WRITING--MAKE IT YOUR OWN

Did you hope the pursuit of glory, the manifest destiny of riches by story, to have recognition and fame, for a journey no man overcame? Destiny Booze, Pretermined Endings

My guest is romantic suspense author, Destiny Booze. She is a big believer in Happily-Ever-After and classifies herself as a hopeless romantic. Destiny has a passion for life and feels that everyone should have a dream--they cost nothing and can add excitement to your life. Something to strive for in life.

I find it fascinating to see how different authors view writing. Destiny views it as a form of art, a calling, if you will.  

There are so many classes you can take to learn to write a book. You can spend hours of time studying writing styles and different books by different authors. You can research online, and read thousands of articles about the 1-2-3 steps to writing a book, or the rules in the publishing industry. Blah, blah, blah....

The truth is that you should learn as much as you can about the writing industry, but there are no strict guidelines. Writing is a form of art. The number one rule to any creative writing, including writing a book is to make it your own. Make it unique. You are the author. Do something original. Stand out to readers. There are thousands of writers out there, even thousands of published writers. Do you have what it takes to be a writer that readers will actually remember?

If you have the passion, that pull in your gut to write a book, and you know that it is a calling that you must answer, then just do it. Outlines are great, but they can also be restrictive. As a form of art, you can't always foresee the exact creation of the complete book until it is done. It grows and changes during its progress. It is art. Let it take the form it is meant to take.

I'm not arguing that it is wrong to write in the exact form the writing classes propose. I'm only suggesting that writers shouldn't be scared to step out of the box, to color outside of the lines. To really stretch the rules and see what happens.

Personally, I want to be different. I don't want to use ideas from other writers. I want to be the writer that others follow. I want to be the one to influence other writers out there.

• How about you? What kind of author do you want to be?
• Readers: what are your dreams?

Let's be artists! Throw the rules to the wind....Where will the freedom take us? Somewhere different...somewhere special....somewhere on the bestseller's list!

Predetermined Endings:

Angelica Chappell’s story makes huge headlines. Only a few months ago, she released a new pharmaceutical drug called Krytonix that effectively slows the spread of cancer cells. She has no idea her story will attract the attention of a serial killer. Suddenly, she is a target whether she realizes it or not. This killer is interested in more than her life. He wants her reputation, too. His first mission is to sabotage Krytonix.


William Pierce worked undercover for the FBI for five years to bring down a ruthless mobster that he ultimately is forced to kill. Two months passes by since that assignment. Still, William saw things he couldn’t talk about. He did things he couldn’t talk about. He believes his soul is damned. Returning to “normal” everyday life isn’t an option. He isn’t the same man he used to be. He refuses to return to FBI headquarters. He becomes a rogue agent with an agenda.


These two characters literally collide when Pierce's agenda leads him to Chappell. It will take both of them to keep Angelica alive and to figure out who is trying to kill her. William soon finds himself developing feelings for Angelica. Too bad for her killer, William worked as a trained killer for the mob. Will he find her killer and hand him over to the legal system to see that justice is served or will he search and destroy? Excerpt (click on Books and then Predetermined Endings)

BUY: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords

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Destiny Booze grew up at a campground in Virginia where her childhood was full of hard work. There was also an element of excitement as she met a large variety of diverse people with widespread tales about fun and adventure. She grew into a young lady with a very active imagination.

 

Destiny attended Virginia Western Community College for two years. Her writing career began as a community journalist, yet creative writing was always her passion. Altered Beginnings is her debut novel as a romantic suspense novelist.

Destiny resides in Botetourt County, Virginia with her husband, son and house full of pets where she strives to be the best wife, mother and writer that she can be. Her family is always priority number one. Other things of great importance to her are friends, and YOU, the readers!

 

Cover Art, excerpts, poetry, All rights reserved printed with permission of the author  

 

 

Author Branding – Will It Help Sell More Books?

My guest is historical inspirational author, Jennifer Hudson Taylor. I have to admit I have a fondness of things Celtic--what a surprise, huh? But Jennifer, like me, has searched out her Celtic roots and I know that one part of her family, the Morgans, were part of the MacKay Sept. As you can see by her author pic, she is a fine Scot lassie, :-) Her debut book, Highland Blessing, and her just sold second book, Highland Sanctuary (October 2010) are both set in Scotland.

I know many writers have varying opinions on branding, but the truth is, branding is a necessary thing today. Successful authors play up their branding in various ways. One way is their websites. Trust me, as a blog owner who spotlights authors I look at every website. Some notable author branding websites and their realization of the importance of branding, Nora Roberts vs her JD Rob website. Christine Feehan, Jayne Ann Krentz--take a look at her website and then note each *entrance* to her books under her different pen names. Newer authors coming up the ranks? Jessica Andersen--even her author reflects her branding, Judi Fennell. Lydia Dare , and Donna Grant .

