Alexa Jacobs's Blog, page 5

Alexa’s Latest Blog

 

I don’t know about you, but September was one hell of a month! On any given day, I felt like a champ undefeated in her arena! On any given day, I felt like a chump, who in the world let this girl in here?

Ahh..balance.

Oh, September. You hurt me so bad, but it felt so good.

If you’ve missed any one of the 97,000 facebook posts, tweets, or instas, let me catch you up to speed:

The Dreamer has arrived!

I began the journey of writing it in September 2016, so it’s kind of fun that it wound up hitting the exact one year mark.

People ask me all the time how it’s going and honestly, I don’t know. With a traditional publisher, your guess is as good as mine as far as how many books have sold. I suppose I will find out at the end of the year when they release their quarterly sales report.

However….tap, tap, tap. Is this thing on?  You CAN tell me you’ve read it and loved it (or hated it, but I hope you don’t) by taking a few minutes to leave a review on Amazon & Goodreads!

This time round there has been a little more fanfare, which I don’t mind of course, but oh how I miss my bed.

And my friends.

And outside. Remember outside? I have such fond memories of outside.

September was the Baltimore Book Festival. If you’re a book reader, it’s kind of like a little bit of heaven sprinkled on the sidewalks of the Inner Harbor. For me, it was yet another moment to collect in this surreal little double life of mine. All weekend long, I was hanging out with my heroes. And at least two people out there will appreciate this; …and I had a press pass.

It was all sorts of awesome.

As if I were a glutton for punishment, the crazy schedule continued with my first ever online release party. To celebrate The Dreamer, I along with five other Romance Novelists, invited readers to play games, chat books, and win pretty spiffy prizes.

Now, as the last five minutes before show time were ticking down, I did worry. It doesn’t matter if the party is online or in person, the worry is the same; what if nobody comes? Thankfully, a good number of you are spectacularly fun. We partied until around midnight, two hours past my original ending time.

Again, all sorts of awesome.

Just yesterday I stood at the head of the room and gave my first public speech all by myself! After re-writing said speech no less than five times, I hoped that I could deliver whatever it was that these folks paid to see. The line for signed print books afterward was long, and my heart was full. It seems I was a hit!

My calendar has one more public event just around the corner and then maybe I can breathe a little.

I remember at the Book Fair, another Author asked me what I wrote. I responded by saying that I used to be a writer and then I became a traveling sales person. She put her hand on my shoulder and said—Now honey, ain’t that the truth.

Don’t get my wrong, this is all wildly exciting! But it’s exhausting.

Marketing is a beast.

I am looking forward to the quiet of October. I am looking forward to sitting down and writing something new.

I am looking forward…

 

The Dreamer Launch Party!

Tomorrow is the big day and I am so excited! I hope that everyone can join us for two hours of online fun, games, and giveaways!!

I thought I would put together a listing of my  visiting Authors, so you can explore their books and social media sites! It’s a great bunch of writers, I’m working my way through their books myself!

Guest Author #1 : Josephine Traynor

Website   I  Instagram  I  Twitter  I  Pinterest

Check out her book Rock Bottom on Amazon

Guest Author #2 : Lizabeth Scott

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book You Promised Me Forever on Amazon

Guest Author #3: Emily Duvall

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book Back To You on Amazon

Guest Author #4: Amy Schisler

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter

Check out her book Whispering Vines on Amazon

Guest Author #5: Red L. Jameson

Website   I  Facebook I  Amazon I  Pinterest I  Goodreads I  Twitter  I   Tumbler

Check out her book Bad Medicine, part of the Coming in Hot series on Amazon

Latest News

Tommorw is the big day and I am so excited! I hope that everyone can join us for two hours of online fun, games, and giveaways!!

I thought I would put together a listing of my  visiting Authors, so you can explore their books and social media sites! It’s a great bunch of writers, I’m working my way through their books myself!

