Writing Out of My Preferred Genre

So, I finished writing the detective story last Friday morning. I re-read it (countless times) edited, revised, re-wrote, and finally put The End on it. Actually, I wrote the end on it Wednesday, but I didn't like and tore it all apart on Thursday. Put it all back together on Friday. Called it done.

Don't get me wrong, I still have another round of edits (and probably ten more), but it's readable and I believe the story's tight. I also have to take a look at the structure. Some places it drags and don't you just hate that. But I have to say, after writing this book, I want to immediately start writing another one.

You know why, I'm having so much fun building these characters I don't want to stop. And I came to a major realization the other day.

I have absolutely no expectations of this story. 

I feel the same as I do when I finished THE LADY'S MASQUERADE. I had no idea what to expect, but I finished what I started. I wrote a detective story of 34K words. And I think it's pretty good.

I don't have a clue who my target audience is. I'm also having trouble with my keywords and BISAC category. Is it a thriller? Suspense? Murder? Police Procedural? Detective? Mystery?

I've been giving a lot of thought to options about this story, Should I query it? Should I submit it in a contest? Should I self-publish? Should I promote? Under which name should I publish? Should I get a new pen name? How much time do I want to invest in a "big" project? Is it worth it to continue writing in this genre, with these characters? (As well as the new Regency series = 2 big projects.)

Or do I not publish at all, put it in my drawer and hide it away.

I've given that some very serious consideration. Would you like to know why?

Because everything I write has been judged. People have expectations. Readers become fans if you do it right. Those fans have expectations of my writing.

If I publish under another pen name, who's going to know it's me? You won't if I don't tell you.

I can hear Anne R. Allen screaming at me from across the states. I don't need another pen name. I already have two. However, Anne, you said it yourself, unless you're writing in disparate genres, you don't need a pen name. And well, I am writing in three disparate genres now.

I'm too stupid to know I don't know what I'm doing. 

But here's the thing...I've been writing and publishing (formatting, marketing, editing, proofreading, revising, and watching the industry change and evolve) over the last six or seven years. I know EXACTLY what I'm doing. Kind of.

Whatever ideas I may have about publishing these stories, I won't know if they'll work, unless I try. Right?

If I do decide to publish any of the detective stories, it won't be for a long while yet. I'm enjoying the high from knowing I started and finished something. (I also painted my office in between the time I began and finished the story -- pics coming soon. June 1 - June 25. I think total writing days equaled 17.)


The only thing I do know for certain, is that I like the story. And I want to write more of them.

Stay tuned!

***

And yes, I changed the blog back to a more beachy feel. And also the name of it. SEO is what it is.

***

I hope you all have a safe and non-explosive 4th of July.

Anne Gallagher (c) 2015

Writing is Hard "Work"

Good Morning. I've been thinking about my five year plan. I touched on it with this post in January. The Year of the Popcorn Kittens. Writing the Regency series took a lot out of me, in more ways than I ever thought. During my last blog break between March and June my brain just shut down. I didn't want to write anymore. Seriously, I thought about giving it all up. Actually, I just wanted to sleep until I decided to get up again.

However, writing is my JOB. I am (for the most part) an historical romance novelist. That's what I do to make money. Yet, after pushing out so many Regencies, (7 novels and 6 novellas in 4 years) I just didn't want to write another word. But as self-published authors, we're taught to write, write, write. To get it out, publish, rinse and repeat.

not all the books are here

What I had forgotten during the last two years, and what my blog break showed me was how much FUN I used to have while writing.  I always have five or six different WiP sitting on my hard drive. (If one gives me fits, I just go to the next.)

However, the guilt I felt for wanting to abandon my chosen genre was eating at me like a cancer. How could I disappoint my readers if I didn't churn out another series when I said I would write it? Would I lose my fan base? I had found success by publishing every four months or so. Would they wait for the next book? (To make a success of a series, readers don't LIKE to wait. They want to read them all from beginning to end. Write, write, write, publish, publish, publish.)

However, what I found when I sat down to write the next series was that I had no new ideas. I have six heroines I have to find plots for, and I had already pretty much done them all. Mistaken identity, brutish hero, war hero, lies, spies and country bumpkins and long-suffering women who waited for their man to come up to snuff. I had nothing left. And I couldn't bear to do any more research. (The timeline for the new series is set 5 years before the last one. Different wars, different people, different politics.)

So I said f*ck it. Yes, I did. I had written 5 chapters for the new Regency series first book and I stopped.

And let me tell you what a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Writing this detective novel has been like a breath of fresh air. New characters, minimal research, contemporary language. I feel as if I've been reborn. (Could I have any more cliches in that paragraph?)

Like that rhyme we used to sing at the end of the school year -- No more teachers, no more books, no more bully's dirty looks. Well my rhyme is now -- No more Dukes, no more Viscounts, I can write whatever I feel like. Yes, I know it doesn't rhyme, but I never said I was a poet. lol

I'm writing for FUN again and it feels so good. I don't feel guilty. I don't feel like I'm driven to the brink of madness doing research. I don't feel as if I'm wasting my time writing other things when I should be "WORKING".

And this, my friends, is the most important lesson I learned --

No matter WHAT I write, that means I AM working. 

Tell me -- Do you write for fun? Or are you writing as a job? Do you ever feel guilty if you write out of your chosen genre?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2015

Why Can't I Stop Writing?

Good Morning. Last week I finally finished THE SEDUCTION OF MR. SUMMERVILLE. And I told you the ending sucked. And it did. Well, yesterday I had a brain fart and a whole new ending came tumbling out. Two pages worth, so I wrote it down, wrote The End and called it good. Which I think it was.

However, once I finished, I started to write the first few pages for another story in this series, which is SUPPOSED to be complete. Problem is, I need to write it from a totally different POV. See, I've had all these characters in my head for a long time. They're like my extended family. I know their quirks and their habits, and the way they speak.

And this character isn't new, he's just never made his presence known to me. He's like a ghostly apparition. I know he's there, he's always there, but I know absolutely nothing about him. Well, other than the fact he lost his missionary parents to influenza, he's 55, and he's a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. That's it.

And I don't really HAVE to write this story. The Series is finished. Everyone has their happily ever after. Well, except for one person. One VIP. or should I say one VIC (very important character). And that bothers the snot out of me. I mean, why should this VIC not have a happy ending?

I think, because I'm evil.

I think, because I don't really want to let go of this series.

I think, because I've lost my mind.

Anyway, I started writing this new story. I'm not very far in and I'm not crazy nuts trying to write it and finish it. I'm giving myself until the end of January for that. It's going to be short and sweet and to the point. I'm going to try and release it for Valentine's Day. I think that date is appropriate. Who doesn't love a love story on Valentine's day?

*****

In other news, SEDUCTION is available for pre-order, or will be soon, I only uploaded it this morning. It should be across the board by Thanksgiving.

