It was a lean week in terms of time for research, but we still came up with a few posts we’d like to share with you this Friday.

The week started with an exciting announcement about a new line: Belle Bridge Books, posted by Deb Dixon. The blog post states:

“What we are looking for is writers with unique voices who create strong fantasy, dark fantasy and urban fantasy stories with compelling characters–male or female.

We’re looking at some young adult. Very excited about that. If you’re interested in querying, head on over to the website: http://www.bellbridgebooks.com/“

If you’ve got a suitable project, we hope you’ll give them a query and we wish you luck!

Junta42, a content marketing and custom publishing blog, posted its NEW TOP 42 BLOGS LIST. The list includes a variety of content marketing blog sites, ranging from online marketing, new media, viral content, and blogging — all things we envision could help a writer in some way. Check out this wealth of information HERE.

Lynn Viehl of the Paperback Writer shared a clever post this week in which she makes STORY VOWS, or the TEN PROMISES [she's] MADE TO [her] WIP. While all 10 resonate with us, we want to give a special highlight to vow #4: “I will give you the best I’ve got, not whatever’s left over after the rest of the world is through beating the hell out of me for the day.”

Every so often we need some tough love to help kickstart the writing, and our friend Barb at the Moody Muses had a lot of love to share this week. Check out her TOUGH LOVE POST FOR A DEAR FRIEND in which she asks, How bad do you want it? Barb, we love you for your tough love and friendship!

And since we Purple Hearts have a lot of interest in YA books and the writing of such, we thought we’d close out the week by sharing this next blog — not because it has anything to do with books or publishing, but because it’s a great glimpse into the life of a teen fashionista. We loved her post this week on CHANGE YOUR SHOES, CHANGE YOUR DAY. We [purple] heart her!

So that’s it for now. As always, please share your suggestions in the comments section of today’s post. And don’t forget — at the end of the day today, we’ll choose one lucky winner to receive a copy of Nancy Haddock’s debut novel, La Vida Vampire. To be eligible for the drawing, post a comment to Nancy’s Honorary Heartlette guest post by the end of the day today.

Have a great writing weekend!

Writer’s block for a writer is like a broken leg for a marathoner. You can’t do the thing that brings you stress relief, releases endorphins (anyone who’s written that perfect scene knows the ‘writer’s high’) or fulfills a life long dream.

Yet a runner can go to a doctor who can put the leg in a cast, and after an indeterminate amount of time, the leg will heal. Maybe some rehab is necessary, but most likely the runner will be back on her feet in no time. Back to training and reaching that goal. For a writer, there is no literary doctor. No prescribed healing tasks that will set it right. Nothing to guarantee a complete restore to health. So what does one do? What did I do?

First, I tried to push through it, but then remembered my personal promise to not force myself to do anything in life that wasn’t fun. Then I took a vacation, otherwise known as giving up. And I enjoyed it. For a while. I read, I watched way too much TV and I walked around aimlessly without that one thing that I did for MYSELF and for personal enjoyment. And I realized I missed it. I MISSED WRITING.

So the cast is off and I’m ready to start my rehab. I surfed the web, looking for sites to overcome writer’s block and I came across this great one: http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/wblockquotes.htm

Writers on Writing: Overcoming Writer’s Block from Richard Nordquist http://grammar.about.com/mbiopage.htm. On the site, he captures numerous points in a writer’s career where writer’s block may interfere with the process and uses quotes from successful authors to help jumpstart over the hurdles. These are the ones that caught my eye, but I recommend you refer to the site for full details:

GETTING STARTED:
§ “The easiest thing to do on earth is not write.”
(William Goldman)
§ “Writing is 90 percent procrastination: reading magazines, eating cereal out of the box, watching infomercials. It’s a matter of doing everything you can to avoid writing, until it is about four in the morning and you reach the point where you have to write.”
(Paul Rudnick)

The easiest thing to do is not write- very true. There are all the things that Paul Rudnick itemized that you can do to not write. BUT, and this is a big but, if you are a writer, if composing sentences and scenes is in your blood, after a while, the hardest thing to do is not write. It shows in your attitude and behaviors. It hurts.

