C.J. Miller

My husband and I have sold the house we've lived in for the last eight year and we're looking for another house. I thought the selling process was difficult - keeping the house spotless, leaving at a moment's notice for house showings, and negotiating a contract. Finding our next house is proving challenging as well. We have a great real estate agent, but I'm having flashbacks to when I bought our first home. I think I repressed some of the memories because the process was so traumatic :) 1. Please don't call it a bedroom if it's really a closet. The ability to jam a camping cot inside a space does not suffice as a bedroom. If I can't fit a twin bed in it, it's not a bedroom. 2. Is it an unwritten rule that if it's a foreclosure or short sale, the previous owner must trash the house to the point that it is unlivable? What are they proving by ripping the front off the kitchen cabinets? Putting out cigarettes on the wall? Punching drywall? Kick...

I'm currently writing my 4th book under contract with Harlequin. When am I in a position to help other writers? After the 5th book? The 10th? I know more now than I did when I put fingers to keys six years ago and wrote my first romance novel. Do I have enough experience to advise someone else? Enough knowledge about the industry? Can I provide a critique of a query letter or of a chapter that another writer would find useful? And if I do reach out to help someone else, could I be putting myself in a difficult legal situation? I've heard of writers suing authors for ideas or breech of copyright, and while many of those cases are tossed out or the judgement sides with the author, I don't want to put myself and my wallet in a legal dispute. How to help? Post in the Harlequin Community and find out if anyone would like a free critique or for me to answer any questions about my publishing experiences? What do you think? What are the best ways to pay it forward?

I noticed today it's been over a month since my last blog post. That's not to say I haven't been hard at work. I have two books coming out this year from Harlequin Romantic Suspense : Shielding the Suspect (September 2012) and Protecting His Princess (November 2013). I've been working on revisions, line edits, and the front matter for those books. Those books will complete the Truman brothers miniseries. The Truman brothers are based on my brothers and it was so much fun to write about them. I'd love to write a blog post featuring my brothers, maybe do some Q&A about their reading habits and thoughts on romance. I'll have to run it by them! I can call it : 'My Sister is a Writer' series. Or maybe 'Real Life Alpha Males on Romance.'