I finalized my gift card orders for school this morning so I'm don't have to be insane this week worrying about it. That means I'll have more time to blog. FINALLY. I'm still having trouble commenting on certain blogs, and STILL trying to rectify that. If you don't see me, it's not because I don't read you, it's because I can't comment. And it's nothing on your end, it's on mine.

I did all my laundry over the weekend, so today marks the BIG CLEAN. Ugh. I mean, the really BIG CLEAN. Dusting and washing windows, as well as all the other regular cleaning. I would rather scrub a 100 toilets than dust.

******

Tell me -- Do you ever get the urge to write MORE when you don't really have to? Do you think EVERYONE needs to have a happy ever after? What is your least favorite household chore?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

Is Social Media Worth It?

Good Morning. Yes, this is another post about the dreaded question -- is social media worth our time and energy? Janice Hardy over on Fiction University had a guest last Thursday, Dario Ciriello, author, and owner of Panverse Press. His topic was social media presence for writers.

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2014/09/blessing-or-curse-modern-writers-dilemma.html#more

To paraphrase... (But you really should go read the article. And the comments.)

He said:
This core assumption is reinforced by agents, publishers, publicists, and other authors. Some agents won’t even take on a new client unless that writer has a Facebook following of at least 500 and a Twitter following in excess of 5,000. At minimum, you also need a website; but you should also blog, guest blog, and have a Pinterest page for your each of your books, right? 


He said:
"...there are two things—and just two—that will meet your readership’s core needs and leave you with far more time and energy to write: a website and an email list."

I agree. My website is my blog is my newsletter. I've been here nearly five years. People know where to find me. I stuck the email-this-blog-to-your-inbox-thingie on my sidebar. (I wish I knew how many people actually did it. I'm sure there's an analytics tab or something to find out.) However, if readers/fans want to know me better they can follow me if they want to. No pressure.

He said:
"Does your social media presence sell any books? What's the conversion rate, the ROI (Return on Investment), in terms of books sold? I'm not advocating others who enjoy social media abandon it...my point is simply that I believe that in terms of actual marketing and book sales, the ROI is at the very least hard to measure; frankly, I think it's minimal... As far as I can tell, there's zero empirical evidence that the time writers spend on social media brings returns in terms of book sales.

And do any of us put a $ value on our time ? We should. Because if, as I suspect, one gets one sale for every dozens of hours spent blogging or on social media.... well, at that point we might be better off advertising or hiring a publicist. :)

Which is why I like Twitter. I'm on, I'm off. Quick. When I see friends or colleagues on Twitter, it's like running into them at the coffee shop. Sometimes 420 characters is all you need. My biggest regret of late has been neglecting to comment on other blogs. 

Unfortunately, I think that's the cruelest trick of them all. We start out on social media, build a friendship, a base, and then once we get "famous/comfortable/an agent/contract/publisher" we abandon them. We don't have time for them because we're working hard on the next book and the next and the next. 

He said:

Say you spend just an hour a day (I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt) on Facebook, Twitter, your writing blog, etc. In a year that amounts to around 350 hours, which is the equivalent of ten thirty-five-hour weeks. And this doesn’t even address the effect that regularly fragmenting one’s time and attention has on the creative mind. 

If we want our work to be seen and read, we must hawk our own wares sometime. Who else is going to do it? I'm not advocating 35 hours a week, but at least 10. Quality, not quantity.

I Tweet in spurts. When I have time and the laptop, I'm more apt to make an appearance. Yes, I do Tweet about my latest book releases. But so what. Everybody else does too. Even those people who tell us not to do it. But how else are readers supposed to hear of it? (I don't think I'm obnoxious about it.) And besides, we can't all do commercials on TV like James Patterson.

I blog on Sunday (Anne Gallagher) and Monday (Piedmont Writer). I write my posts on Friday nights. I gather my topics during the course of the week and spend the late afternoon getting it all together. 

I'm on Goodreads, LinkedIn, and yes, I do have Pinterest boards for all my books. I like them. But I don't frequent the these places, and for the most part they're just static.

He said:
My issue with writers blogging, spending time on writer sites, and all the rest, is that other writers are typically not our audience. Yes, there are things to be learned, but I think the writer's business is to write. There must come a time when one has a good command of one's craft, understands the basics of markets, formatting, etc., etc., and really, how informed does a writer need to be? 

I also agree "...that other writers are typically not our audience."

However, here's my caveat. 

I spend most of my time alone. In a room, in the basement, with spiders. Sometimes I just need some contact with the "outside" world to reassure myself

a) I'm not alone.
b) I'm a writer. 
c) Somewhere in the world, someone else is doing the exact same thing I am. 

Which is why I'm in the basement in the first place. My family just doesn't understand my need for solitude.

I love my "job". I cannot imagine going back into the restaurant business. (Not at my age. Unless the pay was phenomenal.) Writing is what I have always wanted to do, and now I'm doing it. 

I've tried to not be social. I've gone into my cave and not come out for months. It didn't make a dent one way or another in my sales. So whether I'm on it or off it, it doesn't make a difference to the ROI.

However, in not being social I missed some things (blogs, articles, book releases, news) that I probably wanted to hear. I guess you have to trade one for the other. 

These days, I'm with Mr. Ciriello. Less is actually more. And if there's no ROI, then why bother wasting your time. However, it's a good idea to be seen occasionally. Besides, you might meet a new friend.

Tell me -- What do you do for social media? If you're published, do you think it has a Return on Investment? 

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

Dividing Love

Good Morning. I've been tackling a new project, part of the Regency series I've been writing for the last couple of years. However, with this book, I'm trying to introduce a new series that I WILL BE writing beginning next year.

I'm stuck. Not because I can't write. I have the words, the outline, and believe it or not, the time. I have just never encountered this particular dilemma in my real life so I have nothing to base my character on.

Let's call my character, Oprah. Oprah knows two very different men. Steadman and John. Oprah is in love with each of these men for different reasons. Here's the skinny and then I'll tell you my problem.

Steadman -- Oprah met Steadman when they were both twenty, two weeks before she was to marry Fitzhugh, an old man. She marries him because she has to. For her family. Steadman joins the Army. Oprah doesn't see him again for almost forty years, at a school reunion.When they meet, Fitzhugh is dead, Steadman is a decorated Colonel and Oprah is a billionaire. Steadman and
Oprah have a full-blown love fest for a year where everyone thinks by Christmas they'll be engaged, with a spring wedding. On Twelfth Night, when Steadman doesn't propose, Oprah gets all up in his face and storms out the door. (Steadman has amassed a small fortune from being in the Army, and also has about a billion dollar inheritance. Her family thinks he's a good catch.)

John -- So Oprah's family is related to some real gangster type people, and they put a hit out on another of Oprah's relatives, her dearest niece. So Oprah grabs the girl and flies cross country to Connecticut to hide

out on a farm. Near the ocean. Living in near seclusion, with only John, the houseman for company, Oprah and he form an attachment. And then to take it a step further, once the threat from the niece is removed, John moves back to Oprah's mansion, where they've been having a perfectly kept secret affair. (Because he's actually Black Ops and posing as the butler. Oprah entertains a lot of foreign dignitaries. John speaks fifteen languages. He's doing special time for the Foreign Office.)