CAPTURING IDEAS:
§ “I carry a notebook with me everywhere. But that’s only the first step. Ideas are easy. It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.”
(Sue Grafton)

I started doing this. Jotting down ideas, moments, descriptions of setting and people. This helped me realize that I was back in my writer’s head- seeing the world as a resource and it excited me.

COPING WITH THE BADNESS:
§ “We can’t be as good as we’d want to, so the question then becomes, how do we cope with our own badness?”
(Nick Hornby)
§ “You don’t start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it’s good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That’s why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.”
(Octavia Butler)
§ “People have writer’s block not because they can’t write, but because they despair of writing eloquently.”
(Anna Quindlen)
§ “I think writer’s block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if you sit down at the keys long enough, sooner or later something will come out.”
(Roy Blount, Jr.)
§ “Lower your standards and keep writing.”
(William Stafford)

WOW- this section is what made me see the light. What hit me over the head and said, “You idiot! You let your inner fears stop you from doing something you loved!” I did stop writing, even this blog, because I felt my writing was horrible. I had let people read my last novel without it being polished and the feedback was nonexistent. I should’ve held myself back until I knew it was ready and showed it to someone who would give me feedback on what was right and what still needed work.

ESTABLISING A ROUTINE”
§ I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at 9 o’clock every morning.”
(William Faulkner)
§ “I have to get into a sort of zone. It has something to do with an inability to concentrate, which is the absolute bottom line of writing.”
(Stephen Fry)
§ “Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”
(Barbara Kingsolver)

With all life demands, I do find it hard to establish a daily routine when it comes to my writing. The idea of putting six pages together each day won’t work for me. Instead, I hope to carve out one day a week that I can concentrate on my latest work. Progress won’t be easy, but I can use other unstructured time to think, jot down notes and observe the world to further develop characters and scenes. That way, even though I only have a set number of hours each week to write, I am working on my story every day.

WRITING:
§ “My block was due to two overlapping factors: laziness and lack of discipline. If you really want to write, then shut yourself in a room, close the door, and WRITE. If you don’t want to write, do something else. It’s as simple as that.”
(Mary Garden
§ “If you want to write, write it. That’s the first rule.”
(Robert Parker)
§ “The writer’s duty is to keep on writing.”
(William Styron)
§ “Read a lot. Write a lot. Have fun.”
(Daniel Pinkwater)

It sounds so easy, go write, but when you’ve fallen into one of the above traps, it’s not just about putting words on the page. It’s finding your inner confidence to battle the critical demons or carving out the time to join coherent sentences into paragraphs. Or maybe it’s figuring out the conflict that will tear your hero and heroine apart or even developing your characters. No matter what the cause of your writer’s block, I empathize with you and feel your pain. I promise the cast will come off eventually and when you are ready, you will be able to run again. And maybe even fly!

-Meg

Inspiration is a funny thing.

It comes at weird times in different ways and surprising avenues. Sometimes just hearing or thinking about things outside your normal scope of interest can spur a inspired moment.

Here are some things that have inspired me in the last week:

Marissa Doyle’s first book, Bewitching Season, came out – it’s a fun read with character’s you’ll fall in love with. Don’t believe me? Go check out her character being interviewed at NineteenTeen for a chance to win a copy.

Marley Gibson’s first two books came out this week and seeing her joy – as well as getting to share it – at her book launch party was so inspiring!

My CP while looking at Markbearer came back this week to tell me how much she enjoyed reading it. My CP is asking for book two!

My characters have been driving me crazy. They want their stories told now! And hearing the questions people are asking about the next book, does this happen, is that person good or bad, will these two end up together. . . Is definitely inspiring!

StumbleUpon is a new toy for me. Sanroe was kind enough to kick off the Purple Heart’s summary page and now I’m addicted to clicking the next button to see what’s out there. I’ve found title generators, fun writing prompts, industry information, and other author’s sharing their stories – all these make me want to set pen to paper.

Other writers – I was lucky enough to hear Diana Groe (Emily Bryan) speak last night. She was witty, intelligent and informative. I’ve gone to hunt down another one of her books already. She told a great story about Staying Published – it really pushed me to keep moving forward.

