Emily C.A. Snyder's Blog, page 14

Teatime Ten: Regina Jeffers

Regina Jeffers, the versatile and prolific author , is our guest this week for the Teatime Ten!  Along with writing such notable Austenesque works as Captain Wentworth's Persuasion , The Phantom of Pemberley , and the forthcoming Christmas at Pemberley, she is also the author of the Realm novels - original Regency intrigues!  Readers may also know Regina from her blog , which is host to fascinating glimpses into Regency and Austen history, as well as fun fandom for those who love all sorts of historical literature and cinema!

We were able to snag Regina, a few weeks before her Christmas at Pemberley arrives!
Thank you for joining us for the Teatime Ten!  I'm especiallyglad to be interviewing a fellow teacher!  It's a job that comes home withyou.  How do you balance your time between writing literature and teachingit?  (And how have your students received it?)
I jokingly say that "I do education" very well.Holding multiple degrees and spending 40 years in the public classrooms ofthree different states, teaching has provided me the skills to handle justabout any situation. I know the drama associatedwith putting 1700 hormonal loaded individuals into a confined space for eighthours without any chance of escape other than when a bell sounds, and they are free to respond as completely asPavlov's dogs. Such forcedinteractions bring a new understanding of the human condition, and that is whatmakes for a great story.
When I was still in the classroom, I would sit at mydesk each evening until seven. I would grade papers, curse my decision to teachEnglish composition rather than physical education, handle the logistics ofmanaging three of the largest organizations on campus (each with over 100members), complete lesson plans, address departmental issues, etc. Then I wouldmake my way home where I would write my novels for three to four hours beforefalling in bed to start all over again the next day. Six of my novels came fromsuch discipline, but I admit to having no life. That was also before socialmedia consumed three to four hours of my day in networking and self-promotion,both a major component of the current publishing business. I am not certain Icould manage it all if I had not recently retired.
As for my students, it was their impetus that beganthis madness. They challenged me to write my first book, helped to edit thechapters, and have been some of my biggest supporters. Look at my Facebookpage, and you will find numerous students listed among my "friends." There areeven some one hundred plus from my earliest years as a teacher in Kenova, WestVirginia. To them, I am still "Miss Jeffers."
Well, you can take the teacher out of the classroom, but...!  One of the things I love best about your work is how versed you arenot only in the novels from that time period, but also in the norms.  Whatsubjects, themes and dilemmas of the Regency period do you return to time andagain?  What subjects have you introduced?
The true Regency Period lasted only nine years, from1811 to 1820. Most writers of the period place their stories somewhere between1800 and 1820; however, a few feature everything from the French Revolution tothe Reform. When I am creating a Jane Austen adaptation, my setting is definedby Austen's original story line. In my Regency offerings, I tend to place mycharacters in situations that occur between 1810 and n1815. It is the timeperiod of which I am most familiar.
The Regency is characterized by both elegance andvulgarity. Social norms and interactions were carefully scripted. Society'stone was set by the ever-decadent Prince Regent. George IV was a man ofintelligence and impeccable manners, when the situation so suited him, but hewas also notorious for his appalling extravagances. Society in early the earlynineteenth century had become more egalitarian, and the nouveaux riche had loosened the standards of acceptance. It was atime of great transition. Yet, it was still a time when a pauper with a titlehad more influence than the richest tradesman. Women's lack of choices remainsa consistent theme.
I like to discover unusual facts and incorporate theminto my story lines. The events of Peterloo appear in "His Irish Eve"; theefforts of Lord Cochrane to bring "chemical warfare" to the Napoleonic Wars canbe found in Captain Wentworth'sPersuasion ; the legend of the Shadow Man is a central part of The Phantom of Pemberley ; well dressingceremonies play out in Darcy's Temptation ;and the "rebirth" of St. Cuthbert is in VampireDarcy's Desire . I also like to add what we think of as "modern" issues tothe past: dissociative identity disorder; sexual abuse; OCD; and the infamousgeneration gap.
I love that.  Too often information (and monsterization) is used just as a prop; it's great that you incorporate the ideas thematically.  And your fans also will be glad to know that this month you're releasing Christmas at Pemberley.  What canyou tell us about it?
I setthe story two years into the Darcys' marriage. Elizabeth has been plagued byseveral miscarriages, and she is haunted with the idea that the "shades ofPemberley had been thus polluted" by her inability to give Darcy an heir. Sheis struggling with whether she is worthy of his devotion. Encouraged by herphysician to bring some joy into his wife's life, Darcy has invited the Bennetsand the Bingleys to spend Christmastide at Pemberley. To that effect, to allowtime for his guests' arrival, Darcy has taken Elizabeth with him on a businesstrip Upon their return to Pemberley, the Darcys are, unfortunately, unable tooutmaneuver a blizzard, and Darcy and Elizabeth are stranded at a small inn,along with a young couple, whose name ironically is Joseph and whose firstchild is likely to be born during the night.
[image error] Meanwhile,Georgiana tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding her brother's sixinvited guests (Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Kitty, Mary, Jane, and Bingley) and theeleven unscheduled arrivals, including Mary Bennet's betrothed Mr. Grange (whoMrs. Bennet invited without asking the Darcys), Lady Catherine (who has notbeen at Pemberley since that infamous argument with Elizabeth and whose suddenpresence will only confirm Elizabeth's feeling of inadequacy), Anne De Bourgh(who can no longer be her mother's pawn), Mrs. Jenkinson (who staunchly guardsagainst Anne's heart being broken), Mr. and Mrs. Collins (who Lady Catherineinvited without anyone's knowledge), Caroline Bingley (who decided to spend theholidays with the Bingleys rather than the Hursts), Mr. Winkler (the localminister who, during the storm, escorts the Collinses to Pemberley, but who isreally there to woo Kitty Bennet), Colonel Fitzwilliam (who has returned fromthe American front), his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Southland (whose cousin onceheld the living at Rosings Park and who is "fascinated" with the De Bourghfamily), and an American, Beaufort Manneville (who the colonel has been orderedto escort to London, but of whom he is suspicious).
Witha mix of eclectic characters all residing under one roof, it is not surprisingthat bitter feuds, old jealousies, and intimate secrets quickly rise to thesurface. Has Lady Catherine returned to Pemberley for forgiveness or revenge?Will the manipulative Caroline Bingley find a soul mate? Shall Kitty Bennet andGeorgiana Darcy know happiness? And what does all the disorder have to do withthe Prince Regent? Yes, I even work our favorite indulgent monarch into thestory line. Despite the bedlam, for all involved, a reminder of the love, thefamily spirit, and the generosity, which remain at the heart of Christmas,prevails.
You've dabbled in quite a few subgenres of Regency writing -including paranormal, supernatural, and in The Realm series, political. What do you find the most fun aspect of writing each of these differentvariations?  What do you find the most challenging?
I suppose the most difficult of the books to write wasthe vampiric version of Pride andPrejudice. It was my publisher's idea, and I admit to, at first, not likingthe idea. I could not see Darcy as a predatory vampire. (Spoiler: In Vampire Darcy's Desire, he is a dhampir ;Wickham is the vampire.) Yet, once I had reconciled myself to the concept, Itreated the project as I always do. I began with lots of research. As Dracula did not appear until the late1890s, I needed to fall back on the traditional vampire legends – those steepedin Slavic folklore. Pride and Prejudiceis set in 1811-1812. Therefore, the characters would still hold limitedknowledge of vampires and how they operate.
First, I incorporated the legend of Cernunnos into thestory line. Many experts believe Cernunnos' image is the one upon which theDevil is derived. Cernunnos is known as "the horned one." I added to that themythical powers of the "Holy Island" ( Lindisfarne ), as well as the Baobhan Síth , and mixed in a traditional Scottish ballad, " Lord Thomas and Fair Ellinor ."The combination has been well received. Traditional vampiric tales do not castthe vampire as a deliciously handsome "bad boy." The vampire is truly evil, andI tried to keep that in mind as I wrote the piece. For a woman who had read fewvampire tales since she devoured Anne Rice's stories of Lestat de Lioncourt ,this was a real challenge. For many of my fans, VDD remains their favorite book.
Hey, I'm of the Lestat era myself.  (None of this Twilight stuff for me!)  However, I'm very interested in your Realm series!  What do you get toexplore in those books that you may not in your Austenesque literature? And what's next in the series?
With Austenesque literature, the characters areprescribed by what Austen gave us. If a writer does something out of theordinary with a character, Heaven help him/her. Austen's fans will light up theinternet with their censure. If Darcy has too much angst, is not self-assuredenough, is too "dark" in his treatment of Elizabeth, etc., then the author willknow immediately that it is not always a good idea "to think outside the box."He must treat the characters with a certain reverence. With the Realm, theseven members are my creation. They live in my head. They act as I prescribethem.
Ulysses Press has passed on the sequels to The Scandal of Lady Eleanor , but anotherpublisher has offered for A Touch ofVelvet. As soon as I secure the rights of last refusal (common inpublishing contracts), I hope to have it released. For the time being, I haveself-published A Touch of Velvet(book 2 – Brantley Fowler and Velvet Aldridge's story) and A Touch of Cashémere (book 3 – Marcus Wellston and CashémereAldridge's story). A Touch of Grace(book 4 – Gabriel Crowden and Grace Nelson's story) is planned, but notwritten. A Touch of Mercy (the onefor Aidan Kimbolt) will follow that one.
Can you tell us a little bit about the jump from indie publishing toworking with Ulysses Press?  What have you found beneficial or surprising?
Ulysses has treated me quite well, and I would nevercriticize them. They have offered me a professional relationship, and they haveprovided me the opportunity to develop my writing. My only regret is thatUlysses is not a romance publisher, which means that I must develop new tiesfor my Regency romance line.
When I originally self-published, I enjoyed theexperience. Now, not so much. I despise the constant phone calls to sell mesome ridiculously expensive marketing plan. The last couple of books that Iself-published, I did so because my fans requested copies of ATOV and ATOC. Otherwise, I would not have considered it. Those who chooseprint-on-demand options must know beforehand that for every service thepublisher provides, the author will pay a hefty premium (not always with theresult the author hopes to achieve). Luckily, I can do most of my own editing,etc. Therefore, my expenses are less than some other writers might encounter.With Ulysses, I work with the same copyeditor, and they handle the coverimages, etc. Also, they provide a certain amount of publicity. In the indierealm, this is very much an author's responsibility.
What do you read in your spare time?  Are there any books orauthors, which have particularly inspired you (outside of Austen)?  (Dear readers...do look these up!)
I devour books. I am generally reading 2-3 novels atthe same time. I regularly revisit the classics, as well as old favorites. Forleisure reading (right before I drift off to sleep or sitting under the weepingwillow in my backyard with a relaxing cup of tea), I fear I am a hopelessromantic. Give me a Regency romance, and I am happy.
I would not say there are certain authors or books,which have inspired me (other than the Bible),but there are certain stories that I would stop everything I am doing to rereadthem. I love Ambrose Bierce's short story "A Horseman in the Sky," as well asthe poems "The Highwayman" (Alfred Noyes) and "Pershing at the Front" (ArthurGuiterman). I reread parts of Ellen Emerson White's Echo Company series about the Vietnam War over the weekend. RonaldJoseph has one of those family saga trilogies (The Kingdom, The Power,and The Glory) that is imbued withfond memories of sharing the books with my mother. Sharyn McCrumb writeshaunting tales of Appalachia. Her "Ballad" series is a personal favorite. BettyMahmoody's story of her life in Iran (NotWithout My Daughter) brings chills. I like Mario Puzo and Joseph Wambaugh.As far as the classics go, besides Shakespeare, I prefer Ernest Hemingway andAgatha Christie. As one can see, my tastes are quite eclectic.
Of all the Austenesque characters you've written, who speaks the"loudest" to you, and whom do you dread to write for?  Why doyou think that is?
Although I appreciate Austen's sardonic wit, Istruggle when it comes to writing lines for her more comical characters,especially Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet. I am essentially not a funny person. Ihave not the talent to tell a joke properly. (Truthfully, I rehearse the ones Iwant to repeat to my friends.) I am much better with the "double entendre"found between Darcy and Elizabeth. I love paronomasia, witticisms, and bonmots.
A wormhole opens before you, pulling you into one of yourbooks.  Which book do you enter, and what adventure do you have?
I am certain most people assume I would choose toreplace Elizabeth Bennet and meet Mr. Darcy. However, I prefer him in all hismythical perfection. I would not mind meeting my own "Mr. Darcy" in real life,but despite thoroughly enjoying Lost inAusten, I cannot imagine him with anyone but Elizabeth. For two very different reasons, I would probably enterThe Phantom of Pemberley. First, I wouldenjoy matching wits with the characters in the book to solve the mysteriesplaguing Pemberley, and, secondly, it is the first time Adam Lawrence has amajor role in one of my story lines. Lawrence has appeared in several of mybooks as a "walk through." He is a rake and a womanizer and absolutely "sexy."He is also honest and honorable. I liked him from the first time he entered oneof my stories. In fact, I have written a novella, "His Irish Eve," to sharewith my readers, who also love him, what happens to Adam six years after Phantom.
What's next for Regina Jeffers?
At the moment, I am finishing the last chapters of The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy,which is scheduled for release in February 2012. Based around two Scottishlegends, it is another cozy mystery, very much in the style of The Phantom of Pemberley. I have takenthe characters from Christmas atPemberley and thrust them into a situation none of them would expect – abizarre environment that leaves the reader speechless.
In my personal life, my son Joshua and his wifeStephanie are welcoming their first child in early November. They are having aboy, whom they will name "James." From October through mid December, I shall beout promoting the Christmas book.
Congratulations!  And thank you for joining our Teatime Ten!
Regina Jeffers is the author of many Austenesque novels and the original Realm series.  She hails from outside Charlotte, NC.  You can learn more about her work at her official website.


