Learning curves

I've been a bit reflective (no, I'm not shiny) lately. Almost exactly a year ago, I had just signed my third book contract. That made me stop and think ... in the summer of 2006 I had no book published and not a hope of having any published.

Here we are, a year+ later, and I have three out, one coming soon, and three more next year.

What little Gems of Wisdom have I learned?

Lots. Let's list them:

1. There is no magic bullet. You still have to write the best book you can. This doesn't mean you have to write Your Absolutely Best Book and put your soul into it. I've discovered that I can write a good book and know it's not my breakout book. There is a difference between the two. I can feel it. I just am not to the point where I want to write that Big Book ... yet. Or maybe I'm fooling myself and all I can write are Good Books. I'll figure that out later. For now, I'm going to continue writing what I enjoy and worry about best-sellerdom some other day.

2. Just because you've sold X number of books to a publisher, doesn't mean you'll continue to sell to that publisher. You can change editors and the new one doesn't love your work, the publisher can change what they're looking for, etc. Case in point: I had an editor at Publisher A who loved my work and was happy that my books were all similar (small town themes, older heroes and heroines, quirky plot lines). That editor is now no longer my editor and I have a new one. She only bought one of the three offered books "because they were too much alike".

Go figure.

You will always be looking for publisher even when you're happy with your publisher. It's just the nature of the beast.

3. There are good reviews and bad reviews. One key to sanity is to evaluate the reviewers. If you tend to agree with their assessments on other books, then consider what they say. I've read some reviews that made me cringe not because they were bad reviews -- they weren't, they were very positive. But the reviewer was inarticulate, or had terrible grammatical mistakes or spelling mistakes, or mis-used words. Yikes. A good review from that person is a mixed blessing at best. So take it ALL with a big grain of salt.

4. Just because you have a contract it doesn't mean you'll necessarily be treated fairly. Witness the whole Trisk debacle and authors who had their rights returned to them long before the bankruptcy was filed. Those authors STILL appeared on court papers.

5. As in all businesses, there are good people, there are snarky people, there are 'who let that person in here?' people. There are those authors who have had some modest success and are bitter because their success hasn't been greater. There are those who are generous and willing to share. And there are those who are simply clueless. Learn from them all because there's something to be learned from everyone.

More than anything, though, this has been an enlightening experience for me to find out about myself. I occasionally feel the inevitable jealousy when a friend or critique partner attracts positive interest and I think 'why not me?' There are times when I think I deserve more recognition than I've gotten, until I step back and realize I'm not actively promoting myself the way others do. I'm getting a sense of where writing fits into my life and who I am.

Check back with me in a year. I suspect there'll be even more learning experiences and changes down the road.

REVIEW: Lord of the Fading Lands by CL Wilson

I received an ARC of CL Wilson's Lord of the Fading Lands because I promised to post a review of it. Normally, I'm not that much of a book-whore, but Dear Author and Smart Bitches raved about this book, so I thought it would be a safe bet I wouldn't hate it.

The back blurb:

Once he had scorched the world. Once he had driven back overwhelming darkness. Once he had loved with such passion, his name was legend...Tairen Soul.

Now a thousand years later, a new threat calls him from the Fading Lands back into the world that had cost him so dearly. Now an ancient, familiar evil is regaining its strength, and a new voice beckons to him--more compelling, more seductive, more maddening than any before.

As the power of his most bitter enemy grows and ancient alliances crumble, the wildness in his blood will not be denied. The tairen must claim his truemate and embrace the destiny woven for him in the mists of time.

Dramatic much?

Anyway...

The first book in CL Wilson's series (yes, it's a series and, no, this book cannot stand alone) introduces a very familiar world that blends fairy tale and fantasy. The world building is rich with details that reminded me very strongly of Tolkien. (I also found touches of Star Wars, but let's not discuss that further.) The plot is familiar epic fantasy: good versus evil on a grand scale--and, of course, the humans Celierians complicate matters because they're too blind and greedy and easily manipulated to see the evil that is apparent to the frustrated Fey hero.

Rainier vel'En Daris Feyreisen, Rain Tairen Soul, King of the Fey (phew! give me a second to catch my breath) and a were-tairen (or large winged cat that breathes fire), realizes his people are dying and seeks answers from a crystal ball that has a sadistic streak and likes to play power games: the Eye of Truth. The Eye leads him to his truemate, a shei’tani, who is the key to saving the Fey.

