RITA ® Award-Winning Author of Fantasy Romance
//The wrong way to ask for blurbs, choosing POV for a given scene and how experienced authors should give ourselves credit for more complex approaches, and a bit on animal behavior and whether cats can tell time.
//Thoughts today on focus, how to rebuild concentration, and the alarming truth that every interruption costs us 23 minutes of time to regain previous focus. Also more data on trad publishers buying mostly full manuscripts.
//Great week for me! Talking about being up front with my new editor on how I *can’t* write an outline, a bit about knife-throwing and learning to relish failure as much as success, and the monsoon rains of autumn.
//Update on my super-exciting news! I’m still having to be circumspect, but I’m sharing broad strokes, what this means to me, how utterly thrilled I am, and what it means to persist and not set a deadline on goals.
//Critique and other feedback! What makes crit useful and not, how to know what to take and what to discard (Spoiler: it doesn’t get easier), and what we can learn about giving useful critique.
//
I had Plans for today’s blog post here at the SFF Seven. But we know what the poet said about best-laid plans…
Yes, my day has gang agley.
All in a good way, though. I got a lot done. Important stuff, just not quite the several steps required to post what I hoped to post today. So the short and dirty update is:
//I’m digging into how I balance the various demands of being a hybrid author, giving details on my current decision-tree, how I decide what to give my agent to submit to traditional publishing, etc.
//Thoughts on learning to paint by numbers, or learn to follow the rules of craft before you break them. How I’m breaking my own rule, on epistolary romances, and a funny story about my granddaughter.
//Exciting news from Tor on their new romantic imprint, Bramble. Also thoughts on my struggles with ROGUE FAMILIAR and why I should learn to take my own writing advice.
//How to write a synopsis – or, at least, fake it the way the pros do! Great news on BANDITS and next steps there. Also, why agents/editors ask for partials, why you should include your profession in your query, and other crazy checks.