Jennifer speaks about branding: what it is, why it's necessary, and why aspiring authors need to start even before getting a contract.

• What is author branding?

It's the reputation you build in the publishing community and to your readers of what kind of stories to expect when they see your name on the cover of a book.

• Is author branding necessary? Why?

If you want to build readership, yes. If you want to sell more books, yes.

Readers who like westerns aren't typically interested in a science fiction book. For this reason, so many authors have had to create pen names for various sub genres. People work hard for their money and they can chose to spend it on a number of things. You don't want them to be disappointed if they take a chance and spend it on your book. If that happens, most likely they won't spend more money on anything else with your name on it, nor will they encourage others to do so.


Author branding is another way of target marketing. If you are promoting your book based on the book's contents, you are going to appeal to those who would like that particular book. Marketing and advertising is expensive. You don't want to waste your time and money trying to appeal to an audience who won't like what you write. You aren't likely to sell many books that way, and it doesn't make sense. So why wouldn't you create an author brand for yourself?


If you're like me, you might be hesitant to build a label around yourself because you don't want to be limited to writing one kind of book. I've already mentioned pen names as one way to get around this. Another way is to write the same sub genre for a decade or two and then rebuild your image. Lots of authors do this, and if you do it well, you won't lose readers, in fact you may gain more. For instance, a contemporary romance author may choose to brand him/herself as a romantic suspense author. That way you aren't losing readers who like romance and contemporaries, you're just giving them a new element to read along with what they already read. Keep the sub genres similar, but give readers more. This will ultimately lead to more readers, which will lead to more sells.

• Do unpublished authors need an author brand?

Yes. Before you can sell books on a store shelf, you first have to sell to a publisher. You need to stand out among the masses of other writers. There isn't enough shelf space for all the wanna-be writers in the world, so you've got to find a way to stay out of the slush piles. There are a lot of good writers who sit in the slush piles year after year. Their works are good enough to be on the shelf of a bookstore. The difference is, their marketing proposals may not be unique enough or stand out and get noticed.


At one time I believe it was true that good writing would get noticed. But with the competition the way it is today, the demand so buoyant, and the hectic schedule of the publishing industry, I no longer believe that's true. You still have to get someone to read your work in order for it to be noticed. That can only happen if you stand out in promoting yourself and your work. You must make a good impression in your proposal and presentation of your work before an editor or agent actually sits down to read your work. If your impression in your proposal doesn't stand out, they'll never turn to the first page of your manuscript.


Remember, an unpublished writer is selling to an agent or editor. These folks are looking for specific markets where they know they can sell something. While good writing has to go along with it, if an author has written something that's great, but the story isn't right for an open spot, then it still won't sell. Don't waste their time or yours. Sometimes a quick rejection is a good thing. It will give you a chance to get that manuscript where it belongs much faster than wasting time on an editor's desk where it isn't going anywhere. By building an author brand, you will be letting them know upfront what they are getting from you. This will help you appeal to the right agents and editors. Target market to the right publishers and you will sell more and faster.


Plus, publishers have less in their marketing budgets for new authors and mid-list authors. They reserve most of their budgets for the BIG name authors where they know their investment will pay off. Therefore, a new author will have to do so much more of their own marketing. By showing you are ahead of the game in your promotion and author branding, an editor will feel more comfortable taking a chance on you. This means if it comes down to your good writing as opposed to another author's good writing for one publication spot, you might have the edge since you have self-marketing potential. Editors are looking for authors they can build into careers for a long investment, not one-time book wonders.

• What new strategies are you trying to build your brand awareness?
• What are your thoughts about brand awareness?

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Highland Blessings (Scotland, 1473) Blurb:

KIDNAPPED ON HER WEDDING DAY...
Highland warrior Bryce MacPherson kidnaps Akira MacKenzie on her wedding day to honor a promise he made to his dying father. When he forces Akira to wed him, hoping to end a half-century feud between their clans, she struggles to overcome her anger and resentment ...
Yet her strength in the Lord becomes a witness to Bryce.

BUT THERE IS A TRAITOR IN THEIR MIDST...AND MURDER IS THE ULTIMATE WEAPON...

                     Chapter One 
Book Trailer

BUY: Amazon  Barnes and Noble 

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  Christian Book Distributors

Jennifer Hudson Taylor is the author of historical and contemporary Christian fiction set in Europe and the Carolinas. Her fiction has won awards in the American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest. Her debut novel, Highland Blessings, will be released May 2010. Other works have appeared in national publications, such as Guideposts, Heritage Quest Magazine, Everton’s Genealogical Publishers, and The Military Trader. Jennifer graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in Journalism. When she isn't writing, Jennifer enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, genealogy, and reading. She resides with her husband and daughter in the Charlotte area of NC.

