Rachael Johns's Blog, page 19

WINNERS!!!

Today I used www.random.org to choose the winner's of last week's two book contests.

Huge congrats to Bec (the first one who commented on Jennifer Weiner's book post), winner of Jennifer Weiner's THEN CAME YOU!!




Huge congrats to Eleri Stone, winner of Ruthie Knox's RIDE WITH ME!!


If you could email me at Rachaeljohns at gmail dot com I'll arrange for delivery of your books!

:)
Rach!

WINNER!!!

Huge congrats to Eleri Stone, winner of Ruthie Knox's RIDE WITH ME!!


Eleri - if you could email me at Rachaeljohns at gmail dot com - I'll pass on your details to Ruthie and her publisher.

:)
Rach!

Theory on Thursday with Louise Cusack

Today I have romantic fantasy author Louise Cusack visiting. Not only is Louise an award winningfantasy author whose Shadow Through Timetrilogy is about to be released by Pan Macmillan's eBook arm MomentumBooks.  She is also a highly successfulmanuscript developer, writing mentor and tutor with several clients publishedand many more winning prestigious competitions.

Louise is going to tell us a bit about her manuscript assessment service, but first, don't forget - if you haven't already done so - to read the two posts below and comment for a chance to win a book by Ruthie Knox and a book by Jennifer Weiner. Only a couple of days left to enter both.

Here's Louise...




Getting serious: Manuscript Assessment
There comes a time in every unpublishedwriter's career when they wonder what they have to do to get across the line,to get a publisher or an agent to take them on. They might have been writing for years, doing well in contests, and havecrit buddies who love their work, but still… no contract.
So what can they do?            Well if this is you and you can'tsee a way forward, you might decide to give up your dream of being published byHarlequin or Berkley or Avon and go with a smaller ePublisher or even selfpublish, not realising how challenging it is to drum up sales when you don'thave the huge distribution machinery of a big International publisher behindyou.  And while there are the rare,celebrated authors who rise from self-publishing obscurity to becomeInternational best sellers, the vast majority of authors who have long,successful careers have been published by big publishing houses.  So if you also want to go the traditionalroute, what can you do to lift the quality of your work to a standard that willexcite publishers and agents?
One way to give your career ajump-start is to have a manuscript assessment by an industry professional, andthe Australian Writers Marketplace amongother sites will give you a range of assessors to choose from.  Always query them first to see what you getfor your money, but to give you an overview I'll tell you what I do, so you cansee if an assessment might help you.  Icharge a touch under $400 for a sixty thousand word manuscript, and my clientsconsider that to be an inexpensive way to help them bridge the gap between wherethey are and where they want to be: signing a contract that delivers thousandsor even hundreds of thousands of dollars if they can create a novel publisherswill bid on.  Every business spends moneyon development, and career writers are no different. 
A good assessment can help youeliminate the craft issues that are holding you back, and clarify andstrengthen plot structure and characterisation. Every manuscript is different, but the number one flaw I see inmanuscripts is lack of tension (most often caused by a goal/motivation/conflictstructure that is unclear or not compelling). Other problems I've diagnosed in the 150 manuscripts I've assessed arestructural flaws that affect tension or pacing, characterisation weaknesses(either due to viewpoint control issues, lack of internalisations or clichédreactions) or problems with dialogue, visuals, pacing or grammar.   The most heartbreaking are manuscripts thathave been beautiful written with faultless grammar, but have either no viewpointcontrol, predictable plots or clichéd characters.  On the surface these manuscripts shine andtheir authors don't see the critical flaws that are stopping them beingpublished, so I find it very satisfying to help these talented writers uncovertheir Achilles Heel and offer direction towards overcoming it.
Knowing what isn't working ishalf the battle.  Having clear directionon how to fix the problem is vitally important as well, and that not only helpsyou edit to make your novel more saleable, it also makes you mindful of that craftissue in the next story, ensuring that each future draft is stronger.
If you'd like to check out mywebpage on manuscriptdevelopment or the rest of my writingtips website you may find something that helps you turn your good storyinto a great story, and my New Year'swish for you is that your manuscript snags the attention of a jaded publisheror agent searching for the next big thing.
Remember: Luck happens when opportunity and preparation meet.  Abig contract can happen, but you needto work to make it happen for you!

