Too Much Information

I have to admit to being a little concerned. I may not be going to the RWA National conference this year, but that doesn’t stop me from checking up on which agents and editors are accepting appointments and what genres they are looking to represent and publish, respectively. Well everybody seems to want erotica, paranormal, and romantic suspense. I don’t write any of that. I figure I could conceivably classify my work-in-progress as single title, chick-lit, or women’s fiction, and it doesn’t seem as if any of those genres are very popular at this go-round. And the breakdown of who is interested in these genres seems weighted much more heavily on the agent side. So either the editors showing up for National aren’t representative of the bunch or the agents aren’t in sync with the editors. This may mean nothing, but I can’t help that it worries me a little. When you’re plugging along on your manuscript, you want to see a strong, steady market for the style and genre you’ve chosen. You don’t want to slave away, only to finish and have the people ‘in the know’ tell you that the market is flooded and they’re looking for the next hot thing... .And yet, I will continue to keep plugging along. Maybe I’ll find a way to add a vampire neighbor, a racy co-worker who wants to trade sex stories, or a crazed stalker. Maybe all three… The trouble is, by the time I add all of that, they’ll be looking for something else. Que será será, I suppose.

Sneak Peeks

I just finished reading Emily Giffin’s latest, Baby Proof. It is scheduled to be released in June of this year, but I was lucky enough to get Advanced Readers’ Edition from St. Martin’s Press. I must tell you, I loved it. It has all of the appeal of Something Borrowed and Something Blue with an entirely new cast of appealingly layered and funny characters. (Although one memorable character from the S.B books did make a pivotal appearance). The story is unique, with the perfect balance of emotional highs and lows to keep it from being too heavy (or in my opinion, too literary). I highly, highly recommend it.


I also have another ARC on my TBR stack, and I must confess to feeling very self-important. I’m to have the pleasure of reading and reviewing the debut novel of a fellow member of the Houston Bay Area RWA chapter. Sophie Jordan’s book, Once Upon a Wedding Night is scheduled to be released in August 2006, and I’m very much looking forward to the read. A wonderful debut author is always a treasured find.

I do believe the day I’m quoted on another author’s cover is the day I’ve made it…so I’m hoping to read more ARC’s in the future...and of course become a much-sought after author in my own right... Reading a book before it’s released is like knowing a secret before everyone else does…and being able to talk about it!

The 5 Browns

Saw their CD on display in Borders and was intrigued by the idea of them. Five brothers and sisters who are Juilliard-trained, piano-playing geniuses. Now typically I’m not much one for classical music. I like it every once and a while, but eventually it all begins to blur together, and I can’t distinguish one piece from another. I don’t have an iPod, and I don’t like to listen to the radio because there is so much talk and so many commercials…so I listen to CD’s. As such, I like the songs on an artist’s CD to have distinctive sounds so I don’t get bored. I like versatility. I visited the website of The 5 Browns, and it seems like critics agree they have it in abundance. I listened to a few tracks on Amazon.com and a couple on their website, and I think they could conceivably win me over. I love ‘new discoveries’, be it in books, music, restaurants, or ice cream varieties—I like to latch onto ‘The Next Big Thing’ as much as everyone else does and pretend I was there at the onset. So…I might just have to buy one of their CD’s and see if they can win me over. Five wholesome, fun-loving, talented siblings—what’s not to like? Besides, they’re homegrown—from Houston just like me.

I will confess that I did tell my husband I wished I had their Amazon rating…

The E-book Track

Well, I’m back to researching e-books, wondering if e-publishing might be a feasible way to market/distribute my book since I’ve retained the rights via self-publishing. I figure all the work is already done, why not try and take advantage of any additional sales? If it weren’t so difficult/uncomfortable/awkward to read a book on your computer, or if the handheld, portable readers weren’t so cost-prohibitive (and again, awkward), e-books would be vastly more popular. E-publishing is the wave of the future, but the publishing world is so behind the times, it will probably take years and years for us to really see any considerable impact. It would probably help for some big names to publish strictly in e-book format, but I doubt there are too many authors that would jump at such a chance. But they could pull people in…convert 'em, pave the way for the rest of us. I know there are plenty of romance novels published strictly in e-book format…however, I don’t know the authors. I’ve never even tried to read a book that way. I figure I sit at the computer enough as it is trying to write. The difficulty in putting my book out there in e-book format is in the marketing and promotion. Same as with the hard copy…. How will people find it? I think I might possibly have an ‘in’ with Amazon.com since I already have the paperback version of my book setup and sold through the Advantage Plan. I’m waiting to see… Barnes & Noble has evidently discontinued their e-bookstore, so I may not have that many distribution options that I don’t actually have to pay for. We shall see…

