Brenda's Diary
Take a peek inside the world of an
inspirational romance novelist.
Read my "first sale" story and my diary
from the very beginning.
(Includes descriptions of the publication process and submission tips for aspiring authors.)
Scroll down this page to read entries posted since January 2, 2004.
Or just view the most recent entry.
January 2, 2004
Yesterday I learned that of the 41 "Love Inspired" books published in 2003, the reviewers at Romantic Times Magazine think mine was one of the five best.
Not bad for a first book, huh? Finding Hope is one of five nominees for the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award - "Best Love Inspired of 2003."
The magazine reviews virtually every romance book published during the calendar year, then the reviewers nominate candidates for "best book" in the various categories.) The winners won't be announced for a couple of months, but I'm just thrilled to have made the cut with Big Stars Lenora Worth, Kate Welsh, Lois Richer, and Bonnie K. Winn.
My prediction? Lenora will win it for her November release, Heart of Stone. (Don't tell anyone I said that.)
January 13,
2004
As of a
couple of weeks ago, my book is officially out of print. That m eans the
publisher doesn't have any more copies to send to booksellers who request
it. (So it's no use whining to the Barnes and Noble sales clerk that
you meant to order one but never got around to it.)
I'm a little bummed, but I guess it's sort of a good news/bad news thing. These "category" books do have a very short life span, but even Love Inspired books six months older than mine are still available. It seems that mine has gone out of print so soon because the publisher recently ran some TV ads ("Join our book club and get three free books!") and my book was one of the three pictured. (I don't know how many copies they gave away, but the other two books in the TV ad are now out of print, as well.)
"Can't they just make more?" my mom wanted to know.
That's not how it works. These books aren't meant to be around forever. Although I suppose there's a chance that mine will be reprinted in a few years. In 2003, Love Inspired reprinted nine of their old titles, that I know of.)
But it's been a good run, and I'm deeply grateful to all of you who bought my book.
Within the next couple of weeks, I expect to announce another prize drawing. I know that will raise a few eyebrows, particularly among my author friends, so I'll just go ahead and answer the question that everyone's too polite to ask: Why is Brenda still promoting a title that has just gone out of print?
Elementary, my dears. I can't bear to think of any of my little books being orphaned. If you knew how much of my heart and soul went into writing Finding Hope, you'd understand why it's so important to me that every copy finds a loving home.
So whenever someone e-mails to say that she just unearthed "the last copy" in some dark corner of WalMart, I'll send up a cheer. And when someone says she's just picked one up at a garage sale or a flea market for 25 cents, I'll be thrilled. And as long as some online store, somewhere, still has a few dog-eared copies to sell, I'll be linking to their pages from my website.
February 8, 2004
As promised, I've kicked off a new prize drawing. Three winners will be chosen on April 3, so scoot over there and sign up.
Today I was interviewed for the website of what appears to be a wonderful used bookstore. (I'll give you a link two or three weeks from now, when they post the interview.) Knowing that the manuscript for the sequel to Finding Hope is currently sitting on the desk of my seriously overworked editor, a couple of sweethearts named Connie and Tina charmed me into revealing what I have not shared with anyone except my editor: what the story's about.
Many of you have been asking, but I wasn't ready to talk about it. But now that I've allowed the bookstore ladies to charm a teaser out of me, it seems only fair that I share it here:
Claire Baker is a perfectionist who believes true love can happen only once in a lifetime. And that's a problem, because she's wildly attracted to Tom Hartman, a widower who has already given the deepest and best part of himself to another woman.
When the fascinating, elusive Claire steadfastly refuses to date him, fun-loving Tom mounts a full-scale charm offensive. But feisty, all-or-nothing Claire has never settled for "second best" in her life, so she isn't about to risk her heart on a man who cherishes the memory of another woman.
Tom's lighthearted pursuit takes a serious turn as the two begin to realize their love for each other. While Tom finally understands Claire's reluctance to surrender her heart, he believes his patience and tenderness will win her over. But that faith is shaken when he's confronted with an obstacle he can't overcome: it appears that God Himself is pulling the couple apart....
Again, that story has not yet been sold. I won't know anything until my editor has a chance to read it.
