"The Book-Signing"

The winner of Michael Synder’s Return Policy and some random item from his desk (via random number selection via my husband) is…….

Katie Ganshert!! Congrats!! Please e-mail me at Krista @kristaphillips.com with your mailing address!

And now, for the answer you’ve all been waiting for (beside of course, who one the drawing!)

As I mentioned, Mike and I have never actually met. But how we know each other is kind of, complicated. The truth is, I bought his house a few years ago.

But, I didn’t know him or that he was a writer, I just happened to purchase his house. Anyway, this was around the time he was finishing edits on his first PUBLISHED novel, My name is Russell Fink, and they evidently didn’t get the address changed at Zondervan, so his edits were delivered via FedEx to my house. (The Hearth and side of the cow relate to the street our infamous house is on, but I won’t give you specifics on that because I really don’t want everyone in the blogosphere knowing where I live….)

I didn’t know who he was, so (long story short) I returned the package to FedEx. But over the next year… I kept receiving random packages. Once we kinda new each other from a local writer’s group, and I actually had his e-mail address, I began playing “delivery woman” and letting him know when his packages arrived, and trash woman by throwing away all his junk mail. We still have a flub up every now and then and receiving something… after 2 ½ years.

And that, my friends, is the weird twist of fate. I like to think of my house as the “writers” house and hope that the “published” energy will someday rub off on me. *grin*

That said, I want to tell you a little story today, in honor of Mike. This is one he hasn’t heard before, and will probably shed ME in a bad light, but will let you know why I say we haven’t ACTUALLY met… only kinda. (His wife usually picks up the packages… thus the reason I haven’t met him!)

****
THE BOOK SIGNING

Krista shifted her car into reverse. Call her chicken, she really didn’t care. But the plan now seemed juvenile and ridiculous, and there was no way she’d go through with it. As she turned her car out of Border’s parking lot, the jazzy ring of her cell phone blared at her like a warning sign. “Don’t answer me, Don’t do it!”

She debated on throwing the stupid thing out the window, but wasting money wasn’t in her vocabulary. Plus, her sister would kill her for screening the call, so she flipped open the contraption of doom.

“Kari, I’m not doing it.”

Her sister huffed. “Shut up, goober. You are to. I’m almost there, and you’re not backing out now. Grow up.”

Krista stuck her tongue out at the phone. “Fine. Hurry up though. We’re only staying a minute.”

She swung her car back around and parked at the end of the lot. “I can’t believe I’m going through with this.” Was she really turning into a stalker? Really? She was about to sink to an all time low, and in no way was she proud of that fact.

Kari’s car pulled in next to her, then she all but dragged Krista into the bookstore. “You’ll be fine. And you will say hello.”

Krista laughed. “Over my dead body. If you think I’m gonna do that, then aliens must have taken over your body, because my sister would never be that delusional.”

“What, you’re just gonna go in there and watch?”

“Something like that. I just want to see how it works, okay?” Call her stupid, but she’d never been to a book signing, and if she was going to take this writing thing seriously, she needed to do research on how it all worked. Do people have to buy the book and THEN get it signed? Or get it signed then buy the book? Or are they just handing out free books to the crowd? That didn’t seem right… they needed to make money at this thing, right? Would there be like a trickle of people, or a line out the door of people dying to see a real life author?

Once in the store, Kari started towards the table where a man with glasses stood. Krista clutched onto the back of Kari’s shirt and corralled her to the magazine section. “What are you doing? I told you, we are not going to meet him.”

“You are being goofy. It isn’t that big of a deal.”

The man looked their way, and Krista grabbed the first magazine she found and stuffed it in front of her face. “Shut up. He’s looking.”

It took her a second to realize that the picture she was staring at was a dude upside down without a shirt. Nice muscles, but not really her supreme choice of magazines, and it’d help if it was right side up.