 

Guest Author #1 : Josephine Traynor

Website   I  Instagram  I  Twitter  I  Pinterest

Check out her book Rock Bottom on Amazon

 

Guest Author #2 : Lizabeth Scott

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book You Promised Me Forever on Amazon

 

Guest Author #3: Emily Duvall

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book Back To You on Amazon

Guest Author #4: Amy Schisler

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter

Check out her book Whispering Vines on Amazon

Guest Author #5: Red L. Jameson

Website   I  Facebook I  Amazon I  Pinterest I  Goodreads I  Twitter  I   Tumbler

Check out her book Bad Medicine, part of the Coming in Hot series on Amazon

 

The Dreamer Release Party!

Tommorw is the big day and I am so excited! I hope that everyone can join us for two hours of online fun, games, and giveaways!!

I thought I would put together a listing of my  visiting Authors, so you can explore their books and social media sites! It’s a great bunch of writers, I’m working my way through their books myself!

 

Guest Author #1 : Josephine Traynor

Website   I  Instagram  I  Twitter  I  Pinterest

Check out her book Rock Bottom on Amazon

 

Guest Author #2 : Lizabeth Scott

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book You Promised Me Forever on Amazon

 

Guest Author #3: Emily Duvall

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter 

Check out her book Back To You on Amazon

Guest Author #4: Amy Schisler

Website   I  Facebook I  Instagram  I  Twitter

Check out her book Whispering Vines on Amazon

Guest Author #5: Red L. Jameson

Website   I  Facebook I  Amazon I  Pinterest I  Goodreads I  Twitter  I   Tumbler

Check out her book Bad Medicine, part of the Coming in Hot series on Amazon

 

Alexa’s Newest Blog

FML. Y’all know what that means, right? Good, okay let’s move on.

I am normally a glass is half-full kind of girl. When it comes to other people, I wrap my arm around them and I tell them the one thing they need to hear to get through the storm. My grandparents owned and ran a pretty well-known restaurant (at least in Western Maryland), and planted in the deepest parts of my memory banks, I can hear my grandmother’s sweet southern voice repeating the same piece of advice to an employee who seemed to be not putting their best foot forward or having a bad day.

Act enthusiastic, and you’ll be enthusiastic.

Rah, rah, sis-cum-bah!

Sometimes I’m all for it. Sometimes I have plans A-G loaded and ready to go. Able to handle whatever scenario fate decides to throw at me. I’m a firm believer that the universe gives you back what you give to it. If you look for the doom and gloom, that’s all you’ll see. So don’t do that. Find the good.  Remember my last blog about lifting each other up? Do that.

And sometimes….FML. I take a great pleasure in throwing the proverbial lemons to the ground and jumping ENTHUSIASTICALLY until they are nothing but useless, mushy pulp. It feels good.

For me it’s always the smallest thing; the thing that means nothing to anyone except me because I can control it. The thing that anyone with a rational mind would ask: Why does it matter?

Because it does.

August was amazing, and September will be ground-breaking for me. I have spent more hours than I expected to prepare for the release of The Dreamer. Bookstores are contacting me, bloggers are clamoring for ARC copies, Beta readers have been too kind in sharing their excitement over the book. I spent a few days updating my website, pretty pleased with myself despite my limited WordPress skills.

I made a book trailer. For those of you who don’t know, it’s basically a commercial for your book, like a movie trailer. It’s the newest task you’ll find on the syllabus on any given How to be An Author 101.  As I watched it in its final state and the music swelled with emotion, writer me shouted:

Hell yeah, that’s MY book!

Seriously go watch it. It’s awesome.

I’ve gone from working one day a week to five, because there is need for it. The book fair is soon, SO MUCH book fair.

If you’re a book lover, this will be your heaven. Authors, prizes, giveaways, and much more!

Amazing things.

But you know what preoccupies my mind? My Fitbit. The one thing that I can control completely, and I am failing at. I was the leader of the pack, walking every morning and often passing my 10k steps by thousands more. But then I got a 72-hour something or another and didn’t walk. Then I got a migraine that was the monster of all migraines, snatching me from life as I knew it for nearly a week. Finally, crying uncle, it yielded to the heavy duty drugs offered to me in an IV drip at my local emergency room at 4am.

