Thankfully…Midnight Confessions

Thankful Thursdays…

March 1 and my newest release comes out today. For this, I am grateful. Midnight Confessions was not what some of us call “gimme books”, but I got to write it exactly the way it was conceived, which in itself is something for which to be thankful. The situation, some of the characters, the idea of a heroine living with ghosts. Salacious ones, at that. It all came to me at once.

I was at a writing retreat, something the four us call “The Red Door.” For a few years now, we’ve been getting together quarterly for weekend retreats. When one of us (we all write different types of stories in different way)needs to come up with a new idea we’ll sit away from the others and use 4×6 cards to prime the pump of creativity. Random words appear in our heads and we jot them, one word per card until we have about 8 or 10 cards. To brainstorm ideas we take the cards back into the group and simply say them out loud one at a time.
The only rule we have is that we don’t invest anything in the words themselves. Unlike having a proposal or synopsis to work on, we have nothing but abstract thoughts/words/ideas. It’s an amazing process. Simple but effective.

We jot notes on the others’ reactions to the words. This works incredibly well. The author with the cards will often develop a thread to a story this way. No defense maneuvers are taken because nothing is invested in the thread. No one holds back comments because since nothing is invested we’re not going to step on toes or hijack an idea or try to put our own direction on someone else’s story. It’s a perfect, clean, clear brainstorming tool.

Except for Midnight Confessions, a concept that landed almost fully formed as I sat in the small backyard, pen poised over my first card, clearing my mind so *one* word could appear to me. Instead, I got the entire concept for the novel (which ended up being the first of a series).
I tried to put random words on my cards, I really did. But no matter how I tried to avoid investing in this idea I only put down words on my cards that followed the haunted mansion theme, the idea of ghosts who refused to leave, a madam with her own agenda, a heroine at a crossroads.

Lucky for me my band of pen warriors understood that when I walked back in from the garden I already had a thread…more than that…and everything we talked about enhanced what had come to me while jotting my words.
So, Red Door pen warriors I am eternally grateful for you. And for that particular day when I bent the only rule we have for that exercise.

Although I felt I had something precious in my head, I was still unsure what my editor would think. Dark paranormal being all the rage, I wasn’t sure she’d like the lighter tone I brought to my ghost stories. She didn’t even blink! Gave me the go-ahead on nothing more than an email that use: A gleam in my eye…in the subject line.

Freedom to write the story as I saw it, was a gift I’ll never forget.
And so, now, today, Midnight Confessions is released to the world.
And I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to bring it to the page in much the way I first envisioned it. It was much easier to conceive the book than it was to write it, but with some of the kind reviews I’ve been getting, I think I just may have pulled it off.

Is that a “gimme book”? I don’t know, but I’m not sure I’ll see the like again.
Bonnie Edwards

Why?

Yesterday, I was writing at Panera Bread and bumped into a former Borders employee who I’ve seen there from time to time. She said she’d brought my newest book with her while on vacation and loved it. After thanking her, she asked, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but how do you come up with such twisted villains?”

This is the deviation of “Where do you get your ideas?” the most common question, I believe, that all writers get.

I had a reporter once ask, “How do you think this stuff up? You’re so perky.” (Yes, perky. My mom liked that one, she keeps repeating it to me, LOL.)

Another reporter said, “Why do you write such scary books? You seem so nice.” (“Seem” being the operative word! What does she think, I’m not what I appear to be? Yikes!)

The truth is: I don’t know. I can point to my childhood being raised on mysteries and police procedurals with a dose of romance; I can point to my fascination and admiration of Stephen King; or glance at my bookshelf and realize that 80% of my books are suspense/thrillers/mysteries and romantic suspense. It’s what I like to read, why wouldn’t I write it?

But I think the biggest reason is that I’ve always been fascinated with WHY. Why do bad things happen? How? What kind of person can kill? What kind of person can stop killers? What makes people do what they do, good or bad? So I get into their heads and find out WHY.

