Life! Don't talk to me about life!

I love Douglas Adams' books!
This one has stayed with me for a long time. It's what my DH says a lot when he's just tired or doesn't want to go into details.
Sometimes I feel like that. At times in the recent Triskelion bankruptcy mess I've thought "I might as well just abandon those books" but there were twelve books, all of which I lived and wrote and loved, so I just couldn't.
Now, thanks to Siren Publishing, those books are free. Some of them I got back in June from a release letter but the owner of Triskelion asked me to leave the others to "tide them over a bad time" after Gail Northman left. I did.
So what has the whole experience taught me?
That there are a few people who can't see further than their own houses and their own concerns, that all their insistence of fair play and transparent dealing were about as fair and transparent as loaded dice. That there are other people who are truly honest and open. And that I find it very hard to see the difference.
Will that make me behave any differently? No. I won't assume that everybody I meet in the publishing business is after Number One and nobody else, or that they're out to fool me. That way lies madness and a way of life I really don't want to contemplate. I'll consider to write the best books I can and to offer them to publishers I think I can work with. I won't hold anything back, and I won't say anything I don't mean. If they want to trick me and fool me, that's their problem, not mine.
I write because I love it. There is no way I could write anything I didn't enjoy doing because of all the work involved. When I find someone who feels the same, or someone who feels they can work with me to present the work as a saleable commodity, I'll work as hard as I can to make it a goer. If they don't, I'm still going to write.
Oh yes, and that good can come out of bad. My reputation as a writer increased, I met some people I respect and like very much, and I'm in a different place now than I was when I went into the Triskelion venture.
So thanks for all the fish (another Adams quote!) but I ain't ready to go just yet.

Finished!

I finished Moonfire over the weekend, helped by a wonderful beta reader and friend. She saw straight to my problem, whereas I'd been reading it over and over again and knowing there was something not right and not knowing what it was.
Frustrating.
Beta readers are wonderful, they go through the book and immediately say - hey, you didn't explain why... or you forgot this bit....
So it's off to my editor now and on with the next book!

Finished!

I finished Moonfire over the weekend, helped by a wonderful beta reader and friend. She saw straight to my problem, whereas I'd been reading it over and over again and knowing there was something not right and not knowing what it was.
Frustrating.
Beta readers are wonderful, they go through the book and immediately say - hey, you didn't explain why... or you forgot this bit....
So it's off to my editor now and on with the next book!

Monday again

I rather like Mondays.
I know I'm a bit unusual in this, but weekends are my busy time, when the family's at home and the house is full of this and that. Nice, but it's lovely to get to the peace and quiet of Monday.
Just me and my laptop, and you.

Books out now

A Chance To Dream

A love too strong to disguise, a disgrace too deep to ignore.
The second book in the Triple Countess series.

Orlando Garland, Lord Blyth, has spent a lifetime restoring the family fortunes but now it’s time for him to think of himself for a change. When he hires a dowdy companion for his invalid sister, it doesn’t take him long to suspect “Charlotte” is more than she appears. Yet the lively young woman proves to be good for his sister. And Orlando can’t ignore the seductive beauty behind the disguise.

Violetta Palagio’s mask has never chafed before—until now. She longs for the freedom to love the handsome Orlando. Yet to reveal herself would be disastrou for them both. She is La Perla Perfetta, the daughter of London’s most successful courtesan. For most of her life, her mother has cleverly kept Violetta’s identity a secret. Will she risk all that, now the threat that kept them in disguise for so long is finally gone?

For the first time in her life, Violetta is in love. Can she find the courage to come out from behind the mask?

And if she does, will Orlando chance everything he has worked so hard to rebuild—for a courtesan’s daughter?

A love too strong to disguise, a disgrace too deep to ignore.
A Chance To Dream - the second Triple Countess book
ISBN: 1-59998-683-3
http://a-chance-to-dream.notlong.com

Do you have to read the Department 57 series in order?

Recently someone asked me if they needed to read the Department 57 series in order. The brief answer is "No."

I designed it as a hub series. That means the background is the same, but each book is about a different couple, and I try to keep it as separate as I can so the books can be read in any order. Except for "Rubies of Fire" and "Diamonds of Ice," that is, because a situation set up in "Rubies" isn't resolved until "Diamonds."

