Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Our New Space and a Recap of Gena's Chat

First off, I want to say that the chat last night went swimmingly! I know I had a lot of fun and learned a bunch, as always. Gena Showalter simply has a ton of great info to share and encouragement for the masses. What a wonderful night!

Okay, before I get started on the recap though... I want to pass along the message that Deidre will be posting pics of our new pad as soon as she returns from NYC. Just a few more days...and we'll have a peek inside for everyone!

Now, back to the recap!

A Little Advice:
Gena gave out some words of wisdom to all those aspiring writers. Here is a few of my favorites that I took from last night.

*Advice for people who are having trouble getting into their writing? Write anyway! Plow through! Even if it's bad... you can always fix bad.

*Dealing with bad reviews: Used to be tramatizing. Now, just results in a shrug. You simply can't please everyone...all the time. But if it's really bad, call up a pal and vent a bit.

*How long til you just have to give up on a project? So long as you have something else you are working on that is doing well and selling, keep at the other projects until you get them where you want them. PLEASURE SLAVE and STONE PRINCE took awhile, but it was great to have them when HQN started!

*What makes or breaks a writer? Simply finishing your book on time.

Thoughts on YA (Young Adult):
Given Gena has a new YA book coming out summer of 2006 OH MY GOTH...I'd like to share some thoughts we bounced around last night about YA

Length difference between a general paranormal romance and your YA book?
OH MY GOTH = 60K words and a paranormal is usually a little over 100K

OH MY GOTH was a bit tougher to write because there was trouble getting into the characters' heads and seeing it. Gena's solution for tapping into YA...sitting down and taking herself back. Letting it flow from deep inside, cause we've all been there.

Gena admits to having a few more YA ideas up her sleeve and is enjoying exploring a new genre

Quick facts that everyone wants to know:

*A book in week? Are you serious? Yes. But the work afterwards was difficult. Things work better for her with a 2-4 week period.

*Rushed = 80 pages within the month of August

*Prefers to work on one manuscript at a time, but with deadlines it's usually 2 at a time.

*Generally works 7AM to about 8PM at night on her projects and is fanatical about reaching her goals and deadlines.

*Has # of pages per day type goals and averages about 20 pgs. a day for a draft and a lot more for revisions

*Card carrying Pantzer

*What she reads: Karen Marie Moning, Linda Howard, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, PC Cast, Jill Monroe, Katie MacAlister... could go on forever

Up Coming Goals:

*Get on a good list! NY Times, USA Today....

*Increase vocab in her works.

Keep an eye on the blog for our next star guest! Thanks again Gena!

5 Comments:

Blogger Brenda said...

Figures. I missed it. That's what I get for being sick lately. (Sigh)

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 6:20:00 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Julie, thanks for posting the recap. I missed the chat, and sounds like it was a good one.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 at 9:10:00 PM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great chat! And I can't wait to see pix of your new office (wish I had a new space to decorate--sounds like fun!) But . . . the stapler . . . this is my stapler . . . the red stapler . . . is mine!! Give me the stapler!!! Bring it back!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 3:21:00 AM EDT  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gena was a blast! These chats are such a great idea!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 8:06:00 AM EDT  
Blogger Gina Black said...

Thanks for the recap. I wanted to be there for the actual chat, but I was Stuck In Traffic.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005 at 3:07:00 PM EDT  

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