T.J. BROWN BLOG
Eight Things I Want to Say to Book Bloggers/Reviews but Won’t
I love me some book bloggers/reviewers. I’ve met a few of them in person for dinner or coffee and had funny online chats with a lot of them. They are just like normal people, except, you know, for the fact that they can bring grown novelists to their knees and transform them into steaming heaps of humiliated, groveling author dung with a single steely look.
But they love books and pretty much anyone who loves books is all right by me.
I make it a point not to engage bloggers about their reviews of my books. They’re not only entitled to their opinion, but often times their insights are right on the money and I learn a lot from them. Reading is subjective, which means what floats one person’s boat isn’t necessarily going to float another person’s boat, etc. and I have found book bloggers to be a pretty smart bunch, overall. (Authors, Did you see how cleverly I worked that kiss ass sentiment in there? *Nods sagely*)
However, there are times when I read a review of my book, or even that of a friend’s book, and I am forced to think, “Exactly what kind of happy, chronic, buzz weed were you smoking when you wrote that, babe? Cause I need me some of that!”
Luckily, most of the reviews of my books have been overwhelmingly positive. But there were a few…so I thought I’d make a list of the most common comments I’d make if I had a compulsive, overpowering desire to commit career hari-kiri.
- Dude, it’s a SERIES. It’s going to continue, yanno?
- What was I trying to do with that ending? I was trying to be smart and literary. Trust me, I WON’T DO IT AGAIN.
- You do know it’s NOT a romance novel, right? (Not that there is anything wrong with that, I’m a member of RWA, after all, but that doesn’t make that particular book a romance!)
- YOUR MOM!
- What do you mean, you don’t like my character? What did she ever do to you? You do know that people have flaws, right?
- (Pinching my thumb and index fingers together and bringing them to my lips.) *Coughs* Here. Have another hit on the crack pipe.
- It’s abundantly apparent to anyone reading your anonymous review that you have an ax to grind. Or perhaps slighted you in a critique group? Did I call you a name in the fifth grade?
- POO-POO HEAD!
- Oh, yeah? Well, I bet you couldn’t write your way out of a paper bag either! *sobs uncontrollably* OH GOD, WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?!
Yeah, I know that was nine. I couldn’t help myself.
PS. Dear Bloggers/reviewers, I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean any of it! Don’t hate me! I love you all!!!!
PPS. You all do know this was written in jest, right? *worries*
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Eight things @teribrownwrites would say to book reviewers/bloggers if she was, you know, STOOPID. (Click to Tweet)
Did she just commit career hari-kiri? @teribrownwrites engages BOOK BLOGGERS. (Cue scary music) (Click to Tweet)
Getting Stronger
I’ve been doing Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day shred for five days now and I am SORE. Cancer, two back to back surgeries, radiation and the resulting 45 pound weight loss left me weak and even more klutzy than usual, which is SCARY considering how Klutzy I was to begin with! I’d been working out, but only sporadically, due more to my crushing writing schedule than desire. Now that I have a few minutes to breathe, I finally decided it was time to get serious.
If you’re gonna get serious, Jillian Michaels seems like a good choice. Plus, my friend of many years, (even though we’ve only met once), Linda Sherwood ,was doing it, and enjoying the benefits, so I jumped on the bandwagon, purchased a DVD and started the program. I have a gym membership and a great workout buddy, but my desire is to run, so I thought I would give this a shot to build some strength before I hit the road. The last thing I want right now is more doctor’s appointments!
Getting stronger in any area of your life takes commitment. And sometimes, often times, it takes pain as well. Writing four books in a year was both exhilarating and painful. But my writing has improved in a million little ways. I was working on a proposal the other day and by the time I finished it, I barely recognized the writing—my style and voice improved more in the last year than it had the five years prior. I’m currently working on the copy edits for the third Summerset Abbey book, Spring Awakening. The book made me cry when I wrote it and even now, I shake my head over the growth in my writing. The pain was worth it.
I’m hoping that 30 Day Shred is going to be worth it, too!
On the Blog: What does the 30 Day Shred and writing have in common? From @teribrownwrites (Click to Tweet)
On the Blog: Strengthening your writing muscles can be as painful as strengthening your real ones. From @teribrownwrites (Click to Tweet)
Cooking: My Creative Outlet
I’ve been writing fiction full time for almost a year now, and even though the past twelve months have been crazy, I love it. I am incredibly blessed and lucky and living the dream. (Okay, throat cancer wasn’t exactly in the plan, but I survived it, grew from it and am ready to move on.)
