Reader/Writer Tidbits -- August 29, 2008

I wasn't going to post today but I picked up some really good tidbits that I wanted to share.

Agent Jessica Faust of Bookends offers this publishing dictionary for frequently asked questions regarding common publishing terms.

Freight Stories is an online fiction quarterly founded by Victoria Barrett and Andrew Scott, two fiction editors, writers and teachers, when they found the cost of doing a print journal prohibitive. In a recent Novel Journey interview, they said they view the publishing literature as "an act of service and love". (That comment alone makes me curious!) They are looking for stories, shorts, stand-alone novel excerpts, and novellas.

In case you missed it, Tyora Moody, website developer and writer, recently hosted an online workshop entitled "The Next Level Online Marketing: Web 2.0". This is a must read. Everything you ever wanted to know--or at least enough to get you started--with things like Twitter, Vimeo, BlogtalkRadio, and more.

Blogger Amy is sponsoring a Book Blogger Appreciation Week, Sept 15-19, to cheer those of us who willingly blog about books. To participate, get more info here.

Avon Books is sponsoring "Love Gives Back", giving readers the opportunity to preview new books and to read past titles in their entirety online. For every 100,000 pages browsed by readers between Aug 13 - Dec 23, 2008, Avon will donate 100 books to ProLiteracy Worldwide. Get more info here.

Avon is also sponsoring Romance Radio, an new online radio show to connect romance authors directly with their fans.

And last but not least, Tiffany Warren is already planning next year's Faith and Fiction Retreat. Seems like we'll be heading to Daytona Beach. She's currently accepting applications for panelists, both traditionally published and self-published Christian fiction authors. It's an opportunity to promote your books, which will be offered for sale at the retreat, and to connect personally with your fan base. If you're an author who'd like to apply, contact Tiffany by email: tiffany@tiffanylwarren.com. Next year's featured authors will be Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley again, joined by Angela Benson and Tia McCollors. We're going to have a great time. Hope to see you there!

Hubby and I are celebrating our 17th weddding anniversary on tomorrow, August 31st, along with Hubby's brother and his wife (my childhood friend) who are celebrating their 23rd, also on the 31st. Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

Enjoy the weekend!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Visioning My Success as a Writer

While I was at the recent Faith and Fiction retreat, I had a moment during one of the panel discussions when this post came to me. I'm publishing my thoughts here, just as I jotted them down at the retreat.

Visioning Success

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I see myself, my latest release in hand, standing before a room of interested readers and sharing an excerpt.

I hear myself sharing my writing testimony, the one that starts with how I became interested in writing, passes through my first release, and ends with what I'm working on next because the journey isn't over.

I feel the excitement and gratefulness of being able to sign my autograph to the title page of my book, for buyer after buyer who patiently waits in line.

I smell the ink on the crisp new pages of my author copies as I ecstatically unbox my book.

I taste the joy of success.

If you are yet unpublished, do you see yourself as a successful author? If you're already published, how do you see your career unfolding?

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Growing As A Writer

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!!!

I've got a double layer, chocolate fudge cake with chocolate frosting for you! (He occasionally peeks over here so he might actually see this.)

I love you much, Babe!

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I'm up over at Romancing the Blog, where I talk about growing as a writer.

See you there!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

You Can Write Five Words

I was included in the August Carnival of Christian Writers, where folks submit blog posts about things related to their writing journey, i.e. lessons learned, craft tips, The Call, etc. Check it out here.

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In one of our discussions at the Faith and Fiction Retreat, I mentioned that it drives me crazy when I hear writers say you have to write every day. I said, "I don't have a write-every-day kind of life."

Well, multi-published author Victoria Christopher Murray quickly called me on the carpet. She recounted how she'd said she wanted to write for years and her late husband said, paraphrasing, "Yeah, yeah, that's what you said before. When are you going to do it?"

It was when she made the commitment to write one word a day that she became a writer.

Yes, you read that correctly. One word.

Who can't write one word a day?

Victoria, who has a wicked sense of humor, tickled us by telling us she began with "She".

The next day, it was "She said".

And a powerful writing career was begun.

In private, Victoria said to me, "You can write five words. If you don't write every day, you'll never be a writer."

She's right.

I can certainly write five words a day. I write way more than that on all these blog posts and in comments on other people's blogs.

When I think about writing every day, I think about devoting hours to writing. And that I can't do. Wish I could but I've learned that sacrificing my sleep causes me to sacrifice a lot more. Like my patience with my children. Like my ability to navigate the highways safely back and forth to work. Like my energy and my optimism.

Things I'm not willing to sacrifice.

So I have to find other ways. And I'm doing that.

One is reducing the amount of television that I watch. Because it is way more than necessary and certainly more than it should be if I say writing is my priority.

Another is that I'm definitely going to invest in a voice recorder. My writer-friend Bettye Griffin uses one of these and has recommended it to me before.

Also, Victoria reminded me that scribbling words in my car while I drive or working out problems with my wip in my head is all part of writing. I do those things all the time. I carry a notebook with my most places. I even jotted down some ideas about my story and the first part of a scene during one of the sessions at the conference.

So I'm committing to five words a day.

BTW, did you notice that Victoria's advice was exactly five words?

You. Can. Write. Five. Words.

I. Can. Write. Five. Words.

With the exception of this past Sunday, I've written well over five words every day since. I'll never forget this piece of advice or the person who gave it to me.

Thanks Victoria!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

No, She Didn't! and Don't Judge an Author by One Book

ReShonda Tate Billingsley called me out on my blog when I implied I might not get all of the featured books read prior to the Faith and Fiction Retreat.

After I picked myself up, wondering how ReShonda found my blog (Google alerts, I'm sure), I responded and then vowed to read her book, The Pastor's Wife. In full.

I did. And to my surprise, I loved it!

We teased each other about this cyber-encounter throughout the retreat.

The night of her featured book discussion, I confessed why I thought her book might be the one I didn't read and why I was surprised that I enjoyed it.

Because I wasn't looking forward to reading it.

What?

Yes, I said it and yes, I confessed.

The reason I felt the way I did goes back to the first book of Ms. Billingsley's that I read, My Brother's Keeper, which was her debut novel. I read it after she'd already had several other titles published. I'd heard of her as a Christian fiction author so I brought my expectations for Christian fiction to that book. Except when I read it, the book was definitely not Christian fiction.

This soured my taste for ReShonda's books.

In case you don't know, there's an ongoing debate about what constitutes Christian fiction. There are books published by the Christian Booksellers Association, which must adhere to very strict, conservative guidelines. However, there are books published by other publishers which don't meet these guidelines yet are still very much Christian fiction, because they have a Biblical basis and adhere to common albeit it less restrictive standards. Then there are books--a growing number, some might say--that are masquerading as Christian fiction. They throw in a church scene, a pastor, or God's name but beyond that they don't appear to be Christian fiction, based on things what the characters believe and how they behave. I'm not talking what some are calling "edgy" Christian fiction, yet another faction, which deals with raw topics like abortion, domestic violence, sexual abuse, etc. I'm talking about the books where you can tell that just enough stuff was thrown in to make unsuspecting readers think they're Christian fiction, where there's no spiritual journey nor any mention of Christ's grace or redemption.

So when I discovered one of ReShonda's books would be featured, I planned to read it last, if at all. I even considered not attending her session. I wasn't going to say anything against her works but I also wasn't necessarily going to support. Her writing was good. It just wasn't the Christian fiction it purported to be, in my eyes.