Thanks Louise - sounds really helpful! I'm curious, have any of you tried a manuscript assessor? If so, how did it work for you?

How I Got over My Sex-Scene-Writing Embarrassment with Ruthie Knox

I'm so delighted to have Ruthie Knox back on the blog today, talking about something that I think will relate to all of us who write on the spicier side of the fence. 
But before I hand over to Ruthie, I'm over at Everybody Needs A Little Romance on the 10th (US time), and I'd love some comment love - hint hint!
Oh, You Scandalous Woman!or, How I Got over My Sex-Scene-Writing Embarrassment
I recently had anappointment for my annual lady-parts checkup, and when my (female) gynecologistunfolded the stirrups and asked me to scoot my butt down to the edge of thetable, I said, "Oh, I have something interesting we can talk about for thispart! I've been writing romance novels. They're really sexy."
And somewhere in ruralOhio, the Ruthie Knox of twenty years ago keeled over and DIED.
You see, when I was ateenager, my mother was a practicing midwife. There was a pelvic model on ourdining-room table. There was, at one time, somebody's placenta in ourrefrigerator. My mom had long, involved telephone conversations with strangewomen about mucous—the private kindof mucous. And I Would Not Talk about Sex. Not with my mother, not with myfriends, not with anybody, anywhere, ever.
I did, however, read alot of sexy romance novels. I liked to thinkabout sex. I certainly assumed I would some day be having sex. It was just the whole conversation thing. The wholebeing-at-ease-with-the-fact-that-actual-human-people-have-sex thing. I couldn'thandle it.
I don't have a dramaticstory about how all of that changed. I just grew up, I guess, in the usual waythat people do. I went to a liberal college and got more comfortable with myinborn feminism, et cetera, and so on. If one wants to have sex, one needs to be able to talk about it. Particularly ifone wants to have good sex. So Ifumbled my way through the awkwardness and got over it.
But when I startedwriting romance, there was another level of discomfort to get past—a sort ofknee-jerk siren in my head that screamed SEX! SEX! YOU'RE WRITING ABOUT SEX!EVERYONE WILL READ IT AND THINK ABOUT YOU WHILE THEY'RE READING IT AND THEY'LLKNOW YOU HAVE SEX AND THEY'LL WONDER IF IT'S ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND OMIGAAAAAHD!
I'm pretty sure everyromance writer has this siren, although volume levels may vary.
Mine was remarkably easyto switch off—all it took was one person. In the early months after I startedwriting, a friend of mine said she'd love to read the manuscript that turnedout to be Ride with Me. I wasthrilled, but also extremely nervous. "There's sex in it!" I told her. And thisfriend—a wonderfully blunt woman—asked me, "You do know I've had sex, right? I've even read books with sex in them. I think I canhandle it."
So I took a deep breathand sent her the file. And then later I sent it to my parents. And after that Ilet my husband read it. And several of my friends.
And it was fine.
Getting comfortable withbeing someone who writes sex scenes for public consumption is a multistageprocess, but so is getting comfortable with sexuality generally, as a humanwoman. We get so many mixed messages about our bodies and what we're supposedto do with them, what we're supposed to wantto do with them, what we should want other people to think about them/us—it'stricky business, with a large Sidecar of Shame that threatens to slam into usif we navigate it wrong.
But it's only fictionalsex, you know? It's not like I'm killing puppies. So when I heard recently thata few of my relatives by marriage who I don't know particularly well havepreordered Ride with Me, I gulped,and then I let it go. I hope they like it! Since these relatives all havechildren, I'm going to go ahead and assume they've had sex. They can probablyhandle my smutty, romantic, monogamous novelized version. Maybe they'll evenlike it! Maybe my fictional sex will make the real, live lady parts of thesereal, live women feel happy.
Omigod.
But also, yay!
As for my gynecologist, Ileft her with my website address and a promise that I'll still come back for myannual when I'm glamorous and famous. If she's lucky, I'll autograph herstirrups.
  RUTHIE's fab debut Ride with Me is available from Loveswept on February 13, 2012!


