Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March

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Why Should You Hire An Editor?
For Writers

Why Should You Hire An Editor?

When I first started taking my writing seriously, I pounded out a rough draft in a few short months. I read it over, made a few changes, and thought it was perfect. Time to start agent querying, right? So wrong. I read on a few different blogs that you should always have someone else read through your work before you start the query process, so I found a writing contest, entered, and paid $40 to have an editor give me a critique on my first chapter and synopsis. The response came back positive; I was told I was a good writer with a definite story-telling ability, but that my characters needed some tweaking and possibly my plot a new direction.
I was so confused! I thought my manuscript was perfect and I would have agents lining up to represent me. I asked a few Twitter friends to critique my first chapter for me, and their comments came back similar to what the editor had said. Before I began writing, I didn’t have any professional training in the world of fiction. I focused, signed up for workshops and seminars, bought books on writing and editing, and began the process of learning how to be a great writer. Now, I am hard at work on my fourth rewrite of my manuscript, and finally can really grasp character development, the mechanics of dialogue, syntax, proportion, and so much more!
So why should you hire an editor? Perhaps you are like me last year, new to all things writing and publishing, and need some guidance along the way. Without having this editor and my virtual friends look over my chapters for me, I would have started querying agents who probably would have laughed at my work! Another great reason for hiring an editor is simply to have a fresh set of eyes looking at your writing. Writers become invested in the characters, they know how they will act, interact, fight, love, etc., so it can become increasingly difficult for the writer to see flaws. Readers will find them easily, and they can be a huge distraction, possibly even having the reader give up on the book.
As an editor, I read through your manuscript one time, just simply reading. If anything real jarring stands out, I will make note of it, but the first read-through I am just getting to know your story, your characters, and your voice. The second time I read through is the in-depth session, where I will make notes on anything that I think doesn’t work in the story. I don’t want my critiques to be all negative of course, so I also add the elements I think work and should be kept. My goal is to never re-write your scenes, instead give you a fresh take to help you go back and edit your own work. I don’t believe editors should go in and change everything on your manuscript. I think editors should give opinions and suggestions, but in the end, help the writers understand, so eventually they can do the majority of editing themselves.
I can say with conviction that hiring an editor was the best choice I made in my writing. Without her help, I would have continued thinking my first draft was the best I could do, without understanding why readers wouldn’t be as invested in the story. I hope that you will give a serious thought to hiring an editor, whether it is myself or someone else, because I believe than can be a huge asset to your writing career. If you would like to contact me regarding my editing services, please email me at Samantha (at) chicklitplus (dot) com.

November 21, 2010
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Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber
Chick Lit Review

Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

I had a bit of a stretch on my bookshelf, meandering away from the chick lit genre and diving into some different categories. I wasn’t too excited to read Call Me Mrs. Miracle by Debbie Macomber. The cover didn’t look too exciting, like the promises some chick lit covers hold, and I wasn’t sure about a lovey Christmas story. But I have to be proved wrong sometimes, don’t I? I loved this story! It was so cute and delightful, filled with inspirational characters, the most inspiring of all being (of course) Mrs. Miracle.
The story centers around Jake Finley, manger and boss’s son of the last family-owned toy story in New York City. While preparing for the Christmas rush and trying to prove to his father that he is capable of running the store on his own one day, Jake meets Emily Merkle, an employee who appears out of thin air to help customers. One customer in particular catches Jake’s eye- Holly Larson. Holly is struggling financially after taking on the duty of being guardian of her 8 year old nephew, Gabe, once his father gets deployed. She desperately wants to give Gabe a special Christmas, but isn’t sure she can pull it off. With the help of Mrs. Miracle, Jake and Holly both get the Christmas they deserve.
Even though I could guess how the story would end, I still loved the anticipation and build-up along the way. It was a light read, no major complications or mystery surrounding the characters, and the romance was pitch perfect. I think some inspirational lessons will be taken away from readers who enjoy this novel, but the writer doesn’t dump an overload of inspirational stories throughout the way. There is a subtle guidance woven with the plot and the character’s stories, and I would highly recommend Call Me Mrs. Miracle, even if this may not be your first genre choice.
Rating: 4/5

November 19, 2010
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Cold Dawn by Carla Neggers
Chick Lit Review

