Seressia Glass: Blog Me

Seressia June 15th, 2008

I’m back from vacation, my week in the woods time to reflect.  I’ll be undergoing a re-direct of sorts, nothing too drastic.  But the blog may go away.  Or it may change into a writing process type of blog, if anyone is interested in the excruciating minutiae of how I forge my stories.  At the very least, this may serve as a guide to how not to get your stories done.
Right now, I am juggling three stories.  One is a novella due in just over a week.  Another is a short due in July, and another is a novella that hasn’t been started yet.

I should mention that I also have a full time career, in which I…write.

This is why my tagline for my weblog was “A blog a day means I’m not writing!” 

We’ll see how it goes.  It may go nowhere.  It may just be fodder.  And we may find something useful.

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Seressia June 4th, 2008

The next time you lean out of your window and say, “Please don’t hit my business car,” you may want to consider the following:

A. My co-worker’s Cadillac cost more than your Ford Focus.

B. Be glad that my other co-worker asked me to keep walking and let it go and I did, thinking you were on a business call.
C:  Be further glad that I was on my way to a birthday luncheon at the Cheesecake Factory, and therefore in too good a mood to deal with your trifling self.

D.  Deciding to go to the mall at lunchtime and/or park in front of the five main restaurant chains to then sit in your little Ford Focus business car with the windows down on a 93-degree day so as to prevent people from hitting your door with theirs is not exactly the smartest thing to do.  Considering who you are though, perhaps that actually makes sense.

Next time, park in the %^$##@! back 40 behind the Costco.

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Seressia June 3rd, 2008

Even if you’re a Republican–heck, if you’re an American–you’ve got to be amazed at our political process.  For the first time since I’ve been voting, every state has mattered in a primary.  Every vote was important.  It went down to the wire, to the last two states on the last night of voting.

This was better than going to the movies.  This was real life.  This was history in the making, no matter who secured the Democratic nomination.

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Seressia June 1st, 2008

I’m propped up on pillows in Jackie Hamilton’s room, after soaking my poor tired pups in a whirlpool footbath for the past half hour. There is a margarita flavored wine cooler in the very near future, but I wanted to share a few tidbits with you:

Day 2:
Passed within touching distance of Slash. So wanted to go up and part his hair or steal his hat, but I’m a (mostly) good girl. Still very cool to see him though. Also spotted in the South Hall with the big dogs was Stephen Baldwin signing his Christian fiction book.

Passed out s many free books and gabbed with so many readers, librarians and booksellers. Fell asleep in the car ride back from BEA, but perked right up when we pulled into Gyu-Kaku, a Japanese BBQ place in Rancho Cucamonga (I just like saying that name) in the Victoria Gardens outdoor shopping mall.

It was my first time having kobe beef, and let me tell you, it lives up to the hype. It’s the most tender beef I’ve ever had. I wish they’d put one of these in Buckhead or Alpharetta, but alas they are only in CA right now. I was so tired when we finally got home that I tried to get five pages done but fell asleep at my keyboard.

Day 3:
I was in depserate need of coffee by the time we rolled into the convention center. The Starbuck’s gate was still down (and this after they closed at 3 yesterday even though the convention ran until 5 pm.) Luckily Stephanie Meyer bought coffee–all I had to do was walk around with a Twilight cup in my hand. Hey, give me a mocha and you’re on!

Was pretty much in the Parker Publishing booth all day, with occasional forays to the outside world. Clinton Kelly of What Not to Wear did walk by our booth on the way to his signing, so that was my celebrity spottage for the day. Talked to several more people and got to hang with fellow writers Lena Matthews, Kelley Nyrae, JM Jeffries, Javan Shepard. Tonight was mainly about recapping the day and soaking my tootsies while getting my five pages done. Guess which one was the hardest?

Tomorrow is only a half-day for me, as I need to get to the airport by 2 PM. This has been an overwhelming experience, but I sure do miss my bed.

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Seressia May 30th, 2008

Today was mainly set up day. Parker Publishing is next to Torquere Press, but they weren’t there as yet. Saw the RWA crew on the same aisle as Ellora’s Cave huge RV.

In the hall way on the way to one of the AA workshops, we ran into Dr. Ruth Westheimer. She really is a tiny woman–and so full of vitality and good humor, you can’t believ eshe’s celebrating her 80th birthday this week!

At the AA welcome reception, we saw Kimani’s Linda Gill in a fabulous vintage emerald green brocade jacket that I instantly coveted; congratulated Brenad Jackson on her NYT placement, and said hello to Monique Patterson of St. Martin’s Press. Also got to reunite with some Slam Jam attendees, including Donna Hill, Rochelle Alers, Kimberly Kaye Terry, and Gwen Forster. Jackie was caught by a gorgeous guy and whispered to me, “Oh my god–I think we he was on the Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency.” Sure as heck, it was Michael Anderson from Seaon 3–and boy does he look good in person! He’s modeling some covers for Kimani, hence his presence at BEA.

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Seressia May 29th, 2008

I’m catching a plane to LA to attend BEA in about 8 hours. Considering at least 1 hour of that is traffic-sitting and another shaping up to not scare the other travelers, I need to take my neurotic ass to bed. TTFN!

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Seressia May 22nd, 2008

In case you missed it, Dear Author had a post on Reviewing Black romances. They want them. They prefer you email them with a blurb and a link to an excerpt. And, if your publisher doesn’t do ebooks, they’ll be more than happy to take an ARC or a PDF of your Word doc. Ladies, start your engines!

