RWNZ Conference 2011

So this weekend is Romance Writers of New Zealand conference. I'm really looking forward to it - a chance to hang out with fellow writers and learn more about my craft.

We have a great line up of speakers this year:

- Tess Gerritsen – New York Times-bestselling author
Tess Gerritsen took an unusual route to a writing career. A graduate of Stanford University, Tess went on to medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, where she was awarded her M.D. While on maternity leave from her work as a physician she began to write fiction. For there it was a page strewn trip to the bestseller list.

- Bob Mayer – New York Times-bestselling author, writing coach and digital publishing expert
Bob Mayer has been published in many genres, including thriller, science fiction, suspense, romance and non-fiction. His Warrior Writer workshop, which helps writers set objectives for their writing and manage their careers, has been attended in electronic or face-to-face format by thousands of writers. He is adjunct faculty at the University of Washington, teaching communication. Bob Mayer is also a leading commentator on the digital publishing debate via his Write It Forward blog.

- Maria V. Snyder – New York Times-bestselling author of fantasy and dystopian fiction
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Maria V. Snyder studied meteorology at Penn State University. After writing many science fiction short stories, Maria started Poison Study, her novel about a food taster. Published in October 2005 in both adult and young adult versions, Poison Study won 3 awards, was nominated for four others, and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Most recently, Maria’s young adult dystopian thriller titled Inside Out was released in 2010. Maria has a Master of Arts degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University.

- Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary Agency
A veteran of publishing, Jessica Faust began her career as an acquisitions editor at Berkley Publishing, Macmillan, and Wiley. Jessica has been a regular columnist with Romantic Times magazine, taught at New York University’s Continuing Education Program, been recognized as Agent of the Year by the NYC Romance Writers of America chapter, and is asked regularly to speak at writers’ conferences throughout the world. As owner and literary agent at BookEnds, Jessica Faust prides herself on working closely with her authors to make their goals come to fruition.

- Sue Grimshaw, Editor-at-large, Ballantine Bantam Dell
Former romance book buyer for national USA bookstore chains Borders and Waldenbooks Sue Grimshaw was appointed Category Specialist and Editor At Large for New York publisher Ballantine Bantam Dell, a division of Random House, in April 2011. Sue is working primarily with the digital arm of the business, acquiring books for its new imprint. Sue is also a primary contributor to Random House’s soon-to-be released website, Romance@Random – currently on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/RomanceAtRandom.

- Lucy Gilmour – Editor, Harlequin Mills & Boon
Lucy Gilmour works in Harlequin Mills & Boon’s London office. She joined Harlequin six years ago after finishing her classics degree.

- Molly O’Keefe – RITA-winning author
Molly O’Keefe is a RITA-Award winning author with 18 Harlequin novels in publication. She’s won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Flipside in 2005 and Best Superromance in 2008. She won the RITA for Best Novella in 2010. Her first Bantam contemporary single-title romance, Can’t Buy Me, will be released in 2011. She lives in Toronto, Canada with her family and the largest heap of dirty laundry in North America.

- Sue MacKay, medical romance author
Sue MacKay sold her first book to Mills & Boon Medical in February 2010 after submitting for more than ten years. She has since sold three more medicals and is currently working her way through a three book contract. In writing romantic fiction Sue has her dream job – a job she spent many years working to get! She lives in the Marlborough Sounds at the top of New Zealand’s South Island with her husband and a retired pig dog called Boss.

Cover contest - the worst

Okay we've done Cover Cafe's best ... now for the worst :)
What no author wants and yet they have a kind of macabre fascination for me.

1st place in worst cover category

- Manda C. agreed: "It was hard to pick just one. But this one is the most egregious. Not because of the subject matter, but because it's so busy that I can't even figure out what's going on here."
- Ellen M: "The poor cover model looks like a tied-up corpse found in a dumpster, covered by a pile of junk CSI is going to have to wade through in order to determine his killer. He seems to have some kind of electrical tape holding his shoulder together, and what do Christmas lights have to do with flogging, anyway? Oh yeah, it's a Holiday Sale...ri-i-ght. Plus, his left hand looks abnormally large, kind of like Hellboy's big fist.

[After I read this comment I tried to find his left hand... I couldn't. Where to start with this one the colours,  how busy it is, I have no idea what it's trying to tell me.]

3rd place

 Okay, I should clarify here that this competition is for Romance covers. Yes, you can see the problem with this cover. My first thought was romance... really?
- Karen H. agreed: "This is worse than unromantic--it's creepy. And that's saying a lot given some of the other covers. But it's doesn't look at all like a romance and at least all the others have something that makes them look like a romance (maybe it's just partially unclothed bodies but that's more to the point than this horror novel cover)."

