What I'm reading: Almost Like Being in Love, by Christina Dodd
Thanks to Rosemary Harris for being my guest yesterday. My editor received my revised manuscript and is working on it. With that off my plate, I'd planned on jumping back into my new WIP, but the hubster and I went all the way down the mountain and spent copious amounts of money on new everythings for the house.
Eventually, they assure us, they'll actually be delivered and then our contractor will start installing stuff. Today it's supposed to be a water softening system, so that our new appliances won't get all gunked up with mineral deposits. And, living up here, one learns to consolidate trips, so we made at least half a dozen stops (ok, one was lunch) trying to take care of everything in one day. We did, but it was a LONG day.
On another front: I've just hooked up with a group of other Five Star Expressions authors in a new blogging venture. It's still very loosely organized, but today's my day to post there. Some of you might be aware that I hold job interviews for my characters, but if you haven't read what transpired when Frankie Castor auditioned for the female lead in WHEN DANGER CALLS, why don't you pop over to Author Expressions. You know the drill. I'll be waiting.
Right now, we blog on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I'd love to see some of you there.
What I'm reading: The Summer Hideaway, by Susan Wiggs.
What makes you pick up a book? For many, it's the cover. For others, it's the teaser on the back cover. One of the required tasks of Five Star is to complete a multi-page "Ancillary Materials" form. This includes things like author bio, complete synopsis to be used by the art department for cover design, "catalog copy" which they will include in their promotion to libraries, front and back cover flap copy (these are hard cover books with dust jackets) and so on. Another section is the excerpt, which goes on the back cover.
There are a couple of rules for the excerpt. 1: No more than 175 words. 2: It has to be lifted directly from the book. No editing.
It's been a while since I looked at this manuscript, but I had to revisit it to work on the forms. I'm humbly requesting your help here. Heck, I'm groveling!
I've narrowed it down to 4 possibilities. If you'll indulge me and read them, then take the poll (link after the last excerpt) to let me know which you prefer (if any), I'd really, really appreciate it. And if you'd send your friends over, I'd really, really, REALLY appreciate it.
#1 She'd barely managed to shut off the computer and grab her jump drive when she heard voices in the hall. Something about a date. God, with the kazillion bedrooms in this mansion, why would someone sneak in here for a quickie?
"You sure?" another voice whispered.
Even in a whisper, there was no mistaking the gender of the second voice. Male, like the first. Miri closed her eyes and magnified her prayers tenfold. She did not want to think about what might go on while she pretended to be invisible.
Blood drummed in her ears. Footsteps approached. Too late, she realized that when she'd ducked for cover, she'd gone in headfirst, which meant that her butt would be the first thing anyone saw if they checked under the desk. She squished herself into as tiny a package as she could, silently cursing the short skirt the caterer demanded its female staff wear. She wasn't exactly displaying her greatest asset.
Oh God, a warm hand touched that asset. She jerked away.
Yesterday Five Star sent me the first peek at the cover for my December release, When Danger Calls.
Despite a signed contract, three rounds of edits and getting cover quotes from authors, the book doesn't seem real until there's a cover. No matter that I don't have page proofs yet, or ARCs. Once there's a cover, it's a BOOK!
My first impression? It's BLUE. But I think it says "action adventure" more than "romance", which I like. And they spelled my name right.
Eventually, they assure us, they'll actually be delivered and then our contractor will start installing stuff. Today it's supposed to be a water softening system, so that our new appliances won't get all gunked up with mineral deposits. And, living up here, one learns to consolidate trips, so we made at least half a dozen stops (ok, one was lunch) trying to take care of everything in one day. We did, but it was a LONG day.
