Editing Two Books at Once

Hello Fellow Writers!

Sorry I've been MIA for a while - I've been blogging all over the place to spread the word about my latest Ellora's Cave book, Hollywood Spank, and right now I'm editing two books at once.

Yeah.

On the same day I got back edits for Taste of Candy, a short ebook with The Wild Rose Press, and edits for my upcoming book Chastity Belt with Ellora's Cave.

I'm not complaining - this is my idea of the perfect problem to have :) I'm just a busy bee now, that's all.

I also have an idea for a full length paranormal romance that I'd like to flesh out into an outline and then take a couple months off to write it.

My husband pointed out that taking a couple months off writing to write a book doesn't make sense. To me it does, though, because I've never written paranormal before, so I'm viewing it as an experiment that might not pan out and lead to a contract.

I better get going on those edits!

How to Write a Novella in 30 Days

Hello Fellow Writers!

Right now, I have two books under contract (Hollywood Spank with Ellora's Cave and Taste of Candy with The Wild Rose Press) that still need edits done. I also have two completed manuscripts (Protecting Emily and New Developments) that I need to do more revisions on when I get notes back from my beta readers.

2014 UPDATE: I've gotten the rights back to both Hollywood Spank and Taste of Candy, and re-issued them myself. Taste of Candy is available for free! Protecting Emily was retitled The Pulse and sold to Simon & Schuster Pocket Star as part of a 6 book deal, and New Developments was retitled Snowed in with the Tycoon, and I self-published it. And the novella I wrote in a month by writing 1k words a day? That was Bedhead, and I sold it to Ellora's Cave. Now, back to the blog post...

But, I can't spend all my time working on books I've already written. I need to write new material. That's why I've made a goal for myself that in the month of February I will write a complete novella, 25K words.

I've already written the blurb and one-page synopsis, something I don't normally do *before* writing a book, but I had to in this case since the novella (tentatively titled Bedhead) is going to (hopefully) be part of a proposed series some other Ellora's Cave authors and I cooked up. (Update: It's a three-book anthology in paperback from EC, called Skin Deep!)

In order to write a 25k novella in 30 days, I will write 1K a day. Yup, it's The Writer's Challenge. In this case, if I write 1K a day I should have a couple days left over at the end of the month to reread and edit a bit before I send it to my beta-reader. I'll be using a different beta-reader than usual for this one since I need to have someone who knows the series bible well.

By finishing my novella in a tight time frame, I'll have time to revise it completely if needed. It seems everything I write needs to be completely revised. I'm not complaining, I know it's part of the process, but I'm looking forward to the day when I can write the words The End and just ship it right off to my editor and have it go straight to copy edits! Ha, in my dreams. :)

So there ya have it. To write a novella in 30 days, first figure out what you're going to write. What's the hook? Who are the main characters? What's their conflict? Then write the "back cover copy" blurb. Then write a one page outline of the main plot points you intend to hit to keep your story on track. 

Then write 1k a day to and from those plot points and Bam! Novella in a month.

Anyone else feel like doing this with me? We can cheer each other on!

Update: BEDHEAD did indeed get written and sold to Ellora's Cave! It's available now wherever ebooks are sold. :)

Release Date: Sept 16th 2010!

Hello Fellow Writers!

I'm happy to announce that I've finished my edits on Punishing the Art Thief for Ellora's Cave and I now have an official release date: September 16th, 2010! Whoo hoo!

I've also created a Twitter account for myself. I know, the last thing I need is *another* social networking site to constantly check, but hey, that's the age we live in. So follow me on Twitter @ShoshannaEvers !

For anyone interested in reading the excerpt from Punishing the Art Thief, click here, and please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Now that I've made my initial revisions for Ginger Snap, my erotic Christmas "Quickie" for EC, I'm now free to make another round of revisions on Hollywood Spank and incorporate the notes my two beta-readers gave me. When I finish those notes I plan on resubmitting it to my editor at EC.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers (I know, I know.)

