Normality at last

Yesterday was great.

Judging duties were behind me and my day fell into a work day pattern of writing, promoting and correspondence. Everything was up to date for the first time since the end of June when we left for the UK/Europe.

This morning, it took me less than ten minutes to deal with my inbox and post two excerpts on a Yahoo Group before settling down to writing. Two hours later, I having a coffee and taking a break to write this while I ponder the dilemma of my two protagonists. Both of them are hiding their despair in the physical act of love and only I know the logical surprise prepared for them in the next chapter.

There's always a fine line between preparing the way and telegraphing story elements and I'm trying to tread this one very carefully.

It's great fun.

Amy

A Sigh of Relief

I've read all the stories, gone back over my notes, reread the sections I noted and studied the judging criteria before grading each entry. I put aside everything to get it done because I found it so uncomfortable to be criticizing other writer's dreams.

It's different when you teach. Criticism is constructive and the student can change the passage and learn. Published works can't be changed and I know how uncomfortable my mistakes in print make me.

Still, the job's done and I did my best, so I can go back to my writing with a relatively clear conscience, even if I'll have to think very hard before I attempt it again.

Amy

Never Volunteer!

Military service should have engraved those words on my forehead.

I put myself forward as a first run judge in an award run by a writers' group and was given a number of published books to read in two categories and some broad judging criteria.

I began the first one as soon as they arrived and my discomfort level escalated quite rapidly when I found myself struggling to continue reading the antics of some grotesque caricatures from a comic book. Technically, I could admire the smoke and mirrors expertise of the writer in maintaining the story line, but I had no connection to any of the characters. They had no reality outside the printed page. I ploughed on and completed the book, keeping notes as I went, then gave it a gut reaction mark.

I'll complete all the others and then go back and review my reactions before I submit them, but I'm terribly uncomfortable with the task. I know how much sweat and blood goes into a book and I could see the thought processes behind the writing and admire the technique, but none of the characters were real.

Wish me luck with the rest.

Amy

Eureka!

The story I'm working on began with two characters in the environment established in NEW BLOOD. There was no clear end in sight and I had little idea what would happen in the story. I just started writing and followed my characters, letting them react naturally to events. This was possible because I knew their environment and its rules.

Other characters came into being as the story progressed and each of them added to the mix until I realized my original goal was only a staging post along the way and we traveled further, this time with even less idea where it was leading. The story problems mounted and the solutions seemed distant- until last night.

I'd had an injection during the day and suffered a reaction that drove me from my bed in the early hours of the morning to sit in front of the computer for an hour or so working. Deciding I was too tired to continue, I went back to bed and found the reaction just as uncomfortable so I let my mind roam where it might to provide a distraction from my discomfort.

It did.

Suddenly all the disparate threads of the story gelled into a coherent whole and I had my ending drawn from threads I'd already established without planning. It felt great and I was thinking so hard I drifted into sleep without realizing it, the discomfort of the reaction forgotten.

I woke this morning and started writing, only to lose a thousand words when a power surge dropped the computer offline and the auto-save hadn't worked. It didn't stop me. I just went back and retyped a revised version before manually saving it and continuing.

It's a great feeling.

Amy

A Common Problem

A fellow writer agonized over an online interview, certain she'd have nothing of interest to offer, and other writers offered comfort. It highlighted a common problem.

Writers, largely speaking, are ordinary people. It is both our strength and our weakness. It gives us the common insights with our readers that illuminate our writing, but makes it terribly difficult to maintain our self confidence when challenges arise, like interviews, book-signings, personal appearances, etc.

Even a stable of published works with different publishers can't dispel the feelings of being an undiscovered fraud. We revisit them occasionally, anxious for reassurance, only to find every mistake, every piece of sloppy writing, glaring at us from the page. We can only hope our readers are less critical and more forgiving before we go back the solitary hours of writing, beset with the doubts that make us try harder.

I've yet to meet a writer who is complacent about any aspect of their writing at any level except the public face we display to the world. It seems to come with the territory.

