Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Ben Solah

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today we're chatting with Australian writer Ben Solah...

1. Hi Ben! Can you tell us a little about your background?
I've grown up basically all my life in a working class suburb in south-west Sydney. My father works in a factory and his family were all wharfies. I went to a number of schools in the area including one in a 'ghetto-like' area, where unemployment, poverty and police harassment is rife. I guess my family has never had a lot of money and writing would have to be a factor in escaping that.

2. When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?
I was a real reader in Primary school and hung out in the library a lot. I was also a crafty sort of kid who liked to make things, I drew a lot and created a world of cartoon characters. I guess I was writing a bit then, though it wasn't much. When I was like 11, I remember attempting a novel about martians from Mars coming to ancient Egypt. It was about 10 or 20 pages long, and I thought that was pretty epic.But in High School all this kind of stopped until Year 11 when my English teacher suggested we all read more to improve our vocabulary so could write better essays. I started reading King and Koontz and it did build my vocabulary, to the point where I was bursting with renewed enthusiasm to write. I was having petty teen issues at that time too and found my escape in some of my writing (and poetry) for a period.

3. Tell us about the stories you write.
Initially, it was just straight horror, with a focus on gore. I guess a lot of it was trying to do what King and Koontz did but mimicking never did a writer any good. At the same time, I was developing political ideas, reading political books, going to protests and throwing myself into debates with friends, family and online through blogs and forums. These political ideas couldn't just sit separate from my writing and now it's very much apart of my stories. I write Marxist horror. Which is horror stories about living under a capitalist society and fighting against it. This includes war, racism, poverty, labor exploitation. These things are truly horrifying and get my blood boiling. With my roots in horror fiction, I hope to draw out the horrible things about capitalism and make people fear and get angry at the way the world is, and perhaps to the point where they want to change it.

4. How do you go about developing your characters?
My characters come from real life, as most writers would say. And also, most writers would say that there's always a part of themselves in their characters. Certainly that's true for me. It's my own experiences of living under capitalism and reading stories of others that become part of the characters in my stories. I meet people on the street as part of my political organizations weekly stalls and you get to hear their experiences.When a story comes to me, it usually comes with its character, complete with little bits and pieces of myself, people I meet, and lives I read about. But these traits are not static and don't come out of nowhere. My characters have histories and with each trait, must come some reason why they came to this and my characters develop further as we go through the experiences of their story and how that shapes them further.

5. What advice would you give to other writers, or to people who are thinking about taking up writing?
I suppose reading again did me a lot of good, so I'd suggest doing that, but not just fiction but non-fiction as well. Read the news, blogs and on subjects that interest you. That gives you the ammo you need to write your stories. And you must write, try to write regularly, just ignore the inner editor and let it flow.

6. What kinds of books do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?
Of course, I like horror and I like political leaning books. King and Koontz certainly rank among my favourites, as well as John Steinbeck and George Orwell. Though, in terms of left-leaning horror, there isn't a lot about. Though, I think whether they're trying to or not, politics comes out in all forms of writing, just not so overtly. And of course, Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath really can be seen as a horror story. King's The Green Mile is a really excellent book.

7. What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?
I go through stages of problems with my writing. Sometimes it's the ideas that aren't coming and at other times, I can't seem to articulate my overflowing ideas and characters. At the moment, I'm having trouble turning my images and ideas into fully-fledged plots and actual stories.I think the point at the end of each stage, the draft, the edit, the submission is so rewarding. It's the thrill of completing something you've put a massive amount of emotional effort into. I really enjoy the feeling when words are pouring out of you, full of action and ideas and you're barely trying.

8. How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?
I don't. I was unemployed for about one and a half years after I left school, which doesn't do a lot of for your inspiration. I started working full-time last August and now I'm struggling with all these images and ideas and not enough time to develop a routine to do stuff with them. I tend to write mostly on weekends and sometimes of a night if I'm just itching to write.

9. Can you tell us about your next writing project?
I'm working on short stories this year. I really have found flash fiction a savior recently with my troubles in developing plot because within those 250 or so words you can have a complete story. You don't have to spell the whole thing out for the reader, but in the background it's there, people know there's more to it and there's a history in the actions and the characters. In those short paragraphs, you can reveal the story for yourself. And on the subject of flash fiction, I used run a horror flash fiction carnival, that has recently lay dormant - Tastes of the Darkness - so maybe so readers here would be interested in getting it going again.

Want to know more about Ben? Stop by his website. And make sure to leave a comment on this blog so we know you were here!

Scattered Tuesday Thoughts

"Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better."
~Albert Camus

First, a Happy Birthday shout-out to my MIL, who for the last month hasn't even been home but down in FL helping my husband's great-aunt ready to move north. She deserves a big, shiny gold medal for this...


Second, an early Happy Birthday shout-out to the USA, who's been a little battered these last few years but still deserves a rousing celebration tomorrow for Independence Day.

Finally, a reminder that tomorrow is Writers' Wednesday, and I'll be featuring an interview with author Ben Solah. Make sure to stop back and check it out!

It's Time for Summer Television

I think my new favorite TV show is "The Office"(the American spin-off of the BBC original). I never really tuned in before, but I caught a couple of reruns this summer, and I have to say, it's pretty funny. Characters are clever and well-acted, and a little simmering office romance never hurts any plotline, in my opinion. As a matter of fact, I rented the first 2 seasons on DVD just so I could watch it in full. Anyone else a fan?



I'm also thrilled that "Rescue Me" is back for another season. I can't really explain my fascination with this show, as it's *so* male-oriented, but it's really hilarious. I guess Denis Leary has been doing comedy for so long, he knows what works and what doesn't. It's probably not for everyone, but I'm addicted.



This "Rescue Me" Link is R-rated but Also Worth a Look - Very Funny

Anyone watch "Jericho" this past year? I didn't, but hubby did, and apparently it's back for a 2nd season in the fall thanks to the fans, who rescued it from cancellation. Great story about the power of the people.

What about you? What are your favorite TV shows? Have you discovered anything through reruns or a friend's recommndation?

It's a Meme, Meme, Meme, Meme Weekend (Part 2)

And today's meme is borrowed from Marianne:

Fifteen Things for which I am Truly Grateful

(Appearing in no particular order)

1. My family - my parents, my sister, my husband. My niece and nephew. Everyone who shows me what unconditional love is.
2. My health - physical, mental, and emotional. I love that my legs and lungs are strong enough to run 6 miles without stopping, and I love that my brain can lie to my body and tell me I can keep going when I'm tired.
3. My job - I teach, and it's the best career in the world. Really.
4. My house - it's beautiful and safe and I'm grateful everyday I turn into my driveway that it belongs to me.
5. My financial stability - and that I earned it through sheer hard work.
6. My intelligence - just lucked out on this one.
7. My creativity - same as above.
8. My pets - let's really talk about unconditional love, shall we?
9. My friends - for being supportive and loving and crazy and forever there for me.
10. My appreciation for music - it keeps me sane and stills me.
11. My history - all the mistakes I've made that have turned into learning experiences that made me who I am.
12. My ability to balance a hectic life with inner peace.
13. My freedom and independence. There are very few other countries in which I'd want to live, as a woman today.
14. My contracts with Samhain and TWRP.
15. My online community - a whole other world of friends and colleagues I've discovered!

