Welcome guest Danica Favorite

What I learned since I left the island...

www.danicafavorite.com

So many people think that getting published means that so much in your life will change. Honestly, what I've learned is how little things change. Here are a few things people think will change (and doesn't).

·         Recognition as a published author: Even when you get the “unpublished” sticker off your forehead, there's always going to be someone who doesn't think you're a real writer- either because you write X genre or because you haven't published X number of books or you aren't making X amount of money. 

·         The money: Okay, I will admit that I got an advance, and it wasn't shabby. It also isn't going to buy me a vacation home in the mountains. But, easy come, easy go, as they say. I no sooner put the money from my advance in the bank than my dog got diabetes (not fun vet bills), my kid got nominated to go on a very expensive school trip, and a whole lot of other little things popped up to suck the money right out. Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for the money and grateful that we were able to take care of the situations that sprung up. But we still live in the same house, have the same lifestyle, and that's okay.

·         The writing: I've had so many people tell me that it gets easier when you're published. I don't know what kool-aid they were drinking, but I've found it not to be true. For me, it is exactly the same. I'm plugging along on my next book, hoping my editor will like it, and hoping that if she gets back to me with the word that she doesn't like it, it's in time to fix it.

·         The wait: Many people also think that the wait changes once you become published. It's funny, because I know a number of published authors who have been waiting to hear back on their submissions for their option books as the unpublished authors.

So what does this all mean for the people still on the island?  I think you have to take a step back from your expectations of what's going to change in your life and realize that the nature of the publishing business is exactly what you've been witnessing all along. Here are a few pieces of advice to combat the temptation to think everything is going to change:

·         Accept that no matter where you are in the publishing journey, whether on the island or off, YOU ARE A REAL WRITER. Other people's definitions don't matter.

·         Be grateful for whatever money comes your way, but be realistic in thinking that it's not going to change your life overnight. (Unless you get a million dollar book deal, and in that case, I'd love to know how it's done!) Don't plan your financial future based on a book deal that may or may not come your way.

·         Remember that a contract isn't a ticket to continued publishing success. Always strive to grow as a writer, and no matter what, keep writing. Especially if you're waiting.

·         The worst thing you can do is stop writing or slow your pace while waiting. So many of my friends sent partials and then stopped writing because they wanted to know what the editor thought of the partial before writing more, and then couldn't deliver when asked for a full. We've all heard the adage that you can't edit a blank page. Spend the waiting time finishing the current project or working on the next one so that you have something to offer when the editor wants more.

Now it's your turn: If you're still on the island, what do you think or hope will change by leaving the island? And for those who've left the island, what did you think would change that didn't?


Danica's debut book for Love Inspired Historicals, set to release late 2014 or early 2015:

Joseph Stone comes to the mining town of Leadville, Colorado to find his missing father and bring him home to support their impoverished family. Instead, he finds an illegitimate sister he didn't know existed and clues that his father may have been murdered over a hidden silver mine. The sole hope for keeping his siblings out of an orphanage is to find the mine- before his father's killer does.

An area in Leadville representative of where the mining camp would have been. Of course, in the book, there would have been far fewer trees because the wood was needed for support beams for the mines as well as for construction, heating, etc.

Annabelle Lassiter is worn out from working in her father's ministry to aid struggling miners. She doesn't believe their work is doing any good in a lawless town full of people interested only in getting rich quick. All she wants is to leave Leadville to create a new life for herself, away from the pain of working amidst so much tragedy. At her father's urging, she reluctantly sets out to help what she believes is just one more miner in a sea of thousands.

My family and I took the Leadville train, very similar to what my heroine would have been taking out of Leadville at the end of the book.

As Annabelle and Joseph work together to care for his younger sister while trying to find the mine, they learn to look past the preconceived notions they had of each other to see something deeper. But even as they consider the risks to their hearts by becoming involved, the greater risk may be to their lives.

Because my book takes place in Leadville during the silver mining boom, and a lost silver mine plays such an important role in my book, I'm giving away a vial of Colorado silver.

Leave a comment to be included in the drawing!!

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For more birthday details check here.

Hi Everyone, Audra here!

Can you believe it's time for ANOTHER Seekerville birthday party? There's a great month ahead -- we're just getting started! In addition to Danica's generous giveaway of real-live, honest-to-goodness silver (!!), leave a comment for more giveaway drawings --  TWO $10 Amazon gift cards.

Join us each day for fun in the sun and valuable conversation!!

Guest Blogger Rose McCauley, Welcome to Seekerville!

Cara here. I’m thrilled to welcome Rose McCauley to Seekerville! She’s a debut author writing for Barbour. Her first novella, Christmas Belles of Georgia, has recently been released. Rose will be giving away a copy of her new book! Please include your email address when you leave a comment.



