Lynn Shurr's Blog, page 12

Things to be Thankful for--or Not

A new year begins. Time to reflect back on the old one. I can only say my writing career had jagged peaks and one very low valley when all but one of my books went out of print when my publisher closed down. The part to be thankful for is the rights for all of the other five books were quickly reverted to me allowing me to seek a another publisher. The Or Not-none have been reprinted though I do have contracts for all the Sinners books. I've done my part of getting them re-issued but still have no idea when they will reappear.
 
I am thankful my first publisher, The Wild Rose Press, took me back and by September had printed A Trashy Affair. They brought out Love Letter for a Sinner in November and The Convent Rose on December 26th. This is fairly quick work for any publisher. A Taste of Bayou Water, another new title, came out in November from Wings e-Press. So, now I have plenty of new books out. The Or Not-Trashy Affair was offered free on the Kindle and downloaded 9,900 some times. I am glad I might gain many new readers, but I worked three months on that book and so far have gotten $100 in royalties. I do understand the concept that this might translate into other sales, but please spare me the reviews that say, "I downloaded this book for free, but I don't like this kind of book, so I give it two stars." Then why did you download it in the first place? In the category of impossible dreams, I could have taken that trip to Italy if I'd earned $9,900. On the other hand, I doubt if anywhere near 9,000 people would have actually paid for the book.

I am starting the New Year as I did last year with knee surgery on January sixth. Six weeks of pain loom ahead. I elected to do this and must remind myself of that constantly during the ordeal of physical therapy.  I am not likely to be in any way productive during that time. I am grateful painful knee joints can be replaced. The Or Not-will try not to scream when a two-hundred pound PT guy is bending my knee against back to get maximum results. Prayers, best wishes, and good vibrations all accepted to get me though this.

One last thing to be thankful for: over three-thousand people have read this blog. Why I am not sure as I don't find myself that engaging, but I do appreciate it. For you, I will reveal early that Love Letter for a Sinner will be offered free duirng the week of January 28th. The Or Not-please don't download it if you don't like romances with hunky football players in them.

To be PC or not to be

     Recently, I came across a quote for Stephen King which I am now going to misquote because I can't quite remember how it goes.  He said something like if your books offend no one, you aren't writing truthfully.  As I said, A Trashy Affair is out now on the Kindle and in paperback from Amazon. Thanks to the KDP plan, I'm receiving more reviews than usual.  It's a book I love and am proud of so you can imagine my shock went someone gave it one star.  I am good with the person who gave it three because they like their sex hotter, but really, a one?  Reasons given: I said the young woman was uncomfortable traveling the black area of town at night and the super-macho hero is wary around gay men.  These are my characters' feelings, not mine, but I think they do ring true. I've had two husbands. Both confessed to being uneasy around gay men, though neither disliked them and both were fine about gay marriage. Even now as an old white lady, I worry when stopped at a light at night when young, black men are loitering on the corner. Now, I am going to offer the usual disclaimer-I have many black, gay and lesbian friends, another truth, believe me or not, but I also have common sense. I don't leave my purse on the front seat, and I wouldn't go into either of our local parks alone at night.
     Ran into the exact same problem with my first book, Goals for a Sinner, another one star reviews because I said a dying child looked like a starving African and when my wonderful lesbian character, Jackie, banters back and forth with my quarterback she calls him a Sex Maniac and he calls her a Bull Dyke. Both are joking, but evidently one cannot jest about such things.  Somehow, I feel a reader who is more concerned with political correctness than the overall story whose theme might be helping friends, saving the environment, or the meaing of family is missing the real and more important point.
     Unlike Paula Deen, I have never used the N word, but some of my characters have. They are usually bad men or might just be using the language of their times. As Rosamond says in Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball set in the 1920's, we don't use that word, we called them colored people, which is true to that era.  Anyhow, I must be doing something right to be validated by Stephen King.
     I'll end with an update.  Love Letter for a Sinner is available on the Kindle and in softcover from Amazon. This is the last of current generation of Sinners stories because Joe Dean, the quarterback whose career we have been following, retires.  A Taste of Bayou Water, a spicy Cajun romance, is up on the Kindle, the Nook and in softcover.  A Trashy Affair, not really very trashy since the title refers to garbage services and recycling, is also on the Kindle and out in paperback. I think any one of them would make a great stocking stuffer for the reader who loves romance. You can judge for yourself if they offend by not being PC enough.
      That said, I wish all of you Peace on Earth and Good Will toward all men and women regardless of race or sexual orientation. 

