Blog – NINC https://ninc.com Sat, 25 Mar 2017 15:59:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.3 Subscribe with My Yahoo!Subscribe with NewsGatorSubscribe with My AOLSubscribe with BloglinesSubscribe with NetvibesSubscribe with GoogleSubscribe with PageflakesSubscribe with PlusmoSubscribe with The Free DictionarySubscribe with Bitty BrowserSubscribe with Live.comSubscribe with Excite MIXSubscribe with WebwagSubscribe with Podcast ReadySubscribe with WikioSubscribe with Daily Rotation Joint Statement on NYT List Changes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/I0F6CGAohG0/ Sat, 04 Feb 2017 13:39:03 +0000 https://ninc.com/?p=2031 As organizations representing adult fiction authors, the undersigned believe the New York Times is making a tremendous mistake by abandoning its mass-market paperback and e-book bestseller lists. With this change, the Times is choosing to ignore a significant percentage of US book sales. Further, mass-market paperback and e-book formats provide an entry point into publishing for new voices of every kind: women writers, writers of color and ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender writers, young writers, and writers who are creating new genres. This decision serves no purpose in fostering a thriving, inclusive fiction market or strengthening the state of publishing. Additionally, the change will make the lists less relevant to authors and readers, as well as the entire publishing and library community.

On behalf of more than 20,000 members and their millions of readers, we strongly urge the Times to rethink its extremely limited definition of what constitutes a bestselling novel.

Total members
Horror Writers of America 1,500
Mystery Writers of America 3,000
Novelists Inc. 900
Romance Writers of America 10,000
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America 1,900
Sisters in Crime 3,800
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NINC 2017 Conference: Discovery! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/HqiNmHXadkE/ Thu, 05 Jan 2017 20:08:40 +0000 https://ninc.com/?p=1513

In 2017, NINC is all about discoverability!

Join us at the Tradewinds resort in St. Petersburg, Florida from Oct 4 - Oct 8, 2017!

REGISTER HERE:

And don't miss:

Plus:

Got questions? Let us know!

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NINC 2016 Conference: Master Class http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/Iu8nDZiQ4xY/ Mon, 08 Aug 2016 19:41:16 +0000 http://ninc.com/?p=176 NINC 2016: Master Class. From business to craft to creativity to marketing and sales, we will present speakers to guide us to a higher level of knowledge and achievement.

NINC Conference 2016

NINC CONFERENCE: MASTER CLASS
Tradewinds Resort, St. Petersburg Beach, Florida
September 21-25, 2016

NINC is a unique organization of multi-published authors in all genres of popular fiction.  Our experience levels range from two books per author to hundreds.  Varied and diverse, NINC members have one thing in common--we all want to kick things up to the next level.

That will be the focus of NINC 2016: Master Class.  From business to craft to creativity to marketing and sales, we will present speakers to guide us to a higher level of knowledge and achievement.

Our "First Word" day long event on Thursday is open to public registration. The cost is $65.

Our complete five-day conference is open to NINC members as well as industry guests and sponsors.

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NINC Master Class Speakers Announced http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/Aqvp7efOnDI/ Sat, 02 Apr 2016 12:17:44 +0000
The 2016 Master Class conference committee and programming team is thrilled to share our preliminary lineup of speakers.

As is traditional with the NINC conference, we’ll be adding to this list in the weeks and months to come, but this will give you an idea of the direction we’re going with this year’s event.

Fauzia Burke

Fauzia Burke is founder and president of FSB Associates, a digital marketing firm that specializes in books, both fiction and non-fiction. They have long been known as innovators in the field of digital book marketing, responsible for the very first web-based book publicity campaigns, from Sue Grafton’s first author website to the online marketing for The South Beach Diet.

She comes to us with high recommendations from our media partner, Porter Anderson, and our own Lou Aronica. Her website alone is chock-full of information regarding every aspect of presenting your work to the public with maximum impact. A great way to get to know her is through her blog, http://www.fsbassociates.com/blog/.

One of her articles about online marketing mistakes that authors make will appear in the May edition of Nink.

Mark Dawson

Independent thriller author Mark Dawson has become an expert in using Facebook ads and mailing lists to boost his sales onto the bestseller lists.

He teaches super-popular and effective classes on the topic and has become a much sought-after speaker. He has concrete strategies for boosting an author’s visibility and we are lucky to get him all the way from the UK.