However, here's the kicker -- Both Steadman and John have been called up for one last mission.

When John tells her he's going away, Oprah wants to get married. She tells him she'll go to the JP and get the licence. John says no. What would people think? He's just a butler, married to a billionaire. That's like Liz and Larry. No thanks, says John. She argues it's not like that. He doesn't want to hear it.

But John also told Oprah that Steadman is going on this same mission and she must apologize to Steadman for running away last year. What if she never sees him again? However, when she apologizes, Steadman tells her what a mistake he made for not giving her a ring, he understands what happened and why she went away, and all is forgiven. He asks her to marry him. She's so overwhelmed, she says yes.

My character is in love with two men. At the same time. And is having a dalliance with each of them. At the same time. Yes, she has a perfectly good reason for it. Perhaps even somewhat selfless (if I wrote that scene the right way), but let's call a spade a spade here. She's being a slut. And selfish. And cruel. And conceited. And all these things that women hate about other women, because those kind of women always get what they want, instead of what they deserve. You know.

Well, in this case, that isn't so. Oprah will get what she deserves and then some.

My problem is I can't find the dividing line between the love she feels for each of them. Her cousin, Constance says to her, "What are you going to do, just wait until one of them comes back? What if neither of them do? What if they both do? What are you going to do then?" Oprah says it doesn't matter if they both hate her when they return, only that they both come back alive.

Oprah loves each of them for totally different reasons. And wants to marry each of them for totally different reasons. (There's more to each backstory than I've alluded to here.) The way I've written it so far, Oprah never really reveals who she wants more. And that's where I'm stuck -- Will my readers want Oprah to choose one particular man, or will they suspend their disbelief that she can love two men equally?

Tell me --  Should I be looking for the dividing line? Can a person be in love with two people at the same time? What would you rather see as a reader -- a firm decision in love, or ambiguity until the story plays out?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2014

Under Pressure

Good morning. Let me just say how much I miss you all. I've tried getting around to the blogs every so often, but it's a hit or miss proposition. Trying to get the latest book wrapped up, starting on the new one, dealing with school... it's just been too much.

Pressure.

I know a lot of you are dealing with enormous pressure on an everyday basis -- kids, jobs, husbands, housework. It's enough to make you explode.

But then, on top of all that, you're writing, revising, submitting, querying, polishing, beta-reading, all for the sake of the thing inside your soul that if you gave it up you would die.

Now there are some bloggers out there who blog every day, with phenomenal content, who have thousands of followers, who get tweeted and retweeted, and are just the bomb. They also have kids and lives, and their own reality to deal with. I envy those people who can do it all.

I'm not one of those people. I can barely keep up with the blogs I read, never mind write a coherent post for one day. Then there is the pressure to Tweet, keep up with LinkedIn and Goodreads, keep up with the marketing and publicity for my books.

And now that I have so many books out, that pressure becomes ten-fold. The guru's say to get a lot of content out there, keep writing, keep producing, more more more. That's the only way to make a name for yourself. And on top of all that, market, publicize, get your name out there, keep it up, more more more.

It's hard. Damn hard. And let me tell you how many times I thought about chucking it all. Just giving up writing and going out and getting a "real" job. A LOT.

But I didn't, and I can't, because I love writing so much.

Tell me -- Do you feel the need to "keep up"? How do you handle the pressure? What do you give up first?

The Truth about Backstory

Good Morning. Now that things have settled down in my real world life (which they haven't, I'm just sparing you from the gory details of the melodrama that has plagued/is still plaguing me) I've gone back to working on THE CAPTAIN'S LADY. (Which is quite interesting as I went to label this post, I noticed I did not have anything about him so I guess I've never told you about him before. Hmmmm...)

Anyway, Captain Richard Gaines is my latest hero and Russell Crowe is my inspiration if you will. Richard was the Captain of a 74 gun Ship of the Line for the Royal Navy. After the Battle of Trafalgar, he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress and resigned his commission. I could go on and on about him but I won't. It's all backstory.

Here's the kicker. I have three chapters written. New chapters. I couldn't use anything from the first version of the book I wrote about 7 years ago. Way too much purple prose. Lots of naval gazing (pun intended) and far too much backstory. Far too much.

Now, one of the ladies at the school is a voracious reader and when she found out I was an author bought four of my books before I could say jack rabbit. Now because of that, I decided to send her all the others that she hadn't read. (The least I could do for such a fan. Money is nice, but it's not all about that for me.)

Once she finished all of them (in about a week -- I told you she was voracious) she begged me for something else. I told her I was working on Richard's story, but that it wouldn't be ready until around Thanksgiving (HA!) She told me to hurry up and write it.

Last Friday I decided to ask her if she would read the first three chapters for me. She said she'd be honored. (Make me blush.) And then she asked why. Why did I want her to read them? And I said, "To see if there's too much backstory up front. I need to know if the story is working, and if it compels you to move forward." And she said, "Backstory? What's that?"

So I explained to her what backstory was and she said, "Oh, that. I never knew what it was called. I just thought that's how writer's write. How they explain who the person is and why they do the things they do." Then she cocked her head and gave me a funny expression. "Why do you think there would be too much? Aren't we supposed to know what motivates the characters?"

Barring a long and boring conversation about the mechanics of writing, I just said, "Well, the writing rules imply that too much backstory in the beginning is no good for a book. It doesn't keep the reader interested."

And she said (are you ready for this) "Who gave you those rules? I read all the time, and I like to know who the character is and what he's going to do right from the get-go. If I get to chapter 10 and find some little thing that I should have known from the beginning, it throws me off. I like to know why the character is the way he is right from the start. That way I know if he's going to be able to handle what gets thrown at him in the middle and if he'll actually make it to the end."

Having read craft books for all these years, and listened to agents and editors, publishers and other writers alike, they all say the same thing -- Never start your novel with backstory, always seed it in. But here, in the school lobby in the middle of a Friday afternoon, I hear that a reader likes to know what's happened to the character right from the beginning. How hearing about the character's past leads her further into the story than finding out about it in the middle.

So what's a poor writer to do? Ignore the rules and info dump? Seed in the backstory? Yeah, I know, these questions can lead a writer to go absolutely nuts. Tear a novel apart seven ways to Sunday for one editor and then put it all back together for another. Keep us up at night, talk to ourselves in the grocery store, and have random conversations with strangers on a bus.

What I think, and what I've always done, is just to write the book the way I want to write it. I want to write what I want to read and if that means loading up page one with backstory, that's what I'm going to do. Those old writing rules don't apply that much anymore in this new publishing world. I'm self-published and don't have to listen to anyone but the readers. If they like my stories, then they're better judges of what I write than any agent or editor. If my books continue to sell then I guess I'm doing something right? Right?

(And yes, I do maintain most of the writing rules. At least I know them and when I break them, I know why.)

