Authors Who Inspired Me

Fifty Shades of Inspiration

Since we all love to read, I thought I’d share with you whose books inspired me to be a writer, to be a better writer, and to be brave enough to write what was in my heart.

The #1 position is held by Mary Stewart. When I read “The Moonspinners” I was entranced. I read it about six or seven times. It was that book that made me want to write stories for other people to read – specifically to write love stories. I was in eighth grade. I had written things before, but I’d never thought about making a living doing it until then.

I couldn’t make a list of authors I admire without including Margaret Mitchell. Her “Gone with the Wind” is the essence of historical romances. The sweeping, all-encompassing history and historical facts in her book are staggering. Yes, there is no HEA, but the ending still stands for all time as one of the best. Readers could write their own sequel (until the actual one came out…but it doesn’t count because Margaret didn’t write it).

Truman Capote inspired me to never stop learning how to write better and to go at your own pace. I love the story of how he and Ernest Hemingway were in a hotel room writing one day. They started in mid-morning and in the late afternoon Hemingway pushed aside his typewriter and suggested they call it a day and head to the bar for drinks. He glowered at Truman and said, “I’ve typed three whole pages of my novel and you’ve sat there all damn day and typed one word!” Truman smiled and said, “Yes, but it’s the right word.”

LaVyrle Spencer inspired me to write historical romances. I had written only contemporary stories until I read her books. “Hummingbird,” “Twice Loved,” “Vows,” “The Gamble, and “The Endearment,” along with all her others, brought joy to me and made me want to step back in time. She is a beautiful writer. Of late, I read a book that reminded me of LaVyrle’s touching characters and storylines – “Archer’s Voice” by Mia Sheridan. It’s simply wonderful and I’m a big fan of hers now.

Finally, I must give a bow to E.L. James. Yes, yes, I’ve read all the criticism of her writing. Hey, folks, I’ve read a lot worse that made bestseller lists, so chill. Besides, if you’re reading “Fifty Shades of Grey” and you’re all wrapped up in bad sentence structure or weak word choices, then you just don’t get it anyway. People don’t enjoy those books because of the writing style. (wink, wink) I was totally wrapped up in Christian’s character. I thought he was fascinating and I loved all three books. They inspired me to write what was in my heart – what I’d wanted to write for 10 years, but had been afraid to branch off into a new direction with it.

There are many other authors I love, but these are touchstones for me.

Serial Mur--I mean, Musings

Oh, the tangled webs we weave....

I'm writing a series now called "The Mind's Eye" series and Book #2 is being released in a matter of days. This is a first for me and it's been a real trip so far. I went at this almost with blinders on . . . just diving in and not giving much thought to the books ahead of me.

Luckily, I did create two protagonists I really love. They're multi-dimensional and have interesting backstories I can draw on and their present predicaments are also juicy!

Book #1 -- "Through His Eyes" -- was a complete joy to write and rewrite and rewrite. Loved it. Still do.

Book #2 -- "Through His Touch" -- was also fun to write, but there was a bit of tension stirring in me the whole time, too. I was now cognizant of how a series must build in popularity and word-of-mouth or perish. Gulp! My first one received wonderful reviews, but didn't climb very far up the best-seller or even moderate-seller ladder. However, I did make inroads with bloggers, which I feel is very important and something I've not done for my previous books. While i was more aware of the type of promotion involved and the $$ it would take, I was still not as "savvy" as I should be. Book promoter is a new job for me and I'm still finding my way.

Book #3 is in its infancy. It's supposed to be the final one, but I'm not ready to say farewell to these characters, so I'm leaving the door open for more adventures, more angst, more revealing of character flaws and fears. It's true -- series books can be addictive.

My only hope is that the books continue to get attention and readership. If #3 lies dormant without showing any readership growth, I'll have to re-evaluate my desire to continue with the series. As it stands, I do plan to take a break after #3 and write an historical romance that I've outlined and am yearning to flesh out. After that's done, I'll decide whether I should do another 3 books for Mind's Eye or say a fond and tearful farewell to my lovely Levi and courageous Trudy.

Through His Eyes Novel by Deborah Camp

Through His Touch Novel by Deborah Camp

Amazon Adventures

Welcome to "You're On Your Own" Authoring

Pardon me while I whine.

