Michelle Rowen

Cirque du Freak movie

2009-10-01T11:21:00.001-04:00

I've been meaning to read this series of YA novels for a while, and they've gone and made a movie on me! Anything with vamps is cool with me, but add in the teen angle and I'm there (that sounded kind of creepy, actually).

But, really, how much fun is this?

New blog

2008-10-01T21:26:00.001-04:00

New blog can be found at: www.michellerowen.com/blog/

Website change

2008-09-22T13:35:00.001-04:00

The website and blog might go dark for a few hours today. I'm trying to clear my server and upload my new WordPress-based site. Wish me luck! Hopefully, I'll see you all again real soon......

Help with title - win an ARC of Stakes & Stilettos

2008-09-20T12:29:00.004-04:00

Okay... I need help. My young adult novel, currently titled NIKKI DONOVAN: DEMON PRINCESS needs a new title! To sum up the plot, it's about a girl who discovers on her 16th birthday that her absentee father is actually a king, in the underworld, which makes her a half-demon princess and heir to the throne. There's some political intrigue, some romance, and some high school stuff as she tries to balance this bizarre new information with her regular life.

Preferably I'd like the title to be fun, but not flippant. Something like Julie Kenner's California Demon, Carpe Demon, etc., would be perfect however I can't very well use those titles (note: my book isn't set in California). Something that says teen, demon, fun, young, princess, exciting, paranormal. I also really liked the Demon Princess Diaries, but that was too close to Meg Cabot's series. I want a title that's easily accessible, gives an overview of what's inside at a glance, and remains original.

Easy right? *sweats*

Got any ideas to help me out? Post 'em here with my ultimate gratitude.

If you're able to offer up some suggestions, you're in the running for one of two copies of a signed ARC (Advance Reading Copy) of STAKES & STILETTOS which I've just received. This doesn't need a new title, thankfully. I'll draw a couple winners next Wednesday, Sept 24.

STAKES & STILETTOS - April '09

Staked, cursed, and still single...

Newly-vamped Sarah Dearly wants her normal life back, but fate is fighting against her. She tries to get a nice, regular job and gets staked at the interview, only to be rescued by a masked vampire who calls himself the Red Devil. Then a wallflower-turned-witch curses her, making her a bloodthirsty, sun-allergic nightwalker—the worst vampire there is. As if all that weren’t bad enough, she can’t get married because her 600-year-old boyfriend, Thierry, is in a centuries-long marriage of convenience he can’t escape.

...it’s enough to make a girl start biting.

As Sarah’s nightwalker tendencies make her more dangerous, even to those she loves, she’ll have to counteract that curse, unmask the increasingly intriguing Red Devil, and—oh yeah—get a commitment from her man. But if that’s what it takes to secure her happiness, Sarah is ready...even if it means embracing her inner vamp to do it.

Winner, status, and Supernatural

2008-09-19T18:20:00.003-04:00

The winner of the copy of Demon's Hunger is Bobbi. Please send your mailing address to michelle@michellerowen.com and I'll get the book in the mail to you asap. Enjoy!

--

My Blaze is all done and delivered to my editor along with my suggestions for a new title. It was a fun write. Hope it reads that way. Now I'm working on the short story for the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance which is due on Monday. I had my story all set in my brain and now, 12 pages in, another hero has shown up who was supposed to be the villain. But he's not the villain. He's the damn hero. This annoys me because now I have to rewrite the first 10 pages to make it match. But in the end, I trust the muse. She knows. Plus, the new hero is WAY hotter than the first one.

Monday I start my YA edits. It's all good.

--

So, last night was a VERY important night in the fact that it was the Supernatural season premiere. And yes, I will be discussing it here in all its glory so HIDE YOUR EYES if you haven't seen it yet, because here there be spoilers.

***SPOILERS***

So, after worrying all summer about Dean's fate -- the last we saw of him he was trapped like a ripped up fly on the web of Hell (or whatever that was) -- we find ourselves back with the premiere episode. How would Dean be rescued after spending ALL of last season trying to avoid this very horrific fate?

Luckily for Dean, and not so much for the viewers, the writers employ a deus ex machina of sorts (or really, quite literally) and magically export Dean from hell with barely any memory of how torturous it was. Not saying that I want my darling, pretty Dean to be damaged mentally by the experience, but how about a half an episode? You know, for payback for last season? Angel had to suffer 100 years in a hell dimension for turning into Angelus for Pete's sake. It took him, like, six episodes to recover from that!

But Supernatural is not Buffy. Never has been, never will be.

Anyhow, Dean wakes up in his coffin and easily digs himself out of the grave finding himself in the middle of what looks like an explosion or something. He wanders off to a gas station to drinks some water and get some skin mags (love that Dean is still Dean). I kind of thought he was still in Hell here, and that it would be looping madness or something really weird would happen, but nope. Dean's back. He's alive. And he's feeling and looking just fine. (I love you Jensen!)

He goes off to find Sam and Bobby. Bobby freaks out when he sees him until he begins to believe something freaky has happened. Sam freaks out too. They set about figuring out what happened. They go to a psychic (note to casting people: why do nearly all supernatural babes look like clones of each other? That same generic hot brunette look seems to be the preference which makes it hard for me to decide if I've seen the character before. Anyhow, my problem, I suppose.) The psychic tries to figure out what demon pulled Dean out of hell leaving behind a nasty hand print scar that looks like it should have some Ozonol applied to it. Psychic-chick sees the face of the puller-outer and her eyes melt. Cool! We don't have to put up with this new bimbo now.

Demons in diner get all angry with Sam and Dean but after Dean hits the possessed waitress in the face (another generic brunette. No comment on the excuse for hitting women thing which bugged me profusely last season) she doesn't reciprocate and S&D leave.

Sam goes to visit yet another generic brunette who turns out to be Ruby's new host body (I sooo preferred the other actress) and they chat, blah blah blah. Sam and Bobby go to summon the puller-outer because that seems like the wisest choice being that he's given to burning out the eyeballs of anyone who sees him. Sure. But that's Dean for you.

We learn that Sam has been practicing his psychic mojo and can now vanquish a demon with a fiery look. Woot.

We learn that atheist Dean was pulled out of hell by an angel who tells him God has an assignment for him. Or something like that. The angel is kind of hot, actually. I like the angel action, not so happy about how easy it was for Dean to escape hell, although I'm thinking he'll be paying for it in the eps to come. Some indication that he does remember what happened in hell (screaming and stuff) so he'll be dealing with some nightmares at the very least.

Overall, a very meh premiere, but since I judge Supernatural on a completely different level than, say, I did Buffy, I think it was great! I also judged Jean-Claude Van Damme movies unto and against themselves. A 9/10 JCVD movie was not the same as a regular 9/10 movie. Such is the case with Supernatural.

I love this show for the brothers, not for the super original and inventive storytelling.

My guess? God's will is for Dean to destroy Sam. Brother vs. Brother.

Now, could we PLEASE get a decent female character on this show??? PLEASE?????

Want to win an ARC?

2008-09-17T11:45:00.003-04:00

Eve Silver is not only a fabulously prolific and talented author, she's also a very good friend of mine. She writes historical gothics, futuristics writing as Eve Kenin, and dark paranormal romance.

DEMON'S HUNGER is the second book in her dark and delicious "Compact of Sorcerers" series is out in December and I am lucky enough to have a couple of signed ARCs, and I'm giving one of them away this week on my blog!

Want to win? Post a comment to this post and I'll pick a winner on Friday. The caveat to this contest is that you need to have a blog (make sure your comment links to it) and be willing to post a review about the book. Sounds fair enough for a shiny ARC, doesn't it? And isn't this cover absolutely gorgeous?

I'll be giving the other ARC away as well, but I want to read it first. :-)

DEMON'S HUNGER
by Eve Silver
Grand Central Publishing - December 2008

Forensic anthropologist Vivien Cairn fears she's losing her mind. Her libido has kicked into overdrive, and she's blacking out-leaving hours of her life unaccounted for and no memory of where she's been...or what she's done. But when a sexy stranger rescues her from a demon attack, Vivien realizes there's more than just her sanity at stake...

A seductive killer is luring victims, and Sorcerer Dain Hawkins finds himself walking a dangerous line between ancient duty and sizzling desire when the brotherhood-and Vivien herself-begin to suspect that her mysterious symptoms may connect her to the crimes. Can Dain save Vivien from the evil that threatens to claim her? Or will they both succumb to...Demon's Hunger...

Status and a review

2008-09-16T12:05:00.004-04:00

Starting on my second draft of FEELS LIKE MAGIC today. The read-through was surprisingly clean. It is possible I am deluded, but I really like this story. Like, really like it. The characters and the situation they find themselves in is so much fun and super sexy. At least, I think so. ;-)

Just received word that my ARCs of STAKES & STILETTOS are jetting my way very soon. That seems mega early since the release date isn't for 6-1/2 months and the Amazon pre-order page isn't even up yet*, but I'm not complaining. The cover isn't even finalized which is why I haven't shared it here yet, but I guess time and tide wait for no ARC. I'm excited to see them. Will be having some ARC contests real soon.

I received a wonderful review from the Chicago Tribune for COUNTDOWN. Thought I'd share since it's my first time getting a review there. :-)

For Kira Jordan it's never a good day when you wake up chained in a dark room with the man who murdered your family. Kira quickly discovers that she and Rogan Ellis are the latest contests in a private reality show called "Countdown." If she and Rogan can survive the six increasingly difficult levels of the show, they will win their freedom, unless one of them kills the other first! Dark, edgy suspense, adrenaline-fueled action, and sexy romance come together brilliantly.

*however, Stakes & Stilettos and Tall, Dark & Fangsome are already available for pre-order on Chapters.ca!

Monday stuff

2008-09-15T13:15:00.002-04:00

Today I'm going to start my read-through of my Blaze and do my scene-by-scene breakdown and analysis of what needs to be tweaked. Does that sound fun or what??

I started my short story on the weekend as well and have a good 10 pages done on it. Turns out that, despite the poll results of a couple weeks ago, it's a vampire story. Hey, what can I say? I needed a hero who's been alive for a while, and the vampire was the winner. This is due next Monday. The Blaze is due two weeks Wednesday. My YA edits are due October 15th.

Should make for a busy month.

Plus, I'm working on a new redesign on my website with a friend who happens to have mad web design skillz. And no, it's not me. I'm outsourcing this time. Maybe then my books page (kind of important) will actually work for all browsers. That is the goal.

The Query Project

2008-09-14T10:18:00.003-04:00

Jackie Kessler posted her query letter for Hell's Belles as part of The Query Project, where published authors share their successful queries (see Jackie's post for lots more links on the subject). I think this is such a good idea and so helpful. When I was trying to figure out how to word my query letter I had a difficult time with it. It's hard to condense a 90K novel down to a couple of paragraphs.

When I had finished my book DEARLY DEPARTED*, which would soon go on to a title change of BITTEN & SMITTEN, and I had procrastinated and polished for as long as I possibly could, I decided it was time to look for an agent. At the time I had a subscription to WritersMarket.com and was able to search agents by what genres they accepted as well as what they wanted included in a query. I had also done an extensive (which helped in my scared-to-submit procrastination) search of authors and their agents.

The first agent I targeted was Jennifer Jackson. Since she repped Jim Butcher, and at the time I thought I was writing urban fantasy, I figured she was perfect for me. I sent off my query + chapters -- which I paid extra to send XpressPost.

While I waited (according to her website it was three weeks), I made my lists. My first tier consisted of about nine agents whom I thought were equally perfect. Second tier less perfect. Third tier, they'd do.

After reflection of my Jennifer Jackson query, I realized that I may have rambled a bit too much. I didn't stay on target to my main project and yammered about other things I was working on. It was a bit too wordy and not sharp enough. Sigh. So I revised the query letter. In fact, I took about two days working on it until I thought it rocked.

After a week, I got bored waiting for my first reply so I sent out three more.

1. Jenny Bent** -- Trident Media Group
2. Merilee Heifetz -- Writers House
3. Miriam Goderich -- Dystel & Goderich Literary Management

The Goderich one was able to go by email so I sent it off at 2:19 p.m. on Thursday, October 7, 2004.

At 4:01 p.m. the same day (!!!) I received a reply to the Goderich email, not from Miriam, but from another agent there. He requested the full manuscript and it was fine if I sent it by email. He warned that they already had a vampire author as a client so "and I'm not positive that two relatively lighthearted vampire novels will fit on our list. That said, I am more than happy to consider it."

(I keep all emails) :-)

Obviously a few minutes later I sent it to him willing myself not to get my hopes up but encouraged by the quick response.

I went away for the weekend. I came back.

A few things happened five days later.

1) I received a form rejection from Jennifer Jackson
2) I received a request for an exclusive partial from Merilee Heifetz's assistant
3) I received an offer of representation from Jim McCarthy @ Dystel

I was very excited about the partial request since Merilee is the agent of Neil Gaiman and LKH, but I decided I'd be stupid to turn down an actual offer. I had researched Dystel and was confident that it was a very reputable and high-end NYC agency. Four years later, I'm still very happy there. :-) Since I've sold 12 books since with the same agent, how could I be anything but??

So... this is what I sent Jim. The other two just got the query portion (as per their preference), not the bio (such as it was), and mini-synopsis. I also included the first five pages, but I won't tack them on here.

The bio is pretty bad. I had no credentials at all as you can see, but it gives a little taste of my personality. I guess.

NOTE: If you haven't read BITTEN & SMITTEN yet (and why haven't you??) there are spoilers for the story below.

Dear AGENT:

I am seeking representation for my first novel, a completed 94,000 word urban fantasy***.

DEARLY DEPARTED is the story of Sarah Dearly, a newly made vampire, and her adjustment to life as one of the fashionably undead. If the hunters on her tail weren’t enough, she also has to deal with her love triangle with a 600-year-old sexy (but suicidal) master vampire and one of the vampire hunters who can't decide if he wants to kill her or kiss her. She struggles to combine her comfortable, working-girl life with her new, unpredictable and danger-filled world, which includes her quest for the rumored ‘cure for vampirism,’ once she decides that life as a vampire, well...sucks. In the end, she realizes that when the world is out of control, the only thing you can trust is your heart. Provided there are no wooden stakes lying around.

I think of this novel as ‘Chick-Lit with Bite’ -- Bridget Jones meets Interview with the Vampire -- as it is filled with humor, romantic tension, and suspense, utilizing Sarah’s witty, lightly sarcastic, first person point-of-view. It will appeal to mainstream fantasy readers, vampire enthusiasts, hopeless romantics, as well as those who enjoy a good story, a good laugh, a few tears, and a happy ending. Although DEARLY DEPARTED stands alone as a novel, I have outlines for two potential sequels****.

I would love the chance to send you a few chapters, or the entire manuscript, and full synopsis of DEARLY DEPARTED at your request. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Michelle Rowen

---------------------------------

BIO

Michelle Rowen was born in Toronto, Ontario. She has been a graphic designer for nearly ten years. Dearly Departed is her first novel, combining her love of humor, urban fantasy, and strong female characters. She is currently writing the first book of an open-ended fantasy series.

---------------------------------

SHORT SYNOPSIS

After a bad blind date, Sarah Dearly learns she is now a vampire. While she doesn't mind the thought of eternal youth, the vampire hunters on her tail she could do without. They kill her sire right in front of her and proceed to chase her onto a bridge and into the arms of Thierry de Bennicoeur, a handsome 600-year-old master vampire whose suicide attempt she has just interrupted. He reluctantly puts his own plans on hold long enough to help keep her safe and aid her transition into her new life with the caveat that she leave her old life behind.

She quickly learns that being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be. She is fired from her job for sucking on her boss's paper cut finger; she's quickly losing her much-prized reflection; she sprouts her sharp fangs right in the middle of her cousin's wedding in which she is a bridesmaid; and worst of all, she attracts the attentions of a cute vampire hunter named Quinn who can't decide if he wants to kill her or kiss her. When Quinn is, himself, made into a vampire, her first instinct is to help him, but knows that by doing so she might be putting her new world at risk.

When she learns that there might be a cure for her current condition, she is willing do whatever it takes to get her out-of-control life back to normal. But when the price for the cure is to sell out Thierry – the man who's helped her when everyone else has turned his or her back; the man she may be falling in love with – will she still go for it?

In the end, Sarah learns that when the world is out of control, and when there are no easy answers, you have to trust your heart. Provided there are no wooden stakes lying around.

I think it worked because it's short, punchy, and to the point. It gets across that there's some romance (although at the time I didn't pitch it as romance) and humor and a breezy voice. The mini-synopsis touches on the highlights of the story, the funny bits and the hooks.

The only thing I'd probably change now was the first line of the query that states I'm looking for representation. Well, of course I am. Otherwise I wouldn't be querying an agent. Duh.

Anyhow, I'm very happy that it served its purpose. It got me a great agent for a book I still consider my favorite (don't tell the others, they'll be jealous).

*I still like my original title. I used to work my character names into the title and the only reason Sarah's last name is Dearly is so I could use it in that way. But it kind of stuck so her name continued to be the very unusual Dearly instead of changing it to Davis, or something.
**Never heard back from Ms. Bent. Not a peep. I'm expecting her to request a partial any day now.
***When this sold as a romance, i canceled my subscription to Locus and got one for Romantic Times. Who knew?
****Note: this was a little bit of a fib. I had an idea for sequels but not outlines. Had I known this would become a five book series, I would have made a lot more notes in the beginnning!!

Finished

2008-09-12T19:40:00.004-04:00

Finished the first draft of my Harlequin Blaze!

55,366 / 55,000
(100.7%)

I'm a bit tired. That was a fast and kind of draining draft, but I...think... I'm really happy with what I have. I could be wrong. I hope I'm not. We'll find out when I start doing my read-through and second draft on Monday.

Until then, dance bananas, dance!

Giveaway

2008-09-08T23:15:00.003-04:00

Alyssa is giving away a signed copy of my firstborn, BITTEN & SMITTEN at her blog this week. Check it out for a chance to win...

http://www.alyssasbookblog.com/

Meanwhile, I'm plugging away on my Blaze. My pace is picking up -- just shy of 160 pages -- and I fully plan on being finished the first draft by Friday which will give me lots of time to shine up the second draft for my October 1st deadline...

Thoughts on The Twilight Saga

2008-09-07T12:39:00.006-04:00

**** SPOILERS shall shamelessly abound in this post so... ****

****BEWARE THE SPOILER *****

I read TWILIGHT probably a year ago and was really pulled into the story. I'm a sucker (heh) for the vampire love story, after all, and Edward Cullen is one of the best and most intriguing vampires I've ever read. He probably even trumps Lestat for me mostly because Lestat wasn't that much of a romantic hero.

I strongly disliked Bella's character and found her to be whiny, TSTL, and a total doormat. Unfortunately the book was told from her point of view. But I do recognize that just because a character is whiny, TSTL and a total doormat does not make them a bad character, just one that annoyed me. There are other main characters I've read whom I want to punch in the face, but it doesn't make them poorly written or wrong. It just means I didn't connect with them.

