Good News

"I love that you get cold when it's seventy degrees out. I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a sandwich. I love that you get that little crinkle above your nose when you're looking at me like I'm nuts. I love that after I spend a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes, and I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night...I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."
(from "When Harry Met Sally")

Ah...who doesn't swoon over the moment when Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan finally figure out they are meant to be together?? This remains one of my favorite movies; I'm not sure why. I know some of the lines are funny enough to make me laugh out loud, and I know I love the actors and actresses who star in it. Maybe it's just that it's so real. The characters don't fall in love at first sight. They even date (and marry) other people. But they finally discover that there is someone out there you are meant to be with, someone who is your friend and your lover and the perfect match for you despite all your flaws and despite all his. I love it.

In other news, I got word today from Virtual Tales that they are going to publish my short novel, Paradise USA (it's been through 2 or 3 other titles), in serial format.

Exciting!

So it's not print. And it's not exactly full-length ebook either. But hey, it's publication nonetheless, and at least a first step to getting my name out there.

So I guess I have some work to do...starting with that 8 page contract I now have to read!

Quotable Quotes

"I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary."
From "Variation on the Word Sleep" by Margaret Atwood


I love quotes. I really do. I love when an author just knocks me over with a combination of words that takes my breath away. So in honor of all the terrific quotes out there, especially the ones from romantic books and movies that make us as readers or viewers want to swoon, I'm going to feature some of my favorites over the next few days. Feel free to jump in, of course, and share some of yours.

Today's is one I first discovered when I was in college, and for a long time I thought it was the epitome of what I wanted love to be: silent and yet all-powerful and all-consuming. Breath-taking (maybe even literally) without saying a word. When I look at this quote today, though, I tend to see the one-sidedness of it. Like, why does the speaker need to be unnoticed? Isn't the best kind of love worthy and recognized in both partners?

Hmm...

Cheers to the First-time Sellers

It's that time agian, when Romance Writers Report comes out and I check to see who's made a first-time sale and how long it took them...

Oh goody, we have some real people this month!

Only one claims she's been "seriously pursuing publication" for 18 months, which is a blink in the book world. I mean, it takes that long for some people to query an agent, get a request for a partial, get a request for a full, and sign a contract. And she sold her first book in that same amount of time?

Only one who sold her first manuscript (Really? The very first one you ever wrote? Come on...that first one is usually written just so it can be buried in the bottom drawer or perhaps hold open a door at some point).

We have one who's been writing for 2 years, one for 5 years, and one for 7 years. OK, I'll give the latter two some props for perseverance.

Ah! My favorite of the bunch: a women who's been writing for 10 years and reports that her first sale "was one of 15 full-length manuscripts she completed before selling."

15?! Wow. Just imagine how much you could learn from creating that many plotlines, that many characters, that many love scenes, and that many black moments. Makes my 4 seem almost paltry.

Cheers to the first-time sellers!

How Old Are You, Really?

I read an interesting column the other day (of course now, I can't remember where) about the age of romance novel heroines. Most seem to be floating somewhere in the 26-34 age range. Years ago, I entered a contest and had a judge tell me my 22-yer old heroine was too young. Hmm. I've always kept that in the back of my mind, as if the general romance readership isn't really interested in a heroine that couldn't possibly have any baggage at the tender age of 22.

But this column talked about the other end of the spectrum - the 40+ romance novel heroine. We know they're out there, of course. But how popular are they, and will they become a bigger trend? What about 50+ heroines? I mean, OK, I'm still in my early 30's, but I'd like to think that romance, that the need for love and affection and good old-fashioned sex, continues well past middle age. Here's the thing: will readers identify with a heroine who's at that age and stage in her life? Or, as this columnist suggested, do most women readers identify with a younger heroine because that's the age they still think of themselves? Are we all, somehow, and somewhere deep inside, hovering around 16 or 25 or whenever it is that we remember really and truly falling in love for the first time?

In many ways, I still feel 24 (I have always looked back at that age as the moment when everything in my life was most perfect and unencumbered). So when I'm 50, will I still feel half my age? Maybe not physically, but emotionally and psychologically?

