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books, the submission process, writing

I’ll Have What She’s Having

the outside lane

I got a nibble on a query for the romance novel.  It is funny how rejection through the submission process can make “erm, we’ll see,” sound like an enthusiastic, “Yes!”  What the publishing house is saying is, “You did well enough on your synopsis, so we’re cautiously optimistic that it wouldn’t be a total waste of our time to look at the full work,” and what it sounds like is Meg Ryan in that diner scene from When Harry Met Sally.

I am saturnine enough to temper my own [frequently] misguided excitement, so the [frequent] disappointments are usually tiny ones.  I did have one that made me sad for a few weeks–if I’m being honest, I’m still very sad over it–but the truly striking, lingering disappointments are rare.

I do attribute most of this to a familiarity with the audition process, as I’ve said a hundred times before.  I don’t take it personally because taste is relative, and taste isn’t always even an issue (as with the agent who told me she already had something too similar in her list. Obvs she liked the idea–she’d already bought one!  But no one needs two purple, patent leather sofas in the living room.)  There’s also the problem of casting John Wayne to play Genghis Khan.  Sometimes, it’s about wanting a name and not caring about the face.

Part of it has to do with blogging, funnily enough.  I put myself out there for criticism almost every day.  I’m always writing and always exposing myself/my writing to the public eye.  I get enough feedback from it that I don’t expect every submission to be received like the birth of Aphrodite.  I’m certainly not immune to criticism or rejection, but I’ve made myself vulnerable through the written word for so long that it’s as natural as talking to strangers on the bus–which is to say, still incredibly uncomfortable, but not impossible, or life-ruining when I don’t get the desired response.

Besides, if I want that book deal, I can’t be afraid of the word no.  I’m going to hear a lot of no.  If you’re trying to publish, you’re going to hear a lot of no.  But it only takes one yes.  It doesn’t matter if you get a million responses that say, “No.”  One little yes will change all that.  And that’s what makes it okay to get excited about the maybe.

GAWB, Women Worth Knowing

Women Worth Knowing: Sergeant Sassypants of the Grown Ass Woman Brigade

the outside lane

For those of you who have been playing along since 2007, you’ll remember that the Women Worth Knowing Project started out as Wonder Woman Wednesdays.  I was talking to a friend about a friend, and realized they needed to know each other.  As I started making introductions, I started realizing just how special and wonderful every woman friend I had was.

To make it a little easier on myself, I decided to start introducing them to one another through a Q&A profile sheet with a short bio from me.  Awesome people need to know other awesome people.  Then, I started thinking, “These women are inspiring,” and I decided that the rest of the world should get to know them, too.  So Women Worth Knowing was born and I started posting profiles of any interesting woman I met.

You know why?  Because y’all need to meet each other!  I’ve gotten to watch careers begin and successes unfold when my friends have been introduced.

A few months back, during the WWK lull, one of my neighbors pointed me in the direction of the Grown Ass Woman Brigade.  I laughed when I saw the name, but I got a happy little chill when I read this:

I was having a really terrific conversation with my friend, Suzanne, one day when I had a revelation.  “You know,” I said, “it’s just so nice to be talking to another…grown ass woman.”  Suz immediately understood what I meant.  It’s hard to meet other women who are creative and strong and smart and okay in their own skin.  No crazy drama…no weird insecurity…no inexplicable competitiveness.

I like to call them grown ass women and I am lucky to have met quite a few.  My goal here was to introduce these friends and maybe create a nurturing, supportive network of amazing and fun women.  -Heather, GAWB co-founder

Doesn’t that sound just like the Women Worth Knowing Project?  And since I have been a member of GAWB, I have seen women throwing all their resources together to help boost one another up and over every ledge, ladder, and wall you can imagine.  From health and family, to career and networking, these ladies share their lives with one another to help out as a community.  It’s pretty wonderful.

I was talking with Heather and asked if I could link up WWK with GAWB and start interviewing the membership for the project.  I am still very excited that she said yes.

So, to kick off the re-re-restart of the Women Worth Knowing Project, I’d like to introduce you to Sgt. Sassypants, the mascot of the Grown Ass Woman Brigade.

Sergeant Sassypants, at your service.
Sergeant Sassypants, at your service.

Sgt. Sassypants is capable, compassionate, drama-free, ugly-insecurity free, determined, dedicated, and looks great on a t-shirt.  She’s Rosie the Riveter for the roaring 21st Century.  She will bring home the bacon, fry it up in the pan, and never let you forget she’s equal to any man.