But I was enthralled with the love story and thought Edward was mega hawt. I liked the Mr. Darcy-esque way he tries to deny the attraction he feels for Bella. I liked his devotion to her. I like the emo boys. Angst, for me, works in a hero -- and Edward is wall-to-wall angst. I liked the idea that he was compelled to kill her being that he's a vamp and she's a human, but because he loves her so much, he can't. Which makes him resist any serious snogging because he might just eat her face. I liked the idea that Bella and Edward were kind of like a member of Overeaters Anonymous falling in love with a cupcake. I felt his struggle, because I like to eat cupcakes, not take them out to the movies and force myself not to nibble at their icing.

I bought the second two books in the series and they sat on the shelf until recently. Quite honestly, I've tried to avoid most vampire fiction while writing my Immortality Bites series because I didn't want to be influenced. Then BREAKING DAWN was released and I was intrigued by the bad reviews it was getting. I didn't read any of the reviews since I am a recovering spoiler addict, but I saw that where there was deep and abiding love for the series, there was now a lot of angry fans.

I picked up NEW MOON and started reading. In this book, Edward fears for Bella's safety when she (stupidly) cuts herself in front of his family of vamps and they collectively consider using her as a chew toy being that she's a frail, fragile yummy human. So he breaks up with her and leaves town with his family leaving Bella completely and utterly devastated because her sparkly boyfriend whom her entire world revolves around has skedaddled. She falls into a catatonic depression which lasts way too long. She needs to see a shrink. I don't know why they didn't force her to. She's got mental issues, this girl.

Anyhow, she begins to come around (a little) when her friendship with Jacob Black, a slightly younger dude from a local Indian reservation, develops. He's everything Edward is not: supportive, friendly, funny, and enjoyable to be around. Plus, he's got a mega crush on depresso Bella for some reason. She constantly describes herself as unattractive, but obviously she's a hottie or all these guys would fall for her. So hanging with Jacob starts to give her a purpose in life again. Slowly. Although thoughts of Edward never go away.

Just as she's feeling better, Jacob starts acting weird. And the boy is growing daily, getting bigger and older looking. She figures it's just a growth spurt. But nooo.... Jacob is realizing the hard way that he is a werewolf and becomes a part of his tribe's pack. Werewolves are created when the threat of vampires grows. Yada. Figuring that Bella won't understand, he shuns her. She doesn't take no for an answer and pursues the now hottie Jacob even though she thinks of him just as a friend. Blah blah. Finally the truth comes out and she accepts it readily. After all, she already has a vamp in her life, why not a werewolf too?

So, she and Jacob (WHOM I FRICKING LOVE BY NOW BECAUSE HE'S AWESOME) spend all their time together. But when word gets to Edward that Bella has died (because she likes to jump off high cliffs due to her TSTL tendencies) he decides he's going to kill himself because he can't live without her. He needed to keep her safe from him and sacrificed his love for her so she could move on, but now that she's "dead" he's following her. He heads to Rome to get the vampire council to execute him. Bella drops Jacob like a hot potato and heads to Italy to stop him. She stops him. They nearly get killed. They survive and everybody's happy. Well, not Jacob, but he'll deal.

THIS BOOK WAS AWESOME. Except for Bella's strange depression, which of course was necessary to the plot, I just love Jacob Black. I joined Team Jacob during this book and I haven't turned back. Now, I loves me some Edward, but I really did feel that Jacob was the better choice for Bella. Instead of gazing at her sparkly perfect boyfriend for all eternity, she could have a real relationship with a living person who she felt a deep friendship for as well as an attraction. But, whatever.

Immediately I started on ECLIPSE, which I liked to call the "please sit down, Bella, and let us tell you a story" book. Lots of exposition in this one. The central thrust of the plot is thanks to the love triangle between Edward, Bella, and Jacob. Due to the deaths of bad vamps in the first two books, Bella is targeted by a vengeful vampiress who takes her sweet time actually getting around to attacking Bella. Bella, while I don't love her character, is consistent. She LOVES Edward, no matter what. This is a forever love. It's obvious. But she is feeling some very deep affection for Jacob as well. Some readers complain about a few parts when Jacob "forces" Bella to kiss him calling it sexual assault. NOT!! She loves the attention. SHE LOVES IT. And she leads Jacob along like a puppy dog with a crush. My heart broke for Jacob so many times in this book as he was used and abused by Bella who despite all of her protests always came back for more. Best scene in the book? The sleeping bag scene. Freaking hilarious. I did feel sorry for Edward. At the same time, and even after Bella acknowledges the fact that she's also in love with sexy werewolf boy, I knew she would never ever ever ever pick him over Edward. Edward finally commits to turning Bella into a vampire as she's wanted all along, but not until they get married. Bella protests (too much, IMO, considering she wants to be with him forever) until she makes him agree that he'll do it with her while she's still human. Props to Stephenie Meyer for never actually using the words "do it" or "sex" but getting what Bella wants across to the reader only too well. Edward agrees. Bella accepts his proposal. Jacob's heart is broken and he runs away from the town. SOB!!!!!

I took a few days off before starting BREAKING DAWN. After all, I do have some DEADLINES OF MY OWN RIGHT NOW!! Anyhoo... I picked it up knowing a couple of spoilers. One, that Edward and Bella get married, and two, that they have a baby. I figured this would all be in the epilogue. Nope, it's all in the first part of the book! They get married, they have their honeymoon where they do it -- again, props for having some sexy scenes without actually saying anything sexy!! Edward freaks out when he realizes that he's bruised Bella from head to toe as well as eaten a few pillows to take care of his oral fixation. She's fine with the bruises, but he's not. Anyhow, she seduces him a couple more times and badda bing -- she's pregnant! Whoopsies.

The second section of the book is from Jacob's POV as he deals with his feelings for this now married woman who is supernaturally knocked up by her vampire husband. The pregnancy is not normal, it's excelerated, and the demon child inside her seems to be killing Bella. Jacob, obviously, is ready to KILL EDWARD with his bare hands. Edward is prepared to let him. He's devestated that Bella won't end the pregnancy. Long story short, Bella has the baby which essentially tears her apart, but Edward makes her into a vampire which is the only thing that keeps her from dying. Jacob decides to kill the demon child, but the moment he sees it...he imprints on it. Imprinting is how a werewolf finds its "soulmate." All romantic thoughts of Bella go out of his mind as the child (who ages quickly) becomes the central aspect to Jacob's life. The author strives to ensure the reader that this is an entirely non-sexual bonding, and I believe it, but I did still find it a tad squicky.

Must say, I was a little disappointed in this resolution of the Bella/Edward/Jacob love triangle. It was so central in the previous book that I felt it was cast aside a little too easily. However, I did feel that Jacob's imprinting on another person, or his death, was the only way to resolve it. Since I didn't want my darling werewolf to die, I was okay with this.

The last third of BD is Bella getting used to being a vampire, finding that she's able to control her hungers very easily for a newbie, and waiting around for the vampire council to show up and kill her spawn. It is very tense as the stand off happens, and since I didn't read any spoilers I was utterly convinced that everyone was going to die. When they didn't and the stand off was resolved without excessive bloodshed, I was very relieved. Everybody's happy. Everybody we like lives. The End.

Then I went and began reading the reviews I've been avoiding and finding that the main problem fans had with the last book is all about READER EXPECTATION. They expected a different book than they got. They hated the HEA ending. They wanted things to be more difficult. They wanted Bella to suddenly morph into a feminist.

Maybe it's because I read most of the series back-to-back, but Breaking Dawn worked for me. All the characters acted as they should have. I FRICKING LOVED THIS SERIES. Sure, I had problems with it, and sure I might have done a few things differently if I'd written it, but it satisfied me in a fangirl way that nothing has ever since Buffy was on the air. Maybe if I'd read ECLIPSE when it came out and had a year to ponder what was going to happen next, setting things in my mind through reading fan fiction and day dreaming, that I might have been more unhappy. As it is, I commend Stephenie Meyer for a hugely entertaining series that brought me back to reading since I've been disenchanted with almost everything I've read recently. These are characters I think about when I close the book. They are larger than life. For me, it worked. And I even started appreciating Bella near the end. The girl knew what she wanted: Edward. And she wanted a family. Family is the main theme of these books. Now I'm VERY disappointed that the author has ceased writing MIDNIGHT SUN, which was to be TWILIGHT from Edward's POV. I hope she changes her mind. In the meantime, I will read the first 12 chapters she has on her website -- but not until I'm finished the book I'm writing right now. It'll be a treat.

ALSO? CANNOT WAIT FOR THE MOVIE IN NOVEMBER. AHHHHH!

And my Team Jacob tank top should be arriving some time next week. Yes, I'm serious. :-)

Signing off and Signing tomorrow

2008-09-03T09:36:00.003-04:00

I'm shutting down the blog until I finish the first draft of my Blaze. I'm also going to shut off the Internet for the most part. It's such a distraction for me and I waste far too many hours surfing when I should be writing.

However, I will be Twittering if anyone wants to be updated on my progress...

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Tomorrow I'm doing a signing with the fabulous Eve Silver in downtown Toronto. If you're in the area, please come by and see us!

September 4, 2008 ~ Booksigning
IndigoSpirit
Royal Bank Plaza, 200 Bay Street, Toronto
12:30 pm

Getting it on

2008-09-02T11:28:00.002-04:00

One of the main reasons I wanted to try my hand at writing for Harlequin Blaze was to challenge myself. I felt relatively confident that I could do plot, characters, and dialogue, but there was one element of writing romance that I haven't really explored quite as much as I could have.

Yes, teh sex.

My vampire series fits firmly in the sweet area. Or, rather, PG. L&TV and S&S are more like PG-13, but still. It's tame in contrast with a lot of what's out there. When I first started writing seriously I didn't read that much romance so I wasn't sure of the heat levels. After I was published I started reading voraciously and was, frankly, surprised at how hot these stories got. I convinced myself that I had to ramp up this area if I wanted to continue to sell in the genre. I wrote a couple quickies (heh) in Countdown for that reason. I was surprised that those were not scenes I was asked to rewrite. I figured I might not completely suck (heh) at it after all.

I do believe that if you are a writer who refuses to write sex (and I know a couple of them) you will have a much harder time, perhaps not getting published in the romance genre, but sustaining reader interest over a longer career (I give this sort of thing way too much thought). I love writing sexual tension. Writing the act itself tends to make me a tad uncomfortable. It's the whole "family reading over my shoulder" thing I need to get over.

Thus, the reason I wanted to challenge myself. Well, I just wrote the first sex scene in the Blaze. It's pretty rough, and by that I mean first draft quality. :-) But I got it down and it will be revised to fit within the accepted levels of what the line requires. Sounds a bit analytical? Maybe a bit. I want this book to be good. I'm taking it seriously, even though it is a light story. And since sex is a huge part of the Blaze experience, I want that part to be very shiny and, well...hot. After all, I love reading Blazes and other more erotic romances. I have no problem with the reading. I just need to deal with the writing.

I remember when I first met Brenda Chin on an airplane on the way to the RWA conference in Reno in '05. I thought -- hello? What a great opportunity sitting next to the editor of Blaze herself? I told her "if i wrote hot, I'd totally submit to you."

And here I am three years later writing for her. Now I need to prove I can do it. (so to speak).

However, I have realized something recently. Just because I write hot in one book doesn't mean I always have to. I think, for the most part, my work will remain PG -- especially since I'm going to be published in YA soon. If I do more Blazes, they will be explicit. But my other light paranormals might not be. I say "might" because you never know.

I received a reader letter wondering why Countdown was explicit (the reader wasn't complaining just curious) when my other stuff wasn't. And why one book had more swearing in it. I replied by saying that I give the book what it needs. If it's logical for the characters to have sex and swear, then that's exactly what they're going to do. I go with the flow. I don't try to inject sex in for the sake of it, and I don't leave it out because it makes me uncomfortable.

It's all about story, baby.

So I'm wondering if you have any element of your writing that makes you uncomfortable. Do you try to avoid it or do you jump right in with both feet?

Best quiz ever

2008-08-29T20:27:00.001-04:00

Your result for The What type of MAN turns you on Test...

Classic scorcher

You scored 65% masculine, 82% athletic, 27% exotic, and 56% refined!

You have picked my personal favorite type of man. Yes, man, not boy. The all-American and then some. You admire a buff body and manly features but someone who knows how to bathe himself and even though he's a scorcher, you could still bring him home to mom - as long as she keeps her hands off! Someone this hot would be......Victor Webster. But let's face it, the whole point of this was to look at a bunch of hot guys. If you liked what you saw, please rate my test!

Take The What type of MAN turns you on Test at HelloQuizzy

Friday stuff

2008-08-29T19:54:00.002-04:00

I just lost a long post. I am saddened.

The highlights...

The League hasn't picked a winner for the $15 Amazon.com gift certificate yet because of a technical issue they're having, so head over and enter while you still have a chance.

I chatted a bit about writing and having been delayed this week because of doing some freelance design work; I'm not a multi-tasker and therefore decided not to try to write too; I yammered on about FEELS LIKE MAGIC (title to change) and how I'm on that as of tomorrow. Stamped it, no erasies. Fast draft, ahoy!

And then I mentioned that Mrs. Giggles loved Bitten & Smitten and gave it an 88 because she obviously rocks. She did have a few issues with my darling hero. This prompted a short inner convo...

"We'll show all the naysayers why I love you so much, right Thierry?" Sarah said. "Thankfully it's a five book series to show our incredibly well-thought out and developed relationship arc."

*the author clears her throat nervously*

"Yes, Sarah, whatever you say," Thierry replied wearily. "However, we weren't in the third book, which means we're only in four books."

"Whatever. Four, five. What's the difference?"

"The reviewer did mention that I might idolize Edward Cullen. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"I...I don't know." Sarah hesitated. "Who's Edward Cullen?"

"He's a vampire character in a very successful series of young adult novels who tends toward self-indulgent behavior and general annoying broodiness." He cleared his throat. "That doesn't sound anything like me, does it?"

Sarah averted her gaze. "I'm not really much of a reader."

Also she reviewed Countdown and liked it, giving it a 76 (coincidentally, also my high school average), however, would have preferred a hero more along the lines of Vin Diesel's Riddick...ie: an unrepentant murderer. Love Riddick. However, he doesn't work as a romance hero, in my opinion. :-) That cyborg character who's been kicking around in my head lately on the other hand... He's a nasty piece of work. Food for thought, definitely.

Speaking of Edward Cullen, I've just started reading BREAKING DAWN. Two chapters in and so far so good... I'll be sure to report on the whole series, with plenty of spoiler warnings, once I'm finito.

Have a good weekend everyone!

OOTB Spotlight: Marianne Mancusi

2008-08-27T22:35:00.003-04:00

I think it's fairly obvious that I'm a huge fan of Dorchester's SHOMI line. They're kick-butt, fast-paced, and sexy! But, enough about COUNTDOWN... ;-)

I can't wait to read RAZOR GIRL (which just came out)! The cover is so awesome and Marianne is one hell of an author... plus, zombies in Disneyland? Bring that action on.

RAZOR GIRL by Marianne Mancusi

Molly Anderson is not your average twenty-one-year-old. It’s been six years since she and her family escaped into a bunker, led by her conspiracy theorist father and his foreknowledge of a plot to bring about the apocalypse. But her father’s precautions didn’t stop there. Molly is now built to survive.

Yes, Ian Anderson’s favorite book gave him ideas on how to “improve” his daughter. Molly is faster, stronger, and her ocular implants and razor-tipped nails set her apart. Apart, when—venturing alone out of the bunker and into a plague ravaged, monster-ridden wilderness — what Molly needs most is togetherness. Chase Griffin, a friend from her past, is her best bet. But while he and others have miraculously survived, the kind boy has become a tormented man. Together, these remnants of humanity must struggle toward trusting each other and journey to the one place Molly’s father believed all civilization would be reborn: the Magic Kingdom, where everyone knows it’s a small world after all.

Read an excerpt!

ABOUT MARIANNE MANCUSI
When it comes to writing, award winning author Marianne Mancusi likes to play the field. From time travel comedies to kick butt speculative fiction romances to a Buffy’esque vampire series for teens, she’s published eleven books in three years, in a myriad of genres and styles.

In addition to writing, Marianne is a multiple Emmy award winning television producer, currently working for the nationally syndicated women’s lifestyle show Better TV. A Boston native and graduate of Boston University ’s College of Communications , she currently lives on Manhattan ’s Upper West Side. (But has NOT become a Yankees fan!) In her spare time, Marianne enjoys clubbing, cosplay, cheesy horror movies (especially those featuring zombies!), her dog Molly, and videogames.

REVIEWS

“Opens with danger and will grab your interest immediately. Stellar!”
--Huntress Reviews

“An increasingly intense, suspenseful edge-of-the-seat thrilling ride…stunning, cutting edge romance.”
--Merrimon Book Reviews

"Non-stop thrill ride from page one! Marianne Mancusi spins an eerily marvelous tale in her book RAZOR GIRL."
--Simply Romance Reviews

"Mancusi doesn_t hesitate to take chances and innovate!"
--Romantic Times

"Marianne Mancusi has returned with an edgy all-new tale, Razor Girl, filled with fast-paced action and a heroine strong enough to mold her own destiny."
--SF Scope

Website(s):
www.mariannemancusi.com
www.rebelsofromance.com
www.shomifiction.com

Interview or interogation? You decide.

2008-08-27T14:05:00.002-04:00

Mark Henry conducts a somewhat torturous interview with me over on The League of Reluctant Adults blog... check it out. I'm giving away a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com to a commenter. That is, if I ever get these ropes loose...

Monday night stuff

2008-08-25T23:39:00.003-04:00

Thanks to everyone who voted in my poll below. Looks like witches are the winners. I kind of hoped that along with the results a really good idea involving witches would magically pop into my head. Turns out, not so much. Why is it easy to come up with ideas for novels and hard to come up with short story ideas? Do not know.

I think I have an idea, though. It's a twist on reincarnation love stories. It was originally a book idea, but I think it's fine for a short story. We'll see. I'm not going to work on that until I'm finished my first draft on zee Blaze. Personal deadline: Sept 15th. Not only will that deadline happen, but it must happen. I need the following two weeks to whip this puppy into shape.

Happily though, the story is coming along nicely. Slowly, of course, since I'm at the tender beginnings -- page 45 at the moment -- but nicely. The two ghost secondary characters turn out not to be so much with the comedy though, and instead have a rather tragic little backstory. Tragedy is good. Maybe this book will be a tad more serious than I originally planned. I'm dealing with my usual issues in this -- accepting who you are instead of trying to be something you're not. Good times. Books are a way to sort out personal crap. Eventually, right?

I've officially turned in TALL, DARK & FANGSOME to my editor. Go in peace, my little fanged friend. Go in peace.

Tomorrow I'm receiving my editorial revisions on my young adult novel.

The next month or so is going to be rather creatively busy. Be careful what you wish for is another theme I like to explore in my writing...also my real life. At the moment, I have enough to keep me super busy, but not enough to be crazy. Hopefully the writing between now and November will go swimmingly.

Also... on page 200 or so of ECLIPSE and firmly on Team Jacob still. I know it's probably a losing team, but what can I say? Tall, dark and furry edges out cold, bossy old guy for me. Despite the crappy reviews, I've ordered BREAKING DAWN. I expect to be very disappointed, but will go along willingly for the ride.

Please vote on your favorite paranormal being!

