Taking classes and submitting

cj Sez: I’ve written pretty much nothing over the holidaze so I’m resetting my creativity gene by taking an online class entitled Story Arc (through my Sisters-in-Crime/Guppy group). 

   The first half that ended January 12 included scene arc, chapter arc, character arc, secondary storylines, and a bunch of other almost ad infinitum topics. In other words, this online class/workshop will be a whole how-to shebang for successful novel writing crammed into twelve days. I even learned to plot a little. As a pathfinder writer, that’s a bit outside my comfort zone. Having to analyze my languishing work-in-progress is giving me fresh perspective and ideas...so many ideas that I now have three WIPs. I’m hoping to finish at least one of them this year. 

  Taking a class is a marvelous way to get the author juices flowing.

   Because I’ve become so ambitious, it seemed like a good idea to find out if my current eBook publisher (Crimson Romance, an imprint of Simon & Schuster) is accepting submissions—and they are. If you’re a romance writer, here are some of the guidelines:

Crimson Romance Writer’s Guidelines

Our digital-first romance line is open to submissions in five popular subgenres: romantic suspense, contemporary, paranormal, historical, and spicy romance. We’re looking for previously unpublished full-length novels (between 50,000 – 90,000 words) and novellas (between 30,000 – 50,000 words). All authors—agented or unagented, beginner or veteran writers—are welcome to submit any works that have not been previously published in whole or in part in any media, including self-publishing (Kindle, CreateSpace, etc.).

While your work can include other genre elements, Crimson Romances must focus first and foremost on a couple’s emotional journey together towards love. Romances, by nature, must be between consenting adults of any gender, race, creed, etc., and have a happily-ever-after or at least happy-for-now ending. We are strictly a romance publisher and will not look at manuscripts for memoirs or other non-fiction, women’s fiction or chick lit, young adult, mysteries and thrillers, horror, or general fiction. 

So if you’ve got a romance that’s a little offbeat, something other publishers won’t take a chance on? Send it our way! At Crimson, we believe variety is the spice of life — especially a reader’s life. We’re happy to consider a wide variety of plot lines and characters, but we’re always looking for:

Smart, savvy, confident heroines with strong goals

Heroes of all varieties — alpha, beta, anything in between! 

New twists on favorite themes

What they don’t want to see is also listed on the submission page. For more information on how and what, go to:  http://www.crimsonromance.com/submissions/

My footprints

  On the home front, the weather in Mobile, AL, has taken a decisive turn to winter, uncharacteristically so. In December, we had our first measurable snowfall since about 1995. We usually get “cold snaps.” That's when temperatures drop into the middle twenties for a night, then they climb back up into sweatshirt weather. Tonight I'll break out the down coat I brought with me from Michigan. The temperature is forecast to drop into the twenties and stay down for a few nights. We’re in for a hard freeze that the outside water faucets may not tolerate—even after precautions are taken. Water pipes in the deep south are not buried 42 inches or so deep as they are in the northern climes, so a long spell of freezing weather can do damage. Got my fingers crossed…you can cross yours for me, too, if you like.

  That’s it for this post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Now a word from my sponsors…

Qrtly newsletter sign-up:  cjpetterson@gmail.com

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Amazon Central Author Page

Simon&Schuster Author Page

Romance stories…perfect for Valentine’s Day…a lot of gift for a little money:

Choosing Carter  — Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star —  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

“Bad Day at Round Rock” in The Posse a Western anthology of 8 short stories @99 cents

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Bodies in Motion — 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

My path to publication

cj Sez: I’m happy to again be able to talk with you about my path to publication in the hope that maybe you’ll find a nugget in here that encourages you to continue on your own path.

I didn’t start writing seriously until I moved to Mobile, AL, in 2002. Since then, I’ve written some personal essays and short stories that have been published in several different anthologies, the latest being "Bad Day at Round Rock" in THE POSSE anthology. When Crimson Romance published my first novel, DEADLY STAR, in 2013, my sister said, “You wrote a whole book? All by yourself?” Yep, that was the summation of my perceived writing skills.

