Day 25 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 25 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Ana Calin and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Ana and her book The Blacksmith.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

In a world of romance where boy meets girl and their cheeks turn red with a heavy crush, we forget to give a chance to fiery, passionate love to those who’ve known the hardships of a worn relationship. Ex-husbands and ex-wives tend to seek thrill in new partners because that’s what society seems to promote. “The Blacksmith” explores the psychological depths of forbidden desires that are eating at the core of family people, seeking to shatter the legend of ‘born virtue’ but also to give romance a new track: girl met boy long ago, got married, now both lost interest and guess what? She’s into a much younger guy. Now where to? “The Blacksmith” is the electrifying story of a woman who will rediscover the power of youth and the bliss of falling in love, challenging head on the principles of society and the very human condition. I would yet add this for my beloved readers: don’t think you got this figured out…

Biography

Ana Calin was born in 1984 in Constanta, Romania. Avid for fairy tales and stories as a child, her mother taught her to read at the age of four and, discovering the girl’s love for foreign languages, hired an English teacher when Ana was eight. By the age of ten she had read Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights and Great Expectations in the original language. Ana studied English and German Language and Literature in high school and later on in university. In 2005 she received a scholarship for one year in Bielefeld, Germany, and met her husband, also Romanian, upon her return to her hometown in 2006. Following her wedding in 2009 she returned to Germany with her husband and has been working ever since as a translator and interpreter of English, German and Romanian. Her area of expertise covers not only fiction but also psychology and science, which inspires her writing and allowed her to craft her first novel, The Blacksmith, as a grounded fantasy relying on concepts that are feasible at least in theory. She currently lives in Berlin.

A dangerous love story with a twist. Romance and thriller merged in a fantasy that is actually possible.

Aurelia Novac’s life and marriage to Damian take an abrupt turn when she meets the unnaturally handsome Ivan Grabianko. Ivan is Aura’s student, a forbidden fruit who challenges her morals and casts her in a fight against guilty desires, but also the main suspect when teachers start dying violent deaths. Refusing to believe that Ivan is a cold blooded murderer and convinced the police is covering the real killer’s tracks, Aura starts an investigation of her own, seeking to save herself and those she cares for. Following the available threads – DNA traces and an alias, The Blacksmith – she will find herself drawn in a war between secret societies led by superior humans, in which the Blacksmith is a purpose in himself, a deadly demon born of man. Aura will go unveiling the meaning behind the Blacksmith’s alias and dark mysteries of the very human race, yet all at a heavy cost – she will become consumed with love for a dangerous man whose innate nature ist to kill…

So, go over and check out Ana at Amazon, you won’t be disappointed.

Don’t forget to check out Rosie’s side of the tour at http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/romancing-september-tour/

Day 23 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 23 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Fay Cunningham and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Fay and her book Forgottten.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

There will always be a market for light romance. A feisty heroine, a gorgeous hero, a blossoming love affair and plenty of excitement. Pure escapism. The perfect antidote to the stresses of modern life.

In spite of the e-book revolution, I don’t think the challenges for writers of romantic fiction have changed all that much. We still have to provide a good story with lovely characters and (usually) a happy ending. There are a number of sub-genres in romantic fiction, from erotica to the supernatural and everything in between, but we still have to keep our readers entertained – and that will always be our biggest challenge.

Biography

Fay lives in a small town in Essex, England, with her husband. She is now retired, so she has more time for writing. She has been published by Robert Hale, has several books with Lindford Romance in large print, and two books with Harlequin Worldwide Mystery Library in the USA and Canada. Her books are available on Amazon for Kindle. Fay loves to travel, and has visited many European countries. She has also been to Hawaii where her husband’s sister lives.

Check out Forgotten

Publication Date: February 8, 2013

Driving home in the dark Serena stops to help an injured man lying in a ditch, but that is only the start of her problems. Someone is watching the apartment she shares with her brother, her mother is being particularly secretive, and police detective Jack Armstrong is convinced Serena is hiding something. Just when she thinks things can get no worse, her missing father turns up. This is definitely not the time to fall in love.

