May 22nd, 2013 → 7:24 pm @ Robin Donovan
My first book was edited by five people. Not everyone has that luxury. I think it’s a luxury because you get to see your work through different eyes – and you get to make the final call by reviewing the options and choosing the ones that make the most sense for your plot and characters.
I can honestly say that all five of my editors contributed something meaningful to the final published work. Some of the editing was tedious, but I found the overall process invigorating and frequently enjoyable. It was extremely helpful to have them point out areas that warranted a second look. I would review the section in question to determine whether or not it would pass muster with a broader audience; in some cases a reference was too obscure or a joke too lame. I’m not sure I would have caught those weaknesses on my own.
My second book is not going as smoothly. So far I’ve had three editors, and they all seem to get caught up in their own lack of knowledge of my genre. They’re not contributing anything meaningful. It’s frustrating and it feels as though this book will never get out. I write comedic murder mysteries. They’re so hung up on making comments like “why would that character tell her so much when she’s not even a real detective?” Oh for god sake – get over it! Have you never read Agatha’s Christie’s famous Miss Marple? Did you never watch Jessica Fletcher solve every mystery on Murder, She Wrote?
Even under the best of circumstances editors can get under your skin. But a good editor is worth their weight in gold. Aside from the outlay of cash, the biggest potential risk to self-publishing is not making the effort to get good editors reviewing your work. I was convinced my manuscript was perfect on the first day it was submitted – it became so much better over the 18 month editing and proofing process.
Even though in hindsight I am so grateful for the editors of that first book, they still managed to frustrate the hell out of me. I think I shortened and lengthened the same sentences three or four times, and I know I moved commas out, over and back into the same places. Some of their comments were stupid and dated – but I knew enough to ignore those – albeit not without angst and bugging my publisher for permission. I think I was high maintenance!
As I look back on the experience of my first book – I would not trade the value my editors brought to the project even if I never had to move a comma. And even though my second book has not yet met with a successful editing experience, I still cannot emphasize the importance of good editors – now I just have to find some!
Donovan heads Bozell Books, a division of Bozell designed to help authors and budding authors from inception through promotion of their published work. She has authored a novel entitled: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was a Bitch? www.rldonovan.com, and the second in her Donna Leigh Mysteries series : I Didn’t Kill Her But That May Have Been Short Sighted, is currently being published.
May 13th, 2013 → 6:15 pm @ Robin Donovan
Interview with Robin Donovan
Posted on May 10, 2013 by animalsandmagic
What is your name, your books name, genre, age level, and what is it about?
I am the author of the Donna Leigh Mystery series, my name is Robin Leemann Donovan. The first book in this cozy mystery series is entitled Is It Still Murder Even If She Was a Bitch?
Although Donna Leigh, the protagonist of this comedic murder mystery is a menopausal business woman, I have been told that the book has been enjoyed by men and women of a wide age range. However, I would imagine that my primary target audience would be Women 45 – 64.
Menopausal and sardonic Donna Leigh owns an Omaha ad agency. Sleuthing keeps Donna’s toxic relationship with her murdered former colleague from landing her on the suspect list. Donna and her colorful colleagues hunt unrelentingly for clues, leaving a trail of unintentional destruction in their wake, even after Donna is threatened.
Tell us a little about your books characters.
Donna Leigh is my protagonist, a menopausal ad-agency owner/amateur sleuth. Babs & Peg are her two menopausal cohorts. When the three get together – something always happens.
The murder victim, Claire, a former colleague who was a self-satisfied bitch with a less than perfectly ethical approach to business.
Clovis Cordoba Seville is the former colleague who takes the world record in narcissism. Her mental process is fascinating as she manages to ensure that everything revolves around her – she projects her worst flaws onto Donna.
Other folks around the agency include: Donna’s business partners Liv and Donny, her good friend Kyle and various and sundry other staffers.
Last but not least are Donna’s husband Jon and their three rescue bulldogs. They are her comfort and her solace after some very difficult days.
Do you have a favorite among your characters?
Clovis is my favorite. She was added in as a joke, but she became almost the alter ego of Donna. Clovis is everything that Donna hates, she’s a person who puts herself above all else – and only works to ensure that she remains center stage. We all have those moments periodically – and Clovis is quick to point out any and every minor ego related infraction of Donna’s. She also projects a great deal of her own narcissistic insanity on Donna – and we’ve all met those people – what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.
Why did you write your book? Did anything specific inspire it?
I have been in the advertising business for over 30 years and I have met some incredible characters. The book was a chance to explore some of the more outrageous of those personalities and combine them with two of my favorite things: comedy and murder mysteries.
Want to Write a Book?
During the editing process, a few of my editors were concerned that some of my characters were too outrageous and not believable – my editors hailed from academia. Rest assured there has never been a person in the advertising industry who has not absolutely believed these are credible characters.
Now tell us a little about yourself.
I started out as a high school English teacher and felt very old very fast. After three years of teaching I got a job in an advertising agency and have never felt old since.
Most of my career was in the Northeast, but when an offer came to head the media department in the founding office of Bozell, I jumped at the chance and moved to Omaha. Living in Omaha has been an incredible experience. It has changed me from the fast paced, overly aggressive northeasterner that I was and given me a chance to stop and smell the roses – although some would tell you I’m kidding myself on that count!
Twelve years ago I was given the chance to be part of a group that bought the Bozell brand from IPG. It has been an amazing experience – never easy, but rewarding in so many ways.