2008-08-22T19:13:00.004-04:00

My original idea for the short story I'm writing for the Mammoth Book of Paranormal Romance has been moved off the table for further development. Basically I'm thinking Barkley the werewolf needs something bigger than a short story, but we'll have to see about that. In the meantime, I'm wading through a sea of ideas and need things narrowed down.

What paranormal being should I write my short story about? ( polls)

Blogging, Blazing, and Cougaring

2008-08-22T13:48:00.004-04:00

I'm guest blogging on Fresh Fiction today. Or, rather, Michelle Maddox is. Check out what she/me has to say about bad boy heroes.

Other than that I'm trying very hard to get into the writing on my Harlequin Blaze. I've reread all of my proposal and know that this is going to be a hugely fun book to write. But, as always, starting is the most difficult thing. Once I get that momentum going, then it's a matter of showing up at the page. I may have to bribe myself with some kind of treat. Deceive myself into getting some pages done. It works. I'm easily influenced by treats. I'm a lot like my cats, that way, although I'm not particularly partial to catnip.

I'm also 300 pages into NEW MOON, and am actually liking it better than TWILIGHT so far, even though Edward is off stage at the moment. I'm all about Jacob now. I'm so fickle. Bella still bugs me (I am prone to heckling at the page things like, "no kidding, stupid!" when she figures something out), but she's a small price to pay for a great story. Plus, I don't HATE her. I'm just thinking Edward and Jacob could do better. I will volunteer. I'm like a werecougar.

Post-Novel blues

2008-08-19T15:16:00.003-04:00

I'm experiencing it right now. The blue feeling I get when I finish a book. My seventh contracted novel, TALL, DARK & FANGSOME, is all done and ready to submit to my editor. I'm happy with it. But now, after spending months thinking about it and writing it, I'm left with this weird void. I'm bored. I'm listless. And yet I'm not quite ready to start the next book. The next book, however, must be started in the next day or two because I have an October 1st deadline on it. This is the Harlequin Blaze.

But I can't simply jump from one to the other quite that easily. I need a little time to mourn my vampires as that was the last time I will write about them and they've been in my life now for five long years. I'm ready to move on, but I will definitely miss them a lot.

*mourning*

I also want to glom on to some books. I've decided this is the best way to deal with my recent meh attitude about everything I've been reading lately. Grab hold of some series I've gotten behind on and catch up. This includes Rachel Caine, Lilith Saintcrow, Sherrilyn Kenyon, MaryJanice Davidson, Katie MacAlister, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, and Jim Butcher. Plus, I've heard such great things about Karen Marie Moning that I need to try her fae series. No more LKH for me, alas. I couldn't get through the recent one, which makes me really sad since she was the author who originally inspired me to write paranormal...and in first person.

I think I'll start with Stephenie Meyer. I loved TWILIGHT, except for a little bit of annoyance toward Bella, and I've had the other two on my shelf for a while. I started NEW MOON and it's really good so far. So I think I'll just glom the rest of the series in one shot. I'm intrigued by the reviews the last one has received and want to avoid spoilers so I guess I'd better hurry up with the reading. I got THE HOST from the library, but it didn't grab my interest right away so I'll have to return it and maybe get it again in the future.

Maybe that's what I need right now. To refill the well. My brain has become a bit dusty the last couple of months.

Here's some movies I've seen recently that come to mind...

MAMMA MIA: Loved this. Loved the play but the movie was even better. Meryl Streep is one of a kind and can play anything. Plus she has an amazing singing voice. Pierce Brosnan? Not so much. But still enjoyable. 9/10

THE X-FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE: Wow. This one. I wasn't really even looking forward to this movie even though I was a rabid, RABID X-Files fan back in the day and a hardcore Scully/Mulder shipper. I found this movie to be too little, too late. All of the stuff that should have been on-screen had already been dealt with off screen, and where's the fun in that? It woudl have made a moderately interesting stand-alone episode of the show, but otherwise, it simply was blah. Mega blah. 5/10

THE NINES: I saw this movie on the movie channel. It has Ryan Reynolds in it which is enough of a reason to watch it. Wow. I didn't expect this one to totally blow my mind kind of like the Butterfly Effect did a couple years ago. I can't say anything about it to give any spoilers, but if you see it's on, watch it. It's really incredible and amazingly thought-provoking. 8/10

I still haven't seen BATMAN. Maybe this weekend...

Jackie's at the Midnight Hour...

2008-08-18T19:40:00.001-04:00

Head over to The Midnight Hour today to get a chance to win a signed copy of Jackie Kessler's HOTTER THAN HELL....

Longer post to come soon, I promise....

Guest blogging galore

2008-08-13T13:25:00.004-04:00

I'm guest blogging on Simply Romance Reviews today. Please stop by to learn about how I picked my pen name(s) and comment for the chance to win a signed copy of COUNTDOWN....

Also, Angie Fox is guest blogging on her NYT Bestseller THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER on The Midnight Hour today... come on by and say hi...

Viewpoint

2008-08-11T13:52:00.003-04:00

While I said I wasn't going to post until I was done my revisions, I'm posting. It's a form of procrastination because for some reason I'm avoiding getting into the second draft of TDF.

It's not like I haven't been doing anything. I've been doing lots. LOTS.

I received my first pass pages on STAKES & STILETTOS and have been reading through those. That's the stage of the publishing process where copies of the typeset book come to me and I have to pour through them looking for any glitches or typos or anything that stands out and says -- "this isn't right! This is your last chance to change me!!"

So I read through that and was happy to find barely anything. Honestly, I normally find loads of glitches at this stage, but this time only four or five. I don't know what that means, but I'll take it as a good omen. Although, I did notice that I had rather a fierce addiction to the word "said" in this book more so than normal.

I really love S&S. I think it's the strongest book of the series, and since I do some hero viewpoint interspersed with my first person narrative, I got to try my hand at what sorta comes off as historical romance (hero's viewpoint is in historical flashback sequences). I like it. I'm satisfied. This book is all done. All I'm waiting for now is the cover art.

I was thinking about viewpoint the other day when I glanced at an Amazon reviewer's list of previous reviews. I like to do this from time to time, what can I say? It wasn't a reviewer who'd reviewed me yet, thankfully, but I found one of their reviews to be interesting. They give one-star reviews to every first person book they read because they hate first person. Well...to me it sounds like they shouldn't buy that sort of book, like, ever, but I suppose that's too simple a solution.

The very next day I read a more legitamite review of COUNTDOWN, and the reviewer basically liked the book, thought it was a keeper but for one thing -- it was written in first person. They wanted the hero's POV as well because he had lots of interesting secrets. Well, frankly, that's the reason I wrote it in first person. If we got the hero's POV they wouldn't be secrets, would they? I stand behind my viewpoint in that book, or any book I choose to tell in first person because I give that sort of thing a ridiculous amount of thought. And I know that third person is most reader's preferred format.

In fact, in ANGEL WITH ATTITUDE, I wrote the entire book and submitted it to my editor in first person, which is why the teaser chapter at the end of BItten & Smitten is that way. Then I just had a gut feeling it needed a bit more distance. First person is really close and intimate. You're in the protagonist's head and seeing things from only their viewpoint. While I knew I didn't want to do hero viewpoint in that particular book, due to keeping the heroine in the dark about many things about my Tempter demon, Nathaniel, I felt that first person was not right. So I changed it. The whole freaking thing. I do not recommend this. Oddly enough, i still get the most complimentary reader mail about that book. Maybe it had something to do with the viewpoint.

In the book I've recently sold, LIVING IN EDEN, I had originally written the proposal in first person. Then that gut feeling came to me again. While I love the fact that my Immortality Bites series, with the exception of Lady & the Vamp, is in first person, it has been limiting. If I want somebody else's POV, I can't just add it. While I do have hero POV in Stakes & Stilettos, it is for emergency purposes only, and basically to get an inner glimpse of this super secretive and rather silent dude. I wanted to show the discerning reader -- who still thinks Sarah should have chosen Quinn -- why Thierry rocks. And he does. At least, Sarah thinks so. I'm not sure if I'm going to do hero POV in EDEN but I wanted to give myself the option. Plus, like I said before, I am well aware that a lot of readers prefer third person. I'd like to do a nice mixture of both in the Rowen/Maddox library.

My young adult novel is in first person because there's not other way it could be. That was also a gut decision.

What about you? Do you prefer first person or third in your reading? In your writing? And why do you think this is?

Reading and Pimping

2008-08-09T13:28:00.002-04:00

I have finished my read-through and scene breakdown of TALL, DARK & FANGSOME, due September 1st, which will mark one year until it's ultimate release date, and I'm happy to say that it doesn't suck half as much as I thought it did.

I was worried. This was a tough write for me, nearly every scene had to be dragged out of me forcibly and I entered the zone (that glorious state of unconscious writing where the characters basically just speak through one's fingers and pages appear as if by magic) not once during this book. Well, maybe once. But not more than that.

So I started my read-through with a bit of trepidation, worried that three weeks wouldn't be nearly enough time to pull it into shape. Happily, it doesn't need that much work at all. Sure, there are a few bits that need to be fleshed out but I'm surprisingly happy with it.

It is possible that I have gone completely insane.

I remember the lowest point in my writing of this book. A scene where my heroine is having a terrible time and is upset and depressed and the world seems bleak and harsh (It's a comedy! Woot!) and I felt that my writing could not be any worse. Strangely enough, that specific scene is one I have absolutely zero changes on. I sometimes forget that I actually try to channel the character, sort of like becoming a character in acting, when I'm writing. So what the character feels, I feel. To some extent. Therefore, since my character was down in the dumps, so was I. Funny, that. I felt the same thing during the writing of COUNTDOWN, which felt like a torturous, painful writing journey. It only reflected on what I was doing to my characters.

So yeah. The insane thing might actually means something here. Rubber room here I come.

I figure, if I devote myself, I can have these changes done and the shiny manuscript off to my editor by Friday. Then on to the Blaze. If I channel my characters during my writing, I won't feel so much tortured for this one. However, I may require multiple cold showers.

TMI. Yes, I know.

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Anyhooo... I wanted to give a shout out to some awesome authors who have books out right now...

Angie Fox's THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER totally rocks. And not just because my quote is emblazoned on the cover. This book is approved by me. Also it's really great and funny and charming and thou must go buy it immediately and enjoy every page. It's doing great on Bookscan too. It's so awesome to see that light paranormals are still kick it hard, baby. There should be funny with the monsters. It just makes sense to me! (especially since I have about six upcoming books, adult and YA, in this category). Congrats Angie on your debut release!! Woo hoo!

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of Jackie Kessler's HOTTER THAN HELL...and lemme tell you, it is hotter than hell. This book is a scorcher as she spins off the incubus Daunuan from her succubus series and he takes the first person lead in this book! Very gutsy move, I'd say, especially since Daunuan is not exactly your typical hero. I devoured this book. It is marketed as a paranormal romance but it is more of an urban fantasy. A hot urban fantasy. Also it doesn't have a traditional HEA. That isn't to say that the ending doesn't rock, because it does. In fact, it ended absolutely perfectly in my opinion. Jackie pushes the boundaries and she does it very, very well. (FYI, I picture Daunuan totally as George Clooney and I'd be okay if he wanted to take my soul. Raowrrrr. Is that wrong? Probably.)

Richelle Mead's STORM BORN is also out, and I haven't had a chance to read this one yet but it looks really amazing and I will make an exception and buy it even though my TBR shelf has recently grown by 20 books from going to National. Plus, I love Richelle's books, adult and YA, and not only because we share a fabu agent. Her characters are so vivid and her storytelling so compelling, that I do feel a teensy bit of jealousy toward her. I bottle it up of course and smile when I'm in her glorious redheaded presence. But still. Jealous. *hiss*

So there you have it. Books to buy. Go. Enjoy. And maybe pick up a copy of COUNTDOWN as well when you're in the bookstore. Just saying.

---

I'm going under until my edits are finished this coming week. Be back soon.....

COUNTDOWN has arrived

2008-08-06T18:13:00.003-04:00

While I was away, COUNTDOWN, my futuristic action romance writing as Michelle Maddox was released. So...it's out! I haven't seen it on the shelves yet since I'm trying to avoid bookstores being that I came home from SF with a ton of new books...plus, I just got THE HOST by Stephenie Meyer at the library today, but I will assume that my fifth born child-book is now on the shelves.

I'm getting the best reviews on this book I've ever received, including a Top Pick from Romantic Times, and that is very, very nice. To say the very least. It was a lot of fun to write, although I didn't actually realize that until after it was finished. I put my characters through a lot of trauma and torture in this...in fact, they're still not speaking to me. Hopefully they'll get over it one day. Characters can be so moody.

THREE
Kira Jordan wakes up in a pitch-black room, handcuffed to a metal wall. She has 60 seconds to figure out how to escape. Thus begins a vicious game where to lose is to die.

TWO
The stranger she’s been partnered with—her only ally in this nightmare—is a convicted murderer. But if he’s so violent, why does he protect her? And worse yet, what is it behind those haunted sea-green eyes that makes her want to protect him?

ONE
No one to trust. Nowhere to run. And the only hope of survival is working together to beat the COUNTDOWN.

Read the first chapter here

And if you're so inclined, you can order it here

Mark Henry is doing a book release party for Countdown along with some other kick-ass books (a couple of which I will be talking about here tomorrow) and he's doing a $20 gift certificate giveaway so head over to his blog to check out the festivities... Thanks Mark!!

Michelle does California

2008-08-04T22:43:00.004-04:00

One thing that struck me many times over the course of the past week is just how lucky I am. Part of embracing The Secret (which is what I've done recently as much as I possibly can - ie: a positive outlook begets a positive and successful life) is counting one's many blessings instead of dwelling on the negative. Not to get all New Age, because that is so not me, but it is easy to focus on the crappy things and forget how many amazing things there are in life: like wonderful friends and marvelous opportunities.

Going to RWA National reminds me of these two very specific things. I get to see people I may only see once a year -- online isn't the same as in-person after all. Some people connect better in person and some online and I value all of them: readers, aspiring writers, published writers, editors, and agents (my agent attended this conference for the first time and it was great to see him). It was six days (nine if you count my trip to LA) of constant conversation and schmoozing.

It was exhausting but I am so glad that I went. Other than being a glorified business trip, I didn't have really high hopes for having a great time, to tell you the truth. This was my fourth National in a row and last year was a little been-there-done-that for me, so I figured this one would be more of the same, but something about it was just a little bit...better. Which is good because this trip was freaking expensive.

It would take me several posts and several days to go over in detail everything I've done over the week, and since I'm now on deadline for TDF (Tall, Dark & Fangsome) which is due September 1st, I'm going to give a brief, pictorial overview instead.

Now, keep in mind that after deleting all the crappiest shots, I'm left with a grand total of 266 pictures I took over the past week. I met sooooo many great people. This is only a small sampling.

First up, my trip to Los Angeles......

My favorite Californians, Liza Palmer and Megan Crane were kind enough to show me around and generally put up with this pasty white Canadian. Plus, the fact that they're both hysterically funny and can make me laugh harder than almost any one else in the world is a huge bonus...

Liza and I went to Universal Studios and went on the studio tour which was, in a word, AWESOME. I highly recommend it. It's the one you always see the big Jaws shark jump up at the tram, but it's way more than that as it takes you through the lot and shows you were actual movies and TV shows are filmed, such as our drive down Wisteria Lane from Desperate Housewives...

I could say this was the only bitch I met this week, but there was another teensy incident later on which I won't blog about... :-) Anyhoo, this is Jewel who will be featured in a Universal Studios movie coming soon, something like "Doggy Condo"... Total diva if you ask me...

While we were at Universal Studios, Brendan Fraser made an appearance. This, sadly, was my only "star sighting" and he kept us waiting 20 minutes in the sweltering heat while I worked on the sunburn that would last me the rest of the week (note to self: yeah, sunscreen isn't just a suggestion these days, pale girl).

The next day I went on a bus tour with Megan and we got out at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (since I was only in LA for a couple days I had to be picky about what I did and this was a must-see for me!) and here's the Walk of Fame star of one of my very favorite actors...

...Which was right near my fave actress Sandra Bullock who has been the main inspiration for my vampire character Sarah Dearly (Sandra... my film rights are still available! Love you! *mwah* Let's do lunch!)...

Here's me doing the very cliched thing of paying homage to Marilyn Monroe... I had to wait in line to do this behind many other Marilyn-loving tourists!

Megan on the casting couch....

And on to San Francisco....

Megan, Liza and I left bright and early on Tuesday morning toward San Francisco, missing the earthquake by a couple of hours. Too bad! I would have loved to be there to experience it. Is that weird?

At the literacy signing on Wednesday I met Jill Myles (in person for the first time after years of online friendship) who rocks and got to see Caitlin Kittredge again (who also rocks), especially with those pink bangs going on.

Apparently there is a rumor out and about that I take picture of food. Yeah. So what? Want to make something of it? Sheesh. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips...oh wait. No. Forget that one. Yeah, I like to take pictures of food. Pretty food. Here is a pretty salad and desert (upside down pineapple cake if you're curious) that was served at the Keynote Luncheon on Thursday...

The person I would most consider my email-BFF, Stephanie Rowe, as we re-enact the moment we first met. Apparently I hissed at her in (mock!!) jealousy over her two Rita flags when we first met a couple years ago. That is so very, very unlike me....*coughs*... BTW, this is at the Dorchester dinner on Friday evening which was held at an Italian restaurant with super-cute (and super-young) waiters...

Here's Angie Fox, Stephanie and Michele Lang as we digested the huge dinner (as well as the first four glasses of wine I downed that fateful evening...)

Off to the Harlequin Party! And who do I see there but my darling agent Jim McCarthy...

I met fellow Blaze author Jordan Summers... she's wonderful!

Jane Porter is also wonderful... one of those genuinely nice and super-friendly authors who are also beautiful and thin. I refrained from doing my Stephanie Rowe jealousy hiss at her. Barely... ;-)

Around 10:30 p.m. I had a brief conversation with Liza and Megan that went along the lines of...

"I'm tired," I said. "I think I might head back to the hotel."

"Have a glass of wine!" Megan suggested helpfully.

"Okay, but just one," I replied.

And, well. Uh. The bar was open. And the rest was history.

Much dancing ensued. I dragged my butt back to the hotel at around 1 a.m....

Where me and my awesome roomie, Erica Ridley, proceeded to stay up much, much later down in the lobby lounge and I capped off one of the funnest (it's a word) nights in a very long time...

The next day, however, was another story altogether. Yeah. Too much wine the night before one is to have three editor meetings is not such a good idea. However, I managed to pull myself together (although it took a while) and proceeded to have my three scheduled editor meetings on Saturday... and I'm so excited about my current and future projects with each of them.

So, to recap.... AWESOME week. I met so many FANTASTIC people. I barely went to any workshops. My throat hurts from talking. I ate too much. I, uh, drank TOO much. Ugh. Oh, and I DO NOT recommend the Roast Beef sandwich on Air Canada. Consider yourself warned. Also taking the red eye to get a cheaper flight...not necessarily a wise decision...

