Lisa Renee Jones's Blog, page 174

Cathryn Fox aka half of the Taylor Keating writing team shares her workspace!

Welcome to our first day of sharing author favorite work places. You will see offices, favorite chairs, coffee shops and even our favorite furry friends who inspire us while we write.

A quick reminder that the Rhyannon Byrd and Kate Douglas contests will end at noon. I will post winners later in the day.

Today's prize is a beautiful crystal snowflake ornament. I couldn't get a good shot of it but its really really pretty. Just comment to get your chance to win.

You can visit Cathy Cathrynfox.com or Taylorkeating.com

Cathy lives off the gorgeous Canada coast.



Below is a picture from Peggy's Cove at Sunset near her home! This is what I call inspiration.

And now you have Cathy's office with her husband testing out her desk:)

And her awesome bookshelf!

So where do you read or write, or just enjoy books! I know I have many places. The joy of holding a cup of coffee while I walk the bookstore and drool over the books is just a little piece of heaven to me. How about you?

Kate Douglas 'the call' her writing journey

First and foremost BIG HUGE congrats to Kate on her RT nomination for Lifetime Achievement award which is SO deserved!

Kate is giving away a Bumper dog which is adorable. One commenter gets this cut pup! I'll leave this contest open until Monday as well.

Kate plans to stop by today — Friday as well. And yes this post is all in bold. Sorry folks. I cannot get the bold to come off and I've given up after many tries, in acceptance of my not so hot technical skills:(

Kate's writing journey…

Way back in 1976 I read my first Harlequin Romance. It was Leopard in the Snow by Anne Mather. I still remember that book, not so much for the content but for the light bulb flash of inspiration that I, too, could write a romance.

Some day, when the kids were older.



By 1984 my babies were rotten little kids with lives of their own and I was free to indulge myself in that secret dream I'd carried for almost ten years.

I started my first book.

I still have it—Rite of Passage. It's horrible. It's filled with every conceivable romance cliché, but it's category length and has a beginning, a middle and an end. What it doesn't have is a cohesive plot, decent dialogue or anything remotely resembling proper point of view, but it's still a book and it's all mine. I entered the first three chapters—all I had completed at the time—in a contest in the mid-1980s and won first place. Obviously I was on my way to a fulfilling career as a rich and famous romance author.

Right. The first place plaque is practically an antique. Almost thirty years later, I'm beginning to see the glimmer of success, but the rich and famous part is still around that ever-evolving corner.

I was a newspaper reporter during the '80s, and my creative juices went into stories about drug busts, forest fires and high school football games. Still, the dream persisted and I finally finished writing my book and started submitting it to New York publishers. When I say I could wallpaper my office with the rejections I received, I'm not exaggerating. My files are a "who's who" of the romance publishing industry in the late 1980s through mid 1990s, and not a single one of those wonderful editors wanted my story. The advice was always the same—write the best story you can write. Write your own story, the story of your heart.

I thought that's what I was doing.

Obviously, I needed help if I was ever going to reach my Holy Grail—that elusive New York publishing contract. I joined Romance Writers of America, entered more contests, read everything I could on writing novels, took creative writing classes and continued collecting rejections. I put the first book away and wrote a second, then a third. My writing grew stronger with each attempt, as did my ability to handle rejection from every editor on the face of the planet.

The reasons they gave for rejecting my stories were varied, but most of them could be listed under the "not what we're looking for at this time" category. A few editors asked me to revise and resubmit, but that's as far as I got. I told myself they weren't rejecting me, merely this or that particular story, but that didn't make it any easier to file the letters in my fat little folder. One thing I didn't do, however, was quit. I kept writing. I kept submitting and I kept improving my craft. I found critique partners who had strengths where I was weak. I trusted their skills. I listened and learned.

I continued to write. I continued submitting my stories.

I continued filing the rejections, one after the other.

Then I discovered epublishing in 1998—long before most folks knew what an ebook was—and suddenly I had a book coming out. Of course, the problem then was answering the "So, when are you going to write a real book?" question, but I didn't really care. I was published, I was getting terrific reviews and suddenly, much to my surprise, I got an agent—Jessica Faust of the—then new—agency, BookEnds LLC. Obviously, success was right around the corner—New York, mass market publication here I come!

