Reuniting with an old friend

I recently picked up an old book.  Some whim I had inspired me to seek it out.  I searched high and low until I found it.  Once it was in my hands, I let my fingers glide across the cover that was softened from use. I flipped through the pages and saw where I'd bent edges back or even wrinkled a page or two.  A smile crept across my face and my heart skipped a beat as I thought about the characters in the book and the story they would tell me.
It was in that moment that I realized that a good book is like an old friend. 
No matter how many times you've heard/read the stories; you can't help but be pulled into them every time.  When it comes to a good book, or a good friend, nothing gets old.  When you sit with an old friend you get that feeling of nostalgia, the joy of remembering all the good times you had together, and even linger in the sad moments when you supported each other.  A good book is the same.
Perhaps it's the characters that give you that feeling.  Maybe, it's the story that resonates with you.  Whatever causes it, you can’t stop that warm nostalgic feeling from rushing over you.  Curling up with an old book, just like sitting down with an old friend, gives you that lovely comfortable feeling inside. 
So, the next time you walk past your bookcase, stop and pick up an old friend.  Let me know how it goes.

Pushing them out of the nest

I've released my second book for the Kindle on Amazon.  Across the Pond should be available for download on the Kindle very soon.  While I am excited to see what people think of this book, I'm also a little hesitant to let go of my characters.  Of all the books I've written so far, (by the way I'm up to five with no signs of stopping) this is the one that I think has the most potential and the best characters. 
My friend, Donna, who reads all my books, loves Across the Pond.  Anytime I mention that I am writing, she always brings the conversation back to Across the Pond.  Since she is technically my first fan, maybe I am biased about this book because she loves it so much.  I've actually read through it several times since I wrote it, and each time, my affection for it grew even more.  I hope that people read it and love it. I hope that the characters come to life for them as much as they did for me.  I had a great time creating their story.  Chloe and James were a lot of fun to write. 
If you've stopped by this blog, and you're looking for a great read, give Across the Pond a shot.  Let me know what you think about it. 

Romance vs. Chick Lit

When I first put one of my books up for sale on Amazon I tagged it as Romance and joined in a discussion with other "Indie" Romance writers.  I continue to follow the discussion with those others writers, but the more I read what they write the more puzzled I become.
Is there a difference between Romance and Chick Lit?
For many people, whether they actually read it or not, when they think of Romance books they think of ripped bodices, throbbing manhood, and Fabio half-naked on the cover.  Chick Lit, on the other hand, probably conjures up the image of women drinking wine, shopping for shoes, and complaining about men.
What I read, and write, falls somewhere in-between the two.  I say that only because I have to categorize them somewhere.
 To me, romance leaves some details to the imagination.  It is what's not said or shown that make the "moments" so romantic.  The exchange of looks, the gentle touch of a hand, and the soft words spoken; all of those things mean romance to me.  I don't want to read intimate details of what goes on between a man and a woman.  That's not romance to me.
Chick Lit, in my opinion, is more about the relationships that women have.  They could be the relationships between a woman and her friends, her family, her children, and yes, even her man.  Chick Lit is a way for women to step outside their own lives and live the life of someone else, someone more glamorous, more beautiful, and probably luckier than themselves.  Isn't that what we all want?  To know what it's like to be someone else, even if just for a little while. 
So, my question remains...is there a difference between Romance and Chick Lit?  Am I alone in my opinion?  Am I just sheltered in my ideas?  What do other readers of both genres think?

Why I suck at self-promotion

In an attempt to get my name out there, I started a Twitter account (@VaJewel) and this blog.  But what I've come to realize is that I absolutely suck at promoting myself.  I am so uninteresting that I have less than 20 Followers on Twitter and only one Follower here on the blog.  I've racked my brain trying to figure out what to do about this problem.  Like I said before, I don't write because I want to make money or be rich and famous, I write because the characters want me to tell their stories.  So, how do I make people notice me and want to read my books?

After thinking about this problem, I've decided that I don't want to promote myself.  I'm sure it sounds naive, and in the end isn't going to help me at all, but I don't want people to read my books because they find me interesting.  I want people to read my books because they find the characters and the plot interesting.  Who gives a hoot about me! 

So, no, I don't have anything witty or funny to say on Twitter. 

No, my blog posts aren't going to start a revolution and inspire others to rise up against the establishment, or whatever. 

