THREE QUESTIONS You Really Want to Ask a Published Author But Are Afraid To

Award-winning author, Christie Craig, is my guest, today. She answers some good questions about self vs traditional publishing. 

You write for two different publishers and do self-publishing, which route do you recommend for new authors? 

A lot of writers find themselves trying to decide between self-publishing and the traditional publishing route.  Frankly, it’s a great time for writers because we do have options that weren’t available a few years ago. 

There is no right or wrong decision; it really is about what is right for that author and where they are in their career.  The self-publishing route offers the benefit of making your book available to readers, without facing possible rejection and revisions.  And that can be a wonderful thing, as long as your book is ready to be published.   That said, most traditionally published authors will tell you that they are glad their first books didn’t get published because they learned so much during the journey — even though at the time, they were certain the books were fabulous. 

A lot of authors who have written a book that just didn’t fit into a genre niche are finding success in self-publishing because readers aren’t nearly as picky about genre specifics as publishers have to be. 

A writer serious about her career and considering self publishing should attempt to make sure the end product is as close to perfect as possible.  This may or may not require the hiring of others to help you through the process.   So the overhead of getting a book ready to self-publish — including editing, line editing, formatting, and cover design, may vary. 

However, as many self-published authors are finding, having the book available doesn’t ensure readers will buy it.  Self-publishing means self-marketing, and that can take a lot of writing time away from an author. That said, today even traditionally published authors have to spend a lot of time marketing themselves as well.  Some authors simply are better at promoting their work than others.  And while there have been numerous success stories of authors who have built themselves a very lucrative career through self-publishing, others who followed this path are not finding the financial gains as they had hoped.   It bears mentioning, however, that many new authors who have gone the traditional path of publishing are equally unhappy about their financial gain.  Also, many of the traditionally published authors may find their contracts dropped if sales are really down — something a self-published author doesn’t have to worry about. 

In most instances, writers who have already made a name for themselves, and have a fan base, are finding the self-publishing route an easier path than do new writers.   However, the truth is that anything and everything is possible. 

If a friend came to me with a first book, and this friend simply wasn't a marketing whiz, I might suggest they attempt the traditional route first; but if that route didn't pan out and she felt her book was ready, then I would encourage them to take it the self-publishing route.   That said, if this person has a viable marketing plan to ensure that her book goes out big, I’d say her chances of earning more financial gain might be with the self-publishing route than the traditional route because of the smaller royalty rate earned through traditional publishing. 

Having a publisher behind you does NOT mean your book will be any more successful, but a publisher’s name still carries some weight to some readers and traditional bookstores.   Building a name with a publisher behind you is a little easier than building it on your own.   Another thing to take into consideration is, unless you are one of the talented writers who have the ability to do everything from designing a cover to a final editing, there is overhead in self-publishing.

 So as you can see, both routes can bring success and both come with some positives and negatives to consider. 

Thirteen things you’ll learn from reading Murder, Mayhem and Mama:
1)       Grief sucks.  Love heals.
2)       Believe it or not, sometimes mama does know best.  Even when    she’s dead.
3)       Painting your toenails is equivalent to a happy pill.
4)       Sometimes there’s a hell of lot more to our dreams than we think.
5)       When a tough guy resorts to sniffing a girl’s sweater that she left behind, he might as well give up the bachelor pad, he’s on the road to falling in love.
6)       A guy who offers you a shoulder during a meltdown and doesn’t try to cop a feel, just may be a keeper.
7)       When a guy says all he wants to do is sleep with you, he might not be talking sex, you might just be his answer to insomnia.  Then again, he’ll probably want sex when he’s had some sleep.
8)       When all else fails, try saying the magic words:  please and thank you.  It’s a manners thing.
9)       Be leery of opening your boyfriends medicine cabinet, it’s not just what you might find, but what might fall out and bounce right into the toilet.  Explaining how his 36 pack of condoms got wet could be embarrassing.
10)    While being a better bitch isn’t something we should aspire to, learning to stand up for oneself is definitely goal worthy.
11)    Sharing food off each other’s plate could lead to sharing a toothbrush.  And after that all bets, and possibly the clothes, are coming off.
12)    Bad habits die hard.  Then again, the sergeant general doesn’t say anything about smoking after you’re dead.  Just ask Mama.
13)   Take a man’s favorite leather jacket, and he might offer you his heart to get it back.

