Category: Writing Ramblings

Friday night as I rushed to catch the train home, I noticed others scurrying about more madly than me.  The short, but cute, stubble-faced guy heading to the Amtrak ticket window as the speakers overhead crackled an “All aboard.”  The little old lady, barely 4’8”, dodging and weaving between the people in the crowd, her bob of silver hair bouncing beneath her shocking pink beret.  A quick swerve around the corner by the Krispy Kreme and she was almost gone, but the sweet smells of just fried dough lingered in her place while visions of sugar glazed donuts tempted me as they glimmered beneath the lights in the display case.

As the last bit of pink beret faded from sight, I thought, “It’s Friday night.  Maybe she has a hot date.”

But in New York City, where an escalator just means you can walk up the stairs even faster, rushing to somewhere is just a way of life.  Not that NYC is so different from many other places.  As a whole, our way of life seems to be rush, rush, rush.

We’re so busy rushing to somewhere that we’ve lost our to ability to experience the where we are, much less remember the where we’ve been sometimes.

It’s the old stop and smell the roses adage.

As a writer, you almost have to stop and smell the roses a great deal of the time because one of the greatest tools a writer can have is her power of observation.  The ability to remember the details of people, places and things.  It’s those little details that breathe life into our characters and stories.

Next time, stop and think about the scene that you are going to write.  Think about the smells in the air.  The feel of the location and the noises  (or lack of noises) that surround you.  What do you see as you stand there, experiencing the where you are?  Do you taste anything as you stand there?  Where had you been before and was it different?

The five senses, or as many of them as you can possibly include, need to be present in that scene to bring it alive for readers.  When you enhance the descriptions by infusing them with your personal observations, it brings a scene to life in a way that can’t be accomplished just by research.

If you’re a writer, stop rushing to somewhere and take the time to experience what’s around you.

For everyone else, stop and smell the roses anyway!  Time is too short to always be rushing to somewhere without savoring the here and now.

P.S. – Do you think that little old lady in the pink beret will ever make into a story?

As I previously mentioned, our Hero may be reluctant about leaving the Ordinary World and answering the Call of Adventure. A mentor may be provide moral support to the Hero and give her the necessary impetus to finally answer the call which leads us to the next step in the Hero’s Journey:

Crossing the First Threshold:

Hero agrees to face the challenge of problem posed in the Call to Adventure

Crossing into the Special World is an act of will

Often illustrated by showing the hero crossing a physical barriers, i.e. door, bridge.

Crossing the Threshold is generally the turning point in which the adventure actually begins. It’s when the hero has overcome her basic fears and reluctance and decided to proceed on the journey. For example, think of the very funny fight scene in Miss Congenialty. We’ve seen Sandra Bullock’s character in her Ordinary World — that of a rather unkempt and unappreciated female FBI Agent. When presented with the opportunity to go undercover, she balks at the prospect. She is goaded by Benjamin Bratt’s character who serves in part as a Mentor (Bratt plays a shapeshifter, actually, but more on that later). During the fight scene, Bullock finally accepts the Call to Adventure and agrees to go undercover. She crosses the threshold and begins the journey.

So what happens along this journey? Miss Congeniality follows the Hero’s Journey with the next few scenes which develop. How? Bullock’s character finds:

Tests, Allies and Enemies:

Hero is presented with challenges and tests

Makes allies and enemies

These tests show us the hero’s character as she and her companions respond to the tests

Tests prepare the Hero for greater ordeals ahead

This is our first view of the Special World which should be very different from the Ordinary World the hero has just left

“Getting to know you” scenes common at this point

Think about all the people Miss Congeniality now meets. People who prepare her for the Adventure (a true mentor in the Michael Caine character), put up barriers, become her allies and/or show their colors as enemies.

The section of the journey during “Tests, Allies and Enemies” will show us how the hero responds to others around them and by doing so, will help us develop the hero’s character. Each encounter with an ally or enemy and each test will demonstrate either something good or bad about her. Is she loyal? Is she compassionate? Is she bitchy or nice? Think of Miss Congeniality and each encounter with one of the beauty queens or as she prepares for each of the events during the pageant. Each test and encounter demonstrates something about her character.