In this fun, scorching-hot eBook original romance by RuthieKnox, a cross-country bike adventure takes a detour into unexplored passion. Asreaders will discover, Ride with Me is not about the bike!
When Lexie Marshallplaces an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find someone friendly andfun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets Tom Geiger — alean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the adventure she'sspent years planning.
Roped into the cyclingequivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn't want to ride with achatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly doesn't want to want her.Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her thighs really turns hiscrank.
Even Tom's stubborndetermination to keep Lexie at a distance can't stop a kiss from leading toendless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride ends, where willthey go next?
BIO


 Ruthie Knoxfigured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and shehasn't looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels inher bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imaginingscenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewisrecognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-classMidwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with an Englishand history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history thatshe's put to remarkably little use. These days, shewrites contemporary romance in which witty, down-to- earth characters find eachother irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet tohappen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Ruthie abhors anepilogue and insists a decent romance requires at least three good sex scenes.
GIVEAWAYOne luckycommenter will be randomly chosen to win a digital copy of Ride with Me. Good luck to all!  To win, all you have to do is let us know what you do shamelessly today that would mortify or disappoint the high school version of yourself!?
Rachael's answer - I eat Avocado!! Okay, so it's not very exciting but I despised the stuff then and now I actually quite ADORE it!!

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

This year, my good friend Penny is trying to get me to join a number of reading challenges on Goodreads. One of them is pledge to read a certain number of new-to-you authors this year. This is a bit scary to me because there are already so many authors I want to read and am unable to keep up with, however, I think the universe must be sending me a message that I must look to widen my horizon because this week I got a lovely email from Carol at Simon & Schuster offering me a copy of Jennifer Wiener's latest book THEN CAME YOU and another copy for one lucky reader of my blog.

I have never read a Jennifer Weiner novel but have only heard good things about her. This one sounds fabulous and I can't wait to read it:


With her trademark humour and tender insight Jennifer Weiner brings us the heartfelt story of four women from very different walks of life.
Drawn together – in some cases reluctantly – by one woman's quest to become a mother, the four women build a bond that will last forever.
Jules is a college student planning to use the $20,000 she will be paid for donating her eggs to save her dad from addiction.
Annie married her high school sweetheart and is a stay-at-home mother with two small boys. After years of surviving on her husband's small wage, could surrogacy give them the extra cash they need?
India, 38 (really 43) wants to bind her relationship with her older husband Marcus. But when nature fails, she turns to Jules and Annie for help.
Bettina, 23 is India's reluctant step-daughter who becomes the guardian to India's unborn child when Marcus dies and India disappears.
This timely tale interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.
Through her unforgettable, true-to-life characters, Weiner deftly reflects how the family we build round us – from strangers we meet along life's path – is often the family we are closest to.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jennifer Weiner is the international Number One bestselling author of nine novels, including Fly Away Home, Good in Bed, In Her Shoes, and Certain Girls. In Her Shoes is now an internationally acclaimed film starring Toni Collette and Cameron Diaz. A graduate of Princeton University, Jennifer is also the executive producer for the ABC America Family TV show State of Georgia. She lives in Philadelphia with her family.



To win a copy of Jennifer's book, please like me on Facebook , leave a comment on this blog telling me you've done so and also answer this question - Tell me about someone in your life who isn't legally family or blood related but who you cherish as if they were?

One random commenter will go in the draw to win a copy of THEN CAME YOU! The competition closes Friday 13th at midnight Australian EST and the winner will be announced next Saturday.

