Aphrodisia Authors :: Blog

RWA National Conference is but weeks away and after the terrible flooding in Tennessee, the members are lucky to be going! What a fabulous job the organization did to get us moved within days.

The gigantic (can we say humongous?) Autographing for Literacy is one of my favorite events. http://www.rwanational.org/cs/literacy_autographing

I’ll be there with copies of my HQ Blaze, Possessing Morgan (if still available)

One rockin' road...

I’ll also have my December release from Aphrodisia, Breathless to sign.

December 2009 - Perdition House one more time!

As a bonus, anyone who stops by to visit me will receive a signed cover flat of MEN TIMES THREE complete with an excerpt tucked inside. Credit goes to my husband for suggesting our book cover flats are just big

Coming October 2010!

So, please, if you’re attending this event (Wednesday, July 28, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney World® Dolphin Resort, Pacific Exhibit Hall)come find me: I’ll be sitting between Cynthia Eden and Louisa Edwards who I’m sure will have line ups in front of them. I’ll be the lonely blonde wedged between their crowds. Stop by, say Hi and I’ll likely talk your ear off!

Life’s sweet, enjoy it!

Bonnie Edwards

Ambition is a strong desire for achievement, rank, success or power, according to several dictionaries.

According to writers? The strong desire is to be published. Early on, it’s to sell a first book, to be validated as a writer or some more personal goal.

As time moves on ambitions change or maybe ambition changes us. I’m not entirely sure what happens first. I just know my goals have changed. What seemed totally unattainable a few short years ago, have now happened.

Recently I went to dinner with a group of writers. We represented erotic romance, romantic suspense, category romance, historical and Regency romance. We’ve written novellas, single titles, trade paper, even a couple of non-fiction books. We’ve all published multiple books with multiple houses. (Wow, don’t we sound like an impressive lot – before writing this I’d have said a bunch of buddies got together at a local restaurant to eat, drink and be merry, but suddenly it sounds like some lit’ray function.)

As we took our seats and ordered drinks, we cheered and called ourselves “survivors” for having been in publishing for a number of years. The talk turned to careers, the business, the changes in the business (the only constant in publishing is change itself).

In the midst of our rambling convoluted conversation I said, “Ambition’s the bitch. No matter that 2 years ago I sold 3 books in a matter of days, I want more and I want it now.”

Yes! Ambition’s what drives us all. We’ve had our thrills, our successes and for a time we were happy with deadlines and plots and characters. But then, ambition worms its way into our thoughts, and we want the next sale, the next hurdle in our personal journey.

For women to be described as ambitious isn’t always flattering. In fact, sometimes it’s read to mean something rather less than feminine. Ambitious women are often shown as, well, um, bitchy, power mad, and manipulative.

But for writers those things can’t help. Bitchiness gets you nothing but disliked. There’s no such thing as real power in publishing for writers because writers have no control over changes in the marketplace. As for being manipulative? You get to manipulate your characters/story/pacing/plotlines all you want so that’s out of your system by the end of every day anyway.

But without ambition, the writers at that table wouldn’t sit down and do the work every day. We wouldn’t dream our dreams, write the stories, do the work that ambition demands.

Ambition’s the bitch that bites us, that rides us, that we feed, that we harbor.

Personally, I love my inner bitch. She takes me places I’d never have been without her.

During the first weeks of January, my dh and I chose to leave our rainy, dreary home to venture south for some sun. Our destination was anywhere the sun was shining in California.

Huh. (We bumped into every rainstorm they had! Not to mention snow going over Mt. Shasta.)

First stop, Burbank (signed a copy of Breathless in the downtown B&N)where we had a ball going to the Jay Leno Show. Understand, this was the first week all the kerfuffle started with Jay, Conan O’Brien and their network. All the way south we wondered if Jay would be there come Monday.

He was. The show was great, and Bill Cosby (another fave) was his guest. Mr. Cosby is a wonderful storyteller: rambling, touching and very funny.

But rather than try to negotiate the freeways in any downpours of rain, we chose to head to the desert. I found copies of Breathless, Built and Pure Sex in a Borders store and B & N.