Cold Dawn by Carla Neggers

When Rose Cameron finds a body, burnt nearly beyond recognition, the small town of Black Falls, Vermont fears a killer could be a on the loose-again. Smoke jumper Nick Martini joins the community from California after an arson investigator is killed, a hunch that the death may be connected to the recent Black Falls murder. Now, Rose and Nick must deal with the one night of passion they shared months ago, to figure out if it could be anything more. But with Nick best friends and business partners with one of Rose’s highly over protective brothers, neither are sure the relationship could work- or if they really want it to. But both need to push aside their feelings of lust and romance and catch the killer lurking in Black Falls.
I knew Cold Dawn by Carla Neggers would be on my Favorites List after the first chapter. Even though this mystery novel is part of a series, readers will easily be able to pick up with the characters and the plot even if they have not read the previous books. The suspense was enough to keep me up at night, frantically flipping the pages to figure out who the murderer was and how all the subplots would tie together. The romance between the lead couple was very well written, full of drama and cliff hangers at the end of chapters, that kept me hooked on this story. My only issue was the amount of characters that contributed to the story, I began to feel overwhelmed after trying to keep track of all of them! But besides that little fact, this is a great story that gets a definite recommendation from me. After reading Cold Dawn, Carla Neggers has shot to the top of my favorite authors list!
Rating: 4.5/5

November 17, 2010
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Her Latest Supporting Role by Cynthia Ashworth
Chick Lit Review

Her Latest Supporting Role by Cynthia Ashworth

When you can’t make it as an actress in New York, what’s the next best thing? Work in advertising! Jill Barber takes on a job at a large ad agency while working to finish her degree at New York University. After failing her final exam and then refusing to sleep with her professor in order to pass, she is forced to attend summer school. Jill doesn’t think it’s so bad once she finds out her instructor is the gorgeous young novelist Jonathan Wunder. The drama begins once Jill enters a possible relationship with Wunder, all while studying to pass her class, keep her job when layoffs threaten the ad company, and fight off advances from another co-worker.
I’m sad to say I really didn’t enjoy Her Latest Supporting Role, the debut novel from Cynthia Ashworth. I had a hard time developing any sort of a connection with the main character, and felt at times the story was moving along too fast for me to understand why certain scenes were happening. The supporting characters didn’t motivate me at all, and I sometimes wondered what the point of the best friend was. One thing that really displeased me was about halfway through, the story turned to all emails. Pages and pages of emails between the characters, and once that happened, I was totally out of it. Some important realizations were happening to the main character, but instead of feeling any of it or realizing those same points alongside Jill, I was just being told about them in a short email. I was disappointed with this rom com debut, and I hope Ashworth’s future writing will be more inspiring.
Rating: 2/5

November 16, 2010
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Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
Chick Lit Review

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Well this is a first. I always have a lot to say about the books I read, my opinions on the writing (good or bad) and if I would recommend the book. But I have found a novel that left me…speechless. Not sure what to say, whether good or bad. Not even sure if I should recommend it to others.
I was looking forward to reading Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger, her sophomore novel after The Time Traveler’s Wife. I hadn’t read or seen the movie, but heard many good things and eagerly anticipated opening her latest. I was left feeling confused, unsettled, and plain unsure about what I just read. I always jot down my rating as soon as I finish a book, but I just stared blankly at my notebook, not sure what to write. Kind of like I am doing now for this review, except I’m at a computer.
The story begins with the untimely death of Elspeth, twin sister to Edie and lover to Robert. Aunt to young girls, Julia and Valentina, also twins. Elspeth requests in her will that the twin girls move from the States to London to live in her flat for a year. During their stay, the twins meet Elspeth’s ghost, befriend some odd characters, become fascinated with the neighboring cemetery, and start to grow apart as sisters. Valentina begins to feel she will never be her own person with her twin constantly in the picture, and she and Elspeth devise a morbid plan to change that. The ending had me shout aloud, a strangled noise actually escaped from lips, I was so shocked by the events taking place.
Niffenegger obviously has a talent for telling stories and creating so many unique characters throughout one novel. The plot is interesting, though I don’t have much interest for the supernatural topics. I thought about giving Her Fearful Symmetry a three rating, but decided to up it to a four. My reasoning behind that is, I simply couldn’t stop talking about the story! I called my mom, I told my boyfriend and his mom, I told co-workers…it really got me thinking and talking to many people I don’t normally discuss my readings with. I also looked on Amazon to see what other readers thought, and they were over 400 reviews! Seems everyone wanted to give their opinions, and the ratings were anywhere from a 1-5. If you have read Her Fearful Symmetry, I would love to get your feedback on the story, and if you haven’t, give it a try. You might love it, you might hate it, but I can guarantee most will be left wanting to talk about it!
Rating: 4/5

November 11, 2010
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Sammi Ever After by Soma Helmi
Chick Lit Review

