A Glimpse Behind The Scenes

Jennifer talks about her writing life…

Lots of people ask what it’s like to be a writer, and I usually answer that question with all the work that goes into getting a book published and out in front of readers. It’s a lot of work, and can feel like you’re in the middle of a thunderstorm—deluged by to-do lists, rattled by deadlines and illuminated by hope that all will go well on release day.

But what about afterwards? What’s it like to be a writer on those other days, after the book has been released into the world?

Well, for me, it’s filled with emotions and requires time management skills. Once my book has been released, I’m monitoring sales, tracking reviews and of course writing. Monitoring sales can be frustrating, since I personally don’t get an accurate daily picture and usually have to wait until my publisher posts them on their internal website for me to see. While people tell me they are buying or have bought my book, I’m never sure until I see the numbers. This time around, sales seem to be good, although they’re better for Addicted to Love than In the Moment.

Then there are the reviews. No matter how much I beg, I don’t get many. And when I do get them, there are always a few that aren’t great—after all, reading is subjective and not everyone will like everything I write. I take comfort in the fact that I do get positive reviews, and any negative ones I get don’t complain about my craft. And I develop a thick skin. J

Finally, there’s writing. Even though I love to write, I get distracted—by life, by the crazy world and by my family. Writing is great because it offers me an escape from the politics and fear out there. But it’s also hard to concentrate on writing when the craziness gets overwhelming. And as much as I like getting away from the stress, sometimes my stress gets the better of me and I can’t sit still. Added to that are the doubts—maybe I’m not really as good as I should be; maybe this story is going to be terrible; maybe that reviewer keyed into something I just can’t fix. To combat that, I try to divide my day into chunks—I have my early morning time where I get ready for the day and make sure the world is still turning; my time to get errands done for my family; my time to do book marketing and blog writing; and my time to write and edit. I try to keep my focus on the task as much as possible. Some days are easier than others. Some days I realize why I fall in love with my heroes. And some days I console myself like Scarlett O’Hara—tomorrow is another day.

If you're looking for a Halloween read, my book, Skin Deep, has a great Halloween party, thrown by the costume department of a hit TV sitcom. Check it out here.

T Is For Teasers

Jennifer talks about excerpts...

Teasers are paragraphs or quotes or even a single line that teases the reader about your book and makes her want to read it.

On my Facebook news feed, I see lots of them, by both famous and less-known authors and the majority make me interested in the book. They seem to have just the right hook, just the right combination of words to fascinate me.

When it comes to my own teasers, however, it’s a struggle, and I often settle for something that I’m not happy with. Sometimes it’s because I’m limited by either space (like on a graphic) or by line/word count. Other times I just can’t narrow my choices down to pick one thing that I like better than others. And additionally, I don’t want to use the exact same excerpt or teaser all the time. I’d prefer variety.

But I keep trying and playing and hoping I’ll find something I like. Here’s one for Skin Deep—I shortened it from the original one, which was a page and a half long. It’s better, but I’m still doubtful that it “pops”:

“Michelle told me you were not joining us tonight. I thought I would see if I could change your mind.”
Valerie rolled her eyes. “She is persistent.”
“You noticed.” John’s dark eyes twinkled. His mouth widened with a ghost of a smile. Valerie tried not to gasp.
He reminded her of a rugged cowboy—broad shouldered, with a prominent brow, dark piercing eyes, high cheekbones, and a cleft chin. When he smiled, even a slight trace of one, his eyes looked like liquid velvet and his dimples twinkled like stars in the night sky. A five-o’clock shadow covered his cheeks. Her fingers itched to brush against their rough texture, to tease his mouth into a full-blown grin.
“So, what can I say to make you join us?”
As he leaned against the wall in well-fitting jeans and a T-shirt that left nothing to the imagination, Valerie’s mind said, “Sleep with me.” Heat crept up her neck, over her cheeks, and continued to the roots of her hair. A thin sheen of sweat dampened the space between her breasts. She felt the sudden urge to fan herself, like a damsel in distress in an old B-movie. Instead, she ignored her traitorous thoughts. Her balled fist pressed into her tight stomach.
“Tonight, not even chocolate will change my mind.”
She didn’t exactly lie. She had no intention of going to the bar, or of sleeping with him, no matter how her thoughts might try to sabotage her good intentions. She’d been fooled by surface finery before, and it had almost killed her. She wouldn’t let it happen again.
“I will remember that,” he promised. “But next time you will not get off so easy.” His eyes bored into hers for a moment, and then he turned on his heel and left.
True to his word, John arrived the following day prepared for battle. With a cursory knock on the door, he dangled a bag of M&Ms inside the trailer, but snatched it back before she could grab them. “We are going out for pizza. I will pick you up in ten minutes.” Before she could answer, he walked out.
Valerie shrugged as she finished her work. The new Valerie never allowed other people to make decisions for her, but she’d practically handed John a permission slip. And, he had M&M’s. How could she refuse?

