My triumphant return...

Or not so triumphant, but a return at least.

Hello anybody who is still occasionally swinging by. *waves enthusiastically*

I know I've been terrible with this blog. Rectifying that is one of my early New Years' resolutions. As is...well, a lot of things.

Suffice it to say that I'm still here. I have done nerve damage to my left hand, so I'm typing very slowly, but I am nothing if not determined (read: stubborn) so here I am.

I wish you and yours the very best of whatever holiday you celebrate and a very Happy New Year.

Come and chat!

Today, I am not here. Well, I'm here briefly, but only to point you over there! :)

I'm chatting in the forum over at the Fanlit Forever group today. Can you believe FF has been around for a year? Neither can I. I'm thrilled to be a part of the celebration.

So check out the blog, come say hi in the forum, stick around for a while and see what's going on.

If you've come here from there, say hi! Let me know.

Oh the slackingness of me!

No, that's not another new word for the dictionary. Although I do have an entry:

sporn: spam email that promises a greater volume, size, or satisfaction of or with anything sexual.

Tada!

I have not felt much like being productive lately, despite the fact that I turned in a manuscript at the 13th (or possibly 14th) hour for one of my publishers. I have another novella to tidy up and a book to finish and I'd really just ...enjoy the fact that it's going to start raining regularly soon, you know?

But, to keep myself going and honest and other working sorts of things, I've just signed up for the second round of 70 Days of Sweat. I can manage this.

Anyone want to join me? If anyone's still reading my poor deserted blog. :)

I know, I know.

It's been ten days since my last post. I feel like I'm stepping into the confessional.

For the curious, Life After Agent is not yet any different than Life Before. I have not yet been offered fame and fortune. Note the operative word, yet. :)

I also have no takers on my lunch deal, which disappoints me a bit, but ah well, that's the way it goes.

The romance blogosphere continues to be rife with Authors Behaving Badly and publishers closing and honestky, there's just no time to post everything. The minute I turn around, something else has happened. I'm hoping that this settles by the end of the year, or at the end of the year so we can all start over with a clean slate in 2008.

Ooh, I'm a poet.

Have a great weekend. :)

Thanks! Lunch anyone?

Thanks for all the congratulations! I can't tell you what a relief this has been. Oh, and for those who asked, I signed with the Belfrey Literary Agency.

Now on to another topic:

I know that there are some of you out there who are fans of Ms. Julia Quinn. I've emailed people privately. I talked to some people at National.

And now, my chapter's Annual Readers' Luncheon is nearly here.

Long story short, if you don't want to click the link: On September 29th, the Sacramento Valley Rose is hosting Julia Quinn for a readers' luncheon. What this means is that we feed you and seat you at a table with a local author. The authors bring small gifts for their table mates and lunch is open to questions, conversation, etc.

(Yes, I'm hosting a table. Come have lunch with me! If you don't want to have lunch with me, though, how about Allison Brennan? Brenda Novak? Eileen Rendahl, Patti Berg, Melinda Curtis, Susan Grant... Or, you know, Julia Quinn herself. ;) )

After lunch, Julia will give a talk, then we host a book signing right there at the hotel. It's open for the first hour only to lunch attendees, then we open it to the public.

The books are supplied by Barnes and Noble and you can get them signed then and there, on the spot.

Tickets are $40 dollars. Ten percent of that cost will be donated to ProLiteracy Worldwide, and what's more: the first person who confirms that they'll be attending gets their attendance fee paid for, by me. This means that you print out the invitation and mail it in (or email me so I can get a paper invitation out to you). I will hand you the money back when I see you on that Saturday.

Good deal, isn't it? So, who's coming? :)

No more radio silence!

I swear I'm going to get better about updating again. It's hard to come up with things to say when you don't have much *to* say, you know?

I missed reporting on another bloffle, but I'm sure you've all heard about it by now. No, wait. There were at least two bloffles that I've missed reporting on. Boy, I really am falling down on the job.

Dear Blog, I solemnly swear to be better about showing up. Sincerely, Sara.

But I'm here and I'm posting. That means I've got news!

*drumroll*

I have an agent!

After mumblety-seven years of trying, I have an agent! I cannot *tell* you what a relief this is, what a weight off my shoulders, and how happy it makes me. No more staring at contract legalese for me!

Y'all share your good news now, too!

