Monday, April 29, 2013

I'm Your Number One Fan

This past Friday I headed off to Burlington, Massachusetts for the annual conference of the New England Chapter of the Romance Writers of America (NECRWA). After meeting my friend Abby (see previous post for more on her) for lunch we headed off to the master class on dialogue led by Julia Quinn, who looks and sounds like Mary Louise Parker at her West Wing sassiest. That class, and the other workshops on craft, are one of the best things about the meeting. While you're sitting there you get these "aha" moments where you suddenly think of something great to do with your story, and you leave actually knowing more.

Then there's meeting authors you've been reading or hearing about for years, like Marie Force and Judith Arnold, and discovering new authors and contacts. These meetings are basically hundreds of generous women hanging out together talking about romances. What could be more awesome?

Here's who else I saw there: Cara McKenna. If you follow my reviews on Goodreads, you know how I feel about Cara McKenna. So when I saw her walk by my table before dinner Friday night, I jumped up, ran over, interrupted a conversation she was having and told her how much I love her books. Hopefully I didn't scare her. I'm kind of tall and I felt like I was sort of looming over her like a crazed fan. But she thanked me and I left her alone to eat her dinner, having accomplished one of my goals for the meeting.

I drove home Saturday afternoon energized and ready to make the second book in the Sin City series totally awesome. I also may have a title for it: Set Free. Get it, Set Loose and then Set Free? But if I did that, what would I name the third book?

If anyone has an opinion about this, please feel free to comment.

I also thought up an idea for a new series based on a Maine town where my husband and I have gone on vacation. So I'm psyched about that. And to top it all off, this morning I dressed up in my best business casual and went to court to fight a ticket I got back in February (to the tune of $100), and it went in my favor. Now I have the rest of the day left to write, watch the last "New Girl" and "Mindy Project" episodes and meet my husband for sushi. No complaints today.


Friday, April 12, 2013

Keepin' It Real

I was in DC last week when a book by one of my favorite authors – one I had pre-ordered so long ago I had forgotten when to expect it – was delivered to my Kindle. I was aglow with delight, since I had all kinds of time in my hotel room at night, not to mention on the plane, to read it.

But alas, within the first chapter I knew it was not going to live up to her other books. The whole thing was flat, the conflict felt forced. It was, in a word, boring. I was sorely disappointed, seeing as how this particular author only releases one book a year.

When I got back from my trip I talked to Abby, my friend and critique partner, and told her what I thought of it. Now, she hadn't been happy with the author's last book, whereas I loved it. But because Abby loved her other books, she had still planned to buy the next one. And in fact, after we talked she even bought the one I had just condemned, because she had to see for herself. So, after talking about all the ways in which it was lame, we agreed we'd still buy her next book.

Below are the brilliant insights that came out of these discussions:

1) If you love an author enough, you will give her multiple chances. One not-so-great book isn't the end of the love affair.  This is a very reassuring thing if you are an author, since not everyone is going to love each book you publish.

2) It's possible to become too comfortable with what you are writing and lose the very thing that romance readers count on you for. Many romance authors, ones I love, succumb to this at one time or another. Whether they write too many books in one series, write too often about the same sorts of characters and stories, or are just pressured to publish too many books, it's easy to see how it can happen, especially over a long career. Abby and I made a pact that we will not let each other publish anything sub-par. We don't want to ever phone it in or not be excited about what we're writing, and we also want to have long writing careers that stand the test of time.

3) To keep things fresh, writers need to challenge themselves, step out of their comfort zones, and try new things. This is perhaps especially true with writers who produce books very often. It's no easy thing to maintain freshness and originality when writing one or more books every year. We re-committed ourselves to writing books in different romance genres and/or writing about people or situations that are challenging, scary or not usually done.

4) If, come a certain age, we are no longer interested in writing about sex (God forbid), we'll be honest with ourselves and each other and move on.

How do I plan to keep it fresh, you ask? I think after I finish the Sin City series I may try my hand at another historical. Some time ago I began one that takes place in and around Reno and Genoa, Nevada (where I spent my honeymoon) shortly after the Civil War. It features a spinster mail-order bride (I love a good spinster romance) and a jaded, wandering ex-US Marshall (Timothy Olyphant anyone?), and I have always meant to get back to it. After that, who knows. Paranormal. steampunk, new adult? I'm up for anything.