Does Success Affect An Author?

~Sia McKye~

“LUCK is when preparation meets opportunity.”

Which is a bigger worry for an author, do you think? Being a success? Or being a failure. Actually, both are tied into one package for a published author.

I’ve had several friends who have had a successful first book. A couple have had very successful first books. I’ve seen the pressure in bringing out the second book. The stress to meet the deadlines of the contract. The worries of, “what if people hate the second one? What if I can’t write a second or third one to match my first?” Authors face insecurities even with a moderately successful book. Sometimes, just getting a first book published will do that to an author. Yet many authors rise to the occasion and you can see their growth in the stories they pen. They get better and more refined with each book. The anxiety is real, though. The pressure to keep creating books that keep your reader’s interest enough to buy them, has to be tough.

But what if you were an author who wrote a blockbuster? Like Dan Brown?

Whether you love him or hate him, Dan Brown writes some stories that grab people’s attention. His detractors feel he can’t write worth beans (implausible, inaccurate, mechanical love plots) and can’t understand why he’s made the money or garnered the attention he has with his books. I imagine he’s laughing all the way to the bank despite the critics; although the criticism has to sting. I’d say the greater mystery to solve, was how did Dan Brown become such a phenomenon? Is there anyone who hasn’t heard of Dan Brown? It must be people’s love of conspiracies. It reminds me of looking at one of those hidden picture puzzles. You look at it one way and see only the surface picture. Look at it another way, and you see hidden pictures within the surface. In my opinion, many conspiracy theories are like that. Some are just plain fabricated by plucking straws out of headlines, assasinations, or whatnot.

What I found interesting was that Dan Brown had three other novels out by the time that The DaVinci Code became a phenomenon (over 80 million copies sold worldwide and stayed on the Times Bestseller’s list 136 weeks) in 2003. Of course the hoopla over it caused people to take an interest in those three novels, one of which was Digital Fortress, Deception Point, (neither of which were hot sellers) and of course, Angels and Demons, the prequel to the Code, also became a best seller although nowhere near The Da Vinci Code figures. Both were made into movies and on opening weekends in 2006 DVC made $77 million and Angels and Demons grossed about $48 million. Now we have The Lost Symbol about to be released with a first run of 5 million in North America and another 1.5 million for overseas markets. The contents, other than the clues deliberately released, has been a closely guarded secret other than in general terms—it’s about masons, there is a corresponding thread to a church in Scotland, is set mostly in Washington DC, set with his Langdon character, and a movie is already in the works.

I mention this only because, as a writer, I have to wonder how the pressure of this success has affected Dan Brown. I know from reading various articles, that the pressure to succeed did affect him. This is his first book since the DaVinci Code. He was already writing The Lost Symbol when The DaVinci Code went ballistic. He was quoted as saying, “The thing that happened to me and must happen to any writer who's had success is that I temporarily became very self-aware. Instead of writing and saying, "This is what the character does," you say, "Wait, millions of people are going to read this." ... You're temporarily crippled....[later] The furor died down, and I realized that none of it had any relevance to what I was doing. I'm just a guy who tells a story."

I’m wondering how long that realization took to develop? I can’t imagine writing under such pressure. The strain of having to prove you aren’t a one hit wonder has to be horrendous. Perhaps that’s why he dropped out of sight for a while. The Lost Symbol was originally slated for release in 2005. I’m sure fighting plagiarism lawsuits was part of his absence, but how much of it was to escape the pressure? Dan Brown said that there was a time, during which he “self-aware” he couldn’t write. Imagine that? Here you have contracts for the new book and you can’t write. I’m thinking by saying ‘temporarily crippled’ is another way of saying writers block. It's been six years since he published The Da Vinci Code. Gone long enough for people to start wondering where he was last year. Lots of speculation. Lots of cryptic tidbits released to the press about this upcoming book released yesterday. If you’ve noticed, there has been a deliberate but subtle build up of Dan Brown since April of this year when it was announced that The Lost Symbol would be released September 15th. Less subtle the past three months with the leaking of ‘clues’ via twitter and other social networks.

I curious about Doubleday’s worries, recouping the money invested I’m sure, and how much of those worries has filtered down to Dan Brown. Epecially with the delays in this book's release and the recent layoffs within the publisher's staff. Which would add another layer of pressure to any author.

I have to wonder if Dan Brown worries about such mundane things as, what if the Symbol isn’t as good as DVC? What if it falls flat? I know it would be a worry of mine.

How do you think you would handle such pressure as a writer? As a published author, how do you handle the doubts and pressure?

Granted, we all would love to have a blockbuster book out, but have you ever thought of how it would change your life? Your writing? Could you divorce yourself from the publicity? Would it be hard to write the next book knowing it would be read by millions of people? And by vocal critics ready to rip you apart?