Or not.

I began to stretch, writing stories that were more involved, a little bit hotter, a whole lot edgier—more along the lines of the kinds of books I really wanted to read. Late in the year 2000 I discovered Ellora's Cave and realized I'd found my match—a publisher who wanted the edgy, sexy stories I'd been writing. The company might be located in Ohio, not New York, but I finally felt as if I'd found my spot in the writing world. A couple years later I added Changeling Press and Loose Id to my résumé, both small presses publishing stories for the growing online erotic romance audience. To my surprise, at some point during the year I realized that New York contract had ceased being my Holy Grail.

I loved what I was doing and felt comfortable in my niche, writing very successful paranormal and s/f series for both Ellora's Cave and Changeling Press. New York was perfectly welcome to reject someone else.

What's that saying? Ah, yes…don't get too comfortable. I sent my epublished serial, Wolf Tales, (which had its origins as a "freebie" for readers on a chat list) to my agent. In spite of my overwhelming lack of success, she hadn't dumped me by the side of the road and I thought the kinky, sexy, romantic series I was currently writing for Changeling Press would, if it didn't frighten Jessica away altogether, possibly shock some unsuspecting editor into an acceptance.

Hopefully, Kensington editor Audrey LaFehr has fully recovered from that first read. Imagine my surprise when the series I wrote for myself, the stories I had never expected to see in print, found a home with Kensington Books. Though the entire process still has a surrealistic feel to it, I am absolutely thrilled to say that twenty years of writing, of critique groups, writers' conferences, seminars and classes have finally resolved themselves into my own, personal success story. Not overnight or even close, but I wouldn't trade the journey for anything.

When you love writing, when you love the words—the process as much as the finished product—it comes down to a very simple truth. The New York contract isn't the Holy Grail. The Grail is not the advance or even the royalty checks. Writing—the process, the personal growth, the overall mind-blowing experience of writing—is what makes it all worthwhile. When I allowed the quest for a NY contract to become more important than the process of creation, I failed.

When I wrote the stories I wanted to write, the way I wanted to write them, when I finally stayed on a path that led to my own satisfaction, the Grail fell softly into my lap. And, rocky road or not, it's my road and I feel privileged to continue to travel it.

Visit Kate at : www.Katedouglas.com

The Rhyannon Byrd contest is still open until Monday — win six signed books! http://www.lisareneejones.com/2010/11/03/win-a-copy-of-all-of-the-rhyannon-byrd-primal-insticts-series-6-signed-books/

Also– be sure to come by this weekend because I have some amazing guests. And next week we will start sharing pictures of work areas. Fun stuff!

Big contest going on!

I have some amazing authors at my site telling their 'call' stories and doing giveaways. I hope you will stop by!

www.lisareneejones.com

Win a copy of all of the Rhyannon Byrd Primal Insticts series! 6 signed books!

***Note Nancy Gideon Contest open until Friday at noon! Shiloh Walker winner already live and posted!

First — congrats to Rhyannon for her RT Nomination in the paranormal catagory!

THIS POST WILL BE LIVE THROUGH MONDAY! I will pick a winner on Monday. How do you win? Post a comment here after going to Rhyannon's website and tell me what hero sounds the most exciting and why. Or what hero form her books you've already read you loved the most.



The prize is awesome! I am a big Rhyannon fan. I love her hot alpha men so and smooth sultry writing so I just had to make this contest about her men:)

Win A Signed set of my Primal Instinct series

Oh yes! All six books! How sweet is that!!! Now you know I am going to make you work for this because this is just an awesome prize!

Now onward to the call story!

