Kate Noble's Blog, page 28

Contest Winner and Introducing the Boyfriend to Blogging.

[image error]Hello everyone!  I'm so excited to draw the first winner in my new Website Contest – so without further ado, the winner, drawn by Random.org, is…

ROSE MAY BARRETT!

Congratulations, Rose May!  You have won an autographed copy of The Summer of You!

For those of you not familiar with the website contest, fear not! Here are the alarming simple rules below.  And for those of you well familiar with the rules, fear not! Just let your eyes glaze over and skip down past it.

THE RULES

1.     The contest will run for three months.

2.     A winner will be drawn every two weeks.

3.     The prize is your choice of Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You.

4.     If you want to read more about the books you could win, go to the book page.

5.     If you've entered once, you will be entered for the length of the whole contest.  You do not need to enter again.

6.     One entry per person.

 

In other news, I'm very pleased to announce that the Boyfriend is dipping his toes into the world of blogging for a very fun interview at Lila DiPasqua's Midnight Dance Blog Party… Or rather, I should say, Mr. DiPasqua's Blog Party.

Yes, from July 19th to August 19th, they've let the boy's out of their cages, the inmates are running the asylum, up is down, down is up, and everyone's significant others are taking over the blogging.  It's a super fun idea, and I high recommend checking it out… especially on August 1st, when my own personal Romance Boyfriend (RB, for short) faces down Mr. DiPasqua's questions! This event is going to be a blast with plenty of chances to win prizes—and a few surprises along the way.  Don't miss it!

That's all for this week.  Happy Reading and Contest Entering everyone!

How I Got My Agent

Once upon a time I was not a multi-published author.   Indeed, it was as little as 6 years ago.  I had written a book, Compromised, but had no idea what to do with it.  I had no notion of what I needed to do to get it published, knew little of the ins and outs of the publishing industry (truth be told, at the rate the industry changes I'm not much better informed today) – but the one thing I did know was that I needed an agent.  Someone who would know all the stuff I didn't, and who would have faith enough in my writing that they would be able to guide my career.

But, you might ask, how does someone who doesn't know anything about the publishing industry get an agent?

Well, everyone's story is different.  Here's mine.

HOW I GOT MY AGENT

There are three components that I credit with getting me an agent.  And as always, the first step is:

1. Research

Google works! As you can see, it taught me to cook a chicken.

Research is always my first step for anything.  Rarely do I dive in willy-nilly into anything, be it learning to drive or how to cook a chicken, or how to treat a third-degree burn, I will google how to do it first.  So quite naturally, I googled "how to get a literary agent."  The amount of information out there is overwhelming, contradictory, and can you trust it?  There are sites that advertise people you can pay to represent you or read your work (note: NEVER DO THIS.  An agent never gets paid up front.  They don't make money until you make money.)

The best thing I did was I bought a book called The Writer's Market for Novels and Short Stories.  They put one out every year, and for a variety of different publishing interests (there's a Writer's Market for Poetry, and for Children's Books and Illustrators, for example).  You can get this book out at the library, but I recommend purchasing it.  You're going to want to mark it up.  In it is a listing of all the literary agencies out there, what they are looking to represent, and what their submission requirements are.  (note: nowadays, most of these agencies will also have websites that will tell you not only their submission guidelines, but who their client list is, so you can see if who they represent is in your vein.  But I still like the idea of having all of the agencies listed in one place, aka, the book.)

This was an invaluable resource, as I meandered through figuring out who to submit to, and how to do it.

2. Patience

I chose the agency I wanted to submit to.  I wrote a cover letter.  I rewrote it.  I rewrote it again.  I wrote the required 15-page synopsis.  I printed out the first few chapters of my novel, after checking and double checking the grammar, I submitted.  And I waited.

After waiting a few weeks, I got back a standard form rejection. So, I went to the second agency on the list I wanted to submit to.  And the third.  And the fourth.  I rewrote my cover letter again.  One agency wanted a 10 page synopsis.  So I wrote one.  Another wanted no more than 7 pages.  I wrote that too.  I submitted.  And I waited.

And I collected rejection after rejection.

