The HEA Cafe

When I was trying to get published, I prepared myself for a lot of things. I knew that family time would suffer, deadlines would need to be met, rejections faced … but there was one thing that never entered my radar.

My friends gave me every encouragement along the path to publication. They supported me, encouraged me to keep going when things got tough, they celebrated with me and cried with me - they still do. Most of them. Yet a couple have reacted very strangely. One was shocked at the cover of one of my books, declaring “I didn’t realise you wrote THOSE sort of books”. Another was visibly surprised when she found out I wrote sex scenes, as if I didn’t have enough experience to write sex (hmm … surely I must have learned something in 33 years of marriage).

That’s all okay, and I can deal, but when one told me that using bad language, in dialogue I might add, was a sign of sloppy writing, well, that I couldn’t handle. It’s not as if she’s a purist - she has no compunction peppering her sentences with the odd swear word.

At first I was so taken aback I considered changing the dialogue, but then I realised that first and foremost I am a writer. I spend time creating a character and it gives me great pleasure when that character starts speaking and acting in his/her own unique way. So, the dialogue stays. If it loses me a few friends, then so be it. The true ones are still there … supporting, encouraging and ready to offer an expletive in my defence when required.

Tricia

www.tricia-jones.com

I generally avoid Amazon. It’s infested with trolls and has brought new lows to the meaning of “customer service.” For starters. Be that as it may, though, when a fan points me to a thread in the romance community there, I feel obliged to at least look so I can comment on it.

What I found more interesting than the positive comment on my books was the trend taken by posters to that community that authors need to have thick skins. Now, two days ago I could have navigated you to the exact comment/thread. But two days ago my Dell desktop imploded, and two-hundred dollars and two days later, it’s in recovery mode via the Carbonite online backup service, with 38,128 files yet to go. So you’ll have to trust me that there is a thread that states that. It was in response, if memory serves me, to Amazon’s removal of certain negative reviews.

The consensus seemed to be that negative reviews are part and parcel of an author’s lot and authors needed to grow thicker skins.

I’m going to disagree and I’ll tell you why.

1 - A percentage of what’s posted on Amazon as “reviews” aren’t. They’re at best comments and at worst, the useless spewings by people with far too much time on their hands. I am not talking about those comments that are obviously reviews, posted by people associated with review sites. I’m not talking about customer comments that are mature and well thought out, even if they dislike a book. I’m talking about senseless emotional spewings and some very nonsensical postings.

2 - The fact that Amazon is infested by trolls–people whose sole interest is stirring up controversy–has been documented by bloggers and in the media. Like the “Yale-ees” who used to concoct crazy letters to try to stump Ann Landers, there are internet users out there who want to see how far they can push the envelope, and how big a brouhaha they can spawn. Amazon is only one of many places they surface.

3 - Why does being an author make you fodder for personal attack? I know books have long been reviewed publically. Again, I’m not talking about reviews. I’m talking about spewings. So why does being an author mean it’s okay for someone to spew on you? Because your work is visible?

A lot of people’s works are visible.

Let’s try this scenario. You’re a sales clerk in the jewelry department in Macy’s. You’re certainly visible to anyone who walks through the store. What if people in the store followed you around with signs that read: “This clerk is slow and stupid”? Or “This clerk doesn’t smile enough” or “This clerk smiles too much”? 

Hey, you’re in public. I’m a customer (maybe or maybe not–Amazon doesn’t require that you’ve bought the book you’re “reviewing”). I have a right to tell people what I think of your service.

Oh, let’s add another sign: “This clerk smiles too much and the jewelry she sells is ugly.”

By the end of the day, just how would you, the sales clerk, feel? Frustrated, annoyed, confused? Let’s say you ask the sign-carrier to leave. You get the store security to tell the person to leave. Next thing you know, the sign-carrier is back with ten cohorts. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts eight of the ten never bought a piece of jewelry in their lives, let alone from you, the Macy’s clerk. But now you have eleven sign-carriers: This clerk is stupid! If you buy something from this clerk you’re an idiot! Whoever taught this clerk to sell should be shot!

And so on and so forth.

Are you beginning to get my point?

Please note, I’m not saying books shouldn’t be reviewed. I’m saying authors shouldn’t be expected to like being spewed on. There is a huge difference.

A series of one-star ratings on Amazon–and gee, isn’t it something that they all show up within a day or so of each other–saying little more than “this book sucks” are yes, spewing and yes, useless. I’m also very suspicious of “reviews” where the plot is misrepresented, characters’ names are wrong and the “reviewer” can neither spell nor form a coherent sentence. I don red this book last nite and it sux is not a review.

