Nearly There

Thanks for all your insightful emails on my cover last week. As a result, I have made adjustments to it and I'm fairly confident it's a winner.

I hope you agree.

The final copy from my editors is filtering back to me and, with luck, I'll be sending it off to my agent by the end of next week.

Usually, I take summers off from writing. Between working a four to five day week, plus the fact that summers in Maine are all too precious and short, I put the writing aside.

However, Gregor seems to have other plans. Yup, I've already begun the second in Gregor's adventure series. This one will take a bit of research, though, unlike Despite Them, where I just wrote and finished it in four months.

I can't really tell you anything about it yet, but suffice it to say, the big man will getting into trouble again. While I may be the first to know what's happening, it's not until I actually write it.

I read a historical fiction by James Irvine Robertson, which is more fact than fiction, and was pleased to be validated that what I write is based in truth, even in Gregor's story.

The jacket text for Despite Them is as follows:

Gregor Macgregor, an 18^th century Scottish Highlander, has seen his fair share of death. The Campbells saw to that with his father's murder at the strange standing stones when he was ten. As one of the hunted clan—as all Macgregors are—Gregor learned to melt into the mountains and stay one step ahead of the hunters: Clan Campbell.

With no family left, the man-sized child roamed the heather for two years before being taken in by Alexander Robertson, the Chief of Clan Donnachaidh. Now a man of twenty-one, Gregor wants to become his chief’s personal guard, but must prove himself at the Games that his strength and cunning are worthy to serve.

After taking his safety at Blair Castle for granted for so long, Gregor once again becomes entangled with the Campbells when the murders of several Macgregors in his old hometown sound all too familiar. Could his father’s killer still be on the loose after all these years? He has no choice but to find out.

When the murderer abducts the woman he desires, leaving her worse than dead, Gregor vows to capture the killer and make him pay. With his life. But first, Gregor has to find the elusive ghost before he kills again.

Despite Them Cover

Let me know what you think of the cover for Despite Them, A Gregor Macgregor Adventure.

Also, if you've finished reading Double Vision, post your review on Amazon or Barnes and Noble, or both!

The Finishing Touches

As I fight my way through the second draft of Despite Them, I stare at my computer screen with glassy eyes burning from looking at it for too long. Once I'm done with this rewrite, I read the entire story out loud to Dan, who, having a clearer mind, makes sure everything sounds right. Then it's off to my editors to correct any missed words, bad punctuation, or inform me of any story lines that don't make sense.

While I wait for their feedback, I work on my cover. Now, usually the publishing houses do this part, but there's no way I'm not helping them along with my ideas since I have the professional capability of doing it myself.

All I can think of is when romance author, Janet Chapman, gets surprised by the covers her publishers deem adequate, when they have absolutely nothing to do with the story. They just have a naked chest of a man on them, no matter what. Remember, sex sells.

My covers at least depict what the story is about. I'd like to think they also sell the books, as I've received many compliments on them.

So, once all that is done, and I've made the writing as best as I am capable of, I'll send it off to my agent with good wishes and lots of hope that she'll find it a great publisher. And hopefully, that publisher will want to take on the Eyes of Garnet trilogy so I can get good placement on the bookstore shelves with an immediate 4 books.

Remember, if you can't dream big, what's the point!

Excerpts from Despite Them

The signing season is upon me. I have a multi-author Mother's Day event at the Fertile Mind Bookstore in Belfast, Maine tonight. I'll be with Susan Vaughan and Janet Chapman. We've all got new books just out and hope to have a good crowd. If nothing else, we'll have a blast!

This week, I'm posting the first three chapters of my next book, Despite Them. This is Gregor Macgregor's story of how he came to be. After playing such a large role in Double Vision, he seemed the next logical step to take for another book.

I've written it in the first person from his perspective, something more challenging than I thought it would be, though I feel like I know him better because of it.

I must advise you, though. This story is gritty, graphic and a bit twisted, so for those who might be a bit squeamish … well, I've warned you.

It's a story a man would enjoy, I think. And for those women out there who like in-your-face novels the likes of J.A. Konrath's "Jack Daniels" series, Tess Gerritsen's novels, and Patricia Cornwell's "Kay Scarpetta" stories, you'll probably enjoy this tale.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

http://www.eyesofgarnet.com/despitethemexcerpts.html

Favorite Lines and Chapter Titles

Recently, I've been asked what some of my favorite written lines are in my books. There are a few notables, plus some I just shake my head over, and others that make me all out laugh about. Sometimes I go back over my books for the details I've written so I'm consistent, and wonder where some of this stuff comes from. Surely, I couldn't have been the only one thinking of such a verse; I had to have had help from my characters. It's the only explanation.

Each sentence was enough to evoke a clear image in my mind, or a feeling or memory. I'm always amazed how powerful words  can be when put into the correct context.

And just to make this fun for me (and hopefully, you, too!), I'm not going to tell you from which of my books the verses came from. Let's see if you can remember them.

The dawn bloomed in a lemon sky.

Because when a man comes at me armed wi’ a teacup, I would hae to say that is drunk.

