tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59304012024-03-17T23:02:27.238-04:00by Sue London<i>"There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." ~Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith</i>Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-74838856419386826802016-09-24T01:02:00.001-04:002016-09-24T01:02:27.945-04:00Working the NumbersWas just posting on my author page "given my druthers I'd have at least two novels and three novellas out every year" and started to do the math. That's about 250,000 words or for me ~750 hours of the heads down writing/editing stuff. If I take two weeks of vacation, that's 15 hours a week. Definitely a part-time job on top of my full-time one. (And please note that I'm a fast writer. Don't assume this rate holds true for others. Although some writers put me in the dust, too!)<br />
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Now, if I add all the additional marketing stuff, including the conferences I should attend, then we are well into 20+ hours a week territory.<br />
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If I didn't have a full-time plus type of job, plus extra responsibilities at home, I wouldn't worry so much. But... I worry.<br />
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So, how many words have I written so far this year? About 100,000. Not great, but not too shabby either. Most of that was in novellas, which are... kinda for fun? The truth is that three novellas don't equal one novel in reader satisfaction or total sales. If I'd known how the year was going to go I wouldn't have committed to three novellas. But once you tell other authors that you'll have a story ready for an anthology, well, then you have to deliver like the Pony Express.<br />
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If I keep the same productivity level for the last quarter of the year, then I may have another 30,000-35,000 words left in me. Maybe. I've already used most of my vacation time (leave is almost exclusively used for writing projects now), but there are quite a few holidays coming up.<br />
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What commitments do I have? At this point the only hard commitment outside the main Haberdashers series is the next novella in the Mad Clan series. Most of my author friends are already planning out their release schedules for 2017, but I'm quite gun shy. Taming Chiron got a pre-order link because it was already so past due that I wanted everyone to know that it was REALLY finally coming out. The rest of the series I will probably drop like Beyonce if, ya know, Beyonce was a small-time author and very few people were tuned in to when she was releasing books.<br />
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Thanks for letting me ramble.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-5878206657538460232015-08-20T22:25:00.001-04:002015-08-20T22:25:34.564-04:00The Certified Necromantic MagesHawke & Johnson, C.N.M.<br />
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<span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Season One “Setting Up Shop"</span></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Episode 1.1 - The Case of the Curious Ghost</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Em and Theo are asked to investigate a simple haunting, but nothing is ever simple. The ‘ghost’ is alive and trapped in the underworld.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Episode 1.2 - The Painted Man</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">A tattoo artist uses blood magic in his inks to enslave his customers, but his gruesome ritual murders to acquire the blood leave some unhappy corpses.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Episode 1.3 - Death Takes a Taxi</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">A young female necromancer specializes in creating "taxis" for spirits (animate dead for them to ride in) and gets snookered by a spirit who rents a body for nefarious purposes.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Episode 1.4 - Witness For the Defense</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Em has to testify at a murder trial, serving as a medium to a spirit, but they have a lot of explaining to do when the spirit turns its accusations on Theo.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Episode 1.5 - Ghost Hunters</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The boys are having a hard time making rent and accept the highly publicized challenge of staying in a ‘very haunted’ mansion for 24 hours. Should they reveal the chicanery of the owners of this very </span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><i>not </i></span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">haunted house, or just take the prize money and run?</span></span></span><br />
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Episode 1.6 - When Banshees Cry</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Theo has been having nightmares about a woman crying next to a stream. He realizes that people in the dreams keep turning up dead - and last night he saw Theo there.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Episode 1.7 - Lost Soul</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes the hardest cases aren’t the gruesome ones. It can be as simple as convincing a little girl that she is dead and needs to journey to the underworld.</span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Episode 1.8 - Specter vs. Inspector</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">The Chief Inspector of Kryss has a problem. Either he's losing his mind or his shadow has started talking. And it's insight into a connected series of cases is disturbing.</span></span></span><br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">Episode 1.9 - The Phantom Client</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">The boys are finally well known enough in Kryss that an investigator comes to them for help - an elf by the name Fedoras, who suspects that her latest client isn’t quite what he seems. Sure enough, he’s about 100 percent more dead.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 15px; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">Episode 1.10 - False Revenant</span><br style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;" /><span style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; vertical-align: baseline; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 15px;">Fedoras is back with another problem and the boys get in over their heads with the lingering spirit of an elven mage.</span></span></span>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-85236636894594437722015-04-24T11:18:00.003-04:002015-04-24T11:18:32.451-04:00Sales So FarWhat is a new book worth? A lot, so long as it's a full-length novel in a series. That's been my learning so far. Novellas not so much, although sales numbers (if not royalties) can be boosted substantially by doing a collection with other well-selling authors. What am I talking about? See the chart below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi8bS-IkRbcMSNrXjHFfJSg9IvZVaLLuBM0rwzlHqBFH24-f9a97Admr9yNLyZdmlrD596I53OdlQtB4j3lq9hAzW4rvRViHtlOG9VgEKgiKrLNUmWgZJJkv7bJoLbUg3Ck7lJg/s1600/Sales_23APR2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhi8bS-IkRbcMSNrXjHFfJSg9IvZVaLLuBM0rwzlHqBFH24-f9a97Admr9yNLyZdmlrD596I53OdlQtB4j3lq9hAzW4rvRViHtlOG9VgEKgiKrLNUmWgZJJkv7bJoLbUg3Ck7lJg/s1600/Sales_23APR2015.png" height="393" width="640" /></a></div>
See those big spikes? The first full month Trials of Artemis was out, followed by the other two books (obviously I lost some readers along the way) and then Lord Lucifer's Disciple, the novella I released in the Scandalous Summer anthology. The reaction to the novellas A Common Christmas, Fortune Said, and Sweet Tannenbaum are so mild as to not be noticeable in the whole. The most recent bump comes from releasing Trials of Artemis free on a number of platforms, while also expanding the number of platforms. And don't worry, that long, flat line at the end is months that haven't happened yet.<br />
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Among my regrets, of course, was not either preparing a number of books in advance or writing faster. Trust me, I'm writing as fast as I can. It was a shock that the Haberdashers became as popular as they did. As a series reader myself, I feel the pain for those waiting to see more in the series. The next phenomenon will be testing the response to a long-delayed book. I must assume that Saving Persephone will have even fewer sales, and will be lucky to bump the 5,000 line. Hopefully we will find out soon!<br />
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If you're a writer, what results have you seen in terms of sales of new releases and over time?Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-69272327122412839262015-01-12T22:43:00.001-05:002015-01-12T22:43:10.989-05:00Writing in Color - When Do You Tell Your Readers What Race a Character Is?A problem, some questions, and an excerpt. <br />
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One of the great things about writing is that you know you need a character for a scene and you might have the sketchiest idea of their role (CEO) and what you need them to do (sign a form), but then suddenly they leap fully formed onto the page and you fall in love with them. For me, Andrew Langford was such a character. But here's the part that bugs me. *I* know that Lang is black, and I kinda want the readers to know that too, but I don't want to make it an awkward, facty insert to the text. If you've read any of my books, you know that I'm NOT a very descriptive writer by nature, focusing more on dialog and action, so describing him in detail would make him stand out in the text. He's just a minor character. It would be like putting a big neon sign up and saying "OH, AND I HAVE BLACK CHARACTERS, TOO." The story is in Chicago. Why WOULDN'T I have a black character or two (or maybe somewhere around 33% of the cast, give or take)? I can't take the easy way of tossing off "it was unusual for a black man --" because there is absolutely nothing unusual in what Lang is doing here, at least in my experience. Maybe I can't point to one black guy I know who is a former professor, CEO, microbrew drinker who loves seafood, but I can put together four black guys I know and get there. (I'm in Charlottesville, you can kinda swing a cat and hit four guys who fit that profile, although it will take awhile to get all four of them in the same race. But still. One cat. I'm telling you.)<br />
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Here are my questions:<br />
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<li>Does it matter that I point out Lang is black? Twitter buddies who tweet about diversity in fiction make me think that maybe it is important, but maybe it isn't?</li>
