M. Leighton Pulls Her Book From the Shelves

Hello, Scribes Fans. Sugar here. I’m sure some of you may know that indie author M. Leighton pulled her book UNTIL I BREAK from the shelves today.

Why? That’s a very good question.

If you want a synopsis of the book click HERE. I learned about this after seeing a conversation on Twitter about it. For me 97% of Twitter is white noise but this topic grabbed my interest and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. An author pulling her own book? Not because of low sales, not because it was poorly edited or badly written but because it was too dark, too ugly for some readers tastes.

Here’s what Leighton had to say about it.

When I wrote Until I Break, I could’ve watered down the story, made it more palatable, easier to accept.  But as an artist, I didn’t want to cheat Sam and Alec out of their story.  As I’ve said before, life isn’t always pretty, but I had hoped that the majority of people would be able to see beyond the ugly to the wonderful story of love and acceptance and healing that was embedded in Until I Break.  Sadly, that hasn’t turned out to be the case.

So, rather than risking people misunderstanding Sam and Alec and, therefore, me as a person and author, I’m pulling the book from publication. It will no longer be available in any format from any source after tomorrow.  Yes, I could leave it out there to earn money, but every cent would be bitter, knowing that there are some who not only don’t “get” the story, but who are misunderstanding it in a disheartening way.

Every book is not for every reader. We all know that. And no matter what we write we always know that there are going to be readers out there who don’t like or misunderstand our work. I think that’s all apart of being a writer.

And as another writer that makes me so dissapointed in Ms. Leighton. If you want to read her entire post click HERE. We’re writers here so we know what it’s like to pour ourselves into something and I can tell that from Leighton’s words that she loved these characters and their story. I’m sad that she pulled it down. I sad that she cared enough about what a few people thought that she had to hide it from the world. I’m sad that she didn’t say F YOU and stand by it. 

Part of me gets it. Our books are like our babies and we want to protect them, but sometimes being a good mother is letting your baby go out there into the world and letting it fly. I wished she would have let it fly. Especially since it seems that more people loved the book than hated it, more people thought it was insightful and thought provoking and compelling. 

Part of me thinks that Leighton is pulling some big trick on us, that by announcing that she was pulling her book she drove people into a frantic rush to buy it and see what was so dark about it. Last night her book was number 6 on the Amazon list. Even I was sucked in and Until I Break is so not my kind of book. And if it is a trick it’s damn near brilliant. I hope she is laughing all the way to the bank.

So what is your take on this? Would you pull a book that you loved even though some people didn’t understand it?

Mother May I…

My mother, grandmother and my niece.

I originally posted this back in December of 2011. But I think it’s much more fitting now. Happy Mother’s Day, Ma!

My mother wants me to have a baby. Am I married? No. But that seems to be a minor detail at this point. I think she would be totally fine if I stole a baby from the hospital as long as she had something cute to spoil. We fight about this at least once a month.

“I want to have grandchildren. From you,” she says as she pokes me in the belly. ”When are you going to start thinking about it?”

“I don’t want children right now. I’m only twenty-six. I haven’t even been to Europe yet!”

“You’ve got it wrong. It’s only eighteen. It’s not only twenty-six. You’re getting old.”

Then my brother chimes in. “You know she’s never going to have a baby, mom. She’s too mean.”

Another one says, “I’ll give you lots of grandkids, ma. When do you want me to start?”

We all look at him in horror, knowing that he should not procreate anytime soon.

“But seriously, Jamie. What about that guy you were dating? He had a good job and you two would make such cute fat babies.”

“But, he was an arrogant jerk and he was weirdly close to his mother.”

She shrugs and says, “That’s small potatoes. We need to think of the big picture here.”

My mother is clearly insane.

She cusses like a truck driver, is thinner than me and always takes every opportunity to embarrass me by dancing in public but I love her. And one day I plan to capture of her crazy awesomeness in writing.

I like writing about mothers and will often model my fictional ones after real people in my life. (Thank goodness I don’t know too many normal people.) I feel like moms are some of the hardest characters to develop because just like in real life their personality shapes the way their children behave and the choices they make.

So here are a few of my favorite fictional mothers.

