From time to time things happen that irk us in regards to our jobs/careers/professions.  We’ve all been there, probably more times that any of us would like to count.

Sometimes we really need to blow off steam, vent our frustrations, and just get our irritation off our chests.  There are right ways and wrong ways to go about getting this release. (more…)

Author Barbara Scott is holding a very easy contest. Visit her Itunes link and take a listen to the musical background for her novel Haunts of the Heart, available now at Aspen Mountain Press. 

Haunts of the Heart features one woman’s search for why two ghosts inhabit her childhood home.  The ghosts, Anthony and Neal died during the American Civil War, each under circumstances that neither fully understood.  Deanna attempts to discover what is keeping them tied to her home and in doing so falls in love with Neal.  But Neal’s secrets are as deep as those binding Anthony and while the truth will set each free, the truth is also what will tear their friendship apart and hurt them deeper than their own deaths have.

Highly recommended by Patricia White~Under the Covers Book Reviews who says:

A paranormal, of that much I can be reasonably positive, HAUNTS OF THE HEART is both contemporary and historical, a love story, a ghostly triangle and a real one, a murder, a suicide, an unlikely heroine, and a hero that is far from heroic.  It is a splendid read.  Written with power, verve, sensitivity, and insight, HAUNTS OF THE HEART opens new vistas in the romance genre–where, to my knowledge, it is unique (and most wonderfully so), breaking most of the established “rules” of what a romance should be and making us wonder why the rules were established in the first place.I wish each of you the joy of discovering Ms. Scott’s work.  It is incredible in its scope and vision.  Deanna Butterworth is a heroine you won’t soon forget–but possibly Anthony Linville and the Angel of Death will haunt you longer.  Ms. Scott, you have engaged my mind and tugged at my heart.  My thanks for allowing me the privilege of reviewing your book.

To enter Barbara’s contest, stop by and visit her website, then email her at BScott49 @ Charter.net (no spaces) and let her know you’d like to be a part of her contest.

The new year has officially arrived and if you’re like a lot of people you’ve set yourself some resolutions.  You know those promises you make to yourself to lose weight, quit smoking, or break some other noxious habit.

What about this year making a New Year’s Resolution that has a shot of attainability?  Are you SMART?  Do you include all the steps to goal setting?

Teachers learn about goal setting for their classrooms.  A seemingly random set of letters is drilled into their heads during their education classes…TSWBAT…the student will be able to.

Every lesson is supposed to be created with this in mind.  The student will be able to….

This phrase though has little meaning if the teacher fails to create a lesson plan that spells out just what the student will be able to do after the lesson and what accuracy level the teacher will set to know the student has achieved the lesson’s goal.  One teacher’s goal statement will be something like: The student will be able to accurately kick a ball into a soccer net with 70% accuracy.

Notice the statement relays just what is expected and how the teacher will know if s/he succeeded.  The statement is concrete and measurable.  The lesson plan would then continue to state how the teacher would go about teaching his/her students how to kick a soccer ball and how much time s/he expected to use to accomplish this goal.

We can take this idea and apply it to any goals we may set as long as we meet a few basic, SMART criteria.

S-Is this goal specific? Is it new or designed to stretch your abilities?

M-Is this goal meaningful?  In the above example, kicking a soccer ball into the net is meaningful for anyone learning the game of soccer, or anyone who wants to learn how to kick a ball.

A-Is it obtainable?  Seventy per cent is seven successes out of ten.  You can measure your success easily.  Kick a soccer ball ten times toward a soccer net and count how many go into the net.  Is this too easy? Or too hard?  A goal should stretch you in some way, and only you know if what you’ve set for yourself is reasonable which brings us to the next letter in our acronym.

