What Keeps Me from Writing

     What keeps me from writing isn't writer's block. I've never experienced that. The reverse problem applies: too many ideas and not knowing which to attack next. Mostly, I want to talk about issues that every writer will face sooner or later, and I had a bunch of them this year as did friends of mine.
      I experienced the full circle of life in the past twelve months. My first granddaughter came into the world in the spring. A week of writing was traded for rocking a fretting newborn and making an Easter celebration for the older child, well worth the time. In June, the death of my elderly mother, a blessed release for her, but the start of the stress and strain of getting what should have been a simple settling of a very small estate that became an enormous amount of trouble. I took another week off to scatter her ashes in Pennslyvania under the tree planted for my dad and where his ashes lie. We planted some crocus, too, but as I now live a thousand miles from PA, I don't know if they will bloom. Also got talked into going to a class reunion up there, another rite of passage and not nearly as painful as I feared, fun even.
     Illness. Two author friends are no longer writing while dealing with diseases we all fear. Two others passed away. I've been lucky so far, but can tell you that being laid up after knee surgery, doing heavy PT and taking heavier pain killers means six weeks of no writing. Last week, I inexplicably broke out in full body hives for no reason the doctor could find. I guarantee you cannot put an itchy butt in chair for hours, and Benadryl will have you dozing in your seat, face down on desk. Clearing up now and getting some writing done.
     Writing Setbacks. The first book I submitted in 2015, The Courville Rose, rejected and still homeless. The second, She's a Sinner, a light-hearted Sinners tale about the NFL's first female player, was published in September following Son of a Sinner out earlier in January. Son did well, but She has garnered no reviews at all which makes me think no one read or liked the book, so why am I doing this? Meanwhile, I sold a single title, A Will of her Own, that had editing problems up the wahzoo. I worked through them, but the changes sucked away some of my joy in writing the book. It will come out in the spring sometime, and I should be thankful to be having a 2016 release after all of the above experiences, both good and bad.
     Travel is my weakness. I love to go and went a little too much this year. Not complaining about the two weeks I took off to visit Ireland, no, not at all, but I didn't get around to starting a second book for 2016 (I usually aim for two) until I got back in late August. I'm still laboring over and having fun with An Ashy Affair, but won't finish it until maybe February because I also ran smack-dab into...
     The Holidays. Cooking, baking, shopping, putting up a tree and other decorations, Christmas cards and a family letter all take up gobs of time and distract the mind. I did get a small respite after setting my stove on fire with gravy and so wrote for a few days while awaiting the arrival of a new stove. Believe me, it is best to bow to the publishing custom of shutting down for December and just let yourself enjoy the company of family, friends, and good food.
      Most publishers would like you to put out two books a year at the very least as writers are soon forgotten if they have nothing new to offer. Three would be even better. Since I write full-length works in excess of 75,000 words, two is about my best effort, though I appear to write more as some books are held back and some leap ahead in the publishing process. Regardless, something must always be in the mill, and some years will be more productive than others because every writer will encounter all of the above sooner or later.
     Wishing you time off to enjoy the holidays and a New Year with fewer interruptions--unless they are joyous ones.

Of Awards, Contests & Reviews, again

Recently, I attended an authors' luncheon with two better known than me guest speakers. Both had recently won awards of some kind or another--and both acknowledged that hadn't made a bit of difference in their sales. One was for Indie books, and I think the public knows little about these awards and could care less. I also suspect the only awards that would have any meaning would be the Rita for romance in my case or one of the library awards such as the Newbery or Caldecott which can make careers.The Pulitzer would count, too, of course, but that is a different kind of writing altogether. Recently, I received an offer to pay a hefty fee to enter a Reader's Choice Award. No thanks. If I have learned one thing, these are primarily popularity contests, and will-known, very popular authors always win them--or people who have lots and lots of relatives to vote.

Similar offers have come for cover contests. I placed third in one of these that had a modest entry fee, but soon figured out that the best cover did not win and would not win. The winners were those who could spend all day voting for themselves as this contest had no rules against that or had lots and friends and family. A perfectly wonderful cover even better than mine got very few votes. The bit of free advertising that came as my award really didn't result in any sales. My friends and relatives already know about my books, though I did startle some folks at a recent class reunion who said, "You're writing what?" Yes, spicy romance novels. Mostly these contests exist to draw your band of merry followers to their web site and a mailing list.

