Will you be doing Nanowrimo this year?

Absolutely.

I've been sitting on my hands waiting to start my novel. It's the sequel to a different WIP I've been working on for the past 4 months.

I'm going to be dabbling in erotic fantasy (think other worlds, magic, etc.). So far, I see the series as having 4-5 novels in it, but there may end up being more. I have the 4-5 plotted out in my head. I think there will probably be more, I just have to make some decisions about a few characters.

The first work in the series is a novel stemming from a rejection I received on a short story. I received invaluable feedback during the rejection, and I can't thank the editor who rejected it more. The short story truly needed to be rejected for several reasons, not the least of which because there was much, much more story to be told than what I submitted as a 3500 word piece.

I'll likely not be blogging much in November because my goal is to get book one revised and ready to send out while writing the rough copy of book 2.

Do you read in the same genre in which you write, or do you feel it will taint your writing?

I absolutely read in the same genres while I write. A lot of writers think maybe they'll accidentally copy another writer's idea, but I think that's a lot of hogwash. Reading is one of the best ways to learn how to write. Not only do I learn a lot about what works, but I also learn about what doesn't work. There are a lot of published writers out there who write things I don't like to see in a book as a reader.

If I don't like to read about a certain type of character or a certain type of plot twist, than I am more aware of it to avoid it. I've picked up my fair share of books that I've wanted to hurl against the wall. I like my walls too much to actually do it, but sometimes the best way for me to learn I'm doing something wrong is to see someone else do the same thing in a way I view as unsuccessful.

As an example, if I get halfway through reading a novel and the writer has head hopped, it makes me all the more aware that maybe I'm doing the same thing without realizing it.

On the opposite end, I find myself refreshed by how other authors will describe the same act or the same type of scene with fresh vocabulary. We all have our crutch words and phrases we need to work on avoiding. I'm currently reading A Darkness Forged in Fire by Chris Evans. Already I'm seeing a very different kind of forest than I've written in my own books and stories, and I'm enthralled with his descriptions.

What are some rules of world building in sci-fi/erotic romance?

I recently hosted a chat with Lisa Lane on the Ravenous Romance Author Ning regarding key elements of world building. Not only did some cool authors and readers show up for the chat, but I learned a lot as well as gave some of my ideas. I'm pretty new to world building, but I'm in the throws of writing a fantasy novel. This was the sort of chat I needed because as I approach 50k words on my rough draft, I took some notes of things to which I'll need to pay extra special attention during revisions. I don't remember who said what during the chat, so I'll give credit to the whole group who participated in the chat.

Here are some highlights of what we discussed:

--> Keep the rules of the world consistent.

--> If the reader has a WTF moment while reading the manuscript, the rules haven't been built consistently, evenly, or with sufficient reason. There should always be a reason the rules are in place, not just for the convenience of the author. I would add this is a good rule for any type of fiction.

--> Keeping hordes of notes is super important. A few of the participating authors said they kept actual dictionaries and encyclopedias of the places, characters, terminologies etc. within their worlds for reference when they used them again.

--> Keeping the rules of your worlds consist across various works is something at least one writer said. I asked the question if a writer changes publishers how she dealt with that, and she said the world/characters/places don't need to be the same, just the idea of what can and cannot happen when utilizing fantastic elements.

--> Weaving fantastic elements throughout the fiction rather than in an information dump is a good idea.

--> Keeping some elements realistic is also a good idea. I'll add to this comment and admit that when I read fantasy or paranormal writing, I like a lot of realism even if a lot of magic is involved. I still want to relate to my characters, their situation, etc.

--> Magic shouldn't just solve problems. It has to be integral to the plot and not just convenient.

--> Having a good critique group/partner is vital because when building a world (and writing in general) it's hard to see plot holes. A fresh set of eyes on a manuscript can reveal assumptions the author has made regarding the world or the characters. We authors see things so vividly sometimes that we don't picture what we've actually written.

An aside to the previous remark is that in my own writing, I commonly don't see what's actually on the page. Reading a manuscript aloud works wonders sometimes.

How Do You Keep The Details Of Your Stories and Longer Works Straight?

I love Excel. At the moment I'm working on a fantasy novel, and after every chapter of my rough draft I type notes into Excel. In this case, any words I create for characters, plants, animals, places, races of people, etc. has not only the meaning and a description in Excel but also cross references to other words I've created.

The same works for descriptions of characters. I've got my fingers in three different novels right now, and it's easy to forget who has brown hair and who has green eyes. Keeping notes along the way works wonders later on, especially when I'm reading through a draft for consistency. Without my notes, I'll describe one character as blond haired and blue eyes and then a chapter later the character will be brown eyed with brown hair.