Damn!

Amy

True Writers?

There's a message thread in the New Concepts Reader's and Authors group about romance writers not being true writers and it's excited some passions, including the dichotomies between male and female writers, literary and popular writers, etc., etc., etc.

Personally, I find it rather irrelevant. I write stories. If I write them well and they are good stories, people read them and come back for more. It's what I enjoy doing. The better I write, the more I enjoy it. It's all very simple.

To give more people the opportunity to read my stories, I have to find publishers who believe they can make money selling my stories. This sometimes means that the stories I choose to write are of a specific genre, sub-genre, etc. I still enjoy writing the stories and the only people who have the right to judge my stories are the people who read them. If they enjoy my stories, they will read more.

End of subject.

Amy

Changing Direction

I began writing category romance in 1997 and my first book, Mitchell's Run, was published in 2000 by Rocky River Romances in Australia. (In 2006, an Americanized version of Mitchell's Run was released in the US under the title Mitchell's Valley) It was followed by three other books, A Soldier's Woman, A Fair Trade and Snow Drifter. A fifth story, Beyond the Barriers completed a five book contract, but has not yet been released. Snow Drifter is scheduled for release in the US in April 2007.

In 2004, I wrote a paranormal romance targeting a Canadian E-publisher, LTD Books, having downloaded every free excerpt they allowed and aiming the story somewhere in the middle of their range. I wanted to see what E-publishing was first hand. They accepted the story and we exchanged contracts, but the company folded in 2005 before it was released.

Left with a story considered good enough to publish, I looked for another publisher and a writer friend suggested New Concepts Publishing. They seemed to fit the bill so I sent them the manuscript and they accepted it, releasing New Blood in March 2006. It has since received favorable reviews in the US, as did Mitchell's Valley.

Both books have a level of sensuality in the middle of my comfort zone, more romantic than erotic, and New Blood is the first in a series about a group called The First Family, for reasons that have nothing to do with the White House. I have written the next two with the intention of submitting them to New Concepts, but remain uncomfortable with the company they will keep there. I neither denigrate nor decry erotic literature, I'm just uncomfortable writing it and do not believe my books fit well in its company.

This means striking out again, doing my research and finding a publisher whose line suits my stories, then reformatting them to meet their submission requirements.

Wish me luck.

Amy

Back to Earth and Down to Work

Today was my first full days work since our return. Till now, I've been dabbling rather than writing, racing over to see our new granddaughter, dealing with a fractious computer, catching up with friends, etc., etc., etc.

I began the morning with a hard copy of the story so far and read it through to get the feel of it before going back to consider the storytelling and characters separately, scribbling comments in the margin as I went. (This one of the stories where I began with two characters clearly in my mind and a general idea of what I expected to happen and commenced writing). I finished mid morning and began working the comments into the story, continuing on uninterrupted until late afternoon, when some visitors arrived.

I've just read the revised story and it feels good. More importantly, I know where I'm going tomorrow and have a clearer idea of the probable outcome. I'm looking forward to the journey now.

Amy

A New Grand-daughter

Jasmine came into the world late Monday night and we saw our younger daughter with her first child about an hour later. I shall never forget the look of wonder, almost awe, on her face as she watched us take turns in holding her child. Her eyes only strayed momentarily when she answered a question or responded to a comment, returning immediately the distraction was over.
It was a touching moment. One of the memories you carry with you always,
Amy

An Unscratchable Itch

I'm not very smart.

That damned Fanlit challenge niggled at the back of my mind until I had another go. It didn't matter that the heroine's claim to be a Countess flew in the face of the laws of succession/inheritance for English Nobility and would have been laughed out of any Regency Drawing Room (My first attempt at least gave her a legal claim to the title) flawing the whole premise of the story. I was sucked in a second time.

The only benefit is that I've filled my quota of submissions and go back to productive work.

It still itches though...