But as a creative, something inside me balked when writing became my job. It’s my passion and my joy and when it became something I had to do to make a living, part of me rebelled. I wrote nonfiction for years, and fiction was my plaything, my outlet, the thing I did to have fun. Not that I don’t still enjoy it and have fun, but I needed something else, something where the stakes weren’t so high…
So I began cooking as a creative outlet. I’ve always cooked, but like many other moms, I felt like a line cook taking into account everyone’s likes and dislikes, which prevented me trying anything new. Now that the kids are grown and my husband has developed a palette, I’ve taken cooking to a whole new level.
Italian and Mediterranean foods are my favorites to cook, though I’ve tried my hand at some amazing French dishes, and made an incredible chutney for Christmas. I have become a Food Network and Cooking Channel junky and most of the shows on my DVR are cooking shows.
Lately, I’ve been exploring foods that come from the same era as my Summerset Abbey Series, as well as recipes from the twenties which Born of Illusion is set in. At some point, I will link to some of those recipes, but today I want to share my list of chefs and cooking programs that are on my must watch/must follow list!
Alex Guarnaschelli @guarnaschelli
Giada De Laurentiis @GDeLaurentiis
Aaron Sanchez @Chef_Aaron
Amanda Freitag @amandafreitag
Geoffrey Zakarian @gzchef
Anthony Bourdain @Bourdain I actually have a mad crush on Anthony … he writes, cooks, smokes, drinks, what’s not to love?
Andrew Zimmerman @andrewzimmern
Ree Drummond @thepioneerwoman
My favorite cooking shows are:
On the blog: When writing became @teribrownwrites job, cooking became her creative outlet. (Click to Tweet)
What do @andrewzimmern @thepioneerwoman & @GDeLaurentiis have in common? They are @teribrownwrites fav chefs! (Click to Tweet)
Shiny New Ideas
I’m sitting in a hotel room in Redding, California after about ten days of travel, sightseeing and author events. To say I’m tired after more than a week of travel is an understatement, but it’s only because this comes after an exciting year of ups and downs. UP? I got an incredible opportunity from Gallery Books to write the Summerset Abbey series. Down? I was diagnosed with cancer and my deadlines were insane. But as the year comes to a close, I look forward with anticipation and excitement on what the next twelve months will bring.
One of the things it has already brought me is an exciting sense of optimism and new ideas. For a writer, a shiny new idea is like a new crush. I’ve been married for 25 years, so it has been a while since I have felt that rush of excitement over a crush, but I can still recognize the symptoms when they occur and I have not one, but three ideas that are distracting me with their gleaming brilliance. Because I write both adult/new adult and teen historical fiction, I have the freedom to work on more than one idea at a time and man, I have some killer freaking ideas.
Like many authors, my contract commitments put one of the ideas on the forefront and so I’m playing with it in a giddy, joyful way that I’m finding completely intoxicating. I have coming commitments, of course, a novella for HarperTeens’ Impulse line and more revisions for my upcoming books, but I’m spinning with joy and a heady sense of freedom.
Each new book begins as a germ of an idea. As it percolates, other ideas join it and names and bits of conversations or sentences come to mind. As a historical writer, I then begin research and the more I learn, the more the idea grows. Then I send a few lines to my agent to gauge her reaction. And then I begin to write things down.
So. Much. Fun.
The idea I’m working on now takes place in the Edwardian era like Summerset Abbey, but earlier and encompasses both England and India. The New Adult/Young Adult I’m toying with takes place during WW1 and crosses several continents. What I’ll actually end up writing is still up in the air, but it is so exciting to just play again.
Brand new ideas, new characters, new research and new stories. Is it any wonder I’m happy?
On the blog: The author of the Summerset Abbey series, @teribrownwrites, talks about new ideas. (Click to Tweet)
@teribrownwrites dishes on what she might write after Summerset Abbey and Born of Illusion! (Click to Tweet)
Marketing Madness
Holy, moly, mother of god, does public relations, marketing and platform building stress me out. I feel like I should know all this stuff already and I don’t. People say comforting things like, “A writer’s job is to write. Only do as much marketing work as you are comfortable with.”
Do people really believe that in this day and age? Or is that just something we comfort ourselves with?
