New Weekend -- New Author!

Hi, all of you. Today we get acquainted with June Foster, whose book GIVE US THIS DAY just came out.

DK: When you’re not writing, what do you like most to read? Genre, favorites, etc.
JF: Before I started writing two years ago, I read end time prophecy fiction such as the “Left Behind” series. Since I've begun writing, I love to read in my genre - romance. I want to read the books my fellow authors at Desert Breeze write. I download mostly the inspirational romances. I've probably read six or seven of the authors now. I love Shawna Williams' writing because her characters must overcome their flaws to become more Christ like.

DK: Shawna is one terrific writer. And if you didn’t write in your chosen genre, which would you write? Why?
JF: I'd like to write romantic suspense one of these days. I'd love to allow my imagination to go wild and think of the twists and turns that keep readers turning the pages. And when there's a romance involved, it's all the more fun.

DK: Where do you see the fiction market going in the near-term?
JF: There will always be an interest in fiction. I think the e-book market is going to explode even more than it has in the last five years or so.

DK: You’re right! Its sure going to change things all around. What has been your biggest challenge since you decided to seek publication?
JF: The waiting game is difficult - to see if a publisher will like my work or send me a rejection letter. That's one thing I like about Gail Delaney of Desert Breeze Publishing. She's respectful of authors and answers promptly to proposals she receives.

DK: She is that, to be sure. Name a few of your favorite authors.
JF: Well, I know Deb Kinnard is one of them. Others are Latayne Scott, Mildred Colvin, Allison Pittman, Jerry Jenkins, and Gail Gaymer Martin.

DK: Hey, thanks! That sure is nice to know. Care to share a writing habit you cannot do without?
JF: Praying and asking the Lord to help me every step of the way. I rely on Him for ideas, words, and inspiration for my plots.

Thanks for guesting on the blog, June.

Janet Butler Tells All!

All, that is, about her new Desert Breeze release VOICE OF INNOCENCE. I wanted her to interview here and tell something about how the germ of an idea became the story it is today. And a horking good one, too.

Deb: You’ve always called this book your “400 lb. gorilla.” What made you fall in love with this story?

Janet: Interestingly enough, the thread that made this the “book of my heart” isn’t even in the book now: it was the first scene I envisioned, one that takes place before the book begins. In this scene a young woman, in unrequited love with her older professor, is getting ready to leave a party at his house. She’s in the bedroom, about to pick up her coat, when she pauses and gazes longingly at his wife’s things on the dresser—you know, the hand mirror, the elegant brushes and perfume bottles—and thinks to herself that she’s just a fool, “a fool in a cheap little jacket,” longing for things she can’t have. I knew once I met that young woman, I needed to write this story, as much as the characters seemed to need it told.

Deb: Eeeenteresting! Lachlan is a multi-dimensional character with a heavy load of baggage. How did you make him so appealing?

Janet: Lachlan has always been a polarizing character: people either loved him or they hated him. He was stiffer, more pompous, in previous versions of the book; I’ve loosened him up considerably so we see more of his humor, more of the brightness that wants to come to the surface. He’s actually a fun guy, once he’s past all his troubles. But one thing has never changed with him: at the core, he is a mystic, a poet, and a romantic. What’s not to love?

Deb: Amanda’s struggling under a heavy load as well. How did you make her seem so sane when she was hearing voices almost from the first page?

Janet: I had to give Amanda a much firmer personality to deal with the voices, which did her a big favor. In earlier writing, she was much like Lachlan—more sensitive, more reticent, etc. Then I realized I had two people whose personalities were too much alike. So Amanda and I sat down and talked about it, and she told me she really didn’t have much time for nonsense; she has three brothers, so she had to be practical (and quick, to get her share at the dinner table). You’ll notice that she’s both pragmatic and decisive when confronted with the voices. She resists the urge to fly off into “what ifs” of the type Lachlan would be more prone to, and she’s feisty enough to tell off a (very unwelcome) ghost. Three brothers’ll bring that out of a girl.

Deb: I’ll say they would! And another matter – Carlyle College almost takes on the life of another “character” in VOI. What techniques make this fictional setting come real?