Speaking of which, I received a notice that one of my books, Son of a Sinner, had been entered in a contest, but not by me. At first, I was a little flattered until I realized every book reviewed by that site had been entered in the contest. The contemporary romance category was huge. In order to go on to the next round, my book had to garner fifty more votes. I did try to get those votes until the people I begged to vote for me reported that they had to join the site to vote and the process to do that was laborious. This was just another case of a site building their mailing list. When I understood this, I ceased soliciting votes and didn't get my fifty to continue. I doubt winning would have made any difference. At least, this one was free.

Also, I have been bombarded lately by people offering to review my books on one hand and offering me an advertising package with another. Oh, how we all pine for reviews, so hard to get these days with so many books out there. I fell for this once.  I sent a review copy, but declined the $350 advertising package. Got a scathing review of a book that had otherwise gotten decent reviews. Smell a rat? Amazon did not post it, so I suspect they were also on to something.  So go with care when offered one of these deals. We are all desperate for reviews.  If you want to do something nice for an author, review one of her books on Amazon or GoodReads for Christmas.

I'm not saying any of the above are scams.  Business is business, and they want to sell advertising and draw people to their sites.  It's up to the writer if they want to participate or shell out the money and see what they get. If any of you know if any of these worked for you, please feel free to comment.

In parting, hi to Lisa and Sarah. Thanks for following my blog.

An Author's Pet Peeves

     It seems that agents and publishers are always posting their pet peeves, but authors are not allowed this outlet. Sometimes, we need to gripe, too. No names shall be named here. These are just general complaints brought on by my recent spate of submissions.
     Oh, how I wish for a standardized submission form. Yes, I do the usual, doubled-spaced in Times New Roman,standard margins, and headers, but then there are some publishers who even specify margin size and insist you cram your entire life story in the header which really messes up the look of the page. Then, a few want single-spaced. Some want attachments, some want embedded chapters, some want fulls, some chapters. A few make the submission process incredibly complex such as asking for your marketing plan and all your platforms as well as your publishing history. I realize they want to weed out the insufficiently motivated, but some also say if you make even one tiny mistake in following their directions, you are not professional,.and they will not take even a glimpse at your work. They have the power to do this of course, and we are at their mercy. We are too many and must be culled, but I am so tired of constantly reformatting.
     Most submissions are done by computer these days--easy to receive, easier to reject and delete, easier for me, too, than running a brown envelope to the post office to be weighed and paying for postage. However since we are in the age of computers, you would think agents and publishers could at least set up an auto reply that says, "We have received your submission."  Some do, but others don't. Their site will say if you haven't heard from us in two or three months, we aren't interested.  But, how do you know they ever got the submission in the first place. What if you broke one of their rules? You will never know. Some say you can inquire after a certain period of time. Frankly, I've never done this as I know they don't want to be bothered, just as people you pitch to do not want your card or contact info which they will only throw out later. I did once submit the same manuscript to an agent twice as I wasn't sure it had been received. To this day, I do not know, but I won't submit there again. Do I really want an agent who can't take the time to at least send an auto reply that says the classically vague, "Not right for us" so you won't go out and kill yourself over all the months you've wasted waiting to hear from them. Yes, I long for the days of the SASE with the standard brushoff and sometimes a single sentence of encouragement.
      Okay, got that off my chest. I shouldn't be broody. A contract did come through for my women's fiction novel, A Will of her Own, about a young woman whose life takes some unexpected turns when she decides to get over her college crush and date men who might really be interested in her. It's already undergone a title change and a blurb rewrite. Edits will show up soon taking me away from working on a new romance, A Splashy  Affair.  Best guess is that it will be out next spring, but She's a Sinner surprised me with a release date months before I expected it.  In publishing, you just never know anything.

She's a Sinner

My newest Sinners book, the second in the Sinner's Legacy series dealing with Joe Billodeaux's many children, was released yesterday. Placekicker Tom Billodeaux meets his match in Alix Lindstrom, a tall, strong young woman who wins the position of punter on the team. Not only did I gain a lot of new knowledge about punting while doing the research for this book, but I had so much fun imagining what adding a woman to an NFL roster would entail. Alix is the NFL's first female player, and all sorts of problems crop up because no rules are in place.

