Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A STAR-CROSSED VISIT!

by Anna Campbell

It's my great pleasure today to introduce a fresh face to the lair, wonderful Avon historical romance author Jenny Brown!

Jenny's debut LORD LIGHTNING garnered glowing reviews and a lot of buzz in Romancelandia, including two Romantic Times Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award nominations. Her second book in the Lords of the Seventh House series, STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION comes out 30th August. Rush to pre-order it!

Here's the blurb for STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION:

Lovers or Enemies?

Captain Miles Trevelyan, on leave from active service in India, is heading out for a night on the town when he rescues a beautiful pickpocket from arrest. She's the perfect choice for a few days of dalliance--beautiful, cunning, and completely disposable.

But Temperance has no intention of becoming the plaything of a man who wears the uniform of the solders who murdered her lover. Disarming Trev with a kiss, she escapes. But her sultry kiss opens the two Scorpio adversaries to an obsessive attraction that neither can elude--or possibly survive.

You can find out more about Jenny and her books (and see astrological charts for her characters!) on her website: www.jennybrown.net

You can find a brand-new excerpt from STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION here: www.jennybrown.net/home/SCSexcerpt.php

Welcome, Jenny. It's great to have you in the lair at last - I feel like I've been waiting forever to talk to you here about your wonderful stories. STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION is the second in your Lords of the Seventh House series which started with the fabulously well-received LORD LIGHTNING. Can you tell us about this new story and the inspiration behind it?

When I sold LORD LIGHTNING, my editor wanted it to be the first in a series where the hero’s astrological sign would play a part in the story.

Scorpio was the obvious sign to do next. No other sign screams sensual, emotionally moving romance like Scorpio.

But Scorpio has a very mixed reputation. Sexy, yes. But also manipulative, secretive, resentful and transgressive. Scorpios aren’t so much into sex as a recreational activity as they are into sex as a way to control other people. What turns them on is emotion, not sensation. If giving you multiple orgasms will bind you to them for life, they’ll do it. If withholding sex will work better—that works for them, too.

So how was I to make my hero heroic?


The answer lay in exploring the gift Scorpio may confer: intense loyalty, deep psychological insight, and the ability to heal the most painful psychological injuries.

When a Scorpio gives his heart, his loyalty to his loved one will motivate him do whatever is necessary to protect that person, even to sacrificing their lives.

This pointed me to my hero: A dedicated soldier descended from a line of soldiers who have sacrificed their lives for King and Country. And since astrologers know that Scorpios often do best when paired with others of their sign, I made my hero and heroine both sexually alluring, magnetic Scorpios, each of whose lives is dominated by loyalties that have given them secrets they have no choice but to keep hidden.

Captain Miles Trevelyan is on leave from active service in India and looking for nothing more than an evening’s pleasure when circumstances force him, much against his better judgement, to step in and rescue a beautiful pickpocket from a well-deserved arrest. Once in his custody, the streetwise Temperance, who has learned how to use her sexual allure to gain control over men, distracts him with a seductive kiss, intending to make her escape by diverting the handsome captain’s blood away from his brain to a less observant organ.

But their kiss opens them both to feelings they’ve never before experienced and Temperance finds herself unable to break free, even though the man who has aroused such passion in her wears the same uniform as the officer who killed her ex-lover, a failed revolutionary. Drawn into a battle of the sexes where each pits their seductive skills against the other, Trev learns he has finally met the one woman strong enough to meet him where others fear to tread. But he faces a devastating choice. Will he remain true to King and Country, or give up everything to save the strong and vulnerable girl who’s won his heart?

Ooh, sounds delicious! You use astrology as a major theme in your historical romances. How did you become interested in this ancient art?

I don’t actually remember when I discovered astrology, but I know it was before I was nine as I was recently going through some family papers and found a cartoon I’d drawn in a letter I sent home from camp at that age which showed a wizard pointing to an accurately drawn astrological chart. My fuzzy memory is that I first encountered astrology in a newsstand magazine, possibly DELL HOROSCOPE.

When I was in my 20s someone taught me how to cast charts (this was before software made it easy.) So I began to draw charts for everyone I met, and learned more about how to interpret them from books and classes.

What’s next for you?

My next book is the Pisces book in the series. It’s tentatively titled PERILOUS PLEASURES.

