Marco's Pride (Harlequin Presents #2375)

I'm not a Pollyanna. True to an Aquarian born in the year of the Dragon, I'm incredibly impatient, impulsive, emotional, irrational and irritable. And those are my good points. But with that said, I've learned to hang tough. I write those words to my friends struggling to sell, struggling to believe, struggling to hang in there, and I don't write it lightly, and I never say it carelessly. But if we want to make it, we have to dig in, hang on, and hang tight.

Some writers sell easily. Some writers write easily. And there are those of us who have to claw our way to the top and I don't mean by clawing over each other, but by clawing up, like a rock climber, hand over fist, inching our way up the impossible vertical slope, grappling with the cliff as though our life depended on it. And in a way, our lives do depend on it, our writing lives.

We as writers have to be willing to take risks. We have to be willing to strike out on our own. We have to write what we hear in our heads (yes, those little voices are real and valuable). We have to write what we believe in our hearts. And we have to write all this and make it true, make it beautiful, and make it fit the publishing parameters. 

That's right. We are artists AND businesswomen and in our line of work we can't separate the two, because frankly, we're not writing for vanity press. We're writing to sell. Most of us want to make money writing. We want careers as writers and we want to find our right niche.

Climbing the vertical slope to publishing can be miserable. It's exhausting, physically and emotionally. It's challenging. It's disappointing. So pick your climbing partners carefully. My real writer friends are all smart and funny, tough, honest, and more than a little gritty. They want to write and they want to succeed and they won't accept no. Rejection isn't going to be tolerated. A rejection becomes a fresh challenge, a new perspective. It's the opportunity for growth, the opportunity to learn, the opportunity to succeed.

I don't know one serious writer who doesn't get bummed out or burned out. But the serious writer doesn't walk away from the craft or the challenge. The serious writer reaches deep inside, finds the courage, renews the vision, and taps into the heart. We write romance because we believe in the spirit of man and the miracle of love. We write romance because we understand what it is to struggle and we relish victory after a hard-fought battle. We write romance because we crave happy endings.

If our heroes and heroines can win, so can we. If our heroes and heroines deserve happiness, so do we. If our heroes and heroines persevere, so shall we.

Success can be defined in many ways, but we're all successful if we refuse to quit, refuse to fail, refuse to accept second best. Attitude in this business is everything. Those who look forward, those who challenge themselves, those who don't make excuses, those who believe, will succeed. 

Surround yourself with positive friends. Turn a deaf ear to the doubters and naysayers. Ignore dismal market statistics (the market is always tight!). Throw away painful rejection letters or contest critiques. Delete emails that hurt. Get off loops that undermine your confidence. In short, be your own best friend. Protect your self, nurture your dream, focus your energy.

It took me nearly twelve years and ten rejected books with thirty something rejection letters before I finally got my first sale. A month later, I had a second sale, and two months after that, a third. They were all new books, the second two written between February and May when I tapped my reservoir of courage and pounded out those new books by writing, writing, writing.

Where did I get all that confidence from? Twelve years writing, ten rejected books, and thirty something rejection letters. I've learned to turn the rejections into challenges, view returned manuscript as a tool to growth, consider my decade plus of writing as a "graduate romance writing school" and pat myself on the back for keeping at it. The more it seemed I wouldn't sell, the more confident I became that I would. Why? Because I've become tough, and I've learned to hang tough.

Remember attitude in this business is everything. Hard work pays off. Positive thinking is essential, as is sheer grit. Don't ever give up. Don't quit. Don't stop believing in yourself. Real writers hang tough.

Harlequin Presents author, Jane Porter, is thrilled her books have been so enthusiastically received, hitting bestseller charts from UK’s BookTrack’s Hot 100 to Harlequin’s Top Twenty to regular appearances on Waldenbooks’ Bestseller List for Series Romance.  Her books have enjoyed critical success as well, with a Rita nomination in 2002 for In Dante’s Debt and again in 2003 with Lazaro’s Revenge, the first two books in Jane’s Galván Brides mini-series for Presents.  A 1998 Golden Heart winner, Jane laughingly admits she’s an overnight success story: it only took thirteen plus years of writing and ten rejected manuscripts before she sold her first book.  Fortunately, since getting that first sale in January 2000, Jane’s written and sold 17 more to Harlequin, and is happily at work on her next.  

