Jaci Burton’s Muse

We left yesterday morning early for the long drive to Atlanta. After 6 hours we’d gotten just south of Memphis when my husband got a phone call from his sister, announcing that his father was in really bad shape. Like bad enough that the doc said for her to call us home. (Dad’s been in a nursing home for awhile).

Needless to say we turned the car around and headed back home. (Nothing like driving for 12 hours and ending up back in the same place you started *g*).

Turns out Dad has an ecoli infection that is reallllly bad and affecting his kidneys, and he had a heart attack. Things are still up in the air, so no convention for me this year and no blogging from Nationals.

To everyone going, have a blast, and definitely have a nice tall drink for me. I’ll need it ;-)

I’ll be checking out all the bloggers for convention news!

Packing sucks.

I need new shoes.

We’re heading out tomorrow because we’re going to visit a friend of my husband’s in Atlanta. Did I mention we’re driving? Twelve or thirteen glorious hours in the car. Bleh.

I love the time I spend at conferences. It’s the whole preparing to go and getting there that I loathe. Travel is tedious and tiresome.

And packing really does suck. *g*

But I do have a really cool converter which will allow me to hook my laptop into the car and use it without having to rely on the battery, so I’m hoping for some writing time. Though car trips make me sleepy, so we’ll see.

Did I mention how much packing sucks?

I’ll be back online sometime Monday night when we hit the hotel. When I’ll have to unpack.

Unpacking sucks. ;-)

So I hit the mall today.

I bought underwear.

Hardly something I’ll be showing off publicly at Nationals, though I do tend to wear tank tops with the peeking bra strap. Trendy? Probably not this year. Cooler than wool? You betcha *g*

It’s HOTlanta. If it’s anything like O-myGodisithot-klahoma right now, we’re talking the fires of hell kinda hot. I’m not dressing up. I’m thinking skirts, capris, summer dresses, sleeveless tops and I’ll bring a sweater in case there’s an arctic workshop. I’m all about the casual. I’ll dress fancy for the publisher soirees.

I read somewhere in blogland that you have to pick and choose your clothes carefully because the fashion police will be watching, critiquing everything everyone wears. Do people really scour the crowds and pick on what other people are wearing? Unfreakin believable.

I never paid the slightest attention to what everyone else wore last year. If you aren’t running around in sweats or gym shorts, then I think you’ll look fine. Dress comfortably. Leave the pantyhose at home so they don’t melt on your legs. It’s going to be 9000 degrees there and you’re going to be packed in with 2000+ women (mostly women, anyway). So not the time for the business suit and hose. Unless you dig the whole business suit and pantyhose and high heels look– then by all means, go for it. I promise not to make fun of you. I’ll leave that up to the fashion police, though they’ll probably be too busy picking on me because my bra strap will be showing *g*

Angie does a great thing on her blog called Teaching Tuesdays. Since she’s also an editor for Samhain Publishing, she puts up a blog every Tuesday with teaching tidbits about the industry. Yesterdays was about Rejection.

Nobody likes to have their book rejected, but most of us have been there done that, probably more than once from either a publisher, agent or both. For an awesome detailed editorial viewpoint on rejection and how it can help you grow as a writer, go read Angie’s blog (link above)

However, I thought I’d have a little fun with rejections today and lighten it up a little. For those who’ve received the dreaded rejection letter, like me, sometimes you shake your head and search for meaning. Sometimes there is no meaning. Sometimes they’re infuriating, hysterically funny and just downright ridiculous.

These aren’t actual rejections….I might have taken a rather tongue-in-cheek approach. And thanks to Mandy for her input. hehehe.

Rejections

I really loved this, I just don’t know what to do with it. (Uhhh you could publish it)

Your plot was great, characterization was right on, fast paced, high concept and eminently marketable. But I just didn’t love it. (Right, cuz it has all those ‘flaws’. Doh!)

This didn’t work for us. (Because……..?????)

Thank you for being so patient while we’ve had your book the past 18 months. Unfortunately, we bought a story exactly like yours. Yesterday. (Of course. Tell me this hasn’t happened to you at least ONCE)

My assistants’ second cousin’s brother’s uncle got this back to me and didn’t feel it would fit within our agency. Thank you for waiting 2 years to hear back from us. (Oh no problem. I didn’t really want to publish that book anyway. It’s merely a paperweight on my desk)

Twenty-four people in our publishing house read your book. Twenty-three people thought it was stellar and recommended it, but our Senior editor hated everything she read that day so we can’t buy it (That makes perfect sense to me. No really, I totally understand. NOT)

However, we’d be happy to look at something else from you….. (*whimper*)

So c’mon….share some classics with me. I’m doing copyedits and need a laugh today *g*

Congrats to my pal Diana Peterfreund on the release of Secret Society Girl today!

Go buy this book! You’ll love it!

Surviving Demon Island received a quote from the fabulously talented Cherry Adair!

Squeeee!!!!!