Janet: This is especially flattering to hear, since my intent was to write a very Gothic-toned story with VOI, and one of the keys to good Gothic literature is that the setting becomes a pseudo-character in itself. If Carlyle College, with its red brick and flower beds and manicured green, speaks to you…that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do. It’s supposed to evoke “traditional ivy-covered halls” in the imagination…while hiding deadly secrets and mysteries beneath its surface. Carlyle plays such an important part in the story as well because it represents so many things to so many people: it’s Amanda’s beginning, her first big break; it’s Lachlan’s last chance, the only thing that means anything to him; it represents status and solidity to other characters; and so on. I thought it the best backdrop to my characters’ drama, and in the process, it became the linchpin. (Besides, I love academic settings!)

Deb: I’d love to try one, too, but I’ve never dared. My memories of college are -- shall we say -- a bit misty by now. But how early in the writing of the book did you sense it needed to be a romantic suspense?

Janet: From the get-go. It started out as a “revenge” story in its earliest form—a young woman going to confront the man she thinks responsible for her sister’s death (with all the possibilities for danger that that implies), only to fall in love with him at the end. It morphed through various other plotlines, various other scenarios, but there was always an underlying mystery, a budding and somewhat forbidden romance, and the threat of danger to the heroine. Only recently did it become more fully developed romantic suspense with the additional “woo-woo” element that incorporates elements of danger and attraction for both Lachlan and Amanda. But it was always a “whodunit” with the underlying theme, “Nothing is what it seems to be on the surface.”

Deb: I’ll say you had to “go deep” with this one. During the writing, was the identity of the villain in chief a surprise to you, or did you know it was that person beforehand?

Janet: My VIC (villain in chief)’s identity has changed dramatically from the original! The plot originally had a totally different character involved with Lachlan in the beginning of the book, a letter that explained everything (and which a character brought out at a crucial moment), and even a confrontation between Amanda and the first Mrs. MacAndrews which was rather…interesting, to say the least. It wasn’t until this latest version that I realized who had the most to lose if the hero and heroine win…and why…and what that person would do to stop that from taking place. Then, I had a real villain in chief with a scenario that would make perfect, psychopathic sense (to them). Most of all, I’m thrilled when people have read this in manuscript and said they were surprised at who the “nasty” was; that’s another touchstone of Gothic fiction that I tried hard to get right. I hope I did!

Deb: In spades! Janet, thanks for shedding light on your creative process. Readers, go and get this book – you’ll enjoy the journey as much as I did.

Great New Read

And I must say I do love this book. Here's its cover:

Its author is my Blindingly Brilliant crit partner, Janet Butler. And can she do more than crit? You bet your scarlet rosebuds she can.

Here's some "get acquainted" info straight from Janet.

Deb: When you’re not writing, what do you like most to read? Genre, favorites, etc.

Janet: What do you mean, when I'm not writing? When am I not writing? J Oh…okay. I read suspense and mystery, some chick lit, romantic comedy, the occasional Regency historical, and "gentle" fiction of various types, including Christian fiction.

Deb: If you didn’t write in your chosen genre, which would you write? Why?

Janet: If I knew which genre I've chosen, that'd be an easier question to answer. J Actually, for all my "serious" writing career, I've wanted to write Harlequin Romances. The sweet little books. I've yet to figure out how to do one, however, since every time I sit down to write, some dark villain taps on my shoulder and says, "Hey, I could make these people's lives a whole lot more interesting, if you just let me." So…I tend to let them. You don't argue with villains.

Deb: Where do you see the fiction market going in the near-term?

Janet: Frankly, I don't like where I see lots of fiction going. I see a lot of despairing fiction: dystopian, nihilistic, stuff that deals in grit with no redeeming light, or authors who feel like they have to be obscene, depraved, or coarse simply "because they can." I'd like to see more books that don't make you want to jump out a window, or feel like you need to take a shower, when you're done with them. As far as where the markets are going? Who knows? I suspect it's all going electronic, or at least largely so. I like paper books, so this is not comforting to me. And I really dislike the notion of "enhanced" books. I'm a fiction writer; I like imagination. It seems to me that putting too many bells, horns, and whistles in a book is a fundamental violation of that imagination, and an intrusion upon the magic. Sorry. Not for me.

Deb: What has been your biggest challenge since you decided to seek publication?

Janet: There have been two: First, fighting the "impostor syndrome," that absolute conviction in the dark places of your writer's soul that you're really a fake, you really can't write at all, and one of these days, someone's going to rip away the veil in front of Oz and you'll be revealed in all your duck-tape-and-twine weakness. Second, trying to attract an agent; I've probably queried 100+ of them over the past few years, with only a few even requesting partials. Of course, with the way the industry is moving now, maybe that issue is moot, anyway.

