Guest Blogger Cecil Murphey's Advice for Writers in the New Year
He called and said, "I haven't had a book contract in six years." He had published six books in the late 1980s. He went on to ask me if there could be age discrimination because he's 67. I assured him that wasn't the case. For about 20 minutes he told me of the terrible ordeals of trying to publish in today's market.
I explored a number of possible reasons before I finally asked, "How does your writing today compare with what you did twenty years ago?" He assured me that his current work was as good as the former.
I didn't say this to him but I thought, that's the problem. Your answer should have been, "It's much better now."
I've noticed that many writers reach a certain achievement level, develop a following, and they stop improving. That's sad. We can always get better.
One of the things I've recently done to improve my writing was to buy a new English book. I'd never been able to remember terms like restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. This book uses essential and nonessential clauses. That makes sense.
I decided to stick with that book and keep learning. My new goal is to submit manuscripts so good that frustrated editors will exclaim, "I couldn't find even a misplaced comma."
I'm aware that the book business is having health problems right now (like all the other industries). My recent proposals might not make the contract stage. I won't like that; however, I want to be able to say that the writing is better. That makes me more competitive. Most of all, it's a good feeling to know that I've improved and that my latest manuscript is better than the one before it.
To learn more about Cecil Murphey, New York Times bestselling co-author of 90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN, visit www.TheManBehindTheWords.com.
Guest Blogger Faith Hunter: The Day After Christmas
It was a wonderful holiday season, despite news of the world’s financial crisis blaring from every nearby television screen or newspaper headline. It’s the day after Christmas, the family is busy cleaning up, putting away gifts, getting their homes back in order and doing fun stuff with their kids (my nieces and nephews). Mom is probably taking down her tree, munching on leftover Christmas breakfast. My hubby is upstairs working, thinking about my proposal that we get a puppy…. Me? I am basking in the post-celebration glow, pondering how my waistline got so big, wondering how long it will take me to drop the extra weight, and wondering if I’ll still fit into my New Year’s party dress.
In a week, it will be time to plan ahead, think ahead, and well, write ahead. Part of that is thinking about the deadline I just finished and the new series to debut in July 2009. My new character Jane Yellowrock is a skinwalker with no past (or at least not one she remembers), and with a dangerous occupation—killing vamps who go rogue and start eating the populace. Hmmm. I wonder how Jane would view the day after Christmas?
Jane Yellowrock’s Day
After I rolled over, kicked the sheets trapping my legs away, and opened my eyes, breaking sleep-sand with tiny cracking sounds. Dust bunnies and dead bugs littered the bottom of the overhead light fixture, the paint was cracking around the ceiling molding and peeling away, and cobwebs draped the corners of the room. I canted my head on the pillow to take in my efficiency apartment, seeing the mess with a bit of dismay. On the chair by the door were a pile of gifts, my clothes were in the corner where I’d kicked them when I came in last night, and the closet door was hanging open, as were the drawers on the wardrobe and the kitchen cabinets. I’m not much of a housekeeper, though my guns and fighting gear are always in great shape. They were neatly arranged on the kitchen table, smelling of machine oil, steel, and spent ammo.
Yesterday was the big day and my tummy was still pleasantly aching from all the baked goods I’d slurped down, not that I’m complaining. Spending Christmas with Molly, my best friend in the world, and her family is a heap better than spending it alone working on my bike or remoting the TV from parade to old movie to football. I don’t miss having a family of my own except at Thanksgiving and Christmas; then it hits kinda hard, the reaction of most kids who grew up in children’s homes or foster care and haven’t yet created little families of their own.
I rolled out of bed, pulled on a tee and zipped up jeans that were only a little tight after the gorging of the day before, and set to work righting my living space. My Beast thought cleaning and neatening up was a waste of time better spent in cat-form, hunting deer or wild boar, but I need some kind of order not provided by the lifestyle of a rogue-vamp hunter. It didn’t take long. The apartment under the eaves of Miz Hinebaugh’s upper room wasn’t much bigger than a hotel room.
When the small space was neat, I dumped the pile of gifts to the bed and sat yogi-style, pawing through them. I had racked up.
Molly had knitted me a huge scarf in tawny brown with black hairs sticking out, the color palette much like my Beast’s pelt. Big Evan, Mol’s hubby, had hand-carved me a knife handle out of elk horn and fitted it to my eighteen inch vamp-killer. Molly’s sisters had gone in together and presented me with a huge gift basket from their shop, filled with cookies, beef jerky, hard cheeses, jelly, crackers, imported teas, and a big pot of catnip, the plant bringing my Beast close to the surface with a rumbling purr. The Everheart sisters hadn’t known why catnip was the perfect gift, as Molly hadn't told them what I was, but they’d been striving to please. I blinked back tears at the care they had shown an outsider who’d crashed their family time.
