becke_davis wrote:
I'm so glad you could join us, Natalie! I spent Easter with my friend Monica Burns, who was excited to hear you'd be featured this week. She said to say hi to you for her!
Say hi back to her for me! Actually, I should shoot her an e-mail. We used to be on the Gab Wagon (group author blog) together, and we haven't talked in way too long! 
I think I replied to all the posts so far! Please smack me (or, you know, repeat your post LOL) if I missed something.
How's everyone doing? For those who celebrate Easter and Passover, did you have nice holidays?
Ours was kind of quiet. My inlaws are on a cruise, so we did Easter dinner a couple of weeks ago. We did an egg hunt with the kids, who were suprisingly excited for a nearly 17-year-old and a nearly 13-year-old.
I also kept the weekend low-key because I had LASIK on Thursday! It went great, but I could get out of all kinds of chores with that excuse.
"Kids, change the litter boxes, please. I can't get dust in my eyes."
"Hon, I'd better not help you carry the branches to the front yard for pickup. Dust."
"Sorry, clients, can't work this weekend, the computer makes my eyes all buggy."
LOL
Anyone else here have LASIK? How was it for you?
(FYI, I'll be in and out all week, answering posts and posting stuff about my books between the day job, my kids' soccer games/practices, and my writing schedule! Looking forward to chatting about anything you want to talk about!)
NJDamschroder wrote:
becke_davis wrote:
Natalie - I'm curious about your two publishers. It's exciting that you're covering both ebooks and paper books now! Did you make a conscious decision to find a second publisher who could get your books in bricks-and-mortar bookstores?
I think the most important thing for an author is to reach their audience. With so many different options now, readers can all get their books in the way that works best for them. So I want my books to be EVERYWHERE. Digital (in every digital marketplace, for every reading tool), print, bricks-and-mortar stores, audio, even in foreign countries. (I have a book coming out soon in GREEK! o,O)
So my strategy as a writer has been to seek publishers that could help me reach out into all those various nooks and crannies of the world. Because Carina is part of Harlequin and has great editors and a fantastic system, I submitted there and have been very happy. My editor is FANTASTIC and I never want to stop working with her. But she doesn't like everything I write.
When Entangled Publishing was announced, I was actually a little skeptical at first, but a few things they said intrigued me. I didn't submit to them specifically because they do print—my Amber Quill Press books are in print but that doesn't put them in the bookstores—but because the owner is an incredibly smart, savvy businessperson. That fact has translated to print books landing in stores, not just available for "special order."
But I love the way it worked out. It's a very nice, neat system for me to have romantic adventure with Carina and paranormal romance with Entangled. (And, of course, to have fantastic editors and support teams in both places!
Is Nina Bruhns your editor? She mentioned she was editing for Entangled now.
NJDamschroder wrote:
I think I replied to all the posts so far! Please smack me (or, you know, repeat your post LOL) if I missed something.
How's everyone doing? For those who celebrate Easter and Passover, did you have nice holidays?
Ours was kind of quiet. My inlaws are on a cruise, so we did Easter dinner a couple of weeks ago. We did an egg hunt with the kids, who were suprisingly excited for a nearly 17-year-old and a nearly 13-year-old.
I also kept the weekend low-key because I had LASIK on Thursday! It went great, but I could get out of all kinds of chores with that excuse.
"Kids, change the litter boxes, please. I can't get dust in my eyes."
"Hon, I'd better not help you carry the branches to the front yard for pickup. Dust."
"Sorry, clients, can't work this weekend, the computer makes my eyes all buggy."
LOL
Anyone else here have LASIK? How was it for you?
(FYI, I'll be in and out all week, answering posts and posting stuff about my books between the day job, my kids' soccer games/practices, and my writing schedule! Looking forward to chatting about anything you want to talk about!)
A good friend of mine had LASIK when it was still pretty experimental. He loved it!
becke_davis wrote:
Is Nina Bruhns your editor? She mentioned she was editing for Entangled now.
No, Nina's awesome, but she took over the Dead Sexy line of category-length romantic suspense books. I wish I had something to submit to that line! But they've got some awesome stuff coming out. I can't wait.
Kerri-Leigh Grady is my editor, under Liz Pelletier. I'm amazingly lucky to have clicked with her from the very beginning, and so grateful to Liz for assigning me to KL!
becke_davis wrote:
What's up next for you, Natalie? And what are you working on now?
Immediately next—as in, next week LOL—is Acceptable Risks, my next romantic adventure from Carina Press. (Link goes to the B&N page; I'll post a blurb and cover in a separate post.)
Fun fact: The original title of Acceptable Risks was Hummingbird, which is the name of the security company the hero works for. I knew it would probably need a new title but couldn't think of one so I submitted it as is. My editor thought I was sending her a women's fiction novel! Of course, I didn't come up with the new title until we were very close to the end of production, and then it was amazingly obvious.
I just submitted Heavy Metal, the second book in the Goddesses Rising series. Sam Remington, one of the characters from Under the Moon, begins to fall for a young goddess in trouble. That should be boomeranging back to me soon for a second round of revisions. In the meantime, I'm working on a couple of novellas in the series and a series of short stories (not paranormal) to submit to the Flirts line at Entangled.
I'm also trying to get a YA published and really hope I get to write the second book in that series.
NJDamschroder wrote:
becke_davis wrote:Is Nina Bruhns your editor? She mentioned she was editing for Entangled now.
No, Nina's awesome, but she took over the Dead Sexy line of category-length romantic suspense books. I wish I had something to submit to that line!
Kerri-Leigh Grady is my editor, under Liz Pelletier. I'm amazingly lucky to have clicked with her from the very beginning, and so grateful to Liz for assigning me to KL!
