Saturday, December 15, 2012

One of my many guilty pleasures is the sappy holiday made for t.v. movie.  I love the one with the frosty, no nonsense business woman whose heart is melted by the fun loving family oriented guy.  Then there's the one with the happy-go-lucky stranger, who wanders into town and opens someone's eyes to what love really is.

It doesn't matter that I know exactly how the movie will unfold.  I willingly get sucked into the cozy predictability of stock characters, contrived events, and happily ever after.  Add in a downtown dazzle of colorful lights and toy displays for the exterior scenes, and a blazing hearth and golden candlelight to warm the interior scenes, and I'm lulled into a dreamy haze of holiday cheer.

Every cheesy plot point has me grinning like a fool:  the first, awkward meeting between the protagonist and the love interest showcasing their initial dislike of each other; the moment in which she drops a package and in the scramble to pick it up their hands touch and their faces come unnaturally close.  I know at the end of the second act everything will fall apart.  She will learn a horrible truth about him and feel betrayed, or he will be seized by fear and run away, crushing all her hopes.  But in the end, love conquers all, and whether it's with a kiss or a diamond ring, everything turns out just the way it should.

It doesn't matter that the same few scripts keep getting revamped and reused.  I played out those same stories countless times before I became too old for dolls.  I guess there's still a little girl inside me who believes in fairytales, who will take any chance to indulge in the fantasy of wishes come true and picture perfect romances.

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

getting the word out

I look forward to the times in my week that I have scheduled for writing, and enjoy meeting the writing goals that I set for myself.  Now that I've just completed a book (Fox Fur; 146 pgs), though, I'm not sure what to do with myself during those parts of my schedule.  I find myself brushing cat hairs off my laptop keyboard and browsing five different sites at once, just to avoid doing what I should be doing.  Once the writing is done and all the files are ready to print, I get stuck with stuff I'm not very good at-- the marketing part.

With each new book I gather a little more courage about putting myself forward as an author.  I've had a few chances to sell my books at events and a little practice talking to people about my books.  I've gotten pretty good at masking my desperate hope to sell a few copies with an air of cheerful indifference, which I figure is better than irritated defensiveness.

The internet should be my best friend as far as advertising goes, but I think mental telepathy would be a whole lot easier.  Apparently it's not enough to have my books available on Amazon.  Somehow, I have to let other people in on the secret, too.  It's hard for me to keep up with this new and changeable online culture.  I only just created a Facebook author page and became 'Linked in' last month.   I started this blog about a week ago because a Kindle Direct Publishing newsletter recommended building an author page on Amazon, and there was an option to connect that page with a blog.  I even have a profile on Google+ now.  I don't really understand all of these online tools.  They feel cumbersome and I feel clumsy and ineffective using them.

Thanks to my dad, who raised me on Apple computers, at least I have the basics.  Thanks to my younger, Facebook savvy sister, I'm up to 21 likes now and am dutifully posting twice a week.  Thanks to motivation and persistence, I'm gradually enriching my online media know-how.  I'm still deciding whether to include a link to my website, Facebook page, Linked in page, Amazon page, blog, or Google+ page in my email signature.  Until my telepathic abilities emerge, I'm open to suggestions.