You can follow Regina on her blogs: Regina Jeffers , Austen Authors , and English History Authors .  You can also find her on Facebook , and Twitter .

You can also buy her books at Amazon , Barnes & Noble , Books-a-Million , and Xlibris .

Tempest: Posters and Doodles

It's been a Tempest-y sort of day, as we near the mid-point of the process.  And I thought I'd share the current poster draft and some of the doodles here!

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The poster should make it apparent that in our version, Prospero is writing the various people who are storm-tossed on his island.  For us, everyone we encounter in the various story-lines are either from Prospero's imagination (Caliban, Ariel, Sprites), or his past (the nobles, the drunks) - so that only he and Miranda are real.


Therefore, those who are born from Prospero's mind will have words written on them.  But as Miranda enters the story of the world, she is "lost" in it - written into the pages - another person lost to Prospero's art.  (You can see more about the original character ideas here .)

I'm not sure yet how the story ends.  We've thought of Ariel and Caliban taking the roles of Miranda and Prospero respectively by the end.  We could just let things be beautiful (but this is turning out to be a very ambiguous play, and while there will be beauty, it will not be comical).

Regardless, I'm honoured to be working on this play.  I must admit that I'd picked it almost at random: my original choice worked better for another year, and others that I would have liked to do had been performed in recent memory.  But Providence is good and I'm discovering that this Tempest is quick becoming one of Those Plays where every rehearsal is breathtaking, powerful, lovely, and intense.  The actors are all very respectful of the show - although I think we need to laugh even a little more, guys! - and I'm humbled and excited by the suggestions, intelligence, and passion with which they're approaching the world we're creating.

