Hi All: I'm sorry that I haven't been blogging much. It's been a long, hard summer. I was late with the current book and I struggled with it. It was late and that drove me nuts. All my focus was on getting the book done and I'm afraid I let other things, like the blog, slide. I apologize. The good news is that the book finally landed on my editor's desk on Monday. Whew! Howard and I were glad to see the last of it...for now. At the moment I'm just recovering and trying to catch up with everything I ignored through the summer.
My most immediate project is to put together the proposal for the next two books to present to my editor (the book I turned in was the 2nd in a 2 book contract, so technically, as of now I'm unemployed). Assuming all goes well with contract talks, I'll be continuing the Joslyn Family Series. With Barnaby's half-brother, Luc's book back in N.Y. I'll be concentrating on Simon or Mathew's book. Haven't decided which one of Barnaby's cousins that I'll do first. Thanks for putting up with me. Ta, Shirlee
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Bad Blogging Girl!
Hi Everyone! Yikes! I can't believe that it's been over a month since I last blogged. And I was doing sooo good at blogging something every week. Oh, well, it happened, but I'm back now.
I do have some excuse: there's been a lot of extra work and excitement connected with the July release of RAPTURE BECOMES HER. Did an interview for Christine Morehouse of Romantic Crush Junkies Review and I just finished doing an interview for the Spanish site, El Rincon Romantico. Also did a blog for the Rom/Con being held in Denver this weekend. I believe that my blog will appear on July 5th. I'll be posting a link as soon as I get it on Facebook and Twitter. And, of course, I've been enjoying all the good reviews for RAPTURE BECOMES HER. Always gratifying to read good stuff about your work. Still have either video or a short note for a French publisher to take care of, but I'm whittling down the requests. Gee. I almost feel like a rock star :-)
Am making progress on the current book. I have over a 300 pages so I've broken the back of it. Figure it's 3/4 done with only about 100 pages to go. It'll be late to the publisher, which makes me feel lower than low. I hate being late, even though over the years I've greatly improved my delivering on time. I remember that LADY VIXEN or WHILE PASSION SLEEPS, one of them, was something like three years late. That wouldn't be tolerated in today's publishing world and can't say that I blame them.
Will close for now. The current book she is a-calling.
A quote that shows how little the world really changes: Oh, this age! How tasteless and ill-bred it is! Catulus (87?-54 B.C)
I do have some excuse: there's been a lot of extra work and excitement connected with the July release of RAPTURE BECOMES HER. Did an interview for Christine Morehouse of Romantic Crush Junkies Review and I just finished doing an interview for the Spanish site, El Rincon Romantico. Also did a blog for the Rom/Con being held in Denver this weekend. I believe that my blog will appear on July 5th. I'll be posting a link as soon as I get it on Facebook and Twitter. And, of course, I've been enjoying all the good reviews for RAPTURE BECOMES HER. Always gratifying to read good stuff about your work. Still have either video or a short note for a French publisher to take care of, but I'm whittling down the requests. Gee. I almost feel like a rock star :-)
Am making progress on the current book. I have over a 300 pages so I've broken the back of it. Figure it's 3/4 done with only about 100 pages to go. It'll be late to the publisher, which makes me feel lower than low. I hate being late, even though over the years I've greatly improved my delivering on time. I remember that LADY VIXEN or WHILE PASSION SLEEPS, one of them, was something like three years late. That wouldn't be tolerated in today's publishing world and can't say that I blame them.
Will close for now. The current book she is a-calling.
A quote that shows how little the world really changes: Oh, this age! How tasteless and ill-bred it is! Catulus (87?-54 B.C)
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Research
Good Morning All: It's turning out to be a cold May in CA. We're still building fires. This morning have one in living room, as well as, my office. I tell myself not to complain, especially when I see the film of all the terrible flooding in the south and midwest. My heart goes out to those people.
I just finished a book a few weeks ago that reminded me that research can be a tricky thing. I adore research. It's the most enjoyable part of writing a book. You get to discover all sorts of new information and to become familiar with a different time and place. Best of all, you get to choose the subject!
Of course, it's a pain in the butt when you read and read and are only able to glean, maybe, one useful thing from a 400 page book! Aaargh. There's a lot of information that's the same no matter how new or in depth a book may be, but every now and then, as you wade through book after book, article after article, you find something new -- which makes it worthwhile.
But here's the thing: when you start writing your book, you have to be careful not to let your research show. It has to be slipped in under the radar, being a natural progression of the story and added in tiny increments, or at least not overwhelming the reader with all this fabulous stuff you've learned. I know there are times I've worried that I've given the reader too much info in one gulp and I've gone back and pared it down. I still probably overdo it some time, but I try not to and I'm very conscious of it.
I had a friend who wanted me to read her book and reluctantly I did. I always hate to read someone else's work 'cause what if I hate it? What do I say? Fortunately, I thought my firend showed a lot of promise, but the one thing I noticed, sometimes over the story, was the research. She'd done a lot of research and she crammed the story full of her research forgetting that it's the story that the readers are interested in. The book I read recently that brought this to mind had the same problem. I liked the story and in the beginning I liked the research, but there came a point when the research began to bore me and took away from the story. Okay, maybe I just get bored easily but I found myself skipping over large chunks of the book because, well, I wasn't interested in learning that much about the particular subject covered in the book. Don't get me wrong, it was good book, just too many facts and advice for me and it ended up in my 'tossed' pile and this is a writer I usually collect.
