Catherine Garbera: Tips and tricks for acing your editor/agent appointment.

Do you have an appointment to speak with an Industry Professionals at the RNA conference? Perhaps you are attending a writing festival and may just bump into an agent or publisher? We welcome Katherine  Garbera to the blog today to show us how to perfect our pitch.

If you don’t have a scheduled pitch appointment learning to speak concisely about your book is still

useful when anyone asks you what you are working on.

Since you only have a limited amount of time think of your story in terms of the high concept and boil it down to one sentence that gives the flavor of what you are writing.

Here are my tips:

1.     Give us a high concept, one sentence blurb about your story.  Leave out the character names unless they are important most of the time editors don’t remember the name.

2.     Tell us who your characters using a few words and tags that create an image.

3.     The story elements, start with the beginning.  Where does your story start?

4.     Then break down the conflict and your plot using goal, motivation and conflict.

5.     Tell us how the plot moves forward in a sentence or two.

6.     Then describe the black moment—again using only a sentence or two.

7.     Finally tell us how the black moment is resolved.

Example from my upcoming Mills & Boon release The Tycoon’s Fiancée Deal:

High Concept, Blurb

A modern retelling of a friends-to-lovers story where the hero has to marry to keep his lecherous boss at bay.

Who is the story about?

Remember not their names because unless your hero is Mr. Darcy, the name is probably not relevant to the editor/agent you are pitching too.

Hero: Bachelor heart surgeon who is good at fixing hearts but not so good at love.

Heroine: Single mom who had the fairytale and isn’t interested in romance.

Where does the story begin?

And it’s okay to say the story opens with or they meet when.

They meet when she is dumping her blind date and he realizes he needs to find a way to convince the hospital board that he’s settled and ready to be chief of surgery.

He needs a fiancée to convince everyone he’s not the arrogant playboy many assume him to be and she wants to stop going on blind-dates but can’t say no to her meddling mother.  He makes her an offer that she should refuse, be his fake fiancée for three months until he gets his promotion.

Goal, Motivation, Conflict

Next talk about the conflict (in genre fiction conflict is the engine that drives your story). You need to do this twice, once for the internal plot and once for the external. 

Goal: What does the character want?

Motivation: Why does the character want it?

Conflict? Why can’t they have it?

External conflict

Hero:

He wants to be chief of surgery at the hospital.

His life is medicine and he knows he can do a great job as chief if he’s just given the chance.

He can’t have it because the head of the selection committee is one of his ex-girlfriends who doesn’t want to admit things are over between them. 

Heroine:

She wants to raise her son and move on from the fall out of her “fairytale” marriage.

She lost pieces of herself when her deceased husband cheated on her and convinced her it was because of who she had become.

She can’t move on because her family are determined she needs a husband to help raise her son.

Both of these characters see their arrangement as a way of getting what they want.  So on the surface the solution of a fake engagement is perfect. But the internal conflict is what is feeding the fire of the story.

Internal conflict:

Hero:

He has always had a crush on her from the time they were teenagers, but she friend zoned him and he let her because he was determined to be the best surgeon he could be.

He has convinced himself that friends are all they will ever be and that by asking her to be his fake fiancée they will continue their friendship.

He learns he’s completely wrong when they share a kiss to seal the deal and sparks of attraction fly between them.

Heroine:

She’s tired of men promising her the moon and delivering nothing.  She likes him because he’s honest about what he wants from her and she tells herself she expects nothing from him.  But he shows her in little ways that who she is matters and the passion between them drives her into his arms but it’s the affection that she sees him showing her and her son that make her start to fall for him.

How does the plot move forward?

They commit to be honest with each other since they are lying to the world and once they become lovers both of them come to realize that they might want this to last.

Black Moment and Resolution

But having been hurt once before by her lover, she is reluctant to trust her heart.  He convinces her that he is trustworthy and is in love with her.

Putting it all together.

The Tycoon’s Fiancée Deal is a fresh take on the friends-to-lovers trope where a playboy, heart surgeon who is good at fixing hearts but not so good at love falls for a single mom who had the fairytale and isn’t interested in romance.

They meet when she is dumping her blind date. He needs a fiancée to convince everyone he’s not the arrogant playboy many assume him to be and she wants to stop going on blind-dates but can’t say no to her meddling mother.  He makes her an offer that she should refuse, be his fake fiancée for three months until he gets his promotion.

He has always had a crush on her from the time they were teenagers, but she friend zoned him and he let her because he was determined to be the best surgeon he could be. He convinced himself that friends are all they will ever be, but learns he’s completely wrong when they share a kiss to seal the deal and sparks of attraction fly between them.

She’s tired of men promising her the moon and not delivering.  He’s honest about what he wants from her and she tells herself she expects nothing from him.  But he shows her in little ways that who she is matters and the passion between them drives her into his arms but it’s the affection that she sees him showing her and her son that make her start to fall for him.

