Learning From Published Authors

Isn't she just gorgeous?

I have sorely neglected this blog for quite some time. The excuse I could use is that I've been extremely busy, but that is flimsy as everyone leads a hectic lifestyle in modern times. We have to if we aim to survive, don't we? In my defense I must reveal that I had two erotic romances accepted for publication under a pseudonym in the year (yes, it has been a year) since I last posted here, self-published an Afrikaans novel and became a grandmother (I refuse to reveal my age) of a beautiful baby girl. 

However, I'm thrilled to announce that starting next week Wednesday, several published authors have agreed to give us some insight into the way they write. You can read ten self-help books on how to write and the rules that apply, but you still have to sort out how to do the practical stuff. Methods that work for some, others find completely impractical to use. So I decided to ask a few successful authors how they do it. 

If you've ever tried your hand at writing fiction, you would have heard the advise that you have to read what you like to write and try to discover what exactly about the book made you enjoy it so much. You have to pay attention to the way the novel was structured (took me a while to get the hang of this one, but luckily we seem to do most of it by instinct), the writing style and most of all, what about the writer's voice captured your attention. 

The authors who agreed to share their methods are all published authors, each with an unique voice and writing style. Different publishers contracted their books, so we'll get a general idea what works and what doesn't. 

I hope you will join me as we try to discover what made these talented writers so successful.

The Other Side - by Zee Monodee

Today I have the great honor of featuring a brand new book by author Zee Monodee. Zee writes Stories about love, life, relationships... in a melting-pot of culture.

Zee is an author who grew up on a fence – on one side there was modernity and the global world, on the other there was culture and traditions. Putting up with the culture for half of her life, one day she decided she'd stand tall on her wall and dip toes every now and then into both sides of her non-conventional upbringing.

From this resolution spanned a world of adaptation and learning to live on said wall. The realization also came that many other young women of the world were on their own fence.

This particular position became her favorite when she decided to pursue her lifelong dream of writing – her heroines all sit 'on a fence', whether cultural or societal, in today's world or in times past, and face dilemmas about life and love.

Hailing from the multicultural island of Mauritius, Zee is a degree holder in Communications Science. She is a head-over-heels wife, in-over-her-head mum to a tween son, best-buddy-stepmum to a teenage lad, an incompetent domestic goddess, eternal dreamer, and an absolute, shameless bookholic. When she isn’t penning more stories and/or managing the Ubuntu line at Decadent Publishing, you can bet you’ll find her with her nose in her tablet, ‘drinking in’ a good book.

The theme of Second Chances is very prominent in Zee’s stories, because she herself, as a divorcee, found a second chance with a wonderful man she has now called her husband for over a decade.

Zee started penning this story after reading the epic novel ‘A Suitable Boy’ by Vikram Seth. She wanted to write a magnum opus; something to showcase ‘her’ world in Mauritius the same way Mr. Seth chronicled ‘his’ India. Alas, she found she was totally fluffy and did not do well at all with a literary bent. The result was The Other Side, a popular romantic comedy that had notes of Zee TV/Bollywood dramas with an island vibe.

Zee’s initial plan was to write this one book and then be finished. Over the course of the story, Lara’s two sisters – Diya and Neha – started whispering their own tales...and the trilogy was born.

The Other Side is Zee’s first-ever penned novel, written in the year 2005, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and thus decided to live her dream of writing a book. She drafted this book mostly during sleepless nights between chemotherapy sessions, the outpouring of this tale becoming her therapy to cope with her treatments.

From the Back Cover:-

Divorce paints a scarlet letter on her back when she returns to the culture-driven society of Mauritius. This same spotlight shines as a beacon of hope for the man who never stopped loving her. Can the second time around be the right one for these former teenage sweethearts?

Indian-origin Lara Reddy left London after her husband dumps her for a more accommodating uterus—at least, that’s what his desertion feels like. Bumping into him and his pregnant new missus doesn’t help matters any, and she thus jumps on a prestigious job offer. The kicker? The job is in Mauritius, the homeland of her parents, and a society she ran away from over a decade earlier.

But once there, Lara has no escape. Not from the gossip, the contempt, the harassing matchmaking...and certainly not from the man she hoped never to meet again. The boy she’d loved and lost—white Mauritian native, Eric Marivaux.

Back when they were teens, Eric left her, and Lara vowed she’d never let herself be hurt again. Today, they are both adults, and facing the same crossroads they’d stood at so many years earlier.

Lara now stands on the other side of Mauritian society. Will this be the impetus she needs to take a chance on Eric and love again?

