BOOK COVER FRIDAY: WOUNDED PROTECTORS: IMMORTALS IN NEW YORK2 by Mimi Logsdon

 
WELCOME TO BOOK COVER FRIDAYS!

Every week we bring you an exciting hot book cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors. Enjoy!

 

WOUNDED PROTECTORS

Immortals in New York 2

by Mimi Logsdon

 

 

 

QUALITIES OF A STAR

by Racheline Maltese

“If you want to be a star, you better behave like one.”



That’s the tagline for the film Velvet Goldmine. I’ve had a poster for it hang­ing over my desk since I got into the Screen Actors Guild a decade ago. In the context of the film, it’s a cautionary tale about being a diva and getting in over your head; in the context of my life, it’s been about ambition and learning how to succeed.

Wanting to tell stories for a living can often feel impossible, but the things I’ve learnt about celebrity and success from watching movies, and being in them, are the same things that have helped me succeed as a writer.

So how do stars behave?

First, they work hard. While stars don’t always need to be the first on set and the last to leave, they often choose to be. This leadership extends to the “hurry up and wait” that often transpires between takes, with many actors never choosing to take a seat, knowing their energy and enthusiasm can help the rest of the cast and crew sur­vive what are commonly fourteen hour days.

Next, stars always say thank you. Not just for praise, but for criticism, analysis, hard work, and the time invest­ment of others.

Third, stars offer others a hand up whenever they can, knowing that their praise, clout, mentorship, and kind words can help others persevere towards success in a challenging industry.

What does a writer’s version of star behavior look like?

First, put in the hours. Get up early or go to sleep late. Write on your lunch break. When the words aren’t com­ing, scribble down notes about why you’re stuck. Remember the work isn’t just the words, but also polishing them, providing manuscripts that are as clean as possible to first readers, editors, and publishers. Marketing, too, presents an opportunity to lead with the knowledge that a writer’s work is never done and never truly done alone.

Second, always say thank you. Your friends and first readers may love your work, but they are also being exposed to your raw ideas. Be grateful for enthusiasm and criticism that helps you refine your story. Thank the publisher who reminds you of deadlines and the editor who saves you from your bad habits regarding commas. And, while sometimes it’s hard, try to have gratitude for everyone who takes time to read your books even if they don’t offer you a contract or a five-star review.

Finally, be interested in writers around you. Offer encouragement, advice, and time when you can. Remember all the days a kind word helped you to keep going. It’s often also a boon to personal confidence to know you can help others succeed as opposed to fearing them as the competition. You can help cement your own success by sharing it with others.

While wild success often comes from a combination of luck and hard work, you can always behave like a star.

Even if you’re not one. Yet.♥

 

 

 

Racheline’s first novel (co-written with Erin McRae), STARLING, is an M/M romance set in Hollywood. It will be published by Torquere Press on September 10, 2014.

 

 

RAINBOW ROMANCE: NOT WHAT YOU MIGHT THINK

by Kate McMurray

My first two columns were somewhat effusive in their enthusiasm for all the great strides writers and publishers of LGBT romance have made. I do think it’s worth taking the time to celebrate our accomplishments, but there’s still work to be done, so I thought this month I’d talk about what more can be done to really bring LGBT romance to the mainstream.

First, I think we have to reframe the way we think about this industry.

You may have heard about the University of Missouri football player Michael Sam, who came out of the closet in early February. The reactions in the immedi­ate aftermath (i.e., when I’m writing this column) have been mixed between “yay, good for him!” and “the NFL is not ready for a gay player.” The latter argument goes that—despite the fact that this player has been out to his teammates since last summer—football players are a homophobic lot and putting a gay player in the locker room will cause the straight players to be uncomfortable, and maybe some­day in the future professional sports will be ready for gay players, just not right now. The coaches interviewed for articles all backpedal and go, “It’s not that I’m homophobic…” but there is an insidious homophobia to the assumption that NFL players can’t possibly cope with a gay player in what is arguably the butchest of sports. *manly grunts*

I think also underlying the assumption about professional sports being ready for gay players is an assumption that everything is as it always has been and so it ever shall be. But it’s not. Young people are more accepting than their parents. Marriage equality is becoming the law of the land across the US and the world. Gay athletes (and recently a Navy SEAL!) are tentatively starting to make the truth themselves known publicly.

