Sigh...

Forgive me blogger for I have neglected you way too long...  I did think about you though...and I really do feel bad about the neglect.  It's just things have been so busy and life has been unusually realistic lately.

So, here it is, midnight.  The hubby is asleep and all's quiet and dark.  And I only have a couple things that I should be doing so it seems the perfect time to catch up here.

On the reality side of things, our fridge decided to give up the ghost.  And the week after we got a new one (to us anyway) the hot water heater died.  No warning...just died.   If that wasn't enough, our satellite tv is out and they can't get a repair guy out to look at it until next week.  So, it's going to be a LONG weekend.  Oh...and not to mention it's been hot as bleep here...heat indices up to 110.  However, things may cool off if Bonnie sends up any rain.

On the writing side...

First, I received another rejection letter for  my zombie romance.  If I can't find a place for it soon, I'll hold it and post it here for Valentine's Day.  The zombies are upscale and sophisticated so I think that's the problem  since they aren't the normal zombie.  I do have a couple flash fiction places in mind to send it as soon as I catch my breath.

Next, I finally sent in the manuscript for my dragon fantasy novel.  It's called Dragons of Jade.  It's about a young woman who is transported to a world of dragons in order to save them from the person killing them.  While there, she finds a bit of romance and discovers she's not the person she thought she was.  I really like the story and the world so I'm excited about getting it ready to share with the rest of the world.   

As the revision/editing/publishing process goes along, I'll keep you informed about what's happening. 

Lastly...I'm now the editor for the Roughdraft which is the newsletter for the local writing group I belong to.  This month I put together my first issue and it turned out really nice.

Now, tell me what y'all have been up too. :-)

Targets

This past weekend I had another lesson thrust upon me.  The importance of target markets.  Now, we all know it's important to tarket your readers when marketing your book or story.  But do you realize how important it is to target your readers beforehand?

For example, if you are writing romance, then your first readers should be familar with the romance genre.  A thriller reader might not be the best choice for the most helpful comments.

If you write literary prose, someone who loves hardboiled detectives may not have the knowledge of the genre needed to be an effective critquer.

Now I'm not saying you can't get some valuable feedback from them, however you have to take into consideration their writing experience and background.

This also applies to instructors. Whether you take classes online, at conferences or at a school of some sort, if your instructor isn't familar with the genre you write, then you may be getting some wrong information.

So, another lesson learned.  Now on to the next one.:-)