My life has been a rollercoaster for the past ten years. There has been much good, but the bad has kind of obliterated it, as much as I try to focus on the bright side of things.

I am going through a down-trend again right now. A family/health issue that rears its ugly head more often than I care for. There’s not much I can do about it so I won’t dwell on it. Amidst the chaos, however, I found two allies who never fail to make me happy even if for just an hour or so every day.

Meet Aiden Mercer and Naël Fouchard, the two main characters in my newest writing adventure, a MM urban fantasy romance I am currently writing. This story and these characters couldn’t have come at a better time. I’m not even sure why, but writing their story brings me happiness. They make me laugh, smile, and often swoon just a little as they take me out of my ugly reality into their zany world of magical beings, sarcastic comments, and badly repressed sexual tension.

After ten published romances I decided to set this one in my native country, Portugal. Actually it’s set right in my hometown, the stretch of coast just west of Lisbon. Setting this book in Portugal has brought an unexpected joy to my writing. I’m getting old, my mom–who still lives in Portugal–just turned eighty, I miss my sister, and part of me misses the country and the places I grew up in. By writing this story I have been revisiting all those places, some of them reimagined, others still faithful to my memories. This book will most likely become a series, which will give me further opportunities to “travel” in my home country and feel as if I’m really there. Right now, this story and these characters are the one thing saving me from going bonkers and for that I am so grateful.

Fiction has always been my go-to for happiness and nothing has changed. The only difference is that I now (and have for many years) also write it instead of only reading it. The bottom line is that fiction, as a reflection of human creativity and imagination, is as real for bookworms and writers like me as anything solid and concrete. Fiction is a hiding place, a shelter, a safe-place to go to when reality hurts too much or you just need a break.

What is your go-to when you’re sad or overwhelmed? When you need a break from real life? Do you take refuge in fiction like I do?

Branding Yourself

Or How To Endear Yourself To Readers

Branding does not–contrary to popular belief–include a hot iron, but sometimes it can feel kind of like that.

Tara Lain and Poppy Dennison made it sound so simple. I suppose for some writers it really is. Not for this writer who cannot figure out what exactly to pick as the one thing her readers will remember and recognize her for. You know, the thing that will make a reader one-click anything that carries her name.

In a previous blog I’ve mentioned shoes and I kid you not, there are a couple of romance writers out there that have done well with this thing. A writer I know added a really cute and catchy tagline as her brand and I can guarantee you people remember her–I know I do and not because we’re FB friends.

No one remembers me. Not only I have a name that no English speaking reader can pronounce (it’s pronounced like rice but you have to roll and emphasize the R, sort of like a cat purring) but I write across many sub-genres. I’m sure my books have something in common but I’m still not sure what that is. Not in a way that I can use it for my commercial benefit.

The two speakers suggested a couple of exercises to help find your thing. One of them in particular resonated with me. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get anyone to help me with that. My friends are all too busy and my family either doesn’t read fiction or can’t read English. I hope you have better luck with this because I thinks it’s pure genius, lol.

1. Have a couple friends read the reviews you have so far and jot down common words, feelings or reactions. For example I know that several of my reviewers say my stories are sweet and have twists and turns. If that seems to be a common thing across most of the reviews, that’s what you want to use to brand yourself. Lately I’ve began using the tagline of sweet and sexy when I speak of my books because they kind of fall between those two characteristics.

2. Make a list of everything you identify with you and your writing. Then post it by your computer and look at it often. Eventually you will see a pattern of some kind that you can use as your brand. Easier said than done. My list include everything from coffee to humor but only a couple of things seem to be even remotely fit for branding. Thus my recent brush with the tagline “Romance with a touch of magic”. Catchy? No idea.

Before I leave you today I want to tell you what these great ladies shared about their own brand and how they pinpointed it. One of them said that her readers identify her with T-Rex arms–I know, right?– because one time she made a joke during a book signing or workshop about her short arms and, much to her surprise, it stuck. The other said that even though she writes M/M romance with a lot of hot sex, her readers kept referring to her stories as sweet. Even though she didn’t see it that way, she went with it and that became part of her brand.

Last but not least, foster those relationships with readers–yes, even if they haven’t read any of your books. Use social media to share and interact, go to signings and talk to people–yes, even if they don’t buy any of your books. Someone at work the other day told me she was so excited to meet a real author. She had never met anyone famous. I giggled–actually I metaphorically rolled on the floor laughing my heart out–since I am not even in the same galaxy of  any one famous, but thanked her and handed her my card. I may just have won a new reader.

If you have any tagline, motto or any kind of branding examples, share them here. I would love to hear from you guys.

Next week we will talk about new markets you may have never thought of. I know the publishers didn’t until very recently. See you then.

The Next Best Thing

(Color Me Hybrid)

Today we will tackle the vexing issue of hybridness (I know that’s not a word) in the writing profession.

When I think about hybrids several things come to mind: animals who were unfortunate enough to be part of some weird experiment reminiscent of Dr. Moreau’s Island, the ever-so-energy-efficient cars of today or–and I realize this is probably due to my second language issues–Hydra of Marvel fame.

I don’t know about you but I really don’t want to be anything like the poor Dr. Moreau’s hybrids and I’m not interested in looking like a car either.

With all of that said, one of the lessons learned at RT was that being a hybrid author is the place to be right now. Think of it as getting the best of both worlds or finding a balance in a profession where this is so hard to find.

Take me for example. I’ve been published traditionally for about a year and a half. In spite of having a very supportive publisher, who does a lot more for her authors than most, I still spend an inordinate amount of time trying to find ways to market myself and create an audience who is anxiously waiting for my next book. Because I’m not well known–but totally expect to be in the future–I don’t sell very much. My books sell at a very modest rate which means that by the time everybody gets their cut, I end up with peanuts. And I mean one or two peanuts, not a bag.

As a self-published author (which is in my future as well) I would at least be getting the full profit. If my book is selling for $3.99 I would get almost all of that back for each book I sold since I wouldn’t be sharing the profits with anyone but myself.

Like in everything else in life there is a reverse to this coin. As a traditionally published author I technically don’t have to spend any money of my own to get the book out into the world. The publisher supplies the art work, the formatting, etc… As a self-published author you have to dig deep into your pockets for all of these things. There is no way around it.

So why hybrid? It’s the middle point, the one thing that balances the scale, the best–and conversely the worst–of both worlds. I have a novel that I finished writing a while back and I just can’t get anyone to publish it because it will be hard to market.  But I have a special love for this one for many different reasons and none of them is vanity (okay maybe a little bit) and I want to see it published. So I’ve already lined up a cover artist (a real good one) and I will be editing, revising, and formatting it during the summer for a possible release at the end of the year or beginning of next. I will officially be a hybrid writer and will have benefited from two of the advantages of such label–being and not being in control at the same time.

By the same token, the audience/followers you gather with your publisher will help you sell your self-published books and the opposite holds true as well. It’s like having two engines instead of just one–more power for better results.

As to my Hydra reference it really has nothing to do with writing. Hydra Grant Ward (played by Brett Dalton) of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is so hot I wanted to reward you for reading my post by including him in this post 🙂  Enjoy.