Beyond the Sparks in Romance - ~~PLUS BOOK GIVEAWAY!~

When I sat down to write a book all about "love" (because the title was, A Side of Love...) I struggled a little bit.

I mean, I write ROMANCE y'all.

ALL my books are about love, right?

But love is about more than romance.

It's about more than the first flutters of attraction, that heat that swirls in your belly when his hand grazes yours for the first time. The thud of your heart beat when he slips his hand behind your neck and pulls your lips to his.

I've had more than one reader tell me lately that one of the things that discourages them about romance is that it is full of the superficial. Full of the things that make us attracted in the first place but fade when those initial sparks of heat have faded.

Now, I fully believe that those sparks of heat need to be fanned regularly, even in married couples. I say this as a woman who will celebrate her 17th anniversary this year, well past the normal time when the spark dies out. That spark can definitely be reignited with some work on both ends, and can be kept burning. It's not easy, but oh-so-worth it.

But those readers are right.

There is more to love, and really more to romance, than just spark.

I encourage your romance writers out there -- definitely have the spark. But also go deeper. Find out what they are attracted to beside just the passion between them.

In A Side of Love, Garrett gives up his dream job to take care of his elderly mother, moving from the bustling city of Chicago to the small town of Sandwich, IL. That sacrificial love is oh-so-attractive to Beth. It points to his character being one of quality.

So let's chat.

What "deeper than sparks" attraction does your hero/heroine have for each other? Even if you don't have romance, your characters still need a deep character "win" that attracts them to the READER? (and yes, they still need flaws. But flaws without a "win" is, well, probably more like the villain!)

And if you're a reader, what book have you read recently that did a GOOD job of going beyond just the sparks in romance?

AND GUESS WHAT!!!!????

   

I'm doing a doing a GIVEAWAY today! Everyone who comments gets their choice of a copy of my novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance, OR  a copy of my newest novella, A Side of Love.  

These are paperback copies and will come with a special little extra gift with it! 

(Giveaway ends Sunday night 3/20/16, then I'll post winner in the comments and update here!)

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

Hometown Inspiration

I remember the moment I came up with my Sandwich book idea.

I was sitting around the table at my in-law's house, talking about writing. I'd recently finished writing my FIRST book and was dipping my toe into what I needed to do to actually, like, you know, publish the darn thing.

And one thing became very clear. Writing one, solitary book does not a long-term author make.

So we were talking about books and where to set them at. Since the only piece of writing "advice" I'd ever heard up until that point was "Write what you know" I began to go through locations that I *knew*.

Starting with my hometown, the place I was born.

The moment the thought entered my brain, my breath hitched.

It was perfect. I write romantic comedy. I was BORN in the city of SANDWICH.

What if I write a book set there???

My family thought it was a hilariously fun idea.

So over the next few months, I brainstormed the idea--to feature a book with a "sandwich" theme based in the town of Sandwich, Illinois.

My hero would own a sandwich shop. Since that sounded a little too cliche, I thought I'd change it up and make it a nice restaurant that specialized in fancy sandwiches verses a deli type thing.

And my hero and heroine would have a bit of a "sandwich" plot. My hero would already have a girlfriend who was OH-SO-WRONG for him but the heroine would work for him and constantly be put in the middle of the two, feeling like a smushed piece of bologna in between two feuding pieces of bread.

That book went on to be my DEBUT novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance, from Abingdon Press.

I also decided to make the whole series be a bit of a 3-layer novella sandwich on novel bread---

 

Novel

Novella

Novella

Novella

Novel

So far, A Side of Faith released in August, 2014, A Side of Hope released in March 2015, and A Side of Love will release December 2015.

The last piece of the Sandwich will release in 2016, a novel called The Greatest is Love.

It's the topping on the sandwich!

It was SUCH FUN using my hometown for inspiration. I used some liberties and inserted businesses from my childhood that have since closed down. But I used a few that are still there and are iconic to the town's history. It's SUPER fun to have someone contact me and be like, "Oh my goodness, I live in Sandwich! I know exactly what you're talking about!"


So what about you? Where were you born, or what town do you consider your 'hometown"? Have you ever considered setting your books in that town?

Major props if you town has a name crazier than Sandwich!

5 GREAT reasons to self-publish (plus... my own!)

We've already gone over a few not-so-brilliant reasons to choose self-publishing (not in and of themselves, anyway.)

So I thought I'd give some GREAT reasons to self-publish.

1.) FUN! This is quite a bit different than the "Just because..." reason on the not-so-brilliant reason. Maybe you just love to write, but publishing? Eh, that'd be cool, but really isn't a huge-huge goal of yours. Just icing on the cake. And it'd be fun to see your book on Amazon. You can epub a book pretty cheap these days. If the process sounds fun to you, you aren't in it for ( and don't really want) to make much of any money, just want to cross it off your bucket list, then ya know? More power to you! Don't stress, just have fun and enjoy it.