A second later, she noticed a woman and a stream of kids behind her, all wearing yellow shirts, coming through the door and headed toward the dude behind the table. “Look, I think that’s his family. See? The shirts have the dog from the book on them!”

Kari planted her hands on her hips. “Are we really just going to stand here? Because it’s really kinda dumb, to be honest.”

Krista shook her head. “Now, let’s go to the other side so we can watch from there.” She walked with the magazine, a tasteful golf digest this time, between her and the book singing in progress.
This went on for the next ten minutes, circling the store, checking out the progress of the signing. A few times there was a line.

Finally fed up, Kari tapped Krista’s arm much harder than necessary. “Seriously? You’re retarded. I’m leaving.”

Krista nodded. She’d come, she’d seen, she’d researched. Her first stint as stalker was completed. Jenny, the heroine of Krista's first book and amateur stalker herself, would be proud.

****

Please note, the above does not truly represent a GOOD sample of my writing, as it was written in about ten minutes close to midnight after a very, very long day. But… I tried. LOL

Discussion: What is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done when researching for your book?

HOLIDAY BOOK GIVING GUIDE: Michael Snyder's "Return Policy"

KRISTA'S HOLIDAY
BOOK GIVING GUIDE: 2009

Week 3: Contemporary Humorous Literary Fiction (or just General Fiction...)
Michael Snyder's Return Policy

This week we are veering off the "romance" path a little and landing straight into the slightly neurotic but highly entertaining and humorous land that is Michael Snyder. If you've never read a Michael Snyder book, you are missing out, let me tell you.

But, then, just read my below interview with him and see for yourself. (I'm still wiping my tears from laughing so hard.)

Krista: I’m a little humbled here, I have to be honest. To have Mr. Funny man (my personal nick name for you… you’ll just have to live with it…) at my blog is a little nerve-wracking. I mean, I try to be funny but… you just beat all and put me to shame. To make me feel a wee bit better… give us a very bad joke. We’ll call it building Krista’s self-esteem, okay?

Michael: Okay, this is actually the first joke I ever made up (which is probably not true, but it is the earliest one I can remember…and it does indeed possess a high degree of “very badness”).

You remember those pretend book titles where the punch line was the author’s name? …Yellow River by I. P. Freely…Spots On The Wall by Hu Flung Poo…Under The Bleachers by Seymor Butts. Well, I made up one of my own, sometime around first or second grade. It may not be as groan-worthy as its predecessors, but it makes up for it by not being very funny either. So here goes…

Making Puppets by Mary O. Nette

Krista: Um, okay wow. That IS bad (but then, why am I still laughing hysterically? grrr!) I can honestly say I never imagined the "Seymore Butts" joke being posted on my blog... thanking for bringing me to an all new level, Mike!

So your most recent book is “Return Policy” that released in July. Was writing a “second” book any different/harder/easier/funnier/justshootme-er than writing your first book (My Name is Russell Fink… just in case you don’t remember the name…)?

Michael: It was indeed a lot more difficult. With my first novel (thanks for the parenthetical title reminder!), I had the luxury of no firm deadlines. I wrote the book at a leisurely pace and just had fun with it. Whereas the entirety of Return Policy was written with a metaphorical clock ticking in the background. (For the record, I’m not complaining. I do realize that’s a very good problem to have!) That was challenge number one.

The second, and way more cumbersome problem was the structure. The story of Return Policy is told through three distinct, first-person narrators. So the challenge was to create three different voices without sacrificing continuity. Adding to that was the mental instability of Shaq, a homeless man bent on co-opting the biographies of whomever he’s talking to. This not only rendered him a less-than-reliable narrator, but also presented the ongoing challenge of keeping his voice unique.

Full disclosure: “Fink” was my first published novel. Prior to hooking up with the nice folks at Zondervan, I did complete one novel, as well as quitting three others at about the 100-page mark. And trust me, all four were nearly as bad as the joke in question #1.

