What a great time I had last night. Went out for dinner and drinks with some friends from work and had a blast. It’s not something that I get to do very often, so when I do, I really enjoy it.  It’s kind of like a stress reliever.  It’s been a bad few weeks at work, and I really needed the break.  The night was full of good times and lots of laughs. But, the best part of the whole evening was, I didn’t have to pay a thing. The check was picked up by an expense account for the company. Hooray! Considering I’m broke, that was a good thing.

There are not a lot of ways to relieve stress that are free. At least, not a lot that I haven’t tried. Of course there’s always exercising, listening to music, and reading. Those are all great, but every once in a while, you need something that you don’t get to do all the time. Something different.

Being writers, we all know what it’s like to be overworked and stressed out. Most of us have full time jobs to pay the bills, not to mention taking care of our families, while we’re trying to make it as writers.  Let’s face it, writing is not a get rich quick scheme. One in a million may get lucky enough to make the big bucks on their first book, but that’s a rare exception. For the rest of us, we have to work hard at it, over and over again, just hoping for that big break.

So, next to winning the lottery, we have to find ways to relax that are cheap and easy. Even going to the movies these days are expensive, especially if you want some popcorn and a soda. So, tell me, what do you do to relax? Any ideas for a good, cheap time? Share some of your thoughts with me. I’d love some new ideas, because the free dinner and drinks is a rare treat.

It’s a tenet of society that the customer is always right. As a customer, yeah, I’d like to believe that and be heard and listened to. When I say cut my hair this way, my words may not match the style you have in mind, but I try to explain what I want. I’d like my steak a certain way, and rare is rare, medium is medium…something pretty specific and definite, not a vague request. But as a public servant, there are some things that are as they are for a reason. No amount of client desire will alter rules, regulations or laws.

I had a customer today asking me to break the rules. I can’t do that. I just can’t. “But no one will know, just do it.” No amount of reasoning penetrated her petulant mind. She was so unhappy from the moment she entered the facility, for the whole 2.5 hours I spent with her as a new client and preparing her for what we do that she ultimately declined because the professional that administers this service determined what would meet her needs, yet she disagreed. I wanted to ask her when she became licensed/certified in the same criteria that qualified said practitioner. The fallout from her visit involved me being on the phone for over an hour. This is a client we, sadly, can afford to lose.

Thank God reading caters to so many varied tastes.  No matter the customer, there is a novel for them. Have it your way. In a book.  This is important. It’s fantastic there is such an audience. That doesn’t mean there is a built in clientele for me, but my chances are lookin’ pretty good.

My name is Leigh Royals, I will be your author today. How may I serve you?

I know, I know. An odd title to a writer’s blog. But I have a point. I promise.

According to Wikipedia, “an algorithm is an effective method for solving a problem using a finite sequence of instructions. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and many other fields.”

I’m going to take a leap of faith and include writing into ‘other fields.’

But I never really had a formula beyond boy meets girl, girl hates boy, boy does stupid stuff and gets girl to like him. They fall in love, yadda yadda…

Furthering my frustration, I seem to edit as I go which slows me down. I make the excuse that  it helps me move forward because I want to fix things now to be more smooth in the long run. How’s that workin’ for ya…Not at all.

When there is disorder in life, make order. I’ve made a plan. Just write. Write as if there were no tomorrow. Get out of your own way. (A side note, my 4th grader is having to write fictional narratives for class. I gave him this same advice. I’m a genius, I tell ya.)

There exists more to the formula than writing alone. There is editing. Besides editing as I wrote, I did a slip-shod job of it. By only re-reading or having a critique partner give me a few pointers. Man, was I blind! I am in the process of an editing workshop and what I am learning is so simple, so basic, but I wasn’t practicing it. Most of it is refresher english basics. But years and years of bad habits are hard to break.

The reason I liken writing to a formula and call the plan an Algorithm (which looks spelled wrong, but it isn’t, honest.) is because in my day-time, paying job I use algorithms. If a then b. If c then d or e. It literally is a science. A specific recipe to use given a scenario. So why can’t it apply to writing?

Emphasis on apply. Because it works, but only if you use it.

What’s your algorithm?

Recently I have come to a startling conclusion. It’s something I am actually rather ashamed to admit … my conclusion is even more shaming.

In short, I suck at writing.

Well, okay, I sucked at writing two years ago and that suckage continued until I’d say last spring where I began having moments of decent to great writing.  But now looking at the books I would like to get published, I feel deflated and back at a level of naïve suckage.