1. Claire Huxtable… She was a lawyer. She had five children, dealt with her wacky husband and kept that brownstone in Brooklyn spotless. She was like wonder woman or wonder mother.

2. Roseanne… Her house was a little more realistic. She was loud and brash and working class. But mostly importantly she was funny and I have to respect that.

3.  Joan Crawford… Okay, so she was a real person. But that movie Mommie Dearest made her seem other worldly and till this day I screech, “No wire hangers,” whenever I see one.

4. Amy Duncan… This dancing, singing, scene stealing Disney Channel mother cracks me up. She reminds me of my own mother. Amy never takes a backseat to her husband and I love that.

5. Colleen Donaghy (30 Rock) … She demanding, slightly evil, mean and I love her.

As for books I really like Posey’s mother, in Kristan Higgins Until There Was You. Who wouldn’t like a fluffy German mother who tried to fatten you up with comforting food. Sophie from Sophie’s Choice ( it was a book before it was a movie). Could you imagine making that choice?  And Cealie from The Color Purple. She put up with a lot of crap but still came out on top in the end.

Your turn! Like your mother? Hate her?  What’s she like? Got a favorite fictional mother? Tell us about her. Any and all comments are welcome.

 

My First One Star Rating

This Wednesday as I signed on to Goodreads to add a friend’s book to my TBR pile. I noticed that somebody had rated Dangerous Curves Ahead. My first rating ever, I thought. Cool! But when I clicked on my author dashboard to see who left the rating I saw that it was only for one star. My heart sank a little. One star? One star! Really!? I knew I was going to have to let it go, part of being an author is getting reviewed and rated.

But then reality smacked me in the face. How could a person rate a book that they never read? The book isn’t out yet. The ARCs haven’t gone out and yet this person rated my book with one star. I thought maybe it was just an accidental mouse click. But when I clicked on his name I saw that this person, this man, had rated thousands of books, and when I looked more closely I noticed that the only books he rated with one star were romance novels. Authors like Julie James and Jennifer Ashley were rated with one star. While JD Salinger got five glowing stars. I’ll freely admit that romance novels are predictable, the plots can be a  little clichéd, their writers are a little wacky and can seem a little sex crazed by people who aren’t in the know. BUT we write books, great books, that make people happy and sell millions of copies.

So why all the hate? Why take the time to go through hundreds and hundreds of books just to rate them with one star? Who has the time for that? Who really cares that much? Maybe the guy had his heart broken by a romance novelist, maybe his wife spent more time reading our books than she did with him. Maybe the only way he can exact his revenge is to bring down all of our average ratings? I don’t know. I shouldn’t even care. I’ve got enough crap to think about without having this man’s motives on my mind.

What do you think? How would you have reacted to that? Why do you think romance writers don’t get no respect?

PS. My one star rating was taken down. I still have one rating by someone else who I know didn’t read my book but this time it’s five stars.

The ARCs Have Arrived!

Hi there, Sugar here.

When I got home from work on  Friday I had a big package waiting for me at the door. I knew it wasn’t a pair of shoes. (I haven’t ordered any in months.) I suspected they were the bookmarks I ordered from Earthly Charms. (Great site!) But when I picked up the package and felt its weight I knew it couldn’t be just book marks. The address confirmed that the package was from my editor, but for some reason I couldn’t imagine what was inside. My book is not out until nearly September and since I only have a vague idea what goes on behind the scenes I wasn’t expecting Advance Reader Copies yet.

So happy together!

But there they were and when I saw them I squealed a little. I had a book! An actual printed book. No longer was it an idea in my head, or words on a screen. It was on paper. It had a binding. I could hold in my hands. I could inhale the pages. I was excited to say the least. But I realized that this was a huge step in the process. ARCs mean that now real people are going to be reading my book. They are going to be reviewing it. Some of them will like it, some of them won’t. And it scares me a little because, my baby, my first book, the thing I’ve thought about and sweated over for the past year and a half is being released into the world to be critiqued.

My mother made me give her a copy. That’s an even bigger thing than having strangers read it. She hasn’t read anything I have written in years and she doesn’t normally like romance novels. I’m afraid she won’t like it. I told her that if she doesn’t like it to lie and tell me she did. Which of course she will.  I’m not sure why, but having my mother read something I wrote is weird for me.