Our active role in social media started me blogging and once I started writing there was no stopping me. I write for our company blog: Insights, I write a blog on menopause called Menologues, which is republished on Vibrant Nation and Alltop. A few years ago, we got a publisher as a client and I realized that all the pieces of the puzzle were in place and it was time to write my book.
When I’m not at work or writing, I spend time with my rescue bulldogs, ski, dance and I’m an avid reader. I also attend food and wine tastings fairly regularly.
Do you do a lot of reading? And what are a few of your favorite books and authors?
I love to read murder mysteries, both serious and humorous. In general, I love a well written book that reveals a secret. My favorite author is Dickens, but I love Jane Austen.
On the lighter side, I have the utmost respect for JK Rowling and Janet Evanovich. They both serve an important purpose – when my good friend lost her Mom, I sent her the first six Evanovich books – now she’s hooked.
Where can your books be purchased?
Direct book purchase page on my publisher’s website: http://writelife.pinnaclecart.com/humor/is-it-still-murder-even-if-she-was-a-bitch/
Through my author’s website: www.rldonovan.com
The book can also be purchased at the 13th Street Mystery Bookstore – A Stitch in Crime, the Bookworm, Nebraska at the Market and Urban Abbey.
The book can also be purchased on:
Amazon:
AmazonKindle
Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/is-it-still-murder-even-if-she-was-a-bitch-?store=allproducts&keyword=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F+
Books a Million
http://www.booksamillion.com/search?id=5678577054418&query=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F&where=Books&search.x=49&search.y=10&search=Search
Donna Leigh Mysteries
Indie Bound
http://www.indiebound.org/hybrid?filter0=is+it+still+murder+even+if+she+was+a+bitch%3F&x=31&y=7
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About animalsandmagic
I am an author and reader of fiction and nonfiction books about animals, the relationships between humans and animals, magic and other supernatural things. My first published book series is called Mortal Realm Witch and is for ages 8-adult. My blog mostly focuses on the topics of animals, magic, reading books, writing books, and sometimes other things as well. I post new blogs every two weeks so be sure to check back then if you like my blog but are not following it. You can also learn when I post a new blog by following me on Facebook and/or Twitter. You can visit my website, www.mortalrealmwitch.com, for the links.
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about.me
Jennifer Priester
Author, Publisher, Book Layout Designer, Artist, Reader, & Animal Lover
I write fiction and nonfiction books about animals, the relationships between humans and animals, magic, the supernatural, and superheroes. The genre’s I write in include one or more of the following: Fantasy, Short Stories, Children’s Fiction, Nonfiction, Sci-fi, Sci-fi/fantasy, Supernatural, Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Adventure. I also do my own book cover art and any inside photos or drawings. I layout my own books, both print and eBook, as well as other peoples and publish my books under my own publishing company, A & M Moonlight Creations, which can also publish other peoples work as well as my own.
Besides writing and drawing, I love to read books, ride horses, watch TV/movies, play video games, spend time outside, and spend a lot of time with animals.
I really love animals and have and have owned many, most of which have been rescues. Currently I have a Chihuahua called Taco, two Mini Rex rabbits called Chibi and Kojikaki, and a ten year old Goldfish called Pumpkin. In the past I have owned a Toy Poodle called CeJaye, a Dutch rabbit called Friendly, a Dutch Mix called Oreo who was my first ever rescue pet and ever since adopting her I have become adoption only when it comes to getting new pets. In the past I also lived with a Parakeet called Peekablue, an African Cichlid fish called Trouble, a speckled fish called Speckle, a speckled fish called Sea Star, a Goldfish called Sunny, a Goldfish called Silver, a Dalmatian fish called Perdita, and many other fish as well.
Besides pets I have many anipals; animals that I don’t own but am friends with. One of these animals is my favorite horse at the barn I ride at, an Appendix Quarterhorse called Levi.
At some time in their lives, almost every pet and favorite anipal has inspired a either a nonfiction book, a character or characters in fiction stories, or both. The ones that have inspired fiction characters have their own special dedication page on my website.
I have found that animals are my biggest source of inpiration as a writer.
Recent Posts
Interview with Robin Donovan
New Blog Posts and Schedule Begin this Friday night!
Author Interviews Coming Very Soon! (And other news too)
May 2nd, 2013 → 2:18 pm @ Robin Donovan
Jennifer Priester is the author of The Mortal Realm Witch series for ages 1 – 8. The series currently consists of eleven books. Jennifer is both an author and an artist, so many of the illustrations in her book are her original works. She also owns the publishing company A&M Creations and is a huge animal lover as well as a big supporter of rescue pets.
Mortal Witch Book Cover
I recently had a chance to ask Jennifer some questions about her work
Q. What is a Mortal Realm witch? How are mortal realm witches different from other witches? What do they contribute to the world?
A mortal realm witch is exactly as it sounds, a witch that lives in the Mortal Realm. The only difference between a Mortal Realm witch and a witch living in the Other Realm is that those in the Mortal Realm often get along better with mortals. Throughout history witches and mortals have often been enemies. Mortal Realm witches, having been living with mortals yet still being witches, are often, but not always
the ones trying to keep peace between witches and mortals. One other fun fact about Mortal Realm witches is that if you are a warlock living in the Mortal Realm, you are also considered to be a Mortal Realm witch. Witch is technical term for both witches and warlocks.
