Seton Hill Writers in Person and on the Shelves

ON THE SHELVES:
New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Mallery has two books out this month:


Hot on Her Heels

AND


The Sheik and the Bought Bride

IN PERSON:
Ellen Spain will be discussing her new novel Secrets in the Fog: the Invisibility Project on October 6th at 7:00 PM in the Gallery Room of The Monroeville Public Library.

New Releases from Seton Hill Writers

Writers from the Seton Hill University Writing Popular Fiction MFA Program had releases this month in Fantasy, Mystery, YA, and Inspirational:


Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder


Tidings of Great Boys by Shelley Adina


Secrets in the Fog: The Invisibility Project by Ellen Spain


Breathless by Jessica Warman


Fantastical Visions IV edited by W.H. Horner

PATHS TO PUBLICATION - DANA MARTON

Saved by the Monarch by Dana Marton

Many years ago, I had a job as an afternoon receptionist at a company. The morning receptionist was a Harlequin reading maniac. We shared the same desk and every drawer was filled to the brim with Harlequin novels. Since work was slow, I began reading those little books in between answering the phone. (Romance writers must learn to multitask.) Soon I was reading them faster then I could find them. Then one day in the library I came across Kathryn Falk’s How to Write a Romance. I suppose I haven’t considered the authors until then. They seemed mythical creatures born with this extraordinary knowledge. But the very existence of Kathryn’s book suggested that romance writing could be learned! That was a stunningly new concept to me at the time, almost too good to be believed.

So I took How to Write a Romance home and read it, and began to write a historical romance set in Ancient Egypt. I had a couple of hundred pages when the floppy disk that held my only copy got corrupted. I just didn’t have the heart to start all over again. When I overcame the disappointment of losing my early masterpiece, I began a sci-fi romance. This one I even sent to a publisher! (Optimism is very important for a romance writer.) I got a very nice letter back, but they weren’t interested. The next book was an inspirational romance. This time the publisher (a different one) loved the partial and asked for a full. Sadly, no sale. Then I wrote a straight romance. Then a western historical. (Romance writers need lots of resilience.) Then a romantic suspense that actually won a couple of writing contests. I might have meandered along like this endlessly if I hadn’t found Seton Hill University and their Writing Popular Fiction program. (Romance writers ask for help when they need some.)

I tried more romantic suspense there along with epic fantasy. I was told by knowledgeable people that I had a category voice and romantic suspense was my strength. Only one publisher publishes category romantic suspense so, yay, I had a target. Harlequin Intrigue was one of my favorite lines anyway. I started reading even more of them. And wrote a novel specifically with them in mind. And sold it. Just like that. After only thirteen years of trying! Piece of cake. (Romance writers don’t give up. Ever.)

Holding that book in my hands was so much fun that I have done it since again and again and again. I have twenty novels so far and my books are published in eleven countries in eight different languages. Some have been turned into audio books, some you can download to your phone chapter by chapter. One was even turned into a comic book in Japan! I’m a Harlequin author at last. And I’d like to think there are some receptionists out there with my books in their desk drawers. (Romance writers are optimists. Oh, right. I’ve already said that.)

-Dana Marton
May 2009


Dana Marton’s TALL, DARK & LETHAL is a Rita finalist this year. You can find out more about her and read excerpts from her books at www.danamarton.com. Her most recent release is SAVED BY THE MONARCH.

–Forget kissing frogs. Meet Prince Miklos of Valtria. And if the crown fits….--

E-Book Rights Alert: Amazon's Kindle 2 Adds "Text to Speech" Function

I'm passing this along from The Authors Guild. It's lengthy, but worth reading for all writers, I believe.

"On Monday, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled Amazon's Kindle 2 e-book reading device at the Morgan Library in New York. Most of the changes from the first version of the Kindle are incremental improvements: the new Kindle is lighter and thinner, for example, and Amazon eliminated the scroll wheel. One update, however, is wholly new: Amazon has added a "Text to Speech" function that reads the e-book aloud through the use of special software.

This presents a significant challenge to the publishing industry. Audiobooks surpassed $1 billion in sales in 2007; e-book sales are just a small fraction of that. While the audio quality of the Kindle 2, judging from Amazon's promotional materials, is best described as serviceable, it's far better than the text-to-speech audio of just a few years ago. We expect this software to improve rapidly.

We're studying this matter closely and will report back to you. In the meantime, we recommend that if you haven't yet granted your e-book rights to backlist or other titles, this isn't the time to start. If you have a new book contract and are negotiating your e-book rights, make sure Amazon's use of those rights is part of the dialog. Publishers certainly could contractually prohibit Amazon from adding audio functionality to its e-books without authorization, and Amazon could comply by adding a software tag that would prohibit its machine from creating an audio version of a book unless Amazon has acquired the appropriate rights. Until this issue is worked out, Amazon may be undermining your audio market as it exploits your e-books.

Bundling e-books and audio books has been discussed for a long time in the industry. It's a good idea, but it shouldn't be accomplished by fiat by an e-book distributor.

Reading to your kids note: A Wall Street Journal article quoted a portion of an interview with Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken regarding the Kindle 2. The remarks have been interpreted by some as suggesting that the Guild believes that private out-loud reading is protected by copyright. It isn't, unless the reading is being done by a machine. And even out-loud reading by a machine is fine, of course, if it's from an authorized audio copy. Others suggest that challenging Amazon's use of this software challenges accessibility to the visually impaired. It doesn't: Kindle 2 isn't designed for such use. The Guild continues to support efforts to make works truly accessible to the visually impaired."

Jason Jack Miller Has Paneranoia

Jason Jack Miller got a word accepted at Urban Dictionary - paneranoia.

Stop by and give him a thumbs up! (Yes, I'm allowed to campaign for him because he is my husband.)

Cover Art for The Other in the Mirror

You can see the cover of The Other in the Mirror, a new Phillip Jose Farmer omnibus, edited by Seton Hill Writer Christopher Paul Carey. The cover art is by Bob Eggleton.

Seton Hill Writers Update

Here are some Seton Hill Writers updates from the past couple of months:

#1: Kerri Mountain's WPF thesis novel The Parson's Christmas Gift is still available at some online sites even though it sold out at the publisher's site, Steeple Hill Books.

#2: Shelley Adina's second book in the All About Us YA series is out in bookstores. It's called Be Strong and Curvaceous. The third book Who Made You a Princess? is due to hit stores in May 2009.

#3: Monica Spence was elected as President of the Long Island Romance Writers, Chapter 160 of the RWA.

#4: Maria V. Snyder's novel Poison Study made the 2009 YALSA "Popular Paperback" list.

#5: Traci Castleberry has a short story titled "Rent Girl" in the Valentine's Day anthology Lace and Blade 2. Also, as her alter-ego Nica Berry, she has a new e-book out from Loose Id titled Consort.

#6: Dr. Ellen Spain was selected as a judge for the 2009 Young Voices Awards.

#7: A new community on Facebook honors one of Seton Hill's horror writers and mentors - "What would Mike Arnzen do for a Klondike Bar?"

#8: Irene L. Pynn has a revamped site - http://www.irenelpynn.com