Sammie Awards and Editor News

It’s awards season, even for books.  That’s right.  The Sammies (first time I’ve heard of them) are open and awaiting your votes.  Click here to cast your vote.

Let me be frank.  I’m only mentioning this because I hope you’ll vote for me.  And just to make sure there isn’t any question about it, my book is called STRIPPED.  I don’t care who you vote for second and third, but doggone it, I want to be first.    There are several categories my book is listed in and it’s a LONG list.  My book won’t be released in print until June 8th, so it’s no eligible for that category.

Also, there are so many links on the left-hand side that you probably didn’t notice my newest one under Blogs – Others.  My Editor, Anne Scott, has her own blog now.  It’s mostly for advertising purposes because she’s new to the blogging thing, but I’m sure she’ll come up to speed fast and talk about other stuff.  So, if you’re interested in getting to know here, this is where to start.  She’s a cool chick.

Other than that, there’s not much news to report.  Well…I sort of. 

I had a really weird–not scary–dream last night that involved me being the manager of a body-bag maintenance plant.  For some reason I was pointing at the black bags and telling my workers to trash them with the carcasses inside.  I absolutely hated my job.  Abhorred every second of it.  In fact, it gave me the creeps.  Most of the bodies were charred and mutated beyond recognition.  Don’t ask me how I knew since I hadn’t opened any of them.  I even violated someone’s religious beliefs by ordering them to handle a bag knowing there was a corpse inside.  The guy threatened to sue the me and the company for not warning him before hand.  I don’t know what happened after that because my internal alarm clock woke me.  Go figure.

Any weird dreams you want to share?

RWA Has Spoken

You recall the RWA craziness that was going on a few months back with Harlequin, right?  The new self-pub arm that delisted them as an Eligible Publisher?  Well, this is the newest hand-down (via the Hot Sheet) from RWA to its members.  It should come at no surprise:

Taking into account emerging trends in publishing that may offer opportunities to writers, the task force recommended that RWA adopt methods used by other trade shows and conventions and to shift its method of evaluating publishers as a whole to evaluating publishers by divisions, imprints, or lines.

Given the Harlequin Ho-rizons (or whatever they’re calling themselves these days) thing, it doesn’t take a crystal ball, a tarot card reading and some tossed chicken bones to know that RWA was going to break down the recognition–excuse me, I meant “Qualifying Market”–criteria by imprint.  They didn’t have much of a choice, considering Harlequin, their star publisher, pulled a Bernie Madoff on them with their new self-publishing venture. 

So what does this mean for publishers?  Well, RWA already speculated on that, too.

Under this revised method, RWA will extend invitations to a wide pool of publishers. Invitees may only represent their non-subsidy/non-vanity publishing programs (imprints, divisions, or lines) at RWA’s conference. Space for spotlights, workshops, and booksignings will be allocated to lines, imprints, or divisions that best meet the requirements for “Qualifying Markets.” This new process of evaluation will likely increase opportunities for small presses and e-presses that previously have been excluded.

I especially like that last part, so I bolded it.    Anyway, if this is what truly happens, then it’s a good thing.  I could be wrong, but it sounds like RWA is opening their eyes to epublishing.  But on the other hand, it also sounds like RWA is giving Harlequin an excuse to exist in their Qualifying Market schema. 

Can you see where the arguments are going to unfold?  I can.   

First, outsiders are going to say that RWA is filled with a bunch of saps who can’t live without their glorious romance publisher.  Second, other organizations are going to stand their ground until Harlequin dumps Dellaharte, -core, or whatever they’re calling themselves and not give in like the saps.  Third, some epub authors are still going to find beef with this because it took a giant like Harlequin for them to get their proper recognition by RWA.  Fourth, RWA isn’t ripping into Harlequin for referring rejected authors to their vanity press stink locker.

In the end, you can’t please everyone.  It’s a lesson I had learned a long LONG time ago.  You’d think everyone else would, too.  But alas, that’s not the case when the cats bear their claws.  The most you can do is the best you can and hope you won’t crap bricks in the process. 