Basically, Dept 57 is a covert organisation, set up as part of the CIA (and the DHS) in the USA, MI5 and MI6 in the UK, and Interpol. It's named after its headquarters in New York, on 57th Street, as in my research I discovered that the more covert and secret the department is, the more likely it is to have a bland name!

The members are Talents, that is, paranormal beings, shape-shifters, vampires, Sorcerers etc, and they work both for their country and to preserve their secrecy and their existence. I've used the Darwin approach - we're all human, but some are a little bit different!

The operatives work against the Perfect Human Race (PHR), a terrorist organisation devoted to killing them all, and the Corporation, an organisation that wants to take their powers and use them for themselves. That's how come the DHS got involved, because the PHR is a fanatical organisation of terrorist cells which works worldwide.

So you can read them out of order if you want to, and that's been made almost inevitable now. There was a clause in my Triskelion contract that gave them the "next look" option, but there was a 60 day time limit, and as soon as that had passed after the submission of my last
manuscript for them, I withdrew it and offered it to Loose_ID. I was very lucky that happened before the court froze the contracts, otherwise the series would be in limbo.

I write two kinds of books for the D57 series - full length novels with a 'traditional' m/f romance, and hotter m/m/f menage books, but they're all romances. "Cats' Eyes" is a menage. And it's out now!
http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=592

I've sent the next full length novel in, and I'm waiting to see if they like it. You can never tell, it's different with every book!

I do feature secondary characters who get their own romances, and when I get the rights to all the books back, I'll do light rewrites to try to keep them in some kind of order, but I do try to keep them as standalone as I can. And not to include spoilers, if I can avoid it!

There's a page on my website about the Talents, what they can do, what they can't, that kind of thing, but I'm very anti-rules, so I try to make it as self explanatory as I can.

www.lynneconnolly.com/department57.htm

What's in a name?

Is it okay to call your historical hero a name like Blake, Brad or Burke?
Yes - and no. If the connotations most readers will apply to the name are not the ones you're looking for, you might want to think again. And if the name is deeply anachronistic, you definitely want to think again!
You can use most names, as long as you give a plausible explanation. I found that in the period I wrote in, the 1750's, the name "Richard" was out of favour (much as names come and go with fashion), so when I had a hero called Richard, I called his father Richard and made clear it was
a family name.

A Jared could have an Arabic relation, or like Jo Beverley did with the Mallorens, there was a real explanation for the weird names so that worked fine.

My latest series, the Triple Countess, has Miranda, Orlando and Perdita, because there were some Shakespeare fanatics about, but the final son is Corin, an Irish name, because his mother married an Irish peer.

Cats' Eyes is out!

It's out!
I am thrilled to bits to see Cats' Eyes at LooseId!
http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=592
And look at that pretty cover!
Cats' Eyes is about what happens when a sexy Norwegian shape-shifter meets two devastating Brazilian strippers. It's my first Dept 57 book from LooseID, and I am so excited!
I never lose the excitement of release day, and I don't think I ever will. Not that I want to, it's one of the best things about being an author.
Even better is someone mailing you hours after release to say she couldn't put it down!

Cats' Eyes

It's coming out early!
"Cats' Eyes," my first novella for Loose-Id is coming out on the 16th! We're working on the cover art now (and it's gorgeous!). I'm so excited!
The story of two Brazilian men and their lucky Norwegian girlfriend, who just happens to be an agent for Department 57. They meet when they're working on the same case - but from different angles - in New York's latest, hottest male strip club. Silje (pronounced Silya) is a wee bit inhibited, but the boys from Brazil see the latent passion within her and they want it for themselves!
I loved writing this book, and I'm keeping my fingers well and truly crossed for it!

Finished!

I finished the first draft of "Topaz Delirium." This has been a hard book to write. Not because I found it hard going, but because I wanted to get it right. It's set in a world I know well - the fashion industry - and I wanted to convey some of the feverish atmosphere and the sheer otherworldliness that infects the rag trade.
And it's my first full-length Department 57 book since the Trisk debacle. I want to send this one to Loose-Id, and see what they think.
One more read-through and it can go, with my heart in my mouth.

What do you want from a critique?

I think it's important to know what you want out of a crit group. I belong to 3, but on one of them we rarely crit these days. Still, I wouldn't miss it for the world. We're getting on with our careers, and a lot of what we do is to support each other.