You can find out more about the book, learn how to win a copy, Christie's very cool contest, and read and excerpt. BUY: Amazon, Barnes and Noble.

 

A lot of writers are now questioning if they need an agent in today’s publishing world.  What is your advice?

• If you know upfront that you are going the traditional route, I think having an agent is as important today as it was in the past.  Maybe even more so.  With self-publishing, the answer depends on the circumstances.  Many of today’s agents are assisting their authors in the self-publishing route by handling everything from securing covers to copyediting duties, and the author/agent split can well exceed the traditional 15% agents normally charge.  While I think authors need to be careful about the deals they make with agents in the self-publishing arena, I personally can say that my agent is as much of an asset to me in my self-publishing ventures, as she is in traditional publishing.   She’s served as editor, assisted in the formatting process and uploading of books, and she’s obligated to listen to me whine.  That alone earns her that 15%.  LOL.  In all seriousness, though, most authors are going the self-published route without agents.  For those who are doing both — and traditionally publishing for two publishers, such as myself — having an agent is critical, in my opinion.

      We've all heard the horror stories about the dreaded revisions that editors can request.  Is it true, and how should an author deal with them?

• Ah, revision hell.  We’ve all heard the stories about an editor coming back with a 50 page revision letter.  While nothing that severe has ever happened to me, it very well may have happened to other authors.   However, I don’t think that’s the norm.  This isn’t to say that I haven’t gotten revisions, or that I have agreed with all the revisions my editors wanted. 
  
  
  I always take try to take time going over all the editor’s points.  I try to let some time pass before answering revision requests.  I also follow the same rule I did with raising my children:  Pick my battles.  If an editor wants something tweaked that I don’t feel is needed but won’t change the work, why not give in on that point and save the debates for things I don’t think are good ideas.  First, I consider the reasons the editors feels the changes are needed.  If I see her point, I may come up with my own solution to fix the issue rather than the one she might have suggested.  I’ve never had an editor disregard my suggestions.  With over thirteen books out, I have never felt an editor was unreasonable in their requests for revisions.  But I also have never changed something in a manuscript that I really didn’t want to change.  You can’t be afraid to stand up for your work, but neither can you refuse to listen to their ideas.  One solution is s to figure out a way to fix the problem the editor has with the scene/plot point with a way in which you feel comfortable.  But I will say this — more times than not, I was happier with the manuscript after the revisions than before. 

  
  

  
  

  Christie, thank you for stopping by and answering some tough questions. 

  
  

  Thanks Sia for having me here today.  And I’d also like to offer an e-copy of Murder, Mayhem and Mama to one lucky poster. 

  
  
  
  
  You can find Christie: Website, Facebook, Twitter   

CHRISTIE CRAIG: How To Ward Off A Gremlin

It's something all writers face—published or unpublished—self-doubt.


Romance author, Christie Craig tells how she deals with it and offers Five tips for overcoming and preventing self doubts. 

There’s a monster hiding under my desk.  He lurks there, waiting for the right moment to attack. He’s an ugly little bastard, too.  I have a lot of names for him, but for the sake of not overusing profanity in this blog, I’ll call him by his real name, Self-Doubt.  

Most of you might think that after two decades in the business, I’d have managed to kill the gremlin.  But you’d be wrong.  That sneaky little devil won’t die.  He keeps popping back up. 

I think self doubt is something most writers face throughout their careers.  And by careers, I don’t mean from the point that you become a published author, I mean, from the point you start writing.  I think the inability to fight the gremlin is one of the biggest things that prevent a writer from becoming published.  And it’s probably one of the reasons published writers stop writing.  That’s right, this monster doesn’t care what you’ve accomplished.  All he wants is a big bite out of your confidence.

He’ll tell you that whatever you’ve got on that computer screen is crap.  That you just need to delete it. He’ll convince you that no matter how good of an idea you may have, it’s probably already been done.

He’ll whisper in your ear that you’re wasting your time, that cleaning out your grout in your kitchen tile with a toothbrush is much more important.  Sometimes he possesses your family and friends and they’ll say things like, “How long are you going to put yourself though all this pain before you find something else to do with your time?”  He’ll stare you right in the eyes and tell you that your dreams are silly and you’ll never reach them.  He’ll make you believe that the one negative review out of twenty good ones is the one you should listen to.  If you let him, he not only can slow you down, he’ll rob you of the joy and passion you feel for writing. 

