Into every writer’s life, a little review must fall. When you write books, people are going to review them. It’s a simple law of nature.

Now, a lot of writers, maybe even most writers, can’t resist reading their reviews. It might even be possible (and this is a pure guess) that some writers enjoy reading reviews of their books. I am not one of those writers.

Don’t get me wrong. I think reviewers provide a valuable service to the buying public. Why not hear what someone else has to say about a movie, book, or play? Reviewing is an art form in and of itself and I appreciate it as such.

I just can’t bear to read reviews of my own books. It’s too much information for me, even if it’s good information, and I need the solitude of my own vision to create books. I don’t even write with a critique group. It’s just me and the voices in my head and that’s the way I like it. In fact, that’s the only way I can write.

Someone once said, “Protect the work.” It was probably Nora Roberts because she says lots of wise things. Reading reviews not only damages the work, it damages my process. What choice do I have? I have to protect the work and I have to guard the process. That’s the way books are made in the land of Claudia Dain.

But here’s the weird thing, over at DearAuthor. com, a review site that I avoid the way I do all review sites, Jane created a Lego video review of The Courtesan’s Daughter that is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. How did I know it was there if I avoid review sites? My editor told me. See, review sites hold no fear for her. Maybe her Fear Factor is rabid authors…okay, why am I laughing?

Anyway, The Courtesan’s Daughter, my first book out in 3 years, will be available in about a week and, naturally, the reviews are starting to appear. Even more naturally, I’m getting more head-in-the-sand by the day. But this review, this Dear Author review, is fun. When was the last time you read a fun and entertaining review? Go check it out. I think you’ll be as charmed as I was.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/09/07/video-review-courtesans-daughter-by-claudia-dain-part-1-of-4/

So what about reviews? Do you read them? Do you believe them? Are you a review addict or are you in recovery?

58 Comments »

I love romance novels. I’ve been reading them for years — since I was 14, in fact. I began with Georgette Heyer and moved on from there. I tend to read everywhere, in the line at the grocery store, at the dentist, on the train . . . thus, over the years, I’ve heard every slam against romance you can imagine.

You know the comments. I’m sure all of you have heard them in one form or another.

Frankly, I’m tired of this prejudice. Therefore, to stem the tide of the unknowing, I’ve prepared a Comeback Primer to help us all get over these awkward moments and still Make A Point.

So put on your shining gold breastplates, lift up your spears and shields, and repeat the following answers in your clearest, strongest voice:

Comment:
“Oh you’re reading one of THOSE kind of books.”

Answer:
“Yes, the GOOD kind, about romance and love and commitment. You should try one sometime!”

Comment:
“I prefer MORE SERIOUS reading.”

Answer:
“I’m glad you’re able to put some meaning into your life through fiction. Personally, my real life is so fulfilling that if I want to, I can read books just for pleasure.”

Comment:
“Oh, a smut-book!”

Answer:
“Actually, no. This is a book about monogamy and love and commitment. If you want smut, the Penthouse magazines are behind the counter wrapped in brown paper.”

Comment:
“Oh honey, my Roger would KILL me if I read those kinds of books. Why next I’ll be expecting him to ride up on a white horse and sweep me away!”

Answer:
“Tell Roger to keep murder mysteries out of the house rather than romance novels because those could REALLY give you ideas.”

What about you? Have you ever been put into the position of donning righteous armor and Defending The Genre? Does it make you hot under the collar when someone makes cracks about the romance genre? And have you noticed how many of our critics have never read a romance book and yet feel free to make disparaging comments?

59 Comments »

I got a phone call from my agent two or so weeks ago. After some chit-chat, the following transpired:
Agent: Suz, I have something kind of…awkward to discuss with you.
Me: (Oh God, she doesn’t want to represent me anymore!!!!) Just go ahead and tell me.
Agent: Okay. You…need to get new author photos taken.
Me: But I’m fat now! What’s wrong with my current pictures?
Agent: They’re fine. They’re great, in fact. You just…you look too…friendly.
Me: Friendly?
Agent: Yes. You’re in a different place now, and I think something more sophisticated would serve you better.
Me: Okay. I can be sophisticated. I think.

So I called my hair stylist and made an appointment, because when I’m on deadline I tend to get a little shaggy. Then I called my youngest sister and nominated her to be my unpaid photography coordinator. She found a great local photographer for me, and yesterday we did the shoot. Dina Marie (of http://www.dinamariephotography.com/ ) came to my house, which I had diligently shoveled clean, but my walls are all white. Decorated, but white.

Dina (this is not her) specializes in natural light photography, and she had envisioned something more dramatic than white walls. So my unpaid photography coordinator suggested we visit a local high-end model home. We hopped in the car and off we went. The realtor gave us a thumbs up, so we spent the next hour in a home with wall-sized aquariums, wood-paneled libraries, and accessories that were hard to move out of the way because they were glued down.