Sammi Ever After by Soma Helmi

I read books not only because I love to read about new characters and their adventures, but also because I want to write. I am currently hard at work on the fourth rewrite of my manuscript, and some of the best places I look to for inspiration are other books. Seeing how the author flows the action, how they make the characters come alive, how they draw me in, gives me fresh ideas on how to make my own writing better. So when I read and review novels, I am not just reviewing as a reader, but also as a writer. I just wanted to add that little disclaimer before I get into my next review.
Sammi Ever After, the debut novel from Soma Helmi has a great plot. Sammi, a young girl in her twenties, finds a friend from childhood and instantly falls in love, preparing to move across the world just to be with him. It’s her fairy tale come true. Until she arrives at the airport only to find out she has been dumped- over an email. Fairy tale broken. When Sammi finally forces herself off her friend’s couch and secures a job and new friends, she decides to take a little journey to try to search for that fairy tale ending. From London to Bali to Greece, Sammi gets tangled in sticky situations and personal revelations, and realizes that her Prince Charming may have been by her side the entire time.
Like I said, I think the plot is fantastic. A great story about self-discovery and love, and I am a huge travel geek, so reading about all these destinations I hope to visit had me amped to read this story. But once I started, the writing fell flat to me. Helmi relied on flashbacks and back story when introducing characters, much that was simply not needed and unnecessary to the story. For each flashback, I felt myself became less engaged in the action. Another problem I had was the dialogue didn’t seem very realistic. I don’t know anyone who would actually describe someone’s look aloud by saying “His sandy blonde hair and piercing blue eyes and the way his muscles ripple…” That could be the thoughts of someone, but for a person (especially a young girl) to describe someone else that way? It just wasn’t believable for me. So as much as I would have liked this plot and the characters that came along for the ride, I do not feel the writing did the story justice.
Rating: 2/5

November 10, 2010
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Indulging vs. OVERindulging
Chick Lit Plus

Indulging vs. OVERindulging

Indulging. Over indulging. What is the difference between the two? I know that I have been lucky to never really struggle with my weight, I have good genes and the motivation to work out to thank for that, but I am trying to be more aware of my diet now that I am getting older. My metabolism is bound to be slowed one of these days, so I try to be conscious of what I eat. I hate hearing celebrities and models say they never eat chocolate. Fried foods. A bag of Skittles. I mean seriously, where is the fun if all you ever eat is grilled chicken and lettuce and wash it down with some green smoothie? Over half of my social outings consist of meeting in a restaurant, trying out new desserts or the loaded nachos. Is there really no other way to achieve a tight bod unless we throw all the foods we love out the window?
I wasn’t buying it. Not only do my taste buds clash tremendously with healthy foods, I have a sweet tooth, plain and simple. Mix that in with the fact that I can’t cook, and eating out becomes a staple in my life. So could I really get myself to eat better with all these obstacles in my way?
I have posted before on how I switched up my diet recently, drinking fruit smoothies for breakfast and replacing Kit-Kats with yogurt. But I found that the more I forced myself not to eat the things I love, the more I desperately craved for them. I needed to find a balance, a way that I could enjoy the best of both worlds with starving myself, or finding myself bingeing on unhealthy foods because I missed them so much.
The answer came one day when a co-worker brought it donuts for breakfast. I flew to the conference center and grabbed the biggest sprinkle donut, preparing to demolish the thing in five minutes. I took my first and closed my eyes with happiness, a donut over my strawberry-banana smoothie tasted a thousand times better. I took another bite, glaring at the bottle on my desk filled with my smoothie. It glared back. A third bite, and I stopped. What if I only ate half the donut, then drank my smoothie? I would still be able to indulge my sweet tooth, but not over indulge on a sugary breakfast.
And viola, the solution to quit over indulging stared me in the face. It’s okay to continue eating the things I wanted to eat, as long as I wasn’t going overboard. All things are good moderation, and I believe this includes sweets. Instead of banning myself from that bag of Skittles, I will eat a handful, then put the bag back in my desk. When hunger strikes again, I will get out my yogurt, instead of reaching for more Skittles. It’s not easy all the time, nothing really ever is, but I feel that with consciously being aware over indulging, the less likely I am to do it. So next time you reach for that piece of cake, ask yourself: are you indulging, or over-indulging?

November 9, 2010
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Interview with Jesi Lea Ryan
Chick Lit Authors

Interview with Jesi Lea Ryan

Q: What is your favorite part of the writing process?
A: I love writing beginnings. The first five or six chapters of a novel come very easy to me. I typically plan out the characters and the basic plot in my head before I even sit down to the computer, so those chapters just flow out of me. It really is the easiest and most exciting part for me.

Q: What was the hardest part about finding an agent?
A: Everything about finding an agent is hard—that’s why I am going without one for my first book. The market right now is really tough for new writers to break in to. Agents are reluctant to take chance on new talent when publishing houses are decreasing production. Every agent that I have talked to tells of how busy they are with their existing clients. That makes it hard to take on new talent.

I queried agents for about two months, but in May 2010, I while attending the Romantic Times Convention, I met Jean Watkins, the managing editor for DCL Publications. She liked my idea and asked me to send her the first three chapters. Less than a week later, Jean offered me a contract to purchase it. You’d be surprised how much of this business depends on meeting the right person at the right time.

