GIRLS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN
Two things before we start: first, big thanks to Cindy for inviting me to party at Muse Interrupted on this very special occasion, my virgin release day. And second—well, I already said it. My first published novel, SEXY BY DESIGN, releases TODAY! (Enter a horde of hyperactive emoticons.)
I have to admit I had a lot of trouble coming up with a topic for this post. I kept reading other guest blogs and searching the Web for profound ideas…and that’s when I discovered that my profound idea is my tendency for lighter subjects.
Writing short contemporary romance can feel a bit elementary at times, in a neurotic, am-I-good-enough kind of way. Trust me, completing any piece of novel-length fiction is no easy task, but when someone asks what I write, “short contemporary” doesn’t sound nearly as powerful as dark paranormal (cue scary music) or sweeping historical (wave dainty fan at heaving, corseted chest). I fully expect my first bad review to mention a lack of drama and too many flirty young women.
But that’s not bad—it’s the point! Remember when life didn’t revolve around money, career, marriage, and kid issues? When terrorism and recession weren’t front page news, and all that mattered was the moment the cute guy in class or the stud in the next cubicle made eye contact and left you floating for a week? That’s what my stories are about. I want people to close the books and smile, maybe laugh, and definitely wish those days would happen to them all over again.
The choice to write romance—especially series romance, which I’ve always loved—seems to shock people, as though they believe all authors should aspire to tragic and controversial tales intense enough to suit Oprah’s book club or a Hollywood adaptation. While bestsellerdom and a six-figure royalty check would be sweet, I often need to explain to naysayers that I’m not actually aiming for those things—I’m after a steady career that brings an hour or two of happiness to readers’ lives. When I wrote the first draft of SEXY BY DESIGN long ago, I did it for no reason other than fun. Had a vision of a conservative woman frantically sneaking out of a stranger’s apartment after a sorry attempt at her first one-night stand, and wrote it down. (That scene became an unnecessary prologue that eventually got thrown out of the book.)
Despite my certainty that the manuscript was too light, too character-driven, too “just the romance” to make it in an industry demanding edge-of-your-seat conflict (or so it seems at times), that story was the one to pull me out of romance-publishing obscurity. Still, there’s pressure to write something tragic and tear-jerking—and to post technical, intelligent blogs all the time instead of the random thoughts that blow through my mind on any given day.
So, what do you think? Do you like your romance novels with a side of danger or a heavy dose of humor? Should an author keep her online presence all business, or is there a place for girls who, well, just want to have fun?
P.S. If you want to have fun, I’m giving away a (digital) copy of SEXY BY DESIGN to one commenter. Talk to me!
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Please leave a comment to enter for your chance to to win an ebook of Avery’s SEXY BY DESIGN. Entries accepted until midnight PST.
To read Avery’s bio and the blurb for SEXY BY DESIGN, please see yesterday’s post. To learn more about Avery and her books, please visit her website.
Hi Avery.
Congrats on the release. Depends on the genre. For contemporary romance I prefer a lighter touch. For Regency Historical and Paranormal, I like dark and light both. Guess it depends on the authors voice.
But fun can be sexy.
[email protected]
Avery,
Congratulation on this monumental day, the release of your first book, “Sexy By Design!” ^5 Savor every moment! Holy cow, did I say I loved your cover!!!
As for a career focus and on-line presence, I believe it’s a personal choice for each author. Each of have a dream, and good for you for knowing exactly what yours is. It’s that clear vision that will help propel you to your definition of success, and that’s what matters.
For me, I read across the board, love it all as long as it’s a good story. No right or wrong, I just want to be submersed in the story and feel the author’s intent. At times we need to laugh, cry or be filled with suspense. With the amazing authors/stories out there, why choose one genre? I write romantic suspense, regardless of the era, because that’s my passion.
Keep on enjoying your stories, your books will reflect your passion. I wish you every success.
Diana Cosby
Romance Edged With Danger
Congratulations! Hope your gas tank is full so you can run from store to store checking shelves and preening.
I like meaty, engrossing stories for the most part, but just like eating your veggies, a varied diet is a good thing. Something light and engaging is just the ticket for a beach read or when you have more than enough angst in your own life. Keep writing what you love.
Avery, HUGE congrats on your release day! There’s nothing quite like it. And that is one smoking hot cover.
Like others have mentioned, I like to read across the board. I just want a romance (no matter if it’s dark paranormal or light contemporary or YA) that I can fall in love with, characters I can root for, a book that makes me want to keep reading even though I need to go to bed.
As for online presence, I think a mixture is fine. That’s what I have on my site: professional stuff (here are my books) and fun stuff (posts on my blog).
Here’s to many sales of your debut!
Hi Avery, and welcome to the blog.
Congratulations on your very first release day!
Like others have said, I like to read across the board. I eat up “Oprah” books (comes from the English degree, I guess), but don’t get the chance to read as many as I’d like any more. Too busy reading the market. When it comes to romance novels, however, I agree with you that I’m mainly in it for the fun. I enjoy a dramatic romance every now and again, but I write humourous romance and that’s truly what I enjoy reading the most within the genre as well. Dark romantic suspense, for example, doesn’t often do it for me. You’re more apt to find me engrossed in a Jennifer Crusie/Bob Mayer offering, or Stephanie Bond’s Body Mover sexy mystery series, etc. I like quirky. I like quirky in my literary fiction reading, and I like it in my genre reading as well.
As for the online presence, I think there’s room for having fun there as well. That’s one of the reasons I have this blog and a presence on Facebook. (I’m still on MySpace but find it cumbersome compared to Facebook and so don’t go on there very much anymore). However, I also think an author has to be careful about what she says on-line. There’s having fun, and then there’s being kinda dense. When I’m on-line, I always try to keep in mind that, as an author, I’m a public persona, so to speak. It does tend to make me couch my comments. For example, I wrote that last line 5 times, then decided, nah, I won’t say THAT.
