The Seinfeld Generation

I have watched/loved/revered Seinfeld for years, and for better or worse, the show has very obviously made an impression on me. I often find myself quoting from the show, merging a particularly memorable line into normal conversation. One of my best friends and I make a game of doing it whenever possible—we start out emails with quotes from the show that are relevant to the topic we’re writing about, we interject lines from the show into conversation and challenge each other to recognize them... In fact, when I told him I had based a character in my next book on him, he proposed the suggestion that he do a "Jayson Reality Book Tour". The pair of us are far gone indeed.

Can anyone else claim knowledge of this affliction? Anyone out there have their own life stories indelibly linked to a particular Seinfeld episode? I’d love to hear some stories, or reminisce over some classic quotes. Some of my favorite quotes, gleaned not from memory, but from here

"Jerry, you stand on the threshold to the magical world of sensual delights that most men dare not dream of."

- Kramer, in "The Gymnast"

"I'm in the unfortunate position of having to consider other people's feelings."

- Jerry, in "The Gymnast"

"You're giving me the 'It's not you, it's me' routine? I invented 'It's not you, it's me.' Nobody tells me it's them, not me. If it's anybody, it's me."

- George in "The Lip Reader"

"This is the most public yet of my many humiliations."

-Jackie Chiles, in "The Abstinence"

"I don't know how you guys walk around with those things."

- Elaine, in "The Hamptons"

"It's more like a full-body dry heave set to music."

- George, on Elaine's dancing style, in "The Little Kicks"

I could go on and on…
Come on...Post your favorites.

TBR or ITRN?

TBR: To Be Read…
I only recently discovered what that acronym means, and I have come up with a new one of my own.
ITRN: Itching To Read Now; it seems more apt.
Certainly I’ve had stashes of books languishing away, collecting dust, waiting to be read throughout my house, but never have I felt this urgent need to read just a little bit of each of them, to hoard them and keep them close on my nightstand, within easy reach of my bed.

While I was writing my first novel, I didn’t have much time to read. Now I don’t either, but I squeeze it in. I feel compelled since I spend plenty of time on reader loops, on author websites, and in bookstores, trying to market and promote my name and my book. There is suddenly soooo much that I want to read. And I don’t want to buy it and save it. I want to read it now, which is difficult when I’m in the middle of writing two books and reading a couple as well. I can’t give my attention to all of them at the same time. And the crux of the matter is that the more I read, the less I write, the less I promote, the less I…work. Of course reading is good for my writing (in more ways than one), but it’s a toss up. How should I be spending my “free” time?

For a while at least, I’ll be spending it reading. Just take a look at the gems on my "ITRN" stack:
It’s In His Kiss by Julia Quinn (divine at half-way through)
The Givenchy Code by Julie Kenner (chick-lit, mystery, and math!)
Little White Lies by Gemma Townley (author of the breezy When In Rome)
The Runaway Duke by Julie Anne Long (a debut author I’ve heard great things about)
Priceless by Marne Davis Kellogg (a take-off on To Catch A Thief, which I loved)
And of course…Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince, but I’ll have to wait out my husband for that one.

Feel free to send me any suggestions…

Going it Alone

Lately I’ve been thinking about my bittersweet success as a self-publisher. Writing the book certainly took some doing—years of it, I’m afraid, and prepping it for publication was no simple matter, but beyond a doubt, the most difficult of all the tasks has been trying to get my name (and book) in front of potential readers. Marketing is key in book sales, and it’s tough to go it alone. It’s not enough to get your book in the door at Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks or Amazon.com; you have to find a way for readers to actually look at it.

The reviews my debut novel has garnered have been critical to the level of success I have achieved to this point, and I’m certain that they are just as critical to any continued success I might have. Knowing that, I plan to continue soliciting reviews from respectable sources. And I would like to here offer my appreciation to the publications and web sites that willingly accept a self-published manuscript/novel—because believe me, not all of them do. I suppose I understand their reasoning—they don’t want to spend time reviewing something that might not have been worthy of publication. But at the same time, if the author is willing to risk a bad review, shouldn’t the reviewers be courageous enough to offer it? They might actually discover a diamond in the rough.

I have a similar appreciation for publishing houses that accept manuscripts from unagented authors. While agents can certainly offer their own perspective on new authors, each of theirs is only one opinion. As an author, the task of querying a list of agents until one of them decided they’d like to take a chance on me did not seem like the best use of my time. Response time for agents runs anywhere from 2 to 12 weeks! And typically they require a personalized query letter, a synopsis (specified anywhere from 2 to 10 pages), and up to three chapters of the manuscript double-spaced. A packet like this will run you a good six dollars or more at the post office. Some savvy, environmentally conscience agencies have started accepting email queries, and I must give kudos for them for their willingness to change.

Now if I’d just get busy and market and sell my “warehouse” of books, I might just try and search for an agent myself and save myself considerable trouble…

Historical Chick-Lit

Chick-lit is the tall, thin, fashionable cousin of romance. The books are published in trade size with stylish covers, minus the bodice ripping drawings of two apparently anonymous people caught up in an unlikely embrace (because rarely do the cover models mirror the book’s characters). They are modern novels for modern women. And these could either be women too proud to pick up a romance novel, women who simply can’t relate to the all-encompassing role of romance in the life of a romance novel protagonist, or women who can relate to a not-so-sympathetic female character.

I have to admit that I’m still new to chick-lit and just getting my feet wet. But everything I’ve read from this (still relatively new) genre has been so fresh and different that I haven’t minded a truckload of character flaws. Instead I find myself rooting for those gals to grow-up and live as happily ever after as possible.

Recently I had an epiphany. I had arguably just written and self-published a “historical chick-lit” without even knowing it. My Regency-era protagonist is a woman with attitude, zest for life, and a sarcastic sense of humor; she is fighting her rite of passage every step of the way, and she's got quite a bit of baggage (most notably an impending engagement). Meanwhile, she's trying for one last grand adventure before marriage, sparring with a sexy stranger, and unaware that her best friend has called dibs on her husband of choice. One stand-out difference? Fashion—she’ll gleefully trade in her gowns for the garb of a stable-boy.

Now I’m wondering if marketing my novel Unladylike Pursuits as Historical Chick-Lit would be possible and if so, would it be a smart move. What would those modern women think of harking back in history for a bit? And could I pull it off with a mass-market paperback with a black-background cover? Admittedly I don’t have a whimsical, colorful cover, but if a chick-lit reader were to take the time to examine it closely, she (or he!) may be pleasantly surprised. Set off to the side is a book entitled, Mirror of the Graces by A Lady of Distinction. It is an actual book published during the Regency to instruct young ladies on decorum and behavior. Smack in the middle of the page is a page entitled “Opportunities for Adventure by A Spinster of Daring”. I think that about sums it up.

Some other Historical Chick-Lit’s to try:
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur’s Court by Marianne Mancusi
The Accidental Duchess by Jessica Benson
Rules of Engagement by Kathryn Caskie