Last weekend was the Austin Romance Writers of America conference, and I was lucky enough to make the trip up to the Texas Capitol to attend. Eloisa James was the keynote speaker and really wonderful. She is a Professor of Shakespeare at Fordham University and an amazing lecturer. She told us tales of her own pre-publishing woes, spoke of her determination to succeed, and even gave us the perspective of a New York Times bestselling author on many in’s and out’s of the publishing world. But beyond that, she offered us extensive advice on how to make our own stories fresher, richer, and more emotional. She shared her secrets.

So too did the other speakers I was lucky to hear. Kit Frazier, Samantha Saxon, and Julie Kenner all spoke from personal experience on how they had used certain techniques and tricks to improve their writing. I am constantly amazed at how willing other romance authors are to share their knowledge with others. The difficulty, I’m finding, is that I’m learning and taking so much from speakers that I’m constantly rethinking my own work-in-progress, wondering if I should play up this angle or that, deepen the emotion, keep the story light and humorous, up the suspense, add more characters, etc. From the perspective of this making me a better writer, it’s great. But it has the potential to seriously hamper my productivity.

I didn’t really plot my first novel, Unladylike Pursuits. I just wrote. And because of that, I did a lot of re-writing: plot threads didn’t work, secondary characters needed more devoted pages, timing was off, or there was simply too much introspection and not enough action. Well, nothing’s changes—I still want to write—but at the same time, everything’s changed. I’ve since joined RWA, I’ve joined my local chapter, I’ve heard various authors speak and share, I’ve read each month’s Romance Writers Report cover-to-cover, and my perspective is vastly different.

For this book, I did do some pre-planning. I have a somewhat detailed character matrix and a loose definition of the plot. Everything else, I expected, would fall into place when I came to it. The trouble I’m facing now is that I’ve absorbed so many new ideas and techniques over the past month or so, from a variety of different sources, that I’m being pulled in a multitude of different directions. I feel like I really need make some decisions. Specifically, I need to decide on both the heroine’s and the hero’s changing perspective in terms of relative positioning in the storyline. And I probably should decide on an ending rather than just have ideas floating around in my head. I write mostly during the breaks I have from being a full-time mom, so I can kind of lose sight of what I wrote just last week. (That translates into edits and rewrites). I think if I have a general, but somewhat specific, plotline, complete with external plot points and developing internal introspection, and a place for notes and changes, I should be able to easily catch myself up on what’s happening, and even pre-plan what I’m going to write next during my writing ‘down-time’. I think I’ll work on that next week.

I wanted just to write, to get things down on paper at a productive pace. But there’s so much more to it than that. And I suppose if you’re going to be successful at it, you’ve got to treat writing like any other job. Get organized, stay organized, and continue learning.

I’ve become quite fascinated recently in discovering books that have been written around someone else’s idea. For instance, Tracy Chevalier must have actually looked at Johannes Vermeer’s portrait The Girl with a Pearl Earring and wondered about that girl enough to devise a story about her. It seems as if quite a number of people are curious about that no longer two-dimensional girl—the book is a best-seller and is soon to be a movie. Similarly, Gregory Macguire’s best-selling novel, turned musical, Wicked, the untold story of the Witches of Oz has also caught the attention of many. And that perennial favorite, Jane Austen, certainly has her share of followers. From Karen Joy Fowler’s contemporary The Jane Austen Book Club to fellow self-pubbed author Pamela Aidan’s story of Mr. Darcy (of Pride and Prejudice fame) in her Fitzwilliam Darcy: Gentleman series.

I wonder if it’s easy to write with pre-existing conditions and guidelines…I would have thought it would be more difficult. The bottom line, I suppose, is that if you craft a beautiful piece of art—be it a painting or a book—people will want to continue to connect with the characters. Not to mention that these creative new authors are introducing new generations to the classics.

Coming off the great experience of my book-signing two weekends ago (see below), I was optimistic going into the two signings I had scheduled in Tucson, AZ this past Saturday. Let’s just say I no longer have the same feeling towards these signings. My confidence was not sufficiently stockpiled.

My first signing was in a lovely little bookstore called Mostly Books on the east side of Tucson, and while I had hardly any traffic (I was told there was a U of A/ USC basketball game going on, but I think it might have been football), I still had a fine time. I browsed around the aisles and ended up buying two half-price paperbacks. I’m already half-way through the first: The Veil of Night by Lydia Joyce, and I’m delighted to have found it as it’s an impressive debut. I only signed five books at the lovely little table they had setup for me, but I was still in relatively good spirits when I left.

After lunch, I showed up at Borders across town, and it didn’t seem as if anyone really remembered about me. They quickly set me up at a small table up front with four chairs lined up in front of me. They had asked me if it was a straight signing or if I had a discussion, and I most emphatically answered that I would not be discussing the book—it’s not, after all, that kind of book. So, faced with the chairs, I wasn’t sure what to do. I figured that they’d actually discourage visitors to the table. So…after about five minutes, I asked that they move them.

And then I sat and waited amidst the stillness and quiet of the bookstore. No one was in this store either—a store I had heard was always crowded. Finally I was approached by two women. One asked me where the children’s section was, and the other interrupted with the realization that I was signing my book (which surrounded me on the table). They were very sweet and bought one of the only two books I sold. After that there was a substantial lull—for about an hour. An older couple came over and told me that all sorts of things were going on downtown, and at that point I was about ready to give up.

Within ten minutes, my next and last sale wandered over. He said he’d heard that men should read more romance because men and women see romance so differently. I say, good for him! After him, I signed the balance of books, was assured they’d be placed up front in the store, and beat a hasty retreat, exhausted from the strain of smiling and disappointed in my lack of success. I went shopping.

I will say that my visit to the Barnes and Noble on the west side of town was very satisfying. I stopped in simply to sign the stock on hand, and the Community Relations Manager there was very welcoming, encouraging, and excited for me. I left feeling like a promising new author. Thanks, Gene.