Today my brain is scattered — and almost as chaotic and busy as the ballroom pictured here, which so crowds poor Mr. Darcy — so my post here will be scattered and chaotic as well.
AWARDS
Don’t forget to vote in All About Romance‘s 2005 Reader Poll! Just go to:
www.allaboutromance.com/ballot2005.html
Ignore the list of books near the top — those are THEIR favorites, not yours — and vote your opinions!
OSCARS
This morning it was announced that the recent film of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was nominated for four Oscars! Of course, the serious films got the nods for best picture, but P&P got nominations for costume design, art direction, original score, plus a best actress nomination for Keira Knightley! (Well deserved, in my opinion!)
OBSERVATIONS
My first novel (MY LADY GAMESTER) was released on November 1. Looking back, it’s been an interesting and educational three months for me.
So . . .
First, my thank-yous.
1) Thank you to the many members of my family, and my husband’s family, who bought my book.
2) A particular thank-you to my mother, my uncle’s mother-in-law, and Todd’s parents and their spouses, for making the supreme sacrifice of actually reading it.
3) An extra-special thank-you to my mother-in-law, her husband, and my father-in-law’s wife, for sharing their thoughts on my book, and what they liked about it.
4) Thank you to my friends who took the time to buy and read my book.
5) An extra special thank you to the two members of my local RWA chapter who went the extra mile, and reviewed my book on Amazon. I am eternally grateful.
6) Thank you to pretty much everyone I’ve mentioned my book to, for not calling romances trash, or making snide or patronizing remarks about the genre, or my book.
Now, what I have learned…
1) Most of my relatives, and some of my friends, will never read my book. They may read other books, or they may not, but they won’t read mine. They would probably be more interested in hearing about my attempts at cooking, my cat’s bad habits, the last movie I saw, or the details of my mortgage, than hearing about the book that took me years (and blood, toil, tears, and sweat) to write. That’s life.
2) The most common question I will get on my book is “How is it selling?” (I guess this is a question my relatives can ask without having read my book.)
3) Some of my friends who read my book will decide the most useful thing they can do is to list for me any errors they believe they have found in it. I confess I do not know why they think this is a good idea.
4) Even if the theme of my satiric holiday letter is the fact that almost no one has reviewed my book on Amazon, no one I send the letter to will be persuaded by it to review my book on Amazon. I hereby resolve to learn to be happy with my two good reviews, and stop nagging my relatives (who haven’t read my book anyway.)
So . . . does anyone else have any similar observations to share?? All opinions (and venting of your own) very welcome! (You can also comment on the AAR poll or the Oscar nominations!)
Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — out now from Signet Regency!!!!