My children were home, all damn summer. The end result of me trying to balance being the Mom that they’ve come to expect all their lives, and being the career girl that I’m still figuring out, my housekeeping went wonky. I think I would have rather burned the joint down than to invite a neighbor in for coffee.

Finally, last week my husband took some mercy on me and cashed in some vacation time. Together we picked up the house and put everything back in their places. We promptly took the kids anywhere and everywhere in order to keep it that way until school started.

Monday morning rolled around, and I was ON TOP of the world! I got up at 5am and got my tush to the gym. Yes, I am the kind of person that will drop the F-bomb without blinking, but finds the words butt or ass offensive…I don’t know, I’m weird. Got my kids out the door, and headed over to my girlfriend’s house for our annual summer survivors’ breakfast. Which, this year turned into lunch too, so everyone must have had an equally challenging 10 weeks off. I came home and was determined to get my bathrooms sparkly clean. I had a week long, EPIC battle plan and TOP-NOTCH numbers rolling with those little starbursts on the Fitbit.

And then it happened.

Being all full of myself as a multi-tasker, I poured a liquid cleaner on my bathroom floor to perk up the white grout (seriously, WHY is white grout a thing? Whoever decided that it should be a thing is the devil) and used the waiting time to clean my children’s toilet.

I have boys, enough said.

I return to my grout, forgetting completely about the hazard zone I created not 10 minutes before. Three steps in, I’m sliding all over the place, hands waving in the air, and legs going every which way. I DID NOT FALL. I did, however, badly sprain my ankle.

SIGH…..

I’m watching in nervous anticipation for the piles to start happening on the kitchen table. Once a pile happens, it spreads like wildfire. Beds are going unmade, which as you all know, is the first sign of the apocalypse. The battle plan lays in wait, and the nefarious to-do list grows in power.

At least I can still work. That’s good.

But it’s the one thing that eats at me. My damn Fitbit. I was looking so forward to getting my numbers, my better than yours numbers, and my stickers. I have been robbed of my summer goal of walking the length of New Zealand. Sure, I’ve seen the London Underground, and the Serengeti, and all of Italy. But somewhere in my mind, a little voice is laughing at the ridiculousness that I haven’t yet conquered New Zealand.

Instead the little device that I’ve gone all of my life not needing just sits here next to these stupid crutches I’m on, taunting me.

Rah, rah, sis-cum-bah!

Pushing Cheerleaders Down The Stairs

FML. Y’all know what that means, right? Good, okay let’s move on.

I am normally a glass is half-full kind of girl. When it comes to other people, I wrap my arm around them and I tell them the one thing they need to hear to get through the storm. My grandparents owned and ran a pretty well-known restaurant (at least in Western Maryland), and planted in the deepest parts of my memory banks, I can hear my grandmother’s sweet southern voice repeating the same piece of advice to an employee who seemed to be not putting their best foot forward or having a bad day.

Act enthusiastic, and you’ll be enthusiastic.

Rah, rah, sis-cum-bah!

Sometimes I’m all for it. Sometimes I have plans A-G loaded and ready to go. Able to handle whatever scenario fate decides to throw at me. I’m a firm believer that the universe gives you back what you give to it. If you look for the doom and gloom, that’s all you’ll see. So don’t do that. Find the good.  Remember my last blog about lifting each other up? Do that.

And sometimes….FML. I take a great pleasure in throwing the proverbial lemons to the ground and jumping ENTHUSIASTICALLY until they are nothing but useless, mushy pulp. It feels good.

For me it’s always the smallest thing; the thing that means nothing to anyone except me because I can control it. The thing that anyone with a rational mind would ask: Why does it matter?

Because it does.

