by Susan McBride
Oh, boy, it’s bee
n a very interesting three weeks since The Cougar Club came out. I was tempted at first to write about a few less than pleasant incidents that completely blind-sided me (let’s just say, the word “Cougar” inspires, er, different reactions in different people). But then I remembered my New Year’s resolution to stay focused on the positive and shove the negative into the garbage like wilted spinach. So I’ll babble instead about upbeat stuff, like friendship (which is what The Cougar Club is about after all) and good news.
I used to block off at least three months after a book’s release to do promotion. I would try to hit every book festival, convention, and writer’s conference within flying distance. In between the weekends I was gone, I’d schedule stock signings, school talks, library events, book club discussions, and anything else I could logically work into my schedule. But I was single then, and now I’m married (two years next Wednesday–yeeha!). I hate leaving home. I don’t want to go anywhere that Ed can’t go. So with Cougar, I tried very hard to stick around St. Louis. Luckily, the local TV stations think the word “Cougar” is hot and wanted me on to talk about my book and about the Cougar phenomenon in general (like I’m an expert, accidental Cougar that I am!). It’s been great doing BlogTalkRadio from home and working a virtual book tour from the comfort of my own computer. I only had to drive across town a bit to tape a podcast for LipsticknLaundry, and I’ll head out for stock signings next week, which gives me a chance to say “thank you” to area booksellers who’ve been so great supporting me, no matter what genre I’m writing.
It’s helped a lot, too, dreaming up events where I’m not going solo. I can only take myself babbling about writing and the book biz for so long before I get tired of my own stories (is anyone ever tempted to make things up so they sound more exciting? Just curious!). Two of four scheduled Cougar gigs thankfully included buddies, like the panel at the McClay Road Library in St. Charles with Angie Fox, Bobbi Smith, and Sharon Shinn. The best part of getting a bunch of girls (who get along!) together is having a fun conversation that leads in all kinds of unexpected directions.
This past Wednesday, Sharon and I did a “Girls’ Night Out” event at the St. Louis County Library, and it was a hoot. I’ve known Sharon for four or five years, and we’ve talked about our writing over many lunches and emails. But it was remarkably funny and spontaneous discussing books and the publishing biz in front of an audience and asking each other questions we’d never asked before. For instance, what type of books wouldn’t we ever want to write? F
or me, it was science fiction or fantasy where I have to totally create my own worlds, or base a story on some myth or legend that so many other people know about (and probably know better than I). For Sharon it was the opposite: writing fiction completely set in real-life. She remarked that she doesn’t want people telling her all the things she got wrong. Ah, good point!
It’s aweseome, too, when things you hadn’t expected to work out actually happen. Growing accustomed to disappointment in the book biz is part of the game, I’d guess, for many of us who have high aspirations for our literary babies and take all the “mights” and “coulds” to heart. So I have to pinch myself this time around, knowing that one arrow hit its mark (no pun intended!). Target selected The Cougar Club as a Bookmarked Breakout Title and they’ve got it stocked on (most) store shelves in a special promotion from Valentine’s Day through April 11. I don’t think my books have ever been in Target stores before (online, yes, in-store, no) so this is a big deal for me. Needless to say, I was giddy when I heard Cougar would be part of this program. So today, not only did my mom go checking our local Target’s shelves (her report: they had two left, and she bought one!), but my mother-in-law went of her own accord sometime after and noted there was only one copy left. Both asked the associates when they’d get more in and were reassured it would be a matter of days. I heart my moms!
Another cool bit of news that came to pass: the Midwest Booksellers Association selected Cougar as a February Midwest Connections Pick. I’ll be attending an author reception during their March meeting in St. Louis, and I can’t wait. Indie bookstores were the first to support me with my mysteries, and I love supporting them back. Besides, there’s nothing better than hanging out with a bunch of booksellers. They might have to pry me out of there with a crowbar before the night is over.
Other high notes for me these past three weeks are more personal. For the kindly chums who calmed me down after my frantic emails when I spotted anti-Cougar rants online, you rock. And thank you, too, for sharing your stories about less-than-stellar experiences of the rabid kind. Not only did they make me feel better, they also made me laugh. Laughing instead of crying is a very good thing, indeed.