While the first two books of the series, LORD LIGHTNING and STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION are connected to each other, this third book goes off in another direction. Set in 1803, it pairs a handsome, wealthy, idealistic Scottish lord, who has taken a vow of chastity in order to be initiated into the secrets of an ancient healing tradition, with the ugly, cynical daughter of the courtesan he must kill if he is to avenge his sister’s murder.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

I have such a strong streak of Sagittarius on my own chart that there’s nothing I’d rather do than give advice.

What I’d suggest—which is the best advice I received from another, brilliant writer, and of course, ignored—is that aspiring writers finish at least five books before they seek publication. There as so many benefits of doing this. The most important is that your first book is never as good as you think it is, and writing more will give you either the experience you need to make the first book better or provide you with a much better book—one that might let you break in with a big advance and strong publisher support. The other benefit of writing a lot of books before you publish is that with a stash of books to draw on, you can deliver subsequent books more quickly, which will also help you build up your audience.

Unfortunately, like Temperance, the impulsive heroine of STAR CROSSED SEDUCTION, who ignores the warning Eliza, the astrologer we first met in LORD LIGHTNING, gives her, most of us ignore all the advice we’re given no matter how good it might be.

Jenny, that's all fascinating! Thanks for being our guest today. Do you have a question to get the conversation going with our Banditas and Bandita Buddies?

What’s the best piece of advice someone has given you? Did you take it? What was the worst? I’ll be giving away a copy of LORD LIGHTNING to a randomly chosen commenter.

OK, people, let's all be STARS and comment to win this great prize. Good luck.

Note: Jenny will forward the prize once her book hits the stands on 30th August.

89 comments:

Danielle Birch said...

Jenny, I'm adding your books to my "to buy" pile. They sound fabulous.

The best piece of advice I've received is not to overtell. I've been known to hit people over the head with facts.

Gannon Carr said...

Hi, Jenny! I love the premise of your books---will definitely add them both to my list. :-)

I'm not sure I can say this was advice given to me or just something more instinctual, but I try never to go to bed angry with anyone. Life is far too short, and the thought of something happening before I could resolve my differences with someone I cared about makes me cringe.

Actually, it did happen with my husband's grandfather and his brother-in-law. Some difference of opinion that, at the time, seemed huge, but really wasn't. They died not speaking to each other. Such a shame.

Gannon Carr said...

I've had my natal chart done, and I must say it was pretty accurate!

Donna MacMeans said...

Danielle - congratulations on snagging the GR - I wonder what his sign is?

Welcome back Jenny! I'm a scorpio so you know I'll be watching for this book...passionately (grin).

Best advice: Never give up your dreams. The only way to fail is to quit.

Anna Campbell said...

Danielle, it's a while since you've had the rooster. Congrats. And what a great bit of advice - I often find in contest entries that the writer isn't giving the reader credit for being up with the game.

Anna Campbell said...

Gannon, that was one of my mother's pieces of wisdom. I can't say I've stuck to it but I can see that it's definitely worth following! My problem is I get good advice but then I don't necessarily follow it, LOL!

Anna Campbell said...

Gannon, a good friend of mine was up to stay a couple of weeks ago and she did my chart. Amazingly accurate! We'll have to compare notes next time we get together - soon, please!

Anna Campbell said...

Donna, I thought you'd be sleeping off the effects of your brilliant launch party for REDEEMING THE ROGUE! And here you are, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Although not quite as bushy tailed as the rooster.

Bron said...

Hi Jenny and Anna

Best advice was to actually finish a book! Finished one and sold it. Worst advice - I'm not sure I've been given any.

Anna Campbell said...

Bron, finishing the book is great advice. It's one bit of advice I always hand out when people ask me for writing advice. I speak from experience - too many stumps of books languishing with the dust bunnies under the bed!

Lolarific said...

My best piece of advice came from my dad. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

And it's so true. If learned not to put up with things I don't have to and to always keep in mind what's really important!

Anna Campbell said...

Lola, that's a really good one, isn't it? And I think it's true. Painful, but true!

Landra said...

Hi Jenny! You're books sound absolutely delicious. As Danielle, with the chook running laps in her house said, 'These are going in my Too Buy pile'.

