Tomorrow

Tomorrow, my ebook will be available. The print version will be available very soon. I'm looking more forward to that because there's just something about having a printed book with my name on it.

I'm nervous. What if I didn't catch all the mistakes? What if the writing sucks? All I can say is, my dream has come true. I am publishing a book and my editor liked it, or she wouldn't have accepted it. She also said very nice things about it. (So at least one person liked it! LOL)

I'm excited, nervous, and even a little apathetic, like it really isn't happening. I'll feel differently tomorrow, I'm sure. To me, writing a book and having it published is something akin to being a movie star. (Something I'll never do.) You have to understand that my family, I love them to death and they'd done wonderful things with their life, but they are happy to be in a "comfort zone". Same town, same house, same job, etc. Ok, that might be an exaggeration but not too much of one and it's hard to explain. Having a book published, something I wrote, something I spent lots of time, heartache, and energy on...wow. The whole world could read it if they wanted to. But what if everyone hates it?

I have to learn to promote. Did I mention I'm very shy? I've come out of my shyness some, being involved in message boards, chats and blogs, but I'm still introverted. It's hard for me to promote myself. And I'm still learning what to do and what not to do. It's hard, because some people don't get on internet groups, etc. My family and friends are a perfect example. I need to promote some outside the internet. You know, the real world. :))

Anyway, above all, I'm very excited and can't wait. Has anybody ever bought their own book? I'm definintely gonna! LOL

Fun Stuff and Upcoming Events

I have a lot of fun things coming up very soon. Join me Monday, September 11, from 5-10 PM CST at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aoraag/ for a 5 hour loop chat! I need all the support I can get. I don’t want to be the only one there! This will be the first time I've been involved in a loop solely for me, so I'm kinda nervous.

Also, I’m going to be a feature on Kate Willoughby’s Blog on September 6.

September 10 is The Wild Rose Press’ Grand Opening Cyber Party! It’s going to be so much fun! We have a lot to celebrate! Our books are now available at Amazon.com! (Can you tell I'm excited?)

Check out Candice Gilmer's blog on October 2. Okay, check it out everyday because it's a fantastic blog, but I'll be Author of the Week then.

December 1 I’ll be spotlighted on Conversations with Almost Famous Authors.

My book is for sale this Friday! Though the hero is a racecar driver, you do not have to be a fan of racing to enjoy this book. You only have to be a fan of romance and happily-ever-afters! And if you don't like reading digital books, the print version will be available mid-September.

Heroic Qualities

I know this has been done before, but it’s never been done by me. This is just a few of many heroic qualities I’ve come up with and is not exclusive. There’s a lot of qualities I’ve left out, and I’d love you to share your own.

For example, firemen and cops. We all know how heroic they are, though they aren’t on my list. This is a list of “qualities” not of people or personas. (I personally know a cop who was shot while stopping someone for a speeding ticket, so I’m not intentionally leaving them out!)

I’d love to hear your ideas, even if you disagree with mine!

Respectful of children.

Isn’t afraid to play games with kids or act like a child himself.

Respectful of others to the point he’d risk his own life to save another. (Perfect example: for anyone who has seen Transporter 2, the antagonist threw a pregnant woman to fall on the ground. The main character, Jason Statham (gotta love him!) caught her before she hit the ground. Then he got up and went about his business as if he couldn’t think of doing anything else. Letting her fall, though he was in the middle of an intense standoff with antag, would go against his nature.)

Doesn’t give up, even when the odds are stacked against him.

Calm, cool, collected, even in the face of adversary. Of course, we know he feels, he even feels fear, but he’d never show it.

Aware of his surroundings.

Doesn’t let others’ opinions sway him.

Kind to animals, even if he doesn’t like them.

Has integrity.

Doesn’t act like a jerk and then say it’s just his nature, though he isn't nice all the time. ;)

Loves only one woman.

Can admit when he’s wrong but when he isn’t, doesn’t bow down to pressure.

