Judith Post's Blog, page 99

An Ode to Food, and Back to Routine

Happy New Year!  I don’t know about other people, but I’m ready for a fresh start and a new year.  2016 was a full, busy year with more “events” than usual.  Our grandson Tyler graduated from IU in May, then he traveled for a while before starting a new job in Indianapolis in June.  Our Friday night friends moved to Carolina in June, and now I picture them playing in sunshine.  I broke my leg on June 17th and that pretty much blew my plans for the summer.  My life revolved around physical therapy and lots and lots of TLC from friends–I’m one lucky person. Then our grandson Nate joined the marines, stayed with us to do Thursday night training sessions in town, and then shipped out for boot camp in early December.  He couldn’t wait to go.  I wasn’t quite so gung-ho to lose him right before Christmas, but he was ready to prove himself.  I get that.  And inbetween all of it, I wrote.  That’s what I love about writing.  It’s “my” space, my place to go when routines crash and fall around me.  Writing can be flexible, so I met all of my deadlines.   It was nice to end 2016 on high notes, but I’m still ready for 2017!

The high notes?  My daughter and grandson came to stay with us from Friday, December 23, to late afternoon on Tuesday, December 26, and all I concentrated on was lots of good food and lots of time to visit.  No work.  No “office hours.”  With my cane and the butcher block in the center of our small kitchen, I can cook like a crazy woman, as long as I remember to stop and ice my leg in the middle of the day.  And I love cooking, especially with my daughters (except Robyn and Scott couldn’t make it this year)!

Now, my romances mention lots of food, because cooking is such a passion of mine.  And for me, the holidays revolve around food, so this next part of my blog is a blatant tribute to wonderful recipes.  Holly and Tyler both love Thai food, so I made my version of Nigella Lawson’s Thai yellow pumpkin and seafood curry to put over rice for their first supper at home.  My hubs has always insisted on a “fancy” supper, with all of us together, on Christmas Eve, so Holly and I made desserts for Christmas dinner early on Saturday to get them done ahead of time, and then I made The Pioneer Woman’s Steak Oscar for supper.  (Holly loves to try new recipes as much as I do.  Steak Oscar was a HUGE hit, and if you want to impress, this does it!)  For Christmas, I made “the big-ass ham” (20 pounds) that John won at the Legion, and I glazed it with The Pioneer Woman’s red raspberry/dijon mustard glaze.  I took an extra mason jar of the glaze to my sisters’ house, and they wouldn’t let me bring it home, so I know it was a hit.  And I highly recommend Marcela’s slab apple pie (from foodtv’s The Kitchen): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/marcela-valladolid/apple-slab-pie.html.

Aside from food, we watched a movie every night Holly and Ty were here–something unusual for us, but boy, did we enjoy it.  We were all in the mood for low-key this year.  I picked first: The Magnificent Seven.  I mean, it’s a Western, and it has Chris Pratt in it. How bad can that be?  Holly picked The Secret Life of Pets–just silly fun.  And Ty picked the new Jason Bourne movie with lots of action.  Then it was time for Holly and Ty to drive back to Indy and jobs and the real world.  I finished reading The Help, and John and I rented that movie and loved it.

I got a smidgeon of work done until New Year’s Eve, but nothing to brag about.  And tomorrow, it’s time for me to hit the real world again, too.  Time to get up and write again.  And I’m ready.  It’s fun to play, but it’s great to get back to routine again.  I’m ready to hit 2017 running…Okay, limping, but with purpose.  Hope your holidays were wonderful, and have a great, new, fresh year!

 

Last Chapter’s Up!

The last chapter for Babet and Prosper’s short story is up.  I usually post a new blog on the weekend, but Saturdays’s Christmas Eve and Sunday’s Christmas, and our daughter and grandson will be here, staying for the holiday.  Therefore….I’m going to wish you happy holidays now.  Christmas and Hanukkah are close together this year.  Whichever you celebrate, I hope it’s joyous and bright!  All the best and happy writing!

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Kristen Lamb tells it like it is!