Q: Your first novel, Four Thousand Miles, was released October 7th. Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
A: I was traveling in England last summer and ended up staying at this medieval farm that has been turned into a bed & breakfast. It was set in the Kent countryside in the middle of sheep pastures and wild flowers. It was truly the most romantic setting I could imagine. I started day dreaming about Natalie, my main character while I was there. What better place for an American woman to fall in love with a hot guy with a British accent!

Q: How long did it take you to write Four Thousand Miles?
A: It took about four months, but I wasn’t writing every day. Like I said, I am good with beginnings, but I tend to stall out about six-ten chapters in. Then, I take a bit of a break and think about where I want the story to go and how it will progress. I tend to change my mind a lot in that period. Since I don’t believe in sitting in front of a blank screen, I put the story down and walk away for a while. I might not be physically writing, but I am planning it out on my mind. Once I am comfortable, I go back to the computer. I might do that three or four times during the course of a novel.

Q: When you were in the writing process, did you have a certain routine you followed? (such as so many words written a day, so many pages edited, only wrote in one place?)
A: Not at all. I am awful when it comes to writing organization. I don’t plot outline, I never know how it is going to end and I don’t force myself to write when the muse is not calling me. That, by the way, goes against every piece of writing advice I have ever been given, but it works for me.

Q: How did you celebrate when you sold Four Thousand Miles to DCL Publications?
A: I didn’t really. I guess I kept waiting for something bad to happen. The company offered me the contract before seeing the whole novel and I was suspicious. I thought they might read the full manuscript and change their mind! I guess publishing a book was such a dream come true that it took a while to sink in.

Q: We are from the same hometown- Dubuque, IA- though we both no longer live there. What are some things you miss about Dubuque? I always ride the Fourth Street Elevator when I’m back!
A: I live a bit closer to Dubuque than you do, so I probably get back more often. My mother lives there along with a few other relatives. Mostly, I spend time with them. It is fascinating though how much the city has changed in the eight years since I’ve been gone. The city has done a great job on the new river front.

Q: What are you currently reading, and what are some of your favorite genres?
A: I read a lot—several books a week. I’m pretty open to genres. I don’t read westerns or sci-fi. I tend to gravitate to female authors, but not purposely.

At this very moment, I’m reading two books, one by my bed and one that I keep in my purse for reading every time I get a chance. Nightkeepers by Jessica Andersen is my at-home book. It’s a paranormal romance revolving around the Mayan end-of-world prophecy of 2012. My purse book is the steampunk novel Changeless by Gail Carriger. Oh! I’m also listening to a book on tape in the car—The Inner Circle by TC Boyle…one of my favorite authors.

Q: What is your best advice for aspiring writers, especially those who didn’t go to college to pursue a degree in writing?
A: Some of the best writers never went to college. Don’t get me wrong, I love to learn and I think my education was valuable, but even my writing program in college didn’t prepare me for the business of writing like writing query letters and finding an agent. If a person seriously wants to write, my best advice is to read. Read a lot. Read many different genres and levels of writing. Read commercial fiction and literary fiction. Find out what type of book you’d like to write and really study how other authors write books similar to yours. There is a pattern to novels. If you read enough of them, you will unconsciously follow it.

Q: Where would be your dream vacation?
A: I LOVE to travel! I have been to some amazing places over the years. One place that I want to visit that I haven’t yet is India. I love the culture, the food, the twangy sitar music… I actually planned to go there a few years ago, but the trip fell through and I went to Nicaragua instead.

Q: Lastly, where can readers go to purchase Four Thousand Miles?
A: That every easy! The book will be available at most online sellers within the next couple of months, but until then, you can download the ebook straight to any computer or e-reader from the following website http://www.thedarkcastlelords.com/romance-ebooks-15.htm. The cost is only $6.50…way cheaper than new release print books. Best of all—no shipping and handling fees!

November 8, 2010
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Karina Smirnoff Engaged
Chick Lit Plus

Karina Smirnoff Engaged

Karina Smirnoff is engaged! People.com reported that the Dancing With the Stars professional has been engaged to boyfriend Brad Penny since October 4th, and has been able to keep the good news under wraps. “We kept it quiet because my family is in New York and Brad’s family is in Oklahoma so we kind of wanted them to come out and celebrate and be a family first before we let the cat out of the bag,” she said. Smirnoff, 32, now rocks a 4.5 carat Asscher Cut diamond engagement ring, but has yet to start planning her big day. Smirnoff has been dating Penny, also 32, since October 2009. Penny played baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals last year, and the couple was introduced to each other by a mutual friend, UFC fighter Chuck Liddell.

November 7, 2010
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