August was amazing, and September will be ground-breaking for me. I have spent more hours than I expected to prepare for the release of The Dreamer. Bookstores are contacting me, bloggers are clamoring for ARC copies, Beta readers have been too kind in sharing their excitement over the book. I spent a few days updating my website, pretty pleased with myself despite my limited WordPress skills.

I made a book trailer. For those of you who don’t know, it’s basically a commercial for your book, like a movie trailer. It’s the newest task you’ll find on the syllabus on any given How to be An Author 101.  As I watched it in its final state and the music swelled with emotion, writer me shouted:

Hell yeah, that’s MY book!

Seriously go watch it. It’s awesome.

I’ve gone from working one day a week to five, because there is need for it. The book fair is soon, SO MUCH book fair.

If you’re a book lover, this will be your heaven. Authors, prizes, giveaways, and much more!

Amazing things.

But you know what preoccupies my mind? My Fitbit. The one thing that I can control completely, and I am failing at. I was the leader of the pack, walking every morning and often passing my 10k steps by thousands more. But then I got a 72-hour something or another and didn’t walk. Then I got a migraine that was the monster of all migraines, snatching me from life as I knew it for nearly a week. Finally, crying uncle, it yielded to the heavy duty drugs offered to me in an IV drip at my local emergency room at 4am.

My children were home, all damn summer. The end result of me trying to balance being the Mom that they’ve come to expect all their lives, and being the career girl that I’m still figuring out, my housekeeping went wonky. I think I would have rather burned the joint down than to invite a neighbor in for coffee.

Finally, last week my husband took some mercy on me and cashed in some vacation time. Together we picked up the house and put everything back in their places. We promptly took the kids anywhere and everywhere in order to keep it that way until school started.

Monday morning rolled around, and I was ON TOP of the world! I got up at 5am and got my tush to the gym. Yes, I am the kind of person that will drop the F-bomb without blinking, but finds the words butt or ass offensive…I don’t know, I’m weird. Got my kids out the door, and headed over to my girlfriend’s house for our annual summer survivors’ breakfast. Which, this year turned into lunch too, so everyone must have had an equally challenging 10 weeks off. I came home and was determined to get my bathrooms sparkly clean. I had a week long, EPIC battle plan and TOP-NOTCH numbers rolling with those little starbursts on the Fitbit.

And then it happened.

Being all full of myself as a multi-tasker, I poured a liquid cleaner on my bathroom floor to perk up the white grout (seriously, WHY is white grout a thing? Whoever decided that it should be a thing is the devil) and used the waiting time to clean my children’s toilet.

I have boys, enough said.

I return to my grout, forgetting completely about the hazard zone I created not 10 minutes before. Three steps in, I’m sliding all over the place, hands waving in the air, and legs going every which way. I DID NOT FALL. I did, however, badly sprain my ankle.

SIGH…..

I’m watching in nervous anticipation for the piles to start happening on the kitchen table. Once a pile happens, it spreads like wildfire. Beds are going unmade, which as you all know, is the first sign of the apocalypse. The battle plan lays in wait, and the nefarious to-do list grows in power.

At least I can still work. That’s good.

But it’s the one thing that eats at me. My damn Fitbit. I was looking so forward to getting my numbers, my better than yours numbers, and my stickers. I have been robbed of my summer goal of walking the length of New Zealand. Sure, I’ve seen the London Underground, and the Serengeti, and all of Italy. But somewhere in my mind, a little voice is laughing at the ridiculousness that I haven’t yet conquered New Zealand.

Instead the little device that I’ve gone all of my life not needing just sits here next to these stupid crutches I’m on, taunting me.

Rah, rah, sis-cum-bah!

Upcoming Events

A list of all online & In-person Events.

September 2016

1:    Monthly Blog Release (Online)

19:  The Dreamer E-book Release (Online Retailers World-wide)

21:  Personal Appearance at The Ivy Bookshop 7pm

 Join Alexa & many other wonderful authors for a preview of what’s to come at the          Baltimore Book Festival!

