Two years ago a big name author refused to read one of my own books for a possible quote. This isn't unusual, and I didn't personally make the request, but the circumstances involved made it such an unpleasant experience that it put me off getting quotes ever since.
A week after that smackdown, an editor asked me to read an ARC of a first book in a debut series for a possible quote. Perfect opportunity for revenge! All I had to do was surrender to the dark side and say Sorry, but I'm too busy with my bestselling career to take time out to blurb your rookie in a polite fashion.
Only I couldn't, because I really liked the editor, and I wasn't too busy, and my good angel, the sadistic bitch, advised me that it would be the wrong thing to do.
I (very reluctantly) agreed to read it, and the editor immediately sent me the ARC. I took it out of the mailbox and stomped all the way back to the house with it. I let it sit on my desk for a full day. I glared at it. My bad angel wanted it to suck. My bad angel assured me that it would likely be the biggest pile of trash I'd ever read. I even started mentally rehearsing polite ways of saying to the editor "Sorry, but your rookie can't write her way out of a trick-or-treat bag."
I finally read the first page, just to see how much it was going to suck, and lost myself in it. After I devoured the book, I wrote a quote for the author that will probably end up being the best blurb I will ever write. Everyone thought I was crazy for doing that for a complete stranger, but I didn't care. This book was that special.
Several months later the rest of the reading world discovered how great the book was. My good angel started crowing, "I told you so!" and hasn't shut up since.
I still don't know who was first to endorse J.R. Ward's Dark Lover, me or Nicole Jordan, but we both did it long before the Black Dagger Brotherhood series skyrocketed into the enormous success it is today. Having our names and quotes on one of the hottest-selling novels in paranormal romance doesn't hurt, either, but we didn't do it for that reason. Which counts? Pretty much forever.
To celebrate the two-year anniversary of my first reading J.R. Ward's terrific debut, I've put together a big I Told You So box of great paranormal romance and dark fantasy reads: unsigned copies of Hunting Midnight by Emma Holly, The Blood Books Volume One (Blood Price and Blood Trail) by Tanya Huff, Night Echoes by Holly Lisle, A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu, Nightlife by Rob Thurman, Hunters: Heart and Soul by Shiloh Walker, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, along with a signed copy of my novel Night Lost and some other surprises.
For a chance to win this week's goodies, in comments to this post, write a quote for your favorite author or novel (or, if you're quote-blocked, just throw your name into the hat) by midnight EST on Friday, June 8, 2007. I'll draw one name at random from everyone who participates and send the winner the entire I Told You So box of books. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Showing posts with label J.R. Ward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label J.R. Ward. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Winners
I am seriously rocked by the response to the Blood Bound giveaway; not only for everyone taking the time to join in, but also for your author and title recommendations. I'm already making a list for my next trip to the bookstore.
The winners of the giveaway are:
Kristopher Reisz
Maria, Lover of All Things Romance
Terri (whose comment started with: Here are a few authors that I'm really enjoy reading at the moment: L.A. Banks for her Vampire Huntress series.)
Whatafreak
Martie (whose comment started with: J.R. Ward. Despite silly names and an off-putting glossary, she's unmatched at putting tension on every page.)
Winners, please e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name, ship-to address, and if you'd also like a copy of Moon Called so I can get these books out to you. My thanks to everyone for your contributions to all our reading lists, and congratulations to Patricia Briggs, our newest New York Times bestselling author.
The winners of the giveaway are:
Kristopher Reisz
Maria, Lover of All Things Romance
Terri (whose comment started with: Here are a few authors that I'm really enjoy reading at the moment: L.A. Banks for her Vampire Huntress series.)
Whatafreak
Martie (whose comment started with: J.R. Ward. Despite silly names and an off-putting glossary, she's unmatched at putting tension on every page.)
Winners, please e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name, ship-to address, and if you'd also like a copy of Moon Called so I can get these books out to you. My thanks to everyone for your contributions to all our reading lists, and congratulations to Patricia Briggs, our newest New York Times bestselling author.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
VW#4
Sorry I've been scarce, folks. Real life snarled this time instead of the usual techno tangles, but all is well and back to what passes for normal around here.
The winner for the VB Party Left Behind Goody Bag is Monica, who should e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name and ship-to address.
Virtual Workshop #4:
Extending Your Writing Range
I. The Call of Writing
Anyone can be a writer, but the journey to becoming a writer is different for everyone. Some writers seem to be born with a pen in hand, while others find writing like an oasis after years of searching for a creative outlet. Many writers are the children of other writers, either born to them or devoted fans inspired by their work. Avid readers make the leap from loving books to wanting to create their own. Still others fall into writing as the result of a happy accident: a school assignment that flips an inner switch, or joining NaNoWriMo on a lark, or throwing some ideas and words together on a boring, rainy afternoon.
How you became a writer doesn't matter, and neither does what you write. All writers who are born or made or accidentally fall into the gig all share the same calling: storytelling through words.
II. Story as Mind Cuisine
Because my parents are from the northern U.S. and moved to the extreme southern U.S. when I was very young, I was raised on a hodge-podge of Northern and Southern cuisine: New England boiled dinner with hushpuppies and Key lime pie; pancakes with maple syrup, grits and grapefruit we picked from the tree in the yard. Hanging out with Latina friends from school I picked up a love for Cuban coffee, black beans and rice and mariquitas. My chef stepdad taught me to set aside my mother's Crisco, Ragu and seasoned salt and experiment with olive oil, plum tomatoes and fresh herbs. My military years added French, German, Japanese, Korean, English, Thai and dormitory food (anything that can be made in one pan on a hot plate) to my repetoire.
Writing novels allows us to explore the cuisine of the mind. Most writers start out with a favorite, comfort genre that feeds their imagination. They come to know that genre so well they don't even have to think about measuring the ingredients. This comfort can make every other genre seem a bit foreign in comparison. Combined with a (to me) very weird attitude around the industry that writers can only write in one genre, it often works to inhibit writers from striking out and trying new things.
I was fortunate in my writing education. When I began to devour books as a kid, I didn't know what genre was. I went to the library, started at the "A" author shelf in fiction and began picking up books. I checked out the ones that grabbed me, read them, and went back for more every week until I hit the end of the "Z" section. Reading other authors' books was my only writing education, but it was a great one. Wide-variety reading broadened my horizons and helped me to see the structure of novels versus the genre label they were slapped with.