Go over to Amazon and check out Faye’s books.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2uf

Day 20 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 20 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Hazel Osmond and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Hazel and her book Playing Grace.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

That’s a really good question and for a while I worried about that very thing – how could I, a woman of a certain age, get the tone spot on when writing about people younger than I was? Even more worrying – was romance itself a bit of an outdated concept? Isn’t the modern world a bit more cynical?

Then I stopped worrying. I mean, I don’t live in a cave – I’m out there in the world and as far as I can see, while people today might be more sharing with information about their lives, while they might employ different means to meet potential partners and perhaps be more open about their sexual needs – the big emotions are the same as those that powered people who actually did live in caves.

I still firmly believe that you can leave your house one morning thinking your life is going one way and then ‘zap’ you meet someone and everything changes. And while I don’t think people in today’s society expect love to solve everything in their lives, I do think that moment of attraction is one of the most powerful pieces of magic around. Finding someone to love, who loves you back in the same way, is still something millions of people wish for.

So now I don’t think the biggest challenge is to ensure you drop into your story the right buzz words and a suitable level of weary cynicism, it’s to make sure that you show how the fundamental emotions are still powering people and how that works in what is a more complex society. People have so many more choices these days – women aren’t like Cinderella waiting for their prince to come – and I suppose that’s why I write romances with humour. Trying to find love and make it last in the modern world calls for flexibility and a sense of humour and my books show that. Which, hopefully, will make them stand the test of time!!

Biography

I lived in a load of places when I was growing up, but I suppose Bath, in the West Country, UK, is my home town as far as being the place that shaped me the most when I was younger. Now though, I’ve lived in the North East of England for over thirty years, so my home town is Newcastle upon Tyne, UK – bold, vibrant, friendly. I love it.

Grace is pretending to be someone she isn’t to hide a big set of secrets from her past – so she’s playing a role. Tate, the American guy who explodes into her life senses that there is more to her than meets the eye and sets about trying to tease out the real Grace – so in a way, he’s playing her.

Go over to Amazon and check out Hazel’s books.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2vw

Day 17 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 17 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Marina de Nadous and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Marina and her book The Celestial Sea.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

The story, although a romance, was never planned. I faced no challenges apart from the huge ones interwoven through the tale—namely those of moral expectation and accepted codes of practice. My story is more of a personal discovery/quest and will resonate with readers interested in self-development, spirituality and mystery. I could speak about considered restraint versus overt sexuality; poetic nuance versus the currently popular BDSM, but I would rather readers read my books and decided for themselves.

Biography

For privacy Marina has kept her face in the dark. She is from Frome in Somerset, UK and has only been writing for 7 years.

Publication Date: June 20, 2012

A glorious, exciting and heart-wrenching tale, The Celestial Sea is the first book in a new series.

This is the story of an English housewife and mother and an artistic Kiwi man; musician, woodsman and teacher, who find themselves embracing life in the Southern Hemisphere in the most unexpected and extraordinary way. Plucked from the bosom of all she has ever known; she finds herself exploring the beautiful land of Aotearoa, New Zealand, in the company of a thrilling companion whose own settled, community life is challenged by her arrival.

Walking a fine line between blessing and disaster their creative liaison becomes a clandestine love affair of epic proportion, surprising them both with its spiritual truth. Dare they merge their growing affection into an everyday reality? Through the often hilarious adventures that make up their ‘ordinary’ routines they find themselves escaping to the tranquillity of their imaginary boat, The Celestial Sea; sailing for many months in uncharted waters and alighting upon shores of such passion and sensuality that they risk capsizing, causing an almighty scandal in the harbour.

The Celestial Sea culminates as the profundity of their connection leads to a tragic ending of thwarted love – but is it really the end…? Find out in the subsequent books planned for the series entitled Dry-Dock, Setting Sail, Calm Waters, No Horizon, Kookaburra on the Deck, Time is the Brake.

Go over to Amazon and check out Marina’s books.

Here’s the link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2uM

Day 16 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 16 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Lizzie Lamb and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Lizzie and her book Tall, Dark and Kilted.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

As a reader and writer of romance I enjoy novels with a satisfying resolution and incumbent happy ending. One where the hero and heroine survive the trials and tribulations of their – often stormy – relationship, but in the end realise they are meant to be together. Forever.

