Wishing a lovely day to all the mothers out there. In this sometimes-janky writing biz, I'm lucky to know that my mom will always be my number one fan. Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Auction Everything!
It's that time again, boys and girls! The Annual Brenda Novak Online Auction For Diabetes Research! As always there are HUNDREDS of brilliant items for you to bid on. Everything from books to vacations. Lunch with your favorite author or a critique from your dream editor. Baskets of goodies and one of a kind handcrafted items. You could even win an iPad just for registering as a bidder!
Go forth and check out the items available for your bidding pleasure and remember it's for a great cause!
Go forth and check out the items available for your bidding pleasure and remember it's for a great cause!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Teaser Tuesday
If you're over on Facebook, you may have already noticed that a bunch of authors are tossing around teasers today for upcoming books and works in progress. Since I'm working on Karma's edits at the moment, it seemed topical to share a little Naughty Karma snippet. Here's a sneak peek!
Tempest in a Tea-Length Dress
The shop door crashed open and slammed against the far wall,
shuddering on its hinges. Prometheus caught
it with a mental hand when it would have ricocheted off the wall to retaliate
against the woman who’d struck it. He froze the door in place before it could
wreak vengeance on that pretty—livid—face.
Cracks probably spidered through the frosted glass from the force of her entry,
but he didn’t bother to take his eyes off the woman on his threshold long
enough to check.
Karma Cox. Owner and benevolent dictator of Karmic
Consultants, paranormal problem solvers. A magical Mussolini in heels.
She was here.
“You bastard.”
And she was pissed.
***
For more teasers, swing on by The Face Book and check out some other participating authors.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Naughty Karma Cover Reveal!
I am sooooo excited about this book, I can't wait another second to show you the pretty, pretty cover. Naughty Karma, Karmic Consultants #7, coming to you October 2013. BEHOLD!
What do you think, boys and girls? You like?
What do you think, boys and girls? You like?
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Write What You Know
This is one of the oldest writing cliches in the book. Write what you know. I've always had a pretty loose interpretation of this particular saying - in a sort of write what is honest and true to you rather than you may only write about your own areas of expertise and I still prefer that interpretation.
But... well, there's something to be said for experts. So, maybe I'll change this one up a bit and say, if you're going to write about something you don't know about, go for it! But please be edited by or beta read by someone who is an expert - because no matter how much research you do, you will get things wrong. Little things. Tiny things. But things that will make it clear you don't know what you're talking about.
I come across this most often in books about Alaska (moose don't come in herds, darlings) or Hawaii (there is no "b" in the Hawaiian language, so that island you just made up? Give it a different name), but my current Oh Dear is baseball. I'm a baseball junkie. I'm reading a really, seriously excellent romance that happens to feature a baseball player hero. And I'm loving it. Except when a sentence appears and my brain says to the author, "Oh no, you don't really know anything about this sport, do you?"
Catchers do not have "pinpoint control, commanding both sides of the plate"; pitchers do. RBIs are not an average, they are cumulative, so you would never say "an 120 RBI" (it's "120 Ribbies"). Your hero can't get a walk-off triple on a road game. Your starting pitcher can't "hold a save" in the seventh inning (or ever, saves are for closers). This extremely talented author is cribbing phrases from the right places, but applying them in just slightly the wrong way. Tiny little things. Tiny things that throw the in-the-know audience right out of the book.
Funny enough, I had a similar issue when I read the same author's book about a professional snowboarder. Loved the book, but kept getting thrown out by things that were just a tiny bit off. (The stuff about living in a snow culture was spot on, but he read like an alpine skier to me rather than a boarder.) It's a small thing (and god knows, it's hard to find an expert to beta read everything you write), but the devil really is in the details.
Of course, I cheat and write about paranormal worlds with shifters and psychics and demons and whatnot, where I get to just make everything up and I probably still get it wrong, so I'm not really one to talk. Kudos to those go for it.
But... well, there's something to be said for experts. So, maybe I'll change this one up a bit and say, if you're going to write about something you don't know about, go for it! But please be edited by or beta read by someone who is an expert - because no matter how much research you do, you will get things wrong. Little things. Tiny things. But things that will make it clear you don't know what you're talking about.
I come across this most often in books about Alaska (moose don't come in herds, darlings) or Hawaii (there is no "b" in the Hawaiian language, so that island you just made up? Give it a different name), but my current Oh Dear is baseball. I'm a baseball junkie. I'm reading a really, seriously excellent romance that happens to feature a baseball player hero. And I'm loving it. Except when a sentence appears and my brain says to the author, "Oh no, you don't really know anything about this sport, do you?"
Catchers do not have "pinpoint control, commanding both sides of the plate"; pitchers do. RBIs are not an average, they are cumulative, so you would never say "an 120 RBI" (it's "120 Ribbies"). Your hero can't get a walk-off triple on a road game. Your starting pitcher can't "hold a save" in the seventh inning (or ever, saves are for closers). This extremely talented author is cribbing phrases from the right places, but applying them in just slightly the wrong way. Tiny little things. Tiny things that throw the in-the-know audience right out of the book.
Funny enough, I had a similar issue when I read the same author's book about a professional snowboarder. Loved the book, but kept getting thrown out by things that were just a tiny bit off. (The stuff about living in a snow culture was spot on, but he read like an alpine skier to me rather than a boarder.) It's a small thing (and god knows, it's hard to find an expert to beta read everything you write), but the devil really is in the details.
Of course, I cheat and write about paranormal worlds with shifters and psychics and demons and whatnot, where I get to just make everything up and I probably still get it wrong, so I'm not really one to talk. Kudos to those go for it.
Friday, April 5, 2013
Dang, Girl
Real life sisters (and playing them on TV) Lennon and Maisy Stella are just wicked talented, y'all, and performances like this are why I'm addicted to Nashville. Observe the awesome:
Thursday, April 4, 2013
The Trick to Bad Boys
I'm over at the Ruby Blog today talking about how to turn a bad boy villain into a bad boy hero. Dexter, Snape, Lothaire, Barons... who's your favorite bad boy and what makes you love him?
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Giving Newbie Writers a Hand... Literally
I'm not much for writing advice because everyone is different and what works for one person might be the absolute wrong thing for someone else, however this might be the best collection of writing advice I've tripped across yet, so I wanted to share. Behold: 27 Pieces of Advice for Writers From Famous Authors.
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