Lexi George & DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE Back to Blog
Update: Thanks so much for all of the comments! Two winners were selected randomly, and those two are: Colleen and Barb P! Congrats!!
Today I’m excited to have Brava author Lexi George as my guest. Lexi has a great new paranormal romance out from Kensington Brava right now–you don’t want to miss out on the demon hunting fun! And you won’t miss out–because one very lucky commenter will win a copy of Lexi’s book, DEMON HUNTING IN DIXIE.
7 Things I Haven’t Learned So Far . . .
Writers often write about what they’ve learned on the bumpy road to publication. Here are seven things I haven’t learned:
1. How to turn off the internal nag. Call her my muse, my conscience, my inner perfectionist—whatever. I haven’t figured out how to make her be quiet. She never stops. Always with the nagging and the recriminations. I hear her in the morning when I first wake up and the last thing at night before I drift off to sleep. She talks to me during staff meetings at work, sermons at church—I know. I know!—and in the car on the way to work. The beyotch just won’t shut up.
2. How to hyphenate. Every time I hyphenated a word in Demon Hunting in Dixie, Kensington took it out. I knew I was comma challenged, but now I can add hyphen challenged to the list as well. Notice I did not use a hyphen in the previous sentence? Totally freaked out by that short little line. Sigh. So now I don’t bother to hyphenate. I figure the hyphen fairy will supply them as needed.
3. How to write a sex scene without mint chocolate chip ice cream and red wine. We all have our dirty little secrets. I write sex scenes under the influence of chocolate, sugar and alcohol. Nuff said.
4. Time management or how to pretend I don’t have a day job or a family. I work full time and I’m a busy mom. I also have the concentration spat of a gnat. Finding alone time and the quiet I need in order to write continues to be a challenge. The dogs. The telephone. The children. The husband playing computer games that generate strange wom wom phe-oww noises in the room next door. Can I just say arggh!
5. How not to read bad reviews. I know better. I’ve been warned. A multi published writer in my RWA chapter told me not to read the darn things. But it’s like looking away from a five-car pileup. I can’t do it. And then I’m sorry I read them, because there’s nothing you can do about bad reviews except grin and bear them.
6. How to be a plotter. I am not a writer who has everything mapped out with flow charts and medical records and family trees for each character, and plot arcs pinpointed before the first word is written. I am a pantser with a serious case of plotter envy. Wish I could plot the whole thing out before hand, but that’s not the way I roll. I start with the hero and heroine and the basic premise of the story—small town girl meets sexy demon hunter in pursuit of a rogue demon, chaos to follow. I usually knock out 50 or so pages to get a feel for my characters and then I get nervous and sit down and come up with a list of plot points. After that, I wing it for a while and try to connect the dots. About three-fourths of the way through, I sit down and sketch out the remaining chapters to make sure I get everything in, and so I know how it’s going to end. So, I guess that makes me a plotser!
7. How to be blasé about getting a book contract and an agent. I am so uncool about the whole thing. You see, I had decided it might not happen for me. After 16 years of writing, three years of querying, and 145 rejections from agents, I was starting to get the teensiest clue that my dream might not come true. And then it happened when I least expected it. I walked around for three weeks after I got The Call from Kensington feeling like somebody had dropped a safe on my head. I still expect someone to jump out and yell Punked! at any second.
To say that I was in a state of shock (and still am!) is to say nothing. Though I’d dreamed and hoped and schemed and fought the good fight to get published for a number of years, I knew the odds.
Of course, I hoped to be among the lucky few. But I knew that talent and persistence are sometimes not enough, that there are thousands of writers out there working to better their craft in the hopes of catching the attention of an editor or an agent. Still, knowing my chances were slim did not stop me from dreaming.
I’ve heard that luck sometimes plays a part in getting an editor or an agent. Now, I am a very blessed person, but I’ve never considered myself ‘lucky.’ I’m not good at games of chance and I’m not the kind of person who is likely to win the lottery.
Before now, that is.