Now, that gremlin is always close by, nipping at your toes, giving you moments of doubt.  I think that’s somewhat normal.  But let that creature scramble up your leg, hang out in your lap, or even worse, let him climb up on your shoulder, where you can listen to him all day long, and you’ll soon be playing Russian Roulette with your passion for writing.  Because writing with a self-doubt gremlin sitting on your shoulder is about as easy as brushing your teeth with a brownie in your mouth. 

So how do we slay the gremlin or at least keep him at bay?  Below are five tips for overcoming and preventing self-doubt from chewing on your sanity.

• 1)      Be Aware or Peer Pressure.

We preach this to our kids but so often we forget that the bad habits of the people we hang out with are as contagious as a stomach virus.  If you’re hanging out with negative people, people who have lost their ability to chase their dreams, you’re at risk of becoming just like them.  Find positive people who validate your dreams and work ethics to share your life and support your journey.

• 2)      Ward off the message that you don’t know what you’re doing by continually growing at a writer.  Read how-to books, take classes, attend those writer meetings and listen to what other writers offer as advice.

• 3)      Mentor someone else.  Nothing can inspire you more than helping and encouraging another person.  Telling others that they have to believe in themselves is a sure fire way or rekindling your own self-confidence.  It also creates karma.

• 4)      Be leery of ruts.  If you’re not feeling the passion for your writing, try spicing things up by doing something different.  Try writing something in a new genre, or try writing something in a different point of view.  Nothing can get you out of a rut quicker than feeling challenged.

• 5)      Accept that sometimes you are going to fail. That you’re going to make mistakes.  That you’re going to get rejections—that it might take you years to accomplish what you want to accomplish. Understand that you aren’t the first person to get fifty rejections, or a hundred, or even a thousand. The truth is, the number of rejections you receive doesn't matter.  You are not defeated until you let yourself be defeated.

Writing isn’t for wimps.  Chances are, you’ll face those gremlins, not once but many times, so just be armed with good friends, knowledge, Karma, a sense of adventure, and perseverance.  And never, ever lose your sense of humor.  And now that I’ve shared with you my tips for slaying gremlins, I’d like to hear some of yours. 

• How do you tackle self doubt?

DON'T MESS WITH TEXASAvailable now on bookshelves and e-book 
Nikki Hunt thought her night couldn't get worse when her no-good, cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the bill. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three-thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she's a murder suspect.

Former cop turned PI, Dallas O'Connor knows what it's like to be unjustly accused. But one look at the sexy-though skittish-suspect tells him she couldn't hurt anyone. The lead detective, Dallas's own brother, has the wrong woman and Dallas hopes a little late-night "undercover" work will help him prove it . . . First Chapter Excerpt (blog excerpt page)

BUY: Amazon : Barnes & Noble : Books a Million : Katy Budget Books

~*~*~ 

Photojournalist, Author and Speaker

Christie Craig, an Alabama native, is an award-winning, multi-published writer, multi-published photo journalist, motivational speaker, and writing teacher.. Her non-fiction articles and photography have appeared in almost three thousand national magazines. A Golden Heart finalist, and a finalist in more than fifty RWA-sponsored contests, she has gained a well-deserved reputation for writing romance fiction that has both witty humor and a suspenseful, sexy tone. Published by Silhouette in the 90s, she recently broke back into fiction in a big way, making four book sales in one day. Her seventh humorous single title romance novel, published by Dorchester, will hit the stands in June 2010. Her non-fiction book, co-authored by Faye Hughes, released September 08, is The Everything Guide To Writing A Romance Novel and their second non-fiction book, a humorous self-help relationship book, Wild, Wicked and Wanton: 101 Ways to Love Like You Are in a Romance Novel is scheduled to be released December 2010. Craig's latest writing adventure is the sale of a young adult paranormal romance series, Shadow Falls Camp, which will be published by St. Martins Press in the near future.

  

Wild Wicked & Wanton--Christie Craig & Faye Hughes

I had the chance to interview two authors who swear they were separated at birth and are really sisters. Hmmm, I'm wondering if their respective parents know about this? Christie Craig and Faye Hughes, are both southern women and this is evident in their writing. I warn you now, never be taken in by the whole butter wouldn't melt in their mouths and those sweet, sweet drawls. Underneath all that sweetness there are brains that work better than a well oiled steel trap. If you've read their books you will find that hot southern nights do spawn some hot activities and they both write them so well. And a word of warning; never tick off Christie. She bypasses the whole come to Jesus chats and has a special place just for people who do. 