One of the things that's been most exciting and new, for me, has been working with a musician who is underscoring the show, creating original leitmotifs (themes) for the various characters or groups of characters.  He adds so much to each rehearsal, creating combined themes at the drop of a hat - or the occasional Jaws parody! - and really helps the action of each scene.  You can hear some of his work on his youtube account.  Hopefully, you'll be able to hear the Prospero theme (which shifts each measure from 5/8 to 6/8 and is ah-mah-zing!) soon!

What's also been incredible are the improvs which the actors have done to create the backstory of the world.  The nobles in particular delved deep - basically improving an entire play which deserves to be written out, involving love, betrayal, politics, madness, murder, redemption, power, obsession, birth, marriage, and the outbreak of some sort of earth-devouring plague.  What's perhaps even more remarkable is that all that we've created can be sustained by the Bard's work.

Caliban, Ariel and the Sprites, too, have made their characters so much more than the one-dimensional ideas that they can sometimes be played as.  The thought - based, I'll admit, on Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Grey - is that every bad or evil or shameful thought, Prospero forced into Caliban, while every higher ideal he framed into Ariel.  However, they both began as a single imagination (Cariel, if you will), and as they fight for freedom - that is, for being independent of Prospero's reign - they eschew some of the words with which they have been labelled.  Many of the drunk scenes, therefore, which aren't terribly funny (I mean, c'mon Bill, you can write better comedy than that!) end up really being scenes of rebellion and power struggle between Caliban and Ariel - and ultimately Prospero.  It's fascinating to watch, and once again, Shakespeare's work is so elastic that the story is not bent, but illuminated.

One of the things that often bothers me about Bill's work, if I may take him from his pedestal, is that often his comedies - save, perhaps Midsummer Night's Dream and A Comedy of Errors - are really fairly weird collections of scenes.  His tragedies, even his histories, are driven very much by plot, but many of his other works start off well and then meander.  Since this is a personal pet peeve of mine, I like to find the thread that ties the works together (as best I can) - and in this case it's the omnipresence of Prospero in each scene - actively striving to maintain grip on his power, actively being worked against as his characters come to life against him.

We haven't yet gotten to the part where everything goes to Hell, and all our heroes are villains, and all our villains are sympathetic, nor have we gotten to Act V when the more courageous act of forgiveness is made, but I'm excited to see what comes out of these wonderful actors and generous crew once we get there!

I hope to see you in Hudson, MA on November 17, 18 or 19th at 7 p.m. to share in our Tempest!

Letters of Love & Deception: Excerpts

Just a few more days left to purchase Letters of Love & Deception on sale for just .99 cents from Girlebooks ! 

Don't have time to read an entire Jane Austen or Austenesque novel?  Never fear!  Letters of Love & Deception draws from all of Austen's completed novels, peeking into the corners of her stories, to delight both the casual and most devoted Janeite! 

You can read an interview about the stories here .  And to whet your whistle, here are a few excerpts:

Pride and Paraliterature
(Pride and Prejudice)
An homage and satire of monster mash-ups, proving that Mr Darcy's worst nemesis is still Miss Bingley!

Darcy brooded.

He brooded as he slunk, swathed in layers of cloak and cravat, through the halls of Pemberley. He brooded as he crept along the portraited walls of his ancestral home, nimbly dodging those few stairs that creaked, and Mrs Reynolds who was likewise arthritic. Past Georgiana's pianoforte, he brooded; past the writing desk, littered with failed attempts at poetry, he brooded; past the tall window where a swamp monster lurked – (and catching a glimpse of Darcy's smart coat, felt woefully underdressed, and slunk off into the night), – Mr Darcy brooded.

And returned to the window. Where the swamp monster wasn't.

And so he returned to brooding.

None But You
(Persuasion)
Aboard the Laconia, Captain Wentworth writes the first version of The Letter.

'Dearest Anne,' he had written—but no more. 'Dearest Anne,' as though the conjoining of those two words encompassed all his heart. He had not got beyond them—no sooner had they been written than his hand had trembled, and he rose to pace anxiously about his cell. 'Dearest Anne'—too intimate too soon, not expressive by half. Had he dared to write more than those two words he should have named her 'sweetest Anne,' 'loveliest Anne,' 'beloved Anne,' 'my Anne...'

Letters of Love & Deception
(Northanger Abbey)
Isabella Thorpe, alone and friendless, concocts a most literary scheme.

Isabella Thorpe should have been a thing of beauty, silhouetted as she was within the narrow room—but there was something sinister about her lip: a sense that it had been too much abused with kisses, a shadow of ill-news in the corner of her smirk. No Gothic heroine torn between two lovers, or happily fainting into some villainous arms, or happy at the last in the conclusion of her novel, smiled such as she. But then, no one who had ever seen Isabella Thorpe would have supposed her to be an heroine.

Miss Bates' Something Blue
(Emma)
On the eve of Jane Fairfax's wedding, Miss Bates remembers her own lost love.  This entire story is available in excerpt here or you can hear an audio version (see below)!   

 

Publishing 101: Dealing With Rejection

"Life is pain, highness.  Anyone who says differently is selling something."

 ~ Wesley (as the Dread Pirate Roberts/The Man in Black) in The Princess Bride

As was mentioned in my previous post , if you're planning to be a published author, you'd better brace yourself for a lot of rejection.  Whether you're rejected initially by a publisher separate from yourself, or whether you're rejected by a reviewer after your publication, the reality is that you're putting your work out there for others to critique...and not everyone agrees with you.

Now, the hope is that somewhere, somebody - hopefully many somebodies - will like your work.  As Terry Pratchett put it in his Maskerade , (a brilliant send-up of The Phantom of the Opera ), every publisher dreams of making so much money that he has to hire two extra men to hold his trousers up - and I wager that secretly every author has a similar, J.K. Rowling-esque dream.

But it's worth noting that even Mrs. Harry Potter herself was passed over by seven publishers at first.  In fact, I remember several years ago speaking with a publisher who had been one of those who'd given the Boy Who Lived a pass - not because the book wasn't good, but because it didn't fit within their imprint.  This editor explained that she knew the book was something special...and also knew there was an editor out there for this Wizard, she just wasn't the Muggle for the job.

Those who are pioneering indie publishing might now wave a flag above their camp.  But even here we can look at Ms. Rowling's published work...and the fervent debates and detractors ( myself, I must admit, at first cautiously among them ) which her Harry Potter novels have garnered.

Simply put, an artist's life is not one of whimsy so much as it is of endurance.

So the question becomes...how does one endure?

Dealing with Rejection Letters
Let's start first with rejection letters from publishers.  Say you've decided to submit something to a publisher: a short story, a poem, a script, a novel - whatever it may be.  Congratulate yourself!  Just making that decision is huge!  Now the next - and rather more important step - is to send it off.

A few business details:
Research your market. While you can send out your work to whomever you like, you'll increase your odds if you do your research first and find out either if: 1) the editor/agent seems to like your niche anyway or 2) the editor/agent may be trying to fill that niche as part of their business plan.  For example, with Girlebooks.com the publisher's niche was classic literature and her business plan included finding new books by women for women.  Hence Nachtsturm Castle and Letters of Love & Deception were a good fit between the imprint and my Austenesque work.  Similarly, when I was pitching Niamh and the Hermit to Arx Publishing, LLC one of the things I mentioned to them was that a novel like Niamh would help them bring in a female demographic.  (And it has done quite well among middle and high school girls, for those looking for that perfect Christmas present!)Keep track of what story you've sent to whom.  I like to keep an Excel spreadsheet with a list of what work I've sent to which publisher (or contest or workshop or whatever), as well as the date and any other pertinent information.  You don't want to send duplicates!Send out early and often.  And then forget about it.  The more work you have out there, the less you'll pin your hopes and dreams on one piece being picked up.  Just like anything else, it's a numbers game.  The more you send out, the more likely you'll see returns.Keep a file of your rejection letters.  Sometimes there's really good feedback in them.  And sometimes, they're good to laugh at.This last point is one that I want to expand.  Sometimes, you can get so hyped-up in your brain about being rejected, that you concoct these wild ideas about how the person "judging" your work is going to let you down.  You start writing out terrible, horrible, nasty, pointed and personal rejections in your head.  (Hey, you are creative, after all!)  But let me debunk any of these nightmarish scenarios:

There are basically three types of rejection letters. 

