GPS For Writing

Today, May 24, is National Road Trip Day. In honor of the day, I decided to update a blog I wrote after a road trip up the California coast in 2009.

            Since I wrote this blog, self-publishing has forged a new direction for many of us, but the basic message is the same: start with a road map even if you decide to take a detour. Another update: after that trip we bought a GPS, and more recently, we bought a new car that has a navigation system. In 2018, my husband, son, and I took a road trip to Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, and Deadwood, South Dakota. Our son, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, flew into Salt Lake City to join us. He drove the rental car through the whole trip, which was a help. He also taught us how to use Google Maps on our Smartphones. So, we no longer need to worry about a GPS if we are in a rental.

            Do you have a GPS in your car or as an APP on your phone? It seems everyone nowadays has a GPS in some form or another. Before our 2009 trip up the California coast, I decided we should buy a GPS and take it with us. My husband disagreed, saying the maps we got from AAA would be enough to guide us. (I know, so old school). When we picked up the rental car, we turned down the rental company’s GPS because we didn’t want to pay $140 when we could buy one for about $50 more at home. Big, big mistake.

            We got lost a lot on that trip. A lot. My husband becomes unglued when he gets lost. We fought. At one point I was writing a story in my head titled, “A GPS Would Have Saved My Marriage.” We finally calmed down and resigned ourselves to getting lost at times. We missed many of the sights we’d wanted to see, partly because the state of California doesn’t believe in signs, partly because we didn’t have a GPS, and partly because I didn’t thoroughly read the books AAA gave us. We missed Big Sur, which was one of the main things we’d wanted to see. On the other hand, while lost we stumbled onto Ventura, a true gem of a beach town. Now I know where all the Sixties hippies went. We spent a wonderful, unexpected afternoon in sunny, beautiful, quirky Ventura and decided it was a place in which we could happily live.

            What does this have to do with writing? Do you have a GPS for your writing? Do you know what direction you want your writing to take, or are you barreling down the freeway and hoping for the best? When you started writing to sell, did you map out a plan? Did you decide to attend conferences and workshops to learn all you could about the craft of writing? Then, did you write and write and hone your craft? Or did you write with no real direction, feeling you didn’t need to study the market, that your books would find their way to the right publishers, like a GPS you plug in with no destination and wait for it to take you somewhere?

            I know writers whose plan it is to sell only to a big New York house, and if they don’t, they’ll put their manuscripts into the proverbial drawer rather than go with an epub or a small press, or indie publish. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s their choice. Yet, they may be cheating themselves by not recalculating their direction. I can hear that inner voice now going, “Recalculating, recalculating.” What if one of their manuscripts is a little too out of the box for the big houses? Maybe a reputable epub or small press would love it. Maybe indie pubbing that unusual story will bring major success. There are times when you might need to veer off onto small detours. You never know where those detours will take you.

            By all means, get back onto the main highway after the detour if you still want, but by opening yourself to new roads and taking a less traditional publishing route, you’ll have a book out there, a book people will want to read. Isn’t that better than keeping the book hidden in a drawer?  

            On our California trip, we didn’t get to see Big Sur, but we discovered Ventura. And I’m so glad we did. When I started writing, there were one or two epubs and they were very new and earned no respect from the writing community. Like most of my fellow members of RWA, I dreamed of selling to a big NY house. After I was rejected by several big publishers, someone suggested I submit to Avalon Books, a small press. I hadn’t considered a small press. I submitted and I sold to them. My book, a traditional romance, gave me entry into RWA PAN.

            Since then, numerous epubs have sprung up. Some fell by the wayside, but many others are thriving. I contracted for my second book, a romantic suspense, with The Wild Rose Press. In GPS terms, I haven’t found Big Sur, the NY publishers, but I found my publishing Ventura, small press and epubs, and now indie publishing. All places where I’ve settled comfortably. I’m no longer heading down the expressway hoping to someday sell to a large publisher. I’ve discovered the joys of going a less traditional route.

