S.M. Butler's Blog, page 24

So last week, Kait Nolan tagged me in the writing process blog chain she did, so I’m continuing it, because I never do these, and I figured, why not?

What am I working on?

So presently, I’m drafting Dying Commitment, book 3 in the Lucky Thirteen series. Chronologically, it is set a year after Wounded Courage, so I don’t really want to give anything spoiler away by talking too much. But I’m really enjoying the drafting process on this book. I’ll say that much at least and it’s giving me ideas for more Lucky Thirteen books, but I’m not making any promises right now that there will be more.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

There’s not a whole lot of non-contemporary romance in New Adult literature right now. And while the Lucky Thirteen series is contemporary, it’s also romantic suspense, and military romance, two niches that really haven’t found a foothold in NA yet.

Why do I write what I do?

While I have been focusing on romance lately, I’d say that I actually write a lot of different things. But romance always is part of what I write. I love the journey between the two characters, because even though I know the end of the journey is the two getting together, the fun is watching them figure out the end for themselves.

How does my writing process work?

I never write the same way twice. I could just open up a doc and start writing. Or I write an extensive outline (this hasn’t happened yet) or I could let it marinate for weeks before I finally start the book. I always have multiple things going on, all at different stages. I might be zero drafting one, while I’m revising a second, or I may be doing the final spit shine on a book and be doing a revision on another.

The only thing I know for sure is about how long a project will take me from start to finish. And even then sometimes I screw up that too.

Tag, you’re it.

I’m tagging Alice Janell and Lanie Jordan. Because they’ll love me for it. No, really. ;) Next Monday, you’ll answer these questions on your own blog and tag 3 more writers. And yes, I’m being a rebel and only tagging two, because I can. HA.

There will probably be some radio silence this week here and online in general. I’ll be at Romantic Times all week in New Orleans.

I don’t have a huge schedule this year. It’s my first RT, so I kinda was trying to take it easy on myself. I’m only doing two events, one of which is a panel. But I’ll be hanging around the con the whole time, so let me know if you’re going!

My Schedule:
From Novella to Novel

Event Date:  Friday, May 16, 2014 - 10:00am to 11:00am

Moderator: Ally Broadfield

Panelist(s): Suzan Butler  |  Susana Ellis  |  Chris Marie Green (aka Christine Cody)   |  Barbara Monagem  |  Liz Pelletier (Entangled Publishing, Publisher)

Location: 4th Floor

Room: Bacchus

FAN-Tastic Day Party

Event Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014 - 6:15pm to 8:00pm (My time slot is from 6:30 to 7pm)

Location: 2nd Floor

Room: Preservation Hall

Giant Book Fair

I’ll be signing in the New Adult Section this year. Come see me there!

I’ll have copies of Killing Honor, No Strings Attached, and Off Her Game to sign.

Event Date: Saturday, May 17, 2014 - 11:00am to 2:00pm

Host(s): RT Book Reviews

Location: 3rd Floor

Room: Grand Ballroom & Mardi Gras Ballroom

I think 13 has strep. He’s had a fever for going on three days and his throat is sore. Let’s add some coughing into the mix as well.

He’s got a doctor’s appointment in about half an hour, so we’ll find out, but I’d really like some happy thoughts and prayers for him.

Poor kid is miserable, and that makes this mama sad.

Thanks, y’all!

ETA: Just got back from the doctor. 13 doesn’t have strep. He’s got a sinus and upper respiratory infection. So, he’s out of school for today and tomorrow, and hopefully, his fever will be gone when he goes back to school on Monday.

Today, I went to what Mama calls the Doggy Day Care. I call it Heaven. Inside this monstrous building, there are rows and rows of many bag of dog food. So many selections! I could try one from every single bag! There are many animals there, including the Feline Kind, the ones that don’t like to play or wrestle. I try to stay away from them. They unleash their claws and draw blood. I think they secretly enjoy it.

The Elder Offspring has been sick today. I tried to lick away his fever, but Mama said to leave him alone. Doesn’t she understand that he needs to be clean? Sick Offspring will only infect the other Offspring. The threat has to be neutralized. My drools and my licks keep the Elder Offspring from spreading his sickness to the rest of the pack.

Well, if I’m not to be appreciated, I will retire to my crate and rest, because it was a very full day at Heaven. I played with another dog named Velcro and ran around all day long. We wrestled for the Ball, racing each other to retrieve the Ball whenever our Keepers threw it for us.

So, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter or pretty much anywhere else, you’ve probably seen me jumping around like a loon and typing in all CAPS a lot. That’s because yesterday, we got the news that our SEALs of Summer boxed set hit the New York Times Bestseller List at #6 for ebooks, #11 on the print and ebook combined list, and debuted at #22 on the USA Today bestseller list.

