Lynn Shurr's Spot

Entitled

2012-01-07T14:19:00.000-08:00

No, I don't mean to food stamps, though if you are trying to live on your earnings as a writer, you might be entitled to that and free health care. I refer to book titles. Early on, I was told not to stress over giving my book a title. The publisher will change it anyhow if and when it goes to print. So, I simply used one word working titles, Goals, Wish, Flames, etc. I quickly learned in some contests, points were given for your title. When plain, old Goals, a football romance, became Goals for a Sinner, I started claiming all five of those points and eventually placed in a couple of those contests. Sometimes, that extra nudge pushes the book over the top.

Flames attracted little attention until I retitled it Mardi Gras Madness (and rewrote it six times). After all, you must have a well-written book following that unique title, too. Still, I piqued the interest of more editors once the title change took place, and one of them liked the story enough to offer a contract. Mardi Gras Madness with its mystery sub-plot will be out this coming fall.

I also found that in the e-publishing and small press world where I mostly dwell, titles are seldom changed, so you need to create a good one that will attract attention and not fade in the crowd of similarly named works. For instance, I avoid Love, Heart, and Passion in all my titles. These all run together. In a contest I recently judged, four out of six entries had one of these words in their title. I had to go back and skim the first paragraph to jog my memory when assigning the final score. Also, just imagine a new reader wanting to find your book but not quite recalling your name. Punch in Love and a bizillion titles come up making yours very hard to find.

Naming a book can be a fun group event, too, if you belong to a critique circle or even ask for ideas on FaceBook. I can tell you my current WIP, A Trashy Affair, earned lots of chatter. Put a little effort into titling your book. Make it unique and original, hopefully like your wonderful story. Attract attention before the reader even opens the cover. And that is my advice for the month.

Welcome to my new followers! You have swelled my ranks from four to seven. Thanks.

Inspiration?

2011-12-12T10:11:00.000-08:00

I am among those authors who believe if you sit waiting for inspiration to come or a muse to tap you on the shoulder, you will get hemorrhoids before that happens. I don't believe in inspiration so much as ideas, and ideas are everywhere. The Sinners football series grew out of watching the Panthers lose the Super Bowl way back in 2004. The newest in that series, Kicks for a Sinner, due out in January, developed from watching games where the final score depends on a field goal.

Recently, I had problems with my garbage pickup. Just trying to get a new trashcan became a two month struggle with the powers that be. This evolved into my latest WIP, A Trashy Affair, a light-hearted romance despite the tongue-in-cheek title. One of these days, I will write about about a funny mix-up where I was served a manly sub while a handsome guy at the next table got my club sandwich complete with frilly toothpicks. What a way to meet! If only I had been younger and sexier at the time, but my heroine will be.

Have I ever had writer's block? Nope (and may it never happen to me). Why? Because, I repeat, ideas are everywhere-from an overheard conversation in a cafeteria to imaging what happened to your high school crush (Goals for a Sinner). My biggest problem is not having enough time to get all the stories in my head written down. My New Year's wish for every writer reading this post is that you have the same good problem of abundant ideas in the coming year!

Intervals

2011-11-16T12:47:00.000-08:00

Generally, I write two books a year whether anyone wants them or not. Takes me from three months to six to complete a novel depending on how much research I must do or the length of the book. So, what do I do with the other three months? Catch up on neglected household chores for one thing. ( I really must see about the leaking washing machine-just laying towels on the floor to sop up the water every time I do a load is not a good alternative.) Work in my garden-if the two flats of snapdragons I bought two weeks ago while fine tuning the last book are still alive. Research my next historical novel. What do I know about painters of the early nineteenth century? Not much, though I do paint and took the obligatory art history course that went with my liberal arts degree and enjoyed it. Maybe the hero should have some other occupation to save time. No, I have a whole month to learn about this. Go for it.

I also try to complete a book before the holidays set in so my time is free to bake cookies not on my diet, shop for gifts online and off, and roast that turkey because the whole family will be home. I take time to enjoy them, too, and all the chaos that comes with having a houseful of people. Writing isn't everything. Remember that.

This year, I finished my WIP earlier than expected, but didn't want to start anything new until after Christmas, so instead rewrote two of my older unsold works using all I have learned since getting two books published. They are much improved, I think, but then, I liked them in the first place. Thanksgiving looms ahead, and I am free and clear - except I just got word that Kicks for a Sinner goes to editing next week. Hmmm, pass the gravy and a batch of sticky notes, please, and hope I get the edits done before Christmas.

Biting the Star

2011-10-24T13:32:00.000-07:00

I knew it would happen. Someone bit a big chunk out of my five star rating for Goals for a Sinner by giving it a one. The Romance Studio awarded those five stars and others followed, and no, not all reveiwers were my relatives as this person implied. I have noted those giving the most savage reviews generally hide behind a weird screen name. That's okay. I don't plan to hunt you down. In most cases, these folks begin with "I thought I'd found a fabulous new writer..." and obviously they were severely disappointed. So sorry. I do not believe a five star rating means I am fantastic. I feel it indicates that the particular book met all the criterion for a nice little romance-good characters, a plot that moves right along, and a happy ending.

Her major gripe seemed to be that the characters had misunderstandings and sometimes acted immaturely. Well, honey, if they were perfect from the start, there would be no plot, no crisis, nothing to overcome, no growth of the individuals. She didn't like my sex scenes either. To each his own. Mine tend to be more real than many and are often funny. Couples get interrupted by phone calls, don't disrobe gracefully and sometimes not at all. If you want fantastic, multiple orgasm sex right from the start, go elsewhere, dear reader, and enjoy what you find.

As for saying no girl would think of others on her wedding day, I'm afraid I based Stevie Dowd's attitude on my own. I find long receptions tedious and simply wanted to leave and be with my new husband. Instead of having a garter toss, I sent my blue garter directly to a guy dating one of my friends. I thought he needed a nudge. As for Stevie, she'd like to see quarterback Joe Dean married off so he won't lead her man into temptation and does try to set him up on her big day.

Having explained myself, I now want to say I am not all that upset by having my star diminished.

A five star rating makes you a target. I've heard sometimes jealous writers intentionally give a bad review to knock another writer off a top listing. I don't think that is the case here as my rankings aren't that high. So, like that getting that first scratch on a new car, I am somewhat relieved to have it overwith. May the disgruntled reviewer find fantastic elswhere.

Nothing Wasted

2011-09-30T15:15:00.000-07:00

Though I have written one thing or another for most of life from grade school puppet shows to college poetry and my first novel hand-written way back in the 1980's (I found it recently when looking for some old short stories), I did not get published until, let's face it, I was old. I would have liked this experience sooner. Wouldn't everyone? But working full time, three kids, a husband and house to take care of did not allow it. I have, however, discovered that I did not waste all those non-writing years. Instead, I stored up characters, incidents, and emotions over a long period of time and placed them in my mental attic so to speak.

When I need an incident for a story or want to imagine what a character is feeling, I root through that attic and recall the joy of first love, the thrill of sex, the anguish of divorce. Things that happened to my family now spill out on the pages. For instance in one of my yet unpublished books, I related a Little League game. My son was not the best hitter, but he could take one for the team. He often got hit by the ball, one time so hard the stitching on the ball cover showed on his backside. He took a base, and being pretty good runner who always knew where the ball was (his strength), eventually rounded the bases for a score. Need a Little League scene. Out it comes from the mothballs of my mind but without the overpowering scent. My grandmother used mothballs. I know of what I speak. One day, that book might be printed. I will dedicate it to my son, probably to his embarrassment. Thanks for the memories, kiddo.

So to those of you who think you are spinning your wheels, wasting your talent, think you will never see your words in a book, I say, "No, you are just storing up information that will become your future novels." And good luck to you.