Christie and Faye conduct various workshops at writing conferences, (in fact you'll have a chance to take one of their workshops if you go to RWA National) have an online site called Write With Us and their courses are adaptable for online classes as well as in person. Definitely check it out; it's a very interesting site. 

They have also written two non-fiction books together, The Everything Guide To Writing A Romance Novel, and Wild, Wicked & Wanton:101 Ways to Love Like You're In a Romance Novel.
 
My curiosity was aroused and so I chatted a bit with them regarding their latest, Wild Wicked & Wanton, and working together as co-authors, among other things.
 
Please welcome to Over Coffee, Christie Craig and Faye Hughes.
   

• I know both of you write fiction, I've read some of your books, so tell me a bit about yourselves, if you would.

Christie Craig: An ex-waitress, I grew up in Alabama with a southern family who used humor as a coping method. Laughter was how we dealt with good times, bad time and really sucky times. I was the only girl between two brothers who thought burping and making farting sounds with their armpits was dinner conversation. I married the wrong man way too young, divorced, was a single parent, and then found my real life hero later on. Being Southern, and from a long line of storytellers, I had inherited a bit of the talent. But being dyslexic, writing was something I sucked at. It took me ten years of learning and trying and retrying to sell my first book. And only thirteen years later to sell book two. However, all those years of struggle must have taught me something, because the day I sold book two, I sold three other books. Talk about feeling as if I’d won the lottery. My stories are Southern, funny, and have a bit of sizzle to them. And because I’m a Scorpio and have been known to get ticked off occasionally, I also throw a little murder in my books. My logo is Sexy, Suspenseful And Seriously Funny. And I try to live up to it.
 
Faye Hughes: When Christie and I first met back in 2005 on a writers loop, I told her I thought we might be related because, I swear, we are so alike in so many ways we could be sisters. We’d even lived in Southern California at the same time and a few blocks or so away from each other, too. We shopped in the same stores, frequented the same restaurants and clubs, probably even ran into each other in the ladies’ room a few times, but we never met until years later. I just find that remarkable. Now, I’m not from Alabama. I grew up in Mississippi, which is right next-door. I always wanted to be a writer, and I started my first novel when I was nine. It was about an 18 year old college freshman, a wild mustang and the struggle between environmentalists and ranchers in Montana. Um, I did say I was nine, right? And living in Mississippi? LOL. 
 

• Aside from writing romance you also have writing workshops. www.writewithus.net What are some benefits of taking your workshops?

FH: Oh, that’s a great question, thanks for asking it. Christie and I love doing workshops and we did our first one together at a writer’s conference, we discovered we had the same approach. (I’m telling ya, we have to be related. And with Mississippi and Alabama being so close . . .) Anyway, we try to make a promise to the people attending our workshops that if they’ll give us their time, we will give them three things in return: we will entertain, motivate and educate. And I think we accomplish those goals. We make our workshops fun and inspiring and, yeah, you might even learn a thing or two. Speaking of workshops, we will be giving one on surviving rejection at RWA National in Orlando with literary agent Kim Lionetti of BookEnds and editor, Rose Hilliard of St. Martin’s Press.
 

• Are the workshops a compilation of subjects you’ve spoken about at conferences or new material?

CC: Both. We’ve both been writing so long and have given workshops, writing articles for writing magazines over the years. I personally taught an on-going writing class for about five years. And since Faye and I wrote the book The Everything Guide To Writing a Romance Novel, we’ve covered a lot of subjects. So sometimes we pull from our book and sometimes when we’re brainstorming workshops for conferences, we will hit on a new subject or just a new approach to an old subject. And if we still can’t come up with something we must make up stuff. LOL. Hey, we’re fiction writers.

• This is the second non-fiction book you two have written. What inspired you to write non-fiction to begin with? And how did you come up with such an idea?

FH: When people ask me this question, I always answer by saying that Christie called me up one day and said, “Do you want to write a book?” (You have to imagine her saying this with her Alabama drawl, too. LOL.) I told her sure, thinking she was joking and the next thing I knew, we had a contract. LOL.