1) Form letters.  These are the most common.  At first, they'll seem the most hurtful, because even though you don't want to be rejected at all, you at least want to be rejected as a person and not as a number.  However, these are about as terrible as Shakespeare's " paper bullets of the brain ."  Here's the truth.  Form letters are great.  They're the impassionate equivalent of putting a checkmark on your Excel spreadsheet that just says: "Not this market.  Try again."  Sometimes form letters will have little more than "Thank you for your submission.  Unfortunately we cannot use your piece at this time.  Please try again.  Sincerely, etc."  My story The Golden Men was recently rejected from Daily Science Fiction .  This was the rejection (fairly standard, with a little more explanation): 

Thank you for submitting your story, "The Golden Men", to Daily Science Fiction. Unfortunately, we have decided not to publish it. To date, we have reviewed many strong stories that we did not take. Either the fit was wrong or we'd just taken tales with a similar theme or any of a half dozen other reasons.  

Best success selling this story elsewhere.

 See!  That wasn't so bad, was it?  They didn't yell at us and call us names or vilify our work with every synonym for "drivel" in the thesaurus, in fact they used the adjective "strong."  Although we have a tendency to zero in on the worst part of it, the truth is much more practical and revivifying.  So, nope.  Not this time.  Try again.  And don't give up on the one you sent.  (In point of fact, I think the piece I sent really wants to be a novel...so they're perfectly justified not purchasing it in its present state.)

You can view what there is of the story... here !  Or click on the fly-out arrow in the top right below!

 
2) Positive, personalized letters. These are when there's a little bit more specifically added to the basic form.  My favorite rejection of this sort is from about fifteen years ago when one of my short stories which was making the rounds of (then) print magazine submissions, was returned with a longish hand-written note that said that while they liked the story, it was really more sword and sorcery and therefore better suited to something like Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine .  I laugh at this, because I'd sent the story first to MZB, who'd already rejected it - although they'd sent it back with editorial marks on it, which was very encouraging.  But this rejection letter encouraged me to keep trying MZB's market...and eventually I did write something worth putting into print.
That doesn't mean that every positive note doesn't still cause some pain.  Author beware: Do not open e-mail rejections while stuck in traffic in your car on the way home from work.  I did this recently on a day that I knew the final decision for the Thornton Wilder Playlet Competition was being sent out.  I must admit that I was very hopeful for this particular submission, a short verse play based on Childe Rowland , called To the Dark Tower Came.  I'd written it after much struggle with whether I'd even submit anything, and then trying to make a piece work that just wasn't working, and then giving up, and then deciding to start new, and then writing something overnight on the day that it was due, and then just sending it of at eight in the morning.  But I was pretty sure there was something there and every day I didn't hear anything, I grew more hopeful. 
But then September 31st arrived, Route 9 in Framingham was backed up, I (foolishly) snuck out my phone and checked my mail, saw the notice, and started crying.  Oh, not hugely, but just enough to mourn the fact that my little play would have to wait for some other time to see the light of day.  In some ways, it was a relief - since upon rereading I wanted to add a scene and rework the meter of the Molieresque section -  but the simple fact is that when you're really invested in one of your works, even really, really encouraging rejections will give you a slight pain.  Here's what they wrote:

Thank you again for submitting to our Thornton Wilder Playwriting Contest. While "To The Dark Tower Came" was unfortunately not chosen as this year's contest winner, we wanted to let you know that you were one of three playwrights who made it to the final round of evaluations. The judges admired the play's ambition and thoughtful, provocative symbolism. As always, it was a pleasure to consider your work.

While we were only able to select one winner this year, the diverse array of exciting, inventive scripts we received from our brilliant playwrights has encouraged us to consider offering another such contest in the future. Thank you so much for participating in this one. I look forward to another opportunity to work together soon.

By the by, for all you aspiring playwrights out there, I highly suggest taking a look at Thornton Wilder's playlets for inspiration.  They're very different from Our Town or The Matchmaker!  If Playscripts.com does run a similar contest next year, you'll be in a good place already!

Just for kicks and giggles, here's the first three scenes of To the Dark Tower Came.


And finally, what we all fear...

3) Mean, personal letters.  These are wicked rare.  In fact, I can only remember receiving one - also about fifteen years ago - and from a poetry magazine.  I'd sent in a handful of my stuff and they returned it to me with no form letter, no handwritten letter, just a post-it note - a teensy-TINSEY post-it note slapped onto the first of my poems.  Scribbled on it was the message:

Your poems are not of high enough quality for our magazine.

 To which I replied aloud, "Your rejection letter is not of high enough quality for my file!"  Truly, I think it was one of my absolute favorite rejections ever.  And no, I don't even remember which magazine it was or what poems I sent.  So nyah.

Dealing with Negative Reviews
We all want positive reviews.  But we can't control everyone's reaction to our work.  What we can get excited about is that:
Our work is published! Someone bothered to read what we wrote!Someone felt passionate enough to bother to write a review at all! There's that old adage that there's no such thing as bad publicity.  We can kind of put that same mentality towards reviews.  I touched upon this in another post about a critique I recently received of Charming the Moon .  It's tough to get anything less than a five-star review.  But what becomes important once you're dealing with critiques is to be able to:

1) Ascertain whether you can handle the truth.  If you find yourself very sensitive to every passing remark about your work...get someone else to sift through your reviews.  Or just thumb your nose to feedback altogether in a bid for sanity.  Write the next thing and write it well.  If you can read reviews...

2) Learn how to read between the lines.  Positive critiques are gold.  They encourage you on, reflect back to you what you did well, what appealed to your audience, and what you can capitalize on in the future.  With Nachtsturm , by and large, I've been fortunate to receive some pretty durn positive reviews.  For my Twelve Kingdoms Novels, I've received some glowing feedback and some not-so-glowing feedback.  But what I have to sift through is:

What sort of book did the reader think they were getting?  Was their disappointment with the work a matter of their expectations or of my performance?Are their complaints a valid critique or merely an opinion?  If someone doesn't like your idea of Darcy, who cares?  They can go find someone else's version of Jane Austen's brooding hero or, gasp, reread the original!  However, if they couldn't follow the plot that may be something to look at in the future.Are they a bitter troll?  It does happen.  You can disregard these out of hand.Is there no information given?  Just a star rating?  These I personally find the most infuriating: take a moment to tell me why, please!3) Remember that reviewers are people, too.  I am still ashamed of the reviews I gave to Paula Volsky's novels which she wrote subsequent to that masterpiece, Illusion . (If you like fantasy and Les Miserables and Tolstoy and a touch of steampunk...THIS IS YOUR BOOK.)  Because I felt self-important as a young reviewer, and since I was so young and wasn't old enough to appreciate her later novels, I wrote poor reviews of them.  That is, I wrote reviews which reflected the world as I saw it then, which is not the world as I see it now.  You don't know if your reviewer had a rotten day when they read your novel.

Let it slide off of you.

They bought your book.

You paid your bills.

Let all else rest.

Most of all, keep striving!  Learn from the feedback you receive.  Have a good cry, eat some chocolate, and begin again.  And don't let fear of some momentary pain stop you from even greater joys.  Because pretty soon you'll be racking in acceptances, and joining me at Outback for some celebratory margaritas, mate!

So what are you working on?  What are you sending out?  What's the worst critique you've ever gotten?  The best?  And how do you like your liquor?