Some of the other people I had a great time with include, but are not limited to, Bonnie Staring, Laurie Rauch, Maureen McGowan, Amy Ruttan, Wylie Kinson, Christine D'Abo, Kate Perry, Amanda Ashby (in from New Zealand!)...and so many more. I remember going to my first conference in Reno and I knew nobody. I ate alone a lot of the time. But as I was saying to someone else -- I think Megan -- the more cons you go to the more people you meet, so that after a few of them you will know so many people... it's great and exhausting and I recommend it to anyone on the fence about whether or not it's worth the money to attend this conference. There's nothing else like it and it has to be experienced at least once. Although, I do suggest stopping before the tenth glass of wine. Ugh.

Next year is Washington D.C. I wasn't sure if I was going to go or not -- it's a toss up between Romantic Times in Orlando and next year's National...but we'll have to see. How can I not go?

I am returned

2008-08-04T15:44:00.003-04:00

Okay... I'm back from Californ-i-a after taking the red eye from beautiful (and chilly!!) San Francisco. I had SUCH a great time in both LA and SF and will post in greater detail about my shenanigans tomorrow when my head doesn't feel like exploding. In the meantime, please visit Megan Crane's blog because she has a ton of fabulous (and not so fabulous) pics and commentary on the week...

QUESTION... My website is buggy. I have no idea why. So I'm wondering if you can access my website and the various pages within. If not, what browser are you using and what error are you getting? So annoying. I can't figure out why it happens because it never seems to happen on my browsers. I guess it might be time for a redesign....

More tomorrow.......

Twittering in California

2008-07-28T20:23:00.003-04:00

I'll try to update regularly. I'm having a great time in LA so far! Heading to San Francisco for the conference bright and early with my travel buddies...

follow me on Twitter

Be back soon

2008-07-25T09:15:00.003-04:00

I'm packing and doing last minute chores today since I am on my way to sunny California bright and early tomorrow! I like to make sure I'm nice and stressed the day before I go on vacation because that makes things much more interesting.

No, no. I'm not stressed. That would be so unlike me. *blinks*

Anyhow, if you're going to the RWA conference, I'll see you there!

I'll be back a week Monday...... :-)

My News!!

2008-07-23T11:32:00.007-04:00

I can now share my big news with everyone!!

I'm very pleased to report that I have two new book deals!

*** Deal #1

LIVING IN EDEN is a light urban fantasy/paranormal romance about a slightly-psychic amateur P.I. named Eden Riley who finds herself rather...possessed. Chaos ensues. I've been working with this idea on-and-off for a couple of years -- it started off as a dark urban fantasy and has evolved to become a fun book that I can't wait to start working on. LiE will be out tentatively Spring 2010 and I'm beyond thrilled to be working with Berkley Books on this!!

*** Deal #2

NIKKI DONOVAN: DEMON PRINCESS is about a girl who finds out the father she's never met is a demon king and now that she's turned sixteen, she's heir to his throne. Chaos ensues. I wrote the first draft of this book for Nanowrimo '06, although it has gone through several revisions since then. I can't tell you how excited I am to sell in the YA genre. It's my first writing love and my first serious attempts at writing were YA-based. I love this book and I'm so happy that it's going to be published! It's also going to be out early 2010 through Walker Books which is a division of Bloomsbury. Another YA will follow it, although at this time it's undecided if it will be a sequel or something completely different.

So...hooray! Obviously I'm in a very good mood going into the conference next week!!

100 Books

2008-07-22T00:28:00.004-04:00

I've seen this on a couple blogs and thought I'd do much worse than I did. However, it does make me admit publicly that I've never read Jane Austin, Bridget Jones, or Dracula. I should probably get on that.

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. How do you do?

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones's Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte's Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Cool contest! Hellboy! San Fran!

2008-07-21T09:29:00.004-04:00

Holy cats! (who do I know that uses that phrase? Because I like it and I'm adopting it immediately) Check out this new SHOMI contest that's just gone live.

http://shomifiction.com/contests_press.html

Steven King to judge SHOMI Book Trailer Contest

Dorchester Publishing and Circle of Seven Productions have teamed up to present a contest offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for amateur and professional filmmakers who also love books. Participants will create book trailers based on their favorite novel in the SHOMI series of modern-day fantasy fiction. The best trailer—as selected by internationally bestselling author Stephen King—will be shown at a movie premiere in New York City as well as a theater in the winner’s home market.

Could that be cooler? I do not think so. I can't wait to start seeing the trailers. Hopefully somebody picks COUNTDOWN. It's ripe for a kick-ass trailer just taking the title into consideration alone. :-)

--

In other film making news... saw HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY over the weekend and... it was so awesome! I loved this movie -- best movie I've seen in recent memory. I don't remember really loving the first one but this one rocked. I especially liked the dark elf bad guy character. He was 1) super hot for a weird, murderous, albino elf-creature, and 2) a fantastic example of a villain with depth and motivation. Also I found an uncanny resemblance between the character and a whole lot of paranormal romance alpha heroes. Only without the romance. ;-)

Loved the mix of humor and action. Loved the special effects and the creatures. Loved the social commentary. This movie had it all. Plus, lately, I'm very partial to nice-but-demonic characters, and Hellboy himself is such a great character.

Plus, Ron Perlman? I still miss Beauty and the Beast. Vincent was a very different character than Hellboy, though. Sob. Catherine! How could they!!!?? (I still have issues). I definitely need to pick that series up now that it's finally on DVD.

--

Five days until I leave for Los Angeles where I'll be sightseeing for three days before I go to the RWA Conference in San Francisco.

As always, it seems to have crept up on me. But I'm so excited. This is going to be a fantastic conference (can you tell I'm feeling rather perky lately? I'm sure it's temporary). I can't wait to see everybody. And I'm spending the three days in L.A. first with the talented and fabulous Megan Crane and Liza Palmer as they show their fine and famous city to this Northern girl. I will leave the polar bear and mukluks at home.

And the new title is...

2008-07-17T21:05:00.002-04:00

The novel formerly known as DEVILS & DIAMONDS shall hereby be known as...

I like it. Well, enough to do a little graphic for it. In fact, my main character describes the hero as such in STAKES & STILETTOS which is probably why I put it on my extensive list of potential titles. So there ya go! Thanks again to everyone who helped me brainstorm a few weeks ago... :-)

Blaze

2008-07-16T10:23:00.004-04:00

Today marks the day I'm going to start my Harlequin Blaze. I've cast it with the actors I have in mind and can definitely visualize them in the parts of "Jacob" and "Amanda". I've reread the outline (which I actually still like and hope it's going to be a really fun write -- I could use one of those!). After brekkie I'm going to read through the sample chapters from my proposal, tweaking them a bit as I go and then...ease on into the writing.

The beginning part of starting a new novel is really tough. For me, at least. Before starting the book is kind of on a pedestal, all shiny and perfect. As soon as you start writing it loses a lot of that shine and becomes more real and tangible. Sometimes it becomes something different entirely.

This book will contain lots of witty repartee between the main characters who start off disliking each other intently. I've always loved love/hate relationships. I used it a bit in Lady & the Vamp and look forward to revisiting it here. I call it witty repartee, but one of my beta readers calls it "bickering." Yeah, yeah. We'll see. To each their own.

I'm also trying to finish up the judging I'm doing for my chapter's contest. I find it very draining, actually. I've read one stellar entry so far, which is always nice. Most are middle-of-the-road both in writing skill and story, but that's very normal. There was one that surprised me. The entrant's writing was fabulous but the plot was...not. Usually when your writing is at a publishable level, your story skills are at an equal level, but I don't know. Maybe it's just me. All I can say is having your character think about her life for two chapters is not a compelling story, even if it's nicely written.

Speaking of my chapter, Toronto Romance Writers is having a fantastic contest -- our first one, in fact. Head over to check it out and get the chance to win TWO DOZEN signed books by our published members. That's a lot of books!

TRW Big Book Giveaway Contest!

9 questions with Eve Kenin

2008-07-14T19:52:00.003-04:00

Eve Silver aka: Eve Kenin is one of my favorite authors on the page, and a good friend off the page. She's somebody I have had a few multi-hour lunches with as we discuss 'the biz.' She was the inspiration for me to write my Shomi proposal in the first place and I remember a RWA chapter meeting last year where I grilled her shamelessly about the line and what they might be looking for. :-)

Her latest release, HIDDEN, is the follow-up to her kickass 2007 release DRIVEN. Both books have gotten fantastic buzz and amazing reviews. I thought it would be a good chance to ask her a few questions here on my blog...

9 Questions for Eve Kenin

Thanks for asking me these questions, Michelle. They
were quite a lot of fun to answer.

Desert Island Questions

1. If you could bring only one novel to a deserted
island (only one!) what would it be?

I wouldn’t bring a novel. I couldn’t possibly choose
just one. Instead, I would bring a dictionary. The
largest, most complete dictionary I could find. Those
words would help me write my own stories, and if I had
no paper to write them on, I’d write them in my head.

But if it had to be a novel, I’d cheat and bring more
than one, but it would still only be one book…The
Complete Novels of Jane Austen which combines them all
into a single paperback issue.

2. There's a DVD player there. What one movie would
you want?

A movie about wilderness advanced first aid with
accompanying written guide. Hey…I’m a practical girl.
There are no ERs on a desert isle ;-)

3. What celebrity (living or dead) would you want to
be stranded with?

Someone who could make me laugh. Russel Peters (I
know, I know…but he’s funny!) or Dave Chappelle or
Ellen Degeneres…definitely someone funny.

About the Book Questions

4. What is the one-line-blurb to describe your new
action-romance release HIDDEN?

In order to save the world from a deadly plague, a
genetically enhanced super-soldier is forced into an
uneasy alliance with a sexy stranger, until she finds
that that her new ally just might be the world’s—and
her—biggest threat.

5. Steven Spielburg called. He's going to make HIDDEN
into a big budget movie. Who would you cast as Tatiana
and Tristan?

Kate Beckinsale definitely has Tatiana’s look, but a
young Sigourney Weaver had her grit. Think I can
hybrid the two into one?

For Tristan, that’s tough…maybe a hybrid between Hugh
Jackman and Jared Padalecki, but with dark blue eyes.

6. What was your favorite part about writing HIDDEN?

The non-stop action. It was one crazy, wild ride.
There were points where I had my own heart pounding in
my chest.

About Writing Questions

7. What kind of a computer do you do your writing on?

MacBook.

8. What's the best advice you can give an aspiring
(but disgruntled) writer?

Finish the book. You can’t sell the book if you don’t
finish it.

Rejection is part of the biz. I had hundreds of
rejections before I made my first sale (and, yeah,
after my first sale, too).

If the need to write is a burning flame in your gut,
then write. It isn’t as though that flame offers you
much of a choice, is it?

9. What are you working on right now?

My next historical gothic written as Eve Silver, due
out in 2009. It is one dark, twisty story. And I’m
also playing with some paranormal ideas, one for a
short story that will be released in The Mammoth Book
of Paranormal Romance early in 2009, and another idea
that I’m hoping to spin into a couple of books.

---

Thanks Eve!!

If you want to learn more about Eve, visit her website at www.evekenin.com.

Midnight Hour

2008-07-14T13:45:00.003-04:00

Eve Kenin (aka: Eve Silver) is the guest blogger today on The Midnight Hour. Head on over there and leave a comment for a chance to win a signed copy of her July Shomi release HIDDEN (which completely rocks).

Guest blogger Eve Kenin

Interview etcetera

2008-07-13T10:43:00.004-04:00

I've done a Q&A with Tez Miller on her blog...

Check it out here.

I took yesterday off to recover from my 32 page final day of writing my vamp book. I read through some old diaries and found this brilliant snippet that makes me laugh for so many different reasons.

August 23, 1991.
I worked a little more on my Harlequin. Up to page two! That's pretty amazing. Maybe I'll check it out again in a minute. Got to do what I've got to do. And do it soon! My dream would be to submit my novel to Harlequin, and have them tell me by the new year, that it's been excepted. Give me a huge advance, and get me on a contract for at least ten more novels in the next two years. Would I go back to University? Well...what the hell do you think? But, before my dreams even have a chance of coming true, I must put forth a little effort on completing the said novel. Just a little effort. That's all.

I liked my use of the word "excepted" when of course I meant "accepted." I was an English major at the time, don't you know. And it only took another 17 years for me to sell to Harlequin! Of course, I did have to get over that dreaded "page 2" hump.

Today I want to brainstorm a new proposal. I've written several proposals lately but they aren't really hitting it for me and I have this new idea, as touched on in the interview with Tez.... Brain, start storming!

Don't give up

2008-07-12T00:40:00.005-04:00

Nathan Bransford asked the following hypothetical questions the other day...

Question #1: Let's say there was a seer who could tell you definitively whether or not you have the talent to be a published writer. Absolute 100% accuracy. But. If the seer person said no, that's that. Final answer. Would you want to know?

Question #2: If the seer person said no, you don't have the talent to be a published writer, would you still write?

And it definitely made me think.

Answer #1: I would not want to know.

Answer #2: If the seer told me anyhow...I don't think I would have kept writing.

That's quite sad, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, I love making up stories and daydreaming, etc., but my mind was always on getting published. I also wanted to be an artist, which I gave up to focus on my writing. You can make stories up to entertain yourself in your head, but writing them down, revising them to make them good, and then facing the rejection is not something I would ever want to deal with if I didn't think there was a silver lining. It's hard work. Some of the hardest, not to mention most rewarding, I've ever done. But I needed to believe in that silver lining.

I have posted several very positive things lately about my writing career, but don't let that fool you. This is a difficult business. I honestly didn't know that in the beginning. I thought that once you got a book contract, that's it. You're in. Hell, way back when I thought that every book on the shelves of a book store represented a writer who was able to support themselves financially through their writing.

The last six months have been the most trying I've ever had, and the fact that they've coincided with quitting my day job I don't think is a coincidence. My confidence has been shaken, my doubt weasels have been out in full force. I've been working harder than ever before and not sure whether or not it would mean a damn thing in the end. There's no pay check every other week when you're a writer. It's a risk. A big one. I don't do that. I don't normally take risks. As anyone who knows me can tell you... I like money. And as a single woman supporting herself and her two kitties, money means everything. Risk does not always lead to money. But, I jumped, I took a risk and the landing has not been a soft one.

I had a pretty easy time, all things considered, getting my agent and having my first book accepted. It was the right time, right place for that particular story and I thank my lucky stars every day for that (thank you lucky stars!). Since then I have paid for my initial luck. It's been difficult. Now I'm not saying this to whine or expect sympathy because I know I won't get any. Anyone who looks at me and sees me or another published author -- anybody who WANTS to be published -- will not listen to any sob stories I have to tell. And I don't blame them. I barely listen to myself half the time.

My goal was to be published. I got published. What now?

I guess the goal now is to stay published. Having been a published author for a whopping two and a half years now, I'm entering the second stage of my career. It's the stage a lot of writers don't make it to, or through.

I picked up an old Harlequin novel and looked at the back where they list the upcoming books. I didn't recognize one author name. That means that women who were being published and celebrating their budding writing careers 12 years ago (give or take) are no longer writing. Why? Because they were happy with writing one or two books and then going back to their normal lives? Maybe a few of them. The rest either quit because staying published is freaking difficult or they now write under a new pen name out of necessity.

The key to staying published, I think, is staying on top of marketing trends. I don't honestly think you need to change the kind of book that you really want to write, that speaks to you, but I do think you need to push it in directions that might be more high concept, or higher conflict, or suspenseful. Write a "very" book. Very funny, or very scary, or very sexy. Middle of the road characters or plot do not sustain a writer or her story.

All I can tell you are three things are vital to getting your writing published:

1) Luck
2) Perseverence
3) Voice/Talent/Storytelling skillz

There are lots of people with #3, but are they going to have #1 and #2 working for them? There are lots of incredibly talented actors waiting tables.

So sure, I would have given up if I'd known some seer thought that I didn't have a chance to be published. But I probably would have regretted it. What does some stupid seer know, anyhow? She could be another aspiring writer who's just trying to sabotage my confidence...doubt weasels in another form.

Here's a poem I found on my darkest day recently. Since then, things have brightened considerably for me. The day is still not bright enough for sunglasses, but I am enjoying the pretty sunrise. As they say, it's always darkest before the dawn.

Don't Quit
by anonymous

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest! if you must; but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up, though the pace seems slow;
You might succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out;
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt;
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit;
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

First draft finished!

2008-07-11T23:42:00.003-04:00

The vampire book with no title is done! It's going to need a ton of revision in the next draft but I'M DONE!!!

87,140 / 85,000
(102.5%)

A little news and a progress report

2008-07-11T15:31:00.003-04:00

I have BIG NEWS to share...probably early next week, when everything gets all finalized and stuff. It's been an exciting week. I sound all calm, but this is BIG and I'm very THRILLED about it!! This is probably the reason why I'm not finished my vamp book yet. I'm easily distracted by anything shiny. And this is super shiny!

No, Hugh Jackman hasn't left his wife for me yet (the fool). Something else!

Okay, enough about that.

The book that does not want to end...is almost at an end. Huzzah!! I've written the last chapter, all 12 pages of it, and now I sit at the precipice of the black moment and story climax. Two writing terms I knew nothing about when I wrote the first book in this series, Bitten & Smitten. In the ensuing five years since I first started that book because thought it would be fun to thrust a character like Bridget Jones into an Anne Rice world using a Buffy-esque voice, I have learned a lot about writing and many things would have changed how I wrote B&S if I wrote it now. Some would have been for the better, I think, but a lot would have been for the worse. I think sticking too closely to "the rules" of writing can be as damning as not knowing any rules at all. I guess it's good to know them and then break them for a reason. Even though this is a light and humorous series (or as somebody described it recently as "fluffy" *shudders*), it's meant a lot to me, to say the very least, and I want to do it justice now that I'm almost at the end of my characters' stories.

That actually wasn't what I was going to say when I started this blog post, but there you go. A few words (of wisdom or otherwise) from the salt mines, if you will.

Bottom line... I still ain't done. I know everything that's going to happen and unless my characters pull a fast one on me in the next 25 pages, then it's all done but the crying, as the saying goes.

Next up... I'm going to write the first draft of my Blaze fairly quickly (one hopes). Then back on the second draft of this vampire book for the month of August, although hopefully it won't take that long to polish it up. Then Blaze gets the better part of September since I do want it to be as good as I can make it. (crosses fingers)

I have a little news I can share today...

I'm very excited that I'm getting the chance to be in the upcoming anthology THE MAMMOTH BOOK OF PARANORMAL ROMANCE with a short story. I have almost definitely decided that my story is going to be about Barkley, the werewolf who has a bit of a problem staying in human form for too long, from the Immortality Bites series. I've been asked more than a few times if he'd going to get his own book like Quinn did. Well, he isn't, but the least I can do is give the poor guy 30 pages to find his HEA, can't I? Yes, I think I can. So hopefully a story will materialize for him from my cluttered imagination. If not, then I'll do something different, but that's the plan as of today. The book, as far as I know, will be out sometime in 2009...

Getting it done

2008-07-09T13:13:00.003-04:00

71,136 / 85,000
(83.7%)

I'm getting there. Not quite at breakneck speed, but slow and steady wins the race. It's not all that slow, but not as fast as I wanted. I wanted to be finished this draft by July 1st. Then that moved to the 7th. Then the 10th. And while I'm close, I don't know if I'll be done tomorrow. Probably more like Friday. Then I think I'll recoop over the weekend and then get started on the Harlequin Blaze that I have due on October 1st (Lord, I hope it's an easier write than this has been!)