What about you all? Do you let your family members read your work?

Writer Beware (How much should you spend on learning your craft?)

Hi there, Sugar here.  So I have a secret. Before I sold DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD to St. Martin’s Press I never spent a dime on learning how to write. Oh I joined the RWA and my local chapter. I went to the monthly meetings, I read  a lot of the writers I admired. I found good critique partners and beta readers. But I never paid for a class, bought a book or shelled out hundreds of dollars on workshops. Am I that good of a writer? Well, I would like to think so, but the truth is, I’m not. I know I can be better. I know that there is always chance for growth. But do I want to pay thousands for a chance to grow. Absolutely not.

I don’t spend a ton of time surfing Twitter but when I do, it seems that somebody is always trying to sell writers something. Classes, books, retreats, all day workshops. They all promise to make your characters stronger, your dialogue wittier, your sex scenes filled with more… Umph. But with all that stuff out there how do you know what’s worthy of spending your hard earned cash on.

So I put together a little list of things you should think about before you shell out your money.

1. Look carefully at who is giving the workshop/ writing the book/ selling the product. Do they have any credibility?  If they are teaching about craft, have they ever sold a book to a major publisher? Have they taught before? Have you heard good things about them?
2. For self pubbers. If they are claiming that they are successful and can teach you how to be, can they prove it? Are they willing to share numbers? Secrets?
3. Can you get what they are selling else where for free? There are a lot of blogs out, A LOT, for writers by writers where you can get good info for free. Read them.
4. Can you use your friends?  Just before I was about to submit my manuscript I thought about paying to have a professional critique it, but then I saw the prices. They ranged anywhere from $300-$800. Way too rich for my blood. Plus it’s only one person’s opinion. What one person might love another might hate. So use your friends when you can. They are readers too.
5. Have you checked out writer’s forums like Absolute Water Cooler or Query Tracker. You can learn much from reading the posts on there. 

Sure there are classes and books out there that are well worth it. But the best way to get better at writing is to get your butt in the chair and write. The more you write the better you get. I promise. It works. I’m proof.

Now it’s your turn. What do you think about before spending your money on craft? And if I was going to spend some money, what books/ workshops/classes would you recommend?”

The Final Countdown (A Book Launch Story)

Hi there, Sugar here. And I have got a twitchy eye. Why? Because I’m stressed out. Forget about the multiple deadlines and the difficult day job, I’ve got a book coming out in a little over four months. And while I am over the moon excited, am I ready? Absolutely not. 

Saturday I spent the day with my CTRWA peeps and listened to Kristan Higgins give a great talk about how to prepare for a book launch. I listened to every word which is hard for me because I have severe case of self diagnosed ADD but I had trouble absorbing everything because the entire time I kept thinking oh S#@t I’m not ready. I’m never going to be ready. Book seller letters, and authors assistants and giveaways and swag and book signings and public speaking and workshops and blog tours and Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads and websites and newsletters and put me out of my misery.

I went home that night sobbing with all of that stuff swimming in my head. I think I feel the way all writers feel. If I can just get my book into the public’s hand they’ll like it, some will hate it, but a lot will like it. But how can I do that? I know realistically I can’t do it all. I don’t have money to hire an author’s assistant or to buy really cute swag.  There is no way in hell I’m going to be able to put together and manage a street team. I have no back list to give away, no legion of fans that I can ask to spread the word about me.

But instead of thinking about all the things I can’t do I started to think about the things I can do.

I can continue to write good books. Before anything else I will focus on this. I write because  I feel compelled to not because I need or want to.

I can update my Facebook fan page and Twitter daily. I sometimes have trouble with this. I can’t talk about my day job, or bitch about my mother. I don’t have any kids to tell cute stories about. I don’t have a cute boxing trainer that I can pant over. Hell, I don’t even have a pet, so I sometimes wonder if what I have to say is good enough. (I don’t mean to toot my own horn but I think I’m pretty damn engaging.) Check me out here.