Krista: Thank you for correcting me. And I can totally see why getting into the head of a homeless man would be a challenge (but you did such a great job of it!--that, btw, is a little bit of interviewer brown nosing...)

Speaking of Return Policy, can you give us the low-down of what it’s about?

Michael: The idea of the story grew out of a short scene I’d written for a short story entitled, appropriately enough…Return Policy. I just thought it would be interesting to have a character try and return a perfectly good espresso machine because it wouldn’t die—despite all the warnings to the contrary in the owner’s manual. I had no idea why he wanted to destroy a perfectly good espresso maker at the time, but knew if I kept writing that one would emerge. When the customer service rep on the other end of the phone showed our hero the slightest bit of compassion, the larger story began to take shape.

At the same time I was working on another story about a guy dealing with the eerie aftereffects of a heart transplant. So I decided to inflict the heart troubles on Willy and see if I could thread the two stories into a novel. Originally, I was going to alternate between two POV characters—Willy and Father Joe, a former football great who now ran a homeless shelter. But eventually the voices of Ozena and Shaq pushed poor Father Joe into the background. Somewhere along the line I stumbled on the idea of having Willy accidentally run over a school mascot.

As you can tell, I’m not so great at synopsizing my own work. So if it’s okay with you, I’m going to borrow from the back cover…

In his second book, novelist Michael Snyder introduces us to three very unusual and distinct voices all torn by tragedy: Willy Finneran, washed-up genre novelist with an espresso maker that just won’t die and a habit of avoiding conflict even if it means putting the truth on a sliding scale. Ozena Webb, single mother and Javatek’s top customer service representative. She spends every evening playing board games with her twelve-year-old son who is mentally crippled from an early childhood accident. Shaq, a small and scraggy homeless man with trauma-induced blank spots on his memory, trying to piece together the story of his life while assisting Father Joe at the Mercy Mission. As their stories intersect, the narrative vacillates between hope and naïveté, comic relief and postmodern ennui. Startling in its authenticity, this unforgettable novel reveals that no matter how far one has strayed from hope, there is always a way to return.

Krista: The espresso maker thing still kills me!

Okay, it's what we've ALL been waiting for! Michael Snyder... it's time to play....

Krista's Pop-Plot Brainstorming Quiz

I love putting authors on the spot. Yours is special to me because it involves our brief history together (besides the cow…) Off the top of your head, plot out a story that includes: A fireplace hearth (wink), The side (wink again) of a cow, and FedEx (double wink.)

Michael: Meet Jack Uvaltraids, rogue FedEx deliveryman by day, professor of advanced bovinity studies by night. Sleep-deprived from his many hours of moonlit vocational duties, Jack inadvertently runs his delivery van into the back of a station wagon (one of those cool jobbers with the fake wood paneling on the side), lo, one Christmas Eve.

The driver of the wagon, Jill Schmill, was making an emergency delivery of an imported slab of granite to little Timmy’s house. Little Timmy had gotten it into his knotty little head that Santa only brings toys to kids who leave him cookies (suspiciously, Timmy’s dad weighs six-hundred pounds and is often found sporting a crystallized cinnamon-crusted “mustache,” but that’s really beside the point) and to not have a hearth is to not have a Christmas. (Obviously Little Timmy has not yet reached the age of accountability where his greedy little pagan heart will put him at eternal risk. Besides, this is not really an apocalyptic tale, at least not as it pertains to end times eschatology. It just might be an apocalyptic love story….but you’ll have to keep reading to find out!)

Meanwhile, back at the curb, Jack has already decided to salvage his flagging self-esteem (he flunked Driver’s Ed three times…also beside the point) by punching the driver of the wagon in the schnaz then running away screaming like a small child.

But…when his eyes meet Jill’s, it’s love at first sight…or it would have been, but Jill keeps blinking like mad…or is it winking? We cannot be sure because Timmy is now standing high atop his mountain of a driveway, whining about the botched delivery and the ruination of all things Yule.