Seriously, though, here’s how it happened: Christie had written a book for Adams Media several years ago called The 250 Questions Every Homebuyer Should Ask. They liked working with her and so when they decided they wanted to do one of their Everything Guides about writing a romance novel, they asked if she was interested. She called me and asked me what I thought about the project—CC and I were critique partners. She’d just sold three books to Dorchester and was going to be tied up writing those. I told her I thought it was a great idea and she should do it. I insisted she do it, in fact. And that’s when she said she’d do it but only if I wrote it with her.
 Christie, don’t you agree?
 
CC: Yup, I’d say they’ve worked out very well. Co-writing a book with someone can be tricky, but we found our work ethics, our dedication to the project really were the same. Also our writing voices complimented each other. It was a win/win.

•  You’re a writing team. How do you handle creating a book together?

CC: We piggyback. And believe me, having Faye on my back isn’t easy! LOL. Seriously, when we decided to try to write another book after The Everything Guide, we just started brainstorming ideas and talking about possible subjects that we felt we had some knowledge in and then one of us would throw something out and the other one says…”Hey, that’s not too shabby of an idea. Maybe if we did tweak it like this it might work.” Since both us do mysteries, we considered the idea on how to kill an ex. But in the end we decided it might be too incriminating.

FH: Yeah, especially since we have all of these agents and editors buried in Christie’s compost heap in her back yard. Oh, and I think there is also a Weight Watchers attendant out there who made the mistake of telling CC she’d gained a couple of pounds one night at weigh-in. Trust me. Huge, HUGE mistake. LOL

• Do you have any difficulties/differing opinions? Say, in how a subject is or has been covered as you’re writing. How do you handle differing opinions on a subject you both are writing?

FH: Okay, I did mention CC’s compost heap, right? LOL. Okay, seriously, I can honestly say that CC and I have never had any major arguments about this although we do have differing opinions. We decided in the beginning that we’d do a 50/50 breakdown of the work. We’d agree on the topics and then we’d choose the ones we want to write. If either of us has a problem with a chapter topic, that chapter would get added to our list. (It may sound crazy but it works for us.) Then we’d critique each other’s work and point out any problems we had but the ultimate decision about the chapter would be made by the author of that chapter. I think it honestly helped that we were critique partners first. I respected her writing and she respected mine. Our voices mesh and we both have the same goal when we write together – to write the best book possible, so we always put the work first.


Oh. One more thing. We also have this agreement that when people tell us, “Oh, I loved XYZ chapter or scene,” that we tell them, “Thank you, that’s the one I wrote.” But if they say they weren’t that happy about PQR chapter or scene, “Oh, that’s the one SHE wrote.” LOL

• What made you decide to write a non-fiction book for women about loving like you’re a heroine in a romance novel?

CC: I’ve written over 3000 non-fiction articles for magazines and while I loved that career because it allowed me to stay at home while I continued to write novels. However, since I was selling novels I only wanted to write non-fiction that somehow helped support my fiction career. Faye and I were brainstorming once and we both agreed that if real women spent anywhere near as much time plotting their relationships as a romance author plots her novel, there would be more happily ever afters in real life. That sort of got us piggy backing and thinking of how we could use this concept in a non-fiction book. And bam! We realized that our romance heroines actually could teach real woman a lot about love.

• What do you hope readers will take away from reading this book?

CC: Like Faye said, when we give workshops we tell everyone our goal is to entertain, motivate and educate. I personally think that it’s the same with our books. WW&W is written to entertain you, to inspire you by giving you hope that you too can be happy in love, and to hopefully educate you or offer insights to some of the pitfalls of finding a true love and making the relationships work.

One reviewer also pointed out that this book would be perfect for a bunch of girlfriends to read before going on a girlfriend weekend. It will bring to mind all the funny situations with men and relationships and help you laugh about some of the hiccups with romance with which most women face at one time or another.

FH: Ditto. And especially the entertain part. This was such a fun book for us to write. We really hope readers enjoy it as much as we did.

Wild, Wicked & Wanton: 101 Ways to Love Like You're In a Romance Novel

Sure, romance novels offer are fun, pure fantasy, but can they actually teach a woman anything about love?

Absolutely!

Think about it, if a woman spent as much time plotting her romantic relationships as authors did in plotting their romance novels, there would be far less heartache. If real women took their cues from romance heroines, there may be more real-life Happily Ever Afters. Romance authors Christie Craig and Faye Hughes have turned their philosophy into a humorous self-help relationship book that lists 101 ways a woman can love like she's a romance heroine.


