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August 30, 2007

I'm Saving Us Money, Honey!

**BEHIND THE SCENES, Part 1**

Now that we've finished our Journey To Publication, we are doing some behind the scenes "special features." The first one is my husband's reaction to the news that I've been offered a publishing contract.

Greg assumed writing would be another one of those things that would provide him with a great tax write-off. Understandable. Every hobby or business venture I've ever participated in has lost money. Writing included.

The amount of dollars I've sunk into books alone would boggle the mind. All under the auspices of my writing career, of course.

"Well, honey, I really need to buy all these romances so I can keep abreast of what's selling in the industry."

"Well, honey, I might want to write a book someday that takes place in ancient Rome and this book is on the Bargain Table, so if I go ahead and get it now, I'll be saving us money!"

"Well, honey, I'll never get past the front door if I don't know how to put together a professional looking query letter, so I bought this book on how to write one."

And so on. Then came the travel.

"The writer's conference is in Hawaii this year, dear. Now before you say anything, I know the cost will be rather steep, but for that very reason the crowd will be smaller and the intimacy will allow me to have more face time with the movers and shakers in the industry." (He put his foot down. I was not going to a conference in Hawaii. Married women who loved their husbands just did not do such things. Period.)

"Well, honey, since I'm not going to Hawaii, I decided to fly up to Virginia and spend a week there researching the novel I'm writing. It would be so helpful to actually see the area my story takes place in. And just think, I'll be saving you so much money by going there instead of Hawaii!"

And on it went ... membership fees in the writer's organizations, contest entry fees, postage, a laser printer (so my manuscript would look crisp and professional), business cards, stationery, logos, etc, etc, etc.

Every year at tax time when I filled out my Schedule C, he would look it over and say, "Sweetheart, please, please don't save me any more money."

Yet all this time, I don't think he ever really thought I would sell. I believe he thought it would be an expensive little hobby that would keep me out of trouble. His response when I gave him the big news?

"Oh. Gee. Can't you just be a wife and a mother?"

Bless his black little heart. I never quite fit the "Mrs. Cleaver" mold he had fantasized about as a young man, I guess. In any event, I smiled and said, "I'm sure, dear, what you meant to say was ... 'Congratulations! I'm so proud of you! Way to go! That's just great!' ... I just know that is what you meant to say."

He nodded. "Yes. I am proud of you."

And you know what? He really is. He has a copy of Bride, Lady & Courting Trouble in his office and shows it off to all who enter. He's one of my biggest fans.

And on top of all that, I'm still a good tax write off. Not because of my fiction, but because of all my other business ventures that I am now having to sell and liquidate in order to concentrate on my fiction full time. So, see? I'm still saving him money!!!

On Monday, our next "Behind the Scenes" selection: Where Was God In All This?

posted by Deeanne on 08/30/2007 - 6 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 27, 2007

You Know You're Married To A Jock When ...

Before I tell you my husband's reaction to the selling of my first book, I thought it might help if you knew he's a jock. What you might call a textbook jock. As a matter of fact, you know you're married to a jock ...

when he buys tickets to "A Christmas Carol" because he thought it was a musical.
when he takes you to this "musical" and asks the guy in the tuxedo behind the coffee bar for popcorn, Junior Mints and Hot Tamales.
when he refers to intermission as "halftime."
when you arrive at the hospital to deliver your first born and he brings along his catcher's mitt.
when he paints regulation lines on the driveway around your basketball goal.
when he buys another basketball goal from Academy, saws six-feet of the pole off, drills a hole in the decking beside your pool, drops the basketball goal into it and concretes it in. None of that plastic poolside basketball for him. No siree. (And this monstrosity looks so nice next to my saga palm.)
when he thinks reading is the epitome of being bored.
when he's only read 10 books since 1986.
when he thinks soap operas reflect the lowest form of our society.
when he thinks romance novels are just one teeny-tiny step above soap operas.

Now don't get me wrong. They have their perks. They are hard workers, driven, passionate, great leaders, great providers, fiercely protective of their woman and offspring, and they come packaged very, very nicely.

