Jeannie Lin's Blog, page 17

Inside the Critiquing Process: Feedback on opening

Yesterday I posted an opening to a manuscript. If you didn't get a chance to read it, you can check it out here. Working title – My Fair Concubine.

To be fair, my sister read the entire manuscript before commenting on the opening. So she's working in not just whether this scene works or not, but what can be done with it in the larger context of the entire story.

Little Sis' critique

When Yan Ling first meets Fei Long at the tea house–can you combine this to be the same tea house/inn that Fei Long finds his sister at and kicks out? I want Yan Ling more active from the start. It's cute that her feet are tired, but if it's combined, then all the servers will already know the scandalous story and she can be gossiping with them (this also colors the environment more. right now a little flat overall)–so she can be a little more sympathetic to his plight, admiring of the first noble that she's seen, admiring of his bearing and manners, ect, until he throws out that line about needing a woman (then sparks fly and she dumps tea on him–so much for all her sympathy! he's just one of those sleazy nobles, ect).  However, when he explains the plan, she can already be partially on his side, not just because of the money, but because she sympathizes and has thought, "Well if I were Pearl, I wouldn't throw away such an opportunity…"  Because she has been described more than once as practical–show how she is practical.

On a tangent (sorry, my mind's not as organized), Dao has a backstory where Yan Ling does not. That also makes Dao more of an interesting character. That's why these first opening chapters can do a lot more. As well as having Yan Ling more active, having her talk to the other servers, having more of her thoughts, and her interacting will also give you a chance to build her character and her background. Why is she so much more practical? Why is she at the tea house? Has she no family?

Jeannie's commentary on the critique

Whenever someone gives me feedback, the comments need to garner a sense of trust before I'll accept them. With my sister, we already have an established critiquing relationship, but even if we didn't, there are certain things about her feedback which make me trust it.

First of all, feedback doesn't mean that the scene I wrote is all wrong. I'm wary if someone comes in and immediately says something like "the book starts in the wrong place" or suggests that I re-write the scene without sufficient backup. Sure, rewrites like that are sometimes needed, but if the feedback shows that the commenter understands what I was trying to do with the story, rather than just rejecting my work outright, then it builds that trust.

Sis discusses Yan Ling's character development in a way that tells me she gets what I was trying to do. At least she appreciated the cute detail with Yan Ling's aching feet. Sometimes when I get feedback, I'm not sure whether the reader just didn't pay attention or whether I really failed in what I tried to do. Because I'm not sure and the trust has not been established, I'm not sure whether I should fix something. Little Sis has demonstrated an understanding of my opening and what I wanted to do with the characters. She does this by echoing back specific details — I did want to highlight Yan Ling's practical, no-nonsense nature. I wanted her opening to be sort of cute. I wanted her to show a bit of a temper, but not be completely temperamental or feisty.

Sis also points out a fundamental weakness that became more evident as the book progresses — namely that Yan Ling doesn't have enough backstory from the beginning. We're dropped into the story here where she's presented as a servant and very quickly embarks upon the story adventure which takes her away from that life. Dao is another character introduced later that Sis thought was overshadowing Yan Ling in terms of having more intriguing backstory and characterization — which would be a bad thing since Yan Lin is my heroine and Dao is a secondary.

Most importantly, Sis earns my trust by giving me some very specific and usable suggestions. Instead of saying — "Include more of the five senses" or "I want to get a better sense of the tea house" or "I feel like your heroine isn't active enough", her suggestions about making the tea house the same location as the inn and showing Yan Ling interacting more vividly with the other servants are both changes that I could visualize and see myself executing to the story's advantage. She also explained her thought process behind the suggestions and what purpose they would serve. So if it was the case that I didn't like the suggestion, I could still address the underlying gaps that she's identified. Immediately, I could see how the pacing, tension, and characterization of the first two scenes could be vastly improved by these changes.

Tomorrow: I'll post the updated opening based on Sis' critique.

Want Little Sis and me to critique your first 30 pages? Bid at the Brenda Novak auction and get both of us cheap.

Little Sis & I: Inside the critiquing process

Little Sis and I are offering not one, but two joint critiques for auction:

Brenda Novak online auction for Diabetes Research

Get Bria Quinlan to RWA

In conjunction with that, I wanted to give a peek into what the critique and writing process is like between us. I've posted before that I think Little Sis has killer instincts and knows how to take something I've written and guide it to a stronger, better place. She taught me how to critique and thus, pretty much how to be a better writer.

