GENREALITY

The apprentice, not the wizard

Rosemary — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:45:55 +0000

Since I’m the YA author on this blog, I guess it’s about time that I say something about Young Adult novels.

One of the reason that I don’t talk specifically about writing YA very often, is that the principles of writing YA are exactly the same as writing any other genre: Stay in character and write a good story.

IMHO, the thing that makes a YA book a YA book is the protagonist and his/her point of view. Everything else hinges on that. The YA character is standing with one foot in childhood and one foot in adulthood. And she’s always looking forward toward that adult world, and figuring out (or proving) her place in it.

So, more important than the chronilogical age of the character is how she is viewed by society. In a historical or fantasy setting “adult” might be applied much younger than it is today. In the Napoleonic Wars, there were frigate captains as young as 17. Alexander the Great commanded armies at 16. A woman might have three kids by the time she’s 20.

The YA protagonist is not a general, or a king. He’s the apprentice, not the wizard. The point of view in a YA novel is often more ground level when it comes to conflict. While you may see big epic stories of the save-the-world variety, it’s from a more mano-a-mano perspective. The YA hero has to be in the trenches himself, not commanding troops. When Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star (the first time), it’s not with a button from far away. It’s against incredible odds, a peashooter against this battle station, with Darth Vader breathing down his neck. Even though it’s in the middle of the big battle, our point of view is right there with Luke. In the trenches.

In YA books, a character is usually experiencing things for the first time: the first time she’s been away from home, or the first time she’s had a relationship (usually romantic) that challenges the familial ones, or the first time she’s had to solve a problem without the help of her parents.

I’d say the one thing that breaks the spell of a YA book is when things slip out of that point of view. That is, the heroine is thinking like an adult, not someone still figuring things out. She’s thinking about something like a grown up, not like someone dealing with it for the first time. (I have to catch this in my own writing.) She’s blasé about sex. She’s hardened or jaded about life (more than just a front she puts up). And the worst sin of all in a YA book: the voice sounds like it’s an adult talking to the reader: lecturing, soapboxing, moralizing.

So when it comes to writing YA, it all comes down to putting yourself into the shoes of a character unproven, challenged to solve problems for himself for the first time. Stay in that character’s headspace, and leave your adult ‘voice’ behind, and the rest will follow.

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The Voices

Candace Havens — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:11:20 +0000

Writing is the one occupation/activity where you can have voices in your head and people don’t think you are crazy. Well, people who aren’t writers might. As my career has progressed the voices have grown louder. They began with the first book I ever wrote, which eventually became my fifth book to be published, The Demon King and I. A friend had challenged me to write the book, and I’d never done anything lke that. I remember staring at my computer and that blank page for a moment, and all of the sudden people began a conversation in my head. I didn’t really understand what was going on, but I wrote it down. I could see where they were, their gestures and I was transported into their world. The voices were so strong, that I sat down and wrote that book in two weeks, while working two full-time jobs.

The next book, the voices were even louder. That book was Charmed & Dangerous. The day before I was to meet my very first big editor from a publishing house, my friend Britta Coleman (Potter Springs) and I did some role play where she pretended to an editor. She had been through it before, but I had not. I’m a person who interviews Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise without even thinking about it, but the idea of speaking with an editor gave me hives. For real. One of the questions my friend asked me during that mock pitch, was what did I have next? I stared at her dumbfounded. I’d written an entire book, wasn’t that enough? She explained that editors and agents wanted to know that you had future potential beyond what you had already done.

I left her house in a panic. I had to come up with a new idea for another book before my meeting at 9 a.m. the morning. I sat on my bed with notebook, and all of the sudden this voice said, “I’m Bronwyn.” I kid you not, that voice was so loud that I jumped up because I thought someone was in my room. Then I worried I really was going crazy. (I’d been worried about that for years. Now I don’t care.) The next thing she said, was something that changed my life forever. “I’m a witch, think bad Willow on ‘Buffy,’ but I’m a good guy. I don’t take any crap, and I can seriously kick some ass.” I wrote down everything she said. Then she told me about this crazy job she had about protecting the British Prime Minister, and falling in love with a doctor and a powerful sheik. And that is how Charmed & Dangerous was born. That next day the editor liked the pages I’d sent before the meeting and asked me to send those to another editor at the publishing house. Sure enough she asked what I was working on next, and I told her about Bronwyn. She asked me to send it to her. Of course then I had to go home and write it.