Amazon

D Is For Dialogue

Jennifer talks about conversation...

They say timing is everything, and that’s especially true with dialogue. Different people have different ways of speaking—some speak fast or slow, some are funny on purpose and some are funny unintentionally. Some have particular ways of speaking that immediately clue the reader in and identify the speaker.

I typically try to incorporate humor into my characters. How successful I am, well, I can’t say, because humor is subjective. But at least I try. Witty banter is hard. There is a timing to it and a delivery and when it works it’s awesome. When it doesn’t, oh boy. But whether or not my dialog is funny, it gives a hint as to what the characters are like.

This is a conversation from one of my WIPs:

“There’s a speed dating event at Urban Bistro Friday night. Come with me.”

No such luck.

“What? Why?”

“Because there will be a lot of guys in one room, obviously, and you didn’t like the date I set you up with last night.”

Aviva sighed. “Erica, I really appreciate your efforts, but I think I’d like to take a break for a little while.”

“Avs, you’re not in mourning, and you didn’t just break up with the love of your life. You’re alone, and you need a man. There is no ‘take a break for a little while.’”

Aviva cleared her throat and looked around the room. What she needed was a new coffee table and a new window shade and potentially a new roommate. “I don’t ‘need a man.’ I’m perfectly fine on my own.”

Erica laughed, and Aviva cringed until the raspy noise stopped.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I meant for sex,” Erica said.

Aviva spluttered.

“Please tell me you know what sex is,” Erica said with a look of horror.

Her other roommate was out, if the darkened bedroom with a wide open door was any indication, but still Aviva lowered her voice. “Of course I know what sex is. I just don’t see why you’re concerned with whether or not I get it.”

“Well, if you don’t know, it’s even more of a necessity. Girl, you’re coming with me and that’s that.” Erica grabbed Aviva’s hand and dragged her over to the sofa. Right in the middle of the beat-up, faux-wood coffee table was a printout from a speed dating website. Erica shoved it at Aviva, and Aviva took it with the tips of her fingers.

The characters are young New Yorkers, which means their dialogue is supposed to be snappy. The reader is supposed to have fun while reading.

In contrast, this is a sample from my book, Skin Deep:

“So, what can I say to make you join us?”

As he leaned against the wall in well-fitting jeans and a T-shirt that left nothing to the imagination, Valerie’s mind said, “Sleep with me.” Heat crept up her neck, over her cheeks and continued to the roots of her hair. A thin sheen of sweat dampened the space between her breasts. She felt the sudden urge to fan herself, like a damsel in distress in an old B-movie. Instead, she ignored her traitorous thoughts. Her balled fist pressed into her tight stomach.

“Tonight, not even chocolate will change my mind.”

She didn’t exactly lie. She had no intention of going to the bar, or of sleeping with him, no matter how her thoughts might try to sabotage her good intentions. She’d been fooled by surface finery before, and it had almost killed her. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

“I will remember that,” he promised. “But next time you will not get off so easy.” His eyes bored into hers for a moment, and then he turned on his heel and left.

****

True to his word, John arrived the following day prepared for battle. With a cursory knock on the door, he dangled a bag of M&Ms inside the trailer, but snatched it back before she could grab them. “We are going out for pizza. I will pick you up in ten minutes.” Before she could answer, he walked out.