YOU GUYS.

THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.

And a huge, HUGE, big, fat thank you to all of you, to every reader that picked up a copy, or shared the news or left a review or attended our FB event. Without you guys supporting us as authors, none of this would have ever been possible, let alone actually happen. So thank YOU.

For those who bought a copy, I hope y’all enjoy every story in the collection, and I think you’ll fall in love with those honorable, courageous, and sexy Navy SEALs just as much as we did while we were writing them.

 

So those of you that follow me on Facebook or Twitter know that I’ve been working hard on Wounded Courage, trying to get it done with enough time to get edits done and get it all polished up and ready to go out in time for its June release. And I finished it yesterday. There’s another pass to go once my editor gets it back to me, but it’s done.

Of course, my plan WAS to write Dying Commitment next, but I got bombarded by this NEW shiny plot bunny yesterday, and I think I might write on that for a week, as sort of a break between writing the books I’m already committed to write.  In fact… I’ve already been doing my pre-work… I broke out the scrapbooking supplies and the stickers last night…

Seriously, I think that collaging might have been the worst thing ever for me to learn about… At least for my productivity. My creative mind is very, very happy, and wishes I’d found this part of my process years ago. I don’t know if I’ve ever shown this one, but this is the one I did for the Lucky Thirteen series.

It’s not extravagant. It’s definitely not something like what Jennie Crusie does. I don’t think I have her scrapbooking skill. LOL. But I do like it, and it fits the tone of the books I’m writing for that series. Plus, I got to use their pretty covers.

Don’t worry, though. I’ll get back to Dying Commitment soon enough. I just need a week or two to decompress and write something else, and then I can come back to the Lucky Thirteen team refreshed and ready to roll.

How about you guys? Do you do anything like this to spark your creative fire?

Mama says she needs to work. I hate that about her. She’s always working. But the good thing is that when she’s done working, she plays with me. She gives me loves and scritches and rubs my belly. Especially when she’s had a good day working.

So my job is to make sure she gets a good day working, so I get the plays and the loves and scritches.

I’m pretty strict with her. I mean, I lay on her bed next to her papers and computer and I watch her while she works. And if she stops working for food time, I follow her in there to make sure she’s not getting into trouble or messing around too much.

After she finishes her work, she comes and lays on the bed with me and we watch the Color Box that has all the Moving Pictures in it. I like it when it shows the dogs. Those are always fun. There’s only so many humans you can watch do things. Dogs are much more entertaining.

It’s SEALs of Summer Release week here at the Butler casa, which means there’s a whole lot non-brainpower that’s happening.  Add to that edits that are due, like, last week, and I’m kind of up a tree with stress.

Even with the constant refreshing of the retailer pages to see rankings and know exactly how the new release is doing, I managed to sit down and work out about 35 pages of edits, which is really good for me since I have a hard time with edits. This second revision, while it’s put me about three weeks behind schedule was very much needed. I love the direction that this book is going now, and I think it is stronger than before.

Anyway, I’m pretty happy with the way the book is going. And even though I’m now behind on my schedule, it’s been well worth the trouble.

In other news…

So, EmoBoy (13) has reached the point where his voice is starting to change. At first, it just sounded like he had a cold. Now, when he speaks, sometimes, his voice will crack. He’s also gotten taller, his feet are now bigger than mine, and his attitude is almost as big as his feet.

Naturally, as Mother of the Year, I’m teasing him relentlessly about his voice cracking. And of course, he’s totally doing it on purpose. Or so he says. I don’t know how we came up with this “pick at each other” dynamic that we have. But it seems to work for us.

I’m still figuring out Jabbermouth (11). I think on the whole, he’s a much happier kid than 13 is. Or maybe he hasn’t hit that part of life where he forms a big ol’ chip on his shoulder. I don’t know. He just doesn’t respond the same way as 13 does to me picking at him. So, I think I need to work harder at finding something to mess with the kid about.

Book news…

I’m trying something new for Wounded Courage‘s release in June. I’m setting up a time for everyone to Tweet, Facebook, or Tumbl the release link. So… to do that… I’ve set up the services of Thunderclap. What it is is basically a way for people to sign up to share my message via social media. If I get 100 people to support my campaign project, it will send the message out on the day that I specify. However, if I don’t get that 100, then the message won’t send. And that would be a shame. So I’m asking you guys… if you have a Twitter account, Facebook account, or a Tumblr account, please sign up to share my release day blast for Wounded Courage. You can click the button below and it will take you directly to the campaign page.

Support Wounded Courage’s Release Day Blast

That’s it from me. I’m about to collapse on my bed for several solid hours.