Q. Are you a Mortal Realm witch? If so, how long have you known that you are, or did you choose to be one?
I take on the countenance of a Mortal Realm witch only when I write. I chose to become a Mortal Realm Witch for the first time the summer after my sixth grade year.
Q. Can anyone be a mortal realm witch?
If you are a witch and live in this Realm, the Mortal Realm, then you are one. If a witch from the Mortal Realm moves to the Other Realm then they are no longer considered to be Mortal Realm witches. If you are a mortal and are given your magical powers from a witch, then for as long as you live in the Mortal Realm, you become a Mortal Realm Witch. Otherwise it is not possible, but just because you can’t become a Mortal Realm Witch any other way, you can be a Mortal Realm magic user. Details on this can be found throughout the Mortal Realm Witch series.
Q. What is an anipal?
An anipal is basically any animal I am friends with. The term anipals fits, although is never used in any of my books. This is just a term I used on my website. Anipals do include pets. I usually define an anipal as animals I don’t live with but am friends with. The anipals page on my website is basically a tribute page to the animals that have inspired books and characters in different stories. Each anipal on the page has a photo and a short description of who they are as well as what books and characters they have inspired.
Q. Do all mortal realm witches have a close connection to animals? Would you call them animal communicators – or can they only communicate with their inner circle of animals/anipals?
While the term anipal is never used in the book, witches do have them, and all witches, Mortal Realm or Other Realm, have very close connections to animals. In a way they are animal communicators because they can talk to any animal. Usually with Mortal Realm animals, they need to put a spell on the animal to give it the ability to talk because most witches can’t understand animal speak any easier than mortals without the use of magic. Although some witches, such as my main series witch, DWW, is a protector witch. Protector witches have the ability to turn into a specific animal naturally, without the use of any magic. When in this form, which for DWW is a wolf, these witches can’t be detected by witch hunters. Because of this, protector witches have the job of protecting the same type of animal that they can turn into. Because DWW can change into a wolf naturally, not only can she become one, but she can understand them whether she is in her wolf form or not. While witches like DWW have a lot of anipals, their closest ones are their familiars. A familiar is a talking animal that teaches a witch or warlock how to use magic. These animals are live in teachers and most of the time, witches and their familiars are best friends. DWW and her familiar; a Golden Retriever called Trillman are actually no exception to this although in the first book it may not seem this way. More about familiars will be able to be learned throughout the Mortal Realm Witch series, especially in the first series companion.
Q. What prompted you to begin a book series about mortal realm witches?
I actually had no plans on writing a series. After the first story in Book One: Mortal Meets Magic, I thought I was done. Somehow throughout that next school year, my thoughts kept wandering back to that story and I began imagining myself as DWW and wondering what it would be like to have witchcraft of my own. As I imagined these things I wrote them, and DWW’s next stories got written based on my daydreams. The story behind the series is actually a little too long to add here, so anyone interested can learn the story on my blog here: http://animalsandmagic.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/unfinished-projects-do-we-ever-return-or-how-the-mortal-realm-witch-series-came-to-be/
There have been a few minor changes and additions to the series since, but it was completely up to date at the time I posted.
Q. Are all of the books in this series largely focused on animals?
I would say yes, a lot of them are focused on animals, whether they’re familiars, Other Realm creatures, pets, wolves, my witches in wolf form, or whatever, there are a lot of animals in the series, many of which have large roles throughout. Some of the animals with the biggest roles in the series are: Trillman (Golden Retriever), Max (Labrador Retriever), Brad (Black Panther/Black Cat from Book Three), The Fire Pack (Asantra’s wolf pack in books four, companion 2, and book five), Screetche (Asantra’s familiar, a Double X Bird), Star (Jack Russell Terrier), and others as well. Probably the least animal focused book in the series, is Trillman’s Story, a free to read story here: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com/extras/freetoreadstories.html The reason I consider it to be the least animal focused is because, although it is about Trillman, the story takes place back when Trillman was a human warlock living in the Mortal Realm. It is the story of how he became a familiar.
Q. If your series on mortal realm witches could convey one or two key messages – what would they be?
I don’t really know, I suppose there are some, but this isn’t something I think about when I am writing and I am not even good at seeing these things in other people’s work. I guess you would have to read the series and see what you could come up with. Now, if you were to ask my characters they would each tell you something different. Such as, my characters were recently interviewed. Some of which were asked to give advice to the readers. One character, my villain Sampson advised them not to tell anyone their plans if their goal is to take over the Realms. I think he would consider this to be an important series message. Asantra might tell you that she believes an important message in the series would be that the little things matter, as she learned the hard way. So, I think the messages in the series will vary greatly based on the reader. And since I mentioned it the interview schedule for my characters can be found here if anyone is interested: http://www.mortalrealmwitch.com/whatsnew.html
Q. What is the hardest thing about writing this series of books?
The hardest part has been developing the characters’ personalities. Because I rarely know who my characters are until I have written everything out, my characters actually develop throughout the course of the series rather than in the first book they appear. So, if you read about a character that is in more than one book of mine, companions and some not series books included (Some characters such as the superheroes, Black Cat, Chihuahua, The Star Power Puppy, and Wonder Wolf in the second companion, or the young animal psychics in Book Three, are actually characters from different books that aren’t part of the Mortal Realm Witch series.). To really know who my characters are you would have to read them all as more about them is revealed over time. In some cases, such as DWW or Sampson, they are younger in Book One so they are still developing who they are. To some people the characters come across as underdeveloped, which would be the case if there were just one book, but because it is a series, I had the chance to learn who they are without restricting them to being anyone specific at the start.
