Serengeti Shifters, Book 3

Mara Leonard is through hitting the snooze button on her biological clock. The Three Rocks Pride schoolteacher is ready to get serious about starting a family, and she needs a serious man to make that happen.

Regrettably, that means crossing less-than-serious Michael Minor off her list of potential mates. Michael is impulsive and passionate, but his spontaneity leaks into shapeshifting whenever his emotions run high—a tendency he should have outgrown long ago. As a sex buddy, he’s delicious. Daddy material? Disqualified.

Michael is blindsided by Mara’s rejection. Nine years separate them, and his genetic malady means no one in the pride treats him as an adult. But if she thinks he’ll simply slink away to lick his wounds while she steps into the arms of another man, she has seriously underestimated him.

The tricky part will be convincing his over-analytical lover that he’s more than a disposable sex toy. That real bravery means tearing up her damn checklist and following her heart. And doing it without letting their explosive sexual chemistry expose the Pride’s secrets to the outside world.

My writing buddies have heard me talk about my multi-pronged assault and flanking maneuvers more often than is probably healthy for a girl who writes bubbly comedies, but at least I’m not the only one attacking writing with a militaristic mindset.  Former-green beret and best selling author Bob Mayer wrote a book called Warrior Writer and talks frequently about strategic and tactical goals in his posts at the Genreality blog.

I’m a big believer in strategic planning for writers.  We can’t just wait for the publishing career of our dreams to be handed to us on a silver platter.  We have to pursue our dreams with the determination and cunning, waging our campaign deliberately until we achieve victory (however we choose to define that victory).

I call my plan of attack the Multi-Pronged Assault. My weapons aren’t trebuchets and battering rams, but query letters and contest entries.

There are several avenues of attack for the aspiring author.  Contests, queries to agents, queries to editors, conferences, and writers’ organizations (both online and in person).  If your end goal is the Big New York Publisher, one avenue of attack may be writing for a digital press, a smaller print press or category romance.

Any one of those methods could be the way you get the right editor’s attention (and skyrocket you to fame and fortune, right?), but you can’t predict which one it’s going to be.  That’s why I’m a firm believer in keeping my eggs in a few different baskets (to mix metaphors).

None of us have the time or energy to do everything, but by playing to our strengths and diversifying our efforts, we give ourselves a better chance of success.  Here are my tips for making yourself a multi-pronged strategic assault plan.

1. Select a few contests a year that will benefit you the most (either with feedback, prestige, or final judges you’d like to get the attention of).  Contests can bring validation, and help you learn how to identify helpful comments and withstand the hurtful ones.  But don’t get sucked into only entering contests.  The time and money spent on entering every contest on the planet could be used to shoot out a few queries to agents or sign up for a conference.

2. Research & query agents who represent your subgenre and try to have at least two queries/proposals out at all times.  (The two queries thing is so when you get a rejection, you always have another iron in the fire to focus on, rather than the R.  If you’re feeling really ambitious, Kresley Cole had a “Rule of 25″ where she always had her writing out at least 25 ways – queries, contest entries, etc.)  If you aren’t sure where to start in the agent hunt, Shea wrote an invaluable post for us on the agent hunt.

3. Try to attend at least one conference a year – if you’re short on cash look for a smaller, regional conference in your area with lower conference fees and transportation costs.  The setting will be more intimate and you’ll be likely to get more one on one time with attending editors and agents. And sign up for a pitch if possible – they commonly result in requests and guarantee you face-time with an editor/agent if you’re too shy to seek them out in the bar.

4. Join a chapter and get involved. The connection with fellow writers can improve your writing, make the writing experience less solitary, and potentially open doors.  Through online writing loops, I hear about online opportunities for pitches & queries like Agent Shop.
If there isn’t an RWA chapter near you, you can still join Romance Divas, the RWA online chapter or one of many online special-interest chapters like Beau Monde (regency historical) or FF&P (Fantasy, futuristic & paranormal).  If you’re in danger of spending all your writing time networking, try scheduling a specific block of time for loops & chapter emails (and set a timer so you don’t get sucked in).

