I'm a mom and even though it's the hardest job ever, both physically and emotionally, there are pay-offs.
One of them is that at least one of my kids makes me laugh every day. The other day it was one of them telling me that their teacher told them they couldn't share snacks at school because they might get "Spine Flu". Another one of the kids, a budding author who knows I write books under a pen name, was wearing a name tag the other day with a made up last name scribbled on it. When I asked what was up with the new last name, he replied that it was his "writing name".
And then one of the kids decided to write down everything he's learned in 6 years of life. Here's the list:
1. I no dinisurse are instinkete
2. I no therese no giantse
3. I no I live in Tenesee
4. I no peple love each other
5. I no that lights burn out
6. I no the pizza man comes at night (note--Mom works at night when Dad's home with the kids)
7. I no you don't go to school until Monday Morning
8. I no that we take a nap
9. I no that my dad goes to a car showe!
10. I no snowmans melt in the summer
Smart kid, huh?
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Pirates. Arrrrgh!
Dear pirates or wanna-be pirates,
Uploading and downloading copyrighted work via file-sharing sites is illegal unless you happen to be the copyright holder. I guarantee that no one with a profile on a file-sharing site is the copyright holder of any of my books.
While I am flattered you have taken the time to either upload or request free copies of my work to download, I do not receive any royalties from these transactions. As writing is a joy for me, but also a business, this is bad.
I have spent years of my life working to create stories someone might want to pay $2.99 -$6.99 to read and enjoy. I've given up time with my family, other hobbies, housework (ok, thanks for that one!) and even sleep. Once I even passed on pain meds after a surgery because I had a book due and I couldn't finish it while I was high on Vicodin (although that may have engendered some interesting plot twists.) The reason I do all this is that I dearly love to write and you dearly love to read.
What you are doing is stealing from me and my publisher, the same way you would steal from a department store if you decided you wanted that new hardcover novel by your favorite author, but didn't really want to pay for it, so just stuck it in your purse and walked out the door with it.
Newbie writers' royalty statements are skimpy enough as it is, so if you want our books, cut us a small break and pony up the 3 bucks to download an authorized copy. You could also ask your local public library to add it to their ebook collection. You still read it for free, but the author gets a cut of the sale to the library.
Thank you for understanding.
Sincerely,
Bethany Michaels
Uploading and downloading copyrighted work via file-sharing sites is illegal unless you happen to be the copyright holder. I guarantee that no one with a profile on a file-sharing site is the copyright holder of any of my books.
While I am flattered you have taken the time to either upload or request free copies of my work to download, I do not receive any royalties from these transactions. As writing is a joy for me, but also a business, this is bad.
I have spent years of my life working to create stories someone might want to pay $2.99 -$6.99 to read and enjoy. I've given up time with my family, other hobbies, housework (ok, thanks for that one!) and even sleep. Once I even passed on pain meds after a surgery because I had a book due and I couldn't finish it while I was high on Vicodin (although that may have engendered some interesting plot twists.) The reason I do all this is that I dearly love to write and you dearly love to read.
What you are doing is stealing from me and my publisher, the same way you would steal from a department store if you decided you wanted that new hardcover novel by your favorite author, but didn't really want to pay for it, so just stuck it in your purse and walked out the door with it.
Newbie writers' royalty statements are skimpy enough as it is, so if you want our books, cut us a small break and pony up the 3 bucks to download an authorized copy. You could also ask your local public library to add it to their ebook collection. You still read it for free, but the author gets a cut of the sale to the library.
Thank you for understanding.
Sincerely,
Bethany Michaels
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A Day in the Writing Life
If you've ever wondered why you have to wait so long for your favorite author's next book, it's because a professional writer has many more responsibilities and demands on her time than just cranking out pages.
A professional writer is CEO of her own company, a marketing prodigy, a key part of a vast professional network of other writers, bloggers, editors, agents and publishers. She's also an artist, whose soul must be fed and nurtured before she can create her literary masterpiece.
