This is my smiley face.

This is my smiley face on Submission Alert.

This is my emoticon on actual submission.

And really, readers? That’s all there is to know about this very day in my life. More tomorrow, when Emoticon #3 is less in control of my life.

Let me preface this by saying I’m not one to brag. In fact, talking about my writing at all tends to embarrass me to no end. I mean, just ask me about my characters and I’ll blush and stutter a little. Ask me about the world they live in and I fare a bit better. Demand I summarize the plot for you without warning and I’m a blathering idiot. Hand me over to a reviewer, any reviewer, and I just pack up my toys and go home. So many of those people scare me so I avoid them. (Sorry if you’re a reviewer. Just tell me you’re a non-novicaine practicing oral surgeon; we’ll get on easier.)

So when my editor emailed me and asked, “Have you seen this review from The Library Journal?”, I went into the fetal position in 1.4 seconds flat. Slowly, slowly, I lifted myself up off the bed and looked at her smiley face and realized she wouldn’t be laughing at me if I’d been reamed (like, uh, the first review they gave me). So I clicked the link and read the review. Twice. Then a third time just to make sure I hadn’t missed something–something like, “You’ve been punk’d!” Because the review was a wonderful, stellar review in which the reviewer claimed the book was “…easy to follow and impossible to put down.” Every writer dreams of hearing those words, of hearing you’ve connected with a reader who GETS what you’re trying to say or do or accomplish. It doesn’t really matter if it’s a reader, reviewer, editor or critique partner who comes back with the praise. As writers, we crave that connection and when you tell us you got it? We’re just a sodden mess of gratitude.

And I can’t lie. There’s some sweet vengeance in knowing that they found in Wrath what they felt they missed in Legacy. It means I’m growing as a writer and getting better at bringing my best game to the table. I may, or may not, be there yet, but don’t lose faith. It’s my turn to shuffle.

(You can read the review on my “Reviews” page.)

Sometimes great things come about quietly, moving like a great leviathan of hope through the shadows of your dreams. It happens, you know, when you’re least expecting the darkness to be a harbinger of greater things. My great, quiet pursuer caught up to me recently when I went out on submission in New York. I was nearly asleep when my email pinged. Usually I’ll ignore it, but I felt compelled to check it this time. It was my agent telling me she’d pitched the novel to an editor who was highly enthusiastic about the story. There was a pause as my personal harbinger rared back and loomed over me. I think my inner self looked up and–let’s be honest here–screamed bloody murder. But the more cognizant part of my brain saw the inner workings of the beast and went still, waiting to be consumed. What was it I waited for? Potential. I was suddenly consumed by potential. My work now had this opportunity it had never had before to reach so many people, from the publishing world to the reader looking for a new author to a seasoned reviewer looking for a unique premise in urban fantasy. The potential was suddenly there with all these people, no matter that the submission was brand new.

I’ve been asked how I manage to find potential in such an often terrifying process. The answer is simply complex.  I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. You see, digging into the pearly haze of hope can actually be a messy job. Every time I do, I run the gamut of emotions multiple times a day, wearing myself out. I throw myself over the Writers’ Cliffs of Despair ™ and find a cartoonish tree just over the edge that breaks my fall and I clamber my way back up to the solid ground above. Or, worst case scenario, I become totally self-destructive and carve away at hope with a blunt object like a baseball bat, wreaking more damage and havoc than I could have possibly estimated when I took that first swing. This last, of all the millions of options out there, is one of the worst I can imagine. It’s horribly terrifying to imagine battering your hope so there’s nothing left but a bleeding pile of what-might-have-beens. But some people do it. I don’t and I hope you won’t. Please don’t. Ever.

Still, there’s the waiting. Oh, the waiting. This is, by far and away, the most difficult thing I can even attempt to relay to you. The angst, frustration, terror and, yes, hope bombards my system in overwhelming rush-and-retreat patterns as every second of every day passes with no news. But I’ve quickly come to learn that silence is golden. It means people, important publishing people I’ve never had access to in my whole life, are reading my work. Reading. My. Work. This is epic, my friends. Because it is these people who will mold the path my work takes as it moves closer to publication. It’s so hard to not know what they’re thinking as they read, and it’s so important to try to discern what’s working in a project and what’s turning the reader off (if anything is). This insight is ridiculously difficult to obtain, and as valuable to a writer as a precious gem.