Deb: Name a few of your favorite authors.

Janet: Mary Higgins Clark, Rochelle Krich, Diann Hunt, Sophie Kinsella, Jan Karon. How's that for a potpourri? I keep discovering new authors as I go, though, so stay tuned.

Deb: Care to share a writing habit you cannot do without?

Janet: Mwah hah haaaaah…you know what's coming: the Dreaded Synopsis! There. I've said it. Don't hate me because I synopsize!
Seriously. I have tried writing without an outline, and I've tried writing with one. With one is better. Years ago, I discovered that if I wrote by the seat of my pants, I had a lot of fun, but I lost the story in the process. Now that I'm older, I don't have the energy to chase down my characters and/or a plot clear to Abu Dhabi to figure out where I went wrong (Besides, airfare's just too darn expensive.). I also freeze up if I don't have SOME idea what's going to come in the next few pages. Mind you, nothing in the synopsis is carved in stone; stories can, and do, change from the first outline. But I need to have SOMETHING to work from.

So I synopsize.

And I also believe in a wonderful, well-chilled bottle of champagne… at the appropriate time.

Deb: A total delight, don't you agree? Except that champagne gives me a headache. You can have my share.

Janet's VOICE OF INNOCENCE releases January 15 from Desert Breeze Publishing. Go get this book! You'll like it.

Your Saturday Free Teaser

Today I'm delighted to post the first few words, just to whet your appetite, for my friend Nike Chillemi's book BURNING HEARTS. Love it, go get it (from Desert Breeze Publishing).

Long Island, New York
September 1946

Erica Brogna hurried down Hill Street, eager to sketch her new design, a forest green taffeta dress with a swirling skirt for a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary -- her first significant assignment. She paused to inhale the salt scent on the ocean breeze, and her gaze lingered on a copse of red, rust, and gold maples near Ada's house and dress shop.
She smiled, pulling her cardigan tight around her, and dropped the newspaper Poppa asked her to bring to her mentor and employer. She retrieved the paper and saw Bess Truman smiling as she entered Walter Reed Army Hospital. With the war over, the First Lady visited broken soldiers in long-term care. Erica slapped the paper closed before rage and depression overtook her. So many boys had not come home.
Chin jutted out, she smoothed the pleats of her skirt and marched toward Ada's house. She'd think on pleasant things and hand the paper over without a fuss as she did every morning. Nothing would ruin this day.
She climbed Ada's wooden front steps and opened the door.
Smoke filled the living room Ada had turned into a fabric shop. Erica waved a hand in front of tearing eyes. Gray vapors, like swirling fog, partially obscured bolts of fabric stacked against the opposite wall.
"Ada! Ada, answer me please." Dropping the newspaper, Erica rushed toward the stairs, trampling Bess Truman's image. "Ada can you hear me?"
Coughing, she grabbed on to the cutting table in the middle of the room, steadied herself, and reached for the phone -- no dial tone. Perhaps the fire melted the line.
She yanked the collar of her blouse over her nose and mouth against the smoke. The stairs loomed before her, seeming as impossible to scale as Mount Everest. She lunged forward, gripping the baluster, and thrust herself up two steps. Since Ada wasn't outside, she had to be upstairs.
As Erica climbed, the smoke thickened and swirled around her. It was darker with each step.
One hand clasped the rail and pulled, and she advanced a few more steps. Heat blasted against her skin from above, and soft crackling sounds drew her gaze to the upstairs landing. Squinting into the smoke, she lost her grip on the banister, missed the next step, and fell backward tumbling to the bottom.
The back of her head smacked against the baluster, and wooziness followed sharp pain. She tried to stand but couldn't get her bearings.
Will triumphed over ability. She hoisted herself, ignoring the dull throb at the back of her skull. Her palms stung, the skin scraped off during her fall. She took a deep breath, and a coughing fit seized her. Shallow breaths were the better alternative.
Planting her penny loafer on the bottom step, Erica began her climb again, shaken but with new resolve. If she could reach the top of the stairs, she could also make it to Ada's bedroom.
Halfway up, the scratches on her palms pulsated as the temperature rose. So did her knees -- must've scraped those, too. The pungent smoke shrouding her darkened, and grit clung to her skin. She couldn't see the banister or the top of the stairs and each breath took effort.
Poppa's lectures on fire drills flashed into mind -- stay low in a fire to get fresh air. She dropped to her knees and crawled, ignoring her pain. A sickening smell made her stomach lurch.
Inch by inch she crept, now three quarters of the way up. Hot, putrid air assaulted her windpipe, and she doubled over, her insides trembling.
Heaving herself forward, she maneuvered up one more step, but the smoke pushed back, choking her. She sobbed, knowing she couldn't make it to Ada, and scrambled down, hoping she could find help.


