Cynthia Harrison's Blog, page 67

The Rules of Romance

I have a guest post right here at my friend Terri’s website. Some people are just so nice and encouraging, and she’s one of them. She offered to host me, she helped me brainstorm an idea, and it turned out to be something I really wanted to blog about. It’s all about what I learned about the rules of romance writing when I was editing The Paris Notebook.

Indie vs ePub

I have three published books, published three different ways. I will never, ever, ever again self-publish because it is way too difficult, costs too much, and the books take up a lot of room in my closet. It was right at the time, but not going forward. My next book was an indie novel and then I had a novel ePubbed just a few months later. So I got to compare.

What’s the difference? With self-publishing you do everything. With indie publishing, Kindle does a lot, but not all, of the work. For me, ePubbing wins and here’s why. They give me an editor. They hire a cover artist. They print the book as well as eFormat. They get the finished product out there to an impressive list of reviewers. They distribute and sell the book to readers on their website, and also set it up for sale on Kindle and Amazon. 

Call me lazy, but I really like how much The Wild Rose Press did for me. It was by far the easiest. Well, not in terms of editing. And the fact that they only publish romances sets me some guidelines I’d rather not follow (like losing subplots). But really, thinking about all the novels I have ready to roll, two of them are already romances.

Just to make it easy on myself, I’m going to try to publish the romances before I tackle the revisions on my sequel to Sister Issues, which is not a romance, but a family drama. I have two more novels, paranormals with love stories, so maybe they’re paranormal romances.

So for awhile I’ll stick with TWRP and the next time I go indie, I’ll know I have to hire an editor, a cover artist, and a formatter who can get my book into print as well as eFormat.

The Paris Notebook now on Kindle!

I know, another day, another way to buy The Paris Notebook. But lots of my friends have Kindles so I’m hoping to sell some, to get some “likes” at least. Not begging. Really! No reviews yet. The marketing genius at TWRP told me to google and the first three pages were all from this site. I stopped after that. Maybe it’s too early for reviews. Maybe I talk about myself too much:)

If you’re waiting for a real post, something meaty about writing, I’m working on one right now. It’s a guest post and will be on craft. I’m thinking the title might be “The Rules of Romance Writing” or maybe not. But I learned a lot working with my TWRP editor on this book, and I want to share, just in case you’re wondering why the love story you wrote is not considered a romance.

Front Page News

At least for today, my novel, The Paris Notebook, is on the front page of The Wild Rose Press website! It’s the first book in the first line of new releases. Pretty exciting stuff:) For my readers who have been suffering this deluge of publicity, I have some real writing to report as well. I am back to work on the WIP and loving it. Today is a personal celebration and I’m going to stay online all day if I want to…well after I work on the WIP. It feels so good to be back to the WIP after using morning pages to complain and vent for a while now. I’m excited. Nothing is on the docket for my morning hours except the WIP!

“The Paris Notebook” Paperback!

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Imagine my surprise when my friend Sharon emailed to say the paperback version of  The Paris Notebook is now on sale via The Wild Rose Press website. Woot!

With Love, From Me to You

Sarah’s Survival Guide

 

Yet Another Coming Soon!

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Sarah’s story’s not quite done yet, but here is the cover. See how well it works with The Paris Notebook cover below? I am psyched!

Coming Soon!

 

I am in a happy place today:)

Exciting news! My novella, “Sarah’s Survival Guide” is almost ready for FREE FOREVER reading here on AWD. Not free for a day. Not free for a week. Free forever to celebrate ten years of A Writer’s Diary! The cover artist did a fabulous job connecting Sarah’s cover look and theme to The Paris Notebook, coming soon from The Wild Rose Press! I’ll post Sarah’s cover as soon as I receive the final version. I plan to work on the story today (as I did yesterday) and maybe I’ll be able to put the cover and the story up at the same time.

Red Mojo Mama

It’s interesting that Kathy Lynn Hall name checks Janet Evanovich twice in her novel Red Mojo Mama because their voices have the same casual, cosy, comic vibe. Plotwise, there are big differences. Hall, as an indie writer, does not have to adhere to any kind of genre restrictions (I’m sure Evanovich calls her own shots too these days) so she is all over the place: romance, mystery, domestic drama, and even a dash of fantasy spiritualism.

I liked it! She kept me engaged with her many layers of story. Red, the main character, is a hoot and a half. She’s widowed and sad, but still manages the odd wisecrack. Then there’s Mac, the ghost of her dead husband, who follows her to a tiny town in northern California and the trailer park she inherited from an aunt who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances. There Red meets her neighbors, a congenial bunch, especially one special guy she can’t help being attracted to despite her still unresolved feelings for Mac.

The mystery angle concerns corruption at the top. Certain of the town’s wealthy citizens are turning a charming old gold rush town into yet another playground for the wealthy. And they don’t mind playing dirty to get what they want. Shady dealings aside, would they resort to murder? Red lands a job as a reporter, a good reason to stick her nose in at town counsel meetings.

What happens as a result of her inquiring mind? Will Red be able to help the townsfolk who’ve been duped? Will she find out if her aunt was murdered? Will she take the millions offered for her trailer park or stay put in this new-found happy place? Hall has a hell of a good time answering these burning questions, and readers will too.

My First Zombie Read!

I was a bit uncertain about reading a zombie novel, but I enjoy M.A. Rogers’ tweets so much I already knew he was a good writer. There’s an art to tweeting, and M.A. has it. Even the humor in the title drew me in “Chivalry is Undead: Just Another Zombie Love Story.” Had to smile at that one. So going in I knew I had three things books I love need: Clear writing, vivid humor, and heart.

From the first chapter, written as a blog in the normal world of Stephen, our soon-to-be zombie killing hero, I was hooked. Stephen thinks it’s weird that half of the people at work are out sick, he senses things are a little bit off, but he stops by his favorite bar after work anyway, where Jessica, the lovely bartender of his dreams, pours him bourbon as they trade stories of the days’ strange feel. Neither of them yet know that they are living in a new world, one controlled by zombies, and their flirty banter reflects that.

Home on his computer, Steve quickly realizes that Texas, from San Antonio to Houston, has gone zombie. He finds Jessica and the two of them head out for Houston where Steve’s buddy and his family are dealing with the same big city zombie situation. Steve’s plan is to find a place out in the country where they can all be safe while waiting out the war. Things don’t go exactly as planned, but the plot buzzes along at a nice clip and the shambling zombies prove no match for Steve’s posse, loaded with SUVs, baseball bats and guns.

Well into the story, Rogers name checks “Night of the Living Dead” the only zombie movie I’ve ever seen. Loved that and loved quick-thinking Steve and Jessica. Their romance in no way keeps them from cracking serious zombie skull. The gore I thought would be my biggest obstacle proved to be plentiful and colorfully descriptive, but just another part of this intense story, the first in a series by a new novelist whose work shows promise of more and even better things to come