Now that we know more about our character (and in reality, the character knows more about herself), we need to take that knowledge and have the hero:

Approach the Inmost Cave:

Hero confronts and prepares for achieving her goal

May suffer setbacks or reversals of fortune

The hero now understands what is the purpose of the journey and prepares to reach that ultimate goal (for example, finding out who has threatened the pagaent). Even though the hero understands the goal, the challenges and tests are not yet over. In fact, the hero may find that while she has taken 3 steps forward, she is now forced to take two back. Think of the information that Miss Congeniality has gleaned from the beauty queens and how none of the FBI agents believe her because they think the Bomber has been caught. She has acheived the goal of finding all the information she needed, but her investigation is set back by the arrival of her director and his news.

What does a hero do in this situation? The hero must now face the Supreme Ordeal.

***End Part Two***

The next three steps in the Hero’s Journey are:
The Supreme Ordeal
Reward (Seizing the Sword)
The Road Back

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato

I was introduced to the concept of the Hero’s Journey by a wonderful book editor, Lesley Kellas Payne. She was kind enough to help me when I first started writing and her lessons proved invaluable. One of the first things she stressed was using the Hero’s Journey to help create a compelling plot.

Joseph Campbell noted in his seminal work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces that there were certain story elements that defied cultural boundaries and were universally accepted. The Hero’s Journey arose as a result of this analysis by Campbell and subsequent works by others. Another good discussion of the Hero’s Journey is by Christopher Vogler and I highly recommend Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey.

How do I use the Hero’s Journey to write my story?

The Hero’s Journey will help you identify the different story elements to include in your novel and the most logical order in which they should appear. Of course, there is nothing which dictates that you must begin in this order, but whenever I am struggling with a book, I find that it’s because I’ve deviated from what I consider the most important story element in the Hero’s Journey — The Ordinary World.

What is ‘the Ordinary World’?

The Ordinary world:

Shows the hero in her customary element.

Sets the tone and suggests the dramatic question of the story

Make the Ordinary World as different as possible from the Special World

Why is the Ordinary World so important? Because it sets the stage for what is “normal” for your characters and your job as a writer is to shake up that “normal” and get them started on their journey.

For example, in DARKNESS CALLS, Diana is all caught up in being a hard-nosed FBI Agent and Ryder is all brooding immortal. I show them in their regular worlds — Diana investigating a case and Ryder catwalks of The Lair — to demonstrate what their lives are like now before we begin their adventure.

The Call to Adventure

The Ordinary World tells the reader what is the status quo for your hero/heroine. Now it’s time to layout the details of the challenges the adventure will bring them. What does this do? It:

Establishes the stakes of the game

Makes the hero’s goal clear

Hero is presented with a challenge or adventure to undertake and cannot remain in her Ordinary World

For example, in DEATH CALLS (December 2006), we once again meet with Ryder and Diana after they have been involved for two years. The stakes of the game are whether the two will continue to be lovers. Their goals? For Diana, to decide whether to have a normal life or stay with Ryder. For Ryder, whether he will let death claim Diana when it is her time. What is their challenge/adventure? They must move forward emotionally and decide what to do and the adventure that will challenge them to do this is Diana’s investigation of her best friend’s murder.

What happens if the Hero Refuses the Call to the Adventure?

It’s not uncommon that the hero/heroine may refuse to move from the Ordinary World and begin their adventure. The hero/heroine is acting the way we all might when confronted with having to do something different. The hero/heroine is refusing to begin the journey because they are fearful of where it will lead. Because of this, the hero/heroine may require the assistance of a Mentor.

What is a Mentor?

The Mentor is one of the most important themes in mythology. It stands for the bond between parent and child, teacher and student, god and man. Think Obi Wan and Yoda as the classic mentors. Meeting with the Mentor provides the hero knowledge, confidence, etc. to undertake the Journey. A Mentor doesn’t necessarily need to be kindly. Think of Lou Gossett’s role as the drill sergeant in Officer and a Gentleman. The drill sergeant is a harsh mentor, but goads Zach Mayo into undertaking the journey.

In fact, if you want to see how the Hero’s Journey works, two great movies to watch are Star Wars and Officer and a Gentleman since they both follow the Hero’s Journey in exactly the order I will be laying out in this discussion.