Such is the case in publishing as well. I think sometimes that we all labor under the delusions that the publish­ing industry will keep on trucking the way it always has been, that the lack of success for LGBT fiction means it will never be successful, that conventional wisdom is true.

In order to make progress, we must challenge these old assumptions.

For the sake of keeping this column from being 84 pages long, I’ll pick one assumption. A hot-button issue is reviews in the trades. For romance writers, this primarily means reviews in the big magazines like Publisher’s Weekly, Library Journal, and RT. Those reviews are super important because they help booksellers and librar­ians determine what to put on their shelves. Very few LGBT romances are reviewed in the trades; that’s chang­ing slowly, but it’s still pretty rare. I can usually count on one hand the number of LGBT romances reviewed in any given issue of RT, for example, and even then, those are pretty much limited to m/m.

They’re homophobic! the conventional wisdom goes. We can’t send our books to those publications because they’re not ready for LGBT books! Sound familiar? It’s also not true.

The real issue is that almost all LGBT romance is still being put out digital-first. Even at the Big Five, LGBT romance is mostly relegated to the digital imprints. It’s progress, yes, but we’re not really there until there are two men clutching each other on the cover of a mass market paperback, you know?

One drawback of the digital-first model—with some exceptions—is that it operates on a compressed schedule. Books typically take about six months from contract to publication, in my experience, and cover and editorial changes are still being made in the weeks leading up to the pub date in some instances. But the trades, in order to commission reviews, edit those reviews, lay them out in the magazine, and get the magazine printed, need about four months lead time. Very few digital-first publishers can or will accommodate that need. Thus LGBT romance isn’t getting reviewed much in the trades because the publishers aren’t able to get them books in time to be reviewed.

This is changing. Some digital-first publishers are already working with schedules that allow them to send books to RT and the other trades. To me, this is an important step in getting more LGBT romance into brick-and-mortar spaces. But we’re living in an Amazon world, I hear you arguing. Who cares if the books are in print? Well, sales numbers indicate that print and e-books help sell each other. That, and we’re not living in an all-digital world (yet). There are still a lot of readers we’re not reaching by not making print books available. And buying a POD paperback from an online store is one thing, but it means your book can’t be discovered by library and bookstore browsers.

Don’t assume the old ways are still true, in other words. Talk to your publishers about your book’s schedule if you want a review in one of the trades. See what they’re already doing to get word about your book out there.

To be clear, I’m not expecting LGBT romance sales to rival Nora Roberts’. And, sure, there are plenty of conser­vative romance readers. I have an acquaintance who still won’t read my books because—no offense, she always says—but she’s pretty squicked out by gay sex. Lesbian romance has this problem as well; I can’t tell you how many blog posts I’ve seen that ponder why lesbian ro­mance isn’t catching on the same way gay male books are, only to get a dozen comments that are basically, “Two girls together are gross” or variations on the same. (That is a whole other side rant, but suffice it to say, I disagree, and also I think we just haven’t had a big breakout book yet, but it’s coming. And there is great lesbian romance avail­able already if you know where to look.) Some readers will never be interested in LGBT romance, and that’s fine. I’m not even trying to put a book in everyone’s hand. I just want to get books distributed through as many channels as possible so that all readers who want these books can have access to them.

I talked in my very first column about people at parties who tell me I’d make more money writing heterosexual romance. This just happened again last weekend when I was at a bar. “You’d be so much more successful if you wrote heterosexual characters,” a friend argued. Sure. And maybe Michael Sam would get less grief if he stayed in the closet. I don’t think I’m even doing anything nearly so subversive or risky as Michael Sam. I’m a (mostly) straight white lady who likes writing books where men fall in love with each other. Personally? I’m just trying to carve out a writing career for myself.