I worried that I wouldn't make my word count on this one, but there's no doubt that I'll get to at least 85K by the end of this draft. I tried to go ahead and write the last scene before I got there (which sometimes helps to give me a target to write towards) but it didn't turn out like I wanted it to so I guess I'll leave that for the end.

That's all I have for today's blog post. I want to write about some of the movies I've seen lately, but I really want to get this draft done so I'm going to concentrate on that.

Friday! Friday is the goal. Here's hoping........

Character motivation

2008-07-07T17:29:00.003-04:00

So I finally figured out what was wrong. As soon as I established what Sarah's true character motivation was, everything started flowing again. It comes down to this deceptively simple question, which is the spark of any book:

What does your character want?

Well, she wants a lot of things. But she needs to want one thing specifically because it will color all of her decisions and actions. I tried to get hyper specific. What does she want? She wants her friends to be safe, she wants to survive against the forces of darkness, and she's willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that.

Fine. That sounds very valid.

But no. That wasn't her real motivation. It's not what drives her down deep. It's not the motivation that even she isn't aware of, it's simply the surface motivation -- what she thinks she wants more than anything.

So what does she really want?

Well, she wants to be happy, of course.

Saving her friends is great, but what's the pay-off if her friends are okay? The pay-off is that she's happy.

Bingo.

She's not looking for world peace or an end to homelessness. This character isn't horrifically selfish or anything like that. But she seeks happiness -- it's what drives her. It's what gets her up in the morning to fight through another day. It's that hope that at the end of the gauntlet there is a happy ever after waiting for her. It might seem like a weird thing for a vampire to be searching for, but that's her core motivation.

And it's made all the difference in the writing. I just wish I'd figured that out a couple hundred pages ago. :-)

WIP

2008-07-03T12:12:00.003-04:00

I have 100 pages to go on my current WIP which is still nameless. I know what's going to happen. I've plotted it out. I know how I want the whole thing to end. But for some reason I'm just totally meh about it. I read back through what I've written and for first draft material it ain't half bad, so what's blocking me? I have absolutely no idea. So, should I push on through to the end? Finish in a rush of productivity or should I take a couple days off (which I've already done) and work on something else to clear my head?

I think part of the problem is right now, going into the last third of the last book in this series, I'm expecting way too much for myself. I always fold under pressure. But this is simply self-inflicted pressure. I know that it doesn't have to be perfect. I know that it's just first draft, but I'm letting the subconscious demons (doubt weasels) get to me. Again. Also, bad things have happened and will continue to happen to my heroine and I've totally lost her breezy voice as she deals with all of this. The plot calls for this climax so I'm either going to have to force her through the gauntlet or I'm going to have to change things up a bit to make her be able to see the humor in the situation. I think the better choice would be to send in some comic relief in the form of another character. My books are supposed to be light and humorous (note: I originally wrote "humorless" -- is my subconscious trying to tell me something), but I remember writing the synopsis for Book #2 a while back and it was one joke after the other and my editor told me it wasn't serious enough. Serious? I was confused. I thought I was writing humor. But no, the humor doesn't come from plot or situation, it comes from character. Important to remember.

Perhaps I'll ask myself WWJD? What would Joss Whedon do? When Buffy got serious, it was serious, and he made no apologies about that. There might be a quip or two to lighten the mood, but he let things get dark. He dealt with the situation at hand, he defeated the Big Bad, and then got back to the humor later. Just like a mullet. Business in the front, party in the back. I'm going to Become The Mullet.

There's also been swirling events happening behind the scenes lately in my writing life which is why I haven't been blogging like the good little blogger I've always been. I hope to clear all of that up this coming week since it's been rather distracting to say the least, in good ways and bad.

So... I set aside my vampires for yesterday and let them simmer. I picked up a few of my other proposals and took a long hard look at them. I'd like to write a follow up to COUNTDOWN (not a sequel, but something with a similar feel), another action-packed speculative romance as MIchelle Maddox, and I have two or three projects currently in production which would be right for that. But none of them are exactly right. COUNTDOWN starts off with a bang and doesn't let up for 300 pages. The other proposals I'm working on have slow builds and the action starts at chapter three or so. I like them, but maybe for the future. So I asked the muse for another idea, something that starts fast from the first paragraph and I got the raw material to work with. It's pretty raw. Just an idea, a scene. The hero presented himself and he's so fabulously messed up he makes Rogan from COUNTDOWN look happy and well-adjusted. I loved damaged, tortured characters. :-) So I think I'm going to brainstorm this one and see what I get.

Today I'm also going to go see WALL-E. I'm totally ready to be inspired by a cute, anthropomorphic robot.

Happy Canada Day!

2008-07-01T13:15:00.003-04:00

My vamps go to Germany!

2008-06-28T21:06:00.004-04:00

In my internet surfing this evening I thought I'd just pop over to the German Amazon site to see if my soon-to-be translated books had gone up for presale there yet, and I found more than that! I found covers! What?

I love them. So much fun, even though it looks like they have Sarah on the cover of Lady & the Vamp...stepping into a coffin, no less! And the release dates have moved up since I last heard. Now they'll be out next January, March and May!

Bitten & Smitten is called Ein Anfang Mit Biss which translates to "A Beginning with Bite"

Fanged & Fabulous is called Ein Bisschen Verliebt which translates to "A little Falls in Love". Which doesn't make any sense so I'm sure it means something different with slang or something.

And last but not least we have Lady & the Vamp as Ein Happy End Mit Biss, "A Happy Ending with Bite".

I want outputs of these illustrations. They're so cute!!

Spike and the housefly

2008-06-25T14:34:00.002-04:00

My eldest cat has spent the last hour racing around the condo after a fly, leaping from high places and generally going crazy in pursuit of this tiny goal. He finally managed to pounce on it and ate it, then looked around as if he wondered what happened and what was he supposed to do with the rest of his day.

I'm quite sure there's a metaphor for writing in there somewhere.

Top Pick!!

2008-06-23T17:37:00.002-04:00

Countdown got a 4-1/2 star Top Pick from Romantic Times! I'm so happy!! It's my first one!!!

In this post-apocalyptic thriller, Maddox (aka Michelle Rowen) takes reality game shows to a horrifying new level. This book starts off fast and never looks back as it throws its gutsy protagonists into a do-or-die scenario. Memorable and scary, this first-person novel is a roller-coaster ride of the first magnitude!

Summary: As the sole survivor of the massacre of her family, Kira Jordan has endured on the streets as best she can. One day she wakes up in a pitch-black room, chained to the wall with a convicted killer. Rogan Ellis used to be one of the wealthiest men on the planet, until he was convicted of murder. Now Rogan and Kira have been paired up for a horrific televised game called "The Countdown."

Implants have been placed in their heads and will kill them if they separate. Together, they are faced with completing their tasks in each level of competition or they will die. Successfully completing levels is their only chance of survival. In this game, winning is the only thing. (SHOMI, Aug., 368 pp., $6.99) HOT

—Jill M. Smith

Dusty old prose

2008-06-21T11:26:00.003-04:00

I think, for the most part, an ease with one's writing comes after putting a lot of words on the page. I'm not claiming to be a great writer or anything, but I think my writing has that ease after ten years, or so, of working on it. Characterization becomes more natural. Dialogue sounds more true to life. I work hard at making my prose sound breezy and conversational -- which really isn't as easy as one might think. It's true that practice is key to learning any skill and writing is definitely a skill that needs practice.

I came upon this snippet from a "romance novel" I was working on ten years ago and I thought I'd share. I hadn't plotted this one out since it was back in the day that I tried to take a premise and rock it from page one. I rarely made it past page 20. In this case, page 2.

For me, going from the below to how I write now was triggered by switching to first person that immediately makes one's writing smoother. I think. Also reading about five million books about writing and taking a slew of courses. I still think the main idea of this could work, but it would need a lot more thought before it could become usable. To say the very least.

The below was filed as "Bachelorette Auction Idea."

Found any questionable pieces of prose in the dark recesses of your computer? Please share and post a link. I'd love to read them...

Veronica Reynolds awoke to find her face pressed uncomfortalbly against her computer keyboard in her office. She pushed herself back into a sitting position with an audible groan. She had forgotten how stiff a neck could get from sleeping on a desk. She began to rummage through the drawers for some asprin.

The office door opened unexpectedly. "Oh Ms Reynolds! I didn't think you'd be in so early." Her young secretary looked startled.

"Actually you could say that I'm here extremely late."

"You mean you haven't gone home yet?"

"That's what I mean. I guess I fell asleep."

A tentative smile broke through the girl's lips. "You're definitely a workaholic, Ms Reynolds. Why don't you head home and change clothes, and have a shower. I can handle it here. Your first appointment isn't until ten thirty."

"No, I have too many things to do. Besides, I keep a change of clothes here for just such an occasion. Splash a little water on my face and I'll be fine. I could use an extra large coffee though."

"Coming right up," she said.

Veronica wondered why she looked around the office before she closed the door, but didn't give it much thought. The office was a pig sty. Printouts and faxes littered the floor, and empty coffee cups and take out food containers lined her desk. It was part of her nature to be messy. It helped her to work. Her appartment, on the other hand, was immaculately tidy. Of course, that could be because she was always at the office.

She reached for her phone and buzzed the secretary.

"Yes?"

"Sandy, would you mind finding me some asprin to go with that coffee?"

"Not at all, Ms Reynolds." "Thank you...oh, and by the way, who is my first appointment today?"

"Let me see..." she heard some papers rustling around, "That would be Mr. Reese Davidson."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Really? He called for an appointment?"

"Yes, last night actually. He wouldn't have gotten a spot but your original ten thirty cancelled."

"What could he possibly want?"

"I guess I should have asked him but it completely slipped my mind." Sandy's voice had become a little worried.

"Forget it. But when he gets here, give me plenty of notice." She placed the phone on its receiver thoughtfully, and leaned back in her chair.

She glanced at her computer terminal which was still on from the night before.

"Reese Davidson found in bed with his brother's fiance two days before wedding."

The title definitely needed more pizzazz. But the story was going to be front page of the next "Reliable Source".

"Movie Star Reese Davidson apparently likes to keep it in the family after a reliable source said that he's been having a torrid affair with his estranged brother's soon-to- be wife. Davidson is known as a lady's man around town and likes to keep up his reputation with a different girl on his arm every week..."

"What a stud," Roni said distastefully. "I wonder what he'd want to see me about. Unless..." That was it. The story must have leaked out. He wants to stop it before it hits the newstands.

Impossible. She smiled to herself. What was he going to try to do. Sweet talk her? Sweep her off her feet so that she would never want to tarnish his famous name?

Obviously he had no idea who he would be dealing with.

She pushed herself back from the desk top with vigor. She would enjoy taking him down a few notches.

i can haz pagecount

2008-06-19T12:59:00.002-04:00

more cat pictures

I'm on page 171 of a probably 330. I like to switch to Courier every now and then because it makes me feel like I'm writing faster. That's really all I have to say today. My blogging skillz are not what they used to be lately.

I guess I can post this, though. Even though the book won't be out for 285 days, here's the back cover copy for STAKES & STILETTOS.... I'm actually rather loving it...

Staked, cursed, and still single . . .

Newly-vamped Sarah Dearly wants her normal life back, but fate is fighting against her. She tries to get a nice, regular job and gets staked at the interview, only to be rescued by a masked vampire who calls himself the Red Devil. Then a wallflower-turned-witch curses her, making her a bloodthirsty, sun-allergic nightwalker—the worst vampire there is. As if all that weren’t bad enough, she can’t get married because her 600-year-old boyfriend, Thierry, is in a centuries-long marriage of convenience he can’t escape.

. . . it’s enough to make a girl start biting.

As Sarah’s nightwalker tendencies make her more dangerous, even to those she loves, she’ll have to counteract that curse, unmask the increasingly intriguing Red Devil, and—oh yeah—get a commitment from her man. But if that’s what it takes to secure her happiness, Sarah is ready . . . even if it means embracing her inner vamp to do it.

Busy weekend

2008-06-16T10:08:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I attended Book Expo Canada and got to sign 200 ARCs of COUNTDOWN. It was a lot of fun. The traffic was insane getting into downtown Toronto because of various reasons including a baseball game right next door to the convention centre. So I signed for the better part of two hours and these were the main questions people asked as they looked at the cover...

Q: Is this a young adult novel?

A: I would suppose it depends on the young adult, but it's actually an adult romance novel.

Q: So what's it about?

A: It's a fast-paced, futuristic, post-apocalyptic-esque book about a reality game show where if you lose a level you die...and it's a romance!

I loved meeting everybody who came by the booth and picked up a copy. And I'd never been to a Book Expo before and couldn't believe how packed the place was. I wanted to go and see Laurell K. Hamilton who was signing at the same time I was, but her line-up was ridiculous and I didn't even see her booth. Kelley Armstrong was signing her new YA which I would have loved to get my hands on, but she was gone by the time I finished.

On Saturday I went to my RWA chapter meeting to hear Lori Wilde give a workshop on High Concept and I learned a lot. For one thing, I have come up with some ideas that fit the high concept rules (COUNTDOWN does, actually) but it wasn't a conscious thing. I'm going to definitely pay more attention to this in the future. Lori was a fantastic speaker and if you ever have a chance to attend this workshop I highly recommend it!

I'd like to plow through a hundred pages on the vampire novel (new title forthcoming) this week. While I am fairly confident that it will turn out well, it's been a hell of a write so far. Some books flow easily through the fingertips and some books need to be beaten up and dragged to the finish line. This one requires daily beatings unfortunately. The last book that was this hard to write for me was Fanged & Fabulous. Now that I have an extension on the writing of this one, I would like the first draft finished by the end of this month. I'm on page 154 right now. I have the mid-book blues, I guess. The best cure for them is picking up the pace. This book will require a ton of editing in the second draft (I'm guessing) so the sooner I finish the more time I'll have to polish it up.

Need a new title....

2008-06-11T22:25:00.003-04:00

Okay, here's a call for help to anyone who reads this blog...

I need a new title for DEVILS & DIAMONDS. While the working title does have something to do with the plot, it just doesn't have the same kick as the previous titles, so I need something fun, that says paranormal vampire romance.

Previous titles in the Immortality Bites series are:

Bitten & Smitten
Fanged & Fabulous
Lady & the Vamp
Stakes & Stilettos

So obviously we need an "&" in there somewhere. Play on words, puns, rhymes, alliteration...all these things are good! But it should sound like it goes with the rest of the series.

Whoever comes up with the winning title will be thanked profusely on the acknowledgment page.

So.... any ideas? Please post them here or email them to me at michelle@michellerowen.com.

My immortal thanks!

Michelle

It's Monday again

2008-06-09T10:50:00.003-04:00

Come on over and visit the Midnight Hour today. Lori Devoti is guest blogging and giving away a copy of her first Silhouette Nocturne, UNBOUND, to a lucky commenter today.

Two new reviews on COUNTDOWN have been posted... here and here.

I'm somewhat surprised by how enthusiastic the reviews have been so far. I think of COUNTDOWN as sounding a lot like how I write anyhow, but with less humor and more violence and character torture (heh). Apparently, according to the people who've read it so far, it's a completely different animal than my Rowen stuff. Hmm.

The elements of writing a speculative, action romance, by Michelle Maddox:

1) No jokes (well, a couple are okay)
2) Strict time line to amp up the tension (so much so that it's the title!)
3) Death could be waiting around any corner
4) Hero who seems very anti-hero...at first...

And, most importantly...

5) Evil robots!!!

It does make me feel that I want to explore more writing as Michelle Maddox, even though my heart (and bank account) belongs to Rowen. Y'know?

It's so difficult having a split personality.

I finished my copy edits over the weekend, so I'm free to get back to the writing. Not sure if I'll be working on vampires or evil robots, though.

Cat is still sick. Obviously, before I move one day, I will need to replace this carpet. Poor kitty.

OOTB Spotlight on Susan Grant

2008-06-07T17:46:00.002-04:00

MOONSTRUCK by Susan Grant
HQN Books, June 1, 2008

PEACE IS FOR LITTLE GIRLS.
And Coalition starship admiral Brit Bandar is one tough woman. A mere intergalactic treaty could never get her to trust the Drakken Horde. There was too much bad blood between the Coalition and the Horde and, for intensely personal reasons, Brit wasn’t sure that she was through spilling it! But now a peaceful accord has made Finn Rorkken, a notorious Drakken rogue, second-in command on her starship – and through some grand cosmic irony – front and center in her thoughts…and her heart.

WARLEADER. PIRATE.
Either title sat easily on Finn’s battle-hardened shoulders. Though second-in-command to “Stone-Heart” Bandar? That would take some getting used to. Peace required as much sacrifice as war, so he’d comply even if his reaction to the gorgeous admiral fell decidedly outside protocol. But would he end up kissing or killing her if the galaxy’s tentative truce turned into all out war?

Read an excerpt!

ABOUT SUSAN GRANT
RITA award winner and NY Times best-selling author Susan Grant loves writing about what she knows: flying, adventure, and the often unpredictable interaction between the sexes! When she’s not writing romances set in far-flung locales, Susan pilots 747 jumbo jets to China, Australia, Europe, and many other exotic overseas destinations where she finds plenty of material for her novels.

REVIEWS
4.5 stars! The quick pace and compelling characterization make this space adventure riveting! –reviewed by Jill Smith, RT Magazine

[A gripping storyline, fascinating characters and great writing. Susan Grant has an immense talent for writing this special brand of romance. –Tanzey Cutter, Fresh Fiction.”

[A] can’t-put-down read that draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let go until the tension-filled final chapters!” — Linnea Sinclair, RITA award winning author of THE DOWN HOME ZOMBIE BLUES

This tale packs a punch! Fans of the Honor Harrington series (by David
Weber) will thoroughly enjoy Brit and Finn’s story. I could not help but give a spontaneous high-five when I finished this gem. — Detra Fitch, Huntress Reviews,

This book kicked serious butt. Susan Grant can write more like this and I’ll be ready to devour them at a moment’s notice! — Kathy Boswell, The Best Reviews

www.susangrant.com

The Borderlands website

Deadlines and hairballs

2008-06-06T17:03:00.002-04:00

Current word count on DEVILS & DIAMONDS:

31,582 / 85,000
(37.2%)

There has been a dramatic hairball situation the last week in the condo-o-love. For several days in a row one of my feline sons left me small presents that I would find first thing in the morning and have to clean up which told me somebody's tummy was upset. I had no idea who was the culprit until I caught him in the act. It was my eldest, Spike (aka: Spikerton, or Spikey Bear). My personal non-vet diagnosis was that he had a hairball problem. Since there is a fine layer of black fur that is on top of everything in the condo, I have also been coughing up hairballs, so it all made sense. His brother Sammy (aka: Sammy Sam Sam, or Sammy Bear) had no comment other than a concerned "mew." So I took Spike to the vet for his (admittedly delayed) check up and she gave me a tuna flavored laxative. Knock wood, everything seems...better now.

Do you see the fun that is my life? Why do I share these fascinating stories? Because. Just because.