More important, will I want to read about heroines who are my own age? Or will I prefer to identify with a twenty-something heroine because she reminds me of who I once was, and who I sometimes still think I am, inside?

What do you think?

Joke for the Day

What do you call someone who can't stop buying romance novels?

A heroine addict!

(Cute, right?)

I Hate Electronic Submissions

This is not entirely true. Normally, I like them. I prefer them. They're much more convenient, and usually elicit a faster response, than queries sent by snail mail.

But today I had one bite me in the...well, you know where.

About 5 weeks ago, I submitted a query and partial to Virtual Tales. They were interested. So I followed up and sent the first 1/3 of my ms. (they consider works-in-progress).

Today I got an email from the editor with the subject line "Problem With Your Manuscript." Not a good sign.

Basically, when I attached and sent my ms., I somehow attached the wrong file, the file that includes the rough ending of the story and not the polished first 1/3. Terrific.

The only redeeming thing is that they asked me to send a "fixed" version, giving me a second chance. That's awfully nice of them. Because I feel like a complete numbskull who doesn't really deserve one.

Oh! It is so easy to slip up when you point and click and hit a button or two. Yikes...

Linking

I attended a conference at a local college recently, and one of the speakers addressed Educational Technology. He referred to everyone over 20 as "technology immigrants" and everyone under 20 as "technology natives." His point was that today's kids grow up so immersed in the world of all things electronic, that compared to them, we adults are dinosaurs, doing the best we can just to keep up. Or not.

I consider myself somewhat technologically literate, but when it comes to HTML, I'm really limited. Creating a webpage was a big deal for me, and I relied on a template anyway, so I didn't have to do too much. But I really love when people's blogs have links, so this is my first time trying to figure out how to insert them.

My writing friend, Marianne, for example, is a whiz at HTML. She makes it look easy.

Me, I'm just going to start with the small stuff. Like a link to my two favorite shows on TV these days, Prison Break and The Nine.

And maybe a link to another great blog, by agent Kristin Nelson.

Anyone in the romance-writing field should definitely know about The Passionate Pen, too. Terrific, up-to-date info on agents and publishers.

Whew! I'm worn out now. Did it work? I'll have to check and see. Maybe I'll try some more linking tomorrow...

Prison Break

So you know I love this show, right? I mean, when you are actually made to cheer for the bad guys, you know someone has done a fantastic job creating those characters. How is it possible that I actually feel sorry for T-Bag, the evilest of them all, who's killed and wounded countless other people on his break from jail? How is it that he still manages to show a human side of himself that aches for companionship and love?

Good stuff, I'm telling you.

In other news, here's another cheer out to agent Pam Hopkins, who writes some of the nicer rejection letters. Though she turned down my latest project, she wrote, "I regret having to tell you that I've decided to pass on this. However, please keep in mind that there is a great deal of merit in your work, and part of my decision was based on my client list being so full at this time."

Everyone knows that a no is still a no, but I've certainly received less kind words from far more agents. And last time she turned me down, she wrote, "While I liked many elements of this project, ultimately I was just not as enthusiastic about this story as I would need to be to pursue taking it on for representation."

So she doesn't have one single form letter for all her rejections, apparently. All things considered, this is one tactful, kind agent who's worth querying.

The Nine

So is anyone else watching this new TV show?

The Nine

I've really become addicted - great characters, great suspense, and, usually, good writing. But this past week's episode got me thinking.

One character, Egan Foote (great name, right?), has decided to leave his wife, since he's going through this whole mid-life awakening and is dissatisfied with his middle-of-the-road existence. He says to his wife, "When was the last time you were happy? Really, truly happy with your life?"

And she can't answer him.

I had 3 thoughts at that moment. The first was, wow, how sad. The second was, wow, I'm really lucky that I don't feel that way. I'm pretty much happy all the time. And the third was this sort of realization about why a lot of people read romance.

Is it because they're not happy with their own lives? Is it because they want to escape to a place where everyone does in fact live happily ever after? Is it because while they're reading they can forget about their own dissatisfaction?

Maybe not everyone feels that way. But I'm feeling like a lot of people do pick up a romance for those reasons. To remember the rush of falling in love. To know that somewhere, even in a fantasy world, problems can be solved and obstacles can be overcome.

