…suck.
Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Deadlines…
Monday, June 28th, 2010Lori Foster’s Get Together 2010
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010Last weekend I went to Lori Foster’s Reader-Author Get-Together in Cincinnati. I swear I’m getting too old to travel so often…yes, it took me over 36 hours to even consider blogging about it. Forget about interracting with anyone I didn’t have to yesterday and today.
I rode with Larissa Ione and Barbara Vey…ten long hours made shorter by the company. After driving through 4 states, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and then hit the hotel bar for the rest of the evening. Here’s Larissa and Barbara at dinner:
Friday, Emily Becher, Kay Stockham, Tasha and I mixed food, shopping, and plotting to kill the time until the conference actually started. This is me with Emily, acting like grown-ups at Montgomery Inn (home of some really good BBQ):
And here’s Tasha, horsing around after lunch. (I know…boo…I couldn’t resist.)
Saturday was the booksigning, raffle basket giveaways (over 140…I won NOTHING, including the baskets with the Nook, the iPad and the Kobo reader. No really. Not bitter.) I got to see author Jambrea Jones and reader/graphic design guru Valerie Tibbs, who I met two years ago. Here’s the three of us:
And here’s Larissa and Emily at the signing:
Saturday night, we somehow ended up in the bar…I have no idea how that happened. Probably Kay’s influence. Here are the four of us, though I seemed to miss getting pictures of many people I enjoyed talking to. (Sorry! I suck!)
These girls are the brainstorming QUEENS! It was a very casual conference, great for meeting readers and other authors, but in addition to promoting and socializing, we managed to plot out one book for each of us over the course of the weekend. So now I’m off to write the synopsis of my book we plotted. Maybe next time they could include that in their services. 
Top 10 Reasons I’m Going to Too Many Conferences This Year
Monday, May 17th, 2010I’m currently recovering from the Wisconsin RWA conference in Milwaukee over the weekend. My vision’s blurry and my body still aches from the dry, dehydrating hotel air, but I’m ready to once again dig into work. How such an exhausting, late-nights/early-mornings, going-nonstop weekend can energize a person is beyond me but…(okay…it’s just after 8am on a Monday morning…energize is a bit of an overstatement, or maybe a relative thing.) Anyway, after much deep thought, I’ve created a list of my top ten favorite things about writing conferences.
10. If I get there early enough on the first day, I can check into my room and sit in complete, utter peace. The kids might be fighting but…I CAN’T HEAR THEM. The cats might be destroying the house but…I DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN UP AFTER THEM.
9. Someone cooks for me. All weekend.
8. Good workshops. Yes, I actually do go to learn writerly things from my very wise colleagues.
7. Someone cleans my room for me…and gives me fluffy, fresh towels every day.
6. Free stuff. Most writing conferences give away glorious, beautiful books. This weekend I got 5 new ones…plus the raffle basket I won, with box seats to a baseball game, more books and…Bobbleheads! And the other basket I won with…even more books.
5. The bar, where the most interesting conversations take place. Plus when you’re done, you’re just an elevator ride and a few steps from your bed.
4. Late night roommate chats…when you’re so involved in conversation that when you finally glance at the clock you wonder how the hell it got to be 1am already.
3. Other writers. Non-writers out there might be surprised to learn that writers are very cool people…and romance writers have a special twistedness about them that I have the utmost respect for.
2. The opportunity to make my editor panic by driving her down non-roads near large bodies of water and over big scary bridges…and then taking (another) wrong turn on the way to the airport.
1. Home sweet home. When I walk in the door after a couple of days away, my little boys still run to me with big smiles and hugs. (And the recurring question…”Did you bring us any presents?”)
And now since I’m so inspired and energized…I guess I’ll get back to the art of making stuff up.
Little Gems
Thursday, April 29th, 2010When I go to a regional conference, like I did last week, I never know what kind of value it’ll have, what will make it worth my money. Normally the networking and connecting with writing friends makes it worth my time, but as for money, I want one good workshop. At least.
