Yesterday, when I was whining, someone expressed surprise that a veteran author could feel this way and wondered if there was any hope for those still aspiring to be published. The short answer: YES. The truth is that when you sell a book, you will be thrilled, ecstatic, insanely happy that you have done so. That all this hard work has not been for nothing, and that an editor and a publishing house agree with you that you might have some talent. It’s an awesome feeling!

But, it is my sad duty to inform you, that insecure artist that lives inside you will never truly go away. With every book, you’ll wonder if you’re doing it right. You’ll feel like a fraud, a hack, and you’ll think your career is over. It may happen for you at the beginning of the book. Or the end. Or the middle. Or not until you’ve sent the whole perfect thing off to your editor and realize that maybe it’s not perfect after all.

The point is, it will happen. If it doesn’t, consider yourself lucky. But I’ve talked to authors I’ve admired for years, those with over 100 published books and awards enough to build a house out of, and they feel exactly the same. (That was a bit disheartening, let me tell you. I kept hoping this feeling would go away!) Ladies and gentlemen, there are a lot of frauds out there in the publishing world. Or so it would seem if our insecurities were to be believed. :/

All right, I’ve told you the bad stuff, which is that the insecurity and fear never go away. So how about some good stuff? Though I am still mired in the middle (actually sliding down the hill to the end now), and still feel very fraudulent, I’m going to give you some tips on how to get through the middle of the book syndrome. Consider these Lynn’s little guidelines for dealing with the crazy.

1. Remember that, no matter where you are in this dream to write books, there is no correct way to feel when you are writing.

2. If you’re a plotter, go have a look at that synopsis again (and if you are a plotter, I have no idea why you’d even feel the crazy at this point; you know what’s going to happen in your book! I don’t.).

3. If you’re a pantser, maybe it’s time to try and write a short synopsis of everything that’s happened so far and what you feel should or can happen next.

4. If you’re really stuck and fighting for every word, maybe it’s time to go back and reread the book from the beginning so you can see where you’ve made a wrong turn or dropped a thread. I often notice that when I can’t seem to make progress, it’s because my subconscious knows I’ve left something untended earlier in the book. Maybe I planted the seeds for something to happen and then never had it happen.

5. Take a look at your characters’ conflicts. Are they strong enough? Are you using them to their fullest advantage? Are you letting the conflicts drive your characters or are you meandering through the middle because you need words to fill the pages? Conflicts should be multi-layered. You peel back those layers as you go, letting the characters make progress or have setbacks, letting them get to know each other and learn new things about each other. This is the phase where their feelings are growing and changing based on what they learn about each other. This isn’t the time for pointless fighting just to keep them at odds!

6. Go read someone else’s book. Sometimes, seeing how another author deals with the middle can give you a light bulb moment about your own. I often go look at my own published books to see what I did (and to remind myself that I’ve done this before and can do it again!). Some people claim they can’t read books while writing, and that’s fine if that’s you. But I find it illuminating. I’m a writer, but I was a reader first and I love to read. I also read heavily in my own line. Because I can’t imagine a group of more talented, amazing writers than the Presents writers! I’m always inspired (and sometimes jealous) by the brilliance I read between the pages of a fellow author’s book.

7. Whine to a friend. If you have a good friend who doesn’t mind listening to you say the same things at the same point in every book, then call him or her up and whine. Or meet for coffee or lunch and have a good whine. I imagine you could whine to any friend, but sometimes a writer might be best. Though I have to admit, the person I most often whine to about my books would be Mr. Harris. And he is most definitely not a writer. But sometimes he has pretty insightful things to say about what I’m working on. Other times he tells me to buck up.

8. Take a break. Deadlines can be harsh, but sometimes you just have to unchain yourself from the computer. Not for days (I sure don’t have that leisure!), but maybe for a few hours. Go for a walk. Go for a drive. Meet a friend (see above). Go shopping. Go out for a meal. Just get yourself away from the electronics for a while and let your mind breathe. Often, the solution to a problem can present itself when you aren’t focusing solely on the problem. Your mind needs a break. Take one.

9. Remember, above all else, this too shall pass. You’re writing a book, not performing brain surgery. There are do overs. If you get it wrong, if you get to the end and it’s a mess, it can be fixed. If you have an editor, she’s going to tell you what you need to do. If you don’t, then give the book to a trusted critique partner or beta reader and see what they think.