Judging

2011-08-10T13:45:00.000-07:00

I look at offering to judge writing contests as paying back now that I have two books published and two more under contract. Every year, I take on Golden Heart entries and always volunteer to read and grade the works submitted to my chapter, Heart of Louisiana. Because judging is very time consuming, I do limit myself to these two endeavors just in case anyone out there is lurking to find judges. In the name of honesty, I will confess I never won a contest and did enter many over a period of three years trying to get some kind of credibility that I could claim in a query. Closest I ever came was finaling twice with Goals for a Sinner and once with Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball. And I might add after Goals did so well, I entered it in the Golden Heart and got one beautiful perfect nine out of nine - and also a three at the very same time. Goals did turn out to be my entry into the publishing world and Queen will be out next year. I do try to judge fairly without personal predjudice and attempt to give good, sound advice.

That said, I will divulge my secret sin. I like seeing how far I have come from most contest entrants. I find myself mumbling, "Doesn't anyone know how to use a comma or colon anymore?" as I read. Jeez, would you get rid of all those "was-es", and dangling "ings"? Spell check is not to be trusted entirely. He didn't do everything rite. He did do everything right! In essence, I am revisiting every mistake I ever made when I started out and before I had professional editing to show me the way. One thing I have never written on any scoresheet is "You should leave this one under your bed", as a was once written on one of my entries, although I did have an entry several years ago that truly deserved it. The poorly written thing was so bad, I thought it might be a joke. Regardless, at the very end I left the author with these words, "You need to do a lot more work on this. Hone your craft. Don't give up." I hope the author found those encouraging words amid all the red ink I splashed over her pages.

As for me, I never enter contests anymore. I only judge them.

Length

2011-07-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

I am known primarily for my sexy football romances, so discussing length could mean many things. Get your mind out of the gutter! I am referring to the length of a book. Current wisdom says no novel over 120,000 words will be published today due to the atrophied attention spans of readers contracted from television viewing, computer use and tweeting. An agent at a recent conference declared she wouldn't look at anything over 100,000 words. One of my e-publishers is constantly urging their authors to produce 50,000-60,000 word Harlequin-style romances, not easy to do as I have tried it and failed. Supposedly, people using e-readers won't order anything longer. Forget classics like Gone With The Wind. Margaret Mitchell would be advised to cut that length in half or issue her story as three back-to-back novels. Sad. Okay, I will admit I've only gotten a quarter way through Northwest Passage, but it was the unrelenting dialect that made me put it down, not the length.

Length has cost me some contracts as my two best books both ran over 100,000 words. They have found a home at L & L Dreamspell. My first historical, Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball at 113,560 words, will be coming out in early 2012. Wish for a Sinner, already published, was originally 108,700 words. I cut it back to 103,000 in a vain attempt to get it under that magic 100,000 word barrier, but could not go the rest of the way. Its length was one reason it kept getting turned down. Thank heaven, the lovely ladies at Dreamspell feel length doesn't matter. It's what you do with it that counts. No, no, don't bombard them with your 700,000 word tomes. They are a small press and aren't accepting manuscripts right now. But know that here and there, people who like a good, long story do exist even if we are headed toward extinction. As for me, I did manage to bring the manuscript of Kicks for a Sinner in at 90,000 words. That was a close one!

Retreat

2011-06-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

In May, I attended my first writers' retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Being one of the lucky ones who has ample time to write, I did not go there to create but rather to smooze with publishers, editors, and my fellow writers. Besides, I also got to visit my daughter, mother and two sisters on the trip and still use it as a tax write-off. How great is that!

While the information on query writing, synopses, etc. was a little elementary for me, I did enjoy the murder mystery evening used to point out how carefully mysteries must be plotted, the side trip to Biltmore Houses to explore the world of the super-rich, and the great dessert trays (the last a little too much). Gained five pounds on this trip. Best of all, I loved meeting the publishers and editors I've known only by the names on their e-mails. I came away with a request for a partial, an e-reader won in a raffle, and many new friends.

I followed the retreat with a visit to the Randolph Writers group who gave me a lovely welcome and listened avidly to my "Adventures in E-publishing" talk. Since I was in the area, I contacted several groups to see if they might want a free lecture. These wonderful folks were the only takers. I'd like to think the others missed out on a fine opportunity. Didn't mind if they don't want me to speak, but a "No Thanks" note would have been nice in several cases. Ah well, that's the way it goes in the life of a writer. The Randolph Writers invited me back. I'll try to get there after my historical novel comes out in January and give them a new lecture, "Writing the Historial Novel-Pitfalls and Pleasures".

Meanwhile, back to polishing the draft of Kicks for a Sinner, soon to be sent off to my editor. I admit I'd rather be writing than retreating most days, but it did provide a refreshing break, and I wrote the last few chapters of Kicks in my mind on the long journey.

Headless Torsos

2011-05-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

No, I do not write gruesome suspense novels, only light contemporaries and historicals, rarely gory. Recently, I participated in a discussion on another blog about the tendency for romance covers to feature only the torso of a deliciously muscular male, always shirtless and headless, usually legless, too. In fact, both my sports novels, Goals for a Sinner and Wish for a Sinner, have such in your face, eye-attracting covers. I admit, the first one shocked me as I considered my story to be light and funny, not hot and heavy. A meek protest to the publisher resulted in the standard reply, "Honey, this is what sells." Of course, the second cover was pretty much the same, and I guess when Kicks for a Sinner comes out it will feature a beautiful headless torso,too, or maybe just a pair of really great male legs.

I've learned to live with my covers by joking about them, telling folks that is my much younger husband and such. I do worry that readers seeking a really hot read will be disappointed, though there are certainly some sex scenes when the plot calls for them. I am also concerned that women who might enjoy the story are too embarrassed to pick up the book. A supportive cousin who works at a library, bless her heart, offers readers book covers for my works. I even looked into getting some plain brown wrappers with just the titles and my name embossed on them. Afterall, Goals for a Sinner could be mistaken for a religious tome as well. Still looking into that.

The Bad Review

2011-04-22T08:46:00.000-07:00

Honestly, as an author I have grown the hide of an alligator. But even alligators can be injured if you shoot them in the eye. I can endure agents not liking my voice. That's individual taste. Or just not caring for my genre or how I presented my story. I still get wounded when someone doesn't like my characters. They are like my children. Please don't call them ugly. Recently, I received a poor review on Wish for a Sinner. Okay, the reader still gave me an average grade. All the others have been higher. However, she hated every major character. After I cried on the shoulder of my grown journalist daughter who understands, I did go back and check this person's other reviews. Mostly, she likes paranormal romance and is cool towards other forms of the genre. So I give her credit for even trying a sports romance. It was not her thing. Arrogant athletes and the women who tame them don't stack up the same against sympathetic vampires and loving werewolves. I do feel better now.

Another that hurt was a rejection from an editor who said one of my beloved but unpublished Regencies was merely Jane Eyre rewritten. True, I have read Jane Eyre many times, one of my favorites, so it is possible some of that flavor crept into my story. I can swear, however, that Jane Eyre never had sex with Mr. Rochester prior to marriage, and just because a heroine is plain and a hero brooding does not make them Jane and Mr. R. My gal is a tart-tongued spinster who bullies a man back to health and falls in love with him of course. If you reject all arrogant masters of the manor and plain women characters, there goes half the romance genre into the waste basket. I've never sent that story out again though I do still love it. Just want to protect my ugly children.

