Oh Embrace, How I love thee

Notice how I am skipping all of the sorry I've been away, thank you all for checking up on me, and am glad to be back? It's because I am so ecstatic about Embrace Books or Jane Holland to be specific. Most of you know I have been away for health reasons but the one thing I promised not to give up was my writing.

A couple of weeks ago I finished a baby I worked really hard on (I plotted). After two bouts of critiquing and heavy rehauling, I sent my top aces baby to Embrace Books.

Now here comes the good part I got feedback in an hour, actually it was 52 minutes – it took me 8 minutes to face my fear of rejection and open it.

I wish I could paste the email for you all to see. The editor – Jane Holland read it and liked, she thinks my writing is edgy, ME!

If you really want to know why I am so overwhelmed, go to her website and read her resume, she is all that and then some more.

Anyways she did point out something I knew I sucked at – Punctuation and Sentence Structure. When I saw that, I did a face-palm because I knew that was my weakness and I worked really hard on it.

Now this is how amazing she is, she went ahead to give me examples of what I did wrong and how I could fix them. I was really humbled by her email.

So guess what I am doing now? I have bought three no, four books The Elements of Style by Strunk and White, Eats, Leaves and Shoots by Lynne Truss, Woe is I by Cant remember the author's name and What a Westmoreland wants by Brenda Jackson.

I am hoping to learn from these books; Jane said I could study how other authors did it too so I am just going to be soaking up stuff. My amazing CP is reading Strunk and White with me. She is too amazing for words and is explaining stuff to me. Some awesome people from our blogging community have also offered to do some punctuation and sentence structure crits for me. I am so close to realizing my dream that I am taking all and any help I can get.

I also will share what I learn in my books in my blog posts in case there is someone out there who can learn something through me.

What have I learned from all of this? It is not enough to have talent or book ideas. You also have to work hard to hone your craft if you intend to make a career out of this. Watch out for the part two of my story, I am determined to get "the call" this year.



Xoxo

Joanna

Interrogation Room with Editor/Author Clarissa Yip

I am so excited! I have decided to go nuts with exclamation points. I have an author/editor in the house and she has agreed to answer our questions all day . Its not everyday we get a willing participant in the interrogation room, so without further ado I give you Clarissa Yip and one of the finest covers I have seen in a while.
Two weeks ago I asked you to send in your questions to get Clarissa warmed up, and she did not disappoint

1. Karen: I would love to ask Clarissa, what are some of the things you look for in the opening pages to signal that you will continue to read?

Opening pages are very important. Like any story, there should always be a hook that draws the reader in in the first paragraph. Depending on who you sub to, the first page is significant as it will immediately show what a writer is capable of as an author in forms of diction, grammar, punctuation and writing ability. Usually for me though, I will read a submission from beginning to end. I find that most stories always have a rough start and an author doesn't show their true potential until after the third chapter in my experience, but I understand most pub houses are different. I always look for a strong hook and how the first page is set up based on how much white space, if there is dialogue or action. If you throw me a first page with passive voice, and I start seeing Zzzzzz, that might be an issue. I also don't like stories that start off with lots of info dumping or if the characters are looking, sighing...just doing nothing. Start the story off with a big bang, put me in the middle of the action! Draw me in! The first page does make an important first impression, so definitely brush up on those hook skills. 

2. Sondrae: I would love to ask, what one mistake is an automatic rejection for you, no matter how good the rest of the story is?

Head hopping. As much as most authors think they can pull off being someone like Nora Roberts or Julie Garwood, I can't handle the head hopping. I don't mind one or two POV changes in one scene, but if I'm hopping from one paragraph to another in different character POV's and my head is spinning to follow what's going on, I have to put the story down. And we don't want that. I wouldn't out right reject anyone if the idea or plot of the book has potential. If an author is willing to fix it, then I would definitely love to work with them, but if they believe that head hopping is a style or writer's right of expression...then I might not be so eager. LOL.

3. Michelle Teacress: Paranormal is popular now. Any idea what's coming next?

Paranormal is still kind of hot even though the whole wave is starting to slow down. I'm starting to see a lot of Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Steampunk and Space Opera. But I think the best advice would be to write what you know. If you write Paranormal, then stick with it. Throw in your own twist and make it awesome!

4. L’aussie Most of the submissions you read must fall short of the mark. Do you get a *bling blang* moment when you read a mss that has 'winner' written all over it? What would most likely rock your boat?