R-Is the goal realistic?  A teacher has to consider how many students s/he has, how much time s/he can spend in teaching kicking fundamentals, and be flexible enough to adjust the plan for achieving the goal.  Perhaps in her class of thirty students, she has to give individual instruction to ten to fifteen students.  Perhaps a goal of teaching them how to kick a soccer ball into the net had been planed for one fifty-five minute period along with the testing.  Teaching ten to fifteen students individually will blow the fifty-five minutes allotted out of the water.

T-How long will it take you to achieve this goal? Perhaps our teacher will work on this particular skill for a week or two.  Determining length of time to achieve the goal will depend on how motivated s/he is to teach, how motivated the students are to learn and pass, and how much prior experience the students (and the teacher!) have with the material.  Kindergartners will need significantly more time than juniors in high school.

Can you be SMART and apply these principals to your New Year’s goals? Can you apply them to your writing, your weight loss, your determination to break a bad habit?  I’m sure you can, if you know what it is you want to accomplish, are motivated and make your goals measurable over a reasonable amount of time.

Today is the first day of a brand new year.  Be SMART with your resolutions and you’ll have a much better chance at accomplishing them!

Verbs are a vital part of the writer’s arsenal.  In fact, you can’t tell a story without them.  Todlers learning to talk have a natural affinity for verbs.  If you listen to a two or three year old speak, you will hear simple sentences containing an identifiable subject and a verb.  Those verbs, I might add, are quite active.  Think about the child who is telling you about something traumatic in their world.  “Doggie bite!”  There is no doubt what that little one is communicating.

As we get older, our sentence constructions get more complex and we add in those words to help sentences make better sense, especially to our ear.  Instead of hearing something like above, we may hear something along the lines of, “The black labrador has a problem with strangers. He tried to bite my foot.” 

Those additions, though, may seduce us into thinking we have an active verb driven story.  The above example isn’t very engaging. As writers you should look to tighten your work, engage your reader, and remove passive writing.  Frequently, one of the ways to make your sentence more action driven is to substitute the linking verb used with a verb depicting action.  Now the sentence might read, “The big, black lab ravaged my foot.” (Remember, these are off-the-cuff!)

How many linking verbs can you replace in a work to make your writing more vivid?  Plenty.  Take this tiny example.  She was depressed.  Was is a linking verb.  It shows depressed is related to she.  How can you replace was?  The blues hit her hard.  Now was has been converted into a verb of action and makes for a more interesting sentence.

Common linking verbs include: is, are, was, were, am, be, been, have, had, seem, felt, and a host more.  You can find lists in middle school, English grammar text books.

There are sentences you need to convey that must have a linking verb or a verb phrase to express the idea you want to get across.  Just beware, there may be a better way of saying writing the same idea that will be of more interest to your reader and will set your writing apart from the scores of others who haven’t conquered a passive voice.

Ever find yourself in an elevator and wonder what if I could…

A total of eight authors have wondered the same thing and written hot, sexy stories to describe their answer.  First we had Goin’ Down 1.  This week Aspen Mountain Press is excited to present Goin’ Down 2.  In the first sexy romance by author Tambra Kendall, two friends work together to make their business a success.  But it hasn’t stopped either from wanting more with the other.  What will happen to their business and their friendship if they give in to their lust?

An off duty police officer and a bank employee find themselves hiding in an elevator when violent robbers enter the builidng in the erotic romance, At Your Service by Blythe Phillips.

Karma Jones tells the fun tale of a condom saleman trying to close the year out with a bang.  He gets more than he bargained for in Elevator Encounters: Double Trouble.

Finally, Goin’ Down 2 brings us a burn-your-fingers menage story by Jane Leopold Quinn.If you thought sex in an elevator would be a difficult feat, try it with three!

 If the thought of illicit encounters in an elevator get your blood pumping you won’t want to miss either of these anthologies!

AND there’s more. 

Kara Griffin wows readers with Cosmic Hearts this week. 

This science fiction romance is full of twists and surprises.  For Chance, he needs to save his planet currently on a collision course with extinction of the most permanent kind.  Valeen is the princess of a nearby planet with problems of her own.  Chance thinks they can work something out to save his people. It just may work, too, if Valeen cooperates, and that is looking, well, chancy.   You see, males aren’t allowed to live on Valeen’s planet.