 

Here's a little taste of what you can expect inside the book :-

Lost in her thoughts, she rounded a dead corner of the hall, slamming into someone’s side. Disoriented and dizzy with confusion at the jolting oomph of impact against a solid form, she stumbled, losing control over her legs. She saw the walls moving up rapidly, but a strong pair of hands grabbed her under the arms before the back of her head hit the floor.

“Bon sang, mademoiselle! Où courez-vous comme ça?” a rich, deep masculine voice asked on the sharp yet lilting accent of white Mauritian natives.

Where are you running to, miss? he’d asked, from what her rusty French could figure out.

Away from you. Something inside her acknowledged the danger before she could process his words. She knew that voice. Her head spun again, yet her mind was very alert.

Could it be…? No, it couldn’t. Her brain had to be playing tricks on her. The sound with its particular accent belonged to the very distant past. How was she hearing it at this moment? Had she fainted? That’s it. She wasn’t conscious, and since she’d probably worked herself to exhaustion, the condition had triggered all sorts of switches in her muddled consciousness.

The image of the man from the airport burned itself into her mind, and she gasped. No!

“Is everything okay?” The chuckle had gone from the tone, replaced by worry.

Solid strength still held her ribcage, the back of the hands warm and smooth where they touched her arms. The heat from them went to her head, churning all coherent thought into a jumble.

Her mind had to be playing a trick on her. He couldn’t be who she was imagining. When, after a few seconds, it didn’t appear like she’d come around, doubt invaded her heart.

Your eyes won’t betray you, they’ll see the truth.

She risked a glance up beneath her lashes. She had to be certain if this was real or not. To know this was all a trick of her imagination….

Lara encountered a tall form with broad shoulders outlined in a short-sleeved shirt. The lapels of the opened collar framed a strong jaw and a wide, full, and sensual mouth was set in a worried line above a square chin. A fine, straight nose sent faint shadows over his lips.

She had to gulp back the ominous lump wedged in her throat. Her heart beat a hammering throb in her chest, and her mouth went dry. Her suspicions looked dangerously close to being confirmed, and the nagging notion played havoc with her thoughts. She closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she found herself staring into a pair of blue irises. A blinding flash went through her head, plunging her heart to her knees. She’d recognize those irises anywhere. Deep-set, bright, and laughing eyes the colour of the deepest ocean. The heavy, golden locks brushing his forehead accentuated the frown knitting his eyebrows.

Locks that had somehow broken free from the thick, smoothed-back hair. She itched to sweep them back, to run the tips of her fingers along his smooth skin, like she used to in the past, onto the soft buzz of hair he used to keep so short….

Her mind went into a crazy spin, and all her senses reeled as everything became a vivid kaleidoscope of colours. Her stomach heaved, and her knees went weak as her body became limp. But the man’s strong grip was still on her, and he kept her steady on her feet.

“Are you okay? I think you better sit down here,” he said.

The voice made its way into her perception, and she couldn’t suppress the relief that flooded her. His voice had always had such power over her.

He still hasn’t recognised me.

She’d changed a lot in the past decade, and with her head still bent forward, her hair shielded her face. She wanted to escape. She wanted to close her eyes, and then open them to find it had all been a dream. Or a nightmare.

But this was real, and how long could she remain incognito? Lara swallowed painfully. Of all the people from her past, fate had had to choose that precise person to shove along her path.

All of this battled inside her mind as she allowed him to lead her to a sofa. After having lowered her into her seat with extreme care and gentleness, her saviour sat down next to her, turning to face her profile. The movement triggered the air to move around him, and the smell of his aftershave—fresh, spicy, and very elusive—filled her nostrils and made its way into her foggy mind.

He still smells the same. Like a cool sea breeze wafting through the unique musk of a man’s warm skin.

Lara took a deep breath and gathered her courage. She would have to face him sooner or later. A part of her had always known she ran the risk of coming across him on the island. She’d preferred to hide from the probability, but she couldn’t run anymore.

So she lifted her head. A frown marred the wide forehead on the face she encountered. As devastatingly handsome as ever. Or maybe, even more than ever. His features were arresting, masculine, adult. No longer those of a teenager.

Her mouth went dry again, and her heart beat faster when the straight line of his lips broke into a large smile a few seconds later. His eyes lit up as well, and widened.

“I’ll be damned! Lara? Is it really you?” he asked, switching effortlessly to English.

She forced a smile and took a deep breath. “Hello, Eric. How are you?”

Available from:

Decadent Publishing http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=817&osCsid=uk690a1muqacdt8v6csmtuo7d2

Amazon (available at the discounted price of $2.99) http://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Island-Girls-ebook/dp/B00E77XHG6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375035073&sr=8-1&keywords=the+other+side+zee+monodee

FREE Erotic Romance on Amazon

From the website of Ylette Pearson today:

Accounting for Lust is free on all Amazon sites from 5 November to 8 November 2012. 