Writing for the Minute

2011-04-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

Recently attending a writers' conference always gets me thinking, as it should. As usual, I went to the agents and editors panel to see what they were looking for in the way of new books. I wasn't at all surprised to hear most say they want something fresh and of course, the next big thing, although no one knows what that is. All would like to represent a best seller, the one all the book clubs want to read. I truly wish I could offer them The Help or Water for Elephants, both marvelous works of fiction, but I am afraid I don't have great literature in me. I write not for the ages but for the minute. My stories are designed to entertain and bring on a smile or a laugh to take the reader away from this troubled world for awhile and into another where a happy ending is guaranteed. Rarely does a literary novel do this, though the two mentioned above manage to pull off satisifying conclusions that don't leave one depressed for a week after finishing the book. Kudos to their authors. As for wanting something fresh, offer that and it will usually be turned down. If a story is not easily categorized for the publisher or book store, rarely will an agent or editor accept it. Not their fault. That's just the way it is in traditional publishing. So, the fresh and unique books today end up coming out e-published. Over the past few years, I've been told the 1920's won't sell, the eighteenth century in America won't sell, football romances won't sell, and a hybrid novel having both contemporary and historical elements won't sell. Seems I have a real penchant for writing the wrong thing. So, look for my football romances selling steadily on Amazon.com under the Lynn Shurr name, both put out by e-presses. And keep an eye out for probably my best book, Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, a 1920's novel to be released in January, 2012, by micropress L & L Dreamspell in both paperback and e-book. I hope they make you smile.

Why Attend?

2011-03-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from attending the NOLA Stars Conference in Shreveport. I go nearly every year to this small, friendly gathering with great craft lectures and best of all, a nice array of agents and editors who will take pitches. With two books out and another contracted, I believe I know my craft, but you can always learn more. This year's best hint - when hyping your romance novel to a mostly all male group mention one thing that interests them in your book like tractors or airplanes, and you will get some sales. I guess I should challenge them to check my football research in Goals for a Sinner and Wish for a Sinner. And I will next time. Since several men have read the first book, including my wonderful son-in-law, I know I got facts right and also have been complimented on that.

But mostly, I go to pitch my latest work, ever hopeful of finding an agent. Although I possess the gift of gab as my mother always says, I have as much trouble as anyone pitching to an agent. I do get the clammy hands, the sick stomach, and worst of all, if I lose my thread, I babble. This year, my first pitch to a fresh and friendly young agent went beautifully. I presented a humorous Regency series I have been working on, The Longleigh Chronicles. Feeling very confident of my pitching skills afterward, I made the big mistake of pitching a complicated reincarnation story in the afternoon. Lost in my own words and babbling, the agent finally cut me off very kindly. She said just to send her the book as an e-mail attachment. I apologized for my rambling, and she pointed out that often great pitches did not yield great books, but even poor pitches sometimes resulted in good submissions. Bless her! I truly don't know if either one of these fine agents will take me on as a client. Most likely not. The odds are not high in this business. But, every year, I go pitching again because you have to keep trying.

Besides, I won a big raffle basket of books and got an unexpected trophy for my two books with e-publishers. I also had a nice lunch and met lots of interesting people, well worth the four hour drive and the modest registration fee. So check out the smaller writers' conferences near you and give them a try.

Limited Palates

2011-02-22T12:09:00.000-08:00

I am not much of a joiner but I find myself a member of groups, two art, one writing and one historical. After one of these meetings, we generally go out to lunch. Like most groups, we usually ended up at the same spot, not my favorite, but okay. Recently the place closed sending the members into lengthy discussions after each meeting as to where to eat. I suggested a barbecue place. We went there. One member complained that they only had barbecue (well, duh), another that she never ate in places like this. I pity her. Dives always have the best 'cue. Next week, they look at me again for a suggestion. I recommend a local cafeteria known for its $6.95 plate lunches - a meat, three sides and a bread, lots of variety. One member wouldn't go because she couldn't order off a menu, another because she never went into places like that (again). Third week, I suggested a vast Chinese buffet which also has American selections aplenty. One member says she never eats Chinese, another says she has never been in "that place". I gave up and went home to eat my leftover barbecue - and it was good.

So what does all this have to do with romance writing? Some people will never try anything different. They are stuck in the same eating and reading ruts. They only read mysteries or literary novels. Read a romance novel, and they just might die of word poisoning. As a librarian, I made myself read in genres I did not care for in order to be able to recommend some of these authors to my patrons. Don't care much for inspirationals as most seem unrealistic, but I did find some writers I liked. I try to tell folks romance has a huge range from sweet to erotic. It won't hurt to try one for a change. Who knows, they might even come back for second helpings.

Censorship

2011-01-30T15:01:00.000-08:00

Romance writers take a lot of flack and much mockery. One of my daughter's friends said she thought it was cool that her mother wrote smut, joking I assume. I also assume she'd never read my books which by today's standards contain fairly tame sex scenes. To me, the story and characters are everything, and the sex just something two contemporary people in love would do. And I can handle a little kidding.

But recently something more unsettling happened to me as I attended a meeting totally unrelated to writing. We were there to critique each other's art. When I finished showing my paintings and getting advice, I mentioned my new book, Wish for a Sinner, had come out and passed around a copy. No hope of sales there. None of them bought the first book. For artists, they are remarkably conservative.

Then, the next person took the floor. She announced proudly she had nothing new to show as she had been busy working for the Tea Party and handed around some scribbles from her notebook and a paperdoll she had cut from the page of a book. She said the book was garbage and so she'd cut it up. All this time, I kept my outraged former librarian lips zipped. Furthermore, she said, she'd burned a pile of books she considered garbage in her fireplace. Okay, that set me off. I had to ask why she didn't simply donate them to the library booksale as other people might have enjoyed them since there are all kinds of tastes in reading. She replied she wanted no one else to read them and so what if I thought she was a censor. I said, "Of the very worst kind." "What if someone burned a piece of your work that had taken you months to create, how would you feel?" I asked. She said she wouldn't care if they'd paid the price - but somehow I doubt this.

We live in scary times. I can take some teasing about writng romance where the endings are always happy. I think we need happy endings more than ever when some people believe it is their right to burn books.

Christmas Presents, Christmas Past

2011-01-05T14:47:00.000-08:00

Last December, I blogged about what writers want most for Christmas. I got several of my wishes this year - like a computer keyboard that works on both sides so I can now use the cap lock again to type titles. Goals for a Sinner came out in April and people are actually reading my book. Then, Santa arrived again on Christmas Eve and announced that the sequel, Wish for a Sinner, had been posted in e-book form Amazon.com, Fictionwise, and All Romance e-books with the softcover to follow in January. Already elated, I opened my next e-mail from the good women at L & L Dreamspell and found a contract attached for my next book, Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, a 1920's era historical with romantic elements. Could Christmas get any better?

Yes. Another e-mail informed me that my niece had given birth around eleven p.m. on Christmas Eve, mother and son doing fine. She went into labor at the church service while singing Joy to the World. In fact, her water broke right there in the chapel. Not only will she have a great story to embrarrass her son, but you know it will turn up in one of my books some day.

Right after Christmas, we left for a trip. I left behind my latest WIP, a Regency titled Lion in the Heather, within 5,000 words of completion and a list of things I needed to do as a writer upon return. The list: Order post cards for Wish for a Sinner, Submit a short story to an e-anthology, Fill in Author Profile on Amazon, finally, and oh, finish my book. Day five of the new year. How many of these items have I ticked off - none. Great end to 2010. Slow start to 2011. But I wouldn't mind having another Christmas just like this one.

Good Editing

2010-12-19T14:26:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed I often have an error or two in my posts. I swear to you I do edit them, but they just slip by me. If any agents or editors ever come to this blog, know my manuscripts are much more meticulous. Even so, I am amazed what I miss in a three-hundred page manuscript. So thank heaven for editors like Cindy Davis.