Another is for erotic stories that go over the m/f not graphic rules set up at the large crit group I belong to. Hugely helpful. Most of us there are about the same level, and we pretty much know what we're looking for when we ask for crits (eg does it flow, have I got the pov right, etc) And the other is a big general group. A very good list, but there are writers at all levels there.

I have found that if I crit a newbie and I'm less than kind, I'm resented, as if it's my fault the work sucks. And when the writer finds a publisher (you can pretty much get a publisher these days if you can string a couple of words together) I get the 'nyah' response. So I'm careful who I crit there. Because I crit to publishable standards, ie something that might have a chance with one of the bigger epublishers or New York.

So decide what you want. And it's not a bad idea to ask for what you want, the areas you find troublesome or you need help with. I think the top of every sub should have the genre, the length of the book (ie novel, novella, category, not a specific word length) and perhaps the areas the writer wants critted. And if she wants to submit to a big house, or is happy to start with smaller pubs (as I did, btw. Nothing wrong in learning the ropes that way as long as you don't then think you're God's gift to publishing!)

For a very long time I was happy to write for me and a few friends, it was my hobby and my way of relaxing. Now it's very different, with a new kind of emphasis. I'm asking people to fork out their hard-earned for one of my books, so I can no longer afford indulgences I used to enjoy (like long, lingering descriptions of scenery and the like).

I just got my edits for my first release with Ellora's Cave. I'm telling you if you can't stand the relatively gentle heat of the crit group, you aren't going to last five minutes in the wider world of publishing! This book is sliced and diced and it makes me so happy to have an editor who will take the time to go through it in minute detail to help me make a better book!

Powered by ScribeFire

Promotion

I've been at it for a few years now, and while there are advantages in that, you have to keep it up. Catching up with the latest thing, whether it's Facebook, Bebo or Youtube, finding out where people are and what they're doing.
Anything except write. I've had to sit down and make the latest book work, but I'm happy with it now.
We tend to forget the writing sometimes, but you know what? The most important thing about promotion is the book. If you don't write the next one, if you don't make it as good or better than the last one, no amount of promotion is going to sell that thing.
And starting with a new publisher? It's like starting all over again. But don't think I'm complaining, because that part is really exciting. I'm enjoying the experiences I'm getting at Samhain, Loose-ID and Ellora's Cave. I have 3 great editors with 3 different styles and requirements, all professional, all great people and they are pushing me hard.
So yes, it is a bit like juggling, but don't forget the basis of it all and do your 5,000 words a day, or whatever it is.
Or you'll never go as far as my friend Penny Jordan who has sold 84 million books worldwide, or so I heard today. 84 million.
Wow.

Powered by ScribeFire.

History, or fantasy?

Okay, so I'm ready to give up buying and reading historical romance.

Coming from me, that's like saying I'm giving up breathing. I love a good historical romance, but these days there are only a few authors I'll trust any more. And I won't buy a new author unless I can read a lengthy excerpt. After one more attempt to read a new book by a new author, that is it. I've just about had enough.

It's for self preservation, that's all. The number of historical errors is just increasing so much, that it's trampling on my history (because most historical romances are set in my country, the UK) and I need to save my blood pressure and my health. I feel insulted every time an author plays fast and loose with my history, calling dukes "my lord," letting an earl choose who is going to inherit his title, having people think in centimeters pre-1981. I've read them all.

I've just read another appalling hotchpotch and for now, that's my last one. I'm sticking to the writers I know get it more or less right, writers like Laura Kinsale, Jo Beverley, Mary Jo Putney and Liz Carlyle. Not only do they get the facts right, they get the feel right, they understand the era they write about and the way men and women felt and thought then. I read historical romance to be spirited away to another era, not to read about a woman with a modern American mindset jumping in and out of beds with all the carelessness of a woman who has a reliable contraceptive method at her beck and call.

I think historical novels should come with a history warning, from one to five, where one is "Which era is this supposed to be?" and five is "You can relax, I know what I'm doing."

And just to save some of you putting pen to paper, here are my answers (not necessarily the ones others would answer, because this is strictly my opinion) to the questions and comments that come up over and over again:

"We're writing novels, not history text books."
Any book that recites long lists of facts and figures while purporting to be a novel is bad. Any book, any genre. There's nothing wrong with making an effort to get the facts right that you do use.

"It's all about the romance."
Yes, it is. But people loved and lived differently then, and that's one of the reasons I adore a well-written historical romance. Put a romance in context, make a real effort to get the history right, and it can bring a book alive. Same with any other genre. Make your Sci Fi alien real, give him a real world, and he starts to get three dimensional.


