It feels as if we are stuck in the middle of a horror movie, here in Iowa. A foggy mist hovers over the landscape hiding the sun.  I can’t remember the last time I noticed sunshine. The warmer temperatures and rain today did manage to melt some of the snow and thank goodness we didn’t have a deluge like they were predicting.  A local weather person made it sound like we would have major flooding.  So glad it didn’t happen.  I live in a two story house with lots of angles on the roof.  Several times during the day, ice rumbled off the roof and crashed onto the back yard. 

Last week one of my writer friends put a photo of a huge icicle hanging off her house.  My first thought was that it would be a perfect murder weapon.  You could grab it, stab someone and as long as they were inside the house, you could leave and let it melt. Voila, no weapon.  I do think someone did something similar in an old mystery I’d read once.  That’s what I like about writing mysteries. You can come up with such devious ideas but it’s okay because it’s all fiction.

Speaking of ice falling off the roof.  It was so loud, it scared our son’s cat, Sadie so bad that she ran out of his room to sit by my side while I worked in my office. She gave me an accusing look as if I’d done something wrong.   She’s a tortie with an attitude.  Loves both my husband and my son, Jason but she can’t seem to warm up to me.  We tease Jason about having a stalker.  She rarely leaves his sight and always seems to be watching him with a dreamy look on her face. This evening,  Steve and I were watching a movie in the family room.  Jason was gone for the evening and in one outdoors scene bird song filled the room.  Sadie ran all the way downstairs and sat watching the television, hoping to see a bird.  Besides ignoring me, she spends an inordinate amount of time sitting on the window sill in the living room bird watching.  Sometimes she gets so excited, she makes a little barking sound. The only time she is nice to me is when her food bowl is empty. After I fill it, she again gives me the cold shoulder.

Hoping to get together with my friend Sara for a chat tomorrow.  Also plan to post my week 5 on novel writing blog but that may not happen before Monday.

Virginia

Here it is Friday, January 22, 2010 and I still feel like I’m in limbo.  I am still job searching.  My experience as a temp so far is – work a month, off a month. Not exactly, what I had hoped would happen.  But it is not all bad; I have been sending out resumes and had an interview on Wednesday with a large Insurance company in downtown Des Moines.  They asked me to come for a second interview today. 

Robert B Parker’s death was sad to accept this week.  I’d started reading his Spencer series years ago when my kids were little.  While they napped or played, I would steal away enough time to read a few chapters.  Just recently, I read all of his Jesse Stone series. I will miss his work.

I have been doing a seven-day challenge as part of a program I attended Saturday with my local RWA chapter.  The program was Defying Gravity!  Why it’s so hard to keep going…  Each day we have a simple writing related task.  It does include listening to the Keynote address from the RWA conference last year and it ends with a mysterious envelope on day seven.  Will maybe share what was in the envelope later.

As part of my blog, I would like to focus on some of the other blogs I link to and enjoy reading.  This week – I am going to suggest you check the list of links on the side of my blog for Louise Penny.  If you enjoy a cozy mystery, you have to read her series of books set in a small village in Canada.   Three Pines is a small village overflowing with interesting and quirky characters. I read all of this series this winter and am patiently waiting for the next book.  I think Louise Penny has a seductive writing voice that she uses to pull you into the story.  Once there, you won’t want to leave.  She writes her blog posts in the same way.  I look forward to reading about what she is doing each day.  Though she doesn’t post daily, she doesn’t miss too many days either.  The first book in her series is Still Life.  Do check it out; I think you will like it.

I am working on my own story as well.  I’m still working on the first draft.  I will keep you informed as to my progress.  I plan to post my next Write a Novel with Me – article this weekend.  It will be for Week 4 and it will be about where to begin, the plot or the characters.

Virginia

Now that you’ve come up with a story idea and have had some time to play around with it, the next step is to determine your audience.  Who would read this kind of story?  Here are some of your choices:

Literary isn’t really a genre but from everything I’ve read, no one has really given a clear definition.  As a reader, you know when something is literary.  You can usually find the books on Oprah’s list.  She doesn’t normally suggest genre fiction.  It’s easier for me to show what literary fiction doesn’t have rather than what it does, so here are my thoughts on the subject.

 Literary fiction doesn’t always have a happy ending and some times, it doesn’t always have a satisfactory ending.  Don’t get me wrong, I read literary fiction but on a bad day, it may not be my first choice. 

 The stories often have deeper meanings and sometimes I feel you have to work harder to get it.  They are generally all stand-alone stories.  You won’t find a series, usually that are considered literary.  The story settings can be anywhere and any time from historical to contemporary. 