I received my copy edits for STAKES & STILETTOS and only then realized that the release date has been shifted a bit for the book. It's now going to be out April '09, which isn't as soon as February, obviously, but there's not much I can do about it. DEVILS is tentatively scheduled now for Sept '09, which means something very important to me...

My July 1st deadline is now pushed to September 1st! Rock.

While I have been making some serious headway, I think slowing things down a bit is better than busting my butt to get this done. I have to admit, the main character of this book (Sarah) has a mind of her own and a tendency to do questionable things (yeah, I know she's only a character. Tell her that), that require rewriting and adjusting. I have 130 pages written, so I'm going to let them sit for a couple of days and then rewrite them as I go.

So this weekend I'm going to work through my copy edits and rewrite a propsoal I previously tabled that doesn't want to die.

Also, I borrowed season one of Robin Hood from the library. Evil Richard Armitage. *drool*

Progress is progressing

2008-06-03T10:30:00.004-04:00

24,158 / 85,000
(28.4%)

I'm only three pages off schedule right now, but some days I don't want to push it because at this pace I am about two inches away from quickly burning out.

The story is coming along fine although I feel like I have too much going on in too short a space, but this is something that can be fixed in the next draft. My first drafts are a whole lot of dialogue and not much else. Sometimes it feels like I have a bunch of talking heads and I'm pushing them around from scene to scene. Hell, maybe that's how it reads, too, but I'm hoping not.

I sent the first 100 pages off to my beta for a quick read and make sure I haven't suddenly lost my mind. When I'm writing and I'm actually thinking "okay, this is way too weird" that can either be a good thing or a bad thing. I'm hoping good.

One stage of a manuscript for me is worrying that I won't make my page count (I aim for 350 manuscript pages, double-spaced times new roman). Worry or not, my stories always end up between 80-90K and that's just fine.

I've decided that I spend too much time online. It's become a habit I need to, if not break, then greatly curb. As much as I love my loops, blogs, and other online venues, I don't think it's adding a great deal to my life or production level, so I'm going to start cutting down. No cold turkey here, because I love being online, but cutting things down to less than an hour a day. There are other things to do in life than be on the Internet, right? I've heard this rumor. Not sure if it's true or not.

So I'm wondering what people's hobbies are. Got a hobby other than writing and the Internet? Please share.... :-)

Q&A with Angie

2008-05-31T09:50:00.003-04:00

I'm over at Angie Fox's blog today (her debut, The Accidental Demon Slayer, is out this August!) doing a Q&A. Please stop by for a read if you have the time...

Progress on Devils & Diamonds:

14,553 / 85,000
(17.1%)

Deadline lock-down

2008-05-29T13:02:00.003-04:00

DEVILS & DIAMONDS is due on July 1st. I have spent a lot of time in pre-writing with this book because I want it to cover a lot of ground as well as, you know, be good. I want the first draft done by June 20th so I can spend the rest of the month polishing it up all nice and pretty.

A month (and a bit) does sound like enough time, but I'm going to have to devote myself to this book heart and soul, so I may be blogging only periodically and probably just with progress updates.

9,450 / 85,000
(11.1%)

This is the fifth and final book in my Immortality Bites series. You know, unless I hit the New York Times list or something. Then I would be more than happy to continue on with Sarah et al for several more books. LOL. But I do like the idea of having a five book series. It's a nice little collection and all the ends will be tied up at the conclusion of this book.

At least, that's the goal.

Current first line of D&D:

Just when I thought things were bad, they rudely went and got just a little bit worse.

Oh, that Sarah. I've promised her a happy ending, but she's going to go through hell (possibly literally) to get there.

Deal or no deal?

2008-05-28T19:45:00.002-04:00

Deal!

Happy to officially report that I have sold a book to HARLEQUIN BLAZE... which means two very important things.

1) I get to write a fun, sexy (!!) romance novel for a line I've always enjoyed reading, and
2) I get to legitimately go to the Harlequin party at RWA Nationals instead of crashing it. Not that I've done that before. Three times. *whistles innocently*

The details:

My book is tentatively called FEELS LIKE MAGIC (which, believe it or not, comes from a Tyra Banks talk show quote where she said that being in love "feels like magic"). It's about a pair of paranormal investigators who can't stand each other (but are perfect for each other, of course), a pair of match-matching ghosts, and an enchanted clock that casts interesting spells on people at the midnight hour. It's going to be a whole lot of fun to write.

This sale means a lot to me because back when I was inspired to become a romance novelist from watching Romancing The Stone, I always wanted to, as I put it at the time, "write a Harlequin." Which showed my ignorance at the time to what Harlequin was, and the many imprints that they had. But dammit. I've achieved my goal. I'm going to write a Harlequin and I couldn't be happier. Woot!

Tuesday stuff

2008-05-27T16:51:00.002-04:00

Did I mention I'm now a member of the Fangs, Fur, & Fey Livejournal community?

Um.

Hey, guess what? I'm now a member of the Fangs Fur & Fey Livejournal community. Woot!

I also braved the dark world of googling myself (look away) again because early reviews of COUNTDOWN by Michelle Maddox (I highly recommend her work) are starting to come in.

Here's what Simply Romance Reviews had to say in their "Recommended Read" Grade-A review...

"There wasn’t a wasted word or a dull moment in this entire book. With the intricate plot and steamy romance you are in for the twisted thrill ride of your life."

Ms. Maddox is very pleased.

She was so pleased by the early buzz on her book that she monopolized my weekend by working on a new speculative, action romance proposal that, vainly, she thinks kicks butt. Finished it, even. Now we're waiting for our darling agent's opinion on it.

Michelle Rowen on the other hand recently sold another book, but she's not ready to publicly announce it yet, other than giving annoying hints like this, until she receives the deal memo to make it all totally official and stuff. Let's just say it's going to be a lot of fun, super sexy, paranormal, and for a publisher that starts with the letter H.

And she will refer to herself in the third person until further notice.

Well, hello there, handsome.

2008-05-23T11:09:00.007-04:00

Don't tell my true love Hugh Jackman, but I've been cheating on him again with a tall, dark, handsome, humorless, sullen and miserable drink o' water.

I like 'em sullen and miserable. It's totally my type.

I got the DVD of North & South from the library (I love the library) and watched it over the course of two nights. I'd heard about this BBC miniseries for a couple of years, caught snippets here and there on TV, but hadn't been impressed enough to seek it out. I was told that the lead, Richard Armitage, was a ringer for Hugh Jackman, could be his brother, etc., but in pics he didn't do toooo much for me when I compared him to my Hugh. Not that he was trying, I'm sure.

Then I caught a couple of eps of the BBC's Robin Hood series where Armitage plays Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and yeah, he had great chemistry with Marion...but really. Where is this relationship going to go? Probably nowhere. After all, there's that Robin Hood guy who is supposed to get the girl. Guy is the bad guy in this story even though he seems to have moments of redemptability (is that even a word?). I can't commit unless I have some guarantee of a happy ending. I'm a sap that way.

But I was intrigued enough to rent North & South to further investigate this actor.

Okay, he's freaking hot.

I'd describe the miniseries as Pride & Prejudice if a lot of people died and things are very bleak and rather miserable. But it was gripping and incredibly romantic. I didn't hate the heroine, which really is half the battle for me. And the hero, John Thornton, as played by Richard Armitage is worth the price of admission. He's cruel, sullen and miserable, and obviously a bit broken inside, but it totally works. He needs the heroine to bring happiness to his life (even though she mostly fails, imo).

He is 100% Thierry de Bennicoeur, my vampire hero from my Immortality Bites series. I always had Hugh Jackman in mind, but sometimes I see tap dancing and broadway tunes, and that doesn't work for me. I don't think Armitage does jazz hands.

Anyhow, bottom line, if you haven't checked out Robin Hood or North & South, I highly recommend both of them... but you'll get the very satisfying HEA from N&S.

I love you Richard! Call me!!

Planning the future + DAVID WINS!

2008-05-22T10:33:00.003-04:00

When I worked full-time as a graphic designer I would typically be working on Christmas promotions in the late summer. It was strange hunting down stock pictures of Santa and elves during the hottest time of the year. But that's how we worked, with an eye on the future.

I feel like I've been working on so many different things lately in my writing, but when I glance at my book page, I see that all that is currently out is three vampire novels and a book about an angel. And yet I've written a wide variety more...only it's not out yet. Or contracted yet. Or it's just milling about in my brain. That's publishing for you. What is finished today won't be on the shelves for a year. So when it comes out, the book that's released is actually the last thing on your mind. I'm always living in the future. It's kind of like being a lazy time traveler.

It's very strange.

What else have I been working on? My proposals and projects-on-the-go contain ghosts, enchanted objects, demons, demons, demons, psychics, virtual reality avatars, interstellar assassins, and futuristic vampires that are very different from vamps today.

Some of these books may become reality but won't be available for anyone else's eyes for a long time. Some may never be anything more than a blip in my brain.

I do know that I'm writing the last Immortality Bites book right now and it's going well. Slow, but well. Maybe I'm writing slow because I'm going to miss these characters when I'm all done. Or maybe I'm just being a bit lazy while I wait for news about my other proposals. Not sure, not sure.

In a completely unrelated topic -- DAVID COOK IS THE NEW AMERICAN IDOL!!!!!! I was so surprised. I was sure the other one was goign to take it, but I'm so happy. He was my absolute favorite, from the moment he covered Lionel Richie's "Hello"...

...and I cannot wait for his CD to come out. His reaction to winning could be interpretted as, 1) OMG, I'm the American Idol. I am so incredibly thrilled!, or 2) Why did this happen? This wasn't supposed to happen. My career is now cursed. Thanks a lot, brother who made me audition and ruined my life.

Hopefully it was the first one.

Aie! Yi! Yi!

2008-05-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

The glamorous life of a writer

2008-05-15T09:49:00.001-04:00

This is funny...and sadly, so very true...

Get Unstuck

2008-05-14T15:06:00.004-04:00

My friend Bonnie is featured on a TV show on Canada's W Network. It's called Stuck, and it's about seven women who feel stuck about their lives, so they band together to do something about it.

Stuck starts airing tonight (May 14) at 9:30 on W Network. If you get the channel, tune in!

---

I officially started writing DEVILS & DIAMONDS yesterday. I have so many ideas it's hard to focus on just one thing, but I finally picked and now I'm all about Sarah et al. As soon as I started writing I slid right back into the character's head. I have a lot of interesting plans for this book and I hope the writing is relatively smooth going!

I've been a bit hit-and-miss with the writing schedule lately. I don't tend to write everyday, but I'd like to start. I'm waiting on so many answers that it's starting to get to me (an understatement, believe me), but I think instead of dwelling on the negative, I'm going to focus on what really counts... the writing. The rest will fall into place when the time comes.

And yes, I watched The Secret again last night. Ommm. Ommmmmmm.

Score

2008-05-13T13:03:00.003-04:00

When I entered FANGED & FABULOUS in the RITA Awards (category: Novel w/ Strong Romantic Elements) I decided to check the box that asked for my scores when the time came to reveal them. I wanted to see if it was worth my time and money to continue entering this contest if I didn't final (and I didn't*). I already know that on the average, readers either love or... um, don't love my books. So I wanted to see how the scores skewed and just how many voodoo dolls I needed to buy.

Keep in mind that RITA scores are out of 9 and judged by PAN members (ie: fellow published members of RWA).

The scores arrived yesterday.

I got: 9; 8; 7.2; 6.5; 5.5 which equalled 36.2 placing me in the second quarter of the judged books. Kind of like being in high school. I'm not honor roll, but I'm not doing too badly.

Obviously whoever gave me a 9 deserves a cookie and a hug because they totally rock. :-) The 8 gets a firm handshake and an offer of friendship. The 5.5 gets the voodoo doll, but I won't hold it against her since I probably didn't like her book much either. Ha. Still, no failing grades so I'm actually pleasantly surprised.

Which means I'll probably enter again this year. With both books. Come what may.

*My cover flats for COUNTDOWN claim that I'm a past RITA finalist, but I think they have me confused with Stephanie Rowe. Still, it was nice to see. :-)

Booked

2008-05-12T13:33:00.002-04:00

LOLCats image completely unrelated to today's post, I just thought it was funny.

After hearing that fuel surcharges are going up and up, I bit the bullet and booked my flight for RWA Nationals. I'm actually going to Los Angeles for a couple days first to do the Hollywood thing and then on to San Francisco. Good times.

So, unrelated to my travel bookings, I've decided to put away my childish proposals and start working on my vampire book. It's intimidating me slightly because it is the fifth and final in the series and I want it to be, I don't know, like good. I'm very happy with all of the ones that came before it, and I've heaped on all this pressure on myself to make this one bigger and better. I just have to chill. I know these characters. They want their stories told and neatened up and they all want HEAs (or most of them, anyhow).

I shall embrace the fang.

Therefore, I have a soundtrack for DEVILS & DIAMONDS:

Dirty Little Secret -- The All-American Rejects
Devil Inside -- INXS
Stronger -- Kanye West
Move Along -- The All-American Rejects
Trouble -- Pink (which tends to be on most of my soundtracks for some strange reason, probably because my heroines are both 1) in trouble, and 2) the cause of trouble)
Suddenly I See -- KT Tunstall
Paralyzer -- Finger Eleven
SOS (Rescue Me) -- Rihanna
Keep Holding On -- Avril Lavigne (also a recurring song on my soundtracks)
Stuttering -- Ben's Brothers
Bleeding Love -- Leona Lewis (what better song for vamps in love?)
Hot -- Avril Lavigne

The "theme song" for the book as I currently have it envisioned is... Dirty Little Secret. :-) There's a lot of secrets in this book -- both the keeping and the revealing. It should be a fun write.

If I just chill the hell out about it.

Ahem. Okay. I'm fine, really.

It's all good. <-- my mantra.

Now, if you'll excuse me. It's time to start my bikini diet. I can look like Pamela Anderson in less than three months, right????

Don't answer that.

Reaching

2008-05-08T13:18:00.002-04:00

You know that famous scene in Roman Holiday when Gregory Peck reaches into that statue mouth thing and freaks Audrey Hepburn out when he pretends his hand just got bitten off?

Okay, firstly... Audrey Hepburn's character? TSTL? Discuss.

Quite honestly, that is what the last four months of my life has felt like. No, not TSTL, although I suppose that could be debatable. But, reaching out into the darkness for something I can't see and risking getting my hand bitten off. This is the life of a full-time writer. Welcome. Try the veal.

What I have learned:

1. Nothing worth having is easy.
2. Being published is not as glamorous or as much fun as I thought it would be.
3. I am incredibly positive (depending on the day, hour, minute) about my sustained future as a writer.

But it ain't easy.

In the past four months, this is what I've done...

1. Written a full first draft of a paranormal romance novel.
2. Completely rewritten a YA novel.
3. Written four proposals: 1 category, 1 paranormal romance, 1 sci-fi, 1 YA (in prog)
3. Written one outline for a book already on contract -- Devils & Diamonds.
4. Finished editorial revisions on Stakes & Stilettos.
5. Um... I know there's other bits and pieces but nothing comes immediately to mind. General brainstorming and the like.

The full first draft of the paranormal romance formerly known on the blog as NWM? It's dead. Doornail dead. I pulled it from submission because, 1) it was rejected by two editors who said it didn't suit my "voice", and 2) my gut told me I was trying to chase the market and failing miserably (it had a group of supernatural warriors in it. Enough said.). It represents two months of my time that won't end up in a sale. Waste of time? Hell yeah. Do I regret writing it in the first place? A little. But it taught me loads about what I really want to write and that's helped hone my focus right now. Every other project I have on the stove right now is something I hope to finish writing.

At this very moment, I'm waiting on news on two projects from the list above. Three, really. It's so odd to have one's fate in someone else's hands. I think about my writing career 24/7, so any delays in decisions cause me tons of angst. It's exciting on some levels, like a roller coaster. I know that everything will work out well, or at least the way it was supposed to. I believe in fate. I also believe that fate can be swayed by hard work. I told a friend that if every project I have out right now results in a sale, then I'm going to be seriously screwed because that's a lot of deadlines. But I welcome that. I work best when I have a deadline.

Right now I'm working on a YA proposal. I'm going to start there. I'd like to write it in full. But different ideas are coming to me...really great ideas...and the doubt weasels are at work. Maybe I can't make it as good as it has the potential to be. But I'm going to try my best. I'm going to keep reaching toward my dreams and hopefully not lose my hand in the process.

---

I saw Iron Man yesterday. One of the biggest perks about not working 9-5 is going to weekday matinees. Word.

It was good. Loved Robert Downey Jr. Wanted to punch Pepper Potts in the face for being a total doormat. Ugh. Stuck in the fifties much? Couldn't they have updated her character a bit? Give me Michelle Pfieffer as Catwoman any day.

Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. It didn't live up to the hype for me. Spiderman 2 reigns as my favorite superhero movie and to say the least I'm definitely looking forward to the Wolverine movie.

Hump day

2008-05-07T09:47:00.004-04:00

I (or rather, my alter ego Michelle Maddox) has received her first review of COUNTDOWN and, wow, it's a great one! Check out the full review at Ramblings on Romance.

"I found it very hard to put down and on more than one occasion I was late back from my lunch and breaks at work...It was fast-paced, a thrill of a run and a great love story all combined into one. It was like nothing I’ve ever read before"

Cool!

So I survived being Maid of Honor in my sister's wedding. Other than the torrential rain on Saturday, it was fairly perfect. She and her new DH are off to Mexico today. For some reason, they said I couldn't join them. Hrmmphh!

Cindy and Mike gave me Coach handbag in thanks for me helping out with the graphic design bits and pieces of the wedding. I used to buy expensive accessories all the time, but that's been on hold a bit this year as I transition to life as a full-time writer.

I'm a total Coach bag ho now. I love it. I already have a small black one but I bought it on the sidewalks of NYC if ya know what I mean. And I mean that it's a knock-off. This one, however, is the real deal.

I got a little sidetracked with my writing the last couple weeks with the wedding and waiting on some writing-related news. Today I'm actually working on a new project. It's a darker-toned YA that evolved from a different proposal altogether. While I wait on various ducks to align, I will work on this.

And possibly I'll be seeing Ironman some time today. It's all good.

P.S. I'm now keeping a mirror blog at michelle-rowen.livejournal.com. I plan to eventually transition completely over to LJ. I feel like it's time for a fresh start and there are so many communities and other writers blogging on LJ that I'm just going to make like a lemming and jump.

Win me!

2008-05-05T12:44:00.004-04:00

Have you checked out Brenda Novak's charity auction yet? Lots of great stuff up for bid at http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

Even this one that includes a outline + 25 page proposal critique which includes a signed copy of Lady & the Vamp by somebody named Michelle Rowen. Oh, that's me. What do you know.

The auctions end at the end of this month, so bid soon, bid often. It's to benefit Diabetes research, which, since I have a friend living with that disease, is a charity near and dear to my heart.

I promise to post more soon. April was a crazy month on many counts. My sister's wedding was this past Saturday. Could it have rained more? I don't think so. But it was still a fantastic wedding during which I had many drinks from the open bar. (the Crispy Crunch -- Frangelico + Kahlua -- shot was a particular favorite).

OOTB Spotlight on Gena Showalter

2008-04-30T09:51:00.002-04:00

I'm really looking forward to Gena's new series. And doesn't she get the hottest covers??