For those of you who invited me to guest blog or to inaugurate a wonderful new site (shout out for Books on the House!), you made my day(s)! Aw, gosh, now I’m sounding like a gushing actress accepting her Academy Award. So I’ll stop before you start barfing.
Still, all this positivity has me grinning like a fool, the icky stuff forgotten (or, at least, banished to the trash can with that wilted spinach). There are so many nice people out there that it’s a shame when we let any bad stuff stick in our craw (where is the craw exactly?). So think about ways friends have helped you out lately–and little things definitely count–and don’t let the ickies get you down, okay? Now go out there and have a great weekend!
Trying Something Daring
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangGranted, that’s much cheaper than most other e-books, but I thought it was a good way to acquaint readers with the police officers, their wives and families who inhabit the California beach town of Rocky Bluff. Maybe reading this book would convince them to buy the others in the series.
Will it work? I have no idea, but after doing a bit of promoting about the low price for Kindle owners, I’ve already received e-mails from people I know who have downloaded it.
Of course, the trade paperback version the publisher and I will be selling at its regular price of $12.95.
Promotion for that will be what I’ve always done: book launch (2 this time in separate towns), a blog tour in March, library talks, book and craft fairs, mystery and writers conferences and conventions. Of course I’ll promote on Facebook and Twitter and other social networks.
I’m always ready to try something new, after all I keep writing these books, I’d like more people to read them.
Marilyn who also writes as F. M. Meredith
http://fictionforyou.com
Call Me Old-Fashioned
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangI guess Mazel Tovs are in order. Nicole Richie announced on The Letterman Show that after two kids together, she and Joel Madden have decided to tie the knot.
Marriage-phobia to me is weird. You get married, and if you don’t like it, you get divorced. I’d like for folks to take it a little more seriously than Brittany Spears first Vegas 25-hour nuptials, but assuming no children are involved, it’s paperwork.
I can even understand those couples who take a principled, anti Prop-8 stand and declare “we’re not getting married until all couples have that choice.”
Where I get confused are those men and women who feel like the commitment to each other is harder than a commitment to a kid(s). Frankly, without children, you never have to see each other again. Once you have a baby, if you intend to be an involved parent, you’re going to be seeing a lot of that other person for the rest of your life. And if you really are committed to being a good parent, that means not bad-mouthing your ex- no matter what a jerk he/she may be. Are you listening Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin? How about you Sherri Shepherd? Putting kids in the middle is always, always wrong – period.
Sean Combs, of Puff Daddy/P Diddy/Diddy fame, delayed marriage until “the time is right.” He made that declaration while his long-time girlfriend, Kim Porter, was pregnant with twins. As he carefully explained, “I have to be ready to get married.” So, in the end, Kim and he split, and he’s the father to five kids by three different women – but doesn’t have a divorce paper in his safety deposit box. Now maybe he’ll get the Father of the Year award, but I have to wonder about anyone who gives his sixteen year old son a $360,000 car as a birthday gift. Actually, I’ve got questions for anyone who gives a car of any vintage or price to a 16-year-old. Maybe he didn’t want the kid to practice on his Rolls?
But the point is, parenting is more than money – although obviously, I expect all parents to financially support their minor children. I’m not even going to say Bravo, Sean, for working out child support arrangements with all the mothers. He’s supposed to do that.
Nor am I suggesting that having kids precludes divorce if the marriage is unworkable or unfixable. (I understand that for gay couples, marriage, and therefore divorce, is not yet an option is most states). But a clear, strong commitment between parents pre-kids would certainly be on my list of prerequisites prior to deciding to have kids. If nothing else, it tells your children that commitment to another person is not only possible, but wonderful.
But in the meantime, is Nicole registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond?
Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David
Murder Takes the Cake by Evelyn David
Murder Off the Books by Evelyn David
www.evelyndavid.com
Building a Community of Readers
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangA writer’s goal is for her book to be discovered and loved by readers.
A reader’s goal is to discover and love new books and authors.
