Jaci Burton’s Muse

I’ve spent the past two days doing everything associated with writing EXCEPT writing.

I worked on putting together my March newsletter, brainstorming an upcoming contest, writing up a blurb and selecting an excerpt for my newly contracted book so it could go up on my website, organized reviews that have come in so they could go up on my website, worked on ads and sent in a few website updates. And I don’t even maintain my own site! My webmistress does that for me.

Two full days of non-writing related activities.

Promo is the worst time-sucker in the universe for a published author. Now I don’t write for a big publishing conglomerate who can do a lot of promo for me, so if I want to sell books, I have to do the majority on my own. Then again, I’ve heard even those who write for some of the larger publishing houses can no longer rely on massive dollars being spent on promotion and marketing, either. We’re on our own out here and if you want to make a name for yourself, you’ve got to get said name out there.

Much as we’d like to think readers are going to come knocking at our doors simplyl because our publisher releases our book, that’s not the case. Since I have a background in marketing, I know the first rule about making a sale is that the ‘customer’ (i.e. reader) needs to see your name 8 to 10 times before they’ll remember it. Keeping in mind the sheer volume of authors releasing books each month, you’d better make sure you have something going for you other than “I wrote a great book”. Because if readers don’t know who you are, it doesn’t matter how good your book is - it’s not going to sell.

Now I know there are people out there who disagree with me. They will say ‘Write a good book and it’ll sell.” Sorry, that just doesn’t work for me. In my opinion, it’s all about name recognition. And yes, you also have to write a book good enough that readers will not only want to read it, they’ll want to tell their friends all about it.

So here’s what I do for promo. And it works for me. Whether it’ll work for anyone else, I can’t say, and I’m not implying that what I do is the be all, end all of promotion. It isn’t.

1. Get a website - you have to have a presence on the web where your readers can find you. Go ahead, poll readers. They’ll tell you they want to know all about you and your books, what you’re working on, what you have out and what’s coming out. It doesn’t have to be a huge website. If you’re a newly published author you can start small. I did. I only had a few pages on my site when I first sold. But I had a site and a booklist.

2. Blog. *g* - It’s a way for readers to stay in touch with you and to learn about you. A website is static. They can read but they can’t interact. Give them a way to talk to you.

3. Newsletter - I have fun putting my newsletter together. For those too busy to interact with me on my chat group every day, it’s a way for them to stay abreast of what’s happening in my writing world. Everyone does their newsletters differently. I don’t like to just talk about me, I like to recommend new authors and provide contests and some quirky questions that I pose to other authors. “It’s all about me” newsletters bore me. I like to reach out to my peers to get their input, and if it helps them find new readers, that’s great.

There are a lot more ideas, but it’s Friday night, I’m playing nursemaid to my stepdaughter who had her wisdom teeth taken out, I had to work today, and I’m tired. More later.

And if anyone wants to add to the list, feel free.

Jaci…REALLY hoping she can knock out some writing tomorrow

As a writer, there’s nothing better than having someone to bounce scene and/or plot ideas off of. In order to do this, someone has to be familiar with a) how you write, b) what you write, and c) your current or projected storyline.

That person is my husband, Charlie. Yesterday we were talking on instant messenger while he was at work and I was at home working on a scene. He’d read the first few chapters of my current book already, which is 4th in a series. Since he reads and edits everything I write, he knows my characters as well as I do.

I was faced with a dilemma of where to go with a particular scene, based on some tricky character motivation. So I talked to Charlie about it, and after about 30 minutes of back and forth discussion we had the scene plotted out perfectly. He has amazing insights and I don’t think I tap into those often enough.

I’ve really missed having someone available to talk scene structure and plot. Sometimes I don’t give Charlie my current chapters so he can stay up with me, and then I don’t have anyone to talk to about the storyline. I don’t really use critique partners that much anymore, and even then they tend to get the book after it’s finished, which doesn’t help me while writing it.

Sometimes being a writer is so incredibly lonely. I’m glad Charlie is there to enter my fantasy world and help me wrangle my plot and characters.

