The Woman WITHOUT the Dragon Tattoo

by Stella MacLean

The dreaded month is upon me!  My release month.  A CHILD CHANGES EVERYTHING is on the bookshelves the tenth, and I’m in panic mode! 

Will people read my book?  Will they have certain expectations based on my earlier books?  Will I meet those expectations? 

Or will they give it a cursory glance, assume it’s ‘simply a romance’ then turn their attention to yet another book about a girl with a tattoo?

I wish I was a dragon, or that I had a tattoo or wanted a tattoo.  Did Stieg Larssen realize what he would unleash onto the reading public with his books?  Is he watching from somewhere as astounded as the rest of the world at the success of his books?
Or did he know all along that his words would be pure platinum?

These are some of the thoughts I can play with in my feeble attempt to distract myself from the inevitable day when my book is on the shelves of all the local bookstores, grocery stores There is nothing wrong with amphetamines, unless you abuse them (as with ANY? drug) obviously. Honestly most ADHD meds are milder and more controlled amphetamines or analogues anyway. No weird cut to worry about and no threat of getting busted. Your call but as much as I? don't trust drug companies to tell me what I should be taking, I will still choose a controlled and tested amphetamine over street ones any day. The combination of amphetamine salts in Adderall for example are much more effective at promoting focus and with less dopamine issues it's easier to control than meth. Vicodin Or Hydrocodone are both two methods to help deal with anxiety, I won?t lie to you each man in my humble opinion handles there effects differently, although from what I read online about both vicodin and about hydrocodone as well they tend to get the job done with minimum side effects. Wow if you would like to deal with your E.D. you should try out this medication it is just as good if not better then viagra, if you have been living on the moon for the past 10 years and you havent heard of this medication, it is called cialis and you should try it you can find it at neumers locations all over the online net. in short cialis for me was a life saver. If you need to treet your self with alprazolam you should first of read about this drug online this is objective good practice for any product you wish to buy online, you should find it on the web at authority locations and read what they have to say abpout whatever you wish to purchase, especially if we are talking about online medications. pharmacies.

But I’m no Stieg Larssen, and never will be.  Don’t have the talent.  Poor choice of distraction I think to myself as my pulse clicks up over a hundred and my blood pressure flirts with disaster.  In an attempt to rein in my soaring anxiety, I try to focus on the people I know who will LOVE my book, no matter what…. 

 Who were they again?    

I do my best to resist reading reviews on the principle that a review is way too little, way too late.  But that’s just me barricading myself against being mauled by a reviewer who doesn’t like my work.  Wouldn’t it be nice, if we didn’t worry about reviews?  If we could all enjoy the ‘instant’ success we often fantasize about? 



There goes another one of those tattoo thoughts whistling by my head.  How did Stieg do it?  (See, I’m trying to get up close and personal with a star, see if any of it will rub off like the fake tan I tried last week.)

Back to Stieg.  Did his experience as a writer and activist prepare him to write those three now-famous books?  Wikipedia says he wrote them in his spare time.  Amazing to think that after working all day in the world of writing and publishing that he was willing to come home and devote his time to writing such huge books with so much detail!  

So, I guess the only real question in the end is this. 
Do all authors suffer from pre-launch jitters?  I know I’m not alone, but it would be REALLY nice to hear from someone out there who has the launch day blues.

RWA Virgin

I've been a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America) for about two years. I joined as soon as I decided to try and get my first romance novel published. I had heard wonderful things about the National Conference over the past couple of years. I really wanted to go last year but finances and family obligations put the whammy on that. Truth be told, I hadn't planned on going this year either. However that all changed when my illustrious literary agent Jeanne Dube, of Forte Literary Associates here in NYC, sold my paranormal romance series to Sourcebooks in a 5 book deal! A few days before the conference my new publisher asked if I would be attending...gee...lemme think? YES! It was bit of a scramble but I made it down to Orlando for the last two days of the conference.

