Happy Weekend!

"One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide." ~Charles Horton Cooley

So I finally got my first-round edits for One Night in Memphis back, from my Samhain editor. This is some of what she had to say:

This is really a pretty clean manuscript, so hopefully these won't make you want to tear your hair out or anything like that.

Still like the story, still love your writing, so yay!

A couple of things.

One: There's a *lot* of introspection going on in the manuscript. [Ah, yes. How I love my "deep POV." Gotta work on that. ] Particularly with Ethan and Dakota doing a lot of thinking. Take a look at the italicized stuff and see how much, if any of that, could possibly be turned into active dialogue, if you would.

Two: I'm not sure how well the scenes written from Gunnar and Mike's POVs work in this manuscript. [But - but - how else am I going to show the reader what's going on while Ethan and Dakota are, you know, otherwise occupied?] I understand that you want to use them to connect pieces of the puzzle or let the reader know what's going on outside the main story, but given that they're not primary characters, I found myself wondering what the true reason for being in their heads was...

So it looks like those are the two big issues. I have one week to work out the kinks (I haven't even opened the file yet...am probably going to put that off for a day or two, since we have out-of-town company this weekened). We'll see. I have this dreadful fear that she's going to want me to axe entire scenes, and, well...there may be some tears over the keyboard in that case...

***

On a different note, I've blogged today over at The Wild Rose Press, about the print release of Lost in Paradise and include "5 Fun Facts" about the story you might not know. If you have a chance, pop on over and leave a comment, so I'm not too lonely there!

Enjoy your weekend ~ it's supposed to be gorgeous here. Hooray!

It's Finally Here!

"It's funny, I think, how far we'll go to flee our ghosts and how much we'll do to protect our secrets..." (from Lost in Paradise by Allie Boniface)

I'm thrilled today, because it's the day for my very first ever book to be released in print:

When high-society, Harvard grad Ashton Kirk moves to the sleepy town of Paradise to escape a family scandal, Eddie West, the town’s most eligible bachelor, takes notice. In one steamy summer, two people from different worlds discover that, sometimes, you can find your soul mate in the place you least expect.

Readers say:

Lost in Paradise is one of the best reads I've had for ages. With well-drawn characters and an interesting storyline I found it hard to put down. Allie kept the momentum going right until the end. (Rosalie)

What a great love story. All Ashton ever wanted to do was live her life like she wants. All Eddie wanted to do was forget the past. The future is theirs to have, if they let it happen. (Dru)

So if you haven't already ordered your copy from Amazon, hurry over to The Wild Rose Press today and treat yourself!** (And maybe get it onto the best-selling lists again, over there) I'll even send you an autographed bookplate for inside...just email me and ask :)
**Note: Since I post pretty early in the morning, as of right now the cover is linked to the ebook page...keep checking back for the print version - it should be there soon!!

I'm posting the trailer for this book here again, 'cause I do love it, the music especially, and it's been a while since I've looked at it.


Finally, I'm happy to announce the winner of today's Lost in Paradise giveaway: Amy Addison! She'll receive a signed copy of the book, along with some other goodies. Amy, just email me at allieb@allieboniface.com with your address, and your prize will be on its way. And thanks for commenting!

Now I'm off to celebrate!!

Colds and Quilts and Edits and Things

"I think the hardest part of writing is revising. And by that I mean the following: A novelist has to create the piece of marble and then chip away to find the figure in it." ~Chaim Potok

Well, thanks to lots of tea, chicken soup, and zinc, I think my cold is on its way out (thanks everyone for your well wishes and home remedies). I hope so...I have no time to be sick.

Hey, if you haven't popped over there already, go and visit Dru's blog, and check out her latest quilt project! Actually, it's a wall hanging ~ an experiment with using actual book covers on the quilt itself (and there's more cool stuff to come besides the covers. Just wait). She's one talented lady, right??

Finally, Marianne mentioned her Samhain editor's process the other day, and I thought I'd share my experiences here, with my own (whom I love, by the way). With One Night in Boston, my editor sent me the first round of edits 2 months before my scheduled release date and asked for a week's turn-around. Those edits focused mostly on content/plot tweaking/sentence restructuring. The next round came about 1 month before my release date and focused mainly on any sentence/wording problems we'd missed the first time through. Then it went to a FLE (Final Line Editor) who proofed just for grammar and mechanical errors we both missed.

My scheduled release date for One Night in Memphis (according to my "Coming Soon" page over at Samhain) is July 8. I've yet to receive my first round of edits, though, which makes me a little nervous, since that's only 6 weeks away or so. Maybe the manuscript is SO brilliant that my editor figures it needs little revising. Right? ;) Or maybe she's swamped and knows we've worked together before and the quick turn-around won't be a problem. Either way, I'm hoping I'll see it in my email inbox before too long!

Writers Wednesday: An Interview with Beth Wylde

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today I'm featuring erotica/erotic romance author Beth Wylde (yes, that means she writes the steamy stuff, so some of her links are R-rated...be forewarned). Enjoy!

Hi, Beth, and thanks for being here today! Can you tell us about your latest writing project or published title?