Here's a peek at a typical day of a professional writer (name withheld):
9:02 Inspiration: search for the perfect writing music and download to MP3 player
9:35 Market Research: browse Sony Ebook Store and buy several titles. Download to Reader
10:03 Character Research: peruse people.com and take note of latest celebrity gossip
10:14 Refill the Creativity Well: watch HBO's 123rd showing of The Notebook
12:18 Networking: check email, respond to friends regarding latest publishing rumor
12:24 Clear the decks: eat lunch, pay bills, fold laundry, plan dinner
1:07 Creativity Prompt: take 14 quizzes on Facebook and post results to profile
1:44 Goal-setting: post status update with aggressive daily page count goal
2:02 Promotion: compose witty and revealing list for blog
2:15 Business management: send editor short note explaining why the manuscript isn't done yet
2:34 Productivity: write two pages
3:00 Knock off for the day because you've been writing for six hours and are exhausted!
At this pace, an author can write the first draft of her novel in about 40 weeks. Tack on time for revisions, therapy and all the publishing house stuff, and it's a year and a half between books.
Now that you know why writing a book takes so long, please give your favorite author a break and maybe send some motivational items (gourmet chocolates) just to say 'thanks'.
A professional writer is CEO of her own company, a marketing prodigy, a key part of a vast professional network of other writers, bloggers, editors, agents and publishers. She's also an artist, whose soul must be fed and nurtured before she can create her literary masterpiece.
Here's a peek at a typical day of a professional writer (name withheld):
9:02 Inspiration: search for the perfect writing music and download to MP3 player
9:35 Market Research: browse Sony Ebook Store and buy several titles. Download to Reader
10:03 Character Research: peruse people.com and take note of latest celebrity gossip
10:14 Refill the Creativity Well: watch HBO's 123rd showing of The Notebook
12:18 Networking: check email, respond to friends regarding latest publishing rumor
12:24 Clear the decks: eat lunch, pay bills, fold laundry, plan dinner
1:07 Creativity Prompt: take 14 quizzes on Facebook and post results to profile
1:44 Goal-setting: post status update with aggressive daily page count goal
2:02 Promotion: compose witty and revealing list for blog
2:15 Business management: send editor short note explaining why the manuscript isn't done yet
2:34 Productivity: write two pages
3:00 Knock off for the day because you've been writing for six hours and are exhausted!
At this pace, an author can write the first draft of her novel in about 40 weeks. Tack on time for revisions, therapy and all the publishing house stuff, and it's a year and a half between books.
Now that you know why writing a book takes so long, please give your favorite author a break and maybe send some motivational items (gourmet chocolates) just to say 'thanks'.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Just the Facts, Ma'am
I just finished a book by an author I really like and whose books I look forward to. This latest book lived up to my expectations, but there was one glaring factual mistake that really pulled me out of the story.
The hero in the book is 32, which would make his birth year 1977 (if we assume the book takes place today). The crux if his back story issue (internal/romantic conflict) is that through DNA testing it was revealed that his uncle was actually his biological father, which made his mother's husband who thought he was the child's father, resentful and abusive towards the boy from the time he was small.
The problem? DNA analysis wasn't even "discovered" until 1985 and wasn't available to the public for widespread use until about 10 years ago (Jerry Springer, anyone?). Therefore, our hero would have been in his 20s before DNA testing could have suggested the hero's momma was having an affair with her brother-in-law.
Oops.
I also recently read a Regency-set historical in which the heroine addresses the would-be hero, from page one, by his first name. Both were titled aristocracy and I believe the hero was of a higher rank. It is explained by the author that the two were childhood friends, and so share a close relationship that would put them on a first-name basis.
OK, I can go with the assumption she might use his Christian name--in private. In company, though, I just could not buy that she would call him by so intimate a name. When they're alone, sure. In the heat of passion (later in the book), without a doubt. But at a social event in front of a room full of other aristocratic folks hung up on propriety, when they're not married or even engaged? I don't think so. That little detail bothered me quite a bit more than the DNA testing thing, perhaps because it was perpetrated repeatedly throughout the book. Every time it happened, all I could think about was whether that was correct or not and it distracted me from the story.
As an author, I know this stuff happens. I write contemporary, paranormal and Regency-set historicals and I have to say, the historicals are the most stressful. I spend a lot of time questioning and looking up facts during the writing process and still live in fear of getting an email from someone who knows more about that time period than I do pointing out all my mistakes. My editor won a Rita for her Regency romance, so I feel pretty confident she's going to call me on any glaring errors, but it's still much easier and much less stressful writing a contemporary where I can just call somebody who is a vet or a police officer or who has visited Topeka, Kansas and ask pertinent research questions. Paranormal is even better, because I can just make stuff up and pass it off as being the rules of My World (mwaahh ha ha ha!)
