Nancy J. Parra's Blog, page 7

August 3

As of this afternoon 644 people have entered the Goodreads Giveaway for The Counterfeit Bride. That is awesome. You people rock!At the end of the month I'm going to take Judy Croome's advice and place a book as a giveaway on Library Thing as well.For my blogger friends- I know that I took quite a few months off from commenting on a regular basis due to school work, but now that I've been back at it I am disappointed to see so many bloggers who don't follow back. (Unlike you wonderful people who are so kind a patient with me.) There seems to be a line somewhere where they say- I'm popular and I no longer care about reading what you have to say. I wonder is this because of the different types of bloggers out there?Or do you think that the time of following blogs has settled into- these are the people I follow and that's enough for me?Or is blogging so 2007?What has been your experience?

August 2

Today I turned in the proposal - first three chapters and synopsis-of a new mystery series I'm developing to my agent. I'm a bit nervous as she is an awesome agent and this is only the second work I've sent her so we are still in the "new" stage. I want her to "love" it. I want her to be able to sell it. I don't want to look like the first series was a fluke and I'm not really that good of a writer. Yes, I know- ten published books with many starred reviews and still I worry every book is not good enough. Silly, but there you have the mind of a writer. I know big name authors who feel the same. Many of us are secret Sally-Field-at-the-Oscars, "You like me. You really like me." Poor Sally, people make fun of that moment, but I'm here to tell you they make fun of it because we've all felt that way with one thing or another. Thankfully, she said it so we don't have too.I'll keep you posted on the progress of the new series. Meanwhile, I'll be editing a couple of books and sending them off as well. After all, you never know what is going to sell next. Cheers~

August 1

All right my friends- the Goodreads contest is on for the next ten days you can enter to win one of two hard cover copies of THE COUNTERFEIT BRIDE. These books are priced at $24 each so it's a good deal.
It's new month with new goals. There is a group of writers on Facebook that is set up to do a writing push this month. It's a good idea. Now is not the time to query. Now is the time to write, write, write.
If you're a reader, this is a great time to ask your librarian to order your favorite books. Budgets vary but it doesn't hurt to ask.
Now the big question- what are you reading? This week I'm reading "Murder on Lexington Avenue," By Victoria Thompson. Cheers~

July 29

I don't know how many of you are familiar with Goodreads. It's a social network where people who love books and love to read share what they are reading. They also can review what they are reading. I have a small author page there and in fact just last night linked this blog to that page- so *waves* to the Goodreads people who see this post.I mention this because I am following a couple of good friends in a new promotion activity. I will be giving away two free books on Goodreads. I'm curious to see how many people sign up and if it makes a difference. My hope is that if you haven't read my books before that you will sign up to try to win a free book- and then review it on Goodreads. If nothing else you will check out my other award winning books. You can find most of them at your library or a library in your district. If not, ask your librarian to purchase them. Five of my books have received starred reviews from Booklist Magazine- the magazine for librarians.So if you are on Goodreads, please find me and friend or follow. Have a fantastic weekend. Cheers~

July 28

My blogger friend Anita made a great comment the other day that what gets her back into writing mode from edit mode is bum in chair and just doing it. I agree~ When I say I'm having problems starting it's because I'm only able to scrap out five or six pages a day when I usually easily do ten or more. So for me it's not bum in chair as much as finding the place where you are so lost in story that pages flow without any thought. I love that feeling. I'm still waiting for it. Meanwhile I'm bum in chair and the partial for my agent is almost ready. I think it might help if I continue on with writing this book instead of waiting. I trust that the more days I hack away, the better my chances of finding the zone.So, do you work in a zone? Or do you simply give yourself a page count or word count and stick it out until you're done? Or are you the kind of writer who writes whatever comes to you that day with no thought to deadline? Inquiring minds want to know.Cheers~

July 27

Here we are in the swelter of a massive heatwave and the stores are putting out winter coats and fall sweaters. School supplies are already half price and school doesn't start for another month. I predict I will be seeing Halloween goods in the stores in the next week or two. For me time flies so quickly, I don't want stores helping it along. On the radio this morning an ad for new cars said, snow is just around the corner time for a new car. Um, what? It's a heat wave. The idea of snow right now is kind of nice, but why skip the wonders of summer? The flowers that come out in the heat? The lazy steamy days? We have them for only a short time. I say-heat or no- we live in today, this moment, right now and see the joys there are to be found because today, right now, this summer won't be here tomorrow.What are your pet peeves when it comes to stores pushing the seasons?Cheers~

July 26

I'm having a terrible time getting started on my latest book. I can't figure out why that is. I love the idea. I love the characters. I've got my beat sheet worked out. So what is my problem? Why am I scratching out five pages at a time?My lovely friend and fellow writer Joelle Charbonneau clued me in last night. She said, "You have been in editing mode so long, you are struggling to get back into writing mode."A bell went off in my head, she's right! I've spent this entire year so far revising and editing first the gluten-free mystery book, Gluten For Punishment and then my thesis thriller, Mind Games. I'm so into editor mode that I'm picking at my writer trying to work. Poor writer. She sits down and instead of letting her play I keep telling her things she should edit. Does this happen to any of my writer friends out there?My solution is to do a few playful, creative, non-writing projects until I can once again hear the writer voice inside me. So I'm off to color with colored pencils or maybe bake up a new recipe.Cheers~

July 25

Here is a picture of one of the gladiolas I planted in my garden this year. Isn't it lovely? I thought in this heat wave we should have a picture of some good things about summer.We got rain this weekend in the evenings and I think the plants will begin to perk up a bit. I have two tomatoes that are almost ripe. I jumped the gun and picked them early because I was afraid, the heat, bugs or rot would get them first.Jumping the gun is when a racer takes off before the starting gun sounds. I am thinking since I have an international and NY readership, perhaps I should explain myself. My NY editors rarely understand what these "isms" mean. My latest battle was with a heroine whose friends "would give their eye teeth to have one of those designer coats." I thought this was a very common saying everyone knew meant that they are jealous and would do almost anything for the coat. But my editor and her assistant didn't "get it." It sounds yucky, they said. Do you mean they'd really pull their teeth?- eww. Sigh. No, I explained it's a common saying for "They would do anything." This was not good enough. I had to completely take the sentence out before they would move on. This is not the first time this has happened. Several of my books have had "isms" fixed. I can't remember exactly which ones at present, but I am always shocked by the editorial lack of understanding. I try hard to remove "isms" but I think at the same time they do add flavor to the story. What is your favorite "ism?"

July 22

We had rain today. YAY! Water falls from the sky. It was accompanied by lightning, thunder, and wind, but not so bad that it did any damage. The grass is already perking up a bit. DD (darling daughter) went to let little dog out to do her thing when she stopped. Wily E coyote was near the fence. He ran off and in the distance we heard a goose holler. I hope it got away. I went out but could not see anything. The birds pitched a fit for twenty minutes after, but then all was quiet. Little dog was safe to use her yard. I stayed with her just in case. I miss big dog. He has been gone a year, but he was the one big enough to run off the largest of predators.Have a fabulous weekend. Cheers~

July 21

Yesterday I learned that The Counterfeit Bride earned a starred review from the ALA's Booklist Magazine. This is wonderful news. A starred review means that more libraries will consider stocking the book. You can also ask you local librarian to stock it as well. In the back and forth of writers trying to build careers in a bad economy and a changing market. Good reviews are important. So if you read a book and really enjoyed it, please post a little line on Amazon. It will make the author's day and perhaps help them sell their next work to a publisher so you can read more.
Cheers~