Classes and Classmates – I’m taking Margie Lawson’s online class on Deep EDITing and highly recommend it. But one of the most inspiring moments so far was when Margie quoted classmate Nancy Haddock’s next book as an example. WOW! To get your book quoted in a class as a strong example of great craft – not to mention being in the class when it happened.  Plus, I was even more excited knowing that Nancy was blogging for us this month too!

Spring (or summer or fall or winter) – While fall will always be my favorite season, any time the weather changes seems to be a kick in the butt for me – Each season a earthy-makeover for the landscape around us.

So, find something this week that makes you look at your writing with new eyes, excited and inspired and then, Go Write
bria

Just a reminder that we will be giving away a copy of Nancy Haddock’s debut book, LA VIDA VAMPIRE, at the end of the week.  Please visit Nancy’s guest blog on The Long and Winding Road and post a comment to be eligible.  A lucky winner will be chosen at random on Friday afternoon.

I had a college student’s weekend in that my weekend started on Thursday night. Sadly, I no longer have the mental and physical stamina of a college student so while I had a nice, long, busy weekend, this Monday morning feels as though it has come all too soon.

I’ll characterize my weekend by saying I spent it supporting the arts – such a fun string of days, it’s no wonder the time flew!

- Thursday night I attended an author talk, where three superstar authors spoke to a sold-out crowd about writing and life
- Friday night I attended a book launch party for a debut author and dear friend
- Saturday night I attended an opera recital
- And yesterday, I hope you all stopped by the blog to help us welcome another dear friend, Nancy Haddock, as our guest and to celebrate the release of her debut book, LA VIDA VAMPIRE

And while all of these people from my weekend are solo artists, I am reminded that it often does take a village to make our projects come to fruition. Whether in the support of a critique partner, a commiserating peer, or a loyal, caring loved one there to help pick up the pieces when they fall or help us keep up the good work when things go well, we are not as alone as it often feels. Seeing the care and support during each of these artists’ events, makes me grateful not only for being able to support them in the way(s) I can, but also for the people who provide such medicine for me.

So while I’m toiling away on seemingly endless writing conundrums, I will think back to this weekend and remember the strength and creativity and forward momentum that true friendship can inspire. And when I hit the proverbial wall, I hope to draw on that strength, creativity, and positive momentum, and keep writing!

-Jessica

The Long and Winding Road

I’ve been a member of RWA for 24 years now. Last February I sold my first book in a two-book contract to Berkley, and La Vida Vampire, my debut in this new series was released on April 1st.

So, was I a horrible writer during my first 23 years in RWA?

No. Though I’m a better writer now than I was then (ya think?), I placed in and won contests early on. I had a great agent within a few years of joining RWA. I received good rejection letters. Published friends who read my work asked why I wasn’t published yet.

So, why was my road to publication so long and winding? I attribute it to three main reasons.

First, balance in my writing life. When we join RWA, we tend to join one or more chapters. We may tend (like me!) to get involved in volunteering for the chapter, or even volunteering at the National level. I found myself accepting an appointment to serve an unexpired term on the RWA Board less than a year after I’d joined, and this was at a time when the Board members chaired virtually every job to be done. We had one full-time employee, and the organization was growing by leaps! Talk about time devouring! I met wonderful people who are still friends. I learned how to break my comfort zone wide open. I gleaned information about the publishing business just by having meals with other writers – some published, some not.

What I failed to do during all my Kamikaze volunteering days was to balance doing the jobs with doing the writing. I let job deadlines consume me instead of letting the flow of writing consume me. So my advice to those who tirelessly lend their expertise to organizations – writing, PTA, whatever – is to create balance in writing and volunteer activities. Find out what a job requires in as much detail as possible, including the daily/ weekly/ monthly time it takes. If this is a new kind of job for you, double the time you think you’ll spend on it. You may not use double the time, but if you don’t, you get to write!

