Good News for Romance Sales

Romance Writers of America put together their yearly stats about book sales recently for the year 2014. In print sales, romance comes in a close second to general fiction (whatever the heck that is). General fiction captured 24.2% of print sales with romance following at 22.3%. In digital sales, romance claimed the top rank with 32.1% of the sales with thrillers a distant second at 15%. An interesting note about digital sales is that fantasy lurked in at #5 with 5.7%. I love reading fantasy and science fiction but they seldom make the top of the lists for units sold. I know from my own fantasy writing, my sales numbers are minute compared to how much romance I sell.

Another thing of interest to me in the report was the list of growing subcategories in romance that are really gaining in digital sales. Science fiction is one of them and for once I'm actually writing what is currently popular with my two published space opera series and my third series that is coming soon.

My birthday was last week and my dear children came up with some great gifts. Three gift cards to bookstores, a really cool thumb drive that my daughter bought for me in Oman(it's shaped like a dagger), and a half dozen cans of iced coffee. My dear husband bought me that Shark Rocket I've been eyeing because my vacuum cleaner is just too heavy to lug up and down the steps. Yes, we've been married long enough that I appreciate household items for gifts when they're meant to make my life easier. He bought me flowers too.

I checked two things off my 'to-do' list last week and only added one. What we call progress in my little writing office. It's also that time of year when I start shopping around for my new desk planner. You've heard me rave about The Old Farmer's Almanac Engagement Calendar for the past two years, but I always look to see if there's something else that I might like better. Things I require in a planner are that it be spiral bound so it lays out flat and that it displays a week at a time. It also must have enough space for each day for me to jot down appointments, blogging ideas and my to-do lists. The bookstores are putting their selections out now as they prepare for Christmas shoppers.

Good things to look ahead to this week for me. My husband doesn't need me to help with his paint job anymore. I'm having lunch with a friend on Tuesday and going to give blood that day. That always makes me feel good. And I should get more writing done since I'm not painting.

What are you looking forward to this week? Do you us an appointment calendar and if you do, what requirements do you have for your choice? Do you mind getting household items for gifts? Did you find anything interesting or surprising about those book sales stats?

I'm Me, and You're You

I've been reading a book over the weekend where the pacing is terrific. I've been staying up way too late. Join me in a discussion about pacing over at the IWSG site.

It's so easy to admire the writing as you're reading a book or short story that really grabs hold of you. Then that little niggling voice inside your brain starts to suggest you should try to write like that. Or perhaps you read an article or post that describes your favorite author's methods or process. And you think you should try that.

We all have to make changes in how we work at times until we find what is right for us. But it should be your method, not a copy of someone else's.

Often I'll read a blog post or an interview where writers describe how they get the job done. Some actually work nearly the same as I do as in get the first draft done and then revise, revise, revise. Or they brainstorm while exercising like I do. Maybe they write late at night like I do. But there's never anyone exactly the same from start to finish.

In other news about the world, today is the International Day of Peace. A minute of silence at noon is asked as we all hope, pray or work for peace. And there is a lot of work to be done.

Have you been seeing a lot of sunshine lately? Then you must not live one of the ten most cloudy states in the USA according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. See if your state is there. After days and days of rain for us at the start of the summer, we're having a pretty dry August and September. Lots of sun for PA. If you live outside the US, how do you measure up against these states for days of clouds?

Here's a real shocker. According to the article in PW a survey from New Guild reveals that most authors make earnings below the poverty level? I guess none of us knew this.

The Rat of 2015

Welcome to 2015, the year of the Rat according to the Chinese Zodiac. Since you weren't born this year, perhaps you don't know if you were born in the year of the rat. 1936, 48, 60, 72,84,96, 08, every twelve years the animal designation for the year changes. If one of those is your birth year, you're ambitious and sincere and can be generous with your money. If you believe in things like Zodiac signs.

I expect 2015 to be another big year for speculative fiction in all media genre. Books, movies, TV and on social media. I like the term, speculative fiction. It's broad and covers so much including most of what I write. Super heroes are big on TV and in the movies. Fantasy continues to edge in and create more generations of lovers of Tolkien and the fantasy genre along with help from Game of Thrones on HBO. Arrow, The Flash and Shield, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, TV is filled with speculative fiction. Keep it going fans.

In the new year, I will be hosting guests on Fridays most weeks. January is already filled and I'm very excited about it. Tomorrow is the meeting of my local writing group where we'll talk about what's coming in the next year. For this group it means things like online classes, guest speakers, goal setting, the annual retreat(I've never attended that, yet) and the introduction of new officers. Fun times.