As to the question-- tons of people give me advice and surprisingly I use a lot of it. The best piece of advice was from my husband shortly after we met.
He said, "You're only as good as your word."
I agree with this, and try to honor the commitments and promises I make. Because I am the type of person who believes in following through with my word, I tend to be a little peevish when others do not come through on their's lol!
Great Question! Now I am anxiously awaiting your Leo book... as I am a Leo!

Anna Campbell said...

Landra, I agree with you about trying to stick to what I say I'm going to do. Always annoys me when people don't!

Christina Phillips said...

Hi Jenny and Anna! Jenny, I just finished reading LORD LIGHTNING and enjoyed it very much! Astrology has always fascinated me. I loved reading about a Leo hero :-)

The best piece of writing advice a friend gave me several years ago was to explain the mystery of what EP aka Emotional Punch was. Talk about an eye opener!

Unknown said...

congrats on nabbing GR Danielle

Hi Anna and Jenny.... these books sound great.... more for the ever growing pile LOL

I was told never to go to bed on an argument

Mary Preston said...

Best piece of advice: to apply for a new position opening up. I got it.

Worst piece of advice: I don't even want to go there!!

Christina Brooke said...

Hi Jenny, welcome to the lair! Anna, thank you for having Jenny here with us today.

Jenny, I love the idea of making heroes ruled by their astrological charts. How amazing that you were interested in astrology at such a young age and now are using it so effectively in your fiction years later.

As for advice, I think the best advice I've received usually came from my father. One thing he said was 'never volunteer advice--wait until you're asked'.*G* One piece of advice I take to heart more and more as I get older is that your greatest regrets will be the things you didn't do, not the things you did.

Yay, Danielle got the rooster!

Anna Campbell said...

Christina, so glad you enjoyed Lord Lightning! Oh, the dreaded emotional punch. Took me over 20 years of writing to get what that was!!!!

Anna Campbell said...

Barb, you're another woman who's heard the same advice as my mum. Good advice, indeed!

Anna Campbell said...

Mary, laughing at you hiding from the worst advice. It can be really BAAAADDDDDD, can't it? LOL!

Anna Campbell said...

Christina, your father is clearly an exceptionally wise man. I think you're right about the regret thing!

Helen said...

Well done Danielle have fun with him

I really like the sound of these books Jenny I have added them to my must have list.
I don't follow the stars that often but do occaisionally read them for myself I am an Aries and have now idea what I "should" be like LOL.
Something that my Mum always taught us was treat people as you would want to be treated yourself, not sure that I have taken any bad advice although I am sure I have but forgotten it for obvious reasons LOL.

Thanks Anna for inviting Jenny along to meet us today

Have Fun
Helen

Anonymous said...

These books sound wonderful! And it's great that the hero in book 3 has my astrological sign.

The best piece of advice I've ever received comes from my father: "The greatest virtue is the ability to forgive."

May said...

The best advice given to me was to keep my silence when I am angry or I'll regret my angry words later. That's kind of hard to do for me still...

Can't think of any really bad advice...

Btw, your books sounds interesting. I am a Gemini so I am waiting for your book with a Gemini hero/heroine too. :)

Jenny Brown said...

What a lovely collection of advice to wake up to. (I'm just finishing my first coffee here, but it looks like a lot of you are posting from Oz.)

Danielle: Learning just how much to show has been my greatest challenge. With this particular book I cut out so much backstory in an attempt to avoid info dumping, that most of the revisions my editor requested involved going in and putting it back in!

Gannon: That's very good advice but easier for some than others. Scorpios, in my experience, may seethe about some slight--real, or unfortunately, imagined, for years. Fire sign people are more likely to blow up and then completely let go of whatever set them off.

Donna: I hunted up a few Scorpios to read Star Crossed Seduction because I'm NOT one and I didn't want to anger them with what I'd done. The feedback was that I had got it right. But I really stretched to bring alive characters who were secretive, deeply passionate, and fiercely loyal.

Bron: Yes. Finishing. The. Book. So easy to advise. So hard to do. Lord Lightning was the first novel I ever finished, but the fourth that I got a couple hundred pages into. Even then, it took me three more complete rewrites and a major plot change to get it to where I could sell it. Mostly what I've learned in writing the subsequent books is that you can fix just about anything if you can get it down on paper. (And I do mean paper. Something else I've learned is NOT to edit on the computer!)

