Guest Post: "My Aspirations" by Stacy McKitrick

My Aspirations

B.E. asked if I would guest blog. I guess she thinks I’m someone important - haha! Well, I don’t feel all that important, but I have reached a level I wondered if I’d ever attain. Probably a level some of you would like to reach. So I’ll tell you how I did it.

I started writing in April 2009. Yeah, I’m not one of those people who have been writing all their life. I did do some writing in high school, but never pursued it. What I love to do is read. But something inside of me kept pushing me to write, so I thought: why not? Could I actually write a book? Four months later I had my answer. I could!

But was it any good? Did it have merit? Should I bother to revise and edit the story (because I knew it still needed work)? My daughter thought it did. That was all I needed. I joined RWA and pursued publishing.

I wanted an agent. I wanted my books in book stores. Those were my aspirations. I took classes and polished that novel to the best of my (then) ability. Thought it was pretty good. A year later I started querying that first book.

To say I crash-landed is putting it mildly. I took some more writing classes and wrote my next book.

I thought it was great. My readers (that would be my daughter and my friend) thought it was sappy. Guess I still had more to learn. I took some more classes and wrote another. My daughter said that was the one that would get me published. In 2011, I started querying that third book. And while I queried, I wrote my fourth.

Agents didn’t want it. Vampires are done to death (try telling that to my daughter, though!). Did I really want an agent? Well… yes. But I wanted my story to be read. So I dropped the aspiration of having an agent and being traditionally published, changed it to just being published, and started querying small presses.

Did I feel like a failure because I was aiming lower? Yes, I did. But then I realized it’s like an entry position at a company you want to work for. You just want to get your foot in the door. While I queried for that foothold, I wrote my fifth.

The rejections continued. As I crossed off the publishers on my list, I had a decision to make: do I sit on the book or self-publish it? I couldn’t sit on it, so I set up a deadline. If I couldn’t find a publisher by the end of 2013, I would do it myself. And let me tell you, that decision was not made lightly, because I really didn’t want to do it myself.

I discovered a pitch session on a blog in Feb 2013. Wrote up a decent pitch and got a request for a full. Next thing I know, I’m offered a contract! And all before my self-imposed deadline. “My Sunny Vampire” will be released on January 6, 2014!!

In order to get my vampire book published, in order for it to see the light of day, I had to lower my aspirations. I also had to keep learning and keep writing.

Has this path changed what I want? Heck, no. I still want that agent and hope this is one way to prove I deserve one. Then again, I may end up proving to myself I don’t need one. I have these two non-vampire books to work with, too!

In the meantime, I’m writing my next vampire book and wondering if self-publishing is in my immediate future, because, you see, I want that first vampire book to see the light of day. And you know what? Self-publishing doesn’t look as scary as it used to, especially with this experience behind me.

Do you have lofty aspirations? How much are you willing to work to achieve them? And are you willing to lower them?

BIO:

Stacy McKitrick fell in love with paranormal romance, decided to write her own, and found her passion in life. She used to work in accounting, now she spends her time with vampires, ghosts, and aliens. Born in California, she currently resides in Ohio with her husband. They have two grown children. You can find her at her website or her blog.

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Stacy's book isn't available for pre-order yet, but it's due to be released 1/6/14.  You can check it out on Goodreads. I can't wait to get my hands on a copy.  =o)

Guest Post: "What I Know For Sure" by Misty Evans

What I know for sure

By Misty Evans

Since the premiere issue of O Magazine, Oprah’s done a What I Know For Sure column on the last page. It’s usually the first thing I read in her magazine because it always gets me thinking about life and what I know for sure. As a writer and published author, I have my own list of What I Know For Sure and thought I’d share a few of them with you.

No matter how many successes we’ve experienced, fear of failure can stop us dead in our tracks.

I have over twenty stories published in four different series. Several have been on best seller lists, both the publisher’s and retailer’s sites. Currently, my latest hot romantic suspense, DEADLY PURSUIT, is on four Amazon bestseller lists. I’ve received dozens of good reviews and won several reader’s choice awards.

