Life

A Call for Troop Support

This next week is going to be busy with not one but two new eBook releases for me. I don’t want today’s post to get lost amid the marketing hubbub of promoting my books, but I also don’t want to delay this very important post either, so here it goes…

Those who have been around here for awhile have heard me talking about my military muses. The stars aligned during October of 2006. By some twist of fate, I joined BooksForSoldiers.com and happened to stumble upon and respond to a request for care packages from a certain soldier deployed in Ramadi, Iraq at the time. It is so long ago, and so many care packages ago, I’m not even sure what the request was for. I believe Sean was building a library in the MWR and requested books. Being a newly published author at the time, I had books, and I sent them. The thank you email he sent me back started a friendship that has lasted nearly 4 years now. It also spurred a collaboration. Sean’s tales of war have inspired 3 of my military romances, and his fact checking keeps me on track during my writing in that genre.

It is with mixed feelings that I inform you he is about to deploy once more. As he jokes, he will have more info for me and I’ll likely get another book or two out of it. But I also realize that where he is going is the current hotbed of discontent and danger, just as Ramadi was when he was there years ago. So it goes where he serves. First in, last out and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Anyway, this time instead of just his usual 11 man team beneath him, Sean now has 45 men he is responsible for. So this deployment, the third since I’ve known him, the sixth I believe in his ten-plus years in, I am not going to just be content with sending him packages on my own. I have a background in marketing, both from my college studies, and my career in the real world, besides the marketing required to be an author. Why not use it for Sean’s benefit?

No matter what your opinion is of this war or the men in Washington DC, those soldiers serving in Afghanistan, freezing in the winter, broiling in the summer, risking life and limb to not only enemy attack but the wildlife and elements they are forced to endure, deserve all of our support. And even if you don’t choose to support Sean’s platoon, my hope is that you will receive the information you need here to help you more effectively support a soldier of your choice also serving overseas. Below is a copy of the email Sean sent out today to his friends. It is exactly as I received it from him with one exception, I removed his mailing address. We both agreed for security purposes that the mailing address shouldn’t be spread all over cyberspace. However, anyone who would like to send a card, letter or package to Sean’s unit, please shoot me an email at catjohnson @ hotmail .com and I will reply with his mailing address. I will not capture your email address or use it for promo. I will not share your email address with anyone. We simply feel safer not informing the bad guys exactly where there will soon be a personnel change and troop movements in that region, or supply a crazy radical person an address to be used to harass or harm our troops. Call me paranoid. Anyway, here is the letter from Sean.

Remember, for the cost of a postcard stamp you could make a deployed soldier’s day.

Cat

Dear Family and Friends,

I am writing you today as our deployment draws even closer. While I can not say exactly when we will be departing, I will say with certainty that I need to begin generating support for my soldiers for our time downrange if I am to be successful for my men.

Whether it is a letter of support, a book to relax with, a dvd to watch during movie night, a snack to liven up the usual drab course, or a hygeine item to help keep us clean. All of this matters to a soldier and makes a difference in their morale.

Having been deployed more times than I care to count, I can tell you from experience that not receiving mail can really be a downer. I can also say that being a point of contact for my platoon, the astounding affect that mail can have on a person.

If you have family or friends who wish to help or are part of any organization; be it a local church or school, store or business, sports team, etc that may wish to be a part of supporting soldiers, it would be much appreciated. I have found much success in these types of support groups.

I am including a generic list of items which I have found are needed/wanted. Once there I will find out more specific needs or wants from the soldiers. The list is not an all inclusive one.

My platoon is all male and approximately 45 in number. I’ll serve as the Point of Contact for my soldiers and will ensure the care packages/letters are distributed. Packages addressed to “Any Soldier” is generally frowned upon in an age where someone can use the mail system to harm others. For those who want something to go specifically to me, just label that item or include in your correspondence that the item or package is solely intended for me. Other than that, all will be used for the good of the platoon.