THE DARKEST NIGHT

by Gena Showalter

His powers – Inhuman

His passion – Beyond immortal . . .

All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member -- a man cursed to die every night, only to awaken the next morning knowing he has to die again.

Neither can resist the instant hunger than calms their torments . . . and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction -- and a soul-shattering test of love . . .

Though they carry an eternal curse, the Lords of the Underworld are irresistibly seductive -- and unimaginably powerful . . . Don’t miss this incredible new paranormal series from Gena Showalter!

Read a three chapter excerpt here!

ABOUT GENA SHOWALTER

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter has been praised for her “sizzling page-turners” and “utterly spellbinding stories.” The author of more than seventeen novels and anthologies, Showalter is celebrated in a wide variety of genres for her breathtaking romances featuring dark, seductive heroes and strong, appealing heroines. Readers can’t get enough of her trademark wit and singular imagination, whether she’s writing paranormal stories about vampires, nymphs and superheroes, white-hot contemporary romance or alien huntress books. Her newest series, Lords of the Underworld, promises to be her sexiest and most addictive yet. Don’t miss this intoxicating blend of dangerous passion, demons and other supernatural forces, and immortal men who are hotter than hell!

REVIEWS

"A fascinating premise, a sexy hero and non-stop action, The Darkest Night is Showalter at her finest, and a fabulous start to an imaginative new series." Karen Marie Moning, New York Times best selling author

"One of the premier authors of paranormal romance." --New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole

You can buy your copy at: Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Website www.genashowalter.com
www.lordsoftheunderworld.net

Miley Cyrus, pens, and guerillas

2008-04-29T10:46:00.003-04:00

I haven't been blogging too much lately. There is a ton of stuff I need to get through in my real life, including my sister's wedding this Sunday, as well as some writing stuff. I'll be back a bit more next week.

Here's a post I wrote for The Midnight Hour yesterday but I forgot to post, so I'm posting it here instead...

When I went to RT, one of the most educational things to see, in my opinion, is what is known as Promo Alley. Tables and tables of promo material from all the authors in attendence for anyone to walk by and pick up as many as they liked.

Some things that were there:

Pens
Notepads/Sticky notes
T-Shirts
Cover flats
Postcards
Bookmarks
Candies
Emery boards
Excerpt booklets
Stress balls

And much more. The first time I went to a convention, I picked up bags of this stuff. When I got home, I threw most of it away. Except the pens. I must have about five hundred pens around my condo right now.

The question is... did I buy any books based on the promo material?

Not that I can think of. Although, the T-shirt is pretty cool. I feel like I owe Lisa Jackson a sale based on such a cool giveaway.

This year I had cover flats and postcards. The cover flats I got for free, the postcards I paid about $90 for 500 of them. I'm running low on pens. It costs about 50¢ per pen if I wanted to get some more. Is it worth it? When the average royalty rate on a paperback novel is 50¢, are pens that good of an investment? I've never bought a book based on a pen. It's not advertising, I consider it, however, a nice perk and giveaway and will probably get a bunch more in the future.

So what works for promo?

To me, it's a couple of things. Word of mouth and guerilla marketing.

Let's use Miley Cyrus as an non-writing example of these two things.

A confession: I do not watch Hannah Montana. Nor do I have any interest in starting. I do not look up to a 15 year old superstar. I have avoided anything to do with her since my interest in her and her fandom is nil.

But.

Her freaking song "See You Again" is currently stuck in my head. I just downloaded it so I can listen to it whenever I want and possibly "use" it on the pseudo soundtrack for my next book.

She's everywhere. I couldn't avoid her. I couldn't avoid her song. Enough exposure has made her unavoidable in my life.

That's guerilla marketing. Then again, Miley has the entire Disney army backing her.

Bottom line, people won't buy your book if they have never heard of you. The only way they'll hear about you is if you get your name and your product out there.

Face-to-face promo is difficult for me because I'm not naturally prone to the schmooze (despite giving a workshop on that subject earlier this year). Which is a roundabout way of saying that I'm mortifyingly shy (depending on how much alcohol I've consumed, of course). Conventions are difficult because every now and then I find that I've suddenly transported back into my room and away from the maddening crowd.

My best option is internet guerilla marketing. I have this blog, a couple group blogs; I put up several chapters of each release for potential readers to sample; I am a member of a blog-circuit (Out of the Blogosphere). I do what I can. I could do more.

Word of mouth marketing will take you places, but it's not controllable or predictable. I have bought books based on somebody raving (in a seemingly genuine way) about the book on their blog.

Oddly enough, the number one way I will typically buy a new author I've never tried before? Reading a bad review. I am more likely to buy a book after a bad review than a good one. The bad reviews are so much more intriguing and sometimes what the reviewer despised is exactly what I'm looking for in my next read.

I'm curious what prompts you to buy a book by an author you've never read before. Promo materials? Good buzz? And does anyone else have that pesky Mylie Cyrus song in their heads right now?

Winners

2008-04-28T00:34:00.001-04:00

Thank you to everyone who entered! The winners for a signed ARC of Countdown are:

Kristin

Jessica V.

thebookgirl

If you could all send me an email to michelle@michellerowen.com with your mailing addresses, I'll get these out to you asap!

Thanks again!

ARCs Ahoy! Win!!

2008-04-23T12:04:00.003-04:00

Before I left for Pittsburgh, I received a very welcome package of COUNTDOWN ARCs (Advance Reading Copies). I gave a couple away while at the convention, but I'm going to give three away this week here on zee blog....

I'm so pleased to have received a ton of enthusiasm about this book. Everyone seems to be very excited about the SHOMI line and I'm just grateful to be a part of the fun. (and danger.... and, well, evil robots... etc.)

So... a reminder of what COUNTDOWN is all about:

THREE
Kira Jordan wakes up in a pitch-black room, handcuffed to a metal wall. She has 60 seconds to figure out how to escape. Thus begins a vicious game where to lose is to die.

TWO
The stranger she’s been partnered with—her only ally in this nightmare—is a convicted murderer. But if he’s so violent, why does he protect her? And worse yet, what is it behind those haunted sea-green eyes that makes her want to protect him?

ONE
No one to trust. Nowhere to run. And the only hope of survival is working together to beat the COUNTDOWN.

I'm probably not going to be posting much this week (busy busy!!), so this post will stay at the top of my blog. I'll pick a winner on Sunday, April 27th at 12:00 a.m. EST.

Just leave a comment to this post and let me know what you're "counting down" to this year. A vacation, a move, a movie, a book? What are you looking forward to the most? I'll draw three winners from whoever enters for a signed copy of COUNTDOWN written by my alter ego, Michelle Maddox.

Have a great week!

Back to real life

2008-04-22T10:14:00.002-04:00

Going to an RT convention is a lot like going over the rainbow to the Land of Oz. Things look similar to reality until you look closer and then it's anything but. It's kind of bizarre and it must be experienced to understand it completely. It's Romancelandia where the rules are different and people eat what's put in front of them no matter what it is, watch strange and questionable forms of entertainment, and wear fairy wings and vampire fangs.

I had fun and met some seriously amazing people -- readers and writers and editors and publicity people and reviewers -- but I have to say, I'm a little outside of my comfort zone when it comes to these big shin-digs -- which is actually one of the reasons I go to them. One should not be comfortable all of the time!

I have to say... Pittsburgh is a lot like Daniel Craig. This is the best analogy I can come up with -- I'm still recovering from my trip. I didn't think Daniel Craig would make a good Bond, and I didn't think Pittsburgh would make for a good destination. I was wrong on both counts. Craig rocks and so does Pittsburgh. It's a beautiful city! Kind of like a mini New York and surrounded by water and what seemed to be a million bridges.

Yes, the Hilton was still under construction but I didn't find it too annoying.

Number one annoyance of conventions/conferences is waiting in line. Waiting at the elevators. Waiting to be let into the luncheons/dinners -- which inevitably wasn't for an additional 20 minutes past the stated start time. But as writers, we know how to wait so we're quite used to it.

Richelle Mead did a great write-up and photo montage of the week which includes the best and worst pics taken of me at the con. Truly. The diet starts today. At the latest, tomorrow.

I attended the Mr. Romance competition and it was just as fun as the last time I went to it. People are either really into this thing or they snark on it completely. I'm somewhere in between. It was entertaining...but I didn't take it too seriously.

Here's some really crappy video I took of winner being announced (btw, Chris Winters was definitely the hottest -- even though in my video he seems to have no face. He can be on my cover any day)...

The book fair went very well and I got to meet loads of cool people who stopped by to buy a book or have me sign a book they already had (brought from home or Lady & the Vamp was available free in the goody room!). Then there was a complete and total power failure and the room was plunged into absolute darkness. Which was exciting. Kinda. A hundred cell phone screens flickered on during the five or so minutes we were without power. Just another surreal moment at the con.

I took some video again, and it sucks, but it will give a glimpse at how massive this thing is...

For better coverage, check out the Rebels of Romance who did video blogging while there, even though I don't think I saw Liz and Marianne once the whole week. It is a sea of romance writers and readers, I tell ya.

I'll be posting pics to my photo gallery and on Facebook in the next few days... rock on...

Yesterday I had some non-writing stuff to do, but today I officially start on my new book, which since it's currently due July 1st, there's no time to waste.

So, yeah. Writing now. After all, that's what it's all about, right?

Reporting from RT, Part 2

2008-04-18T15:10:00.005-04:00

Today was the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice awards lunch. They lured us to stay past the lunch and through the awards by promising lovely tote bags filled with books. 99% of the audience stayed. And I got some video of some of the speeches that I have painstakingly uploaded and now share with you all...

(And yes, Megan, I have graduated to video (as long as I'm not actually in it). Be afraid. Be very afraid.)

It's not great quality, but the sound is good. What do you want for nothing? ;)

J.R. Ward accepted for Best Vampire Romance (Lover Unbound):

My buddy Eve Silver accepted for Best Historical Gothic (Dark Prince):

And then (shamelessly) accepted ANOTHER award as Eve Kenin for her (fantastic) Shomi novel DRIVEN, which won for Best Futuristic Romance:

My Toronto Romance Writer chapter-mate Molly O'Keefe (woo hoo!) won for Best Harlequin SuperRomance (Baby Makes Three):

And I thought you might also like to see Kim Harrison accept her award for Best Urban Fantasy Protagonist (Rachel Morgan from For A Few Demons More):

More has been happening but I'm tired now. Too much lunch. Too many books. Will return later!

Michelle Rowen, reporting from Pittsburgh....

2008-04-17T14:46:00.004-04:00

Free wireless internet in all rooms. Does it get any better? I do not think so.

So.... here I am, in glorious Pittsburgh at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention. I arrived at about 4 o'clock yesterday after a mostly smooth *g* drive with my TRW chapter-mate Michele Ann Young.

Here's the view from my window:

The hotel is under construction, but it doesn't seem too bad. Not as many elevators working as there should be, but the restaurants all seem to be open. It is really cold in the meeting rooms and the ballroom where the luncheons are held. All in all, nothing to complain about. Yet. *evil laughter*

Last night I met and partied with what I shall refer to as the Seattle Urban Fantasy Gang. I am now an honorary member (well, they said I was either with them or against them). Richelle Mead and Mark Henry and myself all share the same agent (the fab Jim McCarthy) and it was great to finally meet them in person, along with Mark's lovely wife Caroline, and Caitlin Kittredge all of whom hail from Seattle.

Here's Richelle, Mark and me:

Richelle and Caitlin:

While we were in the pub, Richelle found out that her new YA release Frostbite hit #7 on the New York Times childrens' best-seller list! How awesome is that? Congrats Richelle!

I also got the chance to hang out with Jackie Kessler and Cheyenne McCray and several other fabulous writers. I'm having a great time so far and it's only Thursday...

Here's a shot from the Dorchester spotlight earlier this afternoon:

Tonight is my Grand Central publisher dinner so that should be fun.

Last night was the Ellora's Cave Hollywood dance thingy. I took a bit of video will give you an idea of how big these events are:

Okay.... that's all for now. I'll try to post more tomorrow...

RomanticTimesapalooza

2008-04-15T15:08:00.003-04:00

Okay.... trying to pack for Pittsburgh. Went out and bought a few new items of clothing today. Nothing with fairy wings, though. I know I'll be in the minority of costumed people at the "parties" but what can I say? No fairy wings. Not gunna do it.

My plan is to share my RT experience with you all in a cavalcade of pictures and video. This depends on internet service at the hotel and if I can find any free hot spots. :-)

In other words... you'll either be hearing from me or you won't.

If you're going to the convention, I'll see you there. Please be gentle with me. I don't get out of the cave much anymore.

Beach Trash

2008-04-14T09:29:00.004-04:00

The title of my post today is what Kelly Ripa just referred to her old popular fiction book club. Regis and Kelly were speaking with a viewer who read, as Regis termed it "those trashy romances."

The audience tittered.

"How trashy do those books get?" he asked.

"They get pretty raunchy," the viewer said.

"And that's why you like them?" regis asked.

"Yes," the viewer replied bluntly.

Sing it, sister.

I used to work at an advertising agency when I just got out of college and my bosses were two Italian guys who were in their twenties. They were both attractive and successful men. They called me a "Mangia Cake" which is slang for a non-Italian blonde chick like me. In the beginning, I thought it was kind of cute. I mean, how bad is being called a pastry?

But sometimes it was the way they said it. Like it was the deepest insult they could cast at me. Like they termed me that because I wasn't as good as them and it was meant to put me in my place. "Don't listen to her, she's just a caker." Etc.

On the surface some phrases are meaningless, but it's all in the way they're said.

Beach trash can be a term to express a fun, light and entertaining read perfect for the beach.

Or it can be said in a way that makes the person who says it feel superior.

The Regis/Kelly thing just left a bad taste in my mouth. I haven't experienced much discrimination in romance, in fact, none at all that comes to mind.

However, I experienced two interesting things this week.

At the hair salon, when the colorist got it out of me that I was a writer. What kind of writer? Of books. What kind of books? Romance novels.

"Oh," she laughs. "Do you have to think of all those crazy different terms for 'penis'?"

This is the first thing that comes to mind when a person thinks of romance novels? Riiight.

In fact, penis is not a word that comes into play in my Rowen books. My Maddox, ones, on the other hand...

"No," I told her. "C*ck does just fine, thanks."

That shut her up. :-)

Or, at the bank, I deposited my most recent million dollar advance (ha) to a teller I'd dealt with before who knew what I do and is one of the few who won't put the three week hold on my American checks.

"So, do you ever think about writing something else?" she asked.

Which confused me. I assume she means that I should write something "more important" than romance. Like literature. Something that means something to the world.

In other words: Not beach trash.

Well, I like reading entertaining books. I like writing them. And if I'm writing beach trash, then so be it.

In fact, I'm leaving for my beach trash convention this Wednesday. I won't be sending Regis a postcard.

General blather

2008-04-10T10:33:00.002-04:00

Okay, my sci-fi chapters are now sitting with my agent. He doesn't normally handle sci-fi, but I made sure he knew this was really more of an urban fantasy that just happens to be set in outer space. I wouldn't even know where to begin to write a hard sci-fi novel. That sort of thing doesn't interest me to read or to write. Too technical. Other than a phaser gun and an orbiting space station, that's about as spacy as my story gets. We shall see.

I'm switching back to my light para proposal. Last night I got one of those annoying gut feelings that tend to cause me extra work. I wrote the chapters in first person but I'm afraid this book needs to be third. Gah. At least I'm realizing it now instead of after I've already written it and need to convert 90K to a different POV. I'll play with it today and see what happens.

It'll be good to sink back into a book I'm guaranteed to spend more than three chapters with. Although, ask me in a couple of weeks and I'm sure I'll have a different opinion.

Six days until the RT convention and I'm just now realizing that I have nothing to wear. Tomorrow I'm going to the hair salon. Monday I'm going to the nail salon (I miss my talons).

For some reason I feel incredibly stressed out. Maybe I should book a massage as well.........

Chatting on Joyfully Reviewed loop

2008-04-07T13:35:00.002-04:00

Just a quick note to say that all of the current SHOMI authors are chatting and putting up excerpts on the Joyfully Reviewed Yahoo! loop this afternoon if anyone would like to swing by.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chatting_with_Joyfully_Reviewed

Happy Monday

2008-04-07T10:56:00.002-04:00

I spent a good part of my weekend working on my sci-fi proposal. I only got 20 pages, but I like them a lot. I'm going to do the next 20 hopefully today and then shoot it over to my agent to get his take on whether or not I've gone completely insane with this. It's a possibility.

Then I'm going to spend a couple of daze on polishing my light paranormal proposal.

As of next week I'm officially on DEVILS & DIAMONDS, which is the fifth and final book in my Immortality Bites series. My outline has been approved, so I'm good to go. This is due July 1st, so with less than three months to write it I'm going to be rather...devoted to it. To say the least. I'm excited about the storyline and getting back to my darling vampires to see how it all turns out -- and if it will turn out precisely how I've imagined it in the outline.

A week from Wednesday I'll be at the RT convention. I plan to blog from there and do pics and hopefully some video. But you know what they say about the best plans...

Being Madonna is hard work

2008-04-04T14:02:00.002-04:00

The title is from a alleged quote from Madonna herself. It helped remind me that nobody owes you anything in life, and if you want something really bad you can't just sit back on your laurels and wait for it to come to you. You need to go out and hunt it down, shoot it in the head, and drag it home.

See, I've been waiting for news on my billion-and-one proposals I have out and I've been DABBLING with new projects. I feel like I've been working hard, but it's mostly been promo on LATV and doing some mild brainstorming for future ideas. And the days go by.

Well, this is the wrong method of working. I need to ATTACK the new stuff. For example, my sci-fi proposal that I'm probably going to refer to a lot because I freaking love it so damn much. But as a friend said to me, I probably love it because I'm still in the honeymoon phase. We, my proposal and I, haven't been through the hard times yet. It's just a happy little shiny idea that's waving at me from the distance. It looks great from afar. But the closer it gets I'll probably notice the bad skin, oily complexion and foul breath. Or something like that.

And my Madonna metaphor... I always do think WWMD in some situations. She probably wouldn't watch Maury Povich every morning, for example. She would get up and work hard. then she'd network her butt off. Then once she had a level of success she'd keep at it just as hard. Now, she's an A-type personality. I'm not -- at least not naturally. But I am driven when I put my mind to something. It's like in high school... I managed a B average without really doing homework or studying. Like, ever. If I'd really applied myself, I'm positive I could have pulled A's in most subjects. But I didn't. In retrospect, I don't really care. But now, I feel like I'm working at a B-level and I want to push things to the next level. I need to go A all the way. No excuses. Just hard work.

I was watching another show about this chick who was trying to lose weight. And she said she knows she needs to eat properly and exercise, but it's just easier to watch TV. And yes, it is easier. Doing what it takes to get what you want is the harder road.

It's all very clear to me. We get out of life what we put into it. 24 hours a day speeds by pretty darn fast.

Stuff

2008-04-03T12:26:00.003-04:00

Still recovering from the hangover I got from my virtual release party. No more virtual tequila for me! Ugh. Good times!

The days are speeding past me. I can't believe I'm going to be at the Romantic Times convention in less than two weeks.