            You might have to change direction from time to time, but the important thing is to know where you’re going. Study the market, write what you love, learn all you can and drive forward into that publishing freeway. But be prepared for detours and know those unexpected twists in the road might lead you to greater adventures.

           

You can travel anywhere in the world through books. My latest release, Wedded On a Dare (Love On a Dare Book 2) is set in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. You can travel to all those places for the price of a book.

 A trip to Vegas...

A gorgeous man...
A beautiful woman...
What could go wrong?

When a struggling actress takes a role as the glamorous temporary wife of a wealthy playboy, she finds love doesn’t always come on cue.

Struggling actress Kate Carluccio showed up for her wedding but her groom bowed out without warning. He absconded not only with her heart, but also her parents’ life savings. Her confidence shaken, Kate’s determined to find a way to restore her parents’ money. Then she’s offered the role of a lifetime: step out of her colorful high-top sneakers and into the glammed-up role of socialite wife to a shallow, annoying playboy. If only Kate wasn’t also secretly attracted to him, the one-and-a-half million dollars he offers with his proposal of a marriage-of-convenience might be easier to accept.

Breathtakingly handsome, super rich, and sophisticated with a bad boy vibe, Zach Lyon is a tabloid favorite. He may be a vice-president at his father’s company, but up until now he’s just played a supporting role. But when he discovers two executives are conspiring to force his dad out and take over the company, Zach decides it’s time to step into the spotlight. What better way than to take a glamorous new wife to Las Vegas to spend the Christmas holiday at the home of one of the conspiring executives?

As the curtain rises on the eclectic house party, Kate and Zach play their roles against the backdrop of schemers and snobs, while hiding deep secrets of their own. Can Kate pretend to love Zach without revealing the true depth of her attraction? Can Zach prove to his father he has the stability to go from understudy to leading man? They may have wedded on a dare, but with the stage set for romance, their marriage-of-convenience might just turn into a marriage-to-last-a-lifetime.

Universal Buy Link:

http://books2read.com/u/47xQ9R

For your reading pleasure, both books in the Love On a Dare Series are available in one set:

Love On a Dare Duet

Two women...
Two life-changing dares...
Do they have the courage to accept?

Universal buy link:

https://www.books2read.com/u/bxYJXl

             

           

           

Girls' Series & Their Influence

How many of you were fans of girls’, or guys’, mystery series when you were teens? I’m talking about Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden, Vicki Barr, Connie Blair, The Dana Girls. I read them all, including The Hardy Boys, but my hands-down favorite was one you probably never heard of, Judy Bolton.

Nancy Drew was the most popular of the girls’ series. However, I always root for the underdog and I like to be contrary. So while most other girls were reading Nancy, I didn’t much like her, mainly because she was popular, wealthy, and self-assured. I discovered Judy Bolton, and fell in love with her and her friends. Judy, the daughter of a doctor, lived in a small town in upstate New York. Like Nancy, and the others in the girls’ and guys’ series, she solved mysteries.

I related to Judy because she wasn’t rich and perfect and beautiful like Nancy and she didn’t drive a cute roadster or have an adoring boyfriend. Judy had faults and she frequently made mistakes. While Judy Bolton wasn’t as well-known as Nancy Drew, Judy now has a cult following. A while back I belonged to a Judy Bolton Fans Yahoo loop. Many of the members make annual trips to the town in New York that was the model for Judy’s hometown. They even reenact scenes from some of her stories. I love the books but I wouldn’t go that far. I have almost a complete set of Judy books that I collected in the Fifties and early Sixties. Although Amazon now sells reissued Judy books, the originals are rare. Whenever I go to flea markets, I look for them. I find copies of all the other series, even Nancy Drew, but never any Judy Bolton.

