Love or Lack Thereof Progresses

Dear Reader,

And so I write my second check-in for Round of Words in 80 Days. I know this is supposed to be the writing exercise that remembers you have a life, but goodness, it’s still tough because I expect so much of myself.

Love or Lack Thereof goals

• Weeks 1+2: Edit short stories 3, 4, and 5

Over the weekend I completed the edits for another short story for Love or Lack Thereof, the anthology of poems and short stories I will be releasing in February. I’ve determined the book will be in two sections: Sweet and Savory. I determined the order of the stories that are ready for professional editing, etc.

I am starting to kind of freak out because I want the anthology in my editor’s hand by this weekend. I’m participating in a startup weekend event beginning Friday evening which lasts until Sunday afternoon. Which means writing this upcoming weekend is out. Argh! It’s frustrating how my professional life conflicts with my writing life. I have to change my goals for this week yet again.

Fingers crossed I don’t stress myself out trying to get this anthology to Cindy (my editor). She’s already booked for late January and all of February. Gah!

Catching the Rose goals

• Week 2: Finalize updated blurb, tightened outline

I have completed the blurb, I’m fairly pleased with it. However, I think I’ll have to drop the other goal of writing 750+ words a day until I complete work on Love or Lack Thereof. No outline work will be done until LOLT is done. The new blurb is available below for your enjoyment, however.

CATCHING THE ROSE

Accustomed to getting her way as a privileged southern belle, Veronica Vernon is outraged when her step-father arranges a marriage to her childhood bully. Desperate for a way out, Veronica runs north in search of her childhood love, Jonathan, to convince him to marry her instead.

Intrigued by similarities between her memory of Jonathan and the description of her friend’s cousin, Veronica ventures into Yankee territory only to find Brad Williams is nothing like Jonathan. But that won’t stop Veronica from trying to convince her step-father otherwise!

Refusing to let others run her life for her, Veronica embarks on a headstrong quest to find her Prince Charming before war takes him from her forever.

Belinda Kroll crafts a tale of lost love and determination during the exciting first year of the American Civil War.

Thoughts?

Check out how the other Round of Words in 80 Days writers are doing this week.

Genre Schmenre

Dear Reader,

I am giving up any and all pretenses of having a blog schedule because there have been too many interesting things to write about this week. Such as an analysis of indie authors who have reached the “1000 sales per month club” as described by Derek J Canyon. I encourage you to read his post where he analyzes what is getting authors into this club (hint: number of titles and genre).

What I found fascinating and a bit disheartening is the breakdown of popular genres for ePublishing. Why disheartening? Take a look at the pie chart that Derek uploaded.

This pie chart breaks down the genres of the authors that are making 1000+ sales per month, as self-reported by authors at KindleBoards. Top genre? Romance at 16%. Where is my genre, historical fiction? Do you see where the slices start getting really small as you go clockwise around the pie chart? Historical fiction is in there at 3% (orange).

Of genres ePublished, 3% of the authors who are making 1000+ sales per month are in the historical genre. That’s a really small number. Or really big, depending on the sample size of book buyers.

I suppose it makes sense. I guess a stereotype of someone who likes historical fiction would be someone who prefers a book with actual pages they can flip in hand. It’s certainly eye-opening to see where my genre fits in with everyone else.

Now, depending on who you talk to, I don’t write straight historical fiction, but historical romance. Which could bump me into the 16% slice of the pie.

Come on, Belinda, why is this so important? I really think genre is a huge indicator of “success,” i.e. getting 1000 sales per month. But then, this is a specific result, in that this is self-reporting through KindleBoards.

I don’t know. What do you think? I’m going to continue publishing because I enjoy it so much, and I know there are fans out there if my Goodreads reviews are any indication. I may never make the sales that Zoe Winters, Amanda Hocking, Susan Bischoff, and others are making. But that’s ok as long as I’m getting to my readers. I also, however, want to be successful. I want to get to that 1000 sales a month.

Do you think genre plays as big of a role as I do?

