Valentine's Day and Fried Chicken

I'm a romance writer. I'm supposed to be jumping for joy that there's a day reserved for celebrating the unique love you and your significant other share, right?

Right.

At least that's what the stores would have me believe. I went grocery shopping today and was slammed with a wall of red and white the instant I stepped in the store. Dozens of roses screamed to be bought for $19.99. (They're beautiful, sure, but I'd much rather have roses given to me when my significant other doesn't feel obligated to buy them or be shoved into the "all-my-other-friends-husbands-got-roses-for-their-wives-why-didn't-you?" category. Boxes of candy perched on the edge of racks for $16.99. (They're delicious, but they'll also make you feel worse when your pants feel tighter next week.) Everywhere I looked fluff-stuffed squirrels smiled at me eerily, holding signs that read "I'm nuts for you." (They're cute, but really? I mean...REALLY?)

That's when I realized I'm a realist. I'm practical. I don't need to buy my husband chocolates when I know I'm the one who's really going to be eating them. I don't need a special day to tell him I love him or that he's "beary special" to me.

So I did what any real, practical wife would do. I bought all the fixings to make his favorite meal. (I'm frying chicken as I write this.) Haven't you heard the saying "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach"? Well that's where I'm aiming. (Little side note: the first time I got my hubby's attention is when we were in high school and I offered him my sandwich--we were on a field trip and the lunch provided was peanut butter and honey sandwiches. I hated honey--still do.)

Today, tonight, forever, don't go for the "easy". Don't buy the card and do the usual. If you normally buy flowers, offer to go for a walk, pick some, pull a pre-planted ribbon out of our pocket, tie it around the stems and give it to him or her. (Husband can take credit for that one.) Spice things up. If you normally go out to eat for special occasions, eat in. Offer to do the dishes. Do something meaningful. Give a foot rub without having to be asked. Put effort into something that will make your significant other happy. Because when your partner realizes that you didn't take the easy-cheesy store-bought-romanticism way out, THEN you'll be jumping for joy. And it won't be because of the red-swamped holiday infused with love-firing cherubs. It will be because on this day, you'll feel closer to your partner than you were the day before.

Come to think of it, that's how every day should be lived, and loved. Don't you think?

Just. Hit. Send.

I know sometimes it can be terrifying. You just finished writing your query. You've pasted the whole thing into an email. You've addressed it to your dream agent. You've read the email a dozen times, skimming for errors, rewording things you know worked to begin with. Your finger hesitates over the SEND button...

And you re-read it again. Or SAVE DRAFT for later.

I went through something like that yesterday. I'm "finished" with Immortal, Beloved. I attached it to an email to my agent, said a prayer (PLEASE OH PLEASE LET HER LOVE IT AS MUCH AS ENEMY, BELOVED), or...okay, maybe I said two prayers (PLEASE DON'T LET IT SUCK) and STILL I hesitated over the SEND button.

It's just so...so...definite.

Once you push that button there's no going back. There's no changing something you noticed wrong later. A lot of the pressure from the writing/publishing industry stems from the feeling that you get one chance to make it happen. One chance to make it or break it--publish your work or bury it beneath your bed. Or at least that's how it feels to me.

I think Eminem said it best in "Lose Yourself":
Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted-One moment-
Would you capture it or just let it slip?

You have one first impression with your dream agent. Once you have a Fantabulous agent who loves your first work, you have to impress them time and time again with each manuscript you write after the first. Mr. or Mrs. Dream Agent could easily say "No, this sequel isn't for me. Go back to the drawing board, keep the characters, and write me another." Listen, I just spent one month plotting Immortal, Beloved, four months writing that 350 page book and another month editing it.

I. Feel. Pressure.

As I hesitated over the SEND button, I thought back to when I was querying agents with Enemy, Beloved. It felt darn near close to the same feeling. Did I get everything right? Did I cross every T and dot every I? Did I close up every single thread? Did the characters arc as they should've?

Then I did it. I hit send.

You should to. What are you waiting for? Take the time to make your manuscript as good as you can get it, then send that puppy. You'll never get an agent/editor/critique partner if your computer mouse keeps hovering over the same email.

As for me, another waiting game has begun. (Did I mention I'm still on submission with Enemy?) The publishing industry is a s..l...o...w... road to walk folks. But that's okay because the people you meet along the way are happy-writer-lovers, supportive and make the steep legs of the trip not seem as daunting.

Speaking of supportive happy-writer-lovers (I love that phrase--sums everyone I've met in this industry *perfectly*)...I did an interview with Kaitlyn over at Nocturnal Readings. She's also posting a review of Dark Tide Rising tomorrow. So if you've got the time, between hitting that send button, stop on by!