Revise and Resubmit from Ellora's Cave

Hello Fellow Writers!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post. I've been crazy busy. I heard back from my editor, Jilly, at Ellora's Cave regarding "Extremely Personal Assistant", about a movie star who likes to spank his assistant. Jilly sounded like she like it a lot but wanted me to revise it and resubmit it as well as retitle it. What do you think of the new title - "Hollywood Spank"!

I also was happy to meet another erotic romance writer at June's monthly Hudson Valley Romance Writers of America meeting. We're going to be each others' beta readers, so I told her I am going to try and have "Hollywood Spank" revised and sent to her by the end of the week. I've been meeting with one of my writing buddies at Cortlandt Panera every Tuesday night to write, as well as my writing buddies from NaNoWriMo every other weekend Sundays at Fishkill Panera. I'm still writing the advice column for The Mahopac News.

I was also told that since I'm going to Romanticon 2010, Ellora's Cave will try and have my book "Punishing the Art Thief" ready for the book fair. That's pretty exciting, it means my book should be out by October 2010!

I've been working on "Chastity Belt" and it's been going pretty well, but that is getting put on hold right now while I get "Hollywood Spank" in order. Then I have to get to work on a Christmas Quickie for EC, since the publisher put out a call for submissions to all the authors. They want short (7K-15K) kinky Christmas stories. I have an idea brewing about a couple who puts Domestic Discipline into practice to make it through the holidays without divorcing!

I'm going to get to work now. I haven't had much time to write since my mother-in-law was in town and just left today. Wish me luck and good luck to you too!

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Situation vs Plot

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I spent several enjoyable hours hanging out with my writing buddies at Panera while adding another 2000 words to my WIP "Chastity Belt". My plan right now is to get the book written as quickly as possible so that I can then pull out my figurative red pen and start my favorite process of all: revisions!

One fellow writer, Rebecca, was saying how she is having a hard time coming up with a plot. I told her about how Stephen King is pretty anti-plot - he prefers to focus on characters in a situation, and to let the story move from there.

In his book "On Writing" (which, by the way, I highly recommend to anyone who either loves Stephen King or loves to write), he says:

I won't try to convince you that I've never plotted any more than I'd try to convince you that I've never told a lie, but I do both as infrequently as possible. I distrust plot for two reasons: first, because our lives are largely plotless, even when you add in all our reasonable precautions and careful planning; and second, because I believe plotting and the spontaneity of real creation aren't compatible.
A strong enough situation renders the whole question of plot moot. The most interesting situations can usually be expressed as a What-if question:
What if vampires invaded a small New England village? (Salem's Lot).
What if a young mother and her son became trapped in their stalled car by a rabid dog? (Cujo).
These were situations which occurred to me - while showering, while driving, while taking my daily walk - and which I eventually turned into books. In no case were they plotted, not even to the extent of a single note jotted on a single piece of scrap paper.

I love the book "On Writing" because I love having the opportunity to get into King's head. Some people say he's 'just' a horror writer, but I say he's a genius!
Today is Memorial Day (thank you to the men and women who have sacrificed to keep our country safe!). My hubby has the day off and the weather is beautiful, so we're going to spend the day on the dock and in the lake. I may bring my laptop down and try to get some writing done, or I may not. We'll see.

Oh, and did I mention that I submitted my second book to Ellora's Cave? Fingers crossed!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Revise & Resubmit from EC!

Hello Fellow Writers!

I have exciting news. I heard back from Ellora's Cave regarding my erotic romance submission to their "Alluring Arts" series.

I truly wish I could just copy the whole letter right here for you, but at the bottom of the letter it said that I could not share the letter!

Basically, the letter said that while "The Art Thief's Punishment" wasn't right for the "Alluring Arts" series they were doing, if I revised and lengthened the book I could resubmit it as a standalone. The editor said some really encouraging things about my writing style and even offered some specific tips on how to improve upon the story.

Needless to say, I am thrilled!

So I've been working on world building and getting to know my characters better as well as pacing, and my goal is to have "The Art Thief's Punishment" ready to be resubmitted by the end of March.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Inspiring Authors Speak

Hello Fellow Writers!