New Release: No Accounting for Chase

It's finally here, after many months of waiting: the release of No Accounting for Chase. It's a contemporary romantic suspense and it's the first book I ever wrote entirely by my lonesome.

Don't let that scare you. It's been heavily revised since then. ;)

Blurb:

Chase Tremaine wanted to be a cop when he grew up, but he never expected the work to be this personal. As the body count mounts, he must figure out who would want to kill Amanda St. Claire, an accountant with no dirty secrets that anyone can find. Not an easy job when the victim is a complete stranger.

But Amanda St. Claire is the clumsy, knobby-kneed girl who was always hoping Chase might ask her to the winter dance. She's had a crush on him since she moved to Sacramento when she was ten years old. Her best friend is Chase's little sister, but Chase himself hardly knows she exists. That is, until she ends up in his lap at his sister's wedding.

Falling for her threatens Chase's focus on the case. Amanda's determined not to give in to a high-school crush, not with a hitman getting closer by the day. But life has a few curves to throw their way and as Amanda can attest, there's No Accounting For Chase.

And it's got a pretty catchy cover. ;)

I'm back!

Wow, it's been a while. Time flies when you're ...doing other stuff.

Of course, I bring news.

First and foremost, the Fox project is officially on hold. I have received my payment and the proposal I turned in has been tabled. We made it through many changes of creative focus, but ultimately, what they asked for is no long what they want. It happens. My contact says that he'll hold on to the idea and invited me to submit other things, which I probably will, but this show will not happen this fall, at least.

For those of you who participated in or remember FanLit, the Romance Vagabonds are taking a trip down memory lane. Want to try your hand at writing chapters on the fly? Feel free to go over and give it a shot.

For those of you in California: My chapter of the RWA, the Sacramento Valley Rose, is hosting it's second annual Readers Luncheon on September 29th of this year. Our guest will be none other than the fabulous Julia Quinn (who was one of our judges in FanLit last year, so it ties in nicely, don't you think?) There will also be a booksigning after the lunch, open to the public. The luncheon includes not only the speaker but lunch with a local author (including me!) who brings gifts for their tablemates. Hope to see some of you there.

And, last but certainly not least, my next book, No Accounting for Chase, releases at Cerridwen Press this week. This Wednesday, to be precise! This is the first book I ever completed, heavily (really heavily) revised. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. And it has a fantastic cover.



Whew. I think that's enough, don't you?

NaNoReaMo 2007

First things first: Thanks to everyone who offered up opinions about the heat level issue. Time to talk to the publisher. :)

Those who've been by before may recall that I mentioned trying to put together National Novel Reading Month. Well, August 1st is tomorrow, and we're going ahead with the idea.

We're hosting the discussion community on Livejournal, so if you've got an account and want to, feel free to join in. I think I left it so you can also post anonymously if you like, so if you don't have an account ... feel free to join in. :)

A dilemma

There's more bloffle. There's always more bloffle, but I swear, this year it just seems like one spins into another before the last one is blown out. I'm sort of curious as to whether they will ever stop, in a train-wreck witness sort of way.

But I do occasionally still have serious things to ponder and discuss. Like:

I have a book to turn in for a publisher. It's the fourth of a quadrology. (Is that what those are called?) Fourth in a series, anyway. The other three books are by authors who write erotic romance. As in, that's what readers know them for.

I, those who swing by know, am not known for writing erotic romance. I don't, so much. Not under this name, anyway. So I have a dilemma.

The last time I did a series with erotic romance authors, I stuck by my guns and did not write a book that matched the tone. Certainly I upped the heat, I think, but I didn't go erotic. And the book didn't quite reach the reading audience for the series.

So now, here I stand at the deciding point again, pondering what to do. Should I continue to stick to the tone I've set with this name, and once more keep myself beneath the erotic romance line, and trust that the people who want to read it will find and enjoy the book (assuming it's picked up, of course). Or should I hop on the erotic romance trend, toss away caution and write something hotter, and hopefully tap into a new portion of the readers out there?

It really is a thorny (I was going to say sticky, but I'll spare you) question. What would you do in my shoes?

And the gift certificate goes to...

Mary Danielson, come on down! Or rather, email me and let me know where to send your prize.

As for the oh-so-scientific survey about what word we should use to replace buzz? *drumroll* Nooz is the popular winner!

So, whenever you're announcing books, sales, agents, etc on the net, let it henceforth be decreed that you are not creating buzz, but nooz!