That’s when smoke begins pouring out from under the hood of the station wagon. The inevitable happy-ever-after couple lock eyes, seeing deep into each other’s parched souls, knowing that true love awaits (plus a bunch of presents and some turkey and probably a football game and a nap) if they can simply deliver the stone hearth and keep their respective vehicles from bursting into flames (because everyone knows how difficult it is to actually fall in love when your car is on fire).

Without a word (but with a few well-timed guttural grunting noises) they each grab an end of the stone, toss it into the yard, then run up the hill to fetch a pail of water.

Epilogue:

It turns out that Little Timmy had been way naughty and not so nice. His father missed Christmas altogether with sever bout of kidney stones. Jill took one whiff of Jack’s raging halitosis and decided that she already had a boyfriend. And for Christmas, Jack got a nap, which is all he ever really wanted anyhow.

Krista: Um. wow. That's like... a tragedy novel! Oh, and where is the side of the cow? The bovine thing... that BARELY cut it. Still, truly funny! Thank you!

Twitter-worthy Question:
You come home from a hard day at work, and your wonderful wife has slaved over the house, cleaning it from head to toe, and it smells sparkly clean (my husband is totally jealous right now). What smell would you prefer, Pine or Lemon? Or are you an orange kinda guy?

Michael: Orange spice all the way. Almost every night I brew up a spot of Gevalia orange tea. I think there’s some cinnamon in there as well. A close second would be lemon (and his first cousin, lime).

Pine smells not only make me sneezy, but usually make my hands feel artificially sticky with imaginary sap.

By the way, I noticed you asked most interviewees about their favorite nail polish. Now I don’t want to insinuate any sort of subliminal sexism here on the blogfront, but…

Krista: Me??? Sexist? Whatever!! Seriously though, I'm thinking a passion purple would highlight the tones in your hair quite well...

Well, folks, that about wraps it up. Just one more question.

Gift-Giving Guide: Who should buy your books?

Michael: Another way to think about that is: Who shouldn’t buy my books?

But I realize that may sound a bit sarcastic and self-serving. So I’ll try and be a little more direct…

Everyone who reads this post should by seven or eight copies, then solemnly pledge to spend at least three hours per week launching their own hardcore marketing campaign on my behalf. My most sincere belief is that my novel, Return Policy, has the potential to grow into an insanely profitable network-marketing pyramid scheme for anyone who with the guts and fortitude to invest in a few thousand copies, which they can then sell to all their future-former friends and neighbors. (If anyone actually takes me up on this offer, I’ll figure out a way to include a parenthetical subtitle on future print runs: How To Lose Friends and Infuriate People).

So don’t wait! Call today! Just three easy payments! And in laboratory mice, reading Return Policy is assumed to help them lose weight, grow hair, quit smoking, and get dates.

Or, you know, anyone who likes a decent story with two-parts heart and one-part humor…

And if I may…Thank You! For sharing your blog space with me and saying nice stuff about my books. I can’t wait to interview you on my blog when your first novel hits shelves.

Krista: Well. I don't need to grow hair (yet), quit smoking or get dates, but the losing weight thing... what's the number again???

Thanks, again, Mike, for taking the time out to join us today! You are a hoot!!

Now, seriously, you can find Mike's books at your local book store or on Amazon... or CBD. Also, make sure you check out "My Name is Russell Fink" his debut novel. Hilarious... that's all I can say.


Michael Synder lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee, with his lovely wife and four children. He studied music in college and played guitar professionally for many years. His first novel, My Name is Russell Fink, released in 2008, and he hopes the world is a slightly better place as a result.

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Mike has so graciously offered to give away a copy of "Return Policy" to one lucky commenter. You have until end of day Thursday, November 19th to comment. (Deadline is 10:00 p.m.... because I really don't like staying up until midnight to pick a winner!!!)