But every time I sit down to work on a manuscript, the Doubt Demons snuggle up beside me. They fill my head with negative thoughts. They freeze my fingers on the keyboard. “You need to do more research,” they say. “Your muse is burned out. Give her a rest.” They tempt me with distractions. “Why don’t you check email/Twitter/FaceBook? There’s a Falling Skies marathon on. You can write tomorrow.”  

Fear is an ugly four-letter word. The Doubt Demons are, in essence, fear of failure, fear of rejection. Hard to face head-on, so I sneak around them to give myself courage to hit the keyboard. I light a candle, turn on some music, and dangle a piece of chocolate in front of my laptop. I talk back to the Doubt Demons. “This is the first draft and I don’t have anything to prove.”

What I know for sure is, Doubt Demons are going to haunt you at times. Face yours and watch their control disappear.

Being a successful is 10% inspiration and 90% determination.

I love my muse. She’s brilliant and wears fabulous shoes. However, she leaves me alone a lot, facing the Doubt Demons and the blank page on my lonesome. If I waited for her to show up in order to write, I’d still be working on my first story…the one I started in eighth grade.

But I’m determined, if not brave. I love to spin stories and I’m completely, 100% on board with becoming a life-long, professional author. Goals and dreams are written in my journal and I’m petal-to-the-metal, balls to the wall, going after every single one of them.

One caveat to this What I Know For Sure is that, like Alice, once I fall down the rabbit’s hole and immerse myself in a story, my muse usually shows up in her fab shoes with a brilliant plot device or line of dialogue that I would never have thought of. She touches me with her sparkly, creative wand and, bam, the heavens open and words rain down.

What I know for sure is that when you think you most need the muse (or more time, money, or energy) to appear is that’s the time you most need to get to work. Don’t wait for her to guide you. Put on your own pair of fabulous shoes and start walking. Before you know it, she’ll be skipping along at your side.

“No” doesn’t mean “never”. It just means “not right now”.

Remember that old saying about the only two sure things in life are death and taxes? Well, I’d like to add one more. Rejection. No matter who you are or what you do, rejection is part of life.

As a writer who’s lived through countless rejections, I can tell you they will not kill you, and to use another saying, they will make you stronger…IF you think of them as a tool and not a personal attack.

I hit the USA TODAY bestseller list with a book one of my agents tore to pieces with a three-page email of all the things wrong with it. The book currently on those four Amazon bestseller lists? I was told by another agent it had too many dead bodies and not enough romance. Each of those books were in my “throw away” drawer. Each of those books has proven to be successful regardless.

When you get rejected, here’s what you do: First, let your ego have a meltdown for a few minutes or a few hours. Rejection sucks, plain and simple, and denying it will only offset the emotional flooding you’ll feel at some later, openly embarrassing point in your life (like your kid’s parent-teacher conference or in the Starbuck’s line when they run out of the mocha frappuccinos). Better to open the gates, get it all out, and move on ready to face your goals again.

Next, take steps to rebuild your self-confidence. Every small step, every goal you’ve achieved so far is an earned accomplishment. Every day of work you’ve finished, every project you’ve signed off on, every child you’ve raised, race you’ve participated in, song you’ve belted out in the shower. If you’re a writer, every sentence and every chapter is a hard-won masterpiece.

Keep a “pride” list or “success” list on display where you can read it every day. Fill it with the goals you’ve achieved and compliments you’ve received. Over time, those successes will far outweigh the failures.

Last, but not least, find the positive in the negative. When I say use rejection as a tool, I mean glean anything you can from it to make yourself a better person. Like author Suzanne Finnemore says, “Rejection can be like mulch: dirty, smelly, and essential to growth.”

Essential to growth. Rejections can give perspective and help overcome weaknesses. They can push you to up your determination and cull the crap.

And the next time around, you’ll be one step closer to a “yes”.

No one else can walk your journey for you.

Expressing yourself is a fundamental human experience. Be true to the small voice within and remember that you have two selves. Your inward self that remains untouched by the world, which is your soul, and your outward self, which is your personality. Respect, understand, and nurture both, and you’ll have the power to change lives. Including your own!

So tell me, what do you know for sure?

BIO:

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Misty Evans writes the award-winning Super Agent series as well as urban fantasy and paranormal romance. She teaches writing workshops and offers writing services through her business, Strong Brew Coaching. She likes her coffee black, her conspiracy theories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. When her muse lets her on the internet to play, she’s on Facebook and Twitter. Read more about her stories at www.readmistyevans.com.