<li>If I do try to point it out, what should I do? The only two things I say that *might* be construed as hints (his height and brown eyes) really aren't. Some of my POC buddies have said that direct references to skin tone can be irritating. Why are we pointing that out? What color is Nick's skin? Pasty? Milky? Come on. If we don't need to mention Nick's skin tone (inferring race perhaps in the first scene he was in where we found out he had sandy hair and blue eyes), then why mention Lang's?</li>
<li>Does it matter more to have readers understand that Lang is black since his daughter will be the heroine of one of the associated novellas? (And a bit of a blerd.)</li>
</ol>
Ok, the first scene Lang shows up in is below. Unedited and FAR from publication. You won't see this one published for a year or two and it might have the stuffing edited out of it before you see it again (or it might not). And just so you know, professionally he goes by Drew Langford, which is why Nick starts out calling him Drew. The hero/heroine of this one are Nick Carradine and Vivian Devonshire. It's very possible that Nick's last name will change...<br />
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Excerpt: Star Crossed (Goners #1 - Contemporary Romance)<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick slid into a booth just after 11 o’clock. Enthusiasm had made him earlier than he’d intended so he had almost half an hour to kill. He pulled out his smartphone and started flying through the emails he had missed that morning while setting up this luncheon. When the waiter came by he ordered one of the house microbrewery beers. Not because he particularly liked them, but because he knew that Andrew Langford always ordered them and it was in his best interest to make Langford as comfortable as possible. Five minutes before Langford was due to arrive Nick tucked his phone back into his pocket and settled in to wait. Langford was prompt, so in just a few moments Nick was springing to his feet with a smile on his face.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Drew!” he said warmly, extending his hand.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick was over six feet tall, but Langford towered over him with the build of a former basketball player. Nick knew that when asked if he used to play, the professor-turned-businessman liked to answer with the phrase, ‘I prefer to keep my physics theoretical.’ Now in his 60s, Langford still looked fit enough to consider taking up the sport any day. He was wearing a tailored suit over his tall, lanky frame and his silvery hair was close cropped. The chairman of Persephone Corporation looked cautious and speculative, but took Nick’s hand in a firm grip. “Carradine. I’ll admit that this was a surprise.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Once they’d settled into the booth together and Langford had ordered his beer, Nick began to warm up his argument. “Drew, I know that this is a bit odd, but I’m bothered by the analysis for the merger.” Langford sat quietly while Nick outlined the benefits of merging the two companies, the older man peering from time to time at the charts that Nick pulled up on his phone. In about seven minutes Nick had outlined the first tier of his argument, which focused on shared profits. He finished with a pleasant smile and the question, “What do you think, Drew?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford settled more comfortably against his seat and looked at Nick for a long moment. Nick cleared his throat and took a sip of his beer. He had a feeling that he knew how the former professor’s students used to feel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “I think,” Langford said at length, “that you and I have met twice before this, both times at fundraisers where we spoke for a total of maybe ten minutes. Is my memory correct?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick settled back as well, waiting to see how this played out. “That sounds about right.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Nick.” Drew Langford paused again. “By all accounts you are a very bright, very successful young man.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Thanks.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “But I think you’ve overlooked that it is just as easy for me to find out about you as it is for you to find out about me.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Ah. I’m, uh, sure it is.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford tilted his head forward so that his intelligent brown eyes peered over his glasses at Nick. “So I know that beer isn’t your poison. That, in fact, you don’t drink often, and never at lunch. When you do drink it’s most likely to be high quality scotch. Which means that you are using lowbrow psychological tricks to build rapport with me and that leaves me wondering, why do you feel like you need to butter me up? You haven’t said anything yet that I didn’t already know. You’ve said it perhaps more enthusiastically than my assistant, but it is essentially the same information.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Mr. Langford, I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The older man’s lips twitched in amusement. “It’s Mr. Langford now?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “It can be whatever you’re comfortable with.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford rolled his mug back and forth between his large hands. “How about we make it to the end of this conversation and I’ll tell you what I’m comfortable with.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Based on how this is going, I assume that might be… now?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This earned a wry smile from Langford. “Don’t disappoint me, Carradine. I can’t imagine that you only came to the table with that information and believed that I would sign whatever permission slip it is you need to review the analysis.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford had made it very clear that he didn’t want a sales approach, was offended by it, so Nick set his mug aside and leaned in towards the table. “Ok, I’ll cut to the chase. If I’m successful it’s because I have good instincts. And my instincts tell me that there is something wrong here. My top suspicion is that someone got to the attorney, Devonshire. I’m not sure if it was a bribe or what.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford’s eyes narrowed. “And who would gain? Who would do that?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “That’s what I asked myself, and there are a couple of potential answers. Carradine Metals is cash poor right now and without the merger they will need to do some deficit financing, which will change some key ratios. That could leave them open to a hostile takeover by your primary competition, GHB.” Langford nodded slowly and Nick could see that he was also considering something left unsaid, that it could have been someone inside Persephone who had made the same assessment and decided that a merger wasn’t nearly as appealing as a potential takeover.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “And what do you gain by looking at the papers?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “I’ll be able to tell if there really was anything wrong in the first assessment, or if Devonshire threw the game, as it were.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Ok, you have me interested. If there’s something wrong with our legal representation I want to know about that. But why should I trust you? You’re a Carradine. You have conflict of interests written all over you.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick shrugged. “You checked me out, what did you sources say?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Well, its good you know your own reputation. Along with brilliant everyone always points out how honorable you are.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick nodded.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Still,” said Langford, “Shouldn’t I want a real investigator involved?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “That’s just the thing,” Nick pointed out. “I’m as likely to turn over something that reflects poorly on Persephone as on Carradine. But I’m less likely to reveal anything outside of our circle. I’m the closest thing to an independent insider as you’re going to get on this thing.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “So, you’ll promise me that you won’t share any of the information you gain from the review with anyone at Carradine Metals, or anyone who might share the information with Carradine Metals?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Let’s just make it simple and say that I won’t share the information with anyone because there are far too many people who could use it to their advantage.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Simple enough. But what if you find evidence that there is something amiss with our legal counsel?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Then I’ll tell you it’s time to bring in an investigator.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Langford nodded, thinking. “If I were to ask who you would suggest I call as a character reference, who would that be?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick smiled and finished off his beer. “That’s easy, my Dad.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford’s brows rose. “Oh?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Tough, but fair. And he was my first employer.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “You don’t think his opinion would be biased?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Anyone who knows us well enough to be a reference has a biased opinion.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford considered that. “True, true.” He positioned his glasses better for reading and picked up his menu. “Now that our business is concluded, let’s order some lunch.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Our business is concluded?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Langford peered over his glasses again. “I’m sorry, did you have some more of those pretty graphs you wanted to show me?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “No." Nick said quickly, still feeling a bit off balance. Then amended, "I mean, I can if you want me to…”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “That’s alright. Let me have a minute with this menu." Langford gave Nick a sardonic smile. "If I order what I usually get, you’ll just have that, too.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick turned his empty mug on the coaster and murmured. “Actually I don’t like scallops.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> From behind the oversized menu he heard Langford say, “Don’t like scallops? Son, you need to learn to appreciate the few places where truly fresh seafood is flown in to the Midwest.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> After they ordered Langford looked at Nick with gentle amusement. “You’re dying to know what I’ve decided.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “You’ve decided?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Yes sir, indeed I have.