Getting the Call…

by Rhyannon Byrd

I've often heard authors say that their first big break in publishing came down to timing and luck, and that's exactly how it happened for me. After writing with a wonderful group of authors at Ellora's Cave for several years, a fellow author passed my name along to Deidre Knight. (For which I will always be eternally grateful!!) I was so twisted up with nerves, I'm surprised I was able to write a single word, but I somehow managed to put together a proposal for a new paranormal series about a group of guys who were part werewolf, part human. Deidre knew that Harlequin was looking for stories for their new paranormal line, Nocturne, and she immediately sent the proposal to Ann Leslie Tuttle, thinking the series would be a good fit. The timing was…well, perfect, and the next thing I knew I was writing the Bloodrunners series. It all happened in a whirlwind of excitement…and five years later, I'm currently working on Rush of Darkness, the seventh book in my Primal Instinct series. This is the eleventh book I've written for Harlequin, and I feel so blessed to work for such an amazing company.

Now let the comments begin!

Visit http://www.rhyannonbyrd.com/

Welcome Nancy Gideon for her 'CALL' story

Welcome to Nancy Gideon! Nancy is giving away a copy of CAPTURED BY MOONLIGHT today. Thees stories are wonderful and the covers — hubba hubba!



Contest runs noon to noon mountain time. I am leaving Shiloh Walker's contest up until tomorrow at noon as well so tab down for a chance to win. I'll post the Julie Leto contest winner by end of day today.

Reply to the post, ask Nancy a question, drool over her amazing covers. Whatever you want to comment about — but a comment is a chance to win.

Onward to Nancy Gideon!

THE CALL! Writers dream about it, fixate on it, angst during the wait for it.

When my CALL came, I didn't have a name for it. Back in mid-1980, I was an isolated and painfully ignorant writer, unaware of any other authors in my state, let alone in my area. I'd never even spoken to anyone who'd published a book. I had no support system, no writers' group or organization to encourage me or give me information. There was no Internet. There was me, a Smith Corona typewriter, correction tape, and the Fiction Writers Market 1982.

I'd written my first novel, a mammoth historical tome (by hand) and laboriously typed it out. After paging through Writers Market, I sent out a scatter shot of queries…some to publishers who didn't even buy romance. Most came zinging back, but one editor miraculously wanted to see the entire book. I quickly typed up those 600 pages and sent it out. No surprise, six months later, a form rejection came back with that dog-eared manuscript (still under my bed in its original box, but at least it had been read!)

Bruised by that first experience, I continued to write, but couldn't get up the courage to submit again until I'd written another three full manuscripts while a stay-at-home mom with a two year old underfoot. About that time my husband demanded to know why I was wasting so much time on my writing 'hobby' (probably why he's now my ex!). Determined to make it more than a 'hobby,' I went through the completed books and picked the one I felt was the strongest, an historical set during the Regency period, to send off to New York. I got a letter back from Zebra Books a week later asking for the whole manuscript which, of course, wasn't typed. A lot of correction tape later, I packaged it up, went to the post office, and then got on with things. The last submission had taken six months so I wasn't expecting a response any time soon.

Two weeks later, my two year old and I were outside on the porch when I got a call. I was teaching him how to answer the phone so I let him answer and soon he was chatting away happily. When I asked who it was, he told me it was Grammy. After listening for a minute, I got suspicious. It didn't sound like he was talking to my mom. When I asked again, he told me the same thing. When I asked for the phone, he wouldn't give it to me. So, a typical parent/two year old discussion ensued, me trying to grab the phone, him screaming and trying to hold onto it. Finally, I wrestled it away from him to say Hello and a rather amused voice replied, "This is Carin Ritter from Zebra. I'm calling to buy your book."

My two year old was still shrieking like I was skinning him up with a potato peeler. My mind unable to process what I'd just heard over the incredible noise, I asked politely if she could call me back in five minutes so I could shut my son in a closet. After I hung up, I just stood there thinking, no way this woman is ever going to call me back. My writing career was over before it had even started!

Well, she did call back to buy the book Sweet Tempest for Zebra's Regency line (I didn't even know they HAD a Regency line) and to go over contract terms. Percentages, reversion rights, who knew? Who cared? I would have agreed to anything…including signing over my first born. (Not that she would have taken him with that set of lungs!) Details were a blur. I was going to be published! Then she asked if I had anything else I could send her.

Hmmm, just so happens I did!

I learned two important lessons from that phone call: Be prepared and always have something else ready. Make that three things. Editors do have a sense of humor.

