Word count anyone?

Whenever you go to a publisher's submission guidelines, you see that the publisher is looking for stories that fit between certain word counts, and if you submit a story that isn't in that certain word count, they'll flat out reject it. This alone is enough to make one stare at the word count meter on their word processor, but after a dose of Nano on top of those publisher guidelines, the problem can lead to obsession over word count, as an author friend and I discussed a couple of days ago.

Then there're the authors who go by page count. I know of ones who focus more on that than word count, and they're probably just as bad about having to get to that certain page count. Sweat with Sven follows this pattern of having to write 4-6 pages a day. They as well translate that into word count at the end though.

Another friend said to just write the story and submit it based on the length it happens to be. But is that realistic? How about after you've already gotten a book published and you're writing the sequel? I don't think it's that easy, especially if one is looking to get a novel published. I have to have a goal in front of me to get there.

Word counts are a necessary evil, but how do you handle juggling a good story and fitting it into a certain word count for publisher guidelines? Is there such a thing as being obsessed over word counts? Have you felt this way? Do you agree with my friend that you should just write the story and submit based on the length it happens to get to? Let me know. *smiles*

Please Welcome Author...Katie Reus!

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us. Katie’s newest release is City of Secrets. City of Secrets, her full length romantic suspense novel became available in digital and print format in May 2008!

GIVE ME ALL WEBSITES WHERE YOU CAN BE FOUND, WHERE YOUR BOOKS CAN BE PURCHASED, ETC.

www.katiereus.com
www.katiereus.blogspot.com
The Wild Rose Press – www.thewildrosepress.com
Ellora’s Cave – www.ellorascave.com

1. When/how did you know you wanted to write?

KATIE: When I finished Lauren Weisberger’s novel Everyone Worth Knowing, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Since I don’t want to spoil the end, I’ll just say that at the end of the book, the heroine motivated me to follow my dreams. I’ve always loved reading romance and had thought that writing would be fun, but I never had the motivation to actually try it until that book.

2. How long did it take you to become published?

KATIE: A little over two years.

3. Who are some of your favorite authors?

KATIE: I have many so I’ll narrow it down to three. Linda Howard, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Elizabeth Jennings (she also w/a Lisa Marie Rice). They all know how to write the kind of men women love.

4. Many authors are doing strictly e-books, do you think this is just a trend, or does it spell the end of real books?

KATIE: I think that at least for the next century, the world will always have a place for paper and e-books. I think e-books are the wave of the future, but I think it’s a long time coming until paper books are considered a secondary choice instead of a first. This is just my opinion, but there’s such a problem with internet e-book piracy and I think this will motivate publishers to stay with print a lot longer, among other reasons.

5. How long does it take for you to write books?

KATIE: For a full length, 3-4 months. (not including editing, lol) I have a full time job and a full time husband, but I consider writing my second ‘job’.

6. Do you see yourself writing in the same genre in 10 years? If not then what?

KATIE: Honestly, I don’t know. I just know I’ll be writing what I love in ten years. I write romantic suspense because I love it. If that changes, then I’ll be writing something new.

7. What advice do you give to those who are just starting out or trying to become published?

KATIE: I say this in every interview. Don’t take rejection personally. Publishing is a subjective business. Sometimes I find this advice hard to take myself, but it’s so very true.

8. What is your favorite part of writing?

KATIE: I love writing internal conflicts between characters and adding life threatening external conflicts just makes the story that much more exciting. I majored in psychology so I love dissecting what makes people tick. The way people react under dangerous circumstances says a lot about who they are.

9. Do you have any projects you are currently working on?

KATIE: I just finished a category type romantic suspense and an erotic novella. I’m looking for homes for both of them. Currently, I’m about a quarter of the way through a single title romantic suspense.

