Dark Sensual Paranormal

a lot of you have been asking

2006-09-14T09:20:00.000-05:00

here's a short update. Praise God it looks like the cancer is contained. I'm now off the chemo treatments, and didn't even lose my hair! Miracle that, right? :D

I'm doing well, will be a regular at the hospital for the entire next year, but that's a very small price to pay. It seems like I can even still have kids, so there's miracle number two. God is good and I'm so grateful. I'm enjoying life, my family, my walk with Christ. No, times aren't always easy. Sometimes I don't feel great, but I enjoy life more than I ever did before.

As for writing however, that's gone into hiatus permanently. I just don't have the strength for it anymore. At least not right now. Maybe in the far future, but for now what's important is my walk, and my family. My health is steadily improving each day and for me this has been a new lease on life.

Thank you all for thinking of me and keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I appreciated everyone of them.

God Bless

very short post

2006-07-20T20:33:00.001-05:00

I'm here to let you all know I may not be around for a while. I found out why I haven't been feeling good lately and sadly it's the worst news I could have found out. I have cancer. I'm determined to beat this, I'm still very young..only 25, 26 tomorrow (yay me!:-D) I've got a lot of life left in me. I have a young son and a husband that loves me. I'm not gonna let this get me down.

For those of you that know me, know that I"m a fighter. Through prayer and God's grace I'll come back. Now starts my fight. For those of you that pray, pray the cancer hasn't spread. If it's confined than the chemo should do it.

God bless and take care.

Much love,
~~Viv

very short post

2006-07-20T20:33:00.000-05:00

Haven't updated in a while

2006-07-11T18:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry guys, life has been so crazy lately. :p Lots of family visiting, going and doing the summer vacation thing. Have been having a blast. Yesterday we went to SeaWorld. My son was just in heaven, loved every minute of it. Although I think he liked Shamu best. ;) We had to go watch the show twice. LOL. Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

I may not be around much in the next few weeks. Got a few doctor appts to go to. But I just wanted to stop by and say hiya. :)

Much love,
~~V.K.

LOL! Oh man, I've got it bad...

2006-07-05T22:13:00.000-05:00

Okay, everyone if you didn't know I'm a WRITER. And I've got it bad. Here's a funny little story that really happened to me last night.

So it's no secret how much I love animals and animal related shows. Anything that teaches you about the species, a la National Geographic. Anyway I tend to suffer from a mild form of insomnia. Don't know why it is, but I'm ridiculously tired all day long and then right around 9 at night...BOOM! wide awake. Seriously wide awake. Can't sleep until around 4 or 5 in the morning. I've tried to take sleeping pills to combat this, but it only makes me groggy and feeling more like shit the next morning, so I usually just suffer through it...but I digress...

So last night I'm up to my old shinanigans and am watching this show called HUNTER, HUNTED. And it was about the Kodiak grizzly bears and the hunter's that go to this little island off the coast of Alaska to hunt deer and wind up being the one's hunted by the bears. Blah, blah, blah...(don't want to bore you all with the details of the show, just cause I'm weird and love anything animal related..lol)

Anyway, I'm finally ready for bed and go to sleep. Now here's where it gets weird. 2 hours after falling asleep I remember waking up, bolting upright is more like it, and thinking "ohhhhh, that would make a great idea for a book..." (I cannot remember what idea that was, or even why I woke up the way I did..lol) but for some reason I have sense enough to open my dresser drawer, take out my handy journal (I've got about 30 stashed throughout the house) and write something down, then I proceed to pass out and remember nothing.

I wake up this morning knowing I'd bolted upright and that I'd had a good plot idea come to me for the 3rd book in my Death Series, but I didn't know what it was. I couldn't remember a thing, except that I'd written something. I'm thinking there is no way that I could have written anything legible at that time of morning, but I go find it and lo and behold not only is it legible it's a DAMN good story idea, and coincidentally enough, it involves Kodiak bears and conservationist's, but hey, it's a shifter story, so it's perfect!

Now how's that for a writer story? Hehehehe...

So you guys ever do anything quirky to get an idea down before you forget it?

Much love,
~~V.K.

Happy Fourth

2006-07-04T00:43:00.000-05:00

I couldn't decide which picture to put up so I put them all up. Aren't they beautiful? Now I wish I was going to see fireworks half as pretty tomorrow, but they're probably not going to look anything like this. I went last year and yeah...lol, not even close. Still, it's the fourth and you better believe I'll be cheering along as I watch those little bottle rockets hit the air. LOL.

Happy Fourth everyone. I hope you have a wonderful day. I know I will. I'm going to be cooking and taking along a picnic. Maybe some fried chicken, potato salad and an apple pie. And because it's the holiday I'll actually do them from scratch. Oh wonders of wonders, Vivienne's gonna cook instead of order out for once. :p I'm sure my husband will appreciate it.

Have fun y'all, and whatever you do be safe.

Much love,

~~V.K.

Oh, and go friggin' watch Superman! Make sure that Hollywood makes that sequel. ;)

Le Sigh...

2006-06-30T11:17:00.000-05:00

Le sigh...is he not just yummy looking? Seriously. *vbg*

So let's turn this thread away from the gruesome and towards something a lot more palatable.

Went and saw Superman last night. OMG guys and gals. That movie flat out rocks. The love story between Lois and Superman is so...sigh.

The action sequences are pulse racing, the special effects some of the best I've seen in a long time. This movie has easily gone into the top 3 of my most favorite movies ever. That's saying a lot. I don't usually walk away with these feelings of I want to go back and watch watch watch type feelings when I finish watching a movie. Usually one time is all I need and then I'm good. But this one. Oh man, you can bet I'll be going one more time at least while it's in theaters and then will probably be the first in line to buy it on DVD. LOL.

Brandon Routh..was it there to say about him. A viritual unknown who had to follow, of all people, Christopher Reeves as the new man in tights. He didn't do a great job, he did a FANTATIC job! If you close your eyes I swear you'd think it was Chris talking back to you..he's got the good ol' corn fed looks, probably helps that he is a native Iowa-n. This big, beautiful body...oh man. And those blue eyes they give him in the movie...wow. Trust me, y'all. Go see it. You won't regret it. Girls and guys can enjoy this. Guys for the non stop action, girls just to watch that gorgeous man strut around in his tights. Mmmmm...hehehehe.

One of the best movies hands down. ;)

~~Viv K.

YOU WHAT?!?!?!

2006-06-28T12:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, writing erotica can sometimes take you into a whole new world of the unusual. I like to give my character's depth and not make them "me". Many of them do and say stuff that I don't do in real life. IE: BDSM. I'm into a little pain play, scratching, biting..etc. But I'm by no means a hardcore bondage type girl.

Still to be a good writer I think you need to think broad. You need to recognize that not everyone likes vanilla (I don't)..but sometimes they want a nice meld of the two. Sweet and spicy. That makes your character more true to life, adds depth and makes them unique.

So often times I'll go exploring on the internet for strange or unusual sexual fetish's. I never want to use any too over the top, as we all know some can get rather distasteful at best.

I really thought I couldn't be shocked by anything anymore. Boy was I wrong...

Apotemnophilia:

The guru of apotemnophilia, if there is one, is John Money, an expert in sexuality and professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University. In 1977, he coined the word and defined the disorder as a kind of extreme sexual fetish. Apotemnophilia victims, he wrote, want to cut off their limbs so they can have better sex.

Bruno, who studies the amputation-obsessed community's coming-out in the age of the Internet, said three groups have developed. The "devotees" love amputees, and some are so obsessed that they'll stalk disabled women in shopping malls. The "wannabes" hope to become amputees and the "pretenders" use wheelchairs and crutches to feign disability.

I didn't put this here to make anyone laugh. It actually got me thinking. I mean how miserable a life would this be? The article went on to say that when people couldn't get their dream fulfilled of becoming an amputee they resort to extreme acts of violence to try and get a healthy limb taken off. IE: sitting with their legs on a track waiting for a train to pass by, cutting it off themselves.

This one just came as a big shock to me. And truthfully the whole thing makes me sad. How miserable to have to live your life thinking that an amputated limb is the key to happiness.

For you guys..is there a limit to what you think is sane and safe? How much is too much and when does a fetish go way over the line? For me, it doesn't get much worse than this. BDSM, while not my bag, is a perfectly comfortable act of love between two consenting adults. This however goes above and beyond what I'm comfortable with. I never thought I'd actually find my limit always figuring if you're a sane and able bodied person then it's your life, your body, your choice. How do you guys feel about it and in your own writing, what are the limits you're willing to go to?

Much love,
~~Viv K.

If you want to read the entire article here it is:

http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/08/29/amputation/print.html

It's a pretty fascinating read from a medical perspective. But then again, I'm studying to become a nurse. *shrug* I dig these sorts of reads.

What's your fantasy?

2006-06-26T14:25:00.000-05:00

So today is just for fun. It's Monday, I'm bored, nothing really cool happening on my end..today I just want to hear what's going on with you guys. *bg*

Here's my question...if you had just one, ONE, wish..what would you choose? And no "I'd want to lose twenty pounds, live on an isolated island with a hot guy who utterly adores me and feeds me grapes all day" type wishes.

No continuation wishes. Just one. And go ahead and be as completely selfish as you want to be.

That type of wish is hard, even for me. I realize thinking about this question that humans, (or at least this one) is a lot more greedy than what I like to think I am. LOL. I'm not content with just one. I think ohhhh...I've got one...can I wish for more wishes? LOL..ugh, no. So if you had it to do, what would you choose? Would it be to become a prolific best selling author? (Okay, that's sorta two wishes, but I'll let that slide..lol) Would it be to just have gads of money? Be the most beautiful woman in the world?

I'm just really curious to see what makes you all tick. This question is more like research actually because it's a very loose idea I have for a new book. So spill...what does it for you guys?

~~Viv K.

And the winner is...

2006-06-25T00:47:00.000-05:00

Man did time fly or what? Already 10 days later, I cannot believe it. So I guess it's that time, right?

First off I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that entered and signed up for the LLOO newsletter. I had a much better turnout for my contest than anticipated, makes me sad that not everyone could win something, but I regularly hold contests, so keep in touch..you just never know. ;)

Without further ado...

Congrats:

Cathie M.

Thanks again to everyone who signed up. And just to let you all know, I'll be running another contest soon for the print release of my novel Witch Hunt. So keep checking back for details!

Much love,
~~Viv

Today's it...

2006-06-24T15:11:00.000-05:00

Last chance to throw your name in the pot for the fire and ice themed gift basket. Quick overview of what you have to do and what you might win!

~16 oz. Therapy liquid mineral bath. (reduces ache and pains, sleep soundly, breath easier)

~30 oz. White tea and jasmine bath salts

~4 votive size pomegranate scented candles

~4 crackle glass votive candle holders

~1.85 oz. Healing garden sensual therapy passion rose lotion

~1.85 oz. Healing garden relax therapy white tea lotion

~1 gift card with a great big thank you. ;)

What do you have to do to win all this?

Go to my website, read the excerpt from Fire and Ice and answer this question:

Lumina walks into the garden. What adornment is she wearing? (Send your answers to viviennekingwriter@gmail.com

Then

Sign up for my newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/love_lust_and_other_oddities_newsletter/?yguid=161087487

And finally, post a hello on my blog and mention that you're throwing your name in the hat for the gift basket.

And to be fair, only those who actually follow all the steps will have their name thrown into the hat for the drawing. Tomorrow I'll annouce the winner on my blog. I'll also email the winner individually, and just in case both methods of communication let me down the newsletter released in July will have the winner's name in it.

Much love,
~~Vivienne King

My dirty little secret...

2006-06-22T12:11:00.000-05:00

Okay y'all, I'm about to share something that most writers never want to say happens, much less admits to.

Jealousy.

Or in writers terms, creative jealousy. :( It sucks and I have to say I get pretty ashamed of myself when I feel that twinge of the big green monster. Sigh... I debated with myself all morning whether or not to write this, but decided rather than keep distancing myself from this subject and pretending I don't suffer it, I'd admit to it and hopefully find that with time that beast will lessen its grip on me.

You see, it's not that I'm this monster who hates to hear about anyone doing well. No, that's not it at all. It's more the feeling that you see everyone around you doing so well and you still feel like your treading mud. It's a vain uphill battle because when you stop to look at things you see "jeez, I haven't even begun to climb that hill."

I think the problem, and why most writers don't want to admit to it is because they're afraid of someone telling them how selfish they are, how they can't see all the wonderful things happening around them, and that "man, if I was in your position I wouldn't be whining anymore."

There you go, we don't want to come off as whiners. I'm happy. I'm advancing in my career. It's mostly a slow, painful crawl to the finish line, but I am making progress. In almost 5 years time I'm finally seeing one of my books go to print and wind up in bookstore shelves. I have a wonderful agent. I've been blessed not to have to even entertain the possibility of having to fire her to look for another. I can say in all honesty it's not Jessica's fault my book hasn't sold. My ideas just aren't meshing with NY obviously. While that sucks for me as a writer, I understand it. The flaw is not with my agent. The flaw is that I've written something not really seen in the market yet. A hybrid gothic-fantasy-urban-paranormal ms. No one knows how to market it..makes my options limited.

Now before you all think I'm begging for a pat on the back and a (((hug))), just know that I'm not. It's just that I recognize this ugliness inside of me. If I'm thinking rationally I can see I'm really going places. Maybe not as fast as I would have liked, maybe my books will never be sold to the highest bidder, but I can see where I am definitely making progress, but its my emotions that usually wind up getting the best of me.

I won't mention anyone in specific, but you always hear of these cases where people nab an agent and sell to Berkley for a 4 book deal right off the bat. When things like that happen to someone else and not to you, I know my first reaction is...well jeez, what do they have that I don't? What am I doing wrong? Does my writing stink that bad?

Then the hurt starts to slide in. You're happy for them, but it's almost painful to hear about that new sale, that 7 book deal, see that beautiful glossy cover. I think I've finally figured out that all these feelings stem from an insecurity on my part. A feeling of inadequacy and thinking, if they got sold that fast and I haven't, then I have no chance in hell of ever getting there and that's when your thoughts inevitably turn toward "maybe I should just stop. writing is fun, but the rat race isn't. I'm tired of this whiny me that always drives everyone crazy by constantly yapping on and on about feeling awful, terrible, I'll never cut the mustard, etc.."

So right here and now I'm going to brave, I'm gonna stand up to all of you and say: Hi my name is Vivienne and that's my dirty little secret.

But you want to hear something really cool, talking about is freeing. Admitting there's a problem is the first step right? I've got a monkey on my back, I recognize that, but I also know that I'm willing to do anything to shake it off.

Anyway this was just an observation. I'm not feeling this way about anyone in particular at the moment, but it is something I've always wanted to talk about. And to tell people, it's okay to feel like this. It really is. It's what makes us human, and as long as we don't become cruel or malacious about it to the person who's doing well, well then there's hope for us yet. *vbg*

So now I'm waiting here expecting the rotten tomatoes to be flung.

Just to remind everyone 4 more days until my contest for the Fire and Ice themed gift set to end. :D

Much love,
~~Viv K.

Finding the time to write

2006-06-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

Some days are harder than others. Aren't they? I mean I come off this long weekend (and I try not to write on weekends so I can spend time with the family) But getting back into the groove of things can be a bit daunting.

This is how I often try to combat it.

One, just make myself sit down and write. *not good*

That often results in me writing nothing but drivel. I'm not inspired and you can clearly tell. I tend to write on a tanget, or I'm lucky to get 250 words done.

Two, I fret, make myself sick over it. Then I get mad because I haven't really written and wind up eeking out 5 ho hum pages. Good, but they'll need extensive revisions.

Or....

Three, I get smart and plot things out over the weekend. I set myself up for the next scene, enough to get me 10 good pages worth. That usually works the best, I still don't want to write, but it gets me out of the meandering stage. And once I sit down the words come and suddenly my apathetic feelings toward my ms disappear and I can't seem to stop.

Those are exciting days. Rare, but great. The ones where you write like a fiend, you "see" the images in your head, you connect to your characters, and you pound out a good 20 pgs worth. Sigh...I live for those days.

So let's hope that I can do so yet again tonight. And for inspiration I've posted a pic of one of my many hunks!

(my hubby)

Much love,
~~Viv

Oh and the missing girl, Staci, has been found alive and healthy! Yay! She's going home this weekend. :D

And remember, 5 more days for my Fire and Ice themed contest gift basket. See below for details!

I'm speechless

2006-06-18T15:21:00.000-05:00

I'm in print. August 11th, my co-authored novel Witch Hunt will be in bookstores nationwide. OMG! (Blogger is acting funny so this will be all in one paragraph, but) I'm in shock. I know there's words to be said, all I can say is wow...wow...wow. I'm finally gonna be on bookstore shelves. You'll walk into Borders and see me there. WOW

Listen up everybody because this is really important

2006-06-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

This is no hoax, only wish it was so. But Marjorie Jones' daughter is missing. Marjorie is a great writer, a good mentor, and this is a mother's worst nightmare.

If you want to know all the news you can check out Marjorie's daily updates. This is just so sad.

From what little I know Staci is probably en route from Utah to Texas. There is a chance she's traveling in a Black pick up truck with tinted windows and the name "Jaqueline", or some variated spelling, in the black window.

Please if you've seen her, contact Marjorie. http://www.marjoriejones.com/staci/missingx.html

Vivienne

Trying to see things from a new perspective

2006-06-17T16:34:00.000-05:00

So in order to keep my mind creative (because let's face it, it's a muscle like anything else and the less you use it the more flabby it becomes) I often do excerices to think "outside the box".

For instance, I'll look at a picture that seems pretty straightforward and try to come up with a new spin on it. Something that you might totally miss the first time around but the more you look, the more you realize it's possible.

Okay for instance, take the pic I posted on top.

Looks like a woman crying doesn't it? Sitting there lonely on the rock, maybe watching the water and remembering her lover who was tragically killed...whatever.

Now, here's what I'm talking about "thinking outside the box". We can't see the rest of the picture. What if there was more? What if what we don't see changes around the entire mood of the piece?

Do you notice the bright red fabric wrapped around her body? That suggests to me passion, loveliness, all things feminine and beautiful. Beneath the fabric you can tell she's nude. So maybe she's not crying over a lost lover at all. Maybe what we don't see is her lover in the background preening and acting like the lovesick fool he is. He's tried to chase down a rabbit, show her how manly and wonderful he is. And maybe what we're actually seeing in this picture is her hiding her face in laughter.

Can you see it?

So when someone asks me where do you get your ideas from, that's it. I look at something benign, pretty straightforward and think but maybe it doesn't mean that at all. Maybe what we think we see isn't what's really there.

Look at the famous Mona Lisa. She looks happy enough. That small little smile on her face. But to me that picture has always looked like a woman who's hiding a secret. Something mabye even a little naughty. Something that says "I'll never tell..."

Try it sometime, see what you can come up with. It's a lot of fun once you start doing it.

Remember, I'm still holding my bath goodies giveaway. 7 more days to throw your name in the hat.

Go to my website, read the excerpt from Fire and Ice and answer this question:

Lumina walks into the garden. What adornment is she wearing?

And finally, post a hello on my blog and mention that you're throwing your name in the hat for the gift basket. This contest will run until the 25th.

Much love,

~~Viv

Oh la la...

2006-06-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

I'm writing this one with a smile on my face. LOL. Have you guys ever had one of those dreams?

You know...those dreams. *wink* The kind that wake you up feeling all hot and bothered and decidedly wicked?

If not, then you might not know what I'm talking about. Dreams are such weird things. Sometimes I wake up remembering nothing. Other times I wake up so inspired I can suddenly see a scene clearly in my mind where otherwise it was muddy shades of grey.

So I'm in that half dream phase. I'm awake, but still in a light doze. And I have this dream of me in this X-men(esque) type society. (Please don't ask..I'm such a geekazoid when it comes to the X universe..lol. Cyclops..mmmmm, especially that nummy man from the movies. Even more Mmm.)

This building is about to collapse and all my friends are going to die inside. I'm not quite sure if I even have any powers, but my friends around me do and they get down to business, killing the bad guys and freeing the rest of us. Only now our world is in shambles, but we're so exhausted we have to stop and sleep somewhere.

Me and Cyclops have had this thing going for months. This growing attraction and sizzling sexual chemistry. I see him laying down on the bed and he looks to already be asleep, so I walk off. Frustrated, tired, and lonely.