A second reason for the winding road was that serious family issues came up, such as my middle management husband being “downsized” out of a job. During this period, I also faced challenges with my children, and I went back to teaching. I tried to write in spite of the chaos, but found myself frozen. I couldn’t write in the upheaval – not for publication anyway. I just couldn’t shake the internal editor who had me changing words before I’d written a complete sentence. And I don’t mean a compound, complex sentence! When the internal editor took over, concentration and confidence vanished.

So, if you have a yappy internal editor, I beg you to destroy that negative voice now! Think twice before you let him/ her out again. Ever. I let mine out during my revisions of La Vida Vampire, and banished her again within minutes. She hadn’t mellowed a bit, and still had nothing constructive to contribute! Whether internal or external, surround yourself with only the constructive voices!

SIDEBAR: One of the positive outcomes of going through intense family times was that I came out of them with clear experience in conflict, confrontation and combat. Since the major criticism of my writing had been that I hid behind humor rather than letting characters confront, the lessons paid off when I began writing in earnest again! There’s always an upside!

The last component of my long, winding road had to do with finding the courage to write what I wanted to, the way I wanted to, rather than “following the market.” I came into RWA in a time when new writers were expected to break into category first. If you proved yourself, you might move up to Single Title. Lead title. Mainstream. But you didn’t simply burst onto the scene in single title. In this sense, we all followed the market, more or less.

When I came back to writing for publication in the late 1990s, romance publishing was no longer quite so restrictive. For the first time, I wrote romantic suspense … with humor, though, so that didn’t pan out. When I moved to St. Augustine in 2002, I decided to release the stories I’d been working on in order to start fresh. I let the energy of my new hometown permeate me, and my story ideas. I was actually working on a cozy mystery series when the idea for La Vida Vampire gripped me and wouldn’t let go.

I’m still working on the cozy series, but my first loyalty is to Cesca, Saber and the gang of La Vida Vampire. It may have been a long and winding road that I wouldn’t wish for anyone else but we must all find – and follow – our own paths. I trust that yours will be shorter and straighter!

+++

Thank you, Nancy!

We will be giving away a copy of La Vida Vampire to one lucky winner at the end of the week! Post a note to the comments section to be eligible. The winner will be chosen at random on Friday afternoon.

. . . Another Friday and another chance for us to share some great writing and publishing resources from around the blog-o-sphere.

Jonathan Lyons does a rundown on being a writer and getting paid.  It’s more than just shouting, “Show me the money!” at your agent.  For his post on GETTING PAID, click HERE. 

And to continue on a similar strain, Chip MacGregor from Writer Interrupted had a great post this week on GOING FROM PART-TIME TO FULL-TIME WRITING.  To read how, click HERE.

LitMatch featured a post this week that talks about the SASE and the upcoming postage hike.  To find this post on POSTAGE CHANGE COMING - FUTURE-PROOF YOUR QUERIES “FOREVER”, click HERE.

Michael S. Hyatt, CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, (a predominantly Christian book publisher), had a great post this week on CHOOSING WHICH BOOKS TO PUBLISH.  The information is helpful for anyone looking to break into the ranks of the published, whether you write Christian books or otherwise.  To read his take on the topic, click HERE.

A number of the blogs we looked at this week called for a review of goals at this point in the year, so we thought a post on motivation would be a helpful one to share.  We loved this post from Pick the Brain on MOTIVATION DOESN’T NEED TO BE SEXY; OR HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED UNTIL THE END.  To read HOW, click HERE.

In case you hadn’t heard, Janet Reid from Fine Print Literary has a blog where she dissects queries.  If you want to submit to ‘the shark,’ you can find the link HERE for her blog, Query Shark.

Are shapeshifters the new vampires?  You be the judge — click HERE to check out this new group blog.

And one last note — Brenda Novak has kicked off her fourth annual online auction for diabetes research.  After raising $250,000 last year, this year’s goal is to raise $300,000!  Click HERE to see the list of amazing items up for bid and to, of course, participate!

So . . . that’s the list for today.  As always, please share your favorite posts from cyberland in the comments section — we would love to learn about the resources you’ve found helpful!  Have a great weekend, and keep writing!

Way back in August, Marley Gibson joined us as our Honorary Heartlette.  At the time, we knew that her first two books would be making their way into the world, and we are thrilled to report that they both have been released TODAY!