Lastly, I opened the card from little Angelina. She had drawn me a picture of mountain lion kits, though I knew they were mountain lion kits only because she told me so, as the six-year-old wasn’t a savant artist—a savant witch, yes, but no kind of artist at all. I stepped off the bed and hung the drawing on the refrigerator door with her other drawings and surveyed my domain. Den…rumbled Beast in the deeps of my mind, her emotions sad and full of longing. Good den but needs kits. Miss cries, spotted pelts, claws, good-milky-kit-smell.
“I know. And I agree, it’s kinda cool having a family, even if they aren’t really mine.” I just hoped that the huge Everheart clan invited me to their Christmas bash next year. I liked not being alone, even if, unlike humans, I wasn’t ever really alone inside my head, not with Beast inside here too.
Hunt? Beast asked, perking up. Much deer here! “Sure,” I said to the empty apartment. “Sundown in the woods. It’s a date.”
Today is the last day before the agency officially closes for the holidays, and we're playing Christmas music and munching on the delicious treats that many of our clients and industry friends have sent to the office. The Harry & David truffles are decadent, but extremely dangerous. Besides listening to Santa Baby and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, we'll also cap off the day with our annual office holiday party. During the festivities, we're giving out our Secret Santa gifts. I can tell you I was personally struggling at 9:30pm last night trying to figure out what to get my secret person. Thank God for extended holiday hours! Take a piece of advice from me; don't wait until the last minute to do your shopping. Well, I suppose from this point forward – everything might be considered last minute... Ha! Good luck!
We've got a lot to celebrate at the agency this year. As of today, we have surpassed last year's sales by almost 50%! We are truly proud of this accomplishment. Consistently, this year TKA agents have been able to make excellent deals for our clients. We've also expand our agency in a multitude of ways. New website. New employees. New message board and newsletter. This unprecedented growth has only increased our endurance and strength for the year ahead. We intend to press forward and continue to think of dynamic ideas that will keep TKA on the forefront. But also as Christmas descends upon us, we want to recognize our industry peers that are facing layoffs and pay cuts during the holidays. We will be keeping everyone in our prayers, and hope that a solution to the current economic turmoil will come as soon as possible.
So, from Deidre, Jud, Pamela, Nephele, Lucienne, Elaine, Melissa, Jamie and Jia -- we wish you a wonderful and safe holiday!
The Knight Agency will officially be closed from December 23rd until January 5th. Clients, if you have any questions about the holiday schedule, please contact your individual agent.
For me, Christmas is all about the people ~ I love coming together with friends and family, hanging out, eating too much, and generally having an all around good time.
When I was living in Japan, I always looked forward to Christmas ~ because it either meant I was going home, or someone was coming to visit me. There could've been no better present.
So my wish for you this Christmas, is that you're able to spend it with the ones you love. And if that's not possible, drink a toast to them, send a text message, make a phone call...even blow them a kiss. Because in the end, it's all about the people.
How about you? What makes Christmas special for you? Any stories you'd like to share?
Contest now closed:Winner is Theo Lynne! Congratulations! Theo, please email me at nalinisinghwrites AT gmail DOT com :-)
In the spirit of Christmas, if you leave a comment on this post, you'll be entered into a draw to win a copy of a book from my backlist (winner's choice), plus a set of signed playing cards from author Jacquelyn Frank. Contest closes midnight, December 20th 2008, E.S.T.
Joey Hill is today's Winter Wonderland Week Guest Blogger. She is running a tremendous contest for one lucky winner who'll receive a $50 donation to the charity of their choice and an autographed copy of one of her books. Read below for details, and thanks to Joey for truly spreading the Christmas spirit!THIS CONTEST IS CLOSED. CONGRATS TO ALLISION!
(Look in the post below for the winner of yesterday's contest!)
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Love and Sacrifice – The Christmas Message
Does anyone remember The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell, written in the 1940’s? It’s a beautiful Christmas story about a little boy who has a hard time fitting into Heaven. His halo stays tarnished, he’s late for heavenly choir, etc. Eventually, he’s called before one of the head angels to figure out what the problem is. And he confides to the unexpectedly understanding angel that he’s homesick. “Oh, not that Paradise wasn't beautiful! But the Earth was beautiful, too! Wasn't it created by God, Himself? Why, there were trees to climb, and brooks to fish, and caves to play at pirate chief, the swimming hole, and sun, and rain, and dark, and dawn, and thick brown dust, so soft and warm beneath your feet!”
In the end, the littlest angel is brought a box that he’d had under his bed as a human boy, to help him feel better about being in Heaven. And when the momentous occasion of the Christ child’s birth comes about, he decides to give his treasured box to the new infant as a gift. The contents of the box? “Well, there was a butterfly with golden wings, captured one bright summer day on the high hills above Jerusalem, and a sky-blue egg from a bird's nest in the olive tree that stood to shade his mother's kitchen door. Yes, and two white stones, found on a muddy river bank, where he and his friends had played like small brown beavers, and, at the bottom of the box, a limp, tooth-marked leather strap, once worn as a collar by his mongrel dog, who had died as he had lived, in absolute love and infinite devotion.”