I'm sitting on this stoop, we're seperated by this field of grass and I'm just watching him. He looks so handsome in his sleep. A slight shadow of stubble on his jaw. Those, sharp features relaxed and my heart just sorta dive bombs to my knees.

Then Storm (or the equivalent) sits next to me and we start gabbing about saving the world, etc etc. LOL...all the while I keep darting glances at him. He doesn't have a sheet on, so you can see the strong lines of muscle in his back and I've got butterflies like crazy. I'm antsy and want to go over, but don't want to wake him.

Suddenly I'm alone again, Storm has left and I decide, enough is enough. I get up and walk over to where he's laying. I cover his body with mine and frame his face.

He wakes up, (for some reason this cyclops can look me in the eye and not harm me..lol) and rolls over with me trapped in his arms. My heart is pounding out of my chest at this point. He's so strong and virile. Perfect. He starts dropping drugging kisses along my neck, and face. Then slides his body down mine...

Ah yes, we had a wonderful night! ;) You know I always considered myself a Wolverine girl, but maybe it's like that old saying goes...Screw the bad boys, marry the good ones. LOL...and now you realize I have absoultely no idea how that phrase is worded, but hell I'm sure you get the picture.

Anyhow, remember everyone I'm still running my shower bath gift basket for another 9 days. I'll continue to paste the intructions in each new post that way it's easy to find.

Go to my website, read the excerpt from Fire and Ice and answer this question:

Lumina walks into the garden. What adornment is she wearing?

Sign up for my newsletter:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/love_lust_and_other_oddities_newsletter/?yguid=161087487

And finally, post a hello on my blog and mention that you're throwing your name in the hat for the gift basket. This contest will run until the 25th.

Much love,
~~Viv

Contest rule information...

2006-06-15T11:52:00.000-05:00

So I decided to be fair, I'd post the information required to put your name in the hat for the drawing of my bath set gift basket. Below is the list of items to win. Here are the rules. Have fun!

Go to my website, read the excerpt from Fire and Ice and answer this question:

Lumina walks into the garden. What adornment is she wearing?

Sign up for my newsletter: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/love_lust_and_other_oddities_newsletter/?yguid=161087487

And finally, post a hello on my blog and mention that you're throwing your name in the hat for the gift basket. That's it! Have fun. This contest will run until the 25th. So plenty of time. :)

Much love,
~~Vivienne King

Hello hello hello

2006-06-15T00:52:00.000-05:00

It's me again. Come back to enlighten you and make you laugh with my wit, charm, and snappy dialogue.

LOL...

Someone thinks highly of themselves tonight. Hmm...well, maybe I won't wow you, or even charm you...but by god I can write some snappy dialogue. ;)

So here goes. I'm finally getting ready to hold my first big contest giveaway for my short, hot read "Fire and Ice". I tried to go with a theme. So what is my book about?

Hmm...sex. Check. Fire. Check. Ice. Check. Oh, and did I mention gads of sex? (just checking *vbg*)

What emotions are associated with fire? Sensuality. For some reason I always think of candles. Of being immersed deep in a claw-footed bathtub, white foamy bubble bath up to my chin and the gentle flicker of aromatic candles in the background.

Ice. Cold. A frosty beauty. Something hauntingly beautiful, achingly perfect.

Ohhhh..this sounds nice, doesn't it? So when deciding what to do for my basket I looked at those images of fire and ice and decided on something a little decadent for us ladies.

Picture this if you will...

An exhausting day at the office, home, whatever. Hubby, boyfriend, roommate..whatever...is taking over the run of the house for an hour. What would you do?

Me..I'd go and turn the taps onto hot. Steaming, until the bathroom billows with white smoke. I'd fill the tub to the rim, add a few bath salts, or if I'm feeling exceptionally achy, maybe a liquid mineral bath. The scents of white tea and jasmine float through the air. It's quiet inside. No sound except for marvin gaye crooning to you from the small radio in the corner (I'm sorry, but was there anyone better?). It feels wonderful and the candlelight splashed around the room makes you smile. Crackle glass votive candle holders are set on the counter. Pomegranate scented candles fill the room with their sweet scent. You close your eyes and drift away. But finally the water grows just a little too tepid..time to get out. You step out of the bath tub, dry yourself off and to keep your skin looking moist and healthy, rub in some rose or white tea scented lotion.

You walk out the room, humming softly to yourself and thanking the beautiful, wonderful Vivienne for such a lovely gift. ;)

See...wasn't that fun? :D And if you didn't catch all the items, here's a break down for you.

~16 oz. Therapy liquid mineral bath. (reduces ache and pains, sleep soundly, breath easier)

~30 oz. White tea and jasmine bath salts

~4 votive size pomegranate scented candles

~4 crackle glass votive candle holders

~1.85 oz. Healing garden sensual therapy passion rose lotion

~1.85 oz. Healing garden relax therapy white tea lotion

~1 gift card with a great big thank you. ;)

What do you have to do to win all this?

I'll tell you tomorrow at the ebook love chat http://groups.yahoo.com/group/eBookLove/?yguid=267091004 myself and the other girls of www.lovelustandotheroddities.blogspot.com will be hosting for the entire day. Hope to see many of you there!

By the way, this contest will run for a total of 10 days. Plenty of time to get those names in the hat. I wish I had a picture to show you all, but trust me when I say, I wish I could keep all this stuff for myself.

Have fun and don't do anything I wouldn't do. *that's such a loaded comment isn't it? lol*

Much love,
~~Viv

What a day, what a day...

2006-06-13T13:49:00.000-05:00

What a long boring day. Is it just me or does summer vacation no longer hold the appeal it used to?

I live in this nice little military community and just happen to have the sweetest spot of prime land on the base. The house right behind the pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, playground, bbq hut.

Sounds lovely doesn't it? That's we thought too when we got the place. Sadly you're more likely to see me foaming at the mouth than anything anymore. I bloody hate our backyard in the summer time.

We've got kids trampling through our lawn to get to the pool. Trash all over our backyards. Empty paper plates stained with remnants of bbq sauce and other things that resemble a conglameration of mustard yellow puke and dingy brown *stuff* Shudder... Our backyard attracts about a million stinkin' ants. It's amazing how many times I've had to call the bug specialists out here to come and kill the piles of mounds. And here in Texas we have this nasty thing called fire ants.

They're about the size of your thumb nail and meaner than the devil. I hate em! All I can hear is squeals and more squeals.

My poor son, he's got these staples in his head so can't go to the pool but hearing the constant splashing and screaming of kids, he looks like little puppy lost over there. I feel terrible for him. I'm trying to take his mind off things, but seriously, mom and fairly odd parents can only take you so far before you get back to that whining stage. Yanno?

Sigh. So I've taken to doing group things outside the house. My boy's at that stage where he really loves being the little helper and cleaning. Even though what he cleans makes things about a million times more dirty than what it was to begin with. But eh...it's cute. :)

So yesterday we "helped" hubby mow the lawn. I used the weed eater, for the first time...lol, it was pretty halarious. My son directed the traffic and the lawn looks pretty good, but I'm finding it hard to come up with much of anything right now that doesn't put him in direct path of any other little rugrats. I cannot wait until his wound heals and he can rejoin the "clan". I'll breath a sigh of relief. Until then, I think I'll just continue to count the dust motes floating through the air and praying for school to start back up again.

Boy I'm getting old. How scary that those things are starting to bother me. LOL.

~~Viv K. ;)

Is Fantasy Dead?

2006-06-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

That's the ultimate question for a writer like me. I LURVE fantasy. Can't help it. It's what I grew up on. My father was a sci-fi/fantasy junkie. I never really got heavy into sci-fi, with the exception of a few notables...anyone ever read the Killashandra Series or Freedome Landings, or the Ship who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey? Well, those are pretty much the only sci-fi's I've ever loved enough to go to used bookstores for over a span of 5 years to complete the series on each. And I'm telling you now, they are soooooooo worth it.

But I digress. So here's the deal. My cup o' tea was always fantasy. Be it dark, like Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy, or Light and funny..a la Piers Anthony. That's just the way I'm built. I like escapsim from reality. Being dropped into another world/dimension and becoming immersed in the lay of the land. Discovering new and fantastical creatures I can't find in the real world.

But sadly, not many romance readers are fans. It's a genre that's pretty much flat lined. Not sure that it was ever popular though, so it does give me hope. There's a few like P.C. Cast who's done a fantastic job with creating a fantasy-romance market niche, but her's are a more urban fantasy. And let me correct something here. Paranormal and fantasy are completely opposite. I'm not sure why paranormals set in urban settings are considered urban fantasy. It's an urban paranormal in my opinion. Unless it involves fantasy type creatures...mermaids, centaurs, ogres, gnomes, trolls, elves...that's fantasy. Vamps, shifters, witches, demons..those are for me paranormal.

What's my reasoning..well, they do in fact in exist. No, not the way authors hype them up to be. But everyone's heard of the vamp culture. An underground, almost gothlike modern vamp. As for shifters, well I wouldn't call them shifters exactly. There's actually a medical term for what the dark ages used to call werewolves. Lycanthropy. The symptoms and explainations of the symptoms differ. Some people say it's a mental disease, others actually sprout hair all over their bodies. Witches go without saying. And demons, depending on what religion you are, you either believe in them or don't.

Fantasy creatures are the ones that just don't exist. No matter how much this writer wishes it were so. Look at the picture above. I look at that and see so many possibilities. Not an angel, but a harpy (half man, half bird) hanging onto his lady love a mermaid. Doomed, unrequited love. So romantic.

Most people would probably just see a pretty picture, or not care at all. I wish I understood what readers have against the fan-rom genre as a whole. I wish I could turn them onto this awesome awesome genre, but no matter how much myself and several authors have tried, it just hasn't taken off yet.

Any ideas? What makes you as a buyer look at two books. One features a vampire, another a mermaid and decide..eh, I'll take the vamp? What seductive hold does that maddening creature have on you that the gorgeous merman does not?

Just wondering... :)

Much love,

~~Viv K.

What a crazy day...

2006-06-10T09:55:00.000-05:00

So yesterday was going well. I had every intention of being a productive writer, clean my house, and have a hot meal on the table when hubby got home from work.

And then wouldn't you know it, one of those little quirks in life that you can never take into account or plan for, just pops up and all your good intentions go flying out the window. LOL.

So I'm doing laundry and feeling like Lil' Ms Homemaker. My carpets vaccumed, my glass polished and now all that's left is 2 loads of laundry and I'm DONE. Then I hear this chilling scream. The kind that you rarely hear, because it means real REAL pain.

I drop everything and sprint like some world class marathon into the living room and see my son holding his head. I kept asking him what was wrong but couldn't hear a thing over his loud screams and tears. I'm checking his body for injury but don't see anything. I like to keep all the lights off in my house because Texas gets HOT and keeping the house darker tends to keep things cooler. But sometimes my habit bites me in the ass.

I didn't see anything at first. After about ten minutes of rocking him I just figure he'd gotten a little dinged up by running into the wall or some such nonsense. He's done it before, not watching where he's going and then boom. But this time, it felt different. He would alway stop when I picked him up. Few alligator tears and then he was over it.

Last night however it took about 10 minutes to calm him. I kept inspecting his body but didn't see anything. It was when I pulled away that I received my nasty surprise. My shirt was covered in blood. It made me sick. Not from seeing the blood, but the fact that he was, period. And then I finally saw the huge gash on his head.

I stayed calm and cool. You all would have been so proud of me. Inside I was shaking like a sapling in the wind, but you always hear don't show them because it just makes things worse. So very nonchalantly I cart him up, drive to the hospital and wait 8 hours! Yes, 8 flippin' hours. It was absolutely awful. His hair was matted to his head with blood, and head wounds are bleeders anyway, it never stopped seeping the entire time we were there. It looked painful. He said he was okay by that point, but I felt terrible for him.

He was a little trooper though, even when he had to get staples. Just a few little whimpers, but overall the staff was hugely impressed.

So now I'm looking at my 2 piles of laundry and feeling that blasted Burger King we had for dinner. And let's not even talk about my lack of writing productivity last night. Good intentions suck sometimes. LOL.

On another writing related note, today is the big Cobblestone Press chat at Romance Divas. 8 Central 9 Eastern. If you're not a member it's really easy to sign up, then just click on http://romancedivas.com/divachat.html create your username and voila, that simple! I really hope to see some of you there. You'll have a chance to take to both authors and editors. Read fun excerpts and win a few free books!

Much love,
~~Viv K.

Updates...

2006-06-09T14:39:00.000-05:00

So it's been a couple of days since I blogged last. And quite a bit has happened in that time.

I sold another novella to Cobblestone called Loki's Curse. I'm really excited, especially because it'll be one of the stories released during their Octoberfest campaign. All paranormal for the entire month of Hallow's Eve. *insert scary music here* LOL. And this one is not a fantasy, it's pure para. Involving a vampire with a death curse and the beautiful shapeshifter who's much more than what she seems! ;)

Another thing is that tomorrow evening at 7 pm there will be a big Cobblestone author chat at Romance Divas. Just go to www.romancedivas.com and their chat room should be on their first page. We'd love to see anyone of you all there. Lots of excerpts and even some free books handed out!

And then here's something that just made my toes curl. Hilary Sares over at Kensington rejected my Death book. Only on the basis that it was too dark for their line. BUT..she really liked my voice and has requested to read anything else I might have with my agent. I do in fact have something that Jessica and I think could work, a contemp erotica piece. It was initally a novella, but I think it would be better for the first book I sold to be a full length. So I'm increasing the page count by at least another 150 pgs. I've already done 16 pgs and it's coming along pretty well.

Also, keep your fingers crossed. The jr. editor over at HQN loved Death and is passing it up to their Nocturne line. Sooo...lots of good karma sent my way please. I'm so close and so excited, I can hardly stand it. I was going to keep it a secret, but why. LOL. Even if I don't sell, then at least I got further than I ever expected to and that's a compliment in and of itself!

Oh, and for all you paranormal junkies out there romance divas is hosting a paranormal world building session with 9 of the hottest authors in the genre:

P.C. Cast
Gena Showalter
C.J. Barry
Lynn Veihl
Robin Owens
Kelly Armstrong
Karen Chance
J.R. Ward
Shanna Swendson
Robin Owens

And...

Deidre Knight (in author capacity only! No, agent questions please)

Anyhow, this is a chance to talk LIVE to some of the most talented authors out there. They'll be chatting from the 9th through the 11th. Some are only able to be around 1 of the 3 days, but a few like the brilliant Gena S. has mentioned being able to chat all 3. So please. Go and chat. Even if you don't write paranormals, these ladies are uber talented and can give great tips on writing in general.

Don't forget!!!! Fire and Ice, on sale at Cobblestone Press. :-D Seriously, I think I'm gonna tattoo my title on my butt! LOL. I also put up my banner and cover over at www.theromancestudio.com click on TRS Blue. Isn't it perty?? *vbg*

Okay then, that's about it for me now.

Much love,
~~Viv K.

I want to, but I can't...

2006-06-06T23:49:00.000-05:00

So I found out some news that could turn out to be really really big for me. Thing is it's gonna require that I hunker down yet again and go under for weeks to get things squared.

Let's just say, it deals with a publisher who's interested in one of my other works. Didn't like Death so much, but read enough to like my style...eek! And no, there's still one house out there actively considering Death, this was not that house.

Because I'm uber superstitious I won't be naming names yet, but if all goes well you'll know soon enough. I'll continue to blog, but just be warned I'll be a trifle absent at times.

And to those of you who already know...NO TELLING! ;) LOL.

But I could seriously use some positive thoughts, pitchers of cyber champagne and a White Chunk Macadamia Nut cookie or two. *grin* This is going to be about a 2 weeks worth hibernation. Wish me luck, you guys!

Much love,
~~Viv

Oh my...sometimes you just have to smile.

2006-06-04T16:48:00.000-05:00

It's a good day. My son's back home from his 3 week adventure with his grandparents. Jeez, the little tyke grew so much in the time he was gone. It shocked me. Now I understand why it is that family always seems so surprised at how much bigger he's gotten. Kids really do sprout up like weeds, don't they? LOL.

I've been tackling a new novella, tentatively titled Midnight Whispers...although I know it will change. I'm writing my portion of a Dark Decadent Delight anthology and I got the honor of getting to use Delight as part of my title. Soooo...I'm still thinking on that one. I'm just one of those weird birds who can't write a darn thing unless I've got a title. Even if it's called 'Me so horny'. (Which I would never..but it would definitely make me giggle if I saw that on a bookstore shelf.) Just what romance writers need, another reason for other authors/readers to call our stuff hokey and uneducated. But that's opening up an entirely different can of worms and this post is not about that.

Soooo..why am I smiling? Well you know I've been talking about promoting, promoting, promoting...and that I'd get back to you if my little experiment worked or not, welp...it's most definitely worked!

I'm amazed. I mean we all know that hard work eventually pays off. But I'm just shocked. I've received several fan letters yesterday and today alone. My editor at Cobblestone sent me a link to a yahoo group that's been buzzing about Leanne and my book and my visitor counter on blogger has gone up 22 pts in 1 night. WOW!

Man, I almost wish I had a counter on my website. I feel like I'm fumbling around in the dark where my site is concerned. I'm not sure if it's much of a selling tool, but one gal who wrote me mentioned that it was very lovely. So heck...even if it's just one. :) I'm pleased.

And although Cobblestone is not just about Viv..lol, I still want to brag about it...promotions work! They jumped 22k on the counter since the day of their grand opening. (I believe that's the specific number, if I'm wrong then I apologize for the misinformation.) Either way it was a HUGE number.

So no matter how hard it might seem to you guys...or that you worry it won't actually do anything to help your sales...keep at it. I'm so excited and ready to keep plugging along and pushing forward. I'm definitely going to continue purchasing ad space with RT Mag, going to chats, and doing interviews.

No doubt it's hard, but it works! LOL...I'm especially giddy because these fan letters come from gals I've never met before in my life. Not that family and friends aren't great, but man it really does something to you when you know fans up in Canada are loving your books. Hehehehe...

Also, on the 10th of June Romance Divas www.romancedivas.com will host a cobblestone chat. Very likely that's where I'll have my big gift basket give-away. It'll include bath salts and oils, candles...possibly lotion. Part of my Fire and Ice theme. I'll let you know for certain whether that will be the day, or if I'll have to push it back a few days. But a big contest coming up!

Much love,
~~Viv K.

Perserverence...

2006-06-03T01:06:00.000-05:00

Running that long tiring race to the finish line. That's what it means to me. And though writing is definitely not an athletic competition (lol) sometimes it feels just as draining.

To me one of the key abilities you must have to be a sucessful writer is perserverence. You have to get back on the horse, no matter how many times it bucks you off, or how sore your ass is...you just gotta tame the beast and get the damn thing done.

Easier said than done. How many of us, even pubbed authors, have started a novel, novella, short story...and not finish it? C'mon...let's be honest..hehe.

Okay, I'll go first. I have. Right now I have about 17 (YES 17) unfinished novels on my hard drive. Some of them more than halfway done and I refuse to delete them because I keep telling myself I WILL GO BACK AND FINISH IT.

4 years later...well, you know the story. But..here's where my story differs. They're not all just half baked ideas. I have actually finished and published a few. Some of them doing quite well. But it is not an easy road to hoe and don't let anyone tell you writing a novel is the easiest thing in the world.

You gotta want this. You gotta realize that you're gonna sweat blood, tears, and sleepless nights over this. That sometimes you're gonna have that killer deadline THAT MUST BE MET.

So for those of us who have finished, what are your methods? How do you force yourself to sit down and go all the way to 'The End'?

Mine is being accountable to someone. I'm a deadline junkie. If I know that someone is waiting out there in cyber world to see my work on their desk the next morning I'll get the sucker done. It's such a motivational tool for me. I love pressure. Live for it. I guess you could call me a Type A personality. At least in certain things.

In my personal life I'm pretty easy going. Run where the river takes me. But Lord get a deadline in front of me and I'm like a hormonal woman on speed. LOL. Don't get in my way or so help you...

I've tried not pestering other people to make me accountable. I've tried setting personal goals that only I know about. And..when that happens things just always seem to unravel at the seams for me. I can't concentrate, focus, or get a darn thing done.

IE: the 2 month writing hiatus I just came off of. *shudder* I really hate those moments.

But now, I've found myself some accountability partners and I've done 71 pgs in 6 days. Not too shabby. The stuff is rough rough rough. Going so long without writing does that to you...LOL. But at least I'm back on that blasted horse again. And if CC has anything to say about it, she won't let me off this ride anytime soon. Considering I'm writing my portion of 'our' book. LOL.