It's a Meme, Meme, Meme, Meme Weekend

Since it's a busy weekend for me, I'm cheating a little and doing two memes stolen (borrowed?) from two of my best blogging buddies. Today's is from Judy:

First
First job: Entering accent marks for the dictionaries on Smith Corona typewriters, the summer I was 16. Really. It was a trip.
First screen name: I'm technologically illiterate. Enough said.
First funeral: At age 12, for a classmate who committed suicide at age 13. Nothing more to say.
First pet: As a child? I was born into a family with one wonderfully protective collie named Heidi (my first word) and 2 very patient cats I adored. As an adult? A smart, sleek black cat I still have. He was part of the package deal my hubby married into. :)
First piercing: I had my ears pierced when I was in 6th grade (my parents made me wait that long).
First tattoo: Won't ever get one (too permanent) though I occasionally do the temporary thing when my beloved Cleveland Indians are in the playoffs.
First credit card: Don't remember. A Visa in college, I think, with a $500 limit.
First kiss: Oh, with a boy I had a huge crush on, the summer I was 16 (I know, I was a really late bloomer). He took me home from a party and I missed my curfew. :)
First enemy: In a friendly sense, probably the girl I competed against for high school valedictorian (I won).

Last
Last car ride: Last night...hubby and I went shopping and out to dinner.
Last kiss: Last night, before we went to bed.
Last movie watched: Knocked Up.
Last beverage drank: Propel Fitness Water, getting ready for a 10K race this AM
Last food consumed: Banana (see above)
Last phone call: To my parents, last night
Last time showered: Last night
Last CD played: Hmm...probably Gavin Degraw, in the car.
Last website visited:Marianne's (I always visit hers first thing in the morning...cause she posts at like 4:30 am)

Now
Single or taken: Taken
Gender: Female
Birthday: December
Sign: Sagittarius
Siblings: One younger sister
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Hazel/brown/green/depends on the day
Shoe size: 9 for regular shoes, 9 1/2 for running shoes (I know, enormous)
Height: 5'7"
Wearing: Right now? Um...
Drinking: Water
Thinking about: Running the race this AM and then eating whatever I want to the rest of the day!
Listening to: My cats demanding to know where their breakfast is

It's Friday Already? Alright!!

Appetizer: How many pieces of jewelry do you wear most days?

Well, my engagement and wedding rings, of course, and then usually earrings and a necklace or a bracelet. When I'm not going to work, though, nothing but the first two. And 2 toe rings in the summer, instead!

Soup: What is your favorite instrumental song?

That's a hard call. I'll say Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, possibly one of the most joyful pieces ever composed.

Salad: Who has a last name that you like?

This is funny...a guy my husband knows named Mel Pierrepoint. Just has a cool ring to it, I think. I'm definitely going to use that in a novel someday!

Main Course: Name a popular movie you’ve never seen.

Um..."Caddyshack." Yes, really.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: Nothing makes me ___________ like ____________.

Nothing makes me angry like narrow-minded people who argue their POV without considering anyone else's.

Happy Weekend!

Lots of Good News to Share

"If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance."
~Bern Williams

I'm back from vacation, I'm enjoying summer vacation, and everything is going smashingly on the writing front as well.

Good News #1: I'm just about finished with my final line edits for One Night in Boston. Even better, the final line editor asked my regular editor if there were plans for a sequel, 'cause she wanted to see my two secondary characters get together. I'm taking that as a vote of confidence that my writing is decent and that my characters are compelling and likable, even the minor ones.

Good News #2: I'm working with a website designer to update my website, hopefully in time for my July 24 e-release of ONIB. She's a terrific woman who owns Glass Slipper Web Design, and she's doing discounted designs for Samhain authors, so I lucked out. I'll keep you posted on the unveiling of the new site!

Good News #3: I had a great time *finally* meeting one of my long-time writing mentors, Cynthis Borris, when she was in Philadelphia (i.e., my side of the country) last weekend for a conference. Here we are downtown, I think in front of City Hall, though I can't be positive.

Good News #4: This last one isn't necessarily good news as far as my husband is concerned, but he'll deal with it. We've apparently become host to a bevy of wildlife birthing activity this spring, as we have a family of 6 - yes, 6 - groundhog babies living under our back porch. They're a hoot to watch: they frolic in the backyard under their mother's watchful eye and generally get a thrill out of eating grass. Then yesterday saw the debut of a brand new pair of fawns. We have deer on a regular basis, and though they do a number on my plants, I'm still a sucker for those spotted babies!

So yeah, life is good. What about with you?

Writers' Wednesday: How To Wrap It All Up

"If I see an ending, I can work backward."
~Arthur Miller

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Yes, I've been away for a few days, and yes I had a terrific vacation that I'll tell you all about in the next day or so, but first, back to some writing tips for today.

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Writing the opening line/paragraph/page to a story is often the hardest for authors (I know it is for me!). You need to keep in mind that you're tempting the reader and promising them a great premise all at the same time. You need to decide whether you'll use a powerful line of narrative, or an intriguing snippet of dialogue. You need to consider through whose eyes you'll present that opening scene.

But what about ending your novel or short story? Is that any easier? You still need to come up with one satisfying scene and one great final line, right? You still need to give the reader the pay-off he/she's been waiting, and reading for, all this time. So how do you get it right?

I do find it easier to write endings, maybe because I've spent the entire novel getting myself there. Or maybe because I often picture the ending to a novel before I begin the whole story. Some writers I know actually write the final line first. Recently, Writers Digest had a helpful piece on writing endings, so drawing on their advice, as well as my own experience, here are some exercises/thoughts to keep in mind as you wind your way toward those satisfying words, "The End."

1. Make sure your ending shows the way in which the protagonist has changed. This may take more than a final line or two, but you need to be sure that your hero/heroine has come through the conflicts of the story and changed/learned something/achieved a goal/become a different or better person. Go back to your character charts, if you use them, and examine that character at the start of the story. Go back to the first chapters. Compare to the ending. Are your protagonist's emotions/words/actions different? They should be.

2. Go fo the gut. Write the most emotional scene you can come up with. Free-write; don't worry too much about grammar or formatting or even whether the words make sense coming out of the characters' mouths. Just let those emotions rip. As a first-time exercise, this scene might be over the top. But go with it. Make your characters totally vulnerable to each other. See what they say or do. You might find some lines that truly work in communicating the powerful punch for a wrap-up.

3. But avoid cliches and emotional manipulation. Remember, anything your characters do or say at the end of a story needs to come directly from the elements of the storyline up to that point. A reader will feel cheated if someone speaks or acts completely out of character in the final pages.

4. Also avoid Deus ex Machina. This plot device is a throwback to Greek Drama when a character playing a god would actually be lowered onto the stage by a crane (the "machine") to fix all the characters' problems at the play's end. However, this "out of the blue" solution will generally not work in a well-written novel. Your story should resolve itself through the characters' own interactions. It shouldn't need another character to come from nowhere and put the final puzzle piece into place.

5. Write at least 3 different endings. Really. Consider where else you might finish the story. And who knows; those other endings might turn out to be scenes you can use leading up to/after the original final scene. Give yourself some possibilities.

Finally, remember The Promise you made to your reader at the beginning of the story. Every novel or short story makes a contract with its reader from the start; it promises a happy ending, or a thrilling mystery, or a tear-jerker, or comic laugh. Go back to the beginning of the story, and to your outline or any notes you made along the way. Has your story fulfilled its promise to the reader? Ask your critique partners to be brutally honest in this area. If your final scene doesn't pack the punch the reader has been waiting for, you'll need to revise and revise until it does.

Well, there you have it! Hope you found some inspiration in the tips above. And if you have any of your own, let me know! We can all use a little help in getting to that ultimately satisfying moment of writing the final line...and breaking open the champagne to celebrate!

Gone on Vacation 'Til Wednesday

"A good holiday is one spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours."
~John B. Priestly

It's here! Summer vacation!! And to celebrate, I'm off on a little road trip for the next few days. First it's the city of Philadelphia, where I'm thrilled to be meeting, face to face, Cynthia Borris.

Cindi is my oldest and first cyber-writing friend, the moderator of the first writers' group I joined, and responsible for much of my writing success. She's read and critiqued umpteen manuscripts of mine and shared some awfully wise advice about the biz side of writing, too.

