Click here for The Not-So-Glamorous Story of How I Got My Book Deal

Specifically, how I went from “Hey! I’ve got a really great idea for a book!” to signing the contract with Astraea Press.

And, there’s a prize package of writing goodies to one lucky commentor, so be sure to pop over and leave a comment to be entered to win.

“I hate writing. I love having written.”

And I have a few updates. The rag rug I am working on while waiting for my cover and release date is now two feet across. Yeah, I thought it would take a whole lot more time, but it’s seems when you work on it while watching hours of  mindless television shows are totally dedicated to your craft project it goes quick. Using the biggest hook available and making your strips extra wide and using the biggest stitch you know apparently helps too.

And help it did, because yesterday I got my cover finalized! I can’t show you yet (Astraea Press likes authors to wait until the actual release day to reveal their cover) but I can say it has a very “Western” feel to it.

So now my kiddos talked me into ripping up the matching top sheet and making the rug even bigger. I’ll keep you posted on my progress

What are you doing to fuel your creativity this weekend?

Okay, now on to today’s post…

I’m doing a lot of waiting this week.

I’ve got everything in to my publisher (I still can’t believe I get the privilege of using that word!) which means my final galleys are approved and sent, back cover copy has been fretted over until the very last second and then sent, dedication is complete, acknowledgments too, and my marketing plan is hanging on the wall waiting for me to get that one final piece of information I need before I tear into it.

I’m waiting for my release date, which is sometime next month. And, even more importantly, I’m waiting to see my cover.

So, while I’m waiting, I’ve been catching up on some things I’d let slide during the “wow I signed a contract and there’s so much to do now” rush.

Things like laundry, vacuuming, dusting, basic house and car maintenance. In other words, seriously boring stuff, all of which I am not a fan of.

I’m also waiting to hear back from a man who has agreed to answer some VERY specific questions about land ownership in 1843 Oregon Territory, so I can’t make much progress on my current WIP until I get the answers, lest I have to go back and make changes.

Last night I decided to take on a project that will hopefully take at least a month to complete. A crocheted rag rug made from old bedsheets.

Here’s a picture so you can see what I’m attempting. I’ll post my own later (good or bad) but for now this will give you an idea of what I’m filling my time with. So far I’ve had the twins rip a queen sized bed sheet into long strips, which then I made into three large “yarn” balls. (After much muttering about how in the world was I supposed to connect each strip together to make it one large string.)

I found this picture and a really great tutorial on the site totallygreencrafts.com

Already I’ve got issues going with mine. My strips are flannel and some are wide and some are thin…which I think is a given when you have 8-year-old twins helping rip the sheets, and they turn it into a game called “motorboat” because of the cool noise the ripping makes, and try to see who can rip strips faster.

But, nonetheless, after watching mindless television for two hours last night I ended up with three cantelope-sized balls of “yarn”.

Then I got out my “How To Crochet for Beginners” book I found at a yard sale. After a half hour of trying to figure out how to start a circle, I gave up and headed to YouTube, where I found several tutorials about how to make a rag rug.

I plan on creating this over the summer, and hopefully by September I’ll have something worthy to show pictures of here on the blog

How about you? What creative things do you do when you’re not writing?

First, a little bit of info about Kaye…

Kaye Dacus is the author of humorous, hope-filled contemporary and historical romances with Barbour Publishing, Harvest House Publishers, and B&H Publishing. She holds a Master of Arts in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University, is a former Vice President of American Christian Fiction Writers, and currently serves as President of Middle Tennessee Christian Writers. Kaye lives in Nashville, Tennessee, where she is a full-time academic advisor and part-time English Composition instructor for Bethel University.

Kaye, how did you become a writer?