Of course I'm working on another manuscript in the meantime. But I don't want to talk about that. I'm always afraid that if I discuss a WIP (that's writer-speak for "Work In Progress") it will lose some of its magic for me. That's why I don't have a critique partner and that's why I never brainstorm with other writers. Hammering out a story by committee doesn't appeal to me in the least. But that's one of the great things about writing romance: we're all free to pick and choose what works best for us.
February
27, 2004
If you just clicked "Most Recent Entry" and missed the photograph at the top of this page, I hope you'll take a few seconds right now to scroll up and check it out. I took the picture just this morning and was very pleased with the way it turned out.
Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed to ask if I've "heard anything" on my manuscript. No. But you're all sweethearts to be praying about that and wishing me well. I would suggest that if my editor calls and offers me a contract, nobody within the continental United States will have any trouble hearing me shout, "Yippee!"
They're hideously busy at the Steeple Hill offices right now. They're buying "women's fiction" manuscripts like crazy, and they're getting ready to launch a new line of romantic suspense. (Check the message boards at www.SteepleHill.com if you want to keep up with the latest on that.) So it could be another month before my editor gets back to me on the project I submitted to Love Inspired.
March 3,
2004
I am now an Award-Winning Author. Finding Hope has just won the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award - "Best Love Inspired of 2003."
How cool is that?
My husband is so proud, it's downright ridiculous. He just brought home flowers and chocolates.
Hey, next time you're in Independence, Missouri, be sure to stop by Dog Eared 1/2 Price Books and say hello to my new friends Connie and Tina, who have just posted an interview with me on their charming website. I think you'll agree that they asked a lot of fun and intelligent questions. It was actually more like a delightful kitchen-table chat than a stale old "What's it like to be an author?" kind of interview. You will find the interview here, but be sure to wander all over their content-rich website. And don't forget to check out their contest page, where you can enter several prize drawings, each for a different book. (Yep, my book's in there, too.)
March 12, 2004
I'll say this about the writing business--there's a surprise around every corner. Eight days ago I was thrilled to learn that I had won a Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award. But today I got some bad news: Steeple Hill is not interested in buying my sequel to Finding Hope.
I was aware that my editor wanted to see certain changes in the manuscript, and I bent as far as I could without compromising my vision for the story. But she's still not satisfied with it.
Where will I go from here? I just got this news a couple of hours ago, so I haven't made any decisions yet. But I'll probably start shopping for a literary agent. Someone who will do the legwork and find a loving home for this story. (Note to aspiring authors: This is not a business for wimps!)
In the meantime, I'm halfway through another story, so my mind is mostly occupied with that. I'll keep writing, and if you want to know how it's going, just watch this page for updates.
April 23,
2004
I got some great news yesterday: Finding Hope is up for a national writing award called the HOLT Medallion.
Yes, my book has finaled in the Short Inspirational Category of the HOLT Medallion Contest, which is judged by published romance authors. The winners will be announced this time next month.
As some of you may have noticed, I failed to make a splash in Romance Writers of America's RITA Contest, the grandmommy of all romance-writing contests. They recently announced four finalists in my category, and unless they got both my name and my book's name horribly wrong, I was not on the list.
But, hey--I'm still calling myself an Award-Winning Romance Author. Thanks again, Romantic Times!
I'll have to wait a while longer for news on the two other contests I entered. I believe finalists for both the National Readers' Choice Awards and the Booksellers' Best Awards will be announced in June. So that's all the contest news I have for now.
For those of you who are wondering about my Work-in-Progress, I had hoped to finish this manuscript by May 1. But I don't see that happening now, because I've had spring fever for the past two weeks. I keep drifting out to the garden to admire my pink dogwood blossoms and pick armloads of daffodils. And the lilacs are on their way!
All right. I need to buckle down and get some serious work done on this WIP. There is a slim possibility that nagging might motivate me, so if any of you are particularly gifted in that area, go ahead and zap me an e-mail.
May 23, 2004
Finding Hope has been awarded one of the coveted HOLT Medallions!
The "Short Inspirational" category is always a tough field, so I was more than thrilled to be named a finalist. But did I actually win a HOLT Medallion? Somebody pinch me!