But I believe that these stories, even the less potentially-lucra­tive ones, deserve to be told, and that the writers who choose to write them should be able to make a career of it if they so choose. That means we still have some work to do to get our books into the marketplace.♥

 

 

 

Kate McMurray is an award-winning author of gay romance and an unabashed romance fan. When she’s not writing, she works as a nonfiction editor, dabbles in various crafts, and is maybe a tiny bit obsessed with baseball. She’s currently serving as President of Rainbow Romance Writers, the LGBT romance chapter of Romance Writers of America. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Visit her at www.katemcmurray.com.

 

 

BOOK COVER FRIDAY: SCRIBBLING WOMEN & THE REAL-LIFE ROMANCE HEROES WHO LOVE THEM, edited by Hope Tarr

 

WELCOME TO BOOK COVER FRIDAYS!

Every week we bring you an exciting hot book cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors.  Enjoy!

This week, the RWA/NYC Blog has been all about self-publishing.

Today's Book is self-published.
 

SCRIBBLING WOMEN & THE REAL-LIFE
ROMANCE HEROES WHO LOVE THEM
Hope Tarr, Editor

Contributing Writers
Patience Bloom, Katana Collins, Suzan Colon, Marcos De Jesus,
Leanna Renee Hieber, Kat Simons and Hope Tarr


NOTE:  This is a charity anthology by romance authors to support NYC’s Win (Women in Need).  For more information on the book, authors and charity, please visit www.hopetarr.com.

 

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE-ISH? TALKING ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING

 
This week, the RWA/NYC Blog is all about self-publishing.

Here is the last of three articles on the subject.

 

 

 

 

WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE-ISH?

TALKING ABOUT SELF-PUBLISHING

by K.M. Jackson

 

  

When it comes to self-publishing, you know what you know and what you don’t know you ask- I went into writing this piece with it titled “Self-publishing: What I know for sure. Well that quickly changed once I sat down to write it. I don’t know nearly as much as I’d like to know and even less of what I need to know. So the title got changed and my fist point was made. You need to study up and prepare if you’re going to try your hand at the self-publishing game because like traditional publishing it’s not a game. It’s serious business and must be approached that way. So it takes time and preparation and even then there will be stumbles and obstacles but luckily there are tons of resources out there to help you along the way. So like in school when you don’t know an answer, ask a question.

 

Your team is key. Unless you are a true jack of all trades then having your team in place is essential when you go into self-publishing. This is where it’s key to know your strengths and be brutally honest about them. You may be a fantastic editor but are you really good at editing yourself? I’d daresay most of us are not. So a good editor is key. Are you a computer wiz? Know the ins and outs or formatting? Have what it takes to put a profes­sional product up on the major e-tailers? Than great for you! If not than I say you need to think about finding someone who is and free up your mind and your time for what it is you are truly meant to do. What about the cover? We all know how hard it is to be discovered in the vast sea of e-covers nowadays so a professional cover may be just the thing to get you that look inside and on your way to a 1-click.

 

There is a right way to be published. Yeah, um. No, it’s not. The right way to be published is the right way for you. With hitting publish on BOUNCE I officially became a hybrid author. This gave me more excitement, and at the same time, more angst than I could imagine. Suddenly I had a product out there that I was fully responsible for and in charge of which was a wonderful thing. On the flip side… Suddenly I had a product out there that I was fully responsi­ble for and in charge of. Gulp. There would be no one after me with reminder emails and timelines. No marketing or promo that I did not initiate. It was all my deal. Back to the flip side of that. All the timelines were that of my own mak­ing. All the marketing (much of which I was doing myself anyway) would be my own deal. It is scary and freeing and very much empowering. But if you are not prepared to put in the time, work and take on the responsibility of all of that then you have to think about which path to publishing is the right one for you.

 

If you want to get rich self-publishing is the way to go.  Okay, so I was trying to write this subtitle with a straight face, but sorry, I couldn’t quite pull it off. No, no, just no. That old don’t quit your day job applies doubly over here in self-publishing. Mind you it’s easy to get sucked into the shiny media news that crops up just about every week about some new self-pubbed success story and yes, there are plenty that are indeed very successful. But I’m not going to be one to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes and say this is the guaranteed way to go.