This is the woman assigned to me by The Wild Rose Press when they contracted Goals for a Sinner. She is the one who made it flow like a well-run play in football. No awkward sentence escaped her. And I have learned "towards" should never be used. I have an great fondness for "towards". She also displayed a fine sense of humor and a willlingness to let me argue a point I did not think should be changed. I dreaded the editing process, but found it really did make my book better. Cindy made it painless.

Imagine my joy when L & L Dreamspell signed Wish for A Sinner and hired Cindy as my editor again. This book is twice as long as Goals, but the three edits went just as smoothly. I was fortunate to have her services provided by my publishers, but she does freelance as The Fiction Doctor,www.fiction-doctor.com, if anyone out there needs some extra help polishing their manuscript. You are in good hands with Cindy.

I really should go back and correct all the picky little erros in these posts, but hey, I'd rather be working on my next book.

More on Book Selling - or Not!

2010-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

My editor warned me that libraries are the worst sites to sell books, but I went anyway when offered a free table to sign Goals for a Sinner just after Thanksgiving. I joined eight other authors, mostly self or e-pubbed, in a broad hallway between the children's department and the DVD collection. Didn't take me long to realize that people come to libraries to borrow books, not buy them. Maybe not my target audience.

Young mothers who looked like they could use a light, spicy read scurried past practically shielding the eyes of their tots from my cover of the half-naked, ripped guy that is somewhat hotter than the actual book. Whole families with DVDs stacked up to their chins for free weekend viewing stayed out in the middle of the aisle. Most of the authors sold two or three books, including one old gentleman with a self-pubbed tome of inspirational messages. He told me later that one copy was stolen, but figured the person must have needed it really badly. I sold nary a one, but at least I wasn't ripped off.

On the plus side since I was in the city, I finished my Christmas shopping afterward. That put me in the mood to do good. The next day, I went to sign up to be a bone marrow donor-and found out my bone marrow is too old. How depressing. But ever shameless, I did tell the volunteers that one of the characters in my sequel, Wish for a Sinner, had been saved by a bone marrow transplant and handed out my promotional cards. You would think after all the research I did on that subject, I would have known my bone marrow had expired. Will I get any sales from my generous impluse to help or my nerve in handing out the sexy guy cards at a charity event? Only time will tell.

The Airplane Sale

2010-11-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

Friend and fellow writer, Nancy Brandt, who writes fantasy and inspirationals, has often told her tale of selling one of her books to the person sitting next to her on a plane. She says you can't complete a sale if the book is in your luggage. How I have longed to achieve that, and so have lugged along Goals for A Sinner on eight consecutive flights with no luck. Seems I am always seated next to a man who promptly goes to sleep or whips out the latest thriller, not my target audience for a football romance.

On my last trip north, I brought along three copies thinking my daughter's friends might want one or surely a relative at the family reunion/birthday party. Perhaps, the interesting woman I met at the plant nursery while buying a dwarf holly or the senior citizens I had breakfast with at IHOP would like my light, funny, spicy romance? But no. I used up all my promotional cards without gaining a sale. All three of those books were coming right back home with me.

Then, on the last leg of my journey, I shared the usual cramped space with a young woman reading Twilight at the urging of a friend. She wasn't much into vampires and found it slow going in the middle. I explained the story had been created for teens and adults sometimes found all the teen emo hard to take but to persevere as the ending was thrilling. Mentioned I was an author, ahem, and had my book right here. She read the blurb and said those magic words,"Now this is my kind of book." Sale completed. So thanks, Jessica on the flight from Atlanta to Lafayette. You have fulfilled one of my dreams.

How to Get Free Books

2010-10-19T08:33:00.000-07:00

Become a writer-or a reviewer of course. Once you embark on a writing career, you will join associations, go to conferences, and never come home without a load of free books. The trouble is as you work on your own book, you have less and less time to read. I estimate my pile of to-be-reads is now two years deep. Recently, I pulled Hollis Gillespie's book, Trailer Trashed, from the bottom of my pile. It was at the bottom because, being a hard-cover, I used it to balance all the paperbacks above it. But, I have owned the book for two years having purchased it at the HeartLa Readers' Luncheon a long time ago. Her short, pithy, often humerous pieces are just what I am in the mood for right now. Hollis, sorry it took me so long to get around to it. Some of those paperbacks will yellow before I get to them.

It's often said once you become a published author, you no longer enjoy reading quite as much. In some ways, this is true. Suddenly every undetected typo jumps out at you, and you notice a very famous author used "was" twelve times on her first page. You can tell when a writer is padding to get her word count. You must turn off the editor in order to enjoy the books. And now, I have so many to read. Because in the end, all authors want is for someone to enjoy their story.

Hand Selling your Book - or Friends & Relatives

2010-10-03T14:08:00.000-07:00

I give a lecture entitled "Adventures in e-Publishing" where I quote a statistic that says most e-published books will sell only 150 copies. After giving my speech to a literary group, a self-published author stayed behind to say he easily had 150 friends and relatives to buy his books. I said, "Exactly". Selling beyond your friends and relatives is the problem.

As it turns out, the most obvious places to sell your book, libraries and bookstores, are the worst, except for those in your own home town where again, you will attract friends and relatives. A recent foray to an out-of-town library where I gave my speech to a tiny audience resulted in no sales at all. I learned I had done well to sell five copies at a Barnes & Noble event - but those who bought were friends.

So what else can an author do? Yeah, yeah, blog tours and blogging though you never know if that has done any good at all. My editor suggested Arts & Crafts fairs. Fortunately, I also paint and had a sidewalk sale coming up. I put my book and myself out there with my works of art and sold seven copies. Granted most sales were again to folks I knew, but a few were not. And a curious things happened. Those who were put off my super hot cover of the half-naked guy bought a little piece of art instead as a sort of compensation sale meaning "I wouldn't be caught dead holding your book, but I will take this charming sketch of a cat". I am not too proud to say it works for me. I came home with $152 in cash having sold an equal number of books and small pieces of art. Best I've ever done at a sidewalk sale.

Can't draw or paint? A newly self-pubbed author had a place two down from mine. He joined the Art Guild to get the free apace and sat there with nothing but a box of books on his card table. He sold them all - probably to friends and relatives, but I have no way of knowing. Caveat: If you have to pay $50 for a booth, probably not worth it unless several authors chip in for the cost.

As for the two gay guys who picked up my free postcards of the half-naked guy on my cover - enjoy.

What You Want

2010-09-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

I love writing, creating the story, even polishing it to a fine shine. Begging agents and editors to look at my work, not so much. With both Goals for a Sinner and Wish for a Sinner being football romances, they were often sent back as unread with the note "We do not do football stories" by many agencies that publish or represent romance. Eventually, I found two small presses that looked beyond the occupation of the hero to the good story being told and got those contracts.

I'd heard before signing that producing a book is hard work and have learned this is true. Over Labor Day weekend, I spent sixteen hours doing third edits on Wish. We were well beyond making any changes to the story and into looking for the tiniest mistakes to make this book the best we could. Some glitch caused the quotation marks to be turned in the wrong direction in about a third of the book. Page after page, I noted this correction. At last, they disappeared and the tedious third edit proceeded more normally with a missed "a" here and dropped period there. I sent off the corrections and was rewarded with the most wonderful compliment by my publisher. She replied she'd repaired the quotation marks, but at times got so caught up in the story she had to go back and make sure she'd gotten them all. Somehow, that made the sciatica flare up I suffered from spending so much time hunched over a computer on a holiday worthwhile.

So, I've learned the truth of be careful what you wish for-it's harder than you think to prepare a book for publication, but so very worth it.

Patience Required

2010-08-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

If you want to see your book in print, be sure to stir up a big vat of patience and put it up in jars to use when needed. I signed the contract for my first book, Goals for a Sinner, in late June of 2009. Edits began immediately. All the edits and the galley were done by early August. Then, I waited nine months until the end of April 2010 to see the book in print, by publishing standards not very long. In fact, my pub date was moved up twice to the approximate time it takes to bring a baby to term.

