Time for a Celebration!

Don't we all love and appreciate a reason to celebrate? Celebrating the milestones we've reached, big or small, can be a wonderful gift. It can remind us of how far God has brought us, of how much we have to be thankful for, and it can give us extra "oomph" to keep on pushing forward.

Last week during my spring break I finished the first draft of my manuscript. Yes, it's a little shorter than it probably should be. Yes, it needs some polishing and editing. But still, the first draft is done!!! And thanks to some wonderful comments on my personal blog (Seasons of Humility), as well as the kind words of dear family and friends, I'm reminded to be grateful for getting this far.

For all of you writers out there (and even if you're not a writer), let's celebrate! God has a purpose for our lives, and He works through us to fulfill it. I think that's cause for rejoicing, no matter where you are on the journey God has planned for you!

I also have a shameless plug for today in regards to my personal blog... This week is my first blogoversary (one year anniversary of the creation of my blog), so I'm celebrating with some fun posts, including author interviews and giveaways! Here's a peek at the schedule:

• Monday (today!), March 28: Movie reviews and $15 Amazon.com giveaway

• Tuesday, March 29: Interview with author Laura Frantz and giveaway of her book, Courting Morrow Little

• Wednesday, March 30: Interview with author Julie Lessman and giveaway of winner's choice of one of her books

• Thursday, March 31: Interview with our very own S. Dionne Moore and special book giveaway!

• Friday, April 1: Interview with author Leanna Ellis and possible book giveaway

• Saturday, April 2: Winners announced

I do hope you'll stop by Seasons of Humility and join the party! Maybe you'll be one of the lucky winners and have even more reason to celebrate!

And let's hope the other BB authors don't mind the shameless plug... ;)

Anybody else have some fun reasons to celebrate this week? We'd love to cheer with you!

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Winners!!

It's always so much fun to give away great books!! Congratulations to this week's lucky winner:

H Cerasoli - Code of Justice by Liz Johnson

H, please use the button in the upper right side of this page to email me with your mailing address so I can forward your information to the author. Then, sit back and wait for your book to arrive.

Thank you all so much for stopping by The Borrowed Book and thank you, Liz Johnson, for your generosity in providing a book!

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Weekly Drawing

Entering our weekly drawing is easy:

1. Leave a comment on Fridays or...

2. Sign up to follow The Borrowed Book. Followers will automatically be entered for a chance to win that week's drawing!

This week, The Borrowed Book is giving away:

Code of Justice by Liz Johnson ~ "Follow the drugs."

Her sister's last words shake FBI agent Heather Sloan to the core. They also convince her that the helicopter crash only Heather survived wasn't an accident. Sheriff's deputy Jeremy Latham is assigned the case—he's the one who can help Heather find the person responsible…once she convinces him they should work together. As they dig for the truth, they learn to trust and care for each other. Will they lose it all when the killer targets Heather? She's willing to risk her life to find her sister's killer—but her code of justice could cost her the chance to win Jeremy's love.


Winners will be announced on Saturday, 03/26/11.

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Dana Mentink Discusses Self-Publishing on Kindle and Nook

I am thrilled to have my friend multi-published author Dana Mentink as a guest on The Borrowed Book today. Dana lives in California where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Her family includes two little girls (affectionately nicknamed Yogi and Boo Boo.) Papa Bear works for the fire department and he met Dana doing a dinner theater production of The Velveteen Rabbit. Ironically, their parts were husband and wife.

Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, is a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice nominee. She spent her college years competing in speech and debate tournaments all around the country. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching Sunday school and working in an elementary school. Mostly, she loves to be home with Papa Bear, Yogi, Boo Boo, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle and a gaggle of fish.

Welcome, Dana. I know you are a multi-published author in CBA, but you recently self-published a book on Amazon.com's Kindle and Barnes and Noble's Nook. Had you tried to sell this book to a traditional publisher?

Yes. It was a full length, fully edited romantic comedy that had made the rounds and been declined. “There’s just not a big market for inspy romantic comedy,” I heard repeatedly from the various houses, so I decided to make my own market. Power to the people!

What made you decide to take this approach to publishing?

