I had a brief email conversation with my editor at Sapphire Blue Publishing this week.

Here’s the gist:

• I apologized for submitting such a rough manuscript and taking so long to rework it.
• She showed nothing but grace and understanding for all that I was juggling in my life.

Juggling?

I generally consider myself an underachiever but I stopped to think about that.

Yeah, I am juggling.  I’m juggling like a fricking mime on speed!

When I was on active duty there wasn’t any juggling.  There were 12 hours of work and 12 hours of play every day.  A nice, clean slice down the middle.  12 hours toting a machine gun and 12 hours of gym time, tossing back drinks with the boys (I really did a great deal of drinking) and a little sleep once in a while.

There was never any juggling.

Now I’m a civilian mother of two small boys, one of which just started Kindergarten.  I’m a wife, though I’ll admit a lousy one because my husband never gets his quality time.  I’m a freelance writer at Associated Content.  I’m a novelist with Sapphire Blue Publishing.  We just PCSed to Texas and I’m trying to unpack all these boxes of crap we can clearly live without.  I’m also trying to get my pre-pregnancies (there were 2) body back (these kids have really messed me up).  Lastly, I’m trying to implement a 5-year plan aimed at a location independent retirement.  (Yeah, we’re kinda young for retirement but my husband would like to retire and damnit, he deserves something for not getting his quality time.)

So maybe there is some juggling involved.

I was just looking over my calendar for tomorrow.  I had to scroll the page to see everything.  That’s when I know I’m in trouble.  My day will go something like this:

0500 Wake, drink a pot of coffee while responding to email, purchase and give away books promised as prizes in recent promotions, post this blog, post an article at Associated Content

0600 Wake the boys, feed them breakfast, change 2-3 diapers on the little man depending on whether or not he drops a load or pisses like a racehorse, get the boys dressed, teeth brushed, faces washed

0700 Get the boys in  the bike trailer (Mommy’s little rickshaw), helmets on, water bottles in hand and pedal Mr. Kindergarden to school (20 minutes of uphill biking in San Antonio heat and humidity), drop him off and pedal home (10 minutes of fast downhill coasting)

0730 Fight with the little man about how we will not keep riding around, clean up a mess or two as the little man is potty training.

0800 Down a protein shake and some vitamins, drain the coffee pot of any essence of coffee that might be left.

0830 Unpack 3-5 boxes and put more crap away, do a couple loads of laundry.

1030 Make toast and a bottle for the little man, say a little prayer to the universe that he takes a nap, fight with him about putting on a diaper.

1115 This is my only TV time all day so don’t judge.  I watch The Young and the Restless from the DVR so I can skip the commercials.

1200 Work on the current novel.

1300 Little man usually wants some Mommy time

1400 Mount up to pick up Kinderdude.

1430 Pick up Kinderdude

1445 Go over school work, homework and notes sent from his teacher, ask him about his day, find out if he ate lunch

1530 Check on that laundry

1600 Make supper for the family

1700 Do the dishes, prepare clothes for me and the boys for the next day, prepare evening snack and bottle.

1730 I try to write but there is usually the pitter-patter of little feet as well as some screaming, airplane and train noises and crazy questions like “Mom, what a mouse house?”.  I try to sneak away for a shower at this point since my neglected husband is home.

1830 Bath time for the kids then snacks and some Spongebob or Scooby-Doo.

1900 Bedtime for the kids, I write my blogs, catch up on RSS feeds and go over my calendar for the next day (all done from bed, on my phone)

2030 Pass out, phone in hand

2100 Wake up, pick my phone off the floor and put it on the charger, go back to sleep.

But who am I kidding?  My day never happens in tidy blocks like ths!

On rare nights I can sleep from 9-5.  Most nights the boys wake up for one reason or another.  Last night, Little man woke at 2300, 2400, 0100 and 0200 and drank a bottle every time.

Yeah, I’m a juggling muther*!$#”&!