My sweetie-pie and I will be celebrating 25 years of marital bliss this year. On Thursday, I'll tell you what my man's reaction was when he found out his woman was going to be a published romance author.

posted by Deeanne on 08/27/2007 - 4 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 24, 2007

Out of the Office

Hey, girls. I'm on the road with my high school senior. We are doing college visits. I thought I would have time to blog when I got back to the hotel, but we've been going full speed and tumbling into bed as soon as we hit the door. So, I'll just get bacK with y'all on Monday.

posted by Deeanne on 08/24/2007 - 3 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 21, 2007

Special Features

You know how after you watch a feature presentation on your DVD, you can then go to a menu and click on all kinds of "behind the scenes" options? Well, I thought we'd do that with our "Journey to Publication" series.

We spent 11 days on our journey from conception of an idea to published novel. But many of you commented or emailed questions about what was going on behind the scenes. So, how 'bout we put together a menu of sorts? I went back through to see what some of your questions were and tried to group them according to topic. We could then address them one at a time. How does that sound?

Here are the ones I have so far. If you have more, put them in the comments section and I'll add them to our list. Okay, here we go:

Meanwhile, I might deviate off the plan if something comes up that I want to share with you (like the debut of Bev's movie). I also haven't forgotten about posting pictures from our cruise this summer. So, stay tuned. Looks like a busy fall ahead!

If you haven't had a chance to visit our Chat Room. Now would be a great time to come. We talk about everything from what should happen to Essie (from Courting Trouble) to who are your favorite authors. Hope to see you there!

posted by Deeanne on 08/21/2007 - 0 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 16, 2007

Saving Sarah Cain

The movie adaptation of fellow Bethany House author and my dear friend, Beverly Lewis's, book The Redemption of Sarah Cain will be aired on Lifetime TV this Sunday (6:00 EST) and Monday (2:00 EST). Check your local listings to be sure they coincide with this. The film, titled Saving Sarah Cain, was directed by Michael Landon, Jr.

"When Sarah Cain, a self-involved big-city newspaper columnist, travels to Pennsylvania for the funeral of her Amish sister, she soon discovers that she is the legal guardian of her five Amish nieces and nephews. Sarah takes them with her back to Portland where she believes she can make a new life for them. However, she soon realizes that the modern world has forced them to compromise who they are, and that she has moved them there for all the wrong reasons - a motive which is soon exposed - because secrets can really never be kept secret."

I wasn't able to go to the premiere screening at ICRS in July, but I did watch a promotional clip and can tell you the photography looks fantastic and Lisa Pepper, who plays the lead role, was delightful in her interview. From what I understand, Elliott Gould (who plays Sarah's boss at the newspaper) is at his best.

"Five 19th century kids in the big city with a 21st century single woman--you couldn't ask for a better premise than that." -- Elliott Gould

Bev was able to visit the set during the shooting of the film and was really pleased with the attention to detail and accuracy in the portrayal of the Amish lifestyle.

"It's just so much fun to be called or conferred with because that is a big passion of my heart--to see the accuracy [of the Amish lifestyle portrayed] and I see that happening. It's so great." -- Beverly Lewis

The producer and co-screenwriter, Brian Bird, is really excited about the project.

"[Michael Landon, Jr. and I] just loved the idea of doing a story set in the Amish world where we could collide two worlds together--the Amish and our modern world." -- Brian Bird

In the promotional clip Lisa Pepper (who plays Sarah Cain) was asked what she hoped the audiencee would take away from the film.

"[I hope] that when the audience sees the movie they have a similar reaction to what I had when I read the script, which was to pick up the phone ... and call my mother. <big smile>" -- Lisa Pepper

So, mark your calendars now and plan to sit down with the whole family this Sunday or Monday. I know I will be. And next week, we can gather in our Chat Room to discuss the film.

[Above photos were taking during the filming of Saving Sarah Cain. Photo on the right is of Beverly Lewis and Lisa Pepper]

posted by Deeanne on 08/16/2007 - 10 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 13, 2007

Sold!

**Day 11 of "Journey to Publication"**

David Long of Bethany House was extremely gracious about receiving an unsolicited email from me. He directed me to his blog where he addresses a lot of the issues dealing with "edgy" Christian fiction. He told me to look it over and if my manuscript looked like a good fit, then to contact him at the email address he has set up for acquisitions (which he then very politely provided me with).

I went to his blog, our philosophies jibed, I emailed him back and told him he really needed to read my manuscript--which he did. That was in April of 2004. In May, my manuscript went through a review process where other folks at Bethany House read it and offered their opinions. A month later he emailed my manager and said they wanted to buy Bride.

