Nina Guilbeau's Blog

2016 is here and I think it should be called The Year of Me. It sounds selfish when you say it out loud, but when applied correctly, there’s nothing wrong with a little selfishness at times. Last year was the beginning of my LIVE LOVE LAUGH mindset, which taught me the importance of creating time (as opposed to finding time) for fun. It just seems like we can never find the time for something as frivolous and unproductive as fun. When in actuality, “Fun” should have its own separate entry on our “To-Do” list. I realized the importance of learning to enjoy life in 2015 because in many ways it was a year of loss for me. I worked my way through not only the physical deaths of loved ones, but the mental and emotional “deaths” in my personal life. It’s true that each time we’re forced to change our way of thinking or to put to rest the many matters of the heart, a little part of our old self dies. The hope is that something better is born anew, but it is not always an easy process. Because dealing with these transitions proved to be challenging, I decided the best way to honor these real and symbolic deaths, was to celebrate life. So after learning how to create time to enjoy life, I’m ready to go further and even turn it up a notch!

As my 2016 Year of Me begins, the first thing I’m going to do is to apply laser like focus on my writing. My third book in the Sister’s Trilogy has gone through a lot of changes and that’s partly because it is the last book in this storyline. There isn’t going to be a fourth book, or at least there isn’t one planned in the foreseeable future. I’ve enjoyed writing about sisters Callie, Alise, Paula and Marlisa, and developing their personalities, which were actually made from composites of real women I’ve known throughout my life. However, I have another series to start, online articles to write, short stories to submit, book reviews to film, a new blog to keep up with, plus a standalone story that would make a fabulous screen play! (Wish me luck on making that happen!) All the while, creating time to travel and hang out with other like-minded fun loving people.

So, with novel number three coming out this year, I would love to start the blog discussion on it early by giving my thoughts without giving the plot points away. One of the things that we’re struggling with is the title. We have Too Many Sisters, Too Many Secrets so it stand to reason that the next title in the series will be Too Many (fill in blank with something that begins with an S). It makes sense for continuity, but what’s wrong with shaking it up a bit? Not having things too pat? For instance, does it have to end with a word that begins with an “S”? Does it have to start with the phrase “Too Many”? I don’t think anyone will be confused if it has its own unique title as long as it’s clear it’s book 3. I’ve gone back and forth on this because what’s proposed currently is not to my liking. So ideas and feedback on my Facebook are definitely welcome!

To readers and writers - a new ebook has started and with each new chapter posted there is a book giveaway!

The title of the story is Bound and it's a Sci-Fi fantasy, leaning towards the YA market. The brave, new writer is M.A. Kear. She has already posted a few chapters online and have received feedback on the questions authors have to ask themselves as part of the creative process.

The way Help Write a Novella works is that the author writes a chapter, asks poll questions on the direction of the plot or characters and then writes the next chapter as directed by the poll answers. It's a good writing exercise for creative writers and it can be fun for readers to interact with the author and other readers during the process.

So, join Women's Fiction Club on Facebook to be alerted when new chapters post. You can also find out more on JuaniaBooks.com. Give your opinion and win a few books,too!

** Women's Fiction Club - We read, write and review fiction with female protagonists. All readers and writers are welcome!

As the author of Too Many Sisters I've attend book club meetings in person or via teleconference to speak with members who have selected my novel for the month. I've also happily participated as a member in book clubs meetings, discussing our book of the month and often writing reviews for them. In both scenarios, as a guest author or a participant, the book club experience has been fun as well as enlightening. Getting together socially to exchange ideas and opinions is exactly what makes book clubs so much fun and certainly worth the effort.

As a writer, there have been times when readers have given me a lot to think about when discussing my characters. That’s why I gave myself a writing challenge to let readers guide me through writing a novella. After each chapter, I asked questions and allowed the readers to vote on the direction of the story. The result of the first Women’s Fiction Club writing challenge is eBook Save Angelina. The next writing challenge will start in 2013!

To be a part of the preliminary discussion (the outline) and then updates for each chapter, “like” Women’s Fiction Club on Facebook. Also feel free to use Facebook to start and/or be a part of any discussions regarding the direction of the book. I look forward to what we will create together!

**The title for the 2013 challenge is Group Therapy and Chocolates

When Good Books become Good Movies
Have you ever learned one of your favorite books is being made into a movie? The excitement, the anticipation, the rush to the theater and then …the disappointment. Sometimes it’s because the characters don't look they way you've imagined them, or your favorite scene was cut, or a host of other reasons as individual as we are.