A full length, fully edited book sitting in a desk drawer is painful to a writer, no? Also, don’t tell anyone, but my natural inclination is towards humor and I feel frustrated that there are so few avenues for humor in Christian fiction. I have Christian friends with FABOO senses of humor. I am quite sure there are plenty of people who enjoy a good laugh as they read. This book is for those people. I seem to be branded in my print life as a suspense writer, so this is a way to entertain my inner comic. Laughter is good medicine, after all.

I'm with you on that. I love to laugh, and I enjoy books that appeal to my sense of humor. Publishing a book that didn't sell sounds like a great idea. The material belongs to you, and you don't share the royalties with a publisher. What kind of a process did you have to go through to acquire the copyright on your book?

Well, I applied for an ISBN number. There are many sites where you can purchase one. Sadly, they aren’t cheap, but I felt it was worth it to protect my work. That’s about all I did.

I’ve looked on the Amazon website, and it offers a guide to formatting your work. Did you do your formatting?

I’ve got to fully disclose here. I TRIED. I REALLY did, but I do not understand HTML. It’s like reading tax forms or something. Completely baffling! I even downloaded a handy guide and read all the Amazon instructions, but I couldn’t get that silly book to format correctly. I guess I’m a perfectionist, because I paid a freelancer to do the formatting for me. Wham bang! She had it done in 24 hours. We’ve all got our gifts.

Once you have the formatting done, how difficult is it to upload your material to the site?

Once it’s formatted, the uploading is easy peasy. Barnes and Noble and Amazon both walk you through the process.

How have you marketed this book? Has it taken more time that what you’ve done with your other books?

I’ve just done the same marketing efforts that I do with the print books. Too early to tell if that’s been effective!

What is the name of your book?

The book is called Desert Desperate.

Please give us a blurb about it.

The Arizona desert is lovely in August. If you’re a cactus. If you’re not green and prickly it’s like standing in the bottom of a volcano hoping your SPF 15 will do the trick. So how does Simone Greevey, a twenty something e-zine editor from San Francisco wind up wearing a duck costume in sweltering Seepwillow, Arizona? In Desert Desperate, Simone loses her job and her fiancé in one fell swoop and runs to the arms of her eccentric aunt, owner of the Ruddy Duck trailer park, a hundred miles from nowhere.

There she meets Chaz Tagliola, a guy who doesn’t know Jimmy Choo from Jiminy Cricket, a man with a passion for God and the one thing Simone has tried to forget about for the decade since her father’s death. Before her suitcase is unpacked; Simone’s aunt disappears, leaving Chaz and Simone to lead a five day junior high school Bible study camp. Bug lightings? Hot dog roasts? Cactus jam recipes? It’s a whole new world for a San Francisco girl. Throw in a mysterious park tenant and a breathtaking natural discovery and the stage is set for Simone to learn a divine lesson that will rock her world in a big way.

I purchased the book for my Kindle, and I LOVED it! Your keen sense of humor makes each page sparkle. In fact, I laughed out loud over and over. And I really liked your hero and heroine. The scenes between Simone and Chaz show their differences, yet you know they were meant for each other. You also wowed me with your knowledge of the Arizona desert. How do you know so much about that part of the country?

Awww, that’s so sweet that you bought a copy! I’m electing you president of the Dana Mentink Fan Club. I’m glad you liked the book. I think deserts are facinating. Not so fascinating that I’d actually move there or anything, but I appreciate the desert in a theoretical sense. I enjoy researching and have visited a few deserts in my time.

I'd be honored to be the president of your fan club. I want to read more of your romantic comedies. What do you have planned next?

I’ve got another one finished and edited that will go ebook soon. It’s called Falling In Ferocious.

Would you recommend this alternative to traditional publishing to other authors who’re struggling to make a first sale?

Tough to say. I didn’t get around to epubbing until I had many print books under my belt. That lends a whiff of legitimacy to the book, I believe. It’s sort of a buyer beware when you purchase an e-book because there are less quality controls. I still think it’s a better use of time to work on publishing short articles and stories for traditional venues to build credentials rather than self pub right off the bat.

Do you have any other advice for readers who also want to become published authors?

Develop a thick skin and share your work with more experienced writers. You really do learn much more from gentle critique than from Grandma Nellie’s glowing praise. Trust me on that one. (No offense, Grandma Nellie!)

Thank you for dropping by today, Dana, and sharing your thoughts on an alternative to traditional publishing. I'm sure our readers have learned a lot.