Rewriting a Back Cover Blurb

Dear Reader,

It’s time for the first check in for Round of Words in 80 Days. I have two projects for this first week:

Catching the Rose goals

• Week 1: Finalize new blurb

Well, I’m making progress on the new blurb for Catching the Rose. I’ve written and rewritten it four times so far and I’m still not pleased with it. That’s ok though, because I have until Saturday to wrap it up, which I think I’ll be able to do. This has been more difficult than I expected. I haven’t touched this story since I published it seven years ago. As I was in high school when I published it, I never went through the motions of making marketing materials like a tag line or back cover blurb.

At its core, Catching the Rose began with the question, “What happens when a southern belle’s childhood Prince Charming grows up to be a Yankee?” What makes the story fun is that the “Prince Charming” character has no idea he is anyone’s prince charming in the first place, and is fairly resistant to the idea.

The existing tag line is…

It was her responsibility to marry as her family wished, but she never lost hope of finding her childhood love.

That is still true. I want to shift my thinking for the rewrite, though, so I’ve made a tag line just for me…

A southern belle embarks on a headstrong quest to find her lost Prince Charming before war takes him from her forever.

I like this because it has more action, and reveals Veronica to be the assertive young spitfire we all know and love.

The biggest issue with writing back cover blurbs is how to reveal enough—but not too much!—of the plot to intrigue readers. It took me a week to write the back cover blurb for Haunting Miss Trentwood, and we’re only at Wednesday, so I’m fairly confident I’ll have a blurb I like by Saturday for Catching the Rose.

I need to focus on setting the scene and adding intrigue at the end so readers think, “Ooh. Wonder what that means?” So difficult.

Love or Lack Thereof goals

• Weeks 1+2: Write 750 words a day

I am not writing 750 words a day on the short story anthology because of other things going on in life. I already have first drafts for each of the short stories I want to include in the anthology. So it was perhaps kind of silly to say I want to write 750 words when in actuality, it’s more like I need to be editing the stories. Haha! Week One and I’m already changing my goals.

• Weeks 1+2: Edit the four new short stories

I don’t know what I was thinking about the 750 words a day since I’m not making new content, I’m cleaning old-ish content.

Check out how the other participants are doing! Since I’m a sponsor, I’ll be checking in on the participants whose submission number ends in a 7 (7, 17, 27, etc).

Time for My Second Chance

Dear Reader,

Joe Konrath says the best part about self-publishing is if something isn’t working, you can always redo it. As much as we like to think a book that has been released to audiences is a finished product, we authors know better than that.

I wrote Catching the Rose (CTR) when I was in high school. Seven years later, I released my second book Haunting Miss Trentwood (HMT) with awesome reviews. CTR has made some sales since its re-release in July, but nothing compared to HMT.

This information, coupled with the fact that Wulfshado took a look at it and had so many suggested changes within the first couple of pages has convinced me.

I must rewrite CTR if I want it to get the attention I think it deserves.

Perfect timing, because I’m a sponsor for the Round of Words in 80 Days (ROW80), led by Kait Nolan. Below are my goals for the first round of eighty days, which should keep me busy as I’m working on two projects.

Round of Words in 80 Days Goals

Catching the Rose goals

• Week 1: Finalize new blurb
• Week 2: Finalize updated, tightened outline
• Weeks 3+: Write 750 words a day

Love or Lack Thereof goals

• Weeks 1+2: Write 750 words a day;
• Week 3: Send clean draft of anthology to my editor, Cindy
• Week 4+5: Review edits, prepare for publication
• Week 6: Release for publication, just in time for Valentine’s Day

The thing with ROW80 is that if I accomplish all my goals, or find that my goals are too much for whatever reason, I can change them. I think this is a manageable effort, though. I’m excited to make CTR more into the Civil War-based fairy tale I had imagined originally. And I’ve never released an anthology before, so I’m interested to see how that goes, too.

Seems like 2011 is going to start with me as a busy little bee. All the best,

Belinda

80 Days of Words

Dear Reader,

I have agreed to help sponsor the step-sister of NaNoWriMo,  Round of Words in 80 Days, pulled together by Kait Nolan.

The idea is pretty cool, actually. Instead of 50k words in 30 days, you set what you want to accomplish in 80 days. For me, it’s going to be edit and publish four more short stories so I can release the anthology of all five short stories in the book Love or Lack Thereof in time for Valentine’s Day. I also want to complete a tentative outline for the new historical novel.