5.  Consider writing a short story or novella for an epublisher or one of the Harlequin “brief” or “bites” lines.  Quicker than writing a complete novel, this can be a great way of getting your foot in the door and learning some of the ropes of publishing.  And if you have big dreams for your full length masterpiece, you don’t have to feel like you gave up on your Big Book’s New York chances if you write something fresh for a quickie line.  Harlequin has them for Historical, Paranormal, & Erotic, and epublishers have even broader ranges.

You never know which method is going to find a vulnerability in the Fortress of Publishing’s defenses.  No one way is guaranteed to work for everyone and we can’t predict which avenue of attack is going to be the one that leads to your juicy contract. So fire everything.  And always having some of your soldiers (queries/contest entries) out fighting for you.

The siege on publishing can feel like a hundred-years-war, an endless campaign.  Morale is threatened by the strength of the walls, the seeming impossibility of our task.  But others before us have broken through and more are battling through every day.  It can be done, so don’t lose hope.

I’ll leave you with a little Sun Tzu:  “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” So plan your victory.  And then go get it.

What qualifies me to talk about this?  I’m certainly no expert, but in the last two years I’ve contracted seven ebooks with Samhain – five currently available, two more releasing in September & November.  I’ve worked with Laurie M. Rauch (current executive editor of Samhain) & Angela James (then executive editor of Samhain, now executive editor of Carina Press – Harlequin’s epress arm).  And I’ve kept my ears and eyes open, absorbing what I can about this changing publishing climate.

(These are my opinions.  Not the opinions of Samhain, the aforementioned editors, the entire epublishing community, or anyone else.)

I’m not advocating epublishing as the best path for everyone.  There are unique opportunities available in epublishing, just as there are with traditional houses.  I do not think one way of breaking into the business is necessarily better or worse than the other.  Just different.  With different pros and cons.

I’ll start us off by answering a few e-pub FAQs:

1) Will I be blacklisted from New York publishers if I sell to an epublisher?

Not likely.  Many best selling authors came out of epublishing, including Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Cheyenne McCray, MaryJanice Davidson, Sarah McCarthy, & Keri Arthur.  Still more authors write for both traditional “New York” publishers and continue to write for electronic presses (which I think is a good sign about the legitimacy of those presses).  Among them: Beth Kery, Shelli Stevens, Shiloh Walker, Lauren Dane, Maya Banks, Lorelie James (Edgar winner under the name Lori Armstrong), Elle Kennedy (RITA nominee), Beth Cornelison (RITA nominee) & HelenKay Dimon.

Making the transition from ebook author to traditional New York author may not be easy or instantaneous, but a reader base and proven track record in epublishing aren’t likely to count against you.

2) What is the no-advance royalty model?

Most epublishers do not pay an advance (or if they do, it is a small “token” advance).  This means the author is not guaranteed a minimum sum of money for the book.  However, the royalty percentages tend to be higher in the no-advance model.  At Samhain, I earn 30-40% of the list price of each ebook sold.  At a traditional press, that royalty percentage may be as low as 6-8%.

Without an advance, some people believe the publishers will not be invested in the author’s book enough to put their promotional dollars behind it.  However, it also means that there is less risk involved for the publisher so they are able to make decisions on whether or not they buy the next book in the series based on whether they love that book, not based on what your previous sell-through was or whether you earned out your advance.  They can gamble on authors whose writing might be too far outside the box for traditional presses.

Epresses can also give an author the opportunity to build their backlist so when they do break out big (whether as ebook or print authors), they have a body of work for readers to glom onto. But if your goal is to hit the New York Times best seller list with your first book or have your debut book sold in every grocery store, epresses probably aren’t the best route for you.

Another factor to keep in mind is that many epublishers pay royalties monthly rather than bi-annually.  Instead of receiving a lump sum in advance and then waiting months (or even years) to see whether you earned out your advance and can begin receiving additional royalties, ebook authors start seeing royalties as soon as a month after publication.  Money in a lump or money in a trickle has to do with cash flow more than actual earnings, but it is a consideration for some authors.