Admittedly, this stage was the most trying.  Rejection letters get you down, especially when you can't tell if your submission was even read.  And there are a million reasons they are rejecting you:  their client list is too big, your genre isn't hot right now, and yes, they might not like your writing.  But patience is the ultimate submission requirement.   If I had stopped submitting, I wouldn't be telling this story right now.

3. Join RWA

There are writer's organizations for almost every genre – mine happens to be romance.  And the Romance Writers of America are incredibly organized and welcoming to aspiring writers.  Through them, I began submitting to chapter contests, which taught me to take criticism, of nothing else, and had me rewriting the first three chapters of my novel a dozen times.   But the biggest thing RWA ever did for me was it gave me an opportunity masquerading as luck.

One of RWA's many benefits is that at conferences, they often have editor and agency meetings, wherein unpublished authors can pitch their manuscripts to said editors and agents and get instant feedback.  Well, I never did that.  I'm too chicken.  But I did attend the New Jersey Romance Writers Conference one year.  I was about 20 submissions in at that point, and starting to get discouraged.  I had to leave early, and in the rain, caught a cab to the train station with someone else waiting for one, who happened to be a junior agent at the Jane Rotrosen Agency.  Now, this was an agency that I had already submitted to, and received a rejection from.  But, trapped in a car for a few minutes was too good an opportunity to miss.  Thus, looking like a bedraggled cocker spaniel, I told her who I was and what I wrote.  I didn't pitch her my story, just mentioned what I was doing at the conference.  She mentioned to me that they had just gotten a new agent who had come over from the editor side of things, and was looking to build up her client list.  She gave me the new agent's name and suggested I submit to her.  And at that point, what's one more submission?

To this day I am represented by the Jane Rotrosen Agency.

Like I said, everyone's story is different.  Some pitch verbally at a conference and walk away with an agent and a four-book contract (note: I am endlessly jealous of these people).  Some people have the business savvy and connections to get read because they know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody.  Some of us buy a research book and submit, and play the patience game.  But the one thing everyone did who ever got an agent – and then got published – was not one I mentioned above.  And it's not a big secret:

You have to write the best book possible.  Once you've done that… the rest is easy by comparison.

That's all for this week, sweets!  Happy Reading!

How My Books are Connected

One of the most common questions I get (other than, is my hair naturally curly, the answer to which can be found here) is "Are your books connected?"

The short answer to which is Yes.  But no.  But yes. But no.  But yes.  (Little Britain fans, that was for you.)

The longer answer is they all exist in the same universe – that is, they all have overlapping characters – but they were each written as a stand alone story, and not part of a formal series.  Therefore, I feel confident that if you wanted to read them out of written order, you would be well able to follow the story.

"Okay," you'll say, brow furrowing, unsure which one to pick up, "but how are they connected exactly?"

Well, for that, I offer this handy guide:

HOW KATE NOBLE BOOKS ARE CONNECTED

All of my books are stand alone, but for purposes of ease, I will list them in the order that I wrote them (note: NOT chronological order.  There's a difference.  You'll see.)

1.     Compromised. Set in 1829, this story features sisters Gail and Evangeline Alton, their diplomat father, Sir Geoffrey Alton, and Viscount Maximillian Fontaine.

Tertiary Characters you'll meet include Mr. Henry Ellis, head of the British Museum, and Lady Charlbury, a leading society matron.

 

 

 

2.     Revealed. Set in 1816 (note: 13 years before my previous book), this story focuses on Mrs. Phillippa Benning, a society queen, and Marcus Worth, an operative for the government.

Secondary characters you'll meet: Phillippa has an arch nemesis in Lady Jane Cummings, and Marcus has a brother named Byrne.  Phillippa also has a companion, Mrs. Tottendale, known as Totty.

Tertiary characters: Lady Charlbury makes a notable appearance, as does Lady Jane's father, the Duke of Rayne.

 

3.     The Summer of You.  Set in 1816, directly after the events of Revealed.  This story is about Lady Jane Cummings, who travels north and re-meets Byrne Worth.  The Summer of You and Revealed are my most directly connected books.