****Coming soon****

The next three steps in the Hero’s Journey:

Crossing the First Threshold

Tests, Allies and Enemies

Approach to the Inmost Cave

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato

Dialogue Should Fit the Characters:

Consider what your character is like and have what they say be in synch with their nature. You wouldn’t expect a rough and tumble, hard drinkin’ detective to say, “Pardon me, Miss” if he accidentally bumped a young woman in a bar. He probably would just eyeball her and say nothing, which speaks volumes about his character without a word being spoken.

More importantly, men and women just do not communicate in the same way. What one says and the other hears is sometimes totally at odds with the actual language spoken.

Why is that? Deborah Tannen analyzes various reasons for this in her book, You Just Don’t Understand. I highly recommend that you read that book so that you will be able to create realistic dialogue for your characters.

“What we have here is a failure to communicate.”
A memorable quote from the film Cool Hand Luke

What is being said and by whom? What Happens next? The Miscommunication and the Why?

Here are some examples of Male/Female Miscommunication:

She said: Would you like to take a break?
He says: No, I’m fine. Let’s finish this.

Whether by nature or nurture, the fact is that men tend to work alone while women work in teams. A woman wants “the team” to agree on taking a course of action. By asking if he wants to take a break, she is saying “I’m tired. I’d like to take a break and I want you to agree with me.” He is thinking that she is wondering whether he is tired and since he is not, he sees no problem with his response.

He says: “But I am listening.”

She sees that he is not facing her directly. She knows that the next thing he says will be about something totally different than what they are currently discussing.

Bonds between men are based less on talking and more on doing (“Boys night”). Because of this men don’t know the kind of talk women want. Men with other men fight to avoid being at the “bottom” of the group. Being a listener makes some men feel like they are being talked down to. Men also jump around to lots of different topics during a conversation whereas women have a tendency to be more focused.

She says: “I’m having this problem at work. I don’t know what to do. My boss screamed at me like a lunatic.”
Another woman says: “Hmm. That happened to me. I felt bad.”
He says: “Well, tell him not to do that. Or quit if it’s that bad.”

Men do and take action. They worry about being the top dog. They are problem solvers and when asked what to do, understand that a solution is needed for a problem.

Women are team players. They listen. They commiserate. If they sense that the other woman truly does want a solution, they will provide instruction by example because this maintains the dynamic of equality between all the team players.

When writing the dialogue between male and female characters, keep the above forms of miscommunication in mind.  They will serve you well in not only crafting believable dialogue, but in learning how to create dialogue that enhances the conflicts between the characters due to this male/female miscommunication.

©2006 Caridad Piñeiro Scordato

You’ve started your book. You have the basic idea of what you plan to write (genre and length) and understand the conflict with which your characters will deal.  But to be intriguing, your characters not only need that internal conflict to resolve, but dialogue that fits them and is effective.  In addition, the dialogue that occurs between the characters has to convey necessary information.  The key is — not too much information.  You want the reader to intuit any secondary meaning in the words and also, the emotions and intent behind the words.

So what is effective dialogue?  Effiective dialogue:

1.  Advances the plot and adds to the story
2.  Doesn’t use unnecessary prompts or cues (like er, hmm, oh)
3.  Doesn’t use excessive tag lines (she kidded, teased, warned)
4.  Keeps the flow going
5.  Fits the characters

What kind of Dialogue Advances the Plot and Adds to the Story? Consider the three following examples:

“I’m leaving,” he said to the lieutenant.
“I hate this place,” he said and handed the lieutenant the paper.
“I can’t wait to walk out that door.” He handed the lieutenant his transfer request.

Of the three, the last one advances the plot and adds to the story by providing more information.

Effective Dialogue doesn’t use nnecessary prompts or excessive tag lines:

Try listening to everyday conversations.  Be an eavesdropper (something which writers are allowed to some extent).  Every day conversations may be realistic, but they are generally BORING!  Every day conversations are generally filled with needless prompts.

Prompts (or cues) are the things such as:

“How are you?”
“What’s new?”

A “Tag line” is the last line of a speech which is used to clarify or dramatize a point. For example, “he said” or “she said”. Tag lines should be simple and not “he muttered”, “she croaked”, “he groaned”.

Also try to avoid tag lines that contain unnecessary exposition. For example, in a scene where only two people are present, let’s assume a vampire and a woman, it is not necessary to say, “I want a bite,” the vampire said to the woman. We know it’s just two people in the room and therefore “to the woman” is unnecessary.