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “And?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “You can call me Lang.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick laughed. “Oh, well, I’m glad that’s resolved.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Yes, you should be. Only my friends call me Lang. Now let me look at your permission slip.”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick pulled an envelope from inside his suit jacket that contained the legal release form Jake Hilliard had drawn up for him last night and slid it across the table to Langford. The older man opened it up and read it in detail. After a few moments he pulled a pen from his jacket pocket and signed the form with a flourish, then slid it back across the table.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> After securing the form in his pocket again Nick asked, “I just have to know, what put me over the top?”</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Using your father as a reference? That was classy, Nick. Very classy."</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "That's probably the first time anyone has put the word classy together with my father. He's a plumber, you know."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Lang chuckled. "Nothing wrong with that. My old man was a mechanic. Honest work is good for the soul. But speaking of fathers, do you know Vivian's?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Nick felt a sudden cold suspicion run down his spine. "Vivian the attorney? No... Should I?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Mundy Devonshire is quite a force unto himself. He comes from old, old money. Likes to dabble in politics."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Are you warning me I should be careful?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Warning you? No. But it might be wise to be aware of him."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "His name doesn't sound familiar, if he's what you say..."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "You're a Chicago boy, Nick. You know everybody here but you don't get out of town much. Mundy splits his time between Boston and Washington, DC."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Is he a senator or something?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "No, his little brother is the senator. Mundy realized there was more money, and power really, in lobbying. You can pretty much thank him for making Washington lobbying what it is today."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "That's not something I'm likely to thank him for."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Be that as it may, he's a man you're not likely to find a lot of paper on when you go to research him. Well, other than the society papers. But don't underestimate his influence."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "Do you think his daughter is like him?"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> "It doesn't matter what I think. It matters what you find out."</span></span></div>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-84722095531574042252014-05-15T11:35:00.000-04:002014-05-17T02:05:52.868-04:00#RT14 ReportI realized last night that if I tweet or facebook every little thing that happens at #RT14 I will get really annoying really fast. So instead - a blog post that I can continue updating with all the kewl stuff!<br />
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<u>Saturday 5/17</u><br />
Planned: Signing 10-2 - then more driving! <br />
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<u>Friday 5/16</u><br />
It feels like a million days have already been crammed into three. The lobby/lounge is hopping all hours of the day and night.<br />
<br />
Meet and Greet:<br />
<ul>
<li>Lunch with Gretchen Rily and Jen Lilly at the Somethin' Else Cafe.</li>
<li>Drinks with the always entertaining Andrew Schaffer at </li>
<li>Evening with Rose Gordon, hanging out in the lobby again. Everyone has been fun to hang out with, but I think I'll miss Rose the most.</li>
</ul>
Other Stuff:<br />
<ul>
<li>There are apparently a lot of authors who are "a big deal" that I have never heard of. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
</ul>
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<u>Thursday 5/15</u> <br />
My first full day at the conference! How many sessions did I attend??? Still none. Because reasons. Like meeting a bunch of other authors.<br />
<br />
Meet and Greet:<br />
<ul>
<li> Morning chat with Sandy Raven and Grace Callaway, two of my sisters in the upcoming Scandalous Summer box set.</li>
<li>New friends I met at the chat included Tina, Susan Hatler, and Virna De Paul.</li>
<li>Lunch with Sandy, Grace and her sister, and Tina and her husband.</li>
<li>Dinner with Rose Gordon and <a href="http://www.escapepublishing.com.au/author/dani-kristoff" target="_blank">Dani Kristoff</a> (who gave me a Koala bear that I will wear fo-evah).</li>
</ul>
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<u>Wednesday 5/14</u><br />
First off, I drove down because OMG, the stories about my travel issues on this trip are legion. After considering planes, trains, and automobiles (and losing a $200 cancellation fee, thank you very much), I finally opted for my favorite - ROAD TRIP! Since this is a drive that I used to make every few months it was like old home week. But it's been a few years (*cough* almost 20 *cough*), so I stopped on the way down and slept like a normal person, since it's about a 16 hour drive once you do things like stop for gas or think about eating something. Because we spent all weekend traveling and I had a late afternoon appointment on Monday, I decided I wouldn't leave until Tuesday. And of course it went something like this: Monday morning, "if I leave by 7am, I can get most of the drive out of the way." Monday afternoon, "if I leave by 10am I can get a good chunk of the drive out of the way." Tuesday morning, "I need to tidy a few things and finish packing, if I leave by noon I should be good." Yeah, I left a little before 3pm. *facepalm* So when all was said and done I got here about 3pm on Wednesday - which means I missed a day of presentations right off! But that's ok, because I started meeting all my online writing buddies! And making friends in these crazy elevators.<br />
<br />
Meet and Greet:<br />
<ul>
<li>First up was Jenn Spiller (@jennspiller) who has always been awesome and actually sent me her phone number so I could text with questions. We used to live "across the mountain" from each other in Virginia but never met, then last year she moved to Texas making that whole meet thing a bit harder. Thank goodness for RT, we finally got to meet in person!</li>
<li>I was coming out of Starbucks and she was going into the gift shop, but I recognized her on first glance. Tiffany Reisz (@tiffanyreisz)! We had a hug (we're huggers!) and a brief chat. If I don't run into her again here maybe when we're both at BookCon in New York at the end of the month.</li>
<li>Rose Gordon (@Rose_Gordon1) messaged me to say she was down in the lobby and I would know her by her hedgehog bag. We met, chatted, she signed my copy of "Secrets of a Viscount," then I joined her party to go to the Pirates & Scallywags event, followed by dinner.</li>
<li>Gretchen Rily (@gretchenrily) was the first to suggest meeting up for Pirates and I met her in line for it. More hugs! She has a contagious enthusiasm for this whole event that I love catching. We're gonna have lunch on Friday. Because it is crazy how much is going on so we are doing things like scheduling lunch two days in advance.</li>
<li>Met Elf Ahearn on the elevator. We were both going up.</li>
<li>Met Christina Pilz on the bus back from Pirates & Scallywags. Apparently she's done a follow up to Oliver Twist... with a twist!</li>
<li>Met Shana on the elevator, gave her a signed card, and helped to settle the dispute between her and her husband about what sort of conference this is (they aren't here for the conference). It was the sort of resolution every marriage needs - they were both kinda right! (He thought it was contemporary romance and she had said something about historical - it's all the romance!)</li>
</ul>
Other stuff:<br />
<ul>
<li>Really glad that I got into the conference hotel because it is making everything so much easier. And I've got this lovely corner room on the 37th floor with a view of the Mississippi and the French Quarter. </li>
</ul>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-3793209512731222372014-05-05T18:09:00.001-04:002014-05-05T22:12:09.267-04:00Down At The Bloghop: On WritingBloghops are some of my favorite things, and thanks to my lovely friend Kristina (aka <a href="http://twitter.com/quickmissive" target="_blank">@quickmissive</a>), I've got a new one to participate in. Go check out <a href="http://tenminutemissive.com/2014/04/28/the-peaks-and-valleys-of-writing/" target="_blank">hers from last week</a>. You can check out all my buddies in my cohort because they are listed at the end of Kristina's post.<br />
<br />
<b>1. What am I working on?</b><br />
Right this second I'm working on Lord Lucifer's Disciple, a novella in the new <b>Haberdashers Nights</b> series. This story will be part of the Scandalous Summer collection with a number of authors. Other than that I'm working on the fourth Haberdasher novel, Saving Persephone, which will bring us to the first major plot point in the series. What? We didn't have the first major plot point yet? Basically. There are eight more books after this, and who knows how many novellas. The Haberdasher world endlessly fascinates me.<br />
<br />
Other than that I have about a billion books waiting in the wings of my brain. Contemporary romance, urban fantasy, futuristic science fiction, epic fantasy, mystery. If only I had more time to write!<br />
<br />
<b>2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?</b><br />
This question feels like a total set up. Since when has an author had a clue about what makes their work special? I <i>think</i> the answer for my published work is that even though I'm in the Regency romance genre, I'm injecting it with a little bit of mystery and intrigue (Regency Charlie's Angels and Regency Avengers have been mentioned). But I would need my <i>readers</i> to tell me what they think the answer to this question really is. Feel free to leave a comment to tell me what you think. Then I'll know the right answer next time!<br />
<br />
<b>3. Why do I write what I do?</b><br />
Because it's so much <i>fun</i>. Whether I'm hanging out in 1815 with the Haberdashers, modern day Dublin with an American Werechaun, or any of the thousands of other places I've been (in my own mind), I'm always having <i>fun</i>. Otherwise what's the point?<br />
<br />
I also love to research, anything from crazy details in history to cutting edge science. So all of my writing is informed by that unending curiosity about the world.<br />
<br />
<b>4. How does my writing process work?</b><br />
Typing. There is a lot of typing. Complaining, chocolate, and typing.<br />