But in the world of publishing, it can be tricky to achieve these goals. There aren’t a lot of publishing dollars spent on marketing an author or promoting her book, particularly if you’re not already a bestseller (read: bread and butter for the publisher). Sure, a few lucky writers are anointed and co-op, advertising, and other promotion happens at the publisher’s expense, but by and large, it’s up to authors to promote their own books, and to try to reach their potential audience.
This is a challenge for authors, no matter the genre we write in. Social networking is a whole new world, allowing for exposure in a brand new way. Twitter, Facebook, Stumble, Digg, and so many more let you connect and network with strangers who may be potential readers.
But still, it’s hard.
I’m making yet another dent in the fabric of the World Wide Web. This last Monday, I launched Books on the House and Books on the House for Kids and Teens. These two sites are all about building a community of readers. The goal is to bring great books to readers, and to help readers discover great books.
Every Monday, a new book and author are featured. There are video interviews (this week, Jane Kurtz talks about her upbringing in Ethiopia, her passion: Ethiopia Reads, and her new books, Lanie and Lanie’s Real Adventures, the 2010 American Girl Doll Lanie Holland books; 6 copies of these books will be given away Monday!), Q & As with the authors, and more. Enter each week to win. That’s all there is to it! What better way is there for a reader to discover a new-to-them -author, and what a great way for a writer to gain exposure for their book.
Our own Susan McBride is the inaugural author on Books on the House! 3 copies of The Cougar Club will be given away on Monday. Her YouTube interview is posted, as well as a Q & A in which she lets us in on some exciting news she has.
I’m so excited about Books on the House and Books on the House for Kids and Teens and the potential for the sites to really help build a community of readers. We have some fabulous authors and books lined up including:
Alexandra Bullen with Wish
NY Times Bestseller Allison Brennan with Original Sin
NY Times Bestseller Jane Yolen with her new graphic novel
Mystery Writer Jennie Bentley
NY Times Bestseller Brenda Novak
and so many more!
Check out Books on the House and Books on the House for Kids and Teens. Tweet about it! Spread the word! Help build our community of readers.
=) Misa
One (Wo)Man’s Junk…
/in Uncategorized/by Stiletto GangI got a call from my friend, Tina, about a week ago. She reported that on her way back from the grocery store, she observed an extended family cleaning out a small, tidy house on a main corner in our town. The former inhabitant, a lovely woman of about 90 or so, had passed away right around Christmas. We surmised that the family was getting ready to put the house on the market and was in the process of discarding sixty or more years of the woman’s belongings.
Tina, never one to pass up another’s treasures, or what some of us call “junk,” screeched to a halt in front of the house and asked the family if the contents of the house, which they were putting at the curb, were hers for the taking. They assured her they were; everything inside the house was being thrown out, no ifs, ands, or buts. They were keeping nothing from the home or from the woman’s personal possessions. Tina opened her trunk and threw in two lamps, a recliner, a couple of end tables, and two big, black plastic bags filled with jewelry. She donated the furniture to our local library for the new teen room that is being constructed. And when she got home, she called me to tell me what she had found. I raced over to see what she had claimed.
On her dining room table were the personal possessions of a woman who clearly liked jewelry and took pride in her appearance. Tina separated a few pieces out and pointed out the fine work on two rings, in particular. The two of us went through years and years of costume jewelry, some art deco pieces, shoe clips, dangling earrings, some beautiful necklaces, and two sets of pearls which we thought may be real, but couldn’t be sure since neither of us own a real strand of pearls. Tina held up a little box and her eyes filled with tears. “And this is why I couldn’t bear to see the stuff at the curb,” she said, opening the box. Inside was a volunteer pin from the local hospital where I had given birth to both of my children. “I couldn’t let them throw this out.”
I took a couple of funky necklaces which I need to bathe in jewelry cleaner, as well as a giant Peace sign on a linked chain for my daughter. Tina set about picking out the pieces that she would take apart and glue to a plain simple frame, which is a craft she excels at, not to mention, enjoys tremendously. We both stared at the cache on the dining room table and were sad when we thought about ninety or so years ending up at the curb to be picked up with the regular trash. It just didn’t seem right.