So that's what works for me. How do you guys operate? Inquiring minds wish to know.

~~Viv K.

And a big thanks to all the ladies I've chatted with in the last few days. Cobblestone Day was a smashing success!

How's life been treating you this week?

2006-06-01T14:16:00.000-05:00

So usually I go on and on about me. I honestly don't think I'm that interesting, so today I'm turning the tables. What are you planning to do this weekend?

If you're a writer, what are you writing goals? And if you're just a reader enthusiast, what are you reading?

That's it!

I just want to learn a little bit about the people who leave comments on my blog. As far as I go, this weekend my son is finally coming home for a 3 week vacation with his grandparents and I miss him like mad. I cannot WAIT to hug him and squeeze those little cheeks. And yes, I'm a squeezer. :) Writing wise, I'm hoping to add on at least another 40 pgs to my Dark Decadant Delights Anthology. I'm pretty close to wrapping things up and it's always nice when you can say "The End". Right? ;) And reading wise, well I just started in on a Dean Koontz novel.

I'm sure a lot of people figure romance writers as being strict romance readers as well. Far from it. I think what adds spice to your books is being open to ideas from any genre and incorporating 'fresh blood' as it were into our genre. That's where the term 'fresh writing' comes from. It's taken a tired, used plot (and sorry to offen anyone, but truly, there's no plot done today, tomorrow, or 20 years from now, that hasn't already been done a million times in a million different ways) what makes it unique is the individual twists and turns you take your reader on. 'Fresh writing'.

Which means to me, don't overlook the value of incorporating things from other genres into romance. ;)

So I'm off for now. Enjoy the weekend, y'all!

~~Viv K.

Some upcoming news...

2006-05-31T17:51:00.000-05:00

Well things are really starting to get a little crazy. That whirlwind that happens right before a pub house opens, or your house goes up for sale. That sorta deal. Same difference.

This is big big big. Lots of stuff going on at the last minute to hopefully ensure that cobblestone press will make a giant BANG in the world of epubs! :D Trust me, that's not a bad thing. I'm loving this, and truthfully it's a little exciting and different. I've never been involved with a pub house right before it opens that actually goes out there and PROMOTES the hell out of themselves. I've been pubbed with 4 different houses, one that was brand spanking new...and unfortunately is now defunct. So why in the world did I decide to sign up with another new one? Because there are GINORMOUS differences between them and what cobblestone has done.

Pub A, depended on the authors only to promote. They never sent out our books to review sites, that was completly dependent on us, they never had author/editor chat nights. Nothing. It was basically open it's doors and that was it. We were lucky if they put out one book a month. It was usually one book every 3 months.

Cobblestone on the other hand has 6 opening authors, and a supply of new releases to last us into the next 3 with new works being submitted each day.

Not only that but they've opened ad slots for us. The reviews of ALL the books have gotten nothing less than 4's! That's a big freakin' deal people! They are putting out good quality work and I'm just so proud of being a part of this house.

Now my news, I'm going to be involved with what feels like a million chats in the next few days:

Thursday (TOMORROW) all day chat at The Pink Posse. And that's more of an email chat. If you've never heard of them it's like emailing with questions as opposed to being in a chat room.

Friday again,...chat at Joyfully Reviewed. This is gonna be everyone, but I will definitely be there.

June 10th, chat at Romance Divas for the opening 6 authors and the editors of cobblestone. So if you're a writer especially, that's a chat to consider. Getting the chance to talk to some editors and ask questions that you've been wondering about.

I have so many others, but I can hardly keep track of them all myself. But I'll inform you when they come time. Also...

COBBLESTONE PRESS OPENS IT'S CYBER DOORS ON FRIDAY!!!! PLEASE GUYS, GO AND SUPPORT THEM! :D

~~Viv

Check it out...

2006-05-30T22:13:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite authors has a new novel coming out. Beautiful cover, eh? Read the details below. The blurbs even better than that nauhty little cover. ;) LOL

Check it out.
~~Viv

Enslave Me Sweetly by Gena Showalter

She has the heart of a killer, and the body of an angel. . .

Eden Black walks among humans, protecting them from the murderous evil of other-worlders who abduct and enslave. And though she appears to be human herself, Eden is an alien, a Raka, distinguished by her golden hair and skin, and gifted with the ominous ability to kill without remorse – and with total accuracy.

That is, until the fateful night she has one shot to eliminate her target, a human slaver – and misses."Failure" is not in Eden's vocabulary. Neither is "partner" – but that's what she is forcibly assigned after recovering from her disastrous mission.

A sexy, steely-nerved human agent, Lucius Adaire enjoys nothing more than sparking the fury – and rousing the desire – of the fiery female assassin to proud to admit defeat. Locked in an assignment they cannot afford to lose, Lucius and Eden find themselves bound in two high-stakes, heart-pounding games: the dangerous web of kill or be killed, and the erotic dance of seduction. . .

Showalter first demonstrated her skill at blending sizzling romance and nail-biting suspense set in a convincing futuristic society in Awaken Me Darkly (2005). She now continues the roller-coaster-like adventure in an equally entertaining tale that will please a wide cross section of readers. *Starred Review* Booklist.

Order your copy from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or BooksAMillion.For more information, visit Gena's website at http://www.genashowalter.com/ and her blog at http://www.genashowalter.blogspot.com/

Some great news!!! And some not so great news!!

2006-05-29T19:58:00.000-05:00

So what's the great news? hehehe...well, my novel Witch Hunt, co-authored with my good friend Leanne Karella, just received a 4 star rating from Romantic Times Magazine! How awesome is that?

And let me just break this down so that you understand the magnitude of this accomplishment. Fallen Angel Reviews is one of the better e-review sites and they average (from what I've been told) about 5000 hits a month. The Romance Studio has a subscription list of about 2k. RT Magazine has a subscription list of about 20k. (I'd read this a few months back, if the stats are inaccurate I apologize.)

Regardless, anyway you dice it the ratio is extreme. Now I have this wonderful review floating out there in real live PRINT..hehehe....saying the book rocks! :D I'm so pleased.

Now the not so good news.

Went and saw X-3 this weekend. The only word I can use to describe it is lazy. YES LAZY! I understand that you're not planning on revisiting the Marvel World. Fine I get that. But to kill off integral characters, turn others human...and expect me to just be okay with that...YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! End the series, fine...but damn! did you really have to kill characters that have never died in the comic book series??? Ugh, I'm so mad I'm shaking. Yeah, I'm a big comic book geek. And my friend warned me, don't go in there expecting things to be the way they are in the comics...so fine, I was expecting certain plot line twists...but to take the lazy way out and just kill off half the cast and turn others human...BLAH! I could have written it better.

Mad, mad, mad.

If you know nothing of the X-Men world you might actually like it. I can grudgingly say that there were certain things that did make me clap and cheer. Hugh Jackman is just friggin' hot! Wolverine never looked sexier, and for that I have to say, Thank You, HUGH, you've given me years worth of enjoyment. Gwrar!! ;) LOL. Halle Berry was a rockin' Storm, and Kelsy Grammer as Beast was Fantastic!!! He really nailed it. Whoda' thought? LOL. Perfect for the roll. The special effects were better than ever, but I'm sorry to say I'm just one of those lame-o hardcore fans who didn't much appreciate how they butchered those characters I know and love.

Otherwise, I had a great Memorial Day Weekend! LOL. How 'bout you? What'd you guys do?

~~Viv

Oh and stay tuned, in the coming days I'll be posting chat information and contest promo for my newest release, Fire and Ice, being dropped on the 2nd of June from Cobblestone-Press. :D

Well it's that time again...

2006-05-26T14:53:00.000-05:00

Promotion time!

That dreaded P word all writers have a serious love/hate relationship with. Don't promote, and your book won't get out there. But then you hear all these authors say, promotions really don't do much to up the sale of your book.

I dunno..the jury's out on that one. Seriously, I've been promoting my arse off where Witch Hunt's concerned. My sales have been way better with this book than with any other. Now if you're a naysayer than you could just attribute the better sales to publishing with a more established publishing house. NCP. It's been in the biz 10 years. They have a comfortable little following. So yeah, maybe that's it...or maybe these damn promotions are really working.

Who can say.

I know one thing however, I did get 1 reader to buy the book straight from an author chat I held. At least 1 that I know of. There could certainly have been more, but all in all. 1 is more than none, right?

To me promotions aren't something you can just expect to do in the short term and see a tremendous jump in sales with. No. You're either in it for the long haul, or buddy, you better not even bother.

Right now, Witch Hunt has been out with NCP over 2 months I believe. Leanne and I have hit that crucial point where our book is no longer on the home page. Now people actually have to go searching to find the darn thing. That's when the promotions start to pay off. I go to author chats, drop the name of my most current, or soon to be release, and then quickly plug Witch Hunt. Well if that one sounds good to you, then maybe this one will too.

Who would'a thunk that being a writer also meant you had to hone your salesmen skills? But that's exactly what you're doing. You're a product. At least your books are. And until you become Nora Roberts, or my favorite, Laurell K., then you're gonna have to keep promoting it like a streetwalker on a Saturday Night. (thanks Silma. I just thought that analogy was too perfect to pass up!)

The question is, are there things that work better than others? I didn't go to the RT convention this year in Daytona. Actually, I've never been to one, but that's besides the point. I digress.

I saw this picture of Shana Swendson. (And forgive me if I got the name wrong...I don't read her, but I do know of her) Anyhow, she has this series, Enchanted Inc. On the cover is this fairy, dressed in a knee length black cocktail dress, small little fairy wings on her back, and screw-me red stillettos on her feet.

The RT convention just happened to hold a fairy ball this year and the participants got to dress up in whatever costumes they pleased, as long as they had a fairy theme. Anyhow, she dressed up exactly as her heroine. Right down to those gorgeous, cherry red 5 inch heels. Perfect!

She was a walking advertisement for her book. Creative and fun. The gimmick was enough to earn her some quick sales on her books and I mean, fantastic!

Now, I'd need a cover before I could do anything like that..but still, it's the little things that really pay off.

So, now it's my turn. My novella Fire and Ice drops in 6 days! Eeek. A part of me doesn't feel ready, but another part knows I've already been promoting this sucker for weeks now. Partly because it's coming out through a new epress, so along with promoting my book I'm also promoting the Grand Opening of Cobble Stone Press. That's big news.

With Witch Hunt, our heroine was into some really unique, chunky...at times odd jewlerey. She was just a free spirit. So some of the prizes was giving away jewlerey that she'd wear. With Fire and Ice...my heroine is Princess of Frost, of Ice. Of all things shimmering, and blue.

I'll likely do another jewlerey gimmick, but I'll keep it themed. Frost blue necklace. Or if I'm lucky, maybe I could find a necklace with an icicle pendant. And don't laugh, I have seen them and they are absolutely gorgeous. The pendant is made of crystal and is just beautiful. Another thing I could do, is create a gift basket filled with things like coccoa, mugs, soft blankets...my hero is fire..so I could also have a basket with things like...oh jeez, I don't know...10 different flavors of the hottest hot sauce. Etc. Silly, but seriously. You wouldn't believe how quickly themed stuff just takes off. People love it.

Anyhow, I'm trying to think of some cool ideas. Anyone have any for me? Hypothetically let's say you won one of my gift baskets, what would you like to see inside them?

Happy Promotions to you all. And FYI...Fire and Ice drops June 2nd from www.cobblestone-press.com !

Thanks for hearing me ramble,
~~Viv

This quiz is freaky scary...but fun!

2006-05-24T02:58:00.000-05:00

Okay, for those of you who've seen this before it's probably pretty obvious. But I'll just say this, I nearly leaped from my chair when I finally saw him.

And once you do, it's soooooo obvious. LOL

Anyway, you guys tell me how long it took you to get it. It took me 2 seconds, but then again I had a more enlarged version, so I probably cheated. But that little bitty screen shot wasn't doing it for me. Good luck, ya'll. Tell me how long it took you! :)

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, your right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, your right half of the brain is developed normally.

If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein.

If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of these type of exercises to make that part of the brain stronger!!!

And, yes, the man is really there!!!
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Okay, start....

Here he is, the man in beans!

2006-05-24T02:53:00.000-05:00

What do you do when your favorite author jumps ship???

2006-05-23T20:24:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe not jump ship literally. More like switching to a different genre. How do you take it?

Let me give you an example. Most of you know I'm a paranormal junkie. I make no bones about it, and that's the genre I'll likely love the most 'til the day I die. BUT...

Like most readers of romance I started out filching books from my grandmother's book chest and she's definitely an HQN/Historical woman only. So I was all about those Scottish Lairds and Rebel Vikings with hearts of gold. Being that I was a hardcore historical reader at the time one of my favorite authors was Kinley McGregor. Loved her! Loved Born in Sin. Loved her style. Just flat out loved it.

So imagine my surprise when I suddenly find out she's writing a second set of books with a completely different penname. I go to the store, look her up and then I almost have a heart attack. What is this vampire stuff? Werewolves? OMG!!! Vampires, werewolves, and shapeshifters oh my...

Those were always some of my favorite movies. I loved the Anne Rice books, though I never thought of them as romance. But here now is a perfect melding of both things I love the most. Romance and paranormal. So cool!

So in this instance, I loved it.

However...that is not always the case. I love Mercedes Lackey. And for those of you in the know she's a hardcore fantasy/sci-fi author. She's not what you could really call a romance author. Sure she's got the couple in her books, sometimes a chaste kiss here or there. But it doesn't get much more steamy than that. Although I've not read all her books and the woman is lucrative.

At least the books I've read were never what you could call romance by any stretch of the imagination. Which is fine by me. When I'm in the mood for a fantasy or sci-fi I rarely stray farther than Mercedes, Anne Mc., Piers...etc..

Point is, when you grab a book by one of the authors you've come to expect a certain style of writing and work and it's awesome. But then they go and try something different and more power to them, I'm a firm believer that you should never box yourself in, however, some are definitely better at it than others. Piers Anthony created a 2 books erotica series. Pornucopia anybody? LOL....thing is, it worked. It was written within the bounds of the genre and it flat out worked. No it wasn't as much romance as I'd have liked, but it worked.

However the same can not be said for Mercedes foray into romance. And let me just say, the books ROCKED!! Don't know if you know that she also writes for Luna, a HQN imprint. It's supposed to be 50/50 fantasy-romance. Thing is, it still felt like mostly fantasy to me. I just didn't get the romance I wanted and because of that I felt disgruntled, unsatisfied and I had to quickly go get my fix some other way.

That's just one example. How do you guys personally feel about it? It is good or bad? And do you do it yourselves?

~~Viv

And oh yeah, boo hoo hoo..SPURS LOST! Darn you Mavs. :'(

BIG EDIT: THANK YOU NONNY FOR POINTING SOMETHING OUT. I NEVER REALIZED THAT LUNA IS NOT A 50/50 ROMANCE-FANTASY. IT'S MOSTLY FANTASY WITH ROMANCE BEING THE SUBPLOT. FOR SOME REASON I CONFUSED TOR IMPRINT WITH LUNA. SO I AMMEND THIS STATEMENT AND KNOWING WHAT I KNOW NOW I THINK I WOULD HAVE LIKED THE MERCEDES LACKEY BOOK WAY WAY WAY BETTER. LOL...

STILL, I KNOW THERE'S OTHER CASES OUT THERE WHERE THAT WOULD APPLY. I KNOW OF A FEW, BUT I CAN'T THINK OF ANY OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. FORGETTING THE WHOLE MERCEDES LACKEY THING, HOW DO YOU GUYS TAKE IT WHEN AN AUTHOR YOU KNOW AND LOVE DECIDES TO SWITCH? IS IT ALWAYS A GOOD THING, DOES IT BOTHER YOU? OR DO YOU JUST GO WITH THE FLOW AND HOPE FOR THE BEST?

THERE, AND FROM NOW ON VIV REALLY NEEDS TO START DOING HER RESEARCH. LOL. DUH!

It's all the little things...

2006-05-20T12:30:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just don't know what to blog about, but you find that you want to anyway. LOL. Or is that just me? Probably, I'm pretty goofy that way. :D

So I figured that because I don't have one big set thing to cover, I'd just let you know about all the little things going on with me. One, I have a new book coming out, well...novella actually, I mean it is only 44 pgs, lol..hardly book length. But still. It's Fire and Ice, which means a second thing doesn't it??? COBBLESTONE PRESS is getting ready to launch! Yay, us.

Yeah, you like how I take credit for that company Sable and Deanna sweat blood and tears over. Hehehehe...still I'm an author on their rooster so until they tell me otherwise I'll continue to take credit and say us. :p

I'm so excited about Cobblestone, the reviews not only on the books, but on the company have been exciting. I'm not just saying this because they're my publishing house, but because I've known Sable for a long time and learning who and what Deanna is to the company, those two women are dedicated and determined. The marketing plan they've got going is amazing. They want to be big and I don't doubt that with the kind of enthusiasm they express in all their dealings that they'll be around for a good long while.

Lots of author chats coming up here soon for Cobblestone. If you guys haven't yet seen it, go check out www.cobblestone-press.com The covers are beautiful, the blurbs fun and all the writers so personable. ;)

In other news, I'm so excited how things are progressing for Leanne and my book, Witch Hunt. We're still getting great reviews, AND not just that, but we're rated #21 out of a potential 25 highest rated books at Fictionwise. How exciting! Yeah, we've been marketing the heck out of the book and I'm beginning to see how that really does payoff. Is it terrible of me to admit I've never made the lists on Fictionwise before? LOL...now to skip 22-25 completely and land ourselves at 21 makes me hopeful that we could eventually break into the top 10. How nice would that be?

And finally...

MY SPURS WON!!! WE'RE COMING BACK HOME FOR FINAL GAME 7 TO SAN ANTONIO! TAKE THAT DALLAS!

And now that I've regained my composure...*vbg* have a wonderful weekend ya'll. :)

Much love,
~~Viv

When I'm wrong, I'm wrong...

2006-05-19T14:34:00.000-05:00

And this time, it's such a relief! So I talked to my agent this morning. She was utterly unflappable about how much she loves my book, thinks it will sell and for me not to start trying to rearrange and rewrite the thing.

Thing is, and I agree (don't know why I wasn't smart enough to think of this on my own) it's a case of too many cooks stirring the pot. (and let's overlook the poorly written phrase there, I should warn you all now, I'm terrible when it comes to english phrases, and being that english is not my first language, ya'll can just forgive me *grin*)

If I went in there now and tried to incorporate all the things that each editor said was wrong with it, I'd wind up creating a lackluster piece of fiction that's lost all soul. Jessica used to be a Berkley editor, and she said that the biggest part of selling a ms is luck. Yes, skill has a lot to do with it, but luck is the biggest factor. It sounds corny, trite, whatever, but editors are people too. And somedays they're just not having good days. I could do everything right, but there already pissy about the fax machine spitting out ink, dog barking all night long and keeping them awake, that big fight with hubby/wife etc...and woe to any author whose book gets on their desk that day. That's just the way it is.

Which brings to mind a story a published friend of mine told me about. She'd sent her book out to several people, all of them rejected it, everyone single one of those 7 or 8 editors. Then about 6 months later she switched agents, sent the very same ms out again to many of the very same editors and wound up having a bidding war over it. So it really is subjective and I need to stop taking this so personally.

I can't begin to describe how relieved I feel. I was willing to do anything, rewrite the entire damn thing if that's what it took to get me that sale, but as far as Jessica is concerned that's probably not in my best interest right now. I had no idea, but my book is still making the rounds out there with quite a few other editors and there's still hope. The one thing she did give me advice on though is to keep in mind what all the rejections have said as I work to complete my sequel.

She feels that even if the first book doesn't sell, the second very easily could. The third, fourth, whatever. But that once I do finally make that sale (and she's of the mind that I absolutely will someday) that then we can go back to the first book and make whatever necessary changes it requires, if and when the time comes.

Sigh...

So there you have it. Basically I just have to move on. There's nothing more I can do for this first book. It's done. For better or worse, it's out there, it's been read and it's done. Now I just have to finish my second one and who knows, maybe that will be the one that makes it. Or, (and let me dream a little here) maybe IT WILL be this one. I just can't know for certain right now and making myself sick over all these rejections isn't helping my sequel any.

So there you have it guys. I'm done with Death 1. I won't talk about it anymore, I'm moving on. But thanks everyone for your kind words and encouragement.

