{"id":951,"date":"2011-03-28T22:33:44","date_gmt":"2011-03-29T04:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/?p=951"},"modified":"2012-01-30T22:49:35","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T04:49:35","slug":"guilt-blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/28\/guilt-blogging\/","title":{"rendered":"Guilt-blogging"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems rather neglectful–not that we don’t tell you upfront that we are neglectful bloggers here <g>–to comment upon an event elsewhere but not here at my own blog, especially since the event had something to do with me.<\/p>\n

So here’s my call story for this year’s RITA nominations.<\/p>\n

Usually I am not a nervous person, possibly because usually I have no idea what’s going on. \ud83d\ude42 \u00a0Take the RITAs, for example, in 2009 and 2010, the calls came early in the morning, right after I’d come back home from walking the Junior Kidlet to school, before I’d even realized what date it was. \u00a0This time, however, I began working before waking the kidlet up, and while using the dictionary widget on my macbook, I happened to glance at the calendar widget, and the 25 was highlighted. \u00a0Too bad, a second later, I remembered that RITA calls went out on the 25th.<\/em><\/p>\n

This set me slight on edge. \u00a0I am not a hoper–is that a word?–and usually prefer to first mentally prepare myself for the worst that can happen. \u00a0And when 8:30 came and went, I thought, well, that’s probably it. \u00a0The calls have gone out and I didn’t get mine.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

Then at 8:37 the phone rang. \u00a0I scrambled to get it. \u00a0Ack. \u00a0The number of a known telemarketer. \u00a0I pressed the rejection button really hard and muttered something under my breath. \u00a0And then, just as I was walking away from the phone, it rang again. \u00a0And this time it was Cindy Kirk from RWA. \u00a0There is an old Turkish proverb that goes: When Allah wants to make a poor man happy, He takes away the man’s goat and then let him find it again. \u00a0And boy, when I got the call after thinking I wouldn’t, did it make me happy!<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n

This was written for The Romance Bandits. \u00a0Who corralled a bunch of RITA nominees (and a couple of Golden Heart nominees) who have been guest bloggers at the Bandits’ blog to share their RITA call stories<\/a>. \u00a0Go give it a read. \u00a0Most of the stories are better than mine.<\/p>\n

But I was most certainly as thrilled as anyone. \u00a0This never gets old. \u00a0Especially as I’m always a little unsure how to feel about HIS AT NIGHT myself.<\/p>\n

Now my mind turns to the dress. \u00a0But alas, I’m on deadline. \u00a0And I sit all day and eat crap when I’m on deadline. \u00a0And even the prettiest dress might turn into sausage casing when the deadline goes on for another two months.<\/p>\n

So I’d better finish those two books fast–two books, ack–if for nothing else than to get out the house and get some exercise. \u00a0Book 1 is shaping up well. \u00a0Book 2 is going to need an overhaul–nothing new here. \u00a0Same old process. \u00a0Write ’em first and sort ’em later.<\/p>\n

This then, will be the last blog for a while, until I’ve turned those two books in. \u00a0So I want to inform everyone that I am contributing critiques to two auctions. \u00a0First, to the well-known Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction, a query critique. \u00a0Second, a three-chapter critique to the Crits for Water Campaign<\/a> run by blogger Flighty Temptress. \u00a0My critique is scheduled to go up for auction<\/a> on June 13. \u00a0I’m not sure how the bidding works exactly, but if you are interested, I’m sure Flighty Temptress will be happy to walk you through the process. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

I have never offered a chapter-critique before, and the reason is that I can be terrifying. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42 \u00a0Half the time I preface a critique with “I know you won’t like hearing this–” \u00a0But if you want someone to have a good hard look at your WIP, especially one that’s close but no cigar (those actually \u00a0benefit the most from a stone-cold analysis), and if you’ve a few bucks to contribute to a good cause, then look me up. \u00a0Just make sure you really do want to know what’s not working.<\/p>\n

And now, last but never least, new foreign covers.<\/p>\n

Italian Private Arrangements:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now if this looks familiar, it is. \u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s Monica Belucci all over again! \u00a0Different photos from the same series. \u00a0I really would like to know if my Italian publisher consulted the French cover or if this is just an amazing coincidence. \u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

And now, Taiwanese NOT QUITE A HUSBAND.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This actually looks a lot like the environs of Chakdarra, where pitches battles of the Swat Valley Uprising of 1897 were fought. \u00a0And the fort resembles the real fort at Chakdarra. \u00a0Need I tell you that I’m happy? \u00a0And lol, not only did they mention the RITA for NQAH, they also mentioned the AAR Best Hundred Romance placement. \u00a0All true, let’s sell this baby, I say. \u00a0It’s when they call me a New York Times<\/em> bestselling author that I start to giggle. \u00a0How come I’m always an American bestseller overseas? \u00a0\ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n

So long, keep well, and ’til we meet again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems rather neglectful–not that we don’t tell you upfront that we are neglectful bloggers here <g>–to comment upon an event elsewhere but not here at my own blog, especially since the event had something to do with me. So here’s my call story for this year’s RITA nominations. Usually I am not a nervous … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[45,21,66,14],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sherrythomas.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}