2.) FAMILY! Have a great memoir that you want your kids and grand kids to have to remember your legacy? Self-publishing is a GREAT option. Sure, you could print off that word document, but having it book bound and available to family and friends is pretty cool. EVERYONE has a story, and self-publishing is a great way to share it with the ones you love.

3.) FINANCIALLY-SOUND-CAREER MOVE for the traditionally published. I've seen more than one article out lately quoting statistics that state the hybrid author, one who self-pubs on top of traditionally publishing, is the one making the most money these days. This is the current state that I'm in right now... but I'll share more about MY story at the end.

4.) FISH ARE BITING but not getting hooked. You're a great writer. You might even have a great agent. Your book is excellent, and you've been to pub board a few times. But something about your book is not pushing you over the edge. Maybe it's a niche market that a publisher is nervous about taking the risk on. Maybe you write just a little edgier than some CBA publishers are willing to tackle. (I'm seeing that as less of an excuse these days, though.) This might be a good book to self-publish then.

5.) FAN-BASE: ACQUIRED! Do you already have a great platform as well as a great book? Do you love marketing? Does selling your books make you giddy with excitement? Do you have lots of technological talent? Do you have funds to invest into things like professional editing/cover design? Do you have time to devote to learning? Then you might totally want to go this whole publishing thing alone! GO FOR IT!

Me?

I always said I'd never self-publish.

- It didn't sound like fun.
- My story was not for my family (my family, for the most part, aren't really romance novel readers)
- I fished enough as a kid to know that when you get nibbles... if you're patient enough... the bite will come at some point.
- And I definitely don't have all the qualifications of #5!

My first novel was released in 2012. I was SO excited!

But what some know (but others might not know) is that during the previous 2 years, my life had been a big huge chaotic mess. I gave birth to daughter #4 in 2010. She was born with a severe heart defect and spent TEN months in the hospital, then was in and out of the hospital for the next year. During that time, I signed with an agent, contracted my first book, and then the next year, I released it.

I also had to let go of my day job as my daughter required full-time intensive care at home. She was on a feeding tube/oxygen and needed an unreal amount of therapy. She also came home on TWENTY different medications.

It wasn't an easy time. I struggled through the editing and marketing process of releasing that first book, as I was also struggling with trying to figure out how to be a nurse to my daughter, worrying about how to pay bills without a job (my husband had always been a stay-at-home-dad, but Annabelle's needs were beyond his ability.) And honestly? I deal with a lot of post-stress depression that I'm only recently "waking up" from.

Writing new stuff... well, I tried. I'd go in little spurts, but it was a struggle, both time wise and emotional wise.

So last year, things were starting to calm down a little. The biggest change is that my fuzzy, traumatized heart was beginning to mend.

I took a look at my writing career and was sad. That first book hadn't done as well as I'd wanted. And it was no wonder. It had a struggling author supporting it, and no follow-up books to help back-sell it either.

What was an author to do? I mean, the book hadn't been a total flop. People were asking when the next book was going to come out. Even if I did have something ready (and I almost did) it'd probably be a year to two years, even if I did immediately publish it.

So I talked to my agent at the time about the idea of self-pubbing a book, maybe a novella, to fill in the gap. She gave the idea a thumbs up, and even suggested I do more than one.

The more I prayed about it, the more excited and "right" it felt. So I started on the journey, doing researching and writing.

I'm almost there. I don't have an exact release date, but I hope to firm it up in the next week or two.

A Side of Faith will be the first book, a novella sequel to the first, Sandwich, With a Side of Romance.

The two that will follow will be A Side of Hope  and A Side of Love.

So, this was MY reasoning. A business move, and a way to bring books to my readers while I work on finishing my next full-length and attempting to start the process of pitching.

What about you? Have you ever thought about self-publishing? Are you approaching it as a business decision or a i-don't-know-what-else-to-do option?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance . She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com.

I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY!

You may be reading this blog because I (Krista) posted this jaw-dropping news somewhere on social media.

And let me tell you. If it were true, I wouldn't be hosting this blog today. No, I'd probably being still sitting in dumb-founded shock. Someone would also have to do CPR on my poor husband.

Or--- you may be reading this blog because someone else posted this jaw-dropping news somewhere on social media, and you're thinking.... WHAT??? Or-- YEAH!!!

Either way...

No one (that I'm aware of) is having a baby.

Unless you count manuscripts, which authors lovingly think of as "our babies."

Here is the REAL subject of this blog.

TITLES ARE IMPORTANT.

Titles draw in readers. Titles are the first thing we read, both on books in the bookstore or online book retailer or on blogs.

It's the title's job to capture the reader's attention (for books, in tandem with the cover.) A GOOD title makes readers think, "Wow, I wonder what that's about" or "Ohhhhh, I need to read THAT!"

