the league of reluctant adults

So when I saw we were going to be blogging this week about how to help yourself as a writer, my immediate thought was, huh? Because I avoid helping myself in any way, shape or form, generally, and just blunder around hoping something will catch on. Seriously. You want career advice from a woman who drives around listening to the soundtrack to the Buffy musical episode? And singing along ? But then I started thinking about it, and realized not only are there a couple of things I know something about, but they're things I've already written about, which means less work for me. And I'm all about the laziness. So here's my tip. Don't be an ass. Seriously. Before you do something, stop and think. Is this what an ass would do? How would I feel if someone did this to me? This is inspired in part by last night's post at Dear Author . This one is good too. But I feel they can be easily condensed, into "Don't be an ass". Now, let's face it. We're a...

It is no coincidence that as I return from the World Fantasy Convention I wanted to talk about more than simply writing. As I see it, getting your book written is only the tip of a Titanic sized iceberg. Here's my helpful breakdown: 1. Write book. 2. Everything else. Yes, your manuscript and the words in it should be the ultimate selling point, but what can you do other than write the best book evah to help yourself get noticed or at least get moved higher up in the slush piles? Go to conventions. (This is the part where you learn to help yourself.) I can not state this strong enough. More things will happen for you over drinks and nachos than by slushing your manuscript to every publishing house on the planet. Why? Because conventions level the playing field for the unpublished writer. Or rather, think of it like this. If you don't go, you're simply up in the bleachers watching the publishing game. below. Or maybe home watching it on Pay Per View. Go to a conve...

1) Tell us a brief bit about yourself (and please include your pen name). My name is Mai Christy Thao. I grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand. My parents were refugees of the Vietnam War but I consider myself pretty much as American as it gets. I was one of those students who had perfect attendance, did everything I was told to do, and consistently made the honor roll. I'm the current president of my local RWA chapter and have been actively pursuing a writing career for about six years. I have an endless imagination, a love for history that plays a huge role in my books, and a passionate affair with the written language. 2) What's your story about in a nutshell (ooo look, it's me in a nutshell!)? Please include the title of your book. PRINCE OF DARKNESS is a paranormal fantasy romance set in an alternate world called Zenith. It's about two lovers reunited after several thousands of years and the struggles each will have to endure and overcome to keep a love they'd ...

1. Tell us a brief bit about yourself (and please include your pen name). Pat Cunningham, aka Patricia Elizabeth Cunningham, which is why I go by P. E., because it's shorter. Just try fitting that name on those little two-inch lines on preprinted forms. I hate haperwork. 2. What's your story about in a nutshell (ooo look, it's me in a nutshell!)? Please include the title of your book. A Touch of Heaven. Her: half demon and the good guy. Him: half angel and the bad guy. What's keeping them apart: his friends are trying to build a god and she doesn't think that's a good idea. Oh, and they're biologically bound together and have to do it or die. Your basic paranormal storyline. 3. Is it true you write in a trance? No, I write in bed with a cup of tea and the radio blasting. I do the first draft longhand, then type it into my computer. I can't write without background music, usually John Williams soundtracks. Star Wars rules! 4. Don't you secretly wi...

1) Tell us a brief bit about yourself (and please include your pen name). Alter your reality, alter your vision, enter the OtherWorlds of Savanna Kougar (my pen name). I have arrived from another realm on a crucial mission, of course, to further the cause of romance using all paranormal, fantastical and beastly means. 2) What's your story about in a nutshell (ooo look, it's me in a nutshell!)? Please include the title of your book. Murder by Hair Spray in Gardenia, New Atlantis – 2051, the land of Atlantis has risen, colonized by rebels from the Conflicts. One hundred year old Sheriff Sun Wing captures the Hair Spray Killer with an Otherworld man-god (who possesses all sorts of spectacular and splendid powers in and out of bed), who is a nemesis to her heart and passion-relentless in his pursuit. After all, he wants her for his wife. 3) Is it true you write in a trance? I've been known to enter the fantasy lands of my stories so completely, that becomes my preferred realit...

1) Tell us a brief bit about yourself (and please include your pen name). My name is Anitra Lynn McLeod and I love to write but I'm also an avid white-water rafter, a wanna-be gourmet chef, and I love to play all kinds of board games. 2) What's your story about in a nutshell (ooo look, it's me in a nutshell!)? Please include the title of your book. Thief is a western flavored futuristic. Think Buck Rogers meets The Wild Wild West! 3) Is it true you write in a trance? Naw, usually I write in my house. However, I do write in the nude with only a hockey mask on. Hey, it's just my way. Sure freaks out the UPS guy, though. 4) Don't you secretly wish the other contestants would just drop out? Stop reading my mind! Well, honestly, no, because if they did, it really wouldn't be much of a contest. It would just me sitting there on that webpage all by my lonesome and what if nobody voted for me?! 5) What is your favorite paranormal being and why? I like the idea of...

1) Tell us a brief bit about yourself (and please include your pen name). Hi there, I live in the South West of England in a rural valley between the misty expanse of Dartmoor and the rocky Atlantic coastline. I've loved telling stories since I was a child and read fiction all my life, but I only started writing in 2003. My husband is very supportive of my writing. He reads everything I write and tells me it's wonderful. Shame he doesn't own a publishing company! I've discovered a wonderful international family of kindred spirits through joining Romance Writers of America. I write under the name of Helen Scott Taylor—close enough to my real name that I don't stare blankly at people when they speak to me. 2) What's your story about in a nutshell (ooo look, it's me in a nutshell!)? Please include the title of your book. My title is The Magic Knot. A thirty-something London accountant is searching for her past and a bad-boy Irish fairy is running away from his...