Guest Post: Silver James on Finding Inspiration

INSPIRATION IS WHERE YOU FIND DRINK IT

One question that all authors get asked is, “Where do you get your inspiration?” Most of us have rather pat (or snarky) answers. In my case, I blame it on my Muse. Some of you have “met” Iffy. Her favorite game is “What if…?” Her favorite things include chocolate and coffee, preferably mixed together. Her favorite way to procrastinate is look at pictures of sexy guys who might or might not resemble characters in her head. And if you put a margarita in front of her, Katy bar the door! (That’s a colloquialism. You can look it up. Google is your friend.) Anyway, Iffy is a nickname. Her real name is Iphigenia. It means “sacrifice” in Greek, but that’s a topic for another day.

Today, we’re talking about inspiration and where it comes from. There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to Muses. Some of us depend on ours. Other authors snort and roll their eyes. “No such thing as writer’s block,” they proclaim. “You have to work through it.”

Tell that to Iffy. Of course, in my case, the Muse is like a maniacal toddler on a sugar high, complete with scissors. In fact, the picture I have of her portrays that very thing. In other words, she doesn’t need any encouragement. She has far more ideas than I can keep track of, and usually have absolutely nothing to do with whatever project I happen to be currently working on. Because she’s so scattered, I tend to write cross genres. I read that way so why not write, right? Usually, that means that I write paranormal thrillers, contemporary romances, and romantic suspense. I even have a horror novel hanging out under my bed waiting to scare the bejeesus out of me if I ever pull it out again to finish.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Get to the point. This is this, I wrote a short story several years ago after being invited to participate in an anthology of police stories. Most people submitted real life essays. Me? Nope. Iffy would have none of that reality stuff. She wanted me to write something fresh. Different. Outside the box. Uhm…yeah. I was a week away from the deadline and had nuthin’. Zip. Zero. Nada. Then one morning, I stopped in to buy a cup of coffee at the local convenience store. They’d just gone to “fancy” coffees, each with their own name. And there it was: Café Midnight, a dark roast with rich but mellow overtones sure to wake you up.

I bought the giant economy size—boy did I need the caffeine kick that morning—and headed off to work. By the time I got there, I had the inkling of a story idea. And Iffy pirouetting around my office. By lunch, I wanted to take the afternoon off to write but…day job. I stopped for pizza on the way home, banished the family, and hid in my office. By midnight, I had the rough draft for CAFÉ MIDNIGHT.

What’s it about? A burned out homicide cop. A mysterious diner. And a dead body. What could possibly go wrong, right? Well, when the cop is Joe McGwire, everything. See, he walks into Café Midnight and straight into a mystery involving Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, and several other famous detectives. Also, the Mafia. And the Chinese Tong. And it all came from a cup of coffee. I did mention that Iffy is rather enamored of coffee, right?

 The point of all this is that inspiration is everywhere, if you just look. It’s in a song on the radio, the headlines of a newspaper. It’s a commercial on TV. A picture shared on Facebook. A sentence overheard in the line at the grocery store. And yes, even in a cup of coffee.

I’ve recently released CAFÉ MIDNIGHT on Amazon, with a new cover and some minor revisions. It’s fun to read. It’s cheap. (Only 99 cents). Here’s the link: Amazon And the blurb:

A burned-out homicide cop. A mysterious diner. A dead body. What could possibly go wrong? 

When that cop is Joe McGwire? Everything. Back on duty after a deadly shootout, Joe and his new best friend, Insomnia, hit the streets. Drawn to a diner called Cafe Midnight, Joe walks into trouble. 

Welcome to Cafe Midnight, where the coffee's hot, you can still smoke, the payphone costs a nickel, and famous detectives hang out looking for a case. 

This short story is a fond homage to film noir and the detective novels of the last century. It's a tongue-in-cheek tale about a hard-driven homicide detective and the denizens of the dark he meets while investigating his latest murder. And finally, your question for the day:

Where do you find YOUR inspiration?!?