I am currently still working on my short (10K-15K) romantic erotica piece that I plan on submitting to Ellora's Cave before January 31st. I've got over 9K words, but it's looking like the story will end up over 10K because I need to wrap up the happily ever after. If my baby will let me, I'm going to work on that today.

I'm reading the book "Mistress and the Art of Death" by Ariana Franklin. I've only just started it, but so far I'm finding it very enjoyable.

Here is a video montage from YouTube of published authors giving their advice to aspiring writers. The main theme, it seems, is you need to both read and write a lot!



Today I'll continue working on my story, and if Maureen gets back to me with suggestions on the chapters I sent her from "Snowed in With a Millionaire", I'll take care of those as well.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Common Grammar Mistakes

Hello Fellow Writers!

I've been working on revising my romance novel "Snowed in With a Millionaire" based on my critique partner's suggestions. Maureen catches a lot of little things that I would never have noticed - like using the word "insure" when I mean "ensure", and she helps point out passages that are confusing. The heroine looks at the hero's face but is noticing the boots? Oops.

Here are some common grammatical problems that people make, and how to fix them. Remember though - we are writing fiction, not school papers. Our characters won't speak in perfectly correct English any more than we will! That said, here's an excerpt from an article entitled "Common Grammer and Usage Mistakes", from EnglishChick.com.

Comma Splice

A comma splice is the incorrect use of a comma to connect two independent clauses. (Recall that an independent clause is a phrase that is grammatically and conceptually complete: that is, it can stand on its own as a sentence.) To correct the comma splice, you can:

• replace the comma with a period, forming two sentences
• replace the comma with a semicolon
• join the two clauses with a conjunction such as "and," "because," "but," etc.

Example:

I like Xena, she is very sexy.	INCORRECT
I like Xena. She is very sexy.	CORRECT
I like Xena; she is very sexy.	CORRECT
I like Xena, because she is very sexy.	CORRECT

Dangling Participles

A participle is a verb-form that ends in -ing. It is called "dangling" when it doesn't agree with its subject.

While walking down the road, a tree caught Xena's attention.

The subject of the sentence is "a tree," but it is not the tree that is doing the walking, therefore the participle "walking" is dangling. To correct the sentence, write:

While walking down the road, Xena noticed a tree

or

A tree caught Xena's attention as she walked down the road.

Remember that not all words that end in -ing are participles (e.g. thing) and some participles are gerunds depending on context. (A gerund is a participle that is functioning as a noun, e.g. "My favorite activity is sleeping.")

Ending a Sentence with a Preposition

Contrary to popular belief, there is no agreement on this one among English professionals. In general, especially if your audience is strict about rules, don't end a sentence with a preposition. Prepositions are little words that indicate position and such: with, at, by, from, etc. In general a preposition should come before ("pre"-position) the noun it modifies. So you should change

That's the warrior I must talk to

to

That's the warrior to whom I must talk.

However, if too many "to whom"s and "of which"s are making your writing unnecessarily clumsy, go ahead and end with the preposition, especially in informal writing. Remember the famous example (credited to Winston Churchill) that goes: "This is the kind of thing up with which I will not put!"

Read the rest of the article here, it's very helpful!

Today is Christmas - Merry Christmas, everyone! Since I am Jewish, I have my hubby home with me and nothing to do but work on my short story for Ellora's Cave.
Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

How She Did It - Joan Hohl, Romance Author

Hello Fellow Writers!

I hope everyone had as lovely a Thanksgiving yesterday as I had with my family! I finished reading through my manuscript and making small changes. Today I'm going to put those changes in the computer and also write a new opening scene that I think will provide more of an insight into my heroine's daily life before she meets the hero.

I also just finished reading a Silhouette Desire category romance entitled "In the Arms of the Rancher", by Joan Hohl. It was very fun read. Imaging my surprise when I learned that this very sexy story was written by a woman who, according to the dates she gives in her bio, must be at least 70 years old now! One of the nice things about writing is you don't have to retire!