Since GAWB’s inception, co-founders Heather and Suzanne, have worked to build a base of women worthy of the name.  We even have mini-GAWBs, who will grow up to rule the world.  Not only that, but they have branched out into public service.

Sassypants Nightengale. Going to keep you in top form!
Sassypants Nightengale. Going to keep you in top form!

And they have instituted an annual charity ball–The Red Dress Ball.

Spiceypants. I'd like her to have a tiara, but that's just me. You know how I am about tiaras.
Spiceypants. I’d like her to have a tiara, but that’s just me. You know how I am about tiaras.

I haven’t been able to attend a Red Dress Ball, yet.  Why?  What could keep me from dressing up and dancing the night away?  Geography.  Until recently, most of the GAWBs were based in Florida.  But, Heather is moving my way, and our Texas GAWB chapter is starting to hop.  I’m looking forward to boring my husband with details of dress shopping to find that perfect red for the next ball.

In the weeks to come, you’re going to meet some of the GAWBs.  We’re going to start with Patricia, since she’s the one who introduced me to the group, and because you’ll wonder where she’s been all your life once I tell you about her.

Meanwhile, if you are a woman worth knowing, or you know a woman worth knowing, email me.  lane (at) theoutsidelane (dot) com.

 

 

 

2the9s, Cozy Cat Press, Destinee Faith Miller Mystery, Explaining the Strange Behavior, Marketing the BOok
the outside lane

I’m on the excitement yo-yo.  The B&N book signing is this coming Saturday, followed by the Boston Book Festival next Saturday, and the UTA book signing the following Monday.  I am alternately very excited, and very stressed.  Excited because–well, obviously.  Stressed because what if no one shows up?  Then there’s the high of excitement followed by the low of the mundane.  I have a book signing at B&N, but I also still have laundry to fold and put away.  That doesn’t seem right.  In my imagination, a book signing always meant the reality of House Elves, who would fold and put away my laundry for me.  (I had totally realistic expectations of marriage, but absolutely delusional ideas of what selling a book would mean.)

Speaking of delusional, or perhaps unrealistic, Halloween is my favorite holiday.  I love costumes.  I love dressing up.  I haven’t had occasion to do so in a few years, but here’s a look back at some of my favorites.

 

But where's the Rum?
But where’s the Rum?

This was the year I went in drag as Captain Jack Sparrow.  I was one of about two-hundred-sixty Jack Sparrows at my office, but the only one in drag.  I was proud of my work with the mascara wand.  I’m telling you, if I could grow a real beard and mustache, I would have the fanciest facial hair you’ve ever seen.

Heeeeeey, Punker-poo!
Heeeeeey, Punker-poo!

Sadly, this is the only surviving photo of my award winning year as Anna Nicole Smith.  I did this one at the height of her reality TV show, which worked well with my girth.  The next year, she was repping Trim Spa and ruined my impression.

Hisssss!
Hisssss!

No idea what I was here.  I started out to be a ghost, but my dress was too transparent (and my body all too corporeal for such a transparent dress), so I put a corset on top, tied some curtains around my waist, threw on a wig and a tiara (see!  tiara!) and just went around hissing at people like some kind of…whatever it was I was.

I haven’t anywhere to dress up this year, so if you see me on Halloween, I will be playing the part of Snake-Eyes’ mother.  Snake-Eyes’ mother is partial to jeans and hoodie sweaters.

If you see me on the 12th, 19th, or 21st at B&N, the Boston Book Festival, or UTA, I will be dressed up as a (hopeful) best selling author.

What are you wearing this year?

 

 

Cozy Cat Press, Interview with the Author

Interview With the Author: Stephen Kaminski’s Dabbling Detective

the outside lane

In today’s Interview With the Author, we are talking to Stephen Kaminski, another of my fellow Cozy Cat friends.

Stephen Kaminski
Stephen Kaminski

STEPHEN KAMINSKI is the author of the Damon Lassard Dabbling Detective series published by Cozy Cat Press. The first cozy mystery in the series, IT TAKES TWO TO STRANGLE, was the winner of the 2012 Reader Views Literary Award for the Mid-Atlantic region. He has just released the second offering in the series, DON’T CRY OVER KILLED MILK.  Stephen is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Law School. He has practiced law for over a decade and currently serves as General Counsel to a national non-profit organization. He is a lifelong lover of all types of mysteries and lives with his wife and daughter in Arlington, Virginia.