Some days I wish I was sitting in a leaky Hummvee with and M-60.  Too bad I wasn’t writing back then.  I had plenty of time for it.

PS: It is 0300 and the kids have been up coughing most of the night.  They’re both sick.  You can disregard pretty much everything I thought I was going to do.  I’ll be running popsicles and apple juice all day.  I am so grateful for my own health…and the fact that I had the good sense to stay with Sapphire Blue Publishing!

Come to my crazy little world for a visit sometime at http://www.LisaPietsch.com

As a former seaman in the Navy, I learned that obstacles would always be part of life, and no matter where I was headed, I had to take those into consideration. I applied the same principle to my writing. When I factored in where I wanted to go with my writing career, the time I had to spend marketing, updating sites, tweeting, etc., and it was a daunting task. Most published authors will tell you the Return on Investment (ROI) is often little when you first start out. We all hope to hit the right target and moment in the market and take off like high-powered speedboats. Truth is, it can take years to become well-known.

My first publisher told me that it takes 3-5 years to make a name for yourself and become recognized in your niche of the industry. Rather than fall out with discouragement, I sat down and sketched out ideas to help me reach that goal.

Here are two key things that have helped me so far in establishing my writing career:

1. Have a plan
2. Stick to the plan

Sailboat on Blue Water

Don’t worry that you can’t jump in and handle a yacht right away. It’s okay to learn how to sail on a small boat. Spend this time laying out a plan, studying what others do, and making inroads where you can. When you are ready, you’ll have a strong foundation from which to set sail.

Sarah Stevens is back in the third installment to the Task Force 125 series available at Sapphire Blue Publishing!

When a CIA operative is captured nobody is sent to save him.  Vince Hennessee knew the risks but the only way he could move on with his life with Sarah was to put down Nikolai Federov once and for When a CIA operative is captured nobody is sent to save him.  Seasoned paramilitary operative Vince Hennessee knew the risks but the only way he could move on with the life he had planned with Sarah Stevens was to put down Nikolai Federov once and for all.  What he didn’t expect was that Nikolai’s guys would find him first.  Now it is up to Sarah and the rest of the American Swift team from Task Force 125 to find Nikolai and put together an armed strike force that can take out the Russian and rescue Vince before it is too late.

When I started reading romances, the heroines were always feisty but never really strong enough to get themselves out of the Black Moment.  That was when the hero would ride in on whatever he rode and save the frail, feisty, virgin.

There was just something about that scene I couldn’t swallow. Why couldn’t chicks be strong too?

Then I joined the Air Force, became a Security Specialist, and knew that special love a woman feels for an automatic, belt-fed weapon.  Hell yeah, chicks can be strong.

Don’t believe me?

Say hello to my little friend.

Sarah Stevens used to be the frail thing that would have been a heroine in a 1970s romance.  She couldn’t do anything right.  Then she hit rock bottom and took the Red Pill.  When she came out of the rabbit hole, she was a whole different animal.

She’s bad ass and knows it but she can still rock the little black dress and 4 inch heels.

Times have changed.  We’ve changed.  Our heroines have changed.

Check out Sarah Stevens.  She’s my heroine.

What do you think?  Can women be both tough and feminine?

One commenter will receive a free copy of one of my books so feel free to tell me how your really feel.

A delightful carousel

A friend once confessed she had more ups and downs than a merry-go-round. Doesn’t that fit the universe itself? It goes in cycles. Birth, life, death. Even stars and galaxies are born, live, and die.

Why should people be any different?

Success also has its ups and downs, but true success isn’t determined by “not failing,” but by trying again one more time than you fail. Sometimes, that simply takes experience.

A wise woman once asked, “How do you gain good judgment?” Her mentor replied, “Through experience.” The woman considered that a moment and asked, “How do get experience?” The mentor smiled and said, “Poor judgment.”

Put that poor judgment to work. Sometimes, experience only helps us recognize the same mistake when we make it again. How we handle it is up to us. My plan is to live, learn, make mistakes, get back up, dust off my hands, and keep going.