Still waiting to hear back on a bunch of stuff I have out and about. I like waiting. It builds character. *goes insane* I've finished my sci-fi synopsis and plan to write my proposal chapters through to the end of the weekend. I'm enjoying this project a lot, probably because it feels different than the stuff I'm used to working on. It's like a breath of fresh air. In space.

I think my cat has also gone insane. He's running around attacking things that are not there. Must be Spring fever all around.

Virtual book launch party!

2008-04-01T09:57:00.004-04:00

Today is the official release day for LADY & THE VAMP and welcome to my party! Please, come in. Don't mind the crowd.

Please, help yourself to the buffet. I've just done a small spread of cheese and crackers, a shrimp ring (because, come on, what is a party without a shrimp ring?), some of those pinwheel sandwich thingies, lots of fruit with a chocolate dip, nachos, sausage rolls (always a hit), mini quiches and a veggie tray for those watching their food intake. Over on the dessert buffet are mini-cheesecakes, brownies, Timbits (rah). Not sure who brought the Jello mold, but what can you do?

Dmitri is manning the bar (no pun intended). It was his idea not to wear a shirt, but I'm okay with it. Please place your drink orders with him and he will make sure you get whatever you want.

I recommend the raspberry margaritas. They're my favorite. Thank you for coming!

A couple links...

2008-03-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

Busy doing promo stuff for the Lady & the Vamp official release which is on April 1st. I know it's available here and there already, but it ain't official until Tuesday.:-) I'm also brainstorming my brain off for my sci-fi idea. I'm trying to think really outside the box on this one and just have a lot of fun with it. Fun. I can do that. I can have fun. Sure.

I had a fabu 5-hour (!!) lunch yesterday with the insanely talented Eve Silver. Yeah. No reason to mention that except to brag and name drop. Jealous? ;-)

Check out the interview I did with LoveVampires.com

And this is a fab review of Lady & The Vamp on the Boston Now website.

Have a great weekend!

My pick

2008-03-26T11:23:00.002-04:00

If David Cook wins American Idol this year I would do something I've never done before with a previous winner... I'd buy his album the day it comes out...

And I'm back...

2008-03-26T09:38:00.003-04:00

Gosh. Dropped off the face of the earth there and just spent the week climbing back on.

I've been doing some interviews about Lady & The Vamp (less than one week until the official release date!) and working on my new proposal. I've been taking extra time with the pre-writing on this one because, well, I want it to kick some serious butt.

The muse stopped by with a new idea that I'm really excited about. Sometimes the muse is a very welcome visitor. This new idea isn't even paranormal...it's sci-fi. A bit of a shift that freshens things up like the Spring that I'm still waiting for. There was snow yesterday. SNOW.

Since I'm no longer forced to commute to the day job in nasty weather I find that I'm becoming a bit of a cave dweller. My cats suggested I go out today. And I'm all like...what, you don't like my company? And they said no, of course we love your company, Michelle, but we need some "us" time. And I said, well why don't you two do the dishes or the laundry or something and make yourselves useful for once? And they both said meow. And then the men in white coats came for me, but I got away briefly so I could write a blog post.

Congratulations to one of my very favorite people in the world, Stephanie Rowe, whose SHE LOVES ME, SHE LOVES ME HOT is up for a RITA in the paranormal category!!! Woo hoo!!!! Since our last names are so similar, and we sit next to each other at the signing at Nationals, I figure it's like I'm up for a RITA too. Right?????? Well, not really, but I can pretend. ;-)

Nearly finished season 3 of Battlestar Galactica just in time to watch the last season in real-time. I still love Apollo, but I've switched my 'shipping to Starbuck and Leoben. Starbuck bugs the crap out of me but she has such good chemistry with so many people. Her and Leoben make the perfect "romance" couple because they're so diametrically different. Like a sci-fi version of a slayer and the vampire. Also, the scene where she dreams she and him are making out? Totally made me sit up and take notice of the actor who reminds me a bit of Daniel Craig and is now the hero of my sci-fi idea. Do I think Starbuck and Leoben have a chance for an HEA? Not a chance in hell. But it will be fun to watch how it all turns out.

Okay, I'm going to try to do 10 pages today and then do some brainstorming on the sci-fi... after coffee.........

A few reviews and a few more books on the TBR shelf

2008-03-19T10:36:00.003-04:00

A few reviews for Lady & the Vamp are coming in... which is good since I'm getting reports that it's on shelves already in the States. Holy well before official release date, Batman!

Again, Quinn has a tendency to be called Michael, but it is sorta his name, so I'm not going to obsess about it when the reviews are so good even though I'm prone to obsess about small details like this because I'm a little loco that way. :-)

From Armchair Interviews...

I loved Lady & the Vamp! Michelle Rowen has again successfully written a funny and highly entertaining vampire story. The characters of Michael and Janie are so flawed to begin with you can’t help but hope that things get better, and that they will both survive the situation they are faced with. I loved hating the bad guys and rooting for Michael and Janie to succeed. I enjoyed the antics of their sidekicks, Lenny and Barkley, and I was delighted with the ending the author came up with. She always throws in an interesting twist that leaves something to look forward to in the next book. I can’t wait for book four of this series!

From LoveVampires.com....

Lady & The Vamp is a fast paced and entertaining read. Its light comic style effortlessly pulls the reader along for a ride as the story journeys from a supernatural treasure hunt in Arizona to an end-of-the-world style show down in Las Vegas – dishing up romance and laughs along the way.

From Fresh Fiction...

This book was great fun. Janie and Michael are a breath of fresh air; they're unusual enough to pique your interest. The storyline is original and intriguing and their goal will keep you reading. Lighthearted yet serious, you'll be laughing and rooting for them both from the very beginning. A good read.

I'm still working through some pre-writing on my new (it's not all that new, but the pre-writing is) idea for a light paranormal. I'm pretty excited about this one and the plotting is going very well. I hope to finish outlining today and get started on my proposal chapters tomorrow.

There was also something else I wanted to do today, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was... oh yeah, I have a book waiting at the library. Because I don't already have enough books waiting to be read. In fact, I just got three more from the bookstore (I blame it on the gift card I got for my birthday last month - I had to use it!) I bought the following books:

Black Magic Woman by Justin Gustainis because so many people have raved about it and I am nothing if not a lemming. I hope it's good!

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin mostly because it looks really good and I haven't read half as many vamp books lately as I used to. Also, anyone who can successfully use the word "Bitten" in a title is a friend of mine.

All U Can Eat by Emma Holly. Ever since I read Fairyville I'm a total fangirl, what can I say?

Interview and contest!

2008-03-17T17:55:00.003-04:00

Just a quick note to say that I have an interview up on the divine Marta Acosta's blog and I'm giving away a signed set of Immortality Bites novels to a commenter. Check it out for more details.... :-)

Evil dip + Winners!

2008-03-17T10:14:00.003-04:00

Lesson of my weekend:

If there is veggie dip left out at a bridal shower for six hours, it is better to throw it away than keep it and eat it the next day as this will more than likely lead to mild food poisoning. Just a tip.

Ugh.

I'll be okay. It had to be the dip. It couldn't have been the Cadbury mini eggs.

Sooooo.... thank you to everyone who entered my little contest.

The two winners of a signed copy of LADY & THE VAMP are...

Yolanda Sfetsos

Janelle

Congrats! Please shoot me an email with your mailing addresses and I'll pop those in the mail asap.

Now... I'm going to continue recovering from dip-related illness and continue working on my new paranormal idea. We'll see how it goes!

Hot off the presses! WIN!!

2008-03-13T18:57:00.003-04:00

I've been keeping a low profile the last few days trying to work on a new idea. I probably won't be around for a few more days (at least, not blogging, anyhow).

So in the meantime...

I received some early copies of LADY & THE VAMP (so very pretty!) and I'm going to give away a signed copy to two randomly chosen commenters between now and Sunday at midnight EST. Just tell me what book you're reading right now and you're entered!

Bookshelves of Doom™

2008-03-11T15:21:00.002-04:00

I spent a good two hours yesterday going through all of my books and trying to figure out which ones to purge. In the end, I simply neatened things up a bit. I know I'm never going to read a great many books I have, but I don't want to get rid of them yet. And there's no way I can get rid of any book that's signed. It just seems wrong.

I have a lot of LKH hardcovers. A ton of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. A whole shelf of "how to write" books.

How can I possibly get rid of any of my darlings? I can't. Not yet. But at least the shelves are a bit more organized. (Note: some of the shelves have stacks of books behind them and that is only a small sampling of my DVD collection).

Today I'd like to finish with my COUNTDOWN first pass pages. No major typos yet. Although, I have found a strange tendency for me to use the phrase: My heartbeat was loud in my ears. Or something along those lines. I used it twice on one page. That's a damn loud heartbeat!

After that, I'm just going to brainstorm my funny paranormal proposal while secretly jonesing on everyone else's dark urban fantasy novels.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on my sister's bridal shower that I'm hosting this weekend for 32 lovely ladies. Fruity punch shall be made. A sheet cake will be bought.

Does the fun have no end? Does it not?

Monday, y'all

2008-03-10T12:39:00.003-04:00

My editorial revisions for STAKES & STILETTOS are done and gone. I fleshed out some bits and added on an entirely new chapter at the end to alleviate my "OMG this is not where the book should end" problem. I don't like to jinx myself, but I'm very happy with how this book turned out. Also the new ending made me revise the outline for Devils & Diamonds. I knew Quinn would be showing up in a cameo but now (if the outline is approved) he will be an integral part of the plot. So, yay. Happy. I love Quinn.

Today and tomorrow I'll be slowly reading through my COUNTDOWN first pass pages and hoping to spot any errors or glitches.

Once that's done, I'm in a holding pattern. Playing the Waiting Game. Seeing what's going to happen in the future of my writing.

Luckily, patience is one of my strongest virtues. *blinks*

In the meantime, I have a new idea for a light paranormal book I'm going to brainstorm, I think. Yes. Definitely.

Plus, I've committed (to myself) to declutter my life so I'm going to go through my apartment and ruthlessly get rid of everything I don't absolutely need. Which is almost everything, really. I'm going to go through my book collection with nerves of steel and get rid of a bunch of books that I know I'll never read. It's rough, but I only read lately, maybe 15 books a year (I know, sacrilege) so the 200 books on my TBR shelf probably is an optimistic unreality. I've already purged about 100 magazines. I can do it!

BTW, I have a couple of posts elsewhere at the moment if anyone wants to read them:

On Miss Make-a-Movie I discuss how I'm dealing with this lousy, snowy #%(& weather.

On The Midnight Hour I consider getting a hobby...that isn't writing-related. It could happen.

Just a short note

2008-03-06T14:17:00.002-05:00

I've been busily working away on my editorial revisions for Stakes & Stilettos. I'm almost done. I revised my outline today for the next book and I like it way better than the previous incarnation and look forward to writing it, which is a very good thing.

New episode of Lost tonight! Can't wait. I love this show.

More later... I'm all typed out.

Good hunting

2008-03-04T11:30:00.003-05:00

I've been slowing working my way through all three seasons of Battlestar Galactica by taping the weekly episodes on my PVR, and I have to say...hands down, this is one of the best TV shows I've ever seen. I have about eight episodes to go to catch up -- and the channel I've been taping has started to double up (unfortunately, my PVR hasn't, so I've been missing a couple).

...Spoilers for Season 3 below...

Every character is fully fleshed out and developed and comes with a big whack of issues to deal with. Nobody's perfect or purely good or evil...even the villains. I just love this show. Every episode is a study in tension and conflict -- be it external or internal. There are love triangles galore. It's like a really, really good soap opera with mega worldbuilding and a space-military theme.

I still dislike Starbuck, but I've grown to appreciate her. She may be annoying but she's one hell of a character. She's fascinating to watch even though I disagree with almost everything she does. The difference between that making her a bad character and a good character, is that while I, as a viewer, may disagree with her actions, the actions are true to her character. If that makes any sense.

Currently my favorite character is Apollo. Poor Apollo. When he learned that Starbuck had married somebody else after pledgling their love to each other...the wordless look of devestation on his face was palpable. I felt his pain (even while thinking he could definitely do better). Plus, Jamie Bamber has, hands down, one of the best bods on TV.

Another fascinating but ultimately frustrating character is Baltar. At the very beginning, I loved this character because he was smart and witty and had that anti-hero edge to him (to say the least). But he's developed into a really fascinatingly pathetic tool whose decisions have alienated him (no pun intended) from humans. Will he be redeemed? Is he even redeemable? I think he's seen the error in his ways, but is it too late?

All I know is this is one of the very few must-watch shows for me and I am very interested to see how it will all play out.

Monday stuff

2008-03-03T17:34:00.003-05:00

I finished my category proposal over the weekend and sent it to my agent this morning. It turned out waaayy different than I'd planned. I'd originally aimed for dark and dangerous contemporary (writing as Michelle Maddox), and I ended up with light paranormal (which would have to go under Rowen). But I actually really like it and hope to have the chance to finish writing it because it's a whole lot of fun. We shall see!

I also received word that the galleys and cover flats for COUNTDOWN are jetting my way. I'm hearing about a great deal of interest about this book -- through email and other online messaging -- and that's wonderful to know since it is one of my favorite books. That I've written, that is. I'm curious to see how it will be received.

This week my plans are to work on my editorial revisions for STAKES & STILETTOS -- due next Monday -- and get crack-a-lackin on the next (and final) Immortality Bites book. Going to have to check my deadline for that puppy. I always worry that it's going to be difficult to 'step into character' again, which is what it feels like writing first person from a recurring character -- especially one who's supposed to be "funny." Good to know my acting aspirations are being used for something. Luckily I really love Sarah and when I'm done the series, I'm sure I will miss her a great deal. We've been through a lot together! FIve books! (well, not including Lady & The Vamp in which she is only mentioned in passing). She probably won't miss me much, though. I've put her through a lot. ;-)

Other than that I guess I'm in waiting mode on my three projects now... 1) NWM proposal, 2) My YA full, 3) my category proposal.

Waiting builds character. And causes wrinkles.

Waiting makes one realize how little control one has over anything in this business except for what one is putting down on paper. One wishes that chocolate in great quantities was an option but since that's not an option because one is on a diet and even having an extra cracker is jeopardizing potential success. Even though one thinks an extra cracker really wouldn't make any damn difference, one is still sticking to one's guns to get some weight off hopefully before one's sister's wedding and most definitely before the RWA conference in San Francisco.

Perseverance + single-minded determination = success in writing and/or dieting.

I'm going to indulge in a big bottle of water now. Crystal Light may be involved.

Happy leap day!

2008-02-29T16:49:00.002-05:00

It's snowing outside right now. Not that that is different from normal lately. This has been one cold, snowy February. I'm looking very forward to Spring. Any time now!

I am all finished my Michelle Maddox site! Check it out, including chapter one of COUNTDOWN at www.michellemaddox.com.

I have to say, it's a bit strange having a pen name(s). My first name in real life is also Michelle, so that's no problem -- it's just the last name that's been changed (to protect the not so innocent). I've answered to Rowen for so long, going on three years now, that I feel that it's really my name. I know other authors whose pen names are completely different from their real names and I honestly don't know what to call them. Like Elizabeth Hoyt, for example. I just call her Elizabeth even though her real name isn't even close to that. I figure she'll correct me or give me a strange look if she doesn't like that. But she hasn't so far. It's because we are our writer names. It's a big split personality thing. I don't want any more names, though.

There are so many aspects of being a writer that are so exciting. But I've recently experienced one that really rocked. I've been very lucky to have been asked for quotes for books that have been released so far -- for Richelle Mead, Jackie Kessler, and Mark Henry (whose HAPPY HOUR OF THE DAMNED has just been released -- and it's a scream! Pun fully intended. Zombie-chic literature at its very finest! Learn more about the book here.) but I gave a quote recently that actually is on the cover of a book. I'm so honored! :-)

<-----Check it out!

Angie Fox's THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER isn't out until August, but she's just launched her website so be sure to check it out. Her book was so much fun. I can't wait until August when I can get my own copy of the final.

Inside the box

2008-02-28T12:03:00.003-05:00

Today and tomorrow I'm working on a new proposal. I had an idea for this book, but I think I was trying too hard and it felt wrong. I got that "this isn't a book I want to write" vibe from it. It began to feel like a have-to more than a want-to, if that makes sense. I don't want to have-to write a book. That strips all the fun out of it. Considering how difficult it is to actually write one of these things, they should at least start off being fun, I think.

So even though I had an outline done, I trashed the idea. (without actually deleting it. I save everything just in case!)

And then I thought about what would be fun to write. The idea I had was for a contemporary, so I moved away from that and ended up back in paranormal-land and hit on an idea that made me immediately happy. An idea and characters that made me feel that it would be fun to explore their story. Paranormal is where I feel comfortable, although it was a bit disconcerting that I wasn't happy with any of my contemporary idea. But it's okay. I can think outside of the box some other time. Luckily the box, paranormal romance, is pretty darn big, and there's lots of room to play around in here.

So, fun paranormal idea. Huzzah. I'm pitching this to a category line. I want to do pre-writing today and write up the outline. Then I'll work on the chapters tomorrow. If it goes well, I'll spend some of the weekend working on it as well. If it doesn't go well... I have other things I need to work on.

But this is my favorite part of the writing process: pre-writing. Brainstorming. Making stuff up. Letting my imagination wander wherever it wants. Doesn't feel like work. However, revisions do feel like work. A lot of it, so i guess it all balances out nicely.

Michelle Rowen

Cirque du Freak movie

New blog

Website change

Help with title - win an ARC of Stakes & Stilettos

Winner, status, and Supernatural

Want to win an ARC?

Status and a review

Monday stuff

The Query Project

Finished

Giveaway

Thoughts on The Twilight Saga

Signing off and Signing tomorrow

Getting it on

Best quiz ever

Classic scorcher

Friday stuff

OOTB Spotlight: Marianne Mancusi

Interview or interogation? You decide.

Monday night stuff

Please vote on your favorite paranormal being!

Blogging, Blazing, and Cougaring

Post-Novel blues

Jackie's at the Midnight Hour...

Guest blogging galore

Viewpoint

Reading and Pimping

COUNTDOWN has arrived

Michelle does California

I am returned

Twittering in California

Twitter Updates

Be back soon

My News!!

100 Books

Cool contest! Hellboy! San Fran!

And the new title is...

Blaze

9 questions with Eve Kenin

Midnight Hour

Interview etcetera

Don't give up

First draft finished!

A little news and a progress report

Getting it done

Character motivation

WIP

Happy Canada Day!

My vamps go to Germany!

Spike and the housefly

Top Pick!!

Dusty old prose

i can haz pagecount

Busy weekend

Need a new title....

It's Monday again

OOTB Spotlight on Susan Grant

Deadlines and hairballs

Progress is progressing

Q&A with Angie

Deadline lock-down

Deal or no deal?

Tuesday stuff

Well, hello there, handsome.

Planning the future + DAVID WINS!

Aie! Yi! Yi!

The glamorous life of a writer

Get Unstuck

Score

Booked

Reaching

Hump day

Win me!

OOTB Spotlight on Gena Showalter

Miley Cyrus, pens, and guerillas

Winners

ARCs Ahoy! Win!!

Back to real life

Reporting from RT, Part 2