Read a great interview with him through Reedsy, one of last year’s corporate sponsors.

Jennifer Barnes

Author and professor Jennifer Barnes has a Ph.D. in psychology and currently works at the University of Oklahoma, where she is one of the world’s foremost experts on the cognitive science of fiction and the psychology of book fandom.

She has published over a dozen young adult novels, and her first book came out while Barnes was still an undergrad at Yale. In February, Nink ran her article on “The Science of Fiction,” exploring how intense moments in the plot of a story affect reader satisfaction.

You can get to know her better through her Tedx Talk.

Richard Marek

Richard Marek is an institution in the traditional publishing world, responsible for editing household names including Robert Ludlum, Thomas Harris, and more.

He has now successfully transitioned to independent editing and ghostwriting for bestsellers such as James Patterson. His history with taking books to the next level spans nearly fifty years.

To get to know Marek, check out this interview with him at writerscast.com.

F. Robert Stein

F. Robert Stein of the law firm Pryor Cashman is a friend to NINC who has been at our conference before and we are thrilled to have him again.

His bio on the firm’s website says it best: “On behalf of authors, literary agents, and book publishers, Bob resolves disputes, negotiates settlements, drafts contracts, and prepares collaboration and publication agreements. He has represented authors Johanna Lindsey and David Baldacci in copyright infringement cases. Bob also reviews book manuscripts prior to publication for libel, copyright, and other potential issues.”

He has insight into not only the book world, but into Hollywood as he has been legal counsel for a host of documentary films, including several Oscar nominees.

David Vandgriff

Best known for his popular publishing blog, The Passive Voice, Vandgriff is a contracts attorney who has specialized in intellectual property litigation.

He has a wide range of knowledge concerning legal matters related to the publishing and technology industries, as well as the latest scoop on legal issues and current events in the publishing world. If you aren’t already a frequent visitor to his blog, you should check it out.

Ed Masessa

Ed Masessa is senior manager of product development at Scholastic Book Fairs. His specific responsibilities include the selection of books in the fantasy, adventure, sports, and graphic novel categories, chosen from more than 100 publishers.

Masessa is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and attends several reading, library, and graphic novel conventions every year.

Because of the nature of his job, he has direct exposure to the reading habits of children at the grassroots level. He is also the author of several books including The Wandmaker’s Guidebook, a New York Times #1 Bestseller, and The Time Traveler’s Journal.

Bios, photos, and further information will be posted on the website and new speaker announcements will first be posted to NINClink.

The conference committee has heard a few rumors that people are concerned we will not be as focused on business this year. This is not true: as you can see, we already have top talent coming to speak on business, marketing, and legal issues.

Your conference committee understands NINC’s business focus, but we are also responding to members who have, for some time, asked for us to bring back discussions on craft, albeit at a higher level than you’ll get anywhere else.

That’s what NINC does best. We are working hard to present a balanced and comprehensive conference that will appeal to as many of our members as possible.

People have also asked about special programming for author assistants. We are in the very beginning stages of planning and we have an assistant-led programming committee organizing now.

The programming will consist of at least six workshops or panels (two each day) and at least two Night Owls for assistants only. Notice that I said at least. We are trying to strike a balance between offering programming specifically for assistants and giving assistants the option of attending main conference workshops that might apply to their jobs.

Assistant registration will be capped at 50 because of space limitations. So if you are thinking of registering your assistant, now is the time. 
________________________

Julie Leto is the immediate past president of NINC, current Conference Chair, and a Florida native. She graduated with degrees in speech communication and English (creative writing) from the University of South Florida and has published nearly fifty novels.

Posted by Heidi Tretheway

Filed as: Conferences, Industry Guests, NINC News

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Interview with Kasey Michaels http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/fjWYoOlyJuc/ Wed, 16 Sep 2015 07:20:01 +0000
Our friends at Vearsa conducted the following interview with our own Kasey Michaels, NINC 2015 Conference Chair. Thank you, Vearsa, and see you all soon at the conference!
Kasey MichaelsQ&A with Kasey Michaels, NINC 2015 Conference Chair

This week we're pleased to chat with Kasey Michaels, chair of the 2015 Novelists, Inc. Conference, about the hot topics at this year's conference, new challenges and opportunities for both publishers and authors, and more.

