Go Beyond the Red Shirt

Please welcome guest blogger Beth Caudill

I’m a bit bloodthirsty. I want to see some characters die. The first books I choose to read were Mystery and Horror stories. And then I moved to Fantasy and Science Fiction. Someone always died – whether they were a murder victim or a fantasy infantry soldier.

Most of the time you don’t know much about the person who dies or they are the villain and you cheer his/her passing. One of my favorite Nancy Drew stories is The Sign of the Twisted Candles because you learn about the murder victim throughout the tale. He became a part of the story, even though he died halfway through. Just because someone died doesn’t mean they can’t be an influence later on in the story. Remember Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars – his words still influenced Luke in the beginning of Episode Five (Let’s not talk about the ghost thing halfway through.)

It’s a rough world out there for our characters. Whether you are living in outer space, on an agrarian planet, or living in modern day Chicago, bad things happen. There are good ways and bad ways to go.

The first episode of NCIS as a standalone series pissed me off because at the end the terrorist shots an automatic weapon at Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon – he’s aged nicely) yet no bullets hit the airplane or Gibbs. They were no more than ten feet from each other and the shots should have gone somewhere. Do NOT let your characters out of a situation without a scratch. It’s the best way to get your book thrown across the room.

On the other end of the spectrum, we have the guys we know will die. In almost every Star Trek episode the ‘Red Shirt’ Security Officer dies within the first ten minutes leaving our Captain, First Officer and Doctor free to spend the next half hour solving the mystery behind the unexpected death. While this makes a great entry in college drinking games, your readers won’t appreciate the repetition. Another example would be any SG team on Stargate besides SG-1. If you go off world, you’d better hope you go with Jack (aka, Richard Dean Anderson – another cute older actor.) It’s the only way you’d survive.

Go Beyond the Red Shirt - How to Kill a Character in Your Story

1. Give your Character a Name – You want your readers to be able to connect with this character at least enough to put a name to his face. If you kill someone off, please give them a name. Even with an army, have your Lord Marshall inspect the troops and talk to the guy. It’s the least you can do for him since he won’t make it to The End.
   
2. History – Like the hero and heroine our future corpse needs a history. Make sure to give some nice tidbits to the reader. Let the reader connect with him/her but not too much. Most of the time you won’t want your reader to hate you for killing their favorite character. (There are always exceptions but be prepared for the hate mail.)
   
3. Purpose – His or her death should have a purpose in the story. In fact, it should have a huge impact on your hero or heroine. Emotion is the key to keeping your reader engaged. Even the most jaded assassin should feel something in their cold heart for their 101^st kill.
   
4. Be Descriptive – Let the reader engage in the death themselves. I still remember falling off the cliff with Mufasa in Disney’s The Lion King. Even a parent’s death in the past can be relived in the present – a memory told to the hero, a flashback involving the villainous vampire; something the reader can experience with the main character.
   
5. Do the Unexpected – Don’t just kill the Villain or the Mentor. Everyone looks for these guys to die. The reader expects it. Kill the Sidekick or Best Friend Forever (Unless you absolutely need him/her for the sequel and then maybe consider the ghost option or resurrection. Be creative.)

This list came about after I’d finished my novella Healer’s Fate and as I’d considered ideas for a paladin knight trilogy. In Healer’s Fate, I kill off my three villains, one of which doesn’t have a name. I thought he’d be creepier and more mysterious without one. Thinking about it now, I’m sorry I didn’t identify him better.

Not all my characters are willing to let me kill them. In planning my paladin knight series, the heroine’s older sister is kidnapped. She was the first person I considered killing. But this character has other ideas. She stood up and flat out told me she would not die. When I asked her why not, she gave me a human villain and a modern day branch of my knights I didn’t know existed. She’s a bit of a control freak and I’ve grudgingly agreed she can see her younger sister get married.

I hate plotting but had to concede to working out my characters ahead of time for this series to work. You can only bring characters forward in time once so I have to have them all accounted for ahead of time. Two of my knights have agreed to sacrifice themselves. In return, they’ve asked me, their author, to provide them an honorable end with a name, a history, an impact on the hero, and an awesome show down with their enemy. I’m going to do my best to provide that for them.