Clerks in bookstores are always so nice to me…mostly because I joked about the cover of Breathless this time. My joke?

Hold up the book, say “I’m her…well, not her, (move finger to bottom of book and point out my name) I’m HER. Not on my best days did I ever look like the photo.”

Still available (signed in bookstores all over California!)

Lots of chuckles about beautiful cover art…and then, like magic those clerks warmed up, felt comfy and let me sign away. One person asked me for identification and I have to wonder how often they get impostors coming in to sign books, but once I handed him my card, he believed me. Luckily he didn’t ask me to quote any of the love scenes because I tend to write those in the zone and rarely remember them clearly.

Everywhere we went I stopped at bookstores and signed whatever stock they had. What a wonderful way to spend my vacation.

I have to add that I swung into a Borders store in San Francisco and the clerk ran away to get the Customer Service Rep…who proclaimed her love of romance authors. Seems she recalls about 30 of them descending on the store during the Romance Writers of America conference in 2008. She told me we’re the nicest bunch of authors she’s ever met. (I have to say she’s right.) She was thrilled to have me stop in. (Hey, I’m tickled pink to see my books on the shelves so we’re even!)

I’m counting down the weeks now to the release of my Harlequin Blaze, Possessing Morgan. I’m thrilled!

Possessing Morgan will be available March 1 everywhere!

In stores March 1

I don’t know why I get ranty at this time of year, but I tend to.

One year I posted about Blue Christmas and how some people just grind their teeth waiting for the holiday to be over. A New Year beckons and they can start fresh, their painful memories of Christmas past behind them for another too-short year.

Like many people, I have elderly folks in my life. They live in a Manor (aka retirement home with nursing staff) and like most of these places, there will be a Christmas party.

There will be a volunteer on a piano or organ. There will be red and green crackers at the tables and festive table centerpieces. There will be a trimmed tree that sparkles with twinkly lights. There will be eggnog and fruitcake.

There will be Santa.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas as much as the next person. I took my pup for a picture with Santa this year because the proceeds went to my local SPCA. I smile and laugh at little children in the mall with Santa. I sing carols. I hum along to canned Christmas music in the mall.

I even love The Little Drummer Boy and play it every year. There’s something about giving your best and doing your best that resonates with me. And Porky Pig’s version of Blue Christmas cracks me up every time I hear it.

But Santa in an old age home? Oh, please. He walks in ho-ho-hoing and tossing teddy bears hither and yon. He speaks to these residents as if they’re 3 ½ years old.

Last year was my first experience in this place for this party. I was appalled. But eerily, I think I was alone in that reaction. My dh was fine with Santa patronizing every lady and gentleman in the place.

If these people could smack that elf upside the head they would. If they could run the other way, they would. If they knew what the hell this guy was saying they’d spit in his eye.

It’s undignified to treat people like children when they’ve worked all their lives, raised their own families, then found themselves so infirm that they have to put up with some stranger in a red frigging suit yelling at them and clapping his hands when they try to look past him and scream in silence to be freed.

Just because people are confused about what day it is, or who their loved ones are, doesn’t mean they’ve reverted to childhood. It means they’re confused and/or forgetful… or medicated.

It does not mean it’s okay to clap in their faces and ooh and aahh at them like little children.

The elderly people in my life didn’t much care for the frivolity of Christmas even in their best years. Why force them to put up with it now?

Why can’t there be a lovely meal? Some carols playing? A dignified remembrance of the Christmases that came before? A slideshow from family members perhaps? Old home movies playing from the different families? Warm fuzzies would work for me. I’d be touched and very pleased to walk down memory lane with residents.

End of rant. See you again with a new one next Christmas.

My latest book is now out on the shelves and I’ve blogged all over the net about it for two whole weeks.

Here now, I guess I should be all rah-rah about it again. So, here goes: Breathless is now available everywhere. Please go buy it and make my Christmas bright. (Just don’t clap in my face or toss me a teddy bear – I’m not old enough for that . . . yet.)

Here’s wishing you the joy of the season, the love and warmth of family and friends and the happiest New Year you can imagine.