I've heard a lot of good things about Entangled. Plus, of course, I know a lot of people who write for Carina, too!
NJDamschroder wrote:
becke_davis wrote:
What's up next for you, Natalie? And what are you working on now?
Immediately next—as in, next week LOL—is Acceptable Risks, my next romantic adventure from Carina Press. (Link goes to the B&N page; I'll post a blurb and cover in a separate post.)
Fun fact: The original title of Acceptable Risks was Hummingbird, which is the name of the security company the hero works for. I knew it would probably need a new title but couldn't think of one so I submitted it as is. My editor thought I was sending her a women's fiction novel!
I just submitted Heavy Metal, the second book in the Goddesses Rising series. Sam Remington, one of the characters from Under the Moon, begins to fall for a young goddess in trouble. That should be boomeranging back to me soon for a second round of revisions. In the meantime, I'm working on a couple of novellas in the series and a series of short stories (not paranormal) to submit to the Flirts line at Entangled.
I'm also trying to get a YA published and really hope I get to write the second book in that series.
I love your story about the Hummingbird title - too funny!
writerfire wrote:
Hi there! Do you have a favorite spot to write? I favor my beanbag chair by the window, or on a log out in the woods.
Ooh, those sound very enticing!
My "favorite" day-to-day spot is pretty boring. It's at my desk, in my halfway-decent chair, next to the window looking out on my halfway-decent backyard. LOL I long for a deck with a fully decent chair and right-height table, but alas, we haven't made it happen yet.
I often have too many distractions at home, and when I'm tight to deadline, I'll take my laptop or Neo to Barnes & Noble or Starbucks. Last summer, I had to do line edits on vacation, so every morning I got up early and snuck out on the balcony that overlooked the woods. That was pretty sweet!
My all-time favorite place, though, is my local RWA chapter's annual writing retreat.
When security expert Jason Templeton's team is ambushed while protecting a weapons manufacturer vital to U.S. interests, he risks his life to save the man's daughter...and loses. Unbeknownst to Jason, his mentor had been funding experimental medical procedures after losing his young wife. Using the untested drugs, Jason is brought back to life, stronger and faster than before, but also vulnerable in new ways. He's determined to find the traitor in their midst, who is after the miracle drug.
That means protecting the brilliant scientist Lark Madrassa. Their attraction and compatibility are undeniable, but Jason tries to deny his growing feelings for her, thinking he is too damaged. When Lark's father is kidnapped they have to rely on each other in a dangerous plot to uncover the double agent. Before, Jason always accepted the risks--but what about when the life of the woman he loves is on the line?
Barnes & Noble Link (Preorder available now, release date April 16)
NJDamschroder wrote:
When security expert Jason Templeton's team is ambushed while protecting a weapons manufacturer vital to U.S. interests, he risks his life to save the man's daughter...and loses. Unbeknownst to Jason, his mentor had been funding experimental medical procedures after losing his young wife. Using the untested drugs, Jason is brought back to life, stronger and faster than before, but also vulnerable in new ways. He's determined to find the traitor in their midst, who is after the miracle drug.
That means protecting the brilliant scientist Lark Madrassa. Their attraction and compatibility are undeniable, but Jason tries to deny his growing feelings for her, thinking he is too damaged. When Lark's father is kidnapped they have to rely on each other in a dangerous plot to uncover the double agent. Before, Jason always accepted the risks--but what about when the life of the woman he loves is on the line?
Barnes & Noble Link (Preorder available now, release date April 16)
Oooh - very cool! I definitely want to read it!
I'm sorry I didn't come by yesterday! My eyes were bothering me a lot, so I stayed off the computer in the afternoon. I'm not sure it helped...
becke_davis wrote:
Natalie - You seem to be very productive. How long does it take you to complete a book? What is your writing process - are you a plotter or a pantser?
Becke, I don't even know anymore how long it takes me. LOL I can't finish a book all in one go, because (luckily!) I always have something in production with a publisher. That means whatever new book I'm writing gets interrupted for revisions of the last one, then line edits, then copy edits. I *have* finished a book in a month, during NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for those who don't know, aka November. ) Under the Moon was the first. But I'm going to say the average is four months for the initial draft, plus two for revision. I'm going to be pushing that for Sunroper, the third book in the Goddesses Rising trilogy.
I prefer the word "flyer" to "pantser," because I fly by the seat of my pants, I don't pull people's pants down. LOL But no matter how hard I try, I can't get it to catch on. But yeah, my brain doesn't work so well with the plotting out of the story. I plan in spurts as I write. Whenever I try to do even just a synopsis in advance, it turns into a rambling mess.
NJDamschroder wrote:
I'm sorry I didn't come by yesterday! My eyes were bothering me a lot, so I stayed off the computer in the afternoon. I'm not sure it helped...
becke_davis wrote:
Natalie - You seem to be very productive. How long does it take you to complete a book? What is your writing process - are you a plotter or a pantser?
Becke, I don't even know anymore how long it takes me. LOL I can't finish a book all in one go, because (luckily!) I always have something in production with a publisher. That means whatever new book I'm writing gets interrupted for revisions of the last one, then line edits, then copy edits.
I prefer the word "flyer" to "pantser," because I fly by the seat of my pants, I don't pull people's pants down. LOL But no matter how hard I try, I can't get it to catch on.
Ooh, I'm worried about your eyes now! If they're bothering you PLEASE don't worry about us! You can come back and chat when your eyes aren't bothering you if that helps.
I do like your term "flyer" as opposed to "pantser." I've also heard it called "writing organically" - I like that, too.