Q. How has the public received the Mortal Realm witches series? Is this the response you hoped for? If not, what would you like to see?
Overall the public has liked book one, however a lot of people haven’t understood its purpose. Most of the people who have given negative feedback have only read the first three stories, so their feedback is based on an initial impression of my characters, and if they were to continue beyond that point they would experience a critical turning point in which DWW hits her stride. This is where more action begins to come into the story. Some of the people have said the book is boring because there isn’t enough action, but a few of these same people have also claimed to like the book which is a bit confusing. Most people have either liked or loved it and are anxiously awaiting the next one. One of my reviews also says the characters are underdeveloped, but I have only heard this once. I would really like it if more people could understand what I am doing with my series, but they would have to make the commitment to read all the books in order to do this. I would also like to see more of the people who have really liked the book reviewing it. I did hope people would like it, but I guess I expected it to have a better response based on the feedback I got from my original beta readers and book reviewers, who I know gave their honest responses prior to the books publishing, but strangely it’s the ones that really like my book that I have no idea why they like it. More of these types of reviews would be great. Obviously the ones that really like it aren’t missing the main goal of book one, which really is about learning about magic, as the title suggests. In Book One the reader is learning everything DWW learned. I almost feel like, for some people, I should have put a warning on the book saying: Warning! You will learn about magic! Maybe this would have alerted people that Book One does have more details, but if they don’t know them, it may make the next books a little harder to understand.
Q. How has writing this series changed your life?
I don’t know, I actually wonder if the writing changed my life or was writing the series my life? After all, I have been writing adventures for these characters since the summer after sixth grade, which was several years ago.
Q. What have you learned through the writing and promoting of this series that surprised you?
What surprised me most was learning where I could promote and sell books and where I couldn’t. After writing my book I had expected bookstores and my local library to be the biggest help. I was wrong. The local independent bookstore had no interest in helping, not even if I supplied the book. The chain one; Barnes and Noble, was more helpful. Although my publisher, who is me, I own the publishing company A & M Moonlight Creations, would have to pay for a spot in the store and they couldn’t let me do book signings or anything. They did offer some sales advice, the first suggestion was that it wouldn’t make any sense for me to buy a spot in the store while people have no idea who I am because the book wouldn’t be likely to sell even there, and having only one book at the time just made that worse.
My local library, although highly supportive of my book manager’s book (according to her.), almost seemed to have no interest in mine. They said I could donate a copy and if it circulated then they might buy more. Even if I did donate, I would still have the same problem Barnes and Noble told me about. It wouldn’t be very likely to circulate yet. So, while I did mean to get it to them at some point, my local library still doesn’t have a copy of my book.
The first helpful place for promoting my book was my local Key Bank. Mine, and others, have allowed me to put up a sign with take away cards about my books, and my closest one has even allowed me to keep my sign up even while other companies are using the table. Although I have only sold a few books, and don’t know what the buyers saw about my book and where they saw it, I don’t know if this way of promoting is doing anything, but it is free so why not?
The next helpful place was at the Tack Shop of the local barn I ride at. I never asked her to put my book in her shop, instead she asked me if she could have some copies. This is now the only physical store where my book is available, but she has gotten lucky and sold a copy and so far everyone at the barn who has read the book has liked it so word is slowly spreading around there.
Schools have been helpful on and off. A few of them have bought books for the school library and some of my teachers and other people I know have bought my book. My guidance counselor at the one school borrowed a copy because he had an idea to promote it. I never heard back from him and he still has the book so, I’m not sure what’s up with that. So, far only one school, my first grade school, has been my main source of negative feedback. I’m not sure why the people at that school aren’t liking it, while my other schools are, but so far, from the feedback I have heard, everyone has liked it. They just haven’t finished the book because it is too detailed and had no plot line. Which is true, my book doesn’t have a deep plot line like other books, rather the plot focuses on DWW’s struggles to learn responsibility, and is the turning point. Unfortunately, the story of Wolf Magic, is where everyone stops so they never read to the best part.
The most successful place, for finding people who are highly supportive of my book, is actually a library. As surprised as I was that my own library took so little interest, the next library over was very interested. I have been going to this library for a long time so some of them knew about the book while I was working on it. Maybe this is why they were as interested as they were. Anyway, from the moment we first told them about the book being out they actually directly asked if I would donate a copy to them. The same day, the friends of the library system set things up so that I could sell my books during their book sales at each of the 4 library’s. I have only gotten to do 2 of the 4 so far, but at each one I have had my own table or section of table right near the checkout for the books. And two of the friends who are there almost every day of the sale have read and really liked my book so whenever they see someone buying books that they think might be interested in mine, they mention it to them. They have sold some books for me, and this has become my main way to sell books. I also help during the sales a lot so that I am helping the library and not just selling my books.
Perhaps one of my biggest surprises when selling my book, was how many people were attracted to and bought my book because there is a Golden Retriever on the cover. I know this is something I do a lot, I see something on the cover and take an interest in the book, but I guess I didn’t expect Trillman to be the selling point over any other character featured on the cover.
Q. What else should we know about this body of work you have created?
Book One’s stories are meant to be read individually. Although connected, there is no huge plot as I mentioned earlier. Each story is told from a different characters’ point of view. Throughout the series the books and stories in them can be read in any sequence, but are still best when read in sequential order. It is highly possible, however, that Book One works better as a backstory than as the first book in the series. There is also a main theme that emerges throughout the series.