3) Can I make a living writing ebooks?

It depends.  Are you prolific?  Most successful ebook authors produce several books a year (though not all of them are full length – novellas sell well).  Do you write hot?  In my experience, the steamy novellas are the best sellers in the electronic market.  (Probably because no one has to be embarrassed by being caught with the sexy covers…)

What epublisher are you targeting? There is a wide variety in terms of earning potential. One valuable resource is Brenda Hiatt’s Show Me the Money site. This isn’t a comprehensive list of what all authors make at those houses (the information is voluntarily & anonymously provided by authors), but it does provide a frame of reference for what you might expect from various epublishers.  (To determine which are e-pubs, look for those with “digital” or “elec” royalty percentages listed.)

Something else to look at when you’re at Brenda Hiatt’s site is what the average first book advance & earn out for some of the print presses are.  (Good thing we aren’t in it as a get rich quick scheme.)

4) I’ve heard only erotic romance and erotica sell in ebooks.  Is that true?

Erotic romances do sell well in the electronic market, but as ereaders like the Kindle and Nook are becoming more mainstream, so too are the books bought by the average reader of ebooks. I believe niche markets will continue to do well, but ebooks sales have been growing in all genres – not just the super-hot.

Epublishers are often thought of as erotic-only and some are, but many publish a wide variety of heat levels.  When epublishing first took off, erotic romances weren’t available through the traditional presses, so readers flocked to the epress sites where they could find that niche market. New York didn’t have them & epubs supplied the demand.

For the same reason, m/m romances are very hot in the e-market today.

5) Will my ebook ever be available in print?

This depends on the publisher.  Many ebook publishers (Samhain included) are actually “digital first” publishers – meaning they release books as ebooks and follow with a print edition several months later.  Different publishers have different policies, but at Samhain all ebooks over 50,000 words will be available in print and some shorter novellas will be packaged together into anthologies for print release.  Most digital first publishers are very up front about their policies on their websites.

6) Will my print book be shelved in bookstores everywhere?

Probably not. I don’t know that any digital first publishers have solid print distribution for all their authors.  Some Samhain, Liquid Silver, Ellora’s Cave & Loose Id books are stocked in bookstores everywhere, but not 100% of titles.  (Though I know this is something my publisher is always working to improve for their authors.  Of my two print releases, one was not widely distributed and the other is currently on shelves.)

The books that aren’t stocked in stores are generally available for online order, but you will get fewer people just tripping across your book while browsing their local Borders.

7) Do e-publishers promote their authors?

Yes, but not on a large scale. E-pubs are small presses.  They don’t throw massive amounts of money behind their authors (don’t expect a book tour or an appearance on Regis & Kelly), but they do provide promotional opportunities.  They have blogs, newsletters & yahoo groups where fans congregate to learn about the latest releases and chat with authors.  E-pub authors do need to promote themselves, but so do most authors these days.

Samhain also does a Kindle freebie program where a different ebook is given away for free for two weeks to stir up interest in that author’s other titles.  For some authors, this program has been very beneficial. (This week, check out Charlene Teglia’s Undercover Lover for free.)

8 ) Is there a bias among the writing community against epublished authors?

Honestly?  Yeah, a little bit.  Though I’ve noticed a shift this year and the anti-ebook sentiment seems to be diminishing.  (Probably in direct proportion to the number of people buying Kindles & Nooks these days…)  But if it’s going to bother you to be the red-headed stepchild, you might want to wait another year or two before jumping into ebooks.

9) What is DRM & does it matter?

DRM is Digital Rights Management software.  It is an encryption placed on ebooks to prevent them from being transferred from one device to another – i.e. illegally shared.

Whether or not it is effective is a topic that is hotly contested at the moment.  The pro-DRM contingent see it as an additional hoop for pirates to jump through before they can illegally share an ebook (though few believe it actually prevents piracy) while the anti-DRM contingent are frustrated by the fact that the software frequently prevents legitimate paying customers from being able to effectively download and read DRM-protected ebooks.

