The Best Laid Plans Often Go Awry…


I had plans to write the great American novel. It would be dramatic. It would be terribly serious. It would have so many complex facets of human nature and morality, that schools would probably add it to their required reading curriculum. That was the book I thought I was going to write. After all, those were the books I usually read.

My serious foray into serious writing did not come easily though. I would have an idea, get a little way into the story, and then it would all fizzle out. I couldn't understand my problem, until the day that the light bulb (in the form of my friend Aly) went off. Aly, in all her wisdom, said the five words that altered everything. "You should write something funny."

The moment I changed the tone and voice of my novel to something more akin to a romantic comedy, the story came easily (and by "easily" I mean I was able to actually finish the novel instead of giving up in a miserable heap of failure that would drive me to do a marathon of Dying Young and Steel Magnolias while eating Ben & Jerry's Everything But The flavored ice cream). For the first time, my writing felt "natural." Even better, my novel turned into something I wanted to read…and it led me to explore a whole world of novels I had never read before. I discovered Emily Giffin and Jen Lancaster. I laughed along with Sophie Kinsella and Helen Fielding. If I hadn't written a "chick lit" novel, I might have never found the genre that I now love so much.

However, finding my voice as a writer was only half the battle. The rest of the journey from a novel-in-theory, to a novel-in-print, has been a completely different beast. Naturally, I assumed that the positive feedback I received from my friends and family, who have to love what I do, would translate into an agent immediately signing me. A year and a whole room wallpapered in rejection letters later, I knew that getting my book to the masses wasn't going to be as easy as I had thought.

I had some very positive feedback from respected agents and some serious interest from smaller publishing companies, and was going to go that route, until I discovered indie publishing. After a lot of research, I decided to take a chance and publish my work myself on Amazon's KDP program. There are benefits to self-publishing that a smaller publishing company couldn't provide…and there are definitely some detriments, the most difficult being promotion.

As a self-published author, marketing my book can sometimes feel like having a second job, but it is a job that I embrace. Writing is the thing I love to do, and anything I do in support of that feels well worth the time.

Giveaway! Please leave a comment to enter to win 1 eBook copy of Emily Shaffer's novel, That Time of the Month. Winner will be chosen at random on Monday, September 17th. Please include your email address or social networking account so we can get in touch if you win. Good luck!  
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Author Interview: Llucia Ramis

Describe your book, Things That Happen to You in Barcelona When You're Thirty.

This novel is about thirtysomethings in Barcelona who are freelancers or artists, and have no real responsibilities or relationships. Nothing has changed since their twenties, but they are already starting their midlife crises. All their things are temporary: Mcjobs, apartments, roommates, lovers. They don’t know how to make decisions. They imagined a different future for themselves, but they’re not really worried yet. They go out every night and drink a lot of beer to forget their problems. They’re still having fun.

How did you come up with the idea for this book? 

When I was thirty, I was engaged to be married. I organized a party with all my ex-boyfriends to say goodbye to my sexy single life. At that time, my dream was to make love in the Sagrada Familia. At my bachelorette party, I realized that all of my exes were still lost; their lives hadn’t changed at all. They were the ones left standing in a game of musical chairs. My generation is not very focused. The recession doesn’t particularly affect us because we live in a constant recession. In the end, I didn’t get married, and I wrote a novel. But it’s not autobiographical.

Describe the characters in the book.

The main character is a journalist. She wakes up next to a strange guy on her thirtieth birthday and thinks she’s getting too old for that sort of thing. Her best friends are a coworker who has just gotten fired, a painter, a psychologist addicted to antidepressants, and a lawyer who’s about to get married. The lawyer is planning her bachelorette party, and she invites all of her exes. One of them is also an ex of the main character.

What is your favorite holiday?

April 23 is Saint George’s day, and in Catalonia, it’s also the day of the book because we commemorate the death of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Years ago, women gave books to men, and men gave roses to women. But nowadays, everybody buys books and roses. The booksellers are on the street, there are big crowds all day long, and publishers estimate that they make forty percent of their annual earnings! For Catalan people, Saint George is like Valentine’s Day is for the rest of the world, so it’s the best day of the year. I was born on April 23, and so I always imagine that this celebration of love is my own birthday party.