<br />
Seriously, I don't know what else to tell you. After years of wanting to find some secret, magical trick to writing, a sort of authorial unicorn, the truth is that it's quite mundane. Agatha Christie said she got some of her best ideas while washing the dishes. It's about discipline and focus more than anything else. Although I prefer a few quiet hours, I can write anywhere and under any conditions if necessary. I come up with ideas quite sporadically and have learned to write down outlines while they are fresh. This is part of why I love Evernote. I can type out a summary on my phone during lunch if I have to. Once I have the outline done, then it is heads down writing until the first draft is done. I've learned to do very little editing as I go along. For one thing, it bogs you down (you can edit FOREVER), and for another thing, edit brain and author brain are two very different brains. If I try to use both at once I get very boring stuff. Only author brain can come up with cool stuff even I didn't expect. Then, if the stars align, I try to do three passes of edits before even sending it to my first editor.<br />
<br />
<b>Bloghop RSVP</b><br />
They tell me that I get to name the next four victims, er, participants. Meet four great writers so you can find out THEIR answers next Monday. (Links will be added when they accept the challenge.)<b> </b><br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://victorianzombiebrains.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>Kris Silva</b></a> - Editor extraordinaire, Steampunk enthusiast, Muppet chronicler, and all around fun chick.</li>
<li><b>Andy Click</b> - My co-author for American Werechaun in Dublin. One of my favorite hobbies in March was logging into GoogleDocs to watch Andy write.</li>
<li><a href="http://genedoucette.me/" target="_blank"><b>Gene Doucette</b></a> - Author of one of my favorite series, about Adam the Immortal. It's possible we *might* be working on a cross-over story. </li>
<li><b>Tina Glasneck</b> - She bills herself as "Writer of Mayhem and Romance with a Twist of Murder." Yeah, that sounds about right. Also brilliantand enormous fun to hang out with.</li>
</ol>
<br />Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-71343577785417006892014-04-06T16:09:00.002-04:002014-04-06T16:09:42.540-04:00What are you doing, Sue?This graphic has been in my head for a long time and I've finally made it a reality. There are lots of ways you can look at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure" target="_blank">three-act structure</a>, but I liked this graphic to the structure the best. As you can see, I have a layered thing going on with the Haberdashers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17gCdIDCojuGftOgZWB62niuLoKLPMJWs6Z3aea78ki_ADoXjqxzJ7l2bj0MAXM4oZpYOlH8q8QbVzl_Yw2kDzgzGwLB8V9zKxONk6whjZQyyEPPCGD01GQjFYgyN_WZxZmN41A/s1600/HaberdashersDrama.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg17gCdIDCojuGftOgZWB62niuLoKLPMJWs6Z3aea78ki_ADoXjqxzJ7l2bj0MAXM4oZpYOlH8q8QbVzl_Yw2kDzgzGwLB8V9zKxONk6whjZQyyEPPCGD01GQjFYgyN_WZxZmN41A/s1600/HaberdashersDrama.png" height="321" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
What this is showing is that for any particular book in the Haberdashers
series, I take into account the following (top to bottom):<br />
<ol>
<li>The essential elements to advance the overarching plot for the 12 book series.</li>
<li>The essential elements to advance the overarching plot for the 4-book subset of the series. (Yes, to heck with the Trilogy, I have Quadrilogies! Or, as Douglas Adams would say, a Trilogy of Four.)</li>
<li>The plot for this specific book. (We should fit that in there somewhere, right?)</li>
<li>Resolution for the Hero's and Heroine's (H/H) problems that were set up in establishing scenes (character growth vs. specifically plot).</li>
<li>A smokin' hot cover. (Ok, actually included the covers so you knew where we were in the series.)</li>
</ol>
As you can surmise from this, the novellas are not essential to the plot advancement of the series. They are entertaining, they reveal more about the primary characters - but they aren't essential.<br />
<br />
If you've been keeping up with the reviews for <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fates-Apate-Haberdashers-Book-Three-ebook/dp/B00H9JHWJM" target="_blank">Fates for Apate</a> on Amazon, you'll see quite a few readers having issues with how the book resolves. Some hooks were there on purpose. Some were there that you probably didn't even notice (*writer cackle*). But I have an incredible amount of sympathy for readers who felt the ending was a bit off because I FELT IT MYSELF. There was a good bit of stomping around the house and yelling at the characters. "What happened to the plot I gave you? We've hit everything in your outline BUT YOU'VE MADE IT FEEL LIKE IT'S NOT A PLOT." Fighting with your characters is a losing proposition. Once they're tired of you, they clam up - then you get nothing.<br />
<br />
It's ironic, really. The underlying theme for Fates is trust and betrayal. I usually trust my characters deeply, but these guys... Man, I love George and Cas, but they fought me from the beginning. I wanted more action and spy thriller stuff. They wanted to hang out and moon over each other. I wanted this to be the strongest plot-wise and tightest action-wise in order to propel us to the fourth book. But, apparently, the heart wants what the heart wants. Meanwhile, all of my other characters have been almost impossible to shut up. "Sure, you <i>think</i> you're done with the book, Sue, but we have another 10,000 words to put right here. So sit down, shut up, and keep typing." George and Cas? They wanted out. "Yeah, we're good. You can stop right here. Don't type anymore. It's over." So I shouldn't have trusted them. But as of yet I don't know how to get more out of them. How to find the missing element. All I know is that the more I fought them, the longer it took to write the book. Ugh.<br />
<br />
Obviously, I'd better sit down Robert RIGHT NOW and try to get these issues worked out ahead of time for book four.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-63907009009405703582014-04-06T12:32:00.001-04:002014-04-06T12:32:13.083-04:00Am I Getting Better or Worse?Haberdasher reviews as of April 6, 2014<br />
<table border="1" style="width: 400px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Review Website</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Trials of Artemis</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Athena's Ordeal</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Common Christmas</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Fortune Said</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">Fates for Apate</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Pub Date</span></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">5/13/13</span></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">8/31/13</span></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">12/15/13</span></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">2/8/14</span></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3/31/14</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://amazon.com/author/bysuelondon" target="_blank">Amazon</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.0</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.6</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.4</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">3.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/cmdrsue" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">3.75</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">3.77</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.21</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.17</td>
<td style="text-align: center;">4.07</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Obviously, books that have been out longer have more reviews (and are therefore more reliable?). I'm not even sure what it all means.
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-5855656189944249542013-12-17T12:27:00.002-05:002013-12-17T15:35:43.402-05:00eStocking Stuffers![cross posted in All Places Sue] <br />
I've heard from some people that they can't afford books for themselves during the holidays, so I wanted to stuff some Kindle ebooks in your stocking. Lucky me, Rose Gordon is also stepping up to help with the stocking stuffing! We're posting books from people we know and like, so if you like our fiction you should be able to find something you like here, too.<br />
<br />
Enter the Rafflecopter here, or in one of the other places this is cross posted, saying which book you're hoping to find in your stocking and you'll be eligible to win one of the DAILY giveaways until Twelfth Night. More books will be added as our friends join in the fun.<br />
<br />
Stocking Stuffers You Can Win*<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Time-Holders-Wendy-Sparrow-ebook/dp/B00H34ESBI" target="_blank">Stealing Time</a> by Wendy Sparrow </li>
<li><a href="mailto:rosegordonromance@yahoo.com" target="_blank">The Officer and the Bostoner</a> by Rose Gordon </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cavershams-Bride-The-Caversham-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00AAJNIQE/" target="_blank">Caversham's Bride </a>by Sandy Raven </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Goblin-Brothers-Adventures-Lindsay-Buroker-ebook/dp/B004FPYPSO/" target="_blank">The Goblin Brothers Adventures</a> by Lindsay Buroker </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Common-Christmas-Haberdashers-Tales-ebook/dp/B00H947GWK/" target="_blank">A Common Christmas</a> by Sue London (Regency historical Christmas romance)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Duke-Christmas-Past-Kim-Bowman-ebook/dp/B00GBN25T4/" target="_blank">The Duke of Christmas Past</a> by Kim Bowman </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Daughter-Devil-Ryder-ebook/dp/B004V4GN52/" target="_blank">The Devil's Daughter</a> by Suzie Grant </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Scotland-Kristin-Vayden-ebook/dp/B00GFF6KXK/" target="_blank">Surviving Scotland</a> by Kristin Vaden </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Dustmans-Daughter-Ruth-Hartman-ebook/dp/B00G8Q6XWO/" target="_blank">Romancing the Dustman's Daughter</a> by Ruth J. Hartman</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Krampusnacht-Caulborn-Nicholas-Olivo-ebook/dp/B006BJH88Q/" target="_blank">Krampusnacht (and Other Caulborn Stories)</a> by Nicholas Olivo</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Midwinter-Brothers-Sinister-Book-ebook/dp/B00APONX6Y/" target="_blank">A Kiss for Midwinter</a> by Courtney Milan </li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/STRIPPED-Without-You-Brooklyn-Skye-ebook/dp/B00H0JSQ4Q/" target="_blank">Stripped Without You </a>by Brooklyn Skye </li>
</ul>
<br />
And some of our buddies have FREE books out there, too. You never need to go without a book!<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Goblintown-Justice-Shotguns-Sorcery-Forbeck-ebook/dp/B0077HPBCG/" target="_blank">Goblintown Justice</a> by Matt Forbeck</li>