Plus remember Rule One about advancing the plot/adding info. If he’s a vampire, do you need to have him say, “I want to bite.”?

More effective dialogue would be “You expect me to bite. What if you’re not biteable?”

This makes us wonder whether the vampire regularly bites and also, why the woman isn’t biteable. In a romance, it would also make us wonder if the vampire “doth protest too much” about her biteability.

Effective Dialogue Should Keep the Flow Going:

All writers do it at one time or another, namely: “I really hadn’t planned on that,” he said and walked across the room. He continued. “But then again, maybe I will.”

Breaking the flow may damage a scene by pulling the reader out of the moment. In general, leave descriptions to the end of the dialogue. For that matter, if the description doesn’t set the tone/nature of the dialogue that is occurring, omit it entirely. Excess narration at this point can negatively impact on the exchange between the
characters. For example:

“I didn’t mean – “ she began, clenching her hands on the handle of her suitcase.
“For this to happen?” he said, cutting her off as he walked across the room, his stride hesitant.
Almost fearful.

Compare the above to this:

Her hands clenched on the handle of her suitcase. “I didn’t mean – “
“For this to happen?” He walked across the room, his stride hesitant.

**End Part One.

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato

 

 

That’s probably the most commonly asked question whenever I do a signing or workshop and the answer isn’t a simple one.

For starters, every writer is different.  I’m generally a seat of the pants writer whereas others meticulously plot, diagram and/or post pictures of what their characters look like.

What I know now that I didn’t know when I started is that you need to do some research first before you put pen to paper if the ultimate goal of writing your book is to get it published.  What kind of research?

1. What genre will your book fit in?  It’s important to know whether you’re book is a romantic suspense, paranormal, women’s fiction, cozy mystery or any of dozens of other genres.  For a list of sub-genres in the romance industry, check out this list at the Romance Writer of America.  For non-romance fiction genres, here’s another good spot for you to check.

2. Which publishers would be interested in your book?  Go to the shelves of your local library or bookstore.  See what books would be similar to what you would like to write.  It will give you an idea of what publishers are interested in that kind of work.  Open the book and check the dedication or acknowledgements.  That might give you a clue as to the editor or agent who bought and/or represented the novel.

3. Check the guidelines for those agents and/or editors.  Many publishers have their guidelines on their websites. Eharlequin.com is a great example of publisher’s guidelines.  The guidelines will tell you how long the book should be, which editors are interested in acquiring, etc.  Unfortunately, the guidelines may also say that the publisher will only accept manuscripts from agents.  You can also look at books from Writers Digest and there’s a great book by Jeff Herman that I recommend.

4. What do I do if the publisher says I need an agent?  Finding an agent can be almost as difficult as getting published, but basically, agents also have their guidelines on their websites.  Check and see if an agent is reputable.  In general, agents should not ask for fees in advance.  A good source for agents is AAR which has a Code of Ethics agents must follow.  More importantly, check out Preditors and Editors to watch out for scam artists.

Once you know what genre you are going to tackle and what the length of the book will be, you can start to “write”.  What are some of the basic steps I follow when I start to “write” ?(and I put that in quotes because it’s truly before putting pen to paper.  It’s about visualizing and getting the story straight in your head first.)

1. I’m a character-driven writer so in general, I have a character screaming in my head that they want a story.  Usually a female character.  I like strong empowered and tortured women and by tortured I mean someone with emotional conflict.

2. Emotional conflict is more often than not what will drive my story.  Once I know what it is that the heroine fears most – intimacy, loss of self-identity, inability to commit, desire to commit – I ask myself what kind of hero and/or story would most effectively bring that emotional conflict to the forefront.

3. With a hero and heroine now firmly rooted in my brain, where does the story begin?  I’ll be posting more on the concept of the Hero’s Journey in another blog, but usually it’s best to start the story in the hero’s and heroine’s Ordinary World.

4. What’s an Ordinary World?  It’s the place where they normally live – both physically and emotionally.  It’s the “safety zone” and the place you will rip them from when you begin their journey of discovery. For example, Diana Reyes from DARKNESS CALLS (and other books in THE CALLING) is most comfortable at her FBI office and in her role as a Special Agent.  Why?  She’s in control there.  She knows the rules of that world and what’s expected of her.  As a Special Agent in Charge, she’s in control of other agents and of her partner, David Harris.  This makes her world safe.  To shake up that world – introduce her to a creature of the night who makes her want to break the rules and enter a dark place she had thought she had overcome years earlier.

