My So-Called Writing Life ~ @oddlynn3 #LynnCrain #amwriting

Yes, this week is very late again and last week was totally forgotten. For both I apologize but I do have good reasons.

This past week from last Wednesday to today, it has been very, very humid. Humidity and I don’t get along. Matter of fact, I have been accused of being depressed because when it’s too humid, I normally sleep a lot during the day. Of course, what people don’t see is that I sometimes stay up all night because I function better.

Then there are the headaches that I get. They aren’t really migraines but the pain is pretty close to the same according to my doctor. So, when I’m hurting and have a headache because of humidity, I will retreat to sleep. Though there have been a few cool days, like today, I’ve needed a nap nearly every day anytime from noon until 6 in the evening to just function somewhat normally. I haven’t been this way all my life but it did start in my early 40s when I began menopause and hasn’t let up since.

Today, I had a nap and also a Skype call with my agent that took precedent over everything else. It was a fantastic call and The MacKenzie Clan series will hopefully be at a NYC publisher very soon. Starting July 6, she’ll be shopping this one around. Today book 1 is called Loving the Scotsman but it started its life very, very differently. You can look up Where’s My Underwear? or Loving the Scotsman here on the blog to get the full scoop on this wonderful story and the rest of the series.

Yes, it went from a romantic comedy to a more serious book but I blame the characters for that since I’m a pantser all the way. I started writing this nice little short story that morphed into a novella and the next thing I knew it had a life of its own and a backstory to match. It took me a few years to complete because I wanted it perfect and IMHO, it is. It’s also an award-winning book that hopefully will find a home very, very soon. I’ll be writing Book 2 and 3 in the coming months and posting some wonderful snippets right here for My Sexy Saturday.

Today’s real subject is something I’ve been thinking about and it was only in the past three weeks when two incidents happened that made me think about it long and hard. One of the incidents was where I conveyed a bit of information about an agent to an author friend and the other was where I gave my opinion on a speaker coming to my State side writers group.

I didn’t feel bad about giving out the information because I felt it was based in fact but then a few comments let me know that my view was suddenly skewed. My information had become irrelevant and I wondered how that could have ever happened. I was always so on top of the latest info and everything in the publishing world.

I would attend a couple of conferences a year, read everything that I could get my hands on regarding markets and the like. But without the face time I had with other authors where I could gauge information relayed to me, to be truth or personal opinion, I had little to no basis on what I had said because my information was old. About five years plus old. That makes what I said irrelevant to the current situation.

Sure, I had passed on information based on things I had learned from other writers previously. And that information probably was true, or perceived as true, when it was given to me. However, five years down the road, not so much so and therefore only hearsay and irrelevant.

No, I am not one to arbitrarily give out bad information. I normally give out information told to me from reputable sources or seen first-hand. I don’t tell tall tales about agents, publishers or other authors nor about speakers, no matter who they are or how I might personally feel about them. If I give out information it is usually something I’ve heard or seen sometime within a 6-12 month time frame.

However, you have to be in situations to get that information and since I hadn’t been to any large conferences for five years, I gave very old intel. And that is bad. I apologize to everyone as it wasn’t my intent to give out information that didn’t mean anything but it did teach me a lesson. Don’t get hoof and mouth disease unless you can back up your facts with up-to-date information. Everything else is hogwash.

Am I sorry that it happened? Yes, I am sorry but I am not sorry that I tried to do some author friends a solid and pass on that information. Authors, for all their time spent alone, do not live in a void and one of the best ways to learn is to put yourself out there at conferences, writer retreats and meetings where you can actually brush elbows with readers, authors and other publishing professionals.

Next time, I will check my facts more carefully and try to remember where and when I heard that tidbit. Obviously, not all tidbits are meant to be shared and that’s a whole other story for another time. But the tidbits I do share will at least be learned from a more relevant time frame.

Next week, I hope to share some information regarding my recent release and what I did to advertise it. While my sales were small, I do feel I got some really good data from which to make some assumptions for future releases.

Until then…

Lynn 

Realizing the Dream

Today is the day that I decided I’m going to try and post to this blog daily. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking...she’s gonna do it for a while...then one of those stories she writes will take her away. Probably. LOL! But I have enough in me to keep this whole thing going for a while.

Today also was the day I realized I never told you all what happened at my conference in April. I posted this message on my critique group loop on Friday, April 16, 2010 while still at the Desert Dreams conference. Since that time, I have been working on what I’ve always called my breakout novel. You know it, I’ve been putting the first few chapters up here and there to keep it alive for me. Read this and you’ll see just how alive it is!

Okay...I've got to tell you a story...and how it made me speechless. I know, I know...next to impossible...LOL!

Part of this trip has been for me and a friend to get away. My friend, Brenda, loves books and has gone to an RT conference with me before. She's also an aspiring writer that I'm trying to get interested in RWA. She's also had a horrible time this year with her husband losing her job and 3 kids under 18. So this was my Christmas and birthday present to her. So today we did some girl things and didn't get back to register for the con until about 4 this afternoon.