Now you know I read all kinds of stuff and enjoy it. But books need to be what they claim to be, especially when it comes to Christian fiction. Don't tell me it is one thing when it's obviously another. I don't like false advertising.

Turns out it was all a bit misunderstanding--and a bit of mistaken judgment on my part.

ReShonda initially self-published My Brother's Keeper, which she never intended to be categorized as Christian fiction. Except that's how readers and booklists began to label it. A mainstream publisher picked her up and reprinted that first book. But first they removed all the references to God stuff. If it wasn't Christian fiction before the publisher got its hands on it, the story definitely wasn't afterwards.

About two years ago, I read the re-released, sanitized version of My Brother's Keeper. So I based my impression on a version that wasn't the author's vision. Of course, I didn't know the backstory. And although not originally released as a Christian fiction author, ReShonda is very much considered to be one now. So I put two and two together and came up with five.

In fact, the whole time I was reading that first book, I kept thinking that I'd read it before, some years ago, but that it had been a bit different, which made me wonder even more.

After reading and enjoying The Pastor's Wife then, hearing the backstory, I felt so badly that I'd been so judgmental that I had to confess to ReShonda, and everyone else who was listening. We'd had an earlier discussion over what made Christian vs. inspirational fiction, about reader expectations, and about whether these authors had even set out to write Christian fiction, which ReShonda stated she had not. (Neither had Victoria Christopher Murray.)

ReShonda calls her later books, which are definitely Christian fiction, "Christian Friction". It fits.

My eyes and heart were opened and we shared a good laugh.

What readers get may not be what the author intended. That just never occurred to me before hearing this story. A different title, maybe. But wholesale changes?

There are some things an author does not control. Now, I still believe most publishers won't sanitize their authors work, and I by no means intend to malign the publisher. Publishing is a business and the publisher, having purchased the product, packaged it in the way most likely to engender sales. It happens.

Other things happen too. Kristin Nelson recently told of an author who, when looking at their author copies, discovered that the first draft of the ARC was printed rather than the final copy. In addition to that, there were two uncorrected errors on the acknowledgement page. The publisher has scrapped the first print run, a costly error. But what if the author hadn't looked closely at her author copies and they'd made it into the hands of readers? How many readers would blame the publisher? How many the author, maybe believing that the authors writing wasn't up to snuff?

So my "one-and-done" rule has flown out the window. If I read an author and don't like the book, I won't assume I won't like the rest of their works. I'll remember that there may be an underlying story that I'll never know. That maybe something unforeseen happened during the publishing process. And I'll always thinks of ReShonda Tate Billingsley, a warm and funny personality you just have to encounter to fully comprehend and appreciate. I enjoyed her immensely.

Have you ever hated the first book you read by an author? Did you give the author a second try?

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Book Buzz

Okay, I've been tagged for this one by Gwyneth Bolton, Bella McFarland, and at least one other person I can't remember.

Bella tagged me last so I'm starting with her lists. Here's how it works:

I list three categories of books.
5 MUST Read Books.
5 Books on Your Nightstand.
5 Look For These Soon.

Keeping with the theme, I tag bloggers. They should put these same lists on their blog but SUBTRACT one book from each list and ADD one of their own. Then they should tag at least 5 more bloggers.

It will be fun to see how the lists change as it goes around the blogosphere. Please come back to this post and leave a comment so I can see how the lists are changing as they go around the blogosphere. Since this is Book Buzz…please keep your lists to titles released in 2007-2009.

My additions are in BOLD.

MUST Read Books:

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee
Lover Unbound by J.R. Ward
Yellow Moon by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Conception by Kalisha Buckhanon
Better Than, Leslie Esdaile

5 Books on the Nightstand:

Dance with the Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey
From Harvey River by Lorna Goodison
My Soul Cries Out by Sherri Lewis
Murder Mayhem & a Fine Man, Claudia Mair Burney

5 Look For These Soon:

Nailed by Jennifer Lauren
The Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward
The Hood Life: A Bentley Manor Tale by Meesha Mink and De’nesha Diamond
Wounded by Claudia Mair Burney
Rainbow’s End, GiGi Gunn

I've tagged: Tyora Moody , LaShaunda Hoffman, Rhonda McKnight, Vicki Lane, and Angela Benson. (Sorry y'all. Most other bloggers I know have already been tagged.)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Featured Book: Beach Dreams by Trish Perry

My Faith and Fiction roommate, Tyora Moody, a website developer and writer is hosting a two-day workshop on "The Next Level of Online Marketing: Web 2.0" that started yesterday. It's a must-read for anyone trying to market anything, much less a book, online. So feel free to hop over there after you read about today's featured book. --- Patricia

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Today I'm participating in Trish Perry's blog tour for her newest release, Beach Dreams. I'm reading it now and I can already say that it is a fast-paced, quirky, page turner. I'm intrigued by the main character, Tiffany, because she obviously used to have a bit of a mean streak--not evil, just not nice--that she's still trying to tame following her recent acceptance of God's grace in her life. Makes me reflect on what I was like before and right after accepting Christ (I wasn't mean but I was, and am, flawed), and what the world expects of a single young woman in that situation.

I didn't read the first two award-winning books about Kara, Ren, Jeremy, and Tiffany but I might have to go back and find them. The Guy I'm Not Dating won second place in the 2007 RWA/FHL Inspirational Readers Choice Awards and its sequel, Too Good To Be True, was a 2008 IRC finalist. As I laugh at Tiffany's antics in this latest release, I understand why.

Below is Trish's blog tour coordinators provided about this book:

Where did you get the idea for the book?

I wanted very much to write a book about Jeremy and Tiffany, who were secondary characters in my first two books (The Guy I’m Not Dating and Too Good to Be True). I started to write the third book with the same setting as my first two, but then Harvest House asked if I would move the setting to fit The Beach House Series, the first two books of which were written by Sally John. So I started over and made my east coast protagonists travel across country to sunny San Diego. It was fun to create that facet of their story—it added quite a few layers to the plot. In fact, the circumstances of their getting together was completely different than what I originally planned.

What are the major themes of the book?

The importance of seeking God’s guidance constantly surfaces in my stories—the different circumstances that drive my themes usually fit under that umbrella.

Situations aren’t always as they appear, for example, and we can be fooled or we can misjudge others if we don’t constantly seek God’s wisdom and guidance. And sometimes we can miss out on His blessings if we fail to see situations as He means us to.

Another theme that emerged was how difficult it can be when a believer is drawn romantically to a nonbeliever. I’ve touched on the subject before, but in Beach Dreams, the nonbeliever is someone who feels almost real to me (and many readers) at this point. I feel a renewed empathy for Christians in these circumstances. Again, God’s guidance and strength are so important.

With which character do you identify the most and why?

Certainly Tiff. I’ve never deliberately been mean, as Tiff was in my first two books, but I identified with her in Beach Dreams. She struggles continually to shrug off her less-than-Christian thoughts and desires, and that’s a constant in my life. Christ gave us a beautiful, one-line prayer in Gethsemane: “Yet not as I will but as You will.” Wow, that’s my daily battle—trying to surrender to His will. And I saw that in Tiffany.

What kind of research did you have to do for the book?

