Look, Ma, No Hands!

This is me. No, not me on the roller coaster. I am the roller coaster. (Cuz it's a metaphor, yo.)

I go through these ups and downs as I write, edit & release a book and I've only recently realized that they are the same ups and the same downs every time. (I'm a slow study. My family has known this for years, apparently.)

I start off like the Top Thrill Dragster (at Cedar Point) or the Aerosmith ride (Disney MGM Studios) or Space Mountain (Disney Traditional). Fired out of a cannon. No click-click-click slow chug to the first drop for me. No, sir. I'm accelerated at multiple Gs. Zooooom! My enthusiasm for a new idea shoots me forward. "This book is amaaaaaazing!" I scream as I race up the first hill...

Then comes the first drop. The bottom falls out. A few thousand words in, suddenly reality (and gravity) hits and I go plummeting down. What the hell? I thought this book was good? It's boring! It's trying too hard! It's dreck!

But that's a short drop. Almost before I have time to fully realize I'm falling, I'm back up again. Jolted up so fast I'm almost lifted off my seat, banging against the harness. I don't fly quite so high this time (which is good because I won't have so far to fall). Then begins the dips and wobs and weebles, corkscrews and loop-de-loops of writing the middle of the book. It's pretty good. It's not so bad. It's not so good. It's mediocre. It's better than I thought it was! Not as good as I thought it was. Up, down, and upside down I go. But always racing forward.

Then the end! It's completed! A victory! Up we go! But then I have to let someone else see it. Oooh, anyone else feeling a little queasy? We just dropped down again so fast I think I left my stomach up there. But the beta readers like it (with a few suggestions) and I start back up again. This is the slow click-click-click chug to the next high as I polish and perfect and my confidence grows. This is a good book. Synopsis, cover-letter, it's ready to go. Out the door! They'll love it! They'll buy it! How could they not? It's fabulous!

I'm up pretty high now, but I'm not ready to fall yet. The waiting causes little teasing downs and ups that make me think I'm heading for the big drop, but I'm not. I'm at that point where I can see the entire amusement park spread out around me. So high up I can see the lake (manmade or otherwise) and look down on the giant ferris wheel. I glide high above it all. Waiting for the plunge I know is coming.

The response arrives. Scream with me! Throw your hands up! Before I even open it, I'm falling fast. (I always assume it's a no. I'm an optimist, but I can't seem to reprogram my brain to think positively when I see that response in my inbox.) I open it. Bad news? Keep falling, then click-click-click your way back up again with another submission. Good news? Whoosh. Up on top of the world again.

But it doesn't end there. You'd think I'd stay up, right? My book is getting published. But then come edits. First round edits (and this has nothing to do with how extensive or necessary they are, it just is) - I'm down. I think the book is awful. I don't know why, but this seems to be my pattern. I'll be wondering why my editor bought this piece of crap right up until the final edits. On my last chance to change a word before it goes to print that is when suddenly I will realize that this is a good book! Who knew? Up we go!

The book comes out and, after the initial high, we're in the dips, corkscrews and loop-de-loops again. Do readers like it? Some yes, some no. Ups and downs. Eventually, the ride evens out and I hop off. Wobbly -legged, but ready to jump on the next one.

But the tricky part? Being at four different points, on four different rollercoasters at the same time. Starting a book, editing a book, with one waiting in submission limbo and another just released. Are you dizzy yet? Welcome to my neurosis. The ups and downs and inside out turns of a writing life.

It's a good thing I love roller coasters.

Spotlight on Serengeti Heat! Woot!

Serengeti Heat is the Spotlight Review on the Romance Reviews Today Blog! Can I get a "woot!", ladies and gentlemen? "Fast paced and full of life, this steamy tale is one you won’t want to miss." Awww, RRT reviewer Lori Ann, you do say the sweetest things. Check it out: REVIEW!

And in other news... I'm starting to get really jazzed about my October Karmic Consultants book. The Ghost Exterminator: A Love Story. Cover art and excerpts and blurbs, oh my! As soon as they get the Big Boss's stamp of approval, I'll post 'em here for your viewing pleasure. This one is from the para-rom-com half of my personality and is my first book length release! There will be much dancing around the living room when this baby releases. October 27th, boys and girls. Mark your calendars.

The Blank Page

You may have heard authors refer to the intimidation of the blank page. I don't have that fear. I love the possibilities of the blank page. I don't often feel stalled. There is always another idea coming. Another story to write.

However, right now, I don't have anything blogworthy to say. I'm writing huge chunks of awesome all over my new WIP, but blogging? Yeah, sorry. I'm not really feeling it.

So I apologize for my dearth o' posts over the last few days and warn you that a similar dearth o' posts might be on the agenda for the next little bit. Be consoled (if you like reading my booky witticisms as well as the ones I slap up here without the benefit of a brilliant editor) that I am hard at work on a new story that will kick large quantities of gluteous maximus.

Fallen Angels!

New Review, y'all! Check it out! Four Angels a la Fallen Angel Reviews: http://fallenangelreviews.com/2009/July/ashley-serengetiheat.htm

So I'm excited about this review for two reasons. 1) There's this song called "Where Do Fallen Angels Go?" by Aerosmith that I kinda love with a passion that cannot be explained. And 2) The reviewer twigged to something (it bugged her-sorry, Ashley!) that I put in there as a set up for the next story in the series. That never fails to tickle me six shades of pink. (Pink - also an Aerosmith song.)