This year marks the 30th Anniversary of RWA! The 2010 conference was supposed to be in Nashville but due to the flooding, the event had to be moved. They chose Walt Disney World. I have to say that whoever was in charge of reorganizing this did an incredible job! The events were held in the Dolphin Conference Center. You'd never know that this had all be a last minute shuffle! I must admit that there was some guilt involved when I decided to go. I have four young sons and they were not exactly thrilled to hear I was heading to Disney without them. (They got over it quickly when presented with Disney themed gifts upon my return.)

It was a bit intimidating to charge headlong into this conference all alone. I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. My fears were immediately put to rest the moment I met the gals from Sourcebooks. I sat in on the Sourcebooks Spotlight and heard first hand about their company philosophy, marketing strategies and overall corporate culture. I left that session and immediately called my agent so I could say "THANK YOU"! She hooked me up with a wonderful organization.

After that session I had a cornucopia of workshops to choose from. As I looked over all of the options, I kept thinking that I should have attended this event every year. It's a great networking opportunity for unpublished authors who have the chance to pitch directly to pubs and agents. There were fantastic sessions about the craft of writing and wonderful workshops with some of the best romance authors in the industry. Nora Roberts and Brenda Novak both delivered fabulous presentations about their experiences in the industry.

My new editor invited me to the Sourcebooks author dinner. I was more than happy to attend! Friday night two HUGE stretch limos picked all of us up at the hotel and whisked us away to a very cool tapas restaurant in Orlando. It was my first opportunity to meet and chat with some of the wonderful authors in the Sourcebooks family. What a great group!

Saturday night was the big black tie affair....The RITA & Golden Heart Awards. It was like being at the Oscars for romance writers. This was no small affair! It was thrill to be there and be a part of such an exciting evening for so many authors. I owe a huge Thank You to Sharon Lathan who found me wandering amid the sea of tables! She swooped over, grabbed me by the arm and brought me over to one of the Sourcebooks tables! Sharon Lathan, Judi Fennell, Cheryl Brooks, Joanne Kennedy, Olivia Cunning and Terry Spear were so very welcoming to me. They embraced me into the fold as if I'd been there forever. I will never forget their kindness and warmth.

My only regret is that I was unable to attend the entire conference. I am already excited for RWA 2011 which will be right here in NYC!

If you want to get to know some of these authors I mentioned, you should stop on by their blog and see what they're up to. Trust me....there's always something fun going on with these gals!

Crime & Punishment a la Hollywood

By Pamela Callow

Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

These past few weeks I’ve been struck by the number of news item regarding a certain celebrity going to jail, sitting in jail, and then leaving jail. You guessed it: a once-promising young actress by the name of Lindsay Lohan.

Even one of Canada’s venerable national newspapers had a near full-page interview on page three of the court artist who sketched Lindsay Lohan during her sentencing. Said court artist happened to be the sister of a high-placed Hollywood executive. She indicated she socialized with many celebrities during evening events and then sketched them during their court appearances, a “court artist to the stars”.

Photo credit: Globe and Mail

Questions were asked about Ms. Lohan’s demeanour, the reported exclamations of her kin, and the fact that the judge would not allow a photo to be taken of handcuffs being placed on her wrist.

I must admit to being unimpressed that Ms. Lohan’s sentencing garnered such illustrious newspaper coverage. Not to mention tweets. Why is it suchbig news when celebrities go to court? Is it because it is more frequent? Or is it because it is summer, and there wasn’t much to report?

Then there’s Charlie Sheen – he’s going to rehab.

Mel Gibson – he’s had some noteworthy interactions with the law.

Photo credit: latimesblog

Roman Polanski – the long arm of the law is embracing him.

Paris Hilton – did I have to bring that up?

Now it gets tweeted in real-time across my twitter feed, a Greek chorus of how the mighty have fallen in less than 140 characters.

But Lindsay Lohan’s fall from grace seems to have garnered more than her fair share of attention. I watched Freaky Friday a few months ago, and I was struck by how well she – a young teenager at the time – played a forty-something woman. Is it because she is truly talented and people lament the loss of her promise? Is it because of her addictions? Her relationships? Her dysfunctional family? The fact that she literally is losing control of her life – as evidenced by her reckless behaviour driving under the influence. And yet, is this worthy of so much media attention? We’ve seen this a million times with young celebrities -- and yet our twitter feed still scrolls their offences across our computer screen in breathless bit.ly links. Perhaps it is because you can't get more real than being hauled into court.