Some publishers put DRM on their ebooks, but many do not.  (My publisher, Samhain, does not.)  I, personally, am of the “make ebooks user-friendly and we’ll have more paying customers” camp, so I don’t care for DRM.

DRM has nothing to do with copyright protection.  If you are with a reputable epub, you will have the legal copyright.

10) How do I find a good epublisher?

Research.  I’m sorry, but there’s just no substitute for it.  Go to their websites, check them out, and ask around.  Some things to look for:

Distribution – are that publisher’s books available at the Kindle Store & B&N online? what about fictionwise? are they easy to find/buy?
Cover art – would you buy a book by that cover?
Editing quality – buy a book and read it – is it riddled with typos?  would you be proud to have your book shelved alongside that one?
Length of contract – when can the rights for the work revert back to you?
Option clauses for additional books – will you be required to submit your next book in the same series/genre to that e-publisher? would that prohibit you from taking a contract with your dream publisher?

Okay, now the ball is in your court.  Which question did I miss?  What are you just dying to know about epubs?  (Or about anything – this is still Free-For-All Friday, after all.)

Each year the DM chairs select a new worthy charity to be the primary beneficiary of that year’s marathon.  The student participants not only raise money for those charities, but often become involved on a much more personal level.  It was through DM ‘99 that I first became aware of an organization called the Children’s Heart Foundation.  This Chicago-based charity funds research for congenital heart defect treatments and provides information for families with children struggling with serious heart conditions.  It amazed me how many of those families maintained a stalwart optimism in the face of such terrifying odds.  Odds they were determined to change with new medical research.

The memory of that hope, determination, and optimism has stuck with me for over a decade.

Last year, when I sat down to write The Sexorcist, as I was trying to get a handle on my heroine, I remembered the Children’s Heart Foundation.  What kind of woman would a girl who survived a serious congenital heart condition grow into?  How would that determined hope translate into her adult life?  Would the shadow of her former health issues continue to affect her even years after surgery had changed her life?  Or would she live life to the fullest, reveling in each new experience?

I had some insight into the possible answers to these questions through one of my dad’s sisters.  My aunt was born with a heart condition that prevented her from being able to perform many physical activities.  After her heart surgery, she became a runner, thriving on her new athleticism.  A new possibility had opened up to her and she made the most of it.

And that is exactly who my heroine became – the woman who savored every new opportunity because she knew better than most how valuable each second is.

When I hear authors talking about the books of their hearts, I know they mean the books they wrote simply for the love of them, sometimes in spite of their questionable market appeal.  They are the books you have to write, even if it will be a battle to get them into print.  The ones that really sing to you.

I’ve never really thought of myself as having a book of my heart.  There are too many book ideas whirling through my head for any one of them to get a complete lock on my heart.  No one idea ever seemed more brilliant or special to me than any other.  I figured I was too cynical to have a book of my heart, but maybe I was just looking at it the wrong way.  Perhaps The Sexorcist, this book with so much heart, is the book of mine.  I didn’t feel compelled to write The Sexorcist (by anything other than a deadline), but it does feel special to me.  And I hope readers feel the same way.

And so, in keeping with the heart-felt theme, to promote the release of The Sexorcist, I’m doing something a little different.  From now until July 31st, 2010, readers can help me support children’s heart health just by buying The Sexorcist.  Email me a copy of your receipt at heart@viviandrews.com, showing you purchased The Sexorcist and I’ll donate 10% of my royalties from that sale to the Children’s Heart Foundation.  If you’d like to learn more about the charity or donate directly, you can visit their website at:  www.childrensheartfoundation.org.

Also, if you love good books and good causes, don’t miss the Brenda Novak Auction all through the month of May.  You can bid on fabulous prizes to benefit Diabetes Research – including a Ruby Slippered-Sisterhood basket & my own Alaskan Experience Goodie Bag.

Do you have a book of your heart?  Have you ever found inspiration from a real life struggle or success story?  Do you have a favorite charity that tugs at your heart-strings?

