Saturday’s #notRWA17 Schedule

/ Olivia Dade / 2 Comments

Saturday is the last day of our virtual conference, sadly. But we still have some wonderful threads throughout the day, as well as a HUGE numbers of authors giving away books! Have fun! ♥

Not RWA Saturday's Schedule

AM prompt: Pics of #notRWA17 conference clothing (AKA pajamas)
PM prompt: Productivity/procrastination-beating tips

Twitter threads:

10 a.m. EST: Sasha Devlin (@SashaDevlin) Plotbunny with Purpose

11 a.m.: Kelly Maher (@kmmaher) I Write Like Who? Using Librarian Skills to Market Your Book

Noonish: Books and Joe (@booksandjoe) How to Woo a Blogger

1 p.m.: Maggie Wells (@MaggieWells1) Working 9-5 & 5-9 (AKA: Don’t Quit Your Night Job)

2 p.m.: Sasha Devlin (@SashaDevlin) The Care & Feeding of Magical (Author) Creatures

All day Saturday: Giveaways Featuring 50+ Authors!

Not RWA author giveaways

To enter the giveaways, simply visit the Twitter feeds of participating authors and follow their instructions. They’ll use the #notRWA17 hashtag, and we’ll circulate a graphic with their names. Also, their names and Twitter handles are listed below. (Out of alphabetical order, because I’m feeling a wee bit lazy. Sorry.)

1. Olivia Dade (@OliviaWrites)
2. Karen Booth (@karenbbooth)
3. Ainslie Paton (@AinsliePaton)
4. Ruby Lang (@RubeLang)
5. Maggie Wells (@MaggieWells1)
6. Aislinn Kearns (@ardentaislinn)
7. Manda Collins (@MandaCollins)
8. Emma Barry (@AuthorEmmaBarry)
9. Cecilia London (@authorclondon)
10. Lydia San Andres (@lydiaallthetime)
11. Linda Poitevin (@lindapoitevin)
12. Jodie Griffin (@Jodie_Griffin)
13. Sandra Schwab (@ScribblingSandy)‏
14. KJ Charles (@kj_charles)
15. Sara Rider (@SaraRider42)
16. Nicole Locke (@NicoleLockeNews)
17. Mia Hopkins (@MiaHopkinsxoxo)
18. Susan Scott Shelley (@Susan_S_Shelley)
19. Maggie Chase (@TheMaggieChase)
20. Mia Sosa (@miasosaromance)
21. Jocelyn Adler (@JocelynZombie)
22. Andie J. Christopher (@authorandiej)
23. Seressia Glass (@seressia)
24. Megan Frampton (@meganf)
25. Sue London (@cmdrsue)
26. Alexandra Haughton (@WriterAHaughton)
27. Amie Stuart (@chronic_mom)
28. Kelly Maher (@kmmaher)
29. Amy Quinton (@AmyQuinton)
30. Shannyn Schroeder (@SSchroeder_)
31. Laurie Benson (@LaurieBwrites)
32. Christine d’Abo (@Christine_dAbo)
33. Felice Stevens (@FeliceStevens1)
34. Sabrina Sol (@theromancechica)
35. Nicole McLaughlin (@nicolemauthor)
36. J. Margot Critch (@juanitamcritch)
37. Melanie Ting (@MelTing21)
38. Cynthia Diamond (@CinsDiamond)
39. Michelle Boule (@wanderingeyre)
40. J. Suzanne Frank (@JSuzanneFrank)
41. Karyn Gerrard (@KarynGerrard)
42. Jen Gilroy (@JenGilroy1)
43. Lita Harris (@litaharris)
44. Kel O’Connor (@KelWriting)
45. Crystal Bowling (@crystalbooksit)
46. A.C. Nixon (@ACNixon_writer)
47. Arlene Hittle (@ArleneHittle)
48. Melissa Blue (@mel_thegreat)
49. Mia West (@miawestwrites)
50. Shae Connor (@shaeconnor)
51. Rain Merton (@RainMerton)
52. Ryvr Jones (@Nospheratt)
53. Kate Canterbary (@kcanterbary)
54. Sarah M. Anderson (@SarahMAnderson1)

Friday’s #notRWA17 Schedule

/ Olivia Dade / Leave a comment

We’ve had so many amazing threads already, but lots more are headed your way on Friday. 🙂 And as always, if I got anything wrong, please let me know!