I relied on Sally’s first two books for the specific setting (since all of The Beach House Series books are set at the same beach house, with different characters). And, since I’ve never been to San Diego, I spent a great deal of time researching the various places available to tourists and residents of the area.

I also researched Bristol, England and Kings College, London, because both sites figure in Jeremy’s background, and his father visits from Bristol.

Certainly the research tasks were simple compared to those required for historical writing, and for that I’m grateful!

Was it difficult to write a book in a series, following someone else?

It was a new challenge, but Harvest House was clear with me that I had significant leeway in my approach. We didn’t want the book to disappoint Sally John’s readers by being wildly different from her style, but we also wanted to maintain a style my readers had come to expect. I think we accomplished a happy medium.

Why did you decide to bring back characters from your previous books?

There was such an unfinished feel for me with regard to Jeremy by the time I finished my first draft of Too Good to Be True. He had become so lovable, but he was still alone and spiritually lost. Both my editor and I hoped there would be an opportunity to do a third novel, with Jeremy and someone falling in love and Jeremy getting a clue about Christ. Because Tiffany had been such a pain in The Guy I’m Not Dating and for much of Too Good to Be True, it was fun showing how God could reach even her. So her development became intriguing to me, too. Surprisingly, I received requests from many readers to throw these two characters together. I’m not such a unique thinker after all!

What is a mistake - big or small - that you’ve made that you could later see God used for a specific purpose and how did he use it?

I was deeply into adulthood when I went back to school to earn a degree. Rather than fretting over having waited so long, I focused on the fact that now I knew what I really wanted to be. A psychological therapist. You couldn’t have found a more attentive, diligent student, and I did well. So, when I neared graduation and realized I had developed an overwhelming desire to write fiction, I freaked out just a little. How could I switch gears yet again? Had I just wasted years earning a degree I wasn’t going to actually use? That felt like a huge mistake.

But God knew what He was doing. If you want to do an in-depth study of character goals, motivation, and conflict, you go on out there and earn a degree in Psychology. I may not be too quick in the plotting and scene-setting departments, but my psychological training comes in handy when creating characters and walking with them through life. I think that’s why God led me to get that degree, and now I know I didn’t waste a moment learning what I did.

Learn more about Trish and her books via her website: http://www.trishperrybooks.com. If you'd like to know more about Beach Dreams, you can find a list of other bloggers on the tour here.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Faith and Fiction Retreat Recap

(From l to r: Authors Tiffany Warren, Sherri Lewis, Kendra Norman-Bellamy, Bonnie Hopkins, Victoria Christopher Murray, Dwan Abrams, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, and Mikasenoja)

I drove to last weekend's Faith and Fiction Retreat. I'm still relatively new to Florida so I'm not the best judge of distances in this state. On the map, it looked like Destin was about four hours away from Tampa, kind of like driving to Jacksonville but going west instead of east.

Wrong!

It was a solid seven hour drive. Closer to eight, given the rain in Tampa on Thursday, the accident just outside of the Tampa area, and the 10 miles of construction near Tallahassee. I finally made it about 1:30 AM, after getting a late start due to working until 3:30 instead of noon, as planned. I was so proud of myself because I do not drive at night. Pretty much never. I don't see well due to the oncoming glare and after a day at work, I expected to be sleepy.

But adrenalin kept me going. That and the fact that I stopped to use the restroom three times when I'd purposely drunk almost no water that day. I started thinking I'd need to see the doctor when I returned but it was just God giving me breaks that I might not have taken myself. (On the way back, I only stopped once.)

One of the best things about the retreat was the people. It was great to meet some of my favorite authors, new authors, other aspiring authors, and other avid readers.

This was definitely a retreat. I didn't know what to expect because I'd never been to an out-of-town reader or writer event before. The retreat was held at a beautiful resort getaway with sandy FL beaches. There were about forty or fifty people in attendance, just enough to keep it very interesting but yet keep it small and cozy. I found lots of camraderie, an openness and sharing, even with the multi-published authors that I never imagined.

I had a great suite mate in Tyora Moody, although I'm sure she didn't appreciate me waking her up following my late arrival, which I only did because Ty had deadbolted the door from the inside! The hotel staff had no way of getting me in without waking her! (Note to self: Only take pictures standing up, at least until some of those extra lbs start dropping off!)

I was shocked to get up Friday morning but I did. And I stayed awake all day because the program was chock-full of good stuff.

This turned into a tremendous opportunity to learn more about writing and the publishing journey. Publisher Urban Christian was well-represented and authors on other imprints talked about their experiences as well. I came away inspired although having it confirmed that Urban Christian is no longer accepting unagented manuscripts was a bit of a bummer.

The Friday sessions included topics like "The Ministry of Writing", "Birthing the Vision" and "Is it or isn't it? The Difference Between Inspirational and Christian Fiction".

Friday night's dinner was at Trader Vic's. Sort of a polynesian-Hawaiian-Asian sort of menu. I like to try new foods when given the opportunity so I had macadamia nut-topped opah, a meaty fish kind of like swordfish but much more bland, with wasabi mashed potatoes and a fruity-garlic sauce. I think pineapple but I can't remember. Truthfully, I wasn't excited and the only way I was able to really eat it, because the wasabi mashed potatoes were much spicier than the waitress led me to believe, was to get a bit of fish, potatoes, and nuts in each mouthful. Don't know why but the combination was pretty good. But absolutely had to have all in each bite. If any one was missing...yuck!

I started Saturday morning by going down to the fitness center at 7 and cycling for about 45 min. I am proud of myself for doing that, as much as for driving in the dark, because working to improve my health is a major priority of mine right now.

Saturday's program included an author panel presentation and book signing, a showcase of the Urban Christian authors, and an impromptu panel featuring ReShonda Tate Billingsley and Victoria Christopher Murray on the publishing journey when the keynote speaker was unable to make it.

I left home with four books to read. I read those and returned with eight more. You know I had to purchase books. They were calling to me, even though I'd read half of the books available already. I bought most of the other half.

I also bought all new pajamas for the evening book discussions. I missed the first pajama session on Thursday because I was on the road. But I made the second one, featuring ReShonda, the author who called me out right here in the comments on my own blog last week. Check us out in our pink pj's. At the final PJ discussion, almost no one wore pajamas because it flowed right out of our Saturday evening Hawaiian Luau dinner, during which we watched the Obama-McCain discussion with Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. So I saved that black number for when I got home (although Hubby was asleep before me and me up before him the next day, so he never saw it!)

I've got more to say about Miss ReShonda so see my next post.

I skipped out on the Sunday morning closing session so that I could get an early start back and be home before dark. I also had to complete my preparations for Middle Son's first day of kindergarten that Monday.

Overall, it was a tremendous event. Tiffany Warren and her staff did an outstanding job. Although I haven't been to anything like this before, I could tell it was unique and special. I hope to go again next year.

UPDATE: Rhonda McKnight blogged about her experience at the retreat here.

UPDATE #2: My roommate for the retreat, Tyora Moody, posted her recap. Hers includes a video slideshow, which you can see here.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

How I Read Those Books for the Faith and Fiction Retreat

Remember how I was scrambling to read four books for the Faith and Fiction Retreat last week?

Well, I did it. I successfully read all four books. And it didn't involve Cliff Notes.

I should really say I read most of the four books.