<li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sake-Sin-Suzie-Grant-ebook/dp/B0052N9ZJM/" target="_blank">For the Sake of Sin</a> by Suzie Grant </li>
<li> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Emperors-Edge-Lindsay-Buroker-ebook/dp/B004H1TDB0/" target="_blank">The Emperor's Edge</a> by Lindsay Buroker</li>
</ul>
*All books on this list are 99-cents. Any books that change price above 99-cents will become ineligible and will be removed. We're not made of money, people!<br />
<br />
<a class="rafl" href="http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a545bb0/" id="rc-a545bb0" rel="nofollow">a Rafflecopter giveaway</a>
<script src="//d12vno17mo87cx.cloudfront.net/embed/rafl/cptr.js"></script><br />
<br />
Find out more about Sue and Rose at the following links:<br />
Sue London, Author <a href="http://bysuelondon.com/">http://bysuelondon.com</a><br />
Rose Gordon, Author <a href="http://www.rosegordon.net/">http://www.rosegordon.net/</a><br />
<br />
Thanks for sponsorship from <a href="http://www.parchmentandplume.com/" target="_blank">Parchment & Plume</a>!! Check out all of their current and upcoming releases!Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-81988699665829590692013-11-24T13:41:00.000-05:002013-11-24T13:41:55.694-05:00Dress for Success“There is only one success: to be able to spend life in your own way and not to give others absurd maddening claims upon it.” ~ Christopher Morley<br />
<br />
As any career guide will tell you, one of the first things to do when choosing a career path is invest in appropriate clothing. Now that it looks like I can plan on making the career change from accounting to writing in the next year or so I need to consider the "look" my new role requires.<br />
<br />
It's possible I've never been more excited.<br />
<br />
If you follow my <a href="http://suecentral.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">blogs</a> or my <a href="http://twitter.com/cmdrsue" target="_blank">Twitter</a> you might have picked up that I've actually worked for a long time. Even if you rule out helping in the family health food business as a tween, or the babysitting and crafts I did as a young teen, I've been in the work force neigh on thirty years. I've worked retail, restaurant, and hospitality. I've done sales, marketing, office management, project management, IT, and accounting. I've worn uniforms, suits, and jeans to work (usually not all at the same place). I'm fairly sure that I've not had any gap in employment for the last 26 years, having at times up to three jobs at a time. Work? Yes, I know what that is.<br />
<br />
To date my least favorite aspect of work has been clothing. See, I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of a girl and most jobs just don't go for that. Worse yet, my first impression personality doesn't even match the jeans and t-shirt. I deal with the first by being a rebel. As for the second, well, honey badger don't care. If I seem like a pinstripe personality to you then you just don't know me yet.<br />
<br />
My typical approach at work is to assess what the minimal requirement is to look professional where I am and then take it a notch lower to see what I can get away with. I'm also difficult to persuade. The people who say to me "You should dress for the job you want" usually get the retort "I want to be first mate on a sailboat in the Bahamas." Yeah, come at me, bro. I'll dress up if I deem it necessary, but when it comes to advancing my career I focus on the WORK before I worry about how my image affects me. I wear more than my fair share of Hawaiian shirts on casual Fridays throughout the summer (and sometimes on formal Monday thru Thursdays, too). See aforementioned note on being a rebel...<br />
<br />
So the idea that I can have a job where I spend most of my time in comfortable, casual clothing? Heaven. It's among the things I look forward to the most. Now don't be disappointed if you see me at a signing and I'm not "dressed down." If nothing else, shouldn't I wear these professional clothes somewhere? What else could I possibly do with a collection of red and black blazers? Maybe I'll cultivate the jeans and blazer look...<br />
<br />
Here's my list of wardrobe items I think I need to ensure I have on hand. Tell me if there is anything else you would add:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>T-shirts with snarky and geeky sayings/designs - maybe from <a href="http://www.thinkgeek.com/" target="_blank">ThinkGeek</a>?</li>
<li>Comfy cotton and wool sweaters - those cold nights, they are coming</li>
<li>Sweatpants/yoga pants - an obvious must</li>
<li>Leggings - because every day can't be a sweatpants day</li>
<li>Jeans - because sometimes we must leave the house</li>
<li>Comfy slippers - warm feet are required for creativity</li>
</ul>
<div>
So what did I miss? And what is <i>your</i> dream wardrobe?</div>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-70969097282040424612013-08-28T21:57:00.001-04:002013-08-28T21:57:17.704-04:00Opening Letter for Flapper Girl (A Story of the Jazz Age)Was chatting with a twitter friend (<a href="http://twitter.com/tiffanyreisz" target="_blank">@tiffanyreisz</a>) about how reading biographies of people in other eras is a great reminder that everyone is always living in what they consider to be the most modern age. And that reminded me of this opening letter for my upcoming Jazz Age series. Really looking forward to putting this one together.<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-554ed390-c7c4-655f-4266-266bdd476a39" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">To my kind reader,</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">These are the stories I remember, and after telling them for years some of y'all convinced me to write them down. The thing to know, like I always say, is that it's not history. Not if you've been there. Never was a time that was more modern, more a part of the future, more immediate. We thought we'd done it, we thought, no, we knew, we were on the edge of a new age. I've lived a lot of years since then and I got to tell you, the world still ain't caught up to that time. While you read this know that it isn't the past, it's a future that already happened.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">But when I think about where to start it seems like the best place is in the beginning, and that means Lulu. I've seen a lot of legs in my time but never any that compared to Lu's. When she started dancing there wasn't a man born that could take his eyes off her. And when she smiled at you it was somewhere between the holy Madonna and the first girl you fell in love with. She stole hearts, that one, stole them with such beauty and joy that there never was a man who could get mad about it. At least not until 1921.</span></div>
<br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 13px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The Jazz Man</span>Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-83889654284739157622013-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:002013-08-22T10:18:29.017-04:00Egads! Is Historical Romance Becoming Credible?A friend brought me this article at work (where it now hangs on my door) <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/In-a-Plot-Twist-Scholars-Get/141047/" target="_blank">In a Plot Twist: Scholars Get Serious About Romance Novels</a>. Yes, that link goes to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Well dang. Can't decide this means that I entered the market at just the right, or just the wrong, time.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-35252390216541840832013-08-16T10:31:00.001-04:002013-08-16T10:31:33.882-04:00Sue Hangs Out with Nerd Lunch - Podcast 98: Nerd RomanceIn case you don't haunt my "Interviews" page looking for new entries, I was on the Nerd Lunch podcast this week. Take a little Friday downtime to check it out. #TGIF <a href="http://nerdlunch.blogspot.com/2013/08/nerd-lunch-podcast-98-nerd-romance.html">Nerd Lunch: Nerd Lunch Podcast 98: Nerd Romance</a>Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-32226059841132812132013-06-21T14:29:00.001-04:002013-06-21T14:29:59.175-04:00The Reviews Are In....I've been cyber-stalking <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Artemis-Haberdashers-ebook/dp/B00CR70RF2/ref=la_B00CRERZB4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368450849&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Trials of Artemis</a></i>, waiting to see a blog review, and finally found an online review today. Apparently even though many readers really love the book (based on Amazon and Goodreads reviews), this reviewer... eh, not so much. Such is life.<br />
<br />
But this gives me an opportunity to talk about something near and dear to writers. Feedback.<br />
<br />
What I mean is that feedback is vital. Essential. We can't live without it. But we use it in two very different ways.<br />
<br />
First, most writers have their sense of identity bound with their work. That certainly isn't a trait unique to writers. I've met many an accountant whose sense of identity is bound up in their work. But, please take note, WHEN YOUR IDENTITY IS BOUND TO SOMETHING EXTERNAL TO YOURSELF YOU FEEL VULNERABLE. You need for others to approve of your creation because it feeds your sense of self. This can be a problem for anyone whose output has tremendous opportunity for subjective feedback. The key word there is subjective.<br />
<br />
I'm going to tell you something here and I need you to hear me. No matter who you are, no matter what you write, there are people who are going to not like your work. The more people who see your work, the more people you will find who don't like it.<br />
<br />
This is not your "fault." There is no fault. Tastes differ. Different people value different things. It doesn't mean they are a bad person. It doesn't mean that you are a bad person. In the grand scheme of things it doesn't mean much at all.<br />
<br />
"What? How can it not mean anything?" cries the soul of those bound to their work. I know that your soul is screaming out for approval, but here is what you do. Ignore those who don't care for your work. Seek those who do. Simple but hard. And do that from the get-go. I know so many writers who want to find someone who will be "hard" on their work so they can "improve." Baby, if they're being hard on your work that means that it just doesn't work for them. At best you will become a hollow, uninspired (and uninspiring) version of a "good" writer. At worst you will give up. Ask instead for someone who really loves something in your work. Let them help you to find and hone what is unique about your voice and your story. Good things always come out of love. Always.<br />
<br />
