(some editing of contents)
<@SLViehl> Welcome to "How to Break into the Romance Novel Market" with yours truly, S.L. Viehl, aka Gena Hale, aka Sheila
<@SLViehl> you've all heard the rest of the intro so we'll skip that
<@SLViehl> The last time we met, we discussed a number of topics
<@SLViehl> covering the basics of what is and is NOT a romance novel
<@SLViehl> the statistics of getting into print
<@SLViehl> how to present your work and yourself to an editor
<@SLViehl> the pros and cons of unagented submissions versus attending romance writer conferences
<@SLViehl> Why you should -- or shouldn't -- consider getting an agent
<@SLViehl> and a little about what's selling, and what bestselling authors are doing
<@SLViehl> Tonight we're going to pick up where we left off, with Networking
<@SLViehl> I'll cover the material, then put up the word QUESTIONS
<@SLViehl> and that's when I'd like you to throw everything at me.
<@SLViehl> I'm going to try to break more frequently so you have a chance to ask more questions
<@SLViehl> ready to get started?
<BlairB> ready
<Gayle> yes
<June> All set
<Anne_Marble> Sure
<Kae> gtg
<spring> ready!
<Natalie> yes
<James> yes...
<@SLViehl> Romance writers are probably the most consummate networkers in the publishing industry
<@SLViehl> we are a force to be reckoned with in this department, starting with RWA, which is over 8000 members strong
<@SLViehl> trickling down to your local writing and critique groups
<@SLViehl> With all these men and women writing romance, and obvious open to networking, this should be a good thing for you, right?
<@SLViehl> Sometimes it is, and sometimes it can work against you. Remember that writers are basically lone wolves.
<@SLViehl> When you enter into a group -- just like this one here, that we're having tonight -- there are different levels of competency.
<@SLViehl> People who are less competent than you are going to recognize that pretty quickly.
<@SLViehl> Be cautious when networking. Try to find out if you fit in with the group before you commit yourself to their chapter, critique sessions, etc.
<@SLViehl> If they're all unpublished and have only written one or two novels, and you're on your tenth and getting your first contract, there may be resentment and even worse.
<@SLViehl> On the other hand, the group may be totally supportive.
<@SLViehl> Published authors you meet in these groups can also go both ways. Some will take an interest in you. Some will take an interest in how many of their books you're going to buy.
<@SLViehl> Published authors are good for advice, but don't expect them to get warm and fuzzy with you right away.
<@SLViehl> Go to their book signings, talk to them casually, show an interest in their work. Most will return the favor.
<@SLViehl> Anyone who knocks you and/or your work constantly is not worth your time.
<@SLViehl> You need to, in the words of Susan Elizabeth Phillips, always PROTECT THE WORK.
<@SLViehl> You can get swept up in the mystique of being an author, especially after you land a contract, and this slows or stops your productivity.
<@SLViehl> Money you should have been investing back into the work goes down the drain with promotion and conferencing.
<@SLViehl> Groups, activities, community -- all these things are fun. If you have time after you're done writing.
<@SLViehl> On the flip side, getting into a group or community gives you an opportunity to make contacts.
<@SLViehl> Right now, you're in contact with me. I'm published. I'm a good contact to have.
<@SLViehl> Can I get you published? No. Can I give you advice? Yes.
<@SLViehl> Can I be your best friend? Sorry, not enough time on my end.
<@SLViehl> The best you can hope for from networking is making contacts, getting educated on the industry, and a mixture of advice.
<@SLViehl> Go with what your heart (or your stomach) tells you works best for you.
<@SLViehl> QUESTIONS
<June> Promotional materials -- good idea? or not?
<Anne_Marble> What about joining reader lists? I know (of course) a lot of writers who do that. Some because they love to discuss books, others because they want to send out promos. (That's not always allowed.)
<@SLViehl> I have completely stopped doing my own promotions after a year of trying them out. My books are selling just as well, actually, better now.