Judy grew up during the course of the books, and when she was eighteen, she married a guy she’d known her whole life, Peter Dobbs. Peter was five years older, and a personification of truth, justice and the American way. He became an FBI agent, or G-man, as they were called back then. The romance between Judy and Peter started my love of romance and happy endings. I had a crush on Peter and wanted to marry a man just like him. The heroes and heroines in my books all have a little of Peter and Judy in them.

At the same time I was reading Judy Bolton, I devoured the YA historical romances of Elizabeth Howard. While her books were historicals, her heroines all had something in common with Judy: they were spirited and independent, and while not the most beautiful or the richest women, they weren’t afraid to go after what they wanted. I’m in the process now of buying my favorite Elizabeth Howard books from used online booksellers. The few I have so far are in honored places on my bookshelves.  Candle in the Night, picture below, is my favorite of the Elizabeth Howard books, a book filled with adventure and an emotional romance. In fact, as a tribute to Howard, I named my characters in Loving Or Nothing after the characters in this book, Tami and Daniel.

Judy Bolton and Howard’s heroines greatly influenced the type books I write. My heroines may not be so astoundingly beautiful that they literally stop traffic, but they are beautiful in eyes of the men who love them. Of course, my heroes are always drop-dead gorgeous. No matter their looks, my heroines and heroes have faults and doubts, and things haven’t always come easy for them. I love to put my characters in dangerous situations or situations merely dangerous to their hearts and watch them fight for the happy endings they deserve. Just like Judy and Peter. And in the course of fighting for what they want, they grow and learn valuable lessons and open their hearts to the love they crave.

What about you writers out there—what books did you read that influenced what you write? The same for you readers—did the books you read as teens influence what you read today?

Speaking of romance, I'm thrilled to announce I have a new release, a marriage-of-convenience that turns out to be anything but.

Wedded On a Dare (Love On a Dare Book 2)

A trip to Vegas...
            A gorgeous man...
           A beautiful woman...
          What could go wrong?

When a struggling actress takes a role as the glamorous temporary wife of a wealthy playboy, she finds love doesn’t always come on cue.

Struggling actress Kate Carluccio showed up for her wedding but her groom bowed out without warning. He absconded not only with her heart, but also her parents’ life savings. Her confidence shaken, Kate’s determined to find a way to restore her parents’ money. Then she’s offered the role of a lifetime: step out of her colorful high-top sneakers and into the glammed-up role of socialite wife to a shallow, annoying playboy. If only Kate wasn’t also secretly attracted to him, the one-and-a-half million dollars he offers with his proposal of a marriage-of-convenience might be easier to accept.

Breathtakingly handsome, super rich, and sophisticated with a bad boy vibe, Zach Lyon is a tabloid favorite. He may be a vice-president at his father’s company, but up until now he’s just played a supporting role. But when he discovers two executives are conspiring to force his dad out and take over the company, Zach decides it’s time to step into the spotlight. What better way than to take a glamorous new wife to Las Vegas to spend the Christmas holiday at the home of one of the conspiring executives?

As the curtain rises on the eclectic house party, Kate and Zach play their roles against the backdrop of schemers and snobs, while hiding deep secrets of their own. Can Kate pretend to love Zach without revealing the true depth of her attraction? Can Zach prove to his father he has the stability to go from understudy to leading man? They may have wedded on a dare, but with the stage set for romance, their marriage-of-convenience might just turn into a marriage-to-last-a-lifetime.

      Both books in the Love On a Dare series are available in a convenient boxed set.

Love On a Dare Duet

Buy Links:

Universal link for Wedded On a Dare:

http://books2read.com/u/47xQ9R


Universal link for Love On a Dare Duet:

https://www.books2read.com/u/bxYJXl

CLICHES I HAVE KNOWN AND LOVED

Here’s an oldie, but a goodie. Enjoy!

I love a good cliché. As soon as you hear one you know exactly what the writer or person is saying. So easy. Such an economy of words. As a writer it’s verboten to use clichés.