I can spend my limited advertising money wisely. In DANGEROUS CURVES AHEAD my heroine is a wicked funny, ultra curvy fashion blogger/designer/shop owner. And if she were a real person she would be all over Full Figured Fashion week which is taking place in NYC June 17-21st.( PS I’m looking for some women to hit the sample sale with, if anybody is interested.) I’m researching taking out an ad in their program. Even if it doesn’t reflect in direct sales, I can get my name out there and let girls like me know I write books about girls like them. I can also take out targeted ads on Facebook and GoodReads without having to spend much of my hard earned cash.

I can look like the super sexy successful author I want to be. I’m shedding some of this extra coat of winter fat. (9 pounds and counting). This also includes buying new outfits which is no real hardship for me.

I can attend conferences. Look out Atlanta here I come!

I can take care of myself. I can eat healthier. Sleep better. Drink more water and try to not let the stress take anymore of my hair out. Because without me there are no books to launch. We ALL need to take care of ourselves!

So what do you do? What do you think I should do to help with this book launch? Any and all comments are welcome. 

Why Don’t I Like This Book?

I haven’t been reading much lately. With multiple deadlines breathing down my neck I just don’t have the time to lose myself in a book. But a couple of weeks ago I picked up one of my favorite authors’ latest book. It was the second book in a series. I really liked the first. So when I found out the this second book had been release I was so excited. I glanced at the reviews on Amazon. I saw all the 5 stars it was given on Goodreads. When I dived in I was expecting a really great read. But the greatness never came. Page after page I read and while the voice of the writer kept me interested I never lost myself in the book. I never fell in love with the characters. It was taking me days and days to get through it when I usually read a book in a single day or two at the most.But I kept thinking back to all those glowing reviews and those 5 star ratings. The good part must be coming, I thought. There must be something that is going to make this book stay with me. But it never came.

And then I did something that I had never done. I stopped reading it. I got to the last chapter and I stopped reading. It was a romance novel. I knew how it was going to end. I stopped reading because the author annoyed me. The heroine had gone out of her way to spectacularly save the hero and the hero still let her go. I just didn’t see the point of it. They had their dark moment, said their I LOVE YOUS, why extend the book? It sure as hell didn’t make it any better. When I told my friend this she gasped. “How could you stop reading so close to the end? How could you not finish?”

I was mad. That’s how. I felt let down. Confused too. Why didn’t I like this book? What was everybody seeing that I didn’t? I couldn’t get through Fifty Shades of Grey either. Couldn’t get past the third page of that. I not saying that the writing of this book was anywhere near that one, but somehow I found myself in the minority then too.

Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood or maybe I had higher expectations because my reading time is so precious. I don’t know. I just didn’t feel the same way as everybody else.

Has that happened to you? Want to tell me about it?

Yummy Love: Interview with Author Kimberly Kincaid

Hello, Scribes Fans. Do you like food? Do you like love? Then I have the perfect author for you. Kimberly combines the two in her delicious foodie romances. LOVE ON THE LINE is available right now for a great price. But before you run out and buy your copy check out Kimberly’s great interview. 

1. How do you battle the doubt monster? Doubt Monster: the nagging feeling while writing, that your prose is terrible, you plot is silly, your characters are insipid and no-one in their right mind would read this drivel, let alone buy it.
Oh, Doubty and I go way back! I edit. A lot. And I do it as I write. Watching my drafts go from fumbling to fantastic (and they all start out fumbling) is really self-affirming. And it helps banish that doubt. I also have amazing critique partners who tell me straight-up what needs help.
2. Why Foodie romance? What drew you to it?

Honestly, I love to eat. I come from a big Italian family, and I married into a big Italian family. We have lots of food traditions, and I live by the mantra that “food is love”. It wasn’t a stretch for me to make my characters feel the same way.

3. What is the most surprising thing that has happened in your writing career?

I am continually surprised by the journey. But I think the thing that threw me the most was selling my Pine Mountain foodie series twelve hours before I left for Nationals last year. I can honestly say I was SO not expecting that phone call. It changed the whole trip for me!