I've been trying to get Amazon to do a little "something-something" to help promote my books and it's like asking for water on the moon!

Yes, Amazon has been very good to me. Amazon, along with my brilliant and fierce literary agent, revived my novel writing career.  I also know that Amazon is very good to some authors because I see the bouquets of flowers and towers of snack food they've sent via Facebook posts. "Oh, look what just arrived from Amazon! These beautiful roses to congratulate me on my latest release!." That's an example of posts I've seen along with the photo of the gorgeous blooms. So, I decided to see if, in lieu of flowers, Amazon would maybe promote my first book in my series right before my second is released in September. The answer came swiftly -- nope.

Okay. Message received!

I scouted some of the "chosen" authors to see what they were doing that I wasn't. The answer, of course, is painfully simple. They sell more books and get considerably more reviews. I am ecstatic with my 26 reviews of "Through His Eyes." Or I was. Then I saw the reviews of the "chosen" authors. 950 reviews. 2,318 reviews. 1,009 reviews. 876 reviews.

Holy Cow! It's a wonder Amazon even bothered to answer me!

How do these authors manage to get so many reviews? It's astounding. I had to beg, plead, and barter for my 26 reviews! I hope those authors wake up every day saying, "I'm the luckiest so-and-so in the whole, wide world." Do it for us "little folks," okay?

I've recently worked with Amazon to do a boxed set of my "Too Tough" trilogy of western romances. Just to get a cover was a trial. I finally had to go look for one myself and buy it. Then my brilliant and fierce agent's associate (bless her darling heart!) added the lettering because Amazon just couldn't find a font that was readable on the book cover. We mentioned that we were probably going to offer my books on other sites (B&N) now that my exclusive contract was finished with Amazon and Amazon warned us that we couldn't use their book covers on other sites.

This was humorous to me because of three things:
1. Their covers are mediocre, at best. 
2. You can buy them on shutterstock.com
3. Even though I could buy them and use them, I wouldn't. I'll buy much better ones.

I repeat. Amazon has been very good to me. However, I'm certainly not on their radar, so they're not the least bit interested in promoting my books. That's all up to me and my checkbook and credit card -- and believe me, they're both getting work-outs!

The irony of all this doesn't just lie with Amazon. It applies to all publishing. The authors who are promoted by publishers are wealthy and could actually well afford to promote their own books. The authors who desperately need a bit of help promoting their books have little money to spare and get no or precious little help from the publishers.

It's survival of the best-sellers and the most-reviewed. You have to climb to the top of the mountain before you can be seen by the promotion gods.

Will You Cover Me?

Nailing the Right Look

I have just finalizing the cover for my next novel. This is still a new experience for me, although I have been lucky enough to see more than 45 of my books published.

To date, I've worked with two cover artists and both were very good. I'll probably use them again -- if they'll have me. It's a process that's both exciting and extremely frustrating. Back when my books were contracted by mainstream print publishers, I knew nothing about the covers until I received them in the mail with a short note from the editor: "Here's your cover! Enjoy."

Most often I enjoyed....sometimes I didn't. However, my feelings weren't important. The only time I could gripe was if the cover artist got something horribly wrong -- like a Scottish setting instead of a western one. (And sometimes not even then! I once had a contemporary romance with a Gothic cover slapped on it.) One time the color of the heroine's hair on the cover was entirely incorrect, but that wasn't changed. Too bad. So sad.

Publishing on Amazon means they will select a cover or I can do the whole cover thing myself. Having seen Amazon's versions of good covers -- pardon while I retch -- I have since chosen my own artist and paid for it all myself. By doing this I have learned a few interesting facts:

1. Just because you can picture the perfect cover in your head doesn't mean you'll ever see it for real. I had an idea of the cover art I wanted and I didn't think there would be a problem getting it. Looking high and low at the available photographs online, I couldn't find one image that was even close. The cover artist gave up and sent me some other ideas -- none of which floated my boat. I spent approximately 12 hours looking at photos over the next couple of days. I came up with six I thought would be okay for my book. None of them were what I'd originally envisioned.