But she lives on the other side of the country.

She came all the way to the East Coast for a journalists' conference, though, so I'm off to see her, book in hand, for a proper autograph. Can't wait!

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Then my sister and I are meeting up for our annual girls-only trip. We try to take one each year. Last year we climbed Mount Marcy in a day (her choice). This year we're taking in the small towns of coastal NJ, shopping, etc. for a few days (my choice).

So...I won't be blogging again until Wednesday.

But make sure you stop back for that Writers' Wednesday, which is going to be a discussion of writing endings. There seem to be an awful lot of articles and advice on writing the beginning of your novel, perhaps because it's more difficult to start than to wrap up. But I've found there are some tricks to writing a saisfying closing scene as well.

So check back in a few days, and have a great weekend in the meantime!

So What's a Classic Movie?

"Education would be much more effective if its purpose was to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they do not know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it."

~William Haley


Yesterday I asked for suggestions for great movies I could introduce to my high school students. Of course, we could debate the "definition" of classic all morning, but I'm really just looking for quality films that were made before they were born that are funny/thought-provoking/interesting/controversial. Got some great suggestions, and so my list is slowly but surely taking form. Here, in no particular order, are a handful from the 100 that I'm considering, right now:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To Kill a Mockingbird
Rain Man
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
The Breakfast Club
American Graffitti
West Side Story
My Fair Lady
North by Northwest
Psycho
From Here to Eternity
Dances with Wolves
The Sting
The Godfather
Gandhi
E.T.
On the Waterfront
The Shawshank Redemption


Interesting collection, right? Well, we'll see. I have enough time to think about it.

Speaking of which, here's me doing the TGIF happy dance, not only because it's the end of the week, but because it's the end of the school year and I have no students and no papers and no lessons for almost 2 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hmm...wait a minute...is that my pile of unfinished promotional work calling me? And my 2 novels needing revision piping up in the background? Well, crap. Guess no school just means more time for other things.


That's OK. I'm still not complaining.

Another Happy Graduation...and a Question

"Graduation is only a concept. In real life every day you graduate. Graduation is a process that goes on until the last day of your life. If you can grasp that, you'll make a difference."
~Arie Pencovici

Well, it was another lovely graduation last night, and even though there were record numbers of students (near 700), the entire ceremony took less than 90 minutes. (We're a selective, specialized school that pulls in kids from all over the county; they'll also go to their own HS graduations this weekend). The weather even cooperated...check out the sunshine!

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Here's my question of the day for all you readers: next year I want to introduce my students to classic films - classic being any great movie that was released before they were born (for next year's group, that will be...gulp...1990). I'd like them to be able to watch older films that were either really well made, or award-winning, or thought-provoking, or ground-breaking, and be able to think and speak about those films intelligently and apply them to life and situations today.

I already have an informal list growing in my head, but I'd like your opinion. What movies made before 1990 would you recommend? Remember, they'll be 16/17/18 years old, so while R-rated might not be totally out of the picture, I'll have to use some discretion.

So what do you think? Which movies stand out for you as being excellent ones that everyone should see in their lifetime??

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Jeff Draper

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday! Today we have another interview with a talented up-and-coming author, Jeff Draper, whose short story "Protector" recently appeared in The Sword Review, a SF&F e-zine.


Let's hear what Jeff has to say about the world of writing and publishing...

1. Hi, Jeff! Can you tell us a little about your background?

I was raised on a farm near Olympia, Washington. I did the normal stuff growing up; went to college, got married, became a Marine Corps officer. After my time on active duty (all of which was spent in Orange County, California) I took a job in NoCal for a year or so before moving back up to Washington. Along the way I watched my wife give birth to four kids. She tells me it hurt a bit.

2. When did you first begin writing? Was there an event that triggered it?

I don’t recall a specific event that struck like lightning and made me declare ‘I am going to write’. However, it can be said that the movie Star Wars inspired my general creative desires. I was, like many other 9 year old boys, completely blown away by that movie. It had everything a story needed; young hero, beautiful princess, loveable rogue, old mentor/father figure, and villains most foul. That event, coupled with my mom’s tendency towards stories and other creative outlets, drove me to tell lies to strangers.

3. Why do you call it ‘telling lies to strangers’?

I don’t think the phrase originated with me but it’s because fiction, for the most part, is a series of things that did not happen, yet people line up at ticket counters and bookstore cash registers to voluntarily take in someone else’s fantasies. It’s a giant game of make believe. And then by definition, when you actually publish one of your lies it is read by people who don’t know you.

4. Tell us about your first publication.

The story behind ‘Protector’ is a little interesting in that it did not start out the way most of my other writings have. I did not sit down, crack my knuckles over the keyboard, and state that I was going to write a story for publication. It began as a series of posts at theonering.com. TORC, as it’s called, is a site and forum that I frequent. Now that I think about it, TORC was my first big dive into the world of internet forums way back in 2001. There’s a thread in the Scriptorium of Imladris called The Writer’s Café and it’s been around for a few years now. Several of the active participants decided to write stories featuring each other as main characters. My princess character was originally designed to be a fellow poster there who goes by Ms_Gamgee89 or alternately by the pen name of Quentiel, which is supposed to be derived from Tolkien’s elven languages and means Story Daughter. Anyhow, that’s how the story was born.

5. How do you go about creating your characters?

I cheat. Most characters, like plots, have already been created. I just try to come up with an interesting way to flesh out an existing trope. An excellent book on writing which I recommend enthusiastically is The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler. He details the plot structure of the mythic journey as well as describes the standard story functions, or perhaps ‘energies’ would be a better word, that need to be in any story to make it resonate with a reader’s heart. Most characters fall into an archetype that lends itself to moving a story along. I don’t recall them all off the top of my head but the big ones are Hero, Mentor, Trickster, Shadow, Shapeshifter, etc. It may seem unoriginal but always remember, if something’s been done a thousand times before, there’s probably a very good reason. That’s why we see a never ending stream of dragon and vampire stories.

6. What advice do you have to give to those considering writing?

Writing is one of the many Get Poor Quick schemes floating around our society today. You clearly have to do this because you like to do it. There are few rewards other than the satisfaction that you get from pulling an idea out of your head and recording it onto a page in a fashion that communicates the original feeling to others. As for the craft itself, you cannot go wrong by finding a trusted first reader who will tell you when you have gold and when you have iron pyrite. I have stated many times before that I have the best first reader in the free or oppressed worlds. She can find a way to reveal what remains hidden to me, to connect what remains apart. When it comes to writing we are like brain and heart. One cannot function without the other.

7. What are your favorite books and authors?

Right now I read fantasy. I’ve read several books by Clive Cussler, John Grisham and Tom Clancy as well as a lot of science fiction but what I really enjoy is epic fantasy. The trick is, there’s a lot of stuff out there that I think is absolute garbage. I’ve never been able to get into Robert Jordan or George R. R. Martin and I think there is an entire circle of Hell where you do nothing but read Terry Goodkind. I don’t like humorous or campy stuff so Terry Pratchett is out. I also don’t like thoughtful fantasy that’s slanted toward the female reader so Marion Zimmer Bradley is out, as well as half of what’s on the shelf. But that doesn’t really answer your question. My two favorite fantasy series are the Fortress books by C.J. Cherryh and The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes. Also, just about anything from the late David Gemmell is outstanding.

8. What do you find most difficult about writing?

I get long stretches of writer’s block just like everyone else. It is frustrating because you have some ideas that are wandering around in your head but you can’t seem to sit down and force them out. It’s an elusive thing. What finally happens to me is that I remember that the difference between a writer and a daydreamer is directly proportional to the amount of time spent with Fingers Hitting Keyboard. And really, who wants to be a daydreamer?

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

Those long stretches of writer’s block are seductively convenient excuses to have a Real Life.