They commit to be honest with each other since they are lying to the world and once they become lovers both of them come to realize that they might want this to last.  But having been hurt once before by her lover, she is reluctant to trust her heart.  He convinces her that he is trustworthy and is in love with her.

About Katherine:

Katherine Garbera is the USA Today bestselling author of more than 90 novels. She has learned to stop saying this sounds crazy but trust me on the page it makes sense when pitching her ideas to editors.  J Her current release is SUMMER IN MANHATTAN from HarperImpluse. 

Links:

Amazon UK

 Facebook

 Twitter

 Blog

Thank you, Katherine. We should all now be prepared for the moment we meet an Industry Professional!

If you would like to write for the RNA blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Sue Fortin: Behind 'The Girl...'

Today, we speak to author, Sue Fortin, who writes romance, mystery and suspense for Harper Collins' imprint, Harper Impulse.

2015 saw a real spike in the word ‘Girl’ being used and, for me, I always think of Stig Larsen books as the forerunner for the trend, with Gillian Flynn following up closely behind. So,

when my publishers said they wanted to call my new novel The Girl Who Lied, my knee-jerk reaction was Really? Hasn’t it been overdone? There are so many ‘Girl’ books out there, did the publishing world really need another one?

My initial reaction was fueled by a debate I had followed on social media where some people positively hated the word ‘girl’ used when clearly the book was about a woman. For some, girl could only refer to a child or, at a push, young adult.

After the email suggesting The Girl Who Lied, I spent the next seven days bombarding my editor with every alternative I could think of. I was like some mad woman possessed, hounding my friends and family for different suggestions. My agent wasn’t spared either and it was, in fact, her reassurance that began to sway me. Indeed, there had even been a recent article about ‘The Girl’ titles, see HERE.

Broadly speaking, when readers see ‘The Girl …’ in the title, it is a clear indication of what to expect. (i) A strong female character (ii) an ordinary woman in an extraordinary situation (iii) a darker read (iii) mystery and suspense.

Slowly, I began to have a change of heart as my book ticked all of the above. It is full of lies, the characters all tell lies, even though they believe it’s for the right reasons. My main character, Erin, was a teenager when she first lied, so perhaps the title was even more suitable than I first thought.

I was finally convinced when I spoke to several other authors, who, without exception, said to run with it and trust the marketing team’s experience. So, that’s exactly what I’ve done and am now totally on-board with the title. Just as an aside, I’ve seen ‘The Woman …’ being used a lot, so perhaps that’s the next trend on the horizon.

About Sue:

Sue Fortin's originally published debut novel was awarded the INDIE Brag medallion and later when published by HarperImpulse was short-listed for the Joan Hessayon Award (2014). Sue was also short-listed for the Festival of Romance, New Talent Award (2013). Her second novel, Closing In, reached number one in the Romantic Suspense Kobo chart at the end of 2014. Sue blogs regularly with the online writing group, The Romaniacs

Lover of cake, dragonflies and France, hater of calories, maths and snakes, Sue was born in Hertfordshire, but had a nomadic childhood, moving often with her family, before eventually settling in West Sussex.

Sue is married with four children, all of whom patiently give her time to write, but, when not behind the keyboard, she likes to spend her time with them, enjoying both the coast and the South Downs, between which they are nestled.

Links:

Facebook Sue Fortin Author

Twitter @suefortin1

Website & Blog www.suefortin.com

Amazon Author Page

Thanks you, Sue, and good luck with your book. 

This blog piece is brought to you by Louisa Heaton on behalf of 'The RNA Blogging Team' 
If you would like to be interviewed for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com

Nikki Moore: I wish I had time to write a book...!

 Welcome to Nikki who has found time in her very busy schedule to write for us. Whatever you do don’t tell her you have no time to write…

Over the years I’ve heard that many times. Should I admit that it both sets my teeth on edge and fills me with amusement? Probably not! But here’s the thing – writers have the same twenty-four hours in a day as everyone else. We don’t have a magic wand that makes time stand still at midnight (oh, how I wish I did). Many writers have day jobs, bills to pay, friends to see, children to raise, family to care for, housework to do, gardens to tend and everyday stresses to deal with.

The demands of being a published author are numerous. It’s not just the bum on seat, fingers on keyboard time hammering out a first draft. There is also research and (sometimes substantial) rewrites before the manuscript gets anywhere near your agent/editor/beta reader. Then there are the edits and the promotion that’s required of an author nowadays. You can spend hours on the radio, TV or social media trying to drive sales and get your name, brand and title of your newest release in front of readers, bloggers and reviewers. There might also be social events to attend for networking purposes, sometimes at your publisher’s request, and their needs have to be taken into account so that you meet their deadlines to hit the right market at the right time. There is all this and more, so when people say to me, ‘I wish I had time to write a book,’ what I tell them is this I can’t imagine not writing, it’s something I have to do. I’m lucky to be an author and I love it. I’m grateful for every review and all the support I’ve had in my writing career so far. But I don’t have time to write books. I make time. I make writing a priority, sometimes lower down the list than I’d like, but a priority nonetheless. Time that I could otherwise spend watching TV, reading, scrubbing behind the toilet or ironing (I buy crease-free clothes and let them hang!) is spent on writing instead.