Secondary Characters: Lady Jane's brother Jason and her father the Duke of Rayne play a significant role in this story. And Phillippa and Marcus from Revealed make an appearance.

Tertiary Characters: Once again, Lady Charlbury is mentioned.

 

4.     Follow My Lead. Set in 1822, six years after the events of The Summer of You.  This story focuses on Jason Cummings — Jane's brother — now the Duke of Rayne, and Miss Winnifred Crane, an art historian.

Secondary Characters: Phillippa and Marcus from Revealed, as well as Jane and Byrne from The Summer of You are present in this book.  As is Totty – Phillippa's companion from Revealed.  She is a family friend of Miss Winnifred Crane.

Tertiary characters: Gail and Evangeline Alton, their father Sir Geoffrey Alton, and Mr. Henry Ellis – all from Compromised – make an appearance in this book.  But since Follow My Lead is set seven years before the events of Compromised, the Alton sisters are much younger – tween-aged – in this story.

 

So that's how they are all connected.  I reiterate: all of the books were written with stand alone plots, and therefore can be read completely out of order.   However, if you're really, REALLY, a stickler for order in all things, I recommend either reading them in the order written (Compromised, Revealed, The Summer of You, Follow My Lead) or chronological order (Revealed, The Summer of You, Follow My Lead, Compromised).

Much writing awaits me this week – all vacation is over and work must resume.  Therefore, until later, kiddies, Happy Reading!

RWA Round Up Blog

NYC -- they ain't kidding when they call it the city that never sleeps.

Hello everyone!  For those of you not plugged in to the world of romance (and if you're not, why aren't you?  Follow me on twitter or facebook.  It's about to get real for you), last week was the Romance Writers of America National Conference, held at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, New York City – otherwise known as the center of the universe, and the town I called home for all of my 20s.  I had a marvelous, whirlwind, exhausting time.  Just how marvelous was this exhausting whirlwind, you ask?  Well, let me tell you:

Monday: A small trip back in time

I got in on Monday, having come across the country from Los Angeles and staying at a friend's in New Jersey the night before.  Luckily, by the time I got there, my roommate, the awesome Megan Crane had already checked in, so the room was open and ready.  However, Megan had already left by the time I dragged my luggage up to the 21st floor, so I wouldn't see her until later. (Note: this will become a running theme.)  BUT – she did leave me a copy of her latest Harlequin Presents release on my bed!  It's the first book I collect at the conference!  Huzzah!  Book count: 1

Since I'm back in the city of my frivolous youth, I simply have to go visit the old haunts.  So I head out, and quickly re-acclimate myself, taking the N R train down from Times Square to Union Square (the subway is not only the cheapest, but the fastest way to get where you need to go – I pity the scaredy cats who take cabs everywhere) grab a slice of pizza for lunch, go to my old nail place and get a much needed cheap manicure, sign my stock in the 4-story Union Square Barnes and Noble, and then window shop my way up 5th avenue to the Flat Iron District where I'm meeting one of my old friends for lunch in a roof top beer garden.  Awesome?  Yes.  Am I used to walking this much?  Um, no.  My shoes were broken in, thankfully, but my feet were not.

One thing I forgot about living in New York that I remembered quickly: When crossing the street, the Walk sign is definitive while the Don't Walk sign is merely suggestive.  If there's no one coming, you can cross.  Honest.  Just do so with speed and alacrity.

When I get back to the hotel I have a little time, so I soak my feet, and then go check in with the conference registration.  Low and behold, in the goody bags there are six more books (only one of which I already own)!  Book count: 6 (1+6- the Mary Balogh I already have, so I'm putting it in the leftover pile so people who want it can have it.)

Its 6 pm, so I think it best to head out the door and go down to Lady Jane's Salon, where six awesome authors are reading, including the wonderful Sarah MacLean and the incomparable Eloisa James!  Both of whom read beautifully, to a jam-packed room of romance fans.  (Among those fans? Cara Elliott, Miranda Neville, and that intrepid, yet slightly jet-lagged Australian, the fabulous Anne Gracie.) After, my voice already sounding like I'm a pack-a-day smoker, Sarah MacLean and I grab a late bite of guacamole, discussing books, books, and the awesomeness that is Friday Night Lights.