Confession #1: I've been one of those people who has used the fact that publishers usually change book titles as an excuse to not get very creative with a title.

But we're trying to catch an agent/editor's eye too! An AMAZING title could very well help a submission rise to the top section of a slush pile. (Content will then have to be superior after that... a title can only do so much!)

Confession #2: I've also been one of those bloggers who have just slapped any ol' title on a blog post to describe what I'd written. How stupid is it, though, to spend all that time trying to craft the perfect blog post--- and then leave the title as just bleh? Especially in social media, where your dream would be that your post go viral.

Now, you might say, the title of this post is, well, inaccurate. No one is having a baby. And yes, titles should reflect to the subject matter. I think, though, in this case, it does, in a creative, slightly odd, way. The point of the post title is to underscore the importance of having a title that catches eyes and attracts attention.

Lest you think I've got this whole title thing figured out, please be aware that I DO NOT.

I HATE coming up with titles. It is not my strong suit.

This is why the title of my book proposal to Abingdon was, "A Sandwich Romance" because it was set in Sandwich, IL and was a romance. (see confession #1 above.) They renamed it "Sandwich, with a Side of Romance" which is a heap better. That said... my submission went through different channels than the slush pile, so I'm super lucky my poor title didn't hurt my chances. This, however, is not normal.

I have another full-length novel my agent has requested a GOOD title before we submit it. Right now, the title is "Mission: Jack" (a takeoff of Mission: Impossible). But eh... it's just... not the best. I debated for a while if it was super unique or super stupid. I'm leaning toward the stupid side now that time has passed. So it's on my list to retitle.

So--- I have TWO challenges for you today.

#1: Let's practice thinking of GREAT TITLES. Help me think of a title for (formerly known as) Mission: Jack! Below is a super brief (unofficial for the sake of this blog) synopsis.

While I don't promise to USE your title, (although reserve the right to if I love it and my agent gives her thumbs up!) we Alleycats will vote on which title we think is the most UNIQUE and HOOKING.... and the WINNER will get a signed copy of my first novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance. 

Mission Jack Synopsis:

Jenny is queen of safety and predictability. Her life is controlled by fear. But the guy she falls in love with over the Internet represents anything but.

Jack is in over his head trying to take care of his orphaned, preteen niece, and might be more than a little insane to be falling for a woman online, especially when a predictable "perfect" woman from his church is offering to be everything he could ever need.

Jenny and her best friend become convinced that Jack isn't the awesome guy he seems like, and that he's an Internet stalker. On a mission to prove they are right, they go on a road trip to Nashville, TN to call him out.

"Mission: Jack" goes exactly opposite of what they'd planned, especially when the real stalker shows up.

Jack must learn that perfection isn't always so perfect, and Jenny must learn that safety isn't measured by locks on the doors, but that trusting God is the only true way to peace.

#2: SHARE THIS BLOG post on Facebook or Twitter or both, complete with the title. Let's see just how much BUZZ a title with an eye-popping "hook" can get. Bonus points if you're past baby bearing age :-) :-) (and let me know in the comments if you shared it, I'll pick a winner out of those who share this post as well!)

Come on. I dare you.

(comments/shares must be done by end of day, Sunday, March 23rd. Winner to be announced on the following weekend edition!)

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance . She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by fabulous agent, Rachelle Gardner.

New Adult--- What in the world is it and can Christians write it?

Have you heard of the "New Adult" genre?

It's a newish genre that is being bantered around lately and stirring a wide range of opinions on the matter.

I did lots of searches this past week on the New Adult genre and came up with quite a few different definitions.

A common perception is:

"New Adult is just YA with sex scenes added in."

If that is the case, it leaves those of us who write fiction from a Christian world view in a bit of a conundrum. Can we adequately write "New Adult" fiction if the key difference is graphic sex scenes that are usually missing from our novels?

My answer: YES YES YES!!!!

OF COURSE we can.

The thing is, I don't agree with the definition of New Adult being "YA + SEX." And many authors who write "new adult" fiction agree that it is an unfair over-generalization.

New Adult is more about creating fiction that addresses the lives/issues/struggles of those who have left teenagerdom behind and entered the world of adulthood--ages 18-26ish. College, first real jobs, first true loves, and yes, even figuring out how sex plays a roll in their adult life.

I have this secret for you...shhhhh... don't tell anyone...

CHRISTIANS HAVE SEX.

(I know... you're shocked... You TOTALLY thought the whole stork thing, didn't you...)

And Christian "new" adults, especially in our current hypersexualized society, have a struggle in front of them went it comes with dealing with this issue. Ignoring sex and the desire/temptation thereof does no one any good.

Writing "New adult" fiction from a Christian worldview has the ability to SHOW not TELL... show the struggles--the failures--the consequences. There are a lot of great non-fiction books out there for Christian adults on the topic of sex, both for singles and married couples. But in story form? Not-so-much.