So I signed the contract for the sequel, Wish for a Sinner, on November 1, 2009, and thought maybe it would be out in time for the 2010 football season. This time around, I wasn't assigned an editor until August, 2010, so make that the 2011 football season. First edits were done between the time I left for Wisconsin to deliver my son to grad school with all his worldly good in a U-Haul and getting on a plane for my daughter's baby shower in D.C. I think there must be some kind of Murphy's Law that says edits will arrive the very moment life is the most hectic. Last winter and spring-remarkably quiet until Goals came out, my son graduated, my oldest daughter got pregnant, and my younger daughter lost her job, moved home, found a new job and moved out again. Such is life. Open one of those big jars of patience and imbibe.

The Optimist

2010-07-14T08:28:00.000-07:00

I presented my lecture, "Adventures in E-Publishing", a few weeks ago to the members of the local Optimists Club. Since they called me only a week before the meeting, my guess is that a speaker backed out or they had none at all scheduled. Only twelve people showed up-eleven businessmen and one lady. However, I am willing to speak to any size group, especially if the gig includes a free meal. I can highly recommend the barbecued brisket with sauce at Freddie's Not So Famous Barbecue now.

Being Optimists, the group listened politely, laughed at my jokes, and looked somewhat askance at my hot book cover. Among my comments, I noted I had yet to make a cent on Goals for a Sinner and was still recouping my expenses. In the end, the lady bought a copy and one of the gentlemen got a book for his mother and let me keep the change from a twenty, the most anyone has paid for a single copy of my work, except maybe that $1,200 offer on Amazon. The Optimists are good people.

But what am I getting at with this post? The Optimists Club has a pledge they recite at the opening of each meeting about keeping a positive attitude. It wouldn't make a bad creed for an author, too. Don't speak ill of anyone and keep trying to make the world a better place - in my case by writing books that make people smile at the end. We all need a little escape from our problems in this world, and I provide that. If I never break even writing, at least I have done that.

A Real Fan

2010-06-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

Let's face it. Mostly, I sell copies of Goals for a Sinner to people I know: my relatives, members of my various clubs and RWA chapter, and most recently, my hairdresser who owes me for all that overpriced shampoo I've bought over the years. Everyone enjoys the book, so they say. A few seem simply astounded to find it is a good read. Recently, an acquaintance stopped me in a parking lot to say she'd gotten it on her Kindle. That gave me a small thrill.

But, the best thrill of all came last weekend when I headed out of a bathroom stall after our HeartLA meeting and was introduced to Meredith's mother. Genuinely excited to meet the author of Goals, she told me how much she enjoyed reading her daughter's copy and had passed it on to a cousin. She can't wait for the sequel, Wish for a Sinner, which has just been assigned an editor. Here was a person who didn't have to say anything nice to me at all. Did I care we were talking in a restroom? No. Did I mentally gripe that she hadn't actually bought the book? No. The idea that she'd liked it enough to recommend my book to others made my day.

Frankly, I wish I could implant microchips in my books and see where they wander like stray dogs who find new homes. I know for a fact, they've been to a cottage in Maine, flown on airplanes, gone to the beach and the lake and the Grand Tetons. In fact, my books have traveled more than I have this year. As long as people are reading and enjoying, I'm happy.

Signing Books at Barnes and Noble

2010-06-14T08:46:00.000-07:00

Really, I didn't expect to sell many books, but gee, golly, gosh, here I am signing at Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite places on earth. After a friend told me they didn't have my book and I needed to go introduce myself, I did. The manager looked over the product, checked it on the computer, probably to see if the wholesaler carried it and if it was returnable. He cordially agreed to order a few copies for the "Local Author" table and asked if I want to participate in the group signing the next week. Well, yes!

So, I donned my football jersey again and had free foam football giveaways to go with the book in keeping with the Goals for a Sinner theme. I set up my post among the other e-pubbed and self-pubbed. The Civil War books and cookbooks (free samples given) sold like hotcakes. The young man with a children's book sitting next to me must have been related to half the parish because he had a line waiting. I sold five copies to friends. My target was six. Not too disappointed. I know how these things go. I did do better than the two women with poetry and memoir offerings. And enough folks chatted with me to keep me from being bored. It was an okay experience, and I was excited to have my book in one Barnes and Noble. A caveat, since we had to bring our own books and B and N takes a 40% cut of sales, I probably made only pennies that night. Exposure is important, I tell myself.

Checking my e-mail the next day, I get a letter from the publisher who contracted the sequel warning me not to deal with Barnes and Noble. Too many returns, no enough profit. Mea culpa. Too late now.

Braving Barnes & Noble

2010-06-01T08:32:00.000-07:00

I've heard all the horror stories about walking into one of the big book chain stores with an e-published book in hand, and if not being tossed out, then totally scorned. However when one of my friends tried to buy Goals for A Sinner at a B & N and was told by the manager I'd have to come in and introduce myself, I did. Hands sweating, heart pounding, my first stop was a nervous trip to their ladies room. Then, I sought out a manager, pulled my light romance from my bag, and began my pitch, mostly saying I was a local author and the story took place in Louisiana. He looked the book over, said it appeared very professional, and searched for it on the computer. I suspect he checked to see if their wholesaler stocked it. And then, those wonderful words, "Okay, I'll stock some." Was it available in e-format? Absolutely! Would I like to participate in a local author book signing in June, BYOB (Bring your own books). Sure. I left on wobbly legs.

Why did I succeed? The Wild Rose Press did put out a totally professional product-good cover and blurb and not a single typo in the text. B & N could easily order through their wholesaler and return unsold copies. Unfortunately, this won't be the case for the sequel since this option has been dropped. I stressed local author and locale. And somewhere in my blathering, I mentioned that the title was selling steadily on Amazon. I have no idea if that last competitive bit helped or not and in fact, was merely trying to justify myself as an author. Okay, the Lafayette, LA Barnes and Noble is the only big chain store to offer my book, but that is one more than none.

Best Book Signing Ever

2010-05-23T13:53:00.000-07:00

We didn't call it a book signing, but went for the autograph party because that's what it was. My children roared into town bearing with them red and black Sinners' football jerseys and two red velvet cakes, one shaped like a book with my cover embossed on it in edible film. Confused? Goals for a Sinner tells the story of a fictional football team named the Sinners whose colors are red and black. A romance evolves between a wide receiver and sports photogapher, Stevie Dowd.

So,we suited up in our jerseys, did a team hand clasp, and got started. Eventually, foam footballs bounced off the walls of the bookstore. Friends visited and stayed awhile for the fun. I did not remain behind the book table but cut cake and begged people to take it, assuring them they did not have to buy a book if they ate it. Still, no takers among strangers who entered. One old woman who came to browse looked at our frolic with disapproval. Even a group of four Goth teens passed on the cake heeding their parents' advice never to take sweets from strangers-or maybe they would have preferred blood. Don't know. We gave out extra pieces to be taken home to spouses and still had cake left at the end of the event.

Oh yes, we did sell books, at least a dozen though I lost count in the sheer giddiness of the moment. If we had sold only one copy, this still would have been the Best Book Signing Ever-family, friends, food and fun. No stuffy book signing for us. I doubt I will ever have a better one. Thanks so much to my children, my long suffering husband, and Howard and Lorraine Kingston of Books Along the Teche for making this a moment to remember.

Still more Mysteries of Amazon

2010-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

Oh no! Goals for a Sinner has been discounted on Amazon, and I haven't even had my first book signing yet. That is coming up fast at Books Along the Teche in New Iberia, LA on Saturday, May 22nd, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Come for the cake if nothing else-red and black velvet, the Sinners' colors, though my team does not wear velvet. Also, we will have a foam football toss at noon. Fun, fun, fun!