Any writer who wants to extend their writing range should not be inhibited by the comfort genre or the opinions of limited imaginations. You don't have to give up writing in your favorite genre, either. Just because you try making stirfry now and then doesn't mean you have to stop making spaghetti and meatballs.
III. Novel Recipe
All fiction novels begin with the same two ingredients: characters and conflict. Every book you read has characters who encounter conflict and an account of how they handle it. The who, what, where, when and how determine genre, but a novel about a private investigator hired to solve a series of murders is no different than a book about a cowboy who must chase after his runaway pregnant bride. You put characters with conflict, and it leads to an end result, or
Character + Conflict = Conclusion
Alone, each ingredient does nothing. Characters need something to do. Conflict needs someone to resolve it. Throwing them together in the novel skillet and turning up the story heat makes them change each other; the character is affected by the conflict, the conflict is affected by the character. Neither come out of that skillet unchanged by the other.
IV. Inhibitors
As a young writer I completely stayed away from writing stories and novels with male protagonists. My reason? I thought boys were dumb.
Once I got through puberty, I still shied away from male protags, until I saw many female authors had written books with male protagonists. I attacked my inhibition by reading novels written by male authors in order to compare the differences in my writing style and theirs.
Call it getting in touch with my masculine side, but once I had done enough of that I began to catch myself "being female" when I was writing in a male POV. Eventually I got up the nerve to write a couple of novels with male protagonists. It was definitely different, but not quite as scary as I'd imagined. I just had to think differently; step outside myself and tell the story from the character's POV instead of my own.
A common trap writers fall into is the need to make their protagonists mirror images of themselves. There is a certain vicarious thrill involved in the author making the protag a fictional identical twin. The author doesn't have to imagine what the protag will do, they already know. They don't have to write outside their personal comfort zones, either. Problem is, the author ends up with cookie-cutter protagonists.
I combat this by seeing myself as the protagonist's biographer versus their RL twin. Whenever possible, I deliberately create characters who are very different from me physically, mentally and situationally; the more so the better. It allows me to observe and record rather than steer and impose my will on a protag who is just me in a fictional mask.
V. Practical exercises
Here are some methods that may help extend your range:
1. Try writing a scene or chapter from your WIP from the POV of a character in the story other than your protagonist (I did this by writing Illumination, which is the story of StarDoc totally from Duncan Reever's POV.)
2. Set your usual story in a different place, time or circumstance. Fond of writing cowboy/runaway bride romances? Set one on an alien world 500 years in the future. Have a penchant for private investigators? Have yours investigate a soldier being court martialed for sedition during the American Revolution. Into family sagas? Make the family slaves, and chronicle what happens to them during the collapse of the Roman Empire.
3. Test drive different types of protagonists. Try writing a story from the POV of a victim, or the antagonist, or a young child, or the family pet. If all your protagonists are of one gender, switch to the opposite gender. Give your protagonist a significant handicap that deprives them of one of the five senses. Write a protagonist whose situation, philosophies or lifestyle are completely opposite your own.
4. Take a classic fiction story or myth and write it in a modern setting. Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Taming of the Shrew have all been updated into modern stories; how about your version of Pygmalion, Beowulf, Les Miserables or Snow White?
5. Pick a famous figure from history and write a story about one day in their life. The day can be an ordinary day, their birthday, their wedding day, or the day before they die.
VI. No Limits
Whatever attitude our peers and the industry have, the first person to impose restrictions on a writer is the internal fraidycat. We decide at the keyboard what we feel we can or cannot do, and we're always our own worst censors. So the next time you approach a story idea and something inside you says You can't write that, tell something to shut up and write it anyway. You may be surprised to find out that there really are no limits to what you can do on the page.
Post your thoughts, comments and questions about writing range in comments to this post by midnight EST on Monday, July 31, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning the final Mega Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my S.L. Viehl hardcover novel Blade Dancer and all three of my Lynn Viehl Darkyn novels in paperback, an unsigned hardcover copy of Talyn by Holly Lisle and paperback copies of Love's Potion by Monica Jackson, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch and Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu, Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones, The Attraction by Douglas Clegg, I See You and Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, Dark Lover and Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward, Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker, as well as a hardcover copy of The Writer's Book of Matches and Flow Chart Maker Software (good for outlining, mind mapping and organizing), all packed in a red and beige canvas tote from Books-A-Million. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Related Links:
Peder Hill's The Basic Three Act Structure
The Elements of Fiction.
The winner for the VB Party Left Behind Goody Bag is Monica, who should e-mail me at LynnViehl@aol.com with your full name and ship-to address.
Virtual Workshop #4:
Extending Your Writing Range
I. The Call of Writing
Anyone can be a writer, but the journey to becoming a writer is different for everyone. Some writers seem to be born with a pen in hand, while others find writing like an oasis after years of searching for a creative outlet. Many writers are the children of other writers, either born to them or devoted fans inspired by their work. Avid readers make the leap from loving books to wanting to create their own. Still others fall into writing as the result of a happy accident: a school assignment that flips an inner switch, or joining NaNoWriMo on a lark, or throwing some ideas and words together on a boring, rainy afternoon.
How you became a writer doesn't matter, and neither does what you write. All writers who are born or made or accidentally fall into the gig all share the same calling: storytelling through words.
II. Story as Mind Cuisine
Because my parents are from the northern U.S. and moved to the extreme southern U.S. when I was very young, I was raised on a hodge-podge of Northern and Southern cuisine: New England boiled dinner with hushpuppies and Key lime pie; pancakes with maple syrup, grits and grapefruit we picked from the tree in the yard. Hanging out with Latina friends from school I picked up a love for Cuban coffee, black beans and rice and mariquitas. My chef stepdad taught me to set aside my mother's Crisco, Ragu and seasoned salt and experiment with olive oil, plum tomatoes and fresh herbs. My military years added French, German, Japanese, Korean, English, Thai and dormitory food (anything that can be made in one pan on a hot plate) to my repetoire.
Writing novels allows us to explore the cuisine of the mind. Most writers start out with a favorite, comfort genre that feeds their imagination. They come to know that genre so well they don't even have to think about measuring the ingredients. This comfort can make every other genre seem a bit foreign in comparison. Combined with a (to me) very weird attitude around the industry that writers can only write in one genre, it often works to inhibit writers from striking out and trying new things.