Tell me -- What's your position on backstory? Do you seed it in? Do you info dump at the beginning? Do you even care about the "writing rules" anymore?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Writing Regurgitation

Good Morning. I believe I'm back to the blogosphere; Monster's in school, I have a schedule once again. I hope everyone had a great summer. As you can see, I decided to retrofit my blog. I kept my lighthouse on the side, but I needed a change. So here it is.

Anyway, two things happened in my little world recently -- I came up on my second anniversary of having my first book published -- and I critiqued a fantastic book. Singularly, those two things have nothing in common, but put together I found something that really made me go hmmmm.

While critting the manuscript, I noticed the author used the same few phrases over and over again. We all do. It's a crutch when our brain is firing and we're writing 90 mph.

Which in turn made me think about the phrases I use in my own books. One of my favorites that I constantly use is "made her way to" as in the character walked somewhere. "Mary made her way to the front of the class." Yes, it's okay. I'm sure other authors do it all the time. But once my critter told me about it I stopped doing it. Went into all my manuscripts (published or not) took them out, and put in better action verbs.

One of the other things I found in critiquing that particular manuscript was the overuse of certain words. And I'm not talking "just" or "really" or "was", I'm talking words like "perambulated" and "absconded" and "slighted". And no, this isn't an historical work where those words would sound okay. This was a contemporary so they stood out to me.

In my view, using words like this once is okay. It's great as far as I'm concerned. They're words you don't usually see every day or use in your own vocabulary. But reading them 4, 6, 8 times within the same tome, they get a little redundant, and we don't want to lose the reader. Right?

Now there's always a debate raging somewhere on using 25 cent words when we write. Some authors do it to show off. Others do it because they have high IQ's and that's the way they normally speak. I sometimes use 25 cent words because I've recently found them and I like them and I want other people to know about them. For instance "insouciance". It means "carefree indifference". Now I didn't know that. But I liked that word. And I know I'm going to use it in my next book.

When I was reading Regency romances all those many years ago (bodice rippers as it were), there was one author who constantly used the word "peregrination" (wander about on foot). Her characters would peregrinate all over the place. At least once in every other chapter. And in ALL her books. It drove me nuts.

And yes, I have used that particular word. But only in one book. Okay maybe two. BUT, only two. And I never used it twice in the SAME book.

I don't know why I feel this way about certain words. I know I never learned a particular "rule" about not using BIG words more than once in a manuscript. I think it's because as a reader, I've learned things that drive me crazy and so I don't want to drive my own readers crazy.

Tell me -- Do you use the same words or phrases in your writing? Is it a first-draft crutch and then you go back and fix them? Or do you not see them until someone points them out to you? How about BIG words? Do you use them again and again? Or do you use them sparingly?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Complacency in Our Writing

Good morning. As you all know I've stopped writing for awhile. Last year's writing/publishing frenzy has left me blocked, which may or may not be a good thing. We'll see how it goes.

But, because I haven't been writing, my brain has been left to rattle around in my cranium with nothing to focus on, so it wanders to and fro in its own little world. Last week, I happened to find an old book I had lying around that I hadn't read. Mind you, it was published in 2009, so it wasn't that old, but still.

(Funny how it takes New York almost 18 months to publish something, and then in 6 months it's already in the Dollar Store.)

Anyway, as I read this book, my little brain kept urging me to throw it across the room. It was an historical romance, by a very famous New York published writer. And I had read almost everything she's ever written, so I was dismayed when I got to the end and realized I SHOULD have thrown it across the room. (It ended up in the yard sale.)

I wondered then, why on God's good green earth, would her agent, editor, publisher, BFF, and mother, allow her to publish something that was just so ... dare I say it .... bleh. Not to mention her own self.

I mean, really. Where is her pride? Her intergrity to stand behind her work?

Don't get me wrong, I've had reviewers harangue me for my plot lines and characters, and some of my word choices, but I stand behind everything I've ever written. I think what I write is special, it's not your same every-day-run-of-the-mill historical romance. I don't write sex, but I insert the historical facts as accurately as I can get them and I think that makes up for the lack of voyeurism.

I make sure I trim my adjectives, keep my plot moving forward, don't keep repeating the same things every 5 pages. Readers, I have come to find, aren't stupid. They wouldn't read if they couldn't follow the plot. But jeez, this New York writer broke every single "bad" writing rule in the proverbial book by my standards. What's up with that?

When did these New York pubbed romance writers get so complacent? Is it because they know whatever they write will hit the best seller list? Or is it because their publisher doesn't care what they come up with and they know they'll sell 200,000 copies in those 6 months anyway?

However, one thing, I do know, I will not be complacent. I will always strive to have the best plot, characters, and story-line out there. I really don't want people throwing my book across the room.

Tell me -- Are you afraid of being complacent? What do you do to combat that? How do you define complacency in writing?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Writing Detox

Good Morning. Last Monday I touched on what we Should and Should Not do as writer/authors. Of course, that list is free to interpret any way you wish. I just wish "they" would stop hammering it down our throats. Perhaps if they made them "suggestions" it might be a little easier to swallow.

Anyhow, for the last couple of years, everyone has agreed on this one essential issue where writing is concerned. Something that we all SHOULD do. Write the next book.

I can remember being in query hell, and the resounding response to my "What do I do while I wait for responses to come back?" was write the next book. You need another in the coffer if the agent makes a request. And if not, you'll have another to query when you give up the first one. Write the next book.

Putting a book up on Amazon and debating whether to promote or not, and the resounding response was write the next book. This is a long tail enterprise, and the more books you have out, more readers will find you. Promotion can wait until book four or five. And besides, blog tours don't work. Neither does a Twitter campaign. Just write the next book.

Trying to play the Amazon game, and the resounding response was write the next book. Don't worry about getting reviews, bad reviews, no reviews, whether KDP Select "free" works or not. It's a game, and the only rule is to get the next book out there. The more you have, the better off you'll be. Write the next book.

Okay, so here I sit, after 18 months, with 4 novels and 4 novellas (published) under my belt, with another novel ready to fire up in the next week or so, and what should I do? Why, write the next book, of course.

But you know what, I'm tired of writing. I'm tired of figuring out plot points and inciting incidents and figuring out how to make my heroine less irritable. What I really need is a vacation. A nice long vacation with beach sand in my Virgin Mary, and sun burn on my nose.

But then I think how my books will suffer if I don't write the next one. My readers will be heart broken and leave me if I don't cough up another "something" within 2 months. My sales will plummet to nothing, I'll lose my ranking, my audience, my shot at being #19 again on the New Releases Best Seller List. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there in publishing land, and if you're not top dog, or even mid-list dog, you're nothing.

And then I think I'll lose my mind if I have to sit at the damned computer staring at a blinking curser for days on end wondering how to write when I really don't want to.

We've all heard how we SHOULD write every day. How we SHOULD churn out something, even if it's 500 words of crap. How we SHOULD keep notebooks in the car, by the bed, in the bathroom when inspiration hits.