I spent a fantastic weekend playing with the horses. Saturday, the Engineer and I went for our usual lesson. Which was not fabulous, but no one died. Yesterday, we went out to a lake with our trainer and her family. We took the horses, we took a boat, and we divided the day between an awesome trail ride and being dragged around behind the boat on inner tubes. Great fun was had by all.

And now it's back to the business of the workaday week, but that's all good. Sometimes you have to recover from fun in excess. :)

The glossary expands

So we have bloffle, which I've defined as a kerfluffle on blogs, particularly in Romancelandia, but really, it can apply to any group involved in an online scrap.

We have opinionating, which, yes, probably needs more definition.

Now the lovely and talented Kate Rothwell has called for a new word to replace the old "buzz". You know, the chatter and word of mouth hype for an author, book, event, whathaveyou.

I suggested N'type. Something like N'Sync, N'type would be pronounced Neh-type, to catch the concept of the net, typing, and hype, all in one word. It's cute, I think, but perhaps too odd or not quite catchy enough.

So I've come up with other options:

1. Nuzz: Let's just change the first letter. It's a buzz on the net! It's a nuzz! Easier to say and probably remember than N'type, but also close to a nuzzle. Do we want to be nuzzling authors and books?

2. Nooz: A play on news. Still using the letter n to incorporate the net. This is even cuter than nuzz, and as writers, can we stand deliberately mispelling a word?

3. Hotflash: This is currently my favorite. Television and the radio use breaking newsflashes, right? Romancelandia is a community comprised primarily (had to get that word in there) women, right? So we all know what a hotflash is, and it might be amusing to co-opt the word for ourselves. Got a new book coming out? Send out a hot newsflash: hotflash!

Since I'm having fun, other people should have fun too. I'm going to turn this into a contest.

Post your vote for your favorite between now and noon PST, Monday July 23rd, and I'll enter you into a drawing for a $25 (electronic) gift certificate from Barnes and Noble.

Your choices are:

a) N'type
b) Nuzz
c) Nooz
d) Hotflash

Or, you know, suggest a word of your own. And have fun!

Opinionating.

Oh look, a new word. By the time I get done, I'll have my very own personal glossary.

First things first, though. I want to say how much I enjoyed meeting the people I met. This year was so very much different than my first conference in Reno that I'm really sort of blown away. I didn't realize how many people I knew and how many connections I'd made until I started running out of time to talk to everyone I wanted to talk with.

If I missed you or walked by you (Hi Jacqueline!) I am so sorry. It wasn't my intent. After about Friday morning, I suffered tunnel vision and started missing my own roommates and was telling people to grab my hair to get my attention. I am making a list for next year and sticking to it.

On to the opinionating.

I am a chapter president. I did my duty at National, attended the AGM, and was impressed. Not by the decisions handed down by our current Board -- far from -- but by the eloquence with which my fellow members made their points and the spirit with which they argued. Seriously, ladies, there are some of you who blew my socks off, and I'm grateful for everything you said.

On the subject of publisher eligibility: I honestly don't think the Board and its legal advisor(s) seriously thought through the wording of what they intended to say. I'm not much in to conspiracy theory, so I don't believe that this was a move specifically geared at getting rid of e-publishers, particularly not when the RWA has essentially opened the door to any publisher that can meet their criteria. I think it was a move against publishers in general.

Because, let's face it, while most of the large houses may not have issues meeting the advance clause or the sales and distribution requirements, there are small print publishers that can not. There may be some "big boys" that can't. And I don't think that the RWA Board really thought through a sweeping change of eligibility requirements like this that cuts the legs out from under so many.

It's an unfortunate mistake. I've heard several e-publishers say that it's not going to change the way they publish their books, distribute them or do business, which is fantastic. I don't believe that it should. I would bet, however, that when RWA next puts out a call for sponsors for National or any other endeavor, that they're going to hear a significant silence on the part of the people they just eliminated.

One more thing: The dictionary defines primary as: 1. first or highest in rank or importance; chief; principal. Note how that does not mean 'sole' or 'exclusive'. If we're changing dictionary definitions of words not exclusively pertaining to the romance industry, I think it takes more than the decision of the board to do so. Just a hunch.

More opinionating on other issues another day.

Guess who's back?

That's right, I return! Conference was fantastic. I put faces to names, I met a lot of people, I'm sure I missed many more and if that includes you, I am *truly* sorry.