Pesky details.

I keep another Excel sheet for all my royalty payments, invoices, and expenses. I photocopy them before entering the data into Excel so I'll have a hard copy of the records too. The IRS is a little picky about things.

Another Excel record I keep is a synopsis after reading through my rough draft. I like to know what happens in each scene of each chapter. That way, if I rip it apart and reassemble events in a different order, if the story doesn't work in the reassembled fashion, I can more easily reconstruct how it looked in the first place without having to reread my previous draft.

A Few Videos By People Who Know What They're Talking About

I'm not taking credit for any of this, but I thought these were cool and useful.

How'd You Break In?

This is only my story. Everyone has a path, and there's no right answer.

I had heard it was extremely difficult to have a piece accepted by a publisher, especially if the writer doesn't know anybody in publishing. Originally from Iowa, I didn't know anybody in New York.

In 2007 I wrote a novel (I'll call it novel A) during NaNoWriMo, and then I tucked it under my bed. In early 2008 I wrote a different novel (novel B). It joined novel A under my bed. In mid 2008 I began writing another novel (novel C) which got to about 30,000 words. Then I went to Killer Nashville www.killernashville.com and paid the extra money to have the first 10 pages of novel B critiqued. I also met some other writers.

The writer who critiqued the first 10 pages of novel B basically ripped it apart. I sat on my hands and listened to the critique with an open mind. I went to a pitch session with an agent and editor and pitched novel B to both of them (prior to the conference I thought it was polished). They both were nice, and the editor gave me some encouraging comments on how her house wouldn't buy my novel but that as a reader it sounded like the kind of story she would buy in a bookstore.

September of 2008 I completely rewrote novel B, and then I tucked it under my bed again.

NaNoWrimo in November of 2008 I wrote novel D. You guessed it. It joined novels A,B, and C. Then a writer friend suggested I start writing short stories. She told me about the success she'd had writing short stories.

In December of 2008 I wrote two short stories and submitted them to Ravenous Romance for the Experimental anthology and the Power Plays Anthologies. In January I wrote another short story that was accepted into the Ambrosia anthology.

In February I wrote novel E, and then I tucked that under my bed. I continued writing short stories and also wrote a novella in March. The short stories were accepted for publication by Ravenous Romance, and the novella went under my bed to join the novels. I hope the novels didn't bully the novella under there because he's all alone and much smaller than the novels.

I should also add that I've had a few of the short stories be rejected since January. I've revised a few and sent them out to other places for consideration. A few others I've not thought about since writing them.

One of the short stories that was rejected came back with some wonderful feedback. Now the story is itching in my head to be converted itno novels F and a sequel for novel G and a sequel to novel E, but I'm sitting on my hands and forcing myself to revise the novella and novel D. I'm trying not to rip every hair from my head as I revise because novel D and the novella were horribly written in the first draft.

I wrote an outline and submitted it to my publisher for novel H on an idea they'd like to see. I'm waiting back to hear if they like what I put in the outline.

I just did my first in-person event and gave away free stories at Nashville Pridefest 2009.

LOL. I know that I'm rambling. Also worthy of noting is that I have a B.A. in English and a B.A. in Spanish. In both courses of study I had to read a lot and analyze stuff like foreshadowing, metaphors, etc. My point is something I've read over and over again on agent blogs. Writing one novel and then submitting it for publication or for representation by an agent doesn't work very well. I haven't tried getting an agent yet, personally. I look back on what I wrote six months ago or two years ago and I can't believe the stuff came from my mind because there are so many things to learn as a writer. Plus, having more than one project at a time helps becoming too emotionally attached to a particular piece. I've got a long way to go in this journey, but creativity breeds more creativity.

Did I mention that a few months ago I had a computer virus and lost novels A,B,C, and a bunch of short stories? A few heart attacks later I paid a lot of money for the Geek Squad to get them back. Thumb drives and email are now my best friends.

Jen, what's a good way for writers to promote their work?

FREE FREE FREE

I my opinion, freebies are the best way to promote. People may not pay money to read a writer's work, but most people will consider reading a freebie if the work is in a genre they're used to reading.

With that said, if you like reading erotic romance and/or erotica, I'm going to be giving away freebies in person at Nashville Pride and also via a newsletter I'm starting via email. Included in June's freebies will be three short stories that collectively make up a novella. In the spirit of celebrating Pride, one story will be male/male, one will be female/female, and one will be straight.

If you're interested in reading my work for free, either email jenbluekissed@gmail.com or fill out my online form for my newsletter.