Another Moment, Another Lesson

Thea Devine here, confessing that quite often I feel like I’m at the prom without a date.  Although, since I didn’t go to prom, maybe that analogy isn’t quite apt.  (But there was that senior high school dance where I was helping out, when a classmate said so pityingly, “Oh, don’t you have a date?” It scarred me forever.)

Anyway, it used to happen especially when I had to go alone somewhere I didn’t know anyone.  I just dreaded it.

So I was quite taken by this moment that happened the year we delivered my oldest son to freshmen orientation, where, that evening, we were among the hundreds of guests invited  to a reception at the home of the president of the university.

We were with my son’s roommate’s parents, and we were watching a petite woman make her way among the crowd, stopping to greet people and ask whether they had a son or daughter at the school.  A few moments comparing notes and she went on to the next group of guests.

I was admiring how she’d taken the initiative so easily among a multitude of strangers.  When she finally came to us, someone  behind us thought to ask, “Who are you?”  It turned out she was the wife of a famous politician, whose son was in that freshman class as well, and she chatted with us for a few moments and moved on.

A politician’s wife.  Who would know more about how to work a crowd?

But for me, it was a magic moment, completely divorced from who she was.. This, I thought, was how you conquered those prom feelings.  How you’d deal with being shy and feeling out of place.  How you became a fish swimming in water instead of flopping around on the riverbank.

You ask the other person to talk about him or herself.  Who doesn’t like to talk about themselves?  Maybe you don’t ask who they are or what they do.  Maybe, like my boss I wrote about in a previous post, you say, tell me everything.  People do, trust me.

I mentioned this moment to a very shy and retiring friend of mine because I was so taken with the lesson, and I was kind of floored when she exclaimed, “Oh I know her!”

Of course.  So I wrote about it — a short story, about 1000 words.   Of course.  What else would an author do?  That’s precisely what those moments are for.  To learn from, and to make fiction from.

Of course.

Are you shy?  Do you feel like you’re at the prom without a date?  Have you ever had a magic moment in a crowded room? (Falling in love counts,)

Lisa Kessler – Night Walker

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here with one of my favorite paranormal romance authors – Lisa Kessler aka Lady Disney.

Lisa, I’m thrilled to have you as my guest today. Let’s start off with the Scribes’ favorite question!

How do you battle the doubt monster?   

This is a great question because I have not yet mastered the Doubt Monster! LOL  Maybe we never really do?  Some days the words flow and I know in my heart the story is cooking!  I love the characters and the pacing is super.  Then other days I stare at my story and have this nasty whisper in my head that says “This is boring.”

So I wish I had a magic cure! I’ve been lucky that on my lowest days, somehow a reader out there must sense it because out of the blue I’ll get an email or a facebook note from someone who read something of mine and wanted to let me know they enjoyed it.  That can make a WORLD of difference! 

Otherwise I’m forced to gag the monster and keep typing! LOL

What story haven’t you told yet that you want to tell?  What is holding you back?

I started a third book in my werewolf series called, Blood Moon, and just after I started working on it, my Night Series sold to Entangled Publishing, so I had to set that book aside to work on the Night books. 

But that werewolf hero, Gareth, just keeps growling in my ear sometimes and I’m itching to go finish that novel…  Someday soon!

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 have a novel that I started years ago before there was a YA section in the bookstores called, Perfect.  I started it as a horror novel about cloning and experimental drugs, but now that there is an entire genre of YA, I think if I toned it down just a hair, it might work for that.

It’s my grown daughter’s favorite story I’ve written, so I’ve promised to finish he book someday.  It’s about a teen girl who finds out that she is really an experiment for a drug that makes “Perfect” children.  She’s never been sick, or injured or outside of her house.  Ever. 

 But she’s about to turn 18 and the experiment will be finished.  And she will be too.

 Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book.  How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

In my novel, Night Walker, my heroine, Kate, has an ancient VW bug convertible that is held together with vice grips, bungee cords, and duct tape.  I based her car off of two cars I grew up with as a kid. J

Let’s talk about Lady Disney? Who is she and how did she come about? And what is behind the fabulous Cruella costume?

I wish it was a cooler story! LOL  When I started writing most of the sites, like facebook, twitter and even just a website of my name were already taken.  Lisa Kessler is also a fabulous professional photographer in New York!

The email address that I’ve had forever is LdyDisney (and I’m a crazy Disney fanatic) so I used that handle for twitter and facebook. 