What do you think?

Pamela Callow is the author of the Kate Lange thriller series. DAMAGED, the first book of the series, is a Levy "Need to Read" Pick for June.

RWA NATIONALS

by Leeann Burke

Well it was another great RWA Nationals. I had feared there would be many oops moments since they changed the location from Nashville (due to the flood) to Orlando, but we had none. At least I didn’t see them. My roommates and I arrived in Orlando on the Monday night, went to Universal and tried the Harry Potter ride. It was great, but I’m not sure it was worth the 2 hour-wait.

I volunteered once more during the Literacy signing. I was the water girl! I ran around making sure our authors were kept refreshed with tons of water. There were tons of fans waiting in line to see Debbie Macomber, Nora Roberts, Sherrilyn Kenyon and many more authors. I volunteer for this event every year and enjoy it tremendously. I can’t wait to volunteer for it next year. We raised over $55,000 for literacy groups in Nashville and Orlando, but the best part is that the books that didn’t sell were donated to libraries in Florida. Most libraries in the US have had their budgets gutted (some by more than 75%) so these books will be well loved by many librarians.

As for the conference, I spent a lot of time meeting up with old friends, making new ones and learning tons. What did I learn the most? Well the best lesson I got was from Nora Roberts’s luncheon speech. "nothing worth a damn comes easy." Boy is she right. If it came easy it might not be worth the journey.

I am already making plans for RWA Nationals 2011 in NY. I hope to see some of you there.

INSPIRATIONS

by Joanna D'Angelo

Well, as we approach the end of summer and the beginning of the school year (I still kind of plan my year according to the school calendar) I am thinking of new directions.  Working on some new projects with new people - people who I know but I have never worked with before. And I am excited about that. Also re-working my fiction writing. One night last week while at the gym I worked out the dang plot to my novel. Finally.  Well, 30 minutes on the rower with Madonna blasting in my years will do that to me. 

And being inspired again.  It feels good to feel inspired.

At the gym on Friday I noticed this really gorgeous guy working out.  He was tall and lean - not overly muscular - clearly he was no stranger to the gym. He also had two prosthetic legs.  It just hit me. How very lucky I am. How I shouldn't take my health for granted. How I should make the most of my time and my abilities because you never know what life might dish up for you.

Over the past six months I have made a new friend - an older woman who I now work out with sometimes at the gym. She's absolutely wonderful. She used to be an athlete in her younger days - one of the first women in my city and perhaps even in Canada who played competitive hockey. She and her partner have two adopted children with Down Syndrome. A son and a daughter. The son is severely disabled.  He's 13 but has the developmental ability of a three-year-old.  You know when you meet certain people and you immediately sense this positive aura that surrounds them? She has that. Serenity. But great humour as well. She inspires me.  She told me that I inspire her too - a really nice compliment. And I make her laugh. I'll take that too!

Last night I visited two of my best friends - a married couple - he is a five-year survivor of a double lung and heart transplant and she is a Warrior Queen who was eight months pregnant with twins (girl and boy) when he fell ill. He is a Viking Warrior in my book. He kind of looks like one too - 6'4" blonde hair, muscular, ruggedly handsome and covered in tattoos - former punk rocker from his high school and college days.  He's the real deal.  She is lovely and dark haired and loony and sweet and English and super smart. They also have another daughter - who at the time when her Daddy was sick - was only three years old. She is one of the most intelligent and sweetest kids I know. They inspire me. The entire family. They are wonderful and creative people who love deeply and completely.  And when we're together we giggle a lot because the kids are such hams.

Other people inspire me too - people in my life whom I admire. People who've overcome obstacles and who are still here - kicking and screaming and making a fuss. I draw strength from this. It helps renew my energy - my spirit. It helps me think positive thoughts about the future even in dark times.  I always turn to the light. That is my thing - my motto. And hopefully I can write a kick-ass novel from this! ;)

And so back to my writing...