Beth grew up in West Virginia but now resides in North Carolina with her husband and two children. She has a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and previously worked as a quality assurance computer software tester. Reading has been her favorite activity for as long as she can remember and her home has more books than shelves to store them. While being a fulltime parent, she is pursuing a writing career.

She is a member of Romance Writers of America, FF&P and her local chapter Heart of Carolina Romance Writers.

Healer's Fate

Corliss Rumdone hides behind her status as Healer to avoid the normal wolf pack hierarchal challenges. A forced mating changes the course of her life. Instead of Raymond, the beta wolf selected for her, she mates with Liam—her best friend and heir to the Alpha pair.

Liam whisks them away to a shifter retreat so they can allow the mating bond to settle in private. But interference from those seeking power and two terminal children arouse past hurts and challenge their new relationship. Even their home is not the haven it should be as Liam must watch Corliss fight for the right to stay his mate. For one healer, death becomes a weapon to balance life.

On Voice and Valerie Bertinelli

Please welcome guest blogger Wendy Lyn Watson

One of the best compliments I ever received for my writing came from an unexpected source. My friend Matthew is a straight arrow. He’s Matthew, not Matt. He likes his burgers plain, just bun and meat. He wears neatly pressed dress shirts and lots of navy and gray. He is, in short, vanilla.

I am the opposite of Matthew.

Still, we get along like a house afire, having great fun at each others’ expense and generally rejoicing in our differences. I was tickled he deigned to pick up I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, my fluffy pink book, and give it a read. That alone would have made me happy, but then he brought tears to my eyes. He sent me an e-mail and said, “It was like I could hear you talking when I read it.”

Bingo. Bull’s eye. Shazam.

See, if I sucked all my voice out of I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM, it’s a story about a woman scorned who’s suspected of killing her ex’s new, younger girlfriend. She investigates, figures out who dunnit, and maybe finds a new beau in the process. Yawn. You’ve read that story a hundred times, seen Valerie Bertinelli act it out in a Lifetime TV movie, maybe even written a version of it yourself.

What makes I SCREAM my book and, hopefully, something worth reading isn’t the story. Oh, sure, I spent a lot of time working on the pacing, making sure the narrative arc hit all the important points, crafting clues and red herrings, balancing description and dialogue. But in the end, what makes I SCREAM my book and not that Valerie Bertinelli vehicle on Lifetime is my voice.

The fact that Matthew could hear my voice--my actual, literal voice--when he read my prose meant I had achieved a certain authenticity in my writing. I may not be on the best-seller lists (yet - I’m an optimist), but that little pink book is mine and no one else’s. Matthew could not have paid me a better compliment.

And the great thing about voice, my darlings, is you all have one already. Really. Every last one of you. With work, you can refine it, polish it, show it off to its best advantage. But the raw material is already there inside you. In the online workshop I’m doing for FF&P in May, we’ll work on identifying and developing your individual voices. If you register for the workshop, come with an open mind, and by the end of May, you will hopefully have a better sense of what defines your voice and how you can amp up those qualities to really set your work apart from the pack.

Oh, and for the record, if Valerie Bertinelli wants to bring I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM to film, I’d be honored. She’d make a fantastic Tallulah Jones. Valerie? Call me.

Wendy Lyn Watson writes deliciously funny cozy mysteries with a dollop of romance. Her Mysteries a la Mode (I Scream, You Scream (October, 2009) and Scoop to Kill (September, 2010)) feature amateur sleuth Tallulah Jones, who solves murders in between scooping sundaes. While she does not commit--or solve--murders in real life, Wendy can kill a pint of ice cream in nothing flat. She's also passionately devoted to 80s music, Asian horror films, and reality TV. (www.wendylynwatson.com)

I Scream, You Scream

Tallulah Jones, proprietor of Dalliance, Texas’s old-fashioned ice-cream parlor, dishes up luscious ice cream that is simply to die for….