10. What can you tell us about your future writing projects?

I’ve done a lot of work, and had a lot of help, toward making ‘Protector’ the first chapter of a novel. Some scenes have been written and a plot sketched out but since my last attempt at a novel ran for three hundred pages before falling apart due to several inherent structural problems I want to take my time with this one. I also keep coming up with ideas for stories to write so I’m doing that now. My current work in progress is called The Battle of Raven Kill. This is a situation where three things came together at once. I thought up the title first and really liked it. Then I envisioned a fight between one man on a narrow bridge and a horde of savage raiders that are after the last of his clan. The last piece came to me when I thought up a hero that, through some plot device to be named later, gets to choose the moment of his death. In that way, he is a different type of immortal than your average vampire or Highlander character. What intrigued me most was the question, “Under what circumstances would a man choose to die?” The notion of sacrifice runs deep through most of my writing. I have the Marine Corps to thank for that. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

Thanks for your time with us. Any final thoughts?

Thank you for your interest. I suppose I would stress again that you should do what you like to do, in writing and in life. There are plenty of opportunities for us to do what we have to do. Make time to set that all aside and follow your (legal) passions. Your sanity will thank you for it later.



Want to know more? Visit Jeff at his blog. And make sure to leave a comment and let us know you were here!

Pick Up Picoult

Jodi Picoult has a great article in the July issue of Writer's Digest titled "Try, Try, Try Again."

(She's one of my favorite authors, by the way, and if you haven't read any of her novels, you're missing out. I suppose she's termed "general fiction" or perhaps "women's fiction," but she targets controversial topics like teen suicide and organ donation and sexual abuse and school shootings in page-turning stories with rich characters.

While her stories don't always have storybook, happy endings, they always have satisfying ones. ***The exception to this is the ending of My Sister's Keeper.*** Hated it so much I threw the book across the room when I got to the final page. I wouldn't recommend that one. My favorite Picoult novel is The Pact, because it portrays teens of the 21st century in such a realistic light. Every parent and teacher should read it. I also liked Salem Falls and have Nineteen Minutes on my summer reading list. Anyway...)

In this WD article, Picoult talks about long journey to becoming a best-selling author.

"For some reason, reporters often call me an overnight success. But if that's true, it's been a 15-year-long night..."

She retells her experience of writing her creative thesis as a Princeton undergrad, selling it as a novel, but being turned down by an agent and even her own publishing house at one point. She recalls watching her sales dwindle to nothing and wondering how she'd pay the mortgage, only to plug away and eventually find an agent she clicked with. After she made it onto the NYT bestselling list for the first time, she tells this story:

"...my publicist got a call from a very influential agent in NYC. She wanted to fly me to New York for lunch and talk about representation. Well, sure, I'd thought at the time. Who doesn't want to back the winning horse? I declined politely...I'm quite sure that this NYC bigwig doesn't remember that she was the very first agent to reject me, but I never forgot."

Every interview I've read with this author is practical and down-to-earth. She does amazing amounts of research and almost always writes her novels in 9 months after she's finished researching. In this article, especially, she discusses at length how difficult, and disheartening, the publishing business can be.

"One of the saddest truths in publishing is that good books aren't always the ones that sell. You can do everything right and still not get a contract. More often, the writers who succeed are the ones who refuse to buckle under the failures that are heaped upon them..."

Ultimately, though, she stresses the importance of keeping on, of believing in yourself and your talents even in the face of hardship. It's a lesson we could all stand to remember.

Check out this article from last month's issue of WD, also by Picoult. It's a great one about the intricacies, and the payoffs, of researching before you write. And put her on your TBR list for the summer!

Getting a Late Start

I know, I know, I'm late posting today. Suffice to say it's a story that involves me not being at my home computer, and remembering how slow dial-up Internet connections are...

Anyway, since it's Monday again, you should check out the Samhain Best First Line Blog Contest. This week the editors have chosen 50 of last week's 90 entries to move on to round 3. Here's an interesting quote from the blog:

We have just over 50 entries moving on to round three. Some interesting stats from round 2: The line from round one that was chosen by the most editors (5 of 7) was chosen by only one editor to move on to round three. No line in round two got chosen by more than 4 of the 7 editors. 60% of the lines were voted forward by one editor.


Wow! That really does emphasize, I think, how subjective the publishing world is. What one person loves, another person passes by. I used to be depressed by this, but I've since learned to see the glass as half-full...really, it only takes *one* editor or agent to say YES to your work. It's just a matter of finding that one editor or agent.

Anyway, swing by the contest and take a look. I have a couple favorites that are developing...what about you??

Happy Father's Day

"He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it."
~Clarence Budington Kelland

Random Childhood Memories of my Father:

He could fix, or build, anything. He'd spend hours down in his workshop in the basement and then come upstairs with the coolest creation for my mom's kitchen, or the living room, or the yard outside. I always thought that was amazing.

He loved music. He would always sing harmony in his deep bass voice when we were in church, or caroling, or in the car driving someplace. He knew all the words to just about every musical there is. And he'd always clap for me when I finished practicing the piano in the evenings.

He would talk to anyone. We'd be driving somewhere on vacation and stop for lunch, and the next thing you know, he'd be chatting up the couple at the next picnic table. Or the truck driver climbing out of his cab on the other side of the parking lot. Or the teenagers playing Frisbee. Countless times my sister and mom and I would be ready to leave and look around, knowing he was deep in conversation with a stranger somewhere.

He had limitless patience for me and my sister. He'd push us on the swing under our apple tree out back for hours. He'd give up a whole afternoon to put together some random toy with 100 parts. He'd do 500-piece puzzles with us. And he taught me to drive. Need I say more?

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Making Changes

"It’s only by daring to dream, our relentless pursuit of those dreams, our determination to realize our dreams – it’s only by never giving up and writing anyway that we become the kind of writers (and people) we want to be."
~Marilyn Beker

Here's a great article on the dreams of writers (thanks to Marianne for sharing it in our writers' group the other day!):

Dare To Dream - Write Anyway!

So I'm in the process of working with a website designer to change my website. Last summer, when I was just getting my feet wet with the whole cyber-world experience, I used a very simple template to put up something for myself. Now that I'm lucky enough to have 2 upcoming novels in the works for publication, I decided I wanted to upgrade and do something a little more professional.

Here's my question: what do you like in a website, especially a personal/author one? Anything that really turns you off? Anything that makes you grin and stay and check out all the pages?

Just curious...

Friday Feast

Only one week left 'til summer vacation! And to celebrate, here's our Friday Feast...

Appetizer

Fill in the blank: The best thing about where I live is _________________…

...that it's rural downstate New York, which means it's close to NYC, the gorgeous Shawangunk Ridge of the Catskill Mts., and the much lower gas prices of NJ and PA. It's also a blue state...

Soup

Create a new name for a deodorant (like “Flower Fresh” or “Shower Scent”).

Pit Protection (yeah, that's bad, I know)

Salad

What was the last piece of software you installed onto your computer?

Hmm...probably TurboTax, back in the spring. Not fun, but necessary!

Main Course

If you were to receive a superlative award today beginning with the words ”Most likely to…”, what would the rest of the phrase say?

Most Likely to Think She Can Solve Every Problem At Work (or)

Most Likely to Make a List to Organize Her Day

Dessert

What two colors do you like to wear together?

Anything with black. Even black with black. C'mon, it's easy! Though lately I've been wearing a fair amount of pink with brown...

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If you're visiting for the first time today, take a scroll down to my first-ever novel cover, in yesterday's post, and let me know what you think!

Got My Cover!!!

"Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book."

~Stephan Mallarme

Here's my cover for One Night in Boston!! I've had it for a couple of weeks now, but Samhain won't let you post your cover on your own website or blog 'til it appears on theirs, which just happened Tuesday. You can see it here and here.