Also, please do not mail anything prior to 22 February. This date is just a generalization for mailing. I don’t know how long mail will take to arrive this time, but I am not wanting it to arrive too early and flood the unit we will be replacing. If it gets there early, no worries, they have a place to secure any mail intended for us.

—–The List——

CORRESPONDENCE-letters, postcards, greeting cards, pictures (of you or things in states)

Phone cards- generally needed. not sure what type of phones we will have, so for now if you do send, do so in small limits. At the larger camps these can be used, but in smaller outposts where we will be, it depends on the phones they set up. It might be that I could generate an account for all to use and the regular type phone cards aren’t needed. I will let you know once there.

———————————————————————————————————————

ENTERTAINMENT- These are an important function in a combat zone. It is a way to unwind and escape the day to day realities of combat and the stresses involved.

DVD movies or tv seasons- used or new, regular or bluray

XBOX 360/ PS3 /PS2/XBOX (new or used)

Books (all genres minus romance) Bibles are welcome, but usually provided by chaplains.

Magazines-“Maxim” type, guns, sports, outdoor, etc.

Activity books/puzzles (Sudoku, word search, etc…)

Handheld electronic games

Board games (chess, monopoly, risk, etc)

Cards/Dominos/Dice

Card games (Skip bo, Phase 10, etc)

Comic Books- yes, still a valued entertainment source among many

——————————————————————————————-

HYGEINE ITEMS-

Shampoo/conditioner (two in one works best)

Razors- regular disposables work, but the mach 3 or fusion type are preferred

Shaving Cream

Aftershave gels or lotions

Baby Wipes

Toothpaste

Toothbrush

Dental floss

Mouthwash

Deodorant- mostly used is gillette gel type antiperspirant/deodorant.

Q-tips/Cotton balls

Soap (irish spring is widely used)

Bodywash

washcloths

Foot powders/Tinactin spray

Nail clippers/tweezers

Hair clippers w/attachments(ask first before sending as one or two would be enough)

Skin lotion

Chapstick

————————————————————————————————-

MEDICINE- anything in general (nondrowsy types if possible)

Tylenol/Advil/Motrin

Immodium AD

pepto bismol

Moleskin

Icy hot

Bandaids- all assortments

——————————————————————————————————————-

GENERAL ITEMS

Olive drab green calf length boot socks- socks made for hiking/water resistant is a plus but not necessary. Thorlos is a preferred brand, but a bit pricey.

White socks crew length

Boot insoles- general sizing 7 ½ to 13, most are around 9

multivitamins

Supplements- mainly protein sources, the weightlifting powders like whey protein. These supplements are dual purpose. Weightlifting is a favorite thing for deployed soldiers. If there is no gym equipment, we make it out of whatever is handy. Soldiers who don’t weight lift still utilize these supplements to help keep their bodies in good health.

Calendars- please no puppies, favorites are ones like Maxim and swimsuit ones

Air fresheners /candles

CDR’s or DVDR’s-for making pic discs

Canned air or Endust wipes

AA and AAA batteries

Greeting Cards- for holidays/events (ie birthday/anniversary), general subjects (Really Miss You, Love You, etc)

Bug Spray (Avon Bug Guard is a good one)

Multi-outlet cords with surge protector

Dental picks- the metal type, good for either dental hygiene or in depth cleaning of weapons

Plastic flatware

Microwaveable bowls

Cigarettes/cigars/chewing tobacco

———————————————————————————————-

FOOD

Tuna/Salmon- preference is the bagged.