Romance heroines aren't perfect, they make mistakes. But by the end of the book, they've earned their walk into the sunset. How do they do it? Courage, wisdom, and some good ol' kick-ass gumption. Heroines don't wish they'd said something, they say it. They don't fret about their problems; they fix them. And couldn't we all use a little bit of their wisdom to deal with real life and with real men?

Meet Jayne. Like most romance heroines - and most real life women - she's had her share of heartaches. In Wild, Wicked and Wanton, Jayne's search for true love teaches her:

· How to recognize a Keeper . . . and a Creeper


· How to tame a Bad Boy

· How to trust her instincts

· How to find her own Mr. Right

· And Much, Much More!

Search inside this book

Buy: Amazon.com

You can find out more about both Christie Craig and Faye Huges on their joint website, Write With Us 

THE ART OF JABBERING: Not Such a Bad a Thing—Well Not all the Time

My guest is romance author, Christie Craig. You may have read some of her books like Divorced, Desperate and Deceived and Divorced, Desperate And Dating.

I recently had the opportunity to read Christie’s book. Oh what a fun book to read, and laugh? Oh my goodness this book cracked me up. It’s a good blend of comedy and suspense. I love Christie’s sense of humor and her ability to infuse that humor in her writing and her word plays without losing that edge of danger needed for a good suspense story. Her characters are real and fun and tend to get into some wacky situations. You’ll love Precious, Texas and Shala, Sky, Redfoot, and Martha and her red Cadillac. Wait until you meet the guy in the pink bathrobe and smells like a skunk. You’ll be laughing your, um, head off. If you enjoy witty, sexy romantic suspense, you’ll love Shut Up And Kiss Me.

Christie shares with us The Art of Jabbering & Networking at Conferences.

Shala Winters, my heroine in Shut Up And Kiss Me is a bit of a jabberer, and guess what my hero can’t stand? Yup, you got it. Sky Gomez can’t stand a jabbering woman. In the book he states: He would walk uphill naked and barefoot through the snow and a bed of porcupine needles to avoid a jabbering woman. I bet you can figure out just how that works out for him too, can’t you? Basically, there is no escape, not even an uphill path through the snow or porcupine needles. Sky is stuck with Shala and her endless chatter. I make sure of it. Love in the making.

The crazy thing is that while Shut Up and Kiss Me is the perfect title for the book, I had originally given the title to an earlier book and another heroine who had a habit of talking a wee bit much. So I guess you could say, I have a tendency to write about heroines who aren’t afraid to talk. Now, how I have so much insight into this character trait is beyond me. I can hear everyone who knows me cracking up right now.

So, fine! I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a talker, and the ol’ foot-in-the-mouth moment is something I’ve experienced once or twice, maybe a dozen times. There was the time I stepped out into my backyard just in time to hear my next door neighbor, positioned on top of his ever-increasing CB radio antenna, yell down to my husband, “Hey, it works.”

And I yelled back, “It should. It’s big enough.”

Only to have my husband--after he finished laughing his butt off and after he picked his butt up from the ground--tell me they hadn’t been discussing the antenna, but my neighbor’s vasectomy. Yeah, I had my big toe stuck between my molars for about a week on that one. And for about a year, every time I saw my neighbor I swear he walked a little taller.

Ahh, but foot-in-the-mouth moments aside, jabbering isn’t altogether a bad thing. Not for my fiction, and especially not for me as a writer.

Here’s what I mean:

Jabbering -- Good For Fiction

Jabbering, or to say it another way, talking before you think-- saying what you mean before filtering it-- is one of the best keys to writing good dialogue. The heck with politeness and political correctness. Kick aside what people expect your characters to say, and let them do a little jabbering, and speak their minds. Just for fun, let me show you what I mean.

“How are you this morning?” Linda asked, as Jeffery walked into the boardroom with the other six members.

Jeffery paused. “I’m fine thank you.”

Now that’s just plain ol’ polite dialogue and frankly it’s boring. How about we spice that up:

“How are you this morning?” Linda asked, as Jeffery walked into the boardroom with the other six members.

Jeffery flinched. “How the hell can you even ask me that after what you did?”

Better, don’t you think? Or maybe let’s try.

“How are you this morning?” Linda asked, as Jeffery walked into the boardroom with the other \six members.

“I’m doing fabulous and as soon as I can get you alone and naked again, I’ll be doing even better.”

To write great dialogue let your characters say the truth, the hell with consequences. Hey, kids can get away with it, why not our characters. For example, my three-year-old son accidentally walked into the bathroom as my mom stepped out of the shower.

