Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ!

A smile. An encouraging word. A thoughtful gesture. 

Each day people interact with us, help, and make our day a bit brighter and full. This is especially true in the Writing Community.  

Take a second to think about writers you know, like the critique partner who works with you to improve your manuscript. The writing friend who listens, supports and keeps you strong when times are tough. The author who generously offers council, advice and inspiration when asked.

So many people take the time to make us feel special, don't they? They comment on our blogs, re-tweet our posts, chat with us on forums and wish us Happy Birthday on Facebook.

Kindness ROCKS! 

To commemorate the release of their book The EmotionThesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a TITANIC Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. 

And because I think KINDNESS is contagious, I'm participating too!


I want to give a ginormous THANK YOU to Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi—the creators of the most fabulous BOOKSHELF MUSE. For spending so much of your time creating thee most awesome thesaurus ever. We appreciate your hard work and believe me when I say it is continually put to good use. You guys rock!

There are so many people who I would like to blitz as a thank you. 

I would like to send out a BIG shout-out to all my fabulous CPs (you know who you are). THANK YOU for sharing all your awesome feedback! 

I don't know where I'd be without you guys. My mss shine because of you. Finding the right critique partners is truly a blessing and I am eternally thankful for YOU. Thank you for being part of my writing journey. I will never, ever forget those who were there for me. I ADORE you with all my heart! ❤❤❤❤❤❤

To my loyal readers.  I HEART YOU! And as I've said before, oh, how I appreciate you. Thank you so much for connecting!

To Lucienne Diver, who is an amazing author, agent, and person—a huge THANK YOU for sharing your invaluable insight. I really can't thank you enough. Thank you also for taking the time to connect with those in the publishing community. You truly are a gem! I am forever grateful I have gotten to know you. You're just plain AWESOME. P.S. Your appreciation package is on its way!


To James Scott Bell who is the most awesome writing coach. Ever. When I first started writing five years ago, I started with two writing books, On Writing by Stephen King and your Plot & Structure. I devoured every word faster than I could think. Then of course, I bought the rest of your writing books and they literally changed my life. I've learned so much from you, not just in your books but through your correspondence. Thank you for your extraordinary guidance and for helping me take my writing to the next level. Much gratitude and appreciation! Your blitz appreciation is on its way.


And to Cindy Bell for supporting JSB in his writing and for sharing all his awesome appearances with us. And just for plain being awesome. You two really make a great team! 


Thank you to Alyson Noël and Jessica Brody—the Bill Contardi sistas. For your encouragement and for your friendship, for your genuine support and for always having something fabulous to say. Your words have meant more than you know. I appreciate you! Endless thank yous for your inspiration and for reaching out and being you. XO I feel very privileged to have gotten to know you both. Gratitude packages are on the way!


Cherry Adair - What can I say? Love your witty personality and the way you reach out to others. Thank you for your kind words and for your words of wisdom. I will never forget your laughter and your encouragement. Your support is beyond special as so are you. So thankful for you! Gratzi!Appreciation is on its way!


Big thanks to Bonnie Calhoun, computer extraordinaire. I think you know more than Google itself. Ha! Seriously. Thank you for all your help and for never abandoning my questions. Appreciate you so much! (Check your email--you'll see why).

  
Kat Duncan, one of the best instructors out there. Thank you sooo very much for always making time for me. For sharing your insight and for steering me in the right direction. I appreciate you very much. Don't forget to check your email. :)


Casey McCormick, I cannot thank you enough for Literary Rambles! Thank you for starting Agent Spotlight and for all the invaluable info. And thank you so much for your latest feedback and praise.  Much appreciated!  To Natalie Aguirre, thank you for partnering up with Casey and contributing your awesomeness to the blog. You both rock!

I really appreciate all of you and I know I sound like a broken record (excuse the cliché) but it's true. I can't help it if I repeat it. I am beyond fortunate to have gotten to know ALL of you! YOU GUYS ROCK! My heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you. 

Love to you ALL. Big hugs XXXX

Do you know someone special that you'd like to randomly acknowledge? Don't be shy—come join us and celebrate! Send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. Kindness makes the world go round. :)


Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for you as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up.


Have you ever participated in or been the recipient of a Random Act Of Kindness?  


Let me know in the comments!

If you have a minute, please stop in and tell these fellow author and friends how awesome they are! 

As a closing I'd like to invite you to their sites and their blogs (also be sure to click on their names above for Twitter links). And don't forget to pay it forward and share RAOK. You'll never know whose heart you'll touch.  

Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi   Blog

Lucienne Diver   Blog   Website

James Scott Bell  Blog   Website

Cindy Bell   Facebook

 Alyson Noël         Blog   Website

Jessica Brody       Blog   Website

Cherry Adair       Blog   Website

Bonnie Calhoun    Blog   Website

Kat Duncan            Blog   Website

Casey McCormick  & Natalie Aguirre Blog

 

Marketing Tips

Does the word marketing make you cringe?

Do bookmarks, postcards, buttons, pens, notebooks, t-shirts, oh my--make your head spin?

 

No worries. It happens to all of us. 

I'm here to share with you a few fabulous posts that I found to be very helpful. I hope you find them as useful as I did.

Before I begin, I'd like to ask, what kind of swag do you all like to receive from your favorites authors? 

 Any successful marketing tips you'd like to share? 