We had a holistic vet for my first dog, CeJaye. He went to her originally because he was allergic to some of the meds his vet wanted to put him on. My current dog, Taco will probably be seeing her soon, he is getting older now and developing some of the same problems. I have never met the holistic vet, but based on what I heard about CeJaye’s reaction to her I think Taco would also like her. CeJaye was never known for liking strangers, or me on many occasions, but he liked this vet.
Jennifer Priester is both the author and an avid reader of fiction and nonfiction books about animals, the relationships between humans and animals, magic and the supernatural. She has written over 200 stories, all of which will eventually be published. Her first published work is the book series, Mortal Realm Witch for ages 8-adult. Besides reading and writing Jennifer likes to draw, she does all the drawings for her books with some help from a friend.
Jennifer has animals of my own, most of which are rescues; she also loves to spend time with other people’s pets. She spends a lot of time on social network sites and is constantly updating Facebook and Twitter. She has a Facebook author page under the name of Jennifer Priester, and one under the name of her publishing company A & M Moonlight Creations. She also has an author blog on wordpress.com under the name of animalsandmagic. Jennifer’s books are available at both Amazon and Barnes and Noble online, but you can go to Barnes and Noble physical stores to get the book shipped to you or the store for free. Her books are currently only available in print format. The Mortal Realm Witch series has its own website: www.mortalrealmwitch.com.
The Mortal Realm Witch Series Books (Series and Companion books in release order and order they fit best in. eBooks are not defined in this way yet.)
Book One: Mortal Realm Witch: Learning About Magic
Book Two: Mortal Realm Witch: The Magic Continues
MRW C1 (Mortal Realm Witch Companion 1): Tales of Familiars: The First Mortal Realm Witch Series Companion
Book Three: Mortal Realm Witch: Realms Unite?
Book Four: The Adventures of DWW2
MRW C2: Tales of Young Asantra: The Second Mortal Realm Witch Series Companion
Book Five: Mortal Realm Witch 5 (title not defined yet)
MRW C3: Tales of Other Realm Creatures: The Third Mortal Realm Witch Series Companion
The Mortal Realm Witch Guide to Other Realm Creatures
eBook 1: Allura’s First Magical Discovery
eBook 2: Trillman’s Tales
eBook 3: Ally & DWW
Website comic book style video: Mortal Realm Witch Presents: Ally & Air Raid in: Book Light
My Other Books:
Short Story Collections (named):
Heroes United: A Collection of Superhero Stories. (This book features mostly stories about animal superhero’s, although there are some human ones as well. This one has several stories inspired by my favorite anipals. For some reason my favorites often become superheroes.)
Short Story Collections (unnamed)
A collection of animal adventure stories. (Some of my favorite stories that I have ever written are in this collection.)
A collection of cat and horse stories. (In this one is a horse character called; Nightmare who’s personality is made up of three horses I knew and one of the only stories where the anipals are not mentioned on my website. One reason is that I don’t have photos of them, and the other is that they don’t exactly fit the term of anipal.)
A collection of dog stories. (One of the stories inspired by my Chihuahua, Taco, is in this one.)
A collection of random animal stories. (this includes stories about animals such as: a ferret, a kangaroo, an ostrich, a wolf pack, a dog and a cat, a hybrid animal, and others.)
A collection of magical and supernatural stories. (This one also might include some sci-fi)
A collection of Christmas stories.
More books made up of connecting short stories:
The Dogs That Saved the World
Back to the Wild (stories of different animals being returned to the wild after having lived in captivity.)
The Young Animal Psychics
“Good Luck” Animal Shelter (a book of different animal rescue stories where every animal has a secret.)
My comic book/graphic novel:
Spider and Jackal (A story inspired by the relationship between my two dogs, back when I had two of them. Some stories in this one actually happened, some are variations of things they did, and others are pure fiction, but all were inspired by my crazy dogs. My rabbits also got a place in this book.)
My nonfiction books:
My Pets and Their Lives (Every pet I have ever owned and their full life stories. I have been keeping it up to date so that it will be as current as possible once published.)
Animals in the Shelters (A book inspired by the first rescue pet I ever owned, the mixed breed bunny, Oreo. This book is about animal cruelty and animal rescue. The goal is to not just inform but help rescue animals get adopted. Besides facts I have included in it many real life success stories about rescue pets, a few failed adoptions with the stories behind them and reasons it didn’t work out, as well as shelter stories from when I worked at the shelter. Once this book is published, I will be giving part of the profits to animal rescue.)
Just Dreaming: The Dreams I Had and the Stories They Became (This one besides talking about the origin of several of my published, or what will be published books at the time this one is out, also will include some stories that will be exclusive to this book. In this book will be the dreams as they originally happened, what the dreams meant, then for the exclusives, the full story as I wrote it.)
My Collaboration Story:
The Battle of Ebulon.
The Battle of Ebulon is a collaboration story I have been working on with other authors, in which is serving as a free promotion for the authors of the book. Each author chose characters from their books to join in this battle. Each author’s section will be able to be read as an individual short story, but is a full length novel. Characters from across the Mortal Realm Witch series and Heroes United will be in my part of the book. The Battle of Ebulon will be free on Smash words. My part takes place after the final book in the Mortal Realm Witch main series (Book Five) and after Heroes United, but it was designed so that anyone can read it before reading any of my books, as that was the point of the collaboration.
My next series:
Animal World.