Thanks so much to all the Aphrodisia readers who keep coming back to this blog and our site to cheer us on!

And please share your own warm fuzzy Christmas memories. One lucky commenter will win an autographed copy of BREATHLESS to keep you warm all the way through January. Check back in the comments section on the 10th when I announce the winner…maybe two…what the heck, tis the season of joy and generosity.

September is a month of renewal for many people. Renewed routine, renewed dedication to work, renewed gym memberships. After all, outdoor sports may be curtailed in the coming winter. Summer’s end brings routine back into our lives and turns our thoughts to cozy evenings.

For me, this month will mean a flurry of working to deadline on my next book for Aphrodisia. We’re tossing around titles at the moment, flitting from one to another as they come to me. I don’t know as yet, whether the marketing folks have considered a short list my editor likes or not.

I’m also looking forward to meeting my editor in person for the first time at a conference in early October. Maybe we’ll share a drink and a few chuckles and find the perfect title for my story about three log home builders. Ahhh! Those O’Banion men have stolen my heart. I hope they steal the hearts of readers, too.

I’m also deep into revisions on another book. So, two at once, using the same kind of energy. I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Another thing I need to prepare for are the classes I teach in the fall. For eight weeks, I teach writing for two hours one evening a week.

Still a few weeks away, the course is beginning to take up space in my mind. Not the course so much as the unknown students. Will I have a couple of earnest and talented romance writers? A scriptwriter who wants to try his hand at novels, perhaps. Some “almost there” literary and Science Fiction or Fantasy writers who want to find the push to complete their first or third manuscript. A poet or two who wants some creative energy to spark a new direction?

Or will I have another writer who doesn’t actually write, but who has the entire story in her head… and loves to talk about it endlessly. (I got points last time for not letting her go on for too long and not looking bored when I stopped her.) Please folks, if you’re going to take a writing class, write. Otherwise, it’s a lot of hot air. Honest.

One of the things I’ve done lately to prepare myself for my upcoming challenging weeks, is get a new pup. Pup, you say? How can the added work of training a pup prepare you for the challenge of finishing your 4th draft of one book, your 3rd set of revisions on another book, and prep for a teaching gig?

Easy. My days are now spent with a smile on my face. I’m happier, more active, and more productive because of this pup than I’ve been in a year. He makes me laugh, he makes me move. He lessens the time at my computer, thereby making me work differently while I’m there. He brightens every moment of my day.

And wouldn’t you be a more cheerful, productive person if you had this little guy hanging on your every word?

I’ve had the same desk setup for nearly 20 years and it’s killing me. Okay that may be a tad over the top, but the strange ergonomics have wreaked havoc on my body.

It’s time for a change. My keyboard sits too high, so my chair seat is too high, which puts my legs and shoulder at risk, because naturally my mouse is also too high. I’ve managed to deal with this for a lot of years and a lot of books.

But, sadly, my body’s had enough. It’s forcing me out into the world to go shop for a new desk. One that fits. One that has drawers to hide the paper that floods my desk. One that’s pretty and new and smells not of wood and lemon wax, but chemicals and glue. (Did I say it had to be cheap…no? Sorry, it has to be, ahem, less than expensive.)

Hold on, that’s my editor calling offering me tons more money so I can buy a better desk that smells of red cedar…hm, I could have sworn I heard the phone . . .

But I digress. . . I’ve dealt with this weird body pretzeling situation by many other means over the years. I’ve done yoga to stay limber, I go for massage therapy (not the feel good, happy, stress-relieving variety; I mean the elbow in the back, pinching the trigger points variety).

I’ve bought a new chair, added a back rest. I’ve put my feet up on my desk, with my keyboard in my lap.
I’ve walked for miles, stretched, danced, you name it. All because I refused to see that my desk was the root of the problem.

My daughter was with me while I tried on desks at the store and came up with the brilliant observation that if I’ve done this well with my career under these circumstances, then imagine what I can do when I get everything to fit right?

That sounded quite pithy in the lust of shopping, but now, I wonder if it isn’t the same logic that says new running shoes help you run faster.