 

Self-publishing may be just the thing for you… then again it just may not. Right now I’m a hybrid author, being both pub­lished by a publisher, Crimson Romance, and now self-published too. In the future I see myself trying both routes again. I’m a per­son that just can’t get my Nana’s voice out of her head and the old eggs in one basket thing is stuck but good. So self-pubbed over traditional? Which way to go? The fact is I don’t have the answer to that. And I don’t think all those folks out there spinning those yarns about this way or that way do either. What they really know is what worked for them and for the folks they are writing about. So that said you have to consider how you work, what you are looking for both professionally and financially, and go from there. I’m sorry, no easy answers this way. I think when it really gets down to it, the true power is in your hands as the artist to write the very best book then to go on and do that again and again and after that the power is in the hands of the readers as it always is.♥

 

 

 

A native New Yorker, Kwana spent her formative years on the ‘A’ train going from her home in Washington Heights to The Village where she attended Stuyvesant High School. On that long ride to study math and science, Kwana had two dreams: 1. to be a fash­ion designer and 2. to be a writer. After graduating from Stuyves­ant, Kwana studied fashion design at FIT. She then spent ten years designing for various fashion houses. But after having twins and juggling that and fashion, Kwana took the leap of faith and decided to pursue her other dream of being a writer. She currently lives in a suburb of New York with her husband, teen twins, and a precocious terrier named Jack that keeps her on her toes. To learn more, visit her at www.kwana.com.

  

SELF-PUBLISHING IS NOT FOR THE LAZY

 

This week, the RWA/NYC Blog is all about self-publishing.

Here is the second of three articles on the subject. 

Let us know what you think.

 

 

 

 

SELF-PUBLISHING IS NOT FOR THE LAZY

By Maria C. Ferrer

 

 

 

 

Writers Write.

 

Publishers do everything else, or at least they used to.

 

Today’s populace is seduced by the millions authors such as Sylvia Day have made on their self-published novels. But we must remember that those books were not mega sellers until they were bought by traditional publishing houses and distributed worldwide instead of just word of mouth.

Savvy authors doing their research know that the mad rush by editors to buy up self-published books is now grinding down to a halt. Unless a self-published author comes with at least 5000 followers, editors are wary. Don’t get me wrong, editors are buying self-published but they are looking hard at the author’s social numbers.

 

The big question for any author considering self-publishing is do you have the time, the cash, and the support system in place to get the job done well?

 

A self-published author has to be her own editor, designer, typesetter, proofreader, and printer. I am not going to mention marketer because all authors, whether published by traditional publishers or self published, have to do their own marketing.

 

So how many hats can you wear well?! Well being the operative word.

 

Of course, you can pay for others to do the editing, cover design, typesetting, et al. And, yes, there are small outfits that will help you self-published your book, even some agents are getting into the action, but the fees are hefty. Do you have enough money to pay someone else and will your investment be worth it?

 

Self published authors have to be prepared to do it all. You can’t be lazy.

 

If you publish with a traditional house, you have their expertise and all their connections immediately at your fingers tips. Self published authors may have to wait months, if not years, before making those kinds of con­tacts. But there are a few indie published author networks that are good sources of support and information.

 

However, none of that is going to help you if you are not writing. And, if you are not writing, there is noth­ing to sell to either a traditional publisher or to self publish.

 

My advice is for authors to be flexible. Research the market. Know your strengths. Manage your time. And, write, write, write.

 

Most experts will tell you that the best authors today are the hybrid authors – ones that are selling to tradi­tional houses and doing their own self publishing on the side. It’s all part of being a smart business person, and writing is a business. At the end of the day, you are the boss, whatever hat you want, but remember that your most important hat is that of writer.♥

 

 

Maria C. Ferrer has not self published anything, but she is considering it for a distant future. Right now she is concentrating on writing stories. Maria writes contemporary romance under her own name and you can visit her at www.marializaferrer.blogspot.com. She also writes erotica under the name of Del Carmen, who just sold a story – “Guilty Indulgence Book Club”—to Ravenous Romance for their MY KINKY VALENTINE anthology. Read an excerpt at www.mydelcarmen.com.