Lolarific: Your dad gave you some very good advice, though we all wish our kids wouldn't have to undergo the experiences that helped us learn that kind of lesson!

Landa: Your husband sounds so wise. A relationship without trust may be exciting--they make for great conflicts and riveting plots for romance novels. But trust is the bedrock on which you build a satisfying marriage. I've often told my Sweetie what a lousy book our fifteen years together would make because he hasn't ever given me any reason to doubt him in all these years.

Christina: Emotional punch is something that I know it when I feel it, but I must confess I have no idea how its done, even when I manage to do it.

Barb: That is such good advice. Though it's easier if you are married to the kind of man who doesn't get grumpy when he's sleepy.

Marybelle: Now, of course, everyone will want to know what that BAD advice was!

Christina: What wise fathers so many of you seem to have had. I try very hard to follow that particular bit of advice because giving people advice they haven't asked for is one of my biggest personal failings. Eliza, the astrologer in my books, brings alive that facet of my personality almost too well.

Helen: Aries is one of those signs that astrologers often dump on. It's not a sign that tends to become an astrologer because Aries tends to solve other people's problems by saying, "Shut up and deal," because that's how they solve their own. But no sign is as much fun in bed. None. (Sweetie, are you reading this?)

Antonia: I have a lot of Pisces on my chart, too, and yes, forgiveness is a huge part of the Pisces life journey. That's the lesson my hero has to learn, and boy do I make it tough for him.

And thanks to all of you who said kind things about my books.

Hellie Sinclair said...

I think the best advice I'd ever gotten was: It's easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Unfortunately this might also be the worst advice I've gotten as well.

Jenny, I love the premise of your books. :) Always have. Probably because I have difficulty not reading my horoscope to see what I should look out for today. *LOL* Plus I have a book called How to Spot a Bastard by His Astrological Sign and it's SO accurate!

Karyn Good said...

Your books sound fascinating. As a Leo I'm looking forward to starting with Lord Lightning's story!

The best advice I've been give is: If you're going to laugh about it later you might as well laugh about it now.

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Ah, Scorpios...my favorite sign! Oh wait, it's my sign! hehehehe Any wonder why I write erotica?

Your hero sounds perfectly yummy, Jenny! Will have to pre-order it to my kindle today. :)

Best piece of advice someone gave me.

That would be my parents. It was study something in which you will always have a job to support yourself, then you can do other things to feed your creative side. (i.e. go to nursing school!) Yep, took that advice and have rarely regretted it.

Jenny Brown said...

Ms Hellion: That quote is usually attributed to Grace Hopper a brilliant woman, way ahead of my time, who was one of my heroines back when I made my living as a lady software developer.

Karyn: I hope you love Lord Lightning. It isn't accidental that my agent and the editor who bought it were both Leos. But I must reiterate that you don't need to read one book to enjoy the other. They're linked but in a way where reading one won't give away the story of the other.

Jenny Brown said...

Suzanne,

Absolutely! The way I think of it is this: "Don't hitch your muse to the plow!"

This is also the reason that I resisted the impulse, when I was young and desperately in need of a career, to read charts for a living. Some gifts are much safer to exercise when you take money out of the mix.

Jenny Brown said...

I mispoke when I told Anna that I'd have to wait until my book was published to send out the giveaway prize, forgetting that I was giving away Lord Lightning not the new book! So sorry!

The prize will go out as soon as it's chosen.

V.R. Christensen said...

I'm late to the party, but I just wanted to say that I've read Lord Lightning and LOVED it! I read it in about two sittings and could not put it down. A truly memorable book with fun characters. Jenny's third book sounds fantastic. I can't wait to read it.

What a great interview!

Jenny Brown said...

VR, Thanks! For the rest of you reading, V.R. is one of the many very talented writers met on Authonomy back in the winter 2009 who exchanged critiques that taught me an immense amount about how to improve the manuscript I eventually sold.

Several of us went on to sell to major publishers--some for significant amounts of money--and many more--including V.R. will sell in the future. The virtual friendships with other authors has been the best thing to have come out of my publication experience.

Nancy said...

Danielle, congrats on the rooster!

Jenny, welcome back and congratulations on your second book. I love the idea of this series, and this boo sounds wonderful.

