Lori Borrill - January 2007

Paula Graves - June 2006

Lori Borrill - January 2007

The Playground is pleased to welcome Lori Borrill, debut Blaze author, to our newest and most coveted section - Graduates!  As someone who’s had the pleasure of reading Private Confessions, trust me it is one phenomenal read.  She’s a generous woman with both her time and knowledge and a wonderful critique partner.  I’m so excited she stopped by to play!

Instigator: Lori, can you tell us how you came to writing? 

Lori Borrill: Thanks!  It's great to be here.  This whole notion of granting an "interview"(my first BTW) is pretty surreal.  I'll try to keep my feet on the ground as I answer your questions.  LOL!

I: How did you come to writing? 

LB: Very ignorantly and entirely delusional. 

Seriously, I'd had a brush with the publishing industry five years ago when my son started Kindergarten.  I'd written two hysterically funny short humor articles on parenting that I'd submitted to magazines such as Family Circle and Parents. 

Unfortunately, I was the only one who found them hysterically funny.  After a slew of badly photocopied form rejection letters, I gave up until about three years later when my husband quit his full-time job to go into business for himself.  The new job cut his hours back to almost nothing allowing him to help more with the house and our son.  Suddenly, I had a lot of time on my hands, began reading lots of fiction, discovered romance, and after pouring over dozens of romance novels, decided I would try to write one of my own.

I was one of those stupid people who thought it would be easy, but even though reality hit me hard and fast, by that time I'd become stubborn and determined to learn the craft.  So I joined RWA, took some writing classes, bought every book on the craft I could find, and hooked up with awesome writers (like Instigator) who showed me the ropes.

I: And can you share your first call story?  Time?  Place?  Who’d you tell first?  How did you celebrate?

LB:  Oh, what an insane weekend that was!  Kathryn Lye called me at work, on a Friday, the day my boss was retiring after 34 years with the company.  It was already a crazy day because I was organizing her retirement party, the flowers and all that fun stuff.  When Kathryn called, there were a number of people loitering in the area wishing my boss farewell, so in my excitement, while Kathryn was talking about contracts and revisions, I scribbled "Sold my book!" on a piece of paper, stood up and flashed it over the wall of my cubicle.

Duh.  What do you think people do when you make a move like that?  They start yelling and screaming!  I couldn't hear a word Kathryn said!  And after about 15 minutes of incoherent conversation, (think how the grown-ups talk in the Charlie Brown cartoons--that's all I heard) we agreed she'd call me the following week when things had settled and we could both hear ourselves think.

To make matters worse, my husband was out of town that weekend, so I was playing single mom.  I had my boss' retirement party that afternoon, my son had little league practice that night, a game the next day, and everywhere I went, people had heard the news and wanted to hear my story.  The outpouring from so many people was wonderful on one hand, exhausting on the other.  Between all the running around, repeating myself over and over, calling CPs, friends and family, sending out e-mails, partying on the Harlequin loop, I was absolutely exhausted by Sunday.  Believe it or not, by the time my husband came home, I didn't want to celebrate.  I wanted a few hours to just forget about it all. 

So I think the best part was just relaxing with him quietly on the couch and letting the peace sink in.

I: How long after you received the call before your book appeared on the shelf?

LB:  Eight months!  It's a long wait.  And it took 15 months from query to call.  So all in all, the book ended up on the shelf almost 2 years to the day from the time I first queried it. 

I: What drew you to the Blaze imprint?  What about it do you think speaks to the readers and to you as a writer?

LB: Uh...Instigator...you drew me to Blaze.  LOL!  Seriously, it was my CPs who pointed me there.  The first version of Private Confessions was a novella I'd written for no market in general.  At that time in my writing career, I felt I needed to get in touch with my voice and my own style as a writer.  At the time, I felt the Harlequin guidelines were too much of a distraction.  I was spending so much time worrying about what I "can" and "can't" write for this line or that, that I wasn't focusing on the things that would really get me published, like voice and personal style.  So I threw away the rules and just wrote something for myself.  When I sent it out to my CPs, both came back telling me it was a Blaze and that I should query it there.

The irony was that it was 20,000 words too short and I was at a place where I'd convinced myself I wasn't ready to write for Harlequin.  Seriously--this is no joke--I queried it to Blaze with the intent of getting rejected so that I could tell my loving CPs "See? I told you so."