<James> As an Australian aiming at the US market - therefore, also an optimist
- can a career be built without making lots of contacts in the market you're aiming at?
<@SLViehl> Most authors are shameless self-promoters. You've got to do what you're comfortable with. I was never comfortable with promotion stuff anyway.
<@SLViehl> I think so, James -- you have to take a different approach to making contacts. Like being here -- doesn't matter geographically where we are, we can meet and discuss things.
<@SLViehl> A career should be built on the strength of your writing first, imho.
<@SLViehl> I also don't think most of the promotion stuff works. All those give aways at RWA Nat'l, for example. Who could buy all the books for every piece of promo they pick up?
<James> Thanks - that does away with a small worry I've been carrying around
<Anne_Marble> Someone on my list recently asked which promotional material got people to read books, bookmarks, magnets, or something else. People pointed out that it was recommendations, reviews, writing...
<@SLViehl> If I read a great article by a writer, I'll go buy his/her books. I agree with that.
<@SLViehl> the bookmark/postcard thing is a vanity, again, imho, it just doesn't work.
<@SLViehl> I also like reading stories in magazines, and will buy books by authors who do that.
<@SLViehl> Remember one thing -- Nora Roberts never promoted her work, according to rumor. And I know for a fact Linda Howard never did either.
<@SLViehl> 'cause Linda told me.
<BJ Steeves> Sheila, although I missed the first half of this class, these all seem to apply to most genres of righting. True?
<@SLViehl> Yes, BJ. I think it does apply across the genre board.
<BJ Steeves> Thanks
<@SLViehl> Onto contests -- enter ? don't enter?
<@SLViehl> RWA contests have become a minefield of controversy. You need to be aware of the politics involved.
<@SLViehl> These are the top contests to get into, btw -- the Golden Heart, the Maggie, etc.
<@SLViehl> I've always considered contests a waste of my time.
<@SLViehl> Never entered one except a screenplay writing contest which I semi-finaled in.
<@SLViehl> didn't do a thing for my career.
<@SLViehl> I've heard some shadowy things go on -- contests are fixed, people award places to PC writers, etc.
<@SLViehl> But let's look at the facts: what do you get out of a contest? A pin, some money, and maybe a chance for an editor to look at your work.
<@SLViehl> Average contest fees range between $10 -- $40
<@SLViehl> Imagine how many submissions you could produce and mail using the same money.
<@SLViehl> Instead of one editor looking at your work, you might be able to send submissions to ten or fifteen or twenty.
<@SLViehl> Losing a contest is sometimes worse than being rejected by a publisher
<@SLViehl> because you feel like you've been measured up to the competition and found wanting
<@SLViehl> and you really don't know who is judging it, and what's going on in their heads.
<@SLViehl> Entrance fees go into the bank accounts of RWA and the chapters/organizations who run these contests, so of course they're going to push them as great things.
<@SLViehl> They are great. They make these organizations a lot of money.
<@SLViehl> But if you think it's worth a shot, investigate the contest first. Who's judging it? What do you get if you win?
<@SLViehl> You must, of course, follow their guidelines to the letter, or you can't complain if you lose.
<@SLViehl> And expecting to win has to be realistic. I entered a contest with 3000 other screenwriters, and made the top 90.
<@SLViehl> I didn't advance any further than that, and that's what I got for my $45
<@SLViehl> There's also the danger of what I call contest junkie fever.
<@SLViehl> Writers get caught up in these contests, and seem to forget their ultimate goal -- getting published, instead of winning.
<@SLViehl> And make no mistake, winning a contest does not put you on equal professional footing with the published authors out there.
<@SLViehl> Glory can be fun, but you can't deposit it.
<@SLViehl> I'd go for the contests that give you an open door into an editor's office. That's the best advice I can offer.
<@SLViehl> Everything else is just not worth the trouble, cost, and heart ache.
<@SLViehl> QUESTIONS
<BlairB> What happens to the rights of the story if you enter it in a contest?
