My First Guest Blogger!

This is a first at my blog...I have a guest Blogger! Yippee!

I met Judy Jarvie many moons ago over on the eHarlequin Community boards, and we've been critiquing for each other on and off for years. And since this is a very exciting time for Judy (2 releases within a month!), I'm thrilled to have her visit to tell us a little about her first release--Flirting with the Fireman. Take it away, Judy...

Busting the Waffle

Big thanks to the lovely Marcy, my long time CP, for letting me drop by and trumpet about my books.

Marcy’s the best placed person to tell you about my writing foibles– since she’s read so many dirty drafts! I wanted to write a brief post about the wonderful editor I met at Wild Rose Press and how she helped me so much. Her waffle-busting skills blew me away.
Vicky who deals with Sweetheart Rose is a very special editor. She read my book – saw things she liked in it – but told me it wasn’t quite right. She wanted more. I went away and expanded. It still wasn’t right and it needed a hard edit. Vicky tells it like it is but she also really fired me to want to get it right and impress her. At this point Vicky could easily have given up. Written me off as too much to learn. But she believed in the story. She liked the voice. And this gave me confidence to try again and make it better.

That’s what makes Vicky so special. The fact she taught me to be my own waffle buster!

What happened next was that Vicky gave me a brief tutorial on putting my own foibles right. She only showed me once but she showed me so well I was fired to follow in her footsteps.

Here’s what I learned:
I repeat.
I explain.
I can’t stop myself doing the above.
This drags pace. This pulls a reader out.
It may have strong voice but the story is the most important thing. And asides obscure the story.
Keeping the reader’s interest is paramount. They want to know what’s happening now.
So she made me stop. And boy do I feel a big difference. This post is a thank you to Marcy and to Vicky – who stuck with me on the journey and were prepared to try to help! We all need an extra eye to help us work out our foibles.

Flirting With The Fireman was released by The Wild Rose Press on 28 January. You can find out more here Link - http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=195&products_id=4381

LIBRARIAN BRIDESMAID versus FIREFIGHTER BEST MAN
Cyber sparks...combustible consequences
Felicity Truro's diary is fast filling up with problems. First there's the ugliest bridesmaid's dress in the world, then there's her sick aunt's serious secret. But it's Rod McAllister, the handsome firefighter best man with attitude, who's melting her willpower and frazzling her nerves the most.
Can Flick survive being a bridesmaid for the eleventh time whilst falling for the groom's aide for real? And how will she cope when Rod needs a stand-in and she's promoted to top of the candidate list?
And if you enjoy Flick and Rod’s story - on February 14th my release from Embrace Books, Nanny Behaving Badly, will be launched. See www.judyjarvie.com for more information!
HOT News - The Wild Rose Press has just won the Best Print/Ebook Publisher in the Preditor's & Editor's Readers' Poll FOR THE THIRD YEAR RUNNING. Huge Congratulations. Thanks for letting me drop by Marcy - as ever, you're fabulous!