Theory on Thursday with Loretta Hill

After my Christmas and release hiatus, Theory on Thursday is back in 2012 and first up in the hot seat is fellow WA author Loretta Hill. Her book The Girl In Steel-Capped Boots released only this week. I cannot wait for my Kindle to arrive (hopefully today) so I can download Loretta's book. I don't want to wait until I head to Perth next week :) 


But what I'm really excited about is Loretta's topic for Theory on Thursday. So I'll stop rambling now and hand over to Loretta. I do hope after you've read Loretta's post, you'll stick around to discuss!



Firstly,thanks for having me on your blog Rachael. It's a real pleasure to behere.  I wanted to talk about an issuethat I stumbled over in the last couple of years and had to really nut throughbefore I could move forward with my writing. My question was, "What's the difference Between Mainstream  Commercial Women's Fiction and GenreRomance?"
I happen tobe a reader of both these genres and since forever I thought they were one andthe same thing.  They're not. If you're areader this shouldn't really matter to you. But writers need to distinguishthem so they can figure out which publisher they're supposed to be targeting.
I'm anengineer by day and for that reason I tend to like to deal in absolutes. Yes, Iknow - with writing there are no rules. So let's just call this table below a loose guide. J There are no hard and fasts here.  I've just found these characteristics to bethe case (in general) and it has helped me figure out where I fit.
Mainstream Commercial Women's Fiction Genre Romance The story is all in the heroines POV The story is in the hero and heroine POV The main plot can be anything but a romance. Ie. suspense, mystery, family saga, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, historical etc. Romance is the main plot Romance is a subplot Sub plot could be in a secondary genre. Eg. suspense, mystery, family saga, coming of age, science fiction, fantasy, historical etc. But it can also be another romance (between a different couple) The heroine's journey is the focus of the story. Her character must achieve growth by the end of the story.   Hero's journey and Heroine's journey is given equal importance in the story. The hero's journey doesn't matter, except in how it affects the heroine's journey. His growth is optional. He can be constant through the book if you like. Both hero and heroine must have grown and/or achieved change by the end of the book and their love for each other must be the catalyst for that. Secondary characters are important. Some may be given equal page time as the hero. Secondary characters are not so important.
Toillustrate, how you can stretch these rules, or push the envelope, I thoughtI'd talk about my debut novel with Random House, "The Girl in Steel-CappedBoots" freshly out in stores this month! J  
This novel fits under the category ofMainstream Commercial Women's Fiction. It is all in the heroines POV, the mainplot concerns my heroine's struggle to prove herself as a good engineer whileliving and working in the outback. There's a lot of resistance to her goal fromthe people she works with, her own troubled past and her lack of knowledge. Thegenre for my main plot, I would actually say is comedy more than anything else. It's a light hearted tale of personal growthand driving yourself to the absolute limit and just praying it works out.Here's where I pushed the envelope on the rules: the romance in this story ismore than just a subplot. When I think sub plot, I usually think maybe 30% ofthe novel. I would say I gave Dan and Lena's romance about 50%. Lena's journeyis definitely the focus of the story but Dan's love helps her to realise her ownstrength as a person, so it's valid to my main plot too, if you know what Imean.  My secondary characters are also veryimportant. Like Dan, they too contribute to Lena's self realisation, so I gavethem plenty of page time.
While "TheGirl in Steel Capped Boots" is all in Lena's POV, I have seen commercial women'sfiction with many POV's. However, usually they are other female secondarycharacters POV  rather than the heros.Sometimes there are even double or triple heroine stories. The focus is alwayson the female's journey.
Anyway, Ihope my blog has helped somebody else asking this same question. And thanksagain for having me, Rach. 
Thanks Loretta. That was VERY interesting and informative. I know this post has been really helpful for me and I can see I most definitely write genre romance!
I'd love to hear from readers about whether or not you agree with Loretta's take on Women's Fiction vs Romance and if you have anything to add. 

