~ By Angela Kay Austin

At what age did you decide (realize) you were meant to write?  It’s always been a part of me in one way or another.  When I finally made the decision to jump off that bridge and submit, I think I didn’t sleep for weeks waiting for responses.  When the rejections came, I just knew they were wrong…how could they not see my genius J

It took years, but finally, I did receive that wonderful wonderful yes!

Now, feeling like a “legit” author, I thought it’s logical attend a conference.  Participate and sign.  Attend lectures.  It’ll be no big deal.  Right?

What on earth was I thinking?

I freaking lost my mind at RomanticTimes!  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I think I lost weight…no time for eating or sleeping will do that to you.

I don’t know about past events: ratio of cover models to guests, aspiring writers vs. readers, etc.  But, what I do know is that I was able to walk up to people whose books I’ve read for years, and say hi.  Take pictures, and ask questions.  Nalini Singh will never know how amazing I felt when she walked into a Harlequin party and strolled over to me to say hi.  AMAZING!

Every lecture I attended made something explode in my brain.  I thought I was the only one to think or feel a certain way about something, but here I was surrounded by others who thought and felt the same way.  They battled the same problems.

I can’t wait for next year!

Jeanine Frost and me! Love me some Cat and Bones.

ReShonda Tate Billingsley, Brenda Jackson, and Kimberly Kaye Terry! Brenda Jackson was one of the first romance authors that inspired me to write. I wanted to do what she did!

Charlaine Harris’ accent was so adorable. Loved meeting her and sitting in on her panel.

Anne Rice! That’s all…Anne Rice!

Nalini Singh was incredibly friendly and personable! Loved meeting her.

Meeting these ladies was such a pleasure. They were so willing to share information about how they do what they do. Secrets of research and weaving it into your writing.

 I had an absolutely amazing time!  I hope that I’ll get to run into a few of you guys next year.  See you in Kansas City!

After twenty years of practicing marketing: writing copy, designing layouts, developing advertising campaigns, Angela realized each piece of the plans she put together eventually told a story. And, since she was a tween reading her mother’s Reader’s Digest, and every teen magazine she could find she’d dreamt of telling stories.

Her first book, Love’s Chance stayed on Red Rose Publishing’s Best Seller list for 10 weeks.  Her second release, My Son, is available from Red Rose Publishing.  And was a best seller at All Romance Ebooks.  New releases:  Sweet Victory and Scarlet’s Tears are available from Vanilla Heart Publishing.

Angela has written for the Ezine Rithm ‘n Blues.

~ By Melina Kantor 

Hello Chick Lit Fans!

Welcome to yet another Friday. Raise your hand if you really, really need this week to be over.

Here are a few items of interest to kick off what will hopefully be a fantastic weekend:

News: 

• As you’ve probably heard, there was no 2012 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, which has upset many, many people. What are your thoughts on the subject?

Blog Posts of Interest:

• Sarah Wendell of Smart Bitches Trashy Books attended the Romantic Times Convention, and wrote this post after sitting on the Contemporary Romance Panel.
• Author Sarah Pekkanen wrote this post for Writer Unboxed on what she’s learned about writing.

Just for Fun:

Announcements:

The winner of Rules of the Game by Sandy James is Alyssa Everett. We’ll be in touch soon!

~

Have a great weekend!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

~ Sandy James 

As a high school teacher, I often find myself picking up slang that’s thrown around by my students. (The first time I saw something I liked and said, “Sweet!” my husband laughed for a solid minute.) After the release of my first Carina Press book, I adopted one of my students’ terms—Hell Week. I’ve heard it used by band members the week before state championship competition. It’s used by drama kids the week before a school play. The week before Spring Break is always called Hell Week, and—trust a teacher on this—it lasts forever. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate term for the week of a book release.

Authors can’t assume their publishers will bear the weight of publicizing a newly released novel. Although I have to say that Carina Press has been fantastic about marketing Rules of the Game. It released on April 2nd. They had me prepare ahead of time by composing several Facebook and Twitter posts that included personal information and book quotes. Then they posted them throughout my release day. That helped create buzz about the new title. Carina also has a weekly newsletter and my book was the “featured release.” There are ads on the Carina homepage and on several review sites. They have definitely gone above and beyond what many publishers would do.

