Sydney Strand's Blog - Posts Tagged "single-mom"
The Story Behind the Story: Bad Mom Rents a Man--Glampfest! (Book #2)
Hi there _______ (Insert your name here to make it feel like we're sitting together having coffee and a pumpkin scone--you'll have to get your own because I don't share Things That Are Pumpkin):
So, I did it.
I published my fourth story in 10 months. It felt awesome.
When I was writing for a traditional publisher (now Penguin Random), it took three years for my first book to go from handed-in product to on-the-shelf product. (Even then, it never made it to the shelves--it was only on Amazon and BN.com!)
Three. YEARS. Just to be exactly where my indie books are today, and more of them!
So, yeah, the speed of independent publishing is awesome. As is total control over the cover. The title. The blurb. Tiny thorns that add up to a bed of nails after a while.
Now it's time to talk about this particular story. I decided that when I wrote Bad Mom Rents a Man, it would be divided into four parts, pretty much following the Four-Act Structure. (Which Three-Act Structure is, just more anally thought through.)
Act 1 was Bad Mom Rents a Man: Mother's Day. I wanted a Mother's Day story because I love that weekend. And I know all about having to share it, be it with my mom or mom-in-law, because my birthday is also around that time. So I knew I wanted to address that "Argh. At least my birthday isn't Christmas, right?" feeling. I also wanted to set it in a Gilmore Girls' kind of town, much like the town I'm living in now. (Fun fact: Stars Hollow is modeled after Washington Depot, Connecticut!)
Act 2 is my latest story, Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! It was originally subtitled Labor Day, but my September 1 deadline came and went and I didn't want to date myself or the book. So it turned into a focus on what was happening (glamorous + camping = glamping!). I've always thought glamping looked marvelous, especially after I saw a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episode where they glamped in cabins. With furs. And champagne.
Well, there are no furs or champagnes in this telling. My Maggie is overseeing a sorority event, and the girls are the fictional Zeta Zeta Betas (ZeeBees). Their glamping adventure is on a beer keg budget. Sorority dues only go so far!
Talking about the ZeeBees...I was so happy that there wasn't a sorority with this killer name. I'm a Pi Beta Phi (go Pi Phi!) and so had fun revisiting my Greek roots.
Here's a teeny taste of Glampfest!, where my main character Maggie, a party planner, forgot the bug spray and she's being attacked left and right, up and down. An old acquaintance--the guy she rented in Book 1--just happens to be in the woods with a ton of mosquito-thwarting stuff. But it's the kind that isn't approved by the FDA:
Maggie eyed the bottle of experimental bug spray. “Is that stuff going to give me a third nipple or anything?”
Nipple. He looked at her shirt but played it off as if he were assessing how much of her needed to be sprayed.
Augustus had been to Africa. He had seen how West Nile and malaria had killed off entire villages. A third nipple hadn’t been reported as a side effect, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.
He started to spray. “If you do get a supernumerary nipple, just think of how much you’ll delight in saying ‘I told you so.’”
Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! (http://tinyurl.com/pbtqjft)
I think that's about it. I'm already working on my next story, His Favorite Distraction. (Yes, another His Favorite story--woo to the hoo!) And remember to sign up for my newsletter if you'd like to know about release dates and/or to see if you're a winner in my I Heart My Readers! Monthly Giveaway. (http://www.sydneystrand.com/p/oh-good...)
Scribble, scribble, scribble...
Sydney
So, I did it.
I published my fourth story in 10 months. It felt awesome.
When I was writing for a traditional publisher (now Penguin Random), it took three years for my first book to go from handed-in product to on-the-shelf product. (Even then, it never made it to the shelves--it was only on Amazon and BN.com!)
Three. YEARS. Just to be exactly where my indie books are today, and more of them!
So, yeah, the speed of independent publishing is awesome. As is total control over the cover. The title. The blurb. Tiny thorns that add up to a bed of nails after a while.
Now it's time to talk about this particular story. I decided that when I wrote Bad Mom Rents a Man, it would be divided into four parts, pretty much following the Four-Act Structure. (Which Three-Act Structure is, just more anally thought through.)
Act 1 was Bad Mom Rents a Man: Mother's Day. I wanted a Mother's Day story because I love that weekend. And I know all about having to share it, be it with my mom or mom-in-law, because my birthday is also around that time. So I knew I wanted to address that "Argh. At least my birthday isn't Christmas, right?" feeling. I also wanted to set it in a Gilmore Girls' kind of town, much like the town I'm living in now. (Fun fact: Stars Hollow is modeled after Washington Depot, Connecticut!)
Act 2 is my latest story, Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! It was originally subtitled Labor Day, but my September 1 deadline came and went and I didn't want to date myself or the book. So it turned into a focus on what was happening (glamorous + camping = glamping!). I've always thought glamping looked marvelous, especially after I saw a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills episode where they glamped in cabins. With furs. And champagne.
Well, there are no furs or champagnes in this telling. My Maggie is overseeing a sorority event, and the girls are the fictional Zeta Zeta Betas (ZeeBees). Their glamping adventure is on a beer keg budget. Sorority dues only go so far!
Talking about the ZeeBees...I was so happy that there wasn't a sorority with this killer name. I'm a Pi Beta Phi (go Pi Phi!) and so had fun revisiting my Greek roots.
Here's a teeny taste of Glampfest!, where my main character Maggie, a party planner, forgot the bug spray and she's being attacked left and right, up and down. An old acquaintance--the guy she rented in Book 1--just happens to be in the woods with a ton of mosquito-thwarting stuff. But it's the kind that isn't approved by the FDA:
Maggie eyed the bottle of experimental bug spray. “Is that stuff going to give me a third nipple or anything?”
Nipple. He looked at her shirt but played it off as if he were assessing how much of her needed to be sprayed.
Augustus had been to Africa. He had seen how West Nile and malaria had killed off entire villages. A third nipple hadn’t been reported as a side effect, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.
He started to spray. “If you do get a supernumerary nipple, just think of how much you’ll delight in saying ‘I told you so.’”
Bad Mom Rents a Man: Glampfest! (http://tinyurl.com/pbtqjft)
I think that's about it. I'm already working on my next story, His Favorite Distraction. (Yes, another His Favorite story--woo to the hoo!) And remember to sign up for my newsletter if you'd like to know about release dates and/or to see if you're a winner in my I Heart My Readers! Monthly Giveaway. (http://www.sydneystrand.com/p/oh-good...)
Scribble, scribble, scribble...
Sydney