I was fortunate in my writing education. When I began to devour books as a kid, I didn't know what genre was. I went to the library, started at the "A" author shelf in fiction and began picking up books. I checked out the ones that grabbed me, read them, and went back for more every week until I hit the end of the "Z" section. Reading other authors' books was my only writing education, but it was a great one. Wide-variety reading broadened my horizons and helped me to see the structure of novels versus the genre label they were slapped with.
Any writer who wants to extend their writing range should not be inhibited by the comfort genre or the opinions of limited imaginations. You don't have to give up writing in your favorite genre, either. Just because you try making stirfry now and then doesn't mean you have to stop making spaghetti and meatballs.
III. Novel Recipe
All fiction novels begin with the same two ingredients: characters and conflict. Every book you read has characters who encounter conflict and an account of how they handle it. The who, what, where, when and how determine genre, but a novel about a private investigator hired to solve a series of murders is no different than a book about a cowboy who must chase after his runaway pregnant bride. You put characters with conflict, and it leads to an end result, or
Character + Conflict = Conclusion
Alone, each ingredient does nothing. Characters need something to do. Conflict needs someone to resolve it. Throwing them together in the novel skillet and turning up the story heat makes them change each other; the character is affected by the conflict, the conflict is affected by the character. Neither come out of that skillet unchanged by the other.
IV. Inhibitors
As a young writer I completely stayed away from writing stories and novels with male protagonists. My reason? I thought boys were dumb.
Once I got through puberty, I still shied away from male protags, until I saw many female authors had written books with male protagonists. I attacked my inhibition by reading novels written by male authors in order to compare the differences in my writing style and theirs.
Call it getting in touch with my masculine side, but once I had done enough of that I began to catch myself "being female" when I was writing in a male POV. Eventually I got up the nerve to write a couple of novels with male protagonists. It was definitely different, but not quite as scary as I'd imagined. I just had to think differently; step outside myself and tell the story from the character's POV instead of my own.
A common trap writers fall into is the need to make their protagonists mirror images of themselves. There is a certain vicarious thrill involved in the author making the protag a fictional identical twin. The author doesn't have to imagine what the protag will do, they already know. They don't have to write outside their personal comfort zones, either. Problem is, the author ends up with cookie-cutter protagonists.
I combat this by seeing myself as the protagonist's biographer versus their RL twin. Whenever possible, I deliberately create characters who are very different from me physically, mentally and situationally; the more so the better. It allows me to observe and record rather than steer and impose my will on a protag who is just me in a fictional mask.
V. Practical exercises
Here are some methods that may help extend your range:
1. Try writing a scene or chapter from your WIP from the POV of a character in the story other than your protagonist (I did this by writing Illumination, which is the story of StarDoc totally from Duncan Reever's POV.)
2. Set your usual story in a different place, time or circumstance. Fond of writing cowboy/runaway bride romances? Set one on an alien world 500 years in the future. Have a penchant for private investigators? Have yours investigate a soldier being court martialed for sedition during the American Revolution. Into family sagas? Make the family slaves, and chronicle what happens to them during the collapse of the Roman Empire.
3. Test drive different types of protagonists. Try writing a story from the POV of a victim, or the antagonist, or a young child, or the family pet. If all your protagonists are of one gender, switch to the opposite gender. Give your protagonist a significant handicap that deprives them of one of the five senses. Write a protagonist whose situation, philosophies or lifestyle are completely opposite your own.
4. Take a classic fiction story or myth and write it in a modern setting. Romeo and Juliet, Pride and Prejudice and Taming of the Shrew have all been updated into modern stories; how about your version of Pygmalion, Beowulf, Les Miserables or Snow White?
5. Pick a famous figure from history and write a story about one day in their life. The day can be an ordinary day, their birthday, their wedding day, or the day before they die.
VI. No Limits
Whatever attitude our peers and the industry have, the first person to impose restrictions on a writer is the internal fraidycat. We decide at the keyboard what we feel we can or cannot do, and we're always our own worst censors. So the next time you approach a story idea and something inside you says You can't write that, tell something to shut up and write it anyway. You may be surprised to find out that there really are no limits to what you can do on the page.
Post your thoughts, comments and questions about writing range in comments to this post by midnight EST on Monday, July 31, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning the final Mega Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my S.L. Viehl hardcover novel Blade Dancer and all three of my Lynn Viehl Darkyn novels in paperback, an unsigned hardcover copy of Talyn by Holly Lisle and paperback copies of Love's Potion by Monica Jackson, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, Tiger Eye, Shadow Touch and Red Heart of Jade by Marjorie M. Liu, Threads of Malice by Tamara Siler Jones, The Attraction by Douglas Clegg, I See You and Last Girl Dancing by Holly Lisle, Dark Lover and Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward, Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker, as well as a hardcover copy of The Writer's Book of Matches and Flow Chart Maker Software (good for outlining, mind mapping and organizing), all packed in a red and beige canvas tote from Books-A-Million. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Related Links:
Peder Hill's The Basic Three Act Structure
The Elements of Fiction.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
VW#2
Virtual Workshop #2:
Trend Tracking Versus Jumping
I. Trends and Options
The publishing industry, like any entertainment entity, runs on consumer demand. What the readers buy, the publishers want. When a certain genre or sub-genre is in high demand for a significant period of time, we call this a trend. However we writers feel about trends, they are a reality, and they have direct influence over what publishers will buy, and what they reject.
The most common ways writers deal with trends:
A. Ignore them. Write exactly what you want, and pay no attention to the market, and hope for the best.
B. Jump on them. Write only what is in market demand in hopes that it will give you an edge in the slushpile.
C. Track them. Continually watch what sells on the market and use that information to follow current trends, evaluate your manuscript potential and, if possible, be one of the first writers to anticipate a new trend.
A is the artist's way. I respect artists, and I think this is a lovely attitude to have. It's also the reason a lot of artists starve, so it doesn't work for me.
B is like jumping on Ye Olde Bandwagon. It's often more counter-productive than helpful, as by the time a trend really gets rolling you have a ton of writers trying to do the exact same thing.
C is what I do, and in this workshop, we're going to talk about how to do that.
II. Genre Awareness
To sell in a genre, you must be aware of what is selling in that genre. Go to the bookstore regularly and look at the shelves. Check the online booksellers' BSL lists. Talk about genre titles with readers and other writers and see what are the latest, most popular sellers. Read books that do very well for market analysis.