My Long, Winding, Waiting Road to Publication by Rose Allen McCauley

My first books were so long ago they were handwritten and stitched together by my mother on her treadle sewing machine! Although I never gave up my love of reading, my path to writing for publication became overgrown with school work and extra-curricular activities, jobs, marriage, helping my husband on our farm, children and teaching for over 25 years. I know many wonderful women who do all that and still find time to write, but it was not for me, although I have written daily in a prayer journal for many years. I need time and solitude to think and write, and those things were in very short supply for the past forty years!

About fifteen years ago, with our oldest child married, our middle child in college and our youngest very independent, I finally had time to daydream some ideas for stories that had been rambling in my head for years. I even jotted down some lists of characters and a paragraph or two, but never finished anything until I retired from teaching a few years later. That was the year our oldest announced our first grandchild was on the way, and I volunteered to watch her 2 days a week. I also subbed a lot on the days I wasn’t babysitting, so my writing got put on the back burner again. When our daughter had our second granddaughter a couple years later, I cut back to only watching the girls one day a week and finally started and finished my first story. I did read two writing books, and thought I knew what writing in one POV meant until I went to my first ACFW conference in 2002.

At the first conference, one of our activities was to write down how we felt about being there. I wrote I felt like a fish out of water. Then in class I found out that was an over-used cliché, which told me how much I still had to learn! An agent had taken my finished manuscript at the beginning of the conference, and I had to hunt her down and request it back before I left! She did become my agent later on, though!

One of the best things that happened at that first conference was the encouragement I received from Lynn Coleman who gently told me I need to ditch my first three chapters and start with something exciting! And I met and prayed with Jim Peterson who also introduced me and Jennifer Johnson who is still my ACFW crit partner after 9 years!

Then began the hard work of reading/studying more writing books, taking online classes from ACFW and others, and sitting down and writing, writing, writing! From 2002-2009 I completed and submitted 3 novels and also sent off 7 novella proposals to Barbour, with most of the novellas 1/3-1/2 finished. And wrote some more while waiting. Then in 2009 I sent off a proposal with three other authors for Christmas Belles of Georgia and waited some more.

Then at last year’s September, 2010 ACFW conference, after a devotion and worship including the song “I am Waiting” I received my first contract from Barbour for the Christmas Belles story. I wrote the rest of my novella in November (in spite of recovering from a serious car accident), sent it off to my crit partners in Dec. and made changes in Jan. to meet the February, 2011 deadline.

This past year I have written a synopsis and submitted 4 more anthology proposals to try to help other unpubbed authors get their start like so many Barbour authors have done for me over the years. And we are still waiting to hear from them. And most of my time this summer/fall has been spent marketing Christmas Belles of Georgia by setting up booksignings, doing blog interviews, and now radio and internet interviews.

I did host a couple brainstorm retreats at my home this summer, and have an idea we brainstormed that my crit partners think is my most compelling one yet. So, after I finish all my blog and signing tours this fall, I will go back to major writing. And waiting!



Christmas Belles of Georgia


Surprised by Life—and Love—at Christmas

Four letters are mailed from Monticello, a small antebellum town in Georgia. Sisters once, now heirs to a historic plantation, each young woman must come to terms with the circumstances of her birth. . . .

When she learns in a letter she’s adopted, Holly feels betrayed by her parents—and she books a flight out of Missouri immediately. Will she ever be able to love again?

Raised in a wealthy, loveless home, Carol rushes to Monticello from college in Atlanta when she receives her letter. She’s searching for family, but finds instead a boy she once mistreated. Will he remember her? . . .forgive her?

In one year, Starr has lost her parents, boyfriend, and job, so she’s sure her letter is more bad news. When the attorney flies to California to offer proof, Starr takes a second look—at the message and the man.

Noelle always knew she was adopted—and she’s always loved the foreman on her father’s Texas ranch too. But he’s so distant. . .perhaps a trip to Georgia is the break in life she needs.

Will the sisters receive a traditional Christmas gift. . .of love?



Bio: Bio: Rose Allen McCauley is happy to live in the beautiful bluegrass region of Kentucky on a farm surrounded by God’s creation. She has been writing for over ten years and has been published in several non-fiction anthologies and devotionals. She is thrilled for this to be her first published fiction because Christmas books are her favorites. She has a growing collection of Christmas books, and this one will takes its rightful place among them.

A retired schoolteacher who has been happily married to her college sweetheart for over 43 years, she is also mother to three grown children and their spouses and Mimi to three lovely, lively grandkids! You can reach her through her website www.rosemccauley.com or blogsite at www.rosemccauley.blogspot.com

Seekerville Welcomes Golden Heart Winner and Debut Novelist Cat Schield!

