I popped by the Doubleday Book Club today and look what I saw in the sidebar:

I’m not sure how long books are “featured” on the front page, so I had to do a screen capture for posterity.

Posted by Kristina in Writing at 01:05 PM Permalink Leave a comment

I’m stealing an hour to myself at Starbucks, presumably to catch up on e-mail (which I did) and write (which I haven’t), but really it’s just an hour of time to myself.  With the exception of the two baristas who are working, Starbucks is empty and I’m blissfully alone.  Of course, I’m not really alone at all since I’m sitting in a public place and I’m tethered to various technologies that make it easy for anyone to reach me.  But it feels like I’m alone and for the past almost eight months, feeling like I’m alone is the best I can really do.

I’m a bad mother.  A bad wife.  A bad friend.  A bad writer, too, truth be told.  See, I like being alone.  Sometimes.  I’m not looking to move to the woods and live in a cabin a al the Unibomber, but I enjoy my alone time.  Which is why I can look at my adorable baby and his cute father who has been gone all week and say, “I’m going to Starbucks for an hour” without any sense of guilt.  Okay, maybe there’s a little guilt.  Okay, there’s a lot of guilt. Just like there’s guilt when I tell friends I’m too busy working to make social plans, when what I’m really doing is sitting in my corner of Starbucks, doing… whatever.  Presumably writing (or doing the editor thing), but sometimes-- not often, but sometimes-- I’m just sitting here, daydreaming and enjoying the time alone.  Sometimes… oh my… I even ignore my texts and e-mails and just revel in my aloneness.

I’ll take the guilt over the smothered-by-people feeling I get when I’ve gone too long without any time alone.  I love my life and the people in it, but sometimes… a girl just needs to be alone.  I could use some real alone time.  A hotel room, room service, maybe a city to explore completely on my own.  That’s what I’m doing sometimes when I’m alone at Starbucks-- planning trips or at least hotel overnighters where it’s just me and my thoughts.  I’m thinking I might even make it happen one of these days.  Oh, the guilt!  Oh, the bliss!  But for now, it’s an hour to myself in my neighborhood coffee shop, taking a breath and finding my center (along with getting my caffeine fix).  This little slice of stolen time makes me a happier person.  So maybe even though I feel like a bad mother, wife, friend and writer, perhaps I’m actually better for the time I steal for myself. Perhaps I have more to give when I give to myself first.

And on that note, I’m off to be not alone.  Until tomorrow, at least.

Posted by Kristina in Musings at 04:32 PM Permalink

I’ve started reading submissions for Dream Lover.  I know some editors read submissions as they come in, which probably would seem less overwhelming than the huge stack in front of me.  (I know, I know. They’re all files on a computer and not actual manuscripts in a pile, but I’m trying to paint a visual for you here.) Still, there is something exciting about waiting until the deadline closes before beginning to read stories.  Oh, the anticipation!  What gems will I discover in all of these lovely submissions?  What favorite authors will delight me?  Will I discover a new writer or two (or three)?  How will all of these storytellers interpret paranormal erotic romance? 

Oh, oh, oh! 

My selection process is a bit convoluted.  Or maybe it’s not?  I really don’t know what the selection process is like for other editors.  I read everything once and push it into one of three categories: Yes, Maybe, or No.  The Yes and No piles are the smallest, at least initially.  If I absolutely love, love, love something on the first read, of course I’m going to want to buy it right now.  I’m only about a quarter of the way through the first reading and I’ve already had to resist the urge to e-mail two authors to tell them I’m buying their stories.  Patience, dear Kristina.

At this stage, the No pile contains only the stories that have completely missed the mark.  For a story to get a resounding No on a first reading means the author ignored the guidelines entirely or sent me something that is missing one of the three key ingredients for this anthology: paranormal, erotic and romantic.  Having two of the three will not cut it, unless it’s clear the author can flesh out the third element.  No stories are often recycled stories that were intended for other anthologies and were never “freshened” up to fit a new set of guidelines.  No stories are also the ones that are incorrectly formatted, lacking in correct grammar and punctuation or are generally the kind of mess that you’ve heard editors joke about.  I’m happy to say that I haven’t yet come across one of those in this batch of submissions, but I do have a couple of No stories that are missing either the erotic or the romantic aspect of this anthology.

Finally, the Maybe pile is every other story-- the good, well-written stories that I like and might very well buy, but I have to read everything first to see which I will choose.  For instance, i already have three vampire stories in the Maybe pile and I know I will only include, at most, two vamps.  I’m fairly certain there are even more bloodsuckers lurking in the unread pile, so I have to wait and see which will be my favorites. (This is not to say that I won’t run across a vampire that’s an automatic Yes-- it can and will likely happen.) The Maybe pile also includes stories that might need a little tweaking-- an additional scene for character development; a few hundred words cut from a story that has gone over the maximum word count; a plot twist added to give the story that extra umph to take it from good to great.  Most stories are Maybe stories.