Finally, there’s the writer herself. In this case, me. Amid all the fretting and fussing, there’s still a ton of stuff to do–blogging, platform-building on social media networks, working on the next project to come down the pipeline and, among all, making time to maintain the sanity and appreciate the gift I’ve given myself through hard work and sheer determination. I’m a firm believer that if I want something bad enough, if I persevere and answer every damn blow by getting up again and again, I’m eventually going to get where I want to go. It may be a fool’s premise, but let me assure you that if I don’t get up, I’ll never get anywhere. The road to success is littered with people sitting there wondering what the hell happened.

The purpose of this post shifted a bit as I wrote. I really just wanted to let you know that my baby, Raising Cain, is out in the publishing world and looking for a home. I’ve got some seriously fine editors looking at it and my hopes are ridonkulously high that one in particular will offer to take me and my precious project on. In the meantime, I’ll sit in the shade of hope, dipping my hands in now and again just to reassure myself that the messy miasma is still there, lingering. Pull up a chair and sit a while. It may be days or it may be weeks, but it would be great to have you here when hope manifests itself. I can’t begin to imagine how that will feel but I’d love to share it with you.

Oh, yeah. It happens. You know — when you’re writing along and the phone rings, someone knocks at the door, an alarm goes off, or a person (small or big) walks through the door needing something. Life, or its representative, can come in with a whisper, stomp in or even charge in on a white horse if someone seems to think you need to be rescued from yourself. Regardless, whether the interruption is made with good intent or just flat made, it’s there and, as a writer, you’ve been ejected from The Moment.

You know The Moment of which I speak, dear author. You’ve finally hit your groove, it seems like the writer’s block may be over and BOOM! Too bad. So sad. Sorry for ya. Life interferes.  There’s really no way to avoid it.

Unless you have a 100% dedicated, totally quiet, lockable, doorless, windowless, inaccessible, cut-off-from-the-world writing environment, you’re going to find yourself interrupted more often than you’re left alone. Why? Gah! The reasons why are longer than a politician’s list of excuses. It’s just life, people. But if that’s the case, why does it seem to set us for a real mess when it gets in the way?

Because it’s not the life we were involved in.

Yeah, this is my theory and I’m sticking to it like stink. When life, real life, interferes with our fictionalized version of events, it’s a rude, crude, miserable reminder that what we’re writing about isn’t what is actually happening (unless you’re a memoirist writing in real time). For me, as a genre fiction author, I’m often living high-stress, high-consequence situations in which I’ve become so deeply immersed that it takes a second to filter out my actual reality from the one I’ve busted my bubcass to create. It’s nearly impossible to just sever the emotional connections I have with the characters, their highs and lows, so heaven help you if you walk in during a fight scene. If there are swords involved? I’d just suggest backing out of the room slowly but with clear and distinct purpose…and speed. Speed would be good.

I don’t know how it is for other authors who have become deeply and heavily invested in the scenes at hand, but for me it becomes my reality. The way I can convey to the reader the best of everything I have to give is to become so involved that I experience the senses of the characters, understand the emotions at hand, paint with vivid clarity the stakes they’re facing, and more. It’s impossible for me to do so if I’m dealing with dinner, infomercials, the evil mail wench, an overdue electric bill and doggy deposits all at once. It’s. Simply. Impossible.

I’ve learned to cope with some of it and, for the good of those in my household, I hope I continue to develop skills. Otherwise I’m going to find myself working from the back porch with an extension cord that runs through the kitchen window for power as I sit on a plastic tri-fold sun lounger with a 3-foot-square blanket for my six-foot-tall frame. I’m just asking for patience, people, for myself and for those like me who have lately been living in The Moment as we try to measure the success of our writing against invisible, internal goals only we can understand.

If you live with one of us, have mercy. We’ll try to do the same.

