Christmas Release Series 2013: Mistletoe Magic by Terri Weldon

Terri Weldon

An early Merry Christmas to you, dear writers! Annette here. Today we have our final Christmas release post of the year with a debut author. I'm excited to introduce Terri Weldon to you. She and I worked together at White Rose Publishing to bring her novella, Mistletoe Magic, to publication. Read on to learn some behind-the-scenes secrets even I didn't know. And watch for Terri's second visit to Seriously Write coming up Thursday with Dora Hiers. Enjoy!

Welcome, Terri!

How did this project take shape?

Well, originally Mistletoe Magic was supposed to be part of a compilation of novellas with three other authors. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out. At first, our proposal was overlooked and then the next year we were told they weren’t taking submissions.  So there I was with a completed Christmas novella on my hands. I have a couple of friends who are PBG authors and they suggested I submit it to Pelican Book Group. Now I feel like this is where God meant for my debut to be published. 

Please share some themes of your novella:

The main theme would be trust the Lord to fulfill the desires of your heart. We humans can make quite a mess when we try and do God’s job for Him.

What makes your project stand out from other Christmas titles?

My hero is a dentist. I actually had someone tell me they planned to buy the book because of that tidbit. Also, it involves an online dating service. Something you don’t see much of in fiction.

Tell us one interesting fact about your novella.

It features a Christmas character that is not normally in novels – Rudolph’s girlfriend. The majority of Christmas books focus on Santa Claus or Frosty. Now, obviously, I’m not talking about the spiritual aspect.

What’s next for you as an author?

I firmly believe my writing is in God’s hands, so it is hard to know exactly what will happen next. But right now I’m revising a romantic suspense novel. Totally different from Mistletoe Magic in genre and tone, but I love both romantic suspense and romantic comedy so I hope to be able to write both types of books.

What else would you like to share about this project?

I loved writing this novella! Annette, you were a joy to work with as an editor and made the novella so much stronger. Mistletoe Magic is a romantic comedy written to give the reader an hour or two of Christmas enjoyment. Originally I intended for it to be a standalone title, but I’ve really been toying with the idea of making a return trip to Winslow, Oklahoma and seeing what happens.

Thanks so much, Terri. I enjoyed working with you on it as well. Such a fun story! Thanks for visiting Seriously Write this week.

Merry Christmas!

~~~~~

Mistletoe Magic

Misty Winslow is determined to find her prince charming. She meets the man of her dreams through an internet dating service. Or is he? Because the new dentist in town sets her heart a flutter. It's love at first sight for Tyler Davenport, but before he can finish his first root canal Misty is involved in an exclusive online romance with Wes99. Tyler begins to get jealous of Wes99, his online persona! Soon he's pulling out all the stops to woo Misty. As Christmas approaches, Wes99 and Tyler both ask her to meet them under the mistletoe. Which man will she choose?

~~~~~

Terri claims her regular life is pretty mundane, but refrains from saying dull! She and her sister Cynthia share a house in Oklahoma. They’re the best of friends and have many of the same interests. She enjoys gardening, reading, and shopping for shoes (a habit she really needs to break). She has three dogs—a lovable mutt and two adorable Westies. She volunteers as her church librarian—she actually gets to shop for books and spend someone else’s money. Plus, she gets to introduce people to Christian fiction. Terri is a member of ACFW and RWA. Mistletoe Magic is her debut novella.

Is Writing the Impossible Mission? by Bonnie Rose Hudson

Bonnie Rose Hudson

Does the journey to publication ever feel like you're traveling on bumpy back roads, maneuvering around potholes, and pushing fallen trees out of the way? When the destination starts to feel impossible, how do we keep focused on what's ahead? Bonnie Rose Hudson offers some insight. 
~ Dawn

Is Writing the 

Impossible Mission?

As one year begins to end and our hearts start to turn toward setting new goals for 2014, we ponder and list and dream. Mixed in with the dreams, however, are less appealing realities. Changing markets, a depressed economy, and the small percent of manuscripts that see publication, not to mention agents, queries, verb tense, and point-of-view all present roadblocks to the path we once felt sure we were called to take. We find ourselves asking, “Is writing the impossible mission?”

I love watching the old television show Mission: Impossible starring Peter Graves. The heroes, the suspense, the music. Round any corner and find adventure and intrigue. Who among us hasn’t secretly pictured ourselves as the dashing Jim Phelps or Cinnamon Carter?

Then we ask ourselves: how can I ever hope to compare? An elite handful of men and women are called on to save the world. What chance do I have of being one of them?

But there is another team of men and women called to be part of this impossible mission. Their roles are less glamorous, but no less vital. The couriers. The ones called on to deliver the message. In almost every episode, someone was called on to deliver the message. Without them, the heroes would have never learned what they were called to do.

