When you’re on deadline and the time changes and you freak out when you lose an hour by Jina Bacarr
March 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category Jina’s Book Chat, Writing tagged as #Historical, clocks forward, editing, Paris, time change, women's fiction, World War 2, writing
when the time changes and you don’t…
If there’s one thing we writers never have enough of…
It’s time.
Words we got… thousands.
Coffee… by the potful.
Comfy bunny slippers… on automatic re-order from Amazon.
But time?
That’s as elusive as the instant bestseller.
I’m on autopilot this week until whenever to get it all together and bring my next Paris WW2 novel home for my publisher Boldwood Books. Amazing company. They take good care of their authors… fabulous marketing team… I love my editor, Isobel… and the company has won several ‘Best Publisher’ awards in the UK and is up for more awards this year.
And my fellow authors are like family to me.
But in the end, it’s up to me to write the damn book.
Sweat, tears… blood. Yes, I changed the order because I sweat the small stuff like commas and the big stuff like research which turns into major tears when I realize writing never gets easier but tougher (you demand more of yourself)… and blood because if you don’t bleed onto the page, you’re not giving it your all.
So, mes amis, tonight is the night we turn the clocks forward and lose the hour.
But guess what. I’ve decided to do something about it.
I’m going to type twice as fast for a solid hour (accuracy is another story) and write twice as many words and–
Voilà!
I’ve got my hour back… at least for tonight.
Tomorrow?
Well, that’s another day.
===============
Some great book news:
The trade paperback of my Paris WW2 novel THE LOST GIRL OF PARIS
is coming to THE WORKS stores in the UK… so check it out if you’re in the United Kingdom.
Listen to an excerpt in the video below…
E-book:
My heroine, Angeline de Cadieux, is a Roma girl in WW2 Paris… she’s strong, fights in the Resistance… makes exquisite perfumes and comes up with an amazing marketing campaign during the war to boost morale in France.
Thank you!
————–
And THE RUNAWAY GIRL is a Kindle Monthly Deal in Australia.
Thanks for listening… and now back to our regularly scheduled craziness.
Jina
How to Make Your Manuscript S-P-A-R-K-L-E: 7 Editing Tips to Make Your Second Draft Stand Out
February 20, 2023 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, editing, Tanya Agler
Presented by: Tanya Agler
Date: March 11, 2023
Saturday, 9AM PT, 10AM MT, 11AM CT, 12 Noon, ET
Registration Closes: March 12, 2023
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $5
Non-A2P Member fee: $10
About the Workshop:
How to Make Your Manuscript S-P-A-R-K-L-E:
A hook, your book, and the cook. This program explores ways to make your manuscript pop during the editing process. Were there places in your work-in-progress that you wanted to skip over? If so, it’s time to make your manuscript S-P-A-R-K-L-E. This workshop will cover seven areas to add layers and depth to your manuscript from starting strong (S) to ending stronger (E). Writers will leave with a question guide they can tailor and send to beta readers.
About the Presenter:
Tanya Agler remembers the first romance novel her grandmother gifted her, and she’s been in love with the genre ever since. A former past president of Georgia Romance Writers, Tanya Agler is a graduate of the University of Georgia (with a degree in journalism and a law degree) makes her home in metro Atlanta with her wonderful husband, their four children, and a lovable rescue beagle. An award-winning author, including the Maggie Award of Excellence and the Golden Rose, she has written six novels for Harlequin Heartwarming, and her seventh, Caught by the Cowgirl, is scheduled for a May 2023 release. Tanya is a member of Novelists, Inc., Georgia Romance Writers, Contemporary Romance Writers, ACFW, and RWA.
When she’s not writing, Tanya loves classic movies, chocolate, and a good cup of tea.
She is represented by Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency. Visit her at www.tanyaagler.com or email her at tanyaagler@gmail.com
Are you an author or a writer? and my TikTok Confession by Jina Bacarr
January 11, 2023 by Jina Bacarr in category historical fiction, Holocaust, Jina’s Book Chat, Paris novels, Writing tagged as author, Berlin, editing, Paris, World War 2, Writer, writing@jinabacarrauthor WIP woes… #booktok #authorlife #writersoftiktok #amwriting #ameditingfiction #womensfiction #booktoker @bookandtonic #writer #authorsoftiktok #heartbreakingstories #amediting edit
No, this isn’t a trick question.