I think that's the only time in my life when I was happy to be wrong. ;-)

As far as how Blaze speaks to me, that's a tough one.  Honestly, maybe because of the way I came at it, I've always felt I speak to Blaze.  What I'd done with my writing was get back to basics.  With this story, I'd tried to be as honest with myself as possible.  I wrote in my own style, spoke in a language that felt true to me and told the story I wanted to write.  For me, that wasn't so much about hot and steamy sex as it was about empowering heroines and contemporary settings.

I grew up smack in the middle of the woman's liberation movement, raised by a single mother who worked full-time and didn't take crap from anyone.  So needless to say, I have a hard time writing a passive heroine.  I'm inspired by women who go after what they want, and that to me is the core of Blaze.  I know that for many Blaze is about hot sex, but to me, it's always been about smart, successful women who aren't afraid to grab the brass ring and run with it.

I: I know you work full-time.  Many of our readers also juggle a love for writing along with family and full-time jobs.  How do you find that balance between your writing and life?

LB:  It's ironic you ask that, because I'm just now going through a period of reevaluation and prioritization.  For me, the key to successful juggling is to limit the number of batons in your hands. 

When I first sold, I was introduced to a whole slew of published author loops and I joined each and every one of them.  Then there was the publicity, making up promotional items, trying to get my name out there to as many places as possible, writing articles, creating blogs, redesigning my website, and don't forget new book proposals.  And in all that, I still had the family and the day job.

It really got to be too much.

I think there comes a point when you've got to mentally list out what really matters most and find the strength to let the rest go.  I'm a big believer in the fact that I'd rather do a couple things really well than two dozen things horribly.  So what took priority for me was my family, my day job, my books and my friends.  Everything else had to go.

I cut the e-mails on all the loops and stopped posting on the dozens of blogs and message boards that can easily suck up a day.  Instead, I picked the blogs of a few writer friends whose company I really enjoy, and now those are the only sites I visit on a regular basis.  I keep up my own blog, but even then limit new posts to twice weekly. 

Now, the time I devote to writing is spent focusing on my novels and maintaining the few close relationships I've chosen to nurture.  When it comes to publicity, I figured writing a good story is going to get me farther than networking the internet and all the writer's circles.
 
So, as much as we'd like to get our names out there, as much as we know there are great discussions out there that we could be learning from, as much as we want to help all the people around us and involve ourselves in the community, I think as women, one of the most courageous things we can do is admit we can't do it all.

It's really that simple.

I: You currently have a series of posts on your blog (http://www.loriborrill.blogspot.com/) concerning the myths after selling.  What do you think is the biggest myth unpublished authors have about selling?

LB:  I'd come up with four, but really they could all be boiled down to one thing, and that's that selling is somehow going to change who we are or how we deal with writing.  We might think our writing will get easier, we'll have more confidence, we'll have more respect, won't see as many rejections, won't find waiting on submissions so agonizing.

I hate to sound like a big fat downer, but whatever frustrations and insecurities you have as an unpublished author are probably still going to be there as a published author.  So for instance, if you're insecure about your writing, selling isn't going to fix that. Because the minute you're done relishing in the fact that an editor thought your writing was good enough for print, you now have critics who could disagree, and readers who might send you nasty notes, and other writers posting on blogs saying  they don't understand why you got published and they didn't.

I equate it to winning the lottery.  Studies show that a person's happiness level doesn't change after they come into millions.  If they were miserable as a poor person, they'll be miserable as a rich person.

I'd tried to articulate that on my blog, but fear I failed miserably, which just proves that selling didn't make me a more effective communicator or more secure in my abilities as a writer! LOL!

I: Can you shed a bit of light on the publication process after you make that first sale?  What step in the process has been the most surprising?  The most enjoyable? 

LB:  Well, the first thing I got was a revision letter from my editor.  She'd said it was, "almost nothing" and what I got was seven pages and 66 bullet points on what they wanted changed. Four full scenes were eliminated and completely replaced.  In short, if that was "almost nothing", I'd hate to see what "a lot" looks like.

I would have to say that was the most surprising--seeing my first revision letter and what kinds of things they liked and didn't like in very specific terms. 

The most enjoyable was getting that e-mail back from my editor telling me I'd nailed every edit, she loved the revisions, loved everything I'd done, and the manuscript was being accepted as final.

After that I got it back two more times.  One with her line edits, then the galleys which had incorporated edits from her and a copy editor.