And as mentioned, the new adult genre is really NOT all about sex. There are a lot of things new adults have to tackle. Drugs/alcohol/integrity at a job/bullying--while these aren't narrowed only to new adults, they are big topics for that age group, and we should not be afraid to throw the realistic life issues at our characters and see how they handle them. We have fascinating concepts we can weave in there too. Things like God's GRACE and MERCY and REDEMPTION. Even forgiveness-- both of others, and learning to forgive ourselves.

Discussion: What are your thoughts on this new "genre"? Have you ready any books from a Christian perspective that would fit? Do you think it is possible to tackle tough issues that new adults are facing in fiction without crossing "CBA" lines?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance (which just so happens to feature a 20-year-old heroine, GO FIGURE!) She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by the fab agent, Rachelle Gardner.

Where is YOUR focus?

God's been dealing with me a lot lately on the issue of self-confidence.

After wrestling with Him about it for a few weeks, I posted a deeply personal blog on my own site that talked about my struggle from an early age with self-image and confidence issues.

My struggle, which I think many of us have to varying degrees, has a ripple effect over to my writing.

Am I good enough?
Does my writing really stink and everyone is just lying to me so I don't feel bad?
Will people like my book?
What if I don't sell enough? Does that make me a failure?
OHMAGOODNESS what if people write horrible reviews and HATE it?

And in another super honest confession... part of me feared greatly that people would "buy" my book, or "pretend" to like it only because I'd just gone through a terrible ordeal with my daughter's health that I dealt with very publicly, that it'd be for pity only.

Stupid, huh.

When we write a book, it's different than other "business" deals. Our writing is very personal and comes from a place deep inside us. Or at least, it is that way for me. So putting it out there for rejection or acceptance is a scary thing.

But BOTTOM LINE:

IT'S NOT ABOUT US!!

YES, some people will hate our books and trash them on Goodreads.
YES, some people will hate our books and trash them on blogs.
YES, our sales might totally flop and make us look completely inept.

All those things are totally possible (and honestly, probable.)

But God has a purpose for ALL things. And for me, my #1 purpose for my LIFE is to glorify Jesus. Everything else, my marriage, my writing, my children, my job, all falls under that. I want everything I do to be with the motive of glorifying the God who made me.

And that includes my writing.

I need to stop stressing about sales and start focusing on story. God gave me stories to tell, and EFFECTIVE marketing will happen when I focus not on "how many books can I sell" but on "How can I get my book into the hands of those God wants it to be in."

See that focus shift?

It's an important one.

One I feel like I failed MISERABLY with in my first go-around at this whole publishing thing.

I'm a numbers girl. It's how my mind works. But maybe I can start thinking about "number of lives touched" vs. "number of books sold" hmm?

And then there is that darn Amazon ranking I was addicted to for the first six months... I kinda just wish they'd take it away so I would stop obsessing over it!

Bottom line: Our writing isn't about us. To have a truly fulfilling publishing experience, I highly suggest you turn your eyes toward Jesus. Follow HIM, not the just trends. Follow HIM, not just the numbers.

Discussion: Am I the only one that struggles with self-confidence issues over books?? If you've got a grip on it, share some of your secrets!!

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and author of Sandwich, With a Side of Romance. She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by the fab agent, Rachelle Gardner.

Preparing for Publication Part 3: The Valuable Ladder

My first ever rejection letter was from the fabulous Steve Laube. The year after I'd finished my first book... I decided that the worst that could happen was that he would say, "Your writing is crappy. Your story stinks. Don't quit your day job."

Well... obviously, I got a rejection letter. It didn't say those things in those exact words, but it should have.

Because my writing was crappy.

And... well, I hope my story didn't stink, but it needed a TON of work.

I was nowhere near ready to quit my day job.

I remember the moment I received that rejection though. I seriously smiled. I had done it. Put myself out there, taken a leap of faith, as stupid as it was. Yes, I contributed to poor Steve's slush pile. Yes, I probably got an eye roll from the poor sap who had to read my junk. But I'd taken another bold step toward publication.

The first step being, of course, actually writing my book.

After I received his rejection, I rolled up my sleeves, joined ACFW as Steve's letter suggested, and started to work on my craft. I edited that book until I despised every single letter in it.

My next ladder rung?

ACFW conference. And what did super bold Krista do?

She booked an agent appointment with... you guessed it... Steve Laube.

Yeah, I rocked.

I remember walking into that room... my first inperson appointment EVER with an agent or editor.

And I wanted to puke. What had I been thinking? I am NOT bold. I am STUPID. Idiotic. I seriously must have inhaled some type of toxic chemical fume the day I signed up for this appointment because... yeah. This was just plain dumb.

But in I went anyway. I sat down at that table, shook Steve's hand as boldly as I could, and gave him my one sheet.