Ellysetta Baristani is an orphan, which is romancespeak for has special powers because her parents are special people, but was taken in by a kind couple (well, the father's kind, but the mother wanted her to marry an over-the-top evil porker). She's tall, red-haired, green-eyed, and curvy, but, since this is a romance, everyone thinks she's a troll except for the magical Fey who can see into her soul. And her soul, just like everything else about her, is beautiful and perfect. She's kind, gracious, and even feels sorry for her enemies--which is why Rain and his men have to do the dirty work for her:

Fey women cannot kill, not even to defend their own lives. Their natural empathy prevents it. The shock of slaying another living being would kill them. (379)

Rain knows Mary Sue Ellie is a Fey--and the most powerful Fey female, at that--because with a single touch, she can cleanse a hardened warrior's soul:

[Belliard] had so much death on his soul that all but the strongest women among the Fey had avoided touching him centuries ago, unable to bear the pain of his sorrow, the ruthlessly self-enforced emotionlessness, and the dark burden of the lives he'd taken to protect the Fey. Even the shei'dalins only touched him when they needed to heal wounds he gained in battle. Yet this child, this incredible child whose soul called a tairen's, had reached out to touch him and sent a flood of healing warmth and love so strong that it burned straight through the block of black ice that encased what remained of his gentle Fey emotions. (92-93)

Despite her magic touch, Ellie denies her special powers again and again and again and made me want to reach into the book and shake her. And while I like alpha heroes, Rain is an overbearing jerk too often. He's a king not because he has the diplomatic and strategic skills, but because he can shape-shift and burn down a village with his breath.

So, why did I finish book besides it being a condition of getting the ARC? Well...

• The world building, as I mentioned at the beginning, is well thought out.

• The secondary characters are fleshed out and serve purpose.

• The plot, predictable as it might be, is intricate and moves quickly.

• The villains, other than the cartoony spurned former suitor, are unapologetically evil and power hungry and, most importantly, have the smarts to potentially pull off their maniacal plot.

• The prose is tight and quite lovely in places.

• And, even though I'm not a fan of soul mates, truemates, bondmates, bloodmates, breedmates, or any other kind of mates because it seems like an excuse for characters to instantly fall in love and jump each other's bones because it's destiny, it's meant to be--and the sex will be magical and somehow save the world, it works for me in this book because Ellie and Rain have to work to form the truemate bond. It's not instantaneous. They have to learn to accept each other on different levels for the bond to be formed, and it's a nice change from the paranormal/fantasy romance norm.

Overall, this book is a B- for me. The good outweighed the bad and made me want to read the next book in the series, where "an epic battle [is] fast approaching and only united could [Ellie and Rain] hope to turn back the armies of darkness."

"Armies of darkness"? Really? Should Bruce Campbell and his chainsaw be called for help?

And other unintentional humor: umagi, a term Wilson uses for someone who is mind-controlled by the evil Mages from Eld, made me giggle, especially during the villian sex scene, because if you change the m to an n, you have the Japanese word for eel.

Another Year, Another Gray Hair

I woke up this morning and rolled over in bed to snuggle with my hubby. It’s one of my favorite things to do. I love waking up in the morning. Everything is still so new, the day has yet to take shape, and anything is possible.

Today is even more special. I’m forty-three today and plan to celebrate each and every single year I’ve lived. I’ve never been one of those women who worry about the turn of the calendar. Instead, I take each and every year as the precious gift it is.

When you reach a certain age—which is different for each person—you realize that you’re no longer concerned with what other people think. Not that you’re inconsiderate, you’re just secure in who you are as a person. I no longer worry so much about appearing foolish. I’m forty-three years old, I’ve already appeared foolish more times than I can count. What’s one more time?

The added bonus of getting older is being able to put the past years into perspective. When you reach your forties, you realize just how much darn energy you had when you were twenty. LOL But, you also have the wisdom to know that you’ve got a lot more energy now than you will when you hit your sixties. It’s all in how you look at things.

Most of us by the time we hit forty have had several careers. That’s a plus. You know that you can start over again if you have too. After all, you’ve done it before and survived. There is freedom in that. I spent almost twenty years in retail management before embarking on my writing career. It’s fun and exciting and some days downright scary. But if it all ended tomorrow, I’d at least be able to say I did it. And as you get older that becomes much more important.

So, what do I want for my birthday? Hmmm, here is what I’d like the next year to bring.

I’d like to get healthier this year. I’ve slacked off on the exercise and put on a few pounds the past few years. I’d like to take better care of me. Think of it as maintenance, after all, I want to be around to celebrate quite a few more birthdays.

