You know you have to write something. You stare at the page and your mind drifts to everything from what you’re going to make for dinner to what you’re going to do when you finish your word count for the day. If you finish. When writer’s block strikes, that “if” seems more realistic than “when.”  

At one time or another just about everyone experiences writer’s block. For me I’ve found the best way to combat it is to write. That might sound a little crazy. After all the problem is that at the moment you can’t write. I’ve found that for me it’s usually not that I really can’t write, but I simply can’t work on a particular story at that time. If I place my current project aside and work on something else, the creative juices start flowing again. Usually I write something that’s purely for pleasure and that I have no plans of showing to anyone. For me writing has always been a form of stress relief and an enjoyable experience. Working on something just for fun helps me relax and formulate new ideas that usually get me back on track so I can finish the particular scene that was giving me trouble in my work-in-progress. I don’t like to write my stories when I’m feeling “forced” because I believe it will come through in my work, so for me it’s worth it to go off and write something else, even for a short time. Then I can return to my work-in-progress and give the story and characters the focus and genuine emotion they deserve. 

Other things that help me with writer’s block are taking a shower or exercising. I’ve found that almost anything that relieves stress combats writer’s block. Possibly a hot fudge sundae? Well, maybe not. . . 

What are some of your favorite ways to overcome writer’s block?  

Kate Hill is vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. When she’s not working on her books, she enjoys reading, exercising, and researching vampires and Viking history. Visit her online at http://www.kate-hill.com .

I got a Sony E-Book Reader a little over a year ago. I did some research before I decided on the Sony. I love my Sony reader. It has saved me a lot of money on ink. I used to print out my e-books to read. Anyway I walk with my reader on the train when I go to my day job. Before no one paid me any mind when I pulled it out. But lately more and more people seem to know what the e-book reader is. I’ve gotten questions and had very interesting discussions on what the reader can do and what types there are.

It is fun letting people know about it and my opinions on the other types of readers. I do make sure they know I have only used the Sony so my opinions on others is limited. Usually the first question I get is how many books I can hold on it. When I tell them they look shocked then intrigued. That is one of the things that drew me in. The amount of books I can have on the reader and not have to worry about breaking my shoulder. Imagine carrying around 100 paperback books. Oy.

It is very awesome when I get questions about my reader. The awareness of e-books and readers are growing and it is great. So as I ride my train to work and anyone asks me about my e-book reader I tell them about it and all the books out there to read. I take my reader when I travel and it saves me having to worry about the price of overweight of packing paper books into my bag. Now don’t get me wrong I still love the feel of paper books in my hands (that gives me an idea for a future blog. LOL). I still buy lots of books in paperback. Mostly from series I have started and mainstream published books. I use my reader for mainly books from various e-pubs I frequent.

I’ve also noticed more and more people using readers on the train and when I travel. I’ve even compared my reader to others types. On the train once I exchanged my reader with someone who had a Kindle. We checked each others readers out and then others noticed and asked about them. It turned out to be a very informative and fun conversation.

Happpy Reading!
McKenna Jeffries
http://www.mckennajeffries.com
…. sensual, edgy, unexpected

Blog: http://www.mckennajeffries.com/blog
Chat Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/McKennaJeffriesList
Free Reads Site: http://www.satinnotes.com

Conquering Jazz - What’s a woman to do when she unwittingly makes a tantalizing proposition to her best friend?

Be brazen, bold and set some ground rules.

Her offer. One night of carnal bliss. No emotion allowed.

His counter offer. A continued affair to fulfill all their sexual cravings.

His hidden agenda. Conquer to make sure their affair never ends.

Buy here at Liquid Silver Book.

By Ciara Gold 

So, what prompts an author to write historicals?  Is it their love of research? Is it a secret desire to live vicariously in the past? Perhaps it’s as simple as wanting to connect to their roots.  Regardless, research is one of the key elements in a finely crafted historical romance.

For me, it issn’t so much the research that provides a “turn on” but the unearthing of “bones,” those little known facts that provide food for thought. Research isn’t my favorite cup of tea. I like it, don’t mind doing it, but good research is time-consuming and takes away from writing time. My reward for digging up facts is finding tidbits of information that I can work into a scene with effortless prose. I hate reading a story and having the action stop so the author can “enlighten” me with endless facts that while pertinent, really had no bearing on the success of the story. The truly remarkable authors are able to sprinkle these facts into the storyline without interrupting the flow.

I have a new romance coming out in August. I loved working on this book because the possibilities were endless.  On the Silver Edge of Time isn’t just a time travel. The book also includes fantasy.  For the premise to work, I had to research a lot about Vikings. Along the way, I discovered fun facts.  For example, I found a reference to toothpaste and how these ancient travelers kept their teeth clean with a mixture of finely ground cuddle fish bones and mint leaves. I leaned that the term “corn” referred to grain in general and did not pertain to the corn we eat in America. Contrary to popular belief, not all funerals involved setting a ship afloat and lighting it afire. In some cases, the Viking was buried in a hole big enough to house his yacht and precious possessions. In my bid to make this the best book I could possibly craft, I read several Viking romances written by others. While doing so helped me get into the right frame of mind, I knew that I couldn’t rely on others to provide the world-building facts I desired. Many beginning authors make the mistake of basing their story on the research provided in similar genre books. Bad move. What if that author’s research is inaccurate? Or even worse, the use of these facts limits your story to only these facts.

