Wednesdays With Joanne - "From Lincoln Logs to Linking Blogs!"

Hi All,

I'm excited as I'm getting a little closer to actually Linking my Blogs to others; hence, "a blogging we will go!" I know what you're all thinking...about time already, Joanne. I have an excuse. Remember. I'm 61!!!! (Darn, didn't work, did it?)

Just wanted to alert you to my game plan: I hope very soon, to blog on the Five Star Authors' Blog; RomancingTheBlog; and the WomenWritingTheWest Blog. I'm inserting myself in this experiment (on my part, always) to not only become comfortable with blogging and find out what's going on in the writing world, but also to help me access the value of "going on" in the marketing/promotion world, internet-speaking. It's a bad, bad, bad world out there in cyberland, to my thinking. I don't want to start up Home Pages on sites such as MySpace without good reason. How much marketing can one person (much less potential readers) take? The bottom line (and the gist of my self-proclaimed experiment) is to ascertain the value of involvement on numerable internet sites.

I do have a hypothesis: That internet exposure, while wonderful, doesn't coerce readers into buying, anymore than signings, conferences, booktalks, and just plain "hitting the pavement" with our wares. I'm thinking that there are still readers out there who enjoy meeting you at a bookfair or the local bookstore, rather than "hooking up" on the internet.

It's a good thing that I write historical romance, the operative word being historical. Obviously, I'm a throw-back to marketing of old.

Tune in tomorrow...and see whether or not my hypothesis is proved or disproved: whether Linking Blogs or Lincoln Logs have more value. I know. You're all right on the edge of your seats!!! Me, too!!!

B'bye...

Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne - "What's in a name?"

Evidently quite a lot!

Any of the rest of you out there in "Literary Internet Land" having trouble keeping your name(s) straight? Between our URLs, WWWs, blogspots, links (more like linking logs to me), hyperlinks, yahoo IDs, group yahoo IDs, MySpace page (are you friend or foe?), ever changing e-mail signatures, YouTube (at your own risk), a password here...a password there...not to mention, God forbid, if any of you are using a pseudonym...!

When I turn on my computer first thing in the morning, and attempt to "key in" the right blog and/or yahoo group for comment and/or posting, my head spins more than Linda Blair's in the Exorcist! What's the right ID now? The right password? Where is my file about which file is which, telling me which name I put in where??? That's when I check my chest, and if I don't see three 6's carved there, reassured I'm working for "good" and not "evil," I take a deep breath, another sip of strong coffee, and try to calm myself.

"I can do this. I know I'm 61 and wasn't born in the computer age, but I can do this! I went to college, received a BS in Nursing, cared for countless patients with their lives on the line, married a nice Jewish forensic psychiatrist, gave birth to three children, managed to get two books published. I'm not a total moron, oxy or otherwise! Or, am I...

If I can't even remember my name on most days, or at least the "right name" to enter for the right computer access, it's time to take a breath, take five, smell the roses (I already smell the coffee), gather my wits, sing "I Have Confidence" every morning, pull up my bootstraps, suck it up, soldier on (have I left any cliche out?), and add a little levity to my day. Computer life need only be as complicated as I make it. Code for: don't jump into the deep end of this site or that, unless you're wearing serious safety gear!

You tell me your password, and I'll tell you mine!
Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne - "Wonder of Wonders...miracle of miracles..."

Hi all,

What a difference a day (and a good bottle of merlot) makes! Fortunate and humbled (no understatement here) to receive good reviews from Library Journal and Romance Reviews Today for A...My Name's Amelia, I'm breathing a sigh of relief...and introspection.

To give too much credence to reviews, which are subjective, is likely not a good thing. But the good reviews go down oh so easily! While I'm still choking on the bad one!

Time to move away from marketing and on to writing again. I have all of my research done for The Parlor House Daughter and plan to get started on this frontier romance soon. As you can tell, I'm fascinated by heroines in the Old West. Talk about miracles...it's a miracle women survived in the mid-nineteenth century West at all. If you were not married you were a prostitute, end of story. Unfortunately that did mark the "end" for many women who by hook or crook, entered the world of prostitution. Since I've told you that I do believe in miracles, I also believe that a young woman just might be able to navigate her way through the dark and seedy world of the "red light district" in 1880 Denver, and come out alive! As for unscathed...you'll have to read the book!

Shalom,
Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne - "Do you believe in miracles?"

In the writing business, I HAVE TO!

Hi All,

I'm still recovering, or shall I say "Amelia" is still recovering from a chilly review by Publishers Weekly in their latest issue. Ouch!