<@SLViehl> You retain the rights to your story unless you sign them away in the contest application. This was a problem with the recent Red Dress Inc. contest -- Harlequin wanted first rights signed off to them
<@SLViehl> or was it worldwide rights? I forget.
<@SLViehl> Read these applications and the rules involved carefully when you consider entering a contest.
<Anne_Marble> I've heard that the rules for the contests can be really... anal. There was a huge controversy with a major contest recently. So many entrants were rejected because of margins and the like that there were contests for manuscripts rejected by that contest!
<@SLViehl> My friend, Carol Stephenson, went through an experience like that.
<Anne_Marble> I've also heard that novels that take chances -- that don't follow a certain model -- don't have as much of a chance of winning. :-<
<@SLViehl> The contest is all about the pack, and the pack have a "herd" mentality.
<@SLViehl> Also, I am very leery about contests being judged by other authors. Too much personal stuff there.
<@SLViehl> I'd go for contests being judged by real editors.
<June> Hard to get editors to judge
<June> my housemate ran an RWA contest and had a terrible time finding editors
<@SLViehl> Hard to get editors to do anything these days, June
<June>
good point, Sheila
<@SLViehl> Contests can really mess up the self-esteem, that's what I don't like.
<@SLViehl> And writing has never been about competition and winning for me. I compete only with myself.
<@SLViehl> And, on occasion, Orson Scott Card. Ha.
<Anne_Marble> Also, from what I've seen, publishers don't seem to care much about contests, is that true? (I mean, they don't publicize award winners, etc.)
<@SLViehl> They will slap a "Rita" or "Golden Heart" cameo on the cover of a book that won and gets published down the road
<@SLViehl> but it really doesn't matter to my editors. I asked both if I should enter contests, and they said it was up to me.
<@SLViehl> This is the section about Breaking away from the pack, but I'd like to talk about sex first.
<@SLViehl> A lot lot LOT of people think writing a romance means writing a story with tons of sex scenes in it.
<@SLViehl> And, if you're writing for Kensington's new Brava line, they'd be right. But mainly, no.
<@SLViehl> Romance is not about sex. It's about love.
<@SLViehl> Lynn Kurland wrote a novel that had one of the most erotic loves scenes I've ever read, and the hero and heroine were just talking.
<@SLViehl> If you're forcing yourself to write explicit love scenes because you think it's expected, stop.
<@SLViehl> Write what you're comfortable reading about.
<@SLViehl> Write what you're interested in. Is it important to you? -- that's what you have to ask yourself, not just about the physical part of your romance, but every aspect of the story.
<@SLViehl> I like writing sensual, sexual stories. I am very comfortable with it.
<@SLViehl> But I've also been in the medical field and there isn't anything I haven't seen, touched, shaved, stitched or bandaged.
<@SLViehl> I also like to explore how my hero and heroine relate to each other inside and outside the bedroom.
<@SLViehl> That's my comfort level. It's not a rule and I don't expect anyone here to write like me.
<@SLViehl> However, if you are targeting a publisher who wants explicit love scenes in their romances, you can't skip the sex.
<@SLViehl> Be grown up about it. Remember too, that you're writing about two people who care about each other. Respect that.
<@SLViehl> Erotica right now is the hottest ticket in town. So hot my agent asked me to consider writing one.
<@SLViehl> Erotica I consider the hard side of romance, and I really don't like it, personally.
<@SLViehl> There is a tone to it, I guess, that I don't like. An anti-love tone, to me.
<@SLViehl> However, if you're into erotica, this market is expanding by the month.
<@SLViehl> and I define erotica not only by the sexual content -- which is huge, like 75% of the story -- but by that tone.
<@SLViehl> The hero and heroine use language that you wouldn't find in the average Harlequin romance. They get really creative sexually, everything from light bondage to verbal abuse of each other.
<@SLViehl> Some authors veil erotica in historic events, but it's basically about the hero and heroine doing it in a variety of positions and places every ten pages or so.
<@SLViehl> And as much as I enjoy sex, I find that very unrealistic. Not even Superman could keep up with some of these heroines.