Back to Goals being discounted. But it is in such good company. Those who viewed its blurb, also looked at books by Lisa Kleypas, Rachel Gibson, and Susan Mallery. How great is that? Only one copy left. Buy, buy, buy!

More Mysteries of Amazon

2010-05-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

I am still tickled at having Goals for a Sinner listed on Amazon.com and admit to signing in just to stare at my cover once or twice a day. The copy offered for $1,000 has vanished along with a $36 used copy bargain. Does having someone else's DNA on a book make it more valuable as the new product is available for twelve? Somehow, I doubt if these copies have sold. Now, the highest price offered is $15 new, about right if you include postage, but the best thing about this posting is the description, "Huge seller with millions of transactions". I gather it is being sold overseas, but I can't wait to see my royalty statements. LOL. Perhaps, they are merely describing their company, but that's not the way I read it. Also appreciate those five star reviews, really.

Now for another mystery of Amazon. For about a week, only one copy has been in stock. If you order in the next nine hours and thirty-six minutes, it can be yours in less than two days. I'd love to think someone wants Goals so badly they would order immediately, but alas the offer remains. Will someone order the fricking last copy so Amazon will reorder? I have noticed that one sale can change my ranking from 339,000 to 214,000 just like that. But, I am not looking at those numbers, I swear.

The Mysteries of Amazon

2010-04-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Oh rapturous day! Goals for a Sinner appeared on Amazon.com a week earlier than expected. My daughter noticed and immediately ordered five copies. What a good kid. This purchase catapulted me from 144,000 in the rankings to 124,000. But the next day, Goals sunk back to 344,000, I suppose because a whole lot of new books came out over the weekend. Then, it bounced back to 117,000. People have warned me not to obsess over these rankings. I won't because they make no sense at all.

Then, I discovered that in addition to Amazon, two other places were offering my book new, one for the same price of $11.99 and the other for $1,199.00. Is the last a Nigerian scheme? Money laundering for the mob? A misprint? I do not know. The first gave my book four and a half stars, the other five, but if the book has not been read, how do they know it is worth five stars? Hey, I'm not arguing. I'll take it. Some kind reviews would be welcome, also. Two tags are posted: Great Beach Read and Wonderful Sports Romance. I hope you will agree.

Cold Feet

2010-04-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

Lent is over. Easter is past. I've dyed the eggs, lost the egg bumping contest, and made creamed ham and eggs on toast for dinner. Several friends asked if I immediately went to Barnes and Noble to spend a fortune on books after my long book fast. Well, I did go with my son who bought a Pat the Bunny bunny for his godchild. I was tempted by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but went away empty-handed. Maybe later.
So what did I spend my book money on? - one hundred copies of my soon to be released title, Goals for a Sinner, a big number on my credit card, though better after I got my author's discount. This is the proverbial leap of faith. If I can't sell 100 copies of my own book, who can? Our wonderful local bookstore, Books Along The Teche, is holding a book signing for me. I've already asked relatives and friends to come and just stand around so it looks like I have a crowd. I plan to make it fun by having a foam football toss. And maybe we'll have cake. People will cross a room for cake. But beneath it all is the fear than no one will buy my book except the relatives, and no one will like it if they do buy - which will make selling the sequel pretty hard. I believe this is a classic writers phobia. So, I take a deep breath and keep on writing.
What book, other than mine, finally claimed my cash after my not buying books during Lent vow ended - Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz. Love Jayne Ann.

Pitching

2010-03-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

Pitching, and I don't mean softball or woo, but pitching to agents is one of the most excruciating things a writer is expected to do. Now, people who know me say I have the gift of gab. I can strike up a long conversation with a total stranger or speak in front of an audience of a hundred or a thousand without fear. But, put me at small table across from an agent or editor, and no matter how well I have rehearsed, I blather.

I've pitched seven times and will probably have to pitch a thousand times more. My first time, I received a cut sign half way through my spiel. "I can't sell a 1920's novel. There is no market," she said very kindly. But she did allow me to send a few chapters, gave me a great critique, and told me I was a very good writer, but to choose another topic. So, I spent the next year writing what I thought was a lovely Regency. Got three requests for fulls - and three rejections. Whatever the disappointment, I figured I had pitching nailed at least. So, I trotted out my fresh, brand new historical, Lady Flora's Rescue, at this year's conference. The agent listened patiently. "Look, 18th Century with Indians won't sell, sorry." she said. I guess I will force myself to pitch again next year, but have no idea what to write next. Hmmm, maybe if those Indians were vampires.

What I Gave Up for Lent

2010-03-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

Blogging is like standing in a dark closet talking to myself. That said, I can always depend on my FB buddies for lots of feedback. When I mentioned giving up buying books for Lent-Oh, the horror expressed! Need I say most of my FB friends are writers and bookaholics just like me? Some took this vow to mean I would not be reading books for the duration-but, no. That would totally impossible for me. Jesus would never ask for that kind of sacrifice either. Like many others, I think of Heaven as a huge library full of books I haven't read and friends to discuss them with. I simply meant I would read from the four stacks of books I had already purchased or borrow from the library. A huge auto repair bill, the laptop I bought my husband for Christmas, and several large medical bills helped me make this decision.

Anyhow, I got off to a rough start. On the second day of Lent, Tracy Chevalier's Remarkable Creatures showed up in the mail, a book purchased with my book club credits plus postage. Then, my husband, feeling bad for me, gifted me with This Book is Overdue!, a tribute to librarians. At my writers' group, a friend, Sylvia Rochester, had copies of her new title, DaVinci's Lost Years, for sale. You gotta buy a friend's book, right?

I did better as Lent dragged along-until Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb showed up having been pre-ordered back in January. I felt I redeemed myself at a recent writers' conference where I bought no books and probably made no friends because of it. I read a book I'd considered purchasing but got from the library instead. Didn't care for it. Glad I saved the money. Now, if only a Barnes and Nobel gift certificate wasn't burning a hole in my purse. When is Easter?

What my Accountant Said

2010-02-25T07:06:00.000-08:00

You know all those tax deductions for writers I wrote about in my last blog? Well, I carefully gathered all my documentation of my expenses and submitted them along with an explanatory note, the hot cover of my upcoming book, and my regular tax stuff. Ring, Ring! It's my accountant, the one I had to get after we inherited stocks, and I could no longer figure out our taxes. To give him credit, he has saved us much money over the years. Very gently, he says, "Miss Lynn (did I mention we live in the South?") about these writing expenses. Now you aren't trying to earn your living this way because there is a difference between a hobby and a real business, you know." I assured him I had a book coming out in April and would someday have royalties, maybe even enough to cover those $1,700 in expenses. The wheels turn. I know he is thinking, "Poor lady paid someone to print her book, and now she has all these losses." I say, "Really, I write four or five hours a day, and it's taken me five years to get this book printed by a real publisher." He mullls that over. "Tell you what, why don't we claim these expenses next year against any royalties you might get." Okay, didn't know you could do that. And that's why he is the accountant, and I am an author--maybe.

Whoooo Dat?

2010-02-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

Now I really do have to retire the joke about Hell freezing over when the Saints win the Super Bowl. It was worth the sacrifice. What a terrific win. Well, if the Saints can win the Super Bowl, I should be able to get another book contract if I work as hard as they did. When Goals for a Sinner comes out on April 23rd, I am sure people will look at the cover and say, "Who dat?"

2010-02-07T11:33:00.000-08:00

So, here I am waiting for the Super Bowl to start. It seems Hell has frozen over up north and it's mighty cold in Louisiana, too. I predict and hope for a Saints win. After all, the Saints were my inspiration for the fictional Sinners football team in Goals for a Sinner. And no, Connor Riley is not modeled after Jeremy Shockey since I wrote this book in 2004, but he could certainly play the part.