Hello everyone! Thanks for stopping by. Needless to say, I am *thrilled* to be here today (at least, for this reason–I’m usually here anyway, LOL).
I’m enjoying all the comments. I do wish I wasn’t such a wimp when it comes to dark content, because I’m sure I am missing out on some great writing. Maybe someday I can expand my horizons!
Hi Avery, this is a great day for you!! Congratulations!! Enjoy the thrill that we all strive for. Like you said, this day only happenes once in an authors life. I’m happy for you….
I love humor. A book’s gotta have some…or a lot. That’s what keeps me reading.
Hope to see you at Nationals!!
~Caroline
Congratulations! I’ve been in this business a long time. I believe there’s room for everybody and every kind of writing. As for online presence? I think it’s optimal if it matches the kind of book you write. If your books are light and funny, then a light and funny online presence means that people who like your blog posts and website will probably like your books. Bottom line, this can be a crazy business and if we aren’t finding some way to have fun doing it, it’s way too easy to burn out. So….be yourself! Have fun! Enjoy the release of your book!
Best wishes for lots and lots of success.
Hi Avery!
I’m so happy for you. You’ve waited a long time for this day.
You’re style of writing is just what I like to read. Straight contemporary romance with a little bit of fun thrown in. Ahh, heaven.
Congrats again. Enjoy the day.
Becky
Cindy, I totally agree about MySpace. I hardly ever go to my page there anymore (maybe once a month), but I’m on Facebook every day and Twitter almost every day.
Congratulations, Avery!! I enjoy reading all sorts of books but when there’s humour, I’m sold. I read for escapism. There’s a wonderful magnet on our refrigerator that sums up how I feel. ‘Take a cheap vacation. Read a book.’ Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to download the book I just ordered. Happy release day!
All the best,
Gail
Thank you so much, ladies!
Caroline, I can’t make National this year, sadly. But I suppose since I don’t qualify for PAN yet, it wouldn’t be much different than any other year (or so I tell myself so I don’t pout). 🙂
I have a friend who is trying to talk me into Facebook despite my avoidance of social networking sites. Good to know it might be a useful place if I ever do give in!
Hi Avery,
Ah, Facebook. I resisted Facebook for a long time. Finally joined a few months ago, and I FAR prefer it to MySpace. I go to MySpace maybe once a week to check out friend requests (and I promo my guest bloggers on MySpace). Like I said, though, I find the interface cumbersome compared to Facebook, and while MySpace allows for a lot of individuality in terms of layout, I find a lot of pages take too long to load. I will not approve a friend request if I can’t load the page and check it out.
I’m not on Twitter yet. Not sure how long I’ll hold out. I’ll admit, I log in to Facebook several times a day, mainly to play FB Scrabble, LOL. I’m addicted, and it’s easy to make a play while I’m waiting for pages to print out, etc.
Avery~
Big congrats on your debut release! So very exciting.
I, too, cannot (do not) do the too-painful fiction, a la Jody Picoult. But I never really understand when people talk about an ‘escape’ as being a lesser–and different–thing from other fiction, or other arts in total. When you’re reading ANY (good) book, you’ve ‘escaped’ from your surrounding world, and it’s just a matter of what you want to escape into. Same thing with the orchestra, or a walk through the art museum. You’re out of your world, into another, with different thoughts being triggered, emotions being experienced, etc.
Again, big congrats fellow Pixie! 🙂
Congratulations, Avery!
I like my escape every which way. It just depends on the day! That’s probably why I have three or four books on my nightstand at any given moment. But though the books sitting there may be different in tone and style, though some themes might be heavier than others, they ALL matter to me and make a difference in the way I live my life and feel about myself. Fiction is empowering like that!
Congratulations on the release!
Hi Avery!
Stopping by here to say hi and congrats again on your release!
My favorite read is a dark sexy Historical. For example, right now I’m reading CRY FOR PASSION by Robin Schone. But after reading somehtign deep and dark, I like to lighten things up with a hip fun read.
Can’t wait to read SEXY BY DESIGN.
Hi Kris and Leshia! Wonderful points about all fiction being an escape. I’m glad there’s something in romance to suit all tastes. That’s just one more thing that makes the genre great. 🙂
Hey Juliet, nice to see you here! We simul-posted. I think I’m hip and fun, but I’ll let you decide. 🙂
Avery, congratulations on today’s release! Wow, I love the cover. Fabulous!
Mary
Congrats on the first release! Hope there is many more! Sexy by Design sounds great! I like both in my romances. There is many places authors can chat and I love to chat with authors where it be on a group or on a live chat.
Hi Avery! I saw the beautiful framed cover on your blog, congrats again on your release and more to come! Avery, I love to read a variety of genres and themes. I think you should keep writing what your characters are and their stories! So if their story has the humor, or the danger or the friends to lovers story or re-united story, its their story and I so look forward to it!
I so appreciate authors taking the time to chat with me (us!). I love to have your presence through a blog, a chat or visiting too other blogs. There’s never, I think too much of chatting about our love for reading!
Congratulations on your first release, Avery. Like most of the others I read both light-hearted and darker books. That’s the great thing about romance – there’s always something to suit my mood.
As for an online presence I think it’s a good idea to match your tone with your writing.
Congratulations to Pat D.! You’ve won the free ebook of Avery’s SEXY BY DESIGN. Please look for an email from me in your inbox, so we can arrange the receipt of your prize.
Avery, thanks for blogging at Muse Interrupted. Have a fantastic release week!
Cindy
Thank you so much, everyone, for celebrating with me!