Website: www.janeporter.com

Latest Releases: 
Marco's Pride, Presents Feb '04
The Sultan's Bought Bride, Modern May '04

French Twist

Attn: Readers. Would you like to appear in our "What are they Reading" section? Email Su Kopil with WHAT ARE THEY READING in the subject line at sukopil@aol.com I'll send a short list of questions for you to answer.  Responses will appear in future issue of The Dream Weaver as space permits.

BUYS BOOKS AT: I buy a lot of books at booksignings to support authors I know, and I also buy at B&N, Waldens, Wal-Mart and a little paperback bookstore in my neighborhood called Patrick Paperbacks. 

BOOKS READ PER MONTH: I try to read two or three books a month within the romance genre and one outside of it. 

LIKES TO READ: I love romantic suspense and I'm usually a contemporary romance reader. However, I am drawn more to authors than themes, settings or genre. 

MUST BUYS: Linda Howard -- for the sexual tension and fantastic writing Julie Garwood -- for the sexual tension and fantastic writing Suzanne Brockmann -- do you see a pattern here? I also love Nora Roberts, Debbie Macomber, Helen Fielding and I re-read a LaVyrle Spencer at least once a year.

TBR PILE: Right now: Stephanie Bond's KILL THE COMPETITION, Linda Lael Miller's SHOTGUN BRIDE, Judith McNaught's SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME, and a few chick lits.

READING NOW: Leslie Kelly's TRICK ME, TREAT ME -- adorable!

Website: www.roxannestclaire.com

Latest Release:  

FRENCH TWIST (romantic suspense, Pocket Books, 2/04)
LIKE A HURRICANE (series romance, Silhouette Desire, 3/04)

Write from the Heart: Inspiration and Exercises for Women Who Want to Write

In the introduction of Writing from the Heart: Inspiration and Exercises for Women Who Want to Write, Leslea Newman explains that every woman has something to talk about and that their life holds interesting experiences and moments that should be written down. To share these moments, the writer must have a deeper awareness of her surroundings so her specific world can be universally understood.

Writing from the Heart starts with a section of warm-ups. These exercises are designed to encourage the habit. It more about process than product. The following sections focus on setting, action, characterization, monologues, dialogue, point of view and plot.

The structures of the exercises vary. It could be free writing or improving your technique with similes and metaphors. The exercises are as simple as creating a list of pleasurable things and choosing one to write a detailed scene, or as complicated as writing flashbacks. All of these exercises heighten your awareness of your environment.

Writing from the Heart: Inspiration and Exercises for Women Who Want to Write is a unique book on the market because it focuses on the woman who wants to use words as a form of creative expression. Although there is a brief chapter about submitting work for publication, this book is for women who want to write for pleasure.

Susanna Carr writes sexy romances for Kensington Brava. She’s studying promotion and publicity books before her next release, How To Be A "Wicked" Woman Kensington Brava anthology, hits the bookshelves in August 2004 (or before her brain cramps from the overload of information, whichever one comes first). For more articles and resource recommendations, visit www.susannacarr.com. 

 
Anything Anywhere Anytime

Trading Spaces : 

Make It Yours

THE WHERE: I'm blessed with a wonderfully specious office right now - an extra room off of the garage, connecting to the house.  As a working mother, it's perfectly situated for keeping an eye on the kiddos after school and during the summer.

FIRST THING WE'D SEE: A model of a C-17, the aircraft flown by the heroes and heroines in my Wingmen Warriors series.  The model was a surprise gift from my husband.  He ordered it for me when he got a B-52 for himself (the plane he flies in real life as an Air Force aviator.)

CREATIVE ENHANCEMENTS: CD player, candles, fountain pen, etc.  For inspiration in my office, I have family pictures, framed book covers, my RITA Award statue - and a CD player that's constantly playing. :-)

MOST HELPFUL: File drawer, alphasmart, comfortable chair, etc.  A comfortable chair is absolutely essential, complete with a heating pad to relieve back pain.  I also added a worktable to my office this year, which has been fabulously helpful in keeping things organized.

IF A DESIGNER WERE TO REDO YOUR OFFICE WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE? Well, since my husband is being transferred to a new base in a few months I'll have the chance to make office changes in our new home!  Currently, I'm in a paneled office.  In the next office, I'd like to have more color and more shelf space.

Visit CATHERINE MANN at: www.catherinemann.com

Latest Release:
ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANYTIME, Silhouette Books, March 2004, ISBN: 037321815X