How are you supposed to set yourself apart from the huge mass of people with products screaming look at me look at me! I don’t even know what the difference between marketing and publicity means. I sent my publicist an email the other day and she sent me a note back and said, “Sent your question over to marketing!” Oh. Uh. Sorry I sent it to the wrong person…
WTF???
So I am crash-coursing it, reading time management books, platform building books, and books on promoting all at the same time. Not to mention blogs of all kinds, publishing blogs, social media blogs, and blogs for entrepreneurs. Learning, learning, learning.
But every blog and every book just increases my sense of panic because every damn one of them has more things I should be doing: Increase your followers! Come up with a one sentence sound bite about your platform! Write down all your goals! Create more content! Build relationships! Connect with people! Exclamation point after exclamation point after exclamation point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not to mention things you should be doing in the rest of your life: Achieve balance! Meditate! Exercise! Eat healthy! Organize! Volunteer! Floss! Go Organic!
Whimper.
Also, according to social media experts, I should be offering something of value to my followers, friends, readers and fans…So I have come up with a sound bite, a platform I can get behind, and an exclamation point that helps me keep perspective in my career and in my personal life:
DRINK MORE WINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Does marketing your book freak you out? It does me! @teribrownwrites
On the blog: Is your book marketing plan one long set of exclamation points? @teribrownwrites
That One Dumb Thing Smart Women Do-Part Two
In my last post I talked about self-doubt…that one thing that even smart women do. You know, when you listen as your inner insecurity goblin screams, “You suck monkey nuts!” or “You couldn’t write your way out of a paper bag!” (Apparently, my self-doubt monster is into clichés)
Today, I continue that discussion by talking about the taboo of talking about self-doubt, which is the equivalent of petting, grooming, and tucking our insecurity goblin in with a bedtime story. Why shouldn’t we be able to discuss self-doubt without fear of someone perceiving us as weak? Won’t exposing the insecurity goblin to the light of day help destroy it? Or at the very least, weaken it’s grip on us? The reason we don’t do this is because basically, we don’t want to be seen as flawed.
Again, I have to wonder, is this cultural or biological? In animal packs, weaker members are often seen as hindrances and driven out. We go to great lengths to hide what is really going on in our lives and even greater lengths to hide what is going on inside. When we Tweet or Facebook, we either talk about the fun stuff, (Look everyone, my life is so awesome!) or about how busy we are, (Look everyone, how productive I am!) Or how hard their lives are and how everything sucks, (Look everyone, I’m a martyr!)
What we don’t talk about is self-doubt. And the reality is, most successful women have moments of feeling inadequate. (At this very moment I’m thinking, will anyone even get what I am trying to say?) (And the other thing I am thinking is, will people think I am bragging because I am including myself as a successful woman? Massive eye roll.)
As if dealing with self-doubt isn’t hard enough, there are those who would feed your insecurity. Putting your ideas out there as a business woman or a creative is tough and scary. The fact is, you can’t please everyone. There are people out there waiting to tear you down, whether because they are feeling threatened or they’re just plain jealous or even because they just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. To deal with these people effectively, you first need to deal with your own self-sabotage.
The following tips are how I deal with self-doubt:
- Find your own truth. Mine came with the revelation that I shared in my last post: Editors and agents would not love my work if I wasn’t talented. They’re not telling me that I am talented to be nice. There are some days I have to repeat that several times.
- Be aware of negative self-talk! Sometimes at night my mind heads to the negative and every time I shut my eyes, the dark side takes over and I dwell on every failure, every weakness, every time I hurt someone, etc. A veritable litany of fail and suck. When I catch myself doing this, I try to redirect my thoughts to puppies or kittens or wine. Something, anything, but an inventory of my worst attributes. One thing that works is to make a mental list of the things I have done well. Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.
- Talk about it with people you trust. Bringing the monster out into the light of day is like dumping a bucket of water over the wicked witch of the west.
- Nurture yourself: When all else fails get into comfy clothes, fuzzy socks and zone out with some reality TV and a glass of wine. Hey, it works for me.
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On the blog: Talking about self doubt aka the Inner Insecurity Goblin! (click to tweet)
From @teribrownwrites Do you ever attack yourself by listing a veritable litany of fail and suck? (Click to Tweet)
That Dumb Thing Even Smart Women Do–Part One
Yes, I am including myself in the title of smart women. After forty-cough-something years on the planet, I think it’s time that I owned up to the fact that I’m smart. I belong to a generation of women who had (during one woefully misinformed fashion era) shoulder pads and big hair and were told we could do or be anything we want, except don’t tell people that you’re smart or ambitious, or whatever, because that wasn’t nice.