22:  The Dreamer Online Party (Online)

8pm: From the comfort of your own home, join Alexa to celebrate The Dreamer! Games, Prizes, and guest visits from other authors are planned.

23:  Personal Appearance at The Baltimore Book Festival

 11am- Book Cover Bingo: Join Alexa & other Author for a fun game of book cover          bingo! Prizes include promotional items, ebook files, and print books!

12pm- Stop by The Ivy Bookshop and say hello to Alexa!

4pm- She’s so sweet: Lights out, Closed Door: Join Alexa & other Authors as they discuss what it takes to keep sweet romance fires burning in a hot erotic market.

26:  Personal Appearance at The Baltimore Book Festival

6pm- Alexa will be at the Maryland Romance Writers’ table, ready to chat about what is involved in being a Maryland Romance Writer.

October 2016

1:  Monthly Blog Release (online)

8:  Indie Author Day at Washington County Library

Stop by and say hello to Alexa and many other area Indie Authors.

10: Damascus YWCA Guest Speaker (member only event)

Alexa will be by to speak to members on turning your personal passions into career goals at any age.

We Built this City

I  wasn’t sure what the topic of this month’s blog was going to be. I haven’t been blogging long, but usually a topic finds me. Thus far, I’ve tried to offer my personal views of what’s happening in my professional life. Its been nice to have a spot to offer a thought or two (or seventy-five) on whatever writer process I’ve been going through over the past 30 days.

However, as far as writer things go, there hasn’t been much going on. I finished writing The Dreamer in January. It went through the process of being reviewed, considered, and contracted over the late winter. It took the very long way round to be edited over the spring. I would have started a new project, but I’ve been working hard to get my name out there.

I became a traveling saleswoman. There is a whole hell of a lot involved in getting a person’s business off the ground. Overall, I was successful. I celebrated the addition of Rising Ridge to an actual brick and mortar bookstore, I was selected to participate in not one, but TWO panels at the Baltimore Bookfest (come see me!), and I was asked to speak to a women’s group later this fall.

All good things, but all very businessey things. My creative time was spent doing something a little different this month. I thought instead of giving you a personal view of my professional world, I’d do the opposite.

A professional view of my personal world.

July was a hard month, you guys. It was a hard month for everyone. I have never been one to outwardly express my political, religious or civil views to the public. It’s not that I don’t have them, it’s that I know the value of when two people argue on opinion they’re both right. So I don’t argue. Everyone has their own rights to opinions, and have them, they did. All month long, I sat back and watched good, solid people begin to tear each other down. The only time I was moved to speak up was when one of my very treasured friends expressed her concerns over raising her child in this world. She fears that though she may teach him well, her teachings can only go so far. The world has to carry him the rest of the way, and it was catastrophically letting her down. I felt, as her friend, and as a witness to the fine young man I am seeing this child already growing to be, that I should break my silence and offer her comfort.

You keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. We will lift each other up.

And so my topic finds me….

It seems while some were hell bent on tearing down the walls around us, there were the few mighty and brave who chose to spend the month building them back up.

Let’s start with actual, physical walls.

Over the last couple of years, I have been so very honored to be included in an outreach summer program. This program was designed seven years ago to build and sustain a bridge between a local church and the surrounding community. They specifically target kids in lower elementary school who may not otherwise get to enjoy summer camp, and kids who may need a little extra love. They are loved, no matter what their background is. I personally work with 4th and 5th graders, teaching and helping them to believe in themselves by giving them the tools they need to lovingly and carefully put together a meal for their parents.

They are amazing kids. Every year, they are different, and they are amazing. They try so hard to get every little chop and slice perfect. They measure, mix, and pour their entire hearts into their recipes and the end result is nothing short of spectacular.

This year was a little different, and I marvel at the fate’s impeccable timing.

They built walls.

While adults all over the world so damn busy tearing them down, these 100 beautiful kids built them up. Together, they built a clubhouse. The kids knew the project would be temporary, just to enjoy for the week, but they put everything they had into it.