This week at Aspen Mountain Press discover sensual and erotic worlds in ebook reading.

Comma Usage

Simple Rules for Using Commas

1.  Use to separate items in a series, even if the items are groups of words.  A series is three or more items.

    Example: Bullets flew over our heads, ricocheted off the walls, and broke windows.

Use a comma before “and” when you get to the last item in the series.  Doing so prevents possible confusion.

    Example: Soil types include clay, loam, coarse sand, and gravel.  (Without the final comma the phrase would read “coarse sand and gravel” and would make one wonder if the soil is coarse sand mixed with gravel, or if it were two separate items.)

2.  Separate two or more adjectives preceding a noun with a comma.

    Example: She repainted the large, pink room.

    In nouns where an adjective acts as a part of the name no comma is needed.

    Example: Big horn sheep, electric light.

    If you’re not sure, test by placing the word “and” between these sorts of nouns.  If it sounds awkward, don’t use a comma.

    Example: Big and horn sheep

3.  Use a comma before “and”, “but”, “or”, “nor”, “for”, and “get” when they join the parts of a compound sentence.  Remember a compound sentence is two or more simple sentences.  A simple sentence has a subject and a verb.

    Example: John ran track, and Mary cheered from the stands. (Subject: John; verb: ran; conjunction: and; Subject: Mary; verb: cheered.

    Compound verbs and compound subjects generally do not have commas separating them, unless they are items in a series (see number 1).

    In the above example we could alter the sentence slightly to have a compound subject: John and Mary cheered from the stands. 

    We could also alter it slightly to be a compound verb: John ran track and afterwards cheered from the stands.

4.  Commas set off phrases that interrupt sentence flow. 

    If the appositive (means the same thing or person), direct address (a specific name in dialogue), or a parenthetical expression (words and phrases such as “in my opinion”, “of course”, “by the way”) comes at the beginning of the sentence, use a comma afterward; if it comes at the end of the sentence, use a comma before; otherwise use a comma on both sides of the expression.

    Example: Willie, my brother, lives two states away. (appositive)

    Example: “John, duck!” (direct address)

    Example: “Based on the criminal’s past history, in my professional opinion, a sentence of five years probation would be appropriate.” (parenthetical expression)

5.  Other standard comma usage.

    a) separate items in dates

    b) separate items in addresses

    c) after salutations in a letter

    d) after the closing of a letter before the signature

    e) after a speaker is finshed speaking in dialogue add a comma just before the end quotation marks before the dialogue tag

DO NOT INSERT COMMAS when you take a breath.  This creates comma splicing which you should avoid.  If you follow the guidelines set above, you’ll have few, if any, comma errors.

From time to time things happen that irk us in regards to our jobs/careers/professions.  We’ve all been there, probably more times than any of us would like to count.

Sometimes we really need to blow off steam, vent our frustrations, and just get our irritation off our chests.  There are right ways and wrong ways to go about getting this release.

1.  Talk to someone who can do something about it.  It could be your editor, or if you don’t feel comfortable with that, you could choose me.   It is always best to go to the source of your problem first, then the next level up if you can’t come to an agreement.

2. Don’t talk about your issues in a public forum.  Doing so violates the other person’s right to privacy.  You could be accused of libel:  a written or oral defamatory statement or representation that conveys an unjustly unfavorable impression b (1): a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt (2): defamation of a person by written or representational means (3): the publication of blasphemous, treasonable, seditious, or obscene writings or pictures (4): the act, tort, or crime of publishing such a libel.

