Short & Sweet . . . Or A Hot, Tasty Morsel

The Delights & Pluses of Short Fiction

As a long-winded (very) writer – my first completed manuscript ended up at 103,000 words – I never contemplated writing shorter length stories. I hadn’t even read many short romances, of any genre. I’d perused Red Sage collections and some Ellora’s Cave novella duets.

Then I started a Yahoo group for writers of sizzling stories. Erotic romance and erotica are usually taboo discussion topics on general loops because of the often graphic subject matter and I wanted somewhere I, and other authors penning the hot stuff, had for our craft and industry discussions that would not get us tossed off the other loops.

In an effort to keep things lively on my Let Me Get You Hot & Bothered group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/letmegetyouhotandbothered/) and give our members a chance to spread their wings (hot wings?) I started Freaky Friday Flash Fiction. Working with a prompt (word, picture, phrase, etc.), we post flash fiction of 500 words, give or take (as I often say, we’re easy!).

Lo and behold, I discovered the joy of writing short – and very hot. These spicy love nibbles soon became a fascination and I started writing them on my own wherever the urge took me, posting them on my Yahoo loop, and also on my personal erotica fiction blog, Lust In The Afternoon (http://blackrosediaries.blogspot.com/ ). I’d never thought of submitting these super shorties of just a couple thousand words or so, then along comes an anthology call for a Ravenous Romance ménage antho. One of my pieces fit perfectly with the submission call, so I sent it off, not really expecting too much.

Then a few months later, I’m staring at my first contract and my first published piece, “Share and Share Alike” in the newly released Ravenous Romance anthology, “My First Threesome”, edited by F. Leonora Solomon.

And I’m not alone. Several other members of this chapter have likewise found their first publication successes with shorter length fiction.

The time is absolutely ripe to explore short stories and novellas because the current digital boom allows publishers the opportunity to publish both stand-alone short stories that often sell for as little as $ .99, or novellas in the $2.99 range, as well as anthologies. They are no longer hampered by length restrictions of printing costs and the popularity of short fiction is growing by leaps and bounds as folks with e-readers discover this romance format for the first time. Whether it is a short story interconnected with novels and published in between full-length releases to keep an author’s visibility up, or single stories written to publishers’ themes or just single, short tales, readers are gobbling up these little nuggets of romance goodness.

For a writer, producing short fiction requires deft editing and concise writing to get an effective story told in so few words. This is definitely a craft-honing format for that reason alone.

Likewise, for a newer author, it can be a terrific chance to attract new readers and fans who might very well be willing to take a chance on a writer they don’t know for just $ .99 or $2.99, whereas they would not be willing to fork over, say, $9.99.

And of course, short fiction, especially short stories of 10,000 and under can be generated in a much shorter time frame, which allows for more frequent product and exposure to keep interest up while you are working on the full-length MS. Sometimes life gets in the way and we can’t even begin to contemplate a novel. Maybe, however, during those breaks, like in the eye of a hurricane, you can find the wherewithal to create something bite-sized.

Short fiction has always been a staple in publishing, and some fiction authors never write anything longer. But with romance such a supremely popular subject, and with digital booming? Romance shorts and novellas are riding a Bonsai pipeline wave to great success.

So, whether you would prefer to write sweet little petit fours romance confections, or sizzling hot erotic romance jalapeno poppers, why not give short fiction a try? Like myself and others here in RWA/NYC, you may make your first sale with a 5,000 word story. Or discover a format that suits you perfectly.

Start whetting the appetites of your future fans and then get ready to feed their passions with these delectable little love bites!

Want to get a taste of my menage? Click on the Title of this Post!).

AWKWARDLY YOURS: 12 Tips for Fixing Awkward Writing

by Isabo Kelly

The term “awkward” can be a little confusing when editors and critique partners use it to point out some flaw in a sentence or passage of your prose. What does it really mean?

Basically, it means that what you’re trying to say isn’t coming across clearly to a reader. Remember, readers aren’t in your head. They can’t magically understand what you’re trying to say if you don’t actually say it. Other terms used to describe this awkwardness problem might be: clunky, muddled, confusing, too wordy, or huh?