Good stuff, eh?

Two Bits of Good News

My super crit partner, Janet Butler, has sold her VOICE OF INNOCENCE to Desert Breeze Publishing! Yay! This was/is the book she calls her "400 lb. gorilla" though I think by now it's gained some weight. Sure it is that it's found its wings! Congratulations, Janny.

Today also I wrestled the 973 Wales book, PEACEWEAVER, into submission and sent the proposal on to my agent. Now begins the bane of the publishing industry--the wait. Pray for me. Patience is not my greatest strength.

A Shot to the Foot

You who drop into my blog with your "reader" hat on can cheerfully ignore the following. 'Fraid it's not for you, but for the rest of us, and in the nature of a rant.

I'm grieved to report that, once again, an otherwise well-meaning writers' group has shot itself in the foot. Ergo, all of a sudden, and with no prior warning, e-publishers have been deleted from an "Approved Publisher" list.

Now, before you think, "Oh, she must be talking about the RWA!" be assured I'm not.

I might as well be.

If you go back a few years in the RWA, you'll recall how some e-publishers fought to have their books recognized as "real" books, and their authors as real authors, and those authors' sales as real sales. What went down? You guessed right. Once several of these publishers came close to meeting the criteria, the criteria were arbitrarily changed to make it more difficult.

One envisions the Big Names in romance at the time breathing a sigh of relief. After all, those nasty little e-books were not going to compete with the real books! Le sigh...

Now another organization has followed suit.

Why should I care? you as a reader ask. You're right -- this infighting is among authors and publishers, basically a cupboard storm and not interesting to the readers. However, from where I sit it seems that whenever a voluntary group acts to the detriment of a subsection of its members, it has repercussions down the line.

What, then, must we do?

My stance at present is to let this simmer down a bit. I considered opting out of the organization, but then (for all its foibles) I will not be in a position to work gently for positive change. That's my choice, for now. It may not be later.

Meanwhile, let me state that I'm honored that Desert Breeze Publishing considers my work worthy of attention. They've just agreed to reissue my 2002 title, POWERLINE, and I couldn't be happier, regardless of what certain small minded writers' groups think of that.

Go Ahead, Win Something

Better still, help me celebrate -- ALOHA, MY LOVE comes out from Desert Breeze tomorrow. To celebrate this e-book, I believe one of you Faithful Minions should win something!

Sound like a plan?

Post a comment. Win one of my jewelry pieces (I design and create jewelry). Most of them are necklaces but I also do earrings for pierced ears. Haven't found any decent findings for non-pierced ears yet. "Findings" are those little extra necessities like earwires, posts, those round springy things that fasten the necklace in back...you get the picture.

Enough of the jargon. Make a post. Win a necklace or whatever you choose that I have (I have some real sweet stuff ready-made).

Celebrate! Aloha.

Cover Art Triumph!

Once again, the wonderful artist Jenifer Ranieri at Desert Breeze has created a great cover. I'm pleased to show it to you here.

This is the fourth of four winner covers Desert Breeze has assigned to my books.

Color me pleased, humbled, and proud.

ALOHA, MY LOVE, a contemporary romance, releases as an e-book in all known Terran formats on December 1.

Down to the Wire

Did I mention I had a deadline? September 1, for the novella I started dog's ages ago. Desert Breeze expressed an interest in this short piece, called ALOHA, MY LOVE and we got to "yes" on it fairly quickly.

However, in this summer's, well, being SUMMER, the project took a back seat to a couple of other activities. Swimming. Art fairs. Hanging with friends. A trip to Nashville for Sheaf House business. A trip to Orlando for Universal Studios-with-friends business. Did I mention relaxing with tall, cool, fruit-juice based drinks?

So I had to get cracking on the tweaks ALOHA needed...and I had to hit myself over the head several times with the Righteous Nerf Bat to get 'em done.

Hallelujah! The tweaked manuscript went to the publisher today. This will be release #9, depending on how you're counting. It's all good!

Now I can go back to hanging out, drinking juicy drinks, and working on other stuff. Deadlines are my FRIENDS!