Come to think of it, isn’t that what we as writers are called to do: deliver the message and help people learn what they are called to do? Our television couriers were entrusted with vital information. They received the call and delivered the message as they went about their daily routines. They were trusted to ensure that the right person received it, and they diligently watched for the person for whom the message was intended.

As Christian writers, we are called on to be trustworthy bearers of the best news ever shared with humanity. We are often called as we carry out our daily routines, and we are seldom called to abandon our daily life. We must vigilantly watch for whom we are called to minister to and share the message with them, no matter who they are or how they arrive.

There is one other thing I’ve noticed about those couriers. For every mission, a unique courier with a unique ability to deliver the message was chosen. The people called were as unique as the missions themselves.

Is writing the impossible mission? I suppose it depends on what part you want to play. If you are looking to be among the elite, to live a life full of suspense and glamour, perhaps it is. But if you are looking to be a part of delivering the best message the world has ever heard, God is always looking for more couriers.

Tweetables:

Is writing the impossible mission? Click to tweet.

Writers are called to deliver a message. Click to tweet.

God is always looking for more couriers. Click to tweet.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com

As a part of SchoolhouseTeachers.com, the curriculum arm of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, Bonnie has authored or co-authored multiple courses including two on Asia history; an art appreciation study; three historical units covering the USA, Canada, and Australia; and contributed numerous short stories and projects to This Day in History.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is looking to expand its base of writers. In return, you receive a free membership to the site, the opportunity to link to your blog or website, and the potential to earn free advertising in the digital magazine. For more information, please e-mail Bonnie Rose at bhudson (at) thehomeschoolmagazine (dot) com and reference “writing for Schoolhouse Teachers” in the subject line.

Bonnie Rose Hudson lives in central Pennsylvania. Along with spending time with her family and writing, making kids smile is her favorite thing to do.  Her heart’s desire is for every child to feel the love of God and know how special they are to Him.  She loves creating curriculum as a member of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s® Star Contributors Team. She works with both SchoolhouseTeachers.com and The Old Schoolhouse Magazine® as an editorial assistant. At TOS, she found a place where her love of God and history combine with her love of writing to bring encouraging, educational, and entertaining material to students and their families.  She would love for you to stop by and meet the star of her children’s series at Exploring with Jake or stop by her author’s blog http:WriteBonnieRose.com/ to discover how you can write for the homeschool market.

To learn more, please visit and connect with Bonnie at these sites:

http://writebonnierose.com  

Blog for kids: http://writebonnierose.wordpress.com/

Blog about prayer requests from the 10/40 window:  http://lookingoutthe1040window.wordpress.com/

Social media:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WriteBonnieRose

Pinterest http://pinterest.com/writebonnierose/

Google+  https://plus.google.com/u/0/102762854415920685791/posts/p/pub  

Twitter https://twitter.com/WriteBonnieRose   

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/bonnie-rose-hudson/72/194/874

 

Rock the Boat by Rachel Allord

Rachel Allord

Please join me in welcoming Rachel Allord as she reveals how to ramp up the conflict in your story. Rock the Boat! Welcome, Rachel. 
~Dora

I recently had a reader tell me he felt his pulse rate increase while reading a relationally intense scene I’d written. Highest compliment ever. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something like, “Oh I’m sorry to put you through that” but what flew out of mouth was, “Awesome!” If I can turn a reader into a hyperventilating, finger twitching, nervous Nellie, I’ve done my job.

Our task, writers, is to make it worse. Not better, worse. Yes, we’ll need to come to some resolution at the end, cause our readers to breathe a deep, satisfied sigh of relief when they close our book, but until then, make it bad. Really, really bad.

Stories thrive on tension. Tension—the thing we try to avoid in reality—is what keeps us turning the pages late at night. We want to smooth things over in real life, keep the boat floating calmly, but in fiction you must rock the boat. I’m certainly not the first to say this but you must ask yourself, what could be the worst thing that could happen to this character at this moment?

There is a catch: The Badness has to be plausible. It has to fit the context of the story and jive with the spirit of your characters. For instance, you can’t suddenly have a plane crash through the roof of your main characters house just to add some sparks, unless of course you’ve somehow set it up where that it makes sense. (And if you’ve managed to do that, good grief, hats off to you.) Your protagonist can’t contract a rare virus halfway through the book simply to avoid a literary sagging middle… unless, of course, you’ve written way back in chapter three that he or she happened to get stung by some creepy-crawly in the Brazilian rainforest. If The Badness isn’t credible your reader will see right through your shenanigans and throw your book across the room. For the reader, The Badness has to be unanticipated but believable. If we don’t believe a character, we don’t give a hoot as to what happens to them, rare disease ridden or not.