Even though I started writing when I was twelve or thirteen (writing down the stories I’d been playing out with my Barbies so I’d remember the next day), it wasn’t until I was sixteen or seventeen when I really felt like writing was what I wanted to do with my life. I just didn’t have anyone around me who knew how to direct me. My parents encouraged me, but they weren’t sure how to give me guidance. I had a wonderful Creative Writing teacher in high school and that was when I knew for sure that I wanted to be like him—I wanted to be able to teach others how to do what it was I loved doing so much. But it wasn’t until much later in my life, at the age of thirty when I attended my first writers’ conference, that I truly realized I wanted to pursue publication.

Can you describe a day in the life of Kaye Dacus?

After dragging myself out of the bed between 6:45 and 7:00 a.m. (I’m not a morning person!) to get ready for work, I get to the office around 8:00 a.m. If I don’t have other plans at lunchtime (meeting friends or running errands or other appointments), I will have a sandwich at my desk while trying to get in my 1,000 daily words on my manuscript. At 4:30, when the workday ends, I either stay at the office until I finish my word-count, or I’m off to the gym (and on Tuesdays, it’s off to Panera to write with dear friend Liz Johnson). At home, I’m either grading papers for the composition class I teach or I’m working on something for one or more of my books (editing, proofing, marketing, etc.). At ten o’clock, I’m in the bed, where I spend the next hour or so winding down by catching up on blogs and then reading. Around 11 p.m. is lights-out. Pretty boring stuff.

What is your writing space like?

I can write pretty much anywhere, but mostly it’s in my recliner in the living room with my laptop. My spare bedroom is an office, but I rarely even turn my desktop computer on anymore.

How do you “write in the car” when you’re traveling by yourself?

A few years ago, when I was working freelance and traveling to speaking events, conferences, and appearances several times a month, I discovered that my laptop came with speech recognition software as part of Windows 7. With a microphone headset, I discovered that I could dictate into Word and redeem all of that travel time—and then I wasn’t having to try to furtively and frantically write when I got where I was going. Even though I don’t travel as often now, I do still occasionally use that as a time to get some word-count in so that I don’t feel so guilty about not writing when I get where I’m going.

How many complete manuscripts have you written? Which one do you have the strongest emotional bond with?

Counting the book due to my publisher on June 1, I have written fifteen complete manuscripts—three unpublished and twelve published (or soon to be).  If I had to pick one book with which I still have the strongest bond, I’d probably have to go with The Art of Romance. Even though I put so much of myself into all of my characters, there’s just something special about Dylan and Caylor that makes them—and their story—continue on in my imagination long after finishing the book.

Any advice for aspiring novelists?

The best advice I got when I first started getting serious about learning the craft and pursuing publication: Above all else, FINISH YOUR FIRST DRAFT! You can fix anything but a blank page. The most important thing is to get your entire story down on paper before you start worrying about all of the technical craft things and stressing yourself out about “making it perfect.” Just write.

What’s your biggest time waster/distraction?

Pinterest.

Let’s talk about your latest book, titled Follow the Heart, Book One of the Exhibition series. Can you give readers a one-sentence summary?

An American woman is sent to England to marry wealth, but finds herself torn between the poor man she loves and the viscount who offers the wealth and stability that can save her family.

Ok, that has piqued my interest. Can you give me the back cover blurb?

Kate and Christopher Dearing’s lives turn upside down when their father loses everything in a railroad land speculation. The siblings are shipped off to their mother’s brother in England with one edict: marry money.

At twenty-seven years old, Kate has the stigma of being passed over by eligible men many times—and that was before she had no dowry. Christopher would like nothing better than to make his own way in the world; and with a law degree and expertise in the burgeoning railroad industry, he was primed to do just that—in America.

Though their uncle tries to ensure Kate and Christopher find matrimonial prospects only among the highest echelon of British society, their attentions stray to a gardener and a governess.

While Christopher has options that would enable him to lay his affections where he chooses, he cannot let the burden of their family’s finances crush his sister. Trying to push her feelings for the handsome—but not wealthy— gardener aside, Kate’s prospects brighten when a wealthy viscount shows interest in her. But is marrying for the financial security of her family the right thing to do, when her heart is telling her she’s making a mistake?

Mandates . . . money . . . matrimony. Who will follow the heart?