Sometimes those voices are strong from the beginning, other times, like with Dragons Prefer Blondes I get to know them better as we go along. Alex in Dragons was strong and cut throat, but very different from her sister Gillian. By the time I finished the book she was my favorite sister, and her voice still won’t shut up in my head. If a miracle happens and I get to finish that series, I have a feeling she’ll have her way in the remaining books.

For my latest book, Take Me If You Dare, it was a man talking in my head. That was a little different for me. I was expecting to write this story about a recent college grad who was stuck running her mom’s investigative firm, and she was in over her head. But when I sat down to write a proposal for the editor, Jackson popped in. He said, “Where am I?” Instantly my mind flashed to this filthy hotel room in Thailand. “I can move my legs,” he said, “at least there is that.” (That honestly freaked me out a little.) Then he let me know he’d been beat to a pulp and left in this room without any idea how he’d arrived. He told the story so fast that almost couldn’t keep up with the typing. That book is written in third person, all the rest I’d done were in first person. So it was kind of weird to have two voices, sometimes going at the same time.

You’ve read this far and you’re thinking, “Okay, chick, you really are insane.” But I promise this is how I do what I do. People always ask how I come up with these wild and inventive stories, and the truth is I cheat. My characters tell me everything. And I quite frankly hope that never stops. I will say that they can keep me up nights, and drive me crazy throughout the day. It’s funny, because the voices are almost always there when I need them. When I start a new book, they show up for work.

If you’re a writer, do you have voices in your head? I know a lot of great writers who don’t work the way I do, so how do you do it?

And if you aren’t a writer, how does your creative process work for whatever it is you do?

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Caveat Emptor

Bob Mayer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:34:28 +0000

The uproar over Harlequin’s new vanity press line (similar to Thomas Nelson’s) and the reaction of RWA, SFWA, MWA and others to it has caused a lot of authors to wake up. I’ve been in this business for 20 years and the one thing I have always seen is a subtle lack of respect for authors on the part of many publishers, agents and editors. I read Michael Hyatt’s blog where he mentions ‘authors ripping off publishers’ because their books don’t earn out. I constantly see agents tweet or blog about how hard it is to wade through the un-professional queries they receive. I guess that’s called work. Like writing on spec is work.

I’m not saying they are bad people or are consciously doing this, but there is a pervasive attitude that authors are replaceable cogs in the publishing machine. And since most writers are so desperate to get published, there are many cogs standing in line.

I would submit the following to you: Editors and agents usually start off as interns in the publishing business. Or at the very least, at an entry level job. They learn about the business and work their way up. They are not thrust suddenly into selling or buying a book the first day on the job.

Authors are thrust into the business the first day on the job. And no one teaches them a thing. I’d like to ask this: Is there any agent or editor who has a formal training program in place for new authors? Where they educate the author on how the business works?

“We don’t have time” every agent and editor I mention this to, replies. But you do have time to have a 90% failure rate on first novels? I suggest considering making the time or outsourcing the training. Because the current economy is not going to allow such a business paradigm to survive.

As it is now we have the “osmosis” training model for authors. Go to conferences. Join writers groups. Talk to other authors. All a hit-miss proposition. The biggest problem is a new author doesn’t even know the right questions to ask.

I started my Warrior Writer program by using the business template that the elite Special Forces uses to train the best soldiers in the world and applying it to being an author. I use 20 years and 40 books published and 20 years as a Special Forces A-Team leader, operations officer and instructor at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School, to develop a nine-step program that focuses on writers developing a career plan; examine their personality and how it affects their writing and their interaction with the publishing world; conquering fear; effective marketing; taking command of their own fate; and so on.

I think self-publishing (NOT vanity like HQ and Thomas Nelson are offering) is a viable option for some non-fiction authors who have a platform and a unique hook. Bottom line for fiction authors: forget about it. Yes, you can cite one or two examples of unique success, but 99.9% of self-published fiction is a waste of time and money.

A lot of people are going to waste a lot of money at HQ and Thomas Nelson using their vanity press arm. And HQ and Thomas Nelson are going to make a lot of money off these wanna-be writers—not readers. Makes you wonder what kind of business template that is.

To all you wanna-be authors. Caveat Emptor.

