Alison Kent's Blah Blog

Lori Wilde teaches “Romance Writing Secrets’’ via the Internet through colleges and universities worldwide. To find a college or university near you, go to Education To Go’s website at www.ed2go.com.

When I do a search, I get this link that goes straight to the class so check it out if you’re interested in the brass tacks of romance writing. It’s available online, or through local universities in many areas.

I’ve read through several of the lectures and the girl is good! Easy to understand lessons. Personality in the content. I previously mentioned her Got High Concept? workbook. Bottom line, Lori knows her stuff, and you couldn’t ask for a better or more qualified instructor.

Apologies for the short posts this week. It’s the end of the month and Website updates are taking up the time I don’t spend on writing and work. A couple days and I should be back to my regularly scheduled mouthiness, and next week I’ll have a couple of cool things to share!

Sorry, sorry, sorry! I forgot to post last night’s winners last night. Anne gets WICKED GAMES and Julie gets ALL TIED UP. Send me your mailing addresses and I’ll get those in the mail.

Today is Tuesdays with Alison Q&A. Ususally I also have something pithy *g* to say, but I’m all out of words. Oh, I will be having a FUN guest blogger next week, whoo-hoo! Other than that, I’m happy to answer questions, but that’s all I’ve got!

A question for you all. Do you read this blog at the site or through the RSS feed? (Right now, if you’re subscribed, you’re getting the feed, but apparently it’s messed up (and under repair) if you can’t pick it up as a new subscriber.) If you do read this blog, or any blogs, via a feed, do you skip reading if you only get the partial? Do you want the full post?

I’m wondering because someone pointed me to an article where a blogger started publishing full posts and his subscriber list quadrupled. And for an individual site like this one, I can see the appeal. I read through Bloglines and Netvibes and like to get the full article, but then if I want to comment, I have to visit the site anyway, and many times when I visit I see graphics or extra sidebar tidbits that I wouldn’t get otherwise.

I was thinking particularly of sites with advertising on them. If they publish a full feed, aren’t the advertisers losing out? A site may get a lot of visits, but if they required those reading via a feed to visit for the full article, wouldn’t the advertisers get more benefit – or do those who read feeds just skip articles if they have to visit sites to get the full thing?

Input?

And on a completely different subject, I got a kick out of this post on Angst Envy at Muderati by Pari Noskin Taichert where she asks:

Are we really being honest with ourselves when we dive into the depths of despond about our crappy prose? Is it possible we’re actually enjoying ourselves a little, benefitting from the divine pleasure born of an image of necessary torture for our art? Aren’t we noble, grand?

Why does that sound so familiar, heh?

(I have a used copy of ALL TIED UP available. Anyone want it? Also a Mills & Boon copy of WICKED GAMES. If you want one or the other, post here, and I’ll pick name at 8:00 p.m.ish tonight. Doing some cleaning up!)

The Saturday “Spice Girls” winner is: Carrie Kabak

The Sunday “Spice Girls” winner is: Hasdiel

(I picked on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. and again on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. from ALL comments! Both winners just happened to post on Saturday!)

You guys email me your mailing info and I’ll get those books sent out. Also, for everyone STILL waiting on copies from me, EVERYTHING went into the mail yesterday, even the copies for Walt’s winners. Overseas, States, all of it. (Ireland might take a bit of time to arrive, Canada and Australia weren’t so heavy so should move more quickly.)

Via Jane from Sybil: RomanceNovelTv.com

Post the title of any book of mine you want. Post only one time during the weekend. I’ll draw one name on Saturday at 8:00 p.m.ish central and one name on Sunday at 8:00 p.m.ish central to win.

From Barbara Samuel:

Romance is about two people falling in love. I’m not always happy with the stringent way that seems to sometimes be defined as something like, “two relatively young, usually white, genuinely good people who are attractive and intelligent finding middle class comfortable love.”

There’s nothing wrong with those stories, of course. I love them, too. But I believe in romance, man! I believe in messy, upsetting, wild love that erases all boundaries. I want to read about love really conquering everything. I want survivors who get love the second time around and multiracial and blue collar and everything else.

Update: Had to add this link to a blog by Anne Frasier.