From now on you'll only get to hear me whine and moan about Death and the Crimson Night. LOL...vamps, boogie men, and serial killers galore. Hehehehe...

Adios,
~~Viv

What makes a book, a good book?

2006-05-17T15:06:00.000-05:00

That's the ultimate question isn't it? I mean wouldn't life be so much easier as a writer if we just knew that. Right?

Thing is, what makes a good book to one person doesn't necessarily make a good book to another person. So in the end this is a totally subjective field and we just have to hope that someone gets us.

Take for instance my favorite show on T.V., Grey's Anatomy. The finale was an explosive mix of death, love, hard lessons, and betrayal. Some people loved it. Ate it all up. Others, like me, felt let down and miserable. This has been one of the best shows bar none on television. It's witty, it's smart, sharp, and sweet. It's real life and it's wonderful. Gritty drama at it's best. And as much as I loved it, I found myself hating it equally as much. Will I stick around for next season, absolutely. But is my devotion to the drama waning? Oh yeah.

And to me, that's what books are. You'll find this author who for years is fabulous. You don't even read the blurbs anymore, all you need is to see the embossed lettering on the jacket and boom, into your shopping cart it goes and you just know you'll love it. But what happens when the day comes that suddenly you're not loving it so much anymore?

Now I'm certainly not comparing myself to that wonderful show, or even a fabulous author, but in a way I find some similiarties between myself and those analogies. I wrote this book that I just loved. Felt in my bones had a ton of potential and now I'm to the point that I'm hating my book. The negative responses to the book has aggravated my condition for sure.

I've been wracking my brain lately. Why isn't my book selling. Why am I receiving soooo many rejections? I think when I took a step back and looked at my rejections in a positive light instead of in that depressing "oh man, rejected again", angle I realized something. They're all saying the same thing.

True, likes and dislikes are totally subjective, but when several professionals are all saying that the idea rocks but that the execution didn't so much, well then I think that's my answer. And I'm excited!

(Silly I know...)

But! now I know where to fix this. Or at least give it my damndest effort. Thing is, I wrote this book about year ago. With the exception of some edits I'd made recently the rest was written a bit ago and maybe that's the problem. Maybe I've grown as a writer A LOT since then. Maybe, my idea has merit and maybe just maybe, if I can smooth out and polish the narrative and voice of the piece, then maybe some of those editors might just see the world I see. Come to know and love these guys the way I do. Ya know?

Still, that's a daunting task. I find that I work better starting a book from scratch then I do trying to edit something. But I've been away from Death long enough that hopefully I can see it through new eyes and spot what these other editors are spotting. So let's hope, because as far as Death goes, I feel like it's on it's last leg, something has gotta give and I think that something is me.

Friday my agent and I have a phone call session planned, it's go time. I'm serious about this book, this world, and this series. I'm not too proud to admit that maybe I could have done it better, to me the worst thing would be to sit back on this thing and say "oh well"... I'm a fighter, always have been. I want a chance to prove my worth.

So keep your fingers crossed for me. I'm going to go into hibernation for a few weeks, hopefully when I resurface my luck will have changed.

~~Viv

(Sorry for the rambling post, trying to write this while my husband trys to snag my attention the entire time makes it hard to focus..lol)

Happy Mother's Day

2006-05-12T12:12:00.000-05:00

Hey all you ladies and gents out there. This weekend is mother's day. I hope you all remember your mothers..or if you are one that you'll have a wonderful day.

I'm so excited. My "son" (and I put his name in quotation marks because he's only 3, so you can tell who's really the mastermind behind this plan..lol) has decided that he's going to take me to a Spurs playoff game, out to eat at the Melting Pot (this fantastic fondue restaurant, the chocolate is to die for ;) ) and then to go buy me a Manu Ginobli jersey. Yeah, I'm really sure my son came up with that plan, right? LOL...but actually it's adorable that my hubby put so much thought into it. And heck, I do love going to live sports events. So....*shrug* that's me.

For my mother I plan to get her a flower arrangement. It seems so impersonal, but considering we live thousands of miles apart, and I forgot to send my care package *oops..hehhehe*, then flowers it's gonna have to be. LOL...

What plans do you guys have?

~~Viv

Help

2006-05-11T11:37:00.000-05:00

First off let me say thanks to everyone who left me a message on my prior entry. I'm finally starting to feel much much better. None too soon, it's HOT here in Texas and I'm going to the pool today. My boy bought himself some pool shoes, a spiderman boogie board, and a finding nemo swim toy. LOL...he looks halarious with his little googles, inflatable muscles, and shoes.

We love pool time. Summer is the best, the scents, the warmth, the smell of chlorine. Seriously, if I smell chlorine or sunscreen that's summer to me. That's what I associate with fun. Weird I know. I took a quiz several years ago...what did people think of when they think of summer. For some it was a fresh cut lawn, for others BBQ, for me...the pool.

And I said that to say this...Summer is an intoxicant for me. I love it. I find it soooo hard to stay in the house. To focus, or concentrate on anything but tanning, swimming...and one of the things to suffer has been my writing.

I haven't written almost anything and it's going on three weeks now. I'm getting nervous about it, but my desire to actually sit down and do something is not happening. I can't concentrate. I just stare at the screen and sigh. I've got all these great stories coming to me. One especially that I have a really good feeling about. Unfortunately I've only been able to write a 3 pg opener for it and nothing more. I have a novella that's about 3/4 completed and I need to get it done.

This is so frustrating. Does anybody else ever suffer from this lacsadasical lethargy? Ugh...and if you do, how do you overcome it? Usually I suffer a form of lazyitus after finishing a novel, but seriously...3 weeks. That's a little long even for me.

Need some tips on how to get back on that bandwagon.

~~Viv

Jeez, have I really been away from you guys this long???

2006-05-09T12:58:00.000-05:00

Amazing! Sorry guys. Life's been hectic, crazy...and driving me nuts. LOL.

I've got a nasty flu like thing, I just can't shake. Finally decided, I'm going to the docs. Come hell or high water, I can't keep procrastinating because it's summer time and I'm tired of being sick. LOL..*cough cough*

So I was out of town this week. Went to Mexico. Acuna to be exact. Sooo much fun. The shopping is incredible there, and though I sniffled my whole way through the stores and plaza's, you all would have been proud of me. I did not let my sick spirit daunt the shopaholic within. ;)

I saw these incredible leather jackets for 35 dollars. Real leather! I'm sorry but that's a bargain any way you slice it. hehehe..of course I had to get one. *vbg* I tell you, going to Mexico is like walking through a time warp. It's so incredibly different. The border is just this invisible line, but seriously you KNOW when you've stepped through it. It's like walking through the twilight zone. Suddenly all the streets are cobbled, the homes are these bright pink, yellow, blue colors. People are screaming to you in Spanish (thank God I speak it, otherwise it would have been way too overwhelming.) But truly, a wonderful city. People are so kind, just can't praise it enough.

When I got home late last night, I also had one other small bit of exciting news waiting for me. I can't say who yet, because there's a good possibility it might not happen for me and it's gonna take a couple more weeks yet before I find out definitively one way or another (like the build up I have going here..lol) but I found out death has made it past the first round of editors at a prestigious NY pub and that the inital editor loved it. Now it's going on to the senior editor. So keep your fingers crossed for me that I'll have even better news to share soon.

So that's it for me, catching you all up. I can't believe I didn't write an entry for 9 days. That lets you know right there what kind of week it's really been. LOL.

~~Viv

Saying hi

2006-05-01T22:01:00.000-05:00

I'm feeling really under the weather. Those of you who know me, know I've been a bit absent from pretty much everything.

Sorry guys, *sniff sniff*...hopefully I'll be feeling more myself this week. Blah..I hate summer colds.

Anyhow, have nothing really to write about, no news about anything at the moment...just wanted to say, hi..I'm still alive. LOL.

Now I think I'm gonna go make me some peppermint tea, hopefully that'll help settle my upset tummy.

~~Viv

Some good reviews rolling in...

2006-04-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

Well, I was wondering how long it would take me before I actually missed a day to post. 72 entries later, I finally did. LOL...but honestly, I wasn't willing to keep subjecting you guys to more boring drivel just to get in a post.

Today however, I've got a mini bit of news and I wanted to share. :D

The reviews are pouring in and I couldn't be happier. I got not one, but 2 reviews today.

A recommended read from FAR for Witch Hunt:

http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2006/Apr...n-WitchHunt.htm

I loved this book. The depth of emotion that these characters go through touched me. Lina has been through so much heartbreak from people’s constant judgment. Trent has been equally scarred from a traumatic past. Trent’s daughter Jess is sweet, smart, and curious. I loved the mystical aspects of the story. Granna is a hoot. The romance between Lina and Trent engrossed me with its depth, warmth, and complexity. It touched me so much that I cried. Thank you Leanne Karella & Vivienne King for this truly wonderful book. I truly hope you continue writing.

Reviewed by: Gretchen

And a 5 Angel Review, my first one for my upcoming cobblestone press release "Fire and Ice"! I'm so thrilled.

Vivienne King has created a story centered on two extremely different elements represented by two unique characters. Lumina might command ice but she has a passionate side that will rival the fire that runs in Pyroth’s veins. With a dominant alpha side, Pyroth is intoxicating and will leave readers enflamed just like he does Lumina. This reader is wondering if maybe there is another story out there waiting to be told for one of the additional elements, wind and water, found in this story. With an intriguing plot mixed with erotic passion, Fire and Ice is definitely a hot little read that this reader found enjoyable. 5 Angels!

Reviewed by: Shayley

http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2006/Apr...-FireandIce.htm

Also my mighty Titans drafted Vince Young. Not the strongest QB out of the gates, but I see this man becoming another great in a few years time. I couldn't be happier.

Lots of great news for me today. Hopefully soon I'll learn if my short story got accepted into the NCP anthology and if Jessica likes my contemp erotica as much as I do. :) But for now that's it.

Have a great weekend!
~~Viv

Charmed...

2006-04-27T18:20:00.000-05:00

No, not the show, me. Well...me today anyway. LOL. I don't usually have what you could call fantastic luck. I tend to be sorta mediocre in the luck dept, it comes when it comes. But today everything was just so perfect.

I took my son out while my husband slept to do a few chores. Initially I'd only planned to stop and pick up some shoes my husband had turned in yesterday for an inspection he had at work. But then I decided, eh..let's just do all the chores that need getting done. I've got a couple of hours. First I went to get an oil change. Now, here in San Antonio, everything's crowded everywhere, all the time. There's no such thing as a quiet hour.

It can get a little less hectic but I still have to wait a good 2 hours to get my oil changed usually. And that's on a good day.

Welllll...long story short, I walk in there. The guy says he's not taking anyone else for the day, they're all slotted up. Okay..welp, I start to turn around and then somebody from the back room walks out and says that there were about 3 or 4 cancellations and if I was willing to wait they'd do mine first. Heck yeah!!!

I waited a total of 20 minutes and my oil change was done! BOOM! (Love it)

Then I go to the grocery store, figuring I need to do a little grocery shopping. Usually not a good idea at 2pm. That's when the retiree's come out of the woodwork to do their thing. Hehehehe, well...it was a veritable ghost town in there. I had a list and I was in and out in less than an hour. Not to mention that there were sales galore. I bought roughly 150 dollars worth of groceries for 88! WOW...my day just keeps getting better and better.

I go home, I'm totally on cloud nine by this point. I just know there's gonna be more great things waiting for me when I get home. And sure enough, I check the mail and I got a check waiting for me from one of my publishers. A nice little check if I do say so myself. :p

The husband and I got along awesomely today. My son acted more like a cute, adorable little tyke than the raging whirlwind he usually is. And now I'm getting ready to watch an episode of Alias I taped the other night, son's already asleep and I'm one happy woman. :D

Oh and I forgot to mention...I used to write under the penname of Clara Verone. Had to dump it for reasons of my own, but anyhow just out of curiosity I typed in the name of my last book under that name and got a pleasant surprise. Dream Weaver by Clara Verone just got a 5 Angel rating for Fallen Angel Reviews. LOL... I'm rather proud of the review myself, here's the link if you all want to read it. :) http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2006/March/Gretchen-DreamWeaver.htm

Some days are just charmed that way. Got absolutely no writing done, but I did knock out several crits that were due. I had a backlist that would make most of you wince. LOL...Sigh...good day.

Even checked out this one blog that piqued my interest. You guys go check it out... ;)www.tawnytaylor.blogspot.com

Been tagged..

2006-04-26T12:45:00.001-05:00

:) So I'm supposed to tell you all 6 things about me you may not know.

1. I married my high school sweetheart.

2. I was prom queen. Really, this is harder than it looks..lol, so cut me some slack for this minor claim to fame. :p

3. You all may know I'm an author of paranormal, but I'm sure most of you aren't aware that I'm also penning a Christian historical at this time.

4. I've seen and said hi to a few celebrities in my life. John Mayer, passed him on the street in Denver, CO. Said hi and blushed so bad I ran away. The man is adorable. Shook President Clinton's hand outside of my church while he was still Commander and Chief. And spotted Laurence Fishbourne while in the Venetian at Las Vegas. Whew...guy has a larger than life persona. Cool guy.

5. I went to college for 2 years...dropped out about halfway due to issues beyond my control, but I was studying to become a Nurse. Now I'm going back to college in the Fall to become an English teacher. LOL.

6. I LOVE PRINCE! And not the prince of today, the prince of the 80's. Purple rain. When doves cry. Little red corvette. Raspberry Beret...sigh, he was and still is one of my favorites. I'm mostly a metal head, but get me some Commadores or Prince and I'll go Disco Diva on you in a second. ;)

LOL...oh jeez. More than you guys wanted to know. So okay...now here's a site I found through my friend tawny taylor www.tawnytaylor.blogspot.com and it's called Evil Editor. The guy is super informative, check him out. Hearing information from the inside guys is awesome! http://evileditor.blogspot.com/

Hope you all have a wonderful day y'all. I'm going to eat me some Greek for dinner later with a great big group of family and friends. Ought to be fun!

~~Viv

EDIT: Oh, and I can't believe I forget to tell you all! Spurs won!!! Woo hoo, had to go into overtime, but a beautiful 3 pointer at the buzzer tied the game and sent it into overtime where we commenced to spank them. ;) LOL. (and don't you love how fans take credit for a win? we...hehehe, oddly enough they never take credit for a loss. go figure.) *vbg*

Boring

2006-04-25T14:35:00.000-05:00

Today has been a fairly predictable day. I'm still winding down from finishing that novella, so I haven't been writing a thing and I'm loving that. I really like when I can vegg and not feel guilty about it.

Tonight though I'm going to a playoff game. San Antonio Spurs vs the Kings. Woo hoo! I'm hoping that we'll spank them again, unfortunately it seems to be my luck that when I buy a ticket for a game they usually wind up losing. LOL. Oh well, I'm pretty sure the Spurs will be in final contention again..so I'm not sweatin' it. I'm just going to have fun and relax.

Don't really have much to blog about today, so I'm gonna direct y'all over to my good friends blog. She's a pretty fun blogger. Hope everyone has a great night.

~~Viv

http://shellistevens.blogspot.com/

Promotion! It's the thing to do...

2006-04-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

So today I decided to do a bit of an insightful post rather than another stream of consciousness ramble.

Here's the deal, in the past few days I've gotten a lot of people asking me how to promote, when to do it...and what to do. I'm no expert, trust me..I'm just treading these waters myself. But I have learned a little and I don't mind sharing.

IMHO it's never too early to start promoting yourself. Even if you're not pubbed. Create newsletters, get interest generated in your work...would make things so much easier to already have an established audience.

One of my favorite authors ever, Marjorie M. Liu, created a great fan base before she ever got anything published. She was a fanfic writer before she actually started doing her own thing, and IMHO I have to believe that helped her become a USA Today bestseller straight out of the gates. (I believe it's USA, forgive me if I'm wrong.)

Anyway, point is...you're not as boring as you think. You're a writer. You can be anything you want. Send out newsletters and have character chats. Talk up your progress..whatever. Create an interesting product and people will come.

Now, once you do have something pubbed. The best time to start is probably 2 months to a month before release. Send out those ARCS right away for review. (And by ARCS I mean the edited, clean version of your story the pub sends you. An advance copy if you will.) If you don't get them that early, there's other things you can do.

Join as many chatter writer loops as you can. Make yourself known. They usually have days where you can talk up your book as much as you want. Post excerpts of your work.

Next thing, set up chats. You may think you wouldn't have anyone show up, but that's usually not true. Promote the heck out of your event everywhere you can. IE: Blog. Personal Website. Romance Junkies. The Romance Studio. Romance Divas. RWC. (and there's so many more I couldn't list them all)There are those individuals who aren't writers but just die hard readers and they love going to chats, discovering new authors and...

this is a biggie if you're hosting a chat...

winning prizes! I'm a firm believer that those go a long way toward a successful chat. And it doesn't have to be anything big. I've seen it be something as big as a gift basket filled with 100$'s worth of goodies, to 2 or 3 free downloads of your book.

Go to a chat prepared. That's very important. If you don't have a game plan the chat could hit a plataeu and you've got to be able to steer it back towards your writing, your books...etc. Make it fun. This is how I handled mine.

I interspersed several excerpts with prizes. We had 5 gifts. 2 big ones, the other three free downloads of our book. So when the excerpt section started to lull, we'd say "time for another drawing" and the intensity picked right back up again. :)

They can be an awful lot of fun if you let them. Also when you go to a chat, you don't have to do this necessarily, but most people give out gift certificats to Borders or Waldenbooks. Guess what guys, your pub houses usually sell gift certificates too. How better to steer a customer back to your house and your book than by giving them a gift certificate only redeemable at ... You don't have to. But hey, why not, right?

Best times to promote your book is 2 weeks prior and 2 weeks after. 2 weeks after you'll usually start to see sales slack a little. Generate interest again by hosting another chat, or by posting excerpts on reader chatter loops.

If you actually have the money to do a lot of promoting. Buy ad space. That could go a long way towards helping your sales. For instance I've purchased space at The Romance Studio, RT magazine, and Romance Divas.

Another thing I've heard that really works well are creating key chains, t-shirts, coffee mugs that sport your bookcover on it. Pens are great. Better bang for your buck. And those are so fun to give away. You can take them into Borders, ask them if you can leave a few, and there you go..you've promo'd without having to talk to anyone. People love FREE stuff. Especially bookmarks, pens, keychains. Those are fun and go fast.

Do some of them, all of them. But I can almost guarentee that you're sure to sell to 1 new person who would never have heard of you otherwise.

Good luck with the promotions guys. Wishing you all much success in your individual careers. And hey, if you're reading this and you're not a writer...then please, check out my website www.vivienneking.com I've got blurbs of my books posted up there and who knows...you might find something you like. :D

Much Love,
~~Viv

If anyone can think of anything else they like to do, please share. I'm always willing to learn more fun stuff.

Can someone take the grit from my eyes?

2006-04-23T14:48:00.000-05:00

I did it. I finished my almost 150 pg novella. I can't describe it. Sometimes there's books that just come together. The stars align, the fates smile down on me, and my muse actually sticks around and makes herself useful.

That's how this baby was for me. At least in the beginning. The last 20 pages were sheer hell. LOL. Not because I didn't have a clue what to do or say, but I just hit this brickwall. This sorta "I'm so tired, I'm feeling lazy..." kind of brickwall. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

All in all, that's not bad. I usually hit that brickwall in every ms I've written. It's a given and I've come to expect it. The trick I've learned is to plow my way through those days. I may take a day or two or three off, but anything more than 3 and I start getting pissed at myself and that's when the magic happens. Anger translates into good writing days for me. LOL...don't ask me why, I honestly have no clue.

If I may compare writing to a running analogy this is how it most often feels for me. Most days I'm jogging, it's slow going but it's progress and I can't get mad at myself for that. Then there are those days when I'm so lazy and tired that the thought of running, or writing even one word makes me cringe and I opt not to. Which means I start feeling sluggish, sleepy all the time and like I've got no energy. But each day that passes with inactivity starts to get me cranky. All I keep thinking about is that instead of progressing a half step forward, I'm going back a whole step, which means starting over is gonna be all the harder for me. I'm gonna be rusty and really feel those days off. When 3 days pass, I feel anxious. It's no longer about not doing it, now it's either do it or I'm never gonna be able to get back on this wagon again and all that prior work will have been for nothing. When I do finally get back to "running", I'm so mad it's pretty much a marathon session of making up for past deeds.