3. Don’t burn your bridges.

Decisions get made and to be blunt, the health of the company is the primary concern.  The health of Aspen Mountain Press affects all the authors and editors.  You may not like certain editorial decisions.  Unless you have a really strong, compelling argument why a decision is “wrong”, I am going to back the editors.  But you also know that I’ve really striven to be accommodating to the authors here.  This is unlike nearly every other book and e-Book company I’ve known.  Horror stories abound where authors have: received fifty pages of editorial “direction”;  been asked to rewrite the first hundred pages of a novel four and five times; given input in regards to covers and blurbs and then totally ignored.  This list can go on ad nauseam.

I’ve worked in schools and in corporate America.  I didn’t agree with all the the policies and procedures that those entities insisted I follow.  I had two choices…stay or leave.  In no case did I publicly state why I left one employer in favor of another or why I felt company XYZ was wrong.  I did what my heart insisted I do, but in doing so I took the high road which I recommend everyone here do in every aspect of their lives.  I never knew if there would arise a situation where I would need to contact that company or school again, or perhaps one of the individuals employed there.  In a couple cases, I actually went back to work for the company I left.  If I’d left complaining loudly and publicly about management, the way problems were handled, and other issues, I’d never be able to have a positive  relationship in the future.

I keep an eye on the loops, I’m on over 100, (it’s why I get so much email) and I make note of the things I read…especially of the negative things I read.  I already know there are authors I will never contract because of their lack of professionalism on the loops.  I know the same is true of other publishers.  I know agents and editors hang out in some of these groups and I know they watch the blogs.  I’ve been told by two influential NYC houses that they do a web search on potential authors and read what they’ve posted.

I attend publishers’ conferences, authors’ conferences, workshops, etc…and if you think the competition doesn’t talk with one another, you are sadly mistaken.

So, do yourself and your career a huge favor.  Think and speak positively.  And if something is really bothering you, follow some sage, ancient advice…If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.  In our contemporary times cultivating the positive relationships,  is simply called “networking”. 

So, is your network strong or weak? 

Shared World series are quite popular and can be really fun to read. But they can be really tricky (and frustrating) to write in.

A shared world usually starts with a concept or core idea that is built to be the background for the stories in the series. This can be a place, a person, or an event, depending on the idea and vision for the series.

Some shared world series may be limited to a certain number of stories or open ended as well.

Some shared worlds start with the story of the core idea or concept as the first story in the series. These have the benefit of having the story really laid out so authors that follow on with other stories can follow pretty closely and avoid potential collisions or breaks in the world. But for that, it sacrifices the anticipation that can be created by withholding the final resolution or revelation until interest in the series drops off.

Some publishers or authors decide to save the story that is the basis of the shared world until the very end. That actually can make it more difficult for the authors because you have a world that is more in flux. You may want to use or address an aspect that the person in charge of the series has not considered. Can you do it? Is it the right thing to do? Is your addition going to blow things for authors already partially written?

Difficult questions indeed.

Most shared worlds or series have a bible to offer to authors who might want to write in that world. Be sure you get a copy of that bible and be sure you ask for updates if you take a while between original receipt and finishing your story.

How detailed that bible is can vary greatly. I’ve seen some that are a single page of vague information. I’ve seen some that are 20 page tomes. In general, the more detailed, the more you are able to get answers for. But the more detailed, the less freedom the individual authors have to improvise.

Try to read other stories in that world and see how other authors have treated the shared elements. It will also show you how closely in line they are.

Personally, I like to have the rules laid out and not have unfortunate surprises emerge. Those can be a change in the basic workings of the world or characters, imposition of a mythos not previously present or someone being allowed to write as a shared character when the other authors were told not to. All of these can cause huge chaos in the other world stories and can even cause readers to be upset if the different authors are using different versions of that shared world.

I hate to have these mistakes, myself. Inconsistency makes me nuts and though I’ve written in shared worlds, I find myself less likely to do so after some of these have hit me. I’m very Type A.

But, you know, these things DO happen if you are writing in a shared world that YOU do not control. A lot of the time they are not conscious, they are spur of the moment decisions or ones made without thought to the consequences because they seemed fun at first glance. But they disrupt everyone.