The big decision, some of you will remember, is whether or not I wanted a person/face on the cover. (And yes, I know how lucky I am to have any input at all. Most larger/NYC publishing houses just design it and send it to you). I finally opted for the urban night scene without the heroine on the front. I want to appeal to as wide a reading audience as possible, and so I wanted a cover that didn't scream "romance" only because I know some people will pass it over simply because they prejudge the genre. Now, I also know some hard-core romance readers might not like a cover that's not sexually suggestive[skin-faces-bodies-sheets- fill in the blanks), so I suppose all I can do is wait and see.

Anyway, I do like the cover. More than that, I like the idea of it. It's almost as if before now, my book wasn't real. Before now, I could talk about being published but I didn't have any "proof" to show the world. Now it's there and it's real and it's so exciting I can hardly stand it!

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Chris Stevenson

Thanks for stopping by...this week we have another author interview. Say hello to Chris Stevenson, the author of sci fi futuristic novel Word Wars, a tale set 100 years in the future where the written word has been banned by the gov't. Let's hear what Chris has to say about his experiences with the world of writing and publication:

1. Hi, Chris! Can you tell us a little about your background?

I've been a resident of Southern California all my life. I've had occupations ranging from auto mechanic and service manager, to Federal Protection Officer. I was once stationed at the United States Geological Survey in Palo Alto, where I became engrossed with science and paleontology. I served as a content editor for a monthly newspaper called The Senior Citizens Reporter. I've had non-fiction books, poems, short stories, novels, radio plays, articles and profiles published in the past 17 years.

2. When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?

I first became interested in writing at the age of 26 (a little late for the average writer). I just happened to peruse a magazine called The Twilight Zone. I believe I read my first supernatural short story at that time and proclaimed that I could do that, too...just as easily as the other authors. I was in for a rude awakening as to how much time and discipline was involved.

3. Tell us about Word Wars.

I asked myself what would happen if the Middle East completely cut off their oil supply to the United States. How far would we go in retaliation? What would we do to stem the need for petroleum? How far would we go, in a national security sense? Remembering Fahrenheit 451, and how much I enjoyed that book, I decided to take it a step further and devise a cruel and overbearing United States government, that not only isolates itself from the rest of the world, but also terrorizes its citizens into complete obedience.

To guard against the discovery of recent technological advances in the field of friction-free electricity and anti-gravity, the Continental Security Agency bans the written words and installs the color bar language. The FCC and the U.S. Post Office, now have the authority to enter private residences, looking for contraband writing. They also have the authority to persecute the citizens, by inflicting horrendous civil rights abuses. I created a small rebel force, who've had enough of this subjugation, to ultimately put a stop to the cruelty and break down international barriers, which would bring about world peace.

4. How do you go about developing your characters?

Most of my characters are derived from real life instances, only I exaggerate their characteristics and traits, to give them more diversification. Sometimes I take this a little too far. I've used many past girlfriends in my stories, and for whatever reason, allowed happily ever after endings, despite of what might have occurred in the real life settings. I use a lot of irony in my "peopled" pages. Someone is always in conflict with another character. I not only throw rocks at my characters, forcing them to solve their own problems, but my characters throw rocks at each other, complicating the plot and making the collective objective all that much more impossible to reach. It's a miracle that any of them make it out alive.

5. Tell us about your promotion strategies. How do you plan on making Chris Stevenson a household name?

That's a tough one. I've now learned how to up set websites and Myspace blogs. I link just about every place that I can, without spamming. I think it's important to belong to the large writing groups on the net--to participate, gain respect and advise others on how to achieve their goals. Promotion from here on out will be nearly a full-time job, but it's a necessary evil, I guess. I think I'll wear my website on my sleeve every place I visit. Exposure is the name of the game. I can't rely on my publisher to do everything. I at least have to give it my honest and full participation.

6. What advice would you give to aspiring, unpublished writers?

Unpublished writers? Don't give up. This is a marathon. There is no instant gratification in this business. You have to be willing to put in endless hours of writing and editing, with no reward or recognition. And that's just the beginning hurdle. Getting someone else to read and critique your material is another obstacle. After that comes refining your craft, a constant and never-ending learning process. A young writer asked me a two-fold question once: "If I have the talent, can I be a writer, and how long will it take?" I answered: "You want to be a writer? Take a few aspirin, go into a dark room, lay down and wait for the feeling to pass. And it takes a long time, preferably a life time."

7. What kinds of books do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?

I've always liked science fiction and fantasy. Spec fiction. I like urban fantasy, too. I wish I could have written Bedazzled, Manikin, Date With An Angel, Splash, Click, Bewitched, Stepford Wives, anything in that vein. But I started off with lots of books by Robert Heinlein, and others like Ice Rigger, Virgin Planet, The Island, Jurassic Park, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Black Marble, The Onion Field, The Forever War, Ender's Game, Dune and many others. My favorite author amongst the lot is Poul Anderson--for his incredible irony and interpretation of the human condition. Next on my list would be Alan Dean Foster.

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

Editing is the most excruciating part of the process for me. I loathe it. If I could afford it, I would hire someone else to do it for me. The most exciting thing is to find my books in stores and behind the tables at BEA. I've been there, and caught a little lime light, and there is really no thrill that compares. It's very romantic. I also love first drafts. I can knock out a 400-page story in 10 weeks, and find the journey entirely enjoyable--no blocks or complaints whatsoever.

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

Writing is my life, so the weights are tipped very heavily on planting my keester on a chair and applying fingers to keys. My sleeping habits are so bizarre that nobody knows the proper time to contact me, so I get away with a lot time spent in front of the screen. I'm truly the hermit writer and can subsist on almost nothing. I keep house and lawn for my rent, so when those responsibilities are over, I'm free to murder the keyboard.

10. Can you tell us about your next writing project?

The next project is finished and just about ready for my agent. It's a paranormal thriller, about a woman who is given a second chance in life--a deal with the Roman God, Janus. She has to solver her own murder, and she's given some very unusual skills to accomplish her goals. It's called Gate Walker, and just might end up at Juno Books.

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Interested in finding out more about Chris's novel Word Wars? Visit his publisher here. And leave a comment to let us know you were here, too!

First Lines

Well, the Samhain First Line Blog Contest is moving along: they've chosen 90 entrants from the first round (out of 270+) to move on to Round Two. Check it out, if you have some time. Some of them are really terrific! (It's also interesting to see how the authors follow up a zinger of a first line with a second one...ooh, tough).

In honor of that contest, and because Marianne did something similar a couple of weeks ago that I found really cool, here's a collection of my first lines from the 4 novels I've written. Reading them over now, I think I'm glad I didn't have to enter a contest to find a publisher!

“We’re out of time.” (From One Night in Boston, being released by Samhain July 2007)

Sitting back from the street, its original coffee color faded to a dusky beige, the house on Lycian Street waited. (From Lost in Paradise, being released by The Wild Rose Press TBA)

Summer Thompson stared at the square container in the center of her coffee table. (From Summer's Song, currently unpublished and in need of major revision - hopefully this summer!)

“Get out!” Dakota James threw Sean McCabe’s jeans--her favorite pair, she noted bitterly, faded in all the right places--across the room. (From One Night in Memphis, unpublished and in need of revision. OK, I know it's technically 2 lines, but I'm allowing creative interpretation of the rules)

Next week - last lines!

Grrrl Power

"Like a lot of good fillies I've been around, you wouldn't want to mess with her a whole lot. She's a very classy filly. Push a button, you can do anything you want with her. She's a little bossy, too. That's what makes her good."

~Todd Pletcher


Well, in case you weren't paying attention on Saturday evening, horse racing fans had a real treat in the Belmont Stakes: a battle of the sexes that came down to the wire. Rags to Riches was only the 22nd filly to run the final Triple Crown race in 139 years. The last time a filly won? 102 years ago.