Jaci

Though there are days I’m not sure I should admit that… ;-)

DUMB OKLAHOMA LAWS:

Females are forbidden from doing their own hair without being licensed by the state. (SEE? I KNEW I NEEDED MY OWN PERSONALHAIRDRESSER)

Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property. (THAT’LL KEEP THOSE DAMN DOGS FROM TRYING TO ORGANIZE A UNION IN OUR STATE!)

Oklahoma will not tolerate anyone taking a bite out of another’s hamburger. (OH HELL…NO MORE ‘GIMME A BITE’)

It is against the law to read a comic book while operating a motor vehicle. (*HIDES ARCHIE COMICS IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT*)

Whaling is illegal. (COULD SOMEONE PLEASE DIRECT ME TO THE MAP OF OKLAHOMA OCEANS? *g*)

It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots.(I’M JUST NOT SURE WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THIS ONE)

People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed. (OH SURE…TAKE ALL MY FUN AWAY)

Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings. (WHOA, THERE,LITTLE CHEVY *g*)

Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. (*WHIMPER*)
Jaci

No, I’m not talking about the missing brain cell….though I could post ad nauseum about that topic.

I’m talking about LOST, the television show. I’ve been watching faithfully since it began, and it’s got to be my favorite show on television right now.

Yes, the plot is fantastic and filled with twists and turns and secrets galore, but what really gets me about LOST is the characterization.

The good guys aren’t all good. The bad guys aren’t all bad. It’s a writer’s haven here. I learn something new each week about how to draw a human, three dimensional character. (Yes, sometimes I forget the basics of writing…oy!)

No one on that show is perfect. Kate, the beautiful lead, has a dark side. So does Jack, the savior doctor. Sawyer, the gorgeous bad boy, has a soft, wounded side. Every single time I start to hate someone for what they’ve done to someone else on that show, they reveal a facet to their personality that makes me take back every bad word I ever said about them and look at them in a new light.

Which brings me back to my current work in progress.

Sawyer is the bad guy that all us good girls love to love. I was having a problem with the hero in the book I’m writing, when it finally hit me today. I need to take my hero, who has a very painful past, and give him an edge. I have to make him just a little ‘bad’. I have to ….. *gasp*….make him be mean to the heroine.

That’s always so hard for me to do. I never want my characters to be mean. But if I don’t make them real, if I don’t give them flaws, they won’t be three dimensional. They’ll be caricatures of the perfect beautiful woman and the perfect, gorgeous man.

And let’s face it. Perfect is boring.

Off to replot my book and rewrite the first chapter.

It’s my birthday today.

Now I’ve reached an age where I should probably grumble, whine and moan about that, but frankly I’m not going to.

I’m 48 today. And I don’t have a problem with that. I love my life now. I love what I do, I love my family, I love where I’m at now. I have no complaints. I have a wonderful husband who loves me, 3 beautiful children I adore, a few dogs (okay maybe I’d like one more *g*), a writing career that thrills me and the best friends and family online that I could ever ask for.

Being alive and celebrating this day is the best gift I could ever receive.

I’m one happy camper (and no, I’m not on Prozac *g*)

Jaci

I started a new book today, 4th in a paranormal series.

There’s something so comforting, so familiar, about returning to a familiar storyline. My Storm series is about 4 siblings with paranormal powers that affect weather. I’ve known these characters well over a year now, and include all of them in each book. I know them all so well it’s easy to sit down and start writing about them without having to do extensive character profiles.

I feel like I’ve just come home to a family reunion. Now I’m going to sit back, enjoy my coffee, and get comfortable with the characters I love so much.

Jaci

Well, you know the saying.

I’ve been reading a couple weeks worth of blogging by various authors about erotic romance. Some for, some against.

Figured it was time I stuck my .02 cents in there.

I write erotic romance. I write deeply emotional stories that just happen to contain explicit, no-holds-barred, give it to me baby cuz I like it kind of sex.

I never have and never will attempt to hide or make apologies for what I write, or the graphic nature of my books. I write the way I feel real sex should be portrayed. There are going to be people who love what I write, and there are going to be people who loathe what I write and use every possible name in the book to call me a sinner and immoral.