Sound off in the comments below - and if you've read one of my humble offerings, I'd love to know what you think via Amazon , Goodreads or your own blog!  Just let me brace myself first.

Math for Actors: Now in Ohio!

Hooray!  Hooray!  Math for Actors will be playing at Wayne High School, in Huber Heights, OH on December 10, 2011!  Anyone in the Ohio area?

If you haven't read Math for Actors yet, you can read an excerpt or see the workshop production on youtube !

And if you're looking for the perfect short comedy featuring one guy, one girl, two chairs, a desk, and the angle of inclination... apply for performance rights today!  Or check out my other shows available now from Playscripts !

Letters of Love & Deception: Audio Excerpt

In honour of Girlebooks.com selling Letters of Love & Deception for this week only , for 99 cents - you can also hear an excerpt from the collected Austenesque stories below!

Miss Bates' Something Blue

Teatime Ten: Indie Jane

The ladies of IndieJane.org are fast becoming a go-to site for writing inspiration and community for Austenesque authors.  But who are the women behind the pink silhouettes?  None other than Nancy Kelley and Jessica Melendez - who not only run their own separate blogs, find time to write and edit...and join us for the Teatime Ten.
Hello ladies, and welcome to the Teatime Ten! It's a thrill to have you here today!  I love your site,  IndieJane.org -tell me a little about how the two of you met, and the conversations that ledyou to creating this site.  (And who did your logo?)
Jessica: Emily, thanks so much for having us onTeatime Ten!  We are excited to be sharing with your readers about IndieJane.org ! Nancy and I actually met on Twitter, more than a year ago.  Wefollowed each other on Twitter because we followed similar Austen-relatedtweeters and hashtags.  We struck up a friendship over our similarinterests, which seem to be legion!  We actually use the hashtag #separatedatbirth because we tend to think the same things at the same time! 
I had the basic idea for Indie Jane.  I wanted aplace that would be a community and support for independent Austen authors andfor the fans who read their works.  I felt like this was something thatwas being missed in the Austen community even though there are so many greatsmall press and self-published Austenesque works out there!  I sent Nancyan extremely long and rambling email about the idea, and she came back with somany brilliant ideas that it was mind-boggling.  We partnered up andstarted Indie Jane . . . some of those brilliant ideas have already beenincorporated into our community and some are still to come!
Our logo is awesome isn't it?  I mean it's reallyflipping fantastic! It was created by my genius artist friend VictoriaAusten-Young (and yes, she IS a related!)  I told her I wanted regencyCharlie's Angels, sent her pictures of some regency dresses and WOW!  Ifyou are interested in getting a logo or book cover art done by Tori shoot heran email at figmentoria@gmail.com
How did you come to read Jane Austen's works? What novel of hers do you return to time and again?
Jessica: I read Pride and Prejudice when I was really,really young.  I am not even sure quite how young I was.  I do know Iwas eleven when I read Wuthering Heights and I'd read P&P before that, somaybe ten?  I was homeschooled and my parents had a very lenient policy onthe classics . . . they were just there on shelves and if I said I was bored Iwas sent to go find something to read!  We also had pretty free access toour local public library.  I'd read all of Austen before high school, andof course managed to do at least three college papers on her novels.  Mytwo favorites are definitely P&P and Persuasion, although I have a specialplace in my heart for Northanger Abbey as well.  I will admit that I havea horribly hard time getting behind Sense and Sensibility, which is why I gotto do the "bad cop" questions for the Indie Jane S&S book club onour discussion boards!  (We are doing Northanger Abbey next, you shouldjoin us!)  [I'll certainly try!  It's no secret I love Northanger Abbey ! - ed.]
Nancy: I read Pride and Prejudice when I was14 - a freshman in high school. When I was done, the school librarianrecommended Sense and Sensibility... That did not go over well. (For the fullstory, check out my post on Indie Jane.) However, when I decidedto write Jane Austen sequels a few years ago, I knew that meant reading all ofher works. Powell's happened to have a pretty copy of Northanger Abbey on sale,so I picked that up and loved it. From there, I read through the rest of herworks, and I should finish Mansfield Park sometime this winter.
Right now, I eat-breathe-sleep Pride and Prejudice. Myfirst two novels are both related to that book - His Good Opinion is Darcy'sstory, and my current untitled WIP is about Colonel Fitzwilliam. Much as I lovethe book (and I do!), I will be glad to move on to other Austen works when I'mdone with Col. F. Frank Churchill keeps buzzing in my ear, so I think Emma ismy next obsession.
You both are hard at work at releasing forthcomingAustenesque novels!  Tell us a little about them!
Jessica: First of all, I have read Nancy's book and itis ah-mah-zing!  You must get it in November when it comes out!  Mybook is in the much earlier stages, it is entitled Attempting Elizabeth and itis actually based on a short I wrote for the Jane Austen Made Me Do It shortstory contest.  It follows a grad student, Sophie Edmundson, who is tiredof looking for a real-life Mr. Darcy and discovers, purely by accident, thatshe can "jump" into characters in Pride and Prejudice.  However,she seems to have a problem getting "into" the one character she'dreally love to be - Elizabeth Bennet.  It's a lot of fun to work on, and Ihope a lot of fun to read!
Nancy: Isn't Jessica a great promoter? If youread Attempting Elizabeth when it was one of the entries in the Jane AustenMade Me Do It contest, you know it's an awesome story just dying to be expandedon.  As I said, His Good Opinion is Darcy's story. Why was he so reluctantto think well of others, and how did Elizabeth so unwittingly capture his goodopinion? What made her stand out from the crowd of women who would have covetedhis wealth and position? And then, when he realized how badly he'd misjudgedthe situation, how did he learn to please a woman worthy of being pleased?
I loved writing this book. I became particularlyattached to the version of Darcy I heard whispering hints in my ear... I'llmiss the Darcy In My Head when His Good Opinion is finished.
Why do you feel that Austen authors thrive so wellin the world of independent publishing?  Are we really that tech savvy, oris traditional publishing that archaic?
Jessica:  I think there are two reasons.  Firstly,I think the Austen community is chock full of great writers.  This couldbe because we are reading and emulating such a brilliant writer! Secondly, I think that the Austen community is more open to indie writersbecause so many authors come out of the fan fiction community, so there is moreof a willingness by readers to embrace self-publishing.
Nancy: I think Jessica nailed it on the head. Anaudience that is already accustomed to reading works that are essentiallyself-published - because that's what fanfiction is - has very little qualms aboutbuying from an indie author. If most of the well-respected traditionallypublished Austen authors came from a fanfiction background, then why wouldn'tthe self-published works by other authors be equally good?
In addition to writing fiction...you write aboutwriting!  Where do you like to write?  What do you find is thebiggest distraction from writing?  What is essential foryour routine and why?
Jessica: Writing about writing is funny for me,because I feel like I'm dispensing advice.  I am such a huge believer ineveryone's process being different and "whatever works for you works foryou," so I often don't listen to writing advice, and here I am now givingit!  I try to keep my loosey-goosey philosophy as front and center as Ican though!  
As for my process: I usually leave the house to write,either going to a coffee shop or my husband's office.  I have a two yearold and a three year old and their names are Distraction One and DistractionTwo.  I am pretty significantly ADD, so the two things that are essentialto my routine are 1) caffeine (actually essential to daily life as well), andb) headphones with music.  My music has to have lyrics, because the wordsfilter through my brain just enough to divert whatever section of my hyperlittle mind needs to be occupied so the rest of me can focus. 
Nancy: By contrast, I love to write about writing...usually. I can basically pull a writing post out of my hat, whereas anAusten or publishing post requires a bit more thought. Writing about writing isjust saying, "Hey, here's something that happened to me this week, andhere's how it applies to writing." Easy!
I generally write at home, either on my couch if I'mediting or at my desk if I'm writing new material.  However, I have astrong partiality for a certain coffee shop a few miles from my house... Oh,their oatmeal scones... Sorry, you asked about distractions? Right. Theinternet and all the wonderful people who live there is my biggest distraction.On Twitter, I use the hashtag #coneofsilence to indicate my attempt at ignoringyou all and focusing on my work. Sometimes that doesn't work andI actually have to pull the plug for a time. And essential... I don'tknow. I can write with or without music, with or without a beverage, with orwithout my cat draped over my legs... I'm pretty flexible. 
Recently, you've launched the Jane Austen penpalexchange!  How did that come about?  How is it going?
Jessica: The Dear Jane Pen Pal Project is an excitingnew part of the Indie Jane community.  It came about through aconversation on Twitter with Patricia Marquez or @PattyMarq .  She waslamenting the fact that people don't write handwritten letters anymore, andwouldn't it be cool if Austenites could exchange letters, so I immediatelysuggested we utilize Indie Jane to put it together.  Right now we haveover forty participants from nine different countries exchanging letters! The first installment of Dear Jane asked for a six month commitment. At the end of the six months we will run sign-ups again, so if you missedout the first time look for a new opportunity early next year!
Jess, I love that you're also a fantasy/fairy taleauthor.  What correlation do you find between writing Regency and writingFantasy?
Thanks Emily!  And I love talking fairy taleswith you on Twitter!  My first self-published novel, Awake: A SleepingBeauty Story, is due out in February.  You can actually read the synopsisand first chapter of it on my blog . In a way, fantasy is easier to write than Regency.  There is magicafter all, so you make your own rules.  The hard part of fantasy iscreating a world or a system that is cohesive and true to itself.  InRegencies, all of those rules are already set for you; you just have to learnthem!  Of course that is the difficult part - lots of research! However, I do see similarities between the two because to modernaudiences Regencies are a fantasy.  I am not sure if I'd be more shockedif I walked into the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale as does Alex Martin, my maincharacter in Awake, or if I walked into a Regency England.  Both are sofar removed from the actual life experience of readers, and that is why bothgenres make for great escapist fiction.  
Nancy, I can't thank you enough again for yourhosting the  Dueling Fitzwilliams on Indie Jane! Anything else you'd care to spill about your Fitzwilliam (or for that matteryour Frank Churchill)?
You're welcome, Emily! Those #Austenesque twitterchats were certainly serendipitous, weren't they? Since my Colonel Fitzwilliamstory is still in its infancy, I think I probably covered almosteverything I know about him in the survey. Frank Churchill however... nowthere's a juicy subject! It's a story no one has really told, which draws mein, and like Darcy and Fitzwilliam, he's been talking to me lately. He feels alittle misunderstood, and he wants everyone to know that he was simply so sweptaway by his deep affection for Jane that he impetuously made some decisionsthat, in the cold light of day, might not have been the most... well... youunderstand.
How do the two of you work together as a bloggingteam?  As a writing/editing team?  What advice would you have forthose who are interested in teaming up?
Jessica: Well, like I've said in previous posts onIndie Jane, Nancy is a definite planner, and I am kind of aby-the-seat-of-my-pantser.  Luckily, I'm good enough at planning, andshe's good enough at being flexible, that we get on well together.  One ofthe first things that we did was decide what kind of posts we were going tofocus on, and then we split them up equally and created a shared calendar so weboth know where we are at.  The nice thing is we can email each other(usually with the header "brilliant idea") and suggest or changethings.  
I think the two most important things to look for ifyou are teaming up with someone is 1) you have to like the person and 2) youhave to share a vision.  If you are looking for different things it's notgoing to work out, but if you can come to a unified, cohesive understanding ofwhat you want to do with your blog/site/book/project, then you will be workingtoward the same goal.  And it is so much easier to work toward the samegoal than at cross-purposes with each other!
Nancy: Jessica did a great job talking about the IndieJane process, so I'll tackle writing/editing. If you're looking for a critiquepartner, your goal should be to find someone who reads the genre you'rewriting. You want them to get as excited about your story as you are, and ifit's not something they normally read, that'll be hard to accomplish. Then, onceyou've found a group of potential victims, find one you trust. With critiquing,this means someone who has good ideas for stories, or who has an excellent eyefor grammar. This person is going to be telling you some home truths about yourbook, and if you don't trust them going into the relationship, you'll find itmuch too easy to simply shrug those comments off. Finally, it doesn't hurt iftheir strengths complement yours. I am (frankly) terrible at physicaldescription. Or maybe I should say terribly lax, because when I set my mind toit, I can do it. Jessica is fantastic at pointing out places that could be describedin greater detail. After I moan and groan, I do the work... andyou know what? She's always right.
Jessica: I would like the fact that Nancy has stated Iam always right properly noted and recorded for posterity. Thank you that isall.
What's next for both of you ladies?
Jessica: Right now I am in edits for my novel Awake: ASleeping Beauty Story, and I am currently working on its sequel which is asimilar retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  I am also hard at work onAttempting Elizabeth and hope to have it out next summer.  
As for Indie Jane, we have several more excitingcommunity events and blog posts forthcoming.  October is Northanger Abbeymonth!  We will be reading it in the book club and having a two-weekNorthanger Abbey event featuring amazing guest posters like yourself!  InNovember we are having fun with Pride and Prejudice, including watching theA&E version together as we live chat in our chat room on two differentSunday nights.  We will also be celebrating Nancy's book launch . . .basically I am calling the whole month #hotdarcy month.  It's not to bemissed!
Nancy: His Good Opinion will be available for salesometime in mid-November. For this to happen, I'm working like a mad womanright now, finalizing edits, sending the book off to a professional, workingwith a cover designer... Okay, I have to quit talking about it.I will also be writing my Colonel Fitzwilliam story in November forNational Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo . NaNo is a fun, by the seat of yourpants approach to noveling. The goal is to write a 50,000 word draft in 30days. This will be my 9th NaNoWriMo, and my 6th win.
After all that, I'm taking the month of December todecompress. I'll be in marketing mode for His Good Opinion (Hah! Almost typed #hotdarcy - Jessicahas rubbed off on me), but beyond that, I plan to take it easy. No majorprojects, editing or writing. However, I say this now knowing thatI am a workaholic and will probably find something to keep me busy. Forinstance, I've got this series with Robin Hood and pirates that I'm anxious toget back to...
Thank you for everything!
Thank you so much for having us Emily, we are thrilledthat you're involved with Indie Jane and the independent Austen community!
Thank you!  I couldn't have asked for kinder hosts to introduce me to the Twittering world of Austen!  (Which is to say, if you tweet, look these ladies up!)
Nancy Kelley hails from Vancouver, Washington and is the author of the forthcoming His Good Opinion.  You can follow Nancy on Twitter and at Austen Aspirations.
Jessica Melendez has recently moved from the Los Angeles area to Helena, Montana, and is currently working on Awake and Attempting Elizabeth.  You can follow Jess on Twitter and at Narniamum . 