Romance – has always been a popular genre.  For quite a few years now, they’ve sold over 50% of all genre fiction.  Some people think it’s the easiest market to break into.  I even had a writing instructor tell me all you have to do is contact a publisher to get an outline to write a romance.  The publisher supposedly will just send one out for you to complete.  That was when I decided I’d wasted my money on that class.  The instructor was a lawyer by day and he bailed out on us mid-term.  The basic requirement for a romance is that it has to have a happy ending.  The hero and the heroine always end up together.  There are vast variations though. They range from historical to contemporary, romantic comedy, suspense and so many more.  Over the years, they have developed many sub categories and the publishers have responded with different categories for each.  If you are interested in writing romances, I would suggest reading as many as you can to determine what category you want to write.  Then contact the publisher for the guidelines that will enable you to complete something they will actually have an interest in reading.

Western – The Western is one of the oldest forms of American literature.  Like most historical novels, it pays to be accurate about your information. If you long to go on a cattle drive, participate in a shoot out on Main St., or hang out at the saloon and gamble, this might be the genre for you.  Like romances, westerns have evolved and don’t necessarily have to be from the cowboy’s point of view.  It could be any of the characters in the story, women, Indians, one-room schoolhouse teacher, dry goods clerk, the choices are infinite.  Westerns haven’t been so popular in the past several years but things change.  You might write the next novel that pulls new readers back into the genre.  

Science Fiction– This genre seems to be popular with the younger writers I meet.  Science fiction takes real science and adds a twist to make it more interesting.  Some of the fictional storylines from the past have actually happened.  When Jules Verne and H.G. Wells wrote about going to the moon, it hadn’t happened, yet.  Writers of science fiction have to stay ahead of real science.  Who knows maybe what they write fuels the imagination of modern scientists? Science Fiction tends to either happen in the future or somewhere else in the universe.

Fantasy – While Science Fiction is based on scientific possibility, fantasy is making the impossible believable.  This genre is also widely popular with younger writers, at least the ones I’ve met locally.  Fantasy can happen anywhere at anytime. 

Mystery – This genre requires some skill with puzzles.  Instead of developing one story, you have to develop two, the central story and the mystery.  It usually involves a murder and it can happen behind a closed door or it can be as graphic as the writer wishes.  Like the other genres there are different sub-categories of mystery that go from a cozy that tells about the murder but isn’t explicit to suspense novels that go into detail about serial killers and their methods of murder.  Mysteries can be anywhere from historical to contemporary.

The difficult part of all this is that all genres can contain elements of other kinds of writing.  That’s what makes it interesting for you and helps you decide exactly what you want to write. 

Here is another suggestion to help you continue to come up with new ideas.  Use a book journal.  This isn’t something you write about you, it’s a way to organize your thoughts about what you are writing.  You can use it to keep track of story ideas, scene ideas, character names and background information.  Write down what you accomplished on your novel for the day.  Write down your word count or page goal.  You could keep this journal separate or include it as a section of your book information binder.  Find what works for you.  Keep this next to you when you write.  When your memory fails you, open it up as your personal writing reference.  Have a section that describes your characters so that when you’re half-way through the book you don’t mention green eyes for a character that started out with blue.  Writing a novel takes time and this way you don’t have to remember everything in your head.  Write the thoughts down and you have them for future reference.  I like to have a section that shows my outline, story ideas, characters, settings, time frame.  Stick a calendar in your binder that will also cover the time frame of your story. Anything that will keep you organized.

These are just some of my suggestions.  How do you work on your novel?  Want to share your thoughts about the writing process?

Assignment –

This week decide whom your audience is and what kind of book you want to write.  Start reading what is on the bookshelves in that genre right now.  Get familiar with the genre.  Take it a step further and check out the publishers.  Go online and find their guidelines so you can shape your story into something they might like.  This is an adventure.  Have fun with it.

Next week, I’m going to write about where to begin, characters or plot?

Virginia

It is my pleasure to introduce another local author I met at the Author Fair last fall in Des Moines.  The Fair was a great event and I hope to see more authors there next year.  Here’s Tricia:

Where are you from?

I grew up on a farm between Emmetsburg and Graettinger, Iowa.

How long have you been writing?

Twenty-five years.

What do you write?

Mostly, I write short stories, but I do write some poetry. I have written a few novels (The River Road) but I’m still revising some of the others.

Tell us a little about your publisher and agent.

My publisher is New Rivers Press, an independent press that focuses on literary books. Bill Truesdale started  the press over 40 years ago in New York City and then moved it to Minneapolis. After his death, the press moved to the University of Minnesota at Moorhead. Al Davis is the Senior editor. Donna Carlson and Suzzanne Kelly are managing editors.

 I don’t have an agent.