The Best of the Best

I'm back at Damned Scribbling Women today, talking about my top five fav romance novels. Which books would make your top five list? What would you give to a genre-newbie to get them hooked for life?

Space Opera Awesomeness

Everywhere I look it's Space Opera these days. (Which is a good thing, definitely a good thing. Who doesn't love Firefly and Battlestar Galactica and... have I just revealed the depth of my geekery?) Samhain is doing a Space Opera Submissions Call. Which I almost considered writing something for (mostly because my aunt & I did a Firefly marathon when I was visiting her last month and I had Mal on the brain) but decided against. I'll just be an eager reader, this time.

And speaking of being an eager reader... Beyond the Rain by Jess Granger releases today!

“BEYOND THE RAIN is a fascinating, fast-paced futuristic romance that drops you in richly drawn exotic worlds — grim and beautiful, immerses you in extraordinary alien cultures, and wraps it all in a love story laced with heart-rending twists and turns. A fully intriguing read.”
— Linnea Sinclair, RITA® award winning author of HOPE’S FOLLY

In a universe torn apart by civil war, a warrior and a slave must fight for their freedom, for their lives, and for a love that may destroy them both…

After five years behind enemy lines, Captain Cyani is ready to retire to her homeworld of Azra as one of the Elite — the celibate warrior sisterhood that rules the planet. But first she must complete one final mission to rescue her fellow Union soldiers. The last thing she expects to find is a prisoner, chained and beaten — but radiating feral power and an unbroken spirit…

Soren is a Byralen, an enigmatic people who possess a unique hormone that they use to bond with their mates — and that is sold as a sexual narcotic in the shadow trade. For years, he has endured torture at the hands of his captors as they leeched his very essence. The last thing he expects is to be freed from slavery by a beautiful warrior woman with radiant blue eyes.

Driven by her rigid sense of honor, Cyani frees Soren even though her life hinges upon the success of her mission. But after so many years in bondage, his hormones are so unbalanced that he will die if he does not bond with a woman. Can the lovely but distant warrior be the woman he needs to survive, or will the forbidden bond destroy them?

Click HERE for an excerpt or HERE to buy it now!
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I am absolutely thrilled about this release. Not just because it is Space-Opera-Awesome, but also because Jess Granger was one of the first writers I ever met when I went to my very first ever writing conference. This book was up for a Maggie Award that year. She later went on to sell it to Berkley and is now perched on the cusp of fame and fortune, but I can actually say I knew her when. How cool is that? Yeah, I'm gonna drop her name. I'm gonna drop it so hard, baby. Ahem. Yeah. I'm excited about this book. Beyond the Rain. Jess Granger. Awesome.

So Many Books, So Little Time

Good morning, darlings! I'm over at Damned Scribbling Women today, where there is gabbing to be had about which books are the important books to read. You remember that list of 100 Books the BBC put out, postulating that most people would have read only six? Is that the right list? Harry Potter alongside Thomas Hardy? Which books should we have to read? Come give me your two cents (or more cents, if you're feeling generous).

The Box

I'm confused.

So writers, we gab. Romance novels are an industry fueled by gossip, never let anyone tell you otherwise.

I'm chatting with a writer friend a few days ago and she says something about how Editors (those mythic creatures longing for nothing more than to publish our masterpieces of literary beauteousness) are looking for books that are outside "The Box", but they aren't finding them because Agents (those mythic creatures longing for nothing more than to negotiate six-figure deals for our masterpieces of literary beauteousness) are looking for the Sure Thing, A.K.A. books inside "The Box". And the Editors are being funnelled books by the Agents. And so... dissonance.

(For the record, I don't know what Editors or Agents are looking for. Ask them. They're nice people. They'll probably answer you. But don't be surprised if the answer is "I'll know it when I see it" or "Great writing" or some other extremely subjective fob-off. And we're off topic...)

This was said in response to an agent rejection I got (standard fare rejection, no mention of Boxes). My friend (who, it should be noted, does write outside The Box - such that even I, in my Box confusion, recognize this) was trying to comfort me that Editors would love me, if I could get through the Agent Firewall to them. (The Agent Firewall is a myth, by the way, lots of publishing houses accept unagented submissions these days.)

I then expressed confusion, because I thought I wrote inside The Box.

I thought there were happy little Box walls surrounding me on all sides, keeping me nice and safe and cozy. I thought I was the Sure Thing, maybe even playing it a little too safe. I was actually afraid I was too firmly ensconced inside The Box. Sure, I bend a few rules, but doesn't everyone these days? I kinda thought The Box had grown to encompass a little snark and some salty language. But my friend tells me my voice is not Boxy. And I'm not really sure what to do with that.

Where is The Box? (Not that kind of box, you filthy-minded wretches.) What does The Box look like? Can you help me find it? Cuz I'm groping in the dark here and not having much luck. (If you're still thinking of other boxes, you should be ashamed of yourself. Ashamed.) Maybe there's more than one Box? One for paranormals, one for historicals, one for contemporaries? Maybe it's more of a storage locker somewhere filled with boxes?

I got nuthin' and this metaphor is getting unwieldy.

What is standard in romance these days? Not that I'm going to alter myself to be standard - yeah, that ain't happening - but if I'm a rebel, I'd like to at least know it. I'm not looking for The Box so I can cram myself into it, but rather just so I'll know where it is, what it looks like, and in what ways I'm coloring outside the lines.

What's the norm these days? Can you tell me? Cuz like I said, I'm confused.