Tag Archives: Angela James

#RWA16..more,more,more…

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Honestly, there’s so much to tell you all that I need to blog SEVERAL times per day but I am just too bushed come evening.

So, let’s go back to yesterday. I had a great breakfast and met some dynamite authors. Then on to t he AVON book signing, where I met these lovely ladies :

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Kristan Higgans, RaeAnn Thayne, and Robyn Carr. Gracious, lovely, funny, and sweet, every one of them. Oh, and of course, Jill Shalvis again!

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After that bit of wonderfullness, it was on to my second moderating job, Character Excavation, only I was nervous and called it Character Evacuation ( Lol!!) with Kristan Higgans, Farrah Rochon and Damon Suede. This was a masterclass, people, and should have been at least 2 hours. There was so much outstanding information on how to get to know your characters, who they are, what they want, why they want it, and how they get it, that my head was spinning. It needed to be at least 2 hours – maybe more!! Each presenter was an expert in the way they approach characterization. I’m so glad I went to this class.

In the afternoon I attended a workshop by social media guru Rachel Hollis and learned a bunch of new tricks about promoting your work I never knew. I will be putting these into implementation asap!

The last class of my day ( really, by now I was wrung out!! mentally and physically) was on how to build a powerful author brand with Angela James, Laura Bradford, Erin Galloway, and Michelle Renaud. I was so happy to hear every thing they said, I’ve already implemented – like tag line, branding, promoting it across social media sites for consistency. Yeah me and yeah them!

After that it was time for dinner. Now, I’m by myself at this conference and it’s always a little sad to see a single woman at a restaurant table eating along, but I said “F**K it! I’m hungry.” So I went down to the hotel resturant, ordered an adult beverage rwa102and lobster roll for dinner. Yumolicious.

After that I wanted to walk a little so I filmed some of the marina ( check out my FB page for the video ) and then ambled over to Ben and Jerry’s. I asked the girl for a small waffle cone with vanilla icecream. I gave her $10.00 and she gaveme back $1.10 in change. You do the math. Question: Does this look worth $ 8.90?

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While I’m in San Diego, here’s where you can reach me:  Tweet Me// Read Me//Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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Filed under #RWA16, Author, Contemporary Romance, Kensington Publishers, love, Lyrical Author, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, RWA, The Wild Rose Press, WIld Rose Press AUthor

Gym Shame…

So, I want to put a disclaimer in this before we begin: I am a judgmental person. Anyone who knows me, knows this.

BUT...I never express my judginess to people I don’t know, and I never do it in public. Plus, my judgmental expressions are usually only about really stupid people, their actions, and prejudice.

ALSO… I freely admit that I am a reality show junkie when it comes to Bravo and E! Shows.

Okay, so….

Today at Planet Fitness ( and they should really start paying me for all the free publicity I give them!) I was on a treadmill  watching last night’s episode of KEEPING UP THE KARDASHIANS ( don’t judge me!), on my Ipad, minding my own business, ear plugs in place, and trying to burn off some of the delicious calories I took in over the weekend at the Angela James Conference/Workshop in Nashua. The show is 45 minutes long, which is a great treadmill workout for me because I can walk 3.5 miles in that time. Halfway through the program I happened to notice two women  talking who were….older… than me – and by older I really mean they were around my age, maybe a year or two younger/older, give or take – and very much…larger ( and you know what I mean by that!). They had stretched-to-the max-sweatpants on their more than ample backsides and concert t-shirts from a band that disbanded 40 years ago on their jiggly, un-toned, tops.  Anyway.

I happened to see one of them point to me and overheard her say “… stupid, mindless shit.”

My ears went up like Scooby Doo’s do when he hears the words Scooby Snack.

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Surreptitiously,  I lowered the volume on the Ipad and eavesdropped.  Keeping my eyes on the screen, here’s what I heard (they didn’t know I was listening!)

#1. “How anybody can watch that crap is beyond me.”

#2. “You know who she is, right?” Lowers her voice when she says this and doesn’t understand the gym is like a wind tunnel. You can hear a whisper from across the room.
***I’ll omit the next part where #2 tells #1 who I am and who I’m married to.

#1.”She writes those trashy, sex books, right? I saw it listed in the  paper when she did an appearance at the Toadstool.”

#2. “Yeah. Probably why she watches that crap.” **** I figured this meant what I was watching on my Ipad. **** “Probably gets her ideas from those kinds of shows.”

Now, those of you who know me personally can guess what I wanted to do. Would it surprise you to know I didn’t stop my treadmill, turn, and rip them each a new one?? What I did do surprised even me.

I turned the volume back up and kept walking until I timed out. Then, when I dismounted, I turned to them, looked each of them squarely in the un-made-up lots of crow-feeted eyes, gave them each a shit eating grin, said, “Enjoy your workout.”

I know: So NOT ME! I must be maturing as I age.

You’d figure I’d be fat-shamed at the gym – not reality tv shamed! The lesson I took away from this ( aside from the fact these two were mindless, judgemental, bimbos): take the high road. I know what I write aren’t trashy sex novels. It’s obvious neither one of these women had ever read anything by me – that’s assuming they have the I.Q.s to be able to read – or they’d know that.