What is your desert island book? 

The book I’m writing. It would be terrible to not be able to finish it because I’d left it at home.

Who is the writer you would like to have lunch with? 

Roberto Bolaño. Again.

What did you used to think you would become? 

An archaeologist like Indiana Jones.

Thank you, Llucia!
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Giveaway! Please leave a comment to enter to win 1 eBook copy of Things That Happen to You in Barcelona When You're Thirty. Winner will be chosen at random on Thursday, September 13th. Please include your email address or social networking account so we can get in touch if you win. Good luck! 
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Author Interview: Robert Bryndza

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was twelve and wrote several plays, short stories, and comedy sketches. Then, at fifteen, I had a crisis of confidence and stopped for seven or eight years. In that time, I went to drama school and trained as an actor. When I was in my early twenties, a friend was putting on a show in a theatre in London and needed material. I offered a sketch I’d written about a teenage boy whose mother doesn’t want him to grow up, so she keeps him in a shopping trolley. It went down a storm and then bit by bit I began writing again until it became something I had to do as my main career.

Tell us about your novel, The Not So Secret Emails Of Coco Pinchard.

Coco Pinchard was never a single thirty-something. She married young, had a son, and put her dream to be a writer on hold. Now, her first novel is published. Husband Daniel has greyed nicely into a silver fox, and son Rosencrantz is grown up. It should be time to enjoy life. That is until the annual family Christmas with her hideous mother-in-law Ethel, and Coco opens her gift from Daniel. It’s not the jewelry she chose, but an iPhone. This marks the start of Daniel’s mid-life crisis, and she catches him in bed with a younger woman. The iPhone becomes a confessional of sorts, through emails to her friends Chris, an ageing trustafarian, and Marika, a slightly alcoholic schoolteacher. Then, she meets the hunky Adam, and she’s back in the world of dating as a single forty something. Read the emails that tell the hilarious tale of Coco picking up the pieces.

What inspired you to write The Not So Secret Emails Of Coco Pinchard?

It’s sort of the polar opposite of Bridget Jones. I loved the Bridget Jones novels but I thought, what about all the women who weren’t the singletons, the ones who got married and had kids in their twenties? They’d be in their forties now - as would Bridget Jones. What’s their story? Enter Coco Pinchard!

Which of your characters do you identify with the most and why?

Coco’s son, Rosencrantz. I have used many of the experiences I had as a young actor in London and put them into Rosencrantz. Also, Ethel, Coco’s mother-in-law. She has a life of her own when I write, and she says all the things I don’t dare say myself. And of course, Coco. She’s a writer, and I have put many of my experiences into her, although I like to think I have better luck than she does!

What message do you hope readers will take away from your novel?

I want them to laugh, forget about their worries, and lose themselves in a great story.

Why do you write women's fiction?

By happy accident really! I met my partner, Ján, when I was performing in a play I had written at the Edinburgh Festival. He said, "you must write a book," and so I did. The book began with Coco's husband, Daniel, as the narrator, but an editor friend of mine read an early draft and pointed out that Coco's voice was much stronger and said that I should be writing this for women. So, Coco became the narrator. Also, I love to write female characters. I think as a gay guy, not constantly trying to sleep with women, I notice all the other great stuff about them. I put that into my writing, and I found this story best worked within the women's fiction genre.

What is the most challenging part about being a writer?

The bit after the flash of inspiration. That’s when the difficult work begins, when I have to coax that little idea, character, or image into something more substantial.

What is the most rewarding?

When I begin writing a book, I know where I’m going and can see it in my mind, stretching away to its conclusion. I know I can get up every day and write, immersed in the characters and their world.

What are you working on now?

I have just released my second book, Bitch Hollywood, and I have started on the sequel to The Not So Secret Emails Of Coco Pinchard. Thank you, Chick Lit Bee. It’s been great to talk to you.

Thank you, Robert!
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Giveaway! Please leave a comment to enter to win 1 eBook copy of The Not So Secret Emails Of Coco Pinchard. Winner will be chosen at random on Wednesday, September 12th. Please include your email address or social networking account so we can get in touch if you win. Good luck! 
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Household Chores: Washing & Hoping They'll Go Away


Chores are like Spanx – love 'em or hate 'em, ya gotta do 'em! I wish it was simple enough to snap my fingers and a genie would come out of her bottle, clean my house, and instantly make it spotless. Well, it’s not that easy.

