The HEA Cafe

This week, I finished writing another book.  Hurrah!

I’m always surprised by how few people understand exactly how difficult it is to write a novel.  It takes planning, plotting, thinking.  The characters and fictional world consume my thoughts for months, even before I sit down at the computer to write it.  The actual writing is frustrating, grueling, sometimes exhilarating, but mostly it’s just plain hard work.  And I mean hard!  Anyone who thinks a writer just sits down at the computer and lets the words pour unedited on the page is delusional.  And even after I’ve finished a manuscript, it still occupies my mind for weeks.  I wonder how I could have made it better.  I begin second-guessing the plot points.  I anguish over how my editor will react.

What’s odd is that no matter how many times I start a new project, it doesn’t get any easier.  That defies logic.  A task should get easier with repetition, shouldn’t it?  But perversely, each subsequent book becomes harder to write, probably because I keep raising my expectations and can more easily spot the flaws in my work.

Despite all that, it’s still enormously satisfying to finish a book.  Sure, the work isn’t as brilliant or perfect as I’d hoped it would be.  Maybe it won’t win awards or hit the best seller lists.  But I brought my vision of a story into existence, and that deserves celebration.

So how do you celebrate when you’ve finished a book?  Do you have a routine you follow, any special treat you reward yourself with?  Please share!

Maybe I’m hopelessly out of touch, but I have to admit that I’m one of those people who doesn’t “get” Facebook and other similar communities.  Yes, I understand that they’re a way to network with people, form communities, post photos and other news.  And in theory, that sounds great.

But here’s the problem.  I joined Facebook recently because one of my former students was spending a semester in Spain, and I wanted to see her photos.  I’d heard other writers extol the virtues of Facebook (as well as My Space) as a way to increase visibility, so I thought I’d have the added bonus of getting my name out there a bit without much effort or expense.

So I joined.  Pretty soon, I started getting requests to add friends to my page, which I did.  Then someone sent me a “hug,” whatever that was.  Again, no big deal.  I went to my page every few days, resisted the invitations to post what I was doing at that moment, and pretty much left it alone.

Okay, I completely ignored it.  After a few attempts, I decided it took way too long to find my student’s photos.  Sure, it was fun to get messages, but I simply didn’t have time to post things on her wall.

Then today I got another request to add a friend, so I went back to my page.  And I was shocked.  I couldn’t believe all the messages I had.  The messages were requests to send the following items:

Shoes, hearts, growing flowers, pieces of flair, candy, gifts, hugs, fashion gifts, sweets, good karma, Swarovski crystals, stuffed animals, Baskin Robbins, cookies, butterflies, spies, my fairy, eggs, top friend, Haikoo zoo.  I had other messages wanting to know who my celebrity boyfriend was, what kind of warrior and Jane Austen heroine I was.  Was I addicted to Lost?  Would I become a knight in a game, a forever friend?

Stranger yet, most of these were from one person, who I promptly deleted from my list of friends.

And I couldn’t help but feel appalled.  Who was this person?  How did she have time to send all these things?  And what was she doing with her life?  Shouldn’t she be out there living, traveling, having relationships with people instead of sending nonsensical requests on the internet to someone she didn’t know?

So how much time do people spend on Facebook and other similar communities?  What is the appeal?  Surely I’m not the only one who doesn’t get this.  Enlighten me, please!

This week I am doing something I’ve never done before.  I’m joining a book club.  I was asked to do this by our local librarian.  She wanted to start a book club for readers of romance novels, and wanted me (a real live local romance author) to join it.  I thought about it, and finally agreed.  The library is only about a ten minute drive from my house, so it won’t take much time.  I read tons of romance novels anyways, so no matter what books they select, I’m sure I’ll be happy to read them.  And it might be a way to connect with readers, meet others in the community who enjoy romance novels as much as I do.

 The only problem is that I have never been a member of a book club before, and really have no idea what they are like.  I mean, obviously, we will sit around and discuss a book each time we meet, right?  But I’m wondering how they are generally organized. 

In the movie The Jane Austen Book Club, everyone was assigned a different book.  I’m assuming that if that’s the case, we will be expected to make some sort of presentation on our assigned day.  That worries me a bit.  Hopefully, this won’t be a flashback to my college literature courses where I had to write ten to twenty page papers about the books.  I’m hoping for something fun, something I don’t have to prepare for — more on the level of just showing up to talk.

So I thought I’d ask you.  Have any of you ever belonged to a book club?  If so, what was it like?  Any tips?  Anything to watch out for?  I’d appreciate any help you can give!

As we all know, story telling has certain rules.  The first – and arguably the most critical – rule is to convince the reader to suspend disbelief and buy into the plot.  But I have to admit that there are certain plots that I simply can’t buy into.  Plots that evoke an instant doubt, that make me skeptical of the story, no matter how skillful the writer’s prose.

Perhaps the worst, for me personally, is the mistaken identity plot.  I often see this in contests I’m judging.  Typically, the hero arrives on scene without announcing his identity, and the heroine reacts in some drastic, way-out-of-bounds way.  Either she has raw, wild sex with him, or she hates him on sight and gets into a huge argument with him, or she does something equally as destructive — only to discover the next day that he’s her new boss, or the man she needs to convince to save the ranch/give her a job/rescue her failing company. 

This plot device drives me nuts.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I’ve just seen it too often.  Or maybe I just can’t see this happening in real life.  It’s just too unbelievable that the heroine doesn’t ask who he is.

So what about you?  Are there any plots or plot devices that you don’t care for?  Please share!

I have a question for all you blog-savvy people out there.  Some published writers I know are thinking about creating a new blog.  The purpose, of course, is to draw in readers and get some publicity for their upcoming books.  But should they bother?  Is the blog “market” saturated?  Do people still read blogs?

Since I’m not on many blogs myself (and rarely have time to read them), I thought I would ask you:  If you read blogs, what draws you to a particular one?  What draws you back on a regular basis?  Great information?  The latest gossip?  An interesting guest blogger or a guaranteed laugh?

Or are you sick of blogs?  Do you rarely read them?  Should these writers forget a blog and move on to the next new thing?

I’d like to know.  So if you have a second to post a comment, please do!!!