And yes, I have a traditionally published title coming out next week from St. Martins: Wild Ride, co-written with Jennifer Crusie. But I also have my first, original title, coming out from Who Dares Wins Publishing: Chasing The Ghost that I’m very proud of. Along with, at long last, the Warrior Writer book.

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A New Face In Publishing

Bob Mayer — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:31:13 +0000

Now don’t start sending me queries. I’m starting my own publishing company for my backlist and for my pending non-fiction. I have 20 titles I own the rights to. To try to get a ‘traditional’ publisher to re-release them is fruitless. The feeling is ‘they had their chance’. When, in reality, they didn’t have ‘their chance’ because the publishers threw them, along with thousands of other titles against the wall hoping one would stick. With over one million books sold at Random House, I can’t get an editor to respond to an email. The total marketing budget at Random House for those books was ‘round up the usual suspects’ which means tossing some galleys out there and that’s it. Editors are overwhelmed and publishers are slow to adjust to new technologies.

Which makes this article by Jonathan Galassi kind of ludicrous in a way.

It goes to the attitude that publishers are the key players in the game and writers should be damn glad they deign to even publish you. Kind of like that scene in The Player where they say, let’s get rid of the writers.

I will still seek to get traditionally published with my WIP. The printed book is not dead. But if you look at the facts, it’s time things start to change. Here are new ereaders from the latest trade show:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/08/ces.ereader/index.html?iref=allsearch

Amazon sold more ebooks than printed books over the holidays.

People who use ereaders, buy three times as many books as those who buy printed.

So, my publishing company, Who Dares Wins, is proud to release Black Ops: The Gate on Kindle, via pdf from my web site, and in trade paperback from my web site. It will soon be available from Lightning and as trade paperback on Amazon and other venues.

I think this is an exciting time to be an author with more opportunities than ever before.

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Read an E-Book Week

Joe Nassise — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:32:32 +0000

Read an E-Book Week officially started yesterday and runs through the end of the week, so I thought it might be a good time to highlight the event and spread the word.

Started by Rita Toews in 2004, the event is designed to “educate and inform the public about the pleasures and advantages of reading electronically. Authors, publishers, vendors, the media and readers world-wide are welcome to join in the effort and are encouraged to promote electronic reading with events of their own. These could include: public readings, library displays, reading challenges, school visits, newspaper and blog articles, chat show appearances, internet radio interviews, e-book give-ways, and website banners.”

One cool aspect of Read an E-Book Week is the fact that a number of online retailers and authors have joined the party and are offering free or deeply discounted titles during the event. A full list of them can be found in the Ebook Store on the event’s website.

I’ve decided to participate myself and will be making my entire Templar Chronicles trilogy available in digital format throughout the week at a 25% discount. I’ve even had new cover art done up to go along with the offer (see below).

What’s disappointing to me is that there are no major NY publishers taking part in this event even after its been in operation for six years. Offering a free or discounted ebook from the hundreds of authors you publish sounds like an easy way to get customers to start taking advantage of your ebook offerings and the absence of the bigger houses is unfortunate.

If you enjoy ebooks, or even if you’re just coming to them for the first time, drop by the event website and check it out.

(And don’t forget to check out the Templar Chronicles trilogy! Book one, The Heretic, is available now and books two and three will be available later this week.)

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Excerpt: Voices of Dragons

Carrie Vaughn — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 11:40:34 +0000

A short and sweet post today: Next week, my first young adult novel is due out from Harper Teen. It’s called Voices of Dragons, and it’s an alternate history with dragons, rock climbing, jet fighters, and boyfriend trouble.

(Ever since my first book came out, I’ve found it useful to try to condense the premise into a one-sentence soundbite. i.e. “It’s about a werewolf named Kitty who starts a talk radio advice show.” People will always ask, “What’s your book about?” and if you take more than one sentence to explain, their eyes inevitably start to glaze over. So one punchy sentence to sell the book.)

I’ve posted the first chapter over on my website, if you’d care to take a gander. Voices of Dragons, Chapter One.

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Choices…and the right path.

Sasha White — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:45:19 +0000

“Don’t compromise yourself, you are all you’ve got.” ~ Janis Joplin

We often talk about being true to yourself in your writing. Hone your own voice, follow your own path, write the story as you see it, not as others tell you it should be. I firmly believe in those things.

I also see plenty of blog posts or articles that put a lot of emphasis on things being all about the story. Hearing things like “As an author all you can really control is the work.” or “The best thing you can do to ensure a successful career is write a great story.” over and over again, but I don’t believe that.