Unfortunately, Remember the A-la-mode’s profits are melting faster than a snow cone in July–and Tally’s stuck scooping sundaes for her two-timing ex-husband and his bodacious new girlfriend, Brittanie, at his company luau. To make matters worse, twenty years after she dumped him in the Tasty-Swirl parking lot, Tally’s high school beau, Finn Harper, comes back to town–looking every bit as delicious as a double-dip raspberry mascarpone waffle cone.

The cherry on top? Brittanie drops dead, and Tally’s suddenly the prime suspect in her murder investigation. To catch a killer, Tally will have to churn up Dalliance’s darkest secrets and dip deep into the past. But can Tally freeze out the real culprit before a murder charge puts her dreams on ice for good?

Write Naked runs May 3, 2010 through May 30,2010

Push to Pro...Coming May 2010

Warning: The following post must be read in a booming movie preview narrator voice.

Get Ready…

Do you want to make 2010 your year of writing success? Did you make a New Year’s resolution about your writing? Ready to take that next step in your career?

In May, Push to PRO begins. We’ll spend this month completing the first draft of our current work in progress. By May 31, every participant will have a completed novel. Those who aren’t yet PRO members will have everything they need to start querying and to apply for PRO membership.

Get Set…

Last year’s 60 Days to PRO effort was only the beginning. In 2010,we will go from general members with an idea and a dream to professional members with a manuscript and a plan. We will see success from our consistent submissions. We will end the year with an agent, an editor, a spot on a bestseller list. This year will be our year of success.

If you want to succeed, join us. On May 1, the PRO loop will open, and our plan will begin. Sprints in the water cooler. Inspiration. Sharing our Pearls. But May is merely a prelude. A warm-up. Preparation for what comes this fall.

If you thought 60 Days to PRO was great, just wait until you see 60 Days to Success.

Go.

Kerri Leigh Grady & Lisa Kessler are the PRO Liaisons for RWA's Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal Chapter

Finding the Right Agent

Please welcome guest blogger Cynthia Eden

Ah, literary agents. Agents have been known to strike fear (and stir mad love) in the hearts of writers. Have you started your literary agent hunt? If not (and even if you have), let me give you a little advice:

1. Research. Seriously—research before you submit! If you’re looking for an agent who is romance savvy, don’t send to an agent who only represents non-fiction. Or, if an agent says she currently has a full client list for paranormals and you only write paranormals, then you might want to look elsewhere.

After you check out the agent’s “want” list on her/his site, look up the agent’s recent sales. You want to make sure you are submitting to an agent who is making sales to the publishers you are targeting. You want a savvy agent! So check out the sales and make sure you’re agent is on top of her/his game.

2. Make a list of your ideal agents. I’d advise against putting all your writing hopes on one agent. Yes, you can have a “prime” agent that you’d most like to have in your corner, but why not make a list of a few agents that appeal to you? As my grandmother used to say…don’t put all those eggs in one basket! Have a backup agent—or several—waiting for your query in case that ideal agent isn’t interested.

3. In this social media world, you can learn a great deal about an agent through such outlets as Twitter. Do a search for the agent that interests you and follow that person. Agents often talk about the type of books they are looking for and they talk about their sales. You can learn a lot about a person from those tweets!

4. If you’re not sure how to find an agent that is interested in the type of books that you write, then head over to www.agentquery.com. You can do a search by genre and you will find agents who are looking for your work! You can also see a listing of recent sales by these agents—and this is all free material. Get thee to www.agentquery.com.

5. When you query an agent, always be as professional as possible. Hook the agent and get her wanting more! Follow the guidelines listed on the agent’s site, and don’t send more material unless it’s requested. Follow the rules, and if the agent doesn’t make an offer of representation…it’s not the end of the world. Move on to the next agent on your list. Or, if this agent asked for revised material or asked you to submit another project, then submit again! Keep trying! Don’t ever give up in this business.