Am I bothered by that? Not really. If I let the naysayers and those who think explicit sex is immoral bother me, then I shouldn’t be writing what I write. If I fear being labeled, then I shouldn’t be a writer. Every writer is labeled in some form or another. For every ten people who love what we write, another ten will stand on their soapboxes with a hundred different reasons why what we write is wrong.

My opinion is that with the proliferation of erotic romance by many publishers, readers are being offered a brand new genre, and many are loving it. With that being said, there are an equal number of writers and readers who will rail to the masses about what’s WRONG with these books and why they shouldn’t read them. It’s their opinion and their right to speak it.

It’s all publicity to me. I don’t mind it, I don’t fear it, I celebrate anyone with an opinion because I will take the liberty of exercising my right of free speech the same as they do. While they are blasting erotic romance and all it stands for, I’ll be on my soapbox celebrating freedom of expression and women who know exactly what they want and go after it.

Progress isn’t always pretty. But it’s always progressive.

Erotic romance writers aren’t going away. The naysayers might as well get used to it. And keep on complaining. It’s good for business. ;-)

Well I’ve surfed blogdom this week and found some fascinating subjects, like reviewers and html and prettying up blogland pages and the like. And I really should state my opinion on several subjects I found quite fascinating.

But I want to talk about something vitally important to my well-being:

Shopping.

I went to the mall tonight, armed with my $10 Victoria’s Secret birthday coupon (gotta love THAT! How did they know my birthday was next week? *g*). Bought 5 pairs of panties and the cutest pair of pink pajama bottoms with white polka dots in a lightweight cotton, anticipating spring, of course.

Then I went to Wet Seal (does it matter than I’m in my forties and shopping at the same stores as my 15 year old stepdaughter? I didn’t think so either *snicker*) and bought a little purple skirt that I intend to wear to the Ellora’s Cave fantasy party at the Romantic Times conference in April. Providing I get my legs in shape by then. And muster up the courage to wear the costume I want to wear.

All in all, quite a satisfying evening. Highlight of my week, actually. After spending 5 days sick with the flu, I needed this little excursion that had nothing to do with work or writing.

Like I said…the important things. Sometimes a shift in priorities is all one needs to perk right up.

Jaci

aka…..the editing process.

Now we’re not talking the edits from the publisher here. We’re talking the “I’ve written the first draft and it’s crap” kind of edits.

So my euphoria at finishing my book the other day ended when I realized I now had to go back and edit the book.

I love creating new work.

I hate editing it.

Why am I not perfect to start with? I’ve heard of other authors who say their first draft is the only draft they write of the book. Clearly a phenomena I’m unfamiliar with.

I get the basics down just fine. But I also have body part choregraphy issues (i.e. back breasts and 3 arms in the sex scenes), a tendency to be redudant with certain words (senses..that was the word for this book…senses…I’m almost afraid to do a search and see how many times I used that word in one book), and I love to be inconsistent (the heroine had blue eyes in chapter one and the darn things turned brown by chapter ten…don’t ask me how that happened…they’re not MY eyes!)

Which means close and careful editing. And it’s just not fun. My muse is already pummeling me with ideas for the next book….SHE doesn’t want to spend time editing.

Then again, I think the muse may be onto something. Perhaps I should listen to her. ;-)

Jaci

Dream On released by Ellora’s Cave today.

Since her husband Jack left her five years ago, Kate has done nothing but dwell on the anger and feelings of betrayal, vowing to forget their twenty year marriage and move on. But she can’t. She dreams about him every night. Dreams of his smile, his touch, the way he used to look at her and the way he made love to her. Her body responds as if he’s really there, but in the harsh light of morning she knows that she’s living in the past and needs to let go.

When Jack suddenly returns without explanation of where he’s been or why he left, Kate fights the attraction that still smolders between them. Determined to win her back at all costs, Jack reminds her of the passion they shared, when every touch, every look, every word sent her soaring into heights of ecstasy. It’s like a dream she can’t wake up from, a trip to the past when life with Jack was wonderful. But the past is over and Kate is determined not to live in dreams any longer, even if that means she has to face reality and live without the man she’s loved all her life.