I’d like to take a few more risks, not play it safe. After all, I’ve been through some of the toughest things a person can ever go through and I’ve survived. So what else is there to be afraid of? I’d like to do a few more things on my “life list of things to do.”

I’d also like to find more balance in my life. Work has taken over my life in the past few years, so it’s time to even things out and have more fun.

I treat every day as if it’s special, because it is. You never know when this amazing ride called life will come to an end. I think about my father, who was terminally ill when he turned forty-three and dead by the time he was forty-five. He died young, but he lived well, in many ways better than I am living.

This year I want to have as much fun as possible and not sweat the small stuff. ‘Cause in the end, most of it doesn’t really matter. It is people and relationships that matter—the connection you have with yourself and with others.

I plan to eat dessert first, do more things that bring me joy, and love myself for exactly the person I am. Not much when you think about it, but when you really stop and think about it, it’s everything.

New Print Book and New Contest!

The wait is finally over!

*

Summersville Heat, which contains the first two books in the Summersville Secrets series, Annabelle Lee and Heat Wave, is now available in PRINT!

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Feel the HEAT and check it out today!

*

Also...

The holiday season is inching closer, and to celebrate, I'm giving away a PRINT copy of White Hot Holidays Volume 3, which features my Ellora's Cave Christmas Quickie, JESSAMYN'S CHRISTMAS GIFT.

If you'd like a chance to win, go to my website and click on the “contests” page for details!

Web Design for Authors: The Quick and Dirty Guide, Part 3 of 3

ATTENTION: Bad design can kill!

And 2 tips and tricks I missed last week:

1. Have a custom error page so you can redirect users to your home page or report a dead link.
2. Keep in mind users are increasingly using handheld devices to surf the Internet. Design with small screens in mind: less is more!

----------------------------------

Now, onto today's topic...

PC World ranked MySpace as the number 1 worst web site.

When I first stumbled onto MySpace, I looked, I shuddered, I clicked away. Animated graphics, music, textured backgrounds, illegible fonts, crazy colors, and countless other violations. MySpace pushed web design back a good decade.

But wait! Your MySpace page doesn't have to follow the trend. Please stop the madness. Pages like this one hurts! Read Parts 1 and 2. And apply the guidelines to your space because good design is for everyone.

So, what's below? A break down of the MySpace style codes that can help you customize your page. (Example shown is from PARTS of Ann Bruce's space.)

Breaking Down MySpace

The following should be placed within STYLE tags.

NOTE FROM ANN: Some "friends" paste in really large images in their comments, which can take up your entire page, so I included the following to make the images smaller.

/* RESIZE COMMENTS IMAGES */
td.text td.text table table table td a img {
width:80px;
}

td.text td.text table table table td div img {
width:80px;
}

td.text td.text table table td img {
width:50px;
max-width:80px;
width:auto;
}

td.text td.text table table td div img {
width:80px;
}

* html td.text td.text table table td img {
width:80px;
}

* html td.text td.text table table td a img {
width:80px;
}

* html td.text td.text table table td div img {
width:80px;
}
/* END RESIZE COMMENTS IMAGES */


NOTE FROM ANN: This is a background image that I allow to tile, but I don't allow it to move when users scroll down the page.

/* STATIC, TILING BACKGROUND IMAGE */
body{
background-color:BDB76B;
background-image:url('http://image.jpg');
background-attachment:fixed;
background-position:bottom left;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
border-color:F5F5DC;
border-width:10px;
border-style:double;
}
/* END STATIC, NON-TILING BACKGROUND IMAGE */


NOTE FROM ANN: Everything after this point is pretty self-explanatory.

/* AFFECTS ALL TABLES ON PAGE */
table, tr, td {
background-color:transparent;
border:none;
border-width:0;
}

/* MAIN TABLES CONTAINING EVERYTHING (ALL TEXT, ETC.)*/
table table table{
border-style:double;
border-width:10px;
border-color: F5F5DC;
background-color:transparent;
}

/* MAIN TABLE TEXT THROUGHOUT MOST OF PROFILE */
table table table td{
background-color:FFFFFF;
filter:alpha(opacity=100);
..-opacity:100;
opacity:100;
-khtml-opacity:100;
}

/* TEXT ON ALL TABLES */
table, tr, td, li, p, div {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000000;
font-size:12px;
}

/* BLOG HEADER */
.btext {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
}