However, I have noticed that many ‘romances’ nowadays feature as their central themes: infidelity, abusive relationships, and single/divorced parent struggling against the odds. Add to those tropes novels which regularly feature middle-aged/middle class heroines suffering from low self-esteem and/or ‘empty nest’ syndrome. In short, novels which hold a mirror up to society and encourage the reader to examine their own lives against its reflection.

Bucking that trend, perhaps, I write about the moment when one falls in love and I want readers to recapture the buzz, whatever their ages. I know from feedback that my readership wants to remember the magic of that moment, too. I also enjoy writing about warm, emotion driven sex between my hero and heroine – once their internal/external conflicts have been resolved, naturally! Judging by the reviews I’ve received (67 in amazon.co.uk/56 in amazon.com) the majority of my readers feel the same way.

I like romances full of sparky dialogue between the hero/heroine – and the funnier, the better. I enjoy placing my heroine in a situation where she has to use native wit, intelligence and resourcefulness to get her out of trouble – without the hero’s help. My second rom com: Boot Camp Bride, which is due out this autumn, contains a large element of romantic suspense.

In short I couldn’t write a book I wouldn’t enjoy reading. I want my readers to close my novel with a happy sigh and with a smile on their lips. And to search the internet for my next book!!

Biography

If you have a dream – go for it.
Life is not a rehearsal

With Scottish, Irish, and Brazilian blood in her veins, it’s hardly surprising that Lizzie Lamb is a writer. She even wrote extra scenes for the films she watched as a child and acted out in the playground with her friends. She is shamed to admit that she kept all the good lines for herself. Luckily, she saves them for her readers these days. Lizzie’s love of writing went on hold while she pursued a successful teaching career, finishing up as a Deputy Head teacher of a large primary school. Since deciding to leave the profession to realise her dream of becoming a published novelist, Lizzie hasn’t looked back. She wrote Tall, Dark and Kilted – which echoes her love of her homeland in every page, not to mention heroes in kilts – and published it. Lizzie loves the quick fire interchange between the hero and heroine – like in old black and white Hollywood movies – and hope this comes over in her writing.
For her second novel: Boot Camp Bride (due out autumn 2013) she’s had enormous fun researching VW camper vans, the Norfolk Marshes and the world of journalism. Not to mention falling in love with a delicious new hero – Rafael Ffinch.

Fliss Bagshawe longs for a passport out of Pimlico where she works as a holistic therapist. After attending a party in Notting Hill she loses her job and with it the dream of being her own boss. She’s offered the chance to take over a failing therapy centre, but there’s a catch. The centre lies five hundred miles north in Wester Ross, Scotland. Fliss’s romantic view of the highlands populated by Men in Kilts is shattered when she has an upclose and personal encounter with the Laird of Kinloch Mara, Ruairi Urquhart. He’s determined to pull the plug on the business, bring his eccentric family to heel and eject undesirables from his estate – starting with Fliss. Facing the dole queue once more Fliss resolves to make sexy, infuriating Ruairi revise his unflattering opinion of her, turn the therapy centre around and sort out his dysfunctional family. Can Fliss tame the Monarch of the Glen and find the happiness she deserves?

Go over and check out Lizzie at Amazon

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the tour: http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2xX

Day 6 of Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 6 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Briana Vedsted and I want to thank her for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Briana and her book The Untold Story of Margaret Hearst, alias Maugrim Valletta.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

The biggest challenge for me is to keep my work ‘clean’. I write for young adults, meaning that kids as young (or even younger!) than twelve years old can be exposed to my work. I enjoy writing love stories, but I want them to be the kind of books that could be read aloud to young children and not be offensive to anyone. I write the books I wish could be available to all young readers, the books that I wouldn’t mind if my kids read. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against real romance novels, but for me, there’s no way I could even begin to write that way. The schooling I received since kindergarten was very Christian-based, and I’d want my advisers to be able to read my books without me worrying that they’d see the content as inappropriate.

Let’s Meet Briana!