What about it? Do you have a book that you haven't been able to sell and think this might be your answer? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

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Author Interview ~ Liz Johnson

Liz Johnson grew up reading Christian fiction and dreamed of being part of the publishing industry. After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, she set out to fulfill her dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position at a major trade book publisher. While working in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream—becoming an author. Liz makes her home in Nashville, TN, where she enjoys theater, exploring the local music scene, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her two nephews and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings.

Did you see yourself becoming a writer as a child? If not, what did you dream of being?

I’m not sure I saw myself becoming an author, but I definitely always loved to write. I wrote my first short story when I was 7 and my first (really, really bad) novel when I was 12 or 13. Throughout high school I wanted to be a physical therapist, but when I got to college I realized that I’d have to take a lot of science classes, and I was really bad at science. But talking to people and writing had always been easy for me, so I decided I was going to work in Christian publishing, and I worked at it until God opened that door for a job as a publicist 5 years ago.

How long did you write before you sold your first book?

I wrote all through high school (mostly fan fiction) and I wrote a really terribly plotted full-length novel in college. I took the Christian Writers Guild apprentice course after college, but it wasn’t until I moved to Colorado in 2006 that I started to get really serious about getting published.

Many of the people who follow our blog are aspiring writers themselves. Can you share your favorite writing tip with them?

My favorite piece of writing advice is one I heard at a writers conference years ago. A speaker was sharing about a failing office cleaning business on the verge of bankruptcy. And then a businessman bought it and gave it a new business model and turned it into Merry Maids, one of the largest companies in the country. This businessman saw that the company was worth starting. It had just been started poorly. The speaker equated that to writing. Anything worth starting is worth starting badly. You can go back and fix what needs to be fixed. Just get it started.

Now for the readers…many times, it’s easy for them to connect with the characters in a book, but not so much the authors themselves. Share something about your day-to-day life that might help a reader to feel as though they know you a little better.

My day-to-day life isn’t very exciting. Like many writers, I have a full-time job. Mine is in marketing for a Christian publisher, which is pretty cool. I market books written by one of my writing heroes, which is very cool. And at the end of the day I go home and sit in front of my laptop, trying to write new books. In my free time I love to plan trips to far-off locations that I hope to get to visit. Usually I try to think of a good book idea related to said location, so I can have a valid reason to visit. It works about half of the time.

Now that you are published, do you still experience rejections? If so, how are these rejections different or similar to the ones you received before becoming published?

I’m sorry. I hope it was okay for me to laugh at this question. Of course I still get rejected! I’ve had a YA series that’s been rejected from all but 2 Christian publishers out there. And I’m pretty sure those other 2 sent rejection letters that got lost in the mail. Rejection is just part of the writing process. And while it’s certainly not easy, it is part of growing and learning as a writer. The difference now is that the rejection letters go to my agent, who sends me the gentler versions of them. But they still sting. And I still struggle with taking them too personally. But sometimes, just sometimes, those rejection letters turn into acceptance letters. Both of my publishers rejected my first books with them and then ended up contracting those same stories. What I’ve come to learn from rejection letters is that I can’t always please everyone. But God has promised that if we come to him with a contrite heart, He won’t reject us. I take comfort in that.

Tell us a little about your latest release:

Code of Justice is my third book from Love Inspired Suspense and tells the story of FBI agent Heather Sloan, who is the only survivor of a deadly helicopter crash that takes the life of her sister Kit. As Heather begins to recover from her injuries, she realizes that the crash may not have been an accident and she has to investigate Kit’s last words, “Follow the drugs.” Sheriff’s deputy Jeremy Latham is assigned the case—he’s the only one who can help Heather find the person responsible. But as they begin to trust and care for each other, they may lose it all when the killer targets Heather.

If you could only share one line from CODE OF JUSTICE, which one would you choose and why?

This is a tough question. The line that I love the most is toward the end of the book, but if I quote it, it’ll give away the ending. I will just say that at one point Heather realizes that showing mercy is not the opposite of justice—it just frees her from a burden she was never intended to carry.

Writers often put things in their books that are very personal—like a funny story that happened to them, a spiritual truth they learned through difficulty, or even just a character trait that is uniquely theirs. Is there something in CODE OF JUSTICE that only people close to you know is about you or someone you know?