Yup, just like that. I was so nervous, I could barely eek out a word. Not really sure what I actually said... I think I went for the honesty-card and said something like, "I, uh, have never done this before. Here is my onesheet. You rejected it but I revised it." Then shoved said onesheet into his hands.

He looked at it, then asked for my first chapter. I rejoiced that I'd printed it and handed that over.

Then the most blessed thing happened.

Steve Laube... THE Steve Laube... laughed. Not like as in "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen" kind of laugh. But in a "Hey, that's actually funny" kinda laugh.

My heart soared higher than the cliff I had been wanting to jump off moments before.

He read a few pages, then gave me some good pointers. I nodded and soaked in the information.

Then time was up, and I left.

Yeah, he didn't ask for anything. But I'd been bold. I'd gotten feedback. And my writing had made an agent laugh.

The "Bold" Alleycats...
doing Low Rider at 2012 ACFW...
I still vote that Ang wins as best lowrider!

For my first conference and a year into the whole writing thing, I was pretty thrilled.

And unbeknownst to me at the time, my rejection and boldy putting myself out there at a conference were not only steps on my ladder TO publication... but it was also preparing me for when I BECAME published.

Once your book is "out," you'll need to boldly (but smartly) market your book. You'll need to continue learning and getting better, you'll need to put yourself out there and not be so afraid of people that you can't put two sentences together in their presence. And rejection... you'll be having to deal with READER rejection, not just agent/editor rejection. And once a reader rejects you... your book is beyond the editing point!

Even though I'm now agented by the wonderful Rachelle Gardner and approaching the one-year anniversary of my debut novel releasing, I still struggle with being bold with my books and dealing with rejection, although not nearly as much as I would have if my prepublication journey hadn't given me much needed boldness training.

So those pains you feel when pre-published? The sting of yet another rejection? Those nervous rocks in your stomach that threaten to kill you when you approach that agent or editor at a conference? Start looking at them through different lenses. Not only are they necessary to GET published... they are good training for when you ARE published.

Discussion: What things on the ladder to publication are the hardest? Can you think of ways that your hardship can really be seen as training for later?

The Value of your Desk Drawer

My desk drawer can be a pretty scary place.

Especially my virtual one that holds all my "put to the side" manuscripts that either didn't make the cut or were snippets of an idea that I didn't have time to work on right then.

It also contains books that I've started but then got "stuck" on.

So when I turned in my latest manuscript to my agent for her to work her selling magic... (What? It IS magic right???) my desk drawer is where I turned to when I was contemplating what to work on next.

I picked out the last manuscript I'd worked on almost two years ago now.

It had about 22,000 words on it, but when I put it aside, I was super unsure about where I was headed with it. I had worked on that last chapter for WAY too long, and had gladly stuffed it in the drawer when edits came calling for my debut novel, Sandwich, With a Side of Romance.

At Starbucks one brisk afternoon, I began to read through, editing a little bit as I went. I smiled. I laughed some. I rolled my eyes some.

But overall, I liked what I had. The farther I got, the more I wondered how in the world I could have gotten stuck. Even *I* was excited to see how the story would play out.

Only... I got to chapter 13.

And the whole wonderful story took a steep nose-dive into the ground.

Crashed and burned.

When I ended at chapter 15, where I'd ended up shoving the whole thing in a file on my desktop to collect desk, I could clearly see my problem.

My last three chapters were CRAP. Forgive my blunt language, but it's the truth.

So, I backed up. I deleted a whole chapter, and reworked two more.

And I smiled. I liked my story again.

I'm now excited to write more and see where it goes.

Of course, verdict is still out. I've sent the first three chapters to my agent to get her opinion and see if she feels it is as brilliant as I thought it was. She totally might give it two thumbs down.

And that'd be fine.

But my point is...

There is value in setting aside a stalled story. There is value in taking a break and separating yourself from a story. Whether it is between writing "The End" and starting to edit, or if you've encountered the dreaded writer's block and after months of trying, can't seem to shake it. A fresh brain will help pinpoint problems much faster than one that has been spending too much time having hairs pulled from its outer covering.

Oh, and those forgotten novels you doubt will ever see the light of day?

Might be worth pulling them out once in a while... just for kicks:-)

Discussion: Do you have any discarded or unfinished manuscripts in your desk drawer?

***NEWS***

And FYI! My debut novel is on SALE!!

Well, the ebook version on Amazon.com is anyway!

From now until December 22nd, you can get Sandwich, with a Side of Romance for only $3.99 on your Kindle! 

Of course, it's still available in paperback at all the normal places online, and at most Christian bookstores near you! :-) They make GREAT Christmas presents *wink* *wink*

Christian Romance: What exactly is it?

I've heard more than once that "Christian Romance is an oxymoron," that there can be no such thing.

As a Christian romance author, I beg to differ, and quite loudly at that.

The romance genre isn't all bodice rippers, graphic scenes, and half-naked men on the cover. And it SURE is isn't all Fifty Shades of Filth. (my apologies to you who read and enjoyed the book...)