John, the hero in this story, is very awkward around people, very hesitant to show himself to others. Consequently, he speaks more formally and doesn’t use contractions. I wanted the reader to wonder about him from the moment he opened his mouth. I also want the reader to see how he relaxes around the heroine as he gets to know her, because his speech changes.

How do you differentiate between characters and speech?

C Is For Children

Jennifer talks about children as secondary characters...

I love writing children. They’re fun to create and they’re extremely useful.

They can be instigators. In A Heart of Little Faith, my heroine has to work late and she needs someone to watch her daughter, Claire. The neighbor steps up and the neighbor’s brother, the hero, entertains her with a board game until my heroine arrives:

Even before she entered, Lily could hear Claire’s giggle, and the telltale popping sound of “Trouble.” Wondering who Samantha had subjected to her mercenary daughter, Lily frowned and walked into the living room. The sight stopped her dead in her tracks. Gideon.

“Claire,” she whispered, but neither Claire nor Gideon heard her. Claire was too busy giggling uncontrollably. Her brown curly hair bobbed as she bounced around in excitement. Lily observed with wonder Claire’s ease around Gideon. Since her father died, Claire’s contact with men had been limited. Lily rarely dated and Claire tended to be shy around strange men. Not so with this man.

He turned around and nodded at Lily. “Hello.”

The sound of his voice, even that one little word, made Lily’s stomach go all jiggly inside and she swallowed as she watched his eyes rove from her wet, raggedy hair to her water-sloshed shoes.

Oftentimes, I use them as a way to explain things to readers. Because young children, especially, don’t know about certain things, they can ask questions that a main character can answer, thus providing the reader with information they wouldn’t otherwise necessarily know. For example, in TheSeduction of Esther, I needed to explain a few Jewish terms to non-Jewish readers:

“Shabbat Shalom and welcome to Temple Beth Am. I’m Dave.”

Nathaniel shook the older man’s hand and looked into kind brown eyes. “Shabbat Shalom. I’m Nathaniel and this is my daughter, Zoe. We’re new members.”

“I thought you might be. Hello, Zoe.”

“Hi, I’m seven and I go to school downstairs. Why did you say Shabbat Shalom?”

Dave smiled. “It means peaceful Sabbath and we say it to each other on Shabbat. Why don’t you and your dad go inside and sit down. Join us at the oneg afterwards for snacks. We have cookies,” he said, with a wink at Zoe.

Children also provide a way to demonstrate a main character’s traits. For example, in Skin Deep, I used Valerie’s niece to show the type of person Valerie is:

Back at the house, John disappeared upstairs, while Valerie searched for Sarah. She followed the noise of children laughing into the basement. Her nieces and nephews played board games, and their laughter, whining and arguing filtered up the stairs and through the rest of the house. Valerie stood on the bottom step and waited for Sarah to see her. When Sarah looked up, Valerie caught her eye, and Sarah ran over.

“Will you do my makeup now?” Sarah asked as she bounced up and down.

Valerie smiled at the endless energy. After her own hike, and the tension caused by dealing with John, she just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. But she’d made a promise to her niece. And, as John had said, she was a good aunt.

Children are funny. They see things differently than adults. They’re often much more literal. At the same time, their imaginations are usually bigger and they’re more open to new things. So putting them into a situation and watching them handle it is often amusing.

How do you deal with these issues?

X Is For…Exes

Jennifer talks about her characters’ exes…

I’m happily married with two kids. But the characters I create have very different situations than I do. And their ex-girlfriends, ex-husbands and ex-wives, do a number on my heroes and heroines.

In A Heart of Little Faith, Gideon, the hero, has been hurt by an ex-girlfriend who has convinced him that as a result of his accident, he’s not worth it. While his accident has left him in a wheelchair, it’s the psychological damage she caused that creates most of his problems and influences how he behaves with the story’s heroine, Lily.

The heroine of Skin Deep, Valerie, escaped an abusive marriage. Her husband actually died before the story began, but his abuse causes her to distrust men, especially when they drink.

Nathaniel is the hero of The Seduction of Esther. His ex-wife had a very public affair with the president of his former synagogue. As a result of her public indiscretion, he is gun-shy when it comes to any kind of public attention. Thus, he fights his attraction to the choir director of his new synagogue.