The key verse of Code of Justice is Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Around about the time I was 12, I had a minor (or major, if you ask my dad) attitude problem. Whenever something didn’t go as I hoped, I’d pop out with an “Oh, man!” So my dad decided that any time I offered my “Oh, man!” I’d have to follow it up with Micah 6:8. I memorized that verse pretty fast, and it stuck with me all these years. So when I sat down to write Code of Justice, I knew the themes of the book would fit with justice and mercy, things that God requires of us.

Readers often talk a lot about the hero and heroine of a story, but today I’d like to know something about your villain. Does he or she have a redeeming quality? Why or why not?

That’s a great question, but I’m sorry to say, he has no redeeming qualities. He’s just plumb greedy and selfish. He doesn’t care who he hurts, and he loves no one but himself. But I think that reveals more about the heroine’s choices at the end of the book than anything else.

What kind of research did you have to do for this book? Can you share some articles or website links you found particularly helpful?

I did quite a bit of research on how helicopters work and what kinds of choppers might be used for tourism. I also read a lot about ACL injuries and how long it takes to recover from an ACL surgery, as that was Heather’s main injury from the crash.

Tell us what new projects you’re working on.

I just completed a manuscript that will be part of A Log Cabin Christmas Collection available from Barbour in September. My novella is called "A Star in the Night" and is set at the end of the Civil War in Franklin, Tennessee. I’m also working on several proposals for other projects.

The most common thing I hear when people learned I’ve published a book is, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” Faced with this statement, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in this business?

I don’t get this too often, and when I do, I’m usually tongue tied. If I’m really on the ball, I ask what they’ve written recently. Usually they say they haven’t written anything, so I suggest if they’re serious they should get started writing.

What is the one question you were afraid I would ask…and how would you answer?

The one question I always get and absolutely hate is: Why aren’t you married yet? It’s the plight of the single late 20- and 30-something women in our Christian culture. The unanswerable question. I have no idea why I haven’t met Mr. Right yet. But one thing I do know is that it’s been much easier for me to follow God’s call on my life over the last 5 years (and 3 cross-country moves) as a single woman than it would have been as a married woman with kids. While I’m waiting, I’ll try to get a few more books written. :)

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To learn more about Liz and her books, visit her at http://www.lizjohnsonbooks.com/.
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Liz is giving away a copy of her book, Code of Justice. Be sure to stop by The Borrowed Book on Friday for your chance to win!

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Writing 101: Where, oh, where do I begin?

I’ve seen this numerous times. Young writers who don’t quite know where to begin their stories. They slip in a prologue that is nothing more than backstory, or a litany of description of the characters and the surroundings and call it chapter one. OY!

While now it is easy for me to see where a manuscript, particularly a romance, *should* begin, it wasn’t always so. It really is something you learn. You learn that backstory is not front-loaded but woven. You learn that introducing a character is all about being intimate with their GMC *before you begin the story*. And you learn that the first scene should play hard and fast with establishing the voice of the character as well as establishing purpose.

Let’s look closely at what I mean. I’m dragging out my very first manuscript to use as an example. This story centers around a young man out for revenge (Goal). His first hurdle is he has no idea where to find the man he thinks murdered his wife(Conflict). Motivation for him to pursue the killer is evidenced in this, chapter one, scene one, by his love for his young wife and that she carried their unborn child at the time of her death.

Krystoff Worthington’s long fingers slid over the book’s scarred leather, the cracked cover reminiscent of his shattered life. The slim volume fell open on his lap. He thumbed through the pages made buttery soft from wear, tattered around the edges, ripped in some places, stained in others. But the words were still visible. He could hear the melodic tones of Meg’s voice as she’d read each poem aloud the night he’d presented her with the book. Krys fanned the pages, longing to savor some new hint of her presence—perhaps the smell of lilacs or the sight of a stray hair fallen from her auburn locks. He envisioned her in the wing chair the rare first edition—his Christmas present to her—spread on her lap. All an illusion. Now, the odor rising from the pages was one of mustiness and neglect.

Krystoff shut the book, resisting the urge to read the spidery script inside the front cover. He’d committed the words to memory long ago. But like a great black bat, its message flitted through his mind, a mocking litany of happier times. The sound of her laughter. The warm light of Meg’s eyes as she placed his hand on her still-flat stomach. “A boy or a girl, darling?”

What I’ve attempted to do is give a glimpse into his character and the dilemma in which he finds himself. I give only the slightest hint of setting, gunning more for mood. While his goal is not expressed outright, I’m setting the tone so that the reader instinctively understands there is a problem and, by the end of the chapter, where the problem is going to lead our hero.