My “power suit” (Cruella) is a holdover from MySpace.  When I started writing horror short stories, I used my “power suit” for fun, but every time I changed my pic back to my street clothes, I’d get a bunch of notes that they couldn’t find me and where was Cruella! LOL

So apparently I had accidentally branded myself! J  It turned out that people remembered my Cruella power suit and could find me because of it.  Who knew?

I’ve been gradually switching over to my headshot, but I’ll probably always wear my power suit on Twitter…

Please tell us about your latest book. The cover for Night Walker is <fans face> so hot! What’s next in the Night series?

I just got the big news that Night Walker has been picked up for national mass-market release!  So in May Night Walker will be in bookstores across the country in a mass-market size paperback!  I’m so excited that Calisto will be able to find more readers…  Woot!

The big re-release also shook up my future release schedule a little, so the next release will be Night Thief which is a prequel novella to Night Walker.  It should be available in September.  I can’t wait to share Kane with all of you!  *swoon*  I should have a cover for it soon…

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

While researching for Night Demon (Book #2 in the Night Series) I went to Cancun to tour all the Mayan ruins.  My kids were smaller then and we visited Chichen Itza.  They talked me into hiking the big pyramid.  The steps were so steep we had to monkey crawl up.

Have I mentioned I’m terrified of heights?

So anyway, I got up there and realized how high up we were and how steep the stairs were, and of course there wasn’t a handrail, so…  I started to panic! I may have evencried.  Anyway, my sweet son sat on his butt and told me we could scoot down.  Those stairs were much cleaner thanks to me wiping them down with my backside…  Hundreds of them! LOL

We lived, and I kissed the ground when we finally made it down!  Yikes!!! LOL

Lisa’s Bio:

I’ve been dreaming up stories since I was in elementary school. My first book was titled “The Wonders of Unicorn Creek” and my publisher was Dehesa elementary school. 

Since then, I’ve published numerous short stories in anthologies and magazines. My story, “Immortal Beloved” was a finalist for a Bram Stoker award and was recently re-released in the “Dead Souls” anthology, along with a follow-up never-before-published story, “Subito Piano”. 

I’ve completed 4 novels so far, and just received a contract from Entangled Publishing to publish my Night Walker series!!! 

Night Walker will be available Fall 2011… 

I also post new short stories on my Blog, so feel free to stop by for a read. http://lisakessler.wordpress.com/

Thanks for being our guest today, Lisa! Paranormal romance fans, don’t miss this book. If you have a question for Lisa – ask away!!

Interview: Donna Shields – Secrets of Jenkins Bridge

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here. Please welcome my fellow Soul Mate sister – Donna Shields. She’s here to answer our favorite questions and tell us about her latest book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE.

How do you battle the doubt monster?

The only way I can get past the doubt monster is a good two to three day break from writing. I’ll read a book instead. When I come back to the story, my mind is refreshed, and I can move on.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you? Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before.

Oh yeah. I really want to write a steampunk one and maybe one day I’ll start one. I have a couple ideas kicking around.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

First, I’d cry. I couldn’t imagine not being a writer. But, if I couldn’t I’d go back to college to become a nurse.

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?

Yes, I actually have a couple. I don’t think there’s really anything terrible about the stories. I’m stuck where they have been left at. One is about a woman and a child in hiding from her now ex abusive husband and he’s on the hunt for her. He hired a PI (my hero) whom doesn’t know why this man is really looking for her. Slowly it comes out and all he wants now is to protect her. I will eventually finish this story because I believe it will be one awesome romantic suspense story to tell.

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

Well, just between you, me and your entire readership (LOL), when my husband and I were having some serious marital issues I’d just begun writing Boneknapper (one I’m currently working on). I felt the need to punish my husband through my poor hero who has a deadly Voodoo curse placed against him. Let’s just say it’s wonderful therapy.

Your first book, THE SWAN COVE MURDERS is a novella. Is writing a shorter story, easier or harder? And is your new book – SECRETS OF JENKINS BRIDGE also a novella? And please tell us about your new book.

I think it’s easier to write a novella. With a novella you only have a short amount of words and I find I write with ease being direct. With a novel, you have to meet a minimum word count and I don’t even come close.

With Secrets of Jenkins Bridge, I just barely made the 50K word count needed to be considered a novel. Secrets of Jenkins Bridge is Katherine and Mitchell’s story. They used to be high school sweethearts until tragedy struck and Mitchell abruptly left Addison, unknown to him that Katherine was pregnant. Years later, he returns chasing down a mob boss who is a partner is his father’s company and to clear Mitchell’s deceased best friend of murder. Katherine has been run off the road, and her and Mitchell’s daughter has been kidnapped. They race against time to find their daughter and discover they still love one another.