If you’re serious about selling your writing and having a career, Kristen Lamb’s post today gets down to the nitty gritty.  Worth reading.  Here’s the link:  https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2016/12/19/the-hard-truth-about-publishing-what-writers-readers-need-to-know/#like-20613

 

Also, just a reminder that Kristen Lamb will be in Indianapolis in April 2017:

https://www.rwa.org/p/cm/ld/fid=2012

 

The Hard Truth About Publishing—What Writers & Readers NEED to Know

Today, dear newbies. I am going to take you on a tour behind the curtain. Also for those who are NOT newbies, feel free to pass this to family in a “Take Your Clueless Friends Who Think You W…

Source: The Hard Truth About Publishing—What Writers & Readers NEED to Know

Nothing’s simple

You know, when I first started writing, it was a hobby.  I was serious about it, because I don’t seem to be able to do something half-ass that I care about, but I really didn’t expect much to come of it.  In the beginning–before God created computers and editing was a pain in the rear end–before you could move paragraphs and add and delete by hitting a button–I wrote short stories and writing was about having fun.  Writing is STILL fun for me.  Yes, it’s work.  Yes, it takes commitment.  But doggone, it’s fun to get inside other peoples’ heads and make their stories come to life.

I still love writing and writers.  But as soon as you go to your first writers’ conference, the rules change.  You don’t just think of a story you want to write, but now, you think about markets.  What are the odds that my story will sell to X market?   What are editors looking for?  I was horrible at marketing for a LONG time, because I wanted to write…what I wanted to write.  And guess what?  No one was buying it.  Did I care?  Not really.  Not until I got serious about getting a book in front of readers.

That’s when I got serious about what was selling.  And that’s when I learned that when I tried to write for the market, I was always a few years behind.  By the time I decided to switch from cozy mysteries to serial killers, that market was glutted.  I have to say, though, writing two books with really creepy villains was one heck of a lot of fun…and it taught me a lot.  Next, I tried a couple of mixed genre books, and that’s when I learned that those don’t have a prayer in the publishing world.  Publishers like books that can be stuck in an easily definable slot.  When they have to ask, “How would I market this–as mystery, supernatural, horror?”–kiss your sales goodbye.

About that time is when I met Anna Genoese at Tor, and she asked me for an urban fantasy novel.  It’s risky to write something when you’re not sure what it is.  But yes, you guessed it, it’s pretty damned much fun!  By the time I figured out what the market was, it was already glutted.  Windows of opportunity don’t stay open very long.  But FABRIC OF LIFE, my “sort of” urban fantasy, got me my agent–the wonderful Lauren Abramo.  And when we realized that writing urban fantasy was beating a dead horse, she suggested I try romance.  As you can tell, I’ve never shied away from trying something new, so the Mill Pond romances came into being.

There HAVE to be smarter, quicker ways to reach your goals, but I don’t know what they are.  I didn’t try them.  A lot of my friends didn’t either.  I belong to a writers’ club, and it pains me how much talent so many of our members have.  We’re so diverse, and so GOOD. But publishing is no easier than taking a bus to Hollywood and expecting to be a star.  It takes work and perseverance.  And you suffer lots of disappointment.  It’s HARD.  But if you’re doing what you love to do, it’s WORTH it!

I used to attend workshops where the SELLING writers would say, “If your work’s good enough, it will find a home.”  Bull pucky!  The odds are against you.  Know that.  Know the markets.  And you’ll do better if you know how to promote yourself.  Crappy writers can become bestsellers.  Great writers can be ignored.  So realize that writing is a business. The inventor of the hula hoop probably made more money than a lot of his fellow inventors. Part of selling is luck.  Part is providing what people want.  There are no guarantees.  So, if nothing else, enjoy yourself!  Love what you do.  And happy writing!

 

 

Chapter 3’s up!

Babet’s not getting a good start to her holidays.  And this chapter makes them even worse.

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Girls are NOT sugar and spice

I wrote a blog a while ago about character flaws.  Something I don’t think about much.  I think of strengths and weaknesses–what are you good at, prone to, and what do you have to work at, try to avoid?  But maybe your weaknesses would be your flaws?  Or maybe your flaws are the things you want, but shouldn’t have?  The things you give in to?  Your temptations?  The bad choices you WANT to make and try to avoid?  Any opinions?  When you think of a character, how do you see him?  What do you consider his/her flaw?  I’d love to hear about a character you wrote and what his/her flaw was, how it affected your book.

I was thinking about a character that Julia Donner wrote in her Friendship Regency series. In the book Lord Carnall and Miss Innocent–an exaggeration of their personalities, but a fun one–Donner introduced two characters who sometimes care TOO much.  Can that be a flaw?  Is too much of a good thing a flaw?  Lord Carnall will move mountains to help his two, younger sisters.  That’s why he enrolls them in the private school run by Ana Worth.  And Ana?  She’s trying to keep her selfish, absorbed brother free from scandal, at the risk of going bankrupt herself.  On the surface, both characters have noble goals, and self-sacrifice CAN be a good thing, but when is enough–enough?  And when Donner wrote these two, awesomely wonderful people, did she consider the things that made me love them to also be their flaws?  When you start writing a book, do you list each character’s flaw?  Does that help you?