On TOP of a copy of Return Policy, the lucky winner will ALSO receive a random piece of something from Michael's own desk.

That's right folks. This mystery gift could be anything from a five-year-old wad of chewed bubble-gum, the pencil he gnawed on while plotting Return Policy, or an old coin that Michael thinks is just a penny but really you take it to the Antique Roadshow and find out it's worth an easy 20k in which you get to rub it in his face. Seriously, you really don't know what you're getting. But it'll be authentic Michael Snyder... and that right there is priceless.

Comment Suggestion: (getting this right does NOT up your chances in the giveaway... is just a fun conversation) Anyone wanna guess Michael Snyder and I's history together given the "brainstorming" clues??? Hint: We've never, like, actually met, not really anyway. (I'll tell the real answer on Friday...)

Diving into a pool of rewriting he-- er, bliss

I love writing books. I really do. As most of you know, I'm a true seat of the pants writer. I start with a vague story idea. I have a basic character sketch, a setting, and have a general, "This book is about ________." I'll talk more about that next week, but suffice to say, my books are very rough when they are finished.

Some people LOVE editing. I, sad to say, am not one of them. I love the exhilaration of creation... but endure the task of editing. But I do so because I want my book to be the best I can present to both agents, editors, and hopefully someday, readers.

So how do we delve into the task that is the Second Draft?

Really, most second drafts should be more aptly named "rewriting" rather than "editing" This is when we go through and fix our writing, beef up our subplots, ensure flow and rhythm, make sure everything is plausible and that there is sufficient motivation. Whole chapters are deleted in this phase, and at times, whole chapters are added. This isn't just spelling changes, my friends.

You all had such GREAT suggestions last week, and what I took from it all was this very simple concept:

We are all different!

I know, I know, imagine that! We all have our own needs, ideologies, and convictions when it comes to the rewrite process.

A few ideas/suggestions/points to remember:

Get away from it all: Several of you mentioned to set aside your book for a period of time, and I TOTALLY agree. Personally, two weeks is a good amount of time for me. I still *care* about my characters, and am anxious to get back to them. But I think more than a month would be too much for me. I need to distance myself enough to see it objectively, but not too much that it's an "old" project that I'm not invested in.

Set a daily goal and stick to it: In our local writer's group, we were talking about this subject on Saturday. Kaye noted a helpful piece of advice that I'll borrow from her because it was very appropriate, and I've heard it in multiple places. Make sure you have dedicated rewriting time. When you write a book, many times it's in interrupted chunks, which makes for choppy plot lines, or makes you forget to make a point that needs made, or you make a point 20 times because you didn't recall the last 19 times you said it. In your rewrites are choppy too, it'll make it more difficult to catch these things and monitor the flow of the story.

So make yourself a goal and set aside chunks of time consistently to do your rewrite.

Print out a hard copy: Another idea I hear suggested is to print off a hard copy of your novel to mark you rewrites on. I agree with this, but personally I don't do that in the rewrite stage. For me, that's my third draft, in the "editing" stage. I catch more errors in hard copy, but I also do a LOT of rewriting in second draft, and doing that on paper invokes a cringe response from me. I use the print-out draft for changing passive to active voice, to catch repeated words, stupid spelling errors that spell-check doesn't recognize (like were and where.)

To each his own: Remember, this is all to be put into perspective by the needs of the author. Our minds are fickle, and each of us needs different tricks to mold our books into the best we product we can deliver.

Discussion:

How long does it usually take you to complete edits on your book? If you haven't... how long do you think you should give yourself to complete this task?

Winner announced and... Vibrating Bums???

First, I'd like to congratulate Valerie on winning Erica Vetsch's novel, The Bartered Bride! She won using a VERY scientific method--I typed all names in excel... sorted by alpha, then had my husband pick a number... which happened to coincide with Valerie's row. (usually I just have my daughter pick a name out of a hat... but I didn't feel like waiting until she woke up this a.m.!) Oh, and as a side note... Valerie will be expected a wee little one in July of next year... so she gets DOUBLE congrats today!