Second, we all need to be open to criticism. Wait, didn't I just tell you to focus on those who give you positive feedback? Well, yes, that's where you should focus your soul and emotions. Meanwhile, in other parts of the galaxy, your head needs to do some work. Once you succeed in decoupling your sense of self from that bouncing baby manuscript, and send it out into the world to do it's thing (that may not be publishing, that might be sharing in a class or some other broader group than THE SAFE PLACE where your soul lives), then you need to be able to pay attention to the feedback you get.<br />
<br />
This is why you have to separate your sense of self from your product. Every ounce of attachment between soul and product becomes at least a pound (perhaps a ton?) of resentment whenever that product is criticized. Nothing about that is going to do you any good. Listen to the words that are coming out of my mouth: NOTHING ABOUT THAT IS GOING TO DO YOU ANY GOOD. You can't hear the useful feedback and, in some cases, you may create hard feelings with your reaction.<br />
<br />
So what work should you let your head do?<br />
<ol>
<li>Check validity: Is this useful feedback? Are they suggesting something that I can/want to change? You may find lovely nuggets that make you think "Man, wish I'd thought of that myself." Excellent. They just gave you free help. Try to ignore if they were grumpy about it. Pretend that the whole thing was typed up by Grumpy Cat. If you're receiving it in person just imagine Grumpy Cat's head over their head. They will keep getting grumpier at your secret smile and eventually you will have to fall out of your chair cackling.</li>
<li>Judge for yourself: You need to KNOW what you are good at and where you want to improve so that you don't become a puppet on a string, reacting to everyone else. When someone criticizes that I'm not descriptive (enough for them) my reaction is "Tell me something I don't know." I know that my strengths lie in dialog, character depth, and pacing. One day I may care about developing a more descriptive style. Or I may not. That's up to me now, id'n't?</li>
<li>Decide what to pursue: Feedback is critical because once you see what people love you can DO THAT. I'm lucky in that pretty much everything that readers have reacted positively to in <i>Trials of Artemis</i> I already planned to use later in the series (Quince, Sam, and keeping up with Jack and Giddy even after their book was done). But I'm sure that something will come along that I haven't thought about. And it's as likely to be in a one-star review as a five-star review. You gotta stay open.</li>
</ol>
In closing, let me tell you one last thing. I am SO GLAD that I did not succeed in publishing twenty years ago because I would not have known how to separate my sense of self from my product. Even success would have been a horrible experience because haters gonna hate. You hear me? Haters gonna hate.<br />
<br />
If you want to check out reviews for my work you can find them on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Artemis-The-Haberdashers-ebook/product-reviews/B00CR70RF2/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17912308-trials-of-artemis" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>. If you would like to receive a free review copy of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Artemis-The-Haberdashers-ebook/dp/B00CR70RF2/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t" target="_blank">Trials of Artemis</a> you can email me at sue.london@graythorn.com. I don't mind if you give me a one-star review, just tell me something new. (Uh oh, I just opened myself up to a big font of creativity in criticism, didn't I?)Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-11407399819342406102013-05-28T09:09:00.002-04:002013-05-29T22:34:14.178-04:00Thank You Trixie BeldenIt's been bothering me for awhile to start a series of gratitude posts about the stories and authors who made me want to be a writer, or affected my approach to writing. Thinking back I know that the first series of books I really got into was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trixie_Belden" target="_blank">Trixie Belden</a>. There were plenty of books prior to reading Trixie, as we were a very bookish family, but Trixie was the first series that was "mine." I spent my allowance on them, haunted the bookstore to ask when the next one would be out, and would re-read them when nothing else presented itself.<br />
<br />
At the same time I was also collecting the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Stallion" target="_blank">Black Stallion</a> series, which don't get me wrong, I LOVE, but it didn't have the same group camaraderie that infused the Trixie Belden books. And camaraderie is big with me. It's my favorite part of Star Trek (and Star Trek is about my favorite thing ever). Quite honestly, it is confusing that I was able to focus on just two characters throughout the entirety of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Artemis-Haberdashers-ebook/dp/B00CR70RF2/ref=la_B00CRERZB4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368450849&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Trials of Artemis</a>. But I digress. Let me tell you why I love Trixie Belden and how it influenced me.<br />
<br />
Trixie was a smart, spunky tomboy with two older brothers. This was instantly easy for me to identify with, except that I was keeping most of my spunky on the inside. (I was a notoriously calm and rational child. There are stories.) Trixie had a large, loving, and loyal group of friends which was something I didn't have, but wanted to. Each of the books centered on a mystery that Trixie and her friends (collectively referred to by their club name the Bob-Whites) would solve. So it was a little bit Scooby-Doo (darn those kids!), and Trixie was a little bit like a young, female Sherlock Holmes. She noticed details and was clever in deducing something from them. I... am not like that, but found that personality fascinating.<br />
<br />
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and when I ran out of books to read I immediately set about flattering the Trixie Belden series by trying to write my own. Since I was all of maybe eleven we can imagine how well that turned out. Actually I don't have to imagine, I could go downstairs and dig the papers up, but that sounds like a terrible, terrible idea.<br />
<br />
Trixie Belden, I salute your sassy self (and the writers that created you), because you inspired my first serious attempt at writing a series. Without you I wouldn't be me, and that makes you my very best tween-age friend. Thanks for everything.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-10209099212925422122013-05-13T14:17:00.001-04:002013-05-13T14:33:59.556-04:00Hello Publication Day. Nice to Meet You.For years I "wanted to be a writer" as though I felt like there was a barrier between myself and "being" a writer. As with many things in life it turned out that the barrier, the glass (or jell-o) wall, was something of my own mind's creation. Lo and behold it came down to a process that has been preached by published authors since time immemorial.<br />
<ol>
<li>Sit your ass down.</li>
<li>Write a book.</li>
<li>Edit it until it doesn't suck. </li>
<li>Get feedback on said book from people who have a clue.</li>
<li>Edit the hell out of it until it's actually good.</li>
<li>Follow your chosen path to publication.</li>
<li>Have a party.</li>
<li>Repeat process as needed.</li>
</ol>
The good news is that you are officially a writer before you even start, you're an author if you get through step 2, and you're a published author if you can make it to step 7.<br />
<br />
Step 6 can be very difficult. Very, very, very difficult. It's not so much a step as a whole sub-process by itself. And these days the author has a "chose your own adventure" aspect here because they need to pick traditional vs. self-publishing. Granted, you could always self-publish but selling books out of the back of your car is quite different than having access to powerhouse markets like Kindle, Nook, and Kobo for a relatively low entry fee. No matter which path you chose on this adventure there are challenges aplenty.<br />
<br />
Writers seeking traditional publishing will be querying agents, querying editors, and undoubtedly going through additional edits and changes to align with their publisher. It's rare to pop out of the gate with an acceptance (thank you so much Truman Capote for proving it CAN happen and making the rest of us have vain hope), so the process of getting an agent and an editor could take years. It's just hard to say. Then even once you have a contract it could be a year or more before your book hits the shelves.<br />
<br />
Writers going the self-publishing route also have a hard row to hoe. All those things that the "professionals" do in the traditional publication route have to be picked up and paid for by the self-published author - usually on a shoestring budget. Professional quality editing, professional quality cover, publishing to multiple formats, and all of the promotion duties. All the risk for potentially high reward - if you happen to have the right mix of product, price, placement, and promotion. You know, that marketing stuff that the big publishing firms hire specialists to do. And yes, traditionally published authors have to do a big share of their own promotion, but not all of it. That first boost from the publishing firm can be crucial for sales. How many of us know who to send press releases to? Or have any faith that someone on the other end will pay attention? There's a lot to be said for the traditional approach.<br />
<br />
Be that as it may, as soon as I heard about self-publishing in e-book format I knew it was my path. A fiercely independent nature has always worked out well for me. I'd never heard of home-schooling as a kid but at 13 I quit traditional school and set about educating myself. Yes, I went to college. And for my bachelor's degree chose an "adult program" for maximum flexibility and independent study. All of my graduate level courses have been done online and self-paced. It's not that I can't suck it up and be a good little soldier when necessary, but I will always look for the route that gives me maximum independence. High risk with potential for high reward? Even better. Taking <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trials-Artemis-Haberdashers-ebook/dp/B00CR70RF2/ref=la_B00CRERZB4_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368450849&sr=1-1" target="_blank">Trials of Artemis</a> from concept to publication is about the most fun I've ever had. Researching every aspect of both the art and business of publishing has been a delight. I'm looking forward to publishing more in this series, and starting a few other series to boot.<br />
<br />
I've learned a lot and look forward to applying that learning to the rest of my writing career. And in case you wonder where my big "promotion push" is, don't expect to see it until I've got the third book in this series out. If I *know* that I'm going to write a series and I *know* how we series readers are (READ ALL THE THINGS!), then I don't see the point in making a big push and having people lament for months on how the second one isn't out yet. Right now I have a more-than-full-time job so I can't commit to cranking them out every couple of months.<br />
