Summer’s a strange time in the writing business. Fridays are almost like everyone’s left for the weekend. Many years ago I thought it was just me who thought that but then other writers began commenting on the same thing. Someone even said it was because most editors are in New York and this time of the year they head out to the Hamptons on a Friday!
Today saw the release of Keyboards and Kink, the anthology which contains my story called Changing The Rules. My twelve co-authors and I did a blog hop and gave away a copy…congrats to Ursula, hope you enjoy reading it.
Remember last week I told you I did something I said I’d never do? Write a vampire story. I got it finished and submitted it for the Just Vamps Halloween anthology for Evernight Publishing and happy to say it was accepted.
Next week sees the release of my first story in my new Regency trilogy from Cobblestone. I can’t wait to see the cover because Sable comes up with some great ones. Hope she’ll stop by this site one day to tell us all about the book cover design process…hint, hint, Sable!
Each month I look forward to reading Writing Magazine which is a UK publication. I’ve been a subscriber for almost as long as I’ve been a writer and it never ceases to impress me with its articles and market news. This month I’ve been reading an interview with author Patrick Gale. For those of you who haven’t or won’t see the article I thought I’d share with you one important tip he offered. Many writers don’t read books while they’re working on a story. I used to think that was a wise thing, but now like Patrick my advice is to read, read and keep on reading while you pen your novel. I find it really helps with the actual writing process, it motivates you, and yes, it’s a nice distraction from your own work.
I’ll take this advice one step further and say that if you’re working on a mystery, read mysteries, a romance…stick with those etc. I’ve found it gets you into thinking about the ‘givens’ of the genre and that’s sometimes what editors and agents look for during a first read.
Happy writing and have a good weekend.