The blog this week will go through a recent opening I wrote, how Little Sis responded, and then my revised opening based on her critique. Throughout each step of the way, I'll discuss my reasoning and commentary on her critique. I'll cover what makes a good critique for me and how I know to trust feedback — as I actually get many readers in addition to Little Sis. P.S. Bria Quinlan is another one of my trusted readers.

***

Breaking Good Writing

In workshops, I talk about how the most important lesson I learned was that good writing wasn't enough to take you to the next level. The hardest part of the game is when your pages are good, solid, workable– but how to make them better?

Here was an example of an opening that I thought was good. I thought it achieved its purpose and hit all the notes I wanted to hit. It made it through several rounds of readers as well, but Little Sis eventually gave some feedback that turned things around.

This is a risk for me because this hasn't been accepted by my editor yet. So the caveat is it may all change in the final version. You, the blog reader, may also find that you don't like this opening at all or you would have totally written it differently. Or that my writing isn't THAT good. That's all fine. Please don't take this as an example of how to write a good opening. I'm trying to illustrate the critique process and I hope to learn something myself by deconstructing it in this way.

Version 1:

This is a draft of an unpublished manuscript, prior to any professional editing or copyediting. This is how the story opens.

Tang Dynasty China, 824 A. D.

Chapter 1

Fei Long faced the last room at the end of the narrow hallway, unsheathed his sword, and kicked the door open.

A feminine shriek pierced the air, along with the frantic shuffle of feet as he strode through the entrance. The boarding room was a small one. The inhabitants, a man and a woman, flung themselves into the corner with nowhere to hide.

His gaze fixed onto the woman first. His sister's hair was unbound and her eyes widened with fear. Pearl had their mother's thoughtful features: the high forehead, and the sharp angles that had softened since the last time he'd seen her. She was dressed only in pale linen underclothes. The man who was with her had enough daring to step in between them.

Fei Long glanced once to the single wooden bed against one wall, the covers strewn wide, and his vision blurred with anger. He gripped the sword until his knuckles nearly cracked with the strain.

"Bastard," he gritted out through his teeth.

He knew this man he'd come to kill, this boy. At least he'd been a boy when Fei Long had last seen him. And Pearl had been a mere girl. Now she was a grown woman, staring at him with a fearful question in her eyes.

"Fei Long." Pearl's fingers curled tight over her lover's arm. "So now you've come."

The soft bitterness of the accusation cut through him. Pearl had begged for him to come back a year earlier when her marriage had first been arranged. He'd dismissed her letters as childish ramblings. If he had returned then, she might not have thrown herself into ruin. Their father's spirit wouldn't be floating restlessly between heaven and earth.

The young man stretched himself before Fei Long, though he failed to match him in stature. "Not in front of Pearl," he implored.

Though he trembled, Han fought to keep his voice steady as Pearl clung to him, hiding just behind his shoulder. At least the dog managed to summon some courage. If Han had cowered or begged for his life, he would already be dead.

"Step away, Little Sister" Fei Long commanded.

"No."

"Pearl."

"I'd rather die here with Han than go to Khitai."

She'd changed in the five years since he'd seen her. The Pearl he remembered had been obedient, sweet-tempered, and pleasant in all things. Fei Long had ridden hard from Changan to this remote province, expecting to find the son of a dog who had stolen her away.

Now that she stood before him with quiet defiance, he knew she hadn't been seduced or deceived. Zheng Xie Han's family lived within their ward in the capital city. Though lower in standing, the Zheng family had always maintained a good reputation. His sister had turned to Han because she had no one else.

The tension drained out of Fei Long, stealing away his rage. His throat pulled tight as he forced out the next word. "Go."

The two of them stared at him in disbelief.

"Go," he repeated roughly.

Fei Long lowered his sword and turned away while they dressed themselves. Shoving his sword back into its sheath, he faced the bare wall. He could hear the shuffle of movement behind him as the couple gathered their belongings.