We both went on our merry ways and I forgot about the jewelry until Tina called me a few days later. She works right around the corner from the famed New York City jewelry district, where Jim bought my engagement ring and wedding band two decades ago. She reported that she brought all of the jewelry that she thought might be worth something to her favorite and most trusted jeweler. He examined everything, pronounced a few pieces to be platinum, one an emerald, and the two strands of pearls to be real. He handed her a sizable wad of cash and sent her on her way, assuring her that he would clean and reset a few pieces and then offer them up for sale.
Tina went back to her office, put a call into our local caring committee which services the elderly, sick, homebound and poor in our little Village and told them that they could expect a check in the coming days. She asked that the lady whose jewelry she had sold—whose identity we put together after a little detective work and found out was Mrs. C—be named as the donator of the money. We both felt better knowing that if her family didn’t want her things, the value of them would live on in supporting a good cause right here, a place she lived for most of her adult life.
I thought about all of the things I’ve collected over a lifetime half as long as Mrs. C’s and wondered what would happen to them after I’ve gone. Would my life be reduced to a couple of black plastic garbage bags filled with my high school ring, my diamond stud earrings, and some costume jewelry that I can’t part with at this point in time? I hope not. I don’t know why Mrs. C’s family didn’t have the patience to sort through her belongings; perhaps they had a good reason. But thanks to the eagle eye of my good friend and collector, Tina, Mrs. C’s legacy will be in the good work that can be done with the cash her treasures produced.
Maggie Barbieri
I’m Late, I’m Late, I’m Late to a Very Important Date
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangGoodness, I’m seldom late to anything, in fact I’m usually early. My husband is the late one.
I thought I’d already written a blog for today and had it waiting in line. Wrong. I received a reminder from one of my fellow bloggers.
I love writing blogs with this bunch of gals–they make me feel so young. I’m probably thirty years older than most of them. I was a kid during World War II, married the cute sailor I met on a blind date the same year I graduated from high school, we raised five children, and I led a Camp Fire group for ten years–until they graduated from high school.
Through the years, I had various jobs. When the kids were little, I worked as a telephone operator off and on. Hubby, a career Seabee, was gone as much as he was home. When he finally retired, I went to work part time as a teacher in a pre-school for kids with developmental disabilities and began college.
Three of our children married, grandkids began arriving.
Hubby wanted to move to a smaller town and we found the perfect place, the foothills of the Sierra. We purchased a licensed residential facility for developmentally disabled women, moved in and took over. (A much more complicated process than that.)
Though I’d been writing all along, I didn’t get published until the first year that we lived in our new place. After our ladies left for work, I wrote for about three hours–and as the years passed, more books were published.
We had our facility for over twenty years and finally decided it was time to retire.
Now I’m writing nearly full time–though life interferes at times.
That’s just a quick overview–but you can see I’ve been on this planet much longer than the other members of the Stiletto Gang. I love them all, and they certainly brighten my life and I bet they do yours too.
Marilyn
http://fictionforyou.com/
Very Taxing
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangOh, I always itemized. But my “items” were few and simple – mortgage interest, property taxes, interest income and a couple of other things. Click a few keys, hit print, then send and my refund would arrived in 2 to 3 weeks.
Now I have a “home office.” I have to sort through a drawer-full of crumpled receipts. Promotion expenses are the worst – I have receipts for tiny rubber ducks (they were wedding ducks used in the promotion of Murder Takes the Cake). I also have actual “cake” receipts. My co-author and I ran a promotion last summer for librarians – “Have Your Cake & Eat It Too.” Very successful, if expensive. We sent Smith Island Cakes to a half dozen very happy librarians.
There were also flyers and bookmarks. Not cheap, but deductable. And the postage to mail all those flyers and bookmarks, yep I’ve got piles of those receipts. Just need to find my calculator and total them up.
And books. Note to the public and authors’ relatives – authors at small publishing houses (and many large ones too) don’t get a lot of free authors’ copies of their novel. So when a reviewer needs a copy or a charity wants to raffle off an autographed copy, it’s more likely than not, the book being supplied is one the author purchased. The costs of those promotional copies also get itemized.