4. What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?
Probably shrivel up, really. No, let’s see. I am a certified fitness instructor, so I’d likely be in mind-body wellness. As much as I love food, it takes some serious grace-under-pressure mettle to be a chef. I could never do it!
5. They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere. What is yours? What is it about? What makes it terrible? Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?
I can’t leave a story undone. Ever. So I actually have two totally completed, absolutely terrible books under my bed! My first manuscript ever, and my third (my second is the one that snagged my agent!) They’re terribly written—it was before I knew anything about craft or pacing or plotting or…well, anything. But I love them both because they remind me how to write because I love it.
6. Who are your favorite authors?
I hope there’s a lot of room on this list. Aside from my critique partners (Tracy Brogan, Jennifer McQuiston, Alyssa Alexander, Robin Covington and Avery Flynn), I adore Amanda Usen (fellow foodie author!), Susan Donovan, Bella Andre, Kieran Kramer, JR Ward, Kristen Callihan, Julie James, Louisa Edwards…honestly, I could go on all day!
7. What was your biggest mis-step in your writing career so far?
Probably that when I started writing, I queried too fast. I didn’t get the process of editing (and editing, and editing some more) before sending my manuscript out to agents. But I learned quickly!
8. Do you have a word related pet peeve?
The word “um” rattles me when spoken. And I could do without the word “whatever” for the rest of my life.
9. What is your junk food of choice?
I am going to totally out myself. Fritos. They are my crack. The big scoop-shaped ones, with a giant bowl of chili? I could eat that every day and die happy.
10. What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?
Despite being very outgoing, I am very cautious. I don’t like risks! No jumping out of airplanes for this girl. No bungee jumping. No tightrope walking. Just not for me!
11. What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘G’ rated blog! }
Reading in the bathtub. I do it weekly. I just sit and soak and read til I turn pruny. It’s awesome.
12. What’s next for you? Upcoming projects? Life events? Anything you would like to share or brag about?
I have a companion novella to Love On The Line coming out in the early summer (title TBD, but it’s Jason’s story). I also have an anthology coming out in October with Kensington to kick off my Pine Mountain foodie series, called The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap. Then the full novels will follow starting in early 2014. I’ll also be at RT in May and RWA Nationals in July. Come over and say hi!

Thanks for stopping by, Kimberly! If you want to learn more about her you can find her at these places:

www.kimberlykincaid.com

http://www.amazon.com/Love-On-The-Line-ebook/dp/B00BL77PKO/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_H542

www.facebook.com/Kimberly.kincaid1

And on Twitter @kimberlykincaid

And if you still haven’t gotten your copy of LOVE ON THE LINE here’s an excerpt to convince you to run out and get one.

As soon as Noah got behind her, the smell of coconuts and warm sand filled his senses, delivering a crystal clear image to his brain. His heart slammed in his ribcage, and without thinking, he cupped Violet’s elbow and swung her around, so tight to his body that he felt her gasp as much as heard it.
“You were in my hospital room yesterday. Before I woke up.”
“I…I—”
But he barreled on, the memory as bright and vivid as if it had just happened a minute ago. “Your hair was braided, on your shoulders, and you were wearing a…a bracelet that sounded like wind chimes. You said the doctor was coming. It was you.”
The fan of her gold-tipped lashes fluttered wide, and the warm puff of her breath heated his cheek as she nodded. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I was looking for Jason, but I didn’t think you’d wake up.”
Noah shook his head to quell her apology. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, his resolve locking into place, and Violet went utterly still against him.
“It doesn’t?”
“No. You’re the first thing I’ve been able to remember since I got shot in the first place. In fact, you’re the only thing I can remember since I got shot.”

 Kimberly will be stopping by to answer all your questions. Please say hi!

My Experience With Writing Contests

I’m not normally a huge fan of contests. For myself that is. Some people swear by them. Entering dozens upon dozens of them. Spending hundreds of dollars. I entered exactly two contests. Which both left me feeling luke warm about the process. Why? I didn’t get the feedback that I expected or I got no feedback at all. It’s very frustrating to be a new writer, desperate to learn the craft, wanting to be published so bad you can taste it. We enter these contests to learn from our mistakes, to get better and hopefully to get our work in front of editor and agents. We don’t shell out our hard earned cash for nothing.

I felt like I got nothing. One set of pretty good scores, the others just middle of the road or low with no explanation. I knew I had something. I just needed a little hint to steer me into the right direction. So when I judged my chapter’s contest  this year I wanted to make sure other writers didn’t have the experience that I had.