Ciara Gold, author of best selling Celestial Dragon, writes science fiction futuristic and historical western romances for Champagne Books.

by Jeannie Ruesch

Along the way to publication of my first novel, SOMETHING ABOUT HER, rejection was a part of the game.  After the second agent-requested-partial-turned-rejection,  I found myself turning to the internet in search of other sad souls who felt the same disappointment, depression and urge to curl up inside a big, fuzzy blanket and never come out.

I had become a member of the Illustrious Rejection Club, a dark warehouse with a dreary facade and an old, wooden carved sign barely hanging on for dear life by one hook.  You certainly do not want to walk through those doors.  You want to be in that shiny, sparkly building just a little further down the street with the flashy, neon sign pronouncing all who enter “Published and Proud.”  If you’re lucky, you get the hand stamp that never comes off.

However, once a rejection letter has crossed your desk, you are a part of The Illustrious Rejection Club.  You have no choice but to walk inside those heavy double doors.

And when you do?  The doors shut behind you, and immediately, Gloria Gaynor’s voice seems to burst from the black walls to tell you You will survive.  You realize you hate this song, and wonder if The Illustrious Rejection Club is simply a pseudonym for Hell. But still, you find yourself walking to the beat…and even (under your breath so no one could possibly hear you) singing along …”you think I’d crumble, you think I’d lay down and die…Oh no, not I.”

You keep walking.  The hallway seems endless, just like the length of time you know it will take before you would be considered good enough to serve drinks in the Published and Proud building.  As you meander your way through the turns and twists, you hear inklings of life.  Voices.  Laughter even.

Laughter? In the Rejection Club?  No one should be laughing.  We should all be sitting in our respective corners, nursing a pound of melted chocolate.

Intrigued, you step a little livelier.  And as you round that last corner, amazement and awe fill you.  For here, in this room where you now belong, are hundreds (tens of hundreds, even) of writers just like you.  They mill about, chatting with each other, sharing stories.  In one corner of the room, they shoot darts at their respective rejection letters and cheer for the bulls eyes.  In another corner is a giant chocolate fountain available to dip any number of food items in.  Hmm. If this is Hell, it’s not so bad.

The minute you step into the room, every gaze is directed at you.  The heavy spotlight of recognition doesn’t sit well, until you focus on the smiles.  They beckon you in to join them.

And you recognize those faces.

Meg Cabot hefts a US Postal Bag she keeps the many rejection letters she received and waves at you.

Christina Dodd proudly bears a “25 rejections and 3 manuscripts” button on her lapel.

Stephen King lounges on a couch and points up at the spike he hammered into the wall, full of rejection slips.

Julia Quinn gestures you to sit next to her at the Hot Chocolate Bar and tells you that in her rejections, “one said that the story was great but the characters were obvious, another said that the characters were great but the story was lame.  And another said that the characters were likable but the story was too simplistic and the heroine was not believable (somewhat inexplicably despite the fact that the characters were likable.)   So there was no big consensus on why I wasn’t worth publishing.” (1)

As you get up and move around the room, you see Nora Roberts.  The button on her lapel says “Years of rejections.”  This from the first woman to be inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame.  Whose last million books have been best sellers.

Perhaps this room isn’t so bad a place to be after all.

At the back of the room is a large mural.  Curious, you work your way toward it.  The wall is full of reviews and rejections for names that have you dropping your jaw:

“Shakespeare’s name, you may depend on it, stands absurdly too high and will go down. He had no invention as to stories, none whatever. He took all his plots from old novels, and threw their stories into a dramatic shape, at as little expense of thought as you or I could turn his plays back again into prose tales.”— Lord Byron, letter to James Hogg  1814

“Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald deserves a good shaking … The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life.” – Saturday Review of LiteratureMary Higgins Clark was rejected on Journey Back To Love, 1962, with “We found the heroine as boring as her husband had.”

Disney wasn’t infallible, either: “Snow White will sound the Disney death knell.” Critic in the publication, “Current History”.

Jean Auel, author of The Clan of Cave Bear was told, “We are very impressed with the depth and scope of your research and the quality of your prose. Nevertheless … we don’t think we could distribute enough copies to satisfy you or ourselves.”

Dr. Seuss received harsh rejection, as well: ”…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

Jack London heard, “(Your book is) forbidding and depressing.”

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, was rejected by 15 publishers before Doubleday picked it up.

As you walk away from the Wall of Rejected Greats, the weight in your chest has lightened.  These are all terrific writers.  And they stand in the same room you do right now.

Certainly they are frequent dwellers in the building down the street, but this building… this Club is where they, too, began.  And that other building? The shiny, sparkly one you so desperately aspire to?

It’s only a few steps away.

So in the meantime, settle in with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the view of writers and more who have joined the Illustrious Rejection Club at one time in their career.    As Joyce Spizer writes, “‘No’ is a word on your path to `Yes.’

——————

Jeannie Ruesch | http://www.jeannieruesch.com 

SOMETHING ABOUT HER

“A wonderful debut! Jeannie Ruesch writes with tremendous heart.” — Gaelen Foley, NY Times Bestselling Author of HER EVERY PLEASURE