Finalists have been announced for the other two contests I entered, Booksellers' Best and the National Readers' Choice Awards, but my book wasn't on either of those lists. It's a little difficult to be disappointed, though, when I've won a HOLT Medallion and an RT Reveiwers' Choice Award with just one book. I'm grinning, can you tell?
If you've read the last several entries in this diary, you might be amazed at how widely the pendulum has been swinging between triumph and disappointment for this beginning romance writer. But believe me, I am not unique. I've talked with enough writers to know there are no plains in this business--it's all mountain peaks and valleys. This is a fiercely competetive industry, so my winning two Big Deal Awards with my very first book does not mean my editor will buy the manuscript I'll be sending her about two weeks from now.
But I'll keep writing,
because I don't know how to quit, and sooner or later I'll hit her with
a project she'll get excited about.
August 26, 2004
Bless your hearts, several of you have e-mailed to nag me (very sweetly, of course) about updating this diary. Yeah, I've been out of touch for a while. Sorry.
At the tail end of July I attended the national conference of Romance Writers of America, which was held in Dallas this year. I met with my editors and writer friends, learned lots about the industry, and came away encouraged and inspired. After the conference, my family met me in Dallas and we spent another two weeks in Texas. Home at last, I'm now buried under conference notes, mail and e-mail, and when I needed clean clothes this morning I opened my suitcase, which I still haven't finished unpacking. This morning I went out into the garden to write a little, just kicking around some ideas for a new story. But I didn't get much done because every time I looked up from the computer screen I was reminded of all the garden chores waiting for me....
And speaking of waiting, I'm eager to hear what my editor thinks of the manuscript I sent her last month. But it generally takes about two months for her to read and evaluate a project from one of her authors, so I'm really not expecting to hear anything for a while.
Some of you have asked about my agent
search. I'm a little ashamed to report that I've been dragging my
feet on that (and so many other things!) but I expect to look into it very
soon.
November 27, 2004
When my 22-year-old son called from Chicago a couple
of weeks ago and nagged me to stop neglecting this diary and update
my website, I told him I felt like a slug because so many of you nice
people have e-mailed to ask the same thing. Mary
Proctor really
ratcheted up my feelings of guilt by writing:
Where are you, Brenda? And what's the latest on your new books? Who's publishing 'em and when are they available? I've recently reread your web site in the hopes that your marvy sense of humor and honesty can tide me over until I can buy something you've written. (I've read Finding Hope so many times I could probably quote it, and I'm hungering for your new stuff.)
Mary went on to express her hope that her message would stir me to update my website. And it did.
Hey, I'm sorry for keeping you all in the dark, but I've got excuses. I've been busy. I've been sick. Really sick. Try having bronchitis for two months and see if you feel like updating an online diary. But never mind. I'm back now, and I'm feeling chatty today.
Mary's not the only one who has asked whether I'm still writing. I generally answer that question by saying that I am always writing. But what you all really want to know is whether I've sold anything lately. Right?
Well, I'm close. My editor really likes the manuscript I sent her this past summer, but she wants to see a few changes before she shows it to the senior editor at Steeple Hill Books. After that (I hope, I hope), she will call me and offer a contract. I expect to have these changes for her in a couple of weeks, but hey--it's Christmastime, so it could take as long as a month.
To answer another question I keep hearing; no, I haven't signed with an agent. The stark truth is that I haven't even begun to look for one. Maybe I should just give up and admit that I really don't want an agent. At least, not right now. And I might not need one, anyway.
Steeple Hill Books is unusual in that they will accept submissions directly from authors. I'd rather just write stories and send them to Steeple Hill and then--Lord willing--negotiate my own contracts. It's just simpler that way. But if they don't want to buy my stuff, I'll have to approach other Christian publishers. And since none of them will look at unagented material....
But I'm not going to think about that right now. As I said, I'm working on revisions to my last story.
Mostly. Before I got my editor's revision letter, I was more than halfway through another manuscript. This one has lots of humor, so I was having a ball with it before I had to set it aside to work on revisions to the other story. But yesterday I caught myself sneaking it out again, to sharpen up one of the funny scenes. And that should answer those of you who have asked whether I ever work on more than one story at a time.
