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Showing posts from November, 2011

Riding With The Top Down Guest Blog

I'm guest blogging today on Riding With the Top Down about The Call and the holiday season. Stop by and tell us your favorite holiday traditions!

Professional Writer

I submitted my revised manuscript to Harlequin and now I wait to hear back if my revisions hit the mark. *fingers crossed* I will keep posting each step along the way to my book release so other soon-to-be published writers will know what to expect. I also received my first check as an author, so I am now a professional writer. I'm hard at work on my next novel, a story about one of the secondary characters in my first novel.

MUSETRACKS - Agent Shop

I've posted about this previously, but I submitted Double Witness (the book Harlequin bought) to the MUSETRACKS Agent Shop last year. My book received a partial request from an agent which didn't result in landing said agent, but it was a great experience. If you're looking for an agent/ fun pitching practice, check it out here ! And, to note, if you pitch and aren't picked, consider submitting via the slush pile. What isn't right for one agent doesn't mean not right for another agent / editor. Let me know how it goes!

All in My Head

I'm hard at work on revisions for Double Witness. Harlequin offered me a contract on the book, but revisions are part of the process! I'm glad for the suggestions (admittedly, it would be awesome to have a perfect book out of the gate, but I'm not perfect and neither is my writing). As part of the revisions, I have to read the entire book in one day. It's the only way all the pieces of the story stay in my head in a way that I can be analytical and see inconsistencies. If I write something else / sleep / have long breaks between sections, I forget some of the details of the story and I can't be sure it reads smoothly start to finish. I managed to carve out time yesterday to do an all-in-one sitting read through. Overall, I'm happy with the revisions I've completed. Writers - how do you handle revisions? What techniques have you found work best?

So You Think You Can Write

So You Think You Can Write starts next week! SYTYCW is Harlequin's online conference and a great place to get information about becoming a writer for Harlequin.

What's Changed Since the Call

1. I've had to embrace social media. I've had a facebook account for years, but now I need to use it. And post tweets. And learn what a tweet IS. 2. I've been asked two main questions about my book: what's it about? (this is where my elevator pitch prep comes in) and are there love scenes? This second question is strange to me. It's a romance. There are love scenes. I get the sense they are really asking, "is the book erotic?" (it is not) and I think for non-readers of romance those two things might be synonymous: love scene & explicit descriptions (keeping this PG). 3. I am very aware of the schedule. I've written every day for years and have written hundreds of pages, millions of words. But now, I know what I am writing is for a purpose: to be published for HRS by a certain time. I haven't figured out if I have the time to write a random story on a whim, just for fun. I have a feeling I will have to make time since that's part of the