Every brush stroke, every piece of personality you see here was brought to you by these 100 amazing little souls. And when they were done, it was up to us as leaders to bring their vision into something sustainable. As I stood in the middle of this structure, and enjoyed the discovery of every little painted smiley face, flower, and Minecraft Creeper, I felt it again:

You keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. We will lift each other up.

 

I also got to catch up with an old friend. Summer is kind to us like that, the world slows down a bit and you have time for conversations by the pool while the kids are creating chaos around you. Who cares, there’s no school tomorrow. This friend of mine provided us with lunch, which was completely organic. She’s very passionate about food (check out her stunning food blog, and how at the end of the day, it is what sustains us so it should sustain us well. She admitted that preparing meals for guests is hard, because regular society likes carbs, and gluten, and sugar. We pour the hell out of it all over our pancakes in the morning and then slap a side of bacon on the plate for good measure. I asked her if she cooked this way in order to better the health of her family. Of course she does. This is how she loves them, by providing them with what she feels in her heart, is the very best chance at their very best life. Don’t EVER apologize for that, my friend. I happily ate my organic grass fed burger and gluten free cornbread, washing it down with sparkling water because sometimes you have to get a little fancy.

 You keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. We will lift each other up.

I did manage to sneak in a few creative writer things toward the end of the month. I am lucky that I live close to the central location of my chapter of the Romance Writers of America. I enjoy attending monthly meetings, I find it to be such a recharge of the batteries. Writing is such a solitary job sometimes, I argue with people who don’t actually exist on a scarily regular basis. It’s always nice when I get the chance to hang out with people who do the same. At the end of the meeting I found my way over to another writer that I’ve enjoyed chatting with. We’re both new at the whole professional Author game and both have a lot of trepidation when it comes to what moves we should make.

Business cards, swag, giveaways, websites…. It’s a big scary metadata kind of world out there.

I just want to write books, and create imaginary friends so cool that you want to hang out with them.

But this writer, this other author made my night. She referenced something in our conversation that I had written in a blogpost. I just stood there and thought to myself ‘holy shit, another writer reads my blog’. Hell…..somebody besides my husband reads my blog!!

Amazing.

 

Seriously, it thrilled me to no end that she had kind words for me. There are so many days where I walk into my office wondering if I am ever going to build the bridge that I want to between my imagination and my readers’ imaginations. I wonder if anything I do makes any difference at all.

I just write books. And blogposts sometimes.

She told me something I wrote was funny. Something I said was helpful. Something I said had an impact on her.

You keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. We will lift each other up.

 

And the beat goes on

Delayed gratification.

They say it’s a skill for one to be able to possess the self-control to do one simple thing; wait.

In 1960 a psychologist named Walter Mischel put together what is known as the “Marshmallow Experiment” and ran a study at Stanford University that would last decades. In the experiment, scientists would offer small children two choices; to have one marshmallow now, or to wait 15 minutes and get two marshmallows later. The studies showed children fell into three categories; those who had no issue waiting to get their two, those who squiggled and squirmed in their seats ultimately giving into temptation moments before they would have been rewarded with double the sweets but now would not be, and those who scooped up that treat the moment it was offered, never to even entertain the idea of what life may be like with two marshmallows.

Nearly three decades later they revisited those same children and were surprised to find such a direct correlation to personal success. The children who waited tended to go on and do better in life than their counterparts. Higher SAT scores, level of education reached, job success, and even body mass index. Overall, those who possessed the ability to wait for the idea situation at the age of 5 were often were rewarded for it at the age of 35.

Guess which kid I was? Oh, five year old me wouldn’t have even lasted a millisecond before scooping up the singular marshmallow offered. I will give myself a little credit and say I would have never coveted that second marshmallow, but I would have envied the drive the children who waited for it displayed. That is what I coveted.

It’s a skill, I am still learning.

Most of us were not personally part of the marshmallow experiment, but we all know exactly where we would fall if we were. We all know that if we just have patience and faith, we will be rewarded.