When I was growing up, I had chores, whether it was to make my bed, clean my room, or take turns with my brother to feed our dog. As we became older, our chores increased into helping mom with cooking and cleaning other rooms in the house. Chores have been part of my life, but when I began living on my own, it was quite an eye-opener. I was in charge of my household, doing everything from the dishes, laundry, dusting and whatever else was needed for it to look nice. I’m not one who’s really clean or organized (isn’t it a sign of creativity to be messy?), but I’m not a hoarder either…well, except for books. While I don’t mind actually doing the work and am thankful for dishwashers and washing machines, it’s the work that comes after that I find to be so time consuming, such as the folding and putting away or emptying the dishwasher.

Now that I’m married, the work has definitely increased. There are more dishes to clean, more laundry to wash, and someone else to clean up after. (What’s with men taking their paper plate to the kitchen and leaving it on the counter right above the trashcan?) My husband does help, but since I work at home, it’s easier for me to do it when he’s at work – that way we can spend more time together.
This past year I got a book for Christmas called, Porn for Women. It’s full of pictures of very attractive men doing housework, mainly for overworked and exhausted women. It got me thinking about how much has changed. We’re no longer living in the days where it was only men who had jobs. Women are becoming more powerful, running companies, and are still able to run a household – with or without children (unless you consider your husband a child, too). I give a lot of credit to these women because they are able to do it all!

How do you handle the housework in your home? Do you clean your clothes and dishes and let your husband clean his? What chores do you give to your children, or are you superwoman and do it all?

Isabella Louise Anderson is a member of the RWA, and she is the owner of the website Chick Lit Goddess. She resides in Dallas, Texas, where she’s a housewife and mother to 12-year-old cat, Thorndike. A regular contributor at Good Humor Girl, you can read all Isabella's articles and learn more about Isabella.

Seven Steps to Becoming An Author


People often ask how someone as flaky as I am can pull it together and write a book. In the hopes that it might inspire others to go out and create new worlds of their own, here are the things I did to become a published author:

1) Read a lot of great content. This is as important as the writing itself. Read with passion and learn continuously.

2) Schedule blocks of time for writing. This includes unplugging from the outside world, logging off the internet, turning off the phone. Hard to do, but those distractions really add up. Writing fiction requires immersion in another world, which takes considerable focus and concentration.

3) Generate a manuscript. Woody Allen has said that others are willing to help, but your project has to be solid enough, and you have to do the work first. Once you have your manuscript ready, have an ideal reader and an editor go through it. Make edits until it’s polished enough for the next level.

4) Submit the manuscript to a fiction contest and follow the process, because you never know what may happen. In my case, a friend suggested entering Gumbeaux in the 2011 Readers Favorite fiction contest. I was very shocked to win a gold medal for my genre. Part of the winnings included assistance in generating a query, which they then sent off to literary agencies all over the nation. It was because of this query that I met my agent and became part of the WordServe community.

5) Listen to counsel and check your ego at the door. Agents, editors and real friends are there to help you and to tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear. Being open to constructive feedback and applying advice as appropriate will only improve your writing. I love the changes I have seen unfold as a result of this process and so does my audience.

6) Attend writing seminars and learn about your options. Through local San Diego workshops, I have garnered a great deal of information about publishing and marketing. Publishers and Writers of San Diego has been a great resource. Decide on your goals for your writing and determine how much you are prepared to spend, if any, on launching your book.

7) Being unable to find a publisher is no longer a show stopper. Although I would love to one day be part of a traditional publishing house, that is yet to come. Until the right opportunity arises, I have chosen to self-publish. The flexibility and control an author has with today’s self publishing options is unprecedented. Why not explore the possibilities? If your goal is merely to create a book to share with family and friends, it’s never been easier to make it happen.

These steps are to share where I am in the writing journey. There is a long way to go, and because I plan to do this forever, there really isn’t any rush. I guess my characters do have more of a sense of urgency, because they want to be commemorated – but that’s another story…
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