That's how last night was for me. I started working on my novella at 11 and didn't stop til 5 in the morning. I wouldn't recommend it, it tends to make you miserable the next morning. LOL. But in a way, there's a satisfaction from knowing it's really done.

For better or worse it's been sent to my agent and for the time being, my job is done. I really hope she likes this one. I wasn't too certain when I sent her the last novella, but this one felt special. A little magical for me. At least while I was writing it. hehehe...it's the oddest thing, but when I type the end, I always somehow feel like "sheesh, it could have been better. I should have done this instead of that"..and oh man, is that rough.

I believe I'm like most writers. I know there're those who really like everything they do and more power to them, I wish I could. But to me, doubting your work just a little is actually not a bad thing. I know laugh and say.."What are you talking about, Viv? That's the most inane thing I've ever heard."

But no seriously, hear me out. I think doubting your work is what makes you become a progressively better writer. I strive to learn from each book. And though I think my writing has improved by leaps and bounds from when I first started, I know that my journey will never end. I completely believe that you can and should learn from each ms and take those lessons and apply them to the next book.

Or am I just completely insane? I'm a little tired, so this entry may not make much sense, but it was something I've thought about a lot lately.

Anyhow, so here's my to-do list:

Crit a paranormal ST for a friend of mine.

Finish my portion of the DDD. (I'm about 1/4 of the way through my 120 pg entry. So not too shabby)

Start and finish my Rune Novella for Cobblestone.

Finish my sequel to Death.

Boy has that list been pared down a lot. No new projects for me until I get all four of those done. Although I have a new book idea beating me over the brow. A bit different from my normal fare...it's a fantasy spin off in a very urban setting. But it's more a Kim Harrison, Laurell K. type work than a straight romance. It will have romantic elements but probably won't be categorized an exclusive romance. I'm excited. I think it'll be fun.

So that's me. Big entry. LOL...you can tell I'm between stories, I tend to ramble more when I am.

Life moves on, and so do I...

2006-04-22T17:56:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. Ironically enough the rejection inspired me to get my dratted novella done last night, and I did! Tonight after the family goes to bed all I have to do is some final edits and then I'm gonna send it off.

I'm pretty hopeful about this story. It's set in Jamaica, features a gorgeous hunk of a hero who closely resembles Tiki Barber, and a Angelina Jolie look alike, except a little meatier. Anyhow, it's at this hedonistic resort where things get hot and heavy and fast. :D I liked the way it turned out and I'm really hopeful that Jessica will too.

So that's me. I've decided that it doesn't matter how many rejections I get, I'm gonna inundate them with mss until they find something of value. LOL.

Feeling good and positive today. I also dropped a pound last night! Big woo hoo! ;) 1 down, 19 to go.

~~Viv

Got some news..finally

2006-04-21T20:15:00.000-05:00

Welp I was rejected by two houses today. :( One of whom I'd really hoped to pub with. On the one hand I'm really bummed. I mean who wouldn't be? But on the other I still believe it's good to know and not be kept in the dark about what's going on.

I know I mentioned the other day (in joking) that I wouldn't care if all 8 houses rejected me by this point because I just wanted to know. But I didn't mean it! lol... Now, I'm thinking that might have been a dumb comment to make. Sigh.

I'm a little depressed, especially seeing not one, but both say they didn't find my writing compelling. :(

Okay, I still have my book out there with 6 more houses. But jeez. Not a good way to start my querying process. I know everyone who goes through NY usually suffers through rejections. But I can't help but feel a little scared that they all may end up coming back rejected.

And the doubting demon is really pounding me over the head right now. If those 2 houses didn't like it...what in the world would make me think the other ones would?

On a sidenote both rejection slips are dated the 10th of April and it took til today for me to get them. A whole 10 days later...should I expect another 2 rejections on the 30th?

By this point, I'm afraid anything's possible.

Sorry for the sad post. Rejections no matter who you are, just suck the life right out of you. :(

~~Viv

Wow you guys...

2006-04-20T11:21:00.000-05:00

Last night's chat went wonderful! So many people turned out, I was just amazed. We had a great time, and though I was 30 minutes late to my own chat..lol...(real life..grrr) I was still there for an hour and a half! It went so much better than I expected it would.

This was my first time chatting and I want all of you to know you made the experience really fun and I know now I'm definitely gonna have to schedule those more often! LOL.

SO I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who came out. (If I forget you, please forgive me..I'm just writing down names from the top of my head.) Without any particular order:

CC, Silma, Shelli, Lori, Sheri, Sable, Deanna, Mia, Jessica, and oh jeez, so many others I can't remember everyone. But you girls rock! I hope those of you who won gifts enjoy them, we had a great time giving them away. :D

Oh, and I wanted to address something signed on my guestbook. Namely that this person believes she's not interesting enough to set up a chat and that she doesn't know if she'd be able to draw chatters.

Let me give you this piece of advice. One..this was my first chat ever. I've recently switched pennames, so I had to start from scratch gathering a fan base. I'm definitely not well known, but all you've got to do is promote it! That's a biggie, big! If you don't promote, who'll know to come?

I started 3 days before my chat and told all my chatter loops when, where, and how. Then I wrote a reminder each day after. We had at least 25 people come out, if not more...that's pretty good considering I'm no Nora Roberts or Laurell K. Hamilton. LOL

And I can say this, prizes go a long way. Readers really respond to that. It doesn't have to be more than a few downloads of your book. For instance Leanne and I gave away 3 free book downloads, a 20$ gift certificate from our publishing house--NCP--and the big prize, a necklace/earring set that our heroine would surely wear if she existed. LOL.

Then be prepared to put up a few excerpts of your book, and if time permits (as it did with mine last night) you can even put up excerpts from some of your other books. I got to promote the heck out of my Fire and Ice, cobblestone book and it's not even due to be released until Jun 2nd. So yeah, have all that stuff lined up.

Anyone can host a sucessful chat if you just come prepared. :D

Well okay, that's it for me. I've got to get back to writing. Muse has come back and I've gotten 7 pages done. I'm at the last scene..so about 12ish more pages until I'm done! Woot! Good day.

~~Viv

Just a short note

2006-04-19T13:09:00.000-05:00

Today's the chat. Looking like I might be a little late to my own chat. :( But, it was coauthored with my dear friend Leanne and she will be there. I'll show up hopefully not to soon after, so please, stop by and say hi.

Remember it's 8 Central, 9 Eastern over at the www.theromancestudio.com chat room.

Got no writing done last night. Actually for the past 3 nights, so I'm grumpy about that.

Okay, I'm off very busy day ahead of me and if I can finish early enough then I might be on time to my own chat. Sigh...

~~Viv

Tis crunch time peeps...come help me out

2006-04-18T13:24:00.000-05:00

Alrighty then. Here's the info. Please come y'all. Yes, I've resorted to begging. I'm shameless and I'll admit it. This is the first time I've ever actually done any promo'ing...I'm sorta trying to see if it really helps up your sales at all. We shall see.

So here's the info and a few reviews.

Tomorrow at www.theromancestudio.com in their chat room at 9pm Eastern, should be 8 Central I believe, but if you know different please correct me. Anywho, I'm having a chat with my pal Leanne Karella about our novel Witch Hunt. We're giving away some great prizes. An earring and necklace set (go to Leanne's website if you want to see what it looks like www.leannekarella.com and click on contest) I'm also giving away a $20 gift certificate for NCP books! I mean how much more generous can I be? *cheeky grin* Why, I'm not even asking you to use that 20 to buy my book (subliminal message: Please. Pretty pretty please. Buy me, buy me, buy me..you know you wanna) I mean jeez, you could buy Jodici Belle's book, or heck even a Michelle M. Pillow paranormal (buy me, buy me, buy me).

So umm...whaddaya say? Stop on by. Would love to see you all there. :)

Oh yeah, and here's a new review I found this week...

5 hearts from Love Romances:

These two talented authors give the reader not only a very sensual read but also a very spiritual one. Trent has to come to grips that the world of the spirit is indeed very real and can only enhance his life. This is a story that will touch all emotions and this reviewer confesses to shedding a tear near its ending.

~Valerie

http://www.loveromances.com/witchhunt_valerie.html

See she likes me. You might too. ;)

~~Viv

Mopey, rhymeless rant ahead...

2006-04-17T14:31:00.000-05:00

Okay, don't read further if you don't want to be sucked into my woe is me moment here.

I'm not feeling good today. :( Ate way too much chocolate, seriously. I'm sick to my stomach, I'm exhausted...all that damn chocolate kept me hopped up 'til 3 in the morning. Son woke up at 5...I was able to get him back to sleep until about 9...but I'm feeling worse than ever.

Pounding headache, bloodshot eyes.

*isn't this only supposed to happen to kids?*

I really overdid it yesterday. LOL. I've been on a strict diet of all health foods, ya know it's summer time, gotta shed that winter blubber...but oh...I couldn't resist temptation. Soooo much candy, my poor stomach.

I need to hear some good news today. Anybody have any? 'Cause I'm pretty certain good news is far far off in my distant future. So share, cause I need to smile.

Oh...and just wanted to let you guys know who drop by. I've got an author chat happening over at www.theromancestudio.com on the 19th of this month. Wednesday, to be precise. I believe it's at 7pm. I'll let you know for certain what time. Anyhow I'll be discussing Witch Hunt and probably some other projects, so please stop by. I'd like to pretend I'm halfway interesting to talk to.

Although, it's looking like I may have to bail on my own chat. I really hope not. I'd hate for Leanne to have to deal with this on her own. We both wrote the book together and I think it's really important I'm there too, ya know? Will try and work some strings, figure something out. In the meantime, let's just hope I can make it. I'm still promo'ing the heck out of it though.

Oh, and for those of you who don't know, me and a couple gal pals of mine started another blog called: www.lovelustandotheroddities.blogspot.com

It's fun, just us being our goofy selves! Stop by, say hi...we'd love to see you there.

In other unrelated news, I watched 2 movies last night. Now I'm not normally a fan of Jennifer Love Hewitt, but I was really in the mood for a romantic comedy, so I rented 'The truth about love". Really good movie! Very cute. The hero is the guy from Ever After. Remember Drew Barrymore's love interest? The prince. Well this is him and his scottish accent comes out in this one and oh my!!! Very hot. Loved him. Jennifer does a mean British accent too. Highly recommend it.

Also watched: "The Machinist". Whoa! That's all I got to say. Anyone keep hearing about that movie that Christian Bale lost tons of weight for and he looks like a walking skeleton? (literally) Well this is it. You wanna talk about yuck! One of the hunkiest guys in Hollywood, he really looked bad. Still love him, but ewww. Still if you can overlook the gaunt frame the movie really got you thinking. Great ending (not much of a surprise) but the twists and turns it takes you on, fantastic journey into pychosis and back again.

So yeah, if you're in the mood for some great watches, Viv suggest those. ;)

~~Viv (who's still anxiously waiting to hear anything about death and who's certain more and more each day that bloody hell, they don't like it! :(

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T12:43:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter guys! Now I'm off to take my son on a rousing easter egg hunt!

Maybe mama will even keep some of the candy for herself. ;)

hahahaha...

~~Viv

Tomorrow's Easter

2006-04-15T23:24:00.000-05:00

Going to church, have an easter egg hunt with my child and then off to theater to finally see Ice Age 2. Hope it's as good as the reviews say it is.

Tonight I hope to get some writing done. Totally spazzed last night. Too tired to think or do anything. Don't know what's wrong with me lately but I've got no energy. I've always been a borderline anemic...probably just that. Maybe I need to increase my veggie uptake again.

As you can tell, not much to write tonight. And now my baby's crying....

soooooo...

gotta run.

Keep your fingers crossed for me that I'll actually get some writing done tonight. The way things are looking, probably not! *gnashing teeth*

~~Viv

writing update..and some weird sh*t

2006-04-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

I've don't have much to post tonight, so instead I'm just gonna put my goals up here and what I've done thus far on this novella.

I'm at page 106, but that's a bit deceptive because today I wrote 20 pages (by hand) in my journal. LOL...so I'll have to transfer all that over, but it's getting there. Slowly but surely. I've got 3 big scenes left to write, about another 20 pages, give or take. So it looks as if this novella is gonna wrap up around the 35k mark. More than respectable. Got a couple of places for it in mind, so we'll have to wait and see. :D

I dunno, Shelli must have rubbed off on me or something. I had a really strange dream last night. Or rather more this morning. You know that period in time when you're almost awake, but not quite there yet...the dreams feel soooo real?

I don't have them often, but when I do they're weird. Anyhow, let me explain some of the situation, so the dream makes more sense. My husband just started working nights again. The graveyard shift rather, and having to switch from day shift to night shift is always jarring for him. Yesterday he only managed 3 hours of sleep, which meant he'd have to stay awake a total of more than 19 hours.

Bad!

Especially when he has to drive over 15 miles to work in the morning.

So anyway, here's the dream. I'm lying in bed and all I keep picturing is that he swerves, the car crashes and I get a phone call telling me he's dead. I wake up twice from that dream, realize it's just a dream, and go back to sleep but keep waking up praying and sobbing that he'll get home to me safe and sound and in one piece.

I wake up, go about my day and think nothing more of that dream until tonight. I'm kissing him as he leaves the house and tell him in an offhanded manner, be careful..I kept having this nightmare last night that you crashed and died.

He looks at me real strange and says: "Wow, that's weird. I was driving home and fell asleep at the wheel twice, then suddenly I'm okay and I finally manage to get home."

Whoa!!! Freaky or what? I dunno, I wouldn't exactly call what happens to me premonitions, because they don't always happen, but there's been many times when I'll have a really really bad feeling about a person or place and then I find out someone's died, or there's been an accident.

Who knows. My grandfather was a witch doctor. Maybe that blood runs through my veins too. LOL.

And now that you all think I'm totally nuts, goodnight. ;)

~~Viv

IQ

2006-04-13T14:54:00.000-05:00

Yay, just took a test today and found out I have an IQ of 120. Not too shabby...so why do I always feel so dumb? LOL.

Anyhow, here's a short excerpt of what end result said:

Congratulations, Vivienne!Your IQ score is 120

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others. Your Intellectual Type is Word Warrior. This means you have exceptional verbal skills. You can easily make sense of complex issues and take an unusually creative approach to solving problems. Your strengths also make you a visionary. Even without trying you're able to come up with lots of new and creative ideas.

I guess being a word warrior is a good thing considering what I do. LOL. If you guys want to take the test (and I warn you, it's a little mind numbing) here it is:

http://web.tickle.com/tests/uiq/index-pop.jsp?sid=1807&supp=300x250_IQ_vowels_noborder_Family&z=

Whew, I'm tired...

2006-04-13T01:54:00.000-05:00

Been getting very little sleep these past few days. Running almost entirely on empty. Got nothin' left. I was dead set and determined to try and get some writing done tonight, but after I just finished judging about 17 entries I'm too tired to think anymore.

I don't even have a decent post ready for you guys. All I can think about is bed.

Sorry y'all. Witty Viv has gone on temporaray hiatus. Check back tomorrow, maybe you'll catch her in a more goofy mood then.

~~Viv

I said I would, and I am. I have an ammendment to make

2006-04-12T14:26:00.000-05:00

Several days past I wrote a rant about a site called starworld. I assumed, mistakenly, that what they were talking about was agent fees. Which no agent should ever ever do. It took my lawyer friend to set me straight, they are in fact a consultant firm. Meaning, what they say they do on their page is perfectly legit.

I still have issues, things they do that scream something's not right to me, but I'd rather this bruhaha die down now. So I'm hereby nipping it in the bud.

No more on this subject. End ammendment now!

~~Viv

Ohhhhh....

2006-04-11T16:21:00.000-05:00

For those of you who haven't checked on Kristen Nelson's blog today, I just had to share. She's in NY right now, marketing, selling...doing what agents do I guess.

Anyhow, she has news from the inside.

Erotica's hot!

Umm..duh. I think we all know that, but...it's seriously hot! Basically she's saying if you're an ellora's author (though I think any writer of erotica would qualify) that you better dust off a nice novel length ms and start sending them in. We're just at the beginning of this trend...we haven't seen anything yet. Apparently NY is fiending in a big way for anything and everything erotica, especially crossbreeds. Erotica paranormal, erotica contemps..etc.

So if you write it, send it in. You're odds are much better to get in now while the gettin's good, and while it's still not oversaturated.

Not just that...but I'm oh so excited...urban fantasy's are still uber hot and way in demand. And for those of you not in the know an urban fantasy is basically a paranormal. City type settings with vamps, weres, maybe even elves, if you take them out the woodlands and plop them down in a bar.

Straight sci-fi is starting to go on a downward swing, but sci-fi crossbreeds are as hot as ever. Unfortunately for us straight up fantasy writers...sorry gals/guys, they're still the ugly step child. There's hope if you can come up with a completely unique idea, BUT...it's a tough sale right now. :(

So there's the scoop and it's smokin' hot!

It gives me much more hope for death. :D

If you want to read everything she said head over to pubrants.blogspot.com

~~Viv

No good rejections? Who says...

2006-04-10T16:56:00.000-05:00

Soooooo, I'm happy. Filled with relief as a matter of fact. Want to know why? I was rejected.

No, not for death. For my little vampire novella I was whining and moaning about on my blog days ago. The one that was like pulling teeth, well you know the one, and if you don't just look up my past blogs, you'll see what I'm talking about.

But I digress. Yes, I'm happy. Sounds so silly I know, but seriously I'm smiling as I write this.

My agent called me today, basically she said she thought she could sale this novella, but that it wasn't as strong or as magical as death, so she'd hold on to it for a while. So in actuality I wasn't rejected, I guess I just pulled it on my own. Thing is, I kinda agreed with her on all points, but it's just not in me to rewrite it and she didn't ask for one. Just that it wasn't my strongest work. And boy am I glad she said that.

This novella was previously published. And it's good, BUT, I've learned a lot since then. Yes, I rewrote some of it...but I think unless I'd done a complete overhaul, rewritting the entire thing, it wouldn't have the same magic or pop as death. She and I decided I'd try and submit this elsewhere. I have 2 places in mind and actually already submitted it to one place today. I'll let you know if it finally gets accepted.

It's hard to explain why I'm so happy I guess. Thing is, the story is good. It just doesn't scream this new improved Viv. Like I said I had a lot to learn of the craft back then, and while it's technically sound and the story is interesting, it wouldn't make much of a splash in NY. It's too similar in plot to many other vampire tale. Not to say it's bad, or that I'm giving crap to epublishers (heaven forbid that you guys think that's what I'm saying)...more so, that it isn't quite unique ENOUGH for me to stand out from the norm in NY. Get it?

I still hope to sale it though, I think as far as vampire tales go, it's rather entertaining. But (and I can be honest about this with myself) it's pretty standard vampire fare. Readers still love vamps, and I do too, but for me it's really important that if I sale to NY I stand out from the crowd. I don't want to be boxed into the cookie cutter mold of paras.

So I'm relieved. :)

I think I probably confused the heck out of everyone there, but heck...I'm a writer...we tend to think too fast for our fingers to keep up. :P

I also got to lay my 'death' fears to rest. Thank God for Jessica! I absolutely love her. I asked her about death, laid out my concerns, especially what Jenny said: You know the whole 30 day debacle, and let's just say that Jessica made me see how foolish I was to believe that.

I won't go into detail, but I'll give you the abridged version. Basically Jessica used to be an aquisitions editor for Berkley (I belive it's berkely) anyhow, because of that she's got a very good understanding of the process. She told me that a book isn't just read and boom, "let's buy it!", but rather the entire process can take up to 2 to 3 weeks from start to finish. And she added, that unless they got the book and picked me up and read death immediately the process could, AND HAS, taken a few months to finalize. 1 month, she told me, is awfully fast and that it has happened, but it's not a guarentee and not to give up hope. She said that she averages anywhere from 2 months, and with one book 2 years!, before finally making that sale.

But she loves my book, and she's just as determined as I am to see it sale. Needless to say, I'm one very happy (and lucky) camper. So there's the scoop. I was going to try and wait until tomorrow to post it, but I was too excited to wait.

So yay! Now I'm gonna chill out, work on my novel (which is almost DONE...yeehaw) and get back to my sequel as soon as possible.

So who said there's no such thing as good rejections? ;)

~~Viv

On a roll baby!