But don’t assume what’s being done by your publisher is enough. This is where an author can make a huge difference in getting the word out there. It’s also why I call it Hell Week. For the week of Rules of the Game’s release, I had to stay glued to the Internet. Now, some of that was necessary and some was simply my own baggage. I did need to stay close to answer posts on Twitter and Facebook, and if you’ve got a lot of followers on those sites, it’s a great way to interact with readers.

I’m also a bit obsessive about my books, so I was checking more than Facebook and Twitter. I compulsively checked Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Carina website to see if I had sales. (I strongly recommend you NOT do this. It’s truly creating your own misery.) I popped on and off Goodreads to answer posts and, of course, to check ratings. Having a book available to reviewers on NetGalley gave me one more thing to patrol—review sites. I had to find new write-ups about Rules of the Game.

I haven’t even mentioned blogs yet. Whether you have your own or are guesting, Hell Week is a super time to post. It brings attention to your release and helps you reach more readers. Yet another responsibility that seems to hit at the same time and takes your focus away from your writing. And you want to answer any comments left on those blogs.

Exhausting, isn’t it?

All this boils down to this—don’t plan on having time to do anything productive during Hell Week. I’m blessed to have signed a four-book contract with Carina for my new urban fantasy series, but that series made Hell Week even busier. When Rules of the Game released, I was in the middle of line edits for book one, writing book four, and trying to finish up developmental edits on book two—all of those on a deadline. That’s not a complaint. I love being busy, especially writing books that are sold. <g> I just want authors to recognize that when you’re trying to build a writing career, you’re going to have weeks where sleep will have to be one of your last priorities.

You will get out of Hell Week exactly what you put into it. I saw the benefits of the combined efforts—all Carina Press did and all I did—in sales. Rules of the Game was Carina’s #1 book for most of the week it was released. It rose fairly high on Amazon’s list as well. Invest the time in getting word out about your book.

All the work was worth it.

*Leave a comment to win a copy of any of Sandy’s e-books!*

Rules of the Game—on sale now!

Kathryn West has it all–she’s a confident, bestselling author living it up in New York City. Too bad she doesn’t actually exist, and is only timid Maddie Sawyer’s pseudonym. Determined to attend her high school reunion with a man right out of one of her racy romance novels, she plots to find a sexy bad boy who’s up to Kathryn’s standards.



She finds Mr. Perfect shooting pool in a biker bar. He’s a blue-collar hunk who just happens to look great in leather. But the mysterious Scott Brady has some rules of his own: he won’t agree to her deal unless she poses as his girlfriend in front of his family and friends first.

As the reunion nears, Maddie tries to maintain her carefree façade, knowing she’ll soon face some old ghosts. She’s torn between her growing attraction to Scott and the nagging feeling that he’s hiding something important. Will she still want him when she finds out his secret? What about when he discovers hers?

 * The Reluctant Amazon—Book 1 of The Amazon Sisterhood—coming September 3, 2012

Sandy James lives in a quiet suburb of Indianapolis with her husband of thirty years. She’s a high school social studies teacher who especially loves psychology and United States history. Since she and her husband own a small stable of harness racehorses, they often spend time together at the two Indiana racetracks.

Vist her on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.

Hello Chick Lit Fans,

Happy Friday!

This week, I thought I’d share a video from The Moth (“true stories told live”) with a real chick lit feel (not to mention cute firefighters). The story was told by Katherine Russell Rich, a writer who recently passed away.

So here it is, a treat for your muses, in Katherine’s honor:

We’ll be off next week for a bit of spring break. We’ll be back with brand new posts on Wednesday, 4/18.

Until then, happy reading and writing!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

~ By Robena Grant

I realized I was intimidated by what I imagined the ChickLit Writers blog to be when first invited to be a guest blogger. I visualized a younger set of writers who were into high fashion—and probably high heels—maybe even multi-published. Yikes! All things I am not. I reserve the high heels for those “going out to dinner” dates where I climb out of a car, walk a few steps, sit down, retrace my steps, and then go home and kick the killers off. Then I thought about the authors who I know personally. They might write about those things, fashion and shoes, but they’re stories have so much more depth.

Maybe, just maybe, you’d indulge an old lady in sandals.

Based on that epiphany, I chose to write about jump-starting the brain when writing a short article, like a blog post. Thanks so much for inviting me.