6. When you make a connection with an agent who loves your work, please, don’t jump ahead and immediately sign a contract without asking some very important questions. First up, you need to figure out just what you want out of the agent-client relationship. Are you looking for an editorially focused agent? A more hand’s off agent? When you are offered representation, you need to be clear about this to make certain that your needs will be met. Just because one agent is 100% perfect for your BFF, well, that doesn’t mean the agent will be perfect for you. You have to follow the agent path that is best for you—and that means finding an agent who will meet all of your needs.

7. Finding an agent that is book-focused versus finding an agent that is career-focused.

When I signed with my agent, I wanted someone who would see the big picture with my work. I didn’t want someone who only wanted to sell the current book I was pitching. I wanted her to help me work toward my career goals. So when you are searching for your agent, keep that in mind…career or book?

8. Also…review any offered agent contract carefully. Don’t understand some of those clauses? Ask what they mean! This is your life. Don’t just sign it away.

9. So you talked to the agent and he/she seems like a perfect fit. You’re of the same editorial mindset and you’ve got great career plans. You’re ready to sign with her…

WAIT!

Before you sign, why not take the time to talk to some of the agent’s other clients? Most agents have a client list on their websites. Shoot off a few emails and get the inside scoop (so to speak). You can also check out the editor on the Predators and Editors website (I always recommend checking around to get as much information as possible).

After all, knowledge truly is power. Especially in our business!

Okay, now you’re armed with agent knowledge. Any questions? J

Good luck finding your perfect agent!

Cynthia Eden
www.cynthiaeden.com
I'LL BE SLAYING YOU--Available 06/29/10 from Kensington Brava
DEADLY FEAR--Available 08/1/10 from Grand Central Publishing (Forever)

Cynthia Eden is an award-winning author of paranormal romance and romantic suspense. Her publishers include: Kensington Brava, Grand Central Publishing, Avon Red, Red Sage, and ImaJinn Books. 



Eternal Hunter

Cynthia Eden delves into the dark realms of the Others, where desires and dangerous games await the unsuspecting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Assistant DA Erin Jerome has a secret. Make that two. One: She’s not entirely human–she’s Other, desperately trying to keep her supernatural strength under wraps. Two: she’s got a killer stalking her–an Other rogue set on “gifting” her bloody corpses, not to mention nights lying awake in terror. Small wonder she’s been having bad luck with men.

But the bounty hunter on her new case isn’t worried about any of that. Jude Donovan is a shapeshifter himself, and the new DA’s midnight hair and addictive scent tell him all he thinks he needs to know:  She’s gorgeous, she’s definitely not human, and she’s bringing out the animal in him in a really good way. He might have to track a psychotic Other stalker through half of Louisiana. But he might also get the chance to watch Erin’s wild side come out and play.

PRUNE YOUR PROSE: THIS MEANS YOU!

Please welcome guest blogger Linnea Sinclair

It's almost providential that I'm teaching this workshop just before swimsuit season. I mean, this is the time of year many of us think about paring down. Redesigning. Revamping. But instead of wondering what we'll look like in a bikini, I want you to consider what you'll look like between the front cover and the back blurb. Um, your manuscript, that is.

“Prune Your Prose” is a workshop I've taught for the past two years exclusively at writing conferences and in person. It's generally a minimum of four hours long, which is why I'm tickled peachy that I get to do this in an on-line format this time. For one thing, it's a very intense workshop. We cover a lot of ground, a lot of writing issues that plague the beginning writer and the jaded, experienced author. Doing that in four hours—standing for four hours or, in my case, leaning on a podium for four hours—is quite a challenge. (And yes, I know, those of you who've seen me at RT and RWA conferences know Linnea has no problems leaning on a bar for four hours...it's that danged podium. It's libation-less.)

We're going to have a month, O Wonderful Writerly-Types.

And we don't have to be libation-free.

This is still going to be an intense workshop and, for those of you who care to participate and not just lurk along the edges, it will be very much a hands-on workshop. We're going to do writing and rewriting. You're going to learn to spot problems that make copy editors howl in pain, and you're going to learn ways to make your revisions painless. Okay, revisions are never painless. How 'bout we aim for less-painful?