The Trademark Dilemma

     I confess I like to use the names of local products when I write like Boudreax's Butt Paste and Community Coffee.  I think they add flavor to the text. I was always told that a casual usage with no malicious intent fell into the category of fair usage. You aren't trying to steal their idea or make money off their product in any way and in fact, might be giving them some free advertising. I mean, don't companies pay for placement in movies? Recently, I went to see Last Vegas, a fine movie for grownups, and there aren't many of those coming out. As the men separated at the airport, they entered a gate prominently labeled Southwest Airlines. Tell me that wasn't paid for. Seems authors should be getting a percentage, too, but we never will.
     My new publisher is phobic about any mention of brand names. For instance when in Washington state, my characters can't drink a certain coffee starting with an "S" and bearing a mermaid on the label that originated there.  Nope, they just imbibe plain old coffee.  Nor can they eat donuts bearing the initials KK (you figure it out).  Around here, we go out of our way for those donuts and once had a shop where you could watch a waterfall of glaze fall on the freshly baked pastries. Kind of miss that, but you won't find them in my books anymore. Donuts are bad for me anyhow.
     I do understand their concern. One of their authors was ripped to shreds by Disney, the most vicious protector of their trademarks, for using the Z word in her title.  The Z word involves a folk hero who wears a black mask and whose name means Fox in Spanish. You know who I mean. Poor woman had her books taken off the market for this terrible offense because somehow her puny profits might hurt Disney-who got the name and the story from a romantic adventure novel published in the early 20th century.  Most of their TMed characters are lifted from folklore and early 20th century books.  Heaven forbid we use any reference to an certain heroine with a pumpkin coach whose story was collected by a Frenchman in the seventeenth or eighteenth century as a folk tale. One source I checked claims we can use the term Seven Dwarves, but not the Disney names for them or their images. Actually, that one seems fair to me.  So fellow authors, watch your step or the big, bad D will get you.
     Okay, got that off my chest. I don't think my blog is read by many, but here's a heads up to those who do.  A Trashy Affair, not a Sinners novel but one of my very best, is going up for its free week on November 19th on the Kindle. If you haven't gotten it yet, here's a chance to see how I write about a subject other than football players. It is spicy, but I pretty much guarantee that if you like my books, you will love this one. And if you do, please spread the word.  Thank you very much.
    
    

Orphan Update

Contracts are coming in thick and fast now to my delight.  I've signed two to bring Wish for a Sinner (I admit it is my favorite of the Sinners series so far) and Kicks for a Sinner back into existance with Wild Rose Press. New covers will soon be available, and I can't wait to see them as this press has done a fine job of finding gorgeous men who fit the roles of my imaginary football players. One artist went out of her way to change brown eyes to blue for me. I've learned that cover art does not follow a book unless you are willing to pay for it, but as the publisher is doing this for free, I didn't take that option.  Love Letter for a Sinner, the newest in the Sinners series, is all ready to go for a spring release.

The new bullrider series, The Roses, is coming along well, too, with the first, The Convent Rose, having completed editing and gone to galleys.  Yes, I know, a strange title and series for cowboy books, but allow me to explain.  Newly retired bullrider, Bodey Landrum wants a classy wife, not just some ordinary buckle bunny. He sets his sights on Even Burns, a convent-schooled, ethereal artist, his complete opposite. Bodey thinks of her as his pure white convent rose, but Eve does surprise him in many ways. Look for it in 2014. The second book, A Wild Red Rose, is underconsideration. This one deals with a rodeo bullfighter who loves to gentle spoiled animals, and his wild red rose is a woman who falls into this category. Since this woman is on the lookout for a rich husband,he cannot let her know he is heir to a fortune while he teaches her better ways.

Not eager to put all my eggs into one basket anymore, I also have A Taste of Bayou Water, a Cajun contemporary romance, coming out in November with Wings e-Press. It takes place in the same setting as my Mardi Gras books, the little Louisiana village of Chapelle. When billionaire Jonathan Hartz arrives in town to find a site for a technology plant , he also finds a woman to love. Unfortunately, neither her brother nor his personal assistant agree and try to break them apart. Jon, however, is undaunted and will try to become Cajun for the sake of the woman he wants to marry. Yes, lots of humor in this one.

Lastly, A Trashy Affair, is out as a Kindle Select Edition. One of my best books, it is available for $5.99 only on the Kindle with a worldwide release on January 24, 2014 in all formats.  This ploy has not made me rich and famous yet by the way, but there is still time if as we say in the South, all y'all buys it. At 92,000 words, you get your money's worth. Unfortunately, Barnes and Noble has a strong presence in our area. You can't walk in the store without being tempted to buy a Nook and all my friends here have them.  Then, there are folks like me who will always wait for the softcover because we love the feel of books in ours hands and the lack of eye strain they offer.

