Fear and writing

Today, I'm over at the Girlfriends Book Club talking about going for the fear. Check it out right here (hey, I rhymed!)

Book Bloggers and Tribal Writer

I love people who love reading books and especially people who spread the word about the books they love. Book blogs are the modern day way to get your book "talked" about. And book bloggers are the connectors and mavens we all wish for.

Lori Gondelman, from Lori's Reading Corner is over at the Stiletto Gang today talking about how she got started.

Another great post to read is Tribal Writer's latest on why reading fiction is important. If you're a writer and you don't subscribe to her blog, then you're missing out on some great advice and inspiration. Reading is the Inhale, Writing is the Exhale. Now those are words to live by.

Writing with Authenticity

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and what it means. My new wip (The Ugly Girlfriend) has taken me places I've never been before and I don't just mean location. Up till now, I've shied away from writing characters that I don't have some kind of first hand knowledge of.

For instance, in Boyfriend of the Month, my protagonist, Grace, is half Cuban. Well, I'm all Cuban, so that was easy. I've read Cuban characters in novels before that didn't feel authentic to me. It's like they threw in a generic Hispanic character and called them Cuban when they felt more Puerto Rican (yes, there is a difference) or Mexican (and yes, there is a difference again).

So I'm entering new territory and it's exciting and scary at the same time.
I can only hope I do my characters justice.

Back to writing now!

Oh, and check out my guest post over at Sniffly Kitty's blog. It's about falling in love with your novel and it's part of the month long Loving the Reviews Challenge!

Who do you write for?

I'm just about at 5000 words on the new novel which, I know doesn't sound like much. But considering the fact that I wiped out everything I had this week and started over, I'm pretty happy.

I had almost 4000 words written originally, but I was struggling and you shouldn't be struggling in the first chapter. Chapter 10, yes. But not chapter 1. This is where the words should flow like honey.

So I started over but this time tried 1st person POV (past tense) and it seemed to work. I've tried 1st person before in an earlier novel (when I was first starting out) but got stuck on the story at about page 200 and abandoned it. So I got to the end of chapter one and while I liked this 1st person pov much better, there was still something not right. So I tried again. This time in 1st person present tense. And voila! I think I've got it! Two chapters and still going strong. We'll see.

The thing is, I have to write this book for myself. With each novel, my voice gets stronger. Write for yourself. Write the sort of book YOU want to read. Make yourself happy. Because believe me, you won't make everyone happy. Check out this article: Whom do Authors Write For? I agree with Mr. Amis.

ADD ON: Check out Marilyn Brant's great interview at Chick Lit Writers. Chick Lit lives on!

Want some writing advice?

Then go to Girlfriends Book Club, where some of today's smartest women writers are offering up their 'If I knew then, what I know now' advice (I'm one of them by the way. Not that I consider myself that smart, but hey, I've put myself in good company, so I guess I'm not too dumb!)

And don't forget, I'm giving away the last available ARC of The Boyfriend of the Month Club. Just go my Facebook fan page and leave a comment by Monday morning 6 am sharp. The winner will get my book an entire month before the rest of the world does!