The best advice anyone ever gave me was when my doctor said, "You need to find another job." I was sick a lot--nothing major, just frequent--and he said that was inconsistent with my history and asked if I felt stressed at work. After five minutes of marathon explanation and rationalization, he said, "Look, I'm not usually this blunt abut things like this, but you shouldn't be getting sick this often. You need to find another job."

Because he usually stayed away from anything not medical, I listened. And enjoyed months of interrupted good health.

The other best advice anyone ever gave me was from Eilis Flynn, who said, "You know, there isn't always a 'why' when you deal with other people. Everything isn't always going to make sense, no matter how much we try to make it fit a logical pattern." And she was right. That was longer ago than either of us cares to remember, but the advice has been extremely useful at various points in the meanwhile.

Miranda Neville said...

Hi Anna, Jenny, and las Banditas. Fun interview. Lord Lightning was a terrific book and I can't wait for Star Crossed Seduction.

I'm drawing a total blank on wisdom I've received and followed, though I'm sure there is lots of it. Hey, I haven't survived this far without help. Instead I offer you some completely ridiculous advice I picked up somewhere:

Never trust a man who wears brown shoes. [WTF?]

Jenny Brown said...

Nancy,

It sounds like you have a jewel of a doctor. Some of the worst advice I ever got was from the doctor who told me that I was sick because of my fear of failure. When I explained that, to the contrary, I'd just experienced a major success--the publication of my first nonfiction book--he replied, "Well, then it's obvious. You're sick because of your fear of success." Actually I was sick from an infection that only showed up on a test he was too dimwitted to order.

Miranda, You crack me up. As usual!

Minna said...

Bad advice? "Don't care about it!" When someone said/did something nasty to me at school. Pretty impossible "not to care about it".

Jenny Brown said...

Minna, Perhaps you needed the advice a friend gives, "High school doesn't prepare you for anything but life in a maximum security prison."

Helen said...

Jenny

I did read your comment and loved it and it is so me LOL I am always saying to friends and family live with it this is the way it is get over it.

Have Fun
Helen

Minna said...

Jenny, in my case it was elementary school.

Jenny Brown said...

Minna,

Kids can be so mean in elementary school, especially to a child who is different in any way, including being a bit brighter.

Helen, I will be sore pressed to come up with an Aries romance for that very reason. Where's the angst? Where's the suffering? But oh, how refreshing it is to live with someone like that.

Di said...

Using the signs of the zodiac and their attributes is such a good idea for a series. I'll look forward to seeing how you use stars in your books. Best advice or life concept I've been told - "If money can fix it, it's not a problem" - you find out that's the truth when there's a health problem.

Jenny Brown said...

Di,

Ain't that the truth! When something really horrible happens--especially if it's to a child or other loved one, you find yourself looking back at how upset you were when your car needed some expensive repair and wishing you had that kind of problem again.

jorobertson said...

Hi, Jenny, welcome to the Lair! What an interesting concept to use astrological signs as the basis for your stories. Very intriguing!

I'm a Pisces, so I can't wait for that book!

The best piece of advice I've ever gotten is don't give up. I've always tried to remember that if I want something badly enough, it's worth the labor to attain the goal.

Jenny Brown said...

jorobertson,

Last year I did a poll among a group of published romance authors to see whether there were any signs that predominated among them. There were, and Pisces was one of them. Possibly because poorly paid work that involves suffering appeals to us folks with lots of Pisces in our natures.

The poll is still online for anyone who is interested, HERE.

Anna Campbell said...

Helen, I thought we'd have fun the day Jenny visited - and it looks like I was right! The stars must be in alignment. Speaking of which, I think that pesky Mercury is about to retrograde which is NEVER good news.

Anna Campbell said...

Antonia, what lovely advice. It sounds like we all had wise parents!

Anna Campbell said...

May, that biting the tongue thing is definitely advice worth paying attention to, isn't it? As you say, difficult, though!

Anna Campbell said...

Helly, how to spot a bastard by his astrological sign? I love it!!!

Anna Campbell said...

Karyn, what wonderful life-affirming advice. I really think laughter is the key to a great life.

Anna Campbell said...

Suz, my mother always said giving me piano lessons was a great investment in the future because I could teach piano if I needed to. So far, the children of the world have escaped the horror of me trying to show them where middle C is. But it's still great advice!

Anna Campbell said...