<@SLViehl> Keeping in mind the balance of romance and sex is important. For 90% of the publishers out there, it's the story that matters, not the sexual explicitness.
<@SLViehl> Now, how do you find the diamond within -- your own, unique voice.
<@SLViehl> First, stop imitating your favorite author. You're going to become your own favorite author.
<@SLViehl> Think about what you love to read -- romances with angst, humor, tension?
<@SLViehl> Then ask a friend to tell you what's unique about you personally -- are you dramatic, funny, empathetic to others?
<@SLViehl> These are the qualities you need to invest in your writing. This is your voice. It's who you are.
<@SLViehl> When you write, imagine you are your heroine. Make her do and say what you'd do in that situation.
<@SLViehl> Imagine your hero is a man you'd fall in love with -- what do you want to see him do, hear him say?
<@SLViehl> You -- not Nora Roberts, not Linda Howard -- you are the bestselling author now.
<@SLViehl> Take a scene and write it, without editing or stopping, between these two characters.
<@SLViehl> Write the same scene every week for six weeks (one scene per week). If you have more time to write, do the same in six days.
<@SLViehl> Don't reread anything you've written before.
<@SLViehl> When you come to the end of the six weeks, compare the first scene you wrote to the last one you wrote.
<@SLViehl> You'll see how you've honed it, just by repetition.
<@SLViehl> You do the same thing with voice.
<@SLViehl> How unique can you be? As unique as the genre will tolerate, and boundaries are changing.
<@SLViehl> In the old days, it was Barbara Cartland and the "don't do it until you're married" school of romance.
<@SLViehl> Today, the hero and heroine don't have to be married.
<@SLViehl> They don't even have to get married.
<@SLViehl> Although we'd like to think they will, eventually.
<@SLViehl> Read what's out there. What is being done in romance is what you can do.
<@SLViehl> Can you push the envelope? Yes, with conditions.
<@SLViehl> As an unpublished writer, you cannot generally break new ground. So you can write a story that equals something that has already been published.
<@SLViehl> i.e. a book with a handicapped heroine who has a hook instead of hand. Been done.
<@SLViehl> You cannot write a book about a heroine who has been lesbian. Has not, to my knowledge, been done.
<@SLViehl> I have a romance written about 2 handicapped people who do not get better during the course of the romance. One's a paraplegic, the other is blind.
<@SLViehl> My editor is considering it right now.
<@SLViehl> Will I get it published, a double-handicapped love story? Probably not, but I have a shot because I'm already established. I can break new ground now.
<@SLViehl> Not fair, certainly, but that's the way it is.
<@SLViehl> Think unique as in twisting the classic romance story.
<@SLViehl> Norman knight storms Saxon castle, wins Saxon daughter's heart.
<@SLViehl> Been done a million times.
<@SLViehl> How about a Norman lady storms Saxon castle, wins Saxon knight's heart? Haven't read too many of those.
<@SLViehl> Do role reversals. A stay at home Dad meets a tycoon heroine.
<@SLViehl> A sheriff locks up a drifter -- sheriff's a lady, drifter's the hero.
<@SLViehl> Wildcat heroine falls for Librarian hero.
<@SLViehl> Just remember to keep thinking in new directions while following the established signposts.
<@SLViehl> QUESTIONS
<June> My problem goes the other way
<June> I want to write MORE sex than probably should be in there but it's NOT erotica
<@SLViehl> Try to explore the intimacy in a non-sexual way, June. Let them express their desires without consummation -- builds great tension.
<@SLViehl> Like hand-feeding each other, or bathing together.
<@SLViehl> Readers love tension.
<Anne_Marble> A sex question... What about safe sex (in contemporaries)? How do you fit that condom in? (Well you know what I mean.) Some readers hate contemp. novels without safe sex.
<@SLViehl> I always address safe sex, because a lot of my readers are teenagers. I feel a certain responsibility toward educating them.
<Anne_Marble> It's the health field experience.