The four featured books were The Pastor's Wife by ReShonda Tate Billingsley; Too Little, Too Late by Victoria Christopher Murray; In Greene Pastures by Kendra Norman-Bellamy; and Holy Ghost Corner by Michele Andrea Bowen. Each author was featured at an evening PJ's Book Club Discussion where we discussed the book and asked questions about the characters, the author's thoughts during the writing process, reader feedback, editor input, etc.

How did I do it in less than a week?

When I woke up the Monday before the conference with four books still to read, I knew I was in trouble. I made up my mind to read 2/3 of each book: the first third and the last third, give or take a few pages because I added however many pages were necessary to read whole chapters in the front and back.

Sounds like cheating, and maybe it was, but I learned a few things.

For one thing, that sagging middle thing is as real as for readers as it is for writers. These were great books. All of them. But I discovered that, depending on the story and how the author told it, it was possible to skip as much as a third of the book--the middle third--and not really miss much. This can happen even in some really good books. Something to remember as a writer.

I also learned that if the writing was fast-paced and the story really drew me in, I could consume the whole single-title book in a very short amount of time. I read two of the four titles in full because the stories wouldn't let me do otherwise. (No, I won't tell you which ones because I truly enjoyed them all.)

Another thing to keep in mind as a writer.

At the end of each book, I can honestly say I found myself wanting more. And that was the best part because that's what every author wants, readers who crave more of their work.

Hats off to all four of the these ladies, including three of the grande dames of AA Christian fiction--Victoria, ReShonda, and Michele--who wrote some terrific stories!

More on the retreat over the next few days. I've got pictures to post and lots more to share.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Watching and Waiting for Tropical Storm (Hurricane?) Fay

I've got so much to tell you about my experience at the Faith & Fiction Retreat in Destin, FL last weekend.

I. Had. A. Blast!

But we're hunkering down and monitoring the weather as Tropical Storm Fay heads toward Tampa. It is still unknown what the path of the storm might be and whether it might get to hurricane proportions.

Don't know whether I'll be online at all, as we may lose power. (Fay just made landfall in Key West but she's hit open water again and looks like she's heading straight for us at this point.)

School started yesterday but all schools are out today and my daytime office is also closed.

So more than likely, I'll be offline until at least Wednesday.

Please be in prayer.

Update: I wrote and posted today's blog on Monday, in anticipation of the storm. Tropical Storm Fay remained on land rather than going into the gulf and gaining strength. It's now tracking well east of Tampa. All is pretty normal here, although all schools are shut down and many businesses closed in anticipation. We still expect thunderstorms and high winds but pretty much, we can call this the storm that wasn't.

Thank God!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Reader/Writer Tidbits from RWA 2008

Yes, I'm back but it's the first day of school so not much time to blog.

I didn't got to the RWA conference but here are some tidbits I picked up from folks who did and blogged about it:

The Lifetime Achievement Award was renamed the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. This year's recipient was Vicki Lewis Thompson.

Harlequin Blaze is launching new cover art in 2009. It will feature the author's name and title across a red banner at the top rather than atop the cover art.

Harlequin American celebrated 25 years in publishing.

Harlequin is "negotiating" new contracts with agents. In fact, they've sent out their proposed new contract for feedback from a group of select agents. It's supposed to be simplified and a bit more favorable for authors relative to using excerpts for promotional purposes and rates on remaindered books. Agent Jessica Faust doesn't say much more than that but she talks about it here.

The Annual General Meeting of RWA members turned into a "gathering" because there wasn't a quorum via attendance or proxies. (There were 3,000 in attendance in San Francisco but no quorum? Guess everyone was taking in the sights before the workshops and editor/agent appointments.)

The 2008 RWA Readers for Life Literary Signing had 500+ authors and raised over $58k for ProLiteracy Worldwide, the non-profit international literacy agency.

Linda Winstead Jones won the Emma Merrit Service Award.

Agent Janet Reid did a seminar on publishing without an agent, then summarized it on her blog.

Agent Kristin Nelson moderated a panel called TAKE FIVE! Agents Reveal Their Top 5 Pearls of Wisdom for Career Success. Agent Deirdre Knight had to miss the panel discussion but Kristin summarized Deirdre's thoughts here.

And super kudos to author Michelle Monkou who looks to be the president-elect for RWA. She's running unopposed, which means she'll serve in the president-elect position for one year, after which she'll become the president of RWA. Congratulations Michelle!

That's all for now!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Book Review: At His Command by Brenda Coulter

I'm away at the Faith and Fiction Retreat. Don't know if I'll have access to Internet or if I do, whether I'll use it.

See you on Monday.

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I read a book back in 2003 that gave me goosebumps. That book was Finding Hope, the debut novel from inspirational romance author Brenda Coulter. I was completely swept away.

By then, I knew this was the kind of story I wanted to write, only with a multicultural cast of character. I immediately Googled her, then emailed her. Brenda emailed me right back, encouraging me to take out my pen and start writing the kind of stories I wanted to write. I no longer have that email and she probably doesn't remember it but I'm always touched when an author takes time out for a personal connect with a reader-fan.

So it's my privilege to feature and review Brenda's newest release, At His Command. It's available now for pre-order at Amazon (click on the book image below) or via eHarlequin. The release date is August 26th.)

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At His Command is the story of Jake Hopkins, a burned out, wounded veteran and attorney, who no longer is sure of his belief in God or love. So it's no wonder that he spurns the attentions of Madeline "Maddie" Bright, an army nurse thirteen years his junior and his best friend's sister. The best friend who was also his Apache co-pilot and who died in the line of fire over in the Middle East.

Maddie's had a huge crush on Jake since she was a little girl. Too bad he still sees her as that little girl. She can't overcome the age difference but maybe she can convince him that he's not too wounded, either physically or emotionally, to take a chance on her.

What I liked about this book is that there was no big event, like a disaster, the Olympics (yes, I'm still on that) or a murder that brings Maddie and Jake together. They are simply living their lives and dealing with their internal issues, like Maddie thinking she's a failure when she realizes she's not cut out to be a battleground nurse or Jake experiencing survivor's guilt and dealing with the flashbacks that keep reminding him of the day he lost his best friend. Maddie and Jake keep running into each other in the course of their normal activities, totally by accident but in a realistic way, and it becomes a bit of a chase because Maddie's interested and Jake is not.

Brenda Coulter is great at making readers feel what the characters feel. When Jake rejects Maddie and then rejects her again and again, you feel Maddie's pain. I found myself flinching after one passage when he spoke to her in a particularly harsh manner.

When Maddie aches for news of her missing friend, Whitney, who everyone else thinks might be dead, you ache with her, hoping desperately for any news of Whitney's whereabouts.

I loved the two mamas but I can't say anything more about that or it will spoil the story.

I didn't get goosebumps--because it's just too darned hot in Florida right now!--but I enjoyed At His Command just as much as Brenda's other books.

Usually I include a blurb about the author but Brenda tells her story best. Read it here.

You can learn more about Brenda's books at her website, http://brendacoulter.com , where she also has helpful information about writing inspirational romance, or her blog. And Brenda is a fellow regular over at Romancing the Blog.

Pick up a copy when you have a chance.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Writing as Art & Craft

I'm off later today to the Faith & Fiction Retreat!

Although this is more of a readers' retreat, I'm so excited. I'm a reader first and I've enjoyed the works of the featured authors.

Then, there will be some talk about writing for sure, what with so many authors in attendance and with workshop sessions like "The Ministry of Writing", "Birthing the Vision", and "Is it Inspirational or Christian?"