The event and the author who most impacted my writing

My mom is a person and an event. She and events surrounding her have most impacted my writing. She died of ovarian cancer when she was 32. I was 15. She loved to read and write. She wrote in her journal a lot, but I never knew how much she wanted to write until I read her journal after her death.

One day, many years ago in high school (I'm a lot older than I look (G)), I checked out a book on writing craft. That was when you had to sign a card, and you could see everyone who signed the card who checked out the book before. My mom’s name was signed on that card. This was a high school library book she’d checked out! I kept that card. She wanted to write and publish a novel, but never got that chance. That is the one thing that still pushes me to this day. Lots of people don’t do the things they truly want to do and many never get the chance.

The author who most impacts me to this day is Sandra Brown. I love her books and have read every one of them. Own most of them. I love her stories, her characters, her voice. Then again, she’s been the biggest discourager, because when her new books come out, I don’t get anything done! I aspire to write at least half as well as her one day, but I also fear it’ll never happen. I have a lot of authors and books I read, but Sandra Brown, by far, is my favorite. My writing adage is "What would Sandra Brown do?"

What Does Your Writing Space Look Like?

WARNING: If you're a neat freak, don't look! LOL

I'm embarrassed to be sharing these pictures, but I figured if I put it out on the internet, then I'd have to face reality: I NEED TO CLEAN AND ORGANIZE!

My writing space is the messiest it has ever been. It’s cluttered and needs to be reorganized in a bad way!

I use a spare bedroom as my office. In this office, I write, surf on the internet, bay bills, even craft when I have the time and desire. I love to craft, have lots of craft things, but I don’t do it very often.

I walk into my office and off to the side is a suitcase. A big suitcase that I can’t really take on small trips, because it’s too big. I had to get it out of storage one day (not that I’ve been on any trips recently) and I never stuffed it back. I have to walk around it and this huge desk. Almost too big. It’s one of those U-shaped, particle board desks that I bought almost eight years ago for about $200. I have another, smaller desk across from it. This room is about 12X12. Scary!

Boxes are stuck against one wall. Boxes I need. I have books galore on a small bookcase, and even more books loaded in the 4X6 closet I use as a “library”. It’s a mess. I have craft books, garden books, travel books, home decorating books. Old things such as receipts stuffed in boxes that I’m keeping. I need to go through those.

Did I mention I love books?

I have a lot of books, and I go through phases where I’ll buy more. I’ll lend out my fiction books, though I don’t like to, but I will never lend out my craft books, garden books, self-help books, decorating books, etc.

I have boxes of those travel pamphlets, you know the ones you can order online for free? I love travel pamphlets, and I might need them one day. Makes good writing research.

The rest of my house really doesn't look this way. I'm mostly a clean person. But no wonder I’m having a writing problem right now. I really need to organize this mess!

I've messed up my blog somehow. The pictures are there and everything else (me and my profile) is at the bottom. I don't know what I'm doing!

I had a long chat with myself, because I've been stressing out on all the things I have to do. So I've finally made me a "to-do list". I've been wanting to do something about my blog and my website. I want it to be prettier and I'd love for it to match! I wanted to do something different with my website, make it more appealing, but I just don't have the time (to learn html) and I don't have the money to pay someone, so I'll deal with what I have. :) I have too many others things to do. Write, for one!

It's celebration time at my house!
My husband is an autobody repair man and does restorations on the side. Here’s a 40 Ford he just finished (only the outside was done so far). He spent 6 months working on this, giving up a lot of our weekends, and now it's done! (He owes me a nice long getaway, BTW) We wouldn’t have chosen this color if it was ours to choose, but it turned out nice.

DOES ROMANCE REALY EXIST?

Does romance truly exist in real life, or is it all a big fake?

My husband used to tell me I had high expectations out of romance and life because I read too many romance novels. If you haven’t guessed, my husband is not what most people would label romantic. But what is romantic? Everyone has their own label. Even romance novels don’t have “romance” per se. .