Kasey is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than 110 books (she doesn't count them). She is a recipient of the RITA, a Waldenbooks and Bookrak Bestseller award, and many awards from Romantic Times magazine, including a Career Achievement award for her Regency era historical romances. She is an Honor Roll author in Romance Writers of America, Inc. (RWA), and is a past president of Novelists, Inc. (NINC).

Please tell us a bit about Novelists, Inc. What is the mission of the organization? What are the goals of the conference?

Let’s begin with this year’s conference dates: Wednesday, September 30 – Sunday, October 4, 2015. Registration cutoff is August 28th , so there’s still time to arrange to network with us – and with Vearsa -- in Florida!

Novelists, Inc (NINC), is an international organization of close to 900 multi-published career authors representing all genres of popular fiction. There are no unpublished in the organization, no tiers of membership, no fans, no contests, no awards. This structure, in addition to our emphasis on “the business of the business,” makes NINC unique in the world of writers organizations. Our membership requirements are listed here .

Dr. D.P. Lyle, Author and 2011 Speaker, sums up our membership and conference nicely:   “For me the best thing about attending or speaking at the NINC conference is that the audience consists of professional writers. They hear it, they get it, they use it. It’s just that simple. It’s useful and fun from either side of the podium.”

That’s why, as Chair, I tell speakers that, when considering their workshop content for NINC, they should probably begin where they left off when speaking to other groups.

It wasn’t always this way. A quarter-century ago, career writers were the last to know, the last to be informed, the very last to be asked for their opinions and ideas. Isolated. NINC set out to change that, beginning with its Statement of Principle:

Novelists, Inc., in acknowledgment of the crucial creative contributions novelists make to society, asserts the right of novelists to be treated with dignity and in good faith; to be recognized as the sole owners of their literary creations; to be fairly compensated for their creations when other entities are profiting from those creations; and to be accorded the respect and support of the society they serve.

NINC members range from those in the business for three or more decades, many with fifty or more published novels in their resumes, to newer writers just starting out. In NINC, they are peers, equals, and that’s part of the beauty of the organization. If you qualify for NINC, you know how to write — now let’s learn the business of writing, staying in the game even as the goalposts keep moving.

Fully believing that allied industry professionals and their (gasp!) content providers need a two-way street of communication, NINC set out to engage with the allied publishing industry, bring them together with our members for open, frank conversation between professionals, to share knowledge and build more productive associations.

Happily, that works. It certainly doesn’t hurt that we decided to set our yearly conference in beautiful St. Pete Beach in Florida, at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort directly on the Gulf, We work hard during our workshops, both members and industry, but we leave time for relaxation, mingling, networking. In fact, we call our conference “a deductible vacation wrapped around the most productive conference your career has ever had.”

While First Word is open to all writers and related industry, only NINC members and related industry may attend the main conference. Qualified applicants may attend the conference while still going through the application process.

What are some of the hot topics at this year's conference?

Our conference this year is titled NINC World – NINC Goes Global.  Thanks to our Media Consultant, Porter Anderson, this year’s First Word day sessions will look at aspects of the global market from all angles – the good, the bad, and the what comes next.

The remainder of the conference, with two days of up to three workshops running per hour, will bring us news on innovations in the library market, getting our books ready for publication in e-markets, working with author assistants, international networking, metadata, promotion, freelance editing, social media, translations, co-authoring, discoverability, specialized workshops on research, contract language, how authors are paid (always a hot topic!), and much more.

Our First Word and Main conference schedules will be at here  soon, but in the meantime, here’s a fairly complete listing of our diverse and truly marvelous speakers:

Porter Anderson, NINC’s Media Partner

Kris Austin CEO and co-founder, Draft2Digital

Scott Beatty, Co-founder and CCO, Trajectory

Lori Bennett, Nelson Literary Agency (metadata)

Karen Block, freelance editor

James Bryant, Founder and CEO, Trajectory

Catherine CoulterNew York Times-bestselling author (NINC member)

Gareth Cuddy, founder and CEO, Vearsa

Ali Cunliffe, freelance editor

Katie Donelan, BookBub

J.T. EllisonNew York Times-bestselling author (NINC member)

Elizabeth Spann Craig, bestselling author; website named in 101 best sites for writers