Personally, I don’t feel one way or another about this because an organization can’t put a value on my writing.  If I didn’t feel that way, I would’ve joined PAN (their published-author network) a while back.  But that’s just me.  Anyway, let’s face it.  Until we really know what “Qualifying Markets” means and entails, it’s too soon to make assumptions and start a heatwave across the blogsphere about this.  Everyone needs to chill. 

What do you think about this latest decree?  If you don’t belong to RWA, then what would you like to get out of a writer’s organization?

A Wasted Stamp

I received the strangest letter in the mail yesterday.  The name Dorrance Publishing sounded familiar–not in a good way–but I couldn’t put my finger on it…until I opened the letter.  They got my name from the Library of Congress and thought that I’d be more interested in a different route to publishing, which was why they contacted me.  They gave a nice speech and all about me making a lot of money instead of others reaping the rewards.  They wanted to help me get published and acted like they were doing me a favor.  Yeah.  Right.  Then I came across the magic words about three paragraphs down: subsidy press. 

In case anyone doesn’t know and gets one of these letters in the mail (and I could smack the Library of Congress for letting these people have any  information about me), they are the worse subsidy press in the business.  Just google the name and see for yourself.  Any time you have to pay people like Dorrance Publishing to publish your books, run away.  FAR away.  They’re only in the business to make money for themselves.  While the potential to sell a bunch of books is their reasoning behind why I should go with them, the truth is selling 100 marked-up-price books is considered lucky.  On the average, you’ll sell about twenty-five either to yourself or your friends and family.  Oh, and let’s not forget that they most likely get around 50% of your profits.  Sound familiar?  Think Harlequin Horizons or whatever they’re calling themselves these days. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I have nothing against subsidy-press books as long as the writing is up to par.  So far, only Dana Sanders Hill has caught my eye.  Everyone else’s book has left me rolling my eyes and vowing never to read another one again unless I know the author. 

As the saying goes, money flows to the author and not away from them.  In this case, it’s flowing away from the subsidy press because they just wasted their $0.43 stamp on me.  I ended up shredding the letter and using it as litter for the bottom of my mom’s bird cage.  Gracie has already given it the attention it deserves. 

Any interesting writing news you want to share?

Dear HOA

You people really need to get a life and a real job.  Seeing as your stupid a**es went down to Florida during the housing bust to buy houses to sell to people who can’t afford them, I guess I should expect stupidity from you by now. 

Anyway, your new decree is idiotic.  It wasn’t enough that you had to tell people not to put sailboats on their back decks (???).  It wasn’t enough that you think a pool that costs $80,000 every year to maintain is considered an asset when the damn thing is only open three months out of twelve.  We pay $165 in dues every month and the only thing the money seems to go for is to hire some people to blow leaves around the parking lot.  Hell, I’ll do that for less.  Now, you’re investing $20,000 to build a walkway behind a set of townhouses and the only scenery back there is a tall fence that blocks out the sounds of traffic.  Yet, I have to help pay for that piece of s*** that I’ll never use.

I guess you HOA morons had forgotten about painting the outside of the units to make them look somewhat presentable for the up and coming area where we live.  I guess you forgot about giving back the visitor parking spots that you took away to punish the one townhouse who had abused them.  By the way, the owners moved more than a year ago, so can we have the spaces back without having to pay a $150 per month fee?  Oh, I’m sorry.  How else are we going to pay for that ridiculous Walkway to Nowhere.  Silly me. 

In conclusion, I think your crack pipes are filled with heroin.  Please.  Do us all a favor and prove that you have a higher I.Q. than we suspect by stepping down.  There are enough brain-damaged people in the world.  We don’t need any more.

Sincerely,
Marcia, the unhappy neighbor

Anyone piss you off lately?

Brass Ovaries

After reading the third book in Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series, I’ve learned one amazing thing about her as a writer.  Girlfriend has a lot of courage when it comes to shaking up someone’s world.  If it weren’t for me being such a tightwad with my wallet, I wouldn’ wait until the fourth book came out in paperback.  I’d buy the thing NOW!  I see why she’s a NYT Bestselling author.  She takes chances that will send you reeling.

As writers, we have to take a lot of chances whether we’re putting our work out there for people to read or we’re shaking things up within our plots.  If you choose to write, this is not an option.  There are times I question my brass ovaries.  What I’m doing with my characters?  Do I have the backbone to pull off this hard scene?  I’ve recently questioned a particular scene in my paranormal YA .  In the end, I decided to “wear my brass ovaries proudly” and leave it in.  Whether or not it pays off is anyone’s guess, but I have no regrets about taking that chance. 