My cheeks are tired now from smiling in a sophisticated, coy (but not friendly) manner, and if I may say so, my pretend house made a great setting. I can’t show you any of the pictures yet, but hopefully I’ll have them in the next week or so. The ones she showed me in the camera looked amazingly good.

Have you or anyone you know ever had pictures taken professionally? Those cute kid photos, or family portraits? Was it a painful experience, or were you happy with the results?

39 Comments »

I am a creature of habit.  I will freely admit to this fact.  It is both annoying and comforting.   Sometimes I want to live on the edge, to try something new!  But 99.44% of the time I go with the tried and true.

DH and I will sometimes go out for dinner.  He’ll always say, “What do you want to eat?”  Now I have been married to this man for more than 20 years.  He knows what I like.  Still he is chivalrous enough to ask (and perhaps hopeful that ONCE he’ll get a different answer).  I say, “Steak.”  He nods.  It’s what I like.

Ice cream.  Ahhh….  I am an ice cream connoisseur and the trip to the neighborhood ice cream stand is a rare treat.  I will stand at the counter, looking at the sign longingly.  All those flavors, so little time.  And in the end I say, “Mocha chip, please.”  It’s what I like.  I will, on rare occasions, choose something else like Black Raspberry Chip, but this is when the Mocha Chip is out of stock (Le gasp! Oh, the horror!)  FYI, this picture is of Graeter’s Ice Cream.  In my studied Ice Cream Connoisseur opinion, this Cincinnati ice cream is the best I’ve ever tasted.  It’s what I like.

Mr. R, on the other hand, loves variety.  He goes to the Big City and stares, wide-eyed at all the restaurants.  Thai, Indian, Tibetan , Ethiopian … He’s in food choice heaven.   Me?  Steak.  Burgers and fries.  It’s what I like.

And by gum, I like it that way.  I got tired of apologizing for it.  Now, if it’s Mr. R’s turn to choose, I don’t complain.  Not out loud anyway.  Okay, not too loudly.  And he saves his really weird restaurant trips for outings with the kids or his uncle, who is his cohort in weird food tasting. 

Sometimes I wish I were more adventurous.  I have eaten lots of weird food in my travels, either out of hunger or so as not to dishonor my host.  But at the end of the day, I like what I like and it’s what I come back to and that’s comforting.

I like to read.  I like romance.  Occasionally I’ll peruse the bookstore to see if a title from another genre catches my eye, but in the end I wander back to Romance and buy … what I like.

So are you a creature of habit?  Or do you like to walk on the wild side?  Have you tried every ice cream flavor on the sign (even the dill pickle)?  Or are you a Vanilla kind of person?  What do you like?

63 Comments »

Remember me talking about writing a tie-in novel to the soap, The Guiding Light? It’s the story of what happened to popular bad-boy, Jonathan Randall, after he faked his death by driving off a cliff, as well as what happened to a couple of current stars of the show, Reva Shayne and Alan Spaulding. It goes on sale tomorrow!

It’s been a great trip—they are currently running a story line on the show that comes directly from the book, and it is such a blast to watch and hear stuff from a book I wrote come out of the actor’s mouths. It’s a clever idea, this book, and it was all Guiding Light’s idea. Maybe that’s why they won the daytime Emmy for best dramatic series and best writing.

I watched the daytime Emmys a couple of months ago to see how the soap would fare. When they won, I was so excited—I actually worked with some of those people!

Okay, well…not really worked with them. They edited my book to make sure the characters were true to the show. I never actually met or had a convo with any of them—it was all done through my editor. But still, I felt like I knew them.

So last night, I am watching the Emmys thinking, wouldn’t it be a hoot if my book and Guiding Light got nominated again for best story line or some bogus category like that, and I got to go to the Emmys? I jumped into that fantasy feet first until I began to think of what I would wear…

What would I wear? Did you see some of the gowns from last night’s Emmys? My days of wearing sleek and form fitting are long gone. Empire waists, like the girl from Heroes wore, is out of the question. Or anything that accentuates the bottom area, like Catherine Heigel—no way, not this bottom. Halter, strapless, or sphagetti straps? I shudder to think of the consequences.

Yeah, I think its best for all if I just sit back in my shorts and flip flops on any Emmy night and fantasize.

But what about those Emmy gowns? Did you have a favorite? A pick for the worst? Was there a favorite show of yours that won or was cut out? And if you are Guiding Light fan, please don’t forget Jonathan’s Story on sale tomorrow!

31 Comments »

Here it is, once again it’s For Refreshment Only Sunday on lovely Mt. Olympus. Today we have an ABsolutely fABulous FROS for all of you weary goddesses!

Yes, it’s a virtual plethora of ABlicious ABs!