So how do you recognize awkwardness in your writing? And how do you weed it out?

To recognize awkward phrasing, read out loud. If you trip over your sentence, or it doesn’t quite make sense, chances are it’s an awkward sentence. Additionally, get one or two trusted beta readers to point out places where your writing is clunky or confusing.

That’s the easy part. Now you have to fix the muddled writing. In honor of the New Year, here are twelve tips to help:


1. Clarify what you mean to say. All that follows comes down to this point. Conveying thoughts to readers via the written word requires clarity. Be clear on exactly what you’re trying to say.

2. Then say what you mean. Don’t meander around the point. Just say it. Try actually saying out loud what you intend for readers to know, hear the words that make sense then write those down.

3. Throw out the need to be “writerly”. Always go with clarity above artiness if you want your fiction to be readable.

4. Simplify. Don’t get lost in convoluted turns of phrase. See number two and write what you mean in the most direct, simple way possible. This is not to say you should be using only simple words. Don’t be afraid to use that big old vocabulary. But don’t sacrifice clarity for the sake of your Thesaurus.

5. Separate ideas. Don’t try to mash-up several different trains of thought into a single sentence. Separate the ideas. And then see number six.

6. Look at the order of thoughts/ideas and make sure they are logical. Readers need some sense of logical flow. One idea should follow from the proceeding idea in a way that makes sense.

7. Dump repetitions. Especially if you’re repeating within the same sentence or paragraph. Readers are smart. You don’t have to beat them over the head. However…

8. Finish what you’re trying to say. Don’t assume readers will know what you were attempting to get at. Say it outright so they won’t be left guessing and confused.

9. Pay attention to your grammar. Yes, yes, grammar is a bad word to some writers. But it’s there for a reason. The whole objective of basic grammar rules is to convey exactly what you mean to say. Remember the memorable title of the fun grammar book Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss? A lot of confusion can arise from one badly placed comma.

10. Pay attention to your pronouns. Make sure they refer to the correct objects. This is part of paying attention to proper grammar and separating ideas. Making sure nouns line up with the correct pronouns will eliminate awkward, and sometimes unintentionally funny, sentences.

11. As much as possible, stick to basic punctuation. Periods, commas, quotation marks, apostrophes, and question marks will cover almost all of your needs in fiction. Use anything else with a light touch. Then when things like ellipses and em-dashes are used, they’ll have more impact. Forcing yourself to stick to basic punctuation will also force you to make the words themselves convey your meaning.

12. Strengthen your verbs. Using one very specific, strong verb in place of a weak verb with four or five modifiers will save you from clunky sentences every time.

Isabo Kelly’s latest science fiction romance, The Secret of Narava, is out now. For more on Isabo and her books, visit her website www.isabokelly.com, follow her on Twitter @IsaboKelly, or find her on Facebook www.facebook.com/IsaboKelly

THE BITTERSWEET TRUTH OF BEING AN ARTIST: SMALL VICTORIES

by Jonathan Marcantoni, Guest Blogger

Sitting at a small table covered with copies of my book, TRAVELER’S REST, watching people glance at its surreal book cover and giving me faint smiles as they just kept walking past me, I began to wonder, ‘Is it me, or is it my book?’ My first novel as a solo-author is very difficult to categorize. Part literary fiction, part interconnected short story collection, part political treatise, part historical fiction, part drug addiction story, and very much concerned with subjects like depression, suicidal thoughts, alienation, an existential search for self and the pains of being an exile—does any of that sound like something you’d want to read? It’s not fun reading that’s for sure, even if you do have a taste for the dark side of literature. Oh, and the style is stream of conscience—Jesus, I didn’t make this easy on myself, did I?

At the same time, my last book, a collaboration with Jean Blasiar called COMMUNION, was about as mainstream as they come. A WWII-based fantasy about a little girl who uses her gift of communicating with animals to find her father amidst the rubble of post-war France, COMMUNION is about as warm, inviting and enjoyable as a book can be. And it sold practically nothing. Not for lack of trying, we did everything we could think of, and still it didn’t sell.

