Rima Jean's Blog, page 6
February 21, 2014
On the Name Zayn: MC of KNIGHT ASSASSIN
I’ve been getting flack for naming the main character of KA Zayn. I thought I would clarify some confusion regarding the name: It is Islamic, and it was used at the time the story takes place. It can be both masculine and feminine. Please see below: Meaning of Zayn Zayn is a Quranic name for...
An Author Experiences Her Own Book’s Reviews: A Story In GIFs
In the beginning… After a bad review… Aaaaaand another… Eventually you experience anger… Then you just break down… And think you suck at this whole “writing” thing… The goal, of course is to get to the point where you can shrug it off… So that you can go back to being like this…
February 18, 2014
Hilarious Romance Covers
Ok, I admit right now that one of my guilty pleasures is making fun of romance covers. I know, I know… one day, one of my books will end up with a horribly, hilariously inappropriate cover. And when that happens, I’ll laugh all the way to the bank. Because apparently, bad romance covers are hot....
February 17, 2014
My Thoughts On Bad Reviews
It’s hard, as a writer — an arteest, if you will — to take a bad review well. Oh, it’s soooooo hard. You want to cry. You want to drink copious amounts of alcohol. You want to shout obscenities at your computer monitor. You should do all of these things. (One thing you should NOT...
February 9, 2014
Inspiration: KNIGHT ASSASSIN
I’ve always been a huge fan of historical fiction. I’ve noticed, however, that a lot of people don’t like it. I can understand this — a lot of historical fiction novels are thinly-veiled history textbooks. Trust me, I can’t trudge through that stuff either. But recently, historical fiction geared toward young adults and teens has...
February 5, 2014
KNIGHT ASSASSIN Cover Reveal!
If you head on over to Rock Star Book Tours, you can participate in my YA historical fantasy book cover reveal! SQUEEEE! *13-year-old-girl-trembling-slash-screaming* The reveal is scheduled for Thursday, February 6th at Midnight Eastern. Oh my goodness gracious. THAT’S TOMORROW! *13-year-old-girl-trembling-slash-screaming-slash fainting* And if you miss that, go on over to Net Galley and grab yourself...
February 1, 2014
Disturbing Vintage Advertisements
I love ephemera. I love getting glimpses into the past, how people thought and lived. Old advertisements are windows into Victorian and Edwardian psyches, a peek at what plagued them and what they spent their money on. I often wonder how people lived in an age when the people you loved could die of some...
October 11, 2013
Trends and What Agents Want
I just finished reading this article in Publisher’s Weekly about literary agents’ perspectives on what’s trending in the Young Adult category. The gist of the article is that Paranormal and Dystopian are out, Realistic Contemporary is in. Here’s the interesting thing about this article: The comments. Teens, high school librarians, and booksellers commented to say,...
September 15, 2013
Intelligent Romance
I got into romance editing never having read a single romance novel. But I knew a good story when I saw it, and I understood story structure, plot, and conflict. Romance is no different than any other genre—a good story is a good story. And I don’t discriminate. I’ve slowly become a fan of some...
July 12, 2013
The Writer’s Dilemma
There are so many ways to go wrong in this “novel-writing” business. I guess the question is, is it a business to you? That’s the problem, isn’t it? Writers are, generally speaking, artists. And artists must be inspired to work. They go with their gut and create things that please themselves. Artists are not business-minded...
