OK, this is a real cure for the Mondays!

The first review is in for Love and Rockets!

Reviewer Keely Skillman says, “Fantastically refreshing in its viewpoint, Love and Rockets by Charlene Teglia had me laughing until my sides hurt. It was wonderful to read a love story where the man was the one top over tea kettle in love from the beginning and aware of his love. This is one of those wonderful tales of love that leaves you with the hope that there really are men out in the wide world who know how to romance a lady for something other than getting her clothes off near the bed.

Love and Rockets is a work of art! Pure delicious romance from the moment the main characters meet. And the characters, all of them are so personable I came to think of them as friends and empathize with them. This is one of those classic romance tales that I find myself drawn to again and again because the story is just too satisfying and dreamy to be read only once.”

My case of the Mondays is cured. : )

A case of the Mondays! What to do?

I’ve got a case of the Mondays. Fortunately, there’s a cure. Actually several cures. Wanna know what they are?
1. Sluggy Freelance! Always completely insane and guaranteed to jolt the brain in a different direction. (If you’ve never read Sluggy before, check out the viewer’s guide. There is method to the madness.)
2. iTunes. Energetic and upbeat or melodic and soothing, there’s always something that’s right to change a mood.
3. Listing out all the things I’ve accomplished and all the good things I have to be excited about. Kills the blahs.
4. Taking a nice walk. Miles of trail right outside my back door. Not only does a good walk get more oxygen to my brain, it releases endorphins and is now scientifically proven to cure real depression. Mondays don’t stand a chance.
5. The world is full of good books. I can always enjoy a story and keep my enthusiasm for my profession alive.
6. Writing out affirmations such as “I accomplish all my work today with energy, enthusiasm and endurance.”

BIAW wrapped up yesterday and I got so much done. Last week was just huge on the event scale and I was still very, very productive. I’m really happy about that. Didn’t quite finish revising Dangerous, but considering everything else I got done, I’m not going to whine. I’m thrilled to have it nearly done and Spell out the door.

I also came across something pretty funny in my bookshelves. I’d forgotten I had a book signed by Jennifer Crusie wishing me well on my contemporary romantic comedy, Love and Rockets. I found it the week L&R released! One of those funny synchronicity moments.

Back to work time. If you have a sure cure for the Mondays, share it with me!

Live from the dreamtime

I’ve been missing Rob Brezny’s Real Astrology column, so I did a search and found his website with, yes, horoscopes! He’ll even email them directly to your inbox. (Naturally, I signed up. And told my husband I was a Gorgeous Genius!) His site also has an article about how he got started writing his column, which explained to me why I’d always loved it. It’s a great description of my own view of what writing is.

Today’s the last day of BIAW, so I’m off to the Dreamtime. I did 0 pages yesterday; had a sudden attack of tiredness. But I’ve kept to my goal all week otherwise, so I’m pleased. And today is a good day to write, to paraphrase a battle cry.

5 Angels and first author day

Did my author chat yesterday and it was fun. Lots of questions, I really enjoyed the interaction with readers. I got to talk about the research behind Love and Rockets, why I write these kinds of stories, and all sorts of other things. A very fun and interesting group!

In the middle of the chat, I found out Yule Be Mine got a 5 Angel review from Fallen Angel Reviews. Hurrah! It’s really a stunning review, I’m very pleased. It’s going up on Yule’s page with the other reviews probably later today.

BIAW: slow day yesterday due to the chat, but I did get through all the changes. Not sure how many pages that translates to, but it was a decent amount of work. I’m pretty happy with how far I’ve gotten on Dangerous with all the other things I’ve had going on this week (new release, another project to revise, rename and return, chat day).

Lastly, if you who haven’t heard about Dara Joy’s upcoming release, you can preorder your copy anytime up to March 31. Sounds like another fun read!

Revisions; the first reader feedback (and who is a reader?)

Under A Spell is revised, returned, and the new official title is Love Spell! The front page will get changed to reflect that. BIAW group said those pages counted towards my total, so I went over my goal for yesterday. Hurrah!

The fun part about revisions, aside from cursing Word and all denizens of Redmond (I mean, can somebody tell me why hitting “delete comment” does NOT delete the comment?!), is that it’s the first reader feedback I get. Lois McMaster Bujold wrote a beautiful piece about the silent collaboration between writer and reader which you can find in Dreamweaver’s Dilemma, and it’s true. A piece of writing doesn’t feel complete until it’s been read and responded to.

So yesterday along with agreeing that I’d misused more than one comma in Spell, I got to read the first comments on the story. I’d had a general “I loved it” when I got the contract, but this was more in depth; a paragraph highlighted with comments on how beautifully the action demonstrated the hero’s character and central dilemma. More sentences and sections marked to tell me how well it worked. Until I get that feedback I don’t really know that I’ve pulled it off, that I’ve succeeded in what I wanted to do. I know it works in my head, but will it works in a reader’s? I have to wait to find out. And the revisions are the first confirmations.

I’m still working my way through Dangerous and getting the same experience. I’m also looking forward to reader response coming in from reviews and other readers as Love and Rockets gets underway. Writing a book is like starting a conversation and then waiting for somebody to answer. I’m my first reader (I write for myself first, because it’s the story I want to read) and then I wait to see if others feel the same way.

These reflections brought to you by remarks around RTB and other blogs about who a reader is. All writers are readers. Editors are readers. Agents are readers (see JJ’s RTB column). Reviewers are readers. And the person trying to decide whether or not I’m worth $6 and a couple of hours of time is a reader. We’re all readers or we wouldn’t be in this business. I don’t know about you, but I’m here because I think it’s the greatest way to spend my life there is. I may not be rich and famous, but I’m happy because I always have a story and somebody to share it with.