I write romances, which means I spend a
great many hours of my day and night living in my head, deeply and emotionally
connected to my characters, trying to maintain the forward momentum that keeps
the story flowing. The way I see it, life is already too short to tell all the
stories crammed in my head, so I need to put them down ASAP. Yesterday. Now.
I’m no slouch, but I’ve got room for
improvement. This year alone, I’ll launch two series and four releases with
Carina Press, including my Wounded Warrior series, a collection of hot, fun, smart romances about strong
heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy,
kickass, military heroes who challenge their limits to protect the women they
love. It’s a grueling schedule, but I love it. Plus, the rewards are awesome.
Seeing the first novel of my Wounded Warrior series, The Asset, hit the
market? Priceless.
And yet,
in the middle of the craziness, every so often, I catch
myself dilly-dallying, burning precious time that I need to write my next book.
When that happens, I go back to the basics and remind myself that:
Productive
writers are always connected to the heart of the story. They have a focal point from the get-go and they stick to that
point even as they develop their plots.
Productive
writers are resilient and recover quickly. On
those occasions where productive writers go off on a tangent or get into a
funk, they catch themselves and they have the willpower and self-discipline to bounce
back and get back on track.
Productive
writers are focused researchers. They don’t
spend tons of time lost in the wide world of internet information overkill.
They’re research surgeons. They go in, get what they need, and get the heck out
of there before they get swallowed by the Internet’s black hole.
Productive
writers are multitaskers. They are usually
writing a new story, editing a publishable story, shopping a story, promoting a
published story, outlining their next novel and taking care of the business
side of writing all at the same time.
Productive writers understand the perils of
getting lost in a newsfeed. They are active in social media, but they
don’t spend the bulk of their time on FB, Twitter and the rest. They go in,
post, like, tweet, retweet and then…back to writing!
Productive
writers know when to stop. They realize that,
once exhaustion takes hold, the quality of their writing suffers and more
editing and rewriting will have to get done, wasting time at the other end.
Productive
writers are ruthless editors. They go at it
with a pragmatic eye, a minimalist sense for the story and the reader in mind.
And above all,
productive writers write—new material, more
chapters, new novels, they write all the time. Because the only way to have a
future in writing is to keep writing.
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Title: The Asset
Genre: Romantic suspense, Contemporary romance, Military romance, SEAL romance.
Author: Anna del Mar
Publisher: Carina Press
Purchase on Amazon
About the Book:
Ash Hunter knows what it is to run. A SEAL gravely injured in Afghanistan, he’s gone AWOL from the military hospital. Physically and mentally scarred, he returns home to his grandmother’s isolated cottage—and finds a beautiful, haunted stranger inside.
Like recognizes like.
Lia Stewart’s in hiding from the cartel she barely escaped alive, holed up in this small Rocky Mountain town. Surviving, but only just. Helping the wounded warrior on her doorstep is the right thing to do…it’s loving him that might get them both killed.
Soon, Ash realizes he’s not the only one tormented by the past. Pushing the limits of his broken body, testing the boundaries of her shattered soul, he’ll protect Lia until his last breath.
About the Author:
Anna del Mar writes hot, smart romances that soothe the soul, challenge the mind, and satisfy the heart. Her stories focus on strong heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy, kickass, military heroes who defy the limits of their broken bodies to protect the women they love. She is the author of The Asset (Carina Press), the first novel of her Wounded Warrior series and three other novels scheduled for release during 2016.
A Georgetown University graduate, Anna enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, and the sea. Writing is her addiction, her drug of choice, and what she wants to do all the time. The extraordinary men and women she met during her years as a Navy wife inspire the fabulous heroes and heroines at the center of her stories. When she stays put—which doesn’t happen very often—she lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and two very opinionated cats.
Connect with Anna on the Web:
1 comment:
Thank you so much for having me as a guest blogger on As the Page Turns. I really enjoyed sharing my writing experiences with my fellow writers. Cheers!
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