So it’s Q&A day . . . what question have you always wanted to ask a writer? Fire away! And writers, what question have you been asked that you think is unique or different?

A bit of self-promo . . . SEE NO EVIL, the second book in my trilogy, is out this week! It’s a Top Pick from Romantic Times who calls it, “Haunting and mesmerizing.” If you have any questions about this book or the trilogy, fire away!

What I’m (not) reading

Okay, so today’s Tuesday. Which, along with being publication day for my long delayed New Orleans romantic thriller, is the day I’m supposed to be talking about what I’m reading and share insights.

Well, here’s the deal. After I jumped publishers in December, I started worrying that because No Safe Place was now going to be an orphaned book, it wouldn’t be getting all the publisher support it might otherwise. So, although I usually shy away from publicity stuff, deciding I perhaps should do something to help, I started agreeing to all the late February, early March chats, guest blogs, website author of the month appearances, and interviews I was invited to participate in. While all that seemed like a good idea at the time, it didn’t occur to me that the first book of a trilogy I thought up quickly (can we say overnight?) to pitch at publisher meetings in NY would be due May 1.

Of course, RITA books also arrived to be read. Then, last week NAL sales and marketing wanted numbers for previous titles to start preparing their big campaign push to announce my arrival at my new house and hopefully sell bunches of books. But I have not exaggerated all those times I’ve insisted that the only way I’ve learned — for me — to stay reasonably sane in this business is not to pay attention to the numbers. Any numbers. In fact — and I am not making this up — within weeks after verbally agreeing to a contract, I always have to ask my sweetie (a former math major whose career was in insurance and who actually LIKES numbers) what the total amt I’ll be receiving and breakdown by book actually is. This questioning continues over the course of each contract.

Three more problems are 1) aol will no longer acknowledge my password, so I can’t get to all my old agent and publisher email I left stored there when I switched to mac mail. 2) Did I mention I also switched agents last fall? Which means that all my old information is at my former agency, and although they’ve been very gracious about my leaving, there’s only so much I want to bother them with. And finally, 3) Louise Burke, Pocket publisher, tended to send “real” letters rather than emails. So, finding the letters about print runs and ship numbers in the massive amounts of Pocket correspondence, has been, to put it mildly, challenging.

Fortunately, USA Today archives their bestseller list, and I did have print outs of the weekly numbers for all but one of the NYT books. This made my agent happy, so I assume it also made the NAL folks happy, as well. At least I hope so.

But my point. . . and I do have one!. . . is that although I usually enjoy two or three novels a week, reading for pleasure has pretty much become an unknown thing. On my bedside table right now are: Obsession, The FBI’s legendary profiler probes the psyches of killers, rapists, and stalkers and their victims and tells how to fight back; The Anatomy of Motive; Sexual homicide patterns and motives; The Criminal Mind; Shadow Wars, Special Forces in the New Battle against Terrorism; and Roberts Ridge, a Story of Courage and Sacrifice on Takur Ghar Mountain, Afghanistan.

Anyone want me to chat about these?
I didn’t think so. *g*

So, here’s the deal. Because I need all the help I can get, with a chat tomorrow night on Novel Talk, a day of guest blogging with the Fog City Divas, and a gala booksigning for Anderson News and Food City at the Knoxville Women’s Expo yet to go, I’m going to invite y’all to share what you’re reading.

Oh, and what will I be doing to celebrate No Safe Place’s publication day, you ask? Since my sweetie has jury duty, I’ll be — sigh — spending it with my dentist.

The R Word

We’ve all experienced it in one form of another. That really cute guy in high school who you thought you’d die for dumped you without so much as a “see ya”. The person you thought was your best friend suddenly found another new best friend and is treating you like yesterday’s outfit she wouldn’t be caught dead in. The guy who vowed to honor you for better or worse has decided that “better” means a newer, younger version. Ah, rejection. It sucks, doesn’t it? As humans inhabiting planet Earth we’ve all dealt with our share of the garden variety forms of rejection, but as writers/authors, we deal with a special kind reserved just for us.