I watched the movie "The Break-up" with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston last weekend. Anyone seen it? Well, I won't give away the ending, but let's just say that though it is billed as a romantic comedy, the ending let me down.

I think, for me, keeping in mind that there are heavy hearts out there is a good reminder of how to shape a romance. Sure, we have to give our characters conflict and baggage. But at the end of it all, we also have to show the redeeming power of love. Right?

Luck

So much depends upon it in the publishing world, I think. Right place, right time, right genre, right look, right name.

I was looking over the finalists for Romantic Times' American Title contest; voting on first lines is going on now. I checked out the finalists' websites and was really interested to see the variety of experence the top 10 have. Some have won multiple awards. For others, this is their first. A couple featured excerpts that, when I read, made me wonder why they weren't already published. Then I pick up a new release in the bookstore and flip through and can't get past the writing on the first page.

So much talent out there, and only a fraction of it gets the recognition it probably deserves. I guess that's true with anything, though: movies, TV shows, musicians...sometimes you look at the ones who have made it to the limelight and wonder who else is in the shadows that we never hear about.

That's not to say that some authors aren't totally deserving of being best-sellers. But others...you gotta wonder.

More from The Essential 55

OK, this post really isn't about writing, but I finished Ron Clark's book on teaching (and life) yesterday and promised I'd share some other favorite rules.

Number 26: Do not save seats in the lunchroom. If someone wants to sit down, let him or her. Do not try to exclude anyone. We are a family, and we must treat each other with respect and kindness.

How great is that? I think probably every one of us, at some point, saved a seat for someone else or had a seat saved for us. Not always terrible, if we're talking getting a good view at the movies. But at school? In the lunchroom? I like his logic.

Kids are cruel to each other, in case you haven't noticed or conveniently forgot since you were in 5th grade. But bullying, including telling others they can't be part of your group, continues to be a huge problem. My students, 16 and 17 years old, tell me there's nothing schools or teachers or parents can do about it. I tell them they're wrong.

It's hard to "do something," though. It's hard to get actively involved, to tell your child he or she muct include everyone, to teach others to stand up for the right thing even when the right thing isn't the popular thing.

I like this rule because not only does it discourage kids from being exclusive to other kids, it reminds us that even one person can make a difference. If Ron Clark can make a seating chart for his 5th graders in the cafeteria, then the rest of us can do something equally small and meaningful, at some point.

In other news, I got this fantastic idea for a new novel yesterday while I was in the shower (all my good ones usually come then or when I'm running). These characters, and this setting, just popped into my head and refused to leave until I sat down and got something down on paper. So another storyline to file away for next year's projects.

All creativity is not lost!

How Much is too Much?

Baggage, that is. A few months ago, when I was looking at my latest WIP and trying to figure out how to make my characters, and their conflict, more compelling, I wanted to give them more internal reasons to stay apart. Specifically, I needed a very concrete, believable reason why two people who loved each other would have broken up. My heroine was the one who did the breaking up, and I decided to give her the unfortunate - but realistic, I thought - quality of being unable to have children. Her decision to break up with the hero was based on the fact that she had never told him, and he was from one of the most important, influential families in a major city. She couldn't give him an heir, but rather than tell him, she left him. Then, years later, they meet up, older and wiser, and one of the things they have to deal with is the truth about why she left, and what their future holds.

Originally, I liked it. I thought examining how two people interact in the face of something this big would provide me with a lot of conflict and emotion. Now, I'm beginning to wonder whether I went too far. Because here's the thing: people who read romance want the Happy Ending. I know that. And my hero and heroine get the happy ending - they choose to be together, anyway, and to deal with whatever life has in store for them, children or not. But I wonder if the idea of two people falling in love and deciding to marry WITHOUT the possibility of biological children is too depressing, for the sake of a better word. I wonder if romance readers want something lighter to deal with, conflict that isn't so heavy, conflict that can be wrapped up so everything the future holds is shiny and bright.