I think the second most surprising thing was seeing the galleys and the number of typos!!  I hadn't made the corrections from the line edits like I know some authors are asked to do.  Someone in "production" had done that, so it was a little mortifying seeing things wrong with the final copy after it had been turned in so polished.  By that time, I'd read the thing so many times, I was bug-eyed.  I highly recommend authors have someone set aside to be their galley editor, be it a mother, friend, sister, what have you.  Just anyone you can pass that manuscript over to as a second pair of eyes.  I'm certain I missed something and will get that famous letter or e-mail I always hear about from readers who love finding typos.

But I hope to take it in stride.  For some readers, I think finding typos in published books is like finding rare coins in the dirt with a metal detector.  It's what brings them joy.  And as an author, I don't think I'm really "official" until I've received that "reader found a typo" letter.  So it's all good, right? ;-)

For Fun :

I: What’s something about you that we’d be surprised to learn?

LB: Well, I don't often publicize that I play the piano, and on occasions when I'm willing to cut my fingernails, I pick up my guitar and strum out "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)".  I also secretly dream that someday American Idol will raise the age limit to 45 so I can go audition.  Since my nerves could never handle the stress of really making it, my fantasy is simply to have Simon shrug his shoulders and say, "Not bad, but not good enough."

I: What’s your idea of a relaxing day? 

LB: Easy!  I'm a slug.  I love to convalesce, and I've got the wide ass to prove it.  I love cold rainy days and could easily spend the entire day sitting by the fire with my blanket and a box of chocolates, reading books, watching TV and having hubby cook my meals.

I: And how do you plan to celebrate your first release? 

LB:  You know, I've heard of people having those book parties.  I think I'm a little too insecure to throw my own party like that.  In fact, when the first person comes up to me and says they read my book, I'm going to slap my hands to my face, turn beet red and squeal, "OMG, I'm going to die!"

In a way, when it really sinks in that your book is hitting the shelves, it sort of feels like your diary is going out for the world to read.  I'm not sure of the right word to describe it.  Embarrassment gives the wrong connotation, mortification is a little harsh. 

I think one of the things we dismiss as writers is the sheer courage it takes to send our work out to publishers who will either dismiss it or throw it out for the world to see.  Seriously, if you think about it, those are the two choices, so it's no wonder we're all nuts.

The great people in our lives get and appreciate what we go through.  So when I think of celebrating, it's really just going to be that warm fuzzy from those people who read the book and let me know they think I did alright.

Oh, and I plan to go to all the book stores near me, sign the copies on the shelf--all the while hoping someone who works there asks me what the hell I'm doing--slap those little gold "Author Signed Copy" stickers on the front then take a picture of my book on the shelf.  I'll spend at least a day doing that.
 

I: Lori, thanks for visiting with us on the Playground this month!  We really enjoyed having you and hope you stop by again soon.  Don’t forget to visit Lori’s blog at: http://www.loriborrill.blogspot.com/
And look for Private Confessions coming next month at www.eharlequin.com

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Paula Graves - June 2006

We're thrilled to introduce you to our fellow chapter member-both of Southern Magic and Heart of Dixie! Paula Graves has been writing since she was six, but it wasn't until she was out of college that she began aiming for publication. In 2005, she sold her first book, Forbidden Territory, which will be released as a Harlequin Intrigue in June 2006. She is a multiple contest winner and works full-time as an advertising creative director and graphic designer.

Angel: Hi, Paula! Why don't you tell us a little about yourself and your writing journey before "The Call"?

Paula Graves: I've been writing about as long as I can remember.  My first finished work was an adventure tale starring my neighborhood friends and me.  I was six.  I made my own cover with crayon drawings on dark blue construction paper.  I have no idea where that seminal work finally ended up--probably in the trash.

A: How many manuscripts did you finish before you sold?

PG: Not counting the above-mentioned pre-school story, seven.  Three of which will never see the light of day again.  I've finished another one since I sold.

A: What inspired Forbidden Territory? How did it come to be the one that sold?

PG: Answering the last question first, if I knew how it came to be the one that sold, I'd write a non-fiction book on how I did it and how you can do it, too.  Then I'd really be rich!  Seriously, Forbidden Territory has some really great characters (at least I think they're great!), an emotionally wrenching plot, lots of spooky atmosphere and a happy ending.  Who wouldn't want to buy a book like that? 