Thursday, my husband's response when I give him my "big news."

posted by Deeanne on 08/13/2007 - 5 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 09, 2007

Hmmmmm

**Day 10 of "Journey to Publication"**

You're probably wondering "Where was God in all this?" Believe me, He was all over it. But more on that later. For now, we're sticking to a chronological timeline. And as of Day 9's post, I was peddling 30K units of I Did My Chores! and had a romance manuscript on my bookshelf that was too tame for the general market and too steamy for the inspirational.

About seven or so months after the "big rewrite" (see Day 9's post), I received my April 2004 edition of a trade magazine from the CBA (Christian Booksellers Association). I quickly flip through it and come to a screeching halt on page 35.

The title of the article took up half the page and was called, "Fiction on the Edge: Retailers & Publishers Wrestle With Edgier Fiction." Hmmm. I start to scan, then slow down and begin to read. Every word.

It was in a Q&A format, interviewing bookstore owners, publishers and acquisition editors. They said things like:

"Superficial fiction ... trivializes God's grace."
"To make a case for stories with grit, look no further than the Bible."
"The edgier fiction gets, the less retailers trust the publisher."
"We need new voices to reach those who have tuned [CBA fiction] out."
"Edgier fiction is ... one way to reach nonbelievers."

Hmmmm.

I drum my fingernails against my desk. I reread the article. I start looking at the names of the actual people interviewed and who they represent. I see an acquisitions editor from Bethany House Publishers. He seems to be an advocate for this fiction with an edge.

Hmmmm.

Because I used to be an investigative reporter, I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say, that within five minutes time I learned the email address of that editor from Bethany House.

Hmmmm.

I type up a little note to him, telling him about Bride and that I think maybe he should have a look at it.

I sit for a moment. "So, whatdayou think, God? Do I push the 'send' button?"

An overwhelming sense of peace and confirmation fills me.

"Even though I discovered his email address by somewhat questionable means?"

Another wave of peace.

I hit "send." It goes through. I sit at my computer and feel the heat crawl up my neck because I know it is a big "no-no" to cold-call (or in this case, cold-email) editors to pitch your books.

Within five minutes time I hear back.

Tune in Monday for Mr. David Long's response to me sending an unsolicited message to his private email address.

posted by Deeanne on 08/09/2007 - 5 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 06, 2007

I Need A Break

**Day 9 of "Journey to Publication"**

I dissolved my working relationship with my agent in 2001 when I started the manufacturing process for my chore system. I Did My Chores! hit the shelves in 2003. I licensed the product line in 2004. Yet, I still had 30K units in a warehouse in Kansas City that needed to be sold. And in the midst of all that selling, my creative side screamed, "I NEED A BREAK!"

During that time I had, for the first time, wandered over to the inspirational fiction aisle to see what it had to offer. And like most any aisle in the bookstore, some of the novels appealed to me, others did not. But it got me to thinking. "I wonder if I could rework Bride and make it suitable for the inspirational market?" That was in 2003.

So, for fun, I pulled it from the shelf. Dusted it off. And "cleaned it up." When I was all done, I realized I had a novel that was too tame for the general market and too steamy for the inspirational market. I basically had a novel that no one would want.

So, I shelved it and went back to peddling 30K units of I Did My Chores!

Thursday, how my manuscript went from the shelf on my bookcase to the shelf of a store near you.

posted by Deeanne on 08/06/2007 - 6 comments - Post a Comment RSS FEED

August 02, 2007

I Hate What I Do

**Day 8 of "Journey to Publication"**

I hated being a corporate executive, so I got on my knees and told the Lord if it wasn't going to mess up some vast, eternal plan, I'd ever-so-much like to be relieved of this chore system ... but His will be done.

The following month, I was exhibiting in a trade show and a man came into my booth.

"Do you like what you do?" he asked.
"I hate what I do," I answered.
"Would you be interested in licensing your product to me?"
"What are you doing for dinner tonight?" I replied.

We went out to dinner and within a year, I licensed not only my chore system to him, but two other systems I had in my head but didn't have the capital or the desire to produce. He repackaged my chore system and put it on the market. The second product he licensed (that had previously been in my head) is called "I Did My Homework!" and it was released a couple of years later.