Not RWA Friday's Schedule

AM prompt: Best traditional pubbing tips
PM prompt: Most inspiring writing quotes

Twitter threads:

11 a.m. EST: Mia West (@miawestwrites) Salty, Sour, Bitter & Sweet: A Tasty Case for Writing Older Heroes

Noon: Sandra Schwab (@ScribblingSandy) Reviving the Muse – What to Do When Your Creative Well Has Run Dry

1 p.m.: Suleikha Snyder (@suleikhasnyder)‏ Beyond Diversity 101, the No Fucks Edition

2 p.m.: S.S. Jaxon (@BooksbySSJaxon) Writing Romance While Single & Dating in a Swipe-Right World

3 p.m.: Stacey Agdern (@nystacey) How Wishing (and Research) Makes Things Happen: Worldbuilding in Contemporary Romances

4 p.m.: Rachel Pudelek (@rachelpud) Navigating the Query Trenches and Beyond

5 p.m.: Christina Alexandra (@AuthorChrisAlex) From Dispatch to Death Investigations: Law Enforcement From the Inside

6 p.m.: Xan West‏ (@TGStoneButch) Ways to Introduce that a Character Is Trans (& Pitfalls to Avoid)

Thursday’s #notRWA17 Schedule

/ Olivia Dade / Leave a comment

Get ready for another full day of amazing threads and wonderful people. ♥ And as always, if I got anything wrong, please let me know!

Not RWA Thursday's Schedule

AM prompt: Best self-pubbing tips
PM prompt: Best writing resource suggestions

Twitter threads:

9 a.m. EST: Ainslie Paton (@AinsliePaton) Dark Art of the Blurb

10 a.m.: Emma Barry (@AuthorEmmaBarry) Beyond Alpha: Writing Heroes Who Break the Mold

11 a.m.: Erin Satie (@ErinSatie) The Visual Artist’s Toolkit—Tips and Tricks for Effective Description

Noon: Steve Ammidown from the Bowling Green State University Pop Culture Library (@BGSU_PopCultLib) Preserving Romance at the Browne Popular Culture Library

1 p.m.: Mia Hopkins (@MiaHopkinsxoxo) True North: Character Development in Romance

2 p.m.: Nicole McLaughlin (@nicolemauthor) 10 Tips To Meet Your Daily Word Count

3 p.m.: ZoeYork/AinsleyBooth (@ZoeYorkWrites) 10 Steps to Hitting a List

Wednesday’s #notRWA17 Schedule

/ Olivia Dade / 1 Comment

Here we go! And if I got anything wrong, please let me know. ♥

Not RWA Wednesday Schedule

AM prompt: Best tips for new authors
PM prompt: Pics of current character inspirations

Twitter threads:

Noon EST: Sandra Schwab (@ScribblingSandy)‏ No Dukes Allowed: Writing Unusual Historical Romances

1 p.m.: Suleikha Snyder‏ (@suleikhasnyder) Writing Tips From Soaps & Bollywood

2 p.m.: Ana Coqui (@anacoqui) Demystifying Reviews

3 p.m.: Racheline Maltese (@racheline_m) Are Two Heads Better Than One? Tips on Working Collaboratively

5 p.m.: Michelle Boule (@wanderingeyre) Super Series Planning: How to Plan a Series and When to Let the Plan Go

6 p.m.: Abby Ryan‏ (@AbbyRyanWrites) Beyond Big Bang Theory: Writing Realistic STEM Characters

sprint graphic

Sprinting and accountability partners:

1. Karen Booth (@karenbbooth)
2. Lynn Painter (@LAPainter)
3. K.T. Gilbert (@ktgilbert76)
4. Evelyn Isaacks (@evelynisaacks)
5. CC Bridges (@ccbridgeswriter)
6. Susan Scott Shelley (@Susan_S_Shelley)
7. Amie DontshushMe (@chronic_mom)
8. Adriana Anders (@AdrianasBoudoir)
9. Amy Quinton (@AmyQuinton)
10. Shannyn Schroeder (@SSchroeder_)
11. Nicole McLaughlin (@nicolemauthor)

 

Before You Quit

/ Olivia Dade / 19 Comments
Hand holding headphones, folders and resignation letter on the desk

This is the expression of a woman who only now realized the word “just” appears 347 times in her manuscript.

Somewhere around April 2014, the grayness of my life began to lift. At the time, I was being dragged underwater by the riptide of a depression I’d only just begun to address with a therapist, drowned by anxiety I didn’t even recognize as a problem until two years later.