10. Did it take a lot of rejections for you to finally get published or was it pretty easy for you?

KATIE: I have a thick file folder full of rejections. The first manuscript I submitted to the world is still gathering dust, and will probably never see the light of day. J All those rejections were my first real lesson in how tough this business is. I found a quote that I’ve taped to my computer as a reminder to keep striving toward my goals. “If you don’t get a rejection at least once a day, you’re not trying hard enough.”

11. Do you write your stories out with pencil and paper first or do you work straight on the computer?

KATIE: I’m a computer girl all the way! Sometimes if I get stumped or have a block, I’ll pull out a notebook and write longhand, but only until I get back into a scene. I type much faster than I could ever write.

12. Getting back to your books coming out soon. Tell us a little about what to expect from them.

KATIE: Running from the Past is an erotica novella that will be released from Ellora’s Cave September 10, 2008. Here’s a quick blurb:

Miami socialite, Emma Garcia has been running from who she is her entire life. When she witnesses a horrific crime, she goes on the run. In desperation, she answers an ad for a chef on a remote horse farm in the middle of nowhere Florida. It seems like the perfect plan until she figures out what to do with her secrets. The only thing she doesn’t count on is being attracted to the rugged cowboy who owns the place. Whenever he comes around the only thing she can focus on is his seductive voice and sinful body.

Retired Marine, Caleb Ryder hires Emma even though he knows she’s lying about her identity. He desperately needs the help, but he also doesn’t have the heart to turn away a woman so obviously in need. After being burned by a woman once, he doesn’t let that deter his mission to claim Emma’s body and heart.

Randomly enough, I also have another release on September 10 from The Wild Rose Press. Here’s the blurb from Trust No One:

World renowned singer Calista Kingston leads a charmed life, but when a sadistic killer marks her as his next target, she turns to an unlikely ally for protection. The one man ruthless enough to guard her is also the man responsible for the death of her best friend. Sexual sparks fly when circumstances force them to share a roof, and Calista can’t deny her growing lust for the last man she ever expected to want.

Retired CIA agent Dane Leven accepts the security job to protect Calista out of guilt. He thought he was prepared for anything, but he’s blindsided by his unexpected and unwanted attraction to Calista. A relationship is the last thing he needs, yet the longer he’s around her, being hers forever is all that matters. Unfortunately, he’s harboring a secret that could tear them apart. When this job is over, will she forgive his ultimate deception?

13. When and where can we purchase your books?

KATIE: City of Secrets can be purchased in digital format at www.thewildrosepress.com, or any other e-book provider such as Fictionwise. It’s also available in print on Amazon.

Trust No One will be available in digital format from The Wild Rose Press next month and soon after, will also be available in print.

Running From the Past will be available in digital format only from Ellora’s Cave.

Please Welcome Author...Aislinn Kerry

Thank you for taking the time to interview with us. Aislinn’s newest release is All that Glitters, which came out in April 2008.

http://www.aislinnkerry.com

http://samhainpublishing.com/authors/aislinn-kerry

http://loose-id.com/searchresult.aspx?CategoryID=412

http://www.freyasbower.com/content/view/230/102/

1. When/how did you know you wanted to write?

AISLINN: The real defining moment came to me suddenly in eighth grade. I had just finished reading The Sleeping Dragon, by Joel Rosenberg, and I said to myself, "I'm going to write a book like that!" And I did (except that it wasn't at all like that!). For a long time, I thought it was strange how abruptly the urge to write had come to me, like turning a switch. It wasn't until years later that I realized that I'd always enjoyed writing when I had the opportunity to do so in school. My mom still has a story that I wrote in kindergarten about a turtle!

2. How long did it take you to become published?

AISLINN: About eight years. But bear in mind -- I was thirteen when I started! I think part of the reason it took so long is that, when you start that young, it's not just your writing skills that need developing, but also the complexity of your ideas. And there's no way to gain that except through time and experience. The novels that I wrote when I was a young teen were an awful lot of fun, but quite terrible, for all that I thought they were brilliant at the time. I look at what I wrote then, and what I'm writing now, and there's no way I could have even conceived of a plot like this when I was thirteen, much less written it.

