In honor of Cinco de Mayo, Phaze is offering a 15% discount on all their print and e-books. So, if you’ve been waiting to pick up your copy of The Werewolf Whisperer, Unleashed, or Out of Time, wait no longer!
Use KINKODEMAYO as the coupon code when checking out.
The conference is over and I must say that I’m thrilled that I was able to attend. I met so many lovely ladies this weekend, both published and unpublished, and learned so much that my head seems “full”.
Candice Hern presented a wonderful talk on Point of View with great examples for using deep third person.
Karin Tabke gave a talk on rejection…it’s just business, don’t take it personally, which put the whole submission process (to both agents and editors) into perspective. If you query an agent and they don’t get back to you…”they’re just not that into you”. Get over it and go on. If you love the agent, keep submitting to them. If they’re interested, they’ll call!
Barbara Freethy told us how to take our book from good to great. She also gave out an ARC for her upcoming book (I didn’t win, but I know I’ll be buying it in June). The title is Suddenly One Summer. Cannot wait to read it!
Eric Maisel gave an invigorating presentation on Beating the Writing Blues.
Then came the book signing…yes, my staggering to be read pile is now substantially bigger. I picked up some favorites and a couple of new writers. But I missed a familiar name…Cat Grant. Her books were there, but if she was, I missed her.
Then came the dreaded pitch session. Sadly, I pitched a category length story to Laurie McLean — who doesn’t do category romance. Howevever, she graciously gave me some wonderful advice for my career (keep writing, don’t give up the day job, and feel free to send her a partial if I have something single-title length). She also mentioned that paranormal, although flying off the shelves, is a hard sell right now. Agent and publisher stables are full (why do they refer to us as horses? Catherine Coulter wonders) I was also able to touch base with Laura Bradford, who has a partial of Crisscross on her desk as I type. She does accept that length and I was glad to be able to put a face with a name on the manuscript. Scott Eagan of Greyhaus Literary was also here. Last year, I bought a critique from Scott at Brenda Novak’s auction (which is currently running, hop on over there, as he and others have donated more critiques). I was able to thank him in person for his insight on the manuscript.
Catherine Coulter spoke of the state of the industry at dinner. It’s tough times out there. HQN may be doing well, but it’s simply because they have no slack to cut. Everyone else is seeing cutbacks and the best advice for writers — write the best book you can, polish it up, and if it’s rejected, keep writer. Preserverance is the key to success.
After dinner, a panel of published authors told us all things they wished they’d known before they signed the contract…my takeaway message, shoot for the top, don’t settle, and write the best book you can. It’s really the only thing you can control in the process. And again, preserverance is the key to weathering the recession. If you persist, you will succeed.
The really great thing is that I came back up to the room and opened my e-mail to find a request for a full manuscript of Crisscross from a small publisher that I had queried.
Oh, and Cindy Jacks, one of my CPs, is a finalist in the Knight Agency’s Book in a Nutshell contest! Go Cindy!!
I’m here at my first writers conference. Its All Writers – All Weekend hosted by the Silicon Valley RWA. Last night was the agent panel. Scott Eagan, Laurie McLean, and Laura Bradform presented what’s hot (and what’s not) and took questions. They also judged a first line contest. The best part of their presentation was a bit of news. Despite the recession, Romance is SELLING…big time. So, if you have a finished manuscript, get it polished up and submitted…now is the time!
Afterwards, we broke up into a no-host dinner. I went to a Malaysian restaurant (The Banana Leaf) with a small group of writers. What a blast. To sit and steep in conversation all about writing, the business, the struggle…it was inspiring.
Today, we have speakers, a book signing, and I’m pitching to one of the agents. It’ll be my first ptich session and I’m doing it off the cuff, so wish me luck!
Oh, on another note, I bought my first audio book for the drive up here (5 hours). Wow…I don’t often get to listen to anything I like in the car, but audiobooks are wonderful. Time just flew by…too bad I only had time to upload part 1 to my IPOD…so I’ll only have 2 hours left of the book for the drive home. Sigh.
It looks like spring has finally sprung here in the high desert of California. It’s warm and sunny…a great day for driving. At least for me.
I’m setting off for the All Writers All Weekend conference hosted by the Silicon Valley RWA. It’s my first writer’s conference, as I missed Nationals last summer due to my daughter’s surgery.
I’m mega excited and looking forward to meeting some of my favorite authors (Barbara Freethy and Karin Tabke).