I'll let you
know when I finish these revisions and send them off. In the
meantime, I wish you all a safe and joyful Christmas season.
December 18, 2004
Reporting in, as promised: The other day I sent
off the revised manuscript I've been working on. Now the waiting
begins all over again. My editor will read the
revised story and then she'll drop the manuscript on
the senior editor's desk for a final decision. That could
take a month or more, and with holiday vacation schedules, who knows?
I think it's a great story. Hope you all get to read it someday.
After Christmas
I'll get back to work on the half-finished story I put aside when my
editor asked for these revisions. In the meantime, I still have some
shopping and baking to do. Merry Christmas, everyone!
January 14, 2004
Yesterday my editor e-mailed to say she was
"thrilled" with the revised manuscript I sent her a month ago. She's
passing it up to the senior editor with a recommendation to buy. I'm
very pleased, but this could mean another month of waiting....
Have you visited my blog yet? I started it the day after Christmas and am having a ball writing about writing and reading and life in general. Stop by and leave a comment.
And by the way,
I plan to continue posting my writing and publishing milestones on this
page.
February 9, 2005
Yippee! My editor
called yesterday and we negotiated a contract. Yep, they bought my
story. As I told my friends on the Steeple Hill Authors' e-mail
loop, I'm no longer a one-book wonder.
If you've followed this diary from the beginning, you may remember that they did not ask for revisions on my first sale. This time they want a couple of changes. (Yes, more changes.) My editor will write up a formal revision letter and send it to me, but the clock's already ticking; I'm supposed to have the complete revised manuscript back to her by May 2. I should be finished way, way before then, but when she asked how much time I needed I padded it with a few extra weeks in case something unexpected comes up. (Something unexpected always comes up, and it's very bad form for an author to miss a deadline.)
I'd tell you what the story's about, but no kidding -- at this point I don't remember it very well. Within the next two or three days I will sit down with my copy of the manuscript and read it "cold", noting the things that need to be changed. And I'll give you some story details at a later date.
The tricky thing is that I was happily ensconced in another story. That will have to be tabled for now, but by the time I get back to it, maybe I'll see faults that I'm blind to right now.
I'm still
blogging like mad, and loving it.
It's great writing practice, forcing myself to write an essay about
something new every morning, six days a week. As I said last month,
I'll continue to report on my publishing milestones on this page --
the blog is more about reading, writing, and life in
general.
February 24, 2005
My
contract arrived last week. I reviewed it, signed it, and put it back in
the mail today. Now comes the good part -- they'll send me an advance
check. The book won't be out until next year, and it will be quite some
time before royalties come rolling in, so advances are nice.
And my book is "in production" now. It's still not titled and no release date is set, but this week I completed the "Art Fact Sheets", or AFS, and sent them to my editor. She'll review them and then send them to the art department so they can get started on a cover concept.
I had to fill out about six pages, giving detailed descriptions of my characters' physical appearances, favorite clothing, and so on, and then I had to come up with three suggested scenes for the cover. I have no assurance that the artsy people will use any of my ideas, but they did for Finding Hope, so the AFS is something I take very seriously. Still, it was a bit of a headache, and I'm glad to have that project off my desk. Now I can go back to working on the revisions.
March 11, 2005
I've been exchanging e-mails with
my editor regarding the title of the new book. I didn't really
have any great ideas and I guess she didn't, either. But she met this
afternoon with the senior editor and others on the team and together
they hammered out a title: A Family Forever.
She e-mailed
again to ask how I felt about that. I told her I liked it just
fine. It's very simple, and since the heroine is pregnant, the
"family" part fits.
Scores of you have e-mailed to ask what the
story's about. Here's a "teaser" for you:
When her fiancé is killed just three weeks before their wedding, violinist Shelby Franklin's "happily ever after" dreams are shattered. Then she discovers she's pregnant.
Bike shop owner and semi-pro cyclist Tucker Sharpe promised his dying brother he'd look after Shelby. When he learns there's a baby on the way, Tucker persuades Shelby to marry him. He's certain that if they're honest and faithful, God will bless their marriage and teach them to love each other. But just as he and Shelby begin to grow close, their faith is tested in a way they never expected.