Heading home, it's so late, I cave and take a cab (I do have my limits).  Once I get back to the room I see my roommate Megan Crane (yay!) for all of 10 minutes before I collapse into sleep.

Tuesday: The official start to the conference

You always run into people at RWA.  It's inevitable.   And the first person I ran into on Tuesday was Sara Lindsey as I stepped off the elevator into the lobby.  She's killing time waiting for her room to open up, so she helps me find the goody rooms, where I lay down a lovely fan display of my beautiful bookmarks.  And if I happened to grab a couple of free books from the goody room while I was there… well, that's the whole point of the goody room, isn't it?  Book Count: 8

I'm meeting my agent at 3, and the panels and what-not don't start until tomorrow, so I have a couple of hours to myself… thus I go to the most inspirational place in the city – at least for me: the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I'm there for the Alexander McQueen exhibit, but on my way to that hour long line, I find myself drawn to a special exhibit about art work from northern Europe in the 19th century that features interiors with a view through a window to the outside world.  (The title of this exhibition: Rooms with a View.  Succinct.)  I am moved by a German artist named Kersting.  Almost as much as I am awed by the McQueen display.  As such, I buy books about both exhibits.  Book count: 10.  I also got McQueen pencils.

Next, I meet my lovely agent at a café near her offices.  We are both sweltering, and take to the café's special watermelon-cucumber punch like gangbusters.  We talk next books, ebooks, and of course… Friday Night Lights.  (Because you can't not discuss the best show ever, right?)  But I'm due over at the Readers for Life Literacy Signing, so the eternal Saracen vs. Riggins debate will have to wait until tomorrow…

Miranda Neville and me at the Literacy Signing. And my fascinator!

Get back to the hotel (took the subway, was across town in 3 minutes) and notice a MASSIVE crowd outside of the Marriott Marquis.  Is it the crowd gathered for the premiere of Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon?  Uh, apparently no.  That's the line for people to get into the literacy signing.  Ho, boy.

I'm seated next to Miranda Neville.  We celebrate.  We commiserate.  We sell books like our own literacy depends upon it.  We take pictures.  We tweet.  We meet wonderful fans.  Our voices get hoarse – again.  Three hours goes by fast.  I almost sell out my books (huzzah!) and I feel guilty enough to purchase the remainder books myself.  Book Count: 15 – but 5 of those are my own, so I'll make sure they find their way to a good home and won't stay with me long.

After dinner with a friend (sushi. The dinner, not the friend. Although both are awesome.) I am too tired to do anything other that chose a website contest winner and crash out, because tomorrow is gonna be a doozy…

Wednesday: Party like your feet aren't hurting.

When I say Wednesday is a doozy, I'm not kidding. I'm up at 7 am to make myself presentable and caffeinate before my first meeting at 8.  Once that discussion goes down –all of us bleary eyed and slightly less than enthusiastic, except for Katharine Ashe, who had already gone to the gym, darn her – it was time for a series of meetings that lasts until about 2pm.

I feel like I'm in high school.  The hours are the same, 7am-2pm, and all I'm doing is shuttling from one hour-long meeting to the next, with a lunch break in between, where – if you don't have a table scoped already – you have to stand around scanning the crowds hoping to find someone you know who will beckon you over to an empty chair.

But at 3pm, its time to head out of the Marriott – I know! Shocking! – and go to my agency's cocktail party, followed quickly thereafter by my publishing house's cocktail party.

Sidebar: Shoes. I have, as previously stated, lived in New York City for a significant enough period of time to know how to walk in the city.  Regardless of what Sex and the City told you, comfort is far more important than fashion – although, it's a bonus if it can be both.  That said, I brought a very cute, very practical pair of flat sandals… sandals that were beginning to make my feet ache as I walked block upon block of either hard cement sidewalk, or interior hotel ballrooms.  So, what do I do for the garden party across town at my agent?  I put on heels.  My stupidity will be discussed at length later.