Hope you all had a safe and happy holiday but now it's back to work. Well, on Monday for most people. I'll be back to work on my WIP, the third book in my Warriors of Gaviron series. It's been fun to write, but I'll be glad to stop thinking about giant insect-like aliens who are smart and vicious. It's a joke in our family that I'm not afraid of anything, snakes, charging bulls or strangers, but bugs and spiders freak me out. How's that for using your fears in your books.

Some wisdom today from The Old Farmer's Almanac:
Humans have unique tongue prints just as they do fingerprints.
Vincent Van Gogh sold only one painting (The Red Vineyard) during his lifetime.
January was named for the Roman god, Janus, protector of gates and doorways.

And don't forget to watch for the Quadrantid meteor shower in the northern sky before dawn on Sunday. And Sunday is the full wolf moon. I think we're getting snow and rain on Saturday so once again clouds will destroy my chance to witness a celestial event.

There are forty kinds of lunacy but only one kind of common sense.  African Proverb

Are you ready to get back to work in 2015? Did you know that about tongue prints? Are you watching too much police procedural TV if you did? Do like the popularity of speculative fiction across the media world? Were you born in the year of the rat?

Freezing Friday

It's not even officially winter yet and I'm freezing. I'm really not a fan of winter. I'll try not to complain on my blog like I did all last winter. No promises though.

Finished up the edits on The Warrior and the Governor. After all the rewrites and zillions of times editing it, I still cried through the one chapter. I choked myself up so I hope that's a good thing for the readers. Really made me eager to get back to the next Warrior book that I have about one quarter of

the first draft completed.

Lots of bloggers taking a break for the holiday. I haven't decided yet whether I will or won't take a break. Unless I get so cold I can't type. Whoops. Complaining already.

Wisdom from The Old Farmer's Almanac for the week.

"A wise companion is half the journey." Russian Proverb

A ring carved from mistletoe protects the wearer against illness.

A cactus plant produce a million seeds, but only one or two survive to form a new cactus.

As we enter the holiday season, I thought a little wisdom from The Bard might fit the wonders of being with family and friends.
Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. William Shakespeare

And this one.
Prosperity is full of friends. Euripides

I'll be finished up some Christmas shopping this weekend (still haven't found my new planner for 2015) and writing. Drinking lots of coffee and spending at least an hour a day on the treadmill. Would rather be jogging outside those darn temperatures ... you know where I was going with that.

Ever have a ring carved from mistletoe? Are you taking a break from blogging for the holidays. Why does blogger keep turning on word verification (number verification) when I have it turned off? Are you feeling prosperous for the holidays?

Friday Business

Cold weather is moving in. I have a busy, busy week with a lot of writing things on the schedule but also with outside work to do. We live in the country with about an acre and a half of ground. Along with my one son, I spent a lot of hours spread over two days digging out stumps from trees the weather had knocked down. Then we hauled some branches to the township recycle center and burned some other. Tired muscles but a real feeling of accomplishment.

In the writing field, I spent some time getting to know a few fellow Musa authors by way of a wonderful promotion coordinator. You'll meet a few of those authors over the next two months. I'm very excited about the value of the content of their guest posts.

I also had a very entertaining Skype conversation with my daughter studying in Morocco. Living and working in that country has made her really appreciate America and her family's work ethic. She's finding that the mindset she grew up with isn't the norm for a lot of the world. The college-aged people she teaches as part of her studies, believe that Americans are all just naturally rich. They don't understand the connection between long hours of work and what we have. For her, there really is no place like home. Her roots are middle class American. The Tolkien quote this week is for her.

“Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” 

And wisdom from The Old Farmer's Almanac:

"The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' sense." Pablo Picasso

Squirrels gathering nuts in a flurry,

Will cause snow to gather in a hurry.   Not too soon we hope.

Babies born a day after the full moon enjoy prosperity and longevity. How was the moon when you were born?

And tomorrow is National Cappuccino Day. Sounds good.

Thanks this week to my friend, Ava Quinn, who taught me how to do something on my blog I didn't know how to do. She's one of those amazing people who has young children, works a day job, takes on volunteer responsibilities and still writes and keeps up her blog.

Have you had outside work to prepare for the coming season? Feeling the burdens and pride of that good old American work ethic or wondering where it's gone? Seeing the squirrels busy outside your abode? Know Ava? Having a cappuccino tomorrow?