Now Shelby's painful past is catching up to her. Ravaged by guilt and grief, convinced that God doesn't even hear her prayers, she's falling apart almost as fast as Tucker is falling in love. Can Tucker's stubborn devotion bring her back from the edge of despair and help her see that God is not indifferent to her suffering?
There. That'll have to hold you for a while. ;-)
My editor
and I also discussed the cover concept today. She
e-mailed a wonderful photograph she'd found online and asked what I
thought. Pictured was a man with his hand over a pregnant
woman's abdomen and her hand covering his. The couple's faces aren't
shown, and that emphasizes the tenderness and the wonder of the scene
-- you focus on those hands and on what's inside that rounded
belly. "Quite marvelous", my editor said of the photograph, and I had
to agree.
She said she'd send it on to the art department, but all
she and I can do is make suggestions.
I
can't wait to see how it turns out.
April 2,
2005
Two weeks ago I received the first half of my
advance money for A Family Forever. I'll get the rest after I
deliver the completed manuscript. I'm slightly ahead of schedule on
that, and expect to mail the revised manuscript to my editor around the
middle of this month.
I learned yesterday that the book is
scheduled for release in March 2006. (Yes, I told some of you it
would be May, but my editor e-mailed yesterday and said it had been moved
up.) The March release means you'll see the book in stores beginning
the last week of February -- eleven months from now.
"My editor seemed to think I'd be thrilled that they moved the
release up two months," I told my husband over dinner last night. "But
it doesn't mater to me, either way. It's still a long time to wait. Hey,
I could get pregnant and have a baby before that book comes
out."
He turned a little pale. "No," he said
shortly. "You could not."
All right, I didn't mean it. I was
just saying. Sheesh. Some men have no sense of
humor....
Those of you who are super-organized can go ahead and mark your calendars
now. The rest of you, don't worry -- I'll remind you when the book's
about to come out. And, hey, if you're not on my newsletter list,
send a BLANK e-mail
here to sign up. (Don't let the
"Googlegroups" address scare you. This will not set you up with a
Google account, and I'm the only person who will ever have access to your
e-mail address.)
April 28,
2005
Well, it's finished! I mailed the complete manuscript to
my editor yesterday morning, getting it in just under the wire of my May 1
deadline. I never thought it would take so long to finish, but I
just couldn't let this story go until it was as perfect as I could make
it.
I am very, very
satisfied now. Finding
Hope will always be my favorite because it was my first book, but I
believe A Family Forever is actually a better
novel. And while it contains plenty of the humor you all seem to
enjoy so much, it is a deeply emotional story that I shed quite a few
tears over. It was extremely difficult to write, and I don't mind telling
you that I need a break now.
I'm planning to relax for a few weeks
before I pick up where I left off on that other project--which was
somewhere around the halfway mark. Lord willing, I'll do a bit of
gardening, some travelling (Washington D.C. next week and Chicago a couple
of weeks later), and I'll probably spiff up this website a little. Oh, and
I'll clean my office. It's a wreck, with piles of papers to be dealt with
and then filed.
The night I finished work on
this manuscript the Lord gave me a lovely gift. I wrote about it on this page of my blog.
June 28, 2005
This morning my sister e-mailed to nag me about updating
this page. Can you believe she has the nerve to nag me after I
told her I dedicated A Family Forever to her? Honestly.
Some people....
All right, she might have a point. It has
been a while.
Earlier this month I got the second half of my
advance for A Family Forever. That was my reward for turning in
the completed manuscript. I know some of you are curious about the way
this works, so I'll explain that a book advance is just like an advance on
a kid's allowance, which means I'll have to pay it back to my publisher
when the royalties come rolling in. But that won't be for a while yet. I
won't see my first royalty check until October 2006. That's when the
publisher will deduct my advance and send me the rest of the money the
book has earned for me during that first royalty period.