Nevertheless, I began writing fiction for the first time that month. I sat at my keyboard, desperate for relief from all my troublesome thoughts. For a blissful moment when my mind could occupy itself with someone else’s life, rather than my own.

I wrote with no expectation of publication. No knowledge of how or how well I’d write. No sense of what kinds of stories suited my unknown talents (or lack thereof). And holy shit, I wrote quickly. In the space of a month or two, I completed a 90,000-word rom-com set in modern-day Colonial Williamsburg, one which featured plenty of sex and banter, but lacked—sadly—a plot. Shortly thereafter, two novellas (later published as Broken Resolutions and Ready to Fall) were sitting on my hard drive. Together, those novellas took me two and a half weeks to write.

It was easy. It was all so damn easy and joyful. I had no clue about the flaws in my writing (many and varied, as it turned out), and no expectation of a writing career. No pressure, internal or external, other than the drive to dismiss the worries crowding my head.

Because it seemed like the thing to do, though, I started querying and submitting. Then came a contract, which felt like a blessing at the time. (And I should add that I remain grateful to the publishers and agents who wanted those two novellas. I appreciate their faith in a complete newbie.) Someone wanted to buy my books! Six of my books, in fact, four of them still unwritten! How marvelous!

I signed my contracts. I dropped all those other weird stories I’d been plotting without any thought as to my career trajectory or the opinions of potential readers. And I buckled down to write the books in my contract, the next books in what became the Lovestruck Librarians series.

That’s when things started going wonky. Not at first, not when I had months and months in reserve before my first deadlines. Not when I could write books set in a different world, a different time period, between my contracted books.

But once I started running up against my deadlines, once I could no longer write “palate cleanser” books between books I had to write, once my working life became an endless series of Lovestruck Librarians books, Lovestruck Librarians blog posts, Lovestruck Librarians developmental edits and copy edits and page proofs, and—of course—Lovestruck Librarians promo and marketing, that swift writing pace so praised by my then-agent and then-editor began to falter.

Continue reading →

Mad (Love) Libs: A Fill-in-the-Blanks Romance!

/ Olivia Dade / 2 Comments

I spent the holiday weekend at my mom’s house. She gave my daughter an Easter-themed Mad Libs book, so we spent a good chunk of Sunday naming various adjectives and adverbs. Heroically, I attempted to keep it clean for the family audience. (So I suggested “butts” for one answer. Sue me.)

But that gave me an idea. What if I didn’t have to keep my answers clean? What if, in fact, I were encouraged to go dirty?

And thus, out of stifled salaciousness and a fervent desire to procrastinate, an idea was born. (I find that particular combination generates many of my ideas, TBH.)

Below, you’ll find a romance-themed Mad Libs! First, you should fill out the answer sheet, where you can list all your nouns and verbs and naughty adjectives. After that, add your answers to the story itself and find out what [noun] is throbbing so [adverb]!

I hope you enjoy it. I thought it might brighten someone’s Tuesday. ♥

Romance Mad Libs answer sheet

Romance Mad Libs

Walking on Empty

/ Olivia Dade / 2 Comments

Trigger warning: This blog post includes discussion of disordered eating and depression.

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If they chose to look, the workers fixing my broken deck could see me through the family room windows. And that was a problem, since they weren’t likely to understand what they’d witness.

I wasn’t entirely certain I understood, either. Not anymore.

But I joked with them, trying to explain away what might seem like aberrant, borderline-disturbed behavior. “I’m just trying to get in my steps, and I can’t go to the gym today!” I said. “So don’t be alarmed when you see me circling my coffee table.”

They nodded and offered a confused smile, then got to work.

When you’re fat and discussing an attempt to exercise, people don’t tend to question the whys or hows. They simply approve. This was true of the workers (who left my deck in excellent condition), my doctor, and pretty much everyone else who’d noticed my rapid weight loss. Dropping one hundred pounds in about ten months had earned me praise from all quarters, declarations of how good I now looked, and questions as to how I’d done it.

The same had been true seven years before, when I’d lost 110 pounds. The admiration and questions had ceased when I regained all that weight, plus fifty pounds extra.

So everyone approved of my most recent weight loss attempt except my husband, whose gentle hints had become plainer over the last month or two. “You’re exercising for longer chunks of time than I did when I trained for the Iron Man,” he told me. “Be careful.” Continue reading →