What do you do when you’ve spent three years working so hard to perfect your craft… when you’ve spent three years perfecting your stories, editing, getting them ready for publication… and then go back to begin finalizing them for agents and editors and realize… ALL but two (soon to be three) need major rewrites?

I’m literally in pain thinking of the massive amount of work I would have to do to bring these books up to snuff and to my current writing abilities.

One book in particular is sending me into fits of anxiety. The book, called the Protectors, was one of my first attempts at a full-length novel. I worked diligently on this with a mentor in 2008 and I have received so much great feedback from beta readers that I think I could hit it big with this book.

Then comes my first competition… total flop. I think I scored second to last with one reader giving me a great score of 88 with tons of praise and the others giving me the lowest possible scores. One lady didn’t even finish, she just blasted me about my lack of commas.

So I revised and sent it to some more readers. More great feedback.

Now I’m finalizing it for submission to a publisher and taking a final read through. OMG. I’ve grown so much since then. I would never write the ending as I did. There’s just so much more I would do with it now.

But I’m done with the book. I just cannot be motivated to do anymore rewrites unless someone imposed a deadline and said – We’ll publish if you fix this. I really just can’t get the energy up for it.

That leaves me with a choice— do I go ahead and submit something that I’m dissatisfied with but that I really feel readers will love…. Or do I throw in the towel and keep the book in the bottom drawer and just move on???

It’s so hard to think that I have three books, completed, submission ready… all I have to do is hit the send button until I’m rejected out of the market or I get accepted… and I’m  holding back because I’m caught — do I just go for publication or do I only try with my best work?????? 

UGH…. This is painful. More painful than the rejection I received last week saying my heroine’s humor was uneven and my story couldn’t decide if it was romance or erotica (I’m still not sure how I can fix either of those issues).

 Oh, I think I’m getting a migraine.

 Anyone else have this problem?

Recently I released a new short connected to my growing Dareville series, called Handle with Dare. This is the first het erotic story I have produced in a long while, which doesn’t feature a menage or other combo, anyway. What’s significant about this story is that it is an older women/young man scenario. Call it a cougar story if you wish, or a MILF romance, but at the heart of the tale is a woman in middle age who reclaims her sexuality and discovers her identity stands well on its own.

There were are number of reasons for my writing the short. Actually, I had intended for Handle to be submitted to an anthology of erotic fiction about over-40 women, but I missed the deadline. For two, the main character in this short has appeared in other Dareville novels, and if you’re familiar with them you know she hasn’t come off as entirely pleasant. I wanted to redeem her, if you will, and show she’s not really a villain, just somebody worn down by life who needs a recharge. She gets it here!

Also, I wanted to test the market for “cougar” stories. Of the genres I write, the erotic M/M is by far the best selling, with the Dareville world second. As a staff person for an ePub, I have access to sale reports of similar stories, but have not seen skyrocketing sales in the over-40 heroine genre. The best performer of the ones the house has is also an interracial (BW/WM), which is a top genre – so that skews the results a tad.

I do find it interesting, since I know a number of authors over 40 who write romance and erotica, yet their characters are either much younger or the age is blurred somewhat in the narrative. I know one author in particular who strictly writes over-40, and at times over-50 heroines, and says she sells like mad. Granted, her work is heavily sensual but not erotic, so I wonder why it is that the older the woman gets, and the younger the man gets, the more reluctant readers are to buy it.

I hope I can be proved wrong on this point. I’m close to 40 myself and I need role models. So what I would like to know from readers, particularly of erotic and romantic fiction:

• Would you read a novel about an older woman and younger man?
• What is the age, if you prefer one? Fifty? Older? Does it matter?
• Does the gap in age between the couple matter?

I’m interested in what you think. Thanks!

How many people have made New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, or quit smoking, or any other improve myself goals? We’ve all done it. At least, I know, I have.  And, for me, it always turns out the same way. I give up a few weeks into it. I have plenty of excuses. I don’t have enough time, I’ll start over tomorrow. I rarely make it into February. I’d say the main reason is, too much pain. I start exercising and my muscles hurt. Really, really hurt.

You know the saying, “No pain, no gain.”  Well, it must be true. I’ve never found any other way to lose weight that wasn’t painful.

The same thing goes for writing. “No pain, no gain.” What does that mean exactly? Simple, make your characters suffer. Put them through pain, misery, heartache. This can be very difficult for some writers to do, especially new writers. We like our characters, otherwise, we wouldn’t want to write about them. After all, we don’t want to hurt people we like, right?