As for what inspired it, the story came together from two distinct ideas.  First, I'd just read a book written by a friend that had a secondary character, a private detective, who was trying to quit smoking and not having much luck.  I loved the idea of a guy who's hero material except he can't quit smoking.  I toyed with the idea of a hero addicted to nicotine gum, but later changed it to an addiction to antacids. The second part of my idea--a psychic who is desperately trying to stop having visions, came out of my love for all things paranormal.  I'm pretty much a stone-cold skeptic about such things, but to quote Fox Mulder's office poster, "I want to believe."  The character of Lily came out of that, and I put her together with poor, antacid-popping, uber-skeptic McBride and the child abduction he was investigating.  It was a spark-inducing match.

A: What was the most helpful advice you received? What one piece of advice do you wish you'd ignored?

PG: The most helpful advice I ever received was to accept that there's no such thing as an easy path to publication, so don't waste time trying to find it.  Just put your backside in a chair, put your fingers on the keyboard and keep writing until you come up with something an editor wants to buy. 

I'm not sure I've ever gotten any bad advice that I didn't ignore, thank goodness.

A: You were pretty active on the contest circuit. Could you tell me why you chose to do this? Some of the pros and cons?

PG: There were two things that drove me to the contest circuit: my competitive nature and my complete inability to write a decent query and synopsis.  Fellow writers in my local RWA chapter were finaling in and winning contests; I couldn't let myself lag behind.  Pride was involved.  Also, when you final, sometimes editors ask to see your full manuscript without your having to write a sassy, attention-getting query and synopsis.  Win-win situation!  I entered only the contests with editors I thought might ask to see my manuscripts.  That's how I kept the cost down to something I could afford. 

The pros are obvious--a contest win led directly to my sale.  The cons are that there are a lot of pitfalls you have to know how to avoid, such as spending too much money, entering contests and never finaling, entering the wrong contests for your manuscript, or spending too much time polishing the first chapter of your only manuscript rather than writing new stuff.  But a smart writer can learn what to avoid and how to make contests work for her.

A: Tell me about the time between "The Call" and when your book actually hit the shelf in May. For the uninitiated, what all was involved in getting your manuscript into publication?

PG: First, there's the verbal agreement to the sale.  Once I gave the editor that, while I was waiting for the hard copy of the contract, my editor sent me the Art Fact Sheet to fill out.  It's a standard Harlequin/Silhouette form that asks questions about your manuscript, your characters, your setting, and specific scenes in order to give the cover artist something to go on when he or she is putting together your cover art.

The editor also asked for any dedication I wanted to put in the front of the book, plus a brief bio.  And since I sold to Harlequin Intrigue, I had to write and send a Cast of Characters for the opening pages of the book.

Next came the contract.  A lot of writers have agents to handle that for them.  I didn't.  However, Harlequin's contract is pretty much boilerplate, at least for a first time writer, so I didn't have to know much.  Still, if you think you're getting close to selling, you should check out the articles on the RWA website. There are several that deal with what to do when you get The Call and what you need to know beforehand.

Harlequin sent back my copy of the signed contract, along with the check for the first half of my advance.  My editor had given me fairly extensive revisions.  I had a deadline to meet and serious rewriting to do.  I made a point of beating my deadline.  I've tried to do that with every deadline that's come up so far;  you want the editor to trust that you'll deliver on or before the deadline.

After the revisions were accepted, I received the second half of my advance.  A few weeks after that, I received my editor's line edit and the copy editor's notes.  I made changes directly on the line-edited manuscript my editor sent, sending back only the pages I made changes to.

Finally, I received a sheet called the Author Alterations sheet.  I got one last look at the manuscript, as it would appear in print, and caught any last minute errors the copy editor or the data entry person may have made.

After that, I received a copy of my cover art and the blurb that goes on the back of the book. I really love my cover!  I expect to get my contracted free author copies next, hopefully in the next month or so.

A: What have you enjoyed the most about selling? What have you disliked?

PG: I think what I've enjoyed most is the sense that I've finally reached a goal that I wanted so badly but wasn't sure I'd ever accomplish.  Since childhood, I've known that I simply had to write.  I never stopped wanting to tell stories, never stopped trying to figure out how to do it in a way that would make my passion marketable so that I could share it with other people.  Finally selling was a huge sense of validation and relief.