Although, transitioning from the author's written vision to a director's visual storytelling can be difficult for some readers, it becomes impossible if readers feel as if the essence of the story is missing. In fact, there are some movie versions that are so different from the book that they are nearly unrecognizable. However on some occasions, both the book and the movie (even when they have different artistic visions), are worth the trouble.

Here are a few:

The Millennium Trilogy (Swedish Version) – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest– All three of the Swedish movie versions closely aligned themselves with the book. They are well acted and very entertaining.

The Help – Thanks in great part to the actors’ portrayals of the characters, the movie is as satisfying as the book. The Women's Fiction Club enjoyed both the book and movie equally.

The Road – The book and the movie are both absolutely fabulous. The writing style in the book is a bit odd, but it does not distract from the emotion of the story. As a matter of fact, it adds to the overall vision of this apocalyptic story. Good book club selection!

Jurassic Park – This title is a little dated, but both the book and the movie were enjoyable. Although, some may disagree, the film is a little better than the book
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Of Mice and Men – Now a classic, Steinbeck’s book has hit the movie screen more than once. The 1992 film version starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise is a nice tribute to the original story.

No Country for Old Men – Very loyal to book. If you like the book, you will like the movie. Actor Javier Bardem absolutely deserved his Oscar. He is downright scary in the film.

I’m sure there are others – what did I miss?

For the book clubs:
If you want to read the book and also see the movie, what should you do first? My choice is to see the movie first. The movie will usually be edited so you won't know what you're missing and can judge it fairly on its own merit. When you read the book it will most likely be richer in details and even have additional story lines. So, reading the book later can enhance the story you already know.

Are subgenres a distraction or an enhancement to a great story?

Romance is one of the largest and consistently best selling genres in the publishing industry. What's more, this position of strength has become even more dominating because of its expansion within the subgenres. Romance categories such as fantasy romance, paranormal romance, Christian romance and "insert subgenre here" romance has allowed many writers to target avid romance readers while still staying true to their other writing interests. As long as the story follows the structured writing formula, which includes the romantic love relationship with its emotionally satisfying or optimistic ending, then it is can be classified as romance.

With such an increase in the subgenre classifications, not just in the romance category but across the publishing industry, the important question for readers is does it “muddy” the genre waters too much?

While writers may think combining story types is a good way to expand their reader base, they actually run the risk of not pleasing fans of either genre. If the content is not balanced in substance and cohesive in style then even the best writers may fall short, much to the disappointment of the reader.

Another issue for readers is accurately categorizing cross-genre books. With the influx of eBooks, shelf space is no longer a consideration for booksellers and publishers so one book is often put on multiple "electronic shelves" at the same time. It seems the marketing position is to classify one novel with as many genre categories as the electronic "tags" allows. So the up side is that readers have a much bigger selection from which to choose a good book. However, the down side is that they must browse through misclassified novels to find one.

At this rate, the final verdict will have to come by way of helpful online reviews as potential readers sort through it all, one book at a time.

Technology is changing the publishing industry and that’s good news for both readers and potential authors. Self publishing eBooks have opened the door for readers to have more choices of what to read and when to read it. It also allows authors to connect directly with interested readers. With this new publishing revolution, I have a word of advice for both writers and readers.

Writers:
I have taken up the cause for self published authors and have been doing more reading of these books for review purposes, as well as for judging writing contests. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the downside of independent writers going "straight to press” is the lack of editing. Unedited manuscripts/books can be distracting to the readers and make a difference in how your book is received.*

Readers:
Independent authors are often available for online book chats, interviews for blogs or (for the expert author) student papers. They love to hear back from readers, who often make writers “step up their game.” Independent authors also benefit from readers telling them directly what they liked best about the characters and what they found most intriguing about the book. Readers with a book club, invite an independent author to your next meeting. It’ll be a great experience for everyone.

* One thing both writers and reader should keep in mind is that eBook text conversions have been known to create what appears to the reader as grammatical author errors. For example, the word "sometimes" in the uploaded text may appear as "some-times" in the final digital format. The author may not have any knowledge of the extra characters added to words or of the spacing issues frequently seen in text conversions.

One way the author can avoid this problem is to try uploading a formatted .PDF rather than a text file.

Readers who kindly alert authors about these little problems are worth their weight in gold!