To Edit or Not To Edit…

I decided to edit. Professionally, that is. After reading an article about balancing passive voice with active voice in fiction, I got curious. I opened A Rose Beneath the Snow and got the shock of my life! A glaring error! I kept reading on and found more and more errors. Even after 3 beta readers and my own line by line proofing, I still found mistakes. After six weeks of trying to find them all–and fix them, I was sick. The more I looked, the more I found. I cried uncle and came to the realization that I’m a writer, not an editor.

Enter Historical Editorial. Jennifer Quinlan came to my rescue and kept me from having a nervous breakdown. She loves historicals and it showed in the way she handled my story. She was a consummate professional, keeping her edits to a minimum and making suggestions that forced me to look at my story in a different way. Her fresh take was wonderful! Though I thought I had researched everything, she found two things that were historically inaccurate and I was able to make necessary changes.

By the end of the process, I believe I have a much better story. I made a wise decision in having a professional edit done on my book. I know, I know. It’s all over the internet:  write the best story you can; have it professionally edited and have a professionally designed cover made. I thought I could do the editing myself, but I can’t. I heartily recommend that writers do all three.

I’ve asked Historical Editorial to edit A Rose in Summer, which she will do in July–Jennifer Quinlan is one, very busy lady! Will I have her edit Forsaken? You betcha! And every book after that so long as she’s willing to have me as a client.

So, what’s next? Placing my books on Amazon will be the first order of business–both in print and as ebooks. The Heart of a Rose Series will have brand new covers–more about that in another update! I’m working on a contemporary called Pictures for Maddie, a story that takes place right here in my home state of Alabama. I’m also in the planning stages of the De Montbrai Saga Book 2; Aerck and Anne’s story.

Stay tuned!

Taglines…Really?

Those pesky one-liners that are clever subtitles on book covers have become the bane of my existence!  Take my entire book and write just one sentence about it—are you kidding me?!  I can’t even write a book with fewer than 100,000 words—well, at least, not yet—and I’m supposed to distill the story down into a few words.  I don’t think I have what it takes.

When I send email updates to family and friends, they’re the longest emails in their inboxes and I almost hear a collective groan when they see who it’s from.  My daughter suggested I write some short stories (less than 7000 words) and I cringed inside.  I can’t even begin to think that short—my brain wants to keep going—expand!  Expand!  Never delete!  Keep going forward!  More!  More!  More!

Anyway, it was four o’clock in the morning and there I was with browser windows open to infinity looking for quotes, thoughts and musings that would complement my story.  I read articles about taglines and how important they can be.  I tried looking at book covers that had taglines—searching for inspiration.  I searched poignant moments in the story, waiting for the aha! moment.  Which never came.

Souvenir Thimble of Abbotsford

I told my daughter that it felt like I was trying to take my story—now wadded into a biiiiig ball of paper—and set it on top of a thimble.  Try to picture me giving my all to shove that ball of paper into the thimble!  Of course, that doesn’t work, so I scale the massive wad and jump up and down on it!  And that works, right?  Um…nope.  Flattened thimble.

And I’m back to square one.

Never say die!  I want to be clever, too.  I decide I need a slogan.  Like in a commercial.  Short and sweet.  And to the point.  Believe it or not, I found a slogan generator online.  Cool!  I typed in a word, clicked the button and it said, “Winter – A Class of its Own.”  Okay, try again.  “Have a break, have a summer!”  Hmmm.  After a few rounds of that, I gave up.  They sounded more like a—well, a commercial, and I realized that wasn’t the way to go.

So here I sit twenty-four hours later and I’m back where I started, trying to think of a tagline for the book.  I’m tired and my brain is fried.  As I close my laptop and shut off the light, I realize I’m faced with a desperate choice.  I’ll either have to get better at writing taglines or forget it altogether.  I think I’ll just run to the store later to buy another thimble…

When Pepper Was Gold

While I was writing Forsaken, I did a lot of research.  A lot.  How the medieval world obtained pepper, salt and other spices was part of that research.  It was fascinating how something we don’t give much thought to was as costly as gold.

I’ll admit it.  We love pepper…a lot of people do.  We actually wore out a Peugeot pepper mill in just two years.  Everyone has access to pepper.  Everyone buys pepper, but we never stop to think how precious a commodity it was in times past.  We run to the store and buy a tin or a plastic shaker bottle—or peppercorns if you like grinding your own.  It’s inexpensive as spices go, but that hasn’t always been the case.  It was so valuable at one time, that the desire for pepper and other spices changed the course of world history.

Originally, pepper, like other spices, made its way west by way of trading.  The grower sold it to Trader A, who took it some distance where Trader B bought it and carried it further west.  Each time it was sold, the price went up.  By the time the pepper and spices reached the ends of Western Europe, it was so expensive that only Kings and wealthy nobles could afford it.  Spices became a status symbol—the Ferraris of their day.

Pharaoh Ramses II obviously loved pepper.  He must have, otherwise he wouldn’t have had peppercorns shoved up his nose after he died.  Not a very appetizing thought (as you stand at the stove with a pepper mill in your hand), but it did show that the Egyptians revered the little black peppercorn we generally take for granted.