End of pitches and updates.  Positive reviews are welcome if you've read or will read any of the above. Amazon assures me my reviews will follow the new editions. Now, if only I could get rid of the one I really hate!

The Hyperactive Orphan and KDP

It's a horrible moment when six published books disappear from Amazon, at least in their e-book form. Paperbacks of my works are still floating around advertised at $35 collectibles or $10 used but in good condition copies, but basically, I don't bother to check my Amazon ranking anymore. It has gone from a once best of 19,000 (not bad out of two million) into the stratosphere of high numbers. Only Goals for a Sinner, my first book, remains available. It is trying hard, but as it has been heavily read and just can't hold up my once proud status alone.  My response to all this--get something else published fast, many several somethings if possible. I am the Hyperactive Orphan.

As I mentioned, my first publisher, Wild Rose Press, welcomed me back. A Trashy Affair was all ready to go in June, so it is coming out first in one of those KDP deals with Amazon that is supposed to make me well-known and rich.  I do love Amazon, but am very skeptical this will happen especially since all my other books are out of print so the reader has nowhere else to go. However, I am grateful to get anything out there.  The release date in September 25, 2013 as a Kindle e-book only at a deeply discounted price of $2.99, later to be $5.99.  Three months later, it will go World Wide as if folks in other countries actually read my books. Even the Russians I suspected of using this blog for sinister purposes are gone right now. That's what being orphaned does, you lose even quesitonable friends.

I also submited the start of the new bull rider series, The Convent Rose.  Its edits are done and I've received one of those yowzah covers with a pretty sexy shirtless cowboy on the cover. He is posing for the artist who is his love interest, the very ethereal Eve Burns, his complete opposite. Worth the price just for the cover, but no galley or release date yet. Not able to stop myself in the quest to be published again, I submitted the second book in this series, A Wild Red Rose, and await the word on that.

Love Letter for a Sinner, the fifth of the Sinners series, was also accepted and has completed its edits, cover in progress.  One would say with four books coming out in 2013-2014, I should now relax and watch my Amazon status climb again, but sadly none of my previously printed works have been restored yet.  Prospects are looking good for Wish for a Sinner ( the second in the series) and a request for contract has been put in. I'm never easy until the paperwork is signed. Then, I will proceed to try to do the same for Kicks for a Sinner and Wish for a Sinner. Trouble is books previously published will not sell as well since they have been out and presumably read for a while. Thus, they are a harder to a convince a publisher to take. However, if the Amazon KDP works as I am told it will, maybe people will want this now well-known but not rich author's back list. I'm hoping.

Update-Adopted!

When we last got together, I had to report the sad demise of my publisher and of Dreamspell Press. Within a week, all of my books except the first, Goals for a Sinner, disappeared as e-books. Some paperback first edition copies are still available on Amazon and B & N, and of course, I have a few boxes of my titles left to hand sell at various events I will attend this fall. I cannot begin to tell you how devasting this is to a writer. Fortunately, my devastation did not last long. Before a month passed, my first publisher, The Wild Rose Press, picked up two of my manuscripts, Love Letter for a Sinner, the next installment of the Sinners series, and A Trashy Affair which had been slated to come out in June. Trashy turned out to be one of my favorite works, and I took its loss on the eve of its birth pretty hard. It now has a new home at Wild Rose, though I do not know when it will come out.

The rest of my backlist is now being considered for resurrection by Wild Rose, but at least two are moving through the pipeline. Currently being reviewed are Wish for a Sinner and Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball. Looks like their Champagne Rose line might take Courir de Mardi Gras which also never made it to publication. Like all presses, Wild Rose has different parameters from Dreamspell, so there is no guarantee they will take all of my titles.  Some interest has been shown in a new series of mine about bull riders for their Yellow Rose line. So, I am doing what I can to get back in print as fast as possible.

What happens to the books they don't decide to adopt?  I can go to subsidy publishing or self-publishing.  The latter terrifies me, yet everyone seems to be doing it. I simply don't have the computer skills or confidence I think I need to do that. Folks can be hired to format a book. I have no idea of the cost for that. So far, writing has not made me rich. I'll let you know if that ever happens. Probably, I could get them out fast at a subsidy press, less prestige, but since all the backlist has had great editing already, they wouldn't need a lot work. It is probably going to take a year or more to sort all of this out. Meantime, it is hard to work on a new book while trying to save the older ones. Still, I will do my best to provide more fresh fiction for my readers in the next months.