Vendettas are also not reviews. People who think books with vampire protagonists are the work of the devil. People who think a romance plot line is disgusting. People who think author X is better than author Y, and so go to author Y’s page and load on the one-star reviews. People who dislike a reviewer and so go to every book page where that reviewer posts and start a flame war.

So how thick is your skin? Mine’s sufficiently thick but I’m not going to tolerate being a doormat for rude behavior, and I don’t think my being an author means I have to. I have no problem with constructive criticism. I do have a serious problem with people who equate internet access with the right to spew.

~Linnea
www.linneasinclair.com

Everything I know about writing I learned from my dog, Yofi. Oh sure, her lovemaking scenes involve more buttsniffing than mine, and there was that disaster where her hero was distracted by a can opener while he was disarming a bomb, but overall, I can learn a lot from her.

For example:

Stay focused.
When she’s in the backyard hunting moles, Yofi can stand still forever, not an eyelid twitching, not a hair moving. She has her eyes on the prize, and she will do whatever it takes to get it. When she makes her move, her muscles explode into action as she begins digging furiously.
She’s not distracted by laundry or other books or rejection letters from publishers. She’s going to get that mole, and that’s all that matters.

Be a big dog in a little package.
Sure, we snicker at wiener dogs, but as dachshund owners know, inside, they’re Rottweilers. They’re willing to take on all comers, and they don’t back down. They don’t let their size keep them from doing what needs to be done. Remember, it’s not the dog in the fight, it’s the fight in the dog.
Same thing with writing. Don’t be intimidated by writers who make the NYT list or blog about their world book tours. You can be a big dog, even if you’re writing for a small publisher. You just have to put all of your fight into it, and believe in your heart that you’re a Rottweiler.

When you’re not working, relax.
When Yofi isn’t trying to save the world from moles, she doesn’t obsess over them. She puts them behind her, and makes sleeping an art form. She saves her energy for what’s important. She takes time to sniff…well, not the roses, but you get the idea.

Characterization.
I admit, dachshunds don’t have to work that hard at characterization because they’re so darn adorable. It’s not like they’re cats or something.
But even when it comes naturally, it’s important to remember that you need to pick out the details to make the character come alive–how he stands, how he laughs, what he enjoys and doesn’t enjoy, whether his tail wags and his ears perk up when he sees the heroine, that sort of thing.

Set goals.
One evening I heard the dog barking in an especially frantic manner, and then quiet. I knew this meant there was another animal about, so I rushed out into the yard. Sure enough, she had her jaws clamped around the tail of an armadillo that outweighed her and was armored as well. But Yofi wasn’t letting go. She dug in all of her 12 ½ pounds and held on for dear life while the armadillo scrabbled at the ground. I finally got them separated with a broom and the ‘dillo scampered off to safety, but that dog was as proud as if she’d just won Westminster.
She set her goal and she achieved it. She was going to capture that invader, even if the whole world thought she was too small to make it happen.
Do you have days when you think you’ll never finish the book? Clamp your jaws down and don’t let go.

So my muse inspires me as she lies on her bed in my office. Sometimes when I get stuck, I ask myself, “What would the dog do?” Usually the answer isn’t at all helpful–licking yourself really doesn’t replace conflict resolution, but sometimes she leads me in the right direction. All I have to remember is that if it’s a dog’s life, it could be one we would be wise to learn from.

It’s spring time. At least for now. I’ve learned not to get too attached to the season as it tends to be a little like a wandering dog—here today, gone tomorrow.
With springtime comes yard work.
There used to be three huge trees in the center of my lawn. When we moved here they had been reduced to three large stumps. I never minded the stumps. They served as a place to sit or to park planters. Others, though, are anxious to get rid of them and twelve years later, they are getting a little rotted so my son has attacked them with the chain saw and now I have three large holes. Yes, sooner or later someone will fill them with dirt and I’ll plant grass. It will look nice in the end.
It reminds me of what I’ve been doing with my writing. I got a revision letter a few weeks ago. Basically, I had to rewrite the whole story because one of the characters didn’t work. I felt like I had to chop out a stump and expose a big hole.
I worked very hard. Lots of bik-hoking. And I’ve rewritten the story. And like my lawn once the holes are replaced with grass, it really is a lot better.
Now for the polishing. I spend a lot of time going over my manuscript making sure it is as smooth and error free as possible. I use Autocrit (http://www.autocrit.com/), and a Textaloud (NextUp.com/) program. And then I read the story out loud to my hapless client. Poor man doesn’t have a choice but to sit and listen. (He does say he enjoys it but still….)  I have to confess that this stage—the polishing, fine editing—is my least favorite part.
How about you? What is your most favorite/least favorite part of the process?

But in the end it is all worth it when I see my baby in print. The Road to Love, my first Love Inspired Historical, hits the shelves this month.