So if neither approach worked, the question again rears its ugly head—‘Is it me, or is it my book?’ I have gotten a handful of reviews, all positive, I have set up radio interviews and done a few for blogs online, but I haven’t seen any sort of increase in sales on Amazon’s Author Central, in fact, I haven’t seen any sales.

Eight years. Eight years ago I sold a script and signed a contract with a production company and could officially call myself a professional writer. For eight years I have done every BS and scam job imaginable just to make pennies on the dollar, as well some very good, legit writing work that didn’t pay me at all, just to build up a resume. Things were looking up when I began working for an independent publisher, the same one who published both of my books. I have edited fourteen books in the last seven years and even got a Hollywood agent interested in a script I worked on with Jean, and yet, for all that resume padding and for all the things I could say I had accomplished, sitting at that table and being completely ignored and completely uncomfortable—I couldn’t feel like more of a loser. Eight years of work just to be an embarrassment.

Anybody who has been trying to make it as an artist, whether with theatre, painting, dance, or writing, knows this moment. You’ve put everything out there and returned with nothing to show for it. Whenever I am working with a new author as their editor, I always counsel them about how difficult emotionally releasing a book is. I always caution them that sales are not guaranteed, and that all this work may often feel like it has been in vain. But I also tell them that it is worth it, that you don’t write to make money, you write because you have to. It is an essential part of yourself, and this sales game is the worst part of it, but you gotta do it. You can’t quit. I usually get a head nod or some kind of dismissive response, as though they will be the exception and not the rule. And then the book comes out, and reality hits, and not one of them I have known has written a second book.

When I lived in Atlanta I had the chance to see Eddie Izzard, for those of you not acquainted with the cross dressing British comedian, he was huge in the early 2000s, do a DVD signing Tower Records in Buckhead, which for those of you who don’t know Atlanta, is an extremely upscale part of the city. Anyway, this massive store was packed to the gills and Mr. Izzard walks up on a make-shift stage and does a stand up bit prior to the signing. Toward the end of the act, he decided to do a Q&A with the audience and someone asked him what advice he would give up and coming entertainers. For the first time that night, Mr. Izzard stopped smiling. He looked that person straight in the eye and said, “Persistence. You have to be persistent”. He went on for another five minutes or so espousing on that idea, and I don’t remember the rest of it, but his answer has stayed with me for almost a decade now. Persistence. I tell myself all the time I have to be persistent, I have to push through. Now that a couple days have passed, the sting of that night has gone away and I am continuing on my quest to get my book sold, but that night I wanted to burn everything down around me, including myself, yet, in spite of my feelings I allowed the sales clerk at the store convince me to schedule another book signing. Maybe it was my memory of that night at Tower Records playing in my head that forced me to swallow my pride and schedule it, or maybe it was the fact that this signing was made with less than a week’s notice and I was woefully unprepared, so the practical side of my brain told me that it was, in fact, me who was the problem, and some good planning could yield a better result. Whatever it was, I was able to fight through the pain of yet another disappointment and move forward.

The bitter truth is that these things are unpredictable, like gambling, you may hit the jackpot one night and not do it again for years, but at least you did it once and that means you might do it again. That possibility is what keeps you placing bets. The sweet truth, is that the victories you receive in this line of work are more often small, but nonetheless significant. Take this evening for example, the signing was a bust, but now I have five copies of my very own book being sold at a real brick and mortar bookstore in the downtown of the 7th largest city in the country (San Antonio, Texas). It’s the first time I could say something like that. It may not be a million dollar book deal, but it’s a start, and if I want to keep being a writer, and believe me I do, I have to milk that small victory for all it’s worth. Because I’d never know if that day I hit the jackpot will come or not, and I’d rather raise my bets than fold my hand.♥



ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jonathan Marcantoni is the author of TRAVELER’S REST (Aignos Publishing 2012). He is also Editor in Chief for Aignos Publishing, a new bi-lingual independent press specializing in experimental and innovative literature. Jon is the co-author of COMMUNION with author/playwrite Jean Blasiar, which was published in October 2011 from Savant Books and Publications. He lives in San Antonio, Texas, with his wife and three children, where he is currently working on his next novel.