Here’s an ode to that which I must not use.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Life’s not so bad, when you consider the alternative.

All’s fair in love and war.

There are plenty more fish in the sea. (Not so much anymore).

It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. (Is it?).

Beauty is only skin deep. (Tell that to the guys lusting after supermodels).

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. (See above note).

You can’t tell a book by its cover. (Maybe not, but a good cover is essential).

I’m not ugly; I’m visually challenging. (Okay. I never heard this one but I like it).

It’s what’s on the inside that really matters. (See above re supermodels and lust).

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Nobody is perfect.

I’m only human.

The devil made me do it.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Tomorrow, no one will remember (Ya think?)

Avoid clichés like the plague. (There are many things you need to avoid like the plague).

There is truth in every cliché. (This is why I love them).

Clichés sound better in a foreign language. (Ah, that’s how I can get away with using them in my writing).

There is nothing to fear but fear itself. (Good one, but overused).

Life sucks and then you die.

When God gives you lemons, make lemonade (I prefer to wallow in self-pity).

Life is a bitch. (Ain’t that the truth). Also, Karma is a bitch.

When it rains, it pours.

No pain, no gain.

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

I did it my way. (Or at least Sinatra did).

Parting is such sweet sorrow.

Have a nice life.

Live and learn.

To be or not to be.

Live and let live.

Shit happens.

Laughter is the best medicine.

Same shit, different day.

Carpe diem. (See clichés, foreign language above)

What goes around comes around.

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

Life is messy.

Que sera, sera. (Ditto clichés and foreign languages)

Time will tell.

No news is good news.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

Haste makes waste.

Cleanliness is next to godliness.

Do it right the first time. (Easy to say, hard to do)

There, I’ve done it. I’ve gotten my need for clichés out of my system. I will never again write one in a book. I promise. If you believe that one, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

Feel free to add your favorites.

Here’s something I hope is cliché-free. My newest release, available for pre-order for only 99 cents! Release date is April 1. (It’s not an April Fool’s joke).

WEDDED ON A DARE (LOVE ON A DARE BOOK 2)

 For all those who wanted Kate and Zach’s story, from A Groom for Christmas, this is for you!

When a struggling actress takes a role as the glamorous temporary wife of a wealthy playboy, she finds love doesn’t always come on cue.

Struggling actress Kate Carluccio showed up for her wedding but her groom bowed out without warning. He absconded not only with her heart, but also her parents’ life savings. Her confidence shaken, Kate’s determined to find a way to restore her parents’ money. Then she’s offered the role of a lifetime: step out of her colorful high-top sneakers and into the glammed-up role of socialite wife to a shallow, annoying playboy. If only Kate wasn’t also secretly attracted to him, the one-and-a-half million dollars he offers with his proposal of a marriage-of-convenience might be easier to accept.

Breathtakingly handsome, super rich, and sophisticated with a bad boy vibe, Zach Lyon is a tabloid favorite. He may be a vice-president at his father’s company, but up until now he’s just played a supporting role. But when he discovers two executives are conspiring to force his dad out and take over the company, Zach decides it’s time to step into the spotlight. What better way than to take a glamorous new wife to Las Vegas to spend the Christmas holiday at the home of one of the conspiring executives?

As the curtain rises on the eclectic house party, Kate and Zach play their roles against the backdrop of schemers and snobs, while hiding deep secrets of their own. Can Kate pretend to love Zach without revealing the true depth of her attraction? Can Zach prove to his father he has the stability to go from understudy to leading man? They may have wedded on a dare, but with the stage set for romance, their marriage-of-convenience might just turn into a marriage-to-last-a-lifetime.

Universal link:

http://books2read.com/u/47xQ9R

And, for your convenience, both A Groom for Christmas and Wedded On a Dare are together in a box set, Love On a Dare Duet!

 https://www.amazon.com/Love-Dare-Duet-Cara-Marsi-ebook/dp/B07P76BLRH/