<br />
Happy publication day to me. It's about damn time.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-33176184632316407562013-03-09T11:59:00.000-05:002013-03-09T11:59:13.525-05:00So That's When It Gets FunAs you may recall I found myself somewhat surprised by how much of a non-event finishing my first book was. After a few rounds of edits I released it to some beta readers (thanks guys!), kicked off the cover design process, and worked on lining up the final editor.<br />
<br />
Then I got the first draft of the cover back from the designer and almost died from awesome. After a few revisions on colors and fonts, which took a total of 7 hours emailing back and forth, we were done. In less than 72 hours from my initial request.<br />
<br />
You may have already seen it elsewhere, but this is the final product:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBjW6l_SZ8yaGjjkI1jmQbYz64D7NYM1Pwplkh382xqTx5VssYAjJ8b-th83TLv_5SIoTGVb935cHMTOkdk3bjVizitJrBUY0orVgp6iLSnCQOU8zCtfKtbL1J8pkUHxySgus3Q/s1600/SueLondon_TrialsofArtemis_800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBjW6l_SZ8yaGjjkI1jmQbYz64D7NYM1Pwplkh382xqTx5VssYAjJ8b-th83TLv_5SIoTGVb935cHMTOkdk3bjVizitJrBUY0orVgp6iLSnCQOU8zCtfKtbL1J8pkUHxySgus3Q/s320/SueLondon_TrialsofArtemis_800.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
So apparently (for me at least) it starts to get fun when there are graphics and colors involved. Now I want the whole process to be finished so that I can "hold" it in my hands and read it again. Jack, Gideon - ya'll look fabulous.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-22899607413970991402013-02-05T21:21:00.001-05:002013-02-05T21:49:15.780-05:00Finishing a Novel: So That's What It Feels Like..."I hate writing, I love having written." ~ Dorothy Parker<br />
<br />
Now don't get me wrong, I've completed writing projects before. Even when I was seven years old I knew how to move a story to a conclusion even if it was just a three-pager about a horse and some magical flowers and, well, I don't really remember how that one goes but you get my point. Then there were short stories, essays, articles, and the horrible monstrosity known as a senior thesis in college. But my ambition (as you may notice from all the decorations here) has always been to complete a NOVEL. And it was a goal that somehow remained elusive for almost thirty years. Before you get too judgy and start trying to calculate my age just know that my first novel attempt was a middle grade mystery series because I loved Trixie Belden so much. And yes I know that judgy isn't really a word but I'm a writer and we try to push the boundaries on things like that. So, as I was saying, I've completed writing projects before but my goal was always to be a novelist and that seemed to be something out of reach.<br />
<br />
But no longer.<br />
<br />
Be it for good or for ill last night (ok, early this morning) I completed my first novel. Typed -TheEnd- at the end and everything for a feeling of completion. And it was... anti-climatic. Ironic in a way considering that it was a sexy romance book. Reaching the end, although satisfying in a box-checking sort of way, turned out to be a lot like writing anything else. There was no surge of "Hell yeah I'm the queen of the world! Let's go celebrate!" Which, granted, I've only felt once in my life but I was suspicious that this particular milestone might have provided the second round of that. It was more "Oh good, that's over. I thought they'd never shut up. I wonder how long the next book will take to write. Hopefully a week or two is enough time to let this one sit before I start doing edits..." and other mundane things that writers think about when contemplating everything about getting the writing done other than actually, er, getting the writing done. In some ways that's probably good because it means I can bump along contentedly in my writing projects and with this milestone out of the way it demonstrates that there is absolutely nothing stopping me from writing novels. In fact, based on last summer's statistics I can cough one up in a month or so with relatively low impact on my current schedule. Once I have enough books out there even if only a handful of people like them I can certainly fund my cafe habit. So as the little peace-loving INFP that I am I should probably be ecstatic that, soup to nuts, writing a novel isn't an emotional roller-coaster for me.<br />
<br />
But... it seems like there should be more.<br />
<br />
Because isn't it a big deal? Shouldn't I be shouting from the rooftops, dancing in the streets, or at least listening to Kool & the Gang's "Celebration" on repeat? I don't know. The most amusing response has been from my sister, who received the news this afternoon. (She's not on Twitter. I don't know what's wrong with her.)<br />
<br />
Me [text]: The good news for me is that I finally finished writing a novel last night. The bad news for you is that it's historical romance.<br />
Her [text]: Congrats! As long as it's not about me I'm ok.<br />
<br />
Later she called to congratulate me again and tried to get clear on exactly what it was I had written since the last she had heard everything on my plate was SFF (of which she approves).<br />
<br />
Her: So it's historical...?<br />
Me: Romance.<br />
Her: What period?<br />
Me: Regency.<br />
Her: So it's a bodice ripper?<br />
Me: Yep.<br />
Her: Well... I guess I'll read one of those in my life, then.<br />
Me: I have more bad news for you. It's the beginning of a series.<br />
Her: [pause] Like I said, I guess I'll read one of those in my life, then.<br />
<br />
So, what does finishing my first novel feel like? A lot like normal life. Except now instead of saying "I'm writing a book" I can say "I've written a book." And that's pretty sweet.<br />
<br />
How about you? Have you finished a novel, or reached any other major milestone, and it didn't quite come off the way you expected? Tell me about it in the comments.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-52942873187664457812012-09-05T21:29:00.000-04:002012-09-05T21:29:29.901-04:00September 2012 Word CountSeptember Goals:<br />
- 60,000 total word count<br />
- at least 15 days<br />
- 4,000 words per day
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Date</th>
<th>Word<br />
Count</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">1</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><span style="background-color: lime;">4,624</span></td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Excellent start to the month!</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>2</td>
<td><span style="background-color: lime;">4,066</span></td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Woo-hoo! Keep it up!</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>3</td>
<td><span style="background-color: white;">0</span></td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Riding in the car during a storm seemed to kill the streak.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>4</td>
<td><span style="background-color: white;">2,755</span></td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Almost to the end! Almost to the end! And it's amazing how anything less than<br />
4,000 feels like I'm slacking.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>5</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>6</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>7</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>8</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>9</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>10</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>11</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>12</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>13</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>14</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>15</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>16</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>17</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>18</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>19</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>20</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>21</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>22</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>23</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>24</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>25</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>26</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>27</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>28</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>29</td>
<td><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">30</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">31</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"><br /></td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">Total</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">11,445</td>
<td style="text-align: left;"><br /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-29147861941206602832012-08-06T20:27:00.002-04:002012-09-05T21:20:03.178-04:00August 2012 Word CountAs a new accountability initiative am going to try posting my daily word count. Since I'm an INFP we'll see how long this lasts...<br />
<br />
Target range of 2,000 to 3,000 per day at least 20 days per month (minimum of 40,000 words per month).<br />
<br />
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Date</th>
<th>Word<br />
Count</th>
<th style="text-align: left;">Notes</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">1</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>2</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>3</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,389</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Woo-hoo! First "real" writing day of the month.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>4</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,000</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>5</td>
<td>332</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Sad, but better than nothing.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>6</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,334</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>7</td>
<td>212</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>8</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">See? This is nothing. 332 was better than this.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>9</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>10</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>11</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,120</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>12</td>