I'll probably miss the Thursday evening pool party but I'll definitely be there in time for the first Pajama Book Club Discussion where we talk about Kendra Norman-Bellamy's In Greene Pastures. And I'll be there for the Hawaiian Luau on Saturday.

Now, on writing being both art and craft:

"Writing is, as all creative media, a mixture of art and craft. Craft is what art is when it becomes codified--that is, when it can be deconstructed and taught. Art is where innovation happens. Craft is where convention resides. There are few artists who aren't first skilled craftsmen. The great artists are those who know how to take craft and transcend convention to create something new.

So the task of the budding artist is first and foremost to learn the craft."

That quote comes from Andy Meisenheimer, Zondervan's Acquistions Editor, via Mary DeMuth's So You Want To Be Published blog. You can read the full article there--and I strongly suggest you do--but I found this part so intriguing and affirming.

To all you "budding" artists like me, learn the craft. Then, innovate.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Update On Cramming for the Faith & Fiction Retreat

An update on my book cramming and preparation for the Faith & Fiction Retreat this weekend:

I finished the first book and am well into the second one, soon to start the third. I figured out a way to get this done such that I'd be able to participate in the author sessions without reading every single word of these books, especially since one author, ReShonda Tate Billingsley, already called me out right here on my blog. (You have to go back a couple of days and read the comments.)

Lesson Learned: You never know who is reading your blog!

I won't tell you how I've done it just yet, not until after I'm back from the retreat. (In case there's another author stalking me.) But I can't wait to get there. I just found out I'll have a chance to meet some writer ladies I've only known online--Tyora Moody, Dee Stewart, Kendra Norman-Bellamy, a featured author, Dwan Abrams, Sherri Lewis, and Rhonda McKnight--as well as the retreat organizer, Tiffany Warren.

This is shaping up to be a fun weekend although sadly, because I didn't really exercise my faith that I'd be able to go, I'm woefully unprepared. No business cards. No time to shop for any cute new clothes. I'm just planning to meet as many people as I can and soak up as much positive energy for my writing as I can squeeze into the car and take home with me.

Other featured authors besides Kendra include Victoria Christopher Murray, Michele Andrea Bowen, and ReShonda Tate Billingsley.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Olympic Writing

Are you watching the Beijing Olympics? The opening pagentry was spectacular. The US men's basketball team looks like it might dominate again. Michael Phelps is two gold medals into his quest for eight. US women's gymnastics is off to a rocky start. Track and field hasn't started yet but anticipation is building.

I've never seen novels set around the Olympics. Seems like it would be a great place. Sports and drama go together, and that's just on the court/field/sand/track/etc.

What about off the ...?

Since this Olympics started just three days ago, we have...

• A murder
  
• A suicide
  
• A military skirmish and standoff between two countries
  
• A country accused of utilizing underage gymnasts

Not to mention...

• The ongoing war in the Middle East
  
• The worsening American economy
  
• The US presidential campaign

How come no one writes Olympic-set stories? The 2012 Olympics take place in London.

Thinking out loud...

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Reading For the Faith & Fiction Retreat

No writing over the weekend, as I suspected.

Instead, lots of running around with back-to-school shopping and enjoying the family. I also got some unexpected QT with Hubby when Grandma toted the kids off to visit some other relatives closer to the east coast of FL.

We went to see THE DARK KNIGHT.

It was...dark. I enjoyed it but I came away feeling like I need to see it again to get all the nuances going on concurrent with the non-stop action. And yes, Heath Ledger should get Oscar-nominated if not win, hands down.

This week, there won't be much writing either. I'm attending the Faith & Fiction Retreat in Destin, FL next weekend. This is a reader's conference where we get to discuss selected books with the authors. I'll be discussing as a reader but listening to the questions and answers as a writer.

Except I haven't read the selected books!

I feel like I'm back in college. I'm cramming. I can read 4 books in a week but I actually have less than a week and that doesn't include a weekend.

Not good.

I'll get throught at least two of the books, Michelle Andrea Bowen's THE HOLY GHOST CORNER and Victoria Christopher Murray's TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE. I'll at least skim the others. I usually work through lunch time but I'm going to actually take lunch this week. I'll spend the time reading, in addition to reading at night.

It will be nice to get away for a couple of days and spend some time with some reader-writer ladies, as opposed to my much-loved but testosterone-driven house of men.

And right before the ten months of school madness begins.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Reader/Writer Tidbits -- August 9, 2008

You know I love reality shows. One of my summer favorites for the last few years has been SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. This year's finale was Thursday evening. This year was all about the men for me. My two favorite dancers, Twitch and Joshua, were the final two. (Two favorite after Will, my first favorite was ousted prematurely.)

The winner: Joshua.

This 19-year old young man had little formal dance training, the judges often referring to him as "completely untrained". In fact, it was said that this was the first ever time that a street dancer made it to the finale, not to mention two of them. But what Joshua lacked in training, he made up for in effort, competitiveness, commitment, and a huge personality. He was exciting to watch as he tackled and did well at every genre thrown at him, week after week.

Congratulations, Joshua, and thanks for reminding us that the main thing is to get out there and give it one's all.

--------------------------------

My weekend plans to work on my wip have been dashed. Unexpected company (in-laws plus three nephews who drove from GA to bring Eldest One home); shopping for school supplies and clothing; looking for a much-needed new car; visiting a church in the area that we might fellowship with.) I did get about 1800 words done yesterday on what is my new first chapter. The old chapter one is now chapter two.

Oh well, I'll be carrying my handy-dandy notebook with me to scribble down my thoughts.

If you're in the area of Destin, FL on next weekend, August 15 & 16th, you might want to come over to the Palms of Destin resort where the 2008 Faith & Fiction Retreat is being held. The program is free to the public. You'll have a chance to meet and greet authors and other readers. Featured authors include Victoria Christopher Murray, Kendra Norman-Bellamy, Michelle Andrea Bowen, and ReShonda Tate Billingsley.

Hmmmm...do you think three names are necessary for success in AA Christian fiction? Anyway, one of my faves, VCM, is in there and I'll be attending this one so if you stop by because you saw this blog, look for me.

Romance Slam Jam is cruising in 2010! RSJ, the premier conference for African-American romance readers and writers, will celebrate its Crystal Anniversary by hitting the high seas for five days, sailing from Carnival Cruise from Miami to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands. To hold your spot, you can make a fully refundable payment of $25 by Sept 2 and another $25 by Nov 20th. More information is available here.

One not so nice lesson, for readers and writers. Fear is real, although it is oft, if not always fueled, by ignorance, misguided passion, close-mindedness, rumor, and innuendo. Sherry Jones's novel, The Jewel of Medina, scheduled to release on August 12th has been pulled by Random House. The story of Aisha, wife of the Prophet Mohammed, as told by Ms. Jones, has been deemed offensive and having the potential to incite violence. Read about it here.

Summer is winding down. School starts in just over a week so enjoy one of the last weekends of summer!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Going for Real Conflict

The mist of confusion is evaporating.

That slightly sick-to-my-stomach feeling that makes me want to throw out my story and start another one, because there's no way I could ever make my current wip work, was starting to rear it's ugly head. But I was fighting it, revising the first 90 pages and brainstorming more possible scenes.

Yet it wouldn't go away.

