Sister authors

I have a literary agent. She is wonderful, and I'm so grateful that she represents my work. Kevan sells a lot of books. Happily, she's sold four of mine.

Kevan represents a lot of Young Adult (YA) authors. She has a great ability to pick talented authors who write amazing stories. Kevan also does a great job of picking authors who are really nice people.

Many of my agency-sisters attended the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference held in Atlanta 17-20 July.  I was there too—and loved meeting authors like Katie McGarry, Colette Ballard, Chanel Cleeton, and Jennifer Armentrout.

I know that there are authors around who act like divas. They are reluctant to share their wisdom.  They want to be treated like they're special--without remembering that it is our readers that make them special. But that is not the norm, thankfully.

I met my sister-authors this week, and they were instantly my friends--each one a fun, real, generous part of my writing team.

It didn't matter how long we'd been in the business; we each had something to share. The multi-published authors gave advice to those of us who aren't.  I (who'll spend 18 months between selling and releasing my debut book) was able to share my experiences with contracts, promos, editing, and all of the other details that new authors encounter. And the newly-contracted authors were able to remind us how exciting, thrilling, amazing it is to be launching into our dream career.

And, of course, we all love our readers—the ones we have now and the ones we look forward to having in the future.

I almost didn't go. It's a busy time of year for me. But I learned a lot in the conference workshops. And I made friendships that'll last forever.

Support your local bookstore!

Quail Ridge Books & Music, one of my all-time favorite independent bookstores, will be hosting a book-signing event for me.

Here are the details:

Where: Quail Ridge Books
Date: 24 November 2013
Day: Sunday
Time: 3:00pm

If you love to support indie bookstores as much as I do, please consider ordering Whisper Falls from Quail Ridge!

Gotta love the details

Two weeks ago, I announced that I would be signing my third contract with Spencer Hill Press. (First one was for Whisper Falls, second contract was for two sequels to WF, and the third, drum roll, is for I Wish.)

I promised details, and frankly, they're not all that interesting. But I promised and there is simply no point in breaking a promise so easy to fulfill.

I Wish will be released in November 2014, one month after the final Whisper Falls book.  IW might have sequels. Not sure about that yet. It's still open-ended. Perhaps we'll let the readers decide.

IW will be edited by the Lovely And Talented Jessica. LATJ works with me often, in conjunction with the Manly And Talented Richard. MATR is LATJ's husband. It is quite cool working with a matched set.

LATJ and I have already discussed IW at a high level. We use impressive literary terms like series arc, character development, world-building, and pertinent backstory.The book will be better for it. I'm excited. I want to start now.

Sadly, there is that pesky problem of the two WF sequels that were contracted first.

We often call I Wish 'the genie book.' I assure you that the genie, aka Grant, would object. He is not a genie. It is true that he joined the Guild of Benevolent Supernatural Beings to grant wishes. If it helps you understand his role in the universe to call him a genie, well then, he tolerates that. But he will pity your poor simple mind. Grant has skills. He has protections (via the Guild.) He has a boss. He also has a problem, and her name is Lacey.

When you meet her in November 2014, you'll find out why.

My third contract as an author!

First contract: Whisper Falls

Second contract: Two sequels to Whisper Falls

Third contract: I Wish

Yay! Here are the details.

Elizabeth Langston's I WISH, a teenage girl devotes herself to raising her brother, hiding her depressed mom from social services, and juggling the household bills when an amazingly hot guy appears in a puff of smoke from a music box promising her thirty wishes, to Kate Kaynak at Spencerhill Press, in a nice deal, for publication in Fall 2014, by Kevan Lyon at Marsal Lyon Literary Agency(World English).

Foreign rights: Taryn Fagerness Agency 

More later. I promise!

Heading for NYC

Younger Daughter and I are headed to New York City.

We're going to Book Expo America (BEA), the largest book trade fair in the United States.   I plan to wander around, find out about great books, and pick up as many as I can carry.

But the main reason to go is that I'll be signing copies (i.e. uncorrected proofs¹) of my debut novel Whisper Falls.   I cannot wait to see and hold a copy of my book.

If you're going to be at BEA on Friday, drop by the Spencer Hill booth and get a book!