We also going to take a long hard look at whether or not you're actually saying what you mean to say. Words are your tools. Are you properly flogging your vocabulary? Or are you—shudder—a word wimp? Do you eschew erudition?

Forget thin thighs! We will tighten your abs-tract concepts and firm your flabby ass-pirations to be a better writer. All while sitting poolside—as I am now, and yes, I really am—at the Home for the Perpetually Perplexed. Sipping the latest cross-genre cocktail. (Actually, I'm drinking ice water because it's freaking hot here in Florida today.)

So sign up for the workshop now. Bring a friend! Did I mention the free (virtual) massages by Matheus, our Brazilian poolboy after every class? (The guys get Astrud, our Brazilian poolgirl...).

Sharpen those keyboards. The class will be much better than this blog.

Namaste, ~Linnea

Winner of the prestigious national book award, the RITA®, science fiction romance author Linnea Sinclair has become a name synonymous for high-action, emotionally intense, character-driven novels. Reviewers note that Sinclair’s novels “have the wow-factor in spades,” earning her accolades from both the science fiction and romance communities. Starlog magazine calls Sinclair “one of the reigning queens of science fiction romance.” Sinclair’s releases include Gabriel's Ghost (RITA® winner), Games of Command ( Pearl Award winner and RITA® finalist), The Down Home Zombie Blues ( Pearl Award Honorable Mention), Shades of Dark ( Pearl and Prism Awards winner), and Hope's Folly (Romantic Times Book Reviews Top Pick.)

A former news reporter and retired private detective, Sinclair resides in Naples, Florida (winters) and Columbus, Ohio (summers) along with her husband, Robert Bernadino, and their thoroughly spoiled cats. Readers can find her perched on the third barstool from the left at her Intergalactic Bar and Grille .


Rebels and Lovers

BOOK FOUR IN THE DOCK FIVE UNIVERSE...

For these two renegades, falling in love is the ultimate rebellion…

It’s been two years since Devin Guthrie last saw Captain Makaiden Griggs. But time has done little to dampen his ardor for the beautiful take-charge shuttle pilot who used to fly yachts for his wealthy family. While his soul still burns for her, Kaidee isn’t the kind of woman a Guthrie is allowed to marry—especially in this time of intergalactic upheaval, with the family’s political position made precarious by Devin’s brother Philip, now in open revolt against the Empire. And when Devin’s nineteen-year-old nephew Trip goes inexplicably missing, his bodyguard murdered, this most dutiful of Guthrie sons finds every ounce of family loyalty put to the test. Only by joining forces with Kaidee can Devin complete the mission to bring Trip back alive. Only by breaking every rule can these two renegades redeem the promise of a passion they were never permitted to explore.  At risk? A political empire, a personal fortune and both their hearts and lives...


Prune Your Prose runs May 3, 2010 through May 30,2010

Does the Modern-Day Amazon Exist?

Please welcome guest blogger Marcia Colette

This question was part of a panel discussion at LunaCon this year and I was sorry I wasn’t able to attend. However, it has been a question that has been on my mind for ages.

If you think about it, we had our action-oriented heroines like Wonder Woman, the Bionic Woman, Ripley from Aliens, and most recently Sarah Conner. When I think about today, I have a hard time coming up with one. I guess the most recent ones have been Sarah Connor again, from The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Sydney Bristow from Alias. I guess I could add Kate from Lost and some of the female cast members from Heroes, too.

There are plenty of kick-ass heroines out there right now. And by kick-ass, I don’t mean they have to have an attitude that grates on your nerves twenty-four-seven or they have to kill someone every other chapter to make sure the reader knows their a bad-ass. I’m taking about an action-oriented woman who is normal in all respects, but has to make a move every now and then that will blow your mind or leave your jaw hanging in awe. I love reading about characters like this. Also, it’s probably why I feel like there are a lot of kick-ass women on the market and can’t get enough of them.