The bleakness of the last weeks settled into his gut like a stone. When he'd left for his assignment to the northwestern garrison, Fei Long had believed his home to be a harmonious place. Upon news of his father's sudden death, he'd returned to find his sister gone and debt collectors circling the front gates like vultures.

His father's presence had been an elaborate screen, hiding the decay beneath the lacquered surface of their lives. Fei Long now saw Pearl's arranged marriage for what it was: a desperate ploy to restore the family honor-or rather to prolong the illusion of respectability.

When he turned again, Pearl and Han stood watching him tentatively. Each of them had a pack slung around their shoulder. Off to face the horizon with all their belongings in two tiny bags.

Han bowed once. "Elder Brother."

The young man risked his temper to deliver the honorific. Fei Long could bring himself to return the bow. Pearl met his eyes as they started for the door. The heaviness of her expression struck him like a physical blow.

This was the last time he would ever see his sister.

Fei Long took his money pouch from his belt and held it out. The handful of coppers rattled inside. "Here."

Han didn't look at him as he took it.

"Thank you, Fei Long," Pearl whispered.

They didn't embrace. The two of them had been apart for so long that they wouldn't have known how. Fei Long watched their backs as they retreated down the long corridor of the country inn; gone like everything else he had once known to be true.

* * *

Yan Ling moved from table to empty table in a restless circle, wash rag in hand, as she wiped away at wooden surfaces rubbed bare from long use. The tea house conversations had quieted hours ago. The crowd had cleared away except for a single patron.

He'd been there for hours and he wasn't even drinking his tea anymore. Instead, he had taken to staring into his cup. He was seated at the center of the room, drawing attention in every way.

The man had set a sword onto the edge of the table upon arriving. That was when Yan Ling had first noticed him. His robe marked him both as an outsider and a man of high rank. It was of fine woven silk and richly dyed in a dark blue. He wore his thick hair long, the front of it pulled back into a knot in the style of aristocracy. She was stricken by strength of his features; the hard line of his cheekbones and the broad shape of his face which narrowed slightly at the chin.

In lieu of money, he'd shown a jade seal to the proprietor. Her master and his wife had nearly broken their backs bowing and welcoming him. Government official, they'd guessed in the back room. Though he traveled without any escort and had a sullen expression that sunk lower with each hour. Her guess was that he needed something stronger than tea.

After a day that had begun with the first light of the sun, Yan Ling simply wanted to sit. She envied the proprietor, who was seated quietly in the corner, tallying up the day's cash. The wooden beads of his abacus clicked together, signaling that the day should be done. Her feet ached and no matter how much she wriggled her toes in her slippers, the feeling wouldn't quite return to them.

The clang from the kitchen meant that the cook and his boy were cleaning their pots. A mountain of cups and bowls and little plates would be waiting for her. And yet this one patron was still hoarding his cold tea. One more customer and she could rest for just a moment. The tea house was so humble that it couldn't ignore any earnings, not even a few coins from a traveler who wanted to nurse his tea for hours.

She guessed him to be twenty-five years. With a slight crease between his eyes that she imagined came more from deep contemplation than age. Really too young to be muttering to himself out of senility. Yet he was doing it. Again.

Gingerly, she approached the table. "Does the honored guest need anything?"

She reached for the clay tea pot only to have him wave her back with an irritated scowl. For a gentleman, he was uncommonly rude, but she supposed wearing silk and jade gave him that privilege. He propped his elbows onto the table, shoulders hunched to return to his vigil.

He was never going to leave! Occasionally the tavern at the other end of the street would need to throw out drunks, but it had never been an issue here. She stood a respectful distance away and looked to the proprietor for help.

Her master was deep into his coins. His wife was shouting orders back in the kitchen. No help was coming. Defeated, Yan Ling turned to wipe down her already cleaned table once more when the stranger spoke.

"I need a woman," he mumbled. "Any woman would do."

Her stomach dropped. She swung around, her mouth open in shock. The stranger raised his head. For the first time, his eyes focused on her, looking her up and down.

"Perhaps even you."

If his tone had been leering, or his look more appraising, it might have been less offensive. But the coldly pensive way he'd said it-and then the addition of 'perhaps' as if to plunge her worth even further.

Yan Ling grabbed the teapot and flung the contents onto the scoundrel, expensive robe and all.