Just a reminder:  Five more days to enter my ereader contest to win a shiny new Sony Pocket ereader of your very own!  Details at www.viviandrews.com/contest.html.  Good luck!

I thrive on variety – which is a polite way of saying I can’t commit to anything.  That definitely translates to my writing.  Contemporary or paranormal, light and playful or sensual and emotional – I like playing with the entire spectrum.  But readers want to know what they’re getting when they pick up a Vivi Andrews book, right?  So what do I tell them?

Your brand is there to help readers (and editors and agents) get a handle on you as a writer.  So what are you going to be known for?

I’m all about learning from the masters, so let’s look at the way three different best sellers handle author identity.  (I should state I’m not talking about loglines, but more about how you would introduce yourself at a conference if someone asked you what you wrote.  Or hopefully, how readers will tell one another about your books when word of mouth is causing them to sell like wildfire.)

The first option is finding the common ground in all your books.  Katie MacAlister has written contemporaries (like A Hard Day’s Knight), historicals (like The Trouble with Harry), lots of paranormals (among them the fabulous Dark Ones books) and now is even taking on steampunk (with Steamed).  But the one thing that is constant with all her forays into various genres is the light, breezy voice.  If I’m telling someone to run out and buy Katie Mac, I’ll talk about her humor and the fun, fresh feel of her writing.

But what if your writing doesn’t always have the same feel?  Stephanie Rowe is one of my favorite authors of paranormal romantic comedy, but her other genre is thrilling romantic suspense.  Talk about a complete departure.  I think this is the hardest one to handle.  You pretty much have to establish two author identities.  Both of your diverging styles may not appeal to all readers, but rebranding yourself in a new genre is less labor intensive than launching a new pen name.

…which is another option for the genre-jumper.  Best-selling contemporary romance author Jayne Ann Krentz also writes historicals as Amanda Quick and futuristic paranormals as Jayne Castle. She’s even found a clever way to motivate readers to follow her across genres with the Arcane Society – a thread that weaves through books from all three pen names. But the daunting thing about the multi-pen name option is the feeling of starting over, losing all the name recognition you’ve gained.

I’ve never been afraid to reinvent myself, so I figure I’ll someday end up with multiple pen names to accommodate my varied writing tastes.  I think you have to attack your writing career with a mix of determination and versatility – helpful ingredients for any author who wants a long career in this ever-changing business.

For many of us, our author identity evolves over time as we explore new genres & themes.  I don’t think how you handle your author brand is a question you need to answer right this instant – unless you’re sitting at a conference lunch with an editor on one side and an agent on another and they’re both asking you what you write.

I, myself, am preoccupied with multiple personality branding right now because April is a big month for me.  I have two releases – at two different ends of the paranormal romance spectrum.

The Shifting Dreams anthology releases in print today, including my sexy shape-shifter novella, Serengeti Heat.  And then later this month, The Sexorcist – a fluffy, humorous demon-filled romance – comes out as an ebook.  (And I’m having a party at my blog all this month to celebrate with dozens of guest authors and prizes – including a shiny new e-reader!)

Was simultaneously writing two paranormal series which may appeal to different audiences a smart career move?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

But even as we build our careers, we have to keep in mind that sometimes we have to write the books that make us happy.  Even if they don’t fit neatly into our brand. Because really, you never know which one is going to launch you to fame and fortune. 

So what’s your author brand?  When you introduce yourself as a writer, what do you say?

Karmic Consultants, Book 3

When a mischief demon threatens a wedding, who’s a Karmic Consultant gonna call? Brittany Hylton-VanDeere. Brittany’s never planned a wedding before, but how hard could averting demon-induced matrimonial disasters be? Her particular brand of cockeyed optimism has always carried her through—but this time there’s a complication. A tattooed, badass exorcist who’s tempting her to break the no-office-dating rule.