Hey, V.R., welcome to the lair. Here have the Sagittarius Sock it to Me cocktail that we had specially invented for Jenny's visit. Although we've had reports back that it actually tastes like socks. Hmm, back to the drawing board there! So glad you loved Lord Lightning!

Anna Campbell said...

Wow, Nancy, two doozy pieces of advice there. And good for you that you were smart enough to follow them.

Anna Campbell said...

Miranda, I've heard the brown shoes thing too and never quite understood it. Especially as I haven't noticed men in black or grey shoes being remarkably more reliable than their brown-shod cohorts.

Anna Campbell said...

Jenny, I know it was horrible at the time, but that doctor story is kinda funny. And to think they go through years of medical school to hit quite that level of idiocy!

Anna Campbell said...

Minna, I think sometimes it's impossible not to care about it!

Anna Campbell said...

Di, that's so true, isn't it? Mind you, it's not exactly advice, but I quite like this quote: "If you want to know what God thinks about money, look at the people he gives it to!" I think it's Mark Twain.

Anna Campbell said...

Jo, I think that advice about persistence, persistence, persistence is one of the great truths!

Jenny Brown said...

Anna, When Mercury is retrograde it's a great time to do anything that starts with "re," for example revising. Reworking. Remembering. Restoring.

Other Lisa said...

Best advice: treat the writing like a job and show up, whether you feel like it or not (I realize that this doesn't work for everyone, but it's what I needed to depersonalize the process somewhat).

Jenny, LOVE the books! (cause I've had a sneak preview of the ones that are coming up) and when are you going to do Aquarius?

I know, we're freaks. :D

Jenny Brown said...

Lisa,

Well, I sorta kinda snuck in Aquarius since Temperance, the heroine of Star Crossed Seduction has an Aquarius ascendent, so she approaches the outside world in a very Aquarian way.

But an Aquarius romantic hero is almost a contradiction in terms. Women fall in love with them, but their objectivity and inability to understand why one person would want to have all that attention paid to them, makes it hard to picture them in the role.

I also suspect that few Aquarius women read romance novels. I'd expect them to read Fantasy and SF or mysteries where the appeal is puzzling out clues (Aquarius can be a very intellectual sign) and watching groups of people interact.

Na said...

These books are going to my wishlist. Jenny, you are a new author for me and I am glad I discovered you today. The best advice is that I can do anything I put my mind to and to have always have a positive attitude. I apply them to all aspects in life.

Anna Campbell said...

Ooh, that poll is really interesting, Jenny! Well worth checking out, people.

Jenny Brown said...

Na, I'm really glad to have been able to meet so many new and interesting readers today. I hope you do enjoy the books.

And while I think of it, I want to thank Anna for having me here. I've had such a good time learning what you have all found useful advice.

Anna Campbell said...

Jenny, how interesting. I'm just trying to finish a first draft (and those last few chapters are really driving me bananas). I'll be revising soon enough! By the way, I looked at the astrolabe connection and I came out Virgo sun, Capricorn Moon and Leo rising - looks like I'm DEFINITELY a romance writer, LOL!

Anna Campbell said...

Hi Other Lisa! Great to see some new faces in the lair today. Here, have the socktail. We're sure if we keep pushing it, old socks will become the flavor du jour.

Anna Campbell said...

Na, what wonderful positive advice! Good for you! So glad we've introduced Jenny's wonderful books to you today.

Anna Campbell said...

Jenny, the advice question has been gold, hasn't it? Some really interesting nuggets of wisdom popping up as a result.

Thank you for being such a great guest! And for bringing us some new blood...uh, visitors! bwahahahahahaha!

Jenny Brown said...

Anna, I don't have to read your chart to know you're a romance writer, having read your blazingly intense BOOKS!

Virgos have the reputation for being cool and analytical but people forget it's an Earth sign. Earth is all about sensuality, even if as a Virgo, you find yourself wanting to put it into words, later. (Virgo is ruled by Mercury the planet associated with, among other things, communication of all kinds.)

Anna Campbell said...

Ha ha, thanks, Jenny!

Barbara E. said...

The best advice: My third grade teacher told me to read as much as I wanted, and I've never stopped. She used to ask me years later if I was still reading all the time, and the answer was always yes.
The worst advice: When you marry, you should stay with him no matter what. I didn't listen to that advice and got rid of the bum when I needed to.

Barbed1951 at aol dot com

Anna Campbell said...

