The HEA Cafe

Chapter A Week is a free email subscription. Members receive a chapter a week from two different Christian author’s new books each week–a great way to find new authors to read!

If you’re not already a member of Chapter A Week, now’s the time to join and invite a friend! Here’s the link to join. Then read on about one of the periodic book giveaways and how to be included.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChapteraWeek/join

Christmas is just around the corner! So we’re giving away another ten-pound box of autographed Chapter-a-Week books to one Chapter-a-Week member. If you get a friend to sign up (and they mention your name in their email) you’ll be entered twice! The more friends you sign up the more times you’ll be entered!

Simply send an email with “Chapter-a-Week Christmas Giveaway” in the subject line to cawcontest(at)gmail(dot)com and you’ll be entered in the drawing. We’ll draw the winner November 27th, the day after Thanksgiving so the books will arrive in plenty of time for Christmas!

Get your entries in and be sure to tell your friends to sign up for Chapter-a-Week!

To qualify, the return email address must be on the Chapter-a-Week membership list. Continental U. S. residents only, please. Industry professionals should refrain from entering, and though we’d love you to share our books with your friends, these books are not for resale.

Thanks and happy reading!
Your friends at Chapter-a-Week

A few helpful (I hope) notes.
If you missed the Shades of Romance, free online writing conference, drop by http://www.sormag.blogspot.com and read through the archived conference. It’s a wealth of information.

Also this month on my blog, I’m celebrating Sentimental September. Authors and readers are posting about strong women in their lives and the advice they gave and if they took the advice or not! My blog is http://strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com

Also I have another Love Inspired Classic out this month. I can’t believe that I’ve written long enough to have books being reissued!

So that’s my story for September!
Hope you’re having a great start to autumn!

What provided the inspiration for Her Inheritance Forever, and the Texas Star of Destiny Series?

I chose Texas as a setting because it is a popular setting with many readers.
I had never done much research into early Texas history. I read about Stephen Austin’s 1821 deal with the last Spanish governor of Texas and was intrigued by the three demands made of the Anglos entering Texas: No slaves, Convert to Roman Catholicism, and swear allegiance to Spain. I was intrigued because in my experience of Americans of that period were unlikely to follow any of those! And that means conflict and every good story thrives on conflict. Also the collision of many different tribes and nations all in one area—Spaniards, Mexicans, Tejanos, Comanche and other tribes and Americans and later new immigrants from Germany makes for an interesting cast of characters.

The Blurb:

In 1836 Texas, Alandra Sandoval is the lady of Rancho Sandoval, determined to prove to a doubting world that a woman alone can run a ranch as well as any man. But when Comanches attack her ranch and kidnap her, Alandra must admit she needs protection. A top hand at a nearby ranch, Scully Falconer, is chosen for the task and though Alandra tries to pretend she doesn’t need his help, he quietly stays by her side.

Though they believe their paths to be worlds apart, the rugged American cowboy with a troubled past and the proud lady of Mexican descent are united when Alandra’s greedy relatives burst into their lives. And when General Santa Anna’s army crosses the Rio Grande—marching toward a rendezvous with destiny at the Alamo—Alandra and Scully are swept up together in the tide of history…and their world will never be the same.

To pre-order it, go to my website and click Buy Books. Or drop by my blog and make a comment for a weekly drawing for a free copy.

Lyn Cote
Her Inheritance Forever, 8-18-09
http://strongwomenbravestories.blogspot.com
Every woman has a story! Share yours.

I found this great article through Goodreads yesterday.  It’s something that should be broadcast over the Net. What you write there ALWAYS COUNTS. –Lyn

Online Badmouthing Can Cause A Writer Their Career. Don’t Do It!
Author: Stacy-Deanne

The Internet is a wonderful thing for writers. It gives us information and makes research available to us within minutes. It is also a portal to misconceptions, lies and viciousness when used the wrong way. These days more writers, especially aspiring ones are running to the Internet with their disgruntled feelings and broken hearts. It seems very harmless to talk about your latest experience with a literary agent on Twitter or to blog about your somewhat negative brush with a publisher at this year’s BEA, but it’s not harmless at all. Badmouthing people on the Internet is not as “safe” as you think. Even if you’re posting anonymously. There are many reasons and examples why not to do it.

I don’t know why people think that talking about someone on the net is safe. Why do you think that the target of your venom won’t find out? If you do then you’re living in a fantasy world. Out of all the people who are badmouthed in the industry, agents are the number one targets. Some writers despise agents to the point of tearing down their characters and devoting entire blog posts on how they feel about an agent. Be warned, the agent will find out one way or another. People think agents do not search the net. They do. They are busy people but they search the net from time to time and mostly, they Google themselves just to see where their name leads them. If you speak about them on any portion of the net, Google Alerts lets them know immediately. Do not do it.