I've got no complaints about the way I went about it, though. Being able to write in the margins of my notebook saved my sanity in many a high school class. And while it did take me many years to achieve publication, the flip side of that is that I have three books published, and I'm younger than many writers are when they first start writing at all.

3. Who are some of your favorite authors?

AISLINN: Jacqueline Carey. I just love the richness of her world and the complexity of her plots. C.E. Murphy writes an urban fantasy heroine who kicks butt without being a stereotype, and I adore her Negotiator trilogy. Emma Bull absolutely blew me away with War for the Oaks. She makes me want to learn how to play guitar, just so I can experience what Eddi does when she plays.

4. How long does it usually take for you to research a book?

AISLINN: I write fantasy (both contemporary and secondary world), so my books don't require as much research as, say, historical romance. Usually I weave my researching in with my writing, digging up information as I discover that I need it. The book I'm currently working on, though, is a bit of a departure for me. Its based on biblical mythology and the Book of Enoch, so I spent several weeks researching information in those areas before I felt my premise had developed to something rich and complex enough to begin working on. I can't see spending much more time than that on it, though. I'm a total magpie when it comes to writing. A shiny idea will catch my interest, and I just want to run with it as fast and as far as I can before my inspiration runs out.

5. How long does it take for you to write books?

AISLINN: It depends on the length of the book and how hard the muse has gripped me, but I'm generally a quick writer. All that Glitters is a novella that took me about a month to write. On the other hand, my current project, tentatively titled Egregore, is probably going to end up at about 120,000 words, and I'm looking at about three months for that.

6. Do you see yourself writing in the same genre in 10 years? If not then what?

AISLINN: I can't see myself not writing fantasy, or romance. Ever. Even when I try not to write those genres, they slip in! I finally thought I might have found a romance-free project with Egregore, but nope -- romance snuck in on that one, too.

7. Where do your story ideas come from? Do you use people you know as characters sometimes or even sometimes a certain event from real life happenings?

AISLINN: I've only once intentionally based a character off of a real person in my life, when I modeled a heroine's mom off of my own. Sad to say, my characters' lives are usually much more exciting than mine.

I get a lot of my inspiration from mythology. In All that Glitters, the antagonist is a monster from Welsh folklore. Psyche is a modern-day retelling of the Greek myth of Psyche and Eros. Egregore is inspired heavily by myths about fallen angels. I just love the idea of taking something old and familiar and making it new and different.

8. What is your favorite part of writing?

AISLINN: My absolute favorite part of writing is when my characters step up to the mike and surprise me. I do a lot of plotting and outlining before I start writing, but I love it when my characters take the story into their own hands and start directing me, instead of the other way around. Some of my favorite scenes are the ones that my characters came up with all on their own.

9. Do you write your stories out with pencil and paper first or do you work straight on the computer?

AISLINN: Up until the past two months, I did virtually all of my writing directly onto the computer, and only wrote longhand when I didn't have access to my laptop. 90% of Egregore has been written longhand, though, during my lunch breaks at work. It's definitely been quite a change for me.

10. You just recently were published. How does it make you feel?

AISLINN: It's surreal and amazing. For so many years, the only people who have read my books have been family and friends. The idea that there are complete strangers out there reading and enjoying the stories that have come out of my head is just awe-inspiring.

11. How do you feel about fans doing fan fiction and/or roleplaying on the web based on your or other author's works?

AISLINN: It would probably make my entire week! There have been a handful of books and TV shows that have inspired me so much that I've wanted to write fan fiction based on them, and as far as I'm concerned, if anyone is similarly inspired by my work, they're more than welcome to.

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Disclaimer (because we don't have a choice): The views expressed by the guest blogger do not necessarily reflect those of The Deadly Vixens.