2006-04-10T01:21:00.000-05:00

Okay, I had every intention of starting my DDD project this week. But another novella kept calling me. I was halfway finished with the project and just didn't think it right to keep putting it off. Besides the fire is there for this one, so I just had to finish it.

Anyway, It's coming together verra niiiiice. I'm at page 90 tonight. So I managed 15 pages worth of writing today. Feeling good about it. I'm aiming for this to be a minimum of 120 pages, which means I'm about 30 away from the end. At this pace, I could have this sucker finished and sent to my agent by weeks end. I'm sooo excited.

I'm really proud of this project. It's my first time switching genres, and actually finishing it. It's a contemp romantica and it's very different from my normal fare. Which might be why I've been so inspired with it. It's a lot of fun to write, and I really hope I can get this into an anthology somewhere. It's good enough I think and I'm desperate to get my work onto bookstore shelves. :(

So, I should definitely have this sucker done by Wednesday, no later than Friday and then finally I'll be able to start on the DDD. I'm sorry girls, I just couldn't resist temptation. But I swear that I'm a really fast novella writer, so I'll have my portion done *knock on wood* in decent time. I don't normally need more than 2 weeks per novella. So I'm doing okay.

After that I have my rune story due for cobblestone, and then hurrah...back to my sequel, whose predecessor is having a heck of a time finding any love in NY, but I can't stop working on it. I love that series. So, for better or for worse, I'll finish the 5 book series either way.

Alright, that's me. :) Night, from a very contented writer.

~~Viv

No writing for me last night

2006-04-09T07:25:00.000-05:00

Hubby really wanted me to go to sleep with him. On the one hand, that's good. I actually got some good sleep, pretty rare anymore. But on the other, I'm really bummed because I'd hoped to get to page 100 or thereabouts on my novella by tonight. Oh well. I chose to make my man happy, I can live with that. :D

So today I just have a curious post. With writing trends changing as fast as my mother buys herself a new furniture set, my question is this:

Paranormals gluted, but there was a time, say as short as 6 months ago that if an agent could find herself a paranormal author that book would be sold in a matter of weeks, if not days. Now...it's starting to resemble what's happened to historicals (though let me rephrase that, because historicals seem to be appearing with a little more frequency on bookstore shelves anymore. So let's call it the chic-lit, that's pretty dead in the water) editors aren't as aggresive to pursue buying it. It would take an act of god, or a really unique spin on the whole chic-lit/para genre anymore (seems like) to get them even remotely interested, but that still doesn't guarentee a sale.

Current trends being what they are now, erotica's all the rage. Now that is turning the editors rabid for more (and I say that in as nice a way possible, but truth is this is a business first) and erotica equals big bucks. And believe you me, I am all about that trend. I love that women are able to be more free to express themselves sexually and not be labled some tramp or heaven forbid; slut, whore, ho (or whatever other ugly slur usually associated with a woman knowing what she wants and going for it).

But I can't help but wonder, what will the new trend be? Do you see any genre already established making a firm upswing in the near future, or will it (like erotica) be some underground genre that finally begins to turn heads. And if so, which?

Here's my theory. What goes around comes around, and no I'm not just talking about bad things, but history always has a way of repeating itself. From fashion, to movie trends. What was once hot, and then isn't, suddenly becomes hot again.

So with that thought in mind, I'd say, (chic-lit is newly dead, so that'll stay dead for a few years. Wait for another sex in the city show to air and then it'll be all the rage again) historicals. That's my guess.

Historicals really haven't gone anywhere. You can always see a few really great authors selling them, and even a few newbies have been able to find a home for their stuff, but let's admit it, it really isn't what it once was. However, I think for the reader it's always been a comfort thing. Historicals are like that old sweater, you know the one, all scuffed up and torn at the collar. That ratty, old thing that when all you really want to do is be at peace, drink your cocoa, and listen to the gentle rain falling outside your window, you pull it out.

That's what a historical is for me. Comfort food. Or more accurately, a comfort read. But I'll take it even one step further. I believe this new brand of historicals will take place on lands, islands, whatever, that the old historicals rarely visited.

Don't get me wrong, I still love a good Scottish protaginist, but with the way people travel and vacation anymore, I think we're gonna start seeing more exotic locales.

Hmmm....(maybe?)

But I could be all wrong. You may know something I don't. So share guys. What do you think it's gonna be, and why? Granted, I think erotica's are here to stay at least for the next 4 to 5 years. That's about the current lifespan of a trend.

And the reason I ask is because if you're really serious about trying to sale to NY, then it's probably not a bad idea to think market wise. Yes, people tell you write what you love, but I think that addage is two-fold. To be successful, write what you love, but be smart and savvy at the same time. Imagine being in on the trend, before it gets trendy. Being a pioneer, someone who blazes the path. Jaid Black did, now she's definitely reaping the reward for her sheer cussedness and tenacity.

If you disagree with me, okay. :) But tell me why, I'm in the mood for a really good debate here.

~~Viv

Busy tonight

2006-04-08T00:16:00.000-05:00

I'm trying really hard to knock out a few novellas, keeps me distracted, and plus I love writing, so hey...easy choice, right? :)

So tonight I'm mainly just focused on one and trying to get it done by the end of next week. Don't know how well it'll work out, but I'm one of those people that needs a goal to strive towards to have any chance of succeeding.

After my break down yesterday, I dunno what happened, but I feel sooooo much better. Woke up this morning just thinking, it will happen. It will. Don't know why the sudden change, but I just feel okay about it. So I'm chilling out and waiting.

Short post, now back to work for me. :)

Thanks for all the support guys.
~~Viv

Learned some new stuff today

2006-04-07T00:58:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I participated in an agent chat with Jenny Bent of Trident Media Agency. Knowledgeable woman, had a lot to share. She said a few things that really got me thinking though. Some good, some bad.

As most of you know who read my blog, my ms is currently making the rounds in NY. My agent sent my packet off to six houses and I've yet to hear anything back on that. I wasn't really worried, figured it could take me anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to sell. (Though, you all know the wait is killing me, I still felt I had a fairly decent chance of getting sold)

Now I'm not so sure. Statistically Jenny told me, that if a ms hasn't sold within the first 30 days, then that's a really bad sign and could mean it just never will. There are a few exceptions she said, but that's basically the rule.

Ummm....oh god! My ms has been flying through NY for 23 days now and nothing. Not even sure if any of them have even rejected me yet. I just know nothing. I had no idea, NO CLUE, that mss should sell that first. I thought THAT was the exception, not the rule. WRONG, I guess. Which kills me. This means I have 7 days, 7 DAYS, to make that sale, or I probably won't.

Ugh!! *somebody shoot me now please*

Not just that, but apparently the market is gluted with paranormals, tough sale, and newbie authors, EVEN TOUGHER SALE. Oh jeez! Could the deck be stacked more against me right now?

Fine, okay whatever. I had a serious meltdown today about that. Talked my friends ears off about it, got lots of cyber hugs, and honestly had a good cry. The conclusion I came to, NY is my dream, but if they won't take death, then I will still find a home for it because that book and those characters deserve it. They're good characters. The book is good. Maybe the plot has been seen before, but it's my own unique spin on the way I see life. Eve and Cian deserve to have their chance to shine, and by golly if I won't give them that chance. Not just that, but I have 4 other books lined up in this series, and damn it all, they're gonna see the light of day.

So if Jessica eventually has to pass it back to me for lack of enthusiasm then I'm gonna send it either to NCP or Cerridwen. Haven't figured out which yet. But that's that and I need to stop stressing.

The good though is this:

Did you know reviews go a long way with agents?? I sure as hell didn't. Apparently Jenny signed this one author who'd only sold 100 books, but she had these amazing, fantastic reviews on her book...in her own words, she managed to get the girl a hefty 6 figure advance!

Holy heck batman!!! WHAT?? Just from reviews?

*shaking head* yes ma'am, just from reviews.

So here's my advice to you. Keep 'em and use them when you're pitching to that agent or editor. You never know. And what could it hurt, right?

So okay, that's it for me tonight. Back to work on my novella.

So would you?

2006-04-06T12:19:00.000-05:00

Well, pretty unbusy day for me today. And by unbusy I mean I can actually focus on my writing, been helping out a few people here and there, and I love doing it...but it sure is awesome to get crackin' on your own stuff too. :D

Last night I got a pleasent, small surprise. My coauthored novel, Witch Hunt, is getting some really excellent reveiws. 5 Angels from FAR, 4 Hearts from ecata, and a little bird told me that due to some strange mix up FAR will actually be doing a second review for us and to expect to be pleasantly surprised by that one as well. As long as it's not anything under 5...lol, would hate to get a 5 and a 3 from the same place. And to see the reviews, here're the links:

http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/2006/March/Jessica-WitchHunt.htm

http://sensual.ecataromance.com/reviews?type=&id=49

This is great. There was a time when I never could get anything higher than a 3. Not shabby, but I certainly wasn't getting these keeper votes. Guess that's just a testament that as time goes by your writing will eventually improve. I'm a firm believer that each book is just a little better than the last. And thank God for that, because if you guys ever had the misfortune of reading my earlier works you'd know how much I've improved. LOL...

I have one story called the Highlander's Curse about a gypsy witch who falls for a highlander only to discover him late one night in the arms of another woman. Sick at heart she curses him to immortality, he'll never age, but the kick is she turned this virile handsome man into a toad. Not a literal one, but figuratively speaking.

He's not so much hideous as he's plain. Bald, pock marks, little on the flabby side. The only thing about him that remains the same are these pierceing blue eyes. And the only way for this curse to be broken is for someone to actually fall in love and discover the kind man inside. Takes place about 500 years later. The only good thing about this story is the poem my sister wrote for it. The curse the gypsy uses..and because I'm proud of her, I'll post it here.

Oh you will pay for what you've done... the hearts that you've deceived. The time has come to make amends... with lies that you have weaved. I'm not the first, though I'm the last... with which you'll have your way. For you have tread on things unknown... and now Redemption Day!

I conjure up the powers that be... of mine and up above-You will be cursed to feel this pain... the inner pangs of love!

First, I’ll melt away your charm… and scorn you with foul stench.
I’ll strip your splendid looks and leave your feet with plagues of trench. You’ll never be the man you were… you’ll live your days in dread. Until you truly learn to love… the past will blight your head.

You’ll find the one you long to have… and feel where once was numb. You’ll transform back if she can love… the monster you’ve become.

Cool huh? Curse your feet with trench...ewww...don't know about you, but that's kinda yucky. LOL...but in a nutshull, that's the plot for the book. So it's this big convulutated tale of over 400 pgs for Dillion (my hero) to find THE ONE. It's actually a pretty cute story and for it being my first, I think it has some excellent potential. But it needs a serious cleaning.

I keep thinking that someday I'll have to go back and get this thing done, but I always keep getting new ideas and I want to write those and then I don't have time for this...and well, you know how it is. So I'm saving that book for when I hit a serious dry spell and we'll see if I can resurrect my highlander from the ashes one last time.

Now, onto other news...I'm going to be doing an author chat for Witch Hunt, Apr. 19th. Wondering one, would any of you be willing to come? It'll be at the romance studio in their chat room at I believe 7 or 8. Will come back with all the information the closer we get to the date.

But two...you guys want prizes? Does that really entice you guys to take a good serious look at an author? Or do you just take the prize and run? I've always been curious about that. And if you like prizes at these things, then what kind? Leanne (who I coauthored with) is, I believe, giving out a necklace. I'm thinking about a starbucks gift certificate, maybe even a new concepts pub gift card....I would do borders, but heck...ncp has so many great authors.

Anyhow, curious to know. And if you can think of anything else you guys really like to see offered up as prizes let me know. :)

~~Viv

Here's the 411

2006-04-05T01:22:00.000-05:00

Ewww....my son has been watching way too much Disney channel lately. For those of you with kids, you might get the reference up top, if not... how's it feel to wonder? Mwah ha ha ha...

Okay so whatever. Here's the deal. Lots going on with me and I'm ready for bed, so I'm writing a quick entry and then I'm done for the night.

Today, mailed off my novella to my agent. Hope she likes it, but if not then I think it'll be going to NCP. I'm fairly sure they'd take it and I'd love to get my book included in some anthology to finally get me on bookstore shelves. It's a paranormal (duh!) shifter story. Blurb follows...and this is my blog so I can force you to read whatever I want! Ohhhh...the power!

Gaven MacDade is a vampire of the Rayven clan, struggling with his immortality, or rather lack of it. His clan is cursed by the Blood Drinker to fade to dust in their three-thousandth year.

On a quest to break the curse, he meets Apollonia, the embodiment of his darkest desires. She knows something about the curse placed on Gaven's people and if he would only surrender to her, she'd become his living legend.

Okay, I really think that last line sucks the big one, but oh well...what are you gonna do about it? I couldn't come up with anything better.

So that's out. Thank God.

But, I still owe 3 more novellas before I can return to my sequel to D.A.T.W.H. And if you don't know what the acronym stands for, just jump over to my website and scoll down to death series. :D (Shameless promotion)

So that's me. Busy bee. But I wouldn't have it any other way. And no, I've heard nothing back about my ms getting accepted by an editor at NY. I'm sure you guys are just dying to know and all that jazz...*snort*...but you'll just have to suck it up and wait I guess.

(hehehe, like anyone gives a damn other than this obsessive compulsive writer, but I'll pretend that you all are my adoring fans..blah blah blah)

I'm tired. Night

~~Viv

Where I've been and stuff like that...

2006-04-04T01:24:00.000-05:00

Well I had this cool banner up with a map of the world that showed these countries I'd been to. But something happened, a fart in cyberspace or something, because it won't show up now. Needless to say, it's not much. I've only ever been outside the states to one country. Panama. And that's mainly because I have family there, so I have a reason other than vacation, to visit.

Can I just say, this is pathetic? I really need to travel more. Unfortunately the wallet does not get the point!

So today, I'm starting work on my novella. Mainly just doing the last minute plotting on it. I used to be one of the worst pansters you'd ever come across. But I learned that method doesn't really work for me anymore. After about the 3rd or 4th book I started that I couldn't finish because suddenly I was at the middle and nothing made sense anymore, I knew my panster days were over. Now, I'm a beautiful amalgum of the two. I do a very loose plot, enough to get my main points of what I want told down, then I panster the rest. But so long as the big important stuff works, then I feel free to let my mind wander. The one thing I miss about being a panster though is that there's magic in not knowing what will happen. You find yourself just as surprised as your characters, sometimes in a really good way, sometimes in a frustrating "I'm-gonna-yank-all-my-hair-out-and-scream!" way. LOL...but no, I've found what works for me and I stick to it.

Oh and thanks to everyone yesterday for your suggestions. I decided to go with P.U.R. = Paranormal Urban Recon. Has a nice ring to it. Also, it works well because the leader of the team is a were and my ass kicking heroine (who's a vamp) used to date said leader and can't find enough reasons to rag on him. PUR gets under her skin like nothing else can because she's a vamp, and vamps don't PUR. LOL...think it has some funny irony to it.

So okay, thanks Silma, Faith, and Loribelle. That's what I went with. :)

~~Viv

I'm back in the saddle again...

2006-04-03T13:16:00.000-05:00

*gotta love aerosmith lyrics, in my head I can hear Steven Tyler screeching I'm baaaaaaaaaaack* Sigh, love that group.

So, okay last night I was thinking and it hit me, I've got a pretty nifty idea for my next book, but I'm missing something. So because I'm totally fried in the creativity dept right now, maybe you guys could help me.

Let me give you a little blurb. This is a vampire story. She's a paranormal investigator for the city of San Fran. Now, only supernatural creatures can work in that elite unit, and they only go out on the case when a crime involves another supernatural creature.

Now here's my problem. What in the world should I call that squad? I'd love a snazzy acronym. But right now I'd take anything, so long as it's memorable. Can anybody think of anything? Or just give me some ideas, no matter how weird, to get me thinking along those lines. I'll admit, I'm burned out right now...been working on a million different projects and so I'm a little frazzled. But I'm still excited about that book and I have this weird thing about wanting everything ironed out before I start working on the book. Helps keep my thoughts in line.

~~Viv

Nope

2006-04-02T21:56:00.000-05:00

I'm not blogging tonight, and you can't make me. :p

Worst day ever...

2006-04-01T18:08:00.000-06:00

I'm so upset, I've never had so many bad things happen to me at once. I don't even know where to begin. My head is spinning, my thoughts are fuzzy and that bottle of is Jack is calling.

It's a long story, but let me give you the abridged version. First, my dog died. Lola the tramp. See wasn't she cute?

One second she was admiring herself in the mirror, the next she fell to the ground, a limp noodle and already cold. Vet said she suffered such a massive heartattack she felt no pain. Thank god for tiny miracles.

Then, this freak lightning storm just came out of nowhere. I mean, one second the day is balmy, the sun is out, small fluffy clouds drifting in the blue blue sky and then BOOM. I screamed, all the hair on my head stood on end (seriously, it was a sight to behold)...then my husband is running outside, tripping over his feet as the scent of sulfur engulfs our house only to notice that our car was neatly split down the middle, noxious black plumes spiraling toward the sky. He was cursing, I was in control and oddly pleased, the piece of crap was a gas guzzler, now our insurance has to fork out the dough and buy us a new car. I'm thinking a VW bug...which by the way is gonna be painted cherry red with black spots. I mean if it's called a bug, it should look like a bug, IMHO.

Sad to say but the lightning destroyed all his precious CD's (and if you knew my husband, you'd know that was tantamount to a death sentence). Though it did spare my last piece of big red. It was a little warm, kinda toasty, but eh...what are you gonna do about it?

Then, and if this doesn't just take the cake, my child suddenly decides he can fly and jumps off the roof with nothing but a batman sheet tucked around his shoulders. We tried, lord did we try, to run out there and catch him. But we missed, and ummm experienced the shock of our life as we raced after him down the street. He bounced, literally bounced, to a stop.

I'm a frazzled, nervous wreck. The smallest sound and I start twitching like a rabbid dog. It ain't pretty. Foam's running from my mouth. Is that normal?

And oh yeah....

Happy April Fool's Day! ;)

(As an aside, the dog is real and he did pass away a few months back. Name was Sam. Though I highly doubt my blog would attract the attention of the owners, my condolences nonetheless.)

very cool quiz

2006-03-31T18:55:00.000-06:00

What type of Fae are you?

Waiting on that teetering edge of the unknown...

2006-03-31T00:27:00.000-06:00

So today, I did nothing writing wise and it felt good. I was gonna wrap up my last sex scene, but eh...I needed a break. Suffering from post traumatic edit disorder. I'm waiting on one crit and I figure when I get that back I'll go back, write that sex scene, edit one final time and send it out.

But the title of this entry says a lot I think about the way I'm feeling right now. I'm waiting. Waiting to hear back from my agent, waiting to get line edits from my editor, waiting to get my crit. It seems sometimes like my life is just one big ball of anxiety, twisting waiting. Today it was all I could to leave the house for a second, fearing that I might miss a phone call from my agent telling me we got sold. (Didn't need to worry there obviously)

Problem is, I feel like I'm at a crossroads right now. And there's two signs. One that says, Good tidings await you here. The other: Welcome back to misery beeyatch!

Sigh, I'm so frustrated. I poured my heart into rewriting that novella, focused everything on it, trying not to think about this. But it was weird, the second I was done and relief should have flooded me, it was instant and powerful...waiting, waiting, waiting.

And frankly my dears, waiting sucks!

Yet, I understand the name of the game. This is a writers life. We sign up for this sometimes frustrating, always strangely wonderful profession knowing this. Knowing that with great pain comes great pleasure. Hoping we might write the next BIG thing, and that even if we don't, we can find a few fans who really like our work. That in a sense, all the constant popping of rolaids is worth it. (I don't, but go with the metaphor here)

I love my agent. I want to stick with her. I want to form a symbotic relationship. One in which I don't suck the life out of her or vice verse, but where we can coexist and excel together. (Corny I know. I'm tired and melancholy.)

What the hell is wrong with me? I just finished my novella. I'm anticipating that it will sell. If not to my agent, definitely somewhere. So why am I feeling so whiny and depressed all of a sudden?

Sorry guys. Probably shouldn't have even posted tonight. Just had to get it off my chest.

(End mopey rant now) :(

~~Viv

Eekkkkkk

2006-03-30T01:17:00.000-06:00

I did it! I finished it! I'm tired, but estatic. Tonight I wasn't really in the mood to write, but I was so close. Just 9 little pages left. So I forced myself to just sit down and finish the damn thing and nothing ever feels better.