Parties at RWA tend to go something like every cocktail party you've ever been to, except attended by a bunch of introverts who don't talk to more than 2 or 3 people on a daily basis, and even then, its just to tell their spouse that the dog ate something weird and that's why the kitchen smells that way.  These introverts (also known as writers) will stand in the corner and stare at their toes until someone else staring at their toes stands near them (ok, me) and they can awkwardly strike up a conversation.

Generally, we talk about how much our feet hurt.

And they DO.  Oh my god, they do.  We've all been standing and talking gabbing, not just for two hours now, but for two to three days.  Shooting pains go everywhere.  I decide I can't take it, and change shoes in between parties.  I am significantly shorter in my cute flats, and therefore significantly less dressed-up looking.  But even in the flats at the second party (this one was at Sardi's, and I was so hungry, I was chasing around the guys with the hors d'ouerves on trays) I was in enough pain to have me changing into sneakers and jeans when I got back to the hotel… just in time for a group of writer-friends to make their way back from their own parties in full cocktail party regalia.  We all decide to hang out at the hotel bar, a motley crew of mostly historical authors including the lovely Anne Mallory, and the crashing Meredith Duran – both of whom I had never met but admired their works from afar.

I am the grubbiest dressed person at the bar.  But I'm also one of the few who maintain the ability to walk.  Which I do, up to my room, finally, at around 12:30 AM.

Book count: 18 – one from opening session meeting and 2 from the Madeline Hunter lunch.

Thursday:  Are you here for free books?  YES I AM.

Just a small selection of the books I absconded with.

If Wednesday was my tough day, Thursday is my easy day.  Thursday I am not in romance author mode, I am in romance fan mode… because that's how I got started in this business.  I was, is, a fan.  And Thursday is the day the house signings start!  Each publishing house has a signing just for attendees of the RWA conference.  And all the books you get there are free.  Free! Warped glee runs through my body!  As I go from signing to signing (in sneakers, because when I wake up my feet are still sore), and the book pile gets higher and higher, my roommate looks at me like I'm a crazy person.  How am I gonna get all these books home? (ship 'em)  How am I going to read them all? (… uh… through valiant effort over the course of several years?)  What will the Boyfriend say when he sees them?  (Nothing.  He will shake his head and say nothing.)  But I have them!  The books are mine!  All mine!

Book count:  60? 70? I'm going to be honest, around here I lose count.

Friday: a Few Last Things and I am OUTTA HERE.

 

Me at the Berkley signing. You can tell its early because my hair is still wet.

I have my house's – Berkley – signing at 9am, so once again, I am up far earlier than I would like and back in good-shoes romance writer mode.  Signing goes fantastically, I sign and giveaway those 5 books of mine I had left over from the literacy signing as well (so whatever my book count is now, its down by 5, so… that's good, right?). My one regret is that my signing was the same time as Ballentine's, which means I missed my chance to get the awesome Stefanie Sloane's latest.

Then it's running from place to place for more meetings.  Lunch with one person, another singing to collect a few choice more books, 2 pm meeting with another friend.  Pack and get boxes of books shipped, meet with my editor, and suddenly, its 5pm.

Unfortunately, I am unable to stay for the RITA and Golden Heart awards ceremony.  I have a ride to catch in New Jersey, and as it's a holiday weekend, must get moving.  And while my personal choice would have been for a 6-way tie in the Regency Historical Category, I was very happy to see Lauren Willig walk away with the golden lady.  (Also, I just picked up her The Orchid Affair that morning at her house's signing and I can't wait to dig into it.)

All in all, getting on a train to New Jersey instead of getting into a ballgown and partying with dessert foods may seem a little anticlimactic to such an exciting week, but to be honest, I'm too tired to care.  But it was a fantastic time, I cannot recommend the experience highly enough, and it only took a couple days, but my feet almost feel normal now.  That's what finally being able to kick back and read a stack of brand new romance novels will do.  Gets me back to normal.

Well, it's been an exciting week, and this one promises to be a far more… diligent one.  But until next time sweets, happy reading!

 

And the Winner is…

[image error]While the madness of RWA swirls around me – I am at this moment in the Atrium of the Marriot Marquis hotel in Times Square, surrounded by a couple thousand romance authors and enthusiasts –  time waits for no woman, and it is time to draw the final winner in my website contest's book bundle giveaway.  And without further ado, the winner is…

 

ALYSSA ZULUETA!!