Biography

Briana Vedsted lives in the country, on a ranch operated by my parents. For the past six years she has been employed by her father, Rob, working cows and irrigating his three hundred acre farm. Having grown up in a farming community, Briana has a deep appreciation for the nearby Indian ruins and all the Old West history. She’s a big fan of Louis Lamoure books and John Wayne movies. The smell of pine and aspen trees, trips to the mountains on horseback, and her highly imaginative daydreams inspired her to write western books. Briana’s love of magic and mystery, such as the movies Eragon and Brave, and books like Twilight and The Kane Chronicles, as well as a family history that includes the first King of Wessex, England and many princesses, knights, kings, lords, and even a saint, has really has influenced her yet-to-be-published fantasy books.
Two years ago Briana began focusing her attention on trying to get one of her books published. Briana mainly write books for middle grade, teens, and young adults.

About the Book The Untold Story of Margaret Hearst, alias Maugrim Valletta.

Daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the county, sophisticated Miss Margaret Hearst meets a young thief who steals her heart. Her parents forbid Margaret to ever see the boy again, but she runs away with him. Unbeknownst to Margaret, she is being followed by a man she’s known all her life: LJ Steffen. LJ loves Margaret and fears for her safety; he is determined to win Margaret’s heart. And one day, Margaret’s boyfriend casts her out of his life and she nearly dies, will LJ arrive in time to save her? And if he does, will Margaret finally love him back, even though she’s disregarded his feelings for her for the past several years?

So, go over to check out Briana Vedsted on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Untold-Margaret-Hearst-Maugrim-Valletta/dp/1482004739

Here’s a link to Rosie’s side of the tour today:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2qc

The Editing Process – What?

Well, I’ve been busy with the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour that has been going on since September 1st along with my friend Rosie Amber. It’s been pretty awesome to say the least. The 30 authors in the lineup are great and everyone needs to go over and check them out.

As for my writing, well let’s just say it’s been an interesting couple of weeks. As you may remember I had slated for Victoria to be released on September 15th, well it’s actually going to be September 30th. I had a issue with, dare I say, Editing 🙂

When I’m writing I normally step back every so many pages and reread that section. It’s just a habit I have and it keeps me focused on the work ahead and what was behind me. Well, this one, somewhere around the middle I got so into the writing that I shirked that habit and kept on writing. Not good…

While I was doing my first edit I did my usual spell check to start with. As I meandered down the list of the usual extra spaces and misspelled words, I found almost a whole paragraph of just random letters. I was perplexed for a moment, then as I read the paragraph above and below I remembered that section was from one of my late night writing sessions. Guess I was writing and not actually looking at my work. I’m bad about that when I’m really into it. Not a good habit.

Well, Spellcheck was complete and I began to read the story. I had the usual things to change like wording that when read again did not quite work and scene issues. Then I ran up on a funny little mishap. For some reason my character Victoria had suddenly gotten electricity in her home, keep in mind this book is based during the Civil War, no electricity in this home. But sure enough, she flipped on the light switch. I did a double take on that one. Then I laughed hysterically, it had been a long day, at my goof. She should have lit a lantern, not flipped on the light switch. Really, she was the first to have electricity in her home, no not really.

As I’ve stated in several of my blogs, editing is a must. If I’d have not edited and sent that out, well let’s just say, it might have gathered a few sarcastic reviews. Editing is a tedious process, but if you do it while writing and then as soon as you finish it’s an easier task.

So, learn from my goof ups, edit, edit, edit. Oh, and then edit some more.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You!

Here’s a couple of links to check out:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2t6 Day 5 of our blog tour from Rosie

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/353698

Day 5 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour

Welcome to Day 5 of the Romancing September Across The World Blog Tour. The question I put out to all of these authors was “What challenges do you face in writing romance in today’s society?”

Don’t forget to go over to Rosie Amber’s page and check out her page too. I’ll put the link at the bottom of this post.

Today my guest author is Robynn Gabel. A big thanks to Robynn Gabel for blogging with me today. Here is a little about Robynn and her book Windswept Hearts.

What Challenges do you face writing romance in today’s society?

