

I’ve received some excellent reviews recently, both from Whipped Cream Erotic Romance.

Soldier of Fortune – The plot of this book was really exciting, believable and well done. It was packed with thoroughly described, high action and never got boring. And I liked how the team, after many trials and difficulties, came to be eventual friends and stood strong amongst all of the fighting. And, just to add icing on the cake, the sex was smoking hot!

Here’s the link to the full review for Soldier of Fortune

House of the Cat is an amazing thrill ride of adventure, quests, lost heritage and found love. Extremely well written love scenes spice up a solid and exciting plot line. I was gripped from the first chapter and entertained non-stop until the final and very satisfying happily-ever-after. Ms. Munro knows romance and she’s proved it again with this engaging and fast paced story. Not only am I putting this book on my keeper shelf, I can’t wait to tell all my friends. It rocks!

Here’s the link to the full review for House of the Cat. It received a Best Book rating. Woohoo!

Tiger By The Tail, book nine in my Middlemarch Mates series, has a release date of 9 July. Check out the blurb and an excerpt on the Tiger By The Tail book page.

My Tea For Two tour continues today with two stops.

The first stop is at I Do Not Want to Wait, I Want The Book Now where I’m talking about scandal. Tiger Woods, anyone?

The second stop is at Alternative-Read.com. I’m discussing tea leaf reading here, an age-old method of fortune telling. Hayley, my heroine in Tea For Two reads tea cups. EDITED: My apologies. I have the date wrong for this one. I’m here on the 13th Jan.

As always, I’m doing a give away at each stop. I’d love to see you there.

And finally, I’m doing a guest spot at The Rainbow Studio blog, The Romance Studio. I’m discussing weddings and Naughtiest Nuptials.

Authors, a heads up. SingleTitles.com just relaunched, sporting a full site makeover and a contest to celebrate the new look. They’re offering up $450 worth of advertising as prizes. If you write romance, mystery or thrillers you should head over and check out. http://www.singletitles.com

Today I’m guest blogging at The Romance Studio about body language, nonverbal cues and Soldier of Fortune, my erotic contemporary romance due out at Ellora’s Cave on 18th November. To visit my post go to The Romance Studio Blue.

I’ve had an author page at Manic Readers for some time. They’re free and easy for any author to set up. I certainly found the entire process very painless when I set up my page. Recently Manic Readers contacted me because they’re now offering a Plus Membership where authors can pay a small monthly fee and receive extra benefits.

In the interests of full disclosure, they offered me a free trial membership in exchange for telling other authors about the new services they provide. I accepted and I’ve tried out the new additions. Once again it was very easy, and now I wait with interest to see what readers and other authors think of the new services.

About the Plus Membership

1. The Plus Membership allows authors to host live chats with their readers right from their Author Page.

2. The Plus Membership allows authors to post news and contests directly to the Manic Readers website.

3. The Plus Membership is only $3.99/month which is an inexpensive way to attract and interact with readers.

4. The Plus Membership integrates with Twitter so your MR book and page updates post to your Twitter page.

The Site:
1. Authors can create free Author Pages quickly and easily without any HTML code.
2. Readers can enjoy thousands of books, authors, and publishers.
3. Easy navigation and great search capabilities.

For further details visit the links below:

Manic Readers main website
Plus Membership page

When we were in Singapore hubby and I noticed these Fish Spas everywhere. You put your feet in a pool and the little fish come along and nibble all the dead skin off your feet. I was very tempted to put down my money and try the fish out but I wondered about how ticklish it would feel. I chickened out. Check out this video to learn about the Fish Spas. Note that the Fish Spa mentioned in the video is actually in America so there might be one near you.

Would you like fish nibbling at your feet?

And because Leah Braemel said this so well, I’ve stolen her notice…

Starting today, a group of authors have banded together to start up a brand new Yahoo group specifically for romance readers. It’s called Romance Bookmark.

I can hear you groaning already – “Why would I want to join another loop? I’m in too many already.”

Because Romance Bookmark is going to be all about chatting about reading. No author promos will be allowed. Authors will be allowed to join and participate in the discussions but they have to wear their reader hats. They’re not going to be allowed to pimp their books or flood the loop with blurbs and excerpts.

The moderators so far are: Shelley Munro (Me), Tessa Radley, Christina Phillips, Tawny Weber, Leah Braemel and Beth Andrews. We’ll be popping in from time to time throughout the day to say hi and shoot the breeze, but no PROMOS. We promise! From time to time, there’ll be contests giving away both print books and ebooks. We’ve all donated some books to give away to members. The whole point of the group is to have a relaxed atmosphere where you can talk about what you are reading, books you like or didn’t like, tropes you love or despise, what you had for dinner last night, you name it. It’s going to be all about the reader.

I hope you’ll come and join us at Romance Bookmark

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.

Some of my recent discoveries include Pioneer Woman, I Live on A Farm, Coco & Kelley.

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.

The first one I chose was the Pet Monthly Carnival

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?