God is so pleased by the littlest angel’s gift, the box is placed in the sky as the guiding star that brings the shepherds and wise men to Bethlehem.
It’s amazing how stories we read as children can come back to us as authors. My latest, A Witch’s Beauty (January release), features an angel named David as my hero. David is thirty, which is practically an embryo to the other angels, particularly considering he’s human born, rather than divinely born as most angels are. He came to Heaven as a 14 year old suicide, and at the age of 30 he has a serious and surprising core of steadiness to him that has earned him the respect of the others. He also has a lethal ability with daggers he employs as part of the Dark Legion, the angels who fight the enemies of the Goddess.
One of the first scenes that drew me into David’s mind was this recollection: When he was six years old, David remembered reading The Littlest Angel, the tale of the young angel who longed to be a human boy. He didn’t miss it, really. Not the way that poignant little angel had. The last eight years of his human life had been a taste of hell that eradicated much of the pleasure of the first six. But being the youngest of the Dark Legion and a made angel, he sometimes longed for the familiar, something that was a true part both of who he’d been and who he was now. Something to tie those two things together and fill the emptiness that still existed in the lingering part of his human soul.
But it’s those two parts of him that help him connect with the dark and complicated seawitch Mina. He’s inexplicably drawn to the female who is part Dark One and part mermaid, and whose powers as a witch are as yet unknown. He’s assigned not only to keep her safe from Dark Ones, but to be her executioner if she can’t resist the dark blood within her. And of course this sets up one of those wonderful stories where both characters end up making terrible sacrifices to honor the love that grows between them.
Unconditional love, sacrifice and connecting with one another. At Christmas more than any other time, we seem to understand and long for that feeling, to the point, as Bill Murray said, “it’s the time of year we’re a little nicer, etc”. Since the search for connection is the primary focus of a love story, and unconditional love is a central theme of BOTH Christmas and love stories in all forms, it makes me all the more delighted to be a romance author at this time of year.. On that note, I’d have to say that The Littlest Angel is probably my favorite Christmas love story. A close second? The Christmas special Nestor, the Long-Eared Donkey. Oh yeah, every time Nestor’s mother gives her life to keep Nestor warm, I bawl. Geez, I’m doing it now, just typing it. Even though we all know love is in the little things we do for each other every day – making a conscious decision to give a kind word instead of an irritated snap, helping someone in a way that might seem small, but really sends the vital message that “you’re not alone” – I think many of us are suckers for the stories of ultimate sacrifice. I also think these types of Christmas stories have a way of inspiring us to do more of the little things to cherish our loved ones and those who need extra offerings of love and kindness.
So tell me the title of your favorite Christmas love story, or how Christmas inspires you to be a more loving person at this time of the year. And in a change of pace, because it’s Christmas time, I’m going to draw a random name from those who post comments, and the prize will be a $50 donation to the charity of your choice, as well as one of my signed books, also your choice. So if you don’t mind, briefly mention your charity with your comment. It might give us new charities to add to our own giving lists! [I’ll post the winner in the comments section of this blog post sometime on Friday, Dec 19.]
A very blessed Christmas, Yule and Solstice season to you all.
She will recieve a Christmas stocking filled with select romance books from some of our talented authors! Congrats Eshani, and thank you to everyone who participated!
Deidre is guest blogging about the first book in her new GODS OF MIDNIGHT series, RED FIRE, at Penguin Putnam this week. Today, she's talking about what main character Ajax should get his lady love, Shay Angel, for Christmas. There'll be no sweaters or slippers for Shay. Think more luxurious, expensive and definitely more romantic. Enough to make us all VERY jealous and wishing we had our own Spartan boyfriend this Christmas. Click here to visit the Penguin blog!
Help us close out this year with a bang! Join us tomorrow, Thursday, December 18th @ 12:30pm ET, for our 2nd Annual Online Christmas Party. It's going to be an absolute blast, and we can't wait to celebrate with our clients and friends. Besides excellent company and plenty of good cheer, you can expect lots of awesome giveaways. In fact, right this minute TKA Santa's bag is overflowing with amazing gifts. This is a party you definitely don't want to miss!
WHAT: The Knight Agency's 2nd Annual Online Christmas Party
WHEN: Thursday, December 18th @ 12:30pm ET
WHO's INVITED: TKA Staff, Authors & Friends
HOW DO YOU GET THERE?: Follow this link: TKA CHAT ROOM
HOW DO YOU CHAT?: Simply enter a screen name and login. Your computer must be Java-enabled to chat.