“Wow, I didn’t know you looked like that naked,” he said.
My mom grabbed the towel and covered herself. “Like what?”
“Like a fat lady,” he said in total honesty.

I didn’t say there wouldn’t be consequences, just the hell with them. Yes, I had a talk with my young son about political correctness, but let me tell you, it was funny, it was honest—my mom had gained weight and was hiding it behind her clothes—and while it happened more than a dozen years ago, the whole family still laughs at it.

So make you character’s dialogue memorable and maybe even funny by letting them talk with child-like honesty.

Jabbering -- Good for Verbal Networking

The art of jabbering is basically the art of carrying on a conversation--and being able to communicate with the editors, agents, other writers, and eventually your fans. Probably one of the best networking skills I’ve attained is the ability to talk. While some believe it was a natural talent, I beg to differ. I was a wallflower in high school. It wasn’t until I sold my book and was asked to speak at conferences did I learn the fine art of jabbering. So here’s a few tips and advice to shy writers trying to build their verbal networking skills.

• At conference or any social event, pretend it’s your party and your place to make everyone else feel welcome.

• Make the conversation about the person you are speaking to and not all about yourself. People love it when you show interest in them, and it makes the person curious about you. So you’ll usually get your time in the spot light as well. (This even works in pitch sessions. Ask an agent, so what types of books are you really wanting to see right now? Eventually the conversation will come back around to what type of book you have, but by then hopefully you’ll be relaxed a bit and won’t feel so nervous.)

• Find the person who is standing alone and go greet them. I’ve made more friends by simply looking for the lone stranger in the room and introducing myself. Amazingly, a few of them were editors.

• Don’t be afraid to try public speaking—unless it truly is your worst fear. Most speakers are nervous at first, but if you practice your talk, have confidence in what you’re saying, see it as opportunity to share your knowledge, chances are you might even learn to like it. Start out giving short talks to small groups and build up from there. Speaking at conferences is the best PR.

• Have fun, smile and watch your body language. Nothing draws a crowd more than people having fun. We all want to join the party. A big smile says I’m open, friendly, and invites people to come and say hello. Closed body language, arms crossed, and avoiding eye contact of others keeps people back.
  
  Okay, so there you have it. Why jabbering isn’t altogether a bad thing—as long as you keep your foot out of your mouth.
  

Today, what I’d love to hear from you is some funny foot-in-the-mouth situations, or perhaps some of your tips on dialogue and verbal networking.

One commenter will receive an autographed copy of Shut Up and Kiss Me. So make sure you leave a comment.

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Back Cover Blurb:

WELCOME TO PRECIOUS, TEXAS...where fistfights serve as dinner theater and fire ants rain from the sky. The locals are usually very friendly, if a bit eccentric. No pictures please, or you may find yourself a guest of the county morgue.

Photojournalist Shala Winters already had her hands full bringing tourism to this backward, podunk little town, but her job just got tougher. Pictures can say a thousand words, and one of Shala’s is screaming bloody murder. Now she has to entrust a macho, infuriating lawman with her life—but she’ll never trust him with her heart.

Trusted or not, Sky Gomez isn’t about to let a killer get his hands on Shala’s Nikon—or any of her more comely assets, for that matter. Her mouth might move faster than a Piney Woods roadrunner, but all he can think about is how good it must taste…and how she’ll never escape true love.

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Christie Craig, an Alabama native, is an award-winning, multi-published writer, multi-published photo journalist, motivational speaker, and writing teacher. Her non-fiction articles and photography have appeared in almost three thousand national magazines. A Golden Heart finalist, and a finalist in more than fifty RWA-sponsored contests, she has gained a well-deserved reputation for writing romance fiction that has both witty humor and a suspenseful, sexy tone. Published by Silhouette in the 90s, she recently broke back into fiction in a big way, making four book sales in one day. Her seventh humorous single title romance novel, published by Dorchester, will hit the stands in June 2010.

Her non-fiction book, co-authored by Faye Hughes, released September 08, is The Everything Guide To Writing A Romance Novel and their second non-fiction book, a humorous self-help relationship book, Wild, Wicked and Wanton: 101 Ways to Love Like You Are in a Romance Novel is scheduled to be released December 2010. Craig’s latest writing adventure is the sale of a young adult paranormal romance series, Shadow Falls Camp, that will be published by St. Martins Press in the near future.