I saw the sign

There are always moments when writing that you wonder if you should abandon the current work in progress, and then the cosmos steps in to give you a nudge. The next project in my EPITAPH series is called "Man in the Mirror." If you've been following along, you know the titles refer to the "ghost" part of the story. I've had several interruptions to my writing process this spring, between the day job and traveling and personal "stuff," and have questioned myself several times as to whether I'm writing "so much nonsense."

Recently, while touring "Laura," a Creole plantation in Vacherie, Louisiana, the first room you step into has a mirror over the fireplace. The guide stops to tell you about Laura, the woman the plantation is named for, and then she turns a switch and a portrait materializes in the mirror. Kind of spooky! Some of the tourists gasped at the eerie appearance. Me? My sign from the cosmos.

Still writing! A tad behind schedule, but the Man in the Mirror will get done!

Dialects, Alligators and Distraction

As a post-busy season retreat, my DH and I took a trip to New Orleans. Yes, the book with the hero from Louisiana is done, but I may have mentioned he was one of my favorites to write.

One of the sticking points while I was writing THE TWINS was getting the dialect right. While my hero wasn't from the city proper (he's from the countryside near New Orleans), I wanted to add authenticity to his vocabulary, remind readers where he was from without hitting them over the head. I was particularly pleased when one of the tour guides mentioned dialect while we were out and about. People in New Orleans don't have that southern drawl you'll hear in other parts of the South. In fact, they're all over the board. One of the tour guides sounded like she was straight out of New York, and indeed, the other guide pointed that out, that the dialect sometimes mimicked other parts of the country. That made it more important for me to find phrases unique to the area, and while I might have laid it on a little thick with my hero (yes, I'm purposely not using his name - read to the end to find out why), I also didn't give him a twang. Just a soft drawl. In the countryside, they have a softer way of speaking. A gentle lilt to their voice that is unique to that area, and that's what I was hearing and trying to convey.

The population in southern Louisiana is unique to most anywhere else in the United States. They still have French schools much the way we have ethnic schools around Chicago because they are still French to their roots. and African. and Spanish. Creoles, born in America with strong ties to the homeland although they are planted on this side of the ocean. I got some fascinating history lessons along the way.


We went on a bayou tour and our guide wasn't what you'd expect, not straight out of those TV shows about gator hunters or swamp rats -- you know the ones I'm talking about. He had a refined, soft lilt to his speech as he told us about life on the cypress swamps, hunting gators, the way of life.

It was a great trip, and it made me miss my characters! Which brings me back to my hero.

As I get back into my writing groove after a long busy season and subsequent time away, I'd like to thank you for sticking with me by giving a random commentor a Smashwords coupon for a free version of EPITAPH 2: THE TWINS. If you know the name of my Louisiana hero (hey, it's easy to find if you check out my home page - there's a tab at the top of the page that will take you there!), leave his name in a comment and I'll put your name in the hat to win a copy. Winner will be chosen May 31, 2017, using random.org.

Author, Cover or Blurb?

The age-old question continues. When you buy a new book, what attracts you first? Why am I rehashing this age-old question?

Starting with what draws me in - I get dozens of newsletters touting dozens of new books, old books, discounted books, etc. So what motivates me to buy? I've got to be honest. It starts with an author I know, who's work I admire. They're the front runners, by far, but after that? I do believe in giving "new to me" authors a try. There are lots of books that don't get the exposure they need in an over-saturated market. A catchy title might intrigue me, and maybe a cover, but those can't do it alone. I need a strong blurb to go with. Many times I've gotten sucked in by a provocative title, an interesting cover, and read the blurb only to run away. A poorly phrased/worded blurb can be the kiss of death. This is the representation of what's inside the book, and if it sucks, well, I don't hold out hope for the story.

And next, wondering what draws my readers in. I've been promoting the Epitaph series, since they are my latest endeavor, but I have to say I find it fascinating when I have something scheduled for a day, say a guest blog post or interview, and someone buys a different one of my books. Definitely not complaining, but it begs the question of what drew you to that book. I have my theories.