It’s a strange business we’ve chosen, and if you’ve been in it long enough, or even not so very long, you’ve no doubt experienced rejection of your work. Now, I don’t think editors really mean to hurt us when they reject our work. I’d hate to think that my editor got dumped by her boyfriend the night before and took out her wrath on the first unsuspecting author whose work crossed her desk the next morning.

I love each and every one of my stories like they were my children. So much passion goes into their making. So much sweating and straining to bring them to life. I guess the powers that be just don’t realize that rejecting a manuscript is like saying you have an ugly baby. Now, I’ll admit that I’ve seen some pretty homely babies, but I would never tell that to their mothers.

Some rejections come as generic form letters. Did you ever try to read between the lines of a form letter? Trust me, it doesn’t help. Others are lengthy, 2 pages of everything that’s wrong with your baby, after which they toss in some praise to keep you from coming after them with a machete. Some are truly kind and encouraging.

I’d like to share my 7 step approach to dealing with the R word.

Step 1 – Denial. They can’t be serious! They’ll read it over again and realize they made a monstrous mistake, and along with their profuse apologies will come a multi-book contract and tons of money.

Step 2 – Depression. Oh my God. I’ll never sell another book again. I’m washed up. I’m a has-been. Where’s that hole? I want to crawl in and never come out. Don’t touch me. Don’t talk to me. I wish I were dead.

Step 3 – Anger. What?! That miserable so-and-so! She wouldn’t know a good love story if it jumped up and bit her on the nose. No wonder her boyfriend dumped her! And if he didn’t, he should!

Step 4 – Acceptance. Oh well. It is what it is. There’s nothing I can do about it, so I might as well get on with my miserable life.

Step 5 – Determination. I’ll write another one and if they don’t buy that one, I’ll write another one, and if they don’t buy that one…

Step 6 – Hope. And if hoping doesn’t work, I give prayer a shot.

Step 7 – Resignation. Whoever said life was fair?

This whole process takes about 2 hours before I’m back to my old self. Well, okay, so maybe there’s a little residual depression lingering into the next day, but by then, it’s a mere shadow of its former self. No more crawling into holes. No more death wishes. Just a sad little tinge of what might have been.

So, my question is, how do you deal with rejection? Do you stomp your feet at the injustice of it? Do you stick pins in the doll you created in your editor’s likeness? Do you cry? Does it slide off your back like water on a duck, or does it stay with you for days like a bad dream? Does it affect what you write next, or do you stubbornly stick to your guns and continue to write the same types of stories you believe in?

For those out there who are experiencing rejection, the only advice I can offer is what works for me. Get angry. Get depressed. Get over it.

Happy Sunday!

I love Sundays. (As opposed, say, to Mondays, which I’m not quite so fond of, for some reason.)

Sundays are great because it usually means I can linger over my coffee, relax and rejuvenate. Mostly though, I spend part of the day strategizing for the week ahead. Sure, I don’t always meet all my goals for the week but Sundays are great for planning and dreaming since almost anything seems possible then. (Again, as opposed, say, to Mondays…)

Now, the only thing better than a Sunday is a Sunday that’s also my birthday…which today is, coincidentally enough. Amid the birthday bubble bath/facial/pedicure – yeah, I celebrate large, don’t I? – I’ll also spend some time strategizing the year ahead. And I’ve got Big Plans for the coming year, too. (I’ll talk about some of them in a future blog.) Sure, I may not meet all of my goals but on a Sunday, when it’s my birthday, the world is mine to conquer.

So, what about you? How do you celebrate your Sundays? Or your birthdays, for that matter?

Faye

Learning To Be Funny

I will never forget when the editor of Cat’s Magazine called me a few weeks after I’d submitted my first, unsolicited essay to their magazine. The first comment out of her mouth was…. “I’m NOT calling to buy your essay.”

I replied, “Too bad, because I don’t take rejection very well over the phone.”

She laughed, then said, “What I mean is…we’re looking for someone to write a humor column about cats. I was wondering if you can do this once a month?”