A Complete and Utter Fraud

My guest today is debut author, Jessa Slade. She discusses the changes that come with going from unpublished to published. The feelings of disbelief and the need to pinch yourself because you can't believe it's no longer a dream but reality. The checking to see if what is felt is excitement or terror--perhaps both?

Thanks so much, Sia, for giving me a chance to blog with you. I’m especially happy to be here because sometimes I still feel like it’s impossible that I am here.

Last month, I attended the Romance Writers of America national conference in Washington DC. Although I’ve been to writers’ conferences before, this was my first time as a published author. I was so excited to be going since I got to wear a First Sale ribbon, which I’d longingly admired on new authors over the many, many years of my writing apprenticeship. I donned the name badge with eager pride. The ribbon—shiny and pink—fluttered at the bottom like a challenge to a very small, somewhat effeminate bull.

Bull, as in bullsh!t.

The Bull of BS has long been my nemesis. I picture it like the red bull from Peter S. Beagle’s THE LAST UNICORN. The Bull rears its pointy-horned head whenever I clamber over the fence that divides me from my dreams, when I take a few steps outside my comfort zone, when I start to think maybe—finally—I know where I’m going, and maybe—finally—I have the right to be there. The Bull of BS has an unerring eye for uncertainty, scents fraudulence on the breeze at one part per billion, and eats eager pride for breakfast.

And the Bull of BS had me in its crosshairs.


I’m not ashamed to say I ran. (Okay, I’m a little ashamed, but eager pride goeth before a poking in the backside by the Bull of BS.) I ran back to the bar, back to the safety of my writing friends because I knew they’d understand.

Fellow paranormal romance author Annette McCleave whose first book DRAWN IN DARKNESS comes out in September, drank a spiked hot chocolate with me and captured the sentiment best: "I'd been unpublished a long time. I was good at it. Now [after selling a book] I feel like I fell off a cliff. I'm starting over." She included a dramatic hand gesture, which mimed a Wyle E. Coyote-style 90-degree plummet over a precipice.

Selling a book doesn’t make you a master; it makes you the apprentice, back at the bottom again.


During the conference, fellow writers congratulated me on the first sale, and inevitably they added, “You must be so excited!” Hmm, let me check... Elevated heart rate, dilated pupils, breathlessness, sleeplessness... That’s either excitement, or terror!

Maybe both as I hop the fence into the field of dreams, into the fray of being a debut novelist. From my first big outing as a published author, I learned a few things that maybe someday will boost me from apprentice (again) to journeyman:

• There’s always something more to learn, and in the learning comes confidence. Going to workshops and talking to other writers—and this time, talking to my editor and agent—I realized I have indeed learned a few things since the days when I accidentally told parts of my story from the dog’s point of view. That’s progress equivalent, for example, to an apprentice blacksmith not nailing his pants to a horse’s hoof. Yay me! Except there’s always something more to learn so I imagine I’ll never quite get to the end no matter how many times I get to The End.
  


• It’s not as serious as I thought. Seriously. I can’t play the wise and thoughtful writer. Not even on TV. Nobody’d believe it, what with the Bull of BS drooling over my shoulder. Taking my writing seriously but not myself so much has eased some of the pressure. This flies in the face of confidence-building how-to articles that tell you to fake it ‘til you make it, but every time I admit to someone that I secretly suspect I am making this all up, they completely understand. And most feel the same! Turns out, there are a lot of us sneaking along the Bull’s fence, wanting to take the risk. Turns out, a lot of us have jumped the fence only to slip in a cowpie. Talk about instant friendships...
  


• I might have to hear it, but I don’t have to listen to the voice of doubt. This seems simple and obvious, I know, but with the Bull looming right there it’s really hard to meditate on those positive affirmations. Usually the best I can do is pretend, but that counts for a lot because I’m a fiction writer, and we make things up all the time.

Of course, I’m excited to finally have a story I can share with others. I’m also happy, grateful and determined. And terrified. Selling a book didn’t make me a faster writer (sadly), or more self-assured or less introverted. I didn’t suddenly become the brave and graceful toreador, meeting the Bull’s charge with my crimson cape flying. Nope, I only have a pink ribbon. And that’ll have to be enough.

Well, that and a cup of spiked hot chocolate and writing friends.

Has there ever been a time when you thought everybody could see right through your façade? How did you deal? Afterward, did the experience give you more confidence to pursue your dreams?

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Jessa Slade has always adored doggerel verse, overwrought imagery and hyper-extended metaphors. She tries desperately (and often hopelessly) to rein in these dangerous impulses.On the plus side, she only rarely writes about herself in the third person.She lives in Portland, Oregon, with a musician who feeds her, a shelter dog who walks her, and a pair of nocturnal geckos that keep her company during the wee writing hours.



You can visit Jessa: http://demonrepent.com/