"The readers don't pick it up, and they don't care, so why should we bother?"
Because some do, and by not getting it right, you're already limiting your readership by putting off readers like me, who like a well written, well researched romance.

You're insulting the intelligence of your readership. If you're all about the money, then go ahead and write the thing, but if you love writing and you really care about your readers, do them the courtesy of getting it right. Many readers, although they might not know the details, can sense when a story is off. I've seen a few on lists asking if such-and-such a detail is right, just to confirm a gut feeling they had.

"Editors don't pick it up, so why should we?"
Editors IMO should be able to, but they can't always do so. Not every editor knows her way around a historical like my editor does. And editors have to edit all genres, there are few specialists these days. They move around, are given different lines to edit. Besides, it's your book, not your editor's and your name is on the cover.

It's a matter of pride in what you do.

And no, I don't think I get it all right, all the time. But at least I try. I really think the lack of ability to trust a historical author has led to the current dearth in the historical romance, a slump we're only beginning to climb out of. And now the historical romance is hotter, we'll have more "Sex in the Regency" style stories.

Ugh.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Critiques

I critique hard, if the person is wanting publication, because she's going to meet that sooner or later. But I do try to encourage, to find the good points. There are some critiquers who take pleasure in smacking a writer down, making her feel small, but what good does that do?
If you're going for publication, then the publishers will see your book as a 'product' and all they want is to make profit on it. If you can buy into that mindset, you can cope, but if you see your book as a work of art that requires gentle care, you're in for a disappointment.
I've had bitter setbacks, and some harsh words, together with a folder full of rejections, from good to form "thanks but no thanks" letters. But I've also had some success and I now have books with Ellora's Cave, Samhain and Loose-ID, together with some Stuff going on in New York of which I dare not speak.
It hurts sometimes, and you have to look at the market from the publisher's point of view as well as the writer's, if you want to be successful.
And watch out for the sharks and scammers. There are so many would-be published writers that there are a lot of them about. Would-be's and scammers both.
If you're a writer who just does it for the joy of creation (and I was that kind of writer for most of my life) then criticism isn't helpful if it isn't productive. And you deserve support and help because you're doing it to enrich your life. But if you're going for publication, it can get very nasty out there, and that includes critiques. I've met some wonderful supportive people, and I've also met some that really don't care about anything except ripping you to shreds and aggrandising themselves.
You decide which is which and go with the more helpful ones. Do your best to ignore the others.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Red flags

Red flags
It depends if you're already with them, or you're looking at them for prospective publishers.
First rule - there is no such thing as a free lunch. Repeat to yourself ten times a day.
You get in fast? The editing might be poor, or the sales are low. You are treated like royalty? They're making money off you. You get a great advance? You have to keep up sales for subsequent books, or you're out.
You have to consider the risks, the checks, the payments, and remember - there is no such thing as a free lunch. One way or another, you will pay.
And you will get out of it, what you put into it.
You think SEP, Linda Howard or La Nora have it made? They worked their way up, through category romance, through building readership. I have a best-selling NY author as a friend. She works her socks off, even now. Maybe especially now. She started well, but she goes to conferences, book signings, she never, ever lets any aspect of her business slip, from writing to cover design, to conferences.
Balance the risks against the gains.
You never, ever get something for nothing. Hard work, luck and chance all have their parts to play, but you'd better be prepared for the hard work.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Publisher storms

It looks like two more publishers, Mardi Gras and Silk's Vault, are going out of business, or are at least in trouble.
I feel horrible for all the people involved, especially because of my own recent experiences, but this does look to me like industry fallout. I don't know the details, but it seems as if there were some shennanigans going on with all this.
Companies do this, especially the smaller, newer publishing companies. From my experience there are pros and cons, just like there are in any investments, or businesses, and authors are investing something - months of work, which if they wished, they could price up at an hourly rate. Yes there is a monetary value you can put on unpublished manuscripts. They are a writer's product.