Now get this straight. I am not saying that the story doesn’t matter. What I am saying is that we, as authors, control a lot more than we’re being trained to think we do. We can control more than the story.

I’ve been agent hunting for about a year now, and I’ve queried many many agents. Some passed on my ideas, some wanted to know more. Some told me what to do, and some talked with me about my choices and options and left it to me decide what to do. However, I’ve yet to connect with an agent enough to seriously pursue a business relationship. I’m being very picky, and I know it. I think that’s okay because I know what I want, and I’ve decided if I can’t get what I want then I’m not willing to settle for less. Instead of settling with an agent I don’t believe in my heart will be my final agent just so I can get some proposals out there, I’ve decided to submit them myself, and use a literary lawyer for the contract work if I need to.

A short time ago an author friend of mine emailed and announced a book sale. She was super excited because it was to a new publisher, and it seemed like a great move. Not only was it a sale, (which is always good), but it was one that would get her more exposure and help her move in the direction she wanted to take her career. Then, a couple weeks after her announcement, she walked away from the deal. It wasn’t an easy choice, but it was one she made because she was smart enough to think ahead and know that she’d regret it later if she didn’t make her stand.

Those are just a couple of examples of the power we have. Power that has nothing to do with the story, but everything to do with building a career. Sometimes we concentrate so hard on being writers that we forget that if we want to make a career out of this that we have to be businesspeople too, and that means that we have to make tough choices at times. Sometimes it’s about more than the story. Sometimes it’s about knowing that the choices you make and the path you follow is ultimately your own responsibility.

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Stick-with-it-abily

Rosemary — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:00:51 +0000

I love getting letters from readers. In particular I enjoy it when teens write to me and tell me they’re working on their own writing projects. They ask me some great questions, and even though they’re beginning writers, most of the principles that I find myself passing on are things that, beginning writer or experienced writer, even now that I’m published, still apply to my writing process.

So I’m sharing today a question from a reader named Grace:
I was wondering how you stick with writing on one topic for a whole book let alone 3 books. I have a slue of journals with stories that never quite passed the 50 page mark. I just lose interest because it is not quite time for the climax and back ground knowledge and thickening the plot can only go so far. How do you keep your self interested until the end of the book?

Interesting that she asked me this question, because it’s something that I struggled with. Before I wrote Prom Dates From Hell, I also had a whole mess of projects/books that I’d started but never finished, for exactly the same reason. I would lose interest and abandon one project for the next shiny thing.

Even now I deal with this; I don’t abandon the project, but there’s a point in every book (The technical term, for me, is “Chapter 4.”) where I bog down, convinced the book is horribly boring, and I suck, and writing a whole big book is an insurmountable task. It doesn’t matter than I’ve done it five times now. Every single book, I look at the mountain of plot I’ve got to climb, and wonder how I’m ever going to manage it.

Now, pre-book-writing, a couple of things helped me: I wrote a bunch of shorter pieces so that I got used to finishing things. A short story can be 4 pages, or it can be 40 pages. But it’s good practice being able to get a beginning, middle and end into a short space. There’s no space for the boring stuff.

For a book, the rise and fall of the plot makes for natural goals. I don’t just plan one climax at the end. I have several turning points that are like mini-climaxes over the course of the book. This is not just about plotting an exciting book. It’s about giving myself goals that don’t seem so waaaaaaaay far away and unattainable.

If you think about the book as a series of successively higher hills rather than one long, tedious climb up a mountain, it really helps. And since those parts are usually fun to write, it’s both a goal and a reward. (I love to write the scenes with the heroine and her love interest, so I tell myself stuff like: well, I have to get through this scene where they explain how magic works, but then Maggie and Justin get to fight then make out… er, I mean make up.)

And to Grace and everyone else (that is, ALL of you, because I’ve never met a writer who didn’t have books and books of scraps and starts and bits and pieces)… Whatever you do, NEVER throw away those journals! One of my abandoned projects turned into the idea for my September book (The Splendor Falls). Way back when, I had an idea for a story about a ballerina who breaks her leg and goes to stay in an old house with a ghost. The setting and whole rest of the plot ended up being completely different, but it all started from about 50 pages of story I began (then abandoned) in high school.