10. Just write the darn thing to the end. Write whatever comes to mind. Even if you end up with pages of character meandering, plot threads dropped, new threads picked up, you can fix it. There are times when a book is a lump that needs molding. And sometimes you can’t mold it until you have the entire shape of it there (even if it is a lump). I have the most trouble with this one because I have an inner perfectionist streak. I expect the story to be, if not perfect, as close to the final version as I can get it before I send it off to my editor. I expect revisions, but I still feel like I’m failing her if I turn in something that I know will need a lot of revisions. But that is her job! She’s not sitting there putting black marks next to my name because I send her something that needs work. So write without fear. Turn off the perfectionist (if you have one) and let the words flow. There ARE do overs! And isn’t that a grand thing?

Those are my tips for getting through the middle of the book, such as they are. I’m sure they can be added to, so let me know if you have a tip you’d like to pass on. I can always use another one! And now I’m back to work, slogging through the forest of my imagination and hoping I make it out in one piece. All this to bring you a tortured Russian billionaire baby daddy. I hope you appreciate what I go through for you!

People actually paid to sit at my table! I was stunned. One of the lovely ladies who paid never made it, however, and I do hope everything is okay. We kept a lookout for you and never gave your seat away! So sorry you weren’t able to make it. :/

The rest of the week passed in a blur of parties, events, and chatting with my writer friends late into the night in the Red Bar. Here’s me with the fabulous and funny Megan Crane, aka Caitlin Crews.

As always, there’s at least one picture of me with Kimberly Lang. Here we are at our goodie table for the fan day event.

No photo gallery would be complete without a picture of debut Desire author Andrea Laurence. Here she’s holding up a copy of the excerpt book we put together. Doesn’t she look excited?!

Now, it’s time for me to write like the wind and finish this book I’ve got going. It’s due very, very soon. I’m off to the Alabama Book Festival this weekend, and then in two weeks it’s the Heart of Dixie Readers Luncheon and my first annual brainstorming/plotting retreat with the Dixie Plotters. The best part of that, besides the company, will be a certain friend’s cooking. Southern yummy, y’all!

And now it’s back to my delicious Russian billionaire baby daddy and the woman who done him wrong!

If you’re coming to RT, be sure and look me up. I’ll be rolling around a wheelie bag stuffed with books and goodies, and I’ll be giving those books away. That’s right, free books! I’ll be giving them away until I run out, so come and see me and say hi if you want one. (I have to limit it to one per person so I’ll have enough to last a couple of days!) I’ll also have excerpt books to give away as well.

Don’t be shy! Come and introduce yourself. And if you’ve never been to RT before, be sure to attend the RT Virgin workshop where you’ll learn how to get the most out of the experience. I went my first year, and it was helpful! I still have the button they gave me.

Hope to see some of you there!

It’s that time, y’all! The RT convention is coming up, and my friends Kimberly Lang and Kira Sinclair are doing another excerpt book with me. But it gets even better, because we’ve now added a fourth author – friend and debut Desire author, Andrea Laurence!

We’ll be giving away these gorgeous books for free! All you have to do is come talk to one of us. We’ll even sign them for you! They are filled with yummy excerpts of our upcoming books. Not to mention that sexy cover — done by the glorious, fabulous, wondrous Frauke at CrocoDesigns.

You know you want one. Come talk to us at one of our **events. (I’m not sending these out by request until further notice. I just don’t have enough copies to take to events and mail out too, but when I do, I’ll announce it here.)

**The very first place you’ll be able to get one of these lovely books is at Barbara Vey’s Reader Appreciation Luncheon in Milwaukee on Tuesday, April 10th. The second place is at the RT Convention in Chicago from April 11-15th.

So I mad-dashed upstairs, did a quick freshen up, ditched the travel clothes, and slid into a black sheath and sparkly Steve Madden heels. Back down to the lounge where I met my agent and had drinks and conversation for an hour, then off to the reception a block and a half away. Later, after the reception, Jennie and I changed and headed out into Times Square for a quick tourist moment. Here I am enjoying the sights.