LOL. I've yet to find the perfect story that will sweep me off my feet or actually rock my boat. No story is perfect and it takes so many drafts and rounds of edits for any story to be at its full potential. But when I do see a story that has 'winner' written all over it, I know I'd have to have it. It becomes my baby and I want to watch it grow to it's fullest and make that best seller's list. But seriously, I've yet to see the perfect story. I don't believe such thing exists. And if I did find one that I didn't have to do any editing for, I think I'd be scared. I love all genre's of romance. I'm an emotional editor/writer. If I see one that will give me the rollercoaster ride of my life, then I'm definitely bought. Why, do you have something to show me?

5. Maria:  What would you be doing if you weren't editing for a living?

Wow, that's a good question. I've been editing for a while and studying this industry for the past few years and watching trends. I've learned so much about the e-publishing industry and it's affect. It's really interesting with the rise of so many e-publishers and the demand for digital books. If I weren't editing, I think I would be writing all day long and probably running around with my muse. I do miss writing when I'm in full editor mode. Instead of working on my own writing career, I'm helping my authors grow and become best sellers, but I seriously love it. I seriously don't know what else I would do. Maybe become a famous scrapbooker or some sort of translator. I love languages.

6. Myne: What is your opinion on POV?

Well...POV is important as any element of a story, but the only type of book that will draw me in is one that knows how to utilize Deep POV and keep me in the character's mind. I'm not a big fan of First person present, but I know a lot of writers find that to be the easiest to write. I'm seriously all about the emotions and character developments. I highly discourage head hopping and having multiple POV's in one scene. That drives me crazy. Not a big fan of narration. If you know how to use POV to your advantage, then it should truly bring out your author voice.

7. Erica & Christy: How do you feel about selling a "quiet" book with excellent writing or does everything these days needs to be HUGE HOOK/HIGH CONCEPT!!!

That is an interesting question. I think it depends on what you're aiming for and who you want to buy your story. It seriously is all about the whole plot line, characters, ideas, and how well an author can execute an idea along with how well their writing is. There's nothing wrong with a 'quiet' book as long the writing is excellent, but will the plot line, idea of the story, the layering, and characters keep the reader engrossed enough to keep turning the page? The market is competitive and so many authors use the same plots. It's how well a writer can spin their story from those old cliches and make it stand out from the rest. There seriously are so many publishers out there and if one doesn't like the whole 'quiet' book, then there will be another who will think differently. Publication is seriously so subjective.

8. Joanna: What is your writing process like? do you use Critique partners and betas like the rest of us?

My writing process? I'm a half plotter, half pantser. I get ideas when I'm driving or walking or just watching TV. Usually in forms of images and I'll stem my stories off of them. But I usually have to spend some time to get to know my characters before I can actually start writing. I have a wonderful group of critique partners. You gals should check them out. Passionate Critters. (http://www.passionatecritters.org/) I don't know what I would do without them. They've been so supportive through my whole career and they're great! I couldn't have found a better group of women to share my successes and my failures with.  I'm pretty normal as an author. I do everything like most people. I go through the same writing process, same crit process, and submission process. I seriously don't get any special treatment because I'm an editor. Maybe I'm a little better at editing my own stuff at times, but it's hard to look at your own work and not miss things.

Tell us about your book and Five Oaks

My new release is actually one of four from the anthology that was put together with a few of my other critique partners. A Passionate Christmas is dedication to our crit group and Decadent Publishing was crazy enough to take on all of us girls, but it's been a great experience for all of us. We've gone through many ups and downs together to get this anthology written and its only made our group closer. I'm sure there were times that they've wanted to strangle each other (maybe me..) a few times, but we've worked pretty well together. Definitely check it out. We have on-probation angels, assassin witches, paranormal investigators, and the normal city girl running away from home, all stories revolving around the same town of Five Oaks. I'm the only contemporary writer in this group (I claim the normal one.), but it's truly been fun.

Thank you so much for having me. If anyone has ANY questions please ask. I'll be giving away two copies of my new release, Snowy Encounters to any commenters. If you're curious about me, I'm blogging also at http://decadentpublishing.blogspot.com/ today. You can learn all my bad habits and win a copy of my book if you don't get one here. AND I'm also at http://30daysofdecadence.blogspot.com/. I stole something of Santa's and wrote him a...spiteful letter. I have prizes over there too. Yes, I'm everywhere. This was seriously fun! Thanks!