How many books have you published so far? I have published over 50 short stories  and ten poems in literary magazines. I’ve published two books. The Egg Lady and Other Neighbors, a collection, won The Headwaters Literary Competition sponsored by New Rivers Press. The River Road: A Novel in Stories was published last winter also by New Rivers Press.

What is your writing day like?

I get up at five and try to write for an hour before I get ready for work. I teach full time at Briar Cliff University and am editor The Briar Cliff Review, a national literary/arts magazine. Sometimes I find an hour to write at work—but that is rare as I’m reading papers and manuscripts, grading papers and preparing for class.

Can you tell us how you found a publisher and/or agent?

I read Novel and Short Story Markets, Writer’s Digest, Poets & Writers, The Writer’s Chronicle, The Writer and Best American Short Stories for each year.  I study the markets and talk to a lot of writers.

Do you have anything that just came out?

Well, The River Road: A Novel in Stories just came out in large print and audio tape this summer. The paperback was released last November. It was just  named a finalist and won an Honorable Mention in the Nashville Book Festival Competition.

I just had a short story—Gertie and the Visitors– published in Frontiers: A Journal of Womens Studies.  I have two poems coming out in Connecticut Review and a story—Eddie Ellingson—Egg Carrier and Organizer, coming out in South  Dakota Review.

What are you working on now?

I’m revising four things—a collection called Somebody’s Got To Do It, and another collection called Limbo Babies. I’m struggling to restructure a novel called Our Father.  Also I have a book for the middle reader—The Secret of Sister Jerome, which was one of four finalists in the Marguerite DeAngeli contest. Am still tweaking that.  Ah, it never ends….

What would you do if a publisher asked you to change a major part of your story, like the ending? (Is it more important to get published or to be true to your story?)

 I’ve done that in the past and guess what, they still didn’t take it.

 Now I just keep writing and revising and running it by my Writing Group, a great group of writers.

 Do you have some words of wisdom for us unpubs?

 Oh, it’s hard.   I have done 10 books and the first 5 were my “practice” books.

 Get a writing group with good writers that you trust. You want honesty. You want them to help you become a better writer.

Thanks again Tricia for the interview. You can find out more information about Tricia on her website http://www.currans-sheehan.com/index.html .

Next time we’ll find out all about Sammy Sloth Sport Superstar.

If any of my readers are published authors who would like some help promoting their work, please contact me at vagruv@msn.com to make arrangements for your interview. 

Virginia

BRAINSTORMING, MINDMAPPING, OR PLAYING MAKE BELIEVE

            Now that you have your spark of an idea for a novel, what do you do with it? This is when it starts getting fun.  There are several methods and I will share a few with you to get you started:

            1. What If – This is where you start asking questions. What if this happens, then what happens next.  When doing this, I look for a domino effect with the story.  I like to find something that is a natural result of what happened before and let it build until you have some scenes that feel like puzzle pieces of the story.  Each piece links together forming the story, but sometimes you need to take it a step back before you can go forward.

            2. Mind mapping – is a visual way of doing the – what if.  Take the subject you want to expand upon and write it down in the middle of a sheet of paper.  The first thing that comes to you that connects with that subject, write it down off to the side and circle it.  Connect the two with a line.  This can be another character, a setting, an object, or even a situation.  Continue adding more circles and lines to whatever you’ve written in the center of the sheet of paper. You can then add more circled subjects to those that you’ve developed from the original. Keep making connections, even if they don’t totally make sense at the time.  Eventually you will have some threads that you can’t let go of and have to develop.  Those thoughts are the ones you should use to develop your story.

Don’t throw the rest away; keep them handy so that if you find yourself needing more to work with later, you already have something to play with.

            3. I suggested in my earlier post that you should think about journaling.  Your journal can provide more ideas that you can now develop.  I am going to suggest that you have a book journal.  It is a record of you writing this book.  Some authors keep one with each work in progress. Each day as you journal, you can keep track of any new ideas for the story.  I will go into more detail about the book journal in another post.

            4. Brainstorming is another way to develop a story.  You could do it as a group or with a trusted writing partner.  I have a friend who is great for bouncing ideas off because she always sees something that I miss.  It’s also nice to have someone to turn to when you’ve written yourself into a corner.  Hopefully with a little planning, that won’t happen.

            5. I call it multi-tasking.  While you are doing something mindless, like washing dishes, vacuuming, dusting, or whatever – think about your story.  Keep it in mind while you go about your everyday tasks and besides helping you develop the story, it will work to pull you into your next writing session. 

            6. Take a walk and mull over your story.  Getting out and getting some exercise and fresh air can’t hurt and again is something you can do without thinking about it to allow your mind a chance to wander and ponder your story.