Orphaned!

No, my elderly mother has not passed away.  She is still living at home and is as onery as ever.  In fact, I just returned from taking care of her to give my sister a break.  What I am really writing about is being orphaned by my publisher, L & L Dreamspell, due to the tragic death of Linda Houle, one of the partners, who succumbed to cancer today.  In this e-publishing world, I never met Linda in person but communed with her often by e-mail.  She asked for suggestions on the covers of my books and actually read my novels, sending notes that she had enjoyed them.  Bet that doesn't happen often in the world of the big presses.  Who wouldn't miss a publisher like that?  Lisa Smith, the other L, is shutting down the business in a classy way.  We have already gotten a form to fill in for our reversion rights so we can attempt to find new publishers, and in time our final royalties will be paid.  She even opened doors for us at a couple of other publishers.

Still it seems as if with six books published and about to blink out of existance, I must start my writing career from scratch again, no easy thing.  I admit I am envious of those writers who have agents who would seek out new publishers for them, maybe even get a better deal though I doubt it.  As I said in another blog, it's all on me, this time to find a new home for old books and those caught in publishing limbo right now.  I had hoped to announce in this blog that Trashy Affair was out.  It lacked only a cover before being printed, was completely edited and formatted when the press shut down.  At least, I have a track record and have proven I can both write and sell a steady stream of books.  I do pity those authors whose first novel was similarly nipped in the bud.

I also wanted to tell fans of the Sinners sports novels that I'd finished writing Love Letter for a Sinner and expected it to be out next spring.  In it, Joe Dean Billodeaux reaches the end of his career, Nell fears her cancer has returned, they complete their predicted family, and help another Sinner find his match.  This last is not an easy task since Joe's replacement, a self-professed Christian virgin, wants only a pure young woman, and Joe really doesn't know of any.  Not sure when or if it will be published now, but I will step through some of those doors Lisa opened and hope for the best.

When I read the interviews in RWR, I realize being orphaned happens to nearly every writer some time or another.  Guess I will survive this, too.  But, I do wonder if I will ever find a press I like as much as L & L Dreamspell.

Untypical-That's Me

     I once asked my editor what kind of books she thought I wrote.  Strangely, an author often doesn't know. She replied Untypical Romance or perhaps women's novels with romances in them.  In other words, I seldom follow the tried and true formula of one man, one woman, one romance.  My lovers live in a larger world where other things are going on besides their love affair.  In my Sinners books, the members of the team form a community.  They help each other out when problems crop up - mostly having to do with women. They have wives and children and problems of their own, too.  They have sex, but not in every other chapter, just when it applies to the plot.
     Having recently finished writing Love Letter for a Sinner, I realize it is another of my untypical romances.  I have followed the career of quarterback, Joe Dean Billodeaux, from his first success and now to the end of his career.  He has gone from a womanizer to a family man, from a party guy to a team leader, and helped younger players along the way while dealing with his own dilemmas.  The new quarterback is on the bench waiting for his retirement and his last chance for a Super Bowl is coming up.  He must overcome his dislike of the new guy and even help him find a good woman in order to get his final wish for a fifth ring.  Will there be more Sinners books?  Maybe.  Joe's oldest son, Dean, is now seventeen and showing great potential as a quarterback.  His second son, Tommy, is gearing up to be a kicker.  Like all things in publishing, it depends on how the previous books sell, but being untypical, I write two books a year whether I have a market for them or not.
     I've always thought I simply wrote romances. But it took a contest judge to clue me in that Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball was a "big" historical novel with a romantic sub-plot.  I believed Mardi Gras Madness was a mystery.  Not so, my editor said.  A mystery must start in the very first chapter. I seem to recall Miss Marple wandering around her village for page after page until the actual mystery crops up, but you don't want to argue with your editor.   So, it is a romance with a mystery buried inside of it. Got another one of those coming up later this year, Courir de Mardi Gras, but I won't dare call it a mystery.
     Whatever I write, I try to give the reader a good absorbing story that reads fast and smoothly to its happing ending.  All I can hope for is that people enjoy them no matter how untypical they are.