But then I had a major "a-ha" relative to my story on the way into work Wednesday morning.

MAJOR.

I had my characters thrown together with both of them wanting to be there but not agreeing on methodology for achieving what was a common goal.

Weak.

Thanks, Debra Dixon! (I'm going to post soon about what I learned in her book relative to conflict.)

In essence, the hero and heroine were going to bicker their way to a conclusion.

Booorring!

To make matters worse, I learned that what I thought was a major plotline is really a subplot. Thanks Camy Tang!

That left me with a weak story. No wonder I was confused!

But while driving across the bridge, I had a moment of clarity. (Large bodies of water do that for me.) I realized I could make a slight adjustment to my heroine such that she doesn't want to be there and doesn't want anything to do with a project assigned jointly to him and her. And definitely nothing to do with him.

But she's forced to deal with him in order to complete the project, which she is unable to walk away from.

And doing so gets in the way of her pursuing her goal. (Enter the subplot.)

So she has to figure out how to complete the project so that she can get it--and him--out of her way as soon as possible.

Except the project turns out to be a bigger beast than she expects. And he won't go, not quietly anyway.

Now that's conflict.

The interesting thing is that although it may sound as though I have to throw out the 90 pages I worked so hard to write and revise...

I don't.

In fact, I've already figured out how to tweak the entire first chapter in line with the new conflict so that it will be more compelling and less artificial.

So once again, I'll be spending the next week or so reworking the my story. In fact, now feels like a good time to revise the synopsis, then rework the pages I have so that the new, stronger conflict is reflected.

Woo-hoo!

They say that, on average, the first ready-for-submission novel takes a year to write.

I attempted my first full novel last year but it is far from ready for submission. This year's novel will see the light of day. That's my goal.

I've been working on it since mid-May. That's about three months. I hope it doesn't take another nine months in full, even writing part-time, but I'm finding there's a lot to the writing process. I just hope the end result will be readable and enjoyable. (Did I say saleable?)

Have you ever gotten a quarter or more through your ms only to realize you had to make wholesale changes?

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Halt The...Pen!

I've been on a roll. I wrote and wrote, a little here, a little there. Then I struggled with revising the first portion of the ms but finally clamped down and got it done.

There have been niggling questions along the way, doubts about my characters, my plot but I've pushed on, continuing to improve upon them with each pass over the ms.

I fixed some things but other problems remain.

I started reading Debra Dixon's GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict The Building Blocks of Good Fiction on Sunday. I really like this book. It comes highly recommended and it's easy to see why.

Ms. Dixon has a very conversational tone, making it easy to follow and understand. She uses well-known story examples, like the Wizard of Oz. And her entire book focuses on one thing: knowing the goal, motivation and conflict of a story's characters. According to Ms. Dixon, the entire story hinges on this, whether it's for the larger story question or within a single scene.

So I thought I'd answer the following question for my wip:

(Name) wants (goal) because (motivation) but (conflict).

The questions this really answers are who (name), what (goal), why (motivation), and why not (conflict).

Seemed pretty straight forward until I tried to do it.

I couldn't.

Not completely.

Which means that part of my struggle is my own confusion. It's a bit difficult to write a story when unsure what my characters want, why they want it, and what's getting in their way. Sometimes these things are figured out along the way, and they may change midstream, but it helps to have an idea.

I thought I did. Except if I can't jot these things down, then I don't know as much as I thought I did about what's going on in my story.

I'm 90 pages in!

I was sooooo tempted to throw out the current ms and start something new but I won't. I'm going to work through this.

The end result might be that I have to revise these first 90 pages yet again but they'll be stronger because I'll be writing with greater clarity.

There's so much more that Ms. Dixon says about GMC, enough to fill 144 pages. I'll keep reading.

I'll also keep working on the book analysis I mentioned before. I'm up to the third scene in chapter eight. Nearly halfway done. Only 28 more scenes. My spreadsheet has 19 columns that I'm filling out for every scene. And one of the things I'd started looking at, even before cracking open Ms. Dixon's book, was the flow of action compared to the motivations of the characters. There were a couple of spots that felt flat to me when I read the book initially. Now I see why. It's not clear to me what the point of those scenes are so the scenes don't work for me.

Interesting stuff, at least to an analytical gal like me.

I don't anticipate coming up with any secret recipe for crafting a bestselling novel. I do expect to increase my understanding of how to craft a believable story, one that might sell.

And, while I'm doing all of this, I'll keep writing.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Featured Book: Coming Unglued by Rebeca Seitz

I missed the Wild Card Tour date by a few days but I've read and enjoyed this story about Kendra, the African-American adopted sister of the Scrapbooking Sinclairs, so I still want to feature it. My book review will show up on FreshFiction shortly but until then, here's an excerpt:



It is time to play a Wild Card! Every now and then, a book that I have chosen to read is going to pop up as a FIRST Wild Card Tour. Get dealt into the game! (Just click the button!) Wild Card Tours feature an author and his/her book's FIRST chapter!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Rebeca Seitz

and his/her book:

Coming Unglued

B&H Fiction (July 1, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rebeca Seitz is Founder and President of Glass Road Public Relations. An author for several years, Prints Charming being her first novel. Sister’s Ink was the first book in the SISTERS, INK series of novels. (At the center of the creativity and humor are four unlikely young adult sisters, each separately adopted during early childhood into the loving home of Marilyn and Jack Sinclair.)

Rebeca cut her publicity teeth as the first dedicated publicist for the fiction division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. In 2005, Rebeca resigned from WestBow and opened the doors of GRPR, the only publicity firm of its kind in the country dedicated solely to representing novelists writing from a Christian worldview.


Rebeca makes her home in Kentucky with her husband, Charles, and their son, Anderson.

Visit the author's website.

Product Details

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: B&H Fiction (July 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0805446915
ISBN-13: 978-0805446913

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Chapter One

“I mean it, Harry,” Kendra Sinclair let a bit of her fright and frustration leak into her tone.

Harry’s chuckle mocked. “You know you don’t. Come on, everybody has to eat.”

“Like I said, I’ve already eaten.” And I don’t need this kind of complication right now, even if I want it.

“Dessert, then, Kendra. You don’t want to end the day without dessert, do you?”

Yes, she did. No, she didn’t. Well, yeah, she did. She should. The sigh was out before she could stop it.

“I heard that. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“But—”

“See you soon.”

Kendra slammed the phone down and stared at it, waiting for it to jump up and bite her. It might as well have, for all the craziness it had brought her life in the past two months.

Okay, six months.

But there was that two month lull, so really, four months altogether.

“Imparticular man,” she muttered, pacing away from the phone and back. Her purple toenails gave a nice contrast as her feet sank into plush carpet the color of a pure snow drift. “Kendra Sinclair, you are not a conniving woman. What has gotten into you?”

She plopped down into the overstuffed couch the saleslady had called “polar bear” and pulled Miss Kitty onto her lap. Stroking the cat’s fur, she stared across the room. Tufts of fur fell onto the sofa, blending into the fabric there.

“Where’s Oprah when you need her?”

The cat purred its approval of Kendra’s long fingernails and sank down further into its mistress’s lap.

“Probably on some beach with Stedman, laughing at the rest of us who haven’t gotten it all figured out just yet. Right, Miss Kitty?”

The motoring purr increased in volume and Kendra smiled.

The phone rang and she jerked so hard, Miss Kitty toppled to the floor.