There was one entry I hated. HATED. I hated the characters, the premise. But besides those personal taste things, the writing technically wasn’t good. The pacing was slow, there was no discernible plot,too many POV switches, and head hopping (Very few authors can get away with head hopping. Very, very few.) I had to give low scores. I felt uncomfortable doing it, but I had to. I also explained in detail what I thought the author could fix, but I knew that when he or she opened those scores they were going to have a hard time coming to terms with them.

Then I read two really good entries. One of them was AMAZING. I was glued to every word.  I felt like I knew the characters. I felt like I was in the room with them and when it was over I found myself disappointed because I would never know how it would end. I gave that one high scores. 9s and 10s. I raved about this author’s entry in my comments and when the scores came out she sent me an email to thank me. We exchanged a few emails and through the process I learned that she received a really low score. I was floored. How could somebody dislike what I thought was so brilliant.

I learned some lessons that I would like to share with you.

Take scores from contests with a grain of salt. What one might hate, somebody else might love. 

Don’t let one bad score discourage you from doing what you love.

Take what you can from the feedback and move on.

And most importantly keep on trucking.

What have you learned from contests?

Regroup and Relax

I had a crummy week last week. Work stuff. Family stuff, combined with two deadlines and the start of a new diet had me wanting to bite somebody’s head off by Friday. But I knew I had to hold it together. Girls like me don’t do well in prison. But fear of prison aside, I held it together because I knew I was FINALLY be able to relax this weekend.

I grabbed my two besties, piled them into the Sugar Mobile and headed to Saratoga Springs, New York. Why Saratoga Springs you ask? Have I suddenly developed a love of horse races and gambling? No, but Saratoga is a cool place to go if you’re into that kind of stuff.  We went for the mineral baths. Back in the day when people preferred natural remedies over pill popping, they flocked to these brown water fizzy hot baths to cure everything from constipation to skin diseases. So I figured what better way to relax than to float in some brown mineral water.

Cool, right? The entrance to the baths and spas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to the Roosevelt Bath and Spa which in all honesty is a little creepy when you pull up. It’s in the middle of a state park and the old brick buildings on the grounds resemble a deserted college campus. You can feel the history there and maybe a ghost or two if you believe in that stuff.

I think my friends and I were nervous walking through the door( it was kind of creepy), but when we got inside we were greeted warmly by the staff and  shown to the locker rooms where we promptly got naked and into the the comfiest white robes on the planet.

After the bath and massage. See how happy I am!

We were then shown to the relaxation room, which is filled lounge chairs and water features and soothing music and other naked people who were also waiting for their appointments.When we were called I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Even with all the modernization, the building still has that sanitarium feel, with the original tiles and tubs from the days of Roosevelt, but once you get past that, once you get past the the idea that you are about to spend the next half hour submerged in brown fizzy water you realize how cool the place is.

The bath itself is unusual. I should stress that while the water is brown it is not dirty. It comes in clear and once the air hits it, the minerals oxidize and turn the  water brown, but the water is clear. It’s not like any bath you would take at home. You float. The water kind of bubbles around you as the minerals soften your skin. The attendant told us that there was natural lithium in the water that elevates your mood. I was like ‘yeah right’ when I heard that but it was true. I did feel a little happier, a little more energized. And for the first time in a long time I thought about happy things. I didn’t think about work or (gasp) writing. For the first time in a long time I was totally disconnected from the world. No phone. No internet. No computer. Not even a clock to stress me out about time. I was forced to relax. We followed the baths with hour long massages,where the therapist told me I had tension in my jaw and tightness in my mid back. Who would’ve thunk it? She was amazing too.

Walkway to the hotel.

We stayed at the Gideon Putnam Hotel and resort which is on the same grounds as the spa.It’s a beautiful historic hotel with a very attentive, friendly staff. Normally we couldn’t afford such an extravagant weekend but we booked the Gideon’s Girls Escape package which made everything right in our price range. They have a bunch of packages, even a romance one if you want to take your honey and do some smooching. I normally don’t recommend places but I encourage you to head there if you ever get a chance. It’s an experience you won’t have any place else.

What about you guys? What other cool places should I head to?