Poor judgment can be a bitter lesson, but it doesn’t have to stop us. We can get back up one more time. It’s as simple — and difficult — as just that.

Authors labor long and hard over a book, and once it’s been written and published, the next part takes a bit more work: promoting it. One of the best ways to entice readers is through offering excerpts.  

The Great American Novel

I won’t touch on how to pick the right excerpt from your book today. Instead, I’d like to show you a technical tip for posting them in a readable fashion. Fonts and special characters can cause real problems, especially when transferring them into email to send to a group.

Have you ever come across an excerpt that looks like this:
&*%$He loves her&*%$ it&*%$s obvious.&*%$

 It should read: “He loves her; it’s obvious.”

How easy was it to read that in the first sample above? Imagine an entire page like that! How long would you read before giving up and going to the next one?

When posting excerpts or quotes on a group message or bulletin board such as Yahoo! Groups, the service strips out curly quotes – the kind that curl one way in front and the other way in back. Many email programs replace these with the ascii code for that command.

A font that readers don’t possess can cause the same thing. For example, something frilly and fancy like a handwritten-looking font changes to courier with all the codes as above.

When posting, use Arial, Times, or Times New Roman, and turn off the curly quotes feature on your word processor. This will ensure your excerpts and posts come out readable and clear. I’m sure they look lovely on your computer, but how will they look online?

If you have questions or problems with posts, feel free to share them. If I can answer them, I will. If I can’t, I’ll do my best to find out from someone else. When you leave a comment, it will trigger a notice via my email, and I’ll drop in as soon as possible to post a response.

 If you’ve ever had to transfer to a new base, you know that it can be exciting, especially when moving to a place you’ve always wanted to live. However, uprooting from a group of people you’ve come to love can also be difficult. Even if you’re not career military, you may end up with a permanent change of station (PCS) within one tour. According to http://military.com here are the various transportation groups who will ultimately be in charge of your move.

OK, the writing itself isn’t a team effort but writing for publication most certainly is a team effort.  Let me tell you about my team:

Sapphire Blue Publishing

My publisher took a chance on me.  My first manuscript was rough and needed an immense amount of work but they saw something in it and chose to work with me.

Line Editor

My manuscript was assigned a line editor and we did several rounds of edits.  She’d point out issues, I’d either correct the issues ow we’d discuss why I felt they were important to the story.  Together we refined my original manuscript.

Copy Editor

Once line edits were completed to our mutual satisfaction, the manuscript was assigned to a copy editor who graciously pointed out where I started four paragraphs with the same word or scrambled my timeline.  Details like that can ruin the experience for a reader.

Cover Artist

Sapphire Blue Publishing has a specific cover artist who creates all their covers.  Kendra Egert is the woman responsible for my covers and likely a good portion of my sales.  I’ve seen bad covers but never from Kendra.

Reviewers

Reviewers don’t get paid for their work (and they usually buy the books they review) but their service to the publishing industry is invaluable.  Without reviewers, most readers would never hear about our books.  They can make the difference between a book that sells and one that bombs.

Other Authors

For a career that is, for the most part, solitary, we do a great deal of leaning on each other.  Other authors read our books, review them, help us promote them and even allow us to guest blog on their websites.  This level of cooperation is unheard of in other career fields.

The Reader

Like the proverbal tree in the woods, if a novel were published but nobody read it, would it still be a novel?  Writers would be lost without readers and publishers, editors and cover artists wouldn’t work.

So, you see, the writing itself is done as a solitary endeavor but writing for publication is a team sport.

Personally, I am grateful to be on such a fantastic team.

For more information about me and my team, please visit my website at www.LisaPietsch.com.

Judy Anderson

Virginia C

Kathy Yates

Please send your addy to Joann AT joannross.com

Congrats to our winners and thanks so much to everyone who stopped by today! I hope you’ll come back to RRC and check out some of our other authors!

One of the questions I’m often asked by readers is “What’s your favorite of all your books?” Which 
is a bit like asking a mother to name her favorite child and impossible to answer.