BLURB - The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots'Let me burst your city bubble for you. This is the Pilbara. And it's the Pilbara that makes the rules' Lena Todd is a city girl who thrives on cocktails and cappuccinos. So when her boss announces he's sending her to the outback to join a construction team, her world is turned upside down. Lena's new accommodation will be an aluminium box called a dongar. Her new social network: 350 men. Her daily foot attire: steel-capped boots. Unfortunately, Lena can't refuse. Mistakes of the past are choking her confidence. She needs to do something to right those wrongs and prove herself. Going into a remote community might just be the place to do that, if only tall, dark and obnoxious Dan didn't seem so determined to stand in her way ...

My New Year Pub Crawl

Hope you all had a fantastic New Year weekend. I went away with my gorgeous hubby and boys to visit his mother in Southern Cross (a rural/mining town in Western Australia for those who aren't from these parts).


Although not raised in the country, I've lived in a small rural community for the past seven years and there's something about being out in the bush that agrees with me, which is probably why I set JILTED - my June 2012 release - in a small country town.


 I love the fact that everyone knows everyone (although this is not always a good thing) and that you can pretty much guarantee what you'll find in a small town. These include a big oval or rec centre (country towns love their sport), a post office, a small supermarket or general store, a town hall of some kind, a service station, maybe a bank and almost always at least one pub.





My current manuscript - tentatively titled MAN DROUGHT - is also set in a small rural community. Whereas JILTED centres around the romance AND the revival of the local theatrical society, MAN DROUGHT centres around the romance and the goings-on at the local pub! There's something about country pubs that are begging for stories to be told in them. There's so much potential in these places. So today, while we traveled home, I took photos of pubs in some of the places we drove through.


My vision of the pub in MAN DROUGHT is most like the pub right above. I'm itching to get stuck back into this story and hope to finish it by the end of April but first I must finish my revisions for HOLLYWOOD HEARTBREAK!!

Goals for 2012

As I said in my post earlier this week, I make goals not resolutions. It feels like a positive step towards making my dreams come true.

Goals MUST be something that are within my control. I want to make a million dollars with my debut release is NOT within my control and probably not realistic either - lol!! But writing another book by the end of May is hopefully something I can achieve.

So here goes... my goals for 2012 for you to hold me accountable:

1) Finish rewriting Hollywood Heartbreak and sub to Carina Press.
2) Finish my new Single Title - Man Drought - edit and sub.
3) Write the second in my Hollywood series (hopefully by the time I start, I'll know whether the first has been sold).
4) Write a novella - this is something that has always terrified me, so I'm going to read lots of them before attempting one. It'll either be a themed seasonal novella or one linked to Man Drought that can maybe be a free promo.
5) Read more (it's ALWAYS on my list).
6) Re-do my website.
7) Publish my non-fiction book BREASTFEEDERS ANONYMOUS on Amazon.
8) Start a new ST to finish in 2013 :)

So, what are some of your goals for the New Year? If you've written a goal blog post, please do let me know in the comments section of this blog and I'll pop over and check yours out.

And HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!!

Books Read in 2011!

Every year I keep a list of the books, I've read. I'm always amazed by how many it numbers, and this year, more so than ever. I felt like I hardly read at all. That was the one depressing thing about writing so much and all the lovely, yummy contracts that came with deadlines this year. It meant my reading potential decreased :( In the end though, I only read 12 books less than I did last year, so I guess it wasn't too terrible. I'm hoping for a lot more in 2012 - somehow!!