So, whether you’re a young writer, a not so young writer, beginning or experienced, on those days when the book seems too huge and the end too far away, just think about it in chunks. After all, you can eat an elephant one bite at a time.

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Our Guest Shayla Black

Candace Havens — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:08:50 +0000

The lovely Shayla Black has stopped by to talk about sexual tension. Years ago when my first agent was talking to me about revisions she told me I needed more sexual tension. At the time, I thought that meant sex. I was wrong. I picked up one of Shalya/Shelley Bradley’s books and I instantly understood.

Shayla has been kind enough to break it down for us. Here is what she says:

Creating sizzling sexual tension is no accident. It requires commitment from the writer to incorporate four distinct elements into your plot and to take those elements as far as your imagination and believability can.

They are: Awareness – the hero and heroine should be aware of each other as desirable members of the opposite sex and as sexual beings. This sounds elemental, but I’m surprised at how many books don’t take advantage of this simple tip. Show the attraction early and give it power. This can be descriptive (i.e., the hero or heroine thinking about the other from his/her point of view, letting us know what each finds attractive about the other. Another approach is situational, your hero and heroine interacting in a way that’s flirtatious, challenging, or otherwise provocative. These two approaches will work separately and in tandem, depending on the kind of book you’re writing. Take a look at the opening scenes and chapters in which your hero and heroine are together. Are they observing one another, cataloging pleasing aspects of the other, fantasizing or thinking about the other? Be careful with this element or the attraction will look purely physical, but early on, you’ll want to acknowledge that, even in the midst of conflict, each finds the other attractive.

Conflict – clashes or disputes between your hero and heroine. The deeper the conflict, the deeper the tension. You’ll need an external conflict for your hero and heroine to share. The two dogs, one bone sort of argument. I also recommend having ample internal conflict, and by that, I mean having your hero and heroine have differing beliefs, dreams or values.

Forced proximity – what is keeping your hero and heroine together when most people in conflict would naturally drift apart?

The external conflict usually drives this plot element. Abductions, forced marriages, marriages of convenience, joint inheritances, etc. can all play a role. Whatever you can dream up to keep your two characters together, use it!

Personal stake – the reason your hero and heroine each believe that indulging in their attraction for the other would be a bad idea. A character’s personal stake is the worst-case scenario if their fear generated by the internal conflict comes true. Exploration of the external conflict, along with forced proximity, will lead to more interaction so that the internal conflict can be explored.

Hopefully, you are getting the picture now that if you remove any of these elements and you will have a more difficult time drawing the sexual tension the kind of level that leaves your reader hanging. For instance:

If you take away the forced proximity, you have people aware, in conflict and cognizant that making love would be somehow detrimental. In such a situation, most people would simply walk away, rather than confront the difficult issues between them.

If you remove the awareness, you have people who are forced to be with one another and not only have reasons not to engage in sex, they likely don’t want to, given their clashes.

If you take away conflict, awareness and forced proximity will turn up the heat, yes. And personal stake may keep them from exploring their feelings for time. But what will they argue about before they hop into bed so that your reader keeps turning the pages? Worse, what will they argue about after they get out of bed?

If you remove personal stake, the h or h deciding to be with the other lacks punch. So you have a little conflict with someone. You’re attracted to them and you’re together all the time. You can bury conflict for the few minutes necessary to accomplish orgasm. Personal stake adds the emotional punch here.

Ramp up sexual and romantic tension as the book progresses by adding emotional elements. Physical awareness becomes awareness of the other’s good qualities, along with their wants, fears, needs. Each character will also have a growing awareness of their growing emotional entanglement. As you deepen the emotions, the conflict should shift away from the external. Now explore the internal, using the heightened awareness. Characters will be increasingly torn by the feelings they have for the other, despite their fears. Forced proximity will still be in place, but the growing emotions should hold them together as strongly as the plot element you used earlier to draw them together. Personal stake should loom larger, ramping up the tension of the romance so the reader can wonder if the characters will overcome their fears and live happily ever after? It’s up to you, the author, to keep that question looming large and thus the tension crisp.

I told you she had it down, and she practices what she preaches. I have posted an excerpt below of her latest book delicious. Enjoy!

He can’t control his desire.

Luc Traverson’s entire future is planned out—but there is one very sexy obstacle in his path: Alyssa Devereaux . She’s a former exotic dancer turned strip club owner and restaurateur. Recently, Alyssa and Luc shared one night of wild abandon that left Luc terrified by his loss of self-control—and Alyssa desperate for more.