Another Book Signing - Sigh

     Face it, unless you become a famous author, your first book signing, usually at your local library or bookstore will be your best and most exciting.  Friends and family come to wish you well. Many will buy your first book to be supportive, though they may never read it.  In my case having been the former county library director, much curiosity was involved.  Thanks to the steamy cover on my first somewhat sexy book (only three flames out of five, folks), more than one person whispered that Miss Lynn is now writing dirty books.  Nope.  I'd probably sell more if I did
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     Once that first rush is over, subsequent book signings will not go as well.  It is known that libraries are the worst places to sign as people who use then will simply check out the library copy if interested and now can even borrow them temporarily on their e-readers.  Usually, many authors attend as both libraries and bookstores are being bombarded by the self-published for a venue, and so they group all of us together whether self, e-pubbed, or traditionally published for one mass signing. The bad news-lots of competition, the good-lots of authors to talk to in order to make the time pass faster and perhaps make some interesting contacts.

     I would advise writers new to this business to dress up your table a little.  Don't just sit behind a stack of books and hope.  I put out the wonderful red and black Sinners jersey my daughter got for me and display the football romances on it.  My new Mardi Gras series titles are nested in a pile of colorful beads and other throws.  A bowl of candy might help, but mostly people seem to grab and run. I do envy cookbook authors.  They always have a hook - a steaming crockpot of some dish to attract attention.  I had some excellent spicy white beans and rice at my last library signing where I sold three books, great compared to the events where I have sold none or one.  Mostly, browsers pick up my sexy book cards or my less sexy, but very pretty, Mardi Gras cards.  These might result in e-sales later, and indeed, someone bought an entire set of Sinners books in paperback on Amazon the following Monday, so not a wasted afternoon.

     I admit sometimes toying with potential customers who really don't want to buy or even hear about my books.  One lady who stopped by for a chocolate fix immediately told me she didn't read those kind of books, i.e. ones with hot covers.  She only read mysteries (I hear that one a lot), so I pointed out Mardi Gras Madness which has a mystery sub-plot and is not particularly sexy. Oh, she says, "I can only read Large Print."  I suggest she take a card for the book, and she can get it on an e-reader and adjust the print size any way she wants.  No, she doesn't have an e-reader, has to hold the book in her hands.  Having come full circle, I bid her adieu with a cheerful, "Thanks for stopping by", not adding "and eating my chocolate".  An amazing number of folks also only read historicals or non-fiction.  Since Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball is an historical, I now only have to produce a non-fiction book to please everyone.  As for myself, I read a wide variety of books.  I do think I would find literature very limiting otherwise.

Paradise for a Sinner is Out!

No April Fool's joke, Paradise for a Sinner is now out as an e-book with the soft-cover to follow shortly.  Two posts ago, I promised (or threatened) to talk more about Samoa.  The trouble with doing lots of reseach on a new subject is you simply cannot use all your learn.  I did manage to work some of these subtly into the story but not all the tidbits that go with them.

For instance, my cover designer, Linda Houle, managed to find a genuine traditionally tattooed Samoan backside for my cover.  The crack is modestly covered with palm fronds.  My hero, Adam Malala, bears such tattoos, once a test of manhood since getting them involved a month long process where in ink is pounded under the skin by a mallet striking a comb-like device.  In ancient times, the only anesthetic was the encouraging songs of the village maidens as they rubbed the man's brow. Ouch!  The tattoos begin a couple of inches above the waist and continue to the knees and are so thickly done as to resemble cloth.  And yes, everything in that area is tattooed.  Double ouch!  Those who have undergone the process say actually the navel area is the worst.  Go figure.

While fairly fit and warlike before the missionaries arrived, the real undoing of Samoans has been fast food and such luxuries as the Spam and canned corned beef that arrived with the G.I. stationed there in WW II.  Both keep well in the extremely hot and humid climate.  It would not be unusual for a Samoan to order a side of Spam with his bacon and egg breakfast.  The traditional diet tended toward the starchy side with coconut and taro being used heavily.  Since largeness is highly respected, no wonder Samoa produces more football players per capita than most of the United States-also rugby players and wrestlers of various kind.  They do still love highly physical sports.  Samoans, large but agile, and good team players are most likely to be found in defensive positions.

Family is of utmost importance which I've stated before.  Even Samoans living in the continental U.S. are expected to contribute financially to the vast feasts and festivities held for many special occasions, weddings, funerals. etc.  At one time, brides were taken behind a curtain during the wedding ceremony by the groom to prove their virginity on top of a white cloth.  This custom fortunately has died out, but before that a little chicken blood could come in handy.

Had enough Samoan lore?  If not, read the book.  My editor says it is the best of the Sinners series, and she does not give compliments lightly.  I am not so sure and remain partial to Wish for a Sinner.  Let me know what you think.