Congrats, Alyssa!  You have won a copy of Robyn DeHart's Treasure Me, Stefanie Sloane's debut, The Devil in Disguise, and your choice of Compromised, Revealed, or The Summer of You (all by me).

As for my next contest – watch the contest page, a new one will be up in the next couple days.  And also look for my RWA11 Round Up blog here on Monday!  I'll give you the low-down-dirty on everything, so even if you couldn't be here, you can live vicariously through my worn and blistered feet.  (Seriously, my feet haven't hurt this much in a long time, and we still have three days to go…)

Until later, kiddies, happy reading!

Packing for RWA

I'm going to RWA this year.  It's in New York City.  I'm sitting next to Miranda Neville at the Literacy Signing.  I'm STOKED.

However, packing for a huge conference isn't always the easiest thing in the world.  It's not like it's vacation, where you throw a bunch of shorts and t-shirts into a suitcase and just go.  Things need to be planned.  Carefully.

So, I give you my packing list.  Yup, it's…

What I'm taking to RWA.

1.     5 business casual outfits for 5 days of meeting and greeting, including but not limited to day dresses and dress-up-able jeans, tulip and A-line skirts, smart summer weight jackets, and cardigans.  (NYC is a swamp in the summer and the hotel will invariably be air conditioned to within an inch of its life – and if not there will be a riot – so… layers, people.  Layers.)

2.     2 cocktail dresses, for cocktail parties.  (Cocktails will be obtained on the scene.)

3.     1 insanely fabulous dress for the RITA awards ceremony.  (I'm not nominated this year, but I'm still going to win Best Dressed, dammit.)

[image error]4.     Awesome WALKABLE shoes.   (It's NYC.  I lived there for 9 years.  People walk.  Everywhere.  Learn to love it.)

5.     1 pair spiky shoes of sparkly goodness for RITA awards ceremony. (See above re: Best Dressed.)

6.     My gym clothes.  (Because I have to at least pretend I'm going to get in gym time.)

7.     Any hair product that promises to tame frizz. (See above re: NYC is a swamp.)

8.     Money.  I'm in New York and I'm going to a Mario Batali restaurant, come hell or high water.

9.     Computer and computer devices, the cords of which will work themselves into a Gordian knot somewhere over Kansas, never to be untied.

10.  Bookmarks.  (Oh my god, I hope you guys like bookmarks because SOMEBODY NEEDS TO TAKE THESE FROM ME.  I have a thousand of them!!)**

11.  Photos of all my favorite authors so I can stalk them – sometimes those name tags get twisted around and you don't know if that person you missed is Eloisa James or a different tall Shakespearean professor.

12.  My camera, for above stalking purposes.

13.  My phone, which will have my downloaded schedule and every number I need of people I'm meeting with so when we get mixed up trying to find each other in the hotel we can play a high tech game of Marco Polo.

14.  Stickers!  Books will be signed and stickers will be affixed telling everyone it is so!

15.  Ideas.  Ideas, ideas, ideas.  Seriously, living across country means I don't get a lot of face time with my fabulous editor and agent, so I have to make the time I do get count.

So, that's what I'm bringing.  Let me know if you think I missed anything!

Until next time, sweets… Happy Reading!

**If anyone wants bookmarks but will not be attending RWA, just write me an email!  I'm happy to post them to you.

3rd Book Bundle Winner announced!

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It's what you've all been waiting for…

Is it vacation?

RWA?

A beautiful breakfast delivered to you on the six-pack abs of your adoring husband?

Nay!  It is the third book bundle drawing in my website contest!

So without further ado, the winner is…

Debra McDonald!!!!

Congrats, Debra!  You have one a copy of Compromised by Yours Truly, One Whisper Away by Emma Wildes, and Pleasure Me by Monica Burns!  You may need a cool drink to go with all these hot books, Deb.  Just FYI.

For those of you who entered and still haven't won one of these fabulous book bundles, fear not, you are still entered for the last drawing, which will include books by moi (reader's choice of my backlist!), as well as Robyn DeHart's Treasure Me and Stefanie Sloane's debut, The Devil in Disguise.