(Well except for a big box of original flavored Krispy Kremes and hanging out with my family...I guess typing the end is a close second) ;)

Wow. I'm bushed. But I did it. Feel more excited about this one because I took a novella I wrote way back when (when I was just learning the ropes mind you) and slashed and ripped, edited and pitched..and basically rearranged and rewrote the entire thing while still keeping the main plot intact and I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID IT.

I wouldn't recommend that sort of torture on my vilest enemy.

Wow.

I still have 2 sex scenes left to write. But those are cake. I've written so many I could probably whip one up in my sleep. So tomorrow I won't post much either because I'll be writing those. But yep, by Friday. All done. I'll send it off with a hope and a prayer.

G'night y'all.

~~Viv

Yes!

2006-03-29T15:46:00.000-06:00

17 pages in one hour. Got 9 left to go!!! Still have those dratted sex scenes, but yes!! I'll definitely have the rewrites done today, and the sex scenes done tomorrow. Keep your fingers, eyes, and toes crossed that my agent will like it. If not, I've got other prospects, but still. I definitely feel this thing has potential!

Mood: Jubliant!

Woo hoo!

2006-03-29T02:05:00.000-06:00

Sorry for the short posts lately guys, but I'm not going to stop my muse from doing whatever she's doing by writing long blogs. I'm through for the night but I just wanted to report I did another 17 pages tonight. So my grand total for the day is:

*drum roll please*

30 pages!

(How 'bout that?) ;) Impressed? I am. LOL...I haven't had a night like that in too long. About time that wenchy vixen came out to play. Sheesh, sometimes I really hate my muse. Though please, don't tell her that or she'll punish me for weeks. She's done it before.

Anyway. That leaves me with 23 pages left and then stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Well sorta. I still have 2 sex scenes left to write. Don't know why. But sometimes I'm just not in the mood. LOL (get your mind out of the gutter people)...sometimes it's all I can do to even think about writing another sex scene..so I do the ol' tried and true method of:

INSERT SEX SCENE HERE

LOL...So at about 4-6 pages per scene I guess still have another 31-35 pages. But still. I'm stoked.

Tomorrow for sure I'll have the editing and revising done. Writing the sex scenes after that will be cake.

Woo hoo

~~Viv

Just a quick update...

2006-03-28T15:43:00.000-06:00

13 pages today and still rearing to go. 35 left to go. If I can do another 10 0r so pages tonight, then I'll have this done by tomorrow and mailed off by Friday! Woo hoo!! So excited. :)

Finally, a silver lining in this dark dark cloud

2006-03-27T14:25:00.000-06:00

Ugh...I did it. I hit my second wind. Finally! You all know how much I've been whining lately about this novella I've been working on. Well last night it finally happened. I found my stride with the book and now I'm on cloud nine. I'm nearly done with the thing, but I'm super excited now too.

I've basically rewritten the entire thing, which was the crux of my crankiness. The plot was good. But the writing was poor. At least in my eyes. I'd gotten it pubbed before, but that was almost 2 years ago and my writing has improved, plus my voice has definitely found it's stride. I wanted to submit this story to my agent because I felt it really had a good chance, but I knew if she got it the way I'd written it before she would have rejected it. I mean, I would have. Lots of little blunders in there, telling not showing...adverb hell. Add to that that I was just coming into my voice, feeling my way, dipping my little toe into the water and trying to find my place in the writing world. I'm not blasting my other publisher...I still think it's good enough that someone else might consider it. But if I want it to have a chance in some anthalogy say in elloras or red sage, then I really wanted it to shine. Make it stand out from the pack.

I really feel I'm getting there now. I'm excited about where it's going. Last night as I'm writing this story took me places I hadn't expected. A whole new wrench got thrown into the mix and it's working. It's WORKING!!! Woo hoo.

That is such a breakthrough. I love it when this happens. And without fail you'll hear me bitchin' and whining about my next project. That's just how I am until I reach that epiphany and go 'ah ha...so that's what you were trying to tell me all along.'

That said, I'm going back to finish up the darn thing! Should definitely have it done by this weekend. Whew, such a relief.

And just out of curiosity. Is anyone else like this? Do you all hit that sagging middle where each page, each paragraph is sheer hell to edit, write, read and then suddenly boom! It all makes sense and coalesces' into this project near and dear to your heart?

And just to let you guys know. I've done 10 pages in about 2 hours. And still not ready to stop. :)

~~Viv

What music means to me

2006-03-26T14:32:00.000-06:00

Have you guys ever listened to a song and instantly found yourself transported to a memory, some moment in time where the memory became crystal clear and you could remember, when, what day, and where? I do, all the time. If I listen to anything from the 80's I remember my childhood, 90's graduation and so on. Yeah, I'm a young blood, so sue me! ;)

Anywho, I'm like that with my writing too. I can't write unless I've got something going on in the background. Right now, I'm listening to some reggae. But when I write in my paranormals I need something hard, crunchy, and with that flinty edge of violence that makes me capable of writing out a scene with a bit more grit and blood. But when I'm working on my contemporary I find myself leaning towards Sting and the Police, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac...something rock, but not necessarily hard. And always has to have that thread of romance to the song. When I'm doing erotica...hehehehe...then it's something like The Divinals (sp?) You know the song, "I touch myself" and any other slew of dirty, nasty songs that get me revved up enough to write that really steamy sex scene. Fantasy books, Enya, Sarah McLachlin (sp? jeez, I suck at these names..lol) but anyway, has to be something spiritual, misty, mystical...something that has that magical quality to it.

Am I the only one like this?

I feel like I've got a library of music when it comes to my books. And once a book is done, if I hear that song then I instantly remember what scene I used it with, what time of night..etc. I'm so weird, I know. So my question is..if you guys do listen to music while you write, do you find yourselves using the same type pattern I do, or is completely random?

~~Viv

Been tagged...

2006-03-25T23:38:00.000-06:00

I've been tagged by Shelli. so here it goes...

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Dental Assisstant
2.Applebee's Waitress
3. Waldenbooks Clerk
4. NY NY Fashions

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. The Notebook
2. A walk to remember
3. Underworld ll
4. Jerry Maguire

Four places you have lived:
1. Panama Central America
2. Texas
3. Maryland
4. Tennessee (and as my sister could tell you, many many more)

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. Grays Anatomy
2. CSI
3. National Geographic (pretty much anything on that channel)
4. Weird Travels

Four places you have been on vacation:1. Panama
2. Disney World
3. Las Vegas
4. Del Rio, TX

Four websites I visit daily:
1. My Blog
2. My aol account
3. New Concepts Publishing
4. Romance Divas

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Gryo Salads w/ ex feta
2. Egg Fu Young
3. General Tso's Chicken
3. Enchiladas

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Greece
2. Panama
3. Italy
4. On a lakeside cottage with only me, my computer, and my thoughts

Four friends I am tagging that I think will respond.....
1. Dianna
2. Lucille (Grandma as I like to refer to her ;)
3. Trixie
4. Leanne

And there is more useless nonsense about me. :)

hotties...and me

2006-03-24T21:56:00.000-06:00

well, didn't do much today. actually haven't done much for the past 2 days. Last night I got a total of 2, that's right 2 pages done!! argh...tonight, I highly doubt will be any different, but I'm determined and call me masochistic but I'll keep at this friggin' novella til I'm done. Stressed out though I decided me and the family needed a nice night out. So we went to this movie in the park deal. Would have been a blast, they were airing the goonies. Stars are winking overhead, people are talking, my baby is playing and dancing. But oh my god, it was so stinkin' cold I thought I might die. I'd only brought light light blankets because this is after all, TEXAS...I mean really. Whodda thought that wouldn't be good enough?

GRRRR...

Family night is ruined. I can't take it anymore, so we have to bribe our son to leave the park with a doughnut as a peace offering. None for mama, she's watching that girlish figure, but oh that smell....mmmmm. Makes me want to be naughty. One of my biggest weaknesses is Krispy Kreme. So I avoid them like the plague because I know I could easily pack on a ton eating those things. But ohhhh...

*sorry drooling*

Anywho, so plan B. We come home. I'm about to settle down to read a book, my son is going to watch Chicken Little for like the 10th time (and yes I know the movie just came out...sigh) and my hubby is playing on his guitar. Which by the way...sigh, I love a man who knows his way around an instrument. He's so good it makes me tingle.

So because I plan to write a minimum of 5 pages tonight after the brood goes to bed up top is a little eye candy for me. Hopefully they'll titillate my muse enough to come back and help me out for a bit. LOL..

Writer beware

2006-03-23T13:55:00.000-06:00

Can you tell that lately I haven't had much inspiration for a good rant? LOL...anyhow, I came across a rant today on Kristin Nelson's blog that really got me thinking. I really wanted to share this with those of you who don't read her blog. Though honestly, if you don't..you should. She's one of the good agents and gives some great industry advice...but I digress.

Anyhow, here's the link:

http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2006/03/flipside-of-group-hug.html

And ummm...wow. Who would'a thunk there were agents out there this calculating. Let's just call them sharks. Anyway, these are reputable agents with good solid sales under their belts who go out and basically whisper seductive promises of grandeur and money in already established authors' ears to get them away from their current agent. Let me stress though, these aren't authors who're the Nora Roberts of the world, these are authors who are getting there, but are creating a buzz along the way. A hot commodity. From what she said they promise you the world, NY bestseller list, gads of money just to steal you away.

And heaven help you if you cave to the devil's lies. Because if they can't make good on their promise they do one of two things. 1. They'll drop you so fast from their roster that you're head'll spin and you'll be black balled from ever getting back with your other agent. or 2. They'll ignore you until you fade back in obscurity and you're black balled from ever getting back with your old agent.

(Also and this is just me, but agents talk to each other..I'm fairly sure you'd never be able to get with another agent after that, because who would want to take a chance on that happening to them? I can think of one author in particular who burned some serious bridges and now we never hear from her. I'm sorry, but I don't want that to be me.)

Beware the sharks. If you ever get to that level..don't listen to the lies. If you love your agent, stick with them. Remember they got you to where you are today and who's to say they won't get you to the bestseller lists eventually. But if you burn bridges believing the lies and can't cut the mustard...be prepared for the repercussions.

I don't know about you, but that's so not worth it to me. I love my agent and I hope if that were to ever happen to me, I'd have enough sense to stick it out with the woman who believed in me first.

Just my two cents.

Novellas making a comeback...ugh, I hope so!

2006-03-22T23:52:00.000-06:00

Check these links out. Courtesy of Ms. Snark:

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/03/nove...elp-us-

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/03/novella.html

SO hurrah for all us novella writing fiends. Personally I love novellas. If they're written well, you can get a full story in less time. And for us mother's, or working women on the go go go, that's a plus. I sure hope they're going to make a huge comeback because I've got several in the works.

Ugh

2006-03-21T22:51:00.000-06:00

I have to work tonight. I really do. Problem is I don't want to. I've grown so lazy where this novella is concerned. I want to write on my sequel. That's where my thoughts are really at. But this novella is a priority, it's already been promised somewhere...a very loose timeline of when it has to get there, but still...promised. What is it about this story that just makes me want to scream, hide under the covers, and never touch it again?

The only thing I can think is that I'm practically rewriting the entire thing. My old epub just sunk and the rights reverted back to me. Story is decent enough and with the rewrites I've done looking much better. But I think my problem might be, when I finish a story I'm done. Over it. Time to move on. I need a serious kick in the rear and a strong pot of coffee to get me through this one.

Blah...

UPDATE: 7 1/2 pages done tonight. Whew, what a relief. Still have another 62 to go. *insert whiny moan here*

If it smells like fish...

2006-03-20T23:22:00.000-06:00

Well..I had no idea what I'd blog about tonight. For once it actually paid to be lazy and surf the net and then inspiration fell in my lap. I stumbled across a site that got me a little worried, and I wanted to give and share my piece, with the world in the hopes of preventing what could become a potentially costly and sad experience.

Ever hear those tales from your writer friends about so and so who fell in with a bad agent, who not only never sold their book but also took their money and ran? Well......

It seems I may have stumbled across just a site. (I say may, because I know nothing about this agency. All the research I've done on them literally brings me nothing...but, they could still be legit. However, if they are..shame on them. Their business ethic sucks the big one)

Here's the link: http://www.starworld-literary.com/index.html

Now...I'm going to highlight a few things that made me instantly suspicious.

1. We work book deals for authors with all of the major publishers, including, but not limited to Random House, Ballantine, Knopf, Crown, Bantam Dell, Doubleday Broadway, Simon & Schuster, The Free Press, Atria/Pocket Books, Fireside, Warner Books, HarperCollins, Morrow/Avon, Regan Books, Viking, Penguin, Putnam, Perigee, Berkley, Dutton, NAL, St. Martins Press, WW Norton, Hyperion, Houghton Mifflin, Farrar, Straus, Giroux, Harcourt Brace, Algonquin, Grove Atlantic, Henry Holt and Bloomsbury, among others. For foreign sales we work in conjunction with sub-agents in every book-buying country in the world. For film and TV sales, we work in conjunction with sub-agents at most of the major talent agencies.

Sounds nice in theory. BUT...they have no client list to speak of. Okay...getting a little leery now. How could they possibly work with every single publishing house in NY and yet, not have a single client to boast about on their pages? And if you look at the established agent websites, you'll note, THEY DO HAVE A CLIENT LIST!

2. We offer consulting services to aspiring writers who seek to self publish. (Then they go on to say this) These services are not for individuals that are only seeking to have a literary agent place their book with a Publisher. These services are for those interested in self-publishing or those that have attempted to get placement and now need/want to self-publish.

WTF??? Since when do you need an agent to help you self pub? Go to LuLu. You can do it yourself, and for much cheaper. Which brings me to the next topic.

3. StarWorld Package I $350.00
Package I is designedfor the person who has a pretty good understanding of how to self-publish and needs minimal guidance to take their title to the market.

StarWorld Package II $850
Package II is designed for the individual/company less experienced in the publishing industry and who is very serious about getting their book self-published and on the market.

StarWorld Package III $2500
Package III is designed for the individual/company in the publishing industry who desires in depth self publishing consultation (publishing and legal) from start to finish.

StarWorld Independent Publisher Package $5,000 (Initial Retainer)
This Package s designed for the companies in the publishing industry who desire in depth consultation (publishing and legal) from start to finish. This package is for those interested in acting as an independent publisher of books.

To this all I have to say is, what the hell do these people think they're doing? And for 5k at that? Please people, please...if you see an agency telling you that for this and this dollars they'll help you SELF-PUB of all the stupid, idotic things...run, run fast and as far away as you can. Granted, they say these packages are more for leaning how to promote your self pubbed book. LOOK, there are several great writing groups out there (Romance Divas for one) who'll tell you how to do it, totally FREE! As in zip, zilch, nada. There are even a few gals on RD who do self pub and do quite well for themselves. Ask them, but whatever you do...do not pay for advice that should be free.

4. (Oh this mission statement is priceless!) Our goal is to work with Authors and Independent Publishers whose works inspire others to live their best life and/or achieve their dreams. Now you may think that this is leaning towards only self-help or inspiration books. All literary genres contain books that inspire people to greatness and living their best life. Our Mystery Author’s work may very well inspire a young man or woman to make the next breakthrough in forensic science. Our Science Fiction Author’s work may inspire the next breakthrough in space travel. A relationship/romance Author may inspire a person to seek improvement in their marriage.

I am not making this shit up people. It's about to make my yack, this is like reading something off a hallmark card. Are you serious? Really? Could you not have come up with something better than that drivel?

5. And finally, to lend them an air of credibility I suppose...A good literary agent will:

Possibly edit--as part of the basic service--the manuscript to make it more marketable. But be careful. If the agent offers to edit the manuscript for a fee or recommends someone specific who can do this, it’s quite possible that the agent actually is in the edit-for-a-fee business rather than the literary agency business.

Really? How interesting. And what would you call charging someone 5k just to learn how to promote a book? Good business?

I'm so disguested, it just sickens me. What's even more sad is that authors, so discouraged with rejection after rejection will sometimes find themselves drawn into this. Not because they're dumb, or even stupid, sometimes you just want to believe. Even if it sounds too good to be true. I don't know what makes me more mad. That they clearly state they're not just working for your book to go to NY...but self pubbing. And yet in the next breath how they've worked contracts with practically each major house in NY. Where? Show me some stats. Make me a believer, because frankly, this sounds like total bullshit.

I'm sorry, but this kind of crap makes me so mad I see red. I should restate however, I know nothing about this group. They could be legit. They could have gads of clients. They could. And that's how they draw you in. Because they are smart enough to not say. Everything sounded so wonderful. Wow. They even talked about movie rights..I mean by now, any unsuspecting author would be seeing stars.

And if anyone knows otherwise about this "supposed agency" please let me know. I'd love to find out I was wrong. I'd love to write a letter of apology and post a list of clients who've scored them hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars. That would be great.

Unfortunately every bone in my body tells me I'm right. So I'll end this rant how I started it.

If it smells like a fish...

Started running again...OY!

2006-03-19T23:49:00.000-06:00

Yeck. I despise running. Hate it. But in order to stay in shape some evils are unfortunately, necessary. Sigh. I started last week, am now up to 1/4 mile nonstop...which is frankly, pathetic. I hate being out there and seeing all these people pass me by and think "There used to be a time when I could actually run 10 miles a day!"

What happened to me?

I could blame it on getting married, having kids, or...I just got lazy. Common problem I suppose. Still, it irks. I hate being so far behind again. At the same time I look forward to getting back into prime shape and bikini ready by summer. (Whether or not that will happen, who can say. But it is my goal.)

Today I had a nice big juicy salad. Which is not so bad for me. Thank God I enjoy the green stuff, otherwise I think I might just chuck this new healthier me out the window and never look back. But I've had an epiphany as of late and that is, I don't want to die young.

Writing what I do, it just makes me think. Death could really happen at any moment. And I know, getting healthier and back into shape may not prevent a premature death, but for me, there's nothing sadder than thinking some deaths (like coronary disease) could have been prevented just by taking care of yourself early on in life.

So that's my goal. Just get healthy, and this time stay that way. Make it a life long habit, teach my son by my actions and not just my words.

It made me so sad today when I saw that the only thing he wanted to eat was chips. It's not that I don't cook. I know how to cook, and quite well thank you very much. But it's so much easier sometimes instead of forcing him to eat the pasta primavera, just to slap a PB&J together, some chips on the side, sippy cup full of juice and call it dinner. So yeah, for better or worse. I'm sticking to it this time.

I'm making a me change...and ya know, for all the whining I do about hating to run...it's actually kind of nice. I like seeing my pants fit me better already. Starting in on a plate of food and going, you know what I'm done. I don't need to finish the rest.

Don't know. This time, I really think I'll do it. Just a crazy little rant about my life. Nothing to do with writing, or otherwise. Sorry if it bored. LOL...

~~Viv

Oh, and if I don't want to die prematurely than I better get off the puter...got a wicked tornado system headed our way. Lightning crashing big time outside my windows. So until then...Ciao.

So I'm bored, what's new?

2006-03-18T18:25:00.000-06:00

Okay, I'm asking you readers a direct question and I'd love some responses. I'm looking for some good books to read. Something to sink my teeth into. I don't care if they are ebooks or print. Here's my preferences.

Recent fave reads:

All the Merry Gentry Books by LKH
Devil in the White City (forgot author name, too lazy to look it up...by the way, this was not a romance. It was a nonfiction book about World Fair held in Chicago and the serial murderer running amok through that town. If you haven't pick this up. MUST READ!)
Moon Call by Patricia Somthing. (Also not a romance. Just a straight up paranormal with slight romantic elements. Very very good.)
Black Jewel Trilogy (Umm..WOW. If you love fantasy. You'll love that)
Kushiel Dart Series by Jaquilene Carey (Don't know if I spelled it right, but anyhow. Love the entire series. Very good)

So now you know the types of books I like. What were some of your favorites? I can read just about anything but category. I've found very few I actually like. No knock on the genre, I just like a more convulated tale. So there you have it. Give it to me.

~~Viv

Book out today!

2006-03-17T12:33:00.000-06:00

My newest novel, Witch Hunt, has been released today from New Concepts Publishing. If you look to the right you'll see the cover, it's the one with the man and the gun. *wicked grin* Don't know what it is about cops, but it's a pretty darn sexy profession. I think it has to do with the superhero theory. Gotta love it.