That said, I’ll admit that The Homecoming, the first in my Shelter Bay series, is very personal to me. Partly because it’s set on the magnificent Oregon coast, where my husband once bought me a bag of salt-water taffy, then proposed. Decades later, not only is the candy store still there, I’m so glad I said yes! Combining my hobbies of photography and scrapbooking, I created a video virtual tour of Shelter Bay on my website at http://joannross.com. If that red-roofed house on the tour looks familiar, it’s because Signet’s art department used it on The Homecoming’s cover.

Another question I get a lot is why I chose to write about military heroes. That’s a complex question, but one reason is that I’ve always been a sucker for a guy in uniform. When I was growing up, nearly every male I knew got drafted into the military. Even Elvis didn’t get a pass. After going through Army boot camp, he was sent to Germany, where he met a teenage Priscilla, and well, we all know how that turned out.

Along with several military men and women we’ve “adopted” through Soldiers Angels over the years, we also have two nephews in the Army — Patrick, who completed two Iraq tours and Kyle, who’s already “done” Iraq and is currently serving as a medevac in Afghanistan. Needless to say, having them in harm’s way these past years has made my High Risk books, and now my Shelter Bay stories, extremely personal.

Ongoing concern for them is also partly why I’ve returned to my more emotional family-centric romance roots after the murder and mayhem of romantic suspense. Since writing about serial killers eventually gets depressing, I’m so happy to be back telling feel-good stories about good things happening to nice, but flawed people.

Another reason I like to write about military heroes (along with a military heroine in Shattered) is because they possess something that seems to be in short supply these days – honor.

I firmly believe that a man capable of committing to something outside himself can also commit to a mate and, as a woman, I find that really appealing
The hero I like to write about doesn’t have any personal desire to create conflict or aggression, but he does possess an unwavering code that has him not hesitating to put himself in harm’s way and risk being wounded — physically, emotionally, or both — to protect, defend, and fight for what’s right. He’s self-disciplined, decisive (though he often has to battle his own internal demons, as The Homecoming’s Sex Douchett does) and along with an integrity as tough as his body, he’s unwaveringly loyal and self-confident enough to appreciate and support the equally strong woman who manages to win his guarded heart.

Many readers might be surprised to learn that I’ve been writing military heroes since I wrote a male point-of-view romance about a former Vietnam POW in the mid ‘80s, which was a groundbreaking subject for the genre and still remains on many must-read lists. Since then, though I don’t always mention the fact, most of the heroes in my books have been veterans.

One of the things I’m enjoying exploring in my Shelter Bay books is life after war. As hopefully more and more of our troops begin returning home, there are some wonderful stories waiting to be told, and I can’t wait to write some of them.

In The Homecoming, both Sax Douchett and Kara Conway have returned to their small coastal hometown seeking healing and closure. The ocean has always provided a shelter from emotional storms for me. It’s where I go to unwind and put my life in perspective, which is why I named my fictional coastal town Shelter Bay. Do you have some special place where you feel at peace? A place that, at least in your heart, feels like home?

To celebrate the book’s release day, three people who respond (chosen at random), will receive an autographed copy of The Homecoming.

I can’t take credit for this material. I found it late last year and loved it. Since hurricane season is upon us, I thought this would be a great time to share. Those who live in hurricane-prone areas, please let me know if you concur.

Massive Waves

Top Ten Reasons Hurricane Season is Like Christmas

10. Decorating the house (boarding up windows)

9.  Dragging out boxes that haven’t been used since last season (camping gear, flashlights)

8.  Last minute shopping in crowded stores

7.  Regular TV shows pre-empted for “specials”

6.  Family coming to stay with you

5.  Family and friends from out-of-state calling

4.  Buying food you don’t normally buy … and in large quantities

3.  Days off from work

2.  Candles

1.  And the number one reason Hurricane Season is like Christmas … There’s a good chance you’ll have a tree in your house.

Stay safe this year!