I love New York, and I regretted that I hadn’t arranged to stay longer. I’m a bit of a Broadway junkie now. I’d love to just spend a week going to shows, but alas there was no time. The conference was two full days of information so good that my head is still spinning from it all. But I did manage to have a fun time with my fellow authors. For instance, here’s a group of us running to the Shake Shack for a quick lunch. The restaurant was so crowded we took the food back to the conference room and had a picnic there.

From L to R is Jessa Slade, Angie Stanton, Jenna Black, Moi, Jennie Lucas, and Erin Kellison. Laurie London took the photograph.

Finally, on Saturday evening, several of us got together for dinner and then went to see Alan Rickman starring in Seminar, a play about writers. Here I am along with Jennie and Laurie London at Cafe Un Deux Trois.

Alan was lovely, as usual, with that gorgeous voice of his, and the play was very interesting. Afterward, we took one last look at Times Square, and then it was off to bed for early flights the next morning. I was at the airport by 7 a.m. and home by about 1:30 that afternoon. I’m already plotting another trip to New York so I can see more shows (Ricky Martin in Evita!) and eat more fabulous meals that aren’t from chain restaurants.

Finally, if I have a takeaway thought from the conference (for writers), it’s this: the times, they are a-changin’. Educate yourself. You can no longer rely on things being done the way they’ve always been done. Educate yourself.

One of the best things about selling to Harlequin Presents is gaining some of the coolest friends ever. I truly love getting together with my fellow authors. We always have such fun! Though it’ll just be me and Jennie in NYC, we’ll still have a good time — and in July, when we all converge on Anaheim for the RWA conference, the fun will be even bigger and better as the other authors join us!

So while I reel with the fact I have to pack again (I just unpacked on Sunday!), I wanted to share some good news I got about Strangers in the Desert while I was in the Caribbean last week. First, Morgan and Whitney dish about the book at the RT Book Reviews website — and I am honored they liked it!

Secondly, I learned that this story was nominated for RT’s March Seal of Excellence! It didn’t win, but it was the only Harlequin category romance to be nominated. I am so thrilled with this honor! This book is special to me, and I’m very humbled by the reception it’s been getting from readers. Thank you so much for loving this book and telling your friends about it!

And now I’m off to sort through my clothes and pack weather-appropriate gear for NY. I’m thinking the tank tops and Capri pants from last week won’t cut it.

I leave you with a picture of me on the ship in St. Thomas. That superyacht in the background is something one of my heroes would own.

If you follow me on Twitter, you may think I tweet a lot of cat photos. And it’s true, I do. My furry children are adorable. And they do adorable things. And I must share them.

This is Nimitz at his best. At his best means when he’s sleeping. When he’s awake, all bets are off. He is the most destructive cat I’ve ever had in my life. He once knocked an oil painting off the wall. A big one. He stood on the piano and pulled it until the (admittedly old) wire broke. Crazy cat.

I’ve discovered the most fabulous product, thanks to him. Quake Putty. If you live in an earthquake zone, you know what I’m talking about. This is not something we need here in the South. Unless you have a Nimitz, that is. Quake Putty looks like silly putty. Except that it holds things (like vases of flowers, for example) down on the furniture so your fuzzy wrecking ball can’t destroy them. It doesn’t harm wood, either, which is great. I have two packs of the stuff. Came in really handy at Christmas with the extra decorations I set out, I can tell you.

Am I the only person with a destructive pet?

Okay, maybe there’s one: Thou shalt not bore thy reader.

Aside from that, all rules are rather like Captain Barbosa’s view of the pirate code: they’re guidelines. Guidelines exist for good reason. They are meant to keep you from making the kind of mistakes that others have made before you. They are a set of guide posts to help you along the way.

But they aren’t set in stone. They can be flouted if you feel the need. (But make sure you know why you need to flout them.)

Why did this post come about? Because yesterday, under the hashtag #pubtips, someone on Twitter said that you must not ever change point of view during a scene because you wouldn’t *ever* sell your book if you did. That’s a pretty intense statement.

And it’s simply not true. Many authors jumped in to say how they’d sold 10, 20, 30 books to their publishers without following that particular “rule.” Now, on the other hand, I think I know what the person who said it meant. She was judging contest entries and POV was all over the place. It was jarring for her.

That is a problem. If you are jarring the reader with your guideline flouting, then maybe you need to take another look at the guideline and try to see why it is one. People don’t make these things up just to give you a hard time. They do exist for a reason.