  

TO SELF-PUB, OR NOT TO SELF-PUB: THAT IS THE QUESTION

 

This week, the RWA/NYC Blog is all about self-publishing. 

Here is the first of three articles on the subject. 

Let us know what you think.  

 

TO SELF-PUB OR NOT TO SELF-PUB:  THAT IS THE QUESTION
by Logan Belle

There are pros and cons to self-publishing. Do the pros outweigh the cons, or vice versa?

This past October, after half writing half a dozen “traditionally” published novels, I self-published for the first time. For me, the two pros were simple and obvious: first, I could write the story I wanted, without an editor’s approv­al or the consensus of a committee. Second, I could control the cover art.

For this project, NOW OR NEVER, the most important thing in the “plus” column was the freedom of subject matter. In a cultural moment when the hot novels du jour feature twenty-something virgins with scarred pasts and even more scarred heroes, I wanted to write about a forty-something woman with an ordinary life and an ordinary past. Even her crisis is ordinary: I wanted her to have breast cancer. A relatable issue, but not exactly “romantic.” This might have been a hard-sell to the edi­tor of my New Adult novel or my soapy 1920s historical novel. But for me, myself, and I? It was a no-brainer.

The freedom of cover design was another joy. From my major publishers, I’ve had great covers and I’ve had lousy ones. Either way, I had little to no say in them. But with NOW OR NEVER, I worked with an artist/de­signer whose work I long admired, and I picked the image I wanted to set the tone for my book.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that everything that usually happened for “free” when I wrote a book: editing, copy editing, cover art– I now had to pay for. Instead of getting an advance, I was paying in advance of earning anything from the book.

And then there was the marketing. I did not have the book on NetGally. I did not have banner ads on Goodreads or Heroes & Heartbreakers or even a publisher’s own website. I did not have any “merchandizing” within the e-tailers. And let me tell you: These things matter.

The last I checked, most if not all of the romance bestsellers on the USA Today list had one of the Big Five pub­lishers behind them. Of course there are incredible indie success stories that are the exception to the rule. But for the most part, I look at self-publishing as a lottery ticket that only works as extra, bonus books on top of my traditionally published books. For most writers, and this includes myself, there isn’t a shortcut or easy way to build an audience. In my opinion, the best case scenario for any author is to find a good “home” where an editor and marketing team will be your partners in building a brand. This is as difficult to find as hitting self-publish­ing gold, but it is still my goal.♥

 

Logan Belle is the author of erotic, New Adult, and romance novels including the BLUE ANGEL TRILOGY (Kensington), MISS CHATTERLEY (Pocket Star), THE GIN LOVERS (St. Martin’s Press) and the upcoming novel RUIN ME (St. Martin’s Press). NOW OR NEVER and the sequel NOW AND FOREVER are her ebook originals. She blogs daily at Romance at Random, tweets @JamieLBrenner, and sometimes remembers to up­date www.loganbelle.com.
  
 

BOOK COVER FRIDAY: THE BAD BOY BILLIONAIRE'S WICKED ARRANGEMENT by Maya Rodale

WELCOME TO BOOK COVER FRIDAYS!

Every week we bring you an exciting hot book cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors. Enjoy!

 

 

The Bad Boy Billionaire's

WICKED ARRANGEMENT
by Maya Rodale

www.mayarodale.com

 

 

NAKED

by Catherine McNally

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to become the best writer you can be? In ad­dition to pouring your heart and soul into your story, there is an important step you can take to make sure you grab the attention of agents and editors – and it’s free!

No, I’m not suggesting you do a striptease to get their attention – it’s something else that requires just as much self-exposure. I’m referring to critique groups - some­times called ‘beta readers’ – who read your story before it’s finished and provide you with valuable feedback to make your story even better. Critique groups run the gamut from an informal collection of fellow writers and readers who read your chapters along the way while your story is still being written, to more structured groups who have strict deadlines for submissions from its members – there is no right or wrong way.