I get my registration packet and start looking at everything as we'd found a quiet, out-of-the-way place to discuss where, what and when. I found my Realizing the Dream score sheets and pulled them out. I thought the score terrible, 48 out of 50, and knew I blew it. I put it back in the envelope and found my appointments with an editor and an agent. This is really why I came here and entered the contest. For the contest, you had to be an attendee and not published by a NYC house or represented by a NYC agent.

At the time I entered, I talked extensively with the contest chair as I had so many books epublished and I didn't want to take advantage of the contest. She assured me that the contest was for someone just like me. They wanted entrees from every genre and at every level. I sent off my entry and forgot about it until this week. And when I saw my score, I felt I had blown it because I know people do get perfect scores.

So, we're at the genre dinner tonight and they make some announcements, they do the raffle and then they turn it over to the contest chair. I don't pay attention because I've blown it in my mind. The first finalist was a gal sitting at my table and she jumps right up plus her enthusiasm is contagious. The next name they call is...mine...and I'm blown away. My friend Brenda pushes me out of my chair toward the stage and the gal at my table walks up with me. The third gal is from the middle of the room and we're all on stage.

The contest chair states how close the scores were and still I'm thinking, 'No friggin' way' and 'what am I doing up here?' And she announces the winner...and it was me...and I was speechless. I can barely say thank you to everyone because I am shaking so hard. The whole time back to my seat I'm thinking/saying 'OMG, I can't believe it.' And it took me twenty minutes of people talking to me to get me grounded.

I have an appointment with two editors tomorrow, Laurie Rauch of Samhain and Kate Sevier of Berkley Sensation, and one agent, Miriam Kriss. All these people were on the seven or eight (I'm not sure) judging committee who voted my proposal the best.

And can you all guess which one it was? Sigh. "Where's My Underwear?" garnered the top spot in the Realizing the Dream contest. Another thing, I would not be here if it weren't for each and every one of you. All of you had input to this story and have helped me every step of the way. I owe you all dinner and plan to take you all out when we can do it.

One more thing, I can guarantee they want changes...LOL! I hope you all are up for a final round of Underwear. I'd start now but I don't have everything here.

Thanks for all your support...let's see if I can bring it home!

This was one of the best things to happen in a very, very long time. I’ve been on Cloud 9 since it happened. I’ve also been working my butt off as every editor/agent I saw or described this story to all want a peak. So I’m polishing up the proposal and re-editing the rest of the story.

So see…I haven’t forgotten you…I’ve just been really, really busy. I’ll be back on this subject in the next few weeks with an update on my progress. See you all then!

 

Lynn

The Day Before I Leave

I’m preparing to go to a conference tomorrow. And I just can’t wait! LOL!

See, conferences are one of my guilty pleasures when I can afford them. I love to go for the networking, the book signings and all the other fun things that come along with a conference. And this time I’m taking a good friend with me, so we plan to have loads of fun.

The only real work I’m doing while there is I am going to have a pitch session with and agent and maybe an editor while I’m there. I entered their attendees only contest and we won’t learn just who are finalists or winners until we register. And the suspense is killing me. LOL!

At any rate, the book I showed you yesterday is the one that I am pitching the whole weekend. So I decided I’d take a pitch class. Again. Yes, I take classes just like all of you because even after twenty published books, I get nervous. Very nervous sometimes and this is one of them for some reason.

All I can think is that I’ve let family take priority here for the past four months and I’m out of practice. Pitching is something you have to do in order to keep sharp at it. So, I took an elevator pitch class from a wonderful author Carrie Lofty. And she’s wonderful. In just five days, I’ve gone from having a pitch that was 116 words long to this nice 35 word one. What do you think?

Tightly wound US lawyer lets go for one night in an Edinburgh pub and is tempted to stay by her ex-lover, a sexy successful Scot, who has stolen her underwear to display as his trophy.

Now this one may not be the one I finally use but it’s a long way from this one:

Aeryn DeLancie has a major problem when she wakes up with a hangover, no underwear and her best friend giving her a knowing smile. It goes from bad to worse when she’s told by said friend that ‘The Stud’ has them with the ‘them’ being her missing underwear. She remembers the stud all too well as her post graduate school fling in Scotland. And if truth be told, she can’t help but remember him as he is the only man she has ever loved. In a quandary as to what to do, she is suspicious when her friend, Monica, states that nothing happened between the two and hands her a napkin with his address on it. (116 words)

Or this one:

When table dancing corporate lawyer, Aeryn Delancie, tries to retrieve her stolen underwear from millionaire ex-lover, Logan MacKenzie, she gets more than she bargained for...two weeks in his bed. With secrets on both sides, they must decide if they can overcome the past to forge a new future. (48 words)

With each one, you can tell I’m getting better. It’s like falling off a horse or riding a back. You never forget it once you do it. LOL!

Since I don’t leave until Thursday, drop by and tell me all what you think of my 35 word pitch (the first one)...do you think it might make the cut?

See you tomorrow!

Lynn