Doubly Blessed

...to say that it's release day -- not for one book, but two. Has ever an author gotten such a terrific blessing?

Here's the cover for the first (in no particular order):

And here's the second.

They're both lovely, aren't they? DAMAGES is an e-book from Desert Breeze Publishing, and SEASONS IN THE MIST is available now in print from Sheaf House (most large booksellers seem to be carrying it).

Color me thrilled!

Blog Contest Winners!

Now that the Blog/Loop contest is ended, it’s time to award prizes. I’m pleased to announce there isn’t one winner of the African coffee – there are three!

Congratulations to Mindy, Michelle Sutton and Janny Butler who answered the scavenger hunt questions 110% correctly and won. Woot!

Coffee will soon be winging its way to you. Mindy, I’ll need your snail address. I have the others.

The rest of you -- next time I announce a contest, I reserve the right to award prizes as liberally as I want. So--enter next time. You've been warned. Aloha.

Desert Breezes Blow a Contest Your Way

Those of you who know my writing already are aware that most of my characters are coffee-a-holics.

This isn't bad, it's GOOD! We who enjoy coffee know there are a few primo varieties in the world, and the rest of the time we buy at the grocery store.

Now, for anyone brave enough to come here to this blog, or savvy enough to know my Desert Breeze stories, here's your challenge: answer either one of the following questions and win a nice sized bag of ground Kenya AA coffee (best there is IMO)

1) why is my blog named www.justtellthestory.blogspot.com ? Short answer is good enough.

2) name any "pair" of the lovey-dovey characters in my Desert Breeze books. They don't have to be the coffee-chugging ones.

Okay, get crackin' and win some Joe!

Time to Hunt!

This month I'm participating in Desert Breeze's "Scavenger Hunt." What fun!

Now, if you've been following this, you already know my buddy Michelle Levigne posted my question: Who is the "angel with the ray gun?"

And those of you who've read that book already know the answer is: Matt. Hee heee. Bet you thought it'd be a GIRL angel, right?

But onward & upward! Your next question is: what make and model Oldsmobile is Shawna Williams? Find out, and keep hunting: http://shawnawilliams-oldsmobile.blogspot.com/

Keep hunting & have fun!

ANGEL flies to the Eppies!

I'm humbled and honored. My publisher, Desert Breeze, has decided to enter three books in EPIC's "Eppie" awards for '09. ANGEL WITH A RAY GUN will be one of the three!

Sandra Sookoo's WINNER TAKES ALL and a vampire title by Jay Morgan are the other two titles. This is major even if one of us finals, and I'm so grateful for the chance.

EPIC, the Electronic Publishing Internet Connection, runs this award program. The Eppie is really the only major award for e-books. ACFW doesn't want them and we all know RWA turns up its collective nose. So I'm really thrilled for all three of us. It's incredibly heartening just to know our publisher thinks our books can stand against many another great title.

Woot!

A Book Sale

Pleased to report that my contemporary "second chances" book, DAMAGES, will be released by Desert Breeze Publishing next April.

I love this story. It's about its sixteenth incarnation, where a man recovering from the loss of his disastrous first marriage, embarks on a second for all the wrong reasons. Probably this "mistake" factor is the reason it didn't sell in the mainstream Christian markets. That's fine. Sort of. In any case, I'm glad to see this book get a chance out there, and hopefully engage some readers in a story I like a lot.

There are thematic elements I'm told the Christian reading public won't tolerate. In ANGEL WITH A RAY GUN an early reader told me the main character should be shown praying more. I considered this, but didn't change it much. You see, a "more prayer" theme didn't actually advance the story. And story rules all. In DAMAGES, I was told the marriage-by-mistake theme would turn off readers.

Do Christians make mistakes? Sure. I do, and I don't think I'm atypical. It's how I show the Lord working through these characters' lives that matters. The development of the characters, getting past their less savory decisions, growing in Christ -- that's the story. If the idea that believers make mistakes, even in major life-decisions, turns off some readers, so be it.

Free Books!

It's official -- ANGEL WITH A RAY GUN will fly once more as an e-book, from Desert Breeze Publishing. Target release date is May 1, but I'll get firmer information out to you as I receive it.

What's even nicer, if you go to the Desert Breeze web site and sign in as a reader (it's free), before April 30, you get into the free book giveaway.

Reading -- good books -- no charge -- what could be a better combination?