I work full days in Human Resources over a nine day fortnight, meaning I get two Fridays off a month as dedicated writing time. I’m a single mum with two kids, one of them a teenager. They see their dad regularly but are with me day to day. Sometimes I write between 6.00 – 7.00 a.m. before the school run, but usually it’s after my youngest has gone to bed from 9.00 p.m. until I fall asleep over the laptop. I do this at least three times a week but it can be closer to five or six evenings and weekends too if I’m up against a deadline. Sometimes I fling food at the kids and tell them I’m neglecting them for a few hours, before closeting myself away. Mostly they accept this with good grace, as does my lovely boyfriend, who is more patient than I deserve. My friends and family also accept falling by the wayside if I have a deadline. Equally, housework drops from my usual gold standard to bronze level. It’s a delicate act to keep all the plates spinning but if I keep moving, I’m usually okay!

I asked other RNA members how they find time to write and to share tips.

Jules Wake, whose last release is From Italy with Love (HarperImpulse) works four days a week, volunteers at a local theatre, has an active social life and two teenagers. She suggests setting realistic goals and sticking to them. ‘Usually when writing a first draft, I aim to write 1,000 a day for five days out of seven. That's realistic because it gives me two days not to get any writing done.’ She’s written a book a year for the last five years and wrote an 87,000 word novel in seven weeks this year!

Bestselling author Katherine Garbera’s latest release is Carrying A King’s Child (Harlequin Desire/Mills&Boon Desire). She usually writes Monday through Friday from 9.00 a.m. – 3.00 p.m. around the school run, managing a chapter of around 3000 words every day by being disciplined about her writing time and not spending too long on social media. ‘I also use the timer to jumpstart my writing on the days when it feels more like a job than fun. I set it for ten minutes and tell myself I have to write for those ten minutes.’ With this routine she writes an amazing 4-6 books a year.

Jenni Keer, who attends the Chelmsford RNA Chapter and was shortlisted for the Choc Lit 'Search for a Star' competition, has four sons and cares for her elderly mother. Her husband works irregular shifts and she writes around the school day. ‘For me, family will always come first, but writing is now a definite second. Housework, socialising, helping out at the school and even my lovely garden are all things that have dropped down the list. I don't need to live in an immaculate house but I do need to get this current novel finished!’

Elaine Roberts has had over a dozen short stories published since joining the RNA New Writer’s Scheme and Elaine Everest’s writing classes. She is currently working on her novel The Legacy. She works 35 hours per week for a Local Authority and is an active grandparent. ‘My time is very precious. Every second counts. I am thankful for having an understanding and supportive husband who has basically taken over the household chores, freeing up my evenings and weekends to spend on writing.’

Elaine Moxon’s (writing as E S Moxon) debut novel WULFSUNA is out now with SilverWood Books. She is a mum, writer and community volunteer and doesn’t set weekly word count goals or set specific writing times. ‘I simply have a personal agreement to each week set aside some time for writing. I limit events to no more than once a month and use evenings and weekends for promotion at key times.’

Susie Medwell’s latest release writing as Zara Stoneley is Country Affairs (HarperImpulse). With wedding plans, supporting her son through A' levels, flying out to see her fiancé in Barcelona and working two days a week, her writing schedule has been disrupted recently but she always aim for an impressive 10-12k words a week. She knows how to make the best use of her time. ‘My ‘planning brain’ works best in the mornings so I try to schedule things so that I do this on my non-office days. When I’m writing the words tend to flow faster in the evening so I often work until quite late, I also find it easy to write at the airport/on the plane.’

So what are you waiting for? You can write a book too if you want to badly enough… Good luck!

About Nikki:

 A Dorset girl and RNA member, Nikki Moore has a HR day job, two kids and a lovely boyfriend to keep her busy alongside the writing. Published mainly by HarperImpulse, she’s the author of the #LoveLondon series and has a story in the bestselling RNA/Mills & Boon anthology Truly, Madly, Deeply. Nikki’s debut novel Crazy, Undercover, Love was shortlisted for the RNA Joan Hessayon Award 2015 and she is a strong supporter of aspiring authors. The last in the #LoveLondon series Picnics in Hyde Park is due out later this summer.

Please pop over and make contact via Twitter @NikkiMoore_Auth or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NikkiMooreWrites

Thank you, Nikki. This shows the dedication to writing from our members.

The RNA Blog is brought to you by:

Elaine Everest & Natalie Kleinman  (who are also busy writing!)

If you would like to write for the blog please contact us on elaineeverest@aol.com