DNA testing is so common now, I can totally see how an author would write it into her story without thinking twice about the fact that it really is a fairly recent scientific development. But what gets me is that the book was published by a major New York house by a bestselling author. The book, I'm sure, went through line edits and copy edits in addition to the author's numerous passes. It may have had beta readers and proofs may have gone out to reviewers before publication. Still, no one read that passage and questioned it before it went to press?
I've read quite a bit lately about how books are edited less, simply because the industry has fallen victim to the recession. As houses are consolidating and downsizing, there are often fewer people trying to do more work and things slip by more easily. I get that. People are human, after all, and make mistakes. It's ultimately the author's responsibility to turn in a manuscript that's as error-free as humanly possible, which includes catching any factual errors.
I'm wondering, though, at what point does a small mistake, or a series of small mistakes, make the book unreadable? Reading requires a suspension of disbelief and when I catch the "man behind the curtain", whether it's several misspellings, a missing word here and there or a glaring anachronism, it ruins it for me a little bit.
Where do you draw the line? Too many typos? Formatting errors? Inconsistencies (heroine is a delicate blond on page 1 and changes into a ravishing brunette by page 6 without the benefit of a good colorist)? The spelling of a character's name changing half-way through the book? Can you ignore those errors and still enjoy the book, or do they become too distracting?
At what point does a potentially good story become a wall-banger for you?
The hero in the book is 32, which would make his birth year 1977 (if we assume the book takes place today). The crux if his back story issue (internal/romantic conflict) is that through DNA testing it was revealed that his uncle was actually his biological father, which made his mother's husband who thought he was the child's father, resentful and abusive towards the boy from the time he was small.
The problem? DNA analysis wasn't even "discovered" until 1985 and wasn't available to the public for widespread use until about 10 years ago (Jerry Springer, anyone?). Therefore, our hero would have been in his 20s before DNA testing could have suggested the hero's momma was having an affair with her brother-in-law.
Oops.
I also recently read a Regency-set historical in which the heroine addresses the would-be hero, from page one, by his first name. Both were titled aristocracy and I believe the hero was of a higher rank. It is explained by the author that the two were childhood friends, and so share a close relationship that would put them on a first-name basis.
OK, I can go with the assumption she might use his Christian name--in private. In company, though, I just could not buy that she would call him by so intimate a name. When they're alone, sure. In the heat of passion (later in the book), without a doubt. But at a social event in front of a room full of other aristocratic folks hung up on propriety, when they're not married or even engaged? I don't think so. That little detail bothered me quite a bit more than the DNA testing thing, perhaps because it was perpetrated repeatedly throughout the book. Every time it happened, all I could think about was whether that was correct or not and it distracted me from the story.
As an author, I know this stuff happens. I write contemporary, paranormal and Regency-set historicals and I have to say, the historicals are the most stressful. I spend a lot of time questioning and looking up facts during the writing process and still live in fear of getting an email from someone who knows more about that time period than I do pointing out all my mistakes. My editor won a Rita for her Regency romance, so I feel pretty confident she's going to call me on any glaring errors, but it's still much easier and much less stressful writing a contemporary where I can just call somebody who is a vet or a police officer or who has visited Topeka, Kansas and ask pertinent research questions. Paranormal is even better, because I can just make stuff up and pass it off as being the rules of My World (mwaahh ha ha ha!)
DNA testing is so common now, I can totally see how an author would write it into her story without thinking twice about the fact that it really is a fairly recent scientific development. But what gets me is that the book was published by a major New York house by a bestselling author. The book, I'm sure, went through line edits and copy edits in addition to the author's numerous passes. It may have had beta readers and proofs may have gone out to reviewers before publication. Still, no one read that passage and questioned it before it went to press?
I've read quite a bit lately about how books are edited less, simply because the industry has fallen victim to the recession. As houses are consolidating and downsizing, there are often fewer people trying to do more work and things slip by more easily. I get that. People are human, after all, and make mistakes. It's ultimately the author's responsibility to turn in a manuscript that's as error-free as humanly possible, which includes catching any factual errors.
