A Paranormal Thanksgiving: Top 10 things to be thankful for…Guest post by Jean Murray

Before things kick off, I just wanted to put and idea out there. 

Imagine setting a thanksgiving table for some of our paranormal brothers and sisters.  The menu would have to be quite varied to include: blood wine, raw turkey, stuffed brains, pickled souls and magick maze. Not to mention the dinner conversation and a closet big enough to put all the various weapons they carry.  And don’t get me started on seating arrangements.  A host nightmare for sure.

So in the spirit of our Paranormal Thanksgiving, what are you thankful for?

Here are a few of mine:  

10.  Werewolves are the good guys in Twilight Series.  And not bad to look at either…

9.  Session 1-9 of X-files is available on Netflix

8. Our Blood Sucking friends taking TV by storm: True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Being Human (click here to see the Top 10 Vampire TV series). 

7.  There is such a thing called HORROR Romance!!  Monsters need love too.

6.  Zombies aren’t just for horror movies any more.  They have eaten our hearts in books, TV and films. Walking Dead Series – Which character are you?  Come meet my REVENS.

5. Zombie Survival Guide available on Amazon.  Prepare for the worst J

4.  Hunter from the Midnight Breed Series has his own book.    

3. Our superheroes of yesteryears are making a comeback!  Whether genetic mutants or otherworldly visitors.

2.  No matter how much the industry says vampires are out, the living dead are not dead. 

1.  Long live the P word:  Paranormal romance novels are more popular than ever, consuming more bookshelf space at the bookstores.

What are you thankful for?

Jean Murray is the author of the Key to the Cursed Series: Three sisters and their fated mates on a journey of love, redemption and war. Soul Reborn starts the series based on Ancient Egyptian Mythos.  A fabulous mix of action, suspense and indelible love story appeals to both paranormal romance and urban fantasy readers.

Learn more about Soul Reborn:

THE HUMAN REALM, HIS BATTLEFIELD.

Asar, the Egyptian God of the Underworld, has been tortured and left soulless by a malevolent goddess, relegating him to consume the very thing he was commissioned to protect. Human souls. Now an empty shell of hatred, Asar vows to kill the goddess and anyone involved in her release, but fate crosses his path with a beautiful blonde huntress who has a soul too sweet to ignore.

DEADLY SECRETS BETTER LEFT UNEARTHED.

Lilly, fearless commander of the Nehebkau huntresses, is the only thing standing in the way of the goddess' undead army unleashing hell on earth.  But Lilly has a secret—one she is willing to sell her soul to keep. If the Underworld god discovers her role in the dig that released the goddess, she will lose everything, including his heart.

Soul Reborn Reviews:

Romantic Times (RT) Book Reviews (Sept2011) -  4/4.5 stars/Scorcher, http://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/soul-reborn

Bitten by Paranormal Romance – 5/5 Alpha Howls, Hot http://www.bittenbyparanormalromance.com/2011/07/review-of-soul-reborn-key-to-cursed.html

Goodreads - http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11135250-key-to-the-cursed

Find Jean at these locations:

Web Address: www.jean-murray.com ; www.keytothecursed.com

Blog Address: www.wickedromance.wordpress.com

Face Book:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jean-Murray-Paranormal-Romance-Author/130589967006760

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/wickedromance

Book Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/user/KeytotheCursed?ob=5#p/u/0/smSJsJp5o74

I no longer have an agent, but maybe that's okay.

For those of you who haven't yet heard, Tribe Literary Agency is no more. The agent closed shop due to family obligations. For a few of the clients, this was an unpleasant surprise, but for others, like myself, it was a good thing because we'd already sent out "intent to terminate" letters and thus no longer have to wait 30 days to get back in the game.

Instead of launching into a vitriolic rant about my experience with this agency, I've decided to share the positive things I got out of it.

1.) I'm cured of the "I MUST HAVE AN AGENT NOW" fever. There seems to be a persisting attitude online that you're nothing without an agent. Those who have one seem to be held in higher esteem. They often have more followers on Twitter, their blogs get more traffic, etc. It seems they have it all, and the thrill when their book sells is vicariously exciting.

Once I had an agent, it seemed there was a huge empty spot in my life that had been taken up by querying and stalking my inbox. I dedicated that time to what should have been priority #1: focusing on my writing and perfecting my craft. I ended up fixing a previously broken novel and completing another, along with 2 short stories and a novella.

2.) I made a lot of new friends. Part of what drew me to the agent in the first place was the awesome bond she helped form between her authors. When she quit, that closeness remained and we were able to comfort each other.


3.) The manuscript being "shopped" was not the best way to launch my career with a big house. BITE ME, YOUR GRACE is a historical paranormal. It's a really fun book, but the problem is, I don't have any more historicals at the moment. That would have been awkward, had I landed a multi-book deal.

4.) My manuscript wasn't really ready. I recently won a critique from the awesome Ashley March and she pointed out a bunch of stuff that needed fixed. On the bright side, there was nothing wrong with the story or the flow, so it'll be an easy fix.

So, what am I going to do now?

For starters, I am NOT going to rush straight into hunting for an agent. I am going to step back and really do my homework.

While I polish up my urban fantasy romance series, I am going to shop my novella and short stories to get more credentials. I may even find a home for BITE ME, YOUR GRACE. It's such a fun book and a lot of people loved it. It feels wrong to let it die because of my poor decisions.

In the end, I think I'm going to be okay. I think I came out of this experience stronger than ever. I would like to give special thanks to those who were with me through all my doubts and turmoil. I wouldn't have made it out as well without you.