• Friday, May 31
  • Book-signing at Book Expo America (BEA)
    11:00 am, Booth 2567
    Jake Javits Center - New York City

¹ Uncorrected proof - an uncorrected proof is a bound copy of the book. It is just like a real book, except the possibility exists that it might have a typo or two. An uncorrected proof is not available for sale, but it is the book in its entirety. Generally, publishing professionals (such as book store owners, librarians, and book reviewers)receive uncorrected proofs or ARCs (advanced reading copy) so that they can review the book in advance of its publication date.

Body language

My best friend and I were sitting at lunch the other day, and a hot guy walked by. So I said, "That guy is hot." (I'm eloquent that way.)

"Would you say that in front of your husband?" she asked.

"Sure would. And he doesn't mind."

She expressed some disbelief on his behalf, but it's the truth. It has to be.  It is my job to notice people.

I'm an author. I write stories where I must describe things. Human beings are the main things I describe.  Mostly, a story is about what my characters think and how they act. But their appearance (either the one they're born with or the one they create) can have a powerful impact on their thoughts, their actions, how other characters react to them, and--ultimately--how the reader responds.

Authors must be good manipulators of body language.

I know a dozen ways to say "blond."  If I call a girl "overweight", the reader has a different mental image than if I call her "curvy." I might give a minor character light brown eyes, but the hero's eyes are amber.

I pay attention to details. What is the shape of a person's face? Is it symmetric? Do they have scars? Facial hair? Does their hairstyle flatter or detract? How about their hands? Do they have long, elegant fingers? Is the skin supple, rough, or wrinkled? Are the nails long? Manicured? Dirty? Bitten? 

I might say that I find a guy attractive, but I could also write you a five-hundred word description to tell you exactly why. And it is likely that elements of that description will wind up in a book of mine one day.

Authors have careers that require understanding from spouses, but we're not the only ones. Actors kiss people who aren't their partners. Health care providers see and touch bare body parts as part of their daily routine.  The lady at the lingerie store knows precisely what bra size I wear just by looking.

My husband understands. He knows that a lot of what I say is simply exercising the tools of my trade.

Really. If I say you're hot, it's professional, not personal. Most of the time.

Jitters that did not come from coffee

To borrow a phrase from my agent, we are on submission.

Writers are in a golden age, I think. We are no longer limited to one channel for selling our work. Ten years ago, if we wrote a great book, we had to find a publishing house (PH) willing to take a risk on us.  The book had to be different enough to be fresh and unique, but similar enough for the PH to understand how to promote it and where to shelve it in bookstores. So, yeah—fresh, unique, and the same as everything else. Quite the trick.

Today, if no PH will buy our great book because it's too risky, authors have two choices: 1) try self-publishing or 2) hope the market changes so that we can try again later.  There are pros and cons to both.

I'm sticking with the second option for now. Its pros are more compelling for me than its cons. I like having professional help with editing, distributing, and promoting my books—and those qualities tend to be the strengths of publishing houses.

Several years ago, I wrote a book called I WISH. It finaled in an international writing contest known as the Golden Heart®. It caught the eye of my literary agent, who signed me because of I WISH.

We tried for months to sell IW.  We came really close a couple of times.  Even though the responses was positive, the answer was the same. This book is too different. Too risky. We don't know how to market it.

Fine. Whatever. I archived IW and started something new.  After that something new sold, I pulled I WISH out of archive and took another look.  The world had changed enough in the interim that I thought this book still held promise.

First, I have changed. I am a better author now. I've practiced hard, taken classes, and improved my skills at processing feedback. Secondly, technology has changed. The characters have new computers, devices, and information available to them. Thirdly, the market has changed. E-books have expanded the possibilities. Young Adult fiction, with its willingness to experiment with "formulas," has pushed the market along new and exciting terrain.

Given all of those changes, I took my much-loved I WISH apart and put it back together.  I worked hard. I hired a freelance editor and 2 teen beta readers. I listened to them and applied their suggestions. And together, we've made IW even better than before.

My agent has sent the book out there into the publishing world. It could be weeks or months before we know anything.  Until then, I wait for good news, with the jitters in full force.