 

 

 

It drives me nuts when I get those tweets about how I’m not following somebody. Yes, I know who I follow, and who I don’t, and it fluctuates daily. I am constantly following and unfollowing folks. It’s not personal. Maybe you’re ranting too much for me that day. Or maybe you promo too much for me. Or maybe I just want to cull my list a little.

You guys, Twitter should be a fun thing. It’s fast-paced, and social, and always changing. And we all have a right to choose who we want to see in our timelines. The ever-present rule for social media is: Are you happy there? Are you using it in a way that you enjoy? If you are, GREAT. Keep doing it. And if someone tells you you’re doing Twitter wrong, then that person is probably an asshole.

So, here’s how I use Twitter. Feel free to agree or not agree. That’s your prerogative. [1]

To keep up with friends

In the age of the internet, I’m not always in the same state as friends. But Twitter provides an easy medium to talk like we’re standing around the office water cooler every day. Now, I’m well-aware that the two thousand plus followers I have are not all people that i know. In fact, i’d say the majority of them are people that I don’t know. That’s okay. I have no idea why they would follow me. Maybe I entertain them. Maybe they’re interested in my books. Or maybe they’re just following because I followed them (If that’s how you use Twitter, that’s okay, BTW).

To inform fans what I’m up to with writing

Yes, I will post promotional things on Twitter sometimes. And sometimes, it’s more often than regular tweets. It just depends. Is there a release that week? That day? Do I have awesome news that I’m just bursting to put out there into the world? And maybe I just want to share something from what I’m writing that day. It depends on what I have going on.

To ramble on in 140 characters or less

I’m well-aware that there are certain people who follow me because I make them laugh. That’s okay. Twitter is my place to have fun, ramble/rant on about subjects that are either of zero importance or very important to me. I could be serious one minute and lighting farts the next [2]. As a result, you could say that I’m performing. Sure, I’m being myself, but I’m always aware that I’m in a public forum, so I strive to be personable, but not personal. I don’t say my kids names online. I refer to them either as Emoboy and Jabbermouth, or as their ages, 13 and 11. I kind of like the ages thing, though. Seems nerdier. Anyway, though I ramble, I’m always aware that it is public and the internet is forever. So I try to stay away from volatile topics… though you can get me on a good women’s choice rant pretty much any day.

Those three uses direct the way I use Twitter on a daily basis.

It is theoretically possible for me to follow everyone who follows me, but then I’d never be able to read my Twitter feed. At just over a 1000 that I’m following now? It’s almost impossible and that’s why I’ll be culling that soon. Again… not personal. Just trying to keep myself sane. That doesn’t mean that if they decide to directly mention me on Twitter that I won’t answer them, or engage them in conversation. It just means that I’m following people that either I know, have a business connection with, or are my friends.

And let’s talk about the lists, okay?

I LOVE the lists. I have dozens, not all of them public. And you might be on one of them, even if I’m not following you. That’s another way for me to manage what I see. A lot of people that I might fangirl over? They’re most likely on a list rather than me following them. It just makes more sense. I have a hockey list that has most of the NHL on it. But I don’t want to follow them all the time and the idea of trying to find them all again after hockey season makes me want to cry. So, there’s a list for them. And after hockey season ends, I close out the column that has the list.

Now, I go between Tweetdeck and Janetter on desktop apps for Twitter, because I can customize what I see. And if someone’s being a douchnozzle, then I can block/mute them for a while until they get tired of me not answering them. Muting on Janetter is awesome because they never know [3]. So if someone is having a bad day and taking it out on Twitter, I can hit the mute button, set it for a few hours, and hopefully by then, they’re back to their normal selves.

Twitter is one fast-paced social media stream, and I love it because I can check it a couple times a day and find completely different things. But it can get overwhelming. So if you do see me unfollow you, it’s not you, it’s me, and my will to keep my sanity. I encourage you not to do what the experts say, but to do what you enjoy on Twitter and what makes you happy.

I think that’s all I have. Sometimes, I talk way too much…[4]

~~~

 Notes

[1] See what I did there?

[2] I don’t actually light farts on Twitter. It totally loses translation online. It definitely needs to be experienced first-hand.

[3] Muting allows me to silence them without unfollowing my friends. So if someone’s having a random RANT ABOUT EVERYTHING day, I can mute them until they’re done with it.

[4] But really, if you minded that, you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog at all.

By popular request, I have created the Rockstar Readers’ Lounge over on Facebook. It’s small right now, so we need some friendly types over there helping with the conversation. So join up with us, come hang out. I have lots of plans coming up for that group. You want to be there.

 

Join the Rockstars’ Readers Lounge

Okay, that’s all from me. Come hang out with me there.