Suddenly there were plenty of people crowding the tea room. Her master jumped up from his table. His wife had come like a windstorm from the kitchen, rag in hand as she apologized profusely. Even the cook and his boy were gawking through the curtained doorway.

The stranger had shot to his feet. The front of his robe was stained dark with a splatter of tea.

"Get out!" The master's wife shrieked at Yan Ling before turning to fuss at their precious patron. "We are so sorry, my lord. So sorry."

Yan Ling was still clutching the tea pot while she stared.

The nobleman reached up to swipe the tea leaves from his chest in one angry motion. His eyes remained fixed on her the entire time. He had lost that distant, brooding expression he'd worn all day. Heat rose up the back of her neck as she stumbled a few steps back.

What had she done?

"That know-nothing, good for nothing girl," the proprietor railed.

Her ears rang as she ducked into the kitchen through the beaded curtain. The steam enclosed her, but the clang of the pots couldn't block the nobleman's deep voice as he complained about her. She could hear her master agreeing wholeheartedly, accompanied by the cooing apologies of his wife.

It wasn't as if she hadn't been taunted before, but over the last years the teasing had taken on a different tone as her bone-thin figure had curved its way into womanhood. She'd learned to deafen her ears and stare ahead, never meeting any of the not-so-subtle glances thrown her way. Yet to suffer such insult from someone who appeared so refined-it was unbearable.

Ignoring the curious stares from cook and the kitchen-boy, she slipped through the back door. Her palms were damp and she wiped them restlessly against the sides of her gray tunic. Fear set her heart pounding.

One moment of hot-headedness. She'd lashed out at a well-dressed gentleman, of all people. She wasn't even a servant when it came to this man. She was the humble servant of humble servants. Who was she to be outraged? She wasn't allowed it.

She would certainly be scolded by both her master and his wife, each separately and then together. Yan Ling could hear them already. She was too much of a burden to feed, to clothe. She wasn't even pretty enough to bring in more customers.

They might even be angry enough to take a bamboo switch to her. A beating was all she'd have to suffer, if she was lucky.

Jeannie's Commentary:

Now I know the pages have to stand on their own. The author never gets to explain why they did things to the reader. So I'll just say I felt this opening was solid when I sent it on to beta-readers and Little Sis. It set up both my hero and heroine as sympathetic and interesting characters (hopefully!) and also eased readers into my world. Nothing says wuxia and adventure like a good ol' tea house, you know?

Tomorrow I'll post Little Sis' comments with more discussion. In the meantime, check out my auction items at Brenda Novak's auction which opens today:

For writers: Joint critique with Little Sis

For everyone: Butterfly Swords fan pack (the one-of-a-kind annotated copy is included)

Guest blog: Paperback Dolls – Passport China

The Paperback Dolls blog asked me to do a guest post for their Passport China feature. I love the look of their blog, especially the manga-esque avatars they have for each of their members.

Click on over to hear more the special version of Old China where my stories take place: Once Upon a Time in China

Also giving away a copy of BUTTERFLY SWORDS and talking a little bit about the sequel, THE DRAGON AND THE PEARL, which is out September 20, 2011.

 

Brenda Novak: Online Auction for Diabetes Research

This is a great event with an amazing amount of online support and some great offerings — and all for a great cause. It starts up May 1 and goes until May 31. Last year I bid on a bunch of items, but came away empty handed. Maybe this year I'll get lucky…

I'm also very proud to be donating several items:

1) Butterfly Swords fan pack – Last year during the Butterfly Swords launch celebration, I was giving away an annotated copy of Butterfly Swords. Think of it as the DVD commentary, but in book form. The winner, Desere, generously offered to donate it to the Brenda Novak auction since she hadn't read Butterfly yet. Like me, she had diabetes in her family.

So for the one-of-a-kind annotated copy of Butterfly Swords, a special souvenir map of the Tang Dynasty (which I'm also creating with my little hands) and a pack of autographed romance trading cards, head over to the auction and start bidding!

2) The Sisters' Critique – I'm quite happy about this. Little Sis has agreed to do a 30 page critique along with me. The winner will get two separate critiques from me and Little Sis. We both talk books and movies all the time, so I'm curious to see how we'll both approach the same manuscript.