Here’s the blurb:

Hunting down a dangerous mob boss has brought FBI agent Mitchell Donovan home, reawakening an old flame, resurrecting a dead best friend, and discovering fatherhood. As if those aren’t enough, his new case will push everything else aside: finding the kidnappers who took the daughter he never knew he had.

Katherine Delaney never forgot the heartbreak Mitchell had caused with his abrupt departure all those years ago. With her dead ex-husband accused of murder and her daughter kidnapped, she will place her trust in the one man who could trample her heart again if she gets too close. But, will the resurrection of Katherine’s ex-husband and Mitchell’s chase for a killer destroy their second chance at love and happiness?

This is your second book with Soul Mate Publishing. Please tell us about working with a smaller, digital press. How has the experience been for you? And what led you to go with a smaller press?

Since I’ve never worked with a big press, I can only assume. I get more one on one with my editor with quick responses to my concerns and questions. I feel like it’s more of a personal relationship. The experience has been great. I absolutely love my editor and am so excited to be starting my career with Soul Mate Publishing as they are beginning this great voyage into the publishing world.

What is your junk food of choice?

Why chocolate of course

What is your guilty pleasure? 

 I would have to say Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or Pizza Hut’s cheese stuffed crusted meat lovers pizza.

Excerpt:

They followed the paramedic toward the ambulance while Gladys and the other woman continued to talk.

He’d had a nightmare in the early hours before Gladys’ call had awakened him. The Camaro from his dream sat in the same exact spot. Aidan pointed out the car and told Mitchell he had to save ‘her’, whoever that might be. He figured he was about to find out. If, in fact, he wasn’t losing his marbles.

As they rounded the corner to the back of the ambulance, Gladys stopped short causing Mitchell to nearly colliding into her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he croaked, and then cleared his raw throat. “What’s the victim’s name?”

The paramedic shook her head, blonde ponytail swishing. “We don’t know. Haven’t found any ID yet, and she’s a little confused. Has a nasty bump to the head.”

He let Gladys climb aboard. Her upward movement stopped in midair, one leg dangling a little too close to Mitchell’s jewels. He jumped back as she whipped around, almost losing her balance. In a barely audible tone, she said, “I know her.”

“You know practically the entire town.” Mitchell gestured toward the victim. “Say something. Who is she?”

Her gaze stared off in the distance above his head. “It’s just so weird. It’s the widow whose husband drove off that bridge.” She pointed toward Jenkins Bridge, the old wooden-covered overpass in the distance.

An icy chill ran up his spine. Gladys moved aside, giving him full view of Katherine Delaney. She may be battered and bloody, but Mitchell could never forget her face, her high cheekbones, or the tiny, turned up nose. S**t.

Their eyes met, and his chest instantly tightened, his throat constricting. Something was wrong. She seemed to stare through him. Surely, she recognized him. He hadn’t changed that much. He managed to find his voice. “Hello.”

Katherine closed her dazzling emerald eyes. “What happened?”

He put his trembling hands behind his back interlocking them. “You were in an accident. What’s your name?”

She shook her head, the confusion apparent..

“It’s all right. This is Detective Freeman and I’m Detective Donovan.” Would the name register?

If it did, she didn’t react. She closed her eyes and turned her head away from them.

The paramedic announced, “Gonna have to finish this at the hospital after the doctor examines her.”

Mitchell reluctantly backed away allowing Gladys to jump down. Once the ambulance left, Mitchell said, “She didn’t recognize me.” Hundreds of miles apart and fifteen years later, and none of that mattered anymore. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and protect her. What was her life like now? Did she still live on the ranch with Aidan’s mother? Or did she have another whole life somewhere else?

Would she be okay? What if something happened to her? He couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t.

“You know her?”

Of course he had. When he left Addison, he had been running from the hurt they’d caused one another. And his mother’s death. And his own demons.. “You keep forgetting. I grew up in this town.”

“What’s your connection?”

He didn’t want to get into his and Katherine’s complicated past at the moment. “We went to school together. Her husband, Aidan, and I were best friends.”

Gladys’ milk chocolate eyes grew large. “Oh wow. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. That was a long time ago.” Life goes on.

About Donna:

Donna Shields grew up on romance and scary stories. With her love for suspense and the slightly unusual, she enjoys tying these elements together to create stories full of love, danger and the paranormal.