What to do while the day creeps slowly towards 5:30 p.m.? Not being one to waste time, I am organizing my taxes (and blogging). Having just totaled up my "business expenses" as a writer, I am appalled to find I spent $1,700 simply getting this one book into print and haven't earned a cent on it yet. Looks like a big write-off to me. How on earth did I spend so much? I started off by attending a conference where I got three requests for full manuscripts. No one took the book, but I did meet a friend who urged me to try The Wild Rose Press. They took the book and assigned a great editor, Cindy Davis, at no cost to me, but did urge me to blog and set up a web site. Lynn Lamousin built a beautiful site for me at a very reasonable cost. I simply didn't know I had to buy an url and other mysterious things I still don't understand. Then, the Oriental Trading Company catalog arrived and had the perfect promotional item: the flaming foam football. I bought 200. Of course, I had to order labels to stick on them and postcards with my book cover and release information from some very nice people in India. Yes, Miss, it is very, very easy to design your own postcard. We will help you. And they did.

Not included in the above, two celebratory dinners. The first was held appropriately in an Indian restaurant where we ordered extra nand, an appetizer, the main course, and even the beautiful white chocolate lotus blossom filled with mango cream desset. The tab came to $100 for three people, not unreasonable really. When I signed the second contract for the sequel, my husband and I went to Olive Garden and spent a modest $40. I sure hope I can earn $2,000 on this book to assuage my guilt. One thing I can say, I am ready for the release-still three months away. Let's see, it's two p.m. Still, three and a half hours before game time. What else can I do. Oh yeah! I can write.

Ambivalence

2010-01-22T13:52:00.000-08:00

Just so you know, I got that ream of paper for Christmas and used half of it printing out the first draft of Lady Flora's Rescue, fomerly My Savage Viscount which just sounded too cheesy. The count came out to 106,000 words, but this will change in the rewrite. On advice I received three conferences ago, I abandoned my light, funny unsold contemporaries for historicals. My first effort, an 1920's novel entitled Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, is still one of my favorites, but I had to learn the hard way that even if it did final in a contest, The Twenties do not sell. So, on to developing a series based on the eccentric Duke and Duchess of Bellevue and their large family in Regency England. These came out as amusing romps rather than true Regencies. Then, another suggestion: Go back to the 18th century and tell the story of the Duchess and Duke and their meeting. Hey, that's a whole lot of new research, but I've done it.

So what have I sold? None of the historicals, but two of the light contemporaries I wrote five years ago and could not sell because no one wanted funny and light. I guess the economy had to tank for folks to yearn for a little laughter. GOALS FOR A SINNER will be out April 23rd and its sequel in the fall, I believe. You can read an excerpt on my web site: www.lynnshurr.com. And now for the ambivalence. Shall I abandon the historical series and simply go back to my contemporaries which are much easier to write. I mean I don't have to figure out how long it takes to get a letter from Georgia to England in 1815 by sea or research the early Abolitionist movement, though I do enjoy that part of writing historicals. I had plans for at least three more of the Duke and Duchess series, but that might be a waste of time. In publishing, you never really know what to do next.

The Five Year Plan

2009-12-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

End of the year, end of a decade-time for introspection and setting new goals or getting drunk and blowing it all off. Not being a big fan of the hangover, I'll go for introspection. Two of my books, GOALS FOR A SINNER and WISH FOR A SINNER, are coming out in 2010. Between the ages of 35 and 40, I wrote two other novels. A single mother, I hoped desperately for some additional income and toiled away every weekend my ex had the children from morning until night. I set a goal for myself of getting a book publshed within five years. I did have an agent for about thirty days, after which she sent a letter saying she was no longer going to handle romance novels but wanted to concentrate on non-fiction and serious literature. I notice she is no longer in the business at all. That aside, my five year plan failed. I put my manuscripts in the closet, remarried, had another child, moved to a larger house with a big yard, and carried out some ambitious projects at work. Ten years later, I had surgery and could not lift, drive, clean, garden, cook, etc. I read a pile of books during the six week recovery, but soon grew bored. Out came the old manuscripts to be rewritten. Two more books followed, then two more (the ones that were eventually published). I haven't stopped writing since, and can't help but wonder how much farther ahead I would be if I hadn't stuck to the five year plan.

Little Fishes

2009-12-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

I've come to think of authors as a vast school of little, silver fishes endlessly circling in a vast ocean and hoping to be landed. The publishers, those huge sharks who take most of the risks and make most of the profits, usually pass us by. Editors, toothy barracudas who intimidate the authors into writing better books, come next in the hierachy. Then, the agents-I'd say they are remoras, but most of us don't make enough to feed a remora. No, agents have always seemed more like fishermen to me. They stand on the shore pulling in many fishes, throwing all but one or two back, seeming all-powerful.
Recently, I got a message from a young agent I'd approached. I was surprised to be on her mailing list since she'd turned me down pleasantly but firmly. She hadn't changed her mind, but rather was announcing the closure of her agency. I was sorry to hear that. Sometimes I forget if the publishers aren't taking on new clients, the younger agents don't thrive either. In the RWR magazine, nearly all the first sales have gone to e-pubs and small presses in the last year or so, no profit for agents there. Lots of casualities in this economy, and it is not only tough on us small fishes either.

Staying Forever Younger

2009-12-11T14:04:00.000-08:00

Here they are, the new publicity pictures I received as a gift from my husband. The one I usually post was taken six years ago. It's taken me five years of concerted effort to sell two of my fourteen novels. Oh my, how I have aged. So what do you think? Should I select one of these: The Traditonal, the Serious Author, or the Author Outdoors? Or should I stay forever younger?

GIFTS FOR AUTHORS

2009-12-01T08:57:00.000-08:00

I'm nearly out of black ink for my printer again. Might I suggest the classic gift for an author of a couple of ink cartridges and reams of good white paper? To be honest, I do nearly all my writing, editing, and submissions by computer and use the printer mostly for my drafts. You can never have too many backups of any kind. So, how about a nice titanium thumb drive or other off-computer storage device to guard against viruses and meltdowns? Doesn't have to be titanium, but I like the idea of owning something made of space ship material. A laser printer would be dandy, too, but costly and not really necessary to your success as a writer. Still, laser anything is cool: printer, hair removal, surgery if needed.
The second you sign a contract, a request will appear asking for a promotional photo. My last good picture was taken six years ago and so I sent that. Budding authors, you might want to hint for a photo sessions with your best local photographer. I did and got new pics for my birthday. Sad that I now look older, but my best feature, my smile, remains the same. Warning: this can get expensive as it is probably a good idea to purchase the copyright to the photos as well.
And the best gift you can give any published author-buy their book and tell them how much you love it.

Young Blood

2009-11-27T12:49:00.001-08:00

Last Friday I met with a high school book club who wanted to talk to a real author. I am sure some of them were disappointed to greet a silver-haired woman who has been writing since the fifth grade and only now has her first book coming out in May, 2010. But, they listened politely even after I confessed my novel was a romance. I tried not to dwell on me as writer, but rather on the degree of perfection demanded in today's market, pitfalls to watch out for, and how to deal with rejection. I tried to be real and not yet too discouraging because these are the authors of the future. Once my talk finished, most of the group vanished into the stacks at B &N or got in line at the coffee bar, but six young women remained behind to ask more questions and tell me about their work. We covered everything from Pride and Prejudice to Ender's Game while discussing what they liked and wanted to write. I hope I gave them sound advice. I hope they will succeed far faster than I did because of it.