Animal World is a couple of book series will be fictional stories featuring true facts about animals. The aim of this series is to educate readers about animals and their lives in a fun and entertaining way. In total the Animal World series will feature over 250 animals in 41 books. The series will be split into three parts: Animal World, Animal World Super Editions, and a split off series: Animal World: Endangered.
The first Animal World series will have 22 regular books, and 5 super editions.
The split off series: Animal World: Endangered, will have 14 books and will focus exclusively on endangered species.
At the end of each book will also be a nonfiction section featuring some facts about each of the animals in the book as well as a nonfiction introduction in the beginning to introduce the biome, or common thing each animal has in the book. For example, the one book in the Animal World series will be about animals that live in the Alpine, so in the beginning, a nonfiction intro to the Alpine environments with information such as the locations they are found in and the animals that live in them, will be presented before the stories that are in the book. Then in the ending nonfiction section I will go into more detail about the animals in the stories which will feature both facts I used in the story, as well as some other facts that I find interesting about the animals.
If there is anything else you want to know, based on this email or my answers to the interview questions, let me know.
April 16th, 2013 → 2:57 pm @ Robin Donovan
Thanks to all the folks at the beautiful new Council Bluffs library for the Author’s Fair on Saturday! I felt very honored to have such a prominent table right in front of the entrance doors! It was a great chance to meet the folks in The Bluffs and get to know them a bit.
Council Bluffs Public Library
I was excited to learn that they may have another Author’s Fair in November for the Christmas shopping crowd!
I met a professional book reviewer and some very talented authors! And the library staff took very good care of all of us!
Author’s Fair location
March 12th, 2013 → 3:56 pm @ Robin Donovan
Check out this morning’s interview with Kori Miller on Back Porch Writer on Blog Post Radio:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/backporchwriter/2013/03/12/writing-a-mystery-with-robin-donovan
A huge thanks to Kori for her awesome interview!
February 20th, 2013 → 7:38 pm @ Robin Donovan
Last Saturday’s Author Fare at the Omaha Public Library was the best author networking event I’ve been to yet! I met authors, folks connected to libraries, a lovely woman with a radio show she’s willing to use to help promote authors, a student who is blogging about authors who use social media and a whole host of other very interesting folks, some of whom promise to be very beneficial to an author’s career.
Author Fare
As much as I enjoyed last year, when the library premiered the Author Fare event, it could not compare to the beneficial networking of this past Saturday.
I appreciate all of the folks at the library for pulling this event together! A special shout out to my WriteLife publisher Cindy Grady, for being instrumental in making this event happen and in supporting her authors so well!
I look forward to next year’s Author’s Fare – but I’m hopeful that the success of this event will inspire the library to host more author related events before then!
January 28th, 2013 → 9:55 pm @ Robin Donovan
We’ve already addressed three of the four basic categories that new authors tend to fall into: the I have an idea I’d like to share with the world group, typically consisting of business advice – an idea, the I have a story to tell group, often about overcoming adversity, and/or self-help advice and the I want to write a book and give my business, or personal brand, a boost folks. We’ve given these author-types some advice on the best way to get things started.
Let the creative juices flow!
That leaves our fourth and final category, consisting of the I love to write and I’m pretty good so I should probably write a book folks. For them the subject of the book is often secondary to their desire or even need to express themselves in writing.
At the risk of seeming immodest, that’s where I place myself. As an English major and a former English teacher, I have always wanted to write a book and I’ve never been shy about sharing that fact. When I finally got around to actually writing a manuscript there were those who asked “why did you wait so long?” And the answer is simple. I envisioned pouring my heart into my life’s work and spending the next decade receiving one rejection after another from heartless publishers who would ignore and overlook my brilliance, thus shredding my very soul.
Getting to know a publisher gave me the courage to take a shot. Once I’d made the decision to finally write the damn thing – I hadn’t a clue of what to write. A chat with this publisher helped to get me focused.
“What do you love?” he asked.
“I love comedy.”
“Then write your comedy and show it to me,” he suggested.
That was it. Next challenge – decide what funny things to write about. As a lifelong aficionado of murder mysteries – both serious and comedic – the old adage “write what you know” seemed applicable.
Once my genre was set I sat down to write. The first three chapters virtually wrote themselves. I packaged these up and sent them to my “publisher acquaintance” to await his verdict.
A few weeks later confirmation arrived. My chapters were of enough interest to warrant finishing the book. It was a bittersweet moment that juxtaposed the thrill of having a publisher’s interest and the terror of being clueless as to how to write a whole book.
For me, the next step was to continue writing while simultaneously creating a writing process. There are some who would say my journey appears to have been backwards. But it’s what worked for me.
Here are a few pointers for those of you raring to go:
Donovan heads Bozell Books, a division of Bozell designed to help authors and budding authors from inception through promotion of their published work. She has authored a novel entitled: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was a Bitch? www.rldonovan.com, and the second in her Donna Leigh Mysteries series is currently being published. Her next installment of FAQs on Authoring a Book will address the prospective author with confidence in their ability to write and how it impacts their process of “Getting Started.”
January 14th, 2013 → 4:30 pm @ Robin Donovan
Lately I’ve been fielding a lot of questions from folks who are thinking they’d like to write a book. They typically fall into these four basic categories: the I have an idea I’d like to share with the world group, the subject here often boils down to business advice – an idea, the I have a story to tell group, the subject is often one depicting how they or a loved one has overcome adversity, and/or self-help advice; then there are the I love to write and I’m pretty good so I should probably write a book folks, and for them the subject is often secondary; last and probably least we have the I want to write a book and give my business, or personal brand, a boost folks.