<James> Is there a romantic subgenre in which the setting can be fantastic in nature, even other-worldy? If so, how fantastic can you be before it ceases to be romance and becomes fantasy?
<@SLViehl> Sometimes it's not possible for my hero and heroine to have access to condoms, just like in life, but they still talk about the risks.
<@SLViehl> James, for that type of story, I think you need to focus on the futuristic publishers. The fantasy elements have to be pretty background to the relationship. On the other hand, pure fantasy is becoming more open to romantic stories.
<James> Would you be able to recommend some pure romance with fantastic elements?
<@SLViehl> I think the balance is 75-25% romance/fantasy for futuristics, and 20-80% romance/fantasy for straight fantasy.
<@SLViehl> Nora Roberts has been incorporating a lot of magic/fantasy in her otherwise straight romances.
<James> Ah, thanks - I'll add her to my reading list.
<Kae> If I have my heroine say and do things I'd say & do, do I run the risk of every heroine sounding the same?
<@SLViehl> Not if your heroines are in different situations, Kae. You don't react the same to different people in different places. You've got to really immerse yourself in your character, though.
<Kae> hmm. ok.
<@SLViehl> There is a certain amount of role-playing involved, but the voice that comes out will still be you.
<Anne_Marble> I once read an article where a romance editor said that many, many romances are rejected because the main characters turn out to be brother and sister as the end! So already, you all have a jump on the competition as you are not perverted. ;->
<Kae> eww
<@SLViehl> Ick, really? (making gross sounds)
<James> Has anyone read male-written romance? Are there common male-romance-writer mistakes that drive you crazy?
<Anne_Marble> This morning, someone posted on one of AAR's boards, asking for suggestions of love stories between their sons. :-/ The post was deleted.
<@SLViehl> Assuming women are like men, James. We're not.
<june> The prez of RWA is a man
<june> writes as Leigh Greenwood, I believe
<Anne_Marble> Does Clarissa Ross count? It's been a while since I read one of "hers."
<@SLViehl> Some male romance writers, like Nicholas Sparks, assume women will put up with a lot of nonsense that we don't.
<James> Do you mean low level violence, verbal abuse, that sort of thing?
<Anne_Marble> And the best-selling male romance novelists almost always kill the woman off at the end!
<@SLViehl> Adultery, slap-fests, yes, that sort of thing. And yes, Anne is absolutely right.
<june> Non-fulfillment of the romance
<@SLViehl> On the other hand, to be fair, some women writers turn their heroes into complete wimps.
<Anne_Marble> Diana Palmer!
<@SLViehl> trying to make a man who is really their girlfriend
<june> Romance is about commitment between the man and the woman. men seem to 'miss' that a lot
<James> That's all so interesting, the differences. I'll bear all that in mind.
<@SLViehl> We should celebrate the differences between the genders, as well as respect them in our writing. Men and women are not interchangeable, and we act and speak and do thing differently. It's not a competition, and we don't want to invalidate either gender as writers.
<Kae> And I can't stand the heroine and hero saying mean things to each other and then all of a sudden they're in love.
<@SLViehl> Excellent point, Kae
<James> Sheila, I just peeked at Mrs Giggles review of Paradise Island, and noticed that she mocks the fact that Luke gets erections from looking at the heroine - does that mean describing male sexual response can be a problem in romances?
<june> Not for me!!!
<@SLViehl> For Mrs. Giggle, apparently it is. (What's wrong with Luke having an erection? Sheesh.)
<june> I'm all for erections, personally.
<Kae> sounds like a good reaction to have
<@SLViehl> I'm counting now -- he gets two. See what these reviewers do to me???
<Anne_Marble> The only time I got annoyed with the erection thing is when the guy kept getting erections every time he thought of her, in numerous scenes. zzz
<James> I must admit, she seemed to go over the top about it - but I worried it might be a general problem for the readership.
<@SLViehl> Men have penises. They get erections. I have no problem with that.
<Anne_Marble> I mean, she wasn't even there, and he was ... well, happy.