These abs belong to the following men who, by virtue of possessing these abs, have won the title of “hunks.” Clockwise from the top left picture, you have,

Matthew McConaughey (yes, yes, YES!), Lance Armstrong (yum!), David Beckham, Matt Lauer (I know! I was surprised at that one myself!), Hugh Jackman (pant, pant!), and Jude Law (niiiice!).

All together now, “FROS is ABsolutely fABulous!!!”

18 Comments »

…and the mall is not an option!

When it comes to taking a breather, one of those mini-vacations that may last a day or a long weekend, I’ve concluded that people fall into very messy, not at all scientific, categories.

There’s City, Country, or Resort (which would include a cruise). City people tend to like to vacate to the country, country people to the city, and suburban people to a resort.

Then there’s the question of what type of country/resort/city destination people like: Beach, Lake, or Mountain.

Here’s where it gets very interesting because there doesn’t seem to be a lot of crossover. Beach people want the beach. They aren’t going to get their relaxation fix on a lake. Mountain people don’t care about the water experience. Lake people don’t like the sand and salt of the beach.

I have known one person whose weekend destination of choice was hiking in the desert. I figure he’s a complete abberation and he has not been factored into my intensely non-scientific research on this topic.

So, what are you? Beach, Lake, Mountain? City, Country, Resort?

39 Comments »

In honor of my upcoming Regency trilogy, The Courtship Wars, I decided to totally revamp my website by this fall. So after interviewing over a dozen designers and design firms, I settled on a firm that I thought: 1) would best fit me and my books in terms of the image and tone I want to convey, and 2) could create something a little fresh and unique and not just same-old, same-old.  

I’m delighted to say they came up with a home page for me that I adore (see image on left).

 But we’re still going round and round about the design and content of the secondary pages… what the pages should look like, how they should function, and what they should contain.

Since this will be my third website, I have some very specific ideas about what I think should be on my new inside pages (okay, I’ll also admit to being a control freak ). But I thought I should ask my fellow goddesses for your opinions, since I’m sure you have some good advice I can use!

Let me also add that this firm has done website designs for lots of authors, including some huge names, but they’ve never designed any sites for romance authors. And I’ve had to stress to them that romance readers are very picky in their desires and expectations… and what works for general fiction authors may not be entirely right for romance authors.

For example, they’re big believers in getting all the content for one page to fit on your computer screen so you don’t have to scroll down. But my book excerpts are just getting started with one screen page! I’m not even sure a back cover blurb would fit on one screen.

I’d love to know if you agree, and what you think is important for the websites you frequent. What content for the home page and secondary pages? What works and doesn’t work? Is uniqueness a priority, or do you not care as long as the basics are covered? Should the page content fit on the screen, or do you mind scrolling down a ways?

So please tell me, what do you like to see on a romance author’s website? If you have a website of your own, what do you like best about yours? Any other advice for me when I’m telling the designers what I want and don’t want?

49 Comments »

Most authors are control freaks. That’s why I write, anyway, so I can tell EVERYONE in my book EXACTLY WHAT TO DO.

I love that.

What’s cool is that I sense that some of you, my fellow goddesses, have some of the same tendencies I do. In fact, I’m convinced that some of you like to ‘orchestrate’ life whenever the chance arises. Therefore, I thought it would be fun if we all Played Goddess today and enjoyed one of my favorite games called “Match Maker.”

And yes, I match make in my private life, too. I’ve tried to fix up Suzanne Enoch with my brother a million times, but nooooo . . . she wants a man who ‘lives in the same city.’ Picky, that Suzanne Enoch. Just picky!

Anyway, below are five gorgeous guys and five gorgeous gals. For the guys we have Brad Pitt, Pierce Brosnan, Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Jude Law.

And for the gals we have Halle Berry, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Garner, and Julianne Moore.

Who would you match to who and why?

43 Comments »

As a teenager, I was a nerd. (Okay, I’m still a nerd, but stay with me.) I spent most of my evenings doing homework or reading, or taping Battlestar Galactica with a tape recorder (before VCRs). The three girls in my family are a total of four years apart in age. The point being, I never babysat in my life. Never.

In my twenties, small children made me nervous. They might ask questions for which I had no answers. Were you allowed to lie to them? Would it screw them up if an adult said “I don’t know” to something? Fictional kids, I could deal with. I liked writing kids. I still do. They’re almost as fun as rakes.

And then my youngest sister got married. She’s now the mother of two boys, aged 1 3/4 and 5 ½. I have now changed poopy diapers, wiped goopy noses, and caught baby barf in my bare hands. I’ve been the recipient of grasshoppers and secrets about toilet-paper-roll and tape birthday presents.

I’m babysitting tonight, so mommy and daddy can go to the oldest’s kindergarten back-to-school night. I have the essentials ready: washable color markers, Play-Doh, and the Geotrax train set that’s spread over half my family-room floor.

Were you a babysitter? Did you ever go through that nervous stage when you were around kids? If you’re a mom, was it an easy role to fall into, or were you dragged kicking and screaming?

45 Comments »