Wearing That Book Plum Out

Current Project: Finding my way back . . .
Status: waiting for a map

Oh um, HI! Is it my day to blog? REALLY? Of course, I remembered LAST night, only to forget in the course of freezing berries, toddler wrangling, and general life. And so it goes.

Have you ever worn a book out? My beloved copy of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything has been in three pieces for months now. Note that this is NOT a three volume set. Then this weekend, I noticed that pages were missing. The death knell has finally tolled, and I'm facing the need to replace. Similarly, my copy of Dr. Sears' The Baby Book has not survived the toddler years. I'm wondering if the universe is sending me a message. When I was younger, I wore out These Happy Golden Years, Anne of Green Gables, countless Judy Blume books, and the first 10 Babysitter's Club books. My copies of Suzanne Brockmann's Unsung Hero and Breaking Point are in sore need of an upgrade to hardback. I wore my copy of Lori Foster's Mr. November out and was so happy to see its release in anthology last year.

The toddler is following in my footsteps. Baby Colors is in tatters, Dear Santa needs a trauma team on stand by, Dr. Seuss's Alphabet book is missing a few letters, and Johnny the Gorilla is now a two volume set. I look at the carnage with pride.

I'm always torn between replacing and repairing. I'm not an expert on repairs like some of my relatives, so my repair jobs end up impairing the reading experience. Yet, the battered books stand as testaments of love and devotion. They are badges of honor. I can think of no greater compliment to a writer than a worn out book. Personally, I would much rather see a tattered stack of paperbacks than a shelf of display books in pristine condition. Books are meant to be loved.

Which books have you worn out? Have you ever replaced a beloved book?

Silencing the Little Hater

Current Project: Shadows, Inc.
Status: Still developing the backstory...

The other day I came across a link to a YouTube video by Jay Smooth, a hip-hop video blogger. You may have seen some of his vlogs, but the one I'm talking about here is called "Beating The Little Hater" (embedded below). I clicked on it out of curiosity and then found myself nodding in total agreement. You see, the "Little Hater" is that voice inside your head that tries to sabotage you. My Little Hater happens to use the same tricks as the one in Jay Smooth's head -- perfectionism and procrastination.



My Little Hater gets the upper hand by whispering that I don't know enough to start writing. That every word needs to be perfect. That if the words aren't perfect, then I have no business writing. That if I keep procrastinating--that is, if I read yet another book on how to write or take yet another online writing class or research yet another fact on the internet--maybe, eventually, I'll be able to get the words just right.

Of course, all of that is nonsense. Still, that little voice--that Little Hater--is ridiculously easy to believe and oh, so very hard to ignore. And it seems like the longer I listen, the more power it has. It does me no good to argue with my Little Hater; sometimes the voice seems even stronger if I engage it. The only way I've found to silence it is to put my fingers on the keyboard and...wait for it...WRITE.

What about you? Do you have a Little Hater living inside your head? If so, what tricks does yours use to sabotage you and how do you deal with it?

Eye Candy or Inspiration

Current Project: Between Projects
Status: Tidying up Doctor in Petticoats, Researching, stewing and brewing For a Sister's Love (next WIP)

While in Kalispell Montana over the weekend, Cory and I were driving the main road through town on our way to see if the flowers for the wedding arrived. (Cory was the florist for the wedding) We stopped at a light beside a white Dodge pickup. We'd just been discussing maybe Cory could find a handsome rich Montana cowboy. Well, we both looked over at the pickup at the same time and our chins hit our chests and drool slid out the corner of our mouths. I looked forward and said, "Grab your phone and take a picture of him. He's inspiration." I looked back over. Cory was still drooling, and he shot her a devastating smile as the light changed. He drove off, and I finally found the gas pedal and moved forward. Alas, Cory didn't take his picture, but between the two of us we conjured him up pretty darn well on the trip back from Montana.

"He was gorgeous!" Cory said. "Sandy blond, curly hair, crinkles by his eyes, and his smile... It wasn't a yeah, you're looking at me cuz I'm hot, it was a genuine smile." ~Sigh~ "Now, I wish I'd taken his picture. There weren't any guys as good looking at the wedding."

Why is it the one that got away is always more dashing, more genuine, more exciting? Is it because we can make up stories of how the ending will be different? Like romance stories?

Have you ever had a chance meeting, had the person male or female strike a chord with the writer in you and you used their looks for a character and gave them the background and story you felt they deserved?

Current Project: Line edits for STOLEN SEDUCTION
Status: Need to start



Happy 4th of July everyone. As today is the observed holiday, this post will be short. I just want to wish all of you a very happy holiday.

As for me, I'm alive and well and working on recovering. I've cancelled my trip to DC for the RWA National Convention so I hope all of you are able to keep me entertained the week of National. And I can't wait to hear all about it when Debbie and Kendra get back.

So what does everyone have planned for the holiday weekend?

CREATIVE GIFTS FOR SALE

Posted by: Genene Valleau <www.genenevalleau.com>

Current Project: FINAL edits on novella, CHASING RAINBOWS
Status: Closing in on "the end"

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of participating in the NW Book Festival with thirty or so other authors. Romance authors were well-represented at this event, with about ten of us from the Mid-Willamette Valley RWA chapter and Rose City Romance Writers (Portland chapter of RWA).

However, this event went beyond romance to encompass poetry, health and wellness, travel, children's books, memoirs and much more. The Web pages for this event will stay up for awhile if you want to take a look at the authors who attended and visit their Web sites <www.nwbookfestival.com>.

Though sales were slow, creativity flowed like chocolate in a fondue pot. (A "groaner" analogy, I know!) Some of our romance authors were published by large New York publishing houses, but most of the authors were self-published or published by small presses.