Having started my writing career later in life, I realize I may not be in touch with today’s younger generation. The taboos of my early years, may not apply in this day and age. For a writer to be successful we must take in the current trends, even if we may not like them. Morals have shifted, social settings have changed, and language is always evolving.

So first you must set what age group you are trying to reach, the era you want to write in. As a first time author I knew I had to write about something I knew about. It would have been easier to set it in a historical era that would have gone along with my comfort zone, but I knew more about the western culture I live in so I chose a more comfortable route. With any good story there is research, even if you live in it. Historical romance takes more research time than it does to actually write the book. I know this because I’ve been studying the Viking age for years, hoping to write a romance in that time period. But to test the waters, I chose to write a contemporary western romance, Windswept Hearts.

Then there are the questions, how far do I take the interpersonal romance? How much physical intimacy? I had to decide again who I was trying to reach. I also had to decide what I was comfortable writing. What level of erotica would I include? Ultimately, that was decided by my characters personalities, belief systems and age group. It is tempting to jump on the newest trend, but I have found it is my characters and the story they have to tell that determines what I will write.

Ultimately, I feel the genre of romance is a smorgasbord of choices, which gives me the greatest field of creativity. My only challenge is writing well enough to capture my readers interest and hold them captive until the end of the story.

Biography

When Robynn Gabel was a little girl, her mother was in despair over the tall tales she would come up with. Her mother would scold her saying, “I hope you can put that over-active imagination of yours to good use someday.!” So she decided to be an obedient daughter and follow her mother’s advice.

Robynn’s love of literature began with Dr. Seuss and hasn’t ever stopped. With the advent of the Internet she is never at loss for material. Through the years Robynn wrote extensively for business, blindly producing proposals, letters, advertising, convention fliers, and promotion material.

Several years ago, Robynn was talked into becoming the editor and producer of the church newsletter. During a search for material she ran across an ad for the Christian Writer’s Guild Convention in Colorado Springs. On a whim, she went and ended up sitting next to a publishing agent for Christian romances. After a nice chat Robynn was asked if she had any material. Amazed that someone thought she might be a writer, it ignited the fire that had been smoldering since high school. She signed up for a two year, on-line course through the Guild.

Since then, it has been a journey equal to that of any of J.R. Tolkien’s characters. She learned to blog, format, edit, Facebook, and Tweet. She has an interest in several genre’s but for now she wrote about the world she knows best, Romance.

Windswept Hearts is now available here on Amazon in both Kindle and paperback. Set in the contemporary west, it chronicles the struggles of a city girl who has inherited a very unwanted cattle ranch. Robynn is currently working on several other projects including a paranormal story involving the mysteries of autism, and a history romance set in the Viking era.

Robynn would be happy to chat and answer any questions you might have. She looks forward to continuing in this amazing journey of creating stories and hope you want to come along with her!

Windswept Hearts

Publication Date: January 1, 2013

Anna Sanchez, a recent college graduate, has inherited the family cattle ranch. Having promised her mother she would take care of it, she is now faced with a tough choice. She is a city girl, and running a cattle business certainly isn’t in her plans. A lot of repairs need to be done and she hires Steve Johnson, a local handyman. Their first encounter leaves them both at a disadvantage. Through the summer’s adventures, including a wildlife encounter that turns deadly, and a shadow from her past, Anna will learn that things don’t always go according to even the most organized aspirations.

Go on over and check out Robynn’s Books

Here’s a link to the other side of the tour over at Rosie’s page:

http://wp.me/p2Eu3u-2t6

Romance Authors

It’s funny the looks you get when you tell some people that you’re a romance author. Some smile and ask what you’ve written, looking interested. Then you get the ones that roll their eyes and say “You write that crap?” That really just makes me steam over.

Romance novels are one of the biggest selling genres out there, but we still get the stigma of writing romance hoopla so to speak. I would like for one of those that roll their eyes to come on over and sit in one of our shoes for an hour of editing. They’d be saying, hey, I get it. It’s not that easy.

Writing is an art. Either you have it or you don’t. I’ve noticed over the years different writers come and go. They give under the stress of promotion and sales flucuations. It’s definitely not a get rich quick scheme, so if that’s what you’re in it for, you might want to move on to the next thing on your list.