Amy

A Weekend of Fantasy

I'm joining some other New Concepts authors, 16/17th September, to present a Fantasy weekend on the Yahoo Group for NCP authors and readers. We post excerpts of our fantasy books, run competitions and answer questions. It should be a lot of fun and everybody's welcome to join in and help it along.

The third book of what I'm now calling "First Family" stories, is developing nicely, now I've worked my way back into the story. It's set two hundred years after NEW BLOOD and the hero is Peter's grandson, part of the "First Family" and filled with the same quixotic ardor to right wrongs. I'm looking forward to seeing what he gets up to over the next forty thousand words.

See you on the weekend

Amy

Fools rush in

That feels like a perfect description at the moment.

I was browsing Shelley Munro's Blog, saw her link to Avon Fanlit and followed it to their competition page. The current task is to write a Regency romance, chapter by chapter, with each chapter being voted on progressively. They give an opening scene and you have fifteen hundred words to write it. (There's an amplification hidden elsewhere in the site that I missed)
The date is Spring,1815. It struck me that Napoleon had just left Marseille and was marching on Paris to begin the hundred days leading to his defeat at Waterloo,(You collect all sorts of trivia as you get older) and that the Waltz was introduced to London Society by the Prince Regent about that time (Fifteen months later actually). These two unrelated facts jelled into a situation that fitted the opening scene (but not the hidden amplification).

A wise soul would have sat on the thought, or stored it away for later use. Not me. With no experience of writing Regency Romances, I dashed off the fifteen hundred words required and submitted it, turning the heroine into a French spy and the hero into an arrogant sob. The voting so far reflects my folly, but you can read it if you choose. It's called "A Dangerous Game"

Back to more productive work.

Amy

The Old Routine

Our sleeping pattern is almost back to normal, we've unpacked the last of our clothes, caught up with our washing and our trip is finally over.
It feels a little strange. I keep waking and expectiong to be somewhere else. Walking through the house in the dark, I bump into things I normally avoided without thought. It's great to be home, but...
Amy

Back to Work

I've hit the deck running, energized possibly by the favorable reviews sitting in my in-tray when I returned.
I've just sent off a 2000 word short story to a national woman's magazine who've published my stories before and have started fleshing out an idea I developed while travelling, the words flowing well into the early hours of the morning.
It's a great life.
Amy

Reviews

A little mind candy arrived while we were away and I'll share it with you.

New Blood by Amy Gallow
Marlene Breakfield, Reviewer
Four Moons - Excellent work.
Class Two - Limited sexual content
Dael is an administrator in a remote outpost for the Hive--beings who share a Group Mind but must use humans to contain their entity. The Chosen humans agree to host a member of the Hive for seventeen years in return for better health, a longer life, and wealth. Samara, Dael's human host, has been a host for twelve years--since her early teens. Samara/Dael are kidnapped by Torred, who is following Peter's orders, and taken to a human settlement that has escaped the Hive's notice. Dael is confused and terribly upset, wondering how such a large settlement has escaped notice. Then, Dael meets Peter, a powerful being, who plans to change her world.
NEW BLOOD is a very unusual romance with a "TWILIGHT ZONE" feel. Although, NEW BLOOD is slow in the beginning--it took me awhile to familiarize myself with Ms. Gallow's complex world--I became wrapped up in the struggles of all the characters. Dael and Peter make an endearing and loving couple, and the secondary romance between Samara and Torred is very satisfying. However, the fantasy elements of NEW BLOOD take equal billing with the romantic elements, and Ms. Gallow creates a thought-provoking fantasy romance.

MITCHELL'S VALLEYby Amy Gallow
RT Rating: Three Stars
Category: CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Publisher: Rocky River RomancePublished: May 2006
Type: Contemporary Romance (Paranormal)

When Cynthia Sheldon discovers that Andrew Mitchell, the man who saved her life during a snowstorm, went missing in 1886, she sets out to find answers. Her journey takes her to Mitchell's Valley, the ancestral homestead of her rescuer.It is there that she meets Drew Mitchell. The striking similarities in both appearance and mannerisms between Drew and her memories of Andrew are quite evident. And Cynthia is surprised to find that she shares an attraction and yearning for both men. Was the savior with whom she shared such an intimate connection truly a ghost or merely a hoax?