2. Time is of the essence. If I'd been allowed enough time, I could have had the cover artist set up a photo shoot and get the cover shot I wanted. However, by the time she contacted me and was ready to begin work, it was already too late for that. I had to have a cover by the end of June for ads I was placing in magazines. She didn't start work on my cover until June 21. Although it only took her a few hours to complete the cover once a photo was chosen, there wasn't enough time for a photo shoot. I'll know next time to look for photos early. Then, if I can't find anything I like, I'll have enough time to pay extra for a photo shoot.

3. Getting several people to agree on a cover is impossible. Since I didn't trust my own judgement entirely, I sent two or three possible covers to a friend and my agent for their suggestions. There was no consensus among them, so I was more confused than ever and had to rely on my judgement. Yikes!

4. Lettering is important. On the cover before this one, I went around and around with the artist about the lettering. Fonts are so important. They can evoke feelings and they can (and should) command the eye. They should also be easy to read, especially when the cover is reduced to thumbnail size. Getting all of this right on a romantic suspense novel with paranormal elements is exasperating. To depict so many genres at once is darned near impossible! That we have come so close to it twice now is remarkable.

5. Everyone won't like it. Just as with your book, there will be detractors who defame your creation. I loved the cover of "Through His Eyes," but several people made a point in their reviews to say they hated it. I fully expect to experience the same wincing pain when this new cover is revealed. Of course, I like it or I wouldn't have paid for it! But I know there will be people who will trash it. I suppose that's better than trashing my writing . .  but still! It hurts.

Each time I go through this process, I learn something new. It's still one of my high points in the journey of creating a book. I like having the power to choose my cover. With that power comes new responsibilities and new worries. But, at least, I don't have to wait to have the cover mailed to me and be told to "Enjoy!" whether I like it or not. 

Adventures on my First Blog Tour

Taken for a Ride

After my first guided blog tour, I'm sure the tour guides who assisted me think I'm pretty dumb to have written so many books.

Let me apologize again for my missteps and mistakes. Yes, it's true that I paid for a "Cover Reveal" and then revealed my cover all over the place before the actual date of my "cover reveal." The perplexed blog owner wrote to me, gently mentioning that my cover was no longer a secret and couldn't be revealed anymore. Not understanding the blog community, I wasn't aware that blogs communicate with each other and band together to facilitate better coverage for a book. The blog owner pointed this out to me and said she would have been happy to work with the other blog owner who was conducting one of my tours if she had only known that I was "double dipping," so to speak. I'm a bad, bad girl. I offered to make it up to her by writing a post for her blog. Again, she was more gracious than she needed to be and allowed this.

I didn't offer any giveaways because I couldn't figure out what I could give away. It seemed that authors were having drawings to win an autographed copy of their paperback, but my book is an ebook. Hard to autograph those. Other blogs pointed out that I could give away bookmarks, tote bags, or key chains. I consider all of these, but how many of those items do you need, really? I'm considering my options for the next go-round and I'm leaning toward gift cards. I can always use a gift card -- especially to buy books! Can't you?

I must admit that I loved the ride! The tours were exciting and I discovered new and wondrous things around every curve in the road -- beautiful blogs, websites, and Facebook pages; voracious readers; thoughtful reviewers; and other authors and their fabulous books! The very best part was getting reviews of my book. Oh, my. The thrill of it all. I don't know how other, more popular authors feel about reviews -- do they take them for granted when their books receive hundreds or even thousands of reviews? -- but every single one I receive is cause for celebration. Even if the reviewer isn't all that enamored with my book, at least the person took the time to post a review!

Sure, I was sweating bullets when the first review copies went out, but I can't express in mere words the total and complete euphoria I've experienced when I read (and reread) the reviews of people who love my characters and enjoyed my story. I admit I cried a few times when I read those reviews. Happy tears.

Is it any wonder that I've booked another blog tour (a couple, actually) for Book #2 in the Mind's Eye series (Through His Touch)? I'm looking forward to the first two weeks in September when I'll be touring the blog world again, rubbing virtual elbows with other readers, and begging the blog owners to please review my book. Pretty please?

I hope I'm not such a novice imbecile this time around. If I stumble, though, I know the blog tour guides will be there to catch me and force me back upright. I love those gals at Enticing Journey Book Promotions and Bewitching Book Tours.  They know how to show a girl a good time.