Yeah, okay, I was on this kick for awhile too. Writing, writing, writing. Letting the house get so bad I could have been a candidate for Hoarders. (Okay, maybe not that bad, but you get the idea. The dust bunnies even packed up once and left.) Ignoring the phone, my mother, my daughter, all for the sake of the next book. I've forgotten how to live in the real world because I've spent so much time with my characters.

And that's just not right. The guilt I have because I'm not sure what to do. I feel guilty if I spend time with my daughter and not writing. And I feel guilty I'm writing and not spending time with my daughter. Or cleaning the house, or mowing the lawn, or for God's sake, just doing laundry and keeping the dishes up.

Until I read one of those posts I mentioned earlier. And this guy, Bob, is his name, said, "You need to detox every once in awhile. You need to take a break to replenish your imagination." (paraphrasing here)

And I KNOW this. I take breaks off the blogs. But this guy was talking about something more. Just walking away from it all -- blogging, social media, writing, marketing, all of it. Just walking away for a good long while, or until the next big idea hits and you can't wait to get back to the keyboard. That, he said, was the key. WANTING to write. (And he's got 50 books under his belt, so he should know what he's talking about.) Writing because you WANT to, not because you SHOULD.

And that, I think, is where I am now. I need a writing break. Detox, if you will. Oh, I'll still blog, for the time being. But I'm not writing. I can't. And why churn out shit, when I know I'll just scrap it all anyway. That, my friends, is an exercise in futility. If I can't write 1000 words of something half-way decent, then why bother.

Tell me -- Do you ever willingly detox? Does it replenish your imagination? Or do you keep working away because you think you SHOULD?

Anne Gallagher (c) 2013

Stumbling Blocks

Before we start, I'd just like to say this is my 501st post. I know it may not seem like much to some, and there are people with thousands of posts, but the number impresses me just the same. I've done this 500 times. Whew.

Anyway, I got this interesting little blurb from one of my critique partners last week. She said,

I'm so glad Penny and Will got to love each other from the beginning of this book. They didn't have to overcome their fear to find their way to each other, or stumble through so many personal obstacles. It's a refreshing change.

She was talking about THE LADY'S MASQUERADE and Penny and Will are the main characters.

I never thought about it quite like this before. Usually my books are character driven, and the obstacles they stumble through are interior. My characters are loaded with angst and just can't make up their minds whether or not to love the person I've put in front of them.

MASQUERADE is plot driven. That Penny and Will find their love almost from the beginning of the book was a no brainer for me. It was my first book and I didn't know any better. I had no clue how to write a story, or what it needed. That they loved each other at almost first sight seemed a good way to start.

What they have to overcome to finally be together is in the plot. Murder attempts, jealousy, misunderstandings, and an overprotective daddy. Hmmm...

Tell me -- Do you find yourself writing more character driven or plot driven books? If you write love stories, are your characters afraid of love, and their angst, or do they just jump in and see what happens?

Falling on my Face

Good Morning. Happy New Year's Eve. I don't celebrate New Year's. I think in all my years on the party circuit I only went out twice. It's true. And believe it or not, I still have the little black dress that I wore the New Year's Eve Nate kissed me at midnight. (1992) That night would make such a great story. Two people see each other across a crowded room, the grandfather clock chimes midnight, and there was Nate, striding across the room to kiss ME! God I was in love with that man. Our relationship was kind of like a cross between When Harry Met Sally and Caddyshack. Only instead of golf it involved boat racing. He's happily married now with a bunch of kids in Florida, but he'll always be one of those men I hold in my heart forever.

Anyway. Falling on my face. Uh, yeah, I did. Two days after Christmas. I was carrying in the toaster oven and tripped over the dog, BLAM, landed with my top lip on the edge of the toaster oven. Tore the crap out of my lips, bled like a stuck pig for about 6 hours. I had no idea lips could bleed so much. I busted something in my face where my two front teeth are, still feel the tingling and have been praying that I don't lose them. Waiting for them to turn black and blue like the rest of my face.
So, let this be a lesson to all of you going out tonight, be careful where you walk, beware of dogs,  and try not to carry toaster ovens.

On another note, I was almost finished with THE EARL'S ENGAGEMENT. Had the final climax written, working on the denoument, and then realized it sounded too much like the plot ending from MASQUERADE. So guess what I did? Stripped it, 8500 words worth, all the way down to Chapter 24. Believe me, it wasn't easy. I want this book finished and out there, I have big things happening in the next few weeks and I don't need this hanging over my head. So that's where I've been, what I've been doing. Still working. Even on Christmas Day.

So, no resolutions for me. Hate them. I mean why try and do something that you know you can't do. I mean, sure I want to lose 40 pounds, but why start a diet on Jan. 1 when I know it's still winter. I'm still in chocolate mode. I'll wait until March when the weather breaks and I can walk everyday.

Okay, so gotta fly, have to finish ENGAGEMENT. Have a great time for those of you who go out. And like I said, beware of toaster ovens.

Well, I'm Back

I know, it's not September, but things got a little wonky here in NC and well, I decided to come back to the blogosphere a little early. Okay a lot early. I've been cruising around the blogs for the last week or so and I've found I miss it too much to stay away any longer.

I'm still not done moving. Now it's just all the flotsam and jetsam that floats around the house after all the big stuff has been cleared out. An old stack of magazines, the last of the plants, what remains in the cabinets over the fridge. You know. Once it's all out, then I get to clean. Fun times.

My ex- has left us again so it's just me and the Monster now. I told him there's no coming back this time. I'm used to his going and coming and going, he's done it for years. But the Monster is taking it hard this time. She wasn't old enough to remember his leaving the last time, so now, this really hurts. I've tried to explain it to her -- Mommy and Daddy just don't get along -- but she wants real reasons and I'm not sure she's ready to hear the truth about her father just yet. She's only 7.

In any case, his departure put the kibosh on our trip to the beach. Um yeah, another reason to despise him. Not only did he ruin my summer, he ruined Monster's as well. The pool is set up and she's been swimming happily for awhile now, but it's not the same as the beach. I'm hoping Divine Intervention (or a winning lottery ticket) will give me the funds necessary for a long weekend at Myrtle Beach. Going to Rhode Island is just not in the cards this year.

I haven't been writing. Well, because I've been moving, but being around the blogosphere has started the itch again. I guess I think checking in with you guys will somehow get me motivated. I've got some big things to finish and some smaller things to start and I figured that if I'm around you, it will give me the schedule I need. I keep telling the Monster that my sitting at the computer all day is WORK (I'm not just playing at this writing thing -- why don't people understand that) so if I go back to WORK, maybe the creative juices will start flowing again.

However, I did accomplish one thing while I've been away. I've a new cover for REMEMBERING YOU. I know, what is it with me and this cover? As we all know, self-publishing allows you to change what you don't like about your book. So, voila, the new cover.

And just for fun, I'm giving this particular edition away for FREE at Amazon TODAY (until midnight Pacific Standard time). So I hope you'll all pick up a copy and Tweet about it. It's also gone through another round of edits and I'm hoping this will garner me a few reviews. (Not bad ones though, please.) Here's the link REMEMBERING YOU. This is also somewhat of an experiment so I hope to have some data for you on a few issues with marketing and promotion for you in September.