Aside from those personal reasons, I swear by Little Sis' insight and feedback. I think she has a lot to offer any writer. I've also been giving workshops where I talk about making that last leap from "almost there" to getting read and getting published. In the workshops, I talk about "breaking good writing to make it better." In honor of the Sisters' Critique, I'm going to run a blog series next week about a specific example of one of my openings, how my sister critiqued it, and how I modified it. It's a special peek into my writing process. I'm a little nervous about that, but I think it could be fun. Stay tuned starting next Monday! Oh yes, and bid!

More items:

1) Honorary Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood membership – You know you want to be a Ruby-Slippered Sister (or Brother). Here's a fun chance to get 3 critiques and network with the RSS as well as be the first ever Honorary Ruby.

2) Kindle e-Reader with Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood releases

3) Set of Romance Trading Cards – (ITEM NO. 2170283 – 2170287) Over 300 cards in the set. Five sets available!

You must register to bid. Register now and be ready for next week.

Conference Recordings

I found the website where the RT 2011 conference recordings can be purchased.I participated in three panels at the Romantic Times convention. The recordings are $8 to $15 per session. Or it looks like the entire conference is available for $99.

View all RT11 Conference Recordings

RTB11-649: MARKETING: Promoting Like a Big Name Author When You're Not One Yet Stephanie Dray, Jeannie Lin

RTB11-704: MULTICULTURAL: The Next Generation Kimberly Kaye Terry, Brenda Jackson, Jeannie Lin, Monique Patterson

RTB11-640: SPECIALTY: Kung-Fu Fighting: The Rise of Action Heroes and Action Scenes Jeannie Lin, Lynn Lorenz, Belinda McBride

Our workshop covered characterization, setup and tension as well as other writing devices used in action scenes. For a great workshop that covered fighting strategy, technique, and mechanics, I attended this workshop presented by James Buchanan and Cynthia Vesper.

RTB11-384: SPECIALTY: Fight Club: Live Demonstration Cynthia Vespia, James Buchanan

Though their presentation included some video and live demos which may not translate to the recording, I feel the content they discussed is worth a listen.

 

Book Camp: Who reads what?

I'm still knocking out all those little "To Do" items that I have listed from the RT conference. One of them was to write up a summary of a great one day "un-conference" I attended called Book^2 Camp (Book Squared Camp).

This is a program based on open and out-of-the-box conversation and discussion around books. There's no better way to explain than to describe my experience.

First of all, I signed up because I saw that Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell was tweeting about it. From initial glance, it appeared to be a meeting of book bloggers, media personnel, authors and readers to talk about what's current in books. Plus there was a free cocktail hour. It was taking place at the Westin Bonaventure, the same hotel as the RT convention, so I jumped on board. (I hear they may be one before RWA as well, so I'm keeping my eyes peeled.)

We arrived in the meeting room and were given papers to come up with topic ideas to set the discussion grid. The idea was there was no set topics going in. The participants decided what they wanted to discuss. It was also up to us to be actively engaged and contribute to the conversation — in short, you get out of Book Camp what you put in. Don't you just love how Zen it all sounds?

I was slightly intimidated at trying to come up with a topic that might interest a wide range of book people, but as the quintessential good student I did as the teacher told me and came up with this: "The Readership Divide: Who reads what?"

Not having hosted or even seen one of these discussions before, I resorted to my teaching days and ran it like a Socratic Seminar. We all sat in a circle and I started off the topic with a brief description and tried to acknowledge responses and keep the conversation going with open-ended questions.

Afterward, we were asked to type up a brief report of what was discussed in our session and so, again the good student, here it is:

The Readership Divide: Who Reads What?

The reason I thought of this topic was that I had dinner the previous night with my BFF Amelia. She was the one who first introduced me to romance novels and Amelia and her mum are definitely what you'd call romance super-readers. She asked me and Amanda Berry what we thought of e-readers. I replied that I loved my Kindle while Amanda admitted to now owning an e-reader.

Amelia stated that she wouldn't touch them because she blames e-readers for the demise of her favorite bookstores. Her mother on the hand now exclusively reads on Kindle and doesn't go to bookstores anymore. Let me tell you, we used to go bookshopping every week and Linda (Amelia's mum) would leave with armloads of books. Every week.