From eHarlequin.com, here is an article that explains how Joan Hohl got her start in writing. I think it's absolutely amazing that she was possibly the very first romance writer to write using the hero's point of view in addition to the heroine's POV.

For as long as she can remember, Joan Hohl has always wanted to be a writer. Her mother said Joan had her head in the clouds, always daydreaming. The only thing was, Joan's daydreams had plots!
Thinking herself audacious for even considering joining the ranks of her heroes — the authors — she never put her ideas, or dreams, into words, never made notes or wrote anything down. She worked at several jobs — nothing remotely close to a career — some sales clerking, but primarily factory work, because that paid better.
Then when she turned 40, Joan experienced a definite turning point in her life. Deciding that at her advanced age she could handle rejection, had nothing to lose and by some miracle, possibly much to gain if only in self satisfaction, she quit her job. With no employment, but her decision firm, she sat down at her kitchen table with pencils and a spiral notebook and let her imagination take wing.
Joan achieved her impossible dream three years, and many rejections, after she began writing. Her first book sale was to Vivian Stephens at Dell Publishing. A few weeks later she received a call from an editor at Leisure Books, with an offer for a manuscript she had previously submitted to other houses…and believed was dead-in-the-publishing-waters, so to speak. The second sale was the first one to be published, in 1979. Her first ten books were written longhand at her kitchen table. As she wasn't a typist, she paid one to transcribe her handwritten manuscripts before biting the bullet and going to the typewriter herself to hunt and pick her way through future stories.
Some years later, Joan sold a formally rejected, completed manuscript to Silhouette Books…and found a home. She is considered by many in the business a trailblazer in sensuous romance writing, and having been one of the first, if not the first, author to write male point of view in category romance novels.
Many of her books are set in her beloved Pennsylvania, by an ocean, any ocean, but usually along the South Jersey coast or the West, with its mythic Western heroes.
Now, a few years… ahem — past 40, after 60 some books (she now no longer keeps exact count), Joan is still writing two to three books a year, although she laughingly tells everyone she is semiretired!
Joan has been married forever to her husband, Marv. They have two beautiful daughters, Lori and Amy, and two grandchildren, Erica and Cammeron.
Joan has one question: Does she have a career yet?

Um, I'd say yes, most definitely! Today I'm going to write that new opening scene and get my manuscript in good enough shape to allow my writer's group to take a look at it. I'm also considering adding another little element for comedic relief that will involve going back through and weaving it into place. That might also happen today.

One thing I will not be doing is leaving the house and braving the Black Friday parking lots. Too crazy for me.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Rewrites, Revisions, and Red Pens

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I basked in the happy glow of having a completed first draft sitting on my lap. I decided to take the day off from writing as a reward for having finished writing a 50,000 word romance in three weeks. Instead, I realized that for me, writing itself is the reward. I like doing it, that's why I do it. So I picked up my red pen and started reading through my novel.

I had written it so fast that I barely remembered putting the words on the page. I even found myself laughing at some of funny things my saucy heroine says - it was almost like I didn't write it myself. So strange.

From FictionWriters.com, here is an excerpt from an article about revising your manuscript. Read the whole article here.

• 1. Look for the deadwood, the unnecessary bits that don't move your story forward.
• 2. Check the first paragraph of each chapter for "hooks."
• 3. Check the end of each chapter for "cliffhangers."
• 4. Examine each page for balance between dialogue, action, introspection and description.
• 5. Find places to build in more character traits.
• 6. Look for inconsistencies.
• 7. Look for repetition, words (and ideas) repeated too often, too close to each other.
• 8. Find typos and grammatical errors.

Each time you sit down to reread your manuscript, choose one point from the list to look for; ignore everything else. Every rereading needs to accomplish something specific. Have a set goal in mind each time you start. Know what it is you plan to accomplish, and your rereading time will accomplish more.

Today I will continue reading through my manuscript, red pen in hand.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

The Perfect Synopsis

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I did the revisions (major revisions, actually, on the point-of-hopelessness in my novel) for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant". I want to try and get that wrapped up because starting on November 1st I will be concentrating solely on "Snowed in with a Millionaire."