Those lessons in mind when, 50 books later, I got THE CALL to negotiate my contract for the first three installments of my dark paranormal series with Pocket Books, I'd done my homework and had a list made of the terms I wanted, of the questions I needed to ask, AND I had a book four ready to go with outlines for two more (which have since been sold!). I did answer my own phone for that call.

And the only shrieking to be heard was mine.

Nancy Gideon is the author of over 50 romance novels in genres from historical and series suspense to paranormal. Currently she's writing a dark shape-shifter series, BY MOONLIGHT, for Pocket Books with the next installments slated for August and December 2011. Listed on the International Movie Database for her horror screenplays and brief appearance in the unforgettable role of 'bar extra,' she has a love of all things spooky. When not at the keyboard, she works full time as a legal assistant and feeds her addiction for travel and Netflix. Find out more at : http://nancygideon.com.

Welcome Shiloh Walker to share her 'call'

Tracy K is the winner! Email me at lisarenjones@aol.com with your address.

Today we have a really fun story from the super talented Shiloh Walker.

Prizes — a choice of :

-a download of HEALER AND PROTECTOR

-A download of HIDDEN INSTINCTS

-for Wrapped in seduction and SANTA BABY

-Sexy Beast 9

Just comment for your chance to win!

Also this contest will run until NOON on THURSDAY. And I am leaving JULIE LETO open for comments — your chance to win a prize — until noon tomorrow.



Onward to Shiloh! This is such a COOL story!

My Call…



So I've kind of got two call stories, but I always tell my second one, because it's the one that's the most fun, because it was completely unexpected.

It came when I'd already been published with Ellora's Cave and at the time, I hadn't had any firm plans to branch out. I wanted to do so sooner or later, just wasn't sure when.

I was sitting at my desk and a message popped on my Yahoo IM from Lora Leigh. It read:

You need to call Angela Knight.

I read it, frowned and asked her:

Why? What did I do now?

Her response:

Just CALL her. Here's her number.

But I'm stubborn and I'm nosy and I want to know why I'm supposed to be calling somebody. Finally, she types:

Give me your number.

Of course, she has my number, but we're both really good at losing that sort of thing. I give it to her, twenty seconds later, the phone rings, and she's practically laughing as she yells, "Damn it, Shiloh, would you just call her? Now?"

"Um… is this a good sort of thing?"

"Oh, yes. Call her."

So her excitement is kind of rubbing off on me. I hang up. Call Angela Knight.



"Hi, Shiloh…so Cindy Hwang is trying to get a hold of you but your email is bouncing."

My heart stops. Cindy Hwang—I know this name. She edits for Berkley. She's like a major editor at Berkley. But why is she trying to get a hold of me?

"Um… Cindy Hwang?" I asked.

"Yes. I've got her phone number and email. Can you get in touch with her?"

I squeaked out something that must have resembled yes. Then I hang up. It's Sunday. But I don't let that stop me from calling the number Angela had given me. I also emailed. Just to be sure.

Monday morning, I waited on pins and needles. Halfway through the morning, the phone rings. Caller ID shows me it's a New York number.

I answer.

"Hi, may I speak to Shiloh Walker?"

"This is her."

"Hi… this is Cindy Hwang, I'm an editor at Berkley—"

Me, being oh so suave and polite, interrupt her and go, "I know who you are."

She laughs. "Oh, good. I've been trying to get a hold of you through your email but it's bouncing. I'm putting together an anthology and was wondering if you'd be interested in doing a paranormal novella for me…"

Again, my heart just about stops.

But my mouth didn't. "I can do that."

I barely remember much of the conversation after that. And I made sure I kept my .com email addy cleared out better from then on out.

Shiloh Walker

http://shilohwalker.com

Let the commenting and prize winning begin!

Also — I'm at the Casablanca blog for the first time today here:

http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/

And I'll be blogging at www.dangerwomenwriting.com about the new Eve Silver series as well.

Welcome Julie Leto!

Today's and contest will be live until tomorrow NOON MOUNTAIN TIME. The prize is AWAKENING THE BEAST ANTHOLOGY and your choice of Sexy Beast 9 — NAUGHTY BITS 2- — WRAPPED IN SEDUCTION.