Robin Cutler, Manager, Content Acquisition, Ingram Spark

Judith Curr, President and Publisher of Atria Publishing

Richard Fayet, Co-founder, Reedsy

Jane Friedman, digital media strategist

Chuck Kronbach, Director, Indie Publishing Worldwide, Amazon

Matthias Matting, SelfPublisherBibel.de

Thad McIlroy, publishing consultant

Courtney MilanNew York Times-bestselling Author (NINC member)

Alene Moroni, King County Library System

Christine Munroe. U.S. Manager for KOBO Writing Life

Richard Nash, publishing entrepreneur

Nicole Op Den Bosch, Sr. Assoc., Content, ACX

Orna Ross, Founder/Director, ALLi (Association of Independent Authors)

Brenda Shanks, King County Library System

Daniel Slater, Author and Vendor Relations, Amazon Indie Publishing

David Symonds, General Manager, CreateSpace

Neal Thompson, Manager of Author and Publishing Relations, Amazon.com

Joshua Unruh, Marketing Director, Draft2Digital

Dan Wood, Director, Author Relations, Draft2Digital

Marsha Zinberg, The Write Touch (editing)

… and more.

How has the landscape of multi-published authors changed in the past few years? 

Speaking from the author viewpoint, this particular author having been in the business now for thirty-five years, and remembering that not so long ago every writer was a print writer:

There are authors very happy with their print houses, publishing regularly, and no problems.

There are authors publishing with print houses while also publishing their backlist and even writing new material strictly for self-publishing (currently called hybrid authors).

There are formerly print authors who have made a conscious decision to self-pub only, or have watched their house and or line either shrink or disappear, who are now publishing any backlist they have and new material (many seeing an increase in sales, which is always nice when it happens). They are now one-person publishers.

And then there’s the increasing number of indie-first-and-only writers, also one-person industries, who have never worked with a print house.

Almost every author who self-publishes (backlist, front list), manages that work soup to nuts, conception to publication and promotion. They offer whole new opportunities for freelance editors, cover artists, technical and publishing support companies (converting files, uploading them, etc), metadata experts, sales trackers, etc. Targeting publishers, these days, print or digital, doesn’t mean just catering to the needs of big and small houses, tailoring plans for them. Now there exists an army of one-man publishing houses who are checking out the markets for their best deals as well – and, of course, sharing the merits or problems they encounter with their fellow NINC members. It’s that old saw: if you like something, you tell ten people; if you don’t like something, you tell everyone. Either way, NINC hears it all!

As one of the old war horses who has been around since manual typewriters and carbon paper, I am amazed by the new breed of writers and how evolved those who have been publishing for years have become, how quickly they’ve adapted to change. It’s no longer “Here’s my first-born, publish my book, please!” Today’s career writer is asking, “What can you do for me that I can’t do for myself? What do you do better (cheaper, faster, smarter) than anyone else, why should I sign with (hire, subscribe to, etc) you?”

Writers are not reacting anymore, they are becoming increasingly pro-active, increasingly knowledgeable, are in this for the long haul, and are in large part shaping much of the future of publishing.

NINC believes and is proving that the only way forward is for all of us to be paddling in the same direction, no matter the genre, no matter the delivery system. And, yes, that’s one of the reasons we meet in Florida. NINC is where print-only, hybrid and self-published share their knowledge. As one of our members, Jennifer Stevenson, said about the conference: “We talk about publishing very frankly and openly, about the way publishing is, not the way we wish it was. And…we work together. I feel that I have been present annually at the birth and rebirth of the publishing revolution. Literally, industry-changing things happen at the conference every year.”

As for what industry gets from our conferences? Joshua Unruh, Director of Marketing, Draft2Digital says: “[NINC] was one of our best experiences last year and we expect it to be again this year. It’s a real pleasure to have an audience of authors who are seasoned professionals and serious about the work of writing and publishing. Not that we don’t get that elsewhere to some extent, but that’s the whole point of NINC, and it shows.”

What new challenges and opportunities have arisen for authors?

See the above! Add in subscription services, royalty rates and e-tailer programs that sometimes change with the phases of the moon, piracy, plagiarism, on and on. Old problems, new twists on old problems, lots of new problems. Then again, also lots of new opportunities for growth and diversity. As always, knowledge is king, and so I’ll beat on the drum one more time: all genres, all delivery systems, are equal in NINC, all career authors of popular fiction are welcome in NINC, and together we have power.

