Nancy's Notes From Florida

Dealing with Rejections
April 15, 2020

Rejections are part of the publishing process. You have to develop a thick skin to keep going if you want to have a successful career as a writer. Authors have many avenues to pursue along the road to publication these days, but it wasn’t always that way.

As I’ve been cleaning out my files, I came across a pile of rejection letters in one of my folders. This book was an early attempt at a romantic suspense novel. I was agented, so I’d already passed the first gatekeeper. Our only route to publication back then was to submit our work via snail mail to the major NY publishing houses. Here’s what these rejections said for my book titled Summer Storm. The story involved two competing New Orleans chefs who, in the second version, must work together to solve a murder. I liked talking about food and cooking even then!

Harlequin – They sent a long one-page letter detailing problems with the romance and saying the intrigue wasn’t sustained. The intrigue also needed to be more complex and fresh. Aug. 1989

Silhouette Books – “Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s right for us. There was a lack of focus on the actual romance. The emphasis seemed to be on the unraveling of the mystery, instead of on the development of a dramatic and exciting love affair. In addition, the heroine needs more in the way of emotional depth to make her warmer and more sympathetic to the reader. However, I do feel there’s potential here, so if Nancy should wish to revise and resubmit it, please have her do so.” Nov. 1989

Silhouette Books – Resubmitted revised ms. “Unfortunately, although Jill is much warmer now and easier to relate to, the emphasis is still on the mystery and its development. The relationship between the hero and the heroine is also more on the casual, albeit intimate, level than on the emotional and romantic level that would make their affair more compelling.” June 1990

Harlequin – Resubmitted revised ms. They turned it down. “The mystery and romance were not fully integrated in this story.” But…they liked my engaging writing style. Feb. 1991

Meteor Publishing – “I’m afraid I can’t make you an offer for the book because the plot lacks focus, and the story, with its very involved mystery element, moves slowly in spots. The author fails to develop the couple’s relationship (beyond the many sex scenes).” April 1991

Longmeadow Press – “I found the premise of the novel to be quite interesting, but I don’t think the writing is up to par with other hardcover romantic suspense.” Dec. 1991

I changed the title to Murder on the Menu and rewrote the book with a focus on the mystery. Or so I thought.

Berkley – “This one was a near miss. While the writing and pacing were good, and the idea was strong, I felt this fell between being a mystery and a woman-in-jeopardy. For this reason, and because I felt this just wasn’t strong enough to compete in this crowded market, we’ve decided to pass.” Aug. 1992

St. Martin’s Press – Unfortunately, we are going to have to pass; it was just not strong enough for our mystery list. Sorry not to be more enthusiastic.” Sept. 1992

Harlequin – They sent a three page rejection letter with detailed revisions listed by the page number. Problems here seemed to focus on the romance as well as the personal motives to solve the mystery. At this point, I put the book aside as requiring too much work. Dec. 1992

What is the lesson learned? Maybe I should have been writing mysteries instead of romance! Seriously, I had to decide which genre I was actually writing. Obviously I wasn’t getting it right for romantic suspense. The internal conflicts needed work and the mystery needed tightening. The story definitely was not ready for the market.

Is it reworkable now from my current viewpoint? I wouldn’t know until I read it again. But back then, it was a stepping stone toward my writing a successful mystery series, and those efforts are never wasted. Nor did this discourage me from trying again with the next book. And the next. And the next, until I got one that hit the mark.

How should YOU deal with rejections? 

Scream, rant and cry for up to two days. Then stop.

Read the remarks, and see if there’s truth in them. If invited to revise and resubmit, do so.

Look for common elements among the rejections. If two or more comments sound alike, you have some work to do.

Make sure you have a definitive genre so booksellers will know where to place your story.

If you want more feedback, enter unpublished writing contests where you get scores with comments; join a critique group; get a paid manuscript critique at a writers’ conference; or hire a professional freelance editor who specializes in your genre.

Begin revisions or start the next book.

How to Deal with Rejections as a Writer #amwriting #pubtip Share on X
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Musings During the Virus
March 31, 2020

Being safe at home isn’t a hardship for a writer. We are used to long hours with our story characters as company. Many of us, during normal times, wish for more time to write our novels. However, now that we have this opportunity, it’s difficult for us to concentrate on a story in a fictional world that no longer exists.