I'm wondering, though, at what point does a small mistake, or a series of small mistakes, make the book unreadable? Reading requires a suspension of disbelief and when I catch the "man behind the curtain", whether it's several misspellings, a missing word here and there or a glaring anachronism, it ruins it for me a little bit.
Where do you draw the line? Too many typos? Formatting errors? Inconsistencies (heroine is a delicate blond on page 1 and changes into a ravishing brunette by page 6 without the benefit of a good colorist)? The spelling of a character's name changing half-way through the book? Can you ignore those errors and still enjoy the book, or do they become too distracting?
At what point does a potentially good story become a wall-banger for you?
Monday, June 8, 2009
Sneak Peek of New Site
I'm working on a new-and-improved website! The site will be live in August (uh, after my two July deadlines) but here's a sneak peek of my new banner:
Sexy, no?
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Sex in Public Places (or Finding Time to Write)
I, like most people, am busy. All the time.
There are family obligations, work obligations, household obligations (i.e. cleaning--easily ignored, actually) and of course you need a few hours a day to sleep. I personally work full time and have four small children and house and a husband to contend with, all of which cut into my writing time. So when I tell people I write, the first question is always, "when do you find the time!?"
The answer is that nobody 'finds' time to write--or to play golf, or do crafts, or work out or to nurse any other obsession. There are not boxes of time sitting in a back closet you stumble upon one day while looking for the good china you haven't seen since the last move. It doesn't exist. You don't find the time to do something you love, you make the time.
Writing is a priority for me, so I've made room for it on a daily basis by giving up other time-consuming activities. I used to do more crafts and watch more tv on off-nights. Now I'm at the computer working on a new story. I used to sleep in on the weekends. Now I get up and update my webpage or look for new potential markets for my writing.
When you're working with limited time to write, you also have to be flexible. I don't have the luxury of blocking out huge chunks of time and setting up the perfect romance-writing environment complete with candles, Yanni music and my favorite lingerie while waiting for my muse to show up. Not if I want to write more than a couple pages a week, anyway.
Usually I write while the kids are in school, wearing my sweats and Hubby's t-shirt , with no make-up, hair in a ponytail, using my glasses since I'm too lazy to put in the contacts. I do listen to music on my MP3, though it's usually Bush or Seether rather than Yanni. But even this scenerio is a luxury since the kids are only in school so many hours a day and the stinkin' phone rings all day long (I ignore it). And since I work at night, I have to sleep a little while the house is quiet.
All of these facts of life have forced me to learn to write anytime, anywhere, in any medium--desktop PC, laptop, Alphasmart, voice recognition software and good ol' pen and paper. All I need is a few minutes without someone asking me for something or bleeding and I'm good. Since I have a small colony of children, one of the best places I've found to write is the park.
It's perfect, really. The kids are playing with other kids, but still in my line of sight so that I can fend off any would-be child abductors with my Alphasmart and spiral notebook. It's nice and sunny outside with lots of fresh air, which always clears my head and boosts my mood. There is no email, phone or dirty dishes to distract me. The kids have fun and think I'm the best mom ever and my wordcount shoots up. It's a win-win.
Writing outside the house has led me to discover a dirty little secret about myself, though. I get a little thrill writing the sexy stuff in public. I think it's kind of like wearing sexy underwear under your everyday clothes or sending naughty pictures of yourself to your significant other at work--or so I've heard :) And because it gives that naughty little thrill, I think it engenders sexier prose on the page.
I remember writing the voyeur scene in Educating Eva while sitting at the McDonald's Playland. The stable scene from The Secret Confessions of Lady H. (part 2) was written in my kids' dentist's office waiting room. A little kinky, maybe, but, hey, it works.
One place that doesn't work for writing sex scenes? Work. If I have a little bit of time at work (a rarity) and I come to the part in the story where the hero and heroine are getting naked, I skip to the next scene and write the sexy stuff later. Unless you work for the company that shoots the Thunder from Down Under calendar, there's just nothing sexy about work.
Hmm...wonder if they're hiring...
There are family obligations, work obligations, household obligations (i.e. cleaning--easily ignored, actually) and of course you need a few hours a day to sleep. I personally work full time and have four small children and house and a husband to contend with, all of which cut into my writing time. So when I tell people I write, the first question is always, "when do you find the time!?"