Sending out the warmest congratulations to

Sabrina Alexander*

who won the Kobo (pre-loaded with Wrath) and the leather cover — a prize pack worth approximately $155!

Additional congratulations go to

Pauline Allen*

who won a copy of Wrath.

If you’re new to the blog, stay tuned to future posts for more exciting announcements, contests, freebies and generally fun stuff.

* Winners: Please email me at info(at)denisetompkins.net and provide me with: Sabrina, I need your mailing address; Pauline, I need you email address and the format you’d like Wrath delivered in (e-pub, .pdf, etc.).

Oh, yeah. This pretty well sums it up. And with the Easter holiday coming up? It’s all the more appropriate! If you’re the turkey, that is. But what if you’re the ham? You’ve already lost part of the battle because the turkey’s launched a media blitz while you’re back at the corral, snarfing down Triple A-brand Premium Hog Feed. Yeah, you’ve got along way to go, baby, before you’re running an even comparable campaign.

Authors, have you ever found yourself in this position? Have you ever wondered how in the world certain novels command seven figures while others (*cough* yours *cough*) are still looking for that one “Yes” in a sea of “No Thank You’s”? Have you ever wondered what you can do to encourage reading agents, editors and publishers to snap you up like homemade apple pie at a rural county fair? I may not have all the answers, and considering I only asked three questions, that’s sad. But I do have some good suggestions which you’re free to take as gospel truth or file under useful advice in your mental storage system. It’s up to you.

One of the first things you might notice is that this turkey is on full display. He’s not sitting in a corner, waiting for the hog to show up in order to get busy. Nope. General Gobble got in there and launched a pre-emptive strike. He took the offensive without being offensive. Small play on words; worlds of difference in the potential outcomes. He makes a simple statement: Eat Ham. As an author, you don’t want to suggest eating your competition, but you do want to point out what your book has going for it that the competitor’s may not. Does your book tell a tale of emotional angst? Does it drag your protagonist through heart-wrenching personal evolution before he finds his happily ever after while your competition’s book is about a boy learning to hunt (gulp) turkeys with his dad? Each has the potential to really strike the heart strings. Make sure your readers know what it is your book brings to the table that make sit unique and worth not only their money, but their time as well.

A second factor you may notice is that the General Gobble here is dressed pretty well. He’s sporting full feather displays and prime colors. He’s got his tail fan in pristine condition. He’s strutting his stuff. But the pig’s nowhere to be seen. Our turkey’s making the most of his time in front of the camera by making sure he looks good without looking too pretentious. He’s dressed well but without open designer labels and garish lipstick. Given that turkeys don’t have lips, this is a bonus. But that’s not the point! The point here is to think about how you’re presenting yourself when you are out there talking about you book, talking to readers about their favorite authors and talking to agents, editors and publishers about what they might gain from partnering with you. What what? First we’re discussing feathers, then clothes then editors? I see your head spinning. Let me stop you before it twists right off! What I want you to consider here is that you never know when opportunity is going to knock. You never know when you’re going to have the ideal situation present itself and require you to be on the ball, look your best and still be relatable to those you’re addressing.

Finally, notice that General Gobbler’s message is succinct and doesn’t ramble all over the place, much unlike this blog entry. The turkey gets straight to the point of what he wants you to know. Now, he’s a little abrupt for my liking, but I’m Southern. I believe in a little conversation and asking after someone’s family before I try to sell them the farm. The turkey here is clearly not influenced by those same social nuances. I suggest you strike a find cord somewhere in the middle where you find something in common with your readers/agent/editor/publisher before you pitch to them. It makes you seem a bit more compassionate as a salesman and that’s always a good thing. Never, ever be insincere, though. If you can’t ask with true interest, don’t ask at all. Find a different approach, perhaps keeping it all business.

Don’t lose sight of your goal here, people, and that is keeping your feathered arse off the dinner table and out there living on the edges, just like Stephen Tyler and Aerosmith suggest we do. Until next time, my fair feathered friends!

(Don’t forget to comment in order to be registered for a chance to win a free brand new Kobo e-reader, case and copy of my newest release, Wrath. Rules and requirements posted on previous post.)