I'll even take a step further and say "romance" isn't all about sex either. (although as a married woman and mom of 4 kids and an angel baby... it is about it at least a little!)

As a Christian author, I attempt to write romance through a Godly perspective.

First, what exactly IS romance? Dictionary.com defines it as A feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.

I can get on board with that. Romance is about feeling. Our romance novels, regardless of CBA or ABA, should invoke emotions or feeling in our readers.

Even basic childhood fairytails do that. I mean, seriously. Who doesn't have that little heart quickening when Cinderella's slipper fits at last, or when the prince sweeps her into his arms? Or when Belle kisses the Beast as the last petal falls off the rose?

It isn't all sexual. Especially for women, it's about a heart connection on an intimate level.

In Christian romance, we have a unique responsibility. There are certain lines that shouldn't be crossed. Those lines vary widely based on readership and publishing house. 

For me, I choose to view those lines as a challenge instead of a barrier. I'm challenged to show the romance and to connect my reader while showing restraint. And...you know, restraint can be quiet sexy in itself. While not a Christian book, Twilight was a great example of a "hero" showing respect and restraint, and as twisted as it was, a man denying his basic human (or in his case, non-human) need out of love for the woman of his heart... that, my friends, is ROMANTIC.

Every author needs to examine their heart, pray, and deciding on what their "lines" are, but I'll share with you the guidelines I use:

PREMARITAL SEX 

"Un"married sex happens. It is not a no-no to be included in my books, but it is shown a moral no-no if it happens. In "Sandwich" my heroine has a pretty racy past. She slept with half the guys in her high school class. She's now a Christian and left that life behind her, but it's still a struggle. Karen Kingsbury's Return features a hero who goes too far with his girlfriend, and the resulting story showcases the consequences.

BEDROOM SCENES

I've always said, characters can have sex (although see above note about unmarried ones)... as long as you close the door and give them privacy. But that begs the question... when does the door need to be closed? For me, my rule of thumb is before clothes start being shed, or at what point the door needs to be shut to keep kids out:-)

BODY PARTS

To be blunt... in romantic situations, there are certain, um, parts of the body that react. Since it is our goal to invoke romantic feelings in our readers, not lustful ones, I limit visceral (and physical) descriptions to areas of the body that aren't covered by a bikini or boxers.

RULE OF THUMB: My final line is this, and it covers all of the above three issues nicely.

I don't write anything that I'd feel embarrassed if my mom would read it. I have a fairly conservative mother, but not so much that she's scandalized at the S. E. X. word, so this works for me. 

Discussion: Do your "lines" differ from mine above? What are your thoughts on Christian romance?

Taking the Jesus out of ACFW.....

SO COOL seeing my books
in the conference bookstore...
even cooler on Saturday seeing them
SOLD OUT!

... (continued from title) would totally stink!

I wrestled with going to ACFW this year.

I'd gone in 2008 and 2009 and LOVED IT. Granted, I'd had frazzled nerves each time, trying to pitch to agents/editors etc. But they were wonderful times of learning about writing craft and networking with authors.

2010 and 2011 I missed because I had a very special little girl at home who needed her mommy much more than mommy needed ACFW.

But 2012 came. And I wanted to go SO INCREDIBLY BAD.

Caramel Mousse Cheesecake. *swoon*

After much fretting about money and praying, my husband and I both decided it'd be best for me to go. It's my first year with a book out. My first year not having to pitch to an agent and editor.

And honestly, the last two years have been brutal. This Mommy needed time away.

Conference without the pressure of pitching was, in one word, AMAZING.

And it wasn't just about not pitching.

Look! We are stair-steps! :-)

It was seriously about Jesus. About being around a group of people who love Jesus and want to write for Him. It was about seeign people stop and pray for each other in the middle of a room without any concern over what others thought. It was about listening to workshops on not being so scheduled that you schedule Jesus into a box. It was remembering that while publishing IS a business, taking Jesus out of your writing equation is counter-productive.

God wants to use our fiction. But He won't if we take Him out of the picture and let all business override our brains.

That's what I learned at ACFW this year.

Casey the... reindeer?

In a way, I rededicated my writing to the Lord who gave me the talent in the first place.

I've rediscovered the JOY in writing/editor/selling books for Jesus. Without Him and without that purpose, it falls pretty flat.

Another thing I learned at ACFW:

Alleycats ROCK.

Seriously. I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it was to spend time with these incredible women that I've been privileged to become a part of. It's odd to walk into a room of strangers and instantly feel this thick-corded connection. To be able to be yourself, drop all pretense, and just relax in your differences.

Oh yeah... and we were crazy a few times too.... we MIGHT have done an extreme amount of laughing.

Discussion: Have you ever rededicated your writing to Jesus? What part does God play in your writing equation?

What's Up the Street for Next Week

Krista! (with a sandwich, what else??)