So my advice to any writer, new or seasoned, is do your research, our readers are a savy bunch, but do not let it show. You may be crazy about the subject and delighted with all you've learned and eager to show off how much you've learned, but readers might not care a rap. So feed it to your rearders in sips and teaspoons -- and not too often :-).
I just finished a book a few weeks ago that reminded me that research can be a tricky thing. I adore research. It's the most enjoyable part of writing a book. You get to discover all sorts of new information and to become familiar with a different time and place. Best of all, you get to choose the subject!
Of course, it's a pain in the butt when you read and read and are only able to glean, maybe, one useful thing from a 400 page book! Aaargh. There's a lot of information that's the same no matter how new or in depth a book may be, but every now and then, as you wade through book after book, article after article, you find something new -- which makes it worthwhile.
But here's the thing: when you start writing your book, you have to be careful not to let your research show. It has to be slipped in under the radar, being a natural progression of the story and added in tiny increments, or at least not overwhelming the reader with all this fabulous stuff you've learned. I know there are times I've worried that I've given the reader too much info in one gulp and I've gone back and pared it down. I still probably overdo it some time, but I try not to and I'm very conscious of it.
I had a friend who wanted me to read her book and reluctantly I did. I always hate to read someone else's work 'cause what if I hate it? What do I say? Fortunately, I thought my firend showed a lot of promise, but the one thing I noticed, sometimes over the story, was the research. She'd done a lot of research and she crammed the story full of her research forgetting that it's the story that the readers are interested in. The book I read recently that brought this to mind had the same problem. I liked the story and in the beginning I liked the research, but there came a point when the research began to bore me and took away from the story. Okay, maybe I just get bored easily but I found myself skipping over large chunks of the book because, well, I wasn't interested in learning that much about the particular subject covered in the book. Don't get me wrong, it was good book, just too many facts and advice for me and it ended up in my 'tossed' pile and this is a writer I usually collect.
So my advice to any writer, new or seasoned, is do your research, our readers are a savy bunch, but do not let it show. You may be crazy about the subject and delighted with all you've learned and eager to show off how much you've learned, but readers might not care a rap. So feed it to your rearders in sips and teaspoons -- and not too often :-).
Friday, May 6, 2011
I Love Quotes
Hi Everyone: Zounds it's Friday and I've not done my blog yet. Had a crummy night last night, was up until 1:30 AM -- stuffy nose, blowing, sneezing. Nothing serious, just uncomfortable and unable to sleep. But back to quotes... I have several favorites and here's another one: "A manuscript, like a foetus, is never improved by showing it to somebody before it is completed." Unknown
I don't know who unknown was, but they were right on the mark. For me, my story line is a nebulous blob out there and having someone poking at it only disrupts my initial ideas. I once submitted a synopsis -- hate them -- and I ran into what I call 'petrie dish editing'. Now the story wasn't clear in my mind, but this editor started complaining about an element of the story. In this case, I think it was something to do with an Indian Chief named, Corn Stalker. I hadn't planned for his role to be major, at least I don't think so, but Corn Stalker was involved in some interesting things back then (if memory serves) and I wanted to incorporate them into my story or at least mention them in passing. Well, of course after the editor put in her two bits worth, I abandoned that part of the story, but I've always wondered what shape that book would have taken and if it wouldn't have been a better book with more historical fact in it if the editor hadn't done her petrie dish editing. She had no idea how I would use the material, no idea where it would lead, or how it might enhance the story, but immediately objected to it. I'll confess I didn't know precisely how I would use Corn Stalker either but she certainly put paid to that idea before it was even fully formed. And of course, that's one of the reasons I hate submitting a synopsis -- I haven't a clue in hell where I'm going with a story -- just a hazy outline and, in this case, I changed my hazy outline before I even knew what it was. Might have been some great stuff. Oh, well, it happened years ago, but I still wonder about the book I would have written except for...petrie dish editing.
I don't know who unknown was, but they were right on the mark. For me, my story line is a nebulous blob out there and having someone poking at it only disrupts my initial ideas. I once submitted a synopsis -- hate them -- and I ran into what I call 'petrie dish editing'. Now the story wasn't clear in my mind, but this editor started complaining about an element of the story. In this case, I think it was something to do with an Indian Chief named, Corn Stalker. I hadn't planned for his role to be major, at least I don't think so, but Corn Stalker was involved in some interesting things back then (if memory serves) and I wanted to incorporate them into my story or at least mention them in passing. Well, of course after the editor put in her two bits worth, I abandoned that part of the story, but I've always wondered what shape that book would have taken and if it wouldn't have been a better book with more historical fact in it if the editor hadn't done her petrie dish editing. She had no idea how I would use the material, no idea where it would lead, or how it might enhance the story, but immediately objected to it. I'll confess I didn't know precisely how I would use Corn Stalker either but she certainly put paid to that idea before it was even fully formed. And of course, that's one of the reasons I hate submitting a synopsis -- I haven't a clue in hell where I'm going with a story -- just a hazy outline and, in this case, I changed my hazy outline before I even knew what it was. Might have been some great stuff. Oh, well, it happened years ago, but I still wonder about the book I would have written except for...petrie dish editing.
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