            7. Get out of the house.  Watch people.  Take notes describing the people you see, the sounds around you, the smells, listen to people talk to work on your dialogue.  You can’t write dialogue exactly the way people speak because it wouldn’t hold the reader’s interest.  But listen for the way people speak that might help your characters to sound like individuals rather than everyone sounding alike.  Again, I will have a later post that gets into more about dialogue later. Look for ways to describe gestures.  Watch body language and you interpret what it means when you see it.  Think of how you could describe a character better by how they move.

            Like an artist, you can describe what you see and use it later with your work.

            8. Start thinking about your characters, I have writer friends who go through magazines looking for their characters.  Sometimes it is easier to describe something if you have a picture in front of you.  One of the writers I know made an excellent suggestion.  We have a used bookstore in my area and she picks up used magazines just to find pictures of her characters.  You can take it a step further and use it for settings.  All those home and garden type magazines have great pictures of houses and rooms with descriptions and terms you can use in your writing.  The same thing goes with character clothing.  If you’re writing about someone who wears designer clothes, here’s a personal guide to description.

            9. Listen to the words in music; sometimes it will trigger a reaction that gives you an idea for your story.  Also, think about what music you were listening to and see if you can make your own soundtrack to use while writing.  If you have a strong connection between the music and your story, it can pull you back into the story for each days writing session.

            10. Start developing your characters.  Write down everything you need to know about them.  As you get to know your characters, they can help you develop your story.  I will post later about character development but now is a good time to start who your characters are and what their motivation is.  What do they want and why are you writing about them?

YOUR ASSIGNMENT – Start brainstorming your idea.

I look forward to comments and suggestions.  Next week – Genre and is this a series or stand-alone? Who’s your audience and who publishes what you write?

Virginia

I have always been fascinated with the writing process.  That is one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed the author interviews on this blog.  If you have read enough of them, you will see what I mean.  They are all doing the same thing, writing novels, but they all have their own path they follow.  There are subtle differences as to their methods.  But as a writer, we all know there are, basic steps to take to complete a novel and those steps are what I want to cover with this series of posts.   

Each week I will cover some aspect of novel writing.  This week, let’s look at where to start.  Some writers start with characters and others have a plot.  I generally picture a scene that won’t let me go.  The current novel that I am working on started that way.  It was the basic what if scenario. 

What if a woman came home to find her husband dead in their bed and she had proof that he’d been with another woman? And then what if all the evidence points toward her as the main suspect in his murder?  Like an onion, I started peeling back layers of the story. What makes it look like she’s guilty?  What did the crime scene look like?  What happened between them to make others think she could be capable of murdering him?  What really happened and who really killed him?  What kind of person could have something like this happen to them?

The questions are endless. 

Some other suggestions for story ideas are:

1. Reading – Have you ever read a book that started out pulling you in but half way through you felt like something was missing?  The jacket blurb and even that first chapter or two didn’t go where you thought the story should have gone. It’s disappointing but it also could be one way to determine what you need to write.   Maybe you like the premise but didn’t care for the way it was developed.  Take the premise and make it your own.  Now is the time to develop and write the story you want to read. 

2. Movies and television – Basically the same thing can be done with movies and television.  Take the idea and write something that satisfies you.  I’m not suggesting you plagiarize but its okay to share a premise and make it your own.

3. Read or watch the news.  It’s great if you write mysteries.  Take a real crime and fictionalize it.  The article will only tell you the skeleton of the story.  Create your own characters, locations, reasons for committing the crime and even change the murder method.  Create your own mystery.

Don’t stop at reading the crimes. Read the letters to the editor, advice columns, local politics, and the good feel stories about your area. Did that letter to the editor sound as if the writer was upset about something? Upset enough to do something about it?  Advice columns are full of quirky questions that make you wonder about the writer and whether it could really be true.  Local politics can give you a wealth of ideas. Corruption and power can thrive in your stories.

4. Personal experiences in your own life and in the lives of family and friends.  Of course, you’ll need to be discreet and fictionalize the situations you can’t write it down verbatim.  Besides most true life, adventures usually are too boring without using a little creative imagination to juice it up.  Many writers have received feedback from others telling them it wasn’t believable when in reality it did happen but that doesn’t necessarily make it a good story. 

5. Journals – Write down something about your day.  If time doesn’t allow you to write daily try to write down the interesting stuff, the things that have touched your life or your world that day.  Put it aside and when you’re looking for ideas, go through your journal entries and see what calls to you. 

6. Dreams – I started keeping a dream journal a few years ago.  I don’t seem to remember most dreams but the ones that I do remember I write down.  Like your regular journal, read them occasionally for new ideas.  I think this could be a great source for mystery and horror writers, especially those nightmares that wake you in a tangle of sweaty sheets.

These are just a few ways to find that spark of an idea.  The ideas that won’t let go until you do something with them. 