As you are starting out your day, I’ve just finished putting my little ones to bed, while Drama Teen is competing in the IBM ICPC IDOL contest. It’s a spoof on American Idol, but she’s having a blast. Nothing like getting up and singing in front of 200-700 people. Better her than me!
Since we are here for the annual international IBM ICPC programming contest, we havent’t been able to do all the sightseeing that we would have if this had been a pleasure vacation instead of a busman’s holiday. Plus, we got stuck in the Oslo airport for 4 hours coming in as our flight was late leaving New Jersey and we missed our connection.
We have, however, found the Seven Eleven and McDonalds, so the kids are happy. While Mr. Scott took the boys to the practice session today, I took Drama Teen shopping in old town. It’s truly lovely…narrow, winding cobblestone roads and shops galore. I picked out a few souveniers, then we were going to eat lunch and buy a troll on the way out. Well, we took a short detour as I spotted a bookstore (all the books in this one were in Swedish, sigh). Instead of backtracking, we forged ahead. Now, did I forget to mention the roads wind? Well, I forgot and thought we were traveling parallel to the way we came in. Wrong.
Lost. We were only six or so blocks from our hotel, but we were lost. Boy, does that suck the fun out of shopping. We did eventually make our way back to the hotel, tired and a bit footsore. Tomorrow, Mr. Soctt and Drama Teen will be working at the contest, so the boys and I will foray back to the shop. I’m NOT coming home without my troll!
So far, my most memorable aspect of the trip is that I’m tired. Youngest boy is on a self-maintained schedule and so far has been waking up at about 2 am and wanting to stay awake until around 8 am (midnight our time) and then sleep until noon. We kept him up all day today, so I’m hoping not to spend 3 hours in the hotel lobby with him.
The weather has been fabulous…but I’m amazed that at 40 degrees, the most popular street vender here doesn’t sell hot drinks…but Ice Cream! Glass shops abound and the Swedish folk can be seen bundled to the gills in scarves and coats eating cold, creamy goodness. Oh, and they eat outside too (take away is a few krona cheaper than Ata Har (eat in, i think it means). And it’s not because they are cheapskates, it’s because everything is expensive here. I figure the Swedish krona is about 16 cemts. So, a burger at McDonalds for 85 krona works out to be 13.60! Ouch!
It’s our last full day tomorrow and then another travel day. I’ll try to post pictures when we get back.
Dominic Wells wouldn’t hesitate to do anything to keep his wife happy. Anything at all . . . .
When one member of their marital triad dies, Dominic Wells figures he’s all set to have his happily ever after with his beautiful wife, Tabbitha. However, now that he finally has her all to himself, he realizes he can never be enough for her. No one man could. So, they set out on a quest to find a new husband to complete their loving marriage.
Individually designed with blood and delivered with desperate hope for truth, the Vampire Oracle Cards guide the lives of five unforgettable immortals by catapulting them into a quest for love.
The fate of a vampire’s heart…
Accept a fate woven by another or fight it and miss out on the love of a lifetime…
The sequel to The Werewolf Whisperer! Jazmine Carmichael is the leader of a pack of werewolves living in Eclipse, California. When two of the pack members die under mysterious circumstances, she’s determined to get answers.
Blaze Petrofsky and two other researchers often played a game of what if. What if werewolves were real? They set about creating the virus, meeting failure after failure, until he buys an old trunk in an auction. In a small silver tin, he finds werewolf cream. One of his colleagues tries it out, and it works. Before Blaze can look for a cure, he’s removed from the project and the government takes over.
Now, five years later, the nightmare has come back to haunt him when a beautiful, mysterious, sexy woman brings him a wolf to autopsy. A wolf who, on closer inspection, is human. When Jazmine is arrested, Blaze follows the clues she left behind, hoping to pay back the debt he owes for rediscovering and unleashing lyncanthropy. But is he too late to save the woman he’s come to love?
And coming on Wednesday — The Werewolf Whisperer, IN PRINT! It will contain the second issue of The Werewolf Whisperer and Unleashed, combined.
Woot! I’ve had such great surprises in my inbox over the last few days. Over the last 24 hours, I’ve received three, count them, three additional reviews to add to the mix.
The first two are from Coffeetime Romance:
Losing It 4 Cups from Lainey
“This is a dream turned into reality and all at the touch of a mouse click.”
“Losing It by Ericka Scott is a very well written erotic short story… The plot was great though and I’d love to see a sequel, especially if Penny and her boss decide to get together permanently.” 4 Stars, Valerie, Manic Readers