Fortunately, I still have ten backlist titles to get online for your reading pleasure. Four of them are my former Five Star mysteries, books ten through thirteen in my Bad Hair Day series. The other six are earlier romances. My very first book, Circle of Light, features a plague that sweeps the galaxy. It’s very appropriate to today’s situation, but I want to get the whole Light-Years trilogy ready to go before hiring a cover artist. Here are the original covers from Dorchester. I’m working on book two right now. Yes, I wrote as Nancy Cane in those days.

Circle of Light by Nancy J. Cohen   Moonlight Rhapsody  

These books, being my earliest, require heavy self-editing to bring them up to my current standards. I am, in a way, grateful for this time to work on these books. It helps me escape the reality of what’s going on outside. And when fear threatens to steal my ambition, I tell myself that these stories help other people to escape the world we’re in together.

And so you can escape, too, whether it’s through books, TV shows, audiobooks or movies. If you’ve never listened to an audiobook, now is the time. It can be soothing to hear someone read you a story. I especially like the way a good narrator does the different character voices. Or maybe you prefer doing jigsaw puzzles or have craft projects you’ve always wanted to do.

It’s important to connect with friends and relatives via phone or online chats so you talk to someone each day. This will help you feel less isolated.

God bless each one of you. I am grateful for your support and friendship which means everything to me. I’m not too inspired to write blogs these days, so you may not hear from me for a while unless I decide to republish some of my earlier posts. You can always follow me on my other social media channels until then. Or let me know what you’d like me to discuss here and I’ll do my best to comply.

Let us all get through this safely. Eventually, things will get better. Our world has seen plagues before, and we have the best scientists researching in their labs. Please stay home and be well. Feel free to offer your suggestions for keeping sane in the comments section.

If you want a free copy of Permed to Death audiobook with a 30-Day Audible trial, go here:
US – https://adbl.co/2wbqHrH
UK – https://adbl.co/3dKtrB6

Booklover’s Bench monthly book giveaway starts tomorrow. Click Here to enter April 1-18. 

NOTE: My writing workshop on “Self-Publishing Made Simple” scheduled for April 25 at 2:00 pm at the Alvin Sherman Library at NSU may be moved online. Keep watch here or on the original site for more details: https://nova.libcal.com/event/6616179 


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Buzz is the Word
March 27, 2020

For Easter Hair Hunt, I learned quite a bit about beekeeping. One of the characters in this story is a beekeeper at a historic estate. Hairstylist Marla Vail attends an Easter egg hunt there when she discovers a body in a bunny suit out on the manicured lawn.

Bees are not my favorite creature but they play an important role in agriculture. Many of the world’s most common food crops require pollination by honeybees. On their foraging flights, the female worker bees collect nectar and pollen to bring back to the hive. The nectar is mixed with enzymes from their gut and then dehydrated into honey. Pollen, containing proteins and amino acids, becomes the “bee bread” used to feed growing larvae and the queen.

Honeybee

A virgin queen will mate with up to eighty male drones. She uses this sperm for the rest of her five-to-six year lifespan, laying eggs along the way. A hive can raise a new queen by feeding a substance named royal jelly to a larvae.

When the hive gets large enough, usually in the spring, the older queen leaves with half the worker bee population. The others cluster in a swarm outside while their scouts look for a new location. When the scout bees find a suitable home, they’ll return to the cluster and perform a waggle dance to direct the swarm to the new hive. The first worker bees on the premises gather at the entrance and release a pheromone to direct the rest of the bees into the new hive. This pheromone resembles the scent of lemongrass oil.

While the bees wait in a cluster for the scouts to return, beekeepers can use a swarm box to catch them. It’s baited with honey combs and lemongrass oil. The bees are docile at this time, because they have no brood to protect and they have gorged on honey to sustain them for the flight. The beekeeper will transfer the swarm into a nucleus box where they can establish themselves before being moved to a hive.

The beekeeper uses a smoker to tame the bees while he’s working with them. Smoke makes honeybees believe there may be a wildfire nearby. They’ll eat as much honey as they can in preparation for a potential move. This full stomach makes them less likely to sting due to the physical difficulty in tipping their abdomens up.

Smoke also masks the alarm pheromone given off by guard bees. This pheromone smells like banana candy, so if you smell bananas in your hive, it’s time for another puff of smoke. Similarly, beekeepers shouldn’t eat bananas before working with a hive, since it may be detected as an alarm pheromone. My suggestion is not to eat bananas before taking a stroll in the woods.