YOUR ASSIGNMENT –

Take a few days to work on your next story idea.  I hope you enjoy this project and feel comfortable sharing questions and suggestions along the way.

Next week, I will cover how to develop those ideas.

Virginia

I am working to finish the novel I started in November.  I am revising and hope to have it completed this spring.  In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to try something in the same vein as the Write a Novel with me posts but in a slightly different format. 

I love to read devotionals on a daily basis.  This year I am reading Halle Ephron’s Bibliophile devotional. Each day she has the  first line from a book, a breif description of what it is about and a short review written by someone else, usually a reviewer with a national newspaper.  Though I have read quite of few of the books she suggests, it has also giving me lots of other ideas of  books to read in the future.

I plan to write a weekly post instead of a daily post, I thought it might be fun to write something once a week about writing, starting with the first spark of an idea through the actual writing process, revision and then the steps to take to find a publisher and agent. 

I will break the year down and share with you suggestions for each stage.  At the end of each post, I will have an assignment for you to do that week.  I’m hoping that you could be my first readers. I’m thinking that by the end of this year, I could have a novel finished and possibly a non-fiction how-to book also.  I hope you like the idea  and will follow my posts through to the end of the year.  Because I am using this medium it allows this process to be more inter-active than if you were reading it as a how-to book at home.  If you have questions or suggestions, I would love to hear from you along the way. 

So welcome to a new adventure as we write a novel together in 2010.  I’ll be back tomorrow with Story Ideas and How to Start.

Virginia

I have never been great with resolutions so I don’t plan to make any this year.  I know what I want and I am going to go for it.  I have a mostly finished novel that I worked on for Nano but I am not foolish enough to think that it is a book.  November allowed me to get my thoughts down on paper but it is very rough.  I plan to work on it daily rewriting and writing 3-5 pages as I go.  To be honest, I don’t enjoy writing as fast as Nano requires.  It takes the fun out of the process.  

Today I pulled out my manuscript and put it into a binder.  I am starting from the beginning and will work my way through to the end.  With my work schedule, I do believe 3-5 pages per day are possible.  I will try to keep you, my readers, informed about the process.  If I run into something that I am struggling with, I may ask for some help.

Feel free to share any of your writing suggestions as I will gladly share with you.

I know I planned to have the first draft done by the end of the year but it didn’t happen.  My new job seemed to wipe me out more than I expected it to.  I tend to be a night owl but because of my hours, I have to get to bed early.  It has taken me a while to adjust.  I am up by 5:00 AM and out of the house by 6:00.  It takes me that long to get to work by 7:00 and that’s on a good day.  I like what I’m doing and truly hope they will make my temp position permanent.  I am a Claims Specialist at a large bank.  I am doing Fannie Mae claims for foreclosed properties from all over the United States.  It is interesting and challenging and sad.  As a former Realtor I understand that those names and addresses are real people who have lost their homes. 

I do hope 2010 is the best year ever.  I plan to read and write and push on to the next step toward publication.

I have been reading a lot the past month.  I read all of Louise Penny’s books and now wait breathlessly for the next.  Love the series.  Want to live in Three Pines – except for maybe the winter. Canada’ s got to be worse than Iowa.  I also read a Debbie Macomber holiday book called Mrs. Miracle.  Hallmark made a movie starring Doris Roberts as Mrs. Miracle.  The movie was okay but the book was great.  I would almost say it could be a modern Christmas classic.  I don’t save too many books but this one I plan to pull out again and read next year. 

I always read nonfiction as well as fiction.  I am currently reading James Scott Bell’s ‘The Art of War For Writers”.  Will tell you more about it when I finish reading. 

Wishing you the best this year and may your writing dreams come true too!

Christmas just keeps on giving.  Julie Miller is a multi-published Romance author out of Grand Island, Nebraska.  I think her path to publication is very interesting.  If you’re like me and have a few gift cards from family and friends for books, you might think about checking out Julie’s newest release.

Where are you from?

Currently, I live in Grand Island, Nebraska, but I was born and raised in Missouri

How long have you been writing?

Since I was 8.  My first stories were action-adventures I wrote for my Barbie and G.I. Joe—sort of Indiana Jones before its time <g>

I started pursuing a writing career about 17 years ago when we first moved to Nebraska, and I had the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom for a year.  I discovered I still needed a creative outlet, and I’d always wanted to try my hand at those books I loved to read.  My first book came out in 1997.

What do you write?

Romantic suspense.  I’ve written over 25 books for Harlequin Intrigue, and have just been offered a contract to write 4 more.  I also write steamier stories for Harlequin Blaze, where my military heroes have been especially popular.  But even the Blazes, special Harlequin projects and single title paranormals I wrote for Dorchester have all contained some degree of romantic suspense.  I think I’ve written one romance where there was no murder to solve, no stalker pursuing the heroine and no hero out for justice. <g>

Tell us a little about your publisher and agent.