She lives in the beautiful upstate of South Carolina with her husband, her children, and some great haunts. She’s a mom, a ‘gramma’, a wife, a friend, an avid reader and writer. When she’s not occupied with all that, she loves traveling to Playa del Carmen and Jamaica.

You can find me:

At my blog: http://donna-realworldwriting.blogspot.com
On facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/shieldsdonna
On Twitter: @Donna_Shields
On SMP’s Author Blog: http://smpauthors.wordpress.com/
You can buy Secrets of Jenkins Bridge at: http://soulmatepublishing.com
Coming soon to Amazon and Barnes and Noble also.

Thanks Donna!

Since we Scribes love secrets – who’s got one to share with Donna? Which do you prefer long novels or shorter novellas?

I Can See Clearly Now

Hello, Katy Lee here. I am so excited to tell you that this coming Wednesday, Feb. 15^th, I will be hosting a special blog with New York Times Bestselling author, Catherine Anderson! AND she will be giving away a copy of her latest, LUCKY PENNY, to one lucky commenter. So mark your calendars and join us this Wednesday.

Now, I am going to be honest with you all about my latest work in progress. I have created a mess. A heaping snarled and knotted ball of yarn—the kind you can’t see the sunlight through if you hold it up to the window.  I had no idea where to start to unravel and fix it. At first, I tried starting at the beginning, but just made more of a mess. All I could do was put it up on the shelf and try to move on.

I started spinning another story, but the shelved one kept falling back into my lap. And no matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I knew deep down I had to fix it. I couldn’t leave it in such dire straits. It was actually impeding on my inspiration for any other writing and making me tired just thinking about it, or trying not to think about it.

So, I took it off the shelf. I knew the only way I would be able to move on was to unravel it piece by piece, line by line, working each knot out gently and carefully.

But which knot to start with was the question. Page one was not the answer, and I love the ending, so that couldn’t be the answer, either. It was somewhere in between that needed help. So instead of editing, I went back to the drawing board.

I had to re-plot and refocus before I could rewrite. But could I handle the truth of what I found?

(Thank you Thea Devine for your post on trusting your instincts this week.)

The truth was I was being duplicitous in my story. What I typed was not what I intended my story to be about. I think, perhaps, in the writing zone, I was attempting to keep up with the trends to put out an edgy story. But, in doing so, my characters were forgotten. They made decisions that they wouldn’t have made. I was not being true to them.  And I was not being true to myself. The values I live by were missing from my story.

The Unlocked Secret:  People express themselves best when they are true to who they are and aware of how their life journey affects their work. Be honest about your work and your life. And as Thea said on Wednesday, trust your instincts.

I know I have a long road ahead of me, but I can see clearly now, and I know it’s going to be a fun and exciting trip. The truth really does set you free. Free to fix your messes and free to move on.

Question: Tell us about your shelved books. Have you ever thought of taking one down? Could you handle the truth?

Rejection Confection

So you’ve written a book. Yay! And you’ve edited it until it’s sparkly and shines. Double yay! You spent months pouring your blood, sweat, tears, heart and soul to complete your masterpiece.

Now what?

Some people submit directly to a small press or epublisher. Others take the huge leap into indie publishing. But so many of us search for a literary agent.  And what do all agents require? An awesome query letter.

UGH! I don’t know about you but I find writing queries way harder than writing a book. It’s hard to compress an entire book into a one page letter. If you think that I’m about to give advice on how to write a great query letter you’re sorely mistaken. The only advice I can give is to go find somebody who knows what they are doing and ask them to help you. That’s what I did. Oh and check out QUERY TRACKER. This is the site I’ve spent inordinate amounts of time on researching. It tells you everything you could possibly want to know about an agent. What they represent, whether they are taking queries, who their clients are, how many people have queried them, response times. And if you need a pick me up they’ve even got a section with success stories.

So you picked your agent. You’ve sent your query and are waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed. You check your email fifty-nine times a day like a nut job waiting for those magic words to pop up in the subject line. RE: QUERY.

And more often than not, instead of seeing, “I love it. Of course I’ll represent you and make you a superstar.” You get a rejection. Boy, do they stink and each one is like a little dart of self-doubt directed right at you writing heart.

But rejections are apart of the writing business. And writing is subjective. It’s impossible to please everybody. So expect to be turned down often. There are three types of rejections that are common.