So tell me, what have you been doing? How are you? How's your summer going? Tell me all.

Critique Partners

Now, it's been said a zillion times, you need to find a critique partner. For some, this is relatively easy, they just ask someone and boom, they have a partner. For others, not so much. There's a level of trust that must be examined when offering up your work to another person.  Finding a good partner is like searching for a needle in a proverbial haystack.

I've been lucky. All I had to do was ask. My first few partners and I didn't work out, not that I didn't love them and what they showed me with their advice and suggestions, it's just that we ended up writing in different genres and not knowing the YA or science fiction or paranormal genre, it was better to part ways, than to try and suffer through reading and critiquing what I didn't understand and frustrating them. Just the same as they didn't understand my Regency romances.

So if you're going to look, I'd suggest finding someone in your own genre.  Beta readers, on the other hand, are a different story. I specifically ask people who do not write in my genre to read my books. Their feedback is priceless, because if they like what I've written, then I know the people who DO read my genre, will like it too. However, I'm not going to send my Regency off to a writer of horror. I mean, what's the point, unless they express an interest in it. I stick to other genre romance writers, or women's fiction writers.

Back to trust. Handing your work off to someone else, is (to me) like handing my child to a complete stranger. Will they take care of her? Will they reprimand her? Will they feed her? Keep her from danger? Or will they just let her play in traffic willy-nilly, and not offer her anything more than a couple of crackers and a glass of water?

In sending off a complete manuscript for inspection and critique to another, you first must decide what you are after in the critique. Some people only want grammar checks, some to find plot holes, others want character assessments, and still others want the whole shebang. I have two partners now, one mainly for grammar and plot holes, the other for general assessment of the characters and complete storyline. Of course, both are free to inform me of anything that doesn't work, and they do, so it's a bonus for me.

That being said, when I offer a critique (to my partners or anyone else) the first thing I say, is that what I've critiqued are only SUGGESTIONS. I'm no expert, as I've stated, however, I'm also not stupid and generally know what works and what doesn't in a book. Therefore, if something isn't working, I'm going to tell them so, and the reason why. You can't just say, "Oh this doesn't work" and leave it at that, you have to tell them why, IN YOUR OPINION, you don't think it does. And then I offer up a suggestion or idea of what to do to make it work. It is then up to them to decide if they want to use it or not.

(Both my partners and I respect and trust each other enormously, so when Partner B decided one of my scenes made my MC look like a despot, she suggested I rewrite it and offered up an idea. Now mind you, the book, in my eyes, was done. However, after discussing it with Partner A, and she agreed with B, I rewrote the scene, which both B and A loved, and the MC came off as cute rather than awful. You have to learn to take the criticism that comes and decide what to do with it. If I wanted to keep my MC looking like a despot, I would have ignored her suggestion. But I thought her opinion had merit and so changed it. And that's not to say she wanted me to change other things, which I did not.)

Another area you need to look at when finding a crit partner is their level of expertise. When I first started writing, my partners and I were at the same level -- newbies. So we all learned how to do it together. And I learned a lot. Not only from them, but from following the blogs, reading craft books, and just plain writing. Practice makes perfect. And just because I'm published now, doesn't make me an expert in the art of critique. I still have tons to learn and that's what my partners are for. To show me the error of my ways with words. Both are brilliant writers, and have a clear distinct voice that I am insanely jealous of. One has written and finished five books and is under contract with a small publisher, the other has just finished her first novel, however has a long list of credits writing for magazines and newspapers as well as e-zines.

Now, I generally don't send them my book as I'm working on it. I wait until I'm completely finished and have gone through the ms. with my own fine tooth comb at least three times. Why? Because I feel that in order to do a thorough critique, they need to see the whole story together. If I send them chapter by chapter, it bogs down my writing process with editing and rewriting. And if I write something in Chapter 6, and then decide it needs to be changed when I get to Chapter 27, if they remember it, then they'll wonder where it is and question it, which leads to a round of emails and takes away from my writing. If I send them chapter by chapter, we're also both sick of looking at it and that's no fun for them when it comes to reading the final manuscript. They've already read it, so the reading becomes more like skimming, and who wants that from a critique?

That's not to say, that I don't send them a chapter or a scene just for review. If I know that something's not working and I need help with it, I'll send them just the bit I'm having trouble with. Usually their insights lend me an idea I wouldn't have come up with on my own.

And I never send a first draft. EVER. When the book is finished, I go over it with another comb, line edits, revisions, rewrites, grammar, punctuation, etc. I remove all the green and red squigglies and format the document as if I were getting ready to upload it. I want their reading experience to be free of encumbrances so they will enjoy it, and also, with a clean manuscript, errors are easier to find. The way I'm writing now, I write and revise and edit as I go along so by the time I'm finished, it's pretty much in 5th or 6th draft form. I only need to go over it once or twice before I send it off. Less painful than trying to restructure, or revise the whole thing. Which takes time I don't have. And in sending off a clean ms. it allows you to look professional. You wouldn't send a first draft to an agent or a publisher would you? Why do it to your crit partner.

And lastly, there needs to be praise. You can't just give a critique and tell the person just the mistakes they've made. You need to sprinkle in some good in there as well. I mean, if all you say is bad, then the writer will think their book sucks. And you know it doesn't, otherwise you wouldn't have offered to read it. Besides, how do you feel when all you hear is bad stuff. Doesn't feel good now does it?

Now having said all that, what do you do if you don't have a critique partner. Well, you hire an independent copy editor or proof reader. Most will offer a few pages of critique for free just to see if you like their work. Some charge by the page, others a flat rate. And sometimes even with critique partners, a copy editor/proof reader is a good thing. I just found this guy Robert Van de Laak, who reviewed one of my short stories and let me tell you what...I was blown away by how many mistakes  he found. Not only for grammar, but punctuation (mostly comma placement) and spelling (did you know the mantel on a fireplace is spelled -el, not -le. I didn't.) I normally don't recommend someone until asked, but if you find yourself in need of a once over, this is the guy to do it. kaalednav@optusnet.com.au  Tell him Anne sent you. (and no I was not paid for this endorsement.)

So there you have it. Tell me -- Do you have one or two critique partners? Are you in a group? How did you find yours? Do you love yours as much as I love mine? How do you critique? Do you use an independent resource for crits? Was any of this helpful? Please feel free to offer up your own suggestions in the comments.

The Hot Heat

Today I think I'd like to talk about redundancy. In doing critiques (which is why we all need to do them for someone else) you tend to find the mistakes you yourself make -- over and over. Redundancy. The bane of my existance.

Perhaps it's from having a young child in the house. I have to keep repeating myself over and over again. Pick up your wet towels. Hang up your sweater. Put your dirty dishes in the sink. Over and over.

I also found that when I am redundant, it's usually to stress a point. The heat down here is so hot. The dirt down here is so dirty. The water in the pool is so wet.