But I can say it now with only a little bit of uneasiness as if waiting for my mom or grandma to shush me at any minute.
I’m smart… except for one thing. (Well, more than one, but body issues are a whole different blog.) But if I’m so smart how come I’m so dumb? And why are so many successful smart women just as dumb as I am?
That one thing? Self-doubt
Is doubt just a part of success? Do men doubt themselves? I don’t know how many times I’ve been having a heart to heart with smart, successful women and have them confess the same thing: I feel like a fraud.
Even if we’ve earned success the hard way, even if we’ve juggled children, managed households, started businesses and companies, ran meetings, became social entrepreneurs, got our degrees or had books published, we still feel like frauds, fakes, charlatans. That niggling of doubt in our stomachs causes us to work harder, promote harder and take on more tasks, because if we didn’t really earn our success, it could all disappear and then where would we be?
My reaction after snagging one of the best agents in the business?
“She must really like my ideas and figures she can just work with the rest of it.”
My reaction after getting an incredible contract from Balzer+Bray for my book, Born of Illusion?
“OMG, what if they find out I’m just a flake and not that talented?”
My reaction after getting a contract for the Summerset Abbey series from one of the smartest, most powerful editors in the business?
“She’s going to be so mad when she discovers I’m a fraud and I can’t really write!”
Sound familiar? This sort of negative chatter doesn’t just affect women writers, but women everywhere. The most successful business women I know often mask their feelings that they don’t deserve and didn’t earn their success.
WTF?
As I was wondering about this, it finally dawned on me—if I didn’t really earn my successes, or my accomplishments, if I weren’t talented, then the following would have to be true:
The highly trained professionals who read my work, paid for my books and gambled their company’s money and precious time, did so to be NICE. To make me feel good about myself.
Uh huh, and I’ve got a piece of swampland to sell you…
They did those things because they don’t think they’re gambling–they recognize and value my talent. So why don’t I?
This kind of thinking is why criticism is so much more valid in our mind than praise. We want the praise, need the praise and then don’t really believe it when we get it. But any kind of implied criticism… that stuff is GOSPEL.
And another damn thing, how come it’s like taboo to admit to self-doubt? Don’t let anyone know that you are any less than confident, or that your life is any less than wonderful or… or what? Will it start a feeding frenzy? Do people think less of you because you are sometimes beset with doubt? Is this why women hide it and only confess after a couple glass of wine?
But that’s for part two… so what about you? Is this a female thing or do men struggle with this too? Why do we do it? Is it culture? Part of our DNA?
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Why are so many smart, successful women just as dumb as I am?(Click to Tweet)
Why do the most successful women feel as if they don’t deserve their success? (Click to tweet)
Why is criticism gospel and praise suspect? (Click to Tweet)
A Tantalizing Tidbit of A Bloom in Winter
Too busy to breathe, but I do want to give my readers something, so here is a small tidbit of Summerset Abbey: A Bloom in Winter. (On sale now!) This is the beginning of the book and shows a scene writer’s know all too well… that feeling when we get our first acceptance. Enjoy!
Victoria paced the length of Summerset Abbey’s great hall, impatience rippling through her body. In London the mail had come at the same time every day, like clockwork. But at the sprawling country estate that she now called home, the mail’s arrival remained frustratingly unpredictable and entirely dependent on her uncle’s will. When he was away from Summerset Abbey, it was even more haphazard, unless her ladyship needed something posted or was expecting an important invitation.
When she reached the end of the hall, Victoria doubled back, marching furiously forward, ignoring the light from the circular skylight that danced and sparkled off the marble columns lining the room that usually would have distracted her. Even the breathtaking frescos depicting angels floating above battle scenes that covered the domed ceiling, which normally captured her gaze when she entered this hallway, remained hazy on the fringes of her tunnel vision. And all because of an inept mail delivery system that harkened back to the bloody dark ages. She’d be waiting outside on the drive if she weren’t afraid of the suspicion that would raise, especially after learning that Aunt Charlotte, or Lady Summerset Ambrosia Huxley Buxton, noticed everything that happened at Summerset.
Well, almost everything. Victoria smiled. Her aunt didn’t know how often she snuck away to her secret room in the unused portion of the manor to practice her typing and shorthand, study botany or craft her own articles on plants and plant lore. She didn’t know that her own daughter, Elaine, could mix up a mean gin sling, or that Victoria’s older sister Rowena had gone flying in a plane and had kissed a pilot. So maybe her forbidding Aunt Charlotte wasn’t so infallible after all.