My ‘luck’ came in the form of a smiling, blonde haired member of Southern Magic, the Birmingham chapter of the RWA. Carla Swafford caught a comment I made on the Southern Magic loop that I was having buzzard luck in the querying process, because I was being told by agents that light paranormal romance is ‘very difficult to sell.’ After reading my lament, Carla emailed me at home. She’d read an interview with Megan Records, an editor at Kensington, on the Southern Sizzle Romance blog. In the interview, Megan said dark paranormal is hot. No surprise there. But then she said something that made me sit up and pay attention. She said, “I hardly ever see funny paranormals. Shame, because I like those too!”
I queried Megan, referencing the interview and her comment, and she sent me back an email requesting the full. Two weeks later, I got The Call.
Needless to say, I owe Carla Swafford Big Time. If not for her, I might not have queried Megan. If not for Megan, God bless her sweet heart and her funny bone, I would not have a publishing contract.
Turns out I’m lucky after all. And definitely not blasé.
So, what are some things YOU haven’t learned so far? A copy of Demon Hunting in Dixie goes to one commenter!
Congrats on the release of Demon Hunting in Dixie!! And thanks for the great guest post!
I have not learned how to not worry about the things I can’t change. I get so stressed I have to tell myself you did what you could do and leave it at that.
I guess I haven’t learned not to leave the first comment. The first person never wins 🙂
Very nice interview and I love your call story!!
Melinda
Thank YOU Cynthia for being so generous to this newbie and for sharing your blog and your wonderful readers with me. I am thrilled to be here!
Keisha, I am a worrier by nature, so talking to myself doesn’t do much good. But I do try to concentrate on the things I can control, like keeping my butt in the chair and trying to write every day. The rest kind of goes out the window. No time or energy! Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by, Melinda and for braving the odds and being the first person to comment! One thing I have learned from all this is that it is important to network. Join a writer’s group or an RWA chapter. Writing is a lonely business but that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone!
I laughed aloud about the hyphens…I am SO with you there Lexi!
Hmm, what I’ve learned: Semi-colons are not my friend. (Yes, I had a small..shall we say be issue with them. I once had 23 in one chapter. I am now banned from their use.)
The most impotortant: Keep writing. (Hardest thing EVER).
And to surround yourself with positive people.
Lexi–so excited for you and this book! I am looking forward to seeing more from you. 🙂
My main problem is time management, although I do have an internal nag, also. I kind of have the hyphen problem, too. Sometimes I can be a little obsessive/compulsive.
Twenty-three in one chapter, Mary? Hee hee. Love the concept that you are in semi colon time out! I agree that you MUST surround yourself with positive people. Joysucks must be avoided! The muse hates a joysuck. I don’t know about you, but my mood and attitude affects my writing, so I try to stay away from folks who bring me down.
Marlene,time management is something I still struggle with. I get sucked into mom world with some regularity. Good to know I’m not the only one who’s hyphen challenged. As for the OCD thing, I am an inveterate tweaker. By the time I finish a book, it’s been tweaked to death. Can’t seem to help myself!
Can’t stop looking at Goodreads reviews.Love to Google myself to see if anyone is chatting about me, but they’re not.
Reviews can be a double edged sword, Kelli! The good ones leave you flying high but the not so good . . . I believe in improving yourself as a writer and constructive criticism and critique is vital for that, but there are some folks out there that are just plain mean. I try to avoid the truly nasty ones. They only make you mad and distract you from writing.
Oh, and how do I avoid the nasty ones? My blessed crit partner scours the internet foe me!
I must admit to rather enjoying your post, I haven’t read any of your work this far but So I Married a Demonslayer was already on my TBR.
I haven’t quite mastered the Time Management thing either. An Autistic 6 yr old, a stubborn 2 yr old and an independent 9 month old, throw in a Hubby, 2 cats and until last weekend a job. Not to mention a book obsession… yeah! 🙂
I applaud you’re courage not to give up and I wouldn’t worry about the “not-so good” reviews. You can’t please everyone as my Granny used to say but those people you do make smile, more than make up for it!
Thanks for sharing today 🙂
Thank you, Michelle. You are wonderful. 🙂 With three kids, a hubby and 2 cats, time management is a definite challenge. No one can understand that like another mom. I applaud you for all you do!
You are so right about the reviews. I know I still have a lot to learn as a writer (thank goodness! How boring it would be to know everything!) but if I can make someone laugh, then I am happy.
Best of luck with all you do.