First of course is locker room etiquette.  Where is Alix going to change and shower at the practice field, at the Dome, and after away games?  Tom with his experience of many sisters helps design a private bathing area for their new punter who will lead the team from the field, pass through the locker room, and go straight to her own shower.  Away games?  She takes a waiting vehicle back to the hotel immediately. And what about language?  I had the best time creating a "sexual sensitivity" class all the guys were required to attend and asked to clean up their words. Alix must attend her own session on how to deal with her male companions.  Declining to turn them in for infractions against her, she works to earn the respect of her teammates, some of whom don't want her to succeed.

Others welcome Alix, none more than Tom who is smitten at first sight. Imagine, a tall blonde who understands every aspect of kicking.  While Alix thinks of herself as a big and clunky female jock, more than one fellow on the team finds her attractive. Are there any rules about dating a teammate?  Not yet.  Tom doesn't move fast enough and is nearly shut out by another player. What about marriage?  Nothing to stop them, but Tom ponders, what if he gets a football player pregnant for the first time in history, and she cannot honor her contract?  Would this situation be treated the same as an injury?  Lots of questions came to mind, and I didn't answer all of them.

I do hope you will enjoy meeting Alix.  She's a Sinner is on sale this week of September 9, 2015 only for $3.00 at www.thewildrosepress.com. Check out the great cover by Diana Carlile there or on Amazon or barnes&nobel.com.  Write a review for me if you find the book engaging. Thanks.

Traveling for Inspiration

 I don't really need to travel to find inspiration for my books. After all, I'm the person who wrote a novel about my garbage collection problems in A Trashy Affair which turned out to be one of my best efforts.. The truth is I write in order to travel. My royalties pay for one nice trip a year with my husband, not exactly Nora Robert's riches, but good enough for me. When I travel, I take along promotional cards for my books and hand them around. When I return I always find a few curiosity sales from my fellow travelers, so don't leave home without some PR product to do a little shameless self-promotion. Just saying.

Those I meet on trips always want information on publishing and also ask if they will appear in any of my books.  I am quick to say none of my characters are real people unless they are historical figures, but I certainly do save up characteristics to use in my creations like the woman who kept disappearing from tours in order to have a smoke and a large coffee or the still spry World War Two nurse who had tales to tell. Recently, I returned from this year's big trip to Ireland, plenty of inspiration in that country with all its history and woes and lovely landscapes. I was asked if I would write about that country in my next book. Well, no. It might take me years to percolate the information, come up with a plot, and then find the time to write the story. I have a list of five books to write in my head already, and Ireland will have to wait its turn.

It took me over two years to get around to writing A Place Apart based on a trip to Maine. I finished the first draft of this 100,000 word novel before I left for Ireland and now must get back in the groove and polish it. Though you can find anything on the internet, visiting a place does enable you to add bits of local color you might otherwise overlook and catch the way people in that area have of talking. For instance, I noticed an incredible number of quilting and knitting shops in Maine, a good way to pass a long, cold winter is my guess. The fifth season in Maine is called mud season when the thaw occurs. And lets not forget the small but tasty Maine shrimp, tiny cousin to its marvelous lobsters, and the schooner ride on Penobscot Bay which features prominently in the new book.

I do wish I could have gone to American Samoa to research Paradise for a Sinner first hand. They don't have much of a tourist industry there, and the plane fare was huge. Think I could have written the trip off on my taxes since a book resulted? An accountant warned me not to do that as a big ticket item is sure to get IRS attention. So, I contented myself with Samoan blogs and travel info to capture the flavor of that country.

As for Ireland, while waking early in adjusting to the substantial time change again, I began to form a plot in my head. The two main characters took shape as did the town where they live. I'd weave in a little mythology inspired by ancient tales and a trip to the New Grange barrow graves (very narrow and low passage-hit my head twice and I am short). Irish music must figure in somewhere. Then,. the alarm went off and I had to get up for real and start the day. File this story as number six in the line of tales I have to tell. Travel truly does inspire, and I will write to get more of it.

Too Darn Hot--Or Not

Some of you know I also blog the first Saturday of the month at http://www.romancingthejock.com, romance authors who love sports and the men who play them. An interesting question came up among the contributors posited by Sophia Henry, new to our group and about to have her first hockey romance released soon. She'd been panned a few times by reviewers who received advance copies because her book  lacked the heated sex scenes implied by the PR hype where she'd been compared to Toni Aleo and other highly erotic authors.