If you haven't entered yet, here's the newbie-rundown:

1.     The contest will run for two months.

2.     A winner will be drawn every two weeks.

3.     The winners get a bundle of books by some of historical romance's most exciting talents (as well as a book by me).

4.     The books that are being given away are listed on the contest page.

5.     If you've entered once, you will be entered for the length of the whole contest.  You do not need to enter again.

6.     One entry per person.

So what are you waiting for?  The six-pack abs of your adoring husband to enter the contest for you?  Not gonna happen, ladies.  Some things, we have to do ourselves.

Until next time, happy reading!

 

But It's For WORK.

Over the past 4 years of being a published author, I'm pretty sure I've amassed the requisite 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill.*  This is a highly unscientific estimate, of course, but after 4 novels published, another in the revision stage, and other stories in the preparation phases, I have become very, very good at one thing:

Procrastination.

I have been known to do almost anything to avoid starting to write.  Oh, once I'm writing, it's fine.  But the dread of beginning… ::shudder:: I will do dishes, vacuum, obsessively check my Amazon ranking every hour on the hour…

This obviously, is not the healthiest way to live, let alone get a book written.  The trick I have learned, in all my mastery of procrastination, is to make it constructive.

Otherwise known as: I'm doing this because it's for WORK.

1. Charts.

See, I told you it's taller than me. (Also, I'm standing in front of all the stuff I can't show you.)

And Graphs.  And Calendars.  And lists.  There is nothing more constructive than organizing what you're going to write, and thereby avoiding writing.  I have been known to print out a calendar (marvelously, my iCal on my computer can go all the way back to regency times.  Meaning I can find out that June 2nd, 1823 was a Monday.  Which you never know, it could turn out to be useful.)

I have a large white board in my office.  It's massive.  It's taller than me.  It's an incredibly useful tool to visualize my work.  I make a lot of lists on this board – whether it be of what I have to do next in terms of my website, or the next scenes I have to get through in my manuscript, or notes that I should remember in my writing.

You know what they say: those who can, do. Those who procrastinate, organize.

2A. Visual Genre Research.  (i.e., watching every Masterpiece Theatre costume drama Netflix has)

[image error]Do you write sci-fi?  Time for that Battlestar Galactica marathon!  Or are you a paranormal type?  Nothing like viewing An American Werewolf in London to help you fine tune that werewolf transformation sequence you've been planning.  Or, if you're like me, and of a historical mind frame, you can indulge in a BBC orgy.

In all seriousness, visual genre research (VGR) has its uses.  You never know when a certain visual scrap of information about a historical time period will come in handy.  How a certain fabric of dress looks, or how a quadrille was danced, or what a great hall looks like lit by thousands of candles (I recommend Barry Lyndon for this one – Kubrick was a zealot about using period-appropriate lighting for those scenes).  All are things I could have only learned by seeing it with my own eyes.

2B. Literary Genre Research. (i.e., re-reading Pride and Prejudice for the zillionth time)

[image error]Very similar to VGR but obviously, literary genre research (LGR) involves lying down in a comfortable position, likely a lounge chair, or maybe on a beach, with an umbrella drink, and reading a book.  The difference between this type of research and the previous is that – at least for me – reading books written in the time period that I'm writing (Regency) helps illuminate the voice of that era.  The tone, the inflection, the cant, the slang, passive vs. active voice, and how it all comes together.  While the VGR is more plot or detail oriented, LGR tends to be more about the writing itself.

3. Wikipedia. (i.e. the very edges of the internet abyss.)

Wikipedia is troublesome.  On the one hand, an excellent way to learn that specific tidbit of information that you really needed to know about British Horse Racing, the first Anglo-Burmese War, or the proper address for a knight's wife, but it is ON THE INTERNET.  And I cannot stress enough the wormhole of unproductivity the internet can be.  One minute you're pleasantly researching an important historical fact, and then you follow the link to an off site resource, which is justifiable, you tell yourself.  You need to see more pictures of period costumes from the LACMA exhibit.  Then all of a sudden you are shopping for dresses on Anthropologie and suddenly 2 hours (and $200) are gone.