Once I’ve made the initial read of all the stories, I tackle the Maybe pile again, keeping in mind the stories I’ve selected already and the balance of the anthology.  The second read is ruthless.  I’m looking for stories that require a minimum of editing and complement the stories I’ve already chosen.  I will shed a few tears when I cut some of the Maybe stories from the second reading. Okay, not really. But I will feel some regret to have to reject some very good stories.  When I’m done with the second read, the Yes pile will be a little bigger, the No pile will be a lot bigger and there will still be stories in the Maybe pile.  These will be the stories that, for whatever reason, make me hesitate before I reject them.  They might have flaws, they might not be my cup of tea, they might be a little too “out there” or they might even be too similar to something else I’ve already filed in the Yes pile.  But yet I won’t be able to say no to them. Not yet.

The third read is to answer one question: what’s missing?  Here is where I’m willing to forgive the flaws, overlook the typos, see past the awkward dialogue to the diamond in the rough that is a good fit for the anthology.  These are the stories I will buy because the authors have written something so unique I can’t forget about them.

You’d think I would be done after three readings, right?  But no, then there’s a fourth, fifth and even sixth reading.  I read all of the Yes stories in the fourth reading, making sure I have enough stories to fill the book and that I’m in love with each and every story-- and making sure I haven’t gone over my allotted page count, because that would mean having to cut a Yes story, which I don’t want to do.  The fifth reading is to edit and put the stories in their proper order (which I will be attempting to do as I move through the third and fourth readings) and the sixth reading is the one where I put the book away for a few days, then read it with fresh eyes from beginning to end in one sitting to see if I’ve missed anything.  That could be anything from having too many characters named Sarah or too many stories set in Maine or three stories in a row that are about shapeshifters or… whatever.  It’s the tweaking reading, making sure everything is perfect before I send it off to the publisher.

Then, of course, there are the copyediting and proofreading reads.  But those are easy by comparison because the book is finished and now it’s just a matter of fine tuning perfection. (I’m biased, what can I say?)

And that’s how I go about putting together an anthology.  Aren’t you glad you didn’t ask? 

I love my job. I truly do.

Posted by Kristina in Writing at 02:04 PM Permalink

My little blog is a stop on the lovely Vanessa Vaughn’s Pack of Lies blog tour this month.  As a fan of all things paranormal and erotic, I was hooked from the synopsis: 

When Jack is attacked by a powerful werewolf one moonlit night, his world is forever changed.

Marcus is that wolf, the strong leader of his pack, who never imagined a mere mortal could ever escape him, much less ever become one of his kind. And yet, as time passes, he can’t deny the handsome human is slowly beginning to change.

No longer the civilized architect he used to be, Jack feels a new power coalescing inside of him. He barely even recognizes himself as he becomes more sexual, more impulsive, more wild in every way.

But as the bite transforms him, it also binds he and his attacker together forever. The two share a powerful unbreakable link, no matter how forcefully they may each try to deny it.

Marcus is already hiding secrets from the other wolves, and his position as Alpha is threatened. Could Jack be the new ally Marcus needs to set things right, or will their desire for one another draw them away from all they know and alter the course of their lives forever?

As far as I’m concerned, the only thing sexier than vampires is werewolves (hmm… and maybe werecats).  I loved Vanessa’s sexy beasts and was delighted to find out this is the first in a series of erotic werewolf novels.  Here is a brief excerpt to entice you, too:

The moon.

That soft sensual glow is always with me. Even when I can’t see the night sky, I feel its dark caress.

As the moon’s phases change, it breathes a coy suggestive whisper in my ear. It presses close, and I feel its fingers brush my skin. That light sparks something inside of me. Something primal. It starts a fever somewhere deep and spreads like slow-burning fire through my limbs.

I can always sense the Change starting. The full moon’s strong hand curls around my throat. I feel its grip tighten like a man’s thick fingers on my neck. When that grip makes me suddenly lightheaded, my pulse quickens, and I sink quietly to my knees. I know I have to give myself over, and I know how impossible it is to resist.

Some humans dream about submission. They crave it, complete with soft tortures and the smooth caress of expensive leather. They want to be bound and made to feel wonderfully, blissfully helpless. They enjoy feeling compelled to give in.

Humans like to play with their toys.

But what do they know about pleasure and pain so naturally intertwined?

When the animal in me takes over, I feel sensations more intense than any whip could offer. My teeth descend to sharp lethal points against my tongue, and I feel the lovely, horrifying ache as bones lengthen and skin is stretched.

But that ache only makes me smile.

In that instant of agony, my instincts wash over me like a hard drug flooding my veins.

Desire takes over—the desire for sex and for the hunt—obscuring all logical thought, all worries,absolutely all guilt. I feel ecstasy as I flex my teeth and claws. I feel a need building urgently and unstoppably between my legs with an intensity that few experience.
So, you see, as the gut-wrenching agony of the Change grips me, so does the all-consuming pleasure.

Perhaps that is why we wolves prefer our hunts so vicious.

And our sex so rough.

I think maybe I might be a werewolf at heart.

Thanks, Vanessa, for inviting me to be a stop on your blog tour.  Pack of Lies is filled with hot men and delicious sex-- a perfect summer read! 

Posted by Kristina in Books and Reading at 08:00 AM Permalink