 I had a similar experience when I started the Sinners series and my first book,Goals for a Sinner, was compared to Bella Andre and yes, Toni Aleo. New to the publishing game, I timidly suggested that the cover supplied was sexier than the book, and I feared readers might be disappointed. The reply back was along the lines of "This is what sells a book, honey".  They did remove the hero's black beard since I pointed out he was blond and clean-shaven.  I got a review that said, "You call that a sex scene?" Unfortunately for readers expecting more, my sex scenes are somewhat realistic. People get interrupted by phone calls. The couple doesn't copulate for hours and hours, and sometimes don't have simultaneous explosive orgasms because sex rarely happens that way. The best I've ever done is three flames or jalapenos or whatever icon is used for heat level, though a reviewer described one of my most recent scenes as panty-melting. Well, I guess I finally went up a level though not intentionally.

Like Sophia, my aim is to provide a good story about a sport I love.  I am more interested in the lives of the players and those around them than I am on their having lots and lots of sex. Some books have more than others because it depends on the character. I always say whether I write a sports novel or one of my many other books, there is as much sex as is needed for the plot and that particular relationship. There may be only one sex scene or many.  None will be longer than two or three pages simply because I get tired of writing them. A sex scene should never take longer to read than real sex.  But, that's just me talking.  I totally respect women who want the escape of a really hot encounter.

I suggested to Sophia that she check her cover blurb and cover art and see if she could get them adjusted or toned down. Writing for a big publisher, she won't have much input. Usually, I compose my own blurbs, but the PR folks sometimes ramp them up. I also get input on my covers, but have learned to adjust my expectations because this is what sells, honey.  I have built a following for my brand of sports books. Readers who like my books find me, and they will find Sophia as well. Maybe her cover copy should compare her to Lynn Shurr.
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Hand Selling

     Generally, the term hand selling means a book store owner crazy about your work will bring it to the attention of a customer and convince them to buy on its merits. For those of us who are e-published or self-published, it means schlepping your books around everywhere and trying to convince stores or individuals to buy them. Currently in my hometown, I have convinced the single bookstore and two tourist attractions to carry a few of my titles--the ones without the sexy covers. Those sell well online but not face to face. The bookstore has them all, but prefers to show the ones without half-naked men as the face-out copies.Yeah, it's a conservative town. Another attraction turned me down flat and another took two sets of Mardi Gras books and sold them all, but I had to do everything from writing out an invoice to presenting and collecting the final bill, a little awkward.
       The worse part of all this, even for a very outgoing person like me, is marching into a store and trying to convince them your work isn't garbage. Most will take a few books on consignment, but you will wait and wait to get paid for them (and I'm not complaining about this-books don't sell stacked in my closet).  Profit is minimal. If the bookstore takes 40%, and you have to buy the books to place there, your return is pennies in income. But at least your books are out there, and some of the buyers might get the rest on Amazon where the royalties are somewhat better. You also have an answer for people who won't buy directly from you and say they prefer to support the local store. If only that were true and not just an "out", I am fine with that.
      Barnes & Noble lets local authors sign in their store a few times a year. You bring your own books and, they hope, your friends and relatives to buy them. Checkout is at the register. They take 40% and send a check for your share six weeks later. Again, a tiny profit but bragging rights that you've signed at B & N.
     I usually do well when I give a lecture at a library or book club and have a signing afterwards, but not always. I've put a lot of effort into events where not one book sold or on the funny side, sold one copy to three women who split the $15 cost and planned to hand it around. Just participating in a mass signing of many authors at a library which I have done a number of times--never sold a book to a stranger, though sometimes another author would buy one which covered the cost of my gas to get there. This also goes for literary festivals with dozens of authors attending. Children's book or very well known authors sell. I managed two, but got a great tan sitting outside all day in the sun. The book sales paid for my over-priced but tasty lunch at a food truck, but not my gas. Note to self: pack a lunch. Remember it is very hard to stand out in a mob, and if you are too bizarre, people walk way around you. (Not talking about myself, but I've seen some sights!)
     Locally, I do well at arts and crafts fairs and art walks where I offer note cards and some of my paintings for sale also. I have a friend who sells books and her knitted crafts. It helps to have some variety and not just books. Most people won't buy art, but they do browse and allow you a longer time to sell them one of your stories. I save my spiel for likely buyers-not mothers with kids and babies in tow. They could use a good romance, but just don't have the time to stop and buy. Lively older women are prime customers, men not so much. Teens can be excellent customers if you have something to offer them. I don't. I am devoid of dark urban fantasies, vampires, and shape shifters.
     My last crafts fair was my worst, however. Nothing sold at all between nine and noon. So many people told me they did not read or had no time for it, I began to suspect the whole town to be illiterate. At noon, it started to rain, nay, pour down along with thunder and lightning. We were given orders to pack our tents and get out (no refunds on the paid space) because of tornado warnings. Ever tried to pack a sopping tent in a storm single-handedly. A couple of my kind neighbor vendors helped me. I'd packed my books in plastic boxes and thought I had escaped without merchandise damage until I got home and found the wet tent had dripped on some sacks I'd left in the car and soaked through five copies. Call that a $100 loss if you include the gas money and booth space rental. Yes, I did pack my lunch.
      Okay, I confess I dream of the day that I will be picked up by a New York publisher who will send me boxes of my books to give away for free as review copies.and provide towers of them for signings that I didn't have to set up myself. Dream on e-pubbed author, dream on.