We made the comment that digital reading is still just a percentage of all books purchased and Amazon might have a lot more to do with the demise of bookstores. Amelia did admit she did order on Amazon quite a bit.

So my thoughts revolved around the fact that I, as an author, seem to be surrounded by people who are pro-digital. It's a brave new world, better access, more opportunity. But as a fish in this bowl, I can't see beyond my world. It made me wonder who are the people reading digital vs. print? Is there an economic divide? For example, many of the books donated to schools are print books. What about teens? We thought that it would be the old school readers who would hang on, but long-time readers such as Linda have totally adopted e-readers because they can adjust the print size.

Some interesting thoughts brought up in the discussion:

1. Cheap e-readers might be the tipping point to convert more readers to digital

2. It's not necessarily a monetary issue. Many people can afford to buy ereaders, but choose to read print for the experience.

3. Digital prices on ebooks doesn't necessarily sway readers since they often cost as much as print books

4. There are programs such as Worldreader.org which distribute books to developing nations through e-readers. So whereas in the U.S. print books are used for charity because distribution and printing is cheap, globally the use of e-readers can actually be a more economical solution because it negates printing, shipping & distribution costs.

5. Many teens are still reading print, but then going online to participate in fan forums where they can interact with other readers and do activities such as share fan fiction.

6. Groups are trying to develop online reading programs for teens hoping that they'll be as addictive as online games. But we're not sure whether it has or will ever have the same level of participation as games such as Warcraft.

7. DRM and lending restrictions are a deterrent towards digital adoption. Though many readers don't know about DRM, librarians often have to explain and educate readers about it. Meanwhile, the print book is on the shelf and easily available without the same restrictions.

8. While reading print, some readers noted that they got more out of the read. Perhaps this is linked to how our cognitive development is tied to reading print. There have been studies that showed a child's experience of gathering information is intimately tied to the act of turning a page. As long as children are taught on print books, print will persist.

9. People so often sit in front of their computer for a job and don't want to read online as well. But with e-readers which they can hold in their hands like a book, this feeling begins to change.

10. A participant mentioned a book titled Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky which posits that the U.S. has a surplus of cognitive and intellectual energy that isn't being used. This surplus can manifest itself through more complex and fruitful collaborations and technology can serve as a medium.

(I found this to be a much more positive view than a book I read on a similar theme as part of my undergraduate required reading, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman. Though the two  are not necessarily in disagreement because  Postman concentrates on the detriments of TV and show biz where is sounds like Shirky concentrates on the potential interactive nature of the internet and other new technologies.)

The parentheses are there because I had this thought subsequently, perhaps during the cocktail hour that followed, and didn't bring it up at the session.

In any case, I hope there will indeed be a Book Camp before RWA. It was a refreshing and thought-provoking experience. I felt my mind expanding and crackling with new dendritic connections. Yes. It crackles.

But seriously, I can talk books for hours and hours and it's nice to be amongst people who feel the same. Do check out these Book Camps if you get a chance.

 

 

Workshop section updated

I've updated my workshop section with handouts from the recent workshops I did. I was actually quite pleased with being able to do the one hour Selling the Hard Sell on Saturday (I only got 50 minutes) and then expanding the Keeping Them Hooked workshop on Sunday to a three hour class. We got to cover a lot more than just me barreling through the list of things to think about–plus maybe I just like to talk.

Workshop Handouts

I do like speaking and don't charge any fee other than travel expenses, so if you happen to have an open chapter meeting you'd like to fill, don't hesitate to drop me a line. I'm what you call a cheap date. *wink*

 

The Cool Hunt at RT

I was hunting out that ephemeral thing called "cool" at the Romantic Times convention last week. It's one of those reasons you gotta be there–you never know what's going to be trendy, splashy, and fun until the conference unfolds. My cool hunt was determined by listening to buzz around the conference, the #RT11 tweet feed, and just my own wanderings.

Other than Romance Trading Cards *wink* *wink*, these were the things that tripped the cool meter for me:

Chocolate Martinis

These emerged as the cool drink of the conference. After Susanna Kearsley introduced me to them, I had to limit myself to just one. Drink orders for the delicious, creamy, chocolatey drink started flying left and right and I even went upstairs to my room to see, lo and behold, a mini room service party in progress complete with chocolate martinis and cake.