Glam Pics

2009-11-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

One of my daughters suggested I needed an updated, sexier picture for my web site, www.LYNNSHURR.com. Following this suggestion, my husband booked a sitting for me with a very fine local photographer as a birthday gift. The man did try his best. Sadly, I would have to be fifthy pounds lighter and thirty years younger at the least to look sexy. I believe I was sexy for about six years of my entire life from the ages of twenty-one to twenty-seven. Generally, my mother referred to me as "the one with the good personality", the kiss of death when it came to dating.
You know what? A good personality lasts far longer and gets you more places than a good figure or a pretty face. Took me a long time to realize that, so I am passing it on. Now, I need to make another decision. Should I keep the original picture with the slightly outdated hair style and be younger than I now am forever, or do I boldly post the new ones with the silver hair and double chin as soon as I can figure out how to do that? Maybe I'll ask you-which one should be on my web site?

Suspense versus Romance

2009-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

My older daughter does not read romance. She prefers suspense novels, the kind with creepy stalkers and gruesome murders, the kind that give me nightmares. She finally broke down and read the first two chapters of GOALS FOR A SINNER offered on my web site, LYNNSHURR.com, and remarked that nothing much happened in the story. Well, the heroine is tackled by two football players, ends up in the hospital, and meets the man who had a crush on her in high school. That's quite a lot actually, but true, no bodies dropped from the ceiling. No one was stabbed, stalked or done away with in an original manner. I had to explain that romances are about relationships. Hopefully, the reader will like the characters enough to want to follow their story and see them get together in the end. My stories should make you smile or even laugh, chuckle or chortle. They are a source for good dreams. If I've done that, I've done my job.

Research

2009-10-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

As a former reference librarian, I love to do research. I confess to having spent half a day searching for the origins of the chocolate sprinkles to put on ice cream. I thought I'd failed, and got diverted into the history of the lollipop. Then, lo and behold! The same man invented the sprinkles. All this time spent so I could allow a character to ask for sprinkles on his ice cream in my 1920's novel, QUEEN OF THE MARDI GRAS BALL. This was an easy detail to work into the novel. Many other marvelous tidbits had to be set aside least the book start sounding like a non-fiction account of life in the Twenties.

How much historical detail to add? What to leave out? Usually, I try to work signs of the times into the conversation. People took picnic baskets and went out to watch the levee protecting St. Bernard Parish being blown up to save New Orleans. Surely, people would have talked or written letters about this event. On the other hand, it is not necessary to describe the making of bathtub gin, no matter how fascinating, to say someone is drinking it in a scene. I wish I had a formula to offer like fifty percent fact, fifty percent fiction, but I don't. I still haven't figured this out for myself. Just yesterday, I learned how a wigwam is built, step-by-step. Will I use this? Probably not. But it is just so tempting.

A Writer's Day

2009-10-04T14:55:00.000-07:00

I'd guess every writer's day is different, whatever works for you. Having had a job every year of my life since the age of seventeen, I cannot bring myself to work in my nightgown. Each day, I get up around seven, put on light makeup and clothes decent enough to answer the door, have breakfast, answer e-mail, and run any errands pending. By lunch time, my schedule is completely clear. I sit down and write for four or five hours with the aid of a large pot of hot tea for stimulation. My goal is around 1,000 words a day which usually comes to four or five pages. Neither pantser nor plotter, I am a plodder. I do this day after day, and at the end of three months have a 90,000 word fairly clean first draft. I don't spend time doing character sketches or spread sheets. The story is inside my head. I know my beginning, middle, and end before I start, but the details bring the book to life. I finish for the day around 6:00 pm., make dinner for my husband, enjoy his company, a good book, or a favorite TV program for the evening and turn in around eleven p.m. Not too exciting, but the end result is two books a year. I just keep plodding along.

Life Happens

2009-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

I finished the galleys for GOALS and sent off two other manuscripts for consideration before leaving on a long-planned two week vacation to Yellowstone in mid-August. Back from that magnificent place, I went in for my annual checkup and ended up with a breast cancer scare that consumed another week with tests, all negative, thank heaven. Then, I had to supply all the copy for my new web site www.LYNNSHURR.com and make a few dozen decisions regarding that. Four weeks gone and not a word added to my WIP.
Then, the local Sugar Cane Festival started where I volunteered as a judge escort for the art show. School tours began at the ante-bellum home where I am guide. My copier broke. More decisions to make. My left rear tire blew out on the way home from a Heart of Louisiana, RWA meeting in Baton Rouge, thankfully not on the Atchafalaya causeway. A kind diesel mechanic at a truck stop/mini-casino in Grosse Tete changed it for me, even finding me a used tire in the scrap heap because my spare had a big hole in it. Tomorrow, I can look forward to buying tires and sitting around while they rotate and replace the old ones.
Six weeks gone and no work on a WIP that had been dropping off the pen or into the computer like mad before I left on vacation. Life happens. Maybe I'll write this week.

The Saints and the Sinners

2009-09-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

My book, GOALS FOR A SINNER, revolves around an imaginary football team, the Sinners, that has replaced the Saints after they move to Salt Lake. However, it looks like the Saints might stay in New Orleans for a few more years. Their first two games of the 2009 season have been awesome. I might have to give up telling my favorite Saints/Cajun joke which goes like this:
A group of Cajuns skip confession and Mass in order to take the bus to the casino. On the way, the bus crashes and everyone aboard dies and goes straight to Hell. The Cajuns don't find the place much hotter than Louisiana, so they make themselves comfortable, setting up some bourre games and boiling water for crawfish. The Devil doesn't like seeing them so content. He turns up the heat. The Cajuns make up some tickets to sell for a gumbo dinner in order to air condition the place. This infuriates the Devil. He thinks and thinks. Ah-ha! He turns the heat down so low the place freezes over. Those Cajuns are miserable and shivering. Then, one looks at another and smiles. "You know what dis means, Boudreaux? The Saints done won the Super Bowl. Let's party!"
If the Saints keep doing so well, we might have snow again in Louisiana this year.

Why am I blogging?

2009-09-15T12:53:00.000-07:00

After ten years of writing and five years of trying to get published, the incredible happened. I have a book coming out May 21, 2010, GOALS FOR A SINNER, the fifth of fourteen novels. I'm told authors must blog, so here goes. GOALS is a short contemporary football romance, sort of an appetizer to be consumed while waiting for the next Susan Elizabeth Phillip's novel to come out. She simply doesn't write fast enough for me, so I did two of my own out of admiration for her work, but not an imitation of it. We have very different styles. The idea for my book came to me as I watched the Panthers lose the Super Bowl back in 2004 with that darned two point conversion try. If only they had gone for the tie. A sad occasion in more than one way since my dad had just died, and being a Panthers fan, he would have loved seeing that game despite the sad ending. So, while sitting with my bereaved family eating strombolis and missing Janet's wardrobe malfunction since I went for a bathroom break during her performance, I made up another team struggling to get to the Super Bowl, the New Orleans Sinners.
The Sinners manage to win two imaginary Super Bowls, and GOALS was a finalist in two contests, Cleveland Rocks and CTRWA Connections, but when submitted to agents and editors of romance novels, the usual reply came back, "We do not do football novels and so have not read your work." Thank heaven for the open minds at The Wild Rose Press and my wonderful editor there, Cindy Davis, who loves and understands both football and romance. I hope the Panthers get another chance, too.

First Blog 9/14/09

2009-09-14T17:07:00.000-07:00

My husband is an astronomer. He can pick out the little fuzzy balls of gobular clusters with a telescope or binoculars from among the brightest stars and reveal them to be a dense gathering of hundreds of stars. Out here in the blogosphere, I feel like one of those tiny fuzzy balls in space with a hundred unnoticed stars inside of me. At least, my husband knows I'm here. As I've said before, geeks make great husbands.