/* DATES IN COMMENTS AREA */
.blacktext10 {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
}

/* TEXT "ABOUT ME" "FRIENDS SPACE" "FRIENDS COMMENTS" */
.orangetext15 {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
}

/* DISPLAYING "XX" OF "XX" COMMENTS */
.redtext {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
}

/* YOUR NAME */
.nametext {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
}

/* TEXT HEADERS ON LEFT SIDE */
.whitetext12 {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
font-size:12px;
font-weight:bold;
}

/* TEXT IN EXTENDED NETWORK */
.blacktext12 {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000000;
font-size:12px;
}

/* LABELS ON LEFT (GENERAL, STATUS, ETC.) */
.lightbluetext8 {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000000;
font-size:12px;
}

/* XX HAS "XX" FRIENDS */
.redbtext {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000000;
font-size:12px;
}

/* TEXT NEXT TO DEFAULT PIC */
.text {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000000;
font-size:12px;
font-weight:bold;
}

/* REMOVE BORDERS FROM HYPERLINKED IMAGES */
a img {border: none; }

/* ALL LINKS */
a:link {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000080;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a:active {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000080;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a:visited {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000080;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a:hover {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color: FF0000;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}
/* END ALL LINKS */

/* REDLINK FOR "VIEW ALL OF XX’S FRIENDS" */
a.redlink:link {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000080;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.redlink:active {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:000080;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.redlink:visited {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:333333;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.redlink:hover {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color: FF0000;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}
/* END REDLINK FOR WITHIN FRIENDS SPACE TO VIEW ALL FRIENDS */

/* NAVIGATION BAR LINKS (HOME, BROWSE, SEARCH, ETC.) */
a.navbar:link {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color:BDB76B;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.navbar:active {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color: BDB76B;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.navbar:visited {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color: BDB76B;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}

a.navbar:hover {
font-family:helvetica, arial, tahoma, verdana;
color: 000000;
text-decoration:underline;
font-size:12px;
}
/* END NAVIGATION BAR LINKS (HOME, BROWSE, SEARCH, ETC.) */

/* LINKS AT BOTTOM OF PAGE (ABOUT, FAQ, ETC.) */
u {
color: BDB76B;
font-weight:normal;
}


NOTE FROM ANN: When replacing the default images, try to make sure your image is the same size as the default. If you make an image that's too big or too small and then force it to the correct size using the WIDTH and HEIGHT functions, the images usually won't be crisp.

/* REPLACE EXTENDED NETWORK WITH IMAGE (MAIN BANNER)*/
span.blacktext12 {
visibility:visible ;
background-color:transparent;
background-image:url('http://image.jpg');
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position:center center;
font-size:0px;
letter-spacing:-0.5px;
width:435px;
height:100px;
display:block ;
}

span.blacktext12 img {
display:none;
}

body, html {
visibility:visible ;
display:block
}
/* END REPLACE EXTENDED NETWORK WITH IMAGE */

/* REPLACE CONTACTS WITH IMAGE */
.contactTable {
width:300px!important;
height:150px!important;
padding:0px!important;
background-image:url('http://image.jpg');
background-attachment:scroll;
background-position:center center;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-color:transparent;
}

.contactTable table, table.contactTable td {
padding:0px;
border:0px;
background-color:transparent;
background-image:none;
}

.contactTable a img {
visibility:hidden;
border:0px;
}

.contactTable a {
display:block;
height:28px;
width:115px;
}

.contactTable .text {
font-size:1px;
}

.contactTable .text, .contactTable a, .contactTable img {
filter:none;
}

.contactTable .whitetext12 {
display:none;
}
/* END REPLACE CONTACTS WITH IMAGE */

/* REPLACE MYSPACE URL WITH IMAGE */
/* URL TEXT */
div, strong {
color:FFFFFF;
}

table table table table div strong {
display:block;
position:relative;
font-size:0px;
margin: -11px -1px -26px -1px;
background-repeat:no-repeat;
background-position: center center;
background-image:url(http://image.jpg);
height:55px;
width:300px;
color:FFFFFF;
background-color:FFFFFF;
}
/* END REPLACE MYSPACE URL WITH IMAGE */

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That's it. I'm done. Go forth and design well, young grasshoppers.

Thirteen things I’m looking forward to as the holidays approach:

(No, this isn't any kind of official Thursday Thirteen thing, but it inspired me.)