I recently finished reading How to Get Your E-book Published by Richard Curtis and William Thomas Quick. It had a lot of good information. I thought it interesting that they included hints for those who had not yet written their book, but maybe some people are considerably more proactive than I am. My book has been finished (written) for almost two years, and only now am I getting serious about e-publishing. Maybe I’m just way behind the curve.

Growing It Out

Aarrrggh! I’m growing my hair out (from shorty-short) and it’s taking every ounce of willpower I possess not to chop it all off again. I’m not used to having to expend any effort on my hair, so it’s really killing me to do it now. For years all I had to do was wash it and scrunch in some product, and I was good to go. Now I wash, condition, brush, blow-dry, try some product, add some more, back-track, shift things around, put a clip in, smooth it down in some areas, fluff it up in others—and still, I’m not happy with it. Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve never been good with styling my own hair, and that certainly hasn’t changed. I never mastered hot rollers, clips, braids, or even ponytails. I spend so long trying to make things work, my arms get tired, and I have absolutely nothing to show for it. That sounds so unbelievably pathetic, but in my defense, I think it’s partly the fault of my hair. It’s extremely finicky: straight, fine, and thick to boot, and I’ve only been able to manage it cut short. It’s time for a change though, and I’m really trying to make an effort. I don’t know how long I can last…

Are there any good style options for me at this phase in the grow-out process? (I’m relatively conservative).

Kids Today...And The Movies They Inspire

I saw Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Sunday with my sons. We all liked it, although I thought that maybe it was a smidge too long. Still, there was something for everyone. That seems to be a new trend in kids' movies, which is very nice for adults. And suddenly there are tons of kids' movies coming out. My sons and I have started making a list…one for every month.


April: The Wild
May: Over the Hedge
June: Cars, Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties
July: Monster House
August: There is one, I know. I just can’t think what it is…
September: Open Season
October: ???

November: Happy Feet
December: Charlotte’s Web

Seeing as these ‘kids’ movies are almost exclusively the only ones I see in the theater, I’m kind of excited about them myself. There is an impressive amount of cleverness required to write/direct/produce a movie that both kids and adults can both really enjoy.
What I don’t’ appreciate is some of the language they use. Not bad language, per say, just stuff I don’t want my kids saying. I’ve noticed that recently in kid’s books as well. I love reading Barbara Park’s Junie B. Jones series to my sons (and they eat it up), but the things that come out of that girl’s (Junie’s) mouth are a bit dicey. Just makes my job as a mom a little bit trickier. I think I’m up to the challenge…

Contests

Saturday marked the deadline for two contests I was personally involved in. The first, I was using as a promotional tool for Unladylike Pursuits. In order to answer the question required to enter the contest, a person would have to read the excerpt posted on my website. My hope is that they’d like it so much they’d run out and buy the book. And if not, at least I could then add their email to my newsletter mailing list for updates on future releases. It’s a typical author ploy. And evidently I posted in some good places this time because I was impressed with the number of entries I received. Now the contest is officially over--I posted the winner on my website and notified her by email. She was very gracious and happy to have won. Hopefully my next contest will be targeted towards my next book… I need to pick up the pace a little bit.

The other contest was one I entered. I submitted the first thirty pages of my WIP, plus a synopsis I’ve written over the past week, to an RWA chapter-sponsored contest. I’m hoping to get some good, unbiased critiques that I can use to improve my manuscript. Certainly I also hope to win, but at this point I’m hoping I won’t be disqualified. After I printed all five copies of the 30 pages, I realized that the header was in Times New Roman font. Well…the contest rules expressly state that the manuscript and synopsis must be in Courier or Courier New font. So I didn’t know what to do. I changed the header to Courier New and it wrapped onto two header lines. I wasn’t sure if that would be disqualification. My husband suggested I use a smaller point size. Again, 12 pt. was specified, so deviating from that would be breaking the rules as well. I didn’t know what to do. So rather than print 175 pages again with no good fix, I left it and mailed it. I figure I’ll know within the month if I’m disqualified. I’m really hoping I’m not.