Luis Rodriguez isn’t sure what to make of bright-eyed, somewhat illogical Brittany, but he’ll take any job that gives him a break from exorcising demons for pampered, lusting housewives. Helping pull off a wedding is not exactly his idea of a break, but who knew that Brittany’s infectious enthusiasm would be so, so seductive?

As the demon keeps finding ways to throw Brittany and Rodriguez together, they find themselves sliding deeper into a forbidden romance. But distractions are something they can’t afford. The demon’s aggression is rising, and it plans to stop the wedding. Even if it means stopping Brittany…permanently.

My question for you today is about setting.  I’ve been thinking a lot about the Write What You Know adage lately and how it applies to where we set our stories.  You see, I’m from Alaska and I find it annoying in the extreme when writers get things wrong about my home state.  Which isn’t to say that writers should only set books in their own home towns, but if we don’t live in a locale (and in some cases have never visited) how can we be sure our depiction is authentic?  Do you keep your locations vague to avoid this pitfall?  The generic American town?  Or do you invest in research trips or connect with locals online to get the skinny?  (If anyone has questions about living in Alaska, I’m here all day…)

For our authors of a more paranormal bent, how does setting play into your worldbuilding?  Do you prefer the paranormal elements blended with real world locations or a complete departure from the everyday?  And to you brave historical souls, how do you manage the battle for authenticity in settings you can’t possibly have ever visited?

Okay, that was a lot more than one question, but you get the point.  Where do you draw the line between creative license and perfecting the nitty gritty details only a local would know?  What misconceptions of your hometown pop up in books you read?  Do they drive you nuts?

There can be a real power in the misunderstanding conflict.  The reader really wants the hero and heroine to get together and the misunderstanding conflict dangles that possibility tantalizingly close.  If only she knew!  If only he realized!

But the misunderstanding conflict can backfire on you.  Stretch it too long or botch the set-up and your reader will stop wanting your heroic couple to get together and start shouting at them to get their collective heads out of their collective… ahem.  Where was I?

Here are a few guidelines to writing a misunderstanding that won’t make your readers scream (in that not-so-good way).  We’ll call ‘em the Four Rs.

Reason for the misunderstanding:  You know that old adage about making assumptions?  Well, it’s just as bad when your characters make them.  Make sure your misunderstanding is justified.  If he’s going to mistake her for a prostitute, she better be standing on a street corner in fishnets and a patent leather skirt yelling, “Hey, baby!” at slow moving cars.

The reason is your foundation.  If you don’t have a strong one, your conflict will come crumbling down by chapter two.  Give your misunderstanding a strong enough foundation (enough evidence) that the character would not realistically question his initial assumption.  Sure, the reader knows he’s wrong and she’s an undercover cop on a sting operation, but he needs a very good reason to think he’s right.  Otherwise he’s just jumping to irrational conclusions and that isn’t exactly a sexy trait in Mr. Right.  If he thinks every librarian he sees in a short skirt is selling it, imagine how much fun that’s going to be for our heroine for the next fifty years.

Reason to perpetuate the misunderstanding:  As soon as you set up the misunderstanding conflict, the reader begins itching for it to be resolved.  You need a very good reason why the hero & heroine can’t just talk things over and live happily ever after in chapter three.  Why doesn’t he just come clean about his shady past?  Is he afraid of her reaction?  Does he believe she’ll turn him in?  Or maybe turn him out?  The reasons to perpetuate these conflicts are often tied to the internal conflict (trust issues are classic), but a good blackmailer can do the trick if you’re looking for an outside villain to blame.

A note of caution: Even with good reasons for the misunderstanding to continue, be careful of stretching it too far.  As the heroine gets to know (and love) the hero, it is only natural that she would begin to question her initial assumption about him.  If you want your misunderstanding to last, you need to keep feeding it new evidence to support that initial (wrong-headed) belief.  Just be careful you don’t back yourself into a corner where that pile of evidence can’t be explained away when it’s time to hash things out and reveal the misunderstanding for what it is.