By the way, the first story, “Mad Maxine,” is now available for purchase for $1. What is it about?

This is a story of girl meets boy. The girl, Maxine-called-Max, never thought she would find love before she died. The boy, Phil-her-husband, never thought he would get a girl like Max to look at him. This is not a love story. That story is over before this one begins. This is a story of fixation.

Love or Lack Thereof is a departure from my usual quirky historical fiction. The stories are still quirky because I wrote them and I can’t help but be weird and quirky, but it isn’t straight historical fiction. For whatever reason, my short stories are almost always contemporary.

Not sure you want to take the plunge into something different? Wait until next Monday, December 20. If you comment on that post agreeing to review “Mad Maxine,” you will receive a free copy. You can also read an excerpt at the Love or Lack Thereof information page here on my website.

Best,

Belinda

Empty Nest Syndrome

Dear Reader,

Reviews for Catching the Rose and Haunting Miss Trentwood are positive, which I’m very happy about. And they aren’t just raving, glowing reviews which other readers sometimes doubt. All the reviews seem thoughtful. I couldn’t ask for more.

Or could I?

When I finish writing a new book, go through the edits, get it to production, I take a step back, admire my handiwork, and fall into a mini-depression.

Ladies and gentlemen, I suffer from empty nest syndrome. I want my babies back.

The nice thing about books not actually being children is that no matter how old I am, whatever my financial or romantic situation, I can make another. A stronger, faster, better one. And I can have as many as I want.

At least, I could if I weren’t also paralyzed by the fact that people are enjoying my work. I want to write, but I am feeling frustrated that the characters haven’t introduced themselves to me yet. And now I have the added pressure of making sure the next book doesn’t suck worse than a sophomore slump. What would that be, anyway, since it would be my third book? A junior jumble?

But hey, I don’t want to whine about how I don’t know my next book. Because that’s not entirely true. I do know I’m going to write a book that uses the research I did for breach of promise that didn’t make it into Haunting Miss Trentwood, which is, oh, I don’t know, all of it.

I also want to release an anthology of short stories, but the problem is that short stories are difficult! I like setting, building up the relationship with the characters. Everything is condensed in a short story. I tend to write contemporary short stories, but I want to keep to my brand and write quirky historical fictions in the short story format.

For whatever reason, I’m feeling 1930s America, which brings up another problem: the last time I studied this era I was in 8th grade. Do I want to do enough research to convert my short stories to fit that era? Or should I use my existing research and write another Victorian historical novel?

I have no idea. Performance anxiety for the fail.

I think rather than dealing with it, I’ll pull an ostrich move and shove my head in the deep sands of a good book. Can you help me out? What are some excellent books you’ve picked up lately?

Best, Belinda

P.S. It’s Monday, which means you should visit the blog to check out the Monday “Meet an Author” blog hop in the sidebar of Worderella Writes.

Interviewing Sean Paul McCartney

Dear Reader,

I’m so excited to introduce a fellow Ohioan author to you! His name is Sean Paul McCartney, and while he says he isn’t related to the Beatle, I like to pretend that he is. His first book in the series The Treasure Hunters Club is called “Secrets of the Magical Medallions,” and introduces the four teens Tommy Reed, Jackson Miller, Shannon McDougal and Chris Henderson. The series is a cross between The Hardy Boys and Indiana Jones,with a touch of National Treasure.

I’m sure you know the drill with my interviews by now, so let’s get started!

How do you transform your passion into focused research?

First I want to thank you so much for having me.

I wanted to write a series that would appeal to even he most reluctant reader. So I looked at stories I liked growing up and decided I would take the mystery of the Hardy Boys and tie that in with the action and adventure of Indiana Jones and National Treasure and The Treasure Hunters Club: Secrets of the Magical Medallions was born.

How do you translate your research into an entertaining narrative?

Actually the characters drive the research. The Treasure Hunters Club is always looking and researching lost treasures. It also helps that they have a guide in the form of famous treasure hunter “Diamond” Jack Reed, but really it is Tommy, Jackson, Chris and Shannon’s overall curiosity that keeps the story going.