I've got several things going on. My first release from Torquere Press, Switching Sides, came out in April. It's f/f erotica. In May I just had another release, from Phaze, that was supposed to be for an anthology, but they asked me to lengthen it so it could be published as a stand alone title. It's called The Big Four-0h! and it is m/f/f/m erotic romance. I also just signed a contract with Phaze for an adult fairytale rewrite titled A Little Taste of Red. It's based on the Little Red Riding Hood story but it is definitely not for the kiddies or the faint at heart. Very steamy!

Congrats on your writing success - that's a busy spring! So what advice would you give to new writers just starting out?

Write, write, write. Then don't be afraid to submit. We all get rejections and that's okay but you'll never get anywhere if you don't try. Also(and I'm speaking from experience here) do your homework and check out the publisher before you submit. I've been caught in one that was closing and one very poor publishing house. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Check with other authors and people who have worked there. See if they are happy. If you get a lot of bad reports then steer clear. A bad publisher is much worse than having no publisher at all.

Very true! OK, what kinds of books do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

Love paranormal and erotica and if they are combined then that's even better. I'm a big fan of the werewolves and the vampires. I also love the f/f stuff. I just started reading some m/m but what I've read I've enjoyed. I'd love to see more of the big publishers take on the f/f stuff. Not sure I have just one favorite. I love Kim Harrison and J.R Ward for the paranormal. I've also really enjoyed Cassandra Gold's m/m and Jolie du Pre and Megan Rose for the f/f writing. Cass is in my critique group and she rocks.

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?

Most difficult is definitely finding the time to actually sit down and type things out. My three kids and part time job keep me busy, not to mention keeping things together when I'm at home. I often write things out longhanded, the kids don't seem to mind me sitting down with a notebook but they hate to see me at the computer. Then at night I try to type things out or use my dictation software to save my wrist a little wear and tear.

The most exciting is finding out what my characters are going to do next. I often get the ideas for a story, the basic intro and stuff but from there on out I kind of wing it and the characters tell me their next moves. A lot of times the story goes somewhere I didn't plan to go but I have to give my characters free range or the story stops dead.

The most rewarding has to be getting a good review, especially when a reader emails me and tells me they loved my book. It makes it all worthwhile.

How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?

Not sure I ever do balance it but I do the best I can. The writing is something I love to do and something that I have to do too. It keeps me sane. I have all these ideas running around in my head and I have to get them out.

Do you ever suffer from writer's block? If so, what do you do about it?

I think all writers suffer from block at least once in their lives. My problem usually comes from trying to force the story. If I relax and let it flow where it wants to I'm usually okay but when I try to bend the storyline in a certain direction I almost always get stuck or end up hating what I wrote. I also have an amazing critique group that helps me out. Brainstorming is wonderful when you do it with people that understand you. If all else fails I walk away or switch to a differnet project until inspiration strikes again.

Fun question, now: what is your favorite movie? Did it inspire your writing in any way?

My favorite movie of all time is The Lost Boys. I watched it over and over again and I think that is what got me into the vamps and other paranormal characters so much. One of my favorite genres to read is paranormal romance or erotica.

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us today, Beth. Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

I can be found online in a lot of places. For info about my writing, great chat events or sneak peeks at my stories check out my website:
http://beth-wylde.tripod.com/ or my yahoo group where I host monthly events and often offer up free goodies http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bethwylde/

I have yahoo IM at b.wylde and email at b.wylde@yahoo.com

Links to my guestbook and other things such as my Myspace page can be found on my website.

My current publishers are Torquere Press: http://www.torquerepress.com/
and Phaze at: http://www.phaze.com/

Check Out My Banners!

"The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing." ~Walt Disney


Another short post, but today's is a fun one:

Check out the animated banners that the lovely Judy from LASR made for me! {The "is" is cut off in the first one, but that's only because I don't know how to adjust the borders on Blogger :)They're perfect for posting on websites with click-through links to my purchase page, right? Here's hoping, anyway. I have featured author spots booked for 3 different websites, for next month...we'll see how that translates into sales :)

It's Monday Again? Really?

"I'd like mornings better if they started later." ~Author Unknown

OK, you've been warned: it's a crazy time at school, I'm feeling under the weather, both my books are releasing in the next 10 days and so I'm doing a ton of promo...and thus my blog posts may not be any kind of wonderful.

Sorry.

However, I wanted to remind everyone about my giveaway contests, one of which will happen this Friday, May 23, to celebrate the print release of Lost in Paradise, and the other which will happen next Tuesday, May 27 to celebrate the print release of One Night in Boston. Make sure to stop in and see if you're the winner!!

Remedies, Anyone?

"My own prescription for health is less paperwork and more running barefoot through the grass." ~Leslie Grimutter

I teach.

I have lots of students running around with germs all year long.

Yet I don't get sick from September through May, ever. I go through multiple bottles of hand sanitizer. I work out. I eat well. I get my sleep.

But inevitably, sometime around the end of school (last year it was late June), I get hit with a nasty cold. I think it's the build-up of months of stress, perhaps. This one set in yesterday.

I hate them. I have too much to do, and no time to deal with feeling lousy. Yet here I sit, tired, stuffy-headed, achy.

So my question today is, what's your best remedy for the common cold? I take zinc and vitamin C, I drink lots of water, I try to get a decent amount of sleep. But does anyone have any other good ways to get rid of this thing??