But the questions—worry—remain. Will those champions stand the test of time? Will our little girls today remember them when they’re in their twenties?

This is one moment where I wish I could fast-forward in time to know the answer to that. I’d like to think that whoever leaps onto the scene these days will have long-lasting effects like Buffy had. Better yet, define a whole new genre.

In the mean time, the only kick-ass heroines I can think of today are all in books. You have Anita Blake by Laurell K. Hamilton, Elena by Kelley Armstrong, and the ever-loving Sookie Stackhouse. If only Hollywood would take a chance on more than just Charlaine Harris’s books, would I feel confident enough to say “Yes!” our Amazonian heroines of today can stand the test of time be memorable for all-time.

Are there any action-oriented females in recent years (book or film) who you think we’ll remember in the next ten or twenty years?

Paranormal author Marcia Colette was born and raised in a single-parent household in upstate New York. She holds a bachelors degree in biomedical engineering and a masters degree in information technology. After a couple of moves from north to south to north, she is now living in the south again in the lovely state of North Carolina.

Unlike many authors, Marcia hadn’t discovered her love for reading until later in life. As it turned out, her tastes were very selective and different than most of the stuff her English teachers tried to shove down her throat. She has been a lover of the paranormal from her first horror movie and has never looked back.

Marcia is a member of the Horror Writers Association, Paranormal Mystery Writers, and Romance Writers of America.

The best place to find her is on her blog where she loves connecting with readers and other writers. Conferences/conventions where sci-fi, fantasy, and horror reign supreme are a good bet, too, along with the occasional romance conference.

Visit me at www.marciacolette.com or http://marciacolette.wordpress.com.

STRIPPED

Someone wants their perfect weapon back, only she’s not coming quietly.

Alexa Wells wants her life back. She’s just not sure what that life was. The memories inside her head—a stripper’s—aren’t hers, and before she humiliates herself onstage one more time, she sets out to collect the scattered pieces of her mind. The trail leads to Boston, charges of identity theft and murder, and the real bombshell: a forgotten werewolf lover who insists she’s a werewolf hybrid.

Matt York doesn’t care that she looks at him like he’s been smoking crack between court cases. Now that he has her back he’s not about to let her go it alone, even if she can easily kick ass and take names all by herself. Amnesia only scratches the surface of her problems, and like it or not, she’s stuck with him.

She’s also stuck with Robert Gamboldt, a venture capitalist who’s not above murdering his way to the top. He’s not about to lose his prize possession without playing dirty. It’s a simple enough offer. Be his personal assassin, or go to jail.

With options like that, it’s enough to make a hybrid go full-blood.

Advice to Writers by Rowena Cherry

Please welcome guest blogger Rowena Cherry

My own advice to writers who are on the brink of a writing career is to rely on a mixture of old-fashioned good manners, personal integrity, and modern cyber-street wisdom.

In other words, follow your dream with your eyes open.

Friends and Buddies

Know that your best friends are authors a rung or two above you on the career ladder. Follow them, don't try to clamber over them or knock them out of your way. Look to the example of NASCAR and aerodynamics: leader and follower both go faster when they work together.

For 25 ways to be a good friend to another author, see my "Buzz" list on my website.

Check out Linnea Sinclair's post on "mentoring" on http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com

http://aliendjinnromances.blogspot.com/2008/11/buddy-system.html ... in fact check out all the articles on this long running teaching blog which I started with 6 colleagues long before expert-author-group blogs were popular.

Other great sources of advice from PR experts would be the free newsletter from Penny Sansevieri found at http://www.amarketingexpert.com, also the weekly articles posted by authors, radio hosts, publishers and more on http://1stTurningPoint.com.

If you belong to LinkedIn.com, follow me, and join all the groups to which I belong, especially Romance Authors Helping Romance Authors (you don't have to write Romance, but you do have to write, and you may not post self promo). If you are published in any kind of speculative fiction, join http://iwofa.net It's free, reciprocal, and great promo. There's an iwofa group on LinkedIn too.