How do you sneak an underlying message into your entertaining narrative?

I teach history so I try and sneak the facts of history in my story like Michael Crichton or Dan Brown. The key for me is to teach the readers without them knowing they are being taught. That is why in the first Treasure Hunters Club novel I go to great extremes to show how research is done and what goes into it. The club uses the library and books as well as the computer. I want the readers to see that answers are not always in front of them and they have to really look to find it.

My books are meant to give kids a fun and exciting ride and allow them to imagine they are part of the club on the adventure.

Thanks Sean for taking the time to answer my questions! If you’re excited to learn more, contact Sean at seancoach AT juno DOT com.

Interested in being interviewed?

I’d love to profile you on Worderella Writes, especially if you are an indie author, and most especially if you are an indie historical fiction author. I look forward to learning more about you and your upcoming projects!

Interviewing Susan Spann

Dear Reader,

We indie authors need to stick together, and most especially us  indie historical fiction authors. We seem to be a rare breed.

Today my guest is Susan Spann, a fellow indie historical fiction author who was kind enough to answer some tough questions for me.

Learn more about Susan

Susan lives in Northern California with her husband, teenage son and three cats (one of which is large enough to count as two). She is a member of the Historical Novel Society and the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Association, and enjoys horseback riding, archery, rock climbing and books about adventures (both fictional and non-fiction).

When not running amok or too far in the weeds, Susan writes historical fiction. Her work takes legendary (or semi-legendary) historical figures and tells their stories as though they had really lived. She loves research as much as writing, and particularly enjoys finding a kernel of fact that can grow into an interesting story. You can find her on Twitter as @SusanSpann.

How do you transform your passion into focused research?

I approach research like a category 5 hurricane goes after a coastal fishing village – hit hard, cover as much ground as possible and leave no stone unturned.

When I’m starting a new novel (as I am now) I pick the legend or person whose story I want to tell and then scour the Internet, bookstores, and the library for information. Sometimes I also contact museums or researchers in the location where the events took place. I read as much as I can about the era in which the story is set and the people and places involved. I look at history, geography (including photographs when possible), culture, literature, and especially personal narratives. Only after I stuff myself full of facts and images do I try to let a focused story flow.

How do you translate your research into an entertaining narrative?

Starting from legends gives me an advantage. Someone already took a life and turned it into a song or story that people want to hear. After researching the historical “soil” in which the legend grew, I try to cultivate the story as it might have really happened, generally in a first-person narrative voice, without losing the vital elements of the legend itself. I’m looking for a blend of fact and fiction that does justice to both.

It also helps to work with children and animals. W.C. Fields discouraged it, but I include them in every novel and I never want for entertainment – some of it more scatological than I expected.

How do you sneak an underlying message into your entertaining narrative?

If you put all the white spaces between the words together, they make a picture of a horse in a snowstorm.

The honest answer is, I cheat: legends carry their own messages, which amplify on their own when the story goes from short-form to novel length. I find characters I admire and work on telling their stories in a compelling way. When the protagonist is admirable and surrounded by a supporting cast of realistic characters and challenges, the messages seem to take care of themselves.

Thank you to Susan for providing great answers to some tough questions! Make sure you check out her website and follow her on Twitter.

Interested in being interviewed?

I’d love to profile you on Worderella Writes, especially if you are an indie author, and most especially if you are an indie historical fiction author. I look forward to learning more about you and your upcoming projects!

Chatting with Eloisa James

Dear Reader,

I contacted Eloisa James after I finished reading This Duchess of Mine about five minutes after I put the book down.  I didn’t understand it. I began the book disliking the characters. I finished the book still disliking them a little, but feeling as though I understood them.

Despite my disliking them, I cared about them.

This boggled my mind as a reader and an author. How did Eloisa make me care about characters I disagreed with? I was so impressed I sent her an email asking about her trick. Her answers fascinated me, and I asked if I could post our conversation on our blog.

Eloisa, being the gracious lady she is, gave me permission.

Dear Belinda,

Thank you for this lovely note!  I’m sorry it took me a while to answer.  My characters were manipulative—I am too *g*.  At any rate, I’m glad you decided to like them anyway.  One of my goals as a writer is not to write characters that everyone will love, every time—but to try to write characters who have realistic traits, but still fall in love and are lovable.