BIO:

 Silver likes to walk on the dark side and coffee. Okay. She loves coffee. LOTS of coffee. Warning: Her Muse, Iffy, runs with scissors and can be quite dangerous. She's the author of the award-winning Moonstruck series and other books, including a new series, The Penumbra Papers, coming Fall 2013. She's been a military officer's wife, mother, state appellate court marshal, airport rescue firefighter and forensic fire photographer, crime analyst, technical crime scene investigator, and writer of magic and mystery. Now retired from the "real world," she lives in Oklahoma and spends her days at the computer with two Newfoundland dogs, the cat who rules them all, and myriad characters all clamoring for attention. She writes dark paranormal thrillers, time travel romance, and light contemporary with a kiss of suspense. Want to know more? Visit her at www.silverjames.com

Check This Out - Courage

Over at Murder She Writes, best selling author Allison Brennan wrote an amazing post this morning about Courage.  Go read it.  I'll wait.

Back?

Allison's pretty awesome and her daughter is amazing.  What a truly talented young lady.  

Okay, so I'll ask you the same question here that Allison asked over there:

What are you doing to face your fears?

And if you need some extra encouragement, here are some quotes to help you on your way...

Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life. - E.M. Forster

Courage is a moral quality; it is not a chance gift of nature like an aptitude for games. It is a cold choice between two alternatives, the fixed resolve not to quit; an act of renunciation which must be made not once but many times by the power of the will. - Lord Moran

A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort. - Sydney Smith

Fortune favors the brave. - Virgil

Go forth and be courageous today.

Guest Post: "Ergo I Write" by Karyn Good

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” - Eleanor Roosevelt  
Ergo, I write.

Huge thanks to B.E. for inviting me to share my thoughts here today.

That’s a quote I shared on my blog the other week. Like many I love quotes. But those words of Eleanor Roosevelt are especially dear to me. Probably because of the host of things I think I can’t do. Trust me, there’s a list around here somewhere. Doubt and I are old friends.

I love writing. Since elementary school I’ve harbored dreams of being a writer. But those dreams came with some serious doubts about my ability to actually pull it off. Not smart enough. Not educated enough. I tried it, what I wrote sucked. It certainly didn’t read like any book I wanted to read. I was never going to be a writer. Those doubts opened the door to all kinds of excuses. No time. Don’t know where to start. Yada, yada.

Then three things happened and it all started with a joke.

You know the one… about the man waiting on the roof of the house praying to be rescued from the flooding river? He gets off the roof or he drowns. Meanwhile, rescue does come in the form of a boat and a helicopter. Both of which the man refuses. He is waiting for the hand of God to reach down and save him.

The obvious happens, he drowns. In Heaven he asks God why he didn’t save him. God replies, “I sent you a boat and a helicopter, what more did you want?”

I heard that joke in church one day. I chuckled and thought what an idiot. No one could be that stupid. For some reason I remembered it. It would pop into my mind at odd times. And then one day I understood.

I was the idiot. It was a humbling revelation, let me tell you.

I had the time. I had a computer. Most certainly I was in the possession of a pen and some paper. Ideas weren’t the issue. What to write was a given. The support had always been there from family and friends. But I was in denial about my fear. I needed to own up to my insecurities and my misconceptions. I wanted writing to be easy. For the process to be as natural as breathing. For the words to flow like ink. From pen to paper to bookstore.

Um, yeah. I know. Not the way it works. Letting go of those unrealistic expectations was a relief. It also left me with no more excuses.

Then I read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. I should frame that book and hang it up in my office. Unfortunately, I lent it to someone and never get it back. I hope they got as much out of it as I did. There was one particular quote that resonated with me.

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” The Alchemist, Page 23, by Paulo Coelho

And that’s exactly what I needed to believe. That the universe is behind me. Supporting me and wanting it for me. I mean, come on, who can resist channeling the power of the UNIVERSE. And, oh boy, I wanted it. Still do. So bad I can taste it.

So, I resolved to make a serious attempt at being a writer. To learn how to do it right. To start.

The third thing? I’m one of those people that needs to be part of a flock. Member of my church, member of a book club, former PTA member, various other groups, etc. and so on. You get the picture. So, I joined a writing group. It was the best decision I ever made. I learn stuff about writing. Where other people, just like me, are learning the ins and outs of writing. We talk about writing. Slowly, my confidence grew. More learning ensued.