How do I know? Well, I have Google Alerts myself and I love it. Any time someone writes my name down or one of the names of my books on the net, I get an email informing me. I started Google Alerts after I found out I’d been the target of a two-faced book reviewer. I googled myself one night and came upon a book review blog where people were discussing recent books. One person left a not-so-flattering review of my recent novel. That didn’t bother me. I am an author. I expect to get all kinds of reviews. What bothered me was the person who wrote it. This had been the same person who praised my book on other sites, saying it was one of the best of the year. Yet on this site I lucked up on, she’d said it was the worst she’d read of the year. Hmm, I didn’t understand it. It hurt a little because if you claim to like a book, why turn around and say you didn’t? I realize some reviewers have motives. Some reviewers do not review books just for the fun of it or to educate the public. Some actually review to tear down books. It’s not something I understand and these fake reviewers give real book reviewers a bad name.

So what did I do about it? I did the professional thing and left it alone. I didn’t email the woman and I didn’t confront her. It confused the heck out of me and I discussed it with some of my friends who shook their heads too. But as far as contacting the lady, I left it alone. I am smart enough to know that contacting a reviewer is only asking for trouble. If she could badmouth my book like she did then she could easily do more damage if I’d contacted her. My point is that you should keep your negative comments to yourself. As you can see, when you talk about someone, they will find out. Agents and publishers have many friends in the industry. These friends might read something you’ve written and report it. The agent’s loved ones could find your rant and do the same thing. It is much more serious than people believe.

Authors have lost book contracts because of their behavior about their publishers and agents. Some go beyond blogging and choose to badmouth their agents/publisher at conferences and festivals to other professionals. And guess how the info gets back to the person? Through the same professionals you sprouted off to. Twitter is the most damaging thing that can happen to an author or aspiring writer if they use it negatively. Authors are using Twitter to bully book reviewers and to “warn” writers about various agents they’ve worked with or were rejected by. Authors form online cliques and use these groups as a way to harass anyone who has said anything bad about their books. They go as far as putting people’s personal information online or anything else to embarrass or threaten the target’s wellbeing. I don’t care if you’re published or not, this behavior is never acceptable. If you have problems with an agent or publisher, be professional and take it up with them in private. If you have a problem with a book reviewer, you can email them but I wouldn’t. Book reviewers have a right to their opinions. Even unfair reviews have a right to be read. An author’s unreasonable and childish antics would hurt their career and sales more than any bad book review. Remember that everything you do on the net is visible. The writing world is too big of a place to take the chance.

Resist the urge to badmouth. Most times, if you feel the need to badmouth than the issue is not that serious. Every agent isn’t going to want to represent you. Every publisher isn’t going to be the greatest one you’ve worked with. Every author isn’t going to be your friend. Every book reviewer isn’t going to give you a glowing review or be fair about it. But just like you have the choice on how you want to use the net for your career, others do too. This is a big world and the Internet has made it even more gigantic. There are no such things as secrets online. If you don’t know this, it could cost you the chance of a lifetime.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/writing-articles/online-badmouthing-can-cause-a-writer-their-career-dont-do-it-1012088.html

About the Author:

Stacy-Deanne is a best selling author and novelist. She’s been in the writing industry for twelve years. She is a novelist with Simon and Schuster. Stacy was featured in 2006’s “Literary Divas: The Top 100+ Most Admired African-American Women in Writing”. She was born, raised and resides in Houston, Texas. You can visit her sites to learn more about her and her books.

http://www.stacy-deanne.net
http://www.myspace.com/stacydeanne

I didn’t do this deliberately, but having the 4th of each month as my regular blog day means every year I get to write a Fourth of July blog.  And I like that.[g]

I was listening Friday to Morning Edition on NPR, as I do most mornings.  They followed a long standing ritual of having their anchors and correspondents read the Declaration of Independence.  It was fun picking out the voices I knew–Daniel Shor, Nina Totenberg, Sylvia Poggioli and all the various anchors of Morning Edition and All Things Considered.  That was special fun for me because I used to be a news director/anchor on the radio, and even now, decades later, older residents of my town recognize my voice.  When I’m in the grocery people will hear me and say, “Didn’t you use to be so-and-so who did the news on WGGG?”, which is nice after all these years away from the microphone.

Anyway, something struck me as I listened to the NPR correspondents read the Declaration of Independence aloud.  The richness of the words contained in that document.  So many of us neglect to take the time to read our country’s historic documents, even though as writers words are our tools.  You’re missing something if you don’t.  Maybe it bored you in junior high civics class, but as an adult and as a writer you should have a greater appreciation for the clarity of the writing of our Founding Fathers, the care with which they chose the words they would pass down to us more than 200 years later.

For example, did you know that Section Eight of the US Constitution authorizes Congress to “… grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal…”?  This means Congress can authorize individuals to be privateers, and someday I may write that thriller  about Congress authorizing a post-9/11 privateer to hunt down terrorists.  Oh sure, there are now international treaties outlawing privateering (and incidentally, the US signed on very late to that–after the Civil War), but this is the constitution.  If I wanted to, I’m sure I could work out the details.

Anyway (again), the point of this rambling blog post is this:  It’s the Fourth of July.  If you’re an American, be proud!  Read your Declaration of Independence. Enjoy the shiver it sends down your spine when you think about these individuals pledging ” our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor” so that you can live today in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.  Had they lost, they would have been drawn-and-quartered or hanged as traitors to the Crown. They chose their words carefully.  Maybe they had a premonition that 200 years later we would be reading them, and saying “Thank you.”