But it’s so damn hard.

I even find myself sitting here quoting my two favorite mantras on the subjects:

“Just keep swimming.” – Dory, 2003 (Patience)

“Everything has a way of working out, it all comes out in the wash.” – My Mom-Mom, 1927-2006 (Faith)

I often wonder what my grandmother would say if she had lived long enough to see me put all those words of wisdom she threw at me in my childhood into actual use.

June was full of waiting for me. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes as The Dreamer is in its final stages before publication. Some of it has been easy, and a matter of just working hard and some of it has been a true test of patience and faith. I am very proud of myself that I saw one situation out to the end of the road, even though I was unsure the entire time it would lead me anywhere. Where it led me to was having to push back my release date, and though that stinks in some ways, I have been rewarded in others. I was able to go to the powers that be at Torrid Books and offer them a clear, complete picture of my troubles, and in turn, they were able to swoop in with full confidence and save the day. It makes me feel good that though my readers may have to wait these extra forty days, I can offer them so much more because they did.

There is so much more to book making than there is to book writing. I am but a babe in the woods. There are so many exciting things headed your way, but for me, the reality is I wait….and I wait…and I wait…for some of these things to fall into place. As I said in this recent interview, every overnight success story is really twenty years in the making.

Cheers to the ones who are breaking their backs to make it all seem that way.

This is the beginning of my journey of patience and faith, and it will not be the last time I have to remind myself to hold back and wait a beat before I continue on with my march. It will not be the last time I have to squiggle and squirm in my seat to keep myself from leaping before I’m ready.

If you see me telling you in the weeks to come to just keep swimming, know that I am telling myself.

If you see me reminding you that everything is going to work out, know that I am reminding myself.

Time, patience, faith my friends…and the beat goes on.

Paperback Writer

I thought there would be more sex.

These are the words my husband uttered after he read his first romance novel – my romance novel. I looked at the man with strange curiosity, wondering what he thought a romance novel consisted of.

Sex.

That’s it?

…and then a couple of pages that lead the characters to more sex.

That’s what you think I’ve been reading all these years? Just pages and pages of sex?

Yes. Your book has a plot. It has complicated emotions. Is that normal? Is there enough sex?

–and therein lies the problem. One of many I’ve come across in my very short time as a professional writer.

When I announced I had written a book, I could split the reactions of my friends and family straight down the line into two categories. The half who said they weren’t at all surprised Romance was my chosen genre and the half who posed the question: Really? Romance? Why don’t you write a real book?

I’ve come to find over the last several months that being a romance novelist still comes with quite the stigma. I get that some people don’t understand the appeal of the inevitably predictable plots, but I have to admit I am somewhat taken aback at their dismissal of what makes up 40% of the paperback trade. That’s right, 40%. Romance novels are, all by themselves, keeping the lights on at your local bookstore. According to a recent Huffington Post article, the Romance novel business has an over billion dollar worth, and its novels sell more than sci-fi, fantasy, and mystery combined. With 70 million households buying at least one Romance novel annually, I wonder how these are not considered to be “real” books.

I’ve also come against those who claim that I am taking the easy road. Anyone can write a romance novel. Yes, anyone CAN write a romance novel. But will they be successful? This is a far harder goal to accomplish. Did I mention romance novels make up 40% of the market? Imagine you own your own company, and almost half of all companies out there are YOUR competition. What makes your company stand out? What makes you memorable? Not to mention the sheer diversity of people who read romance novels. Let’s look at that for a minute. I tapped a few people who I knew to be readers and asked them if they would like to have an advance reader copy of my first book. All of them took me up on the offer because they love me and wanted to be supportive. And thankfully, those who love a good sweet romance, loved it. Those who didn’t offered me notes which read very similarly to each other: This is well written, I just don’t read romance. I read (fill in the blank). They read Science Fiction, they read Fantasy Fiction, they read Historical Fiction, and even one guy spends his day reading technical manuals. I have a diverse group of reading friends, who are each very passionate about the genre in which they explore. If I ever wrote the next psychotic thriller, I know exactly the guy who I would want to read it. Romance Novel fans, guess what they read.

