Well, my favorite month just flew by, and I didn’t get much done, but I have revised the Anna Part One post more than thirty times, so I did have a surge of activity there at the end. It’s 6,500 words. Part Two is 5500 words. Part Three isn’t finished, but it’s 3500 words so far. Plus Bob and I did the next HWSWA talking about Anna (his new book is next week) so I did a lot of thinking about the story for Saturday. I have been working.
What did you work on this week?
Moira asked about getting published and I’ve been out of the loop for a decade, so I thought I’d ask the published writers here–traditional, self, fan fiction, whoever’s putting story out there for public consumption,ption–when and how you got published.
I entered a novella contest in 1992 and won (along with Merline Lovelace) and that hooked me up with my first, excellent editor, and then a single title editor read one of books (I think it was Bradley) and wanted to publish me, but I knew I needed an agent to negotiate, so I went on author list I was on at the time, and asked for agent recommendations, and Anne Stuart and Susan Wiggs told me to try Meg Ruley, and Meg and I were clearly separated at birth, and she ran by career for the next twenty years. She’s a wonderful agent. My current agent, Jodi Reamer, is also a wonderful agent.
That’s how I got published.
Next?
Brenda Margriet has a new book out today (!), and if you act fast, you can get a great deal on Leeza’s journey.
AFTER WORDS: A TIMELESS Seasoned Romance
A mystifying diary ignites a shared quest…and an unexpected romance.
July 21st, 1941
“The journey starts here. I don’t know if I’ll be able to record everything about it but I’ll try. My mother made me promise that I write in this journal as often as possible.”
The moment Leeza Boychuk reads these words, painstakingly penned in a battered, time-stained diary by a young Canadian soldier, she knows her life will change. With a failing business, a philandering ex-husband and an ocean between her and her son, she has her own battles. Yet the infantryman’s innocent yet brutal story haunts her.
Determined to return the journal to the soldier’s family, she enlists the help of Gavin Fletcher, an enigmatic widower. His calm steadfastness is soothing to Leeza’s tattered soul—until an unexpected kiss ignites a longing she isn’t ready to explore.
But Leeza can’t abandon her quest…even if it means confronting her feelings for this increasingly intriguing man.
***
And here’s your deal from Brenda:
AFTER WORDS is available for $2.99 for a limited time only. This link provides access to all retailers, including Amazon, B&N, Apple and Kobo.
https://books2read.com/u/mBG92A
(For those unfamiliar with the term, “seasoned romance” features main characters who have some living under their belts. After all, love isn’t restricted to twenty-year-olds!)
I’m happy because I started a new book and I like it. I’d be happier if I finished one, but I’m taking what I can get.
What made you happy this week?
So I have 10,000 words done on Anna’s book and Carter is in it, and for some reason it has mob back story, which I had not planned, and I have no idea what happens in Act Two or Three (or really most of One); Act Four ends happily but we already knew that. I mean, the Girls definitely have a direction they’re going in, and I have this whole double identity thing to play with in the romance, and I’m starting to really love the heroine, and the hero isn’t bad, either, but I am once again confronting a wimpy antagonist who probably isn’t the real antagonist.
I just don’t understand how all this mob stuff got in here. Continue reading
In which we tell you we know nothing about publishing any more and basically lose our grip on the conversation.
https://hewroteshewroteagain.wordpress.com/2020/09/26/writing-life/
So yesterday Bob and I were talking about if we wanted to keep going with the HWSWA chats, and he suggested we show up next week (a week from tomorrow) with the conflict box for a new book he’s working on and one of the old books I’ve been working on (Lily, You Again, Lavender, whatever). I said, “Or I could start a new book,” and he said, “Finish something,” which was the right answer because the last thing I needed was a new book.
Then around midnight last night, I was reading a Book Bub blurb, and started to think what I could do with that very common premise and suddenly these people were talking in my head and I loved it and I wrote 4500 words. Continue reading
I’ve been sampling romances still, but not buying many, mostly because the writing seems (a) awkward and (b) trite. They’re both hot, they think about sex a lot, can he protect her (get a taser, lady), how much info dump can we get in here. Yes, I’m getting jaded. So instead, I’ve gone back to watching TV, especially cop shows on MHz, which, since they’re all subtitled, is like reading. Only with moving pictures. Still annoyed I can’t get the last two seasons of The Art of Crime. Now watching Murder on the Lake. Bookmarking a lot of he-has-issues-she-has-issues-they-fight-crime stories. Yeah, I know, it’s like romance all over again, only with blood in some great scenic locales, mostly European and beautiful. Also pre-pandemic. Sigh.
What are you reading (subtitles count)? Continue reading
I worked: I got this post up on time. Also asked Mollie to fix the commenting problem, which I hope is working now. Also finished the other half of the revising example post on HWSWA. Also threw out half my kitchen (I’m a slut for kitchen gadgets). And, of course, worked on Nita. Planning on doing the last scheduled chat with Bob later today; after that, I think we’re just going to talk about what we’re working on, give up any pretense of teaching. Or as Bob said, “Let’s just do the weeds.” We end up there anyway. Expect talking about new ideas, what we’re watching on TV (which Bob will drop in as non-sequiturs), what we’re reading, what we’re revising, and as always, what Gus is doing (he’s serving as an excuse to get Bob out of the chat).
So what did you do this week?
Why yes, I am working today.
Also, I really need a white board.