ReeseRyan

For the Love of Chocolate

February 7, 2013 by ReeseRyan

Recently I dropped by a wonderful little chocolatiers in Cary, North Carolina–Chocolate Smiles. The chocolate is scrumptious and the folks who run it are delightful. On this trip I snagged the amaretto chocolate swirl fudge, GQ’s (the hubs) favorite. I also picked up milk chocolate-covered cashews, and peppermint bark (theirs is amazing). Every morsel was rich, melt-in-your-mouth, where-you-been-all-my-life, otherworldly deliciousness. But as much as I love their orgasmically-good chocolates, there is something I look forward to even more when I visit–browsing the gift shop.

I love their sense of humor, and the following finds from this week, illustrate why.

Is there a locally-owned shop in your town that always makes you smile?

Because the Longest Journey Begins with the First Step

January 13, 2013 by ReeseRyan

I know what you’re thinking. That’s one of those lame pieces of advice well-meaning friends trot out when we’re bitching and moaning about how hard life is, or why we’ll never obtain some goal. A career change. The ideal relationship. Going back to school.

Our friends mean well, but the truth is, for a moment, even if it’s the tiniest moment, we just want to smack them. To make them understand why our case is the exception to the rule.

But there’s a reason these lameisms continue to rear their unwelcome heads. It’s because they’re true. Plain and simple.

This particular thought–that even the longest journey begins with a single step–came to me while on a journey of my own.

It was sunny and warm, more than 75° in the middle of winter, here in North Carolina.

I set this space up months ago, and I’ve been meaning to post something here for just as long. But every time I intended to post, something else would come up. I’d be overwhelmed with work, or school, or writing my next book. Or maybe the thought of sharing my intimate thoughts and feelings with you was a bit intimidating.

Whatever the real reason, my delay caused me to miss sharing with you all of the wonderful moments I’ve experienced as part of this journey to publication thus far. But no more.

I committed to not only starting the blog, but revealing those earlier experiences.

Is there something you’ve been meaning to do, but just haven’t gotten around to it? What is holding you back?

Starting to Feel Real

September 18, 2012 by ReeseRyan

I’ve been walking around suspended somewhere between joy and disbelief, as if waiting to be awakened from my dream. It’s a bad habit that simply refuses to die.

So whenever someone says, “You must be thrilled about getting published,” I nod and force a smile while holding my breath. But recently, I finally released that breath and grinned. It suddenly became very real. A member of one of my online writing groups forwarded me a copy of the acquisition announcement from Publishers Lunch:

[Reese Ryan’s] TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, in which a woman’s new job means she must return to her Cleveland hometown, where she finds herself torn between the philanthropist whose secret past she may not be able to overcome, and the ex-bad boy from her hometown, who’s newly single and may be her only chance at saving her career, to Angela James of Carina Press, in a two-book deal, for publication in 2013 (world). September 17, 2012.

Then I saw this awesome tweet by Angela James:

[blackbirdpie url=”https://mobile.twitter.com/angelajames/statuses/248151606242197504″]

(RaleighRoxStar is my old Twitter handle.)

Yep, things are starting to feel pretty real. Feels good.

Photo courtesy of Cyberslayer. Some rights reserved.

The One I Want

September 7, 2012 by ReeseRyan

The past month has been one filled with activity and excitement. One submission of my manuscript led to another, and another. I still had a few queries out to agents for my manuscript. However, I spent the past month focused on submissions to digital-first publishers.

I haven’t given up on finding an agent, and subsequently, a traditional publisher. And I know I have only submitted queries to a handful of agents thus far. But in light of the rapid changes in the publishing world and the encouraging success of many self-published authors (including a few in my local RWA chapter), I wanted to explore digital-first publishing. It’s a choice I’m glad I made.

Over the past month I submitted to five e-publishers: Entangled, Entranced, Carina Press, Crimson, and Red Sage. The results? Two rejections, one request to turn up the heat level and resubmit, and two offers. Not bad, methinks.

I thought long and hard about my two choices. I obsessively researched both options. I talked to amazingly generous authors about their digital publishing experience. All of which confirmed the choice my gut had already made. So I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve accepted a two-book deal from Carina Press–Harlequin’s digital-first imprint.

One of the most enticing prospects about working with Carina Press is the prospect of working with Executive Editor, Angela James, (who made “the call” herself). She’s passionate, knowledgeable, no nonsense, and high-energy. I took her amazing “Before You Hit Send” a year or so ago and it helped me improve my manuscript and become a better writer. I’m thrilled to have her team behind this project.

I’m nervous, but excited about my journey to publication. In fact, I don’t think I’ve really taken the time to breathe and savor this first step yet. Maybe I’ll do that next.

A Different Road

August 6, 2012 by ReeseRyan

Romance University collaborated with an emerging digital publishing house, Entranced Publishing, for another pitchfest. So, I thought I’d try my pitch again.

I’m glad that I did.

I got some great feedback on my pitch, and my first request for the full manuscript. Totally doing my happy dance right now. (Envision Snoopy dancing as Schroeder plays the piano. Now imagine someone far less graceful doing it. That’d be me.)

I’ve still been submitting to agents, but this second experience with a digital publisher has opened my eyes to this latest, and quickly growing publishing medium, as a viable option.

While I prepare to submit my full manuscript to this e-publisher, I will be researching and submitting to a few others.

Sometimes our journey gets altered a bit, but a new and exciting road can still get us where we want to go. Have you ever been faced with the option of altering your journey to get where you wanted to go? Do you regret that decision or did it work out better than you imagined?

Photo courtesy of creativelenna. Some rights reserved.

Close, But No Cigar

May 18, 2012 by ReeseRyan

One of the promises I made to myself this year is that I was going to go for it. Really put my work out there, because after all, isn’t that the point of this whole exercise?

So I started submitting to a few agents. I’ve gotten back several responses, which was exciting, even though they were polite, ‘Thanks, but no thank yous.’ Still, I felt good about making the effort. Taking a risk. Getting closer to my goal.

I am still ~~begging~~ querying agents. After all, my list of rejections is a mere handful, compared to the robust drawers full collected by my writing heroes and heroines. However, recently there was an announcement on Romance University that opened up another option–digital-first publishers. Romance University was hosting a pitch-fest with Entangled Publishing. So, I thought I’d give it a shot.

I’d never considered going with a digital-first publisher before. After all, in my dream there is a six-figure book deal, a spot on Oprah’s book club list, and a coast-to-coast book-signing tour. Never mind that those have become exceedingly rare, and that the chance of an unknown newbie snagging any of that is certainly ~~delusional~~ the exception, not the rule. Still, a girl’s gotta have dreams.

Even if nothing came of it, I figured it would be a good experience to post a short summary and the first hundred or so words of my story. The Entangled Publishing editors provided great feedback. And though it was the ‘Hells yeah!’ I’d hoped for, I found it valuable just the same. More importantly, it opened my eyes to a new option.

So, I’ll keep plugging away, looking for ways to improve my story, and always, always work to improve my craft.

Have you experienced a disappointing rejection that taught you a valuable lesson? What was it?

Photo of Journal of Universal Rejection Mug courtesy of Tilemahos Efthimiadis. Some rights reserved.