Want to Write a Book?
Getting started varies depending on which group you fall into.
In the first, second and fourth groups, you know what you want to write about but are often intimated by the task of organizing your information and doing the actual writing. For these folks, I recommend that you begin by vetting your idea or story carefully, i.e. make sure no one has beat you to it. That doesn’t mean that the topic has never been addressed in a book before, but it is imperative that your particular slant on the topic is fresh and not in danger of getting you busted for plagiarism.
Once you’re sure that your topic is a fresh perspective, you need to determine the goal of your book; what are you hoping the reader will take away? And what skills, if any, will your book help readers begin to develop?
Once clear on the objectives of your book, it’s time to create an outline. This exercise will begin to formulate your process. It will help you organize your information and make it manageable for the reader. As you contemplate the various facets of your idea, or story, and how to articulate it you will also begin to identify the various ways in which your idea can be applied or your story can be relevant to your public. You might even have examples of how it could, or already has worked for others. As you think these things through, your outline will bulk up, enhancing and guiding your content. The more thorough your outline the more it will begin to parallel the structure and content of your book. This will take a lot of the intimidation away from the writing process and the age old question: I have a great idea, but how will I be able to fill an entire book?
If the actual writing of the book is still a concern for you the best way to proceed is to start with your outline and fill in the details of each key point and sub-point. Just start writing and remember your first draft is never final; you will add and delete and move things around as you go back over your work.
Be sure to articulate yourself clearly and methodically in a linear fashion, i.e. keep things simple and easy to follow and don’t jump around because that confuses readers. Once you’ve written your first draft, make sure you have a first rate editor. Your editor will make the difference between a book that makes perfect sense only in your head and a book that readers will be able to follow. Your editor will also ensure that the rough edges are smoothed over. Remember, with you folks, it’s more about the idea than the prose articulating it. A good editor can turn a confusing and disjointed manuscript into a masterpiece.
And if the writing is just too painful – there are always ghost writers!
In our next post we’ll explore the I love to write and I’m pretty good so I should probably write a book folks!
Donovan heads Bozell Books, a division of Bozell designed to help authors and budding authors from inception through promotion of their published work. She has authored a novel entitled: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was a Bitch? www.rldonovan.com, and the second in her Donna Leigh Mysteries series is currently being published. Her next installment of FAQs on Authoring a Book will address the prospective author with confidence in their ability to write and how it impacts their process of “Getting Started.”
December 20th, 2012 → 8:44 pm @ Robin Donovan
First Novel
The origin of Bozell Books and Managing New Author Expectations:
The Bozell Books division was started as a direct result of my own personal need. I had just published my first book: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch?, and I hadn’t a clue as to how to promote it. www.rldonovan.com.
I learned through glimpses of more experienced authors that promoting a book in this day and age takes an Herculean effort. I hasten to add that it has been something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember – and it has absolutely been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life! I wouldn’t trade it for anything!
Promoting a book seemed so easy based on all the movies and TV shows depicting authors and their exciting careers. From my vantage point things looked dramatically different. In the movies and in TV, once your book is published you just sit back and let the world gather at your feet. Your publisher sets up reading/signing/speaking engagements and provides a stretch limo (complete with chilled champagne) to convey you from one glamorous event to the next.
Reality bore little resemblance to the glamour of fiction as the promotion of my book began. I felt extremely fortunate to have worked closely with an established author of Harlequin Romance novels before undertaking my own career as a novelist. At last count she has written and published 17 books and her painstaking experience in trying to promote them has helped to manage my own expectations.
I find that the most difficult part of helping a budding author is in trying to manage their expectations. There is at least a little part of all of us (myself included) that thinks “that’s you, but my work will be received differently.” It can happen, but it’s pretty rare.
The most difficult part of managing new author expectations is in getting the point across without going so far that it kills motivation. It’s a finely balanced art.
As challenging as it is to promote a book, the thrill of getting out into the public and sharing your work with new audiences is a rush like no other. A relative recently asked me in a somewhat sardonic tone “so, do you get the star treatment?” The first thought that flitted through my head was the backbreaking amount of work I was doing to promote the book; but my second thought took me right to that place where I’m in front of an audience comprised of folks that want to know any number of things about me and my book. “Yes,” I answered in all honesty, “there are times when I really do.”
Donovan heads Bozell Books, a division of Bozell designed to help authors and budding authors from inception through promotion of their published work. Her next installment of FAQs on Authoring a Book will address the age old challenge of “Getting Started.”
December 17th, 2012 → 7:34 pm @ Robin Donovan
There are the books everyone had heard about: Twilight, Hunger Games, Fifty Shades of Gray. But what about all those books written by people you’ve never heard of? Some of them are treasures, just waiting to be found, and that’s what this blog hop is all about: the books you might not have heard about, but that you might end up loving.
This blog hop is like a game of tag. One author posts and tags five other authors who link back to their website the next week and tag five new authors. If you follow the blog hop long enough, you’re bound to find some books you’ll love! Maybe you’ll even discover a book that ends up being the next big thing.
I was tagged by Sally Deskins. You can learn more about her fascinating series Les Femmes Folles: The Women, 2012 on her website: Les Femmes Folles: The Women, 2011. The blog hop includes ten questions to help you learn more about an author’s current work in progress, so here’s a little info about my current project:
1: What is the working title of your book?