What's Next--You Tell Me!

As I've said before, I have so many plots rattling around in my head I won't get a chance to write all those books before I die--or at least can no longer spend four hours a day writing on a computer. Plots are everywhere from creating a contemporary romance out of my garbage collections problems (A Trashy Affair)  to spinning an historical novel of 112,000 words (Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball) out of one sentence found in A Taste of Bayou Water: "I remember that shawl from when she danced a fandango on a table out at Broussard's Barn on New Year's Eve back when I was just a tadpole." The reference was to the heroine's great-grandmother, a high-stepping flapper named Roz. For five years, I pondered Roz's story before finally writing it down.Sometimes a plot takes a long time to ripen.

Last month, I mentioned leaving my beloved Cajun Country to write a novel taking place in Maine. I'm now half finished with A Place Apart and already thinking what should I tackle next. A contract just came through for the next Sinners novel, She's a Sinner, about a female NFL player and Tom's love interest. Edits will follow shortly breaking my writing pace, but the Maine book should be finished by the end of summer if not sooner. Since The Courville Rose was turned down because its ghost character committed suicide 185 ago, I probably won't write the next two books in that series until I can find another home for The Roses series elsewhere. I had planned to do two short ones about Ty Beck and Jesse Niles.

Usually in the fall, I write a Regency novel, part of my unsold Longleigh Chronicles. Yes, I write books that might never sell. I think all authors do. But, always infused with new hope, I've sent the first of that series off to, gulp, a real New York publisher and await their decision which will come months from now. So, it is worth my time and effort to create more of these books, eight in the closet so far, or turn my attention somewhere else?

I have two ideas for single titles, A Splashy Affair, and An Ashy Affair to match with A Trashy Affair. You guessed it. Splashy Affair involves a swimmer and Ashy a fireman. The first has a rough draft, the second is still in the research stage. Other than a similarity in title, the stories really aren't connected. Of course, I can just move on to write another Sinners book, my best sellers really. I am pondering Xochi's story which isn't entirely worked out. I don't even have a title yet. Should it be called A Sinner's Sister or Sister of a Sinner? Or something else. I am open to suggestions.

So, I am leaving it up to you, my readers. Which plot should I pursue next?  I don't get a lot of comments on my blog, but do hope you will help me out.