There is also the issue that shared worlds and their characters generally belong to the publishing house that publishes them. If you leave that house or they stop the series, you may not be able to resell that work to another house. It’s something to keep in mind.

Shared worlds do come with some great benefits - a shared fan base, other authors to work with, combined promo opportunities, interesting characters and concepts to play with, etc. And they are FUN to write.

Only individual authors can decide if the potential benefits and drawbacks of wrting in a shared world are worth it. Don’t shrug them off without a second thought, but always approach with caution and a bit of “forewarned is forearmed.”

(All opinions and statements in this post are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Aspen Mountain Press. Yell at me, if you wish.)

I keep hearing a statement from aspiring authors that absolutely makes me shudder. There seems to be a belief that spelling and grammar issues are solely the job of editors and don’t need to be worried about by the authors.

It’s true that, when the rubber hits the road, we editors are responsible for correcting spelling and grammar issues. But failure to make your work the cleanest and best it can be possible before you submit it may mean you never reach that point. The editor (or agent) may never even request a full because their appreciation of your story may not be enough to balance the costs and resources needed to get it through the publication process.

The first thing aspiring authors have to understand is that your submission – be it synopsis, partial or full – is your interview for a contract. It’s what you will be judged on. Why would you choose to make less than the best impression you possibly could? Would you show up to interview for a modeling shot with grimy hair and say that’s the hairdresser’s job? Shooting yourself in the foot is not a great start to any venture.

Now, keep in mind that almost every submission contains some errors, that’s normal and expected. But a plethora of easy to find and fix ones tells me (accurately or not) that the author doesn’t care enough to do the very best job possible. That it’s not important to the author. Are they lazy? Are they going to be difficult to work with?

Another thing it tells me is that if I contract this work, it will cost my house more money to get it in shape for publishing than it would an equivalent story that is cleaned up and corrected. The longer I have to spend on it, the longer my line editors or proofers have to spend on it, the more it costs. Publishing is still a business and it’s part of my job to make the best use of my house’s resources as I can.

It also directly affects my ability to appreciate and enjoy the story. Like it or not, each time I see an error, it drags me out of the story and breaks my immersion. Too many times and I can’t follow the story very well and end up not liking it as much as I possibly could have. You don’t want to let mechanical errors get in the way of the story.

I want to strongly encourage anyone who submits a work for publication to utilize the marvels of spellcheck and the eagle eyes of a test reader or critique partner. Make your submission as clean and correct as you possibly can before you submit it and you will increase your chances of acceptance.

The last several manuscripts I’ve edited have suffered from what I call the “Laundry List Syndrome” so I thought I’d take a moment to mention it here.

A laundry list is when an author tries to mention a whole lot of things at once instead of dribbling them in a little at a time. In some cases it appears as part of an info-dump but sometimes it just appears out of the blue.

As an example, here’s a laundry list:

The stranger turned around and she couldn’t believe her eyes: black hair, blue eyes, a strong chin, a nose with a slight crook to the side and tanned cheeks dusted with a dark five o’clock shadow.

The author in this laundry list is merely dumping out facts. It’s dry and the reader tends to just skim over it.

It would be much more effective to give each of these facts individual emphasis. It makes it more enjoyable to read and more memorable as well.

Try this in contrast:

The dark haired stranger turned around and she couldn’t believe her eyes. His glossy black hair curled around his tanned face in waves that made her fingers itch to smooth it back. Piercing cobalt eyes were framed by lush black lashes, the darkness echoed in the hint of razor stubble dusting his strong chin. Only the slight bump and crooked slant of a long-ago broken nose saved his face from being too pretty.

I’d usually space it out more than that and I realize it’s not the best paragraph ever, but look how much more memorable it is than the laundry list?

One magic clue to an imminent laundry list is using a colon… If you find yourself using a colon, ask yourself why and if there is a better way to present the information you are about to list.