What to look for in your target genre, and author examples:
Authors who create trends (Dan Brown)
Books that explode on the market (J.R. Ward)
Novels that provoke strong reader reactions (Thomas Harris)
Successfully sustained bestselling series (Sue Grafton)
Unusual or unique voices (Jacqueline Carey)
Word of mouth or "buzzed" books (Lisa Valdez)
Educate yourself as thoroughly as you can about your genre, and you'll have the basic knowledge you need to track a trend.
III. Info Gathering
Every week helpful entities like The New York Times and USA Today tell us what consumers are snapping up. This is great for readers but not very useful to writers, because we know whatever makes the bestseller lists was actually sold a year or two ago. What sells now is what will (or won't) be hot in 2007-2008. You might as well ignore the lists, right?
No. The lists individually provide little useful info, but collectively are a free trend mapping service. A writer interested in trend tracking should read the lists every week and watch how well books in their target genre(s) are selling (this is why it's so important to know your genre, so you can recognize the applicable author names and titles that show up on the lists.)
Let's look at rankings for five writers over a one year-period on the USA Today list (books are listed in order of publication along with peak position on BSL):
Jennifer Armintrout: The Turning 93
Kelley Armstrong: Haunted 62, Dates from Hell 36, Broken 22
Patricia Briggs: Moon Called 109
Lynn Viehl: If Angels Burn 148, Private Demon 120, Dark Need 87
J.R. Ward: Dark Lover 48, Lover Eternal 39
Let me add some details: Jennifer and Patricia's novels are genre debuts. Kelley, J.R. and I all have established series that are building in popularity. Patricia and I are veteran pros in other genres. With the exception of Kelley, all of us are new to the USA Today list, so we're considered "up and coming." Patricia and Kelley are being shelved in SF/F, and the rest of us are shelved in romance. The one thing we all have in common is that we're writing series that are not the usual Kiss Me Forever Vlad type novels that have been so popular in the past.
IV. Analyzing and Applying Your Info
How well you can track a trend depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it. Reading lists, watching your genre, and making the connections does require some time, but you're educating yourself about the market. Track trends long enough and you'll find that you do automatically.
To apply what you learn, use the information you gather as a submission barometer for your written manuscripts, and as a priority guide for your new novel ideas. Do the five authors above indicate a new direction in the vampire fiction trend; perhaps a trend within the trend? Only time will tell for sure. But if you are a writer with a dark or otherwise unusual vampire fiction manuscript or idea, I'd say this would be a good time to put together a proposal and get it out there, because similar fiction is collectively rising on the lists.
One thing about information: make sure it's information and not rumors. For about a year now I've been hearing a tired old rumor about how chick-lit, a very big trend in the romance genre, is on its way out. It's becoming cluttered in the same way that romantic suspense did five years ago, and paranormal romance is doing now, but I'm not seeing it die on the lists yet, and plenty of new writers are still selling it. Publishers will probably become more conservative with the number of chick-lit titles they publish, and eventually whittle down their authors lists, but I don't think it's going belly-up any time soon.
V. Making Trends
All trends start with some author(s) who present readers with something unexpected. Anyone who decides it's better to take the A/artist option and follow the artist's path has the potential to be a trend-setter. So do writers who take the C/Tracking option, because while watching trends, you may come up with an idea for a novel that goes beyond what's being done. B/Bandwagon writers generally don't set trends, because you're imitating what's already being done, but there is always the possibility that you'll do it better than anyone else has before you. In all things trend-related, choose to do what works best for you as a writer.
Post your comments, thoughts and questions on trends by midnight EST on Thursday, July 27, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning today's Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my Jessica Hall novels Into the Fire and Heat of the Moment and unsigned copies of: Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl, Emma Holly's All U Can Eat, Jamie Sobrato's The Sex Quotient, June Casagrande's Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, and Gimbles (brackets that hold a book open for you for hands-free reading), all packed in a quilted tote bag made by Yours Truly. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Note: Thanks to the terrific response to VW#1 I'm lagging a bit behind on answering questions being posted in comments, but I promise I will leave no question unanswered. :)
Related links:
Bob Mayer's RTB guest post Writing for the Market.
Previous PBW posts about trends are here, here and here.
*Added: Bookseller Chick shares my general attitude about the chick-lit trend. (Thanks to L. for the link.)
Trend Tracking Versus Jumping
I. Trends and Options
The publishing industry, like any entertainment entity, runs on consumer demand. What the readers buy, the publishers want. When a certain genre or sub-genre is in high demand for a significant period of time, we call this a trend. However we writers feel about trends, they are a reality, and they have direct influence over what publishers will buy, and what they reject.
The most common ways writers deal with trends:
A. Ignore them. Write exactly what you want, and pay no attention to the market, and hope for the best.
B. Jump on them. Write only what is in market demand in hopes that it will give you an edge in the slushpile.
C. Track them. Continually watch what sells on the market and use that information to follow current trends, evaluate your manuscript potential and, if possible, be one of the first writers to anticipate a new trend.
A is the artist's way. I respect artists, and I think this is a lovely attitude to have. It's also the reason a lot of artists starve, so it doesn't work for me.
B is like jumping on Ye Olde Bandwagon. It's often more counter-productive than helpful, as by the time a trend really gets rolling you have a ton of writers trying to do the exact same thing.
C is what I do, and in this workshop, we're going to talk about how to do that.
II. Genre Awareness
To sell in a genre, you must be aware of what is selling in that genre. Go to the bookstore regularly and look at the shelves. Check the online booksellers' BSL lists. Talk about genre titles with readers and other writers and see what are the latest, most popular sellers. Read books that do very well for market analysis.
What to look for in your target genre, and author examples:
Authors who create trends (Dan Brown)
Books that explode on the market (J.R. Ward)
Novels that provoke strong reader reactions (Thomas Harris)
Successfully sustained bestselling series (Sue Grafton)
Unusual or unique voices (Jacqueline Carey)
Word of mouth or "buzzed" books (Lisa Valdez)
Educate yourself as thoroughly as you can about your genre, and you'll have the basic knowledge you need to track a trend.
