Hi all,
Yep, you can congratulate me. I've been accepted at Harvard College, ie, my novel, Matchmaker, Matchmaker, is listed as part of the Harvard College Library. Okay, admittedly it doesn't take much to get me excited (the beauty of being over 50 is that no one cares what we say or do anymore) but having my debut novel purchased by Harvard College, well ... I'm still trying to settle back down to earth! Sure I'm not the only Five Star author who's in the Harvard Library, I'm still dancing in the clouds on this one. I got into nursing school years ago on my good looks (yeah, right) but I got into Harvard on "my good book!" I know, I'm having fun with this one but why not, right.
If any more of my books are accepted at Harvard College, I'll eat my covers!!! Ummm ... deelish!
Thanks for letting me have my Academic Moment in the Sun,
Jo(anne)
http://www.joannesundell.com/
www.squidoo.com/historicalromancewriter
www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Wednesdays with Joanne - "The HOOK in us all"
Hi guys,
Bet you thought I meant to say the BOOK in us all, but oh contrar`...
What I love about what we do, writing, is that we're all unique; all coming up with our own unique HOOK for our BOOK(s). Not so easily done, as we all know, but do it we must (if we want to sell a book or two along the way). Every time I meet a new author, I'm struck by the fact that this writer has actually written a book, then gotten it published of all things! It still is amazing to me that any of us get published but that's for another day. Right now I want to celebrate the HOOK in us all.
We are all unique, with our own perceptions, our own way of doing ... well ... just about everything. Geez, does that ever come in handy in attempting a novel. What are we without our uniqueness? Not a whole lot, I'm thinking. That is in fact what we bring to the writing table. We're ever in a daily struggle to combat cliche` and convenient storylines. When I have "fears that I may cease to" write, I do my utmost to remember that there is a HOOK, all our own, just around the corner. I just have to find it. Like Harry Potter, but not like Harry Potter. Don't we all love the wizardry he cooks up! Finding a HOOK is a bit like finding a "portkey" in Rowling's amazing stories. Once we do, we close our eyes, endure a bit of turbulance, then we're there!
A simplification? Perhaps. At the end of the day, we get ourselves to the end of our book(s), hoping indeed our hook(s) can withstand reviewers and skeptical readers, appealing to many a librarian and bookstore owner. Whew! The ride can be a turbulant one, but I think we can all agree it's definitely worth it!
Relax, it's just writing!
Hah! Want to know where that came from? I read off a gift bag from the Hustler, their motto: Relax, it's just sex! (For all you chick-lit writers ... good title for you.) Anyway, my point here is that when we're looking for our next Big Bad HOOK: RELAX, IT'S JUST WRITING!
Until next time ...
Jo(anne)
http://www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com
www.joannesundell.com
author@joannesundell.com
www.squidoo.com/historicalromancewriter
Bet you thought I meant to say the BOOK in us all, but oh contrar`...
What I love about what we do, writing, is that we're all unique; all coming up with our own unique HOOK for our BOOK(s). Not so easily done, as we all know, but do it we must (if we want to sell a book or two along the way). Every time I meet a new author, I'm struck by the fact that this writer has actually written a book, then gotten it published of all things! It still is amazing to me that any of us get published but that's for another day. Right now I want to celebrate the HOOK in us all.
We are all unique, with our own perceptions, our own way of doing ... well ... just about everything. Geez, does that ever come in handy in attempting a novel. What are we without our uniqueness? Not a whole lot, I'm thinking. That is in fact what we bring to the writing table. We're ever in a daily struggle to combat cliche` and convenient storylines. When I have "fears that I may cease to" write, I do my utmost to remember that there is a HOOK, all our own, just around the corner. I just have to find it. Like Harry Potter, but not like Harry Potter. Don't we all love the wizardry he cooks up! Finding a HOOK is a bit like finding a "portkey" in Rowling's amazing stories. Once we do, we close our eyes, endure a bit of turbulance, then we're there!
A simplification? Perhaps. At the end of the day, we get ourselves to the end of our book(s), hoping indeed our hook(s) can withstand reviewers and skeptical readers, appealing to many a librarian and bookstore owner. Whew! The ride can be a turbulant one, but I think we can all agree it's definitely worth it!
Relax, it's just writing!
Hah! Want to know where that came from? I read off a gift bag from the Hustler, their motto: Relax, it's just sex! (For all you chick-lit writers ... good title for you.) Anyway, my point here is that when we're looking for our next Big Bad HOOK: RELAX, IT'S JUST WRITING!
Until next time ...
Jo(anne)
http://www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com
www.joannesundell.com
author@joannesundell.com
www.squidoo.com/historicalromancewriter
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Wednesdays with Joanne - "The Write Trip"
Hi all,
Summer is trekking along, so get those vacation hours in quick!!!
I just returned from The Write Trip: Author Day at Five Star-Thomson Gale, Thorndike Press, in Waterville, Maine. What an honor to have our publisher create a day just for us! Too much fun. Not only did we have an opportunity to meet our fellow authors with Five Star, but the staff of Thomson Gale and Thorndike Press as well. We were wined (on H2O and soda) and dined (lobster and chicken) on delicious fare as well as conversation. My feet are back on terra firma (barely) but I have wonderful writing memories to keep me warm on cold Colorado nights to come.
New England is rich in history, and I'm talking Writing history! For me, a romance lover from Virginia who now resides in Colorado, driving along on my Write Trip, passing signs that read Walden Pond ... well, you can imagine. A literary moment, certainly. Another one came, of course, when I stopped in Camden, Maine. For those of you who enjoy my love for The Hallmark Channel, as in Sarah, Plain, and Tall (the series is shown often) ... roaming Camden, where Sarah wrote her advertisement, "to make a difference," made my heart skip, yet again.