I also love seeing my name up on Amazon.com, or as I call it, "Paula's Personal Shopping Mall."

It's hard to think of something I've disliked about selling.  I guess maybe the pressure, now, to sell book two.  I mean, who wants to be a one-book wonder?  There's always a new goal to reach.  No time for sitting around, basking in the glow of your sale. 

A: Do you have a particular author who mentored you or made the most impact on you?

PG: The first name that comes to mind is Gayle Wilson, who's an RWA chaptermate and one of the most sensible, encouraging people I know.  She's happy to answer even stupid questions, gives great advice, and her head is screwed on straight when it comes to this business.  And I love, love, love her writing.  She's the one who inspired me to write for Intrigue. 

My friend Kristen Robinette has been one of my biggest cheerleaders.  She was my first writing friend, and her passionate belief in Forbidden Territory is what made me pull it out of the closet and give it one more look. 

Linda Howard, Beverly Barton and Linda Winstead Jones were among my first influences when I first joined RWA. Like Gayle, they're patient, savvy and supportive writers who are happy to give great advice and encouragement to aspiring writers.

And since my sale, both Debra Webb and Rhonda Nelson have been a huge help to me in figuring out what steps to take next in my career.

A: Do you have any craft books that taught you a lot?

PG: My shelves are full of great craft books.  The ones that probably had the most influence are Dwight Swain's Techniques of the Selling Writer, Debra Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict, and Leslie Wainger's Writing a Romance Novel for Dummies.

There are also non-craft books I've found indispensable for a romantic suspense writer, including John Douglas's books on criminal profiling, the Writer's Digest "Howdunit" series, and Ronald Kessler's books on the FBI and the CIA.

A: Are you doing any kind of marketing for Forbidden Territory, since it is a category book?

PG: I have a website and a blog, and I also blog regularly on my local RWA chapter's new group blog, Romance Magicians (romancemagicians.blogspot.com). I'm also part of a couple of group websites, the Intrigue Authors site and the Ghophers, a site for writers who finaled in the 2004 Golden Heart contest.  My book title and my website information are part of my e-mail sig line as well as my eHarlequin community boards signature.  I've designed and printed bookmarks and bought pens imprinted with either my book title or just basic information about me as a writer, which I've sent as freebies or goodie bag stuffers for reader and writer events.  And I talk up my book every chance I get. But for a first category-length book, that's probably all the marketing I'll do.

A: How do you balance your writing commitments with your full-time job and life?

PG: It takes some doing.  On one hand, I'm single and childless, which is probably helpful.  On the other hand, my mom, my sister and her two young children live with me, so I don't really get to miss out on the chaos.  But at least I can send the whining children to their mother if they start bothering me.

I do work full time, but I try to make the most of the bits of time available, like my lunch hour at work or evenings and weekends.  I try to put myself on a writing schedule when I'm working on a new project--at least two or three pages a day and more on the weekends.  I can pretty easily write two or three pages in an hour, and I can usually find an hour of time, between my lunch hour and my evenings, to get those pages done.

I create a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel to help me track my writing progress.  It gives me the incentive to write when my brain tells me I'd rather be playing online pool.  I do like to see the book pages add up on my spreadsheet!

A: What's coming in the near future for you?

PG: My editor liked the proposal I sent her for the sequel to Forbidden Territory, featuring one of my heroine's sisters, who also has a special gift.  So I'll be polishing up the full for that over the next couple of weeks and getting it ready to out to my editor.  After that, I'm working on creating an ongoing series for Intrigue featuring characters who work for an international security and threat management firm.  Everyone who works there had some involvement in a fictional terrorist incident that took place a few years earlier.  What each of the characters experienced during that crisis will have ongoing repercussions for them in the present.

For Fun:

A: What is the one thing we'd be surprised to learn about you? 

PG: I used to be an online chat host for AOL's now-defunct X-Files Fan Forum.  Oh, and I learned to play the baritone horn in a week after the entire low brass section of my high school band graduated.

A: If you had an unexpected afternoon off work and free of commitments, what would you do?

PG: I'd write.  Really.  I so rarely get that long a stretch of free time to devote to my stories, I'd be like a kid in a candy store.

However, if I didn't have a project in the works, I'd probably go fishing with my mom.

Drop in and say hi to Paula via her website or blog and be sure to enter this month's contest to win an autographed copy of Paula's Forbidden Territory!

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