I’ve been interested in how one drives readers to their blog. There is an information overload on the internet; so many blogs to visit. Who really has the time for all that reading? And how does an author make their blog stand out? I’m new to blogging. When I get readers who comment I cherish them, and so I analyzed some of my more successful posts. What was the subject? What were the comments? Were they detailed and engaging, or fly by night comments? Had I given my readers a reason to return?

When I write a blog post, I think in terms of threes: an opening, middle, and end, and then three things I can repeat to drive home my message. I keep the post short. Six hundred words are my sweet spot.  I think in terms of entertaining my readers, but not trying to be funny. Seriously, my sense of humor is offbeat. I try to find a title that I hope is catchy, that will be easily picked up and pique the interest of readers on social media sites, RSS readers, and search engine results pages.  Then I make the opening sentence something that will draw the reader in further. (I hope.)

I ask myself a few creative questions about my post, like, what is the point?

Do I need a point, or can it just be fun? Do I need more research? Does it fit the tone and subject matter of the blog I’m writing for? Have I engaged my audience and invited them to participate?  There is so much to consider, but it should always be fun. Otherwise why do it, right? I write my blog posts in one free-flowing session, and then let them simmer before adding final touches. They’re worded to be read as “today’s post,” but in truth they could have been written weeks before, and several could have been waiting in the wings for a month. With WordPress I can choose the date and time of my post and it will be loaded automatically. I love that feature.

I am a writer, but for the most part I don’t write about writing. I write about life. How do I find my topics? They come from everywhere and from the strangest places: waiting in line at the bank, driving, going to the market, something I read about in a newspaper, or heard on TV. When I find questions that excite me, I know I have a topic to discuss. Then I have to delve deeper. By creating more levels to my articles, I hope they will become richer, more intriguing. And if I can, I include a photo, or some clip art. And I make sure that I post an announcement on my social media pages the day my blog goes live. I only blog once a week so as not to overwhelm my readers, so I have to give that gentle reminder. ; )

What about you? Do you have a successful blog? Any tips you’d like to share? Do you like to blog, or are you tapped out? Is blogging a thing of the past, or is it making a comeback?

Robena Grant is a member of RWA, LARA (the Los Angeles chapter), and the Palm Springs Writers Guild. She has finished three linked romantic suspense stories and the last story is a finalist in the Romantic Suspense category of the 2012 RWA® Golden Heart® contest. She has just completed a contemporary romance with a European flavor, and is working on one with a British flavor. And she never wears bunny slippers when she writes…her slippers are leopard print. www.robenagrant.com

~ By Melina Kantor 

Hi Everyone! I’m talking to you all from JFK. In a few minutes, I’ll be boarding a plane to San Francisco, where I’ll be for the next two and a half weeks (my mother lives in the Bay Area).

That’s right. I’ve got a vacation, and really, I better use some of my time to write. It’s been – well – more than a while since I last opened my WIP.

Getting back into the story I’m working on is going to take some serious effort. I could, for example, keep working on my soundtrack and collage, and find other ways to get my muses (otherwise known as the “Basement Divas“) on board.

Then again, this scenario could be helpful too:

But, in all seriousness, I would love to know what you do to get your muses talking. Let’s have a chat! What works for you? Music? Gardening? Travel?

Do leave a comment and let us know.

Have a great weekend!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.

~ By Elle Filz

Hello All!

Can you believe it? The Get Your Stiletto in the Door Contest is almost upon us.

Stay tuned for posts and interviews that highlight personal experiences with the contest, and general contest information.

In the meantime, click here for past Stiletto related posts, and here for more details. And no, you don’t have to be a member to enter.

“Doors” open April 1st, so start polishing those stilettos.

~ By Melina Kantor 

Hi Chick Lit Fans!

We’ve made it through the week.

Here are a few treats to get you ready for a reading / writing filled weekend:

News:

The Huffington Post is having a debate as to whether or not chick lit is a valid literary category. You can find more information here and here.

Inspiration:

Just for Fun:

Have a great weekend!

Melina writes contemporary women’s fiction with a pinch of oregano and a dash of chutzpah. She recently returned from a two month trip to Crete and Israel, where she visited  family and friends did her best to turn her travels into research and inspiration for her writing. You can visit her at http://melinakantor.com.