But Aunt Charlotte had known how to get rid of Prudence. Victoria frowned, a familiar ache twisting in her stomach.
She heard a car in the front drive and she flew to the servants’ door behind the stairwell, not caring if the servants resented her intrusion on their domain. The mail would be taken to Mr. Cairns, who would sort it out in his office, and then presented to Aunt Charlotte, to Uncle Conrad or to whomever it was addressed. Victoria, however, couldn’t stand by and wait for her letter to eventually find its way into her hands. She’d counted the days carefully and knew in her bones she would receive an answer today.
The servants bobbed their heads as she rushed past them. No doubt Aunt Charlotte had already heard of her sudden obsession with the mail. If asked, Victoria would just tell her she was awaiting a letter from a friend and then whine about being bored out here in the country. Aunt Charlotte deplored whining.
She stuck her head around the doorjamb of Cairns’ office. “Did I get anything, Cairns?”
The man jumped and Victoria hid a grin. Very little ever surprised this supremely self-contained man, but Victoria had long ago made it her mission to try. She’d spent almost every summer vacation since she was a small child trying to ruffle Cairns, who had no outstanding features except his unflappable composure. She knew he could barely stand her and the girls used to find it funny.
Now, of course, it would be better if Cairns were on her side, but old habits were hard to break.
His mouth tightened. “I’m just going through it now, Miss Victoria.”
She waited, almost screaming with impatience as he deliberately took his time going through the post and sorting it into different piles. She knew he had found her letter by the quivering of his nostrils. He held it out and she snatched it from his hands as if he were about to change his mind.
“Thank you, Cairns!” She whisked out of the servants’ quarters and up to her room, praying she wouldn’t run into her cousin wanting to break up the boredom by sneaking down to play billiards and smoke cigarettes, or Rowena, wanting to go riding or walking or whatever she could to chase away the guilt she felt over Prudence. Victoria felt bad for both her sister and her cousin, but right now, she had more important things to do.
Once in her room, she put the letter on her white and gold empire dressing table and stared at it, half afraid to open it. She’d been waiting for it for so long—now that it was actually here, she was terrified it wouldn’t contain the news she wanted. Finally she picked it up, crossed the soft Axminster rug, and settled down upon one of the two blue and white striped chaise lounges that sat before a small white fireplace.
Inspired by Nanny Iris, a remarkable herbalist and Victoria’s friend and mentor, she’d written an article on the health benefits of Althea Officinalis, or mallow, and the history of its uses among the healing women who worked with the poor. She had sent it to one of her favorite botany magazines and to her surprise, the editor had written back, telling her he enjoyed the article, and gave her some advice on how to improve the writing. He had asked her to resubmit after she’d revised it. She’d rewritten it ten times, typing it carefully on the brand-new typewriter she had hidden in her secret room. Then she’d sent it back, praying it would be good enough to publish.
Her stomach churned. And here was her answer. Unable to take it any longer, she went to her desk and riffled through the drawers until she found her letter opener. Something fluttered to the ground when she opened it and she stared at the slip of paper, unbelieving. It was a check.
And The Winner Of The Tea Set Is!
Thanks everyone for participating in the Bloom Book Blast! Launch week was a blast and thank you so much for all the kind words on the Summerset Abbey series! The winner of that gorgeous tea set is:
Maria D! I have already sent her an email.
Thanks again! Will post another blog as soon as I get a moment to breathe!
Bloom Book Blast!
I had to title my post that because what a wonderful alliteration is that?
What is a book blast? The good people at Goddess Fish have put together a book blast in honor of Summerset Abbey:A Bloom in Winter release day! Leave a comment at one of the blogs and you are entered to win a beautiful and whimsical handcrafted tea set. Leave a comment at each blog and you are entered 36 times! Check out the set!
This is a 4 piece Whimsical Butterfly Tea set, handcrafted by artist April Cook. Made with white stoneware slip and painted in a unique, whimsical butterfly design in lime green and plum glaze. It is both dishwasher and microwave safe. The set includes a 32 oz. tea pot with lid, creamer and sugar bowl. (Sadly, only US commenters are eligible to win it) You can see more of April’s work here. You know you want to win it!
So what are you waiting for? Go visit blogs and join the party!
Romantic Historical Lovers Too
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