Now, you have to understand the position I was in. And I’m not talking about the fact that I’d stepped out of the shower to grab the phone and was butt-naked and trying to sound professional. I’m talking about being a true, one-hundred-percent dog person. That said, I knew more about cats than I knew about writing comedy. Honestly, that essay was my first attempt at writing humor. So, I did what any upstanding church-going girl would do. I lied. “Oh, sure, I can do that once a mouth.”

After I dressed and asked for forgiveness, I ran out and bought every book I could find on writing humor. And while I was out, I picked up two cats. One of them, I had to return – my neighbor had spotted me snatching their family pet.

My point in telling you this, besides it being funny, is that some people think you can’t teach yourself to write humor. I ended up writing that column for two years and collecting four felines, and while I might have gotten lucky with that first essay, I seriously didn’t know how I’d done it. I know, I probably inherited my zany way of looking at life from my family, but the actual techniques of writing humor can be learned. Two of my favorite how-to books are: HOW TO WRITE FUNNY, which has a chapter by my one of my favorite writers, Jennifer Cruise, and THE COMIC TOOLBOX: HOW TO BE FUNNY EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT.

And because Faye and I have asked you about what funny books you have read lately, I’ll tell you about a scene that made me laugh out loud. EXTREME BACHELOR by Julia London. The hero sees his ex girlfriend, an upcoming actress, for the first time in five years. He sees her on the TV – staring in a commercial – a commercial about constipation. (See Faye, I’m not the only one who writes over the top.)

So do tell. What books have you read that have made you laugh out loud? Remember, there’s a gift certificate up for grabs.

The Last Laugh

Well, it’s Friday and time for the final blog debate about humor with Christie Craig. I don’t know about you guys but we’ve both enjoyed ourselves.

So, what are my final thoughts about humor? Well, I love it when it works but I hate it when it doesn’t. I mean, honestly. There’s nothing worse than reading a scene that seems forced. (Especially if I’m the author of said scene. LOL.) But when I write a scene that still makes me laugh when I read it again a few weeks later…okay, that is the most amazing feeling in the world to me.

The novels I’ve written in the past weren’t, technically, romantic comedies. They were more like romantic romps. Fun reads, I like to think of them, but fun reads with humor. One of the best compliments I ever received from a reader was for one of my first books for Bantam Loveswept. She’d wrote me to say that she’d read my book while her mother was having surgery. She’d been afraid her mother wouldn’t pull through the operation and was really stressed out. But for three hours, she read my silly little book, and it made her laugh. She wanted to thank me for having written it.

I still have that letter.

And it still makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Sure, writing “funny” isn’t going to save the world from global warming but it might just make someone’s day a little brighter.

So, what about you? Have you ever read a funny book that touched your heart in a special way? Don’t forget – Christie and I are giving away a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble to one of the commenters to our blogs this month!

Faye

Barbara Freethy Asks: What’s In a Cover?

Since it’s Wondering Wednesdays, I thought I’d ponder the subject of covers. I have been both blessed and cursed by the Cover Gods as you can see by the accompanying photos. My recent romantic suspense, TAKEN, received First Prize in the Houston RWA’s Cover Contest for romantic suspense. Published by NAL, I think this cover did what a romantic suspense is supposed to do — it grabbed the reader’s eye with bold colors and a different look.

However, when I was writing more in the single title romance arena, the publishers dabbled with various kinds of looks. I had a lot of flower covers, a lot of blue covers and then there was the disaster on the right. ALMOST HOME is a book set in Kentucky at the time of the Kentucky Derby. It’s about a thoroughbred horse ranch and blood lines and people searching for who they really are. When Avon told me they were going to give me a “horse” cover I imagined a beautiful, inspiring thoroughbred against a moonlit sky (or something like that). As you can see I got a cross between the cartoon cover look that was just beginning to boom and well … I’m not exactly sure what the rest of it was supposed to be … the flowers I had before?

