Do I read what I write? Umm… Huh? Do I have to answer that?

Today I have the lovely and energetic author, Jennifer M. Eaton, with me to promote CONNECT THE DOTS, her new short story released by Still Moments Publishing in their For the Love of Christmas anthology.

Jennifer is going to talk to us about reading what she writes. Are you guys ready? Take it away, Jennifer.

Well hi-dee-hoo neighbors! Good to see ya!

I’m here to selfishly promote my anthology “For the love of Christmas” offer some words of wisdom on a topic of Jenny Keller Ford’s choice. I do this hoping you will buy my book out of the kindness of your heart, because Jenny told me to is such a good friend.

So… What is the topic?

Reading books in the genre that you write.

Ummm… Really? Can’t I talk about something else? No? Ugh. Okay… so here’s the scoop.

I know that everyone out there who calls themselves an expert tells you to read inside your genre. Their reasons are totally sound:

Get a feel for the market
Make sure the story you want to write is not already written
Learn from the style of others writing in your genre.

There may be other reasons, but since I’m going to debunk anyway, let’s just hit these three.

Let’s chat about these:

If I read books out right now, they were contracted at least a year ago. So, let’s say vampires ar in… I write a vampire book. So do 100,000 other people. Publishers get tired of vampire books saturating the market and stop requesting them. Now I’m skunked, right? In my opinion, write what you want to write. Write what makes you happy. If it’s good, it will probably sell. You are going to spend six months or more with these characters… why stress out about writing characters you don’t like for a market that might not be there when you’re done?
Who the heck cares if the story is already written? How many different versions of Red Riding Hood are out there? Ideas are not copyrighted. You can have the same idea as someone else. The trick is to put your own slant on it… and if I didn’t read a book like it (in the genre) I’d have to put my own slant on it, right?
Now that’s just ridiculous. You can pick up on anything from any genre and apply it to what you write in. If you do it well, it will transcend genre.

Here’s the God’s honest truth:

Last Winter Red, in the Make Believe Anthology, is a Dystopian. I don’t think I’ve ever read a dystopian, although I’ve seen movies. In fact, I had no idea that is was Dystopian until someone told me. Did not reading Dystopian hurt my story telling abilities? Nope! Seemed to work out fine for me!
Connect the Dots, in the “For the Love of Christmas” anthology, and its follow-up “A Test of Faith” coming out in January… they are both Contemporary Romances with heavy Christian influence. Do I read Christian Romance. Absolutely not! (Although there is nothing wrong with them) Romance as a whole is not my cup of tea, unless you mix some explosions in there. I wanted to make my Romance “Connect the Dots” more interesting, so I decided to shove in a supernatural theme, and since it was Christmas, I went with God… Imagine me… putting God back in Christmas. I’m such a rebel! But that’s how this came about… I flexed a genre to make it interesting to me… and I didn’t have to read a bunch of stuff I didn’t like
Fire in the Woods is a contemporary YA Sci-Fi. Nope, I don’t read it. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve even seen anything like this anywhere. Hmmmm. That could be good, or bad.
Une Variente, which I am currently querying, is a Paranormal. Now, I will admit that I have read a few Paranormal novels. One of them was even a shape-shifter novel, like Une Variante. I guess the only influence was that I thought “I can think up a better story than that” … and so I did.

What do I like to read? Give me knights. Give me Dragons. Give me Elves. Castles? Oh Yeah! Love it!

Why don’t I write it? Well, I tried once, but since I read SO MUCH OF IT I could not come up with anything that I thought was original. The novel lays at the bottom of my closet, half-written.

See my dilemma?

No. I will not start feverously reading inside the genres that I write. The next book I pick up will be because it interests me… not because I need to do research.

And as for castles and dragons…. I’ll leave writing those to the people who do them best.

Do you read inside your genre?

Thanks, Jennifer, and to answer your question, yes, I read inside the genre I write. I also read outside the genre I write. In fact, I read more in genre I don’t write than write in the genres I read. Did that make sense?

Jennifer Eaton lives on the East Coast USA with her husband, three boys, and a pepped up poodle. She hosts an interactive website www.jennifermeaton.com aimed at making all writers the best they can be.

Her Dystopian novelette “Last Winter Red” is available as part of the “Make Believe” Anthology from J.Taylor Publishing. Her Christmas Romance “Connect the Dots” is available as part of Still Moments publishing’s “For the Love of Christmas” Anthology. Both are available in ebook format from Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com and Smashwords.

christmas balls and bells

Last Winter Red: In search of a husband, Emily leaves the safety of the city and risks her life stepping into the outside world. What she finds there will question the foundations of everything she believes in.

Connect the Dots: Jill has no idea what she wants for Christmas, but when it looks like her best friend Jack is going to get exactly what he asks for, Jill makes a Christmas wish that will change both of their lives forever.

You can ~~stalk~~ follow Jennifer at the following locations. Tell her I sent you.

