The DH Wants to Write a Book

My hubby has been talking about writing a book for the last year. I “think” he gets that it’s a lot of work. He’s seen the struggles I go through. He’s read my almost all of my work. I say almost, because he refuses to read any m/m.
And he doesn’t plan to write fiction.
I keep encouraging him to GO FOR IT.
There are many reasons I believe he should write this book. One, it will be therapy for him. Two, he has a knack for writing non-fiction. He writes clean, intelligent and thought-provoking material.
So what subject does he want to write about – LOSS. He felt cheated when we lost our son. Things that we weren’t prepared for and most other wouldn’t be. Questions that should’ve been asked. Information that should’ve been shared. He wants to write a book to help others who have gone through or will go through what we experienced.
Personally I hope he writes it. I’m not sure if it will ever see the publishing light and that doesn’t really matter. What matters is he gets to write HIS story, from HIS heart, because he needs to heal.
Hopefully someday he’ll sit down and write that book.
Happy Thursday!

Marianne Stephens

1) How did you start your writing career?
After reading tons of romance books, I decided to try writing one. I knew nothing about the process or industry, but bought a book about writing romance stories. I sent my book to agents and had three ask to read a full or partial. All rejected it. One agent was kind enough to tell me I needed dialogue in my story. I’d written most of it as narrative. I had much to learn. I took some writing weekend seminars and met someone who told me about Romance Writers of America and a local chapter, Mid-America Romance Authors. I began my journey to learn what I needed to learn in order to publish.

2) Tell us about your favorite character from your books.
In “Gone to the Dogs”, I love the heroine, Katie. I wrote the book in first person, and enjoyed being in her head the entire time. I felt a real connection to her! She’s from New York and moves to Kansas, and likes to do everything on her own (all just like me). I adore how she dances around romancing Mike, her fireman hero, but lets true love win.

3) Tell us about your next release.
It’s not a romance book! I’ve ventured into a different realm of writing: nonfiction. I had a nonfiction ebook published in 1999, and this will be my second. “Guilty Survivor – Memoirs of Tamerla Kendall” is a ghostwritten account of her life in Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. It’s amazing what she had to do to survive those three years. Hers is a story of courage, fear, ingenuity, and survival. Difficult choices she made then still disturb her peace of mind and life today.
Tamerla Kendall is the woman you see rooting for her son at sporting practice. You might meet her in a grocery story. Perhaps you’ll see her planting a garden behind her home. Or, talk to her at school or work. She’s a student, worker, wife and mother. Surviving a dark past is hidden by her façade of an everyday, average life. Reading her memoirs will reveal her true struggle to survive in a war zone, and is a testament to her courage.

4) Has someone helped or mentored you in your writing career?

Yes. I credit some friends who nudged me when I was ready to give up…Sandy Marshall and Cheryl Rabin. And, author Carla Cassidy has been a major source of support and help. She gave me some insight into my writing and inspired me to make changes. I sold right after heeding her advice!

5) When was your first sale?
October 2006. I sold “Second Sight Dating” to Ellora’s Cave for their Cerridwen Press imprint. It’s a story about a psychic who runs a dating agency…and the undercover detective who’s assigned to investigate what she does by becoming one of her clients.

6) What is the hardest part of writing your books?
The middle. Even though I have a sentence outline I follow, I always get to that middle section and go brain-dead. I have to stop what I’m doing and wait for days until I can think clearly again.

7) Who are your books published with?
Mainstream romances by Marianne Stephens: http://www.breathlesspress.com/ and http://www.jasminejade.com/m-310-marianne-stephens.aspx (Was Cerridwen but now Blush)
Erotic romances by April Ash: http://www.jasminejade.com/m-441-april-ash.aspx (Ellora’s Cave)
Nonfiction by Marianne Stephens: http://secretcravingspublishing.com/MarianneStephens.html

8) Do you use a pen name? If so, how did you come up with it?
Marianne is my “real” first name, but Stephens is not my “real” last name. My “real” last name is always mispronounced and sometimes not spelled correctly by others….so I became Marianne Stephens. When I started writing erotic romances, I decided to add a new pen name. I choose April Ash since it was short and easy to put on promotional items!

9) What are your favorite TV shows?
NCIS, CSI (all of them), Psych, Numb3rs, Fox News, Kansas City Chiefs football games, and NY Mets baseball games.

10) Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they?
Don’t change your voice, but be willing to listen to advice. If you can’t accept constructive criticism, you won’t do well with critique groups. Remember that well-known authors can “get away” with some certain styles or techniques that beginners need to avoid. Don’t head-hop and watch dialogue tags.

Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
First, I’d like to thank Amber for doing my interview! Readers can visit my websites: http://www.mariannestephens.net/ or http://www.aprilash.net/ . I can also be found at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancebooksrus , http://romancebooksrus.blogspot.com/ , and http://alldayallnightromancedivas.blogspot.com/

Being Flexible

I'm a very laid back person. I don't like confrontation, so if I can avoid it, I will. BUT that's not to say that I won't stand my ground on something I feel strongly about - especially my children.
Recently an editor for a magazine I write for assigned me an article. I was about to start writing said article, when I received an email that basically said - "did you start the article, because I just received one on the subject from someone else I'd like to use. I'd like to give you a different assignment."
Luckily for me I hadn't. I did do all the research and I literally WAS about to start writing it. I just went with the flow and agreed to the new assignment. Now this article is higher paying and a feature - but it's longer. I'm having some difficulties finding enough information to sustain a teens attention. UGH!
I know I'll prevail and write the article. I'll find some tidbit of information to make it more interesting, but I'll have to dig deep.
The bottom line here, was the editor thanked me for being flexible. She appreciated that I didn't fight her, because she did give me the option to submit my original article. I had no clue what she was offering when I agreed to take the new assignment, but I knew I wanted to continue writing for this magazine.
Of course not every situation will be as simple as that one, but in this business you need to be flexible.
So off to request some expert resource advice...I have a long day ahead of me. :)

Lots of News to Share

I’m back! Sorry for not posting much, but frankly the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010 was a whirlwind. I’m still trying to piece together all the things that happened in a ten day span.
BUT, through all the unhappiness there has been some good news in my life that I want to share with all my friends, fans and readers of my blog.
1. My editor at Noble Romance gave me an extension on the January 1st deadline for the Valentine’s Day submission. I’m happy to say that I finally submitted it yesterday. It’s an M/M short called Naughty Cupid.
2. I received my first contract of the New Year from Aspen Mountain Press, along with the edits!!! Wild Lickins is the first M/M I wrote about a year ago. It’s tentatively scheduled for a February 19th release.
3. I also received my first non-fiction assignment for 2010. An article on Car Surfing for a teen magazine I write for. She also hinted that a few of my other ideas might be assigned in the coming weeks.
4. Today I’m hoping to finish revising Research Required for my editor at Ellora’s Cave.
So, needless to say I’m keeping busy and thankful for the distractions. I have enough work to get me thru the month of January. Now if only I could do some actual writing! I have a ton of story ideas brewing, but can’t seem to get them on paper. I guess that’s for another day.