Merriam-Webster defines romance as:
1 a (1) : a medieval tale based on legend, chivalric love and adventure, or the supernatural (2) : a prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious (3) : a love story especially in the form of a novel b : a class of such literature2 : something (as an extravagant story or account) that lacks basis in fact3 : an emotional attraction or aura belonging to an especially heroic era, adventure, or activity4 : LOVE AFFAIR


Something that lacks basis in fact? LOL. Maybe it’s an ideal, I don’t know, but I’m starting to think romance is love. It doesn’t have to be about trekking through 30 miles of a blizzard storm to save the woman you love. It doesn’t have to be about serving chocolate in the nude or getting up on my birthday and making me blueberry pancakes (though that’d be nice). It's not all about wine and candles. We need more love in this world and thus, we need more romance.

Cambridge defines it as:
romance (LOVE) noun 1 [C] a close, usually short relationship of love between two people: 2 [U] when you feel love and sexual attraction for someone: 3 [U] the feeling of excitement or mystery that you have from a particular experience or event: 4 [C] a story about love: 5 [C] a story of exciting events, especially one written or set in the past: romance verb 1 [I] to tell stories that are not true, or to describe an event in a way that makes it sound better than it was2 [T] OLD-FASHIONED to try to persuade someone to love youromantic adjective 1 relating to love or a close loving relationship:2 exciting and mysterious and having a strong effect on your emotions: 3 SLIGHTLY DISAPPROVING not practical and having a lot of ideas which are not related to real life:

LOL. A close, usually short relationship? Sad, but true. Most relationships these days don’t last. And why is that, do you think? Do we have high expectations, or is it just because we can’t be with just one person for the rest of our lives? The excitement dwindles, but it doesn’t have to completely.

I’ve been married 12 years, so most romantic notions don’t exist for me anymore. At least, not the ones you can define. To me, romance is my husband coming home, sharing dinner with me and watching a movie. Or supporting me in my writing career even when he has no idea the things I write. He won’t read it, he hates to read in fact. He won’t dance with me, even in the privacy of our own living room. But he’s romantic in his own way.

I once picked up a book called The RoMANtic’s Guide for my husband. I thought he might need to learn how to be romantic. He doesn’t read it. Oh well. He’s romantic enough for me. I still have romantic notions in my head. I picture me and my husband being together forever. :)

Why I read and write romance.

It’s not because I lack romance in my own life. I love to read. I read more than I watch TV. To escape, to relax, to go off in another world. There’s not enough love in this world as it is, so I love to read about happily ever afters.

My aunt once said she wanted to write a children’s book, but that maybe she should write a romance because then she could just write about her fantasies. Do you feel my anger? I didn’t say anything. I should have. Writing romances have nothing to do with writing about your fantasies. If it did, you’d think it’d be a lot easier than it is!

I like to read and write romances because I like to help others develop new relationships. Call me a matchmaker, that's what I do when I write romance. I play matchmaker! How are these people going to react to each other the first time they meet? What is going to keep them apart? What is going to pull them together? Romance isn't all gushy. There's suspense in every romance. The suspense of how they're going to fall in love and the suspense of how they're going to end up together.

I have a contest on my website! Go to http://www.emmasanders.com/Contests.html and enter to win everyday! Be the first to read Holding Fast as it hasn't even been released yet. You'll have a fantastic labor day weekend if you win!

Today, I read an e-book I've been wanting to read for a long time. Samantha Byrne's Spirit of Dawn. Pick it up at Freya' s Bower. It cost less than your daily cup of coffee, and is much more enjoyable!

Last night I finished Julia London's Extreme Bachelor and loved it. I, along with the rest of the women in this novel, fell in love with Michael. Before that, I read Nora Robert's Angel's Fall. I hate to love Nora because I can't get anything done when she has a new book out. And guess what? My very favorite Author, Sandra Brown, has a new book being shipped to me right now. I can't wait to read Ricochet! Isn't summer reading great?

Oh if only I had more time and more money, I'd read every book I possibly could. But I have to get to writing! My goal of having my MS done at the end of the year isn't looking so good.