At any rate, I plan on getting a new desk and repositioning it to face the room. I’ve hated staring at a wall for 20 years (my desktop is on wall-mounted brackets). I tried to take a picture of my wall, but it doesn’t look all that great. I mean, it’s blank and stares back at me.

I hope this new set up translates into more books, better ideas, hotter characters and more creative storylines.

I’ll let you know next month! Ah, I can feel the relief now.

My next Aphrodisia release is BREATHLESS an anthology linked by underwear above the waist this time. By the time BREATHLESS hits the shelves in late November, it will have been 22 months since Thigh High came out.

I feel like I’ve been in hiding! Which is, of course, wrong. I’ve been here all the time, writing, blogging, tweeting and generally keeping my finger on the pulse of publishing. Thankfully, romances are selling well in these dark economic times. Everyone enjoys a happy ending!

Since Thigh High released, I’ve been to conferences in San Francisco, New York and visited Toronto (home of my other publishing house). I’ve worked on several proposals, have had editorial staff change a couple of times and written two and 3/4 books.

I have been here, working hard, writing hard, and rewriting harder than I ever have. But still, I feel like I’ve been in hiding. A gift from a family member will tell you how they see me in here:

So, now with a handful of months left before BREATHLESS comes out, I get to crank up my marketing skills. I’ll be writing ad copy for a couple of different ads I’ll run. I’ll send out electronic advanced reading copies for review.

My editor generously sent me tons of cover flats! I always staple excerpts inside them and give them away. I’ll also hand them out at a book signing in Bellevue WA in October at the Emerald City Writers Conference. I’m so looking forward to it!

For the first time in a long while, I’ll feel as if I’m out of my writing cave. After being in here for this long, it’ll be great to stretch other writing muscles because ads are different to write than anything else in publishing.

I’ll also be editing and tweaking my first newsletter, so if you haven’t signed on yet, please do! You can find the sign up at www.bonnieedwards.com I’m just about ready to send it out, so I’d love to send the first one to as many people as I can.

And since this blog is appearing on the first Monday of the month, I get to let you know that the Aphrodisia authors chat is on tonight at 9.p.m. Eastern at www.writerspace.com Hope to see you there! Please stop in and join the fun.

Life’s sweet, enjoy it,
Bonnie Edwards

I’m recently returned from a trip to New York City. I went for a writers conference where I learned the secret to publication. For those of you who don’t know the secret and would like to, I’ll share it.

Write the best book you can.

I came away refreshed and re-energized and determined to do just that. I’m also determined to finally get my own newsletter up and running…please check my website for sign up details in the next few days.

Naturally a trip to NYC wouldn’t be complete without some shopping and sightseeing thrown in. I enjoyed a guided tour in a pedi-cab through Central Park, where I got to see: The top of Richard Gere’s apartment building that looks much like a Buddhist temple, John Lennon’s memorial, some fabulous dancers who could do things that defy description, a pair of men’s underwear on The Mall. (The decision was made to leave them there in case the owner returned for them.)

At one point, I thought I saw a marriage proposal on a bridge…the tableau of two people totally focused on each other, the way he held her hand, the kiss, the clasping of their hands when he slipped the ring on her finger…it was classic. And very very beautiful. I wish them joy and love throughout their lives together.

It’s odd sometimes how we as strangers can glimpse momentous events in others’ lives. After the ride, my companion and I were walking down Fifth Avenue and it turns out, she saw the very same couple and came to the same conclusion.

I’ve seen other private moments in public places as well. Once, I saw two people making love on top of a dam in a very public area of a lake with a canal and liftlock system. One of those blink blink moments that say, I can’t believe I’m seeing this!

Have you ever caught moments like these? Please share! Even more fun, have *you* been the one *in* the private moment?

Now that I’m back at home, I’m hard at work on my next Aphrodisia release, titled MEN TIMES THREE about 3 log cabin builders: The O’Banion Brothers. I’m excited by the project, but especially by the O’Banions themselves: TJ, the eldest, Deke, the middle brother and Eli the youngest.

Life’s sweet. Enjoy it,
Bonnie