So here's the very basic Lynne's Guide to Getting an Epub:
Be sure of what you want. If it's fame and fortune, forget writing and take up pop music. The odds of success are probably better.
If you go to a small publisher, you are increasing your risk. Most are new startups, and they won't really know if they're winning until after the third year of trading, when US Government tax breaks end and they really have to stand on their own. So check how long the company has been in business.
Check the goods. Buy some books, read them and decide if you want to be in company with these people. Don't buy the books of any 'big name' authors with the company, buy the newcomers, the ones the company has chosen for itself. Look at the editing, as well as the quality of writing, the cover art as well as the genres. And check how easy and secure the shopping cart is.
Check the staff. If there are no company owners or members of staff anywhere on the site, do a little digging. Find out who's behind the company and look into their past history. Run a whois search on the domain, see who owns that. It's nice to see a company that goes outside the family to recruit editors and artists, good to see a mission statement that reflects reality.
Check with the authors. Here's where you contact authors who have books with more than one house. They have a basis of comparison. Write to them, ask them in confidence if they enjoy working for the company. If you never, ever, tell anyone what they said, they can be completely frank with you. Don't tell your friends, don't tell fellow authors anything but generalisations (ie "I heard bad things about these people" and if they ask, explain the information was told you in confidence).
Publishing is a small world. A really small world. Editors move around, change companies, know each other. Names are sometimes exchanged. Don't get yourself a bad rep, because you'll never work again, or at least, not under your real name.
We all know that writers, especially new writers, don't have much clout in the publishing world. So make a name for yourself. A good one. Have something to offer.
When you are offered a contract, read it through. Read it through again. If there's anything you don't like, talk to the editor about it. Most houses will listen, give you and answer and be prepared to negotiate. But be realistic. Just don't sign your life away, and don't ask for things they can't give you.
Be polite and professional. Behave as you would in any place of work.
Make sure the business correspondence you send out, anything you put out in the public sphere, is properly spelled and grammatically okay. Yes, even emails and blog and noticeboard comments. I just read a blog post in which an "author" was complaining about someone, but there were so many spelling and grammatical errors, you just ended up feeling sorry for the person she was complaining about.

There are advantages and disadvantages. If you send a book to a small company, you'll get it out faster. But you might have to find another publisher in a few months. And a small publisher has smaller sales.
A larger publisher will demand a higher standard of writing. It will take much longer to be accepted, and longer for your book to be published. Editing will be tough. Sales will be higher than with a smaller epublisher.

So make your decisions, and let's be careful out there.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Ouch!

So it's my birthday soon. And some friends come over to help me celebrate. I'm planning to count my drinks, because that way I don't get carried away.
Only because it's my birthday, some kind soul kept topping up my glass - when I wasn't looking. So by my count, I had 4 glasses of wine all night. But they were of the never-get-to-the-bottom kind.
Now I had a promotional event to attend today, so I really wanted to be up early and bouncy. Instead, I lay in bed moaning "my head hurts." How could that have happened on four glasses of wine?
I got up shamefully late, and only because if I hadn't my children would have starved to death, or so they claimed, and when I went outside to dump the kitchen trash, I see three empty wine bottles nestling coyly among the beer cans. Only two of us drank red wine last night.
Which explains why my head hurt so much.
Ouch.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Heyer and Me

Georgette Heyer was the first modern romance writer I read, and there's a lot to be said for starting at the top.
I really can't remember what the first book was, but once I'd started, I read as many as I could get my hands on. When I got to "Frederica," I thought I was in heaven. So funny and Alverstoke is one of the best heroes I've ever read.
Even today, umpteen books later, the suave, aristocratic but oh-so-human Marquis of Alverstoke has my heart. Heyer had a marvellous gift for the right words and the appropriate ones and her turn of phrase was concise and witty.
We rarely see that kind of wit these days, and to be truthful, we didn't then, either. When I started reading Heyer, she was a "trashy writer," something that was a direct result of the snobbishness of the literary establishment. It's only just started to relax. If you're popular, you can't possibly write anything of literary merit!
But I believe that Heyer did. True, she doesn't aspire to the truths you find in Jane Austen, the deep knowledge of human society and the way it behaves, but she wrote in a different age, with different aims. And her kind of light, witty banter was just what I needed.
And still do.

Powered by ScribeFire.

A break from writing?

I'm writing the new Department 57 book.
After recent events it is so nice to get back to writing. I thought I'd never get going again this side of Christmas, but starting with a new story is the best way to go. Right back in there.
I'm thinking about the new series, as well. Perhaps a writing break is a good idea, gets the juices going again.
Weather is lovely here, we seem to be having a late summer. Just as well, as it's rained all summer so far and it might give the flood waters a chance to recede a bit.

Powered by ScribeFire.