Never give up. These are simple words that best describe the long road that lies ahead for any new author wanting their books published. My experience is no different.

I wrote my first novel, The Patience County War five years ago when I turned 40. I had just experienced a significant business set back that impacted me on all levels, not the least of which was a blow to my self esteem. I had been writing since I was a teenager but had never put enough emphasis on it for it to be meaningful. I had a great deal of time on my hands as I returned to the practice of law after leaving it to open a restaurant and pursue other business opportunities. I turned to writing to help relieve stress, to occupy myself and to do something that I felt I had some talent for. It was an important decision.  Not only did I build momentum as my novel unfolded, it helped to center me as I rebuilt my practice. I was able to release some of my frustrations through my writing. I felt that if I worked hard at it I could eventually get published and then write more books. Little did I know that writing the book is the easy part.

Once I’d completed, The Patience County War, It was professionally edited. After I’d completed the rewrite, I felt I was ready to begin the process of finding an agent. I must have sent out more than 200 paper query letters to agents I’d found on the internet. I sent out countless other e-mail queries. I got piles of rejections, even after a few were willing to review a few sample chapters. I tried to rationalize all of the various reasons why I couldn’t find an agent. I was and am very confident in the entertainment value of my writing, but I just couldn’t seem to get a break. I’d read that many authors, Stephen King included, wrote several novels before they found a publisher. I wasn’t sure I could stick with it and write several, but I figured that my ego could take one more. I took my favorite character from Patience, Madeleine Toche and decided to write about her exploits as a young woman fighting the Nazis in occupied France during World War Two. I knew it was a saturated genre, but her story was so compelling that I had to write it. I’m glad that I did, not just because I eventually got it published, but I discovered many other characters that I now will get to write about in the future when I tell their stories.

Writing is not a privilege, it is a right. Regardless of whether or not I have any degree of commercial success as I go along, I know that readers enjoy what I write. That means that I have a talent for it. Modesty is fine, but not when you believe in your work to the degree that any writer pursuing publishing must have.

My published novel, Cold Lonely Courage tells Madeleine’s story of trial and anguish as a lone assassin fighting the Nazis in occupied France. Perhaps some of her fortitude helped me to carry on and continue to try to find an agent or publisher.

When I finally found an agent, I thought I’d now cleared the hardest hurdle. The agent offered Courage to several publishers without success. Unfortunately my agent withdrew her representation due to a medical emergency. I was on my own again. I decided to try a direct approach and pursue small independent publishers on my own. Several expressed an interest and requested manuscripts as I included the fact that I had previously been represented. I am confident that was a factor that initially got me out of the slush pile. The fact that my work had been ‘vetted’ to a degree got Cold Lonely Courage some additional consideration. When Black Rose Writing offered a standard publishing contract, I took it.

Black Rose Writing has been professional, responsive and helpful on many fronts and I can’t thank them enough for providing me the opportunity to present my work to the world.

As with any new author, self-promotion is integral to future success. I worked both with my publisher and on my own in that regard and am currently engaged in a two month virtual book tour through Pump Up Your Book Promotion. The market place is changing daily. Soon most all media will be distributed on-line. I wanted to get the word out as far and wide as possible.

Ironically, after Black Rose Writing agreed to publish Courage, I ran an internet search to check on my copyright and found out that I had won first place in a national fiction competition that I’d entered, the 15th Annual Writers Network Screenplay and Fiction Competition. I had moved my office and failed to inform the competition coordinators of my new address and e-mail. I couldn’t believe it and wondered that if I’d have known sooner perhaps that might have helped me find another agent or publisher sooner. Life is funny that way.

I’m sure my story is similar to thousands of others. The only advice that I have is to never give up. I don’t intend to.

About the author:

Soren Petrek is a practicing trial attorney with a passion for studying World War Two.  He lived in England and France listening to people’s stories of struggle and sacrifice during the darkest periods of the war.  Soren’s debut novel, Cold Lonely Courage was inspired by the true story of a young Belgian woman who helped countless Jewish children escape from the terrors of the Nazi regime.  Soren lives with his wife, Renee and sons, Max and Riley, in central Minnesota. You can visit Soren’s blog at http://coldlonelycourage.blogspot.com. Cold Lonely Courage is Soren’s debut novel.

Giveaway:

Open to US addresses only. Contest open until August 25.

Leave a comment, and fill up this form.

For the comment, discuss what ‘never give up‘ means to you.