Now, I never realized how unusual it was for girl horses to race in such a prestigious event, but isn't it just the greatest metaphor? Here's yet another area of life that's dominated by males. They enter in droves, they race alongside each other, they battle each other down to the wire. And now along comes this talented female that not many people have heard of, and all of a sudden, she's battling with the big boys.

Before the race even began, the odds were stacked against her. Even worse, she stumbled coming out of the starting gate (watch for this in the opening seconds; she's on the far left) and she had to settle into 5th position for most of the race. The commentator didn't mention her much at all, since she didn't make any kind of move until the final 1/4 mile. But then...wow, you have to watch the race to the finish line, and tell me you're not rooting for her the entire way:






Let's hear it for the girl!!

Finished!

"A preacher's wife proofread his sermon and wrote next to one paragraph, 'Weak point--shout loud!'"
~Anonymous

Well, I'm done with my second round of edits for One Night in Boston. Now it's off to the final line editor to catch typos and spelling glitches and formatting issues. I'm still waiting for my cover to be approved by Samhain (Crissy, the owner, has to approve them all before they go up on the site officially), but then I'll make sure to post the link here!

We had a long discussion at my local RWA group yesterday about book covers: what people like, what people don't, what publishing companies do to try and make them appealing. One of the members, who's multiply published by Harlequin, talked about how the cover artists are told to make each cover by an author resemble her other ones (same color scheme, font style, general design style, etc), so readers will recognize the similarity and know it's the same author. She also shared a funny story in which Harlequin changed the title of one of her books from "The Trapper's Woman" to "The Trapper" because they wanted to put a picture of a sexy guy on the front. She said OK, fine. She got the cover, and it featured the back silhouette of a woman with long flowing hair.

???

Too funny, to find out these things about the publishing industry.

Here's something else I've discovered, since I've signed a contract and worked through the editing process: you're never really finished. And I don't mean with the work, or the publicity. I mean, I think writers always find things in their novels they want to tweak. Even when my editor sent me her comments, I went through the story and found so much more I wanted to change.

That wording stinks! That plot point needs more development! These two sentences should be switched around!

I've heard it said that that's normal, that you have to just let it go at some point even though you could probably write and rewrite certain sections forever. Still, it's a weird concept.

Enjoy your Sunday...

The Rough Road to Publication

"To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author."
~Charles Caleb Colton

Remember I mentioned the Samhain First Line Blog Contest going on right now? Well, the first week of entries, 273 people posted! If you're interested, go check it out. Some of those lines are just terrific. I wouldn't want to be the editors who have to choose the next round winners, though. Man, first lines are tough. You're supposed to tempt, tease, interest, promise, and mystify all in one little line. No wonder I have such a tough time writing them!!

So I'm about halfway through the second round of edits for One Night in Boston, though there aren't that many this time, so it isn't taking nearly as long as the first round. I'm really starting to get excited because my electronic release date for this novel is July 24, a little over a month away! Maybe I'll try to find one of those clicker timelines that counts down the days and post it on my sidebar. Anyone have any good links for those?

OK, I'm off to my local RWA chapter meeting this AM followed by their annual luncheon during which I will probably be turning over problematic sentences and plot points inside my head as I long to get back to my edits...

TGIF

I am so glad to get to the end of this week! With one hot HS graduation (my nephew's, not my own school's...that's still 2 weeks away) and one teachers' union election out of the way (yes, I was elected VP...as if I don't have enough to do!!), I cannot wait for 3:30 this afternoon, when my friends and I will be sitting down to a frosty drink at Happy Hour. T-minus 9.5 hours and counting...

In the meantime, here's the Friday Feast. What has your week been like??

Appetizer: What do you consider to be the ultimate snack food?
Xtra Cheddar Goldfish, hands-down. (I was going to say chocolate but it has too many calories to be considered "ultimate," which to my mind means I could eat it anytime. Of course, I can eat chocolate anytime, so maybe I should change my answer.)

Soup: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 as highest), about how popular is your last name?
My maiden/legal last name = 10. My married/pen name = 2.

Salad: Who is your all-time favorite sitcom character, and why?
This is a tough one. I'm going to cheat and say the ensemble cast of Seinfeld. I still think that's one of the best-written shows of all time.

Main Course: Do you shop online? If so, name some sites you like to browse for goodies.
Sometimes, mostly Amazon and Ebay. Victoria's Secret and Newport News, once in a great while, if they're having good sales. Hate the shipping costs of online shopping, though!

Dessert: Fill in the blank: I think ___________ should be ___________.
I think Barack Obama should be elected the next US president. (Note: I don't think he will be because I'm not sure the country is ready for a minority leader. Still, a girl can hope.)

Have a great weekend!

A Quickie

"Men and women can never be friends because the sex thing always gets in the way."

~Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally



Everyone enjoys a quickie once in a while, right? :)

Well, here's a quickie for you today, an unconventional author's website:

Click Here To Be Entertained

I'm busy with the second round of edits for One Night in Boston, so I have nothing else remotely interesting to offer you. Still, that website should make you smile...

See you tomorrow!

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday!

Today, we have a guest blog by bunnygirl on fiction blogging. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Fiction blogging is one of those vaguely disreputable activities a "real" writer isn't supposed to do. After all, anyone can do it, and some of what's out there is pretty bad. There's no glory. You don't get paid, there's no end product to hold in your hands,and you can count on not getting reviewed in the New York Times.So why do it? And what the heck is fiction blogging,anyway?

There are two kinds of fiction blogs I've come across. One is the "fake" blog, which might advertise itself as a fake (Diary of a Killer, Under Odysseus, Diana's Diary), or it might seem like a real blog (PlainLayne).

Fake blogs that pretend to be real can backfire, as Odin Solis found out when he was outed as the author of PlainLayne, which took fiction to a whole new level, crossing over into reality and making the readers part of the story and becoming something more akin to performance art. (Note: I don't recommend doing this. Always include an Author's Note or Disclaimer in your fiction blog!)

The advantage to writing as a fictional character is that it's a fun way to explore your character and his or her world. When I set out to write Diana's Diary, it was to get a better grasp on the interim period between the second and third books of my trilogy, and also to delve more deeply into the mind of one of my favorite characters.

Once I gave "Diana" her blog and set her on a 1,500 mile journey through a post-apocalyptic America, I couldn't hold her back. She led me to places I never imagined and introduced me to people who I still can't believe came out of my own head. It was a creative burst like no other I've ever had, and I still mourn the late nights of sitting down to write with no idea what was going to happen next, as eager for the next chapter as my readers.

The other type of fiction blog is a modern version of the serial novel. A writer might be posting relatively new work, or something he or she has been sitting on for years. It might be first person, but is just as likely to be third person. No attempt is made to give the impression that the characters themselves are the bloggers. In this tradition, we have The Legacy of Tsazcuth and The Mexican Year (much of which has been taken down,unfortunately).

Why post a work of fiction in blog format? The reasons against it are clear: once you've put more than about three chapters online, you're publishing house poison. You're giving your work away for free and your chances of ever getting paid for it have dropped like a rock. You could password-protect your blog and restrict access, but then you kill your chances of gaining a following.

So why do it? Well, it's instant gratification. Instead of querying for months or even years, then waiting another year or more for your novel to make it to the bookshelf, you can post your fiction tonight. You can get readers right away and develop a following. (Under Odysseus sells logo-printed items via Café Press.) You can edit at will and add pictures, like I did. There is no one to tell you your work of fiction is too long or too short, and it doesn't matter if there is a "market" for it. The blogosphere is a place where you can give free rein to your creative muse.