Cat and Angi at Golden Heart Awards

 With the deadline to enter the Golden Heart coming up on November 15, 2010, the Seekers have asked me to talk about my Golden Heart experience.

I’ve been a contest diva (i.e. junkie) since I finaled in the Linda Howard in 2007. It was my first contest. I had no idea what I was doing. Something that became apparent with the next few contests I didn’t final in. But I got smart fast and soon I wasn’t just finaling, I managed to win a couple.




Every diva needs a tiara... Right???

 For four years I had a very successful run. In 2008 I received a tiara from Donna Caubarreaux, the originator of the contest divas’ loop. I had finaled with six different manuscripts that year. As far as achievements go, I am very proud of that one.

However, the one final that I wanted more than any continued to elude me. The Golden Heart. It had been my dream to final since 1993 when I joined RWA the first time. So, full of hope and enthusiasm I entered 2 manuscripts in 2007. When I received back my scores that first year, the book that had been trashed in all the contests thus far had ended up in the top 25%. What? Meanwhile, the manuscript that had been finaling like crazy didn’t even make the top half. Huh?

Undaunted, I tried again the next year with a much improved manuscript. It did worse than the year before. Something wasn’t working. I sat 2009 out. Signing with my agent prompted me to try one more time. I entered the 2010 Golden Heart with 2 manuscripts. One was a debut entry. The other, hadn’t made the top half in 2007. Wonder of wonder. It finaled.

If you’ve been happily writing in obscurity, a final in the Golden Hearts is a trip. News releases. Professional headshots (or not). Guest blogging. You join The Golden Network, a chapter whose membership is limited to GH finalists past and present. You go to parties. Rub elbows with agents and editors. All very heady stuff.



Golden Heart finalists

 But the best part is the amazing group of writers you’ll meet in your fellow finalists. This is a brand new support network for you. Some will be experienced finalists. Others, like me, will be clueless and needing as much advice as they can get.

I’m sure it’s obvious that being a Golden Heart finalist opens doors. By the time Nationals rolled around, four of the 2010 finalists had already sold their book, another two had sold non-finaling books. Others were seeking representation or submitting to editors. For me, Orlando was about the party. I had an agent. I had a book (not the one that finaled) sitting at Silhouette Desire. I went to Nationals to hang out and have fun.

A bunch of cool things that happened to fellow GHers that weekend.

One agent handed out her card to all the people sitting at her table and requested they all send her something.

Another agent publicly offered representation.

At the Golden Network Retreat, an editor requested a full based off a first page read.

After the conference, one enterprising agent looked up the websites of all the finalists and contacted one because she liked what she saw.

A few finalists received congratulatory flowers from their chapters.

All those things are great, but what will stick with me forever are all the wonderful friends I made thanks to the Golden Heart. It’s a unique experience that forms lasting memories and strong bonds. I can’t wait to see who finals in 2011. They are in for quite a ride.


Cat Schield lives in Minnesota with her daughter, Emily, and their Burmese cat. Winner of the Romance Writers of America 2010 Golden Heart® for series contemporary romance, her first book, A Case of Meddling, will be coming out in July 2011 from Silhouette Desire. When she’s not writing sexy, romantic stories, she can be found sailing with friends on the St. Croix River or more exotic locales like the Caribbean and Europe. Contact her at her website.

Ruthy here!

Cat, thanks so much for coming by Seekerville, sharing your story!  I've got the coffee on for the straight Joe drinkers AND I brought my Keurig.... And a great assortment of people pleasing flavored coffees, teas and hot chocolates to welcome this lovely eleventh month of 2010!

Let us know if you've dared enter the GH or other contests. How you fared... No cussin', please.  :)  And if you're thinking of entering and looking for advice (any contest, pubbed, unpubbed, GH/Rita, whatever), you've come to the right place. My friends have their GH tiaras polished and primped for the day.

HAVE I MENTIONED LATELY HOW I CRASHED AND BURNED IN THE GOLDEN HEART???  HAVE I?  HUH? OH, A GAZILLION TIMES????? IMAGINE THAT!!!

Gulp.

And you know I brought food, great country breakfast food, fried ham, scrambled eggs, home-fries with onions and paprika, fresh whole wheat or Italian toast, bagels, croissants (a kiss of New Orleans, well deserved)....

And a donut for me. I'll share, though, because I'm THAT nice.  Leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for my newest book:  MADE TO ORDER FAMILY, a September 2010 Love Inspired release, the love story no one thought should or could happen.

But it did.

SWEET!!!!