DON’T CRY OVER KILLED MILK brings Damon Lassard back into action.  Jeremiah Milk lived a life filled with emotional extremes. Amniotic band syndrome—a congenital condition—left his fingers and toes malformed. Ridiculed as a child, he became an adolescent hermit. As an adult, Jeremiah’s wounds healed when he landed a position as a park ranger and married a woman who loved him despite his physical appearance. But fate ripped his life to shreds when his wife and infant son died on the same night in separate calamities. Shortly thereafter, the tides turned once more as an act of Jeremiah’s ostensible benevolence translates into a financial boon. The book on Jeremiah’s life closes without mercy when he’s found murdered at Tripping Falls State Park.

Damon Lassard—Hollydale’s loveable civic leader, amateur sleuth, and Jeremiah’s neighbor—springs into action. He’s obstructed by a prickly lieutenant, but wriggles information unknown to the police from a colorful bevy of suspects. Aided by his best friend Rebecca and his reluctant ally Detective Gerry Sloman, Damon engineers a deep dive into Jeremiah’s past to solve the crime. Along the way, Damon strengthens his relationship with the breathtaking Bethany Krims, cracks a local horticultural mystery, and tries in vain to tame his wickedly sarcastic mother.

 

The Outside Lane:  How did you get started writing:

 Stephen Kaminski:  I began writing in earnest when my wife decided to go back to school in the evenings for her PhD. After we put our daughter to bed, she spends several hours on her school work. So I decided to fulfill a lifelong dream and write mystery novels so we could spend those evening hours together (like nerds on our computers side-by-side).

 

TOL:  Where do your ideas/main character come from? 

SK:  The ideas for my books come in large part from my life. While the stories are not tied directly to life events, the characters and settings are those with which I’m familiar. For example, in my first cozy mystery, It Takes Two to Strangle, a large part of the book takes place at a traveling carnival. I spent several summers during my youth working at such places (from manning the balloon darts to hawking corn dogs).  In my second book, the victim is afflicted with a congenital condition similar to my own.

 

TOL:  What’s been the biggest learning experience of your first release?

SK:  The most significant learning experience from my first release took place in the writing phase. My first manuscript was far too long and the pace of the book too slow. Working with Cozy Cat Press, I whittled it down about 30,000 words and sped up the pace. While writing the second book in the series, I found my plot moving along much more quickly.  In addition, I learned a lot about writing snappy dialogue and post-release marketing.
TOL:  What are your plans for your next novel?
SK:  The second book in my Damon Lassard series has just been released. I have begun plotting a third – hopefully for release in the fall of 2014.

 

TOL:  Any advice for writers?

SK:  My advice for new writers is to keep pressing forward.  Finish a draft, have others review it, edit it repeatedly, then submit it with a very thick skin (even the best of manuscripts will be rejected repeatedly). But most of all, write because you love creative writing. If others eventually read and enjoy what you’ve written, that’s just gravy.

 

TOL:  How did you come to Cozy Cat Press?

SK:  Through perseverance. After I finished the original manuscript for It Takes Two to Strangle, I submitted it to numerous agents and publishing houses as a general mystery.  It was Patricia Rockwell — the head of Cozy Cat Press – who recognized that my manuscript had a cozy mystery trapped inside. Working with her, I transformed the book (and now the series) into a true cozy.

 

Stephen, thank you so much for taking time to be with us today!  To learn more about Stephen and his books, follow these links.

Amazon link to Don’t Cry Over Killed Milk

Amazon link to It Takes Two to Strangle

Author’s website:  www.damonlassard.com

Women Worth Knowing

Worth Knowing

the outside lane

Ooooh, I am excited!

Do you know why?  If you guessed that our internet was fixed, that’s a good guess.  However, that is not why.

Why is because I have now collected enough profiles that I feel comfortable announcing a Return of the Women Worth Knowing Project–at least through the end of the year.

So, here’s what you can expect from The Outside Lane.  On Mondays, you’ll get something bookish: a review, an interview with an author, a guest post from an author.  On Wednesdays, you’ll get a new Women Worth Knowing profile.  On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, you’ll get the random, rapid firing of my brain.

Yay!  Women Worth Knowing!  Yay!