No Response Means No

This is my least favorite of all rejections. I realize that agents are people too and that they get inundated with queries. Yes, I understand that they get busy but so do we. And if we took the time to write a book, research you and submit chapters of our work to you, you could at least have the decency to tell us no. A no, can be a bummer but at least we know. There’s no wondering if they received it, no waiting, no holding out hope for a response. And seriously how hard is it to send a form letter?

The Form Letter 

I’m okay with the form letter. I once got a form rejection four minutes after I sent out a query complete with a synopsis and fifty sample pages, which the agent asked for on their site. Unless they were super speed readers they probably didn’t read my query. But a quick no is always better than a slow no. It’s easy to move on from those.

The Personalized Rejection

This can be a tricky one. I received a very sweet one this week.

Ms. Pope

Thank you for submitting to our agency. There was some excellent prose in your first chapter and I was entertained by your writing, however I will not be able to offer you representation. It’s not your quality of work so much as the tight market and the fact that I only represent a very limited amount of commercial fiction. I truly believe this industry is very subjective and hope you find a home for this project somewhere else.

That was nice. Did it take the sting out of being rejected? A little. But it was still a no.

I’ve also got a rejection that stated my hero was low-class and that real people didn’t act the way I had written them. Ouch. That rejection also caused me to wish that agent never sold another book and that his agency went under. I know. I know. Mean. But writers have feelings because we are people and sometimes it’s better to say nothing at all than to tear apart somebody’s hard work.

On the flip side not everybody is rejected all the time and when that reply comes, asking for more it’s a very nice feeling.

YOUR TURN! Tell me what you think about rejections. Had a nasty one? A sweet one? Are you querying? Have an agent? How did you get yours? Query a publisher? How did that go? Of course any and all comments are welcome.

What do I know?

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here.

I’ve heard that writers are a terrible judge of their own work. That we lack the perspective

I dare you!!

to know what’s good and what isn’t. And I believe it!

Here’s why:

Some of you may recall waaaaay back in July, Suze challenged us to a double dog dare – a summer NaNanoWrimo style “write-off”. I remember commenting that I wasn’t “officially” entering but I’d try and follow along.

I had a novel outlined and ready to go so I figured – what the heck – I’ll start writing it.  The plot was a totally crazy idea – a vampire stripper forced to flee to Mars.  Who’d want to read that?

I didn’t care. The story had been in my mind since the summer of 2010 and it was high time to get it on paper. And I did. I tracked my progress on my Casey Wyatt blog site thoughout the month of July. At one point, I even typed 5,000 words in one day (I had vacation that week!).

By month’s end – I had completed the first draft at 79,000 words. I finished the book, polished it up and then decided – no one would want to buy the book. And I couldn’t asnwer that all important question – What genre did it belong in?

Urban Fantasy? The story is in first person and the heroine is a vampire.

Vampires in space?

Paranormal Romance?  There is a love story and hot, steamy love scenes.

Sci- Fi? The book takes place mostly on Mars.

Genre confusion aside – I sent the book to my fabulous beta readers and critique partners. The overall feedback was positive. So full steam ahead, right?

No. Not exactly. I stalled on making changes, hestitated to edit, and dragged my feet. The same thought drummed through my head – no one will buy this story. It’s too weird.  

So I let it sit. Occasionally, I’d make half-hearted attempts to edit and clean the book up. Until November, when I saw a call for submissions on Twitter. I went to the publisher’s Facebook page and took the plunge.

Within an hour I had a request for a partial. Yikes! Now I had to clean up the book. After a panicked e-mail to the ever patient Suze (my wonderful critique partner), I was on my way!

Two weeks later, I had a request for the full manuscript. Two days later – an offer!

The Undead Space Initiative has been sold to Pink Petal Books. (See, I promised to share good news sooner).

What do I know?

The moral to this story – write the book, no matter how weird or strange the story is!! Because, you never know who will want to read it. Just write what you love or enjoy and good things will follow.

Tell me – how do you feel about your finished works? And for the readers out there – have you ever mis-judged a story, either good or bad?

One Month From Now….

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here.

One quick note - unpublished writers - it’s not too late to enter CTRWA’s The Write Stuff Contest. The deadline is December 5th. In addition to receiving feedback from experienced contest judges, this contest awards cash prizes to the winners!

And fans of the Scribes – we need your help. If you enjoy our blog, please nominate us for The 6th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest - here. Please leave a comment and our link (otherwise your vote doesn’t count!). Thank you for your support.

Yup, I sold this book!