III. Info Gathering
Every week helpful entities like The New York Times and USA Today tell us what consumers are snapping up. This is great for readers but not very useful to writers, because we know whatever makes the bestseller lists was actually sold a year or two ago. What sells now is what will (or won't) be hot in 2007-2008. You might as well ignore the lists, right?
No. The lists individually provide little useful info, but collectively are a free trend mapping service. A writer interested in trend tracking should read the lists every week and watch how well books in their target genre(s) are selling (this is why it's so important to know your genre, so you can recognize the applicable author names and titles that show up on the lists.)
Let's look at rankings for five writers over a one year-period on the USA Today list (books are listed in order of publication along with peak position on BSL):
Jennifer Armintrout: The Turning 93
Kelley Armstrong: Haunted 62, Dates from Hell 36, Broken 22
Patricia Briggs: Moon Called 109
Lynn Viehl: If Angels Burn 148, Private Demon 120, Dark Need 87
J.R. Ward: Dark Lover 48, Lover Eternal 39
Let me add some details: Jennifer and Patricia's novels are genre debuts. Kelley, J.R. and I all have established series that are building in popularity. Patricia and I are veteran pros in other genres. With the exception of Kelley, all of us are new to the USA Today list, so we're considered "up and coming." Patricia and Kelley are being shelved in SF/F, and the rest of us are shelved in romance. The one thing we all have in common is that we're writing series that are not the usual Kiss Me Forever Vlad type novels that have been so popular in the past.
IV. Analyzing and Applying Your Info
How well you can track a trend depends on how much effort you're willing to put into it. Reading lists, watching your genre, and making the connections does require some time, but you're educating yourself about the market. Track trends long enough and you'll find that you do automatically.
To apply what you learn, use the information you gather as a submission barometer for your written manuscripts, and as a priority guide for your new novel ideas. Do the five authors above indicate a new direction in the vampire fiction trend; perhaps a trend within the trend? Only time will tell for sure. But if you are a writer with a dark or otherwise unusual vampire fiction manuscript or idea, I'd say this would be a good time to put together a proposal and get it out there, because similar fiction is collectively rising on the lists.
One thing about information: make sure it's information and not rumors. For about a year now I've been hearing a tired old rumor about how chick-lit, a very big trend in the romance genre, is on its way out. It's becoming cluttered in the same way that romantic suspense did five years ago, and paranormal romance is doing now, but I'm not seeing it die on the lists yet, and plenty of new writers are still selling it. Publishers will probably become more conservative with the number of chick-lit titles they publish, and eventually whittle down their authors lists, but I don't think it's going belly-up any time soon.
V. Making Trends
All trends start with some author(s) who present readers with something unexpected. Anyone who decides it's better to take the A/artist option and follow the artist's path has the potential to be a trend-setter. So do writers who take the C/Tracking option, because while watching trends, you may come up with an idea for a novel that goes beyond what's being done. B/Bandwagon writers generally don't set trends, because you're imitating what's already being done, but there is always the possibility that you'll do it better than anyone else has before you. In all things trend-related, choose to do what works best for you as a writer.
Post your comments, thoughts and questions on trends by midnight EST on Thursday, July 27, 2006, and you'll have a chance at winning today's Left Behind Goody Bag: signed copies of my Jessica Hall novels Into the Fire and Heat of the Moment and unsigned copies of: Diana Peterfreund's Secret Society Girl, Emma Holly's All U Can Eat, Jamie Sobrato's The Sex Quotient, June Casagrande's Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies, and Gimbles (brackets that hold a book open for you for hands-free reading), all packed in a quilted tote bag made by Yours Truly. I'll draw one name from everyone who participates and send you the goodies; giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.
Note: Thanks to the terrific response to VW#1 I'm lagging a bit behind on answering questions being posted in comments, but I promise I will leave no question unanswered. :)
Related links:
Bob Mayer's RTB guest post Writing for the Market.
Previous PBW posts about trends are here, here and here.
*Added: Bookseller Chick shares my general attitude about the chick-lit trend. (Thanks to L. for the link.)
Thursday, April 13, 2006
In Praise
A small avalanche of e-mail requests have recently come in asking me for quotes and recs here on PBW, or asking me why I chose so-and-so's novel, how come I wrote this or that, etc.
Making endorsements is tough for me. For one thing, I'm still new at it, and I have no procedure to follow. I'm still fumbling with how to do it, as well as how often, for whom and so forth. I'm also aware of a certain freak value being attached to me because of past endorsements, so I'm getting even more leery about making them.
I can't write glowing, artfully worded blurbs. You know, the ones that sound a lot like those intimate scenes from certain romance novels where actual sex acts, body parts, and fluids are never mentioned, but lots of euphemisms throb and bud and dampen? Right. Can't do that. So my endorsements take a lot of time and thought, and still tend to be, shall we say, colorful. This makes editors nuts, btw, and some of them want to reword my quotes to be thus glowy and arty, which is also something I generally nix, creating even more headaches for all involved.
I also go out on numerous limbs when I endorse something. I know plenty of writers who don't sweat it, but personally, I put my rep on the line every time I do. My attitude is that I'm asking people to spend money based on my word, and that's something I take very seriously. To combat the rampant cronyism out there, I prefer to endorse writers who are total strangers to me, but in one instance that came back to bite me on the ass, so that's always a risk, too. This is all why I don't toss out quotes and recs like handfuls of confetti.
As far as reading manuscripts goes, I truly am quoted out at present. I don't intend to stop forever but my batteries need some recharging. I still recommend books here, and I'll keep doing that as I come across books I think you'll enjoy. There is no agenda. I'm a reader, you're readers, and I'll let you know when I find something I think is worth your time and money and then some.
There are good reasons to endorse other writers, and it's not simply to help them out. For example, this came in e-mail this week (posted with permission):
You certainly are doing something right! Your recommendation for Nightlife was right on. The book is slick, scary and YUM. I can hardly tear myself away from reading it to write this, and I can't wait to see what the audacious midpoint surprise that you mentioned turns out to be. If the rest of the book delights me as it has so far, I'll definitely be putting the word out. :) --Suzy
There are a couple of great things about what Suzy wrote. One is that she apparently got sucked into the book as quickly as I did. She's endorsing my endorsement, so to speak. The other is that despite the fact that I have recommended Nightlife, and she's reading a free copy, she's still reserving judgment until she finishes the book. Suzy is not a pushover or a suck-up, and I respect that. As reader responses go, this one is damn near perfect. As in, this is exactly what I want when I quote or rec something.