What do you think is the most important thing for authors to focus on in the next 12 months?

Writing — that never changes. Networking with other writers of all genres. Delegating and farming out to allied industry if possible when it comes to the jobs they don’t like and that take too much time away from their writing. Good editing. Watching contract clauses like hawks and refusing to sign unfair contracts, be they with publishing houses, cover designers, e-tailers, and so on. Working with their publishers to revamp/reinvent/update publisher-held and currently unexploited backlist for the benefit of both parties, including cross-promoting (NINC members, with an average of twenty-five plus titles per member, have an intense interest in exploiting backlist). Paying attention to the expanding global market, audiobooks, emerging opportunities in POD. Learning how to watch sales and, hopefully, increase sales. Discoverability. Exploring new ways of promoting their work. Good old-fashioned networking.

And, of course, they don’t want to wait another twelve months to join NINC!

Kasey Michaels

NINC 2015 Conference Chair

www.ninc.com

www.kaseymichaels.com

Posted by Sandra McDonald

Filed as: Conferences, NINC News

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Getting Down and Dirty http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/K-8mEpNnHnQ/ Sat, 05 Sep 2015 07:20:01 +0000 SKINThinking there was safety in numbers, I made sure I didn’t go alone on my trip to a gentleman’s club as research for SKIN. In addition to my husband, I recruited a couple of other writers and another’s husband.

    We had no idea what to expect.  Dark and seedy, perhaps? Poles on every table for table dances? Old strip club atmosphere?
    To our surprise, the place looked like the night clubs I’d been to eons before. It was beautifully decorated, and the bouncers wore tuxes, the hostess and waitresses evening gowns. Along the walls were semi-private areas with luxurious booths for groups. But apparently those had been reserved ahead of time. We got to sit in the middle of the main floor at a long table with strangers. A little odd, but okay.
    Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, a group of us went to a couple of Rush Street strip clubs to see what they were like. Women weren’t allowed to be naked then. The wildest thing they did was twirl tassels that covered their nipples. But like everything else in the world, that certainly changed. In Chicago, “exotic dancers” have to wear g-strings if the club serves drinks – otherwise they can dance nude. This club served drinks, so they did have to wear g-strings, but that didn’t seem to matter to the sheer sexuality of the acts. Even more intense were the personal lap dances – and here I’d been sort of relieved there hadn’t been any poles on the tables.
    It was really eye opening to see the intensity of the men who hired the woman for lap dances. And eye opening to see just how far those women would go for their tips. Men were not allowed to touch them, but I saw more than one woman whip both naked breasts into a man’s face while she was imitating the sex act straddling him.
    The night took an amusing turn, however. The woman in our group who was alone had already been hit on by the hostess, who’d asked her if she wanted “company.” Of course, not being into women, she’d said no. That didn’t stop two of the lap dancers from soliciting her for dances. We all had a laugh about that one. And then the next act on stage started.
    A more mature dancer, also a well-known “adult-movie” actress, did an old-fashioned strip routine, eliminating one piece of clothing at a time, including thigh high stockings that she rolled down her legs and then threw then out into the audience. Wouldn’t you know it – one of those stockings landed in my single friend’s diet coke. With a loud “eeeooowww” that got more laughs, she slapped it out of her drink. And then the guy next to me asked if he could have it. My friend said go ahead, and we all gaped as we watched him pick it up, smell it, then stuff it in an inner pocket of his suit jacked.
    Eeeeooowwwwwwwwww!
    An amusing end to the evening, one we all enjoyed. And one that provided me with a lot of ideas to realize the gentlemen’s club setting for SKIN.
    I’ve said it many times – there’s nothing like personal research to make your story come alive 🙂

SKIN, a romantic thriller by Patricia Rosemoor
AMAZON http://amzn.to/1JmWbrR
AMAZON UK http://amzn.to/1PEvtQO
BN http://bit.ly/1KaYVh4
iBOOKS http://apple.co/1JmWeE0
KOBO http://bit.ly/1E8Ovxw
SMASHWORDS http://bit.ly/1Lo6C24

                   