Last year around this time, I completed my first NaNo novel. It clocked in at around 80,000 words. Little did I know then, that the book would be sold and slated for publication by January 2012.

If future me got into a time machine, came back and told 2010 me, I know I wouldn’t have believed it. (I’d probably yell at my future self not to mess up the space-time continuum!).

I still kinda of don’t believe it!

Why?

There are several reasons, the biggest is that I’ve heard “no thanks” so many times, that when I got a big fat YES, I thought the editor must have made a mistake. And it seemed too good to be true.

I can’t blame my little buddy the Doubt Monster for that reaction. Disbelief is vintage me.  When I made the decision to sell the book to Soul Mate Publishing (after I did my research and some soul-searching), in the end, I still kept the sale a secret for several weeks.

Why didn’t I shout it from the roof tops? This is what I’d been working toward. Right?

Because I’m really cautious about good news. Over the years, I’ve developed a bit of a paranoia – that for every piece of good news, bad things will follow. Sadly, this was the case. Two weeks after the offer,  my beloved Oreo died (the third pet death in my house in less than a year). ”See?” The paranoid side of my brain said, “I was right!“

Last week, I learned my release date. First reaction? You guessed it. Keep it a secret. Then I remembered publishing is a business. I wasn’t doing myself any favors holding back. So last week on my blog, I revealed the date.

So far, lightning hasn’t struck my house (geesh, why did I say that??).

I participated in NaNo this year. Like last year, I walked away with another completed novel. I also finished a book in July (did Suze’s double dog dare). Two books in one year isn’t too shabby.  And I will be seeking publication for both of them.

Here’s my promise to you – When I make another sale, I will be sure to share it with you all this time! No more paranoia!

So one month from now, Mystic Ink will be available for purchase. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you!

Bottom line here – Celebrate success! Accept that bad things will happen to you (in life – no escapes unscathed). Don’t let anything stop you from pursuing your goals.

Where were you a year ago? Imagine your success – Where would like to be a year from today?

Spice, Spice, Baby! Interview with Harlequin Nocturne Author Mina Khan

Hello, everyone!  Suze here.  Business first:  the winners of Joan Swan’s giveaway are:  Amazon gift card: Jennifer Mathis.  Gorgeous bookmarks: Ashley, Nancy, Jamie Pope, Kristan Higgins, and Highland Love Song.  Congratulations!

The Djinn's Dilemma -- Hot, Hot, Hot!

Today I’m thrilled to bring you another debut author, Mina Khan, whose novella THE DJINN’S DILEMMA was published by Harlequin Nocturne Cravings.  Welcome, Mina!

How do you battle the doubt monster? Doubt Monster: the nagging feeling 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.

When I’m plagued by the Doubt Monster, which is often, I take a deep breath & remind myself that I wouldn’t have the life I have if I hadn’t trusted myself: travelling half-way across the world from Bangladesh to America, venturing out to West Texas by myself, marrying a cowboy, daring to have a second child after I almost died the first time, and writing despite the Doubt Monsters and Naysayers in my life.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t gone before.

Each story is unique and I’m always surprised by how different each one is. For example the second Djinn/genie story I have turned in to my editor is so different, it scared me. LOL. But in the end I had to trust my gut feeling that it was a good story, this was how it was meant to be written and send it in.

What story haven’t you told yet that you want to tell? What is holding you back?

It’s a story that has haunted me since childhood and I hope one of these days I will have the courage to write it down. I think it will be a quieter, more literary story.

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

I always expected to sell a food-related book before fiction, so when THE DJINN’S DILEMMA sold…I was ecstatic but surprised.

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

I’d own a small café and cook to my heart’s content

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 don’t give up on stories. I may put them aside and focus on growing myself as a writer and then come back to them. I have been writing since third grade, so I have quite a collection under my bed , including the book of my heart and a screenplay.

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book. How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories?

I cull down to the very emotions of the experience and try to incorporate that into my writing. Also, my food writing slips into my fiction from time to time, so Rukh, the hero of THE DJINN’S DILEMMA, tastes like dark chocolate!

Mmmmmmm, chocolate. . .   Tell us about THE DJINN’S DILEMMA. What’s it about, and where can we buy it?

THE DJINN’S DILEMMA is a paranormal erotic romance where an otherwordly assassin falls for his human target.

Rukh O’Shay, half-djinn and assassin, is used to taking out the bad guys. But his latest assignment, Texas Journalist Sarah White, is nothing like he expected. A glimpse of her bright aura reveals her gentle spirit, while her beauty makes him long for only one thing—to taste her.