So to win just comment about Julie's story or go to her website and ask a question or give a comment about one of her books!



Winners of the last two days contests are bring posted today as well by 1pm Mountain Time.

Onward to the talented JULIE LETO:

On a sultry November night in 1987, a friend and I were out celebrating her birthday when she suggested we write a romance novels together. We plotted our brilliant story on the paper tablecloth at the restaurant where we were drinking way too much White Zinfandel. The next day, even sober, the story still appealed to us, so we started to write. Over the course of the next 3 years or so, we wrote two historical romances together, submitted them and had them soundly rejected by agents and editors alike.

Then my friend lost interest in writing as a career and quit, but I kept going. I dabbled with a few more historical ideas, then completed a manuscript for a paranormal romance (this was around 1992, far ahead of the current trend) that came very close to selling in that I completed 13 single-spaced revisions for an editor before receiving a form rejection. (In my defense, the line, Silhouette Shadows, folded shortly thereafter and the editor left editing…still, it was a blow.)

After that, I wrote so many proposals and queries I can't even count them, but I'd kind of lost my direction. After meeting Brenda Chin, then just an editorial assistant for Temptation, I realized by problem was that I was writing in the wrong genre–I needed to write sexy, contemporary romances. So I did. Since I was now working full time as a high school English teacher (in Catholic schools, no less) this process of writing, submitting, revising, submitting, revising again, etc., took me about two years. Finally, Brenda (who was now an assistant editor, but still did not have the authority to buy a book for Temptation without approval) told me she thought the book was ready for prime-time. She just had to convince the Powers That Be at HQ of that.

By this time, I'd changed careers. While I adored teaching, it sucked so much creativity out of me that by the end of the day, I couldn't write. I went to work as a receptionist/secretary at my family's manufacturing business, working mostly for my father and oldest brother. (Just let me say here–DREAM job!) Everyone in the office–even those not related to me–knew about my writing ambitions and understood how close I'd finally gotten to reaching my dream. I knew Brenda would be calling soon with the news–yea or nay–so I had Post-it notes on the phones of everyone in the office (if I was away from my desk, anyone else could answer the switchboard) that said "IF BRENDA CHIN CALLS, FIND JULIE OR DIE."

Finally, the call came. I don't think I answered the phone that day–I'm pretty sure one of the other secretaries found me under threat of death. However, as my desk was in an open area, I darted into the conference room to take the call. Shortly after I said, "Hello?" the conference door opened and my entire family spilled into the room: my father, mother, and all three brothers. They were trying to contain their excitement–and I was hoping like hell that Brenda wasn't going to reject me in front of a crowd. In my hand, I was cluctching a piece of paper I'd created (purse size) months before that detailed all the aspects of the Harlequin contract that I intended to negotiate, along with notes on what I wanted instead. I was that hopeful! And Brenda didn't prove me wrong. Despite the commotion, she offered to buy the book and I accepted.

There was some screaming and celebrating and then my family, who understood that business comes first, left quickly so I could negotiate. Brenda kept asking if I wanted to think about it and call her back, but I wouldn't! We talked details and after about a week or so (there were some hiccups regarding Harlequin's ownership of pen names back then and the fact that they wanted me to take one and I wouldn't unless I could own it) but in the end, it worked out and in March of 1997, nearly 9-1/2 years since that first night at the restaurant, I sold my first book. I credit Brenda with being my greatest advocate–a role she has not relinquished. I've since written and published over 40 books and to Brenda, I was offered a place in the launch of the Blaze line, which led to my first offer from another publisher to write a single title, which led to my getting an agent. I've written for three single title houses now, but I still always write for Brenda and Blaze, too.

Next August, Blaze is celebrating its 10th anniversary next August! And yes, I have a book coming out in the anniversary month, the start of my first three book series within the line.

It's been a long road, but a wonderful one!

Julie

HARD TO HOLD, September 2010

From NY Times Bestseller Julie Leto

http://www.julieleto.com

http://www.plotmonkeys.com (blog)

Welcome Jennifer Haymore to share her call story!

Lindy is our winner. Email me at lisarenjones@aol.com Congrats!