Posted by Patricia Rosemoor

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Quantum Physics for Writers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/GjES18k2y7o/ Mon, 10 Aug 2015 01:36:13 +0000 atomQuantum Physics is not your typical hobby. It's certainly not mine. But as a lifelong learner and writer, I jumped at a recent chance to attend three days of quantum wonderfulness at the Joint Quantum Institute, housed at the University of Maryland. Bosons, fermions, and anyons, oh my!
Our workshop, the Schrodinger Sessions, was organized by Chad Orzel, author of How to Teach Quantum Physics to Your Dog and holder of a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics. He and his colleagues, Emily Edwards and Steve Rolston, brought seventeen writers to campus on the last weekend in July and treated us to lectures, lab tours, and experiments. We slept in a dorm, ate in a food hall, and filled our brains with possibilities. Great conversations at night in the student lounge were also a boon, as was the hospitality of the university staff and the graduate students who answered our lab questions.
Let me admit I had some apprehension before going. Physics was never my strong point, and I worried I'd be lost. As it turns out, however, quantum physicists are very happy to admit they're sometimes lost, too. The behavior of tiny particles at unimaginably small scales is something that has flummoxed scientists for decades. "Shut up and calculate" is a great motto to get a scientist out of the weeds of why atoms do certain things to the more fruitful field of how to utilize such phenomena in science, medicine, cryptology, and fields yet to even be discovered.
The cost for such great learning was minimal. We had to pay our own travel costs and for a few stray meals. Housing was covered, as was our last night dinner. Chad worked hard to find funding and make the workshop economically feasible. Many thanks to him, Emily, Steve and all the folks at JQI, as well as the American Physical Society, for their kindness and generosity in sharing knowledge.  
Most writers love research and chances to gather details that make our work ring true. Opportunities like the Schrodinger Sessions exist and are publicized often on Facebook or Twitter. I hope that you, too, are able to seize chances to learn from experts in whatever genre you're writing in. Learning is a lifelong adventure, and whole new worlds of knowledge await us. 

Posted by Sandra McDonald

Filed as: Conferences, Science Fiction, Science, Physics, Fun

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Never Say Never Again http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/P9embb1X8Tg/ Mon, 03 Aug 2015 14:36:17 +0000 I never wanted to self-publish. Never... because I am a slow writer and thought I had my hands full just doing the writing, editing, revisions etc. etc.  And maybe because I was accustomed to saying I was published and having my ego flattered when someone asked, "Are you published?"

 But a while back I happened to run into a very persuasive writer pal, a Ninc member, who told me what she was making self-publishing her books and how much she was enjoying having control, and suddenly, thinking if she can do it, so can I, I decided to try indie-publishing.

  This is not the first time being persuaded by if she can do it, so can I thinking has gotten me into deep waters.

  So--for the past year I've acquired titles, written on a new series, revised, edited, polished, tweeted, run Facebook contests, lurked on E-loops, etc.etc... and still haven't put anything up. But soon, soon... There have been so many challenges, but the greatest is time management. I am either slow, or I can't prioritize because I never get nearly enough done.

  I just came home from RWA amazed by all the savvy writers juggling so many priorities who have their act together.

  Wow!

  And they can navigate in sexy high-heels too!

Posted by Ann Major

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Squirrels and the Romance Writer http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/z8jZULgp-x8/ Thu, 30 Jul 2015 15:38:57 +0000
Mating squirrels and the romance writer

Imagine my surprise when I awoke yesterday morning to scurrying overhead. Something was in the attic, something that sounded like squirrels dancing. (Little did I know…) My dog Hattie began to bark at about 8:00 a.m. and at 10 o’clock I finally called a pest control agency. They’d send out a wildlife expert, they said. A bit later, an extremely personable young man came to the door. “It’s probably squirrels. Let me take a look outside.” Sure enough, he walked around the house and when he returned said, “I saw several gray squirrels on the tree closest to your house jumping onto your roof, found two holes in the roof soffits and saw a couple go inside!  Geez, I thought, now what?

We checked the attic and when he stuck his head through the small square opening and shined in his flashlight, he quipped affectionately, “Well, hello little guy.”  A squirrel was staring him in the face.  “You have a REAL squirrel problem.”

Downstairs, while filling out the forms to pay him for trapping them (with a squirrel friendly device and he’d let them go in the wild) he added, “I’ve had forty calls this week. It’s mating season early because the weather is so warm.”

What did that mean? I shuttered to think.