Sarah shares the raw desire to connect with Rukh. He can turn her on with a glance, and satisfies needs she didn’t even know she had.

But Rukh had been hired to kill her—and the only way to save her is to find out who wants her dead before someone else finishes the job….

You can buy THE DJINN’S DILEMMA on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBook, and Harlequin’s eBookstore. Last time I checked both Amazon and Harlequin were giving a discount

What is your junk food of choice?

Chili-Cheese Tots …um, yes they are as dangerous as they sound.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

Not saying “I love you” back when the love of my life said it to me…I had to know exactly, truly, how I felt and for that I needed some time. Fortunately for me, he stayed around and eventually even asked me to marry him.

Author Mina Khan

That’s so sweet!  What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘PG’ rated blog! 

Sriracha Hot Sauce ( Lol, I like my food & my fiction Spicy!)

Bio:

Mina Khan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunky paranormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories. Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper. Other than that, she’s raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs and a husband. She grew up in Bangladesh on stories of djinns, ghosts and monsters. These childhood fancies now color her fiction.

You can find her at :

http://www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author

http://minakhan.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @SpiceBites

Thanks for being here, Mina!  Questions, anyone?  You want to know about that cowboy husband, don’t you?

Let’s Hear it for The Doubt Monster

Happy Friday everyone! Casey Wyatt here.

Is this the Doubt Monster?

Today’s topic: My nemesis the Doubt Monster. He originally debuted on my blog (see original post here) back in June and he’s made his sneaky way over here to the Scribes’ site.

He’s so prevalent that our guest bloggers Lynn Kurland and Kristan Higgins have both addressed him. I’ll get to their comments in a moment.

To recap my original post, here is how the Doubt Monster torments me.

• This story is dumb. Who will want to read it?
• There are so many other things I should have/could have done.
• I must be missing something like (fill in the blank).
• This story is so weird no one will buy it.

On and on it goes. The greedy Doubt Monster messing with my head and my confidence.

Any of this sound familiar? Let’s hear what the pros have to say:

If only the Doubt Monster brought me cookies.

Lynn Kurland’s take on the DM – “It also helps to point sternly toward the scary under-the-bed spot used by all creepy things and tell Doubty to get back there. Then write your book the way you like. If he doesn’t make too many noises you can let him back out to help you with the editing.”

Fellow Scribe Katy Lee – “The Doubt Monster taunts me every time I sit in the chair to write. “Who said you could write? Huh?” Perhaps I’ll keep a club beside my chair to play whack-a-Mole with him when he pokes his head out from now on.”

To which J Monkeys enthusiastically proposed – “I think we need to find someone to create the Whack-a-Doubty app….”

But wait! There’s a voice of dissent here.

Kristan Higgins says of old Doubty – “I love and embrace the Doubt Monster. It took us a while to fall for each other, but because I am old and wise now, I’ve come to learn that the DM and I are actually meant to be together. He lets me know when I need to rethink a plot point or adjust a character, back off or tone down or beef up. That being said, I try to ignore the DM during the first draft. Experience has shown that while first draft may indeed suck, it doesn’t mean the final product will. So I try to barrel through that part of writing, then fling open the doors and let the Doubt Monster have at it.”

Hmm. I’m hearing some love, even admiration. Maybe I should re-consider. Maybe he’s like Darth Vader. A misunderstood villain who really has a soft, gooey middle.

Possibly.

The jury is still out with me. All I can say, is this – “Doubt Monster, I’ve got my eyes on you. Watch it buddy!”

Meanie or Softie?

What do you think?

Have I been unfair to the Doubt Monster? Should I learn to live with him instead of playing whack-a-mole on his head?

How do you deal with the Doubt Monster?

A Little Bit of Blackmail — Interview with Author RC Bonitz

Happy Thursday, Scribe fans!  Suze here.  Today I’m very happy to be interviewing RC Bonitz, whose debut novel, A Little Bit of Blackmail, was

A LITTLE BIT OF BLACKMAIL

released in digital form on November 4 and is now available in print form as well from Silver Publishing and Amazon.  Click here to buy Bob’s book and to see other offerings from Silver.  Without further ado, here’s Bob:

How do you battle the Doubt Monster?  Doubt Monster: the nagging feeling while writing, that your prose is terrible, your plot is silly, your characters are insipid, and no one in their right mind would read this drivel, let alone buy it.