Purple Prose Taboo

This was a reader-author meet-up activity hosted by Victoria Dahl, Courtney Milan, and Tessa Dare. I didn't get to go, but I heard the buzz from several sources. The idea is ingenious in its simplicity — you play the popular board game Taboo with romance terms, trying to guess the *ahem* body parts and other romance-isms from the purple prose equivalents. According to Stephanie Dray, who stumbled upon the session: "It was like I was in a fugue state. There were people yelling and throwing feather boas."

Way cool. If anyone has pictures or a report from this, would SO love to see or hear from you.

Geeks vs. Hunks

I have to say, after hearing so much about the EC Cavemen, cover models, and the Mr. Romance contestants, I was a bit bummed at how low key their presence was. (Of course, I did miss the Mr. Romance contest. And let me qualify that the ones I met were very nice blokes.) In my little snowglobe of awareness, it seemed that the models were overshadowed by these other notable men attending the conference. I love it when geeks win.

I couldn't attend either Dean Koontz or Barry Eisler's talks since I was speaking or at Club RT, but I did get to meet Patrick Rothfuss briefly. And Lee Goldberg's talk on "How to Tell a TV Story" had me rolling. So I must rely on someone else's report: Did these non-romance writers hanging out at RT deserve to trip the cool meter?

Ellora's Cave does Bollywood

Bollywood Romance Divas

I did miss out on the beginning of the Faery Ball and also the Vampire Ball. However, I can't imagine any of those could top Ellora's Cave and their fabulous Bollywood extravaganza.The table decorations were both exquisite and interactive. The chairs were draped with colored scarves decorated with gold disks that doubled as costumes for those of us who didn't come dressed in saris and wraps. This drew everyone into the festive mood–as if we needed any prompting.

When planning a party, it's all about the little things. And EC paid great attention to detail. Finger castanets at each place setting, peacock feathers, on the spot henna tattoo artists for a personalized touch.

And to blast the cool meter off the scale, they featured a live Bollywood dance number. Thumbs up Ellora's Cave! You sure know how to throw a party. It almost makes me wish I could write something for EC, but then again, everyone's invited to the party, from sweet to steamy.

Disclaimer: The hookah is a centerpiece display only. There is absolutely no type of substance being inhaled in this picture other than a big whiff of cool…which I admit, did give me a head rush.

Melissa Marr – App Enabled Promo

This is the first time I've seen anything like this. You can scan the postcard with your smartphone or type in the code online to "experience the enchantment". We are inundated by a bunch of promo chotchkies and bells and whistles at conference. They're like those little plastic prizes you win at Chuck E Cheese. Fun for the hour, but not memorable afterwards. Perhaps this was not the most picked up item, but it gets my cool stamp for its edginess and for being forward thinking. Off to research how I might do such a thing…

I really couldn't be everywhere at once, so help me out. What tripped your cool meter?

There must be a bee in my bonnet…

Cause I'm hearing all this buzz

Please excuse the poor joke. Tee hee.

One of the things I said in my workshop with Stephanie Dray on "How to Promote Like a Big Name Author" is that you know there's buzz when people start picking up your banner and they start coming to you. So I'm jumping up and down this morning because Romance Trading Cards received a huge shout out in the L.A. Times article on the Romantic Times Book Convention: first in the picture and then with a great quote from Joanna Bourne.

Bodice-Rippers Unite

And I'll miss all the fun at the Saturday booksigning *sniff* because I've whisked myself back to St. Louis for another conference and booksigning. *brightens up* I'll be speaking today (Saturday) on Selling the Hard Sell and then I'll be signing Butterfly Swords from 4:30-6:00pm. Tomorrow I've got a Master's Class on Keeping them Hooked.

Missouri Writers Guild conference at the Sheraton Westport Plaza Hotel in St. Louis.

I think I have a few of those famous Romance Trading Cards left to hand out too…What? Did you think I was above gloating?

Buzz…buzz…

How to Promote Like a Big Name Author

When You're Not One…Yet

So after having one person in the audience for my fight scene workshop (thank you Christine!!), I didn't expect the promotion workshop the next morning to be packed. So I fully apologize for running out of handouts. Stephanie Dray and I have promised to post the handout online so here it is.

by Stephanie Dray and Jeannie Lin.

Enjoy and let me know what you think