I’ll give a shot to your three questions:

How do you transform your passion into focused research?
Passion is a vague word for writing…. what I have is an idea.  The idea generally springs from some sort of historical fact, say the condition of toilets in the Georgian period (When the Duke Returns) or the discovery of digitalis (This Duchess of Mine) or the disgraceful conditions behind child-workers & gold wire buttons (A Duke of Her Own).  I do just as much research as I need to to feel that I have a handle on that situation–because always the goal of a book is to create a great story, not to give readers an information dump.  Knowing too much can be a liability sometimes.

How do you translate your research into an entertaining narrative?
See above.  I take a problem: something that interests me about the past and then weave a story about it.  For Affair before Christmas, for example, I found myself wondering what it was really like to have all that tall Marie Antoinette hair piled on one’s head.  Voila:  the plot springs from the question.

How do you sneak an underlying message into your entertaining narrative?
Well, underlying messages…  I don’t know that I have all that many of those.  I guess some come along with the characters.  When I created a drunk in Much Ado about You, for example, I dried him out in Taming the Duke, so there was a message there about alcohol.  But I don’t have the sense that many of my readers are looking to my books to solve their substance abuse problems.  If I have an underlying message it would be that it IS possible to have a thoughtful, loving, and kindly relationship–and no woman should settle for less.  And in tandem with that, marriage is no picnic, and that kind of relationship needs as much nourishing as any other.  And finally, that every man can learn to be good in bed.

Awesome answers, right? And, can I just say how exciting it is to have an author respond to an email when you figure they are way too busy? Indie authors take note!

So I responded to Eloisa’s email because I thought she wasn’t giving herself enough credit with her answer to my third question…

Eloisa,

Thank you for the reply! Yes, your answers do help, and give me insight into your writing. My mother, for instance, doesn’t like manipulative characters, and doesn’t understand why anyone would write about them. This is very helpful for me to explain why and how a writer can go in this direction.

I suppose underlying messages come more from readers’ perceptions of our work, rather than our purposeful insertion of a message. In This Duchess of Mine, I felt as though the underlying message was to never give up; that people can mature and make a difficult situation work if they both try. It’s a good thing to keep in mind for a young, professional, single girl like me!

Suffice it to say, I’m not sure I could ever pull it off myself. Props to you for working with difficult-to-love-but-we-love-them-anyway characters!

So there you have it. Big name authors like Eloisa James are pretty fricking sweet. I’m definitely going to check out another of her books just because I feel I understand her a little better and will probably enjoy her writing more because of it.

All the best,

Belinda

Do I Pass the Page 99 Test?

Dear Reader,

We have 22 amazing backers, bringing us to the 40% funded mark. Thank you! Your support spurred me to complete the current draft of Haunting Miss Trentwood in record time.

So in the writing world, there is this test called the Page 99 test. The basic idea is that you turn to page 99 of the book you’re thinking of reading. If you like the page, you will probably like the book.

There is an entire website dedicated to seeing if this test is a valid way of judging a book. I’m interested in putting Haunting Miss Trentwood to the test, so here we go! I give you page 99.

Hartwell figured he should have been more afraid of Mary at that point. Instead, there was the oddest sense of admiration and respect welling inside him, which felt ironic and perverse, to say the least. And satisfying, to know he had broken her shell. She had spirit. He couldn’t fault her that, especially when she applied it so unlike his sister.

“All right,” he said.

Mary stopped. She rounded on him, mouth open to spew another litany at him. “What?”

“I agreed to look over your paperwork, so I shall. I’ll admit I wanted to do so originally because I wanted to confirm you were or were not the blackmailer.” He smiled. “At least now I don’t have to pretend otherwise.”

Mary’s hands bunched into fists.

Hartwell wondered if Pomeroy* had taught her a thing or two.

When her fist connected with his jaw, he had his answer. In spades.

Do I pass?

All the best,

Belinda

- – -

* Pomeroy is the butler with an interesting past…a rather successful boxer.

** This is cross-posted at my Kickstarter project.