And that’s just the way she wants it.

Fulfilling a promise, Luc is the guest chef for Alyssa’s restaurant debut. The sight of her makes Luc wild, so how can he survive a week without letting loose and ravaging her—especially when she’s begging for it? Luc’s desire for her explodes when he realizes he isn’t the only man desperate to have her. But one of the others is deadly. And that’s not the end of Alyssa’s secrets…which are as dark and mysterious and enticing as her fantasies.

Excerpt:

Until Alyssa Devereaux, had he ever gotten stone hard just by looking at a woman from across a room? Luc didn’t like the answer.

He didn’t have to wonder what was under that little skirt; he knew. Sleek thighs surrounded by garters in some color designed to drive a man wild. A lacy thong that would reveal far more of her assets than it concealed. And under that . . . The feel and taste of her slick, swollen folds dive-bombed his memory and revved him up, as if he’d injected rocket fuel in his bloodstream.

And he had to work beside her for a week. Hell. How was he going to prevent a recurrence of the event he wanted to forget—yet couldn’t?

You’re a professional. Cook and keep your hands to yourself. Besides, it wasn’t as if he had nothing else to think about. Negotiations for his cable TV show were nearly at an end. He had a bit of editing to do on his latest cookbook. There wouldn’t be that much downtime this week, but what little there’d be, he would fill.

Clearly, Alyssa had a way to fill her time as well. The huge slab of man at her side whose cheek she’d kissed a moment ago wore a Sexy Sirens T-shirt stretched across his enormous chest. A bartender? A bouncer? Whoever he was, the guy slanted a possessive glance at Alyssa that Luc couldn’t miss, then glared at him.

Tamping down his irrational anger, Luc reminded himself that if Alyssa wanted to fuck her hired help, that was her business.

The violent urge to dismember her employee would pass.

Alyssa took a step toward Luc, then another.

“Mistress Alyssa,” a female called over the speakers in a saucy vamp voice. “Your turn!”

She stopped. Closed her eyes. Sighed. Bracing herself?

Then, as if the hesitation had never been, she flashed him a cool blue gaze, pointed at a chair in front of the stage, then turned away and strode backstage. Luc couldn’t help himself. He watched her walk away, the sway of those curvy hips a siren call. Damn.

If they had been alone, there was no way Luc could have prevented himself from touching her. Period.

Unless he wanted another brush with his uncontrollable wild side, he needed to forget his reckless promise to her and get out of this job. Now.

Reluctantly, Luc sauntered to the front of the stage and sat in the chair Alyssa had indicated. As soon as she finished whatever the hell she was doing and talked to him, he’d tell her all bets were off. Hell, he’d pay her for her inconvenience.

Because if he stayed, his dick would get him into trouble. He’d have her naked and be between her legs in two minutes. Or less. And that would be bad. He was looking for Mrs. Right, someone uncomplicated who wanted children as much as he did and would help him keep his beast at bay. Alyssa Devereaux, stripper divine, was definitely not that woman.

Suddenly, music pounded through the speakers, blaring with a naughty beat, a wicked slide of horn. Every note suggested sex—the hot, sweaty, no-boundaries variety.

The type he’d had with her and wanted again.

Pulling his loose shirt over his lap to cover his erection, Luc watched as Alyssa strutted onto the stage. She’d piled her straight platinum hair into some wild arrangement on top of her head and donned a sequined bolero jacket in red. He was dying to see what she wore underneath. The way she moved was an invitation . . . and a promise.

She planted her stiletto-clad feet in front of him with a decisive step, then swung her hips, making a sensual circle. She flattened her palm across the bare skin of her tanned abdomen—and began lowering it. She reached down . . . so damn slowly. Luc’s breath caught in his chest until, finally, she touched herself. Oh, hell.

Her fingers glided between her legs, and she tossed her head back as if she was in utter ecstasy.

Luc swallowed. And started to sweat.

With a jerk of her head, Alyssa snapped her gaze back to him, her eyes like focused blue lasers jolting him to his toes.

Damn it, his nine weeks of dating church secretaries, interior decorators, and elementary school teachers showed. Not one of them had incited an erection. During that time, he’d awakened in the middle of the night more than once, sweating, his dick in his hand and Alyssa’s name on his lips. Now, after less than five minutes in her presence, he felt ready to explode.