I attended the Love Is Murder Conference in Chicago last February. I drove so there’s a rental car receipt in that file drawer somewhere, along with the hotel receipts. And gas receipts. Note to self – include the fuel costs from Oklahoma to the Windy City.
What’s next? Website hosting fees? Nope, my co-author paid for that. I paid for the Constant Contact newsletter service. I’ve got those receipts in my desk drawer, along with copies of my annual dues payments to Sisters In Crime and Romance Writers of America (don’t ask – at some point I was considering writing romantic suspense).
Then there’s the toner costs, paper costs, posters, poster frames, a folding table and two folding chairs for book signings, and the cost of some netting material to stuff those little yellow rubber ducks into.
Since authors usually only get two royalty statements a year, adding up the income is easy. I’m sorry to say I don’t even need a calculator for that.
Sigh. Nothing like tax time to discourage an author.
Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David
Happy Valentine’s Day
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangViolets are blue
Thanks, Stiletto Gang readers,
for being so true!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love,
The Stiletto Gang
Do What You Love & Love What You Do
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto Gangby Lena Austin
Recently, I went to my critique partners with a problem. Sales were down, and my reviews were less than stellar. I believed this was directly related to the fact that I no longer enjoyed what I wrote. Frankly, I was sick of the stories I’d been telling. So much so I think my disgust showed in the writing.
Every word was pulled out of me like a reluctant tarpon from the sea, fighting every inch of the way. Writing had become mechanical, boring and a chore. I found myself resenting the obligation to sit down and write, knowing another deadline approached. I missed those glorious days when I sat at my keyboard with joy and tore pieces of my soul out to place on paper without a care in the world. I longed to find that piece of me I’d lost.
Perhaps some blame might be attributed to my anal-retentive attempts at perfection: Stimulus-reaction-perception-emotion-response, check the balance, check for passive, what’s the next GMC step in relation to the plot points, ad infinitum ad nauseum. Perhaps I’d gone too far, and stopped writing books I enjoyed in favor of the elusive goal of perfection. I may have come close to mathematically reconstructing the flower while missing the beauty of its flaws. Where was the fun in writing if I didn’t enjoy the books I wrote?
The last statement was so profound to me that I pondered the implications most of a day. Did I laugh insanely and toss my plots to the winds in shreds? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not that strong. LOL! What I did was stop obsessing and let the characters speak. I listened to the small, quiet muse and found a new voice inside.
Her name was Madge Majesty, and she demanded that I step outside my usual genres and write a mystery. For months, I read and studied what made mysteries so intriguing. Surprisingly enough, I found myself hooked. Madge and her genre became a passion. I loved my story again!
I learned a lot from Madge and her friends. I hope to return to her world someday, and help her solve another crime.
________________
Lena Austin
http://www.lenaaustin.com/
Note: Lena Austin’s books are published by Changeling Press E-Books. Changeling Press E-Books are for sale to adults only due to sexually explicit scenes and adult language.
Writing blog: http://depravedduchess.blogspot.com/
Recipe and Pagan blog: http://third-infinity.blogspot.com/
Low Carb Diet blog: http://fatfrogdiary.blogspot.com/
In Love with Austen
/in Uncategorized/by The Stiletto GangThanks to Susan and everyone here at the Stiletto Gang for letting me visit today. Happy (early) Valentine’s Day, too!!
My debut novel, ACCORDING TO JANE, is the story of a modern young woman who has the ghost of Jane Austen in her head, giving her dating advice. The number one question I’ve been asked since the book came out this past fall is: “Why Austen? What is it with everyone choosing HER to write about lately?!”
Well, the short answer is that for me, anyway, Austen-love was in no way a recent phenomenon. I was first given PRIDE AND PREJUDICE as a 14-year-old high-schooler in English class, and I raced through the novel way ahead of the reading assignments. I loved both the story and Austen’s writing style immediately. She was so insightful about the way human beings thought and acted. Her characters were fascinatingly flawed, multidimensional and very real to me, and their stories timeless and universal. Reading Austen’s work instantaneously changed the way I perceived the behavior of everyone around me, and I spent the rest of freshman year (and much of the 1980s) trying to figure out which Austen character each of my friends and family members most resembled. I, of course, was the beloved and witty Elizabeth Bennet–at least in my imagination–LOL!