First - the Epitaph series, while there are ghosts in the stories, are still romances. Romantic suspense even (moreso the first and third ones). The covers are dark and mysterious to let the reader know there's something lurking in the shadows, but I've discovered from my ARC readers it wasn't the ghosts that drew them in. They were pleasantly surprised that the story was so much more than ghosts. So maybe I'm not marketing them properly, but I can't imagine a cover that represents a walk on a sunny beach when the hero and heroine are hiding out in a potentially haunted house.

Now, let's move over to Cookie Therapy, my "good to be alive" book. This is the first of my novels where I opted for a shirtless male on the cover (enter my adult nephew inquiring why there's a naked fireman on the cover of my book). I admit, I was nervous about that, but it represented the story. Matt, the fireman, has a reputation, earned or not. Funny thing, after it was published, I read an interview with one of my favorite romance authors who does NOT put shirtless men on her covers. She asked her audience what they thought, and they said they'd rather not see that. And she writes STEAMY STUFF (not erotica, mind you, but the heat is definitely turned to high). So when I'm promoting Epitaph and someone buys Cookie Therapy, It makes me stop to think. Maybe there's something to that half-naked fireman. As uncomfortable as I was about taking that step, that shirtless man has gotten a lot of attention.

Which brings me back to that oft-repeated question. Clearly, my readers know what they're going to get when they see a hot guy on the cover of my novels (which was the point, after all). Would Cookie Therapy have gotten the same attention if the cover was more sedate? And then I think of my favorite romance author who puts sweet covers on her steamy romances. Couples walking hand in hand on the beach, heroes holding puppies... Hey, she does okay. Best seller list, Movie deal in the works. Do I need that gratuitous picture to get your attention?

What do you think?

Catching up on my reading?

While I'm restoring my life balance after three months under the gun, I'm glancing through my TBR pile.

I'm overwhelmed.

I'm on ARC reader lists for my favorite authors, and I look forward to those books. I also feel obligated to get them read and reviews written in a timely manner, so those books tend to move up the stack. Then there are the authors I want to try out, or the new author friends I meet who I want to check out. What happens when you find a new author that you like?

I recently met a new author who writes fun romantic comedies. I so much enjoyed her first book that I want to read the rest of them, but I have a long TBR list of books I WANT to read. What to do, what to do! I suppose I could buy the books in question and make my TBR pile even larger, but I'm an organized person. I have a process. I try not to give myself more things to do than I can accomplish. As it is, I have many books from writer's conferences over the past ten years that I've never cracked open (and I'd like to - at least some of them).

I have books from old favorites who aren't writing any more, from authors I've discovered in recent years, and from new authors who are looking for an audience. A lot of my purchases happen when I get notice of a reduced price (yes, I'm a bargain hunter) and some of my purchases are because its a book I really want to read, an author I really enjoy.

Stockpiling it is. Some day I'm going to be retired, and I'm going to want more books to read and maybe my discretionary funds will limit the number of books I can buy. So why not add them now?

Guilt kicks in. These authors need feedback. If the books are new NOW, a review years from now, while appreciated, might have made the difference between whether or not they kept writing in that series or whether they dropped it and started something new.

Did I mention work/life balance? Did I mention I'm working on restoring said balance? Taking a deep breath. The summer months are around the corner. More time to read. More time to relax. By the end of the summer I'm going to be LOOKING for those books that I haven't had time to read over the past couple of months, and likely I'll even pick up one or two of those freebies that were given to me that I keep forgetting about.

What are you reading?

Moving Ahead so Life Won't Pass Me By

There's your earworm for the day.

Deadline season is over at the day job. I have survived (can I get another earworm alert?). During busy season, there are some days when I wondered if I would survive, and yet I've lived to tell the tale one more time. So what now?

First on the agenda, get back to EPITAPH 3. While I'm somewhere between a third and a half way through it, I was struggling even when my brain was dialed in to author mode. My protags were arguing with me that they weren't having enough fun. They were just walking through their paces. Clearly, I didn't have enough gray matter to deal with them, but now that I do ... Looks like I'm going to throw out a lot of what I wrote and start over, make sure I get it right. Some books are like that. I'm committed to getting at least the first three EPITAPH books out there (this being the third) and then I can evaluate whether or not to continue with the series. Are you enjoying the EPITAPH books?

But also...

I have another Northwest Suburbs book tapping its foot in the background, waiting its turn. Isn't that always the way? The next book can be so impatient sometimes!