And maybe you should learn how to control POV with one per scene until you’ve got that down so pat that you can then make deliberate choices on when to exercise the option of switching to another character’s head. Merely a suggestion.

Me, I’m pretty much a purist. I believe, for me, that POV is best done one character and one scene at a time. It’s just the way I roll. I think it makes for a more cohesive story, and for a better bonding experience with the viewpoint character. It’s hard for me to care about someone whose head I leave after a paragraph.

However, even I, the purist, have been known to make a mid-scene switch. I can’t remember which book I first did it in, but it might be my 3rd or 4th. The scene started in one POV. It needed to continue in the other. Usually, I have no problem with a scene break in the middle and then continuing right on. But this time, the scene break was jarring. This time, the scene was so highly charged that the only way to keep the tension up and make the switch was to simply make the switch.

I have, to this day, not gotten ONE piece of mail or one review that claims I did it all wrong, or tells me I’m an idiot who doesn’t know how to write. Not one. Remember that. (And if I get one after this, I’ll know one of you is messing with me.)

Unfortunately, when we are still unpublished, we are searching, searching, searching for what might be holding us back from obtaining the brass ring. It’s really, really hard to take a good look at your work and realize that maybe the problem is your story. So we search for reasons why we were rejected without realizing the story isn’t quite right. Having a story rejected doesn’t make you a bad writer. Not at all!

When I go back and look at some of the things I did before I was published, I see it now. I see what was wrong that I couldn’t see then. Yes, I was a POV purist and yes, my book was written in Courier New 12 point font with exactly 25 lines per page, and yes I kept the backstory to a minimum and didn’t dump it into the first chapter.

But that isn’t always enough! I wrote some technically perfect things. But they are lacking in life and spark. They lack what I’ve learned since, which is that good story is far more than technical perfection. You must know who your characters are and what they want. You must know why not getting what they want is a very bad thing. And you must know why you won’t give them what they want but will make it all work out anyway.

Do not write with rules in mind. Write with the story in mind. Write with the goal of creating something compelling and uniquely yours. Yes, in my line there are a zillion marriages of convenience. Yours won’t be like any of the others because yours will be in your voice. Right? You won’t imitate, and you won’t slavishly follow a set of rules someone gave you.

There is no secret handshake, friends. There is only hard work and growing your craft. You can write your story in Arial or Times New Roman. (It should really still be double spaced when you submit it, but it doesn’t have to be when you’re writing if that’s what you prefer.) You can let Word figure out where to break the page (I do turn off Widows and Orphans, however). You should still put a header up there with your title, name, and the page numbers. Just in case someone prints it out and gets things out of order somehow.

You can change POV in a scene, even multiple times (though I’d be careful — do not jar). You can make your heroine a CEO and your hero a construction worker (though probably not in Presents, I gotta tell you). You can do just about anything so long as you do NOT bore the reader. You don’t have to start your story with dialogue. You don’t even have to have both characters on the first page together. But there are certain conventions in a category romance, and you really should know what they are if that’s what you want to write.

A hero and heroine who don’t meet for 3 chapters just isn’t going to work in a category romance. Though I’ll bet there’s a published author out there who did it so well that she sold the book and never looked back. It’s entirely possible. I still don’t recommend you do it, however.

Now go forth and write compelling stories with characters readers will care about. If you need to switch POV, switch it. If you need to drop some backstory in, do it. But know WHY you do these things and make sure you couldn’t do them better by doing them another way. Just don’t ever say that you absolutely must do something a certain way or you won’t publish. I can promise you no editor is going to read your story, be super excited by your characters and premise, and then get to a POV change and drop the book in disgust. “Too bad, we would have loved to publish this if only she hadn’t made that switch.” Not gonna happen.

In my March book, Strangers in the Desert, the hero and heroine aren’t in the same room together until page six. There might even be POV changes somewhere in the book, though I can’t remember. And talk about taking the usual theme and twisting it? There’s a secret baby — but it’s the heroine who doesn’t know the baby is hers. You can do anything so long as you motivate it well and tell it compellingly. (This book is an RT Book Reviews Top Pick for March, so something worked!)