“Oh, sorry!” Kendra tossed the apology to Miss Kitty and jerked up the handset. “Hello?”

“Hey, how’s Stars Hill’s finest lady tonight?” Darin’s smooth voice hummed over the line and Kendra’s heart did a double take, frantically downshifting from the previous call. She straightened on the couch, then felt stupid when she realized he couldn’t possibly see how out of sorts she was through the phone line.

“Oh, I’m good. Good. Yeah, really good. How are you?”

“Wow, that’s three goods in the first five seconds. Something wrong?”

She propped her elbow on the arm of the couch and rested her jaw in her palm. Other women lowered their gazes and offered demure smiles when they were out of control. But Kendra? She stammered and fell all over herself with streams of words. “No, no, nothing’s wrong. Just sitting here talking to Miss Kitty.”

“Lucky cat.”

Kendra chuckled, feeling her heart rate settle back into the normal range even while her skin heated at the sound. “Tell her that. I knocked her off my lap when the phone rang.

“And she hasn’t clawed your eyes out yet?””

“Declawed, remember?.”

“Oh, right. Anyway, I know it’s last minute but I was wondering if you’d had dinner yet.”

“Oh, um, no. Well, yes, but that was a couple of hours ago. I mean, not that I need to eat anymore today. Gotta watch my waistline and all–”

His chuckle stopped her mid-sentence. “I’ll be over there in about fifteen minutes. See you soon.”

She heard the click of the phone and stared at it. Not five minutes ago a different man had said the same words. Her silk caftan swirled as she jumped up and fled to the bedroom, praying the first caller hadn’t been serious and was just leading her on.

Which her heart of hearts knew wouldn’t be out of character for him at all.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Mini-Birthday

Yesterday was like a mini-birthday.

As a matter of fact, Aug 4th is exactly the midpoint to my next birthday. The day I make "and a half", as in "I'm x and a half years old".

But I didn't think about that until just now while writing this post.

No, it felt like a mini-birthday because I got my monthly book review package today. And when I opened it up and the books slid out, I squealed. I'd have danced a step or two but I was driving and really needed to keep my feet doing what they were doing.

Sometimes I get books I've never heard of. I like that because the reading becomes an adventure.

Sometimes I get books I've heard of but don't really have a preference about whether I read them or not. Every now and then, one of these books turns out to be a gem and I stumble upon a new author, or maybe new-to-me, and it feels good.

But then there are days like yesterday. I opened my package and out fell two "new-to-me" authors but also, the latest books by two of my favorite authors, Angela Benson and Francis Ray. Sqeee!

Angela Benson's new release is Up Pops The Devil. The back cover reads:

Wilford "Preacher" Winters served two years in jail and has now reentered society, determined to live up to his jailhouse conversion and be a law-abiding citizen. But his life on the outside is complicated by the women to whom he's returning.

His live-in girlfriend, Tanya, the mother of his two sons, likes the high life and doesn't want to settle for less. His sister, Loretta, the silent partner in his illegal activities, kept everything going while he was incarcerated, and she'll do anything to get him back at the helm. His former girlfriend, Serena, now married to one of his best friends, harbors a secret that could shatter all their lives. And then there's Natalie, a new but precious acquaintance, whose faith in him is shaken when his past sins come back to haunt him.

As preacher and his women come to learn, sometimes you have to give up what you want most in order to achieve happiness.

Doesn't that sound chock full of drama? And because it's Ms. Benson, you'd better believe there's a strong spiritual message too.

Francis Ray is continuing the Grayson series through a new series called The Grayson Friends. The last book, Only You, in which Sierra married Blade Navarone introduced us to a number of these characters, including Shane Elliott, who is the subject of this first book, The Way You Love Me.

From the back cover:

Nothing gets to Shane Elliott. A fomer Army Ranger, now head of security for a wealthy real estate tycoon, Shane can handle whatever life throws at him--until he meets the beautiful, kindhearted Paige Albright. She's about to inherit a fortune, and Paige's mother has asked Shane to investigate her boyfriend. It should have been a simple, standard assignment for Shane...if only Paige's seductive mix of strength and vulnerability didn't leave him wanting her for himself.

All her life, Paige has put other's needs before her own, even going so far as choosing as a man to please her father. Now her mother's mysterious houseguest is tempting her to go after what she truly wants...even if it's the cool, assertive, irresistible Shane himself. But is he who he appears to be? And how can Paige know whether to trust her own judgment--and their red hot attraction?

It's Ms. Ray, so I know this will both tug on the heartstrings and sizzle!

There's some happy reading in my future!

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Not Quite A Zone but It's Feeling Mighty Good

Last week, I had one of my best writing weeks ever!

I worked on my revisions every night and finally got all of the changes entered into my ms. It's now at 91 pages, up from 86, and weighing in at 17,792 words. That's excluding the 18 pages of discarded text.

I also jotted down plot notes, scene ideas, and handwrote another scene.

I read two books, one of which I am now re-reading and analyzing at a very micro level. I've created a spreadsheet where I'm noting things like how many scenes per chapter, how many pages per scene, where backstory is inserted, how the romance progresses, where faith elements are introduced, etc. Since I want to write for Love Inspired initially and there's a bit of a formula to publishing with them, I'm in essence figuring out the skeleton of the formula. Not planning to follow this step by step but it helps me understand things like pacing and chapter openings and hooks.

Did I ever tell you I'm the analytical type?

I wrote two book reviews.

I even won a craft book, Write Tight by William Brohaugh, over on the Seekerville blog.

I also purchased and began reading Debra Dixon's GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict. I would say that this is the single most recommended book I've heard of since I took up writing so it's been on my list for a while.

All that while also reading to the boys, going to the beach and building sandcastles (yes, that's me in the background!), going to the park, cooking for the family, getting in some exercise and having some QT with Hubby.

Not a bad week at all!

The only thing I didn't do was campaign much but I'll make that a priority for next week.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.

Featured Book: Romancing Hollywood Nobody by Lisa Samson

This is the final book in Lisa Samson's Hollywood Nobody trilogy. If you've never read a book from award-winning author Lisa Samson, you should. She does it so well, whether adult single title or YA.



It is August FIRST, time for the FIRST Blog Tour! (Join our alliance! Click the button!) The FIRST day of every month we will feature an author and his/her latest book's FIRST chapter!

Today's feature author is:

LISA SAMSON

and her book:

Romancing Hollywood Nobody

NavPress Publishing Group (July 15, 2008)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa Samson is the author of twenty books, including the Christy Award-winning Songbird. Apples of Gold was her first novel for teens

These days, she's working on Quaker Summer, volunteering at Kentucky Refugee Ministries, raising children and trying to be supportive of a husband in seminary. (Trying . . . some days she's downright awful. It's a good thing he's such a fabulous cook!) She can tell you one thing, it's never dull around there.

Other Novels by Lisa:

Hollywood Nobody, Finding Hollywood Nobody, Straight Up, Club Sandwich, Songbird, Tiger Lillie, The Church Ladies, Women's Intuition: A Novel, Songbird, The Living End

Visit her at her website.

Product Details

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 195 pages
Publisher: NavPress Publishing Group (July 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1600062210
ISBN-13: 978-1600062216

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Monday, April 30, 6:00 a.m.

My eyes open. Yes, yes, yes. The greatest man in the entire world is brewing coffee right here in the TrailMama.