Anyhow, here's a short blurb of the book:

Lina Brennen has been searching for one thing all her adult life: A place to call home. Between her Granna Merona--the pesky ghost who has been by her side since childhood--and Lina's skills as a faith healer, she's been run out of town after town.

Trent Godfrey has turned his back on his Native American heritage, terrified of anything to do with the Spirit World. Will their love survive the journey through his buried past and help him accept Lina for who she is, or will their hearts be irreparably broken?

The sizzling attraction between them can be stopped by only one thing: Lina's gift. Is their love strong enough to lead him through his buried past? Or will it tear them apart forever?

It's a fun book. Written in a Southwest setting, a little hole in the wall place called Unegi, Arizona. Unegi is an actual Native American Word, I believe it's Souix, but don't quote me. Anyhow, it means ugly, which should pretty much let you know what the town looks like. But there's lots of interesting characters nestled in that ugly little town and this is their story.

Please guys, check it out. Read an excerpt and who knows. Maybe you'll like what you read. :) Here's the link.

http://www.newconceptspublishing.com/witchhunt.htm

Besides, this I've really got nothing else going on today. In revision hell...I'm slashing, ripping and adding onto my little shifter novella and I'm sincerely hoping to have that sucker finished by next week. I sat myself a one week goal, but I didn't accomplish that. I need to send it off as soon as possible so I can start working on my sequel again. LOL..gonna go watch the goonies in the park tonight. Remember Wedding Planner when J-Lo is sitting in a park watching an old black and white movie? Well that's pretty much what's going on for me today. Should be fun.

Much love,
~~Viv

How did I find my agent?

2006-03-16T12:01:00.000-06:00

So I always have people asking me, how long did it take you to get your agent? How many rejections did you receive before actually landing yours? How many years did you write before you knew it'd get accepted? Did you write to the market? Etc...Here's the skinny on me.

First off, my story is probably a little unusual. The saying that getting an agent takes skill and 2/3rds luck is absolutely true. I'm convinced that if I hadn't written what I'd written, and that if it hadn't gotten in front of my agent on just the month that she's actively acquiring for this..that I wouldn't have gotten her in the end. Paranormals used to be all the rage. (And I say used to be because unfortunately the market is getting incredibly saturated with vampires and werewolves.) It's getting harder and harder to break into the para genre anymore because, and especially, there are big names firmly established in this genre who've cornered the market on vampires and werewolves. A few names that come immediately to mind of course are Feehan and Kenyon.

Did I write to the market in the hopes of giving myself a better chance? In all honestly, I'm not sure. Paranormals have always been my favorite genre. I love taking a concept so completely out of the box and make it skate that fine edge between fiction and reality. Make you almost believe for a second..wouldn't it be cool if? But I also knew, I couldn't just write your typical vampire fare and hope to have my stuff come out on top. First (and I love the vampire genre, so I feel I can be objective about this) there's no vampire lore that hasn't already been told a million times in a million different ways. IMHO no one will ever do it better than Anne Rice. Some have gotten close, but not quite. LKH did a great job, 0r so I read on her fan pages, with her first few Anita Blake books, until of course she introduced pages of nothing but sex sex sex. I've never read her Anita Blake series, mainly because (and I may be in the minority here, but) I'm finding it difficult to read anymore vampire tales. I've read so many and all I ever find is that they're cardboard cut outs of the last few I read. Now, I'm still a huge fan of mixing a vampire tale with another paranormal creature. Not just making the vampire the sole focus of the novel. If you do that, you've guaranteed, that this gal at least will always shell out the $6 to buy that book. Even if in the end I know I'll never buy another title by that author, I'll still give everyone a fair shot in the beginning.

But anyhow, I went off on a tangent there...

I said all that to say this. Seeing the market so overwhelmed by vampires, and now, (sad to say) werewolves, I knew that if I wanted a shot at making it I had to write something different. Something that hadn't already been told to death. LOL...and then it just hit me square in the face. What if I used death? Little far out there, kind of a stretch...and maybe people would get weirded out by the whole idea of the grim reaper becoming the hero..but the more I thought about it, the more I knew, I had to write that story. I was connecting to my characters already. I was seeing through their eyes and getting more excited each day that passed. I needed to write this story. Even if it got rejection after rejection, I had to tell their tale.

Death as a living, breathing entity in and of itself is not a new concept, I know this. But browsing amazon, small epubs, and other author's website I was beginning to think this is something very few authors in romance have done and if I can make him just sympathetic enough than I might actually have a chance. So I poured my heart into the story. It wasn't an easy story to write. At first I made the entire story take place on a remote isle with an almost fantasy type setting. But then I read a blog by a big name author that said for first timers, fantasy books are the kiss of the death. No one will touch you, because fantasy isn't a high in demand genre for romance. Okay, true or not, that shook me up. So I took my already 200 + page novel and rewrote the entire thing. Keeping true to the vision of my characters, but now making this an more urban setting..with...you guessed it, vamps and weres as secondary characters.

But hey, it actually enhanced my deathies. Now they were fighting creatures that most para rom readers could relate to. Readers would intrinsically understand how tough it might be to kill a vamp or woflie with your bare hands, as opposed to maybe a troll or goblin. I think mainly because most peoples--aside from the straight hardcore fantasy crowd--only exposure to those types of characters are from Harry Potter. And while I love me some J.K., I don't particularly find her monsters frightening. Except for Voldemort of course...shudder...still gives me nightmares that one. LOL...

SO was it a conscious choice? Did I write to the market? Yeah, I guess somewhat. At the same time, I couldn't have known for sure what the market was, I was just fortunate enough that my guess was pretty spot on. Add to that a book that's a little more sensual, definitely not an erotica, but for sure I've got more than your typical sex scenes in the book. And finally I found a home.

Now, I've said this a million times but I'll say it again, finding an agent is NO guarantee of a sale. It puts your closer, because they are the ones who do know the market. Know what's hot and if they pick you up, there's a better than average chance you're gonna see your book in print. No agent would waste their time signing someone if they didn't believe with all their soul that they'd turn a profit, and hopefully discover the next Anne Rice, Piers Anthony, Nora Roberts..etc. I'm sure that would be a dream come true for them. (This is absolutely no knock to agents. In the end you realize publishing books is a business, you might develop a great friendship with your agent, but this is a business. Always remember that.)

I've no delusions about my writing abilities. I'm good, but I'm no Nora. And I'm alright with that. My goal was only ever to establish my own little niche in the writing world and just have fun. That's always been my goal. But I want to stick around. I don't want to be some flash in the pan, here one day gone tomorrow. So I'll work at it, continually strive to learn more, and hopefully create my own little death reaper following. LOL...

Now as to how long it took me to land my agent. This is why I say my story was a bit unusual. Not sure if I should admit this here, and it's a warning to all of you who've been giving this consideration, but I sent my queries out when I still had 120 pages left to write. Mainly because agents always took sooooo long to get back to me before. I was lucky to hear anything within the 8-12 weeks as most of their websites state. Usually the wait time leaned more towards months than weeks. So when I sent out this big slew of queries I was shocked and horrified when within 2 days one agent skipped the entire partial process and went straight to asking for my full. And that wasn't even my agent!

What happened as a result of that? I finished the book in record time, completed the last 120 pages in under a week, but the book wasn't as good. It had suffered because of that dumb decision. But for better or worse I sent it off. I'd backed myself into a corner and I knew the rejection would come for sure. It did, sad to say.

BUT...there was a silver lining. 2 days after I'd sent that off to the other agent my current agent, Jessica Faust, shot me an email saying how much she loved the partial and to please send her the full immediately.

So let's keep track here. I always add trackers to my packages, that way I know when something gets there and I don't have to pester the agent. So from the time she'd actually received my package to the request for the full was a total of 4 days! Ummm..wow...now I was really nervous.

I understand the first half of my ms was magic, there was something about it because suddenly I was getting more requests than I'd ever expected, but I also knew I'd shot myself in the foot by doing what I did. I'd managed to edit just a bit and tried to clean more of it up by the time she'd asked for the full, but it was still far from good. I was sick to my stomach. Jessica had always been my top pick agent and I knew, just knew, I'd ruined any chance by acting so impulsively and sending out queries before it was finished.

So I sent it and waited for the rejection. Big surprise. Yes, Jessica rejected it. BUT...she also sent me critique. WOW...a detailed, step by step critique of what absolutely needed changing with the words, please resubmit if you decide to make these changes. Also, I'd gained an 'in' with her. I was allowed to skip the entire query process and send over fulls from now on. Oh wow, wow, wow...scrap me off the ceiling.

Timeline check: From the time Jessica received my full it also took 4 days for her to get back to me. So if you add that up. 8 days total!

All of that let me know, she wasn't just liking my story, she was genuinely excited. This time, I took my time. It took me 18 days to complete the over 200 page rewrites and send it back. This time it took her 2 weeks to get back to me, but...it was worth the wait because I finally got accepted!!!

Still gives me a thrill to think about it. Moral of the story is: Don't assume agents always take months to years to get back to you. Sometimes they only take a matter of days and you'd better be damn sure that book is finished, or close enough to it. I was lucky this time. But it very easily could have gone the other way for me.

And I stumbled across a link by another big name author and here're he's thoughts on how to find an agent. Check it out. It's by Nicholas Sparks, and he gives good insight on this topic as well.

http://www.nicholassparks.com/WritersCorner/Agent.html

Much love

How important really is it to have a website?

2006-03-15T18:11:00.000-06:00

The consensus seems to be that websites are a must have for authors, a great source for marketing yourself. But how important is it really? I've heard varied things, that they are not just something nice, but a necessity. A way of showing the editor, agent, etc that you are a serious author. But I have to wonder how true that mentality really is. I mean, we've all read the book jackets that talks about the author...and gasp! some of them don't have websites.

Now before you come chasing me with a wet noodle ready to slap the tar out of me, let me stress, I'm of the mind that yes websites are very important. A way to tell the world look at me, look at my books, browse my forums and you'll see how cool, edgy, and truly awesome I am. In the hopes that you'll eventually become a fan of my work, or at the very least of my blog..heck, I'll take my fans where I can get them.

But...(and you knew there'd be one, because otherwise this wouldn't be a very interesting read would it) do you not know my agent never asked me what my website link was, what penname I go by, etc. Thus far, my having a website, has had very little--if any--impact on getting me to where I am. I know it's a tool for the readers, a way to bring them closer to you, not just as a writer, but a person. A way to let them into the craziness that is a writer's mind, but I sometimes wonder...by having a website, blog, etc...do we lose out on the mystery? On that intangible quality that makes us unique and wonderful? Does the reader, knowing I paid off my bills today, I ate sushi for lunch (I didn't..but I could have..) point is: does that make our work any less interesting by knowing all the mundane, day to day, boring details that really is our lives?

And another thing, why do people suddenly turn all snobby when you say, "oh I've got the free website". So what? There're pop ups on my screen, so what if an ad for viagra is flashing across the header, some of us just can't afford to pay top dollar for that nice, snazzy little piece of cyber property that others can. (And I've got a snazzy piece of cyberspace property..courtesy of JodiciBelle Designs and she's fantastic, but the point is, I couldn't have afforded her even 6 months ago) Does that make us any less serious about 'this writing thing?' IMHO, too much opinion is paid to what type of website we have. Isn't it good enough that we even took the time to get one? Create one? Even if it is junk. We cared enough to try. And yet, there's those haters out there who shout 'nay!' Why? Explain that mystery to me.

I could be way off in left field here, and if I am, tell me so. It's just something I've thought about. Is that something that seems to bother any of you, or could you give a flip and do you really want to tell me right now, Viv, shut the hell up and stop thinking so much about stupid stuff like that and get back to writing!

Inquiring minds want to know...

Agents, NY, and tons of Self-doubt

2006-03-14T13:42:00.000-06:00

So, I received an email today from my agent and you wanna talk about nerves. I'm seriously about to yack. Word is there's a really good buzz going on about my book over there, a lot of editors like the concept and so my agent sent me a list today of the top 6 who're gonna be receiving it this weekend.

I'm not sure whether I should reveal the names, and actually one name shocked the heck out of me, all this time I've been writing and I never knew they dealt with paranormals. I always thought they just pubbed contemps and historicals. And if you've figured out who I'm talking about kuddos to you. Anywho, I'm nervous. Sitting here writing on my blog instead of my novella, why, because I can't concentrate. All I can keep thinking about is there's no way, there's no way these guys are gonna like it.

The "I suck" factor is slapping me hard in the face today. I keep thinking, what am I doing? Why did I do this? Just to be further rejected, and if on the very fat chance one of them likes it and decides to bid on it, then the readers will hate me, label me some cheap knock off of so and so and ugh!!! Do you see these doubts?? They don't end ever. Not even after getting an agent, not even after getting your book in print the first time. Writers are very fragile, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. We may be tough and we may be able to handle a hard critique every now and again, but the sheer thought of having my baby make the rounds in NY is making me break out in a sweat. I don't want to be rejected, I don't want to have to jump back on this merry go round of find an agent, find a publisher. For once I'd like to just know, this is it. I did it. Now the only person holding me back is me.

But trust me, if I come back and tell you in a few months that the book sold to so and so, then the sequel doubts will kick in. A writer's life is nothing but doubt and at least for this writer, a little bit of disgust at my abilities. When, if ever, do you get to the point that you say, you know what?...I'm good. Or, I may not be a Christine Feehan, but I've created a nice little niche and I'm happy with myself. Sigh...or is that a fairy tale and does that point ever really come?

I'm sick to my stomach y'all, can you tell?

Rewrites...hate em! Erotica and writing to the market

2006-03-14T02:29:00.000-06:00

Yuck, okay, let me just start with that. I despise rewriting stuff. Especially stuff I wrote about 3 years ago. Why am I doing it? Why am I subjecting myself to this torture you might ask? Well because the plot was actually interesting enough that I felt it had merit. I'm stripping a few things out, adding a few things in (a lotta few things actually) and it's a slow, agonizing, painful process, but it's reading much better. I'm hoping to turn this 100 page novella into about 15o (much cleaner and crisper reading) page novella. I'm also turning it from just a vampire paranormal to a vampire romantica. Lots more sex and hot romance. When I first started writing I had no concept of how to write a believable sex scene, so I avoided the bastards like the plague. LOL

I still don't know whether I can write a good sex scene or not, but the difference is, I enjoy writing them now, so I add more. Erotica is also a big market, it's hot and heck, why not? I may not be great at writing erotica's, I know there're others out there much more talented at the craft, but I enjoy writing it every bit as much. And I'm not suddenly jumping on the erotica bandwagon to be more marketable either. There's many different genres I enjoy, it just so happens I'm good at paranormals and hot sex. LOL My mind works better in that venue than others, and trust me I've tried my hand at many different genres.

One near and dear to my heart is the Edwardian Era novels. Think Anne of Avonlea. (Bet you didn't know that about me, eh guys? Ms. Goth chick fan over here..lol) Believe it or not, I've been working on one for almost 4 years now.

My problem is the research. LOL. I'll get about 3 or 4 paragraphs deep into it and realize I have no idea the canning method used back then, or the names they had for a stove, or fridge..and if there's one thing I've learned..history readers are also usually history buffs and they'll nail you to the wall if you write an inaccurate time piece, so I've been very methodical writing this book, and if it takes me 10 years to finish it, I eventually will.

So if this post rambled, blame it on the time. I really had nothing to write about tonight, but I wanted to write. LOL...maybe tomorrow I'll put something a bit more interesting here.

Much love,
~~V

Newest blog cloud

2006-03-13T02:22:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this one is a little better. It finally has a few juicy words on there. Still, I need to make this blog more exciting or I'm liable to start snoozing. LOL.

~V

Reggae, update on my writing, banners...life

2006-03-13T00:11:00.000-06:00

So today was a good day. I got tons of crittering done, did about 10 pages in my novella, still rearin' to go, but I have one last crit due. Life is good today. :)

Speaking of which, no music speaks to me more than Reggae. I like it because it's smart, and if you listen, it really does have something to say. It's not all just catchy beats. Anyhow, been hearing tons of buzz about this new Hasidic reggae rapper, Matisyahu. (Meaning, big time extremes of what you think when you think about a reggae rapper) Okay, that got me curious enough that I had to go check this guy out. Apparantly he's making a huge splash with these much jaded critics. Wanted to see if he lived up to all the hype. And um...WOW! The man is on fire. You guys have to got to check this guy out. Here's a link to free aol sessions, so no charge...click on it, what would it kill you. ;)

You may not like him, but you never know, right?? :D Anywho, guys here's the link. Don't be afraid to use it!

http://mp.aol.com/video.index.adp?pls=music.archive.698529.All.sort&start=8&startid=1449222&referer=http%3A//music.aol.com/archive/main/iframe%3Fbase_url%3Dhttp%3A//music.aol.com/archive/main.adp%26browser_client%3Dundefined%26ck%3D1142230777828&mode=1

Also, one of my publishers CobbleStone has created some nifty banners. I'm posting them up here, use them y'all. Authors love to see their banners on other people's pages. :p

Much love,
~V

What color lip gloss are you?

2006-03-12T22:25:00.000-06:00

Fun quiz. Doesn't surprise me what it says though, that sounds about right! :p

You Are Chocolate Caramel Kiss Lip Gloss

Saying that you're one of a kind is ... well ... an understatement.You're unusual, quirky, wacky - and you love to challenge people.
And you are a total trendsetter. Your friends are quick to copy your fashion and music tastes.Which is why chocolate caramel is your perfect flavor. It's as rare and outrageous as you are.

What Flavor Lip Gloss Are You?

Different, but cool

2006-03-12T00:28:00.000-06:00

If you're bored, check out this blog. It's really cool some of the pics she posts up. Go back into the archives too. I can get lost in this blog. Pretty cool stuff in here!

wondywoman

Flock of seagulls Reunite? And industry news..maybe

2006-03-12T00:07:00.000-06:00

So yeah, flock of seagulls aren't reuniting (or if they are I certainly don't know about it)..but these boys could definitely give Flock a run for their money. They're called: Clear Static and they rock! If you haven't heard Make up Sex, you should! The video is steamy, will fog up your mirrors, the lead singer is young, but oh so cute. And if you don't believe me take a peek for yourself. But what really got me more than anything was the style these guys pimp. WOW! I love it, I feel like I'm back in school all over again. Especially that blond drummer, that hairdo is bitchin' (to quote one of the more commonly used phrases during that era..lol) The clothes could have come out of my closet (gawd, did I just admit to still having that stuff around?? I think I did..hehe) Anywho, they rock. Check em out!

Also, read a interesting entry today on Kristin Nelson's blog. Basically, how important are contest wins and she pretty much said what I already figured out months ago. They're not. Which might come as a shock to some people. But she was spot on for her reasoning and I agreed with her completely. It was interesting to hear it straight from the horses mouth as it were. She's a respected agent and I love reading her stuff, she gives some great advice to those just starting out and I'd suggest to anyone, if you haven't yet, go there and read her entries. You'll learn a lot.

Pub Rants

Goth art

2006-03-11T01:58:00.000-06:00

Well with the types of books I write, this artwork just sorta spoke to me. The women look dark, and yet strangely vulnerable. To me the artwork is tasteful and beautiful.
And the second one, is uncanny how similar she looks to my latest vampire creation, Naliah. Hmm...but the first one is pretty cool lookin' too. Wish I'd find some cool ones of guys. Ah well...can't always get what we want, eh? LOL.

Updates and stuff..

2006-03-11T00:32:00.000-06:00

Just a short entry. I'm pretty tired, tomorrow I might post a longer entry. But anyhow. I've totaled 25 new pages on my current ms, Death and the Crimson Night. So yay me! I set myself a goal of 5 pages per day. And I've been pretty much on schedule, but tonight I only managed 3. Blame it on family coming into town, :D, not that I mind!

Also, I saw for the first time ever, Say Anything! OMG, I've been missing out. I've already watched it twice today. For a child of the 80's I must say, shame on me! I loved that movie and I don't know what it is, but I suddenly found myself diggin' that geeky cool thing. Ugh, that guy has just grown hotter the older he gets. Love John Cusack.

So...that's it! I'll have more tomorrow. G'night, y'all.

V

What color green are you?

2006-03-10T16:03:00.000-06:00

You Are Mint Green

Balanced and calm, you have mastered the philosophy of living well.Your friends seek you out for support, and you are able to bring stability to chaotic situations.You're very open and cheerful - and you feel like you have a lot of freedom in life.Your future may hold any number of exciting things, and you're ready for all of them!

What Color Green Are You?