Welcome and happy Saturday. I am going to leave Elisabeth's post and all the weekend posts open until Monday at noon for comments and a chance to win the prizes. So comment and fingers cross you get lucky. Today's prize is a copy of Naughty Bits 2 and Wrapped in Seduction. All you have to do to get a chance to win is tell us something you plan to do this holiday season OR simply comment on Jennifer's call story!

And remember posts run on Mountain Time so Monday at noon MONDAY time.

Now onward to the fun! Welcome Jennifer!

My agent had spent six months trying to sell my Regency romance manuscript. We got some really good feedback and a very close "almost," but I was starting to have the feeling that this wasn't "the" book. I was sad about that, but I wasn't going to let it keep me down. I brainstormed the idea for a second Regency—this one with a more edgy, controversial edge to it. I called it "Tangled Hearts." I sent it to my agent and was shocked when she said she was going to submit it right away! At best, I'd expected her to ask me to write the whole thing and then send it to her again.

It was the Christmas season, and a couple of weeks after my agent started shopping the book, my husband, who was getting ready for work, picked up the phone. I'd been at my computer slogging through emails, drinking coffee, and thinking about all the things I had to do for the holidays.

"It's Barbara!" my husband whispered. He had a really goofy look on his face, and my heartbeat suddenly was going about a million miles an hour.

I took the phone from him and said a breathy, "Hello?"

My agent said something completely incomprehensible. To this day, I have no idea what it was.

"Huh?" I said. (That's me…always good with words!)

My husband was totally hovering over me, mouthing, "Did you sell? Did you sell?" I tried to ignore him, because really, in times of great emotion, I can't multitask!



My agent said something again. I don't remember her words, but I remember she spoke very slowly and carefully and said something like this: "You. Have. An. Offer. For. Tangled. Hearts."

"No," I said. "I do not."

It took her a while to convince me that I actually did have an offer from a real publisher.

I babbled to my agent for a while, but I didn't really think I took in anything except for the fact that someone actually wanted to pay me to be a writer! I was jumping around the upstairs of our house in a random pattern. My kids were downstairs and totally clueless, but my husband was jumping along with me. Barbara gave me the details and we got off the phone. I was so shaky and giddy I couldn't sit down for at least an hour after that!

After a week or so, I was able to tell the world, and it was the most exciting December ever. I'd kept my writer identity a secret from almost everyone, and I really told everyone, including my friends, many of whom had no idea that I had this secret passion. TANGLED HEARTS turned into A HINT OF WICKED, my 2009 release. I'm now a full-time writer–what a crazy ride my life has been since the call!

Visit Jennifer at http://www.jenniferhaymore.com/

Welcome Elisabeth Naughton as she shares her 'call story'

Gabrielle is our winner. Email me your address at lisarenjones@aol.com Congrats!

Welcome to the very talented Elisabeth Naughton who is now also a Sourebooks author and my release buddy in October 2011. We both hope that's a lucky date!





Remember all posts run noon to noon Mountain time so you have all the way until noon tomorrow to post for a chance to win. Lots of prizes being mailed this weekend too FYI. Watch your mail boxes.

Today's prize is a copy of Stolen Fury so comment for a chance to win. I will also leave Laurie London's post up through Saturday at noon so don't forget to drop down one post and check out her new SWEETBLOOD VAMPIRE series!

Read an excerpt from today's prize book here: http://www.elisabethnaughton.com/books/stolen-fury/

FANTASIES

If you ask my husband, he'll tell you I live in a fantasy world half the time. When we're driving down the road and he asks me a question, generally I'm staring off in to space living the lives of my characters, totally oblivious to anything going on around me. When I'm working around the house, even watching TV, scenes and dialogue are running through my head. If you're a writer, this is nothing new. Writers DO that. If you're a reader however…you may think I'm rather nuts (which, I admit, I probably am). But for a writer, there really is no better fantasy than imagining that first sale and ultimately the call that brings you the news of that sale.