Part of this comes from the fact that Kristin Nelson, who had been reading my partial, sent me the polite but firm "No" yesterday afternoon. Now, I know from reading her blog that she likes quirky chick lit, for the most part. And that's not what I write. Should I have sent her a query? Maybe, maybe not. She requested the partial, anyway.

I also, in reading over this WIP for a third revision, wonder myself if sometimes the issues are too heavy, esp. for the romance genre. Let's face it: a lot of things in life are depressing. We read to escape that, right? So maybe most readers won't want to read about a woman who lost the ability to have children when she was 19. That's not exactly a happy thought.

So I am putting this novel away for a little while and moving on to something a little lighter. We'll see. I do have a lot of ideas jumbling around in my brain, so perhaps I'll take some time to see who'll win out.

Any thoughts? Are there variations in happy endings? And how much do you want to wade through on your way there?

E-Publishing vs. Traditional Print

Anyone have an opinion on this? All of a sudden, Triskelion has popped up all over the first-timers' sale page of RWR. I didn't realize it was primarily an e-book publisher 'til I checked it out today. I know there are more and more of these e-pub sites showing up, that let the consumer download a story rather than buy it in the store or borrow it from the library.

I recently took a tour of a private school which is planning a huge renovation of its library into a wireless, distance-learning site. The Dean giving the tour admitted that they have no plans to continue expanding their current library/book collection, and most future money will go into maintenance and constant updating of the technology on campus instead.

I found that rather sad. I mean, as a life-long reader, and lover of literature, I think there is something special about curling up in a chair with a book in your hands. But our society today is so computer and Internet-tied, it seems, that the publishing and reading and buying of books strictly online will become common practice in the next few decades.

Will traditional print lose out altogether? And is that a bad thing?

The Essential 55

Has anyone picked up this book? It's a quick read, a best-seller written by award-winning NYC teacher Ron Clark, about the 55 rules he uses in his 5th grade classroom (or used to, anyway. Now he's such a bigshot that he's actually opening his own school in Atlanta). TNT also did an original movie back in August, based on his experiences in Harlem, starring Matthew Perry. Not bad.

Anyway, I was browsing in Borders over the weekend, and they had their fantastic 25% off for Educators sale (which, by the way, applies to just about anyone who works in any kind of education setting - including homeschoolers). So I picked up a few books, including this one.

I started it last night. I thought it would be a list of his rules, which it is, at first. But it's more than a list of classroom rules. It's also a list of life rules - which Clark states outright in his introduction. He's a southern boy, so he was raised in the "Yes, ma'am," "No, sir" way of life, and his rules are pretty much about common courtesy. But as you read, it's amazing how many of them, if we followed them on a regular basis, would make our communities happier places.

The funniest one of the 11 I've read so far:

"If someone in the class wins a game or does something well, we will congratulate that person. Claps should be of at least three seconds in length with the full part of both hands meeting in a manner that will give the appropriate clap volume."

He goes on to say he knows how silly this rule sounds outright, but you have to admit, the intention behind it is pretty solid. How often do we really congratulate someone wholeheartedly? How many times do we keep our congratulations to a minimal mumble? How many times are they cloaked in another emotion, like jealousy? Clark also says that if a few students in the class begin to clap, then everyone must join in - because what's worse than a few half-hearted claps? And who's to say what accomplishment is too small to be recognized?

It's a pretty inspirational book, and it's easy to see even from the start why this guy has won several teaching awards.

I'll post some other of my favorites as I work my way through-

Fall

Just a quick note from upstate New York, where I am visiting family and loving the fact that fall turns the landscape this amazing array of colors. It's been a good one for color, this fall, though it seemed as though I woke up one morning and suddenly everything had changed from luscious green to orange and red in a single day. Brr! The wind set in today too, reminding me that any hope for Indian summer is probably long gone. Ah, well. I can sit inside under my toasty blanket and admire the colors from afar.

Do you have a favorite season to write about? Do you tend to set your stories at a particular time of year? Of course we know that weather can be a great external conflict no matter what our story (if you need a little conflict between characters, throw in a storm or two, right?). But do you ever deliberately choose a season for the very reason that it frames your story? Or do you rely on a rather general anytime of year?