The moon rose large and full, much like Susan’s uterus.   

Cat attempted to ask some questions, but in the gale, the wind sucked the words from her mouth and blew them across town. 

Gregor was given the honors, as he so enjoyed the sport of frightening the life out of mortal men. 

The moon rose brightly in the star-filled sky, a lazy, lopsided oval as if a drunkard drew it.

Gulls drifted overhead as though tethered, gracefully and effortlessly floating on the breeze.

She blew out a breath and in total seriousness said, “I’m too much woman for a man.”

He let out a high-pitched scream that made everyone in the room, including Gregor, jump out of their seats uttering profanities or prayers or nonsensical mumbles of terror.

The wind whipped at her long hair and filled her cloak, making it into a sail of its own. 

Cat leaned back on her elbows, naked, and smiled. 

Ye came in to fetch me and when I saw ye, I couldna move. Yer eyes trapped me in their green garden.

She poured some lavender oil into the water and the smell of it floated on the air like music.

All the public wanted was a distraction, the utterance of the obscene to titillate the senses, the fantasy of the taboo.  

And for chapter titles …

A NOT-SO-JOLLY ROGER

 
THE REST IS SILENCE

THE PAST RETURNS LIKE A BAD PENNY 

A DOG, A LOBSTER, AND AN INDIAN WALK INTO A CABIN

DEATH RIDES A PALE HORSE

I'd love to hear what your favorites were. Let me know.

In it for the money?

First, let me update you on the clan dinner last Saturday night. It was great. Everyone was dressed to the nines in their kilts and tartan sashes, and from what I was told, it was the largest attendance they'd ever had—57 people.

James Irvine Robertson, from the UK was on hand with his swarthy British accent and witty banter, as well as telling us all about his historical fiction. We met up with friends we haven't seen since last September at the NH Highland Games, and ate very well, indeed.

My talk was very fun. Of course I can't show you any of it since the memory chip in the camera didn't hold as much as it was supposed to so only part of my presentation was recorded. I had many terrific questions asked about my writing and my stories, as well as giving the audience a preview of Despite Them, a Gregor Macgregor adventure. Oh, and yes, I sold and signed some books!

Which leads me to the title of this blog. Many people think that since I have three books under my belt, I'm rolling in money. Ha!

Let's get down to some hard number facts. Royalties are from 10-15% of what the book sells for. For all those romance writers whose books sell for $8.98, they make a maximum of $1.34 per book. So unless your name is Nora Roberts, James Paterson or Stephen King you're busting butt to make any kind of living from your writing. Fact is, there are only a handful of authors who make a decent living from their craft.

Why, you ask? The market for fiction especially, is tough. There are a lot of fiction writers, which makes breaking into the genre difficult. Then to become a bestselling author takes many years and many, many books, if you can find a niche in the already crowded arena.

When you look at the numbers and figure out what it would take to make a decent living from them, it adds up to getting your books out there, meeting your public, writing really well, publishing a book a year—minimum—and writing about something people actually want to keep reading about.

So when people ask my husband how he feels about his wife being able to make such a fine living from her writing, he politely tells them, "She's got a long way to go before decent comes into play."

Thank God for Scot-ophiles!

I know it's over-romanticizing a place and its people, but for some reason Scotland has a grand following. At the clan dinner, I met a woman who was born is Scotland but now lives in Virginia. We talked about the "aching loins" romances that portray making love in the heather with a broad-chested, long, flowing-haired Highlander an item every woman should put on her Bucket List.

"Don't they know what heather feels like?" she asked in her soft Scottish brogue. "It's woody, prickly and peat bogs are filthy places!"

Kinda takes all the romance out of it, doesn't it?

Anyway, for now, I'll be keeping my day job and continuing to write on my days off. My agent is looking forward to receiving the Despite Them manuscript, which will be happening shortly. Then, it's waiting to find a publisher to print it.

There's no resting on my laurels just yet. 

Clan Dinner

This weekend I'm off to Massachusetts to the Clan Donnachaidh Annual Dinner. I'm one of the guest speakers for the entertainment this year. That could good or bad, as I tend to get nervous in front of large crowds.

Don't get me wrong, I love talking about writing and my books, but the hesitation comes from childhood fears of … well, everything that had to do with the general public. I was much better with animals.

I know, I know. Those who didn't know me in my shy phase would never dream of thinking I could be flustered by anything. Believe me, it took great desire and a few decades to reach the point where very little bothers me anymore. I'm not even sure I could get embarrassed if I wanted to!

But, there is still the sweaty palms, shaky hands and far to many giggles to consider myself stage friendly.

That's why I'll be imbibing in a single malt—or two—before I get up there. With any luck, the dry mouth will be sated by the Scottish elixir and I'll stand up fearless, albeit on wobbly legs, and give my talk.

Dan, my husband, is going to make an attempt to video the Scottish affair so I can have something to share with you next week. With any luck I'll be able to make a pod cast out of it. That's if there's anything left after the editing process!

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By now, many of you who ordered Double Vision last week have received it, and hopefully are enjoying the read. Remember, I'd love to hear your reviews.