My first interest was in screenwriting. In 2000 or 2001, I think it was, I flew from Detroit to San Francisco to take a three-day seminar from Robert McKee who conducts screenwriting seminars in different cities around the United States and has published a book called STORY. His personalization to me in the book was “Write the truth” which is part of his motto and which I study hard to do.

The experience was invaluable because I began to visualize my stories in terms of the characters’ action-dialogue-and scenes that show the story. How characters react and what they don’t say can speak volumes. I see my scenes as if I’m watching them happen, as in a movie. I do know authors who visualize a particular movie star playing the heroine/hero in their books. Is that something you do? I don’t see a specific person. After I sell the movie rights (HA HA), I’ll leave it to Stephen Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola to find the best mega-star for the role. To be honest, though, I think Pierce Brosnan would be perfect as the hero in DEADLY STAR.

For most us, and I’m very much included in that generalization, we have a wonderful idea on a theme. (Let me say right here that I don’t plot. I’m a pantser or more accurately, a pathfinder. I know how I want the story to end, but getting there is the exciting part for me.) It’s the middle that really gets us. It wants to sag. Like an old married couple, sometimes the excitement fades away after a while—unless, like that old married couple, we work at it.  

Working at it may mean changing some things around. When I make changes in the middle, it almost always mean rewriting the first chapter more than a few times. What helps me out is to read the dialogue aloud. Does it sound natural? Are the sentences so complete and full of blah-blah information that they slow the pace of the story? I’m currently reading a contest submission that reads like a daily journal. I appreciate that the author is introducing the reader to the main character. However, there are no teasers that entice me to keep turning the pages until the middle of page three. 

Sluggish pacing can happen in any part of a novel, but it very often happens in the middle of a story. When the dreaded saggy middle shows up, I may need to reinvent someone, maybe add another challenge (read that conflict) or two for the protagonist to bring back the thrill.  Structured pacing also suffers when I’m trying to get the word count up. As a former journalist and an admirer of Robert B. Parker’s writing style, I write very tight. My first drafts average about 62,000 words. However, extra words that slow the pacing and detract from the story seem to fly onto the pages when I’m racing to type “The End.”

Once I get the concept down and slog through the research, writing any story is all about editing and changes. Sometimes, I see a need to change a character’s name, a story thread, a sentence structure, or, as was true for DEADLY STAR, the whole genre.

DEADLY STAR didn’t start off as a romance. Over the course of writing and editing the manuscript, which took about four years (do I write slow or what?), one of my critique partners thought the story might be marketed as an action/adventure. Another said it was a woman-in-peril story, a third said political thriller. Someone even floated the idea that it was sci-fi.

Then, because there was a love scene in the story—let me add a disclaimer here, it isn’t a bodice-tearing romp—I recklessly entered excerpts of the manuscript into two romance contests. The judges in each thought the concept and story were good, except it needed a happily ever after ending. One judge said she was tempted to throw it against the wall because it didn’t meet the HEA criterion. I decided the story might work as a romantic suspense novel if I made a change, or three, within the manuscript and, of course, changed the ending.

Revisions done, Crimson Romance offered me a contract about three weeks after I submitted my e-query and synopsis, and DEADLY STAR was published eleven months later. I’d stumbled…been pushed, really…into the correct genre.

The message is this: Don’t be afraid or unwilling to make changes in your manuscript but do so with a caveat. Before you make wholesale changes, be sure you’ve looked at the manuscript as objectively as possible. Put the piece aside, for several days at least, much longer if possible.

You can ask any of my critique partners, and they’ll tell you I’m making changes to my WIP as the pages leave my computer and are headed for theirs. I’ve been known to send an immediate follow-up note screaming in all capital letters: DON’T PRINT WHAT I JUST SENT YOU. HERE’S THE LATEST AND GREATEST.