Make Believe Blog Tour: An Interview with Contributing Author, Jennifer M. Eaton (rebeccahartwriting.wordpress.com)
Dystopian Literature: Two Simple Tips (kingdomofsharks.wordpress.com)
Fun Fact Friday – Author Jennifer Eaton and Where She Writes (michelleziegler.wordpress.com)

Exciting Announcement!

On December 3, my short story, The Amulet of Ormisez, will be published in Make Believe and released into the big wide world. My words, no longer mine but everyone’s. It is every author’s dream. No matter how many times you sign that contract, a glow happens inside knowing a publisher believed in your hard work and it will be read by hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions. How very exciting!

A few early reviews have already trickled in and I’m thrilled to say they are all positive. Have a look below:

Rachel Morgan at Goodreads writes: “MAKE BELIEVE is a magical collection of short stories. Just the right size for someone like me who falls into bed too late every night and doesn’t have much time (or energy) left to read!…Fantasy-lovers should definitely check this one out.”

Jen – At Random says: “…With mystery, deceit, fate, grief, greed, romance, and action each story has its own engaging elements but all are sprinkled with a morsel of magic. Definitely a great read!”

And, an overall 5 star review on Amazon.com had this to say about my story in particular: “There’s lots happening in this story but to say much more would reveal too much of the tale. I also enjoyed this tale…as I have not read a great deal about selkies. I would look out for other books by the author and dependent on blurb seriously consider reading them…” She gave the story 4/5 stars!! You can read the full review here.

There is so much more I have to share with your about the anthology. The official Blog Tour kicks off on December 3 and all the authors appearing in Make Believe are promoting tons of giveaways and contests, so make sure you visit each of their blogs/websites to see what’s going on. On Sunday, I will post information about my blog tour, AND share a little secret about what I’ll be doing the whole month of December to celebrate the release of Make Believe. It’ll be pretty cool.

Also, if you want to participate in launch day celebrations and enter for your chance to win an e-copy of the Make Believe anthology, make sure you leave your website/blog information in the comments section of my blog between now and November 30.

Oh, and if you can’t wait until December 3 to get your own e-copy of Make Believe, a little bird told me Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble just might have a little treat for your Kindle or Nook at this very moment. You should head over and check it out. Go on. You know you want to. Take some friends with you. Grab some coffee while you’re at it. Kick your shoes off. Relax. Who needs to work today when you can Make Believe.

How Not to Open a Short Story (gwenperkins.wordpress.com)
GIVEAWAY: Win an ARC of Make Believe! (jabelfield.wordpress.com)

‘Thanks for Writing’ Award

I love blog awards. It’s not so much the award itself but why they even exist.

Think about it. The person handing out the award recognizes the blogger who gave it to them, usually with a link back to the blogger. The receiver of the award recognizes and passes on the award to one or more bloggers with links to their blogs. What a great way to spread the word about other bloggers! Word of mouth. The oldest and most successful marketing tool. I can’t tell you how many fantastic people I’ve met because I hopped around to other bloggers’ sites who won these awards. What an awesome way to drive traffic to other blogs and to get other people to connect from all over the world.

When I get an award, I don’t post it to say “Hey, look at me and how great I am.” It’s actually to say, “Hey, check out the blog of the person who gave this to me AND check out the blog(s) of those I’m giving it to. Sit back with them and strike up a conversation. They’d love to hear from you.”

I feel bad about singling out bloggers because all of the ones I follow are fantastic. I decided for most awards when I get them, I’ll forward them all onto those who stop by my blog and want them. Hopefully they’ll comment and say thanks and build more connections that way.

Today’s blog award is a little different because it is specific: it’s the ‘Thanks for Writing’ award.

The lovely Charissa Stastny, author of Eyes of Light, gave me this very tasty delight on July 9 and I have been very lazy in thanking her publicly for the award. Charissa…thank you so much. It means a lot to me that you thought of me for this award. I am humbled and grateful. It was also one of the most original and yummy blog award giveaway posts I’ve ever read.

I’m going to pass this award to two ladies who have impacted not only my writing but my life so much that I can’t thank them enough: Jennifer M. Eaton and Julie Reece. I met both of them online through writer’s forums, Jennifer through Nathan Bransford’s website and Julie through Scribophile.com. These two women, every day, keep me grounded, keep me laughing, keep me motivated, keep me reaching for the stars and have become my writing soul mates. They are both amazing authors with hearts the size of the universe. They are not just fellow bloggers, writers, beta readers and critiquers. They are my friends and I would be lost without them in my life.

Jennifer, Julie…thank you for everything you bring to my life every day. Because of you (and my family), I push on to complete my novel and get it published. Because of you, I am reminded every day that there is nothing I can’t accomplish. Because of you, I don’t feel so alone in this writing and publishing world. Thank you for standing behind me to push, beside me to hold my hand, and before me so I may follow your lead. You are both amazing women and I’m honored to know you and have you in my life.

There is nothing you need to do to accept this award. Take it and know that what you do and who you are does affect someone in a positive way. Thank you for being you. Thanks for Writing.