Sometimes workshops are pretty basic or don’t say anything I haven’t heard ad nauseum in other workshops…that happens when you’re a workshop junkie and have been writing for several years. So I expect that. But I still want one good one, or even one helpful bit of a workshop to make me feel like, yeah, I needed to spend this money.
So last weekend at the Chicago conference, the first workshop I went to was…mediocre. Then the agent/editor panel was interesting, as they always are, so that was a point scored. But the next day, I got my money’s worth.
And the crazy thing is? It wasn’t that the good workshop(s) (really there were 3 in a row) were new-to-me material. But the way they were presented made me sit up straighter and think. Relate the material to my own writing and career. And most importantly, they motivated me.
Yeah. Priceless.
So spending most of a day with New York Times bestseller Cherry Adair, picking her brain, seeing how she works…she has some crazy methods of writing a book. We all do, truly. There’s no right way to write, but she takes it to an impressive, left-brained level. And she made me realize that I’ve slipped away from that left-brain side of plotting, of planning my career. At some point in the past couple of years, I’ve turned into the stereotypical, emotional, right-brained “artiste” (for lack of a better word) who doesn’t want to put in the time and effort to hammer things out the way I’ve done in the past.
And I wonder why I’ve been floundering.
So I came home motivated, enlightened, inspired, turning over my own writing methods in my head, making changes. Buying post-its and a white board. A recommended writing book. And feeling completely satisfied that I did indeed get my money’s worth and more.
I guess now all that’s left to do is the work.
Any other writers out there have workshops or speakers to recommend? I have 3 more conferences before summer ends and I can’t wait to find the next little gem that makes it all worth my money. (If you get a chance to hear Cherry Adair, go. She is FUNNY. And also very, very smart.)
Synopsis-free environment
Monday, April 19th, 2010Dear Editor,
About the whole proposal thing. You said “the sooner the better” so I’m thinking, okay, let’s cut to the chase. I’ve got three pretty chapters written for you. Witty dialogue, definite conflict between the hero and heroine, plenty of angst and emotion.
As a bonus, I have four sparkling pages of synopsis. At this point, the synopsis is fairly well-written, mostly coherent and summarizes the first half of the story pretty darn well if I do say so myself.
I know you generally like to know the ending of a story before you buy it but I thought maybe we could discuss this. There are several reasons why this isn’t in everyone’s best interest:
1. Synopses are BORING. I don’t want to put you through any more torture than necessary and I’m thinking 4 pages of pain should be plenty.
2. Synopses are never right anyway. The book always changes, so instead of writing about what could maybe possibly happen in the book, why not leave it for a surprise for both of us?
3. My cats’ ears hurt from all the swearing and my husband is sick of hearing me whine and complain and ask him what happens next. Skipping the rest of the synopsis will bring harmony back to my household.
4. I can even give you a little spoiler, if it will entice you into buying the book without the rest of the synopsis: The hero and heroine? Get together in the end. Happily ever after. It’s all good.
So if you agree, I’ll just package up everything I have and send it on its merry way to you and you can go ahead and thank me for saving you time and pain by not submitting the entire dreadful synopsis.
Sincerely,
Amy
Office Supply Obsession
Monday, April 12th, 2010So…it seems like a lot of women have this obsession with office supplies. (I don’t know any men who admit to it but maybe they’re too busy obsessing about tools and electronic gadgets?)
I have two relatively new must-haves: gel pens and notebooks.
Gel pens run out ridiculously fast because of the thick ink so I buy them at least two packages at a time. They must be colorful — the fewer black ones in the set, the better — and if they have sparkles, so much the better! These make note taking, affirmations and to-do lists FUN. They’re coolest when I go outside to work and the sun shines down, making my whole notebook sparkle.