We all know it’s really hard to open ourselves up to criticism about something as personal as our written word, so it’s important that the author feels safe in the forum in which feedback is granted. No one enjoys being stripped naked and exposed to humiliation for being less than perfect – so there’s some rules we all need to fol­low.

The most important advice when establishing your own critique group is to select people who are fans of your genre and who are willing (and able) to provide constructive criticism. Some critique groups meet as a team and collectively share their feedback with the author in-person, while others provide written comments to the writer via email. While you may not like everything your critique group tells you - their advice will be very meaningful if you have chosen them well.

My favorite writing teacher has a golden rule about critique – her students provide feedback to each other that focuses on three specific aspects of the story that work well followed by three areas of im­provement. This technique of balancing the good with the bad is an empowering combination of positive reinforcement and constructive criticism.

So if you don’t already have your own posse, get out there and re­cruit fellow writers to read your work or join a critique group that’s already formed – and use their feedback to polish your work into the exquisite jewel it was meant to be!♥

 

 

 

Catherine McNally is an aspiring author of contemporary romance. An avid romance reader who’s now writ­ing her own stories, she joined Romance Writers of America in 2013 and found her way to RWA/NYC where her local chapter members inspire her to pursue her dream of becoming a published author.

ROSEMARY ROGERS INSPIRED ME TO WRITE ROMANCE

by Mimi Logsdon

What female author inspired you to write Romance?

When I first read this question I instantly thought of all the women of the world who would immediately name Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Virginia Wolff or Mary Anne Evans aka George Elliot as their inspirations.  Although I am an Austen devotee, she was not my inspiration.  The female author that inspired me to write romance is Rosemary Rogers.

Rogers is one of the innovators of the sexy romance novel, along with Kathleen Woodiwiss who released The Wolf and The Dove in 1972.  Rogers, as far as I’m concerned, invented the romance series in 1974 with her Legend of Morgan-Challenger Series.   My older sister handed me my first romance novel at the age of 15 and warned me not to let my parents catch me reading it.  To this day I have my copy of Wildest Heart on my bookshelf.  I was so taken by the romantic story that I swore I’d name my first born female child Rowena, after the heroine.  After that first book, I moved on to Sweet Savage Love and became addicted to romance novels.  Rogers led me to Victoria Holt and Kathleen E. Woodiwiss novels. 

 I remember reading one of Rogers’ novels riding the train home from school in Manhattan to the Bronx, and crying hysterically while reading a chapter where the hero was tied to a tree and beaten in front of a suffering heartbroken heroine.  It didn’t dawn on me that I was making a spectacle of myself until a woman tapped me and asked if I was alright.  Now when I look back on it, I was so overwhelmed by the story I wasn’t even embarrassed.  The same year I discovered her novels, I also experienced my first love and heartbreak which resulted in my need to write romance.  At the age of 15, I could never be as brazen as Judy Blume was with Forever, but because of Rosemary Rogers I was definitely inspired. 

What female literary figure do I admire most?

It’s too hard to choose just one.  At the risk of sounding like Dr. Seuss, I have two, one old and one new.  My number one female literary figure is Lady Rowena Dangerfield because she introduced me to, and fueled my love for the romance novel heroine, during a time when they were considered cheesy and irrelevant.  What I really love about Rowena is her headstrong, independence and her ability to travel faraway by herself to find a new life. I always believed there was a great big world, far from our apartment in the Kingsbridge section of The Bronx and I wanted to experience it.  She traveled from India to England to New Mexico, which sounded so exotic to me at the time.  I connected with Rowena because she dared to be different, to want a different life and to experience the wild unconventional side of life.  She also dared to love a half-bred rambling man.  She defied convention during a time when such behavior was shunned. I identified with that. In point, she wanted more than what a woman was allowed to want. That’s exactly what I wanted.  I love a heroine who marches to a completely different drum and has no regrets.