1. Thanksgiving! It’s a special time for me, a wonderfully warm, quiet, reflective holiday, even when the house becomes a zoo with all the visiting family and the refrigerator is so crammed with leftovers you have to be careful opening the door.

2. Family. I don’t get enough time with my family. Even though my oldest daughter and her family live in the same city, our busy everyday lives mean we don’t see each other often enough. And my other two live in Washington, DC and Oxford, England. My son and daughter-in-law won’t be coming from England this year (they’ll be going to her family’s home in Kent), but my youngest daughter will be and I never get to see enough of her either. Plus we often visit or are visited by aunts, uncles, cousins and others we don’t see very often.

3. Church Services. There’s a warmth and joy about the Advent and Christmas services that moves me.

4. Baking cookies. I’m not much of a cook but I do love baking cookies. I like it even more when my grandchildren help. Yes, really. I love eating the cookies, too—way too much.

5. The Music (Part A) – Christmas Carols, Trans-Siberian Orchestra…. Never heard Christmas Eve Sarajevo? YouTube has several versions of it:

From a movie TSO produced (I’m not wild about the visuals on this but it’s the best musically): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iY4Tom6-wM

A Live version (A TSO concert is an unbelievable experience, but it doesn’t translate well in recording, so it’s hard to hear the music or words.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vHRwmFc-1o

A house lights rendition. Hey, it worked well with Wizard in Winter, so why not?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2LtOVBHgoY
(Oddly the house lights version captures the spirit of the music surprisingly well!)

6. The Music (Part B) The ubiquitous novelty songs:

This is my favorite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6Ht0KXpZ6c (Jeff Foxworthy’s words, but I love the way this other guy sings this.)

And Christmas just wouldn’t be complete without Robert Earl Keen’s Merry Christmas from the Family:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7W5ygktEw4


7. Lights. My neighborhood does an unusual and spectacular display during the Christmas season. Called lighted tree balls… They’re balls made from chicken wire woven with strings of lights and then hung high in the trees. Hundreds of homes in our neighborhoods do this and it turns the place into a fantasyland. They don’t photograph well, but this video actually came out quite well and gives you some idea of what it’s like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gyym3DWvOBk

And yes, the display turns our normally quiet neighborhood into a traffic nightmare.

8. The Aromas. I’m especially fond of these because until I had surgery on my nose about ten years ago, I had very little sense of smell. I still don’t have the most super-sensitive nose, but I can now smell the aroma of pine greenery and baking cookies and harvest-scented candles.

9. Hot spiced cider. I don’t have a specific recipe. I just put about four cups of cider in a pan, throw in a broken cinnamon stick, sprinkle on a bit of Allpsice, Nutmeg, and ground Cloves, then heat and let it simmer gently until it smells so good you can’t wait another minute to sip it. For a bit of added punch, pour in a jigger or two of vodka.

10. The Movies and TV shows. But not It’s a Wonderful Life. Eeek. Can’t stand it. Sorry.
Give me The Muppet’s Christmas Carol (or almost any variation of the story), Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday Inn, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (the animated TV version, not the awful movie), Charlie Brown’s Christmas, even The Nightmare Before Christmas. Yeah, I’m weird that way.

11. Football, mostly the pro variety. It gets more exciting as the season draws to a close.

12. Peppermint bark. I love the stuff and have to stock up since it’s generally not available any other time of year.

13. The Release on December 13 of my novella, A Vampire's Christmas Carol, in the anthology BENEATH A CHRISTMAS MOON, Cerridwen Press.

What are you looking forward to during the holidays?

-- Karen McCullough

I'm way too happy

Veterans: Nothing to Lose released yesterday from Loose Id.

You ever have a story where the words flow like butter melting? And everyone who reads it, says, "Wow! That's hot."? That's Nothing to Lose.

I fell in love with my tortured hero, Richard *dreamy sigh*. And of course Bryan *2nd dreamy sigh*. And I'd love to be friends with Niki.

Not only was it a fun story to write, I got the chance to work with Bobby Michaels, Liz Andrews, and Rachel Bo, connecting all four novel(llas) in the series. It's a loose connection, but I'm so awed I got to work with these three very talented writers. Rachel Bo is a name I heard when I first discovered writing erotic romance. Liz Andrews is another that I've heard over my time in the industry. And Bobby Michaels writes hot m/m, including the Jock Dorm series.

Have I gushed enough? LOL. Yes, I'm very excited about this release. I'm always excited to see one of my babies come to fruition. But this one is rather special.

Mechele Armstrong aka Lany of Melany Logen