To learn more about IndieJane.org you can also follow them on Twitter or like them on Facebook.

Teatime Ten: Jennifer Becton

Jennifer Becton (aka JW Becton) has made quite a splash recently in the independent publishing world.  Her newest thriller, Absolute Liability , the first in the Southern Fraud series, is holding steady in the top 100 at Amazon.com !   While at the same time, Jennifer is treating the Austenesque world to the continuances of the lives of Jane Austen's characters from Pride and Prejudice: with Charlotte Collins , and the forthcoming Caroline Bingley (as well as a short story about Maria Lucas !).  Jennifer is also the owner and founder of Whiteley Press , an an avid supporter of independent publishing (you can check out her many guest blogs from here ).
Fortunately, Jennifer is a generous woman, and took some time to sit down with us for the Teatime Ten. Helloand welcome to the Teatime Ten!  And congratulations taking the leap intobeing a full-time author - and your success in doing so!  Tell us a littlebit about what brought you to this exciting (and nail-biting) decision? How are things going so far?
Thank you for inviting me to the Teatime Ten! This is fun! And so arethe changes taking place in my life right now. For more than thirteen years,I've worked as a freelance editor, and I've had one long-term contract, alongwith numerous other short-term projects. I've always loved my job, but I justdon't have time to edit and also write books at the pace I'd like.
Right now, I'm still transitioning from my former role, so nothing muchhas changed, but I'm looking forward to finding a bit more balance in my life.