Reaction when the misunderstanding is revealed:  You’ve set up your reasons and been careful not to stretch it too far.  You’re in the clear, right?  Next stop best seller list!  Not so fast, buddy.  A great misunderstanding can be all-too-easily botched in the resolution.  Let’s look at a hypothetical.

Say you’re two hundred pages into a book where a misunderstanding featured strongly in the conflict.  Perhaps she thinks he’s a penniless farmboy when really he’s a duke (which, let’s be honest, is much more common in romance novels than the converse).  He can’t tell her his real identity, of course, because he’s in hiding from all the women who want his sexy body and massive estate.  And then later, after he comes to love and trust her, he still can’t tell her because he’s discovered her brother was killed in a duel with another duke (perhaps our duke’s best friend?) and she hates all nobility with the fire of a thousand suns.

At last, we come to the moment of truth, his identity is revealed, the secret out, and she says…”Oh, lovely, I’ve always wanted to be a duchess.”

Noooooooo!  We need a “You bastard!” or at the very least a “How could you lie to me?”  The author has been building this up as a massive obstacle to their love for TWO HUNDRED PAGES.  If there are no consequences to unraveling the misunderstanding then the reasons for perpetuating it were just paranoia and doubt.  I feel cheated!  There really wasn’t any real conflict at all.  It was all fabricated in the character’s head (which only works if you are doing an intensely internal plot and can do it really, really well).

The reaction can be unexpected, (you may even argue that it should be)  but we need a reaction of some kind to validate the misunderstanding we just spent an entire book reading about.

Resolution of misunderstanding:  Don’t worry, we’re almost to the finish line.  There are just two elements you need to remember when tying up the loose ends and resolving your misunderstanding.  1) The best conflicts are overcome not swept aside and this goes for misunderstandings too.  The wave-the-magic-wand-and-everything-is-better ending is not nearly as emotionally satisfying as the I-know-you-lied-about-Big-Thing-X-but-I-still-love/need/believe-in-you ending.

And 2) Make sure you’ve explained away ALL the evidence.  There is nothing so troubling as realizing that yes, he explained that he wasn’t the killer and we believe him, but why was he covered in blood and running from the police when she saw him in chapter seven?  It is particularly useful to make the hero explain everything to the heroine, even if the reader already has an inkling of what really happened.  Nailing it all neatly down solidifies in the readers mind what really did happen (not just what she thought happened) and reassures us that the hero is finally being 100% honest with our girl.  In a plot built on lies and assumptions, that is a very necessary reassurance.

And that’s misunderstanding conflict.

It’s a powerful tool in a writer’s arsenal, but be warned, when mishandled, the Big Mis (as it is called by Smart Bitches) can easily become a point of ridicule.  Unless you’re writing a comedy, you don’t want readers calling your conflict patently ridiculous.  Is your conflict unjustified?  Does it go on too long?  Is it swept aside with a wave of your authorial hand?

As a look at what not to do (and an excuse for a laugh) check out the following video of “Jenny” by Flight of the Conchords.  Just a harmless little misunderstanding…

Do you have a favorite/classic misunderstanding you like to read or write?

Nine, for those who’ve never heard of the Broadway play or current film adaptation, is the story of Guido Contini, an Italian director of the Cinema Moderna period (think Fellini) who is struggling to put together his ninth film.  He was hailed as a genius (a maestro) for his early work, but his last few have been unanimously declared to be flops.  A jaw-dropping parade of women act as his inspiration as he wrestles with his latest attempt at immortality.

At one point in the film, Guido is talking with the costume designer (played by Judi Dench) who is his confessor, of sorts.  He bemoans the fact that he cannot figure out what exactly made his first films so brilliantly successful.  If only he knew why they all loved the first ones, then he would be able to replicate it again and again.  Dame Judi scolds him.  That way lies madness.  Don’t look back.  Always forward.  He must always start from scratch.  Art has to be new.

That moment really resonated with me.  I’m no maestro, but I can relate.  Whenever we have success with a manuscript – whether it’s Golden Heart recognition, publication, critical acclaim, or best-sellerdom – we are then inevitably faced with the task of doing it again.  The romance author cannot live by one book alone.  This is a career, and that means we need a sequel.  And another.