I Didn’t Kill Her, But That May Have Been Short-Sighted.
2: Where did the idea come from for the book?
The positive feedback from my first Donna Leigh mystery: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch? https://rldonovan.com/ and for the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmgkpYPi5q8
has really encouraged me to write a second and I’m even working on a third (I Don’t Know Why They Killed Him, He Wasn’t Really That Annoying) in the series.
The initial idea for the Donna Leigh Mystery series came from the fact that I’ve been an avid murder mystery buff since I was a kid; enjoying both dramatic and comedic treatments. With years of experience as a reader in the genre, I developed some pet peeves about certain types of plot treatments, e.g. it never failed to amaze me that brilliant and acclaimed women would invariably walk right into a killer’s trap with no means of defense and no back up. I felt many of the mechanisms used by authors were “easy” but didn’t always make sense or lend to the credibility of the plot.
In the Donna Leigh Mystery series I had the creative license to craft my plot in such a way as to be light and humorous, yet not completely out of the realm of possibility. My characters are not superhuman and recklessly heroic, they are normal people who behave in a normal and often excessively narcissistic (that may be redundant) way.
3: What genre does your book fall under?
Cozy mystery – although there is a slightly higher propensity for realism in the Donna Leigh series than in some of the cozy mysteries.
4: Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
My protagontist, Donna Leigh is a tough one as many, including myself, identify her as me. To flatter myself I’ll say Meryl Streep or Glen Close could easily handle the role – I think Emma Thompson with a blond wig and an American accent would be brilliant!
My murder victim, BJ Thornton could be played by Shelley Duval – with a mass of long tight curls and a bad make-up job.
Detective Warren could be played by Eliza Coupe of Happy Endings fame. She has the beauty as well as the hard edged, obsessively focused characteristics of the lead detective.
Clovis Cordoba Seville, the totally narcissistic pain in the rear is custom-made for Angela Kinsey of The Office, who can be brilliantly self-involved as well as somewhat acerbic. A slightly younger Shelly Long would have been the perfect fit for Clovis, however she lacks the diminutive stature required.
And finally, Peg and Babs. Peg’s role could easily be handled by Better Midler, or Sherri Shepherd. That no nonsense “don’t get in my way and I’ll fix this” attitude they both exude would enable either to play Peg to perfection! Cathy Najimy as the consummate support person would serve well in the role of Babs as she quietly labors to support and sometimes correct Peg’s continual well-meaning meddling. Debra Monk, Sherri Shepherd’s co-star in the Evanovich film One For The Money might also make an excellent, laid back, Babs.
5: What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
A comedic romp through murder, mayhem and menopause that may change your viewpoint of menopausal women forever!
6: Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
My book will be published by WriteLife, http://www.writelife.com/. They published the first Donna Leigh Mystery: Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch?.
7: How long did it take you to write the first draft?
Although the first draft of the premier Donna Leigh mystery took only three months to write, the second in the series took considerably longer – probably about a year all told. There are a few reasons why the second book took as long as it did. The first and most compelling reason is that I had to stop writing when book number one came back to me for edits. All systems were ‘go’ on book number one and nothing stood in the way of getting it finalized for publication.
The second reason had more to do with self-confidence. I wasn’t positive my first book would actually get published until the eleventh hour. On some level I feared my publisher coming back to me saying they’d changed their minds and it had been shelved. It was hard to motivate myself to finish that second book until I knew the first one was really happening!
The third reason my second book took so much longer than the first was that I genuinely enjoyed the writing process itself and I wanted to prolong the pleasure. I know I could have finished the second book and begun the third – but I really wanted to see that first book in print before embarking on a third.
8: What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
A lot of cozy mysteries are kind of sloppy and loose with the facts. They don’t try to create realistic characters that are outrageous – they go all the way to ridiculous.
Phyllis Richman has published The Washington Post Dining Guides and she also has a food-related series of cozy murder mysteries such as: The Butter Did It, Murder On The Gravy Train and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Ham? Phyllis’ books are sophisticated yet funny and compelling. They portray a protagonist who’s cool, smart and edgy even though she’s closer to menopause than her coming out party.
9: Who or What inspired you to write this book?
Authors like Phyllis Richman, Janet Evanovich, JK Rowling, Agatha Christie and Pat Cornwall were an absolute inspiration to me. They all share a gift of engaging the reader and giving them an experience that transcends the simple story in some way. Often it’s a lesson in humankind – sometimes it’s about how to relax and not take oneself too seriously.
10: What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The Donna Leigh Mysteries are all about not taking others at face value and realizing that things are often different from how they appear. Some of the recurring themes are: older women really can be cool, women who aren’t skinny can be chic and desirable, living in Omaha is something many people choose to do, very capable people are not perfect, and intensely self-involved people do function at some level – just not the level they credit themselves for achieving.
The books are mysteries on multiple levels. Yes, people are murdered and those murders must be solved; but the characters and how and why they function are often mysteries in and of themselves since virtually any genuine account of people interacting often proves to be pretty strange – if we’re to be totally honest with ourselves.
Donna Leigh Mysteries are designed to make you laugh and take your mind off your troubles for a bit by illustrating the value of taking ourselves less seriously and laughing at ourselves once in awhile. Thanks for reading. Your support is greatly appreciated!
Here is a list of authors who will be joining the hop for week of December 24. I hope you’ll visit their blogs next week and learn more about their books. Maybe one of them will become your new favorite author!
Robin L Donovan on Facebook