I know, I know. Hot heat. Dirty dirt. Wet water. But it's so true. How else could I describe it? Of course, this is easy. Stifling heat. Dry red clay. Silky flowing water.

It's all in the description. However, what you must keep in mind is that your readers aren't six years old. They generally only need to be told once about the oppressive heat, the filthy mud, the refreshing pool.

They only need to be told once the husband cheated with his secretary. The old lady on the corner makes pies on Sunday. It was Sally in the library with a candlestick.

The point is, to only make the point once. Oh sure, sometimes you might want to go back to the point, to make it clearer again, but take my word for it, don't.

The other niggly thing I tend to do is use the same word in the same paragraph. Especially if it's a descriptor. The dirt is so dirty. I can't believe how the dirt gets into every little crevice. My daughter's jeans are so dirty when she comes in from school. Now, I don't know about you, but I really hate that. I always try and change my words around so we're not always looking at the same thing over and over. The dirt is so red. I can't believe how the dust gets into every little crevice. My daughter's jeans are so filthy when she comes in from school.

Subtle changes can make or break a story. Don't be redundant. Your readers aren't six years old. (Well, unless of course they are.)

Tell me -- Did I make my point? Do you want to throw some dirty dirt at me right now? Are you redundant?

My Writing Life in Increments

I know you probably don't want to hear about how I spend my days, but as this is my first second post being back, I figured I'd start with that. Nice and easy.

I'd like to get something straight before we start. I am NOT a stay-at-home Mom who writes. I am a writer who happens to work from home. I have nothing against SAHM's, I was one. Believe me, it's the hardest job a person can have. But when the Monster started school full-time, I started writing full-time.  This isn't a hobby for me, it's not a job I just clock in and out from, I have a schedule, and deadlines, and goals, like any other career oriented person working in a major corporation.

The Schedule -- I am up before dawn, usually around 5am. I make a cup of tea, and head downstairs to my "office" (a corner in the playroom where I keep all my "stuff". I can't wait to move, I'll have a real room for my office.) I get on the computer and check my email accounts (3), make my one Tweet for the day, and then check my stats on my books. Depending on what mail I need to answer, I do that, then I try and get on the blogs to see what I've missed. At 6:30, I wake the Monster, fight with her to get ready for school, and out the door by 7:30. I'm back by 7:45 and again at my desk. I share my ritual morning email with my crit partner, and then I go into "work" by 8am. I write until 1:30 when I have to go pick up the Monster from school. (In the pick-up line I get a 45 minute break where I read something everyday.) Back home by 2:30, I do the Mommy thing, the house thing, the supper thing, and then back to the computer around 7pm for a round of edits on what I worked on that morning. And then do it all again the next day.

Weekends are a bit different. I'm up at 5, but I generally work on blog posts and paraphenalia for my books. I don't tend to "write" unless I'm all caught up on the business end of things.

The Deadlines -- I try to write at least 2500 words a day. Of course, it's not a hard and fast rule, some days I write just 100, with 4 hours spent doing research, and others I can break 4K when the words are flowing. But by and large, by the end of the week I like to see myself with between 25 to 50 pages. I also made a promise to the Monster that I wouldn't work during her vacations so that I can spend time with her. So I get the bulk of my writing done from the end of August - November. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, it's crazy nuts, so last year I wrote a short story. In January I go back to the major work and stay with that until Easter break. (And hopefully it's done. This year, with my dad sick, left a lot to be desired, so the deadline for that particular book has been moved.)

However, I worked on the final edits for REMEMBERING YOU, put THE DUKE'S DIVORCE out to paperback, and am in the final stages for THE LADY'S FATE and REMEMBERING YOU to paperback. Am also in the process of finishing up another short story for the Regency line. Over the course of last summer, I did nothing but read. I went to the beach, found the beginning of a women's fiction novel and that was it. This summer, with moving and getting both houses situated with paint and repairs, I don't think I'll be doing too much writing either. But once the Monster is in school again, I'm diving back into THE LADY'S MASQUERADE (which I'm afraid is going to be a complete rewrite and not just a revise) and will hopefully have that done and out in all formats by Thanksgiving.

The Goals -- I read once, that you need to have your writing goals listed for the next ten years. I won't bore you with mine, only that my goals are pretty simple. Two books a year, plus two or three short stories. Some books are harder to write than others, which is why I'm constantly shifting my focus. I always have two or three projects going at the same time, so when I get bored or frustrated by one, I can move to another, until that gets snappy, then I can move to another. I find this works for me because as I'm working on whichever, I'm letting the other stories rest, and when I finally do get back to them, I'm looking at them with fresh eyes. Last year, I met my goals, and this year, I'm hoping to do the same. I keep telling myself life would be easier with a laptop, but I'm not so sure. We'll see.

And so, there you have it. My Writing Life in Increments. (And as I'm sure you know, real life can and does intrude from time to time, so all of the above is generally thrown right out the window.)

Tell me -- How do you write? Do you work full-time and grab whatever time you can? Or are you a full-time writer? What are some of your goals? Do you have deadlines? What time constraints are you under?

Killing Barthomolew Wood

Now in the writing world there is the phrase, "Kill your Darlings." Now for some, this means don't be afraid to put your characters through hell and back. Sometimes this means we have to actually kill them off.

In one of my books, THE CAPTAIN'S LADY, I am going to have to kill off one of my characters. Barthomolew Wood. He's the heroine's (Amanda) husband. And in Regency romance, the heroine is typically not married, and  if she is, she's certainly not supposed to want her husband to die.

However, Barthomolew Wood is an evil man. He's lied, beaten her, kidnapped their daughter, left her penniless and alone in Boston, sold slaves, beaten them, and is just a nasty piece of work.

I can honestly say it's going to be fun when I get to off his sleazy hide.

Now, the problem I'm having is, do I allow Richard (the hero of this story), a man of honor and integrity, a former Captain in the Royal Navy, do the deed?

This causes all kinds of repercussions for me. Although I think the readers won't care, (and might actually be thrilled this toad of a man is dead and Richard did the right thing) however, Amanda may care a great deal. Barthomolew is the father of her child, despicable cad that he is. He does love his daughter, and has given her everything money can buy. He's treated her well (despite the fact he took her away from her mother) and has shown great affection to her.

How is a mother supposed to tell her daughter that her new love interest has killed her father? See where I'm going with this. The daughter only knows her father to be a loving and generous man. If Richard kills him, the child will never love him no matter what.

Now I also know this is all very heavy and deep, and may not even be something any of you think about for your characters. But every action has an equal reaction. What if Richard's killing of Barthomolew does have a negative reaction from my readers? How many will I let down?

And unfortunately Barthomolew does indeed need to die in order for Richard and Amanda to be together. I can't just let them get divorced, I've already played that card.

Tell me -- Do you really think through the actions of your characters before writing a major scene like this? Do you delve into their psyche or just write how you want the story to go?

Rags on the Clothesline

Good Morning.