After working with CEOs and vice presidents and directors who loved to thumbprint every piece of paper that crossed their desks, I do understand that my words, no matter how beautiful I think they are, are not carved in stone. And, if I can’t use them in one story, I can save them for another.

When I do need to consider a wholesale change to my manuscript, I try to keep in mind that, as one of my critique partners always said, I am the captain of my story. Change can be a good thing, but to change or not to change is up to me.

That’s all for now. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. And to all my writer friends, I hope all your characters are happy in your head . . . we're all doing pretty well in mine. Comments? Questions? There's a spot open and waiting for those at the bottom of the post.

cj

And now a word from my sponsors:

COMING ATTRACTIONS . . . Arriving July 10:  A new Crimson Romance bundle about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes Choosing Carter (rafting and off-roading)     Watch for it on Amazon.

Ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

 “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

cj Sez:  The following note comes from Sisters in Crime, the international writers’ group:

“We need diverse books, which is why Sisters in Crime launched the Eleanor Taylor Bland Crime Fiction Writers of Color Award. This award provides a $1,500 grant to an emerging mystery writer of color. Submissions for the 2017 grant are now open.”

This call for submissions is open to emerging writers of color, male or female, who have not yet published a full-length work. Applicants do not have to be a member of SinC to apply.

Go here to find out about eligibility requirements: 

http://www.sistersincrime.org/page/EleanorTaylorBland

Note:  The deadline is June 15th.

Helpful text to copy and tweet this message to your friends: “Submissions are now open for the #ETBA17, an emerging mystery writers of color grant.      http://www.sistersincrime.org/page/EleanorTaylorBland

The following note comes from Tara Gelsomino, Executive Editor at Crimson Romance, my publisher and an imprint of Simon&Schuster: 

FACEBOOK…APRIL 20   “Just a note that I'm finally all caught up on submissions. So if anyone has manuscripts they're sending or friends who are looking to query, now's a great time to send us anything.”

Find submission requirements here:   http://www.crimsonromance.com/submissions

*** 

I recently acted as a judge for entries into the Romance Writers of America Kiss of Death Chapter’s 2017 Daphne du Maurer Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense. My assignment was to judge the first thirty pages of unpublished and uncontracted manuscripts. It was a huge responsibility and a great experience.

RWA judges don’t sit on the bench without proper instruction, thank goodness. I received a packet of how-to-judge-this-contest documents, but even they didn’t allay all my fears. After all, I going to JUDGE a brand-new writer’s hard work, a story someone has worked on for months or maybe (like me) for years. I knew what these writers must be feeling because I felt the same anxiety when I entered my first RWA contest. It turned out to be justified when one judge wrote that she felt like throwing the pages against the wall when the story didn’t end as the accepted rules for a romance said it should.

When thirty pages of manuscript from each unpublished writer arrived in my inbox one day in March, I stared at the computer screen for several minutes before I thought to download them. Judging is an intense process, and there is a deadline to meet. My objective analyses require several read-throughs because I am determined to be fair and not let any personal biases affect my scoring of these entries.

 

The writing world is brimming with rejections, and writers have to be pretty thick-skinned to entrust their work to strangers. However, those how-to-judge pages reminded me that new writers are especially vulnerable to criticism. I tried really hard to balance my comments on the things done wrong with praise for the things done right. I hope I was successful in not badly bruising any of these writers’ egos. I also hope that someday I get to read their published works.

The winners of the 2017 Daphne du Maurer Awards for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense will be announced at the Kiss of Death’s annual “Death by Chocolate” extravaganza in July. I'm excited to find out who made the leap to Award Winner.

You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

PS: A research note to remember:  What the author knows about character, scene, and career never makes it onto the page.

“Bad Day at Round Rock” a short story in The Posse, anthology, still 99 cents @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page

Amazon Central Author Page

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle (includes Deadly Star) @ 99 cents

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle (includes Choosing Carter) Available May 1 @99 cents

Virtually yours

So, tell me...what do you think of my newsletter masthead?

cj Sez: Writers’ organizations are great for learning the craft and for networking. Today I was a guest at a meeting of the Gulf Coast Chapter of Romance Writers of America, and I learned a lot. They meet in Mobile, AL, and their virtual guest (from Kalamazoo, MI, via a live online conference) was Hillary Rettig, author of THE 7 SECRETS OF THE PROLIFIC. It was fascinating to me how she hit a lot of my personality quirks that need to be amended.