But damn it, my books are good!  The characters who have trusted me to tell their stories are interesting and they find themselves in interesting situations.  They are funny, and witty, and experience exciting things that have never happened to me!  If even half the stuff that happens to characters in my book really happened to me then I wouldn't need to write.  I wouldn't have time to write because I'd be too busy being ridiculously happily-ever-after happy! 

Isn't that why we ladies read chick lit? 

We are boring!  Our lives are not filled with eccentric characters and gorgeous men who are just dying to sweep us off our feet!  We have mortgages and cell phone bills!  We live in crappy apartments or lonely old houses!  We don't have sinfully good-looking men chasing after us!  We have moderately attractive male accountants who sometimes take us to dinner! 

I suck at self-promotion because I don't want to promote me!  Of course, being a self-published author the lack of skills in the area of self-promotion sort of limits my reach.  However, I can not make myself more interesting.  I can not force myself to be witty or funny. 

To quote a great philosopher:
 "I am what I am!"
~Popeye

Review- The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

I love it when the characters in a book draw me into their world completely.  That's exactly what happened to me with the characters in McLain's novel about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson.  From the first page, she had me in the palm of her hand.  She also had me in the heart of the story; the incredible connection between Hemingway and Richardson.  Despite their age difference, and distance between them, the two main characters fell deeply in love, and McLain put me right in there with them.  I found myself cheering them on, even though I knew the relationship was doomed. 
McLain's style made is simple for me to get to know the characters and to care about them. The further into the story I read, the more attached to the characters I got.  By the end of the book I was so wrapped up in their relationship that I wanted to throw my Kindle across the room in frustration at Hadley and her completely passive role in the destruction of their marriage.  Frustration turned to sadness as I read the last words.  In the end, I cried for several minutes at the loss of Hadley and Ernest's love and ultimately Ernest's life.
The Paris Wife is not the kind of book I usually read, but what a fantastic read this one was.  I read it for my first ever book club, and it is killing me that I have to wait a whole other month before I can sit down and talk to them about it.  I have to give this book a whopping 5 out of 5 stars! 

What I accomplished in my week off

Well, my week off is coming to a close.  It's been great, but like all breaks, I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped.  Now that it's coming to an end I want to sit back and reflect on what I accomplished.

1. I moved the eliptical machine and got it put together.   For over a year now the expensive eliptical machine (that I had to have!) has been sitting useless in my extra room.  We had taken it apart when I had my floors replaced and when I had the back porch redone, but it had not made it into the extra bedroom where it belonged.  Now it is sitting in the extra bedroom and I haven't used it once.  Oh well, a win is a win!
2. I cleaned my bathroom.  Nothing makes me happier than a clean bathroom.  It is one of the greatest simple pleasures in the world to me.  However, for some reason, I just can't seem to motivate myself to clean the bathroom as often as it needs it.  Not this week!  I even mopped the floor.  Go me!  It was so wonderful I wanted to just sit in there and enjoy it.
3. I've written six chapters in my fifth book.  Even though I still haven't finished my fourth book (truth be told I could probably finish it in a day or two, but the characters have stopped talking to me so I'm stuck), I feel like I've made some good progress with my fifth book.  I got the idea for this book about a year ago, but I haven't had the time to write anything on it.  But this week I sat down and the words have flowed out of me.  I also managed to map the whole thing out so I know where I'm going.  Go me!
4. I spent time with family and friends.  I know that doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment but I am such a hermit that anytime I leave the house to be social it is a win for me.  I spent a few hours with my nephew and then had lunch with a friend.  That counts as two wins for me! Woohoo!

I could probably fill up several pages of things that I did not accomplish during this week off, but I'm choosing to focus on the positive. 

Flashbacks

I am currently working on my fifth book and I'm considering using flashbacks to help explain some of the back story of the characters.  I'm not 100% sure about this method.  I've read books that use flashbacks and it can be done well, but I'm not sure that I have the talent to pull it off. 
My problem then becomes, how do I cover the character's past without making them talk about it.  I get nervous when I see a lot of dialogue on my page.  I'm not sure why that is, because I also get nervous when I don't see enough!  I'm just a nervous writer.  I don't write to please others, but I still worry about having it all make sense. 
Should I just go with my gut and continue on with what I've started?  The characters' voices are pretty loud right now, so I don't want to lose them.  I've had this story and these two characters for about a year, but I've just recently got them down on "paper".  I don't want to lose the momentum.  Just wondering if I should consider other options.