I'm purposely skipping Fat Friday again because I've had a stressful week... or two... or three... and that makes me eat. The scale is not kind to me, so I'm just not going there today.

BUT!

Sherrinda's been pestering me to read my "vibrating bum" scene, so I thought today would be a FUN day to debut a small scene from my latest book. The title is Love Finds You in Sandwich, IL, but I'm still thinking about a separate working title for it as well... since that one kinda broadcasts the publisher I'm aiming for. This is the book I just finished, and after next week, will begin the editing process on.

Anyway, a while ago on twitter, Sherrinda, a few others, and I had this riveting conversation about Vibrating Bums (I believe caused by Sherrinda complaining that our tweets were making her bum vibrate since her phone was in her back pocket)

I was working on this particular scene and needed to spice it up a bit, and it gave me a GREAT idea!

To preface a little, Rueben is Maddie's boss of like, one day. And Maddie is a newbie Christian of maybe six months. Rueben is engaged to Livy. They've just finished a little heart-to-heart discussion, oh, and Maddie just moved into a guesthouse behind Rueben's parents house, which is where this scene takes place. (Phew, sorry, didn't realize I had so much to explain!)

Happy reading!

********
Rueben stood up and extended a hand to her. She clasped it, letting him pull her up, but reclaimed her hand immediately. Her hand liked his way more than appropriate—especially considering his engaged status.

She was not one of those women.

Plus, she’d sworn off men forever. Even though one might seem nice enough, deep down they all only wanted one thing.

Rueben stuffed his hands into his front pockets. “Mom’s going to wonder where we went.”

Maddie slipped on her shoes and nodded. “You’re right, and I don’t want to inconvenience her. She’s already going above and beyond.”

“She enjoys it. Don’t get all apologetic on her and ruin her fun. Think of yourself as a stray cat she found and wants to nurse back to health.”

“Just as long as she doesn’t try to declaw me.”

Rueben’s lips twitched. “That’s the first thing on the list next week. Gotta make sure you don’t scratch up my car.”

She rolled her eyes. “Your precious car is just fine.”

He turned and walked toward the door, and Maddie followed. Her eyes were drawn to Rueben’s khaki slacks, more specifically to his hind quarters. Were they… moving?

She averted her eyes. Good Christian women didn’t look at men’s behinds. Or did they? No, surely it was a sin to notice how nice it looked and how he must work out to have…

God, please help me. I’ve never had a problem with lust before… Is this where I’m supposed to pluck out my eye? Won’t that hurt?

The movement drew her eyes again. “Um, Rueben?”

He opened the door for her. “Yes?”

“I think, uh, I think your bum is vibrating.”

“My what?” He reached a hand behind him and pulled out his cell phone. He flipped it open. “One missed call. You're right.”

Maddie ducked her head. How humiliating. Now he thought she was checking out his rear. And she kinda had. Just not on purpose. God would forgive sins of ignorance, right?

HOLIDAY BOOK GIVING GUIDE: Erica Vetsch's The Bartered Bride

KRISTA'S HOLIDAY
BOOK GIVING GUIDE: 2009

Week 2: Category Historical Romance
Erica Vetsch's The Bartered Bride

I'm SO excited to introduce Erica Vetsch to you, fellow blogger and author extraordinaire! In exchange for a free copy of her book, I agreed to give her this glowing reviewing... (LOOK! I'm FTC compliant! WOOHOO!)

Now, on to the interview.

Erica, so glad you could join us here at Krista's Reflections (as kooky as they are sometimes.) Before we get into the book stuff, I have a question I'm dying to ask.