The author copies of the Alley Cat's FIRST debut release are arriving in our hot little hands!!

Check out the great pics throughout the Alley this weekend and share YOURS on Facebook and Twitter! Be sure and tag the Alley or Krista!

Celebrate with us!

 
What's up for next week:

Casey!

Checkin' the list twice...because it's almost time for the big conference of the year! Make sure you have it all with Angie on Monday.

How to write the weight watcher's way with your trainer Julia on Tuesday. ;-)

Karen has encouragement and support for all those not going to the conference this year. Hang in there until Wednesday!

Mary!

What is the difference between the writer's life and the characters'? Learn to separate ourselves from the story and handle feedback effectively with Ashley on Thursday.

Cindy has suggestions when it might be the best time to take a break from your writing on Friday.

Sidewalk Talk:

Julia!

The winner of Sandwich with a Side...is Becky Doughty!! Becky, please email Krista at krista(@)kristaphillips.com with your mailing addy!

Don't forget to PREREGISTER for Krista's Online Book Launch Open House for the chance to win a KINDLE TOUCH! The Open House is Friday, September 7th and there will be TONS of more prizes given away at the open house too... like, a total of $500 worth! Click here to go to the Facebook Event (which gives details on how to preregister!) 

Perspective

My book officially "releases" in two days.

I won't lie. I'm completely, totally, on-top-of-the-world excited!

But....

It isn't the coolest thing ever. There are MUCH cooler things in this world.

Like seeing a newborn baby born into this world.

Or witnessing a person come to know Jesus for the first time, especially your own child.

Or getting a phone call letting you know that your dying child is going to have a second chance at life.

Yup. There are a lot more amazing things in this world than being published.

A few years ago, I might have argued that being published was one of the biggest things that could happen to me. Now I'll be happy to argue the opposite to anyone who cares to listen.

It all has to do with perspective.

God taught me perspective through my publishing journey.

In 2010, the day I found out that my manuscript did NOT final in a contest, I also found out that my unborn daughter had a malformed heart and only had a 70% chance to live past the age of 5... and only an 80% chance to live past the first week of life.

Perspective: Bad contest news... who really cares?

In January 2011, I spoke with my now editor on the phone when she requested me to send her a proposal for a book. My FIRST editor request! An hour later, doctors told me my 6-month-old daughter was dying and would only have a chance to live if we put her on the heart transplant list.

Perspective: Sending the proposal was now just busy work to get my mind off the scary stuff. Nothing more.

In April 2011, I found out my manuscript semi-finaled in that same contest it hadn't the year before. The next day, I got a phone call from my daughter's cardiologist. There was a life-saving heart available. About 15 hours later, my daughter's heart was being cut out of her chest and a heart from a deceased 2 year old was being put in it's place.

Perspective: Semi-final? What Semi-final? My baby is going to LIVE!!!

In June 2011, just days after going home for the first time, my daughter was admitted back into the hospital with a failing heart. She failed fast, and emergency, exploratory surgery was performed to try and fix it. It worked, and she came home! The next week, my editor called, offering me a book contract. Two days later, I signed with amazing agent, Rachelle Gardner.

Perspective Contract was AMAZING. An Agent was AMAZING. I won't lie. Both dreams come true. But it was just the final, decorative touches on the beautiful present God had given me, my daughter home, and well.

In July 2011, we finalized the contract and I officially signed it on Annabelle's birthday, 7/20/11. Two days later, she almost died at home. Unresponsive, barely breathing, she was given CPR, intubated in the ambulance and life-lighted to the hospital.

Perspective: What contract? I just want my baby better.

September 2012. Annabelle is doing great at 2 years of age. She's newly walking, trying to start to talk, still working on learning to eat. We are so very thankful for all God has brought us through and for EVERY SINGLE DAY we have with our sweet baby girl.

And my book releases.

Perspective:  Both are very, very, very cool.

But I think you can guess which one is the coolest.

Discussion: What is cooler than YOUR writing journey?

Finding your sweet spot

The only poetry book I ever liked....

I am so very much not a poet
but every once in a while
I attempt to get my rhyme on
And hope it gets not a frown, but a smile.

You see here is the thing
About what we try to write
Sometimes it works well for us
but not if you choose the wrong type

For some, they write quite lyrical
and others, they wax poetic
Still another group might make you laugh
And others make you cry with their pose so dramatic

You have your western writers
Who lasso cows with ease
or your suspense authors
Who cause their characters lives to cease

If you choose the wrong one
let's say you attempt to write humor
but your funny bone is somewhere in Alaska
Your funny book might as well be a tumor.

This poem is a super good example,
for I am an author who deplores trying to rhyme
So I think I'll stick to my funny romance,
Otherwise, I won't earn even a dime.

***********

In non-poetic words... we each have a voice. Be true to it.

