Caren Johnson Literary Agency

I decided that based on the number of entries, one critique giveaway just wasn’t enough. I decided to give away two to two lucky winners.

Andrea Laurence and Denise Jaden are the two lucky ones. Congrats to both! And for those who didn’t win, there are a number of RWA contests that I’ll be judging in the next few months. Stay tuned for details on how to enter those and still be in the running for a critique. Also, I will probably do this again later this year so keep checking back.

Again, congratulations to our winners.

By: Kelley St. John

Win 3 Autographed Books for Your Book Club!

Don’t you love book clubs? I received this photo from the Fishhawk Ranch Book Club in Tampa, Florida. I absolutely LOVE this photo!

Since TO CATCH A CHEAT came out, I’ve heard from several book clubs that have chosen the book for their monthly selection. First of all…THANKS! And second, I want to let additional book clubs know that I’d love for you to consider Trent and Marissa’s story for your next book club pick – and I’ll donate 3 autographed copies to get you started!

Want to know a little more about the book? Here’s the scoop…

Marissa Kincaid has a gift for dating the terminally unfaithful. After she finds her latest boyfriend lip-locked to another man, she decides to strike back by creating TheGuyCheats.com, a virtual Wanted poster for serial cheaters. Soon Marissa is spending almost all her time getting even—instead of getting a guy.

Enter Trenton Jackson, Marissa’s first crush from way back. Now Atlanta’s golden boy publisher, Trent is falling for the feisty siren Marissa has become and he’s determined to prove that he knows how to be true. But with Marissa afraid to ever trust a man again, Trent will have to do a lot of teasing, squeezing, and pleasing… before he can kiss away her fears and open her heart to love.

Book Club discussion questions are already prepared for your group. Check them out here: http://www.kelleystjohn.com/bookclubs.cfm

And if your book club doesn’t win the free copies, I’d still love to send you a prize—TO CATCH A CHEAT bookmarks for your group. Just send your snail mail and the number of members you have in your club to me at Kelley@kelleysbooks.com

To enter the contest for 3 free books to get you going, post a comment. It doesn’t get any easier than that.

By Kathleen Long

When Caren asked each of CJLA’s authors to think about topics for the blog, I immediately thought about the process of creating unforgettable villains in fiction. I love creating villains—the creepier, the more terrifying, the more unforgettable the better. But, what does it take to make a villain come to life? How do I make them real?

Motivation .

In my opinion, motivation is the magic element that keeps a writer pouring words onto the page and keeps the reader turning those same pages late into the night. Without believable motivation, it’s difficult to feel much of anything for a character, let alone a villain. After all, who wants to read about a one-dimensional character? Not me. I don’t want to write about them either. I want to create whole characters, not cardboard cutouts.

The importance of creating a fully-developed villain was first pointed out to me in a rejection letter for a romantic comedy. I can picture you screwing up your face and thinking romantic comedy? Yes. Romantic comedy.

In my letter, the rejecting editor explained she wanted well-motivated characters readers would care about—including the villain. That single piece of advice resonated with me, and I went to work. That book was my first sale, and sold only a few months later.

So, how do you motivate a villain? And why should you? For me, the process is identical to the process I use in developing every character in every book. Goal, motivation and conflict.

What is it my villain wants? In that first romantic comedy, the villain wanted to sell the special events planning firm she’d been straddled with since the death of her husband. Her motivation? She wanted her life back. She’d raised two nephews following the death of their parents and to do so, she’d forfeited her own dreams. She’d forfeited those same dreams again when she’d taken over the family firm after her husband’s death. Now, she wanted out. Her conflict? Her oldest nephew had dedicated his life to the firm and vowed to fight off the sale, no matter what.

In the early drafts of this book, the character of the villain had very little to do or say other than to be…well…nasty. In the final version of the book, she had her own scenes that let the reader glimpse her thoughts and actions—her motivations—enough to care about her.

And why do I, as the author, want the reader to care? Because I want her to keep reading, and even more importantly, I want my reader to come away from the book satisfied after that last page is turned. I want her to develop an emotional bond with every character in every book.

I hear the wheels clicking in your brain. That’s fine for a so-called villain in a comedy, but what about creating the suspense villain? Each must be fully formed, his motivation explained and believable. Many times, that final explanation comes during the villain’s reveal—the pivotal scene in which the puzzle pieces of the book’s mystery come together in the hero/heroine’s mind often at the same time the villain describes the delicious details of his plot to achieve his dastardly goal.

While I’d love to give you an example of one of my villain’s motivations, I’d run the risk of ruining the twists and surprises I work so hard to include in each suspense. Which brings me to yet another important plot element—the false suspect. The red herring. Believably motivating each false suspect is a crucial part of the plotting that goes into each book. My job as author is to provide a suspense or thriller that keeps my readers turning pages, working the clues alongside the book’s hero and heroine.

For this aspect of layering, I use a suspect character chart that’s simple and effective. For each potential suspect, I break down what has to happen to make my readers believe that character could be the true villain. What does the character need to say? What actions do I need to show? Where does the character fit into the overall puzzle of the plot? For each, I show a potential motivation that could explain guilt.

There it is again. Motivation.

From that first romantic comedy to my current Harlequin Intrigue, motivation has been my key to making the bad guy…or gal…come to life. Without motivation, any character will lack the depth needed to fully engage readers.

And that’s my cue to get back to work.