Now tell me, what rules have you been told are absolute? I’m going to award a prize to one lucky aspiring author. I will read and critique your first scene, no more than five pages. Simply leave a comment on this post. I don’t ordinarily read uncontracted work, for various reasons, but I really believe in helping people so I’m going to break that rule today. I’ll choose a winner sometime this weekend, and you’ll have 24 hours to submit your pages. Must be a romance, though can be any subgenre. My expertise is category and contemporary, so remember that.

Let’s talk!

You can even buy a ticket to sit with me specifically.

Click here for more info. Hope to see you there!

It’s really easy to look at someone else’s career and think they have it perfect, but the truth is they probably don’t. They probably suffer from the same doubts, fears, and insecurities that you do. I think if you aren’t worried about your next book, worried that you are making it the best you can make it, then you probably aren’t digging deeply enough. Maybe I’m wrong, but that’s the way I feel about it. If something doesn’t hurt while you’re writing, then I’m inclined to think something’s wrong.

Unless, of course, you are writing humor. Maybe humor doesn’t hurt, but deep emotion certainly does. Or should, at least in some way. If you aren’t touched by what you’re writing, how do you expect anyone else to be?

So maybe I’m feeling the blues because I’ve turned a book in and I’m waiting for the inevitable revisions. Believe me, it needs them. If my editor didn’t give me any, I’d really be worried!

Or maybe it’s all the gloom and doom in publishing today. Every day, there’s some new article about the death of the bookstore and the predatory nature of a certain online retailer.

I’m sure it’s any number of things, but the truth is I’m just at one of those low points in the cycle where I think maybe the gig is up and my editor is going to figure out that I don’t know what I’m doing. And that my agent is going to quietly stop answering my emails and start avoiding me at conferences.

Oh, I also believe at these times that I couldn’t write a good story to save my life. This is not the time to look at reviews, I tell you. Because someone definitely agrees with that assessment (though thankfully there are plenty who don’t!). Every idea I look at in my file seems trite. That single title manuscript I’m supposed to be revising? Lame, lame, lame.

Times like this, I just want to say, “I quit.” But I won’t. It’s like that old Lynn Anderson song: I Never Promised You a Rose Garden. There is no rose garden in publishing.

So what can we do to get past the writer blues? Here’s my imperfect list. Feel free to add suggestions in comments!

1. Realize that this too shall pass. All moods are temporary.

2. You really aren’t as important as you think you are — which means there is no giant conspiracy of people out there talking about how awful you are either.

3. Do not read reviews. Yours or others. If you can be disciplined about not reading yours, but you still go see how Suzy Author’s praises are sung to the high heavens, that’s going to make you feel bad too. Don’t do it, at least until this mood passes.

4. Disengage from negative people. There will always be those who make you feel worse simply by their own complaining and whining — whether it’s about writing or life, it’s still going to get you down.

5. Go back through your praise file. You do have one, right? That file where someone told you how wonderful your story was (and if you are unpublished, this could be your CP’s comments or a contest judge’s), the good reviews you did read and keep (RT Book Reviews, for instance), and your editor’s praise about something you wrote (if you don’t have an editor yet, see aforementioned CP and judge comments).

6. Go for a walk or a run or something that gets the endorphins flowing.

7. Read a good book (unless that depresses you too). I love reading a good book because it always makes me say, “Oooh, I want to do that!” Good books never depress me; they motivate me. Though don’t read Suzy Author’s book if you went and read her fab review and you’re feeling bad about it. Read something else. Save Suzy Author for later when you feel better.

8. Indulge in a hot shower or a nice hot bath. Or go get a pedicure. Something to pamper you as the person, not you as the author.

9. Find something good about your work and celebrate it. Champagne (or sparkling juice, etc) is always appropriate. Finished that awful chapter? Celebrate. Wrote 1K today? Celebrate. Realized that scene doesn’t work and you have to cut it? Celebrate, because you recognized something important about your writing.

10. Remember that everything is in cycles. Next time, Suzy could be the one reading this list because she’s feeling the blues. A career trajectory is not straight to the top like a rocket blasting off. It’s more like one of those barnstorming planes, with high climbs, dizzying dives, loop-ti-loops, and a lot of screaming.

So that’s my list. And you know what, I already feel better by writing it. How about you? What are your suggestions for staving off the writer blues?