Where there are decisions, there will always be risks.  I wonder if that’s where we fail our readers and/or our characters.  Take the high road and people will call you to the plate.  Take the low road and you risk alienating your readers.  It takes a lot of courage to make those decisions and there are no guarantee they’ll pay off.  My only advice is to make sure whatever you do is justified on every level.  Leave the reader no room for questions. 

Any bold or courageous things you’ve done with your writing lately?

Happy New Year!

This is the time of year where everyone reflects back on the year and recaps their biggest accomplishments.  Do you need to guess which one mine was?    The birth of Baby Girl, of course.  She tops everything.  Mom coming to live with me makes #2. 

But on the writing side I scored my first guest panelist spot–twice.  I happy to report I’ll be returning to ConCarolinas again this year as a guest writer.  Woohooooooo!  RavenCon wasn’t going to work because of the timing and the cash flow.  Happily, I’ll be hanging out at the Romantic Times Booklover’s Convention in 2010 and couldn’t be more excited about that.

Also, I saw the publication of STRIPPED with a new publisher and SEDUCTION ON THE PROWL with and old one.  I’ve gained many new writer friends (and rekindled some friendships with old ones), most of them listed on the side bar.  I also had the chance to put up a new website…and sadly, I’ve been working on another one that will probably go up after the new year because I’ve had some procrastination on my hands. 

Along with the good, there’s also been bad, which I won’t share with you on this blog.  Only my closest friends know about those and I’d prefer to keep it that way.  Let’s face it.  When I cry, I cry alone and off camera (a.k.a internet). 

So as I ring in the New Year with a new family, I wish you guys all the best for yours.  May your dreams come true and be fulfilled beyond your wildest dreams.  

Happy New Year, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

Sadly, our Christmas Tree is probably one step up from this.  It wasn’t our intention, it’s just that…well…Christmas got away from us this year.  Baby Girl has been keeping us so busy that the whole idea of putting up a tree was just too much effort.  We have one up, but there are only one set of lights on it and one ornament.  Oh, yeah.  There’s a star at the top, too.   

I guess the main reason why I’m not pushing the Christmas thing so much this year is because I have the best gift of all.  One that surpasses every holiday gift evah.  I’m talking about Baby Girl.  She’s been a little terror at times, but there something about that face and those cute cheeks that leave us melting in the palm of her tiny hand. 

Anyway, before this goes too far into baby land with Christmas dropped by the way side, I want to take this time to wish you all a Happy Holidays and a fantastic New Year.  Hopefully, I’ll become a better blogger in 2010, too. 

Stay safe, everyone!

An Interview with Author, Ryshia Kennie

Though it’s rare that I do guest blogs, I have to make the exception for exceptional people.  Ryshia Kennie is one of them.    I would’ve done it sooner, like when her fabulous book Ring of Desire came out in November, but a little someone special got in the way.  Nevertheless, I wasn’t going to forget about Ryshia.  She’s an awesome chick and an amazing writer.  Did I mention she’s traveled the globe and has earned a spot of jealousy from me?  The lucky stiff.   

With out further ado, I present an interview with the lovely Ryshia Kennie.  And don’t mind my commentary in bold.  I love interacting with people. 

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1. Tell us about Ring of Desire.  Is it a historical fantasy romance? 

Ring of Desire is a historical fantasy set in 1072 England in a place called Hafne.  It is a land that is dark and barren but it echos with the signs of all things magical.  Sounds like my daughter’s room when her cries wake me at 4am.  Long ago a Norman’s hand destroyed Hafne’s peace and laid the way for the Ancients’ curse that has destroyed the land and taken the gift of immortality. 
 
Now the Normans have returned. Vala is drawn to the Norman leader and torn between two worlds human and Ancient.  With one chance to break the curse and immortality hanging in the balance, Vala fights against mortal love even as his ring identifies him as one of the chosen.
 
Land and a keep of his own is all Giles ever wanted.  Instead he finds himself bound to a destiny of which he wants no part and thrown into a battle like none he has ever seen.  But as he falls in love with Vala he must wage a battle to save both her and a land he has grown to love.   Sweet!  He sounds like a stud, hunk winner.
 
