I hope you all had a pleasant holiday. My Christmas present to myself was pushing that little progress bar to your right over the 50,000-word mark. I’m more than halfway done! (um, with my first draft.)

Actually, I’m very excited, because I’m hitting a great section in my manuscript. For the past 45K words or so, I’ve been carefully setting up for a sequence of events. And now it’s finally time for the events! It’s a whole different game. Instead of maneuvering People into Places so that Things can happen, I can finally just … let things happen.

I have also made a New Year’s resolution, one week early. I need to start talking up this book.

I’ve kept up an excessively self-deprecating attitude about it, both on- and off-line. But I know that needs to change. I have to eventually (ulp) promote myself. And although I’m not at the point where I’ve got a decent hook or high concept or sacred question to share, I’m pretty sure that the first step goes something like this…

(Fair warning: Stuart Smalley moment ahead)
It shouldn’t be so hard to type this, but oddly enough it is:

I like my book.

Ack. There, I said it.

No, seriously, that was hard. Perhaps I need to say it again, for practice.

I like my book. And I think other people will like it. It’s true that it’s not a textbook-perfect romance novel — I’m learning a lot by making mistakes. But I … Read More »

There’s a reason this blog is subtitled “A Study in Sleep Deprivation.” Here’s a transcript of a conversation between my brain and my fingers at 1 AM this morning:

“Oh,” said Sophia, pressing her lips together. “Shall I tell you about Gervais?”

“Yes,” Lucy nodded, moving her head up and down. “Tell me all about Gervais.”

Aren’t you just dying to hear about Gervais? You should be.… Read More »

I’ve just discovered something about myself, as a romance reader. I can’t bring myself to care about the missing whatnots.

I have tried three times now to get into a certain novel. The writing is fantastic. The characters are wonderful. But the whole plot hinges on the hero and heroine teaming up to search for a missing whatnot – and I just can’t bring myself to care.

It’s odd, because I love a good mystery novel, too. But when the point of the story is romance, any plot that involves the missing scrolls/jewels/sibling/invention is, to this reader, a great temptation to skim.

How about you? Are there certain plot devices that categorically do or don’t work for you? Do tell … I’ll bet every last one of them is in my novel.… Read More »

What helps you think?

Before I can write something, I have to see it. And if I just can’t see it, I go either:
a) take a shower, or
b) wash dishes.

Yes, my house was built in 1922, and I still wash dishes with Palmolive and everything. But no rubber gloves.

For whatever reason, running water helps me think. It’s grease for my brain.

What works for you?… Read More »

Four jobs I’ve had:

• Calling up alumni and asking them to pledge $2000 to my college’s sorry-ass football team.
• Hefting 40-pound crates of milk into cafeteria dispensers.
• Transcribing ER reports on injuries like bat bites and penis fractures.
• Shopgirl.

Four favorite foods:

• Chocolate-covered anything.
• Peanut butter-filled anything.
• Coffee-flavored anything.
• Olives.

Four movies I could (and do) watch over and over

• Pride and Prejudice (any version)
• North and South (the recent BBC miniseries, NOT the Patrick Swayze 80s mini)
• Little Women
• Moonstruck

Four TV shows I enjoy watching:

• Project Runway
• The Amazing Race
• The Daily Show/Colbert Report
• WonderPets

Four places I’ve traveled:

Four websites I visit (almost) daily:

• Onelook.com
• Slate.com
• Pemberley.com
• Google.com (I know it’s obvious, but I google everything.)

Four people I’m tagging to do this:

• Courtney Milan
• Lenora Bell
• Pam Skochinski
• Sara Dennis

Muahahaha. Let it be known, this is the first chain-letter type thing I have EVER completed.… Read More »

So there I was, sandwiched inbetween two other mommies on a bench at the park. Mommy #1 began talking about her book group, and how they were going to be discussing Pride and Prejudice this month.

“I just can’t get into it at all,” she says. “It’s so cheesy! It’s … it’s just a romance novel!” She shudders.

I shudder.

Mommy #2 chimes in with, “Oh, my mother used to read all those trashy novels, with those ridiculous covers. OH. MY. GOD.”

So in the space of one minute, these two women have managed to insult my literary hero (the great Jane), my favorite book, my reading tastes, and my would-be profession. Had one of them said, “Your children are so ugly!”, the effect would have been complete.

And what did I say? Did I stand up and retort, “Pride and Prejudice is not cheesy, it is a work of elegant wit and literary genius, and while it contains a beautiful love story, it is not ‘just a romance novel.’ And by the way, what is so wrong with romance novels? I happen to read them. I happen to be writing one.”?

Of course I didn’t. I am timid and lame. But what would you have said?… Read More »

Check it out:

I am a HarperCollins author!

These Wicked Games is officially an e-book. And thank goodness they fixed the typo in my chapter. That was the first thing I checked!… Read More »

I am a woefully inconsistent blogger. Sorry. But just so you know, the less frequently I’m blogging, the more writing I’m getting done.

But I’m quite proud of myself for figuring out how to insert that widget to the right.

I attended my first-ever meeting of the local RWA chapter last weekend. My local chapter seems very big and well-organized, and when the published authors left the room for their private pow-wow, about 1/3 of the people got up, which is very cool. At the meeting, I basically learned about 10 more things that I could add to the list of mistakes below. As such, it was a tad depressing. However, that’s entirely my fault for being so clueless to begin with. I keep telling myself that my next novel will be fabulous!

Those of you who are RWA members, what have you found most useful/educational/fun about membership? Local chapters? Conference? Contests? Subgenre-specific divisions? Other?

Advise the newbie.… Read More »

No, this isn’t a post about the holidays. It’s just that I recently realized my WIP (aka GOTH, FYI) now features both a partridge and a pear tree. Although the partridge is not in said pear tree, thankfully. Well, perhaps not thankfully. The partridge is dead.

Egads, this gets worse and worse, doesn’t it? You are all going to be dying to read this thing by the time I finish it, just for the laughs.

Anyway, I hit a bit of a block around the 30,000-word mark, possibly because I couldn’t figure out a way to set my lords a-leaping and my ladies dancing, and I decided to – *gasp* – SKIP AHEAD. Actually, I was inspired by CM to do so.

Really, when I read a romance novel, there always comes a point where I just can’t take the suspense and the angst and the misunderstandings or intrigue or whathaveyou – and then I flip to the end, to reassure myself that everything comes out fine. Why should writing one be any different?… Read More »

But I am going to be guest-blogging on Romance by the Blog on January 8th, as the chapter grand prize winner of Avon FanLit. Sara Dennis is scheduled for the 12th, I think.

I’m still not sure when I’ll be going to New York – with a three-month-old baby, I’m not in a real rush, either to take him along or leave him behind. As soon as a date is set, I’ll let you all know.

So speaking of quotes, CM’s blog brought to mind one of my favorite writing quotes, shared with me by a journalism professor eons ago:

“It’s hell writing and it’s hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.” —Robert Hass.

I love that quote, because it lets me know that I am not alone in having a contentious relationship with my keyboard. When people say they “love to write,” I really don’t know what they mean. For me, writing is like picking a scab. It’s slow and messy and painful, but just irresistible in some grotesque, masochistic way.

What are your favorite quotes on writing?… Read More »