The other day I was skipping around Amazon looking for something new to read and thought I’d pop in and see what my sales rating was (numerical rankings are many an author’s weakness). I noticed a new review and read through it, smiling almost the whole time. The reviewer talked about how there were several were standard components to the story/genre, including an alpha hero with a big…dragon. (Yes, he’s a shifter; no, that’s not what she was referring to.) This made me think about defined abs and sculpted cheeks and big dragons. After a cold shower and a cigarette, I had a rather disconcerting epiphany: the alpha male has become traditional.

Holy crow! How did this happen? Where do I register my complaint? I wondered, because the alpha male figure is not traditional. He’s a sliding scale rogue ranging from conservative to bad-assery based on genre, really. He comes with scars, usually both physical and emotional, to satisfy a sense of extended history with the guy. He’s beautifully made and wonderfully flawed. He’s always, always single, and the only woman with a hope of taming him is the heroine of his story.

I revisited each point and realized he actually has become traditional. Very rarely does an author craft a genuinely nice guy as the hero because nice guys are so much harder to get to play out on the page with any level of “interesting” to their names. Nice guys are great, but even in contemporary romance you’ll find the nice guy often comes with a secret edge if pushed far enough.

So why have we, as both authors and readers, made this subtle but certain shift to the newly traditional male character? I believe there are any number of reasons we might attribute it to, but a couple stood out to me as I dug around in my own psyche and tried to figure out why I do this in every story. First, I believe that as women work in more and more jobs traditionally held by men, from construction sites to corporate America, we’re looking for the men who challenge us. I don’t mean the male who’s just an ass. He can be found in the next cubicle more often than not. No, I’m referring to the guy who pushes us to evaluate ourselves and take our game to the next level. We’re better because of him, not in spite of him. A true alpha male gets the finest of lines there, and we love him for it.

Second, I believe women are more empowered than ever to know what we want and to acknowledge the kind of man we find tempting. Safe is good for some, but not for all. Not anymore. And since we’re empowered to not only know, but to follow up knowledge with choice? Well, that’s just a beautiful thing.

So I tip my hat to the new, traditional alpha male and welcome him into my stories any time he wants to drop by and stay awhile.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

For a chance to win a Kobo reader, leather cover and a copy of my new release, Wrath, pre-loaded, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog in the comment section. That’s it. No bells to ring, whistles to blow or hoops to jump through. Winner will be randomly chosen from comments on blogs posted between March 21, 2012, and April 3, 2012. Comment once per blog post and increase your chances to win!

The nitty-gritty: Must be 18 years old or older to enter. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Internatioanl shipping is offered. Any taxes, import or otherwise, are the responsibility of the winner. No exchanges, credits or cash value replacement. Package will be shipped insured with the most reasonably priced carrier. Any claims for non-delivery must be filed with that carrier. Author assumes no liability.

With less than two weeks to go before Wrath releases, I’ve decided to launch the big giveaway for release day! On April 3, you have the chance to

win a Kobo reader with Wrath  pre-loaded

Here’s how the contest will work: leave a legit comment on any blog post between now and April 3. That’s it. You can post one comment per blog post and each comment will increase your chances of winning. Easy peasy, right?

I hope you’ll find Wrath to be as entertaining as Legacy was, if not more so. There are some uncommon characterizations used in Wrath and I’ll be discussing those in the weeks after the book’s release. It’s my greatest hope that, as readers, you’ll stick with the series and see it through to the end. I guarantee a happy ever after ending to the overall plot arc.

If you haven’t checked out the jacket copy for Wrath yet, you can do so on my “Welcome” page or by clicking here and reading up on the series on the Amazon page. Either way, check out the books.

The nitty gritty: Must be 18 or older to enter. Winner will be selected using Random.org. International shipping is offered. Any taxes, import or otherwise, are the responsibility of the winner. No exchanges, credits or cash value replacement. Package will be shipped insured with the most reasonably priced carrier. Any claims for non-delivery must be filed with the carrier. Author assumes no liability.