Here's the 52 books I read in 2011 (with an * next to the ones that truly captivated me from start to finish):


Perfect Kate - Bec SampsonPerfect Chemistry - Simone Elkeles *Goodnight, Beautiful - Dorothy Koomson *Every Girl's Secret Fantasy - Robyn GradyBest Laid Plans - Sarah MayberryBlue Skies - Fleur McDonaldThe Undomestic Goddess - Sophie KinsellaClaudia's Big Break - Lisa Heidke *Molly Cooper's Dream Date - Barbara Hannay *St Piran's: Rescuing Pregnant Cinderella - Carol MarinelliThe Woman He Loved Before - Dorothy KoomsonShattered Sky - Helene YoungHeart of Gold - Fiona Palmer *The Ice-Cream Girls - Dorothy Koomson *Beyond Fear - Jaye Ford *A Daddy For Jacoby - Christyne ButlerGetting Even With Fran - Christine StinsonThe Man She Loves to Hate - Kelly HunterNorth Star - Karly LaneShipwrecked With Mr Wrong - Nikki LoganAddition - Toni JordanRules of Attraction -  Simone ElkelesThe Search - Nora RobertsThe Red Tent - Anita Diamant Cupcakes and Killer Heels - Heidi RiceExclusively Yours - Shannon Stacy *Undeniably Yours - Shannon StacyMeddling With The Millionaire - Cat SchieldWhen One Night Isn't Enough - Wendy MarcusRoad Signs - M.J. FrederickIt Started With A Pregnancy - Scarlet WilsonLakeshore Christmas - Susan WiggsLast Summer - Kylie LaddMarrying Daisy Bellamy - Susan Wiggs **** BEST READ OF 2011***Promises - Cathryn Hein *Secrets and Speed-dating - Leah Ashton *The Secret History of a Good Girl - Aimee CaronsSizzling Sixteen - Janet EvanovichTurn It Up - Inez KellyYoung Wives - Adele ParksTempted by Trouble - Liz FieldingLola's Secret - Monica McInerney *Summer at Willow Lake - Susan WiggsWhen Harriet Came Home - Coleen KwanIrresistible - Susan MalleryWhat Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarty *A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled HosseiniThe First Night of Christmas - Heidi RiceMistletoe and Margaritas - Shannon StaceyNowhere Else - Fiona McCallumYours to Keep - Shannon Stacey
I'd love to know some of your best reads for 2011 and maybe I'll add them to my massive, ever-growing TBR pile for 2012!!

2011 - the year that WAS!!!

At the end of each year, I make goals for the next year. Not resolutions. Sometimes I keep them, sometimes I don't but I like listing the things I want to achieve. I do find that whether big or small, if I write something down and make a commitment, I'm much more likely to achieve.


Below are the goals I set for 2011 and the result in bold!!

So my goals for 2011 are as follows (not all writing related):
*Finish my revisions for Carina Press on ''His Christmas Fairy'' and sub it. - I subbed this in February and heard on Apirl Fools Day that Carina Press wanted to BUY it!! 
*Finish my single title - I finished this in July. It was here and on Twitter known as #TheBookThatWontEnd but it actually did. It came in at 110,000 words in the end. Part way through writing it, I was actually worried I wouldn't crack 80k. 
*Write one category novel - I wrote Hollywood Heartbreak which came in at 75k (and I subbed it to Carina - I'm currently in the middle of rewrites for this book). 
*Enter a couple of contests - I entered the STALI but had to withdraw because I sold to Carina Press before the final round of judging. 
*Attend Romance Writers of Australia conf in Melbourne - I certainly did and as usual, I loved EVERY MINUTE of it! Particular highlights were catching up with my best writing buds, meeting Angela James and going to the Harlequin Author dinner. 
*Read lots and analyse the books as I go - I'm not sure I can tick this one off. Reading has unfortunately been sacrificed with the advent of deadlines in my life.
*Join the gym again and tone up - Um... does going four times to PUMP aerobics and starting Couch to 5k THREE different times count? FAIL!!!
*Spend some more quality time with my hubby - hanging my head in shame cos I'm not sure I achieved this one either. It's been a mad year business and writing wise and my poor man has probably suffered neglect. Hey, the good intention was there!
So that's me. I hope you feel happy with what you achieved in 2011. In the next couple of days, I'll be drafting my goals for 2012 and posting them to my blog. Please let me know if you do the same!!