Patti O'Shea's Blog, page 205

A Little Cam Part 3

I added another page to the Cam and Damon scene I posted last week. I've included the original pages so that if you didn't read it, there's no need to search backward. Also, so that anyone who wants to read it in one fell swoop has it all in one place. I will try to post more next Sunday.

Warning: This is rough first draft and only part of the scene.

This story is copyright 2010 by Patti O'Shea. Please link to the story if you like, but do not copy.
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Cameron Brody leaned back, propping...

I'm Not a Historical Writer

I don't write historical romance. I have no interest in writing historical romance. I don't even read historical romance any longer, not after I realized I read all the contemporary set books (whether they were paranormal or not) and the historicals sat on the TBR month after month. The pile became hugely unwieldy and I had to stop buying them because I wasn't reading them. Ever. I didn't even have a vague desire to pick one up--with the exception of Julie Garwood. I'll still reread her...

My First Starred PW Review

I'm sitting here, stunned and excited. In the Darkest Night was reviewed by Publishers Weekly. Favorably. Not just favorably, it earned a starred review.

For those of you who are unfamiliar, PW only reviews four mass market fiction books a week. There are separate sections for Mystery and for SF/Fantasy, but romance has to compete with all other fiction for those those four slots. Just getting reviewed at all is something big. Getting a great review is even more awesome and only the book...

A Little Cam - Part 2

I added another page to the Cam and Damon scene I posted last week. I've included the original page so that if you didn't read it, there's no need to search backward. Also, so that anyone who wants to read it in one fell swoop has it all in one place. I will try to post more next Sunday.

Warning: This is rough first draft and only part of the scene. When I have more time, I'd like to finish it and polish it for a bonus page on my website. Do y'all think it's worth the work it would take or ...

I Surrender

Yesterday, I surrendered.

I'd been fighting for weeks writing a story I promised to my agent for March 1st. I only needed 50-60 pages of story and a synopsis, but all I did was write and cut, write and cut. I totally love this idea, but I was frustrated and getting nowhere fast.

And then I have this other idea I'd also talked to my agent about, but it isn't the one I wanted to work on first even though I was nearly as excited about it as the proposal I was trying--and failing--to write. But ...

Another Opening

Once upon a time, I used to love starting stories. The beginning used to be my favorite part of writing. That's changed and I'm not sure when it happened or how. My theory is that it's a combination of knowing I need to get the beginning right to support the rest of the story (kind of like the foundation of a house) and the fact that I know how easy it is to mess it up. And maybe a bit of over thinking, too.

I started a new proposal several weeks ago and I'm still struggling through the fi...

A Little Cam

A while back I mentioned that Cam, Ravyn and Damon's son (Ravyn's Flight) had come in and started talking. I've been writing some of it down.

Warning: This is rough first draft and only part of the scene. When I have more time, I'd like to finish it and polish it for a bonus page on my website. Do y'all think it's worth the work it would take or is this boring for you and a waste of my time?

This story is copyright 2010 by Patti O'Shea. Please link to the story if you like, but do not copy.

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Twitter Questions/Thoughts

As I was traveling around the web this weekend, I found a comment on a blog where someone posted that publishers and authors don't have a good Twitter presence because we don't follow everyone back who follows us. That stopped me cold and I've been thinking about it ever since.

I don't follow everyone back and I'll tell you why. Because if I was following 1000+ people, I wouldn't be able to keep up with anyone. Sure, I could put everyone on a list and check in on it from time to time, but I...

Looking Backward

As the corporate showdown between Amazon and Macmillan continues, I wanted to remind everyone that you can still buy my books and preorder In the Darkest Night (March 30, 2010 release) at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books a Million, Powell's, as well as many others. Until the situation is resolved, I'll be adding this to my blog posts, but after today, I promise to put it at the end of the post so you can skip it if you'd like.

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One of the interesting things about writing is looking back...

Setting the Scene

Some of you are probably aware of the Macmillan/Amazon flap that started Friday. Even though I write for Tor, who is under the Macmillan umbrella, I don't plan to blog about this tonight. There are many other people who've said things much better than I have, and frankly, I'm tired of thinking about this. I wasted far too much time this weekend reading about what was going on instead of writing.

Instead, let's talk about something much more fun. Stories and setting. :-)

I confess, as a read...