Barb, that's a great example of good and bad advice! And so glad you stuck with the reading!!!!

Cathy P said...

Most of the best advice I ever had has already been taken so I will say this. Try to never say words in anger because you can't take them back. The damage has been done.

Jenny Brown said...

Barbara, That bad advice makes it sound like you're of my generation. I got it and eventually learned to ignore it too, just like I ignored the advice, "It's as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor man."

There's something about poor men with potential that turns me on, possibly because it's such fun watching them go from rags to riches.

Jenny Brown said...

Cathy,

That, too, is very good advice, though very hard to follow.

Perhaps one could add: if you do have a tendency to blurt out dreadful things you didn't mean to say, be sure to fall in love with a good tempered man who doesn't hold grudges.

That's all that's saved me.

Anna Campbell said...

Cathy, another bite the tongue before speaking bit of advice! I know when I haven't followed that one, I've lived to regret it.

Louisa Cornell said...

Yay Danielle! Someone needs to do the GR's chart. It could be a real eye-opener!

What a great one-of-a-kind premise for a series, Jenny! And I do love a hero and heroine who are bushwhacked by love when they think they are each in complete control.

I think one of the best pieces of advice I got was to check out the AvonFanLit event a few years ago. It got me back onto the writing path, introduced me to some of my very dearest friends - La Campbell, for one and opened the world of RWA, the Beau Monde, writing contests and more. Thanks, Tammy L!

Another great piece of advice I received was from my long time voice coach. I auditioned for American opera houses for years and got rejection after rejection. I was ready to give up. And she told me "If they're looking for oranges, you can be the very best apple in the world and they still won't buy you. All you can do is be the very best apple you can and wait for the moment they want to buy apples." She suggested I audition in Europe and the rest is history. I think the same thing can apply to writing.

Anna Campbell said...

Hiya Louisa! VERY glad you joined Fanlit! I made a lot of wonderful friends there, including you. And I love the apples and oranges thing - hard as it is to be an apple when oranges are the fruit of the moment. ;-)

Jenny Brown said...

Louisa,

I love that metaphor. It's so true for writing too. I had to wait a long time to sell my first book because the kind of book I was writing was considered "Old fashioned." Now a look at the bestseller list tells you "old" is in, with Lord of Scoundrels right up there at the top!

I was a professional singer in my youth, too, pop and country, nothing near at your level. How wonderful to have sung in Saltzburg!

Jenny Brown said...

Artemis,

We all do have to remember that while our Sun might be in Scorpio, we have nine other planets (and the moons nodes and various other points) in other signs and these give us all the subtle colors and flavors that make us unique.

It's a gift to be able to cook, especially nowadays when so few people do and when TV has made cooking out to be some kind of abstruse and often ridiculously silly artform.

A good home cook who can make delicious meals. Priceless!

Anna Campbell said...

Artemis, good on your mother. What a wonderfully practical piece of advice!

Anna Campbell said...

Wow, the stars really lined up for us to have a great day in the lair today. Thanks to Jenny and everybody who swung by to share the great advice! I feel quite puffed up with wisdom!

Don't forget to check back to see who won Jenny's book!

Pat Cochran said...

Welcome, Jenny! Love the covers!
Looking forward to reading your books!

Best advice: From a co-worker, "Marry
him, give him a chance." That was
several proposals, a wedding, & 50 years ago!

Worst advice: From his side, "No, we
don't want brown babies."(I am from
a Hispanic family) From a friend(?) of
my siblings, "He's not one of us."

Anna Campbell said...

Wow, Pat, so glad you followed the advice! Congratulations on 50 years together.

Desere said...

The book sounds awesome I am adding them to my list right now I simply must know more! First the best advise I ever got was live each day to the fullst you never know when it will be your last and I fully live by it ! The worst advise I got was colour you hair black now that was just one huge mistake LOL!

Take care
Desere

Anna Campbell said...

Desere, laughed at the hair color being a mistake. And it takes forever for that to grow out (believe me, I went red once - looked like a striped candy for months when it grew out). Great advice about seizing the day!

Other Lisa said...

(that intellectual-y thing does sound a bit like me, I must admit)

Lisa The Aquarian

Desere said...

Anna you gone red I dont what to sound mean but I am sorry I just cant picture it , but yes I agree it takes forever to grow out !