As a fellow twitterer, I’m sure you’re saddened as well by the lack of information (besides Sherrinda's vibrating bum...) we receive from our fellow twitterers. I mean, what happened to knowing “what you are doing?” We get quotes and links instead of “Using the ole electric toothbrush to polish my pearly whites” or “Playing scrabble with my kids” or “Putting my shoes on” then “now I’m tying them…” In this spirit, I think we’d like to all know something “twitter” worthy about you. Like, say, what you ate for breakfast this morning?

Erica's reply: Had Slimfast for breakfast. Milk chocolate. Got on scale right after. Slimfast Fail! Want refund.

Oh, I feel for you, girl. Once a year I go for a few weeks on a slimfast kick. *sigh* It's about that time of year, unfortunately. (and I stick to the bars... the shakes just don't cut it!)

So, a little bird told me you had a book published. Very interesting. What’s it about? (ahhh, elevator pitch memories!)

Erica's reply: A guy (handsome) a girl (pretty) a fortune (staggering) a ship (wrecked), a romance (smoochy!) :) Actually, it's the story of an arranged marriage, and how two people keep wanting God to change everyone else's minds, when it's the hero and heroine who end up changing.

Very nice. You are totally writing my next elevator pitch for me, kay? Thanks!

So, how long did you slave over said book?

Erica's reply: I wrote The Bartered Bride in about five weeks in the summer of 2007. The idea just hit me and WHAM! I was off and running. The editing took about a month more.

Do you see the jealousy dripping from my ears? Hold on while I get a napkin to wipe it off...

Okay, all clear! Now, I like to give my interviewees a pop brainstorming session. I’ll give you a topic, and you give me the first book idea in elevator pitch form that pops into your head kay? Good.

I know your book is called “The Bartered Bride” so give me an idea for a book entitled “The Barking Bride.” GO!

Erica's reply: A guy's dog bites a female mail carrier, and she goes all Shaggy D.A. on him. He doesn't know whether to rush her to the hospital or the vet. Hilarity ensues as she chases cats and he chases her.

I smell a bestseller!!!

I gotta tell you, we’re all so excited that you’re published! WOOHOO! Tell us about the moment you got the news!

Erica's reply: A phenomenal moment for me. JoAnn Simmons of Barbour Heartsong Presents announced the contract at the 2008 ACFW Conference at one of the general sessions. Soooo Coooool!

A wonderful moment I'm sure! CONGRATS again!!! Any other books coming out we might be interested in?

Erica's reply:
I've got six books coming out this year:

The Bartered Bride Nov 2009
The Marriage Masquerade Jan 2010
The Engineered Engagement June 2010

Clara and the Cowboy April 2010
Lily and the Lawman August 2010
Maggie and the Maverick Nov 2010

Seriously, I'm blown away. WOW! You are on a roll! Last very important question. Minty Fresh or Cinnamon Gum? Inquiring minds NEED to know!

Erica's reply: Always the mint.

GOOD ANSWER! Me too! Thanks, Erica, for joining us today! You rock big time!

Oh wait! I forgot the most IMPORTANT question.

BOOK GIVING GUIDE: Who should I buy this book for?

Erica's reply: Anyone who has ever been shipwrecked, or forced into marriage, or played the piano, or has gotten flowers delivered to them, or been in love, or had a fight with their mom, or has ever voted, or has ever thought about voting.... :)

Well, that covers, um, most people on our lists, me thinks! Thanks again for joining us Erica!

You can purchase a copy of Erica's book at Christianbook.com.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
ERICA VETSCH is married to Peter and keeps the company books for the family lumber business. A home-school mom to Heather and James, Erica loves history, romance, and storytelling. Her ideal vacation is taking her family to out-of-the-way history museums and chatting to curators about local history. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Calvary Bible College in Secondary Education: Social Studies. You can find her on the web at www.onthewritepath.blogspot.com

Erica has generously offered to give an autographed copy of her book, The Bartered Bride, away to one lucky commenter on this post! You have till 11:59 tomorrow night (November 12th) to leave a comment to be entered into the drawing. Winner to be announced on Friday!