This cover was so bad that several major book buying accounts actually suggested it should be changed and there were plans to do so … but then Avon got bought by Harper and there were all kinds of changes and in the midst of it all, my cover was published. Some authors would like to think that a bad cover isn’t that bad … I have to tell you that it can be … My #’s dropped with this cover considerably. I don’t think the readers knew what kind of book it was or just thought it was so ugly they didn’t pick it up. Thankfully, after that Avon went back to the pretty flowers, etc.

However, “pretty” can be another problem. A friend of mine writes historicals and her covers are gorgeous, and are often some knock off of a beautiful painting, but it seems that they’re almost too “pretty” or too “quiet” for the market. The book buyers seem to gravitate toward covers that hit them over the head in some way.

So I’m wondering what drives you to pick up a cover? Are there certain colors or looks that you automatically pick up? For instance do single bare-chested men attract you more than a pair of dangling female legs and sexy high heels? Or vice versa? Do you like sweeping landscape looks or Adirondack chairs at the end of a pier? (Does anyone remember when those were big?) Do you like the clinch cover? Do you feel like you know exactly what you’re getting? And is that the ultimate question — does the book have to deliver exactly the kind of story promised by the cover? Do you ever go back to check if the hero’s hair color was right? God forbid the hero has red hair — in my experience you’ll rarely find a red-haired hero on the cover So, what do you think? Are there any book covers that stand out in your mind (besides Christina Dodd’s three armed heroine – does anyone remember that?)

What I’m Reading

The timing is good for me to post about what I’ve been reading, since I’ve recently read some great books by two new-to-me authors and I’m always glad to spread the word.

The first is What Angels Fear by C.S. Harris. The book is a historical mystery set in the Regency era. While I was aware of Harris’ work w/a Candice Proctor, I had never read anything by her. A friend brought What Angels Fear to my attention. I couldn’t put it down, and as soon as I finished reading it, I got my hands on a copy of the sequel When Gods Die, which I enjoyed even more than the first. In both books the author drew me into the story immediately, then kept me involved in it until the last page. Sebastian St. Cyr, the protagonist, is fascinating, as are several of the other main characters. The books are rich in period detail, giving the books a “you are there” quality. I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

The next new-to-me author is Marjorie M. Liu. I was immediately intrigued by her novella A Dream of Stone and Shadow (the second of two stories in Dark Dreamers–the other novella in the book is by Christine Feehan), as the hero is a gargoyle. The story was wonderful–dark and sinister, yet very touching. A Dream of Stone and Shadow is part of Liu’s series of “Dirk and Steele Adventures”–paranormal stories revolving around a very unusual detective agency. I’ve got the first book in the series on my TBR pile now, and I’m hoping to get to it soon. I’m sure I’ll be buying the rest of the series, as well.

What have you been reading? Have you tried these authors, and if so, what did you think?

Relishing the Possibilities

Most of the hours of my days pass by in the whirlwind of details and duties of daily life. I’m not complaining; it’s just the way is. But because of that we need to recognize and relish those special moments life, slowing down to savor the possibilities.

And for me, both as a reader and as a writer, walking into a favorite bookstore is always, ALWAYS, one of those moments. When I open the door to a place like Powell’s City of Books, I pause, grinning from ear to ear, and let the myriad of possibilities wash over me.

If you’ve never heard of Powell’s, the store covers a square city block in downtown Portland, Oregon. It’s a ramshackle labyrinth of books—all genres, new and used. It’s so big, the rooms are color-coded and you need to navigate the place with a map.

I love it.

In any bookstore, I love knowing there are new releases by my favorite authors or books by authors I have yet to discover waiting forme. Ooooh—the possibilities!

But it’s the wealth of nonfiction books in a place like Powell’s that has my pulse racing and my monthly budget in jeopardy. Over the years, it’s been in those towering stacks that I’ve first met so many of the characters who have populated my books—a U.S. Marshal, the ladies who started their own literary society, the warriors who became my Paladins. I can’t wait to see whom I meet next!

So how about you? Do you have a favorite bookstore? What about it makes it so special?