In other
news, my busy editor e-mailed a couple of weeks ago to say that the
line-edits for A Family Forever will be handled by the sweetheart
who first showed an interest in the book that became Finding Hope
and who did most of the editing on that project--she even thought up that
great title. It will be a pleasure to work with Jessica again. I
should hear from her sometime within the next month because they generally
start on line-edits about six months before a book's release
date.
Jessica will begin the line-editing by reading through
the manuscript to make sure it flows well and makes good sense. She'll let
me know if a chapter ending ought to be strengthened or if a bit of
dialogue is not revealing character or moving the story along. And
because the manuscript I turned in was a little on the long
side, Jessica will be looking for places to tighten things
up.
When the line-edits are finished, the manuscript will go to a
copyeditor. That individual will make sure the hero's eyes aren't blue on
page 5 and then brown on page 207. She will also flag grammatical or
spelling errors. And she'll be on the lookout for timeline goofs:
like the heroine being eight weeks pregnant in one chapter and only six
weeks along a couple of chapters later.
I'll tell you more about the editing process as we go
along. Right now, there's another story on my mind: I have just finished a
very good first draft of my current project. I gave it
a complete read-through and liked it a lot. Now I'm eager to get
started editing and polishing. I believe I have about a month's worth of
work ahead of me, but I'll be heading to the Romance Writers of America
conference in Reno at the end of next month, so I don't expect to send
this manuscript to my editor until after the first of August. We'll see
how that goes.
July 6, 2005
Almost as soon
as I finished writing that last entry, my editor e-mailed to say the
line-edited manuscript was on its way to me. This is a bit earlier than I
was expecting it, so I've been caught with a lot of other work
on my desk. Instead of diving into these 300 pages to make the
changes and clarifications my editor has asked for, I'm slowly chipping
away at the project. I hope to give it a good hard push tomorrow or the
next day and finish, then I'll probably let it sit for a day before I do a
final read-through. The manuscript has to be back on my editor's desk
by July 14 or it could cause a production slowdown.
I take
these deadlines very seriously. It seems to take forever to produce one of
these books, but I know my editor and her coworkers are putting together
not just my book but several others scheduled for release in March '06.
Also, there are a lot of different fingers in this little pie of
mine. A Family Forever has now been read by my editor, her
boss, the line editor, and a copyeditor. After I finish reviewing
these edits, my editor will give the manuscript another read-through as
she inputs my changes. And sometime after that I'll get to read the
galleys and make sure there are no errors. As you can imagine, after going
through all these steps an author has just about memorized her
book!
While all this furious editing is happening, the
art department is wrapping up work on my cover. I haven't heard anything
about that, but am still half expecting them to feature a pregnant woman.
That wouldn't be my choice (I don't like to see people on book covers),
but if the marketing folks think it will sell more books, I'm not
going to argue.
Right about now my editor should be choosing an
excerpt to put on the "teaser" page in the front of the book. I'll be
interested to see which passage she thinks is the most likely to "hook"
readers. Another thing she's working on is the back cover copy, usually
the first thing a book browser looks at, after the front cover. I'll have
no input on that.
I hope
some of you find this interesting. I'd better get back to work
now.
August 23,
2005
I'm still working hard
to finish a manuscript that I've had to set aside time and time again
during the last several months. After the Romance Writers of America
conference in Reno, I got stranded for two days in Denver (long story) and
arrived at home jet-lagged and behind on everything. We had a
houseguest that weekend and then more guests just a week later. Our elder
son will be home for a visit this weekend, and then we'll be
gearing up for two more sets of houseguests in September. As
delightful as it is to see our loved ones, it interrupts my schedule. It's
not just hours that are lost, but my ability to focus on the
story at hand. Sometimes when I've been yanked out of that groove it's
very difficult to find my place again.
True, the only deadline I'm
scurrying to meet is the one in my own head, but very soon I'll be seeing
the "AA" copy (similar to galleys) of A Family Forever,
and I'll want to give that my full attention. I'd like to have this
new manuscript on my editor's desk before the end of
September so I can update my website and catch up on some paperwork
and other things before the AAs arrive. After that I'll make some plans
for publicizing the new book and then I'll take a little break before
starting on a brand-new story.
Many of you have e-mailed to
say that you're praying for me, and I just can't tell you how much I
appreciate that.