Tags: Soren Paul Petrek

Join me today in thanking  Robyn DeHart for making time to write this guest post for me. She’s the author of The Legend Hunters series. It’s chuck full of adventures, romance, and excitement. It’s like Romancing the Stone meets Indiana Jones, except much better. (remember that movie with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas – that’s Romancing the Stone).

Desire Me (The Legend Hunters)
by Robyn DeHart
Mass Market Paperback
List Price: $6.99
Published in 2010
ISBN-10: 0-446-54197-4

Ladies and gents, here’s Robyn DeHart!

For today’s guest blog I was asked to discuss my writing process and whether or not I plan or outline my stories before I write and what my schedule is like. All great questions and that’s something I always want to know about other writers. It seems like we’re always wanting to know if the way we do it is right or normal so I think it’s a natural conversation for writers to share.

My writing process is full of steps and I have lots of tools in my writers toolbox that I like to use–though I certainly don’t use all of them on every book. That’s the thing about writing, no book is the same as the last one. Every one of them writes a little bit different than the last. That isn’t to say you can’t have a similar process for each book and for me there are some things that never seem to change like the fact that I’m a draft writer–meaning I write several drafts of the book before I ever show it to critique partners, my agent, or editor.

I am what you would consider to be a plotter. I do a significant amount of work before I start writing, work that mostly consists of character work (archetypes, goals, characteristics, physical appearance, etc.), and story structure. I do scene-by-scene plotting though nothing is ever truly set in stone and I tend to be flexible with myself so that if something isn’t working, I go back to the brainstorming and figure out a new plan or if while I’m writing I get a new scene idea I’ll go ahead and write it.

That first draft, or discovery draft (or crappy draft) is where I’m figuring out what’s working about the external story, where the holes are, but primarily who the characters are. I’m definitely a character driven writer so they dictate a lot about where the story goes. If something doesn’t feel true to a character, I either change the character or change the plot to fix it. I’m a pretty analytical writer and though my characters become very real to me while I’m writing, I’m always aware of the fact that they aren’t truly real and I, as the writer, can change anything I need to change in order for the story to be right.

So after the discovery draft comes the subsequent drafts (usually 3 or 4) where I layer in emotion and texture and description and strengthen conflict and sexual tension and all those wonderful elements that go into great books. Then I send it on to my critique partners. I go through the book once more with their suggestions before it goes to my agent and editor. It can be a lengthy process depending on how difficult the book is because some books are more challenging than others.

As for my actual day-to-day schedule, well that can vary depending on what’s going on. But for the most part I like to write in the mornings after my husband has gone to the office or if he’s working at home, then after I have breakfast and check email and whatnot I’ll get to work. Some days because of deadlines or because the story is flowing I’ll keep going after lunch. But most of the time if the words are rocking I can get my pages done by lunch or shortly thereafter. Then I can spend the afternoon either reading or doing some administrative work related to the writing–answering fan mail, updating the website, etc.

When I’m on deadline or when I’m doing my subsequent drafts, I tend to work longer hours. My head gets further entrenched in the story and characters and I plow through. I also do a lot of these drafts by hand, with a red pen on a printed manuscript. I find it’s easier to see where the holes are that way.

So that’s pretty much my writing life.

Check out Desire Me at your local bookstore and let me know what you think of Max and Sabine’s adventure. Dare to love a Legend Hunter.

Thanks for letting me join you today and for participating in my blog tour.

Giveaway:
Open to US and Canada. No Po Box please.
Answer the question below, and fill this form.

Imagine yourself a writer. What kind of routine or life do you think it will be?

Winners will be chosen on July 8.

Tags: Robyn DeHart

The Hazards of the Sailing Away Fantasy

Every Boat Turns South
by J.P. White
Hardcover, 240 Pages
Published 2009 by Permanent Press
ISBN-10: 157962188

There are few fantasies more compelling in American life than sailing away and leaving the rat race behind. Yet less than half the couples who embark on the “booze, cruise and snooze” life in the islands find the adventure bliss they are seeking. The other half routinely find trouble and lots of it including theft, infidelity, drugs, divorce, loss of boat and sometimes murder. The sailing life — which is the setting for my debut novel Every Boat Turns South — provides more than enough fodder for the mystery/crime genre because unsavory characters linger on every dock, beach and fishing pier. And it turns how sailing away is hard work. You need to navigation, engine repair, be reasonably fit and nimble, and have enormous reserves of good cheer and resilience because things will go wrong, the weather will turn foul, and will run aground somewhere. What else?