Here’s a little taste of what to expect:

The moment she saw him at the club, accountant Cassandra Adams knew she’d found her candidate for an anonymous one-night-stand. Pirate-like handsome, he signalled danger in capital letters - just what she needed before assuming her role as CEO of her father’s South African weapons manufacturing company.


Steaming hot sex was the last thing on Jake Pierce’s mind when he agreed to protect the new boss of Adams Armory Incorporated after someone tried to kill her. However, when Cassandra Adams walked into the office, Jake found himself battling memories of tangled sheets and sweaty bodies.

While Cassie and Jake surrendered to the passion between them and tried to keep their hearts out of the equation, someone watched from the shadows. Biding his time. Craving revenge.

Happy reading.

Novel Writing: Killing the Blank-Page Syndrome

Your plotting is done, the idea germinated in your mind and grew to a nearly full-length novel. Now you have to sit down and actually write the novel. Suddenly you stare at the blank sheet on your word processor. You play around with the font of the Chapter One title until you’re back to the original. You frown. The story is good, the conflict worked out and believable.

So why can’t you get the opening sentence on the screen?

I had to ask myself the same question this morning when I stared at the same Chapter One heading for the second day in a row. I played around on Facebook, checked up on my friend on Twitter and watered seedlings that didn’t need watering yet. (Hope I haven’t drowned them completely) All because the right words to start the chapter and novel eluded me.

I argue that the first sentence needs to be perfect. It has to grab the reader by the throat, introduce her to the character or place and set the tone of the novel. It must arouse an intense curiosity with the reader – so much that she had to buy the book to find out how this ends. That first sentence is a matter of life or death for your novel. You can’t just rush it.

Then it hit me. THIS IS A FIRST DRAFT. A first draft doesn’t need to be perfect. It never is. The purpose of the first draft is to get the story down on paper without worrying too much about style, grammar and the most correct word. The first draft is where your voice tells the story. You have to turn that blasted internal editor off.

With every novel I re-write the opening at least four times. But, you have to have something on paper to re-write. You can’t edit a blank page. So even if it is crap – and mine always is – the first draft is just that – a draft. Regardless if you are a plotter or a pantser, the story needs to be told.

So what if it isn’t perfect the first time around? That’s what editing is for (and I still have to develop a love for this stage of the writing process).

So my solution? Get an application like Dr Wicked’s Write or Die and force yourself to start the scene. Do it five minutes at a time or ten minutes at a time – whatever makes you comfortable. Just get the story written. Nobody gets it perfect the first time. Some of the greatest writers re-write more than ten times before they even consider submitting to a publisher. So if you have to re-write a couple of times and edit until you’re sick of the story – that’s normal.

Close the door, shut the curtains and pop on some headphones. Ignore the outside world until you have your opening down. Usually once you get past that dreaded opening scene, the words tend to find their own way onto the computer.

Hope this helped a little in curing that blank-page syndrome so many writers face every day. See you in a little while – Dr Wicked is calling.

Self-Publish Your Book

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took the plunge last year and self-published an Afrikaans romance novel on Amazon and Smashwords.com.

Like I promised, I now am in a position to provide feedback.

Although sales have not skyrocketed and I’m by no means a best-seller, the sales on Amazon were satisfactory. At least I made more than one sale a day for the past nine months and the reviews haven’t been all bad. So, will I self-publish on Amazon again? Definitely! In fact I have already. My second Afrikaans Romance novel, Katelknaap vir Carlien  was published last week and like the first one, sales are slow in the beginning. But – there are some sales.

Now Smashwords.com is another matter. Although Gogga op ‘n Harley was included in the premium catalogue, I saw exactly three sales for the whole nine months. Will I publish there again? I doubt it. I’ll rather make up for the non-existent sales by selling the book directly from my website. That is once I’ve figured out how to do this.

Everyone has different experiences with these two sites, but publishing in a “foreign” language (other than English) seems to work best on Amazon. I haven’t published an English novel on Smashwords.com yet, but I’m in the process of revamping two titles that could work on Smashwords. When I’ve gone that route, I’ll let you know how it went.

I like Smashwords as publishing platform as it gives the potential buyer more options for use on different e-readers where Amazon limits usage to people with a Kindle or Kindle applications on their device. Their distribution channels seems vast, so maybe if you publish in English, sales would be better. Maybe we could get someone who has a book on Smashwords to give us some figures.

For those interested, here are the two books I have on Amazon.com, Amazon.uk and the other European sites.

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