“Dad.”

“Morning, Scotty. The big day.”

“Yep.”

“And this time, you won't have to drive.”

I throw back the covers on my loft bed and slip down to the dinette of our RV. My dad sleeps on the dinette bed. He's usually got it turned back into our kitchen table by 5:00 a.m. What can I say? The guy may be just as much in love with cheese as I am, but honestly? Our body clocks are about as different as Liam Neeson and Seth Green.

You know what I mean?

And we have lots of differences.

For one, he's totally a nonfiction person and I'm fiction all the way. For two, he has no fashion sense whatsoever. And for three, he has way more hope for people at the outset than I do. Man, do I have a lot to learn on that front.

He hands me a mug and I sip the dark liquid. I was roasting coffee beans for a while there, but Dad took the mantle upon himself and he does a better job.

Starbucks Schmarbucks.

He hands me another mug and I head to the back of the TrailMama to wake up Charley. My grandmother looks so sweet in the morning, her frosted, silver-blonde hair fanned out on the pillow. You know, she could pass for an aging mermaid. A really short one, true.

I wave the mug as close as I can to her nose without fear of her rearing up, knocking the mug and burning her face. “Charley . . .” I singsong. “Time to get a move on. Time to get back on the road.”

And boy is this a switch!

All I can say is, your life can be going one way for years and years and then, snap-snap-snap-in-a-Z, it looks like it had major plastic surgery.

Only in reverse. Imagine life just getting more and more real. I like it.

Charley opens her eyes. “Hey, baby. You brought me coffee. You get groovier every day.”

She's a hippie. What can I say?

And she started drinking coffee again when I ran away last fall in Texas. I mean, I didn't really run away. I went somewhere with a perfectly good reason for not telling anyone, and I was planning to return as soon as my mission was done.

She scootches up to a sitting position, hair still in a cloud, takes the mug and, with that dazzling smile still on her face (think Kate Hudson) sips the coffee. She sighs.

“I know,” I say. “How did we make it so long without him?”

“Now that he's with us, I don't know. But somehow we did, didn't we, baby? It may not have always been graceful and smooth, but we made it together.”

I rub her shoulder. “Yeah. I guess you could say we pretty much did.”

The engine hums its movin'-on song. “Dad's ready to pull out. Let's hit it.”

“Scotland, here we come.”

Scotland? Well, sort of.



An hour later

This has been a great school year. In addition to the online courses I'm taking through Indiana University High School, Dad's been teaching me and man, is he smart. I'm sure most sixteen-(almost seventeen)-year-olds think their fathers are the smartest guys in the world, but in my case it happens to be true.

Okay, even I have to admit he probably won't win the Nobel Prize for physics or anything, but he's street smart and there's no replacing that sort of thing. Big plus: he knows high school math. We're both living under the radar. And he's taken our faux last name. Dawn. He's now Ezra Fitzgerald Dawn. After Ezra Pound, one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Lost Generation friends.

I'm just lovin' that.

“Your mom would have loved the name change, Scotty.”

He told me about his life as an FBI agent, some of the cases he worked on, and well, I'd like to tell you he had a life like Sydney Bristow's in Alias, but he probably spent most of his time on com-puter work and sitting around on his butt waiting for someone to make a move. The FBI, apparently, prefers to trick people more than corner them in showdowns and shootouts. The Robertsman case was his first time undercover in the field and we know how terribly that worked out for him. And me. And Charley. And Babette, my mother.

I pull out my math book and sit in the passenger seat of the TrailMama. “Ready for some 'rithmetic, Dad?”

“You bet.” He turns to me and smiles. His smile still makes my heart warm up like a griddle ready to make smiley-face pan-cakes. I flip on my book light.


It's still dark and we're headed to Asheville, North Carolina for Charley's latest shoot. A film about Bonnie Prince Charlie called Charlie's Lament. How ironic is that? The director, Bartholomew (don't dare call him Bart) Evans, is a real jerk. I'm not going to be hanging around the set much even though Liam Neeson is Lord George Murray, the voice of reason Prince Charlie refused to listen to. But hey, that's my history lesson. We're still on math.

I finish up the last lesson in geometry . . . finally! Honestly, I still don't understand it without a mammoth amount of help, but the workbook's filled and that's a good thing.

There.

I set down my pen. “Finished!”

Dad gives a nod as he continues to look out the windshield. You might guess, despite the tattoos, piercings, and his gleaming bald head, he's a very careful driver. And he won't let me drive like Charley did.

“So . . . driver's license then, right?”

He's been holding that over my head so I'd finish the math course.

“You know it. After the film, we'll request your new birth certificate and go from there.”

“What state are we supposedly from?” The FBI has given us a new identity, official papers and all that.

“Wyoming.”

“Are you kidding me? Wyoming? Why?”

“Think about it, honey. Who's from Wyoming?”

“Lots of people?”

“Know any of them?”

“Uh. No.”

“See?”


“Okay, Wyoming it is, then.”

“You realize you'll only have my beat-up old black truck to drive around.” The same truck we're towing behind the TrailMama.

“I'll take it.”

So here's the thing. The rest of the entire world thinks my father was shot in the chest and killed when he was outed by a branch of the mob he was after. This mob was financing James Robertsman's campaign for governor of Maryland.

The guy's running for president of the United States now.

I kid you not.

Wish I was kidding.

We thought he was after us for several years because Charley knew too much. But then last fall, we found out the guy chasing me was my father, and Robertsman is most likely cocky enough to think he took care of everything he needed. I say that's quite all right. Although, I have to admit, the fact that a dirtbag like that guy may end up in the Oval Office sickens me to no end.

Thanks to that guy, we had been running in fear from my own father.

The thing is, I could be really mad about all those wasted years, and a portion of me feels that way. But we've been given another chance, and I'll be darned if I throw away these days being angry. There's too much to be thankful for.

Don't get me wrong. I still have my surly days. I don't want Dad and Charley to think they have it as easy as all that!

Okay, time to blog.

Hollywood Nobody: April 30

Let's cut to the chase, Nobodies!

Today's Seth News: It's official. Seth Haas and Karissa Bonano are officially each other's exclusive main squeeze. The two were seen coming out of a popular LA tattoo parlor with each other's names on the inside of their forearms. How cliché. And pass the barf bag.

Today's Violette Dillinger Report: Violette has broken up with Joe Mason of Sweet Margaret. She wanted you all to know that long-distance romances are hard for any couple, but espe-cially for people as young as she is. “Joe needed to live his life. I'm on the road a lot. It wasn't fair to either of us.” Sounds like she's definitely not on the road to Britney. I'm just sayin'.

Today's Rave: Mandy Moore. The girl can really sing! And her latest album is filled with good songs. The bubble gum days of insipid teen heartbreak are over. She's finally come into her own. (Wish some others would follow her example, but I won't hold my breath. And man, are we on the theme of bratty stars today or what? Well, there are just so many of them from which to choose!)

Today's Rant: Crazy expensive celebrity weddings. What? If they spend more, will they be more likely to stay together? I have no idea. Mariah Carey's $25,000 dress pales in comparison to Catherine Zeta-Jones's $100,000 gown. What are those things made of?

Today's Quote: “Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.” James Dean

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia
Stay focused. Move Forward. Believe.

Peace & Blessings,
Patricia

Stay focused. Be deliberate. Believe.