He had to think about the right F words—future and family. Unfortunately, with Alyssa near, the urge to fuck her again kept killing his good intentions.

In the next moment, she released the soft strands of her hair, which hugged her shoulders, clung to her breasts, flirted with her waist. Then she peeled off the little jacket and left it carelessly on the floor, exposing a tiny half top Luc could swear showed the shadows of her areolas. She stepped over the jacket and strutted toward the pole in the center of the stage. When she gripped it with both hands and undulated against it, pressing it to the juncture of her thighs, Luc damn near choked.

And still she continued to stare as if she danced just for him.

The music swelled, wailing with sensuality and suggestion. Alyssa upped her game, sticking a finger into the wet cavern of her mouth and sucking. More blood rushed to Luc’s cock at the memory of her mouth around him, her tongue slick across the head, inciting a sizzle that burned his whole body. Even months later, he could feel the lash of her tongue, the hot silk of her mouth. He shuddered.

With a kittenish smile, Alyssa popped her finger from her mouth and drew the damp fingertip down her cleavage. Then her palm took over, smoothing her right breast with an invitation to pure sin on her gorgeous face.

Dear God, no wonder she’d built herself a little empire here in Lafayette. The woman was a walking wet dream and did her job well. No red-blooded, heterosexual male could withstand such intense teasing and stay sane.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luc saw Alyssa’s employee, the one she’d touched earlier, sidle closer to the stage. With a quick turn of his head, Luc quickly saw that the mountain in the tight black T-shirt was tense, panting, and sporting a bulge that said he wanted to get busy.

Luc wished he could say that didn’t piss him off. But he’d be lying.

Then, as Luc’s stare returned to the stage, he damn near forgot his own name.

Alyssa turned her back on him and bent at the waist, staring at him over one mostly bare shoulder with a fuck-me look that stunned him. Luc gripped the arms of his chair, willing himself to stay in it, not charge up on the stage, lay her flat, and get inside her again this instant.

The spaghetti strap of her little top was falling down her arm. And that indecent skirt . . . With her bent over, the hint of the bare ass cheeks flashed from beneath the black silk. Her garters were a come-hither red. Her thong—he could see only a scrap of it—matched.

Soft fingers teased their way up her shin, her thigh, and disappeared under that little skirt. Her eyes half-closed, her sultry mouth parted on a silent moan of seeming self-pleasure. His entire body tensed.

He had to get the hell out of there.

Her hands swept up her undulating hips, gathering the skirt with them. She tugged at the little black garment, and it fluttered to the floor. The tanned halves of her backside, bisected by a bit of red lace, crashed fresh lust into his chest, making it damn hard to breathe.

Alyssa had a gorgeous ass. But he’d known that. Luc squeezed his eyes shut so the visual temptation of her bare flesh didn’t taunt him. Memories of tunneling into her ass pounded him instead. Her perfect willingness to take him any way he’d wanted. The tightness of her damp, musky body clasping him. The sweat dripping off of them as he’d thrust deep. Her moans.

Christ, the burning lust had to stop—at least long enough to tell her that he wouldn’t be staying.

Praying the torture would end soon, Luc opened his eyes. And sucked in a breath.

Alyssa flashed him a naughty smile of invitation as she ripped her small top right down the front to reveal a red demi bra that barely covered her nipples. Hard nipples. Pink, melt-in-his-mouth nipples he remembered all too well.

Luc squirmed in his chair—and nearly went off like a teenage boy. Beyond aroused, his cock was so sensitive, the feel of denim sliding against the head nearly had him coming.

He had to leave. Forget the polite conversation; he’d send her an e-mail with an explanation. Because if he stayed, he would shove his long-term goals aside and fuck her senseless.

As he stood, Luc mentally reviewed a list of chefs—female ones—he could pay to assist Alyssa this week. A short list, but a few durable names. He’d send idiotproof recipes . . .

The red bra dropped to the ground at Alyssa’s feet.

Her large breasts were as golden as the rest of her body and swayed gracefully with her every undulation, every step. Those nipples he remembered so damn well beckoned, Taste me.

Turn away! he demanded of himself.

His legs didn’t move.

Alyssa danced her way down the stairs, holding her breasts up in offering. She pranced past her aroused employee and shot the man a mirthful smile as she caressed the side of his face. Luc tensed when the beefy guy tried to snatch her up in his arms. But Alyssa was too fast and spun out of his grip, toward Luc.

