Knotwork

Sixteen years ago today, I stood in a custom-fitted raw silk dress (thanks, Mama), hand lightly resting in the crook of my Daddy’s arm, smiling at Mr. Man, handsome in his morning coat and striped trousers. Within a few moments--a few breaths, really--we were slipping Celtic knotwork bands on each other’s hands, promising to be true and steadfast, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The choice of vow wasn’t lightly made. Celtic knots are formed with one solid strand, woven in and around itself, with no beginning and no end. I’ve seen plenty of badly-done, broken knots (usually on cheaply made pretty things) to know the real thing when I see it. When I was a teenager, my mother gave my sister and me Celtic heart pendants. The Celtic heart is the single stranded-knot formed at the intersection of three circles--one strand, eternal; three circles, Father, son, and Holy Spirit. Mr. Man and I thought it fitting symbolism, both in the bands and in the vow.

The ring he placed on my finger that day fits more tightly than it did then, but the knots are true. One strand, woven closely with memories and promises, with no breaks despite sixteen years of wear and the inevitable conflicts of two people forming one life together. The strand of a life, woven in love, sealed in the Spirit.

I know the real thing when I see it.

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New York State of Mind

I’m writing this from my new apartment in El Barrio. It’s nice: One decent-size bedroom, a living area, a full kitchen, and a shoehorned bathroom, parquet floors, natural light. You know, something that would rent for more than I pay for my 4 bedroom, 2 bath house on a quarter acre in the ’burbs because even though I’m in Spanish Harlem, this is MANHATTAN, baby!

It’s worth the outrageous money we’re paying to stay here this week because Frick and Frack have never been to New York. We did the tourist thing in Times Square yesterday and have had enough of that, thank you very much. Today we have tickets to How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, starring Harry Potter himself and Dan Fielding from Night Court. We’ll eat amazing food on Restaurant Row tonight and begin the austerity plan tomorrow (spaghetti cooked “at home” instead of one more restaurant meal with ridiculous taxes added on). We’ll do plenty of walking and gawking and photographing and even squeeze in to watch the big fireworks display tomorrow night.

My kids are already in love with The Big City. I appreciate it again--the variety of people, the arts on your doorstep, the vitality of neighborhoods and round-the-clock activity. But after nearly a month of travel, mimi has to admit that flying home to her swamp and staying for a while is sounding mighty tempting. Her Empire State of Mind has an expiration date.

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RWA National: Homework

Met with Dream Agent yesterday for our one-on-one. Thursday’s agency get-together in the Film Center Café was interesting and instructive (how often do you get to talk with agency folk and authors about agent-author relationships, etc.?), but this meeting was the meat of my week at RWA National.

I sit down at our teeny table at the bar, and Dream Agent pulls out the longest email I have ever seen. It’s her notes on the two proposals I sent her. We went over them in detail--and I mean detail. I’ve got plenty to work on ...and that’s not even considering her feedback on the other ideas I sent her, which are in a separate giant email, both of which she’s sending me when she gets back into the office on Tuesday.

We also determined that since I have no problems meeting a deadline from an editor, while self-imposed deadlines get slipperier and more evasive than Frank Abagnale, Dream Agent needs to be a bit of a taskmistress. Don the metaphorical thigh-high boots and pick up the whip, so to speak. I think she enjoyed that a bit, since she gave me a deadline of the third week of July to basically rewrite two synopses and clean up about five chapters’ worth of writing. And I’m spending next week in New York on vacation with the denizens of Chez mimi. So, two weeks, then.

Methinks mimi will be a busy--but happy--girl. She’s always liked school. Even the homework.

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RWA National: The Contemporary Romance Market

Authors Susan Andersen, Robyn Carr, and Kristan Higgins, joined by agent Maria Carvainis and ably moderated by Jill Shalvis, conducted this panel discussion on the state of the contemporary romance market. Here are some highlights from their talk:

1. •Readers are engaged by the intimate worlds that have been created by the author, to the extent that the locale itself is practically a character.
   

2. •Writers distinguish themselves from others through their voice and tone--that’s what differentiates the books.
   

3. •Fewer accounts are buying books in all markets, likely as a result of the recession and changed buying habits, not because of e-books.
   

4. •Weathering the market takes stamina (keep writing!) and a strong belief in self.
   

5. •Each author knew clearly what she offered readers in terms of their individual voices and the tone of their books.
   

6. •Author branding is a good thing if you can express it clearly in a few words, but you can’t identify your brand until you’ve written a few books. Brand emerges from the writing, not the other way around.
   

7. •It’s smart to read extensively in your chosen market to see what readers are buying, however...
   

8. •Modeling your books on what successful authors are writing is bad advice.
   