Backstory -- When we moved to NC, I had numerous things in storage. Practically a whole house. In the boxes marked "kitchen" I had wrapped my good glass bowls and platters in kitchen towels. All kinds, colors, textures, 99% of them brand new, never been used. When I finished unpacking I probably had around 30 kitchen towels.

A year after we moved in, we got 2 chihuahua's. Cute little things no bigger than my palm. Fun times. They slept in a box in the kitchen. As they grew, for some crazy reason, they took the kitchen towels off the oven door handle where I hang them, and not only slept with them in the box, but chewed them. I guess they were teething and kitchen towels were cheaper than leather shoes.

Present Story -- The other day it was really nice, so I did some laundry and hung it on the line. My ex took it all in for me. I asked if he had folded it before he put in the basket (because the last time he took stuff off the line he just threw it in there and I had to iron everything twice to get the wrinkles out.) He said he had except for the rags. I asked, "What rags?" I hadn't washed rags, I hadn't used rags. (Those I keep upstairs in the rag bag in the linen closet.) He said, "You know, all those towels that are ripped to shreds because of the dogs."

Ahem. Those are my kitchen towels. How dare he call my kitchen towels rags.

Unfortunately, I finally have to admit to myself they are rags. Ripped, shredded, frayed, stained, sorry looking rags. But I can't put them in the rag bag because then I won't have any kitchen towels. And some of you might say, "Geez, just go buy some." But to me, it's not all that easy to just go and buy new kitchen towels. I was a chef. I look for something special in a kitchen towel. It has to be 100% cotton, it has to feel soft to the touch, it has to absorb water quickly, it can't fade, or shrink, and most especially, I just have to like it. I know, picky picky picky. Besides, unless the old kitchen towels are completely threadbare, I refuse to part with them. I'm a big recycler and unless it's absolutely useless, I can use it somewhere else.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

I've been reworking THE LADY'S MASQUERADE. This was the first book I ever finished. I love this story. I love the plot. It's sweet, and fun, two cousins fight over a woman, it has a little mystery, and Lady Olivia, and the ending is just such a surprise. When I finished it 4 years ago, it was beautiful, brand new, and I was oh-so-proud of it.

But let me tell you what, working with an original 4 year old manuscript that is horribly formatted and horribly executed is about to make me crazy. What was once a beautiful new kitchen towel, is now a big old stained, frayed, ripped rag. If I told you half the mistakes I made with this ms. you'd probably gasp, and then laugh your head off.

Now most people say throw your first book under the bed with the bunnies and leave it there. Never let it see the light of day. I can see why, which I probably should have done. Compared to what I'm writing today, it's a rag. But I couldn't. I loved this story too much. Besides, as a recycler, I have to try and do something with it, right?

Tell me -- Where's your first book? Is it snuggling with the creatures under the bed, hiding in a drawer, or have you revived it, put it the laundry with lots of bleach and hung it on the line?

Friday's at the Piedmont Grille

On Today's Menu -- Liver and Onions, Beer, and Cole Slaw

Sounds really appetizing doesn't it. Well, that's kind of how I feel right now. All bloated and fat and just a disgusting mess. Not because of anything I ate, but just from the general let-down from getting the last two books out before Valentine's Day.

 I gave myself the publishing date for Valentine's Day, way back in December when I knew it wouldn't be done for Christmas, and as the day loomed overhead, it was absolutely ball breaking to finish it. My timelines were off in the ms., (I write an overlapping series), I had just created another story with another hero who had to be enmeshed with this one, my ending wasn't going the way I wanted it to, and ugh, Christmas happened.

So for the whole of January I was rushed, and writing, and revising, and editing, and then off to the beta's and critters, and then I had to let it sit for at least a week, and then formatting and uploading and whew, I can finally breathe.

But then comes the crash and burn. All that stress, and then, I've got nothing to do. Nowhere to be. Nothing to write. And I kind of just lost myself.

I know some of you may know what I'm talking about. Actually most of you may know what I'm talking about. The rush, the excitement, the finishing up of a how-long-have-I-been-writing-this project, and then it's all done. And then what?

For me it was sleep. Then laundry. Then a good scrub down in the kitchen. You might have thought I would at least have gotten a nice dinner out of it. Not. I think I ended up with fish sticks and french fries.

And now I think I'm finally returning back to normal. I even managed to get three blog posts in this week.

So what do you do when you finish a big project? Do you celebrate, or do you vegetate?

Happy weekend!

Pen Name Revisited

Well, if you were here on Monday, you saw that I'm thinking about a pen name for my women's fiction books.  Robynne Rand was the clear winner, with all the rest coming in a close second. I didn't realize Ann Coulter was who she was, so that name is definitely out of the running. (Although I wonder who would get more publicity out of that kind of book??)

Anyhoo, Anne R. Allen brought up a really interesting point -- about how I've already spent so much time building up my author name as my brand, and with my covers, and how long it's taken me to do this, then why would I want to start again from the bottom. And she's right.

However, here's my itch -- I know how I felt when I found out Lisa Kleypas (of Regency romance fame) wrote a contemporary romance, and used her own name. I wigged out. Yeah, I did. I don't know why, but I did. I did read her contemporary stuff, and truth to tell, I didn't like it all that much. It was a good book, I guess, (It was a long time ago, I really don't remember it all that well.) but I know it definitely wasn't her finest hour. I don't know if I was expecting something else, if it had to do with the publisher, the editor, or what, but I didn't like it. The sad thing is, I haven't read anything else by her.

Which isn't fair, but that's how I feel.

The same thing happened with Susan Wiggs. I loved her historicals. I hated her contemporaries.

Now these are just two authors that I know of. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing to want to branch out, hey, I'm all for it. It's just that once you brand yourself to a particular genre, you should keep the name that made you famous, and if you want to write something else, then you should change your name. I mean, what if Stephen King wrote romances under Stephen King? He'd probably get laughed at by some people. And other people wouldn't read it. Because it's not what he's known for. But I bet if he wrote under Stephanie Kingston, then nobody would know or even care.

Because I don't know about you, but I just read an authors' name and don't even wonder who they really are. I had absolutely no idea that Nora Roberts and J.D.Robb were the same person. Honest. That goes for a half dozen other authors too.  They brand themselves and as far as I'm concerned, that's what they write under that particular name.

Which is where I'm waffling. I've made a successful branding of my name, Anne Gallagher, to my Regency romances, right? And for however many fans I have, that's what they expect of me. Regency romances that are exceedingly sweet, and predictable, with just enough twists and turns to make you really wonder if the hero and heroine are actually going to make it to their happily ever after.

Now suppose, I released a book about a rape victim, incest survivor, and a wife-beater? Do you think I'd lose some of my Regency fans? Especially if there were f-bombs and gruesome beatings, and full on rape scenes? (I mean, not that I am going to release that kind of book, I don't have it in me to even THINK about writing something like that.) But I mean, can you get my drift here?

So my question to you is -- Do you think that authors who brand themselves in one genre, should rebrand themselves in another? Or do you think it's possible to keep your same name and be successful in both?