Want to give it a try? Start by checking out this list of blogger laws you should know. Next, remember that although Blogger and Wordpress have made blogging simple, there may still be technical matters you need to address, especially if you decide to include pictures in your blog, or want a particular look that isn't available on an existing template. A basic knowledge of HTML and Photoshop is a huge plus, and the web is full of resources that can help.

Finally, consider your long-term commitment. Can you see this thing through to completion? Blogging can be a big time commitment, and if you've chosen to write as your character, your job is doubly hard because you can't just jump in as the author and say, "Oh, btw,I'm going on hiatus."

I made the mistake with the first diary of Diana's Diary of committing to daily posting. This turned into a nightmare as her journey stretched from a few weeks to five months, and as the author, I had no graceful way to give her an out. So unless you've already finished the work you intend to post, I don't recommend daily postings. But you should commit to a regular schedule, so your readers will keep coming back.

I'm no prophet, and fiction blogging could just be a passing fad, like so many others. But I consider it in many ways the modern successor to the serial novel of Dickens' day. With so many people doing their reading online instead of in print (witness the death of print newspapers vs their online versions), this is a medium that could have a bright future ahead of it.

If nothing else, it's a chance to get your name out there, if you choose to blog under your real or pen name. It's also an opportunity to exercise your creativity, write the book you want to write, format it the way you envision, and not have to answer to an agent's or publisher's vision of current market whims.

To heck with the market! Create your own reality!

Two Recommended Reads

Update on my Spring Reading Thing progress: I finished Love is a Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield.

It's a really well-written, poignant memoir about a guy who falls in love, gets married at 25, and loses his wife at 31. (This isn't a surprise, if you're planning on reading the book; her death is mentioned from the start). You don't see a lot of books written from the young widower POV, and since he's also a writer for Rolling Stone, he has a great way with words. Here are 2 of my favorite quotes from the book:

When I started feeling morbid and empty, I felt like I was turning into a different person from the guy she fell in love with. I had no voice to talk with because she was my whole language. Without her to talk to, there was nothing to say.

###

I hated living in a man's house, with a man's refrigerator and a man's bathroom. A man-woman bathroom only takes a couple of weeks to become a man's bathroom when the woman is no longer there...I missed the feminine touch, not just hers, but mine. I missed being half-girl, half-boy, part of a whole. Now that I was male in a male environment, it was harder to manifest her physical chick presence, no matter how many of her MAC lipsticks I set out on the coffee table in a basket like so many M&Ms.

In between the sadness, though, there are lots of stories of how they met, how they fell in love, how music brought them together, how he survived it all. And one cool element is that every chapter is headed by a picture of a mix tape he actually made in such-and-such a year.

Let me tell you, it made me appreciate my hubby and my marriage that much more!! Definitely a recommended read.

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And second, I'm thrilled to announce the release of The Write Ingredients by Lori Foster. It's a cookbook compiled of yummy recipes from a variety of authors, and the proceeds will go to supporting our US troops. Even better, I'm one of the authors! Now, I won't tell you which recipe is mine, so you'll have to buy the book and see. But I will say that it's a completely foolproof, easy appetizer/light lunch treat that gets rave reveiws every time I make it.


So support your favorite budding Samhain author (um...that would be me...) as well as the troops (who really shouldn't be there any longer ~ can we bring them home already??) and purchase Lori's book!

For more information, visit Lori Foster’s website! http://www.lorifoster.com/and lorifoster.com/community/readergettogthr.htm

I've Been Tagged Again

A couple of weeks ago, Clover tagged me with the "8 Things About Me" meme, and though I already played once, I figured what the heck. I'll play again. So here, for your Monday viewing pleasure, are 8 new things you might not know about me:

1. I started taking piano lessons when I was 8 years old.

2. So...when hubby and I moved into our new home last year, the first thing we bought for the living room (before any of the furniture, even) was a baby grand piano. It sat there amid the scaffolding and paint supplies for a month before we finished the rest of the room!

3. I do not have a green thumb. In fact, I really don't enjoy gardening. I've tried to do some planting and landscaping this spring but it's more of a hassle, with all the upkeep, than anything else.

4. My favorite color is red, though most of my work clothes are black (hey, it's easier to match in the morning!).

5. At 5'7", I am the shortest person in my immediate family.

6. I have traveled to 41 of the 50 states.

7. My husband and I own lake property in upstate NY and have already started planning our retirement home there even though neither one of us can retire for another 20+ years.

8. I still have a scar on my left knee from when I was in 8th grade, running the hurdles on a cinder track, and I wiped out BIG TIME. Took off so much skin there was nothing to stitch together.

I'm opting not to tag anyone since I think this meme has been around cyber-world for awhile. but if you want to play, let me know! And thanks for the tag, Clover ~ it's always fun to play!!

Two Things I Learned From My Editors This Week

"I'm a writer first and an editor second... or maybe third or even fourth. Successful editing requires a very specific set of skills, and I don't claim to have all of them at my command."
~Lynn Abbey

A little background first:

1. I've been writing for about 6 years. I completed 4 novels and sent all of them out to agents and editors at some point. I collected 100+ rejection letters along the way. Then I decided to explore e-publishers, and within 2 months last winter, I had contract offers for 2 of my novels from 2 different publishers. Samhain Publishing Ltd. will be publishing One Night in Boston, and The Wild Rose Press will be publishing Lost in Paradise. Both of these novels are long enough that they will be released in print about 6-9 months after their electronic debut.

2. Anyway, what this means is that I've been trying to prepare 2 novels for publication at about the same time. I don't really recommend it, but that's the way things happen, so...

3. I've had the very interesting experience of working with 2 editors, and they are both kind and helpful but point out very different things in my manuscripts, which has been great. I'm able to transfer their comments to both the novels.

Drum roll...

These are the 2 areas that I've learned I have to work on:

1. I over-use internal dialogue.

2. I over-use commas to string together lengthy phrases in many of my sentences.

Regarding the first area, my editor from TWRP highlighted a lot of areas she wanted me to change from 1st person to 3rd person. At first I resisted, but I did begin to understand what she was saying. I didn't change all of them, but I tackled probably 50-60%. Here's an example:

Ash rolled over in bed. I should have told him how I felt. I shouldn't have let him go without telling him how he's changed me. Now what do I do?

The revision reads: Ash rolled over in bed. She should have told him how she felt. She shouldn't have let him go without telling him how he'd changed her. Now what was she supposed to do?

My editor's reasoning was that while internal thought can be good, even powerful in places, if over-used it can actually become a distraction to the reader. Well, OK. So that's my first piece of advice to: use it, but not too often.

Regarding the second area, my editor from SP wanted me to look at sentences that were too long and awkwardly phrased because I'd used commas (correctly, but still...) to join a lot of thoughts together. Here's an example:

From the womb, it seemed, Jack had been groomed for it. The Major bloodline, well grounded in Boston, demanded it. Everything he’d done since leaving home at eighteen, every step he’d taken and every goal he’d set, with the exception of one grave mistake of the heart back in his youth, had led him to this point.

Too wordy? Maybe a little. Here's the revision:

From the womb, Jack had been groomed for it. The Major bloodline, well grounded in Boston, demanded it. Everything he’d done since leaving home at eighteen, every step he’d taken and every goal he’d set, had led him to this point.

Because I make reference to his broken heart later on, I don't really need that extra clause here. So that's my second piece of advice: don't string together too many clauses and phrases in a sentence if you can help it.

I do think my writing/my editing has gotten better just over the past few weeks, in looking at these areas. I'm not losing my voice, though; there are some sentences I didn't change even if they violated the above recommendations. Some you have to stick to no matter what, I think.

What have you learned through writing and editing??

Announcing a Writing Contest

"I want to write books that unlock the traffic jam in everybody's head."
~John Updike

Here's some exciting news for all you writers out there:

Samhain Publishing has just announced its Best First Line Contest. Since they are closed to submissions right now until at least Fall 2007, this is a chance to get your manuscript in front of an editor earlier thah that.