On my way to the airport in Hartford, my Writing Trip took me through the state of MA where John and Abigail Adams wrote (thank goodness they did) so many letters to one another, David McCullough could put them together for his wonderful biography. John Adams is one of THE best books I've ever read! (I'm still reading Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows ... so I'll let you know ... I DO love Rowling!)
Hmmm ... I'm of the thought that one could step out their door in this great country, go in any direction, via any means of transportation, and suddenly discover they are on their own Write Trip! It is America The Beautiful!
Until next time...
Jo(anne)
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
A...My Name's Amelia
The Parlor House Daughter (12/08)
http://www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com/
http://www.womenwritingthewest.blogspot.com/
http://http://www.joannesundell.com/
Summer is trekking along, so get those vacation hours in quick!!!
I just returned from The Write Trip: Author Day at Five Star-Thomson Gale, Thorndike Press, in Waterville, Maine. What an honor to have our publisher create a day just for us! Too much fun. Not only did we have an opportunity to meet our fellow authors with Five Star, but the staff of Thomson Gale and Thorndike Press as well. We were wined (on H2O and soda) and dined (lobster and chicken) on delicious fare as well as conversation. My feet are back on terra firma (barely) but I have wonderful writing memories to keep me warm on cold Colorado nights to come.
New England is rich in history, and I'm talking Writing history! For me, a romance lover from Virginia who now resides in Colorado, driving along on my Write Trip, passing signs that read Walden Pond ... well, you can imagine. A literary moment, certainly. Another one came, of course, when I stopped in Camden, Maine. For those of you who enjoy my love for The Hallmark Channel, as in Sarah, Plain, and Tall (the series is shown often) ... roaming Camden, where Sarah wrote her advertisement, "to make a difference," made my heart skip, yet again.
On my way to the airport in Hartford, my Writing Trip took me through the state of MA where John and Abigail Adams wrote (thank goodness they did) so many letters to one another, David McCullough could put them together for his wonderful biography. John Adams is one of THE best books I've ever read! (I'm still reading Harry Potter - Deathly Hallows ... so I'll let you know ... I DO love Rowling!)
Hmmm ... I'm of the thought that one could step out their door in this great country, go in any direction, via any means of transportation, and suddenly discover they are on their own Write Trip! It is America The Beautiful!
Until next time...
Jo(anne)
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
A...My Name's Amelia
The Parlor House Daughter (12/08)
http://www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com/
http://www.womenwritingthewest.blogspot.com/
http://http://www.joannesundell.com/
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Wednesdays with Joanne - "Keeping Up Appearances"
Hi guys,
No, I'm not talking about the delicious, vintage BBC tv comedy (featuring the ever-engaging Hyacynthe Bucket), but about "Keeping Up Writing, Reading, Signing, Conferencing, Library, and Bookstore Appearances, et al." Whew! Anyone exhausted yet?
With each book happily sold ( three now, thank goodness) to Five Star-Thomson Gale, I'm beginning to get it: to get all of the things about marketing that I didn't know! The first lesson (an obvious one) is that I wasn't "Keeping Up Appearances" in getting my book on The List at any and every bookstore within shouting distance, for a signing. The second lesson is that I wasn't "Keeping Up Appearances" in clever on-line connections. The third lesson, ready for this, I wasn't even "Keeping Up Appearances" by keeping a notebook handy at signings for readers to sign up for my Newsletter! Oh well, and oy vey!
Lest any of you doubt it, I'M NOT SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER!
I won't bore you with Lessons four and five. Suffice is to say, I'm learning to schlep my writing gear in a somewhat more organized fashion to stores and libraries. Geez, I didn't want to be known as the Five Star Bag Lady! The fifth lesson was the hardest to go down: Do everything you're supposed to do re marketing today, yesterday!
Now that I'm a little more street-wise in Keeping Up Appearances, I'll do what I can to Keep Up With The Joneses (all of those deliciously wonderful, talented authors at Five Star)!
Until next time...
Jo(anne)
www.joannesundell.com
author@joannesundell.com
www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com
No, I'm not talking about the delicious, vintage BBC tv comedy (featuring the ever-engaging Hyacynthe Bucket), but about "Keeping Up Writing, Reading, Signing, Conferencing, Library, and Bookstore Appearances, et al." Whew! Anyone exhausted yet?
With each book happily sold ( three now, thank goodness) to Five Star-Thomson Gale, I'm beginning to get it: to get all of the things about marketing that I didn't know! The first lesson (an obvious one) is that I wasn't "Keeping Up Appearances" in getting my book on The List at any and every bookstore within shouting distance, for a signing. The second lesson is that I wasn't "Keeping Up Appearances" in clever on-line connections. The third lesson, ready for this, I wasn't even "Keeping Up Appearances" by keeping a notebook handy at signings for readers to sign up for my Newsletter! Oh well, and oy vey!
Lest any of you doubt it, I'M NOT SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER!
I won't bore you with Lessons four and five. Suffice is to say, I'm learning to schlep my writing gear in a somewhat more organized fashion to stores and libraries. Geez, I didn't want to be known as the Five Star Bag Lady! The fifth lesson was the hardest to go down: Do everything you're supposed to do re marketing today, yesterday!
Now that I'm a little more street-wise in Keeping Up Appearances, I'll do what I can to Keep Up With The Joneses (all of those deliciously wonderful, talented authors at Five Star)!
Until next time...
Jo(anne)
www.joannesundell.com
author@joannesundell.com
www.fivestarauthors.blogspot.com
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