May all of your villains be satisfying, deliciously developed, and unforgettable!

www.kathleenlong.com

by Terri Clark

I’m blessed to have two jobs I love. One is, of course, writing. And the other is as a teen patron specialist at my library. In addition to the usual reference and circulation work, I also help with programming, book clubs, the teen summer reading program and our teen advisory board. It’s fun, gratifying work that lets me get to know my reading audience in a way most authors can’t. At the same time, I also get to look at the library and the opportunities it offers to authors from two different perspectives and what I’ve found is this: the library wants, no, needs YOU! And I’m not talking about your books on our shelves. We’re pretty good about getting those. What we need is authors who’re willing to give a little of their time.

I know in my district we’re always excited to hear from authors who’re interested in doing entertaining, interactive programs with our patrons. It gives you exposure, builds your readership and it’s usually a paid gig. I’ve also seen one booking at the library lead to other events for the author, which in turn led to even more. And yet very few authors contact us.

Another thing we’d LOVE to have is authors willing to donate their time to book clubs. Most libraries have several different book clubs running on a regular basis. Some may be library sponsored and some may be patron led clubs that are just hosted at the library. Either way, these are groups of avid readers who select a book, read it and then have a spirited conversation about their pick. There is nothing these groups like more than to have the author whose book they’ve just read sit in on their discussion. To them you’re a celebrity and having direct access to you is a special treat. Chances are you’ll be fawned over and asked a million questions, but when all is said and done you’ll get a one-on-one kind of feedback that even fan letters can’t beat. At the same time you’ll be reaching your readers on an intimate level and they’re going to create word-of-mouth buzz, talking you up to everyone they know.

In addition, your librarians get a chance to know you and not only will they recommend your books to readers; they’ll make sure to order your books.

So, ask not what your library can do for you, ask what you can do for your library. Contact the person in charge of programming and tell them you’d like to offer your services. Chances are they’ll be happy to hear from you. They get something special to offer their patrons and you, well, you get exposure, increased readership, networking, sales, feedback and more. Chicago Tribune literary editor Elizabeth Taylor once said, “ The public library is more than a repository of books. It’s a mysterious, wondrous place with the power to change lives.”

Maybe she was thinking about authors and the library.

www.terriclarkbooks.com

By Barbara Caridad Ferrer

This past week, I wrote the first chapter of a new project. The first new project I’ve begun since May and boy, does it represent a big step for me. For the first time, I’m dipping my toes into what, in some ways, could be referred to as a historical. (Set in the early 60s, so a “contemporary historical,” if you will.) This is a story I’ve had brewing for at least a year (one of those “wake up at three in the morning with the story concept fully formed” sorts of deals). But there were other projects to finish and conferences to go to and revisions to work through and frankly, this story? Scared the ever-lovin’ you know out of me—for a lot of reasons.

One big reason is I’ve always said I could never envision myself writing historicals. Not because I don’t like them—actually historical novels are what I cut my reading teeth on. When other kids were still working their way through Judy Blume, I was devouring John Jakes’ The Kent Family Chronicles and Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds. I’m a huge devotee of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander Series and probably my favorite book in the entire world is Anne Rivers Siddons’ Heartbreak Hotel, set in 1950s Alabama. In the hands of a master, the richness and detail of the worlds and time periods sucks me in and I’m completely lost.

See, this is actually why I’ve said I wasn’t sure I could ever tackle a historical—I love all the minutiae and how skillfully these authors weave fact and fiction together in a seamless fashion. As a child, I was known to read sitting near my encyclopedias so I could quickly reference the real people and events being depicted. You see where I’m going with this, yes?

I’m a geek. A ginormous, unabashed, research-loving geek. With my contemporary-set novels, I’ve been known to spend two or three days researching one small detail that may or may not be used within a throwaway line of dialogue or narrative. Imagine me with a historical? I’d get so caught up in the “Ooh! Shiny!” of the research that it’s quite possible I would never write an original word, ever again. Or worse still, that I would get so caught up in wanting to show off every single nifty fact I’d unearthed that I’d drown the manuscript in historical detail, forsaking that stuff known as plot and characterization.

It’s daunting, to say the least.

Then again, I always said I couldn’t ever imagine myself writing a young adult novel, either and we know how that worked out. I think it’s safe to say I’ve found my best success thus far with my YA novels, while my women’s fiction, the books that have always come “easier” or at the very least, more naturally to me are still waiting for their turn. It’s not that I’m any less passionate about one or the other, but more a case of it would seem I do my best work and one might even say, thrive, on challenge and a healthy dose of fear.

But if there’s one thing I’ve always said about my writing is that I want to continue to grow and improve my craft. What better way to do that than within the parameters of a personal challenge? And what’s really important is that it’s not challenge for challenge’s sake—it’s not like I sat around thinking, “Well, what should I try to do now to up the stakes?” No, this is, forgive me for sounding all granola, an organic challenge. This is the story that came to me. It’s a story where I have characters revealing themselves to me in new ways every day—where nuances and details of setting are bringing up a whole host of “what if?” questions and demanding that I research their viability.

In other words, this is a story that wants out and it doesn’t care how scared I am.

Thing is, this writing gig—it’s never without some measure of fear, at least, not for me. For me, the trick is harnessing the fear and trepidation and making it work to my advantage. Being aware of exactly what frightens me the most then tackling it, bending it to my will and not allowing that hyperawareness to cripple the process.

I won’t lie, it’s fine, fine line.

But also the best kind of rush.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, Chapter 2 awaits.