Happy Thanksgiving, folks!

 

This is the time to say thanks. Some of you might totally backlash the people on Facebook who have been giving thanks every day for a different thing. You might say they should be thankful every day and not just during the month of November. People, wake up – this is like saying we should give each other gifts every day and not just during Christmas. Or give little romantic surprises to our loved ones every month and not only during February. Oh, hey, wait a moment… I see the trend here.

Well, because I’m too lazy to post on Facebook every day, I’m just compiling everything here and honestly hope this won’t make you throw up. If you do, blame it on Aunt Bertha’s sketchy cranberry sauce.

I’m super thankful for my readers who keep buying my book.

Thanks to my support system: my extraordinary critique partners: Cara Carnes, my fabulous Austin-based writing buddy whom I love to stalk; Aurelia B. Rowl, a force of nature in so many ways – thanks for helping me when I really needed it; and the talented Michele de Winton, I can't wait to start spamming your inbox, LOL.  And also Annie Seaton and Hayson Manning, two amazing writers who have turned into lifelong friends, I’m sure.

Thanks to my hubby, for always making sure I have time to write. He says when I don’t write I get moody. As if! :)

Thanks to my daughter, Scarlett, for always showing me what my priorities are, even when I try to fool myself.

And of course, thanks to my family and best friends, particularly my good friend Dina, who’s kindly invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner! Which means I can get away with bringing wine and flowers – if that’s not a great reason to be thankful, I don’t know what is. :)

Okay. There it is!

Now go get that cranberry sauce stain off your blouse before it’s too late… and Happy Thanksgiving! :)

Until later,

Carmen

Catching Up with Annie Seaton

Greetings!

Today, we have the fabulous Annie Seaton here with us. Annie is the author of Holiday Affair, which has been on the Amazon bestseller lists (both in the US and the UK!) for quite some time. She’s multitalented, having also written the excellent steampunk novel Winter of the Passion Flower and the paranormal page-turner Blind Lust.

Since retiring from teaching,  Annie has also worked as a freelance editor, and still does so when time allows. Many of her clients went ahead and got published. I was lucky to be one of them. J

Now, some questions I’ve always wanted to ask…

·         What are the most common mistakes romance writers make nowadays, craft-wise?

There are some errors that are quite common to many authors—both new and multi-published. I suppose the two that stand out for me are the use of the word ‘that’ as a filler word and the use of filtering.

Example 1: She opened the door that led to the garden.  Corrected to: She opened the door leading to the garden

Example 2:  The dog dropped the bone THAT his master had thrown.         

The second one I really am conscious of is filtering. That is, when the reader is pulled out of the head of the person whose eyes they are looking through by the use of words such as felt, made, watched.

 

Example 1. She felt the heat in her cheeks. 

Corrected: Her cheeks flared with heat.

Example 2: He watched as she crossed the room to him.

Corrected: Her hips swayed as she crossed the room to him

 

So removing filtering is removing the telling of how the person felt or what they saw, and shows what they are feeling or what they could see.

It is most often described as Show vs Tell and it is one of the most important things to watch when writing a great story.

 

·         How important is an editor for someone who’s self-publishing?

All I will say here it is one hundred percent essential!

·         Should you shut up your inner editor for the sake of getting words on the page?

LOL, Carmen. You have been reading my blog post on this.  (http://annieseaton.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/procrastination-inner-editors-getting.html) It really depends on the individual writer. Sometimes you can spend too much time polishing to the detriment of productivity and word count for the day.

·         Or should you listen to it and have less work later?

But, self reflection is a marvelous thing! Instead of giving up and bemoaning this constant nagging voice, take control and analyze the changes you do make when your inner editor won’t let go. What will you find?  Scenes will be stronger and the plot will tighten. Dialogue will improve. Reading back over your changes, hopefully you will see your inner editor has stepped in, in a timely fashion and saved you hours of editing at the end. So a good lesson. The more you write, the more savvy you become when dealing with that pesky inner editor.

 

·         Do you see any current trend on romance novels you’d like to share?

I watch the release of new romances with great interest and I read widely across many tropes. I can see both ends of the spectrum—the books where a billionaire falls in love with the heroine; and the sweet family books where the development of love and the use of secondary characters in warm family environments, rounds out the story. I love reading both!

·         You worked for an e-publisher. For all of us who haven’t, could you please guide us through the process of how editors acquire a book?

Books are sent to the acquiring editor personally or to the general address for the publisher. The editor generally reads the whole book and looks at the story, the consistency of the plot and the development of characters.  Is the story engaging?

Even if there are craft issues, if it is a great story it will be sent back with a request to revise certain issues and resubmit. If it is considered suitable for the publisher and the line, it will be recommended for contract.

·         Most of your clients have gotten published. What’s your secret?

Hmmm. That’s a hard one.

From the craft perspective, I would say it my love for reading over many years. I am  extremely conscious of grammar, punctuation and spelling and that  means I will always return a manuscript to the author post edits in a structurally perfect form. From a voice point of view, I am extremely conscious of keeping the author’s unique voice and not changing it. If readers want my voice, they will read Annie Seaton books. Voice is unique to every author and that is the key to a good editor. Keep the author’s voice!

 

Annie, thank you so much for stopping by and catching up! :)

My pleasure. I am always excited about taking on new editing clients. When they get the ‘call’, I am just as excited as they are. I have made friends all over the world through my editing including Carmen!

Connect with Annie:

Website

Twitter

Facebook

 

 

To Blog or Not to Blog…

Dear friends,

I’m sorry for neglecting this blog. I’m starting to feel like that aunt who you only see at a family gathering every four years or so. Well, hopefully I will be cool Aunt Emma, with an iPad and a string of former lovers, and someone you want to meet for lunch. I’ll try not to be like Aunt Bertha. You know – the one who complains you never write or call or email, even though she doesn’t own a computer. Yes. Let’s pretend I’m Aunt Emma.

Truth is, I’m worried I’ll run out of subjects to blog about. As it turns out, once you are a published author, people invite you to guest blog on their sites. It’s super cool, but also a huge responsibility. After all, I don’t want to bore readers to tears.

                So basically, I will try to come up with some cool, totally original things to blog and write them down, to be one step ahead of everyone. *snorts* One step ahead…who am I kidding?

            Let’s start with last week. I went to Vegas for a couple of days and met with other Entangled authors and editors, and it was such a positive experience. How lucky was I to be amongst such high-caliber authors and professionals? There were networking and presentations, and I even attended Annie Seaton’s book signing.

            I met Annie Seaton through New Voices last year, and since then I’ve been bugging her. She’s helped me as an editor, webpage designer, friend, virtual soundboard…and in person, she’s even nicer. :D I also loved meeting Ann Harrison, who is a lady full of spunk and charisma. Both very talented Aussie authors.

            Liz Pelletier’s presentations are always sharp and funny. She probably thinks I’m an Aunt Bertha for sure, because I think so highly of her that I act nothing like Aunt Emma around her.

            Well, that’s it for today. I just wanted to drop by and say hello. J

            Stay tuned – the talented and lovely Michele de Winton will guest blog on here this week!

           Until later,

           Carmen :)

             

Having dinner with authors Kate Evangelista, Ann Harrison, Mary Lindsey & Annie Seaton :)