I have had a very productive week, I’m proud to say. I sent in an anthology proposal to an editor I met at Slam Jam on Tuesday, and today I sent a proposal for a single title to an agent, whom I also met at Romance Slam Jam.

I’m hoping both of these projects will give me some New York loving because hey, I’ve talked about the importance of diversifying the writing portfolio. And frankly, I think I’m ready and these story ideas are viable (read: marketable) concepts for New York.

When I hear something, I’ll let you know.

The “next thing” is always out there for authors. Selling a story isn’t an ending–it’s a whole new beginning. The next thing is to sell another one. The next thing after that is to show a profit. THe next thing after that may mean going into print or mass market. The next thing after that may mean selling to New York or getting out of midlist. The next thing after that is hitting one of the extended best seller lists. The next thing after that is actually making a living, and staying in the business as a relevant contributor.

I’m sure if you asked Nora Roberts or Beverly Jenkins, they’d both say there’s a next thing for both of them.

My next thing is enjoying the Memorial Day holiday with a few friends coming to town. Next week, I’m off to my very first Book Expo America and my first flight into LAX. I’ll appreciate your general good wishes being sent my way!

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Seressia May 16th, 2008

First of all, a big congratulations to romance author Brenda Jackson for being the first black romance author to hit the New York Times extended list at #34 with her black romance novel, Irresistible Forces. It’s the highest opening rank for a series book I believe, so double congrats to her. And she does this while working a day job!

ANother big congratulations goes to Joshua Packwood, 22, for being the first white valedictorian at Morehouse College, a Historically Black College in my town, Atlanta.

Life hasn’t always been easy for Packwood. He grew up in a poor area of Kansas City, Missouri, where he says he found himself gravitating to the black community at a young age.

Adolescence was rough. His mother’s second marriage to a black man ended in divorce and family tension forced him to seek refuge with his best friend’s family - who were black and middle-class.

The experience of living with his best friend’s family had a profound effect on Packwood, who says he saw a “different side of black America.”

He got interested in African American studies and decided that the best way to understand it and learn about it was to experience it honestly, choosing Morehouse over a full scholarship to Columbia University.

“What Morehouse stands for at the end of the day, and what Dr. King epitomized, it’s not about black or white, it’s about the content of [a person’s] character,” says Packwood. “It’s about me, representing Morehouse in that light — not as a white man or a black man.”

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Seressia May 13th, 2008

So yeah–I did not update the other days of Romance Slam Jam. Suffice it to to say that a good time was indeed had by all, some more than others. Karaoke was fun but my goodness!–Proud Mary is a freakin’ long song! The signing was amazing and validating and seeing Beverly Jenkins win all her awards did me proud and made me want that run someday (soon). I left Chicago energized and rarin’ to go on my work.

There have been several “race in romance” discussions around the blogosphere, and there’s an article in the May Romance Writer’s Report. I think that’s a record–and it ain’t even Black History Month. I will not even offer my opinion on the photo used to illustrate the “color” or romance article, cause you know, it’s in black and white–I can’t tell what race the four women with long dark hair are.

I got my Rita scores back yesterday for Dream of Shadows. Two 9’s, two 7’s, and an 8.8 put me in the top 25%. Felt really good about that–until I opened my royalty statement from Genesis Press. Four books, no checks. Color me unsurprised. I think I may have to change my name, pretend to be white and write black secondary characters so they’ll give me a decent sized print run and shelve me in the Romance section. This reminds me of the job I had where I had been employed with the company for more than five years and had some college education. They hired a white lady to do the same job–she had a GED, no college and off the street she made $2 more an hour than I did.

And people wonder why there’s such a thing as an Angry Black Woman.

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Seressia May 6th, 2008

Thursday got off to a great start. After getting my badge and two bags of schwag, I head off to my first workshop, which is a Reader Session that I’m having with author Marcia Collette. We talked about our current and forthcoming books, the stories behind the books, our writing process (we’re both pantsers, though I can’t really afford to be one anymore). There was a video camera there, so I was on my bestest author behavior. (yeah, I know you’re disappointed.)

After that, I got to run upstairs to the suite for an intimate session. These are basically where a few readers (no more than ten) are able to hang with their favorite author and we chat about any and everything. I had a full allotment and kicked off my shoes and curled up on a chair and chatted. It was great because it’s a wonderful moment of validation for me as a writer. I mean, there was a lady who came in with a stack of books, and I realized that they were all mine, and she wanted me to sign all of them. Amazing, and I was touched and I thanked her, and she turned around and thanked me for writing the stories and that she’d been a fan since book one.

As I signed each one, I held it up and told a little story about each. Readers asked me questions, noted which story they loved, their reaction to each while we munched on grapes and strawberries and pizza from Gino’s. During the wrap-up I mentioned Dream of Shadows and it’s history and a little about the story and the family that would be written about over the course of the books. A few of them hadn’t seen that one yet. The room monitor told them that the bookstore would be opening in ten minutes–and they all got up to head down and look for my book. Awesome!

Spent some time sharing with authors Lisa G. Riley, Natalie Dunbar, Barbara Keaton, Dyanne Davis, and others before heading down to the lobby. Ran into Beverly Jenkins who is wonderful and classy and real as ever. Met a few readers/writers/friends I knew from MySpace and the IMRR group, squeed, laughed hugged, signed autographs and a few more books, and many photos taken, completely missed lunch and didn’t care one bit.

Two o’clock and my last workshop, Sleeping With Your Characters. I was only expecting maybe a dozen people. More than 30 showed up. I zoomed through the workshop–about using creative visualization and lucid dreaming techniques to get to know your characters and get them through creative jams–and spent time talking about my writing process, reference books I enjoy using.

More later

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