The key to internet research is only when you have to. I achieve this by temporarily disconnecting the internet from my computer (Mac Freedom is my method of choice), and when I need to look up something, doing so on my phone – which is much harder to type on and therefore much less user friendly.

4.  Free-form writing.

This is a habit I picked up when I was in a deep, dark place.  A place where I wasn't getting any writing of any kind done, period.  And so, I did what we do during these times, and I went to the bookstore, to browse the self-help section and congratulate myself on not needing one of those books (although my personal copy of Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man might disagree with me).  But then I came across a book called The Writing Diet, by Julia Cameron – an author and creative writing teacher.  And while I always have the 7-10 pounds that I want to lose, I never considered writing myself there.

As I still have the 7-10 pounds, the more dietary measures of the book did not stay with me, but one of the activities Cameron advocates is to write three pages, every morning, of whatever.  Not a story, not a diary, just whatever your hand feels like putting down as thoughts run across your brain.

This free-form writing can be monumentally helpful in getting you to do that thing that you've been procrastinating against – writing.  As you put down never-ending sentences that detail in turn how much you wish your partner would make the bed in the morning and not leave dishes everywhere and how you haven't ridden your bike in three weeks and it's likely rusted now and what am I going to do with that one character I cannot get a handle on, and suddenly you shift into ALL CAPS BECAUSE YOU COULD NOT BELIEVE THE WAY THAT GUY CUT YOU OFF ON THE ROAD YESTERDAY, your mind begins to clear of all the other stuff, and begins to focus on the story that you've been nurturing, but not writing.  And you begin to plot, and to pace, and to sketch out a scene – just one, for somewhere in the middle of the story – and ta da!  You're back to writing.

 

So just remember, if you're stuck in a rut and the last thing you want to do is write, then make your procrastination constructive, and soon enough, you'll find yourself doing that think you've been avoiding – writing – and damned glad about it.

Until later, kids – Happy Reading!

* I got the 10,000 hours thing from Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers.  Awesome book that tells you why the Beatles are the Beatles.  Go. Read. Learn.

2nd Book Bundle Contest Winner!

It's time to draw the next winner of my website contest… Let's not keep everyone in suspense!  The winner of the second book bundle – including books by me, Miranda Neville, and Vanessa Kelly (and drawn via Random.org) – is:

REBECCA BOOTH!

Congrats, Rebecca!  I will email you shortly so we can send the books to you.  These are perfect beach reads, by the by.  I highly recommend an umbrella drink and a lazy weekend to complete the outfit. 

If you didn't win, keep hope!  There are two more prize bundles to be given out over the next month!

But what are the contest rules, you ask?  Here's the rundown again, for the newbies:

1.     The contest will run for two months.

2.     A winner will be drawn every two weeks.

3.     The winners get a bundle of books by some of historical romance's most exciting talents (as well as a book by me).

4.     The books that are being given away are listed on the contest page.

5.     If you've entered once, you will be entered for the length of the whole contest.  You do not need to enter again.

6.     One entry per person.

So, if you haven't entered yet, go forth!  The next book bundle is super hot: Compromised, by Yours Truly, Emma Wildes' One Whisper Away, and Monica Burns' Pleasure Me!  (I think I got scorched just typing that.)

Until later, Happy Reading and Happy Contest entering!

Follow My Lead Blog Tour Round Up

In case you missed all the excitement of the past couple weeks, or if you just want to stalk me, drinking in every morsel of Follow My Lead information that falls from my fingertips, here is a list (and links) for every stop of the Follow My Lead Blog Tour! (Seems I can't type that without an exclamation point.) It's been a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did.

The Booksmugglers

Vauxhall Vixens

Girlfriends Blog

Totebags n' Blogs

Babbling about Books and More!

Romantic Times

Copia Romance (note: for this one you have to log in.  But it's free.)

Night Owl Romance

MacLeanSpace

Fresh Fiction

Smexybooks

Borders True Romance

Desert Island Keepers (twice)

Booklovers, Inc.

The Romance Dish

The Season

Romantic Crush Junkies

Rom Con Inc.

Happy Reading everyone!