We don’t have to look very far to see that pirates are alive and well in our world. Wherever there is water, there are men and women on boats with guns who know those waters better than anyone else. The Bahamas, where my story travels to, have always been used for drug smuggling because of their proximity to the States. In the 1980s, there were hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine coming into Florida through the islands. Now, there is both human and drug smuggling. If nothing else, the law of the universe tells us opposites always attract. Where there is great beauty and peacefulness there is also the worm of its undoing.

In my novel, a boat delivery from West Palm Beach to St. Thomas in the B.V.I. gets sidetracked by the Trade Winds shifting. The Trades blow from the northeast from November to April then switch around to the southeast starting in April. Matt Younger, my protagonist, is a skipper on a forty-foot trimaran that pulls into South Caicos on April Fool’s Day. Problem is, Matt is heading south and he gets caught there. While he’s waiting for a front to push back against the Trades, he gets mixed up with a drug pilot and makes a reckless decision to steal a cocaine drop out from under the pilot’s nose. When the weather turns foul, sailors make bad decisions all the time. In fact, they’ve been doing this for thousands of years. Every Boat Turns South is a sailing adventure retold to a dying father. Bad decisions are the standing rigging of this tale, but then one good decision arrives, but it’s not one that anyone expects.

About the author:

J.P. White has published essays, articles, fiction, reviews, interviews and poetry in over a hundred publications including The Nation, The New Republic, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, The Gettysburg Review, American Poetry Review, and Poetry (Chicago). He is a graduate of New College in Sarasota, Florida, Colorado State University and Vermont College in Fine Arts. He is the author of five books of poems and a novel, Every Boat Turns South.

Giveaway:

First, huge thanks to Dorothy and the author for this giveaway.
Leave a comment, and fill in this form at the same time.
Contest open to US. No PO Box address, please.
Extra entries:
+3 tell me something else about this author
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Please leave the links in the comment form.
Drawing will be on June 4.

Tags: Dorothy Thompson, J.P. White

For me there’s something magical about the 19^th Century. Blame it on Fitzwilliam Darcy, but I’ve been obsessed with the time period since I was 12 years old and first read Pride and Prejudice. I think a lot of us feel that way, or at least I hear from a lot of people who say they do. Since that time, I’ve immersed myself in all things Regency. So when I decided to embark on a series set in my favorite time period, I wanted to tweak it a bit and make it truly magical.

The world I created for the Westfield Brothers contains all the glamour and elegance of Regency, England – elaborate balls, beautiful gowns, and stately manors. However I added a paranormal twist to my version. A bit of magic, if you will. Heroes who grow fur, sprout tails, and howl at the full moon and heroines (some of them anyway) who cast spells, mix potions, and keep their inner witch a secret from society. After all, it wasn’t that long ago – if one lived in the Regency Era – where witches were hunted and killed. Keeping a secret of this nature is a necessity of survival.

And that brings me to the most important element in my world – Secrecy. From the outside, my Regency landscape looks the same as it does many other novels, and even to secondary characters who are none the wiser about what happens in the estate next door or the adjacent opera box. My werewolves know exactly what they are, but have to keep it a secret from society or risk their own peril. So they do what is expected of them. They attend balls, the theatre, horse races, and hunting parties except when the moon is full, to keep their most inner selves safe from the rest of society. They wear Hessian boots, waistcoats, cravats, and wolfish smiles; but only their true love will be entrusted to keep their secret safe.

In my debut trilogy, I introduce you to my world and to the Brothers Westfield – Simon, the Duke of Blackmoor, in A Certain Wolfish Charm; Lord Benjamin in Tall, Dark and Wolfish; and Lord William in The Wolf Next Door. The three of them are vastly different from each other in personality (I think birth order is mainly to blame for that); though all have their own niche in Regency society. Two things band these brothers together – familial bonds and their shared secret that cannot be trusted to just anyone. To give you taste, here’s an excerpt for Tall, Dark and Wolfish where we learn that Benjamin has a bit of problem that no other werewolf he knows of has ever had. Under the guise of a typical social club for the gentlemen high society, these werewolves are able to meet and keep track of the goings-on in their world:

Rain poured over the brim of Lord Benjamin Westfield’s beaver hat. He stepped out of the darkness and crossed the threshold of Canis House, the exclusive social club to which he belonged. He handed his drenched greatcoat and ruined hat to the awaiting footman and walked into the warm light of the drawing room.