You first burst on the scene with your Austenesque retellings CharlotteCollins, "Maria Lucas"(yay!) and the forthcoming Caroline Bingley.  What draws you tothese women?  What theme carries them together?
Jane Austen's minor characters are fantastic. There's just no other wayto put it. I was drawn to Charlotte and Caroline because they are examples ofwomen who succumbed to unpleasant Regency social norms in ways that ElizabethBennet refused to do. Elizabeth certainly understood the pressures to marry,and she neither wanted to become a burden on her family, as Charlotte feared,or to hide her family's low connections by social climbing, as Caroline Bingleysought to do. Charlotte married Mr. Collins because she felt she had no otheroption for a secure future, and Caroline aspired to Mr. Darcy because, thoughshe was wealthy, she was also the product of trade and was desperate to shedherself of its association. I wanted to give both Charlotte and Caroline thechance to make a different decision.

3) It's no secret that although you've written continuations of Pride andPrejudice, the Austen novel you love best is Persuasion!  Ifyou were to begin a Persuasion-based novel tomorrow, what do you thinkit might revolve around?
To be honest, I don't think I would write Persuasion-based novel. The minor characters in Pride and Prejudice came alive for me,and I wondered what might happen next, as if their stories weren't quitecomplete yet. Persuasion seems to meto be a more finished novel. After all, the plot brought finality to Anne andFrederick's love story, so it was almost as if Persuasion was the sequel to a novel that Austen never wrote. (Although, I'd argue, there's a novel in there - a prequel perhaps?  Any takers? - ed.)

When writing continuations of Austen's work, what mannerisms of hers do youstrive to retain?  What -isms of your own do you find creep through?
I really don't try to replicate Austen—it's impossible—so there's a lotof me in my continuations. I do not retain her spelling, punctuation, orcapitalization preferences; I write in modern English according to modern styleguides. In fact, I rarely ever quote Austen in my sequels. I do, however, tryto provide a Jane Austen experience by doing my best to be true to her ironic,witty tone and her humor and to focus on the themes she found important: money,marriage, and friendship. I also try to respect the characters she createdwhile also allowing them to grow as a result of the action in Pride and Prejudice.
 You recently launched a new, original mystery series, Absolute Liabilitywhich has taken off like gangbusters!  (Insert virtual parade here.) Tell us a little bit about the inspiration for the novel and what we can expectto see in the remainder of the series.
I am thrilled and thankful that readers seem to enjoy AbsoluteLiability . I've always wanted to write a murder mystery (and a spynovel, but that's another story), but I wanted to feature a different type oflaw enforcement officer as a main character. (As you know, I like to go aboutthings a bit sideways.) And I wanted to write it in a way that mimickedepisodic TV series, which originally fostered my love of mysteries andthrillers. So, I chose to focus on Julia Jackson, an insurance fraudinvestigator for the state of Georgia, and to give her a long-term personalmystery to solve. Each novel will feature at least one strange case ofinsurance fraud that Julia and her partner Mark Vincent must investigate—andinsurance fraud cases are some of the wackiest out there—and will also bringher one step closer to bringing her sister's rapist to justice.

It can be quite a leap from writing the straight-forward plots of historicalromances to the convolutions, concealments and reveals of a mystery. Where did you find the two genres overlapped thematically orstructurally?  What challenges did each genre present in the writingprocess?  What challenges and rewards did genre-hopping present yourapproach to marketing (e.g., your well-named pseudo-pseudonym!).
As my friend and writing mentor lately told me, all good books haveelements of many genres in them. My Austen-inspired historical romances have abit of mystery, and my thriller series has a bit of romance. The only differenceis the concentration. And the setting.
When I first began my mystery, I believed it was about tricking theaudience, and I worked myself into a frenzy trying to be clever. But then Irealized that's not true. Yes, misdirection exists, but my primary goal inwriting a mystery is not trickery, but allowing the audience to watch as mycharacter solves the crime in a logical fashion. Everyone should reach the samesolution at the same time; otherwise, I haven't been fair to my readers.
For my thrillers, I chose to use a pseudo-pseudonym (J. W. Becton)because they are so vastly different from my historical fiction. I did not wantmy readers to buy a thriller expecting a ton of romance, and conversely, Ididn't want anyone to buy an Austen sequel and expect gunplay. But I also didnot want to hide my identity or lose the audience I had built as JenniferBecton, Austen sequeler. A search of either name should yield a list of bothgenres of books.
I view genre hopping as a benefit to a writer. People don't read in justone genre, so it makes sense that writers can also write in more than one. Asfar as marketing, the theory is that you can build two separate audiences, butalso invite them to cross over to your other books. I hope some will find me asJ. W. Becton and then try an Austen sequel, and maybe some Austen fans willgive my thriller a try.
I have to confess that a few years ago, I was among those who didn't takee-publishing seriously.  Yet, recently there's been a seismic shift fromlooking at indie published books with a skeptical eye to a greater sense ofentrepreneurial and pioneer spirit.  What do you think are the drivingforces behind this brave new book world?  What hurdles still need to beovercome?  What would you say to those who are still doubtful?
A few years ago, I didn't take self-publishing seriously either! Untilrecently, there just wasn't a viable way to distribute effectively, but the ebookrevolution has made it possible. And I am loving it! I see one main hurdle,which is the root of the doubt that still exists about this shift in theindustry, and that is recognizing that self-publishing is actually a writer'sdecision to take on all the tasks apublisher would normally perform: editing, proofing, interior design, cover design,and marketing. These tasks should be undertaken with the same care andprofessionalism of the largest publisher out there. It's not just aboutself-uploading; it's self-publishing.Putting out professional products will go a long way to assuaging the skeptics.
 Among your many hats, you also run the publishing company, WhiteleyPress.  What is the history behind Whiteley Press?  What do you haveplanned for it in the next few years?  And how do you juggle being bothwriter, editor, publisher and promoter?
I created Whiteley Press to show my potential readers that they shouldexpect my books to be professionally done. I wanted to send the clear messagethat I view publishing as a business—my primary business—and not a hobby orside venture. Whiteley Press books are edited to the same standards and usingthe same process as most traditionally published works.
At the moment, Whiteley Press has published only my books, and I amplanning on expanding slowly. My first expansion project is a nonfiction bookabout overcoming horseback riding fear that I had the honor of cowriting withLaura Daley, an expert horse and people trainer. After that, I've thought aboutanthologies, but I am considering various other avenues as they appear in thisnew book world.

Many of our readers are up-and-coming authors.  If you could give themsix tips to publishing and promoting, what would they be?
1. Never give up. Work untilyou get lucky.2. Write what you love. I'vealways taken the advice to write what you know too literally, so I say writewhat you love and learn what you don't know. If I wrote literally only what Iknew, I'd be limited, and having never killed anyone, I certainly wouldn't bewriting murder mysteries. Thrillers and mysteries are really about the conflictbetween good and evil, and I know about that. We all do. 3. Hire a proofreader. There's little you can control about how a book will be received. You can't make people like it, but you can make sure it is as free of grammar errors as possible.4. Hire a cover artist.People judge books by their covers. Just sayin'.5. Make friends on socialmedia sites like Twitter and Facebook. Don't look at social media outlets asplaces to sell, sell, sell. People don't ever want to get the hard sell from anauthor, but they do want to know you are a real person and not some kind ofliterary cyborg.6. Be professional. In allyour interactions and choices, remember that you are in the public eye. Whatyou do and say, even on the internet, will either help or hurt you. So act likethe professional that you are.