Starting on June 4th, writers of any genre can leave the first line of an unpublished manuscript in the comments of the "Best First Line Contest" on Samhain's Blog. The editors will choose a group of winners to move on to the next round, the following week, and post their first and second lines. This will continue in the same way through the first 5 lines of the manuscript, until July 11. Then the editors will choose AT LEAST 3 winners to submit their full manuscript to Samhain for 2008 publication consideration. Exciting, right??!!

In full, here are the rules, posted at Samhain's Blog. Give it a try - what do you have to lose?

P.S. If you aren't a writer, here's another site for you to visit:

The Animal Rescue Site.

This one's pretty simple..

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily to meet their quota of getting free food donated every day to abused and neglected animals.

It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on "feed an animal in need" for free. This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising.

Clicking on the link above will help to donate food to animal shelters across the country. All you have to do is visit and click every day!

Friday's Feast

And now it's time for the Friday Feast!

Appetizer: Name something you think is “the best.”

Hmm...the end of a long day, when I've time to go for a long run in the morning, and I've had a student say "Thanks, I understand now," and I've just enjoyed a favorite dinner, and I'm sitting in the living room with my hubby and my cats and a handful of dark chocolate which contains no calories, and we're watching a favorite TV show together while we chill out from the day (this rarely happens, which is why when it does, it's THE BEST kind of day...)

Soup: On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 highest), how stressed are you today?

Well, since I finished my edits for One Night in Boston, and since it's the first day of June which means less than 1 month until summer vacation, I'm going with about a 2.

Salad: What kind of cleanser do you use to wash your face?

Proactiv. It is the only thing that has ever worked to keep my skin from breaking out even though I passed adolescence almost 2 decades ago!

Main Course: Tonight is a blue moon! What is something that you believe only happens “once in a blue moon.”

The kind of day I described in my appetizer! Oh, and getting more than 7 hours of sleep...

Dessert: When was the last time it rained where you live?

Last weekend, but I wish it would rain again soon. My plants desperately need it!

A Thursday Meme

"Do you know how popular I am? I am so popular. Everybody loves me so much at this school."
~from "The Breakfast Club"

I am crazy...I am out of time...I am supposed to be finished with my One Night in Boston edits TODAY and I still have 9 chapters to go (thank goodness my editor doesn't read my blog to know that...at least, I don't think she does...)

Anyway, Rebecca tagged me with this (thankfully) short meme, so this is all I have to offer you today. Then it's back to the editing board. Don't worry, though, I'm still saving up all the good tips I'm learning and will share with you soon. I promise!

1. What makes your blog unique? Oh, boy, probably not much. I know there are much more clever bloggers out there. I'd like to think that there aren't any other Allie B's out there who post writing tips on Wednesdays, though, so maybe that's a little unique.

2. When did you start blogging? I think it was last November.

3. What do you hope to accomplish with your blog? My original intent was to simply get my name into cyber-world before my novels came out. To that extent, I hope I've accomplished that goal, even on a very small scale.

4. What are your feelings on the "blog popularity"? Oh God...is this like high school all over again? Are the cool kids the ones with 25 comments on every post? Are the mean girls the one who tear apart other people's blog posts? Are the rich kids the ones with incredible graphics and songs and pictures? (child of the 80s slowly self-destructs...)

Writers' Wednesday: An Interview with Rebecca James

Welcome to Writers' Wednesday!

Today, I'm featuring an interview with newly published Samhain author Rebeccaa James. Her mainstream romance novel Nightswimming was released in mid-May and has already received great reviews. Click here to read an excerpt.

Let's see what this author has to say about her life in the world of writing and publishing...

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Welcome, Rebecca! Can you tell us a little about your background?
I was born in Sydney Australia in 1970 and then I grew up (well...physically, at least). My first job was as a waitress in a Mexican restaurant, which taught me a LOT about human nature, and most importantly that you should always be reasonably kind to people who are bringing you food!! In my twenties I travelled a bit - to England, Egypt and Greece - and lived for a while in Indonesia and Japan, where I taught English as a second language.

Travelling taught me LOTS of stuff - the most important of which is that you take yourself, your problems and insecurities with you wherever you go. Reinvention of self is hard...probably impossible.

Meeting my partner and having kids has been the best, best, best thing that ever happened to me. Being a parent is possibly the hardest but also the most rewarding thing in the world - and in my case it helped me become a much more settled, happy and less self-destructive person - and ultimately much less self-absorbed.

When did you first begin writing? Was there an event or moment in your life that triggered your desire to write?
I started writing about four years ago. I can't think of any one thing that triggered my desire to do it, and I have to admit that I wasn't one of those people who knew, from the age of five or so, that I wanted to be a writer. I'm a late blossomer in lots of ways!! In fact, my older sister is a (very successful ) writer and I honestly used to think, 'how boring."

I guess having children and being trapped at home a lot with my own whirling brain and a computer brought out the latent writer in me.

Now I love it - and couldn't think of life without it.

Tell us about Nightswimming.
Um. It's a book about a relationship in crisis. It examines what it's like to have your first child; all those wonderfully new and confusing emotions that first-time parents feel; I enjoyed writing it. I hope you like reading it. :)


How do you go about developing your characters?
I don't know really - I like flawed, realistic characters, though, I can say that much. And I like to write dialogue that reveals these flaws.

What advice would you give to aspiring, unpublished writers?
1. Write.
2. Be prepared to be shocked by the grim reality of the publishing world.
3. Marry somebody rich.

What kinds of books do you like to read? Who is your favorite author?
I like lots of different books. I can't say I have a favourite author - but I buy every Anne Tyler book I can find, I also LOVE Richard Yates, Kate Atkinson, Margaret Atwood, Sue Miller....

What do you find most difficult about writing? What do you find most exciting or rewarding?
The most difficult bit is waiting -it is never ending and can drive you mad.
The most exciting thing about it is, kind of paradoxically, the unknown. You never know what may happen tomorrow. A three-book deal? A great new review? A kind email from a happy reader?

How do you balance writing with the rest of your life?
I neglect the housework.

Can you tell us about your next writing project?
um...well....I'd bettter get on with it....

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Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca! Questions or comments, anyone? You can find out more about this lovely author at her own blog, http://rebeccasjames.blogspot.com/

And now that she's whet your appetite, why not take a visit to this link and buy yourself an e-copy of Nightswimming?

Good News

"The coroner will find ink in my veins and blood on my typewriter keys."
~C. Astrid Weber

It's a day for celebration, because in the June issue of Romance Writers Report, I have earned a coveted spot in the First Sales column! In full, it reads

...Allie Boniface announces the sale of her first book to Samhain Publishing. One Night in Boston, a contemporary romance that takes place over a single day and night, will be a summer 2007 release. She has been writing for six years. One Night in Boston was the fourth full-length manuscript she completed before selling...


I always wanted to make sure to put how long it took me to sell, because I don't want novice writers to think it happens overnight.

Actually, this RWR issue is full of good things: an article by Samhain author Jean Marie Ward, about her experience slicing 45000 words from her debut novel; a full-page ad by The Wild Rose Press featuring their latest covers; and a really informative article about writing for multiple publishers, which definitely applies to me.

Update: I've finished my edits for Lost in Paradise and just started the ones for One Night in Boston. I am really enjoying working with both my editors - what an interesting experience! And I plan on sharing some helpful tips I've picked up from both of them, in the next few weeks.

Once I've finished ONIB edits, I am determined to make some headway with my major revision of Summer's Song, another novel I'm hoping to revive for publication later this year or early next.

Never a dull moment!

**Important news: Make sure to stop by tomorrow for Writers' Wednesday. I'm featuring an interview with newly published Samhain author Rebecca James. You won't want to miss it!