<BlairB> kinda shows his true feelings.
<@SLViehl> Men get hard thinking about women. I have two brothers and two sons, and two ex-husbands. I know what I'm talking about.
<Anne_Marble> That might have been interesting a couple of times. But it happened a lot, and yet, he was using her, so I didn't like him.
<@SLViehl> It's the emasculation of the male hero that Mrs. Giggles wants. He can have an erection when she thinks it's okay, when in reality, it happens when it happens.
<James> So it won't alarm readers so long as it's not going on every ten seconds? And so long as it grows naturally (erm, so to speak) from the characters and the surrounding story?
<@SLViehl> Erections, to my understanding, are not timeable.
<june> Anything that's repetitive in a story is boring, I think.
<Anne_Marble> And she usually seems to like only sexy romances. Maybe she only wants sex when they're together.
<june> I don't think it's erections, per say
<@SLViehl> I think men tend to be physically reactive to women. But June's right, repetition does get dull.
<june> I mean, even if he has a constant erection the author doesn't have to mention it every four pages
<@SLViehl> True, June.
<James> So, as with everything else, sketch that sort of response in, so the reader knows what you mean but you're not clubbing them over the head with it.
<@SLViehl> You got it, James.
<june> what an 'interesting' image, James
<Kae> lol
<James> Possibly I should have added a "so to speak..."
<Anne_Marble> Snicker
<@SLViehl> That I'll have stuck in my dirty mind for a while. Let's move on to Opposites Attract.
<James> Thanks all.
<@SLViehl> We love it when an arson investigator falls for an alleged arsonist. Or a bad boy takes a dive for a preacher's daughter.
<BJ Steeves> James, all you can say is that they went to bat for you.
<@SLViehl> Opposites attracting means different worlds are set on a collision course.
<@SLViehl> Behave, Bj, I'm laughing too hard to type this
<BlairB> He's never going to live this down.
<James> lol
<@SLViehl> Tell me if they tease you, James, and I'll give them detention.
<James> Fear not, I'm remarkably durable to teasing
<@SLViehl> back to opposites attracting -- when characters in opposition to each other fall in love, they inevitably face extreme personal dilemmas.
<@SLViehl> When love conquers that, it renews our faith and trust in the power of love and romance.
<@SLViehl> and, let's face it, conflict scenes are much more fun to write than housekeeping scenes.
<@SLViehl> However, there are lines that still may not be crossed with romance publishers.
<@SLViehl> They're easy to spot -- no incest
<@SLViehl> no homosexual relationships for either the hero or heroine.
<@SLViehl> No threesomes.
<@SLViehl> This may change in the future, but for now, alternative lifestyles, abusive relationships, or anything that could get your hero and heroine convicted of a felony is out.
<@SLViehl> The book of your heart versus the book that gets published
<@SLViehl> everyone writes a book from their heart that becomes the book of their heart.
<@SLViehl> Its usually one of the first books we write, and we invest so much in it, time, emotion, struggle, that we can't accept that no one will publish it.
<@SLViehl> generally it doesn't get published because we wrote for ourselves, and not for the market.
<@SLViehl> You've got to get past this book, or it will strangle you.
<@SLViehl> When you consider the market before you start writing, you're on your way to getting published
<@SLViehl> so if you can't get it accepted after a reasonable amount of time, put this book of your heart away
<@SLViehl> and write another book.
<@SLViehl> and write another book after that one.
<@SLViehl> and keep writing.
<@SLViehl> The more books you write, the better you get at writing them.
<@SLViehl> The better writer you become, the closer you get to publication. That's plain fact.
<@SLViehl> QUESTIONS
<Anne_Marble> How do you make your hero/heroine different enough if they have similar interests or a similar profession?
<@SLViehl> Give them different backgrounds, Anne. Poor girl, Rich boy.
<Kae> I've seen a lot of couples of different skin color around the area where I live. Is there anyone writing romances for them?