Creative, scary, sexy and fast paced. Jaci Burton delivers.
~Cherry Adair – NY Times Bestselling Author

So I’m sitting here pondering Nationals this morning.

And while I’m doing so, I want to point out this very cool blog that I’m going to be linked to while I’m there.

Check out BloggingNational, a blog devoted entirely to all the writers who’ll be blogging while at the conference. So those of you who aren’t going this year will have a direct link to those who will be blogging about it while there (wow, can I say ‘blog’ a bit more in this paragraph? *g*). I thought this was a great idea!

Anyway, I’m editing my portion of the workshop I’ll be presenting with fellow Berkley author Shelley Bradley. We’re presenting a workshop in Atlanta entitled Plotting The Erotic Romance (Hint: It’s Not Porn). Hehehe. Isn’t that a great title? Anyway, for those going, we’re giving it Friday, July 28th from 2-3 p.m. so check us out!

I have to admit I’m feeling a bit like Cinderella at the ball at this year’s Nationals. And I’m rather excited that I get to have dinner with my Bantam editor, breakfast with my Berkley editor and my agent is hosting a HUGE party for all her clients since she’s located right outside Atlanta. This year I get to attend both the Bantam and Berkley cocktail parties. It’s kind of like getting the keys to the magic kingdom for the first time *g* and I admit to feeling a little starstruck about the whole thing.

I’m having bookmarks printed with my upcoming Bantam/Dell release and will be handing them out to EVERYONE there, and I’m really excited to be able to talk to people about my book.

Though I’ve been an RWA member for several years, last year was the first national conference I attended. I enjoyed it tremendously, having signed with my agent a few month’s before the conference. It was a thrill to meet my agent face to face for the first time. I hadn’t yet scored that big NY deal then, so I just soaked it all in. I did give a workshop last year on erotic romance, signed Ellora’s Cave books at the literacy signing and had an absolute blast being around other writers. I drooled over some of the amazing authors signing their books at the publisher signings, damn near sobbed when Linda Howard said she’d read my books (total awestruck moment for me *g*) and came away from the conference inspired and excited and eager to submit my finished proposal to my agent. A few weeks after Nationals we sold Surviving Demon Island to Bantam at auction. Hard to believe that was almost a year ago.

I wonder what will happen a year from now?

I wonder what I’ll wear to Nationals this year?

Ack. That’s for another blog post. *g*

Berkley Heat proposal is out the door!

*momentary dorky happy dance*

So I thought I was going to jump right into A Demon Is Forever, the second Demon Hunters book. Except I got an email today saying copy edits for Surviving Demon Island are on the way. And I’d really like to get them done before I leave for Atlanta, which is a week from tomorrow. Eeeek!

So once again ADIF has to wait. But that’s okay, because I’m actually kind of excited to do copy edits on SDI. This is my last chance to read through this book and make it ‘pretty’. To make sure everything is in place, the world building is sound, the consistencies are….consistent….lol. And so on and so on. Plus doing one last read through will refresh me on my Demon Hunter series since I had to put ADIF aside to do the Berkley proposal (I call this the book hop), so by the time I get back to ADIF, SDI will be fresh in my mind again and my worldbuilding should kick butt. *grin*

At least in a perfect world, that’s how it works. Unless another book hop comes along…like edits for Wild, Wicked and Wanton or my EC book. *snort*

So all you writers out there, how do you handle the book hop?

How can it be freakin Thursday already? Have I been buried in this plotline so long I’ve lost track of time?

Don’t answer that *g*

So version 5 of the plotline from hell seems to have gelled. Anyway, this is the one I’m submitting. Synopsis is done, chapters are done. Just have to edit and they’re off to my agent and editor. Gah, I’ll be so happy when that project’s off my desk. (Thank you Shelley Bradley for taking a look at the chapters. You rock, babe.)

I miss my demon hunters and am anxious to get back to them.

I leave for Atlanta next Saturday. We’re going early to visit some friends. We’re driving. Like 12 hours in the car. But that’s okay…have laptop and power converter. No internet. Uninterrupted writing time.

I have no idea what I’m going to wear. I still have to work up my part of the workshop I’m giving at Nationals. Will work on that today after final proposal tweaking.

I have a lot to do.

When don’t I have a lot to do?

Have y’all been to Diana Peterfreund’s blog? She’s running a daily giveaway in preparation for the imminent release of Secret Society Girl (I really want a hoodie *g*). Have you ordered this book yet? If not, be prepared to run to the bookstore and get it on release day, which is July 18th. It’s awesome!

Vrooooom Vrooooom!!!!

Start your engines, race fans! Trophy Girl by Melani Blazer has been released by Samhain Publishing!

It’s a rockin ride that keeps the adrenaline pumping and the heart zooming along. I loved this book. Hot, sexy and oh so romantic with just enough race lingo for the expert Nascar fan to enjoy.

From start your engines to the checkered flag, Trophy Girl is a winner! I highly recommend it!

Buy it now at Samhain Publishing

What would you do?

Hint, he’s not taking no for an answer, so be ready at 6…