The Greeks and Romans used pepper, too, and there seem to be many Roman recipes that contain pepper.  I read somewhere that when Hannibal rode his elephants through the Alps into Italy, he demanded more than one ton of pepper as a ransom.  I don’t know if it’s true, but that’s a lot of pepper!  And remember, the Romans used salt as a form of currency—it was a good thing if a soldier was “worth his weight in salt.”

By the time of the Middle Ages, a trade route had been established from India to Italy, which took about a year to make round trip and for more than a thousand years, Italy had a stranglehold on the pepper trade.  The Portuguese decided they’d had enough of the exorbitant prices and Italy’s monopoly.  They found a way to India by sailing around the tip of Africa.  Monopolies, however, are tricky things to maintain and even harder to keep.  Smugglers found ways around the trade routes and through the blockades.  By the 17th century, Portugal had lost its monopoly to the Dutch and English.

Back to the Middle Ages.  The Crusaders brought back many items from the Near East never before seen in their home country; fruits like apricots and lemons, perfumes and soaps, rice and pistachios.  Pepper was a luxury item, as were many spices.  They were costly.  What delicious fun to one-up high ranking guests by having an especially rare spice used in the dishes prepared for the meal!  Herbs and spices also improved the flavor of salted meats kept for winter use.

It’s amazing to think about how something as simple and seemingly insignificant as a peppercorn could influence history.  And yet, it did.

~ FORSAKEN ~ Released!

My medieval romance, FORSAKEN, has been released!

Forsaken…

To all who knew him, Dane de Falaise is a dead man.  Hiding behind a mask, he becomes the Black Falcon, a man without a home, a name, or fealty to any man.  Both hunted and feared, he travels the countryside, searching relentlessly for the one who slaughtered those he loved and changed his life forever.

Forsaken…

Taking her sister’s place, Morynha de Montbrai is kidnapped by a menacing, black garbed knight and becomes a pawn in a sinister game.  As she and her captor struggle to find common ground, Morynha must teach Dane that some things are more important than revenge.  Will they find a fierce, burning love born from the seeds of their hatred and mistrust—or will they discover that, when the good in man is over taken by evil, they are left with nothing?

Ebook available at Smashwords and other online retailers!  Amazon coming soon!

Book Cover for ~ Forsaken ~ is Here!

I almost can’t believe it!  The cover for ~ Forsaken ~ is here and it’s beautiful! Dane de Falaise and Morynha de Montbrai are portrayed just as they are in the story.  The artist who rendered the design is Erin Dameron-Hill from EDHGraphics.  I couldn’t be more pleased!

The book will be released this month!  Look for it at Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel and other online retail outlets.  Click here to read more about  ~ Forsaken ~.

“Forsaken” Coming in February 2013

My medieval book, Forsaken, is almost ready for publication!  Click the link to read more!

The Characters are Shouting at Me!

I confess there are days I don’t feel like writing.  And way back when, if I didn’t feel like it, I didn’t.  It was always there, patiently waiting for me to sit down, take a deep breath, and put my fingers on the keyboard (though when I first started writing all I had was pencil and paper).  The stories were my secret place, a place to relax and unwind while I did dastardly things to my characters.  No one cared but me.  And I do enjoy the suffering and mayhem swirling around in my mind.

But they were my stories…unshared.

Things have changed.  It’s as if the characters know they’re more important than merely a hobby I pursue in my spare time.  I have given them flight by publishing, and the voices won’t be contained or pushed back into the closet in the deep recesses of my brain.  The characters (and their stories) want out!  The characters are screaming for me to type just a few more words, to complete a conversation or flesh out the surroundings in which I have placed them.  They don’t like to be frozen in a moment, sometimes in mid-sentence.  Who can blame them?  Real life doesn’t happen that way.  We don’t find ourselves stuck at an instant when we’re scolding the children, walking the dog, driving to the store—or myriads of things that claim our day.

The casual hobby has now morphed into work, albeit something I thoroughly enjoy.  I can set my own hours, be my own boss and I don’t have to get dressed if I don’t feel like it.  I don’t have to worry about getting to work on time, fighting traffic, or getting chewed out by an employer who is critical and doesn’t pay me what I think I’m worth.

But now, the stories are yelling at me…

Of course, there is a flip-side to all the generous perks that go along with being self-employed.  Now that I’m the employer, I have to chew myself out for being late to work, for being distracted by the traffic of kids and dogs that often run amok, and for wondering every day if anyone will actually read what I write.  Perhaps, I could simply be a music composer or a starving artist in a garret who doesn’t become famous until after I’m dead.  Of course, being a puppet master who regularly thinks up dreadful things to do to perfectly good characters, I can picture myself lying dead on a chaise while clutching a masterpiece in my hand.  Thankfully, the tome I’d be clutching would be nothing more than a shiny disc that fits into my computer—but you get the idea.