4th place

 - Sarah: "THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE. I'm choosing between Bad Photoshop, Bad Stock Imagery, Bad Cover Design or Just Plain Skeevy. And this wins every one of those categories."
- Tina: "While Flogger's Holiday Sale is a mess, this cover is just a horrible mish-mash of Photoshop editing gone wrong! 
- Stacey I-K: "OMG! Three studs with bare chests. Not to mention a very phallic train. And what plaid monstrosity is the girl wearing? My, oh, my, this is bad."
- Elisabeth: "I never thought I'd say this but there is such a thing as too many defined six packs – eww." Or Sula: "Laura Ingalls Wilder marries the Village People?"

7th place

Um... what's with the guy? drugged, bored, to stupid for words, serial killer...
- Lesley: "Hard choice, but this wins by a nose. He looks more like a serial killer than a romantic hero no wonder she can't look at him and is levitating away."
- Caren H.: "First of all, there is no connection between the guy and girl. Second, he looks mentally impaired and/or insane.

Okay, next week I'll think of something to give us a break from covers :)

Cover Contest - the best cont...

Last week we looked at Cover Cafe's best covers in Alternate Reality, Contemporary, & Historical. This week Series, & two image covers...

1st place Series cover

 Deborah L. appreciated all aspects of the cover: “I like the spooky feeling of the illustration, and the fade effect on the text adds to that. As a plus, the text is easy to read, and the series banner isn't obtrusive…”

1st place 2 image cover

 The look on the heroine's face tipped the balance. So often the faces on covers are simply generic and bland. This girl's eyes are particularly telling, seeming full of uncertainty. The light through the window is beautifully done and falls upon the heroine softly. The title does not impinge upon the figure and the lettering has a colour echo in her sleeves, as well as the style echoing her pose.”

2 place 2 image cover

 Jen B.: “I love the muted background being pushed back by the bright red dress. But, it's the model’s body shape that is so interesting. At first, I thought she was talking to someone or maybe mid gesture getting ready to point at something. Then I saw to full cover and it's kind of spooky that it's all graveyard. I would definitely stop in the bookstore and pick this one up.”

Cover contest - the best

Every year Cover Cafe has a competition for the best & worst covers. So how did 2010 covers stack up? ... 

I've got the first placed in each of the categories (except worst, we'll save them for another day). I've also added my favorite comment(s) because it's always fun to know why people enjoyed a cover.

1st place for Alternate Reality

 Jules R. commented: ”I love the simplicity, the focus, the details left to the imagination. The color scheme is gorgeous. It intrigues and leaves you wanting to know what happens.”

This one placed 3rd (in alternate reality) & it's caught my attention on shelves a number of times. I really like it and what's interesting is it's similarity in style to the 1st place winner.

1st place Contemporary

 Nancy: "I looked at the cover and was filled with a longing to be in a place like that – so magical."
Carolyn G: "Beautiful composition. Pulls the reader into the mood but allows them to form their own image of the characters."

3rd place: I love
joyous connection
between the characters

6th place. I loved
the colors on this
one, so evocative.

10th. I liked the
strange atmosphere
the colors on this one
create, and that
she is walking away.

1st place Historical

Courtney L.: "I love the mystery and longing in this picture... it just calls to me like a light in the darkness.

3rd place Historical. I'm not a huge fan of the white carriage, but I love the beckoning image of a mysterious male.

Next week: Series & 2 image covers.

covers, Austen & fish

I know I often go on about covers, especially how authors have very little control over their covers. Sometimes however there is an exception to the rule. I thought this one was worth sharing.

Version pulled together by the author. Her vision of what she wanted her cover to look like (or as close to as a non-design professional can get)

Here's the final version. The design department must have loved her ideas :) And not only loved them, but thought they would work in the market.

 In other news... an unfinished Jane Austen manuscript sold at auction in London for almost a million pounds. The Watsons is the earliest surviving manuscript for an Austen novel, probably written around 1804.

All the edits and changes all over it, it looks like mine :) Not, of course, mine are ever going to sell for that much :)

And on an unrelated note...

Finally a fun picture just for the fun of it.

Judging a book by its cover & series covers

It's been a while since I've done a post on covers - and you know they're a favorite of mine. As I've confessed before, I often judge books by their covers. I don't want to, but I do anyway. We live busy lives & covers are a short cut to genre and content, although not always as accurate a shortcut as we would like.

One book I picked up almost entirely on cover was Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh (I say almost, I'd read her name somewhere but knew nothing about her or her books). I saw the book, the cover caught my eye, I liked it, got the book, loved that, and I've been a fan since. So picking a book by the cover does find one some gems (although it also finds the dross, sadly).

Recently I was in the book store & I saw the new UK covers for her books. I bought her latest one (Kiss of Snow) but on the way home I couldn't help thinking of the differences between the US & UK versions. I should say up front I have no problems with any of these covers. Authors get very little input into their covers Nalini's been lucky :)

This is US cover of the first book in the psy/changeling series. Simple, sexy (but not overt), kind of mysterious, it was certainly enough to make me pick it up. Each of the covers in this series are reasonably different. They somewhat give you a feeling for the action and characters within.