I’ve been writing for Harlequin Books in New York and Toronto since I sold my first Intrigue to them in 1999.  Since that time, I’ve written for Intrigue, Blaze, Signature Select, eHarlequin.com and Special Releases with Harlequin.  I started my career at Dorchester Books, where I wrote single title paranormals for their Love Spell imprint.

My agent is Pattie Steele-Perkins of the Steele-Perkins Literary Agency in Canandaigua, NY.  I think she’s terrific.  She represents all types of romance and women’s fiction, and represents some NYT Bestselling authors as well as some new to the business.  I fall somewhere in between.

How many books have you published so far?

I’ve written 38 books for publication, and as I mentioned earlier, have just contracted to write 4 more.  I wrote 3 complete mss before my first sale.

What is your writing day like?

I used to be a full-time teacher who wrote part-time.  Now I’m a full-time writer who teaches part-time.

A typical day for me is to get up, turn on my computer, eat breakfast—then, armed with a cup of tea or bottle of water, I sit down at my computer and read through/edit what I wrote the day before.  Then I write new pages.  Even if my day is busy with commitments that will take me away from my computer, once I have the story in my head, I can continue ‘writing’ in my head all day, so that when I do get back to my computer, I can sit down and be ready to write.  Usually, though, once I’ve edited those pages, I go on to write new pages.  My goal is a scene each day, though sometimes I’ll write more or less.  I like to just sit and work until lunch, though I get up once an hour to get the kinks out of my back, stretch my muscles and rest my wrists and fingers—that usually means putting in a load of laundry, walking the dog, etc.  My dog Maxie is my writing companion all day long. <g>  When I get closer to a deadline, I will go back after dinner and write in the evenings and on weekends, though I try to keep those times free for family activities until the deadline pressure kicks in.  I try to limit my email/Internet time, as well as writing-related business demands to breakfast or lunchtime, or the evenings after I’ve completed my scene for the day.

Can you tell us how you found a publisher and/or agent?

I’ve read and loved Harlequin Intrigue from the time I read the very first one back in college in 1984.  I had romantic suspense ideas percolating in my head ever since.  Though I wrote many papers, grant proposals, brochures, lesson plans, short stories, newspaper articles, scripts and journal entries, I didn’t really pursue writing complete novels until I moved to Nebraska, and got to be a stay-at-home mom for a year.  During that year before going back to teaching full-time, I joined Romance Writers of America, became a founding member of my local RWA chapter, the Prairieland Romance Writers, and used conferences, workshops, articles and networking to really learn the business of writing, as well as educate myself on the publishing market.  I wrote 2 manuscripts that were truly learning processes, entering them in contests and getting feedback, enjoying some success, submitting them to publishers, but ultimately having them rejected.

I sent my third manuscript to the now defunct Silhouette Shadows.  The editor said she really liked my story and my writing, but that the line was closing and she couldn’t acquire it.  But… if I had any other stories to submit, she’d love to see something else.  That was when I decided to go back to my first love and specifically target Harlequin Intrigue.  The first book I wrote for the line and submitted—ONE GOOD MAN—sold!  That rejected Shadows manuscript went on to sell at Dorchester—and I wrote 2 more stories for them.  But, my home is now with Harlequin.

I first met my agent, Pattie Steele-Perkins, at a conference where I attended a workshop with a panel of agents.  (I had already had one agent—the adage is true, a bad agent is worse than no agent.  My first agent didn’t steal money or anything illegal, but she just wasn’t assertive on my behalf.  I quickly learned that she wanted me to do the footwork, make the connections, etc., while she reviewed the contracts and negotiated after the fact.  I wanted someone who would be my cheerleader out there—who would seek out publishing opportunities that were right for me, and who would work for me as a valued team member, not just as a consultant after the fact.  I needed someone with more clout and connections in the industry, as well.)  I liked what Pattie had to say, and liked her manner.  She seemed like a good fit personality-wise for me, and she is.  We complement each other, I think.  After selling 2 books on my own, I had determined that I needed an agent to a) be seeking out opportunities for me as I was still teaching full-time and raising a family in addition to my writing, and hadn’t the time/energy to continue doing it myself, and b) work on career planning with me.  After submitting to her, Pattie called me and we chatted at length about our mutual expectations.  Shortly thereafter, we met one-on-one at another conference, and she eagerly agreed to represent me.  It’s been a good partnership.

Do you have anything that just came out?

My most recent book, PULLING THE TRIGGER, came out in June 09.  But my next release, BEAUTY AND THE BADGE, is out in December 2009. (November 09 on www.eHarlequin.com for those of you who like to get books early!)  I just learned that BEAUTY AND THE BADGE earned a 4 ½ stars, Top Pick! Rating from Romantic Times BookReviews.  Cool!