November 27, 2005
It took
much longer than I expected to finish this last manuscript, but I'm
extremely pleased with it and believe my editor will like it, as well. I
mailed it to New York a couple of weeks ago, but I don't expect to hear
anything until after Christmas.
The AAs for A Family
Forever were finished a couple of months ago, and I got
permission to post the cover image and a long excerpt from Chapter One on my website. The book won't be in stores
until February 28, but it can be preordered right now from Amazon.com. Those of you who receive the Love
Inspired books by mail each month should get your copies
sometime before Valentine's Day.
Currently, I have no writing projects going. I'm
planning to spend the next few weeks relaxing, sorting and filing papers
in my office, preparing for Christmas, and revamping this website. My plan
is to hold off starting a new novel until after Christmas, but I'm not
sure I'm going to be able to stick to that. I'm itchin' to
write!
January 12, 2006
I didn't realize
the Love Inspired bookclub mailings were now going out two
months before the books' store release dates, so I was surprised when I
began receiving e-mails more than a week ago from people who have already
read my new book. (If you're a book club subscriber and didn't
receive it, that's because you're signed up to get just three
books a month and not all four.) The funny thing is that I don't yet
have my copies of the book. How fair is
that?
;-)
I heard from my editor recently; she wants to see some
revisions on the manuscript I sent her a couple of months ago. I wrote
about that at some length on
this page of my
blog, so I won't repeat
everything here. But yes, I'll be working on revisions for the next month
or so.
Today I got an advance look at the review that will be
printed in Romantic Times BOOKclub, which won't go out to
subscribers until the end of this month (and won't be available in stores
until a couple of weeks after that). Here's the scoop: Just like my
first book, A Family Forever has snagged a rating of 4-1/2
Stars and is a "Top Pick" for March. Woo-hoo!
Here's
the quote I'm splashing all over my blog and my
website:
A Family
Forever is a superbly written and heartfelt story. Brenda
Coulter brings to light real-life faith struggles and God’s healing
grace.
I like this book a lot. I hope all of you
are looking forward to reading it.
January 24,
2007
I can hardly believe it's been a whole year since I
posted an entry on this page, but my online time is limited, and I
spend most of it on my blog. To catch up:
Remember
the manuscript I mentioned a couple of entries back? My editor
asked for some revisions; I made them and logged my third sale to
Steeple Hill Books. A Season of Forgiveness will be an
October 2007 release (available at the end of September, although book
club members will probably get their copies in early August). I expect to
see the line- and copyedited manuscript in another month or
so.
A Season of Forgiveness is an "opposites attract"
story about a worrywart college archivist who falls in
love with her worst nightmare, a world-traveling adventurer and exteme
sportsman. It's set in Chicago, with several scenes taking place at a
heli-skiing resort in British Columbia. My favorite scene is a funny
one in which a man who wants to marry
the heroine challenges the book's hero to a risky "duel" on
skis.
I had more input on cover design this time around, so I
can't wait to see what the artist comes up with. I know it will be a
college campus scene picturing a domed library building, a frozen
pond, and a willow tree in the snow--all of which figure prominently in
the story.
Closer to publication time, I'll post a big chunk
of the first chapter here on the website.
At the end of
July I attended the Romance Writers America conference, which
was held in Atlanta this year. Chatted with a lot of my writer-pals,
signed some books, and stayed up way, way too late every
night.
At the end of October I traveled with my husband to southern
Minnesota to research the setting for the story I'm working on right
now. No, I'm not ready to say any more than that.
;-)
March 28, 2007
It's contest
season, and I've entered my second book, A Family Forever, in the
four biggies: The RITA, The HOLT Medallion, Booksellers Best, and National
Readers Choice. The first to announce finalists was the Grandmommy of
all romance-writing contests, Romance Writers of America's RITA
Awards--and guess whose book snagged a nomination for best
Inspirational romance of 2006? I was stunned to tears when the contest
organizers phoned me on Sunday afternoon to give me the news. A Family
Forever will now head into the final round of judging. The
contest winners (in 11 categories) will be announced at a gala evening at
the end of the annual RWA conference, which will be held in Dallas
this July.