Bees tend to attack the face of mammals, hence the veiled hood as part of the beekeeper’s gear. Bees have carbon dioxide receptors on their antennae, which allow them to detect our exhalations. They may respond aggressively. This ability developed to protect them against bears. Also, if you’re afraid, they can sense it because you’ll breathe more rapidly.

Beekeeper tasks include making sure the bees have enough food, water and ventilation. They need to make sure weaker hives aren’t been preyed upon by stronger hives. Bees also need to be checked for diseases and pests. This job requires year-round attention to the bees in their care.

Bee populations are threatened by pesticides, drought, habitat destruction, nutritional deficits, air pollution, climate change, diseases and parasitic mites, plus robbers such as bears and bees from other colonies. Ecological farming is the key to protecting the bees. This practice restores soil nutrients, avoids soil loss from wind and water erosion, and avoids use of pesticides and fertilizers.

I am not a fan of bees of any kind, including wasps and bumblebees and hornets. True, the honeybees play an important role in our agriculture and honey production, but I’d rather steer clear of them. That includes hollow tree trunks and other potential hiding places in the woods.

Do you ever think about the role of bees in the honey you use at home? 

Research for EASTER HAIR HUNT #cozymystery involved learning about honeybees and beekeeping. Share on X

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in the field of beekeeping. This information is based on my understanding of the material I read.

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Easter Hair Hunt, #16 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries 

An Easter egg hunt at historic Tremayne Manor leads hairstylist Marla Vail to discover more than just dyed eggs. The dead body in the bunny costume is definitely not having a good hare day. Marla and her husband, homicide detective Dalton Vail, make an eggcellent team. He knows Marla finds solving mysteries and hare-raising adventures to be irresistible, but she may have found a basketful of trouble this time. Can Marla pull a rabbit out of her hat and crack the case of the body in the bunny suit? Recipes Included! 

BUY NOW

Amazon Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083TZ78G1
Amazon Print – https://www.amazon.com/Easter-Hair-Hunt-Bad-Mysteries/dp/0999793276/
BN Nook – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1136016947?ean=2940162711889
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/easter-hair-hunt/id1494917053?ls=1
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/easter-hair-hunt
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/EasterHairHunt
IndieBound – https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780999793275
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50494022-easter-hair-hunt
BookBub – https://bit.ly/2u7ggIu
Website – https://nancyjcohen.com/easter-hair-hunt/

 


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Research Insights – Postal Service
March 23, 2020

Visiting the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C. is an enlightening experience. From the history of mail delivery via land, sea, and air to postal police to rare stamps, the exhibits need more than one day to absorb. If you’re into vehicles, there’s a mail train car, a stagecoach, vintage airplanes, and postal trucks among other awesome displays. After touring the voluminous halls, I came away with a new appreciation for mail carriers. You can read about my experience here.

Postage stamps figure into Easter Hair Hunt, #16 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries. Lacey Tremayne, owner of a historic estate open to the public for tours and catered events, tells my hairstylist sleuth how her late husband had collected stamps. Lacey never paid much attention to his hobby, but she did like the historical aspects. Here she explains to Marla about the early history of our postal service. Why is this relevant? Marla found the chief gardener dead on the estate grounds after an Easter egg hunt. She’s interviewing potential suspects to find a motive.

postage stamps

“In the early days of mail delivery, a letter’s recipient had to pay a fee. Letters were folded and sealed with no envelopes since postage was based on weight. But people tried to cheat by putting a secret code on the outside of the letter, so the receiver could read the message and refuse delivery. The postal service turned to prepaid postage as a way to get paid for their efforts.” 

“Sealing wax was used on letters,” Marla remembered from period movies she’d seen. Noblemen would stamp the melted wax with their signet rings. 

“That’s correct. Rowland Hill, an English inventor, proposed that mail should go anywhere in Britain for the same rate, a penny per half ounce. The sender would pay for the postage, denoted by a small piece of colored paper on the outside of the letter. The first government-issued stamp, called the Penny Black, was issued in 1840. It was printed in black and had Queen Victoria on the picture.” 

“When was the first stamp made in the United States?” Marla asked, thinking to repeat this information to Dalton. As a history buff, he’d be interested in early postal service lore. 

“The U.S. Postal Service printed its first stamps in 1847,” Lacey said. “We had a five-cent stamp picturing Benjamin Franklin and a ten-cent stamp with George Washington. Most were produced in pre-gummed, non-perforated sheets that clerks had to cut.” 

“What kind of stamps did Connor collect?” 

Lacey spread her hands. “You’d have to ask his pal, Jonas Sommers. I liked learning about the history aspect but not the rest. Jonny is a walking encyclopedia on the topic.” 