Sort of Like Running

So I've been feeling sort of sorry for myself lately, frustrated with my attempts to publish which seem to go nowhere while wondering if all the time spent at the keyboard is worth it. I took a week off. I traveled. I watched TV. I visited with some old friends. I went for a run, or two or three.

And then I realized something.

It's sort of like running. Writing, that is.

When I was living in Cleveland during graduate school, in my early 20s, I turned on the TV one Sunday morning to catch the end of a marathon that's run every spring through the streets of downtown Cleveland. They run a 10K, too (that's 6.2 miles). I was fascinated. And so I decided that the following year, I'd run that race too. Something inside me wanted to be the one doing, not the one sitting at home watching.

You know where this is going, right?

I hadn't run farther than 2 miles in my life, but I changed. I ran 2. After a couple of months, I ran 3. Then 4 every so often, and eventually I worked my way up to 6. I ran that race, the following year, and though I finished in the middle of the pack, here's the thing: I finished. I did it. I ran through the streets of Cleveland alongside 5000 other runners and thought to myself how I glad I was that I wasn't sitting in my living room that morning.

Since that first race, I have run countless others. Mostly 5Ks (they're shorter), but a lot of 10Ks too. I even have one half-marathon and one marathon under my belt.

Why do I run? Well, I'm not particularly fast. I've never actually WON a race of any kind, though I've placed in my age group. I don't even actually enjoy running, when it's too hot or pouring rain or my legs don't want to move. I've taken time off. I've taken years between races.

But here's the thing: running has definitely become a part of who I am. I know I am stronger, physically and mentally, than I was before I began running. I am in shape. I am healthy. I have the blood pressure and the pulse of someone half my age. And some days, there is nothing better for escape and conquering frustration (or writer's block) than putting on my running shoes and heading out the door.

So yes, I guess I've figured out in the last week that writing has become sort of like running for me. I've only been writing seriously, on any kind of regular basis, for 5 years. 5 years! And I've finished 4 novels, all of which have made their way to agents' desks. So why should I be down on myself? I'm doing. I'm not sitting in front of the TV wishing. And if I don't ever publish, then it's not the end of the world. I won't ever run a 20-minute 5K either, and I've come to terms with that. I don't think I could go back to life without writing, though.

That's a good thing to realize.

First Draft in 30 Days

This is the title of a book I recently picked up. Sounds interesting, right? And it is...sort of.

It's also a little intimidating. The author is a woman who's developed this system where you basically write a really detailed outline in 30 days that then allows you to write the novel from it in 2-3 months. Well, I leafed through her book today. She has some good tips, especially about brainstorming, and some helpful worksheets in the back, but wow!

It's a little too micro-managing even for me, who tends to be sort of over the top when it comes to organization and making lists and timelines and such. Every day is broken down into specific goals, and within those goals are another 3-7 things you're supposed to accomplish. My outlines never get as detailed as she recommends. Maybe they should. But I guess I'm still the kind of writer who sketches things out and then writes through an entire first draft, letting plotlines and characters change and develop as I go.

What about you? Do you stick to a very strict timeline when you're tackling a piece of writing? How detailed is your outline? And how long, really, does it take you to finish a complete novel, those of you who have? My average seems to be about 9-12 months. This author writes 3 novels a year. Maybe I should follow her system after all.

What do you think?

Going Home

So I went back to my college alma mater for alumni weekend, the first time since I graduated over ten years ago.

First, let me just say that I loved college. Every single minute of it. Even the boring classes, with professors who droned on and on. Even staying up all night to finish a paper. Even wading through 6" of snow to get to the dining hall. Even drinking too much really, really bad fraternity party beer and suffering the consequences the morning after. Even having my heart broken by the first boy I ever loved.

Still, though, I was apprehensive about this weekend. I mean, what's a 30-something grl to do on a college campus?

Well, people-watch, first of all. I couldn't believe how young all the students looked! And I had to laugh at the parents who were in town as well, posing their children for picture while the poor kids rolled their eyes and tried not to look too embarrassed. I mean, here they are, on the cusp of adulthood, figuring out their own grown-up identities, and Mom and Dad are still buying them t-shirts at the bookstore and making sure they have the right books for class and...