E V E R Y T H I N G.

Love really does conquer all in this case. As such a diverse group, romance novel readers tend to be well versed in just about everything, and because they are, they are very hard to impress. If you are a Science Fiction reader, I guarantee somewhere on this planet (or maybe a different planet) is a love story that will impress you with its plot. If you are Historical Fiction reader, I promise you that you can find beautifully captured moments of history forgotten between the pages of a Romance novel. It isn’t just about sex, and no…you are not going to find the personal notes of my own love life within the pages. Not every hero is my husband, and not every heroine is me. While I do stand by my guarantee of always having a happily ever after, I want you to be surprised, delighted, concerned, confused, excited, and possibly even have a good ugly cry before we get there. Every Romance novelist faces the challenge of pleasing one of the most diverse group of readers in the world.

Take me, personally. Before I was a writer, I was a reader. On my bookshelf you will see the works from Nicolas Sparks to Jane Austen to Paul Riser (Yes, the actor) to Nora Roberts (Ok, she may have her own shelf…or four) to JR Ward. Each of these books could NOT BE MORE DIFFERENT. But they are all romance novels. Over the last couple of years, like millions of others, I have waited at my mailbox for each and every new edition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series. I can’t get enough of these books. There is war. There is violence. There is treachery. There are demons, and Gods, and really emotionally screwed up vampires. Guns, lots of guns. The metal kind, and the sexy kind. By my count, I have learned to properly gut a person 27 different ways. Straight after I finish the latest installment I read a romance novel written by a colleague scheduled to come out in June. A twist of contemporary & period romance, where love blooms within the fields of a vineyard. I adored it. No guns, no Gods, no emotionally screwed up vampires. Hell, there wasn’t even sex!

Say what? A Romance novel without sex?

Remember that one scene in Anne of Green Gables the TV movie where Gilbert sweetly tucked Anne’s hair behind her ear while they were standing in a field and you damn near lost your mind? Yeah, there doesn’t always have to be sex to make your heart leap.

So no, this is not the easy road. It is, in fact, one of the toughest out there because there are no boundaries for a romance writer.

I never really gave this much thought until I was having a breakfast date with one of my favorite girlfriends in the whole wide world. Having little to no knowledge herself about the Romance genre, and all it’s sub-genres, she admitted she was surprised at how vast the business was and how much planning goes into it.

That led to the bigger question: Why Romance?

Because.

At the end of the day, be a reader of any kind. Open your imagination and heart to whatever makes you happy. As a writer, I want to do the same. I don’t WANT to say no. I kid you not, the other day I was standing in my kitchen and I could feel this man standing behind me. He’s seven feet tall, his body is riddled with scars, he has gigantic black wings, he’s angry, he’s resentful…..and he’s in love. Am I supposed to tell him to go away because he wouldn’t fit into the category of which I write?

No, I’m going to follow him….and I hope you come along. I have no idea what his story is but he is patiently waiting for me to tell it.

My imaginary friends are as equally diverse as my real ones, and there is room for them here.

I am also incredibly thankful to be part of such an amazing community of writers. Remember when I mentioned being competition with 40% of the market? Yeah, well, the thing is, it’s a really big market and with 70 million people buying across a multitude of genres, they’ve got room for me. I have said it before and I will say it again, I would not be here if it weren’t for the amazing people I have met through the Romance Writers of America. Every writer I have come across has been more than happy to share their wealth of knowledge in efforts to help my little light shine. When was the last time you had a friend who has sold hundreds of thousands of products and they took the time to tell you how proud they were of you for selling your first ten? I am forever humbled by the generosity of these people.

So yeah, I write romance. And I hope, for some of you at least, this answers the question of why Romance and it opens up the door for a better question.

Why NOT Romance?