Even years later, as a teacher, when I found myself encountering difficult administrators, staff members or parents, it helped me to think of what Jane might have said about them. How she would have instructed her most heroic characters to deal with these frustrating individuals. So, my love and appreciation for the author started decades before any kind of zombie/sea-monster/vampire craze and it even pre-dated the famous Colin-Firth-as-Mr.-Darcy version of the P&P film!! (Although, who wouldn’t be inspired by seeing him all wet from jumping in lake, hmm?!)
I also spent a fair amount of time during my dating years thinking about how beneficial it would be to get romantic advice from such a wise and perceptive woman like Miss Austen, not to mention one who was a respected author and the person who’d written my all-time favorite love story. So when, as an aspiring writer myself, someone asked me which classic author I’d most want to borrow a few plot points from, I thought first of Jane. I wasn’t a historical writer by any stretch of the imagination, so I found myself wondering what a modern girl’s P&P experience might be like… What would Jane have advised a teen (one who was sort of like me or my friends) to do in tricky situations if, let’s say, she were witnessing prom night maneuverings or an evening at a local pick-up bar.
Since I was thinking about this and writing the first draft of the story in 2004, there were only two examples of modern Austen re-imaginings that I’d seen way back then: “Bridget Jones’s Diary” (the film and the novel) and “Clueless” (the film). Those were both certainly influences–and I loved them!–but films like “The Jane Austen Book Club” and wild novel spinoffs like PRIDE & PREJUDICE & ZOMBIES had yet to be released. And, though I’d read some Regency continuations, I hadn’t come across anything else in the contemporary realm back then, even if it might have been available.
I suspect that degree of unawareness wouldn’t be possible now. With so many sequels and variations on Austen-related books and so very many movie remakes, it would be incredibly difficult to avoid them these days. Had I known just how many writers were working on something Austen-esque during the time I was writing mine, I might’ve been too overwhelmed or intimidated to continue. I didn’t even know that Austen fan fiction existed until after my book was under contract–and there are thousands of avid fans writing it!
For someone like me who can’t get enough of Austen, though, being a reader and a movie-goer during this current boom of Jane books and films has been awesome. I think interest in her work reached a tipping point and crashed into the mainstream, largely because of the attention the stories got onscreen. With actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley and many others playing leading Austen heroines, and Anne Hathaway playing “Jane” herself in “Becoming Jane”–not to mention the allure of good-looking actors like Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Matthew MacFayden, Jonny Lee Miller, etc. jumping in to take on the roles of the heartthrobs–it’s not surprising that Austen’s characters started to appeal to a wider audience.
So, I guess that’s my longwinded way of saying that even though I had no idea there would someday be such a huge Austen craze, I’m still very glad to be a tiny part of it!
My next book, though, takes a different women’s fiction turn and doesn’t follow any of the Austen novels. It comes out on October 1st and is called FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE. It’s a modern fairy tale about three very different forty-something women, their three very different marriages and what happens a decade or two after the “happily ever after”…
And, because Susan’s my friend and the most excellent author of THE COUGAR CLUB, I’ll add that there’s one hot cougar-ish scene in my upcoming book that I had a blast writing!! My husband rolls his eyes whenever I talk about this male character, but I find the guy to be very charming (as figments of the imagination often are) and I wish I could meet him in real life. Plus, unlike my (pretty wonderful) husband, my hot fictional man COOKS! For me, this is an element of fantasy that I’d love to see more of in reality–LOL! What about you all? Do any of you have a fantasy trait like that? One you wish your mate would surprise you with?? If so, do tell!
May you all have a fun and romantic Valentine’s weekend. Thanks again for letting me spend a little time with all of you ;-).
Marilyn, thanks so much for visiting us today! We loved having you, and we can’t wait to read FRIDAY MORNINGS AT NINE! As an early Valentine’s Day surprise, Marilyn’s giving away one signed copy of ACCORDING TO JANE to a lucky reader who comments today. So comment away, and Marilyn will randomly draw a winner! We’ll let you know if it’s you!