Microwaveable meals ( ie Easy Mac, Taco Bell, Chef Boyardee, ramen)

Microwaveable popcorn

canned meats/Ham salad/vienna sausages/ sardines

Summer Sausages & mustard

Condiments-ketchup, mayo, mustard, etc. (packets and bottles)

Trail mixes/granola bars/chocolate bars-make for great on patrol energy boosters

Fruit cups

Drink mixes (kool-aid/country time/ice tea, etc)

Coffee

Sugar

Coffee creamer

Beef jerky

Sunflower seeds

pistachios

Peanuts-good, but tend to be overkilled in amount

Peanut butter

Jelly/jam

Chips-any kind

Chip dip

Salsa (many like it hot)

Crackers

Cookies

Candy (any sorts)

poptarts

breakfast bars

instant oatmeal packs

pickles (the large prepacked ones)

—————————————————————————————-

DO NOT SEND / DO NOT SEND / DO NOT SEND

Alcohol/narcotics

Homemade goods –please don’t send unless we know you very well. For the safety of the soldier all food must be non-homemade goods

Flea Collars-we can’t use them as they aren’t made for humans, wild how rumors spread…..we don’t have fleas, we may get sampled by a lot strange spiders and bugs, but no need for these

Ammo or pyrotechnics- Uncle Sam keeps us stocked.

Hamsters, goldfish, or other pets. -There is more wildlife where we will be than we can handle as is; dogs, cats, jackals, rats, snakes, scorpions, spiders, and more. No need for pets.

Feminine products- there are women in other areas who would need these more.

Okay, I am going to get this sent out. I know that many have been waiting anxiously for me to deploy again. Some seem to like my writings, The Ramblings, others have a want to support the soldiers and I. Whatever your motivation, I send my appreciation now. My gut and more importantly, current knowledge of what’s going on downrange right now tells me that we are going to need all the “love” we can get.

If you have any questions please email me. I will do my best to respond as soon as possible. Things here have been very busy so free time is very limited.

Your Friend and Soldier,

Sean

writing romance

The evolution of a romance… Novel, that is

Today I’d like to tackle what it takes to get a romance novel from computer to publication. I’m not talking about the concept, plotting, research, character development, story arc, etc which goes into the actual creation of the story. I’m not even talking about researching and targeting which publisher is appropriate for you to submit to. I’m talking about the nuts and bolts. You and your publishing house and what happens between you to take your story from submission to reader, an insider’s view. You published authors know all of this already, and feel free to chime in with any additions, but this is for the curious reader, or the aspiring writer.

Submission.

Since my second story in the bull rider series (Bucked) is releasing in less than 2 weeks, let’s discuss that book specifically in this case. It went directly to my editor for a first read at a little over 60K words. It came back to me with suggestions for improvement. Things like the hero and heroine need to meet sooner. There is too much reference to book 1 in the series. All totally valid points so I took it back and cut (gulp) 10K words out. Then I began to rebuild. A new prologue that showed the past relationship between the hero and heroine. Less back story, less side characters, but more interaction between the main characters. It never reached 60K again, but that’s okay. It’s well over 50K and that is long enough and it is a tighter story because of it. There were other nuances the editor suggested changes to at this stage also. Things like the level of honesty between the two characters regarding the secret the hero was keeping from the heroine. This is all stuff that an outside eye has a clearer view of than you as the author. This is the stage where you have to take a step back and forget this is your baby.

Edits.

The rewrite was acceptable and Bucked was contracted. Now the fun begins. My editor and I work well together and we can usually knock the edits out in two rounds. First round I usually get comments like “this sentence is a bit acrobatic” or “rework this sentence so it has less commas”. It’s also things like continuity. On page X you said this, on page Y you said this, or “did he have a pain pill or a shot for pain?”. Again, stuff that an outside reader will notice that the author won’t because we are too close to the work. Between rounds 1 and 2 the manuscript really gets tightened. I’ll open it to find many colors (yes, colors) used by the editor to highlight where I have repeated the same word or phrase too often. I have to go in and change those words for synonyms. Also tiny things like using t-shirt in one place but T-shirt in another, have to be made consistent throughout.