Enjoyed your post… had to smile! I have not learned to stop worrying about things out of my control… thanks for sharing with us today! 😀
I think I have trouble with everything you mentioned, except writing love scenes. But chocolate and red wine is sounding good to me…
Congrats on your book release! Love the title.
Wonderful title and yes we have tons of demons here in Dixie. Commas and hyphens and ellipses. And when to stop and just be instead of racing from one WIP to the next. One day I might learn how to ignore the voices in my head but today is not that day.
Hi Lexi,
I have not read any of your books yet,but I will be going to Amazon today to get some. They look great.
I’ve never learned how to:
1. Not worry about my boys even though they’re 22 and 19.
2. Not nag
3. Not clean up after all them as I go
4. Not brush so hard – it’s ruining my gums 🙁
Hey Lexie- Waving madly here. Jillian from Southern Sizzle- thanks for the shout out, babe!! Looking forward to your book. Many congrats to you.
Congrat! How wonderful for you that you got published, and now we get to enjoy your work 🙂
I love your humor,. and reasoning. *S*
I love humor in books, and have been caught many times laughing my fool head off when reading a book, and getting the meanest looks from friends and strangers. Fankly I don’t care. I’m old enough to read and laugh, and life is too short to worry about such a thing.:)
I would love to actually get to see the wild wolves that run here in interior Alaska. I keep hoping and praying that I’ll get to sit and just watch them i their element. I would risk sitting in their presence…it would rock my world.
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I love reading about authors, and hoe they finally get published. Awesome…*S*
Thank you for the chance to win your book!
Darcy
pommawolf @hotmail.com
Colleen, good to meet another worrier! Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks, Edie. I love my title, too. 🙂 I was looking for something that captured the flavor and the fact that it is set in the South. And I LOVE the cover Kensington gave me! They have been wonderful to me. No complaints!
Mercy, voices in your head mean you have stories that MUST be told! You are right not to stop. Glad you like the title. I do too! Thanks for stopping by.
Carla, be sure and drop me a line if you read DHID and let me know what you think! Thanks for popping in. I’m having a great time visiting with y’all today.
Viki, moms have a free license to worry. I’m afraid the nag thing comes with the territory. I must confess that I brush my teeth too hard, also. Sigh.
Thank YOU, Jillian! If not for your interview of Megan and Carla’s nudge I would not be here! I will be ever grateful to the folks in your chapter. Great bunch of writers and women!
Alaska, Darcy! And here I sit in Alabama. Ain’t the internet wonderful? So glad you like funny. You’re my kind of reader. Hope you get to dance with the wolves.
Hi Lexi! What I haven’t learned yet, is how to handle my husband and my son. I want to know why isn’t there an owners manual for males. *** Grin ***. I would love to read your book so please count me in on the contest!
Barb, if you can figure men out you’ll be a billionaire! (I’m sure they feel the same way!) Thanks for stopping by.
Lexi, you’re so funny. Your sale had nothing to do with me, it’s your talent! Pure talent. Hugs.
I disagree, Carla my guardian angel! I might never have seen Megan’s interview on Southern Sizzle if not for your shout out! Hugs, my friend, and congrats on your own success story. You so deserve it!
Since I’m always worried about something I haven’t leardned to take things easy.
Diane, I like to think that worrying is a sign of intelligence and imagination. Only a rock goes through life blissfully unaware! The trick is to economize on your worrying . . . which only leaves you more time for worrying!
Congrats on your getting published!
What I haven’t learned yet is how to go with the flow. When things are not going the way I believe they should I stress.
Christiana, I stress, too! Hard not to when you are passionate about something, no matter what it may be. Thanks for visiting!
I haven’t read any of your books yet but I really look forward to trying them. What I haven’t learned yet is to accept that there are some things I can’t change, and instead of worrying so much, I should try not to let it get me so stressed out that I make myself sick.
I haven’t learned to not procrastinate.
What a great story! I love light and funny paranormals. And as for writing, I can’t plot for the life of me! I am a panster and can’t seem to change it, lol. Thanks for sharing your story.
As for what I haven’t learned? Oh, here we go. I haven’t learned to let what other’s say not get to me. Because they do get to me. And I know I should know better, but it just hasn’t sunk in yet. So therefore, I haven’t learned it yet.
Thanks Lexi & Cynthia for the win! This is great!!! 😀 Sent my info… looking forward to this book!
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