In contract this is the UK version. Still sexy, although in a different way (this relies on the power of the eyes), it's also dangerous/violent. I would have pick up this cover too. This cover sets the trend for the others. 1/2 male face with wound. I actually think these covers capture the male characters better, but they suggest very little else. Also they might capture more male readers? Although the titles might defeat that plan.

Most recent book in the series, US cover. Compared to UK covers the feeling of series is not as strong here (e.g. different font for her name from all the other books in series). Although all the other books, and even this one do have a strong similar vein. Series connections I've noticed are often under-emphasized in US series. I guess you pick up more readers, but as a reader who has been caught, it's annoying to realize you're in the middle of the series (fortunately these do stand on the own even through they benefit from being read in order). To be fair the the US publishes they didn't know how popular this was going to be when Ms Singh started :). More man-titty. With the wolf, also a clear no at what type of paranormal this is going to be. Although a good job, not dissimilar to a lot of other covers out there.

 This is UK version. As you can see (and if you look at the others) an incredibly strong sense of series. On a book shelf together they'll look great. I like this one too. All the men are different, they all look at the reader in a different way. If I have one complaint it's the very thing I also like (yes, I know their is no pleasing some people) it's their very same-ness. You really have to know which ones you've read or you risk picking up the same book twice. The series look is unique, and unlike other covers out there which adds impact, but also using the same device repeatedly for each book does somewhat remove it's power to affect the observer.

One other comment I would make is that  both US & UK covers suggest white men, readers will find that is not the case.

You can see full covers here: US and UK. Two very interesting takes on the same series. Regardless of cover I seriously recommend the series :)

Creativity Tools

Roughing out plot points, suffering from writers block, trying to squeeze the next step in the story out of a reluctant brain, written yourself into a corner... I have the answer.

Well, actually that's not true, but hopefully I have a few tools that might coax your muse out to play again. A friend of mine went on a creativity workshop & here's some of what she shared with me, and some of the ideas ways I've extrapolated them (Sorry, I can't reference the workshop host as I don't recall his name).

4 CREATIVITY TOOLS
1) Forced Questions
2) Think the Unthinkable
3) Magic Wand
4) What if?

Forced connections:
This is a way trying to make your brain think outside the box by making unexpected connections.
e.g. Car battery & women's independence.
How did the car battery drive a step change in women's independance?
    --- They no longer needed to rely on male strength to turn the crank handle which meant they could drive without their husbands.

Way to use this in your writing... Imagine your hero is standing on the edge of a cliff, the villain approaches gun in hand...
And you're stuck, your can't workout how he gets away. You look around your desk and spot your tea cup. You force a connection.
...The hero had been making a cup of tea when he heard the villain. The tea bag is still in his pocket. He reaches stealthy in and grabs it. Tearing it, he throws the tealeaves in the villain's eyes. The brief distraction allows his enough time to disarm the villain...
Okay, maybe tealeaves doesn't work for you, but you've got the idea of throwing something in hte villain's eyes. Maybe the hero grabs a handfull of sand.

This tool might require getting away from your desk to look for things to force the connections. Newspapers, TV, Things happening outside the window are all great sources.

Think the Unthinkable
This is about finding those thoughts that we instinctively hide from.
e.g. How do we stop elderly people dying of cold in winter?
--- Should we save them. Let them die.

This tool is not only good once for finding difficult thoughts, it's also a great way to did deeper into characters - to unearth the WHY. Why does the character think/react that way.
In this example is the character willing to let old people die.
- Maybe he's a villain in a position of power, and maybe his experiences growing up have made him view the elderly as a waste of space, or worse and experiences have given him a distaste or even hatred for them.
- Maybe he's the hero, maybe this is going to be a critical point of internal conflict for him. Maybe he has to chose, he can either save the babies or hte elderly but he doesn't have the budget to do both.

Magic Wand
When this tool was explained to me I was told "of course this doesn't really have any real world uses, it's more to get one thinking." However, as writers we're the masters of our universe - we can do anything, even wave a magic wand.
e.g. Our hero is still standing on the edge of the cliff. We can't think how to save him so we wave the magic wand. The hero sprouts wings and flies away.

Of course using this tool in your writing has huge risks, but it can also drive some fun storytelling because this it lets CONSEQUENCES out to play. You can't wave your wand without consequences. What happens as a result of waving the wand, how do you justify it both in the world building and as part of the character integrity, how do the other characters respond,  etc...

WHAT IF?
This is a tool that most writers will be familiar with, the brain interrogation of What if? It's a process of dumping everything you can think of out on the page without prejudice and then sorting through it afterwards.

e.g. Heroine is locked in dank, dark dungeon. How do we get her out?
--- What if she makes a key out of thread and stones; What if she shrinks small enough to get through the bars; What if her fairy godmother pops in and saves her; what if she still had her cell phone in her pocket; what if she seduced on of the guards; What if she faked a siezure and the guards opened the door and she over powered them; what if....
...you get the picture


So those are the tools, and don't forget the WHY & the CONSEQUENCE when using any of them.