There's also more bloffle. Holy cow, is there bloffle.

I am too tired and brainless to comment on it now, but maybe in the morning I'll be coherent.

Until then, hello and goodnight!

Off to National with me. Apologies for the silence, again. Time got away from me.

I'll have some access so I'll be checking in, and looking forward to meeting people who are there.

Bye!

Unintended silence

My apologies for not posting for a week. I'm trying not to do that again, but Blogger's being weird on me, so it's been a struggle to get in. Those of you who left me comments, I'm not ignoring you! Thank you, Teddy! I'll check out your page, Ciar! And I was referring to the Triskelion issue, Lenora, but there's more than that floating around the romance blogoverse.

Since I last posted, I have given my first ever all by myself workshop, on synopses. It was for my local chapter, and went a lot better than I thought it would. I didn't even need to resort to imagining people in their underwear. Go me! I'm considering posting the handout I did to my website. I promise that I haven't cracked any amazing synopsis-writing secrets, but people seemed to think the information was good.

And I've discovered today that The Dragon Undone, my fantasy romance at Cobblestone Press, is now available at Fictionwise. It's a new book for them, so there's a discount, if you're interested and haven't picked it up already.

I'm in a grown-up phase (wearing nicer clothes, painting the fingernails, etc). It's a girly grown-up phase. Any time I'm going to National, I do this, and then eventually I'm back to my t-shirts and normal nails again. This time, I've gotten my ears repierced too. It's all part of my "officially official" image, I suppose. :)

Mid-week Wednesday

As if there'd be a Wednesday anywhere else. Hee.

The bloffle continues around the net, and probably will for a while. Settle in, it's going to be a long summer.

So I think I'll mention some good things.

Samhain Publishing is looking for submissions to its On The Prowl anthology. I know Maggie's written a story for it. Who's going to join her? Anyone? Anyone?

Skyla Dawn Cameron has a great project in the works, called Nothing But Red that you should all check out.

And last but not least, my ice skates have arrived and now I can finally get out of cheapo rental skates for my lessons. Woohoo!

Bloffle

I made up a new word: bloffle. This refers to kerfluffles of various sizes occuring in blogs across the net.

And, unfortunately, we romance writers seem to excel at stirring them up. Whether it's an author lashing out at a reviewer, her fans or her publishers, it seems like there's always something going on.

Publishers don't escape the rumor mill or the social commentary. If an author is fortunate enough to avoid being targeted, sometimes her book isn't so lucky.

If you speak your mind, your appearance in an argument will always be suspect. If you want to stay anonymous, your comments will be discounted. Around and around we go.

What I really want to know is, does this affect you personally? If an author/publisher/blogger you like takes a stance in an argument that you don't support, does that change your mind about them? Will it keep you from buying the next book? Entering the next contest?

Or do you let it roll off your back?

The Color of Sound

So I'm thinking about synesthesia today. Actually, I started thinking about it last night, but that's not the point.

Synesthesia, as Wikipedia defines it, is two bodily senses combining, like sound and sight to make music have color. Or sight and taste, so that words and letters have flavors. Or even better, the personification of letters. If you read the Wiki, you'll see quotes about not being able to trust the number 3, or how Ts are "crabbed and ungenerous".

Supposedly this is more common than people think. Meaning, it's not something that one in a million people have. Wiki (which is not always right, I know) says it's more like one in 23.

And of course I'm going to oversimplify it by saying how fascinating I think it is. To see color when hearing music? How much more interesting (and distracting, yes) would that make the world?

What if the world were reversed and people who *didn't* do such things were the one in 23? Imagine a person who lacked the ability to smell sounds or color by music in a world where that was the norm.

...and they wonder where writers get their ideas.

Deadlines

I need deadlines. I know this. I have known this for some time, but there's nothing like frustrating myself by pushing deadlines further and further out because I can.

I have tried, in the past, to set deadlines for myself. I've had other people attempt to set deadlines for me, but they tend to get squishy and I'm not held in the strictest fashion to them, and so they wander and I procrastinate and ...it's all a mess.

When I have a concrete, external, you *must* meet this deadline imposed, I'm golden, but if I'm doing it on my own, I can tell myself that I don't *really* have to do it, because the only person I'm putting off is me.

Argh. I despise it. I don't suppose anyone has suggestions for how to get around that, do they? All suggestions cheerfully accepted.