The books, Zeta or Omega? and The New Sisters are written under the pen name Kate Harmon.

These are the two launch books of a much anticipated new series and we wish Marley the best of success with them!

Since I began writing I’ve heard the horror stories.

I sent in a query and never heard back.

Such and Such agent/editor has had my partial for nine months and still nothing.

She asked for sample pages and responded eleven months later.

So, when I sent out my query and thought “I’ll have a week of and then can start a slow read of my manuscript to take care of all the little stuff,” I didn’t think this would be a problem.

Then it began – the request for partials came any where from one hour and forty-eight minutes to not yet (two weeks later and only on the snail-mail queries.)

I’ll admit it. I’m shocked. I had been programmed to believe that the publish industry moves like molasses from start to finish. Apparently, it starts like shooting the rapids and slows to a meandering river.

And then the real shocker – A request for a Full (note the capitalization)

Now, with all the little things to do, I’ve canceled every other aspect of my life I could: Dinners with friends, hearing speakers, going to the movies, reading.

It’s amazing how long the ‘little things’ take. Sure, each one really does take just a second or two, but how many are there? Are you sure you got them all? Did changing one make you go back to adjust another?

So, take this as a cautionary tale. Polishing should be done before Querying. I know they say that, and we all think — “But I’m going to have weeks, maybe months, before I hear back from anyone.”

Don’t do it.

Learn from me.

And Go Write,

-bria

Over the years I have heard similar advice in response to the ‘how to get published question’ and almost all of that advice boils down to some variation of the same four things, all words that begin with the letter P.

Preparation - to put in proper condition or readiness. I have included a mention of ‘product’ below, but being prepared requires more than having written. It helps to have market research, business savvy, professional contacts, self-awareness, and a plan. Any and all preparation will help put you on better footing when confronted with THE CALL when it comes.

Persistence - to continue steadfastly or firmly in some state, purpose, course of action, or the like, esp. in spite of opposition, remonstrance, etc. There are some people who find publishing gold straight out of the gate while others toil for years with mixed or no success. As Thoreau said, ‘Go confidently in the direction of your dreams . . .’ If publication is your end goal, may you persist and not be distracted from your goal.

Patience - an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. Anyone who has ever sat down to write a book knows that it is a process that takes time. And even if you are a quick, prolific writer, the wheels of the publishing industry tend to move at a slow pace. There are many things you can do to help during the interminable delays — keep writing (of course!), read, volunteer for your writing groups, mentor newer writers, devise and present writing workshops, research, treat yourself to a writer’s date, vent to your writing friends . . . whatever you need to do to keep yourself sane instead of running your imagination in unhealthy circles.

Perseverance - steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. No matter how much joy writing may (or may not!) bring, writing is work . . . and is often hard work. And that’s just the act of fighting to sit down every day with the need to produce strings of words, coherent thoughts, and strong sentences. Pages and pages of what we hope is good, intoxicating, evocative prose. In the outside world, there lurks around every corner the villains of rejection, critics, naysayers, thwarters, bloodsuckers. I know of one writer who keeps a rhino (small, stuffed, animal) on his desk to remind him of the thick skin he needs to endure the sharp spears thrown in this business. But he stays steady on his course, determined to persevere and succeed. Which he does.

Do you have any other Ps you would like to add to the four above?

I would like to add two more Ps to that list . . .

Product - the best way to get published is to write and to have written. Write the best book you can, and, when you finish that one, start the next one. Keep learning and growing, but, no matter what, keep writing.

Professional. Nathan Bransford had an interesting post in the past few weeks on how personality counts in increasing ways in the publishing business. And while the product is what sells, having a complete and total professional package can only help you in the long run. As with any job search, you want to put your best foot forward. And I believe that placing your product with the right professionals is akin to finding yourself a new job.

Even with the four Ps (or six, or however many you would like to add), timing also plays a huge factor. I know I have said it before, but I believe that getting published is about having the right product in the right hands at the right time. But if you are doing what you need to do to get yourself published, I also believe that you can create your own luck. Keep minding your Ps and, most of all, keep writing!

-Jessica