The notebooks…we’re not just talking about cheap Meads. I’m on a kick where I go to Borders and buy a “nice” one with a thick plastic cover with colorful designs on it. The last one I bought had rainbow skull holographs to match the cover for my iphone. Last week I spotted a fun, colorful robot notebook…but so far I’ve resisted. (It’s nagging away at me, screaming BUY ME, BUY ME! I will return to it…)
What about you? Any office supply obsessions to confess? I know I can’t be the only OSO nut out there…
Texas Firefighters
Friday, April 2nd, 2010I finally have the official cover and back cover blurb of the first book in my Texas Firefighters series, Playing With Fire!
Playing With Fire
Macey Locke is not backing down. That means Derek Severson – the man she’s been attracted to for years – is just going to have to deal. She hasn’t come all the way to this South Texas beach bar for a tan. She’s here to help her best friend get back to being what he loves – a firefighter.
But Derek is more stubborn than she thought. He won’t tolerate her cajoling and he’s definitely not hearing any confessions of love and affection.
Well, too bad. This time, tough guy, you’ve met your match.
The first three* of my Texas Firefighters are now available for pre-order as well, both as mass market paperbacks and large print editions:
Playing with Fire (Harlequin Superromance)
A Little Consequence (Harlequin Superromance)
Fully Involved (Harlequin Superromance)
(Ignore the reviews for the weight loss book…heh, but maybe my books CAN help you lose weight. You never know… Okay, kidding. No promises.)
*Did you catch that I said first three firefighters? I received word this week that Firefighter #4 is a go! Back to the writing cave for me.
Have a happy weekend and may the Easter Bunny treat you well!
And there was much rejoicing…
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010I turned in the revised edition of FULLY INVOLVED at 3:09am, just 4 hours before the extended extended deadline.
Thank. You. God.
And my husband says even louder, THANK. YOU. GOD.
Or what he really said when I collapsed into bed in the wee hours was, “I’m soooo happy for you.” And I replied, “Ha. You’re soooo happy for you.” Because now he won’t have to deal with the “walking tornado of emotions” that was his wife. (Yes, that is another direct quote from him.)
It’s kind of funny, really…when you pick up a book to read at the bookstore or the library, you never really think what’s behind that book, what the author went through to get it to book form. Sure, lots of sweat and hard work. But judging by not just my own experience but also that of each of the writers I’m friends with, there was probably so much more.
There was likely a breakdown at some point. At least one.
There was probably overwhelming frustration that drove the author to rant and rave like some kind of Neanderthal whose favorite club was stolen by a rogue wooly mammoth.
There was probably the complete utter belief that he or she simply could not pull it off.
And there was more than certainly a gigantic endorphin rush the second the author typed THE END. Some fist pumps into the air with the words “I did it!” Some twirls and spins around the house, some loud music, some bad dancing and hysterical laughing.
And then…a very long nap.
My bed is calling me…
Deadline…
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010Kicking my ass thoroughly.
Briefly, some randomness though:
* Today is my son’s “golden” birthday! (What the heck is a golden birthday, you ask? I’ve been informed that it’s when you turn the same number of years as the date of your birthday. He’s 10 on the 10th.) At any rate, we’ll be celebrating with a little sugar. We just weren’t sure if one batch would be enough for school so we doubled it and…what do you know…leftovers!
* One way to drive two kittens apeshit batty: Sit in the sun and use you iphone to text. The reflection of the face of it hits the ceiling. They climb to the top of the back of my chair and stalk the light on the ceiling. Good times…
* In less than a week, revision hell will be over, I will be NOT WRITING A THING, and my family will be able to stand me again.
That is all.
Dear Editor
Friday, January 22nd, 2010Dear Editor,
I’m sorry I am unable to do my revisions as you requested. As always, I think you had some great ideas that would definitely make my story stronger. However, my keyboard has been taken over and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m thinking since you love cats you will be very understanding. Sorry!
Thanks much,
Amy
(The kitten is actually sound asleep. Cute, huh?)