And now the fun begins.

For those of you who see me on twitter or facebook, you may already know, but on Saturday evening, I wrote the proverbial "The End" on my current WIP.

What a GREAT feeling! It was awesome when I finished my first book, but now that I've finished my second... I feel validated, like the first one wasn't just a fluke, a twist of fate, or just a "one time" deal.

I'm a writer!

But now... as we all know, the editing begins. I began this book mid-June, wrote the first 30k words easily in just a few weeks, then struggled for months to get the next 20k down.

In the last two weeks, I belted out the last 30k. So, in reality, it was a very quickly written book. So... I have a LOT to edit. I changed names mid-book and now have to go back and catch them all. I have plot elements I came up with mid-story and now have to go and thread them through the beginning. I am NOT a natural at description like some writers, so in editing I have to go back and make sure I've included all the needed details, especially regarding setting. And all that is in addition to my bad grammar due to quick typing, horrid spelling (I turn off spell check while I write because the lines annoy me and slow me down) and passive voice that I used while just trying to get the story elements down.

Needless to say... there's much editing to do.

But right now, at least for the next two weeks, I'm basking in the DONENESS of my rough draft. WAHOO!!

For inquiring minds, thought I'd also post my short-summary to give you a sneak peek at my "finished" book.

Love Finds You in Sandwich, IL (or another title that I still haven't come up with)

Sandwich represents hope for nineteen-year-old Maddie Buckner and her brother, until she loses her new job after less than an hour on the clock. It’s all Rueben-the-Jerk’s fault, and she’s determined to make him right the wrong.

He does so, however reluctantly, by giving her a job at his restaurant, The Sandwich Shop. What Maddie doesn’t count on is losing her heart to her boss. Her ENGAGED boss.

When her boss’s fiancée gets jealous and bad things start happening to sabotage the restaurant, Maddie must get to the bottom of the craziness in time to save her brother, her job, and her heart.

Discussion: Next week we'll discuss a little bit about transitioning from the "writing" phase to the "editing" phase, so in preparation, I'd love to hear how some of you accomplish this. Do you set it aside for a while before editing? Or do you dive right in? Do you have a "plan"? What's helped you in the past? Do you give yourself an editing deadline?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KARALYNN

Before I get to my post, let me first say, I know you all want to know who won Kaye's awesome book, Ransome's Honor!

Drum roll please....

And the winner is..... Carla Gade!!

Congrats! You'll be getting an e-mail from me this morning!


Next, I'd like to say a big huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful daughter!! She's totally getting WAY too old and I don't like it one bit! I've told her time and time again that she's not allowed to grow up on me, but she's such a disobedient child and does it anyway! Totally deserves a few extra birthday spankings for it!

So, please please please join me in wishing my beautiful Karalynn Jean Abri Phillips a VERY happy birthday! (and she's a pretty darn good reader, so she'll read your comments too!)

And for her, I'm posting a special addition of Krista's top ten:

Top Ten ways you know your children are getting too old.

1. They ask for a cell phone for their birthday.
2. You hear the words, "But mom... all my friends have ____fill in the blank with just about anything ____
3. They stomp their feet and demand a facebook page and e-mail address.
4. They roll their eyes and walk off and do the opposite of what you just told them to do. (But Karalynn would NEVER EVER do this! *wink*)
5. You have very vivid memories of yourself when you were their age, and remember thinking, "Wow, I'm getting older now!"
6. They get more phone calls from their friends that you do.
7. Similar, their social calendar is booked and they have to pencil you in.
8. You turn around and look down at them, but then have to raise your gaze a foot because you under estimated their height.
9. They don't think boys are quite so ewwww anymore. (My wonderful, wonderful daughter still has them at the ew status, THANK GOD!!!)
10. They give you advice, and it's actually very, very good!