But, you have to do it. It’s for their own good. It’s what helps them to grow, and eventually leads to a happy ending. If there was nothing causing them difficulty, they wouldn’t have any reason to change. And, let’s face it, they always need to change. There wouldn’t be a story otherwise.  The story is about the struggle, the challenges they face. Who would want to read a story about someone living their everyday lives? Nothing new happening, same thing day after day. That would have to be the most boring story in the world.

People read for entertainment. They want to enjoy themselves. They want to get lost in the story, not be bored to death. So, that’s what we try to give them, an exciting read. And with that, comes the pain our characters face, whether internal or external. Many times both.

So, if you haven’t laid some hurt on your characters, now’s the time to start. Have you cooked up some good pain to put them through? Leave me a comment and let me know!

They don’t call it work for nothing. I’m in position at my job which is something of which to be proud. Not quite prestigious, but it’s progress. I’m in mid-management. Today was a hard day. But I learned a lot. One, I need to keep my mouth shut, and two, I need to be patient. Good things come to those who wait. But the wait can make your stomach erode and your skin erupt in stress-borne rash. Oh. Just me? Well. Let’s suffice it to say that biding my time, justification comes. And lessons are learned.

It all comes at a price. Elbow grease. Hard work. It’s going to take stamina and grit and chutzpah. Basically, you really have to work for it. And it will pay off.

So it goes for writing as well. I can only blame myself for lack of trying that I’m not as far in my writing that I want to be. I have yet to finish any of a number of works in progress. I have had so many wanes in my productivity, that it may be laughable to call myself a writer. But I do, because…I am. I can’t think of myself otherwise. When I’m not writing, I’m thinking of writing. The night before last I wrote what I could but then had to go to bed. But my brain came up with the next part of the scene. On some level, I’m working towards it. I just have to work harder to make it a reality.

Now I’m not saying that anyone who wants to be published just has to try harder. There are many writers who’ve tried so much and haven’t gotten anywhere, yet. I know several. Even Stephen King had innumerable rejections before acceptance. I’m not even talking about reaching that height. I am thinking of just completing a manuscript and feeling that sense of accomplishment. I won’t STOP there, but it’s a point that I’m aiming for.

I know it will pay off eventually. Not to be so brief on the subject, I want to expand on what I think of as working for it, the difficult or time consuming tasks that make striving for publication or just finishing a novel hard.

Work. Writing, proof-reading, revising. Editing. Still not enough.

Hone your craft. In fact, I am taking a workshop now to refresh my knowledge of the basics and to learn more. It’s something into which I’m invested so that I can receive that reward.

And I’ll keep on until, and past even, I get to that end point. which would really be a beginning for me, come to think of it. For that, it is definitely worth doing.

For a writer, there’s no greater joy than seeing your book finally released for sale. I imagine the only thing coming close to top that would be knowing that a publisher is setting your work up for pre-order to generate buzz. That’s not happened to me until now, when I noticed on All Romance that the piece I have for their 28 Days of Heart Campaign, GPS, is now available for advanced order! It’s rather exciting to see, especially since ARe has a function on their site that allows customers to see what other readers have bought in addition to your title. I can tell already that people are pre-ordering the book. Yay!

With this title in February, it will mark my third charity piece published. The first, All You Need, is another M/M title out from DLP Books, and proceeds from that short will go to WHY, which fights poverty in underprivileged nations. The third is a piece going into Coming Together As One, to benefit ONE, also an anti-poverty organization.

Truly, I hadn’t planned to do so much charitable writing, but with each title there arose either an idea or a situation that inspired me. For All You Need…, for example, I tied in the release to the anniversary of a specific event, and chose a relevant charity. With the Coming Together series, which specializes in charity anthologies, I had always wanted to contribute to one, and had the opportunity. Will I do more? It’s hard to say. Often when I begin a new story, I naturally have something in mind for it. It could be the beginning of a new series, or the continuation of an old one. It could be an experiment with a new genre, or a test submission for a new house I want to explore.

I do think, however, it’s good for the mind and soul to occasionally give your talents to a worthy cause. I think in particular of the situation in Haiti, where people have literally lost everything, and while I don’t have much myself, I can give something. I don’t know now if there are any writing projects on tap to benefit quake victims, but Coming Together does have a volume out, Into the Light, which benefits V-Day, which is setting up a Haitian relief fund.