Too Many Characters

     Too many characters--I find this written on almost every critique I get from my editor and beta readers.  For some reason, a romance novel can have only two major character or Points of View, and perhaps a third if you have a really good villain allowed to plot against them. It's a tried and true formula that has worked for Harlequin next to forever and which I find terribly confining. After all, how many people really fall in love and marry in a vacuum of space? Most of us get input from family at the very least. All of us have a workplace full of people and customers to deal with as the courtship goes on. Children come along and have their own opinions.
      I recently judged two well-written Harlequins for the Rita contest. In order for one couple to stay in their own little world, a beloved brother had to be called out of town as soon as they met, not to reappear until the wedding, and the friend who introduced them similarly took off, her role ending there. In the other, the troubled teen who brings the couple together as they try to save her suddenly reforms and leaves them on their own. She does get to be in the wedding.  Never in real life. I guess that is why they are called romances.
      In writing my Sinners series, my quarterback hero has accumulated twelve children and helped his friends with their love problems over the span of five books from Goals for a Sinner to Love Letter for a Sinner. He's accumulated a lot of POV's along the way, and my readers seem to want to be part of his large family and keep up with the other members of the team. I admit, it is best to start reading them with the first or second book as the cast does grow as they go along.  I recently got back a critique that said I'd given everyone a name. Heaven forbid!  The named people aren't props, but family retainers well-known from other books. I do wonder if Downton Abbey has this trouble?  She also felt the other football players should not have names or opinions. Pretty tough to play a game that way. The only solution is to stage all the stories during the off-season with no football at all which is what many sports romances do to keep down the character count. Unfortunately, my guys have Super Bowls to win.
      Diana Gabaldon now has a book for people simply to keep track of her hundreds of characters. Of course, she does say she writes historical novels, not romance.  Would it help if I called my books family sagas, do you think?  It seems every other genre can have as many characters as they want and not get dinged for it. Go figure. I've taken to listing the main characters in the front of my books now, starting with Son of a Sinner. If the sequel to the family saga, Always Yellow Roses, entitled The Courville Rose is ever published it will have a similar list, though I have every faith that my regular readers can handle a story with more than two characters--and long sentences and big words, too, because they are that intelligent.
     Just griping here about one of my favorite pet peeves of romance writing along with being admonished not to use big words. I don't advise new romance writers to defy conventions and go for more POVs.  You won't get published--unless call your stories something else like multigenerational sagas, and good luck with that!

Out of the Comfort Zone--Again!

     I nearly forgot to do a March post as I have shipped out of my comfort zone again and am researching and writing a contemporary romance taking place in Maine. I'm good about doing my Romancing the Jock blog since they send me a reminder every month to get something on the site, but my personal blog sometimes slips my mind if I am deeply engrossed in a new topic.
     The last time I left Louisiana mentally and set off for foreign parts, I wrote Paradise for a Sinner which took me to the other side of the world and into a culture I knew nothing about. My research folder for that book is among my fattest. At least, I've been to Maine, eaten plenty of fresh lobster, and met the locals most of whom do not have a Down East accent for which I am very grateful when writing dialog. No need to find out what Samoan men wear under their lava-lavas. I can assume lobster fishermen go with boxers or briefs or boxer-briefs--but what do they wear aboard their boats?  After watching an hour of Hulu posts, I conclude chest high waders in various colors and rubber boots. Other than that, whatever floats their boat.
     American courtship rituals should be similar, only maybe a lobster dinner isn't as impressive as in Louisiana where we only have crawfish and our lobsters are flown in from Maine to reside in tanks in high-priced restaurants.  But every area has its own colloquialisms.  In Maine, lobster isn't merely good, it's wicked good. I second that as it is one of my favorite foods which I eat only once or twice a year in Louisiana, but dined on every day in one form or another while visiting New England.
     New writers are often urged to write what they know.  Not bad advice for the beginner.  But after a while, all authors want to strike out in new directions. At the moment, I think I could write about Louisiana in my sleep, but not so Maine. While all Americans have certain similarities, it is the details of speech, food and drink, the history of the area, and how people earn their living that will bring a story alive. One caveat, however.  Do not clog your story with dumps of cool stuff you learned and can't wait to share. If it cannot be worked into a scene that reads naturally, don't include the info. I know. I just hate not being able to use it all--but don't.  I so desired to share the factoid that more Confederate soldiers survived amputations because the maggots in their wounds ate out the infection than the better cared for Yankees, but couldn't find a place for it. Hey, I just did--this blog. Nothing is ever wasted. You know, Maine had one of the highest enlistment rates in the Civil War. I think I can work that into A Place Apart, my new title that I hope to finish by September if I don't get totally distracted by my research (another pitfall to avoid). At some point, you must write the story. I'm already 10,000 words in so things are looking good.
     Bringing you up to date on other Lynn Shurr books, Son of a Sinner was released yesterday in e-format and soft cover. Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball is due out in reprint on April 3rd after being out of print for over a year. Have to go now. I need to do just a bit more research on Portuguese Water Dogs.
   

Mardi Gras Madness

Not only is this the title of one of my books, but it is also what we are in the midst of in Louisiana at the moment. I do pity northerners who are experiencing always winter and never Mardi Gras to paraphrase C.S.Lewis, but I suppose snow would put a real damper on large parades and people, often tipsy, traipsing around in gaudy costumes. As I had to explain to one of my editors, Mardi Gras is both a season and a day, the day before Lent to be exact. The season starts on Twelfth Night, twelve days after Christmas, and runs until Lent begins. It is a floating holiday and can be long or short. This year it is very short, ending on February 17th. We hate that. No more King Cakes or revelry, just left with trying to figure out what you should give up for Lent until Easter and its candy comes along.