Let me point out one more thing to dispel some odd assumptions. I cannot make anyone into another J.R. Ward by the awesome power of my super endorsement of their book. Guys, my endorsements aren't that awesome or powerful or super. Nothing I did made J.R. Ward a success.* She accomplished that all on her own with her talent, imagination and hard work. Don't make me into some kind of rabbit's foot for books. I'm not.
Questions, thoughts, opposing opinions? Please post them in comments.
*I reserve the right to occasionally gloat about being SO right about her, though.
Making endorsements is tough for me. For one thing, I'm still new at it, and I have no procedure to follow. I'm still fumbling with how to do it, as well as how often, for whom and so forth. I'm also aware of a certain freak value being attached to me because of past endorsements, so I'm getting even more leery about making them.
I can't write glowing, artfully worded blurbs. You know, the ones that sound a lot like those intimate scenes from certain romance novels where actual sex acts, body parts, and fluids are never mentioned, but lots of euphemisms throb and bud and dampen? Right. Can't do that. So my endorsements take a lot of time and thought, and still tend to be, shall we say, colorful. This makes editors nuts, btw, and some of them want to reword my quotes to be thus glowy and arty, which is also something I generally nix, creating even more headaches for all involved.
I also go out on numerous limbs when I endorse something. I know plenty of writers who don't sweat it, but personally, I put my rep on the line every time I do. My attitude is that I'm asking people to spend money based on my word, and that's something I take very seriously. To combat the rampant cronyism out there, I prefer to endorse writers who are total strangers to me, but in one instance that came back to bite me on the ass, so that's always a risk, too. This is all why I don't toss out quotes and recs like handfuls of confetti.
As far as reading manuscripts goes, I truly am quoted out at present. I don't intend to stop forever but my batteries need some recharging. I still recommend books here, and I'll keep doing that as I come across books I think you'll enjoy. There is no agenda. I'm a reader, you're readers, and I'll let you know when I find something I think is worth your time and money and then some.
There are good reasons to endorse other writers, and it's not simply to help them out. For example, this came in e-mail this week (posted with permission):
You certainly are doing something right! Your recommendation for Nightlife was right on. The book is slick, scary and YUM. I can hardly tear myself away from reading it to write this, and I can't wait to see what the audacious midpoint surprise that you mentioned turns out to be. If the rest of the book delights me as it has so far, I'll definitely be putting the word out. :) --Suzy
There are a couple of great things about what Suzy wrote. One is that she apparently got sucked into the book as quickly as I did. She's endorsing my endorsement, so to speak. The other is that despite the fact that I have recommended Nightlife, and she's reading a free copy, she's still reserving judgment until she finishes the book. Suzy is not a pushover or a suck-up, and I respect that. As reader responses go, this one is damn near perfect. As in, this is exactly what I want when I quote or rec something.
Let me point out one more thing to dispel some odd assumptions. I cannot make anyone into another J.R. Ward by the awesome power of my super endorsement of their book. Guys, my endorsements aren't that awesome or powerful or super. Nothing I did made J.R. Ward a success.* She accomplished that all on her own with her talent, imagination and hard work. Don't make me into some kind of rabbit's foot for books. I'm not.
Questions, thoughts, opposing opinions? Please post them in comments.
*I reserve the right to occasionally gloat about being SO right about her, though.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Lover Eternal
Ladies, as of today, the boys are back in town.
Okay, okay, quit drooling on my blog.
To celebrate the return of the Brotherhood, I have four unsigned copies of Lover Eternal to giveaway -- all that was left at my BAM by the time I got there tonight -- and one of them could end up on your nightstand, along with a surprise*.
To snag one, tell us in comments to this post which characters from fiction (or movies, or TV, or whatever) whom you consider to be truly immortal lovers**. Post your romantic pick by midnight EST on Wednesday, 3/8/06, and I'll randomly draw four names from everyone who participates and post the names of the winners here by noon EST on Thursday, 3/9/06. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here before.
*No, I'm not going to tell you what it is.
**For example, my first pick would be Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
Okay, okay, quit drooling on my blog.
To celebrate the return of the Brotherhood, I have four unsigned copies of Lover Eternal to giveaway -- all that was left at my BAM by the time I got there tonight -- and one of them could end up on your nightstand, along with a surprise*.
To snag one, tell us in comments to this post which characters from fiction (or movies, or TV, or whatever) whom you consider to be truly immortal lovers**. Post your romantic pick by midnight EST on Wednesday, 3/8/06, and I'll randomly draw four names from everyone who participates and post the names of the winners here by noon EST on Thursday, 3/9/06. Giveaway open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here before.
*No, I'm not going to tell you what it is.
**For example, my first pick would be Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Dilemma
Here before me sits a typical author dilemma: six unsolicited packages with manuscripts, galleys and books, all from writers looking for quotes, backing from me on the weblog, or campaigning for votes.
After correctly predicting J.R. Ward would make a huge debut, my quotes for vampire fiction have apparently attained a certain cult value. Given last year's quote request flood, though, I need some lag time on quoting. I pick the books I talk about and giveaway here on my own to keep it fair. And God, I could get a tattoo on my forehead that reads Not a member of anything, can't vote for you and people would still send me books.
I can't toss the stuff because I'm a pansy that way, so there's about fifty bucks in return postage to send everything back. Not a big deal. Really. I remember how it feels to be a rookie writer and the pressure to get blurbs, backing and awards. I should send sympathy cards back with the books.