The DM used to win every time. My first book was revised so many times the original story disappeared. We all have  to learn to trust our own judgment. That becomes easier as you go along and learn; at least it did for me. I’ve been writing a sequel to A LITTLE BIT OF BLACKMAIL  and just decided it was all wrong. There was no doubt in that decision. I knew what it needed, so I’m starting again.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t gone before?

I’ve written suspense, a historical love story, a variety of short stories as well as the sweet romance. Played with a mystery too, and a children’s book of wizards and monsters. My grandkids all became qualified wizards in that one. I haven’t tried vampires yet- can’t seem to get into them.

Author Bob Bonitz

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

The recent sale of my first book,  A BLANKET FOR HER HEART. It’s been sitting on the shelf a while. An author I met via email she said she had started a publishing house. Did I have anything to send her? Well, I hunted up the file on A BLANKET FOR HER HEART  and sent it off to her.The next day she came back and said she loved it, wanted it. We signed a contract a week later.  [Suze's note:  We'll be sure to let you know when A BLANKET FOR HER HEART is available.  Check back soon!]

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

I’d find a way. I’ve never worked so hard or had as much fun in my life. I dictate now (voice recognition) and use large print, but that’s just scratching the surface of what can be done.

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?

My secret story is  HANNAH, about a young woman who flees her parent’s poverty stricken farm in England, determined to go to America and make her fortune. It’s the best writing I’ve ever done, but it was heading for a tragic ending so I put it aside. I’m thinking of changing the direction of the plot and going back to it one of these days.  [Suze's note:  Bob!  Not every book has to have an HEA.  This sounds like a great story!}

Author Jane Haddam says that anyone who seriously annoys her gets bumped off in her next book.  How do you incorporate your real-life experiences into your stories? 

I'm sure I use my life experiences, but more than anything I write my dreams. They're a bit more interesting than my suburban life. I do incorporate things I've learned over the years, but my characters are pure invention.

You are a guy writing romance, a genre that has traditionally been a woman's provenance.  What made you decide to write romance?  Who are your favorite romance authors?

Interesting question. I was writing pure love stories because I'm a romantic, but I was getting nowhere with sales. (I wrote horrible query letters before Kristan Higgins taught me her secrets.)  At my wife's suggestion I went to hear Suzanne Brockmann speak and came away impressed with her ideas on why one should write romance novels. So, I checked online and found CTRWA and here I am.  [Suze's note:  CTRWA is the Connecticut Chapter of Romance Writers of America, and Kristan Higgins is one of our goddesses]

Your book, A LITTLE BIT OF BLACKMAIL, released on November 4 and is available through Amazon as of November 9.  What has been your experience working with Silver Publishing, a digital press?

Silver Publishing has been wonderful thus far, giving me a lot of input in the editing and cover design processes.  Dancing With Bear Publishing has given me a contract for A BLANKET FOR HER HEART, which will come out after the first of the year. They have already scheduled and gotten me on blog talk radio to do the first promotion for the book. I can’t speak to their edit process since we haven’t started that yet.

Both publishers will produce ebook versions in just about every possible format, as well as paperback versions. And both pay high royalties. I can’t say enough about both houses- I’m  very impressed so far.

What was your biggest misstep in your writing career so far?

I would say two things. First, I wrote an entire novel before I knew how to write well. And second, once I thought I knew what I was doing I kept trying for perfection. I think most of us do that to a point. Going back to read our finished, polished manuscript always gives us fits. How could I have written that, we groan in despair. Oh crap, I’ll never be a writer.  Start again. I finally took a strategy of Jess Andersen’s. send it out and see what happens.  [Suze's note: Another goddess -- Jessica Andersen, author of many Harlequin romantic suspense novels and the Nightkeeper series] 

Do you have a word-related pet peeve?

Descriptions that read like shopping lists. My eyes glaze over and I’m gone.

What is your junk food of choice?

Nothing beats ice cream. Moose Tracks (California variety), rum raisin, vanilla fudge with lots of fudge.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

In my lifetime? Wow, lots. Some might say telling my wife I’d marry her on our first date, but I considered that a sure thing. Maybe sailing a little boat in 55 knot winds and ten foot seas on Long Island Sound not too many years ago? Or, as a kid, riding a bike at 60 plus mph down a long steep curving mountain road. Those come to mind at the moment.

What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘G’ rated blog! }

Those reside in my dreams and won’t ever make my books!

Thanks for being here today, Bob.  Readers, Bob will drop by periodically throughout the day to answer your questions, so stay tuned.