There are also many kinds of Mardi Gras: the high society type I described in Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, small town Mardi Gras where the floats are homemade and everyone participates as outsider Laura learns about in Mardi Gras Madness, and last, a country Mardi Gras where masked riders prowl the countryside asking for donations to the communal gumbo pot--the Courir de Mardi Gras or Mardi Gras Ride, which just happens to be the title of my newest book in the series.  The Courir is a custom dating back to Medieval times when revelers went door to door begging for ha'pennies or sweets and would often perform a song or dance in exchange. The riders in the courir will do horseback stunts, sing, dance, or chase down a live chicken for the pot which is the best of fun, though more folks today tend to donate a frozen bird or a bag of rice.  The masked men wear not finery, but homemade fringed clown costumes with tall, conical hats. It should be needless to say that all of this is well lubricated by alcohol. A sober captain, kind of like a designated driver, oversees their antics. Until recently, women were not allowed to ride in the group, possibly because one trick might be peeing off the side of a horse. The ride ends in town where the communal feast is prepared and a band encourages dancing up until midnight when Lent begins.

My heroine, Suzanne, finds life rather dull in the little country town where she arrives to catalog the antiques in an antebellum home until the Courir arrives at the house, and she is swept up onto the saddle of a masked man dressed in black and carried away from the festivities. When he ties her hands and puts her in a boat, it appears a real kidnapping is in progress. Suzanne escapes but vows to find out the man's identity--and any possible connection he might have to the silver missing from the house shortly thereafter.  She uncovers more local secrets than is good for her own health. Anyhow, I hope you will keep an eye out for the premier of Courir de Mardi Gras on February 13th (available now for pre-order form Amazon), something fun to read during those dark days of winter.

Contests Revisited

I know I've said it before, "No more writing contests for me." The best I ever did in five years of entering them was two second places and one third for Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball and Goals for a Sinner. None of those wins resulted in attracting an agent or big New York Press, but did give me a hint on which of my by then twelve novels to push forward to publication. Goals eventually started my career.  So why did I let myself be lured into entering a very prestigious contest open to both published and pre-published authors?--the ever present hope of being discovered by one of their star-studded final judges composed of major editors and agents.

How did I do?  About the same as I used to do though my scores were higher, proving I have learned some things over the past ten years. The results were based on a best score of 200.  My judges indicated they were a librarian (177), an RWA Pro (188)--I've been a PAN for four years myself--and an Other (190) whom I suspect must have editing experience considering her astute comments very similar to ones my own editor would have made.such as "You need to take out some of these hads."  Will do when I have the time.  My regular editor often does that for me. At least, it wasn't was. The judge giving me the highest score showed great generosity in marking the manuscript where she felt it needed improvement and making many comments. The middle judge commented on the score sheet. Hads didn't bother her. The low scorer appeared to find fault with my grammar and spelling which the other judges had given ten out of ten. I have no idea why, but she constantly marked every area lower than the other two mostly leaving no comments so I will forever wonder. In the end that eleven point difference sunk my chances of getting into the top six. All three indicated they would like to read the entire book and found it well-written, a sop to my frustrated soul.

What did I learn?  That there will always be a third judge with lots less enthusiasm for your work, probably a reflection of overall readers. That after all these years and fourteen books in print, I am still prone to get depressed because I cannot win a contest even though my scores were decent and the comments kind. I really don't know if Perfection will ever published because I no longer feel like submitting it. Now, I think it must be rewritten and that will have to be crammed between doing publicity on the new books coming out, Son of a Sinner and Courir de Mardi Gras, the reprint of Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball, and working on the manuscript of She's a Sinner. I've got plenty to keep me busy. Do I really need to try to launch a new Regency series without the aid of that agent I hoped to attract? Maybe some day.

Would I recommend entering contests? I think they serve a purpose, among them raising money for RWA chapters, but also if you get a good judge like the editor, the advice can be valuable, especially for novice writers.  But prepare for the let-down and having your feelings hurt because they didn't love your magnum opus. As for me, I am done with contests. I will not yield to temptation again. I think I've said this before, only this time I mean it.