In two weeks, Liz Maverick and I will be presenting a workshop on social media during RWA’s National Conference. It’s titled:
Tweet it, Blog it, Face it: Self-Promoting with Social Media
and it’s all about, yeah, how writers might use social media to promote themselves and their work.
So–as an author, what would you most like to know how to do? What to do? When to do it?
Thanks for the help!
RWA National, here in New York City, is coming up. For people who might not know, RWA is the Romance Writers of America, and our national conference is 2000+ people strong, plus this year it’s in my hometown!
(Which just means, sadly, I am not rooming with Risky Carolyn, instead staying at home, since justifying a hotel room wasn’t within my powers of persuasion.)
But on a happier note, it does mean I can see my writing friends. Even though they might think of me as their ‘non-writing friend,’ since I haven’t done more than poke at my mss. in the past few months, since taking on the new job. The agent is still out with several projects, so hope springs eternal that something will happen, writing-wise.
Okay, fine, yay me. But if you’re coming to NYC also, we should be announcing plans for Risky get-together, plus you’ll get to be in NYC! Where the food is amazing and despite rumors to the contrary, cheap. You just need to know where to go, and where not to go.
I heartily recommend Carolyn and her mad baking skillz find time to visit Momofuku Milk Bar, which offers the Crack Pie. In addition to other insanely good cookies, etc.
Banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich that includes a baguette, pork, pate, jalapenos, cilantro, pickled carrots and is pure nom. There are many, many places to obtain this sammie, and it is well worth it (not likely worth the French colonial domination of Vietnam, but the collision of cultures is obvious, and delicious).
Apparently, Koreans kick butt on making fried chicken, although I haven’t tried it yet myself. It’s on the list. There’s a Koreatown right near Macy’s.
And when in doubt, go ethnic; it’s cheap, it’s usually delicious, and can be found all over the city.
And now I am hungry. Darn.
Last week, Blogger was being a pain, so I wasn’t able to post. I know you all missed me!
So I have been writing (although a snail would mock me at how slowly I’m going!), and reading, and such, and I was pondering just why I read so much fantasy and paranormal in addition to my previous inhalation of historical romance:
It’s the world-building.
I read historical and PNR/UF novels for the same reason: I like to escape the everyday world into a fantastical one, whether it’s populated by men in waistcoats and cravats or men in leather and armor. I like the authors’ world-building, which is likely why anachronisms and tweaking of the ‘real’ history in Regency-set novels doesn’t bother me as much as it does some people.
Right now, I am reading A Feast for Crows, the fourth novel in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series (currently showing on HBO as Game of Thrones). I’ve got Laurel McKee’s next book on its way, as well as Carolyn Jewel’s (and wouldn’t it be neat if they came in the same package?), both of whom are incredible at creating their particular worlds. Laurel’s book is set in Georgian Ireland, while Carolyn’s is sets sort of now, but with demons and mages and magic.
Two completely different books with a common thread of world-building.
That’s why, with a few exceptions, I don’t read contemporary romance. I don’t find it compelling to read about the world in which I do, or could theoretically, live. I like escapism, fantasy, elegance, the occasional dose of magic.
Could that be why you read historical romance? Or other genres that include world-building?
Okay, so accept, for a brief moment of premise-accepting, that the world (as we know it) is ending tomorrow.
What would you do today?
I would:
–call my friends and tell them I love them. Thankfully, that is a lot of phone calls (I would get phone ear, but that’s a small price to pay).
–chill the super-pricy champagne we’ve had in our wine rack forever; drink it, at some point, before Saturday at 6:00pm.
–wear one of my loudest, longest maxi-dresses all day. Put glitter on my eyelids AND my skin.
–watch my favorite films: Pride and Prejudice, House of Flying Daggers, North and South.
–hug my husband and son for hours until I squoze them to pieces.
–take a guilt-free nap.
–burn my TBR pile, maybe, so I didn’t have to regret not reading anything. Maybe not. That seems like a waste of a lot of good books.
–read the ends of books so I could know what happened.
–eat nuts and cheese ALL DAY!
What would you do?
It’s Friday, the Friday before Mother’s Day, which means I can look forward to a weekend where I don’t have to do quite as much as usual.
Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there. Sleep late for me.
And, unlike in many of the weeks prior to this one, I actually wrote. So yay!
[SPOILER ALERT–I tried to work the font so you wouldn’t be spoiled, but it’s so not working, so be warned]
Now onto some reading commentary; I started reading Eileen Dreyer’s Never A Gentleman because of a review HeroesandHeartbreakers.com (the site I work for) posted. And, OMG, she breaks one of the most cardinal rules in romance novels:
Her hero has sex with another woman after marrying the heroine.
And Dreyer makes it work. I am loving this book, and it breaks some other rules, too; the heroine is nearly six feet tall, plain, with a limp. Of course, being a romance novel, you think she’s going to get transformed into some statuesque beauty with the clever application of clothing, cosmetics, make a haircut; yes, she is made more attractive by some better clothing, but she is still plain–which the hero acknowledges after falling in love with her. And he is still very much attracted to her because of her mind, her wit, her honor.
I personally love it when authors stand conventions on their head. I know the spoiler above is a total deal-breaker for most readers, but in this context, for me, it worked.
What are other deal-breakers? Who’s the author who breaks convention the most?