How long did it take to write Follow the Heart?

I came up with the story idea in August 2010 and wrote up a proposal which my agent started pitching. In January 2011, I wrote three sample chapters at the request of a few publishers. But I didn’t write any more than that until August 2011 when I signed the contract with B&H. I turned the manuscript in the first week of May 2012. So it was almost two years from concept to completion, but about nine months of actual focused writing.

What do you hope will stick with readers when they finish the book?

Women, especially, tend to look at our choices as a series of obligations—we do what we feel we are obligated to do for the sake of our families, not necessarily what we feel our hearts are telling us to do. I believe, and it’s the theme of this book, that we spend too much time worrying about how we can fix/help/support our families (or those around us at work or in friendships) and not enough time listening to and trusting God. When we pray, we tend to tell God what’s wrong and ask him to fix it. But do we ever really take the time to just be still and listen to what God is trying to tell us? And can we really let God take care of those we feel responsible for and let go of that burden of responsibility that may not, in truth, be ours to bear?

Which character in the book was the most fun to write?

Christopher, being lighthearted and easygoing, was the most fun to write. I always found myself in a better mood when I was writing his scenes.

Which character in the book was the hardest to write?

Lord Thynne (pronounced tine, like the tine of a fork) turned out to be the hardest to write—to get his motivations right but also keep him sympathetic, since he comes back in Book 3.

And now, let’s end the interview with a fun question. What are three things in your purse you can’t live without?

My debit card, my Starbucks “gold card,” and my Blistex. I’m sure most women would mention their cell phone, but I don’t keep mine in my purse—I keep it on my person, on my desk, or on my chair-side table at all times to make sure I’m never without it.

Kaye, thank you so much for the interview. Readers, if you’d like to win a signed copy of Follow the Heart leave a comment at the end of this post to be entered in the contest. 

Things are busy in the Corbett household today, so I dug through the archives and pulled out a long-time favorite. Hope you enjoy!

I just spent the entire weekend having long, contentious arguments with Captain Obvious.

Who is Captain Obvious?

Well, it’s simple really.

Captain Obvious stops by for a visit every time I read a sentence, paragraph, or, regrettably, sometimes even a page, where I’ve told my reader repeat, or unnecessary information that doesn’t move the storyline along.

Here’s a snippet of a recent conversation…

“Hey!” yelled Captain Obvious. “You’ve told them that already!”

“But, no, you don’t understand,” my stammering protests fill the air. “These words—they’re so beautiful, so brilliant; I simply can’t bear to send them away.”  

“Loser!” Captain Obvious charged forward with the harsh truth, completely oblivious to my tender fragility. “There’s only so many times you have to tell the reader that people on the Oregon Trail who don’t have water ARE THIRSTY, AND LOOK FOR IT A LOT!”

Regrettably, Captain Obvious is usually right.

Highlight. Delete. Move on.

How about you? How do you deal with the big meanie who tells you when your writing isn’t working?

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

Yesterday I bought a new book off the rack at the grocery store. As I perused all the choices and then ultimately selected one, I realized there is a lot involved in making a book purchase.

I’d love to hear more details in the comments about how you select a book. Do you have a specific order you run through? Drawn to a cover like a moth to a flame? Random and up for anything?

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished
by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

Want more quotes? You’ll love this article, “20 Unstoppable Entrepreneurs share their advice for success”. 

Good thing fellow Astraea Press author Wendy Knight has graciously agreed to host my blog. She recently released her debut novel, Feudlings, which has the most spectacular pair of boots on the cover I’ve ever seen!

So, without further ado, here’s Wendy

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The most exciting day ever!

(also known as the day my book released)

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was teeny tiny, but I didn’t start seriously chasing that dream until about three years ago. I spent two years writing a story that I loved nearly as much as I love my children (nearly. I said nearly!). And then I spent a year querying. The week I received the contract with Astraea Press, I also received an offer from an agent and two other small publishing companies, but Astraea just felt right.