I'll admit it. I've had numerous call fantasies (and no I'm not talking about the 976-spank-me variety). The most elaborate was back when I won the 2006 Atlanta National registration fee in the Romancing The Tome contest. The final round agent had requested the manuscript (which was actually my debut book, STOLEN FURY) and at the time, I had another full manuscript at (what used to be) Silhouette Intimate Moments. My call fantasy included a call from the final round agent gushing about how fabulous my book was, followed by another call from the SIM editor gushing about how fabulous the OTHER book was. A sale and an agent, all within days. What better fantasy is there than that?

Of course, as I'm sure you can guess, that fantasy did not come true. The agent sent me a form rejection and the SIM editor sent me a personalized rejection that made it clear they didn't want me to ever resubmit that book to them again. Ouch. Oh, there were other fantasies – like selling a week after signing with my (current) agent in a six figure deal (now THAT was a nice fantasy) – but that one fantasy of landing both a sale and an agent all at the same time was one that stuck with me for a long time, and I've never forgotten it.

After I signed with my agent and I had my first *almost sale* (editor at NAL loved it, committee eventually passed because it wasn't like the other RS's they were publishing), I stopped fantasizing. It was too hard. Too much work to get your hopes up and then have them squashed. I didn't let myself fantasize (at least not too much). I just kept writing. Of course, those little fantasies snuck in now and then, but I didn't give them a chance to grow and develop and I didn't dwell on them. I figured it would happen when it happened, and fantasizing about it would just make me nuts. (More nuts than I already am.)

No matter how much I fantasized though, the reality of the call was both more exciting and more stressful than I ever imagined. In my fantasies, I was bouncing off the walls, screaming with excitement. In reality, I was so in shock, I could barely speak. My agent kept asking me, "You are excited about this, right? I told the editor you were going to be excited." Somehow I think I fumbled out an, "Um. Yeah. I'm excited," but honestly I'm not entirely sure what I said. Don't get me wrong. I was very excited and thrilled. But the moment I heard "you sold" the fantasy quickly became reality and what I'd been dreaming of doing for so long suddenly became my job.

I celebrated my first sale in a very fun and exciting manner. I cleaned the toilets! All of my friends have given me a hard time about this (and still do), but the truth is after getting the call, I needed to do something normal (okay, cleaning toilets isn't normal, but it was a chore that needed to be done and as such is normal in my world) to keep my mind off the ten-thousand things I was suddenly thinking about – like deadlines and contracts and sell-throughs and print runs and titles and plots and…oh my!!!!! I never in a million years realized there would be SO much to consider outside the whole "you just sold" excitement.

It took a few days for the sale to sink in. The more I announced it, the more excited I became because others' enthusiasm for my sale buoyed me up. And when we went out to dinner with friends several days later – to really celebrate – my sale finally became a reality.

I've hired a house cleaner in the years since my first sale. It's safe to say the celebration of subsequent sales has NOT been made by cleaning the toilets.

How do you celebrate success? I'd love to hear what you've done when a dream you've worked hard for has finally come true.

***

A previous junior-high science teacher, Elisabeth Naughton now writes sexy romantic adventure and paranormal novels full time from her home in western Oregon where she lives with her husband and three children. Her debut release, Stolen Fury, was both a 2007 Golden Heart finalist and a 2010 double RITA® awards nominee. The next book in her Eternal Guardians series, praised by Publisher's Weekly for being "passionate, dynamic and thrilling", hits store shelves October 2011. When not writing, Elisabeth can be found running, hanging out at the ball park or dreaming up new and exciting adventures. Visit her website at www.elisabethnaughton.com for more information on her and her books.

Laurie London text messaging to a new Vampire Series with HQN

Our winner is Loretta! Loretta email me your address! lisarenjones@aol.com

Today we have Laurie B London who has a rocking new Vampire Series coming out in Feb 2011. I just love the cover and the entire premise. I for one am dying for this series. And I love this call story because oh man — I so get the waiting and watching and 2pm! Read on and you'll know what I mean. Today we have a Better Homes and Gardens Rum Cake Candle to give away. LOVE these candles. My house is all rum caked up right this very minute. One of these tall jar candles will make your entire house smell yummy.

So comment to get your chance to win. Contest is as usual NOON TO NOON and yes I am a few minutes late today. So sorry. Had a rush of stuff happen right before I posted. PS about to post winners on the last two days contests!