Here's the dilemma: what do you do when you've already politely turned down a book-offering writer via e-mail and the writer's publisher still sends you the book (or, in this case, three copies of the book?) Do you:
a) E-mail the writer and inquire what of your response wasn't understood, the "N" or the "O"
b) Send a copy of your original no-thanks e-mail to the writer's publisher, and then thank them for your three new doorstops
c) Donate the books to Friends of the Library because it's not nice to make other writers' books into doorstops
d) Wonder why the hell you're so nice
e) Ship the books back to the publisher and enclose a note suggesting the writer's editor and the writer start talking to each other more often
f) Write a weblog entry about it because you're a wishy-washy idiot and don't know what to do
g) Any of the above, but for fun draw curly black mustaches on the protagonist depicted in the cover art first
h) Tear out the pages and make chains of origami cranes out of them, pack them in a box and send that back to the publisher, along with a cryptic Asian poem about the path of least resistance
i) Send them to Marjorie because she's nicer than you
j) Give them to Mom for the church thrift store
k) Wonder if your publisher is doing crap like this with your books
l) Brood
m) Write an e-mail to your editor and ask her if she's doing crap like this with your books
n) Read the jacket blurb and rethink the whole church thrift store idea.
o) Take two aspirin and kick the box the books came in a few times.
p) Forge the author's signature and sell them on eBay. Include a very personal message from the author on the title page describing a sexual encounter at a conference in a broom closet and mention an obsession with rubber clothing and/or wearing diapers.
q) Enjoy the thought of p) for a few minutes, then take your black cohosh and remember that you are supposed to be resisting the Dark Side of the Force.
r) Even if you could photoshop the author's bio photo to add a fun-looking sexual partner and some interesting marital aid accessories, print out some copies and stick them in the back pages before you forge the message and sell the books on eBay.
s) You're thirty minutes late posting your blog entry, idiot, make up your mind.
t) Resolve to send the books back to the publisher with a polite no-thanks note and say nothing to the author because you're not really as hostile as your imagination thinks you are
u) Most of the time.
After correctly predicting J.R. Ward would make a huge debut, my quotes for vampire fiction have apparently attained a certain cult value. Given last year's quote request flood, though, I need some lag time on quoting. I pick the books I talk about and giveaway here on my own to keep it fair. And God, I could get a tattoo on my forehead that reads Not a member of anything, can't vote for you and people would still send me books.
I can't toss the stuff because I'm a pansy that way, so there's about fifty bucks in return postage to send everything back. Not a big deal. Really. I remember how it feels to be a rookie writer and the pressure to get blurbs, backing and awards. I should send sympathy cards back with the books.
Here's the dilemma: what do you do when you've already politely turned down a book-offering writer via e-mail and the writer's publisher still sends you the book (or, in this case, three copies of the book?) Do you:
a) E-mail the writer and inquire what of your response wasn't understood, the "N" or the "O"
b) Send a copy of your original no-thanks e-mail to the writer's publisher, and then thank them for your three new doorstops
c) Donate the books to Friends of the Library because it's not nice to make other writers' books into doorstops
d) Wonder why the hell you're so nice
e) Ship the books back to the publisher and enclose a note suggesting the writer's editor and the writer start talking to each other more often
f) Write a weblog entry about it because you're a wishy-washy idiot and don't know what to do
g) Any of the above, but for fun draw curly black mustaches on the protagonist depicted in the cover art first
h) Tear out the pages and make chains of origami cranes out of them, pack them in a box and send that back to the publisher, along with a cryptic Asian poem about the path of least resistance
i) Send them to Marjorie because she's nicer than you
j) Give them to Mom for the church thrift store
k) Wonder if your publisher is doing crap like this with your books
l) Brood
m) Write an e-mail to your editor and ask her if she's doing crap like this with your books
n) Read the jacket blurb and rethink the whole church thrift store idea.
o) Take two aspirin and kick the box the books came in a few times.
p) Forge the author's signature and sell them on eBay. Include a very personal message from the author on the title page describing a sexual encounter at a conference in a broom closet and mention an obsession with rubber clothing and/or wearing diapers.
q) Enjoy the thought of p) for a few minutes, then take your black cohosh and remember that you are supposed to be resisting the Dark Side of the Force.
r) Even if you could photoshop the author's bio photo to add a fun-looking sexual partner and some interesting marital aid accessories, print out some copies and stick them in the back pages before you forge the message and sell the books on eBay.
s) You're thirty minutes late posting your blog entry, idiot, make up your mind.
t) Resolve to send the books back to the publisher with a polite no-thanks note and say nothing to the author because you're not really as hostile as your imagination thinks you are
u) Most of the time.
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Gifty
Family members are thoughtful enough to give me bookstore gift cards every year -- or they simply hate shopping for me that much -- and I've just started making up my gotta-buy list with Dean Koontz's Forever Odd and Monica Jackson's Mr. Right Now as my first two picks. I may not be able to wait three weeks for Monica's, although I know it means I have to venture into the damn Fic/Lit section at BAM to get a copy.
For gifts, I'm wrapping up a bunch of my favorite reads from 2005: The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg, Talyn by Holly Lisle, Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.
What book(s) are at the top of your wish list this holiday season, and/or what book(s) are you buying as gifts for others?
For gifts, I'm wrapping up a bunch of my favorite reads from 2005: The Priest of Blood by Douglas Clegg, Talyn by Holly Lisle, Cold Granite by Stuart MacBride, and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.
What book(s) are at the top of your wish list this holiday season, and/or what book(s) are you buying as gifts for others?
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Zoom2
The other way cool news I was dropping hints about: Dark Lover by J.R. Ward just made #33 on the NY Times bestseller list.
You do realize I'm going to gloat about this forever, right?
You do realize I'm going to gloat about this forever, right?
Friday, September 23, 2005
Zoom
Some of you might recall how rocked I was back in June by Dark Lover, the debut dark fantasy novel by J.R. Ward. Okay, I gushed, but I was seriously knocked on my butt by this book, and expected everyone else to be.
So you'll never guess who's been on the USAT BSL for three weeks, and is currently at #48?
P.S. There's more cool news about Dark Lover too, but I've got to check with the author first and see if I can spill the beans.
So you'll never guess who's been on the USAT BSL for three weeks, and is currently at #48?
P.S. There's more cool news about Dark Lover too, but I've got to check with the author first and see if I can spill the beans.
Friday, August 05, 2005
Quote Slutting
I've learned something interesting over the last six months: the number of quote requests increases in direct relation to one's authorial fame (or blog notoriety.)
I've never given out a lot of blurbs or quotes. Less than ten total in my career, I think, before this past year. Now the requests are coming at me from all directions, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle them.
I don't want to give quotes solely to authors I know. I'd have never discovered writers like J.R. Ward or Patricia Briggs if I'd stuck only to acquaintances or pals. I'd also like to help out other writers with quotes because it's the decent thing to do. If my rec on your cover can sell more books for you, terrific.
Unfortunately, I seriously don't want to become a quote slut. I've seen more than one popular author go this route and it's not where I want to follow. So I need to set annual limits, and I have no clue whatsoever on what would be an acceptable amount of quotes per year. Five? Ten? Twelve would be about the max I could swing, as I really need to read the book. But twelve sounds like too many to me -- or maybe I'm just not wanting to see my two cents on that many books.