<td>114</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>13</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,216</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>14</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">4,402</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Power was out. Wrote most of this staying up late at Cook Out.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>15</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,695</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>16</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">4,337</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Another 4k+ day? Maybe a little more sleep would be wise...</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>17</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>18</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">6,110</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">I can't explain this.</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>19</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,069</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Yea! Another day over 2k!</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>20</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Brain recovery?</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>21</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>22</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,671</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Yea! Another day over 2k! </td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>23</td>
<td>792</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>24</td>
<td>0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>25</td>
<td>30</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>26</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,319</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>27</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,110</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>28</td>
<td style="background-color: lime;">2,031</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">Met goal for the month! Woo!!</td>
</tr>
<tr align="right">
<td>29</td>
<td>994</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">30</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">0</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">31</td>
<td style="text-align: right;">910</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: right;">Total</td>
<td style="background-color: lime; text-align: right;">43,187</td>
<td style="text-align: left;">n/a</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-55898274976134687862012-03-29T21:55:00.000-04:002012-04-01T12:11:39.980-04:00The Lucky Seven Game<a href="http://jenstayrook.com/2012/the-lucky-seven/" target="_blank">Jen the Amazing</a> tagged me for this game.<b> It’s called The Lucky Seven Game</b>, and it’s basically a game of writerly tag. <b>If you’re tagged, you have to do the following:</b><br />
<ol>
<li>Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript</li>
<li>Go to line 7</li>
<li>Copy down the next seven lines/sentences as they are – no cheating</li>
<li>Tag 7 other authors</li>
<li>*New Rule* If tagged you come back post a comment here to lead others to your post</li>
</ol>
<b>Star Crossed</b> (summary and first chapter posted <a href="http://bysuelondon.blogspot.com/p/star-crossed.html">here</a>)<br />
<i>Romantic thriller. This is one of the scenes that establishes main character Vivian's relationship with best friend/side-kick Leigh (who will be the main character in the second book).</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
When she glanced in the hall mirror, a large oval with a stained glass
dragonfly frame that Leigh had made for her fifteenth birthday, she
could see how wearing the day had been on her. A Devonshire never
looked less than perfect. By that logic, she wasn’t a Devonshire
tonight. Leigh came out from the kitchen and stopped dead.<br />
“Oh my Lord, you are home early.”<br />
Vivian shrugged and hung up her coat in the hall closet. “Yeah, I got tired. Decided I’d like to come home.”</blockquote>
Bonus!<br />
<b>Lost Daughter</b><br />
<i>Fantasy. Main character Lira, who has recently and mysteriously arrived as a stowaway on a ship, finds a safe place with the Tailor family after having been found by their young son Digger (who will become important later in the story).</i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Digger pulled at her sleeve. She jumped to see him again; she wasn't sure where he had gone. "Come on, Lira," he said. "It's stopped raining and we're in charge of bringing things up from the spring house."<br />
She smiled again at Mrs. Tailor who seemed quite pleased with herself, and followed Digger out the back door and down a gentle hill as he pulled her by the hand.<br />
"Your mother seems very nice," she said as soon as they were out of hearing of the house. The Tailor's land stretched out around them. A root cellar's door poked up only a few feet from the door of the kitchen. She saw a small barn and a fenced field. Fat, content cows chewed on the spring grass.<br />
Digger grinned ruefully at her and scratched a dirty ear. "That's cause she ain't your Ma."</blockquote>
<br />
TAG! My last seven <a href="http://writinginsight.blogspot.com/search/label/Blooming%20Authors" target="_blank">Blooming Authors from Writing Insight</a>:<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.poptartmanifesto.com/" target="_blank">Rick Gualtieri</a> see his entry <a href="http://www.poptartmanifesto.com/2012/03/tagged-in-lucky-seven-game.html" target="_blank">here</a></li>
<li><a href="http://mykecole.com/" target="_blank">Myke Cole</a></li>
<li><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=thougthatgets-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B004NNVB9E" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="http://rosesromanceramblings.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Rose Gordon</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.demonkin.com/" target="_blank">Sean Hayden</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.sonyaclark.net/" target="_blank">Sonya Clark</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lindsayburoker.com/" target="_blank">Lindsay Buroker</a></li>
<li><a href="http://brinson1.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Thomas Drinkard</a> </li>
</ol>Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-77507197612286227812012-01-20T17:54:00.001-05:002012-01-20T19:13:20.733-05:00What's Your Platform?<div><p>During lunch our writing group at work attended the webinar "Getting a Non-Fiction Literary Agent with Carole Sargent" (courtesy of the UVa Alumni Association. She has a similar presentation already archived at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBlMag_4Iok&feature=youtube_gdata_player </p>
<p>One of the things I've been thinking about is her discussion on having a platform before approaching an agent or publisher. It makes all that blogging and tweeting seem like so less a waste of time! We are just building our platforms!</p>
<p>Now we just need to add speaking engagements, article publication, local radio and tv interviews...</p>
<p>What have you done to build your platform? What audience do you already have?</p>
</div>Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-17463679973888515752011-09-05T14:31:00.000-04:002011-09-05T14:31:10.234-04:00Publish or BustMore than a little inspired by my tweeps like <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/GoblinWriter">@goblinwriter</a> (<a href="http://www.lindsayburoker.com/">Lindsay Buroker</a>) and <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/shaydenfl">@shaydenFL</a> (<a href="http://www.seanhayden.org/">Sean Hayden</a>) I am planning to start self-publishing this Fall. Since my independent streak is easily more than a mile wide this isn't much of a surprise.<br />
<br />
First up on the docket will be the novella "The Case of the Curious Ghost," which is currently being published as a serial on <a href="http://morningserial.blogspot.com/2011/08/cnm-first-two-weeks-recap.html">The Big Bowl of Morning Serial</a> blog. It's the first case of Hawke and Johnson, Certified Necromantic Mages. Hopefully you will enjoy Theo Hawke and Em Johnson's adventure because quite a few more are planned.<br />
<br />
Next up will be my astrology book The Starwatcher's Guide to Fashion. Technically non-fiction but still what some may call "speculative." If nothing else it's a fun ride. A small excerpt:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<b>Chapter One: Why Does My Closet Hate Me?</b><br />
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
There you stand again at the doorway staring inside your closet. We treat closets and refrigerators the same way - maybe if we keep looking something good will happen. But today even your favorite jacket leaves you cold. 'Who bought these clothes?' you wonder. You stand there waiting for things to turn in your favor. Almost everybody does it. Why does it happen? In fact, how does it happen? </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The truth of the matter is that we are all a bit confused about our personal image. And why shouldn't we be? Think of all the influences that affect your clothing decisions: your parents, your friends, the media, your lover, current fashion, your favorite year, and monetary considerations. Those outside influences generally crowd how you feel about your wardrobe. This book seeks to give you clarity on this issue. <br /><br /><i>Ultimately your personal image should speak for you before you speak for yourself. It tells who you are and how you want the world to perceive you.</i></blockquote>
<br />
After that I will continue with a mix of short and long fiction with interspersed non-fiction. Thanks in advance for your help on my journey.<br />
<br />
:) Sue<br />
<br />Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-43257371663427861252011-08-15T22:26:00.000-04:002011-08-15T22:26:33.000-04:00Certified Necromantic Mages?What kind of trouble can a couple of bored necromantic mages get into? In case you missed it, I'm publishing a story about two Certified Necromantic Mages as a serial over at the "Big Bowl of Morning Serial" blog. We're at the sixth installment and you can start at <a href="http://morningserial.blogspot.com/2011/08/hawke-johnson-cnm-11.html">this link</a>. Thanks for reading!!Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5930401.post-18994063752713160522011-08-04T09:27:00.000-04:002011-08-04T09:27:59.977-04:00Writing Assignment Where No Man Has Gone BeforeJune and July flashed by me like one of those crazy high-speed movie collages. But one great thing that came out of the early part of the summer was an invitation to help write a book about one of my favorite subjects: Star Trek. I'm not even sure how I got so lucky (actually I do, it was becoming good Twitter buddies with <a href="http://twitter.com/thatneilguy">@ThatNeilGuy</a> who shares my Original Series/Vulcan obsession).<br />
<br />
So, over the next year or so there will be a LOT of Star Trek watching, Star Trek reading, and Star Trek writing. It's kind of like being asked to go on vacation forever. If I could just do it all while on a sailboat int the Bahamas my life would be perfect.Sue Londonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12820606642097170654noreply@blogger.com0