The damp spot at the front of her thong kicked him in the gut. He clenched his fists as she danced closer, closer . . .

She dropped to her knees before him and looked up. Their gazes locked. She panted. Hard. Despite his jeans, her hot breaths caressed his cock. Release broiled in his balls, and he hadn’t touched her once.

There was no way he could stop himself from reaching out to tangle his fingers into her hair and bringing her mouth closer.

Visit Shelley/Shayla at:

www.ShaylaBlack.com | www.DoomsdayBrethren.com

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Are publishers a Brand?

Bob Mayer — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:29:21 +0000

If you ask a reader walking into a bookstore if they were coming in looking for a ‘Random House’ or a ‘Tor’, I doubt a single one would say yes.

More and more, marketing is about branding. As technology rapidly changes the playing field, a fundamental understanding of the big picture of the book business is being misunderstood: I submit to you that publishers are not a brand; authors are. Ask readers why they are coming in, many will tell you they are looking for the next Nora Roberts, Dennis Lehane, Sue Grafton, etc.

Publishers understand that. But they don’t quite understand what it means. They have been the gatekeepers of the book world for so long because they controlled production and distribution of the product.

They don’t any more. I have a trade paperback on my desk that just arrived from Lightning. It’s one of my backlist books I just brought back into print (mostly in ebook format) and I produce it and distribute it myself. I can’t do placement (not yet), but I can do marketing via the Internet.

Publishers (and even more so, agents) give a stamp of legitimacy to a book. Any traditionally published book has gone through a vetting process, first by an agent (again, not a brand), and then by the publishing house. That is one of the key factors that must be factored into the future of publishing. This book on my desk has a ring of legitimacy because it has NY Times Bestselling Author above my name and excerpts from reviews from PW/Kirkus/Library journal in the cover copy. It was vetted years ago by the old system. What is the new system?

Despite the braying of the dinosaurs in the tar pits the business is changing. Resistance is futile. Publishers, authors and agents need to embrace the changes, not fight it.

We are all trying. I see numerous conferences springing up to discuss the changes and what they mean. I’m sure there are numerous late night meetings in NY at publishing houses and literary agencies to try to chart a course through these rapidly changing waters. But let me ask something: at how many of these meetings or conferences is there an author sitting at the table or on the panel, to give input from the creative producers of the product?

One of the solutions to the current problems is to value the author—the brand– in the process. How many literary agencies and publishing houses have some type of formal training program for their authors? How many have authors involved in the planning for the future?

Not a single one that I know of. But, expecting a newly signed author to know what they are doing would be like my expecting a civilian to become a functioning part of my elite Special Forces A-Team because they played paintball four weekends last year. The expectation is that authors will learn how to be part of the business by osmosis—go to some writers’ conferences and sit in on some workshops. Network with other authors. The current marketplace has little time or mercy for such an inefficient system.

When I try to explain my one-day Who Dares Wins: Warrior Writer program, which teaches writers how to be successful authors, to agents and editors I get at best a blank stare, if not outright resistance. One editor told me they don’t hire authors, they contract for manuscripts. True. But the manuscript doesn’t get the 1099. More importantly, a trend is to put more and more of the marketing burden on the author. The author has to have a platform, a plan, a social media presence, etc etc. If authors have to do the jobs of the publicity departments, then what do they need a publisher for? I’ve already pointed out that two key components in the publishing flow are slipping out of traditional publishing hands: production and distribution. If I have to do the marketing myself, then what exactly is the publisher doing for me? Legitimizing the work and placement (although if you are not a top tier author, placement equals simple physical distribution, particularly in brick and mortar stores, which is losing its value as ebooks grab more and more of the market share).

The true indicator of change will be when the first big brand name fiction writer bypasses traditional publishing—that is when the Perfect Storm will have arrived. A few non-fiction writers have already done this (Stephen Covey’s deal with Kindle comes to mind).

Are there solutions to the current perfect storm in publishing? Yes and I ask for your input here. And I will be blogging my thoughts about it in the current weeks using my Who Dares Wins strategy. We will cover everything from authors, to agents, to editors, to publishing houses, to distribution, to the bookstore and the reader. Let’s build a winning A-Team of authors, agents and publishers and, most importantly, readers.

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