This is eloquently written and almost poetic in style, with great attention to detail. But readers must suspend too much disbelief to make the book totally credible. Gallow redeems this beautiful tale of the search for truth and the longing for love with her uniquely elegant approach, reminiscent of a classic love story. (May, 219 pp., $4.95)—Connie Ruebusch

I'm not sure how significant reviews are to book sales, but they're certainly a little music to the soul of a writer.

Amy

Home Again

Sixty-four days after we left, it was good to step through the front door again and feel the familiarity of the house enfold us. We'd seen much, met interesting people and made new friends as well as visited old ones.

It was a ball!!

Wow!!!

Forty days into our trip and that is a perfect description of my reaction.
We're staying in the English Lakes District for the next few days as a breather, catching up on washing etc., and enjoying the view.
We began in Dubai, staying for two days and doing the tourist thing-a great place for shopping, but it was the beginning of the trip and our bags were full, so we controlled ourselves.
On to London and the beginning of a twenty-four day coach trip through Europe. Amsterdam, Cologne, Strausburg, Heidleberg, Lucerne,Vienna, Venice, Rome, Florence, Nice, Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Lourdes, Bairitz, Bordeaux, Paris and back to London. The highlights were too many to list and our disappointments few. Coached on enough language to be polite, we were treated well everywhere, but my accent probably put Anglo-French relations back twenty years. My attempts to speak the language were invariably greeted with a pained smile and the admission that the listener spoke English.
England and four days in London saw us doing the tourist thing again before we picked up the hire car, moving from youth hostel to youth hostel where possible. It's a great way to travel and considerable more economic than B&Bs or hotels.
The south of England first, ending in Bath and Jane Austen territory. (Met a fellow writer and had a ball in Exeter.)
North to Shrewsbury and onwards to the Lakes District.
Next it's Scotland, and the Edinburgh Tattoo, but I'll tell you about that later.

SNAFU

A venerable saying, weighted by usage, and completely appropriate - Situation Normal All Fouled Up - or something similar in sound.
Our packing is complete, our house sitter briefed and ready, only one more fairwell party to go and our twenty-year-old wall oven cooks its contolling circuit board rather than the evening meal. Spares are no longer available and repair is impossible.
Damn!

Countdown to Departure

All the tickets are in our hands, we have drawn up a detailed itinerary, have selected the clothes we're taking and even had a trial packing of our suitcases to ensure everything fits. The communication channels are set so we can be contacted in an emergency and we've familiarized ourselves with the tourist information available, all with six days to go before we board the first plane.

It's time to relax a little, enjoy the farewell parties and other celebrations and go back to a little light writing on the 3rd book of the Blood trilogy, tying in the 11,000 words I cut from the second book to the 9,000 words already written.
I'm still not decided about this story. It is a further shift in genre from the first with the two main characters separated for most of the story, each fighting to survive, each using the other as a goal to focus their efforts and the villain is oddly likeable. I'll make up my mind when I return.

SNOW DRIFTER is due for release in April 2007, assuming my Australian publisher's foray into the US market continues. It's set in Sydney (Australia), the New South Wales snow fields and Aspen and we had great fun researching it, walking, skiing and driving the same paths as its characters.

Bye for now

The Pause that Refreshes

"New World" has been submitted and I can now turn to the preparations for our trip with a clear conscience. I transferred the two chapters to the third book, even though it makes this one seem a little truncated to my eyes. We'll see what NCP think of it.
On the family front, our son is off to Iraq with the security detatchment for the Australian Embassy. He's keen to put his training into practice and we can do little more than provide support to him and his family until he returns.
My posts will be a bit more sporadic over the next ten weeks, but I'll log in when I can and keep you updated.