But that darn two page synopsis - that's still killing me. So today I will be trying to fix that - it needs to be perfect. The query and the synopsis are what editors are going to judge my whole novel on. Scary thought, huh.

So on that note, here are ten tips on how to write the perfect synopsis, by Andrea Semple, from http://www.andreasemple.com/:

Ten ways to write the perfect synopsis

1. Keep it short.
Two pages maximum. A single page is often enough.

2. Be brutal.
Edit like you've never edited before. Avoid baggy language. Make sure each sentence is no longer than it needs to be, especially in the first paragraph.

3. Tease.
The trick to a good synopsis is to give a flavour of your novel without giving the whole game away. Don't detail everything that happens. Don't over explain. Just provide the central premise, and a few of the juicier events.

4. Go for the present tense.
Consider the following two phrases: 'Josie's marriage was falling apart' and 'Josie's marriage is falling apart.' The second one is instantly more immediate, and involves you, because it is happening right now.

5. Read book covers.
As I've said before, the blurb on the back of a novel is exactly the style you should be going for. After all, this is how publishers sell their own books.

6. Do something a little different.
The top agents can get as many as one hundred submissions a month. Clearly it helps if you can stand out. You've got to reach out from the page and grab them by the throat (or whichever part of the anatomy you'd prefer).

7. Experiment with the voice.
Matt often uses the second person voice when he is writing a synopsis. So instead of writing 'the novel is about a man called James Smart. He has six days to save his marriage with Josie', he'd go for 'You are James Smart. You have six days to save your marriage'. Obviously this approach doesn't work for every type of novel, the point is that by doing something a little different you will stand out.

8. Don't introduce all the characters.
Don't bombard agents with thirty characters. Stick to the two or three main ones. Otherwise it will be too much for them to take in.

9. Proof read like crazy.
I know I've told a lot of you this already but the first time I sent out my synopsis I spelt the word synopsis wrong. Having synpsis at the top of the page is not a good way to start. . .

10. Finish on a great sentence
Make sure you finish on a great sentence. Something that gives enough, but leaves them itching to read the novel. The classic way to do this is to close on a question, or a series of questions that draws on the main theme of a novel. Such as 'can someone ever recover the person they've left behind?'

Today I will be trying to put these tips to good use. I don't think writing my synopsis in the second person is going to work, though. And would you believe I still haven't had a chance to watch the DVD I rented on Wednesday? This is why I have no television.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!

Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers

Is Your Manuscript Ready for Submission?

Hello Fellow Writers!

Yesterday I got a ton done on my new chapter(s) for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant" while everyone in the house slept. No further work was done on my plot for "Snowed in with a Millionaire". I think I'm going to just let it rest until it's time to start writing it for real on November 1st, when NaNoWriMo begins. I'll just have to figure out how it ends when I get to that point!

As I work on my WIP, I know I am improving it because, well - it just wasn't long enough to be submitted to Harlequin. By adding another chapter I am helping move the story forward as well as making it more submission-ready. But when is it time to stop revising and actually send it out?

I found this article entitled "When to Stop Revising" by 'amyallgeyercook' (sic). Click the link to read the whole article, it's wonderful. Here is an outline of the article, based on the five points the author made and then embellished on:

• You've changed something back to an earlier version.
• The revisions you're working on make the book 'different' but not necessarily 'better'.
• Your critique group opens your submittal and groans, "Ugh. Not this again."
• Your heart isn't in it.
• You can't figure out what else to do with it.

She says "Remember...one-hundred percent of shots not taken, don't score. Your book will never be published if it remains hidden on your hard drive. Take a chance. Send it out!"

That is such a good point. My novels will never get published if I keep them hidden away.

Today I will be working on finishing up another chapter for "The Movie Star's Very Personal Assistant" and I will be incorporating that into the rest of the novel.

Wish me luck, and good luck to you too!
Yours Truly,
Shoshanna Evers