The answer is that nobody 'finds' time to write--or to play golf, or do crafts, or work out or to nurse any other obsession. There are not boxes of time sitting in a back closet you stumble upon one day while looking for the good china you haven't seen since the last move. It doesn't exist. You don't find the time to do something you love, you make the time.
Writing is a priority for me, so I've made room for it on a daily basis by giving up other time-consuming activities. I used to do more crafts and watch more tv on off-nights. Now I'm at the computer working on a new story. I used to sleep in on the weekends. Now I get up and update my webpage or look for new potential markets for my writing.
When you're working with limited time to write, you also have to be flexible. I don't have the luxury of blocking out huge chunks of time and setting up the perfect romance-writing environment complete with candles, Yanni music and my favorite lingerie while waiting for my muse to show up. Not if I want to write more than a couple pages a week, anyway.
Usually I write while the kids are in school, wearing my sweats and Hubby's t-shirt , with no make-up, hair in a ponytail, using my glasses since I'm too lazy to put in the contacts. I do listen to music on my MP3, though it's usually Bush or Seether rather than Yanni. But even this scenerio is a luxury since the kids are only in school so many hours a day and the stinkin' phone rings all day long (I ignore it). And since I work at night, I have to sleep a little while the house is quiet.
All of these facts of life have forced me to learn to write anytime, anywhere, in any medium--desktop PC, laptop, Alphasmart, voice recognition software and good ol' pen and paper. All I need is a few minutes without someone asking me for something or bleeding and I'm good. Since I have a small colony of children, one of the best places I've found to write is the park.
It's perfect, really. The kids are playing with other kids, but still in my line of sight so that I can fend off any would-be child abductors with my Alphasmart and spiral notebook. It's nice and sunny outside with lots of fresh air, which always clears my head and boosts my mood. There is no email, phone or dirty dishes to distract me. The kids have fun and think I'm the best mom ever and my wordcount shoots up. It's a win-win.
Writing outside the house has led me to discover a dirty little secret about myself, though. I get a little thrill writing the sexy stuff in public. I think it's kind of like wearing sexy underwear under your everyday clothes or sending naughty pictures of yourself to your significant other at work--or so I've heard :) And because it gives that naughty little thrill, I think it engenders sexier prose on the page.
I remember writing the voyeur scene in Educating Eva while sitting at the McDonald's Playland. The stable scene from The Secret Confessions of Lady H. (part 2) was written in my kids' dentist's office waiting room. A little kinky, maybe, but, hey, it works.
One place that doesn't work for writing sex scenes? Work. If I have a little bit of time at work (a rarity) and I come to the part in the story where the hero and heroine are getting naked, I skip to the next scene and write the sexy stuff later. Unless you work for the company that shoots the Thunder from Down Under calendar, there's just nothing sexy about work.
Hmm...wonder if they're hiring...
Monday, April 6, 2009
It's a Win, Win Win!
Feeling the economic crunch? Obviously you can't go without the necessities, like hot reading material, so I have a couple of great deals for you!
First, I'm giving away a $5 gift certificate to Ravenous Romance and and $10 gift certificate to Ravenous Romance this month. All you have to do is go to the Nashville Heat page on my website and email me the names of two of the settings I used in my new book. They're in the sidebar. The Deadline is April 30. www.bethanymichaels.com/nashvilleheat
Secondly, Red Sage Publishing is having an awesome special on my three-part serial, The Secret Confessions of Lady H. These were released seperately in January, February and March, but now you can get the complete story, all three installments for just $5.50! All you have to do is buy all 3 and at checkout, enter the word DIARY in the coupon box. But this special is only good during April, so do it now before you forget :) www.eredsage.com
Happy Reading!
First, I'm giving away a $5 gift certificate to Ravenous Romance and and $10 gift certificate to Ravenous Romance this month. All you have to do is go to the Nashville Heat page on my website and email me the names of two of the settings I used in my new book. They're in the sidebar. The Deadline is April 30. www.bethanymichaels.com/nashvilleheat
Secondly, Red Sage Publishing is having an awesome special on my three-part serial, The Secret Confessions of Lady H. These were released seperately in January, February and March, but now you can get the complete story, all three installments for just $5.50! All you have to do is buy all 3 and at checkout, enter the word DIARY in the coupon box. But this special is only good during April, so do it now before you forget :) www.eredsage.com
Happy Reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