My debut romantic suspense released on June 1, 2012. It took me four years, give or take, to write, rewrite, revise, and polish just over 65,000 words. But I did it. Not because my fears evaporated, but because I outfitted myself with the tools and the belief I could beat them back.

Ergo, I write.

Author Bio:

I grew up on a farm in the middle of Canada's breadbasket. Under the canopy of crisp blue prairie skies I read books. Lots and lots of books. Occasionally, I picked up a pen and paper or tapped out a few meagre pages of a story on a keyboard and dreamed of becoming a writer when I grew up. One day the inevitable happened and I knew without question the time was right. What to write was never the issue - romance and the gut wrenching journey towards forever.

Website and Blog:  karyngood.com

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Karyn-Good/168409826555843

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/karyngood

Karyn's awesome romantic suspense - Backlash - at Amazon. And links to all her stories - plus a free giveaway can be found HERE.

Guest Post: "This Book Will Never Sell" by JB Lynn

“This Book Will Never Sell”

Now I don’t know about you, but I have that exact thought every time I write a book. (I think it multiple times every single day.)

Then again, if you’re like me, you must believe in a corner of your heart, that it WILL sell, because why else would you put yourself through the torture that is Pursuit of Publication?

When you query an agent, it feels like “not a fit for my list” really means “this book will never sell”. But that’s not what it means because an agent would never say that, right?  Right??

Wrong.

A number of years ago, I had that very thing happen to me.

Now I don’t know about you, but the idea of doing a face-to-face pitch with a literary agent is wayyyyy worse than sending an anonymous query letter. I panic. I get tongue-tied. I babble like a stream during a Spring thaw.

Still, I’m a believer in putting yourself out there in pursuit of your dreams. (If you ask me, it’s a pretty stupid belief.) Following this belief had led me to pitching to agents at conferences. (Yes, it has always been just about as miserable as I imagine it will be.)

Now for the most part, agents are nice people. They love books. They try not to let their eyes glaze over as they listen to poorly-delivered pitch after poorly-delivered pitch. They scribble notes (which may very well be their shopping lists). They drink caffeinated beverages. They suck on lozenges. They use a lot of hand sanitizer.

They smile. They’re polite. They tend to be encouraging, even while they’re rejecting you.

Or, like the agent I pitched to, they look you dead in the eye and say, “This book will never sell.”

She didn’t say she couldn’t sell it. She said it would never sell. To my face.

Once I got over my shock/outrage/depression, I mentally thanked her because she did the best possible thing possible for me. She pissed me off.

I landed another agent (who I later left) with that book and I rewrote it for two different publishing companies before I got that “yes” I’d been pursuing.  Every time I thought I couldn’t take another “no” I remembered how much I wanted to prove that agent wrong and I pushed a little further. THE FIRST VICTIM was published by Carina Press….and no, I didn’t thank the “This book will never sell” agent in my acknowledgments, but I was tempted.

What’s the worst thing you’ve heard as you pursue publication?

AUTHOR BIO – JB Lynn

JB Lynn is the author of THE FIRST VICTIM, CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN and FURTHER CONFESSIONS OF A SLIGHTLY NEUROTIC HITWOMAN. She is a compulsive reader, a runner (of sorts), an enthusiastic cook (who doesn't get the appeal of the Food Network), and someone who has an irresistible urge to eavesdrop at all times. JB has a great love of her husband, dogs, coffee, purple ink, spiral notebooks, running gear, hot showers, and '80s music. Given enough time, all of these things will eventually show up in her books.

Website: www.jblynn.com

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/jb_lynn_author

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/jb.lynn.14

KILLER CHICKS:  http://www.killerchicks.org/

Edited to Add:  We didn't plan this but just for kicks this morning, I got a wild idea.  Comment and be entered to win either a hardcopy of Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman - the first book in JB's series - or any one of her Kindle ebooks.  (U.S. only on the ebooks, I think.  They don't let you send those things to other countries - damn them.  And U.S. or Canada only on the hardcopy.  I'm not made of money. :wink:)  Any comment before next Monday's post goes up - one comment per person.