by Charlene Teglia | Jan 30, 2008 | Uncategorized
Packing is coming right along. I’ve put the preschooler to work putting books in boxes, which she’s very good at. I’ll be packing up my desk today, but the laptop will stay available and the network won’t come down until Friday. So I’ll only be offline Fri. afternoon through Monday afternoon, with possible internet access in between via coffee shop or hotel.
I did finish my proposal, my editor read it on Tues. and gave it the thumb’s up (yay!), and I’m looking forward to writing the rest in my new office! In the meantime I’ll think about music for the project. I really like starting my days with the Gimme Gimmes, so maybe I’ll find songs by them that fit this book.
I have to say that getting sent back to the drawing board to start over is not the worst thing that can happen. I think this really is a stronger, better book. One of the things I’ve gotten out of Fast Draft is not being so married to things. It’s okay to run something up the flagpole and take it back down if nobody salutes. Not every partial has to become a full. Or maybe it’ll happen later; I’ve had plenty of ideas go on the back burner only to come out again in a revised form and sell down the road. It’s a lot easier to throw away a couple of chapters (or just file them away for future consideration) when you know you can write another 20 pages the next day. It’s not like losing months of work.
And the benefit of learning my core story and identifying my voice has made writing a synopsis a billion times easier and faster. I know where and how my “core” has to fit in a story and I know I can put it into any set of elements or heat level. It’s really demystified the process I used to stumble through intuitively and given me a tool to use consciously and deliberately. (The heat level on this book, btw, can be described as Rome Is Burning.)
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 28, 2008 | Uncategorized
Feel like the Road Runner this week. Zooooom! Let’s hope I can outwit the Acme company.
Edits for Night Rhythm came and went. Apparently I felt a burning need to say “felt” a hundred times. The word has now been whittled down to a reasonable number of usages. Copyedits for Wicked Hot are on the way. My commas will all stand corrected. (I got journalist comma usage drilled into me early, and I never do get the Chicago Manual of Style rule right.) A new novella is officially contracted with Ellora’s Cave, and as soon as the title is final and approved I’ll put up a page for it under Coming Soon.
And…Wicked Fire is officially on the great manuscript scrap-heap. Argh. But I have a new, better, shinier idea that I love and my St. Martin’s editor loves, and I am now in the process of writing the proposal for that. It’s a werewolf novel.
Boxes are everywhere. Thank God I’ve got lots of experience working in chaos. Small children make that a constant. But the proposal is smokin’. I’m flying through it.
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 27, 2008 | Uncategorized
While I have a lot of respect for Virginia Woolf, I’ve written a lot of books without an office or any single room I could call my own. But it hasn’t been ideal, and the golden dream of a real office has glimmered in the distance lit with a celestial glow and accompanied by a chorus of angels.
Well, the office will now be mine. Mine and my husband’s, a co-office, but all this time (5 years) we’ve had desks in bedrooms, in dining rooms, in kitchens and living rooms. Having a room of our own for desks and the printer and office supplies and files is heady stuff!
You’ve noticed the stunning lack of entertaining blog entries, I’m sure, but that couldn’t be helped while we were dealing with house and moving stuff. And we will continue to be busy with that stuff for the next week. After which I will have AN OFFICE! With french doors! Which I can close!
Meanwhile the book doesn’t magically write itself and the small children need tending, and so I am neglecting the blog. Sorry. But here’s a moving poem for Poetry Monday:
Can you pack it in a box? Can you haul it with an ox?
I would not, could not, move that thing, can we donate most everything?
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 26, 2008 | Uncategorized
Yes, I’m continuing my streak of cheater blogging. Upcoming book club discussions at the Cherry Forums:
02/01 The Remains of the Dead: A Ghost Dusters Mystery Wendy Roberts
02/15 Skinny Dipping Connie Brockway
03/01 Unpredictable Eileen Cook
03/15 A Little Ray of Sunshine Lani Diane Rich
04/01 Getting Rid of Bradley Jennifer Crusie
04/15 Satisfaction Guaranteed Charlene Teglia
05/01 To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee
I’m delighted to be invited back to discuss Satisfaction Guaranteed! The book club discussion for Wild Wild West was fun and interesting with lots of insightful comments and questions. (And I’m trying not to breathe into a paper bag over seeing my name in between Jennifer Crusie’s and Harper Lee’s.)
And The Romance Studio has given Only Human a terrific 4.5 Heart review:
“Only Human was a completely engaging story that touched me on a deeply emotional level. Immediately, I was pulled into the lives of these characters and found myself enriched for the experience. Elaine was a woman with deep emotional baggage and it kept her from living her life. As such, she was a very easy character to relate to. Who among us could experience what she did and not be scarred by it? Damon was supremely sexy but more than that, he offered solace to our heroine. Through his actions and because of his feelings for her, Elaine was able to emerge whole from a situation that caused her to cease living and bury herself away from the world. The sex was truly the icing on the cake as it was steamy, erotic and served to satisfy the heroine’s physical and emotional needs.
Ms. Teglia has always been one of my favorite authors and Only Human reinforced why I so love her work.” – Misa Minx
by Charlene Teglia | Jan 25, 2008 | Uncategorized
I’ve been reviewed by FAR, twice!
Miss Lonely Hearts rates 5 Angels
“Jason and Cassandra are great characters. They are easy to relate to and root for. The chemistry between the two is hot! I loved how their first meeting was on the airplane, but Cass didn’t know it. The by-play between the two was electric and the internal dialog was fascinating and fun to read. The preparations for the wedding were downright comical. I loved all the secondary characters mentioned; I hope that Ms. Teglia brings us back to this small Alaskan town with more of their stories. I really want to know more about Mona and her men. This is a book I would definitely recommend to a friend looking for quick pick-me-up read.” – Dawn W
And a Recommended Read for Satisfaction Guaranteed!
“Hot, hot, hot! There is no other way to describe Satisfaction Guaranteed. Each of these stories has gorgeous, sexy men and women who aren’t afraid to ask for what they want. I liked that the stories were connected to the same agency, and that the women were all friends. Each woman had different desires, and the men were able to fulfill them in new and adventurous ways. It was refreshing to read about dominant sex that didn’t include leather and handcuffs. Charlene Teglia is a fresh voice in the erotica genre, and it will be a pleasure to read subsequent works by this author.” – Chris P
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