My second literary figure is Blue Bailey.  She was created in 1995 by RITA Award and Lifetime Award winner Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  I simply adore this literary figure.  She’s a tough as nails artist whose mom was too busy saving the world with her political activism to have raised Blue.  After being shuffled to relatives and friends, Blue grew up learning that the only person she could depend on is herself.  She develops an emotional shield because her heart has been broken way too many times.  But, a chance meeting with a famous quarterback while walking down a highway in a beaver suit not only tests her fears of abandonment, but opens her heart, tears down her walls and proves that you can find that one person that will never abandon you.  The badass chick in biker boots and black clothing learns how to wear pink.  Who couldn’t love a heroine named Blue Bailey?♥

Mimi Logsdon has been writing romance stories since her teens and loves the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Paranormal genres. She has worked in the media industry for over 25 years, and currently works at HBO, Inc. She lives in New York with her husband and pets. One of them, an eccentric cat named George she features in her current romance series, "Immortals In New York."

 

BOOK COVER FRIDAY: BRIDE AT FIRST SIGHT by Maggie Adams

  

Welcome to Book Cover Fridays!

Stop by every Friday and check out a new book cover from one of

New York's Leading Romance Authors. They are all gorgeous. Enjoy!

 

BRIDE AT FIRST SIGHT

Maggie Adams

Boroughs Publishing Group

 

Read all about Maggie by clicking here.

  

TAKING CARE OF THE AUTHOR

by Ursula Renée

 

I had initially planned to address the business side of writing and proper conduct for authors. However, after a marathon editing session during the weekend, I could barely see straight. Once I felt my eyes cross, I decided getting sleep was a better option.

My weekend of writing started at ten Saturday morning. After I fed the cats and ate a bowl of oatmeal, I locked myself in my office. Despite the cats scratching at the door and meowing to be let in, I worked until four in the afternoon, when my stomach said it would not tolerate being ignored for another minute.

After a quick lunch, I ousted the cats from my office, closed the door and returned to the edits. As I became engrossed with the story, I lost track of time. When I finally returned to reality, it was after three in the morning.

I emerged from the office with a nagging feeling that I had forgotten something. As I climbed into bed, I realized that I had forgotten to eat. By then, I was too comfortable to care.

At sunrise, the cats were not as understanding. They did not care that I was snug under the covers or that I had just crawled into bed three hours earlier. They wanted to be fed and were determined to get me out of bed.

When a rousing game of tag, in which they ran across the bed, did not work they decided walking across my body would help. When that failed, they resorted to jumping on my stomach, smacking me in the face with a tail and standing on my chest. Since I was just as determined to stay in bed, I simply rolled over and ignored them.

As anyone with a pet knows, animals can be just as demanding as children. Determined to get me up, my youngest finally resorted to a method that had yet to fail in getting me up. She dug two sets of claws through the blanket into my leg.

Once I had gotten out of bed to feed the cats and apply antiseptic to my leg, I decided I might as well get back to work. This led to another session in front of the computer that did not have me turning it off until one in the morning. The good news was I completed the edits and returned them to my editor. The bad news was, I had to get up to go to my day job in five hours.

Now, though I enjoy writing and also believe success will not come unless I work at it, I also realize that twelve hour plus sessions in front of the computer are not ideal. When building a career, whether it is writing, finance, acting, etc., it is important to care of one’s health. At times, it may seem impossible when there is a day job, family/pet commitments and other obligations demanding one’s attention. However there are steps that can be taken to remain healthy.

 

During the weekend, I should have stuck with the eating schedule I adhere to during the week. Instead of eating two large meals a day, I should have eaten smaller portions every three to four hours. Also, at least once an hour, I should have stood and stretch.

Besides eating right and exercising, I should have set a limit on my computer time. And, I should have tried to get between six and eight hours of sleep so I did not have to start my week off groggy.

Hard work is necessary when building a career. However, taking care of one’s health is just as important. Brains that are not fed or well rested do not write properly. It is also difficult for someone to enjoy success when she is rundown.♥



Ursula Renée is the President of RWA/NYC. She recently sold SWEET JAZZ, a historical romance, to The Wild Rose Press. When she is not writing, she enjoys photography, drawing and stone carving. Visit her at www.ursularenee.com.