Fast forward six months, after all the edits and cover options and planning and dreaming. It was the night before my book came out, almost midnight, and I wrote my publisher to ask her if I could post my cover at midnight. She wrote back right away and told me if I gave her just a sec, the book would be live.

I fell off my chair.

It happens to me a lot. I really need to get a chair with arms or a safety belt or something. So it went live right before midnight my time, and despite the fact that so many people should have been sleeping, many of my amazing friends and family were awake and bought it right away, and then posted and shared the link and I thought I was surely in heaven. But even in heaven, one must sleep. So I went to bed, but bounced out of bed the next day and raced to my computer (which is saying a lot. I am NOT a morning person). I had friends who had watched Amazon for me and had already posted the buy links. So many friends, even acquaintances, shared my cover, my links, my status updates…it was incredible the outpouring of support I received. AND there were several people that I had spoken with briefly on Facebook who were so mega-supportive and now they’re some of my best friends. I would be lost without them.

It was a roller coaster, definitely. But my very favorite part of the day, even more than the dream coming true and all that, was how much my friends and family were willing to help me celebrate that dream.

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Author Bio

Wendy Knight was born and raised in Utah by a wonderful family who spoiled her rotten because she was the baby. Now she spends her time driving her husband crazy with her many eccentricities (no water after five, terror when faced with a live phone call, etcetera, etcetera). She also enjoys chasing her three adorable kids, playing tennis, watching football, reading, and hiking. Camping is also big: her family is slowly working toward a goal of seeing all the National Parks in the U.S.

You can usually find her with at least one Pepsi nearby, wearing ridiculously high heels for whatever the occasion may be. And if everything works out just right, she will also be writing.

Links:

Twitter: @wjk8099

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorWendyKnight

Blog: http://www.writethroughthenoise.blogspot.com

Fuedlings Back Cover Blurb

Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.

Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.

Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300 year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is.

When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not falling in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.

Buy Links:

Amazon

Astraea Press

Barnes and Noble

And here’s an excerpt from Feudlings…

“Shane, I’m tougher than I look. I can handle it,” she said, although she wasn’t sure she wanted to know any more about his magic than she already did. It could get him in trouble. But she couldn’t just leave it alone. Part of her wanted to know. Maybe the monster-killer part of her.

She squashed that thought.

Shane stopped, studied her. Under his intense blue gaze her heart started to pound and she thought giddily that her favorite color just happened to be the exact color of his eyes. What were the odds? “I’m serious, Ari. There’s this war going on, and knowing anything about it could get you killed.”

“Killed?” Ari tried to look dubious.

Shane glanced around and grabbed her hand, pulling her with him out the front doors. The air was crisp and cool; Ari could see traces of her breath. If Shane was aware that half the student population was watching them speed-walk into the woods, he didn’t show it, and after a final glance back Ari ignored them too.

When the school was out of sight, she stopped and pulled her hand away. “Okay Shane. Spill,” she commanded. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to look cold. Normals would be cold right now, but because of the flames flowing through their blood, neither she nor Shane could feel it.

Shane sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Where to start? Even the short version is long. We’re sorcerers, and there are two sides to this war… of course, because that’s what makes a war, right?” he rambled. Ari raised an eyebrow at him as she tried to shiver. “I’m a Carules. I have magic that stems from these blue flames that, well, they’re in my blood. Hunter, too. And all other Carules. The other side is Edren, and their magic comes from red flames. Basically, we spend all our time trying to kill each other. It’s a lot of fun,” he said with a bitter frown at the ground.

“So you hide your magic because if an Edren found you…”

“They’d kill me. Or try to, anyway,” Shane finished for her.

Ari flinched at his words, and she knew right then that if she had seen him on that battle field in Adlington, she wouldn’t have been able to kill him. Her eyes widened in shock, her mouth opened into a silent “Oh”, and her heart started to pound. This was a very, very dangerous revelation she’d just made to herself.

She had a weakness. And it was Shane.

Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.

And now it’s time for a little fun! Check out this Victorian and Steampunk name generator.

What’s your name(s)?