If so, please leave a note in the comments section. Looking forward to reading your thoughts.

Okay, here we go:

What Makes Word-of-Mouth Work? 

Rob Eager shares his thoughts at Writer's Digest HERE. Good stuff! Also be sure to check out his whole list of marketing blog posts. Very helpful.

Author/agent Lucienne Diver shares an excellent article on TKA's newsletter:

No-Fail Self-Marketing Tips HERE

Author Elana Johnson shares a series of blog posts on marketing. Extremely helpful. A MUST READ.

The Basic Marketing Plan for Authors Who Have Bills to Pay Too

The Basic+Plus Marketing Plan For Those Who Are Nearing Wealth

Using Facebook and Goodreads In Your Marketing

Also, agent  @Natalie_Lakosil 
has some great Tips on Marketing Your Novel



And here's a little video for your learning entertainment: 

Interview with literary agent/author Lucienne Diver

Please welcome my guest, Lucienne Diver. It's a pleasure to have you Lucienne! 

If you all haven't gotten the opportunity to meet Lucienne or get to know her or her writing, you're missing out. 

Her latest installment in her series VAMPED, just launched last month. 

 

FANGTASTIC is a fantastic read! If you love YA and strong heroines, check it out. You can read my review HERE.

 

What do you consider the hardest part of writing a book?

 Figuring out how to end it.  I always have a general idea where the book is headed, but exactly how it’s going to get there…that’s as big a mystery to me as it is to the reader until I write it.  And rewrite it. And…well, you get the idea.   

My first version of the ending is always a bit rushed.  I’m so excited to get to those all-important words “The End” that I race to the finish line.  But once the pressure is off, I go back over the final chapters, as I do everything else, and really take my time.  Sometimes (often) I throw out my original ending and come up with something else entirely.  

 I’ll never forget saying to my editor on Revamped, “Um, you know those last sixty pages?  I’ve decided they suck, and not in that good vampire-y way.  How about if I toss them and take things in a whole ’nother direction.”   

What followed was a very tentative, “O-kay” and a lot of trust.  Thank goodness.  The book is so much better for the complete *cough* revamping of the ending.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

 Way back when I first started writing again, the amazing Lynn Flewelling was good enough to read some pages for me.  They were totally atrocious, I’m sure, but she was kind not to say so and instead to point out what it was they were lacking, what I’d overdone, etc.  

 Her very specific examples and suggestions really strengthened my work.  Those lessons have become so deeply ingrained I hardly have to consciously think on them any more as I write.

Any advice for other writers?    

     

 When you start out you’re not going to have any idea how much you have still to master.  I know I didn’t.   

Even though I’d been a writing major and had written for and edited my high school literary journal and my college anthropology magazine, I had a long way to go in honing my craft.  Trust that you will need critique and revision.  When you read, pay attention to what you think an author has done particularly well. 

Is it action?  Characterization?  Deconstruct.  Try to decipher why it worked so well.  You never want to imitate another author, but you can certainly learn from them.

What's the best thing about being an author?

 Fan mail!  Really, I live for hearing from my fans, and knowing that I’ve made a connection.

What was the funniest thing that happened to you as an agent or a writer?

Well, let’s see…as an agent, back when I was working at Spectrum Literary Agency, which represents the Robert A. Heinlein estate, we received a letter from a man claiming that he’d given Mr. Heinlein many of his ideas and that he’d been promised a house.  He was writing to collect . 

 Um…yeah.  We’ve also received some pretty crazy queries over the years.  I don’t feel comfortable sharing those, but let me just say that letters written in all caps, folded like origami insects or including affidavits certifying that the querier is not crazy are generally not the way to go.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

I’ve just finished writing Crazy in the Blood, the sequel to Bad Blood, the first in my Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series from Samhain.  I’m currently tearing my hair out over revisions.  

I’m hoping that the editorial letter on my fourth Vamped book, Fangtabulous (following Vamped, Revamped and Fangtastic) will wait until my current revisions are in, otherwise Crazy might well describe my state of being.

As a brief teaser from Chapter 1:

“Beware embossing.  It often heralds formal gowns and rubber chicken.”

—    Tori Karacis, words to live by

Los Angeles, CA

The Feds and my cousin Tina’s wedding invitation blew in on the same ill wind.  Truth be told, one came in bearing the other.  It couldn’t be harpies or banshees or even, hell, desert scorpions.  Oh no, those I could probably have handled.  But it didn’t seem terribly good form to use my gorgon mojo on guys who could lock me up and lose me in the system without needing much in the way of probable cause.  

Thanks so much for coming by, Lucienne! 

Thank you, Martha!
 

To learn more, visit her website: www.luciennediver.com and blog http://luciennediverauthor.wordpress.com/

Lucienne Diver is the author of the Vamped series of young adult novels for Flux Books, featuring Gina Covello, fashionista of the fanged. VOYA calls it “witty vampire romance/adventure with plenty of heart and action.” 

She also writes the Latter-Day Olympians series for Samhain, the first of which, Bad Blood, is just out in digital and will be released in May 2012 in print. 

Long and Short Reviews says of it, "Bad Blood is a delightful urban fantasy, a clever mix of Janet Evanovich and Rick Riordan, and a true Lucienne Diver original." This makes her happier than she can say. Lucienne is also a literary agent, blogger, wife, mom and caffeine-enthusiast, in no particular order.