In other news, I learned last week that A Family
Forever will be released in large-print hardcover by Thorndike Press.
No date on that yet, although I expect the book to be available within the
next few months. If any of you want a big honkin' hardcover for your
keeper shelf or to give as a gift, the book will sell for somewhere around
$28.00 and will be available in many bookstores. If you can't find it, you
can always ask your bookstore to order it--or you can just order a copy
from Amazon or one of the other online stores. If you'd like to be
notified when the book is available, be sure you're on my newsletter
list. (To join the list, send a blank e-mail to Brenda-Coulter-subscribe@googlegroups.com.)
My
nice surprise for today was a peek at the cover for my upcoming book,
A Season of Forgiveness, which will be out this fall. Again, if
you want a reminder of that release date, sign up for the newsletter.
Subscribers will also have lots of chances to win free autographied copies
of the book.
Sometime in April, I'll see the "AAs" (galleys)
for A Season of Forgiveness. Soon afterwards, I'll post the cover image and most of
the first chapter here on the website. But if you're really itchin' to
see those, sign up for my newsletter. Subscribers will get the first
look.
May 31, 2007
All work on A
Season of Forgiveness has been wrapped up. I have just posted the
cover image and a long excerpt on this page. And here's a surprise: I've created
a "book trailer" that will hopefully interest people in buying the book.
You can view it here. If you like it, why not
leave a comment or send the link to a friend?
In my last
diary entry, I mentioned the contests I had entered A Family
Forever in. I forgot one, and I was informed the other day that
my book is a finalist in the Inspirational Readers' Choice Contest,
commonly known as the IRCC. The IRCC winners will be announced at a
luncheon held during the Romance Writers of America conference
in mid-July.
Those of you who have been cheering me on in my
writing endeavors will be happy to know that last week, I sold my fourth
book to Steeple Hill. Out of the blue, my editor phoned and asked me
to write Book Three of a continuity series that will be out the second
half of 2008. It's an honor to be asked to do a continuity series,
but I never thought I would enjoy writing "to order." I agreed to
consider the offer, however, and soon found that the story my editor
wants me to write is one that appeals to me on every level--so I accepted
the contract.
I may never do this again, because as my editor
knows, I like working alone. I prefer to turn in complete
manuscripts rather than book proposals, and I don't like tight
deadlines. This contract will involve not only turning in a proposal by
early July, but working closely with five other authors to hammer out
the characters and settings that will appear in all of our books. (While
each of the six books in the continuity will contain a complete love
story, the characters in my book will be making cameos in the other
authors' books--and the other authors' characters will show up in
my book.) It will be a creative challenge for me, but by the time
this book's finished, I'm sure I'll be happy to get back to my own way of
writing.
If you haven't figured it out yet, taking on this project
means I'll have to temporarily put aside the (uncontracted) Minnesota
story I've been working on. But I'll pick that up again in the fall, as
the complete manuscript for my continuity book will be due in
mid-September. Yes, that's a lot faster than I like to write; and that's
another reason why I don't expect to be standing in line the next
time my editor passes out continuity series assignments!
Most Recent Entry:
(To view earlier
entries, go to the top of this page. To read my "first sale" story and the beginning of this diary, click here.)
August 1, 2008
Beginning today,
At His Command is available as a downloadable e-book from this
page at eHarlequin.com. (The other e-book retailers--like
Ereader.com--are listing it, but can't offer downloads until
September 1.) For those of you who prefer paperbacks, At His
Command will be on store shelves beginning August 26, so don't
forget to mark your calendar. (Members of Love Inspired's book club have
already received their copies and have been sending me some very sweet
e-mails.)
While At His Command is part of a six-author
Love Inspired series called "Homecoming Heroes," it can be read as a
stand-alone novel. Please let me know if you like it.
About that
Minnesota book. I'm still working on it. I expected to send it
to my editor months ago, but I've been tweaking the first four chapters
because I just haven't been able to get them right. I'm not giving up,
though, because I love the story. My sister says I don't write fast
enough, but slapping books together would not satisfy me--and I don't
think it would satisfy many of my readers, either.
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Brenda Coulter, Inspirational Romance
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