9. •Find a support group who will be truthful with you. In the case of an agent, seek one who will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

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RWA National: The Quick-Release Trilogy

Authors Zoe Archer, Tessa Dare, Monica McCarty, Christy Reece, and Stefanie Sloane all know what releasing a trilogy of books can do for a career (launch a debut author, facilitate a change in direction, or take it to the next level), and they were kind enough to share it. Some highlights:

1. • Trilogies are a way to get an author’s name out faster. They also keep books in the stores longer.

2. •Readers like discovering more about characters from previous books in linked series.
   

3. •One challenge to writing linked series books is the gap between the initial sale and the later books, since the author’s enthusiasm can lag and that will color the writing.
   

4. •As the series progresses, the time to work on the books shrinks when you add in revisions, copyedits, and page proofs. Build in a couple of months onto the last book to accommodate this.
   

5. •A second contract might be harder to get because numbers won’t have arrived from the first contract’s sales yet.
   

6. •Promo can be simplified because the promo can be contiguous. It’s also more cost-effective.
   

7. •Keep writing! You’ll want the cushion later.

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RWA National: RWA-WF Mini-Conference

Wow! I started off this year’s RWA National Conference with the first-ever mini-conference hosted by the Women’s Fiction chapter of RWA. RWA-WF is an amazing chapter in itself, and the mini-con did not disappoint. We opened with a two-hour session from Michael Hauge (no details here; you’ll need to visit his website for those since the material is copyrighted). Hauge has melded the inner psychological journey of the characters with the outer plot in a way that made several of us scribble notes frantically so we wouldn’t miss the “Aha!” moment before it floated out of the room.

Next up was an Editor/Agent Panel featuring agents Andrea Cirillo, Kristin Nelson, and Meg Ruley and editor Shauna Summers. Some highlights from their remarks:

1. •There is an indistinct intersection between romance and women’s fiction; many successful WF authors have roots in romance.
   

2. •A beautifully wrought, emotional story well-told is what will sell.
   

3. •It’s important to maintain the emotional drive of the story and the reader’s connection with the characters.
   

4. •Writing to your true voice is vital.
   

5. •All publishers are exploring the emerging electronic markets, but some are running toward the change while others are walking.
   

6. •Electronic markets represent a chance for authors to gain career momentum, change direction, and rebuild careers in addition to providing an entrepreneurial way for authors to be involved in their own careers.
   

7. •Authors who are active on social media see an impact in their sales.
   

8. •There is a place for humor in WF, but it needs to work with the author’s voice. Chick lit-style humor and situations feel dated, but funny first-person can still work if it’s done in a fresh, different way.
   

9. •Playing with viewpoints and narrators can pay off if done well.
   

Following that, the Author Panel stepped to the plate to give us their take on the state of the market. Authors Marilyn Brant, Megan Crane, Barbara O’Neal, Jane Porter, and Therese Walsh weighed in on women’s fiction from the writer’s perspective.

1. •Social media are becoming a big aspect of an author’s career, but beware the time suck they represent. Online connections help increase sales, but guard your time carefully.
   

2. •It took each of these authors several years to craft solid women’s fiction that sold.
   

3. •Music is helpful to several of the authors. One finds that kernels of character can emerge from brooding, angsty pieces, while creating soundtracks for each developing manuscript helps another create the tone for the work.
   

4. •The small dilemmas of the internal world are often a key to the kinds of emotions explored in women’s fiction.
   

5. •Inspiration arises from the beauty in nature, families, food, and relationships of all kinds.
   

6. •The best advice is to remember that your story is your story. Even if others are exploring the same topic, your voice and tone should set your work apart from others’.
   

Alas, I was not able to attend Juliet Mariller’s session later, since I was meeting up with old friends, but what little I did get out of the sessions was well worth the price of the ticket. I can’t wait to see what they dream up for next year!

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Road Warrior

Today, mimi flies home after two full weeks on the road. The days have been a blur of essay reading and presentation, first as a reader for the AP English Language and Comp exam, then as a trainer for AVID. Now, 1,981 essays (yes, you read that right) and four days of workshops later, I am packing my trusty sapphire Lands’ End lighthouse rolly suitcase for the last time.

At first, the travel was quite the adventure. Teachers rarely go anywhere--even less so these days, with school budgets in the shape they are--so initially, all this travel seemed like it would be fun. And it was. Don’t get me wrong; it was fun to visit Louisville and Atlanta and do things I never do that often, like watch the movies I want to watch without any flak from the fams. But the blessed solitude wears off after a while. Cabin fever sets in when you’re the only one in the hotel room and you don’t know a huge number of people. Downtown Atlanta seems downright creepy after dark since no one’s on the streets (guess Orlando’s not the only city with an invisible curfew).

But that’s all in the past. My packed suitcase and I are looking forward to a burrito at Moe’s in the Hartsfield Airport before I board the plane, a quick hop home to OIA, and a smiling family waiting for me at the other end.

But RWA National is next week, so I’ll just have to wash everything, repack, and fly out on Tuesday. How do these corporate road warriors do it?

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