Writing, Sweating And Writing Some More

To be a writer is to sit down at one’s desk in the chill portion of every day, and to write; not waiting for the little jet of the blue flame of genius to start from the breastbone – just plain going at it, in pain and delight. To be a writer is to throw away a great deal, not to be satisfied, to type again, and then again, and once more, and over and over….
John Hersey

Earlier last week I finished a book. Well, the first draft anyway. Then I put it down for a few days and Saturday, I picked up that huge binder and began the process of editing and revision. Then I’ll send it out, chapter by chapter to my crit partners who will pick it apart and send them back to me and then I’ll revise again. And then, I’ll send to beta readers and of course they’ll see things I need to address so I’ll revise again and then I’ll send to my agent. And then after it’s been looked at, read, picked apart, put back together, tightened, shortened, lengthened and honed - it’ll be printed up and mailed to my editor.

I was sort of afraid to pick it up. In fact, last night I was afraid to.

Afraid for a multitude of reasons - this is my first NY single title. Will it be good enough? Will my editor like it or when she sees it will she rue the day she signed me? When I read it, will it be what I remember? Better? Worse? How much work will it be to revise?

The list goes on really because I’ve found fear to be a constant companion since I sold my first book. In truth, I’m not sure anything is truly worth working for if you don’t want it bad enough you have fear of losing it.

The secret of becoming a writer is to write, write and keep on writing.
Ken MacLeod

But I will pick it up again tonight, and tomorrow and every day after until it's done. I will revise it and I will make it the best I possibly can. Because it’s the only way to finish. Because I love the story and I want my editor to love it too. I want the readers to love it. Because I’m a writer and we write.

Lauren Dane is currently working on Undercover - a futuristic, menage, bdsm flavored erotic romance due to release from Berkley Heat December 2, 2008.

www.laurendane.com
www.laurendane.com/blog

Some Inspiration...

All I Want for Christmas...

...is the Toshiba Portégé R500 notebook.

Just joking!

Well, not really. I do want one of those notebooks. C'mon, people. It's a 12.1" notebook that's an inch thick and weighs only 2.2 lbs! My current one is the same dimensions, but it's closer to 4 lbs. And the R500 has an LED screen! *sigh* The geek in me so wants to upgrade.

Moving onto the real list now...

To These 13 Authors: Please Come Back...I'll Buy Your Romance Books A list compiled by Ann Bruce Laura Kinsale. It's over three years since the last release...can I expect something in 2008? Suzanne Robinson. No one does Elizabethan historicals like she did. Meagan McKinney. Michelle Martin. Theresa Weir. Jan Freed. Karyn Monk. Unfortunately, her website says she's busy with her young children. Who knows when she'll turn on her computer again? Iris Johansen. Her thrillers just aren't nearly as satisfying (in fact, some are downright awful) as her romances, both category and historical. Julie Garwood. She's going back to historicals in 2008. There is a God! Tami Hoag. I love the mainstream thrillers, but I loved the romantic suspense so much, much more. Teresa Medeiros. After two paranormals, it's time to go back to straight historicals. PLEASE. Linda Francis Lee. Why, oh, why did she have to go to chick lit? Christina Skye. Hasn't the Navy Seals series dragged on long enough?

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Coming Tomorrow

I'm thrilled to announce my first new release in a long, long time. My novella, "A Vampire's Christmas Carol" is included in the anthology, BENEATH A CHRISTMAS MOON, which will releases from Cerridwen Press tomorrow.

Blurb for "A Vampire's Christmas Carol"
Can Christmas Eve get any more fun? On her way to her family's home, Carol Prescott’s car slides into a ditch in a deserted area with no cell phone signal. The only available shelter is already occupied…by a vampire. To Michael Carpenter, Carol is the bait of a trap. In an effort to hold onto his soul, Michael has resisted the urge to drink human blood for almost a century. Now he hovers between human and vampire. If he doesn’t drink from a human before the night ends, he’ll die. He’s desperately thirsty, but Michael has seen the soulless monsters vampires are and he prefers death. Carol is pure temptation to him, the Christmas present from hell…or is it from heaven?

BENEATH A CHRISTMAS MOON includes two other terrific stories by the very talented Ariana Dupre and Eden Robins.

This book is also the occasion for my first every book trailer. Rather than embed it here, I invite you to visit my web site at http://www.kmccullough.com/ and take a look.

If you view the trailer or read the book, please let me know what you think!

-- Karen McCullough

Books for the Holidays

I had my Christmas list whittled to a fine point. My dad was getting new shoes (or rather multiple relatives are each buying a share of his shoes, which he selected and purchased...I just have to pay him back and wrap them); my brother was getting a gift card to a home improvement store (he's restoring a Victorian town house...the home improvement store is like a second home to him); my brother's girlfriend was getting foodie gifts of marinades since she loves cooking; and my mom was getting Crabtree & Evelyn hand creme that she'd tried and loved while we were on a shopping trip to Manchester.

There was just one problem with this list. None of those gifts are books.

The first to succumb was the gift to my mom. She has a cherished cookbook that has been so well-used that it needs to be kept in a plastic bag wrapped with rubber bands, to keep the bits of broken pages from falling out and getting lost. About half the index has fallen to the ravages of time. But she refuses to get a replacement, since she declares the recipes were changed for the worse when the cookbook was revised in the '50s. I managed to find a copy of the 1949 edition in almost-new condition, complete with dustcover! I never even knew it originally had a dustcover. :-) It was surprisingly affordable for an antique cookbook in such good shape. Oh, well, the hand creme was bought on sale... and I know she'll *love* this.

Then I saw a book written by my dad's favorite financial pundit. With coupons, the price came down to $10. I'll just adjust everyone else's gifts up by the same amount, to keep things fair.

Hey, with that extra $10, I can get a literary food book for my brother's girlfriend. Wow. An awful lot of people have written about their adventures in cooking and eating. Still, she was saying at Thanksgiving how this is one of the only types of books she reads. She'll love it.

And now I see that there's a new novel out in a series that my brother got hooked on from the PBS miniseries. I'll just wait for the next coupon to take effect, and that'll be down to around $10, too.

Every year, this happens. Every year, people tell me, "I don't want a book." Every year, I start out with the best of intentions, trying to find the perfect non-book gift for them. ... And every year, I end up breaking down, and buying books for everyone.

And every year, I'm thrilled to find a package beneath the tree with my name on it, that contains a new book for me to read.

Winter's Daughter is Now Available!

BUY ME!

To say that I'm excited...would be a HUGE understatment. I am stupidly thrilled that WD is now available that I'm almost beyond words. (Note the 'almost') And now for some review quotes...

"This is an incredibly engrossing tale and I did not put it down for more than five minutes once I started it." The Romance Studio, 4.5 hearts

"The first Coven tale is an exciting paranormal thriller with whodunit and romantic elements to enhance the tense drama." Harriet Klausner

"Murder, mayhem and magic will send chills down your spine in this haunting first in The Coven series." RT Magazine, 4 stars

Jessamyn's Christmas Gift

If you're looking for a break from the holiday madness in the malls, check out my Christmas Quickie from Ellora’s Cave Publishing , Jessamyn's Christmas Gift.

It's sure to heat up your cold winter night and leave you smiling.