If you are a GoodReads.com member, check out the groups. "Tips for Self Promotion, Sales, and Advertising" is a great group of authors in all genres who help one another.

You'll notice the same names cropping up again and again. Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Jacquie Rogers, Charlee Boyett-Compo, Brenna Lyons, Deborah Macgillivray, Linnea Sinclair, Margaret L Carter, Lillian Cauldwell, Todd Fonseca, Pauline Baird Jones, Lynn Crain, Cindy Spencer Pape, Sandy Lender (and many more) are among authors who help others.

Contracts

Be aware that contracts are written to favor whoever wrote that contract (Publisher, Printer, Online Bookseller, website designer etc). Read every word. Understand what the contract says before you sign it. Get help from EPIC or SFWA or Authors Guild, or Preditors-and-Editors if you don't.

Act on the assumption that most contracts can be negotiated. No one will think less of you for asking, as long as you are polite and professional about it. Moreover, know your limitations and be upfront about them. An editor may ask you to write a book every six weeks, but if that is not realistic for you, say so. Most editors would much rather schedule you for one book a year and have you deliver (top quality writing) on time.

Be honest with your agent, your editor, your reader, and anyone else with whom you do business. Including the IRS! (And... beware of those interview questions that might cause the unwary to declare the hours they work and the other uses they make of their home office.)

At the same time, be aware that others won't be honest with you. Once you register a copyright or trademark or domain name, you will receive all sorts of documents that look like invoices. You will also be offered awards and listings in catalogues of "distinguished" or "famous" people… but you will only be included if you purchase your listing.

Whatever you spend on your writing (and it will add up to much more than you imagine!) keep records of all your expenses, all your contracts, all your promises, all your sales, all the prizes you promised to give away. Follow through.

If you absolutely must give away an ebook as a prize, number it. Personalize it... that way, if it turns up on a pirate site, you and your publisher's legal department will know who "shared it" in violation of your trust and your copyright.

Never defame anyone, no matter the provocation. Never write a bad review. Never write a good review of a book you did not enjoy. Never infringe on anyone else's copyright (artist's, model's, photographer's etc).

Never "cheat" your reader or potential reader. Never assume that someone will want to read your book simply because "you" wrote it, or because "you" say they will enjoy you.

Secure your domain name before you become published. If you wait, a spammer might squat on it in hopes to either profit from your good name, or to extort money from you if you are desperate to buy it back. You don't want your website to be: http://theofficialmynameauthor.com

Keep doing what you love for as long as it makes you happy, and as long as your pursuit doesn't hurt or cause you to neglect those you love.

Do the very best you can, every day. And, say "thank you" often. Thank you for reading this.

Rowena Cherry


Heroines get more hero than they bargain for....



Rowena Cherry has played chess with a Grand Master and former President of the World Chess Federation (hence the chess-pun titles of her alien romances).



She has spent folly filled summers in a Spanish castle; dined on a sheikh's yacht with royalty; been serenaded (on a birthday) by a rockstar and an English nobleman; ridden in a pace car at the 1993 Indy 500; received the gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award; and generally lived on the edge of the sort of life that inspires her romances about high-living alien gods.





If I may, I'd like to share my "Mission Statement."



My goal as a Romance author is to give good value. I expect to provide my readers with six to eight hours of amusement, a couple of really good laughs, a romantic frisson or two from the sensual scenes, a thoroughly satisfying Happily-Ever-After, and something to think – or talk – about when the book is finished.


Forced Mate

By all the Lechers of Antiquity, what is a god-Emperor to do when his chosen mate is caught on tape speculating that he is a brute and a bore in bed?

Renowned for his sexual prowess all over the galaxy, Prince Tarrant-Arragon has a reputation for depravity to keep up, even if the reality of his private life is a far different story. His personal inclination would be to woo his intended with charm and wit, but politics and Tigron tradition call for abduction followed by swift consummation.

Embarking on a skilled seduction, Tarrant-Arragon feels confident in his ability to take his queen. But he hasn’t counted on the unpredictability of his little Earthling or the startling fact that she would make a pawn of his own heart.