<@SLViehl> Of the ethnic romances I've read, there are still same-race lines -- no interracial relationships. Anne, have you seen any? June?
<june> One Silhouette Shadows had a black heroine and a white hero, that's the only one I recall seeing
<Anne_Marble> I've heard of a few of interracial ones in the ethnic lines.
<@SLViehl> Wait, I've read one Harlequin Presents where the hero was descended from Island blacks, but was in appearance white.
<@SLViehl> That was a few years ago.
<Anne_Marble> You can't tell from the covers, most of them use those stylized covers.
<Anne_Marble> There are a more hispanic/white romances. And Indian/white romances, though many of those are corny noble savage books.
<june> Well Native American heroes is practically it's own sub-genre
<@SLViehl> I thought I might run over again tonight, would everyone like to have one more session?
<Anne_Marble> OK
<Kae> sure
<june> sure
<Gayle> okay
<James> Yes, thanks.
<BlairB> sure
<@SLViehl> Great. I'll ask Holly if we can have the second Friday in November for part III.
<Kae> And thanks for a very (fast) entertaining two hours!
<James> That's very generous - thanks.
<Gayle> thank you again sheila
<june> Great fun. Thanks Sheila
<Anne_Marble> Thanks! <clap clap clap>
<@SLViehl> Any other last questions on tonight's material?
<spring> thank you!
<Anne_Marble> What are your thoughts about "villain sex scenes"
<@SLViehl> I kind of whisk in and out of them, Anne. Maybe because subconsciously, I don't want the villain to have a good time.
<Anne_Marble> That's a good idea.
Some writers seem to save them for the kinky stuff. Euww.
<@SLViehl> I have a mild villain sex scene in Dream Mountain, you can see how I did it in that book.
<James> If I actually try a romance (as I'm kind of thinking I might), should I pseudonym, because of being, you know, male?
<@SLViehl> James, I personally think men should not take female pseudonyms. I like to know it's a guy who wrote it.
<James> So you can forgive them their errors?
<@SLViehl> Unfortunately, publishers do not feel the same.
<@SLViehl> I try not to be biased, but I haven't found a male writer I really like who does romance
<James> Ouch - but then, you haven't read one of mine yet
<@SLViehl> True. So hurry up and write, James! <g>
<Gayle> that's the spirit James!
<James> Mind you, I've got to do the SF one, yet...
<Anne_Marble> I probably did the kiss of death myself. I wrote my romantic suspense novel in first person. But it wouldn't come out any other way.
<june> I really liked the Curtis's -- 1/2 male
<@SLViehl> Haven't read too many romances in first person, I have to admit, Anne.
<@SLViehl> Okay, folks, I think that wraps it up. Shall we call it a night?
<BlairB> 'till next week then
<Kae> Ok, it's a night. ;-0
<Gayle> sounds good...my shadow just came out wondering...not that we have any really good movies tonight...
<Anne_Marble> OK, it's a night. Oh, darn! You beat me!
<Kae> heehee
<june> Thanks, Sheila. Have a good night all.
<James> Sure - see everyone next week. Thanks again, Sheila, for a great session.
<@SLViehl> You guys are such comedians
<Anne_Marble> Bye
<@SLViehl> Good night all.
<Gayle> night everyone...see you in a couple of weeks...
<Kae> Thanks, good night
<@SLViehl> Thanks for letting me spend another Friday night with you!
<BJ Steeves> Getting late here 11:20PM and I'm on 24 hour call all this week until Monday Morning.
<Anne_Marble> Any time!
<@SLViehl> Thanks, Anne.
<@SLViehl> Go get some sleep, BJ
<BlairB> g'nite all
<@SLViehl> goodnight and see you again soon!
<BJ Steeves> Yeah, and as soon as my eyes are closed, the damned pager will go off!
<Gayle> oh and if anyone wants to come over for movie night ...you gotta bring your own soda...I can get the airpopper from my neighbor for popcorn
<Kae> Here's hoping for some good sleep, BJ
<BJ Steeves> Thanks you all, have a good night!