5. Decide two more important spots in “the journey” your character will take.  The first is the point where the hero/heroine will face their greatest distress. This is the place where they will need to confront their emotional conflict and overcome it (or seem to overcome it).  This will be one of the high points of your novel.  The second spot – the end.  What is the goal of the novel?  What lesson will the hero and/or heroine have learned after they complete their journey? 

Now that you have your characters, a beginning, middle and end – start to write (pen to paper, fingers on keys this time), keeping in mind the length of the book that the publisher has indicated in their guidelines.

Why is the length so important?  If you’re writing category series books, which are generally shorter in length, you will not have time for delving into the issues of secondary characters or creating secondary plots that are related to the main story line.  There is not enough length in a 65,000 word book to do that.  However, if you’re doing a single title book (80,000 to 100,000), you will likely need a strong secondary character or subplot to enhance the main story line and create the length that you need.

Okay, so now that I’ve written the first few chapters, what do I do?  The first thing to do is to go back and look at your first sentence.  Does it pop?  Does it make a reader want to keep on reading?  Does it set the tone for your book?

For example – and I have to credit my two friends and fellow writers Roni Denholtz and Karen Bryan for this analysis – here’s the first sentence of TEMPTATION CALLS:

As lives went, both of hers had sucked.

What does this tell us?  For starters, it’s not a happy book.  It’s going to be dark.  “Both lives”?  How many lives does a normal person have?  “Both lives” clues us to the fact that this is someone other than a normal person.  “Sucked” – a reference to the state of the hero’s life but also an allusion to the genre?  It’s a paranormal book — a vampire novel — and the word “sucked” works in two ways – again to emphasize this isn’t a happy book and secondly as a nod to the nature of the work.

Writing that first memorable sentence can take time, so don’t fret it.  Write it and then revisit it as you write the rest.  It’s important, though, that once you get a few chapters done, you find a critique group.  You may locate one at your local bookstore.  If you’re a member of a writing organization, they may put together critique groups (the New Jersey Romance Writers do this for their members).  RWA has electronic critique groups where members exchange work via e-mail.

Why is this so important?  Hearing what others have to say about your work will give you an idea about what’s working and what’s not.  Of course, listen to your gut as well.  Trust your gut to weed out what doesn’t sound right and what does.  You’ll have to learn to do this as well for when you’re published since it’s likely you’ll face revision letters from your editors and will have to trust your gut to know how to make those revisions work.

If you’re not a member of a writing organization, I would highly recommend that you join one.  Networking with other writers is a good way of not only learning about the craft of writing, but also about the business of writing. There are some wonderful writers who never learn the business end of things and flounder.  Being published is not only about being a writer with some talent, it’s about learning how to promote, move up, and build a brand (more on that later).

Also, if you don’t already get Publishers Marketplace, sign up for it.  Whether you opt for the free or paid version, it’s chock full of industry news and deals.  Watching the deals that are happening may help you determine who is the best publishing house or agent for your novel as well as what’s hot at the time.

Finally, how do I finish my book?  Write, write, write.  Every day if you can.  Even if all you do is one page a day.  In a year, a page a day equals a book.  If you can’t write every day, find some kind of schedule where you can sit and work on your novel.  Being a writer involves discipline.  People will often ask, “How do you write so many books in a year?”  It’s a simple answer.  I write almost every day for at least an hour.  On the weekends, I write for several hours each day.

So in a nutshell, that’s how it’s done.  Just remember to write, write and write and more importantly, never give up.  We all have stacks of rejection letters, but if you don’t try, you can’t succeed.

Copyright 2006 Caridad Pineiro Scordato 

This article first appeared in the October 2005 edition of the New Jersey Romance Writers’ Heartline Herald.  