Proud Critique Partner Over Here

An exciting announcement today:




My critique partner's second novel released today! (Isn't the cover gorgeous?) The dialogue is snappy. The plot is tight. The characters jump off the page. What more could a gal ask for! You can get your copy at Omnific's website or Amazon.

You won't be disappointed. *grin

Monday Blog Hop!

It's Monday again...don't know how that happened. I've been battling a sick household the last few weeks, putting final touches on Immortal, Beloved, and not sleeping well thanks to a strained shoulder that tweaked itself while I was doing P90X's Kenpo video. Air boxing is not to be taken lightly, let me tell you.

Have you entered a certain giveaway to win a free signed copy of a certain romantic suspense novel titled Dark Tide Rising? No? Get to it. Giveaway ends February 24th. All you have to do is comment the contest post found labeled under "Pararomance Contests".

On to the hop!


Here's how it works:

READERS:

Follow as many authors as you like. Just follow the Linky list and hop from author to author. The idea is to find as many "new to you" authors as you can, and hopefully some great new reading material as well. Leave a comment as you hop from blog to blog! We'd love to chat with you!

AUTHORS:

Follow the Meet an author Monday host (Cali Cheer Mom) along with any of the wonderfully talented authors on the list.
You will need to enter your name and blog url into the Linky tool.
Grab our super cute button and place it in a post. (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) If you don't create a post for the hop, your readers won't have a place to comment, and the hop will stop with you. So create a post, paste in the Linky code and start hopping!
The purpose of the hop is to meet "new to you" authors and discover great new reads. Follow as many authors as you can. Leave a comment and introduce yourself!
If you'd like to share the Linky list in a post on your blog ( Please do!) just follow the link and grab the code.

Ten Rules for Writing Fiction

I'm not an expert by any means--I'll be the first to admit it. (In fact, most times I feel much more amateur than every other writer in the business.) I don't have hardfast rules I live or write by. I've struggled through four novels in two years. In that time I've acquired an agent, lost one, then acquired another. I've flown through chapters. I've trudged through paragraphs. But since I started writing there are certain "rules" I've come to write by:

Don't have easy dialogue. By that I mean don't always have the hero/heroine's questions answered. How many times have you really wanted the answer to a question and, instead of relieving you of your stress by answering simply, the other person in the convo gives you the run-around? Or goes off on their own line of questioning? Or stares at you like there's no way in hell I'm telling you *that* Make your characters squirm. Don't make things easy for them, even when it's a simple question. (And of course, everything in moderation, right?) Now that I think of it, I may just like to torture my darlings.

Carry around a notebook. Always. Record the tiny things that strike a cord in your own life. Jot down some dialogue from people sitting next to you on the bus. Take notes about the daily things that bring a smile to your face. And the ones that bring you down. Don't necessarily use those things word for word, but figure out WHY you wrote them down and WHY that particular scene elicited the type of emotion it did.

Once you *think* you've finished your manuscript (and I'm talking about the edited THE END not the first draft THE END) read it backwards to edit some more. Then read it aloud. Print it out and read it again. Then download it to your e-reader and read it again. I can pretty much guarantee you'll find something to change every single time (and probably even once it's published!)

Be hopeful and open, but expect the absolute worst. It'd be great to wish for NYT Bestselling status with your first sale...but that's probably not going to happen. It'd be great to think you could sell one book, make it big, then write whatever you want and have that be big too...but it doesn't work that way. It's easy to feel down when rejection hits (believe me) but you can't let it pin you to the mat. Get up and fight for your dreams some more.

Are you writing for business, pleasure or both. If you never plan on pursuing publication that's fine. Write for you and you alone. Ignore all rules--including these. If you're writing to make a career of it, treat it that way. Write every day. Edit on days you don't. Be *IN* the world you created, even when you detach from the computer. If you write for both business and pleasure I believe you've chosen the right path!

And for my final five rules, I'm going to pick and chose my favorites from an article in guardian.co.uk titled "Ten Rules for Writing Fiction".

"You know that sickening feeling of inadequacy and over-exposure you feel when you look upon your own empurpled prose? Relax into the awareness that this ghastly sensation will never, ever leave you, no matter how successful and publicly lauded you become. It is intrinsic to the real business of writing and should be cherished."--Will Self

"Description must work for its place. It can't be simply ornamental. It ?usually works best if it has a human element; it is more effective if it comes from an implied viewpoint, rather than from the eye of God. If description is coloured by the viewpoint of the character who is doing the noticing, it becomes, in effect, part of character definition and part of the action."--Hilary Mantel

"Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong."--Neil Gaiman

"Let your work stand before deciding whether or not to serve."--Andrew Motion

And last but not least...

"The nearest I have to a rule is a Post-it on the wall in front of my desk saying "Faire et se taire" (Flaubert), which I translate for myself as 'Shut up and get on with it.'"--Helen Simpson

So there you go. Now shut up and get on with it.