But the best part of the whole weekend was seeing my old college friends. It's funny how we haven't really kept in touch. Most of my closest friends from those days live scattered across the country. We try and call or email, but you know how that goes. One month turns into six and then a year or two has passsed before you finally catch up again.

How wonderful, then, to find that underneath it all, beyond the stress and responsibilities of job and family, we are really still the same people we were when we were 18 and trying to negotiate the world. There is something powerful about reuniting with the people who knew you when you were young and skinny and naive and sad and scared and brave and successful and trying to forge your own identity alongside everyone else in that dormitory.

I always tell my students that they should go away and live on campus when they go to college, because class is just one part of the college experience. And to be honest, I don't even think it's the most important part (sorry, Mom and Dad - I know you paid a lot for my "education"). To learn who you are, in a place that's brand new, surrounded by people of all walks of life, is powerful stuff.

It was good for me to be reminded of that part of my life, of those people who knew me way back when.

Think maybe I'll go back next year too.

Do You Ever Think About...

quitting writing?

just stopping altogether?

saying, well, that was fun, but it really isn't going anywhere, and I have 10 other things I could be doing with my time, so...

Sorry. This isn't going to be a very uplifting, rah-rah blog today, because I'm feeling rather blue. I sent out 15 or so queries and have heard back from 5 of them. It's only been a couple of weeks, so I know that isn't unusual. And of the 5, 3 asked to see partials. So I know that's good too.

Here's the problem. I've been here before. 3 times. Had a partial requested. Had a full requested. And then was turned down.

I know my skin is thicker than it used to be. I don't take it personally, anymore. And I know it's a tough, tough business. And I know that even getting that many requests for full manuscripts is something many other writers don't come close to.

But how long do you go down that road and come back empty-handed? How many times do you start again? I know there are authors who do it, who write 5 or 10 or 12 manuscripts before they finally publish one. God bless them. I'm just not sure I have it in me.

Maybe I really shouldn't care so much about the end result. Maybe I shouldn't care if I ever publish a thing. Except somehow, that validates one's efforts, doesn't it? Publication makes one worthy. It means you haven't wasted all that time, writing away at the keyboard, while other things get put aside.

I'm taking a break this week, just a little one, to see if staying away from my computer either makes me miss writing or makes me think about whether I really want to pursue publication the way I have been in the last few years.

I'll keep you posted.

The Land of In-Between

The nice thing about having 1 or 2 stories to work on, of course, is that while one is simmering or out there swimming around in the land of finding-an-agent-or-publisher, you can focus on the other one.

That's what I've been doing the last 2 weeks. I sent out my latest WIP, One Night in Boston, to a handful of agents, got a couple of requests and am waiting on other responses. Not much else to do with that one but wait. In the meantime, though, Virtual Tales had requested a partial of an earlier work I had resurrected, Paradise, USA, so I was furiously polishing that. Finished the section they needed to see and emailed it Saturday.

Now, all of a sudden, I find myself ground to a halt. I finished the 2 priorities I had set for myself in September (which is a cause for celebration, I think, so I danced around my office a a little bit until my hubby wandered in). So I'm trying to figure out which direction I want to go next.

Really, I should finish up the novel I'm revising for VT, because even if they ultimately reject it, I've discovered that I like the characters and their new storyline so much that I might tackle turning it into a full-length novel (right now it will probably end up around 55K words, which is OK for VT but not so much for a mainstream target). Or I could do a little brainstorming about the next couple of works I'm thinking about tackling. There's a novel I wrote a couple of years ago, Summer's Song, which made it through quite a few reads at New American Library before a top editor turned it down. It needs work but I do like it a lot. Or I could always work on a short story or two, enter a contest to get my name out on the Web a little more.

Hmm. I thought I was at a sticking point but apparently I'm just at a turning point. What about you? How do you decide which direction to go, once you've finished one goal? Do you have a list of things to accomplish? Do you just close your eyes and pick one?

And by the way, big congratulations to my writing friend Marianne Arkins, who won my September Giveaway. She's getting Bob Mayer's book The Novel Writer's Toolkit. Anyone who's interested in entering the October Giveaway, stop on by www.allieboniface.com !