In Donner’s book, Ana is a deeply caring and giving person, but she is NOT sugar and spice.  I can’t think of any woman in literature who is.  Not even children, if the author portrays them realistically.  I have two daughters, and neither of them were the dolls and tea party type girls.  I bought them Barbies for their birthdays, and they painted them with red paint (for blood dripping down them) and hung them from the basement rafters to make a Halloween haunted house.  I was pretty impressed, but then, I wasn’t very girly myself as a kid.

Most characters, if readers are supposed to empathize with them, have strengths and convictions and care about something enough to struggle hard to achieve it.  And since books thrive on conflict, something always stands in their way–sometimes that something is their own flaws.  Usually, characters have to grow to solve their problems.  Sucky, right?  But pretty true to life.  No one gets off easy in fiction…male or female.  So, who is one of your favorite characters in fiction?  And what do you see as his/her flaw?  And if you’re a writer, do you think the flaw you chose for your character is the flaw readers see when they read your book?

I’d love comments and feedback.  And since it’s getting cold and ugly outside, hope you can hibernate a little more, and happy writing or reading!

Link for Lord Carnall and Miss Innocent:  https://www.amazon.com/Lord-Carnall-Miss-Innocent-Friendhip-ebook/dp/B01A8T71J0/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1481401696&sr=1-6&keywords=julia+donner

My author Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudiLynnwrites/

My webpage (with a snippet):  http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

On twitter:  @judypost

 

Chapter 2’s up!

This Thursday’s going to be as busy as last Thursday, so I’m posting chapter two today to make sure it goes up on time.  Tomorrow is my very last therapy session for my broken leg. I almost have full range of movement and it’s stronger, thanks to my therapists, so I’m taking them snacks tomorrow for my last day.  They’ve put up with me since July and they’re all awesome!  Anyway, here’s the link for the chapter.  Hope you enjoy!

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

Moving Forward

It’s December, and I’m not as far in writing my book as I meant to be.  I’m not as far at ANYTHING as I meant to be.  This year has sort of gotten away from me.  My broken leg didn’t help.  It’s cost me a lot of time, but next week, I have therapy on Monday and Thursday, and those are my last sessions.  I love my therapists.  Every single one of them at the clinic is awesome.  I’ll miss them.  I won’t miss the actual therapy:)  It never feels good, and it’s really cut into my writing time.  It’s made my leg better and stronger, but I thought I’d be skipping through the back yard by now, which made my therapist laugh. She advised me to just keep doing my exercises and getting better with my cane.  She said it’s going to be a long, slow process and that I probably won’t be feeling frisky again until next August.  She reminded me that I’ve come a long way, and I just need to be patient.

I hate being patient.  Hate waiting.  But I’m doing the same thing with my writing.  When I got a book contract and a publisher, I did a happy dance.  And my editor John Scognamiglio and all of the people who work with me at Kensington/Lyrical Shine are wonderful. They’ve done a fantastic job of promoting my books, but I’m still not a best-selling author.  I knew it would take work as a self-published author, but with a publisher behind me, why aren’t I selling more?  Because my agent and editor both told me that building name recognition takes TIME.  A fellow writer told me that she didn’t really start selling until she published her fifth book in a series.  Another writer told me her books didn’t take off until she published her seventh humorous romance, that she had to build an audience.  Aargh!  I’ve come a long way, but I have a long way to go.  Just like my leg.

Writers tend to think of agents and editors as enemies when they don’t have them, but if you’re lucky enough to get good ones, they’re willing to stick in there and help you grow. They know how the business works, and they actually DO care about writers.  They’re serious about books and authors.  They’re willing to invest time and energy in them, even when they’re buried under manuscripts and slush pile pages.  Most people in publishing are over-worked!  I’ve just published romance number three, so I’ve sort of come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to be an instant success.  Most people aren’t.  I’ve never been instantly wonderful at anything, and I guess writing shouldn’t be an exception.  But I’m making progress.  I’m moving forward. I’m working on romance number six right now.  And someday, I hope I have name recognition, that people look forward to buying my next books.

Wherever you are in your life, in what you’re striving for, have a great December!  Judy

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JudiLynnwrites/

@judypost

Not your typical holiday story

I just wanted to let you know that I posted the first chapter of a holiday story on my webpage.  I’ve missed Babet and Prosper, so my present to me was to write an urban fantasy with them as the main characters.  Instead of Christmas carols and cookies, though, the story that came to me is a bit on the gory side.  Sorry about that, but hope you like it anyway!  I love comments.  Check back next Thursday for chapter 2.

http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/