2. What is it about Medieval England that drove you to write this story?

I love the tales of knights and castles, and just the dark mystery of that era.  As I got into the research I just fell more in love with an era that was on the cusp of change.  Just post conquest, it was a fascinating time.  Same here, and I commend you for writing a story about it.  I know my limits and history is one of them.  
 
3. I want to know more about Giles and Vala’s personalities.  Did they clash at first meet or was it love at first sight?

When they first meet Vala was rather, shall we say unattractive in her half-drowned state and compounded it by throwing up on Giles boots.  LOL!  Cool.  On their second meeting (the first for Vala, as she was pretty much unconscious the first time round) there are serious sparks.  But Vala fights it.  That’s my girl.  Don’t give in yet.  Fight the power.  She has no use for a Norman who she holds responsible for the curse on Hafne.  Both are strong leaders and sure that they will be the one to lead Hafne and neither is backing down.  But the magic says otherwise and the chemistry between them continues to draw them together.  Whoa.  Talk about a way to draw me into a story.
 
4. Any chance that this might become a series with some of the secondary characters?

No series for this story.  While I love my secondary characters – some of them are among my favourites, I don’t know if I’d want to bring them out again.  I think they’re all happy with the ending – as Magna would say – “it is as it was foretold”.  I’m down with that.
 
5. Since I know you’re a big time traveler–lucky stiff–did you have to travel to England for further research?  And while we’re on the topic, how much research did you have to do for Ring of Desire? 

Ooh I wish I were a time traveler – LOL!  LOL!  It takes a writer to pick up that play on words. 

I love to travel and my stories reflect that – many set in the places I have visited and grown to love.  England, however I have always loved from afar.  Well, let me know when you want to go.  I’ve been dying to visit England myself.  I’ll admit – Ring of Desire is my first and only book where I didn’t research the locale by traveling there.  Somehow it didn’t seem right, I couldn’t picture modern England juxtaposing against the medieval world I was creating.   Although I did quiz my Mother-in-law endlessly – she had just made a trip to England when I began thinking about this story.  And I haunted the library until I’m sure there wasn’t a book on  medieval England that I hadn’t checked out.  That sounds like many, many hours of research to me.  You go with your bad self.  Not to mention my research shelf at home.  Did I mention it’s a fascinating era?
 
6. What’s in store for your next book?

I have a number of contemporary suspense that are mostly set in Asia.  One of my favorites is my entomologist with attitude who gets herself lost in the Borneo jungle and caught in the midst of what looks like a murder to boot.  Wow.  That sounds like a lot of fun…and like something that would happen to me had I been in her shoes.  Only, I’d probably get shot and the story would end there.  *sigh*

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I’d like to thank Ryshia for stopping by and entertaining us with a few questions.  If you guys have any for her or any comments, feel free to post them.  I’m sure I’ll have a few more myself. 

 

Seduction on the Prowl RELEASED…in pdf

One hard thing about having a book release a week after giving birth to a new baby is lack of priorities.  While I love this story, sadly, the promo is going to be a little lacking this go around.  Let’s face it.  Genevieve Isabella comes first.  For now, here’s the cover for SEDUCTION ON THE PROWL. 

Be on the lookout for an excerpt from the book.  And if this cover makes you question whether or not this is a paranormal romance, then hopefully this promo video with help. 

Leaving on the Maternity Plane

…Don’t know when I’ll be back again.

It’s that time!  I wrote this on my 37 th week, seeing as when I go into labor, I might not care so much about writing a blog.  Fingers crossed that I’ll have my senses about me to actually post it.  

***UPDATE***  I do!  The OB said not to break any laws getting to hospital because I have time, so I figured I’d post this.  Okay, continue reading. 

So, if you’re reading this, I’m on my way to the hospital.  Baby Girl is about to make her debut into the world.  Woohooooooooo!  After all these months of wondering what she’ll look like, I’m hours away–fingers crossed they’ll be short hours. 

Here’s to a nice birth filled with painkillers, an epidural, and if necessary, anything I can buy off the local drug dealer in case the anesthesiologist is too slow.