Thank goodness Amelia is getting a better reception on other fronts:
Harriet Klausner's Review Archive "...Amelia is a refreshing lead protagonist as she is deaf...Aaron is a fine lonely rancher who needs someone who can handle his taciturn personality...these characters and other secondary players make for a fabulous western romance..."
Joan Johnston, NYT bestselling author "A...is for Amazing. Don't miss it!"
Alice Duncan, award-winning author "A...My Name's Amelia is a beautiful story about two wounded people and the power of healing through communication and love."
Karen Kay, bestselling author of Native American Romance "A delightful historical, full of little known facts that's sure to engross and entertain the reader."

Reviews are subjective. One reviewer's opinion is just that: one reviewer's opinion. But...when the reviewer aims the gun at you and you're down, and then comes over and fires again at close range...just to make sure...your're pretty much DOA!

Only a miracle can save Amelia now, and I do believe in miracles! I believe that librarians and deaf schools across the country will see fit to breathe life into A...My Name's Amelia and give her story a chance on their romance shelves. I also believe that when folks go to Amazon to order, they won't let one reviewer's opinion stand in their way.


Shalom,
Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne - I can't dance and chew gum at the same time!

Hi all,

I can't "write and market" at the same time, darn it! Fess up! There MUST be other writers out there like me.

With two books published, I'm still hovering between writing being a serious hobby and writing being a job. If a hobby, no worries about anything other than trying to create the next story, the next hero and heroine, the next historical chapter. I've only myself to satisfy, to entertain, and answer to. If, however, writing is a job, there ARE worries to consider: marketing worries. With these worries comes the "job" of promotion and sales, reviews and author quotes, edits and re-edits, booksignings and booktalks, jockeying for notice. I'm doing my best to learn how to be up to the "job," and in doing so, I've learned that I "can't dance and chew gum at the same time."

This morning I'm full-into marketing concerns for A...My Name's Amelia, and have put The Parlor House Daughter on the back burner, yet again. It's important for Amelia's story to reach not only the librarians in Colorado, but also the librarians in the deaf schools throughout the country. That won't happen unless I contact them all with my press packet and "pitch" Amelia's story to them. Thus, time must be devoted to this task. I'm also contacting, or will soon, bookstores in Colorado, hoping they'll give some attention to Amelia's story. Too, there are conferences and meetings coming up and I hope to participate and showcase Amelia's story on these occasions.

For me, I love to write in the early morning hours. I love working on "that next book," but not so easy for me when I've other tasks at hand. It's difficult to get up fresh and write if I'm worried about marketing issues. I'd love to know if other writers have this dilemma, and if they do, how they resolve it. I'm thinking the key is not to worry. The key is not to put so much emphasis on marketing, creative emphasis that is. Just do it, right? Just do it, and free up time for writing "that next book."

I just find this interesting and revealing about myself as a writer. While some can easily dance and chew gum, I'm admitting that I cannot...yet. Tune in tomorrow...

Shalom,
Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne - "Table for Five"

Hi All,

No, I'm not resurrecting last season's tv fare (pardon the pun), but extolling the virtues of "partners in crime and in romance!"

I've learned that I'm not alone...there are others out there...waiting and watching and writing...just like me. Other Five Star-Thomson Gale published authors in Colorado that is. How much fun is this! And guess what? The natives are friendly. Not only are these other writers friendly, but they're generous with their time and their ideas. We're sharing our marketing toys. I like this play group!!!

They are:
Leslee Breene - Leadville Lady
Beth Groundwater - A Real Basket Case
Janet Lane - Tabor's Trinket
Pat Stoltey - The Prairie Grass Murders

Please feel free to visit Beth Anne's Book Corner site at www.bethannesbookcorner.com/sign.html and check out their blurbs and covers. I'm very pleased to be counted among them.

Hey, there's more room at our table. BYOB(books)!!!!

Shalom,
Jo(anne)

Wednesdays With Joanne: "For All the WRITE Reasons"

Are there any other kind when it comes to writing?

Yes, I think there are.

If you're writing for the market only, and not for yourself, that's THE wrong reason. Of course the market is a primary consideration, but not the more important. The more imporant is to write from our heart and from our head, hoping the passion in us will translate into something marketable, but not with the market being our driving force.

If you're writing because you know you have bestsellers in you, you probably do, and that's great, but...if you're unwilling to allow critique and the editorial opinion of others (future readers, all) then you're not serving your own interests well. We must listen to those who've gone before us. We must listen and learn.

If you're writing without the reader in mind, without respecting their intellect, without being mindful of their feelings, you're writing for some other reason that will only get you in trouble.

If you're writing, thinking you don't need to put in hard work all the way, from manuscript-to sale-to publication-to marketing and beyond, then you're mistaken, my friend. Leastways, I think so.

Okay, so now let's all get to it! May 2007 be the WRITE year for us all!

Shalom,
Joanne