Ben glanced around at the other members, searching the faces for his older brothers. They weren’t there. Thank God! He didn’t think he could put on a cheerful face tonight, and they would most certainly see through his dark mood.

“Is the Duke of Blackmoor here this evening?” he asked the footman just to be certain.

The man shook his head. “I have not seen His Grace. However, Lord William was here, my lord.”

Ben looked around the room once more. He didn’t see Will. If he was quick, he could leave before his brother ever knew he was here. “And Major Forster?”

The footman gestured toward the back of the drawing room. “At his usual table, my lord.”

Ben took the first relieved breath he’d had in days, hopeful the major could help him. He thanked the footman and then crossed the room to where his father’s oldest friend sat in a dark corner, sipping whisky. “Am I interrupting?”

Major Desmond Forster’s dark eyes twinkled as he looked up from his drink. “Ah, Benjamin. It’s been an age. Please, please.” He gestured toward an empty chair at his table. “To what do I owe this honor?”

Ben swallowed. It wasn’t something he could just blurt out. In fact, now that he was here, he didn’t know what to say to Forster at all. “I, uh, could use your counsel, sir.”

“My counsel?” The old man leaned back in his seat and grinned. “I am flattered. I thought you generally sought out Blackmoor.”

Usually he did. But this wasn’t something he could discuss with his brother, neither of them. In fact, keeping Simon and Will from learning his secret was of the utmost importance. Ben took a deep breath and leaned in close over the table. “I’m in trouble, Major.”

The man’s smile vanished instantly. “What sort of trouble, Benjamin?”

He held tightly to the table and willed the words out of his mouth. “I didn’t change.”

“You didn’t change?” the officer echoed.

“With the full moon last night,” he explained. “I. Didn’t. Change.”

For the first time in his life as a Lycan man, Benjamin Westfield hadn’t sprouted a tail, long snout, or paws. He’d sought the moon the same way he always did, this time in a clearing in the woods, for his transformation. But last night, nothing happened. A moonbeam touched him, but the change that was so much a part of him didn’t come and he’d stood there for an eternity waiting and wondering why he was broken.

Major Forster’s face drained of its color and his mouth fell open. “You didn’t change?” he repeated, this

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Tags: Danielle Jackson, Lydia Dare, Sourcebooks

Writing From The heart

Writing emotionally packed poetry and prose about life’s experiences, whether joyous or difficult can be a healing experience and a significant way to express the deep emotion I feel as I go through each day. Poetry flows naturally from me as I think about an event or a circumstance, which might have prompted an emotional response inside of me.

My new book, My Heart And Soul is an example of writing from the emotional base and letting go of all the poison of those difficult experiences as well as re-living and sharing the fun and often adventuresome, experiences I have had with other events. When I write I try to be prepared for whatever emotion I find deep within and let it flow through the pen as I write from my heart. I attribute my success so far to the fact that I am writing about what I know about and I am not trying to fake it or create it.
Each subject I write about is from a life experience I have lived through and that makes my writing more heartfelt and allows the reader to have a true glimpse into who I am and how I respond to different situations that I am faced with. When I see a beautiful sunset or a majestic mountain, I am compelled to describe it to my readers so that they can see and feel the same visual I am experiencing. Coming from a background of an art professional, my visual ability allows for me to be more accurate in my descriptions. For those who may not be able to see whatever I am describing, I always maintain the goal of trying to be as accurate in my descriptions as possible in the hopes that my feelings will be transferred to them so that they may experience what I am visualizing and experiencing. My Heart And Soul is an example of how I transfer my deepest thoughts and emotions to paper so that others can experience what I am in each given circumstance.

About the author:

Marilyn Randall has an extensive background in the graphic design industry. Her art background is varied, including business logo design, printing design, silk screened shirt design and miscellaneous mediums for her paintings and illustrating. She published her first book of poetry and prose in 2009 titled My Heart And Soul, following soon after she published six children’s books which she has both written and illustrated. Her newest book and first fiction novel is Quicksand. She is currently working on her seventh children’s book which she plans to release in the summer of 2010. Originally from Medford, Oregon, she continues to write from the serene surroundings of her home on Whidbey Island in Washington State.

Giveaway:
Leave a comment, and fill in this form at the same time.
Contest open to US.
Extra entries: tweet, blog, sidebar link. Please leave the links in the comment form.
Drawing will be two weeks from today.

Tags: Dorothy Thompson, Marilyn Randall