Here’s the back cover blurb for BEAUTY AND THE BADGE:

Beneath his gruff exterior beat the heart of a prince…

When girl next door Beth Rogers pounded on Detective Kevin Grove’s door in the middle of the night, she awakened not only the cop, but the diehard protector. His spunky neighbor had uncovered scandalous secrets about a murder and someone was threatening to silence her…permanently.

After one heartbreak too many, Kevin was ready to call it quits. With his brawn and tough guy looks, no woman had been able to see the caring soul that lurked beneath. But with one look into Beth’s frightened eyes, the true-blue hero couldn’t turn her away. Now, with every step leading them closer to danger, the safest place was in each other’s arms.   

The Precinct: Brotherhood of the Badge—Bonded by brotherhood, forged into men by the badge they wore.

What are you working on now?

Right now I’m finishing up a proposal for the Harlequin TEEN line.  It’s not a sale yet, but I love YA books—I’ve taught them and read them for many years.  Natashya Wilson, Editor for the TEEN line, invited me to submit a YA romantic suspense proposal to her, and I’ve been eager to give it a try.

Next up, I start in on a new 4-book miniseries for Harlequin Intrigue called THE PRECINCT: S.W.A.T. TEAM 1.  The first book, tentatively titled PROTECTING THE SOCIETY PRINCESS, is started, but I’d like to get about halfway done before the holidays hit.  I’m truly excited to be writing these books.  They feature the S.W.A.T. team members introduced in my October 08 Intrigue, PRIVATE S.W.A.T. TAKEOVER.  The team appears again in my April 2009 Intrigue, TAKEDOWN, which features the team’s leader, Captain Michael Cutler as the hero.  The S.W.A.T. TEAM 1 miniseries will feature the men and women who work for Captain Cutler.  These will be full of plenty of danger and action, some very naughty bad guys, a deadly mystery, and some of the biggest, baddest heroes you can imagine.

What would you do if a publisher asked you to change a major part of your story, like the ending? (Is it more important to get published or to be true to your story?)

This is a question where my answer would be, it depends on the situation.  The one thing I would guard voraciously is your unique writing voice—that is the one thing that makes you, well, you.  No one else can tell a story just the way you can.  So if the publisher asks for something that will change that voice, then I would think long and hard before doing so.

However, when you’re first trying to get published, you don’t have a lot of leeway to take the creative high road.  You can, of course, but it may make it harder to get published.  Publishers know what they want.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of other writers who may be equally talented, who are trying to sell to the same publisher.  They’re going to look first for great writing, for someone who really knows how to tell a story.  But if it doesn’t fit a particular line, or isn’t quite right for the type of story they want to publish, then you’ll be rejected no matter how great a writer you are.  If a publisher is interested in your writing, but thinks your story needs some tweaking, I’d give it some consideration.  Often, they point out something that you or a CP might have missed, and you’ll agree that it improves your story.  Sometimes, they really love the book to a certain point, but there’s a section or subplot that isn’t equal par with the rest of the story, and their suggestion is to make it all a great ms.  Publishers are also looking for someone they can work with, someone who can take direction, act on it, and return a product that is even better—so making those big changes can prove that to them.

And keep in mind—if an editor takes the time for her busy schedule to give you notes, then that means she sees real promise and a potential sale.  They won’t ask to see a revised manuscript if they don’t think it can be turned into something they want to publish.  If they offer suggestions, but don’t ask to see a revised version, then it’s up to you to make the changes or not to your story.  But if they DO ask to see a revised version, and you really want to be published with the company, then I’d consider making those changes and sending it back as quickly as you can.  (Another big mistake than can get a story rejected is when they ask for revisions, but the writer doesn’t turn them around in a timely fashion—you want to get the story back on the editor’s desk while she’s excited about discovering the writer/project in the first place.  After too long, she’ll move on and you’ll be stuck in the slush pile again.)

Another option, if you don’t want to change your story, is to get back to the editor immediately and state that you feel it would hurt the integrity of the story, but you have something else that may be appropriate that you’d like to send instead, would she consider it?  Of course, that option only works if you have another completed manuscript you can send out right away.

Do you have some words of wisdom for us unpubs?

Read lots of books by the publisher and in the line you want to write for.  Not capturing the right tone of a line, or submitting something that is wrong for the line is the #1 reason mss get rejected.  You’d be surprised at how much of the wrong stuff is sent to editors.

Write.  Complete stories.  The only way you can sell that first time is on a completed manuscript.  And the best way to learn about writing skills, story structure, sustaining conflict, building tension, crafting complex characters readers will care about, etc., is by actually writing them.  I believe there is no wasted writing.  You can learn something from every manuscript you complete, whether it sells or not.