Should every author write for charity once in a while? That’s up to the author, but I imagine some do without even realizing it. Whether you write a recommendation for a friend seeking a job, or if you offer to write a cover blurb for a colleague’s novel, you are lending your talents to something great. Some might argue it’s easier just to write a check directly to an organization, but I feel the added act of buying a charity book gives you not only the satisfaction of helping somebody in need, you’re rewarded with a nice, hot story!

Great Places to Buy Books and Help Others

All Romance – look for the 28 Days of Heart titles

Coming Together – anthologies for a variety of charities, from breast cancer research to autism to environmental awareness

In everyone’s life there are wishes and dreams. And then there are realities. There are good days. And bad. So I choose to just make my own sunshine.  It’s not easy, let me tell you. Life is hard, didn’t you know.

Find pleasures in everyday things. Sure I’d love to be on American Idol. My daughter is my one of my biggest fans. (Her brother being the other.) That might be all I need. My daughter asked why I wasn’t on there. I told her that I might be good, but I’m not the best. Besides, I’d have to leave my family for a while, and I don’t want to do that. She smiled and said, “But you make the best breakfasts! You can’t go.” I’m important to her. I’d love to be on American Idol. But I’m superbly content to make the best breakfasts. That is the love and energy that allows me to keep smiling. That is my sunshine.

But back to the topic of wishes and dreams versus reality:  Smiling through work, hardships, pain is not easy. I have to look at the reason I go through the difficulty. I do love my job. It has more challenges than I ever thought possible. While it is my career and there is joy there, it is a means. A means to care for and support my family, my built in fanbase. My kids love me, they love my voice and singing. Oh, and my breakfasts. It is for them that I slave away in mid management. Dilbert I am not. Supermom? Well, I try. And knowing that I’m doing such a responsible thing, for the love of my family, gives me the reason to smile. They are my sunshine.

Then there is the issue of me. What is the sunshine for myself? Simple pleasures, sure. I find the joy in creating. Whether it’s a song, a poem, a story, even jewelry. Sunshine in print, or beads. It’s happy work. It’s usually its most evocative when I feel the emotions I portray. So writing is an outlet for emotions, but also a device by which I find bliss. Whether it’s good or bad, seeing my brain on the page is fulfilling. yeah, it could be crap, but I can fix that. Beads…such neat creations I can do. About 10 pair of earrings in an hour. It’s amazing what I can come up with.

Sunshine. Whether I create it literally or figuratively, whether or not it comes easily or I have to force it, I have to make my own.

So, have you made your own sunshine today?

This week is my week of planning for the New Year.  I’d like to say that this is my big go… that all my plans fall right into place and it all works out. Well, that’s not exactly true but last year was darn near perfect!!!!!!

It’s amazing how a real commitment, realistic timelines, and keeping my eye on the ball really kept me moving along. At the end of the year though, all I had to show other than those manuscripts on my PC was… well, nothing to show.

No contract. No promise of something to come. A couple of submissions in limbo but nothing concrete from all my work.

I was in no way more concretely closer to my goal of publication than I had been before. Yeah, I made huge leaps and strides in my writing. I hit it hard last year.

But sitting there with my family in front of the fire, the four of us huddled there – all our money spent (bank account literally on zero), husband without a job, no writing contracts in sight — I realized that really all I had to show a warm fire (paid for with last Spring’s tax return), some old movies, gawd-awful cheap wine given to us as a gift (Thank you Uncle Michael… really we appreciated it), and the wind wistling through the window panes.

No box for the TV to watch the ball go down. No fancy party.

That’s sobering. The three people that I had most neglected to work on my writing were the one thing that comforted me… the one thing that’s always there for me. And they’ll be there for me whether I get published or not.

So this year, my writing plans are more reserved (I planned four books last year and got three done) . This year I’m planning three books but would be happy to get two done and some of those in my backlist agented and sold.

Because this year, I’m planning time in for relaxing, for being with my kids, for not being rushed all the time, for just enjoying those little beings that at my kids, at the age of 8 and 9,  still want Mommy and Daddy to be so much a part of .

I’m planning time to read the remaining Harry Potter books to them (we’re on book 4 and my son is astonished that they didn’t put some of the best stuff in the movies) as well as the classics (Sony eBook Reader do your thing – I’ve downloaded Sherlock Holmes, Prince and the Pauper) and that’s just the start.

I also plan to reconnect with my husband and just enjoy those things I have instead of forever searching for something bigger and better.

After all, I can’t take my books with me. I hear the only thing that really counts when you’re reincarnated is the human bonds you had in the previous life.  And I plan to keep those I love close to me as long as the Goddess will let me, no matter what lifetime I’m in.