He explained without prompting. “The female squirrels are probably getting inside first and then the guys are popping in and out to find them.”

Oh, hell, I thought. I could have lived forever without that image in my head.

“Did you hear cooing?”

“Um, yeah.”

“That’s the female squirrel who’s not ready to mate yet trying to get the male squirrel off her back. Literally.”

I knew I didn’t want to hear more.

“The male squirrel bites her on the neck to encourage her to cooperate. She coos. You know,” he said philosophically, “it’s like human beings. We fight. We make love. We fight. We make love.”

OMG, did this guy know I was a romance novel writer?

I started to laugh—really hard. I know he couldn’t imagine why. But I was thinking about how I write my books on my laptop sitting on my bed. Up above…the unthinkable was happening.  As I sketched out some steamy loves scenes, squirrels from my backyard were making some steam of their own right there in my attic!

Later that day, the traps were set outside with a female he’d picked up earlier in it to attract the others. (Jailbait, I called this). After the man left, I heard more scurrying, and some banging (pardon the pun). Oh, no, I thought, is that the equivalent of hearing the bed hit the wall in the hotel room next to you? Can I possibly work up here anymore?

As I began to write this blog, I glanced outside. A squirrel happily (well why not? he knew he could get lucky) bounced on the tree limb outside my window, hopped onto my roof and sure enough, I heard the scurrying right over my head. Hattie began to bark. And I thought, here we go again. No cooing yet, but who knows what the day will bring until the problem is solved (about a week, my squirrel romance expert said).

I knew I had to share this story with my readers. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways. Can’t say it’s giving me much new material for my books, though. I just keep thinking about that biting…

Posted by Kathryn Shay

Filed as: Miscellaneous

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Things I didn’t Know http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NovelistsIncBlog/~3/4AC_2ZIXbsY/ Tue, 28 Jul 2015 13:35:48 +0000
What’s your favorite romance trope?

This question was in an interview I did recently and my first reaction was, trope? What's a trope? I had never heard the word before. Nev-er! I consider myself to be someone with a fairly large vocabulary but this was a new one. So I did what my father trained me to do: I looked it up in the dictionary. The first explanation I found, "a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression," left me even more confused. The second was a little better: "a significant or recurrent theme; a motif." I know what a theme is, so I'm getting there.
Next I went and do what I always do when I come across a new word. I asked my widely-read-a-couple-credits-short-of-an-MBA husband if he knew what a trope was. He didn't. When he doesn't know either, I feel less dumb.
Next I consult Urban Dictionary, in the hope there will be a definition even I can understand. There is. "...TROPE on the interwebs really refers to an often overused plot device..."
Over used plot device? Finally, a term I'm familiar with.
Instead of an answering that interview question with, "I don't know what you mean" I could have said, "second-chance romance, step-brother romance or runaway bride romance." All would have been acceptable and my ignorance wouldn't have been so glaringly obvious.  Or I could have said Selkie romance in the hope that the interviewer wouldn't know what that meant and we'd be even.
But there's something else I didn't know until I befriended author Rosanna Leo who writes Selkie romances among other things.
Again from Urban Dictionary:  "A selkie is a seal in the water but a man on land. At the full of the moon the selkie rises from the water in foam and spray, takes off its seal skin, throws it aside on the rocks, and dances around mystic fires on the shore. Selkie woman are very beautiful and the men very handsome. That is why when humans in legends happen upon the shore at full moon and see the selkie-people, often they want the selkies to be their mate and steal the sealskins that are lying on the rocks. If their seal skin has been stolen a selkie can never return back to the ocean and becomes a prisoner."


Side note: My husband didn't know this one either.
Then there's Argosy. My exposure to this word was limited to my childhood experience of seeing my father's copies of the magazine by the same name which used to stack up in our bathroom. I never bothered to look it up until I recently passed a tower which read "Argosy University" in Tampa, Florida. (And no, my husband didn't know the meaning either until I looked it up and told him.)
Argosy is a large ship, especially a large merchant ship, or a fleet of ships. 
I am happy to learn something new every day, even if it's a word I think I should know already. My hat is off to my father for never answering my "What does that mean?" question with an easy explanation. Some of the best advice he ever gave me was, "Look it up in the dictionary."
Side note: I understand stepbrother romances are the hot trope right now, but it might not be so in six months...

Posted by Barbara Meyers

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