            Come on, ‘fess up.  You do it.  A fan/friend/third cousin on your mother’s side of the family just e-mailed to let you know that your latest book is up on Amazon even though it isn’t going to be released for another six months. And so it begins — the Amazon Addiction.
            You immediately rush to the site and search out your release only to find your novel hasn’t generated enough interest to earn a sales rank.  So what’s an author to do about her unloved child?
            For some, it becomes a quest much like the Holy Grail, checking Amazon daily in the hopes of finally seeing some movement.  Querying authors of similar books to see how sales compare.
            Berta Platas, author of Cinderella Lopez which is slated for release in March 2006 and hit the Amazon list a few months ago confesses, “. . . I’m not addicted to the numbers.  Really, I’m not.  So . . . I’m tracking our anthology. It’s doing decently. But is it decent enough?  So I put in the ISBN for somebody who’s really racing. . . Then I add ISBNs for friend’s books, since I have 25 slots I can fill. Every day I log on to see how my book is doing. . .  But I’m not addicted. I can quit anytime. Honest.”
            Do the numbers change so radically that such frequent checking accomplishes anything?
            Amazon updates its numbers on an hourly basis so you may see the sales rank change quite often.  But the numbers at Amazon can be deceptive for a number of reasons.  First, it is my understanding that the sales rank number does not reflect just actual sales, but also popularity of the item based on searches conducted by users as well as the number of books ordered in one sale.
            I decided to test my understanding.  Checking the sales rank on my two latest releases, DANGER CALLS and TEMPTATION CALLS, I found that the books sat at 359469 and 418471 respectively.  Would my single order drastically change the rank?  After placing an order for 5 copies of TEMPTATION CALLS, I watched the number rise to 78605 by the next day (and this was nearly two months before its release date).
            Hmm?  What would multiple orders do to the sales rank on a book? I wondered.  DARKNESS CALLS is sold out and so only used copies are available.  When I began this exercise, DARKNESS CALLS had a sales rank of 244261.  After ordering five books from 5 different vendors at Amazon Marketplace, the sales rank jumped to 12181 within the hour.
           Amazon numbers are, therefore, apparently ephemeral and affected by an assortment of factors.  Agent Caren Johnson of the Peter Rubie Literary Agency notes, “I never check the numbers. . . Instead I check sales reports and royalty statements.”  This opinion was echoed by Editor Stacy Boyd of Silhouette.  “I tend to get my sales info from the point of sales data collected by our company, as well as figures from Waldenbooks and other chains.”
            What is clear is that with hourly updates, an author lucky enough to appear on television or have a news article featuring them can rush to Amazon and determine whether or not that appearance/article has achieved an increase in their Amazon number.  Caren Johnson concurs.  “Amazon numbers are a great way to gauge public interest in your book, which is helpful, especially when you have a marketing campaign you’re starting or the like.  Then you can see what is most effective for driving sales to your book.”
            Can the Amazon sales ranks be extrapolated as an indication of the actual position of your book in the marketplace?
            In his July 2000 article in Time magazine, Richard Corliss noted that “(t)he Amazon sample can be misleading since the taste of its buyers doesn’t always match that of bookstore browsers.  Self-improvement texts do better . . . romance novels far worse.”
            Does that principle still apply?
            A recent check of the New York Times Bestsellers versus the Amazon Top Sellers revealed that not one romance had apparently made it into the Amazon Top 50. So how did romances fare on the NYT Bestseller list compared to the Amazon Sales rank?  See for yourself in the following table: 

NYT Bestseller Rank	Amazon Sales Rank	            Title	           Author
#3 Hardcover	241	SLOW BURN	Julie Garwood
#5 Hardcover	205	POINT BLANK	Catherine Coulter
#1 Paperback	613	NIGHT TALES: NIGHT SHADE/NIGHT SMOKE	Nora Roberts
#3 Paperback	3008	PAYBACK	Fern Michaels

           In addition, it is my understanding that for category novels, most sales occur through bookstores and direct sales and not through Amazon.  What about other paperback novels?  Estimates from various sources indicate that anywhere from 5% of 15% of sales are generated through Amazon.  Silhouette Editor Jessica Alvarez notes, “Amazon numbers represent only a part of our distribution and the final national result is much more important to us.  Still, it is interesting to see how books perform at different retailers and how the rankings can shift from place to place. “
           So what’s the moral of this story?  Whether or not your book has sold well is best determined by the sales data and royalty sheets provided by your publisher.  However, Amazon can gauge increased activity related to your book.
           Not to mention that it is such a rush when your Amazon Addiction lets you see that the sales rank on your novel has broken through to the top 1000.  How do I know?  I’m a recovering Amazon Addict!

Copyright 2005 Caridad Pineiro Scordato