The Gulf Coast chapter of RWA might be my next membership. Currently, I’m a member of Mobile Writers Guild, Alabama Writers’ Forum, Alabama Writers’ Conclave, Sisters in Crime, and their online group Guppies, and the online Mystery Thriller Week event. Each of these organizations is important to my growth as an author.

Since all but two of my memberships are Alabama specific, I’ll recommend Sisters in Crime and their online group Guppies. The feedback from these international writers is informative, super supportive, and on the money. Not only do Guppies have a large list of specialized groups (for agent searches, querying, critiquing of specific genres, manuscript swaps, et al.), they also offer a variety of on-line skill-building classes. Recent Guppy classes include: “Writing is Revision” with award winning author Linda Rodriguez; “The Historical Novel” with NYT, USA Today and PW best-selling author Rhys Bowen; and “Writing Mysteries: Short, Single Novel or Series” with Laurie Scheer, former VP of programming for WE: Women’s Entertainment.

If you haven’t joined a writers’ organization, you should think about doing that.

Looking for a publisher for your romance story? Digital-first publisher Crimson Romance is open for submissions. The following is excerpted from their website:

Our digital-first romance line is open to submissions in five popular subgenres: romantic suspense, contemporary, paranormal, historical, and spicy romance. While your work can include other genre elements, Crimson Romance stories must focus first and foremost on a hero and heroine’s emotional journey together towards love and have a happily-ever-after or at least happy-for-now ending. 

We’re looking for previously unpublished full-length novels (between 50,000 – 90,000 words) and novellas (between 30,000 – 50,000 words). All authors—agented or unagented, beginner or veteran writers—are welcome to submit any works that have not been previously published in whole or in part in any media, including self-publishing (Kindle, CreateSpace, etc.)

Find out more at http://www.crimsonromance.com/submissions

Speaking of Crimson Romance, Choosing Carter is part of

their 8-book bundle called “More than Friends.” Available for a limited time. Here’s a review:

These stories must have been very enjoyable to write because they were really great to read. The characters were really good and every one of these stories should be followed with a sequel.

https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Friends-Contemporary-Romances-ebook/

Deadly Star is part of Crimson Romance’s new 10-book bundle called “California Kisses.”  No reviews yet but here’s the

publisher’s blurb:

We’ve packed this bundle full of mountains, beaches, Hollywood glamour, sunshine, and wine, delivering romance the way only California can. Join these ten couples as they explore love in the state known for its golden dreams.

https://www.amazon.com/California-Kisses-Golden-State-Romances-ebook/

Then, of course, there’s my short story “Bad Day at Round Rock” in the newly launched The Posse anthology of 8 Western short stories from publisher Intellect Publishing, LLC.

Here’s a 5-star review: The Posse has a little bit for everyone who loves the Old West. If you're like me, and a romance reader, you will thoroughly enjoy Lyn Horner and cj Peterson's romantic tales of the Old West. Excellent stories, woven in with period details. If you're a lover of Old West "grit" the other stories will grab hold of you and not let you go!

https://www.amazon.com/Posse-Historical-Western-Romances-ebook/

All of these Ebooks are currently on sale at Amazon for 99 cents. Think about it…Here’s an opportunity to get 18 romance novels plus 8 Western stories for less than $3.00 (plus tax, of course).

Okay, my job here is done. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

PS:  I published my first quarterly newsletter yesterday (note the header picture above) and, BSP, am pretty happy with the results. Of course, there will be future tweaking of the exact format, including the masthead which has already happened, but all in all it turned into a newsy issue. Drop me a note if you want a sample copy, or if you want to sign up.

cjpetterson@gmail.com

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