Today for Winter Wonderland Week we are honored to welcome guest blogger Shirley Jump, author of MARRY ME CHRISTMAS and SIMPLY THE BEST. Besides reading her great post, you also have a chance to win a Romance Stocking Stuffer, filled with great books to keep you warm over the holiday (or they make an excellent gift). All you have to do is leave your name in the comments section to enter the random drawing. The winner will be announced tommorow.
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It's a Wonderful...Movie
I admit it, I’m a sucker for “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s the first movie I set up to tape as soon as the holiday season arrives, and the only one I’ll watch more than once. I do indulge in “Rudolph” and “Frosty” (the original Animatronic versions), but they’re not on my have-to-see list like the original Frank Capra version of “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
I’m not sure why that movie is on my must-see list. There are plenty of other movies I love, plenty of others that scream Christmas, but this one…
It just seems to grab me in a way none of the others do. Maybe it’s Zuzu’s petals. Maybe it’s the way the whole town comes together at the end, and how it just grabs my heart. Maybe it’s the simple love story between George and Mary, the kind of elemental romance that every romance in the world must be based upon.
Or maybe it’s the lessons in the movie. The basic good versus evil, home is where your heart is, and finding gratitude and happiness in what you have and where you are, rather than always looking for the greener grass elsewhere. Not to mention the message about coming together to support the ones you love. One of my all-time favorite scenes is the one when Officer Bert and cab driver Ernie create a honeymoon “retreat” in the abandoned house (which looks an awful lot like the first house my husband and I bought, LOL), and do their best to bring poor, hard-working George a night to remember with his beautiful bride—after the bridal couple had to abandon their original honeymoon plans. Those are true friends, and that town is the kind we all wish we could live in, isn’t it?
So this Christmas season, I’ll be cozying up with a glass of wine, a thick blanket and my daughter (who also loves this movie) to watch George and Mary fall in love all over again, and to see Bedford Falls come together for one of their own. Once again, we’ll count our blessings, and our gratitude for the special people in our lives.
After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about, after all?
Tell me, what’s your favorite, can’t miss holiday movie?
Marley Gibson is becoming a regular media darling! Following her appearance on the Biography Channeland an interview with CNN.com, she recently sat down with Fox 25 in Boston to discuss her upcoming book with co-author Cecil Murphey, CHRISTMAS MIRACLES.
Set to release next October, the book will feature short stories submitted by everyday people who've had their lives touched by a miraculous occurrence at Christmas-time. If you've got an amazing story, now is the time to submit! The deadline for entries is December 24th, 2008. Visit www.ChristmasMiraclesBook.com for more information, and click here to see Marley's Fox 25 interview!
Lucienne Diver is exploring the definitions of erotic romance, erotica and romantica during Erotic Romance week on her blog. Guests include Jasmine Haynes, Jane Lockwood and Crystal Jordan. The party's already started, so make sure to check it out soon. There are plenty of giveaways to be had and red-hot love scenes to be discussed!
If you're a NASCAR fan (or just a fan of NYC in general), you'd love Champion's Week, which takes place the first weekend in December. Aflac (yes, the insurance people with the cute duck mascot) puts on a great event called FanFest that includes driver appearances, Q&A's, giveaways, interactive games and--of course--book signings.
Liz Allison and I participated in two signings at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square and had a great time. Harlequin generously donated 200 copies of our fall books, Risking Her Heart and A NASCAR Holiday 3, which we gave away to enthusiastic NASCAR fans. After months of being chained to the laptop, trying to write stories our readers will enjoy, it's so nice to see people face-to-face and get their responses to the books. Liz and I were honored to be invited and look forward to making it an annual event.
Plus, NYC is such a beautiful, vibrant place at holiday time. People filling the streets, the amazing tree in Rockefeller Plaza, the restaurants and shops decked out in displays, wreaths and brilliant lights. It really gets you in the mood for celebrating.
Despite the crazy times we live in, I hope all of you are anticipating the joy of the season and spending time with the ones you love.
Hey, all! Just dropping in today to be the author guest blogger.
My writing partner (Liz Allison) and I have a story in the new book A NASCAR HOLIDAY 3. It's a really quick read for those of you who, like me, are overwhelmed with holiday details. The story takes place in the Bahamas at a luxury (and unfortunately fictional) resort. So, if you're either tired after the long racing season, or you're unfamiliar with stock car racing, there are hot guys on the beach!
Hope all of you are having a great day! I'll drop in a little later with some details on mine and Liz's recent trip to New York for NASCAR Champion's Week.
Oh, and if you have any questions (about stories, writing or racing), feel free to post them.
been able to remember terms like restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. This book uses essential and nonessential clauses. That makes sense.
been able to remember terms like restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. This book uses essential and nonessential clauses. That makes sense.