It’s the challenge we ladies of the pen all face in our social media, digital, crazy, mad, mad world…
The answer is: BOTH.
The writer is me in total chaos working on an insanely difficult book about rape in France during World War II with a deadline looming. My office is a mess, I’m a mess… the manuscript, thank God, is NOT a mess but it’s not finished yet. Weaving such a trauma against the backdrop of the Nazi Occupation is the most gut-wrenching task I’ve ever faced. It’s taken me a while to get a handle on the story of two sisters and how the rape of one of them affects them both.
That’s the writer me.
—–
Now for the author me.
That’s the me writing this post because this is my chance every month to reach out to you guys and let you know what’s going on in my world. It’s how we present ourselves to the book world and at times is as just as trying and difficult as the writer me.
Hence, my TikTok confession.
I hope you enjoy my video showing me in my office drowning in research material… oh, Lord.
——–
And now for some good stuff, if I may.
My WW2 story THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN is now FREE to read in PRIME on Amazon
THE OPRHANS OF BERLIN
Meet the Landau Sisters barely surviving in Nazi Germany… and Kay Alexander, the amazing debutante from Philadelphia who will stop at nothing to save them from the Nazis in 1939 Berlin…
And of course, there’s a British pilot hero to die for…
—————
0 0 Read moreWhat’s With the New Year?
January 6, 2023 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as editing, happy new year, Lark O. Jensen, Linda O. Johnston, New Books, Writing Plans
Happy 2023, everyone! Should it be happy for a writer? Well, that depends on what you’re writing and what you want to accomplish in the new year.
Me? Well, I’ll have three new books published this year: Undercover Cowboy Defender, part of my Shelter of Secrets series for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Cry Wolf, my second Alaska Untamed mystery for Crooked Lane under my pseudonym Lark O. Jensen, and CSI Colton and the Pregnant Witness, part of the large Harlequin Colton series—this year, Colton NYC.
I’m currently working on edits for CSI Colton and the Pregnant Witness and Cry Wolf. Next will come a couple more books in Shelter of Secrets. And more? Well, my mind is always churning on ideas that I haven’t yet fleshed out. And I probably will with at least some of them.
And you? If you’re a writer, do you have this year planned? Are you working on something you’ve already sold or determined to publish independently? Even if you have a day job, I suspect your mind is also moving along similar paths to mine, figuring out what you’ll write when—and how much you can accomplish in 2023.
Do you plan over the long term? Weekly? Monthly? Or do you just see how things go?
And do you allow distractions to slow you down, at least a bit—like me? My 11-month-old puppy Roxie still has lots of energy and she knows how to get my attention to throw toys to fetch even while I’m writing. Or, she’ll attack our older dog Cari and they’ll run around the house growling in fun at each other, another distraction. What’s your most fun distraction?
And where do you want to be at the end of 2023 when you tell the world all you’ve accomplished this year? Me? I want to continue writing and playing with the dogs and coming up with even more ideas and following through with them. Oh, yes. I intend to enjoy 2023.
Some of Linda’s Books
Micromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
October 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Editing Your Novel Together by E. J. Williams, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as co-writing, E.J. Williams, editing, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Will Zeilinger, writing partners
Editing Your Novel Together
Micromanaging your Manuscript During Editing #5
By E.J. Williams
(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)
Writing together as E. J. Williams, husband and wife, Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn author the INTER-NATIONAL CRIME FILES, a hardboiled/thriller detective series that takes the reader to 1960s southern California, then on to international locales.
Even after you’ve written the best book in the world, the pesky task of editing rears its ugly head! To those of you who love editing…our hats are off to you. We have come up with several suggestions that may help ease the editing process, whether you are editing your book for your editor, publisher, agent, or yourself.
Micromanage each chapter when you edit. Start big, the chapters, then move to scenes and last sentences. Once you get to the sentence stage, fix every tiny problem or error you find. We know, when you are done, you can probably recite your manuscript by heart, but this is necessary.
Though this mind-numbing task is necessary, it can bring about a great deal of pride when the process is complete. As a couple who write together, we have found these tips work well whether you are working alone or with someone.
And yes…we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
Some of Janet’s and Will’s Books
0 0 Read more
Featured Books
REMEMBERED: A Prelude Novella to The Existence Series
One invention and two men hoping to change the way humans connect—through memory exchanges
More info →