The first ever book I started was a serious dramatic novel where one guy dies, the heroine attempts suicide, and later in the book has her child kidnapped and is beaten almost to death by her boyfriend.

*ahem*

I never got past chapter three.

While I like to weave a bit of drama and suspense into my books for pizazz, I'm not a suspense writer. I NEED to make people smile. I'd rather not make readers cry, unless it's tears of joy. 

My drama was bad. Like, melodramatic, horse-manure bad.

My funny is... well, it's getting published next month. So hopefully it doesn't stink like it belongs in a barn anyway:-)

And my poetry... well, you can tell how that turned out above.

DISCUSSION: Have you ever switched genres? Do you think your voice lends you more toward one type of prose than another? Is there one type of writing that you could NEVER do professionally because it just isn't who you are?

Extra brownie points today if you can make your comment a POEM!

IN FACT! How about this: I'll do my OWN first book giveaway of Sandwich, with a Side of Romance today for all those who attempt! It'll be signed by me and everything! (Won't be shipped until I actually GET my copies... but it'll be yours!)

Characters: The Love/Hate Relationship Readers Have With Them

I have a secret favorite past time I'm not sure I've ever shared with anyone.

Shhhhhhhhhh.....

Okay, here it is:

I have an insane curiosity for reading readers reviews of books, both on Amazon and on Goodreads.

They are intriguing, especially the "bad" reviews. BOY can those things be brutal.

Now, I'm not obsessed with this, but as I ready myself for the onslaught of "reviews" both good (hopefully!) and bad (I'm a big girl!) it helps me brace for the experience.

Many times, the "complaints" are in direct opposition to the "good" reviews, which makes it even more interesting.

There are so many other fun notes about reviews to post, but today, I want to focus on a fun difference of opinion I see quite a bit.

It's the fun Love/Hate relationship readers have with our characters.

An example in a debut novel by one of my SUPER awesome author friends.

Katie Ganshert's new release Wildflower from Winter got a review with this note, "While the characters were described well, I didn't relate to them..."

Yet, she also go another one with this statement, "Bethany is a wonderful multifaceted character that I easily identified with..."

And even in my very small handful of reviews I've already received on my to-be-published novel, Sandwich, with a Side of Romance, I've seen differences in opinions.

"Maddie was more annoying than adorable"

vs.

"I loved the conversations Maddie had with God. (I’ve had many similar ones with Him myself.) These conversations are where most of the inspiration comes from in this story; Maddie’s ‘requests’ and God’s answers. Her requests were a bit cheeky yet realistic, His answers were as you’d expect. This was definitely a light and refreshing way to give the reader some food for thought."

But these difference in "relating" or "liking" our characters isn't relegated to debut novelists like Katie and I.

Even the amazing Francine Rivers has reviews that talk about how her characters are "flat", yet has hundreds to thousands of reviews gushing over her phenomenal writing and telling how her characters have impacted the reader's lives.

HERE is the thing about characters in relation to our readers-- Get ready for this, it's a really deep revelation!


Some readers will love them.
And some readers will hate them.


I know. Profound, huh.

So what do we do as writers? We can't please everyone, so how do we know WHO to please, and how do we make sure we please as many as possible.

1.) GOD TRUMPS ALL. At least for me, God is my 1st and most important audience. This doesn't mean my character has to be perfect or overly religious or anything like that. But God can use our flawed characters for his glory, and my prayer is always that God is pleased with my writing.

2.) DO YOU LIKE YOUR CHARACTER? This almost goes without saying, but sometimes it's easy to get wrapped up in your character that you need to take a step back and make sure you, the writer, would love/relate to the character if you were the reader. 

3.) KNOW YOUR GENRE. Different genres have different "requirements" so to speak about characters. Someone who writes Amish romance will have a slightly different set of readers to please than someone who writes romantic comedy.

4.) DON'T FORGET YOUR MOTIVATION. You can still have flawed, realistic characters in your novels... as long as they have appropriate motivation for their flaws and actions. We need to understand why they are how they are, and be able to root for them to conquer their flaws.

5.) REDEEM YOUR CHARACTER. For every annoying/unlikable trait your character has, add one or two endearing ones. The more unlikable the trait, the more endearing ones they need. It is easy to get so caught up in making a realistic character with flaws that people can relate to that we forget that our readers need to be able to root for our main characters.



Not everyone is going to like all of your characters. That's a fact we need to accept right now. But that doesn't mean we don't try to make our characters capture as many readers' hearts as possible.

And for the record... the readers who didn't like them? They aren't wrong. It is their opinion... they have their own personality that draws them toward certain types of characters. Have you ever read a book that had rave reviews and you were like, "Eh, yeah, not my cup of tea"? I think we all have.

The customer is always right... and so is the reader!

Discussion: What are some flawed characters you've read that you have still loved? What are some FAVORITE characters in books you've read? How do YOU try to write dynamic characters who will click with the most readers possible?