“Did this guy have any interest in buying Connor’s collection after he passed? That would have made it easier for you to unload the stuff.” 

“No, I went through a stamp dealer. Jonny acted oddly at the time. He advised me to hold onto Connor’s stamps. But neither Daniel nor I had any interest in them. It’s like any collection. You pay a lot to acquire the items and then receive barely anything when you sell them.”

What did happen to Connor’s stamps? Were all of them sold, or were some hidden in the same private vault where he kept his sword collection? No one could seem to locate this secret stash.

If you want to read more on the history of postage stamp prices in the UK, Go Here for a quick summary.

Routine mail delivery is something we shouldn’t take for granted. It’s fascinating to learn about the postal service and the methods of delivery by air, sea and land. Mail carriers used to deliver the mail to us no matter the weather outside. Nowadays they’ll often stick the mail into cluster mailboxes at the entrance to a housing development. I much prefer our mail slot in the front door and an older community where the carrier goes from house to house.

How do you get your mail delivered? Do you have the same person each day on your route?

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Easter Hair Hunt, #16 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries 

An Easter egg hunt at historic Tremayne Manor leads hairstylist Marla Vail to discover more than just dyed eggs. The dead body in the bunny costume is definitely not having a good hare day. Marla and her husband, homicide detective Dalton Vail, make an eggcellent team. He knows Marla finds solving mysteries and hare-raising adventures to be irresistible, but she may have found a basketful of trouble this time. Can Marla pull a rabbit out of her hat and crack the case of the body in the bunny suit? Recipes Included! 

BUY NOW

Amazon Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083TZ78G1
Amazon Print – https://www.amazon.com/Easter-Hair-Hunt-Bad-Mysteries/dp/0999793276/
BN Nook – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1136016947?ean=2940162711889
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/easter-hair-hunt/id1494917053?ls=1
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/easter-hair-hunt
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/EasterHairHunt
IndieBound – https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780999793275
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50494022-easter-hair-hunt
BookBub – https://bit.ly/2u7ggIu
Website – https://nancyjcohen.com/easter-hair-hunt/

Research Insights for EASTER HAIR HUNT #cozymystery on the history of the Postal Service. #amreading Share on X

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LAST DAY! Enter Here to win an Easter Fun Box with a signed proof copy of Easter Hair Hunt, a scarf, cosmetic bag, gardening gloves, candy, hair ties, dish towel and socks.

 


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Book Blog Tour for Easter Hair Hunt
March 11, 2020

March 10 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW

March 10 – Carla Loves to Read – REVIEW

March 11 – 18, Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour 

Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour

Join my virtual book tour to celebrate the release of Easter Hair Hunt, #16 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries. Reviews, Spotlights, Interviews, Guest Posts & Giveaway. Please leave comments at each site to support my hosts.

March 11 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW

March 11 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

March 11 – This Is My Truth Now – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 12 – The Power of Words – REVIEW

March 12 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

March 12 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT

March 12, Booklover’s Bench – “Spring has a Buzz” GUEST POST & GIVEAWAY

March 12 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW

March 13 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW

March 13 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT

March 13 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW

March 14 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

March 14 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

March 14 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

March 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – RECIPE POST

March 15 – Hearts & Scribbles – GUEST POST – “Honey is Healthy”

March 15 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW

March 16 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

March 16 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – SPOTLIGHT

March 16 – eBook Addicts – SPOTLIGHT

March 17 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT

March 17 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST – “Expensive Easter Eggs”

March 17 – Cinnamon, Sugar, and a Little Bit of Murder – REVIEW, RECIPE, & GIVEAWAY

March 18 – StoreyBook Reviews – GUEST POST – “Postage Stamps are History”

March 18 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – SPOTLIGHT

March 18 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

April 2, Dru’s Book Musings – “Get to Know You – Dalton Vail” CHARACTER INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY

April 4 – Kings River Life – REVIEW, RECIPE & GIVEAWAY

Follow Nancy J. Cohen's Book Blog Tour to celebrate the release of EASTER HAIR HUNT #cozymystery - Guest posts, interviews, giveaways, & recipes! Share on X

GIVEAWAYS

Enter Here March 10 – 23 to win an Easter Fun Box with a signed proof copy of Easter Hair Hunt, a scarf, cosmetic bag, gardening gloves, candy, hair ties, dish towel and socks.

Enter Here March 1 – 18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench

March 2020


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