I often see new writers express a goal outright. “Bill needed revenge like he needed water.” Yet this is telling and we all know that telling is not a good thing. At least, not always a good thing, but in this case it definitely is not. You want to draw the reader in. Intrigue them with the events taking place and build the world (setting) in which your characters dwell carefully.

A short list of things to consider before beginning:

1. Begin with an event pivotal to the character. Some refer to this as the inciting incident--that moment when your character is faced with a decision that will lead him/her on a journey. In this case that journey is your story.
2. Avoid backstory. Unless it is essential to the character’s development (and 95% of the time it isn’t, so don’t kid yourself) no more than a well-crafted sentence or two.
3. Avoid long passages of description. Just as with backstory, a sentence or two is enough to ground the reader in the setting.
4. Focus on placing your character in a situation that shows positives of his/her personality. This is especially critical if your character begins as someone not well-liked by others. Even the worst person has redeeming qualities. Having this type of personality display vulnerability can cast a more compassionate light on them.
5. After showing a positive personality trait or vulnerability, you can lay the groundwork for some not so great traits, just be careful to keep a careful balance here or the reader will hate your character.
6. Know the GMC for your character and have a firm grip on how they will grow and what events will grow them through the entire story *before beginning!* Those who don’t plot out a character arc first often flounder around for that perfect beginning spot.

What about you? Do you struggle with where to begin your story? How do you resolve the problem? Want to add anything to the list of things to consider?

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Making Your Vacation Work For You

This week is spring break for me, and even though I'm enjoying some down-time at home, I think this would be a great time to talk about making vacations work for you as a writer.

I know, I know..."vacations" and "work" don't even belong in the same sentence, right?

You'd be surprised!

When I was in high school, I did the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, which gave me a year's worth of college credit at Corban University (so I'll be graduating a year early!). In order to complete the program, I had to write an "Extended Essay," which was a research paper on a topic of my choice.

I ended up choosing to write about an old mining town in Nevada, killing two birds with one stone, so to speak--because that town is one of the main settings of my first manuscript! So when we went to Nevada the summer before my senior year for some vacation time, I got to do some great research. And guess what? My family and I loved spending time there so much that we just had to return the past two summers!

While I enjoyed visiting the museums and doing "real" research, just being there--experiencing the town for myself, talking to the people who live there, and exploring the setting--helped me so much with my work-in-progress. In other words, just being a good tourist has had wonderful benefits! It's so much easier to write about a place you've been to, and the townspeople who have lived there for years often know a lot of great facts and stories.

Even if your vacations take you to places you're not currently writing about, not only can you learn a lot about life in general by visiting new places, but you never know if someday you'll eventually want to write about your vacation destinations!

For example, when I was 15-years-old I was blessed with an amazing opportunity to go to Israel for two weeks. Now, I haven't attempted to write a story set in Israel, but maybe someday... ;) But even if I never write about it, learning about Israel's history and seeing the country for myself broadened my perspectives and made the history and settings of the Bible much more vivid and personal for me.

And even small field trips/class trips can be so rewarding!

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the McLoughlin House (in Oregon City, Oregon) and Fort Vancouver for my Literature of the American West class. At Fort Vancouver there were people acting out various roles, including women in the kitchen, blacksmiths, and a carpenter. They had so much knowledge of the history of the Fort to share with us, and I loved being able to "step back in time" and experience the candlelit kitchen, the sounds, the smells, and the whole atmosphere of the early/mid 19th century. Just standing in that kitchen with the warmth of the fire, the dim lighting, and the pleasant smells of freshly cooked food made me think I might want to file the experience away as a possible story setting!

So yes, vacations are fun and can be very relaxing, but there's no harm in making them work for you! ;) Soak up the sights, sounds, and smells, and don't forget to carry a little notebook in your purse for those unexpected moments of inspiration and those delightful opportunities to get setting/history details that will make your stories real and engaging!

Are you going on a vacation soon that might lend itself to research for a current and/or future manuscript? Have any good vacation-research stories to share?

(These pictures are from the trips I mentioned--a stage coach ride in Nevada, a 1st century experience in Nazareth Village in Israel, and the sign at Fort Vancouver. I'm the middle person in the top two pictures, and the only one in the bottom picture.)

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