Finally, what's next for Jennifer Becton?
CarolineBingley will be out in the coming days, and the firstchapter is already available on my website. Death Benefits (Southern Fraud 2) will be released in January 2012.

Thanks so much!
Thank you for inviting me, and I look forward to reading your Col.Fitzwilliam novel soon!


Jennifer Becton is a prolific author, and owner of the publishing house, Whiteley Press.  She hails from the Charlotte, North Carolina area.  You can learn more about Jennifer at her official site or JWBecton.com.


You can follow Jennifer on Facebook , and Twitter .

You can also buy her books at Amazon , Barnes & Noble , and Smashswords .

Charming the Moon: Good Criticism

Today, I'm terribly excited because my little novella, Charming the Moon was reviewed by Jeff Chapman !

I stumbled across his review on Goodreads , which led me in turn to his wonderful blog review and which he generously left on Amazon.  A snippet: 

Snyder tells her tales with a serious tone befitting mythic lore but also mixes in comedy. The "battle" scene between Brigglekin and the other dwarves approaches slapstick. It is difficult at times to follow who some of the characters are since the reader is dropped into stories without having the full context. Readers of J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion will know what I mean. Of the two tales, I found the longer story about Brigglekin the most rewarding. Brigglekin faces internal and external conflicts and must step beyond his comfort zone to resolve them. Snyder introduces a rich world in these tales and I am looking forward to a longer sojourn in Niamh and the Hermit. 

This is an example of how a good critic can help an author see her own strengths and weaknesses.  While I much appreciate the reference to the Silmarillion, I also appreciate its inherit criticism - and thoroughly agree that these stories presuppose either that the audience will 1) just go with it or 2) have read Niamh.  (I also agree that Brigglekin is my favorite of the two, although my sister and several others would disagree.)

What's the best criticism you ever received from a disinterested third party?  What's the worst?  How do you deal with reviews of your work?  Sound off in the comments below!  
And if you've read any of my work, please do consider leaving a review on either Goodreads or Amazon or your own blog!  Let me know if you have, and I'll make sure I list it here!

Publishing 101: You Can Do It!

In Young Frankenstein, there's this wonderful moment when Gene Wilder finds his grandfather's, Dr. Frederich Frankenstein's, enormous book of How I Did It.  Naturally, this revelation is accompanied by a convenient roll of thunder.

One of the big questions in publishing boils down to this sentiment: How I Did It!  How in the world does an artist get her foot in the door?  How in the world does the idea in the mind become the word on the page (cyber or solid)?  How did that first publishing break occur?

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I'll share how I got my first publishing credit and then leave a comment about how you got your first big break!

Future blogs will focus on:

The best and worst rejection lettersWhether "breaking through publishing" is as important as "breaking through audience" (e.g., traditional publishing vs. indie publishingBe your own agent, manager, and cheerleaderAnd I'm open to other suggestions, too!In the meantime, make sure you check out Jennifer Becton's great blogs on publishing and promoting - the two most recent of which are here and here ...and on Tuesday, here at the Teatime Ten !

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Like most authors, I was writing from a fairly early age.  (You can read more about that here .)  But it wasn't until high school that I began to think about publishing.  Until then, I suppose I thought that somehow books just happened, like babies.  But my dearest friend, Kristen, gave me Mercedes Lackey's first Valdemar series, which introduced me to the world of Fantasy fiction.  (I had been, and still am, an avid fairy tale afficiando, but hadn't realized that the genre had come so far.)

This led to me scouring the shelves for more fantasy books, and in my travels I discovered Marion Zimmer Bradley's Sword and Sorceress Anthologies, specifically Volume X .  In it was this wonderful and poetic short story by Francesca Myman, entitled: "Night, Who Creeps Through Keyholes."  I don't remember much about the story; it was metaphoric, it was glorious...it was written by someone my age.  It was published by someone my age!  I had no idea people our age could write that well...let alone pursue something so grown-up as publish!

This would probably be a good place to mention that I'm really competitive.

Imagine my wonder, then, when I discovered in the back of the anthology the submission guidelines.  I had never heard of submission guidelines!  They were very precise.  I like precision.  They taught me about margins and double-spacing and not sending in stories written in crayon.  They taught me that publishing was possible.

After that, I put together some truly awful and derivative pieces which have long been forgotten - lost or languishing in a file - and which were, one and all, wisely rejected.  Nevertheless, every year I faithfully sent in another submission, determined to be published by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

Nor did I stop there.  My scholarly superpowers served me well.  I subscribed to Writer's Digest and read the articles avidly.  I read the classifieds in the back.  I read the ads for books from Writer's Digest.  I splurged and bought their Writer's Guide to Fantasy and Science Fiction.  (I still have it!)  I read it from cover to cover, underlining and making notes as I went.  (And even in this interwebby age, I still recommend their Writer's Market as something to purchase every few years.)  And I began sending out submissions to every magazine that would take stuff.

Around this time, my mother being a wise woman and concerned for her daughter who spent every waking moment reading or writing, invited our next door neighbour to come over and have a chat with me.  Now our neighbour was a struggling musician, and every so often I remember hearing his band playing.  They came caroling to our door every July dressed up in winter coats and knit hats.  They were the bohemians of central New Jersey.

This fellow, whose name I can't recall, stood in the door and attempted to dissuade me from the life of an artist. (I've mentioned my pigheaded competitive streak, yes?)  He said, "You're going to be rejected 99 times before you make one sale."  I nodded and thought that those were pretty good odds.  Our neighbour shrugged apologetically to my mother and went back to his band; my mother went to the kitchen; I went back to writing dreck.

True to his word, my high school and college career were chock-full of nothing but rejection letters.  (I'll write about those rejection notes in another post!)  It got tiresome after a while, and between discovering theatre and a social life in college, I wrote little and submitted less.

But in my junior year of college, one day I returned home after rehearsal to find my door completely covered in construction paper, with cheery markered notes congratulating the Real Published Author.  An acceptance had arrived at my home in New Jersey, Mum had opened it and telephoned immediately.  And since I was not home (theatre eats your life, but it's a nice digestion!), she had squee-ed at my household sisters, and they in turn had run out of magic markers to celebrate!

Ironically, and satisfyingly, I had finally sold to Marion Zimmer Bradley; more specifically, to her Fantasy Magazine .  I had broken through.  That spring break, I was in Kansas with my household sisters (they had a car, a destination, and a free seat; I went to Kansas), and signing my very first contract.  It was Heaven.

It was also a truly defining moment for me: I had broken through.  No longer would my cover letter try to cover the fact that 'til that point my publications were all school-related...or that I had been the editor-in-chief of everything.  I was being paid for my work.  I was being paid for my work by a tastemaker respected by her field.  I had learned how to take rejection and how to write for a market.  I was an Author with a capital Auth.  And it was worth every single rejection.

How about you?  What was your first publication?  What market are you especially eyeing?  Sound off in the comments below and encourage your fellow authors to keep on keeping on!

So, what's the importance of that first publication?  What else can it lead to?  For me, it led to a modest win as the "best story" of the Fantasy Magazine, and then an invitation to submit to Sword and Sorceress XIX , which for some reason actually published my Better Seen Than Heard .  And these two credits gave me the oomph to propose Niamh and the Hermit to Arx Publishing, LLC - which, although it wasn't written at the time, they accepted.  Which in turn led to them proposing that I write some short stories from the world of the Twelve Kingdoms, which led to Charming the Moon .


And if you're interested in the Sword and Sorceress Anthologies, you can thank the lovely Vera Nazarian (who recently stopped by for the Teatime Ten !) for continuing the series.  You can read more about the submission guidelines and forthcoming anthologies here !  Or check out some older volumes to read Vera's own wonderful work!