I’ve been told that a main character I loved was, “Despicable, with no redeeming qualities.” But if you lived in a bar and stood in line for food stamps, if your mother stumbled home drunk to your Section 8 cockroach-infested apartment with a new gross man every night, chances are you are not going to be interested in writing a character that someone who grew up with wealth and attended an Ivy League school would write.

As part of the “Girls in the Basement” class, I’m reading several chapters in Julia Cameron’s THE ARTIST’S WAY. In Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection, Cameron asks the questions I listed below.

Now, I almost hate posting this because I know someone out there will think, “Ack! She’s talking about me!” Trust me. I’m not. If you’re reading here, then this is not about you. Okay? *g* Thing is, in any creative endeavor we have friends who support and “friends” who undermine.

As I mentioned on another blog yesterday, we need friends in the business because our friends outside of the business don’t share the same concerns or experience the same issues, and probably don’t want to hear about the gore of the writing life. We’ve got to have industry friends who we can trust to be honest with us and who we can turn to knowing our secrets are safe.

Take a look at the questions. What do you think? If you want to make an anonymous comment, do so. This isn’t Vent Club, but it might be interesting to hear what some of you have experienced, or learn about the friends you can’t do without.

Tell the truth. Which friends make you doubt yourself? (The self-doubt is yours already, but they trigger it.)

Tell the truth. Which friends believe in you and your talent? (The talent is yours, but they make you feel it.)

What is the payoff in keeping your destructive friends? If the answer is, “I like them,” the next question is, “Why?”

Which destructive habits do your destructive friends share with your destructive self?

Which constructive habits to your constructive friends share with your constructive self?

First up, I’ve put my money where my mouth is and joined the women of Paperback Reader. You can find my first post there later today, reviewing the book I talked about here.

Diana P tagged me yesterday, so here goes.

Contemporary, Historical, or Paranormal?

Contemporary. Thriller or suspense contemporary, even better. That said, I love big juicy Penelope Williamson, Elizabeth Chadwick, Laura Kinsale historicals. My paranormal reading has been limited to Lynn Viehl so far, but thanks to May, I’ve got a huge stack ready to go.

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?

Unfortunately, I’m a hardcover ‘ho. Ask the husband about my sagging bookshelves. (But that’s the ONLY sagging thing he’s allowed to mention, heh.)

Heyer or Austen?

Such is a sacrilege, but I’ve never read Heyer. I’ve tried, but just not my thing. Have read most of P&P, so will go with Austen. Of course, I have watched ALL the Austen films I can get my eyeballs on!

Amazon or Brick and Mortar?

Amazon all the way, baby.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

See above. I haven’t set foot in a real store to shop in forever. I like browsing author sites online, and getting the immediate gratification and free shipping from Amazon Prime.

Woodiwiss or Lindsay?

I’ve read both, but probably more of Woodiwiss.

First romance novel you ever remember reading?

Woodiwiss’s “The Flame and The Flower”

Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?

Randomosity! Stacks and stacks and stacks of randomosity! Shelves, tables, floor!

Keep, Throw Away or Sell?

Mostly trade. To my local UBS or other readers. Some I’ll sell. I’ll toss ARCs. Rarely keep anything because I’m not a re-reader.

Read with dustjacket or remove it?

I use the dustjacket for a bookmark.

Sookie Stackhouse or Anita Blake?

Never read either one. Tried the very first Anita. Wasn’t compelled to finish it. Sookie doesn’t appeal.

Bridget Jones or Becky Bloomwood?

Bridget – but not the book. Renee in the first movie only. Have no idea who Becky is.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks always.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Bring on the dark and the stormy. I’m a suspense/thriller reader at heart.

Crusie or SEP?

SEP. I can’t read Crusie. I’ve tried. But I don’t hear her characters. I hear her – which is why I love her workshops so much!

Buy or Borrow?

Buy. It is so sad, really, how much money I spend on books.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?

All of the above, but never ever EVER without reading an excerpt. (If you don’t have one on your Website, get one NOW!)

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?

Depends on what the book requires. I’m easy.

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?

All day long!

Series or standalone?

Either. Both. Anything.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

I doubt I’ve read anything no one has heard about since I read and have always read commercial fiction, but I have three books that I love that people NEED to read if they haven’t. (I know Julie Leto has read BOY’S LIFE, because we’ve raved about it together!)

I tag Bekke, Larissa, & Stephanie because I’m mean like that!