So make it bad and plausible.

One more thing: The Badness has to be tempered with periods of calm, increased character development, and maybe even doses of humor. If the story is just one horrible thing after another—car crash, coma, divorce papers, murder—it feels contrived and, ironically, gets a little tedious and brings us back to the whole plausibility factor. No one can have that bad of luck. Unless your character is trapped in a daytime soap.

To summarize, make it bad and plausible and balanced.

So rock the boat. Ruin that imaginary friend’s life. Don’t worry; you’ll get to make it all better in the end. 

Purchase Link

College student Amber Swansen gives birth alone. In desperation, she abandons the newborn, buries her secret, and attempts to get on with her life. No matter how far she runs, she can’t escape the guilt. Years later and still haunted by her past, Amber meets Beth Dilinger. Friendship blossoms between the two women, but Beth’s son is a constant, painful reminder to Amber of the child she abandoned. 

When heartache hits, causing Amber to grapple with the answers to life’s deeper questions, Beth stands by her side. Yet just when peace seems to be within Amber’s grasp, the truth of her past and the parentage of Beth’s son comes to light and threatens to shatter not only their worlds, but the life of the teenager they both love.

Rachel Allord’s debut novel, Mother of My Son, released in May of 2013. Both an adoptive and biological mother, Rachel grew up as a pastor’s kid, vowed never to marry a pastor, and has been happily married to her pastor husband for eighteen years. She resides in Wisconsin where she avidly consumes novels, coffee, and sushi— preferably at the same time.

The Steps to Effective Marketing by Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer Slattery recently signed a contract for her debut novel. She's been enthusiastic about being an author with a marketing plan, so I asked her to share her ideas on marketing. -- Sandy

Jennifer: It was the moment I’d been waiting for, the event that moved me from aspiring novelist to contracted. After a brief celebration, I got to work, because I refuse to be a “one book wonder.” You see, selling a book doesn’t necessarily launch a career. Contract number two hinges largely on how well book one sells. Successful novelists, then, are those who write and market well. And marketing is a journey of stepping stones.

Most publishing professionals will tell you it takes a great deal of time, energy, and books to develop a strong platform. I believe this platform starts with consistency.

A writer’s online presence is important. In fact, my publisher asked me point blank, “Are you blogging regularly?” My answer, “Yes. In fact, I just agreed to write regularly for Crosswalk.com. I also have articles scheduled to appear on…”

In essence, I had an ever-expanding plan in place. A plan that started small, with nonpaying markets. When I first started writing in the evangelical sphere, I blogged for pretty near anybody and sent articles to most anyone who would print them. Yes, even those publications that wanted me to interview locals… when I lived, oh, ten or so states away.

As soon as editors started showing interest in my work, I began to pay attention to what others were doing online and in print, from guest blogging to article writing. I read about book launches, give-aways, and marketing ideas. I developed an email folder and word document where I could save all marketing links and ideas. I made blogging and article writing part of my novel-writing career and scheduled time for these activities. This took work, diligence, time management, planning, and a great deal of prayer.

Most importantly, I made sure every piece I put out was my best work, recognizing lazy, boring, or poorly written posts and articles will drive readers away. I made deadlines, whether they were for a friend’s blog or a paying magazine editor. As a result, people began to come to me. In fact, that’s how I started writing for Crosswalk.com and the ACFW Journal. In both instances, I started as a freelancer and was later offered a regular gig from the editors.

I set reachable blogging and article writing goals and wrote those into my planner. Reachable goals are things like:

Blog weekly

Send four article queries out per month

You have no control over things like how many new subscribers you’ll gain or how many articles you’ll get published. However, if you consistently make and meet reachable goals, over time you’ll naturally grow your readership and writing credentials. And increased writing credentials lead to increased writing opportunities.

To reiterate, increased sales come from an increased readership. An increased readership comes from an increased reach. An increased reach is helped by increased writing credentials and an ever-increasing online presence. Increased credentials and online presence comes from starting wherever you’re at and presenting your best work while keeping an eye out to opportunities.   

Even if you're not published yet, do you have a general plan for developing a platform that will help you sell future books? Do you keep a file with marketing ideas that seem to work for other writers? We're here to learn from one another, so share something you are doing now to prepare for "that day."

~~~

Jennifer Slattery loves blogging and connecting with others through Facebook, and she’s trying to learn Twitter. This past October, she received a contract on a missional romance (title and release date to be announced) from New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about Jesus Christ and seeing lives transformed by His grace. When she’s not blogging or writing, she’s helping other authors perfect their writing and grow their gift. You can find out more about her and her writing at her devotional blog, http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com. You can find out more about her editing services at http://wordsthatkeep.wordpress.com/about/