Monday, February 5, 2018

Five Things Authors Won’t Say Out Loud By Carla Laureano



Carla Laureano
Five Things Authors Won’t Say Out Loud
By Carla Laureano

I feel like I’m breaking some sort of unwritten author law, but it’s time to break the silence. If you need me, I’ll be in Author Witness Protection.

1. Some days we just don’t feel like writing.
“Don’t you love sitting at home and writing all day?” I hear this at least once a month when an acquaintance learns I’m an author. I once had the same crazy idea: that each day at my desk would be an adventure into story. My debut romance and my debut fantasy were joys to write… because they were on my schedule. But as soon as that deadline loomed down on me, the pressure began… and my muse high-tailed it to the exit.

I’ve since learned that it doesn’t matter whether I feel like writing or not. I sit down and start typing. Eventually, words come. And by the time the book is done, I can no longer recall or discern which sections were written under the influence of wild inspiration and which ones were pulled slowly and painfully from my brain. Turns out that discipline—not inspiration—is the main requirement for writing.

2. It’s hard to find books we like because we mentally edit everything.
We love other people’s books. Dream about how great they’re going to be. Hug them to our chests. And then we open them and feel that first niggling sense of disquiet. We want to love what’s inside as much as we love the cover, but after hours of analyzing our own work and reading our editors’ critiques, it’s hard to overlook spots where we might have structured the story differently or made the protagonist more likeable. Before we know it, we’re guiltily rewriting the book in our heads.

So when an author sings a book’s praises, thrusting it upon everyone she knows—take note. It’s the rare book that’s made it through the gauntlet of our overactive editing brains and lodged itself in our hearts. And we’re not going to stop until you read it and love it as much as we do.

3. Whenever we hear, “I know someone writing a book; could you help them get published?” we die a little inside.
It’s not that we don’t want to help. We simply hate discouraging people early on in their craft, and nine times out of ten, the friend isn’t ready to be published. They may not even finish the book. From personal experience, we know first efforts aren’t very good, and we don’t want to jeopardize any friendships by being overly honest.

So we’ll nod and smile, and then pray the topic never comes up again… or at least until they’ve gotten a couple more novel attempts under their belt.

4. We’re hesitant to talk about our writing careers because it feels like bragging.
For published authors, it’s normal to have agents, editors, and publicists. We get reviews. Maybe we’ll even hit a list once in a while. But we don’t want to sound so Hollywood— “Excuse me; I need to take this call from my agent”—as if we’re one step away from paparazzi and red carpets.

We avoid sharing details that might be seen as flaunting our super-glamorous lifestyle, which in reality involves sweat pants, endless coffee, and repeatedly banging our heads against the keyboard. If we told the truth, no one would believe us anyway.

5. Despite the drama, it really is the best job in the world.
Some days we wonder why we didn’t pick an easier career, like wrestling alligators. After a bad review, we might swear we’ll never write another book. When an editor’s memo dissects our “perfect” plot, we may doubt we’ll ever write another decent story.

But when that “book baby” enters the world, when we get e-mails about how the story made a reader laugh in a difficult time, there’s nothing we’d rather be doing. Authors get to tell stories that touch people and help them understand their world. And what could be better than that?

~~~~~

The Saturday Night Supper Club


The Saturday Night Supper Club
Denver chef Rachel Bishop has accomplished everything she’s dreamed and some things she never dared hope, like winning a James Beard Award and heading up her own fine-dining restaurant. But when a targeted smear campaign causes her to be pushed out of the business by her partners, she vows to do whatever it takes to get her life back . . . even if that means joining forces with the man who inadvertently set the disaster in motion.

Essayist Alex Kanin never imagined his pointed editorial would go viral. Ironically, his attempt to highlight the pitfalls of online criticism has the opposite effect: it revives his own flagging career by destroying that of a perfect stranger. Plagued by guilt-fueled writer’s block, Alex vows to do whatever he can to repair the damage. He just doesn’t expect his interest in the beautiful chef to turn personal.

Alex agrees to help rebuild Rachel’s tarnished image by offering his connections and his home to host an exclusive pop-up dinner party targeted to Denver’s most influential citizens: the Saturday Night Supper Club. As they work together to make the project a success, Rachel begins to realize Alex is not the unfeeling opportunist she once thought he was, and that perhaps there’s life—and love—outside the pressure-cooker of her chosen career. But can she give up her lifelong goals without losing her identity as well?

~~~~~

Carla Laureano is the RITA® Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.