Write what you love.  If you sell that first book, the publisher is going to want more of the same type of story from you to help establish your name and build your sales.  So make sure you love what you’re doing because you’ll be doing it for a while.  They can’t sell you as an unknown, but they can sell your story as a steamy romantic suspense or a character-driven inspirational or a funny erotica, etc.  After you get a few releases under your belt, then it’s easier to branch out and write different things.  Also, by loving what you write, it makes it a little easier to withstand the bumps and bruises that go along with trying to get published.

My personal website: www.juliemiller.org

            You can read my monthly newsletter there, get a printable Book List of my books, find shopping deals at eHarlequin, read cover blurbs and a free novella, find my appearance schedule and upcoming books, get info on entering my seasonal Book GiveAway contests and more.

I blog regularly on the Intrigue Authors Group Blog at: http://community.eharlequin.com/content/harlequin-intrigue-group-author-blog

My writers’ group/RWA Chapter is the Prairieland Romance Writers at: www.prwne.com

A bit of interesting info: My husband, Scott E. Miller, is also a published author.  He writes Young Adult historical fiction, set in Nebraska.  You can find info on Scott on my website, as well.

Thanks again.

Virginia

Eileen Boggess is another local author I met at the Author Fair here in Des Moines this fall.  I think you will agree that she has a very interesting story:

Where are you from?

I was born in Davenport, IA and currently live in Urbandale, IA

How long have you been writing?

I started writing stories in elementary school, but didn’t start writing for publication until I was in my 30’s. I always say I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up until I was already grown.

What do you write?

So far, I’ve written three books for the middle school or “tween” audience. I used to teach middle school and I love this age!

Tell us a little about your publisher and agent.

My editor is Bruce Bortz at Bancroft Press. Bancroft Press is a small publishing house in Baltimore, MD. I do not have an agent.

How many books have you published so far?

3 books. Mia the Meek (Bancroft Press, 2006), Mia the Melodramatic (Bancroft Press, 2008), and Mia the Magnificent (Bancroft press, 2009)

What is your writing day like?

I am currently running the Urbandale Food Pantry, so my writing days have become few and far between. But when I am lucky enough to dedicate an entire day to writing, I usually stay in my pajamas and write from 9:00 to 2:30 P.M. Then I rush to take a shower and go get my kids from school—I am usually late J

Can you tell us how you found a publisher and/or agent?

I found Bancroft Press through the Writer’s Market Guide. I submitted my first chapter of Mia the Meek to them and didn’t hear back for a year and a half! An intern eventually found it buried in the slush pile, really liked it, and asked for the rest of the book. Luckily, I had been revising my manuscript during that year and a half, so when I sent it to her, it was in pretty good shape.

Do you have anything that just came out?

Mia the Magnificent was released on December 1.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a young adult book that includes a scandal, a dead body, and of course, tweeting.

What would you do if a publisher asked you to change a major part of your story, like the ending? (Is it more important to get published or to be true to your story?)

Mia the Melodramatic, my second book, originally took place from the summer after Mia’s freshman year to the middle of her sophomore year. My editor thought the story should only take place during the Mia’s summer vacation. So, I cut the book in half and stretched the first half of the book. When I sent my revised manuscript to my editor, he said that there wasn’t a story arc, which was true because it was only half a book. So, I rewrote the entire book and it turned out to be a lot stronger than my original version. Oftentimes, an author can’t see the weaknesses of their own writing. It is usually a good idea to take your editor’s advice—especially since they are the ones who pay us.

Do you have some words of wisdom for us unpubs?

Write for the joy of it, but learn the business side as well. When I wrote Mia the Meek, I was a 7^th grade teacher. I assigned my students the task of writing a realistic fiction book and when they complained about how hard the assignment was, I told them I would write one with them. I started writing about a shy girl named Mia and had so much fun telling her story, I kept on writing until I finished a book. Thinking I had created a masterpiece, which would eventually make me rich and famous and become life-long friends with J.K. Rowling, I submitted it to a bunch of editors and agents. After I received 38 rejection letters, I decided maybe my manuscript wasn’t as great as I originally thought it was. So, I joined SCBWI (Society of Book Writers and Illustrators), joined a writer’s group, studied the craft of writing, and through a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck, I eventually got published.

My website is www.eileenboggess.com.

I’m not a tween but the book Eileen is working on that includes a scandal, a dead body and tweeting is intriguing. I was unable to include Eileen’s newest release, Mia the Magnificent on this blog but you should be able to recognize Mia on the cover.  Thanks for the interview.  If anyone is looking for young adult Christmas presents, you might check out Ms. Boggess’ work.

Until next time, keep writing,

Virginia