Some people may roll their eyes here--yes, this is a definite tie-in with Alice's post on Prejudice from yesterday. In spite of many examples of NY Times bestselling books that started out being self-published, outdated stereotypes still exist that self-published books or books from small presses are of inferior quality. Not so!

The books that I looked at had beautiful covers, well-written back-cover blurbs, and useful/intriguing/humorous/entertaining content. Fortunately for my bank account, I ended up at this event with limited cash and no checks. I wanted something from every author!

Oh, yeah, and did I mention the authors were delightful? Which brings me to the topic of this blog. Each of these authors was offering their creative gifts for sale. They were taking the risk of someone rolling their eyes or, perhaps worse, walking past their table with eyes averted. However, if you took the time to talk to these authors, the passion for their gift quickly became obvious.

These authors believed in their creative gifts.

And that is something precious that writers and other creative people offer the world. A different perspective. The quiet courage to face eye rolls and/or stereotypes and prove them wrong. A respect for the unique gifts that each person brings to this sometimes crazy world. A belief that our creative gifts can touch the hearts of others and help them find their own creativity.

In our group of writers, we've seen a lot of challenges recently--loss of jobs or the possible of layoffs, cutting back expenses, serious illnesses, and aging parents--just to name a few. Perhaps life's challenges point out the need to explore our creative gifts even more. What do you think? Do life's challenges shut down your creativity? Or do you take refuge in your creative gifts?

PREJUDICE

Current Project:Agent Daddy
Status: page 232

Pre judge. That's what prejudice means.

A couple of weeks ago when Lisa blogged about a pen name for her romance career to keep her own name separate for her career in academia, I have to admit I thought it might be over reacting. The days of bias against romance are over, aren't they? Who worries about stuff like this anymore?

Well, the days of prejudice are not over. I found that out around a friendly campfire when a nurse I'd never met before asked who I wrote for and I told her Harlequin Intrigue. I said it with pride. I love writing the books I now write and I'm proud of the company I sell to. They have treated me very well through the years and the editors I have gotten to know are wonderful, dedicated people.

The nurse rolled her eyes. "Wow!" I said. "You just rolled your eyes. Why?"
With a smirk, she informed me she's never read that kind of book. I asked her what that kind of book meant. "You know," she said and followed it up with, "So, how many books do you have to punch out in a year?"

"You're on a roll aren't you?" I said, adding I didn't have to "punch out" any books in a year, but most years I wrote two or maybe three. Frankly, I was just incredulous she was pushing things this way. She asked another snotty question and I asked her if she wanted to know my secret formula for making each book like the other. When she eagerly agreed and I admitted there was none, she finally dropped it.

This came on the heels of a comment made by a male friend about how he could help me meet my deadline and then launched into a vivid oral rendition of a scene that involved a guy's hand down a woman's blouse, etc... The people standing around in ear shot all laughed. He looked stunned when I mentioned the bruised and broken condition of my h/h and the two murdering thugs out to get them.

These people were both nice people with good careers and better than average educations and yet their view of the most popular genre in the country is mired in decades old prejudice. How would they have liked me making fun of their careers in front of others? Why did they think it was appropriate to make fun of mine?

Mostly when I say I'm a writer and I work for Harlequin I get positive reactions and I won't take those for granted anymore. So, I'm curious. When's the last time (if ever) you ran up against someone knowing all about what you write without ever having read a single word? How do you handle it?

I Heart Facebook

Current Project: Untitled RS
Status: It's summer. What do you think?

I've been on Facebook for six months. Elisabeth dragged me in, just as she's done to many of you. I admit I started as a friend whore. I went through her list of friends and requested friendship from the many names I recognized there. And a lot of names I didn't. Writers often put their cover as their profile picture, so I friended all those book covers, too. That's why I was there, right? To meet other writers.

As the friends accrued, I whored their lists and smiled at how many friends in common all these writing people had. I put up pics from Nationals and made them available for all to see. I put up pics of my family and limited their views to real friends, meaning people I actually know.

I utilized the chat feature. First chatting with old friends from high school, then tentatively chatting with people who posted on my wall. Surprisingly the biggest draw was the post I wrote about the hamster. I was debating whether or not to get my oldest a hamster, and it drew a lot of comments and opinions. This led to a casual friendship with another writer. Turned out she was my age, unpubbed, had three kids, her husband was a dentist, and our political views matched. Lots in common. Now she's my roommate for Thrillerfest and part of the time at Nationals.

I've friended a forensic pathologist who is an author, had many odd discussions with him from music to cats, and look forward to meeting him at T-fest. I've friended a British thriller author whose real name I'll repeat a million times in my head before I meet him, because I've thought of him by his pen name for so long. He owes me a drink in NY. Then there's the thriller author I chat with that lives in NY. He's going to show me the best pizza in the states. Not to leave out the women. Two are debut thriller authors that I look forward to meeting face to face.

There's a half dozen women friends that I hope to meet at RWA. I want that moment where you read someone's name badge then immediately look to their face, because you know them from Facebook.

Facebook has connected me with high school friends I haven't seen in 20 years and coworkers I'd lost touch with. I've had coffee with old girlfriends that I didn't know lived within miles of me. Yes, there are lots of people I've friended whom I've never heard from again, but there is a core group I interact with over and over.

Social networking site. I hate the term. Yes, if used correctly, you can reap rewards from FB. It has its drawbacks but the pluses far outweigh the negatives for me. I haven't tried Twitter. I haven't tried MySpace. From what I've heard they aren't right for me. Of course, I believed the same thing about FB.

Your opinion on social networking: Yay or Nay?