I know some of my fellow Rubies have sold in multiple book deals and are now dealing with producing the second and third books of their contracts.  Others are working on sequels for agents while still more are hoping to replicate their contest successes with a new manuscript this year.  Wherever we are in our careers, we all need that next book to be just as good (better, hopefully) than the one with which we first found success.

The hardest part, for me, is what Guido said – figuring out what was so great about Number One, so I can do it again the second time around.  I love all my stories, but why did that one sell, why did that one win the GH, and why did that one get great reviews?  What is the secret behind the success?

I remember when Desperate Housewives first came on the air.  I loved the first season, but now I just can’t watch it.  It’s gotten too ridiculous.  I think what made the show such a success during the first season was the fact that it was so easily relateable.  Everyone knew a Bree or a Lynette.  They were just like us.  Now, I don’t know who they are.  I think the creators of the show lost sight of what made them good.  I didn’t watch for the wildness of the secrets people were trying to hide, but rather the believability of the characters.  I stopped watching because the story stopped being real (or even remotely plausible) to me.

And we all know of authors (no naming names!) who have started off strong, only to struggle as their books turn into formulaic regurgitation.  None of us want to be that author.  We want to be the one who gets better with every book.  And the weight of that desire can sometimes be heavy as we sit down to write the follow-up.

Or, in my case, as we wait for the follow-up to release.  My second lion-shifter story releases as an ebook in two weeks and I’m on tenterhooks.  I don’t understand what made the first one in the series take off the way it did, and that makes me uneasy.  What if I pulled a Desperate Housewives and completely missed the mark of what made Serengeti Heat so popular?  What if Serengeti Storm is a flop?  What if Serengeti Heat was a fluke?  What if, what if, what if…

I’m nervous – there’s no getting around that – but I’m also going to listen to Dame Judi.  No looking back.  Only forward.  People will either like Serengeti Storm or they won’t.  I can’t write every story trying to replicate the one that worked before.  I have to start from scratch.  Make something fresh and new.  Write each one the best I can and don’t obsess about recapturing past success, or overcoming past failure.

That’s my New Year’s message.  Live in the now. Write to the future. Every book is a fresh start.

What about you?  Do you feel the weight of living up to contest finals and multi-book deals?  Or is every new book a new adventure, untainted by past failure or success?

The first contest final, the first conference, the first time I realized how much I still had to learn about writing.  There are a lot of firsts.  Today is a big one for me.

Today (drumroll please) is my first print release. 

Last February, my little story with the long title, The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo & the Poltergeist Accountant, released in ebook. The reviews were great. People loved it! They laughed, they sighed, and then they laughed some more. But it wasn’t tangible. On some level, that digital success didn’t seem real.

Now, my madcap ghost romance has been packaged into print in the Tickle My Fantasy anthology, along with stories by my fabulous co-conspirators Sela Carsen, MK Mancos & Misty Evans.  It’s a real, touchable book!  In real, brick and mortar bookstores!

I’m still waiting for someone to pinch me.  Since I live in the back of beyond and mail takes forever to get here, I don’t have my author copies yet, so I haven’t been able to touch one yet.  I don’t think it will be really real until I hold it for myself and run my fingers over the embossed black letters of my name.

That’s why today my master plan is to open Barnes & Noble.  I’ll be there at the crack of nine, camera in hand, ready to snap a shot of TMF on the shelves.  Here’s hoping it’ll be on the shelves.  I somehow doubt the B&N employees are quite as excited about this momentous day as I am, so it might be in a box in a back room waiting for someone to get around to unpacking it.

I’m trying to think of something else I can do today so I’ll never forget this moment.  Something odd or special or maybe even a little nuts.  Any suggestions?  What would you do to mark this moment so it lived in your memory forever?  (As if I would forget!)

If you’re published, do you have any release day rituals?  If you’re pre-published, what are your plans for the day when your book hits stores?  Have you daydreamed about that moment?  (I know I have.)