My current method is to go with what I think I can swing and how I feel. I do need to read the work; I don't hand out generics. I think I've done five quotes already this year, and I feel almost quoted out. I've committed to doone two* more reads, and I've got another request sitting on my desk I have to decide on. I think that's going to be it -- for 2005, anyway.
How do you all think an author should handle quotes? Set amount, what he/she can handle, or another method?
*Blogging this, I just now remembered someone I promised who is patiently waiting for my new address. Smacking myself in the head as I write the e-mail . . .
I've never given out a lot of blurbs or quotes. Less than ten total in my career, I think, before this past year. Now the requests are coming at me from all directions, and I'm trying to figure out how to handle them.
I don't want to give quotes solely to authors I know. I'd have never discovered writers like J.R. Ward or Patricia Briggs if I'd stuck only to acquaintances or pals. I'd also like to help out other writers with quotes because it's the decent thing to do. If my rec on your cover can sell more books for you, terrific.
Unfortunately, I seriously don't want to become a quote slut. I've seen more than one popular author go this route and it's not where I want to follow. So I need to set annual limits, and I have no clue whatsoever on what would be an acceptable amount of quotes per year. Five? Ten? Twelve would be about the max I could swing, as I really need to read the book. But twelve sounds like too many to me -- or maybe I'm just not wanting to see my two cents on that many books.
My current method is to go with what I think I can swing and how I feel. I do need to read the work; I don't hand out generics. I think I've done five quotes already this year, and I feel almost quoted out. I've committed to do
How do you all think an author should handle quotes? Set amount, what he/she can handle, or another method?
*Blogging this, I just now remembered someone I promised who is patiently waiting for my new address. Smacking myself in the head as I write the e-mail . . .
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Dark Lover
Here at PBW, I don't have a committee of literary experts to tell me what to read. With good friends to recommend books, writer weblogs to check out the talent, and the terrific variety of genre fiction in general, why would I need one?
Furthermore, I don't mind talking about what I'm reading, but why should I tell you people what to read? You've got friends, weblogs, bookstores, and brains, don't you?
That was the status quo, until an editor sent me this book, which I had three weeks to read and consider for a quote. I've only done this a couple of times, and I usually end up regretting it, but I would walk barefoot over broken glass for this particular editor, so I said I'd take a look.
The day the book arrived I read one page. I admit, to see how bad it was. Then I read another page, and another, and then the chapter, because it wasn't bad, it was great. Another chapter, and I realized it was better than great, it was kick-ass. Somewhere around chapter three the world went away and I forgot to make dinner and the house could have burned down and it wouldn't have mattered, because by then the Black Dagger Brotherhood owned me, and I wasn't putting the book aside for anything.
The hell with quotes and blurbs; some books are just too damn good to keep to yourself. That's why I'm backing this book, Dark Lover, a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J.R. Ward.
The basic premise: Wrath is the last purebred vampire on the planet. Caught up in a turf war with inhuman slayers bent on exterminating his kind, he fights alongside his warrior brothers, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, as the last defenders of their race. When one of his most trusted fighters is killed, Wrath discovers the dead man left behind an unprotected, half-human daughter who is unaware of her heritage. Wrath has no choice but to go after Beth Randall and bring her into the world of the undead -- by any means necessary.
I've been trying to think of how to describe Dark Lover. It's going to be called a lot of things. Dark erotica, you bet. Vampire/paranormal romance, absolutely. But J.R. Ward is not like anyone else who's already out there writing it. She's got her own unique voice, and it's so clear and strong that it grabs a reader right away. You can't slap a label on someone who writes like this.
There were so many things about the book that impressed me from the writer's perspective, too: the tone; close attention to detail; flawless pacing; the clean, uncluttered writing; plus the drama, the fun, the scary parts, and the terrific romance. What I loved most was the style of this book. You can't fake style; you've either got it or you don't.
Dark Lover is J.R. Ward's debut novel for Signet Eclipse, and will be coming to bookstores nationwide in early September; ISBN#0-451-21695-4; you can pre-order it from Amazon.com here.
Furthermore, I don't mind talking about what I'm reading, but why should I tell you people what to read? You've got friends, weblogs, bookstores, and brains, don't you?
That was the status quo, until an editor sent me this book, which I had three weeks to read and consider for a quote. I've only done this a couple of times, and I usually end up regretting it, but I would walk barefoot over broken glass for this particular editor, so I said I'd take a look.
The day the book arrived I read one page. I admit, to see how bad it was. Then I read another page, and another, and then the chapter, because it wasn't bad, it was great. Another chapter, and I realized it was better than great, it was kick-ass. Somewhere around chapter three the world went away and I forgot to make dinner and the house could have burned down and it wouldn't have mattered, because by then the Black Dagger Brotherhood owned me, and I wasn't putting the book aside for anything.
The hell with quotes and blurbs; some books are just too damn good to keep to yourself. That's why I'm backing this book, Dark Lover, a novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, by J.R. Ward.
The basic premise: Wrath is the last purebred vampire on the planet. Caught up in a turf war with inhuman slayers bent on exterminating his kind, he fights alongside his warrior brothers, the Black Dagger Brotherhood, as the last defenders of their race. When one of his most trusted fighters is killed, Wrath discovers the dead man left behind an unprotected, half-human daughter who is unaware of her heritage. Wrath has no choice but to go after Beth Randall and bring her into the world of the undead -- by any means necessary.
I've been trying to think of how to describe Dark Lover. It's going to be called a lot of things. Dark erotica, you bet. Vampire/paranormal romance, absolutely. But J.R. Ward is not like anyone else who's already out there writing it. She's got her own unique voice, and it's so clear and strong that it grabs a reader right away. You can't slap a label on someone who writes like this.
There were so many things about the book that impressed me from the writer's perspective, too: the tone; close attention to detail; flawless pacing; the clean, uncluttered writing; plus the drama, the fun, the scary parts, and the terrific romance. What I loved most was the style of this book. You can't fake style; you've either got it or you don't.
Dark Lover is J.R. Ward's debut novel for Signet Eclipse, and will be coming to bookstores nationwide in early September; ISBN#0-451-21695-4; you can pre-order it from Amazon.com here.
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