So onward to the fun with Laurie!



About Laurie:

A former tester/programmer and underwriter for a Fortune 500 company, Laurie London now writes from her home near Seattle, Washington, where she lives with her husband and two children. Her debut novel, BONDED BY BLOOD, the first book in her Sweetblood series, comes out February 2011 followed by EMBRACED BY BLOOD July 2011.

When not writing, she might be running, reading, tolerating her husband's reality television addiction, talking books with her kids who read more than she does, or riding and showing her horse. Someday she hopes to qualify for the Quarter Horse World Show – that is, if her horse doesn't get hurt again.

Her new Series



BONDED BY BLOOD:

Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, two vampire coalitions battle for supremacy—Guardian enforcers who safeguard humanity and Darkbloods, rogues who kill like their ancient ancestors. Now, Guardian team leader Dominic Serrano will be forced to choose between the vengeance he craves and the woman he can't live without…

Movie location scout Mackenzie Foster-Shaw has always known that she's cursed to die young. No one can protect her from the evil that has stalked her family for generations—vampires who crave her rare blood type. Until one afternoon in a wooded cemetery, she encounters an impossibly sexy stranger, a man she must trust with her life.

For Dominic, a man haunted by loss, Mackenzie satisfies a primal hunger that torments him—and the bond they share goes beyond heat, beyond love. She alone can supply the strength he needs to claim his revenge. But in doing so, he could destroy her…

The Call, or in my case, The Text

Having a book out on submission is really stressful. You're constantly checking email and you don't go anywhere without your phone. Not when you're cleaning horse stalls or in the bathroom or running out to grab something in the car.



If you live on the West Coast, you learn that 2pm is the magic number—the witching hour—because it's the close of business in New York. When you don't receive any news by two o'clock, you can pretty much count on the fact that you won't hear anything that day. You can relax, do other things (like eating and showering) until 5:00 or 6:00 the next morning when it starts all over again.

Usually.

On a Friday morning in October 2009, shortly before leaving for the Emerald City Writers Conference, my agent called. We had an offer!

I'm not sure if I squealed like a teenage girl or if I sounded rational. I do remember giving my husband the thumbs up sign as I fumbled around for a pen and paper to take notes while trying to breathe at the same time. Somehow I managed to do both because I didn't pass out.

"Oh, and by the way," my agent said, "you can't tell anyone except your immediate family."

"What? I'm seeing a lot of my writer friends in, like, two hours and I can't say anything?"

"Nope, not a word. This whole process isn't done yet. We should know more by next week."

Although the conference was fantastic and I even talked quite a bit to the senior editor at HQN, the weekend was sheer torture. I roomed with two other people and tried to act normal, hoping I didn't talk in my sleep.

With the sense that something was going on—maybe the glazed look in my eyes gave me away—a wonderful author friend came up to me and I spontaneously burst into tears. After a quick hug, I dashed off, afraid I'd accidentally say too much. Over coffee with a friend, I choked up over something dumb. Another author friend handed me her cell number and said, "I know something's up. Call me the minute you hear anything." (Note to self: writers are people-watchers and are very perceptive.) When I got home, I was an exhausted jumble of unexpressed, overflowing, and pent-up emotion. I took a Tylenol PM and went straight to bed.

The next few days passed in a blur as I waited for the outcome. When a non-writer friend called, wanting me to go out to dinner with her, I decided I could really use the diversion…and a drink. Because it was in the evening, I knew I wouldn't hear anything more that day.

Boy, was I wrong.

While at the restaurant, my agent texted me that she was at a party with the acquiring editor at HQN. What? It was way past 2pm here—at least 9:30 or 10:00 New York time. I figured another day in the life of agents and editors had passed with no news to report. However, I hadn't considered cocktail parties after work. Her next text to me said she had closed the deal—it was official—I could shout it from the rooftops now. HQN was buying my series!

I shrieked inside the tiny restaurant and called my husband. He was thrilled and excited. Then my friend and I toasted my first sale over Thai food and a fabulous pear/gin cocktail.

Visit her website at www.LaurieLondonBooks.com