Blog Award and Updates

I was awarded this by the lovely Allison over at THE ADVENTURES OF THE CAUTIONARY TALE THANKS, Allison! Now I must pass it on to 5 other bloggers and share 7 things about myself.
I pass The Versatile Blogger award to:

1.) Bonnie R. Paulson

2.) Shelley Martin

3.) Lynn Rush

4.) Damien Grintalis

5.) Renee Osbourne

A big W000000000T!! For these ladies!!!

Hmmm.... now seven things about me.

1.) I get freaked out in crowds.

2.) I don't really like flowers...unless they're lilacs.

3.) My favorite classic cars are MOPAR i.e Roadrunners, Barracudas, Darts, Dusters, etc.

4.) The movie THE PRINCESS and THE FROG made me cry. (The part with the firefly...::sob::)

5.) I hope to make a cheesy horror movie someday.

6.) I'm hopelessly addicted to Red Bull.

7.) I'm terrified of clowns and zealots.

Whew! Now onto my news. I hope to be finished with the 3rd draft of AN IRONIC SACRIFICE either tonight or tomorrow. Ooh, and next Monday (the 30th) is my one year wedding anniversary!

I'm Starting to Feel Like a Real Writer!

Those of you that have been following me on Twitter and Facebook have seen that I've been on a major workaholic frenzy with my latest project, breaking 1K a day almost every day. I've even been taking my laptop to the bar on my Friday night out and writing between dart games.

When I'm not writing, the story continues to spin in my head. And this story has been doing some interesting things. My characters are realizing things about themselves before I do. And though this story isn't part of my main series, it's showing me things about those novels.

I owe a lot of this new inspiration and progress to my awesome crit partners, Jamie De Bree, Erica Chapman, Shelley Martin and Millie Mclain. Their comments and feedback have helped my stories grow into tangible dreams. Shelley even did a blog post not so subtly urging me to deal with a certain subplot from the first book in my series. The way I'd imagined it would have gone a lot easier, but her way will make my characters freak, which is more fun for the reader. Thanks, Shelley.

So what's been going on in your writing journey?

Celebrations, shout outs and topless Johnny Depp

I'm not in a really "bloggy" mood today, but I totally wanted to share the good news! If you'd care to take a peek at my progress bar on the right, you'll see that I completed the second draft of WRENCHING FATE!!!! W00000T!

This is a bigger deal than usual because this book has quite a history. I started it nine years ago...that's right, nine years ago. Then in 2008 when I got back into writing, I finished it, called it BLOOD PROPHECY and began querying it too soon. Needless to say, it didn't get anywhere. But I learned a lot from the experience, though not enough at the time. I revised it a kajillion times and still tried querying it until I finally realized it was so broken it would take a major overhaul to fix it. So I trunked BLOOD PROPHECY and wrote something completely different. That something different got me an agent, but I couldn't get the characters from my other project out of my head.

Finally I decided on a compromise. Seven years ago I had started a novel that began with a bang...and then I got stuck. This novel was AN IRONIC SACRIFICE and it was to be the sequel. I dug it out, intending it to be a stand-alone. I managed to finish it, but it still had too many elements of a sequel. So I resigned myself to overhauling book 1. I changed it so much that it needed a new title. And that's how WRENCHING FATE was born.

I gotta shout out my thanks to those who helped me along the way.

First to Jamie De Bree who gave a valiant attempt to read BLOOD PROPHECY. By chapter 5 she said, "I quit reading here" and thus showed me that the book was broken.

And thanks to Erica Chapman and Rissa Watkins for slogging through that awful draft and showing me what was salvageable and what had to be cut.

Finally thanks to Monique, Anahi, Millie, and Dana for reading the first draft of WRENCHING FATE and providing much encouraging feedback. And a huge hug to Danae Ayusso for hooking me up with these lovely ladies!

And now, for our viewing pleasure, here's some topless pics of Johhny Depp!

I LOVE IT WHEN AGENTS....

I’ve only been online for a little over a year now. So I missed out on the epic events of #queryfail and its response #agentfail. I have read all of the posts and responses and I have agreements and disagreements with both sides. I noticed on the #agentfail comments, several people wanted to do an #agentawesome session for the agents that are professional and courteous to writers. I think that’s a great idea. Let’s focus more on the positive, people!

I love it when agents…

Thank the writer for thinking of them in their correspondence whether it’s a request OR a rejection. Agents need writers and it’s good to know when we are appreciated.

Acknowledge receipt of requested materials. It is a big load off our shoulders to know that our work didn’t get lost. This whole process is stressful enough as it is.

Give an estimated time for a response to materials and respond courteously to inquiries when that time has lapsed. We know you are busy, but we really appreciate knowing where we stand.

Blog or twitter. Some writers complained about this and I heartily disagree with them. Besides the wonderful fount of useful information about writing and the industry, I like getting to know them as human beings. It gives me a better idea on who’s a good fit.

Give details on their website/blog/twitter about what they represent and their tastes. Though it’s sad to see “If I see another vampire book I’ll scream” it is nice to know so I don’t waste time. I also love when they list some favorite authors.

Have an auto-reply with an estimated time if they are non responders. I think authors hate the “no response means no” policy more because they have no way of knowing if the agent received their query.

These next three go above and beyond in my opinion.

Do the #askagent sessions on twitter. Every agent who participates should get daily cookies and massages. You are awesome incarnate when you give up your personal time to help us.

Give us a reason why you passed on our project. Even one sentence can help me figure out if improvements are needed.

Recommend our work to other agents when they pass. I want to hug you and bake you cookies.

Thank you so much, awesome agents. You have my undying gratitude and respect for all the hard work you do on our behalf.