The motto and branding of Planet Fitness is, NO JUDGMENT ZONE.

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Thing 1 and Thing 2 obviously didn’t realize that when they signed up.

‘Nuff Said for today.

For those of you who know I don’t write trashy sex stuff(!) here’s the latest:

THE VOICES OF ANGELS

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Love is the last thing Carly Lennox is looking for when she sets out on her new book tour. The independent, widowed author is content with a life spent writing and in raising her daughter. When newscaster Mike Woodard suggests they work on a television magazine profile based on her book, Carly’s thrilled, but guarded. His obvious desire to turn their relationship into something other than just a working one is more than she bargained for.

Mike Woodard is ambitious, and not only in his chosen profession. He wants Carly, maybe more than he’s ever wanted anything or anyone else. As he tells her, he’s a patient man. But the more they’re together, Mike realizes it isn’t simply desire beating within him. Carly Lennox is the missing piece in his life. Getting her to accept it-and him-may just be the toughest assignment he’s ever taken on.

Buy Links: Amazon /// TWRP /// Kobo /// Nook

If you need to find me, you can:  Tweet Me// Read Me// Visit Me// Picture Me//Pin Me//Friend Me//Google+Me//

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Life challenges, love, MacQuire Women, New Hampshire, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, Strong Women, The Voices of Angels, WIld Rose Press AUthor

Lifetime Student

 

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Those of you who know me – either personally or through my writings in this blog – know that I lovelove love to learn new things and that I am a lifelong student of writing: techniques, story building, plotting, and grammar, just to name a few. I simply love to learn new things related to writing in all its aspects. My personal writing library has over 100 books on subjects of plotting and structure, dialogue,  character traits, etc. I refer to many of them whenever I am starting a new book or even when I a looking for guidance with a problem I incur during writing.

Writing technique books are it for me, but I also live to go to writing conferences. My goal is always to learn at least one new thing at a conference and so far, that number has grown exponentially with each new conference I attend.

The reason I mention this lifetime and lifelong love of learning is because my New England chapter of RWA is hosting such a writing worshop/conference this month. An Editorial Director at Carina Press, Angela James, is presenting her wonderful  BEFORE YOU HIT SEND class for writers of all genres. You can click on the SPECIAL EVENTS toggle at the NWRWA website for details and to register, here:  NHRWA

I have taken this class twice before: one at a New England RWA conference and once on-line. Both times I learned something I hadn’t learned the time before. Nowadays, with the publishing industry changing by the second, and editors pressed for time to find the next big author, if you are a writer, you MUST, absolutely MUST submit a manuscript that is professionally polished and worthy of a complete read-through. I have been to too many conference talks to count with editors and agents who persistently and consistently only read the first page of a submission and if there is any kind of mistake ( typo, wrong grammar use, poor tense) their reading stops at the end of that page. We all want to make the best first impression we can, and  unfortunately, your first impression is usually a query letter and/or a few pages of your manuscript. If there is anything that stands out and makes you look like an amateur, it is poor spelling, grammar, and sloppy writing.

Angela James’ class BEFORE YOUR HIT SEND tells you how to avoid and prevent all those pesky problems, how to correct them when they do occur, and how to get your  manuscript as ready and as polished as it can be for an editor or agent’s eyes. You only get one shot to make a favorable first impression (What a great title for a book, btw!). Do you want to take the chance a professional will simply disregard your writing because it is riddled with mistakes? Mistakes that could have been prevented and corrected before you hit that send button?

I hope you join my chapter for this wonderful conference. If you do one thing this year to make yourself a better writer, this will be it.

Self-Editing Workshop with Angela James

Saturday, May 21, 2016

9am – 4pm

The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashua, New Hampshire

James_pixJoin Angela James, editorial director of Harlequin’s Carina Press and developmental editor of New York Times Bestselling authors Shannon Stacey, Lauren Dane and Jaci Burton, for a day-long workshop covering ideas, tips, tricks and lessons for polishing and self-editing your manuscript.

Topics include: point of view, passive vs. active voice, show don’t tell, formalizing your manuscript, and more!

Spend the night at a special rate and have use of our meeting room for quiet self-editing/writing Sunday morning to put all you learned into practice before you head back on the road.

Conference Schedule

Saturday, May 21, 2016

  • 7:30am – 9:00am:  Check-in/Registration
  • 9:00am – 4:00pm: Workshop & Buffet Lunch

Sunday, May 21, 2016

  • Morning:  (OPTIONAL) Meeting room will be open for attendees to use for quiet self-editing/writing time.

Registration Information

  • Regular Registration for NHRWA members (3.1.16 – 4.30.16) = $90
  • Regular Registration for non-NHRWA members (3.1.16 – 4.30.16) = $100
  • Late Registration for ALL (5.1.16 – 5.14.16) = $110

Registration includes the following:

  • Admission to the Before You Hit Send workshop.
  • Saturday lunch buffet & afternoon snack.

Ready to Register?

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Filed under Author, Contemporary Romance, Editors, First Impressions, Life challenges, NHRWA, Romance, Romance Books, RWA