And all the while, the characters are clamoring to be heard, and it goes something like this:

“I’ve been standing here for the last three days.  How about some food and a potty break?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!  The heroine just slapped my face and told me I was lower than dirt—and you haven’t decided how I should respond?  Really?

“Hello?”  Ping…ping…ping.  “Hello….?  Are you at the keyboard?  If you aren’t going to get me out of the cold, could you at least give me a warm blanket and a fire before you leave?”

“Hey!  I see you over there eating nachos and watching Pride and Prejudice.  I won’t go away.  You left me to drown in a flooded creek and if you don’t finish the scene, I”ll–I’ll drip on your carpet!”

Now, I could just ignore them, but how much fun would that be?

A Long Time Ago…

A long time ago on an IBM PC Clone far, far away, resided a story set in post-Colonial America written in a word processor program called Wordstar 5.  The files were saved to a 3 1/2″ floppy disc.  After seven moves and eighteen years, the disc was misplaced and presumed lost.

In the modern world of smart phones, androids, tablets and laptops, even if I ever found the floppy disc, so much time had passed that the information would surely be so corrupt as to render it unreadable.  I grieved for my missing story and resigned myself to the fact that it was gone forever.  I knew I didn’t want to try to re-create it, so I moved on to other projects, publishing two novels this year.

And then it happened.

Last week, my husband, daughter and I were working in the garage, and we came across a box of old computer parts and in the bottom was a stack of 3 1/2″ floppy discs.  I went through them  and lo and behold, there was the old disc with my missing story on it!  It was quite a moment!

The next day, my husband took the disc to work and used his software on it to see if it was readable.  He came home and told me that not only was it readable, but that the files were intact–after 18 years!  Was I shocked!  He saved them to a flash drive, brought them home and spent the evening converting them to Word, although the formatting is completely messed up and words are missing here and there.

The lost has finally been found and I’m currently working to put it back into a readable form.  Hopefully, the story won’t require much editing, although I can already see things that need to be changed.  LOL!  But, I’m so happy to have the story back that any additional work will be worth it.

UPDATE! – I finished re-formatting the story (it has 119,000 words and 199 pages) and I have set it aside for now.  I’ve got to finish the book on which I’m currently working before I start on another project.  But I’m thrilled to have it back and ready to go!

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover!

It’s what our mothers always told us, right?  Beautiful treasures can be found within the ugliest rocks.  Just look at those sparkling beauties inside geodes!  Well…..apparently, I had an ugly rock and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

I discovered A Rose Beneath The Snow at Goodreads, an online community dedicated to readers, but also for authors to showcase their work.  It’s quite a nice website with some great features.  What had me flummoxed was to learn I had inadvertently made the Worst Book Cover List for 2012 (#227 out of 249 entries), but not with the current cover.  The one I used originally was replaced a couple of weeks later with the current, professionally designed one.  So, I registered, claimed the book as author and promptly uploaded the current cover – of course, now the correct cover has the distinction of being one of the worst.  Oh well…

So, I went looking across the internet for reader reactions to bad covers and some were quite humorous.  I also read that some believe that if they don’t like the cover–or the cover is deemed bad by someone else, it doesn’t bode well for the story.  I hope readers don’t really feel that way.  It has to be a terrible thing for an author to get stuck with a bad cover.  They have spent months, even years, writing their hearts out, and they want so much to shine!  Does this mean it doesn’t matter how a book cover looks?  Of course not.  Authors should always strive to present the best possible book cover but clinker covers can and do happen.  It’s part of publishing.

My husband tells me that even dismal recognition like being one of the Worst Book Covers of 2012 can be a positive thing when you’re trying to promote a book.  Bad press is still press, after all.  That definitely wasn’t the kind of recognition I was looking for.  However, if people are willing to look beyond the cover and give the book a read, they might discover something special inside the ugly rock.

When it’s all said and done, wouldn’t we rather have a treasure inside an ugly rock than an ugly rock hiding inside a beautiful treasure?  Mom’s advice was right!

Happy reading!

Heart of a Rose: Book 2 ~ A Rose in Summer has been published!

The exciting conclusion to A Rose Beneath the Snow! Miranda Kingswood has been reunited with the man who abandoned her, and she strives to discover why he has no memory of her. The Earl of Hawk, determined to secure his inheritance, declares that their marriage will last the required one year and after that he will seek a costly divorce.

Yet as the days pass, Lord Hawk finds himself drawn to the woman he swore to never love, and begins to wonder if his first impressions of her were completely wrong.

Miranda, now the Countess of Hawk, is mistress of Hawkesmier, her husband’s ancestral home on the ancient downs of Wiltshire. She despises the marriage pact she made with her husband. Can she convince him not to go through with it?

They fight each other and their growing desires while battling an unseen adversary who moves seamlessly through their lives. Will her secrets be revealed before it’s too late? Will he convince her that he is worthy of her trust? And will they discover the identity of their embittered foe before the love they were destined to share is destroyed?  (Rated: R)

A Rose in Summer begins where A Rose Beneath the Snow leaves off.

Ebook available now for $2.99  at Smashwords and other fine ebook retailers!