As for me, I enjoy writing romance. It just excites me to get into a good romantic tale and to see where it can go. I have the control over that ending. I can take it in any direction I want to. I’m not a control freak by no means, but when it comes to where my stories go, my characters have to stand up and pay attention or they’ll get killed off in a nasty punch of the delete key. 🙂

In honor of romance authors, my friend Rosie Amber from the UK and I are teaming up to do a blog tour. It is Romancing September Across The World. We have 30 authors in 30 days. Rosie starts each day off in her time zone with a Q & A and then when the sun rises over Georgia I ask them a question and give them a plug for their latest book.

We have a great lineup of authors. I will have a list of the authors on my home page and Rosie will too. I will put a link to Rosie’s page below so that you can go over and check it out.

As always good writing and May God Bless You…

http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/

Behind the Books

As a reader you don’t know what goes into the books you read. You walk in a book store or browse through the lists of books on your computer, but have you ever thought about what happens behind the scenes to make that book that you hold in your hand possible. Well, let me enlighten you.

As a writer I can tell you there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to make that book real. It’s a work in process, it’s the heart of the writer, and it’s the work of usually more than one person.

Steps to the birth of a book:

1: The inspiration – Without the idea or inspiration for the storyline, there’s no book. The author’s ideas, memories, or just inspirational thought puts the story together. If no idea comes about, how could you have a book.

2: Now for me, the next step is the outline. Some authors don’t outline their work, but I have to do an outline as soon as the inspiration hits. For me storylines comes in huges waves. Most of them I know the beginning and the ending, but have to fill in the middle. Some come in a rush of completeness.

3: Now is the time to put words to work. Fill in the outline. Make the story flow and ebb with the emotions, characters and time that it takes to make a story come alive. This process is the longest part to me. The inspiration can come in an instant, but to put it to play takes a little bit of time. Some writers could take years to put a story to paper and others on a mere week or two.

4: So your story is on it’s way to birth, but it needs something else. It needs a name. Wow, that’s a hard one sometimes. A couple of my books were named before the story was written, but most of the time the name comes well into the books pregnancy. But when it hits you, it’s automatic. You just know, yeah, that’s it. But at sometimes you struggle with the name. This is a big selling point of your book.

5: Ok, so you’ve got the story, the outline, the name, but what else is there. What about a cover? Every book needs a cover. Some covers are simple, yet expressive, some are extraordinarily elaborate. Your cover is what can stop a reader in their browse for a book. When I browse through a book store, more than anything, the first thing that grabs me is the cover. I’ll stop and check it out if the cover entices me, draws me in.

6: Well, the cover draws you in, but the description can make you say yes. This is the hardest step to me. How do you put a 300 page book into 400 words, give or take? It’s almost impossible. I have sat for hours working on this very thing. It impacts the sale of your work so you have to make it just right. I’ve actually published a book and then six months down the road went back in and rewrote the description. It actually started selling after the change. Amazing…

7: Well, now you think, you’re ready for publishing. No! A huge, wopping, No! It’s time for editing. Not just your read over, get someone else, maybe two or three others and preferrable people that are critical. This is very important. If the words don’t flow right, maybe you don’t see it, but someone not familiar with the story can. This is your baby, don’t you want it to be the best it can be. Don’t take constructive criticism to heart, but use it for good. It can make the difference between selling 5 or 500.

8: Well, it’s polished up and so shiny it gleams. What now? Well now it’s time to publish. Whether you go with a traditional publisher or you self publish, it’s a big step.

9: Here we go, it’s time to advertise. This is a hard thing to do when you have to keep your name active on social media and everywhere a reader could find you. But during this time you’re trying to write other books and most of us work a full time job, run a household and do everything else that comes with life. A writer’s life is very busy. Remember that when you send fanmail and don’t immediately get an answer. That author may be shoulder deep in edits, stories or advertising.

10: Final step, not hardly, but the final one for this blog. Sit back, drink a cup of coffee and enjoy the glow of having a finished novel.

Maybe you have a few more steps to add. Hope this helps if you’re new to writing or even a veteran. Just enjoy the process.

As always, good writing, and May God Bless You…