An author learns things with each edit so now that I just finished edits on my 4th book with Samhain I know pretty much what my editor is looking for and will head her off so to speak by self-editing before I submit to her. I have learned that the industry is moving away from dialogue tags, so I try not to use ‘he said’ or ‘she said’ if I can avoid it. I’ve learned what a comma splice is and I try to catch myself on those. I’ve learned you can’t have a character doing three different things at once in the same sentence and that beginning sentences with ‘ing’ words can be problematic. I now do a word search to make sure I am consistent with backward and toward (vs. backwards and towards). All things that formerly I never would have thought twice about. Of course there are things I will never get down, such as when to use lay vs. lie. Though I have figured out the ‘effect’ vs. ‘affect’ thing.

Final Line Edits.

So you finish the final round of edits. All changes in Track Changes have been accepted and the manuscript is clean and beautiful and you are both feeling a great sense of accomplishment for a job well done. But oh, you are not done yet because here comes the FLE. The final line editor’s job is to look at the manuscript with fresh eyes, and a cold heart (just kidding….sort of). She is not in love with your book the way your editor and you are. She is the Simon to your editor’s Paula and she now has your baby. She also seems to have some sort of super grammatical powers because this woman knows things that I dare say even Strunk and White and the employees at the Chicago Manual of Style would have to look up. She knows where there should be hyphens and aren’t. She will move commas around. She will question words, sometimes even facts, and yes, she will inevitably find inconsistencies. I am remembering this question from Bucked… “Sage can’t live both down the road from Mustang and next door to Mustang”.

You check your ego at the door, take your baby back and you clean it up again, making sure, as with this entire process, you choose your battles. I rarely dig in my feet on an issue. The only time I can remember recently fighting an edit was when the change didn’t fit the character. Though the FLE was absolutely correct that the proper word was ‘whom’ rather than ‘who’, I could not in good conscience have my 18 year old cowboy who spent more time on horseback than in school say or even think the word ‘whom’. If I was writing dialogue for my college professor hero from Gillian’s Island, yes whom would have worked, but not for my cowboys. Luckily my editor agreed. Battle chosen, and won.

Proofreading.

You’re not done after the FLE. There is still the final galleys to proofread. Here you are looking for typos that slipped by (and believe it or not, even after 3 sets of eyes have been over this thing multiple times there will still inevitably be typos because our eye often sees what should be written instead of what is written, especially when we are too familiar with the work). But there is more to proofing than typos. You have to make sure that the header and the footer are correct on each page, as well as in each section. That you haven’t messed up and mistakingly named Chapter 11 Chapter 12 instead. That it is actually your name in the header and not the last author’s name the person who built the files formatted. That words aren’t cut off on the edge of the page. That spaces, words or punctuation didn’t get accidentally dropped or added when any final changes were accepted.

Oh yeah, somewhere in there you have either written a blurb, or had it done for you, suggested and approved cover art and chosen an excerpt for the website. Easy peasy.

Phew. Yeah, all after you’ve been over this book so many times you can quote whole passages. But it is your baby and you love it so it’s not so bad. And you know this is the final thing before your brilliance is exposed to the world…or so you think. I haven’t even touched on promo yet. Websites, blogs, guest appearances online, live book signings, reader conventions, writer conferences, social networking, chats, yahoo groups, advertising, newsletters… but that is a topic for another day.

Those of you who know me, know I sometimes hate this business as much as I love it. All that is written above is actually the part I love, believe it or not. Crafting and honing the story is what I live for. It’s some of the other crap that goes along with this biz I hate, but that again is for another time.

Cat

Events

Let the 28 Days of Heart commence…

28 days. 28 novellas to benefit the American Heart Association. 28 authors blogging their hearts out…

Yes, the 28 Days of Heart author blog tour has begun. Look for a 28 DoH author at a blog near you.

TODAY

Find me visiting Savannah Chase’s Blogspot and talking about ‘series’

I’ll be speaking about the month of love and the 28 Days project at Selena Illyria’s Blogspot

I’m on Lena Austin’s blog writing about ‘important’ books and how mine are NOT among then for a reason
Finally, I’m on Lisa Matthews’ Wicked, Whimsical and Random blog talking about how charity starts at home.
And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned…