05-Feb-2007
JERRI CORGIAT’S NEWSLETTER
January/February 2006
www.jerricorgiat.com
CONTENTS:
Note to Readers
News
Feature Article: NOT QUITE NIRVANA
Best Book(s) I’ve Read (since the last newsletter)
* * *
In Memorium
Byron Brainerd
Rest in peace, Papa.
* * *
Dear Readers,
Next month, I’ll return to the series of articles (launched a lifetime ago, it seems!) on the (my) stages of creating a novel. But since I haven’t issued a newsletter since fall, I thought a more global observation on writing would be appropriate for my first newsletter of 2007. The last few years have been tough ones—the last few months real doozies—so forgive a soupcon of self-pity, thrown in with my usual (and I hope not too dull) observations!
May 2007 bring you happiness, health, and magic!
Jerri
------
NEWS:
The fifth book in the HOME series, featuring Florida Jones (introduced in FOLLOW ME HOME), has been retitled TAKE ME HOME. Publication is scheduled for September, 2007.
* * *
NEW CONTEST!
(And you’re already entered!)
Anyone subscribed to my newsletter prior to September 1, 2007 (and you already are!) is automatically registered for an opportunity to win a set of the first four books in the HOME series. Winner will be drawn in mid-September; there’s no further action needed on your part.
One entry per person. Don’t re-register; play fair. Multiple entries (and, yes, I can tell) will be disqualified.
----
FEATURE ARTICLE: NOT QUITE NIRVANA
Before I sold a book, I was quite certain that becoming a published author would be akin to finding my bliss. And in some ways, it is...
Being a published writer is an adventure—a rush of inspiration, hair-raising moments of insight, a clutch of the heart when you know what you’ve just written is not only good, but great.
It’s camaraderie with other writers, it’s going to work in your pajamas, it’s a fantastic review and a pat on the back from your editor and having your friends and family treat you like you’ve accomplished something miraculous. It’s having fans stammer when they meet you and whisking by long lines wearing your published author badge to take your seat at the RWA Literacy Booksigning (which is a shot to the ego, and don’t let any writer try to tell you otherwise).
It’s sipping coffee, and watching snow fall outside your office window, and feeling a deep sense of contentment as you finally place your hands on the keyboard.
And it can also be filled with the tooth-pulling drudgery of trying to find the right words, any words—but it comes with the fun and drama of telling other people about the tooth-pulling drudgery of trying to come up with the right words, any words.
It sounds magical and mysterious and unique. And it is.
But it is also a job. A Real Job. With deadlines and expectations and nobody (except you) giving a flying fig if you’re feeling the muse. If you don’t meet deadlines and don’t live up to expectations, you no longer have a career. And nobody (except you) gives a flying fig about that, either.
You have to produce whether you feel like it or not and whether it’s convenient or not.
You have to produce...
...Through silly (and sometimes infuriating) editorial dictums, yucky titles, inane back cover copy, and realizing your publicist has forgotten your name.
...Between the interruptions from people (you usually love) who think because you work at home you’re not really working.
...When a copy-edited manuscript arrives requiring a two-day-turnaround the same week that you have a deadline on your next book and your child just broke his arm.
You have to produce even if you’re experiencing—without benefit of paid vacation or sick days or funeral leave and often without much money—a divorce, a teenage child in turmoil, a dying parent, a loved one’s stroke, losing a job, your spouse losing a job, or moving to a different house or moving your parents to a different house. All of which happened to me within three years (and three more books) of publishing my first novel.
Believe it or not, publishing does not turn your life into a petal-strewn pathway to heaven. I wish someone had told me that, because knowing might have spared me landing with such a thud on the rock of reality. But you know what? Even if I’d known, I’d still be doing the same thing.
-------
BOOK(s) I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST NEWSLETTER:
THE VIRGIN OF SMALL PLAINS, by Nancy Pickard
A literary suspense novel by award-winning mystery author Pickard. I loved this book. Dropped me right into the story within the first few pages and I raced through it.
AT FIRST SIGHT, by Nicholas Sparks
A satisfying read for fans of Nicholas Sparks.
DANCE WITH ME, by Luanne Rice
Wonderful characters with tangled lives, and straightforward, yet moving prose, kept me reading on this one.
THE MEMORY KEEPER’S DAUGHTER, by Kim Edwards
Beautiful writing. Hopeful ending.
HEALING GRIEF, by James Van Praagh (Nonfiction)
A nice take on the stages of grief